Cannonball

Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries.

So this is possibly the speediest update that I have ever done! And I know I told some of you replying to reviews that the next chap wouldn't be up till later this week, but I am currently having the most boring evening in all of my LIFE, so I thought I may as well get it posted now since it's finished!

Hope you all enjoy it :) feel free to drop a review to help relieve me of this insanely dull night!

October 8th 2012.

Monday 8:15am.

Mystic Falls.

"You nervous?" Jeremy asks me as I pour myself a cup of coffee, surprised to see him even up and awake before me. Usually I'm the one banging on his door, shouting at him to get out of bed because we need to leave for school in three minutes.

"Why would I be nervous?" I question innocently, even though I know exactly why he is asking.

I am nervous. Of course I am. I do not want to face everyone, their questions, their pleasentries. Them all thinking of me as hero when I'm not.

"Elena," Jeremy smiles at me. "Come on."

"Fine," I sigh. "I'm a little nervous. I just don't want attention that's all."

"You should be basking in it! Make the most of it while people are still interested I say, it's not every day you save someones life." he smirks and I try and force a smile.

Knowing that I haven't saved a life, not really.

"That's what I keep saying!" My Dad walks into the kitchen with a tired smile on his face.

"Morning Daddy." I smile at him as I take a seat at the breakfast bar. "You ok? You look tired?"

"That's because I haven't slept honey." he smiles softly at me and it's then that I notice the folder in his hands.

"You been working on that Salvatore case?" Jeremy asks curiously as he takes a spoonful of his cereal and my ears immediately perk up at the mention of that surname.

"What Salvatore case?" I ask, trying not to look and sound as curious as I feel.

"About the tunnels." Jeremy tells me as if I should already know but I just look at him confused.

"What tunnels?" I ask for a second before I realize. "Wait, you mean the ones by The Grill?" my heart starts to pound against my chest and my palms grow sweaty as my Dad nods his head. "What do the Salvatore's have to do with those?" Surely they couldn't know that Damon was there? I haven't said anything to anyone, and I'm sure Damon wouldn't have either. So how could they know?

Oh God, how the hell am I supposed to explain this? I feel my palms start to sweat and I'm sure my life is about to end before my very eyes.

My Dad however, doesn't seem to notice my silent mini breakdown right in front of him, and continues as I wait with baited breath.

"Well the Salvatore's were the ones who were supposed to close those tunnels." My Dad explains and a feeling of relief briefly washes over me as I realize that this isn't about Damon saving me.

Thank God.

I calm down immediately as my Dad continues "I'm talking a good fifteen years ago, Salvatore Inc were supposed to have buried them in, seal them off so they were no longer accessible."

"And they didn't?" I don't even know why I ask, of course they didn't, that's how I got out of there. Plus, it now makes sense of how Damon knew a way to get me out.

"Nope, but they were paid for it and with a lot of money too, ergo, I can press charges for fraud." he explains. "It's not quite what I was after to stop that family once and for all, but it'll do for now." he shakes his head in annoyance. "This is just another example of how they think they can get away with anything they want, well not anymore! It's all starting to build up now, add up. One petty crime here and there is easy to get away with, a few dozen plus a pretty hefty fraud charge all loaded together? Not so much."

I frown. "But those tunnels saved my life. If they were sealed in then..." I gulp slightly as I think of what could have happened to me that day. "I probably wouldn't have been able to get out, I would have been trapped in there. Those tunnels saved me."

My Dad smiles sadly at me and walks around to face me, placing a hand on my cheek. "I am so grateful for that darling, believe me, but Giuseppe Salvatore broke the law, and he needs to be punished for it." He kisses me on the cheek and picks up his folder. "You kids need a ride to school?"

"No, I'm good." I shake my head. "I have my car."

"Ok, well I have to get back to the station." he kisses me on the cheek again and smiles softly at me. "Have a good day back at school, and remember, you have nothing to be nervous about, Elena, you're a hero." he grins at me proudly and I try to hide my grimace.

"Have a good day son." he pats Jeremy on the shoulder as he walks past him and leaves.

