"Come on Lyla, it's not that cold!" Damon shouted across to me, though his chattering teeth told me otherwise. It was nearing midnight and the reflection of the moon was casting shadows over his body.
We'd had a few too many glasses of wine with dinner, which led to me sharing a joint or two with Dames, which then ultimately led to us deciding that we just had to go skinny dipping. Though now I was stood on the beach wrapped up in my dressing gown, with Damon's crumpled up by my feet, I wasn't too sure that it was such a good idea.
"Come on Eliza" He whined, splashing the water around him with his hands.
I took a deep breath before throwing my dressing gown on the floor and running into the sea, wrapping my arms around Damon once I was close enough.
"Oh my god Damon it's fucking freezing" I screamed, letting go of him and turning to run back out of the sea, but Damon was quicker than me, grabbing hold of my hand and pulling me close to him again.
"Don't be so boring" He teased, mockingly pouting at me before leaning forward and placing his lips against mine. The kiss took me by surprise, though that didn't stop me from pressing my body closer to his as I kissed him back.
He bent his knees slightly and pulled me closer to him so that my own thighs were practically sitting on his. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his torso, knowing that one tiny wrong move and we would be having sex in the middle of the North Sea.
I pulled away from the kiss with a laugh, resting my forehead against his as I did so.
"I'm not having sex with you in the sea, so don't even try it" I warned, though I think my laughter removed any seriousness from my words.
"Why not?" He questioned, over dramatically frowning as he did so.
"Damon, I can think of a thousand reasons why not, it's not happening" I told him firmly, though my laughter soon broke through my words. Just the idea of having to tell him why we wouldn't be shagging in the sea seemed completely bizarre to me.
Things had been... odd over the past few days. Damon and I had both cried, a lot, though for once it was him crying more than me. He'd opened up to me about the panic attacks, which I thought had died down, but that actually kept him awake most nights. He told me that one night his heart was beating so fast, chest so tight that he actually believed he was going to die, he was alone and completely terrified. He told me how miserable life had become, how much he regretted the country house battle. He would walk down a road, into a supermarket and they would deliberately play oasis, just to get a reaction from him. He told me that he found it funny the first time it happened but now, after it occurring almost daily, it half killed him.
Justine had phoned him yesterday, I couldn't hear what she was saying but I aimlessly sat by Damon's feet trying to work out the direction the phone call was going in. The coward had called time on their relationship, broken up with him over the phone. I was heartbroken for him, their five year relationship seemed meaningless enough for it to be ended on a phone call. He told me that she was like me, a tough exterior but hated confrontation so he wasn't surprised she had ended things over the phone, but I was still angry. They both deserved far more closure than a phone call could bring them. He told me that he had agreed to pretend to be with her until the year was out, they had far too many invites to events to cancel. Damon wasn't too bothered, he didn't need the money or the publicity they gave but he knew how much Justine wanted it, so he reluctantly agreed to it.
It had been a rough night, I had never thought he'd be this heartbroken over her, there were times that I had doubted he even loved her, but he was so unbelievably upset. Though, this morning had come round and he looked lighter, happier. The bags from under his eyes had started to fade, his eyes looked brighter and his smile was wider. It was amazing what sea air does for the mind and soul.
"Lyla" I heard him say, I looked across to him with a smile.
"Sorry, was daydreaming" I mumbled, he rolled his eyes at me but laughed nonetheless.
"I asked you if you wanted to go and build a sandcastle?" He asked quietly, the reflection of the moon causing a sparkle in his eyes.
I laughed but nodded my head I honestly couldn't think of anything worse, I just wanted to get inside and shower, but Damon looked so excited by the idea I just couldn't say no.
"You're mental" I shouted after him, he had started running back to the beach. The cold felt like it had frozen my body and I struggled to catch up with him.
He put his dressing gown back on, the material sticking to his wet body, and dropped down to his knees, using his hands as makeshift buckets and spades. I reluctantly followed suit, though I was far less eager to cover myself in sand.
"Okay Damon, I've really had enough now. I'm fucking freezing" I sighed after watching him build sandcastles, for what felt like hours. He turned his head up to me and frowned, shaking his head but his blue-tinged lips told me otherwise.
