Fic Title: Under the mistletoe… Part 1

Author Name: Lovingdelena88

Spoilers: None

Summary: Two people with enough chemistry to start a blazing fire, and a well-placed mistletoe, you do the math.

Ratings/Warnings: PG 13

Characters: Damon/Elena, Caroline, brief appearances by other characters

Disclaimer: Show and Characters belong to their prospective owners.

AN: Got this idea on Tumblr, it was one of the AU meme, and I just fell in love with the post, and decided to write a one-shot, just in time for the holidays.

Special Thanks to my lovely beta Reader, Kimberley. I promise not to call you Kim, ever AGAIN, lol.

~~~~~HAPPY HOLIDAYS~~~~~

Christmas was always her favorite holiday. Her family was big on celebrating the holidays,

they had a lot of traditions and held wonderful memories.

Every Christmas Eve, she would quietly sneak downstairs to the kitchen and watch as her mom cooked enough food to feed a small army, while she hummed along with whatever Christmas tunes that were on.

Even when she got older, her parents insisted that they spend every Christmas together as a family. She and Jeremy would sometimes complain and bitch about it, because they wanted to spend it with their friends, but their parents never backed down. They always reminded the two of them that the holidays were about being with family and your loved ones, not the festive itself. She was thankful for that. Now that her parents were gone, all she had left of them were those memories that they had shared.

There were no more mornings being woken up by her mom's cooking, no more complaining about her dad's horrible singing.

The first year of Christmas without her parents was one of the hardest. Their death was still fresh; everything about the holiday reminded her that they were never coming back. Jenna had tried to maintain the same traditions, but it wasn't the same, it would never be the same. She couldn't blame her aunt for that, she had tried her best.

This year was even worse, Jenna was gone. It was just her and Jeremy. In such a short time, she had lost so many people, so many lives destroyed. Things would never be the same. Caroline is a vampire, Tyler is a hybrid, Vicky is dead, Bonnie is a witch, she is a doppelganger. Klaus is still alive. Stefan is gone.

They all would move on with their lives, eventually, but it would be never the same, some things could never be forgotten.

So this holiday, she just wanted to be left alone. So when Caroline suggested they had a Christmas party, she immediately hated the idea.

She didn't want to pretend that everything was ok and that she was happy. She wanted to miserable and left alone.

"Elena, are you listening to me? We need to do this," Caroline's voice bought her back to the present.

"No, we don't, Care. I know what you're trying to do, but I just don't feel like celebrating," she told her best friend. She knew Caroline's heart was in the right place.

Caroline sighed, and took Elena's hands in hers. "I know Elena, I get it, I do, but we need this because if last year taught us anything, it is that we may not be here next year or tomorrow. Whatever time we have, we should be together, celebrating it together." Caroline pleaded with her.

Elena closed her eyes; of course she knew that, better than anyone. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. "Fine, but make it small. I'm serious Care, I don't want a repeat of my 18th birthday."

"Okay, it will intimate dinner," her friend conceded "We'll have it here; I'll cook, and I'll take care all the decorations. All you have to do is be here."

"You don't know how to cook, Caroline."

"Whatever, everyone will do their part." Caroline was already reaching for her phone, and going through her contacts. Elena could already see her mind reeling, organizing.

She was good; Elena had to give her that. She just hoped it didn't turn out to be a disaster.

Caroline kept her promise, she planned everything; everyone bought some kind of food dish, so dinner was taken care of. She also took care of the decorations, including finding the perfect tree, and of course decorating it.

Just a small gathering composed of their closest friends. Caroline could tell Elena was happy, even though she may not admit it, this was a good idea. This way they would all spend the holiday together. They all needed this, after another insane year, they needed to just be together.

All the food looked good and smelled delicious, thank god for that because she sucked at cooking. The house was nicely decorated, the fire warmed the place perfectly.

Caroline looked around the room, everyone seen happy, and content. So far this was a success. Caroline's eyes landed on her best friend. She noticed Elena's eyes were glued to the front door. Caroline knew Elena was waiting for Damon.

She didn't exactly forget to invite Damon. She and the others all agreed that Damon and Elena were getting too close to each other. They figured that she needed some space from him. Damon had become Elena's rock. Elena would have never survived this year or last year without Damon, physically and emotionally.

She knew Elena was going to ask her when Damon was coming over, and she didn't know what she was going to say.

Elena approached her friend, "Did Damon said what time he was coming?"

Caroline visible cringed, what the hell was she supposed to tell her? She was hoping to avoid that confrontation, but she knew it was going to happen sooner or later. So much for a free-drama day.

"Well did he?" Elena asked her again.

"The thing is, we.. I.. We didn't invite him." Caroline stuttered.

"What?" Elena screeched, causing everyone to stop what they were doing, turning their attention to her.

"Elena," Caroline tried to warn her friend not to make a scene.

Too late for that, because she could tell the stubborn brunette was already fuming with anger.

"What do you mean? You didn't invite him? Why wouldn't you?" Elena demanded of her friend.

Alaric quickly stepped in, "We didn't think it was such a good idea." He tried to explain to her.

Elena turned to her somewhat-guardian, (some-what not) "Who's this 'We'?" Now she was pissed.

Ric sighed, "I don't like the way he hangs around you, and he has gotten too close, ever since Stefan…"

"Don't finish that sentence Ric. So it's okay when he's risking his life to protect me, and the rest of us, but it's not okay for him to get close to me, because you guys don't like it." She was so tired of always having to defend Damon to her friends and family.

