Keeping Secrets
Ch. 9
Katie was pulled from sleep by Damon running the backs of his fingers over her arm. "Wake up sleepy head." He whispered as she opened her eyes and saw him standing at her open door and she looked around to see that Elena was gone and they were parked in front of the boarding house. He held his hand out to her and she took it.
They headed inside and he led her to his room. "So this is your room?" she asked looking around at the large space that contained a huge four poster bed that sat on an antique rug, a large mirror, a fireplace, and a built in bookshelf that was on the wall behind his headboard.
"Yep." He commented as he watched her eyes follow the open floor plan to the bathroom that contained his luxurious shower that was walled in with glass and the deep bathtub made for soaking. He smiled a devious smile as he walked up behind her and started kissing her neck. "You wanna take a bath with me?" he asked just messing with her.
She sighed and tilted her head to the side. "I think a shower might be more affective." She whispered and he realized that she didn't say no. "Considering you were doused in gasoline we'll just end up soaking in a tub of watered down chemicals if we take a bath."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" he asked catching her eyes as he slid his hands over her stomach, pulling her closer to him.
"If you think that I'm saying that I'm tired of trying and failing to fight what I feel for you then…" she turned in his arms and draped her arms over his shoulders, "Yeah."
"So does that mean-?" he started, but Katie cut him off.
"I want you, Damon." She admitted as she slid her hand over his neck and down his chest. "And I'm tired of trying to talk myself out of it just because I know we aren't going to last."
"Are you sure?" he asked as he grabbed her hands off of his chest and held them in his.
"Positive." She smiled at him shyly. "So how about that shower?"
He grabbed her hand and led her into the bathroom then left her long enough to turn the water on. As he waited for it to get hot he turned to Katie and started kissing her as they both worked on stripping the other of their clothes. Steam filled the room by the time they were both nude and Damon led the way into the shower, feeling of the water to make sure it wasn't too hot before he pulled Katie under the shower head with him. She sighed at the combination of his wet skin against hers and the warm water that beat down on her tense muscles from over head. "Feel good?" he asked with a little laugh at her reaction.
"Mmhmm, very." She answered then took her wet glasses off and set them on the stone bench in the shower then leaned her head back, letting the water hit her face and push her hair back. He took the moment to admire her, letting his eyes scan her from head to toe.
She ran her hands over her face then smiled when she saw the way he was looking at her. "Like what you see?" she asked as she slid her hands over his wet chest then up to his shoulders he hummed a positive answer as he pressed his lips to hers. After making out and feeling every inch of his body Katie pulled back and asked. "Shampoo?"
Damon reached over and grabbed it off of the recessed shelf that contained several different bottles of soaps and shampoos then handed it to her. They refrained from touching each other while they washed their hair and bodies, but as soon as they were both soap and gasoline free Damon pulled her into him from behind and started kissing her neck. "Where?" he asked as he slid his hand up her stomach and cupped her breast in his hand, pulling a moan out of her and crashing her train of thought. All she could manage to do was reach up and thread her fingers into his hair. "Where, Katie Cat?" he asked again, putting her train of thought back on the tracks.
Not feeling like drying off to keep from getting his bed wet she turned around and pushed him to sit down on the stone bench. "Here." She answered as she moved to straddle him, surprising him that she wanted to be the one in charge. She held onto his shoulders as he kissed her and she lined herself up with him, but she hesitated making him open his eyes and stop kissing her. "I'm scared." She admitted as she pressed her forehead to his, but kept her eyes closed.
"Look at me." He ran his hands up the wet skin of her back then moved one to cup her face as she opened her eyes to stare into his. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to." He reminded her but she shook her head at the thought of turning back now.
"I want to I just…" she didn't know what to say, "I'm ruining the moment aren't I?" she sighed and leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Nope." He answered and she looked up at him like he was crazy. "I promise." He reassured her with a small smile. She smiled then kissed him before she pulled back and looked into his eyes that didn't look away from hers as she lined herself up then sank down on him. When she hissed he pressed his lips to hers, kissing her through the pain that slowly faded. "You okay?" he asked when he finally pulled back and she nodded.
