Chapter Seventeen

It was the first time I pulled an all nighter. I was awake the entire night. I could’ve just fallen asleep, since nothing really happened, but I felt like I owed it to Damien. So I was up until the sun barely raised over the horizon. I didn’t even move, come to think about it. Damien was asleep on me, and I didn’t want to wake him, so I was still the entire night. Just sitting there. Watching Damien. Looking at the night sky. Nothing else.
Finally, he shifted in his spot. I moved a bit, and then he sat up.
“Ugh… what happened?” he mumbled.
“You got drunk last night,” I answered, handing him back the bottle of whiskey. I didn’t bother to mention what else he did last night, especially if it included something he did to me.
“Oh. Right. I remember now. Shit, I’ve got a headache. Fuck. Thanks for letting me sleep, I really needed that.”
“Of course.”
“Are you sure nothing else happened last night? I didn’t drive did I?”
“No, you didn’t drive. Thankfully.”
“Yes. Oh, now I remember.”
“What do you remember?”
“What I did last night.”
“Um…”
“I kissed you.”
“You did.”
“Yes, I did. And you accused me that it was only the alcohol speaking.”
“I did.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Oh.”
“I love you.”
“Okay.”
He smiled. “Aw, shit. I should be going home, right? My parents are probably freaking out. I keep telling them not to worry about me.”
“We care about you, Damien,” I told him.
He looked at me. “You’re amazing, Paige.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I am so fucking in love with you.”
“Stop that.”
“Why?”
“Are you sure you’re not drunk?”
“Positive.”
I sighed. “What about Charlie?”
“He might never forgive me for stealing the girl he likes twice, but that does not matter to me one bit if it means I get to keep you.”
“Please stop.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m still with Charlie,” I told him. To be honest, I was unsure. I mean, I liked Damien… maybe not in that way… but I didn’t want to hurt Charlie. He didn’t deserve it.
“Of course,” Damien said. “I’ll wait.”
“Wait?”
“Wait.”
“For what?”
“For you.”
“I’m sorry?”
“God, I love you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Let’s just get you home.”
“I’ll follow you until the ends of the Earth,” he said.
“Don’t say that, it’s too cheesy.”
“Of course, my love.”
I ignored him.
We went up to his car, which was in the parking lot in the building next to Wal-mart. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.
“I’ll drive,” I told him.
“Why? It’s my car.”
“Yes, but I don’t want you to drive.”
“I’m not drunk, Paige, I swear.”
I still didn’t believe him, because he kept telling me that he was in love with me. I just couldn’t believe it.
Somehow, I managed to make him agree with me. He got into the passenger seat, and I into the drivers one. I hadn’t driven anything in a long time. So I was a tad bit nervous, but I felt a lot more comfortable knowing that I was driving it instead of a drunk Damien.
So I drove to his house. It wasn’t exactly a smooth ride, but I still drove to his house.
“Are you tired?” he asked.
“I was up all night,” I answered. “Of course I’m tired.”
“Come in and sleep,” he said.
“I couldn’t do that,” I said.
“Your Aunt just kicked you out of your house,” he told me. “You were up all night making sure no one murdered me while I slept. I think you should come in and rest.”
He was certainly convincing. But the first thing that happened when we walked into his house was that his parents literally jumped on him.
“Damien, you’re okay!” “Where were you?” “What happened?” “Why is Paige here?” “What’s going on?” And things along those lines.
“I’m really sorry for worrying you, but… I just needed time alone and… I sort of wasn’t thinking. Paige was up all night trying to find me, so she’s really tired right now. When she finally found me, she convinced me to come home. I told her I wasn’t ready yet, but that I’d go in the morning. She didn’t trust me, so she stayed with me until now and she dragged me home.”
“Don’t ever do that again!” “You had us so worried!” “At least you’re all right.” “Thank God Paige was there!” “Just stay safe.”
“Don’t worry about me,” he told his parents. “It’s really Paige that I’m worried about. She’s was up all night, and—”
“Say no more,” Damien’s mother said. “Paige, you know where our guest room is.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Caster.” She smiled at me sweetly, and I walked into their home, going into the guest room.
I completely collapsed onto the bed, and was asleep in less than a second.
“Paige, wake up,” someone said. It felt like I was only asleep for a second, but I felt well rested. I rubbed my eyes open, and looked up. Damien.
“Oh, hi,” I said.
He gave me a tray. There was food on it. Things that would be for dinner, though, like chicken and rice and things like that. “I figured you were hungry, but I didn’t want to force you out of bed, so here you go.”
“Wow, Damien. Thanks a lot.” I sat up, and took the tray from him. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I started eating. “Hey, do you know what time it is?”
“It’s six fifteen,” he answered.
“In the morning?”
“In the evening.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“Wow.”
“Why?”
“That’s late.”
“Oh.”
I shifted around on the bed so I could get comfortable, but I felt something was missing. Something that was in my pocket.
“Hey, where’s my cell phone?” I asked.
Damien handed it to me. “I kept it just in case. I think you got a missed text or something.”
I flipped open the phone to look. It was from Charlie. “Do u want to hang out 2day?”
“Oh,” was all I could say. “Are you drunk?”
“What? Of course not, Paige.”
“Do you know what you did to me last night?”
“I kissed you and told you that I was in love with you.”
