Chapter Ten: Moving Forward
Author's Note: Hey everyone, sorry for the long absence my computer crashed and it e some time to get the files off the drive. Anyway, here is the next chapter, it shorter than the other ones but more focused on relationship building. Anyway, enough from me, its time to get on with the show…
Previously on the Vampire Diaries:
"In the future, when we found the cure…did you want to take it?" Elena asked Damon, knocking him back a foot in shock. He knew she was going to ask this as soon as she found out about it and he hoped that his answer would not scare her away.
Damon stood still trying to think of a way out of this conversation, he knew Elena would be curious about the cure, but he didn't expect her to ask him point blank what had happened to him when they had found the cure. Elena was looking at Damon patiently waiting for him to answer he, Damon knew he would have to tell the truth.
"In the future when we found the cure…I was prepared to take it" Damon murmured, breaking Elena's stare and taking a seat in front of the fire. Elena hadn't moved or made a sound yet in response to his reply, so when after several moments of silence lingered on for too long for Damon's liking he finally looked up at her. Elena was shocked, Damon knew the answer shocked her now just as it did in the future. The difference now was there wasn't years of memories together to help her understand his choice; from her point of view their relationship was brand new (and in certain area's still not quite defined), Damon knew she was failing to understand why he would want to become human.
"But you love being a vampire, don't you?" Elena asked coming to sit beside Damon on the couch, she was unable to take her eyes off his face, it was as if she was seeing him for the first time. He had seen that look many times over the past several days and this again reminded Damon of the differences of where his relationship was with Elena in the future and his relationship with her now.
"No, I don't. I accepted that I am a vampire and I learned ways to make it fun…but I miss it. I miss being human" Damon replied softly almost in a whisper, he was sharing a secret he had once spoken to a poor human on the side of a dark highway when he had been fighting against the growing humanity that he had felt like was choking him at the time. Now he could freely admit it and not only that he could admit that he wanted what came with that human life.
"So, if we go find the cure right now, you would take it?" Elena asked Damon who shook his head no in response again shocking Elena.
"But you just said…" Elena murmured, confused and hurt by this new admission. Damon simply turned to her and gave her a soft smile; one that Elena was reserved only for her.
"There are too many enemies to deal with, Cade and others have to be taken care of but once things are calm, yes I want to be human but I can't protect you or Mystic Falls as a human" Damon replied, his response caused Elena to smile at him before she burrowed her head into his side.
"Did…did we talk about what would happen once you became human?" Elena asked into the comfortable silence that fallen over the room. Damon smiled in response, he kissed the top of her head and leaned back deeper into the couch.
"Yes, we did, and we will have our own conversation once the time is right, but tonight I just want to be with you" Damon murmured looking down into Elena's eyes.
"I love you" Damon continued; his answer drew a watery smile from Elena whose emotions were all over the place.
"I love you too" Elena murmured pulling Damon's head down for a kiss, his answers had shocked her, and he knew that this conversation was at an end…for the moment.
Bennet House, Mystic Falls
Early Afternoon-Next Day, 2011
Damon was sitting his faithful car out the front of the Bennet house, he had been waiting here for the last ten minutes awaiting Bonnie and Elena getting home from school. He shook his head again, Elena and the rest of the group still in high school was yet another reminder of the different time he now found himself in. After Damon's admission last night, he and Elena had lost themselves in each other in what Damon would consider to be the longest make out session of his life. He had eventually said that if he didn't take her home now, he would be taking her to his bed. Elena cheeks had turned a faint red, but she looked like she almost wanted to tell him what was stopping him. He didn't want to move their physical relationship beyond what she was ready for. In the future they had become intimate almost from the start of their relationship and he felt it had caused…complications later on down the line.
The sound of Bonnie's car made him look, spotting Bonnies car that had Elena and Bonnie sitting in the front seat and Blondie in the back. He wasn't aware that Caroline had been invited, it hurt that she was still firmly in the Elena was making a mistake team. It also made him laugh, the thought of future Caroline trying to push Elena and Stefan together was laughable. Caroline and Stefan's relationship were quite like Elena and his own. They started off as friends who gradually as the years went by became more, they had both denied anything was going on for months until finally they admitted how they felt for each other. After that Damon knew his brother would never love anyone like he did Caroline because of the look Stefan would get in his eye whenever Caroline entered the room; it was the same look he had seen reflected in his own eyes ever time they caught sight of Elena.
Damon got out of the car and walked over the girls who were now making their way up to the front door.
