Chapter 5 (Day 2)
The following day, Elena finds herself sweating after a couple of hours running with her ear buds on. When she has woken up this early morning, she has found Damon fast asleep with his mouth slightly hanging open and she could not help it but take a picture, though he has stirred for a moment before going back to sleep. After that, she has felt the force inside of her that urging her to be productive and starting the day with a morning run, which is an unusual thing for her to do. She has used to wake up at eight or nine in the weekend, run downstairs for breakfast then spends the entire day holed up in her room.
Jenna is brewing coffee when she gets home after her run, still in her loose white t-shirt and sweat pants, "You run?"
Elena wipes the sweat off her temple, "Yeah, it's a good morning."
"It is, I can see that," she frowns slightly at her niece queer behavior, "since when do you run?"
"Since today," the younger woman answers sheepishly.
Jenna's quiet for a few seconds, "Well, good for you. Coffee?"
"Sure, thanks, I will take a shower first though."
Elena practically sprints out of the kitchen, shaking her low ponytail as she run for the stairs. She gets into her room and closes it quietly, and finds Damon finally leaves the dream world and joins her in the real world.
"Good morning," she says, taking off her black hoodie.
"Ugh, you're a morning person," Damon replies in his husky I-just-woke-up voice, unintentionally making Elena shivers. How can he affect her so much with so little effort?
"Nine forty-eight a.m. is barely morning for me. Anyway, I want you gone in ten minutes, I want to take a shower," she informs him as she grabs her new white towel from her white dresser.
"Why, it's not even part of the rules," he smirks, sitting up so that his back is against the headboard.
"Uh, basically it is. Boundaries, remember?" she utters, very much annoyed at Damon.
She leaves him alone to the bathroom, but the smirk still intact to his face. It is so good to mess with her mind. He loves to get her rile up over nothing.
Wait.
Love?
Already?
Damon Salvatore does not do love, especially to a person he just met yesterday. A person who can barely tolerates him.
"I'm turning into Stefan with all the brooding," he murmurs, annoyed by himself.
He stands up, go for his leather jacket when he hears Jenna footsteps getting closer to her room. He blurs into the bathroom in a second, listening intently to Jenna's moving closer then stops in front of her door.
"Elena, I made toast, come downstairs after your showers."
After a few beats, she goes downstairs again. Damon closes his eyes. That is so close; he is half-thankful that he gets to be a vampire in his second chance in life, if you can call it life since he is supposed to be dead.
He turns around to finally realize that he is inside the bathroom, where Elena is taking a shower. He can easily rips off the shower curtain that, in that moment, mocking him by hiding her perfect petite figure from his naked eyes. Apparently, she is too busy lathering up her body with a loofah that covers in suds that smells like vanilla, unknowingly teasing him through her flawless silhouette. He can feel his jeans getting tighter and tighter by the second but it seems that his feet to be glued to the floor. He keeps staring at her silhouette, which now appears that she is rinsing her body.
After a moment of weakness, he finally gather up all he has, opens the door quietly then closes it again, and in a second jumps off the window. Who knows, maybe he will find some willing donor, or better yet, a female companion to be Elena's substitute.
Damon walks in a slow pace as he looks around at the town he has missed for the past twelve years. Mystic Falls was, and is, and forever will be his home. No matter the bad memories he has gotten when he was a child or his vampire life, this town also holds so many great memories; memories that he miss terribly.
He walks pass the bakery in the town square, that used to be a book store, then stops in front of it. He closes his eyes, smell of fresh bread coming to his senses. He decides to walk in only to find a woman, the same age as Elena he'd guess, with long blonde hair and a blue apron.
"Good morning, welcome to Mikaelson's Bakery, how may I help you?"
The chipper voice of the woman sorts his thoughts and he looks back at her and turns on his charm, "Yes, Miss…"
"Rebekah," she grins broadly, "I haven't seen you around, you new in town?"
"I just got back, actually, from a long… vacation," he smirks.
"Well, it's only fair if you tell me your name, wouldn't you say?" she flutters her eyelashes, and it actually makes Damon wants to gag. Do women today always this easy?
"Just someone passing by your bakery," he says. Damon's eyes suddenly turn to a darker shade of blue and widening slightly, "now, why don't you be a good girl, show me the restroom, and follow me?" he compels.
She blinks once before she says, "Sure."
She goes to the door behind her on the left, he casually follows her inside. As soon as the door closes between them, he traps her against the door, and she actually looks at him adoringly.
"Do not scream, you are going to enjoy this, Bex," he tells her, looking straight to her eyes.
