You guys are seriously amazing! Thanks so much for reading/reviewing/reassuring me on the last chapter:) You have no idea how happy it makes me to read all of your reviews:) I finally fit in some Damon/Elena guitar practice, like a lot of you have been hoping for, so I hope you enjoy:)
Special Thanks to: VampAmbsxox, Scarlet . Nyx, Anon, Guest, galeanthrope, bellax0xchristina, DeeReadinQueen, Nikkii23, Skating-on-glass, kaybaby1127, fanficsareawesome, creativefuir, DelenaVD, vivianafracesca, MissSecretlySinful, & curiouswriter for reviewing this chapter! (: You guys are awesome!
DISCLAIM (haven't done one in a while, so just wanted to make sure everyone is aware...) - I don't own Vampire Diaries or It's A Boy Girl Thing. Simple as that.
It's A Boy Girl Thing
Ch 11. If I Were Me, And You Were You
"What the fuck happened to you?" Klaus asks when his best friend climbs into his car Thursday morning sporting a horrendous black eye.
Elena sighs and resists the urge to roll her eyes, since she did it once already and it hurt like a bitch, as she gives Klaus his answer in one word, "Stefan."
"What the fuck for?" Klaus demands; adding as an afterthought, "You better have hit him back, too."
"I was with Elena, and Stefan got really, really mad," Elena explains, "But we were just hanging out. It was nothing. He overreacted about the whole thing. Anyways, yeah, I hit him back. His nose started bleeding, but I don't think it was broken."
"Damn," Klaus cursed, "That would've been awesome. What did Elena do?"
"She pulled Stefan off me," Elena re-tells Damon's actions yesterday evening to the blonde-haired teen beside her, "And she actually stuck up for me. It was cool of her. She let me ice my eye in her room, and did my homework for me." Elena smirks as Damon would.
"She likes you," Klaus says in an annoyingly knowing tone. "I can't believe you didn't call me last night or text me or anything. What ever happened with that guitar? Did you get it?"
"I did," Elena boasts, "And it's awesome. You'll see it...next time we have band practice." She didn't bother replying to his previous comment about 'Elena' liking 'Damon', because she is Elena, and she knows how she feels. And she certainly doesn't like Damon. She only likes him, as a friend. And that is shocking enough in itself! If Klaus knew what was really going on, he wouldn't be thinking that at all.
"Well, what about tomorrow?" Klaus suggests, "I think Ric has to work at seven, so we could meet at four?"
"Uh..." Oh shit, oh shit. I haven't even had one lesson yet. Tomorrow? Tomorrow?! "Yeah," Elena replies, like a dumb ass, "Tomorrow. Friday. Four o'clock. I'll be there."
"Okay..." Klaus frowns at his friend, "Are you sure Stefan didn't knock your brains around a little? You're acting weird."
"I'm fine," Elena insists. Just wondering how I'm going to learn to play guitar in one fucking day, that's all. No big deal or anything!
After arriving at school, Klaus turns to get a good look at the black eye on Damon's face. "Dude, that looks bad. You should have had Elena put some make-up on it, since you're such good friends now."
"I'm two steps ahead of you, man," Elena says with a laugh. Now that they've arrived at school, she has to forget about the guitar thing, or she'll be sweating it all day. She has to focus on school. High school. As if this shit wasn't already stressful enough. Thanks a lot, Ayana. My life...
Damon arrives at school way earlier than he usually does, with the 'pink make-up bag', as specified by Elena. He goes to the girls' bathroom in the Art Wing, which is the least crowded in the mornings, according to Elena. She, Bonnie and Caroline apparently always meet here to 'check their make-up and talk about their plans for the day'. Total eye-roll. What a girly thing to do. Check make-up. Pfft.
When Damon opens the door to the bathroom, he is surprised to see someone inside. It's Caroline. She turns her back towards the door, hiding her face from him, well, Elena. The blonde turns on the sink and avoids the mirror, running her hands under the water quickly as she talks over it, "Oh. Hey, Elena. I didn't think you'd be here so early..." Damon wonders what she's doing, until he hears the tell-tale sign of crying; sniffles.
Uh-oh. I'm not good with tears. Damon racks his brain for something Elena would say if Caroline was crying. "I left early this morning...what's wrong, Care?"
"Oh nothing." Caroline huffs, "Everything. I don't know...Tyler's seeing someone else. Already. It's just, I know I broke up with him, but I didn't think he'd move on so quick. We just broke up! I really meant nothing to him."
"What?" Damon asked incredulously, "Gross, who would get with him anyways? Oh. Sorry. That was such a stupid thing to say."
