Thank You thank you to everyone reading.
You guys are the best! I wish you all a great week
Love,
Sam
'In staring down death every day, we're forced to know that life, every minute, is borrowed time. And each person we let ourselves care about is just one more loss somewhere down the line.'
Grey's Anatomy 5x18
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"She left." The hurt in his voice pierced through every layer of Elena's heart. To see him reduced to this was killing her.
"I'm sorry." She murmured unable to say something else. She didn't know what to say to make him feel better, to make him feel worthy.
"I love her, I really do love her Lena." His voice broke down at the end of the sentence and she took hold of his hand, squeezing it hard.
"I know you do Damon." Even though it pained her, she accepted reality a long time ago. Damon didn't see her the way she wanted him to, to him she was like a little sister but he could never look at her as a woman. Damon was in love with Katherine Pierce. "Maybe she'll come back." She tried to comfort him.
"No she won't. She made that very clear." He pressed his head against the giant tree behind him. They were currently in the backyard of the Gilbert house, the place where they first met.
"Do you regret it?" Elena murmured under her breath, scared to hear his answer. Katherine had given Damon an ultimatum, Elena or her? Quite simple actually. She sensed Elena as threat and didn't hesitateto make Damon know that, the woman was cold like that. Sometimes she wondered what Damon saw in her.
Elena thought she was being stupid, letting Damon go for something like that when it was very clear that he was madly in love with her. But Katherine made him choose anyway.
"Of course not you dumbass." He snorted and pulled her to him, her head resting against his chest and her arms hugging him from the middle. "You're my arm, my leg, my head, my everything." He whispered sweetly against her head. "I love her, I really do. But I can learn how to live without her." His arms tightened around her almost to the point of being painful. "You on the other hand, I wouldn't last a week without you." Elena felt her heart swell at his answer, it didn't matter if he could never love her the way he loved Katherine, what they shared was something more special. "I could never live without you Lena."
It was amazing how things could change so easily, a few years ago she and Damon were part of the same body, couldn't be away from each other and now? Now she didn't even know who he was anymore. Since her return every memory of him was coming back to her like a bomb, she wished there was a way to erase them all, to wipe him clean from her head.
When she was a little girl she loved running around, feeling the wind hit her on the face, her loins stretching with every step she took, the thrill of it all. It made her feel free, as if she was a bird and maybe after all that running she could rise and fly away.
Right now she needed to clear her head, she needed to feel that thrill again and that sense of freedom she used to get back then, she needed to pull herself together again. Elena wasn't the same girl she was four years ago when he left her but somehow in Paris she managed to hold everything in place, managed to suffer in silence but still stand in one piece, but here, here she was slowly crumbling down. He was everywhere she looked and no matter how hard she tried to stay away from him he always came back.
Her entire body burned with rage every time she remembered the party last weekend, how she let him touch her, kiss her, how she surrendered to him so easily. She hadn't said a word to Caroline knowing that the blonde would beat the crap out of Damon and lecture her for the next fifty years.
So here she was, jogging in Central Park while trying to erase every memory and feeling for him, as if with every step she could wipe away every cell of the burning love she still felt for him. Elena was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't see the man running towards her until their bodies collided and she found herself lying on the floor.
"What the hell." She muttered while rubbing the side of her head lightly.
"I'm so sorry." She heard the voice of a man next to her and she lifted her head to see a beautiful young man staring down at her. "I was distracted, I didn't see you." He leaned down and offered her his hand which she accepted immediately.
"It's okay, I'm fine." She said while getting up but flinched a bit when she pressed her right foot on the floor.
"Oh damn, I hurt you." He muttered under his breath with a very attractive accent, Australian? British maybe?
"No, it's okay. Really I'm just fine." Elena said with a shy smile.
"Your ankle is swollen but I don't think it's a fracture." He murmured more to himself than her and Elena stared at him confusedly. "Oh I'm a doctor." He said the minute he saw the way that Elena was staring at him. "Kol Hastings." He extended his hand and Elena shook it lightly.
"I'm Elena, nice to meet you."
"Look Elena, how about I take you to your house and you let me examine you?" there was true concern in his voice.
"Oh I brought my car, don't worry I can get home just fine."
"I insist, this is my fault after all." He said with a sweet smile and Elena found herself liking this guy. "Well what about if I take you to your car and examine you there? I just wanna make sure that you're okay."
"Well that seems like a reasonable deal." Elena answered while smiling at him and felt a small blush creep to her face when he smiled back at her.
