You guys are wonderful. I mean it. I know you're loving the frequent updates, but I won't get a chance for one tomorrow, so please let this slightly longer chapter hold you over a couple of days. Enjoy!
The scene was so familiar: three girls gathered in Caroline's sunny, cheerful bedroom. It was one of Elena's favorite places. Caroline had the best dress-up clothes, then the best magazines, then the best stash of booze. How many hours had they all spent together in this room, staging elaborate plays under Caroline's bossy direction, gossiping, crying over boys?
But right now, Elena wanted to vomit all over Caroline's pretty bedspread.
Damon had offered to come with her, for moral support if nothing else, but she knew that him being there would make it worse for Bonnie and Caroline. It was going to be tough enough for them to hearthat she and Damon were an item; they didn't need a visual aide.
Caroline was finishing showing off the great clothes her dad had bought her. Elena smiled and nodded with absent appreciation. Once she'd finished, Caroline flopped onto the bed next to her, dislodging a few stuffed animals from their pile near the headboard. "You're awfully quiet, Elena. What, don't you think mango is going to be the color this season? Because it totally is, you should have seen all of it at Sak's."
"Oh, I hope not. Mango washes me out. I hope it's plum instead," Bonnie said.
Elena laughed. Leave it to Caroline to push aside all their fears about being murdered horribly, focusing instead on fashion. It felt good, just for a moment, to be that carefree girl again. "Last I heard it was going to be mint, but I guess I'm a little out of the loop." The smile slid off her face. This was it. This was the moment. They'd once pinky sworn they'd never let boys come between them, and they never had. But this could be it.
"Guys, I have something to tell you. And it's kinda hard for me to say and it's gonna be weird for you to hear, so I just want you to let me finish before you say anything, okay?"
Bonnie blinked at her, wide-eyed and innocent, nodding her assent. But Caroline gave her a long, measuring look. "You're seeing Damon, aren't you?"
"Caroline! She is not seeing Damon! Where do you get this stuff? Elena's smart, she'd never-" Bonnie was silenced by Elena's guilty face.
"Oh, please, Bonnie. Don't you remember when they made chili? Couldn't keep their hands off each other. Then with Stefan being gone and them nearly getting killed like every week, how could you have missed it?"
Elena felt deflated. The secret was out in the open...if it had ever been a secret. Caroline's relationship radar was uncanny, so maybe it stood to reason that she'd seen right through them. But the expression on Bonnie's face broke Elena's heart. Bonnie was so good, so pure, so righteous. She thought everyone could walk the same path she did, hold to the same exacting moral standards. Elena had constantly disappointed her when they were younger, when she'd sneaked peeks at her classmate's tests or flirted a little too outrageously with a few too many boys. This was even worse: Bonnie saw Damon as an incarnation of pure evil. And maybe she should. But Elena couldn't stop wanting what she wanted.
"Yeah. I'm seeing Damon. I know it's hard for you to understand. He's done some awful things to both of you. I know that. But he's changing, guys. He said when he's with me, he wants to be a better person, he wants to try harder."
Caroline groaned. "Elena, that's the oldest line in the book. Please tell me you didn't fall for that."
"It's not a line! He means it," Elena protested.
"How do you know he means any of it? How do we know you mean any of it? What if he's compelled you to think all of this, Elena? Did you ever think of that?" Bonnie said, her voice like ice.
"No! He wouldn't do that. Damon would never compel me," Elena said, trying desperately to defend him. God, this wasn't going well.
"Why not? He did it to me," Caroline said quietly.
Elena blinked rapidly. She wasn't going to cry. That just wasn't going to happen. She had nothing to be sorry for. "I know. I know what he did to you, Caroline, and to your Grams, Bonnie. But he's changing. I believe that. And as much as I love both of you guys...you have your own lives to deal with, and he's been my rock through all this. Some days, Damon's all that keeps me above water." She swallowed, climbing off Caroline's bed. "I don't have answers for you about why, and I can't make what he did right. But we're together. And I hope you can be okay with that eventually."
Her eyes flickered from one face to another. Bonnie wouldn't meet her gaze, but Caroline looked wistful, her eyes far away. Her clear blue eyes snapped back to the present, and she stood, wrapping Elena in a tight hug. "I'm just worried about you. Promise me you'll be smart: always wear your vervain, keep your head on straight. But you're my friend, and if he's what you want, then that' s okay. I guess."
