**Chapter forty two**

The movie date

*Hailey*

"That's the one," Caroline declared, as Elena came out in a soft pink dress.

I nodded in agreement, though felt dread. Caroline had found a dress for the masquerade party on Friday- a jade green one- Elena just found one, and now it was my turn. I groaned and stood up. Elena grinned and ushered me into the dressing room. Caroline handed me a pile of dresses. I glowered, and tried on a silky red dress first.

I was surprised on how much I liked it. It was very red, with black lace trim. It was my style, short enough to annoy my mom, yet not short enough to be slutty. I walked out, and Caroline and Elena gasped.

"That's perfect, Hailey!" Caroline exclaimed. Elena nodded, smiling.

"Thank god." I said, glad that trying on dresses didn't take very long.

I changed back into my clothes, then bought the dress. I just needed a mask to match my dress, and I had one at home from a few years ago that would work. It was six by the time I got home. I quickly showered and changed for my date with Damon. I had to meet him at theater at seven.

I chose to wear a sexy purple tank top, gray skinny jeans, and leather boots. I was in my underwear, about to put on my jeans, when I noticed something- or someone- watching me out of the window.

Nicolai.

I jumped and screamed, before covering myself with a blanket. When I looked back, he was gone. I quickly changed, though my heart was pounding in my chest the entire time. "He can't get into your house, you're fine." I chanted to myself over and over.

It was dark outside, as I drove to the movie theater, a few miles outside of town. Mystic Falls was too small to have its own. I was still shaking from my encounter with Nicolai, but once I was with Damon, I'd feel better.

I tapped my foot impatiently, as I waited in line to see Paranormal Activity 3. I felt safer in the large crowd, though. Damon was running late. I was already at the front of the line, and he was nowhere to be found.

"Two tickets for Paranormal Activity. Please." I said to the teller, taking out my wallet.

"Sure," I heard a familiar voice say. Then after a pause, "Hailey?"

I looked up and beamed. "Derek!" I exclaimed.

He grinned back, as we both took in each other and how the other had changed. Derek Rizzoli was 5'8 with blonde hair and brown eyes. He was nineteen, and my exe. Besides Damon, he was the only real serious relationship I had ever had. I wasn't in love with him, but I did lose my virginity to him.

"You look good, Hailey." Derek complimented me. "I heard that you were back. Ironic, I always thought that you wanted to get out of here as fast as possible."

"Yeah well, California wasn't for me." I shrugged.

Derek and I had broken up on good terms. It was mutual. We broke up before I moved away, because we didn't want to try long distance and possibly lose our friendship. He was graduating high school and was going to college in the fall, anyway. It was bound to happen. I completely forgot to look him up. I was distracted by a certain vampire.

"Well, here are your tickets. Are you here with Elena?" Derek asked, looking around for her.

"No, I'm actually here with my-" I said, suddenly feeling awkward.

"Sorry I'm late." Damon said, kissing me quickly. Derek sized up Damon, as he wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Hey, it's fine." I said, smiling up at him. "Derek, this is Damon Salvatore, my boyfriend. Damon, this is Derek Rizzoli, my-"

"Ex-boyfriend." Derek finished, his voice cold.

Damon instantly stiffened. I knew that he didn't like Derek, and I would hate him when he found out that I lost my virginity to him. Damon didn't acknowledge Derek at all, but his arm tightened possessively around my waist.

"See you later, Hailey." Derek called as we walked away. He completely ignored Damon. "We should catch up later."

I nodded and smiled at him, as Damon practically dragged me away. I found his jealousy amusing. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it, Damon. We broke up two years ago, and we weren't even that serious. I didn't love him." I assured Damon, as he bought us popcorn. I decided that now wasn't the best time to tell Damon that Derek was my first.

Damon relaxed a bit, but his eyes still looked possessive when he looked at me. I'd make sure to make out with him a bit in a corner before the movie started. Derek and I had fun, but we weren't in love like Damon and I were.

"Do you like salt on your popcorn?" I asked. I couldn't eat popcorn without salt on it.

Damon snorted. "I do have taste buds, Hailey."

I smirked and shook some onto our popcorn. Then we walked to the theater, and Damon's arm snaked around my waist. I smiled and leaned into him. It was adorable that Damon was jealous of Derek.

I felt my phone vibrate, and figured that it was Elena asking for details about my "date." I didn't recognize the number, but read the text anyway.

You're with him, but you're thinking about me. Aren't you?

I frowned, and felt a chill run down my spine. Damon looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "What?" he asked, and I showed him the text.

His face turned stony, his eyes as cold as their color. He looked around us, but we were alone. "You don't recognize the number?" Damon asked, and I shook my head. There was a pause, and then we both spoke at the same time.

"Nicolai."

"Derek."

We looked at each other like the other was crazy. "Damon, just because we ran into an exe of mine, doesn't mean that he's stalking me." I said dismissively.

"An? You have more?" Damon asked, his eyes and tone filled with jealousy.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Damon Salvatore, you've been alive since the 1800's. I don't even want to know how many exes you have, how many girls you've slept with, how many you've used as human blood banks. Now, I've let Katherine go, so I think you can let one guy I dated when I was fifteen go." I glared at him.

