Cannonball

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

Another big shout out to AnglcDmn1986 for helping me with this chapter and using some of her real life American knowledge! Thank you lots for being my beta, I really appreciate it!

April 19th 2013.

Friday 11:05pm

Mystic Falls

"Go Damon!" Klaus orders loudly, pointing to the car. Before I know it he is throwing Elena's duffle bag into the back seat as Elena runs into the passenger side. "Go now! Quick!" I jump into the car blindly and my shaking hands stumble around the keys.

I hurriedly restart the engine, the tires screeching in protest as I pull away fast. I quickly swing around the corner but not before I see the sight of those familiar flashing blue lights in the distance with Klaus still standing on the edge of his driveway.

I keep driving fast, my fingers clutched tightly to the wheel as my eyes continue to dart back and forth between the road ahead of me and the mirror to check behind. The noise of the sirens slowly fades away and the flashing lights haven't followed since we turned the corner from Klaus's street.

They didn't see us.

I let out a breath. I see Elena do the same once she checks over her shoulder; she falls back into her seat. I pause briefly before I speak.

"Elena," I look at her before my eyes find the road again, my hands clutching the wheel so tightly I can feel my skin stretching. "It's not too late for you. I can stop this car right now and you can go."

"Damon-" she tries to cut me off but I speak over her.

"Elena I just need to ask." I tell her firmly. "Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Once we do, there's no turning back."

"Damon, I love you. Nothing is going to change that." Her voice is soft but firm and I instantly believe her. "We're in this together, no matter what."

I clear my throat and nod, blinking back the emotion that is fighting its way onto my face at her words. I push away the guilt and the pain, willing myself to stay strong.

This isn't going to be forever.

I finally pass the cheesy 'Thank You for Visiting Mystic Falls' sign and I feel a brief wave of relief before I realize there is still a while to go until we cross state lines.

"Damon," Elena breaks the tense silence. "I need you to tell me what happened." Her voice is stern and I know that she's not going to take no for an answer.

"Elena," I sigh while shaking my head. "It's complicated." I don't want to lie but I don't want her to know the truth either.

"I don't care." She snaps. "What were you even doing there in the first place? Jeremy told me they found your car, why? What were you doing anywhere near Vaughn? You promised me it was over, Damon!" she scolds me. "So tell me the truth, and don't you dare think about trying to spin me one of your cover stories." I immediately cringe. Busted. "I want to know everything. You can't protect me from this. It's too late. We're in this together, so just tell me the truth." She reaches out and places her hand gently on my thigh, her palm slowly sliding towards my knee before squeezing it gently in reassurance. I let out a shaky breath and look down at her hand. "I love you," she whispers out softly. "Do you really think that I'm going to judge you? Whatever you did, I don't care."

"Okay." I give in because she deserves to know the truth. She's right. She made this sacrifice to run with me so now we are in this together. So I tell her everything, from Zach's lie about telling Vaughn I spoke to the cops, to the picture of her outside of her house to the plan to set Vaughn up by me planting drugs in his house that would send him to prison for at least ten years.

"It all went wrong from there," I grimace, my eyes glued to the road ahead of me as I speed along the empty lane, avoiding the freeway until it's inevitable. "Everything was going to plan, but then I found Vaughn." I swallow the lump that is building in my throat and Elena squeezes my thigh again urging me to continue. "He was already dead, Elena, I swear. I don't know who shot him. I was starting to panic, I've never seen a dead body before…I didn't know what to do. Then I heard a noise, and I thought whoever killed Vaughn was still in the house and I didn't think," I clench my jaw in frustration at the biggest mistake that I made. "I wasn't thinking! I panicked and I picked up the gun. I only did it to protect myself, I didn't think that I wasn't wearing gloves; I didn't think that the gun was most likely the same one used to shoot Vaughn. I picked it up and I held it out in front of me," I take a deep breath. "Except it was just Zach, he came to warn me that Vaughn wasn't where he was supposed to be but by then it was too late. The cops had showed up so we made a run for it." I shake my head at the sheer unluckiness of it all. "So not only did I leave my car outside of the house, I touched the damn murder weapon, too."

"But you didn't do it," Elena points out with a hint of hope in her voice. "Sooner or later the truth is going to come out."

I squeeze my eyes shut briefly. "I'm so sorry, Elena."

She unbuckles her seat-belt and slides towards me, her arm wrapping around my shoulders as she presses her forehead against my temple.

"We'll survive, Damon." She whispers into my ear before pressing a slow soft kiss to my cheek. "We always survive."

"I told you already that I haven't seen Damon since this morning." The lie falls easily from my lips for what feels like the hundredth time. It's past midnight and the cops are still trying to get me to talk. My Dad stands stiffly across our living room, a tumbler of whiskey in his hand that I so desperately wish I could take right now.

