This is for the 2014 LiveJournal Author 2 Author exchange for a prompt by nicole_baka. I hope you enjoy this and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Please review and let me know what you think. There will be one more exchange story coming in the next day or so, just putting the finishing touches on it.
"You will leave, even if you don't want to." He hissed at me and I stared at him stubbornly. What could he honestly do to me? There were only two things in my life right now that I needed to live and neither were things that he could take from me. "You know what I'm capable of." He hissed and I shook my head refusing to let him intimidate me. I had dealt with this man every year of my life since elementary school.
"What can you do to me? I've already lost almost everything I care about." I told him sitting back relaxing. I knew what he wanted of me and I knew why he wanted me to leave but I wasn't going to.
"My son doesn't deserve happiness. Not after what he did so now you're going to make sure he doesn't get that happiness buy leaving. You will never see my son again. Are we clear?" He demanded of me.
"There is nothing you can do to me Giuseppe. I love Damon and I'm going to continue to love him. I'm going to make him the happiest man alive." I told the bitter older man.
"The way I see it there is one other person you love Elena. You know as well as I do that I can destroy his life quite easily." He said and I knew exactly what he was referring to.
"Giuseppe don't bring Jeremy into this. You know as well as I do that he could go away for a long time if this comes out." I pleaded.
"You know what you have to do Elena to keep that hidden." He told me and I wiped a tear out of my eye.
"You're saying if I break Damon's heart you'll leave my brother alone?" I asked him.
"I'm only after my son's misery." He told me and I nodded.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked.
"Disappear." He said before walking away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3 Years Later
"Are you there yet?"
"Just passed the sign. Are you sure this is a good idea?
"Absolutely. You spent the past three years protecting me. I got a plea bargain, no jail time in turn for turning him in. Giuseppe Salvatore can't do anything to us now. Go find Damon, you still love him."
"I still do but what if Giuseppe finds something else on you?"
"He can't, there is nothing else. Go be happy"
I hung up the phone and took a deep breath. It had taken forever but I finally found him. Jeremy convinced me to come find him now that there was nothing Giuseppe could pin on anyone I love anymore. Jeremy was right, I never stopped loving Damon. When I left I had to change my number and cancel my email address because his messages and calls were killing me. I don't know how long he tried for but I know I broke his heart which was what Giuseppe wanted all along. Mystic Falls, Virginia. He shouldn't be too hard to find in a place like this. It was small and I liked it. It was the kind of place I could imagine the man I love running away too. I drove past a place called the Mystic Grill and decided to stop. It seemed like one of those places where anyone who lived here would hang out. Maybe someone there knew Damon. I parked my car and got out walking inside. I walked up to the bar and sat down not wanting anything to drink.
"Can I help you, young lady?" The man asked me and I smiled.
"Actually I have a question for you. Do you know someone named Damon Salvatore?" I asked.
"Everyone here knows Damon Salvatore." He said to me and I smiled.
"Can you tell me where he is?" I asked hopefully.
"He's due to come in any second actually. He's the only bartender I know who can work drunk. I want to know who broke that boy so bad, I've never seen anything like it. He made it clear that no one is to ask about his past." He spoke and I ached inside.
"He works drunk all the time?" I asked. That didn't sound like the Damon I know and love.
"Not drunk drunk. Just buzzed, it's like he's numbing the pain or something." The man shrugged.
"He's going to be here soon though?" I asked. I needed to see him, I needed to see for myself that he was okay.
"Yeah, he works the night shift. Are you from his past?" He asked and I nodded in response.
"I think there is a distinct chance that I'm the reason he feels the need to be numb." I said sadly. I never imagined this of all things. Damon always had much bigger dreams than being a bartender. He would never have went through life broken like this. I hated the idea that Giuseppe won.
"Well well what have we here?" I deeply familiar voice asked and I shuddered in response.
"Giuseppe. What the hell do you want?" I demanded as he took a seat next to me.
"I should be asking you the same question. What are you doing here?" He asked calm.
"I'm here to fix what you forced me to break." I told him.
"So you stopped caring about your brother's well-being then? All it'll take is one call." He warned me and I laughed humourlessly.
"Jeremy already took care of that call Giuseppe. He turned himself in and got a bargain. All he has to do is turn in the man who got him into that trouble. I just wish it was you." I hissed.
