Seven
We have an Audience
"Come on Elena you have to even a just a little bit care about you're going to wear. I mean this is the party of the year...A Midsummer Night's Dream."
"I thought the party of the year was the Masquerade or no wait the Founder's Ball. Come on Caroline there is a party of the year in this town every few months." I say laughing as I look through another rack of dresses that all looked the same.
"Ugh where is your spirit? We have never had a gala in the middle of summer before and this is based on Shakespeare, it's just so romantic and lovely."
"I don't even understand why they chose A Midsummer Night's Dream, it has absolutely nothing to do with the homeless." I comment as I give up my search.
"Probably because it has 'midsummer' in its name and we're in the middle of summer. Who knows what goes through Carole Lockwood's head when it comes to these parties. As least she's not making us dress up like fairies." Bonnie said.
"Thank goodness for small miracles." I comment and Caroline stares as us with a taken aback expression on her face.
"Ugh you two are absolutely useless. When we were little girls we used to talk about going to these parties and now that we finally can all the two of you can do is make fun of them."
"Actually Care I think you did all of the talking and we just sat there and listened quietly while you went off on one of your tangents. It was always better that way." Bonnie said smiling and I laughed.
"Bonnie!" Caroline exclaimed before taking off one of her ballet flats and throwing it at Bonnie playfully.
"Ew Caroline those stink." Bonnie said and threw them back at Caroline.
I laughed watching my two friends. I couldn't remember the last time I had been this carefree and smiled. Between my break up with Matt, Bonnie's witch discovery and my vampire problem now times two, things hadn't been light and easy like this in awhile. It felt good to just laugh again.
It was even good to see Bonnie smiling again too. Apparently her grandmother was teaching her all kinds of things and yesterday she came over all excited, ripped up one of my pillows and had made feathers float all around my room. It was pretty amazing and needless to say, now that she had control over her gift she was happier than she had been in a long time.
"Elena, Elena."
"Huh?" I said looking up to find both Bonnie and Caroline looking at me expectantly,
"Are you done, I'm hungry." Caroline said.
"Yeah I didn't find anything in here." I said nodding before grabbing my purse.
"Ugh this stupid town. Next time we're going to the mall." Caroline whined and I laughed.
"I thought you found like five dresses that were absolutely to die for here and that you thought were perfect." I said as I walked out the door and Caroline playfully shoved me in response causing me to run right into a hard body. "Oh I'm so sorry." I said straightening up. I looked up and was surprised to be looking into the amused green eyes of Stefan Salvatore. "Stefan."
"Elena." he said smiling. "This is a wonderful surprise."
"Stefan? This is Stefan?" Bonnie asked behind me.
"Who's Stefan?" Caroline asked annoyed then her face suddenly changed as she took Stefan in and started playing with her hair, "Oh hi."
Stefan looked amused but kept glancing at me. "Ladies, Stefan Salvatore, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Salvatore? Are you related to Damon?" Caroline asked and I glanced at Bonnie who looked at me with wide eyes.
"Stefan is my younger, more serious and less attractive baby bro," Damon said suddenly seemingly materializing out of nowhere. "Why Caroline it's wonderful to see you again." he said taking her hand and kissing it causing her to smile from ear to ear, before looking at Bonnie and me. "Elena, Bonnie."
"Damon where have you been? I haven't seen you in forever." Caroline scolded and started to rattle off other things while Bonnie, Damon and I stood there tensely and Stefan watched us all curiously, "Damon did you hear me?"
"Uh..."
"I apologize Caroline, my brother has been absent because he's been dealing with me." Stefan said and Damon gave him a sideways glance.
"Really you don't seem like much of a troublemaker." Caroline commented as she assessed Stefan.
"Well I wouldn't say so either but my brother likes to think I need a lot of supervision." he says looking at Damon pointedly and Damon rolled his eyes. "So what are you ladies up to?"
"Oh we were just looking for dresses for the Mid Summer Night's Dream gala." Caroline answered glancing at Damon who was ignoring her and was instead looking at me.
