Chapter 6:
Damon stuck in the car in the pouring rain with the most beautiful, strong woman he has ever met. Damon squeezes his arms tighter around Elena protectively as he listens to Elena's sobs. Knowing that Elena probably does not want to talk about her life story any longer Damon thinks of the only thing he could say to maybe try and change the subject without further making Elena cry. Damon quietly says "By the way my favorite color is purple." As those words pop out of Damon's mouth he is mentally slapping himself for talking about a trivial thing like that at time like this. As Damon is hoping he didn't just ruin the moment, he all of a sudden hears a giggle coming from the girl he is holding. Elena's entire body shook as she let out a whole hearted laugh wiping away her tears as she looks up at Damon's face. "You chose this time to tell me your favorite color. You are incredible you know that" says Elena letting a rare smile slip through.
Damon chuckles back at her and replies, "Yeah I guess you are right. I have the worst timing"
The pair is separated from the moment when they see a pair of headlights shining in the back window and out pops Caroline in a great hurry rushing towards their car. As soon as Damon and Elena see Caroline they break apart so quickly it was as if they were never in an intimate embrace.
"Oh My God. Where have you been? I have been worried sick. I have been trying to call you. I must have called you over a dozen of times. What happened? I had to do the entire delivery all by myself. Do you know how many flights of stair I had to climb? It was 4 flights of stairs. In heals. I can't believe this. The freakin elevator was broken so they made me carry the food up and down the flights of stairs by myself might I add. Hey wait..what's going on with you two? Why does Elena look like she has been crying? Did I miss something?" says Caroline a little out of breath and at a speed that Elena thought was impossible.
"Look Caroline, Elena and I are fine. We got a flat tire so we were stuck. We are really sorry about everything but I think we all have had a long day. Let's just go home okay Care." Says Damon not wanting to talk about what happened between him and Elena. Getting the cue from Damon, Caroline agrees just to go home. They decide to return later the next day to pick up the vehicle and just take the van back for now. As Caroline pulls up in front of her house, She of course comes up with another one of her brilliant ideas. "Hey Elena why don't you spend the night at my house and have some good girl talk and bonding. What do you think? We could even invite April and Rebekah. I bet they would love to finally meet you now that you are officially working at Dream catering" says Caroline too excited about the prospect of a sleep over party.
"Well I'll have to run it by my Aunt but if she says yes then I can" says Elena knowing that Aunt Jenna would put her foot down when she mentioned it was with people who worked for Dream Catering. Elena has had a long night and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and try to escape the nightmares she knew would come.
"Okay yeah I guess you can run it by your Aunt." Says Caroline a little disappointed because she knew Jenna was not a fan of hers.
Elena gets out of the van and dials the number "Hey Aunt Jenna I-" However Elena was interrupted by a male voice on the other end.
"Nope this is not Jenna"
"Ric? Is that you? Is Jenna there?"
"Uh yeah well Jenna had to go run some errands so it's just me. So what's up?" says Ric as he takes another sip of his beer while relaxing on the couch watching football at home.
"Well Caroline invited me to spend the night but I don't know if I want to" says Elena honestly to Ric.
"You should go. Really. It would give me a chance to have some alone time. You know I am the only man in this house and I never seem to get it to myself. You would be doing me a great favor besides who doesn't love pillow fights and makeovers" says Ric.
Sighing to herself at Ric's attempt at humor and reverse psychology to get her to go. Elena finally says, "Alright I'll go. But if Jenna asks you said I could" And all Elena could hear as a reply was Ric's voice hitting a really high pitch as he says 'YIPEE' like a little girl. Elena just chuckles at his boyish antics. Elena goes over to Caroline and just nods her head as her answer when Caroline tackles her into a big hug with excitement. "You are going to have so much fun. Just you wait." Says Caroline with Elena still in her tight grip. Elena looks over at Damon who gives his best sympathetic look at what she has just gotten herself into a whole night with Caroline and the girls with no escape but to go along with it.
As Elena is dragged into Caroline's house with a sleeping bag and back pack in her arms, she struggles to give Damon a wave goodbye as she is ushered inside Caroline's foyer. Elena gives one last glance at Damon's receding back when she notices that he is walking towards the house she saw earlier in the day the one right next to Caroline's. How is he able to afford that house thinks Elena before being pulled out of her mind and dragged back into reality when Caroline starts introducing her to two people. "Elena I would like you to meet April. April this is Elena. She just started working today" says Caroline introducing Elena and April. April was friendly and offered Elena her hand in a way of greeting before giving her a shy smile. Then suddenly April is shoved aside when a tall beautiful and menacing blonde woman steps in front of Elena and offers her slender hand. "I'm Rebekah." Elena takes her hand out of politeness and puts on a fake smile when she says "Hi. It's nice to meet both of you"
Caroline then takes Elena by the arm and takes her further into the house while whispering to her, "Rebekah…well… she can be intimidating but don't let that fool you. Once you get to know her you'll realize that she has a big heart which also leads her into being a bit bitchy if the people she loves get hurt. She is very protective of her feelings and doesn't open up willingly. It does take her awhile to warm up to people just to warn you. April on the other hand is such a sweetie and shy most of the times, but once you are her friend. You are friends for life." After meeting the rest of the catering gang Elena has finally discovered how much it means to her to be a part of something and how privileged she feels to be able to a part of this close knit group even if Rebekah is giving her a glare that could kill right now.
