Author: HollyGolightly1985
Rating: M for language, adult situations and possible violence
Summary: Set 8 years after the events of 2x08. Elena, having started a new life in New York, is begrudgingly pulled back to Mystic Falls to support the union of two loved ones. D/E Pairing.
Disclaimer: I obviously own nothing. If I did EVERY episode would be full of Delena fluff!
A/N: I am soooo terribly sorry that this update is so long overdue. I broke my arm and have had an awful time typing with one arm, lol. Plus being on pain killers led me to write and rewrite this chapter many times over. I hope this was worth the wait…
Thanks to those of you that have reviewed and added this story to their alerts/favs. You guys are my driving force! Special thanks to notenoughpotter, bluestriker666, hpfan27, LoveEpicLove, Babi, honeybeets, Naleylover23xo, vampssaywhat, Glinda24 (LOVE the screen name), lateVMlover, GiRl-YoU-dOn'T-kNoW-176, jpav333, and guida76. You have NO idea how much your reviews meant to me. I could NOT stop smiling for hours. You guys are awesome!
Chapter 10: Paint
Elena arrived at the boarding house at eleven forty five the next morning. Damon pulled open the door to reveal Elena dressed in black yoga pants, and a "Jesus is my home boy" tank top. Her dark, curly chocolate locks were thrown up carelessly into a messy bun circled with a white bandana. She had a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks as she smiled warmly up at him.
"Good afternoon, Elena," Damon opened the front door widely. He stepped aside and let her through the threshold.
"Afternoon," she turned and placed her purse on the table by the front door. "So what's for lunch?"
"I'm glad to see you brought your appetite because I made enough food to feed the two fat ladies and their extended family. We're actually having brunch. I hope that's ok?" he asked as he led them through the front hall and into the kitchen.
"My favorite!" Elena happily exclaimed as she sat down at the kitchen counter.
"I remember," his back was facing her as he scooped up a plate full of scrambled eggs.
"Of course," Elena smiled softly as she accepted the plate from Damon. "Oh French toast, sausage, bacon, eggs and fruit. I don't know where to start. It all looks so good!"
"I recommend starting with the French toast," Damon came around the counted and plopped down on the barstool next to Elena. "I made it myself. It's an old family recipe."
"Alright, French toast it is," she poured a generous amount of syrup over the toast and began cutting it into smaller, more manageable pieces. "I must warn you, I will scrutinize your French toast. How could I not after having the best French toast ever, in Los Angeles? The best French toast I have ever had is at this little place in L.A. called Griddle Café. I've never been able to find French toast to rival it. Be prepared for a potentially harsh judgment."
"Bring it on, Gilbert," Damon challenged with a raise of his eyebrows. He watched as she speared a piece of French toast and quickly popped it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and threw her head back with a low moan. Damon took a swallow to control his swelling arousal at the sounds she was making. Clearing his voice he asked, "Well?"
"Mmmm," Elena moaned lowly again. "This is so good! I'm going to have to say this might be the best French toast I've ever had."
"Ha!" Damon exclaimed triumphantly.
"However," she held up a finger to silence his gloating. "It has been several years since I've had Griddle's. How can I possibly remember how their's tasted after all of this time? Let's come to a compromise and say that your's is the best I've come across since Griddle's."
"I'll take that as the highest of compliments," Damon scooped up a mouthful of eggs into his mouth.
"Please do," Elena made quick work of her French toast and scraped her plate clean of any and all syrup. The rest of their breakfast followed in serene silence. It was a comfortable silence and each enjoyed the simple pleasure of the other's presence. When she'd cleared her plate Elena rose and carried her plate and glass to the sink and began rinsing them clean.
"Please, Elena, you are a guest in my home. You don't have to clean your dishes. I will take care of it later," he stood to her right and leaned over her arm to place his dishes in the sink as well.
"I insist. After all, you made me brunch. It's the least I can do," she squirted a drop of soap on the plates and began scrubbing them clean.
"Oh! Check out Ms. Domesticity," Damon wagged his eyebrows as he hopped up and sat on the countertop, dangling his legs.
