The dreams hadn't returned for every night that week. Elena handed in her paper, Damon continued to tell his jokes and spin his tales. Things were good, they were quiet. And it felt good for Elena and Damon, because they needed the calmness and the happiness. They needed a break. So Damon decided to take Elena out, decided that they needed to spend time somewhere outside the Boarding House. As friends, of course. But what Damon had planned to do was not anything a friend did to another friend. Not that he knew of, anyway.
Elena was happy. She'd spent many days-and many nights-of the week at the boarding house with Damon. Things had died down, both were happy. Elena felt she'd been neglecting her friends, so 2 hours before Damon and her needed to meet up, she'd called Bonnie and Caroline to talk at her house.
"So, Elena, I hear you and Damon have gotten close." Caroline grinned and winked at Elena. Elena sighed.
"Well, you've heard right." Bonnie's jaw playfully dropped open and she smiled.
"Eeeee, I knew it!" Elena laughed, but couldn't deny anything. They had gotten close. Why lie about it when everybody clearly noticed?
"But don't get ahead of yourselves, guys! We're still worried that the dreams will come back. We didn't know what to make of them at first, we certainly don't now considering we hadn't had any more." Caroline sighed.
"Listen Elena, outside of the fantasy-supernatural-you-dating-his-brother thing, you can't deny it-you're in deep with him. Quit worrying about something you're not even sure about!"
"Are we talking about me not being sure about Damon, or me not being sure about the dreams here?" Caroline cocked her head sympathetically.
"We're going somewhere in 2 hours together anyway. Maybe my mind will be cleared up after we go out." Bonnie and Caroline exploded.
"How could you not tell us-your most trusted, supernaturally enhanced best friends-that you're going on a date with Damon?" They exclaimed, simultaneously.
"Because I knew this would be your reaction!"
"Elena, this is serious! What are you going to wear? Go with a dress. Nothing too tight, nothing too loose. You don't wanna look like a slut, but you also don't wanna look like a bag lady!"
"I'll let you guys help me out with that later! You act like I haven't stressed about this myself already!"
"We share your stress, we're linked together due to theoretical sisterly bonds!" Elena smiled at them.
"Aside from the topic of Damon… what about you guys? Have you heard from Tyler, Caroline?"
Caroline sighed. "I can't… I don't want to deal with him being sired to the very same original that wanted to kill us a million or two times right now. I don't know how I can deal with it."
"You really should talk to him. Have a conversation about it. No raised voices, just talking out your problems and thinking of a game plan." Bonnie, said. Elena nodded, agreeing with her witch best friend. Caroline shrugged, then switched topics.
"How about you, Bonnie? Have you spoken to Jeremy?" It was Bonnie's turn to sigh.
"I'm feeling really… bad. I exiled his ghost sweetheart, which was a bad move on my part. It makes me sad that he has to be sad because I was angry. And I'm an awesomely powerful witch." Bonnie added, to lighten the mood. She winked at the girls, and they all laughed.
"The problems we girls have, huh?" Elena commented. Bonnie smiled sympathetically.
"Hey! We need to plan your outfit and make up! Come on, Elena, up up!" Caroline and Bonnie rushed Elena to her room and closed the door. They opened her closet wide and examined every article of clothing in it. An hour and a half later, Elena was fully dressed. Bonnie and Caroline stepped back from Elena and grinned down at Elena.
"Done! Go check yourself out!" Elena stepped up to the mirror and smiled at her reflection. She was wearing a deep blue dress with spaghetti straps and a scoop neck. The effect was cute, not too dressy, not too casual.
"You guys are brilliant, thank you!" They girls hugged each other, and Elena had to wipe her eyes carefully from the tears so her makeup wouldn't smudge. Bonnie and Caroline pretended not to notice, but smoothed her hair down to calm her. They broke apart when they heard a knock on the door. Caroline rushed her down the stairs. Elena opened the door to see a very attractive looking Damon leaning against the door.
"Hi." Elena said with a smile.
"Hi." Damon grinned, then Elena grabbed her coat and rushed out the door.
"What do you have planned?" Elena asked, too curious to be patient.
"You'll see. You'll like it, I think." Elena smiled and glanced over at Damon, so concentrated on driving, his brows furrowed above his shockingly blue eyes. She admired his slim, yet muscular, arms, his thick raven hair, his long torso, his equally long legs, and remembered unbelievably attractive he was on the inside, as well as the outside. An affectionate smile took over her features, just as a surge of affectionate for this one man over took her. She cocked her head to the side and reached her hand over to Damon's, where it rested on the steering wheel. She laid it over his, and curled her fingers where his curled in surprise over the wheel.
Elena felt Damon's eyes on her, but she resisted the urge to look into them. She wasn't satisfied at all with the slight pressure of his fingers on hers, she desperately wanted more. She swallowed, at exactly the moment that Damon did. A couple minutes later, he'd parked on an area of greenery with-in the distance-a table for two surrounded by trimmed trees and a netting as thin and delicate as spider webs, shining and iridescent. Elena gasped.
