Elena opened the door to the boarding house and walked in. She found Damon on the couch in the living area.
"Hey, I got your message, what's up?" she said
Damon took a sip of his drink before he answered "Nothing's wrong…" he said shrugging
"So what's with the cryptic message?" she said confused
"I just thought that it would be a good way to break the ice is all." Damon said
"Break the ice. Right." Elena said as she sat down
"You know what I mean, Elena." Damon explained "We didn't talk at all yesterday. Name the last day you can honestly remember us having no contact…not even a text?"
Elena sighed as she considered this "I honestly don't know."
"You see?" Damon went on "The longer we leave it the harder it will be to get over."
Elena smiled "Damon Salvatore, you're getting wise…"
"It was bound to happen." Damon smirked
"No, really…" Elena said seriously "It was really good of you to make the first move like that. I'm not so sure that I would have."
Damon frowned "Really. How long exactly where you planning on avoiding me?"
"Just a few weeks. Or a year." Elena said
"Be serious." Damon said in a low tone "Were you really going to ignore me?"
Elena shifted uncomfortably in her seat and said nothing.
"Wow." Damon said before he downed the rest of his bourbon "Nice."
"Damon." Elena groaned. "Please don't"
"What?" he snapped "Don't be pissed? Well I'm afraid I can't do that, Elena."
"I was embarrassed, Damon. Correction- I AM embarrassed." She snapped
"Why? What for?" he said in a dead tone
"Because…you know why." She said
"No. I don't." he said sharply
"Because you pretty much rejected me!" she shouted, her face red
Damon set his empty glass down. "Is that what you think?" he said in a surprised tone.
Elena crossed her arms over her middle. "Don't play dumb, Damon."
"Elena." Damon said seriously "I'm sorry that you think that, but I didn't reject you."
"Well what was that then, if not rejection?" she asked
"I was saving you!" he snapped
"Saving me? Don't be ridiculous!" she snapped back "From what?"
"From me!" he said jumping up in anger "I was saving you from me."
Elena processed the words for a second. When she was calm she stood up too.
"Damon." She said lost for words "that's ridiculous. I wanted to be with you…"
"I hurt everyone I care about Elena. It's what I do. I've hurt you so many times already." Damon replied
"Yeah, and I've forgiven you." She added "You're being unfair to both of us."
"Well it doesn't matter anyway." Damon said "This isn't happening." He motioned between them. "I love you enough to stay away."
"And do I get a say in this?" Elena said angrily "Because believe it or not Damon what happened between us really meant something to me."
"It meant everything to me too, Elena." Damon said in a strained voice "Let's leave it like that. When it actually meant something and was good, before we ruin it and you end up hating me."
"I could never hate you, Damon." Elena said "trust me, I've tried, doesn't work."
He smiled sadly. "Are we okay? Can we just get back to being us? No more silence?"
"No more silence." She promised "It was only one day by the way."
"I know." He said "But it was too long."
Elena nodded. "You know, I was going to ask you to go to homecoming with me…"
Damon blinked. "Homecoming, really?"
Elena nodded "We can go…as friends?"
Damon cringed "I can't…I have somewhere to be…."
"Oh okay." Elena said, trying not to look or sound hurt. "That's fine. Matt said about going together anyway."
Damon choked "Donavan?"
"Yeah. How many 'Matt's do we know?" Elena answered
"You can't go with him!" Damon said loudly "He's a mashmallow!"
"He's not!" Elena said angrily
"He's an idiot." Damon muttered
"He is not." Elena snapped moving closer to him "Grow up Damon."
"Elena, Matt Donavan is mashed potatoes. You cannot be serious about going with him, please…"
"You can't do that!" Elena yelled moving right in front of him, she was in his face "You can't."
Damon stopped talking and froze.
"If you don't want to go with me- that's fine-but," she made a frustrated 'argh!' "But you don't have the right to-…" she stopped talking and closed her eyes in frustration, taking a calming breath she went on "…just…don't, Damon, okay?"
"Okay." Damon said realising he wasn't being fair. "I'll shut up from now on."
"Thank you." She said, releasing her anger in one long exhale. She opened her eyes again and realised how close she'd moved to him in the heat of their argument. His eyes looked confused as she stared into them.
"I should go…" she said but she made no attempt to move except for her eyes looking from his eyes to his lips and back.
"You should…" Damon muttered as his hands moved to her face.
They moved at the same second and clashed their mouths together and before she knew it Damon had swept her into his arms and they were heading for the staircase.