Chapter Twelve- Plane Rides & Time
"What…in the hell…. was that" I gasped in bewilderment at him. It hadn't been posed as a question, it was more of a statement, but I still did want to know and understand the powerful act that had just occurred between us. Whether it was just that sex was completely different as a vampire, or that there was so many pent up emotions tied to the two of us that had been brimming at the surface for so long, or a mixture of both of those things; the last few minutes had been the most enigmatic of my existence. He continued staring down at me, and although his eyes were his own, and although I knew it was him, the real him, he looked shaken. "Damon?"
"I…" He squeaked strangely and blinking incredibly fast resembling a robot that had just been rebooted. I furrowed my brow and stared at him, attempting to understand what was going on inside his mind. The entire thing had to have been unbelievably overpowering for him. But before I could pose another question of begin to formulate my own theory he pushed his body up from mine and reached for the jeans he had torn from his torso only a few moments earlier. As he pulled them on, he completely dodged the section of the bed I was laying on and with one last obtuse look over his shoulder, he barrelled out of the door. It tinged my heart a little to see him outwardly run away from what had just happened between us, but in an attempt to see things from his perspective, I concluded that he may just need a little time alone to sort through it. He had, after all, just experienced 6 odd months' worth of emotions in the space of a few minutes, that has to take a lot out of a person. I wished I could be more of a help to him, that he could talk to me, but sometimes, you really just need isolation, and I needed to respect that. I was certain that he hadn't flipped the switch back so I was confident I shouldn't be concerned, so all I could do at this point was to wait for him to return so we could get back on the road. We would need to talk about it eventually. We would need to talk about everything. About us, about what this meant, about what we both wanted. But that was a conversation for another day. Right now, I had to regain my strength, we needed to get back on the road, and we needed to find answers about the two humans who had nearly killed and barbecued us last night. Add the potential partnership with Elijah and Katherine's maker into the mix and we had enough drama and angst to fill our time without putting our on again off again romance into the mix. One problem at a time. I let my head fall back into the pillow and curled up into the foetal position in an attempt to get my tired and sore body comfortable. I needed sleep, and then I would deal with the constant mess my life seemed to be in. As I closed my eyes and let my exhausted body melt into the cheap rent by the hour motel room bed, I hoped that when I woke I would have the strength to proceed.
I managed to nod off and fell into a deep and undisturbed sleep. Since my transition, I had rarely made it more than a few hours before waking up from some form of terrible nightmare, but for some reason, I slept soundly. It wasn't until a car in the parking lot of the motel backfired loudly that I arose from my deep slumber, and looking at the clock, I saw that it was nearly nightfall. I yawned uncontrollably as I sat up and stretched my arms; noticing that I felt nearly back to full capacity. The car accident and proceeding hunger had taken more out of me than I had realised and I was thankfully feeling much better. My eyes wandered around the motel room, noticing that everything was just as it had been when I had fallen to sleep a few hours ago- a sign that Damon had still not returned. I couldn't imagine he would leave me here, although, I couldn't be sure of anything these days. I didn't know how much of his old self that come back with him when he had flipped the switch, and heck, I didn't even know if it had been successful. For all I knew he was halfway back to Virginia without me right now. I decided to call home and see if they had heard from him, and if nothing else, ask for some advice. I picked up the handle of the old school room phone and dialled Caroline's cell number, more mentally prepared to have the conversation of what the hell had happened with her now that I had gotten some rest.
"Hello?" She answered, her voice sounding a little less frantic then earlier but worrysome none the less
"Care, it's me" I said gently, bracing myself for the lecture I was about to receive.
"Elena! Where are you? Are you nearly home?"
"No I'm still at the motel. I needed to recharge my batteries for a few hours before we got back on the road"
"Why did you need to do that? Were you hurt?"
"Mildly, yes" I admitted
"Elena, you've got to give me more than that. I am so angry at you but crazy worried at the same time..."
"I know, I'm sorry about earlier. I wasn't in a good way and didn't have the strength to talk"
"Well your 'batteries' are recharged now so you best start explaining yourself..." I chuckled at her words; she was scarily adorable when she was upset
"Cliffs notes version? Bree had information for us on Katherine, we went to meet someone relating to her past and have formed an...alliance I guess you could call it. After he left, Damon and I were on our way back to the car to head home when we were ambushed. Humans, with wooden bullets. Damon was hit pretty bad, as was I, and while giving chase the car drove us off the road. I managed to get us both out of there and we hid out in an old barn type thing until morning. I compelled a woman to give us her car this morning but after a few hours on the road I was just too weak to drive anymore so we've both been recovering here.." I finished my little spiel, conveniently leaving out the part of Damon's humanity possibly having returned and the most powerful sex of my entire life.