"Do you like it?" Elena turned over to look at Damon, at his boyish grin, and nodded. Damon came out of the car, sped over to Elena's door, then opened it for her. She took his hand when he offered it to her. The netting split open easily, and glided against Elena's skin like silk. Damon pulled her chair out for her before taking his seat in front of her. She hadn't known how the food had appeared, but she knew that one second it wasn't there, and the next it was.
Damon noticed Elena's expression and laughed. She looked so enchanted by all of this, he knew it would be what she would like. She was a magical girl; of course she would love magical things. They ate their meal and talked about their day. He laughed exuberantly at the way Elena described her conversation with Bonnie and Caroline before their date. Damon tried to control his expression, but was thrilled when she'd called their outing a date. He didn't mention or correct her; he wanted it to be a date. It would make what he wanted to do easier. When she finished her meal, he asked her whether she wanted to take a walk. She nodded, and he chuckled at her excitement.
"It's so beautiful, Damon. Really, thank you. This was lovely." Elena smiled at him as she looped her arm through his.
Elena couldn't help herself from glancing at Damon constantly. She was suddenly afraid that he wasn't real, that he would disappear at any moment and that he'd take all his magic with him. She was surprised at how empty she felt at the thought of her being without a Damon. Suddenly, Damon stopped walking, when they were right under a beautiful tree with lights hanging from it. He moved to stand in front of her, and she looked up at him. She noticed how his vibrant blue eyes were lit up beautifully by the lanterns and the stars above them.
"There's no easy way to say this, and no way without sounding cheesy, but I'm surely going to find a way. You know how I feel about you, you know how I would save your ass a million times just so nothing would happen to you, even if you wanted to be with Stefan for all of eternity, and never even acknowledge. You know I would do anything for you, you know I think you're amazing and selfless and forgiving and strong. You're a fighter, Elena, and you're damn stubborn too. But you never shrink back from danger. I admire you so much, I really do. And I know I don't deserve you, I know you don't feel the same about me, but I can't not tell you this. You're beautiful and you put up with me, and you understand me, and you speak with me like I'm a person. No matter how many times I screw up, and I know, I know, that you deserve ten times better. But I have to do this." Elena had tried to catch her breath, but the second she could, Damon's lips came down on hers. And she couldn't push him away, because she didn't want to, because she was so wrapped up in him, in his scent, his strong arms and the bend of his shoulders. Her hand came to rest on top of his, holding it to her face so he wouldn't pull away.
She remembered the pulsing music from their dreams, the dancing and pull that everything had, as if everyone and everything were magnets, and found herself back in that dream, pressed against Damon, in flowing skirts and masks covering their faces. She groaned against his lips before she could stop herself. He pulled away then, and the both stood there for a moment, gazing at each other, trying to catch their breath.
"Did you see…" Damon, swallowed then nodded. Elena shook her head.
"I… wow." Elena bit her bottom lip, her gaze flicking between Damon's eyes and lips, his doing the same. He smirked at her words.
"Ready to go?" Elena hesitated, she didn't want to leave this place, so filled with magic.
"Will you take me back here another time?" Damon nodded, and Elena smiled.
"Okay, let's go." Damon released her face then tried to make his way back to the car. Elena grabbed his hand before he got too far, just so he didn't think that she needed space. As a matter of fact, if she was being truthful to herself, she wanted nothing more than for Damon to invade it. With her free hand, she ran her fingers over her bottom lip with a smile on her lips.
As they drove back to the Boarding House, Elena's smile didn't once leave her face, though it wasn't fully there. It was the ghost of a smile, the hint of something that wasn't meant to be seen but was still noticed. Damon smiled from time to time, too, though not making any effort to hide it. When Damon had parked outside the house, he didn't get out the car right away.
"So what now, then?" He asked. Elena took a breath.
"We need to figure things out. Without ruling out a relationship. And by relationship I don't mean a friendship." Elena said this without looking at Damon.
"Is this what you want?"
"Yes. Is this what you want?"
"Yes."
"Then we'll work on it." She looked at him then, smiled, kissed his cheek then spoke.
"Let's go watch some Netflix!" She exclaimed, then jumped out of the car humming with major gusto. Damon laughed out loud, but followed, pulling her along by the waist.
"Damon?"
"Yes?"
"What did that flash mean?"
"It wasn't like the dream; it was a different time. You were wearing a corset, I was wearing a suit. It was a masquerade ball."
"But the music was the same."
"No one else was in it but us."
"Kind of like tonight?"
"Exactly like tonight."
"This is weird, Damon, I don't like this."
"We need to figure it out, anyway." Elena nodded.
"We will."
"I don't think we have a choice." Damon's sigh echoed through the house as they settled down on the couch.
