It's a peaceful while into the car ride, save Damon's radio, when Emily's stomach suddenly growls in hunger. It's not too loud, but Damon's heightened hearing catches it. "Ooh. Looks like the beast has awoken," he notes sarcastically. Emily faces him with furrowed brows, then acknowledges what he's referring to.
"Well, the place you're taking us better have food, Damon. Hungry me isn't this quiet in a car ride."
"Hehe. Yeah. Don't worry. We'll get you something."
The music from the radio tunes in to Emily's ears again. It was like one annoying song after the other. Now, On A Mission by The Dandelions was playing, and Emily turned to Damon. "Mind if I turn down the radio?" she requests.
"It's cute that you're asking for permission," he smirks, then picks up his phone that was connected to the radio. He opens it and hands her his online music player. "Here. Knock yourself out." She refrained from 'politely' refusing, lest he mock her again, so she decided to take advantage of the offer. She turned on something more to her liking. Chill Out by Santana. Damon smirked again. "Whoa, Emily Gilbert. You've got taste," he grinned. She smirked as well, and put his phone down, facing the window with head thrown back.
Soon enough, they drive into a small town.
"Okay. Here we are," Damon pulls over.
"Seriously? A bar?" Emily asks impatiently. He drove all the way out there for a drink? She then recalled what he'd told her: 'information from someone.'
"Yep," Damon opens the door and exits. Emily sighs and follows after him.
They walk through the heavy wooden doors, into the high-ceiling, obviously popular, brick building. Inside, the bartender, a dark, curly haired woman, does a double-take looking at them. "No. No, it can't be," she says. "Damon?" she acknowledges, then hauls herself onto the ebony, ceramic counter and slides out to face the Salvatore. She is incredibly tall, much taller than Damon himself. "My honey pie," she comments just before grabbing his face and crashing her lips into his. Emily's eyes widen, taken-aback by the unexpected sight. They kiss for about a minute before they finally stop, around the time Emily was certain she would hurl.
"Mm, how you doing, Bree?" Damon asks.
"How am I doing? Haha!" she rounds the bar and grabs a bottle as Damon slides onto a stool. Emily follows, still trying to erase the prior disturbing picture from her mind, and fanning the heat in her heart. Bree raises the bottle as she set two shot glasses opposite Emily and Damon, and several more around. She spoke to the crowd. "Listen up everybody!" she called as she started pouring. "Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul," Emily's brows raised again, "destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness!" 'Okay. What the fuck?' she thought. "Drink up!" Everyone does, including Emily, who quickly grabs the glass and downs all of its contents. They go down burning, and she hisses.
"Woo. Easy there," Damon comments from beside her. He's the reason she's drinking, so she doesn't face him. Bree finally focuses on the pair, and turns to Emily.
"So, how'd he rope you in?" she asks, refilling Emily's glass. Emily acknowledges the question, then chuckles lightly.
"Yeah. No," she shakes her head. Damon grins, so does Bree.
"Honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped. Either way, just enjoy the ride," she retorts. Emily's eyes widen in bewilderment, shaking away the implied image from her thoughts.
"Right. Like I had a choice," she smiles sarcastically at Damon, who is smirking in amusement at her.
"Oh? What happened to 'Oh, Elena. Damon saved my life!'" he says squeakily.
"I knew you wouldn't let that go," Emily shakes her head, turning away but smiling still. Damon chuckles. She faces him again. "Didn't you say we were here for 'information?'" she makes quotes in the air. Damon claps the counter.
"Right. Bree. Can we have two of those delicious burgers of yours, while you and I talk?" he suggests.
"Sure," she nods. She heads into the bar and makes the order, then exits and walks to a table far off. Damon nears Emily, and downs her drink.
"I'll be right back," he says, before following after the bartender. Emily sighs tiredly. A part of her wanted to know what they were talking about, but apparently that wasn't an option.
For a few minutes, she sat there, before her phone rung. Jenna. "Hey, Jenna…I know. I'm sorry I didn't call…Yeah, I was, then, uh, Roxane was having a problem, and I went over to hers. Elena told me she'd head home herself, and then it just got really late, so I stayed over, and decided to head to college next thing in the morning…I know. I'm sorry. It won't happen again…Yeah. I'm fine. I'll be home soon…Okay. Bye," she hangs up, just as Damon starts walking towards her again. He slides on the stool next to her with a deep frown on his face. "What's wrong?" she asks with furrowed brows.
"Nothing," he retorts, refusing eye-contact. She refrains from asking again. He obviously didn't want to talk about it, and the awkward silence didn't get a chance to settle in when a waiter appeared and slid two baskets opposite them containing a burger and fries each. "Eat up," Damon tells her.
