AN: No your eyes are not deceiving you. This is an update. I know it's been forever, but my inspiration for this and The Curse has been so lacking. I'm not really sure where I want either to go right now other than a vague endgame, so I'm open to your thoughts. Enjoy. :)
"Elena Gilbert, will you marry me?" he asked her looking deeply into her eyes.
Elena looked at the man kneeling in front of her. She was speechless. The ring was one of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry she had ever seen, although in her head she couldn't help but compare it to her previous ring, but that made no affect on her decision. She looked into the eyes of the man that she knew she could love with her whole heart and gave him the answer he deserved.
"No," she whispered. "I love you Elijah; know that I do, but I can't do this to you," she cried with tears streaming down her face. "Because the truth is I gave my heart away to someone a long time ago, and even though I desperately want it back, I don't think that I ever will. I can't marry you knowing that I would never be able to love you the way you deserve," Elena sobbed. She thought she had meant what she said about being fully invested into their relationship, but when Elijah proposed she couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't commit to a man who deserved something more than the shattered remains of her heart.
Elijah nodded and stood. He tucked the ring back in its box and slipped it into his pocket again. He knew it was a long shot of her saying yes. She was never meant to be his. "I understand Elena," he whispered wiping away a few of her tears. This made Elena sob even harder. She just rejected him, but he was still being so kind to her. "Goodbye Elena," he said giving her one last look before leaving her room.
Once he was gone, Elena managed to get to the bed before being fully consumed with despair and continued crying until the tears finally stopped. She sat up wiping away the remained of her tears and looked at the clock. She had 20 minutes until her train left. If she hurried, she could still make it. She slid off the bed and grabbed her suitcase haphazardly throwing things in it. Once she was sure she had everything, Elena grabbed her jacket and bags and walked out of the door. She checked out of the hotel and hailed a taxi to drive her to Grand Central.
When she got to the station, she knew what she needed to do when she got back to Mystic Falls. She caught the train minutes before it left the station, and since there weren't many people going to Virginia, the train had plenty of open seats.
During the ride Elena began making arrangements for her book tour. It was her first one for all of her books since Elena wanted to keep writing under her pen name for as long as possible. She wasn't sure who was going to go with her on the book tour considering Elijah would probably never want to see her again. She let out a sigh. Even though she would miss Elijah's company, it would be selfish of her to expect Elijah would even want to see her let alone spend an entire tour with her.
Eventually the train arrived at the Mystic Falls station and Elena gathered her things to get off the train. Caroline was anxiously waiting for her at the station. The moment she saw her she threw her arms around her friend and squeezed tight.
"Are you okay?" she asked when she finally let go.
Elena nodded tiredly. She was so emotionally exhausted from the past few days. "I just need to rest. Tomorrow I have to go talk to Klaus about my book tour."
Caroline nodded understandingly. She knew she would get the full story eventually and didn't want to press any further. "Let's get you home then. We can talk in the morning," she said as she led her to her car. Caroline didn't want to leave Elena alone for the night, but she knew that her friend wasn't ready to talk about anything yet, so she drove them silently to Elena's house and dropped her off promising she would meet her for lunch the next day.
Elena slowly trudged up the stairs to her bedroom after closing the door and setting her things down. She knew she should unpack but didn't feel like doing anything after the long, emotional day she had. She changed into her most comfortable pajamas and crawled into her bed falling into a deep slumber that provided her a much-needed break from reality.
"Elena," a voice whispered in her ear. Elena smiled in her sleep and opened her eyes to find Elijah looking at her. "Come with me," he smiled and beckoned her closer. Confused but curious Elena followed him. She noticed they were on the beach just outside his beach house where they once had stayed for a weekend away. They walked on the beach for a while until they reached a door that had appeared in the middle of the beach.
"Elijah? What?" she began to ask but Elijah hushed her and slowly turned the door open. She stepped past him and through the door to find was she standing outside of a church in Mystic Falls. She looked around when the people outside of it began clapping and cheering. She turned to find the church doors opening to reveal Damon and Katherine walking out looking like the perfect couple in love. Elena watched them heartbroken as a tear slid down her cheek.
