"You are crazy you know that," I tell taking the box in my hands.

"I know I am. So, what'd you think?" What do I think? well, I don't fucking know. I mean I think we are young for this even though both of us are above eighteen but it's not a simple thing I could say. Living with Damien every single day of my shit life is going to be a fucking dream and it's right here in front of my eyes and I just have to say 'yes' but there's just so many perplexities going on...

"Damien no, I don't think so," I tell him and he looks at me like he's not backing down from this without getting a 'yes' from me. "Why not?" he asks with a smile on his face and I just know that he got a smart answer for every question I got. I just can't accept this 'cause this is a literal dream come true.

"We are still young," I said followed by a soft laugh.

"Both of us are perfectly legal" true. There is no real reason for me to back this down and how can I when he looks at me with such hopeful eyes.

"Okay but what if when we get to college we have to leave town"

"We still got the summer break and one extra house won't hurt," he tells and I squint my eyes at him taking the piece of paper which I assume is the lease.

"You would've told me earlier Damien" I run my eyes over the lease letter "and there's no way in fucking hell that I would let you pay for the rent all by yourself," I tell.

"I know I'm sorry I should've at least shown you the place but I know that you will love it and baby you gave your whole credit card away," he tells running a hand on the side of my face and I lean into the touch.

"Just say that I am broke." A laugh escaped his mouth and I fold back the paper.

"Hey I can be your sugar daddy and what's mine is yours, yeah," he tells and I take the key from the box and this little thing is going to open my new haven.

"I will say 'yes' only if you let me pay a part of the rental" I spoke and for a moment just staring at me he gives in.

"Fine," he said nonchalantly with a sigh and I squeak in joy, wrapping my arms around his torso.

"Yes, I will move in with you" I whispered against his mouth and Damien lifts me, wrapping my legs around his torso. I slam my lips against his.

I'm moving in with the love of my life and Rex.

***

The warm sun fall on my body and tanning my skin which was not covered by my bikini. I squint my eyes as the sunglasses did no favour in shielding my eyes from the bright light falling upon me.

"Fuck the sun is so bright," Jennifer complains lying on her front and her usually pale skin turning red as a pre-tan.

"Do not complain it was your idea," I tell her and grabbed my poetry book from the duffel bag, turning the pages over I find the last poem I read and continue to bury my thoughts in the words of Oscar Wilde.

When Jennifer got to know that we will be passing the coast she insisted that we have a dip in the ocean considering that back in our hometown we barely get the chance to visit the beach. So, we all packed our luggage and got into our swimwear before leaving to come back home. I wore a large T-shirt over my black bikini and Damien, of course, was shirtless the whole drive, I'm not complaining though. Well to be honest I wasn't complaining at all because for so long I have felt so damn happy and everything right. Knowing that when I get back home I will be packing my stuff to move in together with Damien in our own house is an impeccable feeling and I think right now that I am getting my reward of endless pain that I have been enduring and put myself through, after all, this is what has life brought me to; To finally being happy and feeling peaceful, to finally accepting the unerring life that I deserve.

I can assure you that, you will always see the rainbow after the storm.

"I have to tell you'll something" Jennifer spoke and sat up straight and so did I and Emma who just arrived after a long ten minutes of flirting and trying to get the number of the lifeguard. Side note: she did get the number.

"Jason and I are dating," she tells with excitement but her expression changes when I pointed my hand out towards Emma and she places few dollars paying my bet.

"Ya'll placed bets on me!" Jennifer yelled.

"Come on Jen it was too entertaining," I tell her and ruffled her hair.

"Fuck both of you," she said pointing her middle finger at both of us and laughed along.

"Well, Me and Damien got our apartment," I tell casually.

"I am pregnant" Emma spoke, sipping her orange juice.

"What!" all of us shrieked and not only me and Jennifer but so did Damien and Jason who had appeared from God knows where.

All of us stayed shocked and looked at Em waiting for her to explain but she just let out a loud laugh and we all let out a breath that we didn't know we had been holding.

"You don't joke like that" Jason says and dropped down on the sand next to Jennifer.

"All of your reactions was grammy worth it," she said calming down from her hysterical laugh.

"No, seriously I am happy for you Jen. Very very happy for you; even though Jason could be a literal ass sometimes he got a sweet soul in there and you should be lucky to see that side of him" I tell her softly considering Jason is right beside her and even though he could be ignorant. the lightest thing itself is enough to inflate his ego.

"Hey, moving in, that's a big step," she tells nudging my elbow playfully.

"Yeah, I know but now or never yeah?"

"Fuck yeah," she tells with a bright smile on her face and it struck me that this is the first time that I have encountered her true smile. I see the warmness out of her cold exterior and I guess every one of us has a soft side, no matter how hard you appear to be.

"So, Em do you think it's going to be a girl or a boy?" I ask her.

"I am rooting for a girl."

"Where's Damien?" I ask Jason who wrapped an arm around Jennifer's shoulders.

I got my question answered when he came behind me and planted a kiss on the top of my head.

"All of yall makes me sick" Emma jokes and jogged towards the young lifeguard again.

