Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries and I do not profit from writing these stories.
Damon trotted up the steps to the front door, there was an extra weight in his pocket and a bit of a spring in his step. Wow, he mused to himself, I have never been here before, ever.
He was nervous, he didn't know why, but he had that nagging tingly feeling in his stomach that wouldn't let him forget how momentarily self-conscious he really was. He tried to shake it off and rapped heavily on the door.
After a few moments, Bonnie answered.
"Damon?"
"Bonnie, where did you go?" Damon inquired, "I left you with Klaus's body, and the next thing I know, you're gone."
"Well," she had an apprehensive look on her face, "I was…"
He decided he didn't need to hear whatever fake excuse she was about to give him. "Never mind. We gotta go. Grab your witchy book and let's hit the road."
"What? Damon, I'm a little busy right now."
"You're right about that. You're helping me," he cocked his head towards his car, "Let's go."
"Tell me what's going on first."
He arrived at her house knowing he would have to tell her, but he really really didn't want to since he would, obviously, be the first to get stamped with the blame.
He didn't look her in the eyes when he stated, "Elena is a vampire and I need you to take a look in your little book and Reading Rainbow her to Sunshine Land." For a second, there was an awkward silence as Bonnie processed the information, and Damon braced himself for his favorite magic-induced migraine from hell.
"She what?" Bonnie's reaction was much tamer than Damon had anticipated. Instead of angry and vengeful, it was mainly just shocked and helpless.
"She's a vampire," he stated slowly, "She drowned and had vampire blood in her system. She completed the transition this morning with a blood bag."
Bonnie still looked shell-shocked.
"Stefan's gone AWOL and Elena needs looking after, but I can't stay at her house the whole time. She needs to be able to leave her house, she can't deal with this on her own." Bonnie was still out of it, so Damon shook her shoulders a little and said, "Bonnie. She needs you."
"Um," Bonnie snapped out of it, "Okay. But I need a ring. It has to have a lapis lazuli stone."
Damon reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet ring box. He handed it to Bonnie, "How's this?"
When she opened the little box, her eyes widened. Damon certainly had put a lot of thought into the trinket. It was beautiful. The band was thin and silver, and curled around to the thin, ovular lapis lazuli stone, which was adorned with some tasteful metalwork.
"When did you find the time to get this?" Bonnie asked, incredulous, the ring was obviously expensive, and not something you were going to find in downtown Mystic Falls.
Damon shrugged, "I may have acquired it at one point after the last vampire scare."
Bonnie nodded solemnly, recalling the last time Elena was at Wickery Bridge.
Back at the Gilbert House, Elena was doing her best to keep her mind from wandering to blood. Whenever she succeeded, it was usually because it landed on the thought of her new memories.
The first one was what confused her the most. It was strange to have memories of feeling flirty, light-headed, extremely attracted to this new, mysterious stranger, and then remembering immediately not remembering.
Damon had been right though, at the time, she was young and idealistic. She did want passion and adventure, and an epic love story. Even with the loss of her parents, that desire never really went away—then she met Stefan and she thought she found everything she was looking for. In a way, she had.
Stefan might have been the good brother, but when she met him, he certainly seemed like the bad boy to her. He showed up at school with the mysterious demeanor and leather jacket and she was immediately attracted to him, to his mystery, and to the way he almost only paid attention to her. She was also really into the idea that he was new, and had no knowledge of her past, so she could be whoever she wanted to be around him, and after a while, she realized the person she was when she was with Stefan was simply herself. Sure, she had changed as she was no longer the giddy young girl she once was, but she wasn't so crippled with grief either—just hardened.
But now, she realized, she and Damon had a connection she never knew about before. He saw her before the accident, before her whole world came crashing down around her. They talked and he had her pegged almost immediately. "You want a love that consumes you," he said, "You want passion, adventure, and even a little danger."
She remembered feeling incredibly giddy. Damon was hot, there was no denying that. He was also charming and one of the most interesting people she had ever seen pass through her tiny hamlet. She figured he must have been from out of town, and probably lived the life she only dreamed of. In those cerulean eyes, she could almost see everything she wanted—love, adventure, travel, wisdom, fervor, and happiness. She could also see the man behind those eyes, someone who had experienced a lot, for sure, but a lot of it was probably deeply sad.
Elena smiled at how right her initial impression of Damon had been, and she couldn't help but notice the deep contrast with her next meeting with Damon. He was so much more pessimistic then, declaring himself a fatalist and already scheming to tear a rift between her and Stefan. She knew now that between the two meetings, his guard had gone back up and he reminded himself that he was in love with Katherine and was supposed to be making his brother's life miserable.
She wanted to yell at Damon again. When she was talking to him on the phone last night and she said, "Maybe if you and I had met first," she was only trying to soften the blow. But now she knew how true her words rang.
She did meet Damon first and that did change things.
