Gravity

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

June 18th 2017

Sunday 9.30pm

Mystic Falls

It doesn't take me long to start kissing her back. It's Elena, how could I not?

My hands slowly rise to cup her face, my fingertips reaching the edge of her soft hair. Elena's arms are wrapped tightly around my neck. She's so close, so damn close.

It's been so long since I've felt her soft lips against mine. It's been far too long.

I feel my pants tighten as a soft moan escapes her lips while I deepen the kiss. Her hands clutch my hair tightly as her slim body presses against mine so our bodies are flushed together but it's still not close enough.

Elena slowly pulls away first, our eyes gradually fluttering open to meet. Her cheeks are stained with dry tears but I leave my hands in place to cup her face. Her lips twitch slightly like she's going to smile but it doesn't quite make it. My heart is pounding so loudly in my chest I wouldn't be surprised if Elena could hear it herself.

God she is stunning.

"Damon..." she whispers softly, quietly. "I..."

"Damon!" I jump slightly and pull back, my hands falling from her cheeks and I turn to face the closed door and that's when I eventually hear the knocking. "Damon, open up!"

I clear my throat and look back at Elena who has taken a huge step back, her cheeks are tinted pink and she looks completely frazzled and unkept.

She looks beautiful.

She coughs awkwardly and runs a shaking hand through her messy hair. "It sounds like Stefan, you should get that." Her voice is croaky but quiet and I sigh and follow her instructions.

The second I open the door Stefan storms inside with a furious look on his face. "God Dad is such an asshole!" He rants heatedly, "Can you believe that he actu-" he stops suddenly, pausing when he notices Elena. He glances back at me. "Uh. Sorry, was I interrupting?"

"Yes" - "No"

Both Elena and I answer at the same time and I cringe. Stefan raises his eyebrow at me curiously but Elena just looks awkward as hell.

"We are kind of in the middle of something, Stefan." I tell him firmly, motioning back towards the door for him to leave.

He shifts uncomfortably and glances between Elena and I before keeping his eyes on me. "I'm sorry Damon but I don't have anywhere else to go. Dad kicked me out."

My eyes widen in shock. "He did what?!"

"I'm just gonna..." Elena makes a move to leave and hurriedly picks up her jacket.

"No, wait!" I reach out and grab her arm before she reaches the door. "Stay."

"Your brother needs you, Damon." She motions back over at Stefan and that's when I notice his red eyes and shaking hands. He's completely rattled. I can tell that whatever went down tonight has affected him. I just wish that whatever it was it didn't have to happen tonight.

"But-"

"Damon." She cuts me off with a small smile. "I'll still be here tomorrow." She stuns me when she leans up and presses a soft kiss to my cheek - her hand squeezing my arm gently before she lets go and is out of the door in a flash.

I let out a low groan and turn to face Stefan. "You owe me big, little brother."

"I kissed Damon." I blurt out the second Jenna opens the door to me.

Her eyes widen and she quickly ushers me into her apartment.

"I'm sorry for coming by so late but...shit...I kissed Damon!"

"Ric!" Jenna calls out. We hear a gruff response "Go get us some wine, it's an emergency!"

"No." I quickly shake my head to decline. "No more wine."

"Ric!" She shouts back towards the kitchen and I hold back a smile. "Forget the wine! Go and play on your Xbox in the bedroom, put on your headset!" She orders him.

"Really?!" Ric shouts back and this time I can't fight the smile as I hear the excitement in his voice.

"Yes, really! Now go before I change my mind!" She then turns back to me. "Come on, I'll make you some tea." She leads me into the kitchen and I take a seat at the counter while Jenna pours us our drinks.

"Okay - tell me everything." She hands me over the steaming cup with a sympathetic smile.

I shake my head. "I don't know where to start. I don't even know where I can start." I take a slow sip. "We…we were talking. I found out something, something big and we were arguing and I just…I don't know what happened but I just had to kiss him."

"And did he kiss you back?"

