Truth Be Told
A/N: Quick note to say thank you to those of you that have read and/or added me to their follow list! XD It nice to know that it's readable! =P As much as I wish I did, *I don't own the characters or anything that comes along with the vampire diaries. I'm just playing in their sandbox… =D*
Chapter 2- Plotting a Plan
"I don't want to hurt him Damon." I said flatly. I know he may have been horrible to me but that didn't mean I wanted to see him hurt.
"Well there goes more than half of my ideas" he teased. "I guess we can do this the honest way if you'd really like." He smirked.
"The honest way? I've already tried that Damon and look at where it got me?" I said tears starting to form in my eyes.
"You have a point. What I was thinking actually, allows you to be honest without fear of him trying to take your memories. All though I doubt he would try that again seeing how well it worked the first time but even so, this would give you a guarantee." He finished smugly.
"How?" I asked dumbfounded.
"Well you're going to accept my very thoughtful gift. You can call it a housewarming plant." He released her and walked over to the living vervain plant complete with a fancy garden pot and a bow picking it up and walking back over to the bed. "Once you say thank you properly…" He purred sitting down next to me. "You are then going to boil pieces of it put the lased liquid it in your drinks." He paused thinking for a moment, "Actually you might want to give a piece to your friends and family just to keep them safe as well." He tacked on. Damon being Damon he had to cover all angles.
"This is what's in my necklace isn't it?" I asked my one hand automatically touching my neck to check that the necklace was indeed still there and the other reaching over to accept the plant.
"Yes, it's one of the three things that can hurt us." He confirmed watching me put it on my night stand. "It's called vervain and if you drink it we won't be able to compel you and your blood will essentially become poison to us making us weak instantly." He said leaning closer to me brushing my hair over my shoulder and running the tip of his nose lightly up and down my neck sending shivers thought my body, Smirking when he heard my heartbeat quicken.
"Why would you give this to me?" I asked trying to keep my voice level but mentally cursing myself when it came out barely a whisper.
"Isn't it obvious Elena?" he questioned leaning back to look into her eyes. "I care about you and this is what will keep you safe." Damon confessed in a small voice. It was strange to see this side of Damon. It's not like I didn't know it was there, I was just surprised he was showing it to me. After a moment I couldn't think of anything to say so I leaned over and kissed Damon tenderly on the cheek.
"Thank you Damon." I breathed with as much gratitude I could manage holding his face in my hand staring into his eyes.
"Don't mention it." He replied moving away. "So you are going to use the vervain and Stephen will have to accept whatever you tell him, and from what I've seen I'm assuming he will have to accept that it is over." Damon finished dismissing the moment that had pass between them, picking up where he left off earlier.
"I don't' think it's going to be that easy." I added quietly a little hurt that he pulled away from me.
"Why not?" Damon asked softening his voice a little.
"You didn't see him Damon… He was so desperate… He actually cuffed me to his radiator. I don't know what he would have done if he hadn't come up with compelling it away." She admitted her worse fear that she refused to even acknowledged before.
"He would never hurt you…" Damon growled it as a threat.
"He doesn't think he's hurting me, he thinks we belong together and I'd thank him one day. I'm not kidding Damon. I don't think either of us knows what he is capable of." I huffed knowing that Damon repeatedly called Stephen a saint.
"Oh he's capable of it. Just not with you." He stated. A small growl coming from the back of his throat.
"What?" I mouthed stunned.
"He hasn't always been a saint." He shrugged. "We're vampires Elena we do terrible things sometimes. At one point even saint Stephen was a slave to our nature, as we all become a little blood lusty time to time. But Stephen… poor Stephen had been denying himself for so long that when he finally let himself go he left a trail behind him. We called him Ripper then." Damon laughed sardonically.
"Like THE ripper?" I breathed.
"The one and only and now he is repeating his cycle. Bunny food then mass murder." He chuckled darkly, his eyes turning black. "I'm no saint Elena and I have never denied my true nature. It's what I am and it sucked when it happened but you do the best with what you got." He paused seeming deflated. "But what Stephen is doing isn't healthy." He finished with mixed emotions flashing across his face.
"You're worried about him aren't you?" I asked softly. I knew I had to tread lightly with these subjects.
"We should get back to the matter at hand. You're worried my brother might 'vamp out'." He smirked and raised and eye brow, "And do something in the moment like cuff you to something?" he asked summarizing the situation totally ignoring my previous question.
