The One That Didn't Get Away, Chapter Nine


Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize. Any relation to my version of the characters and real life persons is purely coincidental. There is no copyright infringement intended


"No." Elena shook her head, crossed her arms and glared at her friends who were presently shoving a towel into her arms. "I refuse." She pushed it away.

"Aww, please 'Lena." Caroline pouted, swinging her towel so it hung over one shoulder. She had her hands on her hips and her bare feet were curled in the grass.

"For us?" Bonnie hung Elena's towel around her neck like a scarf and looked up, fluttering her puppy eyes. "Please?"

"Yeah, live a little Elena, come with us." Anna raised an eyebrow, her towel draped over her shoulders like a cape. "Jer promised that the boys are staying here."

"We promise." Caroline stuck out her little finger. "Pinky promise. No guys."

"No." Elena looked between her two closest friends and the girl who had sneaked her way into her brothers life and narrowed her eyes. "I'm not doing it. You can't make me."

"Pwease 'Lena?" Caroline's voice wavered, still holding out her little finger. "It's not the same without you."

Elena would have easily agreed to this before, but now, now she was more reserved about this. She locked eyes with Anna; especially with people she didn't really know. No, they could go without her. "No." She re-enforced her sentence with a firm shake of her head and moving her hands to grab the towel around her neck. "I am not going skinny dipping with you."

"Then you will be stuck here with Tyler, Jeremy and Damon." Anna raised her eyes skywards in annoyance. "Okay, sounds fun." She turned on her heel and started to walk away. "Tell them hi from me." She called over her shoulder.

Elena swallowed. She hadn't thought of that. After dinner Jenna and Alaric had decided to take an evening walk up to the main camping site for supplies. If she stayed here she would be stuck with the boys, who no doubt would be drinking. "Okay." She quickly called as Caroline and Bonnie started to follow Anna. "I'm coming, but I'm not stripping. Just let me grab my shoes."

"Yay!" Caroline beamed. "Hurry up." She shooed Elena away with her hands.

Bonnie grinned. "Five minutes 'Lena, don't go ditching us."

Elena flipped her towel off her neck and whipped it at her friends, they jumped back squealing. She smirked and threw it at Caroline. "Won't be long." She called as she jogged away.

She reached her tent and immediately went to her bag, rummaging around for her spare shoes. She couldn't afford to get her trainers wet, she needed them for hiking. She was busy throwing her clothes onto her sleeping bag when a voice startled her. "Knock knock."

Elena congratulated herself for hiding her shock with a brief glare and turned back to her searching. "What do you want Damon? I'm busy." She chucked her soap bag out of her bag and grimaced. She had a lot of cleaning up to do later.

"I can see." She visualized Damon raising an eyebrow and smiled to herself when she glanced up to find him in the exact position she imagined him in. He reached for the zip on the tent and unzipped it enough so he could see the whole interior of her home for the next three weeks. "May I ask what has you so flustered?" He was looking around, his eyes falling on her sleeping bag, a smirk finding its way onto his face.

Elena glanced down, following his eyeline, her bra was sitting in the middle of the sleeping bag. She quickly whipped it behind her and scowled at him. "Go away Damon."

His smirk widened. "Touchy." He glanced around again before focusing on her, his blue eyes imploring. "I was wondering if you knew the way to the hiking trail, I wanted to familiarize myself with it."

Elena frowned, that was all he wanted? The way to the hiking trail? She buried her disappointment. She wasn't disappointed anyway, she didn't even like him; still she turned back to her rummaging so she didn't have to look at him. "Yeah." She yanked another top out her bag. "It's that way." She pointed in the direction of the trail while searching. "Left, it's not far away."

"Thanks." She imagined him nodding, his black hair falling over his forehead.

Elena looked up, in the brief silence she had thought he left, but no he was still standing there. "Is there anything else?" She raised an eyebrow.

He tilted his head, his eyes looking her up and down. "What are you looking for?"

She straightened up, putting her hands on her hips and stretching, she made a sound of relief as the tension lessened in her back. "My spare shoes." She shrugged, using her eyes to search behind her bag and around the surrounding area. "I was sure I left them here."

