AUTHOR'S NOTE: SPANK ME like the naughty girl I am for the late update.
There's not going to be an A/N from me, because apparently, they give out spoilers for the general mood of the chapter. So, no warnings from me this time. Suck it up. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Sana. *giggle*
Read at your own risk. I apologize for the length. I hope it makes up for my late update though. Think of it as two chapters in one. (THIS CHAPTER IS UNBETA-ED. DECIDED TO POST THIS FIRST OR IT'LL HAVE TO WAIT TILL THURSDAY. FORGIVE ANY MISTAKES YOU FIND! GRACIAS)
A Woman's Worth: Chapter TEN
Elena's POV
"Mason," I breathed out incredulously, certain that my expression was one of shock instead of welcoming.
I did not see this coming, seeing him on Caroline's doorstep after the most amazing day I just had with Damon. Immediately, I felt guilty for even enjoying myself when I was supposed to be heartbroken over our break-up. Why wasn't I being all mopey and gloomy?
Oh, right. Damon distracted me. He was exceedingly good at that, too.
Whatever I expected when I opened the door, it wasn't seeing my ex-boyfriend there with an indescribable expression on his face. He seemed so different; he was standing in front of me with tousled hair, his chin and jaw line covered in stubbles and wearing wrinkled clothes, looking as if he hadn't slept in days. In short, he looked miserable.
A small part of me felt smug that he didn't fare well without me by his side. A very small part.
I sure as hell didn't expect what he did next.
"Elena, God I've missed you," Mason announced and then I was wrapped in his arms in the next instant, his fingers resting on my back gently. Well, this was different. "I'm sorry, babe," he whispered brokenly.
Needless to say, I was in shock, especially when he pulled back and looked down at me with a crazed expression on his face, looking as if he'd aged a few years since I saw him last. He was much more tanned than I remembered, but the most surprising thing would probably be that he didn't reek of alcohol this time.
"Mason, I don't -"
"Please come home, babe," he pleaded, cutting me off. To be honest, I didn't really know what I was going to say anyway. What do you say to someone who had hurt you deeply and that you thought had broken up with you, and then to start feeling something for someone else, only to now have that first someone show up and apologize to you? Especially when he seemed to be jittery and nervous while doing it?
His tortured eyes searched mine, and I wondered if he could see my resolve to stay strong and not let him weasel his way back to me without some kind of grand gesture that I expected from him at this point. Damon would have been proud of me if he knew what I was thinking then. "Elena, please," he begged, "I'd do anything if you come back to me. I've stopped drinking, and I'm getting some help about my anger issues. Please, I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"
Damn my wavering resolve! In my mind, I conjured up an image of Damon shaking his head at me in warning to not let Mason sweet talk his way back into my good graces but I had a front row seat to my ex's earnest look in his eyes and I could tell that he was being genuine. And I'm a sucker for men with blue eyes.
"Okay, but Caroline's going to be home soon, and you know what she's going to do if she sees you here," I warned, making it clear that while I was giving him a chance to talk, he wasn't exactly welcomed to stay for long. Not unless he wanted to get his ass kicked by a perky blonde. He nodded gratefully and stepped inside when I held the door wider for him to enter.
We took a seat beside each other on the three-seater sofa in the living room, and I waited wordlessly as I watched him struggle to find a way to delve into a subject that was clearly difficult for him to say. He seemed to have his mind made up a moment later when he took my hands into his and looked me directly in the eye. "I do have a problem," he admitted finally. I could tell that it was a huge blow to his ego to make that admission out loud to me, but it was a start.
"I-I have issues with controlling my anger. I know that now, because I've been trying to find a reason for my past behavior, looking at things from your perspective and I started to realize that I was nothing but a monster for treating you the way I did. For hurting you the way I did," he amended quickly. "Everything you said to me in the past, you were absolutely right about me not appreciating you. This past week without you at home, it was the worst week of my life. I realize now that I have been taking you for granted, that I had let my anger get the better of me and taken my frustrations out on you. I was a dick to you, and I don't blame you for running off when you did. I'm so so sorry, Elena, and I know that you need more than a lame apology from me to forgive what I did to you, but I'm trying. And I promise that I'll do whatever it takes to gain your trust again."
Well, damn. There are apologies, and then there's that. As much as I had wanted to stay angry and disappointed at Mason, he was making it increasingly hard to maintain my resolve not to be swept up by emotions as I studied this humbled man in front of me. This reminded me of the Mason I had fallen in love with, the one who took me in when I had nowhere else to go, the one who was a kind and loving man. But it was still talk for now; was he a changed man after just one week of my absence?
It seemed too good to be true.
"I know how hard that was for you, admitting that you had a problem and I appreciate you coming here and feeling sorry for what happened between us, but I've heard it all before, you know?" I said softly, not wanting to appear unsupportive, especially if he was being sincere. He took a step in the right direction and I didn't want him to be discouraged only to take three gigantic steps backwards.
"You apologized and vowed that you'd change after the first time, and you did, for a while but it didn't last. I ended up with a collapsed lung at the hospital," I reminded him and he flinched as if the memory physically hurt him too. "And then you said you were sorry and that it won't happen again, but then you forced me to choose between you and my best friend. I had to give up my friends just so that you could be happy but it still wasn't enough for you. You've belittled me and made me feel even more worthless since then but I took it all patiently, even putting up with more of your temper tantrums until I was so bruised that I couldn't even attend my classes. How do I know it's going to be different this time?"
I was amazed at the calm that settled over me as I spoke, no rising fear in my chest, no dread in my voice in anticipation of a violent outburst in retaliation of my doubts. It was as if I was no longer afraid. I knew that I had the support of my friends, and that was where I was drawing my strength from.
Mason surprised me yet again by not only not getting angry or even the least bit defensive, but he seemed to be ashamed of his past actions as well because he had his face buried into his hands as he let out a sob. "Yes, I did do those things," he managed to wheeze out amidst his tears. "There's no excuse at all for what did, but when you left, I don't know why but I feel as if I really lost you. Not just physically, but emotionally, too. This past week, I had a glimpse of what my life would be like without you in it, and I didn't like it one bit. I felt dead. Empty. So I did some soul-searching and I came up with a way to help us get out of this mess that I made."
There was life in his eyes now as he leaned in and grasped my hands once again. "There's an anger management group that I found online, and I went there to see if they could help me control my temper, and I think it's working. I've had two meetings with them already and they made me realize that I was projecting my anger out on you because I wasn't happy and I didn't like the person I had become recently. I was actually mad at myself not you, but somehow you ended up bearing the brunt of it. I lashed out at you and I'm sorry for that, but we can work on it…on us. I'll continue to work on my anger issues and we can go for some couple's counseling sessions, see if we can go back to the way we were before all this happened," he suggested eagerly, his enthusiasm clearly displayed now. "We were happy once, weren't we?"
