Finally! Chapter 10! :) Thanks so much for reading this story, for all the follows/favorites/reviews. I had a little bit of writer's block on this last chapter for some reason, and I think it had something to do with the little D/E short-story I wrote this past week. (It's called My Love Immortal, and it's a short 8-part story, complete; check it out!) But I finished that, so I should be good now. I hope you guys are happy with the update:)
Special Thanks to: Skating-on-glass, VampAmbsxox, fashionista1988, kaybaby1127, vivianafrancesca, MadDam-de-Mort, DeeReadinQueen, LoveMeant2BE, W-anted-xo (guest), Korndog, curiouswriter, & Mansi (guest) for reviewing last chapter! I really appreciate the feedback:)
It's A Boy Girl Thing
Ch 10. On The Same Team
It took about three hours to come to a decision, but Damon finally settled on a new guitar. He picked it up, started playing, and just knew that was the one he had to have. He could see himself rocking out on stage with this guitar, and that meant it was The One. Plus, it was a cool blue color, and it was in Elena's price range. Enough said.
Elena thought it was funny to watch her fingers strumming the guitar like an old pro, when before Damon was in charge of her body she'd never picked up a guitar in her life. He was really good. Better than Elena thought, and admitting that to herself made her feel like a jerk. Her opinion of Damon before this all happened was not a good one. She reminds herself that it was his fault, mostly, that her opinion of him sucked so she can't feel too guilty. And she's learning that he really isn't as bad as she thought he was. That's a good thing, right? Sheila Bennett advised them to work together to get their bodies back, and that's what they were doing.
We kind of don't have a choice...Elena thinks as she hands over the money for the guitar to the guy behind the register.
"Nice choice," The 'Guitar Expert', as the cashier's name tag boasts, comments on the guitar. He is wearing all black and has long dreadlocks down to his mid-back. He checks out Elena's body appreciatively as he asks the girl, "Is it your birthday?"
"No..." Damon replies slowly, "Why?" Elena rolls her eyes at Damon's oblivion to the creep's stare.
"Well, you have a pretty awesome boyfriend then, to get you such a nice gift..." He shrugs and hands the receipt and the change to the tall, dark-haired teen and adds, "And you're not doing so bad either."
Damon wants to laugh in this idiot's face for assuming they are dating, but he decides to play along instead. It might be fun. Turning towards Elena, he plays the part of the 'girlfriend'. "Aw, yeah, isn't he the best?"
The cashier watches the brunette slide her arms around the guy's waist as she bats her eyelashes at him before planting a kiss on his cheek. The blue-eyed teen smirks and returns the girl's hug. She says, "Thanks, baby, I love you!"
Elena catches the playful look in Damon's eye and she smirks and replies, "Don't forget what you promised me, babe."
"Oh, I didn't," Damon purrs, licking his lips suggestively.
"Well you two are all set. Have fun..." The cashier cuts in awkwardly.
"Oh, we will," Damon throws a wink at the guy over his shoulder as he grabs Elena's hand and drags her out the door. Once outside, he lets her hand drop and grips the guitar case with both hands, smiling at Elena as he says, "Thank you, you really are the best."
Elena shrugs off the compliment, but she's smiling over the little trick she and Damon played on the cashier. If he only knew the real situation. He has no idea...
"So I guess I'll have to teach you how to play," Damon says as he gently places the guitar case containing his new guitar in the back seat of Elena's car. "Since Klaus and Ric will want to practice now that you've got a guitar."
"Yeah..." Elena nods, "I guess you're right. But, what if I suck? I mean, what will Klaus and Alaric think?"
Damon gets in the driver's seat of Elena's car and thinks it over. "I don't know. They'd think something was definitely wrong. You can't suck."
"Well that makes me feel better about it," Elena replies with a frustrated sigh.
"That's still my body, those are still my fingers," Damon insists, "They have to remember how to play."
"It might be your fingers, but my head is in here, and I don't know how to play guitar, Damon!" Elena crosses her arms over her chest and looks out the window, away from Damon.
"We'll figure it out," Damon tells her reassuringly, catching her completely off guard.