"Do you mean these?" She turned around. Damon now had one foot inside her tent and from his hand dangled her missing shoes. She frowned, opening her mouth but he cut her off. "They were there." He pointed next to Caroline's sleeping bag. "You must have missed them." He shrugged. "Or forgot where you put them."

"Or Caroline borrowed them without telling me." She rolled her eyes and reached for her shoes.

Damon pulled his hand away, holding her shoes behind his back and waggling his finger. "Nuh uh uh. I think I deserve to know why you are in such a hurry Firecracker."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Because I found your shoes." He smiled mischievously and shrugged, a playful glint in his eyes. "Unless you don't want them."

"Give them to me." Elena scowled, trying to reach around his back for her shoes.

"Nope." He moved them to his other hand.

"They're not yours!" Elena protested, glancing towards where her friends were waiting. Caroline and Bonnie had their backs to her, but Anna was turned in their direction. She couldn't see clearly enough but she thought Anna was watching them.

Damon smirked, holding her shoes above her head. "I know."

She jumped for them and missed by an inch. She folded her arms over her chest. "Please?"

"Tell me." He raised an eyebrow, his famous smirk still proudly on his features. "Please?" He mocked.

"Urghh." She growled. "We're having a girls night. You go have fun with Tyler and Jeremy and leave me alone."

"Tyler and Jeremy?" He chuckled. "I'm not planning on spending anytime with them sweetheart."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Do whatever you want too. I'm not bothered. Can I have my shoes now?"

Damon mirrored her movement with his eyes but handed back her shoes. "Here." He grinned, waggling his eyebrows. "Can I come with you now?"

"Uh, how about no?" Elena stepped around him and into the night air. "See you Damon."

"Spoil sport." Damon teased as she walked away, shoes hanging from her hand. She let out a breath of relief when she was out of earshot and let herself relax. At least he didn't follow her, she wouldn't know how to explain that to her friends.

She quickly slipped on her shoes and jogged back to the girls, arriving back slightly out of breath. "Hi."

Anna already had her eyebrows raised. "Hi." She replied, glancing at something (which Elena guessed to be Damon) over her shoulder and back at her. "Have fun?" Elena tried to beg her with her eyes to stay silent. Bonnie and Caroline seriously didn't need to know that Damon wouldn't leave her alone, or anything around that matter.

"Got my shoes." She wiggled her toes, pointedly ignoring Anna's jibe. "We going?" She shifted on her feet trying to cover her nerves, Damon could walk over any second.

"Yep!" Caroline grabbed her hand and pulled. "Bring on the skinny dripping!"

She made a sound protest. "I'm not stripping!"

"We'll get you out those clothes yet." Caroline winked.

Raising an eyebrow, she flicked her friend on the arm. "Crossing friend boundaries here Care."

"But not the best friend ones." She beamed. "Now come on! It's getting dark." Before Elena could make another sound of protest, or speak in any way, Care proceeded to drag her in the direction Bonnie and Anna had already set off in.

Elena looked at Caroline's pink painted nails gripping her own and briefly squeezed them, a sudden flair of guilt welling up in her making her stomach sink. Here she was pretending everything was perfectly brilliant with her friends, letting them think Damon wasn't an issue when he seemed to be lurking in her every thought. Granted, they weren't positive thoughts (her dream counted for nothing, she was confused and deprived) but he was still in her mind. She pried her hand from Caroline's. "I'm not running away Care, I can walk." She forced her voice into a light teasing tone.

"Okay. No running." Caroline's lip quirked, suppressing a wide smile. "Promise? Or I will drag you to the river."

Elena raised both eyebrows at her friend. "You and what army?"

"I don't need an army. I have these." Caroline waved her nails in Elena's direction.

She pulled a phony terrified face and gasped. "Not the deadly manicured nails!" She smiled inwardly, despite the guilt eating her alive, it was great to mess around and fun with her friends. Maybe she did need this night after all, maybe it would be good for her to spend quality time with her friends.

