Fear of the unknown

by AvaMae111

Ruby was looking for something, though she had no idea what. Then she met Damon Salvatore...

Ruby sat tapping the pen on the table, she stared at the small scrape marks that she had recently left after biting it; she was so bored.

Why did she have to attend these mind numbingly boring training sessions? Surely her credentials were enough? If she'd been in the UK it wouldn't have been a problem, she could talk the talk and her passion for her job made her compelling, in her last school they had offered her so many different promotion opportunities, but the pull for the bigger world was just far too strong, she knew this.

She had decided that it wasn't enough experience, she had wanted to see the world through different eyes; that's when her friend Izzy had emailed her about this job, it was in the leafy suburbs of Georgia, Atlanta and was completely out of her comfort zone. When she had first read the email she had been taken aback, she had thought back to her travelling days around Vietnam and Cambodia and could think of nothing better than returning to those far off and exotic places. But all those places that she had been had one thing in common, her best friend Izzy had been there to share those experiences with her. She missed Izzy desperately.

When Izzy had met Jackson, Ruby had been so happy for them both, he was the nicest and smartest (though she didn't share this bit) American she had ever met. He was funny, charming, attentive…and more than that, he was her soulmate. When Ruby had realised that she wasn't the only soulmate in Izzy's life she had to admit that she had found it hard. Even though she herself had always been in a relationship she had known Izzy as a bit of a phobic when it came to any type of commitment. When she met Jackson that all went out of the window, suddenly she couldn't wait to settle in America and start a family, this thought had Ruby gagging, for a while she even tried to avoid contact with her. It was too painful to watch her and the many memories they had shared together become just that…memories.

This was the end of something; it wasn't as if they couldn't handle the distance, Ruby had gone to university in Exeter and Izzy had gone to Worcester, the distance wasn't the problem. Ruby knew that this was different, she wanted children, she had been speaking about getting married and where their children would go to school. Izzy was moving on, and for the first time Ruby wasn't on the same page. When the two friends sat together it was if nothing had or would ever change, but it was the unknown that had been killing Ruby. What would happen when she moved to America? What kind of life would she have? Would her friends be totally different? Would she find someone to replace her? She was fully aware of how idiotic and childish these questions were, and she had done everything in her power to stop them from going through her head but she couldn't help it. It wasn't jealousy that had been making her into this awful friend, it was fear…and she finally had to face the truth.

She told Izzy everything, every thought that had gone through her mind about her moving away. Ruby would stop every few breaths to check if she was keeping up, Izzy looked somewhat relieved with the revelations from her best friend. It was almost as if she had been waiting for this, Izzy was just pleased to know that her friend was still there. Both girls spent the entire evening getting drunk on cherry Lambrini and looking through old photos, they were soulmates…in the friendship sense, it's just that now, she had found her soulmate in the relationship sense…Jackson came round to pick her up the next morning, car packed and ready to go. Ruby said her goodbyes and promised to go and visit as soon as they were settled. That had been nearly 2 years ago.

And then she was back. In the boring as shit bonding exercise she had been asked to take part in to get her "acquainted" with American schools and teaching.

"Ok Ruby…your turn!" startled, Ruby looked up and saw that all eyes were on her, she stared at all the expectant faces in the circle. Quickly, she jumped up and shuffled to the centre of the circle. "So, Rob…if you could stand behind her that would be great", although Ruby now had been blindfolded she could hear everything, every cough, every sniff and even the inaudible mumbles of bored as shit teaching staff. "Right Ruby, when you are ready!" the enthusiasm in the head teacher's voice was seriously starting to become grating. She smiled then gave a (slightly OTT and therefore a bit pissy) thumbs up, Rob's hands were on her shoulder; she folded her arms and started to lean back. "That's it Ruby, we should all trust each other in this school" it was a good job that Ruby had the blindfold on as she was inwardly rolling her eyes at this statement. This was going to be painful.

Ruby eventually made it to the end of the day, just.

When she had said her goodbyes to her new colleagues she walked out of the gates and found Izzy sitting her Prius wearing her sunnies and smiling. "So…how did it go?" she smiled, Ruby tutted "You look like Paris Hilton in those awful things, take them off!" she laughed as she got in on the passenger side. Izzy was 7 months pregnant and had fully embraced motherhood, when Ruby had first arrived in the states she had been terrified of seeing Izzy's bump, it would be another thing to remind her how things had changed. But when she had seen both Izzy and Jackson waiting in anticipation for her in the arrival lounge, all doubts were washed away. She looked amazing, so content and so happy. When they were on the drive home Izzy looked at Ruby and smiled, "we are so glad to have you here Rubes, you know that don't you?" Ruby put her hand on the shift stick and smiled "yeah…I know".

Chapter 2

Her first day at school was a blur, she met her new classes and introduced herself to all the other members of staff that she hadn't met yet, some of them seemed a bit wary of the fact that she wasn't American, Ruby had prepared herself for that though, she was a people person; given time she would win them round. She was also introduced to other members of staff that weren't able to make it in for the bonding day, she admired these people; she would have skipped given the choice. One of those individuals that had been introduced in staff briefing made her jaw drop. His name was Damon Salvatore, he was the new history teacher; he was utterly breath taking, she had never (and she feared never will) see an individual quite as striking as he was. Whether you were male or female made no difference, this gentleman was so good looking that Ruby could only allow herself to look for the briefest of moments, terrified that if she looked any longer it would seem as if she was gawping. This would have been the truth. He was average height, but as far as average…this was far as it went, he had dark hair and illuminating skin, it was flawless. His face is where he was ridiculously above average; his eyes were the brightest blue she had ever seen, and sitting more than 15 metres away that was saying something. Of course he had perfect features to go along with the rest of the package, all his features were well proportioned, his smile was unnervingly beautiful and sinister at the same time. Ruby wondered how many helpless women had fallen victim to that, she shuddered, the man she was partially looking at was too perfect, too beautiful…there had to be a catch.

