To say she was shocked was an understatement. She didn't think taming a bloodoholic vampire would be easy but she hoped Stefan would see past it, even with great struggle. She was worried about him and she hoped she could bring him back to her and somehow it doesn't seem as dreadful a task with help. Damon had been there, for her, for his brother and is still there keeping her company as they wait to take the next step. She didn't expect Damon to sit with her in a dark dungeon waiting for Stefan to wake up but she was glad. He's there.
Elena's POV:
We have been sitting for a while as I think of the new day tomorrow. Damon hasn't said a word and I'm wondering if I should say something but the silence isn't uncomfortable, more... amicable! We both are equally aware about each other's presence and the roles we'll be playing to cure Stefan and just waiting here….isn't as bad as it'd seem. We are both here for love. My love for my boyfriend and Damon's love for his brother. Part of me wonders if he's here because he cares about me too, if he's there, not just to keep the council off their backs but for our friendship too, if it's there! I don't get to dwell on it longer as he finally breaks the silence.
"Sorry", he says barely above a whisper but enough to gauge my attention. My mind starts spinning on the reasons as to why he's apologizing, why to me and why now? Will it be so insolent of me to think that he actually feels sorry for force-feeding me his blood after my less than necessary betrayal? Or wait.., is it because he attempted to bite Bonnie's head off? He notices the slight confusion on my face and continues, "I…never apologized for Isobel…I am…sorry Elena." He's got me there. I didn't exactly expect an apology out of him and not now certainly. I knew he felt remorse but enough to apologize? I was still amazed. The glib vampire may as well have a heart that does indulge too much on caustic comments but maybe, he cares! Deep down I knew he has nothing to apologize for. He didn't know me back then, he had his switch flipped and most importantly, it was my mother's choice…to become what she is. I realized I should ease him and let him off the hook. I wasn't even upset anymore!
"It's ok Damon….you couldn't have possibly known…" he just nods to that and that's it, it was just so easy being with him. Will I ever get used to the idea that my mother, even if only biologically, is a blood-sucking monster? No. But still, it helps relieve a little discomfort and I'm no longer ruffled by the fact that there was no parent out there who'd look out for me. Damon, made it happen. Huh. I wasn't wrong when I stated that we did have an understanding, this right here, was it and I wouldn't even be wrong in stating that Damon cares and that he is in fact…a friend. Suddenly a thought hit me and I knew what I needed to do.
"Hey…I never thanked you today….for stepping up and dancing with me…it would have been extremely humiliating to have been disqualified because I was stood up by my escort", I said with a pert smile on my face and he too responded with one of his smirks but there was surprisingly nothing smug about it. I expected him to gloat, to insinuate something inappropriate, and to hold it over me but instead what he said, left me surprised. "It was my pleasure Elena…besides it was partly my fault, I should have waited until after the dance to let you in on Stefan's….sins!" he conceded with a frown. All my previous opinions of this guy were being impeded one after another and I couldn't help myself from wanting to know more about him, his life and why, why he is the way he is!
Narrator's POV:
Elena was still reflecting on the events of the day when she realized that the routine that she practiced, was with Stefan, however, Damon dazzled her with being a master dancer in the same! They sat in silence for the next few minutes. Nothing but Stefan's ragged breathing and the chirping of crickets reaching their ears. Elena shifted a little from her position and frowned a little out of doubt until she finally asked Damon. "How did you…know the routine, today?" "Hm?" Not understanding the reference at first but then replied with a grimace saying, "Even have to ask? It was all…1864…Katherine…the first…Founder's Ball". "Oh..." was all she could say. Elena was still getting used to the idea that both the Salvatore brothers had pretty much lived through the history of the entire town and a little founder's Waltz would definitely be no big deal for them. She was used to dwelling on the fact that she was the exact replica of the evil vampire who broke the two brothers, their friendship and left them to fend for themselves in a new world with a promise of love...all being a huge, crooked lie. She would often think if she reminded them of their pain that even though left gashes a long time ago, seemed still fresh in their hearts. It worried her if even a little part of the brothers was capable of resenting her if she showed the slightest hint of semblance with her. Apart from looking alike, were there any other similarities? Did they think of her as the same dilly-dallying, two-faced monster that she was to them?
