I woke up around midnight with Elena's elbow in my mouth. I shifted her around so we weren't quite so tangled. I tried unhooking my leg from hers without pushing her off the couch or waking her up. I finally got it detatched and gave a triumphant smile.
But as I began to stand from the couch, it occurred to me that my foot was stuck between the back of the couch and the cushion. It didn't occur to me fast enough, though. I fell with a dull thud to the floor.
Elena made a goofy sleep-snort and rolled over, but otherwise showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. I stood with a huff, straightening my shirt.
I started to ascend the stairs, planning on changing into something like pajama pants so my jeans didnt dig into my skin while I slept. I eased the bedroom door open, trying to avoid its customary creaking. Julia needed all the rest she could get.
After turning the light on and locating my red fuzzy Mickey Mouse PJ pants, I began to change. It wasn't until I had tied the red ribon drawstring on the pants that I heard the quiet tapping on my bedroom window.
I stiffened, my first thoughts of Katherine. I narrowed my eyes in confusion at the window when the tapping became more impatient.
"Kaila, Jesus, will you let me in?"
I sighed, recognizing the voice. I rushed over to the door, throwing it open and ignoring the blast of wintry air that blew in. "Damon, what the hell are you doing out there? Get inside, hurry," I hissed.
He obeyed, his outline blurring and disappearing. If I hadn't barely felt his jacket brush quickly past me, I would've thought that he had fallen out of the tree.
I shut the window and locked it (though I was sure window locks were nothing to anything malevolent that mught be out there looking for me).
"Well," Damon started. "I figured I'd knock instead of just coming in and giving you a heart attack."
I smacked him in the shoulder. "You still nearly gave me a heart attack. Now seriously, what are you doing here?"
I expected him to come back with another wry joke, but his blue eyes became serious and his jaw line hardened. He took a second before whispering, "How are you?"
I sighed, letting my legs buckle like they had been wanting to since earlier this morning, sitting on the bed. "Better than Julia."
Damon took a hesitant seat next to me on my bed.
"You'd think I'd be used to this by now, you know?"
"How so?" He asked quietly.
I looked up. It finally occurred to me that I was like Elena in that respect. Neither of us ever really talked about our parents (or in my case foster parents). I related the whole story to him.
"The sad thing is I don't even know how my real parents died. They just kind of... Weren't there. The police thought I was too young at the time, so they just told me my parents had died. When I got older, I didn't ask because I didn't really want to know. Knowing how it happened just made it seem more real. I used to have this crazy idea that my real parents would come in and take me back and say it was all just a misunderstanding. Now... I almost want to know..."
I looked up then. I had nearly forgotten that I was talking to Damon. I had almost been telling the story to myself.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, laying a hand on my shoulder.
I was surprised at him. "You know, that's twice in one day that you've been sincere about something."
He snorted and rolled his eyes. "As if," he pointed to the clock on my nightstand. 12:17. "That's only once a day."
I frowned. Something got through to me then. "How long before I let you in were you out there?"
He threw me a wicked smirk, raising his eyebrows. "Lace, huh?"
My eyes widened and blood rushed to my cheeks. "Tell me you're joking."
He shrugged. "I'm joking."
I closed my eyes and sighed. "I'm going to pretend you really mean that."
His hands were suddenly on both of my shoulders, squeezing them gently and releasing them and repeating the process. "You're stressing too much," he mumbled.
I opened my eyes. Damon was no longer beside me, but kneeling behind me. "Damon, are you hitting on me?"
I almost wanted him to say yes. But I knew that wouldn't happen. The girl he loved was downstairs sleeping on my couch.
"Just being a good friend. And friends don't let friends wallow in tension."
I rolled my eyes, trying not to let him know how good his hands felt on my shoulders. I bit my lip, caught between the urge to let him know how I felt about him and the embarassment of such an occurance. Instead, I brought my hand up to my shoulder to touch his hand lightly. "Thank yo-"
"Ow!" His hands jerked away.
I hopped up from the bed, startled. He was clutching his hand to his chest. I glanced down at my hand in understanding. My ring had burned him. "Damon, I'`m sorry. Are you alright?" I rushed over to him, taking his hand and being careful not to let my ring come in contact with his skin.
Streaked across the top of his hand was a long jagged red mark. "It wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't pulled away so quickly," I fussed. But even as my hands fluttered uselessly around his scarred flesh, the redness was evaporating.
