Turning Points
Disclaimer: I definitely do not own the Vampire Diaries.
Elena's POV
I pace around upstairs, hating the fact that I have to be here right now, when all I want to do is go and find Stefan. I'm so worried about him I can't think straight.
My name is called and I paste on a smile, trying to keep up appearances even though my heart isn't in it. I'm hoping against hope that as I round the staircase I'll see Stefan at the bottom of it, waiting for me, and everything will be okay. Please be there. Please be there.
He's not there.
Amber's escort is the only one standing there, looking really uncomfortable and not meeting my eyes. Where the hell is Stefan? My heart is beating out of my chest as I try to keep calm and take step after step down the staircase, not knowing what I'll do when I get to the bottom. Will I have to go out there on my own?
Suddenly, there's a movement across the bottom of the staircase and Damon takes the place in line where Stefan should be. He stares up at me, his face unreadable, and quirks his lips slightly in greeting as I approach.
"Where's Stefan?" I whisper desperately, fearing the worst.
"I don't know," he whispers back as he takes my hand. Oh no. If Damon hasn't seen him then…I fake up a smile at the MC as we walk towards the door. I try glancing at Damon as we pass outside, but he's looking straight ahead and I have to face forward again too.
As we lean in for the bow I try to talk to him.
"What are we going to do?"
"Right now, we just have to get through this," he tells me, giving me the slightest nod. I straighten up and steel myself. Right. Just get this over with and then we can go look for Stefan.
The music starts. I have a split second of wondering whether Damon knows what to do, but then I catch myself – of course he would. He lived back when people actually danced like this.
We complete the first turn, eyeing each other warily. I don't want to be doing this with Damon. I want to be dancing with Stefan, smiling and having fun like we did at rehearsals.
As we start the second turn, Damon smiles slightly, and I feel a little better somehow. His face up until now has been deadly serious, which is never a good sign. It's reassuring to see a hint of the teasing Damon I'm used to.
With both hands nearly touching, I stare into his stunningly blue eyes and try to read them for any hint of what he's thinking right now. Then he glides in, closing the distance between us and taking me in his arms for the waltz. It's a hell of a shock, being so close to him, and I feel my heart jump in my chest. I break eye contact, scared of that intensity, but I'm compelled to look up at him again as he guides me in our first step of the waltz.
He's a good dancer, utterly confident in his steps and with great technique. I feel safe with him leading me, and without the steps of the dance to worry about there's nothing to distract me from his face.
I notice for what seems to be the first time how handsome he is. It's weird to think that I hadn't really noticed before, but then, Damon is usually being an ass whenever I see him. There's none of that in his face right now – it's like I'm seeing something in him for the first time, something softer, something real. A glimpse at the Damon who fell so deeply in love with Katherine that he pursued her for 145 years. A Damon that I hardly know at all. There's this intensity between us that has never been there before, and I'm feeling a little lightheaded. As the dance continues it seems like we're both smiling just ever-so-slightly at each other.
I'm so involved in him that when the dance stops it takes me a second to realize that we have to move away from each other. As he lets me go and we step back I stare at him, wondering what the hell that was. I realize then that I haven't thought about Stefan once during the whole dance. For a minute there my world was completely made up of Damon and myself. I don't have the faintest idea what to do with that, so I try to push it down and forget about it.
Stefan. We have to find Stefan.