Cannonball
Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries.
Quick note, I think I made a mistake with starting from Elena's POV in this chap, looking back I think it would have been better from Damon's but I'm lazy and didn't want to go back and change it all, so hopefully it's alright for you guys :)
Hope you like it...
December 26th 2012.
Wednesday 12:30am.
Mystic Falls
I stand frozen as Rebekah looks between the three of us with a frown on her face, clearly wondering what the hell is going on here, and more importantly why I am here, I realize as her eyes slowly dart to me.
"And what the hell is she doing here?"
Yep.
I see Damon tense and my heart pounds painfully hard against my chest as I realize that this night is about to get a hell of a lot worse.
"Go back to bed Rebekah this has nothing to do with you." Klaus speaks up first, his tone hard and firm but Rebekah doesn't even flinch.
A look of intrigue crosses her face as she takes a step forward. "What are those." her eyes flicker down to the photos that have scattered to the floor and Damon quickly darts down and gathers them up in his hands but I watch as the look of realization crosses Rebekah's face and I know it's too late.
"Oh. My. God." her eyes widen almost comically as she looks between Damon and me. "You two..."
"Go back to bed, Rebekah!" Klaus orders her again but it's no use.
It's too late.
I stand completely still as a laugh falls from her lips, seriously, she finds this funny?
"Oh my god," she repeats those three damn annoying words. "This is...wow!" her eyes are sparkling with amusement. "You," she smirks at my boyfriend. "You I could see doing something like this, but you," she turns her attention back to me and shakes her head in wonder. "Wow. Elena Gilbert...I never knew you had it in you! I'm impressed." she nods her head with a smirk.
I send her a glare because I have never liked her. I remember her first day as a freshman when she turned up to cheer practice, ignoring our protests that she needed to audition like the rest of the freshman wanting to be in the squad, instead she told us all that she didn't need to audition before then putting on a mini show of all the back flips she can do, as well as proving my suspicions that she really does know how to spread her legs.
Of course she managed to impress the majority of the squad and ended up on the team without attending try outs.
If that didn't irk me enough already, the attention that she turned towards Matt and Tyler definitely finalized my dislike for the youngest Mikealson and her latest dance date stunt with Damon only just added too it.
"You have no idea what you're talking about." Damon speaks up for the first time since she entered the room, his tone of voice cold and defensive.
"No? So you and Elena Gilbert aren't sleeping together then?" she raises her eyebrow and crosses her arms in front of her. "I'm just dreaming and you aren't both standing in my hallway?"
Damon glares at her before turning his head to me for a moment. I hold his gaze, unsure of what he is trying to portray and it takes me a minute to realize that he is feeling guilty.
I take a deep breath and take that step towards him, letting my hand slide into his larger one and I don't miss the way Rebekah's eyes follow our every move.
"We're together." I confirm while trying to hide my anxiousness, especially when the smirk on Rebekah's lips only grow.
"Together?" she asks amused.
"That's right." Damon cuts in with a hard stare to match his tone. "Together."
Rebekah bursts out laughing and Damon takes a step towards her but I tug on his hand and pull him straight back.
"Sorry, sorry." Rebekah holds up her hand while trying to calm herself and my eyebrows press together in a glare.
Bitch.
"I just need a moment to let this sink in." she giggles slightly. "So what you're trying to tell me is, the two of you are 'together'," she holds up her fingers to exaggerate the quotation marks. "Despite you being a Salvatore and her being a Gilbert?"
"That's what they said, Rebekah." Klaus snaps in annoyance.
"And you knew about this?" she asks and Klaus slowly nods his head. "How long has this been going on for?"
"None of your fucking business." Damon hisses at her angrily and I can see how much he is on the defensive right now. "I'm glad to see you're finding this so damn amusing Barbie but this is real life for us so let's cut to the chase shall we? You keep your mouth shut, whatever you saw here tonight, whatever you heard, you do not repeat, got it?"
"Or what?" she looks amused.
"Or I'll personally make sure that you're life isn't worth living anymore, because if anyone finds out about us I will make sure that I hold you personally responsible and you wont like it when you get on my bad side, Rebekah, trust me."
