Caroline and Bonnie both woke up around noon.
"You hogged all the blankets…" Caroline complained to Bonnie, who huffed and rolled her eyes, sticking a pillow over her head to block out the sunlight, "You kicked me all night. It wasn't bad when we used to have sleepovers, but you're a vampire now; it hurts."
"I don't kick that much, do I, Elena?"
The girls frowned when Elena didn't answer. Caroline rolled over to notice her friend wasn't in the bed beside her. Bonnie snickered, "Did she fall out? She's always falling out of bed…"
Caroline moved to look at the spot on the floor where Elena would have been, had she fallen out, "Nope," she sat up and ran a hand through her blonde hair, yawning, "She's not here."
Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "Do you think she got up before us?"
Caroline's yawn turned into a laugh, "Yeah, right; this is Elena we're talking about. You know, Sleep-Until-One-in-the-Afternoon-During-Sleepovers Elena? She would never be up before us. Which only means one thing."
Bonnie raised her eyebrows higher, "Oh? That would be…?"
Caroline grinned, "She didn't sleep with us."
Bonnie frowned, "Are we that bad? Do you think she slept on the couch…?"
"A: No, we aren't that bad. B: Matt is sleeping on the couch, so no. C: Are you stupid? When I say she didn't sleep with us, I mean she slept with someone else."
Bonnie grinned, "You're saying you think she ditched us for Damon?"
"I know she ditched us for Damon. In fact… let's go check in on the little lovebirds."
Bonnie's grin widened, "Great idea, Care."
The two girls got out of Elena's bed and crept out of the room, heading down the hall to Jeremy's door, where Damon had slept that night. Caroline put a finger to her lips to signal that Bonnie be quiet, and opened the door slowly.
The room was still dark, what with Damon having drawn Jeremy's gothic black curtains the night before. Caroline and Bonnie could hear the soft breathing of someone sleeping. Two someone's sleeping.
Bonnie grinned when she saw that their theory had been correct; there, lying snuggled up under the black and navy covers of Jeremy's bed, were Elena and Damon. Elena was using Damon as a pillow, her arms wrapped around his waist, and Damon had a protective arm around her, his face nuzzled in her hair. Caroline giggled, "I never thought that those two could look so… cute!"
Bonnie nodded, "I know. It doesn't make any sense. Damon isn't supposed to be the nice boyfriend who cuddles with her; he's supposed to be the sexy lover who does booty calls in the middle of the night, and the sneaks out her window before dawn."
"You know, it's one thing to stare, but to talk about me while I'm in the room? I didn't realize you two were that rude…"
Both girls turned white with shock when they heard Damon's voice, and they then noticed him watching them through one eye. Clearly, he had heard them as soon as the door opened and overheard every word they said.
Bonnie blushed, and Caroline bit her lip, "Sorry…"
"Yeah, you should be. Jeez, Bonnie; am I really that bad of a guy…?"
Bonnie rolled her eyes and walked away.
"Sorry!" Caroline put in again before quickly shutting the door and running downstairs after Bonnie. Damon sighed and shook his head, burying his nose in Elena's hair yet again. She stirred in his arms, her brown eyes finally opening. She grinned and closed them again, snuggling closer, "Good morning…"
"Good morning to you, too, beautiful." Damon said, brushing hair out of her eyes and kissing the top of her head adoringly.
"Mm…" Elena muttered, "What time is it…?"
"Just past noon." Damon said, rubbing circles into Elena's back that were quickly turning her muscles to mush. She sighed contently, "That feels nice…"
He chuckled, "It's supposed to."
She opened her eyes again and smiled up at him. Her smile turned to a playful pout, "What? No kiss good morning today?"
His eyes widened and he blinked a few times, "Well, I'm sorry! How could I ever forget…?" he asked, leaning down and kissing her lips softly. Her lips grinned beneath his, and she smiled when he pulled away, "Much better."
He sighed happily, lying his head back in the pillows, "I could get used to waking up like this, you know," he looked at her, "With you."
She smiled at him from behind her lashes, propping herself up on her elbow and fiddling with his shirt, "It certainly has been two of the nicer mornings I've had in a long time."