Caroline giggles and then pouts again a split-second later. She says in a squeaky voice, "You only don't like him because he hurt me. You liked him last week...you know, until he-he turned into a giant dick!"
"You're too good for Tyler Lockwood, Care," Damon points out. "Who cares if he's the Mayor's son? You're Caroline Forbes! You're a triple threat; strong, smart and beautiful. You're going to be somebody someday. Tyler? He's just another football player. Whoop-dee-doo. He's not going to be anybody in ten years."
Caroline hugs her best friend and says, "Thanks, Lena. You always know what to say."
Damon can't believe he actually made Caroline feel better. And where did all that motivational crap come from? Elena. It has to be Elena. She's making me soft...Damon hugs Caroline back, "It's what best friends do..."
Just then, Elena walks in, with Damon's body, and Caroline informs him, "Uh, Girls' Room!"
Damon whirls around and says, "There you are! Come on, let's do this before anyone else gets here."
Caroline frowns before asking curiously, "What's going on?" Since when does Elena hang out with Damon? And what is he doing in the girls' bathroom? And..."Whoa, what happened to you?" That is some black eye.
"It's kind of a long story," Elena replies, feeling happy to at least see Caroline up close and talk to her for the first time in over a week. She misses her. At least Bonnie knows about the switch-up, so she can talk to her. Caroline has no idea what's going on with her.
"Not really," Damon points out, "Stefan saw you with me. Stefan got jealous. Stefan punched you. You punched him. The end."
"Thanks Elena," Caroline giggles. "So wait, why was Stefan so jealous? Actually, why were you two together?"
"Uh..." Damon looks to Elena for an answer and shrugs because he has no idea how to explain that one.
Elena decides to tell Caroline the truth. Why shouldn't she know? "You don't want Caroline to know we've been hanging out? Are you embarrassed of me, Elena? I thought we were friends?" Elena pouts dramatically.
"Shut up," Damon says with an eye roll, "I never said that. Yes, Caroline, Damon and I are friends. We sometimes hang out. It's no big deal." Changing the subject, Damon asks, "Can we cover-up this ugly eye now? Before fifty girls flood in here and start asking questions."
"Someone's moody this morning," Caroline comments. "And that color isn't going to work on him," She points to the cover-up in Elena's hand. "No, it's too dark. I have some. I think you're more my color, Salvatore. I suppose I'll let you have some of my make-up. But only because that eye is really, really-"
"I know, it's bad," Elena finishes for her. She's already been told by every single person who's seen her this morning. She looks like shit. Well, Damon looks like shit.
"Here, close your eye," Caroline orders, "I'll fix you up. But you owe me."
"Okay," Elena answers right away, happy that Caroline gave her the opportunity to do something she's been thinking about since...since yesterday. But she's eager to do some good while in Damon's body, and she can help make Caroline happy, so that's a plus. "How about I get you a date, for tomorrow night?"
"What, with you?" Caroline asks disinterestedly, "No thank you."
"Not with me," Elena laughs at Caroline's reaction. She really isn't a fan of Damon. Maybe she'll change her mind, like Elena did, though. He's not so bad once you get to know him. "But someone else. You'll like it, I promise. You'll have a good time. And if you don't, then you can...punch my other eye."
"You're crazy," Caroline comments with a laugh. "I don't know..." Caroline looks over her shoulder at Elena and mouths, 'Help me'.
"I think you should do it, Care," Damon suggests with an encouraging smile. He knows Elena is trying to set Caroline up with Klaus, and he thinks that's pretty cool. Another cool move by Elena Gilbert. Has the world gone mad? "You can trust him; Damon's cool. And like he said, if your date sucks, you get to punch him. It's a win-win situation."
"I guess," Caroline agrees reluctantly, "But you have to make it a double-date then. And you," She points at Elena, "Are coming with him," She points her other finger at Damon. "Deal?"
"Yeah, okay, deal," Elena smiles. "So tomorrow night. Seven o'clock?"
"Better make it eight," Caroline suggests. "I'm cheering at the game tomorrow afternoon and I want to make sure I have time to stop home for a shower after." She steps back and smiles at the job she did on Damon's face. "Okay. You're good. I mean, it's not perfect, but it's way better than before! Now you better get out of here."
"Thanks Care," Elena says, shooting her and then Damon a smile and a wave before running out of the bathroom.
"That was weird..." Caroline laughs once Damon is gone. "Are you sure that was a good idea agreeing to go on a date with someone Damon is friends with? I mean, I don't know Elena, I guess if you're there it'll be all right, but...do you know who it is?"