I had to swallow nervously at that question, feeling myself to be on the verge of agreeing to whatever he was proposing. It would be all too easy to lose myself in the idea of 'Malena' again, to attempt to be our previous happy selves, the loving couple when we first started right up to the time when we moved in together. Seeing Mason now, practically begging for us to get back together, and even admitting that he was at fault, his words tugged violently at my heart strings, but yet, there was something that was holding me back.
It was Damon. And his previous words about the man that I used to love not being there any longer kept coming up in my mind, hence the hesitation.
"We were very happy," I acknowledged slowly, "but it'll take more than just a couple of anger management classes and counseling for you to regain my trust back again. I know that you realized how wrong you were, and maybe you've had an epiphany or something, but I need more, Mason." It was time to set my own conditions for our relationship, if we still had one. I had to let him know that it takes two to tango, none of this one-sided nonsense. There are no Alphas in a relationship. It takes both parties to make it work and I wanted to make sure that he knew that.
"I need to know for certain that you'd never raise a hand on me or say an unkind word to me again. I need to know that you love and accept me for who I am, that you won't expect me to change to be someone whom you can love but only according to your requirements. You need to prove that no matter what happens, how frustrated you'd get or if things don't go your way, you won't resort to violence again. As for my friends, they are a part of my life too, so don't expect me to give them up for you because I won't."
There. If that wasn't clear enough, then I really didn't know how to explain it to him. To my astonishment, he nodded in agreement.
"I know, Elena. I know that I hurt you deeply and I'm not talking about the physical wounds, either. But to prove how serious I am to make it up to you…" he paused, reaching into his jacket pocket to withdraw a small red velvet box, resulting in me gasping when he opened it and placed it on my open palm. "Will you marry me, Elena?"
Damon's POV
Can a person actually die from happiness? Well, let's just say that if they can, then I was one very dead dude. I would probably be so dead, I'd already be rotting in a casket right now. Or become worm-food. Okay, apparently I'm morbid when I'm happy. And what's with this strange fascination with worms all day today? Never mind.
For the first time in my life, I found myself whistling the theme from 'Happy Days' as I entered my house, which was weird because I didn't even know that I knew how to whistle. Hmm. Bending down to pet an enthusiastic Pig who greeted me at the door, I couldn't help the grin that spread wide across my face. I caught my reflection in a mirror hung above a chest of drawers at the foyer, and true enough, my face was practically split into two. The character of 'Joker' from Batman had nothing on me.
Shrugging off my jacket, I made my way into the library with a jumping pug at my feet, knowing that in another minute or two, the poor dog would be exhausted from all her excitement and she'd be snoring at my feet soon enough. Suddenly, I had a fantasy of me coming home from work – and by work, I meant hanging out with my buddies – with a brunette with particularly Elena-like features greeting me at the door with an enthusiastic kiss, jumping into my arms with her long legs wrapped around my waist as I walked her into a wall where we proceeded to make-out heavily.
Ouch. My cheeks were aching by now from the intense workout I was giving them by smiling so much. I reached up to massage them in circular motions with my fingers, not realizing that there was another presence in the room I hadn't noticed.
"Umm, hey. You're home early today," a hesitant voice greeted from one of the winged armchairs in the room.
Of course. Stefan. My green-eyed, spiky-haired and broody younger brother.
I had almost forgotten that he was the reason I wasn't hanging out at the Forbes' residence like I did everyday for the past one week. I turned to my brother and took in his appearance.
He was sitting with an opened textbook on his lap with a drink in one hand, looking as if he had been there for a while. I wondered briefly if that was where he usually hung out in my absence when he's not at his law school, but I wouldn't know because I hardly ever spent time at home, let alone come home in broad daylight. Our relationship was awkward at best, but I supposed it was time for some brotherly bonding.
"Hey," I replied with a nod and then I was at a loss for words. So much for bonding. Was it at all possible for my one-worded respond to convey how much I missed talking to him?
I stood there gazing down at him and then at the floor, shifting my weight awkwardly from foot to foot, my mind racing to find some common topic to serve as an ice breaker, but all I could come up with was a question about the brand of hair gel he was using to get his brown locks standing straight up, appearing to be much taller than he actually is.
Before I could even form my question, he was already up on his feet, shutting his thick-volume of a book and setting his crystal glass down on the coffee table. "I'll be upstairs, studying in my room," he muttered as he made his way past me towards the stairs.
So was this what our brotherhood had been reduced to, not even being able to stay in the same room together? No, I couldn't let this go on any longer. I needed my brother back. Without thinking, I reached out to grab his arm, halting his movement. "Wait, I-I-I need to borrow your hair gel," I blurted out helplessly. Hair gel? For what, my eyelashes? I happened to love my naturally tousled wind-swept hair look that begged for a woman's – and by woman, I meant Elena – fingers to run through them.
"You need what?" Stefan asked, seemingly taken aback by my odd request. Okay, time for plan B.
"Forget about that. What are you doing on Christmas eve?" There, straight and to the point.
For some reason, my question seemed to have rattled my brother because his familiar frown had once again made its appearance on his forehead, making him look extra broody, therefore dampening what was my perfectly happy day. "Christmas eve?" he repeated. "Why do you ask?"
I forgot that McBroody used to have a habit of answering my questions with another question, and that was probably why I quit talking to him like since….I first sprouted pubic hair. Not sure why that seemed like an important milestone reference, but hey!
"There's a Christmas party that my friend and I are planning, and I was just wondering if you'd like to join us," I said casually, shrugging my shoulders to illustrate that it wasn't a big deal, when it fact, it was a huge deal! "My friend, who is very sweet and nice, and I just wanted to introduce her to you because, well because…she's thinking of taking up a law degree and she could use your advice."
Woah, where did that lie come from? Why couldn't I have a decent, normal and honest conversation with my own brother for once without coming up with stupid excuses for him to meet a good friend of mine? Yes, that's exactly what I should have said. Little bro, won't you come to my Christmas party so that you could meet my good friend? That sounded way better than what I came up with on the fly! Where's the 'undo' button when you need one?
Stefan appeared to be uncomfortable with the idea, mainly because he was shuffling his feet and averting his eyes from meeting mine. "Umm, I don't know. I have a big exam coming up and I really need to study. I wasn't even planning on leaving the house, to be honest."
Well, crap. So much for Plan B. "But it's Christmas! Surely you don't have an exam during the holidays, right? Besides, we haven't celebrated Christmas together ever since, well, I can't even remember when we last had a celebration together. Maybe it's time to change things up and set a new tradition, don't you think?" I asked eagerly, hoping that my enthusiasm would rub off on him.
"Umm, I'm not really in the mood this year. Maybe we can plan something next year if I'm not too busy," he mumbled dismissively and took a couple of steps towards the staircase once more, but I wasn't going to give up so easily. I was playing Cupid so where would I aim my arrow if one of my targets wasn't even there?
