A/N: just wanted to let you guys know that i haven't forgotten about this fic! lately I've been into writing my post-S4 canon fic ("Out of Sight") because the TVD finale really did end with a lot of potentially interesting storylines ;) anyway, this chapter picks up right after the previous chapter's cliffhanger. enjoy!
[K]
Katherine wondered if she was having a nightmare. There was really no other possible way that this was happening. Not now, not after everything they had done to pull off the plan. She felt her chest quickening, and she clutched onto the table in front of her, hoping she wasn't about to pass out.
"Kat?"
She took a deep breath, desperately trying to force more air into her lungs. She was so going to kill Elena. She had told her not to talk to Damon, she had told her to avoid him at all costs, and now—
"Are you still there?"
There was some shuffling in the background, and then Damon muttered, "She's still there. She's probably in shock."
It was his voice that shook her out of her reverie. She hadn't spoken to him in two years. Hearing his voice coming out of her phone was the wake up call she needed to begrudgingly admit to herself that she wasn't having a bad dream, and this was—unfortunately—her reality.
"I'm still here," Katherine punctuated in a low voice, making the anger in her tone unmistakable. "And I would appreciate it if you got me off speaker phone, Elena. Haven't you done enough?"
"Kat, listen, I didn't mean to tell him," Elena sounded desperate, "He just figured it out!"
"Well no one around here has figured out there's anything different about me," Katherine shot back scathingly, "I guess I must've gotten all the brains in the family."
"Actually, Elena has done a pretty good job fooling everyone else," Damon said into the phone, his voice clearer this time. She guessed that he had taken the phone away from Elena, and had shut off the speaker for good measure. "Hello, Katherine," he added when she didn't immediately respond. "Miss me?"
"No," she replied coolly, composing herself. "In fact, I'm beginning to wish I'd never met you and had met your brother first, instead. Not that it matters, really. I'm getting to know Stefan now...though I'm sure sister dearest has already mentioned that to you."
Damon hesitated, as if deciding how much he should reveal to Katherine about what Elena had divulged to him. "Yeah," he answered vaguely, "She might've mentioned it."
Katherine snorted, "Of course she did. Girl couldn't keep a secret to save her life." Before he could protest, she barreled on viciously. "So, this whole time that I've been spilling my guts to Elena, she's just been turning around and repeating all of it to you? That's comforting, really, it is. Family, huh? Maybe I would've been better off having never—"
"Katherine, stop it," Damon warned, "You don't want to say something that you'll later regret."
She pursed her lips, but wisely chose not to finish her sentence. Instead, she changed tactics. "And to top it off, she even decided to set up my ex-boyfriend with my former best friend. How sweet."
"Best friend?" Damon scoffed, "Please. You treated Rebekah with barely concealed disdain. She was just too stupid to realize it."
"And what? Don't try to tell me that Elena actually likes Bex," Katherine sneered, "I've seen her real friends here in Mystic Falls. Elena would never willingly associate with someone as insipid and pathetic as Rebekah."
"Maybe not, but she's been more of a friend—and decent human being—to her than you ever were!" Damon snapped back harshly, and Katherine's eyes widened in shock.
"What did you just say to me?" she hissed, "Don't tell me she's already gotten you wrapped around her little finger, Damon. We all know how fast you fall for—"
Damon cut in, "That's enough, Kat."
"Can't handle the truth?"
"Apparently no more so than you can."
Click.
[E]
"D-did you just hang up on her?" Elena sputtered in horror as Damon tossed the cell phone onto the bed in disgust. "What were you thinking!?"
"I was thinking that she needed some time alone to deal," he responded evenly, though he wasn't entirely able to keep irritation from clouding his tone. "Let her stew with the news for a couple days. She'll be more calm and rational after she's had time to accept what's happened."
Elena gazed at him, a dozen emotions fighting for dominance within her. When she opened her mouth, it seemed like jealousy had won the battle. "I guess you know her pretty well. No wonder you're the only one who's been able to figure the two of us out."
He heaved a sigh, "Yes, I knew her for a long time, Elena. I know how she works, how she thinks. That doesn't mean anything."
"I was standing right here while you guys just had that argument," she pointed out, barely restraining herself from stomping her foot childishly. "I saw how you sounded with her...that fire, that intensity. I've never seen that side of you before."
"You've got to be kidding me," Damon stared at her incredulously. "I hope you HEARD what exactly I was saying amidst all this so-called 'fire and intensity' shit that you're spouting!"
"What are you—"
"I was defending you, Elena! You. Not her." Damon came forward and grasped her shoulders tightly, "I said I would help you, and I don't back out of my promises." He began to say something else, but then stopped himself. "You know I like you, right?"
She tried to smile, but avoided the question. "I'm sorry for freaking out over nothing. This whole thing with Katherine has been so stressful, and I just...I feel like she marked you as her property before we even got to know each other, and now..."
"Hey, look at me," Damon said roughly, forcing her chin upwards so that she could meet his gaze. "Katherine and I haven't been together in two years. And what we had, it wasn't real."
"I know," Elena nodded, her eyes skittering away from his, "Trust me, I hear what you're saying. It's just hard for me to believe that it really meant nothing to either of you."
