Chapter 5

Damon POV

Dinner was delicious.

Damon couldn't remember when he had a home cooked meal as good as Bella had made for them. Well the last cooked meal he had was in 1984, since then he preferred his humans uncooked and in room temperature. He was kind of biased.

Everything was perfectly cooked and scrumptious. He'd even teased Bella that if she continued to eat as much as she did, he'd have to work out more. This made Bella turn an attractive shade of red, which Damon found endearingly adorable. That and he was glad he could sink his teeth in the chicken with all the cameras.

Since Bella cooked, Damon insisted on doing the dishes.

"Do you think it's safe to go for a swim in the lake?"

"A swim?"

Damon he asked as if he had no idea what a swim was.

"Yes. You know, water, people in it, usually kids learn it before they turn ten"

Damon shook his head laughing.

"Fine, go. If a shark grabs you, shriek"

"The lake is too small for a shark"

"Because sharks survive in lake water"

"You mentioned them first"

she gave him a bright smile and disappeared in the bedroom. With a wry chuckle Damon grabbed the dishes to wash them. In the kitchen two more servings were packed away in red plastic and in the fridge.

When the back porch lights flicked open and a splash was heard, Damon forced himself not to imagine Bella's sexy, wet body focusing instead on scrubbing he dishes and pans by hand instead of using the dishwasher.

He had just lit a cigarette and was using the smoke to relax when the house phone rang. Since the show was very specific about them limiting their cell phone usage, he knew it could be a number of people calling for either of them. He walked to the kitchen counter and picked up the cordless receiver.

"Hello?"

"Hi, can I speak to Bella?"

A male voice asked. If Damon had to guess then he'd say the voice was young and had a light accent.

"Who's speaking?"

"This is Bell's brother, Sam"

"Ah, yes. You're the pain in the ass older brother that Bella talked about earlier."

There was a short silence before Sam's laughter filled over the phone.

"Yep, that's me. Is she around?"

"Yeah she's at the lake, hold on"

Damon opened his mouth to call Bella but he made a strangled sound instead. Bella was just coming in clad in a full body light purple bathing suit with white details. Even though the garment was modest, it had a naughty 80's style and couldn't be more provocative if it was painted on!

Her hair were wet and hanging low on her back and her free of all makeup making her look younger than her twenty two years. Damon felt his eyes begin to change and teeth elongate to fangs.

"Bella, its Sam"

he said with his face staring the floor wondering how weird it'd be if he pulled a nosferatu move and raised his arm to cover his face as he made a beeline for the bathroom. He missed Bella's pleasant smile as she took the cordless phone from him.

Bella POV

"Hey Sammy"

Bella said pleasantly. The nightly phone call Charlie or Sam or one of the pack did was amusing since she was in a lake house infested with cameras and she new fully well that all of them would watch.

"Don't call me that"

Sam's stoic voice rang through the phone. If you listened closely you could hear a light whistle indicating the line was monitored as well.

"My daddy married your mommy. I'll call you whatever I want"

She said in a mock-mean tone that sent her wolfy step brother to roaring laughter.

"You already used that card when you made me curry your shopping bags Bells"

Bella's mouth fell open and she stared straight at the lounge camera

"it was for their wedding and the entire town was invited. You're lucky I didn't rope you and the rest of the pack"

Sam kept laughing before he asked her if the celeb was good with her, hadn't touched her in funny places (to which she blushed for all that was worth) and that Charlie had packed her two bottles of pepper spray. Bella blushed, replied that Damon had been a gentleman, asked him to personally kiss the entire pack for her and to be safe. La Push wasn't the safest place in the tri-state and forks had its fare share of danger.

Shaking her head in quiet laughter Bella made herself a cup of soothing tea to take to shower and was about to do just that when the phone rang again. Thinking that Damon was still busy she answered it.

Damon POV

Damon had barely any time to throw his empty blood bag back in the bright orange cooler and wipe his lips when the soft knock against the bathroom door stopped and the knob began to slowly, tentatively turn.

Bella stood there with the cordless phone in her hands and deep blush on her cheeks. Her eyes traveled up and down for a moment taking in his wet hair and barely zipped pants before she blushed more.

"D-Damon…your brother is on the phone. He says it's important,"

Bella stammered and shoved the phone at him before walking away. Not letting the door close and leaning on it slightly Damon thanked her but she was inside the bedroom before he could speak.

"Hello, Stefan"

"Damon, how are things going?"

"It's been good. The lake house is beautiful and the company has been great."

Damon grinned at Bella and winked. Bella's dark eyes sparkled as she smiled back shyly through the vanity mirror where she sat and was combing through her hair.

"Well, everything looks great too. I've been watching you two and you have good chemistry together. You almost act like a human being again"

Damon could imagine perfectly his brother's green eyes light with mirth.

"You're too funny brother. How is the lovely Elena? Maybe we could meet one night, I would sure love to meet her"

Damon fake snarked enjoying the sudden silence on his brother's end of the line. He was joking and they both knew it, but Katherine had messed them up badly.

"Your producer called Andie to arrange a visit sometime this weekend. She was ecstatic"

His brother replied. Andie Starr was a reporter in the local news channel, Damon's most recent arm candy and allergic to vervain. Kind of a killer combo. She was also Elena's aunt's best friend and everything that gave a good impression to Elena's family made Stefan look better too.

Damon sighed. He wanted to protest, but knew that the phone was also tapped and that any conversation he had was being heard by everyone. While having some fresh food would be great, Damon didn't want Andie to come visit.

On the other hand he and Andie had nothing in common. Sure they both were from the same small town, give or take a few hundred years, and Andie was fully aware of the supernatural in town but she was boring as paint. He saw her as a blood buffet while she saw him as the perfect solution to her dying marriage. Did he mention that Andie's husband was also Elena's aunt's former boyfriend?

It would be a mess all around and it would remind Bella that he wasn't a single man.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea brother"

Damon closed his eyes. He heard Stefan sigh on the other end of the line

"She really misses you"

Stefan said pointently. That means he probably sent some message with Andie that he couldn't deliver on the phone with the microphones.

"I'll talk to you later"

Damon pushed the 'off' button and set the phone on the bathroom counter. If vampires could get headaches, his head would be banging!

"What was that all about?"

Bella's soft voice asked as she set down her brush and turned to look at him.

"My brother wanted to tell me some stuff."

Damon said dismissively leaning returning to the bedroom closing the bathroom door behind him.

"Do you have a preference in sides?"

He changed the subject instead.