* I'd like to dedicate this fanfic to my best friend, onesb16, who's moved to Georgia (home of 'The Vampire Diaries'). I miss you, onesie!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' or any of the characters or any of the songs I used in this fanfic. 'Vampire Diaries' is the property of Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson.
Elena entered Mystic Grill dressed to the nines. Her long, brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore peacock feather earrings to match the green and blue sleeveless dress she wore. The blue stiletto heels she wore clacked on the tiled floor as she made her way over to where Bonnie and Caroline had reserved a seat for her at one of the tables.
"Look at you! You look dressed to kill!" exclaimed Caroline.
"Thanks, this is my whole new trying-to-get-over-Stefan look", Elena replied with a smile.
"You're pulling it off really well", commented Bonnie with a nod of her head.
"Evening, ladies", a voice from behind Elena said.
Elena felt something akin to butterflies in her stomach at the sound of the voice. Turning around in her seat she looked up to see Damon Salvatore standing behind her, smiling in that cocky way of his, dressed in his black leather jacket over a gray t-shirt and dark blue denim jeans. His shaggy black hair was mussed in a very sexy way.
"Hi, Damon", Elena greeted Damon, getting up from her chair to give Damon an amiable hug while trying to ignore the way her stomach did a flip when she felt the hard muscles of his back beneath her hands.
"So now we hug?" Damon questioned when Elena pulled back, raising one black eyebrow at her.
"It was a nice gesture. You've been good as of late and well, I just wanted to show my appreciation of that", Elena told Damon with a shrug.
"Well, I don't like being good but with Stefan gone, I don't think I really have a choice", replied Damon with a roll of his blue eyes.
"You always have a choice, Damon. I mean, if you want, you could leave", Elena said then instantly regretted the words she chose.
Damon looked at her as though she were crazy and said, "And what, leave you here defenseless against whatever supernatural baddie is coming for us next? No way in hell will I do that! You're my priority, Elena. Always have been and always will be".
Before Elena could apologize for what she said, the DJ came over the mic announcing, "Alright, all you girls and boys, it's Karaoke Night here at Mystic Grill! Pick out a song and belt your little heart out for everyone here!"
"Karaoke Night? Since when did they do that?" Damon asked Elena.
"Since I suggested that they do it", Caroline spoke up, a mischievous smile on her face.
"What? Why?" Damon asked in a whiny voice.
"I had so much fun singing that one time, fulfilling my rock star fantasy that I wanted to do it again so I found the DJ, compelled him to make a call into Mystic Grill, and ta da! Karaoke Night!" Caroline explained, smiling widely.
"Seriously, who would want to get up there and sing?" Damon retorted and no sooner had he said that, that the DJ announced, "We got Jeremy Gilbert at the mic now. He's going to be singing a song by OneRepublic, this is 'Apologize'!"
"Wait, Jeremy?" Bonnie and Elena cried at the same time, turning to look towards the bar, where sure enough, Jeremy had the mic in his hand.
"I'm holding on your rope, got me ten feet off the ground and I'm hearing what you say but I just can't make a sound. You tell me that you need me then you go and cut me down, but wait. You tell me that you're sorry, didn't think I'd turn around and say that it's too late to apologize, it's too late. I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late. Too late, oh", Jeremy was singing, looking pointedly in Bonnie's direction the entire time.
"Oh, my god", gasped Bonnie and proceeded to grab her purse and run outside.
"Bonnie, wait!" Elena cried and ran after her.
When they were outside, Bonnie whirled around, her hand in her shoulder-length black curls and tears swimming in her brown eyes as she said to Elena, "He has no right to do that. He has no right to stand there in front of everyone I know and try to apologize via song!"
"I know, Bonnie, and I'll talk to him. He should've given you warning that he was going to do that. He ambushed you and that is not right", Elena reassured her best friend, going and giving her a hug.
Meanwhile, inside, Jeremy finished with his song and handed the mic back to the DJ. He started to make his way over to where he saw Bonnie, but he was intercepted by Damon.
"Get out of my way, Damon", Jeremy said to the vampire.
Damon just grabbed Jeremy by the front of his shirt and dragged him into the boys' bathroom, where he pushed him inside and then proceeded to say to him, "Seriously, dude? You're going to apologize to your ex via song?"
Jeremy looked a bit sheepish as he replied, "Well, she wasn't answering my calls…"
"Can you blame her? You were shacking up with your dead ghost girlfriend in the bathroom here nonetheless! If I were Bonnie, I'd be mad at you, too", Damon cried.
"I made a mistake, okay?" Jeremy argued, throwing his hands up.
"Yeah, a huge one and now you got to live with the consequences. So put on your big boy pants and take the fact that you're never going to get Bonnie back like a man!" Damon chastised and then walked out of the bathroom, leaving Jeremy to sulk.
Elena and Bonnie came back inside to see Damon walking towards them. "I talked with Jeremy. He knows what he did was stupid".
"It was beyond idiotic. Does he have no common sense?" replied Elena, looking thoroughly disappointed.
"I have an idea how to get back at him", Bonnie then said.
