Damien felt the headache before he had even fully woken up. He groaned as he opened his eyes slightly, the light of the morning burning. They shot all the way open as he took in his surroundings. Shit, this wasn’t his place. He rolled over and saw Maggie laying in bed next to him. Shit shit shit.
Let me in.
Aurora. The note. The memory of everything that happened the night before came fighting through the painful fog of his hangover. The tears welling in Aurora’s eyes as she begged him to tell her how he felt, jumping off the train and taking a Lyft to Maggie’s, discarding Maggie’s clothes, pretending it was Aurora instead. He placed his hands over his eyes and tried to block it all out.
Maggie awoke and rolled over to face him. “Morning, handsome.
“Hey, uh, mornin’.”
“Oh, I see,” she sat up and using the sheet as a cover, “you’re gonna be weird about this.”
“What? Weird? I’m not—I’m not being weird.”
“Even that was weird.”
“I’m just a bit hungover is all.”
“No, I don’t think that’s it.” She was staring at him as if trying to read his thoughts, “This is about Aurora isn’t it?”
“Aurora?” He was completely caught off guard hearing that name come out of Maggie’s mouth.
“You said you were at a party at Nadia’s last night. She would have been there. Something obviously happened between the two of you and that’s why you’re here.” He had forgotten how perceptive Maggie could be. She reminded him of his old partner in that way.
“Uh, yeah. I mean she was there but, that’s not… this isn’t…” She silently lifted an eyebrow and he sighed, “Maybe… maybe it’s about Aurora. A little bit.” Now both eyebrows went up, “Okay it’s completely about her. Sorry, Maggie. I know it’s not what you want to hear.”
Maggie got up out of bed and pulled on a robe. “Listen, I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t suck when the guy you just slept with clearly has feelings for someone else. But… I remember how you would get when you talked about her before, how you’re getting right now with me just bringing her up. It’s obvious I’m not the one you want to be with.”
He buried his head back in his hands as she tossed his clothes over to him. “I fucked it all up.” He groaned, getting dressed.
“With me? Definitely.” She said with a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “With her? Who knows? But you should at least try. Let something good come out of this mess.”
“You’re right,” He nodded resolutely, making his way out of her studio apartment, “Thanks, Maggie.”
“And Damien?” He turned back towards the door. “Next time, don’t use me as a rebound. It’s shitty and I’m worth more than that.”
“I know you are. I’m sorry, Maggie, truly.” She nodded.
“Now go, get your girl or whatever.” He grinned, taking off down the hallway.
He called Aurora’s cell when he got outside. No answer. He typed out a text “Think we should talk. Can you meet me?” He waited twenty minutes, no answer there, either.
They were in the car on the way back from Philadelphia, Nadia asleep in the back, Aurora staring out the window in the passenger seat. She looked so beautiful lost in thought, Damien could hardly take his eyes off her, but he forced himself to tear his gaze back to the road. He didn’t think the girls would appreciate getting into another car crash so soon after the first.
He had a lot on his mind as well. Their run in with “Gary” was… puzzling to say the least. He had a few theories but they all seemed insane and even if they were somehow correct, well they would all end badly. Then there was Aurora. He knew he should be focusing on the mystery in front of him, but he couldn’t stop his thoughts from wandering back to her. The way she took control during their interrogation, he didn’t know if he wanted to scoop her up in a big, proud hug or take her right there in the alley. His mind kept replaying her turn as bad cop, and imagining it was him she had pressed against the wall instead of Gary. Ultimately, he settled for a lukewarm compliment. And he may have been mistaken, but did he hear her call him cute right before everything went down? He shook his head, bringing his attention back to the Steve situation and the road in front of him.
Aurora broke the silence, “I keep thinking about what happened and trying to make it all makes sense.”
“And?” He replied.
“And… I can’t. He has the exact same scar as Steve, that can’t be a coincidence. But… I believed him when he said he didn’t recognize us, or even Nadia. Is that crazy?”
“I don’t think it’s crazy, I think this situation is crazy. I’m going to do some serious digging into this the second I get back home.”
“Do you need help? I could come by after this self defense class. Or you could come research at my place. I know how private you are, not even letting your best friend in the whole world know where you live.” She tossed him a playful smirk that quickly faded, “I have a… thing tonight, with Hayden, but I could always reschedule! I don’t think he’d mind.”
“No, I think you should definitely see Hayden tonight.”
“O-oh, okay.”
“But be careful, Rory. I can’t help but think this all comes back to Eros somehow.”
