Principal Bentham had them seated in his office, Elena was still sniffling in the seat beside him. Her eyes were staring down at her lap while Damon was sitting calmly.
"The teacher committee must have talked to you about the repercussions of this situation." He was clicking his fingers on the table.
Elena jumped into panic mode, "Could the suspension not wait till after the finals?"
Damon palmed his forehead, even after prepping Elena for an hour in the council office she crumbled like a cookie.
"You will be allowed to give your finals, however we are not sure if we will be able to seat you after the summer." The principal said heartlessly.
Before Elena could beg and ruin it further, Damon squeezed her hand under the table as if telling her to shut up as he spoke, "On what grounds are you suspending? The incident took place in a whole separate state for god sakes. It had nothing to do with the school."
"You were representing the school ." he said crossing his arms.
"Yes till about 4pm and then I stayed there in my own capacity. Elena wasn't even with the school." He spat, "Its not anyone's business, especially not the school's. We are the one that have the right to be upset about this since it was our privacy that has been so strongly violated."
He heard another whimper from Elena, clearly his whole prep talk hadn't worked on her. Plucking out a tissue from the box on the table, he handed it to her. She took it with her free hand.
"I've always been a model student here." She feebly said.
"Exactly, everyone knows you're the face of this school Miss Gilbert. We can't have such bad press-"
Damon snorted, "Well if she's the face of the school, my family is funding it. And we won't refrain from stopping that."
Elena saw the principal's face tighten, she could tell he hated Damon's guts but was forced to hold back.
"Damon it's fine."
"No it's not fine. They don't want bad press maybe he can go out there and stop the hundreds of scumbags from spreading the damn video instead of giving us a lesson about bad PR." He scoffed "You want good PR? Maybe support the only student who gives a crap about your school instead of caving into all those revenge porn viewers outside in the hallway." He got up from his seat, gesturing for her to get up too, surprisingly she complied.
"Elena and I are leaving and if you don't take your expulsion threat back, you'll have a bad story in the press and no money from your trustees."
She followed him hesitantly out of there unsure of where they were going.
...
...
Damon had no idea why Elena had escaped before they could process this incident or even form a game plan but seeing how upset she was he didn't fight his 'lost puppy' instincts and reached her house.
Jeremy opened the door and immediately seeing him the boy had a nasty expression on his face, "Okay- you need to leave."
Damon put his closed fist on the door, keeping it open, "I am here to see your sister."
"Yes, my sister. My naive and innocent sister who is being bullied because of you." He snarled.
Damon got in anyway, "I am not doing this with you. Elena needs me right now."
Jeremy followed him as he went upstairs without any invitation. He remembered Elena's room from before but it was closed today.
Jeremy opened the door and Damon heard him announce that he was here to see her.
Elena weakly told him to leave her alone so Jeremy walked outside and shrugged, "Looks like she doesn't need you in there."
Damon rolled his eyes and pushed Jeremy aside as he went inside. He saw her under the covers. Elena was portraying all levels of grief.
"Hey." He closed the door after himself and strode to stand closer to the bed.
"Please leave."
"I want to see you." He sat down on his knees on the side of the bed, trying to get the covers off that she was clutching on to.
"Damon go away."
"Elena, look at me." He got the covers off her face. As expected there were tears in her eyes. Damon stroked the hair framing her face, "Its okay. I am not going to let anything happen to you."
"I don't see what you are here to stop, everything bad that could have happened has happened."
"No it hasn't, the more we react, the more we give these people the ammunition against us." He pulled her face closer to himself, she sighed resting her head against his chest, "I don't know how to react or what to do. How are you so calm about this?"
"Well, I've got myself occupied with worrying about you." He mumbled.
He cupped her face so she could look up at him, "Trust me, okay? I am here for you."
Her heart fluttered when his thumbs stroked her cheeks. He was being so supportive and gentle, this other side of him was confusing her.
"Can I ask you a favour?" she licked her lips.
"Ask." His eyes were now focused on her lips after she had licked them.
"I know its too much but can we tell my parents that we are dating? My mom will flip if she finds out that we-" she trailed off.
Damon raised a brow, wanting her to complete her sentence. When she didn't, he did it for her, "Had sex with no commitment."
"Yes. Well- it wasn't exactly no commitment." She bit her lip.
He squeezed his one eye shut, "Mhmm I think we are getting off track, fine I can play the part." He didn't know what to say. A part of him wanted her to actually want them together.
But she wanted him to play the part.
Not an actual relationship.
Elena sniffled, feeling exhausted from all the crying, "Why didn't you respond to my texts?"
Damon hadn't even checked most of his texts. Elena wiped her cheeks off of her tears. He reached into his pocket and checked his phone.
"Why were you waiting there for me? You should have called."
Elena bitterly replied, "Yes because otherwise Rebekah had all your attention."
