Chapter 30: Breakout
Stefan
"What is this?"
A folded newspaper was slammed on Stefan's desk by a fuming Giuseppe. It was not even past 6 am and his father's mood was already shot to hell. This day was going to be great, Stefan thought.
"Who is she and why have you failed to mention this?" Giuseppe asked.
"Good morning to you too, father," Stefan said and took a look at the folded newspaper that was causing this kind of distress to his father.
"Don't give me that nonsense, Stefan. I trusted you to keep me informed about your brother's wellbeing. You asked me to step back and let you take care of him. Now I see that I should never have listened to you. You disappoint me."
Stefan sighed. Of course! What great timing the paparazzi chose to start hounding his brother again. A picture of his brother kissing Elena on the sidewalk was taking up most of the page in the newspaper with the charming caption; "A Salvatore Flame or an Old Game?"
"Who is this girl? Please tell me it's just a passing thing and not another mistake you are letting him make while keeping it from me," Giuseppe said when Stefan finished skimming the page.
Stefan had hoped that his father would not find out about Elena until Damon was ready to tell him himself but now he thought that he might as well tell the truth.
Giuseppe had already met Caroline and somehow she managed to actually charm him into liking her so Stefan thought he could start by mentioning Elena's friendship with Caroline. Maybe his father would warm up to the idea then.
"Her name is Elena Gilbert, she's a friend of Caroline's and you liked her remember? She's a great person, father. I'm sure Damon would be lucky to have someone like her."
That did not go as well as he had hoped as Giuseppe seemed to get even angrier. He pointed a finger at him and started talking with a malicious tone.
"Listen to me, Stefan. Your brother is not the kind of person who can handle a serious relationship. Either he gets too attached and abandons his brain or he gets bored and embarrasses us. He already did plenty to threaten the family name. I will not let him repeat that… You will not let him repeat that."
"What do you want me to do?" Stefan asked keeping his face and voice as neutral as possible.
"You have to stop whatever it is he has going on with that girl," he said. Then he took the paper from the desk and waved it in front of Stefan's face. "Make sure this doesn't happen again… and Stefan, you have to make an effort or I will have to step in and do it myself," he said before he threw the newspaper back on the desk and walked out of the office.
Dammit, this was not good. Stefan could only buy him some time but Damon had to face Giuseppe sooner or later. Stefan just hoped that his brother was strong enough to handle their father when the time came.
Elena
Crap, crap, crap.
That picture was everywhere. The phone did not stop ringing and the crowd of people in front of the building had not diminished. Bonnie and Caroline barely got to make their way through to go to their jobs but she was stuck in the apartment.
She called work and took the day off. She hoped that they would get tired and leave or that she could find a better solution by tomorrow because she was going crazy in that apartment. She felt like a prisoner in there. She was not used to spending the day doing nothing.
She tried to occupy herself by working or reading but she could not get her brain to focus with her thoughts jumping to the consequences of her relationship with Damon that she had refused to acknowledge before now. The sting of those consequences hurt more than she had thought and she was not sure if she could ever live like that, with no privacy, no freedom and no anonymity. She was a reporter for heaven's sake. She depended on her anonymity to be the one who observed things and wrote about them. She was not supposed to be the one being observed.
By 10 am, she was basically just pacing the apartment thin trying to make time go faster when her phone started ringing for the umpteenth time. She looked at her screen and saw his name flashing on it. She spent a moment debating whether she wanted to answer. The thing was that this was not his fault. She knew he hated the attention but he was forced to live with it all his life and after all is said and done, she still wanted to spend time with him. She still felt tingles in her stomach whenever she thought about that kiss from yesterday morning and she could not imagine not having him in her life.
She pressed answer and returned to pacing the living room.
"Hey."
"Hey."
He sounded relieved like he did not think that she was going to pick up.
"I saw the pictures. Are you okay?" He asked.
"I'm stuck in my apartment because a bunch of strange men with cameras are standing in front of my building waiting for me to get out so they can take pictures of me. Otherwise I'm fine," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. She did not mean to sound this irritated but she really hated this situation.
"I'm really sorry about that. I don't know how they found out where I was," he said and she heard the remorse in his words.
She realized that she was letting her irritation out on him and she reminded herself that it was not his fault. Letting out a sigh, she dropped onto the couch dejectedly.
"I just hope they'll get tired of waiting soon," she said.
"Eh, that's not very likely. This is their job, Elena. They'll most likely just stay there for however long it takes for you to get out so they can get that picture."
"What the hell am I supposed to do then? I can't stay here forever. I have to go to work and my yoga lessons. I have my HIH work."
She was full on panicking now. How was she supposed to get on with her life?
"Just breathe, Elena. I might have a solution."
"What is it? I'm desperate here."
"Stay at my place…"
"What?!"
"Yes, pack your things and come stay with me at least until this whole thing passes. There's better security here, there's an underground parking lot where you can get picked up to go to work and it's close to everything."
"I… I can't just leave my apartment."
"It's just temporary. Until this thing blows over or you get a better place," he said.
