Chapter 30: Chapter 28

Elijah’s POV

Anger was boiling in my veins as I followed Damien to his room.

I didn’t even know why I decided to follow him. I didn’t even know what I was going to say to him.

He was a stubborn idiot who was driving me fucking insane.

But at the same time, I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. He looked like he was on the verge of breaking and I didn’t want him to be alone.

He slammed his bedroom door shut. He either didn’t notice me following him or he didn’t want to talk to me.

I didn’t give a shit really. He was going to talk to me.

I opened the door and walked inside. He was pacing around his room, holding his head in his hands. He glanced up at me and an unknown emotion flashed in his eyes.

“Not now, Elijah,” he mumbled as he hid his face again.

Something weird tugged at my chest. I felt the need to comfort him. I didn’t know why, though. I wanted to punch the living shit out of him as well.

“Alex is impulsive,” I said as I leaned against the door. “He didn’t mean what he said. He says a lot of stupid shit when he is angry. He will calm down and he will let you see her.”

Damien looked at me and gulped.

“He is right,” he mumbled. “It is better if I am away from her. I hurt her. I don’t deserve to…”

He stopped talking and ran his fingers through his hair, pulling on it hard.

“You made a mistake,” I said. “A huge fucking mistake, but I am sure that you didn’t mean to. You didn’t know that she was awake. I didn’t know that she was awake. You didn’t mean for her to hear that.”

I wasn’t exactly sure why I was comforting him. I was so fucking angry, but a part of me wanted to make sure that he was okay. My heart hurt watching him this upset.

Damien looked at me and furrowed his eyebrows.

“Why are you trying to comfort me, Elijah?” he asked. “Why aren’t you angry at me? Why aren’t you punching the living shit out of me right now?”

My heart clenched painfully. I wanted to do it, but I could never hurt him.

I looked down at my feet and took a deep breath.

I wasn’t sure what to say to him. I wasn’t sure why I was doing this myself.

“Just leave, Elijah,” Damien said after I didn’t answer him.

I looked up and saw him walk over to his bed. He sat down and buried his face into his hands.

I wasn’t going to leave. I couldn’t leave.

I took another deep breath and approached him. I sat next to him and looked at the picture on his nightstand.

A small smile spread across my face.

It was a picture of him, William, and Lucas. William was holding Sophia in his arms. I couldn’t see her face because she was wrapped up in a blanket, but I remembered that day. Alex and I had the same picture where he was holding her and I was standing next to him. It was a day they took her from us. We all insisted on taking a picture with her. We wanted a memory.

Damien was standing next to William and looking down at Sophia with a small smile on his face. He looked peaceful. He looked like he loved her so much.

He still did.

I just wasn’t sure why he had to act like he didn’t. What was he trying to protect her from? He wasn’t a bad person. He would never hurt her intentionally.

I looked at him and gulped.

“You are an idiot,” I said.

He looked up at me with an angry expression on his face.

“You were trying to protect her from yourself, and there is nothing to protect her from,” I continued. “You would never hurt her.”

He tightened his jaw.

“I did hurt her,” he said angrily. “She almost fucking died, Elijah. What the fuck are you talking about?!”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“You hurt her because you didn’t let her in,” I told him. “You hurt her because you kept trying to push her away for the wrong reasons.”

I took a deep breath and gulped.

“You should stop trying to push people away,” I mumbled quietly. “There are some that really want to stay.”

Damien gulped and I looked at his lips. My hands suddenly got very sweaty. My stomach flipped and an intense wave of nervousness washed over me.

I looked away quickly.

“Not many wanted to stay,” Damien mumbled quietly, making me look back at him.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“She will want to stay,” I said quietly. “She is your sister. She is your family. She will stay, Damien. You just have to let her.”

He gulped again and this time his eyes fell on my lips. I felt the sudden urge to lick them.

I could feel the tension between us growing and it was making my heart race. I clenched my fists and tightened my jaw.

Damien looked back up at me.

“Would she stay if she wasn’t my sister?” he asked. “Would she stay after everything that I’ve done?”

Why did I have a feeling that he wasn’t asking about her?

Why did I have a feeling that he was asking about…

“She would,” I answered before I let myself finish that thought. “She would stay. You are worth staying for.”

His eyes widened a little.

I couldn't believe that I was saying those words to the man who was my enemy until a few days ago. I hated him until a few days ago.

But I meant every word that I said. He was worth staying for.

A shiver went down my spine when I saw him bite his lower lip. My hands started shaking and I knew that I had to get the fuck out of there.

“Alex will come around,” I said the first thing that came to mind. “He can be a jerk sometimes, but he is a very good man. He won’t keep her away from you.”

Damien gulped and looked down at his lap. He furrowed his eyebrows and clenched his fists.

“I love her,” he mumbled. “I love her with my entire heart. I just…”

I instinctively reached out and took his hand in mine. His hand was shaking and it was ice cold. He squeezed my hand tightly and closed his eyes.

“I know, Damien,” I said quietly. “I know that you love her. You just need to learn how to show it to her.”

He looked up at me and nodded. His eyes were filled with unshed tears and it was making my heart hurt.

I gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand.

“I never thought I would be comforted by you,” he mumbled. “I never thought I would want…”

He stopped talking and tightened his jaw.

My stomach did a weird flip.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” I mumbled, keeping my eyes on his. “She brought us all together. We were enemies until a few days ago and now we are…”

I stopped talking because I didn’t know how to finish that sentence.

Damien gulped again. He was about to say something when the door to his room opened abruptly.

We stopped holding hands immediately.

I looked behind me and saw a very pissed-off Lucas.

“Well, this is my cue to leave,” I said as I stood up. “I don’t want to be on the receiving end of that.”

I pointed at Lucas, making him roll his eyes at me.

“Alex needs you, Elijah,” Lucas said, keeping his eyes on Damien. “And I need to talk to my brother.”

I nodded and started walking out of the room. I looked at Damien again before I closed the door. He was staring at me and my entire body shivered.

I closed the door and started walking downstairs. I had to get him out of my head. I had to focus on something or someone else.