Chapter 19 (Day 25-Day 28)
When you've been broken one time, then someone comes along to help you mend the hole inside you, you would've been willing to spend the rest of your life with them. But what will happen if that someone turns out to be your biggest heartbreak that you don't know what to do to tape up your heart back?
Elena drives away to her house with tears still running down her face. The pain in her heart seems to never want to leave its place and makes her feel small. If the world could swallow her whole, she would be fine with it as long as the aching stops. The emotional pain has been growing to physical pain as she starts to feel her eyes getting puffy, like she wants to tear her eyes out from its sockets and she would've been okay with it. But she knows better, she needs her eyes to get to her house, then her room and never comes out until maybe the next decade.
What Damon has done is worse than when she attended her parents' funeral. With the funeral, she knows getting over their deaths will be hard but with moving out of her old house and creates new memories with Jenna makes the hurt lessen. With Damon, though, she knows it's going to be harder. She can't possibly ask Jenna to move away, again. She won't let a heartbreak over a guy controls her life. She's just not that kind of girl. Besides, what Damon has done will make her feelings for him diminish over time. At least she hopes so.
When she gets to the driveway, carefully parks her car, she takes out some tissues from its place then cautiously wipes the remnants of the offensive tears on her cheeks down to her neck. She sniffles once then dabs the mascara streaks from under her eyes. She doesn't want her aunt to see her in this state, like some kind of weak girl that cries in her car along with Celine Dion's All By Myself as the background. She looks at her rearview mirror, repeatedly whispering to herself that it's all going to be okay. She would smile to Jenna, tell her that everything is okay and that she doesn't want dinner then up to her room. She takes a deep breath then in a second out of her car.
"I'm home." Elena announces when she gets to the foyer.
"Hey, I make some… are you okay?" Jenna asks, concerns paint all over her face.
"Sure, but I'm not hungry, though. I think I'm gonna crash early," she offers Jenna a weak smile but her arm being grabbed before she gets the chance to step on the stairs.
"What happened?" Jenna asks seriously, timidly caressing her damp cheeks.
"Got into a fight with Damon, but I'm okay."
"No, you aren't. Did he do something—"
"Aunt Jenna," Elena calls firmly, "I am fine. I'm tired and I wanna go to bed."
Without further explanations, she rushes up to her room and locks the door. She goes to her window to lock them as well, just in case. Her shoulders slump as she looks around the room, doesn't know what she has to do next. She feels lost.
She takes a breath, try to control her emotions and keep her tears at bay. She refuses to keep crying over a relationship. What he has done just proved that she can't let anyone get close to her if in the end they will only causes her more heart breaks. She knows she deserves better than heart breaks.
She throws her purse aimlessly then takes out her white plain tank top and a short flannel pajama pants before she goes to the bathroom. After fifteen minutes, she's out of the bathroom, make-up free but still feels heavy, as if she's been carrying all the misery in the world. Well, she's been betrayed by the only person she trusted, she deserves an early night.
She goes to her bed, gets under the covers and in a minute she falls asleep.
"He's home?"
"Yeah, I don't think he's come out of his room since yesterday."
"That son a of bitch." Jenna curses angrily.
"What happened?"
"Elena came home crying yesterday evening, won't talk to me, won't even eat her breakfast so I left it outside her room. I came home at four earlier, and I found the tray still full of pancakes, untouched. She loves pancakes, Ric. She loves them. Something's wrong with her." Jenna explains as she trudges to Damon's bedroom door. "Open up, you jerk!"
"Jen…"
"Stop, I wanna talk to him since she won't talk to me. Damon, open up or I swear I'll kick this door down and shoves it to your heart!"
The door opens suddenly. "What?"
Jenna leaves her hand on air as she checks the vampire out. His appearance is no better than Elena's yesterday. His eyes are bloodshot; his hair looks disheveled as if he's been running his fingers through it a hundred times. He even loses that pink tint on his cheeks that Jenna used to see, instead he looks just like the vampires in the movies; pale.
"What the hell did you do to my niece?" Jenna asks rudely as she pushes Damon out of the way and goes into his room followed by her boyfriend. Damon's room is no better; empty alcohol bottles are everywhere, the edges of the dresser has been split in two and there is pieces of glass from the mirror in the bathroom.
"Is she okay?" Damon's eyes lights up in worry, forgetting that both humans have coma inside uninvited.
