Cannonball
Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries.
Wow over 900 reviews? That's amazing thank you so much to everyone who has ever took the time to write a review, it really does mean a lot so thank you thank you thank you!
A little warning, this chapter and the next chapter were supposed to be one big one but I decided to split them so I could get an update tonight as I probably won't have another chance until at least Sunday or Monday and I didn't want to keep you all waiting for much longer, so I hope that it still works out well this way…here goes…
February 19th 2013.
Tuesday 10:25pm
Mystic Falls
"Here you go," I smile softly at Jeremy as I walk into his bedroom and hand him a mug of steaming hot chocolate.
"Ah thank you." He grins and pauses his game, throwing his Xbox controller to the side of his bed. "I should get injured more often if this is the treatment I'm going to get." He looks at me for a long moment. "Hey are you ok?" he frowns concerned. "You look like you've been crying."
I act nonchalant and wave him off. "I'm fine, just tired." I hold a tight smile before continuing "And you weren't injured, you were beaten up." I point out to him despite myself. Jeremy is right, all evening I have been at his beck and call, waiting on his every need but I can't help but feel a weight of guilt at this happening, I can't help feeling somewhat responsible for part of Damon's actions.
Of course Jeremy doesn't know that, or more importantly, know why.
Jeremy chuckles slightly. "Maybe I'll start provoking Salvatore's on a weekly basis if this is the treatment I'm going to get, it might even get you to let me drive that car of yours." He teases with a smile and I frown a little because although I did believe Damon when he told me that Jeremy attempted to blackmail him, it feels strange to hear it coming from Jeremy's mouth.
"So you did provoke him?" I ask with a sigh and Jeremy shrugs casually. "Jer! You can't go around doing things like that…"
He rolls his eyes unconcerned. "It's no big deal, Elena, I tried to get one over on him but he went all psycho and beat me up instead. I admit it was a bad call but it's over now so you don't have to worry ok." He places his mug on to his bedside table before standing up and pressing a quick kiss to my forehead. "Damon knows better than to come after me again anytime soon, especially with the way Dad is gunning for that family right now." He smirks slightly and I force a smile and excuse myself, barely able to keep indifferent and detached for much longer when it comes to Damon Salvatore.
I walk back into my room through our connecting bathroom and I'm surprised to see my Aunt Jenna sat on the edge of my bed waiting for me.
I force another smile to my lips, my heart rate starting to speed up because ever since I confessed to her about my relationship with Damon last night she has barely spoken to me.
"I didn't know you were going to be here tonight." I muse, trying to pretend that nothing is out of the ordinary as I make sure to close the door shut behind me.
"I had a date with Ric so I thought I'd drop by before I drive back to Whitmore." I nod my head slowly, knowing that Jenna and Alaric started dating a couple of months back, I found it a little strange at first I mean he is my History teacher but as time went on and I got to meet him outside of school grounds I came to realize how much of a cool guy he is and how perfect he is or my Aunt Jenna who deserves a good guy in her life after all the douchebags she has dated in the past.
I distract myself by placing my phone on charge and moving some things around on my dressing table. "How was it?" I ask while briefly looking over my shoulder.
"Great," she smiles slightly. "But you know that I didn't come here to talk about my date with your history teacher."
I freeze slightly and take a deep breath before willing myself to turn around and face her.
"I know." I play with my fingers as I stand before her nervously. "You want to talk about Damon."
"I want to talk about you." She corrects me and motions to the space on the bed beside her for me to take a seat; I take another deep breath and slowly join her, a little surprised when she takes my hand in hers. "This isn't you, Elena," I go to pull my hand away in protest but she clutches it tighter and continues. "No listen to me, it's not! The secrets, the lying…God Elena, the cheating, that isn't you and you know it sweetheart."
"Maybe you just don't know me, maybe no one does." I snap at her coldly and watch as her jaw slacks for a moment before she recovers.
"I know you, Elena." She tells me firmly. "Which is why I can't get my head around what you told me last night? I don't understand it."
"I knew I shouldn't have told you." I pull out of her grasp and this time she lets me and I stand up immediately, wanting nothing more than to bolt but knowing that I don't have a choice but to stay and fight my own corner on this.
"Don't say that." She sighs loudly. "I'm glad you told me, Elena, ok? I'm glad that you came to me because bottling up your feelings wasn't helping, it still isn't helping."
"I've had a really bad day, Jenna; please I don't need this right now." I run a shaky hand through my hair, wanting nothing more than this nightmare day to be over with because it truly has been one of the longest of my life.
I barely slept last night with worrying about Jenna possibly telling my parents about Damon, only then having to go into school the next morning to find out that my boyfriend who I was just previously trying to defend to my Aunt about how much of a great and misunderstood guy he is, ended up beating up my little brother.