Elena notices, "Hey, we're right by the museum."
"Yeah, so?" Damon and Elena aren't psychically linked anymore so he doesn't know what she's thinking.
"Maybe..." She starts slowly, her thought still forming in her mind, "...if we go back to Ayana's spellbook, it will somehow put us back where we belong."
Damon frowns thoughtfully before agreeing, "I guess that could work. We might as well give it a shot."
"We better hurry though," Elena warns, "I think the museum closes in like ten minutes."
Elena was right, the museum is closing in less than ten minutes by the time they park and walk in. They hurry through the exhibits to the exhibit their class visited last Tuesday. It isn't hard to find the huge spellbook displayed under a large glass case in the middle of the room. Damon and Elena approach together, both staring at it warily, waiting for something to happen.
When nothing does, Damon prompts, "Well, go on, say something."
"What am I supposed to say?" Elena whispers, nudging Damon's arm with her elbow. "You say something."
"You're the know-it-all," Damon reminds, "And this was your idea."
Elena clears her throat and taps the case lightly with her fingers as she says, "Hello Ayana...uh, how are you?"
"She's a witch, Elena, not your Aunt Betsy," Damon says with a roll of his eyes, "Is that the best you can do?"
Elena shoots a glare in his direction before starting over, "We're the two that you, you know, cursed and swapped our brains? I'm sure you remember. Well, the thing is, we-"
"We'd really appreciate it if you turned us back now, okay?" Damon cut in with a bossy tone, pointing at the spellbook and shaking his finger angrily.
"Please," Elena adds quickly, "If we did something to offend you, we're really sorry. We didn't mean to argue, and I know maybe it seemed like we didn't like each other at the time, but we're fine now. We learned our lesson, and we're good. Right, Damon?"
"Yeah, we're totally cool," Damon agrees. "Sure, we were fighting, but all friends fight sometimes. And Elena and I, we're very close. But like, being in her body? That's too close, you know what I mean, Ayana? We won't fight anymore, that's a promise. Right, Elena?"
"Right," Elena nods, "We definitely won't. I'll bet this whole thing was just a misunderstanding, right?"
"Yeah, and we're not mad at you or anything," Damon says, even though he's lying because he hates this witchy bitch. "We just want to be ourselves again. No harm done. And I like Elena; who couldn't like Elena? She's smart, way smart, and sometimes she can be funny, and she's...uh, neat, and a good friend. And she's pretty, especially when she laughs and her nose does that cute thing..." Damon realizes he's getting a little too personal talking about Elena being cute; What the fuck is wrong with me? "We just get along well, and you have to see that now."
Elena smiles at Damon, who isn't looking at her, and adds, "Damon and I are actually really close now. And I think after all we've been through we finally understand each other a little. So, let's give this a try, okay? We'll count to three and then you change us back."
Damon starts, "One..."
"Two..." Elena says.
They both close their eyes as they say, "...Three..." They wait a moment before opening their eyes, but their view hasn't changed. They're still mixed up.
"Well that didn't work," Damon lets out an exaggerated sigh.
"Let's just go," Elena says dejectedly. She really thought that would work, but it didn't. She didn't even feel like suggesting they wait until the morning to see if the magic took over-night like it did the first time; what's the point in wishful thinking? They are obviously going to be stuck like this forever. She has to forget about everything she ever wanted: Yale, marriage, kids. She can't do those things in Damon's body. Her life as she knew it is over.
On the ride back to their houses, Damon and Elena are both silent, each entranced in their own thoughts. They are both thinking the same thing, though they don't know it. Why is this happening? Will anything ever be normal again? How can I live in this body? What about all my dreams? My life is over! Neither of them really considered their situation could get any worse. They'd already hit rock bottom. Right?
Well, they are about to find out that isn't quite true.
