Chapter 14
"You found my cupcakes?! Those aren't for you two."
Caroline tugs Elena away from Damon after he accepts the cupcake from her outreached hand. Damon watches her shuffle away and back to Caroline's side of the living room. He wants to follow her across the room but doesn't dare. This Elena is far more affectionate toward him than he'd ever expect from his Elena, especially after she vowed to hate him forever. Slowly, something akin to hope sprouts within Damon that perhaps the future of his relationship with Elena is far less one-sided than he assumed.
Stefan runs his hands over his girlfriend's arms in an effort to calm her, but it doesn't seem to be working. Elena is rattled by the idea of living without her humanity, and honestly, so is he. Stefan has a hard enough time coping with the idea of Elena as a vampire, subtracting her humanity makes it worse. But the future Elena obviously has her humanity intact now. So, that's something.
"It's okay, Elena," he says. "You're here and whole. Things are different now because of the time portals. You don't have to become of a vampire. You can stay human."
Elena takes comfort in her boyfriend's words and curls into his broad chest for safety, but that familiar warm embrace still seems hollow when she glances at her future self.
"Thus, when the time comes, you can choose not to dump my car into the crushing depths of the ocean," Damon says with mouthful of cupcake. When both Elenas turn to him with amused smiles, he shrugs.
Stefan shakes his head. "Yes, that's the important part of this discussion, your car."
Elena wraps her arms around his waist to calm him and smiles into his chest. They are both right. Things don't have to happen the way they did for her future version. She can learn from those mistakes. She just has to find out everything she can about the future and learn what to avoid.
"What's with the cupcake?" Stefan asks, having missed the older Elena's display of affection and bribe.
"Oh, it's just a thing between Elena and me." Damon waggles his eyebrows at the brunette vampire, who rolls her eyes but can't help a small smile.
Human Elena scoffs at the insinuation and pulls away from her boyfriend to place her hands on her hips and glare at Damon. "It's just a thing that starts shortly after graduation with one of Caroline's bake sale cupcakes. Apparently, Damon does something sweet for the first time in his entire existence and decides to capitalize on the gesture for the next two hundred years."
"Still sore about that Jeremy thing, I see," Damon says as he pours another glass of bourbon. "Would it help if I gave you a cupcake?"
Elena's frown deepens before she opens her mouth to tell Damon where he can shove his cupcake, but Caroline cuts her off with an irate question.
"You told them about the cupcakes?" Caroline glares at vampire Elena. "What else have you told them?"
Elena shakes her head and lifts her hands in a placating manner. "Nothing. I didn't plan on telling them, but I had to explain it after that…memory…blast…thing happened."
"What?" Stefan asks, echoing Caroline's confusion.
"Memory blast?"
"Yeah, that's not a good name for it," Damon says, sipping from his glass. He grimaces and rubs at his chest. "How about 'memory strike'? What with the lightening and all."
"You were really struck by lightning?" Stefan asks. "Like 'really struck' or 'standing nearby struck'? What was it like?"
"Like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. What do you think it was like?" Damon scowls at his little brother's curiosity. "It hurt like hell. And there was a slight burning sensation."
"That's just the start of what can happen when doppelgängers from different timelines get too close. But you knew that Elena, so why did you do it?" Caroline says.
"It's my fault," human Elena says. "I wanted proof that she was really me and not another doppelgänger pretending."
"And Caroline, I am so glad we did because I got a memory back." Vampire Elena beams at her sister-in-law. "Well actually I got two."
"A memory? What do you mean?"
"Two of the memories I lost to compulsion. When I touched her, I was suddenly reliving it. I felt everything, thought everything, remembered everything from each moment. Now, it's like I never lost it."
Caroline stares at her friend. "What? How's that possible?"
"What memories did you get back?" Stefan asks, curios to hear about his future with Elena. Maybe some of her lost memories of him are ones he hasn't experienced with his Elena yet.
"The one about the cupcake and another when I convinced Damon that we'd help him open the tomb," human Elena says with a glance at Damon. He meets her gaze with a spark of recognition, but doesn't comment. Instead, he sips on his bourbon in silence.
"Oh," Stefan says. Shouldn't Elena's lost memories be of him and their life together. Why do they include Damon? Did Elena erase more than just Stefan from her mind? Given the current animosity his Elena has recently expressed toward Damon, it makes sense that if Stefan were to die and Elena wished to forget her life with him, she'd want Damon gone too. Maybe she had both Salvatore brothers erased from her mind. Of course, that would prove beneficial for Damon. The older Salvatore would probably do anything for a clean slate with Elena right now. Is that why the future Elena is so friendly with Damon? Has she forgotten all the crap he's pulled?