"Hi Damon" Elena murmured breaking away from the group and pulling him down for a soft kiss. Damon smiled unable to stop himself as he looked down at her, thankful that she didn't want to hide their relationship from her friends. Damon saw Caroline roll her eyes and look the other way, but Bonnie just smiled softly before she turned back to her front door. Damon and Elena made their way back up the stairs as Bonnie opened the front door and walked inside. Damon without even thinking went to walk in the front door with Elena when he was abruptly stopped by the Barrier of Bonnie's front door. Elena continued in for a moment before she realised Damon wasn't with her. The shocked look on his face sent Bonnie and Elena into a fit of laughter with even Caroline fighting a smile at the raven-haired vampire.
"Ummm Bon-Bon if you wouldn't mind?" Damon asked letting slip one the many nicknames he had used over the years…however this particular one caused the laughter to die away from the girls and shocked silence to take hold. That nick name wasn't one that Damon had come up with for young witch; it was a nick name Caroline and Elena had come with in the third grade for their friend. And Bonnie never let anyone, but her two best friends call her that, the fact that Damon not only knew about it but used it so easily caused Bonnie to understand that she and Damon were good friends in the future.
"Come in Damon" Bonnie replied slightly in shock; she hadn't even realised she had invited the one vampire she had vowed would never allow past her front door into her home. Damon walked in slowly, becoming aware of the amount of trust Bonnie just placed in him. He stopped in front of her and smiled down at her.
"You won't regret this Bonnie, I promise" Damon murmured looking back up and taking his place beside Elena. Bonnie shook herself off and moved in the direction of the lounge room; her various grimoires they had collected spread out over the coffee table. Seeing the sight caused a flicker of familiarity to rush through him before he shook it off and moved to sit down on the ground facing the coffee table. Bonnie moved over beside Damon while Elena and Caroline moved to site beside the couch.
"I've been looking through Emily's grimoire but I've having trouble with some of the pages. Their written in Latin and it's slow going since I have to translate them" Bonnie murmured pulling an ancient looking text towards them. Damon pulled it over and look at it for a moment before he picked up a pen and paper beginning to write as he checked the page.
"You can read Latin?" Bonnie asked shock evident in her voice, Damon looked up at her and laughed at her bewildered look.
"Hello, born in the 1800s, Latin was part of my schooling. That and I know a lot of languages as well not a lot to do with an eternity" Damon murmured looking up at Bonnie smiling at her. He looked back down at the paper and pulled the book over to them as well.
"Look Latin is easy…" Damon began delving into a basic lesson on how to read and translate Latin. Bonnie was uneasy at first but then she realised she had someone who could help her not only translate but learn the different languages she had seen throughout the various books. After almost twenty minutes of non-stop talk between Damon and Bonnie in regard to the pages they had translated so far Caroline finally snapped, boredom winning out.
"Ok that's it I can't take anymore Latin or witchy talk and I'm hungry. I'm going to call Stefan and see if he wants to go hunting" Caroline said jumping off the couch and pulling her phone out. A stab of guilt shot through Damon at the thought of his brother; Damon had called him last night after he had returned from dropping Elena off. His younger brother had told him that he needed space from his brother and that for the moment he would be staying at Caroline's for the time being.
"How is he?" Damon asked looking at Caroline a look of caring in his eyes, Caroline almost felt for him then she reminded herself of what he had done to her.
"His brother is currently making out with his now ex-girlfriend, how do you think he's taking it?" the blond spat out, not waiting for a reply before she stormed out the back door and into the forest that surrounded the Bennet house.
Damon sighed for a second before he got up and pulled a flash from his pocket. He took a deep pull from it before he placed the cap back on and put it back into his jacket pocket. Bonnie was looking at Elena then at Damon a look of confusion crossing her face. Damon had realised that Elena had grabbed her hand in silent support and was feeling what both Elena and Damon felt at the sound of Caroline's scathing words.
"You might want to let go of Sabrina's hand; I think she might be getting an emotional overload at the moment" Damon spoke looking down at their linked hands. Elena looked at her friend and realised she had felt what both Damon and Elena were feeling.
"What's going on…suddenly when I touch people, I can see emotions and sometimes even their thoughts? That didn't happen until you came back Damon" Bonnie asked a hint of fear in her voice. Her abilities had developed slowly over time and Damon was unsure of what could suddenly be activating her latent psychic abilities.
"You're not just a witch Bon, you're a psychic too. Believe it or not true psychics are very rare" Damon replied. This shocked Bonnie further, if he only knew some of various roles she had played over the years. He would make sure that Bonnie would live a happy life with whoever she felt deserved her. Bonnie was his best friend; she had been there for him in some pretty dark moments and like Elena she had come to accept Damon for who he was.