Jenna places both her hands on her hips. "You do not get to ask me that after what you've done. Now I ask again, what in the fresh hell did you do to Elena?"
"I…" Damon goes to sit on the bed, putting his head between his hands, lowered in shame, "I fucked up. Big time."
"Enlighten us," Alaric demands, crossing his arms.
"I'm nearing my expiration date. She won't say it back—"
"She was going to tell you yesterday. I heard her talking to Bex," Jenna says, frowning slightly.
"…and I—wait, what?" Damon looks up in instant.
"I overheard them talking about it. I saw her running to her car, smiling so big I thought her face gonna rip in two."
"I… fuck!" he stands up then harshly grabs the almost empty bourbon bottle on the bedside table and throws it into pieces on the floor making Jenna and Alaric jump. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
They fall into silence. Jenna tries to find words that are not going to offend the unpredictable vampire. "What happened?"
"I fed off of a woman when she came. She saw me and stormed out. Won't even listen to me and broke up with me," Damon briefly explained in shame. "Nice going, fucker," Damon mumbles under his breath.
Jenna widens her eyes with shock paints all over her beautiful face. "What? You're right, you fucked up."
"Damon…" Alaric shakes his head in disapproval. "No wonder she broke up with you."
"I just… I didn't know what to do, okay? In five days I'd be gone unless she say it. I was frustrated and impulsively picked up a stupid woman on the street and fed from her."
Jenna sighs. "It was a dick move. I understand that you're time's almost up but she's just a teenager, Damon. She already has to endure things that most adults can't even begin to imagine."
"Don't you think I know that?" he spits angrily, at himself, at the world for putting him in this situation.
"What are you going to do? It's Tuesday. Your thirtieth day's on Saturday," Alaric breathes out heavily. He has grown to like the vampire with his mean streaks and all. It will be a bummer for him too if he can't stay.
"I don't know," Damon replies helplessly, moving back to take a seat on the edge of the bed in defeat. "She won't even talk to me. How am I gonna assure her that it was a stupid mistake?"
"She's stubborn, Damon. You've got to find a way if you want to stay," Jenna exclaims.
Damon looks up to face Elena's aunt, showing his face full of sadness and vulnerability. "I love her, Jenna. I'd do anything so I could stay with her."
It's the first time in almost a month Jenna sees Damon's face so different. Gone are the cockiness and confident. "You know, you changed her. You made her happy, you made her back to her old full of life self. And I'm pretty sure she loves you too. You just have to go to her, talk to her, and genuinely say that you're sorry. She's stubborn but she'll forgive you. She's not one for holding grudges."
"I know, she's that amazing," Damon says softly, his mind reeling to Elena's beaming smile everytime she looks at him.
Jenna crouches down so that she's face-to-face with the blue eyed vampire, gently squeezing his bicep, "I'm rooting for you two. Just don't go and hurt her again."
"No, I would never…She's my life," Damon states with wide eyes.
"Then tell her that."
It's Thursday and she has been successfully avoiding her ex-boyfriend. Jenna has put her breakfast in front of her door for Tuesday to Wednesday but she thinks she will worry her aunt more if she keeps lock herself up in her room. So she's dressed in simple soft pink long sleeve shirt and jeans then go to the kitchen.
"Hey," Jenna greets, half-surprised at Elena's presence.
"Hi," Elena answers weakly. "So, what's for breakfast?"
"I'll make you anything. What do you want?" Jenna asks eagerly since it has been two days that she hasn't seen her niece in person.
"It's fine, Aunt Jenna, just a simple toast and jam would be fine. I know you have a house showing today." She hops on the stool with a glass of orange juice in hand.
"Three showings, actually," Jenna grins, starting to prepare their toasts. "How are you?"
"I'm good, better."
"Have you talked to Damon?" Jenna asks casually, not wanting to make Elena uncomfortable.
"Um… can we not… talk about him, please? It's just that…" Elena trails off, doesn't really want to explain the situation. Telling Jenna all about them is going to be hard, especially the fact that he's a supernatural creature that happens to poof into Elena's life claiming to be her soul mate.
"Sure, if that's what you want. Ric has been telling me something, though," Jenna grabs the two toasts and give them to Elena before popping the other two for herself, "Damon's also been miserable."
"Good." She sneers.
