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Chapter 4: Moving To Nowhere
Elena was still sighing to herself a couple of days later on Monday evening. I'm so stupid. Why did I go and meet him? Am I still in love with him?
Elena swallowed at the same loop of thoughts in her head. It wouldn't change a thing if she was. She had made her choice, and that was Elijah. The wedding was well under way and looming closer. Elijah was a good man, and she did love him, even if it wasn't in the passionate, all-consuming way she once loved Damon.
Her stomach tightened at the mess still occurring in her life. She and Damon may have said goodbye, but he was still on her mind and there were other parts of her life that weren't going according to plan. Esther Mikaelson still didn't approve of her and Elijah, and certainly wasn't enthusiastic about the wedding.
Elena and Elijah were arguing about where to live after they had tied the knot. Whether to move Elijah's life to New York or Elena's to England. The most plausible answer was going to England, where Elena could use her connection to the Mikaelson name, and Esther to begin her own editing company.
Not that connections to his name made Elijah more appealing. He was a good man, and he did make her happy. If she hadn't have met Damon first, she could move to England without a doubt, but she did meet Damon first, and now she was always going to worry about him. He was so unpredictable and it scared her.
One minute she was reading about his booming business in the New York Times and the next she was getting phone calls from his favorite bar because he had drank himself unconscious, and she was his first emergency contact. He wasn't stable, and yet she couldn't get away from him.
The funniest part was, she held on to anger for Damon because he didn't let her go, and now he had said goodbye, giving her permission to move on and be happy without his involvement, and she hated him even more. She felt abandoned by him because he had finally given up and that wasn't fair. She couldn't have both, and she couldn't win.
"Elena?" Elijah called as he stepped in the front door from work.
Elena got in at least an hour before him and had already changed into some pajamas due to lack of plans. Instead, she had grabbed a cup of coffee and a bridal magazine to curl up on the sofa with until Elijah came back and they decided on dinner. She looked up now from her magazine to see Elijah smiling at her. "Find anything?" He indicated the magazine.
Elena shrugged, closing the magazine and placing it on her lap. "I had planners take over most of it. I don't know if it's going to be big, or small, or what more can I add."
Elijah sighed and walked further into the living room to sit next to her. "You shouldn't be unsure of your own wedding… perhaps it's too fast for us?"
Elena's heart skipped a beat. He knew. Elijah knew she had met up with Damon and now he was calling off the wedding. "What?" She squeaked.
"I don't feel like we have enough input into our own wedding. Why don't we enjoy our engagement some more and have a word with my mother about the plans?"
"You don't want to marry me?" Elena whispered, her throat tight.
Elijah frowned and laughed slightly. "Elena, of course, I want you to be my wife." He gathered her hands in his and kissed them softly.
Elena sighed in relief. "Then why wait?"
Elijah grinned sheepishly. "I only intend to marry once, Elena, and I want the wedding to represent me and my gorgeous wife."
Elena's cheeks flushed with guilt. She may not have been too bothered that wedding planners were designing her big day, but Elijah wanted it to be perfect. He wanted to make her happy, and she couldn't even listen to what he had to say without thinking about herself. "You're right," she agreed. "I want some more involvement too."
Elijah grinned. "Excellent. There's a gala this Friday evening, and if we like the venue, we can have our engagement party there. You can have another chance with my mother, and we can discuss our desire to be more involved with the wedding."
She smiled and snuggled closer to him as he played with her hair. "Sounds really good."
Elijah pressed a kiss to her forehead. There was silence before he spoke again. "So, will you invite Caroline to the gala? I assume she'll want to scope out the venue and decide if it's good enough for the engagement party."
"No," Elena said shortly, sitting up so that Elijah's hand fell from her curls.
"Elena," Elijah chastised. "She's your best friend."
"She broke my friendship when she started to hang around and act like Da-" Elena cut off quickly, her cheeks flushing.
Elijah seemed to consider finishing the name for her before he let it pass. "You need her," he said simply and tenderly stroked her hand with his thumb. Elena remained tight-lipped and he smiled, diverting the conversation. "Come on, let's go cake testing."
Elena found herself laughing. "Everything will be closed soon."
"Not for me," he replied cheekily.
Elena grinned. "I do love you," she said firmly.
Elijah's lip curled sadly. "I know."
"Perfect," Isobel said enthusiastically into the mouthpiece of her phone. Alaric trailed next to her, hoping she would hurry with her call and give him some attention. "I can't wait to meet you… thank you... Goodbye."
Alaric grinned at her because she was smiling and he enjoyed it when she was happy. "Who was that?"
"Just a friend I'm meeting up with soon," Isobel responded quickly.
Alaric raised his brow at her fast response but otherwise kept quiet. As they walked down the street hand in hand, having just met Isobel from work, Alaric caught sight of two familiar faces on the opposite side. Elena and Elijah had stepped into a luxury cake shop and were smiling happily.
