Elena's breath appeared in front of her. She shook her head. It was supposed to be spring and she could see her breath! She huffed out another cloud and snorted. Ridiculous.
She heard an owl hoot and shivered. It was dark, and cold, and she was walking alone. Ever since she learned about the things, the monsters that could be out there, that are out there, these situations seemed even stupider to get yourself into. It's bad enough on the human side of things, what with the creeps and freaks, let alone knowing...let alone walking to one of the monsters.
Damon. Elena's teeth clenched and her heart pounded, her entire being tensed. She hated him. The only reason she was coming was for some answers and maybe to kill him. Her hand gripped the stake she held even tighter. Stefan had given it to her when Damon showed up. She never thought she'd ever use it, ever want to use it. Learning someone killed your birth mother, and you'll never ever get to meet her changes a girl. Amazing, who would have figured? The bragging really hadn't helped either.
Elena cried out as she tripped and fell. Stupid car was totaled. Stupid Damon is a killer. Stupid hands for scraping. Stupid me for crying. She stopped walking when she felt a hot tear drip to her mouth. It was salty. Her hands stung, but they didn't hurt as much as the image of the mom she would never meet.
She picked up the stake she'd dropped. More hot tears fell. She tried to keep walking, but she only stumbled, her tears so blurred her vision. With a frustrated cry, she swiped at her cheeks with the hand that didn't hold the stake. She was going to be strong. If she had to be. She was scared. Scared of never seeing her mom, scared of Damon, but mostly scared of what she really wanted. He was changing who she was. She would never kill someone before, but this was her mother! How could he--? Elena threw her stake in the woods. She wasn't going to let him change do this to her. She'd show him the Ice Queen and freeze him, even as her anger burned through her.
Not for the first time Elena wondered why Damon had called. She had just gotten home after Stefan told her he would go investigate that man that just stepped in front of that bus. She got under the covers of her bed and curled up. She just wanted to sleep, sleep and forget the world. But she couldn't. She kept thinking about the way Damon had mocked Alaric. It was like he had done that to her, staring straight in her eyes as he talked about drinking her mother's blood. Then, as if he could feel her hatred, her sadness, he called. Almost, it had seemed, just to make it worse. "Elena, I-I did something bad. I need your help, please. Please, Elena." When she had heard his voice her anger crested. After a short pause, when she had calmed enough, she told him to wait for her.
She wanted to ask him why. She wanted to make him feel pain, feel her pain. That was not who Elena Gilbert was, and Damon was responsible.
Now here she was, at the Salvatore mansion, hand poised to knock. Suddenly, she felt a moment of deep reluctance. She'd just go home and-oh.
Damon stood there in the open doorway, leaning heavily against the frame. The smell of booze hit her so strongly that she almost took a step back. She found she couldn't, though, as he leaned towards her in a way that looked like he was falling, but instead just crushed her to him. It felt incredibly dangerous, as she had rocked back from his weight and he had stayed in that leaning position with her.
"Oh, Elena, I'm so sorry. I never killed her. She just begged and I didn't know what to do and I didn't know you would be hurt! I didn't even know you existed! I-I'm just sorry."
"What?" Elena tried to pull herself from him. "My mother-"
"She's alive, she's not dead!" Damon pulled away from her and out of their leaning position. His hands held her shoulders and he looked into her eyes. "I changed her." His voice slurred a little, but that barely registered with Elena.
"Where is she? Why did she beg-" Elena couldn't continue because Damon had all but fallen on her. She put her hands on his shoulders and did her best to steady him. When she looked into his face she saw that his eyes were unfocused and the blue less visible than usual. He had flushed and slightly sweaty skin. And he stunk! Her eyes actually watered.
"Alright, alright, I see what you mean about needing help." Elena said as she moved closer so that she was under one arm, lending him support.
"What are you talking about?" He made a face as they walked into the house from the porch. Well, Elena walked, he stumbled.
"What do you mean, 'what am I talking about'? You called me. Geez, you must be really hammered." Elena grunted as they made their way into the parlor towards the couch.
"I think I'm sobering. That light is killing me."
Elena reached out and shut the light off, but since the fire had died, it was too dark for her to see, so she turned it back on at a dimmer setting.
"I'm a vampire, Elena." Damon complained, placing one hand over his eyes.
"Well, I'm a human, Damon, and humans can't see in the dark." Even so, she dimmed it a little more. Elena was a little out of breath. It was hard supporting drunken vampire jerks. She tried to concentrate completely on the couch. She was just barely able to make out the outline of it in the dim light.
"Oh, yeah, sorry." Damon managed to utter before his strength gave out.
Elena knew she wouldn't have been able to catch him with all his weight,so it was a good thing they right next to the couch and Elena only had to push him in the general direction of the couch as he fell. He landed on his stomach with his legs over the edge.
"Oh, on my stomach, not good, not good." He tried to flip himself over, but ended up just lifting his feet onto the cushions and managed to get his head dangling off the side. "A little help here?" He asked indignantly.
"I don't want you to puke and end up choking because you're on your back and can't move."
"Vampires don't puke." Damon shot back, but after made a sound that sounded suspiciously like gagging.
"I didn't think vampires could get drunk either, and..." Elena just looked him over. He scowled.
"Easiest way is to eat someone with alcohol already in their system. Next is to mix a little blood with a little booze. Then, of course, there's always the drink every last drop of Stefan's fine alcohol collection method." Damon waved his hand to the side of the couch.
Elena then noticed the empty crystal bottles strewn across a table next to the end of the couch near Damon's head. There had to be at least 10 empty bottles, save one that had just a little amber liquid left.
"How did that happen? Missed one..." Damon groaned and reached for the last sip, but Elena got to it first.
"C'mon, Elena, I'm coming to. Besides, wouldn't you love to see the look on Stefan's face when he realizes there's puke on his fancy settee?"
"Thought you said vampires couldn't puke?" Elena grinned at Damon's glare. He made a swipe for the liquor, but Elena evaded his had. "Ha, I'm faster than a vampire!" Elena teased, dangling the heavy bottle over his head at eye level.
"A smashed vampire, maybe." Damon made another swipe for it but missed.
"Swing and a miss!" Elena laughed. "Thought you said you were sobering." Her grin grew, and she held the bottle a little closer to his head.
All of a sudden, Elena's feet no longer held her up and two arms supported her at the back of her knees and under her arms. Then Damon, obviously dizzy from the sudden movement, fell, with Elena beneath him. Thankfully, he took most of the impact oh his wrists so she didn't get hurt. He groaned and rested all his weight on her. His head rested on the floor between hers and her shoulder. It took Elena a while for her to adjust her breathing because she wasn't really used to having people just collapse on top of her.
"See, I'm still a vampire, you can't beat me." He said it lightly and it was a little muffled by the floor. He didn't make any move to get up. Elena smiled as she stared at the ceiling.
"Uh huh. Can you even stand up, Damon?" Elena wasn't sure how she'd get up, but she wasn't worried yet.
"Wow, you didn't spill it." Damon made yet another move for the miraculously unchanged booze.
She could feel him smile against her. She should probably be worried about his mouth being so close to her neck, but when she turned her head it was only to escape his crazy-strong liquor-laced breath. She screamed when her eyes met those of the body lying near the fireplace.