Gravity

Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries.

Big big thank you to you Mara for being my beta! I appreciate you taking the time to look at this chapter, I know you're super busy!

There is another Klaus POV section in this chapter as well.

Hope you enjoy!

July 11th 2013

Thursday 1:55pm

Unknown, Nevada

"You are so infuriating!" Elena slams the car door shut extra hard.

"Oh I'm sorry, have you been driving none stop for the last 5 hours?!" I jump out after he and slam my door just as hard.

"I told you to take the next turn off, but no! You think you always know best and go your own way just like always!" she throws her arms up in frustration. "Now we're lost!"

"We're not lost." I roll my eyes at her.

"We're not lost? Where are we then?" She waits while I stay silent. I scowl because she knows I don't have the answer. "Exactly!"

"Yeah that's right, princess, you just blame this all on me! I wasn't the one reading the map!"

"No but you were the one driving! And you ignored the person with the map!" She stomps her foot in frustration. "God, you are such an idiot sometimes!"

"Okay, how about instead of being a bitch, you actually try and help me figure out where the hell we are?" I reach in through the open car window and pull out the discarded map from the dashboard. I open up the large paper and lay it on the hood of the car.

Elena huffs and takes a sip from her bottled water before walking around to stand beside me to try to work out which route we are on.

"I think we're here." She presses her finger down onto the paper.

"No. We passed by that miles ago while you were enjoying one of your many naps," I snap at her in annoyance before wiping at my brow as the sun shines down onto them. God it is so freaking hot!

"I offered to drive!"

"You can barely drive a stick." I roll my eyes at her. We hit some car troubles a couple of days ago and had to trade in for another vehicle, again. It would have been fine if Elena could actually drive the damn thing.

"Yes I can!" she argues angrily. "You just won't let me try!"

"Because I'd actually like to try and make it to my next birthday."

"Urgh fine, if I'm apparently so useless why don't you try and work out how the hell to find civilization yourself. I'll just go sit over there!" she stomps off towards a small pile of rocks on the side of the sandy road before sitting down on top of them, pulling her sunglasses down to cover her eyes.

"Oh that's right; leave it all up to me again." I grumble in annoyance before turning my attention back onto the map. I study it for a while, trying to work out where we have passed already to where we could be, to where we actually need to go but I'm not coming up with anything.

The summer was well and truly starting to heat up. Elena suggested we just head straight towards the coast from the town we stopped over at in Idaho since leaving Denver. I agreed, the thought of seeing her in a bikini on a hot beach, crashing in the waves of the water and bathing above the sand was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

So we decided to make a nonstop road trip out of it.

It was a good idea at the time. At first it went well. We walked and joked with each other and reminisced about the places we already visited. We laughed about some of the odd people we've met and some of the shit motels we've had to stay in.

Then after the third hour the heat started to agitate us both and Elena fell asleep. She left me to stew out of boredom in my own company. Once Elena woke up, she lost her place of where we were up too on the map, and I couldn't remember which part of the map we'd already passed. This caused me to take a slip road to early, despite Elena's protests, and now we are completely lost on a deserted road and have been for an hour.

Not a sandy beach in sight.

Instead, just a sandy desert, in the middle of nowhere land Nevada.

I stand outside of the Salvatore boarding house with a strange pit in my stomach. It's been months since I've been here. I've kind of avoided them since Damon left town, with the exception of keeping updated with that is going on with the case from Stefan; I have avoided all founding family functions and any places that I know I may run into them.

Zach Salvatore surprised me with a text this morning when he asked me to meet him here. I've only seen the man twice since Damon left town. Once when I needed to find out what the hell went down that night with Vaughn, and to see if any of his connections knew someone else who would have wanted the Scotsman dead. Of course he came up with nothing. The second time was total accidental and a brief run in at The Grill. He asked me if I had heard from Damon, and even though I had by this point, for some reason I felt cautious. I said I hadn't.

Zach didn't say anything else to that.

I take a deep breath and walk inside without knocking; it's not unusual for the Salvatore's to leave the door unlocked. I mean most of the bad things that happen in this damn town are because of them.

Zach is lounging on an arm chair in the parlour with a glass of whiskey clutched in his hands.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up."

"Not going to lie, I was surprised when I saw your text." I fold my arms across my chest. I'm standing at the edge of the parlour and don't move any farther. There is something that feels off about being here now.

