~ Chapter Two ~

Red-Tinted Lips

"I need what?" Elena asks, her voice rising in disbelief, eyes wide.

Damon simply shrugs as he leans on the railing of her front porch. "You need to get out," he drawls, his blue eyes fixed on her. "I'm giving you the opportunity."

Elena feels herself blush and fights the urge to squirm under his intense gaze. She knows that all of this stems from that conversation she had with Damon; a conversation that's so deeply ingrained in her mind that she remembers it with a clarity that surprises her, even though it happened more than a week and a half ago.

Not that I'm counting…Elena sweeps a hand over her face, trying to cover her heated cheeks, as the memory of Damon's lips – Damon's purple-stained lips – so achingly close to hers flashes through her mind. "Damon – I just can't go up and leave because it's too much for me to handle. I can't leave everybody dealing with these problems – my problems – while I'm sitting around tanning in a beach somewhere."

Damon blinks. "We're not going to the beach."

"You're missing the point," Elena hisses, accusing him with her eyes. "And you know it."

Damon shrugs and his mouth curves into an irresistibly I-should-be-sorry-but-I'm-not smile that Elena can't help but adore. It lights up his eyes. "Maybe I do, but you're missing my point," he counters, and then his eyes darken, just barely. It's just a flicker, but Elena knows it's an indication of his seriousness. "You need a timeout – from everything. Your problems are still going to be here when you get back…" She stifles a gasp because those are the exact words he'd used against her when he'd convinced her to go to Atlanta with him.

"Five minutes," Damon says, and because he knows how much meaning the words carry for her (for them both) and how much they'd affected her in the past, he repeats them, "Just five minutes. Think about it." He steps back, and Elena just realizes how close they were to each other; she hadn't even felt him getting nearer. She blushes and lowers her head, willing her heart to stop beating so hard already.

"I'll…I'll think about it," she murmurs before she can help herself.

Damon steps back even further now, his posture more relaxed, and Elena realizes that he's relieved. "Good," he says, retreating to his car. He looks at her before he climbs into his Chevy though, his blue eyes intense and meaningful. "You have until three this afternoon to answer me. And if you don't, well, I'm going either way. I fucking need a timeout myself."

Elena allows herself to smile, and she even waves at him before he leaves. Now that the full meaning of Damon's proposition sinks in, she realizes that, if she does go with him, it'll be just him and her only and with what happened last week…Elena's cheeks heat up.

She's going to have to run this through Stefan.

"He said what?"

Elena barely represses a flinch at Stefan's tone, his disbelieving expression and wide eyes reminiscent of the way she'd reacted when Damon had made her the offer.

She stands her ground though. "He asked me to take a timeout; go with him somewhere," she pauses, wondering if there's a gentle way she can phrase what she wants to say next. She doesn't think so. "And I'm seriously considering it, Stefan."

"But why, Elena? Is it because of me? Is it something I did?" His arms are gesturing madly, punctuating his every word. If the situation wasn't so serious, Elena thinks she'd have laughed.

Instead, she lets her eyes soften with love, her hands coming up to still Stefan's arms. "Of course it's not you," she says soothingly. "We're doing great. It's just that…everything's just getting to me what with all this Katherine and Elijah and Klaus and doppelganger crap. I just need to blow some steam and forget about all of this – and I think Damon's giving me that opportunity."

Stefan's green eyes are glazed with a strange pain as he looks at her. "But Damon...he's…Damon's in love with you," he replies weakly.

She frowns. "I thought we were over this, Stefan." She feels herself grow cold. After all they'd gone through, he still didn't trust her?

Just as she begins to move back, his hands come up to cup her face. "No, wait Elena, listen we are over this," he begins earnestly, his eyes roaming over her face. With a jolt, Elena realizes uneasily that her heart's not beating any faster, and there's no blood rushing to heat up her face. She tells herself it's because she's angry with Stefan; after all, there's no other possibility.

He exhales slowly, his hands loosening their hold on her arms a fraction. "I don't want you to leave," he whispers, resting his head on her shoulder. "Please."

Feeling incredibly awkward, Elena slowly pulls away, gently extricating herself from Stefan. "I didn't say I was leaving, Stefan. I just said I was thinking about it." She leans over to kiss him, and his lips are there, ready to meet hers, but on second thought she switches and aims for his cheek instead. She doesn't know why.

