You Gave Shelter To My Homeless Heart

~Chapter 10~

~Secrets unveiled... Almost~

It was a lazy and quiet day at The Grill today with only a few clients and Damon wasn't sure whether he should be thrilled or not about it. On one hand, active work would have kept his mind busy. It would have forced him to think about something else than his night with Elena. But now that there were practically no clients, he had nothing to do but think and daydream. On the other hand, being too busy could have been dangerous. He couldn't concentrate nor focus on anything. Just with the few breakfast he had cooked this morning he had already cut and burned himself a bunch of time.

He couldn't help the whirlwind of emotions that took him over. He still couldn't believe that last night had been real, but at the same time, his mind and body couldn't forget what had happened. He could still taste her sweet lips and feel the softness of her warm skin. The way she had kissed him, touched him... loved him. The trust she'd had in him to let him make love to her. Him, a worthless nobody... a liar...

He knew he would have to tell her everything he hadn't yet. He needed to, he owed her the truth. He would have to tell her exactly who he was and what he was doing here, in Mystic Falls. The thing was he didn't know if she would want to see him afterward. The thought of that idea made in ache. The thought of losing her, hurt more than anything else.

Damon left the kitchen and walked behind the bar to grab some coffee. He waved at Matt who was cleaning a table. There were only two persons in The Grill and they already had been served. Damon had nothing to do but to get lost in his memories again. Memories of them tangled in the sheets, tangled in each other. Her touch and her kisses. The sound of her moans, her hands in his hair, her nails gripping on his shoulders, her legs cradling his hips...

Damon shifted on his stool feeling suddenly uncomfortable. His pants felt way too tight in this instant. He looked discretely around him. Thank goodness, no one was paying attention to him. He sighed. He definitely would have to talk with her after his shift.

"Hello, Damon." The flirty voice of Vicky came behind him.

"Hello, Vicky." He answered politely.

"Quiet day, isn't it?"

Damon nodded while she hopped on the stool next to him. She rested her elbow on the counter and held her head in her hand. She eyed him intently and nibbled on her bottom lip. It was clear to Damon that she was on flirty mode again.

"Maybe lunch time will be busier." He suggested.

"Maybe..." She said and her hand reached for his arm and she gave him another seductive smile. "But until then... maybe you and I can get to know each other." She winked.

Not a chance in this life, Damon thought.

"I was thinking we could take a rain check on my yesterday's offer to show you around?" Her fingers drew circles on his arm. "You know... since you're new in town."

Damon inwardly groaned and chewed on his words. He yanked his arm as softly as he could out of her fingers and ran his hand in his raven hair. Vicky was a nice girl but he had zero interest in her. He didn't want to be rude to the girl though; there was no need for that. He just wished she would leave him alone.

"That's really nice of you, Vicky." He started with a light smile. "But my friend already gave me a tour." Damon hoped she would believe him and just let go.

"Oh... That's too bad..." She pouted. "Maybe we could hang out after our shift?" She asked with hope.

"I'm sorry, Vicky. I don't think so..."

Vicky slid down her stool and huffed. "Whatever. That's your lost."

"I'm sorry..." He said again as Vicky walked away angrily toward the empty tables and pretended to wipe them with her cleaning rag.

There was a snicker behind him and Damon snapped his head toward the sound. Matt was shaking his head. He was holding empty plates and went to the kitchen with them. When he came back he grabbed some coffee for himself and leaned on the bar to face Damon.

"Don't worry, man." Matt chuckled. "She'll get over it... one day." Matt laughed again.

"Thanks... I guess." Damon frowned.

Elena stirred in her chair with her arms high above her head before dropping them beside her. She shut her laptop off and gripped onto the armrest of her chair and pulled herself up on her feet. Elena tilted her head from one side to another with a hand holding the nape of her neck.

