Chapter Sixty one

Chapter Sixty one

***

After the sumptuous and very eventful dinner, Damien and I headed up to our rooms. Just when I was about getting into my room, he pulled me towards him. I fell into his chest while he held me close and steadied me in his arms.

"There's something I want to talk to you about, can you come in here later?" He said pointing his thumb towards his room.

"Uh sure. I'll just go change into my pajamas." I said and he nodded before releasing me.

I pushed my door open and got into my room. I picked up my phone and saw that my dad had seen my message and replied. I put a call across to him then I put the phone on loud speaker before placing it on the closet's island while I changed out of my clothes.

"Miel." He said as soon as he picked up. (Honey.)

"Hola Papa." I said, glad they I was finally hearing from him (Hello dad.)

"How are you?" He asked.

"I'm okay, how are you?" I said.

"I'm well." He said lowly.

"Are you sure? You don't sound so good." I pointed out, letting worry seep through me.

"I'm perfectly fine Ariana, you really need to stop worrying." He said and coughed. That singular sound had the alarm bells in my head ringing.

"Dad, is everything alright? Do you need me to come to New York?" I said picking up the phone quickly as I tried listening to how he breathed.

"I'm fine. You jolted me out of my sleep that's it." He said, trying to mollify my fears.

"Lo siento. I totally forgot about the time difference." I said feeling really guilty about disturbing his sleep. (Sorry.)

"It's alright. I'm glad I finally get to hear from you, we hardly talk these days." He said and my guilt only heightened.

"Work isn't letting me catch a breather but I promise I'll come visit you soon." I said.

"I can't wait to see you." He managed to get out before he coughed again.

"Take it easy dad. I should let you sleep now." I said softly.

"Buenas noches cariño." He bade.(Good night honey.)

"Buenas noches Papa, te amo." I said back with so much emotion. (Good night dad, I love you.)

"Yo también te amo." He said (I love you too.) I hung up and felt a few tears drop.

I could not understand why I was suddenly getting emotional, I blamed it on the nightmare I had the previous night or maybe it was the fact that I had truly missed him a lot. I walked out of my room to Damien's, not able to comprehend how I was feeling. I just wanted to sleep.

I knocked and opened the door when I heard him give me the go ahead. I walked in and saw that he was seated on the bed with his laptop placed in front of him while he stared at the screen seriously.

I slid into the bed and sat next to him.

"What's wrong?" He asked. I frowned in confusion.

"Huh?"

"You look sad." He pointed out.

"I'm not." I lied.

"Right." He said with sarcasm evident in his tone. Silence ensued and stretched for a while. The only sound that filled the room was the the constant tapping sounds on his laptop's keyboard.

"I just spoke to my dad." I said, breaking the silence while I looked straight ahead.

"Is he alright?" He asked, taking a cursory look at me.

"I don't know. He says he's fine but I don't think he sounded like it." I poured out my thoughts.

"Do you think he would hide it from you if something's wrong?" He questioned, now facing me as I laid staring up at him in his seated position.

"He does that all the time." I said with a humorless chuckle.

"Why is that?"

"He doesn't want me to worry." I gave a one sided shrug as I picked up one of the cushions and hugged it close.

"And you're doing the exact opposite." Damien reasoned out and I had to admit he was right.

"I just can't help it." I looked in his direction only to see him staring at me intensely.

"I just wish-" I was speaking more to myself than him. I shook my head.

"Wish what?" He prodded and I shook my head again.

"Never mind." I said conclusively and bit on my my lower lip.

"You wanted to talk to me about something?" I changed the topic quickly.

"Yeah." He said and put his laptop aside.

"I wanted us to uh," Hee cleared his throat before trying to speak again but words eluded him. That got me anxious.

"Damien, is everything alright?" I asked scrutinizing him with my gaze. A small part of me feared that he wanted to bring up the sex talk again.

"Yeah, let's talk about your nightmare." He said eventually.

"Oh." I was not expecting that.

"It was just really crazy." I sighed.

"I was in this big room surrounded by a huge crowd but my dad was by my side and before I knew it, he wasn't there anymore, I screamed and looked all over for him but I couldn't find him, then I woke up screaming." I swallowed as I felt the fright from last night overwhelm me again.

"I don't even know what it's supposed to mean. It's just creeping me out and getting me more worried for my dad." I said.

"Don't think about it too much, it's only just your mind playing games with you." He said trying to placate me but I could not help the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The oddity of this nightmare just made it more of a source of utmost worry. It was not everyday I got nightmares like these and when I did have them, they came to pass in unexpected forms.

"Ariana?" He called out to me and I hummed, still somewhat absentminded.

"Would you like to sleep here from now on?" He asked me and my eyes darted to his quickly.

"I honestly think we're better off sleeping separately or does this have to do with your nightmares?"

"Yeah..." He looked somewhat downcast or maybe it was just me thinking so.

"Damien why don't you tell me about them?" I sat up to look up at him properly.

"It's just a very complicated story." He said, looking away from me as he spoke. I stayed quiet hoping he would continue.

"It's getting late, we should sleep now." He evaded the topic but I did not want to back down. Why was he suffering and not talking to anyone about it?

"No, Damien let's talk about it right now. Why are you avoiding the topic?" I was kneeling on the bed with my hands holding his face now.

"'I'm not avoiding anything, I just don't feel it's the right time to talk about it." He said. He held my hand to his face and slowly leaned in. Our noses touched and he slowly went towards my lips.

I drew back with immediate effect, dropping my hands to my sides. I was well aware of how things went whenever we got physical and were alone while at it.

"Damien remember what we talked about." I reminded him softly. He cleared his throat and nodded curtly before shifting back to his original sitting position.

"You should get some sleep." He said as he picked up his laptop again. His tone was indecipherable and absolutely emotionless.

"You should too." I said gently.

"Good night." I bade.

"Night." He said back.

I turned and laid on the bed adjusting the covers until it got to my neck. I switched off the bed lamp from my side and shut my eyes but I could not sleep for such a long time.

I tried steadying my breathing so he would not know that I was awake. Sleep was so far from me and I did not know what else to do. The room was dead silent but for the tap sounds on his keyboard.

It was unlike any other night we had spent together. Damien would usually just leave his work and cuddle up with me in bed whenever I felt sleepy and even he had work to do, he would make sure I was fully asleep before going back to it, this was what I had observed within the last few weeks we had become friends.

Tonight was unusual and it scared me because even when I said otherwise, my body yearned for his touch. I could not sleep and it was because I wanted him near me. This was the strangest thing I had ever felt. I wanted to feel his warmth so badly when barely a few weeks ago, I hated the mere sight of him and was glad he was never around. I could sleep on my own but now sleeping without his hands on me felt like something so strange. What was happening to me?

I heard shuffling from his end before I heard the light switch from his side of the bed go off. I shut my eyes quickly and held my breath.

I felt his hand creep up on my waist before he pulled me close to him. I held in a gasp.

"I know you aren't asleep." He said. The vibration from his chest area as he spoke as well as the deepness from his tone made my heart flutter. What the hell is going on here?

I did not respond to him, I just looked out into the dark room trying to steady my beating heart by trying to not think about him, but that was impossible because he was literally next to me.

He kissed my temple slightly before laying down fully.

With his hands finally on me, I gradually dozed off and slept well.