"Well I'm sorry Elena but I'm not going back to Whitmore until I know that A) what the hell is going on in your life? And B) that you're going to be ok." She tells me sternly. "So let's start again…the lying? The secrets? Why?"
"Why?" I ask her in disbelief. "Why do you think?!" I scoff coldly. "It's not like I can come home one day and go 'Oh hey Mom and Dad, come meet my new boyfriend Damon Salvatore' and expect everything to be ok and for him to be welcomed into the family with open arms!" I take a deep breath and try to keep my voice from rising very much aware of Jeremy being down the hall and my parents watching TV downstairs. "I told you everything, Jenna, I told you how we met, I told you about I feel about him, how he feels about me. What else do you want me say?" I feel defeated, like I'm constantly fighting a losing battle and the worst part is that Jenna finding out isn't even the worst case scenario in this story.
Telling her was supposed to be the easy part.
Jenna stares at me for a long moment and I squirm slightly under her gaze, wondering where this is going to go, wondering what I did in another life to deserve this bad luck that seems to be hitting me all at once like a cannonball.
I should have never of said anything, I should have just kept my mouth shut.
"I want to know where you're going to go from here." She tells me calmly. "Because you can't keep up with all these lies, Elena, it's eating you up."
I let out a dry laugh. "You think it's the lying that's bothering me right now?" I ask her in disbelief, watching as she looks back at me a little stunned. "You clearly didn't listen to half of the things that I told you last night because if you did you would know that I would lie to every single person on this earth for the rest of my life if it meant I could be with Damon!" I can tell that she doesn't quite know what to say to that and I'm glad because I don't want to hear anything else. She seems to think that it's my guilt and the secrets that I am keeping that are making me feel down, but she is so wrong because I was so much happier when that was all I had to worry about.
No, it's Katherine and being on the outs with Damon that is making me miserable, not the lying.
"Please Jenna; can we not do this tonight?" I feel my eyes stinging with tears and let out a relieved breath when she slowly nods her head and stands up, she goes to leave but stops before turning around and approaching me before she brushes a fallen tear that slides down my cheek with a sad smile.
"You know that I'll always be here for you, ok?" her tone is soft but still firm and I nod my head slowly. "Good." She presses a kiss to my forehead just like the one Jeremy gave me earlier before taking a step back and leaving.
I fall to my bed as I try to process this whole evening, from Damon showing up, up until this point with Jenna and I reach up to switch my light off before curling up into a fetal position and letting out the sob that I have been holding in all day as I cry myself to sleep.
I walk out of the courtroom into the less crowded hallway and loosen my black tie immediately, feeling like I am constantly being suffocated and that I can no longer breathe.
I lean my hands on the wall and my head dips forward as I try and forget about what just happened in that courtroom. I had to sit there while the prosecutor grilled my father about the tunnels, questioning his motives and his values and twisting every single word that Giuseppe said against him. It didn't help that from where I was sitting left me with the perfect view of Grayson Gilbert, sat smugly with one leg crossed over the other with a smirk on his face as the prosecution lawyer hit one question and comment after the other to try and prove that my father is as guilty as sin and should be sent down for his crime.
The guilt is starting to eat me up and I don't know what I will do if Giuseppe actually gets sent to prison for this.
"Oh come on, if you think this was bad you should have been here yesterday when Gilbert was on the stand, he basically gave Giuseppe a character assassination." Zach chuckles and I straighten up and turn around to face him in disbelief.
"You think this is funny?"
He shrugs casually with a smirk. "Oh come on! You should have seen Gilbert stood up there on his pedestal thinking he was all high and mighty. Got to find the humor in some place, right?" I scoff and look away, not believing that he can find even a slither of this amusing.
"Whatever," I mutter before briefly looking around to make sure that no one is within hearing distance. "So are you going to keep me waiting all day or what?"
"Or what?" Zach plays the innocent card and I'm about this close to losing my temper.
"That phone call we had last night!" I take a step towards him. "You know…the dirt you have on Katherine." I mutter under my breath.
"Ah…that." He looks around for a moment. "You're going to have to wait a little longer."
"What? Why?" I snap at him impatiently.
"Because in case you have forgotten we are standing in the middle of a courthouse, and in case it wasn't obvious the way I received the information I got for you wasn't exactly in a legal above board manner." He rolls his eyes slightly. "So like I said, you are going to have to wait until this afternoon."
"Can you at least tell me?" I snap in annoyance. "I want Katherine out of my life ASAP."
He stares at me for a moment. "What's this really about? Don't think I haven't missed the way your brother has been giving you death looks all morning."