Of course. That explains it, Stefan grumbles to himself behind a deep frown. Elena notices the sudden shift in her boyfriend's demeanor and places a comforting hand on his arm. Stefan returns her concern with a tight-lipped shake of his head, and she sighs but lets it go.
"How do you know which memories returned?" Caroline asks human Elena. She hopes that it's only because future Elena blabbed her big mouth off about it.
"Because I saw them too," human Elena says. "I mean, not like she did. At least, not the first one – with the cupcakes. The first time it was like watching a movie. I didn't feel or relive anything. But the second one was different. It was our conversation about the tomb, and I did relive that one. It was like an out-of-body experience rather than a movie."
"I felt like I was reliving both of them," vampire Elena says.
"The first one was your memory," Damon says, pointing to vampire Elena and then shifting his finger to land on her younger version as he continues. "The second one was yours."
"As much as I hate to agree with Damon. He's right." Caroline rolls her eyes when he smirks at her. "This weird doppelgänger thing is unpredictable. Add in the fact that one of you is human and the other a vampire, and you've got a really weird, uniquely powerful situation. It sounds like the energy that you two generate from your close proximity is manifesting in memory flashes which is breaking your compulsion one memory at a time. Theoretically, if you can find the key memory, the one that was used to solidify the compulsion, and break through it…domino effect."
"Really? Are you sure?" Elena's eyes grow big with an excitement that Caroline hasn't seen since the accident half a century ago.
"Well, no, but it's my best guess."
"What, are you a witchepedia now?" Damon asks, throwing his hands up.
"My kids are the most powerful witches in the world, Damon. You think I would adopt twin girls and not research their heritage?"
"Caroline has read every witch book and grimoire that she's come across in the past century," Elena shoulder bumps the blonde with a proud smile. "She's our resident magic expert."
"Those who can't do, teach." Damon snickers as he pours another drink. Caroline frowns at him with a mock glare but doesn't respond.
"Can we control the memories?" human Elena asks from Stefan's side.
"The memory strikes," Damon offers.
"Whatever you want to call them," she says with an eye roll. "Can we decide which memory to recall?"
"I don't know." Caroline places a finger to her chin in thought. "What were you doing or thinking when you touched? Maybe there's a correlation?"
"That makes sense," vampire Elena says. "We were eating cupcakes in the kitchen, and right before we touched, I thought about how many apology cupcakes Damon's given me over the years."
"FYI, it's a lot," Caroline says with a pointed look at Damon. "Like thousands."
Damon scowls in disbelief. "Thousands?"
"You do a lot a of stupid things," Caroline says, and Stefan chuckles.
"At least, some things never change."
"What about the second memory," vampire Elena asks her counterpart. "If that was your memory, you must've triggered it somehow."
"Maybe. I was upset about your compulsion," human says as she considers it. "And…yes…yeah, I thought of that night just before we touched."
"So think about Atlanta," vampire Elena says.
"What?"
"That memory mentioned something about Atlanta, and I want to remember it."
"You don't remember Atlanta?" Damon's hurt tone garners a scowl from Stefan.
"What exactly happened there?" he asks.
"I don't remember much from that day. I know that I had a car accident and that Damon rescued me from the crash, but I don't remember it. I also know that eventually I came back to the boarding house to speak with Stefan. That's when I learned that I was adopted and that Stefan had been stalking me for six months," Elena says with a teasing smile toward her former lover.
"I wasn't stalking…" Stefan mutters, earning an 'I think you're adorable' smile from his girlfriend.
"So think of Atlanta, and let's do this." Vampire Elena flashes a brilliant grin at her younger version, but it dims when human Elena raises her hand.
"Wait. I want a memory first."
"What?" Caroline asks, voicing everyone's confusion.
"I want to know more about the future so that I can learn from it and avoid making bad decisions," human Elena says.
"Like destroying my car."
"Or losing my humanity," she says opposition to Damon's remark. "You give me a memory of the future, and I'll give you a memory of the past."
"Fine with me." Vampire Elena shrugs and steps toward her counterpart, but Caroline stops her.
"Are you forgetting the conversation we just had in the kitchen?"
