Crossroads) The User & the Used (Monsterrz

[-CrossroadsQueen-]

Monsterrz

Hope had woken the next morning in her bed, she hadn’t been expecting it. She assumed her parents had seen her on the couch and her father had carried her to her bed as he’d done when she was a small child. With a yawn, she stretched only to cry out in a wince of pain as she bit her lip. Hope had nearly forgotten she’d been hit by a car. She looked at her aching leg, feeling it throb in a whining protest. Hope wasn’t going to allow it to continue it’s protest for much longer. She reached over to her bedside table and grabbed a bottle of pain killers the doctor had prescribed to her. Taking two, she washed them down easily with some water she had on the bedside table in a bottle. She slowly sat up and looked at the time. She was about to get out of bed when her sister walked in with a tray of steaming food. Hope felt her mouth salivate, she thanked the female as she was presented with pancakes. “Thanks” she said as she stared to eat, with a content sigh as the food passed her taste buds.

Hope finished and set the tray down as she looked around her room. What was she to do? She was bed ridden on the doctors orders and she knew her mother wouldn’t allow her to move away where. When her eyes scanned over her laptop, she grinned and grabbed for the electronic device with excitement. All day Hope had simply sat around on her laptop watching movies and playing video games. It had been a nice break from her usual schedule. Later that day Jake had stopped by with all her homework for the week and a few get well cards. She thanked him and set everything aside. Jake informed her that he’d passed the message on to Damon earlier. She thanked him before he left. She was watching another movie when she hear Damon calling from below. “Up here!” she called to the male as she pushed aside some stuff to make room on the bed for him. Damon told her how Jake had said it had been alright for him to be there.

The female nodded and continued to listen as he explained her hadn’t come for tutoring, but rather he’d come for some advice. She was a little shocked that he would be coming to her of all people, but when she was told what it was about she understood. Hope could only assume that he never talked to his so called friends about these kinds of things. Which she thought was kind of stupid. What kind of friends are they if he can’t even go to talk to them about this? Can’t even go to ask them for advice? she thought to herself as she continued to listen. When Damon spoke of “divorcing” his parents. She nearly fell of the bed. “Look Damon… I know it’s bad… But you’re never given anything you can’t handle…. An-“ she said cutting herself short as she realized something. How could Hope give Damon advice if she herself couldn’t take it? What good would her advice be if she couldn’t take it? Most likely it would be useless. Hope bit her lips softly, taking a few moments to think about her next words with extensive care.

With another sigh she straighten herself “Look Damon.. What are you gonna do? You can’t just up and leave… You don’t have money.. Well you do.. Your parents do.. But if you use your handy dandy credit card then they can easily trace it and the cops can find you if you run… Secondly, where would you go?…” she asked him. She knew he simply wanted a way to get away from everything that was making him feel miserable at home, but he hadn’t put much thought into the matter. The only thought on Damon’s mind, with good reason, was to get out of his parents house no matter what it took. Hope felt horrible, she really felt bad for the male. He was so kind and smart and just the sweetest, he didn’t deserve to be treated the way his parents had been treating him. Leaning over, Hope took hold of Damons hand “Look.. I understand how you feel… But you just gotta hold on a little longer… Eventually we’ll be going to college for whatever we want and then we can get out of here… Till then.. If you ever need to get away and you can’t seem to find a place to go.. You’re always welcome here” she said.

Yes Hope sounded like she knew what Damon was going through. Why? That was simple. Because if there was anything Hope knew aside from academics and the few artsy things she knew, was parents. Growing up, Hope had been the eldest of three. It had been her duty to care for her siblings while her parents had gone off to work. With more age came more responsibilities. Hope would have to help her mother clean, drive here and there, pay bills for her mother, help her mother with this and that. Anything that Hope’s mother needed, she was there. She’d wake up early to drop off her siblings at school and she’d be forced to drive them here and there. Hope’s parents would always talk down to her. She could remember the time she’d gotten a b in english. The girl had been so disappointed and hard on herself as she walked home that day and when the girl had gotten home to explain to her mother how she feared the mark would get her taken off the honour role list, her mother had gotten mad and patronized the girl for being lazy and not caring for her studies. This had only made Hope feel worse. The girl had spent the night crying and feeling like she’d only ever be a screw up in her mother’s eyes. In fact, to this day the girl still felt like her life really had no meaning.