"Ha!" Elena exclaimed sarcastically. "This is the girl who had plastic cutlery and paper dishes for the first two years living on her own. Donna Reed would besmirch my reputation as anything but indolent. Dry please!" Elena handed the dish towel and plate to Damon.
Working at the plate Damon smirked, "If it's any consolation I think pearls are highly overrated. That and you could so take Donna Reed!"
"Totally," she nodded in agreement. After finishing the dishes they headed upstairs to start work on their project.
"Eggshell White huh?" Elena read the top of the can of paint. "Because Plain White is so last season."
"You might be surprised to know that there are seriously hundreds of shades of white, Elena. I know I was," he laughed while cracking the lid off of the paint. He quietly stirred the paint with a wooden dowel as Elena began assembling the roller brushes.
"Oh I know," Elena slid the roller brush head onto the handle and set it down. "I took an interior design class my Sophomore year at UCLA. I quickly discovered I will never master the technique of Feng Shui."
"Well we can't be perfect at everything can we?" Damon poured a generous amount of paint into a plastic paint pan and slid it in Elena's direction.
"No, I suppose not. It is my life's biggest sorrow that I'll never be able to arrange throw pillows in an auspicious manner. My qi will forever be unbalanced," she dipped her roller brush in the paint thoroughly coating it. She turned and began her work on the wall.
"Take a yoga class. That oughta do the trick," he set out to work on his wall too.
"Noted," Elena laughed as she rolled on more paint.
"Music?" Damon asked as he strolled over to his iPod docking station placed in the far corner of the room.
"Yes please."
Damon scrolled through his iPod trying to pick a song before deciding to set it to 'shuffle'. Soon the first few notes of Social Distortion's 'Story of My Life' filtered through the stereo.
Well High school seemed like such a blur
I didn't have much interest in sports or school elections
And in class I dreamed all day
About a rock 'n' roll weekend
Elena softly sang along with the song.
"You're a Social D fan?" Damon smiled as he listened to her soft, melodious voice.
"Absolutely," she nodded emphatically. "I actually saw them last year at CBGB. They put on a great show."
"Speaking of shows," Damon fished. "How is the planning coming along for the variety show?"
"Ugh, please don't remind me. I still can't believe I agreed to participate. I haven't decided on a selection let alone two," Elena grumbled as she rolled the brush back and forth.
"I'm sure you'll wow us with whatever you choose."
"Thanks," she blushed and was thankful that they had their backs to each other. "I'm sure Uncle Damon will be pleased to hear that Maddie is doing a ballet dance for the variety. A solo, actually."
"Your family is blessed with one too many talented females," Damon laughed silently.
Elena laughed along with him, "Yeah more like hams. So I have to ask…"
"Yes?" Damon probed while turning around on his heals to face Elena.
"Did you repair these damages all on your own or did you have help?" Elena asked curiously.
"I repaired the house by myself. Why do you ask?" he turned back around and continued painting.
"No reason. It just fulfills every Bob Villa type fantasy I've ever had about you," she grinned evilly as she focused on her paintbrush.
"Fantasy?" Damon spun around on his heals so quickly he almost lost his balance. Almost.
"Oh yeah," she continued without turning to face him. "Although I must admit…" She turned around and looked straight in to his stormy colored eyes.
"Yes?" Damon egged her on. He was dying in anticipation of her explanation.
"It wasn't so much a Bob Villa fantasy so much as…" she paused while licking her lips seductively. Damon's eyes quickly acknowledged the sexy maneuver. She took a deep breath and whispered, "A village people like fantasy."
"Pardon?" Damon furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. The Village People were the antithesis of sexy!
"Oh yeah," Elena's voice was low and sultry. "I can clearly picture it." She slowly crept over to where Damon sat crouched on his hind legs. She leaned in and continued whispering seductively, "That tight white wife beater, short jean cut offs that verge on the edge of daisy dukes, red suspenders, a hard hat and shiny black workman's boots." Her lips twitched minutely giving her away instantly. She was joking with him.
"Daisy dukes!" Damon exclaimed offensively. "You take that back Gilbert!"
With a devilish smile she shook her head side to side and replied, "Nope." She made an effort to pop her 'p' in a mocking gesture.