"Bonnie, I don't think magic tricks will make you or him feel any better about this", reasoned Elena, shaking her head at Bonnie.
"Who said anything about magic tricks? He started this through song. I'm going to end it through song", replied Bonnie and then proceeded to approach the DJ.
"What is she doing?" Elena asked, wary.
"Something stupid", answered Damon with a miserable shake of his dark head.
"Next up is Bonnie singing us some Demi Lovato! This one's called 'Mistake'", The DJ announced and handed Bonnie the mic as the music began.
Jeremy came out from the bathroom, saw Bonnie who met his eyes before singing, "Now that I'm thinking sober, don't you try to get no closer. I'm just gonna get in my car and drive, and drive. Looking in the rearview mirror, everything is so much clearer. Watch me wave it all good-bye, good-bye. The lights flashing, giving me all the danger signs. Someone to save, to save, but it don't work that way. Think you made your greatest mistake, I'm not gonna call this a break. Think you really blew it this time; think you could walk on such a thin line. I won't be taking your midnight calls, ignore the rocks you throw at my wall. I see it written on your face, you know you made it: your greatest mistake".
Elena watched as her brother seemingly got what Bonnie was telling him and then left the Grill, hanging his head. Elena just shook her head after him, wishing that she could say something to him to make it all better, but she had to remain neutral for everyone involved.
Bonnie finished her song and then came up to Elena and Damon. Elena proceeded to give her a hug and whispered in her ear, "Jeremy left. I think he got the message".
Bonnie just nodded solemnly and said, "As much as I'd love to stay, I think I should go home. I'll go say good-bye to Caroline".
Elena touched her shoulder as she left, then turned to Damon and said, "Can you believe this?"
"I know it's like we walked into a high school musical or something", Damon complained.
"I guess there is no better way to explain yourself than through song", Elena remarked.
"Yeah, I got that message. I'm sorry, but it's not for me", said Damon, shaking his head.
"What if someone was to go up there and sing a song for you, would you sing back to that person?" questioned Elena, turning to look at Damon pointedly.
"Who would do something silly like that?" retorted Damon.
Elena just bit her lip and then walked up to the DJ, knowing that Damon was gaping after her. She told the DJ what song she wanted to do and then she proceeded to take the mic from him. She turned to meet Damon's eyes from across the room. He mouthed to her, are you insane?
Elena ignored him and began to sing, "He drowns in his dreams, an exquisite extreme I know. He's as damned as he seems; more heaven than a heart could hold and if I try to save him, my whole world would cave in. It just ain't right, no it just ain't right. Oh and I don't know, I don't know what he's after, but he's so beautiful. He's such a beautiful disaster and if I could hold on through the tears and the laughter, would it be beautiful, or just a beautiful disaster?"
Elena watched as Damon went from looking at her like she was insane to looking at her as though were singing gibberish. For a few seconds, Elena grew insecure but then she started to sing the next verse in the song and her confidence swelled again.
"He's magic and myth, as strong as what I believe. A tragedy with more damage than a soul should see and do I try to change him? So hard not to blame him. Hold me tight, baby hold me tight…"
Elena kept on singing even though Damon's expression worried her. She didn't know whether he was getting the message she was sending to him or if he was in just complete shock and denial. Either way, she was sure of her feelings for Damon now.
When the song ended, Elena wasn't sure she wanted to head back over to Damon but she knew she had to. She had to explain herself to him. So with a deep breath, Elena made her way over to Damon.
At first, he just gaped at her then he said after a moment's silence passed, "Your song for me is Kelly Clarkson's 'Beautiful Disaster'?"
"I thought it was fitting", Elena explained simply.
"Do tell me something, Elena, because I'd hate to be getting the wrong signals here but are you insinuating that you want a relationship with me?" Damon asked Elena, looking at her seriously.
"I believe that's what I was saying via song", answered Elena with a small nod of her head.
"I'm going to hate you for this", Damon then said and grudgingly made his way towards the DJ.
Elena couldn't believe what she was seeing as Damon took the mic and began to sing to her, "Watch my life pass me by in the rearview mirror. Pictures frozen in time are becoming clearer. I don't wanna waste another day stuck in the shadow of my mistakes, yeah, because I want you and I feel you crawling underneath my skin like a hunger, like a burning, to find the place I've never been. Now I'm broken and I'm fading, I'm half the man I thought I would be but you can have what's left of me".
Elena felt herself melting inside as she got Damon's answer to her song. A slow smile crept along her face as she watched Damon sing to her, telling her everything she needed to hear via song.
After the song wrapped, Damon made his way back toward her, a new look on his face. It was one of determination and absolute hunger. Elena didn't understand the look until Damon was upon her, cupping her face with his one hand and then bending his head to kiss her deeply.
Once Elena got over the shock of the kiss, she wrapped her arms around Damon's neck and leaned into the kiss, kissing back with all her strength. When Elena and Damon eventually pulled away, Damon muttered huskily, "Let's never do karaoke night again".
"Whatever you say", Elena replied breathlessly and pulled him back in for another kiss.
* Yay Damon & Elena! Hope you liked this story! Review, please!