"What was she like?" she gulped at her own boldness and the doubt lingering, if she even wanted to know the answer to that. It was easy to not know, the contrasts and shared similitudes, to not know how each loved, to not know what it was that drew both the brothers to her and it was easy to not know if Damon and Stefan saw a lot more of Katherine than Elena in her. "We've been there Elena." No. Elena thought they both had been very cagey at successfully providing masticated details about her doppelganger, maybe to spare her feelings but being the curious cat she was, she prodded some more. "Actually, we've only been through the adjectives and I am looking for some elaborate explanation. It's not like we have something better to do for the next few hours." She said with a hopeful smile. However, Damon kept staring ahead of him with his jaw set and in a swift motion, got up and began to walk towards the entryway which gave Elena a regretful thought that she might have upset him. She was about to go look for him and apologize for prying but soon enough Damon returned with his bourbon and sat down beside her with an over-dramatic sigh. He turned toward her, taking a huge gulp out of the bottle and passed it over. "If we are going to talk about the she-devil, I will definitely need some incentive," he said with a wry smile, "besides, you had a field day and really need to loosen up." Elena couldn't help but stare at him with the faintest of smiles while admiring his sincerity and perceptiveness about her feelings. Damon never ceased to amaze her and very easily held up his reputation of the perfect enigma she could ever come across. He didn't need any further prompting and continued the classical tale of the evil vampire and the two naïve Salvatore brothers who fell hard for Katherine, like countless others in her supremely large lifespan.
"As you very well know, she was devious, cunning, but knew how to have fun. You know, you should learn something from her in that department, she knew life screwed us over but pushed back stronger, I am sure you'll get there too but give up the gloom for once! I'd like to see the fun-Elena more, you know, the one who sporadically appears to make a comeback at my every jibe, who doesn't shy away from taking the crucial 5-minutes away from life? Her. You should really limit your interactions with my brother now that he's going to be joining "The-oh-life-is-so-tough-club'." Elena was seething by then and Damon immediately recoiled and began the tale that he mostly kept to himself, mainly, because, no one cared about him enough to know… "…she asked us both to practice with her, at the end of which she'd choose the brother with more prowess in the skill. Of course it was Stefan...like it always is," he continued with the bitter note that did not go unnoticed by Elena. "I was left at the sidelines watching them at the ball while she scampered on and flirted with the sultriest smiles with little brother in there," he added pointing toward the dungeon door. Elena was lost in the tale but couldn't not feel sorry for him as he continued speaking with the most dispassionate expression he could muster but almost losing the battle with his agony. Damon admired her ability to care, something that he had locked down deep inside him and somehow envied her for carrying on with it after all the grief life impeded upon the girl. She looked at him while he stared straight ahead and kept sharing vivid details about the year and their encounters and lives together. They kept passing the bottle back and forth until Elena refused and Damon continued taking swigs out of it.
"…I was so sure it was me and that one day we'll….Elena?" he asked as he felt her head loll onto his shoulder with a steady breathing indicating that she was fast asleep. Damon couldn't help but stare at her sleeping face as he went ahead to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. He couldn't help the smile that had plastered itself on his face and the peace that was oddly unsettling and settling into his dead heart but feeling it to be lighter than usual. He couldn't help but dwell on the fact that even though Elena looked exactly like the woman who stomped on his heart, he didn't find any shred of Katherineness in her. No flicker of darkness resided in the heart of this beautiful human beside him who managed to trust a monster like him, who has fought so long to convince everyone that he has no humanity left in him. Maybe humans and humanity aren't as fickle as he'd thought? Somehow, he couldn't be that monster in front of her and somehow it was ok. He gently scooped her up in his arms and ascended towards Stefan's bedroom. He put her on the bed and covered her up with the duvet somehow not minding the smile that still remained intact and quiet easily attributed it to the bourbon, secretly knowing...it was all…Elena! He retreated to the cellar to check on his brother who could easily be becoming the reigning, terrorizing, Ripper once again if he couldn't control his blood-lust issues and even though he wanted to make his life miserable, Damon was not okay with his brother's downward spiral! If only for the girl upstairs, he'd nurse his brother back, for her!
Darkness, was where he'd been thriving for so long but somehow, ironically, light was glaring back at him and he didn't have it in him to turn around anymore, to repress what was dying to come back to life-Humanity. All of this, a gift by a human-girl. Somehow, he didn't feel the strong urge to hide anymore, maybe, she cared, and he was going to find a way to be okay with that! Maybe there is something more to life that futile pleasures and waiting for death. He didn't have to be dead anymore. He didn't have to die anymore. He didn't need to suppress that warmth in his heart anymore and somehow, it was all okay, after a long time. He felt something for her, for the first time, as the goddess in the Navy-Blue taffeta gown descended those stairs, something opened up in his mind! It was lost to him for all he knew. It kept him lost. It would take Damon time, a lot of it, to admit and move forward with the feeling but he knew, he felt it then and it was worth fighting for!