She was considering what this could possibly be when she heard her name called, startled she tried to get up as quickly and as gracefully as possible, this is not how it translated to the rest of her colleagues, she managed to knock at least 2 cups of coffee over and while mouthing silent "sorries" she also stood on someone's bag. This is not going well, she thought once she finally made it over to where Jane the head and her new colleague Damon was standing she took a few short sharp breaths; Jane smiled widely "seeing as you're both new I've decided that you can share an office, somewhere where you can share your ideas" Damon's glance was now re-directed towards Ruby, his eyes were wide and focused on hers. "Sharing space, should be fun" his eyebrows raised while smirking at her. Ruby swallowed hard; did he just make a dirty comment? Or had she imagined him wagging his eyebrows at her? She was sure she hadn't made that up, she coughed and nodded, "lovely" was the only word that she could muster. As the bell for first class went, she found herself at the front of a foreign classroom, she should feel at home, this was a space that she usually owned, this morning's conversation with Mr Salvatore played on her mind, just what kind of teacher was he? She had no doubt that he must be intelligent and articulate, even on the odd occasion that she had walked past him after the briefing, he seemed to have all of the members of staff (male and female) eating out of his hand. All of a sudden she realised that if she was going to do well in this place she was going to have to raise her game and if Mr Salvatore was anything to go by it was going to be by a substantial amount.

The classes were off to a good start, she had prepared slides and brought food from the UK, the students seemed impressed by the presentation of her travels and the souvinirs that she had displayed at the back of the classroom. And so the first day seemed to pass without many hiccups, there was the odd issue with translation, even though all of her students spoke English like she did there were the odd words that threw her. But Ruby was anything if not persistent and any words that may have evaded her the first time rarely escaped her the second time. Over the next few weeks she spent hours painstakingly planning her lessons, making sure she didn't miss out anything, the relationships with the students was such an important part of the job, being in a foreign country only intensified the fear she had of fucking it all up. While she had spent so many hours slaving away on her lesson plans and activities, she had let the social side slip, she spent every evening sat tapping away at her tiny netbook in the office she and Mr Salvatore were meant to be sharing. It had been 6 weeks and she hadn't seen him in there once, she had sent two or three students along to borrow things such as pens and paper to find out what they had been doing in the lessons. The students feedback surprised her somewhat, one day the students had been playing rockband on the X-box and on another occasion they had been watching Batman- The Dark Knight. She wasn't sure how exactly this covered any significant part of the History syllabus; she had been snooping. She was ashamed of this, but the thought of Damon just charming his way through teaching just made her blood boil.

She had paused briefly to finish her packet of Cheetos and finish off her banana when the unexpected happened, Damon came into the office, and he glanced over to Ruby and gave a half smile. Ruby; who was surprised by his sudden appearance smiled back, Damon suddenly pointed to the side of his mouth which made Ruby frown, "you've got Cheeto there, I thought best to mention it, unless you were planning on saving it for later?" she saw the now infamous eyebrow move. She had heard some of the girls say he was able to control a whole class just through the use of his eyebrows, she quickly covered her mouth with one of her hands "but of course" she responded while scraping the traitorous Cheeto off her face. Damon looked round the small office, he could tell the difference between which parts were being used, he looked at where Ruby had set up office, there were books and boxes of paper everywhere, he smiled when he saw that she had begun to alphabetise her books but then had seemed to have lost interest when she had got "S". He saw that his desk was empty, his drawer was empty, his calendar was empty; he looked over his shoulder to see Ruby watching him.

"This is your first visit in here isn't it?", it sounded more of a statement rather than a question, without turning in her direction Damon responded, "some of us are just gifted teachers Ruby", it sounded snarky and she took it that way.

"Do you mean there are teachers who have to work hard because they are not as gifted as you?", she could hear her tone become more course,

"That's not what I said, you take things too seriously…", he still didn't look in her direction, only sat himself down in his chair, "What? Like my job?...I'm sorry, I was under the illusion that it was important to take it seriously…", he was winding her up on purpose and she was falling for it hook, line and sinker. She had heard many stories in the last few weeks, that he had been turning up late to his classes, that he had slept with at least 4 female members of staff and the surprising thing was…well, none of it DID surprise her. In fact she had been quite upset that he had lived up to the lothario stereotype so well, she sighed loudly. She was tired, she wasn't on her game; otherwise she would have kicked his arse at smart comments; so instead she began typing again, loudly.

