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Damian Desmond was never the kind of guy to go to parties. He never drank, nor smoked; he was a gentleman, the son of the chairman of the National Unity Party—he had expectations to keep up.
And yet, he was still here. Thinking about what his mother would say if she knew he was at this dreaded high school party.
It was about time he attended one, he supposed. This was their graduation party—why not let loose every once in a while?
Well, that's what he was thinking until some moron spill a horrid mixture of alcohol—some strange, brown concoction made with seven different alcohols from seven different companies—directly onto his Beckett Simonon shoes.
"Agh!" He exclaimed, jumping away a bit from the brown puddle. "What the hell?"
"Oh, sorry dude." A drunk student half-apologized. Damian didn't recognize him, but then again, he didn't normally socialize with the Eden students who favored partying over studying. Well, there was one exception, but Damian didn't want to think about that person; he didn't feel like having his heart ache at that moment, with alcohol seeping into his five hundred dollar shoes.
"Drink some water, you imbecile." He insulted, letting out an annoyed groan with an eye roll before walking away, a tiny squelching sound accompanying every step. Great.
Damian grumbled to himself as he walked off to find a more secluded spot—or maybe he'd just leave completely. Really, he had no reason to stay. Ewen had wondered off somewhere, probably to party on the roof alongside the stars and all the smokers, and Emile was probably dancing his drunk ass off by a speaker. He didn't care about anyone else enough to stay, so why would he?
Damian felt his breath get caught in his throat. There was one person he wanted to see tonight.
Damian looked around, his lanky height finally doing him some favors as he spot her.
Anya Forger.
She was sitting on a couch, drink in her hand as she conversed with some people. Her legs were dangling over a girls lap comfortably, and she just looked so natural. Damian would never understand how she did that. How she just spoke and drew everyone in. Every single person by that couch was watching her speak, and Damian was no different. She was just so naturally herself, it put one at ease. Yeah, she was pretty crazy, but she was just so authentic: it made people want to be around her.
Damian found himself stumbling towards her subconsciously. Not stumbling because of any intoxication from alcohol, but the intoxication of Anya. The two caught eyes once she finally finished drawing him in, and when those brilliant green eyes met his, Damian lost all his air. How could someone be so beautiful?
"Damian!" She exclaimed with a grin, her prononciation a bit sloshy. "What're you doin' here? Anya thought you hated parties?"
"I do," He answered, awkwardly tugging down on his navy blue sweater. Maybe he should've picked a different outfit—khaki colored dress pants and sweaters with button ups underneath didn't seem to be that popular. "But I thought I should attend—it is our last high school party, after all."
Damian could feel the awkwardness in his voice, but luckily for him, Desmond's could get away with things like that. If he were anyone else, his strange appearance and his interruption of their conversation would've been seen as annoying, but since he had those special initials, 'DD,' it was seen as a blessing.
Anya stood up from her seat, making Damian blush a little. She was wearing a sparkly champagne dress with a black leather jacket bedazzled with spikes. Damian doubted it was hers, which hurt a bit, but he couldn't deny it looked amazing on her.
"Wanna get some air with me?" She asked, her voice still a bit drunk, but her eyes were genuine. Somehow, Anya always knew what he was feeling. She knew when he was annoyed at his family; she knew when he was excited for his embarrassing hobbies; and she knew that he was feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated.
"That'd be great." He said, watching as Anya said her goodbyes to all the people who waved them off. Anya then interlocked her arm with Damian, the spikes on her jacked jabbing his arm a bit. "So," She began, leading the both of them towards the exit. "Why are you really here?"
"Emile and Ewen, those assholes." He said, a huff in his voice. "They forced me to come here, then ditched me."
"So that's why you're dressed like that." Anya nodded, as if she finally understood after centuries of thought. Damian gave her a side-eyed glare, keeping his head forward as he rebutted, "My outfit is great—at an actual party, I would be seen as sophisticated."
Finally, the two reached the outside of the party, the noise reducing immediately. "And at a high school party, you look nerdy." Anya answered, giving a shrug.
They walked through the dormitory hallways, their arms still linked. Anya was stumbling a bit in her heels, making Damian hold her up, and he couldn't lie about how happy he was in that moment.
Yeah, he had just gone through a terribly overwhelming and, quite frankly, disappointing experience. Yes, Anya was a near-adult woman, and Damian being the person he was—a person who was never touched a dumbbell in his life—struggled a bit to keep her up when she leaned on him. And yes, his shoes still squelched from the mysterious potion of alcohol that seeped into the soles.
But Damian was still happy.
He was with Anya Forger, how could he not be?
The two reached the doors leading to the outside of the dormitories, and walked through it. On the other side was a beautiful midnight colored world, only being lit up by the moon and fairy lights.
