When Love Changes You : Chapter Two:
Two months later...
Stefan's suggestion to ask Damon for assistance with music for their receptionist panned out better than she imagined.
They came to an agreement on a band when he suggested she pick out a first song for the reception. He explained that if she didn't choose it then either the band or the matron of honor would do so. She cringed at the thought of some over the top cheesy love song playing when she and Stefan experienced their first dance as husband and wife.
"Mmm...anything in mind?" Elena twirled her finger around a long curly lock of hair while she stared straight into his eyes.
He had lovely eyes she thought to herself. She wondered his eyes were those of his mother or father? She couldn't help but get lost in them as a contemplated over her question.
"What was the first song you two dance to?"
"Umm.." She found herself with no answer to that question. She knew good and well she had danced with Stefan before but suddenly while looking into his eyes she couldn't remember such an important detail.
"Okay. Do you guys have a song? Come on every couple has a song." He chuckled as he made quote signs in the air.
"Really. So what is yours and Carolines?" Elena smirked. She was hoping to give herself a few minutes to recall what their song was. Stefan had been gone for over two months and she was starting to forget what he even looked like.
"Haha. We aren't at that point yet. "
"Oh really, why not?"
"We aren't as madly as in love as you and Stefan seem to be."
"Do you want to be? I mean do you want to fall in love someday?" Elena looked down at the wedding invitations she had to drop by at the post office before they closed today.
"I...no...well, I'm not so sure." Damon's smile slipped away and Elena noted how his eyes smoldered and for a second he seemed almost melancholy.
"Why not?" Elena nudged.
"Cause love changes us Elena.I'm not ready to change."
She was surprised at the sincerity of his answer.
Caroline was one of her two best friends. She knew that Caroline was hoping to walk down the aisle with Damon. In a few months Damon would become her brother in law and that would mean they would be family. She would want him to find the same happiness she had found in his brother and sadly, if Caroline wasn't the one then she would accept it.
"Sounds like you've given it some serious thought." She found herself thinking out loud.
"I have. I've enjoyed playing the field and getting to know as many women as possible but even I know that someday in order to start a family and grow some roots I need to find the right person who completes me. I just...it scares me at the same time to think about the consequences of marrying the wrong person. Do you know what I mean?"
Elena gulped hard. She knew her love for Stefan was true but the past two weeks she was starting to wonder if they were both on the same page about this wedding. He had called and canceled two more weekend visits due to work or an event his father needed him to personally see to. When she spied a picture of him on the internet next to two attractive women she nearly lost all control and called off the entire wedding. Luckily she read the quote underneath which stated that Mr. Salvatore was presenting the donation with the two women who helped put the event together.
It still stung her pride that he was out rubbing shoulders with the rich and elite while she sat at home trying to put together an event that should be more important than anything his father had requested of him.
"I do." Elena whispered as her eyes misted over with tears.
"What's going on? You're not having doubts about Stefan are you?" Damon looked into her eyes. He saw the inner conflict she was fighting with and he wondered how much longer she would accept his brother's absence in the wedding planning before she called the whole thing off?
He warned Stefan that their father was probably trying to sabotage his relationship with Elena in order to keep him there and eventually married to the young woman he had always planned for his favorite son. Stefan had argued that their father was far too ill to be so deceptive and that he had not seen or spoken to Rebecca since he arrived back home.
Damon wasn't fooled. He knew it was only a matter of time before the old man shoved the girl into Stefan's face and bed. He swore to his sons that they would rule the day they walked out on him and that it was only a matter of time before they came to their senses and grovel at his feet for redemption. When the years passed by and neither asked even for a dollar from him, Damon sensed the bitterness growing in the old man.
It didn't surprise him to learn he was dying from a weak heart. Hell, in Damon's mind he never had a heart to begin with.
"I...it's hard...I mean...I love him. I really, really do. But it hurts me the way he hasn't once made it back to see me or heck, even asked me to come visit him there. If your father is dying wouldn't you think he would want me to meet him?" Elena stumbled at first for the right words and then suddenly all her frustrations began to pour out like a hole in the bottle of a milk carton.