Her article was almost ready. The only things left to do were showing it to Damon first and then make last minute corrections. She still wanted Damon's approval because it was important to her. It wasn't that she mentioned his name or any specifics about that night when they met but she didn't want him to think she was using him to pimp her article.

She rubbed her temples with her fingers. The migraine was coming back and she needed her painkillers. As she slowly climbed the stairs she found herself smiling. She wondered how Damon was doing and she wondered if he was thinking of her at this instant. She bit on her lips when she walked into her room. Her gaze went to her bed that was still undone and images of their night together popped in her mind.

Her smile turned into a stupid grin when she entered her bathroom. She met her reflection in the mirror and she couldn't help the giggles that came from her mouth when she saw her face in it. With a shake of her head she opened the mirrored door of the cabinet above the sink. She raised her hand to grab her medication and was stopped in her track. Right in front of her face was standing a box of condoms. Realisation just hit her that they hadn't used any last night... more than once.

Oh no, no, no... Elena covered her face in her hands. How could she had been so stupid? It wasn't her usual self to act like this... But last night... Everything had happened so fast.

Oh no, no, no... She thought again. That couldn't be happening. Not to her! Quickly she mentally tried to remember when her last periods were. Could she be pregnant? Should she be having a test? Wasn't in it too early? And what about STD? Oh my god! She started to panic. What about HIV? Shit, shit, shit!

Completely forgetting about her migraine and her painkillers she started pacing in her bathroom. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Panicking now was useless. Panicking now wasn't going to change the final results. Right?

Elena sat on the edge of her bath her hands on her lap. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose. She shook her head and ran a hand in her long hair. She would have to talk to Damon about this, isn't it? God! She didn't even know his last name! She got on her feet and started pacing again. What the fuck was she going to do?

As Damon thought earlier, lunch had been a lot busier than breakfast. He hadn't stopped working the kitchen for three consecutive hours. Between burgers and fries, spaghetti marinara, salads, chicken cacciatore and a few more dishes; he hadn't had a second to think.

The Grill was finally quiet again. Vicky went outside to smoke a cigarette. The girl had avoided and had ignored him all day since he rejected her a second time. Not that Damon was complaining. As for Matt, he was in the kitchen with the delivery guy that provided The Grill's aliments.

Damon knew he had something to do before he talked to Elena later today. He took a quick look around him to make sure he was alone and he walked to the public phone. He put some money in it and composed the number he knew by heart. A voice answered after the third ring.

"It's me..." Damon said looking nervously around him. "... Something happened... I'm going to stop this... It's been long enough... Yes... You'll have them soon... I'll find a way... There's someone I need to speak to first... Mystic Falls... No! I don't want you here..." He said quickly. "I'll call you again as soon as possible..."

Damon hung up and ran a hand through his hair.

"Everything's okay?"

Damon spun around startled by the voice behind him. He didn't hear anyone approaching. Matt was standing just behind him and Damon wondered how much of his conversation Matt had caught.

"Is everything fine?" Matt asked again. "You look like you've been caught with your hand in the cookie jar." Matt teased.

Damon coughed a few time.

"Yeah I'm fine." He ran a hand in his hair for the hundredth time today. "Just a phone call I needed to do."

Matt raised his hands in front of himself.

"Hey, man. It's none of my business." Matt told him. "You just seemed weird. I hope you didn't get any bad news or something. "

"No bad news. Everything's fine." Damon shrugged. "Just something I should have done sooner."

"Like I said... It's none of my business. Anyway, I was looking for you. I need your help in the kitchen. The delivery guy was just here. We have a bunch of stuff to place in the storage room."

"Okay. No problem."

Damon followed Matt in the kitchen. Maybe it would keep his mind busy. He knew the next step after the phone call he just made would be to talk with Elena and that scared him. What would she say? What would she do? He just hoped she would not hate him. At least not too much.

Elena was waiting in her living room for Damon to come back from work. She still didn't know how to tell him they had forgotten to use protection. She could already picture herself talking to him. Hi Damon! How was your day? By the way, it's too soon to tell but I could be pregnant! Yeah, talk about a wonderful homecoming. And also, can I at least know your last name? Jeez...

