Cannonball

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

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October 9th 2012.

Tuesday 8:50am.

Mystic Falls.

"You broke up with Matt?!" Caroline shrieks at me the second she approaches me at my locker at school.

"Ssh!" I scold her immediately, self consciously looking around to make sure no one has just heard her outburst, it's not exactly public knowledge yet. "Not here!"

She just looks at me in disbelief before grabbing my wrist and literally dragging me into the girls bathroom down the hall.

"You, out!" she orders sternly to a freshman girl who was stood by the mirror. She looks a little startled but immediately does as Caroline says and I cringe slightly as she leaves and Caroline makes sure there is no one else in here before swinging around to face me. "You need to explain yourself Elena Anne Gilbert!" I grimace at the use of the middle name.

"I just..." I trail awkwardly, not sure how I can actually explain myself here without telling her everything. "It just wasn't working."

"Since when?!" Caroline looks at me in complete astonishment. "I don't understand Elena, you and Matt are perfect together! He loves you! I thought you loved him...what's the problem?"

"I don't know." I look down at the floor guiltily. "I just...I didn't feel that spark, you know?"

"No I don't know." She frowns at me confused. "Is there something else going on here? Because this seems so out of the blue and I just don't understand where this has all come from? Matt is so heartbroken, Elena, and over anything else, he's confused. Tyler and I spent the whole night with him last night consoling him, he's so upset, and he just doesn't understand why."

I look away guiltily, because it was never my intention to break Matt's heart, but I just couldn't go on the way I was anymore. It wasn't fair to both of us. "Caroline I...I don't want to talk about this right now."

"What is wrong with you, Elena?" she asks me seriously, her forehead crinkling with worry. "Is this about the fire?"

"What? No." I immediately shake my head, wondering why she would even ask that question.

"Are you sure? Because I've read about things like this happening before, people who are involved in a near death experience start to act differently and go through some kind of post traumatic stress. If that's what this is then you need to tell me, let me help you! Let Matt help you!"

I almost laugh. Post traumatic stress? Really? "It's not that, Caroline." I tell her firmly, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

"Then what is it? Because Matt is currently at home right now too upset to come to school and you don't seem to be upset in the slightest!"

"Of course I'm upset!" I defend myself immediately. "But I couldn't stay in that relationship when it wasn't right for me."

Caroline looks at me almost as if I'm a stranger and I gulp slightly, all for a sudden very much aware of how this one action could change everything right now. I'm not the girl who is supposed to break up with her boyfriend, Matt and I were supposed to be one of those All-American sweethearts, who get crowned Prom King and Queen, go to college together and then get married and have three kids and live out our American dream until we grow old and die together.

Life isn't that simple unfortunately.

That life wasn't made for me, at least not with Matt Donovan.

I know that now.

It's just a shame that I'm most likely going to be public enemy number one for the next couple of weeks for breaking the sweet handsome and popular quarterbacks heart.

"Go away Klaus!" I groan into my pillow as I hear my British friend calling my name for me to get my ass out of bed and answer the door, preferably before one of my neighbors calls the cops to report him for the noise!

After mine and Elena's argument last night, I decided to bask in my guilt with a bottle of bourbon and a joint or two. Alone.

It's sad, I know, but I couldn't get the look on her face before she left out of my head and I needed something to do to take my mind away from her.

It didn't exactly work.

So instead I just have a terrible hangover and an annoying best friend banging on my front door.

"Damon!" I hear him shout in the distance. "I know you're in there mate, stop being a lazy git and let me in!"

"Fuckin idiot." I grumble under my breath before climbing out of my far too comfortable double bed to walk out of my bedroom and towards the front door. I swing open the door and glare at Klaus in annoyance.

"Finally." Klaus pushes past me. "I thought I was going to have to wait all day."

I roll my eyes slightly and close the front door behind him. "What can I do for you?"

