Chapter 24: Jealousy is a Dish Best Served Cold

Breakfast was cold, and it was well into the afternoon when they finally ate. She had to laugh at the vampire face he'd made on her pancakes, just like the first time he'd made them for her…the day that everything changed between them.

Elena couldn't believe how blissfully happy she was; the last twelve hours with Damon felt like a dream. They spent the last hour just laying on the floor of the kitchen, nearly naked and eating ice cream out of the tub and sharing a spoon. It seemed so incredibly normal and domestic that she forgot the hell they faced. Now, her conversation with Klaus hung in the back of her mind, souring the mood. Pretty soon, this 'time out' would come to an end and it would be back to the usually scheduled programming of plots, schemes, and death dodging.

Eyeing Damon from under her lashes, Elena smiled as he chased his pancakes down with coffee, and read the newspaper. She didn't even know people still delivered newspapers, or that anyone still read them, but Damon was not just anyone. She loved that. He appreciated art, and literature. He held the door open for little old ladies, even though he was older by a century. He still kept his mother's favorite room completely unchanged. He cherished the things in life that most people took for granted. It dawned on her that her biggest fear in the world was losing him; how would she ever survive it? The thought alone made her sick to her stomach, and it must have shown on her face because he immediately showed his concern.

"Hey…" He put the paper down. "You okay?"

Elena forced a smile. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

She was rewarded with his beaming smile, and he reached across the table to link their hands. "You won't have to. I'm not going anywhere." He held her gaze for a long time, before returning to reading, and she went back to eating her pancakes.

She refrained from saying any more for fear the worry in her tone would bleed through and he'd catch on. She loved seeing this side of Damon; this cheerful, saccharine, and doting side that being with her seemed to have exposed. This was the happiest she'd ever seen him; the last thing she wanted to do was take that away.

…

A few hours later they laid cuddled on the couch; Damon sprawled out with Elena cradled between his legs resting her head on his chest. Both of them just basking in the quiet while they could. "This is nice." she whispered; her eyes closed.

"It is nice." His deep voice rumbled back contently.

A blissful little smile curled her lips. "Quiet, still, peaceful. I like our life when it's like this."

He huffed a laugh, wrapping his arms around her. "But it is our life, which probably means that somebody's going to walked through that door and shatter it." He stated nonchalantly.

Elena pouted. "Noo, don't say that."

"In 10, 9…"

Her eyes popped open and she glance up at him. "Our perfect day was interrupted once already. We've met our quota."

"6, 5…"

She shot him a playful glare. "Damon, please…just let me enjoy this." she whined.

"3, 2…" he punctuated each number with kisses to the top of her head.

She sat up, kissing him back hard on the lips in an effort to quiet him. "No…I refuse to believe-"

Unfortunately, she was cut off by the door opening and closing with voices that followed. They both groaned and collapsed back onto the couch, with Damon hanging his head off the arm in disappointment. "Well, that didn't go well!" Bonnie exclaimed as she strolled into the living room dropping her bags and flopping into the couch across from the couple.

Elena sat up, extracting herself from Damon as she watched Stefan follow her in, although he chose to stand behind the couch Bonnie sat on. "What happened?" Elena's eyes darted between them, but Stefan avoided her gaze altogether.

Bonnie sighed. "We found Mikael, and we managed to wake him up…"

Elena frowned. "Wait, who's Mikael?"

Damon was standing now, pouring a glass of bourbon for both himself and Stefan, and handed it to while taking a sip of his own. "So, then what's the problem?"

"He took off." Stefan jumped in, following it with a deep swallow of the amber liquid. "But not before taking a bite out of my neck for a juice up." he grumbled in annoyance.

Elena tried to catch his eyes as she stood up, intent to check on him. "Are you okay?"

He still refused to meet her eyes. "I'm fine." He instead focused on Damon. "Now we have a deranged vampire, vampire hunter on the loose and no weapon against Klaus."

"What?" Elena's eyes widened, and she shot Damon a concerned look, which he seemed to share. "Who's. Mikael?" She demanded again, slowly.

"He's Klaus' father. His solitary goal is to kill his children. Klaus included." he responded wearily.

Elena ran her hands through her hair, pacing a tiny path on the floor. "And now he's free. No…this is bad…this is really, really bad."

Bonnie's eyes darted between them. "Are we missing something?"

Letting her hands slap to her sides, she turned to her friend. "Klaus sired Stefan and Damon's bloodline. When an Original dies, their whole line goes with them."

Stefan scoffed, crossing his arms. "And how do you know that?"

She frowned, picking up on the sarcastic tone he took with her. "Klaus told me yesterday. He ambushed me at the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant." She explained evenly, giving him back some of the attitude.

"And you believe him." He fired back.

"Yeah! I do." she exclaimed, standing her ground.

"I know you're young, but you can't just go around trusting everyone that tells you a story, Elena. The world doesn't work that way!" he snapped, some of his resentment spilling out in his words.

