With Elena asleep in his arms, Damon feels like he's died and gone to heaven. Her skin is so soft and her hair shimmers under the glow of the moonlight. He cannot remember the last time he felt so content. He brushes his lips across her hair and then glances outside at the Pacific ocean. The full moon illuminates a swatch of the sea. It glistens as the waves slowly lap against the shore. Sequin-silver stars like the scattered embers of a dying fire wink down at him, illuminating the otherwise inky curtain of sky. It dawns on him that he's never taken the time to appreciate such simple beauty, not since they parted anyway.
He remembers being angry and bitter after she left with Enzo, in the ensuing three years, he kept his wedding ring on for a very long time. He didn't date, Vanessa would accompany him to faculty parties and dinners but it was as friends, nothing more. It was only after he caught a glimpse of Elena and Enzo in a romantic looking pose on the cover of People Magazine at the airport, that he finally asked Vanessa out. One thing led to another and looking back on it now, he can't believe how stupid he was, rationalizing why she would be a good match for him. With the benefit of hindsight, it was an abysmal attempt to move on from Elena.
He snaps out of his reverie when the sounds of the sea pull him back. Throwing his head back, Damon shifts just slightly so as not to disturb the goddess in his arms. Reaching for his glass, he swallows what's left and then settles back, hugging her impossibly tighter as if she could be swept from his arms in a millisecond. No, he's never ever going to be such an incredible fool ever again. Whatever it takes to earn back her trust, he will do it, even if that means relocating.
After pressing one more kiss to her head, he closes his eyes and leans back. He releases a barely audible chuckle when he remembers his meeting with the self professed, intrepid reporter, Atticus Shane. Damon refused to take no for an answer, instead he barged right into the guy's office to tell him what his terms were.
"Um... Professor, how can I help you?" Shane asks carefully, ever so slowly putting a little distance between himself and Damon. He wants to be out of reach if the guy tries to land a punch.
"I have a story to tell and you can have the exclusive. However you will adhere to my conditions, meaning that you won't cross any lines nor will you write anything that I don't approve beforehand."
Shane breathes a sigh of relief when he comes to conclusion that he is in no immediate physical danger from Damon Salvatore. "How do I know it's a fair offer for me? You have more or less admitted here that there is something to be found. So if I dig deep enough... " Although he already knows he's going to accept the professor's conditions, he wants to see how far he can push him.
"... You will find nothing. There's zero evidence that you can get your hands on. Too few people are privy to what I'm about to tell you, that is unless you don't agree to my terms."
"Alright. What is this bombshell story you're alluding to?"
"Consider yourself warned. If you try to cross me, I will end you. No one will hire you by the time I'm through with you. In case that's not clear enough for you, if you double cross me, you can say goodbye to your career. for.. ever.."
Shane gives him a tight smile. He has no idea how he could actually destroy him but he can tell by the determined look in his eyes that this man means every word. Something tells him that Dr. Salvatore would either make a fierce friend or a dangerous enemy. "I'm aware. Now why don't you tell me what all of this is about.."
Damon's pretty sure he now has the reporter's full attention. "What if I told you... that I'm married to Elena Gilbert?"
Damon feels like he's walked through a minefield, every muscle in his body aching, by the time he wakes up. His entire body aches. It takes a minute to realize that he's at Elena's summerhouse. Did he stay here all night? He tries to move his hand to see what time is it, only to find that he can't. What the f**k?
And there she is, lying on his shoulder, her arm draped across his chest, her hair tickling his skin. Her soft puffs of breath against his nipple awaken other parts of his anatomy but he quickly controls himself. Dropping his eyes to her beautiful form, He stares at her in awe. Is this even real?
He remembers a hundred times when they woke up together just like this and yet this time feels different. As carefully as he possibly can, he tries to stretch out his limbs but Elena tightens her grip on him and he grins. To hell with it, who needs limbs anyway?
Elena slowly comes to her senses. She cracks one eye open to assure herself that it's really Damon's body serving as her pillow. She loves his masculine scent.
"Morning," he whispers, giving her a beaming smile.
Elena has to open both eyes to see that it's not another dream. "Morning," she responds, stretching her back like a cat. She sits giving her husband a look considering the position they slept in. "You must feel stiff."
Damon finally stretches his now numb limbs. "Yeah, but it was totally worth it," he teases with a wink.
Elena giggles and then stands up to free him. "Come on, lets get some breakfast before Enzo and Roger show up."
