I am completely floored by the response to this story, so as a reward I am putting another chapter up a couple days early. I love how much you guys love this story, and it really is my favourite out of all the multi-fics I've written. Thank you so much for the continued support in my writing, I am so happy that you guys all like it and are still reading. As always let me know what you think, I absolutely love hearing from you all.
"Damon are you almost ready?" My father called from the door of my bedroom. My bedroom was two smaller bedrooms combined into one to make something that resembled a second master. My parents decided that if Stefan got a whole second room in the basement that was essentially his study then I got a giant bedroom with a kickass en-suite.
"Yeah, just tying my tie." I told my dad as I walked to the door. The deal was that I was on good behaviour most of the time, and I went to all events without complaint. It was an easy deal to adhere to because I didn't particularly enjoy pissing off the press which in turn made my father's life difficult. There were times I went out and maybe had a little too much fun, but I never expected the press to be there. They always just were and I still felt that I shouldn't have to completely change the way I live my life for this new life. I opened the door and walked out with my father who looked satisfied with my appearance. I knew I wore a suit well and I knew my father was happy with it as well.
"We're just waiting on Stefan, he's never quite as put together as you are, son." My father told me and it was one of the first compliments I'd gotten recently. Compliments were more Stefan's gig than mine. He got complimented on his school life, I got complimented on how well I pulled off a suit. When we got downstairs Stefan was standing in front of my mother getting his tie tied properly. My mother couldn't stand things being messy or out of order. Stefan's tie was definitely out of order.
"There we go, much better." She said when she tied the perfect Windsor.
"Are we ready to go?" My father asked and my mother teetered off in her four-inch heels to retrieve something from the sitting room.
"Now I'm ready." She said stuffing a tube of lip gloss into the tiny silver purse she was carrying. I would never understand the point of tiny purses like that. What was the point of a bag that couldn't actually carry anything but a tube of lip-gloss? I also didn't understand the point of suitcase sized bags either. Maybe it was a guy thing.
"Alright, we will make our entrance as a family and take a couple photos, then you are free to socialize as you wish. You may leave early as long as you socialize for a while beforehand. I don't expect you boys to stay all night as it's not really your crowd. The press just needs to see us arrive as a family." My father explained and I was happy I could get out of there at a reasonable hour. Maybe I could go have a few drinks at Bonnie's before I had to go home that night. When my father's spiel was finished we got into the waiting limo and the driver shut us in there.
"Boys you will be on your best behaviour. Damon no canoodling with the staff again." My mother shot out and I rolled my eyes.
"What the hell is canoodling?" I asked and she just sighed and rolled her heavily made up eyes. I didn't enjoy pissing off my father but it was too easy with my mom. She was all about images and I loved messing up her image of the perfect family.
"That is not the point. The staff is not there to be your own personal toy." She said coolly and I saluted her as my father took her hand.
"Damon knows that. That is why I am not requiring the boys to stay all night. Young men get bored at events like this and they need to spend time with people their own ages." My dad assured my mom. She relaxed into the leather as the drive continued.
"If you don't mind I plan on staying all night. There is much to learn from the dignitaries that are coming." Stefan cut in and I had to roll my eyes again. Stefan was a kiss ass but as his brother I chose not to say anything. People didn't respect ass kissers for the most part.
When the car stopped and the driver opened the door we all got out like the picture-perfect family. We walked up the steps into the hall that the party was being held in and posed together to snap the photo that would probably end up in the society pages tomorrow. The hall was packed with people talking and laughing. I knew the conversation would be dull as fuck but I would do as I was supposed to and regale them with stories of college life.
"Caroline is here." Stefan said walking past me looking excited. Between Tyler and Stefan, Caroline had enough potential suiters to keep herself occupied for a long time. It just didn't seem like she wanted to be with either of them. I saw the brunette trailing after Caroline and I grinned. Elena was here and I wanted to speak to her. Now that I knew quiet Elena from school was Karaoke Girl I needed to know more. She didn't look happy as she spoke to Caroline who seemed to be trying to comfort her.
"Evening ladies." I greeted them when I walked over under the guise of seeing what they were offering on their trays. Elena had some sort of quiche it looked like and Caroline had crab cakes.
"Good evening Sir." Elena greeted me, making eye contact. She was in business mode, I was sure that was the only reason she was speaking to me.
"What are those?" I asked her and she smiled politely.
"It is mini quiche. I have heard that they are spectacular." She told me and I nodded. I didn't know how to broach a real conversation with her and it didn't help that she didn't seem to want one.
"Maybe I'll try one." I said picking one up off of her tray.
"It's a good choice, but I better circulate. It's against the rules to congregate on one side of the room." She told me before brushing past me and into the crowd.
"What is up with her?" I asked Caroline.
"It's not my place to talk about it, but let's just say she had a horrible day. So, don't blame her if she's a little bit on the bitchy side tonight." She told me. I was impressed that she was speaking to me about Elena at all, but I wasn't going to voice that.
"Does she have something against me? I just want to know if I did something to offend her someway." I asked Caroline and she chuckled.
"If you haven't noticed she doesn't exactly socialize with anyone but me. So, it's not you, it's her." She said to me.
"She's a complete enigma. The only thing I could think of is that she's super shy as to the reason she doesn't hang out with anyone but you at school, but then it turns out that she's Karaoke Girl so I know she isn't shy in crowds. I don't get it." I said genuinely confused. I wanted to know Elena. She was a mystery I was intending to solve.
