Damon, I will always remember the first time we met, the very first time my lips touched yours, the first time you wrapped your arms around me and rested your head on my shoulder.
Your smile, your blue eyes, your personality will always be fresh in my memories. There are so many but the fact remains that these memories and the wonderful times we shared are not enough to bind us together.
You're only 17, Damon. You have your whole life ahead of you. I want you to go to college, leave this small-town behind and make a beautiful, successful life for yourself.
Going away is difficult in itself, but saying goodbye is even harder.
I only wish you the very best, Damon.
Elena.
Damon sticks the card she gave him back into the envelope. He's read it so many times already... And actually, after his initial shock and melancholy wore off, he now feels angry. She has no right to make such a decision without even considering him and what he might want.
He does want to go to college but he doesn't hate this town, it's his home, he has a million memories here, both good and bad. His family is here, his friends are here, she's here... Damon's not going to let go without a fight. He may not be able to change her mind but she will hear him out whether she wants to or not.
Stuffing the envelope between his mattress and the box spring so his mom doesn't find it, Damon slips off his shirt and jeans then walks across the hall to take a shower. Sometimes he does his best thinking while the hot spray of water pummels his body...
"Bonnie? I thought Caroline was picking me up," Elena hurries over and gives her a hug. "I was just trying to call her."
"She was actually on her way when she got a call to show a house at the last moment so you got me."
"I've missed you all."
"We've missed you too. Did you have a good time?"
"The best, Micah is growing so fast," Elena smiles at the thought of her little nephew.
"I need to talk to you, something that Caroline mentioned to me. And Vincent doesn't need to know about it, not yet anyway."
"That's rather cryptic."
"I know," Bonnie concurs, "But I think it's important."
"Okay... We can go into the lounge and have a drink," Elena points to one of the airport pubs.
There is a flash of something in her eyes that quickly disappears. Elena recognizes that look but doesn't say anything, at least not till she knows what's on her friend's mind.
They go into the lounge and order drinks. Elena texts Jeremy, Caroline and Vincent to let them know she arrived home safely. Catching Bonnie's far off stare, she waves a hand in front of her face.
"Earth to Bonnie."
"Sorry," she looks up from her drink.
"You spaced on me. What's going on with you?"
Taking a breath Bonnie begins to explain everything that's happened while she's been away. "Vincent refused to give Damon his severance pay so Caroline delivered it to him. She gave him her number. Apparently, he has called her to talk about you. This is Caroline we're talking about so you have to take it with a grain of salt," Bonnie playfully rolls her eyes. "She's convinced that his feelings for you are genuine, and not just a summer fling or an easy lay."
A melancholy look washes over Elena's face. "Is he okay?"
"That I can't answer, I haven't spent any time with him."
"I guess I'm glad he had someone to talk to... He needs to live a little, enjoy being a college student, see what the world has to offer before making such a decision. Do you understand that?" Elena closes her eyes as they start to water. It's grief, she knows that. She's grieved over many things in her life, Aaron, her parents... But this is different, she feels like she's drowning it. She's vaguely aware of Bonnie sliding into the booth and wrapping one of her arms around her.
"You have to decide whether you want speak to him or not? If you want my two cents, and Vincent will have a cow, I would say to hear him out. What do you have to lose?"
Having known Elena all of their lives, Bonnie inherently knew that Elena would be affected but now it's quite obvious that her best friend cares very deeply for Damon.
Several minutes pass before Elena pulls herself together and wipes the tears from her now swollen eyes.
"I guess I'll have to thank Care for being a friend to him," Elena's voice is scratchy and she swallows what's left of her Vodka sour.
"Don't give her too much credit, her only intention was to give him the check. She said that when he looked back at her with those eyes of the bluest skies...she couldn't let him walk away."
"He has that effect on people," Elena smiles in spite of herself.
"You ready to go?"
Elena nods, grabs her bag and then they head for the luggage carousel to grab her suitcase.
