Hello everyone!
My fourth one-shot is here and I hope you all will enjoy it:)
I'm not quite sure I'm pleased with it myself so I really would want to know what you guys think about it.
I want to thank everyone that has favorited, reviwed or simply read my stories, if it wasn't for you I woudn't have the motivation to wright this stories, so thank you:)
As always please read, enjoy and review:)
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries or any of the characters in this story. Only the plot is mine.
Elena was laying on her back on the bed in her room, watching the ceiling with an empty look. Her eyes was red rimmed and blank and witnessed about her severely low state of mind. Ever since Stefan had left with Klaus to pay for his brothers life it had been hard to get out of bed in the mornings, but somehow she had been managing to cope. The last couple of weeks had been different though. She knew she had been piling up emotions for months and after a terrible incident nearly two weeks ago everything had changed.
Elena had been on her way home from the Grill after a sorely needed "normal" girls night out with Bonnie and Caroline when the horrible event had taken place. She had barely reached out of the door and in to the street when she was approached by a group of three guys her own age, clearly drunk out of their minds. Without looking at the guys she had tried to make herself as little noticeable as possible when she was about to pass them, but one of them had immediately caught sight of her and started snuffling nasty comments to her. The two other guys had quickly accompanied him, and before she could do anything, one of them had grabbed hold of her and smashed her violently into the wall of the building. She had whimpered on the impact, but she had been quickly stopped from making any other sounds when a hand covered mouth.
Desperately, she had tried to fight them, but the guys in spite of their drunkenness was surprisingly strong and steady on their legs. When she had gotten a better glimpse of them she thought she had recognised at least two of them from the football team at her high school and she had known there was no way she could fight or outrun them. The moment she understood she was completely helpless in their rough grip she had started crying desperately, but the guys hadn't noticed at all, they were far to busy roaming their groping hands all over her body and pulling at her clothes while they grunted disgusting remarks at her. At the same time one of the boys had gotten his hands under her top and was reaching for her breasts and another was stroking his hands up her thighs the boys was startled by a group of people streaming out of the door from the Grill. Luckily they seemed to have come to the conclusion that the temptation wasn't worth the risk of getting caught and had hurriedly drawn back their hand before they vanished down the street, leaving Elena in a heap on the cold asphalt where she had collapsed when they had let go of her. After a couple of minutes in a near shock-like state, Elena had tumbled to her car and had in one way or the other managed to drive home without getting into a car crash. At the time she had reached her house she was all out of tears and instead filled with a feeling of total emptiness. She hardly remembered she had reached her room without running into Alaric and Jeremy and had spent about and hour scrubbing her skin raw in the shower before she had curled up into a tight ball in her bed and out of sheer exhaustion fallen into an uneasy sleep.
In the following days and weeks the incident seemed to have become the last straw on her already overworked nerves and she had hardly slept or eaten in days. School had been a nightmare. She was totally unable to concentrate in any of her classes and if anyone touched her, including her closest friends, she would get startled and wince. One time Tyler had appeared behind her and clapped her on the back while she was trying to have a normal conversation with Caroline, and she had nearly jumped in the air of fear and quickly excused herself and left before any of them could see the tears in her eyes.
Now she was laying on her bed and wondering if any of her friends had noticed her weird behaviour lately. Non of them had asked why she was so tired and distant lately or why she had spent so much time to herself the last couple of weeks, but she had seen some concerned looks when they thought she wasn't looking. She was far away in her thought and would probably have missed the sudden gust of air and the new presence in the room hadn't her senses been hypersensitive lately. In one second she was half past the room and pressing her back against the opposite wall.
"I know I'm a vampire, but I didn't think I was that scary. Good to know I still got it", the dark haired man laying lazily on her bed commented with a smirk on his handsome face.
"Damon…what are you doing here?", was all she managed to reply while trying to still her thunderous heartbeat.
"Isn't a guy allowed to make a surprise visit to a friend at 11 o'clock in the evening any longer?", he said with a fake pout plastered on his face, "you should be glad to get a visit from such a irresistible stud a late evening"
Usually Elena would have rolled her eyes and snorted at the cocky comment, but today she didn't feel a hint like herself and she involuntary pressed her back tighter against the wall instead. Her heart rate wouldn't calm down and her eyes flickered anywhere except at the man occupying her bed. She tried to calm down, but the shock she had gotten when Damon suddenly appeared in her room combined with all her bottled-up emotions the last weeks, probably months, where making her sight foggy with tears she was desperately trying to hide.
