Chapter One
Elena ran a brush through her hair one last time, wiping the smallest smudge of mascara from the corner of her eye before she straightened out the knee-length black dress she was wearing and headed for the stairs. "I'm coming, I'm coming." She grumbled as her Aunt Jenna appeared at the bottom of the stairs to hurry her along again. "I don't even know why it's so important to you that I come anyway."
She'd, somewhat reluctantly, found herself moving back to the town of Mystic Falls that she'd grown up in and back into what had been her parents home a little over a month ago. It had quickly become rather apparent that it wasn't going to be a sustainable option. Her Aunt, who had taken over caring for both Elena and had brother after their parent's had died, incessant nagging had driven her insane in a matter of days. Jenna cared about her niece, Elena could understand that much, she just wasn't entirely sure why her aunt had to do it in quite such an interfering and annoying kind of way. Like her insistence that Elena accompany her to the funeral this afternoon. She had known Giuseppe Salvatore in a loose sense of the word. He'd had two sons, one who was a few years older than her and the other she had been at school with, and Damien had run the boarding house and sawmill for as long as could remember. She could remember her Jenna telling her on one of their Skype calls when she'd been living in New York that Guiseppe was sick, cancer she remembered, and then he'd died a couple of weeks after she'd arrived back in Mystic Falls.
"I just think it's a bit much that he hasn't shown up before now, don't you?" Jenna asked. "I mean his father died and he couldn't even be bothered to change his flight? What kind of person does that? Left his poor brother to try and sort the whole thing out on his own. Poor Stefan."
"Mmmm.," Elena muttered, keeping her eyes on the road and trying to avoid being drawn into her Aunt's character assassination of Damon Salvatore. The rain was beating down with a renewed intensity which seemed to be too much for the windscreen wipers on the old car to cope with, making the task she'd been given of driving from the cemetery to the wake at the Salvatore house much more difficult.
"And he didn't even say anything, for Christ's sake. It was his father's funeral and he couldn't even be bothered to get up and say a few words? I know they didn't get on, but could he not have just pretended for the sake of everyone else? He left poor Stefan to do that bit too." Jenna went on.
Elena sighed loudly. She'd known this was coming from the moment Jenna had laid eyes on the elder Salvatore brother in the church when they'd arrived for the funeral. He'd shaken both their hands and politely thanked them for coming, brushing off her Jenna's questions about how long he'd be staying in town and what the plan was for his father's businesses now, and moved on to greet the next person.
"His Dad died, Jenna. Maybe just cut him a bit of slack?" Elena suggested eventually.
"That boy doesn't deserve any slack, not after everything he put his father through and then the way he just upped and left him. Giuseppe spent months trying to get him to come back home when he found out he was sick so they could make amends and they boy couldn't even be bothered to get on a plane and make the effort and I just think that…"
"Jenna!" Ellie snapped, unable to hold it in any longer as she manoeuvred the beaten-up car into a parking space in the already packed driveway at the Lockwood's. "Just give it a rest, okay? He'll be gone again in a few days or whatever. If it's going to bother you that much then we don't have to stay, I'd be quite happy to just go home." She would have been more than happy to just go home actually, she'd been deliberately avoiding this kind of gathering since the moment she'd set foot back in town. It was one of those places where everyone knew everyone, and the last thing she wanted was to have the whole town in her business and wanting to know why she was back living with her childhood bedroom.
"I'll behave myself." Jenna sighed dramatically. "Come on, let's go."
Once inside Elena poured herself a drink and retreated until she was safely tucked away in the corner. The plan was to stay out of sight and avoid making uncomfortable small talk with anyone. She'd let Jenna do her thing and then at the earliest available opportunity she'd be out of the door. In all honesty, getting on a flight back to New York and facing the whole mess that had led her back to her home town in the first place might have been preferable to facing the judgment of the entire town at once when they found out what had happened.
"Hiding in the corner, smart move. Mind if I join?" A voice came from behind her.
Elena looked up from her drink and turned slightly to see Damon Salvatore standing beside her, dark hair tousled and his blue eyes still holding that signature twinkle she remembered from high school. "If you must…" She gestured to the empty seat beside her.
"I must say, I was surprised to see you here." He commented, finger tracing the rim of his glass.
She raised an eyebrow at him, studying him closely for a second. He'd aged in the years it had been since she'd last seen him, but it suited him. "And why's that?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure I remember Dad telling me you'd moved away a few years back?" He asked.
Elena shifted uncomfortably, feeling his eyes checking out her body in a way that was entirely inappropriate for a funeral. "Just passing through, visiting family." She shrugged, although that familiar sick feeling in the pit of her stomach returned at the thought of having to decide if she was going to go back or not. "What about you? People seemed pretty surprised you were back too." Changing the subject back to him as quickly as possible was going to be her best strategy here.