"Elena doesn't have time for social relationships she tells me all the time. She's going hard as a pre-med student so she can get into med school. She only has time for school and one other thing in her life besides me." She told me and Caroline wasn't helping my confusion.
"I still don't understand." I said and she shook her head.
"You don't have to. It's something that Elena and I as her best friend deal with together. You just have to appreciate it any time she decides that she does have time to speak to someone else. But between you and me, Elena is the best person in the whole world. She has given up so much of herself to everything that has happened to her. She deserves a break. So, if you plan on cracking the mystery that is Elena Gilbert, you better be planning on doing it for her not for you because if you hurt her I will rain terror down on you so hard that you won't know what hit you." Caroline warned me and I was impressed.
"Noted." I said.
"Good, but like Elena said I have to go circulate because I don't feel like getting yelled at for staying in one spot." She said before striding off. At least out of that lecture, I got one thing. I now knew her last name, not that that would help me out much.
"Damon looking good. Your father would be impressed with how you look tonight." My dad's assistant said appraising my suit. David was flamingly, flamboyantly gay and happily living together with the love of his life. I enjoyed him and he always made sure to tell me how good I looked just in case my parents didn't.
"Thanks. Where's Mike tonight?" I asked and he chuckled.
"When I invited him, he rolled his eyes and all of a sudden had the flu. He hates these things. He'd rather stay home and watch documentaries and plan his next project." He told me with a roll of his eyes but even I could see the adoration in his eyes when he mentioned Mike's name.
"I'm with Mike on that. I hate these things. I'm making my escape when it's socially acceptable to leave." I told him.
"Ah you men. You guys think that dressing up is pointless and these parties are wastes of time. But I see them as an opportunity to make people see who you are." He said fixing his perfectly slicked hair.
"I don't like fashion shows." I said and he laughed again.
"Oh, but I definitely do. You're much more of a Mike than a me. It's a shame really, you'd be a damn good protégée." He sighed before clapping me on the shoulder and walking away. He was the only one from my dad's office that I enjoyed. David was level-headed and funny. He talked to me like I was on his level, instead of just being the kid of his boss. A member of the wait-staff walked by and I snagged a glass of champagne from the tray and sipped it. I was more of a beer drinker but if I didn't appear to be socializing then my mother would have words with me later on. She would think that I was plotting my escape which really is what I'm doing.
"You could relax a little." My mother's cool voice said from somewhere behind me as she adjusted the collar on my shirt.
"We both know how I feel about these things." I said and she shook her head.
"Stefan doesn't like them either but look at him. He's a natural out there." She said with a shake of her head and I hated being compared to my brother. He was a people pleaser and that worked for him. I was more into things for myself and that worked for me. We were two different people but my mother didn't seem to get that. Even my dad understood it and he was overworked to the point of working countless hours per day every day to keep the great state of Georgia running smoothly.
"I think it's about time I headed out." I told her.
"It's so early." She said disapproval colouring her voice.
"Dad said I just had to stay long enough to make my presence known then I could leave, unless you want a repeat of last time." I reminded her of the time I screwed one of the wait-staff in the kitchen because I got bored. I normally didn't do stuff like that, but I'd felt I had no choice that night.
"Fine, you can leave. Our car is waiting outside for us, just have him take you wherever it is you're going. I have no doubts that you're heading home." She said unhappily.
"Definitely not. I have the rest of Saturday evening to do something without the threat of the press. They're all here." I told her before kissing her cheek and walking back through the crowd.
I found myself at Bonnie's like I'd planned but none of my friends were there. They'd found another party to hang out at so I ordered a beer and sat back. I didn't need them to drink with me. I was completely content just having a couple drinks on my own.
"Hey man, thought there was that big party tonight." My friend Klaus said sitting down at my table.
"I escaped. I didn't think you'd be here tonight so I didn't call." I said and he brushed it off. He didn't go to school with me, he worked as a mechanic at a shop on the outskirts of town. We'd been friends when we were kids but then my dad joined politics and moved us into the rich area of Atlanta. We'd lost touch with each other for a few years but I'd found him again a couple years ago. He was the only person I was friends with that I actually liked.
"I wasn't planning on it. I needed a beer before I picked Bex up at the airport. She's coming in now and you know how she drives me crazy." He said.
"What's Rebekah doing back here?" I asked curiously. Last, I'd checked Klaus's sister moved back to the UK to finish her schooling.
"Vacation. She needed to get away from London and here she has a place to stay. She's here for two weeks. I'm not prepared to find mascara and other feminine things lying around my place." He shuddered.
"Put her up in a hotel. I'll even help you out." I offered and he shook his head.
"I already thought of that, but my mama said absolutely not. Rebekah is coming here to see me, not to live at a hotel." He mimicked his mom.
"Wish I could help you out man." I said.
"It'll be fine. She is my baby sister and I do like spending time with her. She wants to try to rekindle her romance with Donovan while she's here for the two weeks. I told her not to play him like that, but she said it's not a game. She really cares for him apparently." Klaus told me as he drained the last sip from his bottle.
"There's not much you can do to stop her though. If Matt lets himself get caught up in her again then that's his problem. He knows she always goes back home again and that isn't going to change for anyone." I said.
"I know, but I better head out. Her plane lands in twenty minutes or so. I'd hate to be late to pick her up." He said as he stood up and walked away. I sat alone for a while longer, ordering myself another beer in the process.