Play Your Game
A Vampire Diaries Fanfic.
Damon Salvatore x Ashlan Corral
'For those who think Life has ended before it's truly begun.'
Song: 'Eagle Eye Cherry' -Save Tonight
Chapter 9
"Kick Back, On Track"
Morality.
It seems to get the better of us a lot.
I find it funny that so many people set out and commit their whole life to understanding the human mind. They are eternally fascinated by why the mind works the way it does, but it's only because we are so primal that the answer is obvious.
When we are born, we don't know anything- or so many believe. I believe it's hardwired into our brains to do one thing and one thing alone.
Want.
We want food to make our stomach stop hurting. We want attention so that we have some sort of interaction with the world. We want to feel warm to stop our body's from shivering. We want to explore the world, because it's just at our finger tips.
It's only through age that we learn- wanting is not the only thing we can do. It's just the core founding of new emotions. We will always want things, there will never be a time when we won't. We want love, we want money, we even want attraction. People say telling others what you want is the hardest thing ever, but I believe that's a big lie.
The truly most difficult task for any sentient being to learn is not showing what we want, but giving what we want to others. Despite our eternal quest for possessing things that nobody ever taught us, giving things away is something we can only be taught.
It is true that we cannot give away something that was never ours in the first place, but giving something that is only ours to possess is so much more difficult. Yet we continue our quest of possession, and we learn the tricks behind this thing called sharing. Did you know, that if you give someone something, they'll give you something in return?
We've got it down to a science- for every action there is a reaction. So in this eternal quest of possession, we learned that if you want somebody to give you something, you must give them something of equal value in return.
Funny thing is, they never say what happens when you give too much.
"And that is why I love to write limericks." I said, and the class gave a laugh. I smiled, turning around to clean up the board. The bell rang after that, so I turned around and hollered out a reminder that papers were due next Friday.
"Enjoy the rest of your day!" I called, and a few kids actually said goodbye when they left. I busied myself with papers, cleaning everything up, but the clearing of a throat alerted me to a presence. Looking up, I saw Elena standing there with a smile.
"You wanted to see me Ash?" She asked with a smile, and I nodded.
"Yeah, Jenna invited me over for dinner, y'know, to discuss Jeremy and you and... the whole situation. I was planning on using it to somehow gain a bit more sympathy for the kid, maybe help him out. Anyway, is that dinner still on?" I asked, curiously. Elena opened her mouth to speak, but paused for a second.
"Actually, I think Jenna said something about it next week, but would you mind coming over tonight anyways?" Elena asked, so I quirked a brow and she explained. "Bonnie and Stefan are coming over for dinner, but there's this whole misunderstanding between them, and you seem pretty good at sorting things out." Elena said with a hopeful smile.
I snorted a bit, cupping my face to hide my laughter. She gave me an odd look, and so I shook my head.
"I'd love to, buuuut I'm not that good at being nice to people, I'm actually an Emo Loner Girl, so my friends say." I said the last part a bit quieter, thinking of Maria. Elena seemed to catch on, but then I shook my head.
"Dinner sounds lovely." I insisted, smiling widely. She nodded before giving me details and walking out the door. However, she paused mid way, talking to somebody. It was then that Stefan came in, and Elena watched him for a moment before leaving. I gave a forced smile, still clearing papers.
"Stefan, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked, grinning slightly.
"I was actually wondering about that wound on your neck." Stefan said, and I immediately grasped at the bandage before shaking my head.
"Ah yeah, rabid raccoon isn't exactly the greatest story to tell the class, but it is true." I said, remembering how I walked in announcing never to get drunk because raccoons will eat you. Most of the class laughed, even more seemed shocked when they saw my neck.
"Are you feeling okay, is there anything I could do?" Stefan asked, looking upset, God does he ever not have that brooding forehead. I just shook my head and grinned.
"Nah man, I'm A-OK, isn't it supposed to be me worrying about you, my fine pupil?" I teased, to which he gave a light smile.
"Well if anything ever comes up-" He began, but I cut him off.
"Actually, I just thought I'd let you know I'm coming to dinner, and I'd really appreciate if you stopped treating me like a child and more like a friend." I said smoothly, never breaking eye contact. That didn't seem to help the brooding forehead, but he did nod in understanding.