His expression didn't change, so I continued on to prove my point. "We know Nicolai is obsessed with me. Besides, I saw him outside my house tonight." If it was possible, his expression got colder and stonier.

I blew my bangs out of my face, now in a bad mood. "Come on, we're going to miss the movie." I muttered, walking away.

I heard Damon sigh, and follow me. He grabbed my shoulders, and spun me around to face him. I tried to turn away, as stubborn and pissed off as I was, but he grabbed my face.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I'm wrong. I love you." Damon told me, running his thumb softly over my cheek bone.

I smiled slightly. "You should memorize that for your future screw ups." I mumbled.

Damon pulled me into his arms, and kissed me. I kissed him back eagerly, letting my anger go. We pulled away too soon, knowing that we were going to be really late for the movie if we didn't move.

"How do you know that I'm going to screw up in the future?" he asked, as he opened the door to the theater for me.

"Because you screw up a lot." I smirked.

He narrowed his eyes at me, and I smiled innocently back. We snuck into the back of the theater, as the movie started. I knew that he was still jealous over Derek, and that I hadn't let Katherine go. We still had little bumps in our relationship. But as long as we were still in love, and still fought for us, we'd be okay.

~LMF~

The movie scared me, but Damon didn't even jump. I guess being a vampire made you immune to horror movies. Derek was nowhere to be seen, as we walked out of the theater. I was glad; I didn't want to fight with Damon again.

"So you said that you saw Nicolai outside of your house?" Damon asked, as we got into his Camaro. I knew that he hated the fact that Nicolai was watching me. I also knew that there was no way he was going to leave me alone tonight.

I nodded. "I was changing, and I saw him out of my window." At Damon's murderous expression, I hastily added, "He only saw me in my bra."

It was silent again, as we pulled up to my house. It was dark, which meant my mom wasn't home. "Come on." I smirked at Damon, as I got out of his car. He followed me without a word, a smirk on his lips.

I unlocked the front door and pulled Damon inside. I locked the door and the deadbolt, since I had become very paranoid. I left Damon in the living room, and walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of bourbon and glasses.

My phone vibrated as I grabbed the bottle. I was apprehensive to read the text, but relaxed once I did. Hey Hailey, it's Derek. I was wondering if you wanted to catch up this weekend. We could go out to lunch.

I grinned, as I texted him back while walking and balancing the bottle and glasses. I tripped over a loose floor board, and would've fallen, if Damon hadn't caught me. I smiled thankfully, as he caught my cellphone.

"Thanks." I said, as I poured our drinks.

But Damon's eyes were glued to the screen. "He's texting you?" he asked casually, as he handed me my phone back.

I rolled my eyes. "Relax, Damon. It's not the same number.

"He wants to 'catch up' with you. You're not going to, are you?" Damon asked, his eyes dark.

I stiffened. "Actually, I am." I said, as I tossed my drink back.

Damon laughed a humorless, sadistic laugh. "No, you're not."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Since when do you get to make my decisions for me?"

Damon glared at me. "Hailey, you want to go out to lunch with your ex-boyfriend who's clearly still into you, and May or may not be stalking you. You're not going."

I glared back. "I can do whatever the hell I want, Damon! So what if we used to date? We were really good friends." I said defiantly.

He rolled his eyes at me. "He's clearly in love with you, Hailey. Like I said before, you're not going."

"Yes I am! I don't care what you say. Yes, we used to date. Yes, I lost my virginity to him- it doesn't matter." Damon's eyes widened and he looked like he wanted to strangle Derek with his own spine, but I continued on with my speech.

"It doesn't matter, Damon. If you weren't the oblivious, jealous, possessive jackass you are, you'd realize that it doesn't matter if he loves me or not. Because I'm in love with you. For some weird reason, I am. But no, you just focus on how Derek may or may not still be into me. Damn it, Damon. If you can't trust me not to go running back to an exe, I don't know what the hell we're doing."

Then I stomped up the stairs, aware of the things flying around me. I slammed my door hard behind me, before promptly breaking my bathroom mirror.

*Damon*

Damon heard a door slam loudly, and resisted the urge to throw the couch against the wall. He growled, and smashed his glass on the floor before leaving Hailey's house.

What the hell was he doing? He loved Hailey, but he wasn't cut out for a serious relationship. It wasn't Damon. They've barely been dating for a week, and they've already fought three times. Maybe Hailey and he were a mistake.

Damon found himself at the Mystic Grill, and drinking heavily. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a cute blonde watching him. He knew what old Damon would've done. The question was if old Damon was still around. Hailey was right, what the hell were they doing? How did they get into this mess in the first place?

Damon smirked at the blonde, knowing that he had two options. He could take her home, sleep with her and drain her dry. Or he could go and apologize to Hailey. Damon didn't know what the right choice was, but he knew what he wanted to do.

~LMF~

A/N: 300 reviews bitches! I had to share that, because it makes me all fuzzy and warm inside :) thank you to all the reviewers, it means a hell of a lot that you're taking your own time to review.

Thank you to: ZGeminilol23, SomebodyWhoCares, Kelsey, jacquline, Carrie9586, vdemily, CassieSalvatore, and Samantha meyers for reviewing!

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~Abby!