He grinned, "Once we get rid of the posse, we can start waking up in Paris." He said, using the French pronunciation. Elena giggled, "I still can't believe we're really going…"
"Oh, believe it, sweetheart; we're getting the hell out of this one horse town."
Elena laughed, and squealed when Damon rolled on top of her, bending down to kiss her again, more passionately this time. Only when Elena moaned in desire did he pull away to let her breathe. He smiled and stroked her cheekbone with his index fingertip, "Do you want brunch?"
She grinned, "Obviously. You do realize, though, that you'll also have to cook for a quarterback, a witch, a vampire and a hybrid, don't you?"
"Huh," Damon said, nodding in thought, "Surprisingly, the quarterback is the one that worries me most in that equation." He grinned, "Maybe we should go out for brunch instead."
Elena smiled, "That's a nice idea, actually. Somewhere other than the Grill, though; that way it's more of a treat for Matt, and not a reminder of his hellish past job."
"Of course," Damon nodded and bent to give her one last quick kiss before standing up and walking across the room to grab his shirt and pull it on. Elena watched him from the pillows, smiling. She had to admit, it was a shame to cover up such a perfect body… maybe they should go to L.A. instead of Paris, so he could just run around with his shirt off the entire time. She giggled at the idea, and Damon raised an eyebrow at her, "Is something funny?"
She shook her head, "Nope."
He shrugged, "Well, if that's your final answer…"
She gasped when he was suddenly above her on the bed again, grinning wildly, "I'll have to get the truth out of you the hard way."
She screamed into a peal of giggles when he began to tickle her in all of the places he knew bothered her the most, "Damon…!" she complained.
"Come on, Elena! Just tell me what's so funny and this can all be over!"
"Okay! Okay, okay!" she cried between laughter, breathlessly. Damon ceased his tickling to let her answer.
"I was just thinking that after we go to Paris, we should go to Los Angeles, too."
Damon raised an eyebrow, "Why is that?"
She trailed her fingers along the unbutton spot exposing his skin, "So you can walk around with your shirt off all day."
He laughed, "A year ago, you were complaining when I wasn't wearing a shirt. Now you complain when I am…"
She shrugged, "What can I say? People change, Damon."
He grinned, "Certainly for the better… come on, go get dressed. If we wait too much longer, Blondie is going to find my stash of blood down in the kitchen and have it gone."
VvvvV
"I can't believe you actually met Taylor Swift. Matt Donovan met Taylor Swift!"
Caroline was gushing as she drank her orange juice; shocked by the story Matt had just finished telling them about his experience with the pop country teen idol.
"You never know who you're going to meet in Washington, Care; apparently she was doing a private show for the president's daughters or something. I ran into her by mistake at Starbucks and helped her pick up her bags. She thought I was adorable and she gave me this."
He proudly waved his cellphone, which Caroline snatched away, following soon after by a shriek of, "Matt Donovan has Taylor freaking Swift's phone number!"
Matt grinned; Damon was floored. How in hell did a guy as drab as Matt Donovan get Taylor Swift's phone number? Even he didn't have Taylor Swift's phone number!
"She totally digs me." Matt said, and everyone laughed.
The six of them were sitting in a sunny café eating expensive breakfast, the bill being split between Klaus and Damon. The next thing they all had to decide was what they were going to do after breakfast was finished. They were all together again, sure, but there really wasn't that much to do in Mystic Falls.
"Ooh!" Caroline suddenly piped up, "I have a great idea!"
"What's that, sweetheart?" Klaus asked her, grinning.
She giggled, "We should all go to that water park the next city over!"
"Oh, yeah!" Matt grinned, "Waterpalooza; that place we all went to on Jeremy's eighth birthday!"
Damon made a face, "You want to go to a place where you had an eight year old boys birthday party? You're adults now! You could go to a freaking strip club if you wanted to, and you want to go… there?"
"Believe it or not, it's fun." Bonnie put in, and Damon's frown deepened; he and the witch still didn't exactly see eye to eye.
"It is, actually." Elena agreed, and Damon looked down at her.
"What's so special about Waterbladoola?"
"Waterpalooza," Caroline corrected, "And it's only the best, biggest, scariest water park in Virginia! It has the highest waterslide for miles; The Rocket Launcher."
"Or the Vomit Launcher," Matt put in, "Because half of the kids under ten who try it hurl, and the thing gets shut down for the rest of the day to be sanitized."