"Look at the moment we have to focus on Ric, just avoid touching people and when this whole Hunter thing is settled, I'll give you a history lesson" Damon said sitting back down and pulling a book over.
Bonnie and Elena traded looks before Elena walked around and settled herself into Damon's side. The three continued to work on the spell books looking for spell to free Alaric but before Bonnie knew what was happening she was actually laughing at a joke Damon had just said that had Elena letting out peals of laughter, as Damon pulled her in for a quick kiss Bonnie couldn't quite believe she was having fun. After a few moments Damon realised Bonnie was looking at him with a questioning look he had seen many times cross her face.
"What is it Bon?" Damon asked leaning back into armchair that was behind him, Elena got up and walked into the kitchen saying she needed a glass of water.
"How did we become friends; in the future I mean?" Bonnie asked, Damon felt a pang of fear pass through him at the thought; whilst he had come to cherish those four months with Bonnie and the friendship, they had formed it had still had a disastrous effect on both their life's.
"It's a long story Bon, but I guess we spent time together. Your pretty good company you know" Damon replied not wanting to explain to Bonnie that they had died. Elena walked back into the living room and placed herself between Damon's legs, leaning back so his chest was pressed tightly against her. Bonnie picked another book and starting ask about a translation she had been having trouble with for the last several weeks. Before Elena had realised what had happened, she had drifted off, lulled to sleep by the slight warmth Damon provided and sound of Bonnie's inquiring voice. It took Damon several moments to realise she had drifted off; he grew concerned it was out of character for Elena to fall asleep like this in the afternoon.
"She's ok Damon" Bonnie murmured raising her hand and placing it on her friend's forehead. After a moment she shook her head and looked at Damon, the same piercing looks she had given him many times over the years…when she wanted Damon to be honest with her.
"She's ok, look I shouldn't be the one to tell you this, but Stefan turned up at school today. Don't worry I didn't let them out of my sight…but it was a pretty brutal fight emotional wise and well Caroline tagged along keeping up the whole 'Stefan is better for her' the whole way. Damon you truly love her, don't you?" Bonnie asked finally getting to the point.
"More than anything" Damon replied without hesitation which caused Bonnie to smile at him.
"Look bring her up to my room, honestly I know she hasn't been sleeping properly or eating and with everything that has been happening the last couple of days it's a lot for anyone to take" Bonnie said to Damon. He nodded his head in reply and began walking towards the back of the house towards Bonnies room. He placed her in the bed, softly stroking her stroke before he covered her up and walked out of the room.
He walked back into lounge room and pulled one of the many books towards him as Bonnie sat back down in the chair. As they started to talk about the latest page and whether it could help with Ric Damon smiled, he was glad that at least one of his friendships was on track.
Several hours later…
Elena awoke slowly, not really sure of where she was for a moment before recognition of her surroundings suck in and she realised she was in Bonnies house, she had been sleeping in her friends' bed when she had woken up. Suddenly the smell of food and soft laughter coming from the kitchen dragged her out of bed. As she slowly walked into the kitchen the scene, she came upon both shocked and warmed her heart. Damon was at the chopping board, several saucepans behind him sizzling with food. Bonnie had her back to Elena, but she had a glass of wine in her hand and there didn't seem to be a single spell book in sight.
"Hey sleep head about time you woke up, I was about to send Sabrina in to wake you up" Damon spoke causing Bonnie to turn around and take her friend in her arms.
"Hey, how are you?" Bonnie asked her friend softly; she was not sure what had exactly happened until the last thing she remembered was that she was in the lounge room with Bonnie and Damon.
"I'm ok sorry I guess I was more tired than I thought" Elena replied walking in and taking a seat beside Bonnie at the kitchen table.
"It's ok, we found a spell, but we need to get some ingredients and it can't actually be performed until the full moon" Bonnie replied causing Elena to smile at her best friend. Damon had just finished dishing up several plates of food and carried them over to the two women. The one he placed in front of Elena had more food which caused her to raise her eyebrows at him.
"You didn't eat lunch today" Damon said in response to her question which caused her to sigh and turn to Bonnie once again.
"Can we not talk about Stefan or Klaus for five minutes. So you guys seem to be getting a long better" Elena replied not wanting to pop the pleasant atmosphere she was experiencing with her love and best friend.
"So, I was just explaining to Bonnie that she should give up her obsession with crosswords. She thinks she's good at them but she's really not" Damon spoke giving in to Elena and making Bonnie shoot a fake glare at him.
"I am awesome at crossroads" Bonnie replied defensively causing Damon to laugh at her.
"Please, the amount of times I've had to help you finish those" Damon said causing Bonnie to starting eating and ignore him. Elena just shook her head warmed at the sight of her…was Damon her boyfriend? The word seemed small for what they seemed to mean to each other, what he meant to her.
