"Thank you for not upsetting her." Elena sighed as she closed the bedroom door behind her. "I'm sure that must have been… difficult… for you."
Damon was thumbing through Call of the Wild for the millionth time in his very long life, lying on top of the covers still fully clothed. His beautiful eyes flashed over at her as he flipped the book down.
"Why is she here again?" Damon grouched.
"She's interviewing for a news anchor position in the area. And I wanted to see her, so no complaining." Elena pulled her PJs on, looking down wistfully at her slightly bulging stomach with a sigh as she tugged her tank-top over her head.
"Stop fussing over your belly. You're still beautiful. You'll still be beautiful when it's bigger than a freaking watermelon."
"I don't care what I look like. I care that my clothes don't fit anymore." Elena grumbled, only lying a little. Her tank top no longer fully covered her stomach and she was tired of that specific sliver of skin freezing while the rest of her was fine.
"Someone's been eating sour grapes." Damon eyed her.
"Yeah, well, I just had the worst conversation with Caroline." Elena hid her face under her arm after she lied down next to him so Damon wouldn't see just how upset she was.
Damon watched her in silence, waiting for her to continue.
"They broke up because Tyler couldn't handle her being human, and she couldn't handle him being a vampire. For one reason or another, they were just too different. He didn't want to change, because then he would be a werewolf who had to turn on every full moon again. Caroline was getting older and wanting different things like we were, and he stayed the same, emotionally and physically… they just didn't want the same things. They were together longer than we've been, and in the end that's what got them."
"Well, I can't believe it didn't happen sooner. It should have been obvious that that situation wasn't going to work out." Damon shrugged.
"Yeah, but when you go through what we all did together, you either love or you hate each other. I haven't seen much of an in-between. I just hope that they can find it, if there is one, because their friendship has really taken a dive and I can't believe how vicious they've gotten. And after a seven-year relationship!"
"It happens all the time, Elena. People get divorced after twenty years and fight like dogs. You just… you always see the best in people. Sometimes you forget about the worst." Damon said, matter-of-fact. His brutal honesty was the quality she most hated and loved about him.
"Not Caroline and Tyler." She whispered. He lifted her arm off her face, peering under it at her. He knew her too well at this point.
"Hey. We aren't going to end up like that. We're never going to hate each other."
"We did once." Elena was full of despair.
"Yeah, when I was a homicidal vampire with my humanity switched off. I killed your brother. I would have hated me too, if I were you." Damon pointed out. "But now I would never kill your brother. Again." He tacked on the last part with a face that would have made her laugh if she had not been so upset.
"They just turned on each other so quickly! He called while we were talking and some of the things they said they never would have before-" Elena was terrified. They were going to be parents. She didn't ever want that kind of conflict, especially not with a child involved. But if Caroline and Tyler, the cutest couple in the world, could turn into that mess out there, then who knew what could happen to them.
Damon wrapped her in his arms. She hugged herself to him, his warmth flowing through her.
"I don't know if it's possible to love someone forever, but if it is, that's how long I'll love you." He whispered in her ear. Elena was completely flustered. After six years with him, she still had trouble reconciling the arrogant, teasing and sometimes very callous side of Damon with the incredibly romantic side that he only showed to her. She leaned back, enjoying his serious and sweet expression before brushing a kiss over his lips.
"I know how you feel, Love."
Elena was everywhere: her smell, her sounds, her breath. He was completely lost in the euphoria of her.
Damon had just assumed that sex would be much duller when they became human, and he had accepted it as a consequence he would have to learn to live with. He was so wrong.
There was something fragile and vulnerable about humanity that intensified the sensations of lovemaking. He hadn't expected it, but the knowledge that there was the possibility of a child at the end gave it much more meaning. It was no longer a tool for pleasure, but a way to make something amazing and precious. The barest hint of fear of the unknown added a sweetness to it, an unlikely ingredient that was actually vitally important.
