A/N: Hey guys, it's update time. This one's weird. I expected it to be about half as long as it turned out to be. And I don't even know why it is so long as all the interesting stuff will be happening in the next chapter. But anyways, here we go. Where were we? Oh right, I was drowning my favorite character.
P.S.: I've said it before, but I'll say it again, the universe is cruel and thus TVD does not belong to me.
The eleventh chapter, in which tears are shed
"Mom, Jeremy fell in," Jenna cried and threw herself into her mother's arms. Elena felt a numbness go through her. She clutched Jenna tightly to her body to feel something, anything that might tether her to the world, thinking she might otherwise faint.
"I'm so sorry," Caroline exclaimed, looking up at Elena through equally teary eyes. She was still sitting on the ground, unable to move. "They were playing, the wood was wet…" a sob ended her attempt at an explanation. Bonnie emerged but only for a second to take a deep breath, before disappearing again under black waves.
Too long, Elena thought. It's taking too long. And it's too dark. Only the feel of Jenna's warm tears against her skin kept her from crumbling to the ground.
Suddenly the waves parted again and she could make out Damon and in his arms Jeremy, unmoving. She put Jenna on the ground carefully and ran towards the end of the landing stage, holding her arms out for Damon to hand her her son. When she got hold of the small body, dripping water onto the wood, feeling unbearably fragile in her embrace, she couldn't fight the tears anymore and they spilled from her eyes. She slumped down and clutched her son's cold body to herself. "Wake up, Jeremy, please wake up," she whispered, pleadingly, feeling hot tears stream down her face and cold drops of brine fall from her son's clothes onto her naked legs. Damon pushed himself out of the water and rushed over to her, kneeling down next to them. She looked at him, helplessly, willing him to do something, to fix everything and then, suddenly, she heard a small cough and then another one. She felt warm water spill onto her arm and then saw the most beautiful thing she thought she had ever seen. Her son's dark eyes fluttered open tiredly and looked around, disoriented.
"Oh my God, Jeremy," she breathed and pressed the small body even closer to herself.
"Mommy," came his weak voice, raspy from swallowing salt water. "What's going on?" he sounded so scared and lost, it broke her heart and new tears began to spill from her eyes.
"Jeremy, are you okay?" she asked, still in shock but also immensely relieved, not knowing what to react to first.
"We should get him inside, get him warm," Damon supplied and, glad that she had a plan of action, Elena stood up quickly and started towards the house, her son clasped to her chest. They put the little boy down on one of the couches in front of the fire and Damon was next to him quickly, holding a towel and drying him off while giving orders to everyone else. Caroline ran up the stairs to get dry pajamas and a blanket, Bonnie ran into her room to change and then prepared hot cups of cocoa for both Jeremy and Jenna. Vicki was getting dry and changed herself. Jenna was sitting on the edge of the sofa, eyeing her brother warily, not daring to get closer and yet not able to move away. Damon rubbed the little boy off, took off his clothes and wrapped him in the towel until Caroline came back down and dressed him in new clothes. Jeremy was looking around silently, still a little disoriented and scared, but alert and responsive. He held his cocoa and observed the frantic movement all around him.
When he was dried off and dressed, Damon checked his reflexes and his pulse, but he seemed fine. "How are you feeling, buddy?" he asked, crouching down in front of the little boy.
"Good," came the response, spoken stronger now and accompanied by a firm nod of the little head.
"Do you feel cold at all?" Damon continued, to which Jeremy only shook his head. "Any pain?" Damon went on. "Did you hit something or do you hurt on the inside maybe?"
"Nope," Jeremy answered lightheartedly, raising his cup to take another sip.
A small smile played on Damon's lips. "Alright. You get some sleep, okay? And if anything feels weird or you start to feel sick or something starts to hurt, you tell us, got it?" Jeremy nodded again, unable to answer since he was still drinking his cocoa. As Damon stood back up, Jenna carefully slipped next to Jeremy and, apparently feeling more confident about his health, threw her arms around him and squeezed him tightly, which made Damon chuckle lightly.
