Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Vampire Diaries, TV show or books. However I decided to have a little play around with the characters (I would definitely like to play with Damon).
The next morning Elena arrived at the Lockwood Mansion to help in preparation for the pageant later that day. Elena left her new dress, shoes and make-up upstairs in one of the rooms so that she could shower and change later for the presentation. Initially she had to run a few errands for Mayor Lockwood. After that she headed outside and walked down the steps into the garden in search for Caroline. It didn't take long for Elena to notice the blonde hair of her friend, who was standing at one of the tables with her back turned. As she headed towards the table where Caroline was stood, she noticed that she was talking to someone on the phone. Caroline must have heard her as she turned around and looked at her, annoyance etched all over her face.
"Look, I got to go." Elena overheard Caroline say to the person on the other end of the phone whilst staring at Elena. "Be careful. And remember, there is sublimating and then there is insanity."
"I'll be fine, bye." Elena recognized Stefan's voice on the other end of the phone as he hung up.
Caroline finished her call with Stefan and looked at Elena before making her way over towards her. The look on Caroline's face warned Elena to expect the inevitable onslaught of criticism from her friend. Deciding she wanted to try and avoid confrontation whilst other people were around, Elena turned and made her way to another table and began to arrange the flowers in the vase.
Not one to be avoided when she was on a mission, Caroline stormed over to the table where she was stood, looking imposing with a clipboard in her hand. "Look, I'm your best friend and I would never pick sides." Caroline told her sounding sincere, although Elena knew what was coming. "But are you sure that this is what you want? Because Stefan is your soul mate." this caused Elena to look up and raising her eyebrows at her Caroline. "Sorry. Picking sides." Caroline apologized..
"It's not like I don't love Stefan any more." Elena explained, as they moved to another table to arrange more flowers. "But I can't deny that ever since I turned, my feelings for Damon have become more intense."
"Yeah, I know. Stefan filled me in on all the gory Damon details." Caroline complained sarcastically.
"He did?" Elena asked looking clearly worried at her friend for a second. "Is he okay?"
"No, he's heartbroken." Caroline scolded.
"Well, what was I supposed to do? Lie to him?" Elena asked, getting a little angry with all of the Stefan support she was getting from someone who was supposed to be her best friend and Elena's feelings should be Caroline's priority over Stefan's.
"No!" Caroline admitted, then added "But you weren't supposed to let Damon weasel his way into your confused newbie vampire heart."
"Well, he did and that's exactly what I am. Confused. I need to figure out what these feelings actually mean." Elena explained. "Although you and I already know that my feelings for Damon began long before I became a vampire." she whispered as she noticed Professor Shane walking down the steps and over to her and Caroline.
"Excuse me." Professor Shane interrupted. "I'm a little lost. I'm here to interview contestants."
"You're Professor Shane." Elena asked as she and Caroline look at each other.
"Yeah, that's right." he replied smiling. "Professor by day, pageant judge by other day. In spite of being absurdly unqualified, I'm apparently awarding a scholarship."
"Uh, inside by the parlor." Caroline offered as Professor Shane pointed up towards the house.
"Right in here?" he asked.
"Mhm." Caroline replied with a fake smile plastered all over her face.
"All right, I'll just follow the scent of hairspray and world domination." Professor Shane joked, prompting Caroline to laugh politely as he walked away.
Elena frowned and turned to look at Caroline who'd stopped laughing. "According to Damon." Elena whispered. "Matt told him Professor Shane contacted Pastor Young a number of times on the day that he blew up the town council."
"He's also the one that has Bonnie so obsessed with practicing magic that she bailed on pageant prep." Caroline added as Elena cocked her head and raised her eyebrows in surprise. Elena wasn't aware that Bonnie had decided not to come to the pageant, opting to work on her magic instead.
"And now he's judging Miss Mystic Falls?" Elena asked in a suspicious tone causing Caroline to raise her eyebrow. "Jack of all trades or kind of creepy?" Elena wondered out loud as she looked at the clock on her phone. "Time for me to get ready." she told Caroline as she headed up to the room to not only shower and change, but to avoid any further Damon commentary from her so called best friend.
