Hi readers! Sorry for taking a little bit to post, I was kind of lost at this chapter, but I've got a pretty good map of where to go from here. Thank you so much for the amazing feedback, you guys are so awesome! Let me know what you think of this chapter. Happy reading!
Dark-Supernatural-Angel- Sorry! I should have been more clear, Jenna and Elena are not related, but they will become good friends. Thanks for R & R! :)
Everafterjunkie- Thanks for your review! I hope you enjoy the update :)
DEandMEthreeway- Some drama here, but not too much... yet ;)
bellax0xchristina- Ric and Damon are my favorite duo, I was so sad when the show killed poor Ric but he lives in the fan fic universe :) Hope you like the new chapter!
scarlett2112- Thank you Carol! That's the impression I get of Damon's character too, that all the bravado just covers up really deep-seated insecurities which I guess when you think about it, is really one of the most human problems someone could deal with. It's an interesting perspective to write from. Stumbles and pot holes for sure... but you know me and happy endings, I love them! :)
Debbie1689- He'll be back ;)
SWEETDREAMS25- Thank you for your kind words! I hope you like the update :)
katiekay30- Eek, good luck on your paper... that's what I should be doing right now too, but this is more fun ;) I hope you like the new chapter!
VampireGleek77- Thank you for your awesome review! I hope you like the new chapter, kind of a cliffy but plenty of D/E to e-snuggle :D
CharlSmith- Thank you! I hope you like the new update :D
myosh- Thank you! Ric and Jenna will definitely be fixtures in the story. I'm glad people are excited about a long fic, I was a little nervous about losing people with so many chapters :)
Cherriesandapples- Thanks a bunches! I hope you like the new chapter, he sticks around for the whole thing ;)
PrincessSparkel15- Thank you for R &R! I hope you like the update even though it took a while to post :D
Miss-Tyk- Yay! I was hoping not to lose readership with a long story, but it seems like people are ok with it. I can't wait, it's going to get crazy! ;)
AlyssaIanSomerhalder- Thank you so much! I really appreciate your review :) Damon's going to work really hard to overcome his happyphobia ;)
irishmauve- Thanks :D I have to add in humor and lightness, otherwise it's too angsty and depressing to write, haha. I'm glad you are enjoying it so far :)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Vampire Diaries, the characters, or their likenesses. No copyright infringement intended.
After being confined to her room for two days while she recovered from her bug Elena was more than happy to walk the six blocks to the shop and get some fresh air before her shift started. The winter air in Mystic Falls lacked the biting chill of that in Boston, and she found it to be refreshing. She hadn't seen Damon since the night he brought her soup, and while she may have found herself halfway between Hurt-town and Annoyed-ville when she woke up to find gone that night, his ample text messages checking in on her made her feel butterflies in her stomach. She was almost giddy to see him again today, and she hoped he would be there when she arrived. Luck must have been on her side because he was working on decals for the storefront windows when she got there. He was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, and she noted that it was the first time she'd seen him in anything besides black or its close cousins. White brought out his eyes more and made him look much less intimidating, maybe that's why he never wore it.
"Rare, Antique & Out-of-print Titles," she read aloud the new heading he was arranging under the arched Salvatore Books sign. "I see someone took my advice."
"Well it was either this or keep feeding the silverfish," Damon shrugged and dusted his hands off on his jeans. "And I'm not much of a bug person. How are you feeling?"
"Much better. It looks good," she nodded approvingly at the window. "Do you need any help?"
"Sure, grab a razor and help me get these old ones off," he gestured to a bucket of tools and began to scrape off the old New & Used Books sign. Elena fussed with the tool in her hand, trying to find the best angle to hold it to get the window as clean as possible and Damon looked over and laughed at her focused consternation.
"Shut up," she giggled and shook her head. For some reason, they did their best flirting at work and she liked it. Just when she got the hang of the blade Damon slapped her backside with both hands causing her to jump out of skin. "What the heck was that for?" she exclaimed and glared at him.
