Chapter Seven- Green Eyed Monster
A crowd had started to gather around the scene of the punch as one of the nurses from the local hospital examined Enzo's injuries. Damon had disappeared to the back of the function with his bimbo and after bending down to check that Enzo was alright,
my rage carried me to where they were standing.
"You and me…..outside" I growled at him as soon as I was face to face with the couple
"We are outside Elena"
"Now Damon" I growled, grabbing him by the arm and leading him away from the function. I knew I was going to explode at him, my emotions were running too high, so I needed to make sure we were as far away from ear shot as possible. The car park
seemed like the best option. Once I felt we were far enough I let him loose from my tight grip and allowed my anger to escape my chest.
"What is wrong with you!?" I screamed at him. I knew exactly what was wrong with him, but someone without the current ability to feel empathy or compassion obviously didn't see any fault in their behaviour.
"What? That guy has been pissing me off for weeks" He responded completely monotone. How on earth was I supposed to get through to him if he didn't see anything wrong with his actions? It was like bashing my head against a brick wall.
"So what you just go around punching people because they piss you off now? Is that the kind of person you are?"
"Pretty much" He responded robotically again.
"Well that is unacceptable. Not only is Enzo your work colleague but he is a very nice person; one who you just assaulted in the middle of a town function" There was already endless whispers around town about internal conflict within the company, and
now, the ex CEO punching a new associate brought in from New York? This would be gossiped about for weeks.
"Nice person? The guy is a total sleaze" Damon said rolling his eyes
"He is not! He is actually the perfect gentlemen, unlike some other people I know" His scoff was jagged and filled with complete distain. I had no idea where all this animosity towards Enzo had come from. As far as I knew they had always been on pleasant
terms with each other prior to him re-locating to Mystic Falls.
"You are either stupid or frighteningly naive Elena. He is playing you like a fiddle"
"He is my friend" I defended through gritted teeth.
"Yeah a friend who looks at you like a piece of meat. Surely you noticed the satisfied little grin on his dickwad face when he had his grimy hands all over you on the dance floor" It took me a few moments to comprehend his words before the realisation
hit me like a freight train. How could I not have noticed it before? It was a total aha! moment.
"So that's what this is about" My pitch was high with an almost excitement which caused his beautiful brow creased at my statement "You're jealous"
"Pfft" He scoffed again, but I didn't quite believe it. He was finally showing a chink in his armour, and suddenly, the tiny seed of hope I had planted in my heart began to flower. "Of what?"
"Of Enzo...with me"
"Keep dreaming Elena" He rolled his eyes but he looked increasingly nervous.
"No. It makes complete sense now. You could have put my planner on my desk the other day but you saw I was having drinks with him at the Grill and that's why you came down there...to interrupt us. And tonight, you were nice to me at the Manor…..almost….flirtatious…until
Enzo showed up and you realised he was coming as my date. Then you turned into a complete ass" He looked unsteady on his feet at my accusation but furiously defensive none the less. He had punched him while we were dancing, and right after Enzo had
dipped me and leant in a little too far to my face for comfort. Damon saw it and thought the same thing I did: that he was about to kiss me "Then you saw us dancing and it made you jealous..."
"I am NOT jealous"He growled "I just can't stand the sight of someone with their hands..." And there it was. He stopped himself short of saying it, but the cat was out of the bag now. He was just under the surface, I could almost hear it
in his voice; the fiercely overprotective jealous man that I adored so much; it was him.
"You couldn't stand the sight of someone with their hands on me" I repeated. He looked like he had just been shot. His face turned white with an almost peach coloured blush of shame tinged on the upper apples of his cheek. He felt jealous. He felt a
human emotion. He felt.
"That's not..." But there was no denying it, he had showed his hand to me now, and there was no turning back. He continued to fumble with his words as the blush spread further and further across his face.
"I asked you to come here with me tonight Damon and you said no. So don't get pissed off at Enzo because he accepted my invitation"
"I did not say no" He roared "I said I was already coming with someone"
"And do you see me punching her because your hands were around her waist?" He rolled his eyes at the question and I could feel the heated frustration pulsating from his body
"And your little dummy spit about getting her fired wasn't because you were jealous?"
"At least I hit with my words Damon, not my fist" He scoffed for the millionth time at my response "Well you know what the alternative is don't you?"
"What's that?" He snarled
"If you care about me that much that the mere sight of another man's hands on me makes you violent, then next time, make sure I come here with you"
"Do not flatter yourself enough to think that I care about you that much. I don't care about you….or anyone for that matter"
"Yes you do Damon or we wouldn't be standing here"
"I'm done with this conversation" He growled deeply, turning away from me and taking a step towards the back of the parking lot. I should have let him go, I should have let him go home and cool off and be satisfied that he finally displayed some range
of human emotion, even an ugly one. But I could see through the tiny crack into the other side now, and I needed to make the hole bigger. So I followed him…
"You care about me" I repeated over his shoulder as he continued to weave through the endless array of parked cars
"Get away from me..."