My stomach flutters with butterflies and I nod shyly. "Yes." I let out a shaky breath. "But then Stefan showed up and…I left and came straight here. I don't know what to do. I don't know if Damon just kissed me back because he was caught up in the moment or if he actually wants…wants something with me again."

"What were you two arguing about?" She asks curiously.

I bite on my lip because I know that this isn't something that Damon wants out in the open. He never seems to want the world to know when he does selfless things. "Just things that have happened in the past. He told me something that I didn't know about and…and I guess it's kind of changed everything."

Jenna raises her eyebrow at me skeptically clearly knowing that there is much more to the story and she wants to know about it but thankfully she chooses to accept my answer and move on without an interrogation.

"So what do you want to do next?"

I know what I want to do but actually going out and doing it is a completely different story.

"I still love him, Jenna." I admit sadly with a painful clench in my stomach.

"I know sweetie," She takes my hand and squeezes it tightly with reassurance. "I know."

I soon learned that the day shift during summer vacation time is even worse than the day shift on a Saturday. Instead of being harassed by drunken lonely locals, I get harassed by screaming annoyed children.

Drunks I can handle.

Children? Nope. I cannot deal with whining needy children.

I slam down the tray full of empty dishes in the kitchen with an annoyed sigh. I've just nearly tripped over a tiny snotty nosed rodent whose parents are letting run riot around the restaurant like it's a freaking day-care center. Luckily I just managed to save myself, preventing six dirty dishes from falling all over the floor and an excuse for a bullshit insurance claim heading my boss's way was swiftly avoided.

"Any sign of it slowing down out there, Damon?" My head chef calls out to me hopefully.

"Not likely," I reply grumpily. "A table of eight teenagers just walked in and what's the bet they are all vegans and grease free."

He huffs slightly and heads back to his heaving kitchen, barking orders at the rest of the kitchen staff as he goes. I grab two plates of ready food and head back out into the chaos.

I serve the two meals quickly, luckily with no complaints for the slightly longer than normal wait. I've had a couple of those too. Don't these customers have eyes? Can't they see we are run off our feet today and maybe your cheese fries are going to take an extra five-ten minutes to land on your table than usual?

I end up taking another tables order on my way back to the bar. I see Matt motioning for me to hurry back to serving drinks but what can I do when one of our waitresses has called in sick even though she is probably sunbathing with her friends at the lake?

I drop the order back into the kitchen quickly, on my way out I pretend not to notice that table of eight preppy teenagers waving me over ready to order. Donovan will have to deal with those guys.

I serve customer after customer at the bar like I am on autopilot. All the while with a polite smile on my face and in no way showing how annoyed I am really feeling on the inside.

I don't let my mind wander away from work. As much as I want to check my phone to see if Elena has text or tried to call. I don't do it.

It's too damn busy in here to be that kind of distracted.

To make matters worse I've only had three hours sleep from being up with Stefan all night listening to him giving me a play-by-play to what happened when he broke the news to our Dad and his Mom that they were going to be grandparents.

Giuseppe's reaction didn't surprise me. I knew he would be pissed. Especially once he found out that the baby momma is the sheriff's daughter. He must really feel like a failure in life, his eldest son dated a Gilbert and his precious youngest knocked up a Forbes. Talk about irony!

I've told Stefan that he needs to go back over there to sort things out between them. Klaus is back from his long weekend family trip today and there is no way in hell he will let Stefan crash on our couch right now. So unless baby bro decides to spend his summer back in his dorm at a deserted Whitmore campus then he needs to re-grow those balls and discuss the situation like an adult.

"What can I get you?" I ask the next customer automatically, my eyes still on the cashier sorting the previous customers order.

"A hello would have been nice." I look up properly and my eyes widen slightly when I see Elena standing there with an amused grin on her face. "You look stressed." She notes.

"Busy." I motion around the crowded loud restaurant. "Very busy."

"Can I swap you the time it would take for you to pour me a drink to ask you a question?" She's smiling still but it's a lot less amused and a little more shyer.