Klaus looks over his shoulder at me with a strange expression on his face. "What can I do for you? What the hell kind of question is that?!" his eyebrows crease together and I let out a small chuckle and shake my head.

"Never mind, I'm tired."

"And hungover." he adds and picks up the empty bottle of bourbon left on the counter. "So, was it a party for one?" he asks curiously and I nod my head and take a seat at the kitchen island. "Hmm." he notes and I frown slightly at the suspicion in his voice.

"What?"

"Well I thought maybe Andie Starr may have been invited to your private party. Don't think I didn't notice you two sneak off together yesterday." he smirks slightly at me and I roll my eyes.

"Not this time."

"Probably for the best, Vaughn is the last person you want to piss off." Klaus states and I scoff.

"Oh please, I'm not scared of that idiot."

"Well you should be, I've heard things about him." Klaus says seriously. "And I doubt he'd be too happy to know that you've been shagging his bird behind his back."

"It's not like we've been having an affair." I roll my eyes. "So we fucked a few times in the past, no big deal, besides that's over now anyway."

"Oh, you piss her off?"

"Sorta." I shrug, but really not that bothered.

"Is that why you were drinking alone last night?" he questions and my first reaction is to say no.

Andie Starr is certainly not of any meaning of importance to me whatsoever.

But then, I can't exactly tell him the real reason, can I?

"I was bored." I answer with a shrug. "Speaking of, is there any reason you are bothering me on this fine morning?"

"I was going to offer you a ride to school."

"I'm not going." I answer immediately.

"Oh? And what happened to good boy Damon who wanted to stay in Daddy's good books by attending majority of his classes? It took me ages to persuade you to skip with me yesterday!"

"Well I realized how right you were, didn't I?" I say in a mocking tone. "You're always right, Klaus. School is boring."

"School also has a pop quiz third period for us today in Algebra." he smirks. "And since I want a bachelor pad to fall back onto when my parents piss me off, you better not piss Giuseppe off, therefore, attend school when you have pop quizzes, ergo, keep this little apartment you have here."

"Good to know you're always looking after my best interests for selfless reasons Klaus."

"Well, people do say how kind and unselfish I am." he smirks and I sigh loudly before making a move.

"Fine, give me 10 minutes I need to shower."

"Damn right you do, you stink Salvatore!"

School is as boring and torturous as I thought it was going to be, and I am starting to resent Klaus for dragging me out of my comfortable bed and into this hellhole of bitchy smiles and tippex.

I sigh as the bell rings and place my pen down on my desk, glad to get that stupid quiz over and done with so I can get the hell out of here.

It's suffocating.

It's lunch time, so it's so much easier to leave school than it would be to skip between normal classes. I quickly stop by my locker to drop off some books and quickly make an excuse to Klaus about not going for lunch with him. He shrugs, before wondering off with his latest fling of the week and I roll my eyes before slamming my locker shut and heading out.

I go to walk towards the gates, desperate to get out of here but a sight from the corner of my eye slows me down.

I frown slightly when I see Elena sat down under a large tree by herself to the side of the courtyard, and for a moment I wonder why she's not sat with all her popular friends like she usually does. I will myself to ignore her, to continue to walk away and pretend that I haven't seen her but I can't do it.

I groan to myself before looking around, noting that the courtyard is fairly empty, there is the odd student scattered around but nobody of importance and I slowly and hesitantly start walking towards her, my eyes scanning the area constantly as I get closer.

I stop at the picnic table a few feet away from her and take a seat, sitting on the table and resting my feet on the wooden bench below me as I stare off into the distance, not looking directly at her as I lean my arms onto my jean covered knees.

"Hey." I offer her, knowing that she knows that I'm here.

"Hi." she replies back and I can see from the corner of my eye that just like me, she's staring directly ahead of her, keeping her gaze away from me and onto the odd student that walks past in the distance, not close enough to hear our conversation, or lack of at this stage.

But we have to keep up appearances, you never know who might be watching.