"I'm fine." She sighed as she started moving again, shutting both of them up for a few minutes. Needing to be in control Damon stood up, picking her up with him and pressed her into the glass. "Damon." She sighed as he started kissing her neck, holding on to her thigh with one hand as the other cupped the back of her neck.
"Katie." He moaned her name pushing her closer and closer to the edge.
"Damon I'm gonna…" he placed his lips over hers cutting her off as they climaxed together, her finger tips digging into his back as he grunted and pressed her harder into the glass. After a few seconds he let go of her legs and leaned back, letting her fall to stand on her own as he continued to kiss her.
Eventually he stepped back and pulled her under the still flowing water with him, rinsing them off one final time before he reached over and turned the water off. While he grabbed them some towels she squeezed the excess water out of her hair then grabbed her glasses. He handed her a white fluffy towel as she stepped out of the shower. "You can say something any time now." He prompted, getting worried at how quiet she was being as she wrapped herself in the towel then dried off her glasses with the corner of it.
"I kind of don't know what to say." She finally said as she slid her glasses onto her face. She walked over to one of the white porcelain sinks and wiped the water off of the mirror revealing her wet disheveled hair and flushed cheeks. "Usually there are all these thoughts flying through my head, but now it's just…quiet." She said as she looked away from her reflection to see him open the cabinet under the sink and pull out a brand new brush and a pack of black ponytail holders. Katie accepted them with a small smile.
"Isn't a quiet mind a good thing?" Damon asked as he wrapped his arms around her towel covered torso.
"I don't know. It's never happened before." Katie replied as she started brushing the knots out of her wavy wet locks. "But for the moment I'm not going to question it or the fact that you keep hair brushes and ponytail holders in your bathroom."
"Have I told you lately how amazing you are?" he asked, looking at her reflection in the mirror that blushed at him.
"No." she said with a small smile and a shake of her head.
"Well, you are." He said as started peppering her neck with kisses. "You're also beautiful and sexy and way too good for me." She rolled her eyes at the last compliment, but didn't fight him on it.
"You still want me to be your moral compass?" she asked as she finished brushing her hair then turned in his arms to look into his eyes. He hummed and nodded. "You understand that mean's you have to actually listen to me right?" she asked and he rolled his eyes but nodded again. "Okay." She nodded then started picking up their dirty clothes from where they were scattered around the bathroom.
"What are you doing?" he asked watching her.
"Gathering our dirty clothes, I can't walk out of this house in your clothes." She answered matter of factly.
"Stop." He sighed and held his hands out for the clothes. "Give me." He made a motion with his fingers asking for the clothes. So she set them in his hands then followed him to his bedroom. He tossed the clothes on the floor then grabbed a button up shirt and a pair of boxers out of a chest of drawers that sat near his bedroom door. She put on his clothes even though they swallowed her as he put on a pair of boxers and jeans. "I'll go put these on the wash for you." he scooped up the clothes then left the room. While he was gone Katie wandered over to the window and looked out at the moon lit sky.
She was still standing there, lost in thought when she heard Damon clear his throat behind her and she turned around to see that while she was zoned out he had placed a blanket down on the floor and scattered different foods around it. "What's this?" she asked realizing that she hadn't eaten anything since the burger at the bar the day before.
"A smorgasbord." He answered as he sat down on the blanket. "Join me."
Katie walked over and sat down on the blanket as she grabbed a strawberry off of a plate of fresh fruit and took a bite. "How long was I standing at the window?" Katie asked as she looked at her options of a fruit platter, a vegetables platter with ranch dip, and two sandwiches. He brought her a bottle of water to drink.
"I'd guess somewhere around fifteen minutes." He answered as he grabbed his sandwich and took a bite.
"Wow, okay." She said in confusion. "So, tell me more about you. How did you become a vampire?" Katie asked as she grabbed the vegetable tray and set it in her lap so that she could stretch her legs out in front of her.
"You really want to go there right now?" he asked and she nodded as she dipped a baby carrot in ranch.
"Yep. I want to know everything, no matter how dark it is. I want to know how you met Katherine, why she's so special, why you've made it your life's mission to make your brother miserable…everything." She answered then tossed the carrot into her mouth.
