Physical Attraction, Chemical Reaction
Chapter 28 - The (Hot) Story of Us
"So am I getting any presents today?" he asked her as he wrapped his arms around her waist from the behind. He hadn't resisted doing it. The moment he had seen her, looking as beautiful as always, he had to just do it.
"Hi to you too" she had turned around in his arms and their faces were now just some inches away. Their lower bodies were just merged into one as both had their hands on each other's waists.
"How was your time with your family?" he asked leaning to kiss her cheek that had just left her wanting more of the man she was ready to be with. They were in the bus station and she didn't want to draw a lot of attention. Instead of taking Alaric's car like the last time, which caused him and Jeremy to travel to Raleigh in Jeremy's car to get the one she used, this time she had preferred to go there by bus. There weren't a lot of people traveling around on Christmas morning but enough for her not to kiss her boyfriend like her body wanted too. She didn't seem to have this problem in New York as they did much more than kiss in a public place or two but this was a smaller city. His family's city and he didn't want people to talk about it. So she settled for a quick peck on the lips after he kissed her cheek.
"Long enough. I missed you" she offered her soft smile as she moved her hands to the back of this neck. "I wish we were alone right now"
"Yeah… I guess the almost empty bus station isn't private enough, right? But it's a good thing that I didn't bring anyone with me so we can make any emergency stop. The kids for sure are still sleeping and so is Kat and Stefan is probably taking care of your breakfast" he slipped his own hands from her waist to her hips as they reached Stefan's car.
"Merry Christmas, Baby" she offered and pulled him down to a quick kiss.
"Merry Christmas, Kitten" he grinned as they broke apart from the kiss but still with their bodies connected.
"How bad is it that I still couldn't find something to give you" she apologetically asked.
"You don't need to buy anything for me, Elena. I have your gift with me right now. You don't need to give anything back" he tried to convince her but he knew it would be impossible to do it.
"Are you kidding me? I haven't had a boyfriend for longer than I can remember and I won't give him a Christmas gift? The best part of relationships is the presents!" she cheerfully protested and he wanted nothing more than just squeeze her until she gasped for air. She was too cute for him to not want to do it.
"Well your presence in my house Christmas morning is the best gift I could ever ask for I guess said girlfriend can be released from the gift-in-a-box thing this time, especially because said boyfriend's birthday is not that far and there is also Valentine's Day" he kissed her cheek, breaking the contact of their bodies. He moved to get her small baggage into the car trunk while she went crazy, as he wondered she would.
"Oh my God, I can't believe I never asked when your birthday is!" she stopped in her tracks leading him to do the same.
"Well in my perfect research I did find out a certain beautiful lady's birthday is on March 4th" he grinned to his girlfriend.
"That is not fair! The book has my birthday; the bio on the publisher website has it. I'm pretty sure Wikipedia has it too!" she pouted and he thought she was the most adorable person ever. He loved that woman more than he could describe and he couldn't just ignore the feeling of melting inside at the sight of such beauty and adorableness.
"I love you, Elena" he out of blue told her and her features that while weren't stern, sad or angry, still softened reflecting how her heart felt at his words.
"I love you too, Damon" her voice was sweet and filled of the feeling of her confession.
"I feel like there is nothing more to say in person. It's like everything was said over the phone but I guess saying I love you is always the most meaningful thing I could say because all the rest I tell is a consequence of this love" he related to their conversation the night before.
"There is nothing I like to listen to more than this or that is more important" she admitted. She wanted to talk about their relationship again but it wasn't the time. She knew she was finally letting her walls down and she even planned a surprise for him. He proudly introduced her as his girlfriend to every person they knew but not even Caroline knew about them yet. She didn't need him to say something, she knew it was important to him and he might even have thought it was odd that not even her best friend knew she had a boyfriend now but he didn't push. He never said a word, he never tried to be subtle or to ask anything. He was keeping his word to her and giving her all the time she needed.
"I'm happy you're here with me, with us" he offered and letting go of the luggage his hands had found their way back to her body.
"I don't want to keep being this lame-puking inducing person but you keep saying these things and I feel like I can't answer any other way" she pouted playfully slapping him softly in the chest "I'm happy to be here because I don't want to be anywhere else" she concluded and this time he was the one to pull her in for a kiss.
