Where Goes the Night

I

Everything beyond the window was dark grey and obscure as Damon opened his eyes just after six in the morning. He heard Elena breathe slowly next to him. As she exhaled, he could see her breath. Damon got out of bed and turned on the heating, which Elena had forgotten to do the night before. He picked up their clothes from the floor, put on his shirt and put the rest of them on the chair beside her table. Quietly he went to the kitchen, closing all the doors behind him.

The air was cold and not entirely comforting, but Damon had taken it upon himself to make breakfast and so do something nice for Elena. He found a French press hidden away in a cupboard, gathered together everything he needed for crêpes and got to work. After half an hour all was done, but he realised he had ambitiously prepared everything at a far too an early hour. Leaving the coffee to brew and covering the crêpes with the lid of the pan he cautiously went back to the bedroom and got into bed. Lying beside Elena under the blanket, his eyes fixed on her face, he gently stroked her side, from her hip along her thigh. This seemingly innocent action woke her up, and as she opened her eyes she immediately smiled upon seeing Damon.

"Good morning,"

"Morning, sunshine," He said as he gave her a kiss.

"I made breakfast,"

"Really? That's so sweet," Elena placed her hand on his cheek and stroked it lightly, "I would get up and go to the kitchen, but it's so frightfully cold,"

"We can eat in the living room, under a blanket,"

"Excellent idea,"

They got up and carried everything into the living room, where they were obliged to switch on some lamps, as it was still dark, and Elena turned on the radio, a ritual she could not escape. They ate their breakfast rather quietly only interrupted by Damon's laughter as he saw how Elena drowned her food in maple syrup.

"Don't even. We all have our weaknesses,"

"I can see that,"

"On that subject, Halloween is coming up soon,"

"Are you one of the people who insists on celebrating it?"

"Maybe," Elena smiled "There's something very beautiful about it. If done properly,"

"Please elaborate,"

"I prefer it when people make the effort to make their costumes or parties as frightening as possible. People do feed off fear in a way. I suppose that's why many people enjoy horror movies, since the adrenaline rush they get is so pleasant. I just think that there is something tragically wonderful in something truly spooky or gothically creepy,"

"Again, you surprise me. I've never really celebrated it, since in Sweden it's really not a holiday,"

"The French are not really Halloween enthusiasts either, but I'm just morbidly interested in the concept I suppose. I've always been attracted to cemeteries as well. In Paris one of my favourite spots has to be the Père-Lachaise cemetery. Or the Catacombs,"

"Now I'm really worried," Damon laughed nervously.

"If you ever decide to visit Paris, then you'll see what I mean,"

"Good point, I can't really have an opinion without having been there," The idea immediately consumed Damon.

They took their coffee cups and huddled under the duvet, pressed closely together side by side. Damon put his arm around Elena as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"So have you already planned anything for Halloween?" Damon asked.

"No, I rarely plan, as you'll notice soon enough,"

"Interesting. Why?"

"The future scares me. So I prefer to leave it very vague and uncertain,"

"I actually know what you mean, since I had planned my life out before I had a near nervous breakdown regarding my choices,"

"Exactly. Striving for a very defined goal can actually be bad for some people. For others, it's what keeps them going,"

Damon stroked her hair and thought about what she had said. His nervous breakdown had coincided with Katherine's refusal to be with him, and at that time he had been certain that his future held a certain career path as well as Katherine as the love of his life. Now he was glad that he had moved away from this vision, because he could not imagine being without Elena. Despite being different compared to how she was a few years ago, she still had the one quality which he had wanted Katherine to have, which was vulnerability. Not because he wanted to abuse it, but because it made her human. Whereas Katherine had the character of a psychopath, having no regard for the emotions of others, because she felt that she was superior to everyone else, therefore she never doubted herself. From the moment he had seen Elena again, it was what had attracted him, since he felt her reluctance to play the game with him as Katherine would have. It had made her all the more appealing and desirable.

"What are you thinking about?" Elena turned to him.

"Nothing too important,"

"I don't believe that for a second. I can tell by the look in your eyes," She said as she kissed his forehead, before taking all the dishes to the kitchen. Damon followed her and watched her as she stood by the sink, raising her arms to put her hair up into a ponytail, thereby raising her nightshirt exposing her behind. He walked up to her and pulled her close to him, moving his hands over her stomach and breasts. The kitchen was dark except for the small light above the stove, so it felt like the still of the night, except for the faint sound of the radio announcing the morning news. Damon placed Elena on the table and as she lay back, he opened her shirt button by button before throwing his own shirt away. He stroked her thighs before raising her up by her back to kiss her, his hands holding onto her through her stream of chocolate hair.