Damon; who's desk was directly opposite to hers spun around like an evil genius, it surprised her just how much of the evil genius quota he covered. With his arm on the rests he watched her, she didn't need to look up to know that he was grinning at her, he knew that he was winding her up and he was loving every second of it. "Ruby", he whispered more gently than she could have anticipated, fuck it! He was good…he was unpredictable AND beautiful, she looked up and even though she had been aware of his watching her, she was unprepared for his intensity. His eyes met with hers and she found it difficult to think of anything to say, let alone a response, so she nodded to show she was listening. "I'm sorry for being mean, its just- been a long day", he had just apologised, she pursed her lips to say something but he continued, "I know how hard it is to be the newbie, to keep up with everyone else, I actually came to see if you wanted to join us for a drink tonight..", "us?" she queried,

"I mean me and some of the others, it's actually a regular thing that we do on a Friday, only you haven't ever left your desk for anyone to ask you", Ruby paused, she had been working so damn hard to make sure that she would be seen as an equal in the work place that she had completely forgot about her social needs, most of her evenings she was in bed by 10 after playing on the Wii with a jumbo sized Izzy and Jackson. Being in a different country had taken more out of her than she ever thought possible. Is she was playing sims hers would have died of loneliness, this was not good.

Ruby looked around her small space in the office, she had written down all the things that she needed to do on a piece of paper, she had put a line through the first one, if she left now when would this all be finished in time for Monday? It was almost as if he had heard her thoughts; "take it home and do it over the weekend, that's what I do" it was Ruby's turn to raise her eyebrows, the smile he responded with was the same one she had seen on him the first day, it was impossible not to smile back. "Can you give me 5 minutes?" she responded, "make it 2 and I will help you pack", all of a sudden Mr Salvatore was in her working space, this made her feel nervous, he had begun to shuffle around some of her books and she ran over and fanned him aside. "honestly, I will be fine! If you could just take that box in the corner that would be great, thanks so much!" she knew that he could sense the panic in her voice but she didn't care, this was her job, that was why she was here…once she had finally packed her bag and the other box she stared at her desk and sighed, she couldn't see her coat, the last thing she remembered was hanging on the back of her chair. "let me" she heard a voice whisper she screamed loudly; "jesus fucking Christ!" she held her hand to her chest, she turned to see Damon standing holding her coat open, ready for her to put her arm through, for the first time since she had met him, his sincerity seemed real. "I'm sorry, you just made me jump! How did you manage to get back here so quick?", he simply smiled and shrugged as he helped her into her jacket, his closeness made her feel different somehow, there was a slight pause before he moved over to pick up the box that was on the table, "no, I will g-" before Ruby could finish her sentence Damon corrected her "No- you will get your bag and get your ass out of this dingy little cupboard", she smiled again, this time it was genuine. Ruby looked down before looking back at Damon who was carrying the box with ease, "Thank you…". He looked at her and smiled "you're welcome", this simple moment had made her think maybe, just maybe, there was more to Mr Salvatore than just his overactive eyebrows.

Chapter 3

When they made it to the bar Ruby began to wish she hadn't bothered, when Damon had told her "we" he hadn't mentioned that it was all the other female members of staff that had never uttered a single word to her since she had started, when she told Izzy about them she called them the "powder puff girls", they were all blonde, all immaculately dressed, all perfect makeup, all American California girls, two of them were cheerleading coaches, one of the others was the school counsellor, the Geography teacher as well as 3 teaching support staff, all of whom flocked round Damon like a bad smell. Ruby suddenly felt very, very lonely, she wished Izzy was here, these were the kind of girls that they would have torn to shreds over a glass of cherry Lambrini, Damon shouted her name, pulling her out of her daydream, "so what will it be Miss Red?" she shook her head, looked around her, something strong if she was to make it through tonight in one piece "Vodka…make it a double", he laughed, "feisty, I like it", looking round at all the other woman who were now staring holes in the back of her head Ruby slowly made her way through the crowd and took a seat on a nearby stool, she had noticed that all the girls had shuffled up so that she couldn't sit anywhere near them. "Miss Ruby! Here we are!" Damon had walked straight past the table of girls who had suddenly shifted to make enough room for him to sit, she wasn't going to making friends any time soon…he slid her drink over and leaned on his elbows.

"So? You're English?" it was a statement rather than a question, it was quite loud in the bar so Ruby had to follow every answer with a clear physical signal, "yeah, originally from Cornwall", Damon smiled "Do you know the queen or David Beckham?" she scowled; she knew he was trying to make her laugh, she allowed herself to laugh. "David is actually a distant cousin, I've spent Christmas with the Beckhams, and let me tell you; the house isn't as big as it looks…" It was Damon's turn to laugh, he took a sip of his beer. Ruby glanced over at his entourage and frowned, "seriously, don't worry about them, they don't have a cell of personality to rub between them", Ruby smiled appreciatively. She wouldn't tell him this, but she could start to understand why he might be so popular with the ladies, "You from round here then?" she inquired, suddenly wanting to know more. He seemed to pause before he answered, "I am from round here, but its been a long, long time since I have been back", something struck her about the way he had said this, she questioned him further; "how long is long?", she kept her eyes on her drink so as not to appear to enthusiastic, he seemed to ignore the question "is your hair naturally that colour?", she looked up to see his eyes had changed to a dark grey, she nodded compliantly "unfortunately yes" she smiled, it was in fashion now and everyone loved it, but it had been nothing but a curse as a child. "It's a beautiful colour, why would you say that?", she looked at her empty glass, she needed to get another round but was scared that if she left he would disappear on the table with the sea of blondes, "I will get us a drink, same again?" she asked, "I'll come with you, I want to know about this hair thing" and before she had the chance to refuse, she felt his hand pulling hers toward the bar.

