Chapter 21: Fighting Is Like Foreplay

"You what?" He bellowed, a thick vein popping out on his forehead.

"I'm going with you." Elena replied calmly as Elijah grabbed her suitcase and placed it in the truck. She was about to hand him the backpack on her shoulder but Damon ripped it out of her hand and threw it in the direction of the house.

"No, you're not." He insisted.

Elena's eyes were hard as she lifted her chin up in defiance. "Yes I am. I'm not leaving you…plus I'll be safer with you than I will be here. Elijah already agreed." She pushed past him and hopped in the backseat of Elijah's car.

Damon walked right up to the elder vampire glaring at him with barely contained rage. "You agreed to this?" he demanded rudely.

Elijah blinked unaffected. "Yes, I did. Elena made some valid points. She will be safer where you and I may protect her. Here, she will have to worry about those that seek her out. She may even be useful to our cause." He admitted nonchalantly, and he closed the trunk.

"Useful?" he spat distastefully. "No, she stays here…where she's safe with her friends. She's not getting caught up in this. You want me, I'll go, but she stays here." He persisted pointing at the ground for emphasis.

Elijah stepped closer standing over Damon. "I've already made a promise to the girl, Mr. Salvatore. She's very good at negotiating, much better than you…you should be honored to have such a brave young lady so eager to stay at you side." He moved around him to the driver's side. "Get in…We've wasted enough time arguing as it is."

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An hour later, Elena looked down at her phone which was ringing again. She sighed and hit silence for the third time.

"Are you ever gonna answer her back?" Damon asked from the front seat. He knew it was Caroline calling because her ring tone was a Taylor Swift song; her favorite. Damon mentally rolled his eyes.

"Not yet." She tucked her phone into her pocket and turned her gaze back to the window.

"I can't believe you're just going to abandon your family and friends like that. They're probably thinking the worst right now." Damon grumbled. He wanted to steal the phone from her and say that she was okay, but that would raise the question of where she was and he didn't quite know how to deal with a pissed off, hysterical Caroline just yet.

Elena scoffed. "Yeah, imagine that…I can't possibly know what that feels like." She stated sarcastically. How could he say that when that was exactly what he was planning on doing to her?

Damon turned around in his seat, narrowing his gaze at her. "I wasn't abandoning you, Elena, I was making the best decision for you." He flopped back into his seat rolling his eyes up. "Then you had to go and make a deal with him and ruin everything." He complained gesturing vaguely at Elijah.

Elena crossed her arms and leaned forward, glaring at the back of his head. "I ruined everything? Leaving without me would ruin everything; you shutting off your emotions would ruin everything, you dying would ruin everything." She exclaimed, anger shaking her voice.

Damon sighed in resignation. She won…clearly. "I'm sorry, but I just think you should let them know that you're leaving with me, just in case." He added resting his head back.

She frowned. "Just in case what?"

He shrugged. "Just in case I need someone to bring you back." His stupid male brain was unable to comprehend what was wrong with that sentence before he got hit for it. Elena punched him in the shoulder. "Ow…" he drawled out.

"Bring me back? Like cargo?" she ground out narrowing her eyes.

Damon turned around with a little smirk. "Precious cargo." His smirk widened at her sigh if frustration, he loved how her face got flushed when she was angry. "Are you mad?" he asked knowing full well that she was pissed. Elena's eyes pinned on his menacingly for a few moments. "You're mad."

She pasted on a sickly sweet smile and tilted her head to the side. "No Damon, I'm ecstatic. I want to be with you, and help you through this and you're just waiting for the right moment to ship me away. I've never been happier." She concluded sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Elena, it's not even like that-"

Elijah who had been silent the whole time finally spoke up. "Alright children…" he drawled out. "Let's put an end to the bickering…that's quite enough." He interrupted Damon coolly.

Damon gave Elijah a dirty look for telling him what to do like he was a child. He turned to look at Elena in the back again. "At least tell Jenna and Jeremy something."

"You don't need to worry about Jenna." Elijah promised, catching Elena's eyes in the rearview mirror. "She believes you have taken a vacation with Damon." Damon's eyes questioned him even though he heard just fine. "That is what you were planning, is it not?" His eyes caught Elena's again. "'Nothing set in stone yet?'"

Her eyes widened considerably. "You heard that?"

Elijah chuckled more to himself. "Yes, I was waiting for the appropriate moment to speak with you."

Elena turned her gaze to the window, crossing her arms self consciously. "That's creepy." She mumbled to herself. "Wait…you compelled her?" she demanded, looking at him sharply.

"I thought you would appreciate the sentiment." Elijah ignored Damon's scoff. "I could have killed her and saved you the trouble of explaining." He suggested smugly.

Elena's face softened. "I don't like the idea of someone not having control of their own mind." She knew it was probably for the best, but she hated the fact that Jenna didn't know the truth.

"I don't like the idea of a human tagging along for this trip, but yet here you are." Elijah responded flatly.

"I don't like the idea either." Damon piped up.

Elena's mouth dropped open for a second before she tightened her jaw and crossed her arms. "So what you guys are ganging up on me now? That hardly seems fair." She grumbled.

Damon turned around in his seat again. "It hardly seems fair that you would go behind my back and put yourself in danger like this." He snapped back, pinning her with his piercing blue eyes.

"Oh but you can?" Elena started incredulously. "I don't understand why you feel you need to protect me all the time-"

"I can take care of myself Elena, you could get yourself killed!" They both started yelling over each other, getting louder and louder.

