Before I Die
~Chapter 4~
Time froze. It could have been five seconds or five minutes. He didn't even know. But in this frozen lapse of time their eyes were still locked and before he could stop himself, he stood up from his stool, completely forgetting about the coffee he just ordered and started walking in her direction. Damon felt his heart pounding harder in his chest with each steps he made towards her. It was insane. He never had any reactions like that in the past. He couldn't explain why. All he knew was her name, for God's sake! Hell, he never felt like this around Katherine! But something was drawning him to her. She was different. Sure, she was beautiful, but he had seen plenty of beautiful women before. There was something about her and he wanted to know what it was.
Elena felt nervousness gain her body as she saw him walking towards her. Was he coming to her? She was tempted to look back over her shoulder to see if there was someone else there. But she just couldn't. Her gaze was glued to his. Those magnificent blue eyes. So incredibly...blue. Yeah, that's right, she thought. So blue... She almost laughted at herself for her lack of words. And she once, dreamed to become a writer. Way to go, Elena! It's almost a good thing you're dying. No one would buy a book that was so... blue. Like the eyes of the man that was now standing in front of her. Arrgghh, she chided herself. Here you go with his eyes, again. She gulped.
As he came close to her, he saw her gulp. He affected her too. Good, he thought. He saw her folding quickly the piece of paper she was so concentrated on and she shoved it in her jacket's pocket.
"Elena? Is it?" he smirked.
She nodded.
"And you're Damon" she stated shyly.
"Hum hmm."
Damon placed his hands on the back of the chair in front of her and stood behind it.
"May I sit with you?" he asked.
She seemed unsure. He saw the hesitation on her beautilful face. She frowned lightly. He began to tense. Was she going to say no? Was she not interested at all? That would be impossible. That never happened before. And since when was he feeling this way? He hated it. Damon Salvatore was not the insecure type. Never was, never will. Right?
"Sure." she finally said.
A grin lighted his face. He pulled the chair and sat in front of her.
"So, Elena. Do you come here often?"
She coudn't stop the giggles that escaped her lips.
"Is that a pick up line?" she giggled again.
Shit, he told himself. Those girly giggles are so fucking sexy.
"What if it is? Is it working?" he waggled his eyebrows.
"It's kind of lame, actually." she smirked.
"Ouch!" he said placing his hand on his heart. "You wound me"
Damon coudn't help to notice she seemed in a better mood than yesterday. Maybe whatever happened to her wasn't as bad as he first thought after all. Maybe she just had a bad day or maybe her goldfish died or something like that. Maybe it was just that 'time of the month' and she was more emotional than usual. He chuckeld at his brilliant idea.
" What so funny?" she asked suddenly.
"Oh! Nothing. I was just thinking both our moods seem to be in higher place today."
She only nodded.
"You mean because you're not drunk, yet?" she said wryly.
"Touché" he said.
She smiled at him.
Damn! She had the most perfect smile and those lips...
"So," Elena cut his daydream short. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?" she asked him.
"Hum hmm"
Elena waited for him to continue. But he seemed lost in is thoughts. She was still nervous. She was usualy feeling uneasy around new people. Around men. Especially when they were as attractive as the specimen she had in front of her. Not that she met a lot of them, but he was by far the most handsome man she ever seen. But this time, it was different. It was like they had a connection, like they already knew each other at some point.
"Well?" she asked again.
"Huh? Oh right! Hum... I wanted to know if you... Well... hum..."
"Yes?" she laughed.
Okay, Salvatore. Take back control of yourself. Even Ken over there look smarter than you, he chided himself. What the hell was wrong with him. Man, she was dangerous. She made him look like a total moron. Maybe he should just run away from her as far as he could. But of course, he couldn't. Yeah Salvatore, she turned you into a fool after two days and you barely talked, he thought.
"I was wondering if I could see you tonight? Let's say here at eight?" he grinned.
Elena looked startled for a second and she blinked. Did he just asked her out? Why?
Before she could answer him, he saw her look over his slouder. He turned around and saw the blond girl again. She was talking to the barman and they were both looking at them. He turned back to Elena when he heard her talk.
"My friend just arrived. I'm sorry, Damon. I have to go." she said.
"What? Wait!" he said in a hurry.
He didn't want her to leave again. Not for Barbie a second time.
"It was really nice meeting you this time, Damon." she said. "I'll be here tonight. Maybe we can talk again. Okay?"
And she almost ran to her friend. Damon saw the piece of paper fall from her pocket.
"Elena! Wait! You dro-"
He never finished. She was already gone. He crouched on the floor to pick the paper up in his hand. It was still folded. He wondered if he should read it. Maybe it was personal. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to the bar where his, now, cold coffee was still on the counter. He shoved the paper in his jacket's pocket. He could always give it back to her later.
"Can I have a hot one, please?" he asked pointing at his coffee.
Elena was standing in front of Caroline's full lenth mirror. She was wearing a strapless little black dress that was just above her knees. She turned on her side her hands stroking the thin material of her dress.
"Are you sure I can wear that?" she asked her friend.
Caroline gave her a 'duh' look.
"Are you kidding me? Of course you can! You're beautiful Elena. You have the perfect body! You should show it off more often." she said. "And I'm sure Damon will love it too!" she giggled.
"Care!" Elena shouted blushing three shades of red.
"What?" she squealed. " I could tell from the bar he's so into you!"
Just great, Elena thought watching her friend jumping and clapping her hands.
