Hey you guys, sorry it's been so long since my last update. I've been really busy lately with father's day and company and whatnot. So here goes nothing. Bear with me, I'm literally about to fall over in my chair from exhaustion here. and hope you like it!
Chapter 3: Ain't No Rest for the Wicked
Stefan, his eyes frighteningly dark, descended upon Elena. She felt stabbing pain as her back hit the wall, and she shrunk into herself, choked with fear as he snapped his head down to her neck, sinking his razor-like fangs into her sensitive skin as she let out a blood-curdling cry…
Elena bolted upright, her heart throbbing and her entire body sticky with sweat, as she jerked out of her terrifyingly real nightmare. The sharp movement caused her neck to crack, and she moaned as her breath caught in her throat. She flitted her eyes around the room, trying to adjust through the dull haze clouding her sleepy eyes. Blinking rapidly, she looked down at her recently mended but slightly stiff left hand, and slowly flexed her fingers into a fist. Even though it was healed for the most part, her hand still tingled with an indescribable sensation; it was almost as if her hand felt…empty. It was unsettling; it reminded her of the feeling of her running her tongue over her gums when she was a child, expecting to feel a tooth there the split second before she realized it had fallen out. She ran her hand along the length of her thigh, hoping to rid herself of the inexplicable feeling. Too afraid of what she would see if she fell back asleep, Elena slowly stepped down from the large four poster bed and stiffly made her way out into the hallway. Hearing a faint clattering noise from below, Elena quietly descended down the stairs, curiosity stirring faintly in her tired mind.
Squinting her eyes at the light, she softly shuffled into the entryway of the kitchen. To her immense surprise and confusion, she found Damon there, dressed in his usual all black and swiftly cracking eggs into a frying pan.
"Morning, sweet cheeks." Damon mockingly greeted the groggy girl standing in front of him, flashing a lopsided smirk at her. He worked to conceal his relief that she was alright; he had sensed her heartbeat increasing steadily over the past quarter hour and was about to go check on her when he heard her wake a few minutes earlier. He quickly glanced over her to check for signs of bruising, and finding none, he sighed inwardly with satisfaction.
"Unghh, don't call me that," she replied grumpily, her slow voice thick with sleep.
Whatever you say, sleepyhead," he shot back, raising one eyebrow as he mixed the eggs with a fork.
"Why are you cooking…food?" Elena asked, cocking her head to one side as she ran a hand through her hair.
Giving her an intense look for a split second, he replied, "You need to get your energy back up. You had a…rough night." He looked away, focusing on his cooking.
Elena furrowed her brow, sifting through the chaos of her memories of last night. Fighting to think past her vivid nightmares, the last thing she could remember of her consciousness was staring into a pair of ice-blue eyes as she inexplicably, voraciously sucked down the blood of the vampire standing not five feet from her. Instinctively, her hand drifted up to her jaw, and she ran her fingertips down it tentatively, only to feel a perfectly smooth, uninterrupted line. She was dragged from her thoughts as a plate full of eggs, toast, and strawberries suddenly appeared in front of her without warning. Robotically taking hold of the plate with both hands, she looked up to see Damon standing a foot away from her. He placed a hand against her shoulder, firmly commanding "Eat."
Elena slowly made her way over to the kitchen counter, setting her plate down and looking around for a fork. As if he could hear her thoughts, he silently held a fork out in her direction. She took it and started in on her eggs, not realizing how hungry she was until she tasted the first bite. She then proceeded to swiftly tear into her meal, her fork continuously traveling back and forth between her lips and her plate. Damon smirked to himself as he noted her ferocious appetite. He walked past her, stopping only to steal a strawberry from her plate, and popping it into his mouth, he turned to walk out of the room. Elena twisted around to watch him go, feeling a twinge of disappointment; she didn't want to eat alone. Just before he glided out of sight she called out, "Damon?"
He turned, his eyebrow raised and trademark smirk absent.
"Thank you."
After eating everything on her plate (she hated to admit it, but Damon was a really good cook), Elena washed and dried her dish and put it back in the cabinet. Elena looked up at the clock over the stove: 5:52 A.M. She groaned, cursing the nightmares that had woken her up at such an ungodly hour. She traipsed into the den, sinking down onto the couch where Damon was sitting. He picked up her feet, placing them in his lap, and rested a handed over her crossed ankles. Noticing he was holding a half empty glass of scotch, she sighed.
"Really, Damon? Don't you think it's just a little early to be drinking?" Elena said pointedly, crossing her arms.
"It's never too early to drink." He drawled, tossing back the rest of his drink with one swallow. They sat for a moment in silence, their minds simultaneously drifting to the same place, both unconscious of each other.
"Damon?" she asked suddenly, unable to leave the subject unaddressed any longer. "How much longer is Stefan going to be like this? Is he ever going to get back to normal? Because it's…it's scaring me." She finished shakily.
There was a long pause before he answered, "Honestly, Elena? I don't know. He's never fallen this far off the wagon before. Don't get me wrong, if he had been drinking human blood all along, I would have rejoiced. But now that he's been pulled back to it so suddenly, he can't control himself, and I don't particularly enjoy having to clean up after him." He suddenly realized what he had implied, and quickly tried to make amends, adding "Like last night. I barely even had time to make up a cover story before Sheriff Forbes showed up."
