Author's Note: Ok, so this story came into existence thanks to our current circumstances, obviously. I love the Olympics, and gymnastics is one of my favorite sports to watch. If you have kept up with the news, you know that Japan decided to postpone the Olympics until 2021. This announcement came on March 24, 2020. Who knows what will actually happen at this point, but that's another discussion. The governor of Virginia didn't issue his official stay-at-home order until after that. So, we're going to flub some facts. As far as this story is concerned, that postponement announcement hasn't occurred. Not yet anyway. Also, I know very little about the sport of gymnastics other than very general info. I've done my best to do some basic research, but this story is mostly supposed to be about Delena. I'm asking forgiveness for anything that's glaringly wrong. Thanks!

Chapter One

March 5, 2020

Elena:
Do you guys remember Damon Salvatore?

Bonnie:
 Stefan's older brother?

Elena:
Yea

Katherine:
 Oh, I remember. He's the only reason I ever went to any of your competitions, E. Hot piece, that one.

Caroline:
 Hate to burst your bubble, K, but that guy's a dick.

Elena:
Why? What'd he do?

Caroline:
 He dated one of my classmates for a bit last year. He was such an ass to her, and she was always so sweet to him.

Bonnie:
 Oh, you're talking about Andie Star?

Katherine:
 The one that wants to be a reporter?

Caroline:
 Yea, that's her. He really hurt her.

Bonnie:
 Anyway…

Bonnie:
 Why do you ask, E?

Elena:
I just found out he's going to be at the trials.
He's trying out for the Olympic team, too.

Katherine:
 And to think I was going to skip this one. Does Ric still coach him?

Elena:
As far as I know.

Caroline:
 I'd stay far away if I were you.

March 31, 2020

Governor Issues Statewide Stay at Home Order ... The executive order takes effect immediately and will remain in place until further notice ...

Elena looks up from the article from The Dallas Morning News her coach has just forwarded her. The whole gymnastics' world is in an upheaval. That's actually an understatement.

The entire world is in an upheaval.

No one knows how long things will be shut down, if the Olympic Trials will still take place as scheduled, if the Olympics will even still go on. No one knows anything.

But what Elena does know is that she wants to be with her family.

Moving to Texas from Virginia four years ago to train with a new coach had been scary at first, especially being so young. She hadn't even been old enough to drive. She moved in with her bachelor uncle, Jon, who knew next to nothing about kids, or parenting, or cooking. It had been an adjustment, to say the least; and she had to make many sacrifices – her friends, her school, her family – but it had been worth every tear and all the uncertainty. After only a year of training with Rebekah Mikaelson, the top women's gymnastics coach in the country, Elena had nearly made the Olympic team. Rebekah had assured her that the next go around, she'd be ready.

Elena had proceeded to rise in the ranks of female gymnasts, even as some criticized her for being too old for the sport. Still, at the top of her game, Elena hadn't let the critics bother her, confident that this year would be the year she'd make the team, no question.

But Covid-19 had come along and thrown a potentially large wrench in her plans.

Rebekah had seen the writing on the wall, buying the first plane ticket to London she could get her hands on in order to be home with her mother and father. Her parents no longer had any kids at home, and Rebekah had felt a responsibility to be there for them during the crisis. International travel had been banned shortly thereafter.

With her coach across the sea with no hopes of returning any time soon, Elena had become despondent. Being quarantined with Uncle Jon? Not exactly Elena's idea of fun.

So, in a split-second decision, she packs her car and drives the 1300 miles to Virginia, stopping only for gas and fast food. She's supposed to be on a lean diet, but what Rebekah doesn't know won't kill her.

On the road, Elena has plenty of time to make plans. She calls her previous coach, who just so happens to be married to her aunt, and works out a deal to use her old facility to train. Just because Nationals aren't a sure thing doesn't mean she can let herself get out of shape. She needs to train daily, and many of her routines still need polishing.

The gym is deserted thanks to Governor Northam's stay-at-home order. Elena will have the place all to herself. She and Rebekah work out a schedule for tele-coaching. It's not ideal. Elena keeps having to move the iPad around so Rebekah can get the best angles on each apparatus, but for the most part, it isn't much different than live coaching.

