AN: I'm feeling inspired during these days so here's another quick update, LOL. I'm really having fun at writing this story, so please let me know what you think about the Delena goodness in this chapter. :P
Also for who reads LYE I promise guys I will update as soon as possible. I'm just feeling more inspired at writing this right now!
Thank you for reading & please review. I love reading your thoughts. :)
She texted Stefan back asking for more informations as she kept thinking about Damon and how he would take it.
As far as he knew Maria was coming back on Wednesday. He already seemed stressful and vulnerable about it today…she couldn't imagine how he would be like at the moment.
She suddenly felt like she was missing something, and she soon realized that it was about him. Right now she wanted to be there for him seeing how he was doing and support him. She felt stupid and completely delusional, since she'd just kissed another guy and Damon clearly had no romantic feelings for her whatsover.
She should be thinking about Mason and their perfect date right now. How he had just kissed her and how good she'd felt. She shouldn't be thinking about Damon and how he felt about her.
Her phone started ringing and she immediatly picked up when she saw that it was Stefan.
"Hey." She said with a sigh.
"Hey El. Look I would ask you how was your date and everything but I really can't right now. I have to pick up my mom at the station and I…I need a favor." Stefan said hesitantly.
"Of course. Do you need me to do anything?"
"Well…you're back from your date, right?" He asked.
"No he just dropped me off actually." She said.
"So..uhm..could you come over and keep an eye on Damon? He's been pacing back and fort in the parlor since I told him and I'm worried that he could do something reckless or maybe leave. I can't allow that to happen again. I'm sure you would keep him from doing it." He said.
She tensed up a little at the thought of being alone with Damon. Just today she'd sworn to keep herself away from him and now she had to stay at the Boarding House with him.
"I..I don't know Stef. Maybe he does want to stay alone. He's not a kid." She said.
"Please Elena. He's not a kid but he sure is impulsive as one sometimes. I'm sure you would somehow soothe him. I don't know who else to ask." He said almost helplessy.
"Fine. I'm on my way." She then said with a defeated sigh as she hung up.
She quickly reached her car and got in, driving off to the Boarding House.
For the whole drive she kept having the feeling of turning around and going back home. She wanted to help Stefan and Damon with their family drama and she would honestly do anything to be there for them. But it wasn't easy. In the last few days she'd started being aware of something that she couldn't quite put her finger on between her and Damon.
But since it was all delusional and in her head it just wasn't the case to foster it. In a few weeks he would go back to Chicago and it would all be forgotten. Her crush or whatever it was had too as well.
As she pulled off the driveway she noticed that Stefan's car was already gone. Damon's chevy though was there and she took a deep breath before taking the keys and opening the door.
She fixed her hair a little and took a quick glance in the mirror in the hallway.
"Damon?" She called softly as she headed further.
The lights were all off, the only thing keeping the house from being completely in the dark was the fire from the fireplace.
She found him sitting on the couch in front of it, a glass of bourbon in his hand as he stared numbly into the fire.
She hesitantly took a seat next to him, unsure of what to say.
"Hey." She said as she placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled a little.
He turned his head around and smiled back slightly. His ocean blue eyes seeming deeper and more beautiful than ever.
"You know, it's not the end of the world." She said chuckling as she tried to lighten the situation. "I'm sure it's all going to be okay."
"You couldn't even recognize me." He said with an humorless chuckle all of a sudden.
"What?" She said shaking her head a little as she grew confused.
"When you first saw me again, you couldn't even recognize me." He said.
"Damon…" She started, guiltiness filling her.
"No." He stopped her. "I'm not blaming you, Elena. I'm a different person. I'm not that guy from six years ago anymore in a lot of ways and…what if she doesn't see me as her son anymore?"
His eyes were holding so much insecurity and pain that she realized that all he wanted was being accepted and loved.
He tried so hard to hide his true self under that thick shell that he had created that when he broke down it was overhelming.
She sighed a little and put her head on his shoulder, not quite knowing what gave her the impulse to do it. Maybe she was just too tired.