I can tell straight away from the look on her face that she's nervous.

The nerves soon move on to me and I lean forward across the bar to try and keep this conversation as private as possible.

"Ask away." I motion with a smile.

"I want to ask you out on a date." She blurts out bluntly and my eyes widen. She bites on her bottom lip nervously as she waits for my response and the loud restaurant soon fades into silence from my ringing ears.

"A date?" I repeat, wondering if I heard her right.

She nods silently, her bottom lip still pressed between her teeth and I can see her cheeks slowly turning red.

There are a billion and one reasons for me to say no. I mean, I wouldn't even know where to start. So much has happened and so much has changed since we were together.

Elena is a different person.

I am a different person.

There are a billion reasons to say no.

There is only one reason to say yes.

"It's okay…" Elena breaks me out of my thoughts and I can see the devastation on her face. "I'm sorry…I…I should never have asked, I don't know what I was thinking." She turns on her heel and darts through the crowd before I can even find my voice.

Shit. I curse inwardly. I throw my towel onto the back counter and quickly move to chase after her. I ignore the calls of the customers waiting to be served, I ignore Matt shouting my name, and I especially ignore the customers at the table asking for my attention as I pass by them. I push open the door and look both ways before I see Elena hurriedly walking towards the car park.

"Elena!" I run after her. She stops, slowly turning around and I swallow hard when I see her eyes watery and her face red. I fall to a standstill in front of her and smile. "Can't you give a guy a second to answer?" I see the hope flicker in her eyes. "Yes." I finally respond and her face lights up. "I'll go on a date with you."

"Really?" She sounds surprised and it makes my smile widen.

"Really." I confirm. "But just a tip for future reference – usually it's the guy who asks the girl out, not the other way around."

She smirks. "Well a girl can't wait around forever. Maybe next time you should step up your game, Salvatore."

I chuckle and my hand automatically lands on her cheek and wipes away her one fallen tear. I see her lick her lips slowly and oh God do I want to kiss her.

I really really want to kiss her.

"I have to go back to work." I admit with a cringe but Elena shakes her head with a smile as my hand falls from her cheek.

"I know." She smiles back simply and takes a small step back. "I'll text you the details?"

I nod to confirm. "I'm looking forward to it."

I stand like an idiot on the sidewalk as Elena walks towards her car. When I eventually go back inside, the screaming kids don't seem so bad anymore. I can handle the impatient diners and even the preppy teenagers with their awkward gluten-free requests are a lot easier to handle.

"So you finally bit the bullet, huh?" Bonnie asks with a smile as she lounges on my bed. I hold up a dress against me in the mirror undecidedly. "What made you finally get the courage to take the plunge?"

"Damon has done so much for me in the past. It's only fair that I'm the one to do the hard work this time." I smile slightly but then huff deciding against the dress and throwing that back into my closet and picking out another. "To be fair, he has made things very easy for me so far." I confess almost guiltily.

When I first asked Damon out at The Grill the other day I really thought he was going to say no, especially when he took so long to actually respond. I hadn't heard from him since our kiss the night before and I knew that we still needed to talk about what happened with Zach and his guilty plea.

In a way I literally owe Damon my life.

I don't think any amounts of dinner dates can make up for that.

To say I was shocked when he chased after me was an understatement. However the shock soon turned into bliss and I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.

Not even dinner with my parents that night could dampen my spirits.

"Maybe he realized too that it's time to let go of the past and move forward." Bonnie replies casually. "Prison has certainly seemed to change him for the better. I think I even like this new Damon."

"Mhmm." I muse but don't say anything further. Damon was never perfect, far from it actually, but he always was perfect to me. I wouldn't change him for a second, not the 'old' Damon, not the 'new' Damon. He's still Damon. No old, no new, no potential. He's just…him. "What about this dress?" I hold it up against me.

"It's hot." Bonnie agrees and I eye it up again.

"Do you think it's appropriate for a first date though?" I ask skeptically because it's not exactly a conservative outfit.

