Fly me to the moon
Yeah, I know. Still no Letters from the past.. I promise to update that story this Friday. But with Christmas coming up, and experiencing my own personal loss a couple of months ago, I just needed to get this off my chest first. Hope you like. Oh, and this one is in Elena's point of view.
Elena stared at the man in front of her. A man she just met moments ago. And yet he was already embarking on the most important journey of her life. Damon Salvatore was a tough one to figure out. But he was saying all the right things to her. He knew how to comfort her. She had told him the ugly truth about herself, and he didn't walk away. It was admirable, to say the least.
If he wanted to fool her, if he wanted to play her, he would have already walked away after the word 'cancer'. No man wanted to stick around after that, right? But it still nagged at her that he was so willing to do this.
He had made her write down a list of things she wanted to do before the day was over. She had five items. And they were really tough to follow. But Damon said he would make sure that she got to experience all of them. She wished him all the luck in the world with that. Some things on this list were pretty unattainable. Especially if they wanted to get it all done in one day.
"So, what do you have?" Damon wanted to know. Elena bit down on her lip and looked down at her list. She shook her head. "I don't think were going to be able to do this."
Damon frowned at her. He walked over to her, knelt down to were she was sitting and took hold of her hands.
"Dear Elena, I don't want to hear the word 'no' today. Today, anything is possible. Today, all I want to hear out of your mouth is 'Yes, I can' and 'Yes, I will'. Now show me the first item on that list of yours," he pressed.
Elena still didn't get him. Why did he want to do this? Wasn't this his vacation?
"What's in it for you?" she blurted out.
Damon's head shot up. "What do you mean?"
Elena squinted her eyes at him. "I mean, here is this sick girl that is dying. You don't know her. It's your vacation time. And somehow you want to spend the first day of said vacation with the dying girl. It's not what anyone would normally do. Do you think I'm rich? Are you after my money? Because let me tell you, I don't have a penny on me. And even if I did, you're not going to talk your way into my will. So you can just forget about it!"
Damon looked stumped for a second. But then he burst out laughing. Which made Elena really angry. Was he laughing at her!
"You've got spunk. I like it! And no, I'm not after your money. I want to help you."
Elena still didn't believe him. "If you're looking for a jump in the sack, you're not getting that either," she warned him.
Damon started laughing again. "You're hilarious! Elena, even though you are a very beautiful girl, I would never take advantage of you like that. If I was looking to get laid, I would have gone to a bar, instead of the hospital cafeteria," he joked.
Elena blushed at his compliment. He thought she was beautiful? With her condition, she sure didn't feel beautiful! She felt pale, hollow and bland. She sometimes felt as if her body didn't belong to herself any more. Her sickness was going to take over now. It was going to tear her beauty down. He wouldn't still think she was beautiful then.
A lump started developing in her throat, but she quickly swallowed it down. No time for crying now. Today was supposed to be a good day. She was going to follow her dreams..
"So, I ask again. What is your first item on the list?" Damon continued.
Elena smiled.
"I want to fly," she sighed dreamily.
Damon looked utterly confused. "And just what do you mean by that? You want to go skydiving?" he asked.
This time it was Elena's turn to laugh out loud. Skydiving? No way!
"Why is it that everybody always thinks that a dying person's wish is to be a daredevil all of a sudden? Skydiving is so cheesy, Damon. Really! Not every dying person wants to jump out of a plane!" she laughed.
Damon shrugged. "It was the first thought that crossed MY mind. Sorry! So how do you want to fly then?"
Elena looked at him as if he had grown an extra head. "Eh, by plane, Damon! You know, those big metal tubes up in the air. They have actually been around for quite some time!" she made fun of him.
Damon's eyes widened. "You mean to tell me that you've never been on a plane before? For god sake, girl. You live in America!" he blurted.
Elena looked down regretfully.
"I lost my parents when I was really young, Damon. I never went on vacation. I grew up in foster homes. I never even left the state," she confessed.
Damon's face fell. And Elena felt a little sorry for putting it out there so bluntly. He looked positively crestfallen.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I was trying to joke around," he apologized. Elena smiled at him. "It's okay. But yes, I want to go flying. Can we do that?" she asked.
Damon winked at her. "Of course! If all of your wishes are that easy, we're going to be done before dinner."
Elena looked down at her list again. O, not all her wishes were that easy. She was positive that one of them would never happen…
Damon jumped up and immediately started dialling. But he paused halfway through.
"Eh, where exactly do you want to fly to? We need a destination here."
