Damon's pov

It has been a few days since Keith had been beaten up. I hadn't been there when he woke up. I hadn't been with him when he got home. I hadn't been able to go to his house and see how he was doing. 

Because I was tied down to my own house, in my own cage of fear with my own thoughts that kept me from being with the person I... loved. 

Seeing him laying in the hospital, under the white sheets, had made me realise how much he actually meant to me, how much I felt for him and how much I needed him. 

And it was scray to think that I could have lost him that same day and it would have been because of me. Never had he been beaten up so badly before, because now they knew about our sexuality and somehow that was a major reason to almost kill him. 

I sobbed and pressed a pillow against my face while trying to make myself even smaller in the corner of my dark room. I didn't need to see anything, everything was dark anyways, because the colors would fade from my world without him. And even though I couldn't live without Keith, he would be able to stay alive without me. 

I jumped when my phone rang. I didn't want to answer, but my curiosity and fear mixed and made me answer anyways, without even looking at the ID. 

"Damon?" I hear his cracked voice ask on the other side of the line. It was followed by a sob that shattered my heart. "Keith." I whispered so soft that I didn't know he heard me. There was a long silence only interrupted by our sobs. 

"You can't do this to me, Damon. I- I can't overcome this without you." I heard him say and my the pain in my chest increased by his words. "I'm no good for you." I said. 

"Goddamnit Damon! You're the only thing that makes me happy! Please, please don't give up on me. I'm scared too, but I - we gotta get through this together!" He said on the very edge of panic. 

"I don't know what I'll do without you." He whispered and the alarm bells went of in my head. 

"I'm coming." I said and hung up. My heart was pounding and guilt washed over me. I had to break up, I had to become just friends with him. That way we would still have each other and we would be safe. We would only have to convince The Knives. 

I dragged myself to my mother's car, succesfully avoiding everyone else in the house and drove away. 

His mother was gone and I parked the car and ran towards the door. I checked my surroundings before banging on the door, forgetting they had a doorbell. Keith opened the door and immediately turned around so that I faced his back. I closed the door behind me and followed him, worried that he wouldn't show me his face. 

He took place on his bed and finally faced me. It was as if someone ripped my heart out of my ribcage and smashed it with a hammer, danced on the pieces and then stopped it back in. His eyes were red from crying, the bruises were fading, but not entirely gone. The thing that killed me inside was the look he gave me. Fear, mixed with sadness, but most of all, hurt. It was as if I was looking in a broken mirror, one that I broke. 

I fell to my knees in front of him and burried my head in his hands that were resting on his lap. And I cried. I cried over what I had done, what had happened and over what I had intended to do. 

He sank to the floor in front of me and took me in his arms. "Stop shutting me out." He whispered in my ear. I could only nod and fold my arms around him, pressing him against me as gentle as possible. I was wrong. We couldn't live without each other. 

When we calmed down we took place on his bed, facing each other. "I'm so sorry, Keith." I said hoarse from the tears and with my head down. "I'm so sorry that I keep shutting you out, that I left you in a time you needed me and I'm sorry for being the cause that you've gotten hurt again. Everything is my fault and I don't know what to do... I"

"It's not Damon. It's not your fault. You're not the one who've beaten me up." He said with a calm voice. His hand grabbed mine and his touched forced me to look up at him. 

"But I'm the reason." I whispered. He shook his head with a sad smile. 

"I like boys, and I don't think I will ever like girls. If they found out, even if you weren't my boyfriend, they would have beaten me up. If you had been any other guy, they would have beaten me up. Hell, if I had ever crossed them when they were as drunk and stoned as the assholes who attacked Drake, I would have been beaten up." 

I didn't say anything, but just looked him in the eyes. "It's not your fault, Damon. They're just a bunch of bastards who only feel good about themselves when they break weaker people. He spat out. I stared at him in disbelief. 

"But aren't you scared that they'll kill you next time?" I asked softly. 

"Of course I'm scared! I'm scared that they will get to you next time, or my mom, or one of your siblings. But I refuse to give up the one thing that makes me want to get out of my bed everyday. I refuse to let them win and I refuse to give up on you because of them." He said  resolute. 

A sudden wave of admiration flooded my heart. What had happened to the boy who was scared to greet me in the morning? The way he wanted to fight for what he wanted made me believe that there was a chance we actually could be happy. 

"But, of course that's only if you want to go through." He said after studying my face for a bit. "You've grown so much lately. When we met, I wanted to help you, I wanted to keep you safe and make sure the world wouldn't harm you. But now I see that the world can't harm you, while I have the feeling it will destroy me. And it appears that I just can't live without you." I said as an answer and he gave me half a smile. 

"You're the only one thing that can destroy me, because I need you too keep breathing. You're the only light in my darkness, so please don't leave me." He said and crawled closer to rest his head against my chest. 

And I held him in my arms, my head resting on his, knowing that we were like to broken pieces fitting together as a whole. Silently I wished that this would be the last time I would hurt him. But I think we both knew that the path we chose was one with major ups and downs. 

