Karaoke
DG32173
Sarah: a shoutout goes to HoneySexy for suggesting the song used in this chapter. I know you suggested this a while ago but I finally have inspiration for it.
Song: She Will Be Loved
Artist: Maroon 5
Album: Songs About Jane
Genre: romance/slight angst
Pairing: Damon/Elena
Note: Damon's viewpoint. Takes place somewhere in Season 3, though it's a slight AU.
She's only eighteen. I'm a hundred-and-seventy, though my physical age is twenty-four. Even just taking my physical age, I'm too old for her. But she's my best friend, the only person to ever know me even better than I know myself. For nearly a year now, I've always been there to help her. But she's belonged to my brother because I made one critical error in judgment during our true first meeting that I won't tell her about if I can help it.
I could drive or run for miles and always end up near her, like I've got an internal homing beacon guiding me to her. In my dreams, I've had her many times in many ways, but I crave more.
I don't mind spending everyday with her, in the pouring rain or on a bright sunny afternoon. But her smile is broken and breaks a little more with each lie of Stefan's she uncovers. I may choose to mislead her by omitting parts of the truth from what I tell her, but I have never been able to bring myself to outright lie to her.
I love it when she says she'll stay a while when I ask if she wants to. But I look forward to the day she will be mine and I'll make her feel beautiful and cherished. It won't always be rainbows and butterflies. That's not what a real relationship is about. It's about compromise, where each person gives a little for a better whole.
She'll be loved when she's mine. She will be loved properly, the way a woman as special as her is meant to be loved.
I know where she hides when she goes off to be alone in her car and no one else can find her. I know her better than even her best friends from infancy do; I know what makes her who she is. I know that there is very little I can do to make her say goodbye to me and mean it.
I wish she'd give up on having a true relationship with Stefan. I wish she'd come to me, ready to give in to this bond we have developed in so short a time. I love her and I know deep down, she loves me, too. She is not meant to be by Stefan's side forever. One day, she will wake up to the reality that he will never turn her, not even if she begs. One day she will realize that he will continue to let her age and grow older and eventually die as he stays eternally seventeen. She will one day realize that, deep down, that's not what she wants. I look forward to that day. I look forward to the day she chooses me.
"What are you thinking about so hard, Damon?" she asks me.
I smirk at her. "Nothing that's important right now. Now what can I help you with, Elena?" I ask.