A/N: So, here we are, we finally get to find out why Damon can be such a dick! I hope it lives up to your expectations! *bites nails* Oh, and don't worry, Henry won't be in the way for too long, and Bonnie'll sort herself out soon too (because she's getting on my nerves!) Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and please review!
Elena was sitting in her kitchen, drinking coffee and reading a magazine, when she heard the telltale shuffle of feet that signalled Boring Bonnie's arrival. Sighing inwardly, she plastered a smile on her face before turning to greet her less than thrilling roommate.
"Morning! Sleep well?" Elena held her breath, ready for the onslaught of whatever terrible Luka-involved dream Bonnie was going to go on about today.
Bonnie sniffed slightly, before turning to make herself a cup of tea. "Not really, I had a dream about Luka last night."
Here we go, thought Elena, rolling her eyes.
Bonnie went on, "It's his birthday today, and I dreamed that he turned up on the doorstep and told me he still loved me," she sniffed again as she sat down at the counter. "So, I thought it might be a sign, you know? So when I woke up, I called him, just to wish him a Happy Birthday, and... and... he hung up on me!" Big fat tears were streaming down her face by this time.
Elena couldn't help it; she was compassionate by nature. "Bon, don't you think it's time you let this go?" She asked sympathetically, placing her hand over Bonnie's quivering fingers. "He's obviously moved on, maybe it's time you thought about doing the same." She gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.
"But... but... I love him!" Bonnie wailed. Loudly.
And that was as far as her compassion went. "I'm working the evening shift tonight at the restaurant, so don't wait up for me, 'kay?" She got up to leave the suddenly very depressing kitchen, but Bonnie called her back.
"Henry called for you, while you were in the shower."
Elena's heart sped up slightly. Was she finally going to get that date? "Really, what did he want to talk to me about?"
"He said something about the rent," Bonnie mumbled, already slipping back into her Luka-filled daydreams.
Elena slumped slightly, before thinking that maybe he did still want to ask her out, and just didn't want to mention it to his sister. She went upstairs to her room and retrieved her phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Henry, it's Elena."
"Oh, hey! Did Bonnie tell you I called?"
"Yeah, she said something about the rent?" Elena asked, hoping he would say 'No, that was just an excuse to call you up so I could ask you out!'
No such luck. "Yeah, I wanted to tell you that I've set up a direct debit, so it should go straight into your account."
"Oh," Elena sunk down on her bed, disappointed. "Good," she added, lamely.
"Well, I guess that was all I wanted to say..."
As Henry prepared to sign off, Elena felt her blood begin to boil at the unfairness of it all. She had been expecting a call from him for 3 weeks now, and all she had to show for it was a mopey roommate. She was beginning to suspect that she had been played.
"Listen, I'm sorry, but I really don't think this arrangement is going to work out. I've given Bonnie a chance, but –"
"Woah, hold up," Henry's voice sounded rather panicked, and Elena narrowed her eyes. "Listen, we need to talk about this. I know you don't want to go out with me, but will you at least meet up with me for a drink? Just to talk?"
Huh? Whatever Elena had expected him to say, it certainly hadn't been that. "Uh, sure?" it came out as more of a question in her confusion.
"Great," she heard him give a small sigh of relief. "Shall we say, The Grill? At around, two-ish?"
"Okay. See you then." Elena hung up, not quite sure what had just happened.
When Elena walked through the doors of The Grill just before two, she saw Henry sitting over in one of the booths. She walked over to him hesitantly, smiling slightly as he jumped up to greet her.
"Elena! You're looking... no sorry, mustn't say that." He broke himself off, and Elena frowned slightly as she slid into her seat. "What can I get you to drink?"
"Uh, a glass of wine would be nice, thanks."
By the time he came back with their drinks, Elena had decided to jump straight in. "Why did you say I didn't want to go out with you?" she asked him.
Henry shrugged, looking down at the table. "I could just tell," he said, drawing patterns with his finger down the side of his beer bottle. "When I asked if I could ask you out, you didn't seem very enthusiastic."
Elena felt her eyebrows shoot upwards. "I said maybe!"
"Exactly." Henry still wouldn't look at her.