Then, there was the other memory of Damon's love confession in his room. That one was just downright painful to think about, especially because she had always known something happened that night. Her necklace had mysteriously reappeared and her window was open. She wasn't stupid, but she wasn't particularly scared either, an overwhelming sense of excitement had suddenly enveloped her. At the time, she didn't know where it came from. Today, it made perfect sense.
She was so proud of him. She had no idea he could be so selfless like that. It was a beautiful moment, and while she was pissed at him for compelling her, she was glad she could cherish it now. Clearly, there were things about Damon she didn't know, and she hadn't made a completely informed decision last night when Damon confronted her about her true feelings.
Of course, she hadn't wanted to make a decision at all. What she wanted was more time to figure things out.
She shook her head at the irony that she needed to die in order to get it.
She couldn't believe the brothers had agreed that one of them would leave. She knew it was Stefan's idea and a bit of resentment started to weasel its way into her psyche.
What else were they not telling her? And where the hell was Stefan, anyway?
There was a knock at the door and Elena sighed. She might be nervous, except she knew there was no way to answer it. There was a block of sunlight between the edge of her bed and the door to her room. Even if by some miracle she could go out by way of Jeremy's, opening the door really wasn't an option if she was going to keep herself from catching on fire. In the end though, it didn't matter because seconds later she heard the door open and Damon call, "Elena?"
"I'm stuck on the bed!" She called back, relieved he finally returned.
When Damon saw her pushed up against her headboard, he rolled his eyes, "Ever think about closing the shades?"
Elena shrugged, "By the time I thought about it, it was too late." She flinched remembering the burning sensation on her fingertips when they wrapped around the curtains. She looked behind Damon and gasped, "Bonnie?"
Damon stepped aside to let her pass, "Elena?" Bonnie was hesitant, she knew Elena was a newborn and she didn't want to have to give her an aneurysm on her first day. Besides, Bonnie had a few secrets of her own that she was feeling guilty about. She thought back to her creation, who was hiding God-knows-where.
"Do you know?"
Bonnie nodded and tears began forming in her eyes, "Damon told me." Elena bent her head in shame, she didn't know if Bonnie still loved her. But her fears were silenced when Bonnie moved towards her and gave her a bone-crushing hug. "You're going to be okay," she said, "I'm so glad you're alive."
Elena didn't correct her and nodded into her friend's shoulder, also beginning to cry.
"I'm here to give you a daylight ring," Bonnie said when the girls pulled away from each other.
Elena's eyes widened in question, "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Damon spoke up, "We can't have you holed up in here for all eternity. You might get boring."
Elena laughed and rolled her eyes. Bonnie backed up, pulled the ring out of her pocket, and placed it on the sun-strip in front of Elena on the bed. Damon handed Bonnie the Grimoire and immediately went to sit at Elena's side. The trio reverted to silence. Bonnie closed her eyes and tilted her head back for a few moments, the great book poised in her hands.
Sooner than Elena anticipated, Bonnie looked back down. "It's done," she declared.
Damon moved forward and picked the ring up from out of the sunlight. He intended to hand it to Elena, but she had her hand poised for him to put it on. He smirked, not about to let such a prime opportunity pass. So instead of putting the ring on her finger, he took her readied hand in his and bowed before her mockingly.
"Elena Gilbert?"
She groaned playfully, "What?"
"Will you…" he paused for dramatic effect, "take a walk with me?"
Elena laughed and Bonnie rolled her eyes, Those two really need to just get it on already, she thought. Not, of course, that she approved of the situation or anything, but even she knew the sexual tension was getting a little ridiculous.
"Sure thing, Salvatore," Elena said and Damon slipped the ring onto the middle finger of her left hand.
Elena stared at the ring, "That's…really pretty," she said.
Damon smirked, "No problem. Pretty ring for a pretty girl."
Elena chuckled to hide her blushing, "Thanks."
Damon rose from the bed and said, "We should get you something to eat." He turned to Bonnie, "I'll drive you home."
"Actually, could you take me to the hospital? I wanted to check on Matt."
"Perfect! We'll stock up on blood bags and you'll go see our drowning victim!"
Elena spoke up, "I want to check on Matt, too, actually. So it's even more perfect."
Damon shook his head, "Oh no, you are not coming into the hospital with me. You do not need all of that blood around you making you crazy."
"So what, you're just going to leave me in the car?"
Damon shrugged, "There's far less temptation than inside, and I'll be in and out faster than you can say 'I've got 99 problems and blood cravings ain't one.'"
Elena was nervous. She had a daylight ring, so now there was nothing to stop her from feeding on the whole town. Except her own self-control, which was a little on the fritz at the moment. Besides, she really wanted to see Matt, the poor guy had gone through so much lately at her expense, and there he was, in the hospital because of her.
"Damon, I really don't think it's a good idea."
"Oh, come on," he said, draping an arm around her as he led her to the door, "what's the worst that can happen?"
Author's Note: Well, if that isn't the most obvious foreshadowing ever. What evil do you think lurks within the shadows of this story? Chapter 5 is coming soon!