Chapter 7: Shooting Stars

Then

It was the Monday after Spring Break and everyone was back looking tan and buzzing with what they had done over the past week while I was neither sun kissed nor willing to spill the beans about what I had been up to in my little bit of spare time. I knew that there was one person who I had to tell and I was not looking forward to it. When you are as close of friends as Caroline and I, you know virtually all of the same people. For that reason, we had dated several of the same guys in college. Dating a friend's old boyfriend could be tricky. When that friend was also your little sis, it could be positively devastating to the relationship. I had watched lifelong friendships end over a frat party hook up. Caroline and I, on the other hand, had never had an argument about guys because we lived by one steadfast rule: Before anything ever happened with the other person's ex, we always asked for permission. I dreaded telling Caroline. She had initially encouraged me to consider Damon but lately she had been discouraging me and pointing out how much of a player he was. I didn't know how she would react to the news so I had a plan that involved chocolate…and alcohol.

"Caroline, as your big sis, I think it only right that I inform you that you appear to be chocolate deficient." She never said no to chocolate.

"Oh, Elena, I really can't. I was horrible about eating while I was at the beach. I need to be good."

"So start tomorrow. Plus, after wasting away in the library all week I might be hypoglycemic. Let's go." Having convinced her, I pointed the car in the direction of her favorite restaurant.

Once we were seated, the waiter came up to take our drink orders.

Caroline spoke up first. "After last week, I better stick with water." No such luck Caroline baby!

"Forget that. She'll have a Singapore Sling. I'll have a Diet Coke and we'll also be sharing The Devil Made Me Do It Hot Fudge Cake." It struck me funny that the name of the dessert seemed to also explain the real reason for this conversation.

As the waiter walked away, Caroline stared at me with a quizzical look. "You, my responsible big sister, just order me a mixed drink before five o'clock. The only explanation that comes to mind is that someone is dying and you are about to break the news. What's up?"

"It's nothing." I was thankful that my legs were crossed since crossing my fingers would've ratted out the fact that I was lying.

"Elena, spill it." Caroline was not one to put up with delaying news.

"OK, I just need to do something first." Plastering on my most winning smile I reached across the table and removed the silverware that Caroline had just rolled out of her napkin and onto the table. I thought moving possible weapons out of her reach might prove to be smart. "Something happened while you were on Spring Break. I got really tired of working in the library and went home early one day. Damon called and we had a movie night…at his place."

"And?"

Oh crap, here it goes. "We kind of kissed."

"You kind of kissed?"

"We most definitely kissed."

"Once? Like a quick kiss good night kiss?"

"Um…actually it was a little more than once. It was more like for an hour." I actually closed my eyes and ducked. I had removed the sharp objects and she had no drink to throw but I was still a bit horrified by the confession. I was even more horrified by the silence. Peeking through squinted eyes, I was relieved to see that she didn't look like she was going to kill me. "How angry are you?"

"I'm not. I'm surprised it hasn't happened before now. I just want you to be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt. You are a forever kind of girl and Damon is the kind of guy that will never settle down. You just need to know that going in."

"I'm not planning on going in to anything. Damon is one of my best friends, remember? I know what he is like. It will probably never happen again anyway. This happened on Wednesday and I haven't heard from him since. Of course, he did leave for the beach the next morning and just got back last night." I stopped. The last thing I needed was for Caroline to accuse me of making excuses for him and, judging from the smirk on her face, that was exactly what she was thinking.

"So, after four months of almost begging, how did he get you to come over?

Oh. Maybe she wasn't going to accuse me of that. "Everyone else was gone and he lured me in with a promise of pizza, beer and a movie. I only had one beer. We watched Casablanca and started snuggling. And then something just happened."

"Obviously! He kissed you!"

"No. He spooned me."

"He spooned you? I didn't think he had it in him. How was it?"

"The spooning was really nice. We fit well together."

"I'm not talking about that and you know it. How was the kiss?"

"It was really nice. We fit well together," I laughed.

"OK, so you aren't going to kiss and tell. I get it. Out of curiosity, why did you move the silverware?"

"I was afraid to tell you." It was her turn to laugh.

~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~

When I walked through the door, my phone was ringing. Sprinting, I grabbed the phone before the machine picked up. I was rewarded with Damon's voice on the other end. "How was your trip?"

"It was much less fun than the night before I left." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry you didn't have a good time," I teased.

"It wasn't that I didn't have a good time. It was that I didn't have as good of company as I could have," his velvet voice purred.

"Huh, the stories are true. You are good at this." There was silence on the other end as he chose to ignore that comment. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I had a great time too. I've always loved Casablanca."

"Oh, well, I'm so glad you enjoyed the, um, movie. So, I was wondering if you happen to have plans tonight."

"I'm free. What did you have in mind?" I mentally did the happy dance.

"I'd rather it be a surprise. Will a late night be a problem?"

"I don't have a class until two o'clock tomorrow so I'm available all night long." Why did I just say that?

"I'll keep that in mind," he laughed. "I'll pick you up at eleven. That should give us enough time to get there." With that he hung up leaving me wondering where we were going. How would I pass the time until he got there and what should I wear? My nerves were never going to last until ten.

Several hours and two Jaeger shots later, I had decided on jeans and a pale pink long sleeved v-neck shirt. Rebecca was begging to know where I was going so late on a Monday. I wasn't trying to keep it a secret that I was seeing Damon. Was I seeing Damon? I wasn't sure. And if I wasn't sure I certainly didn't want the whole pledge class hearing about it which was sure to happen if I spilled to Rebecca. Thankfully, she was on the phone in her room when the doorbell rang. Dressed in a button down shirt and jeans, he was adorable. This was both good and bad since I was feeling the effects of my liquid courage.

