Are you ready for some more from 'Dega? Thank you SO much for all the reactions to last chapter - that was amazing!
This is part 2 of part 3 of Talladega. I have part 3 written. I'm going to aim to post it later this week. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries.
"You should see yourself cruising around this track," Stefan said, his eyes on Damon's car as it blew around Talladega. "You look so pretty."
"I should kiss myself," Damon quipped, enjoying both the banter and the speed of the car under him.
"Stop quoting Top 40 hits," Ric piped in. "'Uptown Funk' doesn't suit either of you." Both Damon and Stefan laughed. "The 18 is taking up a lot of track just ahead," he added. "Pick a line and stay there until you pass him. Should only take you a lap or so with the speed you have."
"Go high," Stefan advised. "You are fast low, but I want to see what the car does on the high line."
"Spoiler alert, its still fast," Damon told him, navigating towards the top of the track. Everything about today's practice session was relaxed, easy. He didn't need the session and he thought Stefan didn't actually need it either as they knew how the car was running. Still, Stefan insisted and Damon knew it was because Stefan wanted to make sure he got in plenty of practice time to work out any residual nerves about Talladega.
"You're not losing any speed," Stefan confirmed. "You will be hard to beat tomorrow." The media had gotten wind of his practice reports and were already favoring him to win.
"Start first, finish first," Damon said into his headset.
"Looks like there's some debris on the shoulder in turn three," Ric said. "It's off the track, but heads up."
"Got it," Damon replied. He was careful to stay high as he entered turn three and by the time he looped back around, the debris had been removed. He settled in, making lap after lap, just enjoying driving for the sake of driving. His radio was quiet, Stefan satisfied, Ric not seeing anything on the track that warranted commentary.
Without warning, thick smoke begun to pour from under his hood. The car rapidly lost speed and power, no matter how hard Damon instinctively pushed in on the gas.
"What the hell?" he cursed as the smoke quickly impaired his ability to see where he was going. He guessed as to his position on the track, praying he didn't hit anyone or anything and do further damage. Stefan let out a string of curse words in his ear while Ric talked over him.
"You're clear, you're clear," he was saying. "Guide it down the track, that's it. Right there. You're on the shoulder. Try and limp around to pit road."
"I can't," Damon said, smacking the steering wheel in frustration as his car rolled to a stop. "The engine is gone."
"What do you mean the engine is gone?" Stefan asked. "There's no effing way that engine is gone."
"It's gone," Damon said, already undoing his helmet. "Get a wrecker out here. The only place we're going is to the garage."
"What the hell happened?" Stefan asked. "Everything was fine. Completely fine. The readings were normal…"
"I don't fucking know," Damon said, his own frustration settling in as he undone his harness. "Get the damn car towed and figure it out." He lowered his window net and pulled his body through the window. Once his feet were on the ground, he ripped off his helmet and strode purposefully across the infield. He didn't have a destination in mind, but his frustration was palpable.
He pushed through his crew who were all buzzing around, rushing to get the car towed to their garage assignment. He kept walking, ignoring anyone in his path. He didn't stop until he reached his hauler. Once inside, he threw his helmet, letting out a growl of frustration as it ricocheted off a toolbox. He kicked at another box that held spare parts, cursing again as pain shot through his foot.
Of course this would happen. Whenever things were going right in his life, something happened to screw it up. A blown engine was a huge setback before any race, but this weekend at Talladega, it was far worse.
He needed this race. He needed it to go well. Realistically, he knew the odds that he would win were slim, despite all his talk. There were 42 other cars, all vying to be the first one to reach the checkered flag. But, he had a really good chance, a better chance than others. He had never won at Talladega, not even in the Nationwide series. If he only ever won two more races in his career, he wanted them to be the Daytona 500 and one at Talladega. It looked like this could have been his weekend, right up until a few minutes ago. After his last race at Talladega, he desperately needed it to be his weekend. He needed to prove to himself that he could truly do this, that the season so far hadn't been a fluke.
