Chapter 40 : New Beginnings
Grabbing my last suitcase, I stare around in my half-empty room. It felt strange standing here knowing it'll be a while before I'll be back. There were some memories here that I wanted to forget as I only wanted to remember all the good ones.
My family came to mind which made me smile sadly. I realized that I always had them by my side, but it never really felt like I did because it was really hard to talk to them about what was going on with me.
After I got out of the hospital months ago, I told them the truth. Well, except for the part about my wrist. The only person who knows about that is Damon and unfortunately Joslin.
Ever since she visited me unexpectedly in the hospital, she's been acting nice. Like she's been nicer to people, made friends when a girl who genuinely makes her smile. I think she has a little crush on her if I say so myself. It's all in the look. That one look.
I'm all too familiar with that look and I knew Joslin liked her. She was also back to smiling and waving at me in halls. It felt weird, but I was just glad that she had stopped being mean to everyone.
Grabbing my phone off of my sheet less bed, I check the time before smiling softly at a cute picture Damon took on my phone which I made my lock screen. It always made my heart swell.
Speaking of my devil, he walked into my bedroom, hands in his jacket pockets as his some of his hair was falling against his forehead and I found that hot.
"Hey, baby. You okay?" He asked, grabbing my hand and spinning me around once then pulling me against him, hands wrapped around me as he began swaying us slowly. I blush when he calls me baby.
"Not really. I don't want to leave you," I pouted and stared up at him. Damon leaned down to kiss my forehead. "That makes two of us, but this is what you've always wanted. No backing out now."
"I know," I sighed deeply.
"How about this," He stared back at me with a slight smirk and that made me look at him suspiciously. "I'm listening," I squint my eye at him.
"If you enjoy college and what I mean by enjoying, I mean make friends, go out and have fun but not too much fun," He gave me a look which made my eyes roll back hard.
"Seeing your eyes do that brings back those special memories," He grins and I push him away from me playfully. "Get to the point!"
"If you enjoy college for the next four years, I'll give you something. Something you've talked about nonstop as a kid," He smiles softly while I stood there confused, trying to guess.
"I talked about a lot of things as a kid."
"Well, you're just gonna have to wait for the next four maybe five years," He stares at me, that grin never leaving his face. My confused face probably makes me look completely stupid.
"So you are telling me that I have to wait for the next four or five years just for something I've talked about having as a kid?" He nods.
"You are joking," I chuckle, not believing him.
"What if you forget?"
"That's the thing, baby, I won't. It's something a person can never forget," I blow out a breath, shaking my head in disbelief.
"Fine. You wanna be an ass? You take this to the car," I grab the handles of my last suitcase and lift it up, dropping it onto his hands.
"Aw, is my baby upset?" He pokes his lips out at me and I just pout back, rolling my eyes before leaving my bedroom.
"You know, I can give you something for those pouting beautiful lips to wrap around," I heard him say from behind me just as Harley ran up the stairs. "Damon stop," I say through gritted teeth as Harley walked up to us, my cheeks burning.
He needs holy water pronto I swear.
"What's up?"
"Dad's here," He replies, jaw clenched and I sighed.
"Okay, um go get some air because your face is red," I grab his arm, leading ourselves downstairs. I took a glance at our dad before leading Harley outside.
"Take his mind off of him, please," I mumbled to Damon. He nodded his head, kissing my lips which only lasted for a second before he walked outside.
"Hi," I say, walking into the living room where our dad was sat on the couch laughing with Harmony.
They stop their conversation, dad smiling even bigger when he sees me. I stood there awkwardly, not knowing if I should hug him or not.
"Don't be shy," He tells me, arms opened. I stared at him for a second, fighting my decision. He frowned at me, slowly putting his arms back down.
He stood up, smiled at harmony before making his way past me. I stop him, my lips turning into a small smile before I crash into his arms. He hugged back with no hesitation and that made me genuinely smile.
"Is it too late to keep you from the world?" He asked and I bitterly chuckled, quickly covering it up with a normal chuckle. "Yeah, kinda is."