Damon shrugs, feigning nonchalance as he replies, "Maybe...yes, I do. And he's a good guy. And he actually really likes you. So you should relax and stop worrying. It will be fun."
"He likes me?" Caroline asks, now much more curious to know who this mystery guy is if he has interest in her. "Is he cute?"
"He is," Damon nods, "And you two would be super cute together." Damon giggles in a girly way, as he thinks of how dumb-struck Klaus is going to be when 'Damon' tells him he scored him a date with Caroline. He has seriously been in love with her since he first laid eyes on her Freshman Year.
"Really?" Caroline smiles thoughtfully, "Okay. I'm in. Well, I'm really in now."
"Good."
After school, Elena meets Klaus at his car, as per usual. The blue-eyed blonde is waiting for his friend in the car with the radio on, but when Elena hops in, she immediately turns it off and announces happily, "Dude, you're gonna love me. Guess what the fuck happened today?" She's gotten better at speaking like a teenage boy, and hopefully Klaus will take notice. Damon told her to just swear a lot more and say dude to everyone. She could do that.
"Hey! I was listening to that," Klaus protests, flicking the radio back on but turning the volume down so he can listen to his friend's news.
"Pfft, hey, if you'd rather listen to that than hear what I've got to say..." Elena shrugs in a carefree manner. "That's up to you. Not my recommendation, but...entirely up to you."
"What?" Klaus sighs in annoyance. "Just tell me."
"What do you say about going on a double-date with me tomorrow night? After band practice, of course," Elena specifies mysteriously, hoping Klaus will be as happy as she thinks he will to learn he has the opportunity to go out on a date with Caroline Forbes. Sure, it's a double-date, but it's a start. Caroline would never have agreed to a blind date alone. Especially not proposed by Damon. But Elena is happy to be playing match-maker. After spending over a week with Klaus, she likes him, and she thinks he'd be good for Caroline.
Klaus raises an eyebrow and asks, "Double-date? With who?"
Elena smirks and says cheekily, "Guess."
Klaus' blue eyes widen and he narrows his eyes as he smiles slowly, "There's only one girl I'd be interested in going on a date set up by you with."
"And that is...?" Elena prompts.
"She'd never agree to it..." Klaus voices indifferently.
"Oh really?" Elena asks, eyebrows raised. "I guess I imagined it then, when I asked, and she said yes."
"Are you fucking with me?" Klaus demands, straight-faced.
"I am not fucking with you," Elena replies, equally serious. "Tomorrow night; you, me, Elena, and Caroline are going wherever you want. I'll let you pick that part."
"Seriously? Caroline agreed to go out with me?" Klaus gushes, sounding almost as excited as a teenage girl would. That only makes Elena further believe she made the right choice when deciding Klaus would be a good guy for Care. Klaus talks the entire way to Damon's house about where they could go and what they could do on their date. It was very cute. He didn't even care when Elena admitted Caroline didn't exactly know the date was with him. In fact, Elena thinks it made him even more determined to prove himself worthy of a date with Miss Caroline Forbes.
"See ya tomorrow, Klaus," Elena calls as she climbs out of his Mustang.
"Later," Klaus returns, "And thanks, dude. You're the best."
I'm the best! Elena smiles. That's the second or third time she's been called 'the best' in the past two days. It feels pretty good to be 'the best'. She should play match-maker more often. It really makes people happy. But she doesn't want to congratulate herself too soon; Klaus and Caroline still have to get through that first date before considering their match made.
Elena was so distracted thinking about the Klaus and Caroline date that she forgot all about her first guitar lesson with Damon this afternoon. Unfortunately for her, Damon didn't forget, and he is ready and waiting for her when she arrives home. She knows she shouldn't be dreading this so much, that it's really important to Damon and she has to give it a try, but she's afraid to suck. She doesn't want to disappoint Damon. She doesn't want to be a failure. She's always been good at everything she chose to do, but they were all things she herself picked. Playing guitar is Damon's thing. Not hers.
"What's up?" Damon asks, noticing the nervous look on his face as Elena approaches. "You ready for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Elena replies honestly. She wishes she could be more enthusiastic about this, but she can't. She's wary about Damon teaching her. What if he's an asshole? What if he makes fun of her? She can't work under that kind of pressure.
"Okay, well, come on," Damon gestures towards Elena's car, "We're going somewhere better for practicing."
"Where?" Elena asks curiously. Where could Damon possibly take them to practice?
"Ric's," Damon says, "He works on Thursdays from three to eleven, so he'll be gone."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure, now chill out," Damon suggests. "You are so uptight right now. I'm not going to be able to teach you anything if you can't relax."
