Chapter 11 - Being in His Arms Was Comforting

I looked at my wrist. It was bruised. I didn’t know that my wrist was bruised, but since Damian mentioned it, I could feel that my wrist was tender. I didn’t want to say anything, afraid that it would somehow strain their relationship.

“That bastard! I will punch him for hurting you. That’s not a way to treat a lady.” He said angrily, standing up so fast to go to Rai.

I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him down, preventing him from going to Rai. 

“Don’t. Just let it be. Please stay here with me for a while longer. I don’t want to be alone right now.” I pleaded. Damian asked if I was sure. I told him yes.

After some time, Damian told me it was time to leave the room.

“You’ve been here for four hours, Kat. And Rai should have calmed down by now. I actually brought Frank to meet Rai to clear the misunderstanding. He should’ve known the truth by now. Furthermore, it’s dinner time. You must be starving.” Damian stated.

“But I’m not ready to face Rai yet,” I said quietly.

“Hmm.. how about this? Tonight, you don’t have to talk to him. I’ll fend him off if he wants to talk to you.” He suggested.

“Promise?” I looked at him.

“Yes, Kat. But you know that sooner or later, you have to talk to him, right?” Damian looked back at me, pointing the fact out.

“Yes, but not now, not yet,” I whispered.

“Alright then. Let’s go.” He pulled me up, and I winced because of my wrists.

“I really have to talk to Rai about this.” He mumbled as he led me out of the room.

***

We went downstairs to the dining room, with Damian wrapping his arm around my shoulder. Rai was already there, his face buried in his palms. When he heard us approaching, he looked up. His expression was full of regret, looking so lost at the same time.

“Princess, I..” He said, his voice small, while he stood up and reached out for me.

At that moment, I pulled myself closer to Damian, avoiding Rai, scared he would hurt me again. I could feel Damian shaking his head no to Rai. Rai dropped his hand and hung his head, dejected.

Damian took a seat in front of Rai, and I sat beside Damian instead of beside Rai. Damian ate his dinner but said nothing. Rai didn’t even touch his food; he just looked down all the time. Our dinner was so different from usual. There was no joking around and laughing. It was silent, except when I had a little trouble using my hands as they hurt.

“Rai, not only did you hurt Kat’s feelings, but you hurt her physically. Look at Kat’s wrists. Look at what you did to her and look at what you made her do.” Damian looked at Rai and said in a low voice.

Rai was so dejected that he did not dare look up at us.

“Look. At. Her. Wrists,” Damian said again, this time gritting his teeth, emphasizing each word.

Rai looked up slowly while I tried to hide my wrists.

“No, Kat. Let him see.” Damian said to me.

I sighed and reluctantly placed my hands on the table. The bruise had worsened, it looked really angry, and my cuts had dried blood over them.

“I swear to God, Rai, if you ever hurt her again, I will end you. I don't care if you are my best friend in the whole wide world; I swear I will kill you myself.” Damian said threateningly.

Rai was aghast when he saw my wrists. He got up from his seat and walked toward me, but Damian stopped him.

“Please..” Rai pleaded as he extended his hands for me to take.

I shook my head no and went to the sofa, leaving my dinner. Looking at Rai proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated. It made me think about his words and the way he looked at me when he was angry. I wanted to appear calm, but I couldn’t take it, and I cried.

Damian came to me and held me. In a way, I wanted Rai to be the one holding me, but I knew I wasn’t ready to be near him yet. I cried until I was exhausted and nearly fell asleep in Damian’s arm. Rai was ready to carry me to bed, but Damian took me to bed instead, his bed. That was the first night that I didn’t sleep with Rai.

I heard Damian and Rai talking as I drifted off to sleep.

“How is she?” Asked Rai.

“She’s asleep; let her rest.” Said Damian.

“Damian, what have I done? I didn’t mean for any of it to happen. I don’t know what came over me. I didn't mean any of it.. I didn’t mean to hurt her.” Rai said, his voice filled with anguish.

“It’s called jealousy, Rai. You should have known better than to lose your temper. From what I heard, you were a monster to her. I didn’t even know that you could be that cruel, Rai. It’s actually a wonder that she still wants to be here. If I were a girl, I wouldn’t want to be near you anymore.” Damian told Rai, and I slept without hearing the rest of their conversation.

***

For the next few days, I didn't see much of Rai. I avoided him, to be exact. He tried to talk to me, but I still wasn’t ready, so I spent my time with Damian instead. It was pretty hard to avoid Rai since he lived there, but whenever I saw him in a room, I would move to another room.

Mostly I spent time with Damian in the living room, watching tv. I wanted to go home, but Damian didn’t allow me to. He knew that I would be alone at home, and it was best if I stayed there with them, so I at least had people to watch over me.

Damian asked me to sleep in his room, with me sleeping on the bed and him on the sofa. He didn’t allow me to sleep in one of the guests’ rooms; I guessed he wanted to keep his eyes on me, scared that I would hurt myself again.

At first, I insisted that I sleep on the sofa instead of him, seeing how it was his room, but of course, he didn’t let me. Then I insisted that he sleep with me in his bed, but he said he preferred to sleep on the sofa, so I let him be.

Damian always knew when to keep quiet or when to cheer me up. Every time I cried, he was always there soothing me. When I felt sad, he would cheer me up.

Rai didn’t try to talk to me again after I avoided him for two days, but he was always around. He always sat in the dining room, where he could see me. Though whenever I took a peek at him, he always had his head down.

The only time we were in the same room was during lunch and dinner. I noticed that Rai didn’t touch his food, so I talked him into eating his meals. After all, I still loved him. I was worried that he didn’t eat his meals.

“Rai, you should eat,” I said quietly on the third day during our lunch.

“Princess..” I could hear him say. But I kept my eyes on my lunch, not wanting to look at him.

“Eat, Rai. Do you want to worry Kat by not eating?” Damian said.

Since then, Rai ate his lunch and dinner, even though he never finished them. That was the only time I talked to him. Lunch and dinner were always silent since our fight. Even Damian didn’t say anything.

I noticed a strange thing about Damian, though. He became gentler and more attentive. Sometimes even more affectionate. And he loved to put his arm around me whenever we were together.

At first, I found it a bit awkward since he did it when Rai was around too. But because of his personality, I thought maybe he did that to all of his female friends, something like what Frank and I usually did, or even what my close male friends and I did whenever all of us were singles, so I let it be.

I noticed that Rai was okay with it too. And to be honest, being in Damian’s arms was comforting.