"You still love me. You still love me and it killing you " I called after him. I knew I was angering him, I knew I was pushing him beyond the point a vampire should be pushed. But I had seen it now. A glimpse of the man I loved, and I wasn't going to
stop until he came back to me….piece by piece "It's killing you because even when you've got it turned off, even when you don't want to feel anything, you still feel it. You still feel your love for me"
"Stop fucking following me Elena I swear to god..."
"You love me. And even at your absolute worst you STILL can't bear to see another man's hands on me. Because I'm yours. Because I should be yours...isn't that right?"
"NO!" He roared, spinning around and revealing the dark veins around his eyes. "STOP SAYING THAT"
"It's the truth. You love me"
"STOP IT"
"You love me just as much as I love you"
"No"
"It's okay" He was growling. He was furious. If I wasn't just as strong as he was I would have been petrified of him in that moment. "You love me and that's okay…..because I love you too" It all happened so quickly, his eyes were still dark and veined
and he lunged towards me. I braced myself for the attack, knowing that he couldn't break me now. Not physically at least. I knew he wouldn't hit me, but I expected him to push me hard enough as a warning to back off. What I didn't expect was for him
to push me hard against the Volvo I was standing in front of and press his lips to mine. It took my breath away, literally, and it took my mind a few seconds to register the fact that his lips were on mine. His hands began roaming my eager body, and
I moaned into his mouth in realisation of just how wonderful it felt to be touched by him. I pulled away sharply, overwhelmed by what was going on, and I felt a sharp tinge of joy in my heart when I saw the eyes that were looking back at me. They
weren't empty or cruel or full of darkness. They were his. They were the eyes of the man that I loved.
"Elena" He whispered softly, tucking a stray hair behind my ear before running his thumb down my jawline and over my chapped lips. My eyes closed in response to the contact and for a split second; all of the heartache and the misery from the
past few months melted away and we were us again. "I…" He paused for a moment, the pupils of his eyes lost in mine, and in that moment I could feel it. I could feel everything he felt for me. Suddenly, the hand he had caressing my face dropped to
his side and the stillness of his eyes faded. He was empty again. He launched himself off my body and the fingers that had been softly skimming over my skin but a few seconds earlier ball into a fist which pulled back and smashed the passenger windscreen
of the car. Still growling, he gave me one final look of anger before turning and disappearing into the night.
X
I had been terrified to go home that night in fear of running into Damon. I had broken through the wall and for the first time since he got back, had seen cold hard evidence that his humanity was bubbling just beneath the surface. But now, I had no idea
on how to move forward. I couldn't push him too much in fear that he might take off, but I couldn't let the lead die either, or we would be back to step one. I went for a long walk around the quiet streets of Mystic Falls and let all the events of
the night sink into my brain. As horrified as I had been that Damon had hit Enzo in front of the entire town, a part of me was also happy that it had happened, for two reasons. The first being that it showed that he cared. And the second being that
Enzo had been about to kiss me, which would have ended the friendship that had been cultivating between the two of us. It was a complete shock to me that he had tried to do that, he hadn't ever thrown off any indication that he felt that way about
me, and I had been honest with him from the get go that I was not looking for a relationship with anyone due to being completely and utterly hung up on my ex. We would have to talk about it and figure out if it was just a spur of the moment decision,
perhaps to try and get my mind off Damon; or if he had feelings for me beyond that of a platonic friend. I really hoped it wasn't the latter. I enjoyed spending time with him, but I just didn't feel that way about him.
I finally dragged myself home just before 3am and I was happy to see that Damon's car was nowhere in sight. As I climbed into bed and prayed for the sleep that I knew would evade me, I wondered what on earth my next step with him should be. I couldn't
just ignore it, it was the most progress I had made with him since he flew back into town, and now that I had been reminded just how incredible it felt to have his lips against mine, I was even more determined than ever to get him back. Surprisingly,
I drifted off to sleep fairly quickly and had a more restful sleep than I could remember having in quite some time. Around noon the cracks of daylight in the bedroom stirred me out of my slumber and I was surprised to see Caroline sitting on the edge
of my bed holding a mug of coffee. She had the worried look on her face that she always wore before giving me a lecture, and I cursed myself internally for not locking the door before going to sleep.