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[Monsterrz]

Damon heard the haevy sigh from Hope and immediately knew her reaction. So, with lips pressed together, he looked away and seemed rather annoyed. He didn't know why she was against the idea. She, herself, knew his situation better than anyone. She knew why he was so hell bent all the time, and what caused his obnoxious attitude that he's been trying so hard to beat. He clenched his jaw as she grabbed his hand and tried to talk him out of this decision. He let his mom choose in front of his classroom, and she chose pills rather than her own son. Her own blood. She brought him into this world, and she would much rather to feed her addiction than be a mother to her son. Damon looked over to Hope as she assured that he was always welcomed in her home if things get too harsh. But the thing was: everything was to s**t. This wasn't a fight and Damon wanted to run to the end of the earth, he genuinely believes that he'll be better without his parents.

"I wouldn't be going far," admitted Damon, as if he needed to make a case out of this. "I would just be getting an apartment in town. And I could get a job. I could make money for myself and - and the best part of all this is that I can finally stop listening to my dad nag me all the time." Standing from the bed now, Damon shared ideas. "I mean, it's like adoption. Instead of getting a child, they're losing their own. There's no need to run, there's no need for cops to get involved, because all I have to do is go down to the court, give my side of the story, and hope for the best. I mean, it's a bit far fetched. I know we're still Juniors, and I am only seventeen, but I think this can work. I can do this."

Damon was known for living off of his dad's money. Buying the things he wanted, getting the biggest parties, paint job against his car. Anything. Damon was so used to getting his dad's money, or rather his mom's money, and living off of them. Nonetheless, he hoped that Hope would see the brighter side of this rather than doubt him. "I shouldn't have come here," he muttered, running a hand over his face. After all, it was him who should've stopped her from leaving or else she wouldn't be on this bed right now. He felt so guilty and he didn't want to bring it up, but he had to. "I mean, I shouldn't bag my problems to you when you are the one who can't return to school for a while. It's my fault too. I'm sorry." Damon snatched up his backpack and threw the strap over his shoulder, letting the other side dangle. "Maybe this tutoring thing wasn't.. y'know, a good idea.." Damon was failing on purpose, that was true, and he did need someone to help him but he purposely chose her to mess with Jake. That was the sole purpose but he couldn't deny that he started to grow a liking to her.

-CrossroadsQueen-

 

[-CrossroadsQueen-]

Monsterrz

When Damon started to say it had been a bad idea for him to come and that he wouldn't go far and blah blah blah, she cursed herself softly. So now he thought she was the bad guy. Hope was just being rational. She'd been saving her tutoring money to get a place of her own, but she needed a real job too. When Damon got up and got ready to leave, Hope got more worried and anger with herself. "Damon wa-" she said as she tried to stand from the bed. Instead she fell forward and hit the ground hard. Hope winced and let out a frustrated sigh, she was tired of this mess, it was all so hard and just confusing.

Everything going on lately had been too much for the poor girl to handle, she was afraid that one day she wouldn't be able to hold back how she really felt anymore. Hope allowed a single tear to fall, not wanting to Alarm Damon as she got up and sat on the floor, wincing at her broken leg. She knew that if Damon went down this road things could only get bad. If he told the court about his mother's addiction and his father neglect, she highly doubted they'd let him live on his own. He'd be in an orphanage till his birthday finally came, and only God knew which orphanage. "Look Damon..... I get it okay... I know you wanna leave, I know that parents sometimes just don't understand... Sometimes they miss the fact that you're just a kid trying to figure out who you're supposed to be in the world..." she said softly.