I sigh and watch silently as Jeremy finishes off his breakfast, making small talk every now and then before eventually heading back upstairs to pack his bag and I immediately use this opportunity to pull out my cellphone.

We need to meet soon, I have
something important I need to
tell you.

I send the text to Damon before I change my mind, knowing that the least I owe him for what happened is to give him a little warning about my Father's intentions to press charges against his family.

I frown as I look down at my cellphone reading the text I have just received from Elena, wondering what the hell this could be about.

She has something important to tell me?

Like what?

"Why don't we blow off school again today? I have a treat for you." Klaus smirks as he pulls out a small bag of marijuana from his pocket. "What do ya say?"

If Elena hadn't of sent that text message I would have agreed it would have been a great idea to bail out of school and to laze around stoned all day.

But now, I need to know what Elena has to tell me as soon as possible and I can't do that while I'm here and she's at school today.

"I've missed enough school as it is, Klaus." I shake my head. "My Dad is getting on my back about it."

"Yes but you had a valid reason then, you hurt your foot but it's getting better, right?" I nod my head and he continues "Ok well he doesn't know that yet so just tell Giuseppe that your foot is still bothering you."

"I can't, he'll know." I lie as I move around and pick up my wallet, slipping it into my jeans pocket.

My foot is much better now, and although it still hurts, I can put some weight on it now without it feeling like it's about to shatter into a million pieces.

"Stop being such a pussy," Klaus mocks me. "I'm bored of school and I know that you are too! Come on mate!"

I watch as he starts to roll a joint at my table, taking a seat and I sigh loudly. "Fine, whatever." I huff and take off my jacket. "But I will direct Giuseppe's wrath onto you if he's pissed when he finds out about this."

Klaus chuckles and lights up. "He won't find out, but if he does then I'll accept that." he hands me the joint and I take a seat before inhaling on it beside him, enjoying the feeling of the smoke creeping down my lungs.

Whatever the hell Elena deems so important to tell me can surely wait a few more hours.

So school so far has been just as terrible as I expected it would be.

Not only am I the number one subject on the topic list today, the principle decided to hold a special assembly in the gym in my honor to say thank you.

Apparently I am one of the rare selfless brave folks in this cruel selfish world.

As I stood there, in front of my entire junior class and half of the teachers, I wanted to scream that it wasn't me, that I didn't save Matt's life, that I'm not a hero.

That damn word will probably end up haunting me forever and it's all Damon's fault.

Now if only he'd actually reply to my text messages and I could actually tell him some information that would help him, my way of saying thank you of course, as well as trying to minimize the guilt that I am feeling from stealing all of his credit.

Not that that's my fault either, no, it's Damon's fault too for making me keep what he did a secret from everyone.

Everything is Damon Salvatore's fault. He is a pain in my ass!

"Hey Elena!" I turn around in the hallway at the end of the day to see Mason Lockwood jogging towards me with a smile on his face.

"Hi Mason..."

He stops in front of me and looks around for a moment before turning his attention back on me. "I'm glad I caught you, I've been meaning to talk to you all day." he smiles sweetly at me, his brown curls hanging on top of his head "I just wanted to see how you were? After the fire and everything?"

"I'm fine." I force a smile. "Just wish that it would be forgotten about, you know?"

He chuckles a little and nods his head. "Yeah I bet you're the main attraction of Mystic Falls right about now."

"Oh yeah." I sigh with a small smile. "All eyes on me." I mutter bitterly.

"Well not gonna lie, I'm kinda glad you've taken some of the attention off of me." he smiles slightly and I look at him curiously and he explains himself. "People are still going on and on about that damn sex tape, so you've took some of the heat away from me so thanks!."

I cringe immediately as a sickly feeling hits the pit of my stomach. "Yeah...well...you're welcome." I force another smile and he lets out a small laugh. "How are you anyway? I never got the chance to ask you if you were ok after everything..." I trail awkwardly, knowing that he has absolutely no idea that I'm more involved in this than he would ever know.

"Katherine and I are kind of taking some needed time apart." he smiles sadly and I send him a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry Mase."

