Author’s Note: Do you remember the story of how Damien realized he had serious feelings for MC? I’ve always loved that story, so I decided to write my own little rendition of that historical night. And it made me realize just how much I miss these two in the meantime. 💕
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“He’s just another no-good, uptight, egotistical … “ Camille halted her slurred tirade, holding up a finger to pause the conversation as she took another long draw of her beer. She scrunched her face up as she swallowed it down, then nodded before proceeding. “ … egotistical yet unimpressive, condescending asshole. And I’m better off without him!” Camille finished her statement with gusto, raising her beer glass up in the air to highlight her point.
Damien tried to suppress the smirk that was tugging at the corners of his lips, quite amused by his drunken friend’s speech on the endless reasons why she was happy that her latest subpar boyfriend had broken up with her. Not that he could say he disagreed … the guy was a total douchebag, he’d never understood what Camille saw in the guy. However as many reasons as Camille had listed, he could still see the hurt lingering behind those soft blue eyes.
“You’re right, Cami, he was a total asshole! You’re so much better off!” Nadia nodded her head in agreement, reaching across the small round table to grasp Camille’s hand tightly.
“Right?!?” Camille banged her hand down on the table loudly, her eyebrows knitted with fierce determination. She lifted the beer mug to lips, draining the scarce contents before staring at the empty mug confused. She shrugged and set the mug down, then glanced from side to side around the cramped bar. “Now I think it’s time for some shots! Where’s our waiter …”
Nadia gave Damien a quick concerned glance, shaking her head swiftly and gesturing towards their inebriated friend. Damien nodded in understanding. “Slow down there, Tiger … I think it’s time to call it a night. You have to work in the morning.”
“Work schmerk …” Camille mumbled under her breath as she slumped down, her arms propped up on the table and her face leaning into her balled fist. Her eyelids drooped a bit as she stilled and her body wavered slightly on the tall bar stool.
“Let’s go get you some coffee and I’ll walk you home.” Damien stood up and slipped on his coat before circling the table and patting the drowsy woman on the back. The contact startled her, her body jumping a bit as she looked up at him and met his gaze. A strand of her long blonde curls fell in her eyes, the light blue pools glistening under the neon lights of the beer signs hanging along the walls of the bar. Up close he could see the traces of red around the rims of her eyes, a result of what he could only suspect was an earlier bout of crying, the contrast accentuating the color of her irises. For a moment he forgot himself, so lost in her sad gaze, an unfamiliar emotion stirring within him. He swallowed hard, his heart aching for his friend who was obviously in pain yet he was unable to find the right words to comfort her.
“Are you sure you can get her home, D?” He heard Nadia’s chipper voice behind him, rousing him from his thoughts back to the present. “Because I can get a Dryvve and get her up to her place …”
Damien turned his head back to Camille, who was slowly climbing down from her bar stool and awkwardly trying to drape her crossbody bag across her body. She was a mess. Although it might be better for Nadia to take her home, he felt a sense of responsibility wash over him as he observed her fumbling in front of him. No, not responsibility … protectiveness. “No.” He stated firmly. “I’ll get her home safe.”
~~~
Twenty minutes later, Damien and Camille walked down the New York sidewalk side by side in silence, two swirls of steam escaping the matching coffee cups they each gripped. Damien kept stealing sideways glances at the petite blonde, observing as her stumbling gate gradually evolved into a semi-coherent walk. He noticed how her eyes were now downcast, her cheeks a bright shade of pink from the chill of the air, her normally smiling mouth in a pouty frown. He didn’t know what to say to cheer her up … but he couldn’t stand the sight of her upset any longer.
“For the record, Camille, I do think you’re much better off without that guy. He wasn’t right for you.” Camille glanced up from the snowy path before her, her gaze filled with doubt and question. He gave her a soft, reassuring smile before continuing. “I mean, the guy is a freaking accountant … do you really think you’d be happy long-term with someone as boring as an accountant?”
At that Camille’s lips finally turned up into a small grin, a quiet laugh escaping her mouth. She nodded her head in agreement. “No, I suppose not.”
Relieved to have made some slight progress, Damien kept going. “And honestly, if he can’t see what a catch you are, then he really is an idiot. Because you’re an amazing girl, Cami.” As the last words passed from his lips, it dawned on him just how true they were.
She paused in the middle of the sidewalk, peering up into his dark eyes with a pleading look. “Really, D? ‘Cause sometimes I worry I’ll never find someone, that there’s something wrong with me.” She tugged her lip between her front teeth nervously, vulnerability laced in her stare.
Damien tried to avoid staring at her lips, noticing for the first time how full and soft they looked tucked between her teeth. “Really …” he whispered, not realizing he had lifted his hand to cup her cheek gently. The gesture had happened so naturally, it frightened him once he realized what he had done. He cleared his throat, dropping his hand to rest on her shoulder. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You’re smart and funny, successful, beautiful … you’re the whole package, Camille.” The confession flowed from his mouth too easily.
