If I thought Damien was going to leave me alone, I thought wrong. Oh, so wrong. 

He comes banging at my door only minutes later I ran away from him at the parking lot. 

Damien comes banging at my front door. "Brooke! You can't run away like that. You're upset. Open up, please." I can clearly hear the frustration and desperation in his voice, probably thinking I won't open the door for him.

I'm wiping my face, although the tears won't stop falling from my eyes, making it wet. I don't even know why I'm crying, I just have so many feelings swimming inside of me right now. 

"Brooke! Come on, you can't hide from me forever. I won't stop coming after you," Damien says. It sounds like a threat and I know he's dead serious. 

"Why the hell don't you give up?" I yell out in pain, swallowing a sob. 

"Because I can't fucking let you go!" Damien bellows. I hear a loud thud on the door as if Damien punched it. 

"You had no problem leaving three years ago!" I throw it back into his face. I don't know if there will ever come a day that I won't be bitter about him leaving me without a word.

"You think that? You really think that? It was you or my mother, Brooke, I had to make a choice! But I think you were actually waiting for me to fuck it up and do you wrong so you could forever hold it against me, huh?" 

I turn to face the door, putting my palm on it. I can feel him out there. I can almost feel the warmth of his palm pressed against mine. Why can't this be any easier? Why is there not any sign to show me what is the right thing to do? 

I'm questioning myself if I should forgive Damien and move on and try to do something with him or if I should be careful around him, walking on tiptoes and forever hate him for what he did to me. 

"Brooke, baby, come on. Let's talk this out and figure out things together."

Damn it. Damn him, he makes me so weak. 

I lean my forehead against the door and I exhale. And then I turn the key in the lock. Damien opens the door so fast that it almost throws me back. 

I stumble back a few feet. 

Damien is in front of me in a second, my face in his palms, his touch warm and soothing, his eyes holding so much warmth for me. It disarms me. I'm naked in front of him; mentally. My soul is bared. I can't fight it anymore, it's too exhausting. I also can't be afraid. He's too much for me and he knows it. He's my weakness.

"Don't do this, Brooke. Don't hide from me every time we stumble onto a problem. And especially don't go away from me when you're mad and hurt and lock yourself in your flat."

I put my hands on Damien's forearms, wanting to remove his hands from my face at first because his touch is burning my skin, but when I wrap my hands around the material of his clothes, I just rest them there. I'm hungry for his touches, hungry for his looks, his voice ... I'm a starving woman.

"You can't keep doing this, Damien. Please ... Either you walk away and leave me alone or don't ever go away again," I tell him brokenly. It's so hard to breathe when he's close to me, I just forget that the oxygen is what keeps me alive. Right now, it feels like the only thing keeping me alive is him fighting to come back into my life.

One side of Damien's lips curves upwards, his eyes shining with the recognition I'm caving and he has me where he wanted to. "I choose the second option, Brooke. I already told you, you were just too focused on holding a grudge towards me to see how serious I mean it."

I scowl. "Yeah, you're actually still an asshole, by the way. I'm just ... You won't leave me alone and I'm getting exhausted from this game between us."

"There's no game, moro. We're doing it right."

I shake my head. "What we're doing is friends, Damien. I can't offer you much more," I tell him seriously. I can't just jump right into a relationship with him. I wouldn't be able to do it; to trust him. My feelings run deep for him, but the friendship is all I have to offer. I would always fear when it's going to be the day he goes away again.

I know the friendship could destroy me all the same, but I can't be with him if I have to force myself to trust him. Besides, I haven't totally forgiven him yet. 

"Friends," Damien repeats with a distaste as if he doesn't recognise that word. He leans back a bit, staring at me long and hard, gauging if I'm serious or not. "Okay. Alright, I'll take you however I can get you." He nods to himself, confirming his words.

"How about you start by dropping your hands away from my face?" I mumble. The tears are drying on my face now, but my eyes still sting and the skin under them becomes sensitive to the touch. 

Damien frowns. "Friends touch each other," he says, moving his hand so his thumb almost touches my lip. I lean my head back and remove his hand by myself, glaring at him.

"Don't push it."

He immediately drops his hands and sighs. "This is going to be more difficult than I thought," he mumbles to himself. 

I offer him my hand to shake. "Friends?"

Damien eyes my hand as if he never saw it before. "You had your mouth on mine not that long ago, Brooke, don't come at me with this bullshit." 

I drop my hand, rolling my eyes. I missed this. I miss how he says exactly what's on his mind and he is a rare person that understands my sarcasm and my way of joking that a lot of people would take as being offensive. And he's also not afraid to give me shit back and stand his ground. 

A man I need. But also a man that left me once. How do I know he's not going to do the same thing again? 

I drop my hand, kind of glad he didn't take it because I'm not ready for the contact of his skin against mine, anyway. 

"So, do you want to come at my place and watch a movie? I can make us dinner?" 

I eye him doubtfully. "Are your cooking skills still as good as they used to be?" 

"Ah, they have improved, moro. My mother is a great cook and I had a chance to learn a lot from her." He winks at me and I almost blush. Almost. 

I narrow my eyes at him, thinking about his offer. "Alright, cowboy. Let me just freshen up."

"I'll wait," Damien says with a pleased smile.

I quickly turn on my heel, showing him my back so he can't see the tiny smile creeping on my mouth. 

I splash my face with some cold water and then powder my nose because it's shiny and red from crying. My eyes are puffy and my lips look bigger and redder but I don't have time for doing make-up right now. 

I put on my big smile and I can see that familiar glint in my eyes that disappeared three years ago and haven't come back since then. Until now. And the person responsible for it is currently waiting for me in my living room.

