Brace For Impact

"The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple."

-Oscar Wilde

Crossed Wires

Chapter Fifteen

Brief Recap:

But none of that mattered because Damon was dead.

Stefan laughed humorlessly, "I'm glad you really researched the man you hunted down and killed before going after him!"

"Now wait a second," Mayor Hopkins started when he regained his bearings, "Don't act like he was blameless here. I saw with my own two eyes-"

They would never know what he saw with his own two eyes because a now familiar to Elena rasping sound cut him off.

It was the most heavenly noise Elena had ever heard.

Damon coughed and looked around at the unusual group around him blearily. "Well, sorry to keep you all waiting. I see you started the party without me though. Does anyone have a drink?"

Damon felt spectacular and horrible all at once as he ignored the dumbfounded gazes around him. He hardly cared what Mister Mayor, his lackeys, Blondie, and Quarterback thought of him. The spectacular came from the fact that Damon was finally a vampire again. About fucking time, he thought moodily. But the horrible was due to rediscovering a hundred and some odd years later what a bitch the vampire transition was again. Ugh, everything ached, and he felt nauseous. Great, just great.

While he was caught in his own musings, Damon was suddenly hit by a force so powerful that he careened backwards onto the floor once more. He opened his mouth to tell the thing on top of him to kindly- or maybe not so kindly- get the hell off him when an impact of a different sort shook him.

Given the initial power behind the tackle, Damon expected a similar violent energy from his attacker, but there was nothing bruising about this kiss. There was an undercurrent of desperation, but Damon was overwhelmed by the rain of sweetness assaulting his mouth. The way Elena was caressing his lips could only be described as loving.

It was that thought that derailed his plan to get lost in the sensation that was Elena Gilbert. I know better, he reminded himself, she doesn't love me. She's just trying to keep me from leaving like everyone else by giving me what she knows I want. The realizations were a bucket of cold water on his ardor.

And then, as if he needed another turn off, a loud voice cut across the room, "I could have lived centuries without that image, and it'll probably take an eternity to erase it from my mind. Eww!"

"Well, you know me, Blondie, always good for a show," Damon could not exactly sit up with Elena still straddling him, but it was okay. His quip still got the desired scowl on Caroline's face. Elena had pulled back at the sound of her voice and was now sitting red-faced on top of him. He took pity on her, he really did, but Damon could not scrounge a single ounce of embarrassment over their display.

In fact, he found himself crossing his arms behind his head and getting comfortable.

"So it takes three deaths before I get a kiss. What will a fourth death get me?"

"Nothing, because you're not dying again. Ever. I forbid it," Elena replied more seriously than he would have liked.

"I don't know, with benefits like these…" Damon trailed off teasingly.

That got Elena off him, which was normally not one of his goals, but Damon's self-control was always shaky when it came to her, so it was a good thing at the moment. Damon wanted nothing more than to melt into Elena's embrace, but he knew if he did, he would never be able to climb back out of it again. Had she actually loved him, Damon would not have minded that fate. As it was, however, he could not handle that pain again.

But as he watched Elena smile and tuck her hair behind her ear while speaking to Busboy, Damon could not help but wish he had the strength in him to just pretend. Surely, any amount of pain would be well worth it to be able to embrace Elena Gilbert all the time.

The group dispersed quickly after that. Elena had to shake off the embarrassment at everyone witnessing her overenthusiastic public display of affection earlier with Damon. She had purposely avoided looking at Stefan, too. Who knows what he thought, though Elena struggled to really feel bad for him which made her feel guilty. But she could not help but do it! It felt like for once things had worked out against the odds. I mean when did they ever get lucky?

Just the knowledge that Damon was a vampire again, no permanent harm done, was enough to bring a smile to her face. Just this one thing going right made it almost easier to repress all the bad things still bringing her down. Almost.

Jeremy was still everywhere for her. He was the aftertaste on her tongue when she spoke, he was where her mind drifted given a moment's pause, he was in Matt's eyes when they spoke, he was in the Grill, in the school, and he was in her bones. She did not think she would ever escape the crushing guilt and pain that Jeremy's memory now brought her. She would have rather remembered all he good times, but no amount of platitudes could change the fact that her last memories of Jeremy consisted of blood, rot, and fire. It would follow her everywhere.

Pushing the sadness thinking of Jeremy brought her aside, she decided to try a stay strong. She could not afford to spend more time breaking down over her losses. If she did, she feared she would never get back up again.

She arrived back at the boarding house alone. Everyone had taken their own car, so each of them had retreated separately. Still, Elena could see Damon's light blue Camaro when she parked and knew she could catch him one on one finally.