Despite her protests Kol took her in his arms saying that he didn't want her to walk and maybe hurt herself more, he wanted to check on her first but Elena had the sense that it was just a pretest. And she found herself not caring; it felt good to be in his arms.
Maybe this was some kind of sign, maybe it was time to move on.
"So are you seriously going out with this guy?" Caroline asked with a smirk while they were setting the table in Elena's apartment. Tonight Stefan and Rebekah would make their first appearance as an engaged couple and Caroline couldn't let that one slip.
"Yes I already told you that I'm going out with him." Elena muttered under her breath for the 100th time that night. Was it really so hard to believe that she was having a date? It had been a week since her encounter with Kol at the park, they had been talking during that week and he finally asked her out yesterday. Elena felt like it was time to move on.
"We so have to pick out your clothes, what are we going to do with your hair, and-"
"Caroline stop, it's not like I've never been out on a date before." Elena said with a roll of her eyes.
"Well not in a while."
"It's not a big deal seriously, we're just hanging out." The corners of Elena's mouth turned up in a smile, a sign that Caroline saw very clearly.
"So you don't like this guy?"
"Well I do like him but-"
"You don't think he's extremely hot?" the blonde girl said with a raised eyebrow.
"Well he is pretty handsome-"
"Oh please don't play dumb with me, you really like this guy." The happiness on Caroline's face wasn't something that you could ignore at this moment.
"Oh and what about you and the party guy?" Elena changed the subject immediately, knowing that Caroline could ramble about herself for hours.
"Klaus, Elena."
"Oh it's Klaus now." The brunette said in a sarcastic manner.
"Of course, and we're going out again on Friday." Caroline said with a proud smile on her face. Elena felt really happy for her, she knew that her friend had never really gotten over Matt and seeing her so interested in a guy again was awesome.
"Seems like we're turning our luck around Care." Elena said with a hint of a smile while looking at her reflection in the big window and smoothing down her dress.
"Speaking about luck…" Caroline said in that tone she used when they were little and her mother had bought her a new doll to show around to all the girls in the school.
"What?" Elena turned around to meet the gleeful eyes of her friend.
"They called this morning from Mr. Smith's office."
"And?"
"You've got an interview next week." Caroline said with a brilliant smile on her face and Elena couldn't do anything other than scream and start dancing around the room like a little girl.
"Oh my god, oh my god!" Elena kept jumping and dancing around the whole living room, still unable to believe what was happening to her. "How did this happen? I can't believe it." It was as if finally life was smiling back at her.
"You see, I told you everything would work out." Caroline said with a bright smile before they heard a knock on the door. "That's probably our happy couple." The blonde girl said clapping her hands softly. "Tonight is going to be a really good night."
Both of the girls went to the door to reveal a very happy Stefan Salvatore holding the hand of his high school sweetheart, Stefan had met Rebekah at the age of fifteen, she moved from Sidney because her father was transfered to NY. He could still remember the first day he saw her wandering the halls of the high school. Rebekah instantly became friends with Elena, Caroline and Bonnie but Stefan kept his love for her hidden during one long year, fearing the rejection.
Eventually the girls decided that it was enough and didn't want to see Stefan suffer so they played matchmaker and it turned out that Rebekah had been in love with him since the first moment too. Since then they had become inseparable, they were the only thing that kept Elena thinking that love does exist, they always gave her hope.
And here they were, many years later, they were finally going to complete the love that they shared.
"Show me, show me!" Caroline chirped excitedly the minute Rebekah was inside of the apartment.
"It's so beautiful." Rebekah said with a dreamy face and then smiled, showing all of her teeth while extending her left hand so the girls could admire the ring on her finger.
"Oh God it's so perfect." Elena said under her breath. The jewel was stunning; it was a square cut diamond of a light rosy color on top of a silver band. It was simple but extraordinary at the same time; the ring belonged on that girl's finger.
"Oh it's so perfect, so perfect." Caroline said linking her arm with Elena's and resting her head against her shoulder with a dreamy expression.
"Yeah it is." Rebekah murmured with a smile and looked to the side to stare into Stefan's eyes which looked at her adoringly, the love that these two shared was palpable. "Now, please tell us what were you guys so happy about when you opened the door?"
"Well our little Elena here got an interview at Vogue." Caroline said proudly.
"Oh my gosh no way!" Rebekah said breathlessly. "This is so cool, you're gonna work at Vogue now, and you'll be invited to all of those amazing parties." The eyes of the blonde girl glowed with happiness. "Please, you have to take us to them."
"I know right!" Caroline said just as excitedly.
"Guys I don't even have the job yet."