"Yeah that is a short summary of my current problems." I snapped annoyed that he kept slamming the door in my face every time I'm getting answers. "AND now I know what he's actually capable of, so now I'm kinda worried and can't help but notice that I have a very limited list of solutions." I snapped finally letting my anger go, which caught both of us off guard. Apparently Stephen was keeping more from her then she had ever thought possible.
"Look Damon, you don't have to do this. I'll call bonnie and we will figure something out." I sighed deflated after my outburst and realization.
"Well, calling Bonnie is probably a good idea. She should be able to find a spell that will revoke a vampire's invitation." He pointed out. "And if you think you could be in danger I'm not going anywhere." With that being said he laid out straight on the bed and propped his head up with a pillow. Rolling my eyes I reached for my phone seeing that it was 2:30am, sent Bonnie a curtsey text telling her if she doesn't answer in 5 there will be a follow up call and pressed send.
"Hopefully she answers." I said turning back to Damon who had made himself comfortable spreading his legs across the bed.
"This bed is tiny." Damon whined
"It is not. It's a queen size bed, I'm lucky it wasn't a double." I retorted.
"My bed is bigger." He said wiggling his eye brows at me.
"I'm sure it is." I said dismissively.
My phone took that moment to ding breaking the tension in the room.
'Computer chat?' Bonnie Replied.
Getting off my bed I walked over and took my computer off sleep and logged on. A couple of minutes I was connect with bonnie.
Bonniebee: Wats up chicka?
TheGreatElenaG: Need ur help! You will be able to test ur mad skills…
Bonniebee: My skills? Oh no Elena wat have u gotten into?
TheGreatElenaG: Can't tell you like this, will u come? And bring ur stuff?
Bonniebee: I'll be there in 10 make sure ur back door is open.
TheGreatElenaG: Thax ur the BEST!
Bonniebee: Anything 4 u chicka.
Bonniebee offline.
"She's on her way-" I said turning to find Damon standing directly behind me.
"So I see… The Great Elena G…" He Laughed. "It sounds like you are a magician." He teased but his voice was laced with something else making the air seem to turn thick between us.
"I need to make sure the back door is open." I stammered. Slowly standing so that I was within inches of Damon who wasn't giving me any room to go around.
"I already did and it was." He said his brow furrowing. "That's not really safe you know." He chided.
"The monsters I'm worried about aren't deterred by locks." I reminded him.
"Touché." he laughed.
"So what's the next part of the plan?" I asked wanting him to either wrap his arms around me or back off because the suspense was making my body jittery.
"Well I guess Bonnie will come and do her hocus pocus," He sighed stepping back and returning to the bed, "And then we confront Stephen tomorrow when he comes over." He finished his eyes growing darker.
"We can't do it here, not with Jenna and Jeremy in the house!" I said shocked he could think she would put them in danger like that.
"I could compel them to leave early." He shrugged.
"No I wouldn't feel right doing that." I replied but secretly being grateful that that could be an option if she'd ever need them to be safe.
"Well then miss no, why don't you tell me before I waste any more time guessing." Damon huffed back, rolling his eyes. I thought about that for a minute before I came up with a plan.
"We'll do it at school. There will be plenty of people around and he won't want to make a scene. Not to mention it will be away from Aunt Jenna and Jeremy because Jeremy has a spare first period." I finished with a slight smile.
"I gotta say Elena… that is incredibly…d-u-m-b. Dumb. Being around people is not going to make it easier; it may cause a massacre actually." He said thoughtfully. I froze putting the pieces of his logic together in my head. He was right of course; she couldn't take her family out of danger only to put others in danger. That just wouldn't be right.
"Your right, I wasn't thinking." I said softly. "Well I guess that mean I go to him." I said feeling more resigned. Stephen was after all, my problem. So it was only fair that I only endanger myself. Damon crinkled his nose in distaste but didn't comment right away.
"Well if you're doing that we're going to need to get cracking." He said before vanishing before my eyes.
"Damon where are you?" I whispered harshly looking around. Going to my closet I opened it to find it empty of any unusual contents.
"I'm right here princess." Damon smirked closing the lid to my laptop and moving it to the side before empting the contents of a bag in its place. Damon had been to the kitchen and brought up what she needed to boil the vervain. "It's better to do this on the stove but if you put the vervain in the kettle and boil it a few times it does the trick." He said quickly plucking a few buds of the plant and dropping them in the kettle before they have too much of a chance to burn him.
