Chapter 27
The week passed quickly which was odd since they were basically stuck on the estate and the boarding house was closed. They were still waiting for the court date to be set. The special prosecutor was coming by next week at some point to meet Elena. So, for now they were just hanging out in the boarding house.
Damon didn't care too much as long as he had her with him. Luckily, they had a bunch of movies and stuff here. Jeremy brought over his Xbox and a bunch of games. Damon decided to see if he could get the old screening room working again. It was a closed room off to the side of library. It was cool it had a bunch of red velvet movie theater style seats and a huge projector screen to watch old movies on. After a little tinkering and an adventurous trip to best buy that took two hours to avoid all the reporters. Jeremy and himself managed to hook up Jer's Xbox up to that screen. Even Rick was impressed. Of course, Jenna and Elena just didn't get what the big deal was.
Caroline and Vicky had stopped over today, and all the women were hanging out in the kitchen while they guys played games. It sucked that Craig was in jail and Elena was essentially free but trapped on the estate because of reporters. She seemed to be handling it well though. She was worried about the boarding house and nervous about the trial, but she was optimistic about the future.
Making the tribute for Isobel had been really good for her. Elena went out there almost every day for a little while. Sometimes she wrote in her diary and sometimes she just sat quietly. He would join her once and a while, but he was careful to give her private time with her thoughts. Usually he would see her sitting out there and just watch her for a few moments. Something about the girl he loved sitting at peace in the same spot his mother favored, just touched him so much. It made him kind of emotional just watching her out there sometimes.
He was watching Jeremy kick Rick's ass badly in his favorite racing game when his cell phone rang. He sighed it was Giuseppe he had been calling for three days now and Damon had been avoiding it. He knew he couldn't avoid it forever though, so he left them to the game and ducked into the library to take the call.
"Hello dad." He said in a fake cheerful voice.
"You closed the place and you stopped answering the phone?" He asked.
"I wonder if you even know how to say hello, even hi would work." Damon trailed off.
"I understand closing the place for now. The media attention makes it impossible to book guests, but you should be answering the phone." Giuseppe said. "The boarding house phone has been off the hook for a week now."
"It rings off the hook with reporters dad." Damon said.
"Why haven't you given a statement to the reporters yet? Any publicity is good publicity Damon you should take advantage of this unfortunate situation. Go talk to the media use your charm and slip a little plug or two in." Giuseppe advised.
"Uh no...I'm not using this situation to my advantage." Damon rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"I don't mean like that. I'm sorry about what happened to your girlfriend. I'm not heartless Damon. I just don't see why you can't do a little interview where you assure potential guests once the trial is over the boarding house will be open again." Giuseppe said.
Damon's eyebrows shot up. He wasn't sure what he expected from Giuseppe, but he didn't expect that. He was glad his dad did have some type of heart in there still even if it was mostly driven by money.
"I have a statement like that online dad. We aren't really supposed to talk to the media." Damon said.
"When is the court date?" Giuseppe asked.
"We aren't sure yet." Damon said.
"I understand you stopped him from shooting a woman and were almost shot yourself." Giuseppe said.
"That's right." Damon said slowly.
"That's something you should be proud of and I'm glad you're okay. You could have called me Damon." Giuseppe said.
"I wasn't sure how you would react." Damon said honestly. "You can be pretty cold, dad."
"Stefan told me a little about her, he said you really care about her. I'm glad you moved on from the past. However, I hope you have both eyes open." Giuseppe said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Damon asked, and here is where the blow up starts, he thought to himself.
"Never mind," Giuseppe said.
Damon gritted his teeth and refrained himself from throwing the phone across the room.
"I won't get involved in your personal life; you and I are volatile enough as it is. I don't want to make it worse." Giuseppe continued. "It's just you and your brother can get tunnel vision when it comes to women, you lose your focus. I know right now you need to help your girlfriend and prepare for this trial. However afterwards I expect you to resume hitting your goals, and I won't give you much time to do so."
"But you're giving me a reprieve until this is over?" Damon asked deciding to take that as a win and ignore the snide undertone about losing focus. His dad just didn't get that Damon was never going to put business ahead of Elena and he doubted Stefan did for Katherine either.
Though who knows with that situation she wanted money, but she also wanted time. Damon knew how rough that could be and he could imagine his, eager to please everyone, brother was a having a hard time finding balance. His comments on the phone last week seemed to suggest that.
"Yes, but goals resume the following month, are we clear on that?" Giuseppe asked.
"Yeah, yeah." Damon walked over to the big desk in the room he glanced at a little calendar.
"Hey isn't Stefan's wedding this weekend?"
