Change of Scenery (Sequel to The Scent Of Trust)

by velja

Genre: Romance, Humor

Pairing: Damon/Elena

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I forgot to put it up in the previous story, so here it is: I don't own the books (haven't even read them) nor the TV series or any of the characters. I play with them without making money. I'm just having fun and hope you are, too.

Spoilers: Everything you've seen on TV and then some. And you should have read my story "The Scent Of Trust" because this is a sequel and you won't understand what's going on here unless you've read that one first.

Summary: Damon is convinced that a change of scenery is just what he needs to get over Katherine. Or is it the new-found trust from Elena that he's really trying to run from? And what if Elena doesn't want Damon to run?

Author's note: I'm stunned by the number of reviews I got on the previous story (in just one night), I never would have thought I'd reach so many people with it. Thank you all for your kind words, you're amazing. Now here's the sequel most of you have been asking for. I hope you like it just as much.


Chapter One: Words Of Meaning

Elena slowly woke up from the sound of broken glass crunching under someone's feet. Still in a haze she noticed that she lay curled up on a leather surface with her nose nearly buried in a soft and musty-smelling cushion. She turned her face to the left and was at once hit by bright rays of sunlight. They tickled her nose and burned in her eyes. Elena squinted quickly and hoisted her body up on one elbow.

"Good morning!"

The cheery greeting from somewhere behind prompted Elena to turn her head and open her eyes to the sight of Damon, crouched down in front of the big fireplace, giving her an expression somewhere between a genuine smile and his usual smirk.

"Ugh, morning," Elena replied slowly. She blinked at the shards of broken glass Damon was picking up from the ground but her eyes traveled back to his face when he spoke again.

"Did you sleep well? Not too cold, were you?"

His silvery-blue eyes glided over her body and instinctively Elena pulled the soft blanket high up to her neck. "Ugh, no. I…"

Wait… a blanket? Where had that come from? She couldn't remember ever getting a blanket. She didn't even remember falling asleep on the couch. All she remembered about last night was pulling Damon into her arms and then holding him while he…

Elena inhaled sharply. He'd allowed himself to fall apart in her arms, to trust her with his pain…

So, had Damon covered her with a blanket after she'd fallen asleep? And what about him, where had he slept?

Elena's eyes shot back to Damon and she noticed him watching her closely, still crouched down, with his head cocked to the side.

Then, as if he'd read her thoughts, Damon smirked: "Relax, Elena. I took the old comfy-chair." He stood up and walked over to the far side of the room to dispose of the shards of broken glass. Elena watched him silently.

"So your virtue is still intact, at least as far as I'm concerned," Damon shrugged carelessly on his way back to her and winked. "I can't be sure about Stefan's actions though…" he paused and plopped down onto the couch Elena was still sprawled on. She quickly withdrew her legs and sat up.

Damon went on with a dirty smirk: "But judging from the very interesting noises I've heard coming from his room lately…"

"Damon!" Elena shrieked and elbowed him in offence. He simply shrugged and his eyebrow climbed up as if he dared her to prove him wrong.

Elena let out a sigh and lifted her hands to tame her sleep-tousled hair. Damon, she noticed offhandedly, looked quite his impeccable and dead-sexy usual self. Not one of his boyishly-styled-through-to-look-like-he'd-just-stumbled-out-of-bed-hair wasn't in place. And that damn cocky smirk…

"I'm glad to see you've gone back to your usual overconfident and very annoying self," Elena stated with a raised eyebrow of herself. "That's…" she sent him a small smile, "… good. Which doesn't mean that I ever liked your huge ego, mind you!"

"Keep trying to convince yourself of that, Elena," Damon grinned self-assuredly, "but we both know the truth." He leaned closer to her face and whispered into Elena's ear: "You like my huge… ego. You like… me."

