So we moved out. It was sheer bliss, no more having to worry about vampiric hearing or treading on other people's toes.
I sang when I washed up when Lee was out because no one was around to hear my out of tune voice.
It was just after 3 months that we had first moved out of the Salvatore household that I had a not entirely unexpected visit from Stefan. We sat on the small sofa and he told me that he was sorry that he hadn't ever meant to deceive either of us and that he truly did consider us as his friends. "You left these in the library; I thought I'd bring them round and see how you're doing. You know the CW network is going to air the show in September, or do you already know that?" He gave me a carrier bag containing the books, I gave them back.
"I told Damon I didn't want them. If you don't want them then just leave them outside the door of the charity shop below, they'll take them in in the morning."
Stefan looked as though I'd punched him in the stomach. "Don't be like this Lizzie, please. I'm sorry for hurting you I really am, but you're my friend and everyone misses you and Lee, especially Damon. The house isn't the same without you."
"Lee and I are happy here thank you, it's been great just being normal for these past 3 months after 3 months living with you and Damon. Anyway, you're lying about Damon. He might have liked me when I was living at my Dad's house, but not when I moved in. He wouldn't come near me and I was in the library then he would walk out."
"Lizzie, you know my brother. He's never going to tell you anything that he feels, but you have to believe me that he holds you in great respect.
You were the closet thing to a friend that he had Lizzie."
"Look, if I was his friend then he had a funny way of showing it Stefan. I didn't think I was asking too much for him to come and sit in the living room with us occasionally and have a chat."
"That's not Damon though Lizzie, is it? He does things on his own terms and it must be hard for him to live in a house with 3 humans and me."
Stefan and I looked at each other, then Stefan sighed and got up.
"Do you still have my mobile number?"
"yes."
"Then if you ever change your mind call me. I'm sorry Lizzie."
With that he walked out before I could follow him to the door.
The next Thursday the doorbell rang at 10pm, Lee was out but I recognised the long heavy ring, so as I got up to the go to the door and it rang again I called out "give me a chance!"
I opened the door on my guard and ready to confront Damon, but he was leaning against the door frame with blood all over his face, his jacket ripped and his shirt was covered in blood.
"Don't ask. I just need somewhere to stay for the night, I'll be fine tomorrow." I was shocked at the state of him, but I motioned that he was fine to come in and he staggered into the flat and half sat, half fell on the sofa.
I helped him out of his jacket and saw that that there was a lot of blood on his neck, I tried to get a closer look but he shrugged me off. "If I'm letting you stay here for tonight then you're going to let me clean you up and tell me why you're here instead of Grove House." Damon sighed painfully, "I don't have to tell you anything and I don't want you to touch me."
"Well that's tough. My house, my rules." I said as I went to the medicine cupboard and pulled out disinfectant, a small bowl, 3 months I was well versed on having the necessary equipment.
"Right you, is it just your neck or is there anywhere else?" I asked him as I sat down next to him cotton wool at the ready.
"The neck and my right side."
"It looks like you've been fighting with Stefan," I said as I began to wipe his neck and under all the dried blood found several long, deep gashes. "Clever girl. You've learnt a lot being around us, haven't you?" He said sarcastically, I bit my lip and ignored the comment.
"Why were you fighting with him and why do you want to stay here?" Damon ran the flannel over his face and turned his whole body to look at me, "that's none of your business." He snapped. I nearly threw the whole bowl over his head for that.
"You've made it my business by coming here and asking to stay the night even though you wanted and got me out of your house," his eyes widened and then dropped to the floor. "I didn't want you out of the house. It was a test; I wanted to be sure that if things went bad you wouldn't go to the papers."
"You are such a flamin arse Damon and that's a load of rubbish. If you didn't trust me then why are you here? Why was I even invited to move in?" He snarled at me and his hands gripped my shoulders, I was scared of him for the first time since I met him- really scared.
"You want to know the truth? Fine, I'll tell you the truth. My brother thought that you might be in danger from anything that knows us for what we are and has seen you with us." He relaxed his grip and sat up slowly, I sat up and tried to breathe but I was furious.
"Well no one told me! I barely saw you when I was in the house- what am I meant to think by that? It's like you're ashamed of knowing of me as apart from the first time that I met Elena and Bonnie you don't come near me when we're all together and yet you have a fight with your brother and suddenly you're on my doorstep asking to kip on my sofa! Make up your flippin mind while I let Lee know we have a guest for the night." I stormed off to the bedroom and text Lee, the text that came back almost straight away said that he wasn't happy but if I felt he was to be trusted then it was okay by him.
I sighed and lay back on my bed, the phone rang. It was Stefan.
"Hi Stefan, are you okay?"
"I'm still… alive. If you can call it that. I take it he's with you."