Zach chuckles to himself and sits up straight, leaning forward and placing his now empty glass onto the wooden table in front of him.

"Do you or do you not work for me?" he asks with a hint of amusement in his voice.

I frown. "I don't work for anyone."

"No? So what do you do then? Sponge off Mommy and Daddy?"

I clench my jaw. "No."

"Well then," he clasps his hands together before standing up. A smirk is on his lips and I watch him as he crosses the room towards some cabinet by the wall. He pulls out a key from his pocket and unlocks a drawer, pulling out a medium sized packet that has been taped up and tossing it over at me.

I catch it against my chest and look up at him confused. "What's this?"

"You remember Will, right? The scrawny college drop out with an addiction problem?"

"Yeah." I answer stiffly. "I know him. I haven't seen him in a while."

"Doesn't matter. Take that to him and I'll make sure to pay you kindly." He relocks the drawer and there is something in his voice that makes me feel like I don't have a choice in the matter. I sigh, shake my head and leave without another word.

I suppose I could do with the cash. I just would rather not do it by mixing in with that crowd again. They all think I was involved in Vaughn's death, so I'm not very popular over in that town.

The drive is a long one because of traffic and I let out many frustrated mutters to myself. What I would give to be on a beach in the Caribbean right now.

Will's windows are still boarded up because of the fire months ago when I arrive. It would surprise me if I hadn't met the kid. Everyone knows where his money goes and it sure isn't to his local hardware store.

I knock twice before he answers and when he does there is a joint hanging from his lips as he leans in the doorway.

"British guy." He eyes me up and down slowly. "What brings you here?" his voice slurs a little and I roll my eyes before I push him backwards. I close his door behind him. "Please, come on in!" he mutters, inhaling from his joint and pulling it from his lips. "Want some?"

"Not today, Will." I answer, looking around the messy house.

"So? What can I do for you? You need to buy? Sell? I'm open to all kinds of business." He holds out his arms with a smirk. I stay silent, noticing that this place is even messier than usual. There's rubbish all over the place, empty pizza boxes and bottles.

It's a pigsty.

"Not going to lie. A little surprised to see you here. You kinda fell off the radar after the whole Vaughn versus Damon fiasco." He chuckles, and his glazed eyes light up. "Your buddy did everyone a favor when he bumped off that asshole."

I don't even bother to protest for Damon's innocence. There would be no point.

"Could have fooled me."

I remember back to a couple of weeks after the incident and I was at a party. One of Vaughn's old guys approached me and threatened me that he'd rip my eye balls out if he saw me again.

I didn't take that as a light threat.

Will waves his hand in the air casually. "That's probably just Connor's leftover influence. I wouldn't worry about it, Vaughn's influence is long gone these days, and not even Connor Jordan is as threatening anymore." He picks up a beer bottle that has been left on the table and takes a swig, turning back around to face. "So? What can I do for you, buddy?"

"Zach Salvatore." I say his name, not missing the way Will tenses.

"Zach sent you?" he questions slowly, his face paling ever so slightly.

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"Nope." Will takes another large chug from his beer.

I let it go and pull out the package from the inside of my jacket. I toss it down onto the table beside us without a word.

"For you."

Will eyes it for a second and looks back at me curiously. "So you work for Zach now?"

I shrug.

Will stares at me for a moment longer before he nods his head and picks up the package. "Thanks. You can go now."

I frown at his immediate change of attitude take a step back. "Whatever man." I turn to leave. "I'd get a vacuum out or something though because this place is rotten." I don't wait for his reply and leave, closing the front door behind me.

I make it two steps along the path back towards my car before I freeze.

Detective Grayson Gilbert is smirking at me as he leans against my car casually with his arms crossed.

"Are you following me?" I say.

"What makes you think that?"

"We aren't in Mystic Falls, so this isn't your derestriction, for one. You also happen to be leaning against my car. So if you don't mind…"

He chuckles but it's fake. I stand still as he pushes himself up. "Maybe I was just in the neighborhood. What are you doing here?"

"I don't have to answer anything to you." I snap. "In case you had forgotten, I'd warned you about staying away from me. Do you want me to get a restraining order against you?"

Grayson laughs again. "Sure kid, good luck with that one."

I glare at him in anger. "Whatever. I don't have time for this." I go to move past him to the car door but he grabs my arm and pulls me back. I snatch my arm from his grasp and take a deep breath to try and control my anger.