"NO," I exclaimed rushing over to him and taking the plant away from his reach. "You don't have to burn yourself when I'm perfectly capable of doing it unharmed." I finished with a shudder. The thought of him burning was making my heartbeat irregularly and not in a good way. I put the plant back on the desk and plucked a few more buds before turn on the kettle.
"If I didn't know better, I would think that is concern in your eyes…" He whispered coming up behind me, his breath tickling the little hairs on my neck making them stand up. I hadn't even realized that he'd gotten up. He stepped closer trailing his fingertips down my arms until he had my hands cupped in his. Using my hands he plucked a bud off of the plant.
"Of course it is Damon; you know I care for you." I breathed, my body unconsciously moving back into his, reveling in his touch. Our bodies seeming to be a perfect fit to each other. He continued to pick off random sized buds off the plant until we had a small pile in front of us. I could feel every inch of him behind me radiating heat like a forest fire.
Releasing one of my hands he moved to brush my hair over my shoulder exposing the side of my neck. The remaining hand moving to lace his finger with mine and bring it to rest over my stomach holding me closer to him locking me in place as he trailed his nose up and down the side of my neck making my body tremble slightly at the sensitive touch. It wasn't just sensitive. It was the intimacy of the touch that had my body disobeying my brains commands to freeze. Instead I melted into him, letting my head fall to rest on his shoulder.
"I know you do…" He whispered softly into my ear before I felt his lips place a tender kiss to the side of my neck making me shiver all the way down to my toes. My core burning and growing wetter with every breath until suddenly I was left standing at my desk alone the cold air stinging my exposed flesh making it pebble slightly. Turning around I found him lounging on the side of the bed, the picture of ease while I was left standing here with the sting of rejection and confusion displayed in all of my feature and just as I'm about to tell him off about his hot and cold behavior when bonnie walked into the room.
"So what's so import-" She cut off when she saw Damon making himself comfortable on Elena's bed.
"It's a long story" I huffed and crossed the room quickly gathering her into a tight hug closing my eyes when she squeezed back.
"And probably not a good one if he's here" She replied motioning towards Damon.
"Believe it or not Bonnie but he's the good guy in this scenario." I snapped causing Bonnie to freeze for a second in shock. Looking at her face I immediately felt bad. None of this was her fault and she wasn't far off about Damon, usually it was his messes we were cleaning up. "I just need you to listen to me with an open mind is all…" I tried to correct myself and saw her relax a little going over to the bed and pushing Damon's feet off so she could sit down.
"You know me chicka. No judgment or close mindedness here. Don't forget the strangeness that is I" She quipped her hand pointing at her chest; she giggled at her own joke for a moment before her features wiped clean of all emotion. "Why isn't Meredith here? What is going on?" She asked genuinely confused and getting a little frustrated.
"Meredith has track practice in less than four hours and I didn't want to wake her up if I didn't have too, I'll call her as soon as I wake up tomorrow and fill her in." I explained, pausing before continuing. "Stephen hasn't turned out to be the person I believed he was…" I trailed off picking at the hem on my shirt, before gathering the bit of pride I had left and told her my tale from giving myself to Stephen and ending with boiling the vervain only leaving out the moments I had with Damon seeing as they weren't relevant to this particular situation. Not to mention that he was in the room and as any girl knows you don't talk girl talk in front of a boy.
If I was being honest with myself I would have admitted that these moments affected me more than I have thought possible but with the whole Stephen situation I pushed any and all feelings or thoughts Damon out of my mind. After all, only hours ago I gave myself to Stephen and while I'm not that knowledgeable in the sex department but I'm pretty sure you don't have it with two different people in one night, especially brothers. I really didn't want to be 'THAT' girl.
"So Damon is here because he tried to help you remember but you refused and your own brain overwrote the compulsion?" Bonnie asked stunned. I simply nodded my head in response. "Elena do you have any idea how rare that is?" She asked looking at Elena a little differently, shock still dominant in her features.
"That's what I said" Damon piped in, giving a similar look that Bonnie still had on her face. I decided that it was a mixture of worry, awe and shock. Whatever it was, it was starting to make me feel uncomfortable and I started to shift from foot to foot under both of their gazes.
"No I have no idea what that means or how rare it is, that isn't really the point right now." I sipped. "The point is what I'm going to do with the situation before me. I was hoping that you could find a spell that can revoke a vampire's invitation into a house." I finished with my question directed towards Bonnie.