The first week flies by. She enjoys catching up with her parents and siblings. They watch movies, play games, make banana bread, work on a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of a hoard of cats in a flower shop – Kat claims everything else had been sold out. Katherine and Elena even help Jeremy with school work. And most surprising of all, Katherine agrees to go for runs with Elena every morning. Elena has to slow down her gate, but she's ok with that. It's the exercise that matters.

Despite the much-needed family time, she still enjoys getting out of the house every afternoon to train. Gymnastics is her life. She doesn't know whom she'd be without it.

When she enters the gym parking lot the following Monday, she is surprised to see another car in the parking lot. She doesn't recognize it, but that doesn't mean anything. She hasn't been home in so long. It could be Ric's car for all she knows.

She debates coming back at another time. She isn't sure if she will get in trouble for being here with someone else. She doesn't want to infect anyone or, God forbid, vice versa. She's already been super paranoid about wiping down all the equipment thoroughly after each of her practices. Does she need to wear a mask now, too?

Deciding to at least check it out first, she grabs her gym bag and her tiny sanitizer bottle and heads for the door.

It's locked.

This isn't necessarily surprising. She locks the door when she's inside, too. Better safe than sorry. She pulls out her key.

Inside, heavy metal music blares from the gym's loudspeakers.

It's definitely not Ric, Elena thinks to herself.

When she rounds the corner, her eyes are immediately drawn to the parallel bars. There's a lean, dark haired man, muscles straining, going through an intricate routine.

Watching him is mesmerizing. His precision and stamina are applaudable. His dismount, flawless. She claps and woops as he rises his hands as if toward the judges.

The man turns, startled, a disapproving look on his face. Now that she gets a good look at him, she recognizes him. It's Damon Salvatore.

"What are you doing here?" he sighs and picks up an abandoned towel and a bottle of water.

"Hi, Damon, right? I'm Elena Gilbert." She walks over to him with the intent of offering her hand, but then she remembers – Oh, right. Covid – and stops in her tracks still some distance away.

He eyes her, clearly amused at her faux pas.

"I know who you are," he says simply, taking another sip of water.

She tries not to stare at him, shirtless and sweaty though he is, with perfectly mussed, raven-black hair. She hates it when guys at the gym ogle her, so she forces herself to look away.

It's like he can sense her thoughts, and he smirks again.

It infuriates her.

She doesn't know what to say after that, so she glances around looking for a coach or a teammate. Surely, he's not completely alone, is he?

"Are you here by yourself?"

He looks at her pointedly. "Not anymore," he quips, gesturing at her. "Unfortunately," he adds. His tone implies that he's already bored with this conversation.

She feels her hackles rise. What had she done to deserve this attitude? Caroline is right. He's clearly a dick. Even if he is hot.

"Isn't that dangerous? To be alone, I mean. What if you get hurt?"

"You're here alone, aren't you? What's the difference?" he snaps back.

"I have my coach on facetime. If anything happened, she would see and get help."

Damon shrugs, "My brother knows where I am. If I'm not home in a few hours, I'm sure he'd come check on me."

An image of a pre-teen Stefan Salvatore flutters through her brain. He had been hot, too, when they had been in school together. Good genes, this family.

"A few hours? If you break your neck, a few hours could make a huge difference," she spits, incredulous.

He's walking away from her now toward the men's locker room. She follows, maintaining the appropriate six-foot distance.

"Look, I appreciate your concern for my welfare," he mocks, "but if I break my neck, I've got bigger problems. Besides, I can tell Siri to call 9-1-1."

"If your neck's broken, you might not be able to talk!" Elena can feel her face heating up. How stupid does one person have to be? It's like gymnastics 101. You just don't practice alone. Ever.

He stops and turns abruptly. "Are you following me into the shower or is this lecture over?" He's reaching for the waist band of his pants.

