Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created by L.J. Smith, as portrayed in the TV series created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. All rights to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Author's Note: The one good thing about being sick and having to stay home from work is that you get a lot of time in bed with your notebook. Now if I could only focus long enough to type it all out on my computer…

ELENA'S ESCAPE

~ Suspicious Minds ~

Elena was just pulling the dress Caroline selected for her over her head when the changing room door swung open.

"How's it going in here?" Caroline asked, chipper, but her face fell as she saw Elena's bruises. She stepped into the changing room and shut the door behind her. "Oh my god, Kat. What happened to you?"

"Nothing. It's nothing," Elena said, quickly pulling on her own sweater and jeans.

"That is not nothing. Did someone hurt you?"

"No! Of course not. I fell. I wasn't paying attention and I fell down the stairs."

"Katherine…"

"I'm fine. Honest."

"Ok…"

"Look, today's been great, but I should get back to the boarding house."

"Ok. Do you need a ride?"

"No, it's fine. I'll walk. I'm thinking of getting a bicycle."

"Oh, well, Darren at the hardware store has a bunch of bikes for sale out back. You could stop by after your shift at the Grill."

"Ok, thanks. I'll see you later. Take care," Elena said as they parted ways.

"Hi, honey," Matt said and kissed his girlfriend's cheek as she came home. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. I went shopping with my new friend after work."

"You made a new friend?"

"Well, don't look so surprised," Caroline punched his arm and he laughed.

"Sorry, I just meant, don't you already know everyone here?"

"I know, right? But actually, this girl came into the salon today and she just moved here. She's your new waitress, by the way."

"Kat?"

"Yeah, exactly. She's super nice."

"Well, good."

"But I think she's hiding something…" Caroline bit her lip.

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well, I walked in while she was changing…"

"Care, boundaries! We've talked about this, remember? Not everyone enjoys people walking in on them while they're changing – especially strangers!"

"Well, you're missing the point. She has bruises all over her body, Matt. I think someone's hurt her."

"Did you ask her?"

"Duh! Of course I did."

"And?"

"And she said she fell down some stairs."

"And you don't buy it?"

"Not for a second. I mean, some of those bruises – yeah, they could have been the result of a bad fall, but she had bruises on her inner thighs, Matt."

"So what do you think we should do?"

"Just… talk to her. See if you can find something out. There has to be a reason that she jumped on a bus and decided to start a new life in a random town."

"So what? If she was being abused, she's obviously free from whoever was hurting her. Why drag it up if she wants to move on?"

"Because whoever did this to her needs to be punished."

"You're sounding like the Sheriff's daughter."

"So? You know I'm right about this, Matt."

"Fine, I'll see what I can find out. But if she doesn't want to talk about it, I'm not gonna force her to, ok?"

"Ok. Love you."

"Love you too."

Elena was halfway to the boarding house when a blue Camaro pulled up alongside her. "Need a lift?" a vaguely familiar voice called out to her. She looked over to see a pair of piercing blue eyes under a mass of black windblown hair.

"Thanks, but I like walking."

"What's the matter? You don't like cars?"

Elena had nothing against cars per se, she just didn't know how to drive. Kyle didn't want her to learn. "I just enjoy the fresh air, is all," she shrugged.

"Oh, come on, the sun's setting and you have at least half an hour left. It'll be dark before you get back."

"I don't mind."

"Well, these woods are crawling with wolves and mountain lions, so I mind. After all, you're Zach's only boarder. He can't afford to be without your rent-check," Damon joked. "Come on, just get in the car."

"Fine," Elena sighed and stepped into the passenger seat.

"You look different from earlier today," Damon commented, his eyes on the road.

"Yeah," Elena ran a hand through her hair, "I felt like I needed a change."

"I like it."

"Thanks."

"So… I talked to Matt. If you want, you can work at the college between 10 and 4 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and work at the Grill the rest of the time."

"Ok. Sounds good."

