"Good work Gilbert." Damon said admirably when she hung up the phone after telling off her dad.
"Wow, tell me when I can breath again. That was... exhilarating." she admitted, her eyes shining brightly.
"I bet. That was hot." Damon said his eyes glinting.
"There is nothing hot about my sister." Jeremy argued.
"I beg to differ, but we don't have to agree. There would be something seriously wrong with you if you thought your sister was hot." Damon noted turning to the teenager.
"We can agree on that point." Jeremy agreed.
"Well since I'm free, what do we want to do today?" Elena asked clapping her hands together enthusiastically.
"Why don't we walk around Richmond." Jeremy offered.
"Sounds good. I really do need to buy some clothes." she said.
"Like you need more clothes Lena." Jeremy scoffed.
"This is all I have here Jer. I need something clean to wear. All my clothes are at home." Elena said.
"Ah, you left in a hurry didn't you?" Jeremy asked.
"Yep. I got banished to my room, I paced and fumed. Then decided to head off to Damon's. We then decided to come here." she explained.
"Well then lets go shopping." Jeremy said standing up and signalling for the bill. At faster than humanly possible Damon snatched the bill before Jeremy could.
"I got it." he said smoothly placing a couple bills in the folder. The three got up and headed towards Damon's Camaro.
"Nice car you got here." he said appraising the blue Camaro.
"She is. This right here is my baby." he said gently caressing the car.
"I'll ride with you guys and then you can drop me off back here at my car later." he suggested.
"Sounds good." Elena said opening the passenger door and flipping the seat forward so Jeremy could slide into the back. Once he was in she put the seat back and sat down.
"Let's go shopping." Damon said with mock enthusiasm. She grinned at him and reached over to squeeze his thigh. Jeremy smiled in the backseat at seeing his sister so happy. This was a completely different Elena than he was used to. She smiled more it was amazing to see.
A few minutes later he parked at the largest shopping centre Richmond had to offer.
"Ready?" Damon asked as they all got out of the car.
"More than. I want to wear something clean so bad." Elena said.
"Well lets go find you something sexy to wear." he said holding out his hand for her. She laced her fingers through his and the three walked into the mall.
"Can we stop here?" Damon asked staring into the lingerie store.
"No." Jeremy exclaimed.
"You are no fun. I like sexy lingerie." Damon whined.
"I'm sure you do. But I am not shopping for lingerie with my brother." Elena said firmly.
"You ruin all my fun." he whined as they walked through the throngs of people in the mall on the Saturday morning.
"I'm sorry baby." she said kissing his cheek. He mock glared at her as she pulled him into a clothes store.
"Here we go." Jeremy said hesitantly following them into the store.
"Are you done yet?" Damon demanded as he leaned against the wall across from Jeremy while Elena tried on outfit after outfit.
"Not yet. Stop asking me." she ordered.
"If one pair of jeans fit, they will all fit." he told her sardonically.
"I know that. But all the jeans are different. I want to buy ones that look good." she told him.
"You are hot, you could make a paper bag look attractive. It doesn't matter what you wear." he told her.
"You're sweet, but I still want to buy stuff that I like." she told him before trying on a different pair of pants. Jeremy rolled his eyes and shook his head. When she was done, the trio walked up to the desk to pay for her clothes. Elena chatted with the girl at the desk as she paid for her clothes with her debit card.
"I'm sorry miss it didn't go through. Insufficient funds." she said apologetically.
"What? Well lets try my credit card then." she said pulling out the card. The girl swiped it and frowned.
"Declined. I'm sorry." the girl said.
"I got it." Damon said fishing out his platinum credit card and handing it to the girl. She smiled and ran it through.
"Perfect. Here is your receipt." she said handing Damon the receipt and his credit card.
"I need to go to the bank. I had almost a thousand dollars in there last week, and I haven't spent anything." she said frowning.
"There's one over here." Jeremy said leading them over. Sticking her card in she got a printout of what was in there.
"Damn it. Dad did this." she said. "Can I borrow your phone?" she asked Damon. He nodded and handed her the phone so she could call the credit card company.
"Son of a bitch." she cursed upon hearing that her father had cancelled her credit card.
"He cancelled it." Damon noted not sounding surprised.
"Yes he did. I cant believe he did that. Well the jokes on him, I don't need the money. I'll pay you pack for my clothes sometime." she said.
