Drawn (10 page)

“Fuck you
Damien. She was just having some fun – blowing off steam. We all do it. I just spent the whole night looking for her, then someone says they saw her leave with you. Where the hell is she?”

“Safe.”

“In there?” Suddenly, he’s banging on the door. “Etta?”

Oh god, please don’t let Aaron catch me in here
, I pray, realising how bad it would look if he saw me wearing Damien’s clothes.

“Etta?” he calls out again.

“Satisfied?” Damien says. I hear a slight shuffling sound on the other side of the door and then, “Are you serious? You’re calling her now? It’s one o’clock in the morning.”

Shit! My phone!
Frantically, I look around the apartment to try and locate my bag, finding it sitting in the centre of the couch. When I grab my phone out, it’s lighting up with Aaron’s name and number, but it’s already on silent – Damien must have done it while I was sleeping.

“Hello?” I whisper, creeping into the bathroom so he can’t hear me through the door.

“Etta,” he breathes. “It’s Aaron. I’ve been trying to call you all night. Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just sleeping. I drank way too much. I’m so sorry. I’m really embarrassed about it all,” I try to explain.

“It’s ok. As long as you’re alright… I was worried.”

“I appreciate it. I really am sorry.”

“It’s ok – really. You can make it up to me another time.”

I can’t control myself as a smile creeps over my face. “So… I didn’t scare you off?”

“Never. Sleep well Etta. I’ll talk to you soon,” he says in a soft voice, and I can actually hear him smile.

“You too,” I murmur, ending the call before exiting the bathroom.

The moment I open the door, I suck in my breath. Damien is right there, like he’s appeared out of nowhere. I drop my phone. He’s right in front of me, his intense eyes boring into mine, making my world fall away as my heart pounds against my chest.

His eyes drop to my lips and without even meaning to, I lick them
. When they flick back up to meet mine, I see the look. I know I’m in trouble.

Like magnets of opposite poles, unable to control their pull, our mouths collide. His tongue pushing and sliding against mine as our teeth clash and our breath mingles.

We pull at each other, like we’re trying to draw the other inside ourselves. It’s a strange feeling, one that I’ve never experienced before. I’m normally always in control, but tonight has been one of those times when I’m not. Although each time I’ve had something to do with Damien I’ve lost control…

Somehow, we end up on his bed, kissing like the connection between our mouths is the only reason we’re alive. His hands slide over my curves, skirting around the edges of my clothing.

When his fingers brush lightly between my thighs, I moan, arching up to meet him as my body makes this decision for me – I want him. Suddenly, he freezes and breaks our kiss, pressing his forehead against mine, his eyes closed and his breathing heavy.

“This needs to stop,” he murmurs, his voice thick and gravelly sounding.

“I…” I start, not really knowing what it is I should say.

“
Shit
,” he hisses, sitting up on the bed, pulling away from me. He doesn’t really look at me, just sits, leaning forward on his thighs as he rubs his hand back and forward over the top of his head. Eventually, he clears his throat. “Stay here. I’m going to check on your dress.”

Suddenly I feel really cold, very alone and … rejected.

Taking the blanket from the end of the bed, I wrap it around my shoulders, then go and retrieve my phone.

What’s going on with me? I never really go out and when I do, I end up making out with two
guys and nearly sleeping with one of them. I like Aaron, I really do. He’s a good friend, fun to be around, and so loyal to me.

Then there’s
Damien, who has really been nothing but a problem since the moment I met him. But somehow, he’s the one I almost end up sleeping with.
Jesus
.

Moving over to the couch, I pick the remote up off the coffee table and power on the television, flicking through the channels until I find something that isn’t an infomercial trying to sell me something.

Time ticks away as I wait for Damien to return. I find myself fidgeting impatiently, constantly looking at the door and wondering if I should just go and find him.  Eventually though, he bursts through the door, causing me to jump.

“Get dressed
. I’ll take you home,” he says, handing me my now clean dress.

A deep sense of hurt fills my chest. “Is the idea of sleeping with me that bad?” I ask, pausing in
the doorway of the bathroom.

“No Henrietta. Not at all,” he tells me, his voice calm, his gaze intense. “Just go and get dressed.”

“Then why did you stop?”

“Get dressed,” he repeats.

I briefly consider getting dressed in front of him, just to see what he would do. But I don’t. Stepping through the doorway, I quickly remove his clothes and put my own dress, warm from the dryer, back on.

“Ready,” I say, my voice small and quiet as I emerge.

He’s already standing by the door, holding my bag, his keys in his hand. The sight hurts my heart.

Following him out, I glance toward Aaron’s door. Feeling horribly guilty about everything that has happened tonight
, as I make my way to Damien’s car and we start the short drive home.

“So um, what was the deal with you fighting? Is that something you always do?” I ask after a good five minutes of silence.

“Not always,” he states, focusing only on the road. I watch him as he drives, the lights of the streets flashing over his definite features as he traverses the street, not making an effort to further any sort of conversation with me until we arrive out the front of my house.

“Looks like someone’s waiting up for you,” he says
, nodding toward the light coming from our lounge room window.

Glanc
ing at the read out on his car radio, it’s 3am. My father isn’t going to be happy. I just hope that my mum kept her word and kept him calm.

“Well, goodbye,” I say, opening the car door. “And thanks.”

He just nods, keeping his eyes forward as he grips at the steering wheel, leaving me wondering what it is I’ve done wrong.

“I’ll see you around Henrietta,” he says, meeting my eyes briefly, a tiny grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. “I’ll wait
’til you’re inside.”

