Knowing I shouldn't drink but also knowing I need one, I jump off the bus at the stop that's within walking distance of my house. I stand on the sidewalk for several minutes trying to talk myself out of going inside. Finally, I lose the battle and walk in, taking a seat at the bar. After ordering a bourbon, I raise my eyes to the TV that's mounted above the bar. Although I'm trying to distract myself with the ball game, I lure of that finger of bourbon is too much to resist.
Picking it up, I put the tumbler to my lips and take a swallow, savoring the burn as it goes down. I quickly tip it back and order a second one. Taking a deep breath, I wrap my hands around the glass but instead of downing the second one, I turn my attention back to the TV.
"Damon?" I hear, then turn swiftly to see who it is.
"Dr. Mikaelson?"
"Do you mind if I join you?" he asks.
"Be my guest." I utter, sliding my bar stool over a little bit. He orders a drink, taking a big slurp once the bartender sets it in front of him.
"So Damon, why are you here? I thought this..," he says, pointing to my drink, "is why you're doing time at Happy Dale in the first place."
"It is. I had a few words with my brother. I needed to unwind a bit," I explain, lifting the glass to my mouth to take another sip.
"Yeah, families are complicated sometimes," he muses, lifting his beer bottle to his mouth.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks, our eyes meeting for a few seconds till I turn away.
Inhaling sharply, I stare straight ahead, silent for a few seconds. Deciding to tell him the truth, I just blurt out softly, "I lost someone very, very important to me about a year ago. It just isn't getting any easier."
"I wish I had the right words." He stares at me for a few moments. I drop mine when I see that look that everyone gets when you talk about a lost loved one. I hate it.
"If you ever really want to talk, you know where to find me."
"It hurts too much to talk about it, Dr. Mikaelson."
"Nik, call me Nik," he adds, taking a swallow of his own drink. I swallow back the rest of my drink. Just as I'm about to order a third, a face pops into my head. Sighing, I push the glass and stand up to go home for the night.
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah, my dad is staying with me right now. I don't want to disappoint him by coming home drunk. I'll see you around, Nik," I utter as I turn around and walk out of the bar and down the sidewalk towards my house.
It's not late by the time I get home. The windows are lit up so I know dad hasn't retired to his room yet. Knowing I need to face the music, I suck in a deep breath and then step inside.
"Damon?"
"Yeah dad, it's me." After pushing the door closed and locking it, I pause for a moment before I go to talk to him. Since I have no other plans for the evening, I kick my shoes off, leaving them in the entryway.
"Where were you? I called Stefan. He told me you left the office before he did."
"I was at the bar with a guy I met at Happy Dale," I tell him truthfully. Raising my hands in surrender before he can chastise me, "I only had two drinks. I'm not drunk dad. I'm sorry."
"I wasn't going to scold you, Damon. You're a grown man and can make your own decisions. But can you tell me why when you were doing so well?"
"Stefan!" Unable to look at him, I keep my eyes focused on my feet.
"Did he do something?"
"He laid into me about Elena. He fears that she's unstable and will go nuts and kill the lot of us. I asked him if he really believed that I'd risk any of their lives?"
I raise my eyes to his for a long moment before turning away again, hating that I disappointed him.
"Is that all or was there more to it?"
"He said he'd die if something happened to Caroline and his baby." Reaching up, I pinch the bridge of my nose to keep the moisture at bay. Swallowing thick, I take a couple more deep cleansing breaths before turning to face him again. Dad doesn't say a thing, he just walks over and wraps me in a hug. When he releases me, he lifts my chin with his hand.
"Come now, I have supper for you."
"I'll be right down, I'm going to put my pajamas on first." I turn away from him and walk up the stairs. When I get to my room, I see DC sleeping on my bed. Chuckling, I walk over to pet him gently for a few strokes. He meows, standing up to nuzzle my face. After loving him up for a few minutes, I walk over to my dresser, pull out a clean tee shirt and a pair of sleep shorts. Sucking in a deep breath, I pull open the second drawer. I reach inside for the small box that's hidden from prying eyes. Picking it up, I walk over to the bed, plop down and open it with shaky hands. Carefully I look at the pictures, pressing a soft kiss to each one. After I put them back, I hold the box to my chest and close my eyes, letting my imagination take me back to a happier time.
"Hi baby, how are you feeling today?"
