Chapter Twelve
Elena tosses and turns in bed, sleep not coming to her immediately. It had been a few weeks since the Lockwood party, and that meant there would be another event coming up soon. This one being Miss Mystic Falls, something that both her and Caroline had entered. Initially, Elena didn't want to enter, but seeing how excited Care and her mother were for it, she agreed half-heartedly. Her mother had been in the pageant when she was Elena's age, and that's the main reason she joined.
The thing was that she needed an escort, and that really shouldn't be a problem, but it was. Damon had been acting weirdly distant, more so this week. Elena hoped that her trust in him wasn't idiotic, but she didn't know what to think. Here she was, laying in bed alone.
With a few more turns, Elena finally gave up on trying to get comfortable and got out of bed. She walked down the hallway, careful not to stumble in the pitch-black house. Making her way to the kitchen, she flipped on the lights and got out a glass. Shuffling over to the fridge, Elena poured herself some water and sat down at the table.
Resting her cheek down on the wood, Elena ran through all of the things that Damon could be doing right now. She groaned and closed her eyes, the table strangely more comfortable than the bed to sleep on.
—
Hours that felt like minutes had passed by with Elena asleep on the table. She only startled awake when the front door was heard opening and closing. Rolling her eyes, she plonked her forehead back on the table, not bothering to move back to bed.
The sound of feet shuffling stopped at the doorway of the kitchen.
"Elena...what are you doing down here?" Damon asks, rubbing his hand on his neck.
"Sleeping," Elena replied shortly. She wasn't particularly in the mood for whatever excuse Damon was conjuring in his head.
"I thought sleeping was done in a bed," Damon says back in the same tone Elena used.
"Who are you to judge where I sleep?" Elena mutters into the table. "I happen to like this table." She closes her eyes again and tunes out the next things that Damon tells her. When she hears him walk away from the kitchen, she whips her head up and stands. She goes to the sink and dumps her water out before grabbing her coat.
Relishing the idea of sleeping in her own room, Elena walks over to the front door and exits the house. After getting in her car, she drives home, parking behind her mom's car.
She jumps out of the car and rushes into her house. Kicking her shoes off, she then goes upstairs, careful not to wake anyone, and enters her bedroom. Flopping on the bed, Elena breathes out a sigh of content, sleep overtaking her once again.
—
Agitated that the first thing she hears in the morning is her phone ringing, she presses ignore without looking at the caller. It rings again and Elena shoves it under her pillow, hoping it would muffle. She stupidly forgot that it vibrated and snatches the phone back out.
"What?" Elena snaps after answering the phone. "Some people try to sleep at this hour, you know."
"Where are you?"
The fact that Damon's asking her this annoys her even more. "I'm sleeping," Elena retorts. "Call back when the recipient is in the mood to talk." She hangs up and turns her phone off. The peaceful silence doesn't last long before Jeremy bursts into her room.
"Elena, I need some advice," Jeremy tells her, not realizing that she had been trying to get some shut-eye.
"Go to a counselor."
"I need relationship advice."
"Then go to couple's therapy," Elena says back, just wanting everyone to leave her alone.
"No, our relationship is in a good place."
"Well, good for you, Jer," Elena muses, somewhat sarcastically. "But if you didn't notice, I'm trying to sleep. And I'm in a pretty bad mood."
"I didn't even hear you come home last night."
"Because I was generous enough not to wake you when you were trying to sleep," Elena grounds out. "Now leave before something gets thrown at you."
"Fine, fine," Jeremy holds up his hands in surrender and backs out of the room.
"Close the door!" Elena shouts after him. Thankfully, he comes back and closes it before walking away again. When it's finally quiet, Elena sinks her head back into the pillow.
—
Feeling surprisingly rested after all of her attempts of sleeping, Elena smiles and throws on a hoodie and some shorts. She goes downstairs and sees her mom and dad at the kitchen table.
"Oh, good morning, honey. We didn't realize that you came home last night," Miranda says with a smile.
"Trust me, I didn't plan on it," Elena replies with a roll of her eyes. She picks up a slice of toast and chews thoughtfully.
"Did something happen? Do I need to kick Damon's ass?" Grayson questions with a determined look.
"I don't know. Maybe. I wouldn't stop you," Elena picks up a grape and pops it into her mouth. "He's just being annoyingly distant. And then he calls me this morning and he has the nerve to ask where I am," Elena plucks another grape off the vine. "I know we should talk, but I don't want to."