I sigh loudly. "Don't worry about Stefan; he's just got his knickers in a twist."
"So him giving you the evil eye has absolutely nothing to do with you wanting blackmail material on his girlfriend?" he challenges me with a raised eyebrow and I grunt in frustration.
"Look I told you when I asked for your help that Stefan wouldn't listen to me when I warned him about Katherine, nothing has changed since then." I lie, not really wanting to go into detail about the mess that Katherine has created between me and my brother, especially with Zach.
"So you're really not jealous then?" he questions me suspiciously. "You're really only doing this to protect Stefan and not for your own ulterior motives?"
I look him straight in the eye. "Absolutely." the lie rolls off my tongue easily.
He sighs loudly and pulls out a set of keys from his back pocket. "Here," he hands over his car keys and I look at him surprised. "You'll find what you need in the glove compartment." I feel my lips widen into a surprise. "Don't say I never give you anything."
"Thank you!" I tell him appreciatively and I mean it.
"Oh don't thank me yet Damon, you don't know what's in there yet." He says almost cryptically but I ignore it.
That's my first mistake.
"I don't care, thank you!"
"Yeah well you owe me one, Damon, and don't for one second think that I won't come and collect." He warns me and I nod my head furiously with a smile.
"Yeah, yeah, sure." I take steps back distractedly. "Thanks Zach!" I turn on my heel and run, ignoring the calls from a member of staff to tell me to slow down because I am dying to find out what it is that Zach found.
The sooner I know, the sooner I get Katherine out of mine and Elena's lives for good.
I unlock his familiar car in the parking lot and immediately climb into the passenger seat, opening up his compartment and shoving aside some CD cases before picking out a large envelope that is addressed to Zach.
I take a deep nervous breath before slowly opening it and look inside to see what looks like a bunch of legal documents.
I pull out each page and scan them quickly; not really understanding what they mean until I see the next one and my jaw literally drops.
My heart pounds painfully against my chest as I read the words in front of me.
"Oh my god."
"Elena, can you wait behind for a second?" Ric, or should I say Mr Saltzman, calls out to me as the bell rings loudly signalling the end of class.
"Sure." I nod my head; feeling a little nervous as to what this could be about.
Jenna wouldn't have told him about Damon, would she?
"What's up?" I approach his desk slowly as he rises to his feet once the classroom has cleared up.
"Don't worry it's nothing bad." He smiles softly at me. "I just wanted to check in, you looked a little spaced out during class."
"Sorry," I force a smile. "I'm just tired; I didn't get much sleep last night."
He nods briefly and lets out a somewhat awkward cough. "Yeah uh…tell me to mind my own business if you wish, Elena, but are you sure everything is ok? Because Jenna mentioned something about her being worried about you lately, and when she left my place last night she mentioned going to stop by to check on you. Now, Jenna hasn't told me what is up, and I totally respect that," he holds up his hands in a defense pose with a smile. "Hell I don't even wanna know," he looks me in the eyes as they turn from humor to serious in a matter of seconds. "But if you ever did want to talk, or just want someone to listen…well…my classroom door is always open and as your teacher, whatever you want to say to me would strictly stay just between us," he stresses and I can tell immediately that he means he wouldn't mention anything to Jenna.
I nod my head slowly and force a smile. "Ok, thanks Mr Saltzman."
"You can call me Ric, Elena, there's no one here." he grins lightly.
My smile turns into a slightly more genuine one. "Ok, thanks, Ric."
He chuckles lightly and motions for the door. "You best go, I don't want you to get into trouble for being late to your next class."
I nod my head and go to leave, but not before stopping to listen to his parting words.
"Remember what I said, Elena, I'm here to help you, ok? No questions asked."
I nod my head slowly and look up at him. "I may have to take you up on that offer sometime soon, Ric."
And for the first time in what feels like forever, that wasn't a lie.
The ride to school is a quick and anxious one and when I slam my door shut behind me I barely remember how I got here.
This can't be happening.
"Yo Damon, what's up!" Kol calls at me as he sits on top of a picnic table in the quad and I'm briefly reminded that I've come at a bad time because it's lunch time which means that there will be students everywhere but I feel too out of it to care.
My heart is pounding, I feel sick and my eyes are stinging as they get clouded up in a mix of fearful and sickening tears.
I don't cry, ever.
But if what I found in this envelope is what I think it is then nothing in my life will ever be the same again and I don't know how to deal with that.
"Damon?" I hear Kol in the distance, he sounds confused but I ignore him and keep walking.
One foot in front of the other.
I walk inside the building, pushing my way past my peers, not even hearing their insults at my rudeness because my ears are ringing loudly in my head and everything around me is a blur.
