AN: Hey you guys. Thank you so much for last weeks reviews and alerts. Your words just warm my heart and fill my soul with joy and so did last week's episode of TVD. I mean did you see that scene?!

On to the next chapter,

Mydarkside975

Chapter 24: It's a Fairytale

Elena

"I don't know yet, Care. They said they'll let me know when they decide."

"But do you think it went well?" Caroline asked in the phone as Elena crossed the road walking away from the office of The Hour.

She just finished her interview with Mr. Michaelson and she thought she did pretty well. At least she knew she said everything she had prepared and painted a very solid picture of herself and her capabilities. Mr. Michaelson was a hard man to read though. He was very polite but she could not say if he was convinced or not. The only thing he said was that they would let her know once they decided if they were going to give her the position.

"I think so, yeah but I don't know if I managed to convince him."

"Well, I think you did. Just wait and see," Caroline said confidently.

"You weren't even there. How would you know?" Elena said laughing at her friend's optimism.

"Because I'm awesome and you're practically a genius. Of course they'll hire you."

"I think you're kinda biased."

"I think I'm right…" Caroline said but then her playful tone got a sad tinge to it. "I'll miss you, though."

Elena had thought about that actually. She was going to miss working with Caroline. Even though they worked on different sections of the magazine, they still had the occasional event to work on together and Caroline's cubicle was just next to hers in the office.

"Care, we still live together."

"I know but it's not the same…" She trailed off and then seemed to shake the sadness out of her voice returning to her usual excited self although her pitch was a little higher than usual. "… Anyway, you will get the position of your dreams, you're gonna write about the things you want to write about and your articles are going to be read all over the country not just the city, you hear me?"

"Yes. Thanks Care."

"You're welcome, sweetie. Now come on home so I can give you a hug before we leave."

"You're leaving right after the gala?"

Stefan was taking her to some charity gala and she had been preparing herself for months, picking out a dress, matching accessories and makeup and hair style. Elena knew she was going to look stunning in that blue dress they had found. Even Elena with her slight expertise in all things fashion could tell that the dress was a piece of art.

"Yeah, Stefan thinks we shouldn't waste any time getting there. We only have two and a half days."

After the gala, Stefan was taking her on a trip to a romantic retreat for the weekend. She did not know where yet. Elena thought he certainly made sure to spoil her and went out of his way to always do things that made her happy. She was literally jumping up and down from happiness when she came home to tell them what he had planned.

"It sounds to me like he wants to get you all to himself as fast as possible," Elena said teasingly.

"In all fairness, I can't wait to get him out of his tux and all to myself either."

"Caroline!" Elena burst out in fake outrage.

"Oh honey, don't make me go into that story of a certain friend of mine who is not capable of holding her hands off of that guy she's been hanging out with. She can't stop drooling all over him."

"Hey! I so do not drool."

"Ha! Yes you do. You haven't seen yourself when you're with him."

"…and you have?"

"Not yet but word travels."

What? Someone was talking about her and Damon? Did they know what she felt for him? Oh God, it would be mortifying because anyone could see her feelings were not reciprocated. Damon acted as cool around her as he did with everyone else. But who would have noticed? She thought she had kept herself in check and acted as normal as always.

"Who?"

"Sandra."

She could have already guessed that. That girl was so obvious. She never wasted a chance to fawn over him. She laughed at anything he said and sat with her chest pushed out and her hair fluffed and she took every chance she got to touch him. He didn't seem to notice her exaggerated attention, though which made her try even harder.

It was both amusing to see him ignore all of her attempts to get him to notice her and annoying as hell because she kept getting worse. Her tops were getting outrageously low-cut and her skirts were getting shorter. Elena was convinced that no one but him could make her stop when he once and for all told her, he was not interested.

"Ugh, she has the hots for him," she told Caroline.

"She's as green as a cucumber," Caroline agreed.

"Well, he doesn't pay her any attention."

"…and he spends all of his time with you. Of course she's jealous," Caroline added.

Elena sighed as she crossed the road. "I'll be home soon. See you," she said before she ended the call.

Caroline was in her room hopefully finishing dressing up. Stefan arrived five minutes ago to pick her up dressed in a perfectly tailored tux. He looked dashing.

"Do you want something to drink while you wait?" Elena asked as he took a seat on their couch. They both knew Caroline was not getting out of her room right away.

"Thanks but I'm fine."

Elena nodded and took a seat as well. She would wait with him so he did not have to sit there and wait all alone.

"How was your job interview?" He asked.

"Well, I did my best. Now, I just have to wait and see," she said shrugging.

A moment passed by in silence.

"So… Damon tells me you've been hanging out?" He asked out of nowhere.