Damon suddenly walked in without asking and sat on the bed with the house "Yes, he's here. He's staying on the sofa for tonight, if he's good. He told me the whole story at last. I'm sorry I snapped Stefan."
"It's not your fault Lizzie, I should have told you the whole story and he shouldn't have said what he did."
"Well that's water under the bridge now. I have to go, I just wanted to check you're okay." I hung up on Stefan and looked at Damon who was sitting on the side of the bed. "You need to be back in the living room, I've got to have a look at your side."
He grinned at me and slowly took his shirt off, showing his muscular torso that could rival any male model and he knew it. "Very nice. Now let's go in the living room where I can get a proper look."
He arched his eyebrow at me and I rolled my eyes, "there's not that much wrong with you if you're playing your games with me."
"Nothing that won't heal." He grinned, then winced as he got up and I shot over to him and got a look at the large deep gash in his side.
"How did you get these?" I asked trying not to sound shocked.
"I got thrown against a railing." I looked up at him in astonishment, he didn't look at me. "What the hell were you fighting over anyway?" I dabbed at his side with the cotton wool, I noticed that it was healing already but not as quickly as I thought it would.
"He said that every time good things happen to him I come along and destroy everything. He pushed me into the wall." He looked at me expectantly, "I'm not saying a word" I said.
"I see." He said and turned his head away.
"Oh don't be like that! You know full well that you love causing trouble for Stefan. You two need your heads bashing together to knock some sense into you both." At this point I got a bit over excited with the cotton wool and Damon sucked in a breath as he tensed up.
"What are you going to do tomorrow?" I asked him.
"Get on a plane and go back to Florence." He said through clenched teeth, "It's getting boring living with you humans." I couldn't say anything about that, I told him we were done and he put his t-shirt back on. "I'll heal enough tonight so that I can fly without any problems tomorrow, I'll be away early so I won't bother you anymore and you can go live with my brother where he can play at being human."
"You really know how to twist the knife in, don't you?" I said tears welling in my eyes, I got up and took everything in the kitchen trying not to cry.
"What do you mean?" he asked as he walked slowly into the kitchen.
"Just don't bother. I don't have the energy to explain it. You can sleep here tonight by all means and then bugger off back to Italy tomorrow." I dumped the empty bowl in the sink and the cotton wool in the bin, as I went to walk out of the kitchen he grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go until I explained what I meant.
"I thought you and I were friends but obviously I was wrong." I didn't look him in the eyes otherwise I would have started to cry.
"You disappoint me Elizabeth. I thought better of you than that," he said to me in that cold voice, but he was still holding onto my arm. "I disappoint a lot of people Damon. Did you still want to sleep here tonight? As I need to get you a duvet and pillow." I tried to struggle out of his grip but he held me firm, I looked up and saw his eyes were as black as coals. He sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm not like my brother, Elizabeth. I feed from humans, you are the prey and I'm the predator. Why would I form emotional attachments to the weaker species that I prey upon?"
"I'm not asking for an explanation Damon. I don't expect one." My arm was beginning to ache now and I told him so but he wasn't listening.
"Good. Now I need you to go to your room as I'm getting hungry looking at your pretty neck." I took a deep breath.
"If you need blood then take it. As long you don't kill me or seriously hurt me then it's fine." Damon looked at me through narrowed eyes, then he struck so fast that I didn't even have time to blink. It was his way of making sure that I wouldn't start all this friendship nonsense again.
It hurt, both physically and mentally. It seemed to take forever and afterwards I felt a bit weak and shaky, but I didn't look at him when he released me. I went to the bathroom and got the spare duvet and pillow out for him and out them on the sofa, Lee was due back any minute and I knew I'd have some explaining to do.
Damon stood on the living room watching me with a frown on his face. "I'm sorry there isn't a sofa bed or anything, but the sofa's quite comfy and won't do you any harm for one night." I stopped what I was doing and looked at him, he was staring at me with a weird look on his face.
"I've slept in worse places," I heard a key turn in the door and relief that Lee was home swept over me in a huge wave.
I ran to the door and kissed him as usual, when I turned around Damon was standing in the hall door. "I apologise for any inconvenience Lee, thank you for allowing me to sleep on your sofa and Elizabeth, thank you for the blood. I'll be gone early tomorrow so I'll say good night and arrivederci to both of you." He turned and shut the living room door leaving Lee glaring daggers at me, we went to bed that night without talking and the next morning when we got up Damon had left as promised.
Over the next couple of weeks I plucked up the courage to go back to Grove House and tell them what had happened, leaving out some details for obvious reasons. Stefan wasn't happy that I had given his brother blood but he didn't say anything to me, so over the next couple of weeks we worked on repairing our friendship.