Chapter 1: What did She Make of that?

The clean-cut blades hit the ice with a scrape as she landed a clean triple axel in perfection. The crowd roared in amazement as she threw in another triple axel, knowing she was pushing it to the limit. The girl came to a stop as she dug her toe pick into the ground and raised her arms to the ceiling with a cheeky grin on her face. The whole building raised to their feet applauding and whistling for the young brunette. Turning to the judges, she bowed her head in a thank you as she skated off the ice, towards her parents.

"Mom!" Little Elena shrieked with happiness as she hugged her tight, Miranda laughing and hugging her back as she lifted her off of her feet.
"You did brilliant out there sweetie." Miranda told her, a smile on her face as she squeezed her, drawling a giggle out the little brunette.
"Well done sweetheart. You blew the crowd away." Grayson told her, taking her from Miranda as he gave her a tight hug.
"Thank you daddy!" Elena smiled as she placed her back on her feet and she sat down, taking a gulp of her water.
"What a show today. So many talented skaters out there, but who will be taking our 1st, 2nd and 3rd, so that they can move on to the Finals?" Davidson asked, with a smile.

Grayson and Miranda sat on either side of Elena, looking around as the rest of the skaters were with their parents, or either touching up their make-up. The girl licked her lips as she watched the other skaters. She had skated the hardest she had ever skated since she began Figure Skating. Today was one of those days, like she felt it would be the last time she would skate again. It was a day, where you didn't know what was going to happen because it was so un-predictable. The feeling she had deep down...was just right.

The results began coming up for each skater, some skaters running off in tears because they hadn't made the cut, their parents chasing after them. Elena stood staring at the board as she had changed out of her skates and into her pumps. Hope. It was building inside of her. She had to make it, she just had to. She tried her hardest, she worked her ass off to get where she was. Tracing her lower lip in anticipation with her finger, she went wide-eyed when she seen her name and scores hitting high chart, meaning she had come first place.

"I won!" Elena shrieked in happiness, jumping up and down, clapping as everyone clapped, happy that the brunette had won, since she had boggled their minds with her skills.
"You did it!" Miranda grinned as Davidson jogged over, smiling down at her and placed the sash over her head and gave her flowers with her trophy.
"Thank you!" She grinned, looking around as people took pictures of her and the most memorable moment of her life.

Only 15 and she felt as if the world was at her feet. Her mom and dad were talking in the front as she was in the backseat, her feet up as she stared out the window, watching the falling snow. Christmas was always a special time to her, tomorrow would be Christmas and that would be it. Another unforgettable Christmas. Smiling, she looked at her mom and dad.

"What are you thinking about back there miss?" Grayson asked, reaching into the back as he tickled her, causing her to burst into a fit of giggles.
"Stop bullying her, she just became a little winner." Miranda told him, smiling big as he grinned.
"Yeah daddy! Stop! Your bullying the child!" Elena told him, laughing as he continued tickling her.
"Grayson, watch out!"

The car swerved as it hit black ice and the car broke into a spinning wreck as Elena screamed, hitting her head on the window and the car broke through the barrier, heading off of the Bridge. The last thing she seen was the look of worry on her mom's face and the black water, the that was when it all ended.

"Elena?"

Looking up from the ice, she seen Clarissa in front of her and rubbed her chest, smiling softly. She was thinking about it again, drifting off into dream world and thinking about what was. Shaking her head, she grabbed her diary and wrote down some dates as she passed it over to her and gave her the biggest smile that she could master at that moment.

"Sorry Mrs Salvatore, my mind is elsewhere. Thank you for coming. I can't wait until we start training together." Licking her lips, she hugged herself lightly.
"Hey, what did I say? Call me Clarissa sweetie." Smiling, her blue eyes sparkled as she lifted her bag, "I'll see you monday morning, 6 am sharp."
"You got it, thank you." Elena gave her a gentle smile as she watched her walk out.

Letting out a shaky breath, she slowly stepped onto the ice and glided along the ice, deep in thought. Why did she think she could do this? Without them especially? She couldn't do this. Skating along, she began skating backwards and took a deep breath, lunging for a triple axel, but as she landed, she angled it wrong and fell flat on her front, causing her to moan in pain. Closing her eyes, tears began to leak as she shook her head. She needed her parents, she needed them to be able to win the championship, she needed them to keep her heart content. Slowly pushing herself up, she winced in pain, looking at her finger and seen that it had dislocated. Just what she needed. Looking around the ice rink, she cradled her hand and nodded slowly. She had to get herself together. This is what she always wanted and what her parents wanted, she was going to do everything in her power to win it for them.

"God, what the hell did you do now?" Caroline asked in concern, looking at her bandaged finger as Elena shrugged softly.
"Just dislocated it, no big deal, I landed an axel wrong." Licking her lips, she took a bite of her apple and looked around, surveying the field.
"So you met your new coach?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow, taking a bite into her sandwich as she looked over at her.

"It's Mrs Salvatore." Elena told them, licking her lips, cleaning the drip of apple juice.
"As in Damon's Salvatore's mom? Seriously?" The blonde went wide-eyed, her blue eyes full of excitement
"Hey, maybe I can take a chance with him."
"Oh yeah, good luck with that." Bonnie told her with a roll of the eye.

