a/n: I've been posting a lot of Christmas fics, but they've all been for the exchange and I looked back to my list and realized there were a few personal requests I'd yet to fill. I got three different requests and I decided that it was best to write them together. Kinda a two birds, one stone thing. Hope you don't mind everyone…the faster I write the more stories I get! Happy reading!
Dedicated to onerepublicgirl (for thinking Damon should Elena out on a few things), princessrae91285 (for imagining the fashion show) and Whitney3Tears (for simply needing more Christmas)
Elena sighed and shoved the Victoria's Secret bag deep in the back of her closet. She'd just spent the last five hours at the mall with a Christmas crazy Caroline who had roped her into going into nearly every store, including the lingerie ones. She'd even convinced Elena, thanks to puppy dogs eyes and the threat of compulsion, that she had to purchase several cute and sexy Christmas sets. "I'll never have any chance to wear them." Elena had protested, but Caroline had only shoved the red silk and white fur items into her arms and pushed her towards the sales counter. Careful to hide the bags under an old hoodie and a set of sweats she stood and closed the doors.
"So, whad'ya buy me?" Damon's voice shocked her and she nearly jumped, turning around to glare at him.
"I've told you to stop doing that." She brushed past him, the scent of his cologne already doing her in. She had to put some distance between them.
"Doing what?" he watched her walk to the bed where the other bags she'd brought home sat. He was suddenly very curious as to why she'd only hidden the one. Perhaps that was his present after all. "I just came to say hi and wish you a Merry Christmas Eve."
"Normally, people wish others a Merry Christmas, not Christmas Eve. You couldn't have waited until tomorrow to appear in my bedroom unannounced?"
Damon shook his head and flopped down on her bed, poking his head into a shopping bag that held an expensive perfume. Elena snatched it from him with a sigh and set it out of his reach. He couldn't have waited till tomorrow, he couldn't have waited one more damn minute to see her. Now that Stefan was gone playing tug of war with Klaus, he had Elena all to himself…but not in the way he wanted to. She wasn't exactly pining from his baby brother anymore, but she hadn't thrown herself at his feet and begged him to ravish her either. He glanced back to the closet, desperate to see what she'd hidden in there.
"So, what are you doing tonight?" the line was lame, and he knew it but her perfume hung in the air and that made it hard to think.
She glanced at him, noticing the falter in his voice and found him looking at her intently. "Putting the Christmas tree up." She sighed and pushed a few bags back so she could sit. "Normally the tree goes up weeks ago, but with my parents gone Jeremy and I find it harder and harder to get into the Christmas spirit. They say it gets easier, but we're not quite there yet."
Damon hadn't had his parents around for Christmas in nearly 146 years, but he didn't want to lie to her. It never really got easier to forget, you never stopped wishing loved ones could come back…you could only cry a little and then go on with your day. "I can stay and help you put it up."
Elena looked up at him, cursing the tears that threatened to fall. She didn't want to be weak, especially not in front of Damon. "That would actually be nice. Jeremy has to work tonight and I still have a few dozen cookies to make for the Boxing Day exchange at the Lockwoods on Monday."
He nodded, a small smile on his lips. He noticed her eyes dart to his mouth and wondered what her fascination with his lips were. She looked at them a lot, probably more than she realized. If she wanted to kiss him so bad then why didn't she just freaking do it. He'd promised himself the next time she did it, he would call her out on it, but with tears in her eyes and her nose slightly red from refusing to cry, he couldn't bring himself to be an ass quite yet. Instead he reached for her hand and pulled her up from the bed. "Show me where this tree is."
An hour later the smell of chocolate chip cookies wafted through the house and Elena closed the oven. As she reached over to set the timer, her mind on singing the lyrics to "White Christmas", she bumped into the gingerbread batter and managed to spill it down the front of her jeans. "Shit." She cursed and bent to pick up the mixing bowl. Thankfully it hadn't shattered.
Damon was in the room a moment later, a glittering red ball in one hand as he looked her over quickly. She didn't appear hurt just slightly embarrassed and frustrated. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." She sighed and set the now empty bowl in the sink. "I've gotta go change."
