Damon Salvatore looked at his watch again for about the hundredth time in the last hour. The slowest hour in his entire life.
'Hurry up, Elena...' He muttered to himself, standing in the forest just outside Mystic Falls near the bridge, he expected Elena to be here waiting for him and run into his arms as per usual, but as the seconds slowly ticked by to 8pm, a whole hour after they agreed to meet, Damon had to admit he was getting worried.
He kicked a rock so hard it flew and broke a branch from a tree and scared off a severely startled squirrel.
What is she didn't arrive? Could he live with himself? What if she was with Stefan?
He grunted angrily and threw around even more rocks and branches, knowing she probably was with Stefan. He finally flopped back down onto a log, about ready to give up and just go home.
He heard a twig snap.
His head shot up and the grin on his face melted pretty quickly to see that it wasn't Elena there to greet him, but Stefan.
'Hello, brother,' Damon drawled slowly, emphasising each and every syllable while he met his brother's cold eyes.
'What have you done to her Damon?' Stefan's tone was surprise, surprise, completely serious and lacked of emotion. His eyes never left Damon's while Damon slowly rose to his feet, a few inches taller than Stefan and in that moment those inches may as well have been metres.
Damon had scared Stefan off, he was so sure of it. He felt slightly bad that his own flesh and blood was so against him but at the same time well, he didn't really give a damn.
'What ever do you mean, Stefan?' Damon smirked and looked down onto his brother, who was trying very hard to stand his ground.
'You know exactly what I mean, don't mess with me Damon, I'm serious.'
'Ooh, serious.' Damon mocked him with over-exaggerated arm gestures,
Suddenly before even Damon saw it coming, Stefan extended his fist quick as a flash and clipped his brother up the jaw. Damon, having not expected the blow, stumbled back clutching his jaw.
'Is it really so hard to believe it, Stefan?' Damon spat, 'That maybe, just maybe, in our miserable long lives the girl picked me for once?'
'She didn't pick you, Damon. And is that what all this is to you, just a game? She's a person, not a trophy you selfish asshole.'
'Ofcourse she picked me Stefan, you were always too good to be true and I'm just glad she finally saw that.'
'I know her, Damon. She's not Katherine.'
'She's Elena. I know that.'
'Do you?'
'Yes.'
'You're sure this isn't just some weird way of getting back at me for the Katherine thing?'
Damon chanted a calming tone in his head to settle himself down, the last thing he needed was to rip his brother's head off. Then Elena definitely wouldn't stay with him.
'Where's Elena?' Damon asked quickly, Stefan chuckled darkly and shook his head at Damon's question.
'So how did you get the vervain off her?' Stefan's question took him by surprise but he tried hard not to show it too much, the last thing he needed was to be caught off guard by the likes of his baby brother Stefan.
'Elaborate,' Damon said cooly,
'There's no way she would cheat on me with you unless you were compelling her. Do you think I'm stupid? What did you do, compell Matt or something to take it from her locket while she was asleep? Would be easy enough, very cunning brother, very cunning.' Stefan was rubbing the three day stubble on his face and looking at Damon from under his eyelashes.
'Go to Hell, Stefan.'
'Thought I was Saint Stefan?' It was Stefan's turn to smirk this time and all Damon wanted to do was slap it off his face.
So he did.
Stefan landed a few paces away in the brush and Damon's laugh echoed all around the small clearing. It was a clear, calm night and people would be walking around and driving nearby so he really ought not be sending his brother four metres into the air incase someone saw, but it was just too ridiculously tempting.
'Damon?' Damon's blood chilled as he followed Stefan's eyes to somewhere behind him.
Elena was standing timidly with her arms behind her back slightly behind a tree, eyeing Stefan and Damon equally. She looked so confused and all Damon wanted to do was go and smooth out the worried wrinkled lines on her forehead with a kiss.
'Fancy seeing you here?' Damon tried to make light of the situation but it didn't really hit,
'What's going on here?' She looked between the both of them, eyeing Damon in particular.
'Hello, 'Lena.' Stefan smiled falsely from the bush he was lying in, Damon rolled his eyes. 'Just meeting your bit on the side, were you dear?'
Elena looked like a mixture of scandalised and embarassed, she looked down at her Converse while she spoke.
'It's not like that, Stefan.'
'Oh really, sweetie. So enlighten me, what is it like?'
'Leave her alone, man.' Damon interrupted, making his way over to Elena who was shaking like a leaf, trying to avoid eye contact with the both of them still.