"Keep trying to convince yourself of that, Damon," Elena whispered his words right back to him, not the least bit flummoxed by his proximity. "But after last night we both know the truth. You're not the invincible bad-ass you want everybody to see. And… you like me back!"

Damon eased up on the closeness and Elena thought she saw a flicker of some emotion cross his face. But it was gone even quicker than it had appeared and once again replaced with his trademark smirk.

"A-ha!" Damon announced and pointed a finger at her. "So you do like me! I knew it!"

"I didn't…" Elena tried to protest but Damon cut her off again.

"You said, 'You like me back!', didn't you?" Damon quoted her complete with a ridiculously looking gesture of air-quotes. "Which requires the assumption that I'm right. After all, you have to like me first for your statement to make sense because how would I be able to like you back if you didn't like me first, hm? Ergo? You like me!"

Elena had some trouble following his casually-announced logic but she had even more trouble keeping a straight face through it all. God, he was so completely full of himself! But she had to secretly admit that she preferred him broadcasting this funny playful banter to the crushed and broken Damon she'd seen last night.

So eventually Elena let out a soft giggle and replied: "Maybe there's the tiniest smidgen of truth in your well-rehearsed speech."

"Sure there is," Damon shrugged and leaned back on the couch. "It's my speech after all."

"Yes," Elena nodded and leaned back as well. "And may I point out that you didn't contradict me in the slightest? Ergo…" she paused dramatically, "you like me back!"

Damon simply sent her a small grin. "I've told you before, Elena. You're not the worst company in the world."

"Right," Elena agreed with a nod.

Companionable silence stretched out between them until Elena suddenly bolted upright and exclaimed: "Oh shit, Damon! What time is it? I have to get going, I have to…"

The strong hand on her arm surprised Elena but Damon's words did even more. "Calm down, Elena. It's not even seven thirty."

"Really?" Elena stared at Damon's face and then her eyes darted across the room to the old Grandfather-Clock that stood there. He was right, it was only just past seven. Elena relaxed visibly.

"Oh, but still," she announced after a second, "I really should get going, I need to be seen at home before I go to school and…"

"School? But it's Saturday!" Damon's eyebrow rose up mockingly. "Don't tell me the righteous Elena Gilbert got herself a detention, huh?"

"No, I didn't!" Elena groused at once.

"So why would you go to school on a Saturday?"

"I…" Elena didn't want to admit that with everything going on she'd simply confused the days although she was sure Damon had already picked up on that. Still, she didn't want to give him the benefit of laughing at her and so she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"I was hoping to meet Mr. Salzmann alone, I mean… out of regular class."

Damon looked at her as if she'd just confessed having a sordid love-affair with the History teacher.

"What?" Elena asked and crossed her arms over her chest in a clear display of defensiveness. "I meant to talk to him, Damon!"

"Really?" Damon mirrored her position and then cocked his head to the side. "Then why did you have to make it sound so dirty, Elena?"

"I didn't… oh, shut up!" Elena swiftly stood up from the couch and looked around for her shoes. She couldn't remember taking them off last night and wondered briefly, while pulling them on in walking, if Damon had been the one to place them so neatly next to the couch. Somehow she'd never thought him to be the domestic type. But then again… letting her eyes quickly travel over the living room Elena noticed for the first time that the entire place looked well-groomed and impeccable. Far too neat for two young men (or vampires) living here on their own.

She'd always assumed men to be messy (she had the proof of that messing up Aunt Jenna's home every day, hadn't she?). So… who cleaned up this place? Was it Damon that spent his days dusting the overflowing bookshelves?

An image appeared instantly before her eyes: Damon, an apron slung around his lean body, swinging the vacuum-cleaner around and still making it look sexy somehow…

Elena laughed out loud but then she blinked in shock. Wait, sexy? She didn't just think of Damon in an apron as sexy, did she? No way!

He wasn't sexy, with or without the apron!

But then again, Elena had to admit that he'd looked quite good in it after all.

