Chapter Thirteen: Not a Mills & Boon for Miles

Elena Gilbert

Driving with a deflating tire felt like pushing a shopping cart across a gravel driveway. Luckily, Elena didn't have far to go. As part of her rent, Stefan had provided her with a spare key to his lakeside lodge in case she ever wanted a quiet place to write. She'd almost used it last summer, but the short trek through the woods at dusk had her ambushed by gnats, and she'd quickly turned back. Scratching at bites all evening hadn't sounded particularly relaxing. Now the lodge was her only option. She needed a quiet place to think so she could come up with a plan about what to do about Elijah.

Next to her, Damon was straightening a small metal coil from one of his keychains so he could push it into the SIM slot in order to release the international microchip card that Elijah had given her. He looked like he was more desperate to get the thing out than she was. He was grumbling to himself like Muttley as he struggled to aim the tip of the wire while experiencing flat tire turbulence that probably made him feel like he was on Wacky Races.

Elena shot him a crooked smile, faking a sympathetic tone. "Aw, is your tiny rod having trouble entering the hole?"

Damon paused what he was doing. "Don't worry, Miss Smirkyface, it may be playing hard to get, but I've never been denied entry before... as you'll soon find out." He grinned as Elena rolled her eyes back towards the road, defeated. Then he held up the wire between his fingertips, declaring proudly, "And my rod isn't tiny. It's perfectly proportionate for the job."

Elena pinched her lips together to avoid smiling at his comebacks. He's an asshole, she reminded herself. Don't fall for it.

Despite her initial protests, Elena was now relieved to be getting rid of the SIM card that was linking her to Elijah. Even if he wasn't using it to track her, she wanted no reminders of him. Sure, it was going to be strange being off-grid for the next few hours, but she still had her old SIM card at home that she could reactivate once she was back, and at least she had Damon's phone in the meantime. She might need it to get someone to check in on Polly. She'd given a spare key to Caroline, but she wasn't too fond of her mother's parrot, so maybe Stefan could collect it from her. She could email him – that's if she decided to stay overnight.

It felt as though the tire was completely flat now, so Elena began to lower her speed, ready to pull over. Fatigue was hitting her hard after the day she'd had. If she could get hold of Stefan, she decided that she would spend the night in the lodge. She was too tired to deal with hidden cameras and the possibility of Elijah turning up at her home. All she wanted to do was sleep and deal with it all in the morning.

Elena glanced over at Damon, continuing to prod away at her phone. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about him, but he was certainly not sharing the lodge with her. Perhaps he could use that slippery charm of his to convince someone in a neighboring lodge to give him a lift back to town.

With a whoop of success, Damon finally released the SIM card, just as Elena pulled up beside a giant sequoia tree. Then he noticed they were static. "Why are you stopping now?" he complained.

"Oh, I don't know," Elena snarked. "Maybe because I don't want to see fireworks start beneath my car." She turned off the engine. "Besides, it's only a short walk to where I'm heading. I'm going to stay in a lodge nearby."

Damon froze while he was in the middle of unbuckling his seatbelt. "You have a lodge... by the lake?"

His slow question unnerved her. "Yeah... what's wrong with that?"

He took a breath, held it for a second