EMILY
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DAMON POVWell fuck. There was honestly no worse time to ruin my day. But my father decided to grace us with his presence, successfully ruining my buoyant mood. I just kissed Elena, over and over again, and I was pretty freaking elated. You know why? Because I can kiss her whenever the hell I want to, because she's mine. I kinda feel like a dog pissing on her to mark my territory.
I shiver runs down my spine thinking about how she raked her finger nails across my shoulders and pulled me closer and closer. Nothing could depress my walking on sunshine mood, nothing but my lame excuse for a father. He is like a freaking Dementor, he sucks the happiness right out of everything and everyone. I didn't know what he was going to say to her, it was better if I waited to intervene. Her olive skin paled and she looked like she was going to pass out, she turns to me tenitavly. I smile slightly and try to hide my concern. Giuseppe Salvatore was not a man of many words, but when he spoke them it was for a purpose. He spoke for a reason, he was either going to verbally kick her ass or I don't even know what.
I nod my head and kiss her cheek before squeezing her hand one more time and looking at my father. His thin lips were pulled up into a smirk as he watched the interaction, the younger dumber me would have punched him, I considered it for a moment before remembering Elena t my side. I didn't want to do that in front of her. He turned on his heel without another word and began walking. Her brown eyes widened snapped from his figure to mine and conveyed all of her worry before turning and following my father in the house. I paced back and forth as I heard the heavy front door close. I ran my hand through my messy hair methodically as I paced back and forth for a few minutes. I couldn't take not knowing. I jogged to the front door and opened it cautiously; the house was silent confirming what I suspected. He must be in his office with her. My legs carried me to the door as I sank to the floor listening intently. I heard two voices speaking in conversational tones but I couldn't hear the words being exchanged. I sag defeated against the wall and slide down to a sitting position and hold my head between my hands. I couldn't lose her. And I sure as hell wouldn't let my father take her away from me.
ELENA POV:"Please sit Elena." He said as he motioned to a chair opposite to his large mahogany desk.
The room was intimidating; it was huge and business like, very fitting for a man like him. I swallowed nervously as my fingers knotted in my lap. I took a few deep breaths trying to calm myself, running through all the possibilities. Worst case scenario, he would kick me out. Best case scenario, he would approve? I felt the need to explain myself, to justify my actions. I cleared my throat before looking back up at him. His large hands were tented in front of his mouth as he looked at me expectantly. I avert my gaze to the stacks of paperwork on his desk and the single picture frame. It's a shockingly beautiful woman with black hair and stunning blue eyes. It must be Damon's mother. I shake my head bringing my thoughts back to the present situation. And a sticky situation it was.
"Mr. Salvatore…" I stammered. "I'm completely mortified. I know an apology might not be enough nor any promise I can make you but, I am prepared to take the consequences for my actions as you see fit sir." I finished shakily and let out a breath I had been holding. He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side in a familiar mannerism that reminded me of Damon. Even just the thought of him relaxed me slightly.
"There aren't going to be any consequences Elena. You can relax. I just want to chat with you. And I thought we were past these formalities, my name is Giuseppe." He said softly.
If I wasn't confused before I sure as hell was now. I looked at him suspiciously, if e wasn't going to yell at me what was he going to do? "Okay..." I say quietly.
"First off I apologize for my absence; I don't frequent my home which might strike you as odd." He says almost apologetically. It seemed like he almost avoided his own house, which I thought was unorthodox.
"If you don't mind me asking, why is that? I know you are very busy but we rarely see you around here." I asked quietly, silently praying I haven't over offended him. He smiles slightly and cocks his head.