"Oh right. I'm sorry, Caroline, but you can't expect me to give up the chance to get my memories back because you want to keep this stupid secret? For what, a few days?"
"You could just tell us your dirty little secret. Then you won't have to worry about lying," Damon says with a smirk. "You both suck at it, anyways."
"I take that as a compliment, thank you," Caroline says before turning back to her oldest friend. "Of course I can't ask you to give up your memories, but there has to be something…"
"You can't tell them," vampire Elena suddenly demands from her counterpart. She's stares directly at her younger version from across the room, and Caroline follows her lead, shifting to look at human Elena.
"Tell who what?" she asks.
"Anyone, anything," Caroline says.
"You can't tell anyone what you see in the memories," vampire Elena says. "At least, not until we say you can. A few days maybe."
"Because there's something you don't want everyone to know?"
"Right." Caroline glances between the two brothers and bites her lip.
"You mean, there's something you don't want us to know." Damon motions between him and his brother. "I told you. You're a terrible liar."
"Is it something bad?" Elena asks.
"No." Both vampires from the future answer simultaneously.
"This secret won't hurt anyone, will it?"
"No, we want to avoid that," Caroline says.
"Then what's the point of keeping it a secret?" Damon says as he plops on to the couch.
"Trying to avoid causing someone pain isn't a good enough reason to keep a secret?" Stefan asks him sarcastically.
Damon shrugs. "In my experience, it's usually the worst reason."
"Well that's not the stupidest thing you've ever said," Caroline says. "But it's pretty close."
"Fine." Human Elena waves her hand to interrupts the glaring contest between Caroline and Damon. "As long as no one gets hurt, I won't tell anyone what I see in the memories unless you say it's okay."
"Great! So you show me Atlanta, and I'll show you Atlanta."
"What do you mean?" human Elena asks.
"We went back to Atlanta shortly after I lost my memories."
"We did?" Damon asks from his seat, and Stefan frowns.
"We all went," Caroline says.
"Who's we?" Stefan asks.
"Just show her. You don't need doppelgänger hijinks to share a memory you haven't lost. I'll help, and we can do it from across the room," Caroline says to Elena, dismissing Stefan's question.
"How does it work?" human Elena asks. Suddenly, the boarding house is gone, and the three girls stand in a busy bar. "This is the bar in Atlanta."
"Right on," Caroline says with a smile. "Technically, we're in your mind."
"That's a little weird," Elena says, and her older counterpart chuckles.
"We came her sometime during our third semester at Whitmore to celebrate and because Damon and Stefan thought we all needed a break from school and life," Caroline says with a disapproving frown.
"Caroline wasn't thrilled about the impromptu trip," Elena says.
"Of course not. It was right before finals."
"Oh, my God. This is what we drove across state lines for?" A college-aged Caroline recoils in disgust as she and her two best friends walk through the door. They look around at the drunk people shuffling through the establishment. A group of young adults congregate on the small dance floor and around the busy bar.
"This is the address that Damon texted me," Bonnie says as she cringes away from an overly intoxicated couple. "Does this place look familiar, Elena?"
"Nope," she says with a tight grip on Bonnie and Caroline's arms. "Why don't we find a table."
Caroline claims the cleanest available tables and instructs Bonnie and Elena to help push them together. A few minutes later, the girls enjoy a space big enough for six. Bonnie's phone chimes as she sits next to Caroline on one side, and Elena claims the seat across from her.
"They'll be here in a few minutes. Apparently, driving with both Enzo and Stefan in the car was a big mistake."
"Yeah, they've been at each other's throats for weeks now," Caroline says. "That's one reason I insisted we drive separate from the boys. Less bickering."
"Really, I thought it was because you're still mad at Stefan and Elena refuses to stand in the same room as Damon," Bonnie says, and both vampires glare at the witch.
"Have we mentioned how much we've missed you?" Elena says, trying to fight a growing smile. As annoying as Bonnie has been about Elena's admittedly bad decision to compel away her love for Damon, she loves that Bonnie is back.
"You could stand to mention it more." Bonnie grins. "Especially, since I've been roped into this weird triple date."
"This is not a date!"
"So, not a date!"
Bonnie chuckles and glances around the dingy bar. She remembers when Damon told her of this place and his 'five-minute break' with Elena. It's funny that this is exactly how she pictured it.
"And you roped us into this trip, not the other way around," Elena says. "So how about dishing? Why did we drive for what seems like forever…"
"A week before finals," Caroline says.
