Thank you Sandra for betaing this chapter.

Someone like you

Chapter 2

'We feed the fire that killed us'

"How are you doing?"

Caroline walked in as soon as she opened the door, not even giving her the time to say a proper hello. She slammed the door almost shut before a hand held it open and Tyler's face appeared.

"I'm sorry, Tyler." She looked up at the muscled man. "I didn't see you there."

"Don't worry about it." He smiled and draped his arm over Caroline's shoulders. "This one left me behind in the car."

"Congratulations by the way." Elena focused her attention on Tyler. "I heard the good news yesterday."

"Eleeennaa." Caroline sing-songed, ignoring her fiance who tried to say thank you. "You didn't answer my question."

"I'm ..." She cast a look at Tyler who stood there awkwardly.

"Where's Liam?" He sniffed like there was something burning. "I smell a girls' talk."

"He's in the kitchen eating his breakfast." She smiled gratefully as he walked past her to the kitchen. "Ignore him if he asks for cookies!"

"So how are you doing?" Caroline asked in a more serious tone, her blue eyes noticing the dark circles under her tired gaze. "Did you sleep at all?"

"Not really." She yawned. "Does it surprise you?"

"No." Her eyes filled with remorse. "But you could use some make up."

"This is me wearing make up." She pointed to her face. "You don't want to know how many layers are on there."

"Oh. Just avoid mirrors today, okay?"

Elena couldn't help but shake her head in amusement as her friend gave her the typical Caroline-smile.

"So Tyler will drop Liam off at school and we'll take your car to work." Caroline put her hands on Elena's shoulders, looking around. "And where the hell is Stefan?"

"Still asleep." She shrugged.

"I wish we all had the luxury to work at home."

Elena could only roll her eyes at the statement. When one used the term work, she assumed they were at least tired at the end of the day. But Stefan was never such a thing; he had been writing on his book since the day they met in high school. As a teenager she couldn't help but fall for the aspiring writer who claimed she was his muse. Eight years, one marriage, a son, and an affair later she couldn't help but to get frustrated at his lack of inspiration.

"Yeah " She huffed. "He probably wrote one page more than last month."

"The luxury of a trust fund." Caroline sighed. "I wish my daddy was as rich as Stefan's."

Giuseppe Salvatore was a wealthy businessman. Stefan who had been raised under his care had never known what poverty was, his whole life he had been taken care of, money had never been a problem to him because he had always known the way to his sugar daddy. Something that had intrigued Elena at the beginning of their relationship, but now it was just another thing that frustrated her. She liked an ambitious man, a man that made his own money, just like she did, so at the end of the day when she bought a new car or house she could tell people she had worked for it, and it wasn't thrown into her hands.

"His daddy being rich doesn't help him write his book."

"But it does help you live in this nice house." Caroline shrugged, before locking her gaze back with Elena's. "Did you tell him?"

"Stefan isn't exactly a fan of Damon."

Her voice breathed the name, almost in a longing way. Longing so much that her heart clenched together with just the sound of his name, her breathing became faster, her airways squeezed together. She couldn't imagine which reactions her body would produce as the office would be buzzing with his presence again. Just like five years ago.

"Everyone is talking about Damon Salvatore."

Elena looked up from her desk as Caroline sat down next to her. "I don't get what the fuss is all about."

"Elena, are you blind?" Caroline's mouth fell open. "Have you seen those eyes?"

"Sure." She shrugged. "He's all right."

"All right?" Caroline's voice pitched. "I know you have Stefan and he's already like an Adonis, but Damon ..."

"Damon's what?"

"Every time I look at him it's like the Niagara falls stream between my legs."

"I've always dreamed about swimming in the Niagara falls." The velvet voice made them both look up, his blue eyes bored into her brown ones, his lips curled up in a smirk, the muscles in his perfect body emphasized by the tight black shirt. "Naked."

"Mr. Salvatore." Elena stood up, extending her hand to him. "I'll be working with you to prepare you for your testimonial."

"Don't spend all your time on me." He walked past her, ignoring her extended hand. "I've done dozens of these, I should be the one telling you how it goes."