"I'll relax when we get there," Elena huffs out an excuse. She knows he's right. She has to relax. She is used to cramming for a test or learning last minute cheer routines, but this is ridiculous. There's no way Damon can teach her to play his band's songs in one night! "This is impossible. Klaus and Alaric are going to know something is up. Maybe we should pretend you hit your head and now you're suffering from traumatic memory loss that resulted in you forgetting how to play guitar."
"Yeah..." Damon nods, pretending to play along, and then shakes his head, "...no. No, Elena. Let's not do that." He sighs, "I know this seems impossible, but we have to try. Can you please just try?"
Seeing the desperation on his face is what really makes Elena change her attitude. He's right. She has to at least try before giving up. What kind of person would she be today if she'd always given up on anything that seemed too tough? She certainly wouldn't be working her way towards attending Yale next Fall, wouldn't have been on the high honor roll since Freshman Year, and wouldn't be sitting in this car with Damon right now because she'd have given up on life by now. She owes this guitar thing a fair try.
"I'll try," Elena agrees reluctantly, "But I hope you're a good teacher, and I hope you're patient. Because it's going to take some time..."
"I said we have until eleven," Damon reminds, "And I could play guitar all day, every day, so I can be patient. Plus, why do you think I packed a whole bag full of snacks?" He throws a thumb over his shoulder indicating where the bag lies in the backseat.
"Oh." Elena comments, "You're really prepared. Okay..." We're really doing this. Oh my God. I'm so nervous. I don't think I was this nervous the night I lost my virginity with Matt. Okay. Stupid thing to bring up when I'm already agitated and nervous!
"I am prepared," Damon repeats. "This isn't school, Elena. This is my life after school. I actually care about this."
"I know," Elena tells Damon, looking him in the eyes as they wait at a red light, "I know you do. Why do you think I'm so nervous? I don't want you to hate me if I ruin this for you."
Damon blinks at Elena in shock. He almost doesn't realize the red light turned green. She cares if I hate her? Of course she cares if I hate her. But...she actually wants to do this to make me happy. Why the fuck is that so hard to believe? Because this is Elena and she never cared before. "I'm not going to hate you."
"Okay, I hope not," Elena murmurs as she bites her thumbnail.
Three hours later, Elena and Damon are more than settled into Ric's 'living room', which is mostly a band practice area with a couch and a TV thrown into the mix. Ric has the two-bedroom home all to himself since his mom moved in with her boyfriend and left it to him two years ago, the year he graduated from Mystic Falls High. Alaric's dad died when he was twelve and it was just him and his mom after that. Damon and Klaus are always over though, so Ric doesn't feel alone too often. Damon wants to move in with Ric, get away from his house, but he's not eighteen yet and his dad forbid it.
Elena is sitting on the floor with the guitar in her arms, back firmly pressed against the front of the couch. Damon is sitting to her right so he can see exactly what she's doing, from the same point of view he'd be seeing if he were playing. He hasn't ever taught someone to play guitar before, and he never thought it'd be so hard, but Elena is being a good sport. It was a slow and rocky start, but she's beginning to catch on; finally. Damon knows it's impossible to hope she'll be able to learn all of the band's songs in a reasonable amount of time. Klaus and Alaric are going to suspect something. Maybe they'll figure out the curse, like Bonnie did, and they can solve this band problem together. Who knows. But Damon isn't going to just give up on Elena. He could probably teach her one or two songs, if they practice a lot.
"I can't do this," Elena complains, "This hurts my fingers, and it's doing nothing. I'm not learning anything. I'm still not learning your songs, so what good is all this?"
"You need to learn how to play the chords," Damon reminds her for the third time, "Otherwise, you'll never be able to play the songs. And it does not hurt your fingers. Those are my fingers, and they've been playing guitar for six years, so it can't possibly hurt."
"It hurts," Elena insists, "And this is boring. I can't just play these same four fucking chords over and over again tomorrow when Klaus and Alaric are expecting us to practice your songs."
"Could you complain any more, Princess? You knew this wasn't going to be easy. And you're doing pretty good, so quit your bitching. Want to take a break? Then I'll actually teach you a song written by the band." Damon bribes. He isn't going to have Elena give up on him either. They are going to keep playing until she has something she can play at band practice tomorrow.
"Fine." Elena rests the guitar in the guitar case before digging through Damon's bag of goodies for something to snack on. She opens a bag of BBQ chips, places one in her mouth, chews it thoughtfully and then asks, "What is the band's name anyways?"
"You don't know?" Damon is sort of offended. He thought everyone knew. His own neighbor doesn't know his band name? That's not good. Maybe they aren't advertising enough. "The Originals."
