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Chapter 33: The Twelfth Rose
"What's wrong?" I ask.
"I found the twelfth rose."
"What? Damon, you aren't making any sense!"
Catching my hand, Damon leads me back to my room where a single long stemmed red rose is lying on my pillow.
"How? I don't understand." I feel myself starting to shake as the realization of what has happened hits me.
Wrapping his arms around me to steady my shivering body, Damon states what I already know. "Lena, someone has been in your apartment."
My head is spinning and my body is shivering like it's the dead of winter. Someone has been in my apartment. Not only has someone invaded my personal space—the place that should be my safe haven; but they have been here fairly recently based on the fresh state of the rose that is currently lying on my pillow. My pillow—not the one that has been designated as Damon's—holds the proof of the invasion of my privacy. What if we had come home earlier? What if I hadn't gone to see Damon after my meeting with Ric and Jenna? What if I had refused to go to dinner with Damon opting instead to come home to my overstuffed laundry hamper as my conscious had chided me to do? Would they have decided not to make the delivery or would it be me laid out on that pillow? I feel the strong arms wrapped around me pick me up, carrying me away from the blood red rose that is stirring fears that I've never experienced in all of my years of living alone.
"Lena, baby, I need you to focus on me. Lena, please, talk to me." I hear Damon's voice speaking softly trying to ease me from my terror but I can't answer. My eyes are staring at the door that leads to that rose. "Lena, you're scaring me. Please, look at me. God, you're shaking like a leaf." Damon haphazardly wraps a blanket around me using one arm afraid that to let go of me with the other. "Baby, you're in shock. I've got you." He keeps reassuring me and I slowly become more aware of what is going on around me. Damon reaches in his pocket dialing 911 on his phone while cradling me on his lap. I'm still somewhat unfocused when he tells me the police will be here soon. He helps me into my skirt so that I won't be half dressed when the cops arrive.
The next several hours are spent answering questions that have no answers. No, outside of the flowers, I have no reason to believe I have a stalker. No one has threatened me. I've had no disgruntled clients who would try to frighten me. They separate Damon and I questioning if our relationship is abusive and if I think Damon would do this to psychologically harass me. This breaks me from my fear and angers me which is perhaps just what I need to center me after the shock of discovering the rose on my bed. Finally, blessedly, they leave. Although they were simply doing their jobs, it was still exhausting.
"Damon, I don't want to stay here. I've never been afraid to live alone but I am now. Whoever this is took that freedom away from me."
"You're not staying here. You're coming home with me." Damon makes it clear that the decision is made.
"Can I stay there until they find whoever it was that did this?" timidity coloring my voice.
"I'm going to do everything in my power to convince you to stay there even then," he answers, that smirk I love returning for the first time since he went down the hallway several hours earlier.
~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~
The next morning finds Damon dropping me off at work. He refused to allow me to drive to his house last night fearing that I was still too upset to be safe. We'll go get my car on the way home from work today. Concerned that someone may have gotten inside of my office, Damon insists on checking everything out before he will leave me for the day. April arrived just moments after us so he is at least appeased by the fact that I won't be alone. The day in the office seems to be just what I need. Elena Gilbert Events is incredibly busy these days and the day flies by. The only break I've taken has been when Damon surprised me with lunch midday. He claimed that he just wanted to surprise me but I think he really just wanted an excuse to check on my safety. The day is drawing to a close when I hear the bell on the front door ring announcing that someone has arrived. Half expecting to see Damon walk through the door, I'm a little shocked to see Tyler instead.
"Ty, what do you want?" I sigh.
"Easy, Elena, I come in peace." He pulls his hand from behind his back and places a Starbuck's cup on my desk.
Taking a deep sniff I ask, "Is that what I think it is?"
"Pumpkin Spice Latte? Yes ma'am. Am I forgiven?"
"I'll take it under advisement. Have a seat." Tyler sits down on a chair across from me. "What made you decide to make the grand gesture?"
