We could call it even

You could call me babe for the weekend

'Tis the damn season - Taylor Swift

I took him in. He was wearing his work clothes, a white button up shirt with navy trousers. His skin was slightly tan and I wondered when he could've gotten it. He rose slowly from the bed, his hands raised in a conciliatory manner. I gently placed my bag on the floor and crossed my arms. Despite the joy I felt at his presence, I also felt defensive and suspicious. Especially after the day I've had.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, meeting his blue gaze. I realised how different he and Damon were. Not only was Ben undeniably human but his eyes were like an ocean. Blue and green and teal mixing together to make his gaze impossible to avoid.

"I got worried after you didn't reply to my text," he said, looking down in shame. He knew this wasn't a good enough reason to come. He could've called Scarlett and heard from her if I was doing all right. My gaze softened and I approached him.

"I'm sorry I never replied," I said softly, "I got busy and to be perfectly honest… I didn't know what to tell you." he nodded in understanding. "That being said, I am so fucking happy to see you." I said and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. I felt his strong arms winding around me and felt safe for the first time in weeks.

"How did you know where to find me?" I asked later. We were sitting on the chairs near the window, each with a much needed glass of wine. After getting through all the pleasantries, the conversation started to take a more serious turn.

"I got your address from Edward. He gave it to me after Bella basically chucked me out of Charlie's house," he said regretfully. I chuckled and imagined the scene. Bella, looking fierce with her weird eyes and cussing Ben out with her strange voice.

"I'm sorry about that," I said and he waved his hand dismissively, "I told them about everything. Edward is a romantic though so I'm not surprised he gave the address to you."

"It's ok, I wasn't surprised," he said smiling slightly. The conversation died down for a minute and we both took several sips of wine.

"Why are you here, Ben?" I whispered softly after a few moments of tense silence, my eyes trained on the lipstick stained rim of my wine glass. After clearing his throat he turned to me with pained eyes. I met them reluctantly, knowing I wouldn't be able to look away.

"I felt like I needed to apologise properly," he said formally, looking steadily at me, "I messed up and I should've told you everything from the start and while I know you should probably never forgive me, I want to ask you if you could find it in yourself to give me another chance."

I pursed my lips and gently put my glass down. He sat in front of me with his heart on his sleeve asking me to forgive him. Can I do that? I remember how I felt when he told me that he'd cheated on me. How my stomach had dropped my heart had shattered. How I still felt the pain in my chest if I thought about him for too long. But then I looked into his eyes and I remembered everything we had been through. I gazed at him, wondering what would happen if I did forgive him.

"Let's say I do forgive you," I said, crossing my legs, "What would that mean for us? Do you think we'll ever be the same?" I asked, my eyes searching his. He sat back into the chair holding my gaze.

"No," he said softly, "But I will not rest until I've made this up to you, Laura," he said earnestly. My heart softened and I could imagine it. How we could move on from this and start new. The vision cut off when I remembered Damon. He kissed me tonight and while I knew that shouldn't change things… it did. I had feelings for him and it would be unfair to keep denying it. To myself and to Ben.

"I really want to," I said, reaching over and grabbing his hand, "But I have to be honest with you… I met someone… and it's so stupid to say this out loud but I have feelings for him… It's hard to admit to you but it's the truth and I don't know if I'm ready to just dive back in with you," saying it made it real and I took a deep breath. Admitting my feelings to Damon was harder that I had thought.

Ben looked at me steadily and I wondered what was going on inside his head. His hand was still in mine and I felt him grasping it tighter.

"Laura, I will do everything I can to make this work," he said intensely his ocean eyes glinting with passionate tears, "I'll even get rid of this guy if I have to," I chuckled and he smiled softly, "We can move past this, please," he got up and settled on his knees in front of me, "Please give me another chance and I promise you won't regret it." he brought my hand to his mouth and kissed it. Warmth enveloped me and I was awestruck at the difference I felt between his kiss and Damon's. Damon's kiss was hot like fire but Ben's was warm like a summer breeze. It washed over me with comfort and excitement.

I slid out of my seat and sat in front of him on my knees. He grabbed my face and kissed me passionately. I kissed him back and felt all the familiar sensations return with a gust of pleasure. My hands wandered his body and found the buttons of his jeans. He got up suddenly knocking my hands away. Before I could say anything he flung me over his shoulder, eliciting a giggle from me, and threw me on the bed. After he settled on top of me he gazed endearingly into my eyes. Smiling, I asked him what he was looking at.