He held up his hand and gave her the ornament. "I can get upstairs, grab you clothes and be back here quicker than you could even change. Go find a spot for this and I'll be right back."
She didn't have a chance to protest before a faint gust of wind ruffled her hair and he was gone. Glaring at her ruined jeans she went into the living room, all her breathing leaving her body when she saw the tree. It was fake, but glorious standing by the window. He must have used his vampire speed because it was entirely decorated, right down to the tinsel hanging in perfect harmony. She looked at the ornament in her hand and smiled. He'd done this for her, even hung the stockings on the mantel. The room looked beautiful and glowed from the blinking Christmas lights.
The tears that had threatened to fall earlier returned, but they were a bit happier this time as she set the red ball on a branch. Upstairs, Damon had let his curiosity get the better of him. After digging through her drawers for a pair of jeans he opened her closet and grabbed a red sweater, his eyes spotting the corner of a pink striped bag. He looked at the bedroom door and listened carefully, hearing the faint beating of Elena's heart downstairs. If he moved fast she wouldn't find it suspicious he was gone for too long. Crouching down, he reached past a line of shoes and carefully pushed aside the old clothes she'd covered the bag with. He glanced at the store name and smirked…if his present was in there, he would have a marvelous time unwrapping.
He tentatively reached one hand inside and met red silk with his fingers. When he pulled the item out, he found himself holding a short red, transparent babydoll with diamond sequins over the cups and a silk bow tied under them. He ran his hands over the material for a minute, picture Elena in it before she called his name downstairs and startled him. "I'm coming!" he called back and hastily shoved the garment back into the bag, covering it again.
With her new outfit in hand, he came downstairs, finding her in the living room before the tree, smiling at him. He'd never seen anything more beautiful in his life than a smiling Elena, and the fact that she was smiling at him made his heart sore. Then he noticed the tears in her eyes and was at her side in a second, the replacement clothes forgotten for a moment over the arm of the couch. He cupped her face in his hands, their bodies a barely brushing. She looked up at him, her eyes glassy with tears. "Thank you."
"For what?" he caressed her cheeks with his thumbs, trying to understand how she could sound happy and be crying at the same time.
"The tree, it looks perfect. All of it looks perfect."
He smiled, and noticed her eyes go to his lips again. She stepped forward slightly, her slim fingers wrapping around his wrists and pulling his hands down to her neck. She didn't look away from his mouth, and he bent down slightly, feeling the air between them thicken. Ding! The timer went off in the kitchen and she jumped back. "What's that?"
"Cookies." She answered, her hand brushing across his chest as she walked around him, grabbing her new clothes on the way to the kitchen.
He could have growled in frustration. One more damn minute, that's all he would have needed. Instead of throwing the snow globe against the wall, he picked it up and placed it on the mantel between her and Jeremy's stockings. He let his mind drift back to what he'd found upstairs and wondered just what else she had in that bag. It looked too large to only have that one tiny scrap in it. As he imagined her half naked, she came back into the room, noticing him staring at the snow globe. She'd changed in the kitchen and tossed her other clothes into washing machine before coming back. The blinking lights dance across his back, wonderful patterns playing with the black v-neck sweater he was wearing.
When he turned around to look at her, her breath left her once more. "Elena, I have something to ask you."
Her heart sped up a little as they stepped towards each other, his hand slipping into his back pocket. She tried to see what he was holding, but he kept it out of sight. "What do you want to ask me?"
"Am I allowed to give you your Christmas present now, or do I have to wait until tomorrow?"
She bit her bottom lip, the excitement of a gift getting the better of her. She realized then, that she hadn't got him anything, not because she'd forgotten but because what did you get a hundred year old vampire that could buy anything he wanted. Another black tshirt? She shifted slightly uncomfortably in front of him before she remembered the bag full of lingerie upstairs. Damn you Caroline. She thought and gritted her teeth. "Tonight is alright, but you have to wait for yours until tomorrow."
"That's not fair." He shook his head, but stepped closer to her. She smelled like sunshine, like flowers thanks to her perfume, yet at the same time completely edible thanks to the cookies.
"You're is a little, intense." She found her eyes pulled back to his mouth, watching it move as she spoke. "I need a bit more time to prepare it."