"I haven't been there in years," Elena said, grinning, "It would be so much fun to go again!"
"Yeah," Matt snorted, "Now that you're tall enough to go on the slides."
Elena blushed, and turned to Damon, "I was super short the last time we all went, and had to stay behind while the three of them went on all of the bigger slides."
Damon grinned, "I'm assuming Waterpalooza it is, then?"
"Klaus?" Caroline looked up at him hopefully, and he shrugged.
"I honestly don't care where we go," he grinned, "Perhaps Matt will charm Britney Spears while we're there."
They all laughed and, after paying the bill, got up and left the restaurant. Of course, Matt had gotten Klaus and Caroline to drive him back to his house so that he could get his new car, begging Bonnie to ride with him, since Elena and Caroline were attached at the hip to Damon and Klaus. But, they all agreed to carpool to the water park in "Matt's new ride" to save gas money. Sure, they two supernatural creatures may have had money to burn, but that didn't mean they didn't like to if they didn't have to.
Bonnie sat up front with Matt, and Caroline and Elena sat wedged in the back between Klaus and Damon, all of them listening to Caroline prattle on endlessly about their childhood. It was evident that mentioning Jeremy's eighth birthday had meant describing everyone's eighth birthdays, and then their ninth, and then their tenth; she only stopped when Matt finally pulled into the parking lot of the water park. The girls had taken Klaus' car back to all of their houses to retrieve their bathing suits, and Matt's, and Klaus and Damon had driven to the nearest store to buy their own.
"Honestly," Damon had said to Klaus once they were in the store, away from Caroline's prattling, "I don't know how you do it. Does she ever shut up?"
"The solution is simple, really," Klaus said as they walked, "There are two ways to make Caroline Forbes stop talking; sex, and diamonds. Luckily, I'm in heavy supply of both." He winked and Damon grinned, rolling his eyes.
Now, they were all getting changed and ready to go. Caroline had brought her light neon blue bikini, Elena bringing her black one, and Bonnie her red. Matt had his swim shorts from three summers ago; they were blue and red sportswear that clearly red Mystic Falls Community Pool, on one leg, and Lifeguard on the other. Klaus had a simple dark blue pair, and Damon's were, of course, black. He threw an arm around Elena as they walked up to the ticket booth in the hot Virginia sunlight, grinning at her from behind his sunglasses, "We match."
She giggled and leaned closer to him, and he whispered in her ear, "What do you know? I got to go a day without my shirt on, after all."
She giggled louder, and the others turned to look at them. "What's so funny?" Matt asked.
"Oh, nothing…" Elena muttered, grinning. Caroline was grinning, too, "Elena's giggling because she's happy she gets to see Damon shirtless all day."
Elena blushed and looked down, "Damn vampire hearing…"
"I heard that!" Caroline piped up.
"Well, stop listening, then!" Elena snapped back and Caroline shrugged, grinning, "Fair enough."
They all bought their bracelets and entered the park, looking around at the numerous attractions; there were over a dozen slides of all heights, twists, and turns; a wavepool; bumper boats; a deeper pool with numerous people diving in. Caroline was pulling Klaus and Matt both toward the Rocket Launcher, "Come on; we have to go on it first."
Elena glanced warily at it, "I dunno, Care; we just ate…"
"Don't be such a buzz kill, 'Lena!" Caroline complained, and Elena sighed, "Fine; whatever. But I'm going to pass."
Caroline frowned. "You can't pass! It's the Rocket Launcher, Elena; you have to…"
She rolled her eyes, "Alright! Okay, I'll go…" she grabbed Damon's hand, "But you're going with me."
He grinned, "Fine by me, sweet pea…"
They all approached the huge line of people waiting, and Damon grinned, "This is the advantage of going to amusement parks with vampires…"
He then compelled every single person in line to let them pass, getting them to the front in a matter of minutes. Caroline rushed forward, running up the seemingly endless flight of stairs that led to the top. She was followed closely behind by Klaus, Matt, and Bonnie, but Elena was a bit hesitant. Damon pulled her aside, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."