When the space near the liqueur cart proved to be empty, Elena had hopped up the steps and into Damon's room. She peeked in but did not see him. Confused, she tapped into her vampire senses and extended her hearing. She immediately heard Damon's furious voice down from the basement. Considering she could hear Stefan as well, she immediately rushed down to join them. There was nothing Elena liked less than when the Salvatore brothers fought.

Surprisingly, the sight that greeted her was not bloodied and violent. Damon was leaning over the refrigerator they stocked the blood bags in. His arms were braced on either side and were held so tightly the tendons were clearly visible even to Elena across the room.

"I'm going to wring her neck!" Damon was muttering into the fridge while Stefan looked on somewhat sympathetically.

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"Vampire Barbie the blood bag thief, that's what!" Damon shouted.

He appeared to be shaking with rage at this point, and Elena could not fathom why. She looked to Stefan for clarification.

Stefan ran his hand over his face tiredly and sighed. "Caroline has been spending more and more time here lately, and she tends to rely on our supply of blood bags. I guess she finished up the last couple without telling us."

Oh, that was not good. Damon still had plenty of time until the transition would kill him without blood, but Elena knew from firsthand experience how unpleasant it was trying to get you to drink.

"She's been a vampire a year, and she's still living off the supply I steal. Why can't she Bonnie and Clyde her own stock?"

"Calm down, Damon," Elena soothed, "I'll just go get you some from the hospital." However, the response she received was not reassuring. At the brother's dubious and tense looks, she asked, "What?"

"Remember what Meredith said?" Stefan asked, "All blood banks within thirty miles have had been pilfered."

"Oh, no, what are we going to do?" Elena could not believe it. Did they go through all that just to have Damon die? Again?

"Well, we're going to do this the old fashioned way," Damon rolled his eyes. When Stefan and Elena looked at him uncomprehending, he scoffed, "Oh, come on. You two are like Edward Cullen. There should be an award for the suckiest vampires. You'd win the prize every year, brother."

"You've read Twilight?" Elena asked incredulously at the same time Stefan sighed and told Damon, "Get on with it."

"Blame Miss Mystic Falls for that horror story," he told Elena before continuing. "I know this may come as a shock to the two of you, but vampires actually usually eat," he paused for dramatic effect and widened his eyes before whispering, "People. Gasp!"

Elena was embarrassed to admit that for a second that idea had slipped her mind. She was just so panicked all the time lately.

"Everyone in town probably still has vervain in their systems," Stefan reminded them.

"So we'll go out of town," Damon shrugged, "Surely we'll find on good Samaritan before reaching Richmond. Anyone up for a road trip?"

"I'll go," Elena piped up, "You'll need someone to drive once you get all withered from the transition."

"Please, Elena. This face doesn't 'wither,'" Damon teased, but Elena had seen some foreboding emotion pass over him first, and it made her heart sink. He was still pulling away from her, she supposed.

Well, at least she had this trip to do something about it.

Damon stared moodily out the window of the car.

Elena had opted to drive, explaining that she knew the transitional experience well and driving was probably best left to the one who was not liable to become dizzier by the hour. She had a point there but that did not mean he had to like it. He loved driving, he never got tired of the feel of the wheel beneath his fingertips or the way his Camaro glided over smooth pavement. Needless to say, he was not happy to be playing passenger this road trip.

"Are we there yet?" Damon joked to cut through the silence. Things had been quiet throughout the drive for the most part. The silence was not awkward, but Elena's brow was furrowed, and she looked like she was gearing up for something with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. It worried Damon. Elena only adopted that stance when she was preparing to talk about feelings, moral compasses, or something equally horrifying.

Luckily, his quip broke her concentration, "You tell me, do you see any good Samaritans?"

"Did Elena Gilbert just make a joke about eating people?" Damon asked dramatically only half kidding.

Unfortunately, his teasing fell flat as it caused a shadow to cross Elena's face. "I just want to make sure you'll be alright." Then she gathered herself up in the way that always made Damon proud and said, "You have a problem with that?"

"No, of course not, Florence Nightingale. Feel free to take care of me," Damon wriggled his eyebrows at her suggestively at that last part.

Elena cut her eyes to his and spoke cheekily, "Maybe I will."

The atmosphere was lighter in the car now, and it made Elena cheerful again. She and Damon had continued to tease each other for the rest of the trip. Elena could still sense Damon was holding back from her, but she planned to address it soon enough, so she let it slide for the time being.

Finally, they spotted a man alone on the side of the road with a broken down car. Elena rolled down her window and called, "Do you need a jump?"

The guy's eyes widened gratefully, "Yeah, that would be great!"

Elena did have all the equipment to jumpstart the stranger's car, and she set about to do it. Secretly, she was glad to be able something nice for him. It made her feel better about the fact that he was about to be fed on. She thought Damon knew that was why she was going through all the motions to help the guy out, but kindly he said nothing.