Revealing is a more suitable word.

"Well it's not exactly a normal first date, is it?" She smirks and I roll my eyes.

"It's been four years, Bonnie."

"You've been dating him for the last six weeks, Elena." She smirks at me teasingly and I roll my eyes.

"I told you we were just hanging out as friends. We weren't dating."

"And now?"

"Now we are officially going on a date." I respond while rolling my eyes. "No pressure…just…casual dating and we can take things one step at a time."

"Is that what you want?" She sits up straight and stares at me pointedly.

I bite on my bottom lip nervously for a moment before responding. "Honestly? No. Not really…I miss him…I miss being with him. If he realizes after tonight that he doesn't actually want to date me I will be absolutely heartbroken and completely devastated. However I still need him in my life, even if it is just as friends."

"I really don't think that's going to happen, Elena." Bonnie tries to reassure me but it does nothing to calm my nerves. "I've seen the way he looks at you."

"We have a special past together; there is history between us that cannot be changed." I swallow hard as my mind briefly flickers back to that summer. "That's not what I'm afraid of anymore." I confess. "It's our future that I'm terrified for."

Despite me being the one to organize the date and even do the asking out, Damon is the one who has been the perfect gentleman tonight.

He picked me up at my door with a single red rose. I blushed hard, and thanked the Gods that my parents were at the Lockwood's house for dinner or things could have turned seriously ugly fast.

He led me to a waiting cab and I told the driver the address of the restaurant I had booked in Richmond. I knew that we couldn't go out on a date in Mystic Falls without making tomorrows headline news.

To be honest, I wanted to do more than just dinner. I wanted to make tonight into something special but I also didn't want to freak Damon out. You can't really go wrong with a dinner date. It's a tried and tested way of connecting with someone and that's what I intend to use it for.

If dinner then leads to drinks at a bar where we can relax and have a little bit more fun well then that's even better.

Besides, I have something else more active and day-light themed in mind for date number two.

That is, of course if we hopefully make it to a second date.

I take a sip from my wine, watching Damon over the tip of my glass as he scans through the menu. When he looks up and catches my eye he flashes me a grin and I shyly smile back, my cheeks heating up at being caught up.

Once the waitress comes back over to take our order, I let out a quiet nervous breath. Damon catches me again and tilts his head to the side with a smile.

"Don't look so terrified, Elena." He smirks. "I don't bite…well…unless you want me too?" he winks at me and I can feel my face flushing. He chuckles at his joke before taking a sip from his bourbon.

I clear my throat. "Sorry…I just…I don't want to mess tonight up."

His smile widens. "What makes you think you could do anything to mess it up?"

I shrug hesitantly. "I don't know…it's not like I haven't messed up a lot lately."

"You haven't messed up." I raise my eyebrow at him and he shakes his head, the smile still resting on his lips. "You haven't." he continues firmly. "Hey…I'll tell you what. This is a date, right?" I nod silently. "Technically it's our first date…so why don't we just pretend that we've just met…we like each other…and we want to see where this goes."

I bite on my bottom lip to hide my smile. "Look at you, I'm the one who asked you out but you're doing all the hard work."

"Classic us, really." He teases me and I giggle.

"I thought we were pretending this was new?"

"Fine." I grin as he leans closer towards me on the table. "Tell me about your family? Is it too soon to introduce me to the parents? I want to make a good impression."

I tut loudly. " . Very funny."

He smirks cheekily. "See Lena, it doesn't work. We know each other too well." He leans back into his chair. "Speaking of plans, do you have any for your birthday next week?"

My eyes widen in surprise because this is the first time he has properly mentioned it. I mean, he makes jokes about me finally turning twenty-one but he has never actually mentioned plans or the date.

"Not really – Jenna wants to plan a party, so does Bonnie and Caroline but I really don't feel like it."

"Why not?" He asks me curiously. "You'll be twenty-one. That's usually the birthday when you are allowed to go crazy." He wiggles his eyebrows at me playfully and I roll my eyes.

"I don't do crazy."