"Sounds like a lot of fun."
"Well yeah it is, but you'll see, you are coming aren't you?" Caroline said looking between Damon and Stefan expectantly.
"I'm not sure that I was invited." Stefan said when Damon didn't say anything.
"Well of course you are. You're a Salvatore of course you are. The Salvatore's are invited to everything as one of the founding members of this town and the invitation is addressed to the entire household, well anyone 17 or older." she explained.
"Well I haven't seen it, but then I haven't been here for very long." Stefan said to Caroline.
"The invitation arrived the other day." Damon said sighing with a bored voice. "I didn't show it to you because I didn't think you'd want to go, you know since you hate dancing so much."
"I don't know it actually sounds like fun and it will give me the chance to meet the people in this town." Stefan said
"I didn't know you were planning on staying in Mystic Falls long enough to meet the people." Damon said glaring at his brother.
"Well since my big brother is here, why not." Stefan responded and they stared at eachother for a moment longer before Stefan turned in our direction again, "I suppose you lovely ladies already have dates for the gala."
"Nope, unfortunately we're all dateless." Caroline answered glancing at Damon again hopefully.
"How is that possible?" Stefan commented sounding shocked. "Well we must fix this at once. "Three beautiful ladies shouldn't arrive without escorts to a party. Damon you should take Caroline and Bonnie..."
"Actually I already have a date, I just didn't tell the girls." she said quickly before glancing at me.
"Ok, well then Elena would you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you to the Mid Summer Night's Dream gala." he said taking my hand.
"I...I..." I looked at Stefan who was smiling, Caroline looked liked she was about to swoon, Bonnie eyes were wide, and Damon looked like he was about to murder someone. I wanted to say no but I couldn't come up with any type of appropriate excuse. I glanced at Damon again and he shook his head.
"Elena." Stefan said and I looked back it him and found him looking at me expectantly.
"I um...uh yeah sure."
"Wonderful." he said smiling before looking at Damon smugly.
"Ugh...Caroline want to go with me?" Damon said quickly.
"Yes of course!" Caroline said beaming not seeming to notice how unhappy Damon seemed about the turn of events.
"Uh guys I need to go" Bonnie said.
"Of course. I guess I'll see you again at the gala." Stefan said. "I suppose this means I should go look for a suit since I didn't bring anything appropriate with me. If you'll excuse me ladies, Caroline it was wonderful to meet you, Elena, I'll see you soon."
Stefan walked away and Bonnie started to a moment later after giving me a pointed looked.
"Caroline, why don't you walk Bonnie home." Damon suggested.
"But I'm not ready to go, I actually wanted to talk to you about..."
"Walk the witch home." Damon said looking into Caroline's eyes.
"You know what I think I'm going to walk Bonnie home. Bye!" Caroline said cheerfully before running after Bonnie.
"You compelled her!" I exclaimed glaring at Damon. "You promised Damon."
"Yeah well if I didn't then she would still be here chattering on about coordinating outfits and whatever else pops up into her mindless head and which means I never would have been alone to talk to you." he said.
"You want to talk willingly, that's a change." I snapped.
"Yeah well I can't have this relationship be completely one-sided now can I? It's about time you answered some questions of mine." he said leaning towards to me raising his brow.
"Relationship? We don't have any kind of relationship Damon. I'm just here to make sure you don't decide to start making the people of this town your next meal." I state before I start walking away.
"Are you trying to be infuriating or does it just come naturally to you?" he asked catching up to me. "What happened to yesterday when you wouldn't let well and enough alone even though I asked you repeatedly and were all 'no Damon this involves me too, I can feel it.'" he said mockingly,
"Yes well yesterday you wouldn't tell me anything despite the fact that you were sneaking into my room every night."
"And I thought we came to an understanding that I had done that to protect you, from my brother because you look like just like the crazy bitch that turned him into a vampire." he said putting his hands up "and now you're going on a date with him!"
