Elena caressed Damon's face as she lay there in bed with him. They were back at the hotel and had spent a wonderful evening catching up with Enzo. Despite not needing sleep, they had long ago made a habit of going to bed. It was when they talked, and then it inevitably turned into touching a lot, which usually resulted in very few words.
Her mind was on Lily though tonight, Damon's mother, and she sighed. "Your mom…" Enzo always brought her to mind even though he hadn't ever met her in this lifetime.
"Don't, please. I saw what she was, and you told me how it all worked out in your future –or past."
Elena frowned and looked at the ceiling. "Still, with Enzo around, he reminds me-"
"I said don't. I wasn't a broken man when I met her this time." Damon turned Elena to look at him. "You saved me."
"You told her her fate."
"And she staked herself rather than choose to stay with me. We explained to her who her one true love was, and she chose death."
"But-"
He shook his head, "She wasn't ever trapped in that prison world. We kept her from over a century of torture. That's a good thing."
Elena shook her head. "I'm rewriting history to be able to be with you, and she… Dammit! It still pisses me off!
He rolled her to her back and slid his hand under the covers. He spread her legs, stroked between her fold, and kissed her collarbone. "I'm thinking there is something else I want to do in bed." Tapping her clit he said, "and I wonder what that was? I'm trying to put my finger on it."
She moaned and fisted his hair. "Don't stop, please."
"That's a good girl. Beg me, Elena. Beg me to fuck that sweet cunt of yours."
She growled in frustration and zipped out of bed. "You're trying to distract me."
"And it was work-ing E-lana. I think you're trying to offend me. Are you telling me you don't want me?"
She shook her head. "You're being difficult, Damon! I'm trying to have an honest conversation about your mother. You never let me!"
He laid back and put his hands behind his head on the pillow, and looked up at the ornate hotel ceiling. "I don't enjoy the subject. What do you want me to say?"
"I don't give a fuck! I don't want you to say anything! I just want to know how you feel! You never tell me. Let me in, and trust me with this, dammit."
Damon was up and out of the bed in a flash. "What the hell? Are you trying to piss me off?! Trust you? I trust you more than I fucking trust myself! You're everything to me!" He stormed over to her and glared at her. "You aren't being fair."
"Then tell me!"
He got in her face and said, "Elena, you saved me from multiple hells. Katherine, loneliness, the fucking Augustines, and so much more! I got the girl and discovered I was fought for by the most incredible woman I have ever met! You came from the future and saved me from… Everything –myself even! What more can I ask of you?"
He stepped back and looked down at his feet. "Yeah, it hurt like hell. My mother turned her back on me again. But isn't this always the way it was supposed to work out? It hurt so damn bad, but shit Elena, what more do you have to do for me? Every time my life doesn't turn out perfectly, it hurts you. I won't do that to you."
She let out a long sigh. "I have a savior complex, don't I? Bonnie sending me back to save everyone didn't help."
Damon shook his head and kissed her nose. "Not everyone should be saved. My mother made her choice. And as much as that hurt me, I didn't want to say because it isn't on you. There wasn't anything you could do to change that. Everything still played out the same. Julian unlinked them, and she killed herself." He cupped her cheek. "And Rayna Cruz locked Julian in the Phoenix Stone and lost the sword in the process." He smirked, "you told me it happened before."
Elena let a small smile pass her lips. "Yeah, and I found it."
"Yes, my Phoenix Queen."
"That's a dumb nickname," she said, laughing.
"I think you look pretty badass holding that sword. Is Phoenix Warrior better?"
She rolled her eyes. "You're changing the subject again."
He cupped both of her cheeks and had her look him in the eyes. "It hurt, and it still hurts. But sexy Phoenix lady, that doesn't mean you failed to save me. And know why? The whole time I went through that, and while it still bothers me now, you're standing by my side. I can go through anything with you as my support.
"I shudder at what my other life was like. Right now, in that other timeline, drifting from thing to thing without you and your love. That seems like an absolute hellscape to me."
She rested her head on his chest and smiled as he wrapped his arms around her. "How can I hold onto any pain when you're in my life?"
"I just wanted-"
"Stop. We're back to this? I know what you want. But I already have everything I want right here in my arms." He tightened his grip on her. "Love me back, and I can weather any storm."
Enzo was sitting in what was now Rosa and Frank's room. He lounged on the couch, drinking bourbon from a large glass with his shoes kicked off.
Rosa was leaning back in Frank's arms as he held her on the couch across from Enzo. She was drinking bourbon from a smaller glass; she didn't have a vampire's ability to drink, after all. Frank was drinking with her, too, and looking impressed.
Enzo laughed. "Damon gave her her first shot of bourbon at age… when was that again, Rosa? Twelve? You shouldn't be impressed that she can drink straight bourbon."
Frank made a loud, scoffing noise. "Yeah, I'm impressed, but mostly I find it so hot."
