Chapter 1:
'Every night its the same thing, every time I'm working, he's here with her, and she's treating him like he's a piece of meat she drug around on the ground. God, this pisses me off! No man should be treated the way he is, and I know he want's to fight back, his brother has told me so. Tonight, this shit ends. If I lose my job, I lose my job. I'm ending that bitches rain of torment over that amazing guy.'
I look around the crowded pub, wiping up a spill on the bar before someone set their purse or arm in it. I can see the two of them out of the corner of my eye, in the same booth they always get. God, she makes me sick to my stomach. She's sitting there yelling at him like he's a bad dog. I swear if she lays a hand on him...
"Hey Elena, Can I get a Budlight Lime?" A young man, Tyler Lockwood; asks, causing me to look away from the horrid scene I watch every night.
"Le me guess, on your tab Lockwood?" I ask dryly, grabbing a bottle from the cooler and popping the top off before handing it to him.
Tyler nods and takes his drink, and I quickly scribble his last name and drink order on a piece of paper, putting it on the register. Of all the places, why is it that my ex boyfriend and his asshole friends always come to the bar I work at? Oh yeah, to hassle me, knowing they can get away with it cause my boss likes them. I roll my eyes as I'm handed a glass and scrap of paper. I look back at my friend, Caroline, who gives me a small smile. The two of us were only working at the bar for the summer, mainly to make some money to pay her mom back for her beach house getting trashed by my ex, and her ex. I look at the scrap of paper and mutter a curse under my breath.
"Donovan, your drink is ready!" I call out, setting by ex's drink on the counter. "Asshole..." I mutter under my breath, wishing I could spit in his drink.
Donovan, Matt Donovan, comes up with Tyler Lockwood, Caroline's ex, and gives me a snarky smile.
"Finally. You need to get faster at making drinks. Then again, you were never good at making things, especially making things hard." Matt sneers, and I snap the pen I was holding in two.
Tyler laughs, then he and Matt go back to their table. I go to the far end of the bar where Caroline is mixing up a martini, handing her a glass. She sighs and pours the drink into the glass, setting it on a tray beside a glass of bourbon and a glass of soda.
"Stefan said things are getting worse. The bitch is out of control, and he doesn't know if he can step in anymore without making his brother feel worse." Caroline tells me, her eyes filled with pain and hatred.
"I saw her screaming at his brother from my end. If she lays a hand on him, I'm not going to hold back car. I can't stand seeing Stefan's brother get beaten down every night by his bitch of a girlfriend." I reply, looking at the scrap of paper in my hand before shoving it into the pocket of my jean shorts.
Caroline gives me a hug before grabbing the tray of drinks. "I know. If things get worse..." She just shakes her head and takes the tray over to the table where her boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore, is sitting with his older brother and the bitch of a girlfriend who was pushing me to my limits.
I grab my bar rag and wipe up a spill. Matt comes over and dumps his drink down the front of me, soaking my red tank top and black bra in whiskey. It takes all I have not to smack Matt as he laughs.
"I told Caroline I wanted a Vodka and Sprite, not a Whiskey Sour." Matt complains, slamming his glass on the bar.
I grab the glass and quickly mix Matt's drink, handing it back to him. "There, it's right now. Tell Tyler his tab runs out in an hour, and if he doesn't pay he's not allowed back here until it's paid off, fully." I snap, looking down the bar to make sure Caroline was okay.
Matt takes his drink, sloshing it all over the bar as he staggers back to the table. I mop up the spill, tossing the now soaked rag into one of the trashcans used to hold dirty rags under the bar, grabbing a clean one. I head back up to my end of the bar and turn to the kitchen window to make sure there are no food orders ready to be called out, when the sound of glass shattering and her screaming rings through the bar.
"YOU CALL THIS A MARTINI? A BLIND MEXICAN WITH EPILEPSY COULD HAVE MADE A BETTER DRINK THEN THAT SHIT! I'M NOT PAYING FOR THAT, OR ANY OTHER DRINK TONIGHT!" Her annoying voice screams, and I hear Stefan trying to talk the bitch down, while Caroline begins to pick up the broken glass.
Stefan's brother looks up at his girlfriend, trying to talk her into sitting down, when she grabs the glass of bourbon in front of Stefan and smashes it into Stefan's brother's face. I see it happen, and I'm over the bar before the bouncers even have time to react. I run over and jump onto the table, standing between her and Stefan's brother. I see blood on the guys face, and I press my rag against his face, looking at Stefan and Caroline.
"Get him out of here and call the cops." I yell over top of the psychotic woman screaming behind me, ducking a blow that was meant for my head.