"I won't asking for you help again then. I can do it on my own" Bonnie replied which caused Damon to laugh more. Elena ate and slowly she realised that Caroline won't accept Damon, at least any time than at least Bonnie would. As the three started to eat dinner she couldn't help but wonder how to bridge the gap that was slowly growing between herself and Caroline.
"You ok love?" Damon asked causing Elena to snap out of her thoughts and look at Damon, what had he just called her? Elena noticed that it wasn't only her that was shocked by this but also Bonnie too.
"What…what did you just call me?" Elena asked causing Damon to scratch the back of his head and start gathering the plates off the table. Bonnie snorted and look at Damon, she was laughing before she even spoke.
"You are sooooo whipped Damon" Bonnie spoke causing Elena to freeze for a moment, several days ago they had gotten into an argument just before Damon came back about her trying to change him into Stefan. Instead Damon just laughed at Damon, it was the carefree laugh that she had come to know but to see Damon laughing in response to Bonnie's joke.
"Don't tell anyone Bon" Damon murmured starting to wash the plates as Bonnies phone rang. She looked down at it for a moment before she sighed and placed it face down on the table.
"Mini Gilbert still calling you?" Damon asked placing the last plate in the dish rack, wiping up and placing the towel over his shoulder.
"How did you know?" Bonnie asked.
"Because you get that look a lot whenever you show up at my house needing a drinking buddy and somebody to vent to. Look I know that your pissed about the ghost thing but I think you should come him some slack" Damon murmured causing Bonnie to frown.
"He lied to me for four months about seeing his dead girlfriends, shouldn't I be mad?" Bonnie asked as Elena remained, unsure of what to say at the moment torn between her best friend and her brother.
"Look Jeremy has had a hell of a couple of years. He lost Vicki…" Damon said, he was able to keep the guilt out of his voice but the look that Elena was shooting him told him she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"After that the next girl he falls in love with is killed by his Uncle, then his Aunt is killed and he himself died. Just talk to him, give him a chance to explain himself" Damon finished looking at Bonnie who frowned and looked down at her phone. She smiled at Damon, picked her phone up and walked out of the room. Damon could hear her down the hall calling Jeremy, Damon smiled when suddenly he felt Elena walk up behind him and place her hand in his.
"Thank you for that" Elena said leaning her head on his shoulder. Damon smirked down at her, as he looked down into her brown eyes and he lost the fight unable to fight the urge any longer.
He leaned down and softly connected his lips with her, her hand drifted up and softly caressed his face before moving to his neck and pulling him closer. As Elena twisted so she was fully facing Damon, she wrapped both of her arms around his neck and pulled him as close as possible. After several minutes a sudden throat clearing caused them to break apart and look up at the entryway to the kitchen where Bonnie was standing. She was smiling at them, something that Elena felt grateful for.
"God you two have been dating for five minutes and can't keep your hands off of each other" Bonnie said causing Elena to blush and Damon to frown for a moment; he kept forgetting that to Elena this relationship was still brand new; he had memories that she didn't and he realised how unfair it would be to keep those treasured memories to himself.
"Speaking of, Elena how would you like go on a date tomorrow after school?" Damon asked looking down at Elena who blushed even hard but the smile she was giving him smile that split her face.
"I'd love to" Elena replied causing Damon to lean down and kiss her. The feel of a piece of paper bouncing off his head caused him to break the kiss and look at Bonnie who had her hand raised and ready to throw another balled up piece of paper.
"Seriously guys" Bonnie exclaimed looking at them, the smile taking the bite out of her words. Damon smiled as Bonnie walked over to Elena and dragged her out of Damon's arms.
"I need to pinch your girlfriend, you can pick her up later tonight. We are long overdue for a girl talk I think" Bonnie said hugging Elena who laughed at her friend.
"Sure, ok I know when I'm not wanted" Damon said walking over to them and giving the pair of girls a hug "Enjoy your girl time, I guess I will go hang out with Ric." Damon dropped a kiss onto Elena's lips before shooting Bonnie a smile.
He walked out the front door and down the steps to his car, stopping when the sound of his phone broke the early evening air. Pulling out the phone he sighed when he saw the caller ID realising, he wasn't about to get to hang out with his friend for a while.
"Hello Klaus" Damon spoke after answering the call and raising the phone to his ear.
Author's Note: What did guys think, hope you liked the Bonnie, Elena and Damon bonding. Now I have question, who should I pair Bonnie with? Should Bonnie be with Jeremy or Enzo? Anyway let me know which you prefer and what you thought of the chapter with a review, until next time…