"Can't a guy just give a coworker a friendly ass slap?" he shrugged and went about his work with his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. It took several minutes before she caught her reflection in the car window parked along the street and saw that he had firmly adhered the two O's he peeled off the window on each one of her jean pockets.
"Hilarious Damon," she said drily and tried to keep a straight face before she lurched forward and stuck the upside down U over his mouth to mime a frown. "Big sad face," she said with a mock pout. Before he could retaliate the phone inside the shop rang and Elena jumped up to answer it. Damon shook his head and smiled widely to himself as he watched Elena try to peel the stickers off her pants as she chatted with the customer on the phone.
"This is quaint," a saccharine voice commented from behind him. "Manual labor really suits you, Damon."
"Katherine," Damon hung his head and muttered a few curse words to himself before turning around. "I would say it's nice to see you, but it'd be a lie."
"With all the pleasantries out of the way now, I want your key to the family's timeshare in Aspen," she demanded and tapped the toe of her stiletto boot against the concrete.
"Umm…" Damon pretended to consider her request. "No. Why don't you just take Stefan's key?"
"Because we both need a key, I always thought you just pretended to be stupid but you actually can't keep up can you?" Katherine asked sarcastically. Elena was trying to pay attention to the customer on the phone but she was distracted by Damon's sudden change in demeanor, whoever this woman was she wiped the smile off of Damon's face in two seconds flat. Elena bristled at the woman's insinuation that he was stupid and she had to bite back the urge to rip her pretty brown hair out strand by strand.
"Fuck off. You and Stef can figure out how to share a key, or here's an idea: go get a spare made," he growled.
"We don't have time Damon, we're leaving for the airport this evening," the woman hissed. Elena didn't like the way she said his name, and she didn't like the way she looked at him. Actually, she didn't like anything about her.
"And in the time you've stood here bitching at me you could have had one made already. Besides, isn't this supposed to be your big romantic sorry-I-cheated-on-you-again-Stef weekend? How much time are you really going to be spending apart? Or are you worried baby bro won't be enough and you'll have to shop around a bit?"
"Stefan more than fulfills me needs in every way. Aside from being an excellent listener and attentive lover, two things you wouldn't know anything about, he is superbly respectful of my desire for independence. This is our big romantic anniversary trip but Stefan is confident enough in his ability to keep my happy that he can trust me with a key to the condo."
"I'm curious, do you make him pack his balls into his own carry-on or do you check them in your luggage?" he asked sarcastically.
"Why do you even need a key anymore, Damon?" Katherine crossed her arms, readying for the final kill. "More sad, lonely perma-bachelor weekends weeping into a case of Wild Turkey and watching pay-per-view alone? Or are you going to drag that drunkard Ric with you this time to relive those college years you failed so miserably at the first time around?"
Elena could see a tick in Damon's jaw and his eyes glazed over instantly with something that looked like it belonged somewhere between pain and rage. That was the final straw, whoever this woman was she obviously knew exactly which buttons to push to get a rise out of Damon and Elena wasn't about to stand by and let her ruin their day. His day, Elena reminded herself, I'm not going to let her ruin his day or my day, separately. Ruining of separate days will not be happening and we most certainly aren't sharing a day. Damon was just about to say something in response, but Elena put on her brightest smile and stepped out onto the sidewalk. She wrapped her arm around Damon's waist and sidled up closely to him under his arm. Whether it was instinct or part of the act Damon held her tightly to him and smiled subtly. She could feel the tension in his shoulders lessen under her touch but she couldn't know if it was just her imagination playing tricks on her.
"You're going to Aspen? Oh my gosh, there's the most romantic little Italian bistro there that you just have to try. It's our favorite, and the pesto is to die for, almost as good as when this one makes it at home," Elena giggled and gazed at Damon with a convincing look of adoration. "I love your purse! Is that Burberry?"