Now, his chances were ruined. They had another engine. More than one, even. Every race team carried at least one spare engine in case something like this happened. His crew could swap the blown one for a new one within a couple hours. But, it wouldn't be as good as the engine he had practiced and qualified with. And, worst of all, it would mean having to go from starting first to starting last, by NASCAR rules. It could not have been a worse situation.
He sat on a bench inside the hauler and focused on breathing, trying to bring both his heart rate down and his temper under control. He didn't know how long he sat there, but the sound of footsteps interrupted his wallow of self-pity.
"Hey," Elena said, stepping into the hauler. "When you weren't in your motor home or the garage, I thought you might be here."
"The car is shot," he replied, his mood still foul. "That good weekend? Not so much."
"I wouldn't say it's a total waste," Elena ventured, walking further into the hauler. "I did agree to a second date." She was trying to cheer him up.
"We will call that the silver lining," Damon quipped. Elena sat down beside him and leaned against the wall.
"It's Talladega," she reminded him. "Even if you have to go to the back, you can use the draft to move through the pack pretty quickly."
"There is no 'if' I have to go to the back," Damon said. "I have to go to the back. That's the rule. You change your engine or swap to a backup car, you go to the back. Yeah, I can use the draft to move up, but that's assuming there isn't a crash. Except, there is always a crash in the back of the pack early on, where all the inexperienced drivers are. And regardless, the engine won't be nearly as good as what blew up."
"Way to look on the bright side," Elena muttered. Damon just glared at her. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just trying to cheer you up."
"I know," Damon sighed. He shook his head, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. "I really thought I had a chance at winning."
"You still have a chance at winning," Elena pointed out. "The race hasn't started. Its certainly not over."
"You and your damn logic," Damon grumbled. "I guess I should go find Stefan, see what the damage is."
"Probably not a bad idea," Elena agreed. "I'll walk with you. The Nationwide race starts soon anyway. I should probably do what your father pays me to do." She stood and Damon did the same. Elena retrieved his helmet. "You might need this tomorrow," she said, handing it to him.
"I might," he agreed, following her out of the hauler. "Molly with Samantha?"
"She's with your mom, actually," Elena said. "Samantha stayed home this weekend to study. Her final exams are this week, and then her graduation is two weeks from yesterday. She earned her half of the money for her senior trip, so I think we might be down a babysitter."
"Yeah, well, we're up a grandma," Damon said, knowing his mother was always eager to spend time with Molly. They made their way to the garage, Damon grunting responses to other drivers and crewmembers that offered their condolences on his engine. He found Stefan and several of his crewmembers swarming around his car, already hard at work to remove the blown engine. His father was there as well, observing.
"She's shot," Stefan said, coming to stand beside Damon. "I have no freaking idea what happened. I just went over it with a fine-toothed comb. There's not a damn thing wrong with it. I'll know more when we get it out and I can take it apart, but there is nothing to indicate why it blew. The other cars are using the same set up and engine model and they are running fine." He was as frustrated as Damon. "The gauges didn't say anything? Something that may not have been fed back to me in the pit?"
"Everything was fine," Damon confirmed. "Perfect, even. It just blew, no warning, whatsoever." Stefan let out another curse.
"I just don't get it," he said.
"It was a tough break," Giuseppe said, joining them. Elena started wandering around the garage bay, snapping photos with her phone to post to Damon's official twitter account and the Salvatore Racing account, updating fans on the status of Damon's car as they were already buzzing about his blown engine on social media. "Tough breaks happen. You both know that. I wish it would have happened on another weekend, but it is what it is."
"This sucks," Damon muttered.
"It completely sucks," Stefan agreed. All three Salvatore men stood shoulder-to-shoulder, arms crossed as they watched the scene in front of them, looking every bit the family they were.
