January 17, 2010

Salvatore Boarding House

Demi had slept uncomfortably during the night, tossing and turning every so often and musing over the events of the night. By the time 6 AM rolled around, she'd decided to give up on sleep, getting out of the bed she'd borrowed and straightening the sheets and pillows once more. She goes to the connected bathroom and steps in to the shower, bathing quickly before getting out and dressing in her clothes from the day before. She knew she'd have to explain to Jenna why there was blood on her shirt, but she was sure she could come up with some sort of explanation.

Demi makes her way downstairs as quietly as she could, and decides to do something nice in return for Damon saving her. She goes into the kitchen, quickly finding everything she needed before starting to make breakfast. Going through some bad homes meant she had to take the time to learn how to take care of herself, so there wasn't much she didn't know how to do. And honestly, she loved cooking.

She puts on music at a somewhat low volume, swaying her hips as she starts the eggs. She hums along to the music, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She felt like it had been too long since she'd really had the chance to relax and be happy. Or at least comfortable. Demi turns to place the eggs on a plate, jumping as she finds Damon sitting at the island just staring at her.

"No, please," he insists with a smile. "Continue. Don't mind me at all." Demi rolls her eyes and turns to start on the bacon, quickly turning down her music but not shutting it off completely.

"Stare all you want, Damon. It won't make me like you." Damon gasps and feigns hurt, placing a hand on his chest.

"You wound me, Demi. Truly." Demi rolls her eyes and starts to plate the bacon, handing Damon his plate before starting to clean up. "I'll take care of that. Just come sit. Eat." She shrugs and sets the dishes in the sink, plopping down on one of the stools, with one separating the two of them. Damon just chuckles and moves to sit beside her. "I'm surprised you didn't just leave."

Demi shrugs. "You saved my life and offered for me to stay the night. The least I could do was make breakfast." She takes a bite of her eggs and stays silent a moment before finally looking at Damon. "Thank you, by the way. And now, maybe, I can sneak in the house without catching Jenna. If she sees this blood, she's going to have a lot of questions I can't answer."

Damon thinks a moment. "Well there may be something of Elena's here that you can wear for now, and maybe I can go with you to the mall for a few new things."

Demi smiles awkwardly. "I appreciate looking for Elena's clothes, but I don't know about an outing. I think I'll just go on my own."

Damon shrugs one shoulder. "C'mon. What's the harm?"

River Ridge Mall, Lynchburg

Damon had convinced Demi to let him come along, and here she was trying on a few things she wanted. She was only going to get one or two things, but Damon had insisted that she get whatever she wanted and he'd cover it all. Of course, Demi know that that meant he would compel the cashier to give her the items for free, but she wouldn't complain. She needed more clothes anyway. She couldn't wear the same four outfits for the rest of her life, and that was all of the clothes she had to her name.

Demi steps out in a very flattering outfit: a tight fitting red tank top and black leather jacket, with black skinny jeans. She wore black booties with buckles up the side and black fingerless gloves.

"Last one. What do you think?" Demi asks, causing Damon to look at her, eyes widening ever so slightly. She couldn't help but blush at his reaction, smiling and dramatically modelling for him. "Vogue worthy?" she teases.

Damon stands and nods, twirling her around to get a good look at her. "It definitely suits you." He walks with her to the register with the rest of her clothes, letting the cashier ring them up before Damon places some cash on the counter and leaves with Demi. The two split the bags, and Demi starts to remove the tags from her clothes.

"I appreciate you doing this for me, Damon. Really." She runs her free hand through her hair and looks around at the other stores. "It's not like anyone else would do this," she murmurs quietly, causing Damon to stop her in her tracks.

"Don't say that," he says, eyebrows creased almost in pity. Demi hated that look. "I told you I care about you. So does Elena. And I'm sure Stefan does too, in his own way."

Demi shrugs a little and sits on a bench near a fountain in the center of the mall. "It's just that... I've never had anyone do something like that for me."

Damon sits next to her and shakes his head. "Demi, I find that extremely hard to believe. Why wouldn't anyone do something nice for you?"

Demi just laughs, hurt in her eyes. "Maybe because I've always been the screwed up foster kid that nobody wants." She stands in frustration, starting to walk away. She didn't want more pity. Not from him. God, not from him.

"Demi!" Damon calls out, quickly rising to his feet and following her. He stops her and turns her around, a frown on his face. It didn't suit his handsome features. It almost broke Demi's heart. "I didn't know."

Demi shrugs and looks away, not wanting to see his face. "How could you know? I asked Elena not to talk about it to anyone."

"Why?" He sounded genuinely curious, and maybe even a little concerned.

"Because," she snaps, looking back at him with tears brimming in her eyes. "I wanted to avoid the exact look you're giving me now. I don't want your pity. Ever. Yes, I'm a foster kid. Yes, I'm screwed up. Yes, I've had a bunch of shitty homes and a really shitty life. But I don't want your pity. I've survived this long, and I'll keep surviving." Demi looks at him briefly, trembling ever so slightly, having gotten herself worked up.

Damon nods. "Okay. No pity." He offers a small smile and takes the rest of the bags from her before nodding around to the other stores. "What else? Makeup? Maybe some decorations for your room? I overheard Elena talking to Stefan about how you weren't really getting comfortable with them in your room."

