Deserving Me
AU: What if Elena didn't forget her encounter with Damon 2x08? How would this change things, and will it give her a new perspective of him? Canon universe until after the encounter.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own TVD or any of its characters or concepts; it belongs to its respective owners. Also there may be smut in the later chapters, but I will be placing a warning above each chapter that does contain anything controversial.
Note: I know that I haven't posted lately and I promise you that if you are a follower of my other story, that the next upload for that will be tomorrow, also I will try to upload more consistently and I thank everyone for their patience.
Chapter 4: The Better Man
I couldn't forget what happened and it kept me up all night. How am I supposed to act around Damon now? He knows that I know about the whole necklace situation and he almost kissed me. I have to tell him that that can never happen again. What made things worse was that John was here last night and he kept avoiding the topic. He's lucky that I wasn't in the proper state of mind to retaliate, and I just hope that he isn't here currently. After writing in my journal, I wasn't able to fall asleep until 3 AM.
The sound of my alarm clock at 9:00 was terrible after only getting 6 hours of sleep last night, but I had to endure it and get up. I put on a red short sleeved top with black jeans, and for my hair, I decide that I'll style it a little differently than I normally do and opt out for a high pony. I finish the look with some makeup before exiting my room.
It's safe to say that I was less than happy to see my Uncle, or technically father John, however I've never nor will I ever see him as a father. He's shown time and time again that he doesn't give two damns about me. As I walk into the kitchen, he turns off whatever was on the TV and continues chopping.
"Morning." He says to me and I stop walking, ending up right in front of him. I am more than prepared to confront him about what the heck he is doing at my house. He knows that he isn't welcome here.
"What are you doing here?" I ask bluntly, my tone slightly frustrated and partly annoyed.
"Coffee?" He offers, avoiding the question. I knew that he needs something from here. He wouldn't come here out of the goodness of his heart.
"We're not doing that, we did that last night, no more avoiding. Why are you here?" I ask, becoming more frustrated by the second. What bullshit excuse did he have up his sleeve.
"I'm here to protect you and that's all I can say for the moment." He replies which pushes me in the wrong way. Protect me? When has he ever cared about anything dealing with me?
"What do you mean, 'that's all you can say'?"
"I'll tell you more when I'm convinced I can trust you." He replies and I grit my teeth slightly at that comment.
When I'm about to reply I hear my Aunt Jenna say, "Oh God… I'm late." Jenna says placing her bag on the counter and moving through the kitchen she stops once she sees John. Her eyes widen and she pauses.
"That's what you get for hitting the snooze three times." I hear Alaric say while moving around the corner.
"What the hell?" She asks, referring to John.
"Good morning to you, Jenna… Alaric" John replies.
"It's okay that I'm confused, right? Because we weren't expecting you like… ever." Jenna reples annoyance clear in her tone.
"Well, I got in late last night. Elena let me in." John adds moving closer to Jenna.
"You know, I'm uh… probably just gonna take off." Alaric tells Jenna before leaving awkwardly, clearly wanting to evade this awkward conversation. I don't blame him either. If I were in his shoes, I'd probably do the same exact thing.
"I'm still confused here." Jenna says glancing between John and I.
"I decided to come back and stay for awhile." He says, and the angry look of Jenna's face is definitely one to remember.
"Not here you're not." She replies stubbornly.
"Actually, you can't stop me from living here." John says and my heart suddenly drops. Oh no… don't tell me he's about to say what I think he's going to…
"Actually, I can. As her legal guardian."
"Yeah… about that um… Elena? Do you want me to explain the situation or would you like to do the honors?" John asks and I feel my head racing. Damn it John. Why today? Why now?
"Okay, what's going on?" Jenna asks, becoming more confused and angry as time passes.
"I'm sorry, Jenna, I should've told you earlier but…" I say, but I'm not able to finish the sentence.
"I'm Elena's biological father." John says, letting out the big secret. Jenna looks at him skeptically for a second and I feel my air catch slightly "There, now you know." He adds before pushing past Jenna leaving me to deal with everything alone. Jenna then looks at me and scoffs after seeing my expression, confirming his statement.
"What?" She asks and I sigh.
"Look, Jenna… I can explain everything." I mutter and her face hardens from the confirmation.
"Sorry, Elena. I've got work." She spits out at me angrily and rushes past me in a huff.
"Jenna, wait!" I call out for her and grab her arm in an attempt to stop her, however she moves away from my grasp.
