"Elena," someone called from far away. "Elena," they mocked and taunted her, "wake up, Elena."
Elena stirred and moaned as she started waking up.
"Elena!" Damon shouted suddenly.
"Ahh!" Elena cried, immediately sitting up in bed. "Ah, Damon, what is it?" she snapped, annoyed at being woken so abruptly.
"Come on, it's time to get up, or you'll be late for school," Damon said.
Elena fell down onto the bed and turned away from Damon on her side. "Five more minutes," she mumbled, pleading.
"That's what you said half and hour ago."
Elena's eyes opened wide and she shot out of bed. "Thirty minutes ago, I have to get ready, I need to shower!" she exclaimed as the pushed past Damon and stumbled to her chest of drawers to find some clothes.
"Already have it running," Damon responded.
"Why didn't you get me up sooner?"
"Well, it looked like you were having such a nice dream. There was something you kept whispering, what was it? Oh yeah, it was 'Damon, kiss me… Damon, kiss me,'" he taunted, mocking a damsel in distress.
Elena rolled her eyes and brushed past him saying, "you're a jerk."
"The jerk that's helping you get ready for school and is in the middle of preparing your breakfast!" Damon called as Elena closed the bathroom door.
"Ohh, is it waffles?" she asked enthusiastically.
"Possibly, and I don't know if there will be any left, the way Jeremy's scarfing them down!"
"Please save me some!"
"Take back that you called me a jerk!"
"Never!"
"Then no blueberry waffles for you," he teased.
"Blueberries?" Elena called, surprised, "you've discovered my true weakness!" "Fine, it take it back, you're not a jerk," she dismissed.
"Apology accepted, I'll go stop Jeremy from demolishing all the waffles."
"Thank you!" she sang.
When Elena came downstairs, she saw Jeremy sitting at the island with a cup of orange juice and a textbook open in front of him. Damon was standing in front of the waffle maker with a spatula. They were being quiet so as to hear the soothing voices of NPR on the radio in the background. Elena thought it was weird to listen to morning radio, but Damon thought it was comforting to hear their voices for some reason or another, so she let him have it on. I mean, he did make her waffles every Wednesday, so why not keep him around and concede to his minor conditions?
"And good morning, I'm David Greene," sounded the radio.
"Good morning David Greene," Damon answered back diligently, like he did every morning.
"Arg," Elena moaned, "Where are my waffles?"
"There's one on that plate, and another hot one coming up in a minute," Damon answered.
"Thanks."
"Okay so what's going on this afternoon?" Damon turned, leaning on the island to face Elena and Jeremy.
"I have to work at the Grill," Jeremy answered, without looking up from his textbook.
"And Bonnie and I are helping Caroline organize the next decade dance," Elena supplied.
"Another one of those?" Damon asked confused, "how many dances does the school have?"
"Like one every month," Jeremy grinned.
"Huh, you think they would have run out of good decade themes by now," Damon shrugged.
Jeremy glanced up from his textbook to look at the clock above the sink, "okay, I'm gonna go, I've got to get to school early."
"Do you need a ride?" Damon asked.
"Nah, Matt's picking me up in five, we have an AP chem lap to finish," Jeremy said grabbing his backpack, "alright, I'll see you guys this afternoon?"
"Bye Jer!" Elena called.
"You better not fail the calculus quiz today like you did with last weeks, or else I'll have to have a conference with Mr. Myers," Damon forewarned.
"Got it," Jeremy responded quickly with a smirk.
"Just remember the trig identities we talked about and you'll do fine!" Damon called as Jeremy left through the front door.
Elena sent Damon a puzzled look and then shrugged and went back to her waffles.
When Damon started showing up in the mornings to help her and Jeremy get ready for school, she questioned it at first for being strange, but then it became so normal to have him around, he just became integrated into their routine. He made mornings less hectic, so it was never a bid deal for her to walk downstairs and find him starting the coffee machine or unloading the dishwasher. She barely remembered the times before, when getting ready for school meant dashing out the door with wet hair and crinkled jeans. She speculated that Damon came over in the mornings because he thought she and Jeremy were lonely, or maybe it was because he was actually lonelier than he realized. But, they were all happy together in the mornings, and although they were rushed, the three shared touching moments together in the time before they all left the house.
"Alright, we should get going too, Elena." Damon said.
"Okay, I'll go grab my bag," she sighed.
As Elena got into Damon's car, he turned the key and as the engine revved, the radio turned on to NPR, just like in the kitchen.
"Good morning, I'm Renée Montagne, and here's a look at traffic," the radio sounded.
"Good morning, Renée Montagne," Elena and Damon responded.
"What are you going to do today?" Elena asked.
"Oh, I don't know, I might stop by the sheriff's department and see if Liz needs a hand. If I just call, she'll say no, even if the answer is yes."
"Later, do you mind coming back to my house? I want you to take a look at a leak in my bathroom sink."
"Yeah, that's fine. I was once a handyman for Pep Auto Supplies, you know?"
"Really? What haven't you done, Damon?" Elena laughed.
"Oh there's lots of things," Damon sighed.
"Why don't you come over for dinner tonight? I can make burgers, and I'm sure you'll be interested in hearing how Jeremy did on his quiz."
"Great, and I can help you with your English paper that's due Friday," he smiled.
"Okay, how do you know these things?"
"I signed up for the parent calendar updates," Damon shrugged.
"You are so weird."
"The weirdo who's giving you a ride to school," Damon said as they pulled into the school parking lot.
Elena rolled her eyes and got out of the car, "thanks for the ride, Damon. Jeremy and I really love having you around."
As she closed the car door, she thought she heard Damon answer back, "I love you guys, too."