Elena had opted for some of the new black lace underwear to go with her new dress. To compliment the look, she put her hair to the side in a fishtail braid. It took just over an hour for her to get showered, dressed and do her hair and make-up. By the time Elena was ready, Caroline was waiting for her, wearing a short gold dress for the occasion.
"Who's your date?" Elena asked casually as they headed towards the changing room for the contestants.
"Klaus!" Caroline simply stated as she pulled a face in disgust. "What about you? Who's your date?" she asked clearly trying to divert the topic away from Klaus.
"Matt." Elena replied, however she wasn't willing to be distracted from Caroline's date revelation. "How on earth did you end up with Klaus?" she asked.
"Long story." Caroline told her. "But let's just say I owed him one."
"And he was wanted a date in return?" Elena asked, not sure whether she wanted to laugh or be disgusted.
"I'm trying to avoid him." Caroline said sheepishly. "Can we please drop it?" she begged. Feeling sorry for her friend Elena shut up as they walked into the dressing room to find April Young trying to decide between a red dress and a blue dress. Elena and Caroline walked over sat on the edge of the bed to help her decide.
"Which one?" April asked as she held up two dresses next to each other for Caroline and Elena to help her choose.
"Blue." Caroline and Elena said in unison before looking at each other smiling.
"Really?" April asked, appearing a little unsure of their assessment. "The blue seems a little safe."
"Safe is good when it comes to the judges." Elena encouraged her enthusiastically.
"She's right." Caroline added. "Gracie Lockwood had a three-foot slit her year and practically got laughed off the court." she added causing Elena to smile and laugh at the memory. Right at that moment Damon suddenly walked into the room causing Elena's stomach to flip at the sight of him.
"She got my vote." Damon piped up as Elena glanced over at him. He was elegantly dressed in a black suit, white shirt and black tie. He looked almost identical to the way he did at the last Miss Mystic Falls pageant. This time however, Elena taking one look at him had practically caused Elena to stop breathing as butterflies started to churn in her stomach. Just like the previous pageant, he was looked devastatingly handsome. To Elena's surprise, she suddenly felt like a nervous schoolgirl from just looking him. This then made her feel embarrassed as it was only Damon, one of her best friends who had literally overnight, managed to possess the magical power of reducing her to a nervous wreck just by being in his presence.
Caroline fortunately, hadn't noticed Elena's reaction and instead threw a rolled up pair of black socks at him, hitting Damon squarely in the chest. "Get out, lurker!" she yelled.
"Ouch." Damon said sarcastically, feigning to be hurt as Caroline walked over to him. "Where's Professor Shane?" he asked.
"Check the judges' table." Caroline snapped as she started to close the door on him, but Damon put his hand up and pushed it back open as Caroline turned around and began to walk back towards Elena.
"Red one, definitely." Damon told April with a smile.
Caroline stopped in the middle of the room, crossed her arms and turned back to glare at him. "We've already agreed that the red one is a little bit too showy." she told him as she turned to look to Elena for back up.
"It's a pageant. That's the whole point." Damon said as if stating the obvious.
Caroline looked at Damon putting her hands on her hips. "Did you win Miss Mystic last year?" she asked. "No. I don't think you did."
"Neither did Elena and she wore blue." Damon reminded them before looking at April smiling smugly.
"Nobody cares what you think." Caroline snapped, a sense of defeat was in the air.
"I care." April piped up.
"See?" Damon grinned. "April cares. Red, right, Elena?" Caroline glared at Elena whilst Elena looked at April, trying to figure out a way to impress Damon by agreeing with him without upsetting Caroline too much.
"The red is pretty." Elena offered, trying to make it sound as neutral as possible. However, she realized she hadn't succeeded to in her attempt when she saw the expression of indignant anger on Caroline's face and Damon's smirk.
"And my work here is done." Damon said bowing his head as he smiled and walked out of the room.
Caroline looked at Elena. "Uh, what happened to thirty seconds ago when you hated the red one? What happened to safe is good?" she demanded.
