The day is warm and windy as Damon stands on Soleil's doorstep. He rings the door and waits. "Come in!" she calls and moments later he is wandering into of the bright kitchen. Soleil is blending something green and thick in a food processor, and there are discarded fruit peelings everywhere.

"What's all this?" he picks up a stray strawberry and bites the end, sweet juice filling his mouth.

"I felt like a shake." The smile she gives him over her bare shoulder makes that warm feeling flood is body again and he has the sudden urge to touch her. Really touch her. He takes in her overly large yellow T-shirt, the way it swallows up her small body and the expanse of bare leg shown off by her short shorts. Her hair glints in the sunlight streaming through the window and Damon wants to bury his fingers in her curls. He wants to walk up behind her, wrap her in his arms and bend to rub his face against her neck, breathe her in. But they haven't gotten to that stage, at least not yet so he holds back and instead picks up another strawberry. Unaware of her slightly overwhelming effect on him, Soleil blends for a few more seconds and shuts the machine off.

"You eat way too healthily," Damon wrinkles his nose.

"Says the guy who will live forever anyway," she teases back and goes for a glass in the cupboard. "You could sprinkle anthrax on your fries and be good to go."

Damon smirks and shrugs, leaning against the counter to watch her move about. His fingers itch with the want to draw her closer. There's something about this girl... and after yesterday... she'd handled everything perfectly. She hadn't babied him after he'd gotten choked up about his mother, and didn't push him to talk about Turning. She'd taken it in stride, as if she she heard about vampires and their repressed memories everyday. The idea of having that in his life is ridiculously comforting.

"You okay?" Her brow is furrowed in concern as she pours her drink.

Ignoring his base instincts to get closer, Damon nods. "Fine. Why do you ask?"

"You're just really quiet. God knows I usually can't get you to shut up. Did something happen?" She clears space on the counter next to his arm, brushing the skins into the sink, and hands him the full cup. After hopping up to sit on the surface she takes the drink back and sips. Bliss flickers across her features, Damon swallows hard, and light eyes are fixed on his face.

"No." Maybe, his brain supplies. He's sure something is going on in Mystic Falls right now, but that isn't really his problem anymore.

"Oh..." The silence stretches on and Damon hates that this is actually effecting his communication with her. Her feet swing and a slight, sweet smelling breeze flows into the kitchen, rustling both of their hair. Just do it, his inner voice urges. Just kiss her. It's all you can think about, anyway. Just get it over with. His eyes flick over to Soleil, and she's cradling the cup in her hands and staring at her thighs. "Kara wants us to all go out Saturday night."

"Yeah, that's fine," he answers even though he's so distracted Damon isn't really sure what he has agreed to. He wonders if she'd push him away. Or maybe she would kiss back - she seems interested. She gives him that look sometimes, the one that Elena gives Stefan, when she thinks he isn't looking.

But it could just be his imagination.

Just do it.

It might make her uncomfortable.

Do it.

I don't want to push her away-

Do. It.

Fine.

Forcing nonchalance to radiate from his body, Damon pushes himself away from the kitchen counter and moves the few inches to position himself between her legs. Her seafoam eyes snap up in surprise, and a serious blush spreads over her cheeks, but Soleil doesn't ask any questions when he gently takes the cup from her hands and places it on the counter.

This is all going a lot quieter than he imagined it would. Not that he expected a lot of noises or a big discussion about it all, but everything that happens now is hushed - the sound of the cup being placed on marble, the rustle of cotton as he places his hands on either side of Soleil's body, another small gust of warm air swirling around them.

Slowly, he raises a hand to push a tendril of hair away from her face and when her eyelids flutter the adrenaline already rushing through his body kicks up a notch. He can hear the sound of her heartbeat mingling with the rustling of trees outside of the window and her sigh blends with the wind. Her eyes slide shut when he cradles her cheek in his hand, and when she nuzzles against his palm, as if his skin is the softest velvet Damon's breath hitches.

He leans in, tilting her head to the side gently, and when his lips touch the hollow of her throat Soleil shudders deliciously, the hands he didn't even realize where resting on his sides clenching, pulling him closer. When he raises his face, she turns her own to meet him and the second his lips press lightly against her own an utter sense of calm flows through him.

Soleil's lips are like pillows, obscenely soft, and Damon takes care when he kisses the upper with both of his own. She tastes sweet, like kiwis, and pomegranates, and strawberries and he can't get enough. She pulls back slightly, eyes still closed, but then she's closer again, lips ghosting over his own. He feels her small hands on his chest, one sliding down to rest on his stomach and the other up to rest on the side of his throat. The cool, soft skin of her palm sends a thrill rushing through his veins and his other hand moves on its own accord to place itself on the small of her back and pull her closer.

Another warm sweep of wind glides through the open window as her legs wrap around his waist and her tongue tentatively touches his lips and slides in to tease the sensitive skin inside. She nips softly, and he can't help the surge of arousal that hits him when it is combined with both of her hands now moving up to card through and tug gently at his hair. Damon's chest feels tight, and his limbs hot, and it is as if tiny soda bubbles are bursting against his skin. It's perfect, and he can't bother telling his mind to stop sounding like such a sap.