Their kiss was slow and long. They had missed each other's touch. They felt light after the events of the past night for totally different reasons. Elena had spent the last few days at Jenna's and of course Tyler and Vicki came for Christmas. It was a good thing to see them again. Although her family didn't have a clue about Damon and they thought it was weird for her to leave so early in the morning, she assured them she was okay. Especially Jenna. She knew how much the blond felt in a crossroads. Elena was her niece but Vicki was Alaric's niece. But the writer did her best to convince her aunt that she got over what happened all those years ago. It had taken some time but she finally did it and she kindly thanked her aunt for never picking a side but she didn't want the family reunions to be weird for the rest of their lives. For Sophie's sake, for Alaric's sake, for Matt's sake – who was also there the day before, they used to be best friends after they quickly dated but they grew apart after what happened between his sister and her fiancé. It felt good to be around them and not be hurt or feel inferior.
Of course Damon called to check on her, to offer her anything she might have needed and she realized how lucky and blessed she was. Damon was the picture of the perfect boyfriend and she held a smile on her face as he held her in that moment. She finally found the place where she belonged to. It was ironic to think that when they met she was the insecure one while he was the confident and as they moved closer to a relationship their roles changed only to now be settled down. They didn't need to say any words to know that they were back together for good.
"Let's go now, Baby, I'm really hungry and if Stefan is taking care of the food I want to make sure to be there while it's still warm" she told him as they broke apart. It was nice to be part of a family, especially one that considered her so highly.
Not much longer after they arrived at the house the kids woke up. Probably anxious because of Christmas morning they woke up more than one hour earlier than usual after a long night the day before.
"I really hope you guys don't mind another batch of clothes but I really didn't have time or inspiration to think of something else. Damon's gift has been consuming me" Elena apologetically offered as she handed the packages to Katherine and Stefan
"Are you crazy? Isn't it every day that I get hot designer clothes" Katherine winked embracing the package as much as the kids did before her.
"It is great indeed, Elena and I hope you like ours too" Stefan offered with a smile. Actually the whole family had prepared a special gift to give to Elena and Damon and they were very curious to find out about what it was. Actually Elena was curious, Damon was more anxious to have it because then Elena would stop making questions about what he thought it was. She was just like the kids when it came to gifts.
"I'm sure I will" she smiled trying to cover her curiosity but everybody knew she was crazy to know what it was.
"And what's the matter with Dan's gift? I'm pretty sure he will love everything you give him" Katherine offered as she checked her new clothes.
"I wanted it to be special and I'm dying to know what he got me"
"No luck here, Sis, he didn't say a word to us about your gift" Katherine replied.
"She is right, Elena, he will love anything from you" Stefan completed unfolding the sweater she bought him.
"It doesn't really help that he says that I'm going to love him even more because of the gift" she sighed a little frustrated. She really wanted something special but she was so curious to see what he got her that she was thinking about getting the first thing in the first store she'd step just to have hers.
"Oh don't count on something great. He's just too cocky. If he gets you a popsicle he will still think that you will love him more because of this" Katherine rolled her eyes looking at her brother that was playing with the kids. They really loved the presents Elena got for them and hadn't wasted one second before starting playing with their brand new toys.
Elena and Stefan laughed at her words, especially because she was probably right. Regardless of how great or not the present was, Damon would still think it was the best ever. He was just this arrogant and Elena loved this confidence about her that was again resurfacing in his personality.
"I would go with the popsicle" Katherine shrugged off smirking.
"I'm sure he will love it" Stefan followed suit.
"I guess I'll have to settle for this" Elena looked at Damon surrounded by his nephews "But I wanted it to be special"
"It's still Christmas until we take down the decoration" Katherine suggested. "You can even kiss under the mistletoe until the Twelfth Night" she winked with a naughty smile.
"I definitely can't wait twelve more days" Elena showed her anxiety to know the gift he had got to her.
"Well so the Popsicle it is, do we have any here, Stef? Maybe Elena can even save the supermarket trip"
"Seriously, Kat, she is not going to give him a popsicle. Why don't we give them our gift and then maybe Elena can wait a few more days" Stefan suggested and Elena's features immediately changed. At least she was finding out one of the mysterious gifts.