"Maybe I decided I've been acting a little bit like an asshole." Tyler looks at me sheepishly.
"A little bit?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.
"Whatever. I'm trying, Elena. I don't like the guy but apparently he makes you happy so I will try to keep my mouth shut."
"Hmm…" is my only answer.
"I miss my friend. Come on," Tyler says.
"Don't make me regret this. By the way, what was with the text messages last weekend? You knew we didn't have plans."
"But we used to. We used to get together most Saturdays to shoot the shit and catch up. I just wanted to see you. I thought the best way to do it might be by returning to some of our old rituals. Did I cause problems with him?"
"Ty, you know his name."
"Fine, did I cause problems with Damon?" He says Damon's name with a somewhat mocking tone but I let it slide.
"Not for me but he doesn't think any better of you than you do of him."
"Sorry," Tyler says not sounding at all like he means it.
"Ty, he is going to be in my life so you need to get used to it if you intend to be part of my life as well." I decide I just need to put it out there.
"So, it's that serious huh?"
"Yeah, it's pretty serious," I smile.
"So, what did you two do this weekend?"
"He took me to meet his mother," I grin.
"Wow. That is serious. Damon doesn't strike me as the type to take girls home to mommy."
"Be nice or I'll kick you out," I growl sounding somewhat like Damon. "And, no, he's not the type. I'm the only girl he has ever taken home."
"Humph. Well, I guess we'll see."
"I guess we will," I answer with sarcastic sweetness.
"I almost didn't come in. I didn't see your car and thought maybe you weren't here."
"I stayed with Damon last night and he drove me to work. Speaking of which, he'll be here to pick me up soon." Like clockwork, I heard the bell over the front door ring announcing my man's arrival. When he walked in I could practically see the smoke rolling out of his ears. "Damon, Tyler stopped by with a peace offering," I explain holding up my coffee cup. Damon makes no sign that he has heard me instead staring down Tyler who finally gets up and extends his hand.
"Hey, man, sorry I've been such a…"
"Dick, douche bag, total and utter pain in the ass?" Damon interrupts. I inhale sharply fearing this is going to go downhill fast.
"Yeah, something like that," Tyler answers without backing down.
Damon reaches out and takes Tyler's hand in a too tight grip before saying, "Don't give me a reason to kick your ass because I am dying to have an excuse."
"Understood," Tyler grunts back. With that, Damon releases Tyler's hand and rounds the desk greeting me with a kiss that is just a little too passionate to be appropriate. I know he is letting his testosterone run wild and is marking his territory but this is Damon so I'm OK with it.
"Baby, we need to be heading out soon if we are going to make it to Care and Klaus's on time." Taking that cue, Tyler excuses himself. He wisely choses to forego our typical goodbye hug realizing that Damon might take that as an invitation to crush him.
~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~
"I don't trust that guy." Damon and I are going to Caroline and Klaus's house for dinner. We made the decision to only tell our closest friends about my apartment being broken into. When I told Caroline that we had something we needed to tell them, she insisted on inviting us to dinner along with Jenna and Ric. She was getting way too excited so I had to give her a heads up. It's a good thing that I did, apparently she had it in her head that Damon and I were going to "make an announcement"—her words, not mine.
"Damon, he's just having a hard time adjusting to the fact that I'm in a relationship."
"With me…go ahead and finish that sentence. He's having a hard time adjusting to the fact that you're in a relationship with me. I never even met the guy before a few months ago. Why does he hate me so much?"
"I spent a lot of drunken nights crying on his shoulder because the love of my life left me," I give a dramatic roll of my eyes. "I guess he thinks you're going to leave me again and he'll have to help me pick up the pieces."
"Well, he needs to get it through that steroid addled brain that I'm here to stay. Anyway, I still don't like him. There's something about him that screams 'trouble'."
"No, baby, you scream 'trouble'. You are sin on legs." I reach over and squeeze his thigh.