"Elena, I really just need some time to comprehend everything. We can talk later." She says and I can hear the betrayal in her voice. I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach, however I respect her need for space. I watch with tears in my eyes as she exits the room and leaves the house.
I take a seat on my couch and cry in my hands. I never meant to hurt Jenna and I just felt so guilty for never telling her. God, I'm a horrible niece. Why is it that when John comes into my life, he always messes up one more thing that ends up biting me in the ass.
When I lift my head from my hands I notice that my makeup is smudged and groaned. Great, now I have to redo everything. I quickly touch up the makeup and just when I finish I hear the doorbell ring. I furrow my brows, wondering who could be here at an hour like this and I go downstairs and open the door. Damon is standing there and I feel my breath hitch slightly and I avert my gaze on him.
"Elena…" He breathes out for a second before clearing his throat, "Where's John?" He asks more composed this time. As he asks the question he walks inside my house looking around for him.
"He's not here." I reply in a whisper, still not used to his presence. "He left. I don't know where he went and he just blew in, announced to Jenna that he's my dad and took off." I add, a little more relaxed.
"That's public knowledge now?" Damon asks, his brows furrowed.
"Apparently." I say, my eyes brimming with tears once more thinking about Jenna. There was also a little waver to my voice as I spoke. Damon notices my tone and walks towards me.
"You okay?" He asks, worry is laced in his voice. I pause for a second, urging the tears to not come out and once I feel a bit better I continue.
"Yeah, Jenna's head spinning but…" I trail off for a second. "I'm okay." I say, my voice is barely audible, but I know that he heard it.
"Did he say what he was doing here?" He asks.
"No, you know, Stefan thinks that he's telling the truth about wanting to help me." I say grabbing the mug that was on the counter. I placed it there earlier but never got around to drinking it, so I decided that it might help calm my nerves a bit.
"You believe him?" He asks once more and I have to think about it for a second. I love Stefan, but I don't agree with what he's doing right now with trusting John and seeing Isobel.
"No, I don't believe him for a second." I reply, placing the mug back down.
"I don't either." Damon admits and I sigh before walking closer to him. "What are we gonna do?" I ask seriously and I can see his gaze locked on me. It makes me nervous, but right now I can't focus on us… wait. There is no 'us'. Everything that happened was a mistake and I need to compose myself.
"Kill him." Damon replies which makes the whole forgetting everything between us easier. He moves past me and I turn around to him.
"Damon…" I draw, not knowing whether or not he was being serious.
"I'm joking…" He says and I sigh and look at him disbelievingly. "Okay, I'm a little serious."
"Damon!" I scold.
"I'm not gonna hurt him, Elena. I'm the good guy, remember?" He asks sarcastically and he moves closer to me. I fold my arms in front of me to give myself a little space and furrow my brows.
"What does that mean?" I ask.
"It means I'm gonna have a civil conversation with your father." He replies and I think over everything he's said for a second.
"Wait, Damon.. Do you see being a good guy as being like Stefan?" I ask seriously and I watch as his expression turns blank.
"Isn't that what you want me to be, Elena? Stefan?" He spits out and I furrow my brows at the comment.
"Why would you think that, Damon? I'm not trying to change who you are." I tell him and he just stares at me blankly.
"But you want to change me into someone better?" He asks, raising his eyebrows and I open my mouth to speak before he begins again, interrupting me. "I can't talk about this right now. I'm just going to look for John." He moves past me in a huff and I think for a second.
"Wait, I'm coming with you." I say before grabbing my jacket and following him outside.
"That's not a good idea, Elena." He tells me while getting into his car. I also go into the passenger's seat.
"You're not stopping me though." I retaliate, buckling my seat belt.
"I don't have the energy to stop you, Elena. Just promise me that you'll be careful."
"He's my father, Damon. No matter what goes down he won't hurt me." I say and he starts to car.
"He's done it before." Damon reminds me and I cringe at the memory.
"Just go, Damon." I tell him and he sighs before driving out of my driveway and out into the town. I find my thoughts all over the place, some thinking about John. He has hurt me before, but does he actually want to protect me this time?
My other thoughts were about Damon. He thinks I want him to be like Stefan, which isn't true, but I don't know how to convince him that I don't want to change him. I'm just really confused with everything right now. Hopefully things will get better.
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It didn't take long before we found out that John was at the Grill.
"We just need answers, please don't do anything stupid." I tell Damon. Both of our eyes are on John who by now has also become aware of our presence.
"Yeah, but stupid's so much more fun." He replies looking over at me and I stare at him directly in the eye, pleading with him to be smart with his actions. He begins to move but I stop him.