"Morning" She greeted, thrusting the cup of coffee under my nose
"Morning" I croaked as I took the coffee and greedily began sipping it. I was going to need it
"So….are we going to jump right into it or do you need a few more minutes to wake up?"
"A blood bag and a shower would be a nice start" But the look on her face told me I was lucky to even get a coffee before she demanded to know what the hell had gone on last night "But I'm guessing that's out of the question"
"You guessed right. Now spill"
"Ears?" I asked motioning towards the door. Living in a house full of vampires meant a severe lack of privacy through thin walls and enhanced hearing
"He hasn't come home" She assured me "And Stefan had to pop into the office for a little while so we're good" Her eyes started bulging out of their sockets and I could tell she was becoming impatient
"Did Enzo get home alright? I meant to call him"
"Yeah Stefan and I dropped him off not long after Million Dollar Asshole sucker punched him. He was a bit sore and sorry for himself but otherwise he's okay"
"Fucking Damon" I commented as I shook my head and finished the last of my coffee "I feel pretty awful that he keeps getting caught in the middle of mine and Damon's drama"
"So you were obviously the trigger for him punching Enzo"
"Yeah. I'm not sure if he was eavesdropping on the entire conversation or if he just saw what happened but basically, Enzo insinuated he had more than just platonic feelings for me as we were dancing and he…sort of went in for the kiss"
"You're kidding!" Caroline exclaimed
"Yeah. Right before a kiss could happen Damon grabbed him and sent him flying across the dance floor"
"Wait a second, Damon saw Enzo about to kiss you and that's why he hit him?" She was just as shocked as I had been when the realisation hit me last night "He was…"
"Jealous. Yep"
"Well, that's an unexpected development. Looks like Stefan was right"
"Uh ha. I took him out to the car park after Enzo got punched and yelled at him of course. He started saying all this stuff to me about how Enzo was looking at me like a piece of meat and I was stupid enough to think that he was my friend when he's clearly
trying to sleep with me. He then admitted that he couldn't handle seeing another man with his hands all over me" Caroline was absolutely floored at my retelling of the nights events "And then he kissed me"
"Wait…what!"
"This stays between us okay. Not even Stefan is to find out about this"
"Why not? This is pretty huge Elena"
"I know but, it's the first time I've seen even a glimpse of his humanity and I just feel like I need to tread carefully at the moment. The part of him that is in control will do everything in his power to put a stop to the feelings he has for me, so
for now, I need to let him think that he's still in control"
"But he kissed you. He was jealous of another guy with you, he hit him, then he kissed you! This is just….wow"
"Tell me about it"
"How do you feel about the whole thing? I mean, he kissed you and then what?" She was talking at a million miles a minute "I'm sorry I'm rambling I'm just a little shocked"
"You are. Imagine how I felt last night?" I laughed "Well, basically, I called him out on it. I told him he's jealous because he still loves me and he totally flipped out. Vamp face and all. But after some prodding he just, attacked me. Pushed me against
a car and started making out with me. I honestly thought he was going to hit me, I was not expecting a kiss. For a few seconds Caroline, it was him. Like I looked in his eyes and it wasn't some emotionless drone staring back at me, it was Damon….the
real Damon. I think, it all got too much for him and he became overwhelmed because all of a sudden he just flipped it back and after punching the car window in he flew off down the street"
"Wow.."
"How do I feel? I mean. I feel a lot of things. Excited that I finally got through to him, frightened as to what he's capable of now that he's showed a bit of humanity, confused as to what I should do next. But most of all, I feel connected to him again.
Even if it was just for a few seconds, when he kissed me, it just, we sparked you know. And it's made me more determined than ever to get him back"
"Just promise me you'll be careful Elena. He was unpredictable before, but now? Now that he's confused and desperately clinging to the switch…I feel like he's going to be more dangerous than ever"
"Well good. Let him cling to the switch. He can try. But mark my words….I'm going to get him back Caroline"
I tried to get in contact with Enzo several times that day but he was obviously ignoring my calls. I didn't know whether he was embarrassed or angry at what had happened. After all, he had been punched by my ex-boyfriend and I had basically gone chasing
after him straight away and not returned. It was a pretty dick move, but in that moment all I was concerned about what scolding Damon. It hadn't even occurred to me how rude it had been to bail on our date halfway through. It would certainly be an
interesting day at work tomorrow with the three of us having to sit through a meeting together, and I was hoping to talk to Enzo to clear it up before then. Damon on the other hand, who knew how I was going to tackle that one. I hadn't consciously
been house bound, but I had a feeling that the reason I had chosen to spend my Sunday sitting on the couch with a book had been because I was waiting for him to come home. I was desperate to see what his reaction would be, and a part of me was impatiently
wanting to talk to him about everything that happened. I had a feeling he would be completely unreceptive though.