Quicker than she could register, Damon picked up the paint roller and swiftly dragged it down the ridge of her nose. She gasped loudly in pure surprise and shock. Her chest heaved heavily from fighting not to laugh and from her own stupor.
"You did not just do that," Elena playfully glared at him.
"Oh but I think I did," Damon mocked while lightly laughing at the look on her face.
She reached up and pulled her white bandana down so that it sat around her forehead like an exercise headband. She leaned over and put her finger in the paint pan before bringing it back up to place a horizontal line on each cheek just below each eye. Truly looking like a warrior now she narrowed her eyes into slits and gave Damon a steady gaze, "Oh it's on, Salvatore!"
"Bring it on Pocahontas!"
Swift as possible they both lunged for the paint pan at the same time. Knocking each other's hands out of the way they feverishly soaked their hands in the paint. Elena sat up quickly and flicked her hand furiously in Damon's direction spackling his side in large globs of thick white paint. Damon recovered quickly and turned around and clamped his drenched hand or her upper arm.
Upping the ante, Elena plastered her other hand directly across his beaming face. She laughed maniacally as she rubbed her hand back and forth smearing the paint across his face and partially into his mouth. He sputtered repeatedly before turning his back to her and reaching for the paint pan. He picked it up in both hands and quickly stood. Elena squealed and scuffled before standing up and attempting to dash to her paint pan on the opposite side of the room. Before she got very far she felt a trail of cold paint being poured down her back. She shrieked at the contact with the cold substance on her heated skin. Laughing hysterically she leaned down and picked up her own pan. Turning around quickly she thrust the pan forward and proceeded in drenching Damon down the front of his dark grey V shaped t shirt and down his dark wash pants.
Elena leaned down once more and retrieved her roller brush before lunging in Damon's direction. She latched onto his bicep and started rolling the brush up and down the side of his head. Damon grabbed Elena by the shoulders and turned her away from him. He trust both hands into her scalp and began massaging a generous amount of paint into her scalp.
"Damon!" Elena squawked out in between fits of laughter.
Damon dropped down and busied himself with coating his hands once more. Elena took this moment to her advantaged. She lunged at his crouching figure and succeeded in toppling him over to the ground. She was fairly certain that he was letting her dominate his vampiric strength. She hurriedly attacked his face once more attempting to created a mustachio on his beautifully clean shaven face. Damon laughed whole heartedly before quickly throwing his weight into shifting their positions.
Elena gasped in shocked as she was turned over swiftly on her back. She laughed uncontrollably once more underneath Damon. She looked up into his face and laughed harder at the mess she had created on his handsome face. "Unc…Un…Uncle…," Elena finally spat out from under Damon's lithe form. Her laughter slowed down as she gazed into Damon's baby blues.
Damon had Elena pinned under him, caging her in with both arms above her shoulders and both legs straddling her own. The laughter had instantaneously died from his lips when they landed in this position. He was fighting an inner battle with his mounting lust. It would be too easy to lean down and capture that sweet, teasing little mouth of hers in a kiss that would effectively silence her. His eyes were bouncing back and forth between her deep mahogany eyes and her soft, pink, perfect lips.
Elena had gone silent and almost still under his intense gaze. She was absolutely trembling inside and was quite sure that to a certain degree her tremors were transferring to her exterior form. She knew from their conversation the previous night that he was all to aware of her physical reactions to him. It was pointless in being embarrassed by her thundering heartbeat and quick intakes of air. She was terrified to move an inch underneath him lest she break the trance they were locked in. Feeling extremely anxious and antsy she quickly ran her tongue over her lower lip to give her something to do before she went out of her mind. She saw his eyes flash down to her lips quickly and watched as his pupils dilated to the point where his eyes were pure onyx. Slow as physically possible she noticed his head inching forward.
Panic and excitement set in all too quickly for her liking. They had just started rebuilding their friendship and she wanted to take things slowly. However, her body was betraying her severely and begging for the attention he was sure to lavish her with.
