"Anywhere? You have no preferences whatsoever?" he asked sifting through the endless possibilities in his mind.
"Anywhere. I would prefer it however if it weren't anywhere in the continental US. We need to get away to somewhere no one can find us." she said.
"Sounds good. I'll get back to you on it when I decide." he told her standing up and smiling.
"Sounds good. Do you have any idea? I can admit that I am extremely curious what you're going to decide." Elena said.
"Europe. Just haven't decided where yet. Do you want a drink?" he asked walking over to the bar.
"Sure. I'll have whatever you're having." she agreed. Elena felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. He was willing to try to work it out with her, he wasn't ready to completely give in yet. She hadn't pushed him to that end yet. He brought back over a tumbler filled with the amber liquid he was so fond of drinking.
"Thank you." she said gratefully taking the glass.
"You're welcome. Any preferences on when you want to leave?" he asked.
"Whenever you decide. I don't have anything keeping me here at the moment, and neither do you. We can go whenever you've chosen and booked plane tickets and the rest of the stuff needed." she told him. He nodded his head and perused his choices for a second.
"I will think about it tonight and let you know tomorrow." he said. They were still awkward and distant with each other, but she hoped that this trip would fix that. Neither of them ever knew what would start a fight. It could be something simple, or it could be something painful. It didn't matter, but the end result was that they both practically walked on egg shells around each other.
"Sounds good. For the record everyone thinks that this is a brilliant idea. Us going away. I ran the idea by everyone before coming home." she confessed.
"I'm glad. I know that our fighting has affected all of our friends too." he told her.
"It has. They're sick of it, and I can't blame them. I don't want to fight with you anymore. If this trip can't fix it, then maybe we should consider ending it." she told him casting her gaze down to the floor.
"This has to work. I know at least for myself that my feelings haven't changed. It's just there is more anger than there used to be. I know that I still love you." he told her sitting directly across from her.
"I still love you too. That's never been in question. It's just we can't really move on from this until we have the time and the energy to focus solely on our relationship. Hence the reason for this trip." she said.
"It's getting late. Maybe we should just sleep on it and discuss more tomorrow." he suggested. Elena nodded her head and finished her drink before handing her glass over to him. He took the glasses into the kitchen and put them in the sink, then followed Elena upstairs. Once they were in the bedroom Elena went into the bathroom to prepare for bed. She came out in a pair of sleep shorts and a white camisole. He was already in bed when she came out. Once she slid into her side of the bed he flipped off the lamp and laid down. There was still a wide distance between them on the bed, still left over from their fight. This trip was exactly what they needed.
The next morning when Elena woke up there was less space between her and Damon than there was before. He had rolled onto his back and inched over at some point in the night. They still weren't touching but the bed was less lonely when he wasn't lying on the extreme other edge of the bed. He was still asleep and had his left arm draped across his eyes trying to stop the early morning sun from coming in. She rolled onto her side and brushed some hair out of his face and kissed his forehead tenderly. He stirred and moved his arm. His blue eyes were shining on her.
"What was that?" he asked looking at her.
"Nothing. I just couldn't help it." she said.
"I'm not complaining. So while I was thinking last night, I thought we'd save some money and go to Italy. We can stay in my villa there." he suggested.
"That sounds amazing. I've never been to Italy and I've always wanted to go." she said smiling brilliantly.
"I'm glad you approve. We can spend as much time there as you want, and Italy's not a huge country so we can still do normal sightseeing touristy things." he told her.
"I love that idea. Thank you. But I really have to get up. I'm supposed to meet Caroline and Bonnie for breakfast this morning, and if I don't hurry I'll be late." she said standing up and stretching. Her stretching caused her shirt to ride up, exposing her tanned stomach and the toned muscles.
"Take your time getting ready. Don't worry if you're late, it's just likely that they will think that we made up." he said.
"Which isn't exactly true." Elena said softly.
"We're working on it Elena. Our old method for fixing things clearly doesn't work. We're not rushing it this time. I've learned that sex does not fix everything." he said dryly.
"I know. It just takes time and all that. But I really have to get ready." she said rushing into the closet and picking something for her to wear. When she was done, she rushed into the bathroom and started up the shower.
Damon pulled himself out of bed and dressed in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt before heading downstairs. He rushed to the basement and grabbed a couple of bags of O-neg before rushing back upstairs to brew a pot of coffee. When Elena came downstairs dressed in jeans and a t-shirt Damon handed her a steaming cup of coffee and a glass of warm blood.
"Ooh you even warmed it up for me. Nice touch." she said grinning.