"Henry, I was being coy! I did want you to ask me out!"
"You did?" Henry finally looked up at her, amazement on his face. "Wow, I totally misread the signals, didn't I?" he shook his head at himself. "So, would you like to go out with me this weekend?"
Elena smiled. "I would love to," she said, nodding.
Henry's smile lit up his whole face. "I could just kiss you right now," he said, before glancing down again. "But I won't."
"Chicken," Elena murmured mischievously.
"Elena Gilbert, is that a dare?" Henry grabbed her hand and pulled her from the booth. "If there's one thing I can't back down from..." He brought his face close to hers and kissed her lightly on the lips.
A wolf whistle sounded from behind them, and Elena turned, blushing, to see Vicki Donovan cheering her on.
"Come on," she said, cringing slightly, "I need to get to work, you can walk me to my car."
Once they were outside, Henry leaned down to capture her lips with his again. It was... nice, and Elena found herself liking it a lot.
"Just one thing," he murmured, as he opened her car door for her. "I don't think it would be a good idea to tell my sister about us." At Elena's wary look, he hurried on. "It's just, she just got out of a long term relationship, and she's really unstable at the moment. I don't think she would take too well to us being happy right in front of her, you know?"
Elena frowned for a moment, but then nodded. After all, anything that would keep Bonnie from being even more depressed could only be a good thing.
Elena was in a very good mood by the time she arrived at Salvatore's. She got out of the car and shivered, the cold air of almost winter hitting her like a slap to the face. She grabbed her coat and hurried inside, glad to be in the warmth. As she stepped into the dining room, she saw Damon and Becky sitting at a table, going over the night's menu.
Becky looked up as she heard her approach. "Elena! We're so glad you decided to take the job! Aren't we?" She added sternly to Damon, whose lips twitched in amusement.
"Very," he drawled as she sat down to join them. "Here, why don't you go over the specials, while Becky and I have a quick word in the kitchen?"
Elena nodded, taking the menu he held out to her and blowing on her fingers to warm them up. After studying the menu to familiarise herself with everything, she glanced up at the closed kitchen door. As she did, she noticed something on the floor, just underneath the table behind where Damon had been sitting. She bent down and picked it up, folding out a crinkled 20 dollar note. Her eyes narrowed. She knew exactly what he was up to. Testing her? The nerve of this guy! She leaned over to put the money back where she had found it, but then a better idea came to her. Luckily, she had gone to the bank earlier that day.
A few minutes later, Damon came back through into the dining room, followed by a confused looking Becky. Sure enough, as soon as he drew up to her table, his gaze flicked down to the floor. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he took in the sight of the two crisp 10 dollar notes in place of the twenty he had purposefully dropped.
"Nice try," Elena said to him, smiling sunnily.
"What?" Becky's eyes ping ponged between them, before coming to rest on the money on the floor. A look of dawning realisation on her face was quickly replaced with indignation. "I wondered why you suddenly wanted to have a conversation about fresh vegetable deliveries!" She smacked him on the arm. "Ugh! You are such a pig!" She looked up as she heard the door open. "Customers are arriving. You go do your thing, I'll show Elena the kitchen." She grabbed Elena by the hand and pulled her away, leaving Damon to seat the customers.
Six hours later, and Elena was officially wiped out. She had had a lot of fun though. The rest of the staff were friendly and welcoming, and the customers were all lovely, especially the regulars, who had taken to her addition to the team with much appreciation. She tried not to think about why it was that every time she had a spare moment, her eyes automatically sought out that tall lean frame and raven hair, the flash of blue eyes, as he went around the tables, welcoming people to his restaurant. He was really quite good at it, she thought, remembering his easy smile, the way he flirted with the women, but also paid enough attention to the men so they wouldn't see him as a threat. She couldn't help but notice, however, that his smile never touched his eyes.
"Here you go," Becky handed her a cup of coffee and sat down at the table with her. The restaurant had closed and been cleaned, and it was nearly time to go home. Elena wasn't all that desperate to leave, considering what she had to go home to.
Becky cleared her throat, and Elena looked at her. "Listen, I know it might be a bit forward of me, considering this was your first shift, but I have a favour to ask you." She looked up at her.
