καταναλωτής
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a/n: Almost 140 reviews already...I honestly cannot believe it. And now we've reached double digits with Part Ten. It made me laugh to see how you guys were guessing who the person might be, brought a smile to my face too. You'll see a lot of the person in the next chapter, and Elena's fate will also be determined in the worst cliffhanger of all history! - evil laugh- But this chapter will have drama all its own. If you review a bunch, I will update faster. (:
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part ten
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"Elena, it's time to get up," her mother calls from downstairs.
"Mmm." Elena moans into her pillow. "Uhhhh...five more minutes."
"Elena," her mom calls again, walking slowly up the stairs just in case Elena decides to get smart and slide out of bed. When she peers around the doorway, however, Elena is more entangled with her blankets than before. "Hey, what's up?"
"Five more minutes," Elena grumbles again, burrowing further into the covers.
"Is this about the party tonight?" Her mom asks. Elena says nothing. "I thought you were looking forward to that." When Elena still doesn't respond, her mom crosses the room and sits on the edge of the bed, patting Elena's toes under the covers. "Oh wait. No. This is about Matt."
"Mommmm," Elena groans, trying to cover her ears. She really doesn't want to deal with this right now.
"You're thinking about breaking up with him," her mom guesses. Elena shrugs. "If that's your choice, then stick with it. If you're not happy with him, then you need to be able to say something.
"I don't want to hurt him," Elena mumbles almost inaudibly. She twists to look at her mom, smiling sadly.
"You can't always control who gets hurt and who doesn't," her mom says, reaching out to ruffle her daughter's hair. "Now perk up. You're too young to get all frowny on me. Wait for a mid-life crisis." Sliding off the bed, her mom smiles brightly and adds, "If you want, you can join me and Jeremy downstairs. I made chocolate chip pancakes."
Elena smiles instantly. Her mom always knows what to do to cheer her up. "Hey mom?"
"Yes?" Her mom turns around immediately, giving her daughter a questioning look. Her dark hair waves perfectly around her face, as it has always done. She's so beautiful and able to brighten up their house with little more than a smile. She's hardly ever frowning. Looking at her mother now, at the soft glow of sunshine in her bedroom, Elena knows that she wouldn't change anything for all the money in the world. This, right here, is where she wants to be.
"I love you," Elena says, sliding out of bed and running into her mother's arms.
"I love you too," her mom breathes against her daughter's forehead, leaving a soft kiss there. "Elena?"
"Yes?" Elena asks.
"Elena?"
Arms tighten around her, but they don't feel like her mom's. There is the press of a ring against her back, but it isn't the same shape as her mother's wedding ring. There is something wet on her back, something very warm resting underneath her. Dragging her weary eyes open, Elena looks around her, more than a little confused. Her heart is pounding against her chest, sending little pains out across her shoulders and torso every few seconds. She winces, trying to move, but her body feels immobile.
"What's going on?" Elena asks blearily. She looks around again, her vision flickering in and out. She manages to make out a clearing, flowers waving in the breeze, canopies scattered everywhere. Another pain shoots across her chest, harsher this time.
"Shh," someone says gently. "Hey. Elena." Hands cup her face, soft, soothing, and she looks down to see familiar blue eyes looking up at her tenderly. "You were talking in your sleep."
"I was- I was dreaming about my mom," Elena whispers, still out of it. She blinks, trying to clear the fog from her eyes, but it won't go away. "I can't see right. I - Damon, what happened? Why are we-" she looks around again, head pounding. "Why are we lying on the ground?"
"Technically I'm on top of canvas and you're on top of me," Damon corrects her. "Naked, I might add."
Elena looks down, flushing as she sees that they are, indeed, naked.
"You do remember last night, right?" Damon asks, trying not to sound worried. But she can pick it up in his voice anyway. His arms tighten around her, sending delicious feelings trickling up her legs, burning into her lips. She blushes again and he smirks.
"We, um - we," Elena stutters, too embarassed to say it. She can't even look down without blushing like a tomato. This shyness is new and completely unneeded. She never felt like this with Stefan, not even the first time that they made love, so why is she so self-conscious, so tender, with Damon?
"Made sandwiches?" Damon suggests, playing with her a little. "Played scrabble?"
Elena swats him, mumbling something into his chest as she lowers her head back down.
"What's that?" Damon asks, that irritating smirk still on his lips. She hasn't seen him so playful and relaxed in a long time. It's a refreshing change, one that looks quite good on him.
"You don't have to use euphemisms," Elena mumbles into his neck, fingering a blade of grass with her right hand. Her left hand is still tangled in Damon's, resting above his head. She blinks, surprised. She remembers holding his hand last night, digging her fingernails into the grass as he'd slammed into her, heating her up from the inside out. The underside of her nails are green, as if to remind her just how enthralled she'd been. The fact that she'd held his hand while sleeping does something to her heart, makes the corners of her mouth turn up.
"I'm sorry," Damon says, mocking her lightly. "I just assumed that you were afraid of the word sex by the way that you're rapidly turning into my favorite red vegetable."
"Tomatoes are actually classified as a fruit," Elena answers, her lips tracing against his neck, not quite leaving kisses. She smiles as his breath hitches a little, his body's reaction to her touch giving him away. She slides to the side, resting her head on his chest once more and curling against his side. Her right hand trails down, swirling gently around the smooth plains of his stomach.
"Don't do that," Damon exclaims peevishly.
She can't contain her grin.
"You said you were dreaming about your mom?" Damon asks soon after, resting his head against hers. He's probably trying to distract her, and it's working.
Elena nods slowly, blinking again. The fog closes in, clouding her vision. Her heartbeat fluctuates for a second, then drops. "She always used to make chocolate chip pancakes because she knew they were my favorite," she tells the man next to her, biting her lip as the familiar sadness descends. "I miss her so much."