"Okay." He sighed then grabbed a remote she hadn't seen sitting beside him and pressed a button turning on a stereo for background noise. "I met Katherine in 1864 when I was still human. There were some fires in Atlanta that burned a lot of homes and killed a lot of people. Katherine claimed that her parents died in the fire and she needed a place to stay. So she stayed with us." He explained. "I abandoned the confederacy to stay home and be with her plus I only joined because my father pushed me to. I hated it. So of course abandoning earned me no brownie points with my father who already hated me."
"You're father hated you?" she asked as she set the vegetable tray aside and grabbed her sandwich, seeing what he put on it before she took a bite.
"Yep and Stefan was his golden boy." He answered with an eye roll.
"Is that why you hate him, because he was your father favorite?" she asked.
"Nope. I hate him because he is the reason our father caught Katherine, the reason our father shot us while we were trying to rescue Katherine and the reason I completed the transition even though I wanted to die because I thought the reason I wanted to be a vampire in the first place was dead."
"Your father sounds like a bigger ass than my grandpa." Katie commented then took another bite of her sandwich. "Hey, I haven't seen you drink any blood. Aren't you, like, hungry, hungry?" she asked then swallowed and grabbed the bottle of water.
"I had a few blood bags earlier, I'm good." He answered. "But yeah, my dad was an ass. He was also head of the founder's council."
"What about your mom, what was she like?" she asked and his face fell a little.
"She was beautiful and everything a respectable lady should be." He answered. "She died of consumption when I was seventeen."
"I'm sorry." She said as she grabbed another strawberry and bit off the tip. "That must've been hard."
"So what happened to your parents?" he asked to get the subject off of him.
"I don't know. They went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and didn't come back. We had a funeral for them, but the caskets were empty. If they ever found bodies I wasn't told about it." she said with a shrug. "So Katherine's the one who turned you?" Katie asked as she tossed the stem of the strawberry into the tray and moved to sit in the middle of his bed. He hummed a positive answer. "So how did Stefan force you to complete the transition?" she asked as she watched him sit down next to her then lay back.
"After our father shot us we woke up at Steven's Quarry. Emily gave us our daylight rings and we agreed that we were both going to die." He said as she moved to straddle him. "Stefan went to see our father and accidentally killed him and drank from him, completing the change. He brought a compelled woman back to the quarry and bit her knowing I wouldn't be able to resist the blood."
"So he caused what you thought was the death of the woman you both loved then forced you to be something you didn't want to be." Katie summed up as he grabbed her hands and threaded his fingers through hers. "Sounds like a good reason to hate someone, but I have one question."
"What's that?" he asked as he brought one of her hands to his lips and kissed her fingers.
"When you get Katherine out of that tomb and the two of you live happily ever after are you going to finally leave your brother alone and let him be happy with Elena?"
"Yes." He answered with a nod.
"And I take it Katherine's not going to bee too keen on sharing you?" Katie asked as she fell forward, pinning his hands down next to his head.
"No, most definitely not." He said with a shake of his head.
"Damn." She said as she kissed him then fell to the side.
"Would you really be okay with it if she would share me?" he asked with a devious smirk across his shoulder at her.
"Nope, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask." She said with a shrug and a sigh.
She woke up the next morning to Damon kissing his way down her chest that was only covered by his unbuttoned shirt that she had borrowed to sleep in. "You know, I could get used to waking up like this." She said with a sleepy smile as she brushed her fingers through his hair and he turned his blue eyes to her green ones as he kissed his way up her stomach, between her breasts then finally met her lips.
"Yeah?" he asked as he rolled over and brought her with him so that she was on top of him.
"Yeah." She answered as she moved her legs to straddle him then leaned down and started peppering kisses over his chest.
He sighed, liking what she was doing, "Do you have to work today?" he didn't want to ask, but he couldn't keep her from her life for forever.
"Yep." She answered then started kissing his neck. "But not until later."
"Here's an idea, why don't you quit your job at the grill and spend every day after school with me?" he knew what her answer was going to be but he couldn't help asking as he slid his hand over the soft skin of her pail back.