"Still, we should go through the details of the case."

"You're one of those." He rolled his eyes exaggerated, leaning back in her chair, his legs propped up on her desk. "A party pooper."

"Mr. Salvatore." She clenched her teeth together, trying to remain polite. "This is a really important case."

"Aren't they all." He rolled his eyes and got up, focusing his gaze on her body. "So I have to work with you for at least three months?"

"You could work with me." Caroline beamed, a smiled plastered on her face.

"No." Elena pointed a finger at her. "You're doing the paperwork this time."

"Such a shame. I would have loved to work with you, blondie." Damon pouted. "I think this one's legs are going to be so much harder to get them to open for me."

Caroline laughed a dirty chuckle, while Elena's mouth fell open.

"But don't worry, sweetie." He patted her buttocks. "I like a challenge."

"Excuse me ..." It was the only thing she got out as he kept his intense stare on her, her cheeks turned red as he licked his lips, his eyes darkening as they slid over her curves. "But I have a fiance."

"Really?" An amused smile came across his lips. "And how's that working out for you?"

"You're one of those." She mocked his words and rolled her eyes. "The one that doesn't believe in marriage, and claims to stay single forever."

"You got that right." He grabbed her purse from her desk and started walking to the exit.

"What are you doing?" She grabbed her coat from the hanger and ran after him.

"If we're not going to sleep together I'm going to need coffee."

"And why am I supposed to go with you?"

"Because you get these wrinkles in your forehead when I annoy you." He gave her a devilish smirk. "It's cute."

"If I have to keep you entertained you better give me some answers."

"Shoot."

"My gun is in my purse."

"Cute." He rolled his eyes and looked down at the brown purse in his hands. "I'm going to keep this one with me."

"That's why you're against marriage." She exclaimed. "Gay marriage isn't allowed in Chicago."

"Fine." He pushed the bag back in her arms. "You can have your purse."

"See it wasn't that hard to get your manhood back."

"You're annoying."

"Some call it witty."

"They're idiots."

"So why are you against marriage?" She looked up at him, pulling her coat over her shoulders. "It's a beautiful thing between two people who love each other and conceal that lo-"

"Bla, Bla." He interrupted before she could finish her speech. "Marriage is for people who're afraid to be alone."

"Or for people who have found that one person in the world that's made for them."

"Have you met all the people in the world?"

"No." She stammered, lost in his intense blue gaze. "That's impossible."

"Then how can you know that your fiance is the one?"

"I love him." She swung her bag over her shoulder. "We're in love."

"People fall in and out of love all the time." He shrugged, fixing his gaze back on hers, a small smile on his lips. "How old are you anyway?"

"I turned twenty a few months ago."

"Exactly my point." He threw his arms up. "You haven't met enough people in your life to know the one."

"But what if I already met him when I was seventeen?" A smug smirk came across her face. "Maybe Stefan really is the one."

"Then they gave it to you too easy." He waggled his eyebrows. "You don't deserve the one without fighting for her."

"You believe there is something as the one?"

"You gave me this whole speech about the one and now you're doubting it?" He arched his eyebrow at her before noticing her serious gaze and letting out a sigh. "I believe in love, I believe that you can love someone so much that you're prepared to love their flaws as well."

"But nobody is perfect."

"That's exactly my point." He smirked, his blue eyes lighting up. "Tell me one thing about your fiance that you hate."

"He ... uh ... he ..." She stammered, looking for words in her head.

"Tell me three things you hate about me."

"You're cocky, arrogant, you speak before you think, and you have an opinion about everything."

"That's four." He let out a hard laugh before focusing his gaze back on hers. "I'm more the one for you than your fiance will ever be."

"But If I can't say something bad about Stefan doesn't that mean he's the one?" Her eyebrows knitted together while he started walking further away from her.

"No." He turned around, walking backwards. "It means you don't know him well enough to call him the one for you."

"Damon." She stopped him as he was about to turn around again. "I'm not a fan of my in-laws."

"Who is?"

"Who is?" Caroline muttered under her breath.