"How-?" I looked up at him in wonder.
"Vampire, remember?" He gave me another smirk.
I nodded. "Right." It was easy to forget, especially when I was looking into his perfctly human eyes, or could feel his 100% human skin.
His hand closed around my finers. "You can't forget what I am, Kaila. That's a deadly mistake. One I don't want you to make."
"Why are you like this with me and so different with everyone else?" I found myself blurting it out before I could stop myself.
His grip on my hand loosened a bit. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but shook his head and closed it again before saying, "You're my best friend, believe it or not."
I was opening my mouth to say something, but it was interrupted by a yawn.
"I'll get out of your hair and let you get some sleep."
I shook my head as he dropped my hand. "You don't have to go."
He cocked a brow at me. "You're about to fall asleep on your feet."
I shook my head sitting back down on the bed. "I just don't want to be alone right now," I cast a glance at the window, where the wind was making the tree branches tap incessantly at the glass.
He didn't bother mentioning that Elena and Julia were both here. He considered for a moment then nodded, sitting down on the other side of the bed.
I leaned back against the pillows. "Just... Talk to me until I fall asleep, okay?"
He made a face, leaning back with me. "Well, what do you want to talk about?"
I shrugged, another yawn breaking out. "Tell me about where you grew up."
He sighed. "You already know all about where I grew up. They teach it to you in history, unless Alaric is as useless as I think he is. But if you really want it from the point of view of someone who lived through it-"
I didn't get to hear about his childhood. I fell asleep in the middle of his pre-story rant.
DAMON'S POV:
I was in the middle of describing my father's estate when I noticed the soft snoring from the pillow beside me. I looked over. Her face was smooth and relaxed, her breathing even.
I felt something barely touch my hand. Our arms were laying perfectly parallel between our bodies, just barely touching. Her fingers twitched, brushing mine lightly.
I smiled and linked our hands slowly, trying not to wake her. When our palms were pressed together by our fingers, she moved closer to me, grabbing onto the leather sleeve of my jacket.
I could only stare at her face, captivated by the prospect of her dreams. What went on in that artists' head of hers? What did she dream about?
I forbade myself from asking the one question I wondered about most. Was I in them?
Of course I wasn't. I was the thing of nightmares. Not sweet dreams.
What must've only been half an hour later, I heard her just barely whisper, "Damon."
I checked for any sign of her eyelids fluttering open. There was none.
"You see?" Came Elena's voice from the doorway. She was just edging her way into the room.
"What are you doing?" I whispered, trying to inch myself away from Kaila without breaking my hold on her hand or her hold on my arm.
"I woke up and saw that Kaila wasn't there. I got worried so I came looking for her." She sized up the picture in front of her with a knowing smile.
"Yeah, shut up," I grumbled, scooting closer to Kaila once I realized playing it cool wasn't an option.
She started to turn and leave, but she turned back at the last minute. "You're going to have to tell her sometime, Damon." With that, she left.
I looked back at the clock on Kaila's nightstand. 1:42. More time had passed than I'd thought. I'd have to leave soon, but I was reluctant to leave the girl that made me feel more like the protector than the one to be protected from. She made me feel like I was the good one.
I brushed the hair from her face and finally let the last of my own tension leave my body.
KAILA'S POV:
When I woke up, Damon was gone. Elena woke me up and alerted me to the fact that Julia was still going to work this morning. She had already left.
"So how are you?" she asked, eyeing me strangely.
"Better than yesterday," I smiled to myself, pouring myself and Elena a bowl of cereal.
"Why's that?"
I glanced up at her. "Slept good, I guess."
Her odd smirk widened. The look in her eyes (which gave me the ridiculous feeling she knew about last night) as well as the memory of Damon's voice, even ranting and raving as it had been, lulling me to sleep brought a blush to my cheeks.
I crunched down on a spoonful of cereal, ignoring Elena and her "elaborate, now" look. No way was I planning on telling her about last night. Even though it was with friendly intentions that everything happened, the thought of telling Elena that Damon and I had slept in the same bed (or at least I had slept) mortified me.
No matter how jealous I was of Damon's attraction to Elena, I couldn't jeopardize Damon's chances with her. He had admitted to me that I was his best friend, which obviously meant I had done something to earn the trust of someone possibly more cynical and distrusting than me. I planned on continuing to be worthy of that fiercely guarded trust.
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