Chapter 272: One Year of Emotional Damage

I blinked. "What kind of idea?"

He leaned back slightly, "One year."

I frowned. "What?"

"Give me a year."

My heart started racing. "Damien..."

"We separate for a year."

That word hit me harder than I expected.

Separate.

I felt my chest tighten and Damien continued, his voice steady even if his eyes weren’t.

"By then, my father will have retired like he planned for. The succession will be finalized, I’ll own everything for good once we graduate. There’ll be no more arguments about my position or any way for them to use it against me."

I stared at him, trying to process. "And then?"

"Then I come back to you."

My throat constricted. "You make that shit sound so easy."

"It won’t be." he said, honestly.

"No, I mean..." I swallowed hard. "How do you know you’ll come back?"

Damien looked almost offended.

"Because there’s nowhere else I want to be." His expression softened. "You asked how I know."

"Yes."

"I know because I’ve already had everything I was told I should want."

He glanced around the apartment.

"The money, the name, the future my family laid out for me. None of it meant anything until you came into my life."

My eyes watered again. "Damien..."

"I don’t need you to save me," he continued. "And I don’t need to save you. What I need is time to secure my position so no one can take it from me again."

He stood, crossing the small space between us until he was right in front of me. "I need one year."

I just stared at him. "But...what if..

What if, it doesn’t work?"

"It will."

"What if your father doesn’t retire that soon?"

"He will."

"What if something changes?"

"Then I’ll deal with it."

"What if you meet someone else and forget about me?"

Damien looked genuinely shocked. "Oliver."

"What?"

"Seriously?"

"I’m just asking!"

"You think I’m going to meet someone else?"

"I don’t know! A year is a long time. People change. Things be happening okay?"

"Sunshine." His hands slid around my waist. "You’re the most ridiculous person I’ve ever loved."

I sniffed. "Thanks. But you’re dodging the question."

"No, I’m answering it. There is no one else." His fingers tightened against my sides. "There will never be anyone else. It’s always you, it’s only ever been you."

My heart ached. "Then why does this still feel like a fuckass breakup?"

"Because it is." I stared at him and he sighed softly. "Temporarily that is."

"That doesn’t make it better."

"I never said it would."

I laughed through another tear, then his arms enveloped me. Instead of standing, he pulled me with him back onto the couch and sat down until I was between his knees.

His arms wrapped around my waist, and he rested his cheek against my stomach, then he looked up at me.

"Will you wait for me, Oliver?"

My breath hitched as the question was so gentle it almost broke me. I reached down, threading my fingers through his soft, dark hair.

"Of course I will." I said with no hesitation.

His eyes closed for a moment and I felt tears slip down my cheeks again.

"I’ll w...wait for you."

His arms tightened around me. "Don’t cry, baby."

That only made me cry harder.

"I’m fucking trying." I sniffed, wiping my face. "Fucking hell..."

Slowly, he stood, still holding me close, until we were face to face again, his hands found my cheeks.

He wiped away my tears with his thumbs, one after another, with such tenderness it made my chest ache.

"Don’t cry," he whispered again.

"You’re asking for the impossible."

"I’ll make it up to you."

"How?"

"When I come back."

I let out a weak laugh. "You better."

"I will."

I gripped the front of his shirt. "Promise me."

His eyes held mine as I said. "Promise me you’ll come back for me."

He didn’t hesitate. "I will come back for you."

My lips quivered. "Promise me, Damien."

"I promise."

"You can’t change your mind. You can’t decide you’re better off without me and you sure as hell can’t fall in love with someone else."

His forehead rested against mine. "I won’t."

I closed my eyes. "Because I’ll be waiting."

He kissed my forehead, then my cheek, then the corner of my eye where another tear had escaped.

His lips brushed gently over my skin until he reached the other side of my face.

I breathed shakily. "I love you."

His arms tightened around me. "I love you more than anything."

I buried my face against his neck, inhaling his familiar warm scent, clinging to him like I was trying to memorize every part of him before the distance came between us.

His hand glided slowly up my back.

Neither of us spoke.

Words had run their course.

We had said everything that mattered.

I loved him.

He loved me.

But we were going to have to separate.

And somehow, those three truths could all coexist in the same space without canceling each other out.

Damien kissed my hair and I tightened my arms around him.

For the first time since Dianne planted that awful thought in my mind, I no longer felt like I was abandoning him.

I still felt like my heart was being ripped out.

I still dreaded waking up without him, going to bed without him, and getting through mundane days without hearing his voice somewhere close by.

But maybe this wasn’t the end.

Maybe this was just us taking a step back so that, eventually, we could move forward without anyone having the power to pull us apart again.

I lifted my head. "Damien?"

"Yes?"

"When you come back..."

He looked at me.

"You better make it dramatic."

His eyebrow arched. "Dramatic?"

"Yes. I don’t want some casual, ’Hey, I’m back.’ I’m expecting a full-on entrance."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

"Maybe flowers."

"Flowers?"

"Lots of them."

He nodded seriously. "And?"

"A speech."

"What kind of speech?"

I thought for a moment. "Something romantic. Maybe about how you crossed oceans, overcame evil, and survived without me."

His mouth curved into a smile. "I’ll work on it, Sunshine."

"And then you have to kiss me."

"I think I can manage that."

"Good."

His forehead rested against mine once more. "And then?"

I smiled sadly. "Then you can take me home."

His eyes softened.

"Sweetheart, you’re already home."

My smile broke.

I pulled him into another hug before I could start crying again.

He held me just as tightly.

The apartment around us felt silent, almost unnaturally so, as if even the walls recognized something significant had changed.

We stayed like that for a long time, wrapped in each other, both pretending that if we didn’t let go, the year couldn’t start.

One year, it seemed so straightforward when he said it and standing there in his arms, it already felt like an eternity.

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*peeks from hiding spot (behind a couch)*

so hiiii, how we all doing?

so sorry babes, but it had to be done😔

I’m gonna need you guys to bear with me and trust the process, these two lil fuckers will be happy again...I promise.

oh and a little announcement, we’re finally almost done with this volume 🎉😎

but that means the next will be the last one. then this Roommates With Benefits will be completed!!!

thank you all once again for your support and encouragement! couldn’t have made it this far without every one of you guys!!!

ok bye bye!