Someone recently PM'd me asking why the extent of Delena's interaction in my story is Elena always asking what's wrong with Damon and I thought it would be best to address it here just in case anyone else peeped that as well. In short (no offense to DE shippers) that is what I see Delena as. Elena catering to Damon and his manpain, stroking his ego or screaming at each other when they're not jumping each other's bones (which will only be alluded to in this story, if any at all). So...um...yeah. Again no offense to those that do ship Delena, that's just my view on their relationship solely going by what was shown on the show.
Marcel is just pulling out his wallet to pay his tab when he sees someone slide into the seat right next to him and he stops and sets his wallet down onto the countertop,
"I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm going to need another drink. Just make it strong."
Damon rolls his eyes when the bartender nearly trips over her feet as she turns to do as he requests. Seriously, what he said wasn't even charming.
"You need to leave." Damon begins without preamble when Marcel merely spares him a sideglance in greeting.
Damon watches in confusion as a range of emotions flash over his former friend's profile until he looks down, a smile slowly spreading across his lips.
"Damon, if there's anyone between the two of us who that has overstayed their welcome. It's you. So until Bonnie makes it clear to me that she doesn't want me around anymore, I'm not leaving. As I've told you before I didn't even know Bonnie knew you until I saw you at her home. Which came as a surprise since she's told me about all of her friends. She even mentioned Stefan in passing. But the name Damon Salvatore never passed her lips despite her unintentional background check. Why do you even care?" Marcel asks after a brief pause.
"I'm just looking out for Bonnie."
"Is that so?"
"Why else would I care?"
"We both know that if I was really a threat Bonnie would have handled me by now. So do you really want my answer to that question?"
"Let's just say that it seems to me that you have a type." Marcel starts when Damon remains silent, making it perfectly clear to him that Damon hasn't changed a bit. Proving him to be the perfect example that maturity does not come with age. And from the looks of it, experience doesn't help the elder Salvatore learn much either. "So if you want to continue to do this pining from afar, living in denial thing. That's fine with me. But let's just be clear," Marcel waits until Damon meets his eyes "I'm not your brother." Afterwards, rising up from his seat, removing a crisp fifty dollar bill from his wallet setting it on the bar before making his way to the door.
"Marcel?" The bartender calls him, disappointment clear in her voice.
"It's for him." Marcel motions to Damon who wordlessly takes the drink that's placed in front of him and downs it, actually enjoying the burn as it slides down his throat. Ordering another round. And another, and another.
Until it fades to black.
When he comes to he's being hauled into what feels like a bed and is faintly aware of a familiar feminine voice and a masculine voice going back and forth.
"How…"
"Marcel called and told me where to find him." The male voice answers dejectedly.
"Marcel?" Elena frowns "He was with Marcel?"
"He said he was having a drink and then Damon came and decided to join him. What happened after that, I don't know."
Damon seriously doubted that.
"But why didn't Marcel-"
"Marcel left as soon as Damon had his first drink. He had something to take care of."
"Okay but that still doesn't-"
"That's something that you're going to have talk to Damon about."
"Stefan, wait-"
Elena stops when he pulls the door closed, followed by his footsteps retreating from the door and down the stairs. And she sighs wondering what was happening. Stefan's never done that to her before. Maybe something's happened. With that in mind she rushes over to her phone and frowns when she doesn't see any new notifications aside from her anal lab partner. Deciding to ignore it she slides her phone into her back pocket and walks over to where Damon is lying, quickly taking his shoes off and picking him up as she pulls the covers to his bed back. Letting him flop back down, a look of pure disappointment on her face as she for lack of better term tucks him in. He's just about to call her name when he sees her walk over to a chair grabbing her purse and a jacket turning off the lights before making her exit and he feels the pull of sleep, not bothering to fight it.
The next day he wakes up to an empty bed and from the sounds of it, an empty house. He quickly comes to the conclusion that maybe they've already left for school but nixes that idea when he sees that it's half past four and he frowns. Spotting his phone on the nightstand he sees a text from Elena informing him about her studying with Caroline and Bonnie and he immediately sets the phone down and hops out of his bed. Going through what would normally be his morning routine and walks outside surprised to see his car in the driveway. But figures Stefan must've went and got it. Without another thought he slides behind the wheel and peels out onto the road in the direction of the Mystic Grille.
