Friday morning Damon stood at the front door and waved cheerfully as Stefan and Jeremy made their way towards Stefan's car to leave for school.
"Have a nice day, kids!" he snickered at his own words.
Stefan just waved back absently but Jeremy beamed and shouted, "Later, Damon!" through the window as they drove off.
A warm, happy feeling settled in his stomach and he didn't care how out of character it was for him; for the first time in years it felt like his life was actually under control and he was definitely okay with that.
Later that day Damon was getting ready for his date with Alaric.
He was actually pretty nervous; this was his first date in years. Ever since he'd come back to Mystic Falls his social life had become practically nonexistent outside of stuff he did for the Founder's Council and going out to drink at The Grill.
Alaric was the first guy who actually interested him in all this time, probably the most attractive guy he'd ever encountered; he was smart, incredibly hot, tall and Damon suspected that the older man had a similar sarcastic sense of humor as he did.
He decided not to overdo it and settled on wearing dark jeans, a black Henley and his usual black leather jacket. And if the jeans were one of his tighter pairs and showed off his ass, well that was just a happy coincidence wasn't it?
After he finished dressing and spent a few minutes making sure his hair looked good he made his way downstairs. He wandered into the den where he found Stefan and Jeremy playing a game on the PS4 both teens were entirely focussed on passing the other so they didn't notice Damon coming down the stairs until he spoke.
"Alright, I'm leaving now. I might be home late so don't forget to lock the doors and keep the front porch light on, okay?"
The teenagers just nodded and let out vague sounds of agreement; Jeremy was slowly catching up to Stefan and was entirely focussed on the screen.
Stefan spared a brief glance over his shoulder and immediately paused the game, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
Jeremy let out an indignant cry when the older boy hit the button, "DUDE! I was just about to pass you!"
Stefan ignored him and continued to stare at his older brother, "And just where are you going tonight wearing jeans that tight?"
"The Grill."
Jeremy had finished grumbling about Stefan playing dirty and turned around on the couch to face Damon. He let out a low whistle when he saw Damon's outfit for the evening, "Well someone's got a hot date tonight."
Stefan frowned and waved the younger brunette off, "Damon, a date? Please."
Damon narrowed his eyes at the younger Salvatore, "Wow thanks, brother. But yes, Jeremy I do in fact have a date tonight. And he is very, very hot."
He grinned mischievously and raised his eyebrows, causing Stefan to let out a disgusted groan, "Too much information, Damon!"
Jeremy snickered as Stefan buried his face in the couch cushions, "Well have fun!"
Damon smiled and crossed the room to ruffle the fifteen year old's hair affectionately, "Thanks, kid. I left money on the island in case you guys feel like ordering something. There's also leftovers in the fridge. If you go with that second option try not to burn down the kitchen while I'm gone, okay?"
Stefan and Jeremy exchanged a mock-serious look, "We make no promises."
Damon chuckled as he grabbed his car keys on his way to the door.
Just as he opened the door Stefan teasingly called after him, "Don't forget to use protection!"
Damon flipped him off without looking back but couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when the two teens broke into peals of laughter just as he closed the door.
Damon arrived at The Grill just as it went on to 7:00.
He entered the restaurant and was surprised to find that Alaric had already beaten him there and had gotten them a booth near the back.
Just then Alaric looked up and caught his gaze.
The blonde's face split in a warm grin and he raised a hand to wave Damon over. Damon's heart did a little flip in his chest at the smile from his date and he quickly made his way over, shrugging his jacket off before he slid into the side of the booth opposite the history teacher.
As he settled in he looked Alaric over and he definitely liked what he saw. The blonde wore a navy button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows- it nicely showed off his biceps and forearms, making Damon's mouth go dry- and dark jeans. He could also see that the older man had a glass of bourbon; he without a doubt had good taste.
A pleased grin slid across the younger man's face, "Well you certainly clean up good, Ric."
Alaric chuckled, "You don't look half bad yourself, Damon."
The waitress came over to take his drink order and Damon ordered his usual bourbon. He'd decided earlier that he'd only have one at the beginning of the date since he was driving himself back tonight.
After the waitress left to get his drink Alaric shot him an appraising look, "So you're a bourbon man too, huh?"
Damon shrugged, "I've been known to drink anything in a pinch but bourbon will always be the go-to for me."
Alaric grinned, "Well I think this date is starting off pretty well, don't you?"
The waitress came back with Damon's bourbon and said she'd give them a few minutes to decide what they wanted to eat. As she moved off to another table Damon raised his glass to Alaric, "I agree, Ric."
They filled a few minutes of looking through the menu with quiet conversation and ordered their food shortly afterwards. Damon ordered a burger and fries, as well as a Coke for after he finished his bourbon, and Alaric ordered roasted chicken with a side of fries as well as a root beer.
The food didn't take long to arrive and soon Alaric was watching in slight disbelief as Damon began making a sizable dent in the mountain of fries on his plate.
"Y'know for such a slender guy I'm surprised you can eat so much."
Damon shrugged, swallowing the bite of burger he'd just taken, "Fast metabolism. One of the few perks of being a Salvatore, I guess."
