Hey there Delena fans!
Aww a million thanks to all of you who reviewed my last chapter! I can't thank you enough, it's so rewarding to see so many of you are enjoying this fic. And as a treat for you all, I bring you the longest chapter yet. I loved writing Damon's Point of View here, I felt like I could squeeze a little of the Vamp Damon into it which was a lot of fun. I really hope you enjoy it... Team Badass anyone?
But because this chappie was sooooo long, I've decided to split it in two.
So it here it goes with part one...
Damon's POV
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Damon twitched from his awkward, slumped position against the wall. The sound of knocking rousing him from his deep, alcohol induced sleep.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
"What the fuck..." he grumbled, pushing his aching body up the wall. A blinding pain shot through his right hand as he put pressure on the floor, causing him to hiss and look at his throbbing limb.
Needless to say - it was a mess.
He looked around completely dazed for a moment, disorientated, wondering why he felt the need to sleep against in his hallway. Ah - the empty bottle of bourbon resting against his leg answered that question. But what was the...
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Damon, you in there?"
Like a startled animal, Damon staggered to his feet. The nausea and pain that rippled through his body almost caused him to go plummeting straight back to the floor beneath him. But with Alaric shouting at his door, Damon blinked through his weary eyes to wander his way to the door.
The banging of a fist to wood erupted again as Damon trudged towards it. He pulled an irritated look at the offending sound that hammered through his tired brain.
"Alright, alright..." he groaned, feeling the need to swallow back the bile that had welled in his throat for so much as speaking. He felt like shit.
He swung open the door, the sunlight blinding him momentarily before Alaric stepped forward. Damon squinted and leaned uneasily against the doorframe for support. His once close friend, looked at him like he were something on the bottom of his shoe.
"What?" said Damon with a heavy roll of his bloodshot eyes.
Alaric finally looked up from Damon's mangled, bloody hand.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?"
Damon looked above with mock thought, then shrugged.
"To be totally honest Ric, I don't even know what day it is right now."
"It's 12:45 on a Friday Damon. Y'know Fridays? Last day of a working week? Last day before the kids get to kick back for the weekend?"
Damon eyes widened with horror, becoming so bulbous it was a wonder the didn't pop out of their sockets.
"Oh fuck" he grumbled, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose painfully. He allowed the sudden realization of missing two morning classes to hit him. That was two of his classes without a teacher, without a warning he wasn't going to be there, leading to the shit hitting the fan for the millionth time that week.
"Yeah but with any luck, you could get fired for this..." reminded his brain. Damon smirked.
"I wouldn't exactly be smiling about it Damon. John's hit the roof and Isobel has been trying to contact you for hours about it. Where's your phone?"
"Nah she's just pissed that I wouldn't let her shove her hands down my pants last night" Damon ranted, still feeling drunk enough to say such things without worrying about the consequences. Alaric already knew his biggest secret with Elena, what was one more skeleton jumping out of the closet?
"What do you mean?" Alaric asked with a deeply quizzical look. Damon answered with shrug, wishing he hated Alaric enough to tell him to fuck off and let him go to bed.
"So have you come to tell me I'm fired?" Damon asked, feeling his stomach pinch a little. He leaned further against the frame for support. He began to feel rather weak.
"No I've come to see why you didn't turn up this morning to see if there's a perfectly good explanation," Alaric pointed to Damon's crimson coated hand, "take it you got into a fight last night?"
"Yeah," Damon blurted, lazily gesturing into his apartment, "got into a fight with the wall in there." He looked down at his bloody hand, the deep cuts at the knuckles still moist, each finger twice the size it should be. "Think I broke it," Damon said, almost in clarification to himself.
"No shit" Alaric sighed, brushing his hand over his two-day stubble along his jaw. "So what the Hell happened to you?"
"Mmmwhatyoutalkingabout?" Damon rushed, needing to lie down.
"What am I talking about?" Alaric snapped, stepping a little closer "I'm talking about you turning up to school all fine and dandy one day, then the next not turning up at all and answering your door covered in blood!"
"Psssh," Damon snorted, "Stop being so melodramatic."
Alaric bit his tongue, keeping what was probably several curse words at bay. Damon watched him closely with a wonky grin, trying to remain steady on his feet though his swaying was becoming more visable.
"You need to get yourself to the hospital. I'll explain to John that you were in an accident and unable to get in touch with school," Alaric explained, looking Damon up and down like a father would to a son - with deep disappointment. It was a look, in that scenario, that Damon was all too familiar with.
