Hey guys! Sorry this took almost a week to update! I had it written mostly and needing to be edited, but of course life got in the way. So here it is and it's a beefy 3,000+ words. Wee!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate them! (I'm behind on my responses, I'll get to them, I promise!)
Enjoy Chapter 7!
April 2006
"Are you sure I look alright?" She asked, fidgeting with the new dress she bought just for tonight.
When Damon asked her to accompany him to Stefan and Caroline's engagement party, she'd been floored. They had only been on that one date and had just gotten together for coffee another day.
"Would you stop worrying. I told you, you look beautiful," Damon said with a small smirk that woke the butterflies once again.
She was so nervous, she'd only ever been around Stefan, Caroline, and Damon. She didn't know how things worked in their circle. She figured people would look down their nose at her if she so much as breathed the wrong way.
She glanced at Damon as they "worked the room" as he called it. He looked so good in his suit. It was tailored to fit him perfectly and Elena was having a hard time keeping her eyes off him. As much as she wanted to fight her feelings for him, she was slowly losing that battle. He was arrogant, sure, but he was also witty and funny. He listened to what she said and responded to her questions honestly. She was beginning to think his arrogance was just a front.
He smiled when his eyes met hers and her heart started that damn fluttering again. Somehow his eyes looked brighter, she wasn't sure how that was even possible, but she couldn't stop gazing into them.
"Would you like a drink?" Damon asked, placing his hand on the small of her back.
"Yes, thank you," she replied.
She watched him walk away, appreciating the sight of his back in his suit.
"You are gawking," Caroline's voice drifted into her ears causing her to jump slightly.
"I am not," Elena defended after she took a moment to calm her breathing. Caroline's smile only got brighter.
"You are totally crushing on Damon Salvatore!" She squealed. Elena jumped to try to quiet Caroline's excited squeals.
"Caroline, hush!" She whispered harshly, looking around to make sure nobody heard her. She was still beaming when Elena uncovered her mouth.
"So, how does it feel to be engaged?" Elena asked excitedly, deciding it was safer to change the subject. Thankfully, Caroline's face lit up even further.
"Oh my gosh!" Caroline squeaked, "It's amazing! Stefan is so amazing!"
Elena listened as Caroline gushed about the ring, the proposal, and her tentative wedding plans. Before long she was flitting off to show off her ring to someone else.
Elena took a deep breath of relief as Caroline left. Elena didn't dislike Caroline in anyway, just sometimes she could be a bit... overbearing. She could only be taken in small doses.
"Too much Caroline for you?" Came Damon's voice in her ears as a Champagne flute appeared in front of her. She took it graciously and downed a few sips before turning toward Damon.
"Hey," he smirked. It was the smirk that made her blood boil. In the best ways and the worst ways.
"Hi," she replied, an uncontrollable smile tugging her lips.
"What was Caroline yelling about over here?" Damon asked. Elena could feel her eyes want to bug out of her head.
"Oh nothing, just gushing about the engagement," she said, waving her glass around, attempting to be nonchalant.
"MmmHmm," Damon hummed, his eyes raking over her body. She felt a sudden rush of warmth in her stomach.
"Damon," came a cold, hard voice from behind them. She could feel Damon's body tense up.
They turned together to see a regal-looking man. He was dressed exceptionally and Elena instantly recognized the man as Giuseppe Salvatore. He was a hard hitting, tough business shark. He was the ruthless CEO of the Salvatore Advertisement Company.
"Hello, Father," Damon said, his voice suddenly void of the light it had held just a few moments before.
"I didn't know you were bringing a date," he said, his eyes flashed to her and she fidgeted under the scrutiny.
"Dad, this is Elena Gilbert. Elena this is my father, Giuseppe," Damon introduced half-heartedly.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Salvatore," Elena said, holding her hand out to him.
"Pleasure," he mumbled before turning his attention to Damon, completely ignoring her outstretched hand. She let her hand drop awkwardly to her side.
"Damon, I have some people who would like to meet you," Giuseppe said, guiding Damon away from her side. He shot her an apologetic look over his shoulder.
She ambled through the crowd to an empty table and plopped herself down into one of the chairs. The night had gone from good to bad in the matter of a few minutes. She never realized how much she wanted this night to go smoothly until it started to fall apart. She felt defeated.
She was surprised a few moments later when a body sat in the seat next to her. She was even more surprised to see Giuseppe sitting in the seat watching her.
"Looks like everything is going according to plan," he said, trying to be nonchalant. And failing miserably. Elena sighed.
"According to what plan?" She said, feeling annoyed.
"The way Damon always treats his women. His flings. He makes these big gestures to get their attention, ropes them in on a whirlwind date, brings them to a public outing, and then they disappear," Giuseppe explained, sounding bored.