"To some random bar in Georgia? Come on, Bonnie. Dish."
"What do you mean? We're hear to celebrate," Bonnie says. "I managed to convince the entire Gemini coven to help me take down the traveler's no-magic barrier. I am amazing."
"That is a fact. Hallelujah!" Caroline raises her hands over her head. "Two rounds of tequila, please!"
"Oh, come on. Do we have to drink?" Elena says.
"Yes," Caroline says. "You may not remember this, but I spent the entire summer scouring every magical book I could get my hands on. So did Alaric. We couldn't find even a clue on how to bring down that damn bubble."
"And then Bonnie came home." Elena flashes a smile the size of Texas as a waitress stops by the table to drop off six shots of Tequila.
"And then Bonnie came home." Caroline squeals as she pulls both girls into a bear hug. When the giggling girls pull apart, Elena snatches one of the shot glasses.
"To the most powerful witch ever. The witch that not only led a coven of Gemini witches against a spell the size of Mystic Falls, convinced them to store the magic from said spell into a crystal, but also figured out how to do it within just a couple of weeks of returning from the dead."
"I mean, I did have to bribe them by giving them the crystal, which may or may not be the most powerful artifact on the planet. But yeah, I'm a badass," Bonnie says with a belly laugh, and the girls shoot their first round of tequila.
"And this next one is to Bonnie surviving four months trapped in a..." Caroline attempts to toast her friend as she holds up her second shot, but pauses in confusion.
"1994 prison world," Bonnie says.
"Weird," Elena says.
"... a 1994 prison world all alone with only Damon for company. How you managed not to kill him, we'll never know," Caroline says and gulps her tequila.
Bonnie sets her shot down with a quiet smile. Elena just stares at her glass with a thoughtful expression that twists into a troubled frown.
Since Bonnie and Damon returned to the land of the living several weeks ago, Elena has bounced between joyous gratitude to have one of her best friends back and anxious frustration at having to deal with her lost memories. The worst part is that everyone expects her to feel something that she doesn't. She doesn't even like Damon, so how could she possibly love him?
Yes, she'd decided at one point to ask Ric to return her memories, but that wasn't an option anymore. Thanks to an unfortunate series of events after a vampire hunter kidnapped Caroline. During her rescue, Ric landed on the wrong side of the no-magic barrier on Mystic Falls. Jo swooped in to save his life, but it left Ric human and unable to remove his compulsion. It really sucks, but it's done. No matter how hard she tries, Elena can't feel how everyone keeps telling her she's supposed to feel about Damon. Shamefully, instead of discussing the situation with him like an adult, Elena opted to avoid him at all costs. And that's hard to do with a guy that seems to know you better than you know yourself. Especially, since all her friends are firmly in the 'you need to talk to Damon' opinion.
Lately, Elena has jumped out of more windows, vamp sped out of sight, and dodged more calls than she's ever thought possible. She just hasn't been ready to see him. The idea of facing a man that she despises, but that's unabashedly in love with her, is terrifying. She can't figure out how she could have ever fallen in love with a man that did all the terrible things she remembers. Her friends spent hours trying to correct her memory of Damon with tales of his heroics. They seemed to have a counter to every horrible memory she offered.
"He killed my brother."
"Only for a second. And he's saved Jeremy's life a couple times since then," Bonnie said. "When Katherine almost killed him…the second time…It was Damon that saved his life."
"And under Kohl's compulsion Damon was willing to let Jeremy kill him rather than kill Jeremy," Stefan said.
"He killed you, Ric. Twice!"
"The first time was self-defense. And the second time…he was just being a dick. But he did apologize, sort of. And he hasn't killed me since," Ric said with a shrug before adding, "even though, he's threatened a few times recently."
"He's the reason Jenna's dead."
"Well, actually…I'm more to blame than him," Caroline said with a frown. "He saved me from Klaus' freaky sacrifice, and Jenna somehow replaced me. But Damon didn't know that. In fact, I think he offered himself as a replacement to save Jenna. Instead, he got a werewolf bite for his troubles."
"Has Hell frozen over? Is Caroline actually defending Damon Salvatore?" Bonnie teased.
"Never! But if you're going to hate Damon, you have to hate him for the right reasons. Like the fact that he's a homicidal murderer that attacked my Dad."
"Was that before or after your dad tortured you in a creepy prison cell?"