When they had managed to get through the swells of people Damon continued with his interrogation, "red hair is awesome, why do you not like it?", Ruby scanned the bar for someone to make eye contact with, nobody seemed to notice her, Damon was stood behind her, still with his arm propped around her. He seemed to notice her difficulty and put his arm gently on her waist to move her so he could get to the bar, his hand on her back made her heart race faster than it had any right to do, but she noticed that as soon as he had made contact to the bar at least three female and one male member of staff had started to make their way towards him. Ruby shook her head and laughed, at least he had his uses, he leaned over to her ear to whisper, "Tequila? I'm in the mood to forget today, I don't know about you", Ruby had no intention of getting drunk, she hardly knew her way around the city, she could just about make it from her house to the school, but something in his words made her pause, he sounded…lonely, and she, more than most…could understand how that felt. "Fuck it, why not?" he smiled down at her and raised his eyebrows; she sensed that he was just as surprised at his reaction as she was.

After they had downed the first shot Ruby decided to try and get to know more about the mysterious Mr Salvatore, but he beat her to it "So what brings you to Georgia? and dont try and tell me that it's the scenery!" she smiled. "Ever thought to yourself that you need a change of scenery?", she questioned, he responded honestly "you have no idea..." he whispered. Ruby looked at him with intreague and this was obviously something that he could sense. He took the two remaining shots and drank both "neither of us are drunk enough for THAT conversation...let me get the next round in", he leaned over her and smiled at one of the bar maids, three of them appeared at once, he turned and wagged his eyebrows "bet that never fails does it?" he laughed at the fact Ruby had called him on his flirtations with the barmaids "works like a charm every time!", Ruby found herself laughing, and for the first time in a long time it felt real.

Four lots of shots later and they were still standing at the bar, Ruby was beginning to feel the effects "I hated it as a child, it was- it was a curse, but now it's the fashion and all of a sudden people love it", they had already moved through several topics and had now arrived on the colour of Ruby's hair, "is it why you are called Ruby?" he asked with sincerity. "Maybe, I havent ever really thought about it", shrugged Ruby, "I think it looks beautiful" he removed a strand hanging over her face. Sensing that she was staring at his baby blue eyes Ruby quickly turned to the barman and smiled, amazingly he noticed and came over. Could I have two more shots of tequila and a Bud for him and Vodka for me, she looked at Damon clearly now, she saw that his eyes, however beautiful they were kept him disconnected. He looked back at her and gave a wry half smile, Ruby asked him another question "so Mr Salvatore...those girls over there, how many have you slept with?" the drink was having the desired effect, inhibitions were non-existent. He paused and looked over his shoulder before leaning in "five, but who's counting?" Ruby choked on her shot, "d-d-did you just say five? Are you fucking serious!", Ruby realised that she was shouting, she looked around her and sucked on an ice cube to stop further bursts. Damon swallowed both his shots before holding both hands up in a mock defeat. "Why are you asking me about how many girls I've slept with Ruby?" he didn't seem offended, he looked at her intently enough to warrant an answer, "because you are the talk of the staffroom", again…tact nil, she bit her lip before daring to make eye contact. He actually looked amused, she couldn't understand it, "why do you look so pleased with yourself?" Ruby's tone was outraged; this only made him smile more, "you really want to know about my personal life?" was his response, she saw his eyes darken. Ruby felt that she was starting to spiral into a place she really didn't want to be, "no…I, I'm sorry, it's none of my business, I shouldn't be so rude I-", he leaned in and whispered in her ear "If you want to fuck me Ruby, all you need to do is ask", her reaction was instantaneous, she jerked her head away and pushed him backwards. She looked at him with as much contempt as she could muster and pulled herself and her bag away from the bar, without looking back she stormed outside of the bar and struggled to catch her breath.

Minutes went by as she searched around her bag for her mobile, she tipped the contents onto the floor to locate it, it wasn't in there "fuck!" she silently whispered to herself. "Looking for this?", she heard his voice behind her but desperately didn't want to look at him right now, she spun on her heels and looked directly at the phone he was holding, she stomped over to him and tried to snatch it out of his hand. Not allowing her to escape that easily; Damon exploded "What the fuck is your problem? I thought we were having a good night!" he yelled at her, this made her angrier, "We WERE having fun until you turned into a fucking slime ball, ugh! If I want to fuck you? Seriously? Does that work? Seven girls fell for that shit? What the fuck?" she was at boiling point. "You were so nice tonight, funny, articulate, smart…funny!" fuck her fucking stupid drunk brain, she wanted to go home, she didn't want to argue with a man this beautiful and disgusting, he made her want to wretch.

Damon had obviously reached a new level of angry, his eyes were dark and his face was tight, "I thought…", he paused, Ruby couldn't resist adding on, "you thought what? That because I don't have any friends you could buy me a few drinks and FUCK me? Do I seem the type that would do that?" she felt her voice become shaky; this was fast becoming a nightmare. Damon's voice became softer "I thought you were lonely, like….I was lonely", she knew that this statement had cost him a lot to make, but she also knew that he had put on this act to charm her, none of it had been real. He didn't want to be her friend, he had no real interest other than sexual gratification. All of a sudden she felt very sad, "I am lonely Damon, but what I would have really liked is a friend, someone who wants to talk to me…not a quick fuck to make me feel better for one night. I have no friends Damon, none… at that place and you took-advantage of that, please give me my phone and let me go home" by the time she had finished the last word the emotion was tearing through her voice, she really, really wanted to cry but she didn't think that it would have made any difference. He seemed dejected enough. He handed her the phone and looked at her, the lifeless eyes that focused on her were filled with something that took her breath away, she suddenly felt a pang of guilt for leaving him, but she turned and started to walk down the street; "good night Ruby" he called, she glanced over her shoulder and continued walking without saying a word.