Stefan has been waiting hours for his step-brother to get back with his recent ex-girlfriend. He's been wondering what they could be doing the whole time they were gone, and of course he was thinking the worst. Damon is fucking Elena. And he is fucking furious. He thought Elena was different, that she wouldn't do that. She wouldn't be like Katherine and try and play both of them because she couldn't decide which one she liked better. Stefan knew Katherine only chose him after she knew Damon was lost to her, but Stefan wouldn't be her second choice. Elena didn't pick him as a second choice. She was his. But she wouldn't sleep with him, and Stefan didn't know why. What was wrong with him? Why would she fuck Damon instead?
When he sees Elena's car pull into her driveway four hours after leaving with his step-brother, he storms outside to meet them. Both of them look surprised to see him, like they hadn't remembered he even exists. Guilty. That's how Stefan thinks they look. Stefan glares daggers at Damon before stomping over to him and shoving him backwards with all his might.
"Stefan, don't!" Damon yells with Elena's voice, watching Stefan curl his hand into a fist before slamming it into the face that Elena is stuck wearing. Damon runs between them and shoves Stefan off before he can punch Elena again, holding Stefan's body tightly to keep him from going back again. He can feel how angry his step-brother is just by how tight and rigid his body is. Damon thinks three things at once: Stefan just punched his ex-girlfriend in the face; It should have been me; Now Stefan definitely doesn't have a chance with Elena.
Elena stares at Stefan in complete shock, clutching her left eye and cheekbone, which are both throbbing. He just hit me! Elena can't believe that happened. She is grateful Damon interfered before Stefan could break her nose or something. Stefan is still furious and shaking, and he obviously was hoping for a fight. Elena has never been in a fight, but she is pissed, and she does have Damon's strength...
Damon glances over his shoulder to see if Elena is all right, only to see her arm flying past his face as she socks Stefan in the nose with a sloppy punch. It was off-center, but for a girl, pretty damn impressive. Damon thought he'd find Elena crying, not seeking revenge, but he can't help but smile for a moment. Stefan's nose is bleeding. Damn; Elena broke Stefan's nose! It's probably not actually broken, but Elena's punch damaged more than Stefan's.
Elena isn't through with Stefan even though she nailed the punch. She says angrily, "I already told you nothing is going on with us! Why can't you just let it go? Besides, you're not even together anymore!"
"Which is exactly what you wanted! Admit it, you fucking piece of shit!" Stefan screams.
"Hey! Whoa, this is between you and me," Damon speaks up, his words not entirely untrue, "Not you and him. Nothing is going on, Stefan. Just calm down."
"How can I believe you? You broke up with me yesterday and now you're with him?! Do you even know what you're doing? Why would you do this, Elena? He's not worth your time," Stefan comments disapprovingly.
"Maybe you're the one who's not worth her time!" Elena says stubbornly, wishing she were in her body so she could speak for herself. Stefan is being an asshole, and he's being jealous for no reason. He didn't catch them making out or having sex or anything inappropriate, so he has no reason be acting so out of control!
Damon wants to prevent any more physical fighting, so he suggests to Stefan gently, "You should go in and clean yourself up. You're bleeding..."
Stefan's eyes flash angrily at his step-brother once more before he turns away from Damon and Elena. The front door slams shut loudly behind him. That didn't go down the way he wanted it to, definitely not. But he still punched Damon, and that was something he's been wanting to do for a while.
"Are you okay?" Damon asks Elena once Stefan is gone. He checks out his own face and grimaces at the puffy, red condition of his left eye. Elena should be crying right now; that is going to be a nasty black eye in the morning. She's holding herself together really well.
"It hurts, but not that much," She shrugs. "I think the adrenaline is masking the pain. I never hit anyone before. That was actually kind of fun...I want to do it again!"
Damon laughs, "Well, it's going to hurt later. Come on, you should come inside with me and I'll get you some ice." He leads the way to the front door of Elena's home. This is the first time Damon will be coming in with Elena when Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert are home, and Damon doesn't know how they're going to react. He whispers to Elena before opening the door, "Should I sneak you up stairs or will your parents be okay with this?"
"I'll go right up to my room; you distract them," Elena directs, "And get me ice. It's starting to hurt more...It burns, oh my God, it burns."