Elena however was still reeling from the shock of how Damon had made her feel. Snapping herself out of her haze, she shook her head and turned back to April. "Whichever one you want to wear, April." she advised before heading to the door, leaving Caroline confused.
"What just happened?" she heard Caroline say as Elena left to follow Damon who was walking down the stairs.
"Damon." Elena called causing Damon to stop at the bottom of the staircase and turn to look at her, instantly reminding her of the previous pageant.
"Still here." he replied whilst she stood halfway down the stairs as Elena took a nervous deep breath.
"We need to talk." Elena said breaking the silence as Damon nodded in response.
"Stefan told me about the break up." Damon said as Elena started to walk down the stairs to meet Damon at the bottom. "I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not."
As they walked across the huge reception hall together, Elena started to nervously play with her hair. "What did he say?" she asked tentatively as they stopped in the middle of the hall and faced each other.
"Oh, you know Stefan." Damon said rolling his eyes. "He kind of just went on and on about it and wouldn't shut up."
"So, he didn't tell you why?" Elena asked curiously.
"Nope." Damon replied. "But I'm sure it has something to do with you acting weird, so why don't you tell me?" he asked.
Elena took in a nervous breath. "You." was all she could say. Damon stared at her, speechless in shock at this revelation, before a small smile began to grace his beautiful features. For a minute they just stood there, stared at each other, sharing a knowing look as they both recognized that this was a life changing moment for both of them.
Unfortunately, their monumental life changing moment was cut short as Professor Shane walked by, stopping when he noticed Damon. "Damon Salvatore." Professor Shane greeted Damon as if they already knew each other, causing Elena to frown. "Looks like we travel in the same circuit." Damon and Elena looked over at him. Elena could tell from the look on Damon's face, that he was not pleased that Professor Shane had interrupted their special moment.
"Professor Shane. Just the guy I wanted to see." Damon grimaced as he walked towards the Professor, but not before he looked back at Elena with an expression that she knew meant that they'd talk later. As the two men left the room together, Damon gave Elena one last brief glance as if committing her image to memory, before leaving Elena standing alone in the middle of the room, hoping she'd said and done the right thing.
Elena went back upstairs to get her purse and to have a few minutes to recover from what had just happened. She'd had feelings for Damon for a long time, that she was fully aware of, but she'd refused to act upon them apart from that one time in Denver. The reason had been plain and simple, she was scared of what other people would think of her. But now she'd had enough, if they didn't like her then they weren't true friends in the first place. Her relationship with Damon was not for Caroline, or Stefan or Bonnie to decide. It was a matter for her and Damon alone and she needed to keep reminding herself of that fact. That thought gave her a renewed sense of confidence which had been missing since her parents died. She was no longer the sad little girl who needed a boyfriend to help protect and look after her. She was a woman now, who instead of needing someone for protection, she wanted a certain man to share her life with.
Elena's thought's once again drifted back to Denver. She thought about the difference between Damon and Stefan as she had done for what had seemed like the millionth time. All of the times before her thoughts were reflected with a tinge of sadness believing that she'd never have a chance to kiss Damon and be in his arms again. His passion was intense, and that one kiss had been the most erotic moment of her entire life until that point, and it still was, even more so than having sex with Matt or Stefan. But relationships weren't about lust, although it did help. However, the thought of being able to be in his arms without guilt excited her. She didn't even dare imagine how good the sex would be. She'd heard the rumors about Damon and his impressive bedroom skills. No matter what Caroline said about the way Damon had used her, she had never once said a bad word about him in relation to their sex life.
Although Elena didn't want to rush into anything, she didn't see the point in waiting around. Vampires were highly sexual creatures, their needs were much greater than when they were human. A sexually frustrated vampire, was a grumpy and potentially dangerous vampire. Also it wasn't like she and Damon were strangers or hadn't spent any intimate moments together. The only thing their relationship lacked was the freedom of intimacy around each other, and becoming sexual partners. This was the thought that had led to Elena's earlier decision to opt for her new black lacy underwear, hoping that Damon would approve if it went that far. The sheer thought of Damon kissing her and touching her, made her body tingle with pleasure.