I took hold of his hand, pulling him up to his feet before practically dragging him back up to the house. We had left the back door unlocked as there were steps down to the beach at the back of his garden. Damon reached forward to open the back door, but I grabbed hold of his hand to stop him.
"No way, you're gonna have to shake" I told him, laughing at the frown he gave me. The cold had well and truly kicked in for him and he hadn't stopped shivering whilst we walked back.
"I'll just get in the shower" he whined, I laughed once again and shook my head.
"You'll fuck your shower, just take your dressing gown off and try and get some of the sand off" I told him firmly with a roll of my eyes, he was the one who wanted to play in the sand so he had to deal with the consequences now.
"You just want to look at my dick" He mumbled under his breath, though he looked up and gave me a smile when he heard me laugh.
"In your dreams" I laughed, using my hands to try and brush some of the sand off of him.
"Go on, you'll do" I told him with a laugh as he ran inside, leaving half the beach on the decking.
I shook myself off before following him inside, the warmth of the house was unbelievably welcome on my cold body. With how cold I currently felt, you certainly wouldn't believe it was July.
"Are you joining me in the shower?" I heard Damon shout down to me, I laughed but eagerly ran up the stairs to the bathroom. I mean, I'd be silly not to really.
I slowly opened my eyes, groaning as I did so, before I had even fully awoken the realisation of what today was hit me like a tonne of bricks.
"Morning love" I heard Damon say groggily from beside me, I opened my eyes to see him sat up with a notebook and pen on his lap.
I groaned again, moving over so I was cuddled up to his side and resting my head on his chest.
"You okay?" He asked me quietly, he had placed his notebook on his bedside table and moved further down the bed so that he had me completely wrapped up in his arms.
"Don't want to face today" I mumbled, keeping my eyes closed and my head rested on his shoulder. He brought a hand up and gently stroked my cheek, I couldn't help but smile as he did so. Stroking my cheek was something my mum did when I was younger, whenever I was sad and it was something Damon had adopted when we were together.
"We can stay in bed all day if you want" He said gently, i opened my eyes and gave him a small smile, nodding my head slowly.
"You won't leave me, will you?" I whispered, I suddenly felt very vulnerable and very afraid of being alone. A comforting smile spread across his lips.
"Of course not, I'm here forever" He told me with a strong sense of certainty in his words. "I promise" He whispered in my ear, placing a gentle kiss on my cheek.
"What were you writing?" I asked him, a small smile growing on my lips as he screwed up his face and shook his head.
"Oh nothing" He said dismissively, I raised my eyebrows in question, he rolled his eyes but laughed as he did so "I just felt all inspired watching you sleep next to me"
"Can I read it?" I asked him quickly, the smile growing on my face.
He shook his head once again "No, not until I finish it". His response caused me to pout up at him, hoping that would make him crack and agree to let me read it, instead he just laughed "Lyla, you can pout all you like, you're not reading it until it's finished"
"But you've never written a song about me before!" I whined, frowning as I did so, I just wanted a little peek at the words.
"Are you joking?" He exclaimed, a smile on his face "I've written loads of songs about you love"
"Really?" I scoffed "like what? Fucking parklife?"
He laughed at me, shaking his head and wrapping his arms around me once again. With him and Justine no longer together, something just felt different about being with him. Perhaps it was the guilt of being with him disappearing.
"You just need to really think about some of our songs, some are very obviously written about you" He told me gently, his hot breath tickling my cheeks.
I frowned and shook my head "That's such a cop out Dames, you don't even know yourself!"
He shook his head but didn't argue with me, his actions made me laugh, I knew I was right! I looked across at him and couldn't help but smile, his hair was scruffy but he'd never looked better, he looked peaceful, happy. He opened his eyes and caught me staring at him, but I didn't care. His blue eyes staring straight back into my own made butterflies flutter around in my stomach, they were the same eyes I'd fallen in love with all those years ago.
"I love you" I whispered, before gasping slightly when I realised what I'd said out loud "Sorry Dames, I didn't mean, I just-"
"Stop" He told me quietly, biting down on his bottom lip to try and suppress his smile "I love you too Eliza, I always have and I always will"
A/N
In aid of today being Valentine's Day, here's a little fluffy cute chapter, I hope you all enjoy it!!