Thank you for the lovely feedback. A special shout out to the guest reviewer, I wish I could message you back to discuss further!
I've started back at work this week, and I'm getting used to my new schedule. I managed to write the first 30 chapters of A True Best Friend whilst working so I know I can do it, it's just taking time to settle back in.
Apologies if there's any delays whilst I adjust! This chapter is shorter than usual as a result, but it was also a nice place to pause the story. I did add a bit of Damon POV to the end, as requested.
TW; Pregnancy
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Elena's eyes wouldn't open, when she tried her vision didn't make sense; the world was upside down; dark and wet. She was floating, yet falling, a spinning plate about a precarious pole. She was wobbling, the chaos of her mind about to shatter.
His voice engulfed her, surrounding her thoughts in a welcome haze. His touch on her neck was pulling her back to reality. Damon. His name was Damon.
He said she would be okay.
The inevitable crack of porcelain didn't come when the spinning slowed, instead she was tumbling and then she soared. The white behind her eyes was glowing, overwhelming her; before it started to fall before her.
The snow was falling, and she was on a sled, Jeremy between her legs as they hurtled down the slope. A slight bump lifting her into the air, a laugh erupting from her brother as they spun and slid down to her waiting father.
"Elena," it was his voice again, the richness of it soothing the pain in her head, "Elena, can you open your eyes."
But her eyes were open, weren't they? She was in the snow, laughing as she made a snow angel; the sky was glorious, blue. Like his eyes.
There he was, leaning over her. It was suddenly much dimmer, the thought of snow pulled from her as she awoke to his voice, his car.
"Damon," she breathed, as she realised where she was, reality flooding over her, an unwelcome tsunami, "Damon, slow down."
To her surprise, he eased off the pedal, squeezing her fingers as he did so. She hadn't realised she'd grabbed his hand, but now her brain caught up with her body and she wasn't going to stop. She needed a tether to this world; the snow had been so appealing.
"You're awake," he said softly, letting go of her hand to pull his wrist to his mouth. The sound that followed made her stomach roll, the sight of the bloodied wound when he stretched it in front of her face sending her gag reflex into overdrive.
He stopped the car in time for her to open the door, the contents of her stomach finding the asphalt and not his precious car. Her face was flushing from the shame or from the shock she wasn't sure, but she knew she didn't want to turn back to him. She didn't want his blood, or his pity.
She wanted the snow; she wanted her Dad.
"You'll feel better if you drink my blood, however unpleasant a thought that apparently is." Why did his voice sound so appealing? Why did it make her want to turn into the car and take the pain relief he was offering?
Her head was still throbbing, the edges of the world fuzzy under the intense ache. The treeline was blurring into a sea of the darkest green, an inviting ocean she could drown in.
She shook her head at him, "No vampire blood."
"That's just stupid," He sighed, "there's no downside." His voice was losing its softness, the expected sarcasm sneaking him. If anything, it was more endearing. "You die, you get to stay here. If you choose not to transition, you get time to say goodbye. No downside. It's an easier sell than Viagra."
She shook her head again. So many times, since learning about Stefan, she had considered this choice. She wanted children, wouldn't want to live without that option for her future. Maybe she didn't want the white picket fence, but she longed for the laughter, the first moments. She wanted the joy of children, more than she wished to live. An extra day would just prolong everyone's grief; goodbyes were overrated.
"Then I'm taking you to the ER." He tried to make it sound soft, she could tell that much. He was biting though, snapping at her. He was feeling rejected.
How could she have such clarity about his emotions when she could barely see her own fingers in front of her face? Perhaps she'd bumped her head, injured her brain irrevocably so that it could think of nothing but him, of the way he touched his knuckles to her cheekbone before they set off, of the way his arms carried her with such surety into the hospital.
It must take a brain injury to be this consumed by the thought of Damon Salvatore.
The fluorescent lights were not dampened by the curtain drawn around her cubicle. She was not deemed an emergency, able to walk and talk; she even made an attempt at her own paperwork. She did warrant a doctor and several nurses though, drawing blood and demanding a urine sample. Elena almost hoped for death after the experience of an anxious Damon hovering outside the bathroom. She would give anything to forget him speaking to her through the door, his vampiric hearing obvious when he responded to her whispered cursing.