"Oh come on Elena, you and I both know that if I knew you wanted to see me I'd be there." He got up to sit on the bed, still holding her hand. "So what happened? Why did you want to talk?"
"I don't know. I was- happy and i wanted to tell you that I don't want to stop knowing you because it's the last day of school. Then I met Stefan there and after that it was too late."
"You met Stefan?"
She nodded, "He was there to-" then she went quiet not wanting to rat Stefan out, "I told him about how confusing all of this stuff is, how messy you and I are but it's all normal. I don't know what I feel sometimes and other times it can be-"
She could tell Damon was not listening to her anymore, it was like he was doing math in his head.
"That little piece of shit." He cursed. Elena frowned when she saw Damon stand up and dial a number on his phone, anxiously she too got up to hear what it was about.
"Zach, did Stefan call you about any PI info?" he asked.
Elena watched as he clutched the phone tighter, "Well it wasn't a prank Zach, you should have called me. No- I'll deal with it, call you later."
He hung up and Elena looked at him with a questioning expression.
"Stefan did it so now If you excuse me I am gonna go and beat the shit out of him."
Elena's jaw dropped but she got over the initial shock in time to block Damon's way, "Wait, what's going on. What do you mean Stefan did it?"
He winced, "That bastard threatened me that he would destroy me if I don't stand by and watch him overdose one of these days. Fucking prick is going to get it from me this time."
"Stefan wasn't even there." Elena gasped trying to reason with a fuming Damon.
"Yes but the security detail was. Fuck- Elena you don't know my father. Just because I told him to stop doesn't mean he's told his PI and guards to stop following Stefan and I. Stefan knows about it because everyone did after the news broke. He got the direct contacts from my uncle Zach, saying it was for a prank." He cursed, "I am gonna fucking kill Stefan."
"Damon, no- no! Stefan wouldn't do that. He's not that type of a guy." She didn't know why but in her heart she couldn't admit that Stefan would do something like that.
"Huh. You don't know him. He becomes the worst version of himself when he's fixated on drugs. I tried to pull him away and he promised me he was going to screw up anything I cared about." He held her arms, "He shouldn't have involved you, this is all Giuseppe's fault." He rambled.
Elena didn't know what to think, Damon had reached to the conclusion within minutes and she didn't even have time to register this new information. "Maybe we should talk to Stefan, so he can take down the video and we will get rid of it."
She could tell Damon was enraged. Elena hadn't seen him this angry before and considering he was grumpy most of the time, this was a whole new stage of anger. So she knew she had to make herself the voice of reason.
"Fuck that. He's going to get his ass kicked for this one." He barked stuffing his phone in his pocket.
She followed him down the stairs, not wanting to let him go with a dangerous amount of temper.
"Damon, we haven't even talked to him."
"It's too late for that." He headed for the door, leaving back a confused Elena.
...
...
As expected, Damon found Stefan at the 'unofficial' hangout spot of Mystic Falls, 'The Mystic Grill'.
The older brother knew that Stefan was busy either socialising to find a new dealer or seducing a girl here. The latter option was the case this time, he saw him talking to a girl at the pool table. Merely seeing him filled Damon with rage.
On spotting him, he strode over angrily. "Stefan, Outside."
He pulled at his elbow but Stefan jerked it away, "Leave me alone."
His baby brother had an attitude after their argument the other day.
Damon gritted his teeth and grabbed Stefan by the front of his shirt, "I am not asking."
"Let go before I knock your teeth out." Stefan snarled.
His blonde conquest stepped back when Damon abruptly punched his eye, throwing him back to the pool table.
"After the fucking stunt you've pulled you should feel lucky you're alive. You're in no position to threaten me." He didn't even give the chance for Stefan to process it before he pulled him up and shoved him towards the wall.
Stefan winced cupping his eye before he elbowed Damon away from him and turned around to punch him, "You're so fucking dead."
"Oh yeah?" Damon held his fist when it was going to collide against his ribs for the second time, "Why did you drag Elena into this? This is crossing an extremely dangerous limit"
A circle of spectators were around them, he was momentarily distracted by the bartender crossing the bar to stop the fight and Stefan took advantage of it and head butted him so he fell. However he was back on his feet in a split second and this time punched his brother so hard that Stefan fell back on pool table and broke it.
"If you want to keep your bones from doubling in your worthless, useless body then you will take that tape down."
Stefan brushed his blood stained hair away from his eyes, "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about."
"Don't play dumb with me, you called Zack for the PI. I can't believe you'd stoop this low. But you know what? This time you're going to bear the consequences of being the useless, disloyal and unwanted piece of shit that you are." Damon spat, kicking his knee one more time before storming off.
...
...
Damon had been absolutely clear about his intention to fight Stefan but it was still a shock when she heard from Caroline, who was there at the grill with Tyler when it happened.
"I thought he was going to kill him." Caroline was sitting in bed with Elena while Bonnie was sitting on opposite side.