"Sure. What do you need?"
"Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind covering a couple of my shifts next weekend?"
"I don't see why not. Why, what are you up to?" Elena asked.
Becky smiled. "It's my brothers' fifteenth birthday party."
"You have a younger brother?"
"Twins, actually. Elijah and Nick. They're half brothers really, but I just adore them."
"I have a younger brother too," Elena was telling her all about Jeremy and his courses at college, when she heard footsteps behind her. She looked up to find Damon standing behind her.
"What are you two gossiping about?" He asked, leaning against the table behind him.
"Brothers," Becky replied, looking a little uncomfortable.
"I was telling Becky about my younger brother, Jeremy," Elena said, a wistful look coming across her face as she realised how much she was missing him.
Damon's face was uncharacteristically soft as he gazed at her. "What happened to him?"
"Hmm? Nothing! Well," she amended, thinking back to when her parents died. That was certainly not 'nothing'.
"I thought... is he not the one who died?" Damon asked, looking confused.
"What are you talking about?" Elena asked him, her eyebrows raised.
"In the shop in town, you said that your brother was dead. Of course, I thought you were just making up a story to get out of trouble..."
Elena's face froze as she listened to him, anger coursing through her veins. "Let me guess," she hissed, narrowing her eyes and pinning him with a glare. "You don't have any close family members, do you?"
His mouth tightened, and his eyes turned to shards of ice. "No," he stated.
Somewhere behind her, she heard Becky gasp quietly. "That, is blatantly obvious," she said in a low voice, leaning towards him slightly. "Because nobody who was close to their family would ever even think of telling such a terrible lie to get out of anything. I would die for my brother," she finished furiously, her eyes glittering dangerously.
He looked at her for a moment, before nodding slightly. "Becky, would you take care of locking up?" He strode away without glancing back.
Elena watched him go, breathing hard through her nose. What an awful thing to accuse her of! She was still fuming when she felt Becky's hand on her arm.
"Listen," she said, swiping her dirty blond fringe out of her eyes, "it's not really my place to say anything, but if you're going to be working here, then there are some things about Damon you need to know."
"Like what?" Elena leaned forward, eager to learn something about why the guy could be such a dick.
Becky took a deep breath. "Last year, when Damon first opened this place, he was engaged. To a girl named Katherine. They were so in love, and when they found out she was pregnant, Damon was so happy. He had a beautiful fiancée, a business that was doing fantastic, and a baby on the way. When Katherine gave birth to Millie, I swear I have never seen a man so happy and proud to be a father."
Elena was mystified. She hadn't heard anything about any of this. So Damon had a daughter out there somewhere? Something must have happened. "What went wrong?"
Becky continued, "when Millie was three months old, Damon went to an antiques auction for the weekend. I was in the courtyard overseeing a delivery when a large car pulled in, and Katherine came running out of the apartment with Millie. She strapped her into the car and then turned and gave me an envelope, telling me to give it to Damon." Becky trailed off as she got lost in her own memory, before turning to look at Elena. "She was leaving him, running off while he was out of town."
Elena gasped. "Did you say anything?"
Becky nodded. "I told her she couldn't just leave without saying goodbye, and she told me that that was what the letter was for. Just as she was about to get in the car, I shouted to her, 'you can't just take Millie away from him! He's her father!'" Becky sighed heavily. "And that's when she said to me, 'that's just the thing. He's not.' And then she jumped in the car and sped away."
Elena was shocked. She sat there as Becky went around the restaurant, turning off the lights and locking all the doors. No wonder the guy had raging trust issues. Who could blame him after something like that? It was only as she got up to meet Becky at the front doors that she thought to ask, "Did you ever find out who the father actually was?"
Becky looked at her, her green eyes tinged with sadness, and nodded. "It was Stefan," she said, pulling the door closed and locking it. "Damon's brother."
A/N: So there we are, Stefan has made an appearance! We won't actually meet him though in this story! I'm hoping to get the next chapter up tomorrow (I'm thinking there will be about 10 chapters, plus an epilogue overall), and for those reading my canon fic The Evil Within, the next chapter of that should be up tonight *fingers crossed* Thanks for reading, and please review!
