SORRY FOR LACK OF UPDATES ON FRICKING EVERYTHING.
We drive in absolute -and extremely uncomfortable- silence, only broken by the occassional "Turn here." from Damon. I keep finding myself casting him glances out of the corner of my eye. Shit he's hot. But Elena said I shouldn't get involved with him... My pondering is rudely interrupted.
"Mind if I smoke in here?" Damon asks, eyebrows raised.
I sigh. "Sure, just roll the window down." I mutter. He flashes me a grin and then digs a lighter and a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket. As soon as the window goes down, a rushing wind shoots through the car and chills me through my thin sweatshirt. I raise my eyebrows at him as he takes a long drag and then flicks ash out the window. "You realize that's really bad for your health, right?" He scowls at me.
"I don't need that speech from someone I barely know. I get enough of that crap from Stefan and Elena." He runs his fingers through his feathery hair. "Besides, I need something to kill the stress, so it's this or drinking." He rolls his eyes.
I shift uncomfortably. "Sorry." I mumble. I bite my lip. "I just- never mind." I sigh in defeat.
"Nah, what were you going to say?" He asks curiously.
I take a deep breath. "Well, my dad died of lung cancer... I hate seeing people screw themselves for life just to 'kill the stress' like you said." I shrug. My fingers tighten reflexively on the steering wheel. "Just forget about it." I mumble.
He opens his mouth to say something, but then it snaps shut and he just stares out the window. I look where he is, and see this memorial plaque-type thing.
"In memory, Erica Salvatore."
I read the inscription... and then look at Damon's face. He's gone completely pale, and his lips are pressed together in a firm line.
The silence comes back with a venegance as we pull into the driveway of extremely large house. I've honestly never seen anything this big, but I avoid commenting, seeing that Damon still looks tense.
He stomps in, me following silently. I see Stefan and Elena chilling on a couch -well maybe chilling isn't the right word. Taking a break from a makeout session?- in a room just to the left of the huge entry hall we just entered. Damon crosses his arms and faces them. "Yeah, I can see you're completely too busy to give me a ride." he calls, disgust infusing his tone. Stefan turns his head to look at his brother.
"Well you obviously got a ride." He says with a shrug. I step into view.
"Yeah, thanks a lot for that one. That was the most tense car ride I've ever had to suffer through in my life." I mutter, rolling my eyes. Elena and Stefan both blink upon seeing me.
Damon raises his eyebrows at me. "And thank you Bonnie, -it is Bonnie, right?- for being a halfway decent person." He nods at me, and then disappears up a flight of stairs.
I raise an eyebrow at the couple curled up on the couch. "Well. Is he always like this, or is it me?" I ask confusedly. Elena gives me a good-natured smile.
"He's always like this, nowadays. He used to be pretty nice though." She sighs. I come over and sit on a chair near them.
"Well what happened? Cause I don't see a 'pretty nice' guy morphing into a self-centered asshole over nothing." Elena bites her lip, and Stefan goes pale, just like Damon did when... "Does this have something to do with that memorial down the street?"
Stefan nods, and Elena gives a deep sigh. "Yeah... it's for our mom. She died five years ago in a car crash." Stefan whispers. He looks like he's going to cry. I bite my lip.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to pry..." I whisper. He shrugs.
"Things happen." He murmurs softly. I sigh and get up.
"Well. Again, sorry, I'll just be going." And then I stride out.