"Don't you see Elena?" Elijah taunted her as he whispered in her ear. "He's not going to leave her. They're going to stay married and live happily ever after together in New York. You're going to be alone. I could have given you everything, but it still wasn't good enough for you was it? Maybe that's why Damon left? Because he knew everything he could give you would never be enough," he hissed cruelly. "You're too selfish to let anyone love you."
Elena continued to cry watching Damon and Katherine walking away from her. "Damon!" she called out after him. "I love him Elijah," she told him and continued to call Damon's name, but he continued to walk away from her despite her calls. "DAMON!" she cried out one final time before the darkness seemed to envelop her.
Elena shot up out of her bed breathing rapidly. She ran her fingers through her slightly matted, sweaty hair and flipped the covers off of her. She walked to the bathroom that she had previously shared with Jeremy as a child. She remembered the warmth being home once had, but things felt different now. She missed being around her family, but now she had no family to be with. She splashed some water on her face to cool herself down. She looked in the mirror disappointed with herself. She had tried so hard over the past few months to move on from Damon, but here she was still thinking about him.
Sighing Elena walked back to bed. She glanced at the clock and saw she had a meeting with Klaus in less than two hours. Knowing more sleep was not an option Elena decided to get ready for her meeting. She took her time taking a shower hoping that the water would wash away her stress. Once out, Elena slipped into a black bra and underwear set and then put on an orange and white flowered sundress. She carefully applied enough make up to hide the bags under her eyes and give her a natural look. Grabbing orange strappy heels, a matching handbag, and trench coat, Elena strolled down the stairs. She fixed herself a cup of coffee and toast. She could barely bring herself to keep the toast down, but she managed. Elena grabbed her cell and keys from her travel bag and transferred it to her handbag. Once done with her coffee, Elena rinsed out her cup and grabbed her bag and left the house.
Taking a deep breath Elena prepared herself as she pushed open the door to Klaus' office. "Hello Klaus," she said smiling tightly.
Klaus looked up from his desk and smiled at her. "Hello Elena. Please, sit," he gestured and straightened a few papers on his desk.
Elena took off her coat and sat down in the black leather chair in front of his desk. "I spoke to the people on the board of the charity. They were very enthusiastic of my offer to donate proceeds from my next book," Elena began hoping they would avoid discussion of Elijah.
Klaus nodded. "I knew they would be. My brother Kol is on the board. I had him sway them before I sent you and Elijah up there. Speaking of him, where is he? I was expecting him to come back with you, but here you sit without him," Klaus sat back folding his hands on his lap waiting for her answer.
Elena bit her lip. "I'm not sure why he hasn't returned. Our business in New York is done," she answered not wanting to tell him everything.
Klaus nodded. "Well then, as long as everything goes along on schedule, I have no complaints or worries. I'll be checking in with Elijah to make sure everything is happening accordingly. I trust you have no complaints toward my brother."
Elena shook her head no. "Elijah's been nothing but good to me. I really appreciate everything that he's done." She stood and gathered her things. "I'll see you around Klaus," she smiled and turned to the door.
"Oh Elena," he called out after her as she reached the door. "I'm sorry to hear that I won't have the pleasure of calling you my new sister," he smirked and turned back to his computer.
Elena's jaw dropped, and her cheeks flushed with red. She couldn't bring herself to say anything in return and just continued out the door. She headed to her car snapping herself out of her daze. When she reached her car however, she stopped short when she noticed a black SUV trailing her. She turned around and the door of the car swung open, and a man stepped out. Before Elena could react though, the man grabbed her arm and shoved her inside the car.
Trying to overcome her shock and catch her breath, Elena struggled to sit up. Once she righted herself, she noticed who was sitting across from her. "Katherine," she breathed.
Katherine smiled coldly. "Hello Elena, I think it's time to talk girl on girl."
Elena crinkled her eyebrows and straightened the skirt of her dress. "What are you talking about?"
"I did some digging into Damon's background," she answered glancing down at the open folder resting on her lap. I know all about your marriage to Damon, and your pathetic attempts to keep Damon in your clutches. I see you finally got smart after his last visit here and gave him the divorce you both needed. I do not however think that is was very smart of you to come into MY town, into MY life, and mess up MY relationship with him," she sneered.