"If I could reverse time, I wouldn't think twice before going back to be there with you guys," He sighs, eyes holding so much regret and it made me feel bad.
"But you're here now!" Harmony joined in, crashing into our hug. Dad wrapped his other arm around her, pulling us closer to him protectively.
"My girls," He sighs in satisfaction, kissing both of our heads repeatedly. That made me grin.
"I ruin the moment?" Said a voice from behind. I pull away and roll my eyes playfully at Damon.
"Well, now you did."
"I'm sorry, princess," He reaches out to grab my hand, wrapping his arms around me before kissing my lips. I smile through the kiss before a clear of a throat ruined it.
I pull away only to find harmony scrunching her face up and my dad giving Damon the signature father death glare. I fold arm arms around myself as Damon awkwardly chuckles, letting me go.
"You. Hands. Off," He points a warning finger at him and I groan just as mom walks downstairs, her phone was too her ear as she exchanged a few words with the person on the other end, a grin on her lips before she hangs up.
"I'm guessing it was Vincent?" She nods, the grin never leaving her face and that made me smile.
I never realized how much I've been smiling for these last past few months. I was so busy smiling so much, I hardly noticed.
"Hey," Said our dad, hands stuffed in his pockets as he stared at mom with the same look of adoration he used to give her all the time back then.
"Hi," She says breathlessly, clearing her throat.
"H-How are you?" He asks.
Wow, this is awkward.
"Good, you?"
"Good," He replies, eyes never leaving her.
Mom then gives him a small smile before turning to face me. "Are you ready to go?" I nod and she sighs deeply, crashing into me with a hug.
"Yeah, well I'm not ready for you to go," She whispers into my ear. I chuckle and pull away from her bone-crushing hug, only to be thrown into another one which was by Harley of course.
"I'm gonna miss you, little sis," He squeezes me and I cough for air. "Don't kill my girlfriend now," Damon says and Harley lets me go. I blush at the name girlfriend. I love the way it sounds leaving his lips.
Damon and Harley are driving with me and mom to drop me off, Harmony staying at the house with dad because it was her choice.
"Bring it in baby big sis," I grin at Harmony, my arms wide open. She crashes into me and I squeeze her.
"Baby big sis?" Harley questioned.
"Yeah, while I'm gone she's your big sister until you leave. She's more mature than you," Everyone laughs as Harley gapes at me dramatically and I stick my tongue out at him playfully.
"I'm gonna miss you even though you annoy me at times," She says muffled into my shirt and I chuckle before frowning as I heard her begin to sob.
"Why do you have to be so smart? You could have spent one more year with me," I smile through my frown and squeeze her one more time before pulling away. "I'm sorry, sue me if you want."
She laughs through her tears, "Can I have your room?" I snicker at that and shake my head.
"No, but nice try," I ruff her hair up a bit and she pouts. "On the bright-not-so side, you get to spend the summer with Harley," She whines.
"I hate you."
"Mm, I love you too," I smile before giving dad one last hug. He tightens his grip, kissing my cheek multiple times.
"I love you," He tells me, lifting me off the ground.
"I love you too," I mumble, feeling myself almost hesitate. "Take care of yourself because I, unfortunately, won't be there to do it."
I chuckle as he lets me go.
"Come on, come on we have to go," Mom rushes us out of the door. I wave at harmony and dad until we all were in the car, driving away.
I decided to sit in the backseat with Damon and cuddle him one last time. He held me so close we were practically conjoined together.
I had a blanket over top of us, one of Damon's hands intertwined together with mine like glue as the other is wrapped around my waist. His hand on my bare skin calmed my nerves as he rubbed my side softly with his thumb.
He would once in a while give me a light kiss on my forehead and each time he did, my love for him grew even more if possible. My heart can't take much more love, I actually thought it would have exploded by now. "I love you," I mumble, my eyes meeting his.
"I love you too," He replies and plants another kiss on my forehead. "I love you more," I smirk.
"Hm, impossible because according to my heart, I am the one who loves you more," He glared down at me in a playful manner and I roll my eyes.
"Why do you always argue with me about which one of us loves who more?"
