"I feel like I was hit by a truck." Damon groaned. I shot him a quick sideways glance, a small smile playing on my lips.
"I can feel you there."
"Where are we going?" he grumbled, watching the familiarity of our town rush passed in a blur. "Micky?"
I clenched the steering wheel in my hands, watching the color drain from them. "I think it'd be best if you had someone watching over you for a while."
He opened his mouth to protest, but I held a hand up, silencing him.
"I know you're going to hate me for this, Damon. I'm sorry." I finished with a shaky breath.
Damon rested his head against the window and sighed.
"I don't hate you." he whispered.
"What?"
"I don't hate you, Micky. I guess I understand, you're just looking out for me." he answered.
I smiled, outstretching a hand and resting it on his leg. He laced his fingers through mine and laughed quietly to himself.
"How's school been without me?" he sounded genuinely curious.
"Everyone's been asking about what happened to you." I shook my head. "You should hear half the theories people are coming up with. Our peers definitely have imagination."
Damon nodded, keeping quiet for a few minutes. "How's Ryder?"
"He's doing okay. He's been trying to ask Rachel's parents for their blessing, but you can probably guess how that's going."
"What about you? How's everything been going for you?" he lifted his head, blue eyes glistening.
"Well, I've spent every afternoon for the last week in a hospital room with the school's bad boy." I smiled. "And spend my mornings trying to avoid my father and get through the last few months of school. I'd say I'm doing okay."
Damon chuckled. "Very cute, Princess."
"Thanks." I squeezed his hand, "I learned from the best."
*
Damon, with a lot of resistance, eventually agreed to stay with his brother for a few weeks, until he was back on his feet. I knew he needed some time to recollect his thoughts, and I thought it'd be best if he wasn't alone in the process of it.
After dropping him off and helping him settle in, I drove back to the other side of town and pulled the car into one of the few spots in the parking lot outside Damon's apartments. Ryder and his father stood in front of the doors, shifting back and forth.
I could feel a smile tugging on my lips when I saw how Ryder was dressed. He wore a black shirt splattered with blue and white paint, his jeans torn and as spotted as his shirt. Mr. Stone held a tool box in one hand, pushing into the wall beside him, beads of sweat forming along his forehead.
"How bad?" I asked, pulling the spare set of keys Damon had given me from my purse and swinging them around my index finger.
Mr. Stone frowned. "The stairs need major restoration. I'd say a couple thousand just in those, and another few in the painting."
"The appliances?" I breathed.
He huffed out a sigh of his own. "There's some work that needs to be done in a few of the rooms, a couple water heaters that need to be replaced, but I'd say that's going to be the lowest cost."
I turned my attention to Ryder with a small smile. "How's everything going with Mr. and Mrs. Thompson?"
"It's going." he scratched at the back of his head, shaking it when he realized flecks of paint had come off his hands and fallen into his dark hair. "I honestly think Mr. Thompson is contemplating murdering me and Mrs. Thompson is planning where to hide my body."
I threw my head back with a laugh. "They'll warm up to you, don't worry."
Ryder ran a hand through his hair.
"I hope so. I've never had to work so hard to please a girl's parents. Usually they fall at my feet when they hear I play football and have a job." he said. Mr. Stone turned his head and sized his son up with a disapproving look.
"I didn't raise you to think that way, Ryder." he snapped.
Ryder raised his free hand in surrender. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I should respect a woman. I'm definitely learning to now, Dad."
As much as a I enjoyed the normalcy of the conversation, I knew work had to be done behind the closed doors if we were going to surprise Damon.
"Okay, okay, I know that look." Mr. Stone returned my smile and stepped out of the way so I could unlock the front doors and step into the building.
*
Picking Damon back up proved to be more of a chore than I would have liked it to be. He refused to sit in the back seat and stood outside the car until Ryder finally caved and threw himself in back.
"You have a creepy ass smile on your face, bro." Damon caught his best friend's eyes in the rear view mirror. "Are you sure you're not the one that almost died?"
Ryder snorted. "Nah, man. You're the king of almost dying and shit."
I couldn't help but smile in amusement at the words; he wasn't exactly wrong.
Though it hadn't been as frequent, the case of my presence almost killing Damon still lingered. If there was going to be any sort of serious relationship between us, I'd have to hope that the curse would eventually see it's end and we'd be able to be with each other without an accident ending our night.
"What are you guys hiding from me?" Damon looked over at me.
"I'm sorry, Damon." I feigned a sad look. "I just. . . I don't think it's a good idea for us to be around each other anymore. I almost kill you every day, we can't live our entire lives that way."
He saw right through the facade. "Screw almost killing me. You saved my life, Micky."
"You did." Ryder agreed.
"Bax saved your life, not me. He was the one that shot Craig and helped me get you out of there, Damon."