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. She hadn't been this nervous in a long time. It was past four now meaning Damon would be here any minutes. She grew more nervous and anxious with every tics of the clock. Elena nearly expired when she heard the door opening.

She jumped on her feet and rubbed her hands on her jeans. She tried to calm her heart that was beating way to fast through deep breaths but Elena ended up holding the air in her lungs when she saw him. He looked as disheveled and anxious as she was and it only made her more nervous. Something was wrong. The first thing that got through her mind was that he was leaving town.

Elena watched him walking slowly until he was just in front of her. His eyes searched for hers and Damon stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. They just stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity.

"We need to talk."

"We need to talk."

Those four words were said at the same time by both of them. It could have almost been funny if the matter wasn't so serious.

"You go first."

"You go first."

Elena smiled lightly and rubbed her forehead. Her smile never reached her eyes, though. As for Damon, he only chuckled sadly. They would never get anything said at this point if they didn't stop saying the same things at the same time.

They both remained silent, waiting for the other one to start talking. Damon was practically sure of what she was going to say to him. She would tell him last night was a mistake that would not be repeated. Maybe she would ask him to leave... And even if she didn't, which he doubted, she definitely would after he told her everything.

Elena gazed at him. The silence in the room was disturbing. She knew he was waiting for her to say something just she was waiting for him to do the same. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply and when she opened her eyes again she broke the silence.

"Hi." She said and never felt so stupid.

"Hi." He said feeling the same way.

"So..."

"Yeah..."

Elena scoffed uncomfortably and shook her head.

"So, we both need to talk." She told him and he nodded.

An awkward silence filled the room again. Damn it! Why was it so difficult?

"Damon, are you clean?" She blurted out the question so fast he wasn't sure he heard her right.

"Cl-clean?" He frowned.

Elena's heart was beating so fast she thought it would explode.

"Damon... Last night... We didn't use any protections."

He blanched. She was right. Things had happened so fast last night that it didn't even cross his mind before she mentioned him.

"I am." She continued. "But I need to know if you are." She was avoiding looking at him.

"Yes, I am."

Elena finally dared to look at him again.

"Are you sure?" She asked him in a whisper.

Damon understood why she could doubt him. He wasn't even angry at her.

"I'm sure."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Elena... Last night... You were my first in a very long time." He told her and he saw her blush. "I always had safe sex before... I ended up where I am. I never used drugs or shared... anything with anyone. If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that I'm clean."

"Okay. I trust you."

"You do?" He sounded surprised.

She didn't know or couldn't explain why she did, but she trusted him. It was that simple. Maybe she was just being stupid or irrational but she believed him. If he claimed to be clean, then he was.

"Yes. I do." She told him. "And I am too. Clean, I mean. I am clean."

"I don't doubt that for a second, Elena."

He took a step closer to her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered in her hair and his thumb softly stroked her cheek. Their gazes were glued to each other and Damon wanted nothing more than to kiss her. But he didn't.

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

She nodded and grabbed the hand that was cupping her face. She dropped their intertwined fingers next to them with her eyes down.

"There's something else." She began slowly.

"Okay." Damon said and made a step back.

Elena looked up. Damon could see the hesitation on her face.

"Damon... I'm not on the pill..."

His eyes widened. He made another step back and then another again. The back of his knees hit the couch and he felt back on it. I'm not on the pill, I'm not on the pill, I'm not on the pi-

"I mean... I don't have a boyfriend. I wasn't dating either. I didn't feel the need to take it." Elena knew she was rambling but she couldn't stop. "I never did something like this. I never had a one nightstand. Not that we had one. I mean we're not in a relationship either." Elena barely breathed between words. She was starting to panic. "I don't know, Damon... You and I... It happened so fast. I don't even know your last name. I didn't think. I didn't-"

Damon got up on his feet and back to his senses and grabbed Elena by her shoulders. She was shaking and tears were forming in her eyes. He cursed in his head. How could he be so stupid? What if she was pregnant? He was definitely not ready to have a kid. That would complicate things even more that they already were.