Around half past four I finally got my answer when a sullen looking Damon, still wearing his suit from the night before, walked through the front door and gave me a disconcerting glance. He marched straight from the entry up the stairs and by the sounds
of his footsteps, headed straight into his bedroom. I couldn't sit down here and analyse everything all over again. The only way for me to get a feel for what was going through his head was to go up there and talk to him about it- regardless of how
angry it made him. I heard the pipes start and I patiently waited while he had a shower while re-reading the same sentence over and over again. A few minutes later after I was sure he was out of the bathroom and dressed, I tiptoed up the stairs and
made my way to his bedroom door. I heard a groan from inside as I knocked lightly on it, and instead of waiting for the invitation to come in that I knew would never happen, I opened the door and walked inside myself.
"Listen Gilbert I know you think you own the place but you actually have to wait until I say COME IN before you enter my bedroom"
"Like you were ever going to tell me its okay to come in" I responded. I felt all the saliva in my mouth instantly dry as my eyes finally took him in. He had a white towel wrapped loosely around his wet torso and the beads of water dripping down his chiselled
stomach was doing nothing to quench my arousal. "We need to talk about last night"
"No, we really don't" He argued with an extremely annoyed look on his face
"Well we are going to whether you like it or not" I informed him crossing my arms. His phone which was sitting on the edge of his bed started ringing and he peered at the caller ID before ignoring it
"Do you actively try to be the most annoying fucking person on the planet or does it just come naturally?"
"Insult me all you want Damon. It's not going to change the fact that you kissed me last night" The side of his lip curled up in anger and I braced myself for the shit storm that was about to explode
"So what….I kiss a lot of people"
"Not only did you kiss me but you punched out a co-worker simply because he had his hands on me"
"I punched out that guy because he's a pain in the ass. It had nothing to do with you so stop flattering yourself" His phone began ringing again but just like the first time he ignored it
"It must take up so much energy to live in such a strong state of denial Damon. If it wasn't so pathetic I'd be impressed"
"Oh for fucks sakes Elena, I haven't slept, I'm starving and I am not in the mood to have a fucking chick lit moment with you. I punched a dude for being an asshole and I kissed you because your ass looked good in that dress….stop reading too much into
it"
"So that's the story you're going with?" I asked with a grin on my face. I had broken him and he knew it. He didn't have enough energy at the moment to pretend it didn't mean anything, which meant it was the perfect time for me to keep chipping at that
wall. His phone started ringing again and I wondered who on earth was trying to contact him that was adding to his frustration.
"If by story you mean the truth than yeah, it's what I'm going with"
"So it wouldn't bother you if I started dating Enzo?" As soon as the name rolled off my tongue I saw his face turn into a snarl, but he quickly recovered it into his usual blank stare
"Elena I don't give a fuck if you plow the entire marketing department, as long as you get out of my room and let me get some fucking rest"
"You're a horrible liar"
"And you are a pain in my fucking ass" He growled. His phone started ringing again and as he and I entered a staring contest the piercing sound of the iPhone had a nails on the chalkboard effect on me
"Who the hell keeps calling you?" I asked
"None of your business!" He growled. So I did what I knew would get under his skin. With my vamp speed, I flew from the spot on the hardwood floor I had been standing on and grabbed his ringing cell phone
"Damon's phone" I greeted, dodging his hands that were now trying to grab the phone off me
"Elena?" The shocked and familiar voice from the other end of the phone asked "Whaa….how….how are you….I thought you were"
"Dead" I finished the sentence realising just who I was speaking with "Minor complication. I was thankfully cured with a dose of immortality. How are you Bree?" Damon had given up trying to grab the phone from me and was now sitting on the edge of his
bed with his head in his hands.
"Well jesus girl….I'm sorry I'm just a little….shocked. Forgive me…"
"It's okay I understand" I encouraged. I would be shocked as well if someone I thought to be dead answered my phone call.
"I'm so glad to hear that you are alright. I was devastated when Damon told me…..wait a second, if you're, you're with him right now? Does that mean he's back?"
"I'm working on it" I told her, making sure I looked him dead in the eye as I said it. He bared his teeth at me in response
"Alright that's enough give me my phone"
"Mr Grumpy here is having a spazz on me, I'll put him on"
"No need. Just tell him that I've found what he's been looking for. He needs to get down here as soon as possible, and I think you should come with him, you'll want to hear this too"
"What is it?" I asked curiously
"Open phone line girl, it's not safe. Just get down to me today if you can"
"You've got it" I responded before hanging up the phone and throwing it towards Damon "Get dressed, we're going to Georgia"