Elena's eyes fluttered open only to be blinded by sunlight. She throw up a hand, shielding her eyes against the harsh light. Stumbling and groggy with sleep, Elena made her way over to her window, and snapped the curtains shut. She didn't give the fact that they were normally closed anyway, any thought. It was to early to be thinking. Elena wanted to do nothing, but crawl back in bed.
And she did just that, letting the sound of the shower put her to sleep. Elena was on the edge of unconsciousness when the shower was turned off, leaving her without something to focus on. Her mind then began to wonder. She thought about last night, and shuddered. Halloween night wasn't one she wanted to think about. Despite her tries, Elena's mind insisted on staying on the topic of last night. Images of Vicki attacking her, Vicki's dead body, and Damon's face played in her mind.
Elena groaned, realizing she'd never get back to sleep now, not with all that on her mind. With great effort, Elena pulled herself out of bed and walked downstairs. She headed straight for the coffee maker, thinking coffee might wake her. Elena reached the kitchen to find a cup of black coffee, still hot, sitting on the counter. She smiled, thinking Jeremy had placed it there for her.
Sipping her coffee, Elena made her way back upstairs. Elena's balance wasn't exactly ready to take on going upstairs just yet though. Halfway up, she lost her footing. With a scream, Elena started to fall backwards down the hardwood stairs. She dropped the coffee mug, and tried uselessly to grab hold of something. Elena's body tensioned, ready for the landing. Just as she felt herself rushing to the floor behind her, she was saved. Strong arms wrapped around her body, leaving her unharmed from the fall.
It wasn't until Elena met the eyes of who'd caught her, that she realized she had much rather face the pain of the fall then face him.
"Morning Sunshine." Damon said, flashing Elena a smile. He stared down into her eyes with such intense emotion, Elena found herself slipping into them; she was losing herself in those blue eyes as easily as it was to breath. "Didn't hurt yourself, did you?" His voice broke the spell she'd fallen under.
Elena struggled to remove herself from Damon's hold. He stood her up right, and released her. "Thank you." Before she could bend to retrieve her coffee mug - now empty - he was handing it to her. Well, someone's helpful today. She thought. Elena stepped around Damon and padded down the stairs again and into the kitchen. Damon followed. Of course. "What are you doing here?"
"What, you don't remember?" She didn't like the tone in his voice.
Elena placed her cup in the sink and turned to face him. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the counter. He watched her with calculating eyes. A chill ran over her body, and Elena realized far to late that she was dressed in nothing but a tank top and a pair of shorts - an outfit she preferred Damon not to see her in. Oh well, to late now. Elena ran her eyes over Damon, and noted the water hair. He'd been the one in the shower. But why on earth would he be taking a shower at her house?
"The morning after is always the hardest." Damon said, nodding. He walked to the cabinet, got done two cups, and walked to the coffee machine. "I was hoping you'd be different then the other girls." He frowned, as he poured the coffee. "Let's start with what you last remember." He handed her the new mug of coffee before hopping up on the counter with such grace it wasn't hard to think of him as a non-human.
Elena cradled her cup in both hands, letting the warmth run from her hands through out her chilly body. She closed her eyes, and thought hard about last night. Jeremy and I went to the Halloween dance... Vicki attacked us... Stefan staked her... and Damon came to dispose of the body. We argued, and I slapped him.
A shuddered ran through her body at the dangerous expression Damon had worn last night. Elena opened one eye, and saw Damon drinking his beverage slowly, as he waited patiently for her answer. It was like knowing two different people; one would drink you dry without blinking, and another who was a kind, caring, and actually pretty charming - when he wanted to be.
"Well?" Damon prompted, noticing her peeking at him.
Elena shrugged, took a sip of her coffee and said, "I remember slapping you."
"Of course you do." He rolled his eyes. "Now, think harder. Go past that, think about what happened after Stefan left."
Elena sighed, but thought about it anyway.
Stefan was on the porch for a while, even after I went to bed. There were footsteps on the porch, voices, and then silence. A long and drawn out silence - one of the uncomfortable ones. And then, someone was in my room, I could feel their eyes on my back. When I rolled over, expecting Stefan, I saw Damon. A sad expression on his face.
"What is it?" I asked. Damon shrugged and sat down on the edge of my bed.