"But…"
"No buts. Just do it," he said.
"I don't know," she said unsure.
"Tell you what. Pack whatever you'll need and a car will be there to get you in an hour."
Xxx
She had thrown some clothes and toiletries, her toothbrush and one of her mom's novels into a suitcase. She tried not to let herself think too much about what she was about to do. She had no choice.
Exactly an hour after her phone call with Damon, Aksel, Stefan's bodyguard, showed up and announced that he was there to pick her up "on behalf of Mr. Salvatore".
She put on a hoodie and tucked the hood down to cover as much of her face as possible. Aksel insisted on carrying her suitcase for her as they left the apartment, descended the stairs and made their way into the waiting crowd.
The moment she stepped outside, Elena was submerged in a loud sea of people, shouting commandos and questions to get her attention and snapping picture after picture. She kept her head down and tried to maneuver her way to the waiting car but it was easier said than done. At some point she felt Aksel put an arm around her shoulder and push her in front of him, creating a human shield around her with his body.
At long last, she felt the metal of the car under her outstretched fingers and she hurried to yank the door open and climb inside releasing a relieved breath.
She was thankful for Aksel's help protecting her from the masses but she could not help but feel some disappointment that Damon did not come to get her himself.
Damon
He wanted to go get her himself, make sure she was alright and be the one to protect her from the world. But things were bad enough as it was and if he played the hero and showed up, he would just be feeding the beast, making things even worse for her. He sent her Aksel instead, the only person other than himself that he could trust to keep her safe.
She was there some time later with a small suitcase and an unreadable expression. He carried her suitcase to one of the guestrooms where she left her stuff then he suggested that she got a tour of the place.
The other times she had been there, she only saw the living room and the kitchen and now that she was going to stay there; he wanted to show her the rest… Then there was the real reason for the tour which was that he had no idea what else to do. How was he supposed to know, when he had never in his life had someone stay over? What made it even weirder was the twilight zone they found themselves in after the weekend.
It was kind of funny how they were together in a bubble, cut off from the rest of the world. The weekend seemed a bit surreal now that it was Monday and the real world came crashing down around them.
Did it really happen? Did he really spend three days alone with Elena? Did they really kiss, not once but three times and did they really almost sleep together if it were not for him chickening out?
He wanted to deny all that. He wanted to pretend that he was still just friends with Elena and secretly pining for more while knowing that he did not have a chance. That was how his world made sense to him. But he could not pretend or deny anything when he saw the pictures all over the internet. The truth was shoved right in his face and it was for everyone else to see.
That weekend did happen and his world was upside down. He was the one who stopped himself from getting laid because he could not take advantage of Elena, the only person who managed to stop his stupid quest to self-destruction. He could not hurt Elena who spent her time helping the homeless and taking care of helpless orphans.
The angel made the devil regret his sins. He almost laughed at the thought.
It took him a while to accept the truth he found himself in that morning but eventually he did. He was no longer the self-proclaimed ass-whole. He could not be that anymore, at least not with Elena.
When he finally made the realization, his thoughts went to her. She was not used to this kind of attention. She was probably surrounded by a mob of cockroaches – as he liked to call them – armed with cameras waiting for her to stick her head out so they could attack.
He needed to get her out of there ASAP.
The only logical solution was to make her stay with him and he went ahead and made it happen but he had no idea how that would ever work.
The tour took less than ten minutes and was a painful affair with awkward small talk that did nothing to overlook the elephant – or several elephants in the room.
She was in her room now just down the hall from his, where he was hiding.
A quiet knock shook away his thoughts and he told her to come in. She opened the door and stuck her head inside the room.
"Am I interrupting?" she asked when her eyes fell on the book in his hands. It was turned onto the same page since he opened it and he did not remember reading a single word. He shut the book and marked the page.
"Not at all," he said.
"Would you like to get something to eat?" She asked and at the prospect of food, his stomach brought his attention to his hunger. He remembered that he had not had any breakfast.
"Sounds great. Let's get out of here."
He put his jacket on and turned to look at her. She was still standing in his doorway with an apprehensive look on her face.
"What?" He asked.
"What if they find us?" She asked and now he got it. Of course she was scared of the paparazzi. How could he forget that?
"We can try to avoid them but there are no promises. They have really long lenses and they could get some pictures anyway," he said and by the look on her face, he could tell she was not very comfortable with that. "Or we can stay here and order out, if you want?" He said.
"I'd like that," she said and smiled sweetly.
Something skipped in his stomach that had nothing to do with wanting food. She stirred such strange emotions in him by the smallest of gestures. Protectiveness was just one of those emotions that his inner caveman roared with when she appeared this vulnerable.
She was otherwise so strong and collected that he sometimes forgot that she was just a girl and a romantic one at that. She saw the world with a romantic filter that sometimes kept her from realizing the cold, hard truths that not everything in this world made sense, that not everyone could be saved. But how could he fault her when that firm belief in the good in everybody was the driving force behind her saving him from himself?
Elena
"No offence, Damon, but I really hate that couch," Elena said as she tried to find a comfortable position on the thing.
