To make things worse [cw]

Damiano nodded, feeling grateful that he could be forgiven, but he also intended on making it up to Jeremy. Make him feel what it was all about. The line about Verity looking over him made him chuckle too. "I always heard that Verity preached love, and that sex was the purest form thereof," he whispered, letting his thumb caress the nephilim's cheek. He just looked at him, soft eyes and a half smile on his lips. "You are so beautiful," he whispered, feeling his heart beat happily in his chest. "Not just on the outside, but the inside as well ... I just can't help but feel like you're my soulmate," he muttered, wanting to kiss him so badly right now. And so he took the chance, leaning down and being careful with his bruised lips he kissed him tenderly.

The way Jeremy grabbed on to him made him smile, wrapping his arms around him, holding him as close as he wanted. Breaking the kiss he panted softly just holding him in his arms. "You busy today?" He whispered against his lips, kissing his nose and feeling so giddy. Being with Jeremy just made him feel better, like he had a place of refuge no matter what. "I was thinking of taking you on a date later ... if that would be okay?" He asked.

He chuckled back, feeling Jeremy seemingly relax more at the lightened mood. He shrugged lightly at the question, "I was just thinking of something simple ... Maybe get some nice to eat and ... I can show you the studio apartment I've rented?" he suggested. It was something simple, but he had a feeling that it was exactly what they needed.

Damiano scoffed, running his hand up to cup Jeremy's, "like hell there's someone else; The only one for me is you," he said. It was an intense statement to say, but it was true if you asked the hybrid. He just felt so strongly about Jeremy, like he was going crazy without him. "Come on, we'll grab some take out and spend the rest of the weekend at my place," he said, kissing his forehead before letting go. They had to, if they wanted to get going. Leading the way through the park they ended up on the other side. They were exiting Northern and heading in to the outskirts of Central. "I just want for you to keep in mind that it's not the biggest or greatest apartment, alright ... I could barely afford anything in the area, but this place popped up and I just had to have it," he explained. They stopped at a restaurant that Damiano liked, picking out some food from the menu and then once they had their order, they only had to walk a couple of blocks.
He stopped at an old industrial complex that had been turned in to apartments. "That's my window, up there, fourth floor," he said, pointing before he dug in to his pocket, taking out his keys. They got in and went up the old fashioned industrial elevator before getting off at the fourth floor. "It has a little garden at the top ... I think it was meant to be some fancy apartment place, but the renovators clearly didn't give much of a shit when doing the interior," he chuckled, leading him down to his door that he unlocked, letting Jeremy in first. The apartment was one room and a bathroom. That meant that his kitchen, living room and bedroom was all in the same room, but it was a pretty nice space. White walls, clean new windows.
Damiano's bed stood up by the wall, he had added pillows to it to make it look more like a couch. "I know it's no mansion," he muttered, shrugging, but he liked it. And it was his own place.

Chuckling he placed down the food on the kitchen counter, letting Jeremy look around. Not that there was a lot to explore, but it was pretty nice. At least it was bigger than his room at his parents, that was for sure. He felt the pull and as he stood there close to him he couldn't help but smile, moaning softly at the little kiss he got gifted. Jeremy let go, but he was more reluctant, holding on to his hand for a little while as he smiled. "I want you to know that you can always come here too, alright?" he explained, being more serious for a moment as he looked at him. Damiano worried about Jeremy's parents. Worried that what they were doing now would affect the way Jeremy lived, and he wanted to be sure that he felt safe enough here.
After that he got out of his jacket, kicking his shoes off before placing them more neatly at the entrance. Washing his hands he found some cutlery, grabbing the bag with food and placing it down on a small table he kept in front of the bed. He sat down on the floor, unpacking the food and opening the container to let the condensation move away from the actual food. "Would you be a doll and press play?" he asked nodding towards his small stereo. If the nephilim did, calm music would play, not too loud so they could still have a conversation. "I must admit I'm a bit behind on schoolwork." he chuckled.

"Moving, work, everything with you," he sighed, scratching his scalp a little. His hair had gotten quite long, actually hitting his shoulders at this point. Handing Jeremy his order he chuckled, shaking his head a little, "I know what you're about to say, but really, I can handle being a bit behind if it means I get to see you smile," he said. Stretching his back a little before digging in to his rice, chicken and veggie stir-fry. He usually would've cooked, but he honestly wanted the convenience today after working since morning.
"Do you wanna stay the night?" he asked, mostly because in that case Jeremy might need to get green-lit by his parents. He took a sip of his soda, leaning a bit back as he continued to eat. He was pretty hungry, getting his appetite under control was always hard with him, but at least his parents always gave him enough food whenever he was at work.

"Well it's not really a lie," he chuckled, shrugging a little as he looked at the nephilim. "I mean, I am behind on English too," he said with a slight cockiness to his smile, chuckling to himself as he did feel quite silly. He ate after that, catching Jeremy up to speed with how he had found the apartment in the first place. How the land-lady even had flirted with him until he had explained that he was in fact still a minor, only for the land-lady to take a look at his ID and say something along the lines of: Not for long. Damiano had found that quite funny, and yet he hadn't been able to put down the woman by telling her that he was indeed gay. Regardless it was another story he could add to his list.
As they finished up, Damiano promised to clean up while Jeremy made his call to his parents in peace. He was just sorting the trash before washing up the cutlery. He didn't have a lot, so he wanted to keep it tidy and neat. At least for the first while of living here, he thought.