She offers her hand to help him stand up. He stretches a little himself. Even afterwards, it's not easy to make his stiff body budge but soon they're on the way back to the main house. They settle in the kitchen with a big mug of coffee and a bowl of cereal for each. They eat in silence occasionally giving each other glances and smiles.
Enzo arrives at nine and Roger's on his tail not even a half hour later. Enzo does the introductions when he lets him in. "Damon, this is Roger, Elena's publicist, Roger, Damon, Elena's husband."
Roger looks at him like he has two heads weighing him carefully. Damon can see that the man isn't quite sure how to approach him. He's used to dealing with show biz people but it's clear from the way he's looking at Damon that he considers him an anathema.
Funny, just a few weeks ago Damon considered himself in a different category as well.
Enzo pats Roger's shoulder. "It's alright Roger, Damon is an art history professor. Although it's new, he's quite normal really."
Damon can't help but chuckle, more than grateful for Enzo's new attitude towards him. It's pretty hot outside, so they settle in the living room again, with cold drinks.
"Ehm," Roger starts. "Can we just talk about the announcement now?" He looks at Elena, then his eyes slip to Damon. "You, Professor, made quite a mess of things yesterday, now we need to fix it."
Here comes the fun.
By the time noon rolls around, they're able to come up with a plausible sounding press release. Damon somehow manages to persuade Roger that giving Shane one final interview is a good idea. Elena and Enzo sit back and watch because it isn't often that Roger finds himself at a disadvantage while sparring with the professor.
They start talking about a possible photo shoot at Elena's house when the doorbell rings, signaling another intruder. Enzo rolls his eyes as he prepares to deal which whoever barges through the door. Surprising even himself, Enzo is a bit relieved to find Kol instead of another journalist or a throng of paparazzi. He stands back and out of the way when Kol storms into the living room, pointing his finger accusingly at Damon.
"You! I can't believe you played such a charade. You came into my house, enjoyed my hospitality and still you didn't utter a peep. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because, KoI, at the point, no one except Elena, Enzo and I knew. I swear to you that I had no plans to tell anyone, I wouldn't... I couldn't... not before I discussed it with Elena."
Not giving any quarter, Kol goes toe to toe with him. "Don't give me that bullshit excuse. A mere one day later, you spilled everything to Shane. Don't you dare try to tell me that you weren't already planning to tell the world."
"I know it sounds suspicious but I truly didn't plan it, it just happened. You have my word..."
"What are you two going on about?" Elena asks, seeing this argument could go for awhile.
"Damon stopped by the set on Wednesday to ask a favor. As soon as I was done shooting, we went to my place for Chinese cuisine and a movie. Before you ask, we watched "Tomorrow"" he says, taking his gaze off of Damon to focus in on Elena. "We were together the whole fucking evening and he simply forgets to mention that he's your husband?"
All pairs of eyes turn to Damon. Elena is stunned. Did he really... spend the evening with Kol to watch her Golden Globe winning movie? It can't be.
"DId you really...," she starts but doesn't need to finish.
"Yes," Damon interrupts her, leaving her speechless.
Kol only now notices Roger. "Hey man, I didn't even see you." He finally backs down, giving Damon a wink and then shakes Roger's hand. "I gather you're here to save their asses?"
With Kol present things get much lighter and funnier, and they soon move on to topics other than their marriage, however Damon's not sure what Elena thinks of everything, so he follows her onto the terrace.
Damon stands behind the sliding glass doors, his arms crossed over his chest and stares at the beauty in front of him. She's standing on the deck, her hands clutching the railing. Since he can only stare at her back, he assumes she's looking at the majestic Pacific in front of her. The water is such a gorgeous blue. He could listen to the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore for hours. It's so peaceful. Feeling an over powering need to be next to her, he slides open the door and steps beside her.
He kisses the top of her head and wraps his arms around her, her back to his front. "Are you angry?" he asks softly, dropping another kiss to her temple.
"And why would I be angry?" she answers with a question of her own while turning around in his comforting embrace. When he drops his eyes, he finds himself falling through the looking glass all over again. Her eyes are as rich as the earth's soil, stained with the color of hot chocolate on a cold winter night that wraps around, engulfing him in their warmth and making him feel at home. Her voice pulls him from his reverie.
"Damon?"
Breathing her in, he brushes a kiss to her forehead before answering, "Well... because, Elena, I didn't tell you. I used one of your friends to fill in the gaps... regarding my deplorable lack of knowledge about your career."