Elena was suddenly broken away from her thoughts when she heard Caroline talking over the microphone as she realized the formal introductions had started. Elena picked up her purse and rushed downstairs at human speed, making her way outside to find Matt as he was her date. She spotted him straight away and walked over to him.
"Have you seen Jeremy?" he asked.
"He's probably up there with the escorts." Elena suggested as she nodded towards the stage, as another girl was been introduced to the sound applause, the contestant took the arm of her escort and they walked off together.
Both Elena and Matt looked over at the escorts to try to spot Jeremy. "Yeah, Caroline told me to wrangle the escorts. He's not here." Matt told her, causing Elena to become slightly worried at this development.
"Katherine Wilson accompanied by Eric Hanson." Caroline announced in the background as a round of applause went up for Katherine.
"I'll find him, but..." Elena stopped as she saw April start to descend the stairs as Elena and Matt watched her. "April's about to get abandoned." Elena whispered.
"I got this." Matt offered.
"Okay." Elena replied as Matt walked away to take Jeremy's place.
"And finally, we have a last minute entry, April Young accompanied by Jeremy Gilbert." Caroline announced as April walked down the steps before stopping to look around for Jeremy. Elena could see that Caroline was also looking around for Jeremy, however she kept a large fake smile plastered to her face, as Matt walked up to the area where the escorts were lined up and held out his arm for April. The crowd applauded as April walked down the remainder of the stairs with a smile taking Matt's arm before they headed off to the stage to dance.
Elena was still looking around for Jeremy when she caught sight of Damon looking at her, causing her to smile shyly back at him. Damon continued to stare at her tentatively for a moment before her looked back and watched the dance. Elena watched him for a little while longer, wondering if he was remembering them dancing together at the last pageant. Elena had to force herself to push that thought to one side for the meantime whilst she concentrated on the more urgent task of finding her began searching her bag for her phone so she could call Jeremy as she walked out of the crowd. Caroline must have followed her as she was soon stood behind Elena, who had finally found her phone.
"Hey, what's with the last minute escort change? Where is Jeremy?" Caroline demanded.
"I'm calling him right now." Elena told her, holding her phone to her ear, but only getting Jeremy's voicemail in return. Elena noticed Damon emerge from the crowd and walk over to them.
"He's not picking up." Elena started to panic as Damon arrived and stood next to her.
"Do the math. Emo teen, open bar, it's fine." Damon smiled appearing unconcerned. "Relax, I'm sure he's fine."
"I don't know. I have a bad feeling." Elena said in a worried voice.
"If I'm not worried, you shouldn't be worried. Let it go." Damon tried to reassure her but to no avail. "I'll go look for him." he offered which finally helped Elena calm down a little.
"Okay." Elena breathed as Damon walked away.
"Okay, you go home." Caroline instructed Elena. "I'm gonna start asking around here."
"Maybe Damon's right." Elena said, although deep down she knew it was no longer typical Jeremy behavior, however he hadn't been the same since he and Bonnie broke up. "Maybe he grabbed a bottle from the bar and snuck off to the woods."
"No, Damon is never right." Caroline snapped. "Damon is sneaky and manipulative and rude, but he's never right. How can you not see that?"
"I don't know." Elena suddenly felt angry and defensive towards her friend. "But why do I think that you won't hesitate to tell me?" she asked.
"Fine, friend-tervention." Caroline told her. "I think your so-called 'feelings' for Damon are really starting to cloud your judgment and I don't like it." she continued as Klaus walked over to join them as he stood next to Caroline. "And the thought of you two together really makes me want to barf." Caroline stomped.
"Easy, love, you're making a scene." Klaus whispered gently to Caroline to try and calm her down.
"Wow, Caroline, thank you for making this very difficult time so much easier." Elena snapped sarcastically as she walked away, not being able to cope with being in Caroline's presence for another minute.
"How did I become the bad guy?" Elena overheard Caroline ask Klaus in the distance.
