SOPHIA
Today I would finally get to see my angel. I was so excited to see Tori's beautiful face and hold her little hand. I just wished she would wake up so I could see her eyes too.
This morning I got up bright and early so I had a lot of time before Damon picked me up at noon. Even though I knew I didn't need to get all dolled up to see Tori, since she wasn't awake, I still felt like I had to.
The little voice in the back of my mind told me the real reason was because I would see Damon, but I shooed the irritating thought away immediately.
Why would I want to look good for him? I had no reason to impress him and I never cared about what he thought of me before, why would I start now?
It wasn't like I had feelings for him or anything. He was just a friend I had to be cautious about, that was all.
But if I didn't like him, why had I been thinking non stop about the kiss since it happened? It was the last thing I thought of before I fell asleep and the first thing that popped into my head when I woke up, even before the thought of visiting Tori.
Because you like him that stupid voice in the back of my mind whispered.
That was impossible, I would have to be crazy to like him romantically. But then again, I was practically having a conversation with myself at the moment so maybe I was losing my mind a little. But that still didn't mean I had feelings for Damon.
I needed to stop thinking about all of that before I gave myself a headache. Damon would be over soon and I had to finish getting ready. I didn't want to be late to visit Tori.
Although I woke up early specifically to get ready, that plan didn't exactly succeed. I was too busy lost in my confusing and troubling thoughts to make any real progress in looking presentable.
I quickly slipped on a black tennis skirt and a white oversized jumper that I paired with white sneakers. The outfit was more girly than I'd usually wear but I felt both cute and comfortable, the best of both worlds.
I wondered if Damon would like it?
Why did I suddenly care what he thought about my clothing? His opinion didn't matter to me, never had and never would. So why did that question cross my mind?
Maybe I was just feeling a little bit out of my comfort zone in the skirt and wanted the approval of someone else?
Just as I finished loosely curling my hair the doorbell rang. Perfect timing as always, if it was Damon.
My heart began racing because I couldn't suppress the impossible idea of him being at the door, but when I realized how ridiculous I was acting my heart continued to beat rapidly for a whole different reason.
I told myself it was the excitement for visiting Tori, but I knew deep down a little part of it was because Damon was here.
I gave myself one last look over and nodded in approval, then raced downstairs to answer the door.
I swung it open and just like I thought, it was Damon.
"Hey." I greeted casually, looking up at him, but he wasn't paying attention because he was to busy running his eyes up and down my body.
"Like what you see?" I teased, suppressing a smirk.
He finally looked me in the eyes and said "Yes, a lot actually."
At first I thought he was joking but the look in his eyes told me he was dead serious, which had my cheeks flaming.
"Whatever." I mumbled, not knowing how to take a compliment from him.
He chuckled, "Ready to go sweetheart?"
My heart raced all over again when he used my nickname. I couldn't believe how much he was effecting me. I needed to make it stop.
"Yeah, lets go." I said and walked out the door, locking it behind me.
Once we were in his car and on our way to the hospital he turned on the radio.
I sang along when I recognized the song and Damon also joined in. Every time we sang together it took my breath away, our voices fit together perfectly.
When the song ended there was a goofy grin on Damon's face that I was definitely mirroring.
"I still can't believe how good you are at singing." He commented.
"Same goes for you. And we sound pretty good together." I replied.
"We look pretty good together too." He added softly.
I almost choked on air when his words registered in my brain. Where did that come from? Why did he say that?
I was completely speechless so instead of saying something that wouldn't probably end up embarrassing g me, I kept my mouth shut and pretended like I didn't hear him.
I could briefly feel his gaze on me, burning holes into the side of my head, before returning to the road.
Suddenly I could think about was if Damon and I actually looked good together. But thankfully before I could fall down that rabbit hole we arrived at the hospital.
I quickly hopped out of the car and my nerves kicked in. Even though I was excited to see Tori I was also more scared than ever. As far as I knew she was still in a coma, laying helplessly on her bed. I hoped the nurses were playing movies for her, even if we weren't sure she could hear anything while unconscious.