"Damon?"
I keep on walking.
"Damon? Hey! Damon!" I feel a hand clutch on my arm and I swing around to shout at whoever has stopped me to come face to face with a concerned looking Rebekah. "Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost." she asks me worriedly, a crease in her eyebrows as she stares at me confused.
I stare at her with wide eyes before pulling my arm from her grasp and continue walking, ignoring her calls behind me as I continue to put one foot in front of the other.
I turn the corner and immediately come to a halt when I see Elena walking in my direction. Her eyes widen when they see me and I feel like I've lost all control of my body because I don't even attempt to be discreet and I can't make myself look away.
I watch as her eyes flicker briefly to her friend Caroline who is walking alongside her chatting away, completely oblivious to her surroundings, before she turns back to me again and the look on her face changes to one from panic, to confusion and then to worry as I continue to stand still, completely frozen in the hallway as she gets closer and closer towards me, my eyes never leaving hers.
I stand completely still as she walks past me, her eyes still never leaving my own and I can't bear myself to look away until the moment she passes me and I don't have the courage to look back.
I look down to my shoes and take another deep breath.
Come on Damon, get yourself together!
So I start to move again, one foot in front of the other, one step at a time.
One destination in mind.
It doesn't take me much longer to get there.
Katherine is stood by her locker, looking down at her cell phone distractedly and not noticing me approaching until I slam her locker shut with a thud, my fist slamming against it roughly.
She jumps slightly, clearly in fright, but it doesn't take her long to compose herself in typical Katherine Pierce style.
"Damon," she eyes me up and down with a smirk. "What can I do for you today, handsome?" she practically purrs at me and it makes me feel physically sick.
I clench my jaw and I feel my fists tighten by my side but it feels like I am having an outer body experience.
"You need to come with me, now." I don't know how the words leave my mouth because I swear I feel like I can't find my voice at all. But like I said, this is like an outer body experience that I am having right now and I feel like I am completely out of control of my own actions.
"Oh?" she looks somewhat amused and I try and breathe through my nose to keep calm. "And what exactly do you have in store for me?" she tries her best to sound flirtatious as she runs a finger down my chest.
I ignore her innuendo and grab her hand from my chest but instead of slapping it away like she probably expected me too I grip a hold of it tightly and drag her along the hallway behind me.
"Damon!" she scolds me as I pull her along. "Damon let me go!" I ignore her protests, not caring if I am making a scene as I force her along the hallways which are no longer crowded but with students still dotted around by the lockers.
"Damon!" she hisses furiously as I open up an empty classroom and literally shove her inside, my hand finally letting go of her own as I slam the door shut loudly behind me, almost knocking it off its hinges.
I look up at Katherine who is rubbing her hand with a grimace on her face but I don't care, she looks up at me, her eyes hard and cold.
"Oh you are so going to regret that!" she snarls at me bitchily and I glower back at her before opening up my jacket.
"Oh yeah? And what about this!" I snap furiously as I throw the large envelope down on to one of the desks in front of me.
She glances down at it confused before looking back up at me, a somewhat impatient look on her face. "What is it?" she asks unimpressed, her arms folded defensively across her chest and I can tell that I have her spooked already.
Good.
"Fucking open it and find out!" I bark at her, my entire body shaking with rage and she looks taken back for a moment before slowly approaching the envelope. I stand completely still, my jaw clenched shut as I watch her nervously look back up at me before going to open up the envelope.
I don't miss the way her hands are shaking.
She slides out the documents and I watch as she recognizes them instantly, her face immediately pales and she stares down at them for a moment before looking at me with wide eyes.
"How did you get these?" her voice sounds weak and vulnerable and it's odd coming from her mouth but I really don't give a damn.
"That doesn't matter." I hiss back, trying to keep my temper in check.
"How did you get these?!" she asks of me again, this time her voice is raised in pure panic. "You shouldn't have these!" she practically wails at me, stuffing the documents back in the envelope almost like she is trying to pretend that she never saw them and that this never happened.
I take a step forward, my eyes wide and my entire body trembling as I prepare myself to say the next words out loud.
Once I say it, it becomes real.
"When the hell were you going to tell me that we have a fucking daughter?!"
Ahhh! Sorry to leave it there!
I know I promised some of you on twitter that there would be plenty DE scenes in this chapter and turns out there weren't really any at all, but that's because it was all coming in what would have been the second part to this chapter that I've now split it into 2.
There will be PLENTY DE scenes in the next chapter, and that is 100 percent certain I promise! I miss writing their scenes together just as much as I'm sure you all miss reading them :)
Thanks for reading, and thanks again to you guys who reviewed! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!
Until next time! :)