Homecoming – Chapter Four

-Elena's POV-

By the time Caroline and I arrived at the Lockwood mansion in my car, it was half seven and there were people everywhere. As usual, we parked on the lane, along with everyone else who owned a car in this town. Tyler always said he could get us 'VIP' parking closer to the house but I'd never rely on it, knowing how impossible it would be to turn around on the narrow lane and weave through all the cars. So we had a five minute walk, ahh well, at least it wasn't muddy.

At the door we were greeted by Tyler and his parents, the usual welcoming committee. His mother, Carol, was almost as friendly to us as Giuseppe Salvatore. Then his father was the Mayor who was best friends with said Salvatore so basically none of them liked us very much. Tyler left his post and walked into the party with us. Just like every time, everyone was here; all ages. That was perhaps one of the main reasons people are age didn't go all out here; that man over there was the Principle of Mystic Falls, over on the other side was Sheriff Forbes, then…well…we are in the Mayors house aren't we.

I spotted Jenna talking to Kelly Donovan through the crowd; that was our friend Vicki and Matt's mum. They were twins who went to school with us…I hadn't seen either of them in a long time. We walked through the rooms until we found Jeremy Bonnie and Stefan, smirking as Stefan's eyes bulged out, "Wow…you look amazing." He said.

"Well taa baby Salvie." Caroline sang in her patronizing voice. Those two were hilarious together; Caroline always treated him as patronizingly as she could and he'd react in the same way, all good natured of course.

"I wasn't talking about you Midget." He threw back at her, an amused smile on everyone's faces.

"Oh Steffie we all know this defensive act is just you trying to hide the fact that you're irrevocably in love with me."

"Keep dreaming Blondie. You aren't my type."

"Oh shush you two," I laughed, "you have three weeks to insult each other as much as possible." And that is exactly what they would do.

I left them to talk for a while as I went off to find people. And so I spent the next two hours talking to Vicki, Bonnie, Anna (both of those two where Jeremy and Stefan's friends), Matt, Caroline's mum Liz, Tyler's parents…everyone really. I didn't see Damon at all and no-one really mentioned him. Maybe he wasn't coming after all. I felt a small stab of hurt at that; if I didn't see him now I probably wouldn't see him again until summer, by which time we would barely know each other at all.

My feet hurt. My stomach hurt. And my head hurt. It was almost 10:30 when I managed to get away from Elijah Smith, an old friend of my parents. He was lovely, but right now I didn't want to be in an in depth discussion about the environment. I was just passing the dining room, heading for the off-limits study, when another voice called me. I froze; surprised when I saw that the man who'd caught my attention was none other than Giuseppe Salvatore. He was standing with Mayor Lockwood, both looking at me with the usual stern faces. Oh god that was scary. Nervously, I smiled and walked closer, "Mr Salvatore," I greeted anxiously, not sure what I'd done.

"I heard you were back for Christmas. How's university?" he questioned. I wasn't sure where all this was coming from, Giuseppe Salvatore did not like me at all…he rarely spoke to me, but from the way he looked at me I could tell I wasn't his favourite person in the world.

"Yeah, for three weeks. It's really good, actually; different but I like it."

"Yes, architecture, wasn't it?" I nodded, giving a small smile, "A good career choice."

I smiled, shrugging a little, "Not as good as law."

Hold up…what was that? Did-…no…it's impossible…did Giuseppe Salvatore just crack a smile? Just a tiny one. For a second I swear I saw a smile… But that really was impossible since he had absolutely no pride in his eldest son…at least he made sure never to show any. He appeared to hate Damon while the very opposite with Stefan. Anyway, I could hardly react since he was already moving on, "I've yet to see Damon, as usual he was pretty vague about his arrival." So he was coming then… I wasn't sure whether I was happy about that or not. "Has he told you?"

I was quiet for a second before shaking my head, "No…no I haven't talked to him in a while."

He nodded slowly, understanding in his eyes, "What can I say? My son has always made foolish mistakes. Pardon me, ahh, Sheriff…" And off he went. What? 'My son has always made foolish mistakes'? What the hell was that meant to mean! My feet still hurt. Letting out a sigh, I continued on my way to the study. When we came to these things, if ever I couldn't find my friends, I'd always find them in the study. Having Tyler as a friend did mean we had more access around the house which was good when you needed some quiet.

When I opened the door, I didn't see anyone else in the room so I slipped inside and shut the door behind me, crossing the dark room to switch on the light by the sofa. With another sigh I sank down into the uncomfortable studded brown leather sofa, closing my eyes and kicking my feet up onto the coffee table. But the second I closed my eyes a picture sprung into my head…a picture of a face…a face hovering very close to mine with cold dark eyes…a pressure to my stomach, to my head…

"Elena?"