I come out to find Damien where I've left him, looking around himself in a thought. He eyes me up and down when he hears me coming towards him, watching me as if I was walking towards him completely naked. 

My heart flutters in my chest. "Come on, friend," Damien chirps, wrapping his arm around my waist, pulling me to his chest.

I slap his arm away, releasing myself from his body, even though every cell in my body screams to go even closer to him. Damn, I've got it bad for this man, but I hate showing him how weak he makes me because he can use it against me. 

He leads me to his flat. The memories hit me with full force when I step a foot inside after three years. Not much has changed. His flat is very similar to mine. I see a few boxes laying around since he still didn't unpack fully, some are opened, some are still closed. 

When we go through the living room, I notice a few personal photos on the shelves and I pause to look at them, staring at his handsome face, posing with his parents. He's so relaxed in these photos, his smile is completely natural.

I take a longer look at his parents, comparing them to Damien. His mother is a small woman with lovely features. She's got soft features and a genuine smile. She has that natural beauty. Her hair is lighter and both dark men on her each side bring out her light beauty.

And looking at his dad is like looking at a replica. He's equally dark as Damien. I notice Damien has mother's light eyes and full lips, but he has his father's strong nose and dark hair.

His father has a beard, making him look a bit older, but he's still very handsome and I see that Damien is going to age equally graceful as his father and he's going to always look dashing, probably taking my breath away for the rest of my life. If I'll even be around him then. 

The photo must've been taken a long time ago. Damien looks younger and I know his parents aren't together anymore. I can see their respect for each other, but I don't see the love between them anymore.

The picture next to it must've been taken recently. It was clearly in the hospital, his mother laying on the bed with almost no hair anymore, her eyes are sunken and she's lost weight. Her son is giving her a kiss on the cheek, his eyes closed with his long, dark eyelashes brushing his skin. 

The picture is beautiful and easily my favourite. I trace my finger over his face, his natural posture, not realising someone is taking a photo of him. 

Damien joins me by holding a glass of white wine for me. He gets that tender smile on his face when he looks at the photo and I grab a chance to look at him instead, admiring his beauty, taking a glass of chilled wine from his hands.

"Settle in, I'll just go take a quick shower." 

Saying that, my eyes drop down his body, remembering that he's still in his sweatpants and a thick shirt from when he came back from his run. 

"By the look you're giving me, I assume you want to join me. You're welcome to, by the way. I'll be an even better host in there."

I chuckle in amusement, his words making my body hot in all the right places. I place my hand on his chest and push him back a little. "Maybe some other time." I send him a wink.

Damien playfully points at me. "I'm holding you to your word." 

I show him my tongue and Damien's eyes drastically change colour into a darker one. I see this friendship is going to be hard to maintain. 

Damien goes to the bathroom and I follow him with my eyes, appreciatively looking at his backside and the way his muscles move under his clothes. Gorgeous. 

I sit down on the couch and try not to think about naked Damien standing under the water, all that muscled skin getting touched with the water, kissing his skin like I want to do it with my mouth.

I feel how hot my face gets, the wine helping to spread the redness all over my body. Damien makes me hot with merely his glance. He looks at me and I'm ready to spread my legs however and wherever he wants me to. If he hadn't left three years ago, we could have such an explosive relationship, we could be a bomb couple because we can create fireworks with only our gazes.

But it apparently had to be like that and we're building the trust back up now. Well, I have to build it up, I didn't give Damien anything to doubt me. I've never hurt him. 

I drink the wine and enjoy the silence and the comfort his place offers me. It feels nice being back in here, even though it's a bit overwhelming when the memories come flooding back. 

Damien, true to his words, doesn't take long in the shower. When he walks out of the door, I stop with the glass pressed to my lips. I tried to take a swig, but I freeze when I notice him come out with a pair of sweatpants on and ... nothing else. He's drying his hair with a towel, the muscles on his arm straining.

My eyes can't take him in soon enough, travelling over his glorious chest, taking in all the muscles and - fuck me - that fucking V-line that makes me want to drop on my knees and worship him like he deserves to be worshipped. 

Damien carelessly throws the towel on the couch beside me, now standing close to me, his muscles on full display. His smell hits my nostrils, the smell of a freshly showered male. I think I stopped breathing and I'm sure if I took a swig of a wine, I would choke on it.

I can't keep my eyes away from his chest and I shamelessly stare at what he's offering. "You know, in other circumstances, I would totally go on my knees right now and suck you off so hard you'd beg me to stop."

Damien pauses mid-step and I notice how his cock stirs in his pants, making it obvious he's not wearing any underwear. "Fuck me," he breathes, his eyes wide and horny, looking at me like he's ready to attack. "You can't say things like that to me and expect me not to react to them."

I wink. "I said in other circumstances, cowboy. Put your horse away." 

Damien chuckles to himself and grabs the shirt, that's laying over the backrest, putting it over his head. When he stands before me, he suddenly leans down to my place, putting his right hand on the back of the couch and the left one to the armrest, his face suddenly so close to mine, I can feel his breath all over my face and his smell hits me with full force, making my body go liquid.

"These circumstances are going to change soon. And I can't wait to see you on your knees with my cock between your lips." His hand comes to my chin, his thumb brushing over my parted mouth. He smiles to himself before he stands up, taking his touch with him. "What do you want to eat? Any wishes?" he asks, completely composed again while he left me a total mess. 

"Something light. And cold," I say tightly, pressing the glass against my hot cheek.

Damien's chuckle rings in my ears when he leaves for the kitchen.