I just wanted to take a moment to thank you guys for the reviews. I know this is the first time I've actually taken the time to say something outside of just posting chapters. This story is a kind of therapy for me. I'm twenty-six and just recently lost my mother to stage IV breast cancer in December, my sister was also diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and went through surgery and reconstruction a few years ago. It is personal for me to say the least. As I said, I know this subject matter is unlike many stories out there, and I do want to say thank you to all of you who are reading following along. It helps.
I got started writing Alias fanfiction awhile back and then I just lost whatever motivation I had and stopped. I'm trying to get back into writing in general and fanfiction is certainly helping me. My ultimate goal is to write a book about my parents love story, it's unique and is an important story to tell, I just need to brush the rust off.
Sorry for the short chapters, I've been working long hours lately and it's hard to put out long ones sometimes.
Chapter 7
They had stayed long enough out on the water to watch the sun set over the Chicago skyline, but not much longer knowing it would soon be dark and even with the lights from the buildings and shoreline to assist, Alaric didn't enjoy navigating in the dark. Damon helped him back to the slip where the boat was kept and jumped out to secure them to the wooden structure. He was thankful that Alaric and Jenna were staying the night; it meant he didn't need to stay and help clean up and lock up seeing as he was already spent from all the exercise he had gotten from lugging fuel cans back and forth earlier in the day. Making dinner for everyone proved to be taxing as well.
Part of him was disappointed with what time he had been given with Elena today. He had only been able to converse with her in a group setting, and there was so much more he wanted to know. While he wanted to know the little things, such as what her favorite guilty pleasure was, what she liked to do on her off time from her hectic work schedule and even what her favorite color was, he was more interested to know where she was at this point in her life. The question that was plaguing him was whether or not she was actually looking for a relationship. He wanted to know if she trusted him enough to let him help her, to be there for her, to hold her and to see her through this awful stage in her life. But it was not the time nor place to start that conversation.
Damon helps the three women off the yacht and carries their bags to Caroline's silver Nissan Altima, which is parked next to his in the parking lot. She pops the trunk and Damon carefully sets the bags within the compartment, he closes it and turns to Elena, who is standing next to the car as if unsure of whatever she was thinking at the moment.
"You ready, Elena?" Caroline asks as she opens the driver's door and stares at her friend standing towards the back of the car. Bonnie had already hopped in the back seat, leaving Elena to ride shotgun. Elena opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. She starts to look as though she's just going to go with the plan that would end her embarrassment and the questioning glances she was getting from all directions and starts to reach for the passenger door.
"Why don't I give you a ride?" Damon asks suddenly, but in a relaxed manner. His eyes don't leave Elena as she pauses and looks back at him in surprise. She had made it fairly obvious to him that she hadn't wanted to end their day together, who was he to deny her that? He found pleasure in spending time with her and she was easy to be around.
"Sure." Elena says as she retracts her hand and walks back over to him. He smiles and takes her bag from her shoulder, she says quick good-byes to Caroline and Bonnie as he walks over to his car and opens the trunk, he can't hear what they are whispering to each other, but he assumes it's woman talk because when he closes the trunk and looks back over at the three girls they all return his glances with what looks to be innocent smiles, something he immediately saw through. By the time Elena was making her way over to his car, he already had the passenger door ajar for her, holding onto the handle loosely as he smiled and watched her scurry over.
"Sorry." She tells him.
"Don't be."
Once she's in he closes it gently and walks around to the driver's side. He takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself as he opens the door and takes his place behind the steering wheel.
"You want me to take you back to the hotel?" He asks as he puts his right hand on the shifter and turns his head to look at her.
"I thought maybe we could watch a movie?" She asks. "What about your place?"
Damon immediately cringes at the thought and smiles awkwardly.
"Not that I don't want spend time with you at my place." He tells her. "But I'm not letting my little brother anywhere near you."
Her smile disappears quickly and he immediately feels bad for making her regret her suggestion. He moves his hand from the shifter to her left hand sitting in her lap and he leans forward to look at her.
"I'm sorry, Elena." He tells her. "I don't mean it in the manner that I don't trust you. I just don't feel comfortable around him myself, if he's there I would rather not be, it'll ruin my good mood."
He rubs his thumb across the back of hand gently and when she smiles he immediately feels relief.