Eden was beautiful in the daytime, but at night, it showed that it was more of a nocturnal bloom. The campus was grand beneath the dark sky, so demanding that it would cover the entire campus in darkness if it weren't for the fairy lights dotted around.
There were dozens of flowers and bushes lining every path, all pink and red and white and green. The water fountain was especially impressive at night, the waterfall being lit up by these beautiful blue lights embedded into the stone.
And the cherry on the cake? Fireflies.
They had graduated in June, meaning that there were hundreds upon hundreds of fireflies sitting around the grass, completing the euphoric look the campus had. Not to mention it was completely quiet, which was a huge relief after that monster of a party.
Damian let out a sigh, feeling himself finally relax. The tension in his body was noticeably gone, and of course, Anya Forger would just die if she didn't mention it.
"I see the sticks finally out of your ass." She said without missing a beat.
Damian gaped at her, his eyes large and his mouth larger. "...I beg your pardon??" He finally responded, making Anya laugh before jabbing her elbow into his ribs. "I'm joking!"
She pranced over to the fountain, her pink curls bouncing around as she finally took a seat in the ledge, Damian shortly joining her but with much less pizazz.
"We're graduated." She stated, a grin on her lips. She seemed surprised at the idea, of them finally leaving this academy. It made sense to be shocked—they'd attended Eden their entire lives—but it was still a tad humorous.
"We're graduated." Damian confirmed, looking up at the lightning bugs flickering above them, the only sound in the air being the rushing water behind them, and the soft clicking of the bugs. "Next is Berlint University."
"It's kinda scary," Anya admitted, the ghost of a soft laugh in her voice. "How are we supposed to be on our own in a couple months? It seems insane."
Damian let out a heart filled sigh as he looked at her with fondness and admiration, his hair brushing the tops of his brows ever so slightly. "I'll be here." He reminded.
"I know," Anya responded, knowing exactly what he had meant by that comment. She still hadn't answered him, when he confessed his love to her a week prior. "Sorry," She apologized, the air suddenly feeling tense.
"There's no need to apologize." He said, looking back up to the fireflies. "I didn't expect you to answer me right away—it's a lot to take in, having someone tell you 'I've loved you since we were six.'"
The air was tense again, and Damian muttered a quiet, "Sorry,"
Anya let out a soft snort, pushing him slightly off balance as she retorted, "Shut up."
The two laughed a bit at that, but both still refused to make eye contact. Anya kept looking at his torso, while Damian looked up at the dancing lights.
"It might take me a bit longer to answer you," Anya began, reaching down her leg to tug off her skinny heels. "I just... There's a lot of things around that, and it's hard to answer you without feeling bad about something or the other."
Damian furrowed his brows, keeping his head up as he asked, "What do you mean?"
"I can't say," Anya answered, letting out a sigh when her feet were finally freed from their confinements. "It just feels wrong to do what I want to do, because of what I did when we were kids."
Damian smirked, finally glancing over to Anya, breaking the streak of no eye contact. "Are you referring to when you sucker punched me during orientation?"
"No!" Anya responded, a shocked laugh accompanying her answer. "It's... Ugh, I can't say."
"Not drunk enough to spill all your secrets yet, eh?" Damian smirked, tapping her semi flushed cheek. Anya then bit at his finger like a shark, making him retreat. "I'd never reveal this secret, no matter how hammered I am."
Damian snorted, taking a bit of water in his hand before flicking a flew droplets at the girl next to him. "That bad?"
Anya did the same as him, reaching into the fountain and dotting his sweater with about twelve specs of water at the most. "Yeah," She responded, her mouth tight. "Like, 'you'd hate me forever' bad."
"I could never hate you." Damian immediately answered, making Anya laugh a tad from his intensity.
"Don't promise things you can't keep." She finally said, a hint of sadness coming from her. She looked back at the dormitories, a small, disappointed sigh dropping at her lips. It was a strange action; she didn't seem disappointed at Damian, but she didn't really seem disappointed in herself, either. She seemed disappointed by their situation, Damian supposed. "Sorry I haven't responded yet, and sorry if it takes long."
"It's okay," He said, looking down at his alcohol filled shoes. "I'm good at waiting."
There was a silence yet again, the water sounding as mighty as the ocean with nothing else to fill the void.
"I'll still love you," Damian said, catching Anya's attention. "No matter what your response is—even if you don't reciprocate my feelings, I'll love you as a friend. I'll always love you, Anya. Any way you want me to, I will."
Anya felt her lip tremble. She took a sharp breath in, looking up at the dormitories. Their last high school party; their last high school conversation; maybe even their last conversation as a non couple.
But not their last conversation as friends.
Everything in their life was changing. It was scary, but it would be okay, because they would be together.
As friends, rivals, lovers—it didn't matter. They would have each other, because they loved each other. And they always would.
"I love you too, Damian." Anya finally answered, smiling at her friend. "Hopefully I'll tell you which kind of love soon."