Damon opens the door and lets them both in quietly. He heads right to the kitchen, where he can hear Miranda and Grayson talking as they prepare dinner. Actually, he sees after he walks in that he was wrong, they're eating take-out. Chinese. He stomach grumbles as he smells the food, but he has to worry about Elena first and food second.
"Hi honey, where have you been?" Miranda questions her daughter. "Was Jeremy with you?"
"Hi Mom, hi Dad," Damon returns with a plastic smile. "Oh, nothing, I was just shopping with Caroline and Bonnie. I haven't seen Jeremy since school."
"Where is that boy?" Grayson grumbles to no one in particular.
"Probably with Anna," Damon supplies with a shrug. "I don't know."
"Well, I'll call him after dinner," Miranda tells her husband with a nod of her head. "Do you want some Chinese? I got your favorite: chicken lo mein and mixed veggies with white rice." On cue, Damon's stomach lets out a loud grumble, again. Miranda hears and laughs, "Oh, Elena, you're starving!"
"I know, but I really have to get started on my homework," Damon explains as he discreetly holds the ice pack he snuck out of the freezer behind his back. "I'll get some after."
"Just bring it up with you, silly," Miranda suggests, quickly gathering the food she bought specifically for Elena and puts it on a plate with a plastic fork, so it will be easy for her to carry upstairs. "Here you go, honey."
"Thanks Mom," Damon smiles as he takes the plate and heads for the stairs. He figures Elena must safely be upstairs by now. He successfully distracted Miranda and Grayson, although it really wasn't that difficult. Elena's parents are so...nice. They're almost too nice. They must suffocate their kids with love. No wonder Jeremy is never home and Elena is Miss Perfect.
Once upstairs, Elena snatches the ice pack from Damon's extended hand and flops down on the bed. She presses the cold pack to her swollen, throbbing eye and moans at the contact. It hurts but feels good at the same time. She relaxes for a few minutes before she hears Damon stuffing his face. She cracks open her one good eye and demands, "What are you eating?!"
"Chick-mmfm-ell-mmheein," Damon replies with a mouthful of Chinese noodles.
Elena sits up, commenting dryly, "Cute. Give me some; I'm starving."
"No, your mom got this for me!" Damon jokes, sticking his tongue out at Elena for being stuck in his body at the moment. Then he laughs and says, "Kidding, here, take some."
"Feed me," Elena whines miserably.
"Oh my, I thought it didn't hurt?" Damon teases, reminding Elena of her words only ten minutes before.
"That was before," Elena pouts, "It hurts now. A lot. Please?" Damon rolls his eyes before twirling some chicken lo mein onto the fork and holding it out to Elena's mouth. She smiles and lets out a small chuckle before opening her mouth and taking the delicious food. She chews and swallows, and then requests, "Now a baby corn? They're so cute and yummy."
"You're crazy," Damon laughs, "What the Hell is a baby corn?"
"The little mini-corn-on-the-cobs..." Elena points them out to Damon in the mixture of vegetables. "Don't tell me you've never had a baby corn."
Damon spears one with the fork and holds it up to his face for inspection. "What the fuck are you?" He asks it, frowning indecisively. "It's a mutant freak."
"It's a baby corn," Elena insists, "Eat it, or give it to me!" Damon cautiously puts the mutant corn to his teeth and takes a small bite. It actually tastes good. He eats the rest of it and then gives one to Elena before she yells at him. She thanks him before saying, "See, it was good, right? And you thought I was crazy."
"It was good," Damon reluctantly admits. "But you have to tell me; what the heck are these white things?"
"It's a water chestnut," Elena informs him with another laugh. She can't believe he's never had baby corn or water chestnuts. "Are you not a Chinese-food person?"
"Not particularly," Damon says, "But it's good every once in a while."
Damon spends the next twenty minutes sharing his food with Elena while she ices her eye, talking about their favorite foods and other random topics that have never come up before. They both almost forget about the fight that happened with Stefan, or that they're going to have to explain the black eye at school tomorrow to everyone. Today, they realized in more than one way that they are on the same team. They have to work together to get through this, whether Ayana turns them back tonight, tomorrow, next week, or never. They are stuck with each other, and they don't really have a choice, but that's kind of okay. It's not so bad being stuck with each other anymore. Damon has helped Elena realize things about herself that she never did before, and things about Stefan too. In turn, Elena has helped Damon in more ways than one.