How should she answer that? She thought he already knew. It was not exactly a secret.

"Yeah, we have but I thought Care had already told you."

He shook his head. "She hadn't," he said.

"Huh." She had no idea what else to say.

He looked like he was trying to decide if he should go ahead and tell her what he started this awkward conversation to tell her. It took him a moment but he finally decided.

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he looked her in the eyes.

"Elena, I just want to say… well, Damon is my brother and I love him but he is not in a good place right now. You should be careful."

Careful? Careful of what? What did he think they did?

"We're just friends. He's been helping at the HIH and I was showing him the ropes."

"You work at the HIH?" Stefan said surprise obvious in his voice.

He actually did work out the sponsoring-thing and Salvatore and Co. was officially sponsoring the HIH but she guessed he had never seen her on those times he had visited the place. His interactions were mostly with Alaric.

She kept wondering how Caroline did not spill everything to him right away. What did they do in all this time they spent together if they did not talk about this stuff?

"Yeah, I was the one who introduced him to the foundation and Alaric in the first place," she explained and as she talked, he started to look like he finally got it. Never mind what it was.

"It was you," he said as he leaned back in his seat sounding like he was still putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"What?" She was a little confused about his little epiphany.

She knew that she had something to do with it but she did not know what exactly.

"All this time, I was wondering what made him change. Obviously, I'm more than happy that he finally started to live again but for a while, he was hell-bent on destroying himself and he wouldn't take a single word from me about it but slowly he seemed to stop drinking and partying then he moved back to the city and then out of the blue, he was asking me to sponsor a charity organization."

He stopped talking and his gaze was different like he had discovered something new in her, something that amazed him. She saw a newfound respect in his eyes.

"It's you, Elena. It's your influence on him. You made him want to live again." As he talked, a smile started tugging on the corners of his lips.

He leaned forward again and looked into her eyes as he tried to school his face back to serious but he failed miserably. "Please forget what I said before. Whatever you're doing, it's obviously amazing for him so please carry on. If he's ever going to get over his past he's going to do it with your help."

His past? Like the failed relationship he told her about? She never got to ask Stefan what he meant exactly because just then, Caroline stepped out of her room and his eyes were glued to her. Elena almost worried for his health because he was frozen in place and he had not taken a breath since his eyes fell on her a minute ago.

"So, what do you guys think?" Caroline asked posing theatrically in the middle of their tiny little living room and looking way out-of-place.

"Caroline, you look mesmerizing," Elena told her and she did. She looked like Cinderella on the night of the ball with her baby-blue dress with a crystal embroidered bodice and a full skirt. Her blond hair was arranged in a fancy up-do with a couple of curly locks framing her face.

"Thanks," she said and they both turned to Stefan waiting for his reaction. After an initial delay, he seemed to return to himself. He got up and in two strides he swept her in his arms and kissed her deeply.

Their moment was too beautiful and private. Elena felt like she was intruding but before long they were rushing down the stairs. Stefan and his driver carried down Caroline's vast luggage and they were off to their fairytale evening and weekend.

Damon

He was standing on their usual meeting spot when he spotted the HIH-van down the street. A minute later and after maneuvering her way through traffic, Elena drove the van up to the curb right in front of him. He jumped into the passenger seat and she took off to start the route. Today was her route on the food-van and he was just accompanying her as usual. They always met at the same spot a couple of blocks before the first stop on the route.

"What's with the long face?" He asked her once he was seated and they were well on their way. She looked a little different and the fact that she did not greet him with a big smile like she used to was enough to elicit his suspicions.

"What long face?"

Okay, so he would have to get it out of her the hard way.

"You know, when there's a tiny crack between your brows and your lips turn downwards." She turned to check her expression on the side mirror and found it exactly like he had described. She struggled to school her face into neutral and that alone was enough to worry him even more. What the hell was wrong with her? Did he do something to hurt her again or was she still mad about last time? He thought he had cleared the air with his little confession and heartfelt apology.

She finally gave up and sighed loudly, "I guess I'm just a little stressed about the Hour thing."

Ah yes, that new job, she wanted so badly. She told him about her interview and he had assured her she had a big chance of getting the job. She was great, her writing was sublime and her resume was shaping up well partly thanks to him as he always made sure to remind her.

"You told me it went well."

"Yeah, well I think it went well but I have no idea if he thought so as well. He was a little weird."

"Who? The editor?"

"Yeah, Mr. Michaelson."

He actually met him once at one of those functions, he used to attend. He was one of those guys who acted all nice and classy on the outside but in reality, he was nothing but a hungry wolf always sniffing around for an exclusive. He was annoying at most but Damon knew that Elena could handle him hands down.