He rolled his eyes. "And by people, you mean your Aunt?" He asked. "Don't think I haven't heard all the town gossip about what a terrible son I was, leaving my father here on his death bed on his own. I got back as soon as I could. What was I supposed to do? Drop everything and come rushing back every time he called? Real-life doesn't work like that. Besides, he had saint Stefan there with him, he didn't need me."
"Woah there." She held her hands up in mock surrender. "I didn't even say anything, no need to shoot me."
He picked up his drink and took a long gulp. "Sorry, touchy subject at the minute." She watched him with an eyebrow raised as he downed the rest of his drink. He turned to her and rolled his eyes. "Don't you give me that look as well. I'm nowhere near drunk enough to make this whole thing tolerable. I thought I remembered you being good fun and that maybe you'd be the only person in the room who wouldn't judge me, but clearly, I was wrong… So, if you'll excuse me, it's time I got back to hearing about how I'm the world's worst son and my father was a saint."
He slid off the chair and without so much as a backwards glance worked his way back through the crowd of people. Ellie watched his retreating figure as he tried to blend in, but that dark mop of raven hair and the ludicrously expensive tailored suit was always going to stand out in the small town of Mystic Falls. He looked as out of place as she felt on the inside. She wasn't the same girl that she'd been when she'd left that small town, something she wasn't sure her Aunt or brother would ever quite understand.
Elena sat at in the corner for another half an hour or so, nursing her soda and desperately wishing she hadn't got to drive so she could at least be getting drunk. Her mother showed no sign of being ready to leave any time soon, and she'd forgotten how in her element Jenna was at any kind of town social event, even a funeral. In the years since she'd come back to Mystic Falls to take care of her niece and nephew, it seemed she'd blended right in with the social circle of the founding families. It was going to be a long afternoon. She reached into her jacket pocket as her phone started to buzz, surprised she even had a signal out at the Lockwood's. Not that she'd have been complaining about being disconnected from the world, it was the opposite of New York and exactly what she had wanted.
The name on the caller ID drew an audible groan from her lips and just increased her desire for alcohol even further. He had been relentless, calling her multiple times a day since she'd got on the plane back to Mystic Falls. When she didn't answer he'd text her, email her and had even taken to hounding her secretary at work to find out when she'd be back judging by the emails she'd been receiving. As of yet she hadn't answered him or even acknowledged that he'd called. She couldn't ignore him forever though, she knew that. At some point, they were going to have to acknowledge what had happened, either come to terms with it and find a way to move on or accept that they were over and go their separate ways. Right now, the diamond engagement ring on her finger felt like it was weighing her down, a constant reminder of the broken promises and hurt but somehow, she still couldn't bring herself to take it off.
She'd been expecting him to just leave her another voicemail that she had no intention of listening to, but the second the call ended he redialled her and the phone started ringing again. In a moment of bravery, she picked up the phone, ducked out of the doorway onto the porch, sheltering under the overhang to try and keep herself at least partly dry as the rain continued to beat down outside and answered the phone.
"What do you want, Tom?" She asked, pressing the phone to her ear.
"Elena, is that you?" He asked on the other end of the phone. She could hear the surprise in his voice that she'd picked up- it was similar to the surprise he'd shown when she'd arrived home from work early to find him in bed with her supposed best friend.
"Of course, it's me. You've been calling me multiple times a day for weeks, you've got something to say so why don't you just come out with it before I change my mind?"
"I… I um…" He stuttered nervously.
"You're sorry you slept with my best friend?" She offered. "Or you're sorry that you did it again after you promised me it was just a drunken mistake? You keep coming out with all these empty apologies Tom, but it doesn't change what you did, you do realise that?"
"I know that, but I-"
"But what?" She challenged. She shouldn't have bothered answering the phone, after all, it was always the same excuses with him. She shouldn't have expected anything else.
"Where are you, El? Why don't you just come home, and we can talk about this. I love you." He pleaded.
"I am at home." She sighed.
"No, you're not. I'm at home now." He answered, sounding confused. The home he was referring too was their apartment in Manhattan. The place where neither of them spent any time apart from a few hours' sleep in between long days at work and grabbing the occasional take out meal. He'd spent more time there sleeping with her best friend Lucy than he had with her.
"I need some time, Tom." She sighed. "Just leave me be for a little while, please? I need to think and you calling me every day is not helping." She hung up on him before he had a chance to answer her.
