Amber's Pov:

"Amber?"

...

"Damien?"

I stand there, frozen in place as he takes a few steps toward me, a small smile gracing his lips.

"I knew you would be here." He says shyly, running a hand through his hair as he pushes it away from his eyes.

"You... you were looking for me?" I ask, thrown off by his words.

He nods his head, "Yeah, I never got to really 'thank you' for what you did today, it really means a lot."

"I-... it was no problem! You guys didn't deserve to be suspended from the team for something that wasn't your fault." I try to reason.

In that moment, even if it was lying, it felt like the right thing to do.

I couldn't just stand back and watch as they were being treated unfairly for something they didn't do.

"But thanks again," he pauses, suddenly thinking, "by the way, why didn't you tell me before that your dad was the coach when I helped you move those boxes into the concession stand?" He questions, looking at me at me with questionable eyes.

I look down, "Uh... well, I just," I take a deep breath, "I just was scared that you would be afraid to talk to me, being the 'tough coaches' daughter kinda scares people away, you know?" I sigh, looking back up at him.

It was true.

Liam told me that one kid on his team almost peed his pants when my dad caught him looking at me one time when I went to see a match.

Damien nods his head, "It's okay, I understand," he looks past me and at the paper work that was on the desk, "oh are you filling in today?"

I look back at the papers and nod, "Yeah, I'm filling in for a friend who had to drive their kids to soccer practice."

I grab the papers off the desk, but let out a sigh in all the appointments she had shoved in the short time frame.

"I can help, if you want." Almost like he was sensing my distress, I look up from the papers to see Damien walking closer to stand beside me.

He starts to read the papers in my hands, but because of the position he was in and the way he was standing, I had to keep still as his breath started to tickle my neck.

Don't blush Amber.

Don't blush Amber.

No.

Big.

Deal.

"You-... I-... Are you sure?" I stutter, not being able to think clearly with how close he was to me to read the paper.

"Of course, plus, you helped me out so much today, I owe you." Without warning, he takes the papers from my hands and signals for me to follow behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I get it now." He points at me as I give him a confused look.

He walks up to me and takes the chapstick out of my hands, "The Chapstick Girl?" He snickers, while I nod my head, letting out some sort of small, but embarrassed laugh.

"Yeah about that, it kinda just started, first with a few friends and now people who I barely know."

"To be honest, when I found out, I didn't believe it was because you had it everywhere with you, you must have some seriously dry lips." He starts to laugh, but he stops when he sees me look away from his gaze, looking anywhere but him.

"Oh, I'm sorry , did I-...." His eyes widen, not meaning to offend me, which he didn't.

"No, no, it's not that, my lips have nothing to do with it." I wave my hands in dismiss.

"Oh really, I just assumed, you know..."

"I get it, it's what everyone thinks. I mean, if I saw someone who had chapstick with them 24/7, I'd be pretty confused also." I give him a soft smile, while I hold out my hand as he hands me back my chapstick.

I place it in the pocket of my jacket as the lady at the front desk returns from the back room, collecting the completed papers of the shifts that Damien helped me to finish on time with.

Thinking back, I smile.

Just as I thought he couldn't be anymore perfect, he was amazing with the kids.

Usually, some trainees that helped me out didn't have a clue on what to do.

Some even grew impatient with the kids, even though it clearly takes time.

To be able to work with the kids, you have to give them your trust before they can give you theirs.

And it takes time to gain someone's trust, even though everyone is different, it isn't something that is usually given right away.

Like I said, I have seen Damien here many times, but I haven't seen him working with kids up close before.

It honestly brought me by surprise, the amount of familiarity he had with it.

"Whatcha thinking about?" I suddenly feel a tap on my arm, as I turn towards him.

You.

"Uhm... some stuff..."

"Really, because you have been staring at the wall for quite some time now, it must have been really deep." He bumps my shoulder with his as I lightly push him away.

Yes, yes it was.

"No, it was... yeah..."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

"Cool."

...

"Cool."

"Cool."

...

"What are we even doing?" He looks at me, a twinkle in his eye as he grins.

"I have no idea," I return his grin, "but I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah, anything." He says, propping himself up on the counter as he places both hands on the counter, slightly leaning forward.

"You don't work here, no internship or anything, why do I always see you around here?" I ask, but instead of answering, he looks straight ahead, keeping quite as he starts to think.

Instantly, I start to feel guilty.

Seriously Amber!!!!

Your curious mind got the best of you and you probably hit a weak spot!!! It could be personal!!

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me, it was a dumb question-..." I rush out my words, but before I could finish, he hurriedly leaps down from the counter and grabs both my hands in his, leaning down just the tiniest bit to meet eye level.

Startled, I lean back slightly so our faces weren't inches part.

...Not that I minded...