"Don't be," he smirks slightly. "I know you don't like her."

"It's not that I don't like her..." I trail with a smirk of my own.

"Anyway," he goes to move the conversation along. "You want a ride home?"

I look at him surprised, wondering where this offer has come from. "Thanks but I've actually got a group project I have to work on..." I look down at my watch. "Which I am also late for." I cringe slightly. "I better go."

"Oh, ok." he looks slightly disappointed and I don't miss the look on his face. "Maybe another day then? We could always hang out or something? Grab a burger, play some pool?"

I do my best to hide my frown and force a smile. "Sure."

"Great." he smiles widely at me before heading off along the corridor. "I'll see you later!" he waves and I wave back before frowning once he turns the corner.

That was weird.

I shake it off as nothing, knowing that Mason isn't the only person who has come up to me today randomly to start a conversation, apparently this whole new hero status has boosted my popularity with my fellow Mystic Falls High School peers.

Great.

I head towards the library quickly, knowing that I'm late for my group meeting and therefore giving Stefan another reason to scold me and irritate the hell out of me, however when I get to the library I am surprised to see him and our other partner Felix stood outside.

"The library is closing today for maintenance." Stefan informs me the second I'm in hearing distance, his usual cold tone to his voice whenever he is addressing me dripping from his lips. "So we'll have to go somewhere else to work."

"Ok..." I wait for him to continue but it seems like nobody wants to speak. "Any idea where?"

"Well I'd have suggested my house but my Dad has a no Gilbert rule." Stefan smirks slightly at me and I glare back.

"Same back with the Salvatore's." I tell him coldly, watching as his smirk fades slightly. "Felix?"

"Huh?" he looks at us confused, seemingly in a world of his own.

"Any ideas of where we could go? Is your house available?" Stefan asks him impatiently, talking to him as if he's stupid. "Anyone in there?" he taps Felix's head condescendingly.

"Oh, no." he answers with a frown and we fall into an awkward silence.

"Why don't we just blow this thing off and meet up another time?" I suggest after a few more moments of silence.

"No." Stefan answers back immediately and I swear he is just saying it to disagree with me. "We already missed meetings last week because someone didn't show up to school."

"Oh well excuse me for almost dying!" I hiss at him coldly.

Stefan scoffs. "Oh please, you're absolutely loving this new attention you have from everyone on you! You Gilbert's are all the same, always like to play the hero!"

"You don't know anything!"

"I know enough!" he barks back and I freeze.

He couldn't know, could he?

No, there is no way Damon would tell Stefan about what really happened that night. If he told Stefan about the true events of how Matt and I got out of the fire, then he'd have to explain why and Damon won't even explain that to me.

"I have an idea." Stefan sighs before pulling out a set of keys from his pocket. "You got your car?" I nod my head. "Ok, well follow me." he walks off towards the parking lot without another word and I glance at Felix who just shrugs and follows him.

"Asshole." I mutter under my breath as I walk towards my own car before following Stefan in his, who luckily for me, has took Felix with him.

I do not want to deal with an awkward car ride as well!

We're only in the car for about five minutes and I immediately cringe and my heart starts to pound hard against my chest as we pull up outside a very recognizable building.

Damon's apartment.

After spending the morning lazing around my place with Klaus, we decided to make the most out of our day off and head out for some fun.

We ended up in some guy's house who we know through my Uncle Zach.

His name is Vaughn and he's some guy from Scotland who also happens to my Zach's biggest client, personally, I think he's a bit of a douche, he's a bit older than us and likes to show it, but Klaus likes him, and he always has free booze and drugs on hand round his place so I don't complain.

At least not to his face.

I take a sip from my beer from my place on the couch, a cigarette in my other hand and watch the front door opening, a familiar dark blonde haired girl walks inside, a frown on her face as she notices all the other people in her home.

Her eyes scan the room before landing on me, and soon a small smirk falls to her lips. "Damon Salvatore." she strides towards me, dropping her bag on the floor and taking off her coat and tossing it somewhere to the side. "Long time no see sweetheart."