"You look absolutely miserable, Gilbert." I comment with a frown, wondering what has got her looking so sad, thinking that it looks odd on her because as much as I've seen it on her a lot these past couple of months, it's always when she's surrounded by her family and friends, feeling trapped.

Not sat alone away from everyone.

But then, surely that's a problem in itself?

Somehow I have this compelling need to find out what is wrong with her, or to at least be able to take the sadness away, even just a little bit.

"Why do you even care, Salvatore?" the way she says my last name makes me cringe and I'm reminded about our argument from the night before.

"Elena-"

"Don't, Damon." she cuts me off quickly. "Not here, please, I have enough people talking about me today."

I frown at her words, unsure of what she means because I would have thought that the fire talk would have died down by now.

Unless she means something else?

"Ok." I nod my head, giving into her and I jump off the picnic bench and wipe my jeans down briefly before turning my head to face her for just the quickest couple of seconds. "Meet me around the corner in 10 minutes, I'll quickly go home and get my car and will come pick you up."

"Damon no."

"10 minutes, Elena." I tell her firmly before walking away, leaving no room for argument.

I walk home as quickly as possible, ignoring the slight painful twinge in my foot, cursing Klaus for driving me this morning and therefore me leaving my car at home.

I eventually make it back and quickly go inside to grab my car keys before getting into my Camaro and speeding off in the direction I just came from. It doesn't take me long to reach my destination and I'm pleased when I see Elena stood waiting for me. Granted, she doesn't look very happy, but at least she's turned up.

I slow down next to her, knowing that it's risky for her to be in my car in daylight when anyone can see us and I watch as she looks around before quickly jumping inside.

She doesn't say a word, and neither do I, and I use all the back quiet roads to drive out of Mystic Falls, avoiding as much passing traffic and public areas as possible.

I feel the tension lift slightly as we drive past the cheesy Thank you for visiting Mystic Falls sign, no longer being in the town where we would be shunned by our families if we were spotted together.

I keep on driving, not quite sure on my destination yet but knowing that I need to put as much distance between us and this town as possible.

After about 40 minutes of silence, we drive into one of the bigger towns in Virginia and I pull up to the side of the road, turning to face Elena.

She turns her head to face me, and I can see the sadness in her eyes and all I want to do is make it disappear.

"I'm sorry." I say the words before I know it, and I surprise myself, because I rarely ever apologize and judging from the expression on Elena's face, I think she feels the same way. "I was a jerk last night, I know you were trying to do me a favor by telling me about your Dad and I just threw it back in your face. I shouldn't have done that." She stays silent and I look down awkwardly for a moment, trying to gather my words. "And I just wanted to say that..." I trail nervously before continuing. "Despite your last name, I do like you, Elena."

Her eyes widen in surprise and I wait anxiously for her to say something and when she doesn't I feel the need to explain myself even more.

I need her to forgive me.

"I'm not like everyone else in Mystic Falls, Elena, and I'm not like my family either, at least not with you, ok? And you have to believe me when I tell you that's the truth, I would never ever have hooked up with you if that wasn't the case."

I watch with relief as she slowly nods her head, a small smile creeping to her lips. "I know, and I guess maybe I did overreact."

I smile and roll my eyes slightly. "You women, always so hormonal." I tease her and laugh as she punches me on the arm. "And angry! Ouch!"

"Shut up." she rolls her eyes at me before looking out. "So...is there a reason you've taken me here?"

"Nope, not really." I answer honestly. "I just wanted to go some place where no one would know us, where we can..." I gasp and look around in mocking wide eyes. "Actually talk to each other when there are other people around! Scandalous!" I wiggle my eyebrows naughtily and press my hand against my mouth.

She laughs and nods her head. "That's a good enough reason as any." she says before climbing out of the car and I follow her actions, quickly locking up. "So...I'm hungry, fancy buying me lunch?" she motions to a small restaurant across the street that I unfortunately coincidentally parked outside of. "It is your fault that I'm missing lunch after all!"