"Well, the answer to that is, because I love you as long as I'm alive and even when I do die, I'd still love you more," He shrugs and I laugh at him, turning back to face the window as we drove on the highway.
"Ugh, will you two shut up with the lovey-dovey stuff?!" Harley groaned in annoyance.
"You're just jealous, aren't you?" I tease, grinning as I cuddled into MY boyfriend more. I swear it feels amazing to call him mine. When we were still in school, he'd always let everyone know that I was his by kissing me and holding my hand in the halls.
Til this day when we see people from school in public, they're still shocked which is stupid honestly.
But not anymore. I am finally free from high school, now able to try and put aside my shyness and make new friends. I could start over without anyone knowing who I am. That felt nice. That seemed nice.
As I stared out the window, I heard a low groan come from Damon which made me look up at him in confusion. "Your hand," He says, jaw clenched.
I look down where my hand is and awkwardly chuckle. I was so into the passing trees and cars, I never noticed my hand was now playing with Damon's belt buckle which was above his area.
"Oops," I smirk, lifting my leg up to lift myself up to lay on his lap. He groaned into my ear and tried pushing me down so I wasn't sitting on his problem.
"Ah, ah," I stop him, pushing myself up. He tilted his head back and groaned again which made me smirk.
Anyone may think this was stupid to do in front of my mom and brother. But Harley had in his headphones, eyes closed on his way to sleep and my mom was too busy eyeing the highway closely because it was one of her little fears crossing it.
"You're going to keep your little problem and when you get home to fix it, I want you to think about me and all the things you'd like to do if I was there," I whispered into his ear softly, planting kisses on his jawline. He cursed underneath his breath and twisted uncomfortably in the seat.
"Aw poor baby," I pout, "I love you though," He glared at me which only made me smile innocently.
"Why do you constantly do this to me?" He says, letting out uneven breaths.
"Because," I kissed below his ear, "it's," I kissed his jaw, "Hot," I kissed his lips, biting his lower lip which caused him to grip my bare thigh from underneath my dress.
"Are you going to think of me?"
"Mhm," He mumbles in a daze as my teeth continued holding his bottom lip.
"Good boy," I let go of his lip and looked into his eyes that were looking at me with need.
"Hm, I'm in the mood for some candy," I grin, getting off of his lap slowly. He snatches the blanket that fell on the floor and covers his lap. I chuckle.
Leaning forward, I grab a lollipop from the side of my little book bag I keep my main stuff in.
"Hermione, no come on," Damon whisper-yells from beside me, eying the candy in my hand as I unwrapped it.
"Remember the other day?" I remind him about the day he teased me that it somehow left me in tears.
I don't know how he does it.
"I said I was s- fuck!" He mumbles as I wrap my lips around the lollipop. He stares at my mouth very intensely. "You wish this was you, hm?" I look at him, twisting the stick in between my fingers.
He just stares at my mouth, "Aw," I coo, leaning down to lay on his lap. He shifts uncomfortably for the 10th time which has me smirking.
"Want some?" I take the candy from my mouth and offer him some. He just ignores me, bouncing his leg up and down and stared out the window trying hard not to look down at me.
"Hm," I shrug and put the candy back in my mouth.
~ ~ ~
I stared up at the building titled Penn State University and grinned from ear to ear. I was a little late in the year, but they said it was okay as long as I was here now. I watched everyone around me as they engaged in conversation with their friends.
There were so many new faces, it excited me.
"Wow," Was all I could say.
The sun was beginning to go down which made the sky a pretty orange color. There were fairy lights hanging up around stores and trees which I couldn't help but be drawn to as I admire the scenery.
"I like it already," I spin around to my mom. Harley and Damon were grabbing my suitcases and realized I should help them since they put them in the car.
"Sorry, I'll help," I tell them, grabbing a suitcase.
"It's good. I figured since it's the last time I'll see you until breaks," He shrugs and I pout through a smile.
"Aw, you love me!" I give him a hug.
"Yeah, yeah now leave me be. I'm trying to be a good brother, there are girls watching," He pushes me away some and I scoff, rolling my eyes.
