Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created by L.J. Smith, as portrayed in the TV series created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. All rights to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: Ok, this might be going too fast… I'm already somewhere around the third part of the book, so even if this is more or less what happens at this point (albeit I'm changing a LOT of things), it feels rushed. I'm sorry for that. I estimate another 2-3 chapters – and no short epilogue this time. Enjoy!
Less Than Honorable Intentions
~ VI ~
Elena felt a cold hand grip her heart as she heard Jeremy's distressed voice on the line. He had taken Izzie and Ellie to the Children's Center to do some artwork, and by the way he said her name when she picked up the phone, Elena knew something had gone terribly wrong.
"She's gone, Elena, I'm so sorry, I took my eyes off her for two seconds. She was going to show Miss Bennett, the manager, her artwork, and then Ellie spilled paint all over the table and the next time I looked up, she was gone."
"What do you mean 'gone'? How could she disappear from a room full of people? She wouldn't just run off!"
Jenna had come into the shop a few minutes prior, and when she saw Elena starting to fall apart, she took the phone from her. "Jer, where are you? Have you called the Sheriff? Ok, good. No, take Ellie home and I'll stay here with Elena and wait for news."
When Jenna hung up the phone, Elena had already put up the sign that the shop was closed and was on her way out the door.
"Elena, wait!"
"I can't just sit here – I have to look for her!"
"I know, sweetie, but the best we can do is wait. The Sheriff is leading the search, and we should stay here in case she comes home."
"Comes home? She doesn't know the way home from the Center. She could be all alone out there, scared and confused. What if she falls in the water? She can't swim that well yet. I was going to sign her up for swimming lessons, but I got so busy and I…"
"Sch," Jenna held her friend tight, making appeasing sounds. "She's going to be fine."
"You don't know that!" Elena sobbed. "She's all I have."
"I know, sweetie, I know."
Jenna finally convinced Elena to go upstairs and have some tea while they waited. The hours crept by, Elena growing number by every passing minute.
They looked up with a start when a door slammed shut downstairs and footsteps thundered up the stairs. The door to the apartment swung open and Izzie rushed through the door, carrying a teddy bear and wearing a huge smile on her face.
"Mommy, mommy, guess what? I'm getting a puppy!"
Elena dropped to the floor and wrapped her arms around her daughter, clutching her to her.
"Why are you hugging me so tight?" Izzie said, confused.
"I'm so happy to see you, sweetie. I missed you," Elena said through her tears, a relieved smile on her face. "Where have you been? I was so worried."
"It wasn't her fault," a broken voice came from the doorway.
Elena looked up at the man standing there, his black hair messy and a stubble on his face.
"Jenna… would you take Izzie into her room and find a place for her teddy?" Elena said, not taking her eyes off Damon.
"Yes, of course," Jenna said. "Come on, sweetie." She took Izzie's hand and led her to her room.
"Can I come by later? I'll explain everything, I promise. I just have to talk to the Sheriff first."
Elena nodded, and as he turned to walk back down the stairs, she said, her voice a mere whisper, "Thank you… for bringing her home to me."
Damon nodded in acknowledgement and then he was gone.
Elena briefly washed her face and wiped away her tears before entering Izzie's room.
Jenna rose when she entered. "I should go home and check on Ellie. Call me if you need anything."
"Thank you," Elena said, grateful, and hugged her friend. She waited for Jenna to leave before sitting down on the bed. "So, Izzie… what did you do today?"
Elena tucked Izzie into bed and went downstairs to lock the shop door. She put a sticky note on the door with her cell phone number and wrote Izzie's asleep. Text me when you get here.
Elena put on her pajamas and a thick robe and slippers and sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and trying to make sense of what her daughter had told her. Katherine had shown up at the Children's Center and started talking to Izzie, telling her Stefan and Elena wanted to spend some time alone together so Damon had said she could come and play with Slater. Izzie had asked if mommy said it was ok, and Katherine had said yes. Suddenly her phone buzzed and snapped her out of her reveries.
I'm here.
Elena made her way downstairs and unlocked the door, letting him in. She locked the door behind him and gestured to the stairs.
"Coffee?" she offered.
"Brought my own," he said, pulling out a flask from his leather jacket and flopping down on the couch. "How's Izzie doing?"
"She can't stop talking about the puppy you promised her."
"Yeah, sorry about that… I wanted to distract her."
"How'd it go at the Sheriff's office?"
"They're taking her to the Richmond Mental Health Clinic for evaluation."
"What happened, Damon?"
"I got home and found Izzie in the parlor, playing with Slater. Katherine was on the couch, crying. When she saw me come in, she ran up to me and threw her arms around my neck. She was hysterical. She said she found a way to make you give Stefan up – that we could hide Izzie until you came to your senses."