"I'm perfect," she replies, staring at me for a moment.
"I brought you something." With a waggle of my eyebrows, I reach into my jacket pocket for the little black box.
"Damon?"
I take her hand in mine, laying the box in her palm. "Open it."
'It's so beautiful. It's a ruby birthstone necklace. Do you like it?"
"Do I like it? Need you even ask? Put it on," she asks, handing it back to me before turning around and lifting her hair out of the way. Reaching around, I clasp the necklace admiring how it lays against her chest.
"I love you." Standing on her tiptoes, she gives me a peck on the lips. Not satisfied with that, I pull her into my arms and when our lips meet, I feel like I'm flying.
"Are you coming, Damon?" I hear my dad ask loudly as he's most likely standing at the foot of the stairs.
"Yes, I'm coming," I yell back. Standing up, I put my precious memories back into its hiding place in my underwear drawer. Once it's safely tucked away, I go into the bathroom to wash my face and hands before trotting down the stairs. Dad is putting the food on the table as I step into the kitchen.
"Looks good. Thanks for waiting for me, dad."
"No worries. Do you have to go to Happy Dale tomorrow?"
"No, I checked before I came downstairs. Why?"
"I thought maybe we could do something. I don't know, go to a ballgame or something?"
"That actually sounds really nice. I'd like that a lot." After spooning a serving of mashed potatoes onto my plate, I dig in, relishing the taste as the flavors erupt on my taste buds. My dad it a fabulous cook.
"I thought maybe you could use some good old fashioned comfort food," he says, tilting his head slightly.
Nodding, I stick a forkful in my mouth, my taste buds savoring the flavor of his cooking. Lifting my glass, I take a swallow of my drink. "You even made me lime Kool-Aid! Thanks dad."
"You've loved that stuff since you were a little boy. I happened to notice it when I was in the drink aisle at the grocery store. I picked up a few packets."
"I very much appreciate everything you're doing for me. What if we go fishing tomorrow? We haven't done that in ages," I lament.
"That's a great idea. We can rent a boat at the marina can't we?"
"Yeah dad, we can do that." I smile at how excited he seems. We finish eating in silence. I help him clean up the kitchen and dry the dishes. He's not one to use the dish washer for just the two of us which makes sense really. Once we're done, we go into the living room to watch TV for awhile. I inherited my love of old movies from him. By chance, we happen to find Hitchcock's 'Notorious' playing on one of the cable channels so we both kick back and enjoy the suspense.
When it's done, I flick the TV off and put the remote in the cabinet. Together, we walk up the stairs, separating to go into our own rooms at the top of the stairs.
"Goodnight dad."
"Goodnight son. I'll wake you early so we can get a move on." He gives me a nod then steps into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
As promised, dad gets me up bright and early this morning. We decide to get some breakfast at the marina so we can get going. I shoot off a quick text to Stefan to let him know that I'm spending the day with dad so he doesn't hound me about where I am. It's been several days since we talked to Elijah's dad. I wonder if he was able to talk to that reporter yet?
"Have you heard anything from Mikael?"
"Now that you mention it, no, I haven't heard anything. Have you talked to Ric or Elijah?" he asks, keeping his eye on the road.
"No. Did I tell you that I spent some time with Anna yesterday. I took her out to the playground for a little while and then we shared a soda. There's something about that little girl." My voice trails off when I turn to look out of the window.
"That makes two of us that are completely enamored with that little tyke. It's maybe too soon, Damon but have you ever thought about maybe being a big brother to a young boy or maybe even adoption? I know having two parents is preferable but I know that single people can adopt nowadays too," he asks, looking at me quickly.
"You know dad, I never even considered that. I could check with the boys club about being a big brother maybe. When you mention adoption, are you thinking of Anna?"
"Yes. I know she's a special needs child but you have so much love to give, Damon. I've decided that I'm going to move here so I can spend more time with you boys and my grandchild when it arrives."
"I'll give it some thought, dad." My mind is lost in thought as I imagine the possibilities. My reverie is broken only when I hear dad say that we're at the marina. After parking the car, we take our fishing gear out of the trunk and walk over to the boat rental area.
We deposit our gear in the boat then dad revs the engine to life and we skim out of the slip and onto the lake. Dad guides us into a quite little cove area. I hand him his fishing pole and a minnow. After baiting our hooks we cast out our lines and wait for the fish to bite.