Chapter 4

When Ruby woke up on the Saturday she felt like she had been run over by a truck, she glanced at her clock and it read quarter past eleven, she groaned and threw the pillow over her face, last night's events were a bit hazy but she was still fully aware of how everything had gone down. The thought of Damon and his proposition was enough to propel her out of bed and into the shower, she rubbed her head angrily, just who did he think he was? More importantly who did he think she was? All these angry thoughts were enough to have her massaging her hair for at least 20 minutes, and then once more because she hadn't rinsed out all the soap from the first vigorous head massage. When she was getting dressed she heard her phone buzzing on the dresser, she walked over to where it was, the only two people she knew and had numbers for in Georgia were Jackson and Izzy and a few of their friends just in case she needed someone and they weren't available. This narrowed down the field as to who it could possibly be, though she was surprised when she opened the message reading from Damon…her heart began to thud.

I was a jack-ass last night, and you bore the brunt of that. Please let me make it up to you, Coffee this afternoon at 3? Please say yes….Damon xo

Every bone in her body was screaming at her to tell him to get lost but the smart part of Ruby's brain reminded her that they worked together, they would see each other every day, they shared an office; it was important to move forward. She began to text back, nothing more than was necessary;

Ok, will meet you at Starbucks on falls ave. Ruby

He responded almost instantly;

Thank you for meeting me, I appreciate it xo

She began to think back to last night, she didn't remember taking his number, it must have been something he had done while she was in the bathroom, this proceeded to make her even angrier, make it up to her? Well…he was going to have a struggle doing that.

Once it had got to 2pm Ruby made her way down to her car and started to get in, she received a phone call, it was Izzy,

"How was last night then?", there was a long pause before Izzy spoke again, "really? That bad? Did the two of you?" Ruby shrieked, "NO! hell no!, but that's obviously what he had in mind, he told me that if I fancied a fuck all I needed to do was ask!" her voice had been high pitched all the way through this statement, this seemed to add the comical factor with Izzy, she burst out laughing. "Iz, its really not funny…I'm on my way to meet him now and sort this whole mess out!", Izzy stopped and coughed to try contain herself, "just be gentle Rubz, you know that men are a different species, they think in a different way to women", Ruby sighed, she hadn't told her how lonely she had felt recently, Ruby and Jackson had their own life and friends and the last thing she wanted to do is put on them, they had enough to think about with a baby that was due to arrive any time soon. Ruby looked at the time, "I will drop by and fill you in on everything on my way back, bye iz" and with that she got into the car and made her way to Starbucks. She could see him sat on a bench looking nervous, this is one emotion that she would have never tied with what she knew of Damon, it seemed that he was full of surprises. When he saw her approach he got up and started to walk over to her, he was smiling, it was of relief (she thought) that she had turned up. She was right. "Am I glad to see you! I didn't think that you were going to show", he looked nervous but she wouldn't let him off the hook that easy. "well, you said we needed to talk so here I am", he sensed the hostility and ushered her inside, once they had their coffees they sat upstairs in the corner, away from anyone that could hear, Damon stared at his coffee before breathing heavily.

"Look. What happened last night was…", Ruby filled with anger again from the night before interrupted "was awful, embarrassing, hurtful…" she trailed off realising she was being rude.

"all of the above", he gave a half smile, "I am really sorry for making you feel…like that, it wasn't my intention", this was coming from a place that he hadn't been before, she sensed it wasn't common for people to refuse Mr Salvatore. She interjected "what you said last night, made me…think…feel…bad, I don't want to be made to feel like that again", he could hear the trepidation in her voice, he placed his hands over hers.

"I will never treat you like that again, I want us to be friends, I mean-if you want to be friends?", this was the first thing he had said that made her smile, when he saw this he mirrored her smile while holding her hands tightly. When Ruby took her hands away to drink some of her coffee she decided to take her coat off, it made her look less like she would bolt any second, and she figured that he had earned that from his apology, noticing her act more comfortably made Damon relax, his shoulders fell and he moved back onto the sofa. "Do you know that you are the first woman in living memory to turn me down?" he raised an eyebrow to show his light heartedness, Ruby rolled her eyes, "what? You are telling me that Mr Salvatore hasnt heard the word NO before? Even from the blonde brigade? That's insane…" Damon laughed "blonde brigade? You make them sound like a team of fire fighters!", his chuckle was infectious, "Can you imagine leaving them in charge of a fire? Dear god there would be nothing left of the city!" Ruby could see Damon's guard was falling, now she had been moved out of the "fuckable" pile, she felt safe that she and Damon might actually just manage to have a friendship.