'Shut up, Damon. Let the girl talk, God have some respect.' Stefan smirked and rose to his feet. He looked between Damon and Elena disgustedly, sneering as he said his next words, 'So very, very sneaky of the two of you might I say, think you're such the Romeo and Juliet don't you?' He began to circle around them at an excruciatingly slow pace, eyeing them carefully. 'Well, I don't think so. I think you're just a bit of a well...tart, Elena.'
'Do not speak to her like that, Stefan. I'm serious, go on keep walking you may as well dig your own grave you'll be needing it if you don't shut the hell up now.' Damon said in a dangerously calm and collected voice.
Stefan scoffed and moved with his vampire speed over to the risky couple, staring them both up and down.
'Don't crawl back to me when he breaks your Goddamn heart Elena, I won't be there to pick up the pieces.' He spat cruelly and with one last glare, flitted away somewhere in the distance.
Everything paused, even the sound of the river seemed to quieten down for them. Damon turned to Elena and could clearly hear her heartbeat in her chest thumping wildly due to all the commotion.
She looked up at him with her big doe eyes and where Damon expected her to reach up on her toes to kiss him, her eyes welled up and she began to cry. He wrapped comforting arms around her and led her to sit on a large rock with him. She was rocking back and forth slightly with her sobs and he just sat and held her.
Damon didn't know whether to feel bad she was upset or feel even more upset that she was crying over his damn little brother again, he really ruined everything didn't he? Damn Stefan.
When her sobs lessened to whimpers and most of the tears had dried he grabbed her chin and tilted it up towards him, he had his other arm wrapped around her waist keeping her close to him.
'Man, you're an ugly cry-er.' He smirked and she hit him on the arm and laughed half-heartedly.
'Shut up,' She said slowly and sniffed once. And twice.
'Wanna talk about...this? Damon asked her hesitantly,
'Nope.' She said with a pop of her lips,
'Well, what do you want to do?' Damon raised an eyebrow, a million great things running through his head.
'Sleep,' She smiled lazily and held her arms out to him. Hm, unsurprisingly that particular one didn't make the list, but hey whatever she wanted.
He sighed dramatically and lifted her up bridal style to lead her back to his car. He couldn't very well bring her back to the boarding house, Stefan could be there. So he brought her home and they stood on her front lawn.
'Elena, please just know that I-'
She shut him up with a long, deep kiss that ended with them both grinning like idiots.
Quick as a flash sneaked them through her open bedroom window.
They landed in the room silently and Elena collapsed onto the bed, snuggling into the blankets.
Damon kissed her forehead as her eyes immediately flickered shut and made to leave when her little voice emitted from the bed.
'Wait, stay.' She smiled genuinely and waved her hand forward, 'Want you to,' She drawled tiredly.
He jumped onto the bed and a few pillows fell off, making her giggle.
He put her arms around her and she rested her head on his chest. He decided to stay with her tonight, plus she was definitely sleeping and he knew moving would disturb her as she was such a light sleeper.
So he relaxed and let his eyes flutter closed contently.
His mind was drawn back to the official day a few weeks ago when things had really started for him and Elena Gilbert.
'Stefan?!'
Elena's voice called from the bathroom in the boarding house and Damon peeked his head around the door,
'Even better. Me.'
'Damon get out!' She tried to cover herself up, when she didn't really have to. Her dress was just unzipped at the back.
'Need some help?'
'I need Stefan's help,' She rolled her eyes but he could see a little spark in her eyes so he walked right on in and in a drunk bold move he grabbed her waist and dragged her back to him.
They'd all been drinking all day at the Lockwood party and she giggled loudly.
'Get off!'
'Make me,' He teased lightly, pecking her cheek.
She shoved him off and spun around, not really realising how close he actually was.
'When will you admit you have a crush on me, Miss Gilbert?' He joked but he noticed she turned bright scarlet at his remark. He raised an eyebrow.
'Do you have a little crush on me, Madam?'
'Nope! Don't be so silly!' She rested herself heavily on him and before he knew it she leaned over and threw up all over the bathroom floor. And his shoes.
'...Damon?'
'Yes, Elena?'
'Can you help?'
'Hmmm, I don't do vomit.'
'Please?'
'One condition.'
'What's that?'
'Admit you have a major crush on me?' He slurred and chuckled at himself.
She looked up and smiled, it was a bit lop-sided.
'Fine! I have a crush on you!'
He didn't know at the time her little 'crush' was so much more and if he'd known that then maybe they could have saved a whole lot of heart ache over the last few weeks.
He opened his eyes slightly to peek over at a sleeping Elena, she was fast asleep and he was just thinking about how they were going to explain this whole messed up situation.
He smiled in his dreamstate.
But for now he had Elena, Elena had him, and the rest of the world could quite frankly go fuck themselves.