A Bamon Fanfic
The Engagement
Chapter 1
Damon turned the air conditioning off with a flick of his fingers in the general direction of the dial. He realised at once that the ambient temperature was far too cool for a human to be comfortable, and that she chattered her teeth not just to fill the silence with the sound. To him, the temperature was fine enough, but to be truthful, he barely felt the cold any more.
His heart used to be cold, like ice, but as brittle as stone. Before, he hadn't met a girl who was not his dinner by default; things had been simple and he hadn't needed to think about what he was doing.
Meredith had been quiet from the moment he'd asked her for her help, not saying a word, because Damon was silent. The only sound was her breathing, but even that unsettled him. She'd come with him because he asked it, nicely, and that had surprised her into complying. It was only when they were pulling away from the house did she ask, "Damon," she tried to keep her voice stern, "Where are you taking me?"
He'd been pleased with how long she could be quiet, but at the same time he was even more glad she was speaking. The relative silence of a running motor vehicle was one of the worst things about these modern times; back when he was a human man, the only kind of effortless travel was horseback, and with that came the steady beat of the horses hooves on the stone roads, so you knew you were moving. This car moved so fluidly on the tarmac roads that his stomach twisted inside as he drove.
"Somewhere private – secluded." he amended the last word after hearing how it sounded – and didn't like it. He had to temper what he said if he were ever to be with Bonnie; she was fragile, easily spooked, and so very different from the Elena/Katherine thing he had thought he'd loved before. If he was to love his red-bird, he would have to do it gently.
Meredith flashed her eyes up at the darkening clouds, and then across the cab at Damon. She knew Damon, knew what he was and what he was capable of doing, and yet she had trusted him when he said he only wanted to talk. As they passed the sign, stating that they were leaving Mystic Falls, she began to seriously wonder how much of a sucker she'd been to just take him at his word. She shivered.
The car ride seemed to take forever from that point, but at last, Damon pulled over to the side of the road and almost ripped the keys out of the ignition. He was tense, and for more than reason. He preferred not to be alone with the slender, dark-haired girl, because she made things inside him tighten. He couldn't stand the thought of her rejecting his proposal.
"What is it, Damon?" she asked finally.
"I want your help – I need your help," he half stammered, and he brought out a sapphire blue box. He saw that she recognised what it was and stopped her thinking any more about it. He made a strangled noise, "For Bonnie, I'm going to ask her to marry me."
She wasn't surprised, or maybe she was just a little bit, and that was because she'd already guessed as much from watching them both. She turned to him and smiled, something so rare and pure, "What is it, Damon?" she asked once more.
"I need you to get Elena out of the picture, if just for tonight."