Demi takes a slow breath, thinking for a moment before finally caving in. "Maybe just a few things."

Gilbert House

Demi and Damon finally made it back to the house and set her new things downstairs in the kitchen until they'd finished in her bedroom. They ended up buying over twenty bags of things and a few cans of paint for her room. She agreed to let Damon help her paint, so once he and Jeremy finished moving the furniture out of her room, she and Damon laid out plastic on the floor and she changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants before getting ready to paint.

She was actually really enjoying Damon's company and found herself surprised that Elena could dislike him at all. The two laughed and joked as they painted, Demi at one point accidentally getting paint on Damon. He looks at her mischievously and Demi raises her brush up in defense. "No!" She squeals as Damon slides his paintbrush down her cheek and shirt, streaking blue in it's path. "I'm gonna get you for this!"

Demi chases him around playfully a moment before he decides to take the other hand, taking her hand and vamp-speeding so he stood with her pinned against the wall. Above her head, he had pinned the hand holding the paintbrush, and the other hand he held up as well. And there they stood, inches from each other, Demi completely at his disposal, for him to do whatever he wanted to with. She wondered if things would've escalated, but didn't have a chance to find out before they heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. Elena. Damon releases Demi, taking a step back but never taking his eyes off of her. Demi could feel her cheeks growing more red by the second.

Demi looks over to where Elena stood, and smiles. "We're almost done. Just gotta finish this wall and let everything dry. Sorry that the furniture is cluttering the house."

Elena shakes her head. "It's fine. I just heard you and wanted to make sure you were alright."

Demi nods and glances at Damon, who was still watching her intently. "Yeah. This ass just got a little too cocky with the paintbrush." He rolls his eyes and Demi looks back at Elena. "Did you want to help?"

"I would, but I'm actually headed over to see Stefan. Check on him. He went through a lot yesterday, and with him drinking my blood-"

"Wait." Demi puts up a finger to silence her. "Why didn't I know about this? Isn't he on the whole animal blood diet thing?" Elena and Damon both nod and Demi sighs. "Yeah, go check on him. Let me know how he's doing." Elena nods and leaves, and Demi couldn't help but noticed that Damon seemed almost jealous of her concern for Stefan. She turns to look at Damon and sighs. "I guess we should finish up, huh?"

Salvatore Boarding House

Demi and Damon had gone back to the boarding house to check on Stefan and Elena, who were alone in Stefan's room. And Demi could only imagine what they were doing alone. She shudders a little at the thought and goes into the library to pour herself a glass of Damon's bourbon. He looked ready to object, but holds back, simply fixing one for himself as well.

"I had fun today," he admits, sitting in one of the armchairs and propping his feet up on the ottoman. Demi sits on the couch, leaning back against the armrest and facing Damon.

"I did too. And thank you. Again. I think this is a first for me." She smiles and takes a drink of her bourbon, scrunching her nose up a little at the taste before taking another sip.

"Which part? The shopping or the flirting?" Damon asks teasingly with a wink. Demi just rolls her eyes at him.

"You're incorrigible." Damon raises a brow at her word choice but doesn't object. Demi quickly finishes her drink and decides to bring up something that had been on her mind since yesterday. "Who's Katherine?"

Damon lets out a sigh and sips his own drink before looking to Demi. "You and Elena are her doppelgängers."

Demi creases her brows. "Wait. So you're telling me that there's another person walking around with my face?" She stands and goes to fix herself another drink.

"Well, she's not just around. I was under the impression she was in the tomb with the other vampires, but we found out she wasn't. Apparently she was never there." Demi turns to look at him with a frown. She could tell he was hurt.

"She abandoned you, didn't she?"

Damon looks away, taking another sip of his drink. "She convinced me and Stefan that she actually loved us. We're vampires because of her."

Demi nods and walks back to the couch, sitting again and sipping her drink. "I'm sorry to hear that." She looks over the back of the couch at all of the bookshelves. "I've never had anyone that I loved. Not anymore than a friend." She closes her eyes at the thought. Her death still broke her heart. She takes a slow breath before opening her eyes again, finding Damon sitting across from her. "Don't, Damon," she pleads quietly, her breaths a little more uneven.

Damon moves a little closer to her, brows creased. "Why not? I mean, after today I thought we were getting somewhere." He keeps moving until he has her nearly pinned to the arm of the couch. Demi starts to object, stopping the moment his lips brush hers. She melts into the cushions, kissing back deeply and bringing a hand to his cheek.

After a moment though, she pulls away, pulling from under him and taking several steps back. "I can't, Damon. I-I'm sorry..." She grabs her jacket and sets her drink down, rushing down the hall and towards the door. She gasps as he vamp-speeds in front of her, his face filled with confusion.

"Alright, I'm lost. You try to push me away, kiss me back, and now you're running? What's going on?" Demi looks down at her hands, letting herself grow harder. More firm. More closed off.

"Damon, don't do this."

"Demi, talk to m-."

"STOP!" Demi shouts, finally looking up at Damon with tears in her eyes. She breathes heavily and shakes her head, pushing past him and out the door.

Shorter chapter, but I wanted to do one or two with Demi interacting with the characters since in the show's timeline, the next episode doesn't occur until 14 days after they rescued Stefan. I think I'm just gonna do one more with Demi and the others. Two max.

Comment your thoughts!