"This is harassment." I hiss out between gritted teeth.

"I don't think you realize that I'm going to stop at nothing until I find Damon and Elena." His voice is firm, cold and hard.

"I don't think you realize that I don't know where they are." I clench my jaw. You're wasting your time. In fact, the longer you spend harassing me, the less chance you have of ever catching Damon."

He gives me a cold smile. "I don't doubt for a second Damon will get caught. He'll end up exactly where he belongs soon enough, son. Nobody can run forever. He's not a criminal mastermind and my daughter sure as hell isn't one either. It's only a matter of time before he's locked up and she's home safe where she belongs."

"Elena is exactly where she belongs, with Damon." I reply much to his irritation. "The funny thing is, Detective, if you actually were doing your job properly you would know Damon was innocent. You wouldn't have to find your daughter. She'd be back home in Mystic Falls, safe and sound."

He laughs but again it's cold and hard. "If he was so innocent, as you continue to believe, then why did he run?" For a moment I don't have an answer. "That's what I thought." He smirks and starts to walk back in the direction of his car.

I swing back around in annoyance and call back to him. "You want Elena back in Mystic Falls? Do. Your. Job!" I snarl then get in my car and slam the door shut.

I grunt in frustration and blow out some air out of my lips onto my face because it is so damn hot. I pull off my baseball cap and push back some of my fallen damp hair from my eyes, reminding myself that the next town we drive through I'll need to stop to get a haircut.

I glance back at Elena. She's sitting with her back to me on a giant rock. Her arms are resting on her bare legs in front of her and I can see her kicking smaller rocks with her sandal clad feet.

"You want some water?" I call out to her. She doesn't reply and I roll my eyes at her immaturity before popping open the trunk and pulling out a chilled bottle from our cooler. The cold liquid feels amazing falling down my throat. I smirk when I notice the sweat dripping down Elena's arms from her white tank top. It's already starting to stick to her back.

I take advantage of her back facing me when I approach her slowly. Once I get beside her, I pull on her tank top and pour a load of water down her back.

She gives a loud shriek. I laugh when she jumps to her feet and whirls towards me.

Her eyes are on fire.

I love it.

She's flustered, and she spits out words that don't even make sense before she lets out a loud groan and finds her proper voice.

"What the hell, Damon?! Why would you do that?" Her eyes are wide in a mixture of anger and disbelief.

I shrug. "You looked hot." I wiggle my eyebrows at the double meaning but Elena does not play along.

"You are such an asshole! I'm soaked!" she hisses at me furiously, pulling at her now soaked tank top and I smirk. She catches my look and her eyes darken even more. "No!" she snaps, holding out her hand. "Don't even say a word!"

I hold my hands up in defense. "I wasn't going to say anything, princess."

She huffs and moves past me, her shoulder shoving against mine as she does so. I watch amused as she dives into the already open trunk and opens up her old cheerleading duffle bag.

She pulls out numerous of shirts and tanks before settling on one. She glares at me and slams the trunk down hard. I have to hide my cringe as the old car rattles because of it.

I swallow hard when she rips open her tank top over her head. She doesn't seem to care we're out in the open. Then again, it's been over an hour since we saw any kind of civilization around here. Her breasts are on show, filling her lacy lilac bra perfectly. I'm quiet as I watch her throw her wet tank top back into the trunk. She picks up a new one but before I even think I reach out my hand and stop her.

She looks up at me, questioning, but it doesn't take her long to figure it out.

I'm sure the look on my face is giving me away, that or the growing bulge in my pants.

Her lips crash against mine hard and fast and before I know it her legs are wrapped around my waist. I swallow her breaths as I kiss her hungrily, my arms locked under her thighs as one of her hands claws through my hair while the other is wrapped around my neck.

Elena pulls back for a second, breathless, her already dark eyes black and her mouth hovering open. I walk two small steps forward and gently lower her down onto the trunk, my hands leaving her thighs briefly to land on her bare hips as her long legs wrap tightly around my waist.

The tiniest of smirks lands on her lips and suddenly she is clawing at my t-shirt and it's being pulled over my head and thrown onto the hot concrete road behind me.

Her mouth is back on mine. Our kisses are rushed and frantic and all I know is that I need to be inside of her and soon.