Bad Amber, No!

"No, please don't feel sorry, I was just thinking to myself." He says, dismissing all of my negative thoughts from moments before.

I let out a nervous breath as he continues to stare at me, his hands still holding mine as I shiver from the proximity of how close he was.

The whole situation made me feel weird.

How no matter what he did, it always caused butterflies in my stomach.

I know, I know, he's been my crush since forever, but still, I feel like a kid for acting like this.

"It's because of her."

"Her?" I question, not understanding his answer to why I always see him around here.

He nods his head, the warmth in my hands leaving as he lets go.

"Well, not a lot of people know actually..." he looks down, twiddling his thumbs slightly out of nervousness.

"It's okay, if you don't feel comfortable with me knowing who 'she' is, you don't have to, I-..."

"No, I want to tell you. Plus, after everything you did for me, I feel like I can trust you." He gives me a shy smile, but I shake my head.

"But all I did was-..."

"Save us from getting kicked off the team..."

"But, that's barely anything, you don't even know me that well, I feel bad if you feel like you need to-..."

"Please?" He interrupts me, slightly pouting his soft lips.

...

And that ladies and gentleman, is the death of me.

"I uh..."

"Please....."

"Okay."

He signals me to follow him in which I do so, curious to see where he was leading me as he takes us into the elevator, hitting the button which would take us to the third floor.

It's crazy to think that only yesterday, I barely knew him from that one conversation we had that probably didn't even last a full five minutes.

And now, from him at first coming here specifically to see me, to helping me out with the shift, and now, to trusting me with whoever 'her' may be is honestly quite insane.

Yesterday I would have been to shy to even smile at him in the hallway, but earlier today while he was helping me out, we were cracking jokes to each other like five year olds almost like we knew each other for years.

The doors of the elevator open as we are greeted with a long hallway. But as soon as we start to come across some of the doors, I begin to realize something.

"Uhm... these room are for kids who-..." I stumble out as he suddenly stops right in front of one of the rooms.

I look up at him, "Is this her?" My heart dropping as he nods his head.

With two knocks, he opens up the door to a small girl who looked to be about seven years old sitting on the bed with a small book in her hands.

"Amber, meet my sister, Layla." The girl looks up from her book at the sound of his voice, a big smile forming as she sees Damien.

"Damien!!!" She drops the book and holds out her arms as he runs over to hug her.

"Layla!! I'm sorry I wasn't able to see you yesterday, I promise to make it up to you." My heart melts at Damien's cheerful smile as the girl shakes her head before punching him lightly in the arm.

"You're lucky I'm a nice."

"Yes, the nicest seven year old-... OW OKAY!!" He shrivels back as she punches his arm again.

Damien then turns his head towards me, "I brought a friend today, would you like to meet her?" He asks Layla as I stand quietly by the door, not wanting my close presence to seem uncomfortable to her if she least expected it.

Layla looks up at me with curious eyes, as I take it as a good time to step closer.

"Hi Layla, I'm Amber." I give her a soft smile, holding out my hand.

At first, she stares at me questionably before shaking my hand, then turning towards Damien with widened eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?"

...

"NO!"

"NO!"

She looks between us questionably as I start to find the wall very interesting as Damien clears his throat.

"We're just friends." He says, pointing a finger between us, the level of awkwardness rising in the room as the girl responds.

"Then why are you blushing Damien?"

"WHAT NO I-...." he quickly rushes out, as I can't stop myself from giggling at his embarrassed state as he looks over at me and squints his eyes, mouthing a 'help me.'

Playfully, I shake my head and point at him and give him a small thumbs up as he rolls his eyes at me.

Layla then looks back at me and gives me a small smile, "I'm Damien's favorite sister."

"You're my only sister-..."

"Don't listen to him he's a doubter."

"Hey-..."

I can't help but laugh as they start to bicker to one another.

But something at the back of my head starts to nag me.

Why was she here?

How long has she been here?

This floor was for kids with illnesses that were either untreatable, or for serious treatments that involved hospitalization.

I found it weird because Damien's been helping out here for a long time... is that how long she's been here for?

I didn't want to ask him because I knew it wasn't my place to ask, but the unknown answers made me curious.

But shaking my head, I dismiss the thought and look at the book that she was reading.

Smiling, I walk towards the book and pick it up, "Is this what you were reading?" I ask.

They stop bickering and look at me, as Layla's eyes travel down to the book I was holding.

She nods, "Yeah, it's my favorite, I think I read it a hundred times, why?"

She asks, as let out a small laugh in return, "I used to read this all the time when I was little, it was my favorite."

"Really?!" She sits up in her seat excited, as I nod my head.

She quickly turns toward Damien, "I like your friend!"

Damien smiles at her happy face as he looks up at me, "I like her too."