A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for the many views/alerts on this story it is very much appreciated. So here's my thanks as Chapter 3! Introducing Damon to the story! (fangirl scream). As a side note, my computer is having some weird spaz so it won't let me create divisions between paragraphs. So if you see this
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It's the same as a horizontal break. Enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or any of its characters, if I did Damon and Elena would be together and Stefan would have been killed off long ago.
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Elena awoke to the sound of beeping machines and the faint noise of people talking. Sitting up slowly she noted she was in a hospital room and was covered in wires. She widened her brown eyes and stretched. Yawning loudly she took in her surroundings and gasped in shock when she realized she was being watched.
A gorgeous young man stood in the corner of her room, silently watching her intently with his gorgeous cerulean blue eyes. He had raven black hair and a smirk on his face. He stepped out from the shadow of the corner of the room towards her. He pressed a button by her bed for a doctor to come and continued watching her with an amused expression on his face.
She wanted to ask him who he was and why he was in her hospital room but couldn't form the words. Her throat was left parched by her accident.
"Hey there, sleeping beauty. Finally awake I see."
"I'm sorry, who are you?" she managed to choke out.
Before the stranger could respond to her, a doctor entered the room. He gave the stranger a smile and nod of appreciation before approaching her.
"Hello Elena, you gave us quite a scare with that car crash. I'm glad you're finally awake though."
"How long was I asleep?"
"A week." The stranger chirped helpfully.
"Oh my gosh! A week! I need to talk to... Wait, where is everyone?" She exclaimed as she noticed apart from the doctor and gorgeous stranger, she was alone.
"It's okay Elena," the doctor said calmly, "You're friends and family are all in the waiting room don't worry about them, but let's talk about you. When you crashed your car, you smacked your head on the side of the window causing you to have a concussion and go into a coma, the seatbelt protected you from further damages but also broke and bruised some of your ribs. But don't worry, they will heal soon enough. Other than that you're just a little bruised and shaken, nothing life-threatening."
Elena exhaled a sigh of relief, she couldn't feel anything thanks to whatever pain-killers she had taken but was glad it was nothing fatal, and was happy to still be alive.
"Thank God." She said quietly as she relaxed in her bed.
The stranger walked over to her doctor. "Ric, I have to take off but let me know how she is later." He said while glancing at her.
He began to walk out the door before Elena called out, "Wait!"
He paused and turned to face her, "Yes?"
"Who are you?"
He smirked and replied, "Your savior," before walking out of her sight.
She sat there looking dumbstruck before watching 'Ric' chuckle and shake his head. He muttered something under his breath before returning his attention to Elena.
"What does he mean by savior?" she inquired, cocking her head at her doctor quizzically.
"Well, that young man technically saved your life. See he witnessed the accident, called 911 and got you out of the car and gave you CPR until the ambulance arrived. If you had been left alone until another person called you in, you probably would have been dead." He explained.
She widened her eyes in shock. That man saved my life, she thought, and I don't even know his name.
Ric, who went by Dr. Saltzman, told her he was going to let in her family and friends, they could take turns in the room but in the end she had to stay in the hospital overnight so they could further examine her. She agreed and he left to let the first group of people in.
A disheveled looking Grayson and Miranda appeared in her room. Elena noticed her father was wearing his doctor's coat and realized he must have been working when Dr. Saltzman told him she was awake. Both of her parents looked as if they hadn't slept in days and Miranda's eyes were puffy and bloodshot as if she hadn't stopped crying, the thought of that made Elena feel slightly bad for putting her parents through such a tough time.
Miranda came to sit beside Elena and took her hand in hers; she told her she was sorry for overreacting but Elena had been partially to blame because she interrupted her during work, which she was taught never to do unless it was an emergency.
Elena wanted to respond that it had been an emergency, but thought better of it and simply nodded and said. "Yes mom."
With that, a satisfied Miranda expressed to Elena how happy she was that she had awoken, then stood up to leave.
Elena watched her mother leave and finally accepted the fact she and her mother would never have a close mother-daughter relationship. She sighed and silently vowed never to trust her mother with anything ever again, her accident was a sign to stop trying with Miranda; there was no hope for them anymore.
Her father who had been standing in the corner of her room ran to Elena and took her in a giant hug. "Elena, thank goodness you are alive! I'm so sorry about what happened, I should have said something instead of letting you go like that. It's all my fault." Her father said sadly.
"It's okay Daddy, I'm okay. It's not your fault, it's no one's fault that a tree landed in front of my car, unless you want to blame Zeus* for sending a lightning bolt at the tree." She chuckled remembering reading stories about Greek mythology with her father.
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He smiled and kissed her forehead, "I guess so... Well I better go, you have a party of friends camped out in the hallway who are dying to see you and I have to get back to work. I love you Elena, and I'll be a quick push of a button away if you need me," he gestured to the button by her bed, "Jeremy and Bonnie have been trying to get back but thanks to that freak storm the airports are still closed. He's going to call you later." She nodded and he walked away.
