Doctors Orders (Manxman)

Chapter 41

Tristan

I actually was home.

I couldn't believe it.

I was actually fucking home.

I had been convinced that it was all way too easy for someone to show up and suddenly rescue me. It was probably all another elaborate plan that I was too naive to understand. So when Demi had asked me to get on another plane with him, I was sure that he was taking me somewhere else to lock me up.

But the familiar streets and sights of my city were unmistakable. I was in complete shock. It seemed so surreal that I was actually back here.

Demi sat beside me in the car, busy with some on his phone. He had been greatly amused by my reaction to seeing my city again. Apparently it was adorable how I was staring at everything with childlike wonder.

After spending some time with him, I had decided that I did not like this Demi guy at all. He had been nothing but polite to me since we met but there was something very disturbing about him. It gave me chills to simply look at him.

Demi scared me as much as Alexander, perhaps even more. Alexander was someone who believed in violence. With him, I knew exactly what he was going to do and when. Demi was a blank canvas. I did not know what to expect.

As the car pulled up in front of my apartment building, it took a serious amount of effort to not burst out crying.

"Go on. He's waiting for you," Demi urged softly. I nodded and got out of the car.

The security guard of the building waved at me enthusiastically and said that he was happy to see me back.

I was a weird mixture of nervousness and anticipation as I pressed the button for the elevator. I couldn't wait to meet Damien. It had been way too long.

The elevator dinged and opened on my floor. The usually normal sight was a treat to my eyes.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and knocked.

The door opened after a few seconds. I gasped softly.

Damien stood there and he looked horrible. He had lost almost half his weight, his hair was greasy and unorganised, his beard had grown way more than usual and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked twenty years older than when I had seen him last.

I couldn't hold back my tears this time. Seeing him in this state hurt a lot more than Alexander's kicks. Damien stood staring at me for a second, his eyes blank.

Then without warning I was engulfed in the tightest hug ever. His arms wrapped around me like steel, pressing me to him. I hugged him back with equal vigour.

He buried his head into my neck and kissed it continuously while whispering something that sounded like 'oh my god' and 'he's really here'.

My own cheeks were wet with tears and so were Damien's shirt. They seemed to never stop. It was heartbreaking to see my strong Damien so distraught. I could feel the same wetness on my shoulder. He was crying too.

I don't know how long we stood like that. It could have even been hours. Neither of us wanted to let go. Perhaps both of us were afraid of losing the other again.

It was Damien who let go first. He held my face and kissed every bit of skin. I wanted to kiss him till I passed out from lack of air but this was not the time.

We went inside and closed the door. The house was the same as before except there was a lot of dust around.

Damien smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for the mess. I did a really bad job of keeping things clean here."

I laughed. "I did not expect you to. I am surprised you haven't burned the house down yet."

He smiled and ruffled my hair. I almost wanted to mewl and rub against him like a dog who hasn't seen his master in so long. I never gave importance to the small daily things that he did until they were taken from me. They were the things I had missed the most.

Damien did not ask me anything about Alexander or what had happened. I think it was partly because he did not want to bring up bad memories and partly because he himself did not want to know if he had hurt me. He probably wouldn't be able to handle it.

We talked about everything else but my kidnapping. I was itching to ask him about Demi but I wasn't sure if I should. He seemed to want to forget everything that had happened and Demi was certainly a part of that.

But something was off. Damien was happy and grateful to have me back but when he smiled it did not light up his eyes like before. There was a haunted look behind his blue irises and that bothered the hell out of me.

I knew that it was suspicious that I had gotten rescued and returned home so easily. Life wasn't that smooth and I wasn't that lucky either. It seemed to me that there were things that both Demi and Damien were hiding from me.