Elena can feel herself slowly drifting back into a state of consciousness, fragments of troubled dreams dissolving before she can remember what they were about. She turns and blearily inspects the alarm next to her bed, groaning when she sees 3:00 am blinking back at her on the digital display. Propping herself up onto the pillows behind her, she tries to grasp what had awakened her from her slumber.
Unexpectedly, the glass figurines on the shelf opposite her start to vibrate, the windows pulse, and tremors start rolling underneath her bed and across the floor. Still half asleep she can't comprehend why Mr. Fell's Garbage service would be passing her window this early in the morning, before it clicks that she's experiencing an earthquake and is jolted into a complete state of alertness.
It's not her first one, although it's been few years. This part of the state lies above a fault line and fortunately the quakes that hit this area never rate very highly on the Richter Scale - high enough to wake her up though.
It's too early to get up so she turns to face the wall, pulls the sheet up to her waist, and closes her eyes...
Yawning, Elena pours a carafe of water into the coffee maker, her head snapping to the side when Vincent pokes his head around the kitchen door.
"Enjoy the rock and rolling?"
She clutches her hand against her heart. "Not especially. It's been so long I had almost forgot how much fun they are."
"How was your trip?" he takes a seat at the table, nodding his thanks when she hands him a mug.
She takes a seat and long swallow of coffee. "It was great getting to spend some time with Micah. He's so big already."
"You should invite them for Christmas?"
"Maybe I will or maybe I'll fly out there again, we'll..." her voice trails off when there's a frantic knock on the door followed by a slam.
"Did you feel that last night?" Caroline practically gasps.
"Yes, it woke me up. Do you want a cup?"
"Stay seated, I'll get it," she reaches into the cupboard for a cup. "Remember that time you stayed overnight and there was an earthquake, we rolled off the bed?"
"How could I forget?" Elena laughs.
"Have you thought about what I said?" Caroline asks as she slides into the chair next to Elena, not caring that Vincent is present company.
"Caroline!" she gestures at him with her head.
"Alright, what's going on?" he shoots a disgruntled look at the blonde.
"I'm talking about him and I don't want to hear your two cents worth about it. It's Elena's life and if she and Damon want to be together, it's their business not ours."
"She went away to get that boy out of her head!" Vincent practically growls at her.
The smile fades on her lips and Caroline narrows her eyes in on him. "What crawled up your ass and died?"
He bites back "I don't know maybe it has something to do with the fact you've filled her head with these foolish dreams again. Do you even hear yourself talk?"
"You know what Vincent-" Caroline glares at him, her finger pointing angrily at his face. "This is Elena's life, Elena's heart, Elena's future. If she wants to be with that young man, it's her business, not yours, not mine or anyone else's. She's a grown woman and you're treating her like a fickle teenager."
That hits a little too close to the mark for Vincent's liking. "What would Aaron think?" he snaps back, hitting below the belt.
"Aaron loved Elena. He would want nothing more than for her to be happy and you know it. How dare you play that card?" Caroline fumes.
"How dare you fill her head with nonsense!"
"It's not nonsense! You have no right to take Elena's choices away from her."
"You have a big mouth," he shoots back.
"Enough!" Elena yells, causing Zeus to start barking wildly. She glowers at both of them before calming her dog.
"Now I'm going to say this only once and there'll be no more discussion," she turns to Vincent first. "When I was with Jeremy, he made me realize that there's nothing wrong with loving someone. I'm not betraying Aaron because he's gone."
"Elena?" he interrupts.
"No, it's my turn to speak. I don't know if Damon and I have a future or even if he wants one. But the decision will be his and mine."
"Elena be reasonable," he tries again.
"Do you want her to be miserable?" Caroline shoots another predatory look at him then turns her attention back to Elena. "He makes you smile like no one I've seen before."
"You know better than that," Vince gets in Caroline's face.
"Stop it, you two. We either change the subject and talk about something more pleasant or you can both leave me be."
"Your choice, Elena, as always." Vincent gets up and leaves.
"Why does he have to be like this?" Elena rakes her fingers through her hair.
