Wilona's P.O.V
I wait patiently for him to reply but nothing follows but silence. Was it not a proper apology? I knew I sucked at them, but I thought that was at least a six out of ten. Maybe he was really angry about it, more angry than he let on.
"It's okay." He says finally as he steps towards his door. "And you're welcome Marina." He finishes making me frown. "Shit, I meant Aileen." Understanding sweeps over, tugging a smile from my lips as I watch him struggle to pull out his keys. "No, I got it now. Taylor. It's okay Taylor."
My smile stretches until a small laugh bubbles its way up my throat, building enough that my shoulders shook from the force of it. I press the back of my hand to my mouth, a failed effort to stop. Damon glances back at me as he pushes the key into his door, enough white showing from his lips to tell me he was smiling.
He pushes the door open, placing the bags down inside before turning back to face me. His frame towering over my smaller one enough to make me feel like a child, but I wasn't scared or intimidated by it.
"Here," I say after turning the knife and offering it by its handle.
He takes it before spinning it around between his fingers as if it was a pen and not a sharp weapon. I hold my breath as I stare at the spinning steel, waiting for him to accidentally cut off a finger but he doesn't.
"Sorry." He says holding it steady, stopping when he catches me staring.
"It's fine," I say quickly, hearing the surprise and slight awe in my own voice at him. I shake my head to clear my head and wipe my own hands against my jeans before I offer him a smile. "Well, thanks again," I say taking a step back to my own door.
"Wait!" He exclaims making me jump a little in surprise. I wince at the pressure on my leg and he catches it immediately. "You haven't gotten your ankle checked yet?"
"It's not that serious," I reply in an effort to abolish any worry.
He tenses as he takes in an audible breath as if trying to draw patience. I frown at that, you'd think it was his ankle with that reaction.
"Would you let me take a look at it?" He asks carefully, his tone hopeful yet determined.
I shake my head, automatically taking a step back as alarms blare loudly in my mind. I'd already spent more time than I'd intended to, talked more than I would've usually allowed myself to with a relative stranger. Plus, him 'taking a look' would require either him coming into my apartment, which was an absolute no, or me entering his, and I wasn't fond of that either.
"There's no need," I say in objection as I press my back to my door, my hand idling on my doorknob. "I'll be fine."
"Wait." He tries again, taking a step towards me that makes me seize up. He immediately takes two back, somehow sensing the fear his action had awoken. "Sorry, I forgot." He says, voice straining as if pained. "I just want to make sure it's okay, I won't touch your skin directly."
I clench my teeth with indecision, a no sitting on my tongue as I look at his blurred figure. Everything inside of me screaming for me to decline and lock myself back in my apartment, to not trust what could be a trap. He could attack me in his apartment and nobody would know.
I push that foolish thought away, he could've done that last night and right now and he hadn't. He had ample opportunities to hurt me if he wanted to, yet he hadn't. That could only mean that he truly just wanted to be helpful.
Yet, everything in my coiled with the urge to shrink back into the safe space I knew, to hide in that familiar cage. But that space was dark and lonely, I'd been in that space for months and it didn't feel safe anymore...
"I'll be quick," He offers helplessly. "I promise Wilona."
My body jolts at the sound of my name being pulled from his heavy voice. I'd heard it last night but was drowning in too much despair to take notice. But now, I definitely noticed and fuck if I didn't like it.
I hated that I did...
"Will," I correct as I let my hand slip from my doorknob. "Most people just call me Will."
"Okay, Will." He says, testing it on his lips making me shiver.
He moves further into his apartment and I follow after him with a tight chest and desperate prayers that I was making the right decision.
I limp inside and smile gratefully when I see him bringing a chair for me. He places it down, before stepping away for me to sit down while he closes the door behind us.
"Thanks," I say as I sink into the seat.
I look around the apartment curiously. He had the exact same layout I did, mirrored in every way, including the furniture. Like me, he had no personal effects, well none I could see which meant that there could be some lingering around.
I redirect my attention to Damon when he kneels down in front of me. I bite back a groan at how he somehow still managed to look bigger than me even when he was below me.
How in the fuck did that work?
"Mind rolling back your pants?" He asks and I do so quickly, slipping my slides off as well.
Heat creeps up my neck when I remembered the state of my toes. For the first time, I felt ashamed for actually taking care of them.
When guys found out I gave them the occasional pedicure they freaked out, if the twink body didn't give it away first.
I didn't get why though, it wasn't like if I painted them with anything but a clear polish and just shaped them a bit. I liked having nice toes, but somehow that was a problem.
I tense waiting for Damon to recoil or make a demeaning comment, but strangely enough.... he doesn't
He just continues examining my ankle, moving around me to get a better angle since he couldn't touch me directly. He'd kept his word and didn't even reach a hand towards me to scare me.
I'd dropped a lot of 'friends' after the incident who tried to touch me or pretended to, seeking a reaction that made them laugh. For some reason, they thought it was fun to see me panic, despite me making it abundantly clear how uncomfortable it made me.
"It's sprained." He declares after a moment and looks up at me.
"You can tell just from looking?" I ask with a raised brow despite knowing he was right.
"I've broken enough bones over the years to know when stuff is broken and when it's not." He teases with another one of his smirks. I roll my eyes and pull my leg back, he stands with ease and looks down at me. "Just keep it high, ice it when you can and don't put too much pressure on it and you'll be fine."
"Thank God, I thought I was going to die," I say sarcastically but smile to let him know I was still grateful.
Silence slips as we both wonder what to do next. I mean, he just wanted to look at it right? Now that his conscious was sated, I could leave. Yet, I didn't make any move to run and he just stood there awkwardly.
Fuck, I seriously needed to get out more.
"I was going to make breakfast." He announces suddenly. I look up at him, waiting for him to further the statement and it takes him a moment to do so. "Do you want to eat... with me?"
Yes.
"I'm not hungry," I say instead and look away to hide the way I frown at myself with anger. My walls had come up before I could stop them and I'd blurted out something different than what I actually wanted to.
"Are you sure Marina?" He asks and I immediately look back at him.
"How do you do that?" I ask with narrow eyes. "How the fuck do you do that?"
"Do what?" He asks innocently as he walks to collect his grocery bags. He makes his way to the kitchen where he places them down and begins unpacking. "Can you be a little clearer Taylor?"
"How do you know when I'm lying?" I ask ignoring his teasing.
"You keep telling me that you are." He replies, taking obvious pleasure from this interaction.
Before I can reply, I catch something big and black moving in small leaps from the corner of my eye and release a terrified scream as I pull my legs up, taking my feet off the floor. I ignore the pain it causes as I stare at the creature that began moving towards me making me scream again.