"Thank you," Elena said quietly and before he could respond, she had thrown her arms around him and held him tight. "Thank you for saving him."
Slowly, he closed his arms around her in a comforting embrace. "He's okay now," he said calmly. "He'll be okay." He could feel her nod, her cheek pressed against his shoulder, her arms gripping tightly around his neck.
Elena was incapable of letting go. She felt his skin underneath her fingers, still cold from the ocean, felt drops of water dripping from his hair onto her arms and his wet jeans soaking her skirt as she pressed her body against his. But she couldn't let go. He had saved her son's life. How did you thank someone for something like that?
"I should get changed, too," he finally said, quietly, and she nodded, releasing him and watching him leave the room before sitting down next to her son and holding him tightly.
As Caroline got Jenna ready for bed, Elena sat next to Jeremy on the couch. They had decided to have him sleep downstairs for the night so that he could be warmed by the fire. He had finished his cocoa and was snuggled underneath his blanket now, his eyes starting to droop close. Elena sat next to him, just stroking his hair, staring into the flames.
"Mommy?" he asked, his voice already heavy from sleep.
"Yeah?" She turned towards him.
"Are you okay? You look scared."
Elena smiled. "I was scared. But I'm okay now," she replied.
"Why were you scared?" he asked.
"Because you stupid little boy fell into the ocean," she said chidingly but with so much warmth in her voice that Jeremy didn't feel the least bit scolded.
"But Damon saved me," he returned matter-of-factly.
"Yes he did," she confirmed. "But you have to be more careful. He won't always be there to save you."
At that, Jeremy was pulled a little from his drowsiness and his eyes widened. "Why won't he be there?" he asked, alarmed.
"I don't know. People leave, Jeremy. This is only temporary," Elena tried to explain.
"No," the little boy protested, shaking his head. "You have to make him stay."
"I can't do that," she replied, smiling calmly and running a hand through his hair soothingly.
"Yes you can," Jeremy argued. "Ask him."
"We'll see about that later, Jer. You need to sleep."
"Ask him, mommy," Jeremy insisted.
"Maybe," she half-agreed. "But only if you sleep now." Reassured, as children are by their parents' vague promises, Jeremy closed his eyes and snuggled deeper into his blanked, finding sleep easily.
When Caroline came back downstairs, Elena left her with Jeremy and went to say goodnight to Jenna, who was sitting in her bed, clasping her doll and staring out the window, when Elena walked into the room.
"Will you be okay alone tonight?" Elena asked as she sat down on the bed, next to her daughter. The little girl nodded quietly and shifted so she was lying in her mother's arm.
"Is Jer going to be alright?" she asked in a small voice.
"Yeah, he'll be fine. Don't worry," Elena confirmed and blew a soft kiss on the crown of her daughter's head.
"I'm sorry, mom," she said in a shaky voice. "I should have paid better attention."
"No," Elena returned quickly, soothingly. "It's not your fault Jenna. It was an accident. And he's fine now. Don't feel bad, okay?" She turned her daughter's head and wiped a tear, threatening to fall, from the corner of her eye.
"Because Damon saved him," Jenna said with a sniffle, gazing down at her hands.
"Yes. He really is Superman, isn't he?" she added with a joking tint to her voice.
"You can have him," Jenna said, her voice a little firmer now, a small, hopeful smile on her lips.
"I can have what?" Elena asked, not seeing the connection to their current conversation.
"Damon. You can have him if you want," Jenna explained.
"I thought you were going to marry him?" Elena asked playfully, pulling her daughter closer to her side like they were sharing a funny secret.
"Not if you want to marry him. That would be okay, too," Jenna replied earnestly.
"Oh honey, that's very generous of you," Elena accepted smilingly. "But I can't. I'm already married to daddy."
"Maybe you could marry Damon instead," Jenna said quietly, looking at her hands guiltily.
Elena felt something inside of her constrict. "Why would you say that?" she asked, the playful mood suddenly gone.