"You're threatening me? Seriously? You actually have the nerve to stand here in my home and threaten me?"
"He's not threatening you, he's-"
"No I'm threatening her." Damon cuts in over Klaus who tries to appease the situation and I gulp slightly at the look in my boyfriends eye as he stares Rebekah down. "You say a single word and I will end you."
"Oh please-"
"Ask Vicki Donovan if you don't believe me." he speaks over Rebekah before she can barely get her words out. "Look where she is now? Expelled for possession of drugs on school property and she also happens to be facing criminal charges, such a shame." Damon lets go of my hand and takes a step forward so he is standing right in front of Rebekah, towering over her and I watch the scene unfold in front of me with a rock in my stomach. "You want to know why all that happened? Why she got so unlucky? It was because she made the mistake of going after Elena. That's what happens when someone tries to hurt someone I care about."
I watch with baited breath as Damon stares her down with a look that can only be described as extreme intimidation, a look that I know I don't ever want to be on the receiving end of. Ever.
"Ok that's enough, Damon!" I watch silently as Klaus takes two giant steps forwards and stands between his best friend and his sister. "I think the two of you should leave."
I nod my head in agreement, because there will be no good of us staying here any longer. Rebekah now knows about us, so not only do we have the person who sent me those photos to deal with, but the youngest Mikealson too.
How the hell did the day end like this?
"Damon come on." I tug on the back of his jacket.
Damon sends Rebekah one last glare before taking a step back as we head backwards towards the door.
"I'm not scared of you, Damon." Rebekah can't resist to throw one last comment in.
"You should be." Damon snipes back coldly.
"No one is going to say anything to anyone." Klaus jumps in yet again but there is an edge to his tone this time. "No one is going to end anyone either." he glares at my boyfriend. "You don't get to come here Damon and threaten my sister right in front of me in our own house and expect me not to say anything!" Klaus glares and I see Rebekah smirk but it doesn't last long. "And you don't even get to attempt to even think about trying to use this new found information to get your own way, that means no blackmail, no speaking about this to anyone, period!"
"Klaus-"
"Period, Rebekah!" he cuts her off angrily before turning to face us. "Now if you don't mind..."
"We're leaving." I jump in before Damon can come up with a snarky reply of his own. I clutch the box of photos in my hands as I follow Damon out who storms towards his car in the darkness, his entire posture tense and agitated as he presses his hands against the top of his Camaro, his head dipping down as he leans his arms against it.
"Damon..." I approach him cautiously, my hand slowly resting on his back. "What are we going to do?" I bite on my bottom lip nervously, the feeling that our world is about to crash all around us is starting to take over and I'm trying my best to stay calm.
"Rebekah won't say anything." he mutters before turning around to face me. "She's not who we have to worry about here."
I look down at the box in my hand and I will myself to stay strong. "And the person who sent me this?"
"Is a problem," he stares down at the box, his eyes not meeting mine. "That I'm going to fix. You should go home."
"Damon-"
"It's not safe for us to be together right now, Elena. Whoever took those photos probably know we are here right now, hell they might even be fucking watching us!" he throws his arm up into the air in frustration and I can't help but look around because of his words.
I feel sick that someone has been watching us together, and the thought that they might be here now is just making me even worse.
"Elena," he takes a deep breath and places his hands on each of my arms. "I know you're scared, ok? I know you're worried but we'll get through this."
"How do you know that?" I ask skeptically, the worry continuing to creep up on me and take over me.
What if this actually gets out?
"Because it's us, we've lasted this long so I'm not going to let some nameless coward break us." he tells me firmly while his hands run up my arms. I slowly nod my head, knowing that I don't exactly have any other options but to agree with him and trust that we can get through this, my eyes flutter closed as he presses a soft kiss on my forehead. "You look exhausted, come on I'll take you home."
As much as I want to stay over at Damon's house right now I know that it is too dangerous, he's right, we can't risk being seen together right now.
I hate whoever is doing this.
Have you ever had that feeling where you feel like everything is closing in around you? When you have that feeling that your world is about to crash to the floor and there is not a single thing you can do about it? Nothing that you can do to stop it.