"He's so hot!" Caroline continued. " You should totally sleep with him! I bet he's really good!" she squealed again.
Elena simply rolled her eyes.
"But you said you wanted to los-"
"Okay, let's go party and get me drunk!" Elena cut her, changing the subject.
"Fine!" Caroline whined. "Let's go party, drunky!"
When they arrived at The Grill, the place was already crowded. Men were already looking at them like they were some piece of meat at the grocery store. Elena blushed and immediately felt uneasy. She tried to tug on her dress to hide her legs. But it was useless. As for Caroline, she was acting like it was nothing. She loved the attention they were getting.
"Oh my God! Lena! Look at those men! We're a hit tonight!" she squealed.
Elena crossed her arms on her chest with the idea of covering herself. She was looking everywhere feeling nervous.
"I'm not sure I like it, Care." she said. "I'm not use to this... I want to have fun. I do. I just don't know how. I missed so much stuff in my life. There's so many things I wish I did ant I that I will never..."
Caroline eyes were watering. She held her friend's hand.
"No, no, no. No sad thing tonight, Lena!" Caroline said. "It'll ruined our make-up!" she cried.
"I'm sorry, Care" she said, feeling her own tears on her cheek.
When Damon entered The Grill, the first he saw was her. Her black dress was covering her like a second skin. He took his time and let his gaze caress her sweet curves, wishing it could be his hands instead. He also noticed that he wasn't the only one ogling. Pretty much every men in here was checking her out dancing with her friend and he battled with his urged to punch them all.
He approched the bar and for the first time he sympathised with the barman. What was Ken's name again? Butt? Mutt? Who cares, he seemed as pissed as him. Maybe they could team up and beat the shit out of those jerks.
He saw her twirling, sending her curly hair everywhere. He was hit by a wave of lust. He didn't know what to do. It's been a very long time that he wanted someone this bad. They were dancing on 'Take me or leave me'. It was the Glee version, but he didn't realy care. He was hypnotised by the way her body was moving. She was entrancing him. She was... drunk? He saw her stumbling on her own stilettos. She and Barbie were now giggling. They were heading to their table.
When he saw two guys talking to them, both Damon and Matt snapped. Matt crashed his shaker on the counter in unison with Damon's tumbler. They both looked at each other and they both shrugged.
One of the guy was rubbing Elena's bare arm with his fingers. It's was maddening him. He felt relieved when she pushed the guy's hand away and he smirked.
When she got up, he followed her with his eyes. She was half walking, half stumbling toward the exit. When he saw the man following her outside, he stood up from his stool. Caroline was now busy talking to her barman and she was completely oblivious of her friend's departure.
When Damon got outside he didn't saw her and panic was boiling in him. He looked everywhere around him. But she was nowhere to be found. When he heard a whimper coming from the alley, he almost ran in it.
Her back was resting against the wall. She was bent foward, her hands on her thighs. Her purse was hanging on her wrist. She was taking deep breaths. She wasn't doing well. The guy was rubbing her back.
"Please, leave me alone." She begged. "I'm not feeling well..."
The guy seemed very pleased with the situation.
"Aww, babe. I can make you feel better." he smirked
He tried to pull on her arm.
"No... please..."
Damon was pissed. Who the hell was that jerk!
"Hey, you moron!" he shouted. "She told you to leave her alone!" he now growled.
Both their heads snapped in his direction. The guy only scoffed. Damon clenched his fists so tight his knuckles were white. Elena eyes widen and her mouth was open.
"Chicks like that don't want to be alone" he chuckled. "Did you see what she's wearing? She looks like a who-"
Damon didn't let him finished he grabbed the guy by the collar and pinned him to the wall before punching his jaw. He let him fall on the ground.
Elena was taken aback by his reaction. Damon gently took her hand. She nodded with tears in her eyes. She really was drunk and the guy harassing her wasn't helping.
They started walking toward the street, but the guy pushed Damon on the ground and began to punch him. Elena was yelling. The guy was in a fury. He didn't stop punching and kicking Damon out of rage. She did the only thing she thought she could do. She grabbed her purse and hit the guy's head as hard as she could.
"Leave him alone, you bastard!" she screamed.
And she kept hitting him with her purse over and over again. The guy suddenly turned around and pushed her into the wall. She almost fell on her ass. Her head was spinning. She was definitely not feeling well.
"Go to hell! You bitch!" he yelled and then ran away.
Damon quickly stood up and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Are you alright?" he asked with worries in his voice.
She shook her head. One of her hand was holding her stomach the other one went to her mouth. She was pale, livid. Damon knew right away what was coming. And as on cue, she emptied her stomach on his shoes. She grabbed his jacket to hold herself. Her eyes were wide open and shame covered her face.
"Oh my God... I'm so sorry..."
Damon looked at his shoes and then back at her. He tried to shake the vomit off of them.
Her head spun even more and everything went black. When she was about to touch the ground again, he lift her up and took her in his arms.
"Upsy daisy" he murmured.
And he brought her to his car.
A/N: That was chapter four. I hope it wasn't to bad. I know I promised a road trip and nothing really happened, yet. BUT it starts next chapter.
I also said I was writing a second story for december. Well since it didn't seemed to be enough, I started a third one! I don't know when I'll upload it, though. I only got the basic idea in my head so far.
Again, I want to thank every single one of you that took the time to read, reviewed, favorited or alerted this story. It means a lot to me!
Feel free to review :)
Eve xo
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries. I'm only borrowing the characters. All rights go to L.J. Smith, Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson.