17| silent

Melinoe

"Home, a place where I can go. To take this off my shoulders, someone take me home." - Bebe Rexha, Machine Gun Kelly & X Ambassadors

***

"Put me down! Damon put me down!" I giggled. "Only if you give me a kiss,"

I stayed silent with a mischievous smirk that he couldn't see. "Hmm," I hummed and pretended to think about it. "A kiss?" I asked and he hummed in response. "Then put me down," I was still in his hold for a few more seconds but I felt him slowly and gently  let go.

Once I felt myself being placed down, I took a second before running off. "Eli!"

I didn't listen and just kept running off with a smile on my face. My eyes were closed and I inhaled some of fresh air. I didn't remember the last time I was this happy. And Damon was the source of my happiness.

After that night, things changed between Damon and I. We become more closer. I was still his girlfriend in a lot of people's eyes and it hadn't been that hard considering the fact that from the inside, nothing really changed. We were just human beings, forgetting about the real world out there. Back home.

Damon was the one person who actually made me feel alive and like I meant something.

Suddenly my phone began ringing. I stopped running and took my phone out of my pocket and stared at the caller ID.

And I knew no matter how happy Damon made me, no matter how alive and worthy he made me feel. Aaron still had my heart. My eyes never left the screen until I heard heavy footsteps like someone was running-

"Eli, goddamnit I thought I lost you." I switched my phone off almost immediately and shoved it in my pockets. "Seems I'm more fitter than you,"

"Keep thinking that, I was helping an older lady cross the street." I hummed in response with uncertainty but I believed him. "I'm hungry, where do you want to go?"

"We can go get some tacos and then later we'll go somewhere else?"

"Where's that?" I asked but instead of answering me, he said, "You still owe me kiss,"

***

I had settled with a normal dress and a pair of Nike sneakers. I decided to free to just let my hair down and wore some shorts under my dress. Once I was done, I took one look at myself before grabbing my clutch and left the bathroom. Once I was out, I spotted Damon seated on the bed with His head glued to his phone.

"I'm ready," and with just those two words, his head shot up.

Well that was easy.

"Lets go," he said getting up from his spot. "You still didn't tell me where we're going," I said as we reached the outside and he opened the door for me to his Ferrari but I paused. "Where's your bike?"  I turned to him.

"It's always with me," I knew he could read me by just the smile that was on my face. Next thing I know, is that my face was covered with a helmet and my arms were wrapped around his waist and he was speeding off to God knows where.

***

I knitted my brows as my eyes wondered around. The green made me feel like I was seeing Italy as I stared at it, dumbfounded. "Damon w-"

"This has always been my favorite place ever since I left home," he said staring at the greenness. "The hills," he smiled.

"It reminds me so much of home. Home, a place where I didn't want to leave but had no choice to,"

"Why'd you leave?" I asked softly, my curiosity getting the best of me. I watched him as he sat on one of the hills and rested his head. I repeated his actions and stared at the night sky as I awaited his next words. "My mother adored it there. That's where she made her most greatest memories, she had dementia." My heart stopped.

"She started forgetting us. Little by little and it was like a slow burn. It went from her remembering me, to her remembering me only as a kid and then to even before I was born. She was unaware of the present so we had to relive the past. Two months later, she passed away. My mother, being someone that everybody adored so you could imagine how her funeral was like. I couldn't even survive a week in Italy because everything reminded me of her and it was intoxicating. I couldn't stay there, I had to leave. But I knew leaving home would be like leaving a piece of me."

Tears blurred my gaze from his side view and I immediately engulfed Damon in a hug. "I'm so, so sorry." I choked and rested my head on his shoulder. I could sense him trying to civer his emotions up. "Let it out, let it all out,"

And then finally he cracked and I heard his cries. I hugged him so tight, afraid to let him go. "Scream, cry, shout. Just let it out," he continued to cry and it felt as if every cry was killing me but it wasn't at the same time. He needed this.

He then began letting go of me slowly and I allowed him. He got up from his position and stood up on a hill. He let out a roar that echoed and I felt my heart beating. I engulfed him into another hug and let him cry on my shoulder.

Minutes had passed and he was still in my hold. I kept rocking him back and fourth and allowed him to calm down. After another good minute, I heard him say something unexpected.

"What if I told you, I was willing to marry you?" My heart dropped once again. I stared into space, disbelief in my eyes. Did I hear him right? Marry me? Me? Why me?

I didn't know what caused me to say my next words but I said them anyway. "And what if I told you... I would say yes?"

I knew I was playing with fire.

I knew that.

And sooner or later, I'd be burnt.