Well that's exactly how I'm feeling right now. I run a hand down my face tiredly as I sit at my small wobbly wooden table by the window, the curtains fully drawn blocking my view of the outside world as I stare down at all the photos taken of me and Elena together which I have laid out in chronological order as I try and work out who the hell sent these.
I look at my watch to see that it is just gone past lunch time and I sigh loudly as my body continues to fight it's exhaustion. I've had no sleep, instead I've been sat here all night trying to fix this mess and try to piece it all together.
So far the only thing I have come up with is that the first photo was taken the night after Will's party, and whoever this asshole is was waiting for us therefore they knew about us before that night.
Which leads me back to the Winter Formal. Elena and I took a huge risk that night when we argued in school, when that argument turned to the best night of my life in a matter of minutes in that hallway where I told her that I loved her and she told me that she loved me too.
I'd bet money that whoever this asshole is found out about us that night.
I jump slightly as my phone starts to vibrate against the table and I pick it up tiredly with a sigh. When I see Elena's name flashing on the screen I quickly answer and press the cellphone against my ear.
"Hey." I answer as I try and stifle a yawn.
"Hi." she answers quietly and I can hear the worry immediately in her voice.
"How are you? Did you sleep ok?" I ask concerned, knowing that she'll be worrying like mad right now and there is nothing I can do to stop it.
"No." she replies meekly. "I couldn't stop thinking about those photos, I still can't."
"Yeah me neither." I admit. "But you need to continue on as normal, Elena, we can't afford to draw attention to ourselves right now."
"I know that Damon but it's hard. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, I jump every time the phone rings or there is at knock at the door. I almost threw up when my parents called me downstairs to talk earlier! I thought they knew, Damon."
"But they don't, right?"
"No." the line goes silent for a few moments. "But I have this feeling in my stomach that they are going to find out real soon."
"They won't find out, at least not yet." I tell her confidently because this is the one thing that I can be sure of. "Whoever knows about us isn't going to stop their fun straight away, they've only just started and they are going to want to mess with us for a while yet before they even think about making us public knowledge." I muse.
"How do you know that?" she asks me unsure.
"Because it's something that I'd do." I murmur as I stare down at the photos. "They want us to worry, they want us to jump every time the phone or doorbell rings. That's their purpose, Elena. Trust me, we have time on this."
"And if we don't-"
"We do." I cut her off. "They want to have fun with us before they blow our secret otherwise they would have just told someone the moment they found out about us, instead of taking the time to follow us and watch us and take photos and videos. Trust me," I tell her firmly because I need her to stop fretting about this. "I will make sure this ends well for us. I never lose, Elena. Ever."
"I trust you." she breathes out. "I'm just scared."
"Don't be. I'll fix this."
She's about to speak but I hear shuffling in the background and then I'm hearing the dial tone. I sigh and place my phone back onto the table because this isn't the first time it's happened, to either of us. There have been plenty of times where we have had to hang up suddenly, sometimes in mid-conversation.
All in the need of keeping our relationship a secret and I am going to make damn sure that it stays this way.
I freeze when there is a pounding at my door and I slowly stand, gathering all the photos on the table back into the box before quickly placing them inside the microwave out of sight. When the knocking gets louder I make my way over and answer it, groaning when I come face to face with my best friend.
"Oh don't give me that look mate." he pushes past me, his shoulder knocking against mine as he shoves me aside. "At least I show up unannounced at a respectable hour of the day."
I roll my eyes at his comment as I shut the door after him, flicking the lock too just in case. The last thing I want is my idiot brother, or God forbid, Zach, walking in on what I'm sure will be an interesting topic of conversation for them.
"So, are you going to give me some kind of explanation then?" he skims his finger along the island that separates my kitchen and living area. "Or you know, an apology?"
I scoff immediately. "Why on earth would you expect that?"
"Oh I don't know," he dips his head from side to side slowly for a moment. "For punching me? Falsely accusing me of stalking you? Threatening my little sister? The list goes on, Damon."
"Well I don't apologize so don't hold your breath."
He chuckles slightly while he removes his coat and I guess that means he's staying.
"You know who sent the photos yet?"
