A persistent banging on the door to the Salvatore Manor grasps Damon's attention. He stomps down the stairs in extreme irritation. "Alright!" he shouts to get whoever it was to shut the hell up!
Who in the world was it anyways?! He hadn't even had his morning meal yet!
Damon opens the door to find a wrathful Emily at the other side. "Oh. Emily," he utters in confusion.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she asks harshly. He furrows his eyebrows at her. It was too early in the morning for this shit.
Elena had told her about what he'd done the night before, with the attempt to kiss her!
It had been a hellish night and morning all together. First her brother getting beat up, then the death of Tanner on the news, like, the fourth death that goddamn week!
And then Damon.
She was infuriated.
"I'm short-tempered," he replies strictly. Emily cocks an irritated eyebrow, crossing her arms. "May I ask why you came all the way out here to yell?! This early!" he tells tiredly. What was it like, nine am? If it wasn't for the fact that she's the reason he'd managed to get into their house last night, he'd have eaten her already.
Emily momentarily studies him, and how he dared be rude after what he did! Then, she realized, that it seemed he'd, by some miracle, forgotten!
"Are you serious right now?!" she asks. Damon rolls his eyes. One more push, and she can forget about the house incident. Bye-bye Emily! "After what you did last night, you have the courage to ask what I'm doing here?!" she shouts. Her tone would have extremely angered Damon, had it not been for what it was she was saying. Damon's mind attempts to process what she meant by that. What did he do last night? He killed professor Tanner. Was that what she was talking about?! No. No. What else could it be then?…Ohhhhh.
A look of realization falls upon his face. "Okay," he starts, tone calmer. 'Yeah!' her mind exclaims in mock. "Get inside," he said casually as his mind was hard at work, looking for a solution.
Emily's instincts kick in at his offer. "Uh, no," she states, furrowing her eyebrows at his assumption that she would. Damon glares at her furiously.
"Get inside, Emily," he tells tiredly. At first, her heart jumps in slight fear, slight, then she remembers who she is, what she's capable of. Her face grows plain, and she takes a step towards him, posture firm and gaze intent. He eyes her curiously as she speaks.
"Or…what?" she asks.
…
…
Damon smirks.
It sent chills up her spine. Why was he smirking? Why was he looking at her like that? Why were his eyes so blue and pretty? 'Seriously, Emily?!' her mind yells.
Damon thinks for a moment. Kill her? And miss out on all this fun? Nah.
She doesn't wanna come in. No problem.
Damon takes a step forward, then another. Emily stumbles back warily. He turns and closes the door behind him, then faces her once more with a seemingly amused expression.
Stefan was currently at school with Elena, and Zach, his nephew, that everyone thinks is their uncle, wasn't currently at home.
It was just the two of them.
"So, clearly, you're mad," he starts casually, putting his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a t-shirt with sleeves that stopped on his mid-upper arm, which left her quite the view to his bulging biceps, making it slightly hard to concentrate. "And, I'm gonna take a wild guess, and say it's because I tried to kiss your sister last night," he resumes. Emily's mind clicks with clear focus of why she was here. She scowls, smirking coldly.
"Nooo. Really?! Could it be?!" she asked sarcastically, causing him to chuckle in amusement. His eyes then locked with hers, and slowly, he began to approach her. She blank-faced again, but stood her ground determinedly.
Damon's eyes wandered about her hungrily, and lingered on her exposed neck. He could hear her beating heart, the flow of the blood, could smell it, could almost taste it.
He hears when her heart rate increases, and looks to see the blush creep up her cheeks. He was making her nervous. Maybe he could use that to his advantage.
"Be honest," he starts. It is difficult for her to listen when he is this close, looking at her the way he was, and speaking in that husky, unfamiliar tone. "You're jealous," he says with certainty. Emily's eyes go wide, first in shock, then with fear of sudden exposure.
'No. No. Compose yourself!' her mind shouts. Once she manages minor control, she notes the look on his face, an expectant one. Expecting her to give in. Like hell! No. She wouldn't play this game. She decides to twist the topic.
"Why did you do it, Damon?" she asks instead. His features falter with momentary irritation. Oh, she was good. Avoiding his trap. Let's flip the table.