She whimpers and pulls her lips away from his when one hand slide up under her shirt to rest on the bare, silken skin of her back, but it is only to place soft kisses on his jaw line and down the side of his throat. His breath catches when she nuzzles the skin there in such an obviously affectionate gesture and he steps even closer, as his other hand slips into her hair. Soleil's body is utterly relaxed when she kisses back up his neck, along his jaw and meets his lips again, the whole movement one seamless caress.

The kiss goes on for what seems simultaneously like forever and a second before they pull apart for air. Foreheads resting together, Damon can feel her take deep, shuddering, quiet breaths through her nose as her fingers play at the nape of his neck and around his ears. Vaguely he tells his brain to tell his body to stop feeling like mush, but it turns out its pretty much in the same predicament. Although it does manage a smug, breathless Told you so.

After a few moments, Soleil's eyes flick open to meet his and she straightens up. "Oh," she breathes and the smile that bursts forth makes Damon's own lips twitch up into a genuine smile. "About time," she murmurs, beaming and places her arms to rest on his shoulders, pulling him in for a lazy, comfortable, kiss.

Damon wants to point out that she's the one that's been slowing this whole process down, but then her tongue slides against his, curling around the tip softly, and it doesn't seem to matter much anymore.

o o o

When Damon gets home, very, very late that night he calls Alaric.

"Hello?" Ric's voice contains the perfect amount of confusion and grogginess for Damon to know his name flashing on the caller I.D woke him up.

"Miss me?" Damon smirks and falls heavily on his back onto his couch. He literally feels as if he is floating on air. He smirks to himself as he recalls Soleil's blushes and soft sighs in his ear, small hands slapping his away when they got a little too fresh.

"Where have you been?" Alaric's voice demands. "You just left."

"I left Stefan a note."

"That didn't say anything about where you were going. I had to clean up those bodies you left in the living room, you know."

Damon grins. "I left those there for Stefan. I'm assuming you volunteered to help in werewolf clean up."

Alaric ignores that. "Where are you?"

"Georgia," Damon says loftily, as if he visits every weekend.

"Georgia?" Alaric deadpans.

"Mhm," Damon hums and swings his legs to settle his feet on the floor. "Mystic Falls was becoming a major drag." He leans forward to start rolling a joint from the weed on the low wood table.

He can imagine Alaric running his fingers through his hair in frustration and the huff of air that transmits over the phone line confirms it. "Well," he finally says, "when are you coming back? Things are getting ridiculous here-"

"Ah ah ah," Damon tuts and he lights the joint. He takes a deep inhale and holds it in as he speaks. "I did not call for an update, Ric. Mystic Falls equals-" air billows through his nose as he exhales, "not my problem anymore."

Alaric makes another frustrated sound. "Then why did you call me at three o' clock in the morning, Damon? For a chat?"

"Exactly." Another sweet inhale, held, and blown out.

"What?"

"Have you never had a phone conversation before, Ric? I know you have - I've heard you and Jenna doing those fucking baby voices to each other more than once-"

"Shut up," Alaric grumbles and Damon chuckles. "Fine. You want to talk, talk."

Damon's skin buzzes, and his mind is a little fuggy, and that delightful pressure on his cheeks is beginning to make itself known. "I have met someone."

Nothing is said for a few seconds. Then- "Okay?" Alaric prompts and Damon expected a bigger reaction. He begins to feel indignant at Alaric's non-reaction when he realizes that Alaric probably is justified in not putting two and two together. Damon isn't one for dating, after all.

"A girl, a woman," he clarifies. "I'm pretty sure I have a 'Jenna' now. Except, you know, I don't lie to her twenty four seven about my whereabouts and the existence of supernatural creatures."

There is silence on the other line and Damon takes another hit. Finally- "Are you high?"

"Yes, I am. But this isn't like that shit we did before I left. The stuff that made you see things. Soleil is real."

"Soleil."

"I know, ironic huh?"

Another bout of silence and Damon closes his eyes. "You-" pause. "You called me to tell me that you have a girlfriend?"

"And, you know, to chat about life on a whole, but mainly, that, yeah."

"And you said she knows you're a vampire?"

"She does."

"How? You told her?"

Another inhale. "I had to," he forces out through occupied lungs.

"Why?"

"She gave me vervain."

Alaric isn't one to splutter, but he's very close to it now. "What?"

"You're missing the point here, Alaric," Damon says and blows the smoke out through his mouth. His body feels warm and he's starting to crave blood. "I, Damon Salvatore, am committing to something. You were always telling me I needed to commit to something-"

"I was talking about you not killing people and dumping them in the woods-"

"I'm not doing that anymore either," Damon informs him. "Not after all those news stories."

Silence reigns for so long that he vaguely suspects that Alaric has hung up on him. Either that or has had an aneurysm. There is a heavy sigh and Alaric finally speaks. "I don't think this is a good idea, Damon."

Damon snorts. "Good thing I think its a great idea."

Alaric ignores him. "We don't need anyone else in this, especially someone who's tricking you into drinking vervain."