"That's easy. Grams and I have been over a lot of stuff about vampires and protection spells." She answered brightly.
"Really?" I sighed, feeling a load of weight come off, a load I hadn't realized I was so worried about.
"Oh yeah," She replied waving her hand before hesitating slightly, "Well I know how to do a spell that revokes every invitation that's the only way I know how to do it." She finished her eyes glancing quickly to Damon before returning to Elena.
"Well that's okay; I can just invite Damon in again." I said dismissively.
"Really?" Bonnie blurted out before thinking. Her face going beet red a few moments later.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" I asked confused.
"Well, and no offence Damon, but hasn't he been the one that has cause the most problems?" Bonnie asked unbridled. I hesitated while I thought that over. She was right, it would be silly of me not to listen and keep all vampires out of the house but on the other hand the thought of not having Damon be able to wake her up like he'd done earlier had me dismissing the idea completely.
"That's not the only reason…" The voice inside my head had come back to taunt me. I rolled my eyes inwardly at myself. I don't have time for this, I can't think about Damon now… I reply to myself sternly. "Don't forget the number one reason of why you would let him in, why you'll always let him in…" The voice replied with the air of authority in its taunting.
"He's trying to help Bonnie; he can't do that from outside the house. I need him to be able to come in in case something goes wrong." I replied, quickly coming up with a logical reason to have him invited into my house without having to explain to her about my internal dispute. "Coward…" The voice replies to my lie. I mentally stuck my tongue out at him feeling very much like a child that is to stubborn to listen.
"Okay I can see your point." Bonnie replies but something in her eyes tells me she sees right through me. Glancing at Damon I could tell by his cocky smile that he could see right through me as well. "Well this spell shouldn't take me long and luckily I brought everything id need for it." She finished brightly again. Letting the tension pass and settle back to normal.
"What do you need from me?" I asked quickly, desperate to forget the last few minute of our conversation.
"Natta, I'm good. I'll need to go downstairs to the door ways but it won't be loud so I shouldn't wake anyone up." She said rummaging through her bad and walking through the door leaving Damon and I alone once again. The moment the door closed behind Bonnie the air became thick with tension.
"So I guess I'll need to invite you in." I said quietly when he didn't break the silence. "Shouldn't you go outside?" I asked not really sure what happened to a vampire when they were in a house without permission.
"It will take her a couple of minute to get set up. When she is ill hover outside the window." He replied simply cocking his head to the side as if listening to Bonnie downstairs. "She's just starting to get this out of her bag." He said rising off of the bed and walking towards me lazily.
"Okie dokey," I said a little to brightly as I turned around turning the kettle on for the second time.
"So you'll let me back in would you?" He breathed into my ear. His sudden presents behind me making me jump and turn to face him.
"Of course I would Damon, as I said you're trying to help. It doesn't really make sense keeping you out." I lied casually, hoping my heartbeat wouldn't give me away.
"You're a terrible liar Elena…" He whispered into my ear, kissing me lightly on the spot just below my earlobe before disappearing out of the window, leaving me grasping the desk and panting slightly. Walking over to the window I could see him lounging in the tree outside, like he'd been there a thousand times, and suddenly a thought occurred to me. Maybe he had. The thought made my body tingle slightly and my heartbeat to skip a beat. Damon met my eyes then and I swear he could read my mind giving me a smirk, taunting me with his eyes. Narrowing my gazing I leaned out of my window slightly.
"Although you do look comfy out there and it isn't that hard to talk to you though the window…" I trailed off grinning at him slightly, raising an eyebrow in challenge.
"I am quite comfy thank you, your right even being outside you don't miss much…" He trailed off with a cocky grin, his eyes accepting my challenge and confirming my earlier suspicion.
"I should have suspected." I huffed rolling my eyes.
"You know I wouldn't mind staying out here if you really prefer, as long as you always lean out your window like that to talk to me." He replied his gaze no longer on my eyes. I straighten quickly, cracking my head off of the window after looking down to see that the position I was in had my boobs practically on display for Damon.
"BAH!" I exclaimed trying to say quiet as I grasped the back of my head. Looking at my hand I noticed I was bleeding. "Wonderful…" I grumbled to myself still holding my head looking over at the window to see Damon just beyond the window floating in midair with a mixture of concern and amusement on his face.
"I understand what you were talking about before." He said seriously.