"I wanted to see how you were." A paused and then, "Stefan's gone."
"I figured as much." I sat up, unable to move my eyes off of him. Damon was good at that; reeling people in. "Why are you here?"
Damon turned his head and met my eyes. So much was exposed in those eyes at that moment; regret and sadness being the strongest. I blinked, and his face was right there in front of mine, not even an inch apart from mine. I didn't move away. Even when his warm and gentle hand found mine, I kept perfectly still. "Forgive me, Elena." Damon whispered.
"For what?" I managed to force out. The smell of his hot breath was intoxicating. It was hard to form a thought, much less an actual sentence. There wasn't much of a chance for sentences afterward anyway.
Damon's lips pressed themselves to mine, in an action that seemed to gentle to have been made by a vampire. He pulled back immediately afterward, and stared at me with earnestness in his eyes. It was a kiss that asked permission to go any farther then light, quick, and simple. Without thinking, I leaned in and closed the small space between our lips. It lasted a few seconds longer then the first, and wasn't as gentle. This was the invitation kiss. The kiss that said it was okay to go beyond simple.
Damon didn't waste anytime either. His lips pressed hard against mine this time, full of passion. Damon's lips parted against mine, and his tongue escaped his mouth and darted into mine. My tongue wasn't going to be held prisoner in my mouth, while his got to room free, and soon my tongue entered his delicious mouth as well. He snaked a hand behind my head, his fingers played soothingly with my hair. Damon placed a hand on my low back, and pulled me closer to him. My arms wrapped tightly around his neck, and pulled his face even closer - if that was possible. Before long it felt as if our lips would mesh together and become one.
Passion passed between us in waves more and more quickly until it wasn't enough. We both wanted more, something naughtier then passion, something along the lines of lust. I slipped Damon's leather jacket off his shoulders and throw it to the floor without breaking the kiss. His hands exploded beyond my hair, and found themselves playing with the bottom of my tank top. He pulled it up about halfway... And that was when I remember common sense. I gasped, placed a firm hand on his chest and pushed. I knew good and well he didn't have to move away - Lord knows he was strong enough to force me into anything - but he played the gentlemen and backed off.
We sat there a moment, breath heavily, not making eye contact. He was the first to recover. Damon took the hand I still had pressed against his chest, and laced our fingers together. Finally, my breathing returned to normal, but my heart rate raced on. Slowly, I moved my eyes up to met his. Damon smiled, reached over and moved a few strands of hair away from my face, and tucked them behind my ear.
Neither of us moved for a long time, it felt like minutes, but could've been hours or days. We just sat staring at one another, holding hands. In the back of my mind, a voice screamed about how wrong this was. I promptly ignored it. Nothing was going to ruin this. Nothing at all.
"I should go." Okay, correction, that can ruin this. He stood, but I held tighter to his hand that was still laced with mine.
"Don't." I whispered, pleading with my eyes. "Stay."
His dark colored brows kited together. "You don't mean that."
"Yes, I do!" I tugged hard on his hand until he sat back down. "I mean it, Damon. Stay with me."
He studied me for a few long seconds, before he smiled. "Your wish is my command, my lady." I laughed at the accent he let leak into his words. It was an old type of accent, the kind no one could pull off unless they'd actually been born with it. Like dear Damon was. He'd gotten good and masking it, I noted.
"Anything I wish?" He nodded, smile growing. I placed a finger to my lips, as if I were thinking. After a moment, I said, "Then I wish for you to lay here with me - all night. Your not allowed to get out of this bed until light is shining through that window."
Damon slid his shoes off, removed his shirt - which sent my cheeks a blazing - and crawled over to the other side of my queen sized bed. He laid on top of the covers, hands behind his head, and winked at me. "As you wish."
A smile crossed my lips as I laid down next to him - head on his chest, and covers pulled up to my shoulder. Damon moved an arm around me, and held my body tightly to his bare chest. I fell asleep in a state of bliss.
Elena's eyes popped open, and she swung around to gap at Damon. He sat there on the counter wearing a Cheshire cat worthy grin.
"Ah, and she remembers." Damon said. He set his coffee down, and slid off the counter top. "I did as you ask you know. I didn't get out of bed until sunlight was streaming through your window." He leaned in for a kiss. Horrified, Elena placed four fingers to his lips to keep them away from hers. "I don't get a reward for granting your wish?" He asked, speaking around her fingers.
