Summer never ends discussion

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Daemon sauntered in the apartment door having just come back from working on his motorcycle in the shop. He shrugged off his jacket and threw it on a nearby chair. "Nova, you here?" He called as he plopped down on the couch.

Daemon shrugged and kicked off his converse, stretching out on the couch before getting up and heading into the kitchen. "So you are here." He said, looking at her with one eye brow raised before turning to the cupboards. He rummaged through them until he found a power bar that didn't look too old and ripped open the package. He tried not to grimace at the stale taste and continued eating.

Daemon tensed but otherwise didn't react. "Did he? Did you talk to him?" He asked nonchalantly after shoving the last bite of power bar in his mouth and swallowing. There were only two reasons his father ever called, the first and most frequent was money and the second was because he was drunk and blaming Daemon for the divorce. Neither was pleasant but the first was always preferable. He could handle desperate, what he couldn't handle was drunk and desperate.

Daemon nodded and pushed the thought of his father from his mind. "I don't have a lot of cash on me right now, Jenny needed a new part so I spent most of my money on buying it. I've still got a little so make a list and I'll see what I can do." He said, trying to remember just how much he had. The part had been a couple hundred bucks which set him back quite a bit but there wasn't much he could do about it at this point.

Daemon looked at her skeptically, "they open around six. Do you actually want to go?" He asked. That didn't really seem like the kind of place she wanted to hang out in. He knew she was trying to branch out or whatever but going clubbing seemed like quite a step. She seemed more the girl who would be comfortable at the beach or the mall, not a club where all the scumbags came out to play.

Daemon rolled his eyes as he followed her to her room and waited outside while she changed. "It's not that, I'm sure you'll be fine and it's not like I'll throw you to the wolves it just doesn't seem like your scene." He said, leaning against the doorjamb. He hooked his thumbs through his belt loops and looked at the floor while he stood there. "I'm not sure why a girl like you would even want to go." He said, a little quieter.

Daemon rolled his eyes and went into his room and grabbed a cleaner t-shirt and a pair of jeans out of his drawers. He chucked the motor oil covered clothes at his hamper and went into the bathroom to scrub at the gunk on his arms. "Better?" He asked when he walked out to where Ella was waiting for him, holding his arms away from his body a little and turning around in exaggeration.

"We shall but how are we getting there?" Daemon asked, knowing they could take Jenny but not sure that Ella would be very comfortable in a dress like the one she was wearing. He fingered his keys in his pocket and looked at her, it was her decision and he would go with it though chances were he wouldn't come home with her.

(Okay)

Daemon shook his head and pulled his keys out. "Jenny it is, let's go." He said and pushed open the door to the apartment for her. Once she was through his locked the door behind her and led the way to the parking lot where he handed her a helmet then straddled Jenny. He put the keys in her ignition and revved her engine, making sure the part was working okay.

Daemon took off once Ella was settled, ignoring stop lights and weaving through traffic on his way. He was a bit of a reckless driver but he wasn't stupid, he would never take any risks that could get Ella hurt or Jenny totaled.(To the eye candy sound lounge)

Daemon led the red head up to the apartment as she kissed him and ran her hands over him.

**

A few hours later she left, a little dis-shelved and angry. He looked at the time and frowned, knowing Ella should have been back by now. It was well past midnight. He pulled his clothes on and grabbed Jenny's keys. He knew he didn't have to look for her and she was probably okay but he still felt worried.

"Not anymore." Daemon said and closed the door. "I was just going to go look for you. It's late and I couldn't find you at the club." He said and kicked off his shoes. If he didn't have to go look for Ella then he was going to get ready for bed, he had to work in the morning and wasn't looking forward to working with difficult people who couldn't tell a carburetor from an air conditioner on less than enough sleep.

Daemon stripped down to his boxers and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He spat out the toothpaste foam and gargled with mouthwash before exiting the bathroom and yawning tiredly. He heard the floor in Ella's room creak and knocked quietly. "Nova, you okay?" He all but whispered as he poked his head in.