"You don't say."
She takes a few bites of her sandwich before facing Damon, who was also eating, again. She felt the need to say something, and caught onto an interesting topic. "How can you even eat?" she asked with a smirk. Damon sighs.
"As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally," he waves with a fry, then puts it into his mouth, growing quiet again. He was obviously not in a very talkative mood, but Emily wasn't having it. She tries again.
"What did you do with Logan? Did you find out who turned him?"
"No. He thought I did. Like I'd ever turn a prick like him."
"Yeah. He's an ass. Cheated on my aunt. Says she left town because of him," she makes conversation.
"Huh. And somehow, the runaway ends up being your guardian," he says. Emily frowns.
"It's not like any of us were expecting it…Any of it," she turns away and grows silent. Damon managed to assume what she was thinking of, and obviously it wasn't pleasant. A thought crosses his mind, and he faces her.
"What if I turned you into a vampire, Emily?" he suggested. She snapped to him with wide eyes.
"What?" she asked with a humorous smile, as though she wasn't taking him seriously.
"Think about it. You could take care of your siblings. Could compel their way into an expensive college, an expensive house, that sorta stuff," he smirks. Her amusement falls as she starts to realize he was being serious. It takes her a minute to process his very, very appealing proposal,
as well as to be reminded of the cost.
"And is that before or after I eat them?" she retorts.
"Oh, come on. You can learn to control yourself. It's only hard at the beginning," he says. She shakes her head, despite being slightly inclined to reconsider.
"No, Damon. It's too risky. I won't be able to live with myself if I hurt them, and eternity's a pretty long time," she says. He tilts his head in consideration.
"You'd make one sexy vampire," he smirks, finishing off his sandwich. She faces him irritably.
"So, do you flirt with everything that has a pair of breasts?" she asks. Damon doesn't see it coming, and snorts in laughter. He laughs for almost a full minute, infecting her with humor and causing her to smirk too. He then turns to her.
"Someone sounds jealous," he says.
"Jealous of what?! You're disgusting!"
"Look, your voice is all squeaky," he grins.
"Shut up!" she lightly punches his arm and chuckles.
"Here you go," Bree says, approaching the two with beer bottles. Emily takes hers.
"Ah," Damon calls, but she's already got her lips to the bottle. "You're not supposed to be drinking, Emily," he muses. She raises a hand at him, then descends the bottle after depleting half of it. She sighs happily, and faces him.
"I'm sorry. You were saying? We're on a day off, right? So. Excuse me, and the bottle," she points to it, and grins sheepishly at him. He chuckles and shakes his head at her.
XXX
"Wow. I definitely shouldn't be drinking this much," Emily chuckles. It must have been her third shot. She was definitely feeling the alcohol.
"Giving up?" Damon grins from beside her.
"Yesss! I should not be drinking this much around you!" she states.
"Ha! Why? Afraid we'd end up doing something you'll regret?" he teases, nearing her.
"No, no, no," she places her index finger on his lips and pushes him away. "Not gonna happen, mister. Oh!" she suddenly exclaims, turning to face the jukebox in the corner. "I love this song!" she says, grinning at the I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Marvin Gaye. Damon grins too. "Oh, I wish I could dance!"
"Go for it," he encourages.
"Oh, no. I'm not making a fool of myself," she chuckles hiding her face in her hands.
"Oh, come on!" Damon pries her hands away and starts pulling her to the dance floor.
"No, no!" Emily exclaims, despite following with zero resistance.
Damon pulls her into him and throws her arms around his neck, places his hands on her hips and starts to move. She follows his movements, wondering why the room had heated up all of a sudden. Some patrons cheered them on, and others joined on the floor.
"See. You're letting loose," he says.
"You are baaad, Damon," she says, definitely drunk. He hums at the statement and moves to close the distance between them. Their foreheads meet and Emily shuts her eyes at the feel, their bodies moving to the beat. She then giggles.
"What?" Damon lowly asks.
"My family would never approve of you," she says.
"I get that a lot," he grins. Then she frowns.
"Oh, but I really like you Damon. You're so kind, and sweet, and caring."
"Sounds like you're describing someone else," he chuckles lightly. She pulls back.
"But I'm not. That's you. Your heart, it's…it's bigger than Stefan's," that catches his attention. "You feel, so much more deeply. And I hate it, but it's incredible, how dedicated you are to Katherine." Her words hit him deeply. He's no longer dancing, just looking at her, trying to absorb what she'd said. She closes her eyes again, and moans tiredly. "That doesn't feel good," she says, her head dropping onto his chest. Damon puts one hand on her back securely and the other behind her head.