She was quiet for a moment. He stole a quick glance in her direction and found she was staring at him. “Damien, about that. I know you’re Mr. Cynical P.I. when it comes to relationships…”
“Rory, Eros…”
“I know, and I get it. Something seems off to me too and I’ll be careful. But that’s not where I’m going with this.
“Look, I don’t know what happened, and I don’t need to. Not until you’re ready to tell me, if you ever are. But D, I know you, something must’ve gone down to make you this guarded. Hell, we’ve talked about my ex, and I know Nadia’s told you even more, don’t try and deny it. So trust me, I understand. But I want you to know that whatever it was, it’s not a reflection on you. Beneath that layer of cynicism, which is shallower than you’d like to admit might I add, you are a loyal, caring guy. And okay I’ve already said it once, you’re pretty damn handsome.” Damien could feel himself start to blush, and swallowed hard, “What I’m getting at is you’re wonderful. And you deserve to find someone who is going to make you like, crazy happy. And whoever that is, well, they’ll be the luckiest person in the world.”
He impulsively reached to grab her hand, but hesitated and patted her knee instead.
“Thanks, Rory. You’re a good one.”
Damien rushed over to Nadia’s apartment. She opened the door holding a bag of empty empty beer bottles in her bright pink rubber gloved hand.
“Hi, D!”
“Nadia! Have you seen Aurora?”
“I’m great thanks! How are you this morning?”
He sighed, “Good morning, Nadia. How are you doing?”
“Better. No, I haven’t seen her since the party, you both kinda disappeared.” Damien winced, remembering the look on Aurora’s face when he left her behind. “But I am getting brunch with her in a little while.”
“Great! Can you grab me a pen and paper?”
Nadia looked skeptical but lead him into the kitchen and grabbed him the supplies he asked for.
“A glitter gel pen, Nadia? Really?”
“What? It’s what I have!”
He rolled his eyes and wrote down his message.
“Can you just.. Can you put this in Aurora’s coat pocket for me?” Nadia stared at him like he was crazy.
“What?”
“Please, Nadia? I’ll help you take out all the recycling.”
“Deal. But only cause all these bottles are really, really heavy.”
She held out her hand and he dropped the note into it. A smile spread across her face “Is this a love note?”
“What? No!”
“Can I read it?”
“No.”
“But—“
“Nadia!”
“Okay, okay. Agent Park is on the job! I’ll make the drop at 1300 hours or something.”
“Thank you, Nadia.”
“Thank you, Agent Park.” He shook his head as he followed her to the front of the apartment, picking up the bags of recycling.
She paused, her still-gloved hand on the door. “Damien… you’re my best friend, but she’s family. So don’t hurt her, or I’ll be forced to kick your butt. I took that self defense class, I can totally do that now.”
He smiled at her threat, “I believe you, and I won’t.”
“Plus,” She held up the note, which was unfolded, “I now know where you live.”
“Nadia!”
“Sorry! I’m just too invested!”
“Well, keep it to yourself, will you?” He grumbled as he walked out into the hall, “And don’t forget, coat pocket!”
He heard a knock on his office door as he was looking through the file on his desk, preparing for his next client. A woman in her early twenties with long wavy hair poked her head in.
“Mr. Nazario?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Great!” She sighed with relief, entering the room, “There wasn’t a sign outside so I wasn’t sure I was in the right place. My cousin Nadia called, about that creep who’s been sending her explicit drawings?”
“Right! Miss Park.”
“That’s her! And me, too.” She shot him a bright smile, “I’m Aurora Park.”
He was momentarily stunned; he hadn’t immediately realized how beautiful she was. But he quickly remembered his manners and stood up from his desk to shake her hand, “Nice to meet you, Aurora, despite the circumstances of course.”
“You as well, Mr. Nazario.”
“Please, call me Damien.”
“Okay, Damien.” She was still smiling; he was still shaking her hand. He abruptly dropped it and sat back down in his chair.“So this stalker.” Aurora lowered herself into one of the chairs across the desk, her initial cheeriness being taken over by concern. “Pretty messed up stuff, isn’t it?”
“It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen, if that gives you some comfort. And I promise, I’ll get him to leave your cousin alone.” She reached over towards the open folder and pulled out a copy of one of the explicit drawing that had been sent to her cousin.
“This is why I don’t date.”
He looked up from the file, grinning, “Smart girl.”
She returned his smile, “Damn right.” They held each other’s gaze, but the sound of an abrupt knock on the door made them both jump.
“That’ll be Nadia!”