Only then does Elena realize where she is. She's followed him nearly all the way into the locker room. The men's locker room. She looks around her, face more than aflame now. She's so embarrassed that she can actually feel her cheeks flutter in shame. She literally might die from humiliation.

She takes a step back and then another. "Sorry," she manages to mumble before turning around and practically running to the mat to stretch.

April 6, 2020

Elena:
You guys will not believe what just happened?

Bonnie:
 Are you ok?

Elena:
No, I'm not ok. I'm dying of mortification.

Caroline:
 WHAT HAPPENED?

Elena:
I basically just tried to follow Damon Salvatore into
the men's locker room. I mean, he was taking off
his pants!

Katherine:
I'm not really seeing the problem.

Bonnie:
 (eye roll emoji)

Elena:
You guys, this isn't funny. He trains here. How am I
supposed to look him in the eye after that?

Katherine:
 I'm really not sure how it is we're related.

Caroline:
 I'm going to need more information before I can offer advice.

Katherine:
 Girl's night?

Bonnie:
 How are we supposed to accomplish that, Kat?

Caroline:
 Hello?! Ever heard of Zoom?

Elena:
I'm in!

Caroline:
 BYOB!

Elena puts down her phone and resumes stretching. If she doesn't hurry, she's not going to be ready when Rebekah calls. If she doesn't stretch appropriately, it could lead to injury. She's wasted more than enough time on Damon Salvatore.

When her phone rings a little while later, Damon still hasn't emerged from the locker rooms.

What on earth could he be doing in there?

His music is still blaring over the loudspeakers. She answers the facetime call and Rebekah's eyes go wide.

"What in the bloody hell is that wretched noise?"

"I know. I'm sorry. When I got here someone else was training, and he's got his music playing really loudly."

"You think? Elena, this is unacceptable. There's no way I can coach with that racket. Go tell him to turn it off and call me back."

"Ok. Give me ten."

"You've got five."

The connection goes dead.

Elena sighs as a knot forms in the pit of her stomach. She had really been hoping he'd be gone by now and she wouldn't have to deal with him anymore today. Maybe ever.

She continues to stretch her arms as she jogs over to the locker room entrance. She hesitates a second, jogging in place to keep her limbs warm. The butterflies erupt in her tummy as she tries to gather the courage to proceed. She finally pulls herself together with a firm scolding.

This is no big deal, Elena. Just do it.

"Hey, Damon. You in there?"

There's no answer. She can't hear any movement over the sound of the music.

She tries again, voice rising an octave. "Damon! Hey! Can you turn your music off?"

Nothing.

She sucks in a deep breath and lets it out slowly before forcing her feet across the threshold of the locker room entrance.

She peeps around the corner, hand over her eyes, fingers spread only a crack. Just enough so she can see if anyone is there and naked. She's fully prepared to run away screaming.

Well, not screaming. That would be undignified.

Damon's there, towel snuggly in place around his waist. He's sitting on a bench facing away from her, headphones on – really? There's already music playing – and wrapping his ankle with an Ace bandage.

At least the headphones explain why he can't hear her.

Then, she realizes he's not listening to music.

"Ric, I don't care whose niece she is. You were her coach and she abandoned you for what? Yea, the blond barbie is a hot piece of ass and she wasn't half bad in the sack but –"

He stops talking, clearly being interrupted by whatever Ric is saying in response.

She can't believe it. Who the fuck does this guy think he is, talking about her? And not to just anyone, but to her old coach. Her aunt's husband!

She still doesn't think of him as Uncle Ric. He had been her coach first. That's how he'd met Jenna. Plus, Jenna is only a few years older than she is. She's always felt more like a sister than an aunt.

Elena forgets where she is again. She forgets what she'd come to talk to Damon about in the first place.

She storms fully around the corner and snatches the ear buds out of his ears.

"What the fuck?" he roars, standing and turning in one fluid motion.

"You have no idea what you're talking about Salvatore, so why don't you mind your own fucking business."

"This is a men's locker room. What part of that are you having trouble grasping, Stalker?"

"I am not – I was not – Errr!"

She storms off, remembering at the last minute what she had come in here for in the first place.