"He asked me to go with him Damon and I couldn't come up with an excuse to say no. He knew I was going and he knew I didn't have a date. What did you want me to do, it's not like someone else asked me." I said stopping to turn to look at him pointedly.
He stood there dumbfounded for a moment from the implication of my words and I shook my head and walked across the street when I felt someone grab my arm lightly stopping me. I turned and met was crystal blue eyes.
"I don't want you going to this gala with Stefan." he said quietly, his eyes piercing into mine giving me the feeling that he wanted to say more.
"I don't really have a choice. He asked and I said yes." I said shrugging.
"You make me crazier than any human ever has." he growled in frustration taking a step closer to me but dropping his hold on my arm.
"That's because you usually never take the time to get to know anyone. You just feed, compel, and leave." I say trying not to fall under his spell again as usually happened when I was in such close proximity to him.
"Is that really all of you think of me?" he asked looking at me closely and I shook my head. "You I should feel hurt, yesterday we almost kissed and today you're agreeing to go out with my brother. That's not very nice." he said smirking and I couldn't say anything. He must have noticed how flustered I was because he smirked again.
"What did you think I didn't realize that you had closed your eyes and your heart sped up when you thought I was going to kiss you." he said and my eyes widened in shock. "Don't worry you weren't wrong, I was going to kiss you and I would have if my brother didn't have such unfortunate timing."
"Damon I..."
"Don't worry I know you're speechless with anticipation but you're going to have keep waiting because I can't kiss you when you're about to go on a date with my brother." he said then his eyes darkened. "I can't believe you're going on a date with my brother."
"What do you care Damon? Who I go on date with is none of your business. Your brother asked and maybe you say he's dangerous but since I've met him he has been nothing but kind and polite unlike you."
"Oh well that's just great another one falls under St. Stefan's spell. I say he's dangerous and you completely disregard and what I say." he says frustrated putting his hands up.
"I'm not disregarding what you said, but if you say that he's on an animal diet then maybe he's not dangerous as you think."
Damon scoffed and looked at me incredulously, "Do you think this is the first time I've been through this? It never lasts. I know my brother. I get it; he's always had good manners. Everyone loves him but trust me it never lasts."
"Damon..."
"No Elena. If you get one paper cut, one scratch while around Stefan it may not end well." he said through clenched teeth.
"You really think that he's dangerous don't you?"
"Have you not been listening Elena. I don't think, I know." he said putting his hands on my arms. "Stefan may think he's in control now, that the animal diet is enough but the blood lust, he can't always control it."
"I'll be careful but I can't exactly say no now and you're going to be there to make sure that nothing happens." I say.
"I can't watch him every minute Elena. If you insist on becoming his friend I can't always protect you as well as this town." he said leaning in closer.
"I know you won't let anything happen to me." I say quietly.
"You really like treading on dangerous ground don't you?" he said leaning in closer, his fingers gently running up and down my arms. I was mesmerized by his eyes again, but a movement in the corner of my eyes made me suddenly aware that we were outside in public. I pushed Damon away lightly and he smirked and I gave him a small smile. Then I noticed something behind Damon and my smile faltered.
Apparently our argument had garnered an audience. Matt was standing at the entrance of the Grille watching us, Alaric and Jenna were watching from the front of the movie theater, Jeremy was next to his car and there were about a dozen other people standing there watching us. I hadn't realized it before but we had been arguing in the middle of the town square.
"Oh God Damon we have an audience." I say feeling my whole body flush in embarrassment.
He looked around but didn't look embarrassed or surprised for that matter, but then his face suddenly hardened as he looked out into the distance. I looked to where he was looking at and it was hard to tell because it was so far off but there was Stefan looking at us and my guess was he had just heard everything that Damon and I had been talking about.
For the rest of the day I lamely avoided everyone I knew by hiding in the library. Other than Alaric, I didn't know how to explain what exactly happened between Damon and I at the square. I'm pretty sure I could guess what everyone was thinking had happened between us – the heated argument, the proximity of our bodes to eachother, the fact that Damon nearly kissed me – yeah I'm sure it looked very much like some kind of lover's quarrel. Ugh.