Elena shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears.
"I didn't know how far gone she was, Elena. I thought… I thought she was doing better."
"Better?"
"After she had the boys, she went into postpartum depression. She couldn't bond with them. She blamed them for ruining her marriage, for stealing her husband's affection from her. I was passing by the nursery one night when I heard crying. But it weren't the twins crying, it was her. I opened the door and she was leaning over them, a pillow in her hands, ready to smother them. I ripped the pillow away from her and brought her to her bedroom. Stefan was away at the time, and I couldn't leave her out of my sight, so I stayed in a chair beside her all night. The next morning I called a specialist I knew and the doctors confirmed she had had a psychotic break. She was committed for a while, and when she was released, she was doing much better. She was never able to bond with the boys, though, and as soon as they were old enough, she sent them to boarding school."
"That's so sad," Elena said, compassionate. Then she remembered the woman had abducted her daughter and her heart hardened.
"Stefan couldn't deal with her. He started spending long days at the office, and Katherine got more and more jealous. She got it into her head that he was having an affair, and I would find her waiting in my bed for me on nights he was out of town. I threw her out every time, and the last time, I told her that I wasn't putting up with her behavior any longer, and that if she kept it up, I would leave. The next night, I found her in my bathroom. There was blood everywhere. She slit her wrists in the tub."
"Oh my god," Elena gasped and covered her mouth.
"I got to her in time, and she spent months at a mental health clinic. When she returned, Stefan started paying more attention to her, stopped spending so much time at the office, and I stayed in Mystic Falls. I knew her attachment to me was unhealthy, but I couldn't push her away and risk… I just couldn't."
"You started having an affair with her?" Elena asked, wide-eyed.
"No! No, of course not. I would lock my bedroom door every night, just in case, but she seemed to be doing much better. But Stefan was getting jealous, because she spent every waking moment around me and wouldn't tolerate me even looking at another woman. Then he started talking about you. He should have known better, Katherine didn't deal with jealousy well. I came to the shop that morning to plead with you, to ask you to back off."
"You offered me money like some kind of gold digger!" Elena exclaimed.
"I don't know what came over me," he shook his head. "I had every intention of being calm and reasonable and explain to you what you were doing to Stefan's family. Then I saw you… and I… I was disgusted with the thought of my brother's hands on you. It was primal, and so chauvinistic of me, but I wanted you for myself."
Elena's breath hitched at his words, and she found herself transfixed by his piercing blue eyes. "It's late," she finally got out, "you should probably…"
"Go," he completed her sentence, but made no move to leave, his eyes not leaving hers except to gaze at her lips, which were slightly parted.
"Izzie…"
"… won't see me here in the morning," he promised. "I just want a taste…" he leaned in slowly, giving her every opportunity to pull away. The way she was looking at him, he took her silence as an invitation and softly brushed his lips against hers.
The electric current that coursed through her body the time he kissed her hand was nothing compared to the shockwave that reverberated through her now. She found herself desperately craving more, and opened her mouth to him, inviting him in. Damon didn't hesitate deepening the kiss, and pretty soon his hands found the belt of her bathrobe and tugged on it.
"Damon," she breathed, coming up for air. "We have to…"
"… stop," he agreed, but didn't find the strength to pull away, his hands having a mind of their own.
"… move," she corrected him.
"Where?" he breathed, looking into her eyes that were as dark as he expected his were.
"My room," she said.
It took a moment for the words to register before he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into her bedroom.
Elena awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside her window, greeting the morning. She looked over to find her bed empty. Was it all a dream? But then she saw the crumpled sheets and the lumpy pillow. She reached over and realized his scent still lingered. She sighed and sunk back into her own pillow, trying to piece together what happened yesterday. She didn't have much time to think, though, as Izzie came busting through the door.
"Mommy, mommy, can we go to the pound today?" she beamed and jumped on the bed.
"We'll go this weekend, ok?" Elena stroked her daughter's hair.
"Mommy…" Izzie frowned, looking around the room.
"Yes?"
"Why are your jammies on the floor? Did you get hot?"
Elena felt herself flush. "Uh… yes, it was very warm in here…"
"You shouldn't throw your jammies on the floor…" Izzie said, remembering the rules.
"Oh, I know, sweetie. I was really tired. I'm going to put them in the washing machine today."
"Ok. Can I have cereal?"
"Yes. I'll be out in a little bit, ok?"
"Ok, mommy."