"He loves us more than daddy," Jenna said, her eyes downcast.
"Don't say that. That's not true. Daddy loves you very much," Elena assured her little girl.
"Not like Damon. He jumped in the ocean to save Jeremy," Jenna said with conviction.
"That's his job," Elena argued back.
"That's not why he did it, mom. He makes us Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast. He danced with me and he helps us with our homework and he plays with us." Elena swallowed, not even aware of half those things. "Daddy never has time for us."
"That's because he's very busy at work, Jenna. He's providing for us. He would like to spend more time with you, too."
"No, he wouldn't," Jenna only said and it sounded more defeated than accusing. Elena wanted to reply something, to reassure her daughter, to make her believe in her father's love, but words didn't come to her. "Good night, mom," she heard her daughter say instead and with that the little girl scooted down and under her blanket, closing her eyes.
"Good night honey," Elena replied, blowing a last kiss on her daughter's temple before turning off the light and getting up to leave.
As she stepped out of the room, Elena almost collided with the nanny who was standing right behind the door, an almost guilty look on her face. "Caroline?" Elena asked, demanding an explanation in not so many words.
"I wanted to see if she needed anything else or if she's okay," Caroline supplied at least somewhat believably.
"Yeah, she's fine. You should go to bed, too," Elena confirmed, her voice friendly now. As she was about to turn around, the blonde stopped her with her voice.
"She's right, you know?"
Elena spun around. "Excuse me?" she asked, daring her new friend to keep going.
"About Damon. He loves those kids. He would die for them," Caroline elaborated, the discomfort apparent in her face.
"That's his job, Caroline," Elena repeated what she had already told her daughter, a defiant tone to her voice.
"Maybe so, but Jenna's right about one thing. His job is not the reason why he did it. And it's not the reason why he's sitting down there now and watching over Jeremy sleep."
"What are you trying to say?" Elena challenged.
"I'm not trying to do anything, Elena," Caroline answered conciliatorily. "It's just good for the kids to feel loved. You shouldn't try to take that away from them just because it comes from a different place than you want it to." And with that she turned around and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Elena stunned and victim to her own thoughts.
Elena meant to turn in as well, meant to go to her room in which Vicki was undoubtedly already sleeping, knocked out by her sleeping pills, but something changed her mind. She slowly walked back over to the stairs and down to the living room. Caroline had been right. Damon was sitting on the couch opposite the one where her son slept peacefully. He was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt and nursing a drink in his hand as well as a pensive expression on his face.
"Hey," she said quietly, planted at the bottom of the stairs. He looked up, tired maybe, or weary, or sorrowful.
"Hey," he returned, before lowering his eyes back to the little boy.
"You don't have to sit with him," Elena continued, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I know," he replied, unmoving, rolling the glass around in his hand absentmindedly, his eyes still fixed on the kid before him. Elena stayed by the stairs hesitantly, until he finally lifted with eyes towards her again, waiting for something from her, a comment or a movement, and finally a slight frown creased his forehead. "Would you prefer it if I didn't?" he asked, half surprised, half affronted.
Elena remained by the stairs, watching him, not sure whether that wasn't what she should indeed prefer. "No," was what she ultimately settled on and finally she started moving towards him until she was sitting next to him on the couch. For a while, they were both quietly watching the sleeping boy, until Elena spoke again. "I don't know how to thank you." She wanted to continue, but was unable to find the words to express what she felt she needed to say.
"I'm just glad I got him in time," he returned, his eyes still directed straight ahead.
Elena was slowly pulled out of the darkness by a light tickling sensation. A warm flurry of fingers fluttered against her cheek and then under her chin. She jerked slightly, her eyes still closed against the sunlight threatening them from behind her lids. She felt her shoulder push against something warm and firm but pliable. The fingers didn't relent however and their torment was now accompanied by the bubbly sound of giggles. Slowly, Elena began to stir and absentmindedly she swept her hand over the area on her face that was under attack. The giggles got louder and finally she jumped awake, tearing her eyes open and sitting upright in one hectic motion. She was met with cheerful brown eyes under disheveled hair.
