CHAPTER 12 - THE ONLY GIRL HE APPROVES OF
There was a beat of silence then Elena heard muffled giggles from the other end of the line.
"Oh my god!" Caroline squealed.
Elena nearly dropped the receiver. "Caroline, calm down!"
"Wait, okay… You guys were stuck in an elevator the entire night and he didn't try any funny business, then he admitted he liked you but he was supposedly "half-awake", then you fell asleep in each other's arms. Come morning, you guys hugged and when proof of that hug was made public, he didn't freak out..."
"Yeah, so wha-"
Caroline's giggles poured through the phone.
"Lemme guess, 'Lena. For the first time, he was in complete, head-to-toe school uniform too."
"How did you-"
"Elena," Caroline began with a dreamy sigh, "The Tore is so into you." She enunciated each word, stringing them together as if she'd just formed the most obvious sentence in the world.
Elena was rendered speechless.
"Double date, double date, double date!" Caroline chanted merrily.
Elena rubbed her temples. "No chance in hell, Care. Our relationship isn't like that…"
Caroline squealed. "All I heard was "our relationship"! It sounds pretty intimate to me-e."
"Give me a break," Elena scoffed.
"Well it is… different… to be talking about you and The Tore now, though. I mean we always used to fantasize about you and Stefan ending up together."
'Stefan?'
Elena impulsively tucked a stray hair behind her ear then pulled open her bed-side drawer. She picked up Stefan's handkerchief and let out a small breath.
"Your drive to keep going- I really like that about you. A lot of people only wish they could have your kind of strength," he said sincerely.
And that was when Stefan leaned down and kissed Elena's forehead.
Caroline cleared her throat. "…Unless you haven't really gotten over that knight-in-shining-white-armor of yours…"
"He… left, Care. He's long gone," Elena spoke, her voice breaking slightly.
"Not to sound awfully cliché, but did he take your heart with him?..." Caroline let out a tiny breath when it took Elena too long to reply.
"You know, 'Lena, if you wanna know where your heart really is, just look to where your mind goes when it wanders."
Elena closed her eyes and nodded; she wished it were that simple. "So tell me; when did my best friend get so philosophical?"
"Oh, please. You know I'm the blonde, modern-day hybrid of Confucius and Cupid… Oh fine, I'll admit I got that from a fortune cookie; we ordered Chinese take-out for dinner… yet again."
Elena laughed.
"Elenaaa," Jenna hollered from the living room, "Could you come out here for a second."
"Sorry I took a while; Caroline just cannot put the receiver down…" Elena bellowed, padding down the hall towards her aunt. "Aunt Jenna, it's a bit early for dinner, don't you thi-"
Elena froze mid-sentence the second she stepped foot in the living room. Because lounging comfortably on her sofa, his back turned to her, was the one and only Damon Salvatore. She was sure it was him. His sharp, jet-black ensemble and his perfectly tousled hair looked severely out of place, seated on a couch the color of rotting squash.
Hearing her voice, Damon turned his head and Elena was faced with the clearest baby blue of his eyes.
She was a bit taken aback by what she saw in his powder-blue eyes, innocence, hesitation, and a hint of desire.
And despite her conviction nearly being reduced to a puddle because of them, Elena still found the ability to form a coherent sentence.
"Damon. What are you doing here?"
Jenna shot up from the couch, her hands up in appeasement. "It's okay, Elena! Uhh… Mr. Salvatore just dropped by to take responsibility and to properly apologize for you coming home at the crack of dawn yesterday."
The elder woman readjusted her glasses and straightened her blouse. "You failed to mention that you were with the son of the Salvatore Worldwide Financial Group that night," she said, sitting up straighter and smiling wider.
Elena glanced at Damon, who, with an amused expression, had busied himself with a piece of cake.
"The fact didn't seem mentionable," Elena muttered, causing Damon to roll his eyes.