"Tell me about her," Damon answers.
Elena shakes her head, quickly this time. "Every morning since the accident, I think about them. They always pop into my dreams, no matter what changes in reality. I used to write about it in my diary, but after awhile I just...I just wanted to forget about my parents. Talking about them, even thinking about them, isn't going to bring them back." She blinks back the moisture in her eyes, hating it for being there. She hates feeling so sad every time she wakes up in the morning with a clear picture in her head of her parents hugging, of her mother smiling.
"They're in your heart," Damon says after a pause. "No matter how much you try to banish them from your thoughts, I don't think you'll ever be able to banish them from your heart. They'll always be there." Using his free hand, he traces the area around her chest, over her heart. Elena shudders under his touch, glancing hesitantly up at him through burning eyes. Damon looks intense, his own eyes smoky as he leans towards her.
His lips capture her own, demanding, yet not overbearing. She leans into him, losing herself in his embrace, leaving behind the pain and fear. Right now, there is only them.
"Did you ever mention your mom to Stefan?" Damon asks between kisses.
Elena pulls back just enough to look at him in the face, though her lips are clamoring for more attention. "It's not a competition," she breathes unsteadily, the urge to hack bubbling up her throat. Her head begins to spin and she ignores the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Until you choose one of us, it's always going to be," Damon says, kissing the edge of her jaw, teasing her. She frowns at him, telling him to stop while she thinks. His answering look tells her that she thinks too much.
"No," Elena answers finally, uncertainty and fear written across her beautiful face. "I never told him about my mom. I didn't tell Caroline or Bonnie anything after the accident, or Matt, or Tyler, or anybody." She takes a deep breath. "Only you. Just you, Damon."
Damon tilts his head to the side, smiling in that way of his that sends butterflies erupting within her. His hand cups the edge of her face. "Why are you so determined to cling onto Stefan?" he asks.
Elena's breath catches in her throat as the world spins again. His tongue sweeps slowly across his upper lip, setting her insides on fire. She wants to kiss him so very badly, but she knows that she has to give him an answer first. "Maybe because I met him first," she begins slowly, lingering over each word. "Maybe because he's one of the few things that kept me alive after my parents died. And I-" she pauses, inhaling slowly, drowning in his oceanic eyes. "I'm scared of how much I feel for you. I don't know if I'm ready to feel that much. I don't know if it's the right time, or if it will ever be the right time."
"You're ready," Damon murmers, his fingers stroking the side of her face tenderly. "You're ready now."
"But I'm dying," Elena whispers, her voice cracking.
Damon kisses her. The walls inside of her crash immediately, flaming higher and higher until she's consumed by it, trapped in his arms. His tongue touches her, tasting, then slips back as he kisses her deeper, not gently, not painfully. Just passion, all passion, all them. Tears splash down her cheeks. Elena is unable to hold them back, not when she's so wrapped up in her emotions. Damon doesn't ask her if she'll change for him. He doesn't tell her that he won't be able to go on if she isn't by his side. He just loves her right now, while she's here, alive, breathing.
"Elena," he breathes against her lips, the sound of her name so alluring coming from him. "Do you want to be a vampire?"
"Damon," Elena begins, frustrated that he won't let it go.
Damon shakes his head. "Listen, would you?" he snaps, though not too meanly. "I didn't ask if you think you should be a vampire. I asked if you wanted to be one."
Elena pauses, not having thought about it that way before, but already knowing the answer. "Last night, when I was riding on your back and you were showing me the colors, I realized that you guys get to see the brightest world. It was beautiful, and I-" she pauses, swallowing guiltily. "Of course I want it, Damon. I want every part of it." She shakes her head. "But it isn't that simple."
"No," Damon agrees, "it isn't. But you've got to decide whether you're going to do what you want, or what you think you should do."
"I don't know," Elena mutters, pressing a shaking hand against her forehead. "I don't know, damn it." She runs the same hand through her hair, groaning. "You're not supposed to make me second guess myself, Damon! You're supposed to support me!"
"You should have known better than to actually believe that," Damon says with a hint of a smile, brushing off her glare. "I've always been a rebel, Elena. Not even you can change that."
"Oh yeah?" Elena says, smirking at him and leaning it, brushing her lips against his. Her eyes glance up, bright and beautiful. "I bet I can prove you wrong."
Her phone rings from across the lawn.
"You've got to be kidding me," Damon moans. Elena rises up, blushing again as she realizes that she's in all her naked glory and Damon is staring at her. "Then again..."
"Don't be a perv, Salvatore," she hisses.
"You're the one who jumped my bones," Damon retorts, waggling his eyebrows.
Elena rolls her eyes, still blushing as she hurries over to her phone. "What's up, Care?" she asks, trying to ignore the wobbling in her legs. It's so hard to walk now, but she's determined to brush it off. No use making anyone worry. "Why are you crying?" A minute later, Elena drops the phone, covering her mouth.
"Elena, what-" Damon begins.
She whirls to face him, already glancing about to find her clothes. "It's Jeremy," Elena says, trying to breathe normally. "He's dead."
"What happened?" he asks, tugging on his dark jeans. Later, he'll give everyone a laugh about going commando, although one person might not be there. He looks at Elena, at the way that her frail limbs are shaking as she pulls up her underwear and clips her bra.
"She - she said that she's been wanting to get even, and she finally had her chance," Elena answers hoarsely, buttoning her shorts.
"Wait, what-" Damon cuts off, his expression darkening with realization. "Katherine." His hands curl into fists. "Let's go, Buffy. We've added staking a bitchy doppleganger to the agenda."
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to be continued
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