closed started for @nadiahqs
it almost doesn’t surprise damon to find out he’s been placed in a tent with nadia. he doesn’t believe in god, doesn’t believe in fate, doesn’t even believe in karma, but he does believe the universe is full of random chaos, and that nine times out of ten, if something unfavorable can happen, it probably will. murphy’s law, he’s heard it referred to as, but he hates the idea of giving it a name. the point, of course, is that he is stuck with nadia in this tent for the next week and if there’s ever been a better time to get this whole thing over with and talk to her already, he can’t remember it. he despises this process of metaphorically clearing the air, and maybe if it had been most other people, damon wouldn’t have bothered. but not so long ago he really had been harboring some kind of feelings for nadia ( before his mother and her parents had begun conspiring to get them hitched and unknowingly done the one thing they could have done to butcher those feelings ) and if nothing else, he respects her too much to treat her the way he treats most other people. so before retiring to the tent at the end of the first day–which has felt like several days–he pulls her aside and guides them to the outskirts of the clearing where everyone is set up, safe from prying eyes and ears under the cover of trees. “it’s about time we spoke, isn’t it?” he says in a low voice, leaning back against a large pine’s trunk and sticking his hands in the pockets of his chinos ( which he’s decided to wear camping ). “i half suspect my mother had something to do with our sleeping arrangements.”
nadia was never one to feel anger at anyone besides herself, so upon hearing the news of her sleeping arrangements, she’d tried her best to keep an open mind. it couldn’t be that bad, right? damon and her were once really close, she even considered him to be one of her closest friends for awhile. of course, they’d obviously drifted apart in recent years, and the fact that her parents were pushing them to be together? not helping. as much as she resented it, her parents still had a lot of control over her life. one wrong move and the next episode of their family reality show would be focused on how much of a disgrace she was to the family name, effectively ruining the public image she’d worked so hard to obtain. and sure, she wasn’t directly opposed to the idea. at one time, she’d felt something (she could never seem to put it into words) for damon, but did that mean she wanted him to get stuck in her family drama? absolutely not. she’s spent the last 4 years of her life desperately trying to remove herself from the show completely with no luck so she knew no deserved to be in that situation, especially not damon. damon was too good. maybe it was hard for some people to see, but nadia did. she always chooses to see the good in everyone, but especially damon. but then again, she had no idea how he felt about all of this. they hadn’t spoken properly in so long, and it didn’t help that nadia was scared out of her mind. she couldn’t lose him. her heart rate increases and her hands start to shake as he pulls her aside, but she plasters on a tight lip smile and continues moving. ‘yeah,’ she breathed out, ‘i suppose so,’ she spoke quietly. she ran a finger through her hair in an attempt to stop the shaking, ‘i’m sure my parents paid who ever is in charge of this thing too,’ she let out a soft laugh, looking up to meet his eyes. ‘but i won’t blame you if you want to switch, i get it.’
