This is a continuation post-4x15 Delena with plot.
If you are at all interested, I'd really appreciate feedback of any kind. Thank you.
Brace For Impact
Without a Care
Prologue:
The sun filtered through the poorly drawn curtains casting the room in a cheerful glow that belied the real feelings inside of it. Give it another hour and the light would directly hit Elena's face, but it did not matter. She was already awake. She had been for a while now.
Jeremy's memorial was today. Elena knew she should be curled up catatonic with pain right now, but she wasn't. Not having her humanity was such a strange feeling. It was almost as if she were braced for an impact that never came. And the surprise at being spared was almost more than the fear that the collision would catch her with her guard down. However, she kept herself protected, waiting on bated breath for the crash. She did not trust that it would not hit her eventually.
She knew by now that her luck was not that good.
Not having the survivor's guilt and crippling loss that plagued her since her parents' death was a welcome change, but it did not mean Elena was truly free of any feeling. There was a tickling awareness in the back of her mind. It was like knowing you had forgotten something; you wracked your brain until you were dizzy with the obsession of remembering and felt the answer on the tip of your tongue only to have it disappear without a trace. Elena knew she should feel more and had a brief sensation of fear that the agony would return, but it was detached and distant. She almost felt as if she were watching someone else's life unfold tragically with a sort of clinical interest but no emotional investment. Almost.
She could hear the voices downstairs, arguing loudly about her. It was irritating. She lost her humanity, not her vampire senses. She sighed loudly, stripped herself of her clothes, and slipped quietly into Damon's bedroom amidst the noise.
She was still annoyed with him for last night. He adamantly refused to share a room with her last night. He obviously knew she had no interest in just going to sleep. She did not know what was his problem. They had slept together before, recently, and even if they hadn't, it's not as if he didn't make a habit of engaging in meaningless sex with countless women. She shrugged off any lingering irritation, it's not as if he'll be able to keep it up anyway, she thought, self-control is hardly his strong suit.
Her feet felt cold pressed against the tiled floor. She stepped into the shower and sighed contently as the warm water hit her face.
"We have to do something!"
Caroline's shrieking was getting to him. It was bad enough that he normally spent more time than he wanted listening to her, but now she was showering in his house. He walked over to the drink cart to pour himself a glass.
"This is so not okay!"
Other people might find drinking bourbon at 7 a.m. a cry for help, but Damon felt it suited his life just fine. He glanced at the still screaming girl. Her hands gestured wildly as if people were confused what "this" referred to and that would explain it. Her pink robe was pulled tightly against her, and she was waving a matching colored loofah as she spoke.
"It's bad enough that Bonnie's dad is like going all psycho parent on her. He's determined to drive her and me crazy as if he has a right. Like where has he been the last 18 years?"
That was not a bad point. Damon should probably talk to the new mayor. At least to just get him to remove the vervain from the water supply, so maybe Caroline could return to showering at her own house.
"And we don't have nearly enough people on our team anymore!"
Maybe he should bring Liz along to smooth it over. She liked him. Usually. And the last thing this town needed was another mysterious death. Carol had just passed away, too.
"With Tyler gone and Jeremy… you know, we need to regroup. We need everyone. And that means we need to get through to Elena. We can't afford to fall apart now, we have too many problems already!"
But maybe just killing Mayor Obnoxious Pain in the Ass would be better for everyone. He did not think the guy would come around like Liz and Carol, he was not as tied to the things that go bump in the night as them. He could not count on him seeing Bonnie as one of the supernatural creepy crawlies anyway. Not when Judgy could still shower without a fancy water filter.
"Not to mention Bonnie has totally lost it."
Even if he did lump Bonnie with them, would it matter? If he judged by Bonnie's other parent, it did not bode well. The woman only lost the title of Mother of the Year to Esther. So maybe killing the guy was for the best.
"She thinks she can like raise every Esther, Kol, and Logan Fell on the Other Side and I'm like no. One time dealing with them was enough."
The obnoxiously colored loofah almost hit Damon in the face. He moved to the side at the last second. The thing would not hurt him, it would not even bother him, but he knew dodging it would annoy the blonde glaring at him which made it worth it.
"Seriously?! Damon, are you even listening?"
"Hmmm…?" he drawled even though he knew exactly what she had been saying. Stefan sighed from his seat on the couch. "Would you repeat what you said?"