"I'd still prefer the popsicle. I would love to see Dan's face" the female doctor chuckled as she walked up to the tree getting the two remaining packages.
"Hey guys, how about now we give Uncle Dammy and Auntie Elena their present?" Stefan announced and the kids got as excited as when their mother announced they would open their presents.
"Who will give Auntie Elena's?" Katherine asked and the kids already knew the drill. Two of them would hand a present to each special visitor.
"I, I!" Elijah excitedly made his little dance.
"Me too!" Gabriel completed.
"Okay, El-Stefi and Mini-Dammy to Auntie Elena and Alyssa and Jayden to Dammy" their mother explained handing the packages to the respective children.
"Merry Christmas Auntie Elena" Gabriel told her and Elijah followed suit the best he could "Merry Ismas"
"Thank you, boys" she accepted the plain white, rectangular box.
"Merry Christmas Sis" Kat also entered in the line to greet her brother's girlfriend being followed by Stefan and who explained to Alyssa and Jayden they could wish Elena the same even if they were handing the gift only to their uncle.
"Do you want me to wait for you to open it?" Elena asked Damon seeing that he was probably getting something similar, as his package was exactly like hers.
"Go ahead, Beautiful, everyone can see that you're more excited about the gifts than the kids" he kissed her quickly and she grinned back to him turning her attention back to the package in her hands.
She carefully unwrapped and saw it was a frame by the box under the present paper. As she pulled it out of the box her heart melted.
"Did you think all the pics of the albums were posed? I had a minor degree in Photography at college and I just love to do it without people seeing it" Kat told her shyly which was a rare occurrence. She was shy about her hobby and sometimes she felt like the pictures weren't that good.
In the frame there was one picture of Damon and Elena while they were playing with the kids in one of the days after Thanksgiving. They were in the back yard and Elena was sitting in the grass with Gabriel, Alyssa and Jayden, while Damon was a few feet away of them taking Elijah by the hand and walking up to where the others were. But it wasn't only the picture. Their eyes were locked in the picture, they were surrounded by four children but still their eyes and the lovely gaze they held were on each other.
Katherine explained that the whole family worked on the scrapbooked frame. There were flowers, hearts and at the top of the frame they wrote 'We heart our family' with a heart sticker instead of the word.
Elena's eyes shimmered with tears and when she looked up at Damon he held the same expression. The picture showed only a happy couple happily playing with the kids and the happy and loving gaze they held for sharing that moment with each other. Kat had taken the picture in the exact moment Damon and Elena had looked at each other. She didn't even have to be fast to register the moment because Elena and Damon had held their gazes for long seconds, until Damon finally joined Elena and his nephews.
"I loved it guys, thank you so much" she offered hugging the whole family again.
"And this is for you, Uncle Dammy" Alyssa offered the package along with Jayden. They also wished him a merry Christmas and Elena couldn't move her eyes from the package Damon was opening expecting it to be another picture of them.
Much to her surprise it wasn't; it was only her, surrounded by the kids, holding a sleeping Jayden in her arms. Kat also seemed to capture the perfect moment when she held a tender look to the kids that were playing by her feet and a gentle hand caressing Jayden's hair. There were also a lot of scrapbook elements around the big frame and like Elena's it also had a text, this simply saying 'I heart you'.
"It's beautiful, Kat. Absolutely beautiful" Damon looked at his sister but he was still mesmerized by the beauty of the moment she registered. He had always knew about her passion for photography and the house and his office had so many frames just like the one he got now, scrapbook included, but he thought that she had never registered a moment so filled of life and so real like that one. He knew by her clothes that the picture had been taken before he met her on Thanksgiving morning. It was before all the pain started and her natural care to kids and apparent happiness had showed him what he had messed up back in that day and that even one month later he had yet to let go. He remembered that day much more than he wished but he focused on the present every time the devastating memory invaded his thoughts. And the present included the woman he 'hearted' just like Kat and the kids scrapbooked.
"You're beautiful" he whispered in his girlfriend's ear and then leaned to hug her "I love you" he completed still touched by the picture. "I love you too, Baby" she answered while they held each other some seconds "But I guess you should be hugging who gave you the present" she completed smiling and he pecked her lips quickly before doing as he was told.