Damon chose this moment to step in, leveling his gaze on his brother. "Finn's dead. Klaus staked him with the white oak we gave him and an hour later, Sage died in this exact spot." He pointed at the ground below him. "I looked into it and rumor has it, there were thousands of vampires that dropped dead with no explanation all within a few days of each other. If Klaus dies…so do we."

Bonnie slumped back into the couch. "And we're back at square one."

Elena eyes wandered, and eventually caught Damon's hard stare. His jaw was tense and his eyes were challenging. "Well…are you going to tell them, or should I?" Her head bowed and he huffed a puff of breath before slamming rest of his bourbon. "Fine…." There was a loud clatter when Damon forcefully put the glass down. "Elena, took it upon herself to negotiate a deal with Klaus. Apparently, there is a way to complete the sacrifice and keep her alive. We just have to give him the white oak and the moonstone-totally fair-and this is all taken on the word of a murderous Original vampire that killed his own brother." he finished with a plastic grin, sarcasm dripping off every word.

She pinned him with an unimpressed glare. "And the alternative is all of us being dead. He said if we didn't agree, he'd kill all of you and I'm not going to let everyone that I care about die, because I was too stubborn to see the bigger picture."

Bonnie stood, closing the distance between them. "We can't trust him on his word. Even if he honored it, we can't let him become a hybrid, Elena. Klaus is dangerous enough as it is; add to that the ability to turn into a werewolf at will and venom that kills vampires, and he'll be unstoppable."

Stefan jumped in. "And once he's a hybrid, he'll turn werewolves into vampires creating a whole new species. We can't let that happen." He asserted in a no-nonsense tone.

Elena let out a frustrated sigh, and placed her hands on her hips. "Then what do you propose we do, Stefan? Are you willing to risk your life to stop that from happening? What about Damon's? Or Bonnie's, or Caroline's? Because I'm not, and if that makes me selfish, then so be it." She snapped her eyes back to Damon. "I'm not letting you guys stop the ritual. You can be mad at me when it's over." She stormed off upstairs, brushing passed Stefan on her way.

Bonnie turned her worried gaze to Damon, and he nodded at her in understanding as he followed Elena up the stairs. "Time for plan Z."

…

Damon was hot on Elena's heels, walking through the door of his room shortly after her. "Elena…"

She spun around to face him; her face strong with resolve. "You can't talk me out of this, Damon. I told you last night, this is the best decision for everyone."

He approached her with his hands raised in surrender. He knew better than to argue with her when she was this heated. "I'm not trying to talk you out of it. All I'm saying is let's explore other options." He saw her start to protest. "I know, turning is off the table, but what if Bonnie was able to bring you back after the ritual?"

Elena balked at him. "I thought we agreed that was too dangerous. We're talking about raising the dead! Even if she was capable of that level of magic, what's going to happen to her after? If she survives it!" she snapped back.

"Bonnie has Aja's necklace. She can channel that power-"

Elena huffed a bitter laugh. "Right! The same Aja that you said we couldn't trust! The same Aja that abandoned her coven to practice sacrificial magic, Damon!" She turned and grabbed her bag, stuffing a couple of her clothes in it before heading to the bathroom.

Damon stormed after her watching as she grabbed her toothbrush and make up bag. "What, are you doing?" he asked exasperatedly leaning against the doorframe.

"I'm going home. I need to talk to Ric about what happened and honestly, I don't think I can take the hostility of your brother right now." She glanced up at him sadly. "He's mad at me. Clearly just being around me is a problem, so maybe it's best if we aren't rubbing his nose in it."

She tried to slip passed him, but Damon blocked her, darting an arm out to the other side of the door frame. "Then he can leave." he eyes softened as he looked down at her. "The last time I let you out of this house, Klaus got his hands on you."

Elena graced him with a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. It's just for a few days…maybe this will give you two a chance to talk." She brought her hand up to cup his cheek. "Come see me later? We can have a repeat performance of last night. And this morning." She giggled, smiling up at him coyly.

Damon growled playfully. "I don't think we could do the things we did this morning where Ric eats his breakfast." he teased, holding her hand there, kissing the inside of her wrist. "Do I have to sneak in through the window like a teenage boy?"

"Yes." She laughed. "I doubt Alaric would let you in through the front door. I love you." She leaned up to kiss him and then ducked under his arm.

His eyes popped back open when he realized she was no longer in front of him, then blurred to the door blocking her from leaving the room. "I love you, too. Promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise. Honestly, I think I'm more worried about facing Ric than anything. As long as we hold up our end of the bargain, Klaus has no reason to bother us." She shot him a weary glance. "Which means we have to arrange a meeting, and soon."

Damon nodded with a roll of his eyes. "That's a tomorrow problem. Come on, I'll drive you home." he jerked his head in the direction of the stairs, grabbing her bag and following her down to the door.

Stefan's eyes followed them as they passed the parlor room, before glaring back into the fire as he finished his drink. Bonnie had gone home to rest, and that left Stefan alone with nothing but the voices upstairs. He couldn't help but overhear their conversation and it left him feeling bitter. Here he was, just trying to get used to the fact that his brother was with the girl he had feelings for, and then he finds out they were sleeping together while he was being drained dry by an Original. It was an imagery he wasn't comfortable picturing. "Where are you going?" he asked evenly, pretending he hadn't listened in.

