"So what were you two laughing about when we came along?" asked Damon, Paul ducked his head with a smile. "Paul asked if Ian cold join us and I was saying how nice it would be to share a coffee with Stefan and Damon and for them to sit and chat for a change."
Ian and Paul laughed, Damon smiled but there was no laughter in his eyes. I racked my brains to think of something that would get me out of trouble with Damon, "this is even better though, lunch with three gorgeous men. It's a good job my boyfriend trusts me." Ian thought this was hilarious, "I'd be worried if I were you, you're sitting at a table with two Damon Salvatores and the real thing has been teaching me a few things." Damon flashed a wolfish grin at me, I had to laugh as I hadn't thought of that.
"I'll protect you Lizzie, I'll be your saviour," Paul grinned waving a plastic knife about. That set everyone off laughing, including Damon.
"I hate to break up the party but Elizabeth has to leave as she's going to be late for dinner," said Damon. I looked at him confused, dinner with Bonnie and Elena wasn't until five thirty, I checked my mobile phone and saw that it was half past four and I still had to get back and get ready.
"Oh grief! I didn't realise that was the time! I'd better go. It was lovely to meet both of you." I got up and got a kiss and hug from both Paul and Ian, "we'll see you tomorrow night won't we?" asked Ian.
"wouldn't miss it for the world. I'll see you both tomorrow then," I got up to go but Damon got up as well. "Car's this way Elizabeth," I wasn't sure what he was up to but I followed him back to the Ferrari he hired for the few days we would be here. As he drove me back to the hotel I asked him what he thought of Ian, "he's no substitute for the real thing of course, but I think he'll do okay," he grinned. "What do you think? You're my biggest fan after all."
Ah, he was trying that one again was he? If he was flattering me he was up to something. "From the clips I've seen and from meeting him today, I think Ian will be great as you. I like Paul as well, I think he'll do Stefan justice. He can do angst without it coming across as whinging which is important."
"But what my brother does is a great amount of whinging Elizabeth. Or has your love for the books blinded you to the fact?" I stared at Damon, he was serious. "Actually, your brother is a lot of fun and a great sport. He puts up with a lot of teasing from me, although granted he stores it up and gets his revenge later. But I like that, he seems a lot happier than he was in the books," Damon cocked an eyebrow at me in askance.
"Explain what you mean by he gets his revenge on you later," I grinned at him. "Well, my grandmother was Dutch and I've inherited the Dutch taste in food- weird textures and flavours. Stefan wasn't exactly thrilled when he saw me eating a spread cheese and tomato sauce sandwich, he said it was disgusting as the sauce reminded him of blood. So when I knew he'd be around the kitchen again I made a point of making myself a spam and tomato sauce sandwich and I laughed when he balked at that, I said to him it was only a bit of sauce and I didn't criticise his food so why should he criticise mine."
Damon snorted in amusement, "what did he say to that?"
"He said fine so long as I don't murder pasta by making one of my pasta bakes. He caught me making one a week later, I tried to hide it from him but he caught me. So he got his revenge on me by making me sit through Twilight. He knows I didn't like the books so he thought it'd be funny to make me watch the film, if I didn't watch it all then he wouldn't give me back my Dinosauria book."
Damon laughed, "so I told him that by the end of it I loved it and that it's so tragic that Edward abandons Bella. He believed me right up until the point I said it was better than the vampire diaries," Damon was laughing hard now. "So my brother has it in him after all. Who would have thought?" I laughed at that.
"Oh yeah. Sometimes I hate the fact that you guys have supernatural speed and a damn good aim, the cushion he threw at me nearly floored me," I grinned at Damon who flashed me a grin back.
By this time we were back at the hotel, I thanked him for the lift and went up to the room, Bonnie had just come out of the shower and was drying her hair. "Hey! You're back. What'd you do today?"
"I bumped into Paul Wesley- literally and we ended up having lunch together. Then Ian Somerhalder and Damon came along- we had a good laugh actually. Ian and Damon ganged up on me but Paul came to the rescue by threatening them with his plastic knife." Bonnie gave me a weird look and I laughed, "you had to be there. You seem better then you were this morning, have you recovered from your jet lag?"
