Thank you for all the lovely reviews, follows, faves etc! As always it is much appreciated.
Here is the next chapter, please read and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries, but if I did it would never ever end.
Atheris xo.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
EPOV
She doesn't remember the car ride back to the hotel, or the elevator ride up to where Damon was waiting. However, she does remember the million watt smile he gave her when he spotted her walking down the hall way.
"Len! Wipe that depressed look out of your eyes and follow me, there are two people who want to see you desperately…." He said cheerfully as he gave her a knowing gaze.
"Damon, I'm not sure I'm feeling up to….wait you mean Jenna and Jeremy?!" and then she was running. She was down the hall and in their room faster than Usain Bolt, and she was sobbing as she threw her arms around Jeremy first, and then Jenna.
"I'm so glad you're both awake!" she sobs into Jenna's shoulder. "What have the doctors said?" she turns to ask Damon this question directly.
"Well, they still have a lot of time to spend in the hospital before they are discharged. But, the doctor is very pleased and is predicting they will both make a full recovery. He also says Jeremy has no permanent brain damage…well at least no more than he did before…" Damon smirks.
"Hey!" Jeremy yells playfully as he throws a pillow at Damon. Everyone laughs, and it takes Elena's breath away, to hear her aunt and brother laugh again. I was so afraid I'd never see them awake again, let alone laughing…she thinks to herself. In this moment, in this small piece of happiness, she allows herself to forget about everything else and just enjoy her family being awake and OK.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
A few hours later, after meals and laughs, and a few more tears; Jenna sends them home.
"Len, get on the jet and go back to the Salvatore place in New York. Damon has arranged for us to be transported to a hospital in New York so that we can work with one of the best physiotherapists in the country. It is far too expensive, but that man of yours is an unstoppable force when he sets his mind to something. We are being moved in the morning. So please, go home now. Rest. Sleep. Eat. I love you, but you look terrible and I know you haven't left this hospital. So go now, or I will be mad…." She trails off giving her best "stern parent" face.
"Fine. I leave begrudgingly. Call me if anything changes you hear?" she says, returning her stare with equal force.
"Always, now scram!" Jenna says as she playfully slaps Elena's butt as she stands. Elena chuckles as she steps into the hallway, and is surprised to find Alaric and Anna there with Damon.
"You guys get the boot too?" she asks quirking an eyebrow.
Anna rolls her eyes and Alaric grunts what she assumes was an affirmative response. The foursome talk quietly on their way to the airport, but barely at all on the plane. The stress and exhaustion of the past few days has caught up to everyone. Everyone but Elena, who is wide awake and taking in every last second of this life she can.
Long after the rest of the house retires for bed, Elena rolls over and kisses Damon passionately. He does not question her sudden sexual appetite, and returns the kiss with even more ferocity. After they have made love and sated themselves for the night, Elena lays for hours on Damon's chest listening to the rhythmic beat of his heart, and the soft windy sounds of his breath as it tickles the top of her head. She dreads the heartbreak he will feel, and she hates herself for being so selfish, because she knows he will hate her more for making love to him tonight. She knows he will see this as part of her betrayal, to make love to him one last time. She knows it will hurt him more, but her selfishness needed to feel him one last time. To hear the way he says her name in the heat of his passion. Stupid, selfish Elena Gilbert….
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The next morning everyone but Stefan sits down to a nice home cooked breakfast. Damon had gotten up early to make them a feast worthy of celebration, and everyone was eating contentedly. The smell of bacon and coffee swirled strongly in the air, and the conversation was easy and pleasant. It was a perfect morning….until it wasn't.
Near the end of their meal, Elena's blood runs cold as Stefan steps into the room. Even though he appears as though he is trying not to intrude, all eyes are on him as he hands Guiseppe a folder. Guiseppe takes it smiling, and Elena watches his face fall into confusion, anger, and finally hurt. As the hurt seeps into his once kind eyes, he raises them and looks directly at Elena and shakes his head, as one glimmering tear runs down his cheek. Elena thought Damon's heartbreak would be the hardest to bare, but this…this hurts almost as much.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Damon asks as he gets up from his seat.
"Now is not the time son, let us discuss this once breakfast is complete and we have retired to the sitting room," Guiseppe tries to reason calmly.
Elena notices the change in Stefan's eyes, and understands that he will not let this wait. If her encounters with him prove anything, it's that he likes theatrics.
"No Father! I will not let her get away with this a second longer!" He roars as he stares at her accusingly. She doesn't need to pretend to look guilty or scared, she is both. She is also outrageously embarrassed knowing the pictures Guiseppe has just seen, and what she is wearing or errrr…not wearing, in them.
"Answer for your actions you lying little whore!" Stefan yells as he steps towards her menacingly.
A moment to late, he notices he has stepped to close to Damon. That moment is all Damon needs as he reels back and punches Stefan square in the nose, blood instantly spurting everywhere. Guiseppe stands and places himself between his two boys as Alaric grabs Damon and holds him back. Everyone is yelling at each other except for the two women at the table. Elena has her head in her hands as she silently cries, and Anna has grabbed the photos that now lay discarded at Guiseppe's seat. She looks up from her inspection of the pages, and glares at Elena as tears cascade down her face.
"Elena how could you!" she says as she rips off the "Trust" necklace they shared and launches it at her face.
Now that the pictures have been spread on the table, Damon finally sees them and it is as though someone has popped a very small hole in a balloon. Elena watches as his face falls, and then his legs seem to give way and he collapses into a chair. He is flipping through them in shock as Alaric looks over his shoulder.
"There…there has to be some sort of mistake…" he says quietly to himself.
Guiseppe takes this moment to usher Alaric, Anna and Stefan out of the room, all while Damon repeats to himself over and over, "There has to be some sort of mistake…"
Once the others are out and the door is finally closed, Guiseppe turns to her with more fire in his eyes than she thought him capable of.
"Elena Gilbert, explain yourself…"
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Short and not so sweet. This was more of a "set-up chapter" so the next will be longer, promise! Let me know what you think
Read, review, follow and fave.
Love to you all Atheris xo.