"Oh...how...original," Elena jokes. "Kidding. It's cool, I guess."
"Klaus made it up. He got the idea from some vampire obsession of his," Damon shrugs, "I don't know. But Ric and I liked it, so The Originals it is."
"Vampires?" Elena repeats, "Oh, that's good. Caroline loves those Twilight books. They have something in common!"
"Like, oh...my...God!" Damon squeals in mock-excitement.
"Shut up," Elena laughs, throwing a chip at Damon's head. "She's my best friend. I just want her to be happy."
"And Klaus is mine, so do I," Damon says, "I hope Caroline isn't a total bitch to him tomorrow."
"She won't be," Elena says confidently, "Not with you and me there. She'll see how much Klaus likes her, and she'll give him a chance. I know her."
"Whatever you say, Gilbert." Damon shakes his head slightly and shoves the last of the cinnamon bun he opened in his mouth. He thinks they should get back to practicing now, so he tells Elena so, and she doesn't look happy about it, but she agrees. They settle in their previous spots on the floor of the living room. Damon sits a little closer this time, taking the guitar first in his hands to show Elena what she's going to be doing. He plays the whole song, and then breaks it down into pieces.
"Okay, my turn," Elena announces, extending her hands for the guitar. Damon hands it over and Elena holds the guitar the proper way that Damon instructed her before. She puts her fingers where Damon points out to start. She thought it looked easy when he was doing it, but now she doesn't know what to do next. She looks at Damon helplessly.
"Here, move up a little," Damon commands lightly. Elena does as she's told, giving Damon room to slide behind her and position his arms over hers. "Like this," He repositions where she'd been holding her fingers, and then guides her other hand, the one holding the pick, over the strings. He moves her fingers to the next position, "Then this." He shows her the next few chords and then asks her to play them back to him herself. She gets it right, so he moves on, and they slowly piece the song together once-through.
Elena likes Damon's teaching method. It's working. She only has one problem with it; he's touching her! And she knows it shouldn't feel so intimate and that her skin shouldn't tingle and her heart shouldn't beat a little faster...that is not normal. But if she was herself...it would be. It wouldn't feel so weird. Yes it would! It's Damon! Yeah...it is...and he's being really nice and patient and not a jackass. He's not the same person Elena thought he was before. He's actually trying with her. They haven't argued or anything in a while.
"What happened?" Damon asks, wondering why Elena suddenly stopped playing and started staring at him distantly.
She blinks and focuses her eyes on him, shaking her head slightly and saying the first thing on her mind, "You know, this would be kinda hot, if you were you, and I were me..." That probably wasn't what she wanted to say, but it's out there now. No taking it back once it's been said.
"What?" Damon wonders if he heard her correctly.
"I-I don't know," Elena tries to laugh off her embarrassing comment. Wow. Totally ruined this guitar lesson.
"I was just thinking the same thing," Damon admits sheepishly. That was why it was so funny to him that Elena said it. He would never have thought she'd say that out loud. She obviously didn't mean to. He's glad she did though. She must feel it to then; the strange pull whenever they are too close. It's almost like that love spell never completely left their bodies, or the body-switch caused some weird thing to happen when they touch, or...or we actually have real feelings for each other? Nope. Definitely not. It's anything but that. "But I'm not me and you're not you."
"Right," Elena confirms, "And it's weird. I know. Just keep going. Where were we?" She doesn't want to talk about it anymore. Maybe when they do finally get their bodies back she'll be able to have this conversation with him, but not now. Not like this. It is always going to be strange until they are themselves.
But what if it's not the spell? What if the way she feels are real, true feelings that she's developing for Damon? While under a crazy body-swapping spell...does that sound any more insane? She can't deny that she feels something for Damon, even if that something doesn't have a name, but she can't confirm that it's not caused entirely by this spell Ayana placed them under. If it is, she can only hope things will go back to normal. But...if it's real, then what does that mean for them? Why are they still trapped in each others bodies? Shouldn't having feelings for each other return them to their original state, by default? Isn't that always how it works? Sheesh, what are movies for if they're always wrong?
Elena makes a promise to herself that the moment she and Damon find themselves back in their proper bodies, she's going to kiss him and see if it feels anything like it did before. If it doesn't, she'll be able to move on and forget about the whole traumatic experience, but if it is anything like she imagines it will be...she's going to be in a whole lot of trouble. Because that'll mean I'm falling in love with Damon Salvatore.
Please Review! :) What do you think Delena & Klaroline should do on their double-date? How do you think band practice is going to go?