"Shut up, Bonnie. Look Elena, we've all done horrible things that we regret. And somehow, against all odds, Damon seems to be on his best behavior when he's with you. Whether it's because he's always trying to impress you or because he actually wants to be a better person, I don't know. Personally, I think it's the former, but whatever. Damon managed to redeem himself in your eyes at some point. Enough that you fell in love with him. I don't understand it, but it happened. So, suck it up, and go see the man. At the very least, tell him you don't love him anymore and put him out of all our miseries. He's driving me crazy!"
Caroline was right of course. But even now, Elena's not sure she's ready. She knows that it hurts Damon that she won't even speak with him, but given all the horrible things she remembers about him, doesn't he deserve it?
Bonnie doesn't think so. Which is one of the strangest changes since their return. Bonnie and Damon are friends. Like, good friends. It's weird. Bonnie disagrees with Elena's avoidance tactics and has tried several times to get Elena to meet with Damon. That's why Elena is here now. Because Bonnie arranged it, and Caroline and Stefan agreed to act as a buffer. Caroline has always hated Damon, but recently her feelings have downgraded to intense dislike. Apparently she never approved of Elena's relationship with Damon, but now she doesn't disapprove.
Whatever that means, Elena murmurs to herself before returning her gaze to the witch.
"Why are we here, Bonnie? In this bar?"
"You should remember this place, Elena," Bonnie says. Her sympathetic expression annoys Elena.
"But I don't. So what happened here? What am I missing?"
Bonnie shrugs. "Fun. You and Damon had fun here. For the first time, you dropped your guard long enough to enjoy his company. At least, that's how he remembers it."
Elena opens her mouth to respond but freezes when three men walk through the door.
"Really? This is what we drove all day to see? We passed a hundred bars just like this one on the way here," Stefan says as he, Damon, and Enzo enter the bar.
"Are you kidding? This is my kind of place," Damon says with a playful look around. "Totally worth your negative attitude the whole way here."
"This is where you choose to hold a triple date?" Enzo says. "In my day, ladies preferred more romantic settings."
"It's not a date," both Salvatore brothers say.
"Whatever, mate."
Enzo makes a bee line for the pretty bartender. Damon and Stefan, on the other hand, head straight for the women's table.
Elena's eyes grow big at the sight of Damon as panic creeps into her chest and the urge to run kicks into overdrive. She jumps to her feet, ignoring Caroline and Bonnie's protests, only to have Damon vamp speed to her side. Blocking her escape, Damon frowns at the small brunette and makes a tsk sound.
"Making a break for it?"
Elena gasps at his sudden proximity, and his scent washes over her. She may not remember Damon, but her body responds to the familiar smell of leather and bourbon. Her legs weaken, and she crumbles back into her seat. Damon doesn't hesitate to claim the seat to her left, while Stefan sits to her right.
Feeling his familiar frame against her back, Elena glances at Stefan to see him watching Caroline. The blonde's fiery glare has him fidgeting in his seat. When Elena turns back to Damon, she finds him mouthing something to Bonnie, but he stops as soon as he notices Elena's attention. Instead, he meets her gaze with so much hope and barely controlled need that Elena grimaces under the weight of it.
"I figured it was worth a try," she says, looking away from his puppy dog eyes. She certainly doesn't remember them being that blue. Or that beautiful. Or his smell. How is she expected to think properly with him this close to her? She grabs her remaining shot of tequila and downs it.
"Well, anything?" Damon asks as she places the empty glass back on the table. She can see now that everyone is watching her, waiting to see if meeting Damon for the first time since his revival has restored her memories.
"Sorry, nothing," she says, and the group seems to groan together.
"Ah, Miss." Damon grabs the nearest waitress by the arm and flashes her a simmering look designed to capture her undivided attention. "I'm going to need bourbon. Lots of it. In fact, just bring the bottle."
"Because that's a good idea," Bonnie says, and Damon frowns at her.
"You're going to want to cap her at three shots of tequila. After that, she gets pretty mean and somewhat pukey," he stage-whispers to the waitress, and she giggles while Bonnie rolls her eyes. Elena watches the exchange but makes no comment.
Damon points to Elena. "That one is going to want," he gags, "cotton candy vodka. And the blonde is going to want the same, so you might as well bring a bottle."
"Cotton candy vodka?" Elena asks.
"Oh my God, yes! That's a great idea, Elena," Caroline says before remembering that she's supposed to be mad and returns to her glowering state.
