Happy Thanksgiving to all you lovely readers (well to my American readers. To everyone else, it's just a happy day! haha). Seriously, the response to the last chapter had me floored. Thank you all SO SO much! Well I worked around all our cooking and baking to write this for you all. I hope you enjoy!
September 2006
"No," Damon groaned as his arms came around Elena like a steel cage.
"Damon, I have to get up. I have a staff meeting," she giggled as she tried to wiggle her way out of his grasp.
"They can fill you in on it later," Damon mumbled, nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck and placing gentle kisses along her shoulder.
She automatically pressed her back against his bare chest, amazed that such simple gestures could make her forget her own name.
Then she remembered the time and she knew she had to face the day.
She turned in his arms to be startled with his stark blue eyes. They never ceased to catch her off guard. He smiled at her and she couldn't help but lean in and press her lips against his.
His arms pulled her flush against him as he tried to deepen the kiss, which Elena complied fairly easily. She never really had much defense against Damon. Her hands crawled up his chest and tangled in his hair as he rolled her underneath him. They lay there for several minutes just basking in the love they had for each other. It was addicting the way he kissed her. She couldn't get enough of it, but she knew she needed to get out of this bed before he kept her in here for another few hours.
She pulled away and Damon growled at the loss of contact, to which she chuckled.
"I really do have to go," she smiled at his pout before he rolled off her.
"Party pooper," he grumbled as she got out of bed and started gathering her clothes.
"I'll call you later," she smiled and slipped out of his room and exited his loft.
She decided the weather was finally cool enough to walk back to her apartment, only now she had to power walk thanks to Damon's persuasive lips.
She was almost to her apartment when a black limo pulled up along the curb next to her.
"Elena," she heard her name called in a deep voice that sent shivers down her spine.
She turned to see Giuseppe's cold, hard face sticking out of the window of the limo. She took a deep breath, steadying herself for whatever he had in store for her now.
"What do you want?" She asked harshly.
"I believe when you find out what I want, you'd be a lot kinder to me, Ms. Gilbert," he said menacingly, "Why don't you join me?"
The door of the limo opened and she knew she had no choice but to follow orders with him.
She slid onto the smooth leather of the limo and closed the door behind her.
"Now, do you understand Ms. Gilbert, that you have had an adverse affect on Damon's work?" He asked.
"I know he has taken some time off to spend with me. Much needed time off," she replied.
"Now, I understand you are harboring several secrets that could, in fact, make this situation even worse than it is," he said, his eyes narrowing in on her. Like he was a predator going in for the kill.
Her heart stopped. What could he possibly know about her?
"I know you are thinking what could I possibly know. Well, I know enough that could ruin you and Damon in one fell swoop," he practically snarled.
"If you think you know anything that would take Damon away from me, you are wrong. He loves me," she defended.
"No, they may not ruin your relationship directly, but they will ruin his career. And we both know what his career means to him," he raised his eyebrows.
She knew what Damon's job meant to him, as much as he tried to play it off that he despised working for his father. She knew why he really did it.
"Just get to the point, Giuseppe," Elena snapped, she was quickly losing her patience.
"I happen to know you are pregnant and that Damon is still in the dark on this fact," he stated.
She gasped. She tried to remain indifferent the whole conversation, but this revelation had her reeling.
"How do you know?" She whispered.
He chuckled and it made her feel sick.
"I always have Damon's women checked out and my P.I. happened across Bonnie in the store buying items for a sick Elena and picking up pregnancy tests on the way out," he said simply, as if he was describing the weather.
"That doesn't prove anything," Elena said pathetically.
"No, it doesn't, but your reaction does," he smiled and her heart sank.
"What do you want?" Elena snapped.
"I want you to disappear. You are doing nothing for Damon's career and he needs to focus on it, not the girl he knocked up," Giuseppe said.
"You think that you can hold my pregnancy over my head? That I am that desperate to keep it a secret from him? Then you're wrong," she half-shouted.
"I thought you would say something like that," he said, "Which is why I had my P.I. investigate you further. I happen to know you lost your parents a few years ago and that sent you on a downward spiral. Drinking, partying, and slutting it up."
Her heart sank with every word he spoke. He knew. How could he possibly know? She could feel her eyes well up with tears.
"I also know that you ended up in military school for the remainder of your regular schooling," he continued, "I also know the events that led to you being forcibly sent to said school. And if I did read correctly, you did not go quietly."
"You're a monster," she spat at him, her tears streaming down her face.
"I may be a monster, Ms. Gilbert, but I will not let my son's career crash and burn because of your mistakes. When people find out about this, which they will if you don't do as I say, his career will be ruined and so will your relationship," Giuseppe threatened.
"What do you want me to do?" Elena asked through her tears.
"I want you to leave, disappear. Cut off all contact from Damon and never return," he said.
She didn't know if her heart could break any more.
"Don't worry, Ms. Gilbert, I'm not going to leave you high and dry. You will receive a million dollars in your account in a few days. You will also receive an acceptance letter to Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, the tuition for which has been paid for. You may choose to live where ever you wish, as long as you never contact Damon again," Giuseppe explained.