"God, Elena, I want you so much," She bit his neck and kissed him, as he whispered into her ear, "You have no idea what you're doing to me,"

"I think I do," She pulled him closer to her and let him enter her. They moved slowly but their bodies were steamy from sweat in the cold setting of the kitchen. Elena could feel herself begin to shake lightly from the pleasure and before too long both she and Damon fell onto the table in both exhaustion and satisfaction.

"There goes my energy for the day," Damon said as he kissed her and then passed her the rumpled shirt.

"It was worth it though. And a lack of energy is not something that a cup of coffee won't cure," After thinking about it for a while, Elena said, "But it's Saturday,"

"That doesn't mean there are not things to be done," Damon sighed, "I've been so damn secretive about this, that I feel bad. My brother will be in town for the weekend, so I'm going to show him around. And I have to pick him up from the train station in two hours,"

"Oh, alright, have a nice time,"

Even though there had not been a trace of disappointment in Elena's voice, Damon felt miserable.

"Would you like to join us in the evening?"

"If you're feeling guilty about not telling me, don't. I understand. He's in town just for two days. And also we haven't exactly been going out for a long time,"

"It's not that, really. I want you to join us," He embraced her and looked into her eyes pleadingly. Elena felt unable to refuse his pools of husky blue, so she agreed to meet them for dinner. Damon took a shower, dressed and after saying goodbye was out the door. The bubble he had wanted to keep Elena and himself in was bound to burst and why not start with Stefan, he thought.

II

Damon waited at the door but he saw the board on which next to Stefan's train the word 'Arrived' flashed slowly. Anticipation mixed with regret overtook Damon as he was more worried about Elena than Stefan's visit, because he could not give up the thought that he wanted to keep her to himself. Strangely he had not had this problem with Enzo, perhaps because he was also part of their past, unfortunately as he now knew in a way which was completely contrary to what he had imagined.

"Brother!" Stefan said as he embraced Damon.

"Stefan, hey,"

"You were staring right through me, as I came up to you. Are you alright?"

"Yes, just slightly preoccupied,"

Damon took Stefan to his apartment where he left his suitcase and where they caught up on the formalities. It looked like Stefan was glad to see his older brother and this made Damon happy, given that they had not had the best relationship for a long time. Only when Damon moved away had they really bonded, then Stefan had moved to Australia so now these rare visits only strengthened their relations. The last time Stefan had visited however had been when Damon was still somewhat involved with Katherine and had introduced the two, without revealing his embarrassing efforts to win her over. Damon was trying to shake the unfortunate memories from that last trip and was instead trying to think of what the two of them could do for the day. Damon called up Elena and told her to meet them in a pub called the 'Thirsty Mad Cat' at seven, so they had a lot of time to fill up with activities. After two museums, plenty of outdoor tourist sites and walking kilometres across the city, Stefan was in no mood for more movement, so they arrived at the pub early and got to drinking. After a few pints, both were loose and chatting away, so Damon told Stefan about Elena, leaving their past quite vague, only mentioning that they knew each other at university. Before long Damon saw Elena walk through the door, her eyes wandering around the room restlessly, her body wrapped in a long forest green trench coat. At that moment she was the embodiment of beauty in his eyes.

"Elena," He called out, feeling his voice choke slightly. Damon had no idea why he was permitting this introduction.

"Hi," She smiled and he could see the flush in her cheeks.

"This is my brother Stefan," Stefan stood up and smiled before looking back at Damon, "And this is Elena,"

"It's nice to meet you,"

"Likewise, I've heard a lot about you,"

"All good things I hope," Stefan said as they all sat down.

"Certainly. Damon shared his childhood stories of how the two of you played video games and bonded over that for hours on end. I had a very similar experience with my own brother,"

"Good times. I wish that now life would be so simple that you could stay at home and think about nothing but the screen before you,"

"Don't we still do that though? Mostly all we do is stare at a computer, in any job really,"

"True. But it requires more thinking, than shooting down zombies in an apocalyptic world,"

"Don't belittle the effort it required to play those games," Damon chimed in.

"Elena, what would you like to drink?" Stefan asked.

"A glass of Jack on the rocks, please,"

"Damon?"

"The same,"

He smiled and then got up, leaving the pair alone.

"This seems to be going well," Damon whispered as he kissed her neck.

"It does. I would like to make a good impression. Damon, are you drunk?"

"Maybe, we both may have been here for quite a while,"

"We should really have some dinner, to sober you up. Then again this might be quite entertaining as is,"

When Stefan returned they all started browsing the menus and both of the inebriated men went for a full roast dinner, while Elena chose lasagne. Time flew as they waited for their food and Stefan amused Elena with embarrassing stories of Damon, as he seemed to have lost any inhibitions. Damon meanwhile laughed through it, but held his hand over his ears a few times. The trio were thoroughly enjoying themselves in the atmosphere of the little family pub over their meals and drinks, in the dim light of a candle that was dripping down and with a strong gale outside. They stayed there for a while, before deciding to go for a walk after which they would go home. Elena and Stefan, dressed and ready, were already outside as they waited for Damon, who had gone to the bathroom. Stefan breathed in deeply and turned to Elena with a smile.