"Hey, Stefan?" Elena called from across the bay.
"Yeah?" Stefan called back.
"Come here for a second." Damon frowned, but stayed where he was, watching curiously as Stefan crossed the bay to Elena, his father wearing a similar look.
"What's up?" Stefan asked.
"I know I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to this stuff, but there is sand on the ground over there," Elena told him, pointing at a puddle of grains of sand on the floor of Damon's garage stall. She knew it wasn't the powder they used to clean up oil spills. It was the wrong color. "I had a thought, so I looked, and there is sand around the…" She didn't get to finish her sentence. Stefan was already bent over the gas tank, peering at it closely. He stood suddenly.
"Everyone stop what they are doing," he demanded. The crewmembers stopped in their tracks, taken by surprise.
"What's going on?" Damon asked, taking a few steps forward.
"Stefan? What is it?" Giuseppe echoed. Stefan looked grim.
"Someone put sand in Damon's gas tank," he informed them. "That engine didn't blow up on its own. Someone tampered with the car." There was a moment of silence while Stefan's words sank in.
"Who did it?" Damon demanded. "Who the fuck…" Giuseppe sprang into action.
"You, calm down," he ordered Damon, pointed his finger at Damon. "This is not the time to show your ass, do you understand me?"
"Dad, someone…"
"Damon," Elena said calmly. She put her hand on his arm. He was still wearing his fire suit. "Your dad is right. Now is not the time." Damon gritted his teeth, but fell silent, choosing the only option he had that wasn't going to land him in some form of trouble, be it with NASCAR, his father, or Elena.
"Ric, go get a NASCAR official. Now." Ric nodded once at Giuseppe's orders and took off at a jog. Enzo stepped forward, eager to be of assistance. "No one touch anything else. And no one leaves this garage bay. Not until we figured out how the hell this happened and who was responsible for it."
"It was Matt," Damon muttered just loud enough for his father and Elena to hear.
"I think you're right," Giuseppe muttered back. "This feud you two have? It ends today." He looked at Damon. Elena squeezed Damon's arm in support. "It ends before you get hurt."
Elena had to fight back a grin as she made her way to where Damon and Stefan were seated side by side on a wall along pit road. They both looked like someone had kicked their puppy. And really, Elena reasoned, someone had. Caroline was with them, seated on a low toolbox, playing a game with Molly on her phone.
"You two look lost," she said when she was close enough. The racetrack was starting to quiet down now that the Nationwide race was over. A Salvatore Racing driver had won and Elena had finally wrapped up her day's duties, even though the party raged on in Victory Lane. Giuseppe had shown up for the trophy presentation, but Elena noticed he didn't stick around long.
"Dad kicked us out of the garage," Damon said, his irritation at the fact clear.
"Apparently, we were hovering," Stefan added. "Getting in the way of the officials."
"He let Enzo and Ric stay," Damon continued. Elena met Caroline's eye. They had to look away to keep from laughing. Molly spotted her mother then. She slid out of Caroline's lap and, even in her dress, climbed over the pit wall.
"Hi, baby girl," Elena greeted, stooping down to her level as Molly wrapped her arms around her neck in a hug. She hugged her back.
"Hi, Mama!" Molly said happily.
"The crew chief and the driver though?" Stefan continued on. "Nope. Get out. He will call us when he's ready for us." Stefan kicked at the ground as though emphasizing his point.
"You two are ridiculous," Elena stated, straightening up, Molly's hand in hers. "How long have you been sitting out here, pouting?"
"A while," Damon answered.
"Technically, we sat around in Damon's hauler for a while, but we came out here just before the race was over," Stefan said.
"And then I joined them," Caroline piped up. "I came down from the suite where there was chocolate cake and cream puffs to listen to these two whine and talk about engines and whine some more."
"You should have stayed with the cake," Elena said seriously. So much of the scene before her reminded her of Damon and Stefan from days gone by, when they would sit around wallowing when races didn't go their way.