The slam of a door made Elena swivel around. Jeremy bounded out wearing a big, goofy grin. "'Lena, you'll never believe this! Damon just scored me front row tickets to a Kickflip concert!" he enthused, grabbing her by the elbows.
"Hold up, Jer… what?" Elena asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
Jeremy groaned and plopped down on the couch beside Damon. "Kickflip… just my favorite band whose concert tickets happen to cost a fortune."
Damon waved his hand in the air dismissively. "Don't worry about it, baby bro, the lead guitarist owes me a huge favor anyway."
Elena shot daggers at the black-clad Adonis. "Can I talk to you outside for a minute?" Without waiting for his response, she strode over to the couch and hauled Damon by the arm towards the front door. She gave Jenna and Jeremy an apologetic smile before shutting the door, taking a breath and facing him.
"Mmm, I'd almost forgotten the taste of home-baked cake," Damon smirked, licking the chocolate off his fingers.
"Kickflip, huh?" Elena looked up at him and crossed her arms. Even in the dimly lit apartment hallway, Damon could see the accusation in her eyes.
"My brother," she sighed, "has inexplicable amounts of faith in people."
"Woah, that's seriously every-single-person-in-the-world's dream school! Can't believe my big sis is gonna go to school at The Falls," Jeremy said, his arms folded on the banister, a faraway look in his eyes. "Do the best you can, okay 'Lena!"
"I love and hate that about him," she smiled softly, "but he trusts people way to easily, and that kid's had more than his share of empty promises." Elena mused, averting her eyes.
"Empty promises? I will get him the ticket-" Damon started, confused as to what she was implying.
"Damon, what are you really doing here?" she asked again, her tone weary.
The look of distrust in her eyes filled him with hurt and anger; he could see that she was wary of his intentions. Damon knew he had yet to earn her trust… but Elena was oblivious to the fact that he was trying. And that hurt.
"Contrary to your beliefs, Elena, I don't have a hidden agenda," he spoke, a hint of annoyance in his voice. He stepped closer to her, invading her personal space. "Just like your aunt said, I came to get you off the hook for coming home at the crack of dawn the other day. If you'd take two seconds to stop looking at me like I just killed a puppy, you'd see that I'm trying to do the right thing here!"
He sighed, took a step back and sank to the ground with his back against the wall. 'I'm trying to be the good guy.'
Elena bit her lip and sat down across from him. She sighed and hugged her knees to her chest.
"Look, I'm sorry. You deserve a thank you," she said in a sincere, guilt-laced whisper.
He lifted his head and gave a lopsided smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Is it so hard to believe I would? …do the right thing, I mean."
"I think my family and your family… have completely different values. Honestly, I'd have never expected you to drop by so suddenly like that to… to apologize on my behalf."
Damon let his gaze fall away from her to hide the look of hurt that skimmed across his features. But when Elena gave an adorable little laugh, he couldn't help but look up at her and smile. "What?…"
"You've got chocolate cake on your face," Elena grinned.
"Ahhh, now I get why you couldn't take me seriously…" he scoffed. "Your aunt's chocolate cake is just to die for," he said with a faux dramatic accent.
"Ha! Nice try. Aunt Jenna can barely boil water; the cake's store-bought. Here…" Elena dug around her pocket, pulled out a handkerchief then tilted Damon's face towards her. She could feel his eyes on her as she gently swiped the cloth by the corner of his lip.
"There," she gulped, bringing her hands and her gaze to her lap.
"That's... Stefan's isn't it?" Damon asked monotonously, gesturing towards the handkerchief in Elena's hand.
And all it took was that one second of hesitation for Stefan to swoop in. He knelt beside Elena and offered her his handkerchief.
"Thank you," she whispered.
She simply nodded, at a loss for words. "I didn't get a chance to return it before he- uh- it slipped my mind to get it back…"
Damon tilted his head, his brows knitting together. "And you're still carrying it with you like... you expect to see him around." He got up from the floor, walked a few steps away from her and ran a hand through his hair. "Elena, do you- do you like Stefan?"