"It is," Katherine sneered and looked down at Elena.
"My best friend got the exact same style at a sample sale in New York a few years ago," Elena said sweetly, taking a subtle dig at Katherine's démodé handbag. "I'm really sorry to interrupt you two, but could I borrow you for two seconds honey?" She grabbed Damon's hand and wove their fingers together, something that Katherine certainly didn't miss if her scoffing was any indication.
"Sure, we were finished here." He didn't say another word to Katherine and allowed Elena to lead him back into the store. Elena glanced over her shoulder to see Katherine stomp her foot childishly and slink off in the opposite direction and she was more than satisfied with herself. Round 1: Elena.
"Thanks honey," he muttered as soon as the glass door of the shop closed behind them and he shook his hand free from hers. He wouldn't have admitted it to her, but he liked the feeling of warmth and normalcy of just holding her hand and having her in his arms.
"Jeez, you've stuck it in some crazies Damon," Elena sighed. Ric had obliquely mentioned Katherine a couple of times and something about how she broke Damon's heart and Jenna gave her a few details. Personally, she didn't see what the big deal about her was.
"You have no idea," he groaned and dropped into one of the leather chairs. He kicked his feet up on the table and dropped his head to the back of the chair. "Sorry, what did you need?" he asked, slightly more composed.
"Nothing," she shrugged and sat in the adjacent chair. "You just looked like you needed an extraction," she finally admitted with a sympathetic smile. That was only partly true, if she was being completely honest she just didn't like Katherine and the way she made Damon react.
"Nicely deduced," he nodded appreciatively. "You've marked yourself now though, I wouldn't go out alone anymore if I were you."
"I taught continuation school in Southie for two years, Damon," Elena laughed and stretched her feet out next to his on the coffee table, playfully nudging his boots with the toe of her sneaker, "Little Miss Gucci Boots with her obscenely overpriced handbag doesn't scare me."
"You were a school teacher? When?" Damon seemed to perk up at the mention of her old job. She never stopped surprising him with the small tidbits she revealed about herself. He could imagine her as a schoolteacher; she'd be good at it with her no-nonsense approach and miles of patience.
"I was. It was right after college and I wanted to make a difference," she shrugged.
"And?" he prodded, suspecting there was more to her story.
"And… I realized it takes more than a few hours of night school to make a difference in someone's life."
"They were that bad, huh?"
"The kids? No. They made me want to get my teaching credential. I loved them. They were tough and a little hard to handle at times, but they weren't bad kids. Their situation was bad, most of them were just lost in the system and didn't have enough people to care for them."
"So why did you quit?"
"Because apparently that's my thing. I'm a big fat quitter," she said with her brow furrowed, "I guess I just got frustrated with being so powerless, you know? Seeing the same problems every day and not being able to do anything about them. It drove my naïve inner idealist nearly mad. Matt didn't like the neighborhood I taught in either, he thought it was too dangerous."
"Something tells me that you're more than capable of handling yourself," Damon scoffed, he couldn't help but feel that he already knew Elena better than Matt. If he had been her boyfriend he would have bought her a pepper spray keychain and told her to go crazy changing the world one misunderstood delinquent at a time. Hell, Rose had disappeared into the African bush for a volunteer clinic for two months and he had been ok with that. Matt was an idiot if he couldn't see the fighting spirit in Elena's eyes.
"Damn straight," she grinned and melted into the chair.
The both sat there in silence for a few minutes before Damon snorted with an unexpected laugh. "Little Miss Gucci Boots, that's a good one. Maybe I can retire Bitch-Faced Gorgon for a while, at least in polite company."
"So she's your sister-in-law?" Elena asked, even though she already knew from Jenna that Katherine was married to Damon's younger brother.
"Sister-in-law, ex-sex buddy, evil incarnate, she has an impressive resume," Damon stopped himself when he saw Elena staring at him with her eyebrow quirked and a very judgmental look on her face. "Oh, don't look at me like that, we were fucking way before Stef married her and we stopped before they sealed the deal."
