So… this update took me longer than expected, but somehow I have LOADS to do at the moment, so, sorry for the delay^^.
THANKS to AVECIA for her amazing beta work (I couldn't do this without you, my dear!) and to my readers and reviewers (I LOVE you guys).
I own nothing 'bout the VD, I just have fun roughing them up^^.
On with it!
Xoxoxoxoxox
As Damon opened his eyes, it was still dark outside. He was confused at first, not knowing what woke him.
But then he remembered what happened a few hours earlier – and saw that the bed beside him was empty.
The sheets where Elena had been sleeping were still warm, so he figured that was what shook him from his sleep – her disappearance.
He pushed his blankets off then, and clad himself in the boxers and shirt he had discarded hours before.
On silent feet he walked out of his room and down the stairs.
There were low voices coming from the living room, and he could see the flicker of fire; someone must have lit the fireplace.
He walked fully into the room and around the couch…. And saw something so surreal he thought for a moment he was still asleep and dreaming.
Sitting there were Katherine - with her feet up on the coffee table in front of her – and Elena.
Elena had her feet in Katherines lap, and damn if those two didn't look cozy.
He had known that they became friends on their travels together. Elena had told him so in her letters. But to actually see them like this; all peaceful and like the oldest of friends… it kind of threw him for a moment.
Right now they were staring up at him, Katherine with a wicked grin and Elena with an apologetic look on her face.
"Sorry, I was trying not to wake you…guess I was too loud, nonetheless."
He blinked at her, coming back to the present.
"No, it's alright… you were already gone when I woke but… not that I want to sound paranoid or something, but what the hell is she doing here? And when did she arrive?"
His voice was laced with disgust as he jerked his head in Katherine's direction. He wasn't happy to have her in his house, and he made no secret of it.
Elena just lifted an eyebrow at his attitude.
"She's been with me for the last six years Damon. You know that. She has a knack for getting her hands on information and she loves to rough someone up every once in a while.
We're gonna need her help with this one, you know that too. And her plane landed just a few hours ago – she's been in the house for the last half hour."
He sighed and combed his hair with his fingers, bringing them into even more disarray than they were before.
Elena's serious face got softer at this all too human behavior, and she scooted over on the couch to make room for him.
He thought about it only for a moment and sat himself down, pulling her onto his lap in the process.
She was aware that it was some kind of test on his part. He wanted to know if she would stand by what they had done; if she would be open about her feelings for him.
So she smiled tenderly and snuggled into him, caressing his cheek with one hand and planting a sweet kiss on his mouth.
The kiss was meant to be short – a little show of affection – but it lingered on and soon turned way more heated than she had planned it to.
Katherine just sat beside them, watching on for a while; watched as Elena changed her position, straddling the man under her and he, in turn, buried his hands in her hair.
She cleared her throat a few times, but the two seemed to be lost in their own little world.
Sighing, she pushed herself off of the couch and turned to go.
"I'll just be upstairs in one of the empty bedrooms, then. Find me when you're in the mood to be G-rated again."
As that got only a lazy wave out of Elena, Katherine decided to call it a day.
The fly from Europe had been long and tiring, and the prospect of a bodiless, mysterious voice with gathering armies had her on edge.
Maybe a little sleep would do her some good – Elena certainly had found out how to blow off some steam.
She smiled – a real smile for once – as she ascended the stairs. It had been good to see the other woman like that. Over the years she's gotten too hard and cold; very much like herself.
She had buried her feelings. All the anger and disappointment and guilt- and all she had been able to do, was to stand by and watch.
It had saddened her, to watch such a kind heart turn to stone.
She was beginning to think that this new danger was a blessing in disguise. It had forced them back to Mystic Falls – forced Elena to face her past. And, more importantly, it had brought her back to Damon. Maybe, hopefully, he'd be able to heal her heart, mending his own in the process.
It was strange, how some things worked out. The Salvatore brothers had been so afraid of 'history repeating itself', and in the end the whole situation had been turned upside down.
She, herself, had always only played with Damon. He was interesting, wild and new. Not really a southern Gentleman, but a kindred soul, hungry for freedom.
They were too similar to function together.
Stefan on the other hand… Gentle, soft and fulfilling her every wish even before she had voiced it aloud.
Sometimes she thought that she really had loved the younger brother – that maybe this foreign feeling was the reason she bailed on them, leaving them to their own devices.
Then Elena came, and Stefan fell head over heels for her. Worshipped the ground she had walked on. Damon – living up to his promise to make Stefan's life a living nightmare – came in between them and did everything to destroy what his brother had found.
And without even realizing it, the human girl had the second brother in her grip as well.
But this time around it had been Stefan who had to step back, and Damon got a permanent place in the girl's heart. Even if it took them a long time to realize it.
"Come on, really? Why didn't they just stay in his room?"
