Sorry this chapter took me so long, but I had a few stressful days!
Thanks for AVECIA for her superb (an QUICK) betawork, and thanks to my readers and reviewers, you are GREAT!
Now, I don't own anything about the vampire diaries, I'm just (as always) messing with them^^.
On with it!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Elena sank down in an armchair, glad that everyone had quieted down a bit.
Never mind that she had to threaten the men out of the house to accomplish that. Now they were on their way to some bar or another, and she had stayed behind with the women.
They all had agreed that they would start to… investigate – for the lack of a better word– tomorrow.
It would make no sense to start today, as they would need a clear head for that… and that just wasn't happening today.
Everyone, except Bonnie and Damon, still tried to come to terms with her still being alive.
Not to mention that she obviously had slept with Damon and nobody seemed to understand that.
They all kept on shooting sympathetic looks in Stefan's direction – and if looks could kill, Caroline would have had Damon on the floor, choking on his own blood in a matter of seconds.
It had been quite funny to watch, actually.
Bonnie, treating him as a friend, and Caroline, taking every opportunity to voice how much she hated him.
Everything had changed, in the time she had been gone. Everyone had matured and grown up.
Nothing was the same, anymore. Caroline, who had joined the police, and Matt, who was in the last steps to become a teacher.
Bonnie with her esoteric store and Tyler studying psychology (really, that was the weirdest thing she had ever heard).
A few years back, she would have laughed if somebody had told her that. But life never turned out as you expected it to; so in a weird, twisted way it actually made sense.
She looked up as the other girls – or women…they had ceased to be girls a long time ago – came into the room; armed with tea, lemonade and a few snacks.
She raised her eyebrows at them, silently asking what was going on.
"Well, it seems your friends here decided it would be a good time to… you know what? I don't actually know what they want to do. But I think it involves talking and giggling. They forced me to join, too. And just for the record, I'm not okay with that."
Elena had to smile at the petulant attitude Katherine displayed – by the way her eyes sparkled she could see that she actually looked forward to it.
"I have not the slightest idea how you can stand her 'Lena. She's acting like a spoiled little girl. And that's coming from me."
On the other hand… maybe they weren't so different from the girls they had been six years ago. Apart from the whole carrying-a-gun-thing, Caroline was much the same as before.
Still snarky and bitchy, still managing to make everything about herself.
So she just laughed and shook her head.
"Well, I guess I'm just masochistic like that. Now, how about we start the girl time you obviously have planned now, before we have the house full of grumpy, drunk men?
I have so much to tell you all, you have no idea! And yes, Caroline, that involves oily kabana boys in Key West, too..."
It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do – they should start to search, should find out who was behind this new trouble coming over Mystic Falls. But trouble always had a way to find them, so it was their right to take a little time for themselves, every once in a while.
Xoxoxoxoxoxo
It wasn't even an hour since they'd been kicked out of the boarding house, and already they had grown out of things to talk about.
The problem was, they were all so different, and they hardly found a topic that would interest all of them.
The teacher and Stefan could've talked about literature and what-not, but the rest of them would be bored to death. Tyler and Jeremy were living on a totally different planet most of the time – the music they listened to was nothing more than disturbing noises mixed together, they had no taste for good movies…
And Matt? Well he was just Matt. He had no problem with the other man, but he was boring. Not to mention that he had married Caroline, of all people.
So now they sat in some dingy Bar, dwelling in uncomfortable silence.
"Okay so… seeing as we run out of uninteresting things to say… how about we talk about something that we all want to know. Like… Tell us Damon, how can it be that you knew my sister wasn't really six foot under?"
He nearly choked on a sip of his Bourbon as Jeremy hit the issue they had all steered clear of – on purpose – head on.
Sometimes he really couldn't stand Elena's brother. He already wished the uncomfortable silence back.
But as he looked around the table, he saw that the postures of the other men had changed from bored to mild interest.
Sighing he emptied his glass, gestured the waitress for another and began to talk. He knew how persistent these bunch of freaks could be, if they wanted to.
"Well… I wasn't the first one to know, actually. She visited Bonnie, who then told me.
I haven't seen her in all those years – not once. Only got letters from her. And postcards – you know, the ones plastered to the walls of my room? That's basically it. No personal interaction whatsoever, besides that."
Tyler snorted and then chuckled at his last sentence.
"No personal interaction, my ass. The way she said 'hello' sure didn't look like you two had no contact over the years.
Never mind the way we found you two this morning. Pray tell… how is that not personal?"
Was it Jeremy he hated sometimes? Seemed like he had to invent a damn new word for Tyler.
Balling his hands into fists and leaning over the table, he got right into the face of the Lockwood heir.
"Listen here, Wolf-boy. First: it's none of your business what I do or don't do with her.