"Caroline...thank you," Elena whispered against her friend's shoulder, a few rogue tears spilling over. This was the best reaction she could have expected.
The blonde pulled back, a wicked smile on her face. "Damon and I might just need to have a talk about how he needs to treat you. He takes me a little more seriously these days."
Elena laughed, mustering a tremulous smile as she wiped her cheeks. She thought the worst might be over...until she noticed Bonnie was gone.
One out of two wasn't bad. Better than she could have hoped for, even. But the worst part of all this was that she had to do this all again. Elena pulled into the driveway at home, parking behind Alaric's car. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard. Alaric liked Damon. Usually. When Damon wasn't killing him for shits and grins.
Maybe she should get him drunk.
She found him in the living room, red pen in hand and a pile of papers spread before him. Baseball was muted on the TV, and his glass of bourbon was close at hand. He smiled when he saw her, but it was tight and worried. "Welcome home, Elena. Haven't seen much of you lately. You doing okay?"
"I'm fine. I've talked to Jer a couple times. He's doing great—really great. He starts school tomorrow and says he's already met a girl he thinks he might like." Elena had to smile at that. He'd sounded so happy, so unburdened by life-and-death concerns. They'd done the right thing. "How about you? You feeling okay? What happened with the ring...that was bad."
Alaric scowled down at the tacky ring on his finger. "I'm fine, Damon's blood did the trick. I still don't know what's wrong with this thing, though. That's never happened before."
Elena sat, hands folded primly in her lap into a white-knuckled grip. Okay. Here goes. "I have to tell you something, Ric."
Alaric looked up at her, eyes darting with confusion. "What is it? Is it Klaus?"
"No, for once it doesn't have anything to do with him. It's..." she stumbled. "I don't know how to say this to you. I already told Bonnie and Caroline and that was bad enough..."
Slowly, Alaric laid his grading pen down, turning towards her. "Oh, God. Elena. Are you...are you pregnant?"
That did it. Elena erupted into a peal of giggles. "Pregnant? You thought I was trying to tell you I was pregnant?" The idea was so absurd, it set her off into nearly hysterical laughter again. The look on his face...Damon was going to love this story. The thought of him was sobering, and she managed to pull herself together. "No, that's one problem I don't have. Ric...I'm dating Damon."
Ric stared at her. He reached for his bourbon, draining the glass in a gulp. "You're dating Damon. Tell me,, how does an 17-year-old girl date a 170-odd-year-old vampire?"
Elena stood, locating the bourbon bottle on the sofa table. She refilled his glass, leaving the bottle by its side. "I know. It doesn't make any sense. Everything about it says it should be wrong, but-"
"And what about Stefan, Elena? He's a little off the reservation right now, but Damon's still his brother. Isn't it just common courtesy not to date your ex's siblings?" His voice was raised, angry.
"Yes, I know, but-"
He took a long pull of the bourbon. "Or how about the fact that he's a murderer, Elena? He's killed me twice, nevermind how many other people," Alaric said, really yelling now. Oh God, she hadn't thought it could be worse than Bonnie's silent disapproval. But it could.
"You're not telling me anything I don't already know," she yelled back, frustrated.
"Do you love him?" Alaric asked flatly.
"What?" Elena was flustered beyond belief. Of all the questions he'd expected Alaric to ask, of all the objections she'd expected him to raise...that hadn't been on the list.
"In spite of all that, do you love him?" Alaric repeated the question deliberately, gaze fixed on hers.
"Yes! I love him, okay? Was that what you wanted to hear?" The words were gone before Elena even had time to consider them. She sat down abruptly when she realized what she'd said. Where had that come from?
"Yeah. I know." Alaric gave her a sideways smile, pausing for more bourbon. "I'm glad you know it now, too."
"Did everyone but me know about this?" Elena asked, voice stilted with shock.
"Pretty much." He picked up his pen, pulling a stack of papers towards him. "Just be careful, Elena."
She nodded, drifting out of the room in a fog. She loved Damon. When had that happened? How had it happened? She hadn't the slightest idea, but the more she thought about the words, the truer they were. Against all odds, all logic, she loved him.
He was waiting when she opened the door to her room, curled into the window seat with the grace of a cat.
"How long have you been there?" Elena asked, hovering uncertainly in the doorway.
"You too, Elena. I love you, too."
They sat together in the window and watched the moon rise.