As the four girls venture farther into Caroline's home, Elena is shocked to find the home redesigned to fit a night of fun. The living room which used to hold a few couches and comfortable chairs with side tables now held a row of leather seats that faced a blank wall. Elena then noticed that Caroline had a projector and realized that they would be watching movies from a projector onto the blank wall. Caroline had gone all out for this night. Off to the side of the room was a table full of chunk food and every kind of pop you could think of. Caroline even had her very own popcorn machine that looked like it came out of an actual movie theatre. There were throw pillows and blankets next to the coach welcoming a night of comfort. Elena for the first time tonight was actually looking forward to the sleepover. Elena was going to let herself go for a change and just have fun. What could happen anyways? They were just going to have fun with a movie watching marathon and some good girl talk.
Caroline who already decided what movie they would watch first, pops in her all- time favorite movie The Note Book. 'Of course' thought Elena, 'A Nicholas Sparks movie which typically was all about love, hurt, and for some reason someone always ends up having some kind of disease and dies in the end.' But it was Caroline's favorite movie so Elena thought she would give it a chance. Elena found herself captured to the love story crying when Ally cried and even laughing when the she laughed. Elena was so engrossed with the movie she could not take her eyes off the screen for even a second. Elena finally understood why this movie was Caroline's favorite. It was the epitome of every girl's fantasy of finding the one and the sacrifices that are made to find the love of your life. Elena was sitting next to Caroline and April on the couch with their legs propped up on the coffee table while Rebekah took the reclining chair. All four of the girls were watching the movie with such intense focus that when the end of the movie came they all started tearing up at the end.
"Okay who is up for a game" says Caroline trying to cheer everyone up after the movie ended.
"Ooooh. I love games" says April cheerfully.
"Fine. But if we do play a game I get to choose. And I choose TRUTH" says Rebekah and then she locks eyes over at Elena indicating that the game will not be fun to play but completely competitive and harsh. Elena swallows the lump in her throat preparing herself to the female version of the game which can be totally brutal. Elena wished that Damon was there. She felt so much more comfortable talking about her darkest secrets with him than she will with them. Elena gathers up the strength to get through this game in one piece when Caroline gleefully agrees to go first. Caroline looks from Elena to April then at Rebekah before returning her gaze back on April choosing the first person to be asked a question.
"So April tell us what your most embarrassing moment was? And make sure it is juicy" says Caroline smiling over at April shy face.
Before replying April takes a deep breath. "It was in the seventh grade. I was new to the school and didn't know anyone. A few girls from my class told me during gym that we could change in the locker rooms on the right so I went in there and started changing when all of the sudden an entire soccer team came in that's when I realized the locker room I was actually in was the boy's locker room. I was totally mortified because I was wearing underwear that says the days of the week on them and I was wearing the wrong day" says April as her face grows three shades of red in embarrassment just from telling the story.
The girls shared laughs together at the story and helped April see the funny side of it all. It was April's turn next to ask a question. April didn't really know Elena very much and wanted to get to know her more was about to ask her a question when suddenly she stopped. April looked over at Rebekah to see that she was giving her deadliest stare ever. April gulped and chose wisely to ask Rebekah a question instead. "Umm Rebekah…Do you still have feelings for Damon Salvatore" says April knowing this was the question Rebekah wanted her to ask. When hearing this Elena looked between Rebekah and Caroline wondering why Caroline hadn't told her there was something going on between Damon and Rebekah.
"I don't know if any girl in their right mind would ever stop having feelings for Damon. I guess you could say I will always have strong feeling for him especially after everything we have been through" says Rebekah smirking over at Elena when she says this. Rebekah just wanted to let Elena know that she had dibs on Damon and now one was going to get in her way.
"My turn now. Let's see here. Elena, how about you tell us why in the world someone like Damon Salvatore would ever have feelings for a nobody like you. Who has no friends, no family, and whom no one gives a hoot about? Your own boyfriend doesn't even want to be with you. What makes you so special that he would prefer you a skank over me? I mean really does he just hang out with you because he pities you" says Rebekah leaning towards Elena as her voice gets louder and louder. After each passing word from Rebekah's mouth, Elena could feel the tears starting to come. Elena would not let this girl see her cry. Elena would not watch the satisfaction on Rebekah's face knowing that she got to her. Without a single reply Elena quickly got up from the couch and ran out the front door.
As the tears began to pour from her eyes Elena desperately wanted to find somewhere anywhere but here to find solitude. Elena did the only thing she could do which was to flee. Elena did not know how far she had been running when suddenly she hit something hard. Elena lifted her tear stained face to see two bright blue eyes staring down at her. Damon Salvatore gently wrapped his arms around Elena when he saw that she has been crying wanting to comfort her and make the pain go away. "Elena what happened?" says Damon.
"Nothing… well…everything.. I don't really want to talk about it. Would you mind just holding me for a little while" says Elena. Damon just nodded his head in reply before tightening his hold on Elena never wanting to let her go.
Author's Note: Sorry this has taken me a while to post. I've been crazy busy plus I struggled with this chapter. In this chapter I just wanted to develop Elena's relationship more with Caroline and some of the other girls in the Catering Gang that were just introduced. Let me know what you think of this chapter about the Sleep over and the developing relationship between Damon and Elena. How did you like the girl's version of the TRUTH game compared to Damon and Elena's version? I would love to hear what you think everyone's input is important to me. Please Review.