It took them another five minutes until they emerged stumbling from the trees, large grins on their faces. Elena stopped at the edge and Caroline continued on already in the process of shrugging off her thin jacket. The clearing hadn't changed since Elena had first discovered it when she was thirteen; bright healthy trees still circled the edge, their leaves rustling in the wind, the gap in the bush across the lake was still there from where Elena had barrelled through trying to outrun her brothers splashing and the water still looked as fresh and inviting as it did the first time and every time after she had followed this exact same path.

Elena closed her eyes and breathed in, a soft smile gracing her features at the familiar hint of roses and evergreen. The lake had been her playground as a kid, her safe haven after her mother died – a place of peace, she would sit in a tree across the lake, her branch was hidden from where she was standing. She would sit there and write her diary, short thoughts and lyrics, immersing and escaping into a world that wasn't her own.

"ELENA! Hurry up!" Caroline squealed as the water lapped over her feet. "It's freezing!"

Elena rolled her eyes, and most recently her safe-haven had become a hang-out for her and her friends, a place to escape from the adults. "Yeah yeah." She mumbled, forcing her eyes away from her tree and towards her friends in the lake. She was grateful to see they hadn't gone the whole 'skinny dipping' experience; she guessed it was probably because her friends weren't comfortable stripping down in front of Anna. The water rippled at the two girl's waists, their bras partly covered by their folded arms. Elena shook her head at the two figures and sighed, resigning herself to joining the awkward gathering which Caroline was now slowly wading towards.

She slipped off her shoes and quickly took off her shorts and walked into the lake. The faster she walked in, the quicker her body would acclimatize to the cold water – that and her underwear would be out of sight. Her limbs seized up and goose bumps emerged on her skin as the water rose past her knees. She looked at her friends, their eyebrows raised and expecting and closed her eyes in resignation, reaching for her top and throwing it on a small nearby collection of rocks. She immediately wrapped her arms around herself, shivering, and waded herself towards the three figures a few feet away. "Hi."

"S'cold." Bonnie smiled guiltily, her teeth chattering slightly.

"That's because it's evening." Anna rolled her eyes.

Elena watched Bonnie's jaw clench and Caroline's barely concealed narrowed glare in her brother's girlfriends direction. The tension between the three girls was already building. Bonnie and Anna didn't like each other. Elena and Caroline knew it was because of their attraction to Jeremy but it caused unbelievable unspoken tension between the four of them as Caroline sided with Bonnie and Elena was left wanting to side with her friends but unable to in case of falling out with her brother. She tried to take an unbiased side, which she knew considering her current situation with Damon was hypocritical.

She decided not to comment and instead lowered herself into the water so it was lapping at her neck, her head just above the water.

"'Lena are you crazy?!" Bonnie stared at her friend, who was now only a floating head in the water, in shock. "Are you trying to shiver yourself to death?"

Elena stopped herself from her usual eye-roll. "Get fully in the water and you warm up faster."

Caroline raised an eyebrow and Bonnie scoffed. "It's official, you've lost your mind."

"The quicker you emerge yourself in water the quicker your body will adapt to the change in temperature." Elena raised her eyebrows at her friends. "Scaredy cats."

"I am not!" Caroline crossed her arms.

"Oh you are." Elena teased.

Caroline narrowed her eyes playfully. "I'll show you." And with that she dropped herself, the water swallowing up her body till her shoulders. Her eyes went wide and she shot right back up. "Shit! That's cold!"

Elena and Bonnie burst out laughing, Anna smiled in amusement. "You're supposed to stay in the water, now you just have to do it all over again." Elena breathed heavily through her laughter.

"I'm not doing that again!" Caroline exclaimed. "I was right, stupid idea." She jumped up and down. "So cold."

"Bonnie?" Elena looked at her other friend.

"Oh no. Not after Caroline's show." Bonnie shook her head. "It's too cold."

She shrugged. "I'm not cold."

"You're not?" Bonnie raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Nope." She popped the P and grinned at her friend. "Slowly dip yourself into the water and stay there, you warm up quickly."

"Maybe we should splash them?" The three girls turned to look at Anna, her unusual friendly tone reminding them of her presence. She had lowered herself into the water, her hair was wet and sticking to her face; she had fully emerged herself and was now smiling at the three people in her company. "No longer cold."

