"Elena," Damon's voice is low, predatory and she tries hard to hide her smile. "give it back." She presses herself more against the wall and shakes her head with a giggle. "Elena, you've had enough." She just bounces on her toes and dashes to the other side of the room, clearly taunting him to chase her.
They've been in the cabin for ten days and the snow clearly isn't giving up. Today, while he'd been cleaning the car from as much snow as possible, Elena had raided his stash of alcohol. She'd been punishing him for two days for not letting her go outside the house, and today she decided to drink as much as possible of his limited supply of bourbon. From his four bottles, only two remain. One's safely hidden away for emergencies, the other one loosely clasped between Elena's hands and the danger of it falling to the floor is imminent.
"Elena, please, that's the only one left!" he's not actually going to tell her there's another one. That one is going to stay hidden and safely away from her hands.
"Lemme go 'utside!" she sways a bit and the bottle slips a little before she tightens the hold again.
"Ok, ok! We'll go outside tomorrow! Just give me the booze!" she narrows her eyes and holds her pinkie, cradling the bourbon in her chest.
"Pinkie promise!" he bites his lip to control the chuckle. She's a childish drunk, huh? This is going to be fun.
He walks to her and curls his finger with hers. She giggles and when he let's go of her hand, she throws her arms around his neck. The bottle falls and Damon is able to catch it with one hand while he uses the other to stabilize Elena.
"Did you at least eat somethin'?" Elena shakes her head and hides her face in Damon's neck. "Great…"
Leaving the booze con the table, he scoops the girl up and walks to the bedroom. The last thing he wants is Elena throwing up all over him, which would happen if he just flashed to the room. Elena cuddles closer to him, burrowing her face to his neck and plastering her chest to his. He kicks the door open and adjusts his hold on her to pull the blankets aside. Slowly he puts her on the mattress, brushing her hair behind her ear and covering her body with the sheets.
After making sure she's comfortable, Damon goes back to the living room to clean up the mess Elena has made. He's just throwing the second bottle in the trash when his phone vibrates in his pocket. He takes it out and the screen flashes with BARBIE. He smirks, that was faster than he'd thought it would. He answers the call and cradles the phone between his shoulder and cheek. That he's talking to Blondie doesn't mean he has to stop cleaning.
"What's up, Barbie?"
"Damon, we need your help. Elena's missing." Caroline's breathless voice comes through the speaker.
"And what do you want me to do 'bout it? Ask Bonbon to make a tracking spell." He grins. That won't work, but they don't need to know that. Another perk of the barrier. No tracking spells.
"Already tried." This time is Bonnie's voice. She sounds as alarmed as Caroline. Maybe he should tell them Elena's ok… "It didn't work and she's not answering her phone either." That must be because it was still in the boarding house.
"Ask Stefan to help." His voice drips with hate as he utters his brothers name.
"He is. Stefan says that they were–" he turns his attention away from Caroline when he hears a sob. He leaves the pot he's been filling on the table and starts up the stairs "– Damon! Are you even listening to me?!"
"No. Look, Blondie, Elena's safe. She's not answering because her phone is in the boarding house so Stefan is not as trustworthy as you think and–" he looses his voice as he takes in the sight in front of him.
Elena is still in the bed, but she's tossed the sheets aside. The shirt she's been wearing today lays in taters around her and she's only dressed in a pair of sweats and a black bra. She has scratches all over her upper body, some even oozing blood. Claw like marks crisscross her stomach and cleavage and red lines travel the length of her arms. She's tossing and turning and sweating buckets; her pants are plastered to her skin and if her bra were white, he would be able to see her breasts.
Not bothering to end the call, Damon tosses the phone on the nightstand and climbs on the bed. He shakes her, trying to wake her from the nightmare. Now that he's closer, he's able to see tear tracks traveling her cheeks. This is the fifth time she has a nightmare like this.
"Elena, wake up!" he shakes her again and pats her cheek. He can hear the he can hear the irritating voices of her friends screaming at him, demanding to know what's going on. "Wake up, dammit!"
Elena wakes up with a gasping cry. She starts trashing in his hold, clearly no aware of her surroundings. She's hyperventilating and her cries border on hysteria. He tries to hold her down, but it only makes it worst.
"Elena, calm down! It's me!" she grips his wrists and finally her eyes focus on him. Her face crumbles and she's instantly in his arms. "It's ok, you're safe here, Elena. It's gonna be alright."
"He-he was… a-and then he… and…oh God!" she clings to him, her arms around his neck and her face hidden in the crook of his shoulder. "Damon..." her whine shakes something deep in he's soul.
He's going to kill Stefan.