"Jeremy, what…?" she began, stopping to rub her palm over her neck which was still humming from his assault. The little boy laughed again and clapped his hands together in glee. Slowly, Elena began to become aware of her surroundings. She was sitting on the downstairs couch; her son was standing in front of her, highly amused by the fact that he had roused her from her sleep in such a mischievous way.
"Mommy, you were snoring," he reprimanded her with a wide grin, now grasping her knee with his hands and bouncing delightedly up and down.
"I was not," she gasped, her mock shock turning to actual alarm when she heard a low chuckle beside her. As if stung by a bee, she turned her head, only to see Damon sitting on the couch next to her, in exactly the same spot her head had been resting only seconds ago, his arm lying lazily across the back of the sofa, a cheeky expression on his face, winking at Jeremy conspiratorially. She turned beet red in an instant. She had to have slept in his arm; the heat she had felt against her cheek had to have been emanating from his chest. Before she could collect her thoughts, Jeremy spoke again.
"Can I go play with Jenna?" he asked, unaware of her embarrassment.
"Sure," she replied quietly, tugging a strand of hair behind her ear and stealing herself for the moment he would have run up the stairs and she would be alone with the man she had been sleeping on. "I'm sorry," she finally said, not daring to look away from the floor.
"Don't be," Damon said nonchalantly. "You weren't actually snoring." This got her to lift her eyes and throw him an indignant look, only to be met with a wink and a smile.
"Not what I meant," she spat, getting up, hoping to shake off the awkwardness by clearing away Jeremy's bed.
"Yeah, I figured," she heard him say behind her, more serious now. He took a deep breath before walking up to her, helping her with the covers. "Look, I'm sorry. I fell asleep. I guess you fell asleep, too. Jeremy woke me up two minutes before you." She was still not stilling in her movements. "It's only a big deal if you make it a big deal," he finally reasoned. This got her to halt for a moment.
"It's not a big deal," she stated firmly, pushing her hands into her sides but still avoiding his eyes.
"Good," he agreed, his signature smirk finding its way back onto his face. "Wouldn't want to lose my job because you mistook me for a pillow."
Elena lunged at him with the pillow she was just picking up but couldn't help the smile that crept across her lips. Damon laughed lightly before walking off into the kitchen and when she walked up the stairs, carrying her son's bedding, she heard the familiar sounds of bacon sizzling and coffee brewing.
The day was quiet. Even though Jeremy was doing better and had seemingly fully recovered from his accident, everyone else was still somewhat shaken up. Elena forewent her usual routine of running and self-defense class with Bonnie for more sand-city building on the beach with her children. Jeremy had enlisted everyone's help and was unceremoniously taking advantage of the fact that Jenna was relieved beyond words that he was well, making her bring him soda and carry his shovel all day.
His enjoyment was lessened when Damon returned from his trip to the nearby town not only with new food supplies but also with, in Jeremy's opinion, very unmanly swimmies that everyone now insisted he wear at all times when near the water. His solution was to abandon his post as king of Sand City and find other, supposedly more fun things to do inside the house.
When dinner time rolled around, the house had returned to a sense of normalcy, laughter was coming easily again and the crackling fire had reclaimed its role of supplying coziness, not warming freezing bodies. The last twenty-four hours had taken their toll however and even breathing came from all bedrooms before midnight.