"That's horrible." Bonnie sighed.
"Stefan was profusely bleeding and- I wanted to help him but Tyler stopped me." Caroline pursed his lips, "I shouldn't want to, considering what he did to you."
Elena shook her head, "He wouldn't do that, I don't know him all that well but we talked that day. I know it's not him. If it is then Damon is right, his brother is good at pretending to be a normal person."
Caroline pressed her lips together, seemingly in conflict about picking a side, "I don't believe it either, I don't want to. He used to be my friend and I can't imagine him having so much hate for Damon. He always used to talk as if they were some sort of a team."
Elena lied back against her pillow "I am never leaving this house, that's for sure." Elena pulled up the blanket on her to cover half her face.
"Hey, you don't have to worry about these." Bonnie shut the laptop which showed Elena's social accounts now that were flooded with cruel comments.
"I can't not."
"When will your parents be home?"
Elena shrugged, "I don't know but i sure do hope Damon is back by then." Though constantly fidgeting Elena was much calmer than this morning when it felt like her life fell apart. She had feared that she'd be isolated but Bonnie and Caroline were here for her.
In half an hour, Damon seemed to be back because he was arguing with Jeremy again outside her door. Elena gestured for Bonnie to open it and her friend did, telling Jeremy to let it be.
Elena sat up when she saw Damon. His jaw and eye were bruised.
"I told you to not fight Stefan." Elena said sitting up on the bed on her knees.
"And I told you that I know how to deal with that dick." He puffed out air, "I've got my legal team on it. The video will be down soon."
She palmed her face, "Yeah it doesn't matter, it's been spread everywhere."
"We'll get it down. Stop freaking out."
"How am I even gonna go back to school?" she huffed, also looking at her friends.
Bonnie crawled to her side and wrapped an arm around her, "Elena we will be there. You don't need to worry about it."
"Let me talk to her." He pointed towards the door with his eyes. When Elena nodded her approval her friends got off the bed and left them alone.
He sat down on the bed, reaching his hand to cup her jaw, her skin felt hot against his and he immediately knew she was running a fever.
"You okay?"
"I am trying to be."
"Elena, you don't have to feel like this. That moment was ours, nothing about it would ever be wrong. I know it affects you more than it does me but trust me- we don't have to be ashamed of us."
Elena swallowed thick and looked away from his sparkling blue eyes, not wanting to get distracted by something else.
It didn't work because he cupped the other side of the face so she could look at him, "I'll take you out of this town."
"What?"
"Yeah, let's go away. Elijah's project has got some investors and we have to present the idea to them. Elijah can't go yet so i have to, after finals obviously."
"You never told me you were leaving."
"We weren't talking." He rolled his eyes, "But come on, this is a good plan. You can come with me for a few weeks of the summer and then when you come back, this whole thing would be old news." The more he said it, the more it sounded like a good idea to her.
"But-"
"No buts. Just say yes for once. It's the perfect escape." He stroked a strand of hair framing her face. Elena bit her lip, "Okay."
He sighed of relief, Elena noticed the slightest smile on his lips.
"But I have to ask my parents."
"I will take care of everything. I just need you to go with me." He moved closer, Elena reached up, no longer wanting to resist the sweetness and comfort his kiss would give her. She craved it but before it could happen the door flew open and Elena gasped seeing her mother storm in.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" the woman shouted in a shriek, completely giving Elena what she expected while her Dad followed her in, looking upset as well, however trying to calm his wife down for now.
"Miranda stop shouting."
"Stop shouting? I spent all my life building an image in this small town only for her to destroy it." Damon palmed his face when Elena got up, already shivering.
"I know I made a mistake but can you please listen to me first?"
"Shut up! How could you hide this from me? Everyone who we know has now seen you-"
Grayson pulled her back, "Stop it! Stop caring about the society clubs for once and worry about your daughter."
Damon got up from the bed and for the first time, they seemed to notice him.
"I agree. Elena's been through enough for today already."
"Damon." Grayson seemed unnerved by his presence but he seemed to be waiting for some sort of explanation.
"Elena and I have been dating for a while now." He wrapped his arm around her, "And we wanted to wait till the summer to tell people but- someone seemed to have conspired against us." He didn't name Stefan this time, not wanting to give Miranda more ammunition for now.
Grayson looked at his daughter who was on the verge of crying, "Is this true?"
She nodded her head.
"You are old enough to make your decisions Elena. So i know i don't need to worry about you. But people in this town aren't like me, hell your mom isn't."
Miranda winced at his words.
"I know that the victim in this situation is you, and I am on your side but nobody here is going to look at it that way, you have to prepare yourself." His voice was filled with worry yet soft.
She felt Damon's hand squeeze her arm for comfort, "She's not going to deal with this alone, I'll be here for her."
"I hope so." Grayson seemed sceptical.