"Mm, Damon." She gasps out in a whimper as I move my lips to her neck, sucking and nibbling onto her soft skin.

I unzip her tiny denim shorts and move out of her grasp to pull them down her legs, throwing them in the same direction of my shirt before kissing her again hungrily.

I just know that Elena is completely caught up in the moment, or else she'd be far more worried about her almost naked state in such an open place for anyone to see. So when she tugs down my pants, and her hand slides into my underwear to grab my already hard erection I know that she's a goner when she pushes down my briefs.

So I don't disappoint. I grunt against her skin, dragging my mouth back from her lips to her neck and push aside her panties and thrust in side of her without warning.

"Oh god, Damon." She gasps out in breaths as I move faster. My hips slam against hers while her legs tighten around my waist and I can feel her walls clenching around me.

"Jesus, Elena." I grunt against her skin as her fingers claw against my scalp. I can't stop myself then, and I cum right inside of her. She follows soon after and we both collapse onto each other breathlessly. "Wow." I pull away from her, stepping back and catching my jeans as they almost fall down to my ankles.

Elena stays where she is on the trunk of the car. Her sweat cladded chest rising and falling as she tries to catch her breath.

"Good, huh?" I look at her without being able to hide my wide smile.

She blinks and pulls out of her trance. Her lips twitch while trying to fight a smile. Her eyes are bright and her cheeks are glowing.

"You're still a jerk."

I laugh loudly and toss her the shirt.

"Damon! Stop." My hand lands on top of his tightly to stop it from sliding any higher up my bare thigh. I swallow and can feel my cheeks heating up as the waitress approaches us with a big fake smile. I didn't miss the way her eyes darted downwards to where my boyfriend's wandering hand is still lingering.

Damon chuckles and playfully bites my ear before pressing a kiss to my cheek.

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asks with an almost embarrassed smile.

After another three hours of driving in a straight aimless line, trying to find some sort of civilization so we can get a just too where we are, we come across a tiny little town. I say town, I mean a place that has about four buildings in total on their main street. Since it was coming up towards the dinner time, we stopped off in this tiny local diner for some food and directions to the nearest motel. Apparently we are heading towards the south of Nevada and there is a motel just a few miles away so we decided to stop there tonight after we eat.

"Yes." I stress, sending a warning glance in Damon's direction who smirks amused, his hand moving to a more appropriate spot just above my knee. "We're ready, thank you." I nudge him with my elbow and Damon reads off what we want from the menu smoothly. The waitress writes it all down and I notice the tiny blush creeping on her cheeks. I don't even bother rolling my eyes. I'm starting to get used to the reaction that Damon gives the opposite sex; hell, sometimes the same sex too.

"She was checking you out." I tell him as the waitress walks away.

Damon smirks and raises his eyebrows. "Oh was she?" he asks even though we both know fine well that he noticed. "Do you think I should go over? Use your technique of flirtation to steal her watch?" he wiggles his eyebrows at me.

I send him a playful shut. "Shut up! You weren't complaining when you were pawning that watch off for a handful of cash."

"That is true." He muses. "Maybe I should pimp you out more often?"

"Right." I agree with a nod, "and then I can give you all the STDs that I'll catch? Call it an early birthday present."

He laughs and my stomach flutters. He moves his arm from my leg to wrap around my waist, pulling me closer. He twists slightly so our bodies are practically flushed together before pressing a soft kiss to my lips.

"You know what would be a pretty awesome birthday present?" he asks in a deep tone, his eyes fluttering open as his lips lightly brush against my own.

"What's that?" I breathe out, barely in a whisper. I'm so wrapped up in him, his intense blue eyes boring into mine that I forget the world around us. I gasp, shuddering as his other hand slides down my side, grazing my breasts before edging down my stomach to my crotch. His fingers lightly play over the material of my shorts and I do my best to hold in a whimper he twists his hands to cup me for the briefest of seconds.

Damon smirks, his fingers tapping against my pubic bone. "Getting my name tattooed right here." His smirk widens and I gasp, pull away and punch him hard on the shoulder.

"Pig!"

He laughs loudly and I shake my head in disbelief, blowing out a breath to cool my heated face. I can feel the blush on my cheeks.