"But I never buy girls lunch," I frown at her in protest. "It's a rule of mine."

"Well unfortunately you're going to have to break it this time, Salvatore!" she smirks at me before walking off across the road towards the restaurant, leaving me no choice but to follow her.

So lunch with Damon was surprisingly fun, not that I didn't know we couldn't have fun together, because obviously we have in the past. But there was something different this time, I don't know if it's because we didn't have to hide away, or if it's because there was actually no hidden agenda of wanting sex behind it, but I had fun.

"God I am so full." I whine as we walk out of the restaurant, placing my hands on my poor overworked stomach.

"And so you should be! How can someone so skinny eat as much as you just did back in there!" he says in disbelief, still not getting over my rather impressive appetite.

I shrug and pat my stomach. "It's a talent of mine." I answer with a grin.

"One of many huh? I know all about those talents of yours." he smirks at me and I send him a mocking glare.

"Funny!"

"I'm hilarious!" he grins before letting out a loud breath. "Come on then, lets go see what else this place has to offer. We might as well make the most of it while we're here."

I nod my head in agreement and follow Damon's lead as we walk down the street, looking through shop windows as we go past.

After about five minutes of wondering aimlessly around, we come across a bowling alley and I turn to look at Damon with a grin.

"No way." he scoffs. "I hate bowling."

"Oh come on! It'll be fun!" I beg him almost playfully and watch as he raises an eyebrow at me.

"No."

"What's wrong? Scared that I'll show you up and kick your ass?"

He scoffs loudly. "Obviously not!"

"I happen to be pretty good at bowling!"

"I happen to never lose at anything, ever." he tells me pointedly and I blow out a loud breath between my lips, scoffing.

"Cocky much?"

He shrugs with a smirk. "I have plenty of reason to be sweetheart."

I roll my eyes before smiling. "Fine. Prove it."

He stares at me in annoyance before sighing loudly. "Fine! But it's your death wish." he shrugs casually before a devilish smirk crosses his lips. "Why don't we make this more interesting?" he asks as we walk inside the large building.

"Interesting how?"

"The winner can make one request to the loser, and the loser has to accept it no matter what." he smirks and I look at him warily.

"What kind of request?" I ask with a frown.

"Any kind of request." he smirks at me and my frown deepens. "What's wrong? You scared? I thought you were pretty good at bowling?" he teases me and I scowl.

"I am! In fact, I bet I could kick that pretty little ass of yours crying back to Mystic Falls! Bet is on, Salvatore." I tell him confidently, reminding myself that Damon said not even five minutes ago that he hates bowling, which could be code for him being totally crappy at it.

"Brilliant." he grins almost smugly and we shake on it for good measure, my hand slipping into his, lingering for a few seconds too long before I let go and follow him to the counter, where a pretty young blonde girl is stood looking bored out of her mind as she taps her fingers repeatedly against the counter before she looks up and notices us.

I don't miss the way that she shamefully checks Damon out, her eyes slowly trailing up and down his body and I immediately scowl.

"Hello, would you like to book a lane?" she asks with a happy tone to her voice, her eyes on Damon and Damon only, completely ignoring me.

"Yes please." Damon replies back with a smirk of his own, and my scowl deepens as I watch him check her out back, his eyes naughty and flirtatious.

"Can I take your name?"

"I'm Damon...and you are?" he grins at her and I watch as she blushes under his gaze.

Probably flushed because of those stupid irritating beautiful blue eyes of his.

"I'm Sam, but I meant for the score screen." she giggles and Damon lets out a fake laugh of his own.

"I know." he winks at her and I clear my throat, watching as the stupid sluts attention finally comes to me.

"My name is Elena." I glare at her, my voice cold, watching as her smile fades slightly as she quickly types our names onto a computer.