"It's your favorite," Damon whispers to Elena, forgetting about the waitress as she runs off to fill the order. His waggles his eyebrows, and Elena can't help the small smile that escapes.
"I know," she whispers back. Damon smiles at her and, for a moment, Elena feels at ease with him. Then she notices the intense longing in his eyes. The way his eyes roam over her entire face as though he hasn't seen her in years and only the thought of her face kept him alive. He looks at her like she imagines a starving dog would look at a slab of meat. No, that isn't right. Damon doesn't want to eat her. But he does want to devour her. And that thought sends a wave of heat across her nerve endings that knocks the breath from her lungs.
She looks away from his perfectly sculptured face and tries to focus on the conversation between Caroline and Stefan.
"Caroline, you're going to have to speak to me eventually," Stefan says, but the blonde just raises an eyebrow as if to say, 'Do you want to bet?'
"Actually, she went three weeks without speaking to me when we were in third grade," Bonnie says. "She's very good at the silent treatment."
"Come on, you can't stay mad forever." Stefan lays his palms on the table. "You haven't answered my calls in weeks. I've left a dozen messages."
"Hmmmm." Caroline crosses her arms over her chest and cocks her head to the side.
"That means 'now you know how it feels," Elena says with a teasing smile. She tries to remain focused, but Damon's presence at her side seems to tug at her attention. She can feel his shoulder against hers, and it sends shivers down her back.
Caroline clears her throat pointedly, and Bonnie interprets. "Correction, in a few months you'll know how it feels."
Stefan sighs and lays his head against the table. "Come on, Caroline."
"Eh, mate, I've snagged you the good stuff," Enzo says as he claims the only remaining seat. He squeezes in next to Bonnie, who gives him a warning glance, and across from Damon, who smiles at his friend's return.
"Why, thank you, Enzo," Damon says in an overly cheery fashion that reveals his truly sour mood. He graciously accepts the bottle and takes a big swig.
"I take it the reunion was without fireworks, so the balance of nature is still…whatever…" Enzo says, sipping from his mug of beer.
"What?" Elena asks, looking to Damon. He shrugs and takes another drink before speaking.
"A guy can hope."
"So because Elena doesn't remember you, you're just going to drink yourself into a stupor?" Bonnie asks.
"Number one," Damon says, poking his brother's prone head with the bottle. Stefan lifts his face from the table and takes the bottle for his own swig. "She remembers me, just all the bad parts."
Elena grimaces, painfully aware of his arm bumping into her as he reaches for Stefan. She nods her head in confirmation of his assessment, and he continues speaking with only a slight linger on her face before turning back to Bonnie.
"Number two, I have plenty to drink about. Ignoring Elena's current predicament, Stefan gave up on me while I was dead and somehow managed to piss off Blondie. Ric royally screwed me and is back to his useless human form. Enzo, you…well…you're actually a good friend. Almost as good as Bon-Bon."
"Almost?" Enzo lifts a hand in protest.
"She freed us from a retro pocket world and destroyed the no-magic hamster ball over Mystic Falls. Do that, and I'll promote you."
"I think I'll just wait for her to die."
"What about me?" Caroline asks.
"What about you? You were supposed to keep this boat a float. Instead, you let Stefan run off to play house and let Elena destroy her memories." When she narrows her eyes at him, he adds. "Did you miss me?"
"Not even a little bit."
Everyone chuckles, and Elena is surprised by the ease at which everyone falls into friendly banter. Enzo makes a couple of suggestive remarks to Bonnie to which Damon responds with a friendly warning not to mess with the witch. He decides to heed the warning and asks Caroline to dance instead. When Stefan complains again about her ignoring him, Caroline smirks at the younger Salvatore and accepts Enzo's offer. A few minutes into the first song, Stefan stands from the table and announces that he's going to track down their drinks.
"He still hasn't figured it out?" Bonnie asks Damon as soon as Stefan's out of earshot. Damon raises a finger and waits until Stefan is close enough to the blaring jukebox that he can't eavesdrop with his vamp hearing.
"Nope, he's clueless. He keeps going on and on about her not returning his calls. Hell, even Enzo's figured it out, but he hasn't said anything about it yet. I'd feel bad for my little brother if he wasn't such an idiot."
"What are you talking about?" Elena asks, fascinated with Damon's sudden need to gossip. "Clueless about what?"
"What do you think?" he says with a nod in Caroline's direction, and Elena's eyes widen above a small smile.
"You know about that?"
"Of course."
