Be My Valentine (Part 1/2)
Here's your chance to make it right
If you want romance
Baby I'll take you home tonight
I know exactly what you wanna hear
I'm gonna give it to you.
Jesse McCartney, Blow Your Mind
Saint Valentine's Day, the fourteenth day of the second month of the year. Back in the day, the everlasting memorial day of how women were wooed by grand gestures of gallantry, now a tsunami of cupids, hearts, roses, teddy bears and words of adoration meant to cover up men's usual despicable behavior. During twenty-four hours, all boyfriends and husbands magically turned into modern incarnations of Prince Charming before returning to their former state, which never strayed too far from the frog.
While most of her friends in school were swooning in advance over the gifts their significant other would probably just forget, Caroline found herself to be terribly annoyed with Valentine's Day being just around the corner. It was a given that her sentimental life fitting the description of chaos didn't help.
Sitting at the Grill with Elena and Bonnie in an attempt at having a normal life, Caroline felt that her friends, at least, understood. Elena's love life was even more of a mess than hers, what with the whole Salvatore love triangle going on. As for Bonnie, well, her break up from Jeremy was still fresh, and she couldn't be more disgusted with the lovey-dovey craze.
There was a slight shift in the air when Damon Salvatore came into view, clad in his usual black leather jacket, a smirk plastered over his face. Elena stopped talking for half a second before averting her gaze; things were still awkward between them after the "Ball incident". Bonnie ignored him, as she usually did, but Caroline politely nodded at him. For some reason, she felt for him. She wasn't the judgmental type, but if there was such a thing as right and wrong in the world, going from one brother to the other was certainly all sorts of wrong.
The conversation resumed when it was certitude that the blue-eyed vampire wouldn't come over and bother them. They were cursing every couple in the bar under their breaths and making bets on who would break up after Tuesday was a fiasco.
"Wow," Damon said worriedly as he joined them. "You guys are so bitter that I can see wrinkles forming on your foreheads."
"Hello to you, too, Damon," Caroline said, slightly amused at his reaction.
Elena excused herself and went to the bathroom. Damon pretended like he didn't see her and focused his attention on Bonnie.
"Don't you like Valentine's Day?" he asked, genuinely curious.
She shook her head and made a disgusted face. Caroline kicked his foot under the table, gently enough so that Bonnie wouldn't notice. His eyes shot up to her and he bit his lip when he realized that the Jeremy incident was very recent; the wound was probably still bleeding a little.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"What about you, Damon?" Bonnie said, eager to change the subject. "Do you like Valentine's Day?"
His face lit up and Bonnie's jaw dropped in incredulity.
"Valentine's Day is my favorite day of the year!" he said enthusiastically.
"Says the guy who's in love with his brother's girl," Caroline mumbled for herself.
She kinda forgot that Damon was a vampire.
That was then. The moment she should have kept her mouth shut, because those words were going to trigger a crazy situation. She felt it the moment he grabbed a chair from the nearest table and sat dangerously close to her. Elena came back in silence and threw a questioning glance at Bonnie, who shrugged.
Caroline caught Damon's eye for a second and was surprised to find no anger there. He was smiling pleasantly at her.
"My apologies, Vampire Barbie. I wasn't aware that "caught in a weird love triangle between two Hybrids" was a more acceptable relationship status," he quipped. "Who will you be celebrating with? The stupid jock who tried to kill you, or his Sire who's a threat to everything pure in this world?"
Elena gasped, wondering how the conversation had possibly led to this. Once again, Bonnie simply shrugged, visibly bored. The squabble between Damon and Caroline was old news, and they all knew it was safer to just stay out of it and wait for them to get tired, which usually happened fast enough.
"Neither," Caroline finally spat. "Not that it's any of your business, but I don't celebrate this sorry excuse for a holiday."
Damon raised an eyebrow at her. He had always pegged Caroline for a helpless romantic; her harsh tone surprised him.
"You have never celebrated Valentine's Day?" he asked. "Ever?"
"It's just another excuse for men to fool women into believing they're perfect while they're really not."
Elena and Bonnie approved, and Damon suddenly felt very lonely, trying to argue with three women about the legitimacy of the holiday that women – at least, most normal women – loved the most. But he wasn't easily impressionable, so he decided to have some fun.
"Well, excuse me, but I am perfect when I'm in a relationship."
While this was obviously addressed to Elena (who, once again, pretended not to hear), Caroline couldn't help but reply to this.
"Oh please," she snorted. "I've seen what kind of boyfriend you are, Damon. Your only area of expertise regarding Valentine's Day is Valentine's Day sex."
More often than not, Caroline Forbes found herself in awkward situations because she was virtually incapable of keeping her thoughts to herself.
"Ouch, you're offending me, Blondie," he said, bringing a hand to his heart. "I cannot decently let you ruin my reputation like this."
Judging by the look on Damon's face, she assessed that this was going to be another of these situations. It was clear that some sort of twisted idea was burgeoning in his head. He grinned like a Cheshire cat and she gulped. She hated it when he smiled like that.
"I was a terrible boyfriend to you, I know that. Let me make it up to you. Tuesday."
