Chapter One- It was only a dream
"Babe!"
I heard the voice coming from down the hall. I didn't know he was home this early. "In the bedroom" I called out, stashing all the bags and boxes in the closet and under the bed before he walked in. "There you are, I've been looking for you all day." I look over at the clock. It's 4 pm. I've been out shopping all day. "Sorry, My phone died, and I just lost track of time." I tell him, moving away from the closet. He watches me as I sit in the chair across from the window, and moves closer to the closet. "How much did you buy today?" He asks, opening the closet door. Bags come falling out, shoes and clothes spilling out of them. I hear him gasp, then he turns to look at me. " Let me rephrase that, how much did you spend today?" I look over at him, my nervousness showing on my face. " ... Alot." I said, pouting a little. " ... But it's not all for me, I swear. I got your birthday gifts early this year." I say, hoping it'll make the situation better.
"Elena, You've got to stop spending so much money. We can't afford it." He says, annoyed now. I hate upsetting him, but I really didn't keep track of how much I spent, or how much I bought, really. I pull my phone out, and check the bank balance online. " I spent 400$ today. Alot less than I spent last week, or even last month. I only went shopping after I paid the bills!" I shouted the last part, not meaning to. His eyes widened. " Did you just raise your voice to me?" He asks, smirking slightly. There's that smirk I fell in love with. I nod. " I did. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout." I move to the bed, and that's when he noticed one of the tags. He pulled everything out from under the bed, and gasped. "Elena ... Elena? Elena!"
I'm woken by the sound of my roommate, Damon. He's shaking me. I open my eyes and groan, covering them with my hand to block the light. I glance over at my alarm clock. 9:30. "Shit! I'm late!" I jump out of bed, and move quickly past Damon into the washroom. I had almost forgotten that I was only wearing my bra and panties, and shut the bathroom door before he could get a good look. I hopped into the shower and washed my hair and body quickly. Once I had the shower off, I wrapped a towel around myself and headed back to my room, stopped by Damon who was standing in the door way with a coffee mug in his hands. He extended it out to me, a soft smirk crossing his lips. " I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I was out of line. Forgive me?" He noticed me eyeing the mug. " It's french roast..." I take the mug and sip the coffee in it. Perfection. "Thank you." I say to him as I rush into my room, closing the door partially as I dressed for work. "I'm not upset about what you said, Damon. I was being a bitch, and it was uncalled for. What upset me was how you chose to tell me, by shouting it into my face, in the town square." I could hear him sighing on the other side of the door." Look, Elena. I'm sorry. I'm truly, deeply sorry. I didn't mean to lose my temper. You know how Stefan gets to me sometimes..." Ah yes, Stefan. Damon's brother and my Ex. It used to amuse me how easily Stefan could get Damon into a fit of rage, but now it's just an annoyance. Stefan comes by 3 to 4 times a week, and ends up leaving just before Damon kills him. I don't mean figuratively. I mean literally.
There's something I probably forgot to mention. It happens all the time when I meet new people.
My name is Elena Gilbert, and I'm a Vampire. So are Damon and Stefan Salvatore. Mystic falls is full of 'special' people, from Vampires, to werewolves. From witches and warlocks to demons and sirens. It's not a normal town, though majority of it's inhabitants are infact normal. They're human. Very few people know about us in mystic falls. Those who do call themselves the council. Once Mystic Falls was 'destroyed' my friends and I rebuilt it. We wanted to live in our homes again, the ones we grew up in. If we were to ever get the chance at a normal life, we'd take it. Until then, this is as close as it's going to get.
So, I should probably explain my situation with the Salvatore brothers. Stefan and I used to date, way back in highschool. Actually, our romance survived alot, and we were even engaged at one point. All of that changed when Caroline and Stefan were on some trip to save me, and they fell in love. He hadn't even had the decency to break up with me himself. He got Caroline to do it at one of our many girls nights. Caroline and I are still friends, I mean she had a HUGE crush on Stefan before he chose me, so I thought it was only fair for her to get her chance at love. Stefan and I on the other hand, we can't be in the same room more than 5 minutes without an argument breaking out.