Miranda's jaw dropped, "This is how you react to this? Are you out of your mind?"
"I am fine, honey. I am very tired and today has been hell. Damon- its pretty late so Elena will see you tomorrow."
"Sure." He got the hint, Elena led him downstairs, still holding his hand, "My mom will never let me forget this." She could still hear her parents arguing upstairs.
"Hey at least Grayson is on your side." He bumped his shoulder with her, "Don't worry I'll sell the boyfriend thing good until this whole thing blows over."
'Until' she thought. "Okay."
"You're running a fever." He said turning to her and cupping her cheek, "You've been crying all day and you're thinking about the worst case scenarios over and over. If I am going to get anything fixed, a perquisite of that is for you to be okay."
"I can't be okay right now."
"I know but you should at least trust me when I say you're not alone. I am here to take care of this, and to take care of you." He pulled her chin up with his thumb, "Let me do that."
Her lips parted slightly, wanting nothing more to confess something that she wasn't even sure about. Her words were all mush in her brain, maybe she was running a fever.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
"Hmm. I'll look forward to that." He kissed her temple, in a very boyfriend-like manner before leaving.
...
...
The school felt like a nightmare to Caroline after the scandal break out. Everyone was talking about it forming their opinions and saying truly disturbing things about Elena. Her friend was getting bullied everywhere, Caroline knew Elena would have to quit cheerleading and many other clubs if not the school for the next year.
However, she couldn't stop herself from walking over to Stefan who was in the car parking, sitting on a curb stone.
His whole face had blue and black bruises, there was a bandage on his forehead too where his eyebrow had split.
"Hey."
He had been all alone the past four days. And Caroline felt sorry for him, even if she hated what he did to Elena.
She wanted to hate him but it felt like hardest thing to do.
When he saw her, he huffed ready to getting up.
"Don't. I can go."
"Then go."
But she didn't. Instead she sat next him despite him groaning.
"Why did you do it?"
"Mind your fucking business." He was about to get up but she held his arm, "Stop it, Stefan. Don't you see I can't see you like this. You were so much better and now you're literally the biggest asshole in this school. Elena did nothing wrong to you. Did you want to hurt me by doing this?"
He pushed his tongue against his cheek, clenching his fist and unclenching it over and over, "You know what? Yes. I did it and I don't regret it at all." He got up, swinging his bag over his shoulder, "You and your friends can go to hell."
"You didn't do it, stop lying." Caroline stood up, unable to believe he do such a thing just because Damon and him had a disagreement.
"I am not lying Caroline, this is my new thing. One my new Tuesday addictions like you put it."
"Stefan-"
"You think your absence has made me a reckless immoral prick? Just like my brother thinks I am an unwanted piece of shit. And surprisingly you both were the only people I ever let in. But fuck that. Fuck you- fuck your friends and fuck your half-assed concern. Take your friendship and sympathy and shove it."
His words were like a slap on the face, how could he be so harsh? Maybe everyone was right, maybe she didn't know him at all. Caroline didn't even know she was crying until a tear rolled down to her shirt. She wiped her cheeks clean when she saw Tyler jogging up to her, "Babe. What's wrong." He hugged her as she sobbed.
"Stefan."
That was the only word that had left her mouth, and Tyler suddenly parted, "What did he say to you?"
"Nothing." She sniffled. "He's such a fucking asshole. I just wanted to know why he did what he did to Elena."
"Leave it alone, his brother already almost skinned him alive." Tyler said with a tight jaw, "He's gonna have a dead-end life, probably kill himself with the amount of coke he does-"
Caroline flinched, "I don't want that, Ty. I am not mad at him, I am just shocked at how crazy he can be."
"Well I am crazy too- but its you I am crazy about." He raised a brow, Caroline tried to smile, "You don't have to be crazy, what we have is better than crazy. I guess I just wanted to feel like I knew him but he told me I don't. That i am not capable of knowing his intricate depths." She sarcastically said the last part but Tyler caught it.
"Its not like he put it up." Tyler blurted out but as soon as Caroline caught his slip, he huffed.
"Stefan didn't? So you know who did? And you didn't tell me?"
"I don't know!" Tyler refused completely.
"Yes you do. You're lying to me." She may not know Stefan but she did know Tyler.
Her boyfriend seemed doubtful about whether to keep or reveal the secret.
"You can't tell people."
"Who is it, Ty?"
"I did it." Tyler confessed with hesitation, his fingers trembling at his side, "But its because of what she did to Matt."
"What?" she gasped in shock.
"Matt went all the way to pick her up from North Carolina, you know how happy he was the night because that bitch wanted to get back with him, she was going to kiss him. And in half a week she sleeps with the Salvatore.
He recorded them and when Elena continued to be a bitch, I told him to put it up."