"Family is an important thing Elena, it always has been. In my childhood, I would have done anything for my family; I still would if I was given the opportunity. Them not for me, not so much. But things change; I had a poor relationship with my parents as I grew up. I was the only child in my family and I was lonely. They were very traditional, my father had been raised in this same boarding house himself and followed in his drunken father's footsteps. Their traditions suffocated me, I couldn't deal with doing the same thing over and over. I lived a pale life, consisting of rising early, strenuous work and then nightly beatings from my father in a drunken haze. If I was lucky he would pass out on his chair before he could hit me. I wanted to break the mold, I started doing things in spite of my parents, I would deliberately disobey them. I had at one point even started letting the livestock out of the gates just so my father would either chase them or lose them. We had a bit of a power struggle to say the least and after the stunt I pulled; I was kicked out of my home."
My eyes stayed glued to him, the man of very few words had said more to me in two minutes then he had in the past almost four months. I listened carefully as he continued.
"I got a ridiculously low paying job and stayed in my family's barn. The very same barn outside. They didn't know and I kept that a secret for more than three months. I had always left before they got up to feed the livestock which was once my job, I felt guilt for leaving all the work and my father's wrath onto my mother but self-preservation won out. Survival of the fittest. Except for one morning, I overslept and my mother found me. She was a sweet woman, far too good for my father. She was caring but just didn't have the strength and voice that I needed for her to challenge my father. She brought me food and stoked the barn with blankets until I could afford a small apartment of my own. Things were falling into place for me, I had just turned seventeen and I was promoted, I was out celebrating with a friend of mine when I heard a sound. Someone laughing, I swear it was the most ridiculous laugh I have ever heard, the kind that made you laugh just listening to it. Sure enough my head snapped in the direction of the noise. And I saw a woman."
His face wrinkled as he smiled at the memory, his eyes creased with a smile and I couldn't help but to smile at him. The emotionless man was showing me a new side to him. He reminded me so much of Damon.
"She was and still is the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had alabaster skin and a thick head of inky hair. But it was her eyes that made me desperate to know her, desperate to see adoration in them for someone like me. I just had to know her. I approached her and we became joined at the hip. I was instantly taken with Elizabeth. We only had eye for one another, and we married very young. I was too in love with Elizabeth to wait." He chuckled as he reminisced and reflected on his younger self. Even Giuseppe Salvatore had a weakness, a woman.
"By that time I had landed myself an actual job and I could afford to buy her a ring, it was a miracle considering my lack of education, I made a considerable amount of money and we lived comfortably. Before the wedding I snuck into the boarding house at night and went back to my old room, it was left in tatters, my dressers were knocked over and their contents spilled on the floor. Thankfully, I was quite tricky with my hiding places and I found the ring my mom had given me, it was from her mother's wedding. A simple vintage band that would be perfect for Liz. When I married Elizabeth my father severed all ties, he considered her to be a deformity in the perfect and supposedly superior Salvatore line. He was a drunk, and I didn't speak to him again before he died. My mother followed shortly after and a he died. And as the only child, I inherited the estate although the will, it was willed to me but was quite tentative." He chuckled.
"Elizabeth and I moved in right after the funeral. I actually attended for the bastard." He said bitterly.
"Shortly after Elizabeth was pregnant. Here we were two 20 year olds at the time, pregnant with our first child. Her parents had turned her away when she asked for help and my parents were unreachable, we were just kids. We were confused but mostly we were both thrilled. I wanted a chance to raise a child the right way. Unlike my abusive drunk of a father, I wanted a family that would stand by one another through thick and thin. But Elizabeth miscarried, we were both destroyed. She sunk into a bit of a depression. That was the darker part of my life, there is nothing worse than watching someone you love more than life it's self be in so much pain. Especially when it is out of your hands. I dragged her to doctors all over the place, eventually ending up in the U.S. and for the first time in months she was herself, the bubbly bright woman I fell for, the perfect counterpart to my busy body serious attitude. So we made the split decision to move to America. It was no doubt the right call; I saw how her demeanor changed every time she walked by the nursery upstairs, how her cheeks sunk in and her striking blue eyes filled with tears. When we were settling in in our new home in New York we got a call from the doctor. He told us Elizabeth had a serious condition and she wouldn't be able to carry any children, she was destroyed and was slipping right through my fingers, again. She was all I had, I couldn't lose her. And honestly I almost did, the only thing that brought her back from the edge was the pregnancy. My saving grace. She made it through the first trimester and it was looking great, she had defied all odds and was glowing. Secretly I envied the child; he was able to bring his mother back from the edge when I couldn't. It wasn't her love for me that kept her alive, it was the love she had for him."