The other night, when he'd come to her place and had cooked dinner for her, Jenna and Jeremy… Aunt Jenna had instantly fallen for his 'ridiculously sexy look'.

And that dinner, it had been good! She'd been more than surprised when Damon had wiped up that delicious pasta sauce from scratch.

So, all in all, Elena had to admit that Damon seemed to be the domestic type after all. She never would have guessed. He truly seemed to be full of surprises.

Speaking of… Elena turned around to the couch and noticed with surprise that it was empty. Huh? Where had Damon gone?

"Damon?" she looked around the living room and came face to face with his smirking self.

"Damn, would you stop doing that already?" Elena had put her hand to her rapidly heaving chest. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Only nearly? I have to try harder next time," Damon smirked back and took one step away from her. "Although… I'm afraid that will have to wait till after I'm back. If I ever come back, that is."

Elena stared at his face, not sure what he'd just announced. "You, huh? What? What do you mean, if you come back?"

Damon's blue eyes gleamed in the sunlight. "That means, Elena, that you and Stefan finally got what you wanted. I'm leaving. You know, a change of scenery and all that."

"Leaving?" Elena could do nothing but repeat the one word that had brought her down instantly. "But, Damon, no! Why? Why do you wanna leave?"

"Why would I wanna stay?" Damon countered. "Here? In this town? After everything that happened? Elena, there's nothing worth staying for, is there?"

Elena felt like being slapped in the face and dowsed in a bucket of ice-water. How could he say that? Never mind that she knew he'd never given a damn about Mystic Falls, home town or not, and the fact that his brother lived here. Damon obviously didn't care for any of that. He'd only come here to free Katherine and now that he'd found out the truth…

But what about…

'Damn it, Damon! What about me? I'm here!' Elena thought and had to gulp forcefully.

Apparently she'd been mistaken. She'd thought that Damon had come to care for her, that he… he'd trusted her but…

It obviously didn't mean anything to him. She didn't mean anything to him!

"I see," Elena finally managed to squeeze out. Without another word she spun around on her heels and started marching off. She hadn't even reached the steps to the hall when Damon appeared out of nowhere to block her way. He leaned close to her upset face and looked deeply into her brown eyes.

"Elena," his voice was barely above a whisper.

"No, you're right, Damon!" Elena gulped and briefly looked to the ground. When she met his gaze again her face was firmly set and her voice sounded harsh. "There's nothing worth staying here for you. I get it. So… goodbye and, you know, good riddance!"

Elena pushed past him into the entrance hall, took hold of the doorknob and pulled with force.

"You don't really mean that, Elena!" Damon was in her face again, slamming the heavy wooden door shut with one hand while the other closed around her upper arm to stop her from bolting. Elena in her rush nearly slammed into his chest. She looked up into his serious face, no trace of a smirk now anywhere, and her eyes met his.

"You're right, I don't really mean it. But it doesn't matter because," she gulped before she went on. "Because apparently a lot of things were said and done here last night that didn't mean anything at all."

Damon took a shocked step backwards and away from the door. Elena used his surprise to push past him and out through the small opening. She ran towards her car and, fishing for the keys in her pocket, inhaled the crisp morning air. Convinced that Damon would come after her again Elena hurried to open the car door and move inside. Only when she'd slumped onto the driver's seat with the door closed behind her did she dare to look back to the house.

Damon stood on the edge of the front porch, one hand braced against a wooden pillar and the other dangling limp from his side. Elena couldn't see his face, it was completely hidden by the shadows the roof was casting.

But Elena knew that his eyes had to look lifeless and blank just like last night. She could see them staring at her without really seeing anything, staring through her, all the way home.

And it was an image that followed her even into her dreams that night.

TBC

Okay, I know that the ending is kind of sad and harsh and surely not what you've expected but I assure you that this is only the first part of a much happier Damon/Elena romance-story that I will try to continue as soon as possible.