Damon turns to face me amused and I send him an innocent shrug and he lets out a silent chuckle before we swap our shoes for bowling ones.

We walk to our lanes and Damon turns to face me with a smirk. "Ladies first."

I shrug and go to pick up a bowling ball that is suitable for me. I take a deep breath, knowing that I can't lose this bet because God only knows what he'll want me to do! I raise my arm back and swing the ball down the lane, watching anxiously as it slides down and hits just to the left of the center, knocking down six of the pins. I turn back to face Damon who is smiling and I shrug.

"I can still get a spare." I tell him pointedly and he holds up his hands in defense.

"I didn't say anything!" he defends himself in innocent protest but the smirk on his face says differently.

I roll my eyes at him before turning back to take my second go, cursing in annoyance when I only knock down another two pins, leaving two left standing there.

"It's only the first round." I say as Damon passes by me. "I'll get better."

"Eight out of ten, that's not bad, Gilbert." he nods his head in agreement before picking up his own ball, he doesn't say anything else and I watch nervously as he goes to take his shot. He swings his arm back and it's like it happens in slow motion, the ball goes cruising down the lane and smashes into the pins with a crash, knocking everything single one down.

Strike.

He turns around to face me, the biggest smuggest smirk on his face. "Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that as much as I hate bowling, I'm also kinda awesome at it?" he wiggles his eyebrows at me playfully and I glare at him, suddenly realizing that I have fallen straight into his trap.

This is going to be a long game.

I won.

Obviously.

"Oh come on, quit pouting!" I laugh at Elena as she changes back into her normal shoes, a scowl on her face as she sits on a wooden ledge while I tower over her. "I didn't peg you down as a sore loser."

"I'm not a sore loser!"

"So then why are you so pissed that I won?" I laugh as she looks up at me with a glare.

"Because you said that you hated bowling!"

"Leading you to assume that I was bad at it?" I smirk and she shrugs slightly and I let out another laugh. "You are something else, Gilbert."

"Oh whatever." she stands to her feet, straightening herself out and I notice the way a piece of her brown hair has fallen across the side of her face, out of place. "Just get it over with, will you." she practically demands me.

"Get what over with? My gloating? Because that's going to last a while." I tease with a smirk.

"No. You're request, the stupid bet we made remember?"

"Oh that." I grin, watching as the fallen piece of hair still lingers out of place. "Hmm..." I tap my finger against my chin, pretending to think but knowing what my request would be from the moment I came up with the bet. "I've decided to keep my request to myself for a while."

She frowns at me. "Why?" she questions, suspicion dripping from her tone.

"Because," I shrug simply and raise my hand, pushing back that piece of hair that had fallen and was covering half of her face, behind her ear. She looks surprised by my action and I smile a little bit before letting my hand drop back to my side.

"Because what?" she asks quietly and I shrug.

"Because you're not ready for it yet." I say simply and watch as a look of surprise crosses her features, her eyes widening just a tiny bit and her lips parting as if she's going to say something but can't find the words. "Don't worry, Gilbert." I twist my smile into a smirk. "I won't forget about it, I'll collect soon enough." I take a step back and motion towards the exit. "Shall we?" I hold my arm out, motioning for her to lead the way and she looks at me with a strange expression on her face that I can't quite work out before she walks ahead towards the doors, and I quickly follow her.

We walk outside and we're hit by a slight chill breeze and I'm reminded that the summer is completely over now, and yet here I am with Elena, in October.

I guess it's different though right now. I can't explain it, because well...I won't say that I don't want to sleep with Elena, because obviously I do, just look at her, she is the definition of hot and so much more. But there is something different about this time around, different from the times we would meet in those bars off the beaten track and then hook up.

It was just sex then, but now it's different.

I just can't explain it.

"What's your favorite color?" Elena questions me out of nowhere and I look at her confused as we continue to walk down the street, unsure of where our destination is, but our legs keep on moving.

"What?"