Detective Gilbert is determined for me to tell him where Damon is. He is gunning for him, and he is hell-bent on trying to get as much information out of me as possible.

Too bad I don't intend to give him even a snippet.

"Well unfortunately for you, I don't believe you!" Grayson snaps at me angrily, the frustration visible on his face. "I don't think you understand how serious this is, son? We're not talking about a petty crime here, this is murder! You're friend killed someone!"

"Damon didn't kill anyone!" I argue back angrily.

Grayson stills and glances at one of his uniformed colleague's. "Now I thought you didn't know anything?"

I clench my jaw and look him straight in the eye. "I don't," I hiss out through gritted teeth. "But I do know Damon, and I know that he may have done a lot of things in the past but there is no way in hell that he is capable of murder."

"The evidence proves otherwise," Grayson glares at me as the shrill of his phone echoes around the room. I spare a glance at my Dad who does not at all look happy, and I just know that I am going to be in for a rollicking once the cops finally get out of here. "What?" Grayson snaps at whomever it is who is calling him, clearly not happy to be interrupted.

I run my hand down my face tiredly, wondering how far Damon and Elena have gotten and hoping that they make it.

"What?! What do you mean you can't find her?" Grayson stills, his face visibly paling and I watch in slow motion as his jaw drops and his gaze slowly shifts to me. "Bonnie?" he speaks stiffly, his eyes glued to mine as the names pour out of his lips distantly. "Caroline? Nobody has seen her? Heard from her?" I watch as he clears his throat before slowly hanging up.

"Tell me my daughter isn't with him," his voice is quiet but I can still hear it from where he is standing. I stay silent and don't back away from his gaze. "Tell me!" his voice comes out in a bellowing roar and he crosses the room faster than I can blink. Before I know it his hands are clenched around my collar and he has me pinned against the wall. "Tell me!"

"Detective!"

"Hey! Get your hands off my son!" I hear my Dad call out and the other cops in the room, each of them trying to pull Grayson off of me but he doesn't budge.

"Where's Elena?!" He screams into my face and I flinch slightly. He shakes my body further and my back slams against the wall. "Where is she?!"

"I don't know!" I shout back, trying to push him off me until eventually he is dragged away.

"Get the hell out of my house!" My Dad orders them angrily. "Next time you want to come in here and harass my son, you sure as hell better bring a warrant!"

"If you know something, Mikaelson, I will find out!" Grayson shouts at me while being dragged away. "If my daughter is in trouble I will hold you personally responsible, do you hear me!"

I shake my head with a glare as he is finally pulled out of the room. My Dad follows them up and I hear the front door slam shut before he is back into the parlor, an unimpressed scowl on his face.

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into?" he demands from me and I immediately hold up my hands.

"I don't know where Damon is!"

He scoffs and walks over to the drinks table to pour himself another glass of whiskey. "No? Then where the hell is your car?" he questions me and I freeze. "Didn't think I'd notice?" he turns to face me, a smirk on his lips and I cringe and look away. "You keep your mouth shut. I'll report your car stolen in a couple of days." He tells me before leaving the room and I sigh loudly and fall back down onto the couch in relief.

I stifle a yawn as I climb out of Klaus' car and stretch out my arms and legs which are aching from driving all night. Elena is still sound asleep in the passenger side.

I look at my watch to see that it's almost 9am. We made it out of the state of Virginia and currently find ourselves in Richmond, Kentucky. . I look around the area, noticing it isn't busy like a large city, but it seems like it might be a little quieter than Mystic Falls even though I drove past a Wal-Mart and a university. I know that we can't stay here for long. This is merely just a pit stop but I need to get rid of Klaus's car before the cops realize that I have it.

I yawn as a wave of tiredness starts to creep up on me, the adrenaline from escaping the cops and crossing state lines is starting to wear off. I walk around to the passenger door and slowly open it.

I smile at Elena's sleeping form, her head lulling slightly from her place resting against the door now that I've opened it. Her mouth is parted and she looks as cute as button.

"Elena," I whisper softly, brushing some hair out of her face before sliding my finger gently against her soft skin. "Elena? Wake up baby."

She groans slightly and I watch as her eyes slowly flutter open and I don't even bother to hide the smile as her brown doe eyes meet mine. She frowns confused for a moment before pushing herself up, looking around curiously.

"Where are we?"

"We're in Kentucky." I tell her with a smile and her eyes widen. She's been asleep for the last six hours.

"We made it?" she whispers with a smile and I nod my head.

"We did." I confirm. I don't want to tell her that we're still not safe. That we'll never be safe, we'll always need to keep on moving but she looks so pleased to have left Virginia to say otherwise. "Come on," I help her out of the car. "Grab our bags and go into that coffee shop over there." I point across to a Purdy's Coffee Co. on Main Street. "Get yourself something to drink."

She frowns, her eyebrows creased together. "Where are you going?" she asks warily.