He watched her expression, deciding that perhaps the wait would be worth it after all. "Alright, turn around."
She complied without thinking, not realizing how much she really trusted him until that moment. He could as easily kiss her as kill her, and yet any guards she'd reserved for keeping up when vampires were around didn't exist when she was with him. He ran his fingers through her hair once before brushing it all to one side and handing her the box. She looked down at the small wrapped package and back at him over her shoulder. "Open it?" she asked and he nodded.
She quickly shed the paper from the black velvet box, both of the realizing she was holding her breath as she opened it. Inside was a gold chain, and hanging from it were two separate drop chains, one held a emerald and a sapphire. "According to mythical traditions my birthstone is an emerald, so I put that with yours." His voice shook slightly as he spoke, clearly terrified she would hate it.
"It's beautiful." She took it from the box and handed it to him. "Put it on for me?"
He took it as she lifted her hair, her neck bare since she'd stopped wearing Stefan's necklace weeks ago. "It has vervain in it, so you're still protected."
She turned around once it was fastened, unsure where to put her hands exactly. "Thank you."
He laced their fingers together and stepped forward, pressing his lips to her forehead. It was a familiar gesture, the only intimate one he really allowed himself. "You're welcome."
They stared at each other for a long time, just watching and waiting for the other to make a move. Elena's eyes darted from his to his lips and he slipped one hand from hers to around her waist. "Damon, I-"
"I see it you know, I can tell you want to kiss me."
"What do you mean?" now her eyes were focused directly on his, careful not to move anywhere.
"You're always staring at my mouth. Either you're terrified of kissing me, or you want to badly."
She smiled a little and tilted her head back slightly. "Would you believe me if I said both were true?"
He chuckled and let one hand slide under her sweater, his palm pressed flat to her lower back. He heard the hitch in her breath, the skip of her heart. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I don't bite…hard."
She tried to smile, but their lips touched first and suddenly she was lost in him. In the smell, in the feel of his arms, the hardness of his chest. It was all too much and she felt herself falling the rest of the way in love with him. They stood, locked like that for a few minutes before he lifted her up and set her on the couch. She felt his body press down on hers, but didn't open her eyes. If she did, he might disappear and she would realize this was all a dream, and that simple fact alone would crush her. Her hands slipped beneath his sweater now, tugging it over his head so she could feel all his skin.
Her hands ran over his muscled back, nails scratched lightly down. "Damon." His name was barely a whisper on her lips, but he heard it between kisses.
"Yes?"
She slid her arms between them and pressed her hands to his chest, gently pushing back. Finally she forced herself to open her eyes, relieved that he was still there, his hair a little mussed from her fingers. "I think you should go home."
Now he was confused, and a little angry. "I thought…I mean, why?"
She watched as he stood, grabbing his sweater from the floor. She followed him off the couch, her hands on either side of his face, wishing the hard lines would go back to the soft ones she'd seen before. "It's not because I don't want to…" she took a deep breath and wrapped her fingers around his wrist, pressing his hand to where her body ached for him the most. "Trust me I do."
Damon could feel the heat coming from her core, even through the jeans. He saw her flushed cheeks, heard her heart beat erratically even as his simple touch drove her crazy. "Then why stop?"
"Because if we do, if we make love right now it will ruin your present."
"Trust me Elena, what we would do here tonight will not be able ruin anything."
She shook her head, feeling sorry but needing him to agree. "Please Damon, let me do this my way."
He nodded and pushed his arms and head through their respectful holes in the sweater. "I'll go home, but I want you to be at the house tomorrow as soon as possible."
"Okay." She slipped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. When her tongue began to dance with his he groaned, his hands fisting in her shirt.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." She took his hand and led him to the door. "I'll see you in the morning."
As if on cue, the timer beeped for the oven and she looked back to the kitchen. Before she could turn away he grabbed her and kissed her hard, unable to get enough of her. "I love you Elena." She said against her lips before turning her around and slipping out the door.
She stood there stunned for a minute before remembering the cookies.
a/n: poor Damon. Elena will have to make this up to him, sending him home all hot and bothered. How will she ever manage to do that? Chapter two is where you will find the answers and some smutty goodness.