"Auntie Elena you forgot to tell me the story!" Alyssa remembered the promise Elena did during her first visit.
"Oh, that's true, Priss! I'm so sorry! Auntie Elena's head is in the clouds" Elena explained.
"What story?" Gabriel asked curious.
"The Delena story" Alyssa clapped her hands together.
"What's Delena?" he boy asked confused.
"Damon and Elena, silly. Let's go Auntie Elena I want to listen" she took the adult brunette by the hand and led her to the living room.
"I so want to listen to this" Kat excitedly followed Elena and the kids.
"Help me here, Mister" Elena yelled to Damon that was still thanking his brother for the beautiful Christmas gift. He didn't want to put the frame in his hotel bedroom or his office at the studio. He felt like he wanted to have it everywhere he went just to see the beautiful and loving face of the woman he loved so much.
"She is absolutely motherly, Dan" Stefan offered. "In no time you will be surrounded by mini-me's" he completed and Damon looked at him puzzled. "Yes, buddy, do you really think you won't pay for the years I had to stand you saying that you were so great that my kids looked just like you and that I should get over it? I can already see the blond, green-eyed little pests running in your beach house" he teased his brother that was too much into the scenario Stefan had just described that he didn't even care about the joke. Except for the blond hair, surely. There was nothing he wanted more than to have his house in LA surrounded by his and Elena's offspring and that thought consumed his head entirely and he barely listened what else Stefan said. He could only look at Elena and see how motherly she was and imagine how she would be with her own kids.
The kids were sitting on the rug while Katherine and Stefan sat on the couch across the armchair where Elena was. Damon wasted no time joining his girlfriend. The armchair was big but not enough for them to sit side by side so after some struggle, she finally gave up and sat on his lap.
"Keep it PG, for the kids' sake" Katherine protested as Elena kissed Damon. She looked at the others blushing a bit and muttering sorry but Katherine still had more "The story I meant" she winked and now Elena blushed really bad.
"You told them everything?" Elena turned to Damon who just shrugged it off and her face was just priceless as she looked at the laughing couple on the couch.
"The story!" Alyssa demanded and Elena offered a small smile to the girl that seemed to be oblivious to her aunt's comments.
"Let me start because I guess I could say that you literally crashed into my life" Damon kissed her cheek and she was still embarrassed because Damon probably shared details that she surely wouldn't want anyone to know.
"Uncle Dammy was driving home after a very hard day in the office. He had worked too much but he had a feeling that something good was going to save the day though he had never really imagined how great it was going to be. So he was driving when he felt his car being pushed. He looked at the rear mirror and saw that someone had crashed his car. He was about to change his mind about the change of events in his day when he listened to the first cur… to the first funny word" he corrected himself looking at the woman on his lap and she was now more comfortable as anyone was really glued to the story.
"The first thing I noticed was how beautiful… and funny she was" he tried to stifle a laugh but failed completely.
"I wasn't funny. It wasn't funny at all. I had a horrible week and all I didn't need to crash my car before my so much prolonged weekend" she disagreed but he ignored her completely.
"Honey, your words and gestures were absolutely amusing but also enchanting if you ask me" he quickly pecked her lips and heard the 'urgh' 'PG' and 'back to the story' protests.
"Anyway she was beautiful. She was really upset because of the accident and I decided to go help her"
"Yes, as if checking me out and offering me booze could ever be categorized as help"
"Checking her out?" Alyssa asked confused.
"Check to see if she was okay, Princess, and Elena you are the one that mentioned vodka"
"So you saved her, Uncle Dammy?" Gabriel asked ignoring their little banter.
"Yes" "Not yet" they answered together and seeing their contradictory answer everybody laughed.
"He saved me, Mini-D but not at the moment, he saved me at the end of the night" she looked at her boyfriend tenderly remembering how he took care of her back in that day when he knew nothing about her.
"So she was really sad because of her car and she wanted to have a little bit of fun, so she headed to the bar…" Damon continued but Elena cut him off "That your uncle showed me and told me to go"
"Anyway, Auntie Elena got herself a bottle of… soda and decided to play a little bit of pool"
"Do you play pool Auntie Elena? Cool" Gabriel told her.
