A/N: So, as it turns out I find it very hard to write a chapter without smut! This chapter takes place entirely outside of the bedroom, but do not fear, there will be smut again! Fireplace smut, perhaps? Also, I must inject a shameless little plug for my new fic, "Tell Me What You Want" – the first chapter is up people! If you are sad about the lack of smut in this chapter of "Home for the Holidays," you will not be disappointed by "Tell Me What You Want." Enjoy!
After Elena and Jeremy took off Damon finished securing the Christmas tree to the roof of the car before pulling his phone out of his pocket. With slight apprehension he found the number in his Contacts list and hit the Call button.
It rang twice before the person on the other line answered.
"Talk to me," Caroline answered, all business.
"They're ice skating, I think we've got about three hours," Damon said.
"Damon," Caroline said, clearly annoyed. "What were the conditions I gave when I said I would help you pull this off?"
Damon rolled his eyes, even though there was no one there to see him do it.
"Sorry," he said. "I meant, the sparrow has flown the nest. Or the coop. Wait, that's a chicken. The eagle has landed?"
Caroline huffed into her phone. "Well I hope you take the rest of this more seriously than you're taking our code communication."
"Scout's honor," he told her.
"Please, like you were ever a Boy Scout."
"I ate an Eagle Scout once, can I swear on his honor?"
"Gross. Do you want my help or not?"
Damon shut up. "Yes," he said.
"I'll be over in ten minutes. And you owe me."
"AHHHHHH, oh my GOD!" Elena screamed, her heart jumping in her chest. It all happened so fast that she didn't have time to react. He came seemingly out of nowhere, and it was her he was coming for…she was going to collide right into him, she shrieked and flailed – and fell hard on her bum on the ice as Jeremy skidded to a sudden stop right in front of her.
"Jeremy! Not funny, you know how much I hate that!" Elena said, but she was laughing as her brother bent down and took her hands, helping her get back onto her feet.
Jeremy was laughing too, harder than Elena. "I can't believe you still fall for that! I would've thought now that you were a vampire you'd be harder to mess with."
She shrugged good-naturedly. "Once a klutz, always a klutz I guess." She brushed herself off. It was nice seeing her brother so happy; she could get used to seeing that grin more often.
They skated the rink's perimeter side by side for a couple laps, Elena loving the feeling of the cool air against her cheeks as she glided along the ice. There were a lot of simple human pleasures she'd not had the opportunity to enjoy over the past couple of years, even when she was still a human. She'd had less time for this kind of stuff ever since her parents had died and her life had gotten so…supernatural.
"So how's college?" Jeremy asked.
Elena grinned. "It's awesome Jer, you're gonna love it. You get there and no one knows anyone, so you just can be who ever you want. It's a completely fresh start."
Jeremy sighed. "Yeah, I could use one of those right about now."
Elena looked over at him, concern on her face. "Kids not loving the 'I faked my own death' story?"
Jeremy chuckled darkly. "Surprisingly, not so much. I might be a little bit of a social pariah. Somehow even more than when I was the druggie kid whose parents had just died."
Elena frowned. "At least Matt's been looking out for you though, right?"
"Yeah, Matt's been great."
Jeremy had eventually moved in with Matt after Elena had left Mystic Falls. Not that there had been anything particularly awful about living at the boarding house with Damon, but to be honest it was a little strange living with his sister's boyfriend who also happened to be a semi-reformed murderous vampire. Living with Matt made him feel almost normal again – Matt was the only normal person left in his life. Plus they were friends, Matt was almost like an older brother to him. Jeremy's living situation, at least, was good.
They lapsed into silence again as they continued skating round and round in big circles. Elena finally turned to Jeremy, a sly grin on her face.
"Race you to the hot chocolate stand!" she declared, before taking off across the ice.
"That's cheating, you got a head start!" Jeremy called after her, but he took off as well, trying to catch her before she made it across the rink to her goal.
"Two, please," Elena said to the woman behind the counter, smiling with self-satisfaction at Jeremy, who had arrived at the stand a split-second after she did. Moments later they were both tottering awkwardly across the rubber flooring in their skates and sitting down on a bench with their drinks.
"Mmmmmm this is almost as good as blood," Elena said, sipping the hot chocolate reverently.
"Don't say that too loudly," Jeremy told her, looking around them. "Pretty sure most of these people would take a hot chocolate over a blood bag any day."
Elena laughed. "Well they don't know what they're missing." Jeremy made a face.
They sipped their hot chocolate in a comfortable silence for a minute, both trying to get the feeling back in their fingers and toes.
"So…you and Damon," Jeremy said finally.
Elena turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, me and Damon? Me and Damon what?"
Jeremy shook his head, grinning. "Nothing. Just…you seem happy."
"That's because I am," she said simply.
"You're good for each other," Jeremy said. "Rose told me once that you would be."
"Rose told you?" Elena said, her brow furrowed.
"On our Denver road trip. After I walked in on you humping Damon against a wall."
"We were not humping!" Elena exclaimed, horrified. Jeremy gave her a look. "Oh fine, maybe we were. But don't say 'humping' to your older sister," she told him, shoving her shoulder gently into his.
"Fine, my mistake," he said. "I guess I'm just saying – I didn't think I'd like you together, but I was wrong."
"Thank you," Elena said, smiling warmly. It meant a lot to her that Jeremy didn't hate her boyfriend…unlike some other people that came to mind.
Jeremy checked his watch. "We should probably get going actually. I told Damon I'd give you back to him after a few hours. I'm not sure he quite knows what do with himself anymore when you're not around, he's probably being driven mad with boredom."
"A little bit to the left," Caroline told him. Damon inched the wreath to the left.