"Yeah, I slept virtually all day. I woke up a couple of hours before you came in actually, I haven't seen Stefan and Elena all day." Cue smug grins, they were as much in love with each other as Lee and I were.
I took a shower and changed, by the time I came out Elena was waiting for me.
We had dinner in the hotels' restaurant on Damon. Stefan and Damon had gone out to get themselves something to eat, Damon reassuring Stefan beforehand that he had a very willing pretty girl waiting for him. Afterwards we went out to a bar and had a couple of drinks, we didn't quite know what to do with ourselves, as is was still quite early but Bonnie and Elena had a big day the next day. Eventually we decided to get an early night.
The next day dawned bright and early. Bonnie, Elena and I went out to get me a suitable dress at the last minute and spent nearly all day traipsing round the shops, much to Stefan's annoyance. By mid afternoon I still hadn't found anything suitable, I resigned myself to wear the dress that I had brought with me which Elena had deemed unfashionable in the nicest possible way.
For once it was Damon who saved the day, apparently he could hear Stefan ranting and raving at me down the phone two doors from down the corridor, he decided to take action as it his younger brother was really annoying him. So he almost literally dragged me to an upmarket shop that had a dress in the window with no price but was stunning, I had no problems selecting three different dresses to try on, the only problem being is that two out of the three were so gorgeous and fit me so well I was having problems choosing, so when I stuck my head out and asked for the girls to help me decide Damon almost blew his top and told me I could have both of them. Problem solved, I would have a dress to wear tonight and a dress to wear at the premiere tomorrow.
Later that night, we met the cast at the restaurant. Nina and Katerina were just as nervous as Bonnie, Elena and I, until they set eyes on Damon. You could see the fear and amazement in their faces, but he was on his best behaviour and was extremely charming and flattering, which soon put them at ease and everyone started to relax.
Nina and Katerina thought it was "really cool" that I was living with Stefan and Damon, they kept Elena and Bonnie busy asking loads of questions. They wanted Bonnie to demonstrate her powers, although Bonnie was very reluctant at first I got her to predict which waiter would be the next to drop something and she was quite happy to do it. Sure enough it happened no more than five minutes later much to our amusement, but then the boys decided us girlies were having too much fun and wanted to join in.
I can't tell you how nice it was to sit down and have a laugh and a joke with people who knew Damon and Stefan for what they were. The four of them were really eager to do justice to their characters and were thrilled to meet the real thing, we chatted about the books and they heard about how I met Stefan and Damon. Elena and Bonnie clearly hadn't been told the full story, they nearly chocked on their dinner when I got to the part about kicking Damon and I couldn't help but grin in Damon's direction, but he just laughed it off. By the end of the night everyone was smiling and laughing, it was so nice and the best night out I'd had in a long time.
If that night was nice relaxing and informal, the next day was extremely stressful. There was lots of rushing around, Stefan trying to make sure that Damon knew to say that all of his girls were willing and to leave out the influencing part, which annoyed Damon who then went walkabout making Stefan even more stressed.
I had never seen Stefan worried this much before and even Elena was worried about him, so when he came to our room to make sure that Bonnie knew where to stand and what to do, it all got to me and I flipped a little bit. "Stefan! Just calm down will you! You're the one who's supposed to be calm and collected, but you're making me feel stressed." Stefan blinked at me in surprise and ran a hand through his hair, "sorry Lizzie, you're right. I just want to make sure everything goes according to plan tonight, there's a lot riding on it."
"I know. You'll be fine and everything will go smoothly, use the Salvatore charm and they'll be putty in your hands," I grinned. Bonnie sighed wistfully, Stefan and I exchanged amused glances. Damon had been teasing Bonnie for a while now, one minute flirting with her and the next he was ice cold. Bonnie on the other hand, had fallen hard for Damon and was nearly at her wits end, but Damon refused to discuss it with anyone at all. The tension in the house sometimes had been unbearable.
A couple of hours before we were due to leave, we met Lisa Jane Smith herself in the hotel's bar. Damon had arrived before hand and had already attempted to charm her, which I found very entertaining as each time he nearly had her, she pulled away at the last minute.
The others found it very strange meeting the woman that had written about such an important stage of their lives, I was so excited I was bubbling over, which Stefan found quite amusing and had to tell me to calm down as he could see me shaking, much to my embarrassment.