Elena gave them a grin and shook her head as she pushed herself up from the bench, swinging her leg over as she walked on over to the trash can, tossing her apple in, only to collide with a hard body when she turned on her heel. Gasping in shock, she looked up, her brown eyes meet familiar blue electric ones.

"Damon." She greeted, brushing herself down, knowing it was never good when he wanted to talk.
"Listen Gilbert, I heard my mom is your skating coach. I swear down, if you mess her about and don't take this seriously, I'll make your life a living hell." He warned her.
"Oh Damon, grow up and get over yourself." Pushing past him, she gasped as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close.

"I mean it. I'll be there if I have to, making sure you do what you gotta do." His grip on her wrist loosened as he looked at her finger, "Looks like someone has to keep an eye."
"It's a dislocation, you'd know if you tried a sport and BEFORE you mention it, sleeping with your whores does NOT count." Tugging her arm away from his grip, she walked off.

"What did you say to him? He's watching you like a hawk." Caroline frowned, looking at him as he looked Elena over and walked off.
"I said nothing, he was just talking about his mom, no biggie." Rubbing her hands together, she smiled at them, "So movie night?"
"Hell to the yeah." Bonnie winked.

"Come on Elena." She whispered to herself as she skated forward as fast as she could, gliding across the ice. She had to do this, if she messed it up again, she seriously needed her head examining. Closing her eyes, she skated backwards and took a deep breath as she threw herself up and came down, landing the trip axel halfway, but she slipped onto her back and hit her head against the ice, letting out a moan in pain as she felt the thump in her head.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" Not being able to lift her head, because of the pain, she moaned and waved her hand.
"Go away Damon. I'm not in the mood." Holding her hand to her head, she let out a breath as he dropped his bag on the chair, walking down the stairs.
"Are you hurt? Elena? Are you hurt?" He stepped onto the ice, rushing over to her and nearly made it until he slipped, causing her to laugh weakly.

"God, what the hell are you doing? No shoes on the ice doofus" Elena questioned, trying to stop laughing, since it hurt her head.
"Trying to help you insatiable women." Slowly placing his hands on the back of her neck, he lifted slowly, "Easy, you look like you hit your head hard."
"Mmhm." She murmured in agreement, slowly sitting up with him.
"Right. Good. One step at a time." He looked to the back of her head, "I need to check it out, come on."

He stood up slowly and bent down, lifting her into his arms with ease as he carefully made his way off the ice, not wanting to fall again, especially while he was holding Elena in his arms. She closed her eyes, her head feeling like it was being hit by a baseball bat again and again, no break in between. Setting her down on the chair, he kneeled in front of her.

"Right. Can you open your eyes?" Damon asked, looking through his backpack as she opened one eye.
"Good enough?" Amusement seeped through her voice as he rolled his eyes.
"Always sarcastic Gilbert, now open up or I'll make you." He told her, holding the small torch in his hand.
"Yeah yeah." Opening her eyes, she blinked, ignoring the throbbing as he slowly shined the light in her eyes, looking carefully, "What are you doing? Do you know what you're doing?"

"Of course I DO. Jeez Elena, how long have you known me? Do you even know what I'm pursuing?" He raised an eyebrow, feeling the back of her head slowly.
"Nope, never really cared to ask, the first real long conversation we had was today, sooo no." Closing her eyes again, she breathed through the pain.
"Women these days. I'm pursuing a doctor." He massaged her neck slowly, chewing his lip, "Is your head bad?"
"Mmhm, th...that i...is int...eresting." Licking her lips, she relaxed at the feelings and nodded slightly, "Probably...just the shock, ya know? I'm always getting injured on the ice."

"So I see." He looked at her finger, "Have you had that looked at?"
"Yeah, just have to keep this on for a while, just to make sure I don't get any bruising, yada yada, doctors are pricks," Clearing her throat, she blushed, "No offence or anything."

He stopped moving his fingers on the back of her head, giving her a stern look, a smirk sitting on his lips as he moved his fingers to her neck, feeling for any possible damage. Biting her lip, she closed her eyes again, knowing if she had them open, she'd just stare at him and that wouldn't be a good result since he'd be jumpable and regrettable at the same time.

"Thank you." She murmured softly, "Much better, just some tablets and I'll be good to go."
"Good. I better let my mom in on what a clutz you are." Getting up, he took his torch throwing it into his backpack and picked it up, "Stay of the ice unless your within company, right?"

"Sir." Getting up, she took her skates off, packing them into her bag as she slipped on her pumps and slowly walked out with him to the car park.
"Actually, you shouldn't driving." Damon teased as she nudged him.
"Oh, screw off." She laughed lightly, going over to her car and threw her bag into the back as she slipped into the driver's seat.

"Hey, I don't mind screwing." He winked and laughed.
"Pig!" She shook her head, smiling and pulled out of the car park, driving off, but not before seeing the look of accomplishment on Damon's face. What did she make of that?

A/N: Hey everyone, another new story, let me know what you think :D Sorry it's been so long, college is kicking my ass :D

Shauna
xxx