"Damon, I mean it." I say quickly. I can't have him hurting John and doing something that could put us all at risk. "All I'm asking you to do is try to keep it together." I say, having to stop him from moving through my statement. "Be the better man." I tell him and he looks at me before sighing.
"Okay then." He says awkwardly before moving over to John. I sigh and move over to talk to this pretty blonde girl as I wait for Damon to finish talking to him. John leaves Damon for a bit and I watch as a pretty woman walks up to him. I feel my blood begin to boil slightly in the picture, however what surprises me is that Damon picks up his glass and goes away from the woman. Did he just reject someone? That isn't typically Damon fashion. I couldn't help but to feel slightly happy as he walks away from her and over to me.
"You totally blew her off." I say and he sighs, looking at me.
"We're steering clear of all women at the moment." He whispers at me and I feel my stomach drop. He didn't do it because of me… it's not like I'd want him to do it because of me. What am I thinking? I need to focus right now.
"You didn't have to be rude." Is all I can say without feeling awful. Why am I feeling like this?
"Trust me, it's in the best interest of women everywhere." He tells me before staring at me once again and I feel my cheeks burn up under his gaze. He looks at me up and down before taking a gulp of his drink. I assume it's whiskey or bourbon. I then hear my phone ring, breaking me from the trance before I pull it up to my ear and accept the call. I recognized the ringtone to be Stefan.
"Stefan?" I ask, wondering why he's calling.
"Elena, I wasn't sure earlier, but I'm almost certain that Tyler is a werewolf."
"Are you sure?" I ask, my eyes wide and Damon eyebrows furrow at my tone. Stefan told me about his suspicions that Tyler might be a werewolf, however he's only just confirmed it now.
"Yes, Tyler is a werewolf, and the other werewolves in the area including Jules, are wanting to recruit him. It gets worse though, they captured Caroline." Stefan tells me and I gasp slightly.
"W-what are we going to do?" I ask worriedly.
"For now, you need to stay home and stay safe, don't worry about anything. Damon and I will take care of everything." He says.
"Stefan-" I start trying to retaliate but he hangs up on me.
"What's going on?" Damon asks and I look at him, then all around us. There are too many people. I can't talk about this here. I then see a private bathroom.
"Follow me, we need to head somewhere private to talk about this." I say going into the bathroom. Damon follows me there.
"Okay, so will you tell me what's going on?" Damon asks once we are inside the bathroom and the door is shut.
I sigh before replying, "Stefan is almost certain that Tyler is a werewolf and the pack that attacked you and Rose has now kidnapped Caroline." I say and I watch as Damon's expression changes and my stomach drops. Please don't tell me that he'll go after Tyler.
"Why am I just finding out about this now?" He asks me, frustrated.
"Stefan was worried that you-"
"That I'd what? Kill him? Well, of course. That's what needs to happen." Damon says and I shake my head.
"No, Damon, not Tyler, do whatever you need to get Caroline back, but just leave Tyler out of it, okay?" I try to convince Damon.
"Why? He's a werewolf. He needs to die, I'm willing to kill. It's a win, win." Damon says and I place my hand on his shoulder.
"Damon, please… okay? Too many people are dead." I say, almost brokenly. My body has now relied just how close Damon was and I felt my breath hitch slightly. Since when did Damon affect me this much?
"Why do you expect me to push back everything I believe in just because it's you who's asking?" Damon asks softly.
"Why do you expect me to challenge everything that I believe in because of you?" I fire back.
"It's not like I'm asking you to change everything about yourself!"
"For Christ sake, Damon! I'm not trying to change you, why can't you see that!?" I ask, tears threatening to come out.
"Then what are you trying to do, Elena." He replies and I sigh.
"I'm trying to allow you to see the best parts of yourself. You can be a good person while still being exactly who you are. That's what I want, Damon. I want you to be happy and yourself while also being the best version of yourself you can be. That's what I mean when I ask you to be the better man." I say in a whisper and I see Damon's gaze soften.
"Elena…" He says in a whisper and I feel his hand lay softly and hesitantly on my cheek. I close my eyes, letting a single tear out and can't help but melt into his touch. Every time I see him, I relive the confession over and over again and each time my heart swells more and more. Why is it affecting me so much? Why is he affecting me so much? I open my eyes to see Damon's face slightly closer to mine and much to both of our surprise I don't jump back or move away. "Do you really mean that?" He asks me, looking at my lips.