Katherines head jerked up at the voice, and her eyes came to a stop on Stefans figure at the top of the stairs.
She tilted her head to the side, wondering what he meant – and heard a moan, shortly followed by a choked gasp from the direction of the living room.
Smirking she fixed her gaze on Stefan and then shrugged her shoulders.
"Well… it's not as if you wouldn't be able to hear them from there, too. What's the difference to you?"
Stefan grimaced and shuddered visibly before he answered.
"How about that I have to sit on the couches and armchairs in there?"
She pretended to think about it for a moment.
"I somehow really doubt that this is the first time that something like this has happened down there. I don't think either of us wants to know how many women he's screwed on any given surface in this house, anyway."
He rolled his eyes at that – technically knowing that Katherine's words rang true, but on the other hand, not wanting to think about the old ways of his brother.
"That was unnecessary – so not a picture I needed tonight. It's bad enough that he has Elena now. I don't need to be reminded that he really don't deserve her."
"And you do? The one who brought him his first meal? Who got him killed by stupidly running to Daddy-dearest?"
Stefan winced at her harsh words, but couldn't deny that she was right – again.
But it was hard to acknowledge that he had lost Elena forever. Not to death, this time, but to his brother. It was true what he had said to her earlier that night. Didn't mean that it hurt any less though, because he would always love her in some part of his heart.
So deep in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed that Katherine had climbed the remaining stairs, until she interlocked her arm with his.
"Come on Stefan. You know that they're meant for each other. We're not right for them. You are too serious most of the time for her. And I could never satisfy his heart. I'm just not warm enough – couldn't be, even if I wanted to. I just don't have it in me.
I need a place to sleep, care to show me to an empty room?"
He watched her for a moment, and then just nodded and led her away. But not to an empty room.
She smiled slightly as she entered a room that could only be Stefans. It seemed like he made an effort to try to let go of Elena.
Yeah, maybe this was really a damn blessing.
Xoxoxoxoxoxox
It was early in the morning as Jeremy walked into the living room, having spent the night in one of the empty rooms – one of the many advantages of a boarding house.
He just wanted to go straight to the kitchen; he really needed coffee after a sleepless night.
He hated how his sister made peace with everyone but him – even though he knew that he deserved the cold shoulder she showed him.
As he was about to leave the room on the other side again, he caught a movement from the direction of the couch and turned to face it.
Only to wish that he hadn't.
The two figures lying there were covered up to the waist by a light blanket (one that was thrown over the back of the couch usually, if he remembered right), but otherwise naked.
Damon on his back, and Elena, his sister, on top of him.
Their hair was tussled and he could see pieces of clothing strewn about the vicinity of the couch.
He blinked owlishly, turning whiter by the moment. No matter how hard he tried to look away though, he just couldn't. It was like his eyes were glued to them….Pure torture.
There were many things he never wanted to know about his sister, and the fact that, yes, she actually had a sex-life? Was definitely right at the top of that list.
This was Elena, for god's sake! Pure, kind and innocent. Never mind that he had watched as she had beheaded a vampire last night.
"You know kiddo, it's rude to stare. I'm sure that your parents told you that."
Jeremy just blinked on; not at all surprised that Damon could wake up and mock him before he even opened his eyes.
The man had the sarcastic side marks down to a damn art by now.
"We're naked in your living room, Damon. People are bound to stare."
Well… he hadn't counted on his sister to join the once-upon-a-time-vampire in his taunts.
In the time span of only a few seconds his face turned from paper-white to tomato-red.
Finally he was able to turn around and move again, and he did just that.
With his head tucked close to his shoulders, he stormed out of the living room, and right back up to were he had spent the night, entirely forgetting about the coffee.
The laughter of the other two followed him upstairs.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
It took two hours – and a few more red faces – for Damon and Elena to find their way back upstairs, and another one for them to be back down in the kitchen were the others waited for them.
It was quiet as they entered, with Katherine on one side of the big counter, and everybody else on the other.
Elena just snorted and walked past her, giving her a peck on the cheek on her way to the coffeepot. While she poured herself a cup, she threw a glare to her friends.
"You should do yourselves a favor and be civil. She's here to help. And I have the feeling we're gonna need all the help we can get."
She made a point of sitting on the empty chair to Katherines left, before she took a healthy gulp out of her cup.
A few minutes (and plenty of murmured protests later) they were sitting – equally split – around the table.
"Now, I suggest we don't waste any time. Any ideas where we could start to look for our little visitor from last night?"
Of course, there were ideas – and they were voiced in utter chaos, everyone trying to be louder than the others.
Elena just sighed – painfully aware that her timeout with Damon was over.
It would be a long, long day.
Xoxoxoxoxo
Done for today! I know this chapter was a bit of a filler, but I had to bring Katherine back into the game somehow^^.
Now it's your turn, just click on the button below and let me know what you think.
Reviews are LOVE!
So long,
Zora