After they fixed his car, the man turned to them with gratitude. "Thanks so much, I thought I was going to be stuck here for hours. How can I repay you?"

Elena looked him deeply in the eyes and compelled, "Relax, you're not scared. My friend is going to feed on you, but you don't mind." The man repeated the words back to her, and Elena might have felt bad if Damon had not looked so run down.

Quickly, she bit into the man's neck to make a puncture wound before forcing herself back. The thirst was powerful, but she was more concerned about Damon at the moment.

Damon came around beside her, assessed the man cooly, and darted forward.

Damon felt better than he had in a long time. He was stronger, faster, and ready to take on the world. He had missed being a vampire.

His control was a little off. He feed messier on the man than he had since 1864. It was not Stefan level of sloppy, but still Damon had always held pride in his control. He hoped it would come back soon.

He also wanted to test his strength. He did not feel like a new vampire, so would he really only be as strong as one? He would have to find out. It would be awful though to no longer be able to kick Stefan's ass. He could only imagine how painful living with his brother would become if that were the case.

They were only a few minutes from Mystic Fall's welcome sign when Elena abruptly pulled over.

"What are you doing," Damon asked. But she did not say a word as she climbed out of the car.

What the hell? Damon thought before someone wrenched open his car door and yanked them outside.

Elena slammed him against the side of the car and crushed his lips to hers. Immediately, Damon felt lust rise up within him. He froze for only a second before giving in.

He traced his hands along the curves of her outline to rest them on her hips. She was driving him wild as one of her hand imbedded itself in his hair and yanked his head back to allow her to take control of the kiss.

His hands drifted along the hemline of her shirt and then snuck up beneath it to caresses her stomach. She moaned into his mouth and ground her hips into his.

Damon was about five seconds away from throwing her to the ground and having her right then and there when she pulled back to take a breath. Just that brief loss of contact allowed him the ability to think for a second. And with those thoughts came all the reasons he could not do this again.

"Elena," he rasped as he pushed her away, "Stop."

She looked at him uncomprehendingly, "What?"

"I can't do this," was all he said.

"Why?"

She could not even imagine him not wanting to be with her. He supposed that was fair, he could not imagine him not wanting to be with her either. But still he had to put a stop to this.

"You know why," he said. And she did, she was the one who did not feel the same way about him.

Elena just blinked at him, "What is wrong with you?"

"How can you say that?" Damon reeled back. How could she not understand why he would not want to be with someone he loved but only felt for him physically.

"Very easily. What's gotten into you?"

"Come on, you know what you said back in New York. Do you want me to give you a play by play?" Damon asked incredulously.

Elena cocked her head to the side, "Wait, are you actually mad at me about that still? It doesn't matter, just forget about it. We should just resume our relationship from before."

Damon stared at her dumbfounded. She did not think it mattered that she did not feel the same? She thought it was nothing, and they could just have sex like nothing was wrong. What the hell? Suddenly, Damon was pissed. "You know what? You're right, it doesn't matter! None of this matters! I should just be on my way then."

With that, he spun on his heel and stormed off.

Elena gaped at him. "Damon, wait-"

"No, don't worry about me. The Grill is not too far from here. 'It doesn't matter, just forget about it.'" And before she could answer, Damon utilized his newly regained vampire speed and blurred away.

By the time she arrived back at the house, Elena was still so angry. What the hell was Damon going on about? He just could not let himself be happy for once! It was depressing but also infuriating! Why could he not just listen to her for a change?

Should she run him down and apologize for whatever he thought she did? She could also go after him to give him a piece of her mind, would that be right? Or maybe she should let him cool off on his own? She stewed in her thoughts for a few minutes debating what to do before she heard a sound behind her.

Damon was standing innocuously in the doorway to their room- his, she reminded herself insistently, it's his room- staring at her, "Sorry to startle you, I just wanted to talk."

"What?" Elena gritted out still upset, "Come to yell at me some more about nothing?"

Damon's eyes flashed before his face shifted into something apologetic, "Actually, I came to say sorry. I didn't mean it, I was just stressed out."

Elena's eyes narrowed, was this a joke? It was not that Damon was incapable of apologizing to her, he just normally did not for anything less than murder, and he rarely did it so soon after they fought.

Damon sensed her skepticism and continued sincerely, "Really, I'm sorry."

That was enough for Elena. She was tired of fighting anyway and missed him as soon as he left anyway. Her face relaxed gratefully, "Apology accepted."

There was a slightly awkward pause which confused Elena because she did not usually need to try with Damon. He always made their interactions memorable. They could be infuriating, disappointing, or painful, but they were never uneasy before.

"I was thinking," Damon started, "We should probably talk more about the Silas threat. Have you talked to Stefan or Caroline without me lately about it?"

