CHAPTER ELEVEN_Too Easy
1042 Words
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Too Easy
LILY POV
I started noticing Damien more after that.
Not because anything changed dramatically.
But because he was suddenly… there more often.
Like he had quietly decided I was someone worth including in his routine.
It started in small ways.
Waiting near my classroom when lessons ended.
Walking the same direction as me without making it obvious it wasn’t accidental.
Sitting next to me in the cafeteria like it was the most natural thing in the world.
And the strange part was—
I didn’t feel uncomfortable.
I should’ve.
I knew I should’ve been more guarded.
But Damien had this way of talking that didn’t feel like pressure.
It felt like space.
Like I was allowed to exist without being judged for it.
That morning, I found him leaning against the wall outside my class like he had been waiting there for a while already.
He straightened when he saw me.
“Hey,” he said, smiling. “You’re early today.”
I blinked slightly. “You’re always here.”
He shrugged. “I could say the same about you.”
That made me hesitate for a second.
“I don’t think that’s true,” I said quietly.
He tilted his head slightly. “It kind of is.”
Then, like it was nothing important, he added, “Walk with me?”
It shouldn’t have been a big question.
But something about the way he asked made it feel natural to say yes.
So I did.
We walked down the corridor together.
At first, it was just normal conversation.
Teachers.
Assignments.
Random complaints about school rules.
It was easy.
Too easy.
And that was the part I didn’t think too deeply about.
---
By lunch, it had become routine.
Damien found me before I even sat down.
“You keep choosing the lonely tables,” he said lightly as he sat across from me.
“I don’t choose them,” I replied. “They just… exist.”
He laughed softly. “That’s a depressing way to put it.”
I looked down at my tray. “It’s honest.”
There was a short silence.
Not uncomfortable.
Just calm.
Then he said, “You know, you don’t really act like someone who belongs to that house.”
I paused slightly. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “Asher’s place. The Vale mansion. People there usually look like they’ve been trained to belong in it.”
That made me quiet for a second.
“I still feel like I’m visiting,” I admitted.
Damien nodded slowly like he understood. “Yeah. I figured.”
Then he added, a little softer, “You’ll get used to it though.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed that.
But I didn’t say that out loud.
---
It happened after school.
I was standing outside the gate, waiting for the driver to arrive, when Damien appeared beside me again.
He didn’t startle me this time.
I was starting to get used to him.
“That’s your ride?” he asked, nodding toward the car that had just pulled up.
“Yeah.”
He leaned slightly against the wall beside me.
“You always leave early,” he said.
“I don’t have much to do here after classes.”
“That’s not true,” he replied immediately.
I looked at him. “What is there to do?”
He smiled a little.
“Talk to people.”
That made me look away.
Because I didn’t really know how to do that yet.
Not properly.
There was a pause after that.
A longer one than usual.
Then Damien said, quieter than before, “You’re not as hard to talk to as you think you are.”
I blinked slightly.
“…I am?”
He shook his head. “No.”
That was simple.
Too simple.
The driver honked lightly.
I should’ve left.
I knew I should’ve.
But I didn’t move immediately.
Damien pushed off the wall and stepped a little closer, just enough that the space between us felt smaller.
“Lily,” he said.
I looked up.
And for a moment, he didn’t smile.
Not fully.
Not like before.
Just… something softer.
Something unsure.
“I like talking to you,” he admitted.
My heart paused slightly.
Not fast.
Just… aware.
I didn’t know what to say to that.
So I stayed quiet.
And that silence felt different from all the others before it.
Then he stepped closer again.
And kissed me.
It wasn’t rough.
It wasn’t rushed.
It was careful.
Like he was testing whether it was okay before it even fully happened.
I froze immediately.
My hands didn’t move.
My mind didn’t fully process it.
It was just… sudden.
Warm.
Confusing.
And then it stopped.
Just as quickly.
Damien pulled back immediately, like reality hit him.
“I—I shouldn’t have done that,” he said quickly, looking away.
His voice sounded different now.
Less confident.
More unsure.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that.”
Silence.
My heart was still catching up.
My cheeks felt warm.
Too warm.
I touched my lips slightly without thinking.
Then I looked at him.
He wasn’t looking at me.
He looked like he was already regretting it.
That should’ve made it easier.
But it didn’t.
I wasn’t angry.
I wasn’t scared.
Just… confused.
After a moment, I spoke quietly.
“It’s fine.”
He looked at me immediately.
Like he didn’t expect that.
I hesitated.
Then added, a little softer, a little more flustered than I meant to show—
“It’s… okay.”
A small, awkward smile appeared on my face before I could stop it.
My cheeks were still red.
I knew they were.
Damien looked like he didn’t know what to do with that answer.
So I quickly stepped back toward the car.
“I should go,” I said quickly.
And I left.
---
I didn’t see Damien again that day.
But I felt it.
That moment.
Staying somewhere behind my thoughts even when I tried not to think about it.
And I didn’t notice—
Far across the street.
A car window slightly lowered.
A pair of emerald eyes watching everything without a word.
- Writer