"Bonnie will also receive a million dollar advance in her account to leave with you. See? I'm not a complete monster," he finished.
Elena sat there letting the information settle on her shoulders. She was completely rendered speechless.
"How much time do I have?" She asked quietly.
"I believe two weeks would be ample amount of time," Giuseppe allowed, looking as if he was the Messiah for allowing her so much time.
She nodded and exited the limo. She stood frozen on the sidewalk while she watched it drive away.
As soon as she got into her apartment, the numbness wore away and left crippling pain and grief in its wake. She barely made it into her room before she collapsed in on herself and let the soul-shaking sobs take over her body.
Present Day
"I never wanted to leave you, Damon. I had this fantasy in my head that I'd tell you I was pregnant and we'd get married and be happy, but Giuseppe had other plans," Elena confessed.
"What did he threaten you with? You said he had information on you that no one had," Damon asked.
Elena took a deep breath, knowing that when she told Damon the truth, that she'd have to tell him the whole truth.
"I was pretty messed up after my parents died. I started drinking and partying. I had no regard for anyone but myself. All I wanted to do was numb the pain of being orphaned. I was angry, hurt, bitter, I felt everything and it was miserable. I threw myself at guys and gained the reputation of the school slut. I had no friends, just like I wanted it. I was at a party one night and some girl thought I slept with her boyfriend. I got kicked out after some serious public humiliation. I had drinks thrown on me. So I grabbed a bottle of Vodka and left. On my way home I hit something, I told myself it was a deer, but later I found out I killed a man. The only way to avoid jail time was to agree to military school," she explained and surprisingly it felt wonderful to finally unload this onto someone.
Damon just stared at her with blank eyes. She waited and waited, but he didn't speak and for a moment she wondered if he was breathing.
"Damon, please say something," she whispered. His eyes flashed to hers and they were swimming with emotion.
"I don't know what to say, Elena," he said quietly, "This whole time I thought you just up and left me for a free ride through med school and now you lay all this on me. I just don't know what to think. This is too much."
He stood up and ran his hands through his hair.
"Damon," Elena called as he started pacing.
"No, Elena. I just can't. This whole time I've been living thinking that you were so easily bought off, that you never really loved me and now I find out that it's the exact opposite that I've been told the past five years and I don't know how I'm supposed to react!" He was yelling now.
"I know that. You think it's been easy for me, Damon?" Elena stood up, her tone catching up to his.
"I didn't say that. Don't put words in my mouth," he snapped as he walked right up to her. He was invading her personal space just like always and her heartbeat was responding rapidly because of it.
"Well you are acting like that! You are acting like I never cared, like I never loved you. For five years I have regretted that decision. It wasn't because I didn't love you. Hell, I still love you," Elena yelled out.
Damon froze in his tracks and all anger drained from his eyes, leaving the vulnerable young man that she met so many years ago.
"What did you say?" He said quietly, his eyes never leaving hers.
"It was never because I didn't love you. I loved you, and I have never stopped loving you," Elena said with a quiet conviction, "It's not over for me."
Instead of speaking, Damon crossed the room and closed the distance between their bodies before pressing his lips to hers. Her body was on fire. Every part of her remembered the feel of him pressed against her. The way his arms wove around her waist to keep her to him. Her hands trailed up his chest and tangled themselves into his jet-black hair.
His tongue ran along the seam of her lips before they parted on their own accord to let him in. She couldn't get enough of him and soon she was working her way down the buttons of his shirt. She ran her hands up his bare chest before she pushed the shirt off his shoulders. His shirt was barely off before his hands were at her waist, pulling the material over her head.
He backed her into the nearest wall and his hands ventured down to her thighs, lifting her up. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist. His lips left hers only to trail down her neck and across her collarbone and down the valley between her breasts.
He moved them up the stairs and into the room he saw her come out of the other morning. He walked them to the bed and gently laid her on it before covering her body with his own.
They had each other memorized and even five years later, they worked against each other and with each other all at the same time. Every touch of Damon's skin against hers lit a fire along her skin.
He felt like he was drowning in her, yet she was his lifeline all at once. He couldn't believe how much his body responded to her, even after all these years. It was liberating. His memories of her did not do her justice. She was softer than he remembered. She smelt better. She drove him more crazy than he had ever remembered. He couldn't move fast enough, yet he wanted to make it last.
He couldn't imagine that he'd lived the past five years without her. He couldn't believe he had survived. Now that he had another taste of her, he wasn't sure how he would ever be able to live without her again.
Yes you all guessed that Giuseppe had blackmailed Elena, but I hope I surprised you with the information. I was inspired by the Season 1 finale of 90210 (I think it was season 1...). Once again, thank you for all your reviews. You guys are amazing and they make me so happy. I hope you all liked the chapter, because I really enjoy how it came out. Our story is going to get several twists and set backs, so prepare yourselves. I imagine that this story will total around 16 or 18 chapters in length. I'm not good at estimating, so we'll see how accurate that is. Haha! Have a great day you guys!