Elena slipped out of bed and into the shower. When she finished in the bathroom, she threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She would keep the shop closed today. She needed to spend time with Izzie. She went over to the bed to strip the sheets to put them in the washer, when she noticed her sticky note on the bedside table. She turned it over and read the words scribbled there.
I know you didn't want Izzie to see me, so I snuck out early. Call me when you can. /D.
Elena sighed and crumpled the note, tossing it in the trash. What was she thinking? She was grateful to him for saving her daughter, yes, but what would he think of her now? That she'd just give it up for anyone? This wasn't like her. At all. She hadn't been with a man since Brad, and she was so embarrassed that she let herself get swept up in Damon last night. She was a mother, for crying out loud, she had to think about her daughter. She couldn't invite strange men into her bedroom on a whim.
Elena went into the kitchen, where Izzie had gotten bored and dumped half a box of cereal onto her plate and drenched it with milk. Great. Elena cleaned up the mess in the kitchen and went into the living room where her bathrobe was discarded. She picked it up and took it to the bathroom.
There was a buzz on the door and Elena made sure Izzie was comfortable in front of the TV, watching cartoons, before she went downstairs to answer it.
"Jenna, hi!" Elena greeted her friend and let her in.
"Aren't you going to open the shop today?" Jenna said, eyeing the sign on the door curiously.
"No. I just want to spend today with Izzie."
"I understand that. Did you talk to Damon last night?"
Elena felt a blush creep up and quickly turned away. "Let's go upstairs."
"Hi, Izzie," Jenna greeted the little girl on the couch in the living room.
"Hi, Auntie Jenna, I'm watching cartoons."
"I see that," Jenna smiled and followed Elena into the kitchen.
"Coffee?" Elena offered.
"Yes, please," Jenna said and took a seat at the table. "So what did he say?"
"Katherine took her. He found her at the mansion. She wanted him to help her hide Izzie so I would stay away from Stefan."
"Oh my god," Jenna gasped. "That woman is crazy!"
"Yeah…"
"How is Izzie? Is she freaked?"
"No… she seems fine. All she can talk about is how Damon promised her a dog."
"Smart guy…"
"I guess," Elena shrugged.
"Did he say something else?"
"He apologized for jumping to conclusions… or, well, he explained why he did."
"Why?"
"It's a long story, and I'm not sure he would want me to repeat it."
"Ok, I understand… well, I just wanted to make sure you were all right. I should get back, Jeremy's keeping an eye on Ellie for me."
"Where's Ric? Still at his conference?"
"No, he got back last night, but he got a call this morning and said he had to go meet a friend."
"Oh. Ok, thank you for stopping by, Jenna. I'll talk to you later, ok?"
"Bye, sweetie," she hugged Elena. "Bye, Izzie," she called out before making her way down the stairs.
"I messed up, Ric," Damon said, downing a glass of bourbon at the Mystic Grill.
"How so?"
"I slept with her."
"Who?" Alaric narrowed his eyes at his friends, who, from the looks of it, hadn't gotten any sleep last night.
"Elena."
"Elena, our neighbor, Elena? Izzie's mom?"
"Yeah. I know, I completely messed up. Jenna probably told you what happened to Izzie yesterday, right?"
"Yeah, she said she went missing and you brought her back."
"Yeah. Well, long story short, Katherine took Izzie, I found them, called the Sheriff and returned Izzie. I spent all night at the Sheriff's office, giving my statement, and we got Katherine into a clinic. I called Stefan and he's there with her now. Then I went over to Elena's to tell her the whole story, and one thing led to another, and…"
"You had sex," Alaric deduced.
"We had amazing sex," Damon corrected.
"Then what's the problem?"
"I got so caught up in the moment, I completely forgot… she could be pregnant, Ric."
"Oh…" Alaric's eyes widened in realization.
"Yeah… so you see… I messed up."
"Have you talked to her?"
"I left her a note."
"You didn't!"
"Well, what was I supposed to do, Ric? She didn't want Izzie to find me there in the morning. I had to sneak out."
"What'd the note say?"
"Call me?"
"And has she?"
"No."
"Well, it's early. She might not even be awake yet."
"I drove by her shop. It was closed."
"So she's taking a day off… who could blame her?" Alaric shrugged.
"Or maybe she regrets it."
"You're really hung up on this girl, aren't you?" Alaric said, eyeing his friend curiously.
"I just… I want to make things right."
"What's stopping you?"
"You know what? You're right. I'm going over there right now," Damon said determined and rose from his seat at the bar, wobbling slightly.
"Yeah…uh… you might wanna take a shower first, you know, maybe drink a pot of coffee…" Alaric said, steadying his friend.
"Uh… yeah... you're probably right… thanks, buddy."
"Any time, my friend, any time."