"I wouldn't put it like that... You asked one of my friends to help you out. You actually spent the evening with him although we both know Kol is probably the last person you'd willingly choose to spend an evening with. You sacrificed your precious time to acquaint yourself with my movie, I don't really think that I have a reason to be angry at you."
To his greatest relief, she sounds impressed rather than angry.
"But," she continues, "why did Kol have to tell me, why didn't you?"
Damon pauses for just a moment. He embraces her a little more firmly and lays his chin on her shoulder to stare out at the ocean just like she is. "Because, Elena, I feel kind of embarrassed that I didn't know anything about the movie. It was... incredible. You were incredible. Kol was right. You should have won the Oscar."
Elena relaxes into his embrace. "Thank you..."
"No, I thank you. For giving me, for giving us another chance."
"Are you planning second honeymoon?"
"It's entirely possible, Jenna. Of course, if we do, we'll find somewhere quiet. And to be quite honest, it doesn't matter how much we both love what we do and that our careers draw attention but we do get tired of constantly being in the public eye," Damon shares, handling their joint television interview like a pro.
"Elena, will it be harder now to pursue new projects given that often being on location causes long separations? Many marriages have crashed and burned under lesser things."
"We're not the first nor will we be the last couple that have separate careers. Somehow Damon and I will figure it out."
The conversation continues, Enzo nodding to himself as they watch the airing of the Jenna Sommers Show that Damon and Elena filmed yesterday. "He's good," he comments to Elena. "Are you sure you didn't miss your calling Damon? It seems pretty obvious to me that you would make a fine actor."
Damon, descending the stairs with his bags chuckles. "You would know. You're the guy responsible for Elena Gilbert's stellar career."
Elena stands up accepting his embrace when he reaches her. The last few days has been crazy busy, Damon moved into their house and together they worked on interviews and press releases, eventually agreeing to do the TV show, which Roger was greatly appreciative of.
Now it's time for Damon to get back to NOLA and Elena has three weeks of shooting ahead in a smaller role she accepted some time back. Things aren't completely settled yet but Damon anticipates that they'll get better and not worse. There are some decisions such as their future living arrangements for example, that still need to be made but for now, they're going to take it one day at a time. As much as it hurts him inside to have to say goodbye, Damon's obligations at the university can't wait any longer.
"I'll miss you," he whispers into Elena's ear.
"I'll miss you too," she gives him a small smile, but he can see there's sadness in her eyes.
"I'll be back soon," he offers. "And you, I hope, maybe you could come to see me too? This isn't forever, you know? We'll figure it out."
"I know," Elena smiles and it warms his heart that she really means it. There's no fear there anymore because she knows that he isn't going to have a change of heart.
It's really incredible how much can be accomplished in just a few short days when they put their minds to it.
Enzo and Elena take him to the airport and soon he'll have to board his plane. He's certain he'll be fighting the urge to call her every few minutes. Because of Elena's appointments, Enzo goes through the drop off zone rather than park, the constraints of time don't allow for them to go inside with him. They all step out of the car, Enzo pulls his luggage out of the trunk while Damon wraps his arms around his wife. He swoops down on her like a vampire, his mouth claiming hers in a kiss that sears her insides and leaves her gasping for air. They pull apart at the sound of car horns and a few whistles. Elena's lips are quivering and her heart is slamming against her chest.
"Wow!"
"I love you, Elena." Needing to touch her one more time, he brushes his lips against her forehead, picks up his bags and reluctantly walks into the terminal. After checking in his luggage, he gets a coffee and heads for the correct gate. He will have to face Vanessa again and figure out what he's going to do about his work so his marriage won't suffer once again. He will have to face wrath of his mother and sister, that will be fun.
But he does know one thing, it's going to be a new journey for them. With Elena at his side he's not worried in the least.
He's excited.
Eva and I want to thank you all so very much. I know I say it repeatedly but it's the truth, you're all the best of the DE fandom. .
Thank you Eva. I love you dearly.
Chapter title: '(Just Like) Starting Over' by John Lennon.
My dear, dear friend Florencia7 has started a new story, it's amazing. Her Damon and Elena are simply magic, the atmosphere she creates is breathtaking, there's no other word to describe it. It's called 'A Thousand Miles & A Hundred Years.'. I'm sure she'd love if some of you would take a look.
'Welcome to the Jungle' will update next. I'm sorry, I just didn't get to it yesterday.
I hope you all have a safe and fantastic day and a wonderful rest of your week. Thank you all again.