"I'm sure you did amazing, Elena. They're probably just playing hard to get. You know those places have a reputation to uphold," he told her conspiratorially.

"Caroline thinks so too. Well not about the reputation… ah you know what I mean." She stumbled over her sentence which led to one of her adorable nose scrunches.

"Well, then for once Blondie is right, but don't tell her I said so." He mock whispered.

She laughed at his antics and skipped on scolding him for the nickname. He silently congratulated himself for making her laugh.

She was beautiful.

He just stepped inside his bedroom and switched on the lights when his phone rang.

"Aksel?"

"Mr. D," Aksel greeted back.

"Do you have something for me?"

Aksel was working on finding that guy; Chris Tanner who used to work for the catering company and spy on Damon for his real boss. For weeks now, the only information Aksel managed to get about him was that he was in Europe. Nobody knew where in Europe or if/when he was coming back to the US.

"I do and its good news," Aksel said.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Spit it out already."

"I found Chris Tanner… He's here in the US and specifically Jersey City."

"When did you find out?"

"Just now. I'm at the hospital where a very friendly nurse explained the situation. Do you want me to proceed?"

"No. I need to talk to him myself. Wait where you are and I'll be right there."

Damon switched off the lights and turned to walk back the way he came from.

"Copy that, Mr. D."

"Why do you keep calling us that?" Damon said as he stepped into the elevator.

"So I can secretly give you nicknames when you annoy me," he said flippantly.

"What's my nickname?" Damon asked curiously.

"Mr. Dickhead," Aksel replied unapologetically.

"Well then from now on, I'll call you A.

"Asshole?"

"Exactly."

"You're welcome."

Damon snorted as he ended the call and stepped out of the elevator.

He was finally going to get to the bottom of this tedious mystery of the person who wanted to put him in prison, the same person who was somehow connected to her.

The smell of disinfectant and bad news scratched his nose as he walked through the mind-numbingly neutral hallways of the hospital on his way to the oncology department where Mrs. Tanner was being treated for lung cancer.

Naturally, he expected her son to be by her side where Damon was intending to ambush him. His otherwise dormant conscience was trying to tell him he should feel bad for the guy but honestly, he could not muster up the sympathy.

It was late and visiting hours were long over but cancer-patients… or rather terminal patients were an exception. Tanner was staying with his mother on her final days but Damon thought a little break should do him good.

There it was; room 270 where Aksel said he would find him. He stopped and knocked on the door twice. There was a shuffling noise inside and then the sound of steps walking closer before the door opened.

A guy in his early twenties with blond hair that looked like it had not been washed for at least a week and heavy bags under his eyes stepped out in sweatpants and a grey T-shirt with a spot that looked suspiciously like dried blood on the sleeve.

"Chris Tanner?" Damon asked as the guy did not show any signs of recognition.

"Yes?" He said questioningly.

"You and I need to talk for a bit," Damon said.

"Excuse me? Who are you?"

"Your former boss," Damon replied.

He looked confused but then his eyes widened and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Mr. Salvatore?!"

"Finally, I thought you had amnesia or something. Come on now. We don't have much time. Your poor mother needs you." He turned heading for the sitting area two doors away.

Tanner closed the door to his mother's room and followed him without a word.

"So, tell me how you sneaked cocaine into the food at my last party and who put you up to it," Damon started after he took a seat on an old chair. Tanner opened his mouth meaning to say something but Damon stopped him before he could utter a sound. "Ah…ah… before you say anything stupid. Think about your sick mother. She needs her only son by her side on her last days, don't ya think?"

His threat landed spot on because Tanner lost all of his air and slouched in his chair. He looked him in the eyes and Damon saw how tired he really was. He knew that Tanner did not need any more convincing.

"The cocaine part was easy. With a couple of hundred dollars I could convince any idiot to help put the stuff in the food. It was no big deal. The hard part is telling you who he was. He promised me that he would kill me, you know if I ever told anyone and the thing is… I believe him. He's fully capable of taking someone's life. Unlike you, his threats were not empty."

Damon was about to give him a piece of his mind about how empty his threats were when he went on.

"…Calm down. I'll tell you what I know. I don't really care anymore… the funny thing is that you already know him," he said humorlessly.

"You just don't expect someone like him to be able to do so much…"

"Are you going to talk already or do I have to hear your life story?" Damon interrupted. "Who, the fuck, is he?"

"Mason Northwood," Tanner sneered "…your girlfriend's lover."

AN: Thanks for reading.

So another chapter with a lot of info.

How did you find the Steroline Fairytale evening?

Most importantly, what did you think while reading the Damon and Tanner scene?

Your thoughts and speculations about everything are much appreciated.

I wish you lots of love and epic Delena moments,

Mydarkside975