Soon I found Keith fighting to keep his eyes open and I let him go ignoring the protest he muttered.

"Get some sleep, Keith. I'll go now, but I'll be back and I won't leave you." I promised with a smile. 

Keith's pov 

Days went by and Damon kept his word. He came to visit to check up on my injuries and talk. We talked a lot, about lots of things.

Today we decided to take a walk in the park. And I was looking at myself in the mirror. My bruises were gone and yesterday I had the cast removed. And there had been no more signs from The Knives.

I returned to my room and pulled on a grey sweater and my sneakers before going downstairs. My mom was watching tv with tea in her hand.

"When Damon arrives, we'll be heading out. We're going to take a walk in the park." I said nonchalant.

She looked at me with a worried expression. "Are you sure that is a good idea?" She asked warily.

I sighed, I knew my mom was extremely careful after I've been beaten up. But it had been one and a half week and I was still alive.

"Mom, we'll be together all the time, the park is a public space and there will be a lot of public. We can't stay inside just becausr thode morons are out there." I said but not in a harsh way.

She sighed and nodded and I walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Everything will be fine." I promised before running towards the door because the doorbell rang.

I pulled on my thick coat and opened the door. Damon had a big grin plastered on his face as he leaned in for a quick kiss.

"Shall we?" He asked and I nodded.

~^~^~^~

We had been walking for hours before we stopped at a wooden bridge, looking out over the river and both deep in thoughts.

"Keith?" Damon's voice pulled my gaze from the river to his eyes. They looked intensely into mine and I felt my cheeks redden.

"Yes?" I asked softly. He smiled with a mix between sadness and adoration in his eyes.

"You know I can't be here for you all your life, right?" My heart dropped and I dreaded the words that would follow. The words of him leaving me...
But I nodded and faced the river again in sadness.

Damon came a little closer and his hand under my chin was gentle as he pulled me to face him. I was confused and looked into his eyes.

"But I can promise that I will love you for the rest of mine." He said and I let out a gasp. He smiled and pulled me closer until our lipd met.

I didn't care about anyone seeing us. I was fearless and filled with joy. He loved me and I knew I loved him back.

I pulled away and put a hand on his cheek. "And I will love thee until death us part." I said beforr pressing my lips at his again.

Soon enough we were out of breath and we became aware of our surroundings again. Both our cheeks were red from excitement as the cold.

"It started snowing." I said noticing the small white flakes flying through the air. "Shall we go back to my place for hot chocolate?" I asked and he nodded.

~^~^~^~

But we never got to hot chocolate. All the way back we were touching in one way or another. A quick pinch in a hand, a nudge at the shoulder a little kiss on a cheek when nobody was watching.

As soon as we got home we went upstairs, both eager to hold each other and kiss away the cold of our skin.

We had both said it. We had admitted we loved each other and somehow it had lifted boundaries I never knew were there.

Soon I found myself laying on the bed with him on top of my kissing wherever he could kiss my skin. Soon the skin of my face and neck wasn't enough and his hands went under my sweater.

He paused and looked at me as if he was asking for permission. As an answer I quickly got rid of my sweater forgetting my insecurities as he attacked my skin.

To make it even I pulled his sweater off as well and threw it across the room. His lips were everywhere, leaving me helpless gasping for air.

Things stirred in my lower body and I felt him too against my tigh. I blushed hard but he only gave me one of his signature smirks before kissing me slow and tender against my lips.

My hands were tangled in hid hair as his roamed iver my body, lower until they found the edge of my jeans.

I took a sharp breath but let him continue as he pulled down my pants. My breath was ragged and I held his gaze as he also took off the last piece of clothing.

I close my eyes and held my breath awaiting what would happen next. My heart was racing and a thousand things crossed my mind.

But it all stopped as soon as he touched me. I gasped loudly and my eyes opened wide. I looked at him only to meet the same look of affection I knew was in my eyes.

As he kept touching me, making me feel things I thought never to be feeling all I could think of was how lucky I was to have him...

~^~^~^~

When I woke up the next morning I froze when I felt someone laying next to me.

But then I realized that the person laying next to me, who had wrapped me in his arms was Damon. And butterflies stirred in my stomach when I thought of all the things we had done last night.

We only stopped to have dinner with my mom, both with cheeks as cherries and avoiding my moms questioning eyes.

We had asked our momd if Damon could sleep over and they both had no problems with it, giving us all the time we needed to explore every inch of each other body.

I sighed and turned around in his arms, looking at his peaceful face while he was still asleep.

I never knew I would be able to love someone this much. But I knew I loved him and I hopef it would never change.

A/N
Hello dear readers. I am so incredibly sorry for publishing a week late. Please forgive me and I'll try to write another chapter in the next two days.
Happy Easter everyone!

What do you think will happen next?

How do you think things are between Keith and Damon?

Please let me know!

Xxx BlackRoses