"They graciously decided to post pone it until after the Casino project is wrapped up. Stefan just can't be away from work right now." Giuseppe said. "He's been quite dedicated."
"Ok if you're praising Stefan then we're done now." Damon scoffed.
"Consider what I said about the media." Giuseppe said before hanging up.
Damon walked back into the screening room very surprised by that revelation. He knew Stefan hero worshiped his dad, but enough to tell Katherine to wait on getting married? This would mean they wouldn't actually be getting married until after the baby was born. That couldn't be sitting well with her dad or her. He couldn't help but be a little curious about what was going on there, but he shrugged it off and went back to the video games with the guys.
Elena was sitting on the counter dropping scoops of cookie dough unto to a pan. She laughed when Vicky took a spoonful and ate it and Caroline started chastising her about getting salmonella poison. She was beyond relieved that everyone had been stopping by to hang out. Luckily of all places to be stuck in she was stuck in one of the best and with Damon of course which brightened things up a lot.
"So now you can all officially say you know how to bake." Jenna said proudly pulling the first batch of cookies out of the oven.
"One less thing for my list," Vicky said.
"Your bucket list?" Caroline asked.
"Yup." Vicky agreed.
"What's a bucket list?" Elena asked.
"A list if things you want to do before you die. Why are you two making bucket lists now? You're what twenty-five and twenty-three?" Jenna pointed to Caroline and then Vicky.
"Just for fun." Vicky said.
"We saw it on TV, we're making Matt do it too." Caroline said.
Elena chuckled, "I bet he was just thrilled about that."
"The earlier you get started the better chances of doing it all." Vicky added.
"You'll just be constantly adding things though." Jenna pointed out.
"That sounds way too morbid for me." Elena sided with Jenna and brought her pan over to the oven. She leaned down and put it in. Caroline started taking the hot ones off the pan and setting them on the cooling rack. Vicky and Jenna were taking them off and eating them as fast Caroline put them down. Elena burst out laughing again unable to resist joining them and grabbing a few warm cookies herself.
"I do need a list though." Elena said grabbing another warm cookie and sitting back down on the counter. "A freedom list, stuff I can do now. Like get my license, that's number one."
"Let's get a pen and paper." Caroline jumped up and rummaged through the drawers until she found one.
"Okay license and car number one and number two what else?" Caroline asked.
"I don't know if I can afford a car just yet." Elena said.
"What about your divorce settlement?" Vicky asked.
"Vicky!" Caroline chastised her.
"You of people are yelling at me about being nosy?" Vicky rolled her eyes.
"I'm not even trying to get one. I just want out of the marriage and it's okay. I like your nosy questions. It's nice to not be the liar anymore." Elena said.
"No one thinks of you like that." Jenna said and Caroline and Vicky nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, I just mean it's nice to be able to actually answer an awkward question and not have to lie." Elena explained.
"So car number two?" Caroline asked.
"I don't know…I have a couple grand in cash saved up so if I really wanted a car, I could get one. I just don't know if I want to use it on a car right away. I'll be getting a good salary here once business picks up. I don't see why not wait on the car." Elena said.
"You have do have a rich boyfriend you know." Caroline reminded her.
"And she proves my point." Vicky muttered.
"This is something I will buy for myself. Just because he has money doesn't mean I can't still take care of certain things myself. I won't ever let myself be completely dependent on Damon." Elena said.
"That's smart." Jenna said. "You should hold onto your independence."
"I still think you should splurge and get yourself a car though." Caroline said. "Like you said you'll be getting a nice salary here. That money you have saved up was to skip town if you needed to, right?"
"Yeah." Elena admitted. "But I haven't planned on using it for that for a long time now. Truth be told I knew the second I kissed Damon that I wasn't going anywhere."
They all awed a little and Elena blushed.
"That's exactly my point. You won't be using the money for that now. So use it for something that will really make you feel free, like a car." Caroline said.
"The first time I got behind the wheel on my own car," Jenna said, "Pure freedom."
"Okay number two, car." Elena agreed with a smile.
"I want to look up my friend Bonnie." Elena added and Caroline continued to write.
"You can travel now." Vicky pointed out. "I mean for leisure."
"I want to eventually go back to Chicago but that's down the road." Elena bit her lip thoughtfully; she was always finding places to hide, not places to go have fun in.
"What about Vegas, or something fun for a weekend?" Jenna suggested.
"Yeah put that on there, a weekend trip." Elena said.
"A fun girl's weekend or a sexy Damon weekend?" Caroline asked.
"Um put both on there." Elena giggled.
"Bank account." Elena added.
"Boring." Vicky scoffed.