"You done?" Damon stammered, ready to slam the door in Alaric's face.
"No, I'll be back later to update you with what's going on. And please be sober, you're a much more difficult drunk to handle than myself. Take care."
Alaric gave him one last worrying look before leaving. Damon watched him with an upturned lip, slamming the door shut once he was out of sight.
Since when did he decide to start acknowledging him again?
Either way, Damon was relieved it had been Alaric who showed up over Isobel. The thought of being in a close proximity with that woman was enough to drive Damon back to his drinks cabinet for more.
Sadly there was little else for him to chose from. Plus the knowledge that Alaric intended on coming back to check on him was a perfectly good reason for Damon to leave his apartment for the rest of the day. And heck with the weekend just around the corner, he could disappear until Sunday if he liked.
Or disappear all together.
Damon turned his back on the minimal alcohol left in the cabinet and made his way to his bedroom. On the way he caught sight of his reflection in the hallway mirror; he looked like Hell. Dark circles ringed around his once icy blue eyes that were now lifeless and dull, tinged with a reddish colour around his thick, black eyelashes. His hair was greasy, unkempt, and damp with sweat at his aching temples. His once crisp shirt was now crumpled, ripped, stained with blood and booze.
But still, he managed to fire an imaginary pistol with his swollen, purple-toned right hand and made his way through to his bedroom to get ready for his spur of the moment, weekend bender to Oblivion.
Elena's POV
"I can't believe Caroline skipped gym class to go and buy a new outfit for the party tonight," laughed Bonnie.
"I know it seems a little... much?"
"Well she does have both Matt and Tyler falling at her feet now. The girls' in demand and she knows it!"
Elena smiled as she strolled side by side with Bonnie back home. Bonnie hadn't mentioned a word about Damon to Elena. Not a word about why they were taking a break, why everything was so messed up, why this, why that, she did the most wonderful thing Elena could ever have hoped for; she just sat, listened and accepted it. She knew that was all Elena needed, and didn't push for anything else. Elena felt extremely lucky to have a friend like Bonnie Bennett.
"So have you decided what you're going to wear?" Bonnie asked, kicking up a few, autumnal leaves that were in her path.
"Just the usual," Elena said, she saw the incredulous look etched on Bonnie's face, "oh c'mon Bonnie, it's hardly an occasion to get dressed up to the nine's for."
"Yeah that's true. Eugh, how much do you wanna bet Caroline will be in tears by the end of the night?"
"I'd put everything I own on that" Elena giggled, pulling her phone out of her pocket and lighting up the screen. Her smile automatically vanished.
Damon had stopped calling her since last night. Her heart clenched in her tight chest. She felt so angry with herself for not answering her phone to him. She understood now. She had all day to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It seemed, according to Damon's stories, that Isobel was besotted with him. She had her suspicions about them. It was her perfect opportunity to get Damon for herself by threatening to expose him unless he complied to her wishes. As farfetched as it would sound to many, it was all very plausible for Elena.
She desperately needed to speak to Damon.
"Do I need to ask who you're thinking about right now?" Bonnie questioned timidly as Elena continued to stare at her phone, stroking her finger over the dull screen.
"Nope," she said, sliding her phone away and looking to Bonnie with an 'I'm okay' smile. A smile Elena had perfected in the last few months to Bonnie. "But I know everything is okay now. In one way at least"
Bonnie responded with an encouraging smile. "All the more reason to try and have a good time tonight," she said.
"I can try," Elena sighed, but feeling a little nervous as one, particular name and face popped into her mind. "But promise me you won't push Stefan to talk to me, or try to make amends, or..."
"I promise. I'll tell Caroline too, but I think she'll be busy with her own men."
"With any luck" Elena said, noticing they were coming to the street corner where they went their seperate ways. "I'll meet you at Tyler's at nine-ish then."
"Sure," Bonnie said, quickly pulling Elena in for a brief hug, "I want to see you turn up with the biggest smile on your face too. Elena Gilbert is going to have a brilliant night tonight."
Elena rolled her eyes at Bonnie's cheesy comment, but she accepted it because she was actually going to try and enjoy herself. Even if she found it incredibly difficult to enjoying anything if Damon wasn't involved with her.
Her smile wavered as she thought of him.
She missed him terribly.
She said her final goodbyes to Bonnie before pivoting on her converse shoes and quickly walking home before Aunt Jenna would start wondering where she was.
