CHAPTER 15: First Real Date*_∼
814 Words
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*CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA*
*CHAPTER 15: First Real Date*
_∼
*Day 47*
No PR team.
No cameras.
No Elena.
No rogues.
Just me.
And Damon.
In jeans.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Somewhere stupid,” he said. “Somewhere normal.”
“We don’t do normal.”
“We do tonight.”
He was driving.
Himself.
No driver.
No guards following.
Just 2 in a car 2 blocks back.
“Invisible,” he promised.
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*11:30 PM. 24hr Diner.*
Neon sign.
Sticky tables.
Waitress named Dot.
Smelled like fries and coffee.
Damon looked OUT OF PLACE.
Blackwood CEO in a $4000 coat
Sitting in a booth with ripped vinyl.
“You sure about this?” I asked.
“Yes.” He slid in next to me. Not across. Next. “I’ve never done this.”
“Done what?”
“Just... eaten. With someone. Because I wanted to.”
Dot came over.
“Y’all want menus?”
“No,” Damon said. “Two burgers. Two fries. Two shakes. Chocolate.”
“You got it, hon.”
Silence.
Then I laughed.
“What?”
“You ordered for me.”
“You like chocolate.”
“How do you know?”
“I pay attention.”
My heart did that thing again.
---
*The Food*
Burgers were messy.
Fries were salty.
Shake was too sweet.
Perfect.
Damon ate like he was starving.
Tie gone.
Sleeves rolled.
Stitches still healing under his shirt.
“You’re staring,” he said.
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Maybe.”
He reached over.
Wiped ketchup off my cheek with his thumb.
Didn’t move his hand after.
Just stayed there.
On my face.
“You’re beautiful,” he said. Simple.
“You’re bleeding on your shirt.”
“Worth it.”
I kicked him under the table.
He caught my foot.
Held it.
Under the table.
The whole meal.
---
*1am. Parking lot.*
We didn’t leave.
Just sat in the car.
Engine off.
Music low.
Old songs.
Damon’s hand in mine.
On the console.
Fingers laced.
“This is nice,” I whispered.
“What is?”
“This. You. Not running. Not fighting.”
“Yeah.”
He turned to me.
Golden eyes.
Tired.
Soft.
“Abi, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you regret it? Any of it? The claim. Me.”
I thought about it.
The attack.
The court.
The blood.
The heat.
The pancakes.
“No,” I said. “Not one second.”
He exhaled.
Like he’d been holding it.
“Good. Because I don’t either.”
He leaned in.
Kissed me.
Slow.
Tasted like chocolate and fries.
No desperation.
No danger.
Just... Damon.
---
*2:30am. Home.*
We snuck in.
Like teenagers.
Shoes off.
Whispering.
In the kitchen.
He pulled me to him.
Back to his chest.
Arms around my waist.
“No guards in here,” he murmured. “Just us.”
“I like us.”
“Me too.”
He spun me around.
Danced.
Badly.
In the dark kitchen.
To no music.
“You’re terrible at this,” I laughed.
“I’m terrible at everything except protecting you.”
“Then protect me like this.”
He stopped.
Looked at me.
“I will.”
---
*3am. Bed.*
We didn’t sleep.
Not at first.
Just talked.
About his first job.
About my mom.
About the stupidest things.
“Why me?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Out of everyone. Why did you claim me?”
“Because you didn’t run,” he said. “Even when you should’ve. Even when I was cold and awful. You stayed. And you fought. And you chose me.”
He tucked hair behind my ear.
“And because you’re mine. And I’m yours. And that’s it.”
I fell asleep like that.
In his arms.
No nightmares.
No alarms.
---
*Morning. Day 48.*
Paparazzi at the gate.
One photo.
Us.
Leaving the diner.
His arm around me.
My head on his shoulder.
Headline: _‘BLACKWOOD TAKES OMEGA ON SECRET DATE’_
Comments:
_‘He looks happy’_
_‘She looks safe’_
_‘Leave them alone’_
Elena didn’t comment.
For once.
Damon read it.
Threw his phone.
“Good,” he said. “Let them see.”
---
*That night.*
Dinner.
At the table.
No floor.
Real plates.
Clara cried.
Damon reached under the table.
Found my hand.
Squeezed.
“To normal,” he said. Raising his water.
“To normal,” I said.
---
*11:59pm. Text.*
*Unknown: Thank you for tonight. For being normal with me.*
*Me: Thank you for being mine.*
*Unknown: Always. Forever. Sleep, mate.*
Bound by his name.
For 50+ chapters.
And tonight we weren’t Alpha and Omega.
We were just Damon and Abi.
On a date.
---
_END OF CHAPTER 15_
- Writer
