The Date
By the time Damon arrived Elena had drained the pasta, the bolognaise sauce was simmering, and Stefan and Alaric were playing the Wii. Who would have thought that suggestion would have worked? Elena laughed to herself, but Stefan had taken the hint that Elena really wanted him to distract Alaric. The less time her guardian spent dwelling on things, the better of they'd all be.
Damon's knock startled Elena but there wasn't really anything else she could do. She could hardly ask Stefan to leave; he was helping out with Alaric after all.
"Evening," Damon greeted her, presenting her with a single red rose. He seemed the perfect gentleman and even brushed a castle kiss against her cheek. Elena's heart almost stopped then.
"Stefan and Alaric are here," she whispered.
"Ooo cosy," Damon grinned. "I almost forgot about babysit-the-killer-alcoholic-teacher duty. Stefan mentioned it but I had other things on my mind," he explained with a gaze that hinted all sorts of things about what that might be. Elena had the sensation he was mentally undressing her. She felt a little disappointed she hadn't dressed up more, she'd changed into a blue dress after school but it wasn't quite a date dress, the shoulders had those little capped sleeves and the fabric was light and a little worn, she hadn't wanted to make Stefan and Alaric suspicious. "Hey little brother, Alaric tried to kill anyone lately?"
"All good," Stefan replied.
"Great, you can go home then, unless you want to join us for dinner?" Damon asked.
"It would be a shame to put Elena's cooking to waste," Stefan replied playfully.
"Fabulous," Damon grinned. Elena caught only the faintest hint of sarcasm in his voice and a shot of disappointment in his gaze. "I'll just see if she needs any help while you two finish up."
So Damon followed Elena into the kitchen. He followed very closely, and as she plated up the pasta he moved behind her and she could feel his hands on her waist and his nose in her hair. "Damon, cut it out," she hissed, shivering.
"But everything smells so good," Damon replied ambiguously.
"It's an old family recipe."
"If your family name was Leggo."
Elena laughed. "Okay so I cheated. But I had other things to worry about."
"Doesn't bother me, you never have to worry about impressing me with food. There are other things I'm far more interested in." Elena moved to ladle out the sauce and Damon followed her like her shadow. His followed her so smoothly it as like they were one person. "You're tense," he observed, rubbing her shoulders.
"Stop it," she pleaded quietly.
"Just being friendly," Damon reassured her. "Just normal Damon and Elena, don't worry so much, you'll get wrinkles," he advised wisely.
"Thanks," Elena replied dryly.
Stefan and Alaric came then to get their plates and Damon stepped away from her. Elena plastered a smile on her face and offered them garlic bread, setting off a long discussion on TV vampires and the historical antecedents of the belief that garlic would protect humans from vampires. Elena relaxed a little and let the three men fill in the conversation around her. Every now and again she noticed Damon's gaze on her, and sometimes Stefan's too and the world seemed to be the way it had been before everything with Klaus. Strangely it was the most normal night they'd had in a long time, a fact that was probably helped along by the bottle of red they opened and emptied between them.