"Yeah? Well, I guess I'll see you on Wednesday morning, then."

"Well, you'll see me sooner than that, I guess… we do live in the same house, remember?"

"Oh, I remember…" he smirked and wriggled his eyebrows.

Elena ignored him. The last thing she needed was another man in her life.

Elena awoke with a start. Her pulse was racing and she was drenched in sweat. Panicked, her eyes scanned the room. It was the middle of the night, but she must have forgotten to draw the curtains before she went to bed, because the pale, cold moonlight flooded the room, making every piece of furniture cast menacing shadows. Her fingers found the switch for her bedside lamp and the soft, warm glow chased the shadows away.

Feeling cold but clammy, Elena went into the bathroom. She hoped she wouldn't wake anyone by running the shower, but she just had to wash her dreams away.

After a long, hot shower, Elena slipped on a bathrobe and a pair of slippers and crept downstairs. Zach had told her she could use the kitchen anytime she liked and help herself to whatever she could find in the fridge or the pantry. All included. Elena decided to make herself some chamomile tea to calm her nerves.

She was just about to pour the tea when a velvety voice sounded from the doorway, startling her. "Couldn't sleep?" Elena jumped in fright and poured the scalding hot liquid on her hand instead of in the cup. She cried out in pain. Damon was beside her in an instant, taking her hand and pulling her over to the sink where he ran the water to cool her skin.

"I'm so sorry, Katherine. I didn't mean to scare you like that. I should have paid more attention to what you were doing before I said something."

"It's fine," Elena mumbled.

"No, it's not. It was stupid of me. Will you forgive me?"

"I… of course." Elena was surprised. Kyle had apologized to her on several occasions, early on in their relationship, but he had never taken responsibility for his actions. His every apology had been followed by the excuse that she had made him do it. And here this stranger was apologizing to her for scaring her and blaming himself for not paying attention to the fact that something might harm her in the process.

"Here, let me get that for you," he said and poured the tea into the cup, setting it down on the kitchen table.

"Thanks," Elena said. "I was actually just gonna bring it with me upstairs."

"Oh. Well… have a good night, then," he said and headed back upstairs.

Elena tore the damp sheets off the bed and found new, crisp ones in the linen closet. The tea had managed to relax her and she fell asleep dreaming of caring blue eyes instead of cruel grey ones.

"So that's about it," the blonde waitress proclaimed after she had given Elena the grand tour of the Grill. "Do you have any questions?"

"Not right now, but I'm sure I will have a ton of them as the day goes on," Elena smiled.

"Well, I'm here all day. You can ask me anything," the blonde smiled.

"Hey, Lexi!" Matt called out from the bar. "I need you to work the bar tonight for a few hours. Could you show Kat the ropes?"

"Ok, boss!" Lexi shouted back. "He hates it when I call him that," she winked at Elena. "So, I guess we'll be manning the bar together tonight."

"Ok, great."

"You have any experience with bartending?"

"Nope." Not unless you count pouring Kyle his drinks, Elena added in her mind.

"Well, it's not that difficult. We have a couple of regulars. Occasionally, during tourist season, we get a couple of drink requests, but otherwise it's just your basics – beer, vodka shots, wine, bourbon… no mixing skills needed. Take this guy for example," Lexi nodded towards the entrance, where a dark-haired man just walked in. "Always bourbon neat," she said to Elena. To the customer, she shouted "Yo! Loser! We're not open yet!"

Elena wondered if that was the standard greeting until he walked up to them and kissed her cheek. "Oh, come on, Lex," he pouted, "I had a really bad night. Someone ran the shower in the middle of the night, and you know what sounds that make in the pipes." He gave Elena a pointed look.

"Don't you have papers to grade or something, Damon?" Lexi asked with her hands on her hips.

"Classes don't start until tomorrow, Lex. Oh, and by the way, have you met my new TA?" he gestured towards Elena.