"So, where are we going?" I asked as I fastened my seatbelt.

"I bet you were one of those kids who tried to sneak an early peak at your Christmas presents." He grinned at me and tucked a curl behind my ear before starting the car.

Trying to focus on the conversation and not the trail of his fingers had just made through my haif, I answered, "Actually, no, I have always enjoyed delayed gratification. Yes, even when I was kid."

"That makes sense." I turned and gave him a questioning look that he must have seen by the light of the streetlight. "After four months of asking you out, you finally said yes. I kept hoping that with you persistence pays off." He reached over and squeezed my hand before grabbing the gear shift. "So, you like delayed gratification. That's very interesting." His eyes seemed to dance with the smile that played around the corners of his lips. "You are dressed perfectly for tonight by the way." I realized that we were parking at the playing fields on campus and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Don't give me that look. I'll reveal all when the time is right. Stay right there." He hopped out of the car, came around to open my door then pulled a backpack and quilt out of the backseat. Catching my hand, he led me to the field and unlocked the gate. When I questioned why he had keys, he laughed and said, "Being the lacrosse captain has its advantages. How do you feel about a late night picnic?" I just smiled. Yeah, Elena, that was a really brilliant response.

When we got to the center of the field he put down the quilt and we had a seat. "I have grapes, strawberries, chocolate and red wine. Oh, and I brought your favorite," as he pulled out a Diet Coke.

"This is amazing! I think I better start with this if that's OK." I didn't want to admit to him that I wanted to sip something harmless after doing Jaeger shots. As I popped the top of the soda, it spewed soaking my shirt. "Shoot! I'm such a klutz! I'm sor..."

"Do not say you're sorry. It's not your fault. The can probably got shook up while we were walking over here. Here, you can have my shirt. I've got a long sleeved t-shirt on under this," he said as he unbuttoned his shirt and handed it to me.

"Thanks." I slipped it on and buttoned it up but the wet shirt was still pretty cold against my skin. "Don't judge me for what I'm about to do but this wet shirt is cold," I explained as I slipped my arms out of the sleeves of my shirt and pulled it out through the neck of the button down.

Staring at me he gave me a little smile. "That reminded me of the scene in Flashdance—the one that fueled many deviant thoughts in the head of boys everywhere in the '80s."

"No, she took off her bra." Did I really just say that?

"I can dream can't I? Don't ruin my fantasy."

I don't know what made me do it. I don't know whether to blame it on the Jaeger or just chalk it up to sheer nerve but what I did next was so completely out of character that I even surprised myself. "Heavens, we can't ruin your fantasy can we?" Standing on my knees, I reached back, unfastened my pink lace bra and pulled it out through the arm of the shirt. I heard a groan escape from Damon. He put his hand on his heart and asked, "You're trying to kill me aren't you?" Still on my knees, I leaned over and kissed him. It was only after I sat back that I realized that I had probably given him quite a view straight down my shirt. He was nice enough not to comment. Of course, that could have been because he was too busy lowering me to lie back on the quilt as he kissed me. What started out as a sweet kiss had quickly turned into something much more intense. I was distracted enough that I didn't realize that he had unbuttoned the bottom buttons of the shirt until I felt his fingers tracing on my stomach. The sensation was practically making me dizzy. He was barely touching me with the softest whisper of his finger tips while continuing to kiss me and while I knew it was not smart it felt amazing. I could feel my hardened nipples scraping against the inside of his shirt and my breathing was getting heavier by the minute. I was right where I swore I would never be but, at the same time, exactly where I wanted to be—totally lost in him. I was shocked when I realized that he had started re-buttoning the shirt and an embarrassing whimper escaped my lips.

"What are you doing?" I whined while reaching to unfasten the buttons again.

"Oh, no, you don't. Elena, I know what you think about me. I know that you don't want to be on this imaginary list that you seem to think I have. I am dead serious when I say that I don't think of you that way."

"You could've fooled me."

"Oh, Lena, don't misunderstand. I want you. But I want all of you including your mind and, most importantly, your heart. I plan to romance you—to do all of the little things that you think I am incapable of doing. In fact, no matter how badly I want to sleep with you, I'm not going to until you ask me. In fact, I'm going to make you say 'please'. Maybe then you will accept that I do want you for more than a one night stand and you'll believe that I'm not some stupid jock who lacks self control."

I tried to laugh but I couldn't. He was serious and it scared me to death.

He leaned down placed a softly innocent kiss on my stunned and, admittedly, pouting lips. "You did say that you like delayed gratification. Besides, if we kept that up we'd miss the entertainment. There's a meteor shower that's supposed to start between 11:30 and midnight." With that, he sat up and pulled me to sit between his legs so that I was leaning back on his chest. "Of course, that doesn't mean that I can't have a little fun making you squirm," he whispered in my ear just before his finger started tracing my hairline and playing with my curls.

"That's completely unfair." There was no disguising my uneven breaths.

"I never said that I play fair. Are you OK? You seem to be breathing funny." He was laughing at me. Jerk.

With a nervous little laugh, I said, "I'm far from OK."

"I'm sorry. Let me see if I can help." And he started placing very delicate kisses along my neck. I didn't know how long he planned to play hard to get but however long it was I didn't know if I could endure the torment. "Oh, don't get distracted. There was the first meteor. You don't want to miss the show." Funny, I had been seeing shooting starts behind my closed eyes for several minutes now.