No Longer Alone

Chapter Forty-three

***Damian's POV***

    I was a little shocked seeing why she was so careful with her bag after she pulled the gun out, but her explanation of it made sense, and I was glad that she was used to it, since I had never had much training in firearms.  Seeing the way that everyone in the other car had paired up, my mother even getting Hannah distracted and walking with her, I had a feeling there were plans that I hadn't been aware of, but I wasn't going to let this chance go.  

    Her comments about what I needed though, still trying to push me away when she wasn't even trying to get to know me, lit a fire in me that wouldn't be denied, and staring down into those chocolatey brown eyes of hers, I saw defeat and pain, but I also saw longing and something more she was fighting hard to bury.  Sooner or later one of us was going to have to give in this standoff we had, but I couldn't take this much more.

    "Last I checked we both lived on planet earth, and everyone has baggage.  You haven't taken the time to know me to know what I need or who would suit me."  For every step she took away, I took one forward, even after she backed into a tree.  The irony of this with her being armed in multiple ways, she still didn't move to hurt me.  "You don't seem to understand, Nicole, just what you have to offer, or what I need.  So I think maybe I need to show you exactly how little I care about your baggage, or how you think you are broken."

    Her eyes searched mine, and I continued closing the distance until I could reach out and touch her cheek, before pulling her to me for a kiss I had wanted since that first night.  I feared for a moment, when our lips first touched, that she would pull away again, that she would run and this time I might not be able to catch up to her, instead after a moment she relaxed into the kiss, her mouth moving softly against mine, asking and giving at the same time.  For that moment, I felt fully at peace and a place of belonging that I hadn't felt before, something clicked into place and I don't think it would ever snap out again.  Pulling back a little, still holding her neck gently in my hand, my thumb rubbing near her frantic pulse, I felt the need to tell her about something I had learned and found a truth to.

     "The Japanese have an art form known as kintsugi, which applies to pottery, but I believe something similar of humans.  What you see as broken, I see as one of a kind, Nicole, and how you have chosen to hold those pieces together, that makes you priceless.  We'd better catch up to the others."  I took her hand in mine and tugged her in the direction the others had taken.  Her hand felt small in mine, and she stumbled for a moment before catching herself and walking beside me, leaving her hand in mine for the moment.  

    I heard the others before I saw them up ahead, they were all paused near one tree in particular, where the boardwalk split to go around the tree, and they were all admiring it,  Alex saw us and shot me a wink before turning back to Marie to listen to something she was saying, while Rose was apparently telling my father her own story about the tree and the forest here.  Hannah looked over, and glanced at our hands, and I felt a  moment of concern since I didn't know where I stood with her, but she just looked at me, smirked and went back to looking at nature.

    I was thankful as no one made a big deal out of us being there later than the rest, as everyone seemed to be having a good time.  We continued walking a good hour before I noticed that I was feeling rather thirsty, and a look at my parents and Alex showed similar looks.  I was wondering how much longer this hike would take as I was starting to get uncomfortable.  Nicole glanced around, spotting looks, but not sure what had changed.

    "You guys getting tired already, we are almost to the best part, it's just past the halfway mark, but if you are tired we can sit and rest for a bit."  Nicole explained, looking for a good place for everyone to sit, she started towards one direction, but my tug on her hand pulled her back.

    "I think we are all getting thirsty, and forgot to bring water." I admitted with a shrug, feeling a bit embarrassed as I knew better from other hikes before with my parents.  She really made me forget myself.  

    Nicole looked around at us all, then busted up laughing, her kids grinning too, all of them taking off back packs and opening them up and pulling out bottles of water and passing a bottle of water to their 'partner' as well as a granola bar before pulling out separate ones for themselves.  Nicole's eyes were dancing with humor when she handed me a bottle.

    "These packs weren't just for show, I doubled up what the girls normally carry, and added a bit more the packs Hannah and I carry to be on the safe side.  I didn't think about it or I would have mentioned it sooner that we had this."

    "Thank you for thinking of us, we honestly do know better,"  I take the bottle from from Nicole, brushing her hand as I do so, that kiss had left me with an addiction to touching  her.  

    "You're welcome, though it really isn't much, and seems like this was a last second decision, I just figured that I would do what I could to help."  She was blushing lightly, but at least met my eyes with a bit of a smile.

    After everyone had recovered a little, we continued on our hike, seeing Avalanche creek, and the gorge.  It was shortly after this though, when Hannah was talking to Nicole and I was behind listening to them that fate seemed to want to ruin part of the day.  Nicole was just taking a step, when Hannah lost her balance slightly and went to hold onto her mom, causing Nicole to step wrong and bite back a noise of pain as he leg then wouldn't support her weight and she started to fall to the ground.