Angel (Damiano David & Victoria De Angelis)

Chapter 16

"It's okay, Vic...it's okay. You're doing great.", she heard Thomas' soothing voice as she clung onto him. It was surprising that it was him as he had never been the one to comfort other people but the past months had definitely changed all of them, so now he was more capable of doing emotional stuff and opening up a bit more. She was sobbing desperately, overwhelmed by all the emotions she was feeling right now. She didn't know if it had been the right decision to throw Lucinda out...maybe he needed her in his life. What if that had only made everything worse? She was so confused, yet somewhat confident...it was a weird combination. How was she supposed to be able to help Damiano and keep on being there for him when she couldn't even handle her own feelings right now. Thomas gently began to brush through her hair: "Don't worry so much, Vic...you are literally the best thing that could've ever happened to Damiano." "I just feel so overwhelmed and lost and I don't fucking know what to do. I'm scared of messing everything up, Thomas...what if I do something wrong and everything ends up getting worse?", she asked, trying to get her tears under control, though it did not work in the slightest. He tightened his embrace around her: "I understand that but you don't have to go through this alone. Now that Lucinda is gone, we can channel the positive energy and focus it on helping Damiano. Whatever you're doing, you literally can't make anything worse, believe me. You know him better than he knows himself and you know exactly what you need to do to keep him safe and calm. He loves you, he depends on you and he most definitely needs you. You are the strongest person I have ever met and I can promise you, that everything will find its way. Everything will turn out alright. It might take a while but he will be fine, and so will you." His words felt so incredibly calming. It was exactly what she needed right now. She looked up at him, feeling protected and supported as much as she needed:" How do you know that, Thomas? I want to believe it...deep down I know it's true but I just can't stop thinking that it will never get better." He looked down at her, gently wiping some of her tears away: "Struggling with self harm and suicidal thoughts is never easy...it takes a while to get over those things. And by that, I mean that it takes a really fucking long time...especially when it's as bad as it is for Damiano. But it is not impossible. Relapses and little set backs are normal...don't lose faith, okay? Now, go and check on him...I think he needs you right now. More than ever before probably." She wanted to ask him, how he knew all of that but by then he had already left. So many questions were spooking around in her head...did he have experience with that himself? Maybe there was a side to Thomas that she didn't know about.

She took a deep breath before entering the bedroom. It was completely dark inside, the windows were blacked out and she could only hear Damiano's weak sobs coming from the bed. "Oh baby...", she whispered as she came to lay next to him on the bed. "Come to me, baby...come to me, I've got you.", she whispered, opening her arms for him. He almost immediately crawled into her open arms, crying into her shoulder: "Thank you...thank you so much...I would have never had the strength to throw her out. I...I really needed her to be...to be gone, you know. But...but it still hurts. I mean...I...I never thought I'd lose my mom like that." She closed her eyes for a second, just taking in his familiar scent: "I know, Angel...but maybe she'll come around at some point. For now, let's just focus on you, alright? Just talk to me...tell me whatever comes to your mind...maybe that'll help you feel better eventually.", she decided to use that opportunity as it was dark in the room and she already knew from experience that darkness made it easier for him to open up. "When she said that...that we should bring C-Carla in I...I got so fucking scared. She would have done it again, Vic...she would have forced me to...to do things...", she could tell that he was about to open up more...maybe he would tell her a bit more about the abuse he had to go through. "What things did she do to you, honey? Tell me about it...I won't judge.", she assured him, gently caressing his back. She felt him nodding, choking up with sobs before he was able to speak: "She...she made me...made me...", he stopped, once again breaking down completely. "It's okay, love...you're doing great. Take a deep breath with me and try to focus on me.", she instructed him and showed him how to breathe. He mirrored her, doing the same, though he was still struggling: "I don't know if I can s-say it...I...I feel like I...I need to throw up." She slowly moved her hand to his face, carefully wiping some tears away from his cheeks: "It's okay if you can't...just concentrate on your breathing. You don't have to be able to tell me everything...things like that need time. I'm still incredibly proud of you, no matter what." She knew how much he needed to know that she was still proud of him and that she loved him. He hid his face in his hands, sobbing but she took them away, very lovingly kissing his tears away. It took him a long time to calm down at least a little bit but eventually he started speaking up again: "She...she forced...th-things into...into me. All...I mean...all k-kinds of things. It hurt...it always hurt so fucking much...I...I was b-bleeding...I was crying...screaming...", he started breathing more irregularly, clearly having a hard time speaking about it but he didn't stop: "She told me I...I was worthless b-because I...I was too w-weak for s-sex...and...and then o-one day she...she invited her...her friends over...and they...they joined her..." After that, the only thing she could say was a very quiet: "What?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hey ;)

Tomorrow is my last day of work, so I will be able to update regularly again. Also, I have decided on starting the story about Ethan and Thomas very soon as well because as you might have noticed in this chapter, Thomas seems to have some secrets as well...and those secrets will be uncovered in my new story. Watch out, so you don't miss it :)

So, what do you think about Thomas and Vic's interaction? What do Thomas' words mean? Is he struggling as well or is he just talking to calm her down? Do you think that Damiano will finally be able to tell her about everything that happened or will it take some more time until he is ready to say it all? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading :)

- Thalia