"Oops! My left!" Caroline said, correcting him. Damon moved it back the other way. This was the finishing touch, and it was a good thing because it was dark outside now and Jeremy should be texting him any minute to say he was on his way back with Elena.
Caroline stood on the front step, gazing at Damon who was holding the wreath on the front door, her finger on her chin in mock thoughtfulness. "No, you moved it too far. It's not centered."
Damon turned to her in exasperation. "You're doing this to me on purpose, aren't you? You're trying to literally drive me mad."
Caroline smiled up at him sweetly. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," she told him with a perfectly straight face. Her eyes sparkled.
It was no secret that Caroline wasn't Damon's biggest fan, or vice versa for that matter. But the past couple of months they'd both tried harder than they ever had before and had reached a very tentative truce. Caroline admitted, grudgingly, that he seemed to genuinely love her friend. Maybe he wasn't all bad.
Damon nailed the wreath to the door without further discussion and stood back to admire his work. "Good enough," he said. Caroline saw red. Truce be damned.
"Good enough?!" Caroline repeated. "Excuse me, I don't do good enough. I do extraordinary. You asked for the head of the decorating committee, not the chump who throws together Bat Mitzvahs for five bucks a head. Ever heard of a thing called having standards? I know your girlfriend hasn't."
Damon whistled. "Low blow, Blondie," he told her with a fake smile. "I'm sorry, remind me why you're here again? Because from my perspective it feels like I've been doing all the work."
Caroline fumed at him. "Excuse me? Who cut out two hundred individual snowflakes with no help, and had to run out to buy more paper after someone destroyed half of it trying to attempt a craft that third graders can handle?"
"I'm a vampire, Caroline. We're supposed to spend our time drinking the blood of innocent people, not doing arts and crafts."
"Oh, you're a vampire? What am I, chopped liver?"
"…guys?"
Damon and Caroline turned and found themselves face to face with Elena and Jeremy.
"Hi?" Elena said uncertainly. "Caroline, what are you doing over here?"
Caroline's expression went from scowling to shock to smiling in three seconds flat. "Surprise!" she sang. "Wait till you see what we did!"
"I thought you were going to text me," Damon hissed at Jeremy.
"Dude, I did," Jeremy replied.
"Oh," Damon said. He pulled out his phone. "So you did. Must've been somewhere between the snowflakes and the mistletoe," he said, glaring at Caroline. She just smiled at him.
"What have you guys done?" Elena asked, looking between the unlikely team of her best friend and her boyfriend.
Damon went to her side, kissing her gently. "Come in and see," he told her. The four of them walked into the dark house together.
"I don't see anything, Damon," Elena said laughing. "It's pitch black in here!"
"One second," Caroline told her. She knelt on the floor, groping around for something in the dark, and a moment later Elena gasped as the room was suddenly illuminated with the glow of what must have been at least a thousand white fairy lights. They were wrapped around a garland on the fire's mantelpiece, lining the trim of the ceiling, hanging from the chandelier, and adorning the huge tree in the middle of the room that they had picked out this morning. Silver snowflakes hung down from the ceiling at different heights, and as they turned in a gentle breeze they caught the light and seemed to almost sparkle.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
"Like it?" she repeated, speechless. "Damon, it's amazing. You did all this for me?"
"I wanted you to have a Christmas worth remembering," he told her. Caroline cleared her throat beside them. "Caroline made the snowflakes," he added. She stuck her tongue out at him, but smiled.
Elena turned to look at her friend. "They're beautiful," she said. "It's all beautiful, thank you guys!"
"You're welcome, bestie," Caroline said, hugging her friend. "And now, I hate to say it but I've gotta run. My mom's arranged a dinner with some family from out of town. Being a vampire is great for a lot of things, but sadly I have learned it does not get you out of painful family holiday gatherings."
"I'll catch a ride with you if it's okay," Jeremy said. "I'm helping Matt at The Grill tonight and Elena and I walked over here."
"No problem," Caroline replied. "The Grill's on my way."
Elena walked the two of them back to the front door, hugging them both goodbye. When she returned to the parlor Damon had lit a fire in the hearth and was fiddling with something in the corner of the room. A minute later classical Christmas music filled the air. She smiled as she flopped down onto the couch.
"Damon, I love it," she said, looking around her. "It actually feels like the holidays now. Thank you."
"I didn't do it just for you, y'know," he told her, walking slowly over to the couch. "I haven't had a proper Christmas celebration in several decades." He reached out to her and she placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her up into his arms. "Haven't had anybody worth celebrating with," he whispered in her ear. She shivered, amazed at how he still had such an effect on her.
Damon led her over to the fireplace and as he began swaying their bodies gently to the music she had a brief flashback of a similar scene that had played out in this room just over a year ago, when she had danced with him like this in front of the fireplace. The night they slept together for the first time. She had been sired to him then, but as Damon held her now she didn't feel so different from how she had felt that first night. His eyes on hers still felt electric, his touch still made her weak in the knees, and she still felt powerless to resist him. The only real difference was that now she was more certain than ever that this was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She rested her cheek against him and he drew her closer, barely moving but somehow still dancing.
"I take it back," Elena told him.
"Hmmm?" Damon said. "What are you talking about?"
"When I told you that of all the choices I've made, choosing you would prove to be the worst one," Elena said. "I was wrong, Damon, I take it back. Being here with you? This was the best choice I've ever made."
Damon didn't even bother to respond, he just kissed her. Slowly, passionately, with an all-consuming love that she had never even imagined she deserved. As he kissed her, as the fire crackled on the hearth and the music swelled in the background, Elena felt like she was finally home.
A/N: Less action, more talk in this chapter. What did you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts if you have a second to review! Your reviews always make my day!