"Katherine?" Elena choked out. Damon nodded.
"Katherine Pierce," He clarified.
"I know who she is," Elena said stiffly. Damon stopped in his tracks and looked at her with a knitted brow. Elena continued walking for a bit before realizing that Damon was no longer following her. She stopped and looked back at him. After reading his expression, Elena worried that maybe she had said too much.
"You know Katherine?" Damon asked. Elena cleared her throat.
"Oh yeah, I mean I know of Katherine Pierce." Elena backpedaled. "She's infamous."
"She is, isn't she?" Damon chuckled. He turned his gaze up to the sky with a small smile, obviously lost in thought. Elena remembered when he used to think about her with that expression, and seeing it while he was thinking of Katherine bothered and hurt Elena beyond words.
"So, shall we?" Elena quickly pulled him from his reverie and gestured down the road. Damon nodded at her and continued walking. When he caught up with her, she met his stride.
"So, that man you love…" Damon began. Elena's breath caught in her throat, sensing a potentially dangerous topic, "How did you meet?"
Elena carefully navigated her way around the conversation, picking and choosing her words to not give away too much, but still enough to tell the story.
"He was lying in the middle of the road, for God knows what reason," Elena chuckled in nostalgia, "I was at a party, waiting for my parents to pick me up and we just started talking."
"Ahhh," Damon said, "Is this the part where you tell me that it was love at first sight?"
"Hah! No!" Elena laughed, "Quite the contrary." They walked in comfortable silence, both consumed in their own thoughts. Eventually, Damon broke the silence.
"I'd have to say that it was 'love at first sight' for Katherine and me."
Elena rolled her eyes at his words, but she remained silent. She continued walking and Damon followed. She wanted to casually feed information about his real life to him, but she wasn't sure how to do that. She was in dangerous territory—if she gave away too much, Damon's memory could be fried, but she couldn't let him remain in his ignorance. He deserved better than that.
"Well, believe it or not, I do know a little thing about love at first sight." Elena said, running her hand through her hair.
"Who?" Damon pressed.
"My current boyfriend's brother." Elena stated. She watched his reaction, hoping for some spark, but all he did was raise his eyebrows.
"How scandalous of you, Elena," Damon joked and Elena chuckled. "So is it your boyfriend's brother that you love?"
"No, it's my boyfriend," Elena said quickly, "Which is what makes me doubt the validity of 'love at first sight.'" Elena hinted, but Damon didn't catch on.
"I'm confused…which brother are you in love with right now?" Damon asked with a furrowed brow, completely ignoring her previous statement. Elena sighed.
"The older one. I met him first, but he compelled me to forget. Then, I met his younger brother and fell in love with him immediately and dated him for about a year, but oh, how his older brother tortured me." Elena laughed slightly, "He was—is really hard to resist. Eventually, the younger brother and I broke up while he had his humanity turned off. So, I started getting closer to the older brother and next thing I knew, I fell for him." Elena paused, looking up at Damon. He was watching the horizon, listening to her intently. Her voice softened as she put more sincerity behind her words, "I fell hard."
Elena's change in tone caught Damon's attention and he turned his head to look at her. The moment they made eye contact he felt something rush through him, something that he had never felt before. It was like a mix between adrenaline and endorphin—he was elated, and addicted to her eyes.
"Where is he now?" Damon eventually asked, pulling himself back to his reality. He couldn't deny that there was something between Elena and him, but his mind tug at him, repeatedly told him that it was Katherine who he loved.
"Gone, but he'll be back soon."
"Travelling?"
"Something like that." Elena responded. Another silence fell between the two. Elena stared ahead, determined to reach her destination. She was taking Damon to the woods where they reconnected during the annual Mikaelson Ball. She hoped that maybe she could awaken something within Damon that used to exist.
Just then, Damon's phone began ringing. He pulled it out and Elena looked over at his screen. Katherine's picture lit up his screen. Damon's thumb lingered above the 'answer' button. His mind was telling him that he had to answer the phone, but the rest of his being was telling him to keep talking with Elena. Eventually, his mind won him over.
"Hello?" Damon purred into the phone.
Elena usually loved hearing that teasing tone, but now she hated that she wasn't on the receiving end.