Damon intently watched her features. He easily heard her thundering heartbeat and her shallow breath, and he knew she was fighting against her tears. There where no surprise showing on his features though, this hadn't been a courtesy visit, he knew something was wrong before he came over and he was determined not to leave before she had spilled her guts to him.
"You've been avoiding me dear Elena", he said when she didn't speak, "Witchy and Vampire Barbie tells me you've been pretty distant lately too. Care to enlightened me why you suddenly is so tired of all your friends that you prefer the solitude of your room instead of their company?"
Elena's head snapped up at his question and watched him with a look that was filled with fear and something close to panic. He could see her eying the door out of the corner of her eye and her body tensed up as if ready to run from him. In that moment he understood that something terrible must have happened to her and he quickly rushed over to her with vampire speed so he could stop her attempt at escaping before it took place. When he suddenly was standing right in front of her Elena breath hitched in fear and she pressed her body as close to the wall as she could get it, pressing her cheek to the side and against the wall so he couldn't see her eyes. Damon tried to reach up a hand and turn her face towards him, but she winced so violently that he dropped his hand to his side before it even touched her skin.
"Okay Elena, I understand something horrible must have happened to you and I need you to tell me what it is. I promise I won't try to touch you or even look at you if you don't want me to, but please tell me what's wrong with you", he asked in an almost pleading voice.
She finally turned and looked at him then. Her eyes was filled with unshed tears and she seemed so exhausted and weary that he ached to pull her close and comfort her, but he knew he had to keep his promise if she was going to tell him anything.
"They tried to take advantages of me...they tried to… ", her voice trailed of before a heartbreaking sob ripped trough the air and she started crying violently.
"Who did what to you Elena? Please tell me?", his voice was near desperate and his heart felt like it was ripped out of his chest at seeing her this broken and not be able to comfort her.
"They tried to rape me…I don't now who they are…but they were scared away…and…and I can still feel their hands on my skin…and…I'm so scared", she managed to choke out between sobs, her body trembling violently with all the emotions rushing trough her.
Even though her speech were incoherent Damon immediately knew what had happened to her, and he could feel an enormous amount of anger tear at his insides at the thought of what those bastards could have done to her if they had gotten the opportunity. With a massive amount of willpower only decades of training could produce he suppressed all his anger, knowing it wouldn't help her in her current situation. He could track down her attackers later and learn them some basic manners, but right now he had to take care of the trembling girl in front of him. He very slowly took a step closer to her, still not touching her, but trying to make her used to his close presence. When she didn't wince at his closeness he tentatively raised his hands and placed them carefully on her shoulders, squeezing them lightly. She didn't try to push him away, but he heard her heartbeat pick up speed and felt her muscles tense under his light touch, and he cursed inwardly when he really understood how much damage the terrible experience had done to her. She had become terrified of people, even her closest friends, and she avoided touch as it burned her skin.
"Shh Elena, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you", he whispered to her, feeling very weird about uttering such a obvious statement, but he knew she needed to hear it.
Finally Elena turned her face to his so he could see tear marks down her cheeks and unshed tears lingering in the corners of her eyes. His dead heart ached for her then and he knew he wouldn't be able to leave her before he had taught her to receive comfort again. Even if it would take him the rest of eternity he would make her trust other people and make that scared look on her face disappear for good. Still holding her gaze he inched closer to her until they were close enough that he could feel the warmth radiating of her body. He slowly bent his head and let his cheek lightly graze hers while he whispered in her ear.
"Elena dear, you trust me don't you?", he asked her softly.
He could hear she was crying silently and he fought the desire to wrap his arms around her and hold her, he knew he had to wait until she came to him. Finally he felt a small nod against his cheek and he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. Carefully he let the hands on her shoulders stroke up and down her upper arms before he slid them down and gently opened her fisted hands so he could hold them in his. They stood like that for some time, while she cried and finally started relaxing against his body. He couldn't help letting out a relived sigh when she after a while started leaning her body against his and slowly disentangled their hands so she could reach up and fold her arms around his neck. He momentarily accepted her unsaid invitation and carefully wrapped his arms around her small fragile frame, relishing in the feeling of finally be able to comfort her.
