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“Thalia! Thalia! Thalia! Thalia!” The crowd chanted repeatedly as I finished my song, and my heart was swelling with how much I felt loved at the moment. This was it. I sounded like a broken record for saying it again and again, but thisreallywas it.
After the show, Hector immediately guided us to the back entrance and into an unsuspecting-looking car.
“Go, go. Don’t let them catch you leaving,” he instructed us as Damian started the car and I put my seatbelt on.
Not wasting a second, Damian drove away from the dive bar, and just in the nick of time. We were far away from the venue before his fans covered the rear side of the building. That would have been a messy exit. I couldn’t be seen in the same car as Damian. But then again…
“Wait, why were we running away?” Damian asked out loud. Apparently, we had the same train of thought. “Celebrities usually do this when they are in a relationship that would be considered weird or controversial,” he reminded mostly himself.
“I was literally thinking the same thing!” I responded, failing to stifle a giggle. “We were so stressed out for what? Were we planning on hiding this?”
Damian bobbed his head a bit, thinking it over.
“I mean, it would still be nice to have some privacy, I guess.” That, I immediately agreed on. “And it would lessen our risks of letting them see Luna.” Another good point. Then, he looked at me with his ocean-blue eyes shimmering from the city lights of Los Angeles. “But one day I want to scream to the world how much I love you,” he declared, and a billion butterflies erupted inside my stomach. I hadn’t heard him say that to me in so long.
“Oh, Sir Laze-a-lot, you say the most beautiful things,” I playfully teased, taking his hand into mine.
“Not you, too,” he jokingly whined, and we both laughed as we drove.
“But I love you too, Damian. I love you for bringing me out of my shell again,” I declared back, and his smile could light up multiple universes at once.
“You were awesome, by the way,” he told me as he rubbed my hand soothingly with his thumb. “But maybe it's time for you to make some new songs, hmm?”
My eyes widened at his statement, and I was almost sure he was joking, but his expression as he kept his eyes on the road was very serious. I couldn’t help but let joy overtake my body.
“I think I’m already writing one in my head about you.”
Before long, Damian pulled into a long, gated driveway.
It was the first time ever that I had been to Damian’s house. He always just spoke about it like it was a regular house, but of course it was much more luxurious. The Laurel Canyon mid-century mansion was one of those places you would see in the movies, where you knew you could only dream of owning a place like it.
In the light of day, I was sure the two-story entryway was bright and open. The interior was sleek, but still homey. Everywhere I looked were clean lines, soft white walls, but with natural wood and stone accents that made it feel more grounded. It was different than the greens and earthy colors that dominated Blue Guitar Records, but it still kept the same vibe. The back wall was filled with massive doors that led to what looked like a pool area, softly glowing with low lights outside. His home was surrounded by large, leafy trees which made the space feel private and secluded.
The decor was simple. I was sure that the art on the wall was very expensive and that Damian was supporting up-and-coming artists. That was something he loved to do. But otherwise, the furniture, although likely deceptively expensive, seemed to be designed and laid out to prioritize function and comfort over anything else.
“Make yourself at home,” Damian said nonchalantly as he threw his keys down on the huge granite island in the state-of-the-art kitchen. He went to get a glass of water from the fridge and so I took the opportunity to wander around the living room.
As I imagined with every successful musician, he had a wall where all his album covers were framed.
He looked so young in his self-titled debut. His hair was definitely shorter, and he was cleanly shaven all around his face. In his second album,Fireproof, he started to gain some muscle. In fact, I could see how his arms were definitely becoming defined as he stood in the middle of the frame with his leather vest. His arms were way bigger now in real life, though.FireproofDamian was a twig compared to today's Damian. In his third and fourth albums, his artwork was a bit more abstract, so I couldn’t really compare how he looked then to now. As I was touring his little wall of glory, a question suddenly popped into my head.
“Hey,” I shouted, thinking he was still in the kitchen. I turned to see he was walking toward me, handing me a glass of water. I nodded in thanks. “Why are you calling the new albumSunflower, anyway?”
Damian sat down on the couch and motioned for me to join him. He’d taken off his jacket when he was in the kitchen, and the thin gray T-shirt he was wearing accentuated his shoulders when he moved. I bit my lips as the muscles on his biceps bunched when he turned to set his water glass down on the table. Again, my body betrayed me as the heat started to rise between my legs.
Eventually, I stopped ogling him long enough to join him on the couch. He cocked one eyebrow at me. Clearly I’d been caught ogling.
“Well, it’s not a super exciting story. But when you brought Luna to the office that day, I asked her what her favorite flowers are.”
“Sunflowers,” I finished for him. Luna loved sunflowers, almost as much as I did.
“Yep. And that reminded me of the time when we visited that sunflower field in Davis. Do you remember? We took that weekend trip up there.”
All I could do was nod. It was one of the happiest weekends of my life.
Damian leaned back on the couch and chuckled to himself, as if he were lost in a memory.
“God, it was such a long drive, and we had that fight near Stockton… ”
