"What are you doing?" Liv asked Elena as they were having lunch in the staff café.
"Having my salad," Elena answered casually as she took a bite of the cucumber.
"Not that, dumbass. What are you doing with Damon?"
Elena narrowed her eyes at Liv. "We are just hanging out."
Liv tilted her head, disapprovingly. "Elena, you, my friend are living in delusional-land."
"Am not," Elena said, defensively. "Why would you say that?"
"He is taking you out to meals and you watch movies at his house. Alone. It doesn't take a genius to figure out."
"Well, you are wrong. We are friends. There is no touching, kissing, nothing. Strictly platonic." Elena nodded her head affirmatively. "Plus, it is not his place. His uncle lives there."
"You like him."
"He is my friend."
Liv rolled her eyes. "Okay. You keep telling yourself that."
"What's wrong with you, Liv? We are just friends."
"He loves you, Elena. This act, or whatever he is doing, is in hopes you will fall in love with him."
Elena shook her head feverishly. "No, he wasn't in love with me. He is just wasting time while he is here in Atlanta. It is nothing. I promise."
"Well, for your heart's sake, I hope you are right. I don't want you to get hurt."
"I won't. I'm fine. Honest." Elena smiled at her friend.
Later that evening Damon was waiting for her outside her office.
"I thought we could see a movie tonight," he said as soon as he pulled out into the street.
"You are going to make me watch one of those gory-guts-everywhere-type movies, aren't you?" Elena cringed, wrinkling her face at him.
Damon laughed, gripping the steering wheel slyly as he weaved them in and out of traffic. "No, actually. I thought we could watch one of your sappy, romance movies."
Elena raised a brow in disbelief. "Well, this new side of Damon is very refreshing. A gentleman and a chick flick."
He laughed harder. "You will see."
They arrived at the theatre and Damon completely surprised Elena when he bought two tickets for Me Before You.
"Seriously?"
His eyes widened, taken back. "Um, no. We don't have to see it if you don't want, I just figured—"
"Yes! I have been dying to see this movie! Oh, my god. Please tell me you brought some tissues."
Elena nearly skipped to the theatre, the anticipation of finally seeing this movie was almost too much. She had read the book last year when she was in her self-torturous phase and putting herself through emotional pain.
"How do you know I'd want to see this?" she asked, bumping her shoulder with his as they sat down.
Damon winked at her as he looked around the theatre, obviously taking in a large female audience number. "I had a hunch."
The theatre was packed by the time the movie began. They both ended up shoulder to shoulder—the people sitting next to them smothering them together.
"No crying." Damon leaned down and whispered against Elena's ear.
Elena looked up at the grin he was sporting. He so did this on purpose.
"That goes for you, too."
"That won't be a problem." His face was firm, not giving anything away. It was the first time she had seen this particular expression. She couldn't tell what it was—remorse, maybe? His jaw was tense and his eyes were locked on hers.
Elena looked away first. "The movie is starting."
A few minutes later she glanced up at Damon who was watching the screen. She had let herself got completely distracted between their kickboxing classes and hanging out as friends. But were they friends?
It was like a switch. Once Damon kissed her and confessed everything to her, she had turned that part of her heart off. But now it was definitely back on. He was the one it was beating for. He was the one she had let back into her life. She had tried really hard to get over Damon after what had happened between them. But now, here he was. Next to her.
She sank down in her seat, having no choice but to curl up next to him. The heat radiating off his chest burnt into her. She knew she had been ignoring her attraction to him. Her feelings were still there and she knew she had been lying to herself every moment she had allowed herself to spend time with him.
Elena swallowed roughly as she thought about the position she had put herself in. Why the hell did she let herself go along with his little 'friends only' charade? Had she secretly wished for more this whole time?
Could there be a second chance for the two of them?
Damon was like a rollercoaster. One minute her hands would be up in the air, enjoying the high, and the next she would be curled over hurling her guts out at the nausea her stomach was feeling. Damon was the dangerous choice—the tempting choice.
But she still felt something for him.
Damon wrapped his arm around her shoulders, leaning closer to her. Her heart quickened at the small gesture, but her entire body felt it. God, how did he have this effect on her still?
Elena tried to focus on the movie and soon tears were streaming down her cheeks. They came forcefully and without notice, but she continued watching because she didn't want Damon to see her like this. She couldn't even tell which tears these are—for Louisa and Will, or for Damon.