"Well it's something I can do now. I could get a credit card too." Elena said.
"And file your taxes, and pay your bills, like I said boring." Vicky said, crinkling her nose up. Caroline playfully shoved her.
"I want to go to the mall." Elena said.
"Ooh I like that one." Caroline said gleefully.
"The mall?" Vicky questioned.
"My clothes are all from very quick stops at Wal-Mart's in the middle of the night. I never wanted to be spotted at a shopping mall or anything, so I haven't really shopped for fun in a long time." Elena said.
"The mall asap then." Vicky said. "We can make a whole day of it! Go up to Richmond."
"That sounds great." Elena chirped. She was getting excited about this. She got up to check the cookies and a wave of dizziness hit her. She gripped the counter and sat down quickly.
"Are you okay?" Jenna asked.
Caroline rushed over with a glass of water. Elena took it and gulped it down quickly the dizziness started to subside.
"I'm fine." Elena assured them all three of them were hovering over her looking nervous.
"I must have just been dehydrated." Elena said. "Honest, I feel completely fine now."
"But you did bump your head a week ago, what if it's a delayed concussion or something." Caroline asked looking worried.
"I don't think there is such a thing." Elena laughed and got up to take care of the cookies.
"Seriously you guys don't worry." She begged.
"If you're sure..." Vicky said slowly.
"I'm sure and don't tell Damon or Jeremy they get all overprotective about stuff like this." Elena said.
"Damon would probably want you to get checked out. It's not a bad idea Elena." Jenna said.
"I don't need to see any doctors. Please just promise me you guys won't tell Damon?" Elena asked.
"Okay but if it happens again." Jenna said.
"I'll go in. I swear." Elena promised mentally crossing her fingers behind her back.
She might have found some peace with Isobel, but she was still terrified of anything doctor related.
"Alright let's get back to your list." Caroline relented and Elena breathed a sigh of relief.
The girls popped in on the guys as they were finishing up their game tournament.
"We managed to save a few for you." Jenna smiled putting a plate of cookies down. Jeremy grabbed five of them right away and popped a whole one in his mouth. Vicky laughed out loud.
"You're such a pig, Gilbert." She teased.
"Oh Vicky I didn't see you." He blushed a little chewing down the cookie fast.
"You got some crumbs." She pointed to his shirt and giggled.
"I'm going to get you." He teased, getting up and chasing her out of the room.
"Ah young love so energetic." Rick said leaning back and grabbing Jeremy's discarded controller. Jenna rolled her eyes and sat next to him picking up the other controller. Rick leaned over and started showing her what to do. Caroline walked over to the display case and started looking through the large movie collection.
Elena curled up in Damon's lap and fed him one of the warm cookies she just took out of the oven.
"So good." He moaned pleasurably.
"I take all the credit." Elena giggled.
"Oh you do, do you?" Jenna laughed and tossed a pillow at her Elena ducked it and laughed.
"You should talk about this room in your ad. It's so Hollywood." Caroline exclaimed.
"I forgot all about it until we were stuck in here." Damon said.
"He's got a bunch of old movies too." Elena said getting up to show her all the old-fashioned reels. "We just have to figure out how to set it up and stuff."
"Matt would go nuts over all this stuff." Caroline murmured.
"You should invite him over." Damon said.
"He's at the Grill. I actually should get going so he can get home." Caroline said.
"Thanks for coming over." Elena hugged her goodbye.
Caroline must have sprayed some more perfume on because her lavender scent seemed to just overwhelm Elena the second, she got close to her. She could feel her stomach turning a little and backed away slowly. She smiled not wanting to hurt her feelings.
"I'll be back soon." Caroline said.
"Later." Rick said focused on the game.
"See ya, Blondie." Damon said.
"Bring that husband of yours with you next time." Jenna said getting up to hug her as well.
Elena studied Jenna's face it didn't register if she noticed the overwhelming amount of perfume or not. She still felt a little nauseous and grabbed a water bottle. She took a seat next to Damon who was playing against Rick now and sipped from the bottle.
"Which car are you?" She asked studying the screen.
"The blue Chevy." He pointed.
"Of course," She smirked and watched his car.
"You don't stand a chance Rick. I got my little good luck charm next to me." Damon smirked.
"Oh, I love you." Elena smiled leaning her head on his shoulder.
"You owe me another hundred for that one." Rick said and Jenna laughed.
She watched them for a while cheering Damon on. The motion of the screen was starting to make her feel dizzy again and she still felt sort of nauseous. She excused herself to go read for a while and curled up on the library couch with a book. The cooler air in the library cleared her head and made her feel better. She suddenly felt tired and closed her eyes, drifting off.