"How about no because I still need money to pay my bills?" she replied with a smart ass smile.
"And I have money to pay your bills." He argued with a close lipped smile that showed off the smile lines that Katie loved.
"And what do you suppose I do after you get Katherine back and then abandon me?" she asked. "As much as I would love to I can't quit my job."
"Fine." He sighed in defeat.
"So do you have any idea where the grimoire is?" Katie asked as she fell to lay beside him.
"I have an idea of where to start looking." He answered as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him. "My father kept a journal. There might be something in it about where it is."
"Okay." She answered hoping that it was going to take him a while to find the journal. She wanted him to get what he so desperately wanted, but she couldn't help having selfish thoughts about drawing out the process for as long as possible.
After work Katie pulled into her drive way seeing that her grandpa's car was there as well. Hoping he was still playing nice she went inside and saw him sitting on the couch with a beer in his hand and a football game playing on the TV that illuminated the dimly lit living room. She didn't greet him, thinking it would be a bad idea to draw attention to herself, and headed up to her room. She threw a couple days worth of clothes in a spare duffle bag along with her toothbrush and toothpaste. As an afterthought she grabbed her journal and a pen and tossed it on top of the clothes then zipped the bag.
She was heading down the stairs, ready to go to the boarding house when her grandpa spoke up. "Where are you going?"
"I'm staying the night at a friends." Katie answered vaguely as she reached for the door knob.
"Stop." He grandpa snapped and she heard the foot of the recliner pop as he put it down and got up. "Turn around and explain where you've been for the past three days."
"I stayed at Caroline's." Katie lied with a shrug.
"Stop lying to me for once in your life. I called all of your friend's parents and they all said you weren't there. So I'll ask you again. Where have you been?"
"I've been at the Salvatore boarding house." Katie answered.
"Why?" He asked with a scowl she'd seen way too many times, but this time she wasn't afraid of it.
"Come on Grandpa, figure it out." Katie said as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder.
"You're whoring yourself out to the Salvatore brothers now?" He asked as if he was disgusted with her.
"Just the one. Stefan's dating Elena." She answered with an angry, attitude induced sway of her head. "And even if he wasn't he's not my type."
"Anything with a dick is your type." He bit back. "Just like your mother."
Katie saw red and before she even knew what she was doing she'd broken her grandpa's nose. She stared in shock as he cupped his bleeding face and ran to the kitchen. She dropped her bag and followed him.
"Get out." He growled, his words muffled by the white washcloth he pressed to his tanned face.
"What?" Katie asked.
"I said," he moved the rag from his nose and glared at her, "get out and don't come back unless it's to pack your shit. You are no longer welcome here."
"Are you freaking kidding me!?" she yelled. "All these years you call me weak and a whore and a slut and everything that I'm not. And the second that I fight back you kick me out?" she asked glaring up at him.
"You act like a piece of trash and you get thrown out like one." He told her with a tone so cold she was surprised she didn't turn into a popsicle.
She gritted her teeth and scowled at her grandfather. "Screw you" She practically spat at him then turned and left the house.
She drove to the boarding house with angry tears in her eyes that she refused to let fall. She wouldn't cry over something that could easily be fixed with the help of Damon and his compulsion. But then she realized that she would be the biggest hypocrite on the face of the earth if she asked him to compel her grandfather to let her stay.
With thoughts flying through her head at the speed of light, Katie lifted her hand and knocked on the door. Stefan answered. "Hey, I wasn't expecting you."
"Um, Damon asked me to meet him." Katie told him flatly as he stepped aside and let her in.
"Are you okay?" Stefan asked as he shut the door then walked past her where she stood just inside the living room.
"Not really, no." She answered then made herself look up at Stefan to see his worried eyes taking her in. "No one's dead or anything." She assured him and he nodded but still looked worried. "I just…uh, is Damon here?" She asked looking around.
"No, he said he was going to grab dinner." He said with furrowed brows as he took in how hard she was trying not to cry. "Now that you're here I'm guessing he wasn't talking about blood."
"Yeah, probably not." Katie laughed quietly, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Why don't you sit down?" Stefan asked as he motioned to one of the red sofas in the room. Katie did as suggested. "I know you hate me, but I want you to know you can talk to me if you ever need to."
