Her tone scared Mina out of her wits. She had to lower her voice while peeking at Angel. "Are you really going to kill him? He is Angel's father after all. What will you say to Angel when he grows up?"
"What difference does it make?" Avery wanted to roll her eyes. There wasn't any difference between Damon's presence and his absence. He wouldn't be part of Angel's life either way, and she was bound to give him an explanation later if she couldn't get him a suitable father in time.
_
"Tomorrow at 4pm." Avery's words rang through Damon's mind for the umpteenth time. Avery was willing to let him meet their son.
He paced his room uneasily. He knew that she would never be that easy to convince. There had to be a reason why she agreed and the most plausible one was that she was testing him. He didn't mind being tested but he knew that if he failed whatever her test was, she might never let him get close to Angel any time soon.
What was he supposed to do? Buy toys and snacks? He didn't know what Angel liked. He grabbed his iPad and swiped through the online shopping app again, looking for toys for little boys.
Since he was uncertain, he bought one of every toy that was recommended. As for snacks, he guessed that with Angel's health, his snack intake must be restricted so he was unsure what to buy. He would have to find out what the boy liked to eat most before buying him some.
He sighed and slumped to the bed. "I must be the most useless father. My son is four years old but I don't even know what he likes to eat."
He placed a hand on his face to cover his eyes as he tried to take a nap and calm his nerves. Years ago, he would never have thought that he would one day be this useless. He had loved Avery and had vowed to be her friend and protect her no matter what happened.
____
At the time, he had just received another beating from Gabe's sidekicks for 'messing with a Vaillant'. However, this time, he had been practising some fight moves so he retaliated and they didn't escape unscathed either. It was only because he was outnumbered that he was the most bruised from the fight.
Pathetically, he had to bump into Avery again in his sorry state.
"What happened to you?" Her voice pitched in worry just when he was thinking of hiding away.
She walked over to him and looked him over with her captivating eyes. "Was it my brother again?"
From her enraged tone, he knew that she was going to pick another fight with Gabe. He stuck out a hand to stop her. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine and well, siblings shouldn't keep fighting or it will destroy your relationship with each other in the long run."
"But he hurt you!" She was furious. His eyebrows raised in surprise. Was she worried about him? Of course, he was thinking too much. She only felt wronged. "If he keeps hurting everyone who gets close to me, how the hell am I supposed to get friends? He doesn't expect me to be on my own like a lonely island, does he?"
So that was why she was worried. He smiled slightly. "Don't worry. If no one wants to be your friend, I will stick by your side."
Her eyes widened from his words before she turned her face away, a hint of scarlet staining her cheeks as she nodded. At the time, he didn't know what he had said that made her flustered.
"Do you need help getting home?" She asked worriedly.
He didn't need it, but how could he reject a heaven-sent chance to be helped home by the woman he liked? He nodded in agreement.
He could walk straight but she held his arm just in case, sending his remaining reluctance flying away. Why would he still care about outsiders' opinion when he had her hand holding his arm?
From her clumsy and awkward actions, it was evident that she had never been this close to a man. She absent-mindedly led him to the parking lot and offered to give him a ride.
He caught sight of his chauffeur and glared at him before offering her a smile. "My home is not far from the campus, we can walk. I need some exercise after what happened."
"Oh." She tugged his arm and continued her clumsy steps towards the campus exit. He glanced at her blushing side profile with a smile. He had given an insane excuse to continue walking with her but she didn't detect the absurdity. It must be because she wanted to walk with him too, right?