"Stefan is scared you might see the darkness in our father. Trust me, no one wants to see that and if you did then maybe you might wonder if he is possible of such wretched behavior."
"That's ridiculous. Stefan is a wonderful man." Elena cried out defensively.
"I agree but there is a darkness in everyone Elena. Some of us hide it better than others. I mean, come on even you have to have a dark side."
"I...yeah, I suppose." Elena rolled her eyes and exhaled long and slow.
"See. Do you show it to the world on a daily basis?"
"NO!" She scoffed.
"Neither do I but our father, well, he isn't scared nor too proud not to say or do whatever pleases him. If he dislikes you, he will tell you and trust me it will sting like a bitch." He laughed bitterly.
"Wow. You have painted this image of your father that is like a nightmare. How did you and Stefan turn out so normal with such a horrible presence in your life?"
"It wasn't easy. Our mother, God bless her soul, helped keep us safe from him while she lived. She put people in our lives that helped keep us anchored so we never forgot who we were and instead of gloating and wasting our fortune they showed us how we could do good with it and be average human beings."
"She sounds wonderful." Elena whispered tenderly.
"She was." Damon smiled sadly back.
"So, let's get back to songs. What is yours and Stefan's song in your heart?" Damon changed the subject and shifted his seat as if to push all the sad memories of his mother out of his mind.
She understood his loss better than most people. She lost both of her parents at the same time. In one sudden unexpected downfall, her life was turned completely upside down.
"I guess it would be ?" She answered without hesitation.
Damon gave her a puzzled look before he took out his ipod and hook it up to her speakers.
"Would you care for a dance?" He stood up and offered her his hand.
Elena cocked an eyebrow trying to figure out what he was up too but when she saw the flicker of pain flash in his sexy blue eyes she let her guard down and just went along with it.
"I would love too." She placed her hand in his and with a gentle squeeze he twirled her into his arms.
The music played loudly around them and she found herself relaxing as she listened to the lyrics of the song.
"You dance well." He muttered next to her ear.
Elena felt her cheeks grow warm from his polite compliment. He was the much better dancer and they both knew it.
"Thank you but I think it's my partner who has the skills."
Smiling up at him she found herself mesmerized by his smoky blue eyes. Out of all the times she had looked at him, up until now, she never noticed how appealing he was. A lock of his hair fell lazily over his eyebrow, his jaw was what romance writers would describe as chiseled, and his lips were the perfect shape for kissing. Yeah, he definitely had kissable lips she thought to herself.
Her chest began to heave unsteadily as their bodies pressed up closer. Taking a deep gulp of air she felt her tongue slipping out of her mouth and darting over her dry lips. Suddenly she felt incredibly thirst and in the back of her mind she heard a voice whispering to her to kiss him. It was unnerving not to mention just down right wrong of her to go there but her head refused to listen to her heart.
Slowly, very slowly, their mouths met and in instant Elena felt a surge of electricity flow between them. Gripping his arm to keep her upright as her legs began to fail her as if they were somehow turning into jello. Closing her eyes she savor the taste of his mouth as his tongue traveled between her lips and began exploring her further.
A loud siren was blaring in her head but her body continued to enjoy the intrusion. All sensibility and practically reminded her that this was not only wrong but an act of betrayal to her fiancee and her best friend and yet she heard a soft moan escape between her lips as she pulled him in closer.
Damon couldn't believe the fire that burned within him as he kissed his brother's future wife. He knew that this was entirely wrong but it felt so damn right at the same time. For weeks now they had grown so close. He fought the urge to do this a million times in the past few months but now, now he lost the battle he struggled with. He knew she was the one woman he couldn't, no shouldn't have but his body wanted what it wanted. Their attraction was so overwhelming to his senses that he could no longer have sex with Caroline without picturing Elena in his mind.
Now holding her in his arms, their mouths sealed together, he knew they both passed a point of no return and no matter how hard they might try to forget it ever happened, they wouldn't.