"Damon." I finish, the pieces fitting together in my head. My heart broke as he nods his head yes before continuing.
"We both were enamored by him. He was a spitting image of his mother, his raven hair and pale skin with her bottomless blue eyes. He was our pride and joy; he was such a happy baby. So considerate and loving, he was just a toddler when we found out Liz was pregnant again. In hindsight I should have known it would be too much for her body to take, she had done well with Damon but with another baby on the way, she didn't seem to have the ease she did with Damon."
He runs his fingers brought his hair and huffs a little bit in frustration, he seemed caught up in the story.
"The doctors warned us about the damage it could take on her body but she insisted. She had a few minor complications, but they were easily fixed with medications and routine checkups. She was so excited, she was practically glowing. We both were. I couldn't imagine Liz not having a house full of children, and I wanted to give her that. I didn't think it was possible falling any more in love with her than I already was but when I watched her with Damon, she did me in. She had these natural maternal instincts and unwavering patience. She was just one of those women born to be a mother. She was only seven months pregnant when I received a call that she was in labor. But I was halfway around the world already, signing business papers in Italy while my wife gave birth to Stefan two months prematurely and took her last breath."
A quiet gasp escaped my lips and my eyes filled with tears at their own accord.
"There were complications that had gone unnoticed by the doctors; they afterwards told me that only one of them could survive. Either the mother or the child, Elizabeth had pushed herself so hard in labor, she ultimately made the decision. It was Stefan who lived. The last words she spoke were to Damon who was just so young; he needed his mother, and a new born baby who was just desperate for a warm body and care. I was a wreck, I drank myself into a stupor some nights and when they would cry I would sometimes just walk out. I couldn't deal with it; I fed them, cleaned them up and put them to bed systematically. But I made no effort to create a relationship; it was like they weren't even mine. I had lost myself, because I was nothing without her. I had been so far gone; I had contemplated suicide, something I'm not proud of at the slightest. And honestly the only thing that stopped me was our children. Specifically Damon, her blue eyes stared back at me through this small child who needed me. Sometimes I would look into his eyes and just pretend it was her. I would ignore Damon's cries for mommy, the poor child remembered her death and had nightmares for years, Stefan was more fortunate. Or less fortunate depending on how you look at it, he never knew her, he didn't know the unbearable pain of losing her and the void she left in both Damon and I." His green eyes were set somewhere in the distance, looking past me and were transfixed on some secret memories.
"And everyday as I helped my sons put on their clothes and fed them, I regained my composure but I never returned to who I was. I had nothing but these children and I'd be damned if I didn't raise them right, teach them that family is the most important thing. I picked them both up, took a few things from our home in New York and went back to Italy. Everywhere I went was saturated with memories of her. I could still smell her in our room, I could still hear her ridiculous laugh bouncing off the walls and filling the house with the noise I had grown to love so much. The worst part was waking up holding onto the sheets of where she was supposed to be. I obsessed over the good times and dreamt of her, wondering what her last words were. As Damon grew up he grew more alike her. He was energetic, sarcastic and just enjoyed life; his hair grew darker until it was just her shade. His skin and eyes were identical shades and it killed me to see her practically reincarnated. He looked after Stefan so well, he was so protective, it warmed me to see his mother's compassion had been instilled on him. But when Damon was about fifteen I grew bitter. I had known better to resent Stefan, he was but an innocent child but I was envious of Damon. He spoke to her last, he held her hand when she died and he was the walking reminder that his mother had been here. I sometimes pretended I only knew her in my dreams; I almost had myself convinced until I looked into his eyes that were her's. It forced me to remember and then everything would come crashing down on my back." he said pausing.