"Sorry to inform you, but you don't get to make that decision," she continued.

"Elena, don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" her brother asked her.

She laughed and shook her head. "Ric, you were his friend once. You still sort of care about him, do you think he deserved to spend tonight alone, after everything he has done for me, for this town? You all still treat him like he's a common criminal." She sighed.

"Sometimes he acts like it." Ric mumbled under his breath.

She walked over to the closet and reached for her jacket.

"Where are you going?" Caroline asked her.

"You already know the answer to that question. Don't wait up for me, and Merry Christmas," she said as she left her house and headed for the boarding house.

Her friends just watched as she left.

"Well this sucked," Caroline said, voicing what everyone was thinking.

Half an hour later, Elena arrived at the boarding house. She turned off the car, and just sat there. She didn't know why she was nervous all of the sudden. She just didn't know what to expect. Today was Christmas; she didn't know what Damon did during the holidays. Was he alone, did he have "special" company? Was he even home? Did Damon even celebrate the holidays, especially with his brother's vanishing act?

It had been a week since they last spoke. She knew he hadn't left town because he had promised her he wouldn't leave her again.

She took one last breath, and got out of the car, but stopped at the door. Although she had a key to the boarding house, she didn't know if she should use it or not.

Why was this so damn hard? Just knock on the damn door or use your spare key.

Just as she was about to knock, the door yanked open and she came to face to face with a shirtless Damon. Her breath hitched, as her heart spiked up.

She slowly raised her head, and met those blue eyes and that famous smirk of his.

"Hi." She said lamely, smooth Elena.

"Were you planning on staying out there all night?" Damon asked her casually. Well he knew the answer to that, but he just loved teasing her.

She shook her head no, of course Damon heard her, stupid vampire hearing.

"Good, come in." He stepped back, letting her in the room.

Damon closed the door, and turned to observer her. He was surprised when he heard her car pull up in the driveway earlier. Today was Christmas; he just figured she would be spending it with her friends and family.

"You must be wondering why I am here?" She asked the question that was on Damon's mind.

"The thought crossed my mind." He said calmly.

Damon crossed the room to join her, and took the bag she held in her hands.

"Thanks."

"You came bearing gift."

"Sort of." She replied. She took her jacket off and laid it the couch besides her.

She turned to face him and tell him what was in the bag, but she got distracted by Damon's state of undress. There was no doubt in her mind that Damon was a beautiful creature. He knew it, he flaunted it, and he used it to his advantage.

"Umm... could you maybe put a shirt on?" She came here on a mission, she was not about to let his perfect, chiseled chest distract her.

Damon smiled, and stepped closer to her "Why Elena, ss my bare chest distracting you?"

She took a step-back, and rolled her eyes. Typical Damon. "No, I just want you to put a shirt on."

"Sure Elena." He told her knowingly. He knew that would get a reaction from her, that's exactly why he didn't bother putting a shirt on before opening the door. He knew Elena was attracted to him. Her heart rate gave her away every freaking time.

He flashed to his bedroom and and was back in 2 seconds with a simple black shirt on, but was still barefoot.

He looked so comfortable, Elena thought. She only has seen Damon on his usual bad boy attire which included black jeans, boots, and dark shirts, and of course there was that one time he came downstairs butt-naked covered in bubbles and she'd gotten a quick glance at Damon Jr.

"Elena, you're staring."

Blood rushed to her cheeks as she blushed for getting caught staring at Damon. What the hell was wrong with her? Elena just shook her head; this was not going the way she planned. Maybe coming here was a bad idea after all.

"This was a bad idea." She muttered under the breath.

"What was?"

"Me coming here. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You came here for a reason, don't back out now." Damon challenged her.

"I didn't want you to spend tonight alone, okay?" He was so damn frustrating. Most of the times, She wanted to strangled him.

Damon laughed; she was too good for her own. He approached her carefully.

"Elena, I have spent the last 100+ Christmases alone. One more year won't kill me, but I do appreciate the gesture, more than you'll ever know." He told her sincerely. He was extremely touched by her action. He truly did not deserve her kindness. Her heart was pure of gold. How could she manage to care for him so deeply? What did he ever do to deserve her warmth?

He was a monster, a predator. He hunts and kills and destroys everything in his path. He deserved the worse punishment for his actions, he surely did not deserved to have someone like her in his life, someone as human and as caring as her. Despite everything he has ever done, despite of his infinite flaws, she cared for him.

"I know. But you shouldn't have to. You're not alone anymore." She whispered.

Damon frowned; he didn't know how to respond. She really was angel sent for him.

He gently cupped her face with his hands, and kissed her softly on the forehead, and ran his hands through her brown silk hair and tugged her closer to him. He felt her sighed softly against his chest.

"You're not alone anymore." She told him again. He needed to know that someone was here for him; she gently wrapped her arms around his waist and held him.

She needed him to know that she was here for him, like he was always here for her when she needed him. He didn't have to stay here and protect her, but he did, every day without asking anything in return. So tonight, he's going to get that.

Damon never wanted to let her go; to be wrapped around her was both heaven and hell.

After what felt like an eternity, Elena let him go slightly to look into his eyes and asked him "So, do you want to go to dinner party with me?"

TBC…