Ghosts
Chapter 1 - Prologue
...
"Marry me!" She said spontaneously.
She wasn't this type of a girl. If someone had told her a year ago that she'd be asking a guy she just met to marry her, she would've taken them for a sobriety test.
"You're insane." He smiles. He's masking it, but deep down( not that deep down actually) he wants her to be serious.
"That's true." She grins. "But I'm not kidding."
"Are you crazy?" He jokes. "You barely know me."
That was a lie. She knew him better than he knew himself. He'd give anything for her to know him like she used to.
"A) I know everything I need to." She smiles. "and B) that wasn't exactly a no."
"Wow, you're not kidding about this are you?" He asks noticing her stern expression.
"It's not like I don't feel the same." He stutters. "I like you... I mean I love you, but are we even ready for that? You're only eighteen."
"I'm always going to be 18 dumbass." She snaps. "You need to-"
He silences her with a kiss. It's the longest one they've ever shared and when it's over she's certain decades have passed by.
"I love you, Damon." She whispers still trying to catch her breath. "I hope you'll say yes."
She gets into her car and drives off, hoping to hell that he tries to stop her.
But he doesn't... Not yet.
...
"Shit." Damon snaps for the hundredth time.
How could he let this happen? A proposal? For gods sake, the bond was still there, he was still he sire. She still felt nothing for him, not really.
"Damon!" He heard someone yell from outside the window. "Damon open up!"
"Hey." He whispers when he sees Elena outside.
"Hey back." She smiles (the smile that sends wooden bullets into his heart) "Let me in."
"I would, but Stefan and Caroline are downstairs, and I don't plan on seeing them until I'm old and wrinkled." He jokes.
"I though Stefan apologized." She says.
"He did." Damon replied. "I rejected it."
"You rejected his apology?!" She screams. "You're such a weirdo."
"I'm your weirdo." He winks.
"Jump." She says suddenly.
"What?"
"You won't let me up, so come to me. JUMP."
"Out of a window?!" He says incredulously.
"I've done it for you." She smiles.
"Willingly." He reminds her.
"Oh toughen up big boy." She laughs. "You're a vampire."
"I know." He whispers, suddenly appearing right beside her.
"Creep!" She jokes.
"So where to?" He points to the car.
"I was thinking a picnic. Then maybe some 'fun' afterwards." She winks at him.
"Sounds like a plan." He grins, kissing her forehead and letting her into the car.
"You know what's not a plan though?" She waits for an answer but he doesn't reply. "Our future. You haven't answered my question yet."
"What question?" He asks obliviously.
"Not funny." She whines. "I want to be with you... In every sense of the word."
"And you are." He defends. "You don't need a stupid ring or a piece of paper to prove it."
"What is this really about?" She asks. "Is it about that witch... Ivy?"
"She died, Elena." He whispers. "She can't help me now."
"Oh." She says "Well if it's not her, then what? What happened to you? Why does everybody here remember you, except me?"
18 Months Ago.
Begin Again
"I know what you're about to do. Please, don't do this to me." She begged. God I wanted to tell her it was okay. That nothing bad was going to happen. That I wouldn't do this. But I couldn't. She was sired to me. She probably didn't even love me.
It will ALWAYS be Stefan.
"I don't want to do this Elena. I'm not the good guy remember? I'm the selfish one. I do what I want, I take what I want,I lie to my brother, fall in love with his girl, I don't do the right thing. But I have to do the right thing buy you."I yelled,My eyes on the brink of a waterfall.
"Does this feel wrong?" She raised my hand to her chest.
"Elena, don't." I whispered. But i didn't push her hand off.
"Does this feel wrong?" She cupped my face with her hand.
I sighed. She was making this harder than it was supposed to be. But then again, was there an easy way to do this? How am I supposed to break her heart? But I'd only be breaking her heart if she actually loves me. For all I know this could be the sirebond talking. Fuck this.