"Great! Seeya tonight!" I said, before walking out of my class for the day.
"Tell me again why you're coming?" I asked, trying to find earrings that didn't make my head look massive. Damon rolled over on the bed, and I could see him clearly from inside the bathroom.
"You should really walk around like that more often." He said smoothly, looking at my bra and panties, making me sigh as I picked up big hoop earrings. Good enough. I slipped those on before slipping on a black halter dress.
"I probably could go bra-less, my boobs are almost tiny enough..." I muttered, before throwing on some make up. Normally I didn't put anything on, but I figured if I didn't do it every once and a while I'd be screwed when I did try to put it on next. "Anyway, you didn't answer my question." I said again.
"Oh you know, bother Stefan by closing in on what he has."
"Elena."
"Exactly, and if I'm invited into her home, imagine what I could do." Damon said with a smirk. I frowned at the mirror before walking over and sitting next to his hip. I looked down at him as he looked up at me.
"Please don't kill her." I said bluntly, biting the inside of my mouth lightly. He just smirked, looking from my head to my toes and back again with a smirk.
"But that's what will get to Stefan the most."
"Damon," I said in a soft tone, reaching up to brush the hair out of his face. "Please, I only ask that you don't kill my friends, and Elena is one of them."
"That sounds like an open invitation."
"I don't make a lot of friends Damon," I said, leaning over him slightly, my hair falling to rest on him. "So please don't take any of them away."
He looked up to me as I looked down at him. He looked calm, but in a flash he was on top of me. I bit back a yelp at the sudden movement, still not used to it at all.
"Damon." I warned. He looked deeply into my eyes, then down to my throat and back. He swallowed once, and then he got off of me. I had a feeling, that he had wanted to hurt me then, but he didn't, so I was grateful I wouldn't have to fight back and hurt him.
"Alright," He said, looking down at me with a gulp. "I won't kill...your friends..." He said it as though he were admitting to something he deeply regretted, but I just smiled and got on my knees on the bed and hugged him from behind.
"Thanks babes, you won't regret it."
"Hm, we'll see."
I was starting to think not coming to this dinner would've been more intelligent.
It was awkward central, Bonnie looked like she was watching paint dry at an agonizingly slow pace as she stared at her food, munching slowly. Finally, when Elena piped up, everything got moving.
"Mm! Bonnie, tell Ash and Stefan about your family." She began, and both I and Stefan quirked a brow. Bonnie looked between us both, not sure who was less awkward to look at.
"Parent's divorced, live with my dad." Bonnie said, but Elena just sighed.
"No, about the witches." Elena corrected, making me and Stefan look between her and Bonnie in interest, but when Bonnie shook her head, Elena explained. "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches."
Oh, that's actually interesting, so was Bonnie a witch then? Quite probable, in fact I do believe Bella talking about a bloodline of distant relatives living only a days drive away from her. I smiled and listened as Bonnie and Stefan began talking, and I looked over to Elena who was sitting next to me and whispered.
"Looks like my help isn't needed huh?"
She just laughed.
"Actually, Bonnie, I was wondering, have you ever heard of a woman named Bella Viscon?" I asked curiously, she furrowed her brows and shook her head then, making me smile. "She's a friend of mine, and she claims her great great grandmother- or something like that- was related to the Bennett family, until they married out and spread across the land."
"Witches?" Elena asked, and I just grinned.
"I'd say that, but she'd beat me up if I said it out loud."
Before anybody could say anything, the doorbell rang, making Elena get up to answer. After a second, Stefan too got up and went to the door. Damon and Caroline must've arrived. I turned to Bonnie and smiled, trying to keep distracted.
"So Bonnie, what do you think of Stefan now?" I asked with a grin. Bonnie smiled, looking to Stefan and Elena and then back to me.
"He's alright, not what I thought he was."
Oh you have no idea honey.
"Ah Ash! You're here too? That's awesome, now everybody's here!" Caroline gushed before walking over to me. I grinned and said hello, before Elena walked into the room carrying a cake.
"Kay guys, I'll make some tea, why don't we all sit in the living room?" Elena offered, and we all sat down. I noticed that Caroline was being rather clingy, sitting in Damon's lap and all, but I ignored it and pretended not to recognize him.
