By the time Damon had finished his meal, he had settled the little debate to whether or not it was too late to apologize to Alaric Saltzman
"Sorry, Damon, we're closing," Matt Donovan said, taking the empty dish from in front of Damon, who really wanted to stay longer, have a drink. If he was going to do the right thing, he sure as hell wasn't going to do it sober, but the universe works against him. He threw a 10 dollar bill on the table, and that was it. His last 10 dollars. Shaking his head, he got up and left the Grill.
Leaving the Grill, Damon tried to ignore the nagging in his head; I really need to apologize and get it done with, but his legs almost uncontrollably led him to Alaric Saltzman's building. Hoping he'd went to bed, Damon looked up at the window of Alaric's apartment only to find it was still lit up indicating Alaric was still awake.
Okay, relax, Damon. He took a few breaths, and slowly walked up the stairs, hoping his goddamn fucking heart would stop pounding this fast. And why was it pounding this fast?
Okay, this was obviously a bad idea, Damon thought, inches away from the apartment door, and the second he'd changed his mind and was about to leave, the door opened suddenly, with a confused looking Alaric,
"Damon?"
Damon froze in place, with only his jeans on, holding a towel in one hand that he was obviously using to dry his beautiful, soft hair. Damon's mouth went dry. He shook his head, tearing his eyes away from Alaric's hairy, ripped chest. snap out of it, Damon!
"Uhh... I'm.. I just, I was around and thought maybe..."
Alaric listened, waiting for Damon to finish his sentence,
"I just thought I kind of owe you an apology," Damon finally said, putting his hands in his leather jacket pockets.
Alaric looked at Damon for a few moments, still confused but then his face features softened, "You didn't have to come all the way here to- you didn't even do anything wro-"
"Oh please, I was obnoxious," Damon smirked, finally able to stop acting like a complete idiot,
"You weren't.. really.." Alaric almost whispered, and when the two were standing there sort of awkwardly, Alaric finally said, "Well, why don't you come in for a drink?" opening the door wider, allowing some space for Damon to get into the apartment,
"Oh no, it's late, and I gotta go.."
"Please, Damon. Come on in." Alaric said, smiling. Damon really did want to get to know Alaric more. He just felt he could actually get to know him more, as a.. friend. Or maybe it was the drink offer, which Damon just could never resist.
Smiling back, Damon nodded and went in, closing the door behind him
"Please make yourself comfortable, I'm just gonna go.. uhh put a shirt on. You know where the living room is," Which was funny, because there were in the living room.
After the first two drinks, Damon seemed to be completely relaxed, now. Hanging out with his brother's history teacher? No big deal.
"So, what brought you to Mystic Falls?" Damon casually asked,
"Hmm let's see.. Love," Alaric said, and Damon chuckled, "I know, I know.. cheesy," Alaric laughed,
"No, it's not. What happened?"
"Well, she left me," Alaric shrugged. Damon was looking at Alaric's calm, strong features. Watching his every move, and it didn't seem to bother Alaric at all.
"Oh, I'm sorry.."
"Nah, it was a very long time ago," After gulping his drink down, Alaric finally looked up at Damon, and when he did, his whole body seemed to tense, his jaw clenched visibly; it confused Damon, who only now noticed Alaric's teary eyes,
"I'm sorry, Alaric didn't mean to bring it up-" Damon felt guilty. Still, Alaric kept looking deep into Damon's eyes, and that sent chills down Damon's spine, who was now officially confused, and maybe a little, just a little, creeped out.
Alaric snapped out of it, as if he suddenly remembered where he was, and who he was with. his entire body relaxed, and his features went back to normal. Ish. "No, no I just.. Your eyes are ice blue.." He whispered, and Damon wasn't sure of what he heard, so he decided to ignore it,
"Well, my girl left me yesterday," He smirked, trying to lighten up the mood, maybe
"Ouch. Sorry man,"
"She was a whore." Damon scoffed, and Alaric smiled
"well, to women," Alaric raised his glass to Damon,
"to women," and Damon raised his, laughing.
"You know I've never done this before.." Damon said, after a few moments of silence
"Done what?"
"Uhh, hang out with.. anyone other that my brother," he shrugged
"Really? why?"
"I.. they ask questions. Alaric?" and it sounded like Damon was trying to say Alaric's name out loud "I'm gonna share a secret with you," He whispered, feeling a bit tipsy. Actually, a little more than tipsy, but whatever
"Sure, go ahead," Alaric grinned
"Uh ha, Sure. But, I'm gonna need to know yours, first," Damon was only now aware of how close he was sitting next to Alaric on the couch, but it didn't seem to bother either of them,
"And what makes you think I have a secret?"
"Puh-lease. It's written all over you," Damon smirked. It's amazing what a couple of drinks of really good alcohol could do to you
"Okay." Alaric took a deep breath, "I wasn't on that road that night by chance. I did follow you home."
Damon frowned, "What? Why?"
"I did see you leave the bar, you didn't look drunk but you didn't look normal either. I just," Alaric shrugged, "Got worried, and needed to make sure you arrived home safely," He finally said, and looked at Damon, waiting for his response,
After a few moments of silence, Damon started laughing, "Well, I didn't arrive home safely,"
Alaric smiled, "No, you didn't. And I feel bad about that-"
"It's not your fault I drove right into a fucking tree." Damon said jokingly, but it didn't seem to make Alaric feel any better, and it confused Damon, and he couldn't understand why Alaric cared so much about him,
"I did drive right into a fucking tree, didn't I?"
"Yeah man, you did." Alaric said, "And I would really like to know why you would do that."
"I must have fallen asleep, nothing else could explain it,"
"So, you're not," Alaric took a deep breath, "You didn't want to.."
"Want to, what? Kill myself?" Damon laughed, "I might be a miserable son of a bitch but I'm not suicidal."
"Really glad to hear that," Alaric laughed, and almost without thinking, his hand rested on Damon's thigh.
Damon didn't know how to react so he followed his instinct. Alaric was surprised when Damon locked his lips to his. At first, Alaric didn't kiss back, but when Damon tried to open his mouth with his lips, he finally started kissing him back passionately. The kiss deepened, tongues tasting and exploring mouths, and it lasted for forever before Alaric suddenly broke the kiss, gasping, "Oh God, Damon I can't do that," He said, looking horrified
Damon felt embarrassed, "It's okay," He shook his head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.. kiss you it just, happened,"
"You're going to hate me.." Alaric whispered, standing up. Damon didn't hear him.
"What?" Damon tilted his head looking up at Alaric and raising his eyebrows,
"I.. I- I just can't-" Alaric took a few deep breaths as he ran his hands through his hair
"Damon I'm sorry it's just, uh, your brother"
"My brother?"
"Yeah I mean, I'm his.. history teacher, I don't think, it would be appropriate for us to, you know,"
"Okay man, whatever," Damon shrugged and stood up, suddenly felt dizzy and was about to fall back on the couch,
"You okay?"
"Yeah just.. drunk," Damon waved his hand dismissively, and was ready to leave the apartment
"Damon wait! Uh, maybe we could go.. We can still hang out, together?"
Damon laughed, "Sure, why the hell not." he said sarcastically, and left the apartment, without saying another word. It was awkward enough, anyways.
Damon wasn't sure what the hell exactly happened to him up there. He'd never been attracted to anyone this way before, let alone another man.
Whatever. Damon was too drunk to think of anything tonight.
TO BE CONTINUED
