A/N I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. This is an important moment for the development of the story and I wanted it to be just right. I'm not really sure if I accomplished this or not, but I got sick of rewriting it.
CHAPTER 3
Damon sauntered up to me at 7 on the dot wearing a smug expression. With his index finger, he made a show of slowly pushing a napkin across the bar until it was right in front of me. He placed his elbows on the bar top and his face in his hands and, with a lazy smile, he asked me, "So? What are we drinking?"
I glanced down at the napkin and my jaw fell slack in disbelief. Sure enough, scrawled in her loopy handwriting and accompanied by a very cliched lipstick kiss, were the digits of the feral cougar herself. I couldn't believe it. Nobody got Kelly's number. It just didn't happen. I looked over at her and saw that she was eye-fucking Damon so fiercely on her way out the door that it made me feel a little uncomfortable, like I shouldn't be witnessing the private looks she was sending his way. Oh god, this was not supposed to happen. I mean, I had watched their interaction with interest and I witnessed the heavy flirting, but I just assumed Kelly was toying with Damon like I had seen her do so many times before. What was it that he said to her to get her to open up? I was in mild shock. "How did you...?"
"Never mind that, Elena. I believe we had a deal?"
"But-" I couldn't believe I had misjudged the situation so catastrophically. I should've just told him to fuck right off, instead of giving him any sort of chance. Ugh, what was I thinking? Never one to break my word, I knew I had to suck it up and have drinks with him; my boyfriend's ridiculously hot older brother who also happened to be the biggest asshole I had ever met. He got under my skin and I fucking hated it.
"No buts, Elena. What are we drinking? Your choice."
With an irritated sigh, I grabbed a bottle of Pátron Silver off the top shelf (go big or go home) and nodded to Tyler, the evening bartender, who gave me an inquisitive look but then just shrugged and nodded in return. Tyler didn't give any semblance of a shit about his job, this bar, or the owner, which was sometimes convenient. I grabbed two shot glasses on my way out of the bar area and led Damon to an empty table in a deserted corner.
"Alright, fair is fair," I said, filling our glasses. "You've got me where you want me. What's the next phase of your diabolical masterplan?" Damon laughed again and I was starting to notice that I really liked the sound.
"We're gonna play a little game. We get to ask each other questions, kinda like truth or dare, but it's really just truth and drinking. For each question you answer, I have to pay with a shot and vice versa. If you refuse to answer, you gotta take one in penance. Dig?"
"Yeah," I rolled my eyes playfully. "I brought my shovel. Who goes first?"
"I'll start it off easy," Damon said, rubbing his hands together. "What's your favorite movie?"
"Fight Club," I answered immediately. Damon raised his eyebrows a little and took his shot. "What?" I asked. Damon just shook his head slightly as if to say 'nothing'. I let it go. "Ok, my turn. Let's see... What's your... Ideal vacation spot?"
"Eastern Europe," came Damon's reply, without hesitation. This time it was me with raised eyebrows. "What? I like the history and the old myths and legends."
"You mean like vampires and stuff?" I asked as I paid for my question with tequila. When I didn't grimace he smiled.
"MmHmm," He nodded. "You're no stranger to the drink, are you?"
"Congratulations," I replied in a snarky tone. "You've discovered my deep, dark secret."
"I doubt that very much, Elena." He said it with such sincerity and with such intensity in his blue eyes that my mouth went dry and I couldn't come up with words. Instead, I just jutted my chin out at him to indicate that it was his turn.
A few more shots and some benign questions later, Damon's cocky attitude had all but disappeared and, along with it, my hostility too. We were having a genuinely good time together and I was starting to wonder why I had judged him so harshly to begin with. Then I remembered the chauvinistic asshole I met initially and so, with the help of a little liquid courage, I decided to come right out and ask him about it.
"Why were you such a jerk when I first met you?" I winced a little when I noticed that my speech was slightly slurred, but I refilled our glasses anyway. Fuck it. If we're doing this, we're really gonna do this, I thought. Damon just shrugged nonchalantly.
"I am a jerk, Elena."
"Are you? You sure? Because it seems to me that maybe your attitude is just some sort of defense mechanism. Are you hiding behind that rough exterior because you're secretly just a big softy who's afraid of being hurt? And that only counted as one question!" I giggled and poked him playfully in the shoulder before taking my shot. Damon raised an eyebrow.
"Are you? Because it seems to me that someone has trust issues so she goes all prickly to keep people from trying to get too close."
