Chapter 131: ¹³¹: Am I your friend?

Chapter 131: 131: Am I your friend?

I looked at him, trying to carefully frame my next words. I didn’t want to make the situation worse, especially when I could already sense that something was bothering him. "Now that you are talking to me again, please tell me what made you so upset?" I asked.

My hands slowly fell to my sides as I waited for his answer. Despite trying to appear calm, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling nervous.

Damian’s eyes narrowed slightly at my question. For a few seconds, he said nothing.

Then he let out a long sigh, his expression changing as though he was trying to decide whether he should actually tell me what had been bothering him. "After all these days, do you consider me your friend, Athena?"

I blinked at that. That wasn’t the answer I had expected. " I... I..." The words caught in my throat. I didn’t know what to say.

Friend....That word suddenly felt heavier than it should have.

After everything that had happened with my previous friendship, I had become afraid of forming that kind of bond again. Romana had once been the person I trusted more than anyone. She had been my best friend, someone I believed would stand beside me no matter what happened.

And look where that trust had taken me. The memory alone made something inside my chest tighten.

It was as if my mind had quietly decided that friendship was something dangerous, something I could no longer afford to allow into my life. If I didn’t let anyone become close to me again, then perhaps I wouldn’t have to experience that kind of betrayal again.

But this was Damian; The man who had saved my life not just once, but again and again.

The man who had stayed beside me when even I wasn’t ready to fight for myself. He had helped me when I was at my weakest, listened to me when I couldn’t make sense of my own thoughts, and stood there while I fell apart without making me feel ashamed of it.

There was no way I could deny what he had become to me simply because I was afraid of the word friendship.

Perhaps I wasn’t ready to trust someone completely again. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t acknowledge what Damian already was to me.

"Yes!" I finally answered, finding the courage to say it. My voice was softer than I intended, but I didn’t take the words back. "We are friends, Damian."

His expression remained unreadable. I studied his face for a moment before my brows furrowed in confusion. "But what does us being friends have to do with you being upset with me?"

"There is a connection, Athena." His answer came immediately. The sourness in his voice had returned, replacing the warmth he had shown me only moments ago. His eyes had also turned colder, and that change made my nervousness return.

I swallowed. "What connection?" I asked involuntarily, my throat suddenly feeling dry.

Damian took a step toward me. "If you really consider me a friend, then you would not have kept what those girls said from me."

My eyes widened slightly. So this was what had been bothering him.

"You would have told me exactly what they dared to say," he continued, his face becoming more serious with every word. "And you would have demanded that I teach them a lesson for you if you didn’t do it yourself."

His gaze stayed fixed on mine. There was no trace of his earlier softness now. I shook my head. I had thought this topic had ended at the hospital.

"Damian," I said urgently, taking a small breath before continuing. "I didn’t teach those girls a lesson because I didn’t want to." I tried to make my voice sound firm, hoping he would understand that I had made that choice deliberately.

I didn’t want him fighting my battles. I had already promised myself that I would keep Damian away from my problems as much as possible. He had done enough for me already. He had risked his own peace for me, helped me when I had been helpless, and stayed beside me through things that weren’t even his responsibility.

I couldn’t keep allowing him to get dragged into everything that happened around me. If I didn’t draw these boundaries now, then when would I?

I took another deep breath. Then I turned around. My eyes fell upon the beautiful sunset stretching across the horizon behind me. The warm light spread over the endless field of wildflowers, and the sight gave me something to focus on while I tried to gather my thoughts.

"I consider that incident nothing more than a mere inconvenience," I said, my voice quieter now. "And in no way do I want that thing to become something bigger."

I paused, watching the gentle movement of the flowers in the breeze. "That is also what I want you to do. I don’t want you to get yourself so involved in my problems."

My fingers curled slightly at my sides. "You are the future of this pack, Damian, and I am just an outsider."

The last words were harder to say than I expected. I knew what I was telling him. But that was exactly why I needed to say it. "You should not involve yourself with me too much."

"Even after calling me your friend, you are telling me that I should stay away from your problems?" Damian’s voice came from behind me, and before I could even turn around properly, he moved around me and stepped directly into my line of sight.

I looked up at him. The last rays of the setting sun surrounded him like a golden blanket, casting a soft glow over his face and darkening the edges of his figure against the field behind him. The beauty of the sunset should have made the moment feel peaceful, but the cold look in his eyes ruined that illusion.

There was something almost challenging in his expression now. "Do you even know the meaning of friendship, Athena?" His voice wasn’t loud, but the hurt beneath it was impossible to miss. I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

Damian continued before I could answer. "Athena, if you truly consider me your friend, then I am very much qualified to care about the problems that affect your well-being."

His eyes softened for only a moment, but his expression remained serious. "You are going through a hard time right now, and I won’t let anyone add to that hurt while I am here."

Something inside me tightened at his words.

And somehow, that made me feel even more helpless because I didn’t know how to make him understand why I was trying to keep him away from this.

"But, Damian!" I protested, shaking my head. "Those girls did nothing. You are taking this too seriously. I promise you, it did not affect me!"

I tried to sound convincing. I needed him to believe me. I didn’t want him getting involved with something so insignificant when he already had so many responsibilities of his own.

"You don’t have to lie, Athena!" Damian’s reply came instantly. His tone sharpened, and his brows drew together as he looked at me. "Despite what you are saying, I know whatever those girls said affected you."

"Even if you won’t tell me what it was," he continued, his voice becoming calmer again, "I won’t force you to."

For a brief moment, I felt relieved. Maybe he was finally going to let this go. But then Damian stopped. The silence that followed made my already panicked mind even more restless.

He stared at me with an expression I couldn’t quite understand, "I am very much capable of finding out myself. And like you told me to stay away from your problems," he continued, his gaze becoming firm again, "you should also stay away from this thing."

He took a small breath before adding, "Because I promise you, once I find out those girls really hurt you, whatever I do will be just my problem and not yours to interfere with."

My eyes widened. He was serious. He was actually planning to find out what those girls had said himself. "Damian! You won’t do anything!" I shot back, my voice urgent.

I stepped slightly toward him, unable to hide the worry in my expression. I didn’t know what else I could say to stop him.

Damian simply tilted his head. The last light of the sun had almost disappeared from the sky now, leaving only a dim glow around us. Somehow, the fading light made his already serious expression look even fiercer.

"Didn’t you say those girls said nothing that would hurt you?" He raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you worried that I would do anything?"

My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

I looked at him, completely speechless. There was no answer I could give him without exposing the very thing I had been trying to hide.

If I told him I was worried because I knew the girls’ words had affected me, then he would know I had lied. If I continued insisting that they had done nothing, then I would only make his suspicion stronger.

I lowered my gaze for a moment, trying desperately to think of something to say. But my mind had gone completely blank.

Damian watched me for another few seconds. Then, just like that, the tension in his expression seemed to disappear. "It is getting late. Let’s go and grab your things so that we can reach home before dinner."

I looked up at him in surprise. He said it so casually that I almost wondered if I had imagined the entire conversation. Before I could say anything, Damian walked around me and headed toward his bike.

I remained standing where I was, staring at his back. He was really just leaving? After telling me that he was going to find out what those girls had said and that whatever he did afterward would be his problem, he was now behaving as if we had simply been discussing what to have for dinner.