Caroline made an exaggerated huffing noise and turned to him angrily. "This is all your fault anyway. You're the one who made Elena turn her humanity off!" Stefan sunk into the couch as if he wished to disappear. Damon found it strange that he was not chiming in his agreement. Maybe his brother really understood that this was the only option.
"Well, if you're so unhappy about it, I'd love to hear your alternative suggestions."
"Anything but what you did! She nearly killed someone the other day in history. I had to grab her and hold her down to stop her. And believe me, it wasn't easy. I think Ashley even noticed what was going on! That's just what we need, someone else to find out our secret when every water source in Mystic Falls has vervain in it. It's too dangerous to leave her like this."
"Well, then what did you want me to do when you said 'use the sire bond, Damon, help her?'" Damon imitated in a shrill voice. Caroline's face told him how much she appreciated the impersonation.
"We wanted you to use it take away the pain, not take away every emotion she has!"
"She's right, Damon," Stefan finally spoke up. Damon just glared at him, too.
"The sire bond doesn't work that way."
"Umm, obviously it does work that way or Elena would never have slept with you!"
Damon decided he had had enough of kiddie time. He did not respond to her as he gulped down his drink and hopped up the stairs. He could hear Caroline and his brother follow him determinedly but he just kept walking to his room.
Damon wondered if he would ever hear the end of that godforsaken sire bond. He swore every other word that left Blondie and his brother's mouths these days was "sire bond."
As he approached his bed, he heard the sound of dripping water but dismissed it as Caroline zeroed in on him. He braced himself for an argument that he was sure would wake up Elena down the hall.
"Look, Damon-" she abruptly cut herself off though as she stared behind him. Stefan also was fixated on the area where his bathroom. He felt he might know where this was going as he spun around to see what they were looking at.
Elena was toweling off her hair leisurely, in no rush as her naked body faced them. She made no effort to cover herself with the towel. She had apparently dried her hair to her liking and dropped the towel carelessly to the floor. She was staring at the three of them stoically.
"What? It's nothing you haven't seen before."
Damon had a brief flashback to when Katherine used his shower a year ago. But this was different. Katherine did it to get to him, she wanted to manipulate him, get under his skin, and probably sleep with him. Elena just could not work up the effort to hide herself from three people she knew had seen her completely exposed before. She was not trying to taunt them or seduce them.
Damon grimaced anyway. Caroline was purposely looking away as she bounced on her feet awkwardly. Stefan's eyes were narrowed as if he was caught between wanting to squint for a better look or shut his eyes to be a gentleman. Then, without a word, he made a decision and spun around. Who says chivalry is dead? Damon thought as he looked pointedly at the ceiling.
"Well, nothing like a pretty lady naked in my room to start the day right," he said, ignoring Caroline flabbergasted face and Stefan's incredulous glare. He strode to the bathroom to grab another towel, not trusting himself to bed down to pick up the one at her feet. Because then he would be eyelevel with a certain part of her anatomy, which he was pretty sure would cause Caroline to really lose her shit. "But for the sake of my saintly brother's innocence, I think it'd be best if we kept this party rated PG."
He met her eyes and watched as a bead of water trailed down her cheek, her neck, her clavicle, and onto her-
He abruptly jerked up his gaze but Elena had seen it, he was sure. He held the fresh towel out to her, but she made no move to grab it. After a second of awkward silence where nobody moved, Damon reached around to wrap the towel around Elena himself. He took care to not brush her skin and he could tell Elena noticed. She stared up at him unabashedly, challenging him. He tried to secure the towel tightly but could not without guaranteeing that he would touch her breasts.
He sighed, resigned, and tried to tie it as clinically as possible. At that moment, Elena took a deep breath causing his fingers to lightly caress her left breast.
He stepped back and looked at the awkwardly horrified faces behind him and plastered on a fake smirk.
"I think it's time for the kiddies to run off to school, so why don't you chop chop and be on your way. You don't want to miss physics class!"
Stefan sent him a pointed glare and turned as if to leave when Elena swept past them all without a word. The towel fell uselessly as she intentionally knocked into his side, leaving them all staring at her bare ass.
Please tell me if I should continue. I've already written the climax to be honest; it's just a question if anyone's interested enough for me to write/post more.