On the way she retrieved her phone once again and dialed Damon's number before she had the chance to talk herself out of it...
It went straight to voicemail.
4 and a half hours later...
Elena stared at her reflection in the mirror. She kept her make-up simple, she fastened her hair into a messy pony-tail, revealing her elegant neck and shoulders as she decided to wear a simple black tank-top, denim shorts and silver pumps. She looked naturally beautiful, but far from happy.
Her eyes fluttered across to her phone that sat next to her make-up box on her table. She tried, without allowing herself to think of the consequences if someone else answered, to call Damon several more times. All service to his phone was completely out and Elena was worried sick about him.
Surely after yesterdays events with Isobel he would have returned her calls, no matter how bad the news was.
He didn't have a landline number, so she was completely and utterly stuck to find a way to contact him without going around to his home. But one, that would be incredibly foolish and careless of her and two... she actually couldn't remember the way. The one and only time they went, she was too busy staring at him in the car, becoming lost in his handsome profile. She became wrapped up in the memory of how it felt to be sat so close to him, knowing they were going to his place to make love, and the feeling was so uplifting Elena had to allow herself to become lost in it.
It was only when she heard Jeremy yell that he was going out for the night, that she emerged from her Damon Trance. She thumbed away the single tear that managed to escape.
With a quick stroke of her blusher brush across her cheeks, Elena checked her reflection once more to decide she was ready. With a quick brush down of her shorts, she grabbed her phone, bag and made her way out of the house to Tyler's, but not before reassuring Jenna that she would be home before twelve. She didn't plan on staying late. She was in no right frame of mind to be out partying until all hours of the morning, no matter how eventful Tyler's house parties could become.
After a couple of minutes of walking down the lonely street, Elena heard the low rumbling of a car engine from behind her like it was slowing down. Elena turned only to be blinded by the headlights, causing her to raise her hand up to shield her eyes. For a second she became a little worried, thinking it was someone who was about to snatch her from the sidewalk, a typical thing for a teenage girl to feel. But very quickly she found there was nothing to worry about at all as the car slowly rolled to a halt beside her.
"Need a ride?" he asked, a warm smile on his face.
Elena had all the usual reasons of why she shouldn't accept his offer ready to burst out of her mouth. But the way Stefan smiled so openly up at her, Elena just couldn't find herself to do that. With all the drama that surrounded her in her young life, perhaps it would be nice to hang out with someone who didn't suspect anything, didn't know her secrets, didn't threaten her. Just for a night...
"Sure," she said, a little smile creeping on her lips as she opened the door and climbed in, sitting in a comfortable silence until they arrived to their location a few minutes later.
The look on Bonnie's face outside Tyler's house as Elena rolled up in the car with Stefan was nothing short of surprised. Perhaps annoyed too. Elena braced herself...
"Thanks for the ride Stefan" she said, looking down to unclick her seat-belt. She could feel his eyes on her.
"Any time... would you like the ride home too?"
"Uh maybe, I'm gonna leave early I think so I don't wanna ruin your night."
"I don't mind coming with you," he said lowly, in a way that hoped would encourage her towards the answer he wanted. Elena knew the discussion would lead to ones they usually had; her telling him he was pushing simple things too far and making them complicated. Thankfully as she opened her mouth to speak, Bonnie popped up by the window.
"Hey Stefan!"
"Hey Bonnie," he nodded, looking a little peeved that she had interrupted his moment with Elena. Elena on the other hand silently thanked her.
"C'mon, we're missing the party" Bonnie said, going as far to open the door for Elena. As she hopped out, Bonnie hissed;
"What happened to the 'no stefan' talk?"
Elena rolled her eyes heavily "I know, I know, I just..."
"Hey you guys coming?" hollered Stefan, hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets as he walked backwards towards the thrumming Lockwood mansion.
"Lets just leave it okay?" Elena asked, "You want me to have fun, then please don't hassle me with questions. Everything's fine."
Elena worried she may have sounded a little harsh, but Bonnie nodded in understanding.
"No hassle. Just fun," she stated, her eyes wandering over Elena's shoulder to Stefan who stood waiting for them. "We're coming Stef!"
Elena watched as Bonnie bounced over towards Stefan who was beaming. It was the first time in a long time Elena realized, that any of them had been nice to him and accepting of his company. Suddenly her phone began buzzing in her pocket...
With a gasp she quickly fumbled through her bag, please be Damon, please be Damon!