Ms Smith was a pleasure to meet, she was warm and friendly and told me that she was overjoyed to meet me.
I tried to keep away from discussing Nightfall but she asked my opinion of it which was very awkward, Elena stepped in just in time and told her that I was a massive Damon fan and that although she preferred Damon to be kind and gentle, I quite liked the bad boy Damon who occasionally showed a spark of humanity or even better which was Damon as he was now.
Lisa looked at me in askance, I tried not to blush as I explained, "he can be very mischievous and there are times when it seems as though we're friends and he's being nice to me. But then there are other times when he can be a right arse- if you pardon the language, but I'm sure he loves me really." Lisa, Elena and Bonnie laughed, Damon and Stefan had been getting drinks for everyone. Damon made a point of glaring at me, he had obviously heard every word that I said.
Soon it was time to go and we got into two cars, Stefan, Elena and Bonnie in one car, Damon, LJ Smith and myself in another. Although Damon was busy being his charming self to Lisa Jane, I got the distinct impression through his frosty politeness towards me that I had made him angry, probably by saying that he was an arse. As we pulled up outside the cinema, the driver got out and opened the door for Lisa Jane, trying to seize the opportunity I put my hand on Damon's arm. "Damon, I'm sorry if I've upset you.." but he shrugged me off without saying a word so I got out of the car on my side and followed at a safe distance behind the four of them.
The photographers had been warned off taking pictures with flashes, Lisa Smith was talking to press reporters saying that she never dreamed that she would one day meet the people behind the characters and how wonderful they were.
She then introduced the four of them and stood with them as pictures were taken and questions such as why go public now and from one clued up reporter- why haven't Bonnie and Damon gotten together yet.
While this was all going on I was given my cue to make my way into the cinema, so I tried to discreetly walk past everyone. The photographers and reporters weren't interested much to my relief and soon I was standing at the entrance next to Lisa Jane and a bunch of other people that I didn't know.
Then suddenly Damon held up his hand for silence. "Ladies and Gentleman, there is someone that we would like you to meet. She's been a big part of our lives now for nearly a year and without her we wouldn't be the big happy family we are now." I cringed but Lisa Jane seemed amused and grabbed my arm, suddenly Damon and Stefan were standing in front of me, both looking extremely hot in their suits. They gave me a sweeping bow so I gave them a little curtsey which made them chuckle, "come on Lizzie, your turn to be in the spotlight," grinned Stefan. I opened my mouth to protest but they already had their arms looped through mine as we walked back to the waiting press and photographers, "May I present Miss Elizabeth Roberts, our little sister." Damon laughed at my shocked face and told me to smile for the cameras, you can call me an arse later Elizabeth, if you like, came his highly amused voice in my head.
I found myself standing there with their arms around my waist posing for the cameras on both sides. The reporters were shouting out questions, how did we all meet? What was it like living with two vampires?
I gave a very brief description of how we met, leaving out the kicking Damon bit and told the reporters that I loved living with both of them, life was never dull with them around.
"Which one's your favourite?" asked one reporter, the three of us laughed at that one and I went a bit red as I said Damon was my favourite. Stefan pretended to be hurt by this comment which did make me feel very guilty, but Damon pulled me away from Stefan and told him that if he wanted me to come get me. I glanced at Elena who had a look of despair on her face, Bonnie had her hand in front of her mouth. This was a disaster waiting to happen, "don't Damon. Please," I begged. But Stefan had already charged at supernatural speed and Damon was even faster than his brother and dodged him easily, suddenly Stefan was by my side placing a protective arm round my shoulders. "Yea of little faith," he chided softly as Damon came up on the other side and laughed at my pale face.
"So you two haven't made up then?" asked a reporter.
"Oh they've made up, they just like play fighting sometimes and giving the rest of a heart attack. Their play fights can be pretty scary." The reporters laughed, Stefan squeezed my shoulder and winked at me.
Elena and Bonnie came up with Ian, Paul, Nina and Katerina. I went to slink off back on to the cinema but a hand reached out at the speed of light and caught me, I heard Stefan's voice in my head telling me to stay put. His mental voice was a lot weaker than Damon's and was more like a whisper than Damon's shout.