He immediatly stiffened and she cursed herself mentally for doing what she just did, but as he quickly relaxed and leaned against her a little she smiled feeling at ease.
"What you just said is bullshit Damon. You would be her son even if you became a frog or a dog or a vampire. She would love you all the same." She said with a shrug.
She felt him moving against her as he started chuckling and she looked up at him.
"What?"
"A vampire? Seriously?" He asked still chuckling with an amused expression. "How much have you been drinking tonight exactly?"
She rolled her eyes and smacked him.
"Whatever you know what I meant."
"Yeah. I know." He said softly. "Did Stefan send you here to check up on me like I was a newborn by the way?"
"Pretty much." She said giggling.
"Unbelievable." He groaned shaking his head as he took a sip from his drink. "I came back for a reason…and I intend on staying true to that this time." He then said.
"But you're not really back. You'll go back to Chicago eventually." She said, trying to sound unaffected.
"We'll see about that." He just said before giving her a knowing look.
Her eyes shimmered a little at his words and his did the same.
As the tension was suddenly becoming too much they heard a car pulling off in the driveway.
Damon immediatly stood up, his face tense even if he was trying not to show it. Elena gave him an encouraging nod and stood up to stand near him.
They heard loud voices from the outside and Elena immediatly recognized Maria's voice. It was frantic and anxious and she could see Damon stiffening beside her.
"Where is he!" She immediatly started saying as she walked through the house.
"Mom…" Stefan said with an exhausted sigh.
As she entered the parlor her eyes widened in shock and her mouth fell open as the took in Damon's figure.
Elena gently squeezed his arm in comfort before going to stand near Stefan and leave them alone.
"Oh god." Maria cried as she brought her hands to her mouth.
She literally started crying and Damon immediatly felt uneasy.
He opened his mouth to say something a couple of times but nothing came out. No words could describe how many things he was feeling at the moment.
She hadn't changed a bit. Her hair grayed just a little and she had a few wrinkles up her forehead but she was still the same as she was six years ago. It seemed like time had stopped.
"Hey momma." He said sheepishly.
"My son!" She said as she hurried over him to wrap him into a tight hug. "Oh look at you how much you've grown up." She said looking at him with a proud smile even though tears were still streaming down her face.
"And you haven't changed a bit." He said with a smile as he kept hugging her.
He breathed in the familiar scent and noticed that she still used the same perfume from six years ago. She didn't let go of him for a few long minutes and she suddenly pulled back.
She then slapped him with an angry expression on her face and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Ouch." He said as he brought his hand to his hurting cheek.
"This is for disappearing on me for six horrible years Damon. Don't you ever do that again." She said sternly.
"Okay, I deserved that." He said with a smirk as he rolled his eyes.
"Don't you roll your eyes at me Damon Salvatore!" Maria said surprised by his snarky behavior.
"Sorry ma." He said.
After all these years his mother was still the only woman capable of frighten him so easily.
"Where…where are your glasses? And the bow ties that you used to wear?" She said baffled as she checked him out.
"Contact lenses." He said shrugging. "And you were the one who always made me wear those awful bows." He then said with a cringe.
She was looking at him so intently and yet so proudly as tears started welling up in her eyes again.
"What?"
"Oh nothing, son. But I couldn't help but notice what a wonderful strong man you've become." She whispered as she kept looking at him like he wasn't really there. Like he was just in her imagination.
She wrapped her arms around him again and he hugged her back, realizing that Elena was right. She still loved him no matter what.
"Well from ugly duckling to magnificent swan." He said with a chuckle.
"Stop with that." She said as she swatted his arm. "You've always been magnificent to me. You always were, Damon."
"Whatever you say ma." He said.
"It's already past midnight. I better go to bed." She said with a sigh. "Promise me you will be here in the morning." She then said as she gripped his arm tightly and looked at him firmly.
"I'm not going anywhere." He promised with a nod. "Now you go to sleep and we'll talk later, okay?"