"Of course not , Elena." I yelled,The cold tone in my voice surprising both of us. "It feels right. It feels so fucking right! But we can't, I can't. I love you but Maybe we just weren't meant to be." God That sounded like a fucking Shakespeare scene.
"Meant to be? What are you talking about Damon? I love you. You know that's true. Please Da-"
"Don't,Elena,Don't."
"Don't what? Don't tell you that I love you? Too late! I love you, Damon! I love you so much it hurts like hell." She yelled.
"Don't make this any harder than it has to be." I whispered.
"No, Damon. If you're going to do this then you should have to live with this!"
"Elena come on."
"Don't Damon. Please Don't!"
I grabbed her hands and pulled her close so that our bodies were touching. "Look at me." I said as I tried to lift her head up so our eyes could meet. She fought so hard that I momentarily considered giving up. "Lena please! Look at me." I held her head up eventually but she still squirmed.
"You're going to go home. You're going to come back tomorrow and patch things up with Stefan. You-"
"Damon Please." She begged as tears began to fall.
"You're going to forget about me. Yo-"
"Damon NO! Pleas I don't want to forget. Please don't make me!" She yelled.
"You're going to forget that I love you. You're going to forget that you loved me. I'm going to leave town and you're going to stay here and be happy." I kissed her forehead and stared straight into her eyes. "Because that Elena. That is what I want. That is what will make me happy. I'm setting you free"
"I gotta go." She gestured to the door with a baffled look on her face after a few seconds.
I watched her leave. If I had a penny for every time this girl walked out on me I'd be a fucking billionaire.
I couldn't stand to stay any longer so I did what I said I'd do. I left. It hurt like hell. But knowing Elena would be happy was what kept me going. Karma's a bitch.
6 Months ago.
Now here I am. Playing that scene on loop in my head for the billionth time today. Just like I have every day since then. It's been about a year. I still check in on her. Her and Stef didn't get back together because my brother is too much of a good guy to do that. Damn Stefan and his brooding.
I swore I wasn't going to come back but Stefan called to say something's wrong with Caroline. God I swear if that chic is sired to me too I'm going to kill her. Because she never listened to me. EVER.
I've still been searching for a way to break the bond. I know Elena will probably go crawling back to Stefan because it'll always be Stefan but still... There's a part of me hoping that what she said that day is the truth. Because that's me.
Damon Salvatore,Optimist since 2011.
As I reach the steps to the boarding house I wonder if this is the right thing. I'm sure Blondie will manage without me.
But it's too late. Because I just saw her. Her long brown hair flowing straight down her back. Her doe eyes watching me. For a second I think she actually knows who I am but then that fades with her next statement.
"Hey I'm Elena! Are you lost?" She asks me as if I'm a little child standing in the center of a mall.
"No, actually I'm here to see my brother." I say. "And it's very nice to meet you Elena."
"You're Stefan's brother?" She asks as she stares straight into my eyes.
"Yep." I smirked. "Unfortunately!" She gently swatted my arm. For jut a millisecond it was as if time had frozen and we were back to the way things were before all this "sire bond" crap. Then that moment ended.
She rang the bell again and then turned to face me. "Is he usually so slow?" I joked. She gave me a smile.
"He doesn't mention you much." She whispered.
"Well Stefan's not one to brag." I smiled remembering the first time we met as she giggled a little. Things were so much simpler back then.
I was the brother here to destroy everything, in search of Katherine. Stefan was the one. He always was. It always going to be Stefan and only Stefan. And Elena? God she was just as perfect as she is now.
As if on cue Stefan opened the door.
Elena walked in and gave him a hug. What happened to not being in a relationship?
"You didn't tell me your brother was coming to town!" She said.
"Sorry must've slipped my mind." He said as he gestured for me to come in.
"Wait you didn't tell me what your name was." She turned to face me with that goofy little smile of hers.
"You didn't ask." I smirked. She started blushing and I decided to stop teasing her. " I'm Damon."
She smiled." It's really nice to meet you, Damon."
You have no idea.