Ella knew of an apple farm nearby. She would always go their during the summer and fall since it was the perfect season for their apples. Her mom had discovered the place five years after moving there, and since then, they had been regulars there. It didn't hurt that the people were so nice to her every time she went.
"Wait. Do you like apples...?" Ella trailed off curiously, staring at Damien with anxiousness. Damien found her adorable. She had already parked in a large area off a field. Signs of offers of the apple farm visible.
"Yes, I do." Damien got out, walking around Ella's car.
"Okay, good. I didn't realize I didn't ask you." Ella locked her car before tossing her keys inside her crossbody. "Let's go." She took his hand, lacing their fingers together a little shyly before he also firmly held her hand, and she felt better.
"Ella!" An older woman approached them wearing some overalls that seemed a bit too big on her elderly yet energetic body. "It's been a while, girly!" The woman drew Ella in for a hug, squeezing the young woman tightly.
"It has." Ella smiled back warmly before looking behind her to pull Damien closer by his hand. "I figured I should promote your beautiful farm to another person."
The woman looked at Damien from head to toe in an appreciative yet wary manner. The man seemed older than her precious Ellie, not to mention that he also seemed stiff and way too formal for someone as warm and casual as Ella.
"Nice to meet, honey. I'm Sandra." Sandra extended her hand toward's Damien who also shook her hand without hesitation. That was a good sign to Sandra.
"Damien at your service, ma'am." Damien politely smiled, finding it easier to do with Ella right by his side, holding his left hand encouragingly.
"So!" Sandra clapped her hands, reaching behind her at the booth to pull two large baskets. "What are we in the hunt for? Granny Smiths? Rome Beauties? Jonathans? You name it, we probably have it." Sandra was ushering them inside the gates to her farm while Ella tried planting her feet on the ground.
"Wait, Sandra," Ella was no match for the old, little lady who just kept shoving the couple forward. Damien, upon noticing that Ella wanted to stop, stopped, and Sandra was then rendered useless to move the bulk of muscle that was Damien. "Thank you," Ella smiled in relief towards Damien before turning to frown at Sandra. "We didn't pay for the baskets, Sandra."
"Nonsense!" Sandra waved her hands in the air without a care. "I don't want to hear it, Ellie. You really think I'll go broke if you two enter for free? Come on." Sandra, again, pushed Ella forward successfully, and Damien followed.
He had been in many courts before so he knew how to read people's body language. He knew Sandra was not going to let Ella pay for anything no matter what Ella said or did.
"Here, your favorites." Sandra plucked some Red Delicious apples and tossed them into Ella's basket, catching Ella off-guard and causing her to almost drop the basket from the sudden weight.
"Momma!" A loud voice was calling out, and Sandra rolled her eyes sassily.
"I'll leave you to give the tour. You know this place well, anyway." Sandra plucked another apple and tossed it into her bucket before rushing off. "What?" Sandra's voice could be heard as she yapped away.
"She's a character." Ella sighed, laughing. "So... what type of apples do you like?" Ella began walking down the rows, plucking an apple here or there.
They had been walking for a while, and Ella's basket had been filled, so Damien took it, and replaced it with his, allowing her to fill it again as they walked down another type of apples.
Their conversation went from their preferences of apples to their favorite colors to their birth dates. By the time that both buckets had been filled, Ella and Damien both knew more information about each other that they knew was bound to be useful within time.
"Stephanie didn't like school, but it worked out for her." Ella explained to Damien who was listening attentively to her words. "Her becoming a model was both a disgrace and a blessing to my parents." Ella chuckled, remembering the countless of celebrations yet arguments that ensued the next couple of months that Stephanie had begun her career.
"To you, though?" Damien asked, looking at her curiously. Ella had spoken a lot about her family and things that revolved around her, but for some reason, she rarely spoke about herself, which was what Damien was most interested in.
"To me..." Ella trailed, blinking in an attempt to recall what she had said and done. "I don't think I ever minded their life decisions, honestly. I've seen them grow up and be mature and intelligent enough to make their choices, so as long as their happy and healthy, my opinion shouldn't matter."