"He'll get over it. You two have had words before."
"You didn't help matters any..."
"Maybe not but at least he knows that you get to make your own choices about life. He'll come around eventually. Listen, I have to go, I have some errands to run."
Elena walks her outside, gives her a light hug and watches her drive away with Zeus at her side.
Determined, Damon takes a deep breath to steel his resolve then raises his hand to rap on his parents' bedroom door.
"Come in," comes from the other side in his mother's voice.
He opens the door and enters, leaning against it to snap it shut.
"Is something on your mind, Damon?" his dad looks up from his newspaper.
"Yes, actually. Can I sit?" he extends his arm to the wingback chair that sits adjacent to their bed.
Giuseppe eyes Lillian for a moment then gestures with his head for Damon to have a seat.
"Why don't you tell us what this is about?" his father turns his attention to him.
"Is this about that woman?" Lillian jumps to her feet.
"Yes, it's about Elena. I'm going to be 18 in a couple of days, legally an adult which means I get to make my own decisions."
"Are you still going on about being in a relationship with her?" Giuseppe bellows.
"Why do you have to be so hostile about it? You don't even know her. Aren't you the ones who've always taught me not to pre-judge people?"
"We want what's best for you. You're 17, she's in her twenties."
"What does that have to do with anything? Elijah is 5 years older than Kat. Hell, mom, you're older than dad."
"I'm only three years older than your father, she must have at least six or seven years on you," she goes over to the drink cart in their room to pour herself a snifter of brandy.
"Seven to be exact. Her age is insignificant."
"What about college? If you want to be able to support her, you need to have an education and a good job," Giuseppe asks, thanking his wife when she hands him a tumbler half filled with whiskey.
"I know that, dad. I want to go to college. If Elena will have me, we'll come up with some solution, even if it means I come home on weekends."
"Do you even hear yourself when you're talking? All of this is a recipe for disaster," Lillian's lips draw back into a snarl.
Damon runs his hand through his close hair three times in quick succession and fixes his mother in a stare that could freeze the Pacific.
"I'm going to try not to raise my voice but If you're not even going to try to be reasonable, I'll leave. I love you both very much and severing our relationship is the last thing I want but I will if it comes to that."
"Damon, don't say things that can't be unsaid," Giuseppe cautions him.
"I love Elena and if she'll have me, I want to make a life with her. I know you'd love her too if you'd just push your prejudices aside and give her a chance." he gets up and walks to the door, leaving their room without a backwards glance at either of them.
Elena's had a lot of time to think in the last several weeks. The thought of being without Damon is so painful that she literally pulls her knees into her chest to try and make it stop.
She's sprawled out in one of the cushioned, reclining Chaise loungers that sit in the front yard overlooking her property and the mountains silhouetted in the distance. Elena's clutching a bottle of beer in her hands and Zeus is asleep at the foot of the chair.
It's sunset. She watches with an unwavering gaze, as the yellow ball of fire slowly sinks beneath the horizon. Threads of light linger in the sky, mingling with the rolling clouds, dyeing the heavens first orange, then red, then finally a dark blue that twinkles with stars.
Her thoughts drift to Damon and how lost she feels without him. She feels almost like a ball of tangled yarn. The parts that are untangled are available, useable; the rest is a mess, useless until it is untied. That mess feels endless and at most times unyielding. A yawn escapes and after emptying her bottle, she sets it down, lays her head back and stares at the sky above. The starry night is a brilliant Van Gogh, everything's bigger, brighter and blurring in the most fantastic way.
Elena tries to keep her eyes open but soon all she is aware of is the comfortable chair beneath her and the warmth that her beloved Doberman is radiating. They begin to feel heavy and just before they close and she slips into slumber, Zeus begins to bark.
Jerking awake, she looks around just as Damon steps from the shadows and steals the breath from her lungs...
Thank you all so much.
I forget to mention that the two people who assaulted my sons were convicted. Sentencing hearing is 11/6.
Chapter title: 'The Long and Winding Road' by The Beatles.
Have an amazing day.