The Other Salvatore

The aroma of breakfast had woken me. My eyes fluttered open softly and I felt the aftermath of crying last night that was my dry eyes and disgusting sleepers stuck in the corner of my eye. Sitting upright, I become coherent to my surroundings; another morning greeted by Stefan's vacant bedroom. I stretch and then begin forcing my body to carry itself to the bathroom where I look in the mirror and groan at my hideous appearance.

I'm a mess. Taking a washcloth and wetting it, I wipe away the sleep from my eyes and do a quick wash of my face. I brush my teeth quickly as well.

Stepping out into the hallway, I am greeted by the strong odor of sausage and pancakes. Pancakes are my weakness...was Damon cooking? For me? Eventually carrying myself to the kitchen, I find that he is cooking. At my approach, he smiles. "Why hello Sleeping Beauty."

I laugh. "Hey. Are you cooking breakfast?"

"Does it look like I am? Yes."

"...For me?"

He scoffs, flipping a pancake and looking over his shoulder at me. "Don't flatter yourself, Elena. I felt like a nice breakfast today for myself."

Ugh. Way to go, Elena. "Oh, sorry."

"But," he adds, "You live here too so I suppose I could share the food." He spins around and slides a plate over the counter. I smiled.

"Well thank you. I'm glad you can grace me with your cooking." I reach down and take a bite of the sausage. "You know..."

"Yes?" He asks, already eating off of his own plate.

"I didn't know you could cook." I admitted. He snorted.

"Please. My irrestible good looks aren't the only redeeming qualities I have." he winks. I roll my eyes. Typical Damon. "So what's on the agenda today?"

I shrug, thinking about how today is literally empty. I have nothing to do. "Hmm, I don't know. I'm thinking of getting Bonnie over. Maybe there's a spell or something she could use to try and locate Stefan."

Damon nodded, shoving a pancake into his mouth rudely and speaking with a full mouth, "Good. You do that."

"What about you?" I asked him curiously. "What's on your agenda?"

"I'm gonna go find the bitch and demand her to tell me everything she knows about Klaus." he said, eyes focused on his plate.

I frowned. "If you're going to speak to Katherine, I'm coming with you."

He looked at me from beneath his lashes and said "Elena." in a you're-totally-not-coming tone.

"Damon! I'm serious. I want to know what she knows, too."

"So I'll come back here and tell you." He argues, irritated.

"I'm coming."

"No, you're not."

"I want to go."

"I don't care." he states. I look at him furiously, wondering why he won't let me go. Was he trying to keep information from me? No, he wouldn't do that.

Would he?

"Why don't you want me to go?"

"You'll just be a distraction and if Katherine won't spill anything I don't want you there getting all moody and 'But it's Stefan!' on everyone. " Damon says.

I frown disapprovingly. "Too bad. I don't want you to go alone. It won't be good for me to worry about you."
He blinks innocently at me. God, I hate when he looks at me with those eyes... "You'd worry?"

"Of course. She might...kill you or something. I want to be with you and know where you are. I can't lose both of you."

He rolls his eyes and snorts. "Kill me. Right. If she wanted me dead she would have never brought the cure."

"She said she owed you one." I pointed out. To be honest, I had a feeling that Damon knew something that I didn't. How was he so sure that Katherine would just open up and spill everything she knew about Klaus? To give Stefan back to me? No. She never cared about Stefan or Damon. So why would Damon even go to her for information?

Damon was silent for a long time. He had finished his breakfast and only after he disposed of his plate did he speak again. "Fine, Elena. You can come."

I smiled, finished off my breakfast, and pondered how easy it was for Damon to give in to me. Oh god..did I...I didn't just say that, did I? Since I first suspected that Damon loved me, I had been trying my hardest not to use that to my selfish advantages. But with Stefan gone Damon was my greatest hope of finding him. So right now I really didn't care what it took for Damon to include me in his mission of getting his brother back. "So what's first? Bonnie or Katherine?"