"It's funny, even at the beginning of the evening I thought I'd seen you somewhere. Then I realized that you look very similar to another one of Damon's university friends, so for a moment there I thought that he had already introduced us. If I hadn't fallen for her when I was over and for that reason remembered her name, I could have sworn that you were her,"

"Really? That's quite peculiar,"

"I know," He yawned, "Ī do have to say that you're much lovelier than her though. But we all have that one bitch in our lives,"

Elena felt a disconcerting feeling grow within her and so she had to ask the question, she dreaded to ask.

"What was her name?"

"Katherine. Let's just say that a fling has never been so terrible. I have no idea why Damon was friends with her in the first place,"

"Are you sure that they were just friends?"

"Well he never really specified, but that's what she told me," Stefan looked at Elena, "They weren't just friends?"

Elena shook her head, feeling the awkwardness begin to overtake her. Just then Damon walked out the door of the pub and after putting his arms around the two of them, pushed them forward.

"Let's walk through the city! It's such a fine night,"

Their walk was relatively short, because as the alcohol stopped coursing through their veins and the cosiness of the pub had been left behind, they began to feel the cool air nip at their noses and freeze their hands. Elena walked them both to the bus station, since it was on her way home, and when she and Damon parted she felt surprisingly calm, but she knew that something was not quite as it should be, and that the real wave of what she had just learnt would pass over her soon enough. As Damon and Stefan waited for the bus home, Damon added the finishing touches to the idea he had formed in his mind, before Stefan spoke.

"I like her. She's quite mysterious. I can see why you're intrigued by her,"

"It's more than that. I think I love her,"

"Have you told her that?"

"No, not in so many words,"

"Why?"

"I'm worried she might run away,"

"I'd say you have nothing be worried about,"

"Trust me, with her you never know," Before a pause, Damon asked, "What were you two talking about outside?"

"Nothing much. I just mentioned that she reminded me of someone I had seen before," Stefan said while biting his lip.

"You didn't," Damon's eyes portrayed dismay, "You did. Goddamn it, now she'll be certain that that's the only reason I was attracted to her. You have no idea how complicated her mind is and how easily everything can become complete chaos,"

"I'm sorry, Damon. I just never thought that you and Katherine had something, since you never told me, so I didn't exactly think that I was talking about your ex-girlfriend to your current girlfriend,"

"It's fine, you didn't know. I think that life is just forcing me to be completely honest these days. It's hard work,"

"You want to go after her now, right?"

"Yes. Will you be alright?"

"I know how to get to your place, it's fine. I'll see you tomorrow before I leave," Damon smiled and began walking in the direction of Elena's apartment.

III

Even in the staircase Damon could smell something wintry and he immediately knew that it would be coming from Elena's apartment. She awaited him at the door.

"What are you doing here, Damon?"

"Stefan told me what he told you,"

Elena left the door open as she walked towards the kitchen.

"Mulled wine? I thought that it would be a nice excuse to get drunk,"

"Elena, please, please don't think what you're thinking,"

"Do you realize what you just said?"

"Yes. It's really more complicated than it seems. Yes, you two do look similar, but it has nothing to do with how I feel about you. You're so much more than your looks,"

"Damon, it's actually fine. I thought about it and while my first thought was a very strong revulsion to the idea that I might be your rebound from Katherine, I then realized that I don't care, because it's in the past,"

"You don't?"

"I don't. I'm so tired of worrying about the past. We're fine now, so I can't question everything again,"

"I think I'll never be able to figure you out," He said as he slowly approached her.

"Isn't that what it's all about?"

"Perhaps," And before he knew it, Damon said, "I love you,"

Elena pulled back slightly.

"This," She looked for words, "Now I don't know what to think. Are you saying this … no, but why would you?"

"I'm saying this because I actually feel that way and I wanted to tell you that this morning, but I'm glad I didn't. The evening is much more appropriate," He placed his hands on her hips and moved towards her.

"I," Elena found the remains of the courage she had left despite all the times she had felt broken and betrayed, and said what she had thought years ago, "I love you too," Damon kissed her lips tenderly and she felt it rush through her powerfully, making the elephants at the pit of her stomach dance again.

"Isn't that something to celebrate?"

"Yes. Wine?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of a trip to Paris, since you spoke of it so reminiscently today,"

"Damon, but we both have work,"

"And we both have at least a few days of vacation and a weekend to spare,"

"Halloween,"

"Something about Halloween and the Catacombs just sounds right,"

Elena placed her hands on his cheeks and staring into his eyes kissed him.

"Yes, it does,"

THE END