Day seven
Damon grins at the sight opposite him.
Emily stood in the kitchen, headphones on and cooking something as she danced and silently mouthed along to the lyrics of Billie Jean by Michael Jackson.
She is completely oblivious to his presence to notice him sneaking about to get to her unseen. He himself had told her that human food often assisted in keeping her inhuman bloodlust at bay.
She turns from the oven to the counter, and that's when she feels a poke in her side that felt ticklish, causing her to jump back and directly into Damon as she pulled off her speakers and looked to her side.
"Ugh. Asshole," she pulled away, shoving him lightly in the chest as he continued to chuckle. She was certainly bringing a life to the house that it was evidently greatly lacking.
Damon, after teasing her for a bit, decided to convince her to retrieve a blood bag from the basement. She was shocked and made worried by his out-of-the-blue suggestion, more order, and was fairly reluctant, considering the last time she was down there.
Damon was insistent she get over it. If she was to feed from blood bags more often, she'd have to at least be able to look at them!
Treading cautiously down the stairs, she anxiously approached the freezer. Upon opening it, she momentarily froze at the sight.
Like a treasure box with the most valuable of jewels.
Somewhat panicking, she snatched a bag, let the freezer door fall shut, and hastily zoomed out of the cellar.
Damon faced her from near the oven. He smirked. "See? Wasn't so bad," he said.
…She'd done it.
XXX
Getting a lot of studying done that day, and beginning to worry about her attendance record and all the assignments she'd missed, they head out again at night for her to feed, then for a drink at the Grill's roof.
It was not until late the next day that Damon finally decided she was ready.
"You're gonna go. You're gonna feed. And you're gonna come back here. Got it?"
"No, no, no," she shook her head persistently.
"Damon. She's not ready," Stefan urged from beside them in the living room. Damon shot him a heated glare.
He'd had her doing so well, Stefan knew not what she was and wasn't ready to do more than himself.
"Damon. What if I…What if I lose control?" Emily grasps his attention.
"You won't," he retorted.
"What if I do?!"
"You stop saying that. You need to believe you won't."
"Damo-"
"Stay out of it!" Damon cut Stefan off. Stefan clenched his jaw in frustration. Damon faces Emily again, ignoring her evidently reluctant expression. "You asked me to teach you. This is how. It's your choice whether you listen to me or not," he said, despite his tone indicating that there was only one choice. She studied his level of seriousness, tensely weighed her choices.
"Emily. You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Stefan assured. Damon turned to him again with a look that could kill. Emily did not overlook it.
More out of not wanting to further upset him, Emily sighed. "I'll do it…"
XXX
"Damon, what the hell are you do-"
"Shhh!" Damon cut Stefan off as he listened. Stefan wouldn't have quieted if he didn't see that Damon was listening to something. All Stefan could hear was Damon's car, that he'd lend to Emily to find her feed, starting, and driving off. Then, wordlessly, Damon rushed to the front door, opened it, and left, leaving behind a very bewildered Stefan.
Slowly though, he began to understand…
XXX
"Ah. She's back," Damon called, seated on the couch opposite the tv with muted sound. She walked tiredly and flopped down beside him. "How'd it go?" he asked, facing her.
…She smiled.
"Well, it sucked!...But…I did it…" she said, seeming genuinely happy. Damon smiled as well.
"I know. I was watching," he said, facing the tv again.
She blank-faced for a minute.
"You…You!" she exclaimed. "You were watching me the whole time?!" she slapped at his arm. Damon laughed in amusement. "Why?! Why did you...make me think that…"
"Because you're like me, Emily. Self-reliant. And you couldn't keep doing something as important as feeding by relying on me, or anybody, but yourself," he explained. She stared at him for a long minute,
then she smiled again.
XXX
As a form of celebration, they plan to visit her household the next day. Damon would be there, considering it was an hours-long situation, to make sure she was able to keep her cool, and to assure her should she grow nervous. Guessing correctly that visiting them would please her made Damon content.