"Stef," I called out, making him turn back to look at me warily. "I know we've had our differences and that things between us aren't exactly a bed of roses, but we're brothers and all we've got is each other. I just wanted us to spend some time together, you know, have fun, be with some friends and just have a merry Christmas together like we used to do when we were kids. Besides, this woman that I mentioned, she's a pretty close friend and I'd like you to meet her. It's important to me." There, I said it. No pathetic excuses, no lies, just a heart-to-heart talk with my little bro, asking him out on a 'bromantic' outing. Where he would meet my future sister-in-law.
Again, he hesitated. If I was a betting man, I'd bet that he was trying to come up with more excuses not to attend the party, so I decided to do a little preemptive strike. "Oh, we're having the party here, by the way. And since you were already planning on staying home to study, maybe you could afford to take a few hours off from being a bookworm and come downstairs to have a little social life? Please?" I pleaded, jutting my lower lip out in an adorable pout, forgetting that this was my flesh and blood and he would probably find it creepy.
"Alright, fine. A couple of hours and that's it, deal?"
Success! I knew my lower lip was useful for something other than to be nibbled on!
"Excellent! You'll have fun, I promise," I told him as he started walking up the stairs, intent on ignoring me for the rest of the day perhaps. It didn't matter, though. The plan was working and his life was about to get exciting. "Stef, bring a present!" I yelled out belatedly and then paused, waiting for a response. A muffled groan echoed down from the landing upstairs, so I took that as an agreement. Only a couple more things left to do.
I extracted my phone from my jeans pocket and pressed redial. "Care, umm, slight change of plans…"
After explaining to the bewildered blonde about the change in venue, I hung up the phone and went to search for my jacket on my way out. I was heading to the mall this time, and attempt to hunt down a certain black Santa by the name of Uncle Maurice to surprise Elena.
With an inward groan, even I had to admit the truth: I was so whipped!
Time passed too quickly for my liking and all too soon, it was the morning of December twenty-fourth. The main reason I wanted time to go more slowly was because of all the bonding I've been doing with Elena recently. The day after our 'first date', I arrived at the Forbes' residence earlier than usual, eager to see my brunette beauty again after the amazing day we both had.
For some reason, she seemed to be a little down in the dumps, which was startling since I was practically floating on cloud nine. Perhaps she was having some PMS – Post Mason Stress, not the other female thing…the red river of no-sex-for-a-week thing. So anyway, I thought it might cheer her up if she knew about the Christmas party we were planning, even though I was ruining the surprise.
It worked. She seemed genuinely pleased that we'd be celebrating a day that meant so much to her together as a group. I also might have lied and told her that the party was a way for me to reconnect with my estranged brother. Between her and my brother, I have turned into a compulsive liar. But whatever my excuse was, she bought it. Haven't I mentioned how gullible she was? It's adorable.
Also, Blondie had the bright idea to combine both of Elena's favorite holidays together, so we'd be organizing a Christmas party but with a Halloween theme. Not sure how that would turn out, but what mattered was that my girl was smiling again.
I have also been trying out that new thing, the one where I have conversations with my brother without having to bring up his hair gel as an ice breaker. To me, that was a massive improvement! Of course, I tried to bring up the subject of Caroline every chance I got, singing her praises and dropping hints that they would both hit it off well when they had a chance to meet eventually. Sadly though, my brother being classic McBroody, all he did in response was to look at me with a puzzled expression and sometimes, with a tiny hint of amusement added in. I was so sure that I had gotten through to him somehow.
So, on Christmas Eve's morning, I practically jumped out of bed and glided to my en-suite for a quick shower and then I was downstairs in record time, waiting impatiently for the rest of the Fab Five to arrive. The mansion was spotless, the furniture all moved to one side to clear the floor for one of Blondie's super-hush-hushed program, and the kitchen well-stocked. I was expecting the gang to arrive at any moment now.
Ding dong.
You know those cartoon characters where they run on the spot for a few seconds, their legs moving so fast that they appear to be a blurry motion, and then in the next instant, they disappear off in a cloud of smoke? Well, that must have been what I looked like as I jumped up from a recently relocated couch and rushed to answer my front door, only to be greeted by….a tree.
A fir tree, to be exact. Then I heard Ric's voice coming from somewhere behind or inside the tree, asking if this was the Salvatore residence and whether 'it' can uproot itself into my living room. Ha!
"Sure, Treebeard. Come on in," I held the door opened wider as the 'tree' I dubbed as the character in Lord of the Rings entered into my foyer with a very excited dog running around at the base of it, barking madly.
"Umm, kind sir, would you please get rid of the lunatic pooch, please? Or else my trunk is going to flail about violently," the 'tree' warned, so I bent down quickly to snatch my rambunctious pug out of harm's way, but then regretted it immediately when I felt her substantial weight in my arms. Seriously, what had Stefan been feeding her?!
I hastily set her back down and then ordered her to sit and stay while I supervised the progress of the 'tree', the view of the two people who were moving it now unhindered; the Tweedle twins.
"As much as my biceps, triceps and whatever muscles my arms have may appreciate the workout, we'd both welcome a little help from another able-bodied person such as yourself, Salvatore!" The thinly veiled reprimand came from Elijah, looking chic and casual in jeans and a white tee shirt, a drastic change from his usual suits.
I hurried over to help them, and even with the extra muscles, the three of us still struggled to move the heavy tree across the living room, ending up having to half-drag it over my beloved Persian rug. Sigh, the price I had to pay to bring a smile to one tiny female brunette. I wanted to make her wishes come true, so I got her a tree like the one her parents used to have in the past, the one where they would decorate as a family, making it a fun experience to hang up ornaments and twinkly lights.
"God, this is heavy," I panted when we reached the designated corner I reserved for the 9-foot tall tree, complete with a plastic sheet I had laid out on the floor to serve as protection for my ridiculously expensive rug. It took a group effort to insert the tree stump into a stand and once the tree was standing upright, I wanted to make sure that it was placed at the exact spot I had marked on the sheet; it was the exact same distance from the left wall and the front wall, and it provided plenty of room for our group to decorate the bare tree later, and finally, the shadows flickering from the fire from my massive fireplace a distance away would cast a cozy glow on the tree once the twinkly lights were put up. So I'm a mood setter, sue me!
"Hey guys? Let's move this baby to that marker over there," I requested with a low groan, feeling the weight of the tree getting heavier by the second as I tugged and heaved it one centimeter at a time, my arms protesting heavily. My vision was blocked by the green branches protruding out from the trunk as my head disappeared within the large mass, feeling the needles prickling my neck and cheeks. "Is it just me, or is this thing getting heavier?" I grunted in exhaustion.
"It's just you," Ric's voice came from a distance away, making my head snap up in confusion since I thought that he was as surrounded by needles as I was. Imagine my shock when I caught sight of my two so-called best friends sprawled out on the floor in front of the fireplace like two huge bear skin rugs, spread-eagled with their eyes closed, not a care in the world that I was left wrestling with one gigantic and uncooperative tree by myself.
"What the - woah!" I exclaimed in a panic when the fir I was hugging started to tilt, and I had no choice but to jump up to grab the upper portion of the trunk, intending to straighten it back up but then realized the horror of my mistake when my legs left the ground, bringing me along with as it crashed sideways into the left wall, leaving me hanging on for dear life.
