My phone began to ring but it was out of reach and I stood on one leg in the doorway trying to calm my nerves so I could figure out how to clean this up. Who would be phoning me now? There was a moment when I considered that maybe it was Joey but quickly discarded that idea. After he left I doubt he would ever want to speak to me again.

The bathroom tiled floor was littered with glass and the remnants of the cream it had held. Nothing to stem the flow of bleeding from my foot was within reach.

There could still be a piece of glass in my foot so I was hesitant to put any pressure on it.

Damn it. I really had made of mess of things just when I had felt hope that I would be able to figure everything out. I leaned against the wall.

My heart was still racing and I was still trying to pull myself together when I heard something from inside my bedroom. It sounded like it was coming from my bedroom window.

Dread filled me. I didn’t have enough courage to look for fear it would be Parker again or worse. Another ghost.

“Tessa.”

For the first time ever I was relieved to hear Damien’s panicked voice. It wasn’t Parker, which meant Damien was in my bedroom.

“What the hell?” he exclaimed I turned awkwardly to face him. His gaze swept over me and then saw my foot. “You’re bleeding.”

I yelped in surprise when he lifted me into his arms and he carried me over to my bed. He set me down gently while my mind was still reeling.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, feeling like this had to be dream but I knew different because of the pain throbbing in my foot.

He stood and disappeared back into the bathroom. He bent down in front of me and reached for my foot to dab the blood gently.

“What happened?” His eyes connect with mine which caused a flutter in my stomach. I hated how he made me feel. I didn’t want to feel anything around him.

“Why are you here Damien?” I asked, trying to deflect. I didn’t want to tell anyone what had happened. Any normal person would think I was nuts.

“I heard you scream.” He frowned as he studied the sole of my foot. “I think there is still a piece of glass in your foot.”

“There are tweezers in the drawer.” I pointed to the side table by my bed.

He walked over and rummaged through it until he found the tweezers. It didn’t take him long to pull the tiny piece of glass from my foot. But I had been super aware of every touch, every slight frown on his face as he had tried to pinpoint the glass.

“I think I got it,” he murmured. He brushed the skin of my foot and I felt it tingle through me. “But I think you’re going to need a plaster and some help cleaning up the glass in your bathroom.”

“I can do it,” I assured him, wanting him out of my room. I didn’t like how he was making me feel and I didn’t want him to see it.

It was bad enough he witnessed the fight between Joey and I. Wasn’t that enough for one day?

I was also afraid of how my grandmother would react if she walked in and saw him in my room despite his intention only to help. But it was more than that. He was in my bedroom and after the kiss we had shared it made me feel a nervous.

The truth was he made me very aware that I was a girl and he was a boy. I shouldn’t be looking at him that way, I just didn’t seem to be able to help myself. I disliked him but that didn’t seem to bother my hormones.

“You’ve hurt your foot and I don’t want you standing on anymore glass.”

I didn’t want to argue so I gave in. I stood, ensuring I kept my weight off my injured foot. “Everything we need is downstairs.”

He put his arm around me and lifted me into his arms.

“I can walk,” I assured him, trying to wiggle free.

“No you can’t,” he said, walking toward the door and opening it with his hand that was supporting my legs.

“We have to be quiet so we don’t wake my grandmother.”

He nodded before he carried me downstairs to the kitchen and set me down gently.

“Where are the plasters?” He asked.

I pointed the cupboard. He walked over to where I had pointed and opened the cupboard. It didn’t take him long to find the plasters and he cleaned my foot with antiseptic before sealing a plaster over it.

“There’s a hand held vacuum in the cupboard beside the fridge.”

As he went to fetch it I was already making my carefully back to the stairs, not wanting him to carry me again. Being close to him assaulted my senses and I feared making another mistake. Like kissing him or worse.

“You could have waited for me,” he argued as he lifted me effortlessly off the bottom step of the stairs like I weighed nothing. I held my arms around his neck to feel secure which only made it worse because he smelled so good.

I didn’t have time to argue back as he took the steps and we were back in my bedroom. He helped me sit on the bed and then he disappeared into the my bathroom.

The vacuum buzzed and I heard the glass he threw into the trashcan.

A few minutes later he returned with the vacuum in his hand. “I think I got everything.”

I nodded, feeling awkward.

“I should put this away…”

“No it’s fine. You can just leave it there.”

He nodded and bent down to place it on the floor beside the bathroom door.

I just wanted him to leave. It had been ran emotional and frightening night. I still hadn’t had a chance to process it fully. Not that I wanted to think about the fact that I was losing my mind.

“You screamed...” He murmured, not taking his eyes off me. It was like when he looked at me he could see deeper, more than I wanted anyone to see.

I swallowed. There was no way I was going to tell him the truth.

“Um…it was a spider…a big one.” I hoped he would buy the lie.

“A spider?” He didn’t look like he believed me.

I nodded. “Yeah. I knocked off the glass container and stepped on the glass. I was clumsy.”

That was my story and I was sticking to it.

He studied me for a few moments, almost like he was trying to figure out if I was lying or not but I was pretty sure he knew I was making it up.

“I tried to call you to check on you and when you didn’t answer I was worried. It’s why I came through your window.”

The guy who had just a little while ago that night had declared he hated me had climbed through my bedroom window to check on me. It was confusing.

“Thank you for your help,” I whispered, wanting him to leave so I had time to process what happened.

Having him around was didn’t help when all I could think about was kissing him again. After everything that happened, it was the last thing I needed or should even want.

“I should go,” he said.

I nodded. “Yeah.” I felt breathless.

He seemed to have that affect on me. I could not think straight when he was around.

He walked over to the window and stopped to look over his shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

I nodded finding it hard to find the words when his eyes met mine. Then I watched as he climbed out the window and disappeared into the night.

I put my hand to my forehead, feeling overwhelmed. Having been in such close proximity to Damien had messed with me in such way I could not deny I felt something. Something I didn’t want to face.

And then there was Parker, my friend who had died of a aneurysm.

I closed my eyes momentarily and all I could hear was him saying my name. Whispering across my skin. It had felt so real. So real it had scared me.

Then it unraveled and I sniffled as the tears gathered. A sob tore from me and I began to cry as my body shook with emotion.

I was going crazy and I didn’t know what I was going to do.