Damien nodded, smiling in pride at how mature and kind Ella was for being so young.
"What about you? I know you're an only child, but you didn't have some that you were close to? Ride or die type of thing?" Ella questioned, and almost as soon as she did, she saw Damien's expression begin to morph from content and tranquil to distant and aloof. "I'm sorry. I didn't know, but you don't have to tell me until you want to."
Damien nodded. He knew Ella, and he knew that she meant what she said. She wouldn't pressure him to open up to her nor would she make him feel guilty about not doing it fast enough. That made Damien feel at peace.
After loading the baskets into Ella's vehicle, which was mostly Damien doing the heavy-work while Ella stood by the side just in case Damien did need an extra hand, Ella convinced Damien to go home with her while they made apple pies from scratch. It was past lunch-time, anyway, so they could have dinner together too.
"The cheese is so good." Ella remarked when she tasted the warm gooeyness coming from the slice of pizza.
"This is the only pizza I can really stand to eat." Damien agreed, almost devouring a whole slice in two bites.
"You're strange. I thought pizza was something that everyone enjoyed." Ella scrunched her nose in distaste at the thought of people not loving pizza as much as her.
"After we grew up, I just kind of... left it." Damien shrugged. He didn't mind eating it though. It seemed as though Ella was ready to fall in love with the pizza delivery guy as soon as he showed up, so Damien knew he couldn't take that away from her.
"Feel free to tell me I'm prodding," Ella warned, wiping her mouth with a napkin by her side, "who is 'we'?"
"Selena, Vincent, and me." Damien responded. That question wasn't too hard.
Ella nodded, pensive. She remembered Celeste, Damien's mom, mentioning Selena a couple of times during dinner. It seemed as though Celeste had been something more than just a friend, and it also seemed like Celeste would be more than happy to have her as more than just a friend of Damien's.
"What are you thinking?" Damien watched Ella curiously. She had pulled her dark brows together in concentration for a bit, so Damien knew something was going on that little head of hers.
"That Selena... was she... was she more than a friend?"
Damien smiled a little. He wasn't used to having Ella ask these types of questions. It made him feel better about the whole Sam situation. At least now he knew that Ella could also get a little jealous.
"No." Damien firmly shook his head, and Ella nodded, seeming a bit relieved. "I... when I was young," Ella shot him a panned look, which had Damien chuckling and reaching across her dining table to take her hand in his. Whenever she did something even remotely cute or adorable, Damien had the urge to pull her closer to him in some way, shape, or form. "When I was younger, I almost did ask her to marry me, but we never dated."
Ella frowned, mindlessly stopping her crumbling of the napkin in her free hand. "How does that work?"
"I thought I was in love, but it was more a friendly type of affection that I had for her. I never got to ask her nor does she know about it, either." Damien explained, his fingers playing with Ella's slim hand.
"Oh..." Ella nodded, still thinking. "Do your parents know?" Maybe that was why Celeste and Romano had been hostile towards her; they thought that Damien was supposed to be with Selena.
"Yeah, but like I said; I was mistaken, and they know this too. It would never work." Damien couldn't remember the last time he had been so reassuring to a person and having to repeat himself like he was doing now, but he didn't mind.
"What about Selena? Does she like you?" Ella questioned again, trying to get a better grasp of the situation.
"Full of questions today, mm?" Damien murmured, squeezing her hand in his before he laughed at her frozen expression. "I'm kidding." He sighed, leaning back and thinking of the best way to put it. "I'm not interested in her."
"So she does like you." Ella concluded, taking another bite of her pizza.
It didn't really matter what situation Ella found herself in, it was almost impossible to take away her appetite or sleepiness at night. Even when she found out about the lawsuit, she still felt well. Now, when she was attacked, she did find it difficult to sleep for the first couple of days, but she soon realized that she was safe in her house.
Damien chuckled at her conclusion. He should've known that she was going to read him like a book.
"That's okay. I don't blame her for liking you." Ella shrugged casually. Damien was handsome and charismatic- in his own way; it would be hard for no one to like him.