Many things were more intense as a vampire, but this, apparently, was not one.
Much to his relief.
He saw the same thoughts race through Elena's mind as he pushed into her for the first time since they changed back. They had been intimate too many times to count in the last five and a half years, but he knew she felt it too. This… whatever it was that they were doing... it was on a completely different level.
Elena's legs squeezed around him, and she pulled him down by the shoulders so their sweaty bodies pressed tightly together while she rode out her orgasm. He watched her lovely face as the familiar expressions of pleasure passed through. Then she collapsed against the bed, completely spent, her arms loose around his neck and her legs sluggishly unfolding from around him.
He nuzzled her chest and neck, inhaling the aroma of her skin. He wanted to press on more than anything, but he knew she needed a break. With great self-restraint, he pulled out of her still unsatisfied.
"Wow. That was…" Elena breathed heavily. "That was… different." She turned on her side to face him, her face flushed and her gaze still glazed over with fading lust. "I really don't mind if you want to finish too…" She said with an inviting smile. She scooted closer, pressing her chest against him and tangling their legs together. He happily enveloped her in his arms.
"I came twice already. I'm good for now." Damon said chivalrously, even though he wanted nothing more than to flip her over and plunge deeply into her.
She nodded sleepily, exhausted.
"Then I might…fall…asleep on….you." She warned him before she completely passed out. Damon grinned at the sight. He hadn't realized how much he had tired her out. They were both still adjusting to the reduced stamina that came with being human.
As he lay there in her arms, the full magnitude of the realization that they could actually make a baby now hit him like a train. The relief and wonder that accompanied that realization overwhelmed him. This was exactly what had been missing in them. This was the emptiness that had plagued him for over a hundred years. This was exactly what had caused him to drain the last drop of that nasty vial of milky liquid, just to be sure.
Elena knew she was a small girl, but she had never thought much about how slender she was until she got pregnant. Now she couldn't even bend over, her stomach was so huge.
It sucked. It sucked so bad. And as much as she loved Damon, it was still a little embarrassing.
"Who would have thought that you, of all people, would be the grumpiest pregnant lady." Damon mused as he picked the remote up off the floor for her. She glared at him and grudgingly snatched it from his fingers. She dropped to the couch with an 'ummph' and silently threw a fit that she caused the couch to creak. It creaked. The sound brought tears to her eyes, much to her chagrin, because the freaking hormones were worse for her emotions than when she was a newborn vampire. Or at least it seemed like it now.
Damon eyed her warily.
"Should I call Caroline? Do you need girl time?" Elena had been increasingly grateful that Caroline got that job nearby. As her pregnancy progressed, she found herself in need of an estrogen buddy to relate to. Caroline and Damon were even getting along a little bit. Occasionally.
Elena let her head hang back, reminding herself that she loved him dearly and that everything he was saying was very normal, even considerate. She was the one who was a total wreck.
"No. Baby, I love you, but could you do me a huge favor? Can I have the house to myself for today?" So I can curl up and cry over how uncomfortable I am with a huge tub of ice cream, watching tv shows you don't know I like.
Damon looked at her blankly.
"Yeah, of course. Just call when you want me back." Damon stood up, putting his stuff together in a briefcase, and left.
Minutes later, Elena dropped the remote again.
"Eeeelena?"
"Caroline? Is that you?"
"Eeeleeeeeeeennnnaaaaaaaa…." Caroline sang.
"… Are you drunk?"
"I loooveeee youuu, Elenaaanananana!"
"Where are you?"
"I'm fine! I'm gooood. I'm just fine-good. I'm having a drink with this nice man, what's your name again? Steven. This is Steven. Hey Steven, say hi to my friend Eleeeeenaaa!"
"Hello?" A man's voice came on the phone.
Elena was speechless.
"Listen, can you come get your friend? She's wrecking my bar."
"Yeah, of course. Can you tell me where your bar is?"
