Everything Happens For A Reason (MikeXOMC!)

Chap. 9 Dreams And A Ring

"Why? So I can beat your ass like always?" Damian asked with a laugh. Mike joined in the laughter.

"I plan on beating you this time!"

"You say that every time and you have yet to actually succeed." Damian said as he hooked his xbox to the tv.

After a few minutes of playing, Damian noticed Mike's phone was buzzing like crazy. "Your phone is going crazy." He said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, it's just Emily." Mike cursed loudly as Damian's character killed his own.

"You should probably answer her man. She'll be pissed if you don't." Mike sighed, but nodded since he knew Damian was right. His phone buzzed again as Emily tried to call him. Damian got up and walked into the kitchen to let Mike talk to his girlfriend in private even though he could still hear him talking.

"Look I'm sorry Em...Can't we go shopping later I'm with Damian right now...Emily he's my friend...whatever...okay I'll be there soon.." Damian walked back into the living room to see Mike getting ready to leave. "Hey man. I have to go. I forgot that I promised Emily I would take her shopping today."

"It's cool. Have fun Mike." Damian sighed as he walked back into the kitchen. Mike stood there for a moment, debating if he should stay or not, but he eventually decided to just leave.

Damian searched the fridge to find what he was looking for. He finally grabbed a bottle of whiskey in the back where he stashed his alcohol. He grabbed it and opened it before chugging almost half of it. The burning sensation in his throat gave him comfort. All he wanted to do was drink until he couldn't remember anything.

Damian looked around the apartment and decided that it needed to be cleaned. He walked into his bedroom and opened his closet to find a hoodie to wear so he wouldn't get cold while cleaning. Ever since he got lost in the snow, the cold practically followed him everywhere. He hated it. He hated the cold and he hated snow.

He turned on the closet light and searched for his favorite hoodie. Damian avoided looking at the side of the closet that had Beth's things. He didn't dare to touch anything of hers and he wouldn't even look at any of her things. He spotted his favorite hoodie on the top shelf. It was practically buried under a lot of things. Damian wondered why his hoodie was there instead of being with his other clothes. He reached up and struggled to pull the hoodie out. A shoe box near the hoodie fell off the shelf when Damian finally got the hoodie free. He groaned when he realized all the items inside the box had fallen out and scattered everywhere. Inside the shoe box were a lot of pictures and letters of Beth and himself. The two took a lot of pictures together and they would always write cute letters to each other.

Damian picked up the pictures and letters up as quick as he could. Just as he picked up the last picture, he spotted a small black box that had fallen out of the shoe box. His heart dropped when he realized what it was. Memories started to flood his mind as he picked up the small box. He slowly sank down onto the floor until he was sitting. His eyes teared up as he stared down at the box in his hands. A small tear trailed down his face after he slowly opened the box.

~time skip to hours later~
Mike walked up the stairs feeling slightly exhausted. Emily decided to argue with him the entire time they were out together. Mike knew he needed to pay more attention to her, but he was worried about his best friend. Mike opened the door to Damian's apartment feeling relieved now that he can sit down and relax.

"Damian I'm back!" Mike walked into the living room, but didn't see Damian where he usually was. Mike then looked in the kitchen, but again, he didn't see Damian anywhere. The bathroom door was open so Mike knew Damian wasn't in there. He walked into the bedroom to find Damian sitting against the wall. Pictures and letters were scattered around him. Mike felt himself get angry when he saw the empty bottles of whiskey and beer around Damian as well.

"Damian...what are you doing?" Mike asked as he tried to stay calm. Damian jumped slightly when Mike spoke. He looked like he had been crying for hours and he looked like a mess.

"What does it look like?" He mumbled tiredly.

"Damian you promised that you would stop drinking." When Damian's mom told Mike that Damian drunk alcohol all the time, Mike made him promise that he would stop drinking.

"Yeah, well not all promises are kept." Damian mumbled as he shook the last bottle of beer to see if there was any more in it. Mike took the bottle away from him before sitting down beside Damian. It killed him to see his best friend like this. He felt guilty for everything. He blamed himself for ruining his friend's life. "You can't live like this forever Damian. I know it's only been a few months since she's been gone, but she wouldn't want you to live like this. Beth would want you to move on and live your life to the fullest. I'm not saying just forget everything that's happened between you two. You just need to focus on all the happy moments you had with her. Just think about those moments and be glad you actually had those times with her. She would want you to be happy."

Damian sat there quietly. He knew Mike was right, but the guilt still bothered him. He slowly picked up the small black box that was sitting beside him. He stared at it for a moment before handing it to Mike. Mike looked at it with slight shock and sadness. "Open it."

Mike already knew what was going to be inside, but he opened it anyways. Inside of the box is a small silver ring with four diamonds on the top. Inside the words 'I'll always love you' were engraved into it. Mike sat there in shock. He never would have expected this. Mike knew that Damian loved Beth very much, but he didn't know that he would buy her an engagement ring.

"I didn't plan on buying it...I didn't plan on proposing to her until we were out of college...I just...I saw it one day and I couldn't help but think 'that ring would be perfect for Beth.' I didn't buy it then. I ended up buying it the second time I saw it. I used a lot of my college fund for it. I knew I could just get the money back no problem, so I bought it and hid it from her. Everyday I would just imagine her wearing that ring...I would think about the day we would get married...the day we would have our own family...I loved her...I still do. She's my life. She made me complete and now that she's gone...I...I just feel empty...broken...and guilty. I have nightmares of them just blaming me for not saving them. They make me feel insane sometimes.." Damian let out a small chuckle as tears streamed down his face. Even Mike had a few tears escaping his own eyes. His best friend was broken and he didn't know how to help him. "I don't know what I did wrong..I..damn it!" More tears flowed down as sobs escaped his body. Mike pulled Damian into a tight hug.

"Don't worry Damian. I'll help you. I'm going to help you get through this. I should have been there for you sooner. I'm so sorry." Damian wrapped his arms around Mike tightly like he was afraid he would disappear and never come back.

"Promise me that you won't leave me too. I couldn't take it if you left me too." Damian sobbed. Mike's heart practically broke into a million pieces at the sound of Damian. He sounded so lost and scared. Mike began to worry even more for his friend. Never in his life would he have thought he would see his best friend breaking right in front of him.

"I promise. I'll never leave you Damian."