"Of course I do, Damon. I don't want to change everything about you." I say softly and I see his gaze soften as he leans in closer. I tense, but my body doesn't move. Push him back, step back, tell him no, do something! My mind screams at me, but I still don't move. Just when he's about to kiss me the door bursts open and Damon jumps away from me and I nearly sigh in relief. I turn around to see John looking between the two of us.
"What's going on here?" He asks, a protective tone is evident in his voice.
"Nothing." I say, mustering up as much courage as I could.
"It doesn't look like nothing." John fires back and Damon moves over to him.
"Well guess what John, trust works both ways, so get out." Damon fires at John.
"Look, we don't have time for this. We need to get Caroline back." I tell Damon.
"We don't need to do anything. I'll take care of it." Damon says before turning to John. "First dad duty, ground your daughter. Keep her here." Damon tells him before moving past him.
"I'm coming with you." I say to Damon and move, but John blocks my way.
"No. No. No. I'm with Damon on this one." He says and I grow more and more frustrated. I need to help Caroline!
"No-"
"Stop, stop! You aren't going anywhere. Just tell me what's going on." John says to me and I feel my face scrunch up with anger and disbelief.
"I'm not going to tell you anything!" I spit at him and he sighs.
"Look, Elena. I want to help you, just please tell me what's going on so that I can!" He says, trying to convince me and I cross my arms.
"Like you helped me before." I fire back at him and he cringes at my tone.
"Look, I know that I haven't been the best father-"
"That's an understatement."
"But I genuinely care about you and I want to help you, so please just tell me." He begs and I sigh.
"I won't tell you much, just that there are werewolves in town and that Caroline is in trouble. That's why Damon left and that's also why I need you to take me to help her." I say and he shakes his head.
"No, it's too dangerous." He tells me and I groan.
"I knew you wouldn't understand." I spit at him.
"Elena, even if I did take you to the location where Caroline was being held, what then? You'd only distract Stefan and Damon and jeopardize the mission, it's better that you don't go." He tells me and I feel tears forming in my eyes. He's right, but I want to help Caroline so badly. He tries to wrap his arms around me as an attempt to comfort me, however I just push him away.
"Just take me home." I say coldly and he nods.
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By now I've been waiting in my house for hours, I also haven't been able to stop myself from crying in worry for Caroline. John's stayed with me at the house as a way to make sure that I don't leave, so I have no way of being able to make sure that Caroline's okay. John gave me my mother's charm bracelet and told me that he only wants to protect me and that he'll do anything he can to help me.
"Elena." I hear Stefan's voice in the living room. I turn and immediately start walking towards him. As soon as I reach him I wrap my arms around him, seeking out comfort in him.
"Are you okay?" I ask worriedly.
"I'm fine." He replies, still holding me tight.
"Did you hear that?" I ask, referring to when John spoke to me. I feel Stefan nod and I continue, "I don't believe him, Stefan… I still don't." I say and pause for a second. Then I remember why he left in the first place. To help Caroline. "What happened today, how's Caroline?" I ask worriedly.
"I think that she could use your help." Stefan tells me and I grow more worried.
"What happened?" I ask, my brows furrowed.
"We got her out and she is fine physically, but I think right now she needs the support of a friend." Stefan tells me and I feel myself grow more sorry for Caroline. Nobody deserves to be kidnapped and tortured. "Now, I figured that I could get you and Bonnie to come over and you three can have a sleepover in order to comfort her." Stefan says and I smile at the thought. It's been forever since we've had a sleepover and I'm sure Caroline would love the gesture. I nod move upstairs to get everything I need.
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Stefan, Bonnie and I are all at Caroline's house, but in order to surprise Caroline we hide behind Stefan. He knocks on the door and Caroline opens it.
"What's going on?" She asks, confused as to why Stefan is here.
"I was a bit worried about you." Stefan starts "After everything you've been through tonight." He adds and Caroline sighs.
"I'm fine." She says, but I could hear in her voice that she was hurting.
"Good, but just in case, I have… brought some backup." He replies before turning, revealing Bonnie and I standing there.
"We're going to slumber it."I tell her and I could see the tears form in her eyes as she lets out a sob.
"We haven't done it in ages." Bonnie adds and we both move to hug her. She's now fully crying as we hold her tight. I glance up to see Stefan smiling and I mouth, 'thank you.'. He mouths, 'you're welcome.' before leaving and I return my attention back to hugging Caroline.
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A/N: Did you all enjoy this chapter. Please give me your feedback in reviews and once again I'm sorry for not uploading in a very long time. I hope to get back on track! Have wonderful evenings!