Before another thought had time to streak across her mind his lips were on hers. All thought process stopped with that single action. She was too stunned to do anything but lay there completely floored. Soon though she felt the warmth of his tongue tracing the perimeter of her lips. She was running on pure instinct and hormones at this point and opened her mouth instantly. The moment his tongue swept over her own she moaned weakly with utter desperation. More, she wanted-no needed more. His tongue was wreaking absolute havoc on her own. Probing deeply and gently he took just as much as she gave back.
A deep guttural moan that escalated into a throaty growl snapped her out of her trance. What are you doing Elena? She asked herself hysterically. She couldn't be doing this. She had promised both Damon and herself that they would work on rebuilding their friendship. This was no way to start out the path of reparation. It's now or never, Gilbert she screamed mentally. It took all the strength she had to fight off her raging hormones. She begrudgingly broke off from their kiss and turned her head to the side in an attempt to catch her breath.
Damon was so consumed by his desire that he immediately attacked her exposed neck with sensual nibbles and sweet, sucking kisses.
Elena panted heavily beneath Damon as a sheen of perspiration spread across her chest from his desperate and furious work. "Damon," she moaned breathily in attempt to catch his attention.
"Yes?" he murmured softly against her pulse point.
"Stop. We…have to…stop," she tried her hardest to contain the imminent moans. "Now!"
He pulled back to gaze into her eyes as he detected a note of panic in her tone. He could see the inner battle raging in her deep beautiful eyes. Her brows were furrowed in concern. It struck Damon as odd as it was such a stark contrast to the look of pure hunger on the rest of her face.
"We can't," she pleaded with him in desperation and through the intensity in her eyes.
"I know," he conceded and bowed his head to rest to the side of her own. "I'm sorry. It's hard to control myself when I'm so close to you." He lifted his head and rested his forehead against hers softly. "When I'm touching you," he whispered lowly in her ear earning another low painful moan from her.
"I know," she exclaimed desperately. Taking a deep shaky breath she continued, "But I really value our friendship above all. I know it sounds like a line but I'm adamant about fully restoring our friendship before we tread into the unknown, Damon."
Lifting his head he caught her eyes and held them intently, "Elena, it's just as important to me as it is to you. I am so grateful for the opportunity to rekindle our friendship. I don't take that lightly. I had a moment of weakness and I apologize for that."
"It's okay, Damon. In case you hadn't noticed I wasn't exactly lying here letting you take advantage of me. I can admit to my own weakness. Let's just move passed this and take it one day at a time," she smiled as she lifted her hand up to cup his white streaked cheek.
"One day at a time," he smiled in agreement before pushing himself up and off of Elena. He held out his hand to her and lifted her to her feet. "I think our painting has come to a stand still seeing as we used up most of the paint. I'm going to have to get some more. I guess we can call it a day and resume this another day." He was disappointed at the thought of her leaving so soon.
"Or we could go get some right now and finish it up before the afternoon is up," she offered up.
"Sure," he smiled before his eyes grew mischievous. "However, I am not being seen anywhere with you looking like that!"
"Oh and you're presentable by comparison?" she crossed her arms across her chest and cocked an eyebrow at him.
"No, neither of us looks presentable. Let's get cleaned up," he took her hand and led her to the main hallway bathroom. It took a good twenty minutes to scrub the almost dry paint off of each other. Unfortunately the paint streaking their hair would stay until they could shower in their own time.
Another twenty minutes later found them walking down the main strip of town and towards the hardware store. Damon was enthralled in a story Elena was telling and laughing at the correct times. Their laughter was soon interrupted by the continual shouting of a man somewhere behind them.
"Dougie!"
Elena whipped her head around searching for the source of the disembodied voice. Looking behind her shoulder she was shocked to see the man standing a yard behind them. Her shock soon turned to excitement and she took off like a bullet.
Damon watched in confusion as Elena ran at full speed to the man behind them. He was less than amused and more annoyed when Elena shrieked as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around the man's torso gripping on to him tightly.
"Aaron!" He heard Elena squeal excitedly.
Oh fucking fantastic! Damon fumed silently as he watched the display before him. This is not good.
Uh-oh! Who is this Aaron guy? ...Evil laughter! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review!
BTW, who else was a crazy fan girl and squeed with excitement when Jeremy and Bonnie were cozying up in this weeks episode?