"Mommy!" A squealing Liam ran into the room, carrying his backpack. "Can uncle Ty bring me to school?"

"I think auntie Caroline already arranged it with your mom." Tyler came from behind the corner and ruffled her son's hair.

"Yes, he can take you." She focused on him, seeing him chew frantically. "How did those cookies get in your mouth?"

"Uncle Ty gave them to me." He put his most innocent face on.

"Tyler!" Caroline's voice pitched, her hands on her hips. "Elena told you not to."

"He blackmailed me." Tyler shrugged before punching Liam's shoulder. "Why did you tell them?"

"Other wise I would get in trouble."

"How can a five-year-old boy blackmail you?" Caroline glared at him.

Tyler shifted uncomfortably on his feet, his gaze shifting between Liam and Caroline. "That's something between me and him."

"Can uncle Ty pick me up, too?" The blue eyes of her son shimmered.

"Sure buddy." Tyler patted his head. "Do I have to pick you up at school or at Emma's? Speaking about that. How did it go?"

Elena turned her head around, glaring at her son who was about to speak.

Liam bit his lip and looked up at Tyler. "I'll tell you in the car."

"That good?"

Liam took Tyler's hand and started dragging him to the door, walking past his mother and Caroline who watched them with narrowed eyes.

"Didn't you forget something?" Elena knelt down, holding her arms open for her son.

"Love you mommy." He walked in her embrace, wrapping his arms around her neck.

"Love you, too." She pecked his cheek and released him again.

He turned around after giving Caroline a hug and ran to Tyler who was waiting by the door. He grabbed the older male's hand and walked through the door with him.

"She wore pink panties."

"Liam!"

"What time does he arrive?"

Her heart drummed in her chest as she put her bag down on the desk, prepared for another day of work. A day she had never expected to relive again, being near him, being able to touch him, hear his voice, having his skin against hers, his arms wrapped around her and his soul locked in her heart.

"I don't know." Caroline shrugged, her blond curls bouncing. "But Jeanette from the reception said she would text you as soon as he arrived so you can hide in a closet or under a table or wherever you prefer."

"He's going to be here for god knows how long." She shook her head. "I won't be able to avoid him forever."

"But you can try."

"What if he finds out about Liam?" She whispered quietly, looking for an answer in her friend. "The day I got Liam I promised myself I would do anything to keep him away from Damon."

"He won't find out, Elena." Caroline squeezed her arm. "Liam is never here and if he knows you're back with Stefan, he'll only think it's normal that you have a child by now."

"Why did he come back?" She shrugged defeated. "He must have known I was going to be here."

"I don't think he chose to be here." Caroline gave her a sympathetic smile. "But the case we worked on five years ago, they reopened it, and I think that's why he had to come back."

"I don't want him here." She grabbed her bag and started looking for her phone, hoping she hadn't received a text from Jeanette yet. "I think I forgot my phone at home."

"I'll just call her and tell her she has to text me." Caroline went to her desk to grab her phone.

Elena threw her bag back behind her desk, giving up the search. She plopped down in her chair and looked through the glass that separated the offices of the paralegals from those of the actual lawyers.

"Caroline." Her voice trembled, shivers running down her spine. "You don't have to call her."

Her heart stopped beating, her breathing paused, every nerve in her body aware of what her eyes were seeing. Her gaze traveled over the back she knew better than her own body, the muscles she had explored with her own hands, the skin she had found with her own lips.

A back and body that would forever be carved in her line of sight because she had seen it so many times, touched it so many times. Her breasts had pushed against his shoulder blades as she snuggled against him during the night, her fingers had traced the little birthmark next to his spine, her lips had left kisses on his neck, her bare skin had found its home against his.

"Oh no." She felt Caroline drape her arm around her, the blonde's eyes fixed on the same man.

Like his body was experiencing the same tingles as hers, his head snapped around, his blue eyes locking with her brown doe ones. And together with his lips that formed her name, all the memories she had blocked away came rushing back in her mind.