"I can't believe I was so stupid," he said, his voice thick with emotion. My eyes teared up and I placed my hand on his face, tracing circles on his cheek with my thumb.

"Me too," I said and laughed. We chuckled and stared at each other, "I forgive you, Ben. Here's to new beginnings." I said and pulled him down to kiss me. He plucked the shirt over my head and kissed my stomach sending electric shocks across my skin. His lips returned to mine and I started to unbutton his shirt.

When we finally came up for air we were back on the floor the sheets of the bed wound around our naked bodies. I laid with my head on his chest listening to his racing heart beat. I missed this more than I thought. Sex was an amazing stress reliever.

"That was…" Ben was at a loss for words and I merely nodded. It was mind blowing.

When my phone rang I groaned. I didn't want anyone to ruin this perfect moment. He chuckled and reached to grab it from the night stand. He didn't give it to me when I reached for it and answered using an exaggerated robot voice.

"I'm sorry but Laura cannot come to the phone right now please call again later," he said and hung up. I rolled my eyes and giggled. He chucked the phone under the bed and rolled me over so he was on top of me kissing my neck. It was his turn to groan when the phone started ringing shrilly again from where he threw it.

I answered without looking.

"Hello," I answered it, trying to keep my voice controlled as Ben's kisses trailed lower and lower.

"Laura," Damon spoke from the other end and I froze. I sat upright, gently nudging Ben's head away.

"Damon," I breathed into the phone. Ben's head came up, his usually gentle face settling into a frown. Holding up a finger, I quickly got up, hurrying to the bathroom. I closed the door behind me.

"I see you've already replaced me," he said sarcastically and I rolled my eyes.

"There's nothing to replace, Damon," I murmured, rolling my eyes.

"Listen," he continued, ignoring me, "You have to be careful who you invite in. There a psychopathic bitch vampire running around chopping people's fingers off."

"Wait, what?" all irritation bled away and fear took its place.

"Yes, so don't let any strangers enter your place... No matter how handsome," I could hear him smirking at the other end. I just hung up on him hoping he assumed I got the message.

I stood in the bathroom for a second trying to gather my thoughts. I still had the vervain perfume Jenna gave me. I decided to put it on and also pour a little out into a glass. I filled it with water and took it to Ben. He was sitting up right, waiting for me with a questioning look on his face. I gave him the water and he grimaced a bit after swallowing it. The water was obviously not enough to disguise the taste of the perfume.

"So…" he said and looked pointedly to my phone.

"Yeah… that was the guy," I said and also took a sip of the water. The alcohol of the perfume tasted awful but at least we had some form of protection.

"What did he want?" Ben asked and avoided my eyes. I put the glass down with a smirk on my face.

"Ben Walters," I said and straddled him. He placed his hand on my hips, "Are you jealous?" he shook his head, "Well in case you are… He is in love with someone else. He has no time for me," even as I said it, I found myself a little disappointed but pulled myself together. Here I was in the arms of the man I love and the best part was that he loved me back.

It was late afternoon when I suggested we get food. We threw on clothes and headed down the stairs where we ran into Mason and, for some odd reason, Elena.

"Hey, Elena," I said in surprise. The look of confusion on her face lasted only a minute before she smiled.

"Hey," she said and we stood in awkward silence for a while. I glanced at Mason and he grinned back.

"What are you guys up to?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, we're just headed to the Mayor's memorial service," Elena said. She patted Mason's arm sympathetically, "Mason here is his brother and he asked me to give him a lift, didn't you?" she gave him a smile. A strained smile graced Mason's sunburnt face. I nodded and smiled tightly, wondering why she was acting so strange. They hastily greeted us and Ben and I made our way to the car.

"That was really weird," I said and started my car.

"Elena is Jenna's… niece?" Ben asked. When we were catching up I told him about Jenna and her ward. I nodded slightly and drove off.

I didn't give it another thought.

A/N

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the wait on this one. I had such writers block and struggled a lot with a few scenes in this chapter. I hope you guys like it! The next one should be up really soon (like maybe tomorrow soon). Thanks for reading!