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Atie and Damon weren't what wewe could call a conventional couple. When they'd met, they hadn't even gotten along at first. It had been all Damon's fault though. He had the tendency to be quite an asshole from time to time, and Atie wouldn't let him treat her au anyone she cared about like crap.
But then one siku something just changed in him. He looked at her and instead of some girl he saw a beautiful young woman who he had deep feelings for. It had just taken him a very long time to realize it. And that same siku Damon made the first gesture of change. He asked Atie out to dinner, and after a long consideration, she alisema yes. They ended up eating pizza, because apparently Stefan had borrowed Damon's wallet at the last dakika to take Celine out, and Atie had ended up paying for dinner. But it turned out to be nice. They ended up in a park, sitting in the swings for a few dakika and just talking. Until it was time for Atie to go home. At the end of the night Damon leaned a bit closer as he was saying goodnight to her on her doorstep. Atie knew he was going to kiss her, but she pulled away a little. She wasn't ready. She didn't want to be just another girl to him. "Another time", she promised before heading inside, closing the door after her.
This only made Damon want Atie more. Ever since that moment he didn't even look at another girl, let alone touch one. He took her out on another date, and then a third one. And then finally they kissed. It was a simple date, a chajio, chakula cha jioni and a movie. In the middle of the dinner, as Damon was talking about something annoying Stefan had done that morning, Atie leaned forwards and kissed him, silencing him for the first time in his life. And that was when he knew she was different from everyone else. Because however many girls he'd kissed in his life, none had ever made him feel quite like this.
But somehow still it took Atie several months to completely let Damon in. She didn't trust him because of his past, and she didn't trust him because most of her Marafiki told her not to. They didn't want her to get hurt. And at one point she did get hurt very badly. They had been dating pretty casually for a few months when Atie, while shopping with Albie, saw Damon out with another girl. She had no idea who this girl was, but she saw the smiles Damon gave her. And that was enough. She stopped answering his calls and started avoiding him.
That's why it took her so long to find out the truth: The girl turned out to be his cousin, who was in town to visit the Salvatore family. This was confirmed kwa Stefan, who was actually the one to tell her, and as a result Atie ended up walking all the way to Damon's apartment in pouring rain to apologize for not trusting him. And yes, they ended up kissing passionately in the rain.
As the weeks passed, the two became closer every day. And one siku they even dared to have a conversation about the nature of their relationship. They were in Atie's apartment, sitting on the couch, watching TV:
"So.... since Stefan and Celine are getting married, will wewe be my tarehe to the wedding?" Damon asked.
Atie raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You're actually asking me? Does this make us official?"
"I don't know...", Damon paused. "I... do wewe want us to be?"
Atie shook her head. "It's not for you. Committing, dating, it's not what wewe want. I don't want wewe to try to be something you're not."
Damon looked at her curiously. "Shouldn't I be the one to decide what I want?"
Atie looked at him in surprise. "Damon, I..."
"I care about wewe zaidi than wewe probably realize", Damon said. "I don't know many good people in my life. But wewe are one of them. The best one."
Atie couldn't help but to smile at this. "The best one?"
"Yes", Damon looked away in embarrassment. "You know what I mean."
Atie took his hand in hers and smiled. "Yes, I do."
"So.... are we... exclusive?" Damon asked after a moment of silence.
Atie laughed a little. She wanted them to be, she truly did. But the tortured, anxious look on Damon's face made her want to tease him a little bit more. She leaned forwards and captured his mouth in a kiss.
"We'll see", she alisema before pulling away after a moment, turning back to the TV. And no, she didn't fail to notice how Damon did nothing but stare at her for the entire night. He was sure he was never going to get tired of this girl. And one siku she would know he felt this way, too. He'd make sure of that.
Your man who loves you <333