I shake my head as I walk towards the microwave and pull them out, ignoring Klaus' short howl of laughter at my hiding place.
"I think whoever sent them saw me and Elena together at the Winter Formal, something happened between us that wasn't exactly under the radar." I run my hand down my face. "We could have easily been seen I guess."
"Careless."
"We were caught up in the moment." I defend us immediately and he rolls his eyes dismissively before he motions for me to pass him over the pictures and I reluctantly hand them over.
I watch silently as he skims through each one before placing them on top of the island counter. "So, these were sent to Elena?" I nod my head. "Have you received anything?"
"No." I shake my head. "At least not yet."
"Hm." he muses aloud and I frown.
"What? Do you think whoever is doing this is only trying to target her?" I question while tensing up.
"Leaving these on her doorstep for any member of her family to see?" he asks me with raised eyebrows. "Yeah Damon, I definitely think whoever sent this gift is targeting Elena."
I clench my fist tightly at the thought and it just makes me even angrier because I'd rather them come after me than Elena. I want them to come after me.
"Imagine the chaos caused if it was Grayson who found them?" Klaus continues and I groan and rest my elbows on the counter, leading my head into my open hands.
"Don't." I mutter into my palms. "Don't even say that."
The thought makes shivers run up my spine. There is no one worse in the world who could find out about us than Grayson Gilbert.
"What would you do if he did?" he asks and I can hear the curiosity in his voice.
"I don't know." I shrug honestly.
"What? You've never spoke about it?" he sounds surprised, especially when I shake my head no. "Ever?"
"No." I frown. "Why would we talk about it? It's the one thing we don't want to happen. Hell I'd rather have Giuseppe finding out about us over Grayson, he hates me a lot more than Giuseppe hates Elena."
"But it has to happen eventually, right? I mean..." he trails before stopping and my frown deepens.
"What?" I urge him impatiently. "Whatever it is you want to say to me, Klaus, just say it instead of pussy footing around."
"Fine." he shrugs giving in. "Do you think that you two will ever make this public? Or do you think it's just a high school romance that will end once school's over?"
I glare at him angrily at his suggestion. "I've told you before that this is more than a fling!"
"And I believe you!" he defends himself immediately. "But if those photos right here aren't an eye opener for the two of you then I don't know what the hell would be except for this all coming out. Tell me something, Damon, and I'm being serious here," he looks me dead in the eye. "Say these photos didn't turn up? Say no one else knew about you and Elena, what would happen when you graduate?"
"Nothing, things would stay the same." I reply defensively.
"Fine. What would happen when Elena graduates?" he questions me with a pushy tone to his voice that I do not like one bit. "When she undoubtedly leaves Mystic Falls to go to whatever Ivy League school she probably already has a scholarship for. What happens then?"
I glare at him. "I don't know where you're trying to go with this but you're really starting to piss me off!"
"I'm just trying to give you a reality check!" he tells me sternly. "I like Elena, ok? I know that I never used to get it but now I do, I see how much you love her and I've seen how much she loves you too. I know this isn't a fling but I also know that as of right now you two don't have a future."
I clench my fist tightly, reminding myself that punching my best friend twice within the space of 24 hours probably isn't the best idea.
"I'm not trying to be a dick," Klaus continues despite me wanting him to shut the hell up. "I just want you to be realistic about this! You two are never going to able to work if you want what you have to stay a secret forever-"
"We never said that!" I cut in angrily. "Just because we don't want to be public right now doesn't mean that it's always going to be the case!"
"But have you spoken to Elena about it?"
"No and that's not the point." I stress in annoyance, trying to push those doubts out of my head. "We've never needed to have that conversation yet because what we have is still new and fresh but we both know that this is real. She's not long turned 17 for Christs sake, she lives with her parents and she's a junior in high school! What is she supposed to do? Tell her parents about us now? Risk getting kicked out and disowned at 17 before she's even made it to her senior year?"
"And what about you?"
"What about me?!" I challenge him angrily. "I'm not going anywhere! When I graduate I'll be going straight into the family business, my life isn't going to change that much! When Elena starts applying for college then we'll talk about our future, but as for right now we are happy where we are." I tell him firmly, making sure that he knows that this is no longer up for discussion. "Which is why I need to find out whoever the asshole is who sent those photos and make sure that no one else finds out about us."
"Fine." Klaus holds up his hands in defeat. "Whatever you say, Damon."
I send him another glare before tossing him his car keys that he left on the side, watching as he scrambles to catch them as they bounce of his chest.
"Do me a favor and follow me around today, discreetly of course."
He frowns confused. "You want me to follow you?"
"Yep." I confirm. "Because whoever has been taking those photos has also been following me, and if you're following me you might also happen to notice someone else doing the exact same thing." I grab my jacket and throw it on.
"I have plans toda-"
"I don't care." I cut him off. "You owe me for being an asshole." I unlock my door and open it, motioning him out as he groans in annoyance but follows my instructions anyway. "Be discreet!" I warn him before heading to my Camaro.
I take a small sneaky look through my closed curtains for what feels like the millionth time today but I can't help it. I can't shake that horrible feeling that someone is watching me.
Taking photos of me.
The thought sends a shiver up my spine because someone has been watching me, someone has been taking photos of me and it creeps me out.
I gasp and stumble on my feet when someone knocks on my bedroom door and I swing around to see an amused looking Bonnie stood in my doorway.
"Someone's jumpy." she laughs slightly at my reaction and I do my best to calm my rapidly beating heart.
"Sorry." I force a smile. "What are you doing here?"
"I tried calling you," she motions to my cellphone that rests face down on my bed, switched to silent. "I'm meeting Caroline at The Grill for dinner, thought you might want to come?"
I frown and glance back towards my window, still not being able to shake that feeling that someone is watching me. "I don't know Bon..."
"Oh come on, Elena, your Mom said that you've been cooked up in your room all day." she stops and her face changes into something that resembles concern. "Is everything ok?"
"Yeah." I nod my head and clench my jaw tightly to try and keep my emotions in check. "Everything is fine."
"What about with Richmond boy..." she glances over her shoulder for a moment to make sure that no one is stood in the hall. "Is everything ok with him?"
"Fine." I cut in. "Everything is fine."
"Ok then." she doesn't seem convinced but I'm relieved when she doesn't take it any further, unfortunately that means that I have no excuses. "Then it's settled, you're coming."
"Ok fine." I sigh loudly. "Give me a moment to freshen up?"
"Sure." she smiles. "I'll see you in the car." she turns and leaves and I quickly walk back towards my bedroom window and look outside, seeing nothing from the side of my house since it only covers a small view of my street out front but still feeling paranoid that someone can see everything in here, despite my curtains being closed shut.
I try my best to shake off the feeling before quickly freshening up and running out to climb into Bonnie's car, unable to stop myself from scanning my street with my eyes as I do.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Once we arrive in The Grill I am immediately overwhelmed by it's post Christmas holiday frenzy. The place is bouncing with people, from young to old and Bonnie has to clutch my hand in hers to guide me through the heavy crowd that are gathered by the entrance before we can head towards the less crowded part of the restaurant, which still is pretty full, even by The Grill's usual busy standards.
"Thank God you got us a table!" Bonnie smiles in relief as we approach Caroline who is sat in a booth on her own.
"I forgot how crazy it gets in here at this time of year." Caroline looks around the place with her eyes as I sit down, cringing slightly as a Christmas song blares through the speakers.
I just want this holiday to be over.
The two of them fall into small mindless chatter that I participate in every now and then but honestly I can't get my mind to focus on it for long periods of time. I can't help but look around the crowded bar, wondering if the person who knows about my relationship with Damon is in here right now, watching me, waiting for me to do something.
I glance down at the text message I received from my boyfriend not too long ago informing me that he still hasn't found who the culprit is, and his loss of ideas is not helping my anxiety one bit, especially when I can't even go to him for comfort and use his help in calming me down.
Damon is the only person who I think I'll be able to feel safe with because right now I feel like a complete wreck and I am using all of my strength to try and stay strong and hold myself together. The ironic thing is, Damon is the person who I would be the least safe with right now too because it would only give whoever sent me those photos another incentive to get to us.