That's where Damon comes in. He's sort of like the referee. I moved into my own place, once the town was fixed up. All of us had been hauled up in the Salvatore house for months, until everything was back to normal. Stefan and I would argue all the time, mainly over him picking on any guy I would bring over after a date. Damon was never around much those nights, I never understood why. Caroline had to take Stefan upstairs most nights, after my guest would leave. Once I stopped bringing them home, Damon was there to stop Stefan from his annoying banter. "Oh, Carrot top didn't want to come in for a night cap?" Or " Oh, how come Juice Monkey didn't come and say good night to the rest of us?" You'd think that by now I'd have staked him or ripped his heart out, but I haven't. I can't. Damon wouldn't want me to, no matter how much Stefan upsets us both. Damon is my best friend, and I wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Anyways, Back to the main story.
Once I was ready for work, I opened the door and handed him the empty mug. "Yes, I know how Stefan gets to you. He works me the same way he works you. Since you decided to help me by keeping him at bay around me, I've decided to do the same for you. Neither one of us would forgive ourselves, or the other, for killing him and you know that." I hugged him tightly, before moving past him, into the diningroom, to collect my things for work. "Have you seen my keys? They're not in my bag, and I could have sworn I left them ..." I hear them jingling. As I look up, there's Damon, with my keys in his hands. " Oh, What on earth would I ever do without you, Damon?" I ask as I grab my keys from him. He laughs. " You'd probably end up with a stake in your chest by the end of the day, Elena. Can I give you a ride? I'm headed into town to pick a few things up." I stop and nod, looking at the time. "In that case, I've got time for another cup of coffee!"
After our morning chat, and coffee, Damon drives me into work.I'm the bartender at the Mystic Grill, currently. I've got the rest of the summer to do this, and then I'm starting school in September to be a was the one who told me to follow through with my dreams. He actually sent my college application off in the mail, because I was too chicken to. I got into the grill, and threw my stuff into the back. I punched in, and just as I was about to get started on my cleaning, I noticed something behind the bar. There was a small box, with a white ribbon on it. It was just sitting there on the floor. I bent down to pick it up, and noticed my name on the ribbon. I wasn't sure what it was or who it was from, so I sent a picture of it to Damon. I knew it wasn't from him when he showed up at the bar minutes later.
"Where is it?" He asked, taking a seat at the bar. " In the back, hold on." I handed him a glass of bourbon; Every one in Mystic Falls knew that Damon only drank one of two things: Blood, and Bourbon, then headed back into the back room. I came back out with the box, and he looked at me, confused. "It's not your birthday, is it?" He asked, jokingly. Damon never forgot my birthday. "Did you ask anyone who was here earlier if anyone left it here for you?" I shook my head. " No, I sent you the picture, and you didn't give me much of a chance to ask around, you were here so fast." I punched his arm from across the bar, laughing a little. " I have work to do, why don't you go play detective." I went to walk into the back, but stopped by the door and looked at him again. " And Play nice, Damon. I don't want to have to compell everyone just so I can keep my job." He laughed, before I disappeared behind the door.
My shift flew by rather quickly. Damon still hadn't found out who had left that box for me, though now it was tempting me to open it. It was sitting in front of me, on the kitchen counter, as I made dinner. Vampires don't need to eat to live, but it helps curve the cravings for blood. He came out of his room, with his laptop, watching the security footage from the Mystic Grill. " How did you get that, Damon?" I asked him, smiling coyly. He chuckled. " Oh, I flirted with that Vicky girl, and she gave me the tapes."
I leaned across the counter, watching them. It took me a few minutes to notice that Damon wasn't watching the security footage, but he was watching me. People told us that we seemed as though we were a couple, because of how close we are. We've never dated, to be honest, I don't think Damon's ever seen me that way. At least, not that I've noticed. I'll admit I've had a crush on him since the day we met, but I never acted on it because of Stefan. I could never act on it, Stefan would never forgive Damon.
"Who is that?" Damon asks, as he notices someone walking into the grill, and right behind the bar. " I have no clue ... I've never seen them here before..." I look at the screen as Damon pauses it, trying to get a good look at the mans face. He was bald, with eyes as black as coal. He set the box down on the floor, and disappeared into a cloud of smoke.