Night of endless pleasure, his body moving with hers, their breaths mingling in the small space between them, their lips connected as lifelines. The lifeline they never broke, a line they kept intact through their hearts as he made love to her, slowly backing her up against the cold tiled wall, her legs wrapped around his waist and caving him in, her fingers tangled in his black damp hair, their eyes locked through every movement.

"I need to get out of here."

Caroline pushed her car keys in her hands as she saw the blue-eyed man's face tense, his body starting to move, running in her direction. Her feet started running backwards, her body turning around at the same time she heard his voice call her name.

And as she started running faster, she heard her name being called more frequently, his voice cutting through her heart as he started calling for her louder, almost desperate. Her eyes kept themselves at their goal while descending the stairs, afraid to turn around and get caught in the trap of his eyes.

Her heart drummed in her chest as she reached the parking lot and pushed the button to unlock her car. She heard him push the heavy door open only twenty seconds after she ran through it, her breathing stopped as his voice came closer, still shouting her name. With sweaty palms she pulled the door of her car open and slid in it, locking the doors behind her.

"Lena."

Her head snapped up, her eyes locking with the blue ones she had sworn to love forever. The same eyes that haunted her dreams, that made every man's eyes fade next to them. Usually they were bright and shimmering, the windows to his soul, if he let you close enough to look into them. The blue that could dominate and melt you at the same time, the emotions behind them that could kill you or love you.

"Open the door."

One of his palms rested on the window, the other on the roof of the car. His eyes were boring into hers, begging her with that ocean of blue. There had been a time when she would have done anything for him if he looked at her with those eyes. But not anymore, not after he ruined her for any other man and had the nerve to leave her behind like the shell of the person she once was.

"No."

She shook her head, the whisper breathed through her lips, her eyes looking at every feature of his face she'd had to miss for five years, every piece of skin she had kissed more than a hundred times, every pore of him she had locked in her heart.

His eyes got wide as she started the car and put it in gear, his hands punching on the roof, demanding to unlock everything so she could let him in again. His nails scraped against the glass as she drove away from him, letting the man she once loved more than herself behind, pulling her soul back in her chest and taking it away from the man it begged to be collided with, taking her heart with her so he couldn't break the pieces further apart.

"Mommy?"

"Living room." She wiped her tears away and sat up straight, not wanting to show her son the mess she was.

"Uncle Ty walked me to the door." He sauntered into the room, dragging his backpack behind him. "He said he was going to play baseball with me, but then auntie Care called and he had to pick her up."

"I'm sorry, sweetie." She took him in her arms as the pout appeared on his face, knowing exactly why Tyler had to pick Caroline up. "I'm sure he'll play with you another time."

"Maybe I can ask daddy." He crawled under the blanket and snuggled into her chest.

"That's a good idea." She stroked his hair back, looking at his face. "It's been a while since you two did something together."

And as she saw her little boy's face lighten up she realized how much he really looked like his father, except for those blue eyes that could hold your world, there were his lips, soft and perfectly formed, the dimples, the same structure of his hair, everything what she loved about the man that stood before her a few hours ago, she could find in the boy in her arms.

They lay there for a few minutes, Liam enjoying his mother's fingers that massaged his scalp while he listened to the heartbeat in her chest, the same heartbeat that had always calmed him down since he was a little boy and crying for his mommy during the night.

"Daddy's home." Liam's face lit up as he heard the front door unlock.

She chuckled as he jumped off the couch and ran out of the living room to greet Stefan. She stood up, too, throwing the blanket off of her and walking to the kitchen where she heard her son's chipper voice talking to Stefan.

"Please, daddy." She saw her son sit on the counter while he was pleading with his father. "Pretty please."

"Liam." Stefan sighed. "I told you a thousand times not to climb on the counter."

"Sorry." He slid off the counter to the chair he used to climb on it. "But please? Can we play outside?"

"Not now, buddy." He ruffled the boy's hair.

"Tomorrow?" His blue eyes lit up in excitement. "Pretty please?"

"I don't know, Liam." Stefan pinched the bridge of his nose.

"But I want to play outside." The boy stomped his foot on the chair.