Caroline froze at his confession but quickly gaining strength, she pushed him, "Who the fuck are you to be doing that? You and Matt have crossed a line. I mean- what kind of creep are you? Did you record me too? What kind of a dipshit does that to a girl they've known all their life?"
"Well Matt is my best friend. She's soon going to realise her mistake after the Salvatore ditches her-"
"No Tyler! That's enough. I don't want to hear about your frat pack plan that involves revenge porn against my best friend. You and Matt destroyed her over what? A fucking high-school relationship."
"Huh. So that's what I am to you? A high school relationship?"
"No, no- you're my high-school mistake. Ass!" she pushed him and rushed back to school to find Elena.
...
Elena was seated in the council room for her finals in order to avoid any scandal backlash directly. However for the last few days, Damon was taking her back home from there.
It was weird how he got no harsh reaction from anyone. The girls still tried to flirt with him, the guys secretly praised him for it.
While she was the whore in the school.
After her final today, she packed up her bag and waited for him to get here. As usual, punctuality wasn't one his qualities and patience wasn't hers.
But before he could show up today, Caroline did. She threw the door open and put a hand on her chest to steady her heavy breathing.
"Stefan- he didn't."
"What?" Elena didn't understand a word out of the blonde's mouth who looked like she just sprinted.
Caroline came inside and pulled Elena to a side, "Matt was there at the tech event, he recorded you and then Tyler told him to put the video up."
"What? But why?" Elena instantly felt disgusted at this information. Matt was one of her best friends, be would never put her reputation in jeopardy. He loved her after all.
"Because Tyler said he thought you were going to get back together with him after you almost kissed him the night Jeremy went to that party. And then later you told him no so he- i guess this was that asshole's revenge."
Elena's eyes filled in tears, she had kept it together for her finals the past few days but she couldn't anymore.
It was like Matt had stabbed her in the back with the sharpest knife he could find. He killed everything- her reputation, her opportunities, not to forget he took the most beautiful moment of her life and shattered it in front of the whole world in such a way that all she remembered from that memory now was pain and fear.
"Matt- he can't." A logical part of her believed it but she still didn't want to, "I have to talk to Matt."
When her and Caroline turned around, Damon was standing there. Elena had no doubt he heard everything.
Not only did he look downright mad but he also had so much regret on his face. He had fought his brother and nearly put him in a hospital bed.
"Damon." She didn't want Damon to do what he did to Stefan except she knew it would be so much worse now.
"I knew it. I knew that one of these days I'd have to kill that son of a bitch." He was fuming.
"No. You already did that to Stefan. When I told you not to!" she shouted at him, "Because for some reason you thought you knew him"
"Yes- because that's how much you affect me! It clouds my judgement and makes me go nuts. But you find it so fucking easy to forget everything about us and kiss him." He seethed.
Elena frowned, "I didn't kiss him."
"But you were going to. You gave that idiot hope and look what the fuck he does to us."
"To us? He did it to me. He ruined me while you get pats on the back." She finally said it, "besides you have no fucking room to talk about who did what when you were in this very room screwing Rebekah."
Caroline's brows raised and she shifted uncomfortably. She slowly snuck out and closed the door after her- wanting to do something. Either save Matt from dying by Damon's hands or finding Stefan.
Damon and Elena were still arguing.
"We both know that Rebekah means nothing to me but Matt has been in your life for years. Its not the same thing." He spat furiously, she pursed her lips as he towered her.
"Yes because what you did to me is so much worse. What happened with Matt was just a failed attempt to get through the worst day of my life." She bit out.
"You make it sound like I suffered nothing. As if I didn't feel like absolute shit that day and then everyday that followed. That sex tape out there damaged me too. And its all because of Donovan. So what are you going to do? Forgive him again? Give him another shot so he can screw you over?"
"And if I do will you find another blonde bitch to fuck because you can't deal with things without ruining the.?" She shot back.
Her words hit hard and he gulped.
"You know what? Go to hell." he glared sharply until he left.
Elena was angry enough to tear her books into pieces or maybe follow him to tell him to fuck off but she stayed there for a few minutes, not wanting to make another mistake. However, she also stormed off on her own. Not caring how many bullies she'd encounter in the hallway.
...
...
Damon slammed the door to his house on the way in. He could hear the loud music coming from his brother's room. It was exactly like the past few days, except all that time he didn't want to give a damn about him.
He went up the stairs today, and walked towards his closed door.
"Open up!"
After he knocked like he was going to beat the door down, Stefan opened.
His under eyes were dark and his skin was bruised in different areas, Damon hadn't bothered to even look at him after everything.
"Turn that off."
He said as got inside. But instead of waiting for him to do so, he pulled the switch on the speakers. "I fucked up. I shouldn't have said the things I said, I shouldn't have hit you."
Stefan didn't unclench at the apology, "Great, now leave."
"No, don't pull this crap with me. I am not Giuseppe. We both-"
"We aren't a team, Damon. You're not any different than father. You've proven that to me." He hissed, "So go."