"It's just that last night, I looked into his eyes…and I didn't see Stefan in there at all. All I saw was…a monster." She shuddered, remembering the cold, calculating look he had given her just before he had leaped out the window. "Is it possible…is there anything we can do to fix this?"
Damon lowered his elbow onto the arm rest, tipping the edge of his empty glass against his forehead as he contemplated their options. Staking his saint of a brother would get them nowhere, and Elena would never forgive him. No, that was out of the question. There was always drugging him with vervain and locking him up until he was clean. Yes, Damon liked the sound of that. It would likely break Stefan quickly and easily, while also keeping him from chewing on the townspeople. There was also the added personal benefit of payback. Damon smirked deviously, and he turned to Elena, his eyes flashing. "Oh there's something we can do. We just have to catch him first. And you, my dear Elena, are going to be the bait." Her eyes widened. He quickly gave her a summary of the plan to drug Stefan and shut him away until the human blood was out of his system. She shrank back in fear when she learned that she was to be the one to lure him in and stab him with a vervain dart, but reluctantly agreed, realizing it my be the only way to save her boyfriend and her town.
"I'll be right outside the door," Damon reassured her. "If he tries anything, I'll put a stop to it. I promise. "He looked deeply in her eyes, showing her that he meant it. Seeing that she trusted him, he nodded and lightly slapped her ankles, saying "Now go get dressed. We need to pay a visit to the teacher and see about getting those darts."
Elena lifted her feet out from under Damon's hand, slowly getting up and making a trip back upstairs. She dressed quickly into the clothes she had been wearing the night before. She wasn't particularly comfortable, but it would have to do for now. She ran her fingers through her slightly disheveled tresses, trying to smooth out some of the unruly knots. Leaning down to splash water over her face, she stood back up straight and jumped about a mile when she realized Damon was standing only a few inches behind her. Her heart pounding, she turned around, careful to avoid brushing her chest against his.
"You know, there's this thing called personal space. Ever heard of it?" she snapped, not in the mood for his tricks this early in the morning.
"Why yes, I have actually. I just choose to completely disregard it." He waggled his eyebrows at her in a playful manner.
"What do you want, Damon?"
He instantly turned serious, reaching into his pocket for her necklace that he had retrieved while she was dressing. He had noticed it was gone from her delicate neck when she walked downstairs earlier, and had gone to Stefan's abandoned room in search of it. He knew she thought of it as a sort of security blanket, and he wanted her to feel as safe when she was with him. He looked down at her as he lifted his arms around her neck, hooking the clasp and letting it settle gently against the soft skin of her collarbone as he carefully tugged her long hair back over the chain. She returned his gaze, and a look of understanding passed between them briefly before Damon turned and motioned for her to follow him back downstairs.
"Come on. I told the teacher we'd meet him at the school in an hour to fill him in on the situation. He's bringing his little vampire hunting kit with him so we can get some of those darts. You ready?"
Elena rolled her eyes. "The teacher? He has a name you know, Damon. It's not like he's just a pawn in the game thrown around for your convenience. He's here to help us. "
"Sheesh, Don't get your panties in a twist. He tried to kill me; I killed him, and then he sprung back to life on my living room floor. Excuse me for not exactly being on first-name terms with him yet."
Elena gave him an exasperated look and pushed past him, heading out into the driveway. It had started to rain, and she dashed across the way while covering her head with her arms and threw open the passenger side door of Damon's old blue Chevy. She clambered into the seat and slammed the door, looking over to see Damon already buckled in and starting up the engine.
"Easy on the door! This car is a whole lot older than you are, Elena. Show some respect."
Sighing and rolling her eyes, Elena crossed her arms and leaned her head against the window. The cold glass felt good against her hot skin and she relaxed as she watched the raindrops pool together and run in trails down the window. As he pulled away from the house, Damon looked over at her from the corners of his eyes. He sorrowfully realized that he hadn't seen her smile since they had danced together the day before. The corner of his mouth turned upward into a faint smile; he was happy that he was able to bring her some relief from her tumultuous life, even if it had only been just a dance. He sped up a little and hoped, for her sake, that this plan worked with as little pain and struggling involved as possible. A girl as good as Elena didn't deserve to be put through this, and he silently cursed Stefan for being so noble. If he had maintained a healthy diet of blood from a blood bank all along, Damon wouldn't have had to hurry to pick up the pieces while he watched the girl he was falling in love with slowly start to break.
Hey you guys. I hope that ending didn't get too mushy for you. It's really hard to write Damon when he's falling in love with Elena, but doesn't want anyone to know about it yet. Please leave a review! They encourage me to keep going with the story. And yes, I know, the locking Stefan up to get the blood out of his system part is from the show, but I didn't say I was going to make the outcome the same too. After all, who wants Stefan and Elena back together anyways? More Delena goodness to come, I didn't want to overkill on it too soon. It just wouldn't be natural for Elena to fall for Damon that fast. I included more dialogue than previously, hope I did alright. Snarky Damon is also quite hard to capture. I love you all, and don't forget…FEEDBACK IS LOVE.