"Katherine. Better to get this over with." Damon sighed, walking out of the kitchen. He came back with his dark, leather jacket that I always admired. "Get dressed. Don't take too long; no need to fancy up for a slut." He sang, disappearing back out of the kitchen. As he ordered, I didn't take too long to get dressed. I stuck with simple black jeans and a purple top that flattered my curves nicely. There was only one thing I ever envied of Katherine and that was her amazing wardrobe. How could she get her breasts to look so big? How did she get her ass to look so plump? Her legs so thin? Her hips so curvy? Looking at myself now it was hard for me to find anything about us the same. I was so bland and she was so exciting.

Then again, she is a slut.

But she is slut with good clothes.

I ran a comb through my hair quickly and then descended downstairs. Damon was drinking a glass of blood which he finished off in a big gulp when he saw me. "Ready?"

"Yep." I nodded. I followed him out to the car. "How do we even know where she is?"

"Where do you think she is, Elena? At a bar, of course." Damon said, already starting the car up. I got in on the passenger side and buckled my seatbelt. My eyes found his face and I couldn't look away.

"Which bar?" I pressed.

"Does it matter?" he asked in a chilidish voice.
"Well, no.. but how do you know which bar?"

Damon huffed once. "You ask so many questions, Elena. I have my resources, obviously."

"So we're just going to walk up to her 'Hey you – where's Stefan?'."

"I'd say so, yup." He smirked.

"Who says she'll tell us what she knows about Klaus?"

Damon turned to look away from the road and find my eyes. My orbs and his locked together as he said the words, "Because she's in love with Stefan." I looked away, hurt by this statement. She was in love with Stefan? No, she didn't want Stefan...she never wanted Stefan. "And she's seen what has happened to him. She doesn't like it."

She didn't like it? Who gave her any right to not like something about Stefan? I couldn't believe the words I was hearing. She didn't want Stefan. She didn't want Damon. No, that's why she had done so many things to hurt them. That's why Stefan always said their love wasn't real.

I was silent for the rest of the car ride and so was Damon. Except for a few uneasy glances in my direction, he didn't speak about anything else. We eventually parked the car just outside of town at a bar named "Tipsy Turtles". It was beautiful inside and much different than the Grill. At the bar, surrounded by two older men, sat Katherine. Damon and I watched her as she took her hand and brushed it down the cheek of one of the men. He shuddered at her touch but it was clear that he desperately wanted her.

I followed Damon toward her, standing behind him while he called out "Oh, Miss Katherine?" in a tone that was clearly mocking and high.

She spun around with a smile on her face. "Well, well, well. Look who's been drinking his blood." Her eyes trailed up and down his body. "Good to know you're back to normal, Damon. Let's not forget who you have to thank for that."

He rolled his eyes. "I have Stefan to thank. He's the one who's out sacrificing himself."

"Ah yes. Pity." For once she seemed to have taken notice of me standing behind Damon. "Hello Elena."

I stepped out to face her. "Katherine."

Damon sighed impatiently. "Look, Katherine, this isn't a friendly visit."

"As I suspected it wouldn't be." She retorted.

"What do you know about Klaus?"

She laughed and her eyes flickered to the men beside her, both still panting over her like wild dogs. "Oh, I know my fair share."

"...care to share?" Damon growled.

"Hmm..why should I?" She questioned, flirting with the men.

"Because you know that Stefan is out of control. You've seen it first hand, didn't you? I need to know anything about Klaus that I can. Besides the obvious – that he's a hybrid douchebag. "

Her eyes rested on Damon. "What are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to find Stefan." he said.

"Give it up, Damon. Stefan's out of control. The worst I've seen him ever. He drank and drank and drank and drank until Klaus was satisfied that he wouldn't be able to stop the hunger." She said, kissing one of the men on the cheek. "Even if you find him, he won't come back."

"Tell me what you know about Klaus." he demanded.

"I don't see why I should. Stefan is long gone."

This time, I spoke up. "You want Stefan back. So do we. Just help us. Stefan can come back. He just needs to be talked to, to be shown that he isn't the monster Klaus is making him into."

Katherine rested her deadly, black eyes on me. "Klaus isn't creating a monster. Stefan is the monster. Blood just triggers it inside of him. It's who Stefan is."

I shook my head. "No, it isn't."