"This is how it's going to be? I make a mistake and you abandon me?" He asked biting the inside of his cheek.
Stefan shrugged, "I learned from the best."
He sighed, "Fine but you should know that I've always wanted to look out for you, unlike everyone else, I actually care about you."
He rolled his emerald green eyes gesturing towards the door.
Damon shook his head to leave, reaching into his phone to make a call, "Zach, yes I need you to get something done." He said once out in the corridor.
...
...
Elena and both her friends were at Matt's house. As per usual his mother wasn't home. That was the one thing they had in common, society club mothers. Matt and Elena did bond over that.
As soon as Matt opened the door, he knew what it was about.
"Elena."
She didn't wait for him to say anything. Her hand flew to slap him but as soon as she hit him, it enraged her further.
"You recorded me? Ruined my life! For what Matt? What did I ever do to deserve this!" she screamed at him.
"You're disgusting, Matt." Bonnie spat, "You and your friends are fucking creeps!"
"I am not a creep. I don't do this, okay? Whatever I did was because she-"
Caroline shrieked, "Stop right there! She didn't do anything. If you think that whatever you did can be explained by her moving on from you then you're going to get your eyes scratched out. Not only did you betray her but because of you, Stefan took the fall."
Elena nodded taking a step ahead so he backed away, "What happened between Damon and I was none of your business."
"He came between us."
"There was no us!"
"Really? What about a few weeks ago when you asked me if I still loved you? You wanted us back- if Bonnie hadn't shown up, you would have kissed me. You hated him at that stupid party. He did something to make him hate you but how do you respond to that? Huh. You sleep with him to reward his mistakes."
Elena's mouth twitched with the unbelievable amount of anger she felt towards him, "And you get to punish me for it? I would have never kissed you because no, I didn't want you. I wanted him despite whatever I felt that night, I needed him. I don't regret sleeping with him. Even if you ruined it by putting it out for the world to see. You will never take it away from me."
Matt's frown grew deeper with each word, she glared up at him with glassy brown eyes. Every moment from their childhood, their friendship, and their relationship flashed before her in shattered pieces of glass.
She would have never thought that the boy who saved up his lunch money to buy gifts for her would do did this to her.
"But what you did take away from me is you. I don't want to know you anymore."
Matt pursed his lips, still feeling the sting from her slap. She left with her friends, but her hateful eyes never left him.
...
...
Summer holidays had started but Elena was holed up in her house. Even though it had been two weeks to the video being posted and deleted. But every time she tried going out in public, people gave her weird looks, guys tried to touch her, call her a slut. A few days ago when she went to the grill, everyone started calling her a 'pool girl'. One of Rebekah's friends threw coffee at her dress calling her a preppy whore. She knew this wouldn't just blow over.
Elena shuddered when the door to her room opened. That's how scared she was of everyone at this point. Thankfully it was her dad.
"Hey kiddo."
She was grateful of how supportive he had been even if her mom was mad at her, Grayson had kept that from affecting Elena.
"Hi."
"Caroline called earlier, she wanted to know if you wanted to go to the mall."
Really? She never wanted to be in public again after her last few tries.
"No it's okay. I am not in the mood."
Her dad walked in and sat down on the bed next to her. "Come here sweetie." He wrapped his arms around her and she dug her face in his side, wanting to break down.
"I am so sorry Dad. This wasn't our plan." She spoke in a small, scared voice.
Grayson brushed her hair, his chin was resting on the top of head, "No- sweetie, I don't care about any plan, okay? I need my little girl to be happy. That's all I want. Trust me , your dad is right here and he's going to make sure you live your dreams."
"But everything is ruined now."
He cupped her face, pulling her away to look at her, "Nothing is ruined. You're gonna go to a good college and you're going to become a doctor like you always wanted. The people in this town have no idea how strong you are, you're way better than all of them. They can't break you." He said stroking her cheeks.
She nodded.
"Why don't you fix a date with Damon? I think I've scared him off, he hasn't been here for days." Grayson said with a huff, Elena could tell he wasn't entirely comfortable with the whole situation but he was trying to be happy for her. He did like Damon more than Matt.
"He is-" she realized that she didn't really know where he was.
"Maybe you can call him."
"I would but after we found out about Matt, I kind of got mad and took it out on him." Elena tucked some hair behind her ear, trying to avoid more questions.
She internally thanked god when they were interrupted by someone ringing the doorbell downstairs. Since Jeremy was out of the house, her dad got up to answer the door.
Elena had just lied down in bed when she heard her dad calling her downstairs.
"Coming."
She went down the stairs, thinking her mom was back from shopping and maybe wanted some help with the bags but she was surprised to see Damon at the door.
Her eyes widened and she lost all words.
He was staring back with cold eyes, his jet black hair looked unruly and he was wearing a maroon V-neck with jeans. Even as he looked like he couldn't stand her- she couldn't help but admire him.
