First of all, HELLO!
Before you read this, I want to let you know that you are going to hate Caroline. Also, I do not support bullying, though it is needed to get to where we're going. Delena goodness in this chapter is a way to make it up to you guys. Enjoy!
Chapter 9 (Day 5-Day 7)
"Ugh, put something that I actually know," Elena groans when she hears melodies from the '50s.
"I happen to like rock music from the '50s," the dark-haired man next to her grumbles slightly.
"I am taken against my will this morning, the least you can do is let me pick the music playlist."
Damon seems to be okay when Elena shoots her hand toward to radio and searching for her songs. He keeps his sight on the open road but he can see from his peripheral how adorable her face is with her nose scrunches a little and she bites her lower lip, concentrates deeply.
"Here you go! Let me introduce you to the most talented and amazing singer-songwriter of 21st century…. Ed Sheeran!" she announces giddily, turning her head to face him with a big grin paints her face.
People fall in love in mysterious way, maybe it's all part of a plan…
Damon purses his lips, listening to the lyrics, "Don't wanna make your head bigger than it already is, but it is a good song."
"I know, right. Ed Sheeran is like one of my favorite artists and he knows exactly how to make girls swoon through his lyrics," she sighs softly, turning her head back to the open road before her.
"So," he starts talking again after the song ends, changing into upbeat and obnoxious rap song, "what else don't I know about you?"
Elena frowns slightly, thinking about things she is going to tell him, "Well, I love pancakes, it's too bad Jenna only makes it when she has a good mood. But don't tell her I said that. What else….? Oh! I keep a journal since I was in sixth grade, but don't you even try to find and read it, it is private. I also enjoy recent television shows, like Once Upon a Time and Reign. Those are my favorites, but classic ones like Full House and The Golden Girls are my all-time favorites. And I – why are you looking at me like that? Keep your eyes on the road!"
Without her knowing, all the time when she was talking about herself, Damon was looking at her in awe. As if he was hanging onto every word she says. Damon keeps his electric blue eyes on her face with amused and captured face all over his.
"I like it when you talk," he simply says, "Sue me."
Elena's blushes crimson, suddenly she finds her shoes fascinating, "Don't you mean I'm annoying?"
"Who says that? You're not to me. I like listening to your voice."
"Oh, don't try to be cute," she dismisses him, "Are we there yet?"
He realizes that she tries to change the subject, so he lets it go, "Fifteen more minutes tops."
Silence fills the car, Elena doesn't like it. She likes it when Damon won't shut his mouth, and sue her, but she also likes it when he talks. His voice trumps all male singer voices and it is her favorite.
"So, what don't I know about you?"
"Well… you know nothing about me," he teases.
"Let's change that. I told you some things about me. It's only fair if you tell me some things about you," she states.
"Okay," he pretends to think for a while before he lists some things that he wants to share with his soul mate, "Bourbon is my drink of choice. I like nights better than mornings. I happen to also like pancakes especially when I add blueberries and whip cream. My best friend was my brother. I – "
"'Was'?" the brunette woman cut him off, "What do you mean 'was'?"
His face suddenly turns gloomy, and she can clearly see that he doesn't want to talk about him, but she wants to know. Call her nosy for all she cares.
"It means that he's not in the picture anymore."
"Is he…," Elena bites her lip, feeling bad about the next word she is about to throw, "Dead?"
"Yes," he admits quietly, "Can we not talk about it, please?"
Elena immediately feels bad for him, and without a second thought, she reaches out to touch his arm gently, squeezes it to remind him that it is okay to feel sad, "I'm sorry. For many things. For screaming when we first met, for forcing you to follow the rules I don't even follow, for making you remember possibly one of the many things that make you build up a wall," she lets out a soft sigh, before rubbing his arm up and down to soothe him, "And I'm sorry for ruining our five-minutes timeout."
Damon is speechless for the first time in years. This tiny, human girl has the ability to break him, crush him yet she also able to care for him and even apologize to him when he does not even deserve an apology for everything he had done in his previous lives.
He understands now. This is what soul mates do.
"Damon?"
Her voice breaks his trance, "Huh?"
"Have you not been listening to me?"
"I have. It's just… no one ever says 'sorry' to me. I guess that's because I don't deserve any. I have always been the one who has to say sorry, and yet, I never did."
It is Elena's turn to be speechless. Just how many heartbreaks he has gotten and he has caused? she thought.
"Well, lives working both ways, since humans are social. Not that you're human, you're a vampire, but still. Sorry… I'm rambling," she blushes once again, earning his genuine smile.
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"For… being you."
"Welcome to the Mystic Waterfalls," Damon happily announces while Elena still trying to catch her breath after a mile of the hike.