"No," Elena shook her head, "I've got to; Caroline will never let me live it down if I don't…"
She gave his hand a squeeze and they started up the stairs after their friends. Caroline had reached the top and was already preparing to go down. She grinned when Damon and Elena emerged at the top, "Good luck, slow pokes!"
She then pushed off, squealing at a very high pitch as she descended the nearly 90* drop of the slide. Klaus jumped down after her, and Elena couldn't help thinking that he seemed a bit… odd doing something so casual. Bonnie slid down next, followed closely by Matt, and finally it was Elena's turn. Damon grinned at her, "Come on, kitten."
He took her hand and pulled her over to the slide, sitting down and reaching for her. She still hesitated, and he grinned, "Don't worry; I don't have even the slightest intention of letting you go."
She grinned and shook her head, walking over and allowing him to position her in his lap. Seconds later he pushed off, and there was air and water zooming past their faces at an almost painful fast pace. Elena shrieked in surprise, and Damon laughed when they hit the pool below with a splash, plunging them a few feet below. Damon hadn't lied to her; he was still grasping her waist firmly when they surfaced, Elena gasping for air with her eyes wide. He chuckled and led her to the edge of the pool, where Matt helped her get out. Damon climbed out after her and pulled a hand through his dripping black hair, "Wasn't so bad, was it, sweetheart?"
Elena just shook her head angrily, stalking away from them toward the next slide. Damon snorted out a laugh and jogged after her, the other four following, still laughing.
"I think I should get to decided what we do next, since I was forced into that." Elena said, stopping and turning to stare at the others.
"Okay," Caroline grinned, "What do you want to do, Elena?"
Elena looked around, and grinned when her eyes caught sight of something a few feet away, "Bumper boats."
Caroline frowned, "But it smells like gasoline over there."
"So?" Elena asked, "I nearly drowned doing your stupid slide!"
"Exaggerating…" Damon muttered, and Elena frowned at him. He shrugged innocently, grinning at her. "I think we should do what Elena wants."
Caroline huffed, "Seriously, Elena?"
Elena grinned, "Seriously. Come on," she mimicked Caroline's excitement about the Rocket Launcher, "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
Damon laughed as she snagged his and Bonnie's hands and pulled them along behind her as Caroline had done with Klaus and Matt. Caroline huffed again, but followed after the three of them.
They, once again, compelled their way to the front of the line, getting the last six boats in the turn. Amung them were six other people who had been ahead of them; a fat guy who looked like he was in his forties and had spent too much time at the ice cream bar, a little red haired boy with freckles who was probably eleven, and was grinning deviously in Caroline's direction. There was also a mother with long, straight brown hair who was talking to who must have been her daughter, a blonde fourteen year old who was making eyes at Damon, who looked a bit disturbed by this. The last two were around Caroline, Elena, Matt, and Bonnie's age, but were obviously tourists. The boy was tanned with straight, black hair, and the girl was also tanned with long, straight, bleach blonde hair. When everyone was situated in a boat, the pimply teenage boy running the ride set the timer for fourteen minutes, and pressed a green button, starting the count down. A horn sounded, and their boats all roared to life. Immediately the red haired boy made a b-line for Caroline, slamming her into her corner before she could even get moving. She glared, "Hey!"
He gave a rather annoying "maniacal" laugh before turning around and heading in Bonnie's direction. He jumped in surprise when his boat was rammed from the side by Klaus, who was glaring, "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to be rude to ladies?"
The boy glared, "Shut up, you stupid Brit!"
Klaus blinked a few times in surprise, and Damon could be heard laughing his ass off across the pool, where he was then rammed by the giggling fourteen year old girl. Klaus glared at the boy and, rather talentedly, spun his boat around and rammed into the boy's boat at least fifteen times. He was shaken with a powerful jolt each time, "Hey! Stop it! Stop it…!"
Back across the pool, Damon was trying to get out of the teenager's lane of direction, but she was persistent. He shot Elena, who was laughing as Matt rammed her boat, a pleading glance. Grinning, she put her foot on the gas and slammed into the girl's boat. "Hey!" the girl complained, and Elena's eyes narrowed, "Stop stalking my boyfriend and find a guy your own age, teeny bopper!"
The girl muttered something under her breath and sped away, headed in Matt's direction. Elena rolled her eyes, and then giggled when Damon bumped into her boat.