Of course my most humiliating moment would be witnessed by my now ex-best friends who were laughing their heads off, but when I heard the sound of girlish chatter coming from the foyer, I was left shaking my head and groaning in defeat at the thought of the girls seeing me in that ridiculous position. I prayed and wished that by some miracle, they wouldn't even notice a full-grown man attached to a tree. After all, I was wearing all black so perhaps I could be incognito and had blended in with the tree somehow.
Hearing the girls' voices coming closer, I braced myself for the reaction I couldn't possibly escape from. "Oh my God, what happened?" Blondie screeched from somewhere behind me, her distance unknown since I was sure her decibel levels could be heard from as far as the Grille.
"Damon! What are you doing?" came the concerned voice of my beloved, sounding like it was coming from directly beside me, and sure enough, I felt her small hands touching my waist a second later. I hated to admit this but it tickled. Some Chinese customs believe that if a man is ticklish, he's actually afraid of his wife. As for me, I believed that being ticklish could lead to a lot of giggling make-out sessions, well, my masculine pride did anyway.
Now that my hope for going unnoticed was dashed, I tried to use some humor to spare myself from further embarrassment. Perhaps it could convince them that this was all part of the plan, and that I meant to be clinging to a tree as if my life depended on it. "Umm, nothing, just hanging. I actually like to become one with nature, you know, before I go all Martha Stewart on them. It's a, umm, family ritual."
Okay, if I was ever getting out of the foliage in my living room, I was going to whoop some ass, especially the two chuckle-y twins who were busy laughing like hyenas to even bother to help me out of my unfortunate predicament. Luckily for me, I had my very own heroine in the form of a very brave and petite brunette who had enough intelligence to pull a chair over to me. I knew I loved her for a reason!
"Here, Damon, lift your left foot a little and step on this chair," she instructed, her voice coming from even closer to me as if she was whispering into my ear. I followed her instructions and relaxed slightly when I felt the sturdy surface of my dining chair beneath my foot, and that was when I felt her entire body melting into mine from behind. Belatedly, I realized that she was standing on that very same chair, trying to pull my upper body up and away from the slanted tree. As much as I appreciated not being one with the annoying plant any longer, I couldn't handle being so close to Elena and my body's immediate reaction to her, so I did something stupid. I let go.
Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by more prickly needles and what's even worse than before was that now, I had an Elena wrapped around me. She had refused to let go of me, so when I fell back down face-first, she had followed me, her arms wrapped tightly around my chest and her feet now tangled with mine as the chair we were standing on toppled over . I felt as if I had a koala bear on my back, except she was all womanly and soft, her entire front pressing into me in the most alluring way; not exactly helping with my proximity issue with her, judging from the increasing tightness of my pants.
"A little help might be nice," I called out helplessly, and then I felt multiple hands on various parts of my body, and soon, we were sliding down a very bristly tree, only to end up in an unceremonious heap on the floor with me on top of her. I felt a rumble coming from beneath my chest and I gazed down at her, unable to believe my eyes when I saw her chuckling.
"Damon, don't you know that you're not supposed to take the term 'tree hugger' literally?" she giggled adorably, her body vibrating under mine. Oh, the levels of pleasure that evoked in me. "And look at you! You're covered from head to toe with the green stuff."
I could hardly believe it when she lifted her arms and proceeded to run her fingers through my hair, brushing the green needles off of me, seemingly oblivious to the fact that we were on the floor, in a rather compromising position and under the watchful eyes of three of our friends. I could almost sense their smirks and I was also pretty sure that my face bore a striking resemblance to a ripe tomato right now, so I hastily untangled myself from Elena and pulled her up to her feet, removing traces of the tree off her hair and clothes at the same time.
"Damon, that's some nice sex hair you're wearing," Blondie chimed in with her two cents, jolting me back to a reality where I wasn't supposed to touch Elena in an overly familiar way. For a moment there, I just stared at her blankly, wondering what she meant until I remembered that Elena's fingers were buried in them briefly and she must have messed it up somehow.
Great. More new ways to torment the aching member in my pants. I could have sworn that the damn fir and my friends had planned everything to a tee to arouse me to death. I could almost see the headline for tomorrow's newspaper; Social Worker, 25, Death by Erection and Burst Zippers.
Cold shower. Now!
"Umm, why don't you guys get started on decorating what's left of the tree while I go and clean myself up?" I suggested, hoping that nobody would notice the funny way I was walking. As the rest of the group started to crowd around the fallen tree, only Ric glanced at me with a knowing look in his eyes, giving me a thumbs-up sign and a pointed look at Elena who was busy sifting through a box of ornaments excitedly. I managed to roll my eyes at him before I took advantage of their distraction to make my escape.
"Hey, what happened? Did you decide to turn into a tree or -?" Stefan asked as he strolled in with his hands in his jeans pockets, looking up and down my entire length in bewilderment.
My little brother's sudden appearance reminded me of the second part of my master plan so I reverted back to playing my role as the resident Cupid. "Stef! Good, you're here," I greeted with a broad smile, my abrupt enthusiasm catching him by surprise. "Let me introduce you to my two friends. That's Elena over there and this is Caroline, the girl I told you about," I said as I moved over to stand next to a perplexed-looking Blondie and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her over to where my brother was standing.
I watched as Stefan gazed at my new BFF with renewed interest at my introduction, so I decided to let nature take its course. After all, I had released my arrows, now I just had to give it some time for them to work their magic. "I'll leave you guys to it, then. I just need to run upstairs and de-needle myself," I announced to Stefan and then rushed up the staircase to take another long and cold shower, but not before whispering into Blondie's ear to feign an interest in joining a law school.
After spending an inappropriate amount of time in my room doing….unmentionable things to my, err, nether regions, I finally made my way downstairs, only to be greeted by cheerful sounds of laughter and banter. Upon closer inspection, I found the entire gang, plus my normally elusive brother gathered in my kitchen, surrounding Elena around the island.
"Hey, look who finally decided to turn up to his own party," Blondie exclaimed when she caught sight of me, all cleaned up and changed.
Was I gone for that long? "I had some….piping issues," I replied vaguely, not bothering to explain what kind of pipe I was referring to. The less these people knew of my recent bedroom excursions the better. What? I couldn't very well walk around sporting an erection all day! There were people in the house! "What are you guys up to?" I asked as I went to stand beside her, putting out my feelers for a sign of progress between my brother and my new best friend in my absence.
My new position at the island provided me with a view of a very domesticated Elena concentrating on piling some cream on top of a cake, wearing an apron on top of her clothes.
"Slip This Cook Some Tongue and Watch Me Boil," I read out loud off the front of her apron. Seriously, was the theme of the day 'How to drive Damon crazy with sexual frustrations'? "That's a very naughty apron, Elena."