Elena already knew the answer to that. She just had to look at the second item on her list. She stood up and walked over towards Damon, showing him that item. His eyes looked over it for a second, before arching his eyebrows at her. "You never..?"he stopped halfway in his sentence, realizing she had already explained why she never did.
He turned his head, talking into his phone. "Yes, I need two plane tickets. Destination? Florida…."
"My god, Elena! Would you stop fidgeting?"
Elena looked his way, wracked with nerves. "You are forgetting that I've never done this before, Damon! You probably fly all the time. For me, it's a thing that can fall from the sky!" she snapped.
They were sitting in a Boeing 747, side by side. They hadn't taken off yet, but Elena already felt like bolting. She was gripping her armrests as if they were lifesavers.
"You know, the crew is not going to be happy with you if you rip that chair to bits," he said casually. Elena shot daggers at him. Was he ridiculing her?
"One more word, Damon! Just one more word and you're going skydiving. WITHOUT a parachute, I might add!" she hissed.
Damon held up his hands in surrender.
The plane started to move, causing Elena to grip the chair even tighter. Why did she want to do this, again?
She stared intently at the stewardess, showing her what to do in case of a life threatening situation. You never knew with these metal things!
"I thought you said that it was not a dying person's wish to be a daredevil? That other people were stupid to think that they all of a sudden would do things, they wouldn't normally do. Just saying. Your words," Damon grinned at her.
Elena practically bared her teeth at him. Stupid jerk! He was supposed to be distracting her! Why on earth was she bringing him along!
"You are playing with fire here, Mister Salvatore!"
The plane suddenly surged forward, gaining speed by the second. Where they supposed to go this fast? And why was this thing rocking like crazy? It shook and rattled, something which made Elena hunch in her seat.
Through the window, she saw that they were almost off the ground. O damn! She looked at Damon nervously, fear showing in her eyes.
"It's going to be okay," he soothed her. "Don't look at what's going on outside. Look at me."
Elena did as he told her. She stared intently into his eyes, searching for that bit of comfort that he offered.
The plane rocked for a second, due to an air pocket. Elena let out a whimper and grabbed onto Damon's hand, surprising him. She kept on staring at him, not wanting to see what was going on around her.
Damon whispered sweet nothings to her as the plane finally straightened and relaxed into the sky. All was quiet again.
Elena's heart thumped in her throat. Her entire body shook and her legs felt like jell-o. That had been some experience! She took a deep breath and looked at Damon.
He seemed to be staring intently at their intertwined hands. Elena looked down too. She hadn't meant to do it. She hadn't meant to grab onto his hand. It had been a reflex. But it somehow felt kind of nice. She quickly turned away, pretending not to realise she was holding his hand. But for some strange reason she didn't want to let go.
It felt so comforting, holding someone's hand. It wasn't something that had happened often in her life. As a little girl, she had moved from foster home to foster home. And not all of them had been nice. And it was always temporarily.
Tears came to her eyes as she realised she felt protected by Damon's hand. Protection had been something she had missed her entire life. And she needed it now more then ever. She was dying and she needed someone.
She realised that this was the reason she brought him along for this. Because she needed someone. Anyone. To help her get through this. She needed someone to hold her hand as she got scared. She needed someone to soothe her. She needed someone to hold her.
Tears flowed freely down her cheeks and her breath hitched. Damon caught on, unfastened his seat belt and turned her way. With his free hand he started stroking her hair. His other hand still latching on to hers.
"I understand this must be difficult for you. You just made the first thing on your list happen. It has got to be emotional for you. But I'll be there for you. I promise," he whispered.
Elena nodded, feeling strangely affected by him petting her hair. Every time he ran his fingers through it, goose bumps seemed to rise on her skin.
"Thank you," she said gratefully.
Damon smiled at her. She just now noticed how it caused dimples to appear. It was kind of cute. And had his eyes always been so blue?
Elena shook her head, willing those thoughts to go away. Now was not the time to develop absurd feelings for someone who felt nothing but sympathy for her! Besides, she was dying. He deserved better than that. He deserved someone who could continue to stay with him for another decade or so.
"I'm fine now," she said hoarsely. Okay, her voice sounded strangely squeaky.
Damon tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tapped her nose with his finger.
"Are you ready for item number two?" he asker her.
Elena shook her head. "For now, just let me enjoy item number one."
Damon nodded and turned to look out the window.
They were still holding hands…
Thank you for the kind reviews. Writing this helps me a lot, so I will continue to do so. This chapter was a little more upbeat. I just wanted to add some playfulness to the mix. The story can't be all about heart ache. But yeah, the gut wrenching is coming.
So, are you curious what item number two is up in Florida? Let me know what you think it is. Please review. Thank you!
Xxx Sandy1983.
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