Title: Lovers and Friends
Rating: K
Summary: She calls. It's not completely terrible. In fact he might even look forward to it.
Pairing: Damon/Katherine
AN: Wording this was super super hard. So warning it may seem off. And yes, I have an obsession with Italia.
It's been a few days since she's called him and that familiar ache has started to set in. She doesn't remember when it started, maybe a year or two ago? Whenever it was, something possessed her, she swears. Katherine had gone a hundred and forty-eight years without ever contacting Damon Salvatore. Then suddenly, less than a decade since their last encounter her ears burned with the need to hear his voice. Never one to deny herself anything, the phone was ringing before she even has a chance to second guess herself. The first time they talk about nothing. It probably doesn't even last ten minutes but it changes something. Something so big that she doesn't even hesitate to call the next night, or the next, or the one after that.
If you asked him why he'd answered the phone he wouldn't be able to tell you. Perhaps he'd answered because something felt different. It was a little past midnight, he was in a crowded bar and her name lit his screen as a surprisingly welcomed distraction. All red flags considered it was disturbing he'd actually answered her call. But he had. That night and every night since. There was this new aspect to their relationship that he found irresistible. Damon had Katherine had existed for a long time, but he'd never seen Katherine as anything short of a challenge; always a conquest, always a hunt. Perhaps he kept answering because it was like he'd finally caught her, sort of. They were friends?
She admits casually her regret for the way things had gone. For inspiring the notion that there was something in him that needed to be fixed. The truth was; like her, Damon had a darkness that was raw, and passionate; real. And most people hid from that, too scared to admit that life wasn't always pretty, wasn't always fair. The truth was that despite her own darkness Elena was one of those people. Which was tragic for him, because Katherine knew better than anyone that darkness was power. And power was nothing short of gorgeous. Almost as tragic was Damon's mood change whenever her doppelganger was mentioned. It's a different sort of darkness, one that speaks more of weakness than power. One she does not enjoy. So Katherine makes it a point to never really bring up Elena. One night, she hears silk sheets brush against naked skin and a voice that sounds a lot like her own. The question is out of her mouth before she can stop it, receiving a disgruntled 'it's complicated' by way of explanation. She doesn't ask again.
He calls her, once. It happens during daylight hours and is never repeated. With the change in pattern he's admitting to actually wanting to talk to her, and oddly enough Damon's okay with that. More than anything he should be bothered by how much it doesn't bother him. Never mind that it's barely sunrise. Or that he's leaving his bourbon behind. Not to mention the fact that he's putting aside a fight with Elena, and the fact that she hadn't come home. Yeah, it should bother him that he was choosing to lie in bed and call Katherine but once she answers he just can't bring himself to care. He can hear Greece in the background. It's as if his soul means to reach through the phone the way he starts to long for it. For the allure of the old world, the his freedom of his old life. Her. He admits that a little too willingly. But she invites him to join her just as quickly, so he knows it's okay. Elena walks through the door before he can give an answer. She brings with her an unknown emotion, one he doesn't explore.
She's sitting on a beach in Italy and it's impossible not to think of him. The ocean a reflection of his eyes. She runs her hands through the sand feeling instead his calloused palm. The air even tastes like him, it isn't humanly possible but it's true. This isn't Italy, not the way it's known now. No, Katherine is sitting on a beach in Italia. Her dress blowing gently in the summer wind as the moon shines down bathing her body in light. The world feels like an old black and white film, and yes that was a feeling. It's classic, almost too beautiful, a lot like him. Her curls twirl behind her perfectly, and the men bow their heads with grace and charm. The scene screams Damon, achingly so. Katherine has never wanted him by her side more than she does in that moment. She wants to hear the roughness of his voice. To be completely surrounded by his presence. But the thought of hearing her own voice in the background... it hurts, so badly she can physically feel the pieces of her heart break.
In the end she just cherishes this piece of him that is completely untainted, completely hers. She can call him another night.