"Now that would be a stretch" he whispered and she laughed lightly.
"Yes, Gabriel, I do. We'll play some time, okay buddy?"
"Don't interrupt Gabriel, I want to hear the story" Alyssa told her younger brother.
"So Auntie Elena met a few very nice friends…" she started and this time Damon interrupted "Really, really nice" he told them and made an okay sign with his fingers.
"I was playing really well and I was about to win the game but then I guess I lost my mojo" Elena pondered remembered the moment when Damon came to rescue her.
"And that's when Uncle Dammy appeared again" she resumed the story looking at him with a smile. "And when he rescued me" she completed softly.
"Of what?" Alyssa asked confused.
"Auntie Elena had lost the round and she had to climb onto the pool table to…" he thought about what he would say
"Make a fool of herself" Elena complemented "I lost and they wanted me to do some very stupid things but Uncle Damon didn't let them do it"
"Very good, Uncle Dammy. Nobody makes Auntie Elena be silly" Gabriel stood up to high five his uncle's hand.
"Ohh, how cute" Katherine offered from the couch. "Isn't it?" Elena agreed squeezed the little boy's cheeks maybe a bit too much as he soon complained "Ouch, Auntie Elena" he told her but soon smiled when she answered her usual 'Oops'.
"Then Uncle Dammy got me a cab but he didn't let me take the cab alone. He wanted to make sure that Auntie Elena would be in her house safe and sound" she continued.
"So I took her home and took care of her the whole night" he mischievously smirked at them and the adults held back their laughs.
"Did you kiss her?" Alyssa asked following her uncle features.
"Of course, I did Princess. Isn't that what the Knight Shining in Armor does anyway?" he winked and the boys, except Jayden, moaned their disgust again but his niece just smiled happily.
"Then in the following week Auntie Elena was really sad. Her boss was being annoying and she had some problems writing her new book and she was really upset because of everything so Uncle Dammy went to see her in the office" Elena skipped the breakfast and surely the night of massive hot sex as she reported the beginning of their relationship.
"Uncle Dammy wanted to talk to her, to help her but she was hurt and she didn't want to talk to anyone. She told him to leave and he was very sad too and he left but he had a plan that she didn't know" she smiled at him again. Truth to be told she had loved how he had thrown her over his shoulders that day like that.
"He knew she wouldn't let him help her because she is very, very, very stubborn"
"Am not" she protested but he ignored and continued "So he went to the parking lot and waited until she had to leave. When she stepped out of the elevator Uncle Damon threw her over his shoulders and kidnapped her to the roof. Auntie Elena is a really feisty cat"
"What is feisty?" Gabriel asked
"It's just like when you tried to make Toddy take a shower" he mentioned the kids' puppy dog.
The kids and especially the adults laughed at Damon's explanation especially because Toddy had made a scene when Alyssa and Gabriel tried to bathe him.
"It wasn't that bad" Elena pouted only to Damon to peck her on the lips again "Of course not, Honey. Toddy was way easier than you"
"I was not" she protested but he didn't let her to get away "Yes you were"
"No I wasn't" she insisted
"Of course you were"
"No, no, no"
"Don't be stubborn, again"
While they bantered Katherine mimed to the kids to be quiet. She took Elijah in her arms and Stefan took Jayden and one by one they all left the light hearted arguing couple that hadn't really realized their moves.
"I remember it clearly, Mr. Cocky" she told him and immediately moved her hand to her mouth looking down at the kids that weren't there anyone.
"Where is everyone?"
"I have no idea, all I know now is how much I love you" he pulled her down to a passionate kiss
"I love you too" she offered in his lips, breaking briefly the kiss to utter the words
"And you totally were" he chuckled and she hit him on the chest but he moved his hands to under her legs and holding her he stood up, kissing her in the process and leading upstairs. All those memories surely ignited some feelings.
AN: yay, I can write some fluffy! Surely not very confident about it but I guess the gifts and the story were cute. You tell me. Two more chapters (and a sequel starting immediately after the epilogue) for this story. Thanks for the reviews, I love them and keep them coming :) Thanks a lot to May, my beta.
xoxo
Babi