"I began to resent him which he did in return. It was exactly the relationship I was trying to avoid, the mirror image of my father and I. I pushed Damon away, he responded by pushing me back. He was vindictive but I was just as bad. Everything I said I would never be, I became. Everything I said I wanted fell apart. He's was just like me, practically estranged from his father and sour. The only reason he stays here is because of Stefan. We haven't held a real conversation in years. And it bothers me so much. It pains me, but he holds no interest in repairing the semblance of a relationship that remains. " He stated.
Talk about al lot to absorb. I felt gratitude towards Giuseppe; he trusted me with his past. He was sharing his story with me. I knew the feelings he described, being so close to nothing mattering. Losing the one's you love. I could relate to him and I sympathized with him. I cleared my throat and prayed that I wouldn't be crossing any line.
"With all due respect sir. I'm not going to sit here and pretend to know the pain and hardships you endured but trust me I can relate. But from my own personal experiences, a blood bond is thicker than anything. Family is family, love like that is unconditional, as much as you want to pull away you can't. And trust me I know it isn't an easy task. After my parent's death, my own brother resented me for surviving. In the heat of a fight he even told me that he wished I would have died and one of them have lived, and for a while I did too. Sometimes I still do. He's said horrible things to me and I to him but we always find our way back to one another. If my parents could be proud about anything I have done, I would hope that it's that I never turned my back on my family. I know that's what they would have wanted. And I think that's what Elizabeth would have wanted" I said boldly.
His lips pulled into a genuine smile that stunned me, identical to Damon's before shaking his head.
"You are wise beyond your years Elena. Much like Elizabeth was. Which brings me to my point of this whole story. I realize my mistake, Damon's sweet disposition has become severe and he holds little value in relationships other than with Stefan. That was until you came here. I've seen change, slowly but there is change. You bring out the best in him; it's obvious he is smitten with you Elena." He says with a knowing smile. My cheeks blanch before flushing red.
Is he? I think.
"Yes he is Elena. I know my son and the last time I saw this compassionate side of his, his mother was alive. And that's why I approve of whatever the two of you have going on. You draw out those qualities about him that I have missed for so many years, his fierce loyally, his protectiveness and mostly his ability to love completely. Because you are very much his Elizabeth, his saving grace. His twin flame." He smiles widely at me and I felt my eyes widen.
He was dead serious, not only did he give us his blessing he compared me to the love of his life, insinuating I would be Damon's. I didn't know what to say. So I didn't. I stood up abruptly and rounded the large table and wrapped my arms around his tall frame. He was stiff at first but soon enough his arms raised as he patted my back gently. I pulled away from him and smiled.
"You had your troubles raising your sons I'm sure Giuseppe but don't doubt yourself. Stefan and Damon are both wonderful individuals, I wouldn't want them any other way. Give yourself some credit; you raised two successful men who are closer than any siblings I have ever seen. The things thrown your way were out of your hands, but this." I said motioning to the door, where Damon was undoubtedly trying to listen in if I knew him like I thought I did.
"This you have control of. We are never guaranteed another day, don't wait to do something's. He is your son, even if he doesn't come around today, he will eventually. That's what you can do for yourself, Elizabeth and mostly for your sons." I concluded, praying I hadn't over stepped my boundaries. He was an adult and I was just some silly little girl trying to keep up with conversation at the adult table prematurely. He however smiled and nodded, he looked like he was soaking up my advice.
"Thank you Elena. You've helped me in more ways than one. More than you will ever know. I see you as the daughter I never had and one that both my wife and your parents would be proud of. "
My eyes welled up with tears before nodding and turning my back on him with a smile. I grasped the cool metal of the doorknob and turned it, pulling it slightly open slowly incase Damon was sitting behind it.
"Ohh and Elena?" He said, I turned to look at him. His mouth was set in a smirk as he chuckled.
"Send in Damon."
… …...
Twenty fucking minutes. I checked my watch again. Oh actually another then minutes have passed since she has been in there, probably getting a verbal tirade from Lucifer himself.