"How about we run back to my place so I can take a quick shower and grab a change of clothes? It'll be quick and then we can go back to your hotel room and watch a movie for the rest of the evening. Sound like a plan?" He asks. He takes the simple nod of her head as agreement and drive back to his apartment. After finding a spot to park he invites her inside and as soon as he opens the door he is met with the sound of some unknown noises coming from Stefan's bedroom. He quickly ushers her inside and closes the door softly before leading her to his bedroom and closing the door. He was very glad he had made the bed before he left and also happy he was somewhat of a neat freak. He didn't care for clutter and he picked up and cleaned up frequently instead of leaving it to progressively become a larger mess, which was more how Stefan kept his room. He smiled as he watched Elena make herself at home. She sat on the bed and watched him walk into the closet for clothes; he exited with a pair of dark blue jeans and a faded green shirt that had three buttons near the neck which were already conveniently unbuttoned.
"I won't be long." He tells her. "You can snoop around in here all you want. Just do me a favor and don't go out of the bedroom. Stefan is still here packing."
"It's okay, Damon. I'll wait here for you." She reassures him.
He gives her an appreciative smile before closing the door to the bathroom.
She looks around the room, which was decently sized for being a city apartment. She knew he must pay a large sum to live here. If it weren't for the decorative brick facade covering the walls it would feel to modern for her taste, but the brick gave the room a warm glow when the lights were on and the deep red and gray sheets on his bed only added to the effect. She turned around and looked at his nightstand, only one of them had an alarm clock and a picture on it, letting her know which side of the bed he preferred. In curiosity, she gets up and scoots closer to the nightstand and picks up the small circular picture frame off the wood surface. Its chrome shines in the light and she angles it to get a better look at the older woman and Damon in the picture. Her heart drops slightly when she realizes it must have been a picture he had taken with his mother, a scarf was covering her head and Damon was standing behind her with his arms around her neck and his cheek pressed up against hers. The smile on his face was larger than she had witnessed and his mother's was a very similar match. He looked as if he didn't have a care in the world at the moment the picture was taken and she wondered when the last time was that he had smiled so.
As she begins to set the picture frame down she becomes startled by the bedroom door opening and the frame slips from her hand when she jumps, falling flat against the wood with a thud. She looks over to see a brunette woman standing just inside the door, a surprised look on her face as well. While Elena was sitting, she estimated the woman to be a few inches taller than her and her hair was incredibly straight, unlike Elena's natural waves.
"Oh, you must be the new girl."
Before Elena can even speak the woman cuts her off.
"Don't care. I'm just here for one of my bags." She says as she pulls open the closet door, it hits that wall with a thud and Elena immediately stands up and watches as she reaches up on one of the shelves and pulls down a pink bag; bringing with it some of Damon's clothes.
For a second time, before Elena can say anything about the situation, the bathroom door whips open so fast that Elena can almost feel the rush of air pulled from the bedroom. Damon steps out; water pooling on the wood at his feet as he holds the towel firmly on his waist. He looks over at her and she can't help but just look between the closet and Damon, speechless due to both.
"What the hell is going on in here?"
"Oh, how nice of you to join us. While I'd love to stay and enjoy the view; I actually have work to do. A little birdie told me you're threatening to change the locks, so now I've had to cancel my Saturday night plans to help him pack. Luckily my place isn't too far from here."
Elena observes that every word that comes out this woman's mouth set fire to Damon's blood. He was tense and his fist was clenched tightly on the edges of the towel keeping him decent. Whoever she was, she knew how to press his buttons and was doing a fine job at ruining his mood.
"You need to leave." He tells her in a firm tone.
"That's fine. I have what I want." The woman says as looks back at the pile of clothes she left lying in on the floor. She smirks before turning and heading back out the way she had come from. Damon walks over to the door and slams it shut, locking it securely before turning around. When he turns around the anger is still plaguing his chiseled features, but in the instance that her brain recognizes it, the look is gone and he instead starts apologizing.
"I shouldn't have brought you here. I'm sorry, Elena. Let me finish getting changed." He tells her as he starts to walk back to the bathroom.
"Damon?" Elena asks, taking a step closer. He turns his head and looks at her from the doorway. "I know I'm slightly smaller than her, but I think I can take her. Do you want me to kick her ass?"
What followed next surprised her, because not only did he laugh, but he smiled just as large as in the picture she had just been studying before she had been interrupted. It made her happy to know that part of him was still accessible. His laugh was genuine and she couldn't help but watch his abdominal muscles contract as his eyes twinkled back at her.
"As much as I'd love to see it, I'd much rather get out of here and spend the rest of the evening in your company. I do appreciate the offer though." He tells her before disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door gently behind him. "Two minutes." His voice is muffled through the solid door.