"What about you? Did Sam ever like you?" Damien dared to ask. Since they were on the topic of relationships and crushes, he saw his opportunity to ask now, because if it wasn't now, he wasn't sure he wouldn't ever.
Ella chuckled and shook her head. "Nope. We are just friends. He's actually dating my sister." At that moment, the timer for the apple pie rang. "Perfect timing." Ella tossed her napkin onto her plate before getting up to go pull it out. "I'll be right back." She patted the back of Damien's chair as she passed by.
Taking out her oven mitts, she placed one on one hand and grabbed the thick cloth with the other. It always annoyed her how the sets were mostly sold with one mitt. She needed to purchase another matching mitt for her other hand.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, her grip slipped, the thick cloth slipping through and the heat instantly scorching Ella's skin. With a yelp, she kept the grip on the scalding pan until she could safely place it over the stove top.
"Ow," she hissed quietly, blinking back the tears that came automatically with the anguish and tantalizing pain of her skin feeling like it was melting off.
"Ella," Damien had decided to follow her after hearing the pained sound coming, and it was a good thing because Ella was still, cradling her hand in pain. "Come here," he gently brought her closer to him as he pulled her to the sink.
Grabbing a dishcloth, he soaked it in cold water before squeezing the excess water and gently wrapping it around the affected area.
"Oh, wait!" Ella yelped when the cloth brushed too harshly against her sensitive skin.
Damien stilled instantly, waiting until she relaxed again before he continued to wrap it gently. "Better?" He spotted her tears as soon as he looked at her face, and his chest constricted funnily. "Ella, why didn't you let it go?" He softly asked, bringing up a hand to massage her shoulder and bring her closer to him.
"I'm fine, it's just that the tears are seemingly automatic in these situations." Ella assured him, feeling like the cool cloth was actually helping.
"You should've just dropped it." Damien kissed her hair, and Ella chuckled against him.
"That was silly of me." Ella sniffed, feeling Damien pull away to unwrap her hand from the warming cloth before he poured some more cold water on it, squeezed it, and then rewrapped it to her hand.
"Where is your first aid kit?" Damien sat her on the kitchen stood before following her directions to find the kit. Once he had it, he returned, satisfied that her eyes were clear of tears.
"Just apply some aloe vera." Ella pulled out the small tube since Damien wasn't too sure which ointment to apply. Damien nodded, carefully dotting some onto his finger tips before bringing some onto her hand. While he concentrated on spreading it evenly and painlessly, Ella couldn't help but to admire his features from up close.
He really was devilishly handsome. How he hadn't become a model or actor left Ella in disbelief, but reconsidering it, Damien probably would leave people balking considering he wasn't too chatty or warm. People in the public sort of needed to get along with others exuberantly well.
"Does that feel okay to you?" Damien looked up to Ella who was already looking at him. "Hmm?"
"Yeah," Ella nodded, almost whispering from how intimate their position was. He was standing so close to her, almost completely looming over her smaller figure, and she also felt kind of dizzy from how masculine and pleasant his cologne smelt. "Thank you."
"I'll wrap it." Damien cleared his throat to rid of the awkward intensity that coated that moment. He could fell her electrifying warmth that was radiating onto him. It didn't help the fact that she was almost brazenly staring up at him.
While he wrapped it, he kept shooting her curious looks to see if he was doing it right, and Ella had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud at how cute he was acting.
"What is so funny?" Damien finally asked as he was finishing up. He casually looked up at her bright eyes. They seemed even brighter today, and that made him feel the urge to smile wider.
"Honestly, I'm just happy." Ella admitted, watching as Damien's cheeks got a very, very faint pink glow, and almost instinctively, she moved forward, kissing his jaw since it was closer than his cheek. "Thank you for this, too." She motioned her hand before packing the items that had been taken out of the first aid box. Damien, still taken aback by her kiss, nodded. "Cut into that pie because I've been through too much to not even get a taste." Ella called out behind her as she left to go put up the kit.
Damien chuckled, moving to carefully place two slices onto the plates Ella had previously set out. He couldn't help but to steal a bite before she got back, confirming that the apples and Ella's recipe added up to be the best apple pie he had ever had, or perhaps it was just his happy mood that made everything better.