The music suddenly stopped and it was a signal to end their passionate kiss. Elena pulled away, turning her back toward him as she covered her swollen mouth with the back of her hand.
"Elena." Damon moaned.
"No. Don't say it. I have to go." Elena couldn't look back at him or she feared she might run straight into his arms and beg him to share more with her.
What was wrong with her? Her wedding day was drawing close. Why would she screw this up now? Perhaps if Stefan had been around more and spent some well deserved time with her, this kiss could have been prevented. But it did happen. Sadly, she knew there was no way to erase it and no way to pretend she didn't want it. She just hoped that Damon didn't tell Stefan or all of these last months of preparing for that special day would have been for nothing.
XXX
Damon paced back and forth in front of the enormous fireplace, sipping on a glass of expensive brandy as he replayed their kiss over and over again.
He knew he should be feeling guilty but he didn't. Stefan left her to plan for their wedding. Not once since he took off to tend to their father's so call failing health had he made a point of returning to help her with any of it. For a man who claimed to love Elena more than any other woman in this world, he sure did a lousy job of showing it.
He wondered if Elena would confess to either Caroline or Stefan. Would they hate him? Would they hate her? Although he didn't care if he lost Caroline, it did trouble him to think of him and Stefan being at odds with one another. Over the past few years they'd grown closer and he didn't want to lose that bond. However, he did feel something incredible when he kissed Elena. Something that touched his very soul. Not normally being the romantic sort of guy, he couldn't shake the idea of just how perfect Elena was for him.
Maybe he always knew it but ignored it when it was clear her heart pointed in the direction of Stefan.
Walking over to the liquor cabinet he refilled his glass when the doorbell rang alerting him to some unexpected company. Setting his glass down he made his way to the front door.
Opening the door he stared into a set of dark brown eyes that shook him to the core.
"I can't believe it." Elena whispered in a hoarse voice.
"I know." Damon gulped hard as he felt the chemistry between them.
"Have you heard anything yet?" Elena wiped away a tear that slipped out of the corner of her eye.
"What?" Damon frowned. He realized they were talking about two entirely different things.
"The plane crash. Stefan was on that plane. I just know it." She exploded as tears flooded her eyes and her whole body shook miserably.
Damon pulled her into his arms and held her for a moment as he tried to process what she was trying to tell him.
"Are you telling me that Stefan was on a plane headed here and it crashed?" Damon felt his heart cracking as it began to sink in the reality of what he was hearing.
"Yes." She nodded her head while burying her head into his chest.
"How do you know this?" Damon lifted her head up so he could look at her face as they communicated.
"It was on the news." Elena replied.
"Come on." Damon took her hand and led her into the living room where he found his phone and dialed up his father's assistant's number. If anyone knew for sure if Stefan was on that plane it would be Edward. He would know exactly who was on the plane and what occurred.
"Who are you calling?"
Damon put his finger up to quiet her when Edward finally answered his call.
"Hello Mr. Salvatore." Edward's voice was snippy. They both knew that Stefan was the old man's favorite son.
"Hello Edward. I have Stefan's fiancee here and she just told me that there was a plane crash reported on the news. Is it one of our planes and was Stefan on it?"
Elena found Damon's glass and took a long gulp of it while she settled down on the couch and watched as Damon talked on his phone.
"Yes I'm afraid it's true. He was going on a quick business trip and then planned to stop at Mystic Falls to spend some time with his fiancee." Edward sighed heavily.
"Are there any survivors?" Damon felt his heart nearly lurch out of his chest. He refused to believe that his stubborn little brother was dead.
"We haven't received a full report yet. The plane crashed over the Atlantic ocean. We are hoping for good news. I will call you once we learn of anything more solid."
"Okay. Please call me Edward. Elena is here and she is pretty shaken up as you can imagine."
"I understand."
Damon hung up the phone and set it down before walking over to Elena. Kneeling before her he told her what he knew so far. Her eyes burst with tears as he pulled her into his arms and held her as she sobbed and shook with utter misery.
XXX