"It wasn't a trick, It was a misunderstanding." The words are punctuated with hand movements. "And there's no this, not anymore. Not for me at least. I told you, Mystic Falls-"

"You can't just not come back, Damon."

"Watch me." Through his buzz Damon feels annoyance. "You don't know... Soleil. She's..." her smile flashes in his mind's eye. "You have no idea."

Alaric gives a small, disbelieving laugh. "How high are you?"

"Very. I don't know why you keep fucking asking. It doesn't have to do with anything." Silence. "You're a terrible friend, you know that?" Damon mumbles. "I should have called Caroline."

"Sorry if I'm not jumping for joy, Damon." Damon thinks Alaric doesn't sound sorry at all. "But you disappear, no one can reach you, then you call and say you've fallen for a girl in Georgia who gave you vervain."

Damon rolls his eyes. "I explained that already."

"You really didn't."

"Whatever." Alaric is beginning ruining his buzz and Damon regrets calling him. What did he expect anyway? Giggling, squealing, and comparing kissing techniques?

Alaric sighs. "Damon."

"What?" he snaps.

Another sigh. "Tell me about her."

"I don't think I want to anymore," Damon fairly grumbles.

"Damon."

Damon finishes his joint and grins to himself before settling into the couch. "What do you want to know?"

"Is she a threat?"

Not exactly what Damon was going for, but it'll do. He thinks about how she stood up to that jerk in the club and how she matches him wit for wit everyday. "Kind of."

"What? Damon-"

"Calm down, calm down. Not like that. Like that she's harmless. Promise. So you can put all of your hunting paraphernalia away, Rambo. She just tough." A flash of her filling up bird feeders and baby talking Loki. "In her own way," he tacks on.

"What else?"

"Well, she's gorgeous, but I'm sure you already knew that. I mean, c'mon its me." Damon opens his eyes and gets up from the couch to head to the kitchen. "She's small, and adorable, and feeds squirrels."

"What?"

"She's got this feeder in her backyard," Damon murmurs absentmindedly as he rifles through his fridge. He pulls out a bottle of vodka and a pouch of blood along with some left over pizza.

"She sounds..." Alaric pauses and Damon rips open the pouch with his teeth, dumping the contents into a glass. "Interesting."

"She is," Damon confirms as he mixes in a healthy dose of alcohol. "She's a good listener." This is said in a lighthearted tone, mainly so Alaric won't grasp just how important this fact is to Damon. He doesn't want to seem like that guy who constantly needs to talk about his feelings. He used to be that way, when he was alive, but time (and Katherine) eventually beat it out of him.

"Where'd you meet her?"

Damon dips the end of his pizza into the glass and takes a huge bite, and he can barely keep his eyes from rolling back in his head. God, everything tastes twenty times better you're high. "A coffee shop," he says around a mouthful of food. "She turned me down."

"And you wore her down." It comes out as a statement and not a question and Damon grins.

"Took a couple of weeks, but yeah."

Alaric sounds impressed. "Weeks? Huh. I think I'm beginning to like her."

"Haha," Damon takes another bite.

"When are you bringing her around so everyone can meet her?"

A real bark of laughter rips from Damon's chest. "Bring Soleil to Mystic Falls? Why, so Katherine can eat her? I don't think so."

"Katherine is in the tomb."

"Fine. So Elijah can take her back to his Eurotrash castle in the sky, or Jules can decide to take her hostage. If I can help it, she will never set foot in that town."

Alaric sounds tired when he says, "Damon-"

"In case you haven't noticed, nearly every new addition to that town gets ripped apart."

"By you."

"Yeah, well, I'm not taking any chances. Plus I've barely killed anyone since Katherine and Elijah rolled into town." That you know of anyway. Damon takes the last bite, inspects the crust, and tosses it onto the kitchen counter.

"Whatever."

"But enough about me," Damon says and downs half the glass of bloody vodka. "Has dear old Jenna been informed of your lying ways?" He can hear Alaric's eye roll.

"No, I haven't. Unlike you, I'm not trying to tell everyone that there are vampires running around."

"Communication is the base of every good relationship, Ric," Damon says in a mockingly serious tone.

"And you're the expert now?"

"In fact, I am." Damon downs the rest of his drink and crosses the space to head back to the couch. He's laying down again when he asks, "Seriously though, that can't be good for that situation."

"If by 'situation' you mean relationship, then yeah you're right." Alaric is quiet for a moment, and Damon moves his foot to a beat in his head while she stares up at the ceiling. "Look," he finally says, "I've got work in a few hours and I barely got any sleep last night. I'll talk to later."

"Right." He doesn't have to wonder about what could possibly be keeping Alaric awake at nights. At this point it has basically come down to everything in his life.

"And Damon, don't... just, don't get yourself killed."

"I've stayed alive this long haven't I?"

Alaric gives a huff of laughter. "You are like a cockroach."

"Cockroaches are like me."

"Bye, Damon." The line goes dead and Damon tosses the phone onto the carpet. He lets his eyes fall shut. Allowing a brief congratulates to himself for not once asking about Elena, Damon smiles as Soleil's face, and hands, and eyes fill his mind.