A Very Happy Thanksgiving

The buzz of a football game commentary in the background was loud enough to annoy me, but it was my father and Damien's shouts at the screens that really twitched a nerve. After dinner, dad had invited him to join him on the couch and watch some game between so and so team that I really couldn't bother remembering the names of. Pure noise had followed.

I kept my thoughts to myself as I worked. "Men," I muttered under my breath, unable to understand what it is about sports that appealed to these testosterone-filled beings so much. Focusing on doing the dishes that had piled up, I managed to tune out the sounds streaming in from the living room which is exactly why I almost died when a voice spoke, "Need any help?"

The soaped up fork slipped out of my hand and landed on the bottom of the sink as my hand flew to my chest. I whirled to glare at my dad, saying"For the billionth time dad, I don't need your-" when I stopped. Because it wasn't dad who was holding his hands up by his side in defense - it was Damien.

My shoulder slumped and I took a quick moment to recompose my face from the annoyance that was written on it to something a little less negative.

"Sorry," Damien said, smiling and grabbing the towel hanging off a nail in the wall. Edging past me before I could say anything, he picked up the plates and spoons I had already washed and started to dry them off with the towel.

We worked in a shared silence, spare for the occasional 'damn you Matt Moore!' that dad shouted. I knew that Damien kept looking at me, despite acting like he didn't. Conversation was something that sparked easily between us in school - although I'm not sure arguments counted as proper conversations. But now, neither of us were willing to start one. I didn't know what to say myself.

I was happy he was here, in my house, with it having started from the moment I'd opened my front door to see him. There was no longer any regret, or longing for my mom's presence. It was almost like Damien's company had made up for all that. What I didn't understand is how. How could he of all people make me feel such a way? How could he be the one to erase the negativity that had festered slowly, though surely, all through out today? It was that 'how' my mind was busy deciphering in my share of the silence.

I washed the last remaining utensil and handed it to Damien.

"Thanks," I said, dropping my hands back to my side after wiping them dry.

Damien finished drying it off and set everything on top of the counter. Tossing the towel over a kitchen chair, he turned to me. There was an unusual tint of redness in his cheeks and he seemed to be thinking something over in his head.

"Makayla, can we talk?"

"Sure," I answered instantly, crossing my arms over my chest and leaned back against the counter. "Shoot."

Another embarrassing whoop sounded from the living room and we both turned to look at my dad who was literally bouncing up and down on the couch. "Touchdown losers!" he shouted, pointing at the screen and cackling like he'd just won a million dollars.

"Outside, maybe?" I suggested, gesturing at the back door. Damien grinned and nodded. He followed me as I led the way through the door, closing it behind him gently. We had a small garden out back, one that dad and I took turns maintaining every alternating weekend. I had taken the responsibility of setting out the patio furniture from the move to make it look pleasant.

A starry night sky greeted us as we both settled into the chairs.

"It's beautiful tonight," I said, gazing up. We could see more stars than usual, like the universe had granted us the magical view as a Thanksgiving gift. The longer I watched, greater numbers seemed to peek out through the gaps and holes in the thick, billowing clouds above. It was while I was admiring the view did something hit me. I realized this was the first time I was actually sitting out here in the backyard since dad and I had moved. The first time...with Damien.

I looked back at him only to realize his eyes were already focused on me. How long had they been? Damien didn't give me a long time to linger on my thoughts as he begun to speak.

"I owe you an apology," he said then paused for a second before correcting himself, "two actually."

"Damien, I-"

"Please May," he held up a hand to stop whatever it was I had to say, "hear me out." I pressed my lips together and nodded. When he was sure I wouldn't speak up again, Damien took inhaled deeply then let it out into the open with the words, "I didn't mean to ruin your Thanksgiving like this."

He chose not to acknowledge the startled, 'eh' that escaped me. That, or it had been too soft for him to hear. A strange redness settled into his cheeks that seemed out of place on his face. This was Damien - the Damien that teased the hell out of me at every given opportunity he had, the Damien that was almost always laughing or joking about something that only he truly got. Seeing him looking this serious...it made me worry. Especially when it was over a stupid reason like that.

"Showing up at your doorstep like that announced, let alone on Thanksgiving day is unforgivable."

Unforgivable? Was he back to being dramatic again? "That's a little extreme Dai," I said, giving him a small smile.

He didn't smile back. "I intruded on your family dinner with your dad. And you've barely spoken a word to me all of this evening." He dropped his gaze from my eyes and looked up at the stars above us, regret streaming onto his face. "I guess I really know how to make you hate me."

"Are you crazy?"

I couldn't stay quiet any longer after hearing those words. Damien wasn't being dramatic or sarcastic. The genuine traces of sadness and guilt in his voice were unmistakable and what prompted me to edge closer to him, close enough to place my hand on top of the one he had propped on the armrest. The unexpected contact gained his attention as he turned his head to face me, eyebrows raising in surprise.

