Instants // Damien Haas

four

"Layla? What are you doing outside Shayne's place?" Damien smiled and sat down next to her on the steps.

"My friend made me come, then ditched me. Why are you here?" She smiled at the brown haired boy, she was happy to see his face again. Layla was starting to think she had weird attachment issues to the boy, or maybe she just had a crush.

"Oh, Shayne's my best friend, I was coming to hang out because I've been gone for the past few days." Layla nodded, she almost sighed with relief that he hadn't been avoiding her or anything like that.

"How far's your Uber? I can drop you home." Damien offered as he leaned over to look at her phone. Layla studied his appearance in the dim lighting the streetlamps gave off, it excentuated the fact that he had been growing out his facial hair.

"I don't even think this guy is coming now honestly," The girl stated with a sigh. Damien stood and held out a hand for her. Layla's heart jumped as he helped her up.

"I'll drop you." He turned and fished his keys out of his pocket.

"Are you sure Damien, I can just call another Uber. You should go inside and see Shayne and your friends." She tried to reason with him but he kept walking, the car was parked a few spots up from where they had been sitting. When he reached the driver-side door he turned to look at her.

"What are you doing? Come on Layla." He joked around with a smile. Layla walked quickly to the car and got in the passenger side.

"Damien are you sure-" Damien cut her off with a laugh.

"Of course I'm sure Layla, stop asking and put your seatbelt on silly." The girl laughed at his antics and did as she was told. The drive was short but the conversation didn't end until they reached Layla's apartment complex.

"Can I be honest?" Damien asked as he leaned back in his chair and pushed his hair back with a sigh.

"Yeah of course." Layla offered with a smile.

"I really cannot be bothered going to that party. Like I want to see all my friends but the last few days have been so intense, I don't want to fake happy in front of them." He looked over to Layla and she finally saw the bags under his eyes, he looked exhausted.

"If you want you can come in and we can watch a movie or something? I can make some tea?" Damien smiled at the small girls offer.

"Are you sure?" He asked sarcastically, lightly making fun of her.

"Shut up and come inside." She laughed softly as they got out of the car and walked up the stairs.

Damien looked around her small apartment with a smile on his face as Layla went to turn on the kettle.

"What?" She asked him with a smile when she came back out to see why he hadn't followed her into the kitchen.

"Nothing, I just didn't expect your house to be like this." They both laughed quietly.

"My roommate Rose does most of the decorating, we've been living together for a while now so all of our stuff has kind of just merged into one." She looked around the living room almost cringing at the mess Rose had left this morning. There was washing waiting to be folded, empty cups on the coffee table and blankets all over the couches. 

"Do you guys get along?" He asked as he watched her pick up some cups with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, we're like siblings but most of the time we're just different kinds of people you know?" Layla smiled when Damien sat down on the couch and raised his eyebrows at her statement.

"I mean, I'm quiet. I don't really like parties that much and she lives for them. She loves socializing and I don't. We have a lot of differences and sometimes we clash but the majority of the time its fun and games." Damien nodded as Layla went back into the kitchen.

"I mean, not to judge but I don't think it's fair of her to invite you to a party then leave you by yourself." Layla smiled as she came back into the room with two cups.

"That's true, but it's been happening for so long now I don't even think of it in a bitter way." Damien nodded with a sad smile completely understanding the situation at hand. He thanked Layla when she handed him a warm mug and sat back further on the couch. 

"Okay, so I was thinking... how do you feel about watching a classic?" Layla smiled and turned to look at Damien with a questioning look.

"A classic?" She turned back to the tv with the remote in her hand.

"You know like Forrest Gump and all that." Layla bit her lip with a shy smile.

"I've never seen Forrest Gump." Damien's eyes went wide.

"You've never seen Forrest Gump?!" He exclaimed and put his mug down on the table. He then leaned across and took the remote from her to type in the movie. He continued muttering things like 'i can't believe you haven't seen it' and 'it's literally a must see'. All the while Layla smiled at the boy's antics, she was just happy to be sitting with him.

After sitting for the 2 hours and 20 something minutes of the whole movie, Layla found herself leaning on Damiens' shoulder with tired eyes. She leaned forward and grabbed the remote to skip the end scenes and looked back to Damien. He was already watching her with a smile and she blushed when their eyes met.

"So..?" He questioned and lightly nudged her arm.

"I mean... it was good, kind of sad." Damien nodded.

"Yeah, I don't really like it that much." Damien smiled and stood, grabbing her mug as he did so. Layla followed him into the kitchen with wide eyes.

"What? Why did we watch it then?" Damien laughed at her expression.

"It's the kind of movie everyone should watch at least once." Layla slowly smiled along with the brown-eyed boy and soon enough laughed with him too.

"You're weird," She stated softly and leaned her hip against the countertop. 

"I can't deny that," Damien replied, holding his hands up in fake surrender. Layla found her mind drifting off to where it had been the past few days, her heart fluttering when he looked over at her again. She felt like a teenager falling in love for the first time, but she wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not.

"I should probably go, my cats are expecting me." Layla smiled and lead Damien out of the kitchen, "I had a good time tonight though, we should do it again sometime?" He asked as he reached for the handle to the front door.

"Yeah, of course, I want to meet your cats anyway." Damien smiled as he opened the heavy door and stepped into the hallway.

"That can be arranged," Layla stood in the doorway.

"Goodnight Layla," He said before he turned to walk away.

"Night Damien." She replied and waited until he had walked around the corner before closing the door. With a sigh, she leaned against it and smiled, thinking about the night she had just had.