"Oh, you poor thing," Lexi said, "you're gonna work for this guy?"

"Hey, be nice."

"I take it you guys know each other," Elena commented.

"She used to date my little brother when they were in high school. Thankfully, he wised up and got the hell out of town."

"Ouch," Lexi said, punching Damon's arm.

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah. He lives in Florida now. He's adopted the whole surfer life style for some chick. Oh, well," he shrugged, "whatever keeps him out of my hair. Little brothers can be so annoying," he rolled his eyes.

"Tell me about it," Elena mumbled, then caught herself. She wasn't supposed to have a family. Damon must have interpreted her expression as something else, because he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. Zach told me you lost your family…"

"Don't worry about it," Elena shrugged him off.

"Ok… um… is Matt around?" Damon turned to Lexi.

"He was just at the bar…" she looked around, "guess he went in the back."

"Hey, man," Damon knocked on the doorpost.

Matt looked up from his stack of papers. "Oh, hey, Damon. What brings you here?"

"Oh, nothing much," Damon said casually, walking over to the notice board.

"Riiight… you expect me to believe that?"

"So I was curious, ok? I wanted to see how things were working out."

"What is it about this girl?" Matt mused. "She seems to bring out the protective side in everyone."

"What do you mean?" Damon frowned, closing the door to the office behind him.

"Well, Caroline met her yesterday when she came into the salon…"

"Oh, so Blondie's responsible for the new look. I should have guessed."

"Whatever. So, Caroline takes her shopping – you know how she is –"

"Nosy little airhead," Damon mumbled.

"Hey!"

"Sorry. Go on."

"So anyways, she comes home and tells me she's seen bruises all over Kat's body, and she wants me to find out what has happened to her."

"Didn't she ask her herself?"

"Yeah, Kat said she fell down some stairs, but Caroline doesn't believe her."

"So did you ask her?"

"No. I don't know how. I mean, it's none of my business, right?"

"So why are you telling me?"

"I don't know," Matt shook his head.

"Your gossipy girlfriend's rubbing off on you."

"Yeah, well, at least I have a girlfriend," Matt huffed.

"Ouch," Damon mocked.

"What happened to that reporter you were dating? Andie, wasn't it?"

"I moved on," Damon shrugged.

"And that hot TA you brought over for Thanksgiving? Rose, right?"

"Friends with benefits. How come you remember what my ex-girlfriends do for a living when I have a hard enough time remembering their names?"

"Must be my awesome people skills," Matt mocked.

"Nah, I blame your nosy, gossipy girlfriend."

"You dated her too, remember?"

"Whatever. That was high school. I was a senior, she was a cheerleader. It was expected."

"How did we ever become friends?"

"I loaned you the money to buy the Grill, remember?"

"Oh, right… I knew there had to be some reason I still tolerated you."

"Oh, please, you know you love me. Ours is a forbidden love," Damon said in a dramatic voice.

"Dude, I'm eating!" Matt cringed.

"No, you're not," Damon laughed.

"Ok, but we're in a restaurant. I could be."

"So… about Kat. Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on her, and if I see something suspicious, I'll talk to Liz, ok?"

"Still think it's weird that you're on a first-name basis with my girlfriend's mother."

"What can I say?" Damon shrugged. "Mom's love me."

"Yeah, unless you're dating their daughters."

"Whatever. Ok, look, I gotta go. Say hi to Blondie for me."

Author's Note: Before you ask, no, I didn't write that Elena told Zach her family died in a fire, but it apparently came up in a conversation I wasn't privy to… : ) After all, that was the story Elena and Jenna cooked up, so it would make sense if she told someone to prevent them from asking more questions.

Just as a side note, I did actually bartend for a night or two while I was doing an internship at a small catering company years ago, and I sucked at it. Lately, the only mixing of drinks I've been doing is vodka and orange juice with my friend, and we don't really check the quantities… so I hope my description didn't seem too far off... : )