He didn't notice the absence of his ring when he burst toward the door. But the sun was there to let the cat out of the bag.
The fluids in the skin of his face immediately boiled and blistered. He jumped to the side, hiding himself in the shadows of the wall next to the door and cursed very colourfully. His hands were balled to fists when he looked over to her with murderous eyes. The burning red marks in his face made him look like the devil.
She pressed her lips together between her upper and lower row of her teeth, feeling guilty. 'Where was the stupid ring?' Damon's pants which she was currently wearing, and searching through for the ring, made him aware how ridiculously cute she looked in his clothes. 'Damn girl'.
With the ring finally appearing in one of his pockets, she limped slowly towards him, intending to give it back. Thinking it over once more she stopped midways and looked back and forth between him and the door. His self-pleasing expression vanished and he felt losing control all over again.
Her eyes told him that she didn't want him to leave and his eyes told her that he couldn't care less.
With a wicked smile she came closer, but instead of handing him over the ring she threw it outside in the snow and closed the door. A punch against the wall made it obvious that her action weren't appreciated.
"How dare you? Bitch." he spat. Usually she wouldn't tolerate such insulting language, but, she was so glad about him surviving his suicide attempt that she just couldn't be mad at him right now.
'I can't believe what happened, I mean seriously, did his other-not-feeling-side just fall for me? And how cute he is, pretending he did not. My dear Damon, you gave the roughest time of my life and I think it's time for payback. You will stay here with me at least till sundown, hate-loving every minute of being locked in with Elena teasing Gilbert!' She closed the window and curtains and debarred the sunlight. Little did she know.
"So you wanna play games with me, hm?" he pressed her small soft body against him, holding her tight. His velvet voice with a hint of danger turned her on.
'Guess I'm not the only one who found a weakness in the other. Spending so much time with him and going together through hell isn't doing any good to my reputation. I was supposed to love Stefan, and only Stefan and I ended up loving Damon Salvatore. Oh my god I love him. I really love him.'
He took off the jacket she was wearing, pulled down the jeans till she was left one more time in the silky nightgown. She couldn't move.
"Find my ring!" Standing behind the door he opened it and pushed her outside without mercy.
Elena found herself standing on the porch in just a thin layer of clothing in front of a closed shut door. She smashed her fists against it. But he just repeated himself.
"Find it."
She was glad that she at least had thick socks on her feet. 'Damn, I know what I saw. I'm not giving up on you. I know your two "true" sides are about to get one. And when love is the key for this to happen than I will give my best, no matter what. I won't give your ring back so that you can run away from it! ...I know you love me, you won't let me die... I believe in you, you won't let me die out here.' Things would be much easier, if she would be able to talk. The sun looked like it was noon. So she had 9 to 12 more hours of silence to be sure the spell would do its job. Elena turned around and checked out her surroundings. She saw a lot of piled wood...and a lighter...
The roof protected the windows partially from direct sunlight, when he took a peek outside.
He heard her limping around and was stunned when he saw her. Working in the middle of a snowfield, a little offside from the hut, she cleaned the ground from the white stuff with a broom.
Her almost naked form was very obviously freezing. Looking at her awoke his lower regions in an instant.
She piled up wood in the now snow-free area and started a fire with the straw ornament that had been hanging at the door. Lucky for her, the fire was lit in no time. 'She is one clever bitch.' he admitted to himself.
The Damon that was locked away in his own body cringed, seeing her like this. 'Why wasn't she giving in and bringing him back the stupid ring? She can't stay outside without getting a major flu or something, not even with the help of the fire. The wind and the snow, that was still falling down would kill her.'
After an hour she really was all wet from the snowflakes, that had melted on her, from the heat of the fire.
It was heartbreaking and sexy to watch her turning around and around to keep both sides warm.
Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and he had no idea how much her nipples hurt, how much her fingers and toes hurt. But he could see that she was worn out. She couldn't stay there for much longer.
'That's it, wrench. I get it. Now you won't be able to find the ring anymore...too weak already. But you will pay for your disobedience...Just wait... The thing is, I like my lunch warm..." he told himself and opened the door. "GET YOUR ASS INSIDE!"
She stood there hearing him, but she wasn't sure if she imagined it. Everything was blurry and she couldn't feel her body anymore. She squinted to see if the door really was open or if she just saw a shadow.
The first steps toward the hut were the hardest. It was like she was frozen to the ground and had to break free.
With every step she made she felt lighter and lighter. Only 10 feet away from the porch and suddenly every weight was taken away from her. Gravity seemed to lose its meaning.
He waited for her to come inside, watched her making a few steps. He didn't know why but he felt horrific, when he saw her stumble and fall. Like in slow motion, every little detail got burned in his brain. The way her body turned before she hit the ground, how her hair was floating through the air, how she didn't even lifted up her arms anymore, her expression that told him she didn't noticed that she was falling, how the snow puffed up around her at the impact...
Before he knew it, he was outside with only a blanket as a shield against the sun and lifted up her petite body. He didn't feel the thousand little needles that pierced through the fabric and burned him, he just wanted to save her. As fast as he was running outside, as fast he made it in again.
Crashing into the ground, with her on top of him he just held her for a couple of seconds. His skin was still smoking were the sun had reached it. He stared at her head and the water that run down icecold from her hair on his bare chest.
He turned them over and sat up. He ripped off her soaked nightgown and wrapped her in the blanket he had used to go out and get her just a minute ago. He rubbed her arms and legs for minutes to get some heat back into her body. He then lifted her up in a sitting position and rubbed her back.
When her heartbeat got steady again, he stopped and lifted her up to lay her on the couch, putting more blankets on top of her. Luckily he had brought in enough wood last night and didn't need to go out again. He worked fast and efficient to prepare another bath for her. Elena hadn't known that there was a hose to fill the tub, when she did it yesterday. It was a little hidden, though.
Before the water became warm he laid her in the tub to not shock her system with the heat on her way too cold skin. He held her head up the entire time and felt unbelievable guilty.
Her blue lips trembled all of a sudden. She was totally motionless before, but now he could hear her teeth chatter. Heavy lids opened halfway and she tried to find something to focus on. "Guess the water is working."
She opened her mouth to say something but he put his index finger on her lips to stop her from talking. "Remember? Not a word." Her hand came up to her head and she flinched to show him that she was in pain there.
"I think you ice'd your brain. I once heard a story about an old lady in a supermarket, who tried to steal a frozen chicken that she had hidden under her hat. She collapsed before she did get out. Just like you." he explained to her, trying to not show his worry.
"I can offer you some special medicine and you will feel better in no time!" He bit open his wrist and held it out for her to drink.
Elena took his wrist and in return brought up her own to his mouth.
They knew that this way both of em would have the benefits and only the benefits. He was still not fully recovered from the bears attack, his blood wouldn't help her much if he didn't drink any of hers to make his stronger.
They agreed in silence and drank from each other, looking each other in the eyes.
In this moment he felt it, saw it in her beautiful dark orbs. His soul that had been torn apart once, had become one again.