The silence on the other end of the line told me that Caroline was completely overwhelmed with the array of information I had given her, but that was to be expected. Then again, when was anything in our lives straight forward and easy? Every time one of us seemed to leave the house it felt like we had a near death experience.
"I just...don't even know what to say. Obviously I have a million questions but I know you won't answer any of them until you get home.." She knew me a little too well "I guess I just want to know if you're okay?"
"I was pretty banged up and very weak but, I'm fine now. Damon was the one who was in the worse shape. He came pretty close to getting a bullet in the heart"
"God. I mean, I despise the man but I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. Actually, now that I think about it..."
"Caroline" I scolded. I knew she was kidding, well, partially at least, but it wasn't something to be joked about.
"I'm glad you're okay...the both of you. Are you coming home now?"
"I will be as soon as I find Damon" I admitted "He hasn't, called Stefan in the last few hours by any chance has he?"
"No we haven't heard from him. Wait, what do you mean...find Damon? I thought you said you had both been resting?" I hated lying to my best friend, I hated it more than anything, but I couldn't tell her what had really happened right now, not until I knew what that meant for us.
"We were. I just woke up from a nap and he's not here. I'm just getting ancy to get back on the road is all" The all knowing 'hmph' on the other end of the line told me she wasn't buying it- I really was a terrible liar. As if the heavens had been listening, the door of the cheap motel room door opened with a sheepish looking Damon walking through from the other side. He gave me a strange look before walking into the bathroom and closing the door "Never mind. Found him"
"Oh. Good" The conversation Caroline could project with one word was incredible. She wanted to know every single detail as soon as I got back to the Manor.
"I'll see you in a few hours" I told her before hanging up the phone and looking longingly at the bathroom door. If I thought things were strange between us before, the lines had been blurred beyond comprehension now. I concentrated my hearing in order to penetrate through the door and noticed the only sound from the other side was the loud swish of water streaming out of the tap. I couldn't push him, it had been a long an traumatic 24 hours, it would have to wait. I exhaled in defeat as I rose off the bed and stretched myself. My wounds seemed to have healed up, and other then feeling mentally tired, I seemed to be nearly back to my physical peak. I jumped slightly as Damon opened the bathroom door fiercely and came galloping out with a large bag in his hand. I hadn't noticed it when he had come inside, too relieved to see that he was back in one piece. He avoided my gaze as he stopped a few steps short of the bed and after digging in the bag, threw something in my direction. I caught it, and looking down, noticed it was a clean pair of jeans and a hoodie.
"Thought you might want those" He told softly, silencing the confusion on my face. I looked down at my current attire and only remembered from the sight of the fluffy bathrobe that was hugging my body that the only clothes I had to wear home were covered in dirt and blood. I noticed that he had changed out of the clothes he had been wearing into fresh jeans.
"Right...thanks...I didn't even think of that" I heard myself saying
His eyes met mine for a split second before he tore them away and moved towards the chair on the other side of the room "Are you ready to go? I can drive if you're still feeling drained"
"No, no, I'm all good. I'll uh...just get changed and we can hit the road" It was certainly going to be a long drive back to Virginia if this awkwardness stayed in the air. I walked into the bathroom and swiftly got into the new pair of jeans he had picked up for me. It amazed me to know he knew my exact size, but it was Damon, he was more perceptive than he liked the let on. With a quick splash of water on my face I headed out the door and noticed he had already left the room. I did a quick scan of the room, and after grabbing my bloodied up clothes I made my way out the door and down to the pick up truck. Damon was already waiting in the drivers seat, tapping impatiently on the steering wheel. I hurried myself and climbed into the passenger seat.
"If you want to pull around front I'll check us out" I told him softly
"Already done it" He replied instantly as he started the engine and pulled out of the park. We sat in silence for a few moments, my eyes finding their way out the window as I watched the small town pass us by. It wasn't until we drove over the bridge of the interstate that I noticed he had missed the turn
"Damon, I90 was back there..." I told him quickly. He didn't seem to react to my announcement and instead kept driving in the same direction "Damon.."
"We're not taking the interstate. I arranged for my pilot to pick us up on an airstrip outside of town" Of course he did.