"What are you doing here?" Elena managed to form a sentence.
"I am leaving town for a few weeks and-" his voice trailed off when he saw the dark shadow grow on her face, her eyes were suddenly gloomier. What did it matter if he left? She didn't want to see him anyways.
But Grayson completed his sentence, "Damon wants to take you with him."
Elena's brain felt like a car that suddenly skidded off the road. 'Wait- what?' she thought.
"Normally it would be unacceptable to me but since you plan on spending the summer in your room due to all these town people, I think you should go." Her dad sighed.
Damon still wanted to take her, and her dad was letting her go. Did he forget about the other day? Or did he get over it?
"Dad I can't just leave like this."
"of course you can, you've worked hard all year and you don't deserve to be locked in the house for the summer. Go have fun for a few weeks." He pat her back, Elena looked at Damon as if trying to find out what this was about.
He raised a brow, "Do you want to go with me?"
There was no question, of course she desperately wanted to run away from this hell hole but was going with Damon a good idea?
"Okay, wait let me get some stuff from my room."
With goose bumps running up and down her body, she ran upstairs and grabbed a bad, filling with everything that was hung in her closet. She grabbed her essentials and quickly changed into a green sundress.
When she was going down the stairs she heard her dad going Damon the 'take care of her talk'.
"Dad." She said landing on her feet after she nearly jumped the last stair to stop him from lecturing Damon. "I am ready."
Just for a second, he let himself be mesmerised by how beautiful she looked in her sheer skirt dress. Her skin and his fingers were just a layer away. He longed to touch her and keep her this time.
"Okay then, call me from the road." Her father said holding the door.
"Wait Dad, what about Mom and-"
"I'll talk to her. Don't worry about it."
Damon shook his hands with her dad, "I'll make sure she calls."
"Keep her safe."
"Bye. Dad." She kissed her father's cheek and followed Damon to his car. He took the her luggage bag from her and put it in the trunk of his car. Elena waited till he got in his seat.
She bit her lip as she got in the passenger's seat and closed the door. She felt giddy, and extremely nervous as he drove out of her street towards the bridge that would take them out of town.
"Where are we going?" she asked, not even interested in the answer but she couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"Delaware, the presentation is tomorrow afternoon so we're driving straight." He didn't look away from the road.
Now she knew he wasn't over it. He was still mad at her. It was crazy how she understood his silences too.
"Damon I-"
He quickly interrupted her by turning the radio on. Elena shook her head at the childish gesture and reached to shut it off. Once there was silence in the car, she turned to him.
"If you didn't want to talk to me, why did you bring me with you?"
"Because I said I would."
"You're mad at me?"
"No."
"You are."
"Well since you have decided for me-" he snarled.
"If you're upset then just admit it." Elena wanted to get over this rough patch.
"No I am not upset, Elena. I am tired. I am exhausted from this whole mess and I want a fucking break. You're out of town so you can do whatever you want now. Just let me do my thing." He said and turned the radio on again not interested in her answer.
She was taken aback by his indifference. Even on trying hard she couldn't come up with words that would be good enough to make him forget about their fight.
After a few hours of listening to songs and stealing looks, Elena was tired of the silence. It wasn't like he held back that day, he had accused her of betraying him when he was the one who had broken her heart before that.
If anything she shouldn't want to talk to him.
And with that thought in her head, she gave up on trying to fix it and decided that if they were going to talk like before, it would be his move.
Elena thought he would eventually cave but he didn't talk to her. Not even when he got her sodas and chips from the gas station. She was asleep when they reached their hotel at the end of the day.
"We're here." He woke up her up, Elena blinked her eyes several times before sitting up.
She pursed her lips, sitting up in her seat. Damon leaned over to her side, completely catching her off guard by putting his arm over her. His face was a few inches away and she couldn't help stare down at his lips.
The click sound in her ears broke the spell and she stopped the urge to kiss him when her seat belt loosened around her to snap back.
He opened the door for her before getting back in his seat.
"Damon."
He didn't even listen, in a blink he was out of the car. Elena clenched her hand bag and too got out, trying to pretend like he didn't insult her.
She was temporally distracted by the fancy hotel they were at. It seemed to have many floors. Her luggage was taken by a bell boy and she had no choice but to awkwardly follow Damon inside to the hotel reception.
"Two rooms under Salvatore." He said to the bottle blonde receptionist with green eyes.
"Let me check for your keys." The woman said in a husky tone, no different then the girls back in town who jumped at the opportunity to seduce him.
Elena pushed her tongue against her cheek, she wouldn't deny how jealous she felt every time some woman shamelessly threw herself at him. Besides, most of her problems were rooted from jealousy.
"You got two rooms?" she couldn't help but notice the unpleasant detail.