I silently walked into the hospital with Damon at my side, and for some reason just having him here calmed me down a little bit.
I signed in at the front desk before slowly making my way to my angel's room.
I stopped in front of her door, hesitating as I went to grab the handle.
I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst and hoping for the best, then with one last glance at Damon I pulled the door open.
"Sissy?" I quiet raspy voice asked.
If it weren't for Damon steadying me, I would've collapsed. That one word was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard and it almost brought me to my knees.
"You're awake!" I exclaimed, rushing over to Tori's bedside.
"I missed you." She said weakly.
"I missed you too princess, I'm sorry I wasn't here. Im so sorry." I whispered, totally forgetting that Damon was in the room.
"Can we watch a movie?" She asked quietly, her greyish green eyes wide and hopeful.
How could I ever say no to her?
"Of course. Want to watch Snow White?" I asked, knowing that it was one of her favourites.
She nodded eagerly and tried to sit up but couldn't find enough strength. Seeing her so sick and weak broke my heart. Tears pricked my eyes but I blinked them away. I needed to stay strong for her.
I helped her sit up before quickly setting up the movie and taking a seat beside her.
"Why are you crying?" She asked, whipping away a stray tear that ran down my cheek. I hadn't even realized I'd let one fall.
"I'm just glad you're ok, I was so worried." I told her, taking one of her little hands into mine.
"I'm okay now sissy." She reassured me, sounding so much older than she was. No child should ever have to go through all this.
Tori turned her attention to the door and I followed her gaze. My eyes landed on Damon and a pang of guilt hit me. I forgot he was here.
"Who's that?" Tori asked curiously.
"That's my friend Damon, I though I'd bring him by today so you could meet him." I answered, waving Damon over.
He hesitantly walked towards us and stopped when he reached the empty spot beside Tori.
"Hello little cutie." He greeted Tori, who giggled back at him.
"What's your name?" He asked, crouching down to her level.
"Tori." She said shyly.
Damon sent her a smile and said "That's a pretty name."
"Thank you." She replied.
As they kept talking I couldn't help but smile adoringly at the pair. I never knew Damon was so good with kids. The way he talked to Tori made my heart swell. And Tori seemed to love him instantly, in no time he had her babbling about all her favourite things.
Although Tori was a naturally upbeat person, she was even happier chatting with Damon. If I had known he would bring such light out of her I would've brought him to meet her much sooner.
"So are we gonna start watching the movie now or what?" Damon asked, turning his attention to me.
I nodded and pressed play on the remote as he got into the bed beside Tori.
She looked up at him with a cute goofy smile the adoration in his eyes as he returned her smile was a beautiful sight. It was obvious that Tori captured Damon's heart.
Just as the movie started Damon looked over at me and I mouthed 'thank you' to him. He couldn't possibly understand how much it meant to see Tori so happy.
- - - - - -
"Thank you so much for coming with me today." Was the first thing I said to Damon as we exited the hospital
"Anytime, and I mean that. That little girl in there is a fighter, she's something special and I'd love to see her again." He replied, looking me in the eyes intensely as he spoke.
I smiled a big goofy smile that almost made my cheeks hurt. "I'd like that, she seemed to absolutely love you. I've never seen her so happy before."
"Well it doesn't surprise me, every girl I meet falls in love with me." He joked cockily as we reached his car.
My laugh was loud and obnoxious. "That's not even slightly true."
He scoffed, "Name one girl that doesn't love me."
I smirked as I slid into his car and answered when he got in too, "Me of course."
"Don't lie. You're totally head over heels for me sweetheart." he said as he pulled out of the parking lot.
Now it was my turn to scoff as I tried to calm my racing heart, why did that nickname have to effect me so much?
"Not even in your wildest dreams would I love you." I retorted.
"Oh no, in my dreams you're always obsessed with me, totally love struck. It's quite creepy actually." He told me.
"Well it's not my fault you dream those kind of things." I shot back, then decided to end the pointless discussion by turning on the radio.
A song I didn't recognize came on and I was about to change it when Damon started singing along.
His voice was hypnotizing, I couldn't get enough of it. I kind of wanted him to sing me to sleep every night.