Damien was ripped from his memory from a knock in reality. He leapt up, trying to keep himself from running over to the door. He scowled as he noticed his hand shaking slightly as he reached for the doorknob. He shook it off and ripped the door open. Aurora was standing there with her arms crossed. She lifted up the note.
“Assuming this is from you?”
He lifted up his own note in return, “It would’ve been rude not to send a response.” She smiled slightly at this.
“I took a big risk coming here, you know. Going to an address written on a slip of paper with no other note? Any creep could’ve left it.”
“You’re a smart girl, I knew you’d figure it out.” She broke fully into that smile that he loved.
“You’re damn right about that. I recognized your handwriting right away, and the glitter gel pen could only be Nadia. I’m surprised she let you use the purple one, that’s her favorite.”
“Yeah, well, I guess she sensed my urgency.” They were both quiet for a beat.
“So,” she said, peering around Damien’s shoulder, “This is the mysterious Nazario residence.”
“Uh, yeah, please, come in.” He stepped aside gesturing towards the apartment. She immediately made a beeline for the living room.
“Oh my god!” She exclaimed, “the bird pillowcases!” She whirled around to face him, “They don’t match! Why didn’t you tell me the shade was all wrong?”
“You were excited about them, made me like ‘em myself.”
“Well I do have excellent taste. So!” She dropped onto the couch and pulled one of the bird pillows onto her lap, “Something tells me you didn’t invite me over to check out the throw pillows we picked out six months after the fact. What’s up?”
“I, uh, I have to tell you something.” He started pacing in front of the couch. She hugged the pillow into her chest. “Last night after the party, I went over to Maggie’s. I… I spent the night there.” Aurora’s face fell.
“Why are you felling me this?”
“Because I have something else that I need to tell you. And I couldn’t do that without you knowing the truth.”
“I… I waited for you. I stayed up for hours. I thought you…” Her voiced faded out. She was trying to keep her expression neutral, and failing.
“Aurora, I am so sorry. I was going to come over, really. I was on the train platform and everything.”
“Why didn’t you?” He stole another glance at her. He could see the pain behind her eyes and hated himself for causing it.
“I—I…” He felt himself backing out again, changing his mind. This is going to end badly, you already hurt her. “It doesn’t matter. This was a mistake. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—“
“Damien,” She whispered, barely audibly, “please.” He took a deep breath, steeling himself. She deserves to know, he reassured himself, I owe her this much.
“I panicked. I was scared. I had been hurt before, and was scared of being hurt again. So I went somewhere I knew that wouldn’t happen. But mostly,” he stopped pacing and looked her straight in the eye, “Mostly I was afraid that if I told you the truth about how I feel, it would be too much and… I would lose you. And I can’t lose you, Rory.” He sat down next to her on the sofa and took her hand, her expression softened. “You are the most important person in the world to me. You make every day of my life brighter just by being in it, by being you. And at a time that was so dark I didn’t think that was possible. You’re clever, brave, thoughtful, funny as hell. You light up any room you’re in. You amaze me.
“Don’t pick Hayden.” He whispered, “Not because I don’t trust the guy or because I think there’s something suspicious about Eros. But because… because I want you to pick me, okay? I’m crazy about you, Aurora. I have been since we first met.”
Aurora stood up, put her hand on her forehead, and started laughing. It wasn’t quite the reaction he had hoped for. “Why’d you take so long?” She asked, shaking her head, unable to keep the smile off her face. “Damien, I’m crazy about you too.”
He leapt up, now laughing too. “Really?”
“Yes, really!” Damien pulled her close and Aurora threw her arms around his neck, that bright smile lighting up her face. He felt like a massive weight had been lifted, one that had been there for years. He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss, hardly daring to believe this was real. She pulled him closer, deepening the kiss and tangling her fingers in his hair.
They pulled back to catch their breaths, gently pressing their foreheads to one another’s. “Why did I take so long?” He exclaimed softly.
“I’m still not psyched about the Maggie thing, but I’m sure I can come up with a few ways you can make it up to me…”
“Anything, I’m yours.”
“Good,” She smiled, “And for the record, you amaze me as well.” She placed her hand on his cheek and kissed him again.
“So,” she purred softly into his ear, “Do you want to show me the rest of your apartment. The bedroom perhaps?”
He laughed, “Subtle, Rory.” He pressed a hard kiss to her lips and growled playfully, “Hold on.” He headed into the kitchen, reached into the fridge, and tossed her a bottle of water. She caught it and looked up with a perplexed smile. He flashed back a roguish grin, “You’re going to need that.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ve got four years of wanting you built up here. This is gonna take all night.”
He lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder, carrying her giggling into his bedroom.