They had just finished eating and they decided on the same routine they had adopted during the weekend. They were going to watch a movie. It seemed like the safest thing to do together and they did not have to talk which was a good thing. They were not as awkward as before but they were still both trying to avoid talking about stuff.
"None taken and honestly, I hate it too. It's like sitting on a rock," Damon said from behind the kitchen island as he put the leftovers in the fridge.
"Well, then why don't you get rid of it?" She asked and he walked to where she was sitting.
"As you wish milady. Consider it gone." He bowed theatrically which made her giggle.
"No but seriously, can I ask you something?"
He sat on the armrest and looked at her. "Fire away."
"Why do you keep a stash of booze in it when you have a wet bar 6 feet away?"
He got this expression like he had not ever thought about it before and was trying to think of a reasonable reason but could not come up with any.
"It's something I used to do when I was younger to keep my dad from noticing his supply diminishing and I guess it just lingered," he finally said but she did not buy it.
"Come on, Damon. Do you expect me to believe that?" She said.
He gave her a look then sighed in surrender. "I did it for Stefan. He used to check up on me regularly and I tried not to let him worry more than necessary," he said in a clipped tone. Then he went on with his usual playfulness; "He doesn't need more frown-lines on that forehead."
"But he knows about the hiding place," she said confused.
"I said I tried. Never said it worked."
He got up and reached his hand out for her. "We can use the TV in my room. It's way more comfortable."
She let him pull her up on her feet and followed him to his room. She was not sure about that idea but she would take anything over sitting on that couch.
His room was huge and somehow the most personal room in the place. It just reflected him so perfectly in its comfortable elegance. There was not that much furniture. A king-sized bed, two bedside tables, a comfortable looking armchair next to the window and a little table that belonged to it were all kept in mocha colors along with the wooden paneled walls. Finally, a flat screen TV hung on the wall facing the bed.
Now that she had time to pay attention to it, she realized how different his room was from the rest of the place. She took a seat on the white bedcovers and to her relief – disappointment – Damon sat on the armchair.
After some arguing they settled on a movie and started watching. She did not pay much attention though. As per usual for their movie nights, her thoughts kept drifting off. She had no idea how this was going to work. They had not talked about anything that happened yet and she felt like they were tiptoeing around each other.
This new situation, she found herself in threw her into unknown territory. She was away from her friends, from her home and there was no way to predict when she would be able to return to her world. She felt out of control of her own life and it made her uncomfortable.
Suddenly everything was changing so fast and not all of those changes were good. At least she still had the new job to look forward to which reminded her that with everything that happened today, she did not get around to tell Damon about it.
Her eyes moved from the screen to where he was and he seemed to be very immersed in the movie. As she contemplated telling him now, he might have felt her looking because suddenly he turned and their eyes met.
She did not know what he saw in her face because he frowned. "What is it?"
"I got the job at The Hour this morning," she said and his frown turned into a breathtaking smile.
"And you don't tell me until now?" He said and moved to sit next to her.
He took her hand. "Congratulations, Elena but I have to say that I told you so," he said in a singsong voice.
His smile and the fact that he was so happy for her were just what she needed to lift her mood. She smiled back as she felt herself getting really excited for the new job. She really got the job. She was a step closer to her dream.
She found herself jumping into his arms and he caught her, laughing at her sudden enthusiasm.
She pulled back and peered into his eyes.
"We need to talk," she said.
"You know this movie is really good maybe we should finish watching?" He said trying to deflect again but this time she would not let him.
She gave him a determined look and for a moment they had a stare-down of wills.
He gave up.
He nodded and reached for the remote control to turn the movie off. Then he waited for her to start.
"So things happened during the weekend…" she started but she had a hard time figuring out what she wanted to say.
"Come on, Elena. We kissed… three times. You kissed me the first time," he said.
"Yes we did… I did. What I want to say is that I completely understand if this is not something that you… you know… something you don't want. We can pretend that it never happened and get on with being just friends… I…"
She did not get to finish her sentence because he captured her lips and kissed her ferociously. Sparks went off in the space around them and her head was filled with tiny little explosions completely on par with the fireworks on New Year's Eve.
She did not realize he had pulled back until he spoke.
"Is that really what you want; to pretend that it never happened?" His voice was low and husky turning her blood into liquid fire.
"I…I…," she stammered. Her voice was out of her control and her brain was not functioning.
"I can't. I never could, pretend… not with you," he said and his eyes still bore into hers, their color brighter than she had ever seen them.
"So… we're doing this?" She asked after she managed to get some kind of control over her voice.
He kissed her again, this time soft and sweet. "Does this answer your question?"
She smiled widely. "Yes… yes it does."
AN: Thank you for reading and thank you for all your nice reviews. Be sure that I read each and every one of them (multiple times ;)) even though I'm not so good at replying. But I feel like I am better at thanking you by working on the story and making sure that I'm posting something worth your time.
Please don't hesitate to tell me what you think both good and bad.
Have a nice week.
Love,
Mydarkside975