She was getting impatient, desperate to leave this clinical hell. When she was a child, she loved hospitals. Now they had the atmosphere of eeriness, her memories flashing to waking up to a tearful Jeremy and Sheriff Forbes standing vigil.
Finally, a nurse with a clipboard drew back the curtain and stepped through. Damon stood, greeting the nurse with a level of curtsey barely seen this century. To his credit, the poor woman's cheeks flushed scarlet.
"Miss Gilbert, it appears you have a mild concussion and some bruising. There's no fractures or internal bleeding, so we can discharge you if you have somewhere to go where you can be observed."
"She does," Damon responded before she could answer, the grip on her hand tightening once again. She had to decide how she felt about that.
"There's something else in your tests, Miss Gilbert, that perhaps we should discuss alone." The nurse looked pointedly at Damon, her eyes flickering to the opening in the curtain she wished he would step through.
Thankfully, he obliged. It was unnecessary, it didn't matter if he was a hundred feet away, he would hear this conversation.
"Your urine results show elevated levels of HCG," The nurse surmised, "When was your last period?"
Elena frowned at the question, fumbling for her cell and then reading the date on her tracker out to the nurse.
She nodded, scribbling it down. "Then, Miss Gilbert, we can say you are approximately four weeks pregnant."
Her first thought was the vampire out in the hall, how he must be fighting every nerve in his body to not storm in and make some ridiculous comment. She ran through the things he would say, his expressions and the reaction the poor nurse would have, a laugh escaping her lips.
The nurse raised an eyebrow, arching at her, "You, of course, have options."
Options. The word seemed so hysterical, the idea that she had branches she could take and that any of those branches ended in happiness.
She could see Zach's face, his glare as he tutted at her. She could see the light die in Jenna's eyes as she realised Elena had thrown her life away. She could see Ric's disapproving stare, Bonnie's pitying smile. Hell, she could practically feel the bear hug Jeremy would engulf her in.
He was there in milliseconds, his arms encircling her as the sobs came.
It could have been minutes or hours before she pulled back, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "I guess you heard?" She questioned, unsure of what else to possibly say.
He nodded, stroking her hair out of her face, unsticking the matted tangles from the sweat on her skin.
"They said you can't go home alone tonight." He added, "Stay with me."
Elena was surprised that not a cell in her body wanted to protest. It had been a long evening, a longer night, and she just wanted to sleep.
Everything else was too surreal. It must be a dream.
A really fucked-up dream.
He compelled a nearby nurse, getting her entire file handed over, before they were back in his car and speeding towards the boarding house.
She knew, logically, the speed should terrify her. She knew that figure could be there again, she could die this time. They could die this time.
Her mind was elsewhere though, searching her heart for the response she needed. All she had right now was emptiness, shock. The earlier images of her families' faces suggested she should feel shame, revolt. The picture of her future suggested she should feel glad, happier than she ever had before.
Instead, it was empty. Her heart was empty.
Every so often, he pulled her back to reality again. A stroke on the back of her hand, a call of her name. He was there, not letting her collapse into herself.
When he pulled back his bedsheets, holding out a clean shirt for her to wear, she didn't protest.
When he held her in his arms as she fell asleep, she felt only gratuity.
When she dreamt, she saw only him. Almost. She tried to not notice the tiny hand he held, the piercing eyes that looked up at her so adoringly.
The buzzing went on for an eternity, pulling her from the scene. She growled, rolling towards the sound and her hand reaching out to her bedside table.
When her knuckles instead connected with wood, she swore, her eyes shooting open to an end table that wasn't hers. She took in the room; pristine in white and oak, the room still managed to be opulent.
The buzzing pulled her from her thoughts as she registered the weight beside her, her cell demanding her attention. She answered the call.
"Morning," her voice was hoarse, even as she cleared her throat.
"There's been another attack," Tyler's voice echoed down the line, "You weren't at home to tell."
She rolled her eyes, of course this morning to be the one Tyler decided to check on her. Usually, he never even went near her bedroom door, never mind trying to wake her.
Instead of making excuses for herself, she snapped at him, "When's the meeting?"
"One, at the manor."
She nodded before she remembered he couldn't see her, "I'll be there."
Clicking the call off before he could ask probing questions, she sighed and collapsed back onto the bed.