When Damon walks through the front doors of the Grille he finds himself slightly taken back at the sight he's greeted with. There sitting at his regular table were Caroline and Stefan. Which normally wouldn't bother him but he sees Marcel walking over to them setting a pink drink in front of Caroline and another in front of the empty chair next to him. He can't help the uneasy feeling that washes over him. Though lately with Marcel, comes Bonnie so he immediately looks around for the witch but instead he sees Elena walking towards the table sliding into the seat right beside Marcel with a wide grin on her face until she suddenly tenses, letting her eyes roam around the room and she looks as if she's about to throw up when she meets his eyes.
"Elena?"
Damon narrows his eyes when he hears actual concern in Marcel's voice and he forces his features to shift into a neutral expression when he sees him start to follow Elena's line of vision along with everyone else. After a moment Caroline and Stefan exchange glances resulting in Stefan reluctantly getting up from his seat and walking over to where he is standing.
"Damon." Stefan greets his brother in an even tone of voice though Damon can tell that he's more than prepared to step in if he loses it.
"Stefan." Damon mirrors his tone keeping his eyes on Elena who slowly starts to rise from her seat making her way over to join him and Stefan, a look of pure guilt on her face.
"I thought you were studying with Bonnie and Caroline."
Stefan looks at Elena and smiles, clearing his throat to stop the laugh that wants to escape,
"Well technically that's not a complete lie," Stefan starts, deciding to help her out.
"Stay out of this Stefan." Damon cuts his eyes at his brother.
While Elena looks at him as if she's wondering where he's going with this.
"Bonnie's birthday is next week and we were just trying to see what we could do. With everything going on with the cure, we thought it would be nice if we did something for her before things inevitably go to shit." Stefan finishes ignoring his brother's interruption. Smiling when he sees that he's thrown his brother off.
Elena feels a small tug at the corner of her mouth then turns her attention to Damon waiting for his reaction. Not sure how to feel when he only looks mildly annoyed.
"Do you want to join us?"
"Not really." Damon answers looking around the restaurant until he spots a familiar face taking a seat at the bar "Excuse me." He mutters walking around both Stefan and Elena, stopping when Elena steps in front of him placing her hand on his chest to keep him from walking into her.
"You're not mad?"
"Should I be?" He questions, suddenly curious as to why she expects him to be angry.
"Well...no." she says after a moment "But," She presses her lips together when Damon looks at her.
"Elena, you're old enough to make your own decisions, if one of them is lying to me then…" He lets his sentence trail off with a shrug.
"Damon,"
"Like I said, old enough to make your own decisions." He nods walking around her sliding into the seat next to an old acquaintance leaving her standing there with a conflicted look on her face.
"When I was told a Salvatore was looking for me I wasn't expecting the man child."
"Oh, I missed you to Luce." Damon smiles at the insult he's greeted with.
"What do you want Damon?"
"Not here."
"If you think I'm going anywhere with you alone-"
"A little forward of you." He teases.
"I wouldn't touch you if my life depended on it."
"Now we both know that's not true."
"I've met three of your bed partners. Two of which have made it very clear that your little brother is better in bed than you are. And you killed the other before she got the chance to even meet him. Ripped her heart right out of her chest. So you'll have to excuse me for not wanting to go anywhere near your bed." Lucy takes a sip of her drink "Now that that's settled. Are we going to continue to talk about nothing, or are you going to tell me why I'm in this waste of space town?"
"Your little cousin is on a suicide mission." Damon replies after hearing several snickers.
"What?" She turns to face him, her features twisted into a scowl.
"Bonnie Bennett? This tall," he raises his hand to mimic her height "green eyes, almost as much as a pain in the ass as you were when you were going through your little-"
Lucy rolls her eyes "It's been five years, get over it." she growls, earning several raised eyebrows from a group of vampires hanging on every word of their conversation "Now get to the point."