"Hey," Damon whispered, so close to her ear she felt his lips vibrated against her skin. "You all right?" She heard the sincerity in his voice, so smooth, so soothing.
She looked up at him, tears evident as they marked her cheeks on their way down her face. How did she miss it this entire time? She had built her Damon towers up, hoping to avoid feeling like this ever again, yet here she was completely smitten and uncontrollably in love with him.
She smiled weakly at him and nodded. "Yeah…I just know what is coming."
Damon pressed his palm to her cheek, wiping away the tears with his thumb. He let it lingered there as their eyes locked, lust and desperation potent in his touch. Damon was the reason she had any answers about her father at all, the reason she got to open his lock box in a year. He was always much more than a friend to her, and she didn't know why she had refused to see it before.
"Damon." It came out as a whimper and Elena knew he felt it, too. She bit her lip to keep herself from melting completely under him. "I'm fine now." She nodded her head so he knew he could take his hand off her.
She wiped her hand under her other eye, needing to compose herself. She was pretty certain their 'platonic friendship' just went out the window.
The drive back to Elena's condo was quiet. Neither of them knew what to say. Elena cried her eyes out at the end—uncontrollable, breathless sobbing. She was sure Damon thought it was due to the movie, but some of it wasn't.
He opened the door for her, and she let him took her hand as he escorted her out. Usually, they would be laughing and joking around, but something had shifted tonight. She could feel every movement he made deep within her. Her heart was thumping rapidly against her chest—rising and falling with every gesture Damon made. Her body was fully aware of him and how he was making her feel.
"Thanks for the movie. It was amazingly heartbreaking." Elena grinned shyly up at him.
"It was my pleasure, Elena. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the movie."
She laughed lightly. "I bet that hurt to admit."
"Yeah, I have kind of lost my man card. But oh, well. It was worth it." His eyes were intense as they burnt into her. She blinked and shifted them away, unable to directly look at him.
"Well, good night."
"Goodnight, Elena." His smirk formed into a devilish grin before he leaned into her. "No good night kiss?" he teased.
Elena rolled her eyes. "You are so annoying, Damon."
Before she could reach his cheek, Damon had her pinned against his car. Each one of his hands was gripping her wrist, holding them up against her head. His mouth was on her before she could protest, his tongue licking inside her lips demanding entrance.
Her mind didn't fully wrap around what was happening before it was too late. Her mouth invited him in, their tongues reuniting and fighting for control. His lips moved around hers desperately and eagerly as if it would physically pain him to let them go. His hands released her wrist as one gripped the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him. The other hand wrapped around her, his palm flat against the small of her back. His fingers pressed into the flesh, pleading with her to say the words he was secretly begging her to say.
And then he gentled the kiss, brushing his parted lips on hers in a light, exquisite touch that was even harder to resist than the other one. He trailed his lips to her ear and nipped the lobe, his whisper sending shivers down her spine. "I know you want to kiss me back, I can feel it. Why not indulge the impulse," he invited her huskily. "I'm more than willing and completely available…"
To her horror, his teasing statements gave her simultaneous impulses to giggle and to do exactly what he suggested.
"If I die in an accident on the way home tonight," he cajoled softly, his mouth sliding over her cheek toward her lips again, "think how guilty you will feel if you don't."
"You are crazy," Elena giggled as she laid her hands flat against his chest.
Her mind was spinning at what she wanted and what she should do.
"Elena, you are going to have to take a risk and trust me completely. Until you do, you are cheating me and you are cheating yourself. You can't outwit fate by trying to stand on the sidelines and place little side bets about the outcome of life. Either you wade in and risk everything to play the game, or you don't play at all. And if you don't play, you can't win."
Damon was right.
Perhaps she needed to just stop thinking altogether.
"I want to stay with you tonight, Elena."
x x x
Damon couldn't get the keys out of the door fast enough. Stumbling, he finally jerked the door open and pressed Elena to his chest. He kicked the door shut and threw the keys to the ground. He crushed her mouth to hers, feeling the heat, and electricity spiral between them. He had craved her taste for over two years—her palpable desire—that belonged only to him.
Elena led him down the dark hallway to her room, lips and body parts fighting to touch every surface. She whimpered against his mouth, earning a moan from deep within his throat.