Elena decided to search the house for Jeremy whilst the judging took place, but she still couldn't find him. Every now and again she'd try to call him, but they always went through to voicemail. Eventually Elena made it back in time to partake in her duty of holding the cushion containing the sash and tiara for the winner. It was down to Caroline as the reigning Miss Mystic Falls to announce who'd won and crown the winner. Despite the fact she'd opted for the daring red dress, April Young won the pageant, prompting the crowd to applaud April who just smiled, looking like she wanted to cry. Caroline took the tiara from the cushion Elena was holding, as she prepared to crown April. By this point Elena was paying little attention to the ceremony as she scanned the crowd for any sign of Jeremy, suddenly spotting him as he walked through the crowd of people.
"Jeremy" Elena cried as Caroline placed the tiara on April's head.
Jeremy mustn't have heard her as he walked off, away from the crowd into the house. Elena quickly handed Carol Lockwood the sash and cushion and walked off the stage to follow him. Matt must have also noticed Jeremy walking away as he joined Elena to chase after him. Inside the house, they eventually found Jeremy is sitting in an upstairs empty room. Upon hearing her enter he looked up at Elena sheepishly.
"Hey Jer, where have you been?" Elena asked, her voice full of concern.
"I was getting ready but I couldn't find my car keys." Jeremy explained with a slightly blank expression on his face. "I didn't want to walk as it was hot and I didn't want to get all sweaty for the dance with April, so I called Stefan and asked if he could give me a ride. It took him a while to get me here as he had stuff to do first."
Elena eyed Jeremy with suspicion. "Why didn't you call me?" she asked.
"I thought you'd be too busy." Jeremy told her although Elena didn't believe a word of it. The previous night, when Elena had asked Stefan to keep Jeremy out of things, he hadn't responded. With this revelation, she suspected he was still going behind her back and pressing on to get her the cure.
Elena turned to Matt who was standing right behind her. "Can I have a word with you in private?" Elena asked as Matt nodded in reply. They left Jeremy alone to go into an adjoining room to talk as Elena closed the door behind them. "Matt, has any vampire other than Vicki ever been invited into your house?" Elena asked.
Matt thought about her question for a moment. "Only you and Caroline, but that was before you were both turned, so no. Why?" he asked.
"I need you to make sure it stays that way. Do not, under any circumstances invite any vampire into your house. That includes both me and Caroline." she instructed him.
"Why?" Matt asked confused.
"Well I've got the Katherine problem and you don't want her to have free reign in your house. She's already compelled you at least once." Elena explained. "Also, vampires have a humanity switch, and when that switch is off, we can become very different and extremely dangerous." she said.
"Like when Stefan was the ripper?" Matt asked and Elena nodded.
"The other thing that I need to ask is if you can do me a favor and take Jeremy home with you and keep an eye on him. That's if you don't mind." Matt nodded. "It's just that I think he is being compelled which is the real reason why he wasn't here for the dance." Elena told him.
"Do you know who's compelling him?" Matt asked.
"I think it's Stefan." Elena said causing Matt's eyes to go wide in surprise.
"Why?" Matt asked.
"I can't tell you right now because I don't know all of the details myself. But I want Jer to be kept out of it. I can't protect him properly whilst he's asleep as Stefan can get into my house and Jeremy still trusts him and I don't know exactly what he's compelled him to do. At least if he's sleeping at yours then nobody can get in and kidnap him." Elena explained.
"No problem." Matt agreed. "How are you going to convince him to stay at mine?" he asked before realizing the answer from the expression on her face. "I'm not going to ask." he said shaking his head. "Do you want me to put vervain in his coffee?"
"Please." Elena replied. "That should keep him from being compelled until I can get Stefan to stop what he's doing."
Elena went back to the room where Jeremy was and Matt followed her. She then compelled Jeremy to stay at Matt's until she said told him he was safe to come home. Once she'd finished, they all left the room and headed back outside to rejoin the party. Walking down the steps, Elena noticed Stefan waiting for her. Not wanting to speak to him, Elena turned and walked off in the other direction. However it was too late because Stefan had already spotted her with Matt who followed Jeremy back to the party.
"Elena, wait." Stefan called as came running after her.