It had been a couple of hours before she'd managed to tear Jenna away from the wake. The rain had continued to pour the entire time, and, in the end, Elena had made some excuse about wanting to get home before the roads got too bad. It wasn't entirely a lie; Jenna's car was older than her and not the most reliable and the last thing she wanted to do was get stranded with her Aunt who would inevitably start asking countless questions about when she was going back to New York and the wedding.
She hadn't been entirely honest with Jenna about her decision to return home. Rather she'd just called while she was sat at JFK waiting to board the flight home and said she'd got some unexpected time off and was going to come home for a surprise visit. Her Aunt had been over the moon, excited to see her and Tom again, reminding her that they really ought to make an effort to visit more often. Elena had quickly informed her that Tom was too busy at work to make it and she'd be coming on her own, biting back the tears as her Jenna had gushed about what a lovely man he was and how pleased she was her daughter was going to be marrying him. After that, Elena had found herself unable to tell her Aunt the truth about why she had needed to get away from New York so desperately, dodging her questions about when exactly she'd be returning and avoiding all talk of the wedding entirely. At this point, she wasn't even sure there was going to be a wedding.
She was still pondering what exactly she was going to do the next morning when she went for her daily run. It was a habit picked up from living in the city, although running through the quiet streets of her hometown was much more enjoyable than running through Central Park she was finding. It was funny because she'd had her heart set on getting as far away from the sleepy little town she'd grown up in for as long as she could remember, the hustle and bustle of New York had seemed like the most appealing option. She'd got a good job, met Tom and got engaged and to begin with it had seemed like everything she'd ever dreamt of, but now the idea of going back it made her feel sick.
She picked up the pace, feet pummelling on the tarmac street and the only noises the sound of her feet hitting the road and her lungs trying to suck in enough oxygen to accommodate her newfound pace. It was liberating, just thinking about one foot in front of the other, not what she was going to do next.
"You're fast, I'll give you that." A familiar voice cut through her thoughts and she almost screamed she was so surprised. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." He held his hands up in surrender as he fell into step beside her.
"What are you doing here Damon?" She puffed, her lungs burning from the lack of oxygen.
"Was just out for my morning run- old habits die hard and all that- and then I spotted you in front and I'm all for a challenge. Didn't think it would take me that long to catch you up, to be honest." He grinned.
"You're awfully chipper for someone who buried their Dad yesterday." She shot back at him. It was a low blow, but she was in a bad mood and the last thing she needed was him making it worse.
"Ouch. You're just as feisty as I remember." He smirked. "Who pissed in your cornflakes this morning?"
"You're hilarious." She rolled her eyes at him, slowing down to a walk.
He fell into step beside her, which hadn't been the idea. "So, you still live here then? What happened to all that talk of moving to London, or wherever it was, and making something of yourself? I'm disappointed in you, Gilbert."
She stared at him for a second, momentarily distracted by just how good he looked. He was toned in all the right places under his black shirt, his shoulders broad and strong. The light dusting of stubble on his jaw suited him, those blue eyes even more striking in contrast to the dark mop of hair. From the slow smirk that spread across his face, he'd caught her staring, and she felt her cheeks heat with a guilty blush.
"I did move, actually." She explained, unsure of why she felt the need to explain her life choices to him of all people. It wasn't like they'd been friends when they both lived here, let alone now. She hadn't seen him in years. "I live in New York now. I'm just visiting."
"That's not possible… I live in New York too and I'm sure I would've remembered if I'd crossed paths with a beautiful girl from my hometown." He winked.
She pulled a face. "Does that kind of stuff usually work for you?"
"You mean being the dashingly handsome and rich guy who knows just the right thing to say? Works a treat on the ladies in New York I can assure you." He grinned.
"Well, unfortunately for you, I'm engaged…" She answered, although there was some uncertainty in her mind about quite how long that was likely to be true for.
"You don't sound too sure about that." It was as though he'd read her mind, coming to a stop in front of her as she stopped walking.
He was standing just that little bit too close to her, invading her space and those twinkling blue eyes of his searched her brown ones, looking for some kind of insight into what was going on in that head of hers. She hesitated for a second, then held her hand up between the two of them, the diamonds of the ring sparkling in the sunlight. "Engaged. Happily, engaged." She reiterated, he didn't need to know quite how far from the truth that was, she'd decided. "So, you can stop giving me those 'sleep with me' eyes, it's not happening. Goodbye, Damon." She turned and jogged back up the road towards her parents' house before he could answer.
He stood at the bottom, a smile on his face as he watched her run back up the track. She was witty, more than capable of standing up for herself and he liked that. She'd gotten under his skin in a way that none of the women who'd all but thrown themselves at his feet in New York had ever done. Of course, it was fitting really, that the only woman to properly capture his attention in years was the one that he couldn't have.