"He's kind of hot" Jennifer tells beside me both us looking at both the boy and Em who was twirling her hair and completely flirting with him for the second time.

"Yeah, he is," I tell her.

"Shut up!" both Damien and Jason said in unison. "Are you sure that you two are not blood-related?" Jennifer asked.

"Come on." Damien held his hands out for me and I took them, standing up from the sand. We walked through the shore towards the waters, my hand intertwined in his.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"They so badly wanted to make out," he said pointing his thumb towards the back and I regret turning around to see them on top of each other in an intense make-out session.

"You could've given me a warning," I tell just as our feet hit the warm water.

"You know I don't do warnings," he says in a low tone with a smirk on his lips.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," he said just before I was lifted from the ground and my body hanging over his shoulder. A sudden squeak escaped my mouth when he started walking further towards the water and panic settled in me, realizing what he is going to do.

"Damien No!" I yelled as I was thrown into the salty water. I swam back up when my feet hit the bottom, completely underwater and my ears were blessed with Damien's loud laughter.

"You're a dick," I tell splashing water on his face which he failed to shield from as he was still trying to control his laughter.

"Yeah honey, a big one," he says teasingly and I bit my lip, holding back a smile and we simply just stared at each other for a few minutes. Damien took few steps towards me and I took the exact amount back, keeping the distance.

"Lia, it's getting too deep," he says as the water rises to my collarbone. He knows I'm not much of a great swimmer and I personally hate the very deep but I continued moving backwards.

"Why? cant swim back?" I ask.

"You and I both know whose the not so great swimmer in here" he stopped moving and so did I when the water ended right up my chin and standing steadying myself on my tiptoes under the water. Damien lets out a sigh and his shoulders relaxed but that gesture itself was enough for me to do the exact opposite of what he wants me to do. So, I kicked my feet from the ground and started kicking until the water was right on my neck. I moved my hands, slowly drifting away from him. But Damien didn't even move an inch, he just continued to look straight at me when I moved further and further away. My hands stopped moving when fear settled realizing that I am way too far away from the shore and Damien. I kicked my legs faster trying to stay up but I felt myself sink. My legs started hurting and I couldn't let myself give in that I am actually drowning but my hands dropped down as my head was completely underwater now.

I tried swimming up but I was pulled back down towards the abysmal and right now I am fearing for my life. Just as I was running out of air, strong hands gripped my forearm and pulled me back up away from the deep waters. I suck in a deep breath of air, panting as I grip his shoulders holding myself from sinking back down but he pulled me towards him and I wrap my legs around his torso and my arms around his neck.

I pressed my lips on his shoulder, controlling my breath. Damien rubs his hand up and down the length of my spine which calms me down.

"This is embarrassing," I tell, still pressed against each other. he responded with a small laugh and a kiss behind my ear.

"You see that" he stated and I lifted my head to look at him. "You were fighting for your life and not just three months ago you wanted to take every chance that death would come for you. You thought you weren't worth fighting for but you are. Rhea, you are worth so much and you know that; you are even willing to fight for yourself which is a huge step from where you've been." he says and I tighten my hold around his neck, resting my chin on his shoulder.

"I don't want to die," I tell him honestly and it felt good to admit it out loud after all that I've been through. And especially when you see a future to live for, a person to fight for and it's all loud and clear.

"me neither," he says and I couldn't help but smile at how proud I am of him and I both.

***

Pulling up to the garage all of us let out relief sighs after the long drive back home. We get out of the car just as Lily walked out towards us and held me in a tight hug. I felt as I was home when her cinnamon smell filled up my nose.

"God I missed yall so much," she says letting go of me and hugging Jason with a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Missed you too, mom," he says and walked inside carrying some of our bags. Damien shut close the trunk and lifted his arms to hug Lily.

"Hello mama," he says giving a small kiss on her cheek.

"So, how was it?" she asked both of us as we walked back inside the house.

"It wasn't that bad," he said eyeing me with a smirk tugged at his lips.

"Okay... Rhea, I don't know if you are ready but there's someone here to see you" she tells me, stopping right in front of the door.

"Who?" I asked.

"Your mother and-" I didn't hear her finishing her sentence and I stormed into the living room to see my mother's dark hair and she turned her head around to face me. A soft smile on her face and for a moment I could believe if this was my mother, the woman who drowned her sorrows in a myriad amount of alcohol, the woman with dark circles under her eyes with a fatigued looking face where a smile barely took over, the woman who was a complete mess... I don't see her 'cause all I see is my mom. The woman who gave birth to me and the woman who loved me unconditionally and for that moment I forgot what she did to me, the amount of pain she put me through but the scars were too deep to merely just toss it away.

"What are you doing here mother?" I asked and she stood up from the sofa and her look softened, staring right behind me. So, I trail the line of her sight and my heart palpitated, the sudden urge to cut loose and break down settled- not with sadness but with the complete mix of emotions from shock to happiness, from fear to comfort and thinking that I'm hallucinating to spreading my arms.

I couldn't believe this.

A/N - I WAS GONNA GIVE A SMALL HINT BUT DECIDED AGAINST AND BACKSPACED THE WHOLE LINE ✌🏽

- E