Chapter 10: Be Bold
The cabin was quiet. Elena was sleeping, and Mia had left early this morning after saying goodbye to Damon, and headed back to her homestead somewhere in the south. They never disclosed where they were going to each other in case one of the Originals found them.
Katherine stood in the doorway of the room Damon was staying in, and watched him as he looked out the window. "We should go. It's a long drive back to New York."
He didn't turn to face her. "I'm not going Katherine."
She stepped into the room, glaring at his back. "Yes you are. You can't stay here, Damon."
He turned slowly, crossing his arms and meeting her glare with his own. "What are you going to do…compel me again?" her eyes swung away for a brief moment before they landed on him again, and she shrugged a shoulder in response. "You're unbelievable. You're just going to leave Elena here by herself while you, what, run off to let someone else watch out for her?"
She rolled her eyes. "What is it with you and Elena?" she snapped. "So concerned about the safety of a girl you barely knew a week ago!"
His eyes widened in anger. "Well who's fault is that! You didn't even tell me you had a sister, so imagine my surprise when she sat down in the stool next to me one day while I was drowning my sorrows in a bottle of bourbon." All the rage that had been boiling inside him for the last few years was bubbling over, and he let her have it. "I loved you Katherine, and you left! You don't get to be jealous." His jaw ticked when she huffed in annoyance.
Her eyes softened as they fixed on a spot on the floor between them. "Do I have anything to be jealous about?" insecurity flashed in her eyes when she glanced up at him.
He didn't know how to respond. Elena was the closet thing he'd had to a friend for years; she gave him hope, she gave him something to look forward to. He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel some kind of attraction to her, she was beautiful and he felt like they shared in pain and loss that not many people had experienced. "I don't know."
"Fine. Stay." She started, putting her wall back up. "But this is only temporary. I'll be back in a week." She headed for the door and stopped in the doorway. "Whatever is going on between you two; she deserves to be happy Damon…and so do you." She nodded once, and was gone in an instant.
…
Elena felt like she hadn't slept this well in years. She reached over to grab her phone and was shocked to see it was after 10am. Swinging her legs off the bed, she padded down the hall into the kitchen, where she heard the clattering of someone cooking. Pulling her sweater tighter around her, she padded quietly into the room with a small smile. Damon seemed to be moving around the kitchen, making breakfast, albeit, frantically. Toast had popped in the toaster, and bacon was cooking in one pan and scrambled eggs in the other.
"Morning. Everything going okay in here?" she chuckled slipping onto the stool at the counter.
His eyes shot up and he smiled quickly before focusing on getting everything finished. "Hey…just in time." He got the plates ready and put one in front of her. "Now, be easy on me…it's been a while since I made breakfast, so I won't blame you if you don't like it." He joked at his own expense.
She looked at the plate before her hungrily, picking up her fork. "Eggs, bacon and toast? How can you go wrong?" she shoveled a forkful of eggs in her mouth. "Mm, I'm starving…thank you!" she mumbled, digging in.
Damon watched her for a moment before getting starting on his plate himself. There was a comfortable silent while they ate, but it wasn't long before spoke up.
"Its quiet, where is everyone?" Elena glanced around.
Damon put his fork down. "They left. Mia is going to lay low for a while. Katherine said she'll be back in a week." At the surprised look on her face he continued. "I told her I wasn't going anywhere. You're not going through this alone."
She smiled gratefully. "What about work?"
He shrugged. "I already called my partner. He's going to look after things for a while." A smirk pulled at his lips. "I'm due for a vacation anyways."
Elena couldn't stop the loud laugh that escaped. "Vacation? You call hiding from a thousand year old vampire a vacation?" she nibbled on a piece of bacon, her brows raised in playful skepticism.
"Well, we are in the middle of nowhere, it's peaceful…and you're not the worst company in the world." He teased back, his eyes narrowing in a way that filled her stomach with butterflies.
"Thanks!" she drawled out sarcastically. "Words that warm the cockles of my heart." The playful banter seemed easy, almost natural with him, but she had to remind herself that this was not a vacation…and that their lives were at risk. "So, what do we do? I mean, we have a week until Katherine comes back, we can't go anywhere…any ideas?"
A grin split his face.
…
Uncontrollable laughter filled the air. After breakfast, they had showered and changed, and by the time Elena came back he already had the booze out and two shot glasses ready. For the last 4 hours, Damon and Elena had spent the afternoon doing shots in the kitchen; Elena sitting on the counter in to the corner and Damon leaning against the island as they shared stories of their past.
"No! you didn't!" she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.
He laughed through his embarrassment. "Oh I did! I never back out of a bet." He poured another shot for both of them.
She grabbed the shot from him watching as he tossed his back coolly. "Well I'm sure you made a beautiful Britney Spears." She took her shot and winced a little as it went down. "Now are we talking 'Slave for you' or 'Oops I did it again'?"
Damon grimaced. "Worse…'Hit me Baby one more time.'"
She burst out laughing. "Oh my God…I would have liked to see that. Please tell me there are photos."
Her laughter was infectious and even though it was at his expense he welcomed it. "Oh I'm sure there is, not that I'd ever let you see it." Damon said pointedly. "What about you? Any embarrassing high school moments?"
Elena let a cheeky smirk pull on her lips. "Not really. I was kinda shameless in high school. Not in a slutty way or anything," she backtracked watching Damon raise a surprising brow. "Just…bold. I was spontaneous, and fun and I didn't give a shit what anyone thought about me. Guess I lost that girl somewhere along the way." She added almost sadly.