"No!" Elena practicably shouted. She was having trouble wrapping her mind around what supposedly happened the night before. "Damon... did I get drunk last night?"
"No. Why?" He sounded puzzled.
"I was just trying to figure out why I acted the way I did."
"Are you saying you have to be drunk to kiss me?" Damon leaned against the counter, crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.
Elena faulted. "No, no, of course not." What else could she say? "Your a really great guy and all but I can't understand why I'd willingly kiss you while I'm with - "
"Stefan?" Damon offered, nodding. "Yeah, I thought you might say that."
"You did?"
"Sadly, yes. Which is way I think now is a good time to give this back to you." Damon reached into the pocket of his perfectly fit jeans and his hand came back holding a necklace. Her necklace. The one Stefan gave Elena on the night Mr. Tanner was killed, a football game night that seemed like years ago though it had just been a few weeks ago. The necklace protected Elena from compulsion.
Elena narrowed her eyes at Damon as she took the necklace from him. "And how did you get this?"
"You took it off sometime last night. As a sign you trusted me I suppose." She looked at him doubtfully. Damon just shrugged and went on drinking his coffee.
Elena played with the necklace for a few minutes. She could trust Damon - to a certain extent. He'd lied to her before, and he wasn't really the trustworthy type.
"Wait a minute, was any of that real?" Elena asked, the thought coming to her out of the blue. Without the necklace, there's no telling what kind of thoughts Damon planted in her head.
"What?"
"What I remember from last night, was any of it real? I mean, Vampire's are very powerful. You could make me remember things, that never happened."
Elena regretted her words, as soon as she'd spoken them. Damon looked stricken. She might as well have staked him with the way his face dropped. It hurt her to see him suddenly so upset. Damon placed his mug down with obvious gentleness.
"Are you serious?" She started to answer but realized it was a rhetorical question when he went on. "Do you have so little faith and trust in me that you have to ask that? Yes, Elena, I'm a ruthless Vampire who plants ideas of a romantic night in your head. Like, I have nothing better to do with my time!" She flinched back at the volume of his voice. "I can't even understand why you'd think I'd do that to you. Of all people!"
"Well, I'm not the one who can't be trusted to tell the truth." Elena said softly.
"Fine then. I'll just go. Is that what you want?" Damon didn't let her answer, he was already storming out of the kitchen headed for the door. At a human pace, Elena noted as she hurried after him.
"Damon, wait." She caught up to him just as his hand reached the doorknob. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's just... well, I don't know. It was just a thought. Just a stupid question. I shouldn't have asked you. I'm sorry."
Damon turned slowly back to Elena, and stared at her for a long moment in silence. Elena moved quickly, so she wouldn't change her mind. She placed her hand on the side of his face, and leaned up on the tips of her feet, and kissed him. Her heart fluttered rapidly as he kissed her back.
He was the one to pull away this time. "We shouldn't be doing this." He said, face grim.
She knew all to well that this was considered cheating - whatever this was. And she loved Stefan too much to break his heart by telling him she'd fallen for his brother as well. Elena nodded. "No, we really shouldn't."
"I'd say it was a mistake - "
"But we both know it wasn't."
Damon glanced at something behind Elena before whispering, "Jenna's awake. I should go." Elena nodded her agreement, though she wished he could stay. "I'll call you." He kissed her quickly on the forehead, before disappearing out the door.
She took a few minutes cleaning up the coffee that had gotten slipped on the stairs earlier, and washed the coffee cups as to hide that she wasn't the only one up. Elena was upstairs and in her room by the time Jenna came downstairs. No trace of Damon was left before, besides the tingle and taste of him on her lips.
Elena's phone rang then, and she picked up to see Stefan's name flashing across the screen. She answered in a cheerful voice, giving nothing away. Stefan didn't have to know about her fling with Damon. It would only put a strain on all parties involved. The events of last night and this morning, would be kept secret. It wouldn't happen again and no one would get hurt. In the long run, keeping it all a secret, was for the best.
Though, deep down, Elena had the sickening feeling that she couldn't have been more wrong about that.
a.n.: My second Damon & Elena one-shot, what do you think? Review Please! :)
