Forbidden / Shayne Topp

Forty Five: Reuniting

"I'm glad you came over, Veronica," Damien said to me as he was walking out to me since I was sitting on his couch. Freyja was in my lap and I kept petting the top of her head which she did enjoy. "I see Freyja has taken a liking to you."

"And I've always been such a dog person," I stated. Damien smiled and sat beside me. He had called me last night as I was explaining (some) of the situation to Tristan about my biological dad showing up at Anthony's and asked me if I could come over to his apartment if I wasn't too busy. I accepted rather quickly because I knew there was some stuff I've been meaning to say to him and I couldn't just keep avoiding him forever about it. He deserved to hear my apology. "Damien, I'm sorry for Anthony's party."

"It's okay, Ronnie," Damien said to me.

"No, it's not," I told him. "It was uncalled for and there was no reason for you to have been brought up in the argument like that. I was just so mad about the situation that I let my mind get the best of me and I just let it slip that you knew about Shayne and I. You've been nothing, but such a great friend to me and I'm so thankful for it. And it worried me during the huge argument when you were saying it's cool like it was when it wasn't."

"I'm not going to lie to you, Ronnie; I was very upset that you did put me into it, but after the way everyone was going after one another, I started feeling guilty for what I said to you," Damien admitted. "Because you are one of my best friends and right when I threw Noah under the bus, I realized I was no better than anyone there. I just got locked into the drama when I didn't want to be and I took it out on you guys. I'm not mad at you, Veronica. I'm just glad you are able to talk to me about this and not shut me out."

"I couldn't shut you out," I stated. "You're one of the few people I have left." He smiled and looked down at the floor, but looked over at me with a concerned look in his eyes. "What?"

"Something else is bothering you. I can see it in your eyes," Damien admitted. "What's on your mind?" I didn't know if I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't just keep it a secret. "I understand if you don't wanna talk about it-"

"No, it's okay. It's going to have to come out soon," I told him. I took a deep breath and looked at him as Freyja got off my lap and went to Damien. She laid on his lap and Damien pet her while looking at me. "I've told you about me being adopted, right?"

"I believe you mentioned it before, yes," Damien replied. "What about it?"

"My biological dad showed up yesterday at Anthony's," I instantly told him. Damien's eyes widen, and I nodded my head and looked down at the floor. "And I know you're probably wondering how I reacted but honestly, I didn't know how to react in that moment. I always dreamed of meeting the people who created me, but dreams do die at one point and it died a few years ago when I realized how well I had it without them. Seeing him stand in front of me wearing a nice ass suit fucked me up, Damien. Just to know he was doing better than I ever thought he would be."

"You're doing good too, Ronnie," Damien stated.

I chuckled and shook my head. "Yeah, with my no job and sharing a house with my no filter best friend; life is just perfect right now," I said. I looked at him and sighed. "Shayne was so pissed about it and kept trying to argue with him, and then it didn't help that my parents walked in to see Elliot, who is my real dad of course, and reacted in a way that I didn't expect. Dad was pissed and even knew Elliot's name, and then Shayne kept making things worse to the point I had to kick him out."

"Yeah, I saw he came back to work early, but he never said why," Damien admitted.

"I felt bad, but fuck, he just couldn't stop and I didn't know what else to do. I wish he did stay because hearing both dads going off on each other was so hard to listen too," I said. "Then I ended up finding out that my adopted dad hid my biological one from me since Elliot was trying to reach out to me, but dad didn't want me knowing he was."