"Damien," I wet my lips, my mouth feeling dry all of a sudden before I confessed, "truth be told, I'm really happy you're here."

My words hung in the air for a while before I spoke again, gaining no reaction from Damien whose face had morphed into a poker-face he was getting good at keeping up. He didn't believe me. He thought I was saying this for his sake.

"Thanksgiving is a hard time for me." I took my hand off of his and rested it on my lap, looking down at the surface of my palms that grew clammier as I recalled unpleasant memories. "You and Nick both probably heard from Leo about my parents situation and all. It's hard for me, and dad too, during holidays like Thank-"

"Leo never told us."

I looked up to see Damien staring at me, in an almost begrudging manner.

"But, you guys tell each other everything."

"That's what I thought too."

Had I stepped on a landmine here? Damien didn't like what he was hearing. Where shame had been written on his face, drops of envy had taken over. The possibility that Leo had kept our conversation at the party to himself made me slightly happy to know that he respected what little of my private life I had shared with him enough to keep it between us. That wasn't how Damien saw it though. If at all, he probably thought I favored Leo over him which wasn't the case.

"Well," I gulped, being careful with my choice of words, "there's not really much to add to what you and Nick know already. It's the typical divorce sob-fest."

"Uh-huh," he drawled, unconvinced.

I leaned back against my chair, bringing my knees up to my chest. I hadn't been planning to share the story to more than one person but yet, here I was again, doing just that and with the Dark Lord nonetheless. I grew more confident though, and it wasn't until I was halfway through the story did I realize I'd shared more with Damien than I had with Leo.

"After mom and dad's divorce, mom remarried immediately. I never really knew the specific details of what had brought on the divorce. To me, it was the biggest shock since I thought everything was fine in our family but," I shrugged, "it turned out that mom had been having an affair with some big-shot company executive behind dad's back."

"Oh."

"Yeah. It sucked big-time." I was handling this better than I had before. No tears - just numbness. At this point, I didn't know which was worse. "I didn't get along at all with the step-family I was introduced to. Mom ignored me, having fallen head over heels for not just her new husband, but the whole family package he brought along with him. I was forgotten, and the mom I used to know and love became someone I couldn't recognize anymore."

I expected some comedic remark from Damien like 'daaamn girl, that's deep'. I shot him a quick glance and noticed that he had turned his chair to face me, legs crossed underneath him with his elbows propped on his thighs so I had his full attention. With a final sigh, I concluded, "And that's pretty much all there is to it. I wanted to be with dad, and mom didn't put up too much of a fight over taking custody of me for long before her resolve vanished. I moved out here with dad, who was looking for fresh beginnings. And I guess that's what this is. Trying to forgive, forget, and move the hell on with our own lives."

Damien stayed quiet for a while, observing me with one hand stroking his chin as if he were a shrink. When he finally spoke up, it wasn't the reassuring words of comfort that I had been expecting.

"So that explains the extra place-setting."

My head whipped in his direction, mouth dropping open in the least graceful way. Damien smiled a little at the shock that flitted across my face.

"What, you thought I didn't notice? You had it set for your mom, even though you knew she wouldn't show up."

His bluntness hurt a little, but it was the good kind of hurt. The kind of hurt that told me he understood where I was coming from and that a part of him knew just as much as I did that wistful wishes were only meant for fairy tales.

I nodded, not taking my eyes off of his, unable to speak.

His smile disappeared. "You opened up the door, hoping it would be her but instead...there I was."

The way he said that, like it was a bad thing...it was wrong on so many levels. I started shaking my head at him. "No Damien. It's more like..." I paused and said in a feathery voice, "there you were."

His lips twitched.

"Like, something out of a cheesy chick-flick when the girl's looking through a crowd and finally spots the guy and is like, 'le gasp, there he is'."

"Or the part when the stable boy shows up at the princess's castle and she's happy it's him and not the prince she's meant to marry," Damien added and winked.

I started to laugh, and soon, he joined in. Seconds ago, I'd been pouring out my sentimental flashbacks to him and now, we were both clutching our stomachs and doubling over in laughter like a couple of morons. I guess that's Damien for you.

When the laughter quieted down, I shot him a wide grin. "That was me in a round-about way trying to tell you that I'm not one bit mad at you that you're here. In fact, I'm the exact opposite."

He looked ecstatic to hear that, the light flooding back into his impish green eyes. Damien nodded, running a hand through his brown hair and didn't say anything to that. I still had one more question, though.

"So, why did you really come here then?"

"Huh?" He hadn't been expecting that.

I smiled at him. "You said it wasn't your intention to join us for Thanksgiving dinner. What was?"

