CHAPTER FOUR- Apologies
When Elena came to, the sunlight was streaming in through the windows. She groaned, stretching as much as she could in the limit space of the car.
"Morning, kitten."
She turned to glare at Damon, who was smirking.
"Shut up, Damon," she mumbled, turning to look out the window.
"Not a morning person, are we?"
"You kidnapped me. Again!"
"Hey, we had fun in Georgia."
"That doesn't matter. You need to take me back."
"So, how 'bout breakfast?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Damon!" She turned to look at him again.
"I'm not taking you back, Elena. Not while Katherine's still in town."
"She's going to kill everyone!"
"Not if the history teacher has anything to say about it."
"Alaric knows?"
"Yeah, of course." Damon rolled his eyes."What? Do you really think I wouldn't alert the town?"
"You don't care about Mystic Falls."
Damon's mouth tightened into a thin line.
"Things change."
It was Elena's turn to roll her eyes.
"Right, sure they do."
Damon frowned at her tone, and then pulled over to the side of the road. Elena immediately noticed that this road was more barren than the one in Georgia, which worried her. What was he going to do?
Damon was opening her door a second later, stepping back to let her stand. After she stretched again, he backed her up against the car.
"Listen to me, Elena, if I didn't take you from Mystic Falls, Katherine would have killed you. It wouldn't just be snapping your neck like I'd do if I wanted to kill you, she'd make it slow. You know what slow brings?"
Elena stared at him and when he raised his eyebrows in an "I'm waiting" sort of way, she answered.
"Pain."
"Right. Pain. And a lot of it. She would make you suffer, Elena. Maybe I'm selfish because I don't want to see what Katherine would do to you, but be honest with me, is staying in Mystic Falls worth that pain?" Elena was silent, but Damon knew her answer anyway. "I didn't think so."
He stepped back from her, turning around and looking out at the woods.
"You could have f—"
"Fought her?" Damon turned back around again. "Elena, you've been around us long enough to know that she's older than I am, and therefore stronger. She'd have gotten to you."
"What would that even matter? Aren't I just what she said I am? An inconsequential human?"
"No," he answered immediately. "Human, yes, but not inconsequential."
Elena was silent and they stared at each other.
"Was she telling the truth?" she blurted out.
Damon frowned.
"About what?"
Elena shifted on her feet.
"About. . . about you kissing her."
Damon was silent for a moment.
"I thought she was you," he admitted, knowing that now was not the time to lie to her.
Elena started.
"Why—"
"You know why."
He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she scowled.
"Damon—"
"Drop it, Elena," he snarled, his eyes growing darker. "We aren't talking about this now."
She clenched her teeth together, but knew if she pressed the subject, she'd regret it.
"Where are we, anyway?"
"Ohio?"
Her eyes got wide.
"She just said to leave Mystic Falls!"
"And I did. Elena. . . I'm keeping you safe, and I need for you to trust me." She was silent. "Do you? This. . .trip is going to be really boring if you don't trust me. So, do you?"
"Can I?" she tested.
Damon saw the hesitation in her eyes and went slowly towards her, closing his hands over her cheeks. He looked directly into her eyes, hearing her heart accelerate slightly.
"Yes. I promise, Elena, I'm not going to let anything hurt you, or hurt you myself. Okay?"
She nodded against his hands and he half-smiled, kissing her head. He enjoyed how her heart skipped a beat.
"Let's get going."
Elena got back in the car and Damon shut the door behind her. He started the car back up and sped off towards their unknown destination.
"Damon?"
"Yyyeess, kitten?"
She ignored his flirtatious tone and rotated herself in her seat to look at him.
"I'm sorry."
His eyebrows pressed together.
"What for?"
"Yelling at you. . . I know you're just trying to keep me from Katherine."
"Apology accepted, as long as you accept mine. Reasoning with Katherine is a lost game, but if I weren't so selfish as to crave your company without Stefan's interference, I could have figured something else out."
"What's that mean?"
"He's such a downer." The humor was back in his voice, calming Elena tangibly. "And. . . I called him; he did see Katherine a year ago."
Tears sprung up in Elena's eyes again before she could stop them.
"She was telling the truth?"
Damon looked at her, his brilliantly blue eyes saddened at the sight of her broken. He drove with one hand, reaching out with the other to gently brush the tears from her eyes.
"He saw her, but he didn't say if he was still in love with her or not."
"Are you?"
The blunt question startled him.
"Definitely not," he replied, smirking his trademark smirk. "I'd love to see her burn."
That made Elena smile.
"There we go. See? No Stefan and you're cheerful."
"Damon, he's your brother."
"And we've had our issues, but I warned him that Katherine has plans for him. I'm furious with him for not telling me he saw her, but Katherine can't be underestimated, and that's why I had to get you out of Virginia."
Elena nodded to herself, confusing him slightly. He didn't ask, deciding to wait.
"Apology accepted," she said, rotating back to sit correctly in her seat.
"Awesome. And now we can have some fun!" He pushed the power on the radio, turning the volume up. He swiveled the dial until it came to a clear signal. He drove along listening to it, and then smirked.
"What?" Elena pressed.
"This song fits us," he laughed.
What a beautiful smile
Can stay for a while?
On this beautiful night
We'll make everything right
My beautiful love, my beautiful love. . .