"You understand what about what now?" I asked most of my attention focused on grabbing a towel and dabbing my head with it.
"About these dangerous things that could happen if I'm not invited into the house." He said his face starting to show strain and worry.
"Ha-ha." I said rolling my eyes. "I'm guessing Bonnie has done her thing since you're not in here so, Damon Salvatore won't you please come in." I asked giving him a side glace as he instantly slipped through the window and took the towel from me moving it to examine my wound.
"You should be fine, just a tiny cut." He replied sounding relieved which immediately caught my attention. Grabbing his wrist I turned to look at him, seeing the concern there.
"If I didn't know better Mr. Salvatore, I would think that is concern in your eyes…" I whispered repeating his words back to him breaking into a slow smile.
"Touché Miss Gilbert…" He smiled softly, cupping my face running his thumbs across my cheeks before stepping around me heading towards the bathroom seconds before Bonnie walked back in.
"Okay done. I figured Damon got out in time?" She breezed not really concerned on if he did or not.
"Yes, he sure did." I said still poking at my head feeling how tender it was. "And then I smacked my head off of the window trying to talk to him." I giggle a little at the irony.
"Well I guess it is better if he's inside" Bonnie giggled a little before turning serious again. "What's next in this plan of yours?" She asked skeptical.
"I guess drinking the vervain." I replied turning to the kettle and boiling it for the third time.
"That's all fine and everything but can I make a suggestion?" Bonnie asked eyeing the kettle with doubt.
"Of cour- OUCH!" I gasped when Damon returned with the antiseptic spray he was now using.
"Suck it up princess, it has to be done." He said without pity dabbing her head again making her cringe.
"I want to spell you Elena; you can just rely on the vervain to keep you safe. I want to put a protective bubble around you." She hurried excitedly.
"Sure, any help I can get I'll accept." I said without hesitation.
"Really?" She asked excitement momentarily forgotten at how fast I agreed.
"Yes." I said with a shrug, "Why wouldn't I?"
"Because I haven't been practicing witchcraft for very long, some of this could be dangerous." She said leaving all humor from her voice trying to point out the seriousness of this.
"I trust you completely Bonnie if you feel like you can do this, than I believe you." I said looking at her with pride. She's come a long way since she found out she was a witch. She's lost her shyness and the timid air she use to carry with her.
"Thank you Elena, I won't let you down!" She said and hurried to her bag dumping the contents on the bed.
"Just don't turn me into a frog" I teased walking over to see what I could help with while Damon started straining the vervain laced liquid into a pitcher, filling the kettle again from a water bottle and adding more vervain he started to process over.
"Yeah yeah, no promises," Bonnie smirked, "Okay so we need to create a circle with the candles and you have to sit in the middle. It shouldn't take long either." She finished pulling out her spell book and thumbing through it. Doing as she said I place the candles and started lighting them, noticing out of the corner of my eye that Damon was staring at me. I could feel his gaze before I saw him looking. As I was about to sit in the middle he used his vampire speed to put a pillow down before I hit the ground.
"Thank you Damon." I said wiggling into it. He gave a slight nod in return his face a blank slate but his eyes filled with concern.
"I'm going to chant for a while and circle you, don't be shocked if I sprinkle herbs or sprits you with water that is normal. Whatever you do, do not leave to circle once I've started, interrupted spells are the one that cause the most damage." She warned me, our eyes locked together and I nodded in response. "Okay, here we go…" She trailed off taking a deep breath before beginning.
Circling me she started to chant in Latin sprinkling the herb's in a clockwise circle around me. The air around me grew electrifying, little shocks and static stinging my exposed flesh. It wasn't painful, a little unpleasant and somewhat annoying at first but easy to get use too. About fifteen minutes later she was finished and I felt charged with a hum of something powerful. I stood and I could feel the power sink inward until the buzzing feeling subsided.
"How do you feel…?" Damon asked leaning against the wall his eyed pinned on her.
A/N: Okay guys what did you think of chapter two? It's been a long emotional night for Elena with her feelings of betrayal from Stephen and feeling the heat from Damon. I've been playing with the idea of making a Damon POV but am still unsure if I could do him justice. I also warred with myself on the decision to include Meredith in this story. I ultimately decided yes because I loved Meredith in the books. I know this chapter has run a little long but the characters just wouldn't leave me alone. =S Hoped you enjoyed reading! –Karlita xoxo =D