Elena felt her heart sink to her stomach at his question. "Damon, he-"
"Even if he's off chasing Lexi," he murmured, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Even then, are you still in love with him?" He stood still, waiting for her answer, his head hung low and his back turned to her.
She stood up and exhaled. "I…. it has nothing to do with you," she said softly.
Damon turned towards her, disappointment etched all over his face. "That's a lie and you know it."
Elena dropped her gaze in shame. "Damon, why are you being like this? It doesn't matter. Even if I did like Stefan, it wouldn't matter. He has Lexi and they're perfectly meant for each other; you know that," she said weakly, playing with her hands.
It took Damon three smooth steps to stand before her. He looked down at her, his eyes brimming with emotion and his voice thick. "Elena, what you feel matters." He gently took her face between his hands and gave her a sad smile. "Believe me. If you're seriously in love with Stefan, he'll end up falling for you too. It's inevitable."
'You're her, the 100% perfect girl," Damon thought, "Sadly, Stefan realized that first.'
"You, Elena, are the only girl I approve of.
'I don't deserve you. But my brother does.'
And as Damon wordlessly and reluctantly dropped his hands and rounded the corner, walking out of Elena's line of sight; she could only watch him leave, the ghost of his touch cradling her face. Her thoughts were racing to keep up with the ceaseless beating of her heart as she was left standing in the hallway, lost, confused and feeling above all… alone.
Elena pulled the door closed with a soft click then leaned her forehead on the oak, taking a few seconds to compose herself. Taking a deep breath, she turned around in time to see her aunt kick the refrigerator door shut and set a pint of ice-cream on the kitchen counter. Jenna looked up, blew the hair out of her eyes and looked at her niece. "Wanna talk?"
Elena tried, to no avail, to muster a smile as she rummaged through the drawer for a couple of spoons.
Jenna leaned on the counter and carefully watched Elena, flushed and moving about in a daze. "Sweetie, I'm the last person who should be giving you unsolicited relationship advice… but that boy is serious about you."
Elena looked away from her aunt and with a shrug of her shoulders said, "I don't think that's so," speaking with such conviction, she almost fooled herself.
Almost.
As her Chemistry professor rambled on and on about an extra-credit assignment, Elena couldn't help but glance at the empty seat behind her.
'I guess Katherine skipped out on school… again.' Elena's brows furrowed. It was unhealthy for a person to miss so many classes, hiding-out in the four corners of her room. And just the thought that Katherine's self-destruction could be blamed on a fear of The Archetypes put Elena in a bad mood.
But as the bell rang, a group of girls with perfectly styled hair, prominently polished fingernails and ear-to-ear grins bombarded her. "'Lenaaa! You didn't forget about tonight right?"
Elena raised a brow, "Uhh, tonight?"
"Yeah, you promised to go clubbing with us!" they squealed. Elena grimaced. She didn't recall ever agreeing to any invitation to go clubbing, nor did she even recall any of these girls' names. But 'Oh, to hell with it,' she thought. She'd been feeling crappy lately and she could very much use a night of reckless fun.
"Count me in."
"Are we there yet?" Tyler drawled, tapping incessantly on the dashboard.
With a curled lip, Alaric swatted his friend's hand away from the surface of his beloved car. "Yeah, this is the place." he said pulling his Mercedes-Benz to the curb. "It's the pâtisserie on the left."
Tyler snorted. "Just say bakery like a normal person, brainiac."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm a damned human thesaurus... Remind me again why we here?"
"Were doing a background check on Elena Gilbert... duh. C'mon, if she's the one, the girl Damon's gonna fall head-over-heels for, we gotta know everything about her. We're his best friends and he deserves to know exactly what he's getting into."