"So both you and your brother have horrible taste in women?" she asked but it wasn't really a question.
"Whoa, easy there Judgy. Don't forget who got you into bed after one drink. I wouldn't be so quick to criticize my taste in women if I were you."
"Everyone is prone to an occasional stroke of genius here and there," Elena shrugged and flicked her hair over her shoulder.
"You know all about my strokes of genius," he smirked lasciviously in her direction, to which she gave him a well-practiced eye roll.
"Do you want to get lunch at the Grill or something? I'm starving and I forgot my sandwich at home," Elena said and peeled herself out of the chair. "I'm sure Miss Moppet has devoured it by now."
"Sure, let's call it a business lunch and use the store's card," Damon grinned. "Ric loves balancing out the books when I do that."
3 3 3
"So what's with the authorly angst?" Damon asked nonchalantly when their cheeseburgers and malts arrived. Without even asking she set her pickles on the edge of his plate and he pushed the ketchup to her; it was one of their little routines they'd fallen into without even noticing.
"What do you mean?" Elena asked with her mouth full.
"I didn't miss the daggers you stared into Bonnie when she asked about your book," he chided and she blushed, wishing she hadn't been so obvious, after all Bonnie was just trying to help. "As your publishing proprietor, I think I deserve to know at least a little about what I'm getting myself into."
"With alliteration like that maybe you should be the one writing," Elena chuckled and took a long drink of soda, trying to avoid talking about anything book related.
"I'm not going to drop it, so it'd be easier if you just told me," he remarked casually, ignoring her cold stare. He met her eyes with his best expression of indifference and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not going to judge you because your book sucks."
"My book doesn't suck for your information," Elena snapped and tore a vicious, tiger-like bite out of her cheeseburger. "American readership is at an historic low. My book just doesn't have the mass appeal and escapism of mommy bondage porn or washed-up celebrity memoir."
"You're not into the sordid secrets of the rich and once-famous?" He didn't even want to know her take on bondage since he couldn't be held accountable for his actions once he knew and they were in a public, family atmosphere.
"Not really, but that's what's in right now," Elena sighed and leaned back in the booth. She didn't mean to take her frustrations out on Damon as she had inadvertently done so many times with Matt, but she couldn't help it. Damon was rubbing salt into a very raw wound, whether he knew it or not. She had wanted to change the world with her book, and make people think and feel with her words. In truth, being an author is all she ever wanted and while she didn't expect it to be easy, she certainly wasn't anticipating it being so damn difficult. "People want something fun to distract them from how crappy our reality has become and I just can't offer that. Hence, no publishing offers."
"What's your book about?" he could see her flinch when he asked. It was a question she was well-acquainted with, and she was equally as well-acquainted with the disapproving eye rolls and thinly-veiled scoffs that she always got when she told people about her book's premise. "Really? Come on Elena, I'm really not going to judge you."
"It's about a girl driven to spiritual bankruptcy by the malaise and ennui of modern society," she answered and dipped another fry in her malt before popping it in her mouth. "And her search for something real and good in the world."
"Does she find it?"
"No," she answered simply.
"Well, I can see why no one wants to take your book to press," he commented matter-of-factly. "That's gloomy as hell. If I want to wallow in misery I'll turn on the news, it's less effort than slogging through a come-to-Jesus novel by some Harvard preppy turned holier than thou Zen Buddhist."
"I went to Brown and I'm not a Zen Buddhist," Elena defended herself. "And it's not about being more enlightened than anyone else or anything like that. It's about calling problems as I see them and being honest and incisive."
"Then be a journalist. When people pick up a book they want a sense of hope and rejuvenation by the end. You have to leave your readers with something to feel good about. Life is enough of an ass kicking without your help."
"So what are you saying? I should just rewrite my entire book?"
"No," Damon shook his head, "you're the author, not me."