Daemon turned to leave but stopped, she sounded so fragile and this was Ella. He couldn't just leave her like this. He padded into her room and sat on the ground beside her. "You don't have to try to be like everyone else you know." He finally said, looking up at the moon as he spoke. There was something bothering her and he knew taking her to the club had been a mistake, even if she was the one who had wanted to go. That wasn't something she wanted to be around, no matter what she told herself or anyone else.

"You're my friend and I care about you." Daemon said in a tone which brokered no argument. He put his arm around her in a comforting way and tucked the blanket around her. "You need sleep as much as I do, don't worry about me I'll be fine." He said and looked up at the moon again. "I'm sorry for taking you to the club." He murmured. "You shouldn't have been there, you obviously didn't like it and it's bothering you."

"Sounds like a plan." Daemon said soothingly. Ella sounded tired and he guessed it was only a matter of minutes before she fell asleep. Despite what she said it was his fault, he should've put his foot down or tried to talk her out of going. She wasn't the kind of person to let herself go even for a minute so of course she wouldn't like it there. A club was the place to go when you wanted to forget life and make bad decisions, he should know he was someone who frequented them quite often.

Daemon had meant to pick Ella up and take her to her bed once she fell asleep but he fell asleep before he could. He still had his arms around her as he drifted of, knowing he should get up and go to his room before he fell asleep but he was too far gone to do so.
(I gtg)

(I'll probably only post short posts for a little bit)

Daemon woke with sunlight hitting his face. Ella was gone and he stood, stretching and trying to determine what time it was. He walked out of her room and into his to get dressed and walked into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat before he had to leave for the shop.

"Found anything?" Daemon asked as he came up behind her. There wasn't a lot of food they could make for breakfast so they would have to make do with what was there. "I think we've got a couple of eggs in the fridge and a few pieces of bread left, I'll make fried eggs if you want." He offered and went over to the fridge to grab the carton of eggs out of the refrigerator.

Daemon checked the time and shrugged, "I've got time. It's still pretty early and no one will nark on me if I'm a little late." He said and closed the fridge. He went over to a bar stool and perched on it, watching Ella as she moved about the kitchen as she made the pasta. "Do we have any sauce?" He asked, hoping they did. He didn't like plain noodles, they were too bland and flavorless.

Daemon shrugged and yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he did. "I'll wait and if I have to go before its ready I'll just grab something on the way." He said peaceably. He got up and went to his room, pulling on some socks and the boot he was required to wear while working in the shop. He laced them up and went back into the kitchen to check on how far along Ella was on breakfast.

"Did you try looking in the empty ice cream carton?" Daemon suggested as he tried to use a knife to get some of the noodles into a bowl without much success. He finally gave up and opened up the freezer and opened the carton. Inside the carton there were three forks and a few plastic spoons. "Don't ask me why these are in here." He said and grabbed two of the forks and put the lid back on the carton and put it back in the freezer.

Daemon laughed, "I'm guessing pretty hard." He mused, imagining her trying to eat soup without a spoon. "And the sauce?" He asked hopefully, knowing he was being a baby but not caring anyway. If there was no sauce he'd just have to make due but nothing said he had to be happy about it. He checked the time and tried not to cringe, it looked like he was going to be cutting it close today. As long as no one ratted him out to Logan he would be fine, because Logan was the only one who had it out for him enough to actually tell the boss. None of the other guys could care any less what time he showed up but if one of them was pissed at him for some reason...... Anyway, as long as traffic wasn't too bad he'd make it on time. No use worrying about Logan or anybody else until he was actually late.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with peanut butter." Daemon said and spooned the sauce onto his noodles. He quickly shoveled them into his mouth and rinsed his bowl in the sink. He laced up his boots and grabbed Jenny's keys. "And I'm off, see you later Nova." He said, kissing her forehead and heading out the door. "Thanks for breakfast!" He called on his way out of their apartment.

Daemon went straight home after work, feeling sweaty and covered in grease he wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower. He unlocked the door and immediately kicked off his boots, scooping them up and tossing them in his room on his way to the bathroom for his shower. Once in the bathroom he took off his shirt and gingerly lifted the bandage on his torso and grimaced. There had been a mishap with a falling drive shaft earlier and he had barely rolled out of the way in time to avoid major damage to his stomach.