"And you have reason not to, honey. Truth be told, anyone who backs away from you with no explanation is an asshole. If that's how you feel, you should tell him that."
"I should, but I won't. When he comes up with a million excuses, then I'll call him an asshole. And a dick, and a liar. Stefan doesn't know what's going on with him either."
"I think that you guys should at least try to talk. It might give you some relief, Elena. But if he hurts you, tell me. I'll stake him before he can say he's pregnant as a stupid excuse for me not to kill him."
Elena bursts out laughing and Miranda looks at Grayson in shock. "Grayson," She chastises.
"She's laughing, isn't she?"
Elena smiles at her parents and shoves her hands into her hoodie pocket. "Thank you guys for the advice. I guess we'll just have to see how the talk goes."
"Good luck, 'Lena," Grayson says before gesturing his hand across his neck in a slicing fashion and mouths 'let me know'."
She laughs once again and makes her way back into her room, grabbing her phone. When she turns it on, she notices a bunch of missed calls, all from Damon's phone.
"Is said recipient finally ready to operate?" Damon snaps into the phone once he picks up her call.
Elena's eyes widen and then they narrow. "I don't know, is said boyfriend ready to stop being a dick, or are we gonna have to pretend there too?"
She hears him let out a sigh, "I'm sorry, Elena. There's just been a lot going on."
'That was his excuse? THAT was his excuse?!', Elena thought to herself. "Okay, Damon, well, if you have so much going on, then why the hell are we having this conversation?"
"Listen, I know I've been acting like an ass lately, but it's not because of you."
"You're right, it's because of you! Damn it, Damon, I am trying to be understanding and give you space, but when you call me and ask where I am before the rooster is supposed to crow, you can't expect me to be happy about it."
"You're right, I'm sorry," Damon repeats, but Elena hears the lack of sincerity in his voice.
"God, just stop with the fake apologies. I don't need whatever shit you're trying to throw my way. I was going to ask if you wanted to be my escort for Miss Mystic Falls, but now I'm going to ask Matt. Have a good damn day, Damon," Elena growls out before hanging up the phone. She sighs and opens her door, letting her parents tumble into the room.
"Mom, Dad," Elena greets with a raise of an eyebrow.
"Oh, Elena, we're so sorry," Miranda consoles while wrapping her arms around Elena.
The doorbell rings when Elena's in the middle of being engulfed in her parents' hugs and apologies.
"I swear, if it's-" Elena's cut off by the doorbell being rung over and over. She squeezes out of the embraces and goes to the door.
Elena opens it and gives a cold glare, "I'm not buying whatever you're selling." She tersely tries to close the door but Damon's hand shoots out and keeps it from closing.
"Elena, please, we need to talk."
Elena lets out a huff of annoyance. "We just did talk, remember? I'm not in the mood for another one of our pointless chats." She attempts at closing the door again, but Damon's hand stays put.
Her parents descend down the stairs and both give deathly stares at Damon. "You don't have to talk to him if you don't want, Elena. It's your choice."
Damon shoots them an unidentifiable look before shortly replying, "I think Elena can speak for herself."
Elena suddenly slams the door closed with so much force that it took Damon off guard and the door shuts completely. "I'm done talking if you're not going to listen," Elena says to through the door before going back upstairs.
She suddenly halts to a stop when she sees Damon's in her room. Inwardly cursing herself for not locking her windows, Elena raises both eyebrows. "Desperate much? I know you're pretty dense, Damon, so let me explain to you that when a girl makes it clear she doesn't want to talk to you, you give her the respect she deserves and you leave her the hell alone."
"Elena, just please hear me out. Please," Damon implores, his eyes searching hers pleadingly.
She crosses her arms over her chest and gestures for him to go ahead.
"I'm sorry for acting so weird this past week. I know, there's no excuse for how I've acting. I know that you're really pissed and I can't blame you because it's entirely my fault. I love you and I don't want to lose you, but you're going to have to trust me."
"Trust breeds trust, Damon. I can't give any if I don't receive any. Right now, this seems like a one-sided relationship, which is something I don't want to be in. If you can't put forth the effort, then…" Elena trails off but gives Damon a pointed look.
"No, please, I swear, I will make it up to you. Just...let me take you out on a date tonight. You can make all of your decisions after, but please just let me have tonight to prove that I'm serious. I want our relationship to work, Elena."
Elena runs a hand down her face and sighs. "I want our relationship to work too, but it's getting too hard to keep giving you these freebies, Damon. I'll give you tonight. Five o'clock, sharp. If you don't bother showing up, then we're cutting the cord."