"Mr. Salvatore, what can I get for you?" The bartender asked again.
"Nothing right now. I'm just here to watch my son's misery." He said and the bartender shook his head. I couldn't believe that even now after he won he was still so cruel.
"What the fuck did Damon ever do to you? He's your son." I hissed.
"He took both my son and my wife from me. It's his fault they're gone. I don't miss them anymore, I've dedicated my life to making sure his life is miserable." He shrugged as if he didn't care at all. I knew that man and he wasn't lying. He definitely didn't care.
"Can't you just move on already? Don't you think it's time?" I asked and he laughed and shook his head.
"I won't move on until my son has been as miserable as I have been all this time." He told me and I wanted to punch him. I've wanted to hit him since he ran me out of town three years ago.
"It's the Christmas season Giuseppe. A season of kindness. At the very least just leave him alone." I pleaded and he laughed again.
"I don't think so. There is absolutely nothing in it for me. Why would I do something that has nothing in it for me?" He asked and I shook my head. The man was as selfish and as evil as they come.
"Just know this time Giuseppe there is nothing you can do to run me out of town. I'm not going anywhere this time. My brother is safe and you don't know where he is. There is nothing you can do to me. I am here to put the smile back on your sons face and I'm going to do it. I promise you that. I'm not the same woman I was when I was forced to leave. You're going to figure that out quite quickly." I warned him.
"You're threatening me, young lady?" He laughed and I steeled my gaze. I wasn't scared of him and I wouldn't pretend to be. It wasn't me. There was no way I was going to pretend to be something I wasn't. It was Christmas and I was here to hopefully give Damon back the light he lost when Giuseppe ruined both our lives.
"Look at it how you want Giuseppe. Just don't get in my way when it involves Damon." I warned him with a shrug.
"I don't think I want to see my son today. I'll check in tomorrow." Giuseppe said before standing up and walking away.
"You handled him well. No one speaks to Mr. Salvatore like that." The bartender commended me and I smiled.
"We go way back. I'm not going to let him hurt Damon anymore." I replied. Everyone here needed to know that I meant business.
"Meeting that man every time he comes in here, it makes total sense to me why Damon needs to stay buzzed to get through his life. Christmas can't be easy when you live with a life like that." He said and I bristled.
"Damon doesn't live with him does he?" I asked worried.
"No, he's in an apartment on Maple Street. But Giuseppe is always around making Damon's life miserable. He keeps bringing up a girl who out of the blue decided that Damon wasn't good enough for her. He brings up this girl on almost a daily basis and Damon is depressed and drinking the moment he leaves." The bartender explained and I frowned.
"I'm that girl. I was forced to leave him." I told him and he nodded at me. I wasn't sure if he believed me but that wasn't my concern. I had to convince Damon, that's what was important. As if on cue the door opened and Damon walked in. My gaze locked on his and he immediately shifted his away. That wasn't the man I remember. The Damon I knew would never have wavered his gaze when someone was looking at him. I was frozen to my spot to see how dishevelled he looked. He looked awful and I hated that I was to blame technically.
"Was it busy today?" Damon asked the bartender who shook his head.
"You have company Damon." He told him and Damon shook his head.
"No company of mine. She left." He said and I felt another smaller piece of my heart shatter.
"Will you talk to me Damon?" I asked hopefully.
"Nothing to talk about. You left, I was alone with Giuseppe who takes great pleasure in the fact that my life sucks. Nothing else to say." He said stepping behind the bar.
"You don't understand. I didn't leave you." I insisted. I had to get him to believe me.
"Sure you didn't. I've been here alone and miserable for three years because you didn't leave me. Makes a lot of sense Elena. This will be the fourth Christmas since you left and you expect me to believe that you didn't leave me?" He scoffed. He may be acting aloof but I can see the pain in his eyes. It was hurting him to have me here and I hate being the reason he's in more pain.
"You don't understand Damon. Maybe I did leave you but you don't know the whole story. All you know is what you saw. You didn't see everything." I told him.
"You left once, why don't you do it again. You're so damn good at it." He said to me completely shutting me down.
"Just let me talk Damon. If you really want me to leave after I tell you the whole story then I will. But I'll tell you the whole truth and hopefully you'll believe me. I should have come find you earlier but I couldn't. It wasn't safe yet." I told him.
"What the hell are you talking about? Not safe?" He demanded.
