Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of its characters. I am just using them for some fun :D
A/N: And the story starts...
This was the fifth time Damon was woken up by the shrill ring of his phone. Lazily grasping out for his phone, he tapped the end button and settled back.
Thirty seconds… and the phone rang again.
A small moan came from somewhere inside the covers, followed by a flurry of movements.
The white blanket was shifted down revealing a tangled mass of black.
Peeking up her face, from its place, on Damon's chest, Laurel looked up at him with bleary eyes.
"Damon" she whispered sleepily.
"Hmm…" Damon pulled her back to him and mumbled into her hair.
"Damon" Laurel pulled up her hand, and patted his cheek.
"No… sleep"
"The phone" Laurel grumbled. "Its been ringing for the last half hour. Pick it up."
"You pick it up."
"Its your phone." Laurel whined.
"So" Damon closed his eyes again.
Grouching about lazy dominating assholes, Laurel climbed on top of him and reached out for his phone.
Damon gave a playful swat on her rear, causing Laurel to grumble some more.
"Hello" Laurel spoke into the phone.
"Umm… Hello is this Mr. Damon Salvatore's phone?"
"Yes it is." Laurel sat up on hearing the woman's slightly strained voice. "Who is this?"
"Sheriff Forbes from…"
"Mystic Falls" Laurel finished. She had heard of Sheriff Forbes, the nice Sheriff Damon had been friends with, back in the day. "You are Liz Forbes right?" Laurel asked excitedly.
Damon frowned, the familiar name finally peaking his interest. Turning around he raised an eyebrow at Laurel.
Laurel shrugged as she continued to talk.
"I have heard a lot about you."
"Oh…" Liz sounded surprised, "Well if Damon is around, can I please talk to him. This is kind of important.
"Yeah sure" Laure deflated and handed Damon the phone with a rueful pout.
Lying down on top of him, Laurel closed her eyes, her hands trailing circles on his chest.
"Liz?" A confused Damon asked, as he placed the phone by his ear. It was strange, very strange. He had not been to Mystic Falls since that terrible night seven years ago. Neither had he been in touch with anyone there.
"Damon, oh thank God!" Liz half yelled. "Do you have any idea, how long I have been trying to get in touch with you for?"
"Sorry, I had no idea." Damon apologized. "So what's going on?" He asked as he played with Laurel's hair.
Laurel hummed contently as she felt Damon's long fingers gently massaging her head.
Placing her hand in front of her face, she twisted her palm away and smiled at the glittering ring on her finger.
They had decided on a spring wedding.
About three weeks ago, Damon had come to her office one night, where she was working late to finish her article and had coaxed her into grabbing a burger in the diner down the street.
Thirsty after munching on way too many fries, she was slurping down her diet coke with relish when she heard him say it.
"Marry me."
Laurel choked on the fizzy drink. Gasping and finally catching her breath, she had finally managed to look at him.
Damon looked stoic, if not a little confused, almost as if unable to believe what he had just said.
Well the feeling is certainly mutual Laurel had thought.
Damon Salvatore did not do relationships, he himself had told her right before taking her to bed the first night they had met.
Young and high on the recent shift of her article from page eleven to six of the magazine, she had brought forth her 'devil may care' face and had decided to go with the flow and live in the moment.
Next morning she was about to leave without a goodbye, when Damon had woken up. Miffed that she was not even planning on leaving a note, when he asked her about it, she had haughtily reminded him that he was the one who had been keen on laying down the rules which is exactly what she had been following.
Frustrated at how unaffected she seemed while he was still entranced, he had pulled her down for a forceful kiss which was followed by a session of angry morning sex.
That had been almost two years ago.
"Did you just say what I think you said?"
Damon had given her a stiff shrug. "It was just a thought"
"Thought?" Laurel parroted.
"Yeah" Damon popped a fry into his mouth. "We spend all of our time together, you and I. We practically live together in our apartment. We love each other, so it makes sense."
"You want to marry me because it makes sense?" Laurel asked incredulously.
"No Laurel." Damon put his hands up, a dark flush staining his cheeks, "I want to marry you because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my fucking life with you. But if you don't feel the same then…" Damon got up and was about to leave.
"Stop" Laurel grabbed his arm.
Damon glanced at her.
"I do feel the same." Laurel said. "I always have."
Damon took a step towards her and said.
"So"
"Yes I will marry you."
"You will?" Damon sounded relieved and then frowned. "Wow, that was a terrible proposal."
Laurel gave an impish nod before saying. "Well, you were lacking in finesse, but full marks for honesty.
Damon had then given an exalted laugh and picked her up, twirling her around in the air, not caring of the people cheering all around them.
Laurel came out of her musings as she felt Damon tense under her. Sitting up on her knees, she looked worriedly at Damon's ashen face.
"What's wrong?"
Damon swallowed harshly. "It's Zack."
"Your uncle"
Damon nodded robotically. "He is dead."
Damon gulped down his glass of bourbon and reached out for the half empty bottle. But, a swift hand belonging to an extremely pissed off Laurel took it away.
"That's it" she snapped, setting the bottle down far from his reach. "I am cutting you off."
"I am not drunk Laurel." Damon muttered.
"No, but you are well on your way to be."
After hearing about Zach, Damon had given a nonchalant shrug, claiming they were never close, and had dressed up to go to work.
Despite her doubts, Laurel had let it go; taking Damon's word at face value.