"I'll show up, I promise. You know I love you, Elena, right?" Damon asks, looking sad.
Elena avoids his gaze but slowly nods her head. "Yeah, I know. But sometimes, we can't have it all. Five o'clock."
"Okay," Damon says before disappearing from her room.
Elena begins banging her head on her doorframe. "Stupid, idiotic, brain-dead moron."
Grayson peeks his head into Elena's room. "Who are you talking to, 'Lena?"
"Myself," She deadpans. "I agreed to a date with him. Was that a bad idea?"
"Just go with what your heart is telling you. After tonight, if you don't think Damon's worth what you're feeling now, then maybe it's time to end things."
"I know. I know…"
—
Elena takes a deep breath and looks at her clock. It's 4:59. She pulls her hair into a ponytail and sits on the bed. When the clock turns to 5:00, the doorbell rings. Letting out a sigh that she didn't realize she was holding, Elena goes down the stairs and opens the door.
And there stands Damon, right on time. She didn't bother looking over his appearance, considering she was still mad at him. Giving a slight nod, she avoided his gaze and walked towards his car.
Damon gets in the car as well, seeing that Elena wasn't in the mood to talk. The ride to the destination was awkwardly quiet as Elena stared out of the window. Realizing where they were headed, a slight smile forms on her face.
"We're going to the Falls, aren't we?"
"That we are," Damon replies with a quiet voice. They arrive at the Falls and Damon hesitantly takes Elena's hand. She doesn't pull away and lets him guide her to where they were headed.
Elena's eyes fill with admiration when she sees the picnic blanket set up right next to the waterfall. "You set up a picnic," Elena whispers.
"Yeah...I mostly brought fruit, since that's what you eat a lot of the time...but there's some bread and astronaut ice cream, since I remember you saying a long time ago that you always wanted to try it," Damon rambles nervously, rubbing his neck. "Do you like it?"
"I do. Thank you...for doing this. It's really nice," Elena admits as she sits down on the blanket. "And a special thanks for remembering how I wanted to try astronaut ice cream. That was a pretty long time ago."
"I remember all of our conversations. They're not something I'd ever want to forget…" Damon sits on the blanket next to Elena and picks up a strawberry. "You want?"
Elena takes it from his fingers and smiles softly, "Thanks."
Damon nods and looks up at the sky. "I kind of figured that you'd like to watch the meteor shower from here."
Her eyes widen since she forgot about the meteor shower. Biting the strawberry, she looks sheepishly at Damon.
"Don't tell me you forgot, 'Lena," Damon teases, "You love meteor showers. We always watched them when we were little."
Elena gazes up at the sky wistfully. "Things were so much easier back then. You know, as kids. I miss the simplicity of being a child."
"Me too," Damon replies. "I didn't screw up so much back then."
"That's true. Look, whatever you've been doing these past weeks...if you don't want to tell me, it's fine. It's just getting harder and harder to trust you when I feel like you can't trust me back."
"I'm so sorry, Elena. It's not that I don't trust you, I just can't really explain what I've been doing."
"Have you told Stefan about it?"
Damon's expression shows shame and regret as he shakes his head no. Elena sighs and looks back up at the sky.
"Would you let me be your escort for Miss Mystic Falls…? I mean, unless you already asked Matt…"
"Damon...this pageant is really important to me. I haven't asked Matt yet. If I agree to you, then I expect you to be there. There's a practice the day before. You have to be at both. Can you promise me that?"
"Yeah, yeah, I can. I promise that I'll be at the practice and the real thing," Damon swears.
Elena nods and opens the package of astronaut ice cream. "Then yes. You can be my escort. Don't let me down, Damon."
"I won't. I promise," Damon repeats. They both look at the starry sky when meteors begin to fall. Smiles are seen across both of their faces as they watch the shower.
"This is nice," Elena confesses, chewing her ice cream.
"The date or the ice cream?"
"Can't it be both?" Elena shyly smiles at Damon.
Damon pouts and looks up just as it starts to rain. "Oh, damn. Come on, it's time to abandon ship."
"No, no, just wait. It'll clear up," Elena replies as she gets soaked. She looks up and blinks furiously as raindrops fall in her eyes. When she looks back at Damon, he's staring at her. Chuckling, she questions, "What?"
Damon leans over and places a gentle kiss on her lips. They stare at each other for a moment and then attack each other's mouths again, this time more passionately. The rest of the stressful world falls away, and it's just the two of them kissing in the rain, sitting on a picnic blanket while meteors fall from the sky.