By the time the song ended he was pulling into a parking lot that definitely didn't belong to either of our houses.
I was about to ask him where we were when I recognized the building. This was the bowling alley we went to the day when we ditched detention. Why were we here?
"I haven't been here in a couple days and Tom has been asking me to bring you around again." He explained when he saw my confusion.
I nodded in understanding and got out of the car at the same time as him.
As soon as we entered the building a big smile spread across Tom's face.
"So we meet again miss Sophia." He greeted me.
I grinned at him, "Yeah, long time no see huh?"
He nodded, "So are you two bowling again, I know how well that went last time."
I giggled at the memory of Damon being a sore loser after I completely destroyed him.
"No, today we're gonna play pool." Damon answered.
Pool? I'd never played before.
"C'mon." Damon said, waving me over to a pool table.
I slowly walked over.
"What's wrong?" He asked when I finally reached him.
"I've never played before." I told him. I had to suppress myself from pouting. I wanted to beat Damon but how could I do that at something I had no experience with?
"That's okay, I'll teach you." He reassured me.
I nodded and took the pole he held out for me.
He decided to shoot first and break the triangle of balls, making two striped balls fall into the pockets.
Then he shot again and didn't get any balls in so now it was my turn.
"Come here." He ushered me over to where the white ball was.
I walked over and he stood behind me to help me to hold the pole right. To my surprise he pressed his chest up against my back and placed his hands over mine as I bent over to take the shot.
"Now pull back the pole and hit the ball." He instructed quietly in my ear, sending chills down my spine.
I did as i was told, with his help, and sunk a solid ball.
"Just like that." He said lightly before stepping away so we could make our way around the table to where the white ball now waited.
"That was easy." I remarked, feeling more confident than I probably should've.
He chuckled, "If it's so easy why don't you take the next shot all by yourself."
I vigorioguslly shook my head, "I think I'll still take your help anyway." I knew if I wanted even the slightest chance at winning I would need all the help I could get.
He gave me an amused smile and the rest of the game went on like that. Damon helping me and me being overly excited when I sunk a ball.
And every time his body was pressed against mine and he whisper some sort of advice in my ear that same shiver went down my spine. Having him so close fogged my brain and I had to fight hard against it every shot I took so I didn't mess up.
Halfway through the game I realized he was distracting me on purpose to throw my game off. That was how desperate he was to beat me at something. And it worked. I didn't win the game, but I got close. I did well for my first time playing, next time I would definitely beat him. And I wouldn't even have to cheat.
"Come back again soon!" Tom called out to us as we walked out the door.
We both waved him goodbye and promised to come by more often, before getting back in Damon's car and making our way home.
Once we were in his driveway he cut the engine and turned to face me.
"I had fun today." He said.
"Me too." I agreed, smiling at him.
He smiled back for a moment but then grew serious.
"I wanted to ask you something. Would you like to, uh, go out sometime?" He said hesitantly.
I gave him a confused look,"I thought we just went out?"
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I didn't mean it like that."
What did me mean then? What was he trying to ask? It took a second before it finally clicked in my head.
"Like a date?" I blurted bluntly.
He gave me an nervous smile and nodded.
Was Damon Blake, my once mortal enemy now turned kind of friend, seriously asking me out on a date? How had we gotten to this point?
I almost shot down his offer immediately, as if it was some lingering instinct I had from when we hated each other. But then I thought about how caring he'd been since we became friends, and how good he was with Tori. I felt like I could trust Damon more than anyone else in the world, I even told him my whole life story, so what was stopping me from saying yes?
Maybe I should give him a chance, if was just a date after all. It wasn't like I was agreeing to marry him.
As I tried to figure out what to do my mind was brought back to the kiss we shared on my couch. My lips tingled at the memory, and I finally had my answer.
"Um, sure. I'd like that." I replied at last, taking him by surprise. I don't think he expected me to say yes, and honestly I, too, was a little surprised that I agreed to go out with him.
I spent all day trying to convince myself that I wasn't developing feelings for Damon, and somehow now I had just agreed to go on a date with him. How did this happen?