"Riiight... you, my friend, have gotta write a book on this stuff someday," Alaric chuckled cutting off the ignition.
Caroline's eyes widened as she wiped down the glass cupcake display. "YOU'RE GOING CLUBBING? Tonight? Aw man, I can't! I'm working tonight. Ugh, I'm jealous as hell, you know that right..."
The bell above the quaint little bakery gave a cheery little ring and the blonde gave a little jump. "Oh, it's a customer. I'll call you later, 'Lena!" Caroline quickly slipped her phone into her apron pocket and whirled towards the glass door. "Welc-"
"Hi, do you happen to know an Elena Gilbert?" Tyler asked straight-out, flashing his most charming smile.
Caroline put a hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes. "Who's asking?"
Tyler turned his head and raised a brow at Ric, who shrugged his shoulders, grinned and mouthed "sassy" in reply.
"Tyler Lockwood, The Falls football captain, infamous billionaire-playboy-heartbreaker with a little spoiled-son-of-a-politician stereotype going on," Tyler recited, crossing his toned arms and raising a haughty brow.
Unimpressed and slightly repulsed, Caroline raised a brow in return. "Pleasure to meet you," she said dryly. "How do you know Elena?"
Alaric took the opportunity to step in the middle of and subdue the intense staring contest going on between the two. "Ric Saltzman," he said, extending his hand, "Elena's a friend of a friend."
Caroline swiped both her hands on the front of her apron and shook his tentatively, putting the pieces of the puzzle together in her mind. "You… must be The Archetypes."
"And you're Caroline Forbes, Elena's best friend, the one person who probably knows her more than she knows herself," Tyler drawled, still irked and a little confounded as to why this Caroline Forbes had not yet begun to fawn over him.
"How do you-" Caroline began, her eyes widening.
"We just want to talk," Ric cut in, "It concerns Elena… transitively making it your concern."
"Fine," Caroline acceded, the worried-protective-friend-side getting the best of her. "But I can't just up and leave work. You guys are just gonna have to wait 'til my shift's over."
Tyler groaned audibly and walked over to her. "Call your boss," he demanded with a huff.
Caroline made a face but did as he asked, scrolling through her contacts for the bakery owner's name. With an extremely bored expression, Tyler extended his hand. She rolled her eyes and passed him her cellphone just before her boss picked up.
"Hello, this is Mr. Lockwood speaking. No, not Richard… not Mason… Tyler Lockwood. I would like you to relieve Ms. Forbes of her duties at the bakery today."
Before the man could utter a word of protest, Tyler sealed the deal.
"Everything… I'll purchase every single thing in your establishment.
Yes, put it all on my tab.
MasterCard.
No, thank you."
Tyler snapped the phone shut, handed it back to Caroline with a smirk then adjusted his coat. "I don't wait," he muttered to her before turning around and walking out of the bakery.
"Hmph, tactless," Caroline muttered in reply, shooting daggers at Tyler's back.
Ric chuckled and looked at Caroline with an amused expression. "Excuse him. He's just pissed 'cause he's used to automatically being drooled over by every air-headed bimbo out there. He's got a strong personality but by the looks of it, so do you." he grinned teasingly. "I think you've just given him a run for his money." He motioned to the door. "After you."
Caroline swept the stray curls of blonde hair out of her face and let out a breath.
'Yeah, this should be fun...'
A/N: YES, I AM ALIVE! Sorry for updating after 9237218631123 years! But it's summer vacation for me now and I promise to update more often!
Ooh, that handkerchief's been trouble. Damon's laid a lot out on the table but could Elena still have feelings for Stefan?
AND YAY! THE FIRST TASTE OF TYLINE GOING ON HERE! But this is still a Delena-centric story, just putting in some hints of Tyline to freshen things up a bit. :-)
Left you guys kind-of-hanging here but that just means lots of things are gonna go down in Chapter 13! :-)
FOLLOW, FAVORITE, REVIEW! :)