She spins back around and says, "By the way, turn your godawful music off so I can train. One of us actually has a shot at the Olympics and isn't a washed-up old has-been hanging on for too long, and I'd like to be able to hear my world class, gold-medal-holding coach when she calls."

Elena whips back around, not waiting for a reply.

That night, Kat sets up the iPad in the room they've shared since birth. Then she heads down to the kitchen to mix her drink. Elena dutifully fixes her iced water, fancying it up with some slices of lemon and oranges. She even adds a tropical umbrella for good measure. She can't wait to imbibe actual alcohol again, but until the Olympics are over, this will have to do.

She's surprised when Kat pulls out the 2 liter of coke form the pantry.

"That's what your drinking?"

Kat places a finger to her mouth, glances around for prying eyes, tiptoes over to Elena, and pulls a flask out of her back pocket. She winks conspiratorially. Frankly, Elena is surprised Katherine is even trying to hide her rebelliousness. She usually flaunts it with the same rare passion and gusto that Elena dedicates to her gymnastics.

Halfway through the zoom chat, when they've moved on from ranting over Damon's inexcusable actions to more mundane talk such as quarantine hair care how tos, Elena sees her phone light up with a call from her Aunt Jenna. She excuses herself to answer, eager to regurgitate Damon's offenses to someone who can actually do something about them.

Elena recounts the day's events, and, as she relives the hurtful conversation, the anger that had dissipated with all the girl talk once again stirs to life. She's suddenly madder than she can ever remember being before.

"Will you ask Ric for his training schedule, so I know when to avoid the gym?"

Jenna laughs. "I'll have him forward it. But listen, Elena, Damon didn't know about all the coaching stuff. Ric explained everything. I'm sure he's really sorry for assuming."

"I doubt that."

"You should give him the chance to apologize."

Elena just huffs.

Katherine's only words of advice when she recounts this new information later that night: "I bet he's really good in the sack."

April 7, 2020

The next day, she and Katherine are just getting in from their run when Jenna calls again. Elena is surprised to hear from her so soon.

"Hey! I've not gotten an email with his schedule yet. Don't think you're off the hook."

There's a pointed silence on the other end of the phone.

"Jenna? You there?"

"Yea, Elena, about that. I kinda told Ric everything, and funny story?" Jenna chuckles nervously.

"What?" Elena asks, panic rising in her chest.

"Well, he thought it was a good idea what you said to Damon, about him not being in the gym alone. It is rather dangerous. And we thought, you know, since you both have to train, that you could, you know?"

"No, I don't know," Elena deadpans.

"Look, Elena, don't make this difficult. Can you just train at the same time, please? You don't actually have to speak to him ever again. Just be there in case the boy breaks his neck. Please? It's a liability issue. This would be good for you, too."

"No," Elena says without hesitation.

"Elena!"

"Jenna, no. I can't do it. I don't want to see his face ever again."

"How would you feel if something happened, though? When you could have been there to help?"

Elena hesitates, the guilt needling its way in.

"He'd be indebted to you forever if you end up saving his life."

Elena sighs harshly. "Fine, I'll do it. But don't expect me to be happy about it."

"Thanks, Elena."

"Oh, and Jenna?"

"Yea?"

"You guys owe me."

Elena gets to the gym first that afternoon. She's not super early or anything, so she doesn't think much of it at first. She heads inside and starts warming up. When Damon still hasn't shown up ten minutes later, she starts getting mad. She's not going to delay her practice to wait for him. She has a predetermined time to meet with Rebekah. With the time difference between Virginia and the UK, it's just not practical to wait any longer. And she's not just going to hang around after her practice and waste her precious free time waiting for him to be done either.

No matter that there really isn't anything else to do thanks to Covid or anything.

He finally shows up a half hour in, Elena midway through her balance beam routine.

She doesn't hear him and nearly has a heart attack when he says, "You need to work on sticking your aerial cartwheel. It's sloppy."

She feels her face heat. How dare he!?

