A Wrench in the Gears [Damien Haas]

5. I want to give you my heart.

Hey, guys!

Thank you so, so, so much for 100+ reads! By the way, if you guys want some updates on chapter publishing, you should go check the message board every so often.

I might not be able to update tomorrow, because it's my birthday tomorrow (Feb. 12), and I really would like to enjoy the day first, but who knows? Yay!

Chapter title today is from...? Hint: it's the line that made Olivia spit out her water in the duel with Damien. But which one? Hm...

Anyway, here we go with Damien's Point of View! See you guys around!

-/-/-

Here we go again.

"Oh, wow," Jade says, deadpan. "What a mere coincidence, right? Does this... does this happen a lot?"

"Not really," I answer before getting my phone and calling Rhett. "Hello, Rhett? It's Damien. The elevator isn't working."

"Really?" Rhett asks. "Link and I left the building a few minutes ago. We thought no one was there anymore. I'll call the janitor to hit the switch, but it might take a while. Who's with you?"

I look at Jade. "I'm with one of the Athens people."

"Oh, we'll try to get you guys out of there in a while. Hold on tight."

"Thanks, Rhett," I say before ending the call. "Looks like we're gonna be here for a while. They thought everyone had already left the building, that's why they switched the elevator off."

"Bummer," Jade remarks. "BPD, right?"

"You caught on," I say, smiling. She smiles back.

This is one of those moments where you just want to melt onto the floor because the person you like smiled at you so brightly. My eyes feel blinded, to the point I fumbled for my phone in my pocket and texted Shayne.

From: Da Man Haas
We're stuck in the elevator here at HQ but good news is we're getting dinner together

From: Shayne Bottom
Okay leaving you guys in the studio was a great idea! Did you guys use protection?

From: Da Maan Haas
She's awesome man, she's awesome

From: Shayne Bottom
Take care lovebirdsssss and tell her to follow me back

An awkward silence falls upon us again, but this time, it isn't a painful silence that makes us fumble for words. She speaks almost immediately, "I'm glad we're doing this project. It's really good for the audience to finally know that this kind of stuff shouldn't be confined to mere walls."

"Yeah, I totally agree," I tell her. "I've always wondered what it's like to be in journalism, so I'm glad I got to know it thanks to you guys."

"My brothers are really big fans of you guys," she explains, showing pictures of her brothers watching Smosh videos. "I didn't watch any of your videos before, but when I told them we were gonna work together, they were so happy!"

"How old are your brothers?" I ask, sitting next to her and wrapping my arms around my legs. "I bet they're like these sixth graders about to graduate elementary."

"Oh, actually...," she mumbles. "They don't go to school anymore. Both diagnosed with leukemia."

That explains it. Jade always tells me that she wanted to work somewhere like Smosh, but that's why she never quitted Athens no matter how much she wanted to despite her good work. Sick family members. Of course.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I tell her sincerely.

"It's okay," she says, smiling sadly. "I think I was just a year into working with Athens when the first twin was diagnosed. The second one was diagnosed probably six months after. It was genetic, yes, but there are only few cases of it actually being hereditary. Then it happened to both of my brothers."