"I know," she nodded with a mischievous smile. "It's yours. I found this still wrapped in a plastic at your bottom drawer there," she said, indicating to a row of drawers at the corner of the seldom used kitchen. Wait, I owned an apron? Or better yet, I had drawers in my kitchen?! "I hope you don't mind that I used it first. Stefan said I could."
I found myself loving my brother a little bit more than usual for inadvertently causing Elena to look extremely adorable in her getup, and I had a sudden vision of many mornings where I would come downstairs to find her preparing breakfast for a small army, with several raven-haired tiny munchkins running around at her feet as she flashed me a broad grin as a greeting. Then I would wrap my arms around her from behind as she stood by the stove, leaning in to kiss the side of her neck and teased –
"Damon, you're kinda drooling on me a little," came the laughing voice of the blonde beside me, effectively snapping me from my inappropriate daydream when she reached over to wipe the corners of my mouth with a napkin.
Noticing the knowing looks that Ric and Elijah flashed me, I struggled to get my mind out of the gutter. "Umm, the cake looks delicious. Did you make it, Elena?" I deflected, ignoring the guys.
"Yup," she said, popping the 'p' as she concentrated on putting the finishing touches on her masterpiece. "I started on this fruit cake the moment you told me about the party because I needed to feed a few teaspoons of brandy to get it right, but I didn't have enough time, so this might not turn out so well."
Brandy? She baked an alcoholic fruit cake? I must have looked uncomfortable because I could see the Tweedle twins exchanging a look, and then Elena glanced up at me inquiringly after a moment of heavy silence that descended upon our group.
"Elena, Damon hasn't touched alcohol since nine years ago," Ric informed her softly and upon hearing his words, I could see the wheels turning in her head until it clicked.
"Since your mother's death," she breathed out with a stunned look, her lovely brown eyes wide open and filled with compassion for me. I didn't realize that I was nodding at her unspoken question but it seemed silly to delve into that heavy subject again right now. It was Christmas Eve and the whole purpose of this party was to get my brother to meet and fall in love with Caroline, make Elena happy and smiley again and to do it all before the clock strikes twelve.
It didn't help that Stefan was staring at me with an indiscernible expression, as if he was trying to figure me out. Then I felt myself being enveloped in a tight bear hug with bright-colored curls in my face.
Blondie.
"You poor man," she declared as she released me, and then to my surprise and pleasure, she did the same to my stunned brother, who wasn't expecting the kind of warmth only Care Bear was capable of. He had better get used to it soon. "You too, Stef. You're brothers so it was your mother, too."
"Err, thanks, Care," he said hesitantly, looking relieved when she eventually let go.
Wait. Stef? Care? Since when were they on first nickname basis? Seriously, how long was I upstairs? Were my love arrows that potent?
"Well, lucky for you, Elena baked another cake. A yule log cake! No alcohol whatsoever," Blondie went on as she skipped over to a box and proceeded to carry it over to where we were crowded around to reveal….
"Are those green worms crawling on the ridges of the bark?" Elijah asked with a horrified expression, disbelief etched in his features.
"There are bloodshot eyes in the log, too," my baby bro commented, looking disgusted and amused at the same time.
A giggle escaped from Blondie's lips, probably due to all our reactions, but come on, even she had to admit that it was a pretty creepy-looking cake! "It's a Halloween log cake, then! Come on, don't you boys think that my best friend's the most super talented woman on earth? I mean, she's gorgeous and has mad skills in the kitchen. What man wouldn't want to have her cake and eat her too? " Did Blondie just winked at me?
"That's really gross, Care," Elena laughed, her cheeks flushed from her friend's compliment. "But then again, I did pick up some cooking tips from the best chef I've ever known; my mother. I may not be really smart, or have a body like a supermodel, but I have to admit that I do have some awesome cullenary – colorinery – culiminery," she said slowly, her face scrunched up with frustration as she struggled to find the right pronunciation of the evasive word, "carnerary – cunnilinguistic skills in the kitchen."
If it wasn't for the shock factor that accompanied her statement and very wrong usage of the word she finally settled on, I would have found the delightfully smug look she had on to be incredibly endearing. When the shock wore off, I was laughing along with the rest of the guys, wiping tears of hilarity from the corners of my eyes while the others were doubled-over, clutching their stomachs. Even my little brother. I had never seen him laugh that hard before, not even when we were kids. It took quite a while for us to collect ourselves but the moment we straighten up and saw Elena's confused expression, we were gone again.
I was practically struggling for breath, unable to stop myself from reaching out to clap Stefan on the back as we bent over, wheezing loudly as we laughed till we cried. My baby bro had an arm wrapped around my shoulder, and I realized that whether she meant to or not, Elena had brought us closer than ever to each other, and for that, I had to thank her.
"What? Was it something I said?" she asked, still perplexed over all our reactions. I supposed if I was her, I would have been amazed to see five other people collapsing all over the kitchen with tears streaming down our faces, even the normally straight-faced Elijah.
"You-you basically said that you were amazing at eating a girl out," Caroline managed to stutter amidst fits of giggles, drawing even more chuckles from the rest of us, "in a kitchen, of all places."
It literally took all of my self-control not to go over and hug the poor embarrassed girl to death. If anything, her innocence was refreshing and could even possibly make me love her even more than I already did. She was an incomparable, one-of-a-kind, and completely oblivious to the effect she had on me.
"Umm, I meant to say culinary, I think. I'm not sure anymore," she mumbled, turning into a deep shade of red. "Where's the bathroom? I need to go wash up and maybe drown myself a little."
"Come on, I'll take you. This house can be quite confusing if you don't know your way around." Stefan sobered up from his merriment and led her out of the kitchen before I could offer to show her the directions.
Still chuckling softly, Elijah was the first one to speak. "Seriously, Damon. If you're not gonna marry the girl, then I would. That was the most far out thing anyone has ever said, and I have heard a lot of weird statements in my line of work."
"Yeah, dude, I can see why you're madly in love with her. She's hilarious," Ric grinned, shaking his head helplessly.
As much as I appreciated their approvals of my girl, with both my brother and her gone, I had to take advantage of their absence to take care of a serious business. "Quick, who drew Elena's name for the Secret Santa gift thing?"
"I did, why?" Elijah answered.
"Can we please exchange? I drew Liz's name but I already got Elena something that I think she'll really really really like." Oh God, did that come out as desperate as it sounded?
Elijah pretended to consider for a moment, his brown eyes mocking me as I waited for his answer. "Hmmm, I don't know. She might really really really like my gift, too. What are you willing to do for the exchange?"
Well, shit. Since when did my serious detective friend become so cheeky all of a sudden? I blame Blondie. My friends and I were halfway normal once….BC. Before Caroline. "Would you like to sample my cunnilinguistic skills?" Ha! Take that, you cheeky monkey!
"Sure, why not?" he answered with a twinkle in his eye while flashing his perfectly white teeth. God, this was by far the weirdest Christmas Eve ever!