Chapter 5

Over the next few weeks things began to change, Damon now spent a lot more time in the office with Ruby, at least two out of the five days they would have lunch together in the office, they would talk about what the students were like, their interests outside work and why they had become teachers. Ruby even felt confident enough to tell him about her past and the real reasons for her moving to America, about the fear of losing her best friend as well as the fear that she will never find the same level of happiness. It was deep, some of the conversations took on a more superficial element, Damon even found himself telling her about his pulling technique; "so you literally act like a nice guy for a couple of hours and then turn into a prick?", Ruby was muttering in between mouthfuls of Cheetos, "kind of- it's more about making the woman feel that she is important, letting her do the talking…" Ruby paused and looked at him, "is that what happened the first night we went out?", Damon frowned…he didn't want her to keep throwing that back at him, he was sorry and he wanted to move on, "look…Rubz I said I was sorry", he looked annoyed. Ruby threw her hand up in protest, "NO! I just wondered…was that your technique? I wasn't trying to make you feel bad!" This was a half-truth, part of her really didn't mean it as a reminder but there was part of her that really wanted to know why he had thought of her that way. Damon mulled this over while drinking his Fanta, he pulled his chair so that they sat directly facing each other, "you, we—are…different" he looked around the room as though it hid the right words, "you and me, we have something. An understanding. I'm not quite sure why but for the first time in a while I found somebody that understands; for some reason you get me", Ruby had become transfixed, she stared into his eyes trying to think of something, anything, to say. For a few seconds he returned her glances but he started laughing, Ruby was suddenly back in the land of the living and cocked her head to the side, not really understanding what was funny; Damon pulled out his phone and grinned "say Cheeto!" and the flash went off, Ruby started brushing her face and mumbling in protest. "If that photo shows up anywhere God help me Damon, I will kill you!", he was laughing loudly now, something that she hadn't heard from him before, when he caught her watching him he stopped and smiled, "I like this, what we have. It's…nice", Ruby instinctively touched his knee "I like this too…I'm glad we're…friends", she wasn't sure why she had paused on the word friends but she was positive that apart from Izzy and Jackson, life would be pretty sucky without Damon Salvatore.

It was Friday again and she couldn't go and see Izzy and Jackson, not after the arrival of Harley, he was taking up all of their time. Ruby found herself at odds with what to do, so she thought she would ask Damon; "are you free tonight?" she made it sound casual, she was becoming more and more aware of herself around him and she didn't understand why. Sure, he was beautiful but she would hear about his latest conquests after every weekend. She had no idea how his sex drive could be so high. She continued down the uber casual thread "I mean, if you have an orgy or a gang bang planned not to worry", she saw his lips curl into a smile in the corner of her eye, they had been for many coffees and out for tea since that fateful night but neither of them had been out together drinking, would this be a disaster?, she thought that the friendship was solid enough to survive alcoholic behaviour. "Sure, I don't have any particular plans…I only really see those…plans on a Saturday evening anyways", Ruby smiled in contentment, but hid her face so Damon couldn't see. "So, where are you proposing we frequent?" he did his eyebrow thing, just to get a TUT from Ruby. It worked. "I hear there is a really good band playing at Mama Caas tonight if you want to check it out?" Damon nodded, "ok then…should I meet you there say…seven?", Damon looked confused; "I thought we were going to just get some food straight after work, couldn't we just go straight there, seems silly just going home. Unless…you wanted to get changed? But it's only me. There's no need." Ruby felt herself blush, she didn't want Damon to think that she was getting changed just for him so she lied, "well, I've been single for a while now and I wanted to start looking for someone…" the whole sentence made her feel uncomfortable, it seemed to have the same effect on Damon. "oh…so we are on the hunt for a man are we? Don't you have female friends that would be much more efficient than me?" he was waiting for a response. "um…yeah, do you know what you're right? It's probably better I do this with the girls!" she looked everywhere apart from at Damon, "So tonight's a no then?" Damon asked, looking directly into her eyes. "yeah.." Ruby tried not to sound too gutted "I guess so".

When Ruby got home, she texted all the people that she had made as contacts in the past few months, most of them were Izzy and Jackson's friends but she felt that she needed to get out of the house, she had come too close to ruining a perfectly good friendship with the one person that has been the one constant over the past 3 months. Whether she liked it or not, Damon meant much more to her than even he was aware, she was so angry at herself for feeling anything other than friendship. It was definitely for the best that were not seeing each other while they were drinking, she wasn't sure if she could control herself around him. Her phone buzzed, great! Izzy's friend Caroline was up for going out, she was one of Izzy's work friends and she was a really cool girl, she would definitely have a fun night with someone like her. It was seven and she heard the car beep outside, she looked in the mirror one last time, her green dress was shorter than she would have liked but if she was going to come home with someone tonight it needed to show what they would be missing. She closed her eyes and tried to shake the image of Damon touching her, she wanted this friendship, it was solid, it was good for both of them…she wouldn't be the one to ruin it. She ran out to the cab that was waiting for her.

By the time Caroline and Ruby made it to Mama Caas they had had a few cocktails, Ruby was having a great night, this was just what she needed, to let her hair down and try, even just for one evening, not to think about Damon. The band seemed to be pretty popular and there were a lot of crowds of people but luckily Caroline found a table for them to sit at "right, my round…same again?" Caroline winked and smiled "you know it Miss!" Ruby liked Caroline and knew that this would be someone she would make much more of an effort with, "cool, back in a minute!" she managed to push her way through the crowds to the bar. She remembered some of Damon's skills, she leaned over the bar and smiled at any male barman that caught her eye, three of them came over at once, Damon would have been impressed she tutted at herself for thinking of him, "good work red"…the whisper in her ear made her knees go weak, she felt his hand wrap round her waist and pull her tightly, "you look…really…beautiful", his hand swept the hairs around her ear, without looking she let her head fall back onto his chest. When she opened her eyes and turned round she looked into his eyes, a bolt of electricity coursed through her.