"I thought you would enjoy that. What time are you going to be home? Just wondering if I should worry about dinner for us?" he asked.
"I'll be home for dinner. Like I would ever miss a chance to eat something Damon Salvatore cooked." she said bumping her hip with his as she fished out her car keys.
"Right. How stupid can I get. Of course you can't resist my cooking ability. I am Italian. While you're gone I will book plane tickets for ASAP." he told her.
"Sounds good. I'll see you later." she said taking the last couple sips of her coffee and her blood.
"See you tonight." he said walking over and pressing a feather light kiss to her forehead. She smiled at the soft gesture and turned to leave the house.
"Where the hell were you? You are almost 15 minutes late. The only things I can come up with are that maybe you were fucking, or maybe one of you were dead. They were both looking as likely." Caroline screeched when Elena sat at the outside table Caroline and Bonnie had chosen at the diner.
"Neither happened actually. We're taking it slow this time. We're not rushing into our usual go-to solution." Elena said.
"So no sex, just slowly discussing your issues?" Bonnie clarified.
"Kind of. And we're going away for a while. I'm guessing, knowing Damon as well as I do, it's going to be upwards of a month. He's always looking to get out of here." Elena said.
"Where are you going? Somewhere romantic and tropical?" Caroline asked dreamily.
"Romantic, definitely. Tropical not really. We're going somewhere in Italy. Damon won't tell me exactly where. All I know is that he has a villa there." Elena explained.
"I have always wanted to go to Italy. So romantic." Caroline sighed.
"You're not coming with us. This trip is about Damon and I. We need to find those two people who were passionately in love four years ago. We're still passionate, and we're still in love it's just not the same as it was." Elena said trying to explain.
"Fine. I won't convince Tyler to take me to Italy too. I'll be good and let you and Damon have this trip to yourselves. Mainly because I am sick of seeing you two fight all the time." Caroline said giving in with a pronounced pout on her face.
"Good. Damon and I need this. Maybe after everything is sorted out and we're happy again, maybe all three of us and our significant others can go somewhere romantic and tropical together." Elena suggested.
"That is brilliant Elena. You make sure you and Damon get happy again, and then we'll plan for something like that. Tyler and I, Bonnie and Matt and you and Damon. It will be so much fun." Caroline enthused.
"Why did you have to put that idea in her head Elena? Now she'll never shut up about it." Bonnie complained.
"I must say I like this change in topic better. At least now she's not discussing the disastrous state of my love life." Elena said shrugging her shoulders.
"Did you two talk at all last night?" Caroline asked concerned for her friend.
"We talked. I told him my plan. But when we went to bed, I have never felt so much distance between the two of us before. We have never went to bed like that before. We weren't angry, we weren't really anything. This morning was a little better though. He warmed up some blood for me and kissed my forehead." she told them.
"See progress. You two will be back to normal in no time." Caroline said clapping her head.
"Damon? Where are you dude?" Alaric asked using Damon's least favourite term of endearment knowing it would annoy the vampire.
"I'm in here. If you ever use the word dude again, I will gladly dismember you." Damon said as he focused on the airlines listing of flights to Italy.
"You're a bit testy today. Things not going well with Elena?" Ric asked.
"Things are fine. I'm just a bit busy." he said scanning through the flights.
"Where are you going?" Ric asked.
"Italy. We're going away until he fix our relationship. Being around all of you is not making my relationship with Elena any easier." he said still distracted.
"Where are you going?" he asked curiously.
"Sarteano Tuscany.. I have a villa there." he said finally finding a first class flight that appealed to him.
"Exotic. I'm sure Elena will love that." Alaric said.
"She will. She already told me how badly she's wanted to go to Italy. I'm giving her that. While we're there we will tour all the places she wants to see. It will be like a month long honeymoon where we only focus on each other." Damon said.
"Sounds well deserved. Elena deserves to be happy. And for reasons unknown you have always made her that way. I hope it works out for you. Mainly because as my drinking buddy, I need you to be sane." Alaric said slapping his shoulder.
"Is there anything I can help you with Ric?" Damon asked clicking the print button on the laptop so he could print the ticket confirmation.
"I came to see if you wanted a drink with me. But then I see you on the computer and I literally thought that I have never seen you use one before. I was beginning to think you didn't know how. I'm astounded to learn something new about you." Alaric said smirking.
"I am well aware of how to use a computer. I can probably use one better than you can." Damon said closing the lid to the laptop and carrying it back into the study.
"So where is Elena today?" Ric asked.
"With Caroline and Bonnie." he answered.
"When are you leaving for Italy?" Ric asked.
"What's with the 20 questions?" Damon demanded shaking his head at his friend.
"I'm just curious?" Alaric asked.
"Soon. Elena said we can leave whenever we wanted, so I booked the tickets for Wednesday." he said grinning.
"Wow that's just two days away. Damn it. I have to get home. Tell Jenna. She'll be having the two of you over for a Bon Voyage party." Alaric said.
"I'm not going to argue because I know its futile." Damon said.
"Good job. You are learning. So tell me about the place you're taking her." Alaric commanded.
"It's in Italy. It belongs to me. It's worth more than everything you own combined. 7 bedrooms. 7 bathrooms. Three swimming pools, guest houses, a hot tub. Lots more. It's amazing. And it has an amazing kitchen." he boasted.
"Sounds like quite the house. How did you get it?" he asked.
"I bought it years ago from the owner before he died. He was a good friend." he said.
"So you have had other friends before me." Alaric said placing his hand over his heart in shock.
"Yes now shut up. I think I just heard Elena's car in the driveway." he said.
A few minutes later Elena walked in smiling.
"Hey Ric. What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Visiting with Damon. I didn't know he could use a computer." he said shocked.
"Did you book the tickets?" Elena asked excited.
"Yep. We're going away on Wednesday." he said. He wasn't expecting her reaction. She rushed into his arms and held him tightly.
"I'm so happy. Will you tell me about the house yet?" she asked hopefully.
"Sure." he said rushing upstairs to grab a photo album. He opened the book and flipped through pages of photos of the house in Italy. "There are three pools close together with a view of Monte Cetona. We will have a sitting area filled with roses which I have someone dealing with all year round. Air conditioned sitting area on the ground floor. And a winding staircase. A paved Al Fresco dining area just outside the kitchen. In the middle of the three pools there is a small sitting area. A very comfortable seating area underneath the loggia with a flat screen TV. At least there was a TV last time I was there. Someone will be in big trouble if its gone. Trees outside. The house has that Italian feel with the neutral colour and Mediterranean styled architecture. We have an amazing view of Sarteano, with all its amazing countryside. An amazing stone fireplace in one of the sitting rooms. I can't wait to curl up with you in front of that fireplace while you read your book. Beamed and vaulted ceilings. The house is a true work of art. An absolutely amazing kitchen. Even cordon bleu educated chefs couldn't complain about the amenities in there. Bedrooms with en suite bathrooms and a private sitting area. Everything in the house is one of a kind and very rare. Some items are as old as the house. You will love the bedding. It is only the highest quality. I put a lot of money into this house. Sinks are stone and in time with the feel of the house. Everything mostly has a monochromatic look. I like the colour scheme. Private jacuzzi tub in the master bath with an amazing view. Large walk in shower, even bigger than the one here. Another seating area with vaulted ceilings that lead out into the garden. A quite interesting water fountain that I had imported. The main house is made of stone and has rose beds along it, adding some much-needed colour. Olive trees and another outdoor seating area. Two guest houses. The people taking care of the house live in them. I don't insist they leave when I come. The guest houses are furnished the same as the main house. The pools are fully illuminated at night so you can swim. The area around the pools are surrounded by palm trees." he said going through all the pictures.
"Damn, how much money do you have Salvatore?" Alaric asked after looking through the pictures with the two of them.
"More than enough. I also have a house in a few other places too. Greece for instance." he said.
"Over the top bastard." Alaric muttered.
"The house is so beautiful. I can't wait to see it." Elena said fingering the picture of the house.
"Just wait until you see it in person. It's even more beautiful. I have put more work into that house than I ever did to this one. Mainly because I don't have to share that house with Stefan. This one is in both of our names. That one is all mine. And yours obviously." he said.
"When was it built?" she asked curiously.
"I'm actually not sure. It is fairly old and had been completely redone before I bought it." Damon explained.
"I can't wait." Elena said grinning. She was more excited than she ever remembered being for anything before. She was going to live in the most amazing house that she had ever seen for a month and it was going to be all one on one time with her beloved Damon.
"I'm glad. I hope you're okay with a Bon Voyage party. Ric is telling Jenna about our trip and you know Jenna will insist on throwing a party." Damon asked.
"It's fine. I cant' believe we're leaving on Wednesday. It's almost too good to be true." Elena squealed.
"I haven't seen you this happy in a long time." Damon said.
"I haven't been this excited in a long time. I get to see Italy. I'm going to start packing." Elena said jumping up and running upstairs.
"I have never seen her this excited." Alaric said.
"Me neither. She deserves it after the past four years. It's time we start working on us." Damon told his friend. Alaric responded by slapping his shoulder reassuringly.