The woman behind him looks up to find a beautiful waterfall with sky blue water falling above them. They are close enough to get splashes of water but Elena doesn't even mind. The exquisite view beat every single one of her imagination of a perfect waterfall. She notices it is a pretty long way to get to the bottom of the falls since they have been hiking for at least fifteen minutes. She would love to go swimming down there if she only brought her swimsuit. She looks around to find they are surrounded by colorful wild flowers, they even stand on a perfectly green grass.
"This is beautiful. How'd you… I've been living here for a couple years and I have never thought that Mystic Falls actually has falls."
"Well, it is pretty secluded. I guess no one ever dared to hike up here since they are very superstitious."
"Superstitious?"
"Most people believe a vampire clan living up here. At least that's the story when I last lived here.
She rolls her deep-brown eyes, "speaking of, how long ago was that?"
"Twenty-something years ago."
Damon backs away a little to open his backpack that turns out consist of a red plaid blanket, some paper bags with some Mikaelson's Bakery on it, and four can of beers. First, he set the blanket neatly on the ground, signaling Elena to sit on it which she happily obliges since she's still tired from the hike. Then, he takes out various kinds of sandwiches, she spots a turkey sandwich; her favorite and put the beers on the blanket as well.
"Let's eat some lunch," Damon declares.
She gladly takes one turkey sandwich and bites them as if it was a Filet Mignon. She closes her eyes and moans slightly since Mikaelson's Bakery is her favorite to get sandwiches. When she opens her eyes, she realizes Damon has been ogling her from head to toe but focuses on her lips.
"Quit eyeballing me!" she glares at him.
"Not my fault you make eating so hot," he simply says as he takes the chicken sandwich.
They eat in a comfortable silence, each savoring their respective meal. Elena finishes first, then grabs one of the beers then drinks it down slowly, "This is the best lunch ever."
"Apparently I still capable of making one hell of a date," he smirks proudly.
"Who says it's a date?" she narrows her eyes, looking ridiculously at the vampire.
"Did you not notice the foods and the drinks? Also, the scenery is to die for?"
"So, you forced me to skip school to what? To going on a date with you?" she scowls at him, putting down her drink.
"Don't be mad. You know you needed a day off. You've been doing schools all day, then homework all night."
"And that is what weekends are for," she exclaims.
"Weekend is a day away. Besides, don't tell me you don't enjoy this," he challenges her.
She really wants to say that she does not enjoy it at all, but she has never been a good liar, "Alright, I admit, I enjoy this."
"So, this date is a success. You're welcome."
The next day rolls around quite fast. Elena just got out of the library at five thirty in the evening after she finished her research for her AP English class, she is walking towards the parking lot. She notices a couple of cars beside hers and one car parks all the way on the corner. She takes out her keys from her backpack, but before she reaches out the one thing she is looking for, a pair of hands shoot out at her and her body is slammed against her car.
"What the…? Caroline? What are you doing?" she frowns, feeling her back starting to hurt a bit since the impact of Caroline's push is pretty hard.
"Tell me, who was the guy yesterday and why did he want to pretend to be your boyfriend? Did you bribe him or something? How much does it cost you to make him your boyfriend? You are one ugly creature and I believe no one would be brave enough to date a dreadful-looking girl like you," Caroline hisses, her two friends hanging beside her as they shoot Elena their best angry glare.
Elena, shocked to hear awful things anyone could ever say to her, stood there frozen, looking down at her shoes, willing to not let Caroline and her minions see her tears.
"Answer me, Elena Gilbert!" the blonde girl stomps her feet, earning a gasp from the brunette.
"Please, just leave me alone," Elena begs meekly.
"No can do. You seemed happy yesterday because of Damon. You do not deserve to be happy," she sneers.
"Please, I don't want any trouble," Elena whimpers, still looking down.
Caroline roughly takes her chin up so that they are face to face, "Aw, look at that girls. We made her cry," Caroline makes a face, mocking Elena.
Elena keeps quiet, tears running down her reddened face. She would like to say something, anything. But her mouth seems to have other option. Looks like her mouth is also scared of the queen bee.
"I notice you skipped yesterday and you chose to look less ugly by wearing a skirt, making all the guys looking hungrily at you. And I do not like it, do you hear me? Wear the ugliest clothes you have on Monday and the rest of the school year," Caroline barks, pointing at Elena's chest.
The Gilbert girl nodded weakly, looking at she can't do anything when it comes to her bullies.
Fortunately, Elena gets home before her aunt so that she doesn't have to explain to her why her eyes are puffy and red. She immediately goes upstairs, practically dragging her body to her bedroom. As soon as she gets into her personal sanctuary, she flips on the light, puts her backpack down to the floor and messily takes off her shoes.
"Hello."
She looks up to find Damon smirks, but instantly a concerned look take its place, "You scared me!"
Damon takes three big steps towards his beautiful soul mate who currently has red puffy eyes and reddened cheeks due to the crying she has been doing the whole way home. He reaches out to caress her right cheek and instinctively the girl leans in, "What happened?"