"Let's get you out of here," he softly says. He hooks his arm around her waist and guides her out of the bar,
unknowingly
being followed…
He unlocks the car, opens the door, and puts her in. "I…forgot my…phone," she says semi-consciously.
"I'll get it," he tells, fixing her in and closing the door.
He was gone for two minutes, and when he's back,
he can't find her.
Confused, Damon eyes around. "Emily?"
No answer.
He pockets her phone and starts looking around.
He hears something hit metal, and rounds the bar, to a giant water tank,
where he found her,
descending the metal ladder.
"Emily!" he calls for her attention. She whips her head around, eyes widening at his presence.
"Damon, no!" she screams,
but it's too late.
He is attacked by someone, with a baseball bat.
The man hits him in the knee, causing Damon to fall, and Emily to almost trip as she attempted to climb down faster. He hits him again, and again, until his leg breaks, then some more all over. "What the hell?!" Damon exclaims between his screams of excruciating pain.
With vampire speed, the man rushes away, then returns with a gas tank!
He pours it all over Damon. "No!" shouts Emily, who'd finally reached the bottom. The man turns to her with blood-red eyes and dark veins beneath them. He flashes her his fangs, and she halts in her tracks in shock and fear.
"Who are you?!" Damon asks from the ground, diverting attention from the Gilbert. The man, Lee, scoffs as he drops the last of the gas on Damon and tosses the jerry can aside.
"That's perfect! You have no idea," he spits.
"What are you talking about? What did he do?" asks Emily. Lee snaps to her.
"He killed my girlfriend," he lowly said. Emily's brows furrow,
but Damon knows who he's talking about.
"What did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you?!" he demands of Damon wrathfully.
"Nothing," Damon quietly replies.
"Who do you mean? What happened?!" Emily asks, slowly approaching the two.
When she was close enough, she'd try and get her stake out of her boot, and hopefully be fast enough to keep anything rash from happening.
"My girlfriend went to visit Stefan, and Damon killed her. Got it?" he angrily replies, hoping she'd shut up as he kicked Damon's jaw and rounded him. Damon grunted in pain, his leg too slowly healing.
"Emily, get out of here," Damon tells. Though she'd heeded his words, she completely brushed them off.
"Lexi. Lexi was your girlfriend? Elena told me about her. About you. You're…supposed to be human," Emily furrowed her brows, taking several other steps forward.
Damon knew what she had, what she was thinking. He wanted to shout at her not to, but that meant Lee knowing too.
He would surely kill her, and Damon was in no position to defend her.
"I was," he solely says,
before pulling a lighter from his pocket.
"Wait, please!" Emily called, rushing towards him. He snaps to her again.
"Stay back! Final warning!" he shouted. Damon clenches his jaw in protective frustration, trying to get to his feet.
Emily shot a glare at him that told him she was blaming him for their current situation. He shook his head at her, praying she wouldn't bend to take that stake out.
The man kicks Damon again and lights a flame.
"Don't! Wait! Please!" Emily yells.
"I'm doing you a favor!"
"No! Listen! Yes, he killed her!" she tries, her heart racing madly in her chest. Lee faces her, and, for a moment, she panics, so does Damon, then, she very, very careful thinks over her next words, gulping down her fear. "He does things, he shouldn't, and he says things, he shouldn't…But…" she looks at Damon as if for help. He doesn't know what to say, he's just waiting for his leg to heal so he could get up and deal. Emily had to keep stalling. She finds words and faces Lee again. "There's good in him too. He saved me, and he helped my brother. He's conflicted," Damon unwillingly hears every word, "and he made a mistake he can't take back…" she could see Lee coming around. "Don't make that same mistake…please…" she felt tears slide down her cheeks, and wasn't aware until then that she was crying. She was scared, but also confident of her last statement: "She wouldn't want you to be that guy…"
A heavy,
beat,
passes.
…He closes the lighter,
pockets it.
Everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
Then he approaches Damon, and hauls him up by the collar.
Emily feels frozen for a moment, uncertain what more to do or say.
She is a second away from jumping the guy, when he throws Damon flying into the stone wall of the warehouse behind.
That's it.
She runs forward to Damon's side.
He, groaning in pain, looks to see her beside him, and his head stops spinning. But warily still, he faces Lee, who looks as though he was in more pain than himself. Emily faces him too with hands on Damon's shoulders. "…Thank you," she nods at him. He shakes his head at her with tears in his own eyes.
"…It wasn't for you…"
He zooms away…
XXXXX