"Right now?" Damon continued his conversation, "Ye—no, I mean. It's fine. Yeah. I'm just with Elena. What? Why?" Damon sighed, "Okay, whatever you want. Yes. Okay. Goodbye. I love you too." Damon pulled the phone from his ear and put it back in his pocket.
"Everything good?" Elena asked. She hated it. She hated all of it. She hated listening him talk to Katherine like that. She hated him telling her that he loved her. She hated all that Katherine had done.
"Yeah. I'm just apparently not allowed to talk to you."
"Hmm," Elena said, drawing her lips into a tight line, "Then, why are you still here?"
"Because for some reason, every part of me down to my bones, feels like I can't leave you." Damon responded. He looked down at Elena and Elena looked up at him. His eyes were soft and almost, but not quite, loving. Elena read his expression and felt a small smile twitch onto her cheeks. Damon smiled back at her. But, his smile was quickly wiped away because his phone was ringing again.
Damon looked at the screen and then sighed before picking it up.
"What? Yes, I'll be there soon."
Damon hung up the phone.
"I really do have to go or I'll have one pissed girl on my hands." Damon said before turning around and walking away. Elena watched as he went and she couldn't help but feel that he was a completely different man.
Later that evening, Elena returned to the Boarding House. She knew that she shouldn't have, but recently it had felt more like home to her than her real home.
She had a key, but that didn't matter because the Salvatores' never locked their door. She walked in easily and strolled through the house, getting nostalgic with each room.
The living room—where Damon promised her he'd never leave her again.
The kitchen—shared kisses on the counter and fingers tracing her every outline.
Damon's bedroom—waking up to his electric blue eyes and soft lips.
Elena couldn't take it. The emotions that were bubbling up within her were just too much. She ran down the stairs and was about to reach the landing when she heard the front door open and slam, sending a loud boom echoing around the house. Elena jumped at the noise. She poked her head out over the banister to see a fuming Damon storming to the stairs.
He threw off his jacket and reached the landing. He almost didn't notice Elena. He stopped abruptly right in front of her.
"Elena? What are you doing in my house…?"
Elena opened her mouth to explain, but he shook his head, indicating that he didn't care.
"What's wrong, Damon?" Elena asked concernedly. She placed her hand instinctively on his neck, but quickly retracted it.
"So, after I left you I went to Katherine, right?" Damon began. Elena nodded, "And what do I walk in on?! Katherine and—and Stefan…"
Damon's countenance turned from anger to hurt.
"Together." His voice cracked on the last word.
Elena's instinct was to comfort him with her love, to reassure him of her love, but she knew that she couldn't do that. It was too risky. So, instead, she did what she had done to comfort him many times before.
Elena snuck her hands up and around his shoulders, bringing him into a hug. She rested her chin on his shoulder and inhaled deeply.
At first, Damon just stood there with his arms dangling hanging at his sides. But eventually, he warmed up to the hug and wrapped his arms around Elena's waist. He exhaled in her grip—it was like the moment he let himself relax in her arms, he was home.
Elena pulled away from him slightly until her lips were hovering directly by his. They were breathing somewhat heavily. Elena could hear her heartbeat loud in her ears. The closeness of their lips was sending electric currents to her skin. She had missed this—the closeness, the tension, the drumbeat to the kiss.
Elena didn't want to make the first move, fearing that she'd overwhelm him. So, she waited. Damon wanted to kiss her undeniably, but something was holding him back, something that he couldn't quite decipher.
Just then, Elena's phone rang in her back pocket. She grunted and pulled away from Damon. They both felt a wave of coldness run over their bodies at the sudden distance.
Elena picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey. It's Caroline. I've got some great news!"
"I could really use some of that right now," Elena mumbled.
"Stefan's back!" Caroline exclaimed excitedly. Elena's jaw dropped.
"Stefan's…back?"
"Yep! He's all memory-filled and Stefan-y!"
"But, that can't be." Elena said, still in shock.
"Oookay…" Caroline's voice turned slightly more serious, "I just told you that Stefan's back and you sound like you just got hit by a train, and then a car, and then a jet, so why?"
Elena hesitated and looked back over her shoulder at Damon who was leaning patiently against the stairwell. His brow was furrowed in thought and he was gritting his teeth angrily, obviously still thinking about the scene he walked in on earlier.
Elena sighed before speaking.
"Because Damon's still gone."
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! I've been busy! Review please!