Bonnie and Caroline forced their astonished expressions into an amused smile, acting at its best. Elena smiled smugly. "Told you."

"Still think it's a stupid idea." Caroline mumbled. "There is no way I'm doing that again."

Bonnie nodded. "I'm with Care."

"Okay." Elena shrugged. "That's fine."

The two girls in question narrowed their eyes at the innocent smile on their best friends face. "Elena, what -?"

Before they could finish their sentence Elena burst out the water, throwing water into the air and over her friends. They squealed, jumping back in shock. Elena laughed, scooping her hands and splashing her friends, listening to their shocked screams. "Stop, Elena stop!" Elena stopped, the water settling around them into ripples. Her two friends stood there, drenched, their hair dripping and their skin soaked.

"Oops."

Caroline narrowed her eyes into slits. "Oops?"

"Accident?"

Bonnie raised an eyebrow, looking at Caroline. "She says it's an accident."

"Do we believe her?"

"Nope."

Elena eyed the growing sly smiles on her friend's faces and narrowed her own. "Please don't."

"Please don't what?" Caroline smiled innocently, mirroring Elena's earlier expression.

"Don't splash m-" She shrieked, dodging out of the way of the water aiming straight for her, she didn't move fast enough and the water slapped into her, she squeezed her eyes shut and jumped back out of the spray. She gulped down air and forced her eyes open a slit, splashing water over her two friends in retaliation. "Two against one is not fair!"

They laughed and redoubled their efforts, Elena matched their force. "Anna, help me!"

"Oh no. I'm not getting involved." She backed out, holding up her hands in surrender.

"Looks like you're on your own 'Lena." Caroline giggled over her splashing.

Elena spat out water, but once again water came gushing her way but this time she was unprepared, caught off guard with her conversation with Anna. She stumbled, losing her footing and fell over, her head submerging under the water as the shock of the landing caused the air to leave her lungs. She pulled herself up to the surface and gulped in air, her two friends were laughing, bent over in stitches. "Evil." Elena grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Us evil?" Bonnie pointed at herself. "You started it."

"We just finished it." Caroline grinned.

"You are horrible, evil friends who think two against one is a fair fight." Elena pouted. "You need a lesson in-"

"-Uh guys?" The three friends turned to look at Anna, their conversation interrupted. But Anna wasn't look at them she was pointing and looking in another direction. Elena turned, following the younger girls direction and the air she had just sucked in left her in a sudden rush. On the bank of the river, opposite to the side the girls had emerged from, was Damon. She had forgotten the hiking trail was only a few feet from the hidden lake, he had probably heard the noise. "Isn't that Damon?"

Elena moved, quickly covering her arms over her chest. Too late, he was smirking, staring at her breasts. She ignored the slight excited tingle and closed her eyes, whispering loud enough so her friends could hear her. "Shit."


A.N/ Aloha! Yes I am still alive and no I have not abandoned this story - thought we'd get that out of the way first! :D.

I know I've taken forever to update, but if any of you read my profile I write a little message at the bottom of the page telling you what I am presently doing. These posts are updated frequently and if I haven't updated in a while they will explain why. I am a full time college student, with a declining social life and a boyfriend who's moaning at me for not spending enough time with him. On top of that I have deadlines to meet and part-time job searching going on. I'm trying to not become a hermit (though hermits are cool - I admit) because that would make me SO reclusive I would have no friends. Can't have that can we ? ;). I will write whenever I can, and unfortunately that's not going to be on a regular constant basis at the moment, I'm trying to organise my life so I have more time to write - bare with me. I'm sorry for the short chapter, I just wanted to tell you all that I'm here and there's no way I'm ever leaving this story behind.

On a more positive note! We reached 200 reviews! THANK YOU to every one who reviews, favourites and alerts and obviously reads this story, your support is what reminds and inspires me to keep writing. All my rants from last chapter are sorted out, and I'm good. Thank you for explaining and understanding - big hugs for you Melanie! :).

Expecting you're fed up of me now ;D, so will be leaving you. Thank you for staying with me and I will try to find more time to write - Oh any mistakes in this chapter are my own, still not got a BETA. :).

Hugs,
-N


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