A delena twist in 5x18 hallucinations. My first attempt at a multichapter fic, so any feedback would be appreciated (please review:) ).
Elena Gilbert had everything in life; nice home, caring husband, beautiful kids, her dream job and loving friends to support her. All she ever dreamed as a kid was right within her grasp and she never failed to express her gratitude. One single phrase was enough to shatter this sense of fulfillment.
"Damon's bringing a girl with him", her husband stated, pleased with his brother's accomplishment. "Her name's Rose and she is a kinder garden teacher", Stefan added. "He seems really taken with her".
Elena struggled not to show how the news affected her. Stefan seemed oblivious to her silent melt down, preoccupied with the salad he was making, yet Elena felt a tinge of guilt. Stefan has been nothing but the perfect husband and father. He didn't deserve this.
It had been two years since she last talked to Damon. Elena had to get very imaginative in making up excuses on why she couldn't meet her husband's brother or why she was always busy during Salvatore family meetings. And Damon was living up to his part of the deal as well. Stefan mentioned plenty of times how surprised he was at Damon's denial to visit his brother in his family home. Clueless Stefan blamed it on Damon being Damon, or so Elena thought.
Despite her best efforts, she would catch a glimpse of him from time to time, entering the Salvatore family business or visiting his parents home. He was still as handsome as she remembered, his shiny raven hair slightly longer nowadays than the last time she allowed herself to put her fingers through it and his vivid baby blue eyes always wandering, searching for something she was never able to point or understand.
What Elena could never admit though, was that she relished these moments of lurking, she found comfort in them. Whether it was watching Damon wear his professional mask and allure his clients or fight with Stefan, simply the sight of him, his existence in the same world made her pain more bearable. She found herself gravitating towards him, whenever she was upset or hurt or simply bored. "It's not a big deal", she used to tell herself every time she slipped and it usually worked.
It wasn't until the previous week that an occurrence challenged her so carefully constructed bubble. Elena was waiting for Stefan to hand him over his cell phone, when Damon entered the building with a woman in his arm. Damon's friend was stunning, a sight for shore eyes. Her long, gorgeous, red hair accompanied her big green eyes perfectly. Tall, leggy with impeccable style the woman could impress even the sternest of critics with her undeniably beauty.
Damon seemed far from unaffected from his companion. He held his hand around her waist as he stared deeply in her eyes, green meeting blue, making a formidable connection that had terrified Elena. Damon was listening to her carefully, laughing at her stories, taking in her every word and cherishing it in a way that could mean only one thing in Elena's perspective: Damon was in love with that woman. She knew because she used to be the one privileged to Damon's affections. She also knew that once Damon was committed to someone there was nothing and no one in the world that could stop him. Well almost nothing.
A childish, high pitched cry distracted her from her trance. She turned to face her youngest son Grayson curling on the floor, holding his knee as he cried.
"Mommy, it hurts..", he shrieked, his light blue eyes catching Elena's. Elena run towards her son as Stefan left the knife he was holding to go to his son as well.
"It's okay baby", Elena whispered to his ear reassuringly, "It's just a scratch, see?"
Gray checked his knee hesitantly, scared to witness the depth of his wound. Once he finally faced it, he calmed down, convinced with his mother's explanation.
Gray was a very active child and in his three-year-old life he had never failed to occupy Elena with his stunts. He seemed as if he was set out to discover every possible danger the house could hide and only stopped once he was too sleepy to move. Lily Salvatore, Gray's grandmother, would always go on and on about how her grandson took his restlessness after Damon, who was just as much of a disaster as a kid as her grandson. And to Lily's dismay, her older son had yet to correct his naughty attitude and she kept complaining to Elena about Damon not settling down. Perhaps, she would get her wish now, Elena thought to herself.
As the crisis was averted and her son moved on to his next adventure, Elena was overcome with the need to know more about the mystery woman that was so special to Damon. What was it with this girl that had Damon under her spell?
"So, what's the deal with Damon and this girl?", Elena tried to sound as casual as possible in an attempt to conceal her heartbreak. "How come does Damon Salvatore bring a woman to the family table?"
"Damon and Rose were friends as teens."Stefan responded to his wife."They used to have a thing for each other back then, but Rose's family moved to another state before anything really happened between them."
There was something about Stefan's story that cut Elena deeper than she wanted to admit. She could deal with Rose being a two month fling but her being Damon's unrequited love made this much more threatening.
"He met her at his business trip in Paris four months ago. They've been dating ever since, and it's the first time in years that I've seen my brother happy. I bet that they'll be married by the end of the year", Stefan added.
As her composure was about to shatter, Elena found a laughable excuse to leave the room, desperate to hide her distress from her husband. That night found her crying her eyes out at the bathroom, grieving over a love that to the rest of the world never existed.