The two, alongside apparently Stefan, make their way there that night. Emily had called Jenna earlier and informed her so that everyone would be present and that they wouldn't be caught off guard.
The day is fairly pleasant, feeling like something honestly all of them needed.
Emily hadn't realized how much she'd missed Jenna, how much she missed seeing Jer and Elena every day. She rejoiced at the chance to spend that whole day with them.
Perhaps the situation affected Stefan and Damon most.
It had been so, so long, since they felt like a true family, or were a part of one.
Having strong ties to the Gilbert family through Emily and Elena, the two brothers felt welcomed in a unique way as they dined and conversed with the household members as though a part of it.
At the end of the day, they ended up watching a movie. It hit Damon then that, despite growing uncomfortable with the gathering at first, having Emily cuddled up by his side removed that discomfort and made him able to enjoy the situation as everyone else was.
XXX
The three soon return to the mansion, despite both sisters reluctant to have Emily go, but Emily assured her she'd be back soon, and she was optimistic, considering that Damon was really moving things along.
An hour after their arrival, Emily comes down from her bedroom, and spotting the grand piano, as well as Damon near the fireplace, she got an idea. "Hey, Damon!" she called. He faced her to find her grinning excitedly. She jogged over to the piano and turned to him again. "Come on. Play me something!"
Damon lightly smirked. "You sure? You won't be able to resist me after," he slyly said, rising off the couch with a glass in hand. 'I already can't,' her mind mused.
"Oh, come on! I really wanna hear you play," she retorted, sliding onto the stool and patting the spot next to her. Damon raised his brows as he approached her.
"Okay. Don't say I didn't warn ya," he slid beside her. She ignored his comment, rather unwisely.
Damon placed his glass down and brought his hands to the keys. Emily watched excitedly over her shoulder, her back to the piano. Damon started playing November Rain, and slowly her smile faltered.
He played with a grace she'd never seen in him before. He played expertly, from memory, a beautiful, heart-breaking song.
As though unable to believe it was him playing, Emily eyed him in amazement. He was so focused on what he was doing, the tunes he was emitting playing at her heart's strings, causing it to race. He glanced at her, and she automatically smiled, a look in her eyes that made him smile back almost unconsciously.
Stefan coming down to the kitchen snatches their attention. "Hello, Stefan," Damon irritably called. Stefan smiled at them from the distance as he opened the fridge.
"I'm gonna go to bed," Emily said, lightly touching Damon's shoulder. He faced her, and as she got up. She leaned in, and kissed him gently on the cheek, causing Damon to blank-face. "Night, Stef!" she waved.
"Goodnight," he retorted. She walked away and up the stairs, with Damon staring after her, and his hands playing all the wrong tunes on the piano.
Once she was out of sight, he refocused on what he was doing, mind consumed by the thought of her. There was a heavy weight on his chest, this longing. He couldn't understand what he wanted, but knew she was somehow involved.
Stefan sat to his side next, smiling creepily. Damon cocked a brow at him. "May I help you?" he asked.
"So, when are you sending her home?" his brother slyly retorted. Damon shot him a glare, as though offended, then faced the piano keys as he continued to play.
"When she's ready," he gave nonchalantly. Stefan took a chance at trying to get Damon to talk, especially with the music masking their words.
"Do you want her to go?" Damon faced him irritably at that. "Oh, come on, Damon. You can't keep pretending there's nothing there."
"I've lost count of the amount of times I've told you to stay out of it."
"Fine. I'll stay out of it, but Damon," the latter rolled his eyes at the 'but.' "I can be the person you talk to about this. I am your brother," Stefan stated as a matter of fact.
"Really? I always thought I was adopted," Damon glared playfully, avoiding the main topic. Stefan smiled and shook his head, patting Damon on the shoulder before rising to his feet.
XXXXX