Second: I didn't say there was no contact at all. Just not close and personal. Meaning we hadn't a chance to meet. I did get the letters from her – and she somehow always managed to be up-to-date with whatever happened in this town. That's it."
As he sat down again, he looked challenging into the faces of the others.
"Anyone else who wants to share his opinion on it? And no Stefan, you don't even want to try – that nice little vampire-style-hickey you have there, robbed you of any rights."
His brother's eyes got as big as saucers as his hand snapped up to his neck where – sure enough – the faint, already mostly healed outline of a bite could be seen.
Damon was satisfied – it had always been so easy to get the attention to someone else when needed.
And right now, his brother was the perfect scapegoat.
Just then the waitress came with a new glass of Bourbon; with it in his hand he leaned back and enjoyed the show.
It was just too entertaining how his brother tried to worm himself out of this situation; but it was no use. He had heard what was going on in Stefan's room last night, even though he really had paid no attention at all; his focus was on something (read: someone) way more… satisfying.
Grinning like a madman, he thought that this forced night out wasn't so bad at all.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Damon was still grinning as they went (or stumbled, in some cases – the teacher really couldn't handle his liquor, and neither could Blondie's husband) back inside the house.
He could hear that the girls were nowhere near ending the evening; there was the occasional giggling, and he could smell the alcohol even in the entrance room.
They didn't even notice him – or the others, trailing in behind him – as he entered the living room.
There were abandoned pitchers of lemonade and tea on a side table – they obviously had matured to the hard liquor on some point of the night.
Caroline and Jenna hung on Elena's every word, while Bonnie looked mildly flustered.
Katherine was just leaning back, eyes closed, and sipped on her glass (filled with his expensive liquor by the looks of it… bitch) and grinned every now and then.
"… so I turned around and got rid of my bikini top and gave him the bottle of sun block. I have no idea how he did it, but I swear I turned into a damn puddle of goo not half a minute in… never knew that there are so many erogenous zones on the back…anyway, the next thing I knew…"
He could see that Jeremy was already starting to get this really unhealthy tomato-like color on his face again (he noticed that this was turning out to be quite common the last day and a half)… and as he still had to repay the boy for reminding the others that he knew everything…
"You know Elena; you should have said that you like it like that. I bet you look… breathtaking on all fours."
The boy looked as if his eyes were about to pop out, and his face was so red now, it resembled a little girls that had played with her mothers rouge.
The others just looked at him, blinking owlishly, and then cracked up. Even Caroline, which was an attest that he had to buy more liquor really soon.
His grin got even wider as he saw the slight blush creeping up on Elenas face.
"Well, would you look at this… seems like Katherine hadn't had enough time to ruin you completely, after all. This color really suits you."
Hooking his thumps into his belt loops, he sauntered to his liquor cabinet, taking stock of what would have to be refilled.
Verdict: don't ever let the girl alone in the house with his good stuff again.
Sighing he emptied the last drops of his Single Malt into a tumbler, and slumped down onto the couch next to Elena.
Her eyes spat fire in his direction for a moment, but soon they softened and she leaned into him and nuzzled his neck.
"You know, you don't have to test me every few hours. I won't run away or pretend that this hadn't happened. You've got me now, and I'm not going to leave you again."
She had whispered the words, and he was pretty sure no one else had heard them.
It was kind of scary how fast she had him all figured out – he wasn't even aware that there was an ulterior motive to his words (other than getting one over the younger Gilbert, that is) himself.
So he just pulled her closer, burying his nose in her hair, and inhaled deeply.
"I know. Sorry about that."
The hand that had rested on his until now, wandered up to his cheek before she kissed him.
"It's okay… you'll be paying for it later. When we're alone."
She said it in a near-whisper again, but he was pretty sure he saw Katherine's lips quirk upwards for a moment.
"Come on, guys… can't you at least wait until we're out of the room before you're going to do the nasty in here again?"
Cue his brother with his really, really bad timing.
"I don't know, Stefan. Can you and Katherine be less destructive the next time you fuck? I'm pretty sure the interior of your room will thank you for that."
With that he got up to his feet, and wandered to the stairs, not caring for the slightly shocked look on Katherines face. She wasn't expecting something like this; good.
"If you need more time with your girls, that's okay. I'll just be in my room."
Elena shook her head, pushed herself up off the couch, and was by his side in less than a second, intertwining their hands.
"Nah, it's okay. I'm coming with you."
As she began to ascend the stairs, she looked back over her shoulder and waved with her free hand.
"Good night."
As he watched her back – their hands, clasped tightly together – he thought that, no, she wasn't about to run again.
She was home again, she was with him. They were whole.
Xoxoxoxoxoxo
Done for the day^^. Hope you liked it, even if it was a bit boring. But I figured you needed a break from all the drama (I know I did) so a nice, plotless chapter^^.
Now, tell me if it was TOO boring, please – just click on the little button below^^.
So long,
Zora