"Sage advice," she mumbled sarcastically.
"Hey, all I'm saying is that you seem pretty peppy for a woman whose pièce de résistance is all about life sucking. So somewhere between nail polish parties and your weirdly dog-like cat you've found something to distract you from the day-to-day clusterfuck of 'modern society,'" he emphasized with air quotes. "Why are you so fixated on the negatives?"
"I never took you for the unicorns and rainbows type," she smiled.
"Me? Oh no, personally I think the world blows."
"So you agree, there's nothing real and good left?" she asked pointedly and stared across the table at him. He met her gaze sharply and narrowed his eyes in consideration. Did he really believe there was nothing good left? A month ago he would have said yes, but even he couldn't deny that his outlook had started to change when a certain petite brunette swept into his town.
"Jury's still out," he said.
"I'll take your input under consideration," she nodded and finished the last of her lunch. "I'll get back to you with the results."
"You're not going to get anything done as long as your notebook sits at the bottom of a box," he said casually. "Unless you're dictating into a recorder or something."
"How did you…?" she stuttered.
"Men snoop, too, you know," he smirked. "I think it would suck if you gave up because a few uptight Bean Town book houses said no. J.K. Rowling was rejected twelve times, Dr. Seuss twenty-seven times, and Steven King thirty times, so you've got a ways to go before you get to throw in the towel and throw yourself some epic nobody-likes-me pity party." She didn't know how he did it but he managed to tear her down and pick her back up in the same sentence.
"Do you have any idea how it feels to be denied the one thing you want more than anything Damon?" she asked sharply and she could feel her cheeks flush with subdued anger. He was so nonchalant about cutting through her insecurities that it infuriated her.
"Yes, Elena, I do," he answered with disarming honesty, "life sucks— get a helmet, and move on. If they didn't like your book the fuck them; but you'd be remiss if you didn't ask yourself why they didn't like it."
"Fine," she huffed, knowing that he was right but loathe to admit it. "Will you at least tell me something about you since you just went all Oprah on me?"
"What do you want to know?" he asked and slid her plate over to finish her fries.
"What did you want to be when you were a kid?"
"A doctor."
"Why didn't you?" she followed, trying to take advantage of Damon sharing time.
"And miss the opportunity of a lifetime to run a small town bookstore?"
"I'm serious," she said crossly.
"That is a story for another day," he said and stood up from their booth. "Like maybe the day that you unpack that notebook of yours." He waited for her to gather her purse and slide out of the booth. She smiled to herself when she felt his hand on the small of her back as he followed her out of the restaurant.
"Why are you single?" she asked boldly as they walked back to the store and she watched him keep his eyes fixed to the concrete sidewalk in front of them.
"Why are you?" he shrugged.
"Because my boyfriend dumped me for being a workaholic ice queen," Elena laughed self-consciously and pulled the collar of her coat closer around her neck to block the cold breeze. "But you didn't answer my question."
"Malaise… ennui… maybe a little spiritual bankruptcy," he said, imitating her lofty tone from earlier.
"Very funny," she said drily and walked through the door he held open for her. "I guess Katherine was wrong about your subpar listening skills."
"I pay attention when it matters," he smiled and watched her strip her coat off, "she just never said anything important." Elena blushed at his comment and tucked her hair behind her ears with a shy smile. One minute she wanted to strangle him for being rude and insensitive and the next minute she was blushing like a schoolgirl at the simple notion that he had listened to her and really heard her.
"And to answer your question from earlier," he added and stood in front of her to brush a few straw hairs she had missed behind her ears. "I do think there are some things left that are real and good. It just takes some work to find them and even more work to keep them."
A/N: So lots more dialogue in that one, but I hope you all liked it... and Damon stayed until the end! Do you think it's too soon for Elena to meet Mama Salvatore? I have a few chapters written, I'm just unsure what would be the best order for them so feel free to share your input ;)
XOXO ~Anna