"Who died and made you my coach? And that's some nerve, critiquing me after watching, what? One whole time. Men don't even do the balance beam, so what do you know anyway?"

He pushes himself off the wall where he'd been watching and raises his hands in a sign of innocence. "Your hand placement was off in the move prior and it threw you off balance going in. If you don't correct it, then it's going to stay sloppy. But do what you want."

He walks away without so much as a glimpse backward.

Elena stomps her foot, she's so mad. But she isn't sure if she's madder about him forcing his two cents or the fact that he's probably right.

"Ok, Elena, not sure what that was all about, but let's go through it once more before we move on to vault," Rebekah's voice comes from the floor where she has her iPad propped against a spring board.

She rolls her shoulders back and repositions herself to mount the balance beam once more. This time, she concentrates on her hand placement and performs the routine flawlessly. She's smug until she looks over and sees Damon watching, smirk firmly in place, from his position stretching on the mats.

Elena's worry over having to wait for Damon to finish ends up being for naught. Unlike her, he only focuses on one apparatus. Today, he chooses the vault, and he does it so many times she tires of hearing the spring board bounce from the force of his weight. Each time she catches his performance, it's perfect, yet he seems frustrated with himself.

Rebekah scolds, "Eyes on me," more than once, and Elena prays that Damon is too focused on his own stuff to overhear.

When she calls it a day a little while later, Damon packs it in, too. He leaves without so much as a goodbye.

April 8, 2020

When Elena arrives Wednesday, Damon is already at the gym. She figures he probably hasn't been there long because she's right on time, but when she enters the gym, he's already hanging upside down in a handstand position on the still rings. For a second, Elena loses focus as she admires his bulging biceps, but then she remembers to be mad.

When he dismounts, she lays into him.

"What the hell, Damon? You aren't supposed to start training until I get here."

He shrugs as he wipes his sweaty brow with his towel. "If you didn't want to miss any of the show, you should have gotten here earlier."

Elena fumes. "I'm right on time," she scowls and points to the clock.

Damon's smile drops from his face momentarily, and he says seriously, "I had to get here early. I have a date tonight," but then he winks, ruining the brief moment of sincerity.

"A date?" Elena questions, incredulous. "Is that really abiding by the stay-at-home order?"

"I didn't say the date was face-to-face."

Elena wonders at this for a split second. Why would a play boy hell bent on getting only one thing from women even bother with a virtual date? He's a puzzle, to be sure.

"Well, you should have texted."

"I don't have your number."

Seriously? That's what he's going with. What a lame excuse.

"Ric has my number," she fires back. "And Ric says you aren't supposed to train alone."

"I'm a grown man. Ric's not the boss of me," he says, walking over to chalk his hands and go again.

"Actually, Ric is the boss of you. He's your coach, which is exactly what that means."

Damon nods, thoughtful. "I can see where you would think that, but at this point, he's more of a…" he trails off, thinking for the right word, "moral support guru or something. Besides, I pay him. That makes me his boss."

Elena's eyes narrow. "That's not a thing. The emotional support guru. Definitely, not a thing."

"You're just jealous because you don't have one."

And with that, Damon starts his routine, summarily dismissing her. Elena huffs and stalks off to stretch.

She doesn't encounter Damon again until later. She's just dismounted again from her bar routine, and Rebekah is laying into her, when Damon walks out of the men's locker room. He's showered and changed and looks good enough to eat. He's clearly ready for his date.

Elena might normally ogle just a bit, but she's too busy trying not to cry. Not to mention, dying of embarrassment that Damon chose this moment to exit the building.

"It's like I'm training a newbie. Same mistake, every time. You're supposed to be an expert in this, Elena. A bloody Olympic hopeful. Do I need to come back across the ocean during an international pandemic to set you straight? Let me start looking at options. Maybe I can stow away in a shipping container."

"No, Rebekah. I can do this. I'm sorry," Elena mutters.

"We'll see about that. Pack up and go home. Get some rest."

"But I could just try once more to –"

"No, absolutely not. You're fried. Go home and drink your recovery powder and have a healthy dinner. Get some rest. That's an order!"