Nobody can fault the irony of this situation.
"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"
I freeze at the words spoken loudly in an English accent and turn my head just in time to see Rebekah walking towards our booth with an amused smirk on her face.
"What are you blabbering on about Rebekah?" Caroline sends her a glare and I'm reminded again about the dislike my best friend shares with me for the blonde vixen in front of me.
"I don't know, Caroline, ask your fare Elena?" she grins and winks at me and I feel my blood boil and my cheeks flush.
She cannot be doing this, can she?
My cheeks continue to heat up as both Caroline and Bonnie look at me confused and I stutter and fumble under their gazes as I try and push my anxiety away, needing to be rid of this sickly feeling in my stomach.
"Relax Gilbert." Rebekah laughs, her eyes glistening. "It was a Matt joke, you probably didn't get it." she winks at me and even though I feel relieved, I also feel incredibly pissed off.
"How the hell is that a Matt joke?" Caroline frowns before cutting Rebekah off as she goes to answer. "You know what, never mind I don't even want to know! No go on shoo, we were having a fun night until you showed up."
Rebekah sends a glare back but it soon turns into a smirk as she catches my eye. Thankfully though she does take a step back and I watch as she fluffs up her hair a little as she goes to walk away but not before leaving parting words.
"Just ask Elena, she'll explain it to you." she grins before leaving and I frown and take a chug from my drink wishing that there was some vodka in this lemonade to help me get by.
"What is she talking about?" Bonnie asks me confused and I shrug.
"I have no idea." I try my best to sound casual. "She's probably on something."
"It wouldn't surprise me." Bonnie murmurs but Caroline doesn't look convinced but luckily for me she doesn't say anything else on the matter. "Anyway," Bonnie moves the conversation along swiftly. "New Years! What's our plans? The usual tradition? Elena I think it's your turn this year, right?"
I cringe immediately, not believing that I've managed to forget about a tradition that the three of us have been participating in ever since we were ten years old. Every year we take turns to go to each others houses, buy lots of chocolate and ice cream and order takeout, spending the whole evening having a girls night until the clock strikes midnight and we celebrate the new year together.
"Um..." I don't even bother to hide my wince. "I don't think I'll be able to do that this year."
"What? Why?" Caroline frowns at me immediately before asking the dreaded question. "What else will you be doing?"
Damon asked me a couple of weeks ago to spend the New Year with him, I agreed immediately of course, not wanting anything more than to spend the night with him as we move into the new year together. Unfortunately my excitement of our new plans lead me to forget all about my old ones, my mind focused on him and him only.
Damon does that too me.
"Well?" Caroline asks impatiently when I fail to give her an answer. I glance nervously at Bonnie and I watch as the realization dawns on her, but of course she thinks I'll be spending it with the mystery guy from Richmond, not Damon Salvatore. "Elena?"
"I already have plans...out of town." I grimace slightly as my heart starts to speed up. I should have already thought of a cover story, but my mind has obviously been preoccupied these past 24 hours.
"With who?"
"Look it doesn't matter," Bonnie cuts in saving me from answering but I don't miss the strange look that crosses Caroline's features, almost like she's disappointed but there's an edge to it that I can't work out, but just as quick as it came, it goes immediately after. "Why don't we go to Mason Lockwood's party? That way you get to spend New Years with Tyler too." she offers with a smile. "It might be a nice change, and it will be fun doing the count down with everyone."
I nod my head enthusiastically, encouraging the idea as Caroline eyes both of us skeptically but I hope that the suggestion of her spending the night with her boyfriend manages to sway her.
Thankfully it does.
"Ok fine." she breathes out before looking at me pointedly. "But don't think that you're off the hook!" her tone is playful but I swear I hear something behind it, but when Bonnie smiles and nudges her jokingly I put it off, I'm clearly still paranoid about everything.
I force a smile and we fall back into our usual chatter about school, boys and our families and this time I do a better job at paying attention but it still doesn't stop that niggling feeling in the back of my mind that someone is watching me.
"This is bullshit." Klaus huffs out into the dark night air of Mystic Falls. "What exactly are we doing here? It's freezing!"