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"ELENA!" a group of voices chimed out.
Elena quickly sat up in bed and beamed when she saw her friends standing at her doorway. She waved them in and a group of cheering teenagers bounded into her room.
Tyler ran in first holding a giant bouquet of balloons, followed by Vickie who held a box of Elena's favorite chocolates, then Anna, Amber, and a blubbering Caroline, who dashed inside clutching a giant teddy bear.
"Is that all for me?" she asked befuddled.
Her friends nodded.
"Thanks so much guys! I love you all!" she laughed
Everyone laughed and chatted about Elena's accident. She learned that her friends had been waiting outside for ages and listened to Vickie describe how hard it was not to eat her chocolates.
Eventually everyone left, one by one, except Caroline who had not stopped sobbing since she entered the room.
"I-thought-I-I lost you!"
"It's okay Caroline, you could never lose me. We're best friends forever remember?"
Caroline smiled and sniffled. She sat beside Elena on her hospital bed, resting her head on Elena's shoulder.
"Yeah... Elena I don't know what I'd do without you, please never leave me again ."
Elena smiled and felt a tear fall from the corner of her eye.
"I love you Care,"
"I love you too Elena."
They hugged and lay there for a while before Caroline got up to leave, wanting to call her parents with an update on Elena.
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As Caroline headed out the door she bumped into an apprehensive –looking Stefan. She gave him an encouraging smile and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before letting go and walking down the hallway. Stefan stood in Elena's doorway, looking anywhere but her face as they both listened to the fading 'click, clack of Caroline's heels.
He wouldn't say anything to her, or even look her in the eyes. He simply leant against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. He stayed in that position for a while before abruptly snapping his head up to look Elena in the eyes, she captured his gaze and understood why he didn't want to look her in the eyes at first; his own green eyes were filled with tears.
"Ste-." She started but was cut off by Stefan running at almost vampire speed to her and wrapping his arms around her. He buried his face in her hair.
"Elena, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault, I was a complete dick to you, and I said things I never meant to say. I was selfish and stupid; I wanted you to be happy for me. I didn't...I couldn't."
He let out a small sob, and continued.
"I never thought you would leave me, Elena. You're my best friend and I love you and I honestly don't know what I would do without you around. When I found out about the crash I couldn't stop crying, I thought you were gone and that I'd never get a chance to apologize. I'm so sorry Elena; I never meant to hurt you."
Elena had frozen in shock at Stefan's speech and sat there quietly in her warm bed with Stefan's arms around her. She was so shocked because it was completely out of character for Stefan to apologize to her, or cry.
He pulled her tighter against his chest and she murmured, "Shhhh, it's alright Stefan. Everything is going to be alright. I love you too and you're still my best friend. I know you didn't mean what you said earlier." She found herself stroking his back and smiling. In a selfish way, she was happy. She was happy Stefan felt remorse for what he did, and that he still cared about her. Happy he confessed how much she meant to him, it meant he really did care about her instead of her friend's theories that he was just stringing her along or using her. In that moment she felt joyful and tears began running down her cheeks, she began to sing softly.
Just close your eyes
The sun is coming down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
A loud ring from her nearby cell phone popped their bubble of blissfulness. She picked it up and talked to a distressed Jeremy and Bonnie as Stefan got up from her bed and slowly walked to the door. He gave her a smile and mouthed the words, "text me" before walking out of her room. Elena could not stop smiling as she continued her conversation on the phone. He cared about her!
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She checked the slip of paper in her hand for the thousandth time before heading up the pathway of the large house.
After Dr. Saltzman discharged her from the hospital that morning and she asked him if she could have her savior's address so she could properly thank him for saving her life. He hesitantly agreed, revealing the fact he lived on the same property.
She headed up to the magnificent looking house, about to knock on the front door when she became distracted with the sound of power tools coming from the garage. She walked over to the open garage where a shirtless man was bent over the exposed hood of a black car. She let out a fake cough to get his attention.
Elena could hardly contain herself when the gorgeous man turned around to face her, exposing his amazing body. Elena could practically feel her eyes popping out of her head; his perfection reminded her of a Greek god. He smirked at her.
"Why if it isn't sleeping beauty," he teased, he then looked from her eyes to his chest as if he just realized it was there, "Enjoying the view?"
She blushed profusely before walking to him. She stopped and handed him a container she had brought full of her home-made cookies.
He looked at her, puzzled, "What is this?"
"I never got to properly thank you for saving my life," she began slowly, "so I asked Dr. Saltzman for your address and I baked you some cookies as a partial thank you. I know it's not a lot but..."
"I love homemade cookies!" he exclaimed cutting her off mid-sentence.
She beamed as he swiftly ripped the lid off of the container and examined the stacks of cookies inside.
"It's the least I could do." She said as he sampled a chocolate chip cookie.
"Thank you Elena, these cookies taste amazing. I should save you from car crashes more often if this is the type of thanks I get." He managed to get out between chews.