"It's been a while, Andie." I grin as she takes a seat beside me, the side of her body pressing against mine.

"Where you been hiding, handsome?" she asks curiously, a flirtatious smile playing on her lips.

"Around." I answer while putting my fag out in the tray beside me.

"Well...I've missed you." her hand lands on my thigh discreetly and I raise my eyebrows at her.

Andie is Vaughn's girlfriend, and I use the term girlfriend very loosely because I'm not quite sure how in the hell their relationship actually works.

We all, bar Andie, know that Vaughn cheats on her with almost anything in a skirt, and we all know, bar Vaughn, that Andie's cheating tally isn't all that far behind his.

I know this first hand.

"Have you not missed me?" her hand runs up my thigh and I shrug, taking a mouthful of my beer.

"Maybe." I answer with a half smirk, knowing that it's a lie.

Have I missed Andie Starr? No. Not really.

Not at all, actually.

She's good in bed, yes, and she is not awful company to be around, hell she sure has more of a personality than her boyfriend that's for sure.

"How about we get out of here now before Vaughn sees that I'm back? You can sell me some of those pretty little pills of yours and we can have some real fun." she propositions me, her tone playful yet seductive and I'm briefly reminded of why I was so attracted to her in the first place.

I think about her offer, knowing that I haven't actually had sex in a good few weeks, and that's a record for me.

In fact, except for that time with Sage, which I'm not even going to count since we didn't exactly finish, I haven't had sex with anyone since the last time I slept with Elena.

"The pills part, sure." I make a move and stand up. "The fun part, we'll have to see." I wink at her for good measure and hold out my hand, watching as she smiles almost devilishly at me before taking it and I pull her outside, knowing I probably shouldn't drive with being as intoxicated as I am but I feel ok in the grand scheme of things so take the risk.

We make the drive back to my place and I lead the way as she trails behind me, an eager smile on her face and I still contemplate on actually taking her up on her offer.

It has been a while, and Andie is good in the sack.

I just need to push Elena fucking Gilbert out of my mind.

God that girl is a pain in the ass.

I go to put the key in the door but frown when I see that it's already unlocked, I slowly open the door but any warning signs quickly escape me as I see Stefan walking out of the bathroom and into the main room.

"Baby bro, what a surprise!" I smirk at him as I step further into the apartment but freeze when I turn my head to the side to see Elena and some other punk sat down at my dining table, a load of textbooks and papers scattered around them.

Elena looks at me with wide eyes for a moment before her eyes flicker behind me and I inwardly cringe when I feel Andie's hands press against my arm and back as she comes in behind me. Elena's face immediately turns into a scowl and I gulp slightly before turning back to Stefan and plastering my smirk back on.

"Aww, baby bro having a study group session? Sweet." I tease him, noticing that my words a little slurred and watch with a smirk as he glares at me.

"We had nowhere else to go."

"So you thought you'd come here?" I ask amused.

"Well I couldn't go home with her could I." Stefan snarks coldly and points to Elena who's scowl only deepens.

I freeze slightly and let out a muffled agreement noise before grabbing Andie's hand and leading her towards my bedroom.

Damn it Elena!

I immediately walk towards my drawers and shuffle through my clothes before pulling out a wooden box, unlocking it quickly and then pulling out a see through packet with pills inside.

Andie smirks and struts towards me and I watch as she takes the packet from my hand and places them on top of the cabinet. "Play first." she goes to take off her shirt but I immediately put my hands on top of hers to stop her. "What's wrong?"

"Not today, Andie."

She looks surprised. "What?"

"You wanted some pills, I'll sell you some pills. Nothing else."

"Are you serious?!" she actually looks offended.

"Deadly." I tell her, my voice stern and cold.

She blinks a few times before sending me a glare and digs her hands into her jeans pocket, pulling out some notes and throwing them at me before picking up the pills and storming out, making sure to slam the door behind her.

I roll my eyes at the dramatics of it all before locking back up my box and placing it back into my drawer, walking back out of my bedroom to be greeted by the curious stares from Stefan and the other guy.