"Don't worry about it. I have more money than I know what to do with. It was nice buying you something." he said tucking some stray tendrils of hair behind her ear.
"Thank you." she said reaching up to kiss him softly.
"You're welcome." he replied before kissing her again.
"Can we move along now?" Jeremy asked not really wanting to watch them kiss.
"Right. Sorry Jer." Elena said taking Damon's hand and lacing her fingers through his. The three walked throughout the mall as they passed a small jewelry store with something in the window that caught Damon's eye.
"You guys keep going. I'll be right back." he said releasing Elena's hand.
"Are you sure? We can wait." Jeremy offered.
"It's fine. You keep walking. I'll catch up." Damon stated.
"What are you doing?" Elena asked.
"I just saw something interesting. I'll catch up." he told her.
"Do you know this mall?" Jeremy asked, not wanting to have to go searching for him later on.
"Not really, but I am a very good seeker. It wont be too hard to find you." he said.
"Alright then. Lets go Lena." Jeremy said giving Elena a gentle shove to get her moving. She shot a curious look at Damon as they walked away.
Damon walked into the store and walked right up to a sales associate.
"I want the necklace that is sitting in the window." he stated.
"I know nothing about the gem that's in it, sir." the young man stated worried.
"That's fine. I do. I want the necklace." he ordered.
"Alright sir. Out of curiosity what kind of gem is it?" he asked.
"Its called lapis lazuli." he told him.
"Oh, I've never heard of it." Is this all sir?" he asked.
"Yes." he answered handing him the credit card.
"Well here you are. Have a nice day." he said handing Damon his credit card, the bag and receipt. Damon left the store and went off in search of Elena and Jeremy.
"Do you want to meet some of my friends?" Jeremy asked as they walked.
"Sure." she said.
"Well good. Because there are some straight up ahead." he said waving to a small group of guys.
"Oh God, a little warning would have been nice. I'm wearing the clothes I wore yesterday." she hissed.
"You look great." he assured her as they walked over to his friends.
"Hey, Jer. Who's the chick?" one guy asked.
"Hi guys. This is Elena. Elena this is Jarrod, Mike, Travis, and Kevin." he said introducing her to his friends.
"Jeremy are we now just meeting a girlfriend?" the one called Jarrod asked.
"Elena, my girlfriend. EW." Jeremy spluttered.
"Then who is she?" Mike demanded.
"My sister. She came to visit from Mystic Falls." he said.
"Ah so this is the famed sister. The one who was coming to live with us." Jarrod stated.
"Jer, live with them?" she asked raising her eyebrows. He had never told her that he was living with a group of guys.
"I had an extra room. But I have a feeling It wont be necessary for you to move in with me. You have Damon." Jeremy said smiling and the happy smile that appeared on his sisters face when he mentioned Damon.
"I'm not coming to live with you now" she said unable to wipe the silly smile off of her face.
"That sucks." one of the guys said.
"Oh believe me it doesn't suck. If my sister was to move in, her boyfriend would always be around. They are sickening to be around today and they are keeping it G rated." Jeremy said smirking at his sister.
"Hey baby." Damon said finding them.
"Hey. What did you buy?" she asked.
"I'll show you later." he promised her. "Who are your friends?" he asked.
"Jeremy's friends." she corrected.
"Ah. That makes more sense." he said wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer.
"Jer, we should get drunk tonight. You can invite your sister and her boyfriend. I've been looking to beat a new guy at beer pong." one whispered to Jeremy.
"Sounds good to me. I'll ask first though." he said turning towards Elena.
"Do you guys want to come over and drink with us tonight? Kevin wants to beat Damon's ass at beer pong." he said.
"I'm in. I don't deal with challenges well. He doesn't stand a hope in hell of beating me." Damon said confidently.
"Elena?" he asked.
"I'm in. I cant wait to watch Damon demolish someone at beer pong." she said gazing up at him.
"They're in." Jeremy said to the guys. Jeremy talked to his friends for a while longer before they left.
"Do you want to come back to the hotel with us for a few hours or do you want to go home?" Elena asked.
"I'll come with you. I've never been inside the Marriott before." he decided following them back out to the car.
"I am calling dad when we get back to the hotel. I cant believe he emptied my bank account and cancelled my credit card." she seethed.
"Grayson don't you think we're going a little too far? You're just going to drive her further away." Miranda stated after finding out that he drained Elena's bank account and cancelled her credit card.