And to top it off Stefan had most likely heard everything that we had said. Damon took off after Stefan without saying a word, leaving me standing there alone looking like an idiot. I tried to remember what Damon and I had argued about but when you're yelling at someone in the heat of moment, it can be kind of difficult to remember things. I mainly remember how angry and flustered he made me feel. I know we talked about Stefan but I don't think we said anything too horrible.
Ugh. Damon Salvatore was beyond difficult to figure out. He sounded jealous. He said he didn't want me to go to the gala with Stefan. Damon definitely sounded like a jealous boyfriend more than anything, but that couldn't be the reason for that whole argument, could it? Was he worried about me, the town? Was he worried about what Stefan would do, could do? I couldn't figure out whether he was more worried about me than anyone else, and he nearly kissed me again, but then he also said that he wouldn't try to kiss me again while I was dating his brother. What does that mean?
I really have to stop thinking about this. I got up and left the library and headed to the Grille to cure my growling stomach. The minute I walked in I knew I had a made a giant mistake. I thought about walking out but thought better of it and figured I had to face everything sooner rather than alter anyways.
"Hey Matt, do you have a minute?" I asked shyly when I reached Matt at the booth he was clearing.
"Un not really." he said impassively before turning back to the table to wipe it down.
"Look I know you saw Damon and I arguing and I just wanted to explain."
"What's to explain Elena? We're not together anymore so you don't owe me any kind of explanation." he said not bothering to look at me.
"I know but we're still friends…well at least I hope we still are and I don't want to think anything was going on that wasn't." I said and he sighed and stood to face me. "Damon and I…well it's nothing like that…he just…well he just knows how to push my buttons."
Matt put down the rag he was holding at looked at me, "But that's exactly it Elena." he says and I look back at him confused and he shakes his head, "If you say that nothing is going on between the two of you, then I'll believe you. We are still friends, we've known eachother our entire lives of course we'll always be friends, but that's what bothers me."
"What do you mean?"
"Even before we ever dated, we've always been friends and never have I ever seen you react that way with someone. It was clear that the two of you were fighting but it was the way you were arguing with him, it was passionate and fiery. You were so lost in whatever you were fighting about you didn't even know that you were in the middle of the town's square. I've never seen that side of you before Elena." he explained.
"He just makes me angry Matt. You really shouldn't read anything else into it."
"Maybe but I've never seen you act like that before. Shouldn't that tell you something right there Elena." he said. "Look I have to take care of couple of tables that just cleared, I'll see you later." he said before leaving.
I stood there slightly dumbfounded. Was I really that much different around Damon? He's the most infuriating person I know so of course I'm different around him, he knows how to push my buttons but it doesn't mean it has to mean anything does it?
"Elena I thought you were my best friend."
Crap Caroline.
I looked up and saw Caroline quickly walking towards me looking upset. "Look Care I don't know what you've heard but I'm sure it has been thrown completely out of proportion."
"Well I hope so because I can't stand to play runner up to you once again. Every guy in this town already worships the ground you walk on and the rest of ever get are your leftovers or castoffs, but this guy Elena, he noticed me first. I really like him Elena and its obvious his brother likes you. Can't you just go for him and leave Damon for me?"
"Caroline I didn't know you felt this way." I say touching her arm.
"Yeah well I'm the happy shallow one, no one ever sees how insecure I am." she says shrugging.
"Look I'm not after Damon or even Stefan for that matter. I'm kind of happy just being single at the moment." I say, "But Care do you really think Damon is the right person for you? I mean I know he's good looking and everything but he's an ass Caroline, you could do so much better than him."
"I like him Elena and he likes me, at least I think he does and if for once someone chooses me first then I'll take it." she says and I open my mouth to argue but she puts her hand up to stop me, "I know it's stupid and makes me sound weak and idiotic but if you weren't you, you'd probably think the same thing." she said and I was stunned speechless. What did she mean by that? "Look I've got to go, my mom is trying to cook dinner or something."