"What?" he asks innocently but I see the naughtiness in his eyes. In his smile. "It's a perfectly reasonable request. 'Property of Damon Salvatore' in nice bold letters. What's the big deal? No one else is ever going to see it but me anyway." He points out with a smirk and I push away the butterflies in my stomach from another meaning to that statement because now is not the time.

So I roll my eyes. "What about when I wear a bikini?"

"Then all the guys ogling at your hot body will know that it belongs to me." He says like it's a perfectly normal thing to say.

"Right, you own me." I reply sarcastically while trying to fight off my smile.

"Hell yes I own you." He winks.

"Who knew I was dating a chauvinist pig?"

"Um you did, actually." He points out. "I'm pretty sure you called me that many times during the summer of your life."

"The summer of my life?" I ask with a laugh because even though I look back at our antics now with a happy flutter in my stomach, it certainly wasn't the case at the time.

"Yup. I mean, I rocked your world. I gave you the best sex you ever had. How could that not have been the summer of your life?"

"Cocky much?"

He smirks and presses his mouth against mine before I even finish taking a breath. My hand instantly lands on his cheek, the other sliding through his hair. I moan against his mouth as his tongue slides against mine. His kiss his hot and open and again I completely forget where we are.

He pulls back slightly and bites on my bottom lip. My eyes flutter open and I look at him in a mixture of lust and amazement.

"What is with you today?" I ask breathlessly, my head leaning forward against his own as I press my lips against his briefly.

"What do you mean?" he asks while pulling a face but I know better.

"You know what I mean. You've been in a playful mood all afternoon."

"Maybe I'm just excited to finally see you in a bikini?" he offers while wiggling his eyebrows playfully. "Because that is something I have fantasized about many times."

"You've seen me naked; you don't need to fantasize about me."

"Oh please." He scoffs light heartedly. "I always fantasize about you, whether I have the real thing or not. You're beautiful." He whispers against my lips and kisses me again.

"You see," I pull away after a few moments. "This is what I mean." I tell him pointedly. "What are you after?" I squint suspiciously.

"Nothing!" he defends himself with a smile. "Why do you find it so hard to believe that I just want to shower my beautiful girlfriend with compliments all day?"

"Are you grateful that I gave you outdoor sex earlier? Because I told you that was a one off!" I'm still embarrassed just thinking about it, the thought of someone driving past and seeing us is enough to heat up my entire face. Luckily that didn't happen, but I am very much aware that it could have.

He chuckles softly. "I am grateful but that isn't the reason."

"Then what is?"

"There is no reason." He answers simply. "I just love you, a lot. So I want you to feel like the most loved and adored girl on the planet, because you are."

There are moments in your life that you just know that you will remember forever. No matter how small and uneventful it may seem, deep down, in your gut, you just know it.

This is one of those moments.

I kiss him. I mean, what else can I do when he says something like that to me?

"Oh um…"

I pull away at the outside voice that is intruding on our moment and turn around to see the waitress holding a tray with our food. A blush that probably matches my own on her cheeks.

Damon chuckles as she awkwardly places our plates on the table before scurrying away.

"I think we're embarrassing the locals." He muses with a cocky smirk. I laugh and agree, reaching over to his plate and grabbing a handful of chilli fries that I made him order even though I insisted that I didn't want any for myself.

He swats my hand away playfully but then pushes his plate back towards me with a smile so I can easily take the fries.

I shove some into my mouth and my eyes close at the taste. "Damn those are good."

Damon chuckles and agrees.

"I love you too, by the way." I nudge him playfully and he grins happily.

"Good." He moves his hand underneath my top and his fingers dance soothingly along my skin. "So…I have an idea."

"What's that?" I ask curiously as I continue to eat.

"Want to make another pit stop before we head towards the beach?"

"I thought you didn't want to stop?" I ask confused because he wasn't exactly pleased about stopping in a motel tonight but I refuse to let him drive over the night without sleep.

"I didn't but that was before I knew where we are," he tells me with a smirk and I swear his eyes light up with excitement.

"Okay…" I trail with a nervous smile. "Where do you want to go?"

His smirk widens. His eyes glistening and my heart starts to pound with excitement as the next word leaves his mouth.

"Vegas."

So, next stop Las Vegas!

Hope you all liked the chapter, please drop a review and let me know what you all thought :)

Big big thank you as per to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I don't think I got a chance to respond personally to everyone but I thought you'd be happier with a new chapter instead.

Thank you lots for reading!

Until next time :)