She nodded thoughtfully and he leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"Goodnight mom."
"Goodnight son. I love you." She said as she stroked his face fondly.
He watched her as she went upstairs and sighed quietly. It went better than he thought after all. As always Elena was right.
A couple of minutes later Stefan and Elena headed downstairs chatting quietly. They gave him an expectant look and he rolled his eyes as he started feeling a little oppressed.
"It went well. I expected it to go a lot worse to be honest." He said as he plopped on the couch, sighing heavily.
"I told you so." Elena said with a knowing smile as she sat on the armchair and Stefan took a sit next to him on the couch.
"I've drunk a little too much so…I'm gonna stay here for the night, if you don't mind." Damon said a little uncomfortably.
"It's your house too Damon. You can do whatever you want to. We would actually love to have you back here…leave that crappy apartment already." Stefan said.
Damon raised an eyebrow at him comment as he grew thoughtful.
"Honestly I love having my privacy. Even though this house is huge I'd still feel at unease with you and mom here." He said.
"For privacy you mean having your little sleepovers? With that Andie, by any chance?" Stefan asked raising his eyebrows.
"It's not just that, you moron." He said annoyed rolling his eyes. "I'll have to think about it."
"Oh you told me you went out with Andie before. How did that go considering that she seems to be going a little psycho on you?" Stefan asked with a chuckle.
For a moment he thought about asking him of what the hell he was talking about but he suddenly remembered that he'd lied to him saying that he was going to meet up with Andie as an excuse when he met Caroline.
He immediatly looked at Elena and he remembered Caroline's words about her thinking that he and Andie were an item. Now that he knew it annoyed her, he paid attention to her reaction as Stefan mentioned her and he smirked slightly when he saw Elena cringing.
He thought about saying that he wasn't seeing her anymore but instead he just shrugged, wanting to know where this was going.
"Nothing special. We just went at the Grill." He said.
Stefan seemed a little suspicious at his vague response but Elena immediatly spoke up.
"I better get going or I'll fall asleep in the car." She said yawning a little, which he found incredibly cute.
"Don't be silly El. You'll just sleep here tonight." Stefan said as he stood up.
"You sure? With your mom back and all…" She started saying.
"We don't mind, you know that." Stefan assured her stroking her shoulder. "Do you Damon?"
"Absolutely not." He replied with a smirk.
She smiled sheepishly at them, her eyes lingering on Damon's form a little bit longer as she went upstairs.
"Just like that?" Damon asked confused as he looked at her heading upstairs.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean she hasn't her pajama or anything else. Where does she sleep?" He asked.
It annoyed him to no end that she was most likely going to sleep in one of Stefan's t-shirts and maybe even sharing a room with him. They were friends, but it still bothered him for some reason if they were this close.
"When she sleeps over here she stays in her own room. With her own pajama." Stefan said keeping an amused smile as he saw Damon so baffled.
"Good." Damon said eyeing Stefan with a firm nod as he headed upstairs.
Stefan shook his head and laughed a little.
He was quiet as he walked through the hallway and when he heard Elena humming softly from her room he took a peek from the half closed door.
"You can come in." She said with a chuckle.
He entered quickly founding her sitting at the edge of her bed brushing her hair in her cute cupcakes pajama.
He laughed and gave her a weird look and she just blushed a little.
"Don't judge…it's from years ago but it's the only one I have here." She said as she rolled her eyes.
"Not judging. I find it cute actually." He said as he kept checking her out.
He hesitantly took a seat next to her and smiled a little.
"I wanted to thank you." He then said. "I thought that it was going to be a lot worse than it did but you always said otherwise, so thank you."
"I told you there was nothing to worry about. She loves you Damon, I just said the truth." She said smiling back.
"Yeah but the heavy stuff is yet to come. I will have to explain everything and..it's not going to be easy." He said thoughtfully as he stood up to reach the door. "I don't want her to think that I didn't come back because I didn't love her or Stefan. They were never the problem."