"I think I got one," my dad yells, trying to reel in whatever latched onto his baited hook. He works and works, whatever he has is big because it's putting up quite a fight. After much give and take, he finally is able to bring the fish close enough to the boat so I can dip the net in and lift it on board.
"Wow, it's huge, dad." I marvel at the size of the fish he caught. Carefully he puts it on a stringer and then lifts it back into the water. Sometimes we keep the fish we catch and make a meal out of them. Other times, we throw them back in and fish just for the fun of it. By late afternoon, we've caught plenty of fish but we've set most of them free. When he catches me yawning, he tells me to pull up the anchor so we can head back to shore. By the time we get back, the sun is starting to set, the sky brilliant shades of orange, yellow, pink and red. I run into the sundries shop to buy a bag of ice to put on the fish that we decided to keep. I think dad should have the big Northern he caught mounted. I'll talk to him about it tomorrow.
After loading up our things, we begin the long drive home. I close my eyes, lulled to sleep by the rhythm of the tires on the open road.
"Come on in, Damon," the owner of the house says, stepping aside so Elena and I can walk in. It's a quaint little cottage with two bedrooms. It only has one large bathroom and one smaller one that's connected to the master bedroom. We walk into the bedrooms. Elena smiles when she sees the walk in closet. When we get to the kitchen, she pulls open the cupboards, running her hands along the wood and the fixtures. The living room has a bay window with a seat.
"I always wanted a home with a bay window," she gushes, smiling widely.
"I want it but I need to know how much it's going to cost me every month. Are utilities included or are they addition to the rent?
"Utilities are included. It's a small house but it is a nice neighborhood. I'm asking for seven hundred and fifty dollars a month." Her demeanor immediately changes as sadness colors her features.
"I don't know if I can afford that much?" Elena says softly.
"Elena, your salary will be enough. Don't worry okay?"
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want special treatment." Nervous, I chuckle a little bit when I see her biting on one of her fingernails.
"Yes, I'm certain. Why don't you let me pay a couple of months worth of rent. I can subtract it from your paycheck if you really want this place."
"I do but that's a lot of money, Damon."
"It's settled then. John, why don't you draw up the papers and bring them over to my office? I'll give you three months rent at the signing. Will that suffice?"
"Absolutely Damon."
"When can she move in?"
"As soon as the papers are signed. I'll get them drawn up. I'll try to have them ready by next week." Nodding, I gently nudge Elena's back, the two of us then step outside. After shaking John's hand, he locks up the place then gets in his car and drives away, leaving Elena and I alone on the sidewalk.
"I can't leave Happy Dale till I have a place to stay."
"Yes you can. You can stay at my house for a few days. It's just me and my dad in a great big old house."
"Are you absolutely sure? You've done more than enough for me already Damon. I don't want to impose."
"You won't. I can't explain it, Elena but it feels good inside when we're together? Does that make any sense at all or do I sound like a sap?" I ask, looking down.
"Hey, I feel it too," she confirms, laying her arms on my shoulders as I place my hands on her waist.
"Kiss me."
"Gladly," I reply, pressing our lips together in a torrid kiss, pulling apart only when some kids honk their truck horn when they pass us on the street. Being with Elena is such a breath of fresh air. When we're together, the load I carry lightens. Unable to hold back, I start laughing and in seconds she laughing along with me. She cradles my face with her palms when our eyes meet again, pulling my lips to hers. With our lips molding and sliding one against the other, the rest of the world just fades away as I lose myself in the rapture of the moment.
Thank you so much Eva. I love you and all that you do for me.
Thank you all of you for your reviews, follows and favorites. I appreciate you all more than you know. The reviews really do help to keep the muse engaged.
Chapter Title: 'Piano Man' by Billy Joel
I posted the conclusions to my two Christmas stories a couple of days ago. Also please take a look a the one-shots I wrote for this year's A2A exchange on LJ. I'd love to hear your thoughts on them as well. 'Rainy Days and Mondays' updated yesterday. Now I'm down to only two stories in progress. Since I only have a couple of chapters left to write for 'Angels Fall', I'm going to start posting it. I can't wait to hear your thoughts.
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I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Have a wonderful day and week ahead. Stay safe and be aware and lots of love.. Until next time.