Rebekah ends the connection without preamble.

Elena sits and stares at the dark screen, going through the routine in her head, trying to make sense of everything that had gone wrong today.

"Are you really going to listen to someone who just called covid an international pandemic? I mean, it's kind of redundant, don't you think?"

Elena startles, not having realized Damon had still been lurking.

She narrows her eyes at him in confusion.

"You know, because 'pan-demic' implies 'international'…" he trails off when she doesn't respond.

"What are you still doing here?" she asks, finally.

"I had to perfect my date hair."

Elena glances at it and smirks. "Well, have a nice chat."

"Wish me luck. If things go right…" he trails off, waggling his eyebrows.

Eww, pig!

"It's a video chat!"

"Which will make it all the more interesting. And I don't have to buy her dinner first or anything."

She gives him her best judgmental face before standing and chalking her hands. She heads back over to mount the bars.

"You're not leaving?" he asks.

Elena shakes her head, "I'm staying 'til I get this. But you go. I'll be fine. The bars are usually my best apparatus."

Damon takes two steps toward the door, and she returns her focus to the bars, mentally prepping herself for the routine to come. But then, out of her periphery, she notices him stop. Hears a sigh.

"What are you doing?" she asks, getting frustrated at herself for letting him distract her. Super professional.

He turns and plops his gym bag at his feet and mocks looking at an imaginary wrist watch. "I've got some time. I can stay a few more minutes."

Elena tries to tamp down her smile but fails.

It takes her five more tries to get the routine perfect from start to finish, Damon offering small words of advice and encouragement along the way.

He yells, "Here, here!" when she sticks the dismount.

Elena is absolutely beaming. Until she notices the clock hanging on the back wall of the gym.

"Your date?" she asks, face falling.

He shrugs. "I texted her to reschedule. It looks like it's just going to be me and my hand tonight," he sings the last part to align with P¡nk's lyrics. Elena blushes furiously. Still, she can't help but let a laugh escape.

April 9, 2020

That night, Elena can't sleep for all the naughty thoughts running through her imagination; therefore, when she gets to the gym the next day, she can't even look Damon in the eye.

She gets her work done and rushes to get the hell out of there. She's thankful that she'd gotten there early to stretch, avoiding being close to Damon and all his muscly goodness on the stretching mat.

When she's shouldering her bag to leave, she hears movement in the lobby area. She looks up to see Ric and Jenna amble through the door, masks firmly in place.

They hold up their hands in the universal sign for surrender and Ric says, "I hope it's ok that we're here."

Elena beams. "Of course, it is! Well, it's ok with me anyway. We were just finishing up. I wish I could come over there and give you guys a big hug. I feel like it's been forever since I've seen you!"

"I know!" Jenna sympathizes. Elena imagines that she's making a pouty face under her mask.

Damon comes over and the men and women naturally separate. Damon and Ric begin discussing Damon's routines, and she's surprised to overhear him lament on the problems he's having. His routines look perfect to her, even with her trained eye. Damon is clearly an uber perfectionist. She would hate to have him on a judging panel.

Jenna whispers, "How's it going with…" she trails off and makes a weird shoulder roll gesture toward Damon.

And even though they're standing six feet apart, and Jenna has on a mask, Elena can hear her just fine. But she pretends not to.

"What did you say? I can't hear you," she says, gesturing to the mask.

Jenna sighs and complains about "stupid, annoying communicable diseases" for a second before trying again, this time a little louder, "I said how's it going with…" she repeats the weird should gesture, only this time it gets slightly weirder as she adds a little hip bump and a not-so-discreet hitchhiker's thumb.

Elena laughs because she's accomplished her mission. Both Damon and Ric look over warily, and Jenna gives up any pretense.

"Well, are the two of you getting along or not?" this time, directing the question to both of them.

Damon looks Elena up and down for a second before offering, "She's not the worst company."

At the same time, Elena says, "He's tolerable."

But his gaze has sunk into her skin and she can't shake the heady feeling it gives her.

Deep down, Elena concedes that she might be in trouble.