"As Shaggy once so eloquently sang, it wasn't me," Damon muttered into the pillow next to her.
Elena rolled her eyes at the outdated reference, the lyric causing images of Bonnie and Caroline singing and dancing wildly along to words they definitely didn't understand.
"Do you think…" she began to question; her habit to chew her bottom lip sneaking out as the image of the man on the road last night overwhelmed her.
"The dick who lost the game of chicken needed a snack to heal. Yup." He popped the p as he spoke, his eyebrows rising high to emphasise his opinion. "Hopefully, the council can actually kill a vampire for once." He chuckled.
Elena frowned, "That'll make life harder for you."
He rolled over, the sheet dropping down as he did, revealing the top of his naked ass. Elena fought the blush creeping up from her neck as she averted her eyes. She'd seen more, she'd felt more, but it didn't stop her feeling bashful at this moment of intimacy.
They hadn't even slept together last night.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to sleep with anyone ever again, to be quite honest.
"I want you to be safe." He smiled softly at her, "Do you know what he was after?"
A soft shake of her head answered his question, his eyes glazing over in thought at her response. It was time to pull herself out of bed.
When she returned from his en-suite, swearing his shower was the best in the house, he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Thankfully, he'd pulled a sheet over his lap to keep his modesty. Everything else though, Elena had to fight to not stare at.
Why did he have to be so hot?
"About the other thing that happened last night," He said, his eyes firmly focused on the handle of a drawer, she noticed his gaze was unflinching, "I won't tell anyone."
"I know," she whispered. She hadn't doubted that for a moment.
"Do you know what you want to do?" He asked, still refusing to look at her.
"No," she honestly hadn't processed it yet. She felt the same. Weaker, maybe? She was still a kid, unsure of her future. She was a kid who had made a thousand bad decisions this year.
Hell, if Damon hadn't been a vampire she'd have been standing here worrying about paternity tests. That was the level of her decision making right now.
She couldn't be a parent.
Could she?
That thought brought a warmth with it, an odd sensation that brought a smile to her lips. The sound of a door crashing downstairs quickly pulled her from the moment, though.
"I need to speak to Zach," she whispered to Damon, who simply nodded before letting his hand rest in his hands.
Anyone would think he cared. She knew better.
"Not today though. I'll drive you to your aunt's." He finally said, "You shouldn't be alone."
"I've got a council meeting," she tried to argue, but he simply raised an eyebrow and glanced at the clock. He clearly knew that that was hours away.
It was Ric who answered the door. Knocking was an unfamiliar sensation to Elena. Even though she had officially moved out months ago, this was still her childhood home. She'd probably be okay to just walk in, but Damon insisted that he saw her into the care of a responsible adult.
As he couldn't follow her inside, knocking it was.
Ric saw her first, a slightly confused smile hitting his face, before his eyes scanned up to Damon. The scowl he tried to quickly conceal didn't escape her and judging from Damon's tightened grip on her it didn't evade his notice either.
"Morning Ric, I, um, I," she started, thinking of how to explain the recent events.
"She crashed her car and might have a concussion, I thought it best if she stayed with you for a bit?" Damon finished for her. "Damon Salvatore," he added, holding his hand out for Ric to shake.
"I know who you are," Ric growled, reaching for Elena and pulling her across the threshold of the doorway a bit too violently.
"Are you okay?" Both men asked her, as she nodded.
"Just a little bump," she smiled up at Ric, but he was preoccupied with staring daggers at Damon. "I need coffee."
With that excuse, she was able to escape to the silence of the kitchen, leaving Ric and Damon to whatever preoccupied them.
A large coffee and a very much needed nap later, Elena was walking into the meeting with Tyler. He'd offered to pick her up when she'd explained the wreck of her car, blaming it on tiredness, and so they arrived together. The only members of their generation to attend.
Even Tyler noticed that she froze entering the room.
Zach rarely bothered to attend council meetings, only coming when Liz Forbes insisted it was essential. Today must be one of those days, for he was sitting in an armchair opposite the door. He was engrossed in a book, barely noticing her, but the sight of him paralysed her.
What would she tell him? Did she need to tell him? How could she not?
A thousand questions ran through her mind, every time followed by a picture of his angry response. Zach loathed children, the idea of continuing the Salvatore line was disgusting to him.