"I don't mean to be rude, but you don't really know what is going on with my relationship with Damon," Elena said as politely as she could.
"I believe I know more than you think. Let me guess, on the first date the paparazzi just happened to be outside of the restaurant. Do you think that was a coincidence? He likes his flings ending up in the tabloids. You are just another girl, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can get out," he said, standing up from the table, clearly pleased with himself.
Elena felt the tears burning her eyes, but she refused to cry here. Or over Damon at all. She felt humiliated. Every person in this room probably thought she was just another one of his flings. She glanced around the room and saw Damon in a far corner chatting with a few people. She took advantage of the distance between them to slip out of banquet hall and out of the hotel.
She was cursing herself the entire cab ride home. She couldn't believe she was actually falling for this guy. That day in the park, him showing up at her house, their first date, it was all a lie. It was a dance he had perfected and repeated with woman after woman. She knew she shouldn't have let her guard down.
Damon looked around the room, anxious to get back to his date. He felt bad for being dragged around the room to schmooze with potential clients. His father could never stop working. Not even for Stefan's engagement party.
He was having a hard time spotting her. He looked everywhere until he caved and asked Caroline.
"I saw her walk out the front doors, but I thought she was going to the bathroom or getting some air after talking to Giuseppe. Can't say that I blame her," Caroline informed him. Suddenly it clicked, of course she wasn't here. He was absolutely sure that she left.
He excused himself before he crossed the room swiftly to pull his father aside.
"Damon, that was incredibly rude, I was talking to a client," Giuseppe scolded him. He would've been offended that he was being scolded like a five year old, but he had bigger fish to fry.
"What did you say to Elena?" He snapped.
"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, I've talked to a lot of people tonight," Giuseppe deflected.
"She left and Caroline last saw her with you. I can only imagine what you said to her to upset her enough to leave. She's a strong girl, Dad, but only you could say something to snap her," Damon hissed at him. Giuseppe simply rolled his eyes.
"I just told her how things in our world work," Giuseppe said simply.
"Our world?" Damon exclaimed, "No, this is your world, Dad. I want nothing of it."
"Damon! Keep your voice down!" Giuseppe hissed, looking around to see if anyone heard.
"No, I won't. I like this girl, Dad. A lot. And now I don't even know if she'll ever speak to me again after what ever you said to her," Damon said.
"You know how I feel about you dating underneath us. She's a Gilbert. Who the hell are the Gilberts? You've known good and well that when you do finally snap out of your immature ways that you would be expected to date someone with a name as prestigious as ours," Giuseppe barked at him.
"No, Dad. You want me to marry someone from a company that you can take over. That's what you want. You don't want a marriage, you want a merger," Damon snapped, "I told you I would take over the business, I meant that. But when it's my turn, things are going to be done my way, including choosing who I do and do not date."
Deciding that the conversation was going no where, he turned on his heel and walked away. He was on his way straight out the door when Stefan blocked his path.
"What was going on back there?" Stefan asked.
"Just business things," Damon said, trying to step around him, but he blocked his path again.
"Caroline said that Elena left," Stefan said, his voice softer.
"Any other girl. He could have done this to any other girl and I wouldn't have given much thought to it, but he did it to Elena. That's not ok with me," Damon said, knowing he could never keep anything from his brother.
"What did he say to her?" Stefan asked.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I can imagine he fed her some bullshit about how I'm expected to marry someone of 'our status'. I'm pretty sure she'll never give me the time of day now," Damon sighed, "It was hard enough to get her to come with me."
"Damon," Stefan said, placing a strong hand on his shoulder, "She's a tough girl and not easily scared. I'm sure she'll understand if you talk to her."
"I don't know," Damon mumbled, his gaze dropping to his feet as insecurities started flooding back into his mind.
"You like her, and I'm pretty sure she likes you, otherwise she would've never agreed to come tonight. Just convince her that Dad doesn't control your choices and that you choose her," Stefan said.
"Thanks, Stef," Damon said before walking past him, "Oh and congrats."
With that, he turned and decided to get his girl back.
The tears finally broke free the second she closed the door to her apartment. Thankfully Bonnie wasn't there. She didn't allow herself to cry for long before she changed out of her dress, pulled her hair into a messy pony tail, and put on her sweats.
She barely fell onto the couch when she heard ferocious banging on her front door.
She got up, not having any idea who'd be at her door.
"Elena!" Damon's voice came through the door. She should have known. She wasn't sure what she should do. She could leave him there, but she knew he'd make a ruckus and disturb her neighbors.
She yanked the door open to reveal a disheveled and frantic Damon. "What do you want?" She hissed.
"Why did you leave?" He asked, walking into her apartment.