Instead of him, the receptionist answered, "Yes, two under Damon Salvatore." She held out the key cards and when Damon reached out to take the, her fingers deliberately stroked his knuckles grinning flirtatiously.
Her voice had caressed his name and she touched him, Elena didn't know why but she hated this woman now. Without thinking she looped her arm around his causing the cards to fall on the reception table, "Yes, it's weird because he's my boyfriend."
She saw Damon's cheek twitch but that didn't stop her, "So if you can give us one key. That would be great."
"What are you doing?" he muttered.
"Now you wanna talk." She snapped before stepping ahead to take the key card from the table, "And next time maybe keep the cards on the table and your hands to yourself."
She heard him sigh as if he found the situation pathetic.
Elena thanked god he waited to get to the room to share his 'feelings' about the whole thing as they were sharing the elevator with some other people but when the door closed, he didn't even let her look around.
"What the fuck was that?"
"I don't know." She murmured, pretending to look for her luggage bag.
He turned her around to himself by holding her elbow, "Stop ignoring the question."
"I don't know what it was. I didn't come here to see all that. So i did what I thought was best."
He chuckled humourlessly, "Telling her I am your boyfriend. I thought that lie was for mystic falls only."
Elena bit the inside of her cheek, "Huh you should just go back down. I am sure Miss Kappa Alpha Theta would enjoy your attention."
He let her arm go, a part of him enjoyed that she still cared enough to be jealous but the rest of him burned at the thought of going away from her.
"Might as well have to since there's one bed here." He gestured to the middle of the room.
Elena stepped back, "You can stay. I am unpacking."
She couldn't even picture him with an other woman. Before he'd say anything, Elena went into the bathroom and turned on the water in the tub. After a few minutes she heard the door outside slam and she thought he was gone.
Her heart sank as she lied down in the bath and cried silently for a few moments.
Later when she opened the door, Elena was surprised to see him in bed.
Damon looked up from his IPad to her and his jaw nearly dropped seeing her in a white long silk camisole with a lace detail at top. It ended above her knees, revealing plenty of the soft tan skin of her legs.
"I thought you left." She murmured before grabbing a gown from the bathroom and wearing it to cover herself.
He seemed to be under a spell but he quickly snapped out, "I um- was getting an extra blanket from the closet." Sitting up to hide his very sudden and uncomfortable erection.
"Oh." She was oblivious to the affect she had on him.
Elena walked up to the bed and sat down on her side, "I shouldn't have said that to you. About Rebekah that day."
"I don't care." He was back to focusing on his IPad, frustrated that she was in his bed, however not his at all.
"We both made mistakes that day. I just want to forget about it. The last few weeks have been some of the hardest weeks of my life. Please let's just press pause and be here for now." She insisted.
Damon bit his lip, shaking his head at her suggestion, "Press pause? What is this? A game."
"No. But we both need a break. I don't know what we are, but we can't figure it out if we constantly talk about mystic falls and school or the council or Matt- God, even Rebekah, we always fight. I don't want to fight. Can we just pretend that we met here, now? Damon I need to forget it all." She was hyperventilating by the end. He got a bit concerned by her on-coming freak out
"Who throws a bunch of clothes and goes out of town with her fake boyfriend? Me- because I can't take another person calling me Miss Virgin sex tape or pool girl anymore. I am sick of looking at the walls in my room and I am sick of making my friends stay with me in this undeclared exile. I can't think of all the rejection letters I am going to get from college. Or how I'll never be where I wanted to be. But most of all, I can't be out of town and be reminded of it by you."
She felt his arms lock around her back as she sobbed, he pulled her to himself with ease, rubbing her back. "Its okay, breathe. I'll do what you want." He whispered into her hair.
"I am sorry." She said clutching his shirt.
"We're paused. So no more of that." He cupped her face, "We won't talk about it."
"Okay." She swallowed thick, calming down a bit.
There was nothing but silence for a few moments where he held her.
"I am sorry for the scene down there, you must think I am a nut-job." Elena whispered.
He rolled his eyes, "Hey you're my fake girlfriend so you get to be a nut-job."
She giggled when he booped her nose.
"What do you want for dinner?"
Elena groaned, "I want anything with cheese."
"And no peanuts because your dad told me your allergies along with some other things." He teased.
She blushed with embarrassment, "Choose your next words wisely because I will kill you."
"Your favourite bird in third grade was good year blimps and you had an imaginary alien boyfriend called Gemlin-45" He laughed.
"Oh my god, shut up!" she hit him with a pillow.
...
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A/N: that's all for today. This week has been super hella busy and ny exams are starting soon so please do wish me well.
This was kinda sorta filler chapter but don't worry the next one will be fun as its mostly Delena in vacation land. (Other than investor presentations)
How will Damon fix things with his brother? Is pausing a good idea for DE? Will DE be able to forget and forgive mistakes to form an actual relationship or will they sabotage it because of their insecurities? Let me know in your reviews.