Elena's eyes however are completely glued to her book below her.

"Ok, time's up, off you all go." I walk towards the fridge and pull out a bottle of beer, unscrewing the cap and taking a swig.

Stefan looks up at me with a frown. "We're not finished."

"I don't care." I snarl at him coldly.

We have a stare off for a few moments, Stefan not willing to back down and I sure as hell am not.

But at the end of the day, it's my apartment and he came here without my permission anyway.

"Go. I've got plans."

Stefan huffs and gathers up his things and I watch as the other guy awkwardly shoves books into his bag before practically running out of my apartment.

Not that I blame him, I can be pretty scary when I want to be. Hell, I take pride in it!

I glance at Elena, who is refuses to look at me as she collects her things together. Stefan stands up and sends me another glare. "See you later then, asshole." he mutters before leaving without as much as another word and I'm grateful that he doesn't hang around because it gives me the opportunity to block Elena in when she goes for the door, she almost walks into me and I watch as she lets out a small annoyed grunt as she finally looks up at me, her chocolate brown eyes full of annoyance.

"Where are you going?" I stand in her way, my chest almost pressed against her own.

"Maybe you have amnesia, but you just told us all to leave not even three minutes ago." she snipes at me, her voice cold and angry.

"Well maybe you have amnesia because you text me saying we needed to talk earlier." I raise my eyebrow at her.

"Well I've changed my mind." she tries to walk past me but I side step her back in front of her.

"You said it was important." I scoff. "Surely you haven't just changed your mind." I roll my eyes at her.

"Well I have." she tells me stubbornly.

"What's this about, really?" I ask amused before a though crosses my mind. "Are you jealous?"

"Jealous?" She looks at me incredulously. "Jealous of what, exactly?"

"Who and of Andie, don't think I missed the way you looked at her when we walked in."

"And don't think that I missed the way she stormed out of here not even five minutes later." she smirks at me. "What's wrong Salvatore? You not on top of your game tonight?"

"I'll have you know, Elena, that I rejected her." I tell her pointedly.

"Right." she scoffs amused.

"I did!"

"Ahuh." she rolls her eyes and goes to push past me again but this time I grab her arm tightly.

"Elena." I say her name seriously. "Tell me whatever you wanted to say, I want to know."

She stays silent for a moment before sighing and dropping her bag to the floor and I do my best to hide my smirk, knowing that it'll only piss her off again.

"I really shouldn't tell you."

I look at her intrigued. "Why not?"

"Because I would be betraying my Dad if I did so..." she looks guilty.

"So then why were you going to tell me then?" I ask surprised.

"You know why." she looks up at me, her stare intense and I gulp slightly under her gaze. "And it's about what happened last week."

"The fire?" I ask surprised.

"Yeah." she bites on her bottom lip nervously. "My Dad is building up a case against your father, he's going to arrest him on fraud charges. Apparently those tunnels are illegal and should have been buried in years ago and that it was your Dad's company who were supposed to do it." she explains.

I look at her curiously. "Why are you telling me this, Elena?"

"I just thought you could use the warning...I don't know, tell your Dad to find a good lawyer or something? I figured since it was those tunnels that you used to save my life, that it was the least I could do to tell you what my Dad is planning because of that."

I smile slightly. "Well, thanks for telling me and everything, but I already knew."

Her head snaps to face me surprised. "What?"

"I found out days ago, apparently these sort of things can't be kept a secret in this town. My Dad knows about it too, has a whole legal team behind him already."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asks with a frown.

"Why would I?"

She gawps at me in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

I shrug casually. "My family affairs don't have anything to do with you, Elena."

"Right." she lets out a dry cold laugh. "Because I'm a Gilbert, right?" I send her another casual shrug and nod my head and the look of anger just increases on her face. "And there was me, despite my family name, actually willing to help you out even though you're a Salvatore! God I am such an idiot! And you are such an asshole."

"Why are you so angry?" I ask her confused, not sure if it's my intoxicated brain that is making me so stumped at to why she seems so pissed off right now.

"Are you kidding me?" She looks astonished.