Well this day was on its ways to officially sucking. I took a seat at a table not wanting to go home just yet, knowing Jenna would have a million questions for me that I really didn't want to answer. I should have just stayed at the library. I doubt anyone would have noticed if I made myself a bed in one of the dark corners.
I don't know how long I saw there alone going over various things in my head when I felt a shadow looming over me. I looked up warily bracing myself for the next blow and was slightly taken aback to find Stefan standing there.
"Stefan what are you doing here?"
"Hello Elena," he said smiling then pointed at the empty chair across from me, "Mind if I sit, I was hoping to talk to you?"
"Uh sure." I said looking around for any sign of Damon.
"He's not here." he said studying me closely and I felt myself begin to blush under his gaze. "Don't worry that's why I approached you here so you would feel more comfortable and wouldn't be afraid to be alone with me."
"I'm not afraid of you." I said, "It's just…"
"My brother filled you in on a few things concerning me. I get it Elena and frankly you have every reason to be afraid of me. For one I am a vampire and I haven't always been successful on animal blood." he explained.
"Is it hard for you…I mean the blood lust." I say not knowing how to phrase the question.
"It's always difficult no matter what diet I'm on. It has been 145 years but I've never been able to control the blood lust the way Damon has, but I do know it's better if I stick to the animal blood." he said then leaned forward clasping his hands together, "Look Elena I can't tell you that I don't walk around and think about biting someone because I do, but I know that I don't want to so I will do everything in my power to not do that."
"I know you can't make me any promises, but I need you to promise me that if the urge gets to be too much, you'll leave before anything happens." I asked.
"I can promise you that." he says smiling and I can't help but smile back, "Now you have to make me a promise in return."
"What's that?" I ask confused. What could he possibly want from me?
"That you won't go to this party with me unless you absolutely want to. I know I put you on the spot earlier and I want to give you an out so here's your out." he said sincerely.
"Stefan you don't have to give me and out." I argue.
"I know but I want to just the same." he said, "Look Elena I'm pretty sure you've figured out that I heard you and Damon talking earlier and I know my brother doesn't want me to go with you."
Well then you must have also heard that I told your brother that I was going to go with you." I said but he still looked unsure. "Trust me Stefan when I say that I want to go with you. I don't need an out, plus you're saving me I need a date."
"Ok then," he said smiling, "It will be fun."
"It should be." I said.
"I'm glad that you're going with me. After I heard you and Damon earlier, well I assumed…" he started to say but stopped.
"You assumed what?"
"Well that you and Damon were together or were at least headed in that direction." he said.
"Uh no, Damon and I are definitely not together I can't stand him half the time…we're not…no."
"Ok it just seems the way you interact with eachother, but if I'm wrong..." he says pausing, "Well its just Damon seems to treat you differently than he does most humans. He seems to care about you in a way that I have not seen in a long time. He certainly wants to protect you."
"I guess so." I said shifting in my seat uncomfortably, "He...well I suppose he feels responsible for me in a way since he knew my dad."
"I see." Stefan said seemingly thinking it over before smiling again. "Well then that makes it easier then, I certainly didn't want to step on Damon's toes."
"Stefan I hope you understand that I'm going to this gala with you as friends only." I said and his eyes changed slightly. I thought a flash of disappointment but if there he hid it quickly, "I uh...I just got out of a relationship and I'm not ready to start dating anyone yet."
"Of course I completely understand." he said then glanced at his watch. "If you'll excuse me I should be getting home before Damon thinks I went on some kind of rampage."
"Sure but uh Stefan, I just want you to know that even though Damon is concerned about you, I hope you know that I trust you."
"That means a lot to me Elena." he said smiling before turning to leave. As I watched him walk away I couldn't help but doubt my own words.
A/N: Please take the time to review. Thanks.