Elijah jerked the wheel to the left and pulled the emergency brake, sending the car spinning in a 360. Elena yelped and clung to the door and the seat in front of her, while Damon put his hands on the door frame and the dashboard, bracing himself. "I am very close to killing you both and putting an end to it all…Shut. Up." He articulated calmly but firmly.

Elena swallowed and let out a sigh of relief. As the car spun all she could think about was the day her parents died. It was like she was there all over again. And then…as if he knew what she was thinking, Damon turned around in his seat again his hand reaching instantly for hers, his eyes full of concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Damon could hear her racing heart beat, and couldn't help but be worried for her.

Elena relaxed letting out another deep sigh. She nodded. "Yeah…I'm okay." She squeezed his hand in hers with a smile.

Damon nodded along with her. "Good...Don't drive like an idiot when we have a fragile, emotionally traumatized human in the car…please." He added astringently, directing his statement at the older vampire.

Elijah let down the e-brake and pressed down on the accelerator, making the car fishtail side to side before straitening out and following the long stretch of road before them. "If you keep the constant bickering to a minimum I don't see us having an issue." He responded nonchalantly, looking out the windshield.

Elena caught Damon's eyes in the right side mirror and both we're fighting a smile of understanding. Damon kept his gaze on her as he spoke to Elijah. "It must have been a long time since you've been a relationship then…the fighting is like foreplay." He flashed his eyes teasingly.

"Damon!" Elena scolded, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

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Jeremy came down the stairs the next morning and into the kitchen. He saw Jenna moving around preparing her coffee and breakfast. "Morning…" he greeted through a yawn as he plopped down on the stool. "'Lena's still sleeping? It's eight-thirty." His sister never slept in.

Jenna frowned. "Noo…she left with Damon for that birthday trip they were planning. Didn't she tell you?"

Jer shook his head. "She said nothing was set in stone yet. Why would she go and not tell me?" he asked himself worriedly. "She told you this?" he clarified.

Jenna blinked with a blank look on her face. "Um, no." she admitted with a little confusion.

Jeremy looked at her with an odd expression. "Well then how do you know?"

She shrugged casually. "I just do."

Something wasn't adding up. "Did you see anyone today…or last night? Did Damon stop by here?" he asked trying to keep his voice even. Jeremy was getting more worried by the second; he could feel his gut turning.

"Um…" Jenna's eyes widened with recollection. "Oh! Elijah came by last night to thank me for dinner…but what does that have to do with anything?"

Jeremy shot up off the stool. "I got to go…have a good day at work." He rambled out quickly before running back upstairs to quickly change.

Jenna frowned as she watched him run out. "It's Saturday."

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About a half hour later Bonnie stumbled down the stairs sleepily, intent on putting an end to the loud and constant banging on her front door. "Okay, okay I'm coming!" it didn't stop until she answered. "Jeremy? What are you doing? It is way too early for this."

"It's Elena." He panted. He ran the whole way to Bonnie's. "Something's wrong…I think Elijah took her."

Bonnie straightened up, instantly alert. "What?" She pulled Jeremy inside and dragged him up to her room. "Why? Damon was supposed to leave with him last night." She rushed around the room, not even bothering to change out of her pajama bottoms. She pulled on a sweater over her tank top and threw her hair up in a quick ponytail.

"Maybe he didn't." he suggested with a hint of anger.

Bonnie glanced at him sharply. "No. Damon wouldn't put Elena in danger like that!" she exclaimed grabbing her purse and car keys before handing him her phone. "Call Caroline." She demanded as she walked past him to go back downstairs.

"Why can't you call her?" he called out as he followed, scrolling through her contacts.

Bonnie was out the door and in her car before he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Cause I'm driving!" she answered back, starting her car and buckling her seat belt.

Jeremy hopped in the passenger seat and put the phone to his ear as it rang. "Hey Caroline-"

"What Bonnie? Wait…you're not Bonnie." Caroline grumbled with a sleepy voice.

"It's Jeremy." He rolled his eyes. "Listen-"

"Oh…why are you calling from Bonnie's phone?"

"Cause she driving…can you just listen to me-"

"God it's like…before noon, what could possibly be happening right now?" she complained.

"Elena's missing!" Jeremy finally yelled before Caroline could cut him off again.

"What?" Her voice was clearer now, and more alert. "Where are you? I'll be right there."

"We're on our way to your place right now." He explained. "Is your mom home?" The last thing they needed was the Sheriff to get involved with this. How the hell would they explain that?

"No, she's working…as always." She added more to herself. "Just hurry up and get here."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Caroline paced in front of Bonnie and Jer, who were sitting on her bed, as she rung her hands nervously. "I knew it! I knew something was off last night!" She threw her hands up in the air with exasperation. "I was calling her and she didn't answer like three times and I thought it was because she was just mad and ignoring me or spending some time with Damon or something…and I thought to myself 'Maybe I should go over there', and I didn't and now she's gone and I'm a total idiot." She rambled frantically before she plopped down on the bed between them. "So much for vampire instinct." She pouted.

"Don't overact just yet…we don't know everything right now." Bonnie started, the only one of them thinking levelheadedly. "We should call Damon; if Elijah did compel Jenna and take Elena…we have no chance of finding her without his help." She scrolled through her contacts frowning. "Huh. Anyone have Damon's phone number?"

Caroline and Jeremy both pulled out their phone's scrolling through the list of names. "Nope." She answered as Jer shook his head. "Well, that's helpful." She stated sarcastically.