"I'm not going to be another one of your flings, Damon. I refuse to be played like that," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She was furious, but his close proximity still made her heart start pounding.
"What are you talking about? You're not one of my 'flings'," he said adding the air-quotes for emphasis.
"Who tipped off the paparazzi about what restaurant we were going to that night? Why did you bring me with you tonight?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Elena, I swear I didn't tip off the paparazzi..." his sentence dropped off as recognition flashed across his face, "Giuseppe. What did he say to you?"
"It doesn't matter," she said, turning away from him.
"It obviously does, Elena. You are not like those other girls I wouldn't have brought you tonight if you were. He said those things to you because he is scared. He doesn't want this to be serious because he has this fucked up fantasy that I'll marry someone with a name just as big as ours," Damon explained, his voice was thick with passion.
"He made it sound like I'm just another one of your sluts. What am I to you? Who am I to you?" She snapped at him.
"Goddammit, Elena," he growled as he closed the distance between them, cutting through the thick tension, and pressed his lips against hers.
She was shocked for several moments. His lips were soft on hers and his hands cupped her face gently. Soon she found herself melting into him. Her hands winding around his back and pulling him closer. All she could see was red behind her eyelids. He was overloading her senses. He felt warm, his scent filled her nose, and she even saw him behind her eyelids.
Her heart was on fire, her blood was on fire. All she could feel was him. He was everywhere and she couldn't get enough. She kissed him back with an equal passion. She let her hands explore his chest and the soft hairs on the nape of his neck, while his hands smoothed down her sides and pulled her closer to him. It was like he couldn't get enough of her.
He slowed the kisses down to an almost lazy pace before he pulled back to look at her. She immediately missed the contact.
He smiled at her, and not one of his arrogant smirks, it was a genuine, lopsided smile.
"I like you, Elena," he said quietly, after a few long moments, "You are nothing like those other girls and I wouldn't have it any other way."
She couldn't fight the smile that broke out on her face. The butterflies in her stomach were full-on partying now as she pulled him back to her to regain the contact between their lips, but the sound of the front door opening had them jumping apart to see a shocked Bonnie.
"I.. Uh... Hey, Bon," Elena stammered, her face turning red.
Bonnie glanced suspiciously between the two of them.
"I should get going," Damon spoke up.
Bonnie shot him a skeptical look, "I'll be in my room," she finally said before disappearing down the hall.
Elena was still reeling from the encounter when Damon grabbed her hand and pressed a light kiss to her lips before pulling back to smile at her.
"Goodnight, Elena," he smiled, clearly pleased that he could leave her breathless.
Present Day
She forgot what it was like to wake up next to someone, and not just anyone, it was Damon. She heard him sigh happily as his arm tightened around her waist involuntarily, just as he always used to do right before he woke up.
She smiled to herself, perfectly content to do this the rest of her life. However, her smile was wiped right off her face when she felt him wake up and immediately tense up. He slowly removed his arm from her waist and sat up on the edge of the bed.
"Good morning," she said to him sleepily. He turned and smiled at her, but it didn't reach his eyes.
Wordlessly, he got up and started getting dressed.
"Where are you off to in a rush?" She asked, trying to keep her voice light. She couldn't help the panic that set in. She just got him back, she couldn't lose him again.
"I have funeral arrangements to attend to, I totally spaced," he said, but his voice sounded strained.
"How are you doing with all that?" She asked concerned.
He froze and she could see him relax a little.
"I'm not sure how I feel about his passing. We never had a good relationship, but he was my dad and sometimes I thought he would even out live me for how stubborn he was," Damon said with a sad chuckle as he sat on the edge of her bed. She grabbed her robe off the headboard post and wrapped it around herself before she crawled to the foot of her bed to him.
She tentatively wrapped her arms around him and he immediately slumped into her, leaning on her for support like he had done so many years before. They sat like that for several long moments, his arms holding her waist and hers cradling his head to her chest and her hands running soothingly through his hair. She wished so desperately that she could capture this moment and keep it forever. But sure enough, she felt them falling back into reality and the tension soon filled the room once again.
He untangled himself from her and stood up with a sigh. The detachment in his eyes sent a jolt of pain through her. She hated seeing him hurting, she hated it even more when he tried to cover it up.
"I'll see you later, Elena," he said from her doorway.
"Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?" She asked in a small voice.
"Sure, I'd like that," he gave her a small smile before disappearing through the door.
Despite his smile, something didn't sit well with her and she knew he was holding something back from her.
She had a very, very bad feeling about it.
Hope you all liked it, I know the present day scene was short, but we're getting to the point where the present day story gets much thicker. I have a lot up my sleeve for present day Damon and Elena. Thanks again for reading!
Review are love, and I really do love every single one I get. They make me that much more anxious to get out my next chapter! Thanks guys!