Stefan and Caroline grab Stefan's brother and help him from the booth, One of the bouncers already on the phone with the cops. I turn and face the crazy, drunk woman behind me and she lands a right hook right into my cheek and nose, snapping my head to the side. Cursing, I wipe the blood running from my nose and grab her fists as she tries for another swing. The crazy bitch screams like she's being murdered, and I can see my boss, Tyler's uncle Mason Lockwood come running out of his office as the pub patrons begin chanting "Fight, Fight, Fight." One of the bouncers comes up behind the screaming woman, and she looks back, kicking the bouncer, I can't remember his name, right in the face with a very sharp stiletto heel. The bouncer grabs his face and stumbles backwards, cursing as blood drips down onto his black security shirt. The crazy bitch manages to get one of her hands free and grabs hold of my shirt, trying to push me off the table and away from her. I try to stay on my feet, but my sneakers slip and I go down, taking the crazy bitch with me. The two of us tumble off the table and hit the floor hard. I hear two of my ribs snap. I lose it. I grab the bitch by her hair and roll so I'm over her, my shirt ripped and bloody, dodging another swing. The crazy bitch grabs my hair and yanks my head down, headbutting me hard enough my vision starts to fade. I snarl and swing, my fist connecting with a loud thump into the floor where the other woman's head should have been. Cursing, I pull my hand to my chest and the crazy woman kicks me off of her, sending back on my ass and into a bunch of chairs. I smash into the chairs, cursing and getting to my feet. The crazy bitch gets to her feet as well, looking at me and motioning for me to come at her.
"Come on you pathetic little cunt! You think you can handle me?" She taunts, her dress straps hanging down over her shoulders and her once pristine makeup and hair now a wreck.
I take a step towards her, only to watch as she's picked up from behind by the bouncer who called the cops earlier and drug outside. Mason looks at me and points to the bar's exit, looking pissed. I rip my waist smock off, grabbing my tips from the night and shoving them in my pocket before throwing the smock at mason, flipping him off.
"Fuck you, I quit!" I yell, storming through the bar towards the exit. Matt and Tyler are laughing, and I turn, grabbing each of their drinks and throwing them in their faces, then leave the bar. Caroline runs over and to me and takes me over to where an ambulance crew is waiting. I can see Stefan, who is standing between his brother and his brother's girlfriend. I can hear Stefan's older brother yell. "We're through! Fuck you!" I smirk, instantly regretting that as pain shoots down my jaw.. While the paramedics look me over and set my nose, wrapping my wrist in ace wrap and then wrapping my ribs, the cops force Stefan''s older brother's now ex girlfriend into the back of a cruiser. Stefan and his older brother join Caroline and I as we sit on the curb beside Caroline's pink 1960 Chevelle Convertible. Caroline gets up, and she and Stefan head back into the bar, Caroline most likely going in to tell Mason Lockwood to shove the job up his ass. Stefan's older brother sits down beside me.
"That, was one hell of a brave move you pulled." He says, smiling as he looks at me.
I look over at him, smiling. He had several bandages on his face, and what looked like a black eye, but other than that he looked, well, he looked fucking sexy as hell.
"Thanks. I just got tired of seeing her treat you like that. I've seen it every day since you guys started coming into the bar, and when she smashed that glass into your face, I just, I lost it." I reply, turning so I was facing him.
Stefan's older brother grins, and my heart rate skyrockets. "I've been trying to stand up to her for months, but I couldn't do shit cause I'm a guy, and she isn't worth going to jail over." He looks me over. "How bad did she hurt you?"
"Broken nose, three broken ribs, a sprained hand and wrist from punching the floor when I was aiming for her head, and one hell of a headache from her headbutting me, but other then that, I'm fine. You okay?"
"He nods. "She just cut me up pretty bad with the glass. The black eye was from this morning when she swung at me." He sighs, then looks at me. "Damon Salvatore is my name, by the way." Damon tells me, his ice blue eyes making me shiver with the look I saw in them. He holds out a hand.
"Elena Gilbert." I reply, shaking Damon's hand with my good hand.
"Well, Elena. What do you say we ditch this place and head back to my place for drinks?"
I grin, taking Damon's hand as he helps me to my feet.
"That, sounds like an amazing idea, Damon."
Damon chuckles, and after I grab my purse from Caroline's car, I shoot her a text as Damon opens the door of his sexy black 1967 Shelby Mustang GT 500 convertible. I get in and Damon shuts the door, getting in the drivers side and firing the car to life. With one last look at the bar, Damon cranks the radio as five Finger Death Punch's song, "Under and Over It" comes on, and we leave the pub in a cloud of smoke from Damon's tires, speeding through the night.