"So Ash," Caroline began when everyone was seated with a cup of tea and a slice of cake. "You got away once, but you can't do it again."
I rolled my eyes, a smile breaking across my face in mock kindness. Fuck off, I don't want to talk about my life. Stefan and Damon raised a brow, but I just shook my head.
"Is that all you came here for? To hear your teacher's dirty little secrets?" I teased, but she shook her head.
"Not those secrets! I'm talking about all this buzz." That made me quirk a brow, so Bonnie explained.
"Ah, you know, mysterious cool teacher blows into town, half the class crushing on her... Everybody wants to know about you." She said with a smile, making me quirk a brow.
"Clearly they don't know me that well." I said with a grin.
"Which is why we're talking now while I still have your attention!" Caroline insisted, snapping in the air. I wanted to hit her, she was getting on my nerves now.
"Want do you want to know?" I asked with a sigh. Caroline grinned then, and actually pulled out a piece of paper. Even Damon looked surprised.
"What? If I sell answers to people questions I can get a couple bucks!" She began, and I actually laughed a little at that.
"Okay, so how old are you anyway?"
"Well I'm supposed to be twenty four, but I'm actually nineteen." I said honestly, and Caroline looked at me with surprise. Everyone raised a brow or gave a look at that, Damon even mocked surprise too. I was fighting not to laugh- clearly acting was not in my list of future career choices.
"Ohhh, interesting, why'd you come here of all places to teach?" This made me shrug.
"A friend of mine asked me to fill her spot, she gave up teaching so I took her place. It's not that hard, dunno why most people need a degree." I muttered.
"Any hot brothers?" This made me raise a brow, but Caroline just ushered for me to continue. I laughed, actually thinking.
"If they're related to me, they better be." I said, taking a sip of my drink and giving Caroline a wink.
"How many?" She cooed, leaning forward off of Damon's laugh. Elena gave her a weird look, along with Bonnie, while Damon and Stefan seemed to be faking interest.
"Five older brothers." I said softly, not liking the path this was going down. Caroline was relentless though.
"Do you talk with your family much? Like as in, can you get me their digits?" Caroline teased, and I honestly couldn't believe she was saying this while sitting in Damon's lap. I actually looked at her with an incredulous look, Bonnie and Elena doing the same. Damon just rolled his eyes, but he didn't look at her once.
"Caroline!" Bonnie scolded, making Blondie roll her eyes.
"It's not for me! It's for you Bonnie. You can't be the only single one here!" She insisted, glancing at me as I grinned. "Wait, you're single? How are you single? You're like- smoking hot."
I snorted, taking another sip out of my cup. I wouldn't deny, flattery worked wonders, but not coming from shallow Caroline. Blondie gave me a look saying I should continue, so I figured throwing one truth out wouldn't hurt.
"I lost my parents when I was young, and got separated from my brothers when I got adopted out of the orphanage." I said flatly, to which Caroline squealed as Elena and Bonnie, even Stefan, gave me a heartfelt look.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Elena said, but I just shrugged.
"Life sucks, I got over it." I muttered, drinking some more of my tea. Caroline seemed ecstatic to hear that though.
"Oh my God, just wait until people get a load of this! I'm going to be a billionaire with a story like this!" She squealed, making Elena and Bonnie both give that brooding forehead look- they've been around Stefan too much I see...
"I mean," Caroline began, looking at the two and then at me. "Your personal life is yours alone, and I wouldn't want to be nosy."
Too late, dumbass.
"Right..." I muttered, not thinking too deeply about it, but then I looked at my empty cup and got up. "I'm going to go get more tea."
"I'll get some more too." Damon said, and when I looked over he was smirking at Stefan, no doubt the younger brother would be listening in on our conversation, so I rolled eyes inwardly and walked to the kitchen. I walked over to the kettle and poured some tea, before noticing that there was still a pile of plates on the dinner table. I went towards it, out of sight, but bit back a gasp when Damon grabbed me and pressed me to the wall so suddenly. He pressed a finger to my lips, and I raised a brow as he tapped a finger to his ear, then he smirked and I felt his hand on my ass. Squirming but trying to keep quiet, I glared at him before I realized he was reaching into my pocket for something.