I stopped laughing and stared at him. That little comment was frighteningly close to home and I didn't like it, not one bit. But the expression he was wearing told me he didn't say it to accuse or judge me. He got it. He got me. And then I saw it. My own anguish reflected back from his eyes and that's all it took. Suddenly I didn't feel so alone. We just sat there for what felt like hours but was probably only seconds, our gazes locked, having some kind of silent conversation. It was like I was really seeing him, for the first time since we'd met, and I was letting him really see me. We understood each other. Pain, heartbreak, betrayal, we had those things in common, unless I was imagining things. Damon slowly reached his hand over the table and gave mine a gentle squeeze, not breaking eye contact, and softly whispered, "I thought so," giving a little nod. I nodded back and sucked in a deep breath, trying to ignore the fact that my skin was on fire where he touched me. We really did get each other. I had never felt more connected to anyone in my entire life. I felt like I could trust this man to the ends of the earth; this man whom I had professed to hate no more than an hour ago. Had he known from the beginning? Is that why he wanted to hang out tonight? Had he seen what I was just now discovering? Maybe we would be friends after all. Great friends. The level of mutual understanding that just passed between us was beyond anything I had ever experienced, even with Bonnie and Caroline.
"I was adopted," I blurted. "My biological father was my 'uncle' and my adoptive parents, who I now just refer to as 'the Gilberts', didn't tell me until after he died in a work accident a little over a year ago. I went my whole life thinking he was just my jerk of an uncle. I only saw him like once every two or three years. They robbed me of all that time with my real father and they didn't think it mattered. They didn't even understand why I was so upset. I haven't spoken to them since. I tried to find my real mother, but all they know about her is her first name, which isn't much to go on, and the one guy who could help me find her is conveniently dead. Awesome, right?" Damon just smiled at me. It was a sad smile, but not one of pity. It was a smile of understanding and acceptance and something else that almost looked like pride. His smile was confusing and brought me, briefly, out of my half-drunken honesty parade. "I don't know why I'm telling you this," I mumbled, shaking my head. "I haven't even told Stefan yet. You probably don't care about any of this nonsense, anyway."
"I do," Damon said, softly. "I do care. And we're a lot more alike than you might think."
"How so?" I asked.
"My father and brother both hate me. I know what it's like to feel betrayed by the people who are supposed to love you the most. I know how much it hurts. And, trust me, if you ever repeat this to anybody there will be serious repercussions." I had to ignore the tingles that shot through my body at the though of what Damon's punishment for me might be. I really had to knock that off.
"Why do they hate you?" I asked, almost sheepishly. After a pause and a sigh, he answered.
"My Father hates me because I challenge him. Also, I refused to follow in his ever-so-fucking-glorious footsteps. The man is Narcissus to a T. My brother hates me because one of his girlfriends fell in love with me and he thinks it's my fault. I didn't even do anything with her. In fact, I loathed the bitch. But Stefan was convinced I was fucking her and he changed. I barely even recognize him anymore. We used to be so close but now... The way he looks at me... Shit, I don't know why I'm telling you this, either. There's just...-"
"Something about me that makes you feel comfortable?" I interrupted. Damon nodded mutely, his eyes wide. "Yeah, right back atcha. It's weird, I can't explain it. I thought I hated your guts but all of a sudden, after one conversation, I feel like we've known each other for years." Our eyes met and we had another one of those moments. I felt locked in place by the intensity of his gaze and the mutual vulnerability of the moment. In short, I was completely awestruck and, by the looks of it, so was he. Before I knew what was happening we were both laughing. I had no idea who laughed first or what was even funny but we were both cracking up, on the verge of tears.
"What are we laughing at?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.
"Who the fuck knows?" He answered, wiping away a tear.
"You know what, Mr Salvatore?" I refilled both of our glasses. "I think we're gonna be friends after all," I announced with a grin. Damon beamed at me and nodded once in the affirmative.
"Cheers," he said and we downed our shots.
Three hours later and I was definitely drunk. Very drunk. We both were. Damon had put on the jukebox and we were dancing around like idiots to 'Heart Shaped Box' by Nirvana, giggling like a couple of children on a sugar rush. Tyler looked over at us and rolled his eyes. We were making quite the scene. It was a good thing the bar was so dead. I stuck my tongue out at Tyler and started belting out the second verse at the top of my lungs. Much to my surprise, Damon grabbed my hands, spun me around and pulled me close so that my back was against his chest and started doing the harmony in my ear, which caused my whole body to erupt in goosebumps. I gasped and whirled around clumsily to look at him.
"You can sing!" I yelled over the music. Damon shrugged and gave me that thigh-dampening smirk of his.
"Comes in handy when you're... SHIT!" He exclaimed.