How could she tell him that she… the thought drowned itself as she gulped and set herself back to reality. Regardless of her own problems, today the town needed her. The vampire who had caused her accident was out loose, and who knew what he wanted?
That was what she focused on for the next hour, contributing more to the discussion than she had at any historic meeting. This was one vampire she wanted to be captured.
He had almost killed her.
He had almost killed them.
As the meeting came to a close, she took the offered supplies. Zach had produced some vervain darts; the pastor had produced some additional stakes. She slipped the syringe into her jacket pocket, the stake in her handbag.
She prayed she would never need to use them.
Tyler offered to drive her back to Jenna and Ric's, but she just wanted her own bed. There was something about the fairy lights that brought her comfort, it felt more like home. Besides, her head was barely ringing anymore.
'Where are you?' Her cell pinged with a text notification an hour after she returned to the small apartment, curling herself up on the sofa as Tyler slipped into his room; the desk he kept in there required his attention.
'Home. Tyler is watching me' She rolled her eyes at Damon's caution.
It couldn't have been five minutes before he was pressing the buzzer. Normal people pressed it once and waited. Not Damon Salvatore.
If her pounding head needed one thing, it was certainly the buzzer going off for what seemed like five minutes solid. Pulling herself up and shuffling over, she allowed the incessant pest in, opening the door to the apartment in anticipation. He was there suspiciously fast; if it had been Tyler answering the door then Damon could have revealed his nature.
His eyes were all over, scanning as if she might have injured herself whilst relaxing in her own home.
Her hands went to her hips, her eyes meeting him with defiance. She had always hated being babied. She much preferred playing the doctor than the patient.
"I'm perfectly fine." Her voice came out weaker than she intended, the annoyance sounding more like exasperation.
"Tyler!" He raised his voice, his eyes never leaving her own.
She could hear the commotion behind her as her roommate entered the room, she could picture the look of confusion he would be holding. She didn't break the staring contest to turn though. Concussion be damned, she wasn't giving in.
"Did Elena tell you she had a mild concussion?" Damon snipped, his eyes still on Elena.
"No?" Tyler half answered, half asked. She almost winced, feeling bad for him for a moment.
"She didn't tell you that she needed to stay with a responsible adult?" Damon continued, his eyes burning with a passionate fire. Elena met his glare. Her health was not his to monitor.
"No? She said she wanted to come home and rest." Tyler responded, the worry in his voice clear, "Elena, I can sit with you if you need."
She didn't break her glare as she said, for the thousandth time it seemed, "I'm fine."
"Erm, okay then?" Tyler sounded apologetic, and the sound of his bedroom door closing soon echoed in the small room.
"I'm staying." Damon said.
"No."
"You need someone with you."
"I'm fine." She snapped again. When would he listen?
"You're pregnant, Elena." He whispered, his eyes still seeing through hers.
"I'm fine." She insisted, her eyes finally closing for an instant.
That was all it took, to find herself once again drawn into one of his enveloping hugs. There was nothing quite like being in the arms of Damon Salvatore. If she didn't know better, she would say it was because he was the first man who truly loved her. A naive version of herself would have claimed it; a younger version who didn't know about the humanity switch or about how easy it was to pretend to love someone.
A version of Elena who wouldn't have got knocked up by an asshole.
Would there ever be a time where he could hold her like this, and she wouldn't break?
As she broke down in his arms, he kept asking himself why he was here.
He knew why he needed her; she was essential to his plan. He had needed the locket; a founding family member was his only route of access to that. He needed Bonnie Bennett, and the witch's best friend was obviously the quickest route to her cooperation. Neither of those required him to have come out of his way to see her this afternoon.
Save her, maybe.
But he hadn't needed to comfort her, he didn't need to be the one to pull her away from his manipulative ass of a nephew, and he certainly didn't need to be the one holding her now. Yet he was.
He'd tried to fight the urge to sit by her house, awaiting her return from the council meeting, but every instinct in his bones had made him stay. When she told him she was here instead, he'd risked being seen as he sped across town.
He was here for Katherine; he didn't need silly human dramatics distracting him from that.
So why was she holding her so tight?
Why did her hair smell so heavenly when he kissed it?
And what the hell was that dull aching in his chest all about?