Katherine ignored me to kiss one of the men on the lips. "Mmm...Klaus's origins lay in England. Perhaps he's looking for his family of the Originals. " she suggested. "That's all I really know about him."

Damon snapped at her, "You're lying. You know more."

She blinked her innocent eyes at him. "No, I'm not. I don't know where he is, Damon. I only can suspect that he's off trying to find followers. Probably the Originals."

I looked at Damon. "She isn't lying."

Damon sighed once and said, "If you're just going to sit around at bars and seduce men, leave town, Katherine." He spun around to descend the building. I was quick to follow him until I heard Katherine say behind me, "Don't worry, Elena. If you don't find Stefan, you still have the other Salvatore brother."

I felt sick. I continued to feel sick 20 minutes into the car ride. Damon looked over at me and whispered, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just feeling a bit sick." I admitted. He frowned.

"We can stop to get medicine or something, if you need?"

"It's okay. I just wanna get home."

We drove in silence before I asked, "Do you think Katherine's right? That Klaus is looking for his family?"

"Maybe." Damon admitted. "We will just have to use that for now. Otherwise we have nothing."

I nodded, eyes focusing on the road.

"So last night you were pretty wild," he remarked, eyes focusing on my face and his lips turned into a smirk. I sighed.

"Yeah. Sorry.. I was just upset. That dream was scary."

"What was it about again?"

"Stefan. He told me that he couldn't come back to me because I didn't want him anymore .. or something. It was really weird." I explained. I was quiet for a moment before adding, "I wanted you, though. I remember that. When Stefan disappeared I kept yelling for you."

"Yes, I know. I was sound asleep until I heard 'Damon!' all dramatically screamed from my little brother's bedroom." He laughed.

"But you came to check on me."

"Yep, I did. You were fine."

I didn't say anything, because I wasn't fine. I was an emotional mess. Wanting Damon with me but crying over Stefan. How pitiful. "I'm sorry I keep freaking out over Stefan. I know you hate to hear it. It's been a week. Still a bit hard, but, I'm getting better. I think."

"You are getting better." he agreed. "It's time to stop moping around and start getting together and getting Stefan."

"Right." I nodded. "So I'll invite Bonnie over and hopefully she'll be able to try a location spell."

"We'll tell her to focus around England and start there."

"Okay."

When we got home, I had immediately tried to reach Bonnie. After three rings she picked up her phone and sounded rather distracted. "Hello?"

"Hey, Bonnie."

"Hi, Elena." an awkward pause. "What's up?"
"I was wondering if you would come over to Damon's." Technically my house, as they had given it to me, but I still considered this house belonging to Stefan and Damon. This was not my home.

I was starting to regret calling Bonnie because in the background I could hear playful laughter. She smiled into the phone, "Why?"

"I wanted you to try a location spell on finding Stefan."

More playful laughter and silence from Bonnie.

"I think I may have called at a bad time...er, should I call you back later?" I asked.

She answered rather quickly. "No, no, Elena. I'd love to try a spell but I'm here with Jeremy. I'll come over soon, okay?"

I was totally fine with Jeremy and Bonnie dating. Both of them desperately deserved to be happy and well, why not be happy with eachother? Admittingly it was strange that my little brother and my best friend were together but there wasn't anything I could do about it. Would asking Bonnie to ditch Jeremy and help me out be wrong? Yes, I decided, it would be. We all owed something to Stefan, and I knew Bonnie wanted to help find him, but I wasn't going to be an ugly nuisance. I wasn't going to be the one who made everyone drown in her misery.

"No, Bonnie. It's fine. It can wait, honestly." I faked my happiness. "Just call me when you're free. Tell Jeremy I said hi,"

She could tell I was being as selfless as I could be. "Elena..."

"Bonnie. Really." I laughed.

She laughed, too. "Alright. Are you alright there with Damon?"

"I'm fine. He's here, watching out."

"Good." she decided. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye Bonnie."

"Bye."

Hanging up the phone, I groaned and flopped down onto Damon and Stefan's elegant couch. Now what? Sit here in the house all day?

"What, the witch too busy to help us find Stefan?" I heard from behind me. Peering up and over my head, I was faced with Damon looking down on me.

I sighed. "She's with Jeremy."