"No. Miranda she has no money now, and sooner rather than later Salvatore with get sick of paying for everything. She'll have to come home." he explained.
"She's almost 18 Gray. In fact she turns 18 in a few days. Maybe we should let her make her own mistakes." Miranda suggested.
"She is the only child we have left. We have to protect her." Grayson snarled.
"Exactly, shes the only child we have left. If we continue like this we wont have a child anymore. We're going to lose her too." Miranda said worried.
"We're losing her anyways. She's with Damon Salvatore. Nothing good can come of that. I'm holding on so we cant lose her." he assured his wife.
When they got back to the hotel room Damon handed her his cell phone again so she could call her dad.
"Gilbert residence." he said when he answered the phone.
"You drained my fucking bank account and cancelled my fucking credit card. What kind of bastard does that?" she screamed.
"The kind that wants his daughter to come home now. Where are you Elena? I want you home." he told her.
"That is so not going to happen. I hate you" she seethed.
"You need to learn some responsibility Elena. I will not allow you to date that pig." Grayson shouted.
"That pig as you refer to him as, is the best man I've ever known. I am in love with him and that is not going to change. You cant keep us apart no matter how you try." she said. Elena heard the shuffling and her father walking away before her moms voice appeared.
"Elena, please come home darling." she begged.
"We're coming home tomorrow because Damon has a council meeting. But I am not coming back to that house until dad stops being so over protective." Elena stated.
"Where will you stay?" Miranda asked.
"With Damon. He told me I could stay as long as I wanted." she said.
"It's good that you fell in love sweetheart. I just wish it wasn't with him. My life would be far simpler right now. For the record darling, your grandmother is thrilled that you won Miss Mystic." she said.
"I really couldn't care less about Miss Mystic Falls mom. But I'm glad she's happy. I have to go. We're going over to Jeremy's house to hang out tonight."she said.
"How is my boy?" she asked.
"he's good. He's happy. Happier than I can remember seeing him." she told her mom.
"That's good. I'll let you go. Have fun. I'll talk to your father." she said.
"Bye mom." Elena said before hanging up.
"Oh a happier note, I bought you this in the mall today." Damon said trying to lighten the mood by giving her the necklace he bought.
"What is it?" she asked grinning.
"Open it and find out." he said handing her the bag. She opened the bag and pulled out the long box. She opened it and smiled.
"It's beautiful. Thank you. Put it on me." she said.
"The gem, its lapis lazuli. You don't need to worry about it now, but perhaps in the future." he whispered.
"Like your ring." she noted.
"Yes. It's your choice though. You know that." he said.
"Thank you. I love it." she said kissing him softly.
"I wanted to buy you something beautiful. I spotted this as we walked by." he told her.
"I love it." she told him hugging him tightly.
"Oh how I wish we were alone right now." he whispered into her hair.
Later than night they were at Jeremy's house and there was no sound coming from the living room as Damon was effectively destroying Kevin at beer pong. It helps that he wasn't even the slightest bit drunk from all the beers he had ingested.
"Holy crap. Damon is destroying Kev. Hes never lost before." Jeremy said shocked.
"Yep, that's my man. Beer pong extraordinaire." she said smirking. When the game was over Damon rejoined Elena wrapping his arm around her waist.
"I want my congratulations kiss." he said leaning down. She tilted her face up so he could kiss her softly.
"Are you ready to go?" Elena asked.
"Whoa, are you driving?" Jeremy asked panicked.
"No, Damon is." she said.
"He's had more to drink than you have." Jeremy stated.
"that's okay." Elena said.
"No. I am not risking your life tonight. You and Damon are staying here tonight. If you're tired I'll take you to the spare room." he said leading them down the hall.
"Well there goes my idea for sex tonight. Your brother is a cockblocker." he said sinking into the bed when Jeremy left.
"He's just doing what he thinks is right. He doesn't know vampires exist." she told him.
"I suppose. Let's just get to bed and sleep." he sulked slipping in between the sheets. "The bed at the hotel is much nicer." he whined as he fluffed his pillow.
"Let's just get through this. Jer is just trying to protect me." she said laying her head on his chest.
"I know. And I will protect you tomorrow from your dad." he promised her. With that promise she closed her eyes and fell asleep in her brothers house, in her boyfriends arms.