Damon sighed stopping at the front door and turning. "I'm taking her home. I won't be long. We need to talk when I get back."

Stefan didn't respond, keeping his gaze on the fire until the door closed behind them.

…

Damon opted for staying in the car, waiting until she was inside before driving away. Once she was on the other side of the door, Elena took a calming breath and followed the sounds of the TV coming from the living room, to find her guardian sitting on the couch, grading papers while watching a documentary.

He muted the show, and turned to her with a forced smile. "Well, would you look at that…you do own clothes."

Elena rolled her eyes and dropped her bag unceremoniously. "Funny. Look we didn't want you to find out that way."

"Find what out exactly? What was that, Elena, because it did not look like anything I want you doing at your age." he grumbled awkwardly.

She pursed her lips with a little nod. "Okay…here it goes. Yes, Damon and I have been…intimate with each other." She ignored the sound of disgust he made and she continued. "But if it makes you feel better, last night was the first time."

He shook his head. "No, Elena, it doesn't make me feel better! This is Damon. He is the last person you should be engaging in a sexual relationship with. First of all, he's a vampire, and second, he's far too old for you and third…it's Damon!" he exclaimed.

Elena was starting to get frustrated, and her hip cocked as she crosse her arms. "Your point?"

"Whatever this is, won't last! You don't know Damon like I do."

"And you don't know him like I do!"

"He'll get bored, and you're going to end up heart broken."

"That's not true!"

"And how can you be so sure?"

"Because we're in love, Ric!" She shouted. Ric reeled back, clearly not expecting her response. "This isn't something new…we've both felt this way for a long time. We just finally gave in." she stated in a softer tone. "Damon really wanted to tell you; you were the first person he wanted to tell, because you're his best friend, and he'd hoped you'd be happy for us." Ric hung his head feeling a bit guilty for how he reacted to him. "But I was the one that wasn't ready for you to find out. I made him keep it from you so please don't be mad at him." she pleaded, dropping down to sit next to him on the couch. "I'm sorry."

Alaric nodded, trying to wrap his head around this new information. "Well…on the bright side, I guess I don't need to have the 'safe sex' conversation." he winced.

Elena's eyes darted away awkwardly. "Nope. Kinda of a non issue." They sat there in silence, avoiding each others gaze.

…

Damon stormed into the boarding house, pointing at Stefan who was coming down the hall. "You, sit." he pointed to the couch. "Now, I can't possibly have this conversation without copious amounts of alcohol, so…" He held up the two bottles of bourbon he held by the necks between his fingers. He tossed one to Stefan and pulled the cork out of the other, taking a deep pull, nearly draining half of it.

Stefan scoffed, ripping out his cork and guzzling back a quarter of the bottle. "I can guarantee you this will be more awkward for me, but by all means." he uttered with a cynical smirk, gesturing for him to continue.

Damon pinned him with a hard glare. "What's your problem, Stef?"

"Are you seriously asking me this?" he asked incredulously.

"I get it, seeing me with Elena pisses you off, but you don't get to take it out on her!" Damon bellowed.

Stefan's gaze drifted away with boredom as he drank some more and sunk into the couch. "And who should I take it out on?"

"Me!" the elder Salvatore pointed at his own chest. "You take it out on me, brother, because I can take it!" He let out a deep sigh. "She can't, and you icing her out like this is more than she can stand."

"Well, I'm sorry, Damon, but I can't be her friend, and I can't be in her life the way she wants me to be. So maybe it's better if she just hates me." He let more of the bourbon numb the feelings that were forcing their way to the surface.

Damon frowned. "She doesn't hate you. I don't even think she's capable of hating anyone. She cares about you, Stefan."

His younger brother laughed miserably, bowing his head. "Yeah, that's half the problem. Look, I'm happy for you, I really am." Stefan glanced up, bearing the weariness on his face. "But I can't sit here and pretend that hearing her say she loves you doesn't feel like a stake in the heart." He held his gaze for a tense moment before the words rumbled in his throat. "You know how I feel about Elena." Stefan's eyes dropped, looking down at the bottle in his hands. He couldn't say it out loud, because then it would be tangible and he'd have to deal with the consequences that brought with it. The truth was, she had gotten under his skin; what started as playful and mild, quickly turned into something more. He knew that sharing blood was a huge part of that and now that he'd tasted her, his whole being craved her. Stefan tossed back more of the amber liquid, letting it burn as it went down.

Damon's shoulders slumped and he let out a deep sigh as he dropped down on the couch beside him, tipping his bottle back for another sip. "Yeah, I know Stef." he mumbled. He was glad Stefan didn't elaborate; he didn't think he could handle hearing him say it. Instead, he clapped him on the back reassuringly, doing his best to be an understanding brother and not let his own emotions get in the way. "I know..." His voice held resignation; this was their destiny…always doomed to love the same woman.

…

AN: Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed that one! Please let me know what you think. Hope I still have my readers. I love hearing from you guys 😊