That was until a worried Enzo had called her.
"What the fuck is going on with your fiancé?"
"Hello to you too brother", Laurel greeted in a bemused tone.
" I don't have time for pleasantries Laurie" Enzo fumed. "We almost lost a client today. I was the one doing damage control. I do the poking and prodding while Damon opens them up with his charm. Except today…today when our client expressed her desire to separate her inheritance from the family estate, do you know what he did…do you?"
"Um" Laurel gulped. "No"
"He called her a selfish bitch and walked away, just simply walked away Laurel. Klaus is livid."
"Isn't he always?" Laurel rolled her eyes as she thought of Damon's and Enzo's temperamental boss, who just happened to be her best friend's husband.
"Besides don't worry about Klaus, Caroline will make him sleep on the couch for years if he fires you or Damon."
"That's not the point Laurie. Damon is being considered for senior partner, which means, every step he takes is under the microscope, and you know that that Lockwood is always looking for a…"
"Yes I get it okay" Laurel spitted out. "Office politics and all that jazz. But come on Enzo, after this morning he needs a little…"
"What you two had a little tiff again?"
"He didn't tell you?" Laurel was bewildered. Enzo was Damon's guy. They told each other everything. So much so that, if Enzo was a girl, she would be crazy jealous; sibling or not.
"Tell me what…"
"Nothing" Laurel cut him off sharply. "It doesn't matter. Um…thanks…thanks for telling me ummm…yeah don't worry too much, I will take care of it.
After talking with Enzo, Laurel tried calling Damon. It went straight to voice mail.
Praying to the heaven's that he had gone home, Laurel got out of her own office early… to reach home, which is where she found Damon, in the middle of a make out session with a bottle of bourbon.
As Laurel scowled at Damon with the bottle in her hand, Damon tried snatching it back.
"Seriously" Laurel asked, an incredulous expression painting her face.
Damon rolled his eyes and pulled away.
He looked bad. That was truly the only word for it. Damon's hair was a mess, like he had run his hand one too many a times through it. His coat was thrown on the floor, his tie loosened, his white shirt wrinkled and untagged. His shoes where nowhere to be seen, and his white socks looked like they could use a good scrub.
"Damon"
"Laurel" Damon sighed irately. "I had a bad day, my client was a bitch and I have a headache. I just need a night alright."
"Or you can talk about what's really bothering you." Laurel folded her arms, a determined look on her face.
Damon raised a sceptical brow.
Laurel took a deep breath and asked, "When is the funeral"
"Oh come on"
"When-is-the-funeral?" Laurel asked again.
Laurel knew Damon. He would not say anything, no matter what was worrying him. No he would be stoic and nonchalant about it all until things reached the breaking point. Also, if given a chance he would prefer to find his answers at the bottom of a whiskey bottle, preferably bourbon.
And then when the levee broke, he would end up do something idiotically drastic, probably hurting himself metaphorically and literally in the process.
The only way to prevent it - put your foot down and not stop, until he spits it all out.
Damon gave Laurel an irate look and turn back to scowl at his empty glass.
"It's within a week."
"Okay" Laurel said as she walked closer, one cautious step at a time. "Are you going?"
Damon rubbed the back of his neck with his hand tiredly. "I have to" He looked up at the ceiling. "And it is going to be for more than just the funeral."
"Why is that?" Laurel replaced Damon's hand on the back of his neck with her own, gently massaging and loosening the tense muscles.
"Hmm" Damon moaned in ecstasy. "Yeah, I um… I am the eldest after Zack, so I automatically become in charge. I gotta make sure everything is in place." Damon sighed as Laurel placed a soft kiss on top of his head. "The estate and the plantation lands, I don't even know what we are supposed to do with it."
Laurel wrapped her arms around Damon's shoulder and pulled him tight.
"You will figure it out."
"It's not that." Damon lifted his hand and entwined his finger's with Laurel's. "I… I gotta talk to Stefan before I do anything."
"Maybe that's a good thing." Laurel mumbled.
Damon tilted his head up and gave Laurel a pointed look.
"I'm just saying." Laurel shrugged.
"Laurel me and Stefan we are never going to play happy family. Me and him are not you and Enzo, so get rid of that pipe dream of yours." Damon said harshly.
Laurel pulled away from Damon and raised her hands.
"I am not holding on to a pipe dream. It's just…" she jerked her arms around. "Its just that… I know you miss him, and now… now its just you and him and he is the only family you…"
Damon got up from the chair and walked up to Laurel.
"It's not just me and him." He put his hand on Laurel's waist and tugged her to him, despite her protests. Lifting his palm to her face, he pulled back a strand of wayward charcoal black hair from her ivory face. "It's me and you, it has always been, even when I didn't know it."
"But he is your brother and… I don't even know the exact reason why you both are estranged" Laurel shook her head. "I mean what could possibly be so bad that…"
"Laurel" Damon held her face firmly but gently in his hands, his eyes boring into hers. "It doesn't matter, it's in the past. It doesn't matter anymore." He took a deep breath before continuing. "And you are right, maybe me seeing Stefan is a good thing, perhaps it is time to finally bury the hatchet." Laurel opened her mouth to speak, but Damon shushed her. "I will try, I really will, but if it doesn't work, it doesn't matter, cause you… us…here, together… that is all the family I need."
"Sometimes you say the sweetest things."
Laurel gave Damon a silly grin before pressing her lips to his.
Yay first chapter...
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