"And I want to write a book." Stefan growled, making Liam flinch.

"Writing that book is going to take a lot longer than playing with him." Elena put her hands on Liam's shoulders. "He'll be tired of it in twenty minutes anyway."

"Please daddy?" Liam clapped his hands together like he was praying, making Elena chuckle.

"I said not now." Stefan's eyes went wide. "Go to your room."

Liam's face fell as he saw Stefan's hard face, heard his harsh tone. Elena helped him off the chair and stroked his hair while he crawled up the stairs, his light footsteps disappearing into his room.

"What's wrong with you?" She spat in his face. "You didn't have to yell at him."

"If he would have listened the first time, I wouldn't have had to yell at him."

"He's a little boy that wants to play outside with his dad." She threw her arms up. "It's been ages since you played with him, he was excited."

"If you didn't always give him his way, he would be used to obeying his parents." His green eyes went wide again. "But no, you let him get away with everything."

"Not with everything." She arched her eyebrow. "I set the same rules as you, I want him to be polite and respectful. But that doesn't mean he isn't a kid, he makes mistakes just like adults do."

"A five year old is not supposed to be interested in miniskirts." He punched his fist on the table. "Do I walk around and gossip about how short a girl's skirt is?"

"No but ..."

"But he did." Stefan let out a hard laugh. "And that's all that matters to you, isn't it? You never punish him because you love that he takes after him."

"Not again, Stefan." She pointed her finger at him. "This needs to stop, all of that is in the past. Damon is in my past."

"Is he?" Stefan retrieved her phone from his pocket. "Then why did he call you countless times in the last few hours?"

"Why do you have my phone?"

"Because you left it here, and I wanted to drop it off at your work until it started ringing and I saw who it was." He slammed the phone down on the table. "I don't know what I find the worst, the fact that you still have his number or the fact that you never even bothered to save it under a false name."

"Mommy."

Elena's head snapped around as she heard her son's cries coming from the doorway.

"This is exactly what I mean." Stefan shook his head and pointed at the sobbing boy. "He's supposed to be in his room."

"He probably heard us yell and got scared."

She picked her son up from the ground and carried him upstairs, carefully placing him down on his bed where she pulled the covers over him and sat on top of them, stroking his hair.

"Is daddy mad at me?"

"No." She shook her head, wiping the tears from his cheeks. "Daddy isn't mad at you."

"Than why was he yelling at you?" His big blue eyes looked up at her.

"We had a fight, like you sometimes fight with your friends at school."

"Did daddy kick you, too?"

"No." She chuckled. "Daddy didn't kick me, we were fighting about old people stuff."

"Boring stuff." He snuggled his nose against her thigh.

"Yeah ..." She squeezed his hand in hers. "Boring stuff."

"I don't like it when daddy yells at you." He whispered quietly. "It makes me scared."

"I know." She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead. "That's why I want you to stay with auntie Caroline for a few days, until mommy and daddy stop fighting."

"But you said I couldn't stay with auntie Care anymore."

"I'll give you some earplugs." She tickled his sides, making the boy laugh. "That way I know you won't come home with new dirty words."

"Mommy." The boy laughed in her embrace, his little body squirming under her.

And as she looked at the boy in her arms she couldn't help but to feel happy after a day filled with sadness and hurt.

"Stefan." She pulled the door open in relieve. "Fina-"

A gasp left her throat as she tried to slam the door shut again, pulling her eyes away from the blue ones that were standing behind it.

He pushed the door back open, moving her body backwards. "You failed hospitality."

"Damon." She breathed, pulling her robe tighter around her. "What are you doing here?"

"Since you run away from me, I come to you."

"That still doesn't answer my question." She closed the door, crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to make conversation." He shrugged indifferently. "I love what you've done with the place."

She shook her head and watched him move around like he owned the place. Her eyes following him everywhere, taking it his body, trying to discover what had changed in the past five years. His hair seemed shorter than it had been, his face had more hard features, but it was still the most beautiful she had ever seen, his shoulders were broader, not the body of a twenty year old anymore but the one of someone in his early thirties. But out of all the things she remembered about him, there was still something very much the same, his eyes.