"Where is da cake?" Molly asked, looking up at her mother. "I want cake!"
"You can have some cake after dinner," Elena promised her.
"Maybe your daddy and your uncle can play with their cars after dinner," Caroline added.
"Not helping," Stefan said while Damon glared at her. Elena snorted, doing her best to keep from laughing outright. It wasn't that the situation itself was a laughing matter. She knew they needed to be either getting the backup engine in the car or going to their backup car. Instead, they were sitting on a pit road wall, waiting for the okay to resume work. It was the way the two were acting that amused her.
"What's taking so long?" Damon wondered.
"Can we get dinner now?" Molly asked.
"You just want to be one step closer to a piece of cake," Stefan told her. Molly narrowed her eyes at Stefan in a manner that Damon found frighteningly similar to a look Elena had turned on him many times before.
"Uncle Stef, you is cranky," Molly declared. "You needs a timeout."
"Yeah, he does," Caroline agreed. "And, I got to listen to them talk about Stefan's prototype for like, ever, so I think I need a new purse."
"You just got a new purse," Stefan stated.
"I'm carrying your kid," Caroline reminded him. "Don't question me, Salvatore."
"You could probably make her a purse in the time it will take Dad to come out here and tell us we are allowed to return to the garage," Damon added.
"I think your daddy needs a timeout, too," Elena told Molly. Molly nodded seriously.
"Sitting around, doing nothing, sucks," Damon stated. Elena shot him a look at his use of the word "sucks." Molly gasped.
"We not say 'sucks,' Daddy," she reprimanded him, shaking her small finger at him. "And sometimes we has to do things we not want to do!" There was nothing to do but laugh. Damon, however, sighed and shook his head.
"She used my words against me," he stated. "Probably for the first time of many." Molly's eyes lit up.
"Nonno!" she cried. She tried to tug away from Elena, who tightened her grip on her hand. Damon and Stefan both turned to look behind them. Giuseppe was striding purposefully towards them.
"Molly, wait," Elena said sternly as Molly tugged harder. "You can't run across pit road. There is too much going on. Wait for Nonno to get here."
"Can we go back to work?" Stefan asked, standing to turn and look at him.
"What's going on?" Damon asked at the same time.
"Nonno!" Molly called, jumping up and down in place.
"Ah, my princepessa!" Giuseppe greeted, ignoring his sons in favor of his granddaughter. Satisfied that Giuseppe was close enough, Elena let Molly go. She ran to her grandfather who scooped her up easily. "Did you have fun with your Gigi?"
"We went to da store!" Molly said happily. "Gigi wif her friends now."
"That she is," Giuseppe agreed. Ginny and several other wives of team owners and older drivers made it a point to get together every race weekend, be it for a game of bridge or a dinner out without their husbands. Tonight, they were playing bunco.
"Apparently you have to wear a dress and a bow to get his attention," Stefan muttered.
"My kid is cute," Damon muttered back. "We're screwed."
"I hear the two of you," Giuseppe said. He held on to Molly as he turned to face his sons. "A lot has unfolded in the last few of hours. NASCAR has taken the engine as evidence." Damon and Stefan both nodded. They expected as much. "However, they have agreed to let us have the car. You won't need to go to the backup."
"We still lost the engine," Stefan pointed out. "We won't know anything about the backup engine until we're racing. We're going to have to flush out the car's systems. Sand could be anywhere. It may be worth it to go to the backup car." His mind was already racing, trying to decide their best option.
"Molly, princepesa, why don't you go to your daddy?" Giuseppe suggested. He didn't give Damon an option, passing Molly into Damon's arms. Damon looked surprised, but he didn't comment, shifting Molly to a more comfortable position. She looped her arm around Damon's shoulder and gave her mother a smile that Elena returned from where she and Caroline were listening in. "Now, there were, of course, other developments," Giuseppe continued.