"How did you find out?" Elena asks and then turns to Bonnie with a frown. "Bonnie!"
"I didn't tell him."
"She didn't have to. I suspected something was up during our hide out in her dad's cabin," Damon says and leans in close to Elena. "But I bet you don't remember that."
Elena leans back as Damon advances closer. His piercing gaze has her trapped like a deer in headlights and her heart hammers away. She takes a shaky breath, and Damon's expression changes. His eyes narrow as he realizes the affect his proximity has on her. He smirks, and Elena realizes she's in trouble.
"Do you want to dance?" he asks, and her body screams 'yes.'
"No," she says. When he tilts his head and sticks his bottom lip out in a pout, Elena's eyes fall to watch his luscious lips twist across his face. For a moment, all she can think about is how wonderful they'd feel against her skin. Then he's gone. Standing from his chair, he holds out a hand to Bonnie.
"Bon-Bon?"
She shrugs and accepts the offer to dance. Elena watches them on the dance floor for several minutes, mesmerized by Damon's skill. The man can dance, no doubt about it. And he's so much fun to watch. Maybe he'll get all hot and sweaty from the exertion and take off his shirt.
"Any ideas?" Stefan asks as he returns to the table with a bottle of cotton candy vodka.
Elena jumps in her seat. "What? Ideas about what? I'm not staring."
Stefan looks at her with a raised eyebrow before motioning to the blonde vampire at the bar with Enzo. "I'm talking about Caroline."
"Oh yeah, of course. What can I do?"
"Tell me how to fix this? She's your friend too. If you were in my position, what would you do?" Stefan asks, pouring two shots of the sweet vodka.
"Well for starters, I'd never be in your position." Elena raises one shot glass to him before swallowing it. Stefan chuckles and pours her another.
"That doesn't help me."
"Sorry, Stefan, but friend code clearly states…"
"I know, I know. You have to take your best friend's side," Stefan says before throwing back his own shot and then grimacing. "Oh, that's disgusting."
Elena giggles at the face he makes and bumps his shoulder. "Don't waste it. That's the good stuff."
"Don't let Damon hear that. He'd never forgive you."
At the mention of him, Elena glances back to dance floor to find Damon dancing with another girl and Bonnie talking to Caroline at the bar.
"He's not what I expected," she says, and Stefan nods.
"Yeah, he's kind of annoying that way."
Elena slips her arm through Stefan's and leans her head against his shoulder as she watches Damon and the new girl. Elena notices to a tinge of jealousy creeping into the back of her mind that tugs on her bloodthirst, but she squashes it. She doesn't have a right to feel jealous over someone she dislikes. But does she truly dislike him? Honestly, no. Elena sighs as she realizes that she doesn't hate Damon anymore.
How did that happen?
Does she love him? No, definitely not love. Lust, maybe. That's going to be hard to curb moving forward.
Moving forward? Am I moving forward with Damon? Elena considers the idea of spending more time with the older Salvatore brother. Surprisingly, a gaggle of butterflies flutter inside at the idea, and she smiles.
"I'm going to have to talk to him, aren't I?"
"You mean like a real, serious, adult conversation? I'm afraid so," Stefan says with his own brand of snarky. Elena playfully pushes against his shoulder again. She glances at his face, expecting to meet his green gaze. Instead, he's watching Caroline playfully smack Enzo on the shoulder for saying something crude. The frown on his brooding face makes her smile even more.
When she glances back at Damon, she finds him watching her. Her smile falters when she realizes that he isn't happy. He glances between Stefan and Elena with a deep frown and turns away. Confused at first, Elena watches Damon turn away from her and put his arm around a nearby college-aged man to coax him quietly through the back door. It isn't until she notices Caroline frowning at her and Stefan a few moments later that Elena realizes the impression she must be giving. She's acting too comfortable with Stefan. She tugs her arm free, and Stefan barely notices.
He's so fixated on Caroline, Stefan forgets to excuse himself when he stands from the table. Much to Caroline's surprise, Stefan strolls right up to her at the bar and drops to his knees. He holds out his hands in surrender and speaks loudly for the whole bar to hear.
"This is what you've forced me to resort to, Caroline. You won't return my calls, and you refuse to speak to me. You won't accept my apologies, so here I am. I'm now on my knees begging you to forgive me."
"Oh, that's just sad," Enzo says and walks away from the sorry sight. Several patrons laugh, but others "ooh and aww." Caroline covers her face in embarrassment before peeking around her fingers.