After his shower Daemon found the bandages in their medicine cabinet and re-bandaged the scratch on his side. He went into his room and awkwardly pulled on a shirt, trying not to move too much. Once he was dressed he went into the small living area and noticed Ella's shoes. He frowned, not able to remember hearing her come in. He went to her room and knocked on the door, "Nova you in there?" He asked, having not expected her home yet. She usually worked later than him because the store she worked at was open later than the mechanics shop.

Daemon's brow furrowed. "Nothing, I just wasn't expecting you home yet..... Are you okay?" He asked. Something in her voice sounded... off. He couldn't put his finger on it but something was wrong. He turned the handle to find it locked which wasn't all that uncommon. The lock could easily be pried open but he hesitated to force the door open, he wouldn't invade her privacy unless there was something actually wrong with Ella.

Ella shook her head, biting back her words. "I-I'm fine" she managed. "I just came home because..." she paused and contemplated an answer. "Just because work was cut short and I-" she stopped again. "It's fine" she said, stuffing her face back into the pillow. She bit back a scream as she felt like everything was wrong and she could not get any of it out of her head.

"Everything is not fine and unless you want me to break your lock again you'll tell me what happened." Daemon said, though not unkindly. He waited a minute then lifted the door up and shoved it forward, popping the lock as he did. He walked in and looked at Ella expectantly. "Now tell me what happened." He said.

"What happened?" Daemon demanded, no longer asking. He followed her into the entry way and stopped. His eyes narrowed when he saw the bruise on her face and his fists clenched. He forced himself to calm down and took a breath, getting angry wouldn't help Ella. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked gently. He took her face in his hands tenderly and looked over her bruise.

"Nova, you're almost never fine." Daemon said softly and dropped his hands to his sides. They hung uselessly as he struggled to control his emotions. When he got a grip on them and grabbed his keys. "You're going to file a report? I'll give you a ride." He said, stepping away and grabbing his sneakers. He bent to lace them up then straightened. She was shutting down and he wouldn't be able to get anything out of her, the only thing he could do was make sure she was okay for now and wait until she was ready to tell him what was going on.

That stopped Daemon in his tracks but only for a fraction of a second. "Too bad, I'm going to do it even if I have to throw you over my shoulder." He said and looked at her expectantly. He was going to help her because even though she kept pushing him away he knew she needed him. And he needed her as well, if for no other reason than to be able to look himself in the mirror and know he didn't just use people.

"Who is he? Nova, I don't understand." Daemon said, almost pleading with her to let him in. To explain what had happened to her. He was beginning to get a picture but he couldn't be sure without more information. And the picture being painted thus far wasn't pretty, he didn't want it to be true but he had a feeling it was only the tip of the ice berg. He gently pulled her against his chest and put his arms around her. "C'mon Ella, you know me. You can trust me not to hurt you, I can help you."

Daemon paled and his arm tightened around her. "Ella we would've been fine, yeah money is a little tight right now but we wouldn't have lost the apartment. Don't take extra shifts because of that. Okay? Not if you end up like this. Are you okay? You said you woke up to sirens? Did the paramedics check you out?" He asked, worried beyond belief. "We have to take you to a hospital, I can get an officer there and he can take your statement there and you can fill out a report there. Jesus, what if something's broken or chipped? That can't be good for you, and what if it doesn't heal right?" He was starting to freak out and couldn't seem to stop himself.

Daemon held her tightly and murmured soothing words in her ear. He didn't know what to do to help her and it made his chest ache. He didn't like feeling helpless but there was nothing he could do but hold her and dry her tears. "Fine we won't go to the hospital but I will still take you to the police station. They need to know what happened and keep that guy away from you." He said, spitting out the last few words as he tried to think of an appropriate way to describe the person who had done this to her.

"You're being very contradictory right now." Daemon said, sighing. One second she was pushing him away the next she was begging him to stay. If he hadn't been used to Ella this would have all been a lot more confusing. He picked her up and sat on the couch and arranged her so that she was sitting on his lap.

"I'm fine it's just a scratch, there was a little incident at the shop. No one was seriously hurt." Daemon reassuring her. He smiled in a self-depreciating way, "besides you know me, I love dealing with everyone's problems. So much better than my own." He said before growing more serious. "You've been fine Nova, you went through something terrible and I'm happy to be able to be here for you to lean on when you need it."