"Such as?" Damon prompted. Giuseppe blew out a breath.
"There are surveillance cameras in the garage bays," he told them. "NASCAR reviewed the footage." He paused and took a deep breath. "The footage clearly shows Liam pouring sand into the gas tank." Jaws dropped in surprise. Liam was Damon's rear tire changer.
"Liam?" Elena asked, the first to recover. "Like, our Liam?" Giuseppe nodded.
"It seems 'our Liam' was on someone else's payroll," he confirmed. "NASCAR questioned him."
"You fired him, right?" Caroline asked, indignation clear.
"What did he say?" Stefan asked. Giuseppe blew out another breath and glanced anxiously at Damon.
"Dad," Damon said, giving him a pointed look. Giuseppe pursed his lips, resigning himself and hoping for the best.
"Matt Donovan has been arrested," he informed them. "Liam told NASCAR and an officer from the local police department, in great detail, that Matt has been paying people off to tamper with your car. Mason was among them. Mason and Liam have both been relieved of their positions at Salvatore Racing, as has Silas."
"Silas?" Damon asked, referring to his rear tire changer. "What did he have to do with anything? What did Mason have to do with it? What the hell is going on?" For once, no one corrected him about his language in front of Molly.
"Mason has a gambling problem," Giuseppe explained. "Donovan knew he has debts he can't pay and has been paying him to sabotage your car. We had suspicions, which is a large part of why I moved Stefan to your team. Once Mason no longer had easy access to your car, Liam was enlisted, for no other reason than the fact that he gave into intimidation from Mason and Matt. Unfortunately for them, Liam wasn't as apt at covering his tracks. Silas witnessed what Liam did and didn't come forward. I won't have that from my employees. NASCAR has banned all of them from all NASCAR-sanctioned events and will be pressing charges, as will we."
Damon knew then why Giuseppe had passed Molly to him. It was to remind him of what he stood to lose should he react in the manner he desperately wanted to right then. All eyes were on him as Giuseppe finished with his update. He took a deep, calming breath, even as anger raged through his veins.
"Looks like I need two new crew members on top of an engine," he stated. Giuseppe nodded.
"We will figure it out," he promised. "In the meantime, we have a racecar we need to repair for tomorrow."
"We only have so much time," Stefan said. "We can't work on the car after a certain point…" Giuseppe shook his head.
"I haven't finished," he said. "NASCAR has made a few exceptions to the rules, given the circumstances. We have received permission to work on the car until two hours before race time." Stefan let out an audible sigh of relief. "The better news, however, is that Damon will not need to go to the back of the field at the start of the race."
"What?" Damon asked sharply. Giuseppe grinned.
"I said you won't have to go to the back of the line," he repeated. "The sand is clearly the reason for the blown engine. There was indisputable evidence of tampering. You will be allowed to remain on the pole at the drop of the green flag." It was Damon's turn to let out a sigh of relief.
"There's something," he said.
"I need to get to the garage," Stefan said, already pulling out his phone to alert the crew that it was time to work.
"What's the plan?" Damon asked him. He trusted his brother to make the right choice regarding the car and engine.
"We go with your car," Stefan answered. "No backup. I texted Enzo, told him to start flushing all the systems." Stefan's phone chimed as if on cue. He grinned. "He was already doing it. Good. We get it flushed out, drop the new engine in, and make what adjustments we can. Tomorrow, you will have to talk to me during the race, tell me how the car feels. We will make adjustments as we go and hope for the best." Damon nodded.
"We keep as much as we can of the original set up and do what we can from there," he agreed. That was his preference as well. It made sense to him to keep the same car, which would have as much of the original setup as they could salvage, rather than go to a backup car and start completely from scratch.
"I don't know when I'll be back at the motor home tonight," Stefan said, turning to Caroline and reaching to hug her, a hand resting on her growing belly. "Text or call me if you need me, okay?"