It feels as if the dam has broken because of Damon's question, she launches herself into Damon's warmth embrace, tears streaming down her face.
Damon, on the other hand, quite surprised but after a second, wrap his muscular arms, cocooning Elena, providing his shoulder for her to cry on. His left hand is currently running through her silky wavy chocolate hair, and his right hand is placed on her back, pulling her close. He whispers some sweet nothings by telling her 'it's okay' but it's only making her cry harder. After a while he stops saying anything, letting her cry freely.
Elena is the one who breaks the embrace but Damon pulls her closer than before, making her sure that there are only ten to twenty centimeters between their faces. Damon takes Elena's face in his hands, carefully wiping the remaining tears.
"Baby, are you okay?" Damon asks softly. He notices that Elena doesn't even realize his slip of tongue by calling her 'baby'.
Elena shakes her head 'no', "I had an awful day."
Damon leads her to the bed, with him sitting with his back on the headboard and his legs straight on the bed. He pulls her to his lap, silently grateful that she does not protest. Instead, she puts her head on his shoulder and it molds perfectly. She sniffles but feeling the warmth and comfort from Damon's hand running on her back to her shoulder repeatedly.
"Want to talk about it?" Damon pops the silent after what it seems like an hour.
He feels her head readjusting and she gets closer in his lap, he just prays that she wouldn't feel his hard-on right now.
"It's Caroline," her voice changes slightly due to her full-on crying a while ago, "She asked how much do I pay you to be my boyfriend since I'm so ugly and dreadful-looking no guy would be bold enough to date me."
His jaw clenches. Elena Gilbert is far from ugly.
"No, baby, no," he takes her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him, "I told you before that you are the most beautiful woman I've ever met in my lifetimes, right? I wasn't joking back then, and I'm sure as hell still stands by what I said. You are stunning, gorgeous, lovely, and I'll throw all adjectives if only I knew more."
Elena lets out a small giggle, "But she's right. I've been wearing skirt making me look desperate and uglier."
He curses the blonde bitch in his head loudly, "Elena, look at me," she follows his order, "The girl who told you you're ugly feels threatened by your beauty. She's just jealous that all the guys attracted to you while she stands alone outside at the curb. Though I approve what other guys think of you, I still don't like them ogling you," he adds, pouting like a five-year-old.
Elena chuckles, "Thanks, Damon. You really know how to make me feel better."
"And don't you ever listen to her, please. Wear whatever you like to wear. You are beautiful in everything. Remember that," Damon demands.
They spend a couple hours in each other embrace. Damon wouldn't dare to ask about her sudden affections, afraid she will let go because little does she knows, he loves having her in his arms.
Damon walks out of his bedroom, freshly showered, fully clothed in his deep red Henley shirt and black jeans. He goes downstairs to find Alaric making a cheese omelet. A plate of the egg has been finished and ready to eat on the dining table along with the freshly squeezed orange juice.
"Morning. Help yourself," Alaric calls out without turning his focus on his omelet.
Damon sits in front of his omelet, eating it and tasting the sweet and salty taste of the egg. After a minute, his new roommate sits in front of him, eating his own breakfast.
"So, where were you last night? I don't recall you coming home after I turn in at eleven," Alaric starts the conversation, hoping Damon would open up to him a bit more.
"Gee, wifey, I didn't realize I have to tell you my whereabouts," Damon smiles tightly.
He scowls slightly, "I'm just saying, that I haven't given you the spare keys yet that I'm afraid you couldn't get in."
"I was staying at a friend's place," he lies easily when the truth is he jumped from the ground to his bedroom through the window but he isn't about to tell him.
"Well," Alaric reaches down to his jeans pocket, retrieving a set of keys then put it on the table, "here you go."
They fall into an awkward silence. Only snaps from their respective thoughts when Damon's phone beeps. He takes out his stolen iPhone and read the text he has just gotten.
Elena G: Morning! Need help in doing my math homework, again! Could you be a dear and help me, please? *wink wink*
Flirting! Elena Gilbert is flirting with him and he feels like a virgin teenager all over again. With a silly smile, he replies.
Damon S: And what will I get in return?
Elena G: A chance to be with your soul mate for a whole day is not good enough for you?!
She adds an angry emoticon, making him smiles a little wider than it already is.
Damon G: Fine, fine, don't get your panties in a twist. Be there in 20.
"So, was that your girlfriend?"
Alaric's coy smile and the question get Damon stand up in less than three seconds. His roommate's laughter can be heard throughout the house.
NINA IS BACK I CANT CALM THE HELL DOWN IT MEANS WE WILL GET OUR BABIES BACK IN LESS THAN TWO MONTHS I AM SO HAPPY ARE YOU GUYS HAPPY
So, what did you think? Don't forget to let me know your thoughts!
Also, wish me luck for my proposal presentation tomorrow? ;)