He stretched his feet out in front of him. "Can't you just accept you had a part in that too? You saved my life, Micky. You aren't a monster."
Feeling as though the subject was too personal, I kept what I really wanted to say to myself.
"Saving you had no effect on saving Brady. I started the fire that-"
"If you're a monster, then so am I." Damon cut me off. "We both have regrets and wish we could go back and change them, but we can't. We're just going to have to accept what's around us now and what the future holds."
Ryder snickered and leaned in between our seats. "Okay, Adams Family, please stop it with the self-blame shit. And Damon?"
"Yeah?"
"When the hell did you become some philosopher?"
The boys bickered back and forth for a while, Damon throwing looks at his friend over his shoulder. When we finally pulled back into the parking lot of Damon's apartment building, his eyebrows drew in confusion, completely forgetting what he had been fighting with Ryder about.
"What are we doing here?"
I climbed out instead of responding, meeting Ryder's eyes over the hood of the car when he joined me. Damon's fingers curled around the door handle before he pushed it all the way open and turned to us.
"Why do I get the feeling you two have been plotting my murder for the last five hours?"
Ryder stretched his arm out over Damon's shoulder and led him up to the entrance. Damon grabbed at my wrist once I was within a close enough proximity for him to do so.
"What the hell is going on?" Damon muttered. His eyes fell on the tarp over the broken stairs, eyebrows raising, but didn't question it. Ryder led the way to his apartment, the last door on the right.
"We understand how much this place means to you." I started, slowing to a stop. Damon spun around to face me, lips parting. "As you put it, this place is your first step into a second chance."
Ryder took the keys from me and unlocked the door, nudging the apartment with his knee until it creaked open and revealed the living room.
A white banner with Damon's name on it was strung along the ceiling, courtesy of Ryder. A book sat on the coffee table, a small white box on top of it.
"What is this?" Damon shot us both dark looks. "I hate you both."
He broke from Ryder's grip and moved toward the table, picking up the box and uncapping it in seconds. The box nearly slipped from his grip when he saw the contents.
"Where'd you get this?" he questioned, whirling around to face me.
Ryder kicked the door shut behind him and threw himself down on the couch, awaiting my answer.
"I talked to a few people and they agreed to loan the money for the time being." I responded.
I knew I should have told him exactly who had given it, but I wasn't sure he'd take it if he knew. Derek had been more than willing to give a large portion of it, and Bax had agreed to give his own little donation, liking the cause of what Damon was doing. Ryder and I had also taken a little from our own personal accounts to throw in.
He shook his head in disbelief. "This is incredible!"
I hardly had enough time to move before he had swept me into a bone crushing hug. Gasping for air, I gently squirmed out of his grip and kissed his cheek. "You're going to build this place up from the ground. Here's your second chance, Damon. Make it count."
He thanked us both before heading into his bedroom to change. Ryder was smiling on the sofa, head propped on his hand. "He's so whipped."
"He won't be the only one that is if you don't shut up." I nodded toward the towel hanging off the arm of the loveseat. "And don't you forget I'm Rachel's best friend, I have a say in who she dates and her parents love me."
"You wouldn't do that. You love me." he winked.
I crossed my arms, casting a look down the dark hall. "I would, Ryder. Don't test me."
Hearing the playfulness in my tone, he waved me off and went back to staring down at his phone. I made my way down the hallway, knocking on Damon's bedroom door in hopes he may let me in. When he didn't answer, I turned the knob and threw the door open.
"Ouch!" he cried out, backing away with his hand over his nose.
My hand shot over my mouth. "I'm so sorry! Let me get tissue."
I moved passed him, and in one not-so-graceful movement, knocked his knee into the wall and he lost his balance, hitting the ground hard.
He stared up at me, a joking look in his eyes, before falling back into a fit of laughter, blood still trickling from his nose.
I hurried into the bathroom for tissues and crouched down in front of him. I sat opposite of him with a guilty look. "I'm really sorry."
Damon leaned forward and cupped my face in between his hands. "You're never going to stop trying to kill me, are you?"
I brushed my thumb under the bruise along his right eye, matching his joking tone.
"It's my pride and joy in life." I laughed.
He kissed me slowly, resting his forehead against mine.
"Micky? I lied about something." he whispered.
I blinked, leaning back. "About what?"
"I lied about starting falling in love with you." he said. "I've already fallen."
I dropped my head a fraction and smiled. "We'll give 'Til Death Do Us Part' a whole new meaning."
He chuckled, his laughter vibrating through his chest. "We already have."
I moved so I was sitting beside him, lacing my fingers through his as we stared at the bare wall ahead.
"Damon?" my voice was barely above a whisper.
"Yeah, Micky?"
"I love you too."
***AN***
*Unedited*
I hope you guys enjoyed! The epilogue will be posted tonight as well? Are you guys excited or upset? Honestly, I don't know what to feel.
Let me know what you guys think/thought!