As soon as he said it he saw Elena giving him a guilty look and he mentally kicked himself. Of course she thought that she was one of the reasons. And she was. Truthfully she'd had quite the impact on his decision to leave and hate the town, but she sure as hell wasn't the major one and he even told her that already.
"Elena I didn't mean…" He started.
"No hey I understand. I know that I've been horrible to you and that you left town hating me. You have every right to Damon. But I regret it a lot, you know? You really are a great person and I've never should have treated you the way I did." She said quietly looking down in embarassment.
His eyes shimmered a little at her words and how truly sorry she looked.
Then and there he realized that he was falling all over again for her. Hard. The one thing he'd promised himself to never do again.
He didn't know what made him to it but he suddenly pulled her into a hug, pulling her close to him. He wasn't quite the hugger and he didn't really like intimate hugs like this one. But with her it all seemed so easy and right.
He heard her gasping a little as she stiffened but she soon hugged him back, encircling his waist.
"What's done it's done Elena. And I'm sorry for the way I acted when I first came back. I was an ass." He whispered into her hair.
She hugged him tighter and he smiled softly.
"Is this the same perfume you were wearing that night at Jenna's?" He then asked.
She pulled back surprised that he still remembered and she chuckled a little.
"Yep, Chanel N° 5." She said nodding.
"Like Marilyn Monroe? But she also slept naked after wearing it honey." He said smirking mischeviously.
She blushed hard and swatted him playfully.
"Go to bed Damon." She said.
"With you?" He said as she pushed him out of her room.
"In your dreams." She said rolling her eyes.
"Count on it." He said winking with his smirk still in place.
She shook her head at him and he closed the door still smiling.
He thought about going to sleep in his old room but it felt somehow still odd so he just decided to go in one of the many spare rooms.
He went into Stefan room to borrow his toothpaste to use in the morning and took off in his room, still feeling edgy about the fact that Elena was sleeping at only two rooms ahead of him. If she only knew the things he would do to her…
Elena woke up feeling relaxed and at ease like she hadn't been in a long time. At first she thought that it was because of her date with Mason and that it was the after glow of it, but she soon realized that it was because the last thing she did before going to bed was being in Damon's arms.
That made her feel sort of giddy and she quickly recomposed herself when she realized that she was smiling widely.
She quickly brushed her teeth and tied her hair in a pony-tail and as she checked the clock she saw that it was only 8 am.
She put her sweatshirt on and headed downstairs smelling pancakes.
"Hey there." She said as she went to kiss Stefan on the cheek.
"Up early?" He said as he poured some sryup on his pancakes.
"Yup. I feel good today." She said happily as she stretched.
"Is it for your date with Mason Lockwood?" He asked chuckling a little.
"Oh…yeah. Totally." She quickly lied forcing a laugh.
It's not that she lied, her date with Mason had been more than good. It just wasn't the only reason.
She took some of the pancakes he'd made and took a sit on the stool next to him.
"Where are Damon and your mother?" She then asked quizzically.
"Taking a walk. Talking, I suppose." He said shrugging.
"Oh. I see." She said quietly. "This must be hard on you too. Having your brother back all of a sudden after all these years. Do you want to talk about it?"
"I...well at first it was. It's been kind of a shock but you know what? I'm just happy that he's back and that we got a chance to sort things out." He said.
She nodded silently guessing that he was probably right. No matter how screwed up things were he was still his big brother and he missed him.
"But he's going to go back to Chicago…" She said, gulping nervously as she noticed the pain in her chest as she spoke the words.
"He is." Stefan said nodding. "But we'll still keep in contact and he's going to visit from time to time. He won't be really gone this time."
"You have a point." She said forcing a chuckle.
They ate quietly for a few more minutes and then Stefan spoke up again.
"Oh by the way we were planning on going to the lake house for Caroline's birthday tonight. Spending the night there and all. You wanna come?" He asked.
"Sure. I actually wanted to ask her what she was planning on doing for tonight." She said smiling.
