Chapter Text
Damien snuggles up next to you underneath the big, fluffy blanket on the couch. The two of you are on your couch at your house this time, not going to fall asleep listening to the rain. No, no, this time you’re trying something different. On the TV is the selection screen of a movie you and Amanda have watched a thousand times. You know Damien has never seen it. Technically, it’s labeled as a horror movie, but you know better than that. It’s mildly creepy at times but mostly humorous.
Damien had suggested that the two of you try to watch a scary movie about a week after the incident with the animatronic spider. You had taken him to the hospital that same day to have an X-ray done, just to make sure nothing was broken, and there wasn’t a fracture in sight. Just a bit of bruising that is still very visible. He’s been favoring that hand all week just to make sure that he doesn’t risk hurting it any more than he already did after, well, all of that.
You had been taken aback when he first suggested watching a scary movie. One that might be scarier than Halloweentown . When you asked why, he said that it was because he wanted to continue on down the path of facing and conquering his fears. The haunted house had been a good experience and you’re both pretty sure that he’ll never be afraid of Halloween decorations in the drug store ever again, but there’s more to it than that. There’s still the fact that he won’t be able to escape horror movies on TV. There’s no way he’ll ever escape awful jumpscares in real life; there will always be people who will jump out in front of him when he isn’t expected it, there will always be sudden loud noises, and there will always, always be something that he won’t see coming that has the chance to scare him out of his wits. If there’s anything that can prepare him for those possibilities, it’s horror movies. You figure that, if you watch enough of them together, he’ll build up some kind of immunity and he won’t be so affected by sudden scary things anymore.
You hold the remote up and press the play button, then wrap your arms around Damien protectively. “I’ll keep you safe from any monsters,” you promise.
He nods. “Hopefully you can continue to help me overcome my fears. But… what should I be aware of for this movie?” he asks as the opening scene begins to play.
“Just about every movie monster ever,” you admit. “But don’t worry about it. Most of them are mentioned in passing. This movie is more fun than anything else, I promise.”
He forces himself to keep from sighing. “Very well. I’m counting on you.”
You press a kiss to the side of his head as you settle in for the movie. You really like this one. Maybe, just maybe, Damien will like it too. It’s different from usual horror movies. He just might be into it.
The movie introduces its main characters, slowly but surely, and the plot gets underway. Damien is fine so far since nothing has happened, but there’s a scene coming up that you’re vaguely concerned about it. The creepy man in this scene pops out of pretty much nowhere, startling Damien a bit but not well and truly scaring him. The main characters interact with him and then head on their way. The creepy man grabs a phone and starts talking, saying all sorts of strange things that sound creepy even though you know the context. Honestly, though, since you know what all is happening here, you can see the humor in it.
Damien asks, “What is he on about? Wait, why are those people here? I don’t understand.”
“You will,” you say. “You’ll get it by the end of the movie.”
He groans softly as an important plot point pops up and he begins to realize there’s more to this story than it seems.
The main characters get to where they were going and begin to start messing around, doing regular horror movie things. You roll your eyes at all of the shenanigans; characters in horror movies always do stupid things for no reason. Well, maybe there’s a bit of a reason here, trying to show how the setting and events so far have been affecting the characters, but… ah, whatever. There’s no point in trying to make any of this sound fancy. It’s a horror movie about a bunch of dumb kids. Who cares about the intricacies ?
You continue watching the movie. Damien watches cautiously, knowing something else is coming up soon. And then it happens. Two of the characters head out into the woods and, out of nowhere, get horribly attacked. Damien makes a noise somewhere between a gasp and a shriek. You tighten your arms around him and he relaxes a bit, taking a deep breath and trying to get even closer to you than he already is.
The first character dies and Damien flinches. You can’t blame him. This movie is a bit gorey at times. You give him another quick kiss as reassurance. The story continues.
Character after character dies until there’s only one left. The whole time, Damien keeps jumping and making little noises. He sounds pretty much like he did when the two of you went to that haunted house, but maybe just a little bit more subdued. Even though he’s scared, you think that a part of him must understand that he’s with you and safe and that the things in the movie can’t hurt him. He also recovers quicker, taking deep breaths to calm himself and grabbing onto you when he’s really spooked. He’s getting better, slowly by surely, even if he keeps screaming now and then.
By the time the movie is over, he looks like his nerves are completely shot. He’s doing better than you could have imagined, all things considered. He sighs in relief when the credits start to roll. “Did you keep track of how many times I screamed?” he asks as you stop the movie and tell the DVD player to open.
“Not exactly,” you say, “but I think it was definitely less than that time went went to see Vampire Crusade. ”
He smiles. “Good. Good. I suppose I’m getting better?”
“You sure are,” you tell him. You pull him in for a kiss. The rest of the tension in his body caused by his fear melts away. When the kiss ends, you smile back at him. “You’re doing great. Next time we can watch a more specialized movie, if you want. Maybe give Vampire Crusade another chance?”
He hesitates, then nods slightly. “We can try. I’m not sure how well I’ll do, though.”
“You just did wonderfully on this one, Damien. You’ll be alright. I know you will.”
“I love you,” he says softly. “Thank you for believing in me.”
Your smile only grows. “I love you, too. And I know you can do anything you set your mind to. You did great this time and you’ll do great next time, too. I’ve got you.”
He reluctantly lets you get up to return the DVD disc to its case.