1 new message: Caroline
Where the Hell are you guys? Matt drama. In bathroom. Need u asap! xoxo
Elena solemnly dropped her phone back into her bag. In the quietness of the outdoors, say for the muffled sound of bass, laughter and cheering from Tyler's house, Elena took a moment to look around her, ridiculously wishing Damon would just pop out of the shadows and surprise her.
"Where are you Damon?" she whispered.
DAMON'S POV
"I'll have another one," Damon slurred, shaking the glass in his hand towards the barmaid, the ice cubs clinging in the glass grabbing her attention. He didn't bother to look up, which made the action all the more condescending. But he was far too drunk to give a flying fuck about anything right now... except where the next drink was coming from.
"I think you've had enough," she said, her glossy lip upturned with disgust as she took in his slouched form over the bar. It was a shame to see someone so good-looking go to waste.
"Trust me honey," he drawled, raising his eyebrows with a drunken smirk, "I've barely even started." The smile vanished, "fill me up."
As the glass slammed onto the drenched wooden bar top, the little barmaid flinched and scurried away to comply with his orders.
Damon sighed at her boldness, about to mumble some form of offense at her but was abruptly silenced by hiccups. The tiny jolt of his body sent a shock-wave of pain to slice through his hand which he had wrapped up, poorly, with a bandage he found shoved in his bathroom cabinet. It would do for now.
He surveyed the bar, looking for the cocky little bitch that answered back at him, wondering where she'd gone with his drink. His glazed, dark blue eyes landed on a pretty little brunette further sat down the bar. She was perched on the stool, her back to him, her cascades of dark curls resting close to the curve of her behind. She looked so much like...
"Elena.." he said, seeing her face flash through his dizzying mind. Her glowing smile, radiant from head to toe as she danced around the log cabin in her underwear. He found himself smiling, putting himself right there in that memory.
The mystery brunette tossed her hair over shoulder to look directly at him. She frowned, aghast at his 'leering.' By the time Damon came too, she was already shaking her head and moving further down the bar in a hurry.
Whatever.
"Anything else?" came the clipped tone of the itchy barmaid. Damon snatched the glass from her hand, down the drink in one and slotted the glass right back into her hand again.
"Another one, Peaches" he winked.
Appalled, she walked off and didn't go to pour another one for him as she had previously. She probably went for the manager or something. Damon arched a single eyebrow and came to the quick conclusion that he didn't really care. That this place was a bit of a drag anyway. Wherever here was.
"Time to call it a night?"
"Ugh... you again" Damon sighed, not bothering to look to his left as he already knew that it was Alaric standing next to him.
"That's me, good old Mr Buzzkill" he said in a comical tone that caused Damon to bite his tongue. "What happened to that little hospital idea we talked about?"
"Sorry Daddy Ric I completely forgot," Damon drawled, looking over to the stone-cold sober Alaric with tired, hazy, bitterly-stinging eyes. "What do you want Ric? Can't you see you're rudely interrupting my little drinking sesh."
"I wouldn't exactly call it little," Alaric said, carefully sitting next to Damon who stared hard in front of him, as if he were trying to make a drink pour itself into a glass with mind control.
"Well if you were me right now Saltzy, you'd be doing the same: my primary reason for existence has abandoned me and after yesterdays events and the remains of the shaky ground that I walk on are about to go kaboom. A perfectly good reason to get hammered" Damon said, finishing off with a dazzling smirk then spying across the bar to see his antsy barmaid reappear, "Hey Little Miss Pouty, fancy getting me that drink?"
A man then appeared next to her, clearly the manager and she pointed over in Damon's direction. Seriously?
Then from behind, two hard fingers jabbed into his shoulder. Damon turned in his seat to be greeted by some steroid bulking dude with the pretty brunette stood behind him.
"Can I help you?" Damon asked in fake politeness, flashing his killer smile at the brunette before the muscle-hulking guy shoved his shoulders so roughly that his back slammed against the bar.
"Who the fuck do you think you are, huh? Staring up my girl?"
"Oh c'mon," Damon laughed, slapping his thigh in humour as he stared at his new found enemy whose face had set in stone, he rolled his gaze across to the girl who stood silent. "are you seriously kicking up a fuss about that Princess?"
"Damon just leave it," Alaric warned from behind him.
"What did you call her?" said The Hulk, stepping forward menacingly, towering over Damon who remained in his stool, looking bemused as he raised his hands in a comic, "i don't know" fashion.