What a strange topic to start with, he must be avoiding the actual issues, Elena thought, well I won't let him this time. "Yeah, I have, but I don't want to talk about future evil right now," Elena smiled giddily and wrapped her arms around Damon's neck. "Let's just enjoy one secret, selfish day for now." Elena grinned at him teasingly hoping her allusion to their perfect night would cheer him up. Unfortunately, he seemed to ignore the reference entirely. In fact, his disposition seemed annoyed for some reason.

Damon shifted uncomfortably and only placed his hands on her hips lightly in response to her show of affection. It struck Elena as odd, Damon was crazily affectionate with her. But then again, he has been so strange lately.

"Are you sure you don't want to just discuss the Silas threat now?"

Elena laughed happily. "I know it's strange, but right now I just feel a little…" she searched for the word before finally settling on, "lighter, you know? I mean everything that's happened recently has really taken it's toll on everyone, but I'm just so glad that you're a vampire again."

Damon stiffened in her grip. She could feel the tendons in his neck tense under her fingers. His eyes shuttered as if to protect her from seeing into his thoughts. He licked his lips before asking cautiously, "What do you mean?"

Elena paused. That was a strange question coming from the guy who had been on suicide missions to restore his vampirism before she understood his meaning. She let him go reluctantly to address his question. "Oh, well I guess I never said anything because I was worried what you would do, but I wanted you to turn back, too. When you were cured, it scared me so much even with my humanity off," Elena looked away a little hesitant to admit this after the fight they had just had, "And I could not imagine living forever without you. I was so worried you'd get hurt and knew that turning human again would mean you would eventually die, but-"

Elena had raised her head to see Damon's reaction only to find he had vanished into thin air.

"Damon?" she called out, but no one answered.

What the hell?

Damon was propped up in the Mystic Grill. Considering he had died there just this morning, people might be inclined to believe he would avoid it. But they were wrong, Damon would take copious amounts of alcohol anywhere as long as it

Still, Damon could not help but stare at his bloodstains sloppily cleaned up on the floor. Damon was right, Matt really did have no discernable skills. He could not even manage to clean up bloodstains after over a year of being in the presence of vampires. It was just sad at this point.

Damon recognized that his thoughts were becoming less coherent, but he kept the flow of alcohol coming anyway.

Suddenly his phone lit up and the name that consumed all his thoughts decorated the screen. He narrowed his eyes at it through his alcohol glaze debating whether or not he should pick up. If she wanted him, she undoubtedly knew where to find him. That settles it, he thought assuredly returning to his drink and watching his phone dim again.

But not a second passed before it was glowing again to indicate another call. He sighed and decided to just bite the bullet in case it was a matter of life and death. Seriously, someone better be dying…

"Lovesick moron answering. What does the lady want from me now?"

"Damon, are you drunk?" Damon opened his mouth to tell her just how intoxicated he was when she continued on without waiting for a reply, "Forget that, it's not important. I need to ask you a weird question, were you just here? Did we reconcile?"

"What kind of crap are you pulling now?" Damon was getting pissed off now, she was calling to see if he was over their fight already just an hour later?

"Seriously, Damon! Were you just in the house talking to me?"

"Nope," Damon said carelessly, "The only one I've been talking to for the last hour is my good friend Mr. Jack Daniels and his friend Mr. Jim Beam." Damon grabbed the bottles in question and poured generous servings of each into two different glasses. He had a feeling he would need some liquid courage for this conversation. Or, more accurately, more liquid courage.

He heard Elena suck in a sharp breath over the phone which unfortunately sparked his interest. He reluctantly put the glasses down and sat up. "But the better question would be why would you wonder whether or not I was just talking to you."

"Damon," Elena spoke tightly, "I was just talking to you. You were acting strange, but since you'd be weird to me lately, I shrugged it off. But then you just vanished while I was talking to you, and I got a bad feeling that maybe…"

"It wasn't me at all," Damon finished for her sobering immediately. "I'm on my way home." He hung up the phone immediately and gathered his things. What the hell was going on? First Shane, then Bonnie, and now him? What were they dealing with? Invasion of the Body Snatchers? He felt like himself still, so maybe it was more that Mystique was going around impersonating people? Ugh it was like The Thing or something! It had to be Silas, but how? Why?

Damon grimaced, just what I needed. Without a word he downed both glasses of bourbon and left the Grill to reconvene at the boarding house.

He made it only a few steps out the Grill door before someone was upon him. As the blackness overtook his vision, his last thought was that he wished he had actually told Elena they had reconciled.

So lots of miscommunication going on here.

Thanks for all the great responses for the last chapter! I really hope you're still liking it. Poor Elena and Damon can't get a break, can they?

The only reason I updated again despite my finals is you guys were so great to review, so if you want another update, you know what to do