Alaric noted the slight tone of bitterness in Damon's voice at the mention of his family but he decided not to step on that very obvious landmine. It was their first date and he didn't want to blow it, he liked Damon. If he wanted a second date out of the gorgeous younger man he'd wait to delve deeper into Damon's past until he felt like bringing it up himself.
Damon, eager to change the subject after he realized what he'd said, started up a new conversation, "So tell me, why did such a good-looking, intelligent guy as you decide to become a high school history teacher?"
Alaric chuckled, "I'm also the football coach and it's kind of a long story..."
Damon finished off the last of his bourbon and picked up a couple of fries, "I thought the whole point of this date was for us to get to know each other? Now spill, Ric."
Alaric exhaled and grinned at the younger man, "Alright well, it all started back in university..."
Damon and Alaric spent three hours eating, drinking (soda of course) and talking and they enjoyed every second of it.
Damon learned that Alaric had been born and raised in Boston, went to Duke University (where alongside studying he had been the King of beer pong) and that the reason he'd moved to Mystic Falls was because of his interest in the town's history, the job as history teacher/football coach had just sort of fallen into his lap upon his arrival.
In return, Alaric learned that Damon's family was originally from Italy but they'd immigrated to North America and helped found Mystic Falls in the 1800s, that Damon himself was on the Founder's Council (actually, he was the youngest member in over 100 years) and that he hadn't attended college or university.
When Alaric heard that last part he was honestly surprised because Damon was obviously well-educated and quite clever.
He'd voiced his disbelief and Damon had sheepishly admitted, "The study in the boarding house is full of old books about Mystic Falls' history or Italian history and my Uncle Zach left a lot of his books behind. He went to university for a few different things and he'd kept all his textbooks; he left all of them when he moved away so after I moved back I started reading them when I got bored and I just absorbed a lot of it, you know?"
He'd cleared his throat then and looked up at Alaric somewhat shyly through his eyelashes, "You should come check them out sometime."
When the time came for them to leave (it was nearing 10:30 and, despite telling Stefan and Jeremy he'd be out late, he didn't want to be gone for too long) they argued over who would pay the bill before ultimately deciding to split it between them.
They headed out to the parking lot, shivering a little bit at the chilly air of the night, and Alaric offered to walk Damon to his car, not quite ready for the night to be over.
They walked in companionable silence until they reached the vehicle and Damon turned around to look up at the blonde, "I really had fun tonight, Ric. I don't think I've ever enjoyed talking to someone so much."
Alaric smiled warmly, "I had fun too, Damon. I hope this means that you'd like to do this again sometime?"
Damon's sapphire eyes sparkled in the moonlight and he nodded eagerly, "I'd love to!"
They stood there for a while longer basking in the quietness of the night and the soft glow of the street lamps. Eventually Damon checked his phone and, seeing that it was going on 11:00, sighed, "I told the kids I'd be out late but I should probably be heading back."
Alaric nodded understandingly.
Damon shifted nervously at the other's sudden silence, "Well... goodnight, I guess."
He turned to get into the car but a large hand on his bicep stopped him and turned him back to face the older man, "Ric, what-!"
Warm lips crashed against Damon's, cutting off whatever he'd been about to say.
Damon could feel Alaric's coarse stubble rub against his pale skin and the warmth radiating off of his broad chest as he was pulled against it, allowing him to feel every inch of Alaric's long, muscular body.
He moaned into the kiss and happily brought his arms up to wrap around Alaric's neck as the taller male grasped his hips with those big hands.
They kissed for what felt like an eternity and when they eventually pulled apart they were both flushed and panting and Damon's lips were rosy red and puffy.
The younger man panted, "We definitely need to do that again. Preferably while naked."
Alaric choked out a sound caught halfway between a laugh and a moan and let his head fall into the crook of Damon's slender neck, "Very romantic Damon, well done."
Damon laughed breathily and Alaric couldn't resist pressing a tender kiss to his forehead as the smaller man said, "What can I say? I know what I like."
"I like you too, Damon. So what do you say we do this again next Friday?"
Damon nodded, "Sounds great. And I wasn't joking about the whole 'wanting to see you naked' thing."
Alaric nipped at his throat warningly and gently pushed him towards his car, "We'll talk about that later. Text me when you get home, alright?"
The dark-haired man blushed at the caring tone in Alaric's voice and he was grateful that he wouldn't be able to see it because of the darkness in the car, "Okay."
The teacher smiled and backed away from the car, waving as Damon pulled out and drove away.
Once the car was out of sight Alaric let his head fall back to gaze up at the stars. A warm, giddy feeling bubbled up in the pit of his stomach as the memory of Damon's azure eyes and soft pink lips popped into his head.
He grinned brightly in the darkness as he made his way to his own car, "Dammit... I am so screwed."
Aww Alaric and Damon's first date and first kiss! Sorry this one took me a while to get up, I've been focussing on finishing up another fanfic on another site for the past couple weeks. Vampire Diaries comes back in less than two weeks, I can't wait to see what this season has in store for us. Thanks to everyone who's faved, followed and reviewed this so far, I'm so glad that you're all enjoying the story. :)
In the next chapter Jeremy finds out about Damon and Alaric's relationship, how will he react? Wait and see to find out!