"I will," Caroline promised. She kissed him briefly. "Go get that car in winning form." Stefan winked at her before turning toward the garage.
"I'm coming," Damon said. Stefan looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"You don't have to…" Drivers didn't typically help the crew out in the garage, even though there wasn't a rule against it.
"We need all hands on deck," Damon said. "I'm good with a wrench."
"Okay," Stefan agreed. "We could use you." Damon had a thought. Without thinking twice about it, he opened his mouth.
"What do you think about using the prototype engine?" Stefan looked at him sharply.
"The prototype?" he repeated. Damon nodded.
"It's NASCAR legal, right?" he asked.
"Well, yeah…"
"And you have data on it from Daytona? A restrictor plate track?"
"Good data," Stefan said, his mind already sorting through the pros and cons of the idea.
"Really good data," Damon corrected. Stefan gave him a curious look. "I looked over it," he admitted. "A while back. I was home one night, there was nothing on TV, so I logged into the shared drive and looked at your data." Stefan narrowed his eyes this time.
"How did you get into my files?" he wanted to know. "I keep everything password protected." Damon scoffed.
"Please. You have used the same password since you were 12." Stefan shrugged. It was true. "Let's use the prototype," he said again. "What do we have to lose at this point?" Stefan pursed his lips. A few moments passed before he nodded.
"Let's drop in the prototype," he agreed. "You okay with that, Dad?" Giuseppe nodded.
"If you two agree, I'm all for it," he confirmed.
"Prototype it is," Damon said.
"Molly," Elena said, stepping forward, "Daddy has to go work on his car. Let's go get some dinner, and then we will see about that cake, okay?"
"Okay," Molly agreed. Damon passed her off to Elena.
"Be good for your mom, okay?" he told Molly. She nodded.
"I be good," she promised.
"That's my girl," Damon said. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and without thinking about it, kissed Elena's cheek as well. "Like Stefan said, we will probably be in the garage most of the night. I'll see you in the morning."
"Good luck," Elena said.
"We will need it," Damon replied. He winked at Elena before leaving with Stefan. Elena put Molly down and took her hand. Caroline caught Molly's other hand and they started towards their motor home.
"What was that all about?" Caroline asked.
"What was what all about?" Elena replied innocently.
"All the teasing, the kiss on the cheek…" Elena sighed.
"I don't know," she said. "We are in this weird place where we both know things aren't okay between us, but we act like they are. Or, maybe we just ignore everything except for the good things. Because despite everything, there is still a lot of good between us." Elena glanced at Molly. "And we have Molly."
"You have Molly," Caroline repeated. "Which means you should proceed with caution." Molly was skipping between them, oblivious to their conversation.
"I want her to have a family," Elena admitted. "And, well, I'm falling for Damon all over again. Which scares me to death."
"What are you afraid of?" Caroline asked. Elena responded by giving her a look that said 'you know.' Caroline shook her head. "What are you afraid of?" she repeated. "You just admitted that you are falling for him. Are you afraid of getting hurt again? Of him leaving again? What are you afraid of?" Elena sighed.
"I'm afraid of getting hurt again," she admitted. "What if I wake up one morning and he's gone again? I barely made it through the first time. I wouldn't have, if it weren't for her." She indicated Molly who was still skipping along happily, thinking of the promise of chocolate cake.
"Here's the thing," Caroline said. "Damon might hurt you. He might not. He might leave you again. Except, despite how I feel about what he's done, I don't think he is going to leave you again. I think he learned his lesson, so to speak. As for him hurting you… Elena, we all have to take risks in life if we are ever going to be happy. We can stay where we are, where it is safe. Or, we can take a risk that might make us happier than we have ever been. Opening our hearts and falling in love – that's a risk. Whether you take that risk with Damon or with someone else, you could always end up hurt."