Alaric guessed they were picking out their cake, with the wedding being less than a month away. At Elena's beaming face, Alaric wondered if she missed Damon, or truly loved Elijah. His thoughts wandered over to his former best friend who was most likely alone in his apartment, drinking until he couldn't feel the emptiness of Elena anymore.
His heart pounded with guilt as he looked at Isobel and thought about Damon. He had chosen Isobel because he loved her and he was sure Damon would have chosen Elena if she had ever made him choose. Isobel was amazing, and nothing like other women he knew. She was beautiful, classy and enjoyed sports.
Deep down he felt Isobel was selfish to ask him to choose between her and his best friend. However, if Damon hadn't been so different and nothing like the Damon he had grown up with, then he would never have left him. He would have worked something out with Isobel so that he could have kept them both.
But Damon was different. He was more Giuseppe than ever, and Alaric hated it. He was aware that Damon had never had an easy life apart from his wealth. A father that hated and beat him, and a half brother that always wanted to screw him over. No success in long lasting relationships, and a love so powerful between him and Elena it always destroyed them.
As Alaric looked at Elena now, he wished that she would go back to Damon. She didn't seem to realize that Damon only ever did wrong when they were apart. He couldn't cope without her because she was the love of his life and the only hope he had. Alaric and Caroline had never understood it, but Damon and Elena clicked.
He was cunning, witty and sarcastic. Brutal, honest and cut throat. Elena was stunning, crafty, forgiving and full of love. They were fire and ice, but together they could rule the earth. They made each other invincible and when they separated they were devastated, pushed to the point where they could barely function.
Alaric thought of the state he had left Damon in, and his best friends words made his heart burn with guilt.
"If you walk out of that door, don't ever come back."
"Damon?" A voice called his name, but he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes.
His eyelids felt glued together and his whole body radiated with pain. Someone called his name again and shook his shoulder, forcing a groan to slip out of his mouth. As his brain started functioning again, he finally realized who was trying to drag him from his slumber and into the world of a stinking hangover.
"What are you doing here, little Gilbert?" Damon murmured, pressing his face deeper into his sofa.
"I'm checking to see if you're still breathing," Jeremy snapped, surprising Damon enough to open his eyes.
Jeremy didn't usually get angry unless it was something to do with Elena. That was probably why he was here really, come to chew Damon out for hurting his sister again. "Well, I'm breathing," Damon groaned as he sat up on his sofa.
"What's your problem?" Jeremy spat, his voice full of venom. "Do you want to die?"
Damon shuffled around so he was facing the youngest Gilbert, someone, who he counted as his brother as much as Alaric. He got a good look at Jeremy and noticed how much more mature he looked with his shorter hair and broader body. Despite his anger, his eyes were worried and tight. Damon's stomach turned because he hadn't seen Jeremy look like that in years.
"Elena will be okay, Jer," Alaric reassured Elena's younger brother.
Jeremy nodded and Damon watched his eyes go unfocused as he relieved the last few minutes. Elena had been found unconscious on the floor in her room with an empty bottle of pills next to her.
"She should have talked to me," Jeremy said bitterly with tears pouring down his face.
Damon thought the same thing and his heart was aching with the knowledge that Elena had felt alone enough to try and take her own life. She hadn't even tried to contact him, which meant if she had succeeded then Damon would have no last words from Elena Gilbert. She would have just been gone from his life.
"This is all my fault," Jeremy moaned, pulling his hair by the roots. "I shouldn't have said the things I did! I don't blame her for our parent's death. She knows that really, right?"
Damon's throat tightened and he looked away because truth be told he did blame the little dick. How was a car crash Elena's fault? Jeremy should never have said those things to her, and he had hurt her enough to want to die. Damon loved Jeremy but right now he wanted to kill him, and he didn't know if he could ever forgive the youngest Gilbert.
"She knows you'd always be there for her, Jeremy," Alaric reassured him as they turned down the road towards the hospital. "This isn't your fault."
Yes, it is, Damon thought. A few minutes later they were exiting the car and jogging into the entrance of the hospital. Caroline, her mother Liz and her boyfriend Tyler stood against the wall. Jenna sat alone on one of the waiting chairs, her head in her hands and sobs wracking her body.
Jeremy immediately ran to his aunt and hugged her. "How is she?"
Jenna lifted her head and ran her sleeve over her nose. With a juicy sniffle, she responded, "She's stable now. They had to pump her stomach. Overdose…" Jenna trailed off with her eyes closed. "I don't understand. Elena's so full of life, why would she do this?"
Damon walked away, not prepared to listen to Jeremy's broken sobs of guilt. He found the door to Elena's room and found her in bed. He wondered why no one was in there. She looked so small and alone, shrouded by all the blankets. Damon bent his head and pressed it to the glass, his heart pounding with fear.