"No. Why would I be kidding? Are you kidding?" I look at her bemused.

"God, why do I even bother!" she picks up her bag and turns to leave. "I was trying to do you a favor!"

"I thanked you!" I look at her in disbelief. "It's not my fault that I already knew about it! You're overreacting, Elena, and you know it!"

"I'm not mad about you not telling me! I'm mad about you not telling me because of who I am! I thought you knew better..." she trails off almost sadly and a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach creeps up on me and I suddenly feel sick. "I thought you...it was different with us...I..." she trails in a stutter and suddenly she doesn't look like that confident Elena Gilbert that I know anymore.

I look at her unsure and she just shakes her head. "You know what, never mind. This was a mistake, it was all a mistake!" she goes to leave and this time I don't stop her.

And that's when I realize that the feeling in the pit of my stomach is something that I haven't felt in a long long time, at least not about a girl anyway.

It's guilt.

I feel guilty.

I am such an idiot!

Why did I think that Damon was different? That he didn't care about this stupid family war like the rest of our families and all the people in this stupid town do.

Obviously I was wrong.

I wipe at my eyes as I walk towards my car, cursing myself for crying over this, crying over him.

It's not worth it.

He's not worth it.

But then why am I so bothered? If he's not worth it then why am I crying over this?!

He is so God damn infuriating!

I pull out my keys, my hands shaky as I press the unlock button and climb inside. I sit still for a minute, replaying the last 10 minutes in my head. I thought I was doing the right thing in telling Damon what I knew, I thought I was repaying him for saving my life.

It wasn't that he already knew that made me mad, it was the fact that he already knew, and didn't tell me because I was a Gilbert.

"Pull yourself together, damn it!" I mutter to myself in frustration. Hating that I have let something so stupid and small bother me so much.

But it does bother me.

I jump slightly as the shrill of my cellphone bursts to life and I let out a shaky breath as I pick it up to see Matt's name flashing on the screen. I take a deep breath and straighten myself up before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Where are you?" he asks casually.

"Sorry, had to work on my History project. I'm on my way home now." I look at myself in my mirror, wiping my smudged mascara away from my eyes, wiping away any kind of evidence that would show that I'm upset.

"Great. I've just finished practice and some of the guys are going to head over to my place for take out. Come join us, bring Bonnie and Caroline too."

I hold in a tired sigh and instead answer with fake excitement. "Sure. I'll see you soon." I hang up before he can even say anything else because it's just too hard sometimes to pretend.

My whole life right now is just one big pretense, one big lie.

I am so sick and tired of it.

When I arrive at Matt's an hour later, he greets me with a smile and a kiss and I return it just like I always do.

I do what I'm supposed to do.

I sit there with my friends, and I smile in all the right places, laugh at all the right things and it's almost like I'm on auto-pilot.

Caroline and Tyler bicker like they always do, Bonnie blushes as some guy from the team flirts with her, even though she doesn't seem that interested, I hold onto Matt's hand tightly when he links our fingers together. I rest my head against his shoulder when he moves his arm to wrap around me.

Slowly but surely the group drops in numbers, and eventually when Caroline and Tyler leave, together, I might add, it's just me and Matt left alone in his empty house.

He sends me that boyish smile that he does so well and I smile back because it's all I know, he kisses me and I kiss him back and when he moves to take things further I let him.

We end up in his bedroom and we have sex.

It's nothing exciting, at least not for me, but I pretend just like I have done a lot these past couple of weeks.

I'm probably the worlds worst girlfriend ever.

A couple of hours later we are full dressed again and are lying in bed, sat up against the headboard as we watch some mundane TV show that I have no interest in. Matt chose it, and I never bother to argue with him when he did. I just sit there and pretend to enjoy it like I always do.

Tonight though is different.

Something feels different.

The words leave my mouth before I can even think about it or change my mind and I just blurt the them out into the quiet room knowing that it's now or never.

"I think we should break up."

She's done it!

Hope you liked the chapter and without trying to sound like a broken record, I really am grateful to all of you who reviewed the last chapter, so big big thank you!

Until next time :)