Damon grabbed the hem of her shirt and broke away just long enough to pull it over her head. His lips found hers again as he grabbed her bottom and pulled her up, legs wrapping around his waist. He placed her on the edge of her bed, her body pressing on top of hers. He felt her crumbling underneath him, soaking up everything he was giving her.
"You know I'm not doing this without hearing you say it first," Damon growled against her ear, his left hand gripping her breast through her bra. She arched her back as his mouth kissed her neck, marking exactly where he had been and where he would always want to be. "You need to say it," he repeated, squeezing her breast harder.
"Damon…"
He bent in between her legs and slowly unzipped her jeans. He let his finger played with the button, finally popping it and exposing her panties.
He dropped his mouth just above the panty-line and sucked her skin hard. She moaned as her body arched off the bed to meet his greedy lips.
"I need to know you want this, Elena."
"I-I thought we were just friends…" Elena whimpered weakly as Damon began ripping his own shirt off.
His lips continued grazing her skin, slowly brushing her panties down so his mouth could explore lower. He felt goose bumps rose as she shuddered underneath him.
"We weren't friends, Elena," Damon growled roughly. He lowered to his knees, yanking her pants down with him. He looped a finger in her panties and pulled them to the side. Then his mouth was on her. A moan rumbled up his throat as he inhaled her scent and tasted the deliciousness that was she. "We were never just friends."
Her hands fisted in his hair, squeezing with every lick his tongue drove into her. He pressed his hands into her hips, forcing her to arch them up deeper into his mouth. She screamed out at the intensity his mouth was causing her.
"Sweetheart," Damon said, slowly licking his tongue up her stomach. "I need to hear you say it."
"Say what?" Elena asked, breathy.
Damon smiled, amused, because he knew she knew what he had wanted to hear. "Say it, Elena," he demanded, his tongue making its way to her bra, yanking it down to cover her nipple with his lips. He sucked hard, getting a mumbled moan out of her. His hand reached down to her swollen clit, rubbing his thumb in circles as she convulsed. Her body jerked as she got closer to release, but he slowed down before she could.
And then, just before he picked the pace back up, her entire body jerked, moving out from under him.
"Stop," Elena pleaded. She pushed her hands roughly against his chest as she rolled away from him. She swung her legs off the bed, frantically looking for her clothes.
Damon was off the bed and in front of her before she could put any clothing on. "What happened?" His voice was eager and worried he was going to lose her again.
"I-I can't do this." Elena shook her head.
"Talk to me." He grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him, her eyes swelling with tears.
"Please leave." She pulled out of his grip and leaned down to grab her shirt off the floor.
"You don't have to ask me to leave, Elena. We can talk," Damon said sincerely. He didn't want them to leave on bad terms.
"I don't want to talk. I just…I need to think."
"What's there to think about? You know how I feel about you."
Elena spun around, her face tense and bright red. "You broke me!" she screamed. She shook her head, defeated. "I loved you and you broke me. You let me walk away and you never told me how you really felt. If you loved me, you would have fought for me," she declared, angrily. "And now I'm scared! I'm scared I will get hurt again!"
"I broke you?" Damon questioned, loudly. "Well, you destroyed me! You were the only one I have ever loved, Elena, and letting you walk away was the only thing I could do to make sense of how I felt about you."
Elena froze in place, the blood drains from her face as she responded. "You loved me?"
Damon closed the gap between them and grabbed her arms, jerking her body towards him. "Yes," he growled. "I still love you."
Tears began falling down her cheeks, her eyes staring up at him in shock. "Do you have any idea how long I have waited to hear that?" she sobbed. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"I was scared," Damon admitted. "Katherine hurt me. I didn't want to get close to another person. I didn't think I wanted to love."
Her tears came faster as she choked on sobs. He brushed her tears away and laid a gentle kiss on her lips.
"I need some time."
After a tense moment he nodded. "How long?"
"I don't know."
"And while you are debating about how deep you dare to go, what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to wait and pace and wonder if you are going to give us another chance?"
"Please, Damon…"
"Fine, I will go home and sleep alone."
He walked past her, scooping his shirt off the floor and pulling it over his head before darting out the door.
Merry Christmas! I hope this Christmas and the coming New Year will bring you guys/gals happiness, joy and good health:)
Thank you so much the support and kind reviews. I hope you will enjoy this chapter:)