They stayed like that for a long while, Elena with her arms folded tight around Damon's neck and face pressed into his chest, and Damon with his arms securely wrapped around her. Damon stroke her back gently the whole time and when she had stopped crying and seemed a little calmer he carefully bent down and grabbed her legs so he could carry her to her bed. She didn't protest when he lifted her or carried her to her bed, but she did protest feebly when he released her after laying her down.
Elena didn't like the sudden emptiness she felt when Damon released her from his warm arms. For weeks she had jumped when people had brushed up against her accidentally, but it was something different with Damon's touch, she felt safe in his arms. She watched him tentatively while he sat down next to her on the bed, she wasn't afraid anymore, she knew he would never hurt her. After weeks of fear she was surprised she missed his touch and wanted him to hold her again.
"Elena, could you do something for me?", he suddenly asked in a low and soft voice. When she nodded he continued, "can you close your eyes for me?"
Elena felt tiny stabs of fear at the request, but she quickly calmed down as Damon locked gaze with her and she could see how soft and caring his eyes looked at her. She took a deep breath then and nodded silently before she slowly closed her eyes. When she after a short moment felt a touch to her cheek she tensed up slightly, but when she felt how soft and caring the hand was stroking her skin she relaxed and lightly pressed her cheek against it. She could feel Damon slowly bending over her and she didn't wince when he gently started to whisper in her ear.
"I know you have seen and felt much violence in your life Elena, but you cant let that make you scared of people and their touch. You must understand that touch mustn't be about violence or even lust", he gently whispered to her while stroking her cheek tenderly. "I want to show you that touch doesn't have to be about any of those things. I want you to associate touch with this", he murmured, stroking her ear gently.
Damon could hear her heart rate increase a little at his touch, but he knew instinctively that it wasn't from fear, and he felt his own body relax a little watching her calm under his hands. He had hated what she had said about feeling those bastards hands on her skin and he wanted to erase all those memories from her mind with his own soft touches.
After stroking her hair and face for a while he let his fingers brush down her neck and stroke her collarbone, his other hand reaching out and stroking her arm and shoulder. Elena felt tiny shivers of pleasure run up and down her spine at his featherlike touches and she could feel her body for the first time in weeks relax. She couldn't help the small sigh of contentment that left her lips when Damon's gentle hands skimmed down her sides and brushed her belly. Damon didn't stop before he had stroked most of her body from head to toes, and when he after a long and wonderful time returned to her face, she opened her eyes slowly to find him leaning over her and watching her tentatively. For a moment they just looked deeply into each others eyes while Damon's fingers gently brushed her temple.
"Damon?", Elena whispered after a long time in silence.
"Yes, Angel?", he whispered back, stroking his fingers trough the silky hair at her temple.
"Could you do me a favour? One of the guys kissed me, and I really don't want him to be the last one that kissed me, so I was wondering if you could…", she asked, looking shyly into his ocean blue eyes.
Damon couldn't believe she had asked him what she had just did, and he tentatively searched her eyes for any signs of regret or misunderstanding. When he couldn't find any he slowly bent down, giving her plenty of time to move away, before he gently touched her lips with his own. The kiss was not passionate or lustful, like a kiss shared by lovers. Their kiss was slow and gentle, and would have seemed chaste to most people, but it was filled with so much caring and love that it was by far the best kiss both of them had ever had.
When they finally pulled away Damon reached down to the end of the bed and grabbed a blanket he carefully draped over the sleepy girl next to him. The clock had already reached past 1am, and Elena had a hard time holding her eyes open after days of uneasy sleep. Damon's tentative gestures had made her whole body relaxed and she knew that she would sleep soundly for the first time in a long while. They lay on their sides facing each other, and after Damon had given her a tender goodnight kiss on the forehead, she got gently carried away into a deep sleep, still holding one of his hands firmly in hers.
After Elena had fallen asleep, Damon stayed awake to watch her relaxed face. Her features were so beautiful now that they weren't tensed with fear and pain. Ten minutes later she reached out in her sleep and grabbed hold of him, snuggling her body closer to his. He happily put his arms around her and pulled her closer. Her head lay nestled on his chest and when he bent down to kiss her lightly on her cheek, he saw she was wearing a satisfied little smile on her lips. He stilled in the motion and watched her with awe in his eyes, she looked exactly like a sleeping angel.
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