Camille stared back, her eyes wide and her lips set in a stiff line as she mulled over his statement. A few moments later, her face softened and she raised her eyebrows in astonishment. “You’re right, D … I am a catch!” Her face lit up into a wide, goofy grin as she turned her head from side to side, seemingly looking for something. Her gaze finally settled on the wrought iron bench a few feet in front of them, and before he could stop her she had bounded across the snowy path and climbed up onto it.
“Hey, listen up Universe!” Camille shouted into the night, spreading her arms wide as if they would help carry her voice. “I’m the greatest damn thing you’ve ever seen!” She pounded her fists in the air to accentuate each word, her face alight with pure joy as she spoke. Damien chuckled at the spectacle unfolding before him, his eyes dancing in amusement as he watched Camille bounce excitedly on the bench. The sight warmed his heart, her cheeky grin and giddy dance the first evidence of happiness in his friend all evening. His eyes followed her every movement, the rocking of her hips and the swinging of her arms in the air, the sway of her body as she turned in circles … the slip of her boot on the icy patch of iron atop the bench. “Oh shit! Cami!” He called out as he watched her fall face first into the snowbank behind the bench.
The adrenaline pumped through his veins as he rushed to her side, assisting the stunned woman as she rolled over slowly to her back. He worried she had knocked the wind out of her until he heard her release a long exhale, but the shocked look on her face still had him concerned. Her eyes welled up with tears as she stared up blankly into the snowy branches of the trees above her. “Camille, are you okay? Are you hurt?” He hovered over her, waiting impatiently for a response, a sign … anything to tell him how he could help.
Camille’s eyes flicked to his, the stunned look slowly fading … and then she burst out laughing. Damien watched in confusion as the tears started rolling down her cheeks, not ones of pain but a different type entirely. She raised her hands to her face and tried to stifle the laughs, but it only worked for a moment until they came back even louder than before. She rolled to her side to face him, her long hair strewn about the snowy ground. He could see her sides shaking with laughter as she reached out to grip his hand to steady herself.
Suddenly Damien found himself laughing too, unable to fight off the infectious joy radiating from this mess of a woman beside him. His eyes followed her as she slowly sat herself upright, marveling at how despite a broken heart and an ice-induced accident she had found the humor in an all-around shitty situation. How she was always able to brighten his day, even when he was in his grumpiest and most cynical of moods. And how he’d come to look forward to his time with her more and more over the course of the past year.
The realization hit him like a ton of bricks, the air suddenly trapped in his lungs as if he himself had been the one to fall off a bench just moments ago. That nagging feeling that he’d been battling internally for so long, suddenly obvious and unavoidable and … right in front of his face. He was in love with Camille.
Somewhere in their fit of laughter, Camille had found the strength to stand. The last rumbling chuckles resonating in her chest, she turned to find a quiet and dazed Damien still sitting in the slushy snow mixture on the ground. “Hey, you okay, D?” The mixture of caffeine, laughter and cold air had her feeling much closer to normal all of the sudden.
Damien nodded silently and stood up as he brushed the snow from his pants and coat, his eyes everywhere but meeting hers. “Yeah fine … just tired. It’s late.”
“You’re right it is.” She reached forward and grasped his hand in hers, cocking her head to the side until he finally met her stare. “I really appreciate you cheering me up tonight, D. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She gave him a soft smile of thanks, the chill of the night exposing her warm breath as it left her parted lips.
Unable to fight it, Damien returned her smile and squeezed her small hand within his own. “Of course. Now let’s get you home.”
Camille chattered on the rest of the walk home, ranting again about her now-ex douchebag boyfriend and all the ways she was happy to be free of him. Damien trailed slightly behind her, trying his best to listen but his mind slipping back into his own thoughts as he watched her talking animatedly. It was as if he were seeing her for the first time, noting the adorable way her brows furrowed when she made a serious point and how her bottom lip jutted out farther than the top one when she paused to think.
After leaving Camille safe and sound at her building, Damien was thankful for the quiet solitude as he walked to the nearest subway station. His mind replayed the events of the evening, analyzing each glimpse in his memory as if he were searching for a different cause for this ache in his chest than the one he so fiercely wanted to disprove. Yet each time he recalled the image of her covered in snow, tears streaming down her face as she laughed uncontrollably … there was nothing he could do to deny the truth.
Camille had never given any indication that she had feelings for him, and if Damien was completely honest he really couldn’t blame her. She was spectacular, the ‘whole package’ as he had stated earlier tonight … and he was just a mediocre private investigator with nothing impressive to show for his thirty years. All he knew was he was crazy for this woman, and he was happy to have her in his life in any capacity. So he would be there for her, he would support her, and he would reside in the friend zone for as long as she would have him if it meant he could still be a part of her life.
Of course, underneath it all, there was still that unspoken wish lingering beneath the surface. The small sliver of hope that maybe one day she would realize she loved him too.
END