"So," Enzo said. "You're not the straight-laced guy you look like –Frank. How did you meet? When I first met you, I wasn't really able to ask questions. After all, you had your cock buried in Rosa."
Rosa glared at Enzo, "don't be vulgar."
"Says the woman who was making all those lewd noises. Seriously, you sounded like a whore house." He couldn't keep a straight face. He started laughing. "Slut," he said teasingly.
She rolled her eyes. "I believe you about the whore house noises. After all, you would know!" She shot down the rest of her drink. "And I could fuck my way down the entire eastern seaboard, and you wouldn't really mean that word."
"No, you're right. I don't know how you didn't end up being a raging bitch with how much Damon spoiled you and then with how you could do no wrong in my eyes. My twisted childhood brain decided you were like a mother to me."
"I was nine when I met you." She chuckled. "Twisted is right."
"Yeah, but you were dressed like a lady, and you were so kind. I think your age made you feel less intimidating. I had learned adults were all mean by that point." Enzo looked at his empty glass. "Shit, I've had too much to drink. I'm getting philosophical and sappy." He shrugged and poured himself another massive amount of bourbon.
Frank sipped on his drink and kissed Rosa's neck. He had a lot to drink too, and his inhibitions were weakening even more than they did just with the sight of his Rosa. He licked her neck and nibbled her ear. "I don't see you as a mother at all."
She laughed and looked up at him. "But you like to suckle on my tits like a baby."
He shook his head and grabbed a breast over her clothes. "Trust me. It's something very different I want from your body when I do that."
Enzo rolled his eyes. "I don't need to watch you paw her."
"You could leave," Frank replied.
Enzo shook his head. "No. See, Rosa isn't drunk enough yet. I'm looking for information, and she's like a vault."
She filled her glass and took a large sip. "Good luck. I don't slip when I'm drunk. You should know that by now."
Setting down his glass, Enzo said, "but I'm trying to figure something out, and I know Elena won't tell me. She knew more about me than just the Augustines."
"Augustines?" Frank asked.
Rosa, glad for an opportunity to get sidetracked from whatever Enzo was fishing for, said, "they are a secret society that experiments on vampires. What it really means is they torture them over and over again. In the alternative life, he gets captured in the nineteen forties and stays locked up for over six decades."
Frank grimaced. "That's vile."
"Yeah, it is," Enzo said, taking back the conversation. "But I want to know something."
"What?" Rosa asked, trying not to sound nervous.
"It feels like there is more to this other future of mine that they aren't telling me."
"So? What does it matter? They changed all that."
Enzo shook his head. "Then why not tell me?"
Rosa took a large sip of her drink. "Why tell some things? If there is something they don't want to change and it would make you happy, why would they tell you? Why not let you discover it for yourself?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "That's what you claim it is?"
She shrugged and swallowed the rest of her drink. "You and Damon were friends in the future, too –well, eventually. Why wouldn't Elena know about good things coming?"
"Because the sainted-probably-too-good-to-be-true Bonnie Bennett sacrificed her life because everything had gone to shit?" Enzo answered. "It couldn't have been good."
Rosa shook her head. "Elena had Damon's love until he died protecting her. Not everything was 'shit'. Bonnie loved Elena too. There were friendships, kindness, and bonds between people. It's the horrible death part that needs to be changed. Not everything was terrible."
Enzo finished his drink and stood. "And I know that's the most I'll get out of you."
He then pulled two vials from his pocket. "Here, so you don't wake up hungover." He handed Rosa the vampire blood and then exited.
When he did, they both shot back the blood. Rosa was used to it, but Frank gagged a bit. Still, it cleared their heads.
Rosa then moved and crawled up Frank's body, kissing him. "And now for some more fun."
His hands went to her ass. "I'm all in."
She nipped at his neck. "How do you want me?"
"Screaming out in ecstasy."
"Oh, with your talent, that isn't a question." She reached down his pants and stroked his cock. "And with the size of you." She moaned. "Take me."
Stefan Salvatore hated the midnight council meetings. He would much rather be at home in bed with his precious wife. He detested the council before, and now, he had a very different view of vampires than they did. After all, he believed Elena was the only reason he could still cling to his darling wife.
He eyed his father warily as they walked into the council meeting. He knew they both had to play their part well, and he just hoped he wouldn't fail.
"I call this meeting to order," Ethan Maxwell started, sitting with a groan. His gout had been acting up, and he was in a lot of pain.
Honoria Fell frowned and, raising an overly plucked eyebrow, said, "and you are in charge because?"
"Don't frown, Honoria; you already have enough wrinkles," Ethan replied condescendingly.
Gerald Forbes rolled his eyes. "Moving on. I have the building secured for the use of the Augustine Society.
James Salvatore didn't even blink at the news. He just smiled, pretending to be pleased, and said, "well, it sounds like we're making progress." He knew he would have something to report to his half-brother the next day or later that day. Dang, was he tired.