"I'd like to ask you all to leave," warned the manager, his voice shaking a little with the intense situation that had occurred in his bar.
"No worries buddy, was about to leave this shit-hole dive anyway" Damon blurred, standing up, whipping his leather jacket from his seat ready to go until Hulk rammed him back against the bar, causing a number of glasses to roll off the surface and smash into thick pieces on the tiled floor.
"I haven't finished with you," Hulk grunted, his beedy eyes bulging from his thick, meaty skull.
"Listen why don't you grab a few more of your pumped-up gym buddies and then it'll be an even fight," Damon smiled, slapping the guys cheek and moving out of his grip.
Knowing it was coming, Hulk swooped around to punch him but Damon was already there, throwing his good left fist clean into his meaty head and sending him crashing into the bar.
"Damon!" Alaric yelled, his voice barely audible over the brunette who had started screaming.
Not one to back down, Damon was ready and pumped up for round two, despite his opposition being a few stone heavier and a few inches taller than him. He lunged forward again, but received a thick fist to the stomach once, twice, then being pulled back and head-butted clean between the eyes.
"Stop it, dammit!" came Alaric's voice somewhere, "he's had enough!"
Then Damon found himself thrown against the bar, winded and twisted onto his back. Through the drunken blur and blood in his eyes, he saw the faint vision of a smashed glass in Hulk's hand being raised above his head, ready to strike down...
But somehow he didn't feel the pain. Perhaps a shard of it sliced straight through his skull and directly into his brain. Killing him instantly. But everything was a blur of colours and nothing seemed to make sense for a while.
"Damon... Damon?"
A slap on the cheek brought him too and Damon found himself looking at Alaric's shirt, crouching down at his level on... on the floor. He'd somehow made it to the floor.
"Get out before I call the cops" echoed an unknown voice.
"C'mon Damon," Alaric urged, wrapping Damon's right arm around his shoulder and securing his left around Damon's waist. "On your feet."
Damon managed to do the basic task of putting one foot forward and then another, but still resting his full body weight against Alaric who struggled to ease him through the gathered crowds.
As the cold night air blasted onto his skin, Damon suddenly felt more awake.
"Let go of me Ric," he grumbled, grimacing as he felt his blood, moist and cool, drying on his face.
"You can barely see straight, I'm helping you to the car."
Damon roughly shrugged out of his support.
"Why are you helping me! Is this some little fuckin' scheme you've got cooked up with Isobel? Is it? You're a fucking dick," Damon spat, wandering off onto the road a little, almost tripping to his knees.
"Isobel? What's she got to do with anything?"
"Oh everything" Damon said, scrunching up his nose as he suddenly thought of the concept of sleeping with her, which he knew he would eventually have to do unless he wanted a one way ticket to a dank, dirty cell. "She's got me right where she fucking wants me, and knowing..." he felt his stomach lurch, "and knowing that you know, that... that I know, that you know about me and 'Lena... you'll probably just go mouthing off to the cops anyway. So either way I'm knee deep in shit..."
Damon didn't notice the baffled look on Alaric's face, etched with disbelief as he managed to put two and two together about Isobel. Unless Damon was so pissed he was talking complete nonsense. But Alaric somehow knew that he wasn't...
"Damon get out of the road and let me take you to the hospital. Or at the very least home."
"I'll decline thanks," Damon said, waving off Ric's words as he stumbled a little.
"Then at least get out of the road," Alaric asked impatiently, like he was talking to a child. Damon didn't appreciate it, but adhered to his wishes, staggering back up to the side walk, wincing as a burning pain blitzed at his stomach.
"You okay?"
"Uh huh," Damon managed, holding his tender stomach after Hulk pummeled it several times. "I just need..."
"To lie down?" Alaric suggested.
Damon slowly shook his head, a look of anguish sweeping over his usual calm, strong and powerful exterior. His drunken facade of cockiness and cheek all but punched and kicked away. He stood, wavering on his feet, his blue eyes shining sadly through the blood that blotched his skin, he looked hauntingly at Alaric.
"IjustneedElena.."
"Huh? What?"
Alaric didn't get an answer, as Damon's eyes rolled to the back of his head and his knees gave way. Alaric managed to catch him just in time before his head smashed against the concrete floor.
ELENA'S POV
Elena wandered into the heaving Lockwood mansion. Everyone from her school year was there having a blast; drinking, dancing, making out in dark corners. It was wild and Elena could barely hear herself think above the powerful music. When she started yelling for Bonnie she noticed heads begin to turn and people looked at her... strangely.