She giggled and smiled at her handsome savior, letting her mind wander as she watched him continue eating her cookies.
"I never got your name." She suddenly blurted out.
He paused mid-cookie his blue eyes boring in hers as he continued chewing slowly before replying, "It's Damon. Damon Salvatore."
Elena chuckled and he stared at her looking puzzled before she explained.
"Salvatore is Italian for savior isn't it?"
His dazed expression morphed into a warm smile as he nodded and laughed.
"Well Damon Salvatore," she said putting emphasis on his last name, "Thank you, for saving my life."
He bowed dramatically before standing up and replying, "Your welcome Elena Gilbert."
Elena rolled her eyes at his ridiculous performance before striding further into his garage to explore. She observed all the tools, shelves and car parts around her and deduced that he was a mechanic.
"So you're a mechanic?" she said as she picked up an odd-looking tool and fiddled with it.
Damon trailed after her and came closer to her in order to grab a different tool. "Nope, I just fix cars in my spare time. My friends and I enjoy..." he stopped talking abruptly, looked left and right as if being afraid of being overheard, then whispered "Street racing."
"And I fix and modify our cars. I guess you could call me a one-man pit crew." He continued at a normal volume and shrugged nonchalantly.
Elena understood, she had heard of the famed street racing parties, of course she and Jeremy were forbidden from going by Grayson who didn't approve of such reckless activities.
She sat down in a nearby chair to watch him as he continued his work on the black car in front of him.
There was a slight pause before Damon spoke,
"Anyways, enough about me, are you okay?" he asked looking up concerned.
"Yeah I'm fine. My ribs are healing and I have a headache but other than that I'm okay."
"I didn't mean your physical injuries Elena."
She looked at him bewildered. He got up and walked over to her, sitting down on the floor at her feet before elaborating.
"When I found you in your car you were still semi-conscious. You were sleep-talking, well... sleep-sobbing. You were crying your heart out and kept calling ; Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline, Mom, Daddy, and Stefan. Then you would say 'I can't do this anymore' over and over before you finally fell unconscious."
She gazed at the ground not wanting to meet his face. I must have seemed so stupid and pathetic, she thought.
"Do you want to tell me what was wrong?" he pressed gently.
Elena began to bite her lower lip, an outward sign of internal discomfort; a habit she had retained all her life.
"I-umm-I..." She tried to begin but hesitated finding herself lost in Damon's patient blue eyes.
He took her hand in his and squeezed it, a sign he wanted her to go on.
She took a deep breath and told him everything that had happened that day; starting from Caroline's sad news, to her father's refusal to help his broken daughter. She left out the part about her mother hitting her because she didn't want Damon getting the wrong ideas. Her mother could be rude, selfish and untrustworthy but she was also her mother and the slap was not a common thing with Miranda. When she finished, tears began running down her cheeks.
"Hey," Damon whispered softly as he took her hands in his and gazed into her tear-filled eyes.
She continued on, "I'm sorry I'm blabbering on like this to you, almost a complete stranger, but honestly, it's nice to have someone around to listen who actually cares. Caroline has her own problems to deal with, Bonnie and Jeremy are always busy, Stefan doesn't give a damn about me and neither do my parents."
She was aware of the tears streaming down her face and wanted to wipe her eyes but her hands were still in Damon's and she didn't want to pull away first.
Damon offered her a sympathetic smile and let go of her hands to reach up and wipe her eyes.
She gave him an appreciative look and he stood up, keeping eye contact with her.
"I know what you mean, my father disowned me when he found out I dropped out of Law school to fix and race cars, I went to my friend Alaric's, well Dr. Saltzman's house and I've stayed here ever since, along with my other friend Klaus. I kinda miss my mom but it's worth saying goodbye to her if I can get away from him." He said shrugging as if the damaged relationship between him and his father didn't bother him. He stared into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.
Elena watched him closely, she hadn't known Damon long but she could already tell there was more to him than meets the eye. He was complicated, Just like me, she thought
"Parents..." she muttered crossing her arms. Her comment pulled him out of his train of thought and he looked back to her.
Feeling awkward and unwanted, she realized she should go. Elena thanked Damon again for saving her.
"It was my pleasure," He said smugly, "Oh and Elena, come back whenever you want, to talk or..." He shot her a smoldering glance and she blushed.
She rolled her eyes, "Goodbye, Damon!" She called, and headed to the forest trail to
begin her trek home.
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"Well Ms. Elena Gilbert," Chuckled Damon to himself as he watched her retreating figure, "you're in for a hell of a ride."
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A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed Elena and Damon's first encounter. There will be more coming up soon but as for now I won't be updating every day because I'm going to be busy with summer school but I will try to update as soon as possible. Keep those reviews coming and I'll update faster ;) Thanks for reading! Also, to you Klaroline shippers reading this, I promise there will be some romance coming up for them very soon!
-Love, Melody
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Songs Used: Safe and Sound- Taylor Swift (feat. The Civil Wars)