She's still not sure about what she's going to say to Damon – everything's so confusing. She hopes she'll get her answer soon enough.

Her eyes wander to her watch; twelve thirty.

She doesn't have much more time left.

Elena's standing in front of her mirror, swiping a vivid shade of red onto her lips. She stares at herself, tracing the contours of her face; she's still thinking about Damon's offer, and she's still without an answer.

She glances at her clock: one forty-five.

Frustrated, her eyes wander back to the mirror; why is she so unsure of herself – torn between two answers?

Between two people?

Elena knows that this choice is an indirect reflection of the two brothers. If she chooses to stay, not only does she let the weight of being the doppelganger settle once again on her shoulders (the weight had somehow faded since Damon's proposition) but she also chooses Stefan. If she chooses to leave, she chooses to let go and let herself be free of any inhibitions – but she also chooses Damon.

It's not the real-thing, but in Elena's mind it's close because she's actually torn.

Slowly, she lets her eyes close, and remembers a conversation with her mom, way back when she was a spoiled fifteen year old brat, whose main concerns lay in fashion and friends and parties.

She'd been torn – much like this time – and had asked her mother's advice on the issue.

"Elena, choose the thing you're more comfortable with; the one where you feel the happiest and more like you."

With who is she more Elena?

Slowly, her mind drifts to Stefan – sweet, selfless Stefan. He's always there for, always willing to protect her and showers her with love and adoration. He helped her get over her grief when her parent's died. He's her guardian, her savior…

Her mind rounds immediately on Damon.

He's…complicated. But he gets her – he gets her like nobody else does. He reads her like an open book; he knows when she's happy, when she's grumpy, and he adjusts accordingly. He comforts her, he's there for her, but in a different way than Stefan.

Slowly, the memory of their conversation flashes through her mind.

He had told her the most beautiful things she'd ever heard. He'd said she could take it because she's Elena. He'd dried her purple tears and kissed them away while holding her and telling her that he understood. He'd left with a brush of his lips against hers, telling her that nothing's worth her tears and that she's worth it because she's Elena.

Elena opens her eyes with a jolt. Her breathing's shallow, and she puts a hand over her heart to steady its erratic breathing. Slowly, her red lips curve into a smile.

She has her answer.

"Damon, wait!" She cries out, and he pauses, bag still slung lazily over his shoulder. She stumbles a bit before she reaches him, breathing hard.

"Your time's up, Elena," he says, and his voice is strained at the edges. "What's your answer."

Elena slides her eyes over his face, stopping as she took in the blue of his eyes. God, they were beautiful. There's a smile on her face as she looks at him. "I'm going with you, Damon," she replies. "Wherever you want to go; I fucking need the timeout too."

Damon's blinking at her, like he can't believe what she's saying. But slowly, his eyes are lighting up and they're sparkling like the sea. His mouth splits into a blinding smile as he lets his bag fall to the floor and gathers her in his arms. "Really? You're coming with me?"

She laughs, arms going around his neck. "Yes, yes I am," she replies, her red lips smiling brightly up at him, heart beating hard and fast against her chest as he trails up his hands along the planes of her face.

Suddenly he's tilting her chin so that she's staring straight into those startling blue eyes and suddenly it's getting harder to breathe. "Good," he says softly, still smiling. "Fucking fantastic."

And Damon kisses her red mouth; softly, slowly, genuinely, and Elena feels herself smiling and impossibly happy.

Author's Note: Here's for part two of Purple Teardrops – hope you've liked it. The title was a reference to Elena's lips this time (I'm sure everyone caught that…but just in case :D). Part three will have the road trip, and I'm still not sure about part four – if there's one.

Before anyone starts to say that Elena's a bitch here, kissing Damon. I'd like to say that I've left the state of her relationship pretty ambiguous here, first of all, and that, in this case, Damon kissed her. Some people, when they are overwhelmingly happy, tend to respond by kissing and well, Elena here basically acknowledges her growing feelings for Damon as opposed to the fading ones for Stefan. So yeah :D

Love to hear your thoughts about this second chapter. I'm pretty nervous about it, since I've never expanded on anything, so please drop in a review! And don't favorite without doing that, please!

Much love!

P.S. – I'm still in the process of answering the first batch of emails…but don't worry, I promise I'll get to all of you!