Lifehouse

Chapter 11

'Where are you?' I sent.

It didn't take long to get a text back.

'The lake thing by the venue.' he sent.

I exited the venue and went to the lake. It took me a few minutes to find him. Partially because every time I took a step it hurt. I went and slowly and carefully sat down beside him. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. I tried to hide the wince from the pain. But he noticed. He looked up and I could see the tears running down his face.

"What's wrong, Damon?" I asked.

"You shouldn't have taken the abuse for me, Emory. It wouldn't have really bothered me all the much. I'm used to it." Damon said.

"Damon, you've been away from your father for some time now. Your body isn't used to the abuse anymore. And either way, I don't care what happens to me. But I will always protect the people I care about." I said.

"You almost got shot today. You could've died." he said.

"I don't care. All I care about is that everyone else is safe. Besides, it's not the first time I've come close to death." I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean all of my suicide attempts. I mean all the abusive relationships I've been in. I mean all of my bullies from school. Why do you think it takes me so long to get close to someone?" I said.

"Y-You've attempted suicide?" he asked. I nodded.

"Plenty of times." I said.

"Why?" he asked.

"That's a story for another time. Let's talk about you." I said.

"What about me?" he asked.

"How about what's going on with you and Alex." I asked. He smiled.

"With everything that happened with my dad, it gave me the confidence to tell her everything about me. She told me all the stuff about her that I missed while we had stopped talking. We're not dating yet. We're going to take things slow. But we're definitely talking. She apologized for judging me too quickly. She says she's really greatful for you helping me open up. I am, too. Thank you so much. For everything." he said.

"Of course. Anytime." I said.

"I feel really bad that you got hurt." he said.

"Don't. I'll be fine." I said.

My phone started ringing. I took it out of my pocket. It was Johnnie.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"With Damon." I said.

"Oh. Well, come back. You need rest." he said. I smiled.

"Okay." I said and hung up.

"Johnnie?" Damon asked.

"Yeah. Do you mind helping me back to my bus?" I asked.

"Of course I don't mind." he said.

He stood up and helped me up. He wrapped his arm around my waist and my arm around his shoulders. He helped me walk to my bus. He knocked on the door and Johnnie opened it. Johnnie helped me in and to my bed. He thanked Damon and set an ice pack on my stomach. I lay there and fell asleep.

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Dear best friend who is sitting right beside me,

      thank you for being my best friend and putting up with me. Also, this chapter only went up tonight because you wanted it. And thank you so much for helping with the description and fro reading this. I love you.