Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. However, I do consider the plot line as mine.


Starcrossed Lovers

Chapter 1

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"You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it." ― Goldie Hawn

Paris

Elena POV

Elena let out a deep breath she didn't know she'd been holding when she finally walked out of the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. They'd landed about two hours ago, though the wait at the baggage claim had been endless. She looked up and smiled. The sky was sheer blue and the sun was shining brightly, the air warm and heavy. She immediately regretted her choice of outfit. It had been a cold and windy day in Mystic Falls when she left at night. In Europe, the weather seemed to be much better.

After the 9 hour flight, she felt exhausted and she couldn't wait to check into her hotel room and take a nap. It might be early morning in Paris but her body was still set on the American time zone.

"There's our taxi driver!" Caroline, who was standing beside her, suddenly exclaimed, pointing at a blond haired guy that held a sign which read: Forbes. Since Caroline was the one who booked the vacation, everything was on her name. Elena had to admit, her friend had done a wonderful job so far. The flight had gone really well and the airplane was kind of comfortable, even in economy class. Caroline had chosen a decent airline.

"Let's go, girls!" Bonnie said excitedly, taking her suitcase and walking over to the taxi driver. He immediately helped the three of them out by putting all their stuff in the trunk and asked for the address of their hotel. Elena noticed he was kind of cute with his hair a little mixed up, bright green eyes, and beautiful French accent. However, he wasn't really her type. She liked guys with a bad boy look, real males. After being with Matt, she wasn't looking for the boyish types anymore.

Caroline, on the other hand, seemed to be very interested, shamelessly flirting with the boy. He seemed to be a little shy because he didn't dare look Caroline in the eye. "He's adorable," Bonnie whispered in her ear while sitting down in the car, softly giggling when Caroline handed the taxi driver her phone number.

"Caroline's just too obvious. The poor guy doesn't even know what to say anymore," Elena whispered back, joining Bonnie in the back seat of the car. The blonde was an amazing person and trustworthy friend, though she kind of had a pushy personality; she didn't take no for an answer.

Half an hour later, the girls finally arrived at their hotel and were chatting about all the awesome buildings they'd passed during the ride from the airport to their residence. "I hope the rooms will have a beautiful view!" Caroline smiled, "Maybe we can see the Eiffel tower!"

"Please, Care, the Eiffel tower is located on the other side of the Seine. Besides, the hotel wasn't too pricey so don't expect too much of it. We won't be staying at an expensive five stars hotel," Bonnie interrupted, clearly annoyed.

"You're no fun," Caroline pouted, giving Bonnie a dirty look. "I wonder why I asked you to come."

"Girls!" Elena interfered. "We haven't even been in the city for three hours and you two are already fighting. Please be a little nicer to each other," she stated, feeling like she went on a holiday with two little, spoiled children instead of mature women.

"I'll go to the head desk and check in," Bonnie decided, taking a deep breath before leaving the other two girls behind.

"Please try to act mature around Bonnie. I don't want you two arguing the entire week. How are we going to have fun when you can't even hang out together?" Elena questioned, looking disappointed.

"She just freaks me out sometimes. I can't help it. Tell Miss Judgy over there that she has to stop acting like a fucking tutor," Caroline retorted, pointing at Bonnie who was currently talking to the female secretary behind the front desk.

Elena nodded, understanding what her friend meant. Bonnie could be a little too dramatic sometimes and yes, she could be a real critic when she wanted to be. However, she was a good person. If she wasn't, they wouldn't still be friends.

After a few minutes, Bonnie came back and showed them the two room keys she received. The women quickly decided that Elena would sleep with Caroline and Bonnie would take the single room since she liked her space and privacy the most out of the three of them. "So what are we going to visit first?" Caroline asked joyfully, once they put their luggage in the bedrooms.

"Seriously? Can't we take a nap first? I'm exhausted," Elena answered, shaking her head.

"I agree with Elena on this one," Bonnie interrupted before Caroline could utter a single word. "We should rest and we can go out in the afternoon or early evening. Otherwise, we won't be able to get through the week," she explained, knowing full well that she made a good point.

"Jeez, you girls are so boring! We're finally visiting the city of lights, love, fashion, art… everything and now you both want to go to bed?" the blonde questioned widen eyed. "Have fun sleeping, but I'm going to the Champs-Elysées and doing some shopping!"

"Fine by me," Elena agreed, knowing it wouldn't make a difference if she argued with her friend or not. Once Caroline Forbes made up her mind, there was nothing you could do about it.