"Elena... It's all my fault. I'm sorry."

"Damon... That's not true. I should have thought about the condoms myself."

"Do you think you could be pregnant?" He asked.

"I don't know... I don't think so." She wiped a tear from her face. "It's been only a day. It's too soon to take a test... I think."

When she started crying he took her in his arms. He didn't know what else to do. He felt like screaming. He even wanted to punch something. God this evening was the worst and he didn't even tell her anything, yet.

After a while her cries stopped. He kept holding her and stroked her hair. They were standing in the middle of her living room in each other's arms. She pulled back and locked her eyes to his.

"What am I going to do, Damon?"

"We are going to wait a few days and then you'll take a test."

"We?"

"I'm not going to let you live through this alone, Elena."

There was a ghost of a smile on her lips. Somehow she knew he would react like that. And that's what she needed from him because in all honesty, she was freaking out.

"Thank you." She said and hugged him.

"What for?" He kissed her temple.

"Being like this. Being comprehensive and not running away."

Damon held her tighter. He knew he still had to talk to her, tell her everything but he wasn't sure if the timing was still right. But Elena decided for him.

"You wanted to tell me something too?" She asked still in his arms, her head on his shoulder.

Damon sighed and pulled back. He took Elena's hand and walked them to the couch where they sat next to each other.

"There are things about me you still don't know, about my life. Things I haven't told you."

"Like your last name, for starter?" She tried to joke but she was still a little shaken.

He chuckled sadly. "I should start by that, yes."

Elena grabbed his hand.

"So? What's your name?"

He looked at her for a few seconds before he opened his mouth again.

"My name is Damon Sal-"

He was cut by the doorbell. Elena was about to forget about it but the doorbell rang again and again.

"Damn it!" Elena jumped on her feet. "I'll get this." She told Damon.

Elena was inwardly cursing. She really didn't want to have visitors, especially not today. She opened the door to be faced by a very bubbly Caroline. The blonde was all smiles and practically jumping up and down.

"Hey, Elena! I brought a cake!"

The overjoyed blonde didn't wait for an answer or an invitation to come in. She walked past Elena further in the house leaving a speechless Elena at the door with Stefan. Elena didn't even see him in the first place.

Stefan walked in and closed the door. He kissed both her cheeks and pulled back.

"I'm sorry." He told her. "I try to stop her but..."

Elena gave him a knowing smile. Yes, she knew Caroline oh-too-well. The blonde was unstoppable when she had something in mind.

"It's a bad time, isn't it?" Stefan asked with a concerned look on his face.

"I wouldn't say that. It's just not the best of time."

"I'm sorry." Stefan said again. "I'll try to get her to leave as soon as possible."

"Which means it's impossible." Elena found the strength to giggle.

Stefan chuckled with her. "I promise to try anyway."

"Hello!" They heard her say. "I'm Caroline!"

They both turned their heads to the sound of Caroline's voice.

"Good luck with that." Elena said.

Stefan walked to the living room and Elena followed him. They were entering the living room when she collided into Stefan's back when he stopped straight in his track. Elena stumbled back and almost fell on the floor.

"Damon?" She heard him ask.

A/N: I just wanted to thank every single one of you for reading and reviewing. You are all incredible! Your reviews means the world to me and I love reading all of them.

Now... What is Damon hiding? Who did he call? And what's going to happen now that the brothers are face to face? What will Elena think of this? So many questions!

Please! All I want for Christmas is... Your review! Haha! :)

Have a very Mery Beautiful Christmas. I wish you the best!

Take care.

Eve xo

Twitter: titeve79

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I'm only borrowing the characters. All rights go to L.J. Smith, Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson.