“Sure.”
The apartment is fancy enough, with beautiful furniture and exquisite paintings on the wall. Everything is spic and span with not a single thing out of place or a speck of dust anywhere. The walls are white with intricate designs and there is a great view of the landscape.
Damian’s room is a different story, though. He also has a nice view of the gorgeous landscape, but everything is not super tidy like a robot’s room. There are some clothes strewn around, a pile of snacks on his desk, crumpled pieces of paper near the garbage bins—probably his artwork—and his school tie is slung over his desk chair.
His desk is much larger than the ones we have in the dorm rooms, and his bed is larger, too. And he has two closets, although it appears as though only one is full of clothes. He also has a large TV on the wall across his bed.
“Sorry about the mess,” he says as he scoops up his clothes from the floor and walks out with them. “I didn’t have a chance to clean up before you came.”
“It’s okay,” I assure him when he returns. “You should see my dorm room.”
He lowers himself on his bed and motions for me to sit down next to him. As soon as I do, I basically sink in. “Geez. Your bed is so soft. It’s like sitting on a cloud.”
“Yeah. It took some time getting used to it.”
We sit in silence. I wring my hands in my lap. Why do I feel so nervous?
There are only a few inches between us, our shoulders almost touching. I can feel the heat bouncing off his body.
“So…the movie?” he asks.
“Yep.”
We scoot back on his bed, and he hands me the TV remote to choose the movie. There are so many options, but I want to pick one that he will enjoy, not one that I am salivating to consume again. But before I narrow down my selections, I glance at him. “Do you want to pick the movie instead?”
“Why?”
“Well, we watched something I love at the theater. Now we can choose something you love.”
“I wouldn’t say I ‘love’ any movies. They’re just something I watch sometimes to pass the time.”
“Really? There’s not a single movie that moved you? One that had a huge impact on your life?”
He thinks for a second. “Nah.”
“That’s so going to change after these next two hours,” I say as I flip through the options. I don’t want to choose another romantasy because I want the focus of this movie to be on the romance and not the fantastical elements. So I choose a contemporary adult romance where the hero and heroine have a second-chance romance. This one is particularly painful as it is romantic because forces outside their control are trying to keep them apart. They need to risk a lot in order to be together.
I haven’t watched this movie in a very long time and am excited to be diving into it again. Damian grabs some of the snacks from his desk before we start the movie. Then, we sit in total silence for the next two hours. The ending of the movie is sosad that tears are seeping out of my eyes. I cry during this movie every time. It’s a sweet but sad ending.
Now I remember why I tend to avoid watching this movie. Because it reminds me of Gina and Adam. The heroine lost her twin siblings in a car crash as well, and she was very reluctant to open her heart and let in another person. But she eventually did, and they had one of the most epic romances in the world. At the end of the movie, they get married and have twins, which they name after her lost siblings.
“You good?” Damian asks as he passes me a tissue box.
“Yeah, sorry,” I say as I wipe my eyes and nose. “It’s been a while since I watched this movie. I forgot I always cry at the end.”
I can see the question marks in his eyes. The movie is sad, sure, but to cause someone to cry? He must sense that something else is up. I open my mouth to tell him what I’m feeling, but then I force my lips shut. I’m not sure I want to talk about my brother and sister.
But as Damian passes over my favorite candy, it dawns on me that I do want to share what I’m feeling with him. I’m not close to a lot of people, just my parents and my friends, and I have this need to be close to him for some reason. Maybe because I sense he experienced loss, too? I have a feeling he would understand me.
“My brother and sister died when I was three,” I whisper, staring at my knees. “They were sixteen. Our age.”
“I’m so sorry,” he says as he lowers his hand over mine, which rests on the bed. “We should have stopped the movie. I didn’t realize you were hurt.”
I shake my head. “No, it’s okay. It’s a really amazing movie and I wanted you to experience it.”
“You didn’t have to go through with it just for my sake, Sophie,” he says as he gently pushes some hair away from my wet cheek. “I wouldn’t have minded either way.”
“But I wanted you to see the romance play out. Wasn’t it the most epic thing you’ve ever seen in your life?”