Damon POV

It was Monday, ten o'clock European time, and he was already finished with all of his business meetings for the day. He'd arrived the evening before and quickly prepared his first meeting in Paris. He thought it would take an entire day of arguing and discussing before the first agreements would be made but, in reality, Mr. Fournier wasn't a very difficult man. He was straight to the point and made it perfectly clear what he wanted to happen in the future.

Less than an hour later, they settled the first conclusions and arranged a business meeting for the next day to discuss the details of the contract. Fournier wanted some time to think about the rules and guidelines before he agreed to signing a settlement between the two companies.

Damon had been surprised to find out that he wasn't such a bad negotiator after all. During the years he worked for the Salvatore Inc., he never really sold a contract. He ruled over the production department and staff department, though he didn't talk to any of their clients.

He never wanted to be a member of the family company though, to respect the wishes of his parents, he'd agreed to work for them for a period of 5 years after he finished his studies. He graduated at 23 and was now 27 years old which meant he had only one year left. He was almost free of the claws of his father who still thought he could dictate his children.

Giuseppe wasn't a bad person, just a bad parent. He never really knew how to be a father, he didn't know how to show affection or appreciation. He was a cold and determined business man that worried about nothing but the profit of his company. Damon often didn't understand how on earth it was possible that his mother married such a cruel man. Isabella always had been a loving and devoted wife. She was the only one that could make Giuseppe's cold heart melt. Once she succumbed to her cancer, his father stopped caring all together and focused on nothing but work.

It had been a dark period. Damon had been 18, ready to go to college, while his younger brother Stefan had yet to turn 16. Without their beloved mother, life had been tough, though they both succeeded to become strong and independent males.

When he looked at his phone, he saw he had three missed calls. Two from Katherine and one from Stefan. He quickly dialed his brother's number, not even bothering to listen to Kat's voicemail. He could already imagine what it would be about. Something like 'Ooh Damon, I'm so sorry I betrayed you. I promise never to cheat on you ever again. Or even better 'I love you so much, Damon, please forgive me.' It had always been the same thing over and over again and he knew he couldn't trust the bitch. Sometimes, he even wondered why on earth he hadn't kicked her out yet; she kept crawling back to him and he always let her come back.

She had been the first woman he let come closer to him; the first one he didn't kick out of his bed early in the morning after a night of hot monkey sex. There was just something about her, something that made him want to take care of her. Clearly, she didn't need anyone. She was a lost soul, lonely and utterly heartless - just like him. He found comfort in knowing that there were more people like him. She understood him, knew he wasn't interested in more than casual sex.

They tried more… it didn't work out. They weren't right for each other, yet they were the best fit that they could find.

After the second ring, Stefan picked up the phone, clearly expecting a phone call. "Damon? Brother? How did it go?" he questioned, his voice filled with worry.

"What do you think, Stef?" Damon smirked, his walls back up. He really should stop thinking about the past and Katherine. He almost felt like one of those idiots who actually cared.

"I take it went well," the younger brother answered after a short pause, honestly relieved. He knew his brother didn't want to go to France, yet he did because he wanted to save Stefan's ass. He might think he didn't care, though everyone knew he did. He just didn't like to admit it.

"Why are you calling, bro?" Damon questioned, changing the subject. "Shouldn't you be having sex all over the house with your wife? Fucking her against every corner? I mean, come on, it's your anniversary today, right?"

"Damon!" Stefan exclaimed, annoyed. "Don't be an ass! You really should learn some manners, brother," the younger one lectured.

"Please, who needs manners? As long as I can get a woman in my bed and money in my bank account, I don't need anything else," Damon retorted, rolling his eyes.

"You might want something more than just a casual relationship in a few years. You can't keep up this on and off relationship with Katherine. We both know she's not worthy of you," Stefan explained, hoping that for once his brother would listen. That bitch didn't have a good influence on Damon, not even in the least. The only thing she was good at was running his life and hurting his feelings.

"You can just say fuck buddies, Stef. No need to be so shy. Besides, Kat's good between the sheets, knows how to pleasure a guy. What else do I need, little brother?" he questioned, though it was more of a statement.

"Damon…" Stefan sighed loudly.

"Okay, don't finish that sentence. I don't want to know. Now, why were you calling me?" the blue eyed asked, getting annoyed. He didn't like talking about his personal life, certainly not when Stefan was involved. The kid was far too naïve to understand his ways of living.

Stefan might think that there's a girl out there that could make Damon's heart melt, just like their mother could calm down Giuseppe, though he didn't believe any of it. Honestly, if there was been such girl, he most likely would never meet her. He believed fate could be that cruel. He wasn't meant to settle down.