Jenna looks at her, expecting her to be at least curious about the vampire and asking more about him. "Anyway, I'll be done at five, then grocery shopping. So maybe I'll be home at seven or eight. What's your plan for today?"
"Nothing."
"No party invitations for tonight? I remember when I was your age, there were always parties, especially now that finals are over and in a few days you'll be graduated."
"Not feel like going, though," Elena bites into her strawberry toast.
"Okay, then."
After an hour, Jenna's gone to work leaving Elena alone at the house. Absentmindedly she's doing her chores to keep her busy; wash dishes, do laundry, dust the coffee table and every surface in the kitchen and the den. Rebekah's been calling her non-stop that her voicemail full of her annoyed voice asking what happened and telling her that she can't come since it's almost summer and the bakery is rather busy.
Elena's in the middle of making her chicken sandwich for lunch when she hears the doorbell. She puts down her bread and goes to the door. Without looking through the window, she opens it.
"Yes?" she looks up to find Damon standing in his usual dark clothing, uneasily looks up at her as well.
Damn, he looks good. Her heart still skips a beat everytime though he has already betrayed her. She can see the slight black round on his eyes and his skin is unhealthily looking rather paler than usual, but he still pulls everything on him off, making her hard to look away.
"Elena, I—"
"What do you want?" she asks emotionlessly, looking straight into his clear blue eyes and pretending that it doesn't make her weak in the knees.
"I want to apologize. I'm so sorry, Elena. I was stupid and careless and… it was no excuse, I know. I'm just…" he takes a deep breath as if trying to find the right words, "I'm so sorry."
She stares at him guardedly, "No." She closes the door but Damon's foot is faster.
"Elena, please."
"Just come in, the neighbors will talk otherwise."
He releases his breath that he's been holding; at least she wants him to come in instead of throwing him out. He closes the door, turning around to find Elena looking at him anxiously with her arms crossing on her chest.
"You hurt me."
"I know, baby, and I'm sor—"
"I don't need apologize, Damon. I wanted you to keep your promise but you don't. Let alone getting it from a girl. Yes, I was jealous, but that's to be expected. I was your girlfriend for God's sake." She exclaims desperately with tears gather in her eyes. Damon wants nothing but collect her in his arms and whisper sweet nothings to her but he knows he has to at least give her some space.
"It was an impulsive thing for me to do, but I was frustrated, okay?" he raises his tone a little.
"Why? Because I didn't tell you I love you too? Why were you being so pushy about it? You told me you understand that I need some time."
"I…" he pauses, still doesn't want to tell her the truth. He wants her, no, he needs her to say the words all on her own.
"I was gonna say it to you, you know," she confesses quietly, looking down at her shoes, "I was gonna tell you that I feel the same way, but then you… I saw you." The tears that she's been trying so hard to hold finally stream down her face.
His heart breaks looking at her crying because of him, once again. He moves forward to touch her arm but instinctively she steps backwards, not wanting him to lay a hand on her. "I'm sorry…"
She huffs loudly earning a confused look from the vampire. "Can you fucking stop to sound like a broken record? I know you're sorry, but I can't forgive you yet."
"Then what do you want, Elena?" he asks in defeat, letting her control everything because for once, he wants someone to control him if that makes them happy.
"I want some space. I need… time. A lot of time."
He smiles ruefully, finally realizing that she's never going to forgive her and in a few short days, she will get what she wants; she will never see him again and he will never add any more pain and heart breaks for her.
"Take all the time you need."
Damon tentatively strides to where she's standing, hearing her sharp intake of breath. When they are nose-to-nose, Damon softly put his hands on either side of her face, pulling her to face him. He takes a picture of her beautiful brown eyes in his mind, in case he will never see them again. He closes the gap as he softly, lovingly kisses her forehead and closes his eyes. If this is the last moment that they have, he wants to feel her soft skin against his lips once more.
Elena keeps her eyes open; too shock to move as she thought he wanted to kiss her lips. His musky scent invading her senses. She witnesses a tear drop from his eyes, invites another tears coming down from hers as well. She doesn't know why but why does it feel like goodbye?
When he pulls away, he wipes her tears tenderly from her cheeks. He smiles at her adoringly, love shines from his eyes making her speechless. He lets go of her head then takes a step back.
"Bye, Elena."
Don't know why but I shed a tear writing it :( A couple of days more you guys. Will she know the truth?
Don't forget to review, kay?
Have a wonderful weekend!