When he gave her a lazy smile, she knew that all those women that he took home would have no clue about how many different smiles he had or even which ones were real or not. This one was most definitely real, and there was something in his eyes that she hadn't seen before, she put it down to the alcohol they had obviously consumed, smiled back "what are you doing here Salvatore?" she tried to sound disinterested, but it was no use, her body moved into his, she was losing control very quickly. He leaned in closer, almost touching noses "well someone mentioned that there was a great band playing tonight, I decided to check it out" she could smell the whiskey on his breath, his eyes kept dipping towards her lips and she looked up accordingly. Ruby suddenly remembered that Caroline was waiting for her at the table, she allowed herself to pull away from the moment she had found herself in with Damon, he too had sensed it but he couldn't bring himself to go and truth be told, Ruby didn't want him to leave, "come and sit with us", it didn't really make sense, she was meant to be on a girls night out but neither of them wanted to let go to whatever was between them, Damon just nodded, something inside him was drawn to this girl, she was different to all the others, he really, genuinely cared about this girl. While Ruby took the drinks Damon kept one hand protectively round her waist.

When they eventually made it to the table Caroline looked pissed, Damon let go of Ruby and went round and sat next to Caroline, he introduced himself and started talking to her,

"Caroline? Are you having a good night?" he waited for her to respond, Ruby watched across the table, she had seen those eyes before, the first night that they had met. So this was his routine? She suddenly felt sick.

The conversation seemed to become so in-depth the two of them had almost forgotten about Ruby's presence, she went to get them another got served quickly and moved her way slowly back to the seats, what confronted her when she returned was not what she expected, both Damon and Caroline had their hands wrapped round each other…looking into each other's eyes, she used this as a chance to go and explore the bar. As she made her way through the crowds, she noticed that it was becoming more and more difficult to move, she held on tightly to her drink. Suddenly, out of nowhere she was pushed sideways; she had spilt her drink all over her dress, when she turned to see what had caused this she was confronted by a heavily inebriated man "watch where you are going you stupid bitch", Ruby was livid "what the- it was you who walked into me you arsehole!" staring straight at the man it became clear that he was not impressed by her fiery response, he started walking towards her and grabbed her wrist and pushed her to the floor.

In the next second Ruby found herself being shoved protectively behind someone with dark features, she quickly reconised the silhouette as Damon's, the man punched Damon, he didn't even flinch. Instead he grabbed the drunken man by the scruff of his shirt and proceeded to lift him inches from the floor. Ruby stared at everyone around her, why was nobody trying to help? everyone seemed oblivious to the situation that she had found herself and Damon in. She could see his expression cloud over in a darkness she had never seen, his eyes were black and he was growling Ruby instinctively pulled on his arm "Damon, he's really not worth it", he was frozen "you. need. to. leave" Damon knew that his anger was suffocating him, it took all of his self control not to tear this cretin apart, it was only Ruby's frantic voice and touch that pulled him back from the edge. He lowered the man down and watched him stumble away as fast as he could, his eyes wide with fear, he looked at Ruby who was just as wide eyed, "are you ok?" he asked, she searched his face for the blackness she had seen just moments before but all she she was presented with was his deep blues that were searching her eyes for answers. He knew she had seen it in him, he knew she couldnt explain what she had just seen, he decided to ignore her questioning looks and play the drunk card "Rubz? Did you hear me? are you ok?, he grabbed her shoulders, she began to shake her head to wake herself out of her daze "um, yeah...I'm just soaked", she looked down at her dress before slowly raising her head to meet Damon's worried expression, "come on, let's get you out of here", he pulled her towards him and shielded her away from any potential trouble, he was running on adrenaline and he wasnt taking any chances, he needed to get her out of here and fast.

Chapter 6

Once they made it outside Ruby looked around "where's Caroline?", Damon held onto her hand as a way of calming her, "she's fine, she decided to get a cab home. She was feeling a bit...light headed", Ruby nodded, it seemed like a sensible idea to go home, she began to walk across the road, she heard a loud beep; Damon pulled her onto the pavement "WHOAH! have you got a death wish or something tonight?" he pulled her face to look at his. Ruby had no idea what was wrong with her, it was a comination of alcohol, fear, confusion and tiredness, had she really seen his eyes go black? Why was he able to lift a fully grown man off the floor like he weighed nothing? and his face...what the hell was that? Damon was fully aware that he was losing her attention, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a cab on the other side of the road, once in he gave the driver Ruby's adress, the tiredness had hit Ruby with a force now, she struggled to keep her eyes open her head slowly lolled onto Damons shoulder. He steadied his breathing, he would get her home safe and she would forget about what she thought she saw tonight, he would make sure of it. He allowed himself to smell the intoxicating scent of her auburn hair and brushed his lips against her head, why did he care so much for this girl? what was it about her that made him like this? He had had many many lovers over a lifetime but this...whatever this may be was so different to what he was used to feeling, and although he would never allow himself to admit it, for the first time in a long long time he was terrified.