"I just wanted to know how the meeting went and if Fournier was giving you a hard time," the younger answered, realizing their heart to heart conversation would be over for a while. Damon didn't easily open up and, most of the time, you couldn't get a decent sentence out of him. His defense mechanism was unbelievably effective and Stefan still didn't have a clue how to work around it. Their mother had been the only one that could calm his brother and actually talk some sense into him.


Elena POV

Caroline let out a yawn and stretched her arm muscles widely behind her back, almost making the poor waiter trip when he was passing their table. "Care, watch out!" Elena called out, just in time.

"Oops, sorry," the blonde smiled, a faint blush across her cheeks when she looked at the waiter.

"Pas de problème, madam," the waiter told her, returning the smile.

"For once, you should've listened and stayed in the hotel to take a nap, Forbes. You're not only making a fool out of yourself but your also making Elena and me look like idiots!" Bonnie lectured, not once thinking about Caroline's feelings. She could be so cold hearted sometimes.

"Bonnie, please, don't do this," Elena pleaded, not understanding how the three of them had been able to stay close friends over the years with those two bickering all the time.

"No, Elena, I'm sick of it. Little miss shopaholic over there doesn't think about anyone but herself and we're always the ones taking the blame," Bonnie went on, her eyes spitting fire.

"Excuse me?" Caroline said offended. "I'm the spoiled brat out of us three? Who was it again who didn't want to go to the Mc Donalds, but wanted to eat in a chic French restaurant instead?" the blonde retorted furiously.

"Girls! What the hell is going on with the two of you? Why can't you be civil for a minute?" Elena interrupted, getting annoyed and mad. She agreed to go on this trip to forget about Matt and have some fun, but if her friends kept fighting, they'd be going home sooner than planned.

"Forget it, I don't even want to know," she added when she saw them giving each other deathly looks. There was something going on, she knew it in her gut. She knew there must be a reason for the current fighting. Although at the moment, she wasn't interested in any of it. She just wanted to get drunk and, preferably, as soon as possible.

"I'm out of here, you two can bicker as much as you want but I'm leaving," she stated, getting up and taking her purse from beside her seat. "I'll see you later tonight at the hotel." And with that, Elena Gilbert left the fancy restaurant and started to look for a classy club where she could let go for a little while and forget about everything.

Her stress level had increased a lot, ever since the day she left college. I wasn't just due to Matt's cheating habit. No, her parents had been fighting and were currently filing for divorce. Her father had moved out the day Elena came back home. Apparently, he and her mother hadn't been getting along for a few years now, though they never told her anything about it. When she decided that she'd move into her old family house again, her mother had been ecstatic because she wouldn't have to be alone in the big house.

Above all that, she also had a difficult time finding a decent job so she finally settled for a spot at the Mystic Falls Magazine. It wasn't what she truly desired though, for the moment, it paid the bills and that was all that mattered. She couldn't expect her mother to keep providing her with food and clothes. It was time for Elena to stand on her own two legs instead of depending on her parents.

Grayson, her father, had been doing unexpectedly well after her parents decided to split. Elena thought he was secretly having an affair because it seemed so unreal that he wouldn't give a shit about the fact that he just broke up with the woman he was married to for over 20 years. He never shed a tear, at least not when she was around.

Her mother on the other hand, she was a wreck, a complete and total mess. The poor woman cried her eyes out on daily base and looked ten years older, her skin pale and her eyes dull. The life had disappeared out of her beautiful dark brown eyes and turned into a somber, extinguished light.

A few blocks up the road, she came across a pub, the loud music reaching her ears until the sound became deafening. It definitely looked like an interesting place, she thought, looking through the window to see a couple of girls doing tequila shots. Yep, definitely what she had been searching for.

She quickly entered the dark room, trying to get through the bunch of dancing, sweaty bodies so she could reach the bar. A few men bumped into her, probably on purpose, though she just kept on walking without a second look. She wasn't here to find a guy, she wanted to get drunk, that's all. If she'd wanted to get laid, she would've searched for a classier place with a row of hot guys waiting for her.

After five minutes, she finally arrived at her destination and ordered a drink, letting out a relieved breath. "Make that two beers," a guy suddenly said from behind her. She was about to make a nasty remark when she caught his eyes and her heart stopped beating for a second. She was utterly shocked by the beauty of the ocean blue eyes that were staring back at her. "Hi, my name is Damon," the stranger smirked, winking at her. He was the typical ladies' man. She could easily tell by the confident look across his face, though somehow she found herself intrigued.

If he had been any other guy, she'd probably have sent him away, laughing at his idiotic attempt of flirting with her. However, there was something about this guy that made her want to give him a chance. He looked devilishly handsome, dark and mysterious - exactly what she needed tonight. He was the opposite from Matt in every way and it made him all the more attractive. And by the way he was looking at her, she knew he was having the exact same thoughts. He was shamelessly checking her out, his eyes lingering at the deep V -cut of her top.

