"I feel like you're never at home anymore," Jenna complained, pouring Elena a glass of orange juice. "You spend so much time over at Stefan's house…"
Elena smiled weakly and popped a strawberry into her mouth, "I'm here now, aren't I? Just in time for our usual Sunday family brunch!"
"Your enthusiasm is transparent," Jenna answered drily. "Where's your brother?"
Elena shrugged. "Jer!" she called, "You coming down?"
"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses," Jeremy muttered, bounding down the stairs with his backpack.
Jenna looked at him in surprise, "Where are you off to? It's Sunday."
"School project. I thought I'd go to the library."
"Why don't you hang out with me today? Tyler and Bonnie are coming over," Elena said pointedly.
"Those are your friends, not mine," Jeremy retorted.
"Relax," Jenna said with a laugh. "If Jeremy wants to be a good student and get his homework done at the library, then you should let him."
"Elena's not good at relaxing," a voice said, and they all jumped. Elena turned around to see Damon making his way casually into the kitchen. "I hope you don't mind," he said innocently, "The front door was unlocked."
Elena stared at Damon in surprise. He was wearing his leather jacket over a black collared shirt, left slightly open at the top, and black jeans. He smirked in her direction, and Elena flushed. He looked good, and he obviously knew it.
"Oh," Jenna replied, not looking pleased. "I didn't know you were coming over for breakfast this morning, Damon. Where's your brother?"
"Stefan? Oh he'll be here soon," Damon replied, leaning against the countertop. "And may I say, you look lovely this morning, Jenna."
"Thank you," Jenna said stiffly. "Elena can I speak to you upstairs for a second?"
Elena suppressed a groan, and let her aunt drag her upstairs, "What is it?"
Jenna shifted, clearly uncomfortable. "Elena, I wasn't going to bring this up, because I always trust you to do the right thing…"
"What are you talking about?"
"I didn't have a problem with you and Damon being friends, Elena. He's a charming guy, I understand that…" Jenna held up her hand to keep Elena from interrupting. "But to keep meeting alone, when Stefan isn't here…doesn't that seem, well, wrong to you?"
"It's not like that," Elena could feel the heat rise to her face.
"You kissed him," Jenna reminded her.
"Huh?"
"After Founder's Day, when I caught you and Damon locking lips on the front porch?"
"Oh, that was just…"
"I don't need you to explain yourself to me," Jenna continued. "It's your life, Elena. But I'm your aunt, and I want you to make the rightdecisions. Can you understand that?"
Elena nodded, looking down. "I understand."
"Good," Jenna smiled slightly. "Now I'm going to head out to run some errands. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
"Hey," Elena said as she walked back into the kitchen ten minutes later. "What's going on?"
"I was just filling in Jeremy on the adventure from last night," Damon replied, taking a sip of Elena's orange juice.
"Yeah, sounds like you guys had fun," Jeremy said, grinning.
"It wasn't exactly what I'd call fun," Elena disagreed, taking a seat next to Damon.
"Ah, come on! All that adrenaline pumping through your body…must be a rush," Jeremy said, almost wistfully.
"You should stick around today," Damon said casually. "Maybe there'll be another little adventure…"
"Wish I could," Jeremy replied, downing the rest of his breakfast. "But I gotta finish this project." He grabbed his bag, "See you guys later."
"Be careful," Elena called after him.
"You worry too much," Damon said, a few seconds after Jeremy had left. "Just like Stefan."
Elena hesitated, "So how come you took off last night?"
"I had to check something out." Elena waited, but he didn't elaborate. She was just about to get up when he suddenly said, "I heard what your aunt said to you upstairs."
"You were listening?" Elena demanded.
Damon didn't answer, picking up a strawberry thoughtfully. "She doesn't think I'm a good influence on you," he deduced, giving her a crooked smile.
"She's just…trying to be protective," Elena said, feeling awkward.
Damon shifted closer to her, holding the strawberry near Elena's mouth. "Does she have a reason to be?" he asked quietly.
Elena slowly took a bite of the strawberry, letting him feed it to her. Damon leaned even closer before popping the remaining half into his own mouth. He grinned, raising his eyebrows at her. "Tasty."
Elena shook her head, trying to clear the haze that was filling her mind. She began to get up when suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down. She gasped as she landed on Damon's lap and he tightened his grip on her so she wouldn't escape. "Damon…" she warned. "You said yourself that Stefan would be here soon."
"I'll hear him coming," Damon said dismissively, eyeing her with interest. He cocked his head, "What should we do till he gets here?"
Elena opened her mouth to answer, but fell silent as Damon bent his head towards her neck and seductively kissed his way up to her lips. Elena's eyes closed in pleasure as he bit at her lower lip lightly. When she opened her eyes, she realized he had vamped out, obviously unintentionally.
Her hand raised of its own accord and gently stroked his face, feeling the veins under her fingers. "This didn't happen to you before," she remarked as Damon gritted his teeth, trying to revert back to human form. "No," she said softly as he struggled. "It's okay." He looked at her in surprise as she slowly placed a kiss on his lips.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''
"It's so fucking early," Tyler groaned from the backseat of Alaric's car.
Stefan was sitting in the passenger seat and he turned around to see Bonnie shrug in Tyler's direction. "We need to find out what the pack is going to do next. The sooner, the better."
"It's not that early," Stefan interjected.
"Easy for you to say, you're a vampire," Tyler retorted. "Aren't you all about being creatures of the night?"
Stefan cleared his throat, "Actually, it's almost noon."
Alaric coughed, clearly hiding a laugh. Bonnie looked at Tyler sympathetically, "I know you're still tired from whatever you went through, but we just want to help, okay?"
Alaric pulled into the Gilbert driveway, and everyone got out. Stefan frowned as a wave of air hit him. Damon's scent…
As if reading his mind, Bonnie suddenly touched his arm. "Hey, isn't Damon joining us?"
At that moment, Damon pulled open the front door, smiling brightly. Elena hovered in the background, looking nervous. Alaric glanced once at Stefan before leading the way into the house. Everyone trailed in after him, avoiding each other's gaze.
Stefan shot Damon a suspicious look, "What are you doing here?"
"Grabbing some breakfast," Damon grinned and nipped playfully at Elena's throat.
She laughed and shoved him away, her face sobering when she glanced at Stefan. "Um, I guess we can get started…" she said, leading the way into the living room where everyone was already seated.
"So, how are you feeling?" Elena asked Tyler. "I hope your mom wasn't too worried that you were missing…"
Tyler snorted, "She didn't even notice I was gone. She's too busy with all that mayor stuff."
"What mayor stuff?" Damon asked, looking interested.
"Oh, didn't you guys know? My mom is taking over as mayor till the next election."
"Makes sense," Alaric replied. "Okay, so—" he broke off when he saw Stefan and Damon both frowning towards the window. "Is something wrong?"
"There's a scent," Stefan said, looking confused. He glanced at Damon, "Vampire?"
"I can't tell," Damon got up, breathing in deeply. "No, it's human, isn't it?"
"Both?" Tyler suggested.
"That's impossible," Damon answered, but he didn't look convinced.
The doorbell rang, and everyone froze. Elena cautiously peered through the curtains, but she relaxed when she saw who was standing there. She pulled open her door with a confused smile, "Caroline, Matt...what are you guys doing here?"
Caroline frowned, "You're the one that told us to come here...wait how did you get here so fast?"
"What are you talking about?"
"We just saw you at the library..."