Elena scoffed and crossed her arms defiantly. "I don't know what you think you know, but I know that you know nothing about my relationship with Damon. As for messing up yours, I'm pretty sure that if something has happened to screw it up, that's all your doing not mine."
Katherine narrowed her eyes at her. Perhaps she had underestimated this small town girl. No matter. She was Katherine Pierce, and she always got what she wanted. She would just have to try a different approach to get things done.
"Listen up Elena. I don't care about your past with Damon. I care about your future, and what I want is for you to not have one. I know that Damon is bound to show up here in a few days begging you to take him back or some how prove that he's changed and wants to start over with you. When he does this though, I want you to say no and send him packing."
"And why would I do that?" Elena wasn't even sure that she would be interested in getting back together after all the pain he had caused after all these years. She didn't know what would make Katherine think Damon would come back here though. She knew that she definitely did not like the slow smile creeping up on Katherine's face.
"Because Elena I happen to hold some very important cards in my hand including Damon's father and your boss Klaus who is very influential in several publishing companies all over the world in fact and can have you black-balled from getting published ever again. I doubt Elijah would be willing to step in considering how you just rejected him." Katherine smirked noticing the way Elena froze at the mention of Elijah's name. " What about your poor Aunt Jenna who just put a second mortgage on her house that she shares with her high school teacher husband and has school loans piling up about a mile high? I would hate to see the bank repossess their home because they suddenly find her to be too unreliable to pay her off all her debts. Are you sure being with Damon would be worth it if you both lost the most important things in both your lives? Can you live with yourself knowing that your own selfish desires will ruin everyone's lives around you?" Katherine asked coldly. She had connections that could flip Elena's world upside down with the snap of her fingers. She knew someone as noble as Elena would sacrifice her own happiness to protect the ones she loved. "Stay away from Damon, and your friends and family will continue happily with their lives as they know it. If not, well…" she trailed off knowingly.
Elena listened to Katherine rattle off the various ways she could ruin the rest of her family and friends' lives. She couldn't take the risk. Damon wasn't worth it. Slightly shaking Elena nodded. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll say whatever it takes to keep him out of my life. I don't know if that means he'll go to back to you, but I'll stay away from him. Just don't do anything to my family and friends," she pleaded trying to keep her voice from wavering.
Katherine simply smiled. "I'll be watching Elena, both of you, so don't even try and think about warning him. Keep your word, and I'll keep mine." Elena nodded and tried to stay calm. Katherine tapped on the window, and the door opened with a hand stretched out for Elena to take. "See you soon Elena," Katherine smiled before disappearing back into the depths of the car.
Elena stood there as the car drove off with one of the most threatening women she had ever met. Katherine's threatening words echoed in her ears. She had to keep her family safe. They were all she had left.
Meanwhile in the SUV, Katherine scrolled through her contacts until she found who she was looking for. "Rebekah darling, I have a favor to ask of you. You remember Damon don't you?" she asked with a devious smile forming across her face. Elena wouldn't be expecting this curveball.
Damon walked into the senior partner's office. He received a message on his desk from his secretary that morning that Mikael Mikaelson wanted to see him. "Hello Mr. Mikaelson," Damon greeted cordially. He knew that he was very good friends with Katherine's father. He must know that he called off the wedding.
Mikael looked up from his paperwork as Damon entered. "Hello Damon. Come, please sit," he said gesturing to one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. "I was just looking over some junior cases to make sure things were being dealt with properly." Unlike some of the other senior partners, Mikael chose to remain very hands on at the firm in order to maintain a tight control of things. "I called you in here today to say that I've been watching you for some time now and think that you are exactly the kind of person that we would want to bring on as a partner once you've done your time if you're interested of course."
Damon raised his eyebrows in surprise. He never thought Mikael liked or paid any attention to him. "Thank you sir. I would be very interested in exploring my career here should to opportunity present itself."
Mikael sat back in his chair appraising Damon. "Good. You know as my children have all chosen to explore alternative fields of work with Elijah and Niklaus in publishing and Rebecca in modeling while Finn and Kol are both some of the countries finest doctors, I have no one to pass my portion of the practice to. I'm getting old Damon," he said bluntly. "Don't disappoint me. One day, all of this," he said looking around the office "could be yours."