"What are you doing? Stefan, get up."
"Absolutely. As soon as you forgive me."
"I'm not forgiving you yet. I've been a damn good friend to you, and you ignored me all summer. I told you, I deserve better than that."
"You're right, you do. I promise I'll never forget how lucky I am to have you for a friend," Stefan says, but Caroline shakes her head, so he pulls out the big guns. "I spent the summer before drowning over and over again inside a safe at the bottom of the quarry. And you never came looking for me."
Caroline's eyes grow to the size of saucers at the mention of Stefan's horrific experience. Her mouth falls open for a moment before she slams it shut.
"Can we call it even?" she says between tight lips.
"Deal," he says, climbing back to his feet.
"Good. Now buy me a drink before Enzo comes back."
Elena smiles at her two friends. If they can come to an agreement, why can't she and Damon? Speaking of which, Elena decides now is as good a time as any. She jumps to her feet and strolls to the back door, where she last saw Damon. As she reaches the door, Elena's vamp hearing picks up on the sound of Damon's voice. She should've been surprised at how easily it is for her mind to pick up his deep cadence given the noise of the bar, but she isn't.
"Now, you're going to take those roofies to the nearest police department and confess all your crimes…"
Roofies? Elena remembers the roofie guy at her first vampire hunt a couple of years ago. Damon taught her how to hunt, and she had fun dirty dancing with him. But that was due to sire bond, right?
Elena decides to ask and shoves the door open. Damon stands in the back alley, watching the college-aged guy walk away and around the building.
"Who was that?" Elena asks.
"Just my latest meal," he says as he wipes the blood from his mouth. Elena watches him and wonders why he doesn't tell her about the roofie guy. Does he not want her to know about his good deed? Something irks at the back of her mind, and she has a feeling that she should know the answer to that question. Has he done this before, committed a kind act and hidden the fact from her? Does he think she'll disagree with his actions?
No, that's not it.
"Are you mad at me?" She asks, and Damon smiles at the question.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't know, Elena. Maybe because after months in my own personal hell with the chattiest witch on Earth, I manage to crawl my way back to you. Only to find that you don't remember anything good about me. Oh, and you refused to see or talk to me for weeks. So pick a reason, any reason."
"You're right," Elena yells at him and steps forward with her arms out. "I made a mistake. A stupid mistake that I regret immensely, Damon. And I'm ashamed that I've been too afraid to confront you. I've been running away every chance I get. I ran away from my grief, and then I ran away from you. I'm so sorry, buf I want to fix it. Tell me how to fix it."
"Your memories are gone, Elena."
"So help me remember, Damon. One memory at a time and start with this bar. What's so special about this bar?"
Damon stares at her for a moment, deciding what to do. He'd like to go find some road to lie on for a few hours and eat the first person that stumbles across him. But that won't fix anything. He doubts whether it would even make him feel better at this point. There's only one thing that will ease this heartache, and that's Elena. So he points to the end of the alley and behind her. When she turns her back to him to look, he steps in close. She stiffens at his nearness, but the rabbit speed of her heart and the hitch in her breath reassures him. He savors the feel of Elena pressing against his chest as he raises his arm again.
"That's where you saved my life for the first time," Damon whispers into her ear. "You saved me from the consequences of my mistake."
Elena doesn't say anything but turns to face him. They stare at each other for several minutes, and he wonders what she's thinking. Honestly, he's just glad that she's talking to him. She didn't run away but sought him out. That's progress. God, he misses the days when he could kiss her anytime he wanted. He's spent days locking lips with this feisty brunette and wearing out his bed. He'd give anything to press her against that brick wall and remind her of the summer they spent exploring every inch of each other. Oh, the things he learned about her. He licks his lips, and she takes a deep breath. Damon steps away from Elena, leaving her cold at the sudden loss of his heat, and he opens the heavy door. The music from the bar blares into the alley, and Elena can see Caroline and Stefan moving to the beat on the dance floor.
"Come on, Elena. Let's have some fun."
And they did. They all ordered hamburgers, and Damon stole Elena's pickle. Everyone, but Bonnie, raced Tequila shooters. Instead, Bonnie got to crown Elena 'the fastest drinker' of the group. The boys won the game of Quarters against the girls, but Elena and Caroline didn't mind because they got to finish off the bottle of cotton candy vodka. It was one of the best nights since before the travelers took over Mystic Falls. Elena also considers it her first date with Damon.
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