That isn't to say they both don't still have some issues, though. Damon is still worried Elena won't be able to learn to play guitar in time to save his band. Elena is scared she'll have to give up her dreams of going to Yale if she doesn't get her body back. Plus, they both have damaged reputations thanks to each other, and that's a hard thing to fix in high school. A very hard thing. But as long as they have their friends, and possibly each other, they can make it through.
"So...should we do homework?" Damon suggests after they've eaten.
Elena snorts, "I can't believe you just said that. But yes, we should. You can do mine for me too." Damon raises an eyebrow in an expression that clearly reads, 'you've got to be kidding me', but Elena reminds, "I can only see out of one eye right now. And it's supposed to be you with this black eye, so help me out! I'll give you the answers, and you write them down."
"Okay, okay," Damon agrees, "You're right." And if she was giving the answers, it really wasn't asking too much.
After they've finished with their homework, Elena's ice pack is lukewarm, and she thinks it's time she should head home and go to bed. It's been a long day. "I should go, but tomorrow, want to meet after school and give me a guitar lesson? It's Thursday, so there's no Student Council or anything."
"Yeah, sounds good," Damon nods. He eyes Elena curiously before asking, "Are you going out the window? With your backpack, and a black eye? Are you sure you'll make it?"
"Well don't point out how many odds are against me!" Elena says, nervously eying the window, the tree, and the ground below. Oh God, I'm gonna die! "Great, I can't do it."
"Yes you can," Damon chuckles, taking the backpack from her as he offers, "I'll bring this over. You just worry about you getting there. Go on, you go first." Elena carefully swings over to Damon's bedroom via the tree, and Damon follows with his backpack, which he puts on the floor at the foot of his bed. "See, piece of cake."
"Thanks," Elena says quietly with a smile. She doesn't want Stefan to know she's home now. In fact, she locks the door right then so she doesn't have to worry about him barging in. If he's still mad, he could try and hit her again, thinking she's Damon...or kill her in her sleep. No. Stefan wouldn't do that. He's not completely psychotic. She asks Damon, just to make sure, "Stefan's not gonna like, I don't know, smother me with a pillow while I'm sleeping, is he?"
Damon covers his mouth to muffle the laughter he couldn't contain at Elena's ridiculous question. After letting all the giggles out, he says, "That was a good one, Elena."
"Okay, so no then?" Elena repeats since that wasn't an answer.
"Of course he's not going to kill you," Damon replies. "Just relax. It'll be fine. We fight all the time. That was nothing." Damon isn't so sure though. Stefan isn't going to let this argument go so easily. Something is different this time; Elena really was special to Stefan. Damon thinks Stefan really does love her, or he did love her, and he's mad. Damon knows how he feels. He loved Katherine, and Stefan stole her from him. But Damon hasn't stolen Elena, so they just have to make Stefan see that. "Just don't make him suspicious. We should try to be more discreet. Unless you really want to be getting into more fist fights with Stefan."
"No, I change my mind," Elena says with a groan, "I never want to get in a fight again. I'm going to bed."
"Good idea. Goodnight, Elena," Damon says, feeling the urge to give her a hug. He knows he probably shouldn't, but for once, he goes with his gut. He steps forward and hugs his body awkwardly, surprised when Elena returns the hug without hesitation. "Goodnight, Damon," She whispers.
Please Review! I've been feeling so iffy about this chapter, let me know what you think. Suggestions would be nice:) I'd love to know what you want to see happen with Damon and Elena; they're still stuck in each others bodies for a bit longer...
If you'd like to read more D/E by me, read my short story: My Love Immortal (it's complete)
Also, check out DeeReadinQueen's new story The Babysitter; it's also D/E. Elena is the new nanny for the Salvatore twins, Katherine and Emily (haha, it's great), and Damon and Stefan make a bet on who can sleep with the nanny first. It's good:)
Thanks! You guys are awesome:)