Damon noticed this, and he tilted his head trying to catch her eyes. "I disagree." He stood right in from of her, forcing her to look at him. "Right now, I see a woman who made her way across the country on whim, who walked into a lion's den and boldly impersonated a vampire. I see a woman who shared her most terrifying moment with a perfect stranger," a smirk crept on his face. "And helped me polish off a bottle before the sun went down." He couldn't help himself from tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I don't think she went anywhere."
Elena felt her breath catch in her throat. He was looking right in her eyes, as if he saw that person deep within her that she thought she lost; the woman she desperately wanted to be again. She saw his eyes dart to her lips, and she decided that she would start being that woman today. "I'm about to do something bold." she whispered, more preparing herself than anything.
He smirked. "Good."
Elena grabbed his shirt and pulled him to her, so her legs were on either side of his hips and kissed him passionately. His hands immediately buried themselves in her hair, something he'd been dying to do, holding her to him as their tongues danced languidly. She moaned into his mouth, as his fingers ran through her hair, and the other traveled down her neck, running along her side to her hip and her thigh before retracing its path back to cup her face. When they parted, he rested his forehead on hers, letting his thumb caress her cheekbone.
"I'm glad I did that." She whispered heatedly.
He nodded, pulling away to look down on her with a smile. "Me too." He saw her blink a couple times and look away awkwardly. "What is it?"
"You didn't kiss me back because I look like her, right?" she questioned softly, hoping that he gave her the answer she wanted.
And he did. "Of course not." He smiled reassuringly. "Whatever feelings I had left for Katherine are gone. I knew that the second I saw her again. When I'm around you…I remember what it feels like to be happy."
She bit her lip, trying to keep the giddy smile off her face. "I know what you mean."
Damon kissed her one more time, slowly and sweetly and placed his hands on her hips to help her off the counter. "Why don't you relax in the living room, and I'm going to make us some dinner." He beamed down at her when she nodded resting her hands on his chest.
…
They fell into an easy routine over the course of the next few days. They would spend their time trading stories, or reading their respective books or cuddling on the couch by the fire listening to music. They knew that the week was almost over, and that soon they would need to move on and break the spell that was this little safe haven.
Elena was resting her head on his chest, tracing patterns on his shirt with her fingers, while his fingers ran up and down her back. The soothing repetitiveness was enough to lull them to sleep. They're eyes snapped open at the knock on the door. Elena groaned. "She's early."
"Maybe she'll go away." He whispered, but the knock only came louder. They groaned again, but it turned into a laugh at their mutual dissatisfaction of the poor timing.
Elena got off the bed reluctantly. "I'll get it. I'll be right back." She padded down the hallway, and opened the door. She straightened immediately when there was a man on the other side and not her sister.
He seemed extremely out of place; dressed in an immaculate suit and dress shoes, hair perfectly styled, his hand tucked into his pants pocket. "Hello Katherine. I believe you owe me an explanation."
She did her best to calm her racing heart. Be bold. She let a cold and unassuming smirk grow on her face. "An explanation for what?"
The man had a flash of disapproval mare his otherwise flawless face as he extended an arm to lean on the frame. "You disappeared in the middle of the night. You had me worried, I thought something had happened."
Realization hit Elena, and she relaxed slightly. She knew this wasn't Klaus, but her concern that this man was someone that may hurt her was fleeting. Katherine clearly had a relationship with him. "I had things to do. How did you even find me here?"
He laughed. "You're not as good at hiding as you think." He sobered. "You should be more careful, my brother hasn't stopped looking for you. If I can find you, he's not far behind me." He added with concern.
Elena swallowed. "I'll be careful."
He smiled, looking her over. "Your hair…it's different. I like it."
She smiled at him coyly looking at him under her lashes. "Thank you." She heard the creaking of the floorboards coming down the hall, and so did the man in from of her.
"Who is that?" he asked tensely.
She closed the door a bit more. "No one…dinner."
"Elena what's going on? Where's Katherine?" Damon asked from behind her, not able to see who was on the other side of the door.
Realization dawned on him and he tilted his head as he looked her over again. "Elena? You're human…you're a doppelganger." The veins under his eyes bubbled to the surface, and his fangs elongated causing Elena to stumble back. He ripped the door off it's hinges and tried to rush in but was stopped at the barrier. Damon grabbed Elena and she clung to him as they both stared at the vampire in shock. "Where is Katherine?" he compelled in a low growl, reigning himself in.
"I-I don't know." She rambled out swallowing thickly.
He banged his hand on the frame causing it to crack under the force. "Invite me in."
"We don't own the house." Damon piped up standing in front of Elena protectively. "Who are you?"
"I am Elijah Mikaelson." He straightened up, adjusting the cuffs on his jacket. "And from this moment forward you're going to do as I say, is that clear?"
Elena squeezed Damon's hand. "Oh my God, he's Klaus' brother." She whispered.
"I am." He confirmed. "And if you want to live long enough to see you're next birthday, you'll come outside."
When Elena took a couple steps forward, Damon grabbed her arm. "Elena…"
She nodded. "It's okay." She reassured him, even though there were tears in her eyes. she walked towards the doorway, and Damon was determined to follow her, but Elijah's voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Not you." He compelled. The second Elena was over the barrier, he grabbed her and he sped off, leaving Damon alone and stunned.