As he opened his eyes again, he clenched his jaw, remembering her tiny form lying on the floor and not moving. The image would forever be engraved in his mind. He knew she would be okay now, the pills had been removed from her body but mentally she wasn't okay. She was grieving and trying to guide her younger brother.
"Damon," Alaric appeared beside him. "Why aren't you with the others?"
"I don't want to be," he snapped and Alaric sighed.
"Jeremy's young, and grieving too. It's not his fault, Damon," Alaric insisted.
"Yes, it is," Damon responded sharply.
"Okay, man," Alaric said helplessly, making his way over to Caroline and her small group.
Damon groaned quietly when he left. Alaric was right. It wasn't Jeremy's fault and he couldn't blame the younger Gilbert. The kid was too fragile, and Damon didn't want him to be in Elena's situation because he felt like he had no one. A doctor exited Elena's room, startling Damon who walked briskly over to him.
"How is she?" Damon demanded.
"Her tests are good, and she's stable now that her stomach has been pumped. Physically she will be fine, we're now preparing to help her mentally."
"Can we see her?" Caroline asked over his shoulder.
The doctor shook his head. "Not just now. She does need to recuperate."
Damon didn't like it but he nodded. "Thank you for saving her life, doctor."
The doctor smiled. "Don't thank me. Thank whoever Damon is. In between consciousness, Elena kept mentioning that he was her reason to live."
"Thank you for saving my life," Elena had whispered the minute he was allowed to see her.
Damon shook his head at Jeremy. "No, I don't."
"How much did you have to drink?" Jeremy asked, relaxing a little now.
"A lot," Damon laughed, glancing at the empty bottles around him.
Jeremy shook his head in exasperation. "Do you think you're going to get Elena back like this?"
"I'm not trying to get Elena back," Damon snapped, grabbing a pillow and pressing his face into it. He would ignore the little punk until he left or he would call the police on him for harassing him.
Jeremy was silent as he examined the state of Damon's apartment. "I met with Caroline and Liz. Caroline said she'll be around later, and Mrs. Forbes said to remind you to stop by your company at some point."
Damon didn't respond because no excuse would keep Caroline away and he had no care left for his dying company. Jeremy waited expectantly but finally sighed in disappointment. The younger Gilbert set down the bottle he had been holding and walked out of Damon's apartment without a word, finally leaving him alone once more.
"Thank you for meeting me," Isobel smiled.
The man opposite her smiled back as they shook hands. Isobel's eyes scanned over her guest, trying to compare him to his half-brother. He was taller, had more stubble on his jaw, darker skin and an arrogant smirk.
"Well, I have a standing appointment once a year to torture my brother, but I never thought I would get such a… tempting offer," Stefan responded, releasing Isobel's hand.
The two sat down at the table they had grabbed in a small corner café. The day was bright so they sat outside with an iced tea for Isobel and a glass of bourbon for Stefan. Isobel's eyes were shaded by her sun hat, and Stefan's were covered by his wraparound sunglasses. Isobel took a sip of her tea as she listened to Stefan speak before placing her glass down on a napkin.
"Well, I want justice, Stefan. I knew you would understand that, and help," Isobel smirked, her finger trailing the rim of her glass.
Stefan leaned back in his chair, his large hand curled around his drink as he debated what Isobel had said. "Revenge is my middle name," he finally answered. "So get to the point. Why do you want this 'justice' and what's in it for me?"
Isobel's lip curled in hatred. "Giuseppe killed my mother. I've never had the chance to know her, because of the Salvatore name."
Stefan raised his brow in surprise. "I hate Damon's guts, but how is this his fault? I'm assuming from your age that Damon would have been nothing but a boy when you lost your mother."
"Giuseppe is dead," Isobel hissed. "He tried to cover my mother's death up to save his precious company and so I want that company to be destroyed. It's nothing against Damon overall, he's just a means to an end."
"Fine," Stefan brushed it off. "What's your proposition?"
Isobel grinned again. "Alaric told me that he lost that Gilbert girl, this time for good. She's engaged to some English guy, and Damon's at rock bottom because of it. Another push and he might not resurface."
Stefan took a sip of his drink before replying. "Elena Gilbert?"
Isobel nodded, wondering why Stefan was so interested as his body language and voice portrayed him to be. "Damon embarrassed Elena in front of her future mother in law, and then lashed out when she turned up at his apartment."
"So he has no girl, and from what you've told me, no best friend and now all that's left to take from him is his company," Stefan summarized. At Isobel's nod, Stefan shrugged. "You still haven't told me what's in it for me."
"If you can successfully take the company from Damon, it legally falls to you," Isobel responded simply. "You get to destroy Damon and the company. Take the last of his money, and legacy."
Stefan took a while to consider it and Isobel glanced at her watch. "My lunch is almost over. Do we have a deal?"
Stefan smirked. "I can't deny that I like the idea. Fine, what's your plan?"
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