Waking up, I feel like a brand new person. The sun's rays softly stream in through the open curtain, the waves crashing against the rocks floats through the small crack of the window. The smell of the salty air drifts into my nostrils. It reminds me of the cabin; a small piece of heaven. I never want to leave.
Turning on my side, Damon's light snores fill my ears. His chest moves up and down in tune with the outside waves. How does that happen?
Reaching my hand out, I gently shake his shoulder. He flinches and before I can react, I'm on my back with his hand around my throat. Tears prick at my eyes in fear. What is going on?
Looking into his eyes, there is a film covering them. Slowly, it lifts and regretful eyes stare back at me. He's off of me and out of the bed in a flash.
My hand goes to my throat, rubbing it to erase the feeling of his hands squeezing. The need to get air back into my lungs and my fear cause my breath to leave my mouth in pants.
I don't know what to do, what to say. How do I react to this type of situation?
Actually, that's a lie. I know what I should do. Every woman in my life has told me what to do. But this feels different. He didn't seem like he was here like he was conscious of his actions; almost like it was an instinct.
His voice pulls me out of my thoughts. He's closer to the bed now, but far enough away that he can't touch me and vice versa. "I'm sorry. I am so so sorry. I never- I didn't mean to do that. I would never intentionally put my hands on you, you have to believe that. I- this is going to sound like I'm making up an excuse, but I swear I'm not. It's just, ever since our rival company has been looking for me, I live an uncertain future. I don't know when they will find me and what they plan to do to me. I didn't know it was you trying to wake me up, all I could picture was them grabbing me to, to probably kill me."
My heart breaks for him in that moment and I have never wanted to hold him in my arms this much before. I want to protect him from the world and take away all his fears and troubles.
Despite everything I have ever been told in my life, I don't run. I get off the bed, carefully walking towards him. When I stand in front of him, his eyes are dark; pain and guilt join the regret swimming in their depths.
I bring up my hand cautiously and slowly place it on his cheek. At first his body tenses but as the seconds pass by, he slowly relaxes and after a minute, leans into my hand. Encouraged by his relaxed manner, I tilt his head down to look at me.
"I believe you. I know you would never hurt me, I was just afraid. I have never seen you that way." His face falls and I try to salvage the conversation. "It's okay. I'm okay. Let's start the day over. We will both get back into bed, I'll shake your arm and you'll turn around. We will say good morning then spend the day together."
As if I'm inviting him onto the dentist's chair, Damon involuntarily shuffles his feet towards the bed. He plops down, all the way at the edge of his side, and lays stiff. I climb in on the other side. Am I nervous he will do it again? Yes, but now I know what not to do. I think of it this way if I don't try to wake him up again, in the way that I did then it won't happen again and the problem is solved. Besides, I know he would never do anything to intentionally hurt me. I trust him a lot more than I should.
Turning on my side to face him, he continues to stare at the ceiling. His arms are crossed over his chest and his legs crossed at his ankles. Slowly reaching my arm out, so he has time to see it's only me, I place it on his right arm. He stays stiff and unmoving.
"This is not what I meant. I mean, come on, it happened. Just get over it. It's not going to happen again so stop sulking and ruining our weekend!"
He whips his body onto his side. His body seems defensive, but his face looks defeated. "Do you not get it? You couldn't even wake me up without me choking you. Don't tell me I didn't because I saw your face. That is such a normal thing to do. You should not be scared to wake me up, but now you are. How does anything about that seem normal? You should never be afraid of me; all I want to do is protect you and now I'm the monster you need protecting from."
I don't know how to respond to that. Yes, waking someone up is a very normal thing, but not everyone is normal.
I move closer to him, so close that his breath, surprisingly minty for just waking up, fans my face. Wrestling his crossed arms away from each other, I bring his hand up to my neck. He must have let me since he is much stronger than me. "I know you won't hurt me."
His eyes flash for what seems like the millionth time that morning. He starts to pull his hand away and I let him. "Now can we get on with the rest of our day?"
He seems to debate whether to let this go or not, but ultimately drops it and puts a smile on his face, more for my benefit I'm sure.
"Let's get ready for the day and then go get breakfast in town."
At the same time, we both get off the bed and I migrate to the bathroom to take a quick shower while he gets his clothes out of his closet.
An hour later, we hop in his car to go to the little diner we found on our way here to eat some much-needed breakfast.
Pulling up, we both get out and walk inside. There are waiters and waitresses bustling around the small joint, a small child's laughter floats throughout and the sound of forks hitting plates is a constant no matter where you sit. It's pleasant and peaceful in an odd way.
Picking a random seat as a rushing waitress told us to, we open our menus. My stomach loudly growls looking at all the food options; I could devious anything right about now. With both of our meals in mind, we tell the waitress who brings it out ten minutes later. Neither of us hesitates to dig in. We may have only been up for a little over two hours, but it feels like a whole day has gone by.
We quickly finish our meals, pay, and head out of the restaurant. Damon walks over to the passenger side of the car and opens my door, helping me in.
"What do you want to do next?"
It is an unnecessary question, really. We are on a beach. I want to be at the beach.
"Let's spend the day at the beach again. I had a lot of fun last time, plus the weather is really nice today."
Looking at me, he flashes me a smile before taking my hand and intertwining our fingers on my thigh. I love when we do this. The action is so minimal, but it makes me feel so good, so connected to him.
We arrive at the beach and gather our towels quickly before hitting the sand. It's warm under my bare feet as we race to set up our spot so we can spend time with the waves. Throwing down our towel, we put our shoes on the edges to keep it from blowing away, and then all bets are off. We run down to the water, moving out of the way of other people and other towels.
I feel like a kid; so carefree. I can do anything at this moment. Heck, I could fly with how fast I'm running through this sand. We make it to the chilly water at the same time, but don't stop until the water reaches my waist. I shiver from the sharp decline in temperature but stay in.
We spend the rest of the day in the water, hopping over or ducking under waves and splashing each other. Luckily there was no one around us despite the crowded sand. We get out once for lunch, but even then we are so wrapped up in each other that we don't notice the man, the same man who attempted to kidnap me, following us all day.