"Maybe I did it to make you jealous. Maybe I like you," he says haughtily. Though momentarily fazed by that, Emily doesn't fall for it this time. He was good. But so was she. Emily scours for the truth hidden in his line of words. Damon brings up a hand to caress her cheeks for effect, but she grabs it before he can. Had she not been focused on studying him, that hand would be painfully twisted behind his back in threat. Not like it actually would have hurt him.
Damon's eyes dart to her hand holding his somewhat firmly, then to her as she spoke. "No. The truth, Damon. You were trying to get back at Stefan," she states unquestionably. Damon's heart clenches at this in exposure and annoyance. He exhales tiredly. Damon pulled her hand to him, as if studying it as he scoured for his next reply. Emily found it hard to breathe as he ran his thumb over her knuckles softly, a look of extreme concentration on his face that marked question marks in her thoughts.
Damon's eyes then light up with an answer. He quickly wears a mask of discomfort as he locked eyes with hers, then eyed around as he spoke, keeping hold of her hand as he did. "You're right," he starts. Emily's eyes widen at that, as he somewhat seemed sincere. He then catches her gaze. "My…therapist…says I'm acting out…trying to punish Stefan," he says heavily. It hurt him that part of those words were true, but to himself, he'd never admit that. It was because that partial truth showed in his eyes that Emily believed him. Her hold on his hand tightens slightly, as if, subconsciously, she felt the need to comfort him, if only momentarily. He felt it, and would have pulled his hand away, but his mind told him to keep it, for she seemed to be coming along.
"For what?" she asked, needing more info to be able to give valid advice. Damon looks away again.
"It's all in the past. I don't wanna bring it up," he says dismissively, gesturing with her hand still in his, knowing that his reply made it obvious enough. After all, using Katherine, he was still trying to mess things up between Stefan and Elena, directly or indirectly. At the moment, it was the latter. A look of realization befalls Emily. Slowly, she nods.
"Katherine," she utters knowingly. Damon turns to her, as if in slight shock. He doesn't say anything, but he's affirmed it for her.
Emily purses her lips, thinking. What should she say? Why was she here again? Right. He tried to kiss Elena. What the hell happened with Katherine?! It certainly sounded complicated, for it to affect a man like Damon, and to silence and anger Stefan as it did.
This was bigger than her and Elena. But her and Elena! They can't be put in the middle of this!
Still. Emily wasn't insensitive.
"Look, Damon," she starts, taking another step towards him. She held his hand between both hers then, causing him to eye her warily as he seemed unable to predict what she would say. Then she makes eye-contact. It was difficult not to sometimes wander in the beauty of her eyes, Damon unwillingly thought, but then again, she thought the same of his. "I may not know much, but it's clear enough that, this thing with Katherine, was very complicated. And…losing her, affected you both, more than either of you would like to admit," she smiled sympathetically. Damon smiled back just for the sake of playing along. Her words affected him more than he'd liked, especially with her hands holding his. She then shakes her head. "But what you did last night," she tells in a firm voice. Damon instantly nods. If he was to stick around, which was his plan all along, he'd have to get the big Gilbert on his side.
"I know. I know. And I'm sorry," he says, making it sound as sincere as possible. Damon was not the type to apologize, but since it was a lie, with an ulterior motive, it was easy. Something told him she was the type to appreciate an apology. He was right. Her face immediately lit up. Damon smirked. "So. We're cool?" he asked, getting his free, ringed hand to join their hand-holding-party-of-ulterior-motives. Emily looks at their hands, and smiles slightly. She turned to him once more.
"Will you apologize to Elena?" she asked.
"I was planning to," he told firmly.
"Then, yeah. We're cool," she smiled.
"Good," Damon nodded. "So," he starts, entering step two. "The Founders' party is tomorrow," he states. She eyes him suspiciously.
"Yeah," she says weirdly.
"Are you going?" Emily thinks. She was planning on it, but she got the feeling she knew what he was hinting at, and honestly, Damon was hot and a hell of a catch, but he was also the guy that kissed her sister to get back at his brother for their ex.
"Yes," she heavily replied. She was going. If she said no, and he went and found her, that wouldn't be pretty.
"Good, cause I was thinking-"
"Damon…" Emily cut off, gently pulling her hands out of his grasp and taking a step back. He eyed her in confusion as she spoke. "I don't think it's a good idea," she said awkwardly, massaging the back of her neck from tension with her hand.