I literally jumped out of my skin at the sound of the voice, jolting upright and suddenly finding myself face to face with my best friend. "Damon…" I breathed, my heart beating loudly in my chest. A grin slowly spread over his face before he closed the distance and pulled me into the tightest hug ever. However angry I was, I was glad to see him, sinking into the hug and inhaling his scent, smiling. "Damon…can't breathe…"

He chuckled quietly, stepping back but still holding onto my hands, "How are you Lennie? I haven't seen you in ages!" Oh tell me about it. I gave him a small smile, stepping back a little.

"Yeah tell me about it." His smile faltered a little as he took in my tone, "So where's Katherine?" Forgive me if I came across a little bitter. But what was that? That emotion that flickered across his face, just for a second…anger. Why would he be angry that I mentioned her? Why would be angry when everything seemed to be going 'so great' for him?

"Aspen, with her…family." And what was that hesitation there?

I didn't like her anyway, and she'd made me so annoyed with him; for a minute I just wanted to yell at him for being so stupid, "Oh, I thought she was coming? I think Caroline quite wanted to meet her." I told him in a serious tone, mockery just sneaking through so he knew I was being sarcastic. Yes Caroline wanted to meet her…so she could slap her.

He frowned, seeming a little confused, "Well…sorry but no. She couldn't make it." Yep…there seemed to be trouble in paradise. We fell into another awkward silence; I could feel his eyes on me but I was suddenly finding the coffee table very interesting. After a second he spoke, "You look amazing Elena."

I glanced up, surprised and he just gave me a small smile, "Thank you. You don't look bad yourself."

More silence. A few months ago, Damon would throw out some cocky one-liner at any compliment given to him…that was the usual Damon. But this? We'd never had these awkward silences before. It took another few minutes for one of us to find something to say; him again, "I saw you talking to Giuseppe earlier…" He never called his father 'dad' or anything; it was always 'Giuseppe'

I gave a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, he almost cracked a smile."

He raised an eyebrow in mock surprise, "Now I thought that was just a figment of my imagination. What did you say to receive such a blessing?"

"Well it was something along the lines of architecture not being quite as successful as law…See Damon, he is proud of you." After a moment of shock he scoffed and shook his head.

"I think we all know better than to think that."

I shrugged, fiddling with the skirt of my dress, "I should get back to the party…" I said, slowly rounding the sofa to stand closer to the door.

He nodded, his eyes never leaving me, "Yeah…sure, I'll see you later?"

"Yeah…bye." I said quietly before opening the door and escaping the tension filled room. I found Caroline in under a minute, standing with her and listening to her babbling on and on about Tyler and how she'd been thinking about what I'd said the whole time they were together and realised it was true and that she wasn't sure whether she should make the first move…to be honest I wasn't listening. I was too busy thinking about what just happened. I knew when I saw him it would be bad…but honestly; I never thought it would be that bad…that awkward. Never, in all the years I've known Damon, have we ever had such an uncomfortable conversation.

"Hey? Lennie! Are you listening to anything I'm saying?" Caroline's voice pulled me out of my daze and I had to blink a few times before I found her standing in front of me, looking somewhere between amused and exasperated.

"No…not really." I informed her with a small smile and she just rolled her eyes. We both took a glass of Champaign from the waiter passing us, taking a sip, "Care if you like him, go for it; you think about things too much."

"Yeah but I don't want to ruin our friendship! There's too much at stake if we don't work out!" Well that was true.

"You will work out. You two are perfect for each other. By the end of the week I want you to have told him how you feel. Or else I will make you wear the Slutty Santa outfit to the next founders black tie dinner." Her mouth fell open, fear in her eyes which made me laugh.

"You're a bitch Lennie." She told me, trying to hide her smile. All she needed was a push; she'd be thanking me soon enough. It didn't take a second for her to gasp, another thought taking hold of her head, "Lennie! I saw Damon! Have you seen him yet?"

I sighed, "Yep…it was awkward and horrible."

At that she seemed surprised; concerned even, "Oh…it really is bad then isn't it?" I just nodded and we were quiet for a minute or two while she thought, "Len you and Damon can't not be friends. You two are best friends; you're like 'soul mates' or whatever! If you two can't last the distance then there's no hope for any of us."

She looked so upset at the idea of us not being friends, I let out a sigh before reaching out to squeeze her hand and she gripped it back, "Care we'll work it out eventually. I hope. And don't say it like we're the perfect model of friends; we're really not. If me and Damon never talk again after this holiday then that doesn't mean that…I dunno…that you and Tyler will never talk again…or me and Stefan...Friendships don't always last forever…as much as I want it to; we've both changed in different ways and we've both made choices that have affected our friendship." She looked so distraught at that, "I don't want that to happen Care…I never did. And I don't think Damon does either…it just happens."

That was followed by yet another silence; we both knew it was the truth so didn't quite know what to say, "Well try…Elena, try your hardest. Don't let it happen."

Sort of lost my flow at the end there…sorry for all the repetition. But please review anyway.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! I hope you all had wonderful days and got fabulous presents? Our mass present is coming in about two weeks in the form of one hour of incredible TV