Hope wiped a few tears "Sometimes they just don't see that you can't handle much more..... That you're so past broken on the inside.... That with one more little thing that's put over your head will make something inside just snap...." she said as the tears started to flow harder. "That... That...." she said before that very thing she'd been talking about snapped inside of her and she just broke down, crying, a hysterical cry she couldn't stop or control. The cries shook her whole body as she tried to stop. Quit crying Hope.... This isn't about you..... It's about Damon.... she thought to herself as her body and mind completely disagreed. But Hope couldn't help herself anymore, she been holding so much in for so long that she knew this day would come. The day where she'd just cry out of no where and she wouldn't be able to stop.

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[Monsterrz]

Damon turned around when Hope collapse out of her bed due to trying to stop him. He sighed heavily and flinched to move towards her but stopped himself. All Hope did was inhale a sharp intake, let a tear leak out, and start to talk on about how she understood. That she get it. But the thing is, he didn't know how she got it. Sure, she got money problems, but he got family problems. Though, he didn't know much of Hope since she rarely shared. Damon heaved out a heavy sigh through his nose and finally moved his feet forward to sit down beside Hope. He wasn't sure what to do. Hug her? Hold her? Damon still wasn't sure, but he did sit close and maintain body contact. "Listen.." he said softly, looking down at his feet. He leaned close to her, a hand behind him while his other arm wrapped around his knee. "I just had to go through a lot in my life. And I just want out." He coulds ee how this was such a weight to her, since she was dealing with issues of her own. "C'mere," he said, tucking an arm under her knees and wrapping one of his own around her back to lift her up. From all the weights he has to do, he knew he could carry Hope. Gently setting her back down on her bed, Damon then pulled her blanket up to her lap.

He didn't leave this time. Instead, he got to his knees on the floor and rested his arms on the mattress. "I don't know a lot about you. You do about me, I don't know anything about you. And I get it: you don't trust me because of my relationship with Jake. Because you know that I'm a d**k to him and bring up the fact that my dad basically left Jake's mom. But, lemme ask something. Have you ever worked on something so hard, for your entire life - practicing every day, making sure you got it all - and finally almost touch the gold? Only to have someone step in, skipping the sweat and the blood, and just immediately take over your spot in line? It hurts. And I don't know what to do with my life if I don't have basketball. And it's a damn shame, because basketball is what I am good at and it's what my mind has been programmed to tell me. That basketball is my only dream, and that I can never master anything else. When Jake came in halfway in the season and the coach is already considering him for co-captain, it makes me mad. It makes my dad mad. And my dad mad plus drinking is not a good combination and ends with harsh words and fists."

Damon knew that he was still sharing, even if Hope remained a mystery to him. Maybe that was fun of the chase. The mystery. He wanted to know her, he wanted to know about her, but he knew that she wasn't ready and he would be there when she was. "It just sucks, that's all. Because the whole crowd used to be cheering my name because I worked to where I am now, and now they are cheering Jake's name after a few games." Sure, it was silly that Damon was really pissed off about one little thing, but it was for a major sport that inflicted his entire life. He was pushed into this and was forced to believe that he will never achieve in anything else besides basketball. "I'm gonna let you rest. I gotta practice for the father/son basketball game next week and I know my dad is going to brag about him still being the best if he wins." Patting the bed, Damon then stood to his feet and grabbed his backpack. Pausing at the door, he turned around and faced Hope. "You'll let me in one day. I can see it. And I promise, you won't regret it." With that, Damon turned down the hallway to leave.

-CrossroadsQueen-

 

[-CrossroadsQueen-]

Monsterrz

When Damon came to sit next to her, she was thankful for the contact, even if it was just their shoulders touching. When he spoke, she listened as she’d always listened to the male. Her full, undivided attention on his words as they escaped his lips and were hung in the air for her to hear and to interoperate as she wished of course. When Damon was wrapping his arms around her however, she couldn’t help the slight tint of red that spears warmth over her cheeks as her arms wrapped around his neck for a brief moment. When Damon set her down on the bed, Hope smiled at him ”Thanks” she said to him softly once she was once more seated atop her bed.

When Damon continued to speak, Hope became a little worried. And when he spoke his final words, they hit her like a ton of bricks and made her heart ache a little. Hope looked down at her hands and noticed they were shaking. Damon…… I… I don’t what to do… she thought to herself as she pulled her hands under her thighs and closed her eyes. Hope sat like that for a few short breaths, trying to help herself calm down. She didn’t know what it was about Damon that made her want to tell him things. But there was the side that was afraid of opening up to the male, because like most things in her life, except for Jake, what if Damon up and left her? She couldn’t bare the thought. Shaking her head she leaned back and tried to rest, wanting to dream of other things.

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[Monsterrz]

"Where have you been off to during school?" Damon looked up from his video game to his dad who stood angrily at his doorway. In the end of it all, Damon followed Hope's advice and didn't emaciate from his parents. Instead, he stayed locked up in his room or out with his friends. It's been a few days since Hope's accident, and she was still in her cast. Damon would walk over to her house during school, skip a mod, and just be with her for a while. No studying. Sometimes not even talking. Occasionally, he'll sit with her on the bed, hand her a juice pack from the school, and watch TV with her. It wasn't that he wanted to skip school to watch TV. He wanted to skip school to spend some time with her. Which made Damon often feel funny because he never wanted to stay with a woman before. He was always the guy who liked screwing a girl and be done Or, with his last girlfriend, he was rather harsh to her too. But Damon would never verbally admit that.

"In school?" lied Damon, but with a credulous expression, as if the answer was obvious. But his dad was having none of it. It was clear in his face. Damon rolled his eyes and set his game aside. "If you must know-- I was with a couple of the guys from the basketball team. They wanted to practice to kick their dads' asses when we have the father/son game." Damon was still lying but he didn't want his dad to meddle in his time with Hope. His dad would find Hope, tell her lies to make her hate Damon. He didn't want to risk it. His dad just merely left with an amused smirk that Damon was all too familiar with. The kind where his dad was thinking that Damon won't be able to beat his dad. Whatever. Damon got this.

However, when the door was shut, Damon immediately got out of his bed and headed for the window, his eyes not leaving his door once in case his dad wanted to return with a smug comment. After the window was lifted, Damon slid his body through the opening and found himself on his room. He easily dropped down to the ground and quickly jogged off before his parents could inspect the sound. Damon just wanted to get out of his house. He didn't know why. Nor did he know why he found himself in front of Hope's house. Searching around him, Damon found some rocks and he immediately gathered a handful in his hands. Standing in Hope's yard, Damon knew he had forgotten his phone, so he figured he would tell Hope that he was here in another form of message. He aimed his arm back and flicked his wrist and watched as a small pebble knocked on Hope's window glass lightly, and once. But Damon continued this method.

-CrossroadsQueen-

 

[-CrossroadsQueen-]

Monsterrz

The day consisted of visits from both Damon and Jake and work. Every time Jake came over the two of them would do homework and fool around until he had to head back to school. Hope would sit in bed working on what she'd missed while she was alone. When Damon came over to visit, they watch a movie, not talking really. Sometimes she'd tutor him, and there would be actual conversation. Lately things between her and Damon had been, well for lack of better words, real bad. The two barely talked and Hope felt it had something to do with the fact that she'd told him not to run from his parents despite knowing what he was going through. But the girl didn't know what else to say, he would have been thrown in a home till his birthday and then he'd be tossed out with no money and no job. It wasn't like it was easy for the male to live on his own.

Maybe you should have gone about it in a different manner..... Maybe.... she thought to herself as she starred blankly into the page of an open book. The Gunslinger by Stephen King was in her hands, the girl had a chapter left, but she couldn't bring herself to fish as her mind brought on more and more thoughts. With a frustrated sigh, Hope placed her book mark neatly between the pages and folded the book. Setting it on her beside table, she noticed that it was late. Settling into her bed as best as she could, she reached her arm over and flicked off her lamp. Settling under the covers, she rested her head on the pillow and slowly drifted to sleep. Hope had a nightmare, in which she heard a constant tick, tick, sound.