"Woah," I laughed. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I thought it was pretty good."
"No, I mean, uuuuhhHH! I fucked up. I was supposed to be at band practice an hour ago." He stared off into the distance for a few seconds, looking deep in thought, before he shrugged and laughed and, returning that beautiful gaze to me, said "Oh well. Fuck it. This is more fun anyway."
"Yeahhh! Damn right it is, Salvatore!"
I stopped dancing and stumbled over to our table to refill our shot glasses when I noticed the state of the bottle. I grabbed it and made my way back over to him. "Oh my gods, Damon. Look what we did! We've almost killed this whole bottle!"
"Almost!" he yelled before snagging it and taking a swig.
"Ooooh, I like your style, Mr!" I took the bottle back and poured the last drops down my throat, reveling in the burn.
"Damn, I love a woman who knows how to drink," he said, observing me with what looked like adoration. I laughed and shook my head. Just then, 'Crystal Ship' by The Doors came on and Damon immediately started singing along.
"Before you slip into... Unconsciousness..." He suddenly grabbed my hands and pulled me close again, our faces so close I could feel his breath. I, however, had instantly stopped breathing. Blue eyes boring into mine, he continued, "I'd... like to have another kiss..." At the last line his hooded eyes moved down to my lips and when they moved back up to meet mine I saw that they had darkened significantly. Time stood still. I forgot about everything that was happening around me. The contents of my brain in that moment consisted of only one sentence. Is he about to kiss me? My gaze unconsciously slipped down to his lips and found them slightly parted and getting closer to mine. My tongue darted out involuntarily to wet my bottom lip, eliciting an almost imperceptible low moan from Damon. Something in the back of my mind was screaming at me that this couldn't happen but, for the life of me, I couldn't think of why. My whole body was thrumming in anticipation and my nether regions were experiencing a heat wave, accompanied by unseasonably high humidity. Just when I thought the remaining millimeters of space between our mouths was about to evaporate, the sound of breaking glass broke our spell and we jumped apart.
"FUCK!" Came Tyler's voice from behind the bar.
"Y'okay, Ty? Wassa matter?" I yelled.
"Just broke a glass, shit. It's ok."
Damon and I glanced at each other and laughed. The moment should've been awkward, I could help but think, but it wasn't. We just giggled at ourselves as if to say 'what the fuck was that'? "Well," I announced, "I should prolly get goin'. Stef's prolly wonderin' where I am." I grabbed my purse and pulled out my phone. "Yuuup. Three missed calls and tests. Textes. Fuck. Texts." Wow, drunk Elena is so eloquent. I quickly shot a text back telling him I was just leaving the bar and was headed home, chuckling a little because I had to close one eye to do it.
"Do you love him?" Damon asked, out of nowhere.
"Who, Stefan?"
"No, Batman. Yes, my brother."
"Course I do!"
"Does he love you?"
"Says 'e does 'n' I b'lieve 'im."
"He treating you right?"
"Damon..." I drawled out in a warning tone.
"Easy, Gilbert. I'm just asking because I've grown rather fond of you in the last few hours and I'd hate to have to beat his sanctimonious ass and mess up his hero hair if he fucks up."
"Damon!" I scolded, even as a traitorous giggle escaped my lips.
"I'll walk you home," he said, jokingly offering me his arm. I swatted his arm away and mock-glared at him.
"No, 'm fine. It's only like a five minute walk. Thanks though. I had fun with you t'night." I gave him a sincere grin and was taking a step to hug him when I tripped over my own feet and fell right into his solid chest. He caught me and for a moment I drunkenly relished the feeling of being wrapped in his warm embrace.
"Ok, drunky, you sure 'bout that?" He said, getting me settled back on my feet.
"Fine. But yer as drunk as I am." I mumbled. Damon huffed a short laugh.
"Hardly. Lead the way, lushy-pants!"
As we walked I kept stumbling like the drunken fool I was. Damon had to catch me so many times that, after a few blocks, he gave up and just left his arm around my shoulders as I leaned on him for support. He smelled like leather and sex and something spicy that just seemed so uniquely him. We talked and laughed about nothing in particular all the way back to my building. When we rounded the corner and approached the front door we were still wrapped up in each other, laughing at my attempts to walk in a straight line, when I heard a voice I was not expecting. Not that I wasn't expecting to hear his voice, but I wasn't expecting to hear it in that tone.
"What the FUCK is going on, Elena?"
Stefan was sitting on the stairs in front of the door, looking absolutely livid.
A/N Leave a review and let me know what you think. Pretty please? ;-)