“Right.”
“I still mean it.”
I sighed. Damien couldn’t still be drunk for this long, so I guess he was telling the truth. I just didn’t know how to respond to it.
“Do you still love Charlie?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still love him more than me?”
“I love both of you equally.”
“Do you still love Charlie like a boyfriend and me just as a friend?” he asked.
I didn’t have an answer. To be honest, I was unsure of it. So I didn’t answer it at all.
“I think I’m going to go talk to Charlie.”
“I wouldn’t,” Damien said.
“Why not?”
“I was just talking to him,” he continued. “And I told him everything.”
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
“Even the…?”
“Yes, Paige, I told him. I told him how I felt. And I told him what I did. Even what I did to you.”
“You told him?”
“I told him.”
“Fuck.”
“Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. That’s just who you are, I guess. Honest. What did he say?”
“He didn’t say anything. I told him and he didn’t respond, and then next thing I knew I was hearing the dial tone. He hung up.”
I sighed. “I need to talk to him.”
“Whatever you say.”
“I’m not going to call him. I need to talk to his face.”
“You want me to drive you to his house?”
“I don’t think you should come with me.”
“You don’t know the way, though.”
This was true. “Take me, but drop me off. I mean, leave right after I get down. I think it would be better if I just talk to him alone.”
“I understand.”
“Can we go now?”
“Of course.”
So I quickly got up, tried to control that mess on my head that I called hair, and then went into Damien’s car. We drove. I memorized the way so that I could easily make it back to Damien’s house without any help. Finally, he stopped the car, and pointed at the house we stopped at.
“That’s his house,” he said.
“Thanks, Damien,” I said. “I think it’s best if you leave now.”
“Yes, of course.”
I got down from his car, and it took him a minute, but Damien finally drove away. I only walked up to the house when I saw that Damien had fully driven away, and when he was out of my sight.
I knocked on the door, nervous about what was going to happen. I waited for about a minute before the door opened.
“Paige,” Charlie said to me. His tone didn’t sound angry, but more dejected.
“Hey, Charlie,” I said back.
“I’m hurt.”
“I understand.”
“I don’t know what to say to you.”
“I don’t know how I should respond if you say anything to me.”
“But I think I might forgive you.”
“Hm?”
“You didn’t kiss him, he kissed you. And he was drunk. I think it’s okay.”
“Oh. Yeah. Of course.”
“You didn’t kiss him back did you?”
I didn’t want to say I didn’t, because I did for that split second.
“If you mean I certainly didn’t mean anything, then I didn’t kiss him back at all.”
He gave me a look. “Are you sure about that?”
“Um…”
“You kissed him back.”
“Charlie, don’t—”
“Don’t say that to me, you kissed him back.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Do you love him?”
“What?”
“You heard me perfectly fine, Paige Aarroh. Do you love Damien Caster?”
“I don’t… I mean, I do… but not—”
“Just don’t even say it,” he interrupted me again. I was getting a bit annoyed. He wasn’t even giving me a chance to speak.
“Charlie, this is unfair. Let me speak.”
He crossed his arms against his chest. “All right. Fine. Speak, Paige.”
“I…uh… um…” After thinking about it, I really didn’t have anything to say.
“I thought so,” he said. “You know, Paige… I really don’t care who kissed whom, or who was drunk and who wasn’t… I just think it might be better if we just… stay friends, you know?”
“Charlie, please,” I said. I was extremely upset by his decision.
“Do you want to stay with me that badly?”
“I don’t… I really don’t know, Charlie…”
“Paige,” he said, lifting my chin up so he could look directly into my eyes. “I’m not hurt. I’m really okay. But I can see it in your eyes. And the way that you act usually… I can just sort of tell.”
“What exactly can you tell, Charlie?”
“Well, you know that way Damien can see people extremely clearly and stuff?”
“Yeah.”
“I can just sort of tell… I can tell that you love Damien. Please, just save me the suffering. I think you should be together with him.”
I didn’t know what to say to him. I was never as lost for words as I was at that moment.
“Paige,” he continued, “Damien is one of the most amazing friends that I have ever had. And… I’ve known him for a while. I think… I really think you’d be good together. I mean, you gave me a shot, right? And you liked me. So… maybe you should just give Damien a shot? For me?”
I was really bewildered at what he told me. I couldn’t imagine why he would want me to be with Damien, but I decided it would be best not to ask.
“You want me to…” I started.
“I want you to be with Damien. You love each other, and your happiness means the world to me. Please, do it for me.”
“I…” I was still lost for words.
“Will you do it, Paige?” he asked, his voice still quiet.
“I guess…” I said quietly. “I mean, are you sure?”
“No,” he answered. “But do it anyway.”
I smiled at him. “Charlie, I really do love you.”
He put his arms around me for what could possibly be the last time. “Now go before I change my mind.” He let go, and I nodded. He smiled at me one last time before he shut the door. I walked back to Damien’s house.
Damien opened the door before I could knock on it.
“I talked to Charlie on the phone while you were coming here,” he told me.
“Oh,” I said, since I seemed to lack the capability to say anything else.
And then Damien put his arms around me. They felt different from when I was in Charlie’s arms. I didn’t know whether they felt better or not, and I didn’t know if I liked the change or not. I was never unsure if I liked change or not. I usually always hated change.