"Do you have a date?" he asks, attempting to comprehend her refusal.
"Uhh," she hesitates to answer. She didn't, and Damon understood that she was trying not to offend him. There was only one other explanation.
"It's because of the Elena thing, right?" Emily gives him a pained look. That's a yes.
"Oh, come on!" he smiles, approaching her once more. "I said I was sorry," he pouts.
"Damon-" Emily tries.
"Besides, you can't go alone!" he proclaims.
"Uh, why not?" she asked in humor, but mainly curiosity, crossing her arms.
"Because," Damon starts,
then gives her the sexy look.
"You're too pretty," he says, using that tone again. Her eyes widen momentarily, his attempt to seduce her working just a bit, till she laughed it off defensively.
Oh, he was good.
He can see, she was coming along. She just needed a little more pushing. Some perceptive. "Look, we'll go together. I'll clear things up with Elena. And we can all have a good time. I'm one hell of a dancer," he smirks. Emily rolled her eyes at him in amusement.
It did sound appealing, and it would beat people constantly asking why she came alone, or where her date was, or how she was too pretty to be single. And she liked the sound of him clearing things up with Elena.
Besides…he was really hot. 'Damn it, Emily!'
There was one other issue though.
"Do you promise to behave around Stefan?" she asks.
"Cross my heart," he smirks, eyeing her intently. She takes another moment to consider it. He could hear her agreement coming from a mile away.
"…Okay," she tells. Damon's smile widens. "I'll meet you there," she last says, before walking off and towards her car.
Damon watched her leave, a victory smile plastered on his face.
XXX
Emily did not get the chance to tell Elena about what had happened with Damon that day. She was, however, asked by Jenna if she was planning on bringing a date to the Founders' party. Emily told her she'd be bringing Damon, Stefan's brother. She also requested she not tell Elena until she does so herself, and briefly explained that it was because Elena didn't get along with Damon cause he didn't get along with Stefan due to a complicated past relationship. She didn't give much more detail.
The next day, the sisters were readying for the party, and Emily decided to bring up the topic then.
"So, I talked to Damon," Emily says while applying eyeliner next to Elena in front of the bathroom mirror. Elena stops straightening her hair to stare at her sibling in shock.
"What?!"
"Yeah," Emily winces.
"Em! I didn't tell you to go yell at him!" Elena exclaims.
"I had to!" Emily states patriotically. Elena scoffs, slapping the lacer around a lock of her hair.
"And what exactly did he say?" Elena asks in curiosity mixed with anger.
"Well…Elena, I want you to ask Stefan about Katherine," Emily says seriously, placing down the eyeliner and turning fully to her sister. Elena pauses her action.
"Why?" she asks in concern and confusion.
"Well," Emily starts, pushing her hair behind her ear and crossing her arms. "If the situation drove a guy like Damon to a therapist," Elena's eyes widen at that, "and to kissing you, then I'd say it's definitely worth worrying about," Emily states firmly.
"Wh…What exactly did Damon tell you?" Elena pushes.
Emily explains what had happened to Elena in detail, leaving out some minors, like their hand-holding. As Damon had hoped, doubt has been planted into Elena's heart. Now, she was insistent to find out, what had happened with Katherine, from Stefan.
"Then…he…" Emily continued, pausing hesitantly. Elena notes the blush creeping up her sister's pale cheeks.
"What?" Elena pushes suspiciously. Emily clears her throat, regaining some confidence.
"He asked me to the party," she tells, distracting herself by resuming her make-up. Elena's eyes widen once more.
"Today's party? The Founders' party?"
"Mhmm."
"You said 'no', right?" Elena asks. Emily stays silent. Elena eyes her in shock. "Emily!"
"No! I didn't," Emily replies tiredly.
"What did you say, then?!" Elena asks angrily.
"…I said…Okay," Emily shrugs like it was no big deal.
"Wha! After he tried kiss me?!" Elena exclaims.
"Hey, he said he was sorry! And he's going to apologize!" Emily defends. Elena takes a moment to believe what she was hearing. A look of realization then falls upon her.
"Oh my god," she utters, a smile creeping up her lips. Emily turns to her warily. "You like him…" she says knowingly.
"No," Emily immediately replies.
"You so do!" Elena says confidently, noting how worked up Emily was getting.
