Merry Christmas Darling
Chapter 1- Forget December
On Christmas morning, outside was pouring All was hopeless in this home And no one's speaking, no one creeping to see if she was on the phone And you were quiet, this routine riot was all but practical to mean if we see it, why can't we beat it can we let each other be? Forget December, it won't be better Than I remember it beforehand this month only, will be so lonely and not so holy anymore
- Forget December by Something Corporate
Elena Gilbert groaned as she collapsed back against the couch in the Salvatore living room, her eyes drifting to the fire that was crackling cheerfully in the fireplace. She hated it. This was usually her favorite time of year but ever since Stefan had taken off with Klaus she wasn't quite sure what to do anymore and the holiday cheer that everyone was feeling when she wanted to scream wasn't helping her any. Swearing softly she looked over towards the windows, hating the show that was gently falling outside, the Christmas tree that had been put up at Caroline's insistence and the overall feeling of holiday cheer that was settling over the town- she didn't want to be happy; she just wanted to be allowed to mope and continue looking for Stefan (despite him telling her not too).
Over all she was just in a foul mood and the dark haired man that walked into the room whistling jingle bells under his breath wasn't helping any.
"Come on Mopey, time to get moving." He quipped, sitting down on the couch and swatting her thigh. Elena swore at him, narrowing her eyes into a glare- Damon had been trying to get her out of the house and to do god knows what since the day after Stefan had left and it was starting to grate on her last nerve- she didn't want to be happy or anything remotely like that, she just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts and her guilt. Hell she would settle for being left alone in general but Damon was having none of that, as usual, "Come on, the town Christmas party starts in an hour, time to go get ready." Elena rolled her eyes at him, figuring silence was her best weapon and looked pointedly down at her PJ clad form- she really had no intention of going anywhere and sooner or later he was going to get that through that think skull of his. "Barbie and Judgy are worried about you, you really need to get out of the house." If she had heard it once she had heard it a million times and she did as she had done every other time, she shrugged turning to glance once more out the window. She scowled slightly as she remembered that the snow really wasn't helping her mood any, her hand tugging the blanket off of the back of the couch to wrap about her body, it felt like no matter what she did anymore she couldn't get warm. Letting out a slow breath she drug her legs up to her chest, resting her head on the knees, choosing instead of focus on the fireplace. "Come on Elena, you know that Stefan wouldn't want you to be acting like this- you're practically a hermit." She continued to ignore him, knowing that sooner or later he would get fed up and walk away from her, it happened every time without fail, she just had to wait it out long enough. She wondered, as she found herself wondering a lot, why he bothered- why he didn't leave her alone to be miserable, it wasn't like she wasn't asking for it. Damon sighed and finally gave up pestering her, leaning back to lean against the couch as well, his eyes focusing on the lights on the tree.
He was starting to lose hope that there would be any pulling Elena back from the edge of her depression, not that it seemed like she really wanted to be pulled back. Gone was the happy-go-lucky girl that he knew, that he loved and in her place was a shell- and it was all his fault. If not for Tyler's bite, Stefan would have never been indebted to Klaus and as much as it killed Damon to see the two of them together, Elena would be happy. Letting out a slow breath he turned his head to the side to look at her, wishing that there was some way that he could fix thing, wishing that he could trade places with his brother- give Elena the happiness that she deserved, but life was never fair and what had been done was done, there was no changing it. Caroline and even Bonnie had tried to pull her out of her funk and it seemed like no matter what anybody did she just didn't want to snap out of it. Damon swore and pushed his fingers back through his hair before standing up and walking over to the window and tugging the curtains shut over the cheery wintery scene outside. He paused a moment, debating going to get a drink but instead slinked back over to the couch and sat down next to her, choosing instead to focus on the lights on the tree.
"Why are you even here Damon?" She finally questioned, not even bothering to look his direction. Damon paused, only briefly before he answered, wishing that he had gone for that drink that he wanted before he had to have this conversation, but since he was unwilling to leave her alone, not even for a moment it wasn't an option.
"Because I love you." He admitted, keeping his eyes firmly on the tree, "And while it really fucking sucked to see you with Stefan, I would rather have him here and you happy with me suffering then to have things the way that they are now. And since this is all my fault anyways I will be here every day doing what I can so that when Stefan comes home you're still here for him." He snorted softly and raked his fingers back through his hair, his tongue darting out to lick an overly dry bottom lip, "I may be a selfish man Elena, but even I have to draw the line at some point. It's because you are the woman that I love that I will do anything and everything that I can to fix this." Elena was quiet for a moment before she was jumping to her feet and whirling around to face him.
"Bullshit!" She finally snarled with more emotion then Damon had seen from her in the weeks since Stefan had left. "Every single one of you have been walking around on eggshells since he left. Sure you all act like you're doing everything you can to make me 'happy' again but it's all bullshit! You all want me to forget him, to let him go and it's not going to happen." Chucking the blanket that she had wrapped around her body at him she shook her head, "I am going to find him no matter what any of you say and if it's the last thing that I do because that's what you do when you love someone, you never give up on them and you do anything for them." And then she was turning sharply on her heel and storming out of the living room, the sound of a bedroom door slamming not a few minutes later. Damon flinched as the door slammed, he didn't want to fight with her that was the last thing that he wanted. Glancing at the fireplace he let out a slow breath and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, steeling his fingers. She was right and he knew she was right, you do anything for the person that you love- and that was why he knew that if it was the last thing that he did he was going to find Stefan for her.