"I don't hate you Stefan. I just don't agree with some of the decisions you've made." Katie said with a sigh as she pushed her long hair out of her face. "My uh, my grandpa kicked me out." She admitted as she picked at her cuticles and a few tears slipped from her eyes. She quickly wiped them away not wanting to look weak.
Stefan was trying to think of what to say when they heard the front door open they both looked up to see Damon walk in with two drown paper sacks in his hands. He froze when he saw Katie's red cheeks. Stefan sped over to his brother before he could assume the worst. She heard them whispering before Damon walked over to her and held his hand out for her. She didn't question him and took it.
He led her up the stairs and to a wooden door that looked as old as the rest of the house. He pushed it open then flipped the light switch revealing a room similar to Damon's in size with an unmade, white, antique, canopy bed and dust covers over the rest of the furniture. "Welcome to your new room."
"What? No, Damon, I can't accept this. I can't-" She started as she backed out of the room, but he put his hand over her mouth, shutting her up.
"You can and you will." He told her then dropped his hand. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you want."
"Damon I...I don't know what to say." She said speechless.
"Say you'll stay." He said with a smile. "Or thank you. Either one works."
"Okay, I'll stay." She sighed not seeing any other option, because as much as she didn't want to intrude, she couldn't see going back to her grandfathers. "Thank you."
"Good." He grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen where Stefan had brought the bags of food that Damon had brought inside. "So why did he kick you out?" he asked as he took take out containers out of the bags and set them on the bar.
"He wanted to know where I'd been. At first I lied, but he knew it was a lie so I told him that I had been staying here." She said as she sat down at one of the bar stools. "He accused me of sleeping with you and your brother and called me a whore just like my mother. I broke his nose."
Damon started laughing. "You broke his nose?"
"It's not like he's never broken mine." She shrugged. "After that he told me to get out and not come back unless it was to pack my stuff."
"Do you want me to help you pack tomorrow?" He asked as he set out the last of the food containers
"No, I'll go pack when I can look at him without re-breaking his nose." She answered as he pushed a container to her. "What's all this?" she asked not opening it.
"I didn't know what Italian food you liked so I got a little of everything." He said with a shrug. "For future reference, what is your favorite kind of food?" he asked as he pushed another container to her.
"Chinese." She answered with a smile. "General Tso's chicken with fried rice." She opened a couple of the containers seeing what her options were. When he set out a white bag of breadsticks she grabbed one and continued opening the other two of the four containers as she ate it. Her options where shrimp alfredo, four cheese lasagna, eggplant parmesan and chicken parmesan. "What do you think is my favorite out of these?" she asked challengingly.
He looked at her quizzically trying to get any hint from her face that he could. "What do I get if guess right?" he asked.
"Me in your bed tonight." She answered making him give her a one sided smile that made her smile. "Even though my new bed looked very comfortable."
He pushed the eggplant to her and she bit her lips closed, holding back her reaction. "So did I win?" he asked.
Katie shook her head no and pushed the container away then grabbed the lasagna. "Nope looks like I'll be sleeping alone tonight." She laughed as she grabbed a plastic fork and started eating.
"You're so mean." He complained as he walked around the bar and started kissing her neck.
"And you're trying to make me fat." She countered then dipped her bread stick into the red sauce and took a bite. "Seriously, if I'm going to be living here I'm going to be cooking for myself. No more smorgasbords or take out."
"Fine, I'll stop spoiling you." he sighed and let go of her to start putting what she wasn't going to eat into the fridge.
"If you want my blood to taste like it used to I have to stick to my diet." She pointed out and he stuck his head from behind the fridge door to look at her with squinted eyes.
"Are you offering?" his tone sent a pleasant shock wave through her body and she blushed as she nodded. "I thought you wanted me to stop feeding on people." He put the last container in the fridge then shut the door and walked over to lean on the bar across from her.
"Yeah, unwilling people that you'll have to brainwash, but I'm different." She said with a shrug. "But same rules as before apply. No biting where people can see."
"I can handle that." He told her with a smoldering look in his eyes.