"No. I don't," Emily insists seriously, turning to Elena once more.
"Then why did you say yes?" Elena asks knowingly.
"Because!..." Emily thought for a reason, or an excuse. Her eyes light up. "He makes a very hot date," she says obviously. Elena scoffs at that in denial, then stops, the image of Mr. sexy popping in her head. She shakes it away uncomfortably.
"Wh-since when do you care about showing up with a hot date?" she asks instead.
"Look," Emily says tiredly. "He's funny, and he said he knew how dance. He also said he'd apologize to you, and if you're sticking around with Stefan, I'd like to see that happening," Emily lists reasons. Elena is still not fully convinced, now more distracted by the 'if you stick around with Stefan' part.
The phone rings, grasping both Gilberts' attention. Elena storms out irritably to answer it. Emily resumes her make-up. Elena was audible to her with the bathroom door open.
"Hello…Hi, Mrs. Lockwood…What'd you mean? It is?" Elena talks through. Emily stops, furrowing her eyebrows curiously. "Are you sure? Cause, I saw it." Emily comes to stand by the threshold, eyeing her sibling intently. She sees Elena smile bitterly. "Let me check. Mhm. I will find it and bring it…Okay. Bye," Elena last says, rising and closing the line. Emily eyes her in confusion as she storms to Jeremy's bedroom, and she follows.
Elena barges in and slaps the headphones off his head, he was playing video games on his desk. "Ahh! God, what now?!" Jeremy asks irritably, Emily about to ask as well.
"The pocket watch. Where is it?" Elena demands. Emily notes her sister was speaking about one of their family heirlooms, seeing as how each founding family was to send them to be on display at the party that day.
"What watch?!"
"The one you stole from mom's box! Look, Mrs. Lockwood just called me, freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it."
"Well, maybe she did. Maybe, uh, maybe Tyler took it."
"Okay. Hey. Let's all just, take a breath," Emily says firmly, walking in after assessing the situation.
"Am I gonna find it on e-bay? Is that how you pay for your pot?" Elena pushes in mock. Jeremy glares daggers at her.
"Elena…" Emily warns. Elena reluctantly shuts up. Emily softly turns to her brother. "Jeremy. Truth. Did you take the watch?" she asks calmly, crossing her arms expectantly. It takes him a minute, then he sighs tiredly, rising from his seat and sending Elena a dirty look.
Jeremy kneels down near one of his boots, shoving his hand into it. The sisters cringe in slight disgust. He pulls something out, and rises. He glares at Elena once more, before turning to Emily and speaking sincerely. "I would never sell this, okay?" he gestures with the small, golden pocket-watch.
"Then why did you take it?" Elena asks.
"Because it's supposed to be mine," he says irritably. He turns to Emily once more. "Dad said it goes to the firstborn son. His father gave it to him, and now what?" He takes Emily's hand and gently slaps the watch into it, going back to his seat.
"And he was gonna give it to you…" Elena says sadly. Jeremy stays his silence. Elena sighs tensely, turning to Emily who was eyeing and caressing the watch, deep in thought. She then shakes her head. Elena eyes her warily.
She approaches Jeremy, who turns to her curiously as she takes his hand from the controller, placing the watch in it and closing his hand around. Both siblings widen their eyes at her. She locks eyes with Jeremy, then smirks, winking at him. Jeremy's face lights up, and he smiles brightly at her.
"But," Elena tries, hating to be the one to potentially ruin this. "Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood." Emily turns to her, slightly affected by that. Her parents were gone, but her siblings weren't. The living needed reasons to stay alive, to feel alive.
"We didn't," she states obviously. Elena eyes her in confusion. "We'll just tell her we couldn't find it, that it's probably still in one of the boxes. She can manage without the watch. Come on." Emily says, gently pushing Elena out.
The girls re-enter the bathroom. Emily continues what she was doing. Elena does the same distractedly, constantly glancing Emily's way. Then she sighs.
"I don't…mean to be hard on him," she says guiltily.
"I know," Emily tells her seriously. "It's hard for you too, honey," Emily states. Elena smiles at her sister.
"How are you so…"
"Patience," Emily smirks. "and love. You'll get it someday," she assures sincerely. Elena's smile falters slightly. Easier said than done.
"I hope so."
XXXXX
