Chapter 12

I really enjoyed 'drunken' Elena, so this chapter is going to be some drunken Delena fun. Enjoy

Waking up after my champagne induced coma was a mission and a half. Somehow I managed to drag myself down the stairs to look for some … well anything pharmaceutical. Arriving in the kitchen I realised that my hangover was nothing compared to Caroline's. She was sitting at the table, her eyes closed as Stefan poured a glass of blood down her throat, holding her by the head. He looked up when I walked in,

"I leave you girls for not even fifteen minutes and come back to find Bonnie splashing around in the pool and this one sleeping on the stairs where she, and I quote, 'liked the bumpy ground and decided to ride the dinosaur' before she passed out."

I couldn't help but laugh, which came out sounding very throaty. "Juice," I managed to garble out, before walking to the fridge and drinking the orange juice straight from the bottle. I had gulped half of it down before I came up for air, closed the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table, with the bottle of course. No point in getting a glass now. I placed my head on my arms as I tried to steady my head. "We didn't drink that much. Well Bonnie and I didn't, but champagne has always made us a bit more 'fun' than usual. But Care's is a freaking vampire! Imagine how much she had drunk."

"I may be no more than an incapacitated zombie right now but I can still hear you." Came her mumbled reply. I peaked up to see her looking at me. Catching each other's eye, we couldn't help but start laughing in spite of ourselves. We looked more like a bunch of crackhead teenagers than a couple of adults with jobs and fiancés. We were still laughing, Stefan having given up trying to feed Care and instead settled back in his chair to read the newspaper (there was some big medical research project going on in New York and as that was Stefan's passion he was fully engrossed in the article), when Jeremy walked in, still in his pyjama pants and vest, with an empty glass in his hand.

"You guys are still going at it?" He asked us, unbelievingly, as he filled up the glass with the water jug on the counter.

"Haha, I wish." Croaked Caroline, before leaning her head back onto the table like I was.

"Not so fun in the morning is it."

Caroline mumbled a garbled reply that sounded something like a whole lot of sailor style blasphemy strung together.

"How's Bonnie doing?" Stefan asked, looking over his paper.

"She's okay. Used some funny witch-y spell to numb most of it. The water is for me actually. What the hell was in those shots last night anyway?"

"A little bit of naught and a little bit of nice, and a whole lot of glamour, sweat, sugar, sex, spice." Damon mockingly sang as he waltzed into the kitchen.

"Burlesque really?" Stefan asked.

We all turned to him, our eyebrows raised. "Shocking that you knew what it was, brother." Damon smirked as he spoke.

Despite how mad I still was at Damon, the coma had not erased my memory; I couldn't help but join Caroline and Jeremy in their laughter at Stefan who was now glaring at Damon.

"Well I wasn't the one who quoted it, brother." Stefan accused with gritted teeth. That only increased our laughter until the tears threatened to spill as we regarded the two brothers who had now entered a glaring match.

"Well, I'll be seeing you guys later." Jeremy added as he left the room, raising his glass as a toast to the two of them.

Stefan then went back to reading his paper as Damon walked towards the fridge to get a blood bag. Caroline, sensing the tension in the room, tried to make small talk. "So, Lena, ready for tonight? We're leaving for the Grill at seven."

"Care, you cannot be thinking about that already! I haven't even recovered from last night yet!"

"Ah, suck it up. It's going to be fun. Rebekah has planned the whole thing! It has a theme so we all get to dress up, but she is only telling us an hour before when she brings us the costumes. It's going to be fun! You don't even have to drink."

"Thank god," Damon muttered from behind us. Caroline looked at me questioningly. I shook my head in reply, as Damon's back was turned, and she nodded. We all sunk back into an awkward silence.

Many minutes passed before anyone said anything. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Damon glaring at the blood bag in his hand. "Okay, well we have got to go and sort out some … stuff. Coming, love?" Stefan's outburst made me jump.

"Yip." Caroline, feeling much better after finishing her glass, stood up and they walked out arm in arm.

"Subtle." I heard Damon murmur from behind me. Not wanting to deal with his crap, I stood up, purposefully scraping my chair along the floor, which I regretted instantly, and went to put the now empty juice bottle in the bin – which was right next to him. "Elena." Damon said as I walked up to him.

"Damon." I returned, dropping the bottle with a clang in the bin, before spinning on my heel and exiting stage left as soon as quickly as I could with my head held high.

Rebekah arrived back from her bachelorette party planning at half past five. She found Bonnie, Caroline and I in my room chatting about the wedding, avoiding the topic of Damon.