When she finished eating Damon helped her take the dust covers off of the furniture in her room and showed her where the linen closet was then let her get to the homework that she had failed to do since getting back from Georgia.
After making up her tests after school she headed to work. She was walking around the bar from the back, texting Damon as she walked when she heard him ask, "What you doin?" and looked up to see him sitting at the bar.
"Texting you." she said as she put her phone away.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have a book to be hunting down?" she asked as she reached behind herself and started tying her apron strings.
"Yes, but I needed a drink first." He answered with a smart ass smile.
"Is this guy bothering you?" Ben McKittrick, an ex high school football star and the new bartender, asked as he walked over to them and set his hand on Katie's shoulder as if he knew her.
Katie looked at Ben's hand on her shoulder then over at Damon. "You know this guy?" Damon asked with a glare at the handsome guy touching his girlfriend.
"I know of this guy." Katie answered as she reached up and gingerly grabbed Ben's wrist and took his hand off her shoulder. "Every girl in my class lusted after him during my freshman year and he knew it." Katie said to Damon but looked at Ben. "But I'm pretty sure he doesn't even remember my name. Do you?" she saw his eyes slip down to see if she was wearing a name tag, but she wasn't.
"Um, Kelly?" Ben asked completely unsure of as he tried to play it off as cute.
"Oof." Damon scoffed. "So close yet so far."
Katie smiled at him then turned her eyes back to Ben. "It's Katie." She told him with an overly polite smile. "And to answer your question, no he's not bothering me." She turned her attention back to Damon. "I'll see you tonight."
"Mmhmm." He hummed as she leaned across the bar and kissed him. He watched her get to work, checking out how nice her but looked in the dark wash jean shorts she was wearing.
Things had started to slow down from the after school crowd when Katie saw Elena and Bonnie come in and sit down in her section. "Do you have time to sit for a minute?" Elena asked as Katie walked over.
"Yeah, sure, what's up?" She asked as she sat down at the table.
"So I've been filling Bonnie in on the whole I look like Katherine thing." Elena started as Katie looked back and forth between them. "And I had a talk with Stefan the other night. It turns out that I'm adopted."
"What?" Katie and Bonnie asked at the same time.
"Yeah. Stefan looked at the hospital records. There's no trace of my mother giving birth to me. No record anywhere that she was ever even pregnant." Elena explained.
"I can't believe you're adopted. I never saw that coming." Bonnie said in shock.
"But it gets weirder." Elena added. "I looked at my birth certificate and it lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as my birth parents. None of it makes any sense."
"Have you tried talking to Jenna about it?" Katie asked and Elena wrinkled her nose. "Come on, Jenna's cool she'll tell you the truth."
"Yeah and the Elena I know would always want the truth, good or bad." Bonnie encouraged. "Besides, you just found out that you're boyfriend is a..." she lowered her voice, "vampire, so unless your birth parents are aliens how bad could it be?"
Elena and Katie laughed. "Okay." Katie stood up. "I gotta get back to work. Can I get you guys anything?" She took their order and got back to work.
When she was done with work she did a little bit of shopping then headed to the boarding house. Damon kept her company while she made herself a grilled chicken salad for dinner. "So do you have to work tomorrow night?" He asked as he grabbed a piece of chicken and ate it.
"Nope." She answered as she moved the chicken where he couldn't reach it. "Matt started working at the grill so I actually have the night off."
"Do you need a date to the fifties dance?" he asked and she gave him a suspicious look. "No strings attached. I promise." He held up his hands in surrender.
"I didn't take you for the themed dance type." She replied still not giving him an answer.
"I'm not, but if it means I get to spend the night dancing with you then I'm all in." he said giving her a smile that made her roll her eyes.
"Sure, you can be my date." She told him with a smile then grabbed her salad and moved to eat it at the table in the kitchen he kept her company while she ate and did what homework she had to do then she let him pull her to his bed for the night.
A/N: Please, if you like my work or have any constructive criticism, drop me a review and let me know how I'm doing. I love getting reviews, good or bad, and thank you to the ones who have reviewed. Sorry if this chapter felt short. I'm planning on updating again on the 3/12/20 to make up for it.