We trek through the snow in the woods that Elena and I were only at yesterday morning, even though it feels like so long ago. I use the torch from my phone to guide us through as I stumble along towards the deserted Lockwood cellars.
"Whoever knows about me and Elena recorded us here yesterday, I just want to check it out to see if maybe they dropped something." I explain in annoyance as I feel my socks start to soak from the thick snow despite my leather boots. I know that I'm picking at straws here, but I need to do something, I need to find something, anything. I can't just sit around at home twiddling my thumbs and praying this goes away while waiting for their next move, no, I need to make the next move and the only way I can do that is if I find out whoever this asshole is and make sure they don't even look in Elena's direction again.
"Even if they did, Damon, I doubt you'd find it with all this snow." he grumbles in annoyance, clearly not happy to be out here but I just ignore him and keep walking before coming to a stop to where I think whoever was watching us took the video from. Obviously I don't know how far away they were, they must have had to use a zoom on their camera to take the video without either me or Elena noticing their presence, but I think of the angle of where the video was taken and just start in that direction.
After almost an hour of pushing snow around with my feet, trying to find something that I know isn't there we eventually call it quits. I slam my hand against a tree in frustration, all this pent up rage starting to build up and I don't know where to direct it.
I need someone to direct it too, I need to find whoever is doing this.
I go to follow Klaus back to the car when I stop, a thought suddenly crossing my mind as I think back to the Winter Formal and I don't know why it never crossed my mind earlier.
"Mason Lockwood."
"What?" Klaus turns around to face me confused. "What about him?"
"Maybe it's him." I suggest because it's certainly not an out there thought. "He was there that night at the dance, he was with Elena that night. She ditched him for me, what if he followed her or went looking for her and saw us together?" the pieces start to come together. "He hates me, he despises me so imagine how angry he'd be to find out about me and Elena? A girl who he's admitted to liking. He'd also have the incentive to target Elena because he'd resent her for being with me instead of him."
Klaus stares at me for a moment, his eyebrows creased together. "And you think he'd keep it to himself instead of telling Grayson straight away?"
"Yeah I do." I nod my head. "Because it involves me, so he'll probably try and blackmail us or something." I run my hand through my hair. "Ok, I need to go. I'll call you later." I start to run and quickly head back to my Camaro, jumping inside and heading off.
I park a few blocks away from Elena's house before pulling my hood over my head and walk around into her street, grateful that it's late so a lot of her neighbors houses lights are off signalling that they are most likely sleeping so I can easily climb up the trellis on the side of the house that leads up to her bedroom window without having to worry about her neighbors seeing me.
I tap on the window once, twice, before I see a shadow and I wait with baited breath knowing how risky it is showing up here without warning, especially with everything that is happening.
Luckily when the curtains are opened it's Elena who is stood there and I watch as her eyes quickly widen before pushing open the window and helping me through.
"Damon!" she whispers loudly at me. "What are you doing here?" she glances over her shoulder nervously to both her bathroom and bedroom closed doors. "My parents are home, Jeremy is home." she scolds me but I just wipe off some of the snow from my shoulders and stand up straight.
"I know but I needed to see you." I confess somewhat anxiously and I watch as her body sinks slightly, her features softening and I take the opportunity to cup her face between my hands, my thumbs rubbing her cheeks softly and I dip my head down to press a slow kiss to her lips. "I need to tell you something..."
"Ok..." she sounds nervous and I don't blame her. "Is this about the photos?"
"Yeah." I nod my head. "I think I might have an idea of who it might be, but first I need to ask you to do something for me." I run two fingers through her soft curled hair and twirl them around for a moment.
She nods her head slowly, a frown on her face that has a mix between nerves, confusion and anxiousness. "Yeah I'll do anything for you, Damon, you know that." she looks me dead in the eye and I believe her. "What is it?"
I take a deep breath before I let the words fall from my lips because I really don't want to say it, and I really don't want it to happen but it's the only way.
I need to know for sure.
"I need you to go on a date with Mason Lockwood."
Like it? Sorry it was a sort of filler chapter!
Thanks for reading and thanks to you all who reviewed, you're my favorite people!
Until next time :)