His head dive in first to taste the skin of her slender neck as she opens more access for him. He can feel her veins pumping blood and he can't want to taste her sweet blood, as he hasn't tasted blood for twelve years; he can't even imagine why yesterday he could go on without blood.
He kisses and licks the spot once before his canines elongates and bites her, hard. The first drop of her blood tastes like sugar-covered strawberry for him. He sucks once, twice, three times before he hears her moan slightly, opening more access to her neck. This girl is about to have the time of her life. He let her hands roaming his toned physique and in return, he caresses her body like an instrument. He takes three big sips more before he feels her body limps in his arms, let go of the neck he has been devour, put his hands on her shoulders, pressing hard so that she won't fall down.
"Now, tell your boss that you need a day off, sleep it off, wear scarf for at least two days from now and, forget that you ever seen me."
Elena is busy with her math and English assignment for the past two hours. She has been spending most of her afternoon with writing her essay and doing equations and algebra that she doesn't even fully understand.
After breakfast, she has planned to ask Damon everything she has been dying to know. But, he never comes.
So, she has decided to do her homework while waiting for him, and finally gets distracted.
When she's on number four of the math question, she feels a gust of the wind that send chills to her skin, she looks up and finds Damon standing beside her window seat, a smug smirk graces his flawless face.
"Hello, Elena."
"Where have you been?" she closes her book, sits up Indian style from her laying-down-on-her-stomach position.
"It only has been two days and you already care to hear about my whereabouts?" he takes steps closer until he sits in front of her, copying her sitting style.
"That's because I had many questions that I want you to answer," she mutters.
"Math?" he stares down at her yellow notebook, showing him what she has been working on.
She follows his stare, "Yeah, I seem to be clueless when it comes to math."
"I am very wonderful in math," he brags, wiggling his thick eyebrows.
"You are?" she frowns, definitely second-guessing his intelligence.
"Come on, give me some credit. I've lived for a long long time, didn't you think I went to one or two Ivy League?" he rolls his—stunning—blue eyes.
"Huh, where did you go?" she challenges him, turning her chin up.
"Well, I took physics at MIT, seven years later I went to Brown to satisfied my hunger for English Literature, and twenty one years ago I took Math at Cornell," he reminisces.
"Wait, MIT? Brown? Cornell? How did you get in?"
"What, you think I'm not smart enough that I need to use my amazing vampire ability to compel people?" he starts to get irritated at her disbelieve.
One thing he doesn't think she would pick up, though. Now she knows vampire can compel people to do whatever they want. She doesn't want to show it to him that she now knows something about him, maybe she can use it against him in the future.
"Well, yeah," she says matter-of-factly, "you seem to be type of person who doesn't like to go to school, loves to string girls along, and full of himself."
"You just describe some hurtful things about me, I'm hurt," he feigns, putting his right hand atop his unbeating heart.
"Do you actually have feelings, Damon?" now, it is her turn to roll her warm chocolate eyes.
He smirks as a respond, "So, do you want my help? I'm great at math. Come to think of it, I'm great at everything."
"See, you are so full of yourself," she points out, a victorious smile adorning her face.
The smile, though, makes Damon's insides feel warm. Something that he hasn't felt in a very long time. He'd very much like to cause her to smile like that as often as possible.
"Do you want my help or not?" he pouts.
"Yes, of course, thanks. This is killing me," she dramatically claims.
"Now watch and learn, O' Young Grasshopper," he grins so big that makes Elena can't help but grin back.
"Thanks for tonight, Ric, I feel like a princess because of you," Jenna looks up to smile at her boyfriend, who currently wraps his strong arm around her shoulder and kisses her temple.
"Anything for you, you know that."
They walk to the front porch and stop after they reach the landing, "Do you think Damon is upstairs?" Jenna whispers, almost audible so that Damon can't tune in to their conversation.
"Of course he's upstairs," he says matter-of-factly.
"It's been two days, do you think it'll work?" she leans in closer so that only Ric can hear her.
"Jen, you took three weeks and a day to realized it. Give Elena some times, okay? But I'm sure slowly she will learn to open up to him," he speaks in normal tone, "and don't get your panties in a twist, everything will be fine."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Do not overthink, be positive and let universe do the rest. I trust it'll work," Ric says in confident.
She sighs softly, "Okay, then. And I trust you."
He smiles, "Goodnight," he kisses her softly, leaving her breathless.
"Goodnight, Ric."
Well, don't forget to let me know what you think about this one!
Have a nice day/night!