"Why are you so quiet?" Harley bumps Damon to get his attention. He glances at me and I see he's still trying to hide his problem. I'm still surprised it's still there. I smirk at him before grabbing a suitcase and walking back to my mom as she closed the car door.
"Okay, we'll come back and get the rest. For now, let's find your room number," She suggests and we all nod, everyone holding a suitcase.
We begin walking to the entrance and I stay behind them, admiring everything around me. Wow. I can't believe I'm going to be living here in-state college for 4 years. Everything and everyone looks so older, I felt like a baby which technically I am.
I am a Freshman.
Wow, it feels like I'm starting high school all over again but with bigger responsibilities now.Β
A vibration came from my back pocket and I take it out, smiling at the recent messages.
Scarlet:
Good Luck! Currently getting ready for classes tomorrow.
I smile at her message, replying by giving her good luck too. Scarlet left for London college of fashion in well, London. I was happy for her but sad she left early.
The next message made me smile bigger if possible.
Brett:
I'm rooting for you all the way from, well you know. Good luck, Minnie. I know you'll do well and when you become rich and famous one day, don't forget about me.
Brett is taking a year off of college to go search for his sister. He said he didn't want to start a new life without her beside him and I understood. He wants his sister to be apart of his new life which I supported in every way.
His parents were upset when he told them he wasn't going to college right away, but he didn't care.
He told me if he ever found her, I would be the first person she'd meet. Well, after he gets settled with getting her back. I know he'll find her.
I reply to his message before putting my phone right away. As I'm walking, I bump into some guy accidentally. I gasp and look up, "I am so sorry!"
He looks down at me, showing his pearly white teeth, "It's good, beautiful," I smile awkwardly as he walks away backwards, smiling at me.
He gave me a wink before turning around and jogging across the lawn to a group of guys.
I stop walking as the next scene catches my eye.
The group walked up to a girl. She was brown-skinned with straight dark brown hair that looked black from where I'm standing. She was curvy in all the right places and I shook my head, thinking maybe the guys were about to harass her in a way.
But no, this was the opposite of what I had in mind.
They seemed like they were bullying her. She held onto her bag tightly, hair covering her face as she tried moving past them but they wouldn't let her go.
The guy who I bumped into snatched her bag from her hands and threw it on the ground. His friends, I'm guessing, were just laughing and surrounding her as if she was an animal. I felt bad immediately.
I'm really sure she doesn't deserve their treatment and it made me mad that this was happening. I just left a school full of assholes and now I'm about to enter another one.
The girl managed to grab her bag and leave quickly. They guys continued to laugh and call out to her as she ignored them and kept walking.
I make a face and shake my head as I stare at the group of idiots. The guy who I bumped into catches my eye and smirks, his eyes checking me out.
I roll my eyes as I felt a hand on my lower back which belonged to Damon. This made me snap out of my trace and turn to look at him.
"I'll kick his ass if he ever lays one single finger on you," He growled, eyes trained on the guy.
"Don't worry, he seems like an asshole anyway," I scoff as he grabs ahold of my hand.
He leads me to the entrance where my mom and Harley were waiting for us. My mind drifted back to the girl and those group of assholes.
"Hi! Welcome to Penn State University!" I turn at the sound of a female's voice. She looked at us all with a cheesy smile and I noticed she had on a work uniform which meant she must work here obviously.
"You must be Hermione Scott, I was told you would be arriving soon! We don't usually greet new students like this, but I was told you graduated from high school a year early," I give her a smile and nod.
"Well, then people here have some competition. I'll be taking you to your dorm room and showing you around which I am pleased to be doing!"
Wow, she is bubbly. She reminded me of Scarlet.
"Are you ready for your new beginnings?"
I felt my mom squeeze my hand, Harley wrap his arm around my shoulder, and Damon interlock his hand with my free one.
They all give me a knowing look and I took a deep breath before looking back at the girl with a grin.
"Thought you'd never ask."
~
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A/N:
Omg, I finished my first book. Ion know how to feel but I'm happy I was able to finish after maybe one or two years of working on it. I want to thank a lot of you guys for enjoying this book and sticking with me through it even though it is cringe ( Editing the book
You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net