Elena's POV
After what could only be described as a tumultuous week, I finally settled on an optimistic mood when I woke up on the morning of Christmas Eve. Throughout the week, I would be feeling deliriously happy one moment and then subdued and contemplative the next. The changes between either ends of the mood spectrum occurred daily; I was at my most cheerful whenever the gang came over to spend time with us, and then as soon as I had a moment of peace in the privacy of my temporary room, my mind would take me back to that afternoon I spent with Mason.
Once upon a time, I thought that marriage proposals were supposed to be romantic and full of loving feelings that would overflow from my heart. So why then did I feel a little let down when I saw the ring being held out to me? It was a gorgeous ring; a princess-cut diamond on a platinum band. It should have made me feel…more.
The idea of being with someone I loved for an eternity should have made me happier beyond anything, but when that someone was Mason? Somehow, now that I got everything I ever wanted, or used to want, I felt empty. As if I was cheated of my happy ever after somehow. I couldn't understand it. I got my wish. When I ran away from Mason, I wanted him to come after me with an apology, a grand gesture that proved that he really did love me. What's a grander gesture than asking me to marry him?
I stared down at the ring, not knowing how to respond. Then I told him that I needed some time to consider it. He seemed reluctant to leave without an answer at first, but seeing my resolve, he had no choice but to agree. It didn't mean that he would just wait at the sidelines quietly at all. No, he had been calling me and sending me text messages, asking if I was okay, updating me on his newfound path to righteousness and all that.
I had to constantly remind myself that this was Mason, the man that I loved, the man who had been there for me when I needed him most. A few months ago, had he presented me with a ring, I wouldn't have hesitated. I would have flung myself into his arms and screamed 'Yes' into his ear. The difference between the depth of my feelings then and now were astounding, and deep down, I knew the exact reason for my doubts. I knew the mess I had inadvertently created for myself when I opened my heart for a certain blue-eyed man to enter. I knew it, but I was powerless to stop it. Maybe I didn't even want to.
I allowed myself to mull things over until the New Year's. I made a vow to make my decision by then, one way or another. But for now, I had a Christmas party to attend.
Seeing Damon being klutzy was the highlight of my day. When I entered the mansion with Caroline, I had no idea that I would be greeted with the sight of his back as he clung onto a massive tree in his living room. Soon after, I discovered that my new highlight of the day was when I tried to rescue him from the tree and ended up sprawling on the floor directly under him, feeling his very masculine body pressed against mine. He seemed nervous and edgy somehow. Then I met his brother.
Stefan Salvatore was not at all how I imagined him to be. Not sure why, but I expected to see a gangly kid with the same blue eyes and dark hair as his elder brother, but I couldn't be more wrong. He was a good-looking guy with classical features, athletic-build, and beautiful green-eyes, but he had nothing on his brother's magnetism. Or perhaps I was slightly biased.
Meeting Stefan brought forth an idea that had been brewing at the back of my head ever since Damon told me the story of his family history at the graveyard. It was such a shame that such a wonderful and compassionate human being had to have lingering guilt because of what happened a lifetime ago to his mother. Despite what Damon believed, he did not deserve to be alienated from his own brother and only surviving relative. I wanted to see if I could fix things for him, give him his brother back to alleviate his guilt.
I had the perfect opportunity to broach the subject when Stefan offered to show me the way to a bathroom after my unfortunate Freudian slip in the kitchen. To my surprise, he led the way upstairs to his room where he ushered me to his attached bathroom, nodding at me to proceed while he waited on a leather seat next to a massive book rack that covered one wall of his bedroom.
Like a gentleman, he stood up when I exited the bathroom, gesturing for me to take a seat on an identical chair beside his. As I sat, he turned to me with a curious look, as if he had a burning question he had been meaning to ask me. "How long have you known my brother, Elena?"
His question threw me off for a moment as I didn't expect it. "A couple of months or so, I guess. Why do you ask?"
"I'm just surprised that you know about our mother's death, that's all. My brother normally doesn't like to talk about his past, you see," he said, looking thoughtful as a frown appeared on his forehead. "You guys must be pretty close for him to talk to you about such a sore subject. He doesn't even talk to me about it."
"He's a good friend of mine," I replied carefully. "I just found out about your family history recently when we went to the cemetery to visit my parents' graves together. I guess he thought that nobody could understand better than I can what it's like to lose a parent. I'm sorry for what you had to go through then, Stefan."
He seemed to be uncomfortable of my sympathetic words, but he nodded wordlessly anyway. For some reason, he appeared reluctant to voice any further thoughts, but I knew that he had more questions for me. After almost a minute of silence, I decided to try my hand at fixing whatever's broken between the two Salvatores.
"I know it's none of my business, but you should know that Damon feels responsible for what happened to you and your mother," I told him gently, uncertain of his response. "He's still punishing himself for leaving when he did all those years ago because he couldn't take your father's abuse any longer. I suppose he thinks that you still blame him for her death."
There, I said it. I've exposed Damon's innermost thoughts he would never have told his brother. I meddled in his affairs and all I could do was to hope that it wouldn't blow up in my face, or Damon's.
"I do….I mean, I did, when I was younger. A lot of things happened that he didn't think I knew about but I did, like how he went against my father's orders on purpose so that he'd get the thrashings instead of me. I knew how many times he protected me from father's wrath and how much he suffered from it, but he shouldn't have left us all alone, not when my mother needed him around."
I could tell that it was a difficult subject for him to share with me, judging by the number of times he had swallowed nervously so far, but it also seemed like he needed to talk about it. Maybe there hadn't been anyone else that he could open up to, not even with his own brother.
"Stefan, I know that it might seem as if things could end up differently had Damon stayed on, but we can't know that. Nobody knows what could have happened. Maybe instead of your mother, it could have been Damon who died instead. It could have been you, or even all three of you. The villain of your story is your father; he's the monster who hurt your family, not Damon. He was as much a victim as you and your mother were, not to mention that he was only a young boy himself when it happened. You shouldn't hold it against your brother for running. He was scared, too," I told him, willing him to believe me, or better yet, believe in Damon.
"Besides, everyone's allowed to make mistakes, right? What matters is that your brother had spent the last nine years trying to make up for it by making sure that you guys stayed together, that you had an education. Clearly the guy is sorry for what happened, or he wouldn't be such a dedicated social worker and helping so many people who are victims of abuse. Is it not enough that he has repented and is trying to make up for the past?"
Saying all that out loud reminded me of what Mason was going through right now, how he was trying to change after seeing the error of his ways. If I truly believed my advice to Stefan, then I should give Mason another chance, right? He made mistakes, sure, huge ones, but what if he genuinely wanted to make up for it? What if the reason he proposed was because he wanted me – no, needed me to be there to support him as he worked on his anger issues? What if he was able to change for the better, but I was the one who could give him the strength to do it?
"Elena? Did you hear what I asked?" Stefan's voice shook me out of my inner turmoil.
I shook my head sheepishly. Focus, Elena. "Sorry, I was somewhere else," I said apologetically.
"Was that why Damon quit drinking? Because he felt guilty for not coming home in time the night my mother died?"