It was dark, say for the odd flashing light that went swooping through the room. But it wasn't just one or two people, it was nearly everyone who was giving her the same look. As though they were looking down on her, or knew something she didn't. It was worse when she noticed a few turning to whisper to their friends. Elena wished she hadn't tied her hair upwards. She felt the overwhelming need to hide behind her long, dark hair as a form of shield from the intrusive staring going on around her.
Maybe it's because I haven't been to a houseparty in so long.. she thought. It could very well be. A few months ago she would be the life and soul of one, with Caroline as her wing-girl and Bonnie being the ever protective friend who played chaperone. She'd be the one dancing on tables, swaying her hips to the beat with every pair of male eyes on her and knowing it.
Either way she recklessly grabbed for the nearest bottle on one of many tables that stored drinks. She chugged on the warm beer, grimacing at its stale taste as she continued her hunt for Bonnie, Caroline, Stefan, anyone who she knew well.
"Elena!" came Bonnie's voice.
Elena twirled around to find her halfway up the stairs. Of course! Caroline was sobbing in the bathroom over Matt! Quickly Elena weaved through the crowds. still seeing people giving her the look, but ignoring them as she took Bonnie's hand who lead her up the stairs.
"Bonnie we've passed the bathroom," Elena called, but Bonnie marched onwards until she found an unoccupied bedroom."What's going on?"
Bonnie hurriedly shut the door and turned to face Elena. Whatever Bonnie was about to say, Elena knew she wasn't going to like it.
"People know."
"...What?"
Elena refused to believe Bonnie's blunt statement. She shook her head, backing away from Bonnie as though her friend were brandishing a kitchen knife in front of her.
"Several people have just come up to me saying they've had notes in their lockers towards the end of the day at school. Saying you and Mr Salvatore are "getting it on" or something. No one knows who it is, but... but it's out there Elena."
"It's Isobel..." Elena whispered, almost choking on the word, "It has to be."
"Isobel? As in Miss Flemming?"
Elena nodded, palming a hand to her chest where her heart drummed like a wild beast trying to escape a small cage.
"I didn't tell you fully," Elena stammered, determined to keep the tears back while she explained, but all the while thinking about Damon and wondering what was happening to him right now. "But remember how I said she could be blackmailing him?"
Bonnie nodded, listening intently.
"I think... jeez, this is gonna sound crazy... but I think she's forcing him to be with her or she'll spill everything about our relationship. What if he's done something and this is her way of warning him?"
"That sounds ridiculous Elena, why would she go to such lengths?"
"I dunno, but it really, really wouldn't surprise me" Elena said, convinced she was on the right track now she'd open her eyes beyond what she saw in Damon's classroom yesterday. Isobel was desperate for Damon, Elena knew first hand from the woman's unexpected visit to Damon's apartment the day she went back with him. This was all her and Damon must have done something to rub her the wrong way...
"What if he's not answering his phone because he's already been turned in?"
Elena suddenly felt sick at her own thoughts, slumping back against the bed behind her to pull herself together.
"I need to find him, Bonnie."
"Okay but how-"
The door flew open. It was Stefan and Matt, laughing like idiots and holding two to three bottles of Bud in each hand. Looks like Stefan would now be walking home in that case.
"Sorry, have we interrupted girl time?" Matt slurred, already a little worse for wear and it was only 10pm.
"No we've just finished," Elena declared, bravely putting a smile on her face.
"Well c'mon, lets go dance!" Stefan announced, doing some odd gyration of his hips before he and Matt wandered out into the blackened hallway once again.
Elena hadn't budged the smile from her lips as she went to follow. Bonnie gently placed her hand on her arm.
"What are you doing?" she whispered.
"Bonnie I can't have people believing it. If i walk out, it will scream of guilt. I need to show that the rumours about me and Damon are fake and the only way to do that is laugh it off and look like I'm having a good time."
"Are you sure?"
"There you guys are!" shrieked Caroline.
The blonde was stood in the doorway, hands on either side of it with an impatient look on her slightly red face. She had been crying, but attempted to hide it by applying more cover-up and eyeliner.
Elena hoped to God she hadn't heard a word...
"Sorry Care, we were-"
"Nevermind. lets just go out there and dance. I need to show everyone I'm having a super, wicked awesome time. I feel like a total idiot!"