In the other corner of the pool, Bonnie was in distress; the two tanned tourists had her cornered, and were grinning madly at her. She gasped when they started coming at her at the same time on both sides, jolting her boat a bit too much, "Help!" she cried, and Matt looked up and drove over, ramming roughly into the guy's boat, "Screw off, dude!"
The boy rolled his eyes, "Let's go bug the happy couple instead, Melissa."
"'Kay, Dave!" the girl replied, driving after him toward Damon and Elena.
"Thanks," Bonnie smiled at Matt.
"Don't mention it," he replied, turning in surprise to find the teenage girl had rammed, giggling, into his boat again. He sighed, deciding just to let her have her fun.
Caroline, on the other hand, was in a fierce boat battle with the teenage girl's mother, who had gotten them both stuck in a corner seven minutes ago.
"Move, Lady!" Caroline complained, trying to shove her way out.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetheart…" the woman said, clearly trying her best to move, and failing miserably. Giving up, Caroline sighed and let go of the wheel, leaning back in her seat with her arms across her chest to wait until the time was up. At twelve minutes the pre-buzzer rang to signal them all to park their boats again for the next group of people. Klaus finally stopped harassing the boy, who looked on the verge of puking from being shaken so much, and they both drove off to park their boats. The pimply teenager had to come help the woman get her boat away from Caroline's, and they two went off to park. Bonnie and Matt did so, as well, and so did Damon, Elena, and the two tourists, Dave and Melissa. When the buzzer rang, they all got out of their boats and filed down the ramp. Klaus grinned, "That was more fun than I expected it to be."
Just as he said that, the red headed boy ran past him, a hand clamped over his mouth as he dashed for the bathroom.
"Poor kid…" Elena shook her head.
Klaus frowned, "He called me a stupid Brit; he deserved it! Pompous little brat…"
"Well, I'm glad you had fun," Caroline pouted, "That girl's mother kept me boxed in a corner the entire time!"
Damon and Matt both shuddered at the mention of the pubescent teenage girl, "Can we not mention her, please?" Matt asked. "Yeah," Damon nodded, "I'm with him."
The group then continued on to at least eight more slides before stopping at the ice cream bar sometime in the afternoon. They were all sitting in the shade, and Damon grinned as Elena ate her vanilla soft serve, "You've got a little bit on your nose…" he said, bending down and kissing the tip of her nose, getting rid of the adorable little white spot of ice cream. Elena giggled and moved over to peck him on the cheek. Caroline was picking quietly at her strawberry frozen yogurt, which was confusing them all.
"Why are you suddenly so quiet, Care?" Matt asked, and she looked up in surprise at hearing her name, "What? Oh, it's nothing…"
Klaus frowned in confusion, his grip around her shoulders tightening a bit in concern, "What the matter, Caroline?" he asked, brushing a damp blonde curl away from her face.
"Well," she said, "It's that."
They all followed her pointed plastic spoon to the games area not far from the ice cream bar, where all of the games where you could win prizes were located. No one understood.
"What's the matter with that?" Klaus asked, and Caroline sighed, "The last time I was here was with my dad on my sixteenth birthday. No one has won me anything over there since he… died."
Elena bit her lip and she and Bonnie exchanged knowing glances. Caroline's father had died a few years ago, having been murdered in the hospital with vampire blood in his system, and deciding not to turn. As much as Caroline tried to remain the spunky, energetic girl she had been, she hadn't been exactly the same since. They all thought it was because he had had the chance to live, to stay with her by feeding, but had chosen death instead, making Caroline believe he had picked death over her.
Klaus suddenly stood up. "Come on," he said, "I'm going to win you a giant teddy bear to take to Italy with us."
Caroline cracked a smile, "Really?"
"Truly," he said, taking her hand and making her stand and follow him in the direction of the games.
Matt stood, too. "Come on, Bon Bon; I'll win you a monkey over at the basketball toss."
Bonnie giggled, rolling her eyes at the ridiculous childhood nickname, and followed after Matt.
Damon sighed, glancing at Elena, "Do you want me to win you a stuffed pink dolphin?"
She giggled, "Would you?"
He stood and offered her his hand, "Only for you."
She beamed and took his hand, following him over to the ring toss which did, in fact, have stuffed pink dolphins as prizes.