Nodding, I shut the car door, and jog up to the entrance to my house. The moment I slide my key inside, the lock turns from the inside
, and I’m face to face with my father.

“Who’s that? Is that
Damien?” he asks, looking over my shoulder.

“Yes. He gave me a lift home.”

My father simply grunts his acceptance and nods toward the car. As I look over my shoulder, the rumble of the engine bursts into the atmosphere as Damien drives away.

The next day is spent pretending I don’t have a hangover while I pack up my room, ready for the big move tomorrow. My father hasn’t said a word about how late I came home last night, so I think my mother must have worked some pretty amazing magic.

“Do you want me to just stack these boxes in the lounge room?” he asks, pointing at the packed books and personal items that I want to take with me. I don’t need furniture since the room already
has some, but the guts of my room is coming with me.

“Yes please,” I say, as I shove a drawer’s worth of clothing into my suitcase
. Once that’s full, I move on to putting the rest of my clothes into another box.

“This house is going to feel very empty as of tomorrow,” my mother comments as she brings over most of my hanging garments.

“Mum, I’m moving one train stop away. I’ll be back for dinner regularly,” I assure her.

“You’d better. Otherwise,
I’ll send your father out to drag you back here.” Reaching out, she wraps her arms around me in a tight embrace.

“Mum?” I say over her shoulder, still hugging her. She hums in response, squeezing me a little tighter. “I know you’ll never change Craig’s room
. But can you please reclaim mine? Turn it into a home gym or something.”

“Sure I will,” she sniffles, so I know she’s started crying. “I might just knock down a wall and make a giant bathroom or massive wardrobe.” She pulls away from me and wipes at her eyes, putting on a brave face.

“I think that would be a great idea,” I smile, turning back to my packing. She’s joking of course. I’m sure that my room will forever be mine. But I want her to know that she’s free to change it if she likes. 

Just as I start off the last box of stuff, my phone goes off from beside my bed, displaying an image of Aaron sitting on the grass at uni.

“Hey,” I say in greeting as I answer.

“Are you free? I wanted to know if we could talk.”

“Um… I’m kind of in the middle of…”

My mother starts to make frantic hand gestures as she whispers about leaving it with her. “Go, go” she yell-whispers, shooing me away with her hands.

“Actually, I’m free,” I tell him, smiling and nodding at my mum, trying to hold two conversations at once as she starts telling me that I’d better come home for dinner since it’s my last night and all.

Grinning at her, I place my hand on her shoulder as if it will silence her. Sometimes I wonder who the child is between the both of us. 

“Great. Would you like to meet somewhere or would you like to come over to my place?”

“I’ll come to you
, I don’t have long,” I tell him, hanging up and promising my mum I’ll be back before six.

***

I arrive at Aaron’s at around four-thirty, ready to meet him for our ‘talk’. I have a pretty good idea what it’s about. I vaguely remember kissing him last night before I ended up outside with Damien. So I’m assuming he wants to DTR. Personally, I find defining the relationship to be a bit of a waste of time. I mean, we’re at uni. We have our whole lives ahead of us still. As much as Aaron is a great friend of mine, I think I need to make it clear that anything that happens between us needs to be fairly light-hearted, especially after what happened with Damien last night. I’m obviously not in the right headspace to be serious with him right now.

Besides that,
I’m moving out of home for a chance to set my own rules and do my own thing. I don’t particularly want a steady boyfriend. I just want fun, so if he can agree to that, we’ll be just fine.

As I take the stairs up to the second floor, my eyes stray immediately to
Damien’s door. The six has swung down again, so I pause and reach up to press it back in place.

Once again, I can hear music from inside
, and I hesitate about moving on. Perhaps I should just thank him? I mean, he did kind of save my arse last night... Feeling as though it’s the right thing to do, I bang on the door and wait. The music cuts out, and I hear shuffling on the other side.

“Put this on,” he says to someone inside.

Realising he isn’t alone, I take a step back from the door, suddenly feeling silly for stopping by.

“What’s up?” he asks casually as he answers the door – once again shirtle
ss. My eyes drag down his torso as I try to remember what it was I wanted to say.

“Don’t you ever wear a shirt?” I blurt out.

“It’s my apartment. I can walk around naked if I want,” he states.

“Who’s there
Damien?” a woman’s voice asks. I expect it to be that Bec girl again, but when she comes into view, it’s someone a bit older, and all she’s wearing is a sheet.

He shoots a look over his shoulder and narrows the door, blocking my vision with his body.

“What can I do for you Henrietta?” he asks calmly.

“It’s Etta. And I um… just wanted to thank you for helping me last night. I think you saved me from getting into a lot of trouble with my dad.”

“My pleasure,” he nods. “You didn’t have to come all the way over here just to say that. You could have called.”

“Oh. I didn’t. I came to see Aaron. I just thought – since I was here…”

His posture stiffens. “Did you drive here?”

Frowning, I shake my head. “I don’t have a car. I caught the train.”

“Come and get me when you’re done. I’ll drive you home.”

“It’s fine. You’re busy. I’m used to getting trains.”

“I will drive you,” he insists.

Rolling my eyes
, I step away from the door to end the conversation. “Whatever tickles your fancy,” I respond, walking away from him while fully intending on leaving without telling him. It’s not like he’ll be able to hear over the music anyway.

As I reach Aaron’s door and knock, I hear the soft click of
Damien’s door just before the music turns back on. I’m still looking over my shoulder frowning when Aaron answers.