"You know that she invited Damon too?" He then said shaking his head as he laughed.
"What?" Elena said as her eyes widened in surprise. "No way."
"I'm telling you she did. She says that she likes him and that he's nice. Go figure." Stefan said making a face.
"And..what did he say?" She asked, secretly hoping that he was going to come.
"He's coming. He says that he has 'nothing better to do anyway'." Stefan said mocking him and rolling his eyes.
"Is he bringing Andie?" She then asked trying not to sound annoyed.
"I really don't think so. Even if they're still seeing each other I think that it's more of a casual thing you know, nothing serious." He said shrugging.
"If you say so..." She said with a sigh.
Serious or not that skanky little thing still had her paws on him and Elena didn't approve. At all.
They chatted for a while and she then headed up to her room to change and go back to her place so she could pack things for tonight.
When she headed downstairs she noticed that Damon and Maria still didn't come back and she hoped that everything was going fine.
She got back home in a few minutes and as she entered the house she found Jeremy playing some videogame in the living room.
"Hey what's up." He said, his eyes still focused on the screen.
"Hey Jer." She said as she went to ruffle his hair. "How are you doing?" She asked and then grimaced a little as she saw the weird game he was playing.
"Oh I'm great. What about you? You didn't come home last night." He said suspiciously giving her a look.
She rolled her eyes and laughed when she saw the look that he was throwing at her.
"I was just at Stefan's." She quickly explained.
"I still don't get why you two aren't a couple. You're always together." He said with a shrug.
"He's just a friend Jeremy. My bestfriend. You know how much he and his mom helped me and even you and Jenna after the accident. They've always been here for us." She said seriously.
"I know." He said sighing. "What about his brother? Did he go back to Chicago?" He then asked casually.
"No..but he will. In a few days or weeks I don't know." She said quietly.
She sat there with him in the living room for a while as she was filled in her thoughts but quickly snapped out of them when she remembered all the things she had to do.
"I better get ready. There's Caroline's party tonight and we're going to the lake house." She said.
"I know. I'm coming too." Jeremy said with a knowing smirk.
"What?" Elena spat. "You're so not coming Jer. What is Caroline doing inviting all the town?"
"I heard that she has invited a bunch of people yeah. She called me before and I'm coming, like it or not." He said.
"Fine." She said sighing in frustration. "There's gonna be alcohol and stuff and…I want you to behave Jeremy." She said giving him a pointed look.
"You know you don't need to worry anymore Elena. I'm past that." He said seriously.
"I will always worry for you Jer." She said quietly as she headed upstairs.
The evening came by pretty quickly and she was more than ready when she heard the horn of Caroline's car.
She took her bag and her eyes widened in shock when she got outside. They were all into Matt's van waving at her.
"We're all going with one car?" She asked confused.
"Yes I thought that it was going to be more fun!" Caroline squealed clapping her hands. "I mean the others are going to meet us up there but we are all going together."
"Okay then." Elena said still feeling like scratching her head about it.
Matt was in the driver seat with Caroline beside him. In the seats behind there were Jeremy, Vicky, and with her big surprise even Rebekah.
She started panicking when she noticed that Damon wasn't there but she immediatly smiled when she saw that he was sitting in the last row with Stefan beside him. Damon looked annoyed and Stefan was trying to make him behave. It was kinda fun to watch.
"Uhm, Caroline…" She said a little confused. "Where do I seat?" She asked as she saw that there were no free seats.
Caroline immediatly turned around and she started panicking.
"Oh gosh. I'm so sorry Elena. What the hell I was so sure that it was large enough for everyone!" She said frustrated.
"You can sit on my lap." She then heard Damon's smooth voice saying.
Her eyes widened in surprise at his words and all of a sudden she felt like a little girl at her first crush when her heart started beating furiously.
"Are you…are you sure?" She asked trying not to choke on her words.
"Yeah I mean it's just an hour from here. No big deal." He said with a smirk.
She thought about saying no because it would make them both probably feel a little uncomfortable, but who was she kidding? She wanted it more than anything.