"Oh please, I'm sure you'll get it. And I'll be here to go to all of those parties, don't you forget it." Rebekah said with a smile and linked her arms with her fiancée who had the ghost of a smile on his face, he knew he was doing the right thing when he let that little detail slip in his talk with Damon. His brother had his contacts and this proved to Stefan that the old Damon was somewhere inside of him, that he still loved Elena like he did years ago.
"We'll see what happens." Elena said with a shy smile. "Now, tell us how did he propose?" of course they already knew the main idea but the details were always the best.
"You're not gonna believe what song he used for the background." Rebekah said while walking towards the living room with Stefan next to her.
"Love Bug." Caroline tried to guess while they all took a seat in the living room.
"Why would I use a Jonas Brothers song?" Stefan said with a roll of his eyes.
"Take my breath away?" now it was time for Elena to guess.
"Nope, he used All This Time by One republic."
"Awww." Both girls said in unison and looked at Stefan as if he was Romeo or something, he couldn't help but blush a little, after all he wasn't very good at the whole expression of feelings thing.
They continued going through the details of the proposal and making fun of Stefan at the same time as if there was no other care in the world, they were enjoying the time they had with the people they loved. After all that's what life should be about, why waste time arguing and worrying about stupid things when everything could be taken away from you in a matter of minutes, Elena learned that the hard way, with the loss of her parents, with the loss of Damon.
She could still remember being like this in her childhood house with all of her friends in the living room, her and Damon curled up together on the green couch while everyone else made jokes and fooled around, and there was no more amazing feeling than that one, being with the people she loved. Being with him.
So she let herself enjoy this moment, not knowing about the storm that was waiting just around the corner.
Damn girl, she had been here for a few weeks and had already managed to turn his world upside down. Tonight he let go a very much willing girl to go and drink himself crazy at The Grill, because every time he kissed her the only thing he could see was Elena's face and he just couldn't continue that way.
With every sip of his bourbon he felt the dulling ache in his heart fade away, he wanted to be numb again, like he had been for the last four years. Not feeling anything was better than feeling everything all the time, he wanted to stop thinking about her.
"You're not going to get anything by drinking yourself stupid like this." Ric said while taking a seat next to him at the bar.
"Look who's talking." Damon answered sardonically. Ric was the only friend he had now; he always put up with all the crap going around in his life and didn't hesitate to tell him when he was being a dick, which was most of the time.
"I think you need help Damon." Ric said before ordering a whole bottle of bourbon to drink with his friend.
"Me? Help?" Damon snorted annoyingly.
"Your life is spiralling down." The blonde man said while popping open the bottle the bartender placed in front of him.
"Have you seen my life? It's perfect! There's nothing wrong with it." Damon said with a roll of his eyes while refilling his now empty glass.
"Yeah right." Alaric muttered before taking the glass to his lips and drinking softly. "That's why you can't even do the girl a favor without it being a secret."
"What are you talking about?" the dark haired man said with a frown.
"The interview with Elijah, I know you got that for Elena"
"How did you-"
"I know things Damon." Alaric said while looking deeply at him. "And you know why you did that?"
"Because I can."
"No, because you care."
"Whatever." Damon muttered under his breath and kept drinking in silence. He hated feeling this way, this vulnerable. He was fucking Damon Salvatore, girls threw themselves at him, men envied him, people feared him, when he was having a bad day everyone ran in the other direction not wanting to be the object of his anger. How come one single petite girl managed to make him feel this way?
Alaric didn't say anything else for the next hour, he just sat there next to him and drank his booze, he knew that Damon was not a man you should push, but he hated seeing him throw away his life in the garbage, he was his best friend and he cared about him. He had seen Damon build this stone wall around his heart, put up all his walls trying to protect himself, but he feared that Damon was losing touch with his humanity, that he had hidden away his heart so deep that it would be impossible to get it back.
The bottle of bourbon next to him was almost empty when he heard her, for a minute he thought he was hallucinating; it wouldn't be strange to him, after all his dreams were getting more vivid with each passing night. He turned his head around and saw that he wasn't hallucinating, there she was, all legs and hair, beautiful as ever.
A tall brunette man had his arm around her waist as he guided her towards a table in the back, that man was touching his girl. The worst thing was that she seemed happy, she was laughing and batting those long eyelashes at him, she was actually enjoying herself. Damon turned around not wanting to be spotted by her and ordered himself another drink before looking around to see her one last time, he just couldn't help himself.
"Are you just going to sit there and stare at her like a creep the whole night?" Alaric whispered.
"Yes."