"Oh." Damien scratched the side of his face, looking a lot more embarrassed than before. "Well...uh, I just." I watched him with growing amusement as he scrambled for words, his face growing redder by the second.

When he didn't say anything, I pressed him further, "Damien?"

Damien threw his hands up in the air in resignation and stood up, the sudden movement pushing me back against my chair in surprise.

"Okay, I just - you remember how I said I have two apologies to make?"

"Yup."

"Well...you have to realize that I don't think straight sometimes."

"I knew that from the moment I first met you."

"Oh ha-ha," he muttered, throwing me an unamused glare as he paced back and forth in front of me. I stifled a giggle and waited patiently for him to answer my question properly, hugging my knees tighter.

"Well. I'm just going to spit it out," he declared, stopping his pacing and standing directly in front of me. He seemed to be weighing up the words in his head before he blurted out, "I wanted to apologize for acting like an idiot yesterday."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Um..." he mumbled something to himself under his breath before clicking his fingers and going, "Oh! Yeah. My behavior was inexcusable and I fully regret how I lashed out on you yesterday. It's just that our walks home together with Nick mean a lot to me and it upset me a little that you didn't inform me about it beforehand, which is stupid because there is no need for you to do that anyways." Damien let out a breath, shoulders slumping a little bit like the world's weight had been lifted off of him.

I chewed on my lower lip, watching him before asking, "Did Nick tell you to say all that?"

He paled. "Is it...obvious?"

"You sounded like you were reading lines off some script. And I thought you were a good actor Damien." I clicked my tongue in disappointment and shook my head at him teasingly. "But honestly, that's why you came? To apologize about that?"

"Well...yeah." Damien slipped his hands into his pockets, smiling like a five year old. "Weren't you mad?"

"Oh Damien." I rose up from my chair and walked toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You underestimate my powers. I have mastered the art of tolerating you by now."

His eyes narrowed, clearly not taking my words as a compliment but before he could say anything about it, the sound of the back door closing shut and dad's voice robbed him of the chance.

"What are you kids doing out here? It's freezing."

"Planning world domination." I winked, then let go of Damien and turned to my dad, grinning at him mischievously. "Is the game over?"

"Nope. Half-time." Dad cocked his head back in the direction of the kitchen and suggested in a voice full of honey, "I was wondering if you could serve out some of your righteous pumpkin pie."

"Ooh, that sounds good," Damien piped up, rubbing his hands together like a little kid.

I rolled my eyes at the both of them and took the lead, heading back to the kitchen with the two of them tailing me. After I cut out the slice of pie for dad, he thanked me and gave me a big smooch on my cheek before taking his dessert with him to the living room. Damien and I both settled down on the kitchen stools facing the living room view with our own respective portions of my pie.

He took a bite and groaned like he'd just entered ecstasy. "May, you gotta tell me how you do it."

"Do what?" I fished for his compliments.

"This. Tastes. So. Freaking. Good. I might move into your kitchen at this rate."

I laughed, taking another bite out of the pie. He was right. This tasted glorious.

"And May?"

"Umph?"

"About yesterday..."

"I tosh you alweady, I fohgive you," I uttered through mouthfuls of pie. Damien shook his head, and it wasn't until I looked him straight in the eye again did I realize that he was actually nervous. Oh wow. This must be something serious.

"It's not that, it's just um...the date thing."

Oh gosh. I bit down hard on my inner cheek to stop from grinning. One look at his face and I knew he was still pretty riled up about it, but was holding it back for my sake. Putting on an innocent facade, I encouraged him, "yeah? What about it?"

"Um, who..." he cleared his throat, and then coughed. "Sorry, food entered the wrong pipe." You aren't even chewing Damien. "I uh...I just want to know who it is that you went out with."

He looked at me, with those big green doe eyes. I wouldn't fall for it. If there was a way to have Damien be the one left hanging for a change, I would take it. Gulping down the pie, I smirked at him.

"You really want to know?"

He bobbed his head yes.

"Well," I pressed my index finger against my lips and winked, "too bad it's a secret."

The growl that followed could have brought the whole house down. I simply ignored Damien's persistent questioning and picked up my plate, carrying it over to join dad on the couch in the living room. Even then, Damien sat next to me, poking me on the hip and repeatedly whispering, "Who, who, who". If I really told him 'who' it was with, he would murder me. I liked having him on his toes. And that is exactly how I kept him the rest of Thanksgiving break.

--------------------CHAPTER END---------------------

A/N: So I may have gotten carried away with the gifs of May for this one x) But I found a perfect sequence so why not use them ;) (spare for that drink in her hand.)

A teaser for when you return: the gang is back at school now, and Damien's reaction to finding out the truth about May's 'date'? See you then! ^.^

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