"Okay." She said quietly throwing a knowing glance at him.
She went to put her bag in the trunk and quickly hopped up, going in the last row of seats as she hesitantly sat on Damon's lap.
She kept blushing and blushing and she wondered if she looked like a tomato by now.
"That's it." He whispered huskily as she placed herself on top of him.
"Tell me if I'm heavy because if I'm heavy I mean you can tell me there's no need to –" She started blabling but she was quickly cut off by Damon's amused chuckle.
"Elena..it's fine. More than fine." He then said.
"Okay then." She whispered as she gulped a little.
Jeremy and Vicky were talking and laughing, Rebekah was listening to her iPod and Stefan was looking broody out of the window.
After a little while Damon opened his legs to make her seat more comfortably and her heartbeat started racing like a drum when he encircled her waist with his arms. She was suddenly feeling so hot.
She could smell his intoxicating scent and his cool breath and she noticed her hands shaking a little. God, what the hell was happening to her?
"Have you ever been to our lake house?" He said quietly as he rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Yep." She managed to say, hoping that he wasn't feeling how tense she was.
Her hands unconsciously rested on his on her waist and she took a deep breath before speaking again.
"So how did the talk with your mother go today?"
"Today it's been a start." He said with a sigh as he shrugged and started playing with her fingers. "I told her the reasons of why I left behind but we talked more about what I did during all these years and stuff, you know. I have the feeling that the awkwardness will go on for longer than I thought."
"It's normal Damon. You've been away for six years and it may take some time before things get back to normal completely." She reassured him.
She started feeling more at ease and relaxed and she leaned a little into him, resting her head on his shoulder.
She felt so comfortable and she was settling in such a sense of rightness.
"Hi." He whispered looking down at her face.
"Hi." She whispered back chuckling a little.
He started nuzzling at her neck and she squealed a little and laughed. She ignored the goose-bumps that formed all over her skin and the tingles that she felt but she couldn't ignore the tickles.
That made Stefan turn around and he looked at them with a weird and confused expression.
"Oh my…" He said rolling his eyes as he shaked his head.
Rebekah turned around too and smiled at them.
"You guys are so cute. For how long have you been dating?" She asked.
"We're not dating." She immediatly said with her eyes wide open, blushing like a tomato again when she realized that people thought that they were dating. Was she being so evident?
She felt his grip on her loosening a little but she didn't have a chance to look at him. Was he disappointed or what?
"No we're not." He said quietly with a smile.
"Oh." Rebekah said a little awkwardly as she turned around again.
They stayed in silence for a few minutes and Elena fell asleep in his arms after a while.
He unconsciously started stroking her hair when he heard Stefan chuckling.
"I dare you to be more obvious Damon." He said shaking his head. "You like her."
"I do." He said calmly as he shrugged and kept stroking her hair.
"You live in Chicago, Damon. Your life is there and I don't want her to start getting delusional about whatever this is between the two of you." He said sternly.
"Well maybe in Chicago there's not what I need." He said equally sternly, throwing a hard glance at Stefan. "It's soon to talk about it anyway. I still have to figure things out, okay?"
"Then in the meantime try not to mess with Elena's head, okay?" Stefan threw back.
Luckily everyone seemed to be absorbed into their own things and they were oblivous to the little argument that had just happened.
They arrived twenty minutes later and he softly shook Elena who slowly opened her eyes.
"We're here." He said chuckling.
"Oh." She said quietly as she stirred a little.
He noticed a few cars already there and wondered just how many people blondie had invited. He didn't know how Stefan could allow her to throw such a huge party into their own house. Couldn't she do it somewhere else? Although when she asked him to come he accepeted only because he knew that Elena was going to come too. He couldn't care less about anything else.
They all got out of the car and when he went to take his bag from the trunk he froze when he heard that voice. God no.
"Surprise!" Mason said as he came out of the gardens and went to pick Elena up in his arms.
In that moment Damon understood that he was helplessy and simply jealous.