Damon's rest was, however, cut short. He was awoken by clanking noises coming from inside the house. While he grabbed his gun from his bedside drawer and slid quietly out of bed, he glanced at the clock on his nightstand, telling him that it was just after five in the morning. He could see the first tentative graying shades of twilight on the horizon as he crept through the living room. Another shuffle came from the direction of the kitchen, then a sound like metal scratching against metal. The muscles in Damon's back tensed as he squeezed silently along the wall towards the kitchen door. He remarked the clarity that came with the rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins, could feel his finger tighten around the trigger of the cool and heavy gun he was holding in front of him. He pressed against the outside of the kitchen doorframe, listening for a sense of where the intruder was. The slight movement of a chair near the kitchen island and simultaneous clanking of a drawer near the refrigerator alerted him to the fact that he was faced with at least two assailants. His only advantage was that he knew where they were while they were still oblivious to his presence. Making full use of the element of surprise, he whirled around at record speed, turning the kitchen light on with his left hand while aiming towards the person standing nearest to him with the gun in his right. He was met with two pairs of stunnedly blinking eyes and the sound of an egg dropping from a little girl's hand onto the floor. As fast as he could, Damon pulled the gun behind his back, hoping that the tiny attackers had been too blinded by the sudden light to actually see the firearm pointing at Jeremy's head.
"Guys, what on earth are you doing?" he breathed out, trying to let the weapon disappear under the waistband of his sweatpants and his t-shirt.
"Making breakfast for mom," Jenna whispered, placing a silencing finger over her lips.
"Why?" Damon whispered back just as silently, the adrenaline rush giving way to an acute sense of too little sleep over the past few days.
"It's her birthday," Jeremy explained, holding up a candle he had apparently found in one of the drawers.
"Jesus!" Damon heard a whispered cry from behind him, turning around only to see Bonnie drop her gun as quickly as Damon had only minutes before.
"It's Elena's birthday," Damon enlightened her with a shrug and then, turning back to the kids still staring at him with big eyes he continued: "Do you know who makes the best chocolate birthday cake?" They both shook their heads, captivated. "This one here," he stated with a nod while indicating Bonnie with his thumb over his shoulder.
When the children's faces lit up, Bonnie knew there was no chance she would get to go back to sleep. She therefore capitulated and mumbled something about being right back before roughly pulling the gun out of the back of Damon's pants and tiptoeing back to her room to deposit the deadly weapons.
Elena was woken by a slight knock on the door. She turned around to see if Vicki was moving but her sister in law kept breathing evenly and didn't stir. She turned her head in the other direction to take a look at her alarm clock, telling her that it was not even seven. There was another knock and Elena rolled her eyes at her kids who would wake her at such an ungodly hour on a Sunday morning. "Come in," she said groggily, sitting up slightly.
The door was pushed open and in walked Jenna, holding a cake up to the height of her chin, her face illuminated by a candle on top of the cake, a determined look on her face, taking her role as cake-bearer very serious. Behind her came Damon, a very sleepy looking Jeremy riding piggyback and clinging to him with his arms slung around his neck. Bonnie followed, carrying a tray with more food and from what Elena could smell there were pancakes and bacon and coffee and it was basically heaven. Caroline peeked in behind the others and joined them in a half circle at the bottom of Elena's bed. Elena had sat up straight as soon as she had realized what was happening, clutching a hand over her mouth and when the lot started to sing Happy Birthday, a single tear rolled down her face.
When they had finished the song, Jeremy signaled to Damon that he wanted to be let down by flailing his legs uncontrollably until they touched ground again. He instantly sprinted to his mother's bed, jumping up on it and with this movement he finally woke up Vicki. While the latter was still battling with her sleeping mask and trying to grasp the situation in general, Jenna had moved next to the bed and held up the cake towards her mother. "Make a wish," she said, big eyes looking into Elena's teary ones.
Elena smiled and stroked her daughter's hair. "What else could I possibly wish for?" she asked, hugging her son tightly against her side.
"If you don't want your wish, I'll make one for you. I want a new football," Jeremy suggested, already moving forward to lean towards the candle.
"No, I know what I want," Elena stopped him, leaning forward herself and blowing out the candle.
"What did you wish for?" Jeremy asked, bouncing up and down on the bed.
"It's a secret. I can't tell or it won't come true," Elena told him with a wink.