Nodding my head, I made a calculated guess. "I think so. Look, I think you two really need to sit down and talk these things out. It doesn't matter who did what way back then, because it doesn't change the past. What can change right now is how you two handle things from now on. Talk to him, Stefan. I know that he would love to have his best friend back the way it was when you were kids. What doesn't kill you make you stronger, right?" I flashed him a comforting smile and after a moment of hesitation, he nodded.
Oh my God! Did I just give Damon his brother back for Christmas? Best Christmas present ever!
"Elena? Did you really drown in the toilet?" Caroline's voice drifted up from downstairs.
"Hang on, Care, I'm coming!" I yelled out as I stood up hastily and walked towards the bedroom door. Turning back to glance at the silent man who remained unmoving, I had my own question to ask him. "So, are you coming?"
Much to my relief, he nodded with a shy smile and then started walking towards me.
The party was in full swing by nine p.m. that night. The mansion looked festive and less murky with all the twinkly lights and Christmas slash Halloween themed baubles. Our festive tree was one of the main topics of the night; people had mixed reactions to the Halloween themed Christmas tree that were covered with cobwebs, vials of fake blood, plastic bats and scary eyeballs that appeared a little too real. I had no idea where Caroline got those from.
My third new highlight of the day was when a familiar figure appeared at the party.
"Uncle Maurice?" I gasped in shock at seeing the homeless black Santa who had appeared in several of my parents' Christmas parties. "What are you doing here?" I asked after I gave him a spontaneous hug.
I had to give credit to the guy…he barely even flinched while being hugged by a random stranger since I don't believe he even remembered me from before. He had always appeared half-drunk to my house during those occasions.
"This dude - Diamond, I think his name was - cornered me last week and offered me a couple hundred bucks to make an appearance at some party for his sweetheart. He also got me checked into a hotel and told me to have a bath and everything," 'Santa' slurred, proving me correct about his drunkenness. "The guy's a weirdo. Not that bright, either. I mean, I would have come even without the cash. He had me at the words 'free booze'," he chuckled, hiccuping as he waddled over to a makeshift bar, fully intending to raid the Salvatore's stock, no doubt.
I couldn't help it. I was giddy with happiness at the thought of Damon – sorry, 'Diamond' – and the lengths he went to, to make sure that I had the Christmas party I had described to him when I told him about my parents. My heart was practically bursting with glee as I went in search for him through the crowd, until I spotted him with Ric and Elijah at a corner, looking as if they were having an animated discussion. I didn't want to interrupt them, so I figured that I'd just thank him later on in the night.
Caroline had outdone herself with her organizational skills. The catered food was amazing, the music was crowd-pleasing and the attendees, who consisted mostly of my college mates, seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. There was a group of people, led by Matt Donovan, the bartender from the Grille, who were laughing and falling over themselves playing Twister, and there was another group who were gathered around the scary Christmas tree singing Christmas carols.
I spotted Caroline and Stefan on one of the sofas having what could only be a deep conversation and I smiled at myself for my ingenuity. Earlier in the day, I had cornered my best friend and told her about my plan to repair the rift between Damon and Stefan, and she had agreed to help. I told her to try to talk Damon up as much as she could to his brother, and focus on the great stuff he was doing to help people in his job. Seeing them on the sofa, it looked like Care was taking her assignment pretty seriously.
Just then, a song I didn't recognize started playing through the speakers of the sound system set up by Ric. It had a nice and soothing rhythm, even romantic. As the first verse started, I saw Damon appearing in my line of sight wearing a determined look on his face. He seemed to be coming towards my direction, so I waited for him anxiously. Just as he was about five feet away from me, another guy cut across his path directly in front of me and held out an arm.
"Would you like to dance, Elena?" It was Stefan. I couldn't help but to feel disappointed for his less than ideal timing, and I looked past him to look at Damon who had halted in mid-stride, his features taking on a puzzled and confused frown. Abruptly, he changed direction and headed for Caroline. With a sigh, I accepted Stefan's arm and allowed him to lead me towards a mass of swaying bodies in front of the fireplace.
"I wanted to thank you for talking to me earlier about my brother," he said, gathering me in his arms lightly as we started to move in time to the song. From my peripheral vision, I saw Damon leading Caroline over and then they started swaying to the same rhythm not too far from where we were.
I nodded absentmindedly and tried to focus my attention to the other Salvatore brother who was looking at me earnestly. "Umm, you're welcome. I hope you didn't mind me being meddlesome."
"Trust me, you weren't. You were right, though. I have been letting my residual anger get the better of me, letting it fester and ruin my relationship with the only family member I have left. The truth is, I just didn't know how to move on from the past. I guess Damon didn't know how to, either. My brother is very lucky to have you as his champion, and Caroline too. She's very vocal about him."
At the mention of Damon's name, my eyes strayed against my will to the man in question, catching me off guard when my eyes immediately met his penetrative blue ones. He had been watching me, or us, while we were talking, and now that he had my attention, his eyes never once wavered. I saw Care's lips moving a mile a minute and it appeared as if she was talking non-stop to him, but he didn't give any indication that he had heard anything she said. Our eyes remained locked, unblinking as we danced with our respective partners and the moment was filled with such an intense chemistry, I found it hard to even breathe.
To me, it felt like we were the only two people in the room. I pretended that the arms around me were his, that the head leaning lightly on mine was his. I found out later that the song was titled 'Hold Me In Your Arms' sung by Rick Astley in the late 80s. It would have been appropriate had it not been for Stefan's impeccable timing.
"I think my brother's in love for the first time in his life," Stefan whispered in my ear, breaking my intimate staring match with said brother. I leaned my head back and peered up at his green eyes in surprise.
"How do you know that?" I asked nervously, my heart racing in my chest. I had to mentally drag my mind to the small circle in my pocket, a reminder of the reality that was my predicament with Mason. I couldn't…. shouldn't have hope for a future with another guy in my life right now. But it was hard to stifle the thought of it.
"Damon has never brought a girl home before, let alone introduces her to me. He seems more open, happier, than I've ever seen him. And of course, there's the obvious clue that he's falling head over heels in love," he paused dramatically, and I wanted to box his ears for stopping when my curiosity was at its peak. "He wouldn't shut up about her all week. I think that he planned this party just to get me to meet her, maybe get my stamp of approval or something and that shows how serious he is about Care. And she obviously cares deeply about him too."
Wait, what?! Care? As in Caroline? I froze in his arms and snapped my gaze to the couple in question, but they were no longer in sight. Belatedly, I realized that it was a different song this time, and I didn't even notice. Damon and Caroline had stopped dancing after that one song, and here I was, with his brother, still swaying like two idiots while he was telling me about how the guy I had a crush on was head over heels with my best friend. I wanted to cry.
"Excuse me, I have to, uh, go to the bathroom," I mumbled and without waiting for a reply, left him in the middle of the living room in search for some privacy to get my act together.