"You're favorite color?" she rolls her eyes at me with a duh tone to her voice. "What is it?"

"Why the hell do you want to know that?" I narrow my eyes at her and she shrugs with a smile.

"Why not?"

I open and close my mouth, unsure of where she is going with this but somehow feel compelled to answer.

Why not, right?

"Black."

She scoffs and lets out a small laugh. "Oh that does not surprise me, Salvatore!" she motions to my dark jeans, black t-shirt and black leather jacket.

I roll my eyes. "Fine, then what's yours princess?"

She pauses for a moment before answering. "I don't have one."

"You don't have a favorite color?" I ask amused. "Who are you?"

She shrugs. "Someone who doesn't have a favorite color." she smirks at me. "Ice cream or chocolate?"

"Sorry, are we in a game of 20 questions and you forgot to tell me?"

"Just answer the question!"

I sigh in exasperation before doing so. "Fine, chocolate."

"Hmm." she notes. "Coke or Pepsi?"

"Coke."

"TV or movies?"

"Movies. Horror or comedy?" I throw in a question of my own before she has the chance to speedily ask her next one, and I don't miss the amusement flash in her eyes before she answers.

"Horror." she answers and for some reason I'm surprised. But then again, I should know by now that Elena Gilbert is not someone who you would expect her to be. "Night or day?"

"Night." I smirk with a wink and she rolls her eyes. "Beer or wine?"

"Beer. Pop or RnB?"

I scoff. "Neither." I reply quickly and then smirk. "Top or bottom?"

She freezes slightly and turns her head to face me, her eyes shining. "What do you think?" she smirks and I'm a little surprised by her answering with a question but I quickly recover.

"Both." I grin. "You're selfish like that." I wink at her, my grin turning to a smirk.

"Hey!" She slaps my arm and I laugh, not missing the way she lets a small giggle escape her lips and I decide that I love that sound.

We keep on walking and suddenly we're back at my car and I feel a wave of disappointment take over me.

"We should probably head back." Elena sighs, the easiness that we had before seems to be fading and instead replaced with a feeling of tension.

"Yeah..." I agree and force a smile.

The drive back to Mystic Falls is laced with something that I can't quite pinpoint, it's not necessarily bad but it's not good either. I don't know where it came from, but the second we got to my car and realized that it was time to go back to reality, it took over and I'm reminded just how much our lives are different, how much we shouldn't be spending time together.

At all.

And I hate it.

I take all the back quiet roads again, and stop by the edge of the woods about five minutes away from Elena's house, knowing it would be too risky to drive any closer when it's still fairly light out.

I watch as she unbuckles her belt and turns to face me with a small smile on her face. "I had fun today." she tells me, breaking the thick tension just a little bit because of the genuine tone in her voice.

"Me too." I reply honestly, a half smirk creeping onto my lips again. "Especially when I kicked your ass at bowling."

She lets out a laugh and shakes her head. "You're too cocky for your own good."

"With reason, remember?" I wiggle my eyebrows at her and she just lets out another laugh and shakes her head.

"You're an ass." she smirks at me and I shrug. She turns, and presses her hand against the handle of the door and goes to open it but stops, she turns back around and it all happens so fast, her lips are pressed against my cheek and she kisses my skin softly, her soft lips sending shivers down my spine and I blink surprised before she slowly pulls away, and I suddenly miss the closeness and I feel the side of my face burning from her touch.

All from a kiss to the cheek.

"See you later." she smiles softly at me before jumping out of the car, and I watch her go through the mirror, frozen, before she eventually disappears out of sight.

I realize something then.

I've just spent an entire afternoon with a girl, bought her lunch, paid for her game of bowling, drove her home (well, as close to home as I was able) and did not expect a single thing in return and was happy to do all of that without a single question of doubt.

All for a girl.

And that girl is Elena Gilbert.

"Fuck." I whisper into the silence of my Camaro.

I'm in trouble.

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