"Actually, I prefer when you call me sex on a stick. Besides, you're the screamer in this relationship," he chuckles as we pull into the driveway.
Despite the reason for our gathering, it was great to be able to spend time with our friends. We rarely have the opportunity to hang out and we take advantage of that opportunity when it presents itself. The guys have disappeared to the family room while Jenna, Caroline and I are sipping wine around the kitchen island.
"So whoever it was left eleven roses on your doorstep and one on your bed?" Jenna asks shaking her head. After we shared the story, Damon purposefully steered the conversation to lighter topics for the remainder of dinner.
"On my pillow, actually."
"That's creepy!" Caroline interjects. "Was anything else bothered in your apartment?"
"No. We had come in from dinner and were, um, busy…."
"See, that's a much more interesting story and I'm sure it had a happier ending," Caroline interrupts.
"As you were saying," Jenna steers us back on topic.
"So, we had been there for a little while when Damon walked back to my room to get my suitcase out of my closet. That's when he found the twelfth rose."
"Any idea of who it could be?" Jenna asks.
"No one I can think of. The cops came and they asked about all sorts of possibilities but none of them made any sense to Damon or me."
"Do you think it could be someone you know?" Caroline asks.
"Well, that's the thing. I know it could be a coincidence but, like I said, the rose was on my pillow." I shudder thinking about it. "The list of who knows which pillow is mine is pretty short."
"Was the florist any help?" wonders Jenna.
"No. The police called today and said that the order was called in and paid for using a Visa check card so they can't trace it through payment method. They gave the name 'John Smith' which is obviously fake. Anyway, I'm pretty spooked so I plan to stay at Damon's until we find out who did this." We sit in silence for a few minutes before Caroline realizes what I said.
"Wait a minute. You said Damon went to get your suitcase. You had just gotten back in town so why was he getting your suitcase?"
"Because he suggested I move some stuff over to his place so that I don't have to make the walk of shame in the mornings to get ready for work." I can't keep the grin off of my face.
"That's an interesting development after the events of the weekend," muses Caroline.
"What events? I know you guys went out of town but what events?" Jenna bubbles.
"He took her to meet his mother who apparently fell in love with our sweet little Elena!" Caroline announces as though she's a proud mother.
"Well, that settles it. It's just a matter of time, right Caroline?"
"A matter of time until what?" I ask
"Until you join the land of the happily ever afters!" Squeals Caroline. She and Jenna collapse into a fit of giggles while I just shake my head.
"Hey, babe," I hear Damon call me from the doorway to the kitchen. "Is it safe to come in here or are the decibel levels dangerous? I think Klaus's dog just buried his head under the sofa after that high pitched squealing."
"Shut it, Salvatore!" growls Caroline.
"Bite me, Blondie," he answers before melodramatically blowing her a kiss. "You ready to head home, sweetie?"
"And whose home would that be?" giggles Jenna.
"His," I say while at the same time he says, "Ours."
"This is temporary,' I stage whisper.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," chuckles Damon.
Once we are in the car headed towards home, Damon tells me that Klaus invited him and Ric to go to the football game on Sunday. "I told him I needed to see what your plans are. I'm not comfortable leaving you at home by yourself with what just happened. I'd worry about you the entire time. "
"I'll see if Care and Jenna want to get together. We have the charity event on Saturday so I'll be beat on Sunday. Maybe they'll want to come over or go to the movies or something low key. You should go with the guys."
"As long as you aren't going to be alone, I'll let him know that I'll go."
"Thank you for taking such good care of me. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"I don't want to think of ever being without you again. That's why last night upset me so much. I love you, Lena."
"I love you too, Damon."
"And, by the way, I meant what I said earlier."
"What's that?" I ask.
"It's our house for as long as you want it to be."
AN: Anyone else willing to share a house with Damon? That's what I thought. ;-) We still have a few more chapters before this one is wrapped up. I feel like this players are old friends at this point. Thank you again for reading. If you have time, don't forget to review and click those follow and favorite buttons! Have a great week!