"Eyes up here, buddy!" she called out, annoyed by his careless behavior. He gave her one of those cute puppy dog looks, doing a certain eye-thing she'd never seen before. Damn, if she hadn't felt a pull towards him, she now certainly did. Her thoughts were starting to become a little hazy, darker and more importantly dirtier.

She was just about to throw in another comment when his lips moved, oh god, they looked good enough to kiss, so sensual… Suddenly, she realized that he'd probably asked her something because he was looking at her intently. She was making such a fool out of herself!

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she questioned, trying not to get flustered. Now was not the time for that idiotic blush of her to appear. Damn, she had been out of the game for far too long and suddenly wondered how many girls the man in front of her would have been. He was real eye-candy, probably fucked the entire female population of the city where he lived with that sexy smirk of his. She was all too aware of the fact that Matt had been her only lover and that he'd always been unsatisfied by their sex life. She'd asked him more than once what had been the problem, though he always told her everything was fine.

This guy looked far too experienced. He'd probably be disappointed by her lack of knowledge. Why did she always have to meet someone out of reach?

"I asked if this pretty face also has a name," he repeated, his voice sweet as honey, dripping with sex. Keep those freaking hormones in control, Gilbert, she scolded herself. Wait, did he just call her pretty?

"You have to earn the privilege to know my name," she told him smirking, licking her lips in the process. He wanted to flirt with her? Well, two can play that game!

"Such a temptress," he smiled, raising his eyebrow in surprise. "I think I like you, sweetheart," Damon said, taking a gulp of his drink.

"Glad to see your enjoying yourself, Damon," she told him, his name rolling of her tongue perfectly. Hmm, that sounded nice. His eyes darkened while he was staring at her intently. He was probably thinking how his name would sound coming from her lips when she was in the throes of passion. Yep, that must be it.

"Oh, but I know a way I'd be enjoying myself even better," he assured her, looking up and down her body as if she was a piece of meat. Normally she should've been disgusted by his obvious behavior though, at the moment, her thoughts were entirely different. Clouded.

"Does that include a hotel room?" she questioned, not ashamed in the least. Those two wines she had drunk during dinner certainly seemed to provide her with liquid courage.

"Not necessarily. I'm sure the bathroom would suffice. I don't really feel like waiting much longer," he smirked, his hand landing on top of her knee.

"You don't think I deserve better than a dirty bathroom or hallway where anyone could walk in on us?" she asked carefully, her eyes widened. She liked his way of thinking, though she didn't really like the sound of a quickie. She had been thinking more in the ways of a passion filled night.

"I don't usually let strangers into my bed," he grinned, his hand moving up and down her leg, coming closer and closer into contact with the place she really wanted him to be. Thank god she decided on a short dress for tonight. At least now, he could let his hands wander without much difficulty.

"I'm sure you can make an exception for such a pretty girl like me," she stated, sounding much more confident than she actually felt. She was surprised by the words that kept rolling of her tongue. Who would've thought she had it in her to flirt with such a handsome stranger, practically begging him to take her? Damn, she must look desperate.

When he let out a laugh, she quickly decided that it would be her new favorite sound. "You don't give up, do you?" he questioned, an amused grin across his lips. She was tempted to bend her head just a little further so their lips would meet, though she restrained herself, not wanting to look cheap.

"I like to call myself determined," she told him, opening her legs a little further so he would have better access to her most private place. Her core was throbbing and she couldn't remember a time when she ever felt this hot and desperate for release.

"Well, I can't argue with a beautiful girl like you now, can I?" he smirked, his hand moving further north, though never coming close enough to her heated flesh.

Oh my gosh, he just called her beautiful, right? Good lord, she felt like a high school girl all over again!

"Your place or mine?" he added, his lips moving dangerously close to hers, while his hand came at a halt just above her knee again.

"Yours," she told him quickly, wanting to avoid the curious stares of her girlfriends. She could already imagine their reaction: Caroline excited as hell, wanting to know all the details and Bonnie judgmental, not thinking it was a good idea for Elena to have sex with a complete stranger. For all she knew, he could be a criminal. However, a little danger didn't scare her. Rather, it excited her all the more.


First of all, thank you to all you lovelies that reviewed the prologue! I got less reviews than I had hoped for, though I'm still extremely happy most of you liked the start. Also as usual, a thank you to my wonderful beta Jamie and awesome pre-reader Mirna! You girls rock!

I hope the POV changes didn't bother anyone. It's just easier for me to write the story that way. So, how did you like their first meeting?

Please leave me a review and let me know your thoughts!

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Xoxo