"You're pathetic." He muttered before pulling out some cash and handing it to Damon. "I'm out of here, I'm not allowing this shit to happen in front of me." Those were his last words before he disappeared into the crowd.
Damon didn't know how long he was there, he watched them discretely the whole night, drink after drink unable to move. He watched her flirt, smile, give him looks that were reserved only for him. And when they finally left he couldn't help but follow them, he needed to know if he would spend the night with her, he needed to know.
He thanked the Gods when he saw her entering her building alone, he wasn't staying. The bastard didn't even walk her to her apartment. He immediately climbed out of his car and ran into the building as fast as he could, using the stairs instead of the elevator. He needed to get to her.
"Who was that?" Elena heard his voice the minute she inserted the key in the lock.
"A friend." She murmured not even turning around to look at him.
"Well he seemed a bit too friendly to me."
"Did you follow me?" she asked annoyed and turned around to meet his glossy blue eyes.
"It was a coincidence."
"Just go Damon." She muttered before opening the door and walking into her apartment, she was about to close to the door when he pushed it open and walked inside. "Of course you can come in." She said sarcastically.
"It's just like I remembered." He whispered more to himself than to her while he looked around the apartment.
"Damon you're drunk, I really think you should leave." Elena said not wanting to succumb to him this time.
"Are you going to date him?" he asked choosing to ignore her request.
"What do you care?!" Elena yelled at him the anger getting the best of her.
"I care because you are mine Elena." He said in a rough voice pressing her against the cold glass window.
"I am not yours Damon stop saying that!" Elena shouted in exasperation. "Why are you doing this to me?" she asked almost on the verge of tears. "You broke up with me Damon, you whored your way through the entire city and then you broke up with me!" she shouted while pointing her finger furiously against his chest. "You, you said you never wanted to see me again, you sent me away and now you're stalking me, what is that about?! Can't you just leave me ALONE?!"
"No I can't!" he shouted back at her and for a minute Elena was afraid of him. "Don't you think I'm fucking trying? But everywhere I go you're there! I want you out of my head, out of my life but I just FUCKING CAN'T!" he placed both of his hands on top of the window on each side of Elena's face. "I just can't." He whispered next to her lips before taking them into a passionate kiss.
Elena fought him off for about a minute before surrendering to his mouth, her hands tangling into his messy dark hair while his went inside her blue dress, she could feel him stroking her backside and pressing her to his erection, the feel of his body against her was so deliciously indescribable.
Her tongue danced with his as her hands unbuttoned his shirt, eager to feel his muscles ripple under her palms, his mouth left hers only to start placing kisses on the long column of her neck, making her tremble with delight. She felt his hands slowly drag her panties down her legs and she willingly stepped out of them. Damon pressed her even harder against the cold window, her dress now completely bunched around her waist and she thanked God that she lived in one of the last floors or the entire city would have seen her backside by now.
"It was killing me." He murmured into her ear. "To think that he could touch you, to imagine you spending the night with him." Elena couldn't answer, for the life of her she couldn't even form a coherent sentence, all she could do was whimper in return. "He can't have you, he just can't." He took possession of her mouth again as he lifted her by her rear and made her circle his waist with her legs, her naked flesh touching his stomach as her hands danced all around his naked back.
"You're mine Elena, you're all mine." He murmured huskily against her mouth before placing her on the couch. "I need to be inside you again." He whispered against her ear while his hands touched the soft flesh of her pussy making her tremble in his arms. "Do you remember how good it felt?"
"Oh God Damon!" she moaned when he started to circle her clit with his expert fingers. He kissed her once again and she responded to him as if life depended on it. "Damon, oh God, oh, oh!" she threw her head back and moaned in pure bliss as her orgasm ripped through her, stars were dancing behind her closed eyelids and Damon swore he'd never seen anything more perfect in his entire life.
"You are beautiful." He stated before kissing her softly this time as her hands went to work on the buttons of his jeans. "Don't answer." He murmured when they heard the phone ringing on the table next to the couch they were on.
"I have to." She panted breathlessly as he placed kisses on her naked chest.
"No you don't." He whispered huskily.
"Yes I do." She said when she realized the phone wasn't stopping anytime soon.
"Damn it." Damon muttered when she got up and put her dress on again before answering the phone.
He couldn't believe what had just happened, he was about to be inside of her again, the mere thought made his jeans even tighter than they were.
"Oh my God." He heard Elena say breathlessly and he turned his head to look at her worried eyes. "I'll be there in a minute."
"What is it?" he asked getting up from the couch and walking towards her.
"Stefan and Rebekah had an accident."