When they eventually made it back to Ruby's apartment Damon gave the money to the driver and went to open the door for her to get her out, he offered a hand which she took. He started walking up to her apartment with her and held onto her bag, he kept looking around him, "who are you looking for?" Ruby's strong British twang bought him back to where he was "huh?. Nothing...just checking out your hood" he smiled at her, she finally managed to unlock the door and walked in leaving it open for Damon, but he leaned on the frame; Ruby turned "are you going to stand out there all night?" Damon looked at her, then at the floor, Ruby trapsed over to where he was standing and pulled his arm, "for God's sake! Will you hurry up and get in! I'm freezing-" he followed her into the lounge, she pointed at the couch "that is where you will be sleeping tonight", Damon went to speak "nuh-I dont want to hear it, you saved me from certain death tonight so I cook you a Sunday lunch tomorrow!" Damon pushed his hand through his raven black hair, he was going to protest. She could see it, but she wouldnt let him "this is not an offer, I am calling you on friend rule 101 Salvatore...if your friend tells you that you have no choice, you DONT!" he couldn't help but feel the laughter rise in his chest, he finally met her stare and nodded "well, if you're throwing the rule book at me I guess I really have no choice..", Ruby; who was now splayed across the floor trying to remove her shoes wailed in appreciation, she had her bag in her mouth. He looked at her wrestle with the shoe and thought it might be more entertaining to let her carry on, but there was no chance of her winning the battle with the shoe so he intervened "here", he stopped her from moving around and gently held her ankle and slipped her foot out without any problems. She watched him as his hand soundlessly slipped round her next ankle, her lips parted, he pulled the shoe off but did not remove his hand from her ankle.

"This is the second time tonight I've saved you", his voice was soft as he smiled and looked his hands began to massage her ankle, he traced his hand over the painful lines left by the shoes, Ruby did nothing but silently watch. He wasn't making this easy for her, she wanted this friendship to last she cared for Damon, more than she had cared for any male in her life for some time, Damon suddely became aware of what he was doing and pulled himself away back onto the couch "you best get some sleep, those feet look like they might fall off" he winced at how clueless he sounded, but it worked. "Oh. Yeah. let me just..." Ruby jumped to her feet and ran out of the room desperately looking for spare bedding, shit shit shit...where was it? She grabbed the duvet from her own bed as well as a couple of pillows and trundled down the hall, she pushed them onto the sofa, Damon looked confused "wait, isn't that yours?" he noticed the flowery design. "No!" this was the second time today she had lied to him..."honestly I have my own duvet, I'm fine!" he wasn't buying it but she was too embarrassed to dwell on it so she tried to walk out of the room, but tripped over one of her shoes. This is going well she cringed, Damon held his laugh, her nearves around him made him feel slightly less inadiquate, this girl who was worming her way into his cold heart felt something for him, the thought made him smile.

When she was through faffing, making sure he had a drink, was as comfortable as possible she was ready to go to bed. As she left the room he whispered "Goodnight Ruby", he didnt see it but he could hear her smile in the way she responded "Goodnight Damon".

Chapter 7

When Ruby awoke she found her duvet back on top of her bed, she sat up right trying to rack her brains for what had taken place last night, she remembered being out with Caroline, her having to go home early and spending the rest of her night with Damon. Damon. Where was he? without thinking, she jumped out of bed and grabbed a hoodie and shorts...she prayed that Damon hadn't looked at her wearing nothing but a bra and knickers she shuddered at the thought. Just as she had scraped her hair from her face into a ponytail her bedroom door was opened "morning sleepyhead, I've bought us some breakfast", Damon was carrying a tray which had fresh orange juice, croissants, cereal as well as bacon rolls, Ruby wanted to cry. "Oh my God! where did you find the bacon? Ahhh!" she snatched the bacon roll off the tray but quickly realised that there was nowhere for the tray to go, she quickly pushed half of her books off her bedside table, she even flattened out the duvet. Damon put the tray down and walked to the other side of Ruby's bed and got under the duvet "what are you doing?" Ruby looked suspicious, Damon pulled back the duvet on her side and tapped the matress, "get in". Without a second thought Ruby rolled herself back into the bed and grabbed the remote control on the side, she turned the TV on and slowly flicked through the channels, Damon tutted "you're one of those annoying people who cant just choose a channel!" she passed the remote to Damon. "I don't understand American TV, you sort it out".

Once Damon had explained how the remote control and how American TV in general worked they had made their way through most of the contents of the tray, "when did you go get this stuff? I know you didnt find this in my kitchen..." Damon laughed "Damn right I didnt, do you not cook?", she shook her head vigerously "Nope, I suck", she turned to smile at him; "thanks for doing this...thanks for last night", they looked at each other for a few moments, it was becoming clear that the stakes in this friendship were getting higher for both parties. "Thanks for the duvet", Ruby chucked a pillow at Damon which he managed to deflect without any hesitation.

"I assume that you are cooking me this sunday roast that you promised me last night?", Ruby groaned...she had forgotten that she had pulled the friendship card to keep Damon there last night. "I best get myself sorted then!" she rolled out of the bed and started rooting through her wardrobe, Damon watched her and realised how natural this all felt, he never had a girl stay around this long. Not having sex with this girl had been a blessing, she had provided him with some of his favourite memories, she had no idea how funny, articulate, beautiful she really was, suddenly he remembered last night's events. How he had chatted up her friend in front of her, how he had treated her like a common prostitute on their first meeting, how he wanted to kill the man who had hurt her last night. He felt his fists tighten into balls, the anger she had allowed him to keep at bay last night was suddenly upon him again.