Elena almost chocked on her lemonade, causing Caroline to bit back a chuckle. Truth be told, she quite enjoyed being the center of Damon's attention in presence of Elena, even though she did not need any more attention from men in this town at the moment.
"I'm not following," she simply said, pretending to play dumb.
"Hold on a sec," he said.
He was gone and back before she had time to send a funny look to her friends. Her eyes widened when he quickly got down on one knee, holding a red rose in his left hand; his right hand was resting on her bare thigh. She involuntarily shivered at his touch; his hand was surprisingly warm.
Bonnie had to put her hand in front of her mouth to muffle her giggles, and Elena's eyebrows were meeting her hairline. Damon remained silent for a long minute, letting the moment build up. He had always had a talent for being dramatic. He took a deep breath and looked up to the blonde.
"Miss Caroline Forbes," he said in a deep, smooth voice. "Will you be my Valentine?"
The question mark was simply here for politeness; this was everything but an invitation – it was a challenge. She scrutinized him for a long while, expecting his mask of mock seriousness to shatter; in vain. His blue eyes were staring at her expectantly as a charming smile danced across his lips, and he held on to her thigh a little stronger. She heard Elena shift uncomfortably on her chair, and Bonnie huffing under her breath.
The pseudo-magic of the moment was broken and she rolled her eyes at herself for allowing him to take her aback.
"Seriously, Damon," she said, removing his hand from her thigh. "Be your Valentine? Just, how old are you exactly? Fourteen?"
Damon bravely took the offense and swiftly got to his feet, stubbornly avoiding looking at Elena. He folded his arms across his chest and paused, looking for the one argument that would make her reconsider. He had his mind set on this, for some reason. He was always up for a distraction, even more so when it involved a pretty woman. Caroline had caught his eye for a reason when he got back in town, and she had only grown more beautiful with time. A Valentine's date with her sounded like too much fun to give up on it.
"You know, the Wolf Boys would be so pissed," he said enticingly. "Can you imagine? In the midst of their stupid little feud, swoop, the vampire snatches the girl away on Valentine's Day. Would make a good movie."
She scowled at him, and Bonnie and Elena remained silent. So much for getting help from your besties when you're in a tough situation.
"Don't you have somewhere to be, Damon?" Caroline replied, trying her best not to admit that he was right; that would teach Tyler and Klaus a good lesson.
Damon decided to try another angle.
"You, Blondie, are a chicken," he declared mockingly. "Are you scared that I'll take your breath away and make you fall in love with me all over again?"
She looked up to him with such venom in her eyes that he couldn't help but take a step back, very much to her satisfaction. The fact that she once had feelings for him was beyond embarrassing, and it had become some sort of tacit agreement in the group to never mention it.
"I'm not that girl anymore, Damon," she said. "You would know. The old Caroline couldn't have kicked your ass the way I did when you bit my Dad."
A flash of anger passed across his face, once again, very much to her satisfaction. The power of words against Damon was something she had never really paid attention to, but this conversation was much more fun that she liked to admit.
"Touché, Blondie," he conceded. "But that's another matter entirely."
"I'm just making a point," she shrugged. "I'm not stupid enough to feel anything but indifference and annoyance for you, ever again."
The confidence behind this statement made him snort.
"You sound so sure."
"I am."
Amusement spread over his face.
"Okay, then. I'll make you a bet," he offered. "Spend the night with me on Tuesday and I will convince you that I know all about romanticism. If I fail, you can ask me absolutely anything you want. No restrictions. Anything. But if I make you feel the slightest emotion that isn't negative, you will do whatever I say."
He made his offer knowing that she wouldn't be able to resist it. He knew enough about Caroline to be certain that, just like him, she never backed out of a challenge; indeed, the eventuality of turning him into an obedient slave was enough to make her eyes shine with mischief.
"What if I decide that you should pick a fight with Klaus?" she said defiantly. "Will you do it?"
Gotcha, he thought. He raised his palms in sign of surrender.
"A deal's a deal, Blondie. Your wish will be my command, for 24 hours."
"You'd risk your life?" she said in disbelief. "Cocky, much?"
"I believe you know the answer to that."
Caroline stopped contemplating her plate of vegetables and glanced at Elena and Bonnie, trying to guess whether her friends thought she should agree to this nonsense. Bonnie seemed quite amused by this whole predicament, while Elena was pretending to be absorbed by her phone. Very well, then.
"I'm in," she finally said. "I'll, erm, be your Valentine."
Damon's grin returned and he clapped his hands in delight, obviously parodying the gesture that characterized her moments of satisfaction. He rose from his chair and leaned over her.
"I will – blow – your – mind," he whispered in her ear. "Be ready for it."
He lingered there for two seconds more than necessary, then waved friendly to Elena and Bonnie. Caroline shook her head in disbelief as he walked away, visibly very pleased with himself.
And this was how Damon Salvatore convinced Caroline Forbes to be his Valentine.
to be continued ...
A/N : Hello everyone ! I received so much Daroline love on "Those Three Words" that I wanted to write more about my OTP, and my friend GoTimberwolves involuntarily gave me the idea of a Valentine's Day One Shot. I promise you I am going to make this as epic as it gets ! Please leave reviews if you'd like to get Part 2, and I promise I'll try to publish it on Tuesday, as a proof of my love for you adorable readers !
- M. -