Elena yawned behind her hand as she listened to her professor read
"Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent…"
She rolled her eyes; she found no comfort in these words.
"…Miss Forbes?" the professor said in exasperation
Elena looked up from her book quickly
"Hi. I..er…need to borrow Elena again." She said timidly
"This is the second time this has happened in the last month."
"But it's important." Caroline added
Elena began to stand up
"No, stay seated Miss. Gilbert." The professor said sternly "Miss. Forbes is leaving."
Elena hesitated
"Fine." Caroline snapped "Elena, I got a call from Elijah Mickelson. He's set up a meeting for us with a man from his company. They want to sign us!"
"Miss. Forbes!"
"Oh my god!" Elena shrieked.
"I know!" Caroline squealed
"Enough of this." The professor said
"Actually. I have to go." Elena said grabbing her bag "Sorry."
Before she changed her mind Elena ran after Caroline ignoring the professor's outrage.
"Can you believe this? It's amazing!" Elena said
"I know. The meeting is a 7, there's a table booked at the Grill."
"Wow." Elena smiled "this is what we've been waiting for, I'm so glad we did the gig last month, it's really given us incentive again."
"Let's go home and get ready for tonight." Caroline said as she pulled Elena along
…
"Hello, it's lovely to meet you- I'm Klaus."
Caroline shook his hand. "This is Elena, Matt and that's Bonnie, I'm Caroline"
"Pleasure." He smiled as they all shook his hand
"Let's take a seat and get down to business." Klaus smiled
One hour later Elena was almost beside herself in excitement
"So basically if you sign with our label we'd get you guys out there. I'm not going to lie to you, it's going to be tough, really tough but I think it would be worth it. First we'd get you on tour supporting as many bands as we can. You'd be selling your EP at a merch stand and we'd get a tee shirt made, stickers- you name it! We'll get Corporate Echo on the map."
"That sounds incredible." Matt enthused
"It will be." Klaus said "If you sign with us, you'd be straight back to tour with DBM…in the UK. Do you think you'd be up for the task?"
"Where do we sign?" Caroline said
…
Four days later Elena was at check in at the airport.
"Your flight boards in an hour." The lady behind the desk smiled
"Thank you" Elena replied
They chatted excitedly as they joined the queue for the departure lounge.
"Look." Bonnie whispered
Elena followed her gaze. Damon and Stefan Salvatore were standing in line as well.
"Should we introduce ourselves?" Caroline asked "Elena, you go first, you know Damon."
"No!" Elena hissed "I don't know him…he probably won't remember me…"
"As if." Bonnie smirked "Let's go."
As they walked to join the queue they saw Damon rest his forehead on Stefan's shoulder for a brief moment. Elena suddenly wanted to stop walking, she felt like she was intruding.
"You okay?" they heard Stefan ask, turning around in the line to speak to his older brother.
"Tired." Damon said simply and Stefan nodded and turned back around.
Caroline pushed Elena forward until she practically knocked into Damon.
"Er..Hi." she said nervously
Damon looked around. She looked at him; his sexy eyes were hidden beneath a pair of sunglasses. She suddenly felt a little intimidated.
"Look no offence…" Damon said lazily "but I'm not in the mood to get my picture taken."
Stefan looked around and then pulled the hood on his jacket up.
Elena flushed scarlet. "Oh, no! I don't want a- I'm Elena. We..we're supporting you on tour. Me and my band here." She pointed with a shaking hand
"Hey." The others said
"Oh." Damon said "Damon. Stefan." He replied nodding in acknowledgment and then pointing to his bother.
"Hi." Stefan said
"Uh. Yeah, Bonnie, Caroline and that's Matt." Elena said quickly "and I'm Elena."
"You said that part already." Damon replied
"Oh." Elena said feeling mortified. She wanted to run away,
"We opened for you about a month ago in our hometown." Matt added
Damon looked at Stefan who frowned. "Ah. Okay." Stefan said "I don't recall."
"We played The Cure?" Elena said trying to enforce the message
Stefan shook his head, and Damon rocked in his heels.
"You said… you liked The Cure." Elena went on. Oh my god, why was she still speaking
Stefan smirked "You do like The Cure, brother."
"That I do, Stefan." Damon said as he hand his hand through his hair
Elena felt humiliated; he had no idea what she was talking about. She wanted to melt into the ground.
"The queue's moving up." Stefan said to Damon and they all moved.
No one spoke again until the entered the departure lounge.
"I need coffee." Damon said
"Me too." Stefan replied "See you around."
"Sure." Caroline said brightly
"Ugh." Elena complained as they walked off "I'm so embarrassed!"
"Why?" Matt said, "They were a little rude, it wasn't you."
"I told him he liked The Cure…" she said dropping her head into her hands
...
Elena walked up the aisle of the aeroplane looking for her seat.
"oh no, no no, no." she said as she moved towards her row. Damon and Stefan we're already seated in the row of three.
Shit.
"Hi. Again." She said as she sat down.
"Hey." Stefan said from the window seat. Damon nodded.
"Welcome aboard this flight to London, We ask you to ensure all equipment such as laptops, music devices and cell phones are switched off during take-off and landing. We have some safety features: The emergency exits are located at the front and rear of the aircraft as well as-"
Damon reclined back in his seat a little and pushed the buds of his iPod into his ears. Did he not hear what the woman said? She wondered whether she should prod him…
"- please make sure you apply your mask before helping others around you with theirs. In the unlikely event of landing on water, a life jacket will be found beneath-"
Elena's heart rate sped. Breathe, she reminded herself.
"-you can top up the air using the nozzle at the top."
The plane began to move. Elena wished she was sitting with the others. She looked to her left and saw Bonnie mouth at her from across the lane "You okay?"
Elena shook her head, she was almost sweating.
The plane suddenly moved forward with speed, a lot of speed. She looked at Stefan, he was looking out of the window. Damon looked like he was asleep. It was hard to tell under the sun glasses. Was she the only person freaking out?
She sat forward, trying to calm her breathing.
"You okay?" she heard Damon say quietly
She looked back and shook her head; he was taking his ear buds out.
"You don't like flying?" he guessed.
"It's my first time. I'm a little…" she managed to say
"Sit back." Damon commanded.
She did as she was told. The plane was hurtling at super speed.
Just as the wheels lifted up and they were tipped back Damon slipped his hand into her clammy one.
"Just relax, okay?" he said quietly in her ear.
"Okay." She lied, she was getting serious head rush.
Damon's thumb was rubbing soothing circles on her hand. She looked down at their intertwined hands.
Soon enough the plane seemed to level out. She tried to stop shaking and Damon continued rubbing her hand with his thumb. She concentrated on his movement until she could breathe normally again.
Suddenly a loud 'Ping' sounded. She jumped. "Ladies and Gentlemen the pilot has switched the seatbelt symbol off, you are free to take them off but we advise you keep them on in case of unexpected turbulence."
Damon gently pulled his hand from hers then and unbuckled his seatbelt.
Elena looked at him.
"Thanks." She said sincerely
Damon nodded, one corner of his mouth twitching. He shifted in his seat and put his iPod back in.
Elena closed her eyes and wondered what would happen when they had to land.
A/N Hello! Thanks for reading, and for the lovely reviews! Please hit that review button again! :P Dr.B xx