Daemon rolled his eyes but did as she asked, wincing in pain when he had to lift up his arm to get his shirt off since it stretched his muscle every so slightly. "It's fine, I just put on a fresh bandage when I got out of the shower." He said as she started unwinding the bandage from around his torso. He cursed silently when he saw it had started bleeding again. His whole torso seemed numb to any pain but the blood stained gauze didn't look very good.

Daemon hissed in pain as the alcohol was used to clean his side. He had tensed when Ella had begun cleaning the wound but relaxed once she started dressing it. "Hey who said it was my fault?" He protested when she was done. "There I was, just minding my own business and out of nowhere the drive shaft goes and drops right on top of me! I was lucky to get out of there alive you know." He finished with fake solemnity.

"Is not." Daemon said, wrapping his arm around her. "I'll be fine, I can cut my hours back but I can't take time off. We need the money and you are not going to take more hours to make up for it." His voice became stern. "Besides, now that you've taken care of it I'm feeling good as new." He said lightly.

He looked at her in surprise, Ella didn't drink. He shook his head, not wanting the alcohol to cloud his mind. He drank a beer every now and then but didn't usually drink, in fact he wasn't even sure why the vodka was in the kitchen. "Don't drink too much of that." He warned, knowing she was a lightweight when it came to drinking.

"There are other ways to forget." Daemon murmured. He held out his hand for the bottle, noticing it was already half gone. She was going to drink herself into oblivion if he didn't stop her. And either way she was going to end up with a wicked hang over.

He sighed and grabbed the blanket on the end of the couch. He wrapped it around her snugly and got up to put the vodka in the trash. "We really don't need more of that." He muttered and sat back down next to Ella. He put his arm around her to help her warm up faster and leaned his head back. "Everyone has something they want to forget." He said wearily. "We have to live with it day to day and find the things that help take our minds off of it."

Daemon chuckled, "I can't tell you what to do Nova. When I want to forget I work on cars or go to a club. That's probably not going to help you much though." His lips curling up at the thought of her sitting on a bench in the shop while he worked was so farfetched it was amusing. "You just gotta do whatever it is that you love." He said.

"Well what do you want me to tell you Nova?" Daemon asked gently. "You won't tell me what's going on and while I respect that, that also means it's harder for me to help you." He said. He tucked her against his chest, ignoring his wound and held her. He wanted to help her, he cared about her so much but it was so hard if he didn't know what she was going through and she wasn't inclined to clue him in. If there was some way for him to find out he would in a heartbeat but he wasn't sure who to ask or where he could find out.

Daemon cursed and surged after her. He had guessed as much and as much as he had wanted confirmation he also hadn't. If he didn't know for sure then he could pretend it hadn't happened. He knew that was a terrible way of thinking and guilt stabbed his heart whenever he thought it because whatever his feelings were towards what had happened to Ella, hers were going to be much much worse. He grunted in pain as his wound reopened but ignored it. Ella needed him. He opened her door slowly, "Ella." He said softly.

"Oh Ella." Daemon breathed and knelt next to her. He pulled her against him. "That should have never happened." He said and rubbed circles on her back soothingly. He felt sick, he wanted to go kill the bastard that had done this to her. Make him suffer ten fold for each and every hurt he had inflicted on her, especially the ones no one could see. But he couldn't hunt done the sicko, he knew next to nothing about him and he couldn't ask Ella to describe him. The only thing he could do was to comfort her and help her pick up the pieces. But if that man ever came near her again he was going to wish he'd never been born.

"We'll work something out with the landlord and you shouldn't have stayed at your job if you didn't feel safe, paycheck be damned." Daemon said, trying not to be angry at her. He would never want her to be unsafe just for money, and it wasn't like she had had a high paying job in the first place. "I'll ask around, see if I can find a place with a job opening." Where someone can keep an eye on you. He thought silently.

"Well now you have so you definitely can't go back. I'll go pick up your pay check later." Daemon said, stubbornly. And then they could go to the police station and make sure that bastard never saw the light of day again, and he would make sure that man never did. One way or another, he would.