I went into the kitchen first, and then upon spotting Ric, Elijah and the very raven-haired man I wanted to avoid the most, I quickly dove through the nearest door, and found myself inside a spacious pantry or a store room of some kind. What mattered was that it was clean and it was quiet. I took the ring out of my pocket, and I could feel the weight of it, heavy on my palm. I stared at it, willing for it to provide me the answers I was searching for, but all it did was to remind me of what was waiting for me on the other side of town.
Right on cue, my phone buzzed, signaling an incoming message. I reached into my back pocket and fished out my phone, seeing two messages from Mason. One was from earlier in the evening that I had somehow missed:
NEW MESSAGE FROM MASON:
I miss you and I love you, E. Have a happy Xmas Eve. Mase
The most recent message read:
NEW MESSAGE FROM MASON:
Merry Christmas in advance, babe. I need you back in my life. Hurry home.
He needed me. It felt good to hear that from someone, especially in light of everything that just happened. It felt good to be needed, and wanted. And loved.
However, I didn't want to make any hasty decisions about marrying someone who only said those things, probably because he knew that it was what I wanted to hear. If Mason wanted me back, he had to prove that he would practice what he preached. He needed to mean them. I wasn't about to throw caution to the wind just because he used a few choice words that meant a lot to me.
Feeling somewhat calmer, I decided to rejoin the party. I had been missing for fifteen minutes, any longer and Caroline would have sent out a search party. She was good at that, too. I meant to find solace and process what Stefan said about Damon's feelings for Care, but I ended up musing about Mason instead. I guess I just had to deal with it as it came.
I moved back towards the door and just as I opened it a crack, Damon's voice floated through the tiny gap I had created.
"….can't help but love her! I mean, she's loyal to her friends, she's protective over the people she cares about, she's supportive, kind, funny and beautiful, and we have a lot more in common that I thought. If my mother was alive, I know that she'd approve of her wholeheartedly. If I play my cards right, Caroline Forbes is going to be a Salvatore one day," he had announced vehemently.
Crash. Boom. Bang. That was the sound of my broken heart sinking to the pits of my stomach before they fractured into pieces. Well, there was nothing more final than to hear the truth from the horse's mouth. Despite the hollowness of my chest, I felt a deep calm settling over me. No longer was I plagued with uncertainties and doubts. Hearing Damon's words gave me a sudden clarity of my next course of action. I knew what I had to do now.
I stumbled out of the room into the brightly lit kitchen, catching the three men who were standing nearby by surprise. They didn't realize that I had eavesdropped on them just minutes before.
"Elena?" Damon asked in confusion, his brows wrinkling into a frown. "What were you doing in the pantry? In the dark? Are you drunk?"
Ha! I wish I was that lucky! "No, I had to make a call so I needed somewhere quiet. Sorry if I interrupted you guys," I replied as I swept my gaze over to the other two men. They were really great men and have proven to be good friends to me for the past couple of weeks. The world definitely needed more men like these ones. What were the odds that they lived in a small little town called Mystic Falls? There must be something in the water.
"You weren't interrupting anything," Elijah assured me with a grin, looking at me as if he knew a secret about me that no one else did. Okay, maybe Ric knew it, too because he was looking at me with the same expression. My mistake. These men were weirdos.
"Hey, listen, Damon," I addressed to the contemplative man, moving closer to him as his weirdo friends moved aside to give us some privacy. "I wanted to thank you for inviting me to this party, getting the tree and even getting Uncle Maurice to come. I know that you went to a lot of trouble to plan this because of what I told you about missing my parents at this time of year. I want you to know that I really appreciate everything you've done for me, not just today, but before, too. You're a really sweet and amazing guy, and I'm glad that we're friends, so thank you."
His blue eyes watched me warily as I leaned in, then I was hugging him as if my life depended on it. It was my goodbye to him, to the easy friendship that we had from the time we met at the hospital right up to today. Whatever happened from this point forth, I knew that we could never cross that line again. We would remain as friends, but there would no longer be any hand-holding or stolen hugs in the cemetery.
Standing on tiptoes, I reached up to press a platonic sisterly kiss on his cheek before I pulled back in time to catch his flabbergasted expression. Then I left him standing there in the kitchen while I searched for the blonde whom I owed so much to.
I found her talking to Uncle Maurice, giggling softly at whatever he just told her until she caught sight of my solemn appearance. "What's wrong, Elena?"
I shook my head hastily, giving her a small smile to ease her worry. I was upset when I first thought that she and Damon were seeing each other behind Tyler's back, but now, after she opened up her house for me when I needed a place to stay, and seeing how she was with Damon, I felt nothing but happiness for her to have a man like him so in love with her. I wanted to wish her well, and to find happiness with him, even if I was dying inside.
"Nothing's wrong, Care. I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay with you and for planning this awesome party with Damon. You've been my best friend from the moment we met and I want nothing but the best for you. So, thank you for being exactly who you are," I told her and then I proceeded to envelope her into a crushing hug which she returned.
"Awww, Elena, you're so sweet. You don't need to thank me," she responded, squeezing me tightly in return. "Wait, is this what I think it is?" she exclaimed suddenly, pulling back to peer at me. "Oh my God, Elena, you're a freaking genius! A Thanksgiving, a Halloween and a Christmas party all in one! Three birds, one stone! You're brilliant! Let me go announce it to everyone."
I reached out to grab her arm before she could manage to disappear from my sight, causing her to flash me a bewildered look. "What is it, Elena?"
"Damon loves you," I blurted out without further ado.
Caroline blinked at me with her wide blue-green eyes, completely shocked. Then she burst out laughing. "What?! No, he doesn't!"
"Yes, he does. I heard him telling Ric and Elijah in the kitchen just now. He loves you, Care and I think you should give him a chance. He's a great guy, really sweet and amazing and he deserves to be happy after everything he'd been through in the past. He can make you happy, too and I want that for you. You're my best friend and I love you but it's time you two stop taking care of me and let yourselves take care of each other. You should go to him," I advised, pushing her towards the kitchen.
She didn't move, but continued to stare at me as if I was crazy. "You heard him say that he loves me? From his mouth? Out loud? In English?"
I nodded firmly.
"Oh, I'll go to him, alright! I'll go and kick his ass for uttering such nonsense! Gah!" my best friend muttered under her breath and hurried off, leaving me alone with Uncle Maurice who was swaying on his feet while holding an almost empty bottle of whiskey.
"Merry Christmas, cutie pie," he slurred, and then walked away towards the front door. After a moment of contemplation, I followed after him, intending to see if I could thumb a ride with anyone who was leaving the party.
After an eventful day filled with at least three highlights of the day, I was going home.
Kristi's (tukct81), what can I say other than what I've said to thank you in my A/Ns the previous 9 chapters? Nothing much, that's what. So, I hope THANK YOU would suffice for putting up with my constant babbling.
Also, thanks a whole bunch to all my readers and regular reviewers. You are the reason that I keep writing regardless of how I feel and all that crap. You guys make it worthwhile to keep digging deep to explore the emotions that are required for such a story. I get emotionally drained after every chapter but then I do it all over again because of every single one of you. THANK YOU.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!