"Oh" Was all I could manage. Sinking back into my seat and continuing the car ride in silence.
Ten minutes later we pulled into the 'airstrip' which seemed to be a flat piece of farmland in the middle of nowhere. Low and behold, Damon's jet was sitting waiting for us, and I was actually mildly relieved to know we would be back in Virginia in a little over an hour. Damon motioned for me to board the jet without him as a nervous chauffeur looking man walked over to him at the door of the truck. As I climbed the stairs to the plane, I saw Damon hand him some money before the man climbed into the pick up and started driving back towards the road. I shook my head, wondering where he was paying him to take the truck to, before walking to my usual seat on the jet and falling down into it. I closed my eyes for a moment, thank full that somehow, Damon and I had managed to survive the ordeal of yet another attempt on our lives. I should be used to it by now. When I opened my eyes again, I noticed that Damon was standing in front of me holding a large paper bag. My mind really was cluttered at the moment, I hadn't even heard his footsteps on the plane. Without saying anything, he placed the bag in front of me, edging me to take it, before walking and sitting on the lounge in the middle of the plane. Curious as to what he had given me, I peeked down inside and noticed various items at the bottom of the bag. I moved the bag to empty the contents onto the side table next to my seat and noticed a brand new phone, a brand new wallet and the scorched remains of the one I had left behind in Damon's car last night. I took it in my hands, noticing that although the outside was burnt and destroyed, thankfully, my bank cards and ID seemed to be fine. I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that I didn't have to replace everything, but curiously eyeing Damon programming his new iphone a few steps away from me. Had he gone back to the crash site? How did he have this? As I was about to ask him the question I heard him begin a heated conversation with Stefan on the phone, so instead picked up the new phone sitting next to the beautifully wrapped Chanel wallet. I turned it on and noticed that all of my contacts had already been brought over from my old one. How the...he had only been gone for a few hours? How had he organised this already. I heard him hang up the phone and I immediately rose to my feet and walked over to sit opposite him.
"Don't start" Was all he said, returning to his phone and not looking up at me
"With what?" I responded sharply
"The questions" He told bluntly "I know you've got them"
"Well do yourself a favour, get over yourself and just answer them" A saw a swift smile creep across the crease of his lips as he finally looked up from his phone to me
"Alright. I'll give you one"
"Three" I rebuffed, enjoying the way the smile spread across his face. He nodded his head in compliance and waited for me to begin my interrogation. I lifted the burnt purse up from my hands "You obviously went back to the crash site earlier?"
"The police towed the car. That and my wallet were the only salvageable things left. I compelled the clerk to turn them over to me. Next" I had completely forgot that Caroline had told me local authorities had found the car and Stefan had told them it had been stolen. It made sense.
"How did you manage to travel to Alabama and back, get your pilot to charter your jet and replace not only your phone but mine in a few hours?"
"I'm a wealthy vampire Elena. I could have managed a lot more in that time frame if it were needed" He bounced his eyebrows up and down before turning his head "One more"
"Is your humanity back?" The words escaped my mouth before I had even realised I had said them. I hadn't intended on asking him that, well, at least not like this, but a part of me was happy I had mentioned the elephant in the room. He looked taken aback by my question, just as shocked as I was that I had asked it in such an indelicate and blunt matter. His eyes didn't leave mine, and as he began roughly strumming his fingers on the table to the side of him, they burnt right down into my soul.
"Yes" He finally answered
"Well what does that mean..." I began before he interjected
"Uh Uh Uh...I believe you had three questions Gilbert. And three were asked. Thanks for playing" He returned his gaze to his phone
"Damon Giuseppe Salvatore!" I warned, causing him to look back up from his phone immediately "So help me god I will take that phone out of your hands and jam it down your throat if you don't answer me!" He gulped loudly at my raised voice and I had to admit, I scared even myself with how angry I was. His eyes met mine again but this time, he looked scared. Not scared of me necessarily, but scared none the less.
"I don't know Elena" He spoke softly, his eyes still filled with the same fear of unknown "I don't know what it means. But as soon as I figure it out. I promise that you'll be the first to know love." He went to say something else before stopping himself short and taking a deep breath "I've done some horrible things in the last few months, especially to you, and until I can figure out a way to make them right...I...I just need some time"
"Fine" I breathed, unsure of what else to say. His humanity was back, but now it seemed like a broken and guilt ridden man was all that was left behind.