Elena thought about what Caroline was saying. She was right. She knew she wanted to get married, to have a husband and more children. She had used Molly as an excuse not to get serious with anyone she had dated, but if she wanted to have the family she dreamed of, she would have to open up her heart and risk being hurt. If she wanted that with Damon, she would have to risk getting hurt.
"When did you get so wise?" Elena asked. Caroline smiled at her.
"I'm about to be a mother," she said. "All the wisdom is just – coming to me." Elena laughed.
"I love you, Caroline," she told her sincerely. Caroline's smile grew bigger.
"I love you, too, Elena," she said. She squeezed Molly's hand. "And I love this little girl, too." Caroline looked from Molly to Elena. "I'm glad the two of you are home." Elena smiled and nodded.
"I'm glad we came home, too."
"Do you have Samantha?" Elena asked, pulling the blankets up over Molly.
"Here," Molly replied, showing Elena her doll which was in bed beside her. "Tuck her in too, Mama." Elena humored Molly and tucked the blankets around the doll.
"There," she said, "all tucked in."
"Can I watch da race tomorrow?" she asked. "All of it? I wanna watch Daddy."
"I think it would be a really good idea for you to watch the race tomorrow," Elena said. "I think your daddy would really like that. He's nervous about the race."
"Nervis is when your tummy is weird, right?" Molly asked. Elena nodded.
"That's right," she said. "Daddy had a pretty bad crash the last time he was here and he's a little nervous about racing here again." Molly rolled onto her side and looked at her mother.
"Mama, do you like Daddy?" Elena frowned.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Do you like Daddy?" Molly repeated. Elena nodded.
"I like your daddy," she said. She reached out and pushed Molly's hair away from her face. "He's a good daddy, isn't he?" Molly nodded.
"I like having a daddy," she said. "I not have one before." Elena smiled sadly.
"You have always had a daddy," she told her. "He just lived somewhere else for a while. So did we, when we lived in California, remember? Now, all of us live in Virginia. Together."
"In Mystic Falls," Molly said. Elena nodded.
"That's right," she said. "Mystic Falls is where we live. Do you like living there?" Molly nodded again.
"I love it," she said. "I glad we live there." Elena chuckled softly.
"I'm glad we live there, too," she said. "It was a good choice, to move back to Virginia from California, wasn't it?" She knew now that it was. She hadn't been sure at first, but now that she saw Molly with Damon and the rest of the Salvatores and she herself became reacquainted with them, she knew it was the right thing. Especially now that her parents were gone.
"It was a good choice," Molly confirmed. Elena chuckled. She sometimes forgot that Molly was only three, given how smart she was. The sound of someone entering the motor home's keypad filtered back to her. She figured it was Stefan, popping in to check on Caroline who had fallen asleep watching television in the back lounge, so she didn't turn towards the footsteps, focused on making sure Molly was comfortable in her bunk.
"She's not asleep yet, is she?" Elena jumped.
"Damon!" she gasped, surprised to find him standing at her side. "How did you get in?"
"Stefan gave me the code," he told her, squatting down beside Elena so he could peer in at Molly. "I'm on a food run, but I wanted to stop in and tell her goodnight." He looked at Elena. "I wanted to tell both of you goodnight."
"It just so happens that we were just talking about how much we like you," Elena told him. Damon raised his eyebrows.
"You like me?" he asked.
"We both do," Elena confirmed, tilting her head towards Molly. Molly nodded in agreement, smiling even though she was growing more drowsy by the minute.
"Hi, Daddy," she said. Damon smiled. Elena noticed he smiled every time Molly called him "Daddy."
"Hey, Princess," he replied. "Mama get you all tucked in?" Molly nodded.
"She tuck in Samantha, too," she said.
"You have a good Mama," he said. "I have to get back to helping Uncle Stefan with the car, but I wanted to come tell you goodnight."
"'Night, Daddy," Molly replied, snuggling deeper into her blankets. Damon leaned into the bunk and kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight, Princess," he said.