"Ew, gross." He mocked. Shocked, I looked at him.

"It's not gross. They're happy." Damon shrugged then took my hands and pulled me off of the couch. I whined. "What are you doing?"

He smiled, swaying us back and forth. "You can't be Miss Doom-and-Gloom all day long, Elena. Have some fun. Let's dance."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Damon, c'mon."

And in one swift, quick motion he pulled me against his chest. His lips were at my ear and he proceeded to sway us quickly and clumsly. "No. You c'mon." I don't know how he did it, but just then a very catchy tune emerged from their sound system. It played throughout the house. I couldn't recognize the song but I was rather fond of it. Giggling, I let him twirl and move me with whatever moves he had. I had danced with Damon before. He was always an interesting dancer and knew how to keep me moving even when I didn't know exactly how to move. He began singing to me:

Oh won't come on over,

stop making a fool outta me,

why don't you come on over Valerie?

His facial expressions were priceless. Laughing, the music got louder and louder. In his embrace, I yelled, "Who sings this?"

He smiled, rocking us back and forth in a rythem that matched the music. "Oh come on, you don't know Amy Winehouse when you hear her?"

Amy Winehouse? Damon listened to her? I certainly didn't so it was natural that I could't recgonize her voice. This song was really catchy. I smiled back at him. He let go of me and started spinning around, singing into a pretend microphone. I laughed out loud, quite enjoying myself. This was perfect – just letting loose and relaxing. So comfortable I was in Damon's arms and watching him make a fool out of himself. He suddenly stopped moving and looked at me. "I have the perfect song for you, sweetheart." He winked, picking up the stereo remote and hitting a switch. I immediately recognized the song once the music started playing.

I went over to him and grabbed his hands, shocked. "You listen to Taylor Swift?"

He laughed. "Of course I do..." and in perfect harmony we shouted:

The story starts when it was hot and it was summer and...
I had it all, I had him right where I wanted him
She came along, got him alone and let's hear the applause
She took him faster than you could say "sabotage"

Damon and I began pounding our feet and circling eachother. He let go of me to jump onto the table and shake his hips. I rolled my eyes at house ridiculous he was. Standing in front of him, I sang loudly and proudly:

She looks at life like it's a party and she's on the list
She looks at me like I'm a trend and she's so over it

I did a cocky movement with my hand to signify that I was over it. Over her. Katherine.

I think her ever-present frown is a little troubling
And she thinks I'm psycho 'cause I like to rhyme her name with things

Damon and I sang in harmony again:

She's not a saint
And she's not what you think
She's an actress, whoa
But she's better known
For the things that she does
On the mattress, whoa

Within that moment, singing and laughing with Damon, I felt complete. Stefan was not on my mind and I didn't care that Bonnie wasn't going to help me. I didn't care that Katherine wanted Stefan. I didn't care about anything; except, of course, the fact that Damon and I were shouting and having a grand time. How could he do that? How could he make my troubles go away so simply and so swiftly? As the song came to an end, I stopped singing along just to stare at Damon – to take the time to really look at him. He was able to make me happy because he loved me. That was it, wasn't it? He knew me and his presence alone just simply made me happy.

I just have to say something.

I blinked, the Taylor Swift song already ended and Damon was not off of the table. "What do you have to say?" I asked stupidly.

He looked back at me in confusion. "What?"

I just have to say it once, you just need to hear it.

"Damon, what are you going to say?" I demanded, blinking my eyes rapidly. What was going on?

"Elena, I'm..not saying anything. What's wrong with you?"

I can't be selfish with you.

"Selfish?" I murmured. My eyes found Damon's. However, inside of Damon's eyes I caught the glimpse of understanding and recognition. "You can't be selfish with me? What?"

Damon blinked, eyes flickering to the floor and then back to my face.

I don't deserve you. But my brother does.

"Damon...why did you say you didn't deserve me?" I was hopelessly lost and confused. It was as though Damon was speaking to me right now, but all I could see was him standing in front of me without moving lips.

He struggled for words. "I can explain.."

Ah, Chapter 2 complete ! Will Damon explain? AHHHH. Please review and thank you for reading! Reviews make me more eager to please you guys. (:

-Otter