"Well girls, here are your dresses!" She brought in four black garment bags and was followed by Matt who was carrying a large box.

"Okay, well I am out of here. Got to go and help the guys set up downstairs." Matt quickly escaped the room after setting the box down on the bed.

"I still cannot believe that you allowed them to have their stag night here at the house. They are going to wreck it!" Rebekah exclaimed.

"Well it is still Damon and Stefan's house." Caroline shrugged her shoulders, but then smiled, "but only for a few more days." That comment had us all in girlish laughter. "Oh wow!" Caroline stopped mid-giggle as she pulled her dress out of its bag. The dress was a short, red tasselled flapper dress from the twenties with sparkling spaghetti straps. Caroline's eyes only lit up more when Rebekah produced a pair of silver strappy shoes from the box and a string of silver pearls.

"It's a Jazz Age theme!" she exclaimed.

We spent the next hour getting dressed and doing our make up and out hair. Caroline looked stunning in her red dress, silver shoes and her pearls. A red band and a silver feather adorned her hair which was curled and pinned back into a neat twenties style. Diamond studs that I had given her for her birthday years ago sparkled on her ears. Bonnie was dressed in a beautiful black dress, with a longer bodice and tassels that swung from her hips with a low silver sparkling belt. The tassels were dipped in silver along the bottom. Bonnie also had silver pearls and a gorgeous black and white and silver head band. Rebekah also went for red, but a deep burgundy dress with white pearls and a white feather. The dress she had chosen for me was white lace and also swished around me knees with light tassels. A black head band and feather were pinned into my twenties styled hair, and long silver, black and white pearls were strung about my neck. Together we looked stunning. Realising how late it was getting, we quickly grabbed our coats and descended the stairs.

Caroline had managed to exert her authority by banning the guys from the pastel lounge and instead had granted them access to the TV room and interlinking games room which led out on to the patio. Through the door, which Stefan was cleverly blocking, I could see a few beer kegs and bowls and bowls of food. Jeremy had walked past us when we were coming down the stairs carrying speakers which had stolen from Damon's room I suppose.

"Well don't you girls look dashing?" Stefan said, as he kept his post covering the door.

"A blast from the past", added Damon as he walked past us into the room, carrying two bottles of his precious bourbon in each hand.

"Your bourbon Damon?" Asked Caroline. "This must be one special night."

"You only get to throw a bachelor party for your vampire brother once, I think, so I am doing it right." He gave a smirk. Looking over us, his eyes stopped when he saw me, before he turned away sharply and went back into the 'man den'.

When we arrived at the Grill, it was a hive of activity. Silver chandeliers of different sizes hung from the ceiling, and lit up the room. Candles stood on all the tables and a large area had been cleared out in the middle where a dance floor now stood. Women all dressed up in flapper dresses of all colours and styles danced around the floor to the band that was performing on the stage, who were dressed to kill. Others stood around the tables chatting and laughing, or at the bar which was covered with vases of roses and fairy lights. A couple of burlesque dances were teaching some of the women to dance burlesque style with feather boas and among them we saw Mrs Lockwood, some girls who used to go to Mystic Falls high with us and oh my god.

"That's my mom!" shrieked Caroline. I wasn't sure whether she was shocked or glad, but got my answer when Caroline grabbed a feather scarf and went to go and join Liz.

"That's something I never though I'd see," laughed Bonnie. Rebekah had already spotted her friend April at the bar and they were taking shots and laughing. It wasn't long before we were sucked into the vibe and Bonnie and I were dancing around on the dance floor.

"This is so much fun!" shouted Care over the sound of the band as she joined us. "Perfect way to enjoy my last few days of freedom!"
Rebekah then joined us with April in tow and we danced through the next two hours without taking a break.

"Oh look! They're taking flaming shots!" Caroline squealed. We had now drank a great more champagne, I had only had half a glass after learning my lesson last night, and Caroline was on her way for more. We lined up along the bar and each took turns taking a shot before slamming the glass back on the counter.

"Wow!" breathed out Bonnie after her second shot, her eyes now wide open, "what is in this stuff."

"A little bit of naughty and a little bit of nice," laughed Caroline, winking at me, which had me laughing too as we clinked glasses. "Elena, say what you like about Damon, but he sure as hell has a good sense of humour!"

"And a nice bum." I added, laughing with her.