"Like hell you don't." He smirks at me and shakes his head with a small laugh. "You see, you're forgetting that I know you, Elena."

I blush, hard, again.

"So you have nothing planned that leads me to my next question," he continues and shifts up higher on his seat, his back straight and now he is the one who looks nervous. "Don't make plans next Saturday." I raise my eyebrow at him because that is the day after my birthday.

"Why not?"

"Because…it's a surprise." His lips twitch. "So you're just going to have to wait and see."

The waitress comes back over with our food before I can question him any further and he seems relieved by it. We make small talk throughout the meal but it's nice. It's familiar.

It feels good to just have a normal conversation with him in a setting like this. I mean sure we've been out for dinner lately, we've hung out but tonight just feels different.

We decided not to get desert and instead end up ordering some more wine. We sit there for the whole evening just talking and laughing and I don't even realize that we were the only people left in there until the waitress walks over and awkwardly asks us to leave.

I can't help but stifle a yawn as we walk out of the now closed restaurant. Damon smiles slightly and holds out his hand. My stomach erupts with butterflies but that doesn't stop me from sliding my palm against his, our fingers looping together.

My mind briefly wanders back to how many nights I spent in high school and even college silently crying locked up in my bedroom at just the thought of never being able to hold Damon's hand again.

My eyes fill up with tears at the thought, because I never thought this day would come. I never believed that this would happen. The feeling of Damon's bigger stronger hand clutching mine is a comfort I just cannot explain in words.

Damon silently hails a cab and he catches the look on my face and I don't even have to say anything. He steps closer towards me, his hand still holding mine. "I know baby," he speaks softly before pressing the softest of kisses against my forehead. "I know." He squeezes my hand tightly and leads me into the cab and not once does he let go.

As we start to edge closer and closer to Mystic Falls I realize that I don't want this night to end. However I am also very much aware of the fact that we don't really have anywhere else to go. The Grill will be closing very soon, in fact we probably would have already missed last orders.

There is no way in hell I can take him back to my place for drinks, my parents would throw a hissy fit at the just the thought of Damon on their property.

"Damon?" I finally find my voice.

"Yeah?" He looks down at me, our hands still clenched together between us.

I push back the fear.

I push back the nerves.

"Can I come back to yours?"

I see the surprise on his face and I hold my breath as I wait for his answer. He blinks quickly before clearing his throat.

"Of course you can, Elena." His grip tightens on my hand and he leans forward to tell the cab driver the change of address. I finally let go of Damon's hand as the cab pulls at a stop outside of Klaus's apartment block. Damon pays the driver and follows me out but it doesn't take him long to take my hand again.

We walk silently into Klaus' apartment and I am thankful to find that he isn't home. I yawn again as Damon unbuttons the top two buttons of his shirt.

I don't have to say anything. It's like he can read my mind. "Go freshen up." He motions to the bathroom. He presses another kiss to my forehead before heading into his bedroom.

While I'm wiping my makeup in the mirror, I hear a small tap on the door. "Come in."

Damon peaks his head inside with a small smile. "Here," he hands me a t-shirt and some of his shorts and my heart pounds even harder.

I take them silently with shaky hands before changing into them. When I walk into Damon's bed he is half laying down in just a pair of sweatpants and I can't stop myself from licking my lips.

Oh god. He is so freaking hot.

Damon smirks and I blush. He pats the bed beside him and I nervously climb in. "Stop looking so damn terrified." He tells me for what feels like the billionth time. He switches off his lamp and I'm shocked when his arm wraps around my waist as he spoons me from behind.

I needed this.

Somehow, I know that Damon needed it too.

"Goodnight, Elena." He whispers softly into my ear.

"Goodnight, Damon."

So, not the bed sharing you were all hoping/wishing for huh? Sorry – baby steps!

I really don't feel like this chapter was my best but I was eager to get it posted, I know a lot of you have been dying for the next one after how I left the one before!

The next chapter will be Elena's birthday…

See you then and thanks for reading!