Damon presses his lips together and looks at her. Watching in satisfaction when she groans muttering several expletives as she gets down from her seat. Once he sees that she's halfway to the door he pulls out a twenty and slaps it on the bar. Sending a smile to Marcel who chuckles and turns his attention to the phone he's just pulled out of his pocket.
"Hey Bon,"
He frowns watching as Marcel silently excuses himself from the table and slips down the hallway out of sight, while his brother, Caroline and Elena all start to talk among themselves.
"What's going on?" Lucy frowns when he walks up to her.
"Have you ever heard of Silas?"
Damon tenses watching as gray clouds start to roll in from nowhere until the sun is completely blocked a strong breeze kicking in, when he looks back to Lucy he sees that her eyes are locked on something in the direction of the Grille to see Elena talking to Matt as he cleans a table.
Lucy feels a range of emotions wash over her, the most prominent being disappointment. She understood that Bonnie was loyal but she wasn't aware that it was to the point that she was willing to go that far over the edge. Though she shouldn't be surprised considering the stories Bonnie has shared with her about things she had done for Elena in the past but this...
She lets that thought trail off, as much as she didn't want to do this to her cousin, as far as she was concerned, family came first. And with that being said, Bonnie was her priority.
"Luce," Damon calls slowly reaching out to touch her shoulder ignoring the shock that greets him, not removing his hand until she turns to him.
"Either you talk her out of it or I'm stepping in, and you won't like my solution." Lucy says her eyes flitting back to the doppelganger waiting until realization dawns on the vampire's face, disappearing before he can respond.
"Shit." Damon mutters. He knew Lucy could be cut throat―it was actually one of the things that he liked about her, before Bonnie she was the latest of Emily's descendants that he considered to be his favorite―but he didn't expect her to be willing to go that far.
"Well what did you expect, Damon?"
Damon groans and reluctantly turns around to face the source of the voice, greeted by the sight of a witch―of a different variety―staring back at him with a hint of a smile on her lips. And he finds himself wanting nothing more than for her to go back to whatever hole she crawled out of...which he considers strange considering she is a carbon copy of the woman that he shares a bed with every night. But when he allows himself to look at her he sees the one thing that makes them stand apart, at least when she's not impersonating her.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Lucky for you, I've decided to help." Katherine smiles.
"I'm going to have to pass on that." He says dismissively.
"I want it just as much as you do."
"And that's exactly the problem."
Katherine rolls her eyes,
"Think about it Damon. You let me in, I can take it and use it as a bargaining chip. Klaus wants it for the same reason you do. Different goals but for the same person. You get what you want. I get what I want."
"You had me...and then you lost me."
"It's either we help each other out or you go and do this your way. And as much as you hate to admit it, you know that I'm better at this type of thing than you are. Unlike you, I think big picture. I have backup plans…" she smiles remembering a previous conversation "I explained this to you before. And despite you throwing a wrench in them and thinking you got the better of me, you didn't, you had one job and you failed. Protecting your sweet, innocent, precious Elena." her mouth curling around her knockoff's name "How is that going by the way? No, I'm genuinely curious to hear your answer." she says when he cuts his eyes at her "Because from the outside looking in, it seems to me that you've finally figured out that there's not much to look at when you're all up close and personal." She smirks when she sees the flash of resentment in his eyes.
"And it seems to me like you don't have a life." Damon replies "Now if you'll excuse me." He turns his back to her, stopping in his tracks at the next thing that comes out of her mouth.
"What if I told you I know how to break the sire bond?" She calls out after him.
He keeps his back to her for a full two minutes to turn around bracing himself to see a smirk or for her to out right laugh in his face. Instead seeing that she looks completely serious.
"Five hundred years, countless turns. You think I haven't had this problem before?" She questions taking several steps closer when he gives her a look of disbelief.
"Oh get over yourself."
"Coming from you, that's rich." she retorts "Besides who said I was even talking about you?" she asks "Though that can be up for debate." She mutters after mulling it over.
"Prove it."
"We both know that's not how this works." she shakes her head "You have until the day you leave for Nova Scotia to make your decision. Stefan knows how to reach me." She informs him as she walks backwards before speeding away.