They finally retired form the game to get something to eat. Jenna took Vicky and Jeremy home. People were finding it easier to get away from the media by coming over in groups. Caroline was the only one who seemed to enjoy having to chase away the reports to get on the estate. She said it made her feel famous.
Damon and Rick decided to just make sandwiches for dinner since it was just the three of them. Damon went to find Elena in the library. She was curled up on the couch sound asleep with her book lying on the floor next to her.
He sat down next to her and gazed down at her a soft smile on his face. He ghosted a hand down her cheek she smiled at his touch. She peeked up at him with sleepy brown eyes.
"Hey Damon, what time is it?" She yawned.
"Hey sleepy head," He smiled raining a bunch of kisses on her face and making her giggle.
"It's almost eight. I figured you'd be hungry." He said.
"Considering the number of cookies, I ate today surprisingly yes." She grinned sitting up slowly and rubbing her eyes. She yawned again.
"You look exhausted. You're not getting sick, are you?" He asked softly.
"I hope not." She mumbled slowly getting up.
"I'm sure I'm not." She added quickly when he started feeling her forehead for a fever, she didn't seem warm, but this room was pretty cool.
"Well let's get some food in you to start." He said helping her up.
She seemed steady on her feet they walked into the kitchen. Rick made a bunch of roast beef sandwiches and had a plate piled up on the table.
"Someone mentioned they were your favorite." Rick said.
"Thanks." Elena smiled and grabbed a sandwich. She took a huge bite and stopped chewing right away her face went white. She put her napkin over her mouth and spit the food out as she raced for the bathroom.
"Elena?" Damon called after her.
Rick watched looking nervous and sniffing at his sandwich.
"What'd you do to the sandwiches?" Damon asked peeling the bread off it and looking at it.
"Nothing I swear." Rick swore.
"Elena are you okay?" Damon got up and followed her to the bathroom. She had the door shut but he could hear her throwing up.
"Can I come in?"
"No!" She exclaimed. "I don't want you to see me like this."
She started throwing up again and he opened the door and walked in anyway.
"I don't care." He kneeled and peeled the hair she didn't get back away from her face and rubbed her back. She took a few deep breaths.
"I think I'm okay now." She said.
"Let's get you some water." He helped her up and out of the bathroom.
Rick was at the table eating a sandwich.
"Don't eat that meat, Rick." Elena exclaimed holding her stomach her face was still pale.
"It tastes fine to me." He shrugged.
Damon handed her a glass of water and felt her forehead again.
"Great, if she has the flu, we're all going to get the flu." Rick groaned.
"She doesn't have a fever." Damon murmured. Her eyes didn't seem dilated either one of the signs of a concussion.
"It was the meat." Elena said weakly. "It was bad. Tell Rick to stop eating it."
"It tastes fine." Rick handed Damon a slab of ground beef. "Try it."
"Oh god." Elena looked at it and clenched her stomach. "Don't you dare eat it Damon. I'll throw up again."
"Just get it out of here Rick." Damon snapped.
"Okay." He relented backing out of the room.
"Do you still feel sick?" He asked studying her face carefully.
"A little it's getting better." Elena said. "I'll take some more water though."
"I think maybe we should go get you checked out. I'm still worried about the bump on your head." Damon said handing her another glass of water, she gulped it down quickly.
"The bump is gone. If anything, I have a touch of some bug. Rushing out to the hospital at this time of night isn't going to help that. I just need to sleep." She said yawning again
"You should eat something." He said rummaging through the cupboards. "Chicken noodle soup?"
"No more meat." She moaned holding her stomach again.
"Apple sauce?" He suggested, remembering his mom giving that to him when he had the stomach flu once.
"Okay." She agreed.
She did look better after some apple sauce and another glass of water. He walked with her upstairs, gently resting his hand upon her lower back.
"I can sleep in my own room, so I don't get you sick if you want." She offered when they got to his door.
"How am I supposed to take care of you in there?" He smirked and steered her gently into his room.
"But I don't want you to get sick." She frowned.
"Sweetheart, I don't care." He kissed her on the lips. "Now it's too late anyway."
He got a warm bath ready for her and set aside a tee shirt of his for her to wear. When he left the bathroom, she was already curled up and sound asleep in his bed. He undressed her and slipped the tee shirt on her easily. She hardly even stirred.
Once he had her tucked in, he grabbed a book and sat down next to her. He occasionally glanced at her and felt her forehead to make sure she was okay. Finally, after an hour or so he was confident enough that she wasn't going to spike some crazy fever or something. He finally laid down next to her and fell asleep himself.