Archive of Our Own ^beta

Rose was ready to wash her hands of this whole damn day when there was a knock on the door. She helped Emily deposit Mark onto the sofa in the living room and made her way back to the entrance. “Aaron, I swear, I’m going to make you wear your keys around your neck. This is what? the third time this month-” She threw open the door and froze. “Damien?”

Damien smiled sheepishly from the doorway. “Hey, Rose.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Can I crash here for the night? I swear, I’ll be gone before you wake up.”

“What?” There was a thud inside and Rose turned around, the movement nudging the door slightly closed.

Damien held out his hand to stop it from shutting completely. “I just need a couple of hours of sleep.”

Rose peered back at him. “I thought you’d left.”

“I did. I’m… I’m just passing through. I’ve been driving for 12 hours straight and I need a break. Please?”

Rose shook her head. “This is not a good time.”

There were raised voices coming from inside the house. Damien pushed the door open and stepped forward. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. You just really shouldn’t be here right now.”

The voices became clearer. “Mark,” Emily was pleading, “I know the blanket is scratchy. I’m sorry the blanket is scratchy. But it’s the only one we’ve got and you need to lie down now.”

“Mark’s here?” Damien squeaked, way too loudly.

Rose slapped her palm against her forehead. “Shhh! Yeah, Mark’s here. Which is only one of the myriad reasons why you need to leave right now.”

“Damien?” Mark’s voice was the clearest it had been since he’d told the bartender to just leave the bottle. There were loud footsteps, Emily’s faint, “Mark, where are you going?” And then Mark was also at the entrance, looking thunderous.

“Hi, Mark.” Damien’s hand jerked in a poor approximation of a wave.

“You motherfucker!” Showing remarkable coordination considering he’d been doing his best impression of a limp noodle not five minutes ago, Mark gathered all his strength and punched Damien in the dick.

Damien doubled over. “Jesus, not again.”

“Again? How often does this happen to you?” Emily asked, rushing forward and grabbing Mark’s arm to stop him from taking another swing.

“You’d be surprised,” Damien bit out.

“Not really,” Rose said flatly.

Mark wrenched himself free from Emily and Damien almost fell out through the door in his haste to get away. Rose grabbed him by his hoodie and pulled him up.

She yelled, “enough!” She let go of Damien and turned to Mark. “Okay? Enough.” Mark nodded, not taking his eyes off Damien. “Right,” Rose said, and finally shut the door.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Mark asked coldly.

“I was just passing through-”

“Don’t lie to me asshole! I know Sam called you.”

“Yeah, she did.”

“So you decided to swoop in?”

Damien looked down at his feet. “I just wanted-”

“I don’t give a flying fuck what you want! I told you to stay away!”

“I was!”

“And now what? You’re following me?”

Damien looked up, incensed. “No. I know coming here was a mistake. I was going to drive back but it was too late. I just needed a place to get some sleep. I didn’t know you’d be here! How the hell would I know that?”

“I don’t know Damien! You’re really good at stalking people, aren’t you?” Mark frowned. “How do you know where Rose lives anyway?”

“I gave her a ride once.”

All three heads turned in Rose’s direction. Rose nodded resignedly.

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose. “Rose...”

Rose threw her hands up. “Give me a break! I didn’t know!”

Emily opened her mouth, ready to lay into Rose for having no sense whatsoever, which was a well-worn argument, but Mark cut in before she could get started.

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever reason you came back for, whatever fucked up shit you were about to pull, it’s over, okay? Go away.” Mark turned around and made his way back into the living room.

Damien swayed in place, uncertain, his face getting more and more pinched. He stomped after Mark. “I wasn't trying to pull anything. I was worried about you!”

Mark whirled around. “Worried about me? That’s fucking rich!”

“Sam called me. She called me. So, yeah, I was worried. Excuse me for caring about you.”

“You care about me?” Mark advanced on Damien menacingly.

Damien stood his ground and spat, “yes.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mark grabbed Damien’s shoulders and shook him. “I don’t want you to care about me,” he emphasized the last part in a mocking tone. “I want you to leave me the fuck alone!” He let out a frustrated growl. “Why won’t anyone just listen to me?”

“Mark-”

“You, all of you! You think you know what I need better than me. Like I have no idea what's out there. I know. But I’m not a princess to be locked away in a tower in the middle of the sea, in case someday a snake might bite me!”

Damien pulled up short. “What?”

“Sam has been telling me a lot of stories from her travels.” Mark shook his head. “That’s not the point! It's suffocating and I don't even feel like a person anymore. I can’t-” He took a gulp of air.

Damien reached out and Mark knocked his arm away. Damien tried again, his hand clasping the back of Mark’s head and his thumb brushing the soft hairs at the nape. Mark deflated, briefly allowing the sense memory of dozens of nights, where the heat radiating from Damien’s palm was the only thing keeping him from flying apart, to calm him down. His stomach roiled. He shrugged Damien off.