"I don't want to talk about this here." I told him.
"Fine. I have to work for a few hours but wait here for me, I'll see if I can get off early. You can come back to my place and you can tell me what you want to tell me. When you're done, you can leave and go back wherever you're from so I can get on with what's left of my life." He told me and I nodded. I was sad that he was so closed off. I watched him walk away to talk to the bartender that was on earlier. Damon was shaking his head and the bartender seemed to be trying to make a point. As I watched them I remembered the defeated expression Damon got when he lost something and he walked back over to me.
"So?" I asked.
"Apparently I'm to leave right now with you so we can talk things out. He seems to think you're not lying about abandoning me with Giuseppe." Damon told me.
"I'm not." I promised him.
"I guess we'll see sooner rather than later since you know I'm not working at all today now." He said coming around the bar and waiting for me. I stood up and followed him out of the Mystic Grill. He kept a lot of distance between us and I hated that. We used to not be able to go even thirty seconds without touching. But now it's like he can't get away from me quick enough.
"I'll follow you." I told him and he nodded walking over to the blue Camaro he's driven since he got his license years prior.
When we got to his place a couple of minutes later he let us in and motioned for me to sit on the couch. He went into the kitchen and got himself a beer, I wished he would stay sober for this conversation.
"Do you want something?" He asked me and I shook my head. I just wanted to talk to him but he seemed to be delaying it. It was like he didn't want to hear what I had to say. When he sat down I took a deep breath and turned so I was facing him head on. His gaze wavered from mine again and I was disappointed. It was like he refused to let me see the weakness inside him and he didn't understand that it wasn't weakness. Damon had never been weak, least of all where his father or I was concerned.
"Just hear me out okay." I urged him.
"I really don't want to but I already told you that I would. But before you say anything to me, I have something to say to you. You broke me Elena. It wouldn't have been so bad if you had told me you were leaving. But it was so sudden. I've always wanted to know what I did wrong, but now I find that I don't really care. Without you things with Giuseppe got even worse and I didn't know that was possible. So it doesn't really matter what you have to say because I can't forgive you." He told me and I choked back a sob.
"I'm so sorry Damon. You don't have to forgive me. You just have to know the true story. The morning I left Giuseppe came over. I made the mistake of listening to him. He told me that he would make sure Jeremy got put away for what happened. He threatened me with my brother's freedom Damon, what else was I supposed to do? He told me that if I left he would leave my brother alone. I had to choose my brother's life over you and I can't take that back. He's my family." I told him and he stiffened.
"If that's true, how are you here right now?" He asked and I nodded.
"Jeremy turned himself in a couple weeks ago. They told him that if he reveals who actually pulled the trigger then he was off the hook. It was a drug deal gone wrong and Jeremy is being pardoned for everything because he was a minor. He's on probation but that's it because he didn't actually pull the trigger." I explained.
"And you're saying that Giuseppe threatened you with turning Jeremy in to the police unless you left me behind?" He questioned. His expression was hard to read, I didn't know what he was thinking. Somewhere over the past three years he had gotten good at hiding his emotions from me.
"That's exactly what I'm saying. You can't tell me that it's impossible because we both know Giuseppe." I told him.
"I'm not saying it's impossible. I just don't know how Giuseppe would have found out about that. He's not in with the drug crowd that I know for a fact." He told me and I understood what he was saying.
"I have no idea either, I just know that he did it. Had I wanted to leave you, I'm pretty sure I would have moved on by now. But I haven't, there's never been anyone else Damon." I whispered and the tears were building up. This wasn't going well. He may have listened to what I had to say but he wasn't believing me. I could see it on his face. He didn't want to believe me.
"Why should I believe you? You could have contacted me somehow over the past three years. You could have called me and told me what happened but you didn't. My number never changed but yours sure as hell did. You could have told me what was going on but no, you just up and fucking run away. You gather up your brother and you leave nothing behind." He says to me his voice cold.
"Damon I love you. I didn't come back because I was scared for Jeremy. I can't risk his life but now it's okay. He's safe and I need you back." I told him.
"You can't have me back. You did far too much damage when you left." He told me firmly.
"So you're saying there's no hope." I clarified and he nodded his head.
"I wish I could say otherwise but no, there's no hope." He said but I could see the pain in his eyes. He was feeling far more than he said he was. But that didn't ease the pain.