He frowned and then suddenly asked her, "Do you remember our kiss this morning?" She glanced over to the bed at his words, feeling her face begin to warm just at the mere thought of how good it had felt to have Damon's body moving against hers, his hands sliding down her bare arms, the towel loosening between them...
"Hello? Earth to Elena," Damon's fingers appeared in front of her face as he waved to snap her out of her trance, "Well, judging by the blood rushing into your cheeks—a total turn on by the way—I'm going to guess that you do remember what that was like." He sounded amused, but his expression grew serious. "That was real, Elena. At least it was for me."
"Me too," she admitted quietly, reaching towards him for another kiss. "For me too."
...
"Well, look who's finally home," Anna appeared at her bedroom door about two minutes after she'd walked in. "Wow," she commented, looking over Elena's attire, "And wearing yesterday's dress, too." She winked, "Can I assume you had a fun night?"
"Fun?" Elena flopped down backwards onto her own bed, feeling as though all she had to do was close her eyes, and she'd fall asleep within seconds. "Well, it was definitely interesting."
"Your mother said that you spent the night at Damon's? Is everything alright?" Anna hovered over her, "Is your friend better now?"
"Rebekah? Yeah, we called her a cab earlier this morning. She slept off the hangover." It was on the tip of her tongue to mention that Rebekah had slept with Mason, but she kept her mouth shut. Katherine and Anna might've been close confidantes, but Elena wasn't going to betray Rebekah's trust—fake friend, or not.
Anna nodded and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "And how was the party? Did you run into Mason at all?"
"Unfortunately."
The maid looked surprised, "I thought you'd been looking forward to reacquainting with him. What happened?"
"The Lockwood brothers and Damon sort of got into a fight," Elena mumbled, "I bet the whole school is going to be talking about it on Monday."
"You mean the whole school is going to be talking about you," Anna corrected.
Elena groaned.
...
It was just as Anna had predicted, perhaps even worse. Stares and whispers followed Elena around all of Monday morning, until she couldn't take it anymore. The second the bell rang to signal her free period, she made a beeline for the library and rapidly skirted around armchairs and desks until she reached the spot in the back that she had found last week. The spot where she'd had her first real conversation with Damon.
Once she was alone, she breathed out a long sigh of relief. She knew Katherine probably would've thrived off the attention—hell, this would've been a dream come true. She was the talk of the school...her popularity ranking had likely even soared upwards another couple notches.
Elena hated it.
Not only was she not used to it, but she was beginning to realize that being popular wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It wasn't like she'd been unpopular back in Mystic Falls, but she'd fallen somewhere in the midpoint region of the proverbial social ladder. The middle, she had decided, was a pretty good place to be. She'd had her group of friends and people knew who she was—but not enough to warrant unwanted attention.
She didn't know who had coined the phrase 'there's no such thing as bad press' but she now wholeheartedly disagreed with that statement. People weren't only talking about the fight, but also about how she was "leading on" both guys, how she had played them both, that she had wanted them to fight over her because of how supposedly insecure she was.
And maybe that had been Katherine's intention all along—in which case, she totally deserved what she got. It just wasn't fair that Elena was the one who had to deal with the repercussions of her sister's behavior. At least she had led a normal, drama-free life back in Mystic Falls...It wasn't like she'd thrown Katherine out to the wolves and let them eat her alive!
Someone suddenly pulled the right earbud from her headphones out of her ear, and she jumped. "Hey," Damon peered down at her questioningly, "I figured you might be back here. Hiding from the world, huh?"
Elena sighed, a smile tugging at her lips, "You could say that."
"Sorry about all this," he said sheepishly as he took a seat next to her. "I sort of feel like it's all my fault."
"That's ridiculous. How is it possibly your fault?"
"Well, if I hadn't punched Tyler then things might not have escalated to where they are now."
She shrugged moodily, "Don't worry. He deserved it."
"Oh, I know," Damon grinned, "And if I could do that whole night over, I still would've punched him." He leaned towards her, "Think of it this way...at least you did Katherine a favor. Now she won't have to deal with either of those douchebags anymore."
"Yup, that's me," she deadpanned, "Elena Gilbert: breaking bridges, one friendship at a time."
"You're being too hard on yourself," Damon reached over and enclosed her hand within his, "All of this will blow over, trust me. Tomorrow there'll be a new scandal for everyone to talk about." His mouth twisted bitterly, "Probably something involving my dad and the embezzlement charges."
She smiled, glancing down at their hands. "This whole star-crossed-lovers things really is an adrenaline rush. I can see why Katherine was so attracted to the idea."
Damon playfully narrowed his eyes at her, "Are you saying that you and Katherine are more—"
"I knew it!"
He broke off as Rebekah came around the corner, hitherto unnoticed by either of them. Elena gaped up at her, wondering how much she had heard. "Bex! What are you doing here? I thought you said that you'd never set foot into the library?"
Rebekah ignored her. "That night in the car—he did call you Elena. I knew I wasn't crazy. And now..." Her gaze darted in between the two of them, "Who are you? And where's Katherine?"