Hope woke with a start and sighed, she'd been having more nightmares lately. She was about to turn on her side when she heard the tick sound again. The girl rose from her bed and the sound came once more. Looking to her window, she watched as a small pebble hit her window, the sound echoing through her room again. With a sigh, she slowly got out of bed and made her way to the window. Stifling a yawn, she pried open the widow and removed the mesh frame before sticking her head out and feeling the cool night air against her skin. Looking down, Hope spotted Damon and looked at him worried. "You okay?" she asked before she looked back into her room and at her alarm clock. Every's asleep by now she thought as she turned back to Damon.

"Hold on a sec" she told the male before disappearing into her room once more. Hope walked out of her room and crept quietly through her house until she reached the front door. Unlocking it, she stepped out into the cold night, wrapping her pj top a little snugger around her she made her way towards Damon "Wanna come inside?" she asked, hoping he would agree so that she could go back to bed and get under the warmth of her covers. Although if Damon didn't want too, she knew she'd have to talk to him out here. "What's wrong?" she asked softly as she tried to read his face to see if she could understand what brought him to her home.

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[Monsterrz]

Damon finally saw Hope's window glass slide up and her dark head stick out into the cold, night air. Her eyes beamed down at him, worry washing over the hues that he seemed to be captivated by multiple times. He waited for Hope to reach ground level, meeting him in her front yard even though it was about the middle of the night. He couldn't help it. He needed to see her. He felt like s**t. Seeing her face closer felt a whole lot better to Damon, and he forgot just as to why he talked to Hope in the first place. He saw the way she hugged herself tighter, as though she were to block out the cold. Yes, Damon noticed the temperature, but didn't think much of it because his mind was racing with other thoughts.

Damon simply reached out and wrapped his arms around her into a tight embrace. A hand on the nape of her neck, his chin on the top of her head, and his other arm wrapped around her waist. Their bodies were pressed together, and it was as if that was their last hug. But it wasn't. Damon just needed someone. Especially through all the bullshit he's been handed to. "'m sorry. I'm just stressed about everything right now."

-CrossroadsQueen-

 

[-CrossroadsQueen-]

Monsterrz

Watching Damon for a beat, Hope was taken aback when he hugged her. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy it, but they were awfully close. But despite everything she’d been trying to avoid, she couldn’t help but lean into the embrace, feeling his warmth surrounding her and stop her shivering slightly. Hope had completely forgotten the cold and almost missed the fact that Damon had his hand on the back of her neck and one around her waist. When Hope realized this she felt the heat rush to her cheeks, this was no regular hug, and Hope felt in a way that it was the last hug she’d ever get. But she didn’t move away, nor was this closesness uncomfortable for her. Hope rested her head against Damon’s shoulder, pressing the side of her face softly against the broadness she found in them. Hope was so lost in the moment, she almost realized that they were still standing outside her house. Closing her eyes, she said simply ”Come inside?”, not caring that it was late at night and she was inviting a boy her parents had never met before inside.

Hope didn’t know what it was about Damon that drew her to him. But the past few weeks she’d felt so much closer to him than she’d felt to most of her friends, she felt this even though she’d only got to know Damon for a few short weeks. Maybe I’m going crazy….. Maybe I shouldn’t have invited him in…… But…. It’s so lonely in there….. she thought to herself as she prayed Damon would accept the offer and go inside with her. It wasn’t that she was home alone, she could almost hear her father snoring from where she and Damon stood. But it was more of an internal feeling she had, one that followed her around and never really let her get away. But when she was with Damon, she never felt that, even though at times, when she was with Jake she did feel lonely despite the fact that he was right there beside her. Hope had no idea what was going on with her, but she was scared that she might have grown to like Damon a little more than she should. She’d never felt this way about anyone in her life before…. Not even Jake, whom she’d been friends with forever.


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