"How about a pretty pink dolphin for a pretty little lady, huh?" the guy who was running the game asked, grinning.
Damon dug around in his pants pocket, slapping a five dollar bill on the counter. The man put twelve rings in front of Damon, "Twelve gets the giant dolphin, six gets the medium, and three gets the small. Let's see if he can gettum' all!"
Elena giggled, clinging to Damon's bare arm as he grabbed one of the rings, tossing it with a simple flick of his wrist.
"Perfect!"
The man then followed in pursuit with twelve, growing more and more baffled and stunned with every perfect toss, calls of "Bingo!" "Bull's-eye!" "Not a miss!" and, as he grew more stunned, simply a remark of, "Perfect… again?"
Finally, when the last ring looped around its peg, Damon grinned, "How about that big pretty pink dolphin for my pretty little lady?"
A bit dazed, the man unhooked the dolphin and passed it to Damon, who held it out for Elena. She grabbed it, a bit taken aback by its true size, "This is insane…" she giggled.
"Yes, it is…" the man behind the counter muttered, trying to find some evidence that Damon had cheated; there obviously was none.
Damon wrapped his arm around Elena again and led her over to where Klaus was tossing darts at balloons, winning Caroline a giant blue polka dotted teddy bear that she had already named "Klausberry". Matt and Bonnie appeared a few moments later, Bonnie carrying a stuffed monkey under one arm. She blinked a few times at the size of Elena's dolphin, "Wow. That thing's… big."
Elena giggled, "It is, isn't it?"
Caroline glanced at the setting sun, her eyes bright, "Come on, guys! We have to actually go swimming before the park closes!"
She led them over to the pool, which was nearly abandoned now. It was all too easy for the vampires of the group to compel everyone who was still there to leave, so they had the large pool, with its waterfall, diving board and waterslide all to themselves. Damon was the first in, doing a cannon ball that probably could have dented the pool more than an actual canon, and Elena followed after him in an elegant swan dive. Caroline and Klaus decided to come in using the waterslide, and Bonnie and Matt, having been lifeguards, opted for the diving board. Once in the pool, each went off to do their own thing; Bonnie and Matt swimming laps, Klaus and Caroline giggling and splashing each other, and Damon and Elena…
"Damon?" Elena called in confusion, searching around for him. She had seen him go under, but he hadn't come back up yet. "Damon…?"
She gasped in surprise when the water parted behind her and a strong pair of arms wove themselves around her waist. She giggled when Damon pressed a kiss to her wet, bare shoulder. "Sorry; didn't mean to scare you."
"I should have known…" she giggled, kissing his lips, which were a tad on the cold side from the water. She sighed in contentment when he held onto her, allowing her to lounge on his stomach while he swam backwards in the water. The water itself was glistening, and Elena smiled at the way Damon's wet black hair shimmered in the light. "You know," she said, smiling, "Today turned out even better than I had hoped it would."
"It did, didn't it?" he grinned. "Creepy teenage girls aside, of course."
Elena laughed, "That little flousy was trying to steal you from me!"
"And she was trying to steal Matt from Taylor Swift!" Damon said in mock shock, and Elena laughed so hard the she rolled off of him, slipping in the water. Damon dove under and pulled her back up to the surface, where she coughed a bit from having swallowed water while she laughed. "Thanks…"
"Don't mention it." He said, holding her close around the waist while they both treaded water. As the sun disappeared behind a line of trees, Damon bent down and took Elena's lips in his own, kissing her softly, not caring that their friends were watching. That is, Matt and Bonnie were watching; Klaus and Caroline were in a similar state, only they were more so on the verge of eating each other rather than the romantic little moment Damon and Elena were sharing.
"Attention all visitors," a woman's voice echoed through the park, "Waterpalooza will be closing for the night in fifteen minutes. We ask everyone be outside the gates by this time. Thank you, and come back again soon!"
Damon sighed. "Fun's over," he mumbled into Elena's shoulder, and the six of them swam over to the edge of the pool.
Sorry that this chapter was so long; it started off as a simple trip to a water park, and ended up being twelve pages long on Microsoft Word… the creative flow just didn't want to stop! Hehehe; I hope you enjoyed! Remember to review!-Charlie'sLostVampire