Elena awoke with a jump. God, her head was killing her. She opened a bleary eye…where was she?
She sat up and looked around. She definitely wasn't home.
She was suddenly anxious. She could hear the mumblings of a television in the next room, who's house was this? Had she gone home with a stranger?
As quietly as she could she stepped out of the bed. Thank god she was still dressed. She slipped her feet into her heels and crept across the room. She pressed her ear to the door and listened for voices but all she could hear was the television.
"Oh my God, Jenny!" Elena gasped, the realisation hit her hard, she hadn't gone home last night.
She searched for her bag and found it at the bottom of the bed. She ripped it open and grabbed her phone but it was dead.
"Shit." She muttered, as panic spread through her "Shit. Shit. Shit."
She threw her phone back into her purse, there was something else in there. She unfolded a napkin. Apparently "Mindy" wanted to be called on this number. That was odd. That's when she remembered.
"Damon." She said. Was this Damon's room? She looked around. It was clean and tidy, pretty basic. Shelves packed full of books and cds. Her panic eased a little, at least if this was Damon's house she was safe.
Elena walked to the door and opened it. She found herself in a hall with several closed doors. She followed the sound of the television and ended up in the living room.
"Hey." Came a voice from the couch
"Hello." Elena said looking at the guy who was watching television. It wasn't Damon. Her heart sank.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked
"I think so." Elena said "Listen I'm sorry but who are you again?"
The guy looked away from the tv "Are you serious?" he laughed
"Look, I'm sorry, I was drunk last night and I need to get home to my daughter…"
"Yeah I know. That's all you kept saying last night, well that was before you finished dancing on my kitchen table." The guy added
"Oh my god." Elena said, she felt sick. "I need to go home."
"Relax." The guy said "It's all taken care of."
"What is?" Elena said "What's your address? I need to get a cab!"
"Calm down, Elena. Damon will be back any minute." The guy said looking alarmed
"Damon?" Elena said as relief spread through her again
"Yeah, Damon. You remember him right, your nanny? He picked your kid up last night, you kept going on and on but you refused to go home so he brought her back here. They've got to get some breakfast." The guy told her
"Thank god" Elena groaned rubbing her eyes.
"You look like you need a glass of water." The guy said
"What's your name?" Elena asked
"It's Morris? Remember?"
Elena cringed. She didn't remember much at all.
"Morris, I don't feel too good, I think I need to go back to bed until Damon gets back."
Morris nodded "That's probably a good idea."
Elena sloped back into Damon's room and climbed into bed. As she pulled the duvet over her head she smelt his mouth watering scent everywhere. Why hadn't she realised this in her panic earlier? With a sigh she closed her eyes and waited for Damon to wake her.
The next time Elena awoke she was feeling much better.
"Hey there sleepy head."
Elena rolled over, Damon was lying beside her on the bed. Jenny was fast asleep on his chest.
"I have a feeling I owe you a huge apology." Elena groaned
Damon laughed quietly. "You were such a mess."
"Oh God." Elena said, covering her face with her hands.
Damon laughed again.
"You got Jenny?" she asked
"Yeah, about 3am. Your sitter wasn't too happy. I brought Jenny back here, Morris let me crash in his room, he has a cot in there for when his daughter comes to stay."
"Is he your room mate?" Elena asked
"Yeah, he's cool." Damon said "You don't remember anything from last night then?"
"Not much." Elena said honestly. " I remember dancing and drinking, I remember that guy Tim and…"
"And?" Damon said raising his eyebrow
"I remember kissing you." Elena said quietly
"Which time?" Damon said
"I kissed you more than once?" Elena said sitting up
"Technically I think I kissed you the first time." Damon replied
"I don't remember anything but the first one!" Elena said
"Oh." Damon said, gently moving Jenny and sitting up too. "well, should I tell you or do you want to forget."
Elena answered immediately "No, tell me."
"Well you didn't want to go home so I brought you here. I went back to yours to get Jenny and when I got back you were dancing on the table. Morris didn't know where to look."
Elena groaned
"I put Jenny down in Morris' room and then lifted you down from the table. That was the second time we kissed, you banged our heads together pretty hard… So I took you into my room and told you to sleep but you had other ideas."
"Did I." Elena said turning red
"You asked me to…undress you and to…well… so I told you that you were drunk and you'd feel differently in the morning. You then assured me you wouldn't and that you'd wanted me for a while and then you kissed me again and I almost did Elena. But what kind of guy would that make me, taking advantage of a drunk girl? So I went back in with Jenny and well here we are."
Elena wasn't sure what to say to this, she struggled for the right words
"Thank you." She said simply "for not taking advantage" and she couldn't help but add "But you wanted to?"
"I did." Damon said seriously "You know I do."
She smiled a little then. "I do too."
She reached across and they kissed gently.
"But let's wait until you're not hung over and we've discussed this properly. Me working for you kind of complicates things, it's not professional and I'm pretty sure it's against the rules."
"I know." Elena said "But I think we can sort something out."
"I hope so." Damon replied "Do you want to get a shower and then we can go back to yours. I've fed Jenny but I have no other supplies here."
"Yeah." Elena agreed "That's fine. Where's the bathroom again?" she asked