A/N: To those that have reviewed so far and asked for more, here it is. More reviews will equal more chapters, especially if I lose motivation. Sorry to all the Americans out there that use different spelling and grammar, but in Australia we use mostly British spelling. And some differences are just because I am human and I make mistakes :)
Disclaimer: I do not own the vampire diaries.
Breaking the Boundaries Chapter 6
I woke the next morning to a feeling of comfort, love and warmth. Ric still had his arms around me and I lifted my head from his chest to see if he was awake I realised I had drooled on him. I met his eyes and laughed. He had obviously woken before me.
"Really Elena? Can't keep your bodily fluids to yourself?" he teased. He was grinning back at me, obviously delighted with this new ammunition.
"So Ric, who exactly were you planning on telling this to? I can't think of any situation you could make it sound plausible" I threw back.
He smile dropped a little. "Yeah, I really didn't think of that. Because, 'My student Elena drooled on my chest, while we were asleep in her bed' really doesn't have any appropriate audiences now that I think of it. The only person who would perhaps find it amusing, would be Damon. But he would laugh then castrate me. Or maybe castrate then laugh" he mused.
"Why would Damon castrate you? I hardly think he wants to protect the honour of his serial killer brother's girlfriend. He knows we live together now, it could happen. It did happen" I thought aloud.
"Seriously Elena? Are you blind? Damon is head over heels in love with you. Has been forever. Also, Damon doesn't think of platonic situations like this, Damon thinks bed = sex." Platonic situation? I have my work cut out for me here. Ric's head is buried so deep in the sand I could spend a week digging it out. But what?
"Damon isn't in love with me. He can't love me. He might have had an infatuation, but he's over it now. He has Andie" I defended.
"I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one." A pained look came over his face. "I think we should talk about Stefan now. About yesterday" he murmured.
A sat away from him a little so I could face him as we talked.
"We went to an address that we thought Stefan and Klaus would be interested in. We arrived too late. There was no sign of them anywhere, except in the mess they left behind. Or more specifically, in the mess that Stefan left behind" he started.
I interrupted, "Stefan left behind? Why would you think that it was Stefan?"
"Well Damon went in first, a bad omen in and of itself. He found the bodies sitting up on the couch. I asked him the same question, why would he think Stefan was behind this? He kicked a body in answer and it fell apart. All the pieces fell all over the floor." He sounded hollow. Empty. Cold. I couldn't believe this. How is that proof that Stefan did anything?
"But..."
"Damon said that is his signature move, he goes crazy and rips them apart, but then puts them back together when he comes out of the blood lust and feels sorry."
I don't know what to think. All I can think is 'Stefan wouldn't do that'. But, as I am slowly beginning to realise, there are too many things that I don't know about Stefan. God, how many times did he have to have done that for it to become a 'signature'.
I close my eyes against the visual. "Stop", I urged Ric. "Please stop, you were right. I don't want to hear any of this."
I went back to his side and buried my face between his pillow and his shoulder. I felt sick. And poor Ric. Imagine having to see that, see them. The blood, the body parts. Knowing that one of the people you considered a friend had done that to a human being. No wonder he looked like that when he came home.
I felt a sudden overwhelming sorrow. I'm not sure who for. The dead girls? Myself? Ric? Damon? Stefan himself?
The sobs wracked through my body, uncontrolled, uninhibited. What are you supposed to do when your boyfriend becomes a murdering psychopath? How are you supposed to react? Suddenly I felt slightly justified in my tears.
Ric said nothing more. He did for me what I had done for him last night. He held me until I stopped crying and dozed into a much less pleasant and unnecessary sleep.
Around 10 I woke up alone. My head was stuffy, my eyes were puffy and I had that awful feeling of oversleeping. I didn't need to go back to sleep earlier, it was just the easiest option, easier than facing reality. But I think that option was gone for good.
A sudden burst of indignant rage came over me. I have lost nearly everything I had to lose. Now is not the time to be sad and mourn. Now is the time to move on with my life. I have a few very clear goals. The main one is to bring Stefan back off the cliff he seems to want to jump off. The second is Ric. I want him. Simple as that.
Now was as good a time as any to get in some training. Going for a run would use up some of that energy, but I really wanted a fight.
Downstairs, Ric was fixing the sink. He popped his head out from inside the cupboard when he heard me come in.
"Morning sleepy head" he teased. Fine, if he wanted to ignore the soggy mess I had been this morning then so would I.
"Morning. I see your going for the sexy handyman look today. Should have gone for the plumber look, I wouldn't have minded a little butt crack this morning" I joked. He surreptitiously pulled up the back of him pants a little more.
I laughed out loud. But I wasn't really joking. He looked good. Really good. If he didn't put on a shirt soon I was going to have to take matters into my own hands.
"Yeah well, I just finished. I've been trying to keep busy all morning. Can you think of anything else you need your 'sexy handyman' to do while he's here" he asked, using air quotes and all. I really wanted to laugh, but my brain and my libido were on different wavelengths. I could think of quite a few things I needed him to do, none of which had anything to do with fixing the house.
Using his worst timing, ever, Jeremy decided at that moment to enter the kitchen.
"What's this about a sexy handyman?" he asked while going to the fridge. He stopped and looked between us. "Oh, no. Not you two? Oh, is this house gonna get gross now?"
Ric stepped back with his hands held up in front of him. "What? No. No, no, no. I was just fixing the sink."
So much for progress. Am I a leper? Such a strong denial.
"Oh Thank God" said Jeremy. "You really had me worried for a second there. In that case yeah. One of my wardrobe doors won't close properly. I think it might be the hinge, but Dad never got up to teaching me about fixing hinges. I know I have to tighten some screws and loosen others, but I have no idea which ones." He snapped Ric on the butt with a tea towel. "Come on, Mr Sexy. Teach a boy how to be a man? Or at least how to fix his own cupboards?"
"Well I suppose I could manage that" Ric said. Then he straightened up and stood tall with his chest puffed out, putting on a deep voice. "But I can't teach you how to be sexy while doing it son. That is an attitude, you can't just learn. You have to feel it. live it, be it."
Both Jeremy and I burst out laughing. Ric joined in too after a second. They went upstairs to Jeremy's room and I changed my mind about fighting. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to have fun. I really really wanted to do more than sleep with Ric.
I headed upstairs for a change of clothes to go along with my change of heart. It was summer after all. Doesn't that call for a bikini for all occasions?