"Go away, Damon." She shook her head and huffed. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Why not?" He arched his eyebrow, the same way she remembered him doing it.

"Because I'm married."

"That never stopped us before."

She shook her head at him, adverting her eyes from his intense gaze, the words he had spoken dancing in her mind. And she knew he was right. If they would still be what they once were she would be on the floor by now, begging him to make them one, to let her soul near its other half. Her body would be drowning in pleasure and she would be squirming underneath him, screaming his name. Stefan wouldn't even cross her mind, and the fact she was married would have been long forgotten, the only things that would matter would be him, his eyes boring into hers, his body connected and grounded in hers, their souls intertwined and their hearts beating to reach the same goal.

"Please just go."

"Why Elena?" After all those years he still had the ability to make her shiver when he spoke her name.

"Because I don't want you here."

"Bullshit." His blue eyes bored into hers. "You don't want to want me here."

"Why would I want you here?" Tears started welling up in her eyes. "So you can put me through another heartbreak?"

"You know I didn't mean to." He looked down at the small cabinet and grabbed one of the pictures. "You really moved on."

"I told you I would." She whispered, for once grateful for Stefan's obsession with sepia pictures so their son's blue eyes weren't visible.

"He looks like you." He held a picture with her and Liam up.

"I think he looks more like his father." She approached him, slowly taking the picture out of his hands.

"Let's hope not." She could feel his gaze on her. "Poor kid."

"You need to go." She whispered quietly, keeping her eyes on the picture.

"How can you be even more beautiful than five years ago?"

Her head snapped up at his words, her eyes looking into his, seeing the pieces of his soul she used to see all the time. For the first time in the minute they had been standing here, she noticed how close he was, their bodies almost touching, the sparks flying between their bodies, begging them to collide together.

"Do you even remember us?" His hand came up to her cheek, caressing the skin there.

Goosebumps appeared together with his touch, her body remembering all too well who was able to make her feel like this. Who was able to possess her like no one else had ever done, to make her scream in pleasure like no man had done before him. Her heart remembered the same touch, the touch it loved, the touch from the man it had been made to love, the only man she had ever really loved.

"Go, Damon. Please."

"You really blocked everything out, didn't you?" He let out a hard laugh, stroking her cheek once more, his eyes scanning her tearstained face.

"I don't want to remember us." Her teary eyes bored into his, the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Of course not, if you did you would realize you're living a lie with him."

"Like I lived a lie with you?" Her teeth clenched together.

"At least our love was never a lie."

Tears streamed down her face as she remember the moments with him. The moments she loved him the most, would have done anything to keep him, would have killed for him if he'd asked her to. The moments she never had to pretend to love someone, where her heart just did the job for her and showed it with her body, with the words she spoke to him. And now that heart was gone, he had killed it, let it shatter into a million pieces so it would never love the man she was legally bound to again, so she would always remember how it was to have loved once, really loved.

"Go."

"Do you remember us?"

She felt his eyes on her face, waiting for an answer, his expression desperate, waiting for the words he wanted to hear. His heart drummed in his chest as he confronted the silence that she would never fill. With a firm nod he pulled his hand away from her cheek, breaking the connection she had once savored so much.

She flinched as she heard the door fall in the lock again. Her heart skipped a beat, knowing it had been left behind again. Her soul cried for its other half, tearing her limbs apart to reach it.

Her body moved to the purse on the table, desperate to hold the one thing she always held when the pain was too much to bear, the memories she couldn't but dreamed about forgetting. The picture she had kept of them in her diary to lock her worst and most precious secret away.

Her body fell on the ground as the imagine in front of her tore itself into her reality again, two humans in love, their shimmering eyes boring into the camera, one pair blue, the other brown. Their bodies entangled like their hearts were. Two people that were meant to be, but got lost along the way. And as she stared at the picture she heard his words in her mind, the voice she had wanted to hear for the past five years, the only man she would answer to, with the one answer that went through her mind.

How could I ever forget about us?

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