"To try and sell Klaus's car and get a new one of our own to keep moving." I explain. "I saw a second hand dealership around the block. It looked a little sketchy so hopefully I can manage to get something without too many questions being asked. It's best if I go alone, I promise I won't be long."

She doesn't look convinced but when I kiss her softly and eventually agrees. "Okay, but hurry back." She clings to my hands tightly and I nod and kiss her again before letting her go.

I wait until she gets inside the coffee shop that I pointed out before climbing back inside Klaus's car and turning around, heading back towards the dealership.

My first thoughts are right, the place is definitely sketchy. It's across the street from a place called Richmond Motors, but they seemed more legitimate. The salesman clearly knew that Klaus's car wasn't my own so he made sure to rip me off in the process. I couldn't argue too much, and so I sold Klaus' expensive car in for scrap metal and in return was traded a less pleasant Ford F10 and $800.

I see the relief on Elena's face when I make it back to her, and I smile when she hands me over a coffee of my own as she walks happily out of the café.

"I thought I'd get you a take out." She kisses me quickly as she hands me the polystyrene cup. "You look like you needed it." She stands on her tip toes and looks over my shoulder. "That's the car you got us?" she doesn't look impressed and I smirk.

"I happen to think it has character."

"Huh," she pulls a face and looks back at me, "if you say so."

"I do." I squeeze her hip. "Now come on, let's get out of here."

"Can I drive?"

I immediately scoff. "No way."

"Why not?" she pouts as I open up the passenger door purposely for her and motion for her to get inside.

"It's a stick! I don't trust you with a clutch."

"I can drive a stick!" she argues.

"Yeah," I smirk as I get in my side, placing my coffee in the drinks holder, "right."

"Besides, you've been driving all night! It would be dangerous for you to keep driving."

I roll my eyes. "I'm fine, but if it makes you feel better we'll stop at a motel in a few hours." I turn on the engine and pull away; briefly glancing around with my eyes to make sure that there is no one watching us or that there is any cops around. I don't know how public my arrest is just yet but I know that I need to be careful either way.

"A motel, huh?" she looks at me amused.

"Yeah," I confirm and send her a smirk, glad to see that she isn't taking this talk of a change of lifestyle hard. "Get used to it."

She chuckles before sliding along the chair and resting her head against my shoulder, her arm looping through mine. I tilt my head and press a kiss into her hair as she snuggles up further against me.

"I love you." I murmur against her before turning my eyes back to the road. I hope she understands the underlying message behind those simple three words. I hope she knows how utterly grateful I am for her being in my life and standing by me through this mess that I created.

It's incredibly selfish of me to bring Elena with me, deep down I know that. I'm a selfish person though, and the thought of living without Elena is just unbearable to me.

"I love you too," she smiles sweetly and kisses my cheek before nestling back into my side.

Not before she steals my coffee though.

I watch as Damon finishes checking us out from the motel room that we stayed in last night. I'm not even quite sure we are. It's a motel in some desolate town in northern Tennessee. It was nice to be able to just take a break from the chaos of escaping Mystic Falls. I know that Damon really needed the sleep after everything that he has been through and the fact that he hadn't slept in over twenty four hours. He slept soundlessly through the whole night and when we woke up this morning I pleasured him with kisses and silent promises. We showered, together, before eventually getting dressed and repacking up the truck.

I know that none of this is going to be easy. Damon is, wrongfully so, a wanted man. I'm breaking the law just by being with him. This is going to be tough, but I don't regret it. I'm being incredibly selfish but I don't regret my decision to join him because a life without Damon is simply a life that isn't worth living to me.

"Are you ready to go?" Damon approaches me with a sweet smile as I push myself up straight from the truck and nod my head.

I watch as the fierce light from the sun rising shines off the top of his dark hair, making it look lighter from this angle as it rests messily on top of his head. He presses a swift kiss to my forehead once he reaches me and I smile.

Damon Salvatore came into my life like a cannonball. I didn't see it coming and when it did happen I tried my hardest to fight it.

It's a war that I am happy to have lost.

"Well?" he raises his eyebrow at me curiously, a small smile still resting on his lips and my stomach flutters with butterflies because of how handsome he is. "Are you ready to go?" he asks me again.

"Yes." I nod my head with a smile. I slide my hand into his, my fingers looping through his in a perfect fit. "I'm ready."

The End

Wow! I can't believe that I finally made it to the end and that Cannonball is officially over! It's been one hell of a ride and your comments throughout have been amazing and hilarious! I will try and reply to you all for this chapter.

As some of you correctly predicted, the sequel will be about Damon and Elena on the run! Obviously it's not going to be easy! I still haven't come up with a name for the story yet (I have a few ideas but nothing solid) but I will make sure to let you all know about it on Twitter so watch out!

Thank you again to everyone for reading/reviewing/favoriting/following etc.

I'll see you soon!