Much to Vicki's dismay, this was the much too early beginning of the day. They had breakfast and then went for an early morning swim – everyone but Jeremy who still refused to put on his swimmies. After lunch, Caroline took the kids upstairs for a nap, their cake-baking escapades before sunrise taking their toll on their little bodies. Vicki followed suit and so Elena was left to her own devices. She was sitting on the beach, drawing aimless sketches in the sand, from time to time looking out at the endless waters pensively, getting lost in her thoughts. She didn't know what it was about birthdays that always made you reevaluate your life and choices, but here she was, doing just that.
"You don't look so cheery, birthday-girl," came a playful voice beside her. Elena looked up, shielding her eyes against the sun and smiled at Damon as he sank down in the sand next to her, leaning back on his elbows, looking out onto the sea.
"Oh I'm very cheery," she replied. "This is actually my 'let's get this party started'-face."
"Now that's just depressing," he returned and lay down, his hands crossed behind his head, relishing the sunshine on his face. After a short bout of silence he spoke again, his voice more serious now. "I'm sorry he isn't here," he stated.
"Who?" she asked, causing Damon to blink at her with one open eye asking without words whether she was serious. "What, Mason?" She asked before waving it off dismissively. "He has other things to worry about. Things like my birthday can't be a priority right now."
Damon didn't respond but she could tell from the look on his face that he was biting his tongue. "So," he finally started. "What's the big Lockwood birthday tradition? Grand party? Weekend-trip to some exotic location? Chuck-E-Cheese?"
Elena giggled lightly. "No, none of those titillating choices." He looked up at her expectantly. "It's dumb," she stated and resumed drawing in the sand with one finger.
"I doubt that," he returned, waiting.
Elena tried to wait him out a little longer but finally relented with a small sigh. "Mason takes me out to dinner." She looked at him, waiting for a reply but was only met with a confusedly crinkled forehead. "It's a tradition," she continued. "There's this tiny French restaurant that I love. They make the best coulant au chocolat." She paused again, gathering her thoughts. "We went to France on our honeymoon," she then explained. "It was the best two weeks of my life. So after we got back he would take me to this restaurant for my birthday. It's the one night a year that's about me. I mean, we go out all the time, but always to business dinners or charity events or friends' parties. You know? This was just him and me. No work, no other people, no small talk. And I can eat whatever I want. All the creamy sauces and sugary desserts I can fit in my belly." She laughed lightly. "God, I sound like a spoiled brat, don't I?"
"It's your birthday. You have permission to be spoiled," he replied with a warm smile.
"Well thank you," she returned flippantly. "You're very gracious to allow me to be spoiled."
He rolled his eyes and dropped his head back into the sand. Elena resumed staring out onto the ocean and drawing patterns in the soft sand between her legs. "Fine," he finally said, his eyes still closed, his body still unmoving. "You can stop begging me. I'll take you out for your birthday dinner."
"Excuse me?" Elena questioned indignantly.
"Now, I can't give you fancy French chocolate cake," he continued, ignoring her interjection. "But I just so happen to know the best place for tiramisu. And it's just around the corner." At that he opened his eyes and smiled at her with a small wink.
"We can't go to a restaurant," she said, dismissing the idea.
"I promise, it'll be completely safe," he returned. She threw him a look intended to tell him she thought he was crazy. "Come on. Your one night of the year to indulge. You totally need it." Elena just shook her head and turned her eyes back to the ocean. She felt him sit up and lean over so his mouth was close to her ear. "I'll be a perfect gentleman. I promise," he said, his voice lower than she wanted it to be.
"I don't think it's a good idea," she argued.
"Liar. I've seen your eyes light up at the mention of tiramisu." Elena had to smile and then threw a pondering look towards the house. "Bonnie's here. They'll be fine," he reassured her.
"It's not fair to tempt me with tiramisu," she chided playfully.
"Yes, I feel really horrible about it," he returned in a matching tone while getting up. "Be ready at eight," he added while walking away. "Wear something nice."
A/N: So yeah, I couldn't kill Jeremy. Not yet at least. Love that little guy too much. Also, I still need him. Next chapter we'll get a DATE! Or will we? Muahahaha. As always, I'd be delighted to know what you thought. Cheers, my lovelies! xoxo