Damiano had finished up cleaning when Jeremy returned. He had sat himself down on the floor with his back against his bed, reading one of his books due for English. Looking up he smiled at the nephilim, gesturing for him to come over. "I take it you used your charming wits to be allowed to stay over?" he asked, turning a page in his book, a smile on his face. He didn't like that the nephilim had to lie, but then again, what other options did he truly have? "Do you wanna watch some TV or?" he asked, looking at Jeremy if he was now beside him. He looked so pretty as always, and he found himself getting distracted by his dark skin that always seemed so inviting.

Damiano sighed at the mention of not sleeping a lot. "Well I can't have you falling asleep on the floor," he said, placing his book down before getting on his feet. He reached his hands down, helping Jeremy back up before he started undressing the guy. Everything he did was nice and slow, his fingers working fast but he wasn't in a hurry to get him undressed. After that he helped him in to bed before undressing himself. The music was still playing calm tunes, but he guessed it wouldn't be the first time they had fallen asleep to music. He crawled in to bed with Jeremy, though he sat up, grabbing his book with one hand before pressing Jeremy close to his legs with the other. "Get some rest," he said with a warm smile on his lips. Leaning down he placed a kiss against his forehead, breathing in his scent as he smiled.

Damiano sat up for a while, just reading but his mind kept getting distracted. Placing his book down he crawled under the covers with the sleeping nephilimg. Wrapping his arms around him, he dug his face down to the nape of his neck, hiding away as he breathed in his scent. "I love you," he just whispered, kissing his skin gently. He didn't even feel sleepy, he just wanted to hold on to Jeremy forever, let the two of them get gathered in dust as he held him. "So fucking much," he murmured, feeling the scar beneath his lips. He still felt shame, but a new feeling had started to bubble up whenever he felt where he had bitten him. Was it pride? He felt selfish for even considering that feeling, but it was true. It was like a mark, a claim on the nephilim that no-one else could have. And he was all his.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," he apologized, pulling his face away from his shoulder to look at the sleepy nephilim. He smiled in the dark, leaning in to kiss his forehead, his nose, his cheek. "You're just so cute when you're like this," he whispered, kissing his lips gently.

It was the next day and Zaira had to admit she was a little nervous. Her, Kurtis and her mother was sitting in the waiting room at the private doctor that Zaira's mother had made an appointment with. "Miss Rojas?" the doctor asked, holding a clipboard and the teenage girl got to her feet, clearly nervous. "We'd like to have an ultrasound first and assess how far along you are, then we will talk about your options," the doctor was rather nice, and Carla got up to stand by her daughter. Zaira looked to Kurtis, blinking a few times as she wondered if he wanted to see the ultrasound. Maybe it was too much for him? Her jaw trembled as she looked down but the doctor smiled kindly, "you do not have to worry, this is a safe space," he encouraged her and she nodded. Following the doctor she went in to the room, getting instructed to lay down and scoot her pants down a bit as well as lifting up her shirt. Her eyes kept looking around the office, trying to distract herself. Her mother was sitting not far from her, but she felt like she needed someone to hold her hand.
Frowning, she squirmed a bit at the clear goo that got put on her stomach, "it's cold," she complained in a low voice. She felt so far beside herself, and as the doctor scanned her she felt her heart beat faster. That was when the doctor pointed to the screen. It was barely visible to her, "it's so small," she muttered, it couldn't be bigger than a raspberry. That was when she heard the little heartbeat on the monitor and her face pulled a frightened expression. Wait, was it already alive or something? "You are not that far along, I would say about 7 or 8 weeks judging by the size," the doctor said, but Zaira felt like she could barely react as she just stared at the screen.

Zaira felt nervous. She hadn't been reading much about anything before the visit, and even Saint Jules had a shitty way of teaching basic biology. Her jaw trembled a bit as she just kept staring at the screen. She was terrified, and she knew that Kurtis could feel that as well. Zaira had never been the girl to dream about a marriage and children, but then again she hadn't ever really thought about much of what would happen after she finished her education. What sorta job would she had? Or would she just be a rich woman letting her husband bring home the bread? Nah, she wasn't that type at all. The doctor smiled at Kurtis rather kindly as he commented on the heartbeat. "It isn't uncommon for the embryo to start out with a heartbeat by week 5," he explained in a calm manner, "and at the speed of that beat it is still within reason where I have estimated."
Carla came over to her daughter, placing a hand on her cheek, "Emanuele respira," her mother said and it seemed as though she remembered that she had been holding her breath. "Uhm," she said, her eyes filling with water as she had to look away from the screen. The doctor noticed, removing the scanner and handing her a napkin to wipe away the excess goo. "How about we sit for a minute," he suggested, gesturing to the chairs by his desk. Zaira sat up after cleaning herself, her hands shaking before she looked at Kurtis. What was he thinking? Gods she wished she could read his mind just this once. Once all three were seated the doctor went over some basic information about the pregnancy and how the size of the embryo would soon change with every week. Zaira felt her breath trembling before she looked at the doctor. "What are my options?" she asked, she needed to know what she could and couldn't do. The doctor sighed, taking out a pamphlet and sliding it across the table for them. "Abortion is legal within the first 12 weeks, and seeing that you are not further along it is a viable option," the doctor said, sending her a warm smile before turning more serious, "of course, you could carry to term, where there would be other options; you can keep the eventual child or give it away in an adoption." Zaira felt lightheaded blinking as she just stared at the pamphlet. "What if I don't know what I want yet?" she asked, there had to be others like her that might not know for sure, right? "Well there are hotlines and support groups, but those are not really for minors," the doctor explained. Zaira just sat back in her chair, a puzzled look on her face as she wasn't sure what to say.