"Goodnight, baby girl," Elena echoed. "You want your curtain open or closed?"
"Closed," Molly said, closing her eyes. "I not deal with you people." Elena sighed and shook her head, deciding to pick her battles.
"Caroline," she told Damon. Damon nodded. Caroline liked to say "I can't deal with you people" when she was being dramatic, and it seemed Molly had picked it up. "We will see you in the morning, Molly." She closed the curtain to Molly's bunk and stood, as did Damon.
"I really am on a food run," he said. "We have a bunch of junk food on mine and the crew's bus and we need snacks."
"Snacks on top of all the cheeseburgers and fries we brought you earlier?" Elena asked, referring to the makeshift dinner she and Caroline took the team when they returned from their own dinner.
"We're men," Damon told her. "We are never full."
"You're full of something," Elena mused. She heard Damon chuckle as she followed him towards the front of the bus. He exited the bus and was slightly surprised when Elena followed him. "I'm glad you stopped by," she told him. "Molly likes it when she gets to tell you goodnight." Damon looked at Elena and held her gaze.
"One day, I plan to be able to tell her goodnight every single night." Elena sighed.
"One thing at a time," she told him. Damon nodded.
"One thing at a time," he agreed, even as he reached forward and took her hand. "I just want you to know where I stand, what my intentions are." Elena smiled up at him.
"I know what your intentions are," she told him. "You don't see me pulling away. It's just – there is a lot we need to talk about and work through." Damon couldn't stop himself from pulling her to him. She didn't resist, allowing him to take her in his arms. Despite everything that had happened, she still found Damon's arms to be the safest place in the world.
"I'm going to make this right," he promised her. "It might take the rest of my life, but I'm going to make things right." Elena closed her eyes and replied by hugging him tightly. She cursed him to herself, damning him for making it so easy to fall for him all over again.
"Don't you have snacks to get and a car to fix?" she said after another few moments had passed.
"I do," he agreed. She could feel the reluctance as Damon let her go. She missed his warmth already. "I'm surprised Stefan hasn't called to find out where I am."
"Try to get some sleep tonight," Elena advised. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day." Damon nodded.
"I'll try," he said. He was never going to sleep tonight anyway, too nervous about the next day's race. Even if his nerves had been culled some, he was still relieved to have something to occupy himself. "I'll see you at breakfast in the morning?"
"Where else would I be?" Elena countered. "Your mother is making biscuits, sausage gravy, and bacon."
"That is a fair point," he agreed. He leaned down and kissed Elena's cheek. He found he was a lot more comfortable with that move these days, no matter how desperately he wanted to kiss her fully on the lips. "Sleep well, Elena."
"Get some sleep, Damon," she countered. She gave him one last smile before returning to the motor home. Caroline was awake and waiting for her in the front lounge. "Don't even start," she said, although there was a twinkle in her eyes.
"Can I be your maid of honor?" Caroline asked. Elena gave her a warning look. "Fine. We'll talk about that later. I'll just remind you that when you put, shall we say, one and one together, you could get another Molly. I'm sure Molly would love a baby brother or sister. She's pretty excited about a baby cousin, after all."
"I'm going to bed," Elena declared. "I'll see you in the morning." She closed the door to the back lounge to change to the sound of Caroline laughing.
In NASCAR, when you do major work to your car after qualifying like swapping an engine, you have to go to the back of the pack before the green flag drops. At Talladega and Daytona, the two restrictor plate tracks, they have what's called the draft - drivers use the airflow off of other cars to help move around the track faster and better. If you "get hung out" of the draft - lose the draft - you tend to lose positions until you regain it again. A lot of strategy is built around drafting at these two tracks.
And I know. You all are dying for Elena and Damon to do something more than hold hands or trade kisses on the cheek. Just hang in there, okay? Hang in there.
Part 3 of Talladega coming sometime this week!
Please let me know what you thought!