Damon forced himself to smile and nod. "Thank you sir," he said standing up. He was not expecting this at all and couldn't help but think it was all a little suspicious. He walked out of the office and checked his phone for messages. He had been getting calls from Katherine all weekend, but for some reason today he had received none. Telling himself that it was probably because she wasn't even awake yet, he began looking through his schedule to clear it. He didn't care what Mikael thought about him; he needed to talk to Elena. He had gone to her hotel, but they told him she had already checked out. He knew she must be back in Mystic Falls by now. He tried calling Stefan, but his brother hadn't been picking up the phone the past couple of times he tried.
He took the elevator back downstairs to his office. "Claire, let all of my clients know that I'll be out of town for the next few days. If they need to contact me then they can call me," he said as he began packing up a few files and his laptop.
Claire nodded and jotted down a quick note. "Of course Mr. Salvatore. I'll forward messages to your cell and cancel any meetings."
Damon shoved the last of his files and his power cord into his briefcase. "Thanks Claire. I'll see you in a few days." He grabbed his bag and left. Once outside he got into his town car and told his driver to take him to Grand Central.
A few hours later Damon stepped off the train and onto the Mystic Falls platform. He had yet to receive any calls from Katherine, and Stefan hadn't returned any of his calls either. Damon got into his rental BMW and floored it to get to the boarding house. Stefan wasn't going to be able to avoid him forever.
Damon threw the car in park and got out. Seeing Stefan's car in the driveway told him that his baby bro was home. He entered the house without knocking or ringing the bell. "Stefan!" he bellowed into the foyer. "Where are you?" He heard a few footsteps and turned to see Stefan come out of his office and Caroline heading downstairs.
"Damon? What are you doing here?" Stefan asked with a confused looked. He glanced at Caroline who looked greatly displeased.
"I called you several times this past weekend," he stated simply rather than answer the question.
Stefan nodded. "I know. I've been busy. I was going to return your call. I just got off the phone with your secretary. She said that you had gone out of town."
Damon let out a breath. So maybe Stefan wasn't trying to be a dick and ignore him. "I need a drink," he sighed.
Caroline huffed and followed him and Stefan into the parlor. "Damon, not that you aren't welcome since it was at one point part of your property, but what are you doing here? You can't just keep showing up here whenever you feel like it. Some of us haven't recovered from the last time you showed up unannounced." She glanced at Stefan warningly. After her lunch with Elena, Caroline shared her worries with Stefan about the damage she thought being around Damon was bringing to Elena. She didn't want him to mention her around Damon if they could avoid it.
"I broke off my engagement with Katherine," he answered after a long sip of scotch. "I caught her cheating on me," he elaborated and then finished his drink.
Caroline cocked an eyebrow but kept her mouth shut. Stefan on the other hand had many questions. "What? How did she take it? Are you planning on staying here for a while then?"
"Chill bro. I'm not sure how long I'm here for, but I know I want to talk to Elena before I leave. As for how she took it? Well, she's not exactly the best when it comes to not getting her way," he scoffed. Selfish, lying bitch he thought.
"I'm not sure if seeing Elena is the best thing to do right now," Caroline began. "I just saw her a few hours ago, and she was very tired. At least wait until tomorrow," she suggested.
Damon smirked at her. "Don't worry Barbie, I'm not going to pounce on her. I'm beat. Night kiddy-kidos. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he said waggling his eyebrows and taking the bottle of scotch and his glass with him to his room. He knew that he was in no shape to face Elena. He would have to wait until the next morning like Caroline said.
Caroline glared in Damon's direction. She hated it when he undermined her relationship with Stefan. "I don't like this Stefan. I don't like this at all."
Stefan sighed and took her into his arms. "I know, but for now I don't know what else to do other than let things play out." He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. Caroline took in the comforting scent of her husband and nodded. She didn't know what Damon was actually in town for, but if he was just going to play games with Elena's heart again, she wasn't going to stand by and let him.
AN: I'm not even going to ask for reviews since I finished this purely for those who already have. You guys are awesome. Any questions or comments will be responded to if you want to PM me. Ok, I'm off to go start the next chapter. Wish me luck that it won't take nearly as long. I don't think it will honestly. :)