"Alright, I can understand that I guess." I said the tears coming freely now. I had replayed this moment several times but never had I pictured him saying no.
"I'm sorry Elena." He said and I shook my head. He had no reason to apologize.
"I came back for you but its okay. I don't deserve your love. I never have." I said pulling the promise ring off my finger that he gave me right before we graduated high school.
"What's that?" He asked.
"The ring you gave me. You should have it back." I told him placing it in his hand. In three years I had never taken it off, not even for something as simple as doing dishes. It never left my hand hoping that someday there would be a real diamond in its place. I closed the ring in his palm and held it for a second before releasing it and picking up my purse.
I didn't even make it to the door before he was calling for me to come back.
"I'm sorry Damon. I shouldn't have made this even harder than it already is." I said.
"No. Someone who left on their own would not have kept this ring and would not be crying about leaving it behind." He said to me.
"I'm not crying for the ring." I told him sniffling.
"I know that. Someone who made the choice to leave would not be crying right now." He said and I looked up at him, this time he never left my gaze.
"I love you Damon. I have always loved you. I've never stopped." I told him and he pulled me against him, his arms around me and my face buried in his chest. I clutched him to me as tight as I could, not wanting him to leave. I feared that if I let go he would disappear. I couldn't let that happen.
"I love you too. I've never stopped either. No one could take your place no matter how hard I tried." He whispered.
"I thought you said you never moved on." I asked.
"I tried to, but I never could." He whispered kissing the top of my head. I didn't want him to kiss the top of my head. I lifted my head instead and kissed him. I knew he wouldn't because we were both still raw but I needed it. Our lips melded together and our bodies melted against one another. There was no way to tell where he ended and I started but I still needed more contact.
"You can say no if you want. It's not why I'm here but I need more than your lips on mine." I told him. He kissed me once more and pulled away taking my hand in his.
"You're in love with me and I'm in love with you. Let's go to bed." He said to me and I willingly followed him. I was happy that he didn't make me spell it out. I didn't know how to do that. He kicked his bedroom door shut and kissed me again. He picked me up and kissed me hard as he lay me down on the bed. He never stopped kissing me as his hands roamed my body.
"I want you so bad it hurts." I whispered and he kissed me again before pulling away again. This time when he stood up he got rid of his shirt and pants. I mimicked his actions and tossed my shirt and bra to the floor. He was done before me so he pulled my shoes off and undid my pants pulling them down too.
"I've missed you so much." He said to me and I was glad to hear it. I was happy to hear that he missed me almost as much as I missed him. I didn't think it was possible to miss someone more than I missed him. The past three years had been agony. He kissed my lips before kissing his way down my body. He got as far as my belly button before making the return trip back up and kissing my mouth again. When he slid inside me I felt complete again finally. He moved together letting the passion overtake us until we both reached completion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two days ago we finally left the apartment.
"Where do you want to go?" He asked me as our joined hands swung between us as we walked out to his car.
"I didn't get a chance to have a drink the first time I was at that restaurant. Can we go there?" I asked.
"Absolutely. I need the people there to see me happy for the first time." He told me and I smiled and reached up to kiss him. When we got there we both sighed simultaneously as we saw Giuseppe sitting at the bar with a glass of bourbon.
"We can avoid him." I told Damon. I know that any interaction between Damon and Giuseppe usually somehow ended up with Damon being hurt.
"No, I won this time. I want him to know it." He said pulling our joined hands up so he could kiss the back of mine. I smiled and walked over to Giuseppe with Damon. We sat down next to him and Giuseppe looked over at us.
"What have we here?" He asked us with a sneer.
"What does it look like?" I asked him. I was sitting between Damon and Giuseppe, not wanting him to have a chance to hurt him. If I was between them then I could protect him.
"It looks like you're breaking our little arrangement." He said coolly.
"I already told you that there is nothing you can do to me anymore. We've won." I told him.
"We'll see about that." He hissed and got up to leave.
"You didn't have to talk to him." Damon said to me.
"Yes I did. Giuseppe and I had some unfinished business." I told him.
"I'm sure you did. I just don't like the idea of him tainting anything that I love anymore." He said to me.
"He won't anymore. I came back for you didn't I?" I asked him.
"Yes you did and I couldn't be happier." He said back. I smiled and leaned over to kiss him. It was the way it was supposed to be again. Damon and I were together and that's how it would be from now on.