She scribbled down the address.
"I'll be right there."
Caroline was a serious mess, nothing like the perfectly put-together control freak of their high school years. She was sitting at the bar, her cute mini skirt and silky blouse highlighting how attractive she was. Based on the many men playing pool and drinking while leering at her, it was working too well. Elena hurried to her side. Caroline hopped off her stool and hugged her the moment she saw her, crushing her in a sloppy, disoriented way. She tripped on nothing while she did so, almost bringing both of them to the ground.
"Elena, I knew you would come! You know why? Because you're my best best! You're the best! You're my best!" Elena supported her wobbily, asking the bartender, and likely the man she talked to on the phone,
"How long has she been here?"
"Too long. Here's the bill for the jukebox she wrecked. Make sure she gets it when she's sober." He said, sourly handing her a slip of paper. He noticed how very pregnant she was when Caroline tugged her coat open.
"Are you going to be ok getting her to your car? I could give you a hand."
"Yeah, actually, that would be great." She said, catching them both as Caroline swayed on her feet again.
They stumbled out to her car and loaded Caroline in. The bartender waved goodbye and headed back in.
"Caroline, what were you thinking?" Elena exploded. "You can't get that drunk, alone, dressed like that! In the middle of the day?! You're not a super-strong vampire anymore! What the hell is going on with you? Don't you have work tomorrow?" Elena shuddered to think what might have happened if that bartender hadn't been so nice.
"I thought maybe I could lure in a pamvire…" She slurred, fiddling with her lustrous blond curls. "I thought they could turn me and we could be together."
"What are you talking about?"
"A vampire, Elena! I want to be a vampire again! There, I said it." She shouted at the top of her lungs, suddenly angry. She slumped over in her seatbelt, head against the window. "Then Tyler will love me again..."
Elena looked over, pity surging through her. Caroline closed her eyes, a hand to her head.
"Oooh, I don't feel so good."
"No, Caroline, no! Don't-"
Too late.
"Barbie did WHAT?" Damon barked into her phone.
"It's my fault, I should have grabbed a bag before we left." Elena cringed, knowing that if she shifted the blame onto herself he would settle down. Damon hadn't yelled at her in eight months.
"No, it's definitely her fault." He growled.
"Can you just come out and help me with her please? She's a mess."
Damon stormed out of the house, his eyes shooting daggers at Caroline as he helped her out of her seat.
"Don't be mad! I'll pay whatever you want. I love you two." Caroline moaned and then giggled as they hoisted her between them.
"Stop talking, Barbie! Nobody understands Drunk." Damon scowled.
"Elena, your husband is a meanie! Why would you marry a meanie? Stefan was so much nice to you." Caroline whined. "I miss Stefan…"
"Jesus, Caroline, stop talking." Elena glanced at Damon. He looked like he wished he still had fangs so he could bite her, or maybe that she still had fangs so he could snap her neck and get away with it.
They set her down on the couch. Elena grabbed a trashcan and left it next to her head.
"I have to go clean up my car." Damon glowered at Caroline.
"I'll help." Elena said.
Caroline moaned softly, her eyes closed. She was already starting to drift off to sleep.
"Why can't we be together, Tyler…? But I love you…" She mumbled.
Elena felt another wave of pity. She looked over at Damon. He wasn't looking at Caroline, but instead watching her with an unreadable expression.
First season's drunk Caroline was so adorable and hilarious I just had to bring her back. That was back before she started cock-blocking Delena, when I thought she was charming. I may have merged her with the Nick and Norah drunk Caroline and am only realizing this as I write this author's note, since they are both blond and adorable and drunk and named Caroline. Well…it's written already. Also, just in case this was not clear, I am not condoning the idea that women who dress a certain way are asking to get raped. On a very separate note, I love my readers who review cause I know who the heck they are :D. So if you want me to get warm fuzzy feelings when I see your ID name on the followers or favorites list, review!