Oh, my phone.
"So Ashlan, what do you think of Mystic Falls?" He cooed in his usual flirty tone. He opened the notes app, and began to press buttons on the I phone. I looked down at it as I replied.
"Oh you know, traditional small town, I heard from Stefan you're just passing through yourself." Damon glared at me for that, I just smirked in reply.
I'm bored, want to get out of here? Is what he said, so I grinned at the writing, but took my phone and began to write as quickly as possible, not nearly as quick as he could go with his super vampirism.
"I'm more of the, float where ever the wind blows me kind of guy. I'm sure you understand." He taunted with that sexy smirk as I showed the message on my phone.
How? They'll suspect something.
"I'm not sure I follow." I said before Damon rolled his eyes, before snatching my phone from me and tapping as fast as the machine could keep up with.
You leave first, Brooding Forehead will think I'm chasing you down later. Win win if you ask me.
"I think you will eventually. By the way, you smell...incredible tonight." He said this as he looked at me darkly, and I knew this was for Stefan. I raised my hand as though to slap him, before he raised a hand and shook it as though chastising me. I bite my lip, and he made a motion as though he was willing to bite it for me. Remembering the text, I re-read it before shrugging and showing my reply to him.
I'm finishing my tea first.
Before he could argue, even though I saw that 'You bitch' look on his face, I grabbed my tea and walked back into the living room. Stefan visibly relaxed then, and I bit back a smirk. I listened to the teens talk, but honestly I was bored after five seconds. Suddenly my phone vibrated, and I looked at it- from Damon?
Here's your chance.
"Ah, Tanner's being an ass." I muttered with a frown, then I pocketed to phone and stood up, drinking my tea. Damon came to sit down, but raised an eyebrow at me and grinned.
"Leaving so soon?" He asked, and I wanted to punch him for putting me on the spot. I nodded, before sipping the rest of my tea, trying to think of an excuse. When I drew the cup from my lips, I frowned.
"Yeah, Tanner's been criticizing my ability to mark papers- how can I give a failing grade to creativity? Anyway, he wants to talk with me about it, so I better go now or I'll be seeing tall dark and bitter tomorrow." I said, Elena and Bonnie both laughing a bit. Caroline grinned, but then I went to put my cup in the washer. When I returned, Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline all gave me a hug. Then I looked to Stefan and raised a brow.
"What? Don't tell me giving a friend a hug is illegal- I am a friend, aren't I?" I teased, to which Stefan gave a small smile as he hugged me. He was a bit leaner than Damon, but also a bit smaller, strange- why am I comparing him to Damon? He stepped away a moment later, and I held my arms out to hug Damon too.
"Don't feel bad about not hugging him." Stefan said- wait did he just joke?! Alert the media! Still, I just laughed it off as Damon gave a grin.
"Well aren't I special." Damon joked, before I wrapped my arms around him. He wrapped his big arms around me, and for the first time in a long time, I felt so small. There was a pause in our hug, as if time hesitated too, before we both let go. I waved goodbye to everybody, before walking out the door once my coat and shoes were on.
I was probably walking for ten minutes, when a certain car rolled up beside me.
"You don't really think I'm going to leave you to walk home, do you?" He taunted, but I just raised a brow.
"What about Caroline?" I asked, to which he smirked.
"She's home already, doesn't take long to get to her house." He said, and I smiled a bit too before hopping into the car.
"So," I began, turning to grin wickedly at him. "Where to, Mister Tall Dark Hot Sex?" I joked, to which he smirked back.
"Where ever my fair lady wishes."
Okay... two reviews...cool cool...Little bummed out, BUT IT'S OKAY! BECAUSE I'm watching the rest of the season 1 episodes, and then I'm gunna write the next chapter! Woot!
RATE AND REVIEW!
QUESTION OF THE DAY: So... anybody liking Damon and Ash's relationship?
I wanted to build them up first, then introduce Delena later! BTW, I am a firm Delena hater, simply because I don't think Elena's good enough for Damon, I honestly think he could do better... buuut I also really hate how upset Elena gets over everything. Call me a bitch, but c'mon, at some point you just have to say 'fuck it'.