And that is how the night carried on. When the strippers arrived I knew that it was time to go. It was half past three in the morning when I walked out, still laughing, to the cab waiting for me. I was not tripping over flat floors like I had been last night, the dancing having worked off most of the alcohol, but I was still like a giggling school girl. The cab dropped me off at the boarding house, and I walked up the stairs to the front door. The house was quiet except for the dull thud of some music which I assumed was coming from the 'man den.' I found no one in the entrance room, only the odd abandoned paper cup or glass. A few party poppers were on the floor of the lounge (Stefan would hear about this in the morning) and a beautiful bourbon stain on the small Persian rug that still remained at the foot of the stairs (Care had been unable to budge that one from Damon as the house half belonged to him). I picked my way through the strewn cups and plates and beer bottles until I reached the source of the thudding. The room was an abandoned disaster site. The music was coming from the huge sound system set up in the corner, the lights in the room still flashing. I reached for the switch and switched the lights onto low. I turned the music off, and kicked my way back towards the door. "Elena." A deep voice startled me. I whipped around quickly and saw Damon lying on the couch, his hands in his pockets. He also had this really dumb, but sexy smile on his face. Unfortunately, his sudden appearance had caused another spoonful of giggles to emerge from my lips instead of some clever, witty comment. "What's so funny?"

His honest confused expression only made me laugh harder, which caused him to let out a chuckle too as he attempted to get up off of the couch. It was then that I realised that Damon Salvatore was drunk. He stumbled forward and then kind of veered backwards before holding himself up by holding on to the arm chair in the corner that had been turned upside down? Huh. Men. I rolled my eyes, still giggling. "Come on, tipsy top." I walked forward and slung Damon's arm over my shoulder and placed my hand around his waist as we slowly began to walk forward. "God, you smell like a drunken hobo, Mr Salvatore."

"Tell me, Miss Gilbert, did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?" The cheesy line only made me chuckle more. I snuck a side glance at Damon, not realising how close his face was though. I saw a cute and childish grin spread across his face.

We had made it as far as the foot of the stairs, but that was when Damon caught sight of his Persian rug. "My baby." He let go of my neck and kneeled down on his precious carpet. His forlorn face looked up at me, I wanted to laugh so badly, but I only knelt down beside him. "They spilt shit on him. And they call me a killer. Bloody muggles."

"Oh god, not you too. Come on you big baby, lets get you into bed." I tried to pull him back up, but he only held onto the rug tighter. "Okay fine, we can bring the rug with us."

"Henry, his name is Henry."

"Okay, love, Henry can come too."

By the time Damon, Henry and I had reached the top of the stairs; my sides were aching from laughing at our predicament and at Damon who kept telling me about Henry and his life story. "And then he had this girlfriend, Rose, who would lay next to him until some stupid vampire decided to rip her up in a frenzy. Dumb Stefan." The tears were now pouring down my cheeks in hysteria. "Elena." His speech came out slurred.

"Yeah?"

"You called me love. Haha, you love me!" He kept on laughing as we walked, well I walked, and he was dragged, down the passage to his bedroom. I managed to open the door with my free hand and dragged us all into the room. Letting him fall face first on the bed (which I received a groan for), I began taking off his shoes and socks. Before I could stop him, Damon had turned over, still clutching dear old Henry, and was unbuttoning his signature black shirt. However, the rug clutched in his left had made that very difficult, even for a hundred year old vampire who could probably remove a bra in a split second without even looking. Giving up he lay back down, "you do it." I began unbuttoning his shirt, still laughing at his exhausted and drunken personality. He was like a child. Half way down I became very aware of what I was doing and my giggling stopped. My fingers slightly shaking, I finished the buttons and helped him shrug the shirt off. I pulled back the silk covers, but Damon had already curled up on the other side of the bed under Henry. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the deadly shirtless vampire who was now curled up under his safety 'blankie'.

"Night Damon."

"Lena? Come 'ere." He gestured clumsily with his hand. I walked around to the other side of the bed where he turned to look at me. A piece of hair had fallen across his eyes, and I slowly swept it out of the way.

"Night, night, baby." I whispered. But as I turned around an arm snuck around my waist and I was pulled onto the bed and against his chest. Damon pulled Henry over both of us and snuggled against me, burying his face into my hair which had come loose from its clips over the course of the night.

"Night, Elena. And say night to Henry."

"Night Henry."

"Henry says night to. Night Elena."

"Night Damon."

"Night."

"Damon," I said warningly.

"Mmmm." He murmured into my hair. "And Elena?"

"What Damon?"

"You smell like a drunken hobo too." That had me in another fit of giggles, and I could hear Damon chuckling too, although it was muffled by my hair. And together we fell asleep, curled up together, just me, him and of course, Henry.