"Likewise, Caroline" Elena said, taking the blonde's cool fingers and squeezing them. "Let's go. Come on Bonnie!"
It was going to be just like old times Elena realized as the trio grew closer and closer to the pounding music and heaving dancefloor where Stefan, Tyler and a brooding Matt were moving to the music and bellowing out the lyrics. Elena and Caroline were the hardcore party animals and Bonnie the ever watchful eye.
As much as Elena tried to ignore it as she bopped around to the music, Bonnie was more than aware that people were still watching and whispering about the Salvatore/Gilbert rumours...
DAMON'S POV
Flashes of bright lights kept disrupting Damon's sleep. He slowly blinked his eyes open to find himself laying in darkness, a window above, street lights blaring through and burning his weak vision. It was becoming all too common for him to wake up in unexpected places.
He felt the leather under his bare arms and left hip where his black t-shirt had rolled up. With his left hand he realized it was the cheap leather of a car seat and not his precious leather jacket. Shit he hoped he hadn't left it at that bar..
As soon as he lifted his head to see who the driver was he regretted it. His head was pounding. He could smell the faint, coppery scent of blood. Everything was hurting like a bitch and he couldn't wait to pop a few pain killers and collapse into bed for the rest of the weekend. Not that he would be in any state to turn up to school Monday morning, but he hadn't seen the full damage of his face after his run in with The Incredible Hulk.
The car quickly swooped around and corner and Damon had to hold himself to the seat from falling onto the floor. Then the car stopped and the driver unclipped their seat belt, slammed their car door shut only to open Damon's a few seconds later.
"Rise and shine," said Alaric as Damon gradually hoisted himself into a seating position.
"Sorry about the blood and... drool" said Damon, lazily looking around at the mess he'd made in Alaric's car from simply lying there. Alaric remained silent as he manoeuvred Damon out of his car and onto the drive way.
"Damon please tell me you have your keys," Alaric said forcefully as he was once again, pretty much supporting Damon's entire body weight.
Damon grimaced at the pain in his stomach, struggling to say they were in his pocket and instead fumbling for them himself.
"Oh come here, let me help you."
Damon saw a pair of female hands lunge into his jeans pocket, retrieving his keys and walking to his front door in what sounded like high heels. Alaric had paused in his tracks.
"Isobel what are you doing here?"
Damon felt his world crash again as he listened to everything that was going on around him. To look up from the ground at his feet caused his entire vision and stance to tilt violently.
"I've been worried sick about him all day Ric, but thank goodness you've found him." she said, emotion dripping from her voice as she unlocked the door to Damon's home.
"Uhh..."
"Oh sorry Ric," said Isobel with a hint of laughter in her overly sugar-sweet voice. "Myself and Damon we're an item. I'll take it from here."
"I don't think that's wise Isobel, he's in a pretty bad way as you can tell."
"I know but once he's in the house safely I can handle it. It's not a problem" said Isobel sternly, clearly wanting Alaric to leave as soon as possible.
Even in his awful state, Damon knew that Isobel was oblivious to the fact Alaric knew all about his relationship with Elena. He half smiled as he concentrated on breathing properly through the burning pain at his stomach and ribs. He had one up on the bitch. He just hoped that Alaric wouldn't fuck it up.
"Let's just see what happens once we're inside okay?" Alaric suggested, moving Damon slowly along the grovel towards Isobel who was waiting at the door, playing the concerned girlfriend role.
Here's where a performance worthy of an Oscar kicks in.
Damon made out to trip under his feet, causing Alaric to fall against the wall in the hallway. The action trapping Damon's inflammed right hand between them.
"Fuck!" he burst, causing Alaric and Isobel to gasp at his outcry.
"What? What is it!" Isobel shrieked.
"His arm!" Alaric snapped, quickly dragging Damon through the dark room, "if you think you're any help Isobel will you please put the lights on!"
Damon heard her totter away in her skyscraper heels as he slumped onto the couch, cradling his arm that throbbed and wracked his entire right arm with pain.
"Hospital... please," Damon muttered as the lights beamed through his apartment. Alaric nodded and felt for his phone in his pocket.
"What are you doing?" ordered Isobel, storming over in between them and kneeling in front of Damon. He looked at her for the first time that evening, glaring at her with everything he had. It had no affect on her, even with the dry trails of blood across his features that made him look like the surviving victim of a horror movie. She smiled up at him from her thick, fake eyelashes, then focused on inspecting his right hand, carefully unwinding the bandages.