"I don't want to hear it Stefan." Elena stopped and glared at him. "I asked you not to involve Jeremy in all of this. This shouldn't be happening to him." she said as she turned to walk away again.
"Elena, wait. I know it's my fault, I'm sorry." Stefan pleaded as he caught up with her and grabbed her by the arm to stop her from getting away as he faced her.
Elena stopped trying to pull away and looked at him. "What are you sorry for Stefan? Is it because you are going to tell me that Jeremy has been with you this entire time?" she asked although she knew perfectly well what the answer was after speaking to a clearly compelled Jeremy. Stefan said nothing and turned his face away, looking guilty, confirming her suspicions. "Are you going lie and tell me that you haven't been compelling Jeremy again, against my wishes to help Klaus make a copy of Connors tattoo? Or are you going to tell me the truth for a change?" she demanded, lowering her voice as she didn't want Klaus to overhear their conversation.
"We need the map to get the cure." Stefan admitted.
"If getting my humanity back means putting Jeremy in danger, then I don't want the cure." Elena growled. "I've already told you that."
"It's the only way to fix all of this." Stefan pleaded.
"You mean me Stefan." Elena said sadly. "The only way to fix me. You don't have to love me like this. This is who I am now. The old Elena died when she went off that bridge. Let her go."
Elena could see tears forming in Stefan's eyes, Elena's words had obviously stung him. But Elena couldn't feel guilty for what she'd said. Taking the cure wasn't going to magically take away her feelings for Damon. They were already there before she turned. She just hadn't had the confidence to go with her heart, instead she'd gone with her head. On top of that, Elena was not going to easily forgive Stefan for involving Jeremy and putting his life in danger.
Suddenly Elena heard someone approach from behind, his unique scent told her straight away that it was Damon, but he stopped a few feet away from her. Both Elena and Stefan looked over at him before Elena turned back to face Stefan. Damon's presence strengthened her resolve, as she looked at Stefan, she shook her head before giving a him rueful smile. Elena watched as Stefan turned around and walk away, clearly hurt by her rejection.
Elena turned back and walked towards Damon. "I found Jeremy." she told him.
"Where was he?" Damon asked.
"Do you want the real version or the compelled version of events?" Elena asked raising an eyebrow causing Damon to close his eyes and shake his head. "He's going to stay with Matt until this has all blown over." Elena told him as he looked confused. "Matt hasn't let any vampires inside his house since Vicki. He's safe to sleep there without me worrying if someone will come and kidnap him in the night. Plus Matt ingests vervain every day meaning that he's safe from being compelled." Elena grinned at her plan.
"Good call." Damon said fidgeting around for a moment. "I guess it's time we made a move then. Unless you want to talk here." he joked as Elena shook her head laughing.
"I'll go home, get showered and changed, and then I'll drop by later. Hopefully Stefan will either be out or in bed so we can talk in private." Elena said as Damon walked her to her car. Just as she was about to get in, Damon put his arm around her waist and chastely kissed her on the cheek, causing them to both smile as he pulled away, allowing her to get in her car and set off home.
As soon as Elena arrived home, she showered, shaved, primped and preened. She wanted to make sure she looked perfect. She chose the most sexy set of black lacy underwear out of the ones she'd bought the previous day. She did however, pack the red lacy set that Damon had once admired and told her to put in the 'yes pile' for their Chicago road trip. Elena smiled at the memory of Damon's face when he found them. After completing her seduction look, Elena then put on a more innocent blue dress, just in case she bumped into Stefan whilst she was there.
By the time she got into her car to drive out to the boarding house it was already dark. When Elena arrived she was about to knock but Damon opened the front door before she got the chance. Elena walked inside the house deciding to leave her small overnight bag in the car for the time being just in case Stefan was still up. It was a good thing she did because when she walked in, Stefan emerged from the parlor. For what seemed like eternity they just looked at each other as the tension mounted in the room.
"I have things to do, so I'll crash somewhere else." Stefan informed them as he finally broke the silence. His voice cracking as walked quietly out of the house, leaving Elena and Damon watch him go before closing the door behind him.