“I’m tired.” Mark plopped down on the sofa. “I don’t want to deal with you. Please just go.”

Damien swallowed. “Okay.”

Mark had his elbows resting on his knees with his face buried in his hands. Damien rubbed his chest helplessly to numb the twisting in his heart. It didn’t work.

On his way out he saw that Rose had been standing at the doorway. He didn’t know how long she’d been there, but the way she had folded in on herself indicated that it had been long enough. He followed her out.

Once in the hallway, Rose rubbed her forehead and turned to Damien. “You want a cup of coffee before you go?” Her tone brooked no argument.

“Sure. Thanks.”

“The kitchen’s through there. Bathroom’s right next door if you need to use it.” Rose pointed. Damien nodded and glanced back at Mark through the door. He seemed rooted to the spot. “I’ll get the machine going,” Rose said, and left. Damien sighed and went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face.

When he entered the kitchen, Emily and Rose were sitting at the breakfast nook. There was a steaming cup at the other end of the table. Damien grabbed a chair and sat down.

“So,” Emily broke the silence, “you’re Damien.”

“Yeah.” Damien nodded gratefully when Rose slid the sugar bowl towards him.

“I thought you’d be taller.”

“Ookay.”

Rose elbowed Emily, who shrugged.

Damien took a sip of coffee. “Where’s your family? They can’t possibly still be asleep.”

“Aaron’s probably staying over at his girlfriend’s. Mom and dad randomly decided this was the perfect weekend to visit her cousin up north.” Rose looked thoughtful. “Though I guess now I can see why.”

“No kidding,” Emily said.

Damien looked between them, confused. He turned to Rose. “You’ve told her?”

“Yeah. And even if I hadn’t already, Mark would have totally spilled the beans tonight. He’s kind of a chatty drunk.”

“Huh.”

Rose took in Damien’s matted hair and the dark circles under his eyes. “You look like shit. You’ve really been driving the whole day?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Damien shot Rose a look.

“Right. Stupid question.”

“I wasn’t… I really was going to drive back in the morning. I know he wants me gone.” He smiled ruefully. “It’s the one thing I can actually give him.”

Rose didn’t say anything to that. They sat in silence as Damien drank his coffee.

Emily’s head dropped on Rose’s shoulder with a gentle thud. Rose grinned to herself, and up at Damien. “Once she’s asleep, nothing short of a cannon blast can wake her.”

Damien watched the way Rose instinctively leaned her cheek against the crown of Emily’s head. He coughed. “I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Are you good to drive? You’ve had no sleep.”

Damien drained his cup and stood up. “I’m fine. Probably wasn’t going to get much sleep anyway.”

Rose regarded him. “Okay.”

Damien drummed his fingers lightly on the table. “Goodbye, Rose.”

“Goodbye, Damien.”

On his way out, Damien saw that the light in the living room was still on. He poked in his head and saw that Mark had fallen asleep. He checked to see that Rose and Emily had not left the kitchen, then went in. He tiptoed towards the sofa, where Mark was bundled up with a fuzzy blanket. The faint sound of his snores filled the room, familiar and oddly comforting.

Damien took in Mark’s disheveled hair hiding his face from view. His body still looked deceptively fragile under the blanket and his sock covered feet were peeking out, vulnerable. This had been a terrible idea. Possibly the worst idea Damien had ever had and that was saying something. He’d thought, if I just check on him, see that he’s okay, it’ll be fine. This constant itching inside me will stop. I don’t even have to talk to him. He doesn’t have to know I’m there. He was a fucking idiot.

He crouched at the edge of the sofa where Mark’s head was resting. He hesitated, then brushed Mark’s hair away from his face, gently so as to not wake him. Mark’s cheeks were fuller than Damien remembered, and his face was flushed with drink and righteous fury. The mole under his right eye was still there. Damien didn’t know why he was surprised by that, but he was. Yeah, this had been a terrible idea.

Damien got up. He stood for a moment with his fists pressed against his eyes. Then he took in a shaky breath and left the room, turning off the lights and closing the door behind him.

Rose was waiting for him across the hallway. She raised her eyebrows and Damien nodded. He hurried towards the front door.

Rose grabbed his arm as he passed. “You probably shouldn’t come back here.”

Damien huffed. “I know.”

“It’s not just that. They don’t tell me everything, which is fair, I guess, considering-” Rose shook her head. “That’s not important. There’s something happening with the AM. Something big.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know exactly. But it would be best if you steered clear of this place.”

“Alright.” Damien made his way to the front door and opened it.

Rose followed him. “Have a safe drive back. To wherever you’re going.”

Damien turned back, surprised. “Thanks.”

Rose gave a small, sleepy smile and Damien returned it. Then, he jammed his hands in his pockets and jogged down the stairs. Rose watched until he turned the corner and vanished from sight, then shut the door.