"Leave it!" Damon growled. he moved his hand back but she yanked it forward, making sure it hurt as a warning.
"Don't bother with an ambulance Ric. If he were that bad he'd have asked to go to A&E straight away" Isobel stated, stroking her fingers over the torn, bruised knuckles. Damon, as disgusting at it sounded, felt like spitting the remnants of blood in his mouth into her face. "What have you gotten yourself into sweetie?" she cooed, cupping her hand to his cheek while he stared at her cold. Eyes ablaze, breathing uneven.
"Damon I don't mind driving you if-"
"I have a first aid kit in my car, would you get it for me Alaric?"
"I think he needs an x-ray over a few band aids to be honest."
"I told you," she said coldly, but still with a twinkle of innocence in her eyes as she looked back to Alaric. "If he were that desperate he'd have already gone."
"Well he wasn't exactly in the right frame of mind to make rational decisions Isobel."
"Nonsense, he's a smart man aren't you Damon? He's knows better to than to bother a team of doctors when there are far more important things for them to be doing."
"If you say so. But still... you've got to wonder why he decided to get into this state in the first place huh?"
Damon blinked up at Alaric, then to Isobel. She had no comeback for that and instead continued to examine his hand. She refused to look up, even to Damon, and eventually she released a loud sigh.
"Tired of waiting for this first aid kit, Alaric. Car is open. It's in the trunk."
Alaric wordlessly made his way out. Damon closed his eyes, accepting that he was most likely not going to make it to that hospital. Isobel grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. Damon's vision doubled as he set sights on her, almost swaying into her body.
"You've been a bad, bad boy Damon" she said lowly, stroking her thumb down his swollen, bottom lip while he glowered at her, "Would you like to know what I've done as punishment?" she whispered, leaning over and replacing the pad of her thumb with her lips, "would you?"
Panic began to swell in his chest but he remained complacent, staring straight through her while she closed her lips against his in a gentle but deadly kiss. He didn't reward her with an answer, nor did he return the kiss that left a cold chill on his aching body.
"I'll be back with that first aid" she said, rising to her feet and heading for the door.
Damon couldn't hear the distant voices of Alaric and Isobel at his door. He felt himself wavering again, the lack of hydration and blood playing havoc with the copious amount of alcohol that still swirled around his system. Not to mention the anxiety of what Isobel had done, which caused his heart the palpitate, causing his body to shake. He carefully rested his head back against the couch. Needing to drift out of consciousness.
...
"I still think the hospital is a wise decision. He's a mess, Isobel" Urged Alaric, handing over the first ait kit to Isobel who accepted it with a sly grin.
"I can handle it. Don't worry."
"But... okay, fair enough. I'll help you sort out-"
"Goodnight Alaric," said Isobel, quickly closing the door, almost trapping her colleagues fingers in the hinges. She locked it, and ignored the quiet protest from the other side of the door as she made her way back to her Damon.
The poor lamb was out cold. As she stood above him she felt a sense of gratification that this was ultimately her doing. She broke him down, she punished him for it, he would not be doing it again.
She carefully unsealed an anti-septic wipe from her pityful First Aid kit. He didn't move once as she dabbed over the deep gash above his eyebrow, brushing his dark hair way with her fingers. She placed a chaste kiss on the tiny welt at his lip, the faint taste of his blood sizzling on her tongue.
"My poor baby is such a mess" she whispered, unbuttoning his shirt, feeling her stomach dance as she laid her eyes on his muscular body, undeterred by the bruising around his ribs. She placed tentative kisses along the dark markings, inhaling his masculine scent, wondering why an inexperienced, know-it-all little brat like the Gilbert Girl appealed to him but she did not. It angered her, almost enough for her hands to cup around his right hand, ready to crush it painfully... but she refrained, and placed it back by his side, moving upwards to pat open wound on his head.
"Try avoiding me again and it won't be just a few notes that i'll be planting in students lockers, Salvatore..."
So what does everyone think to Part One of this eventful Friday night?
This was one of my all time fave chapters to write so I'm ridiculously excited to see what you all thought of it! And as some of you may have noticed I included a classic Damon quote from S1... one of my favourites from him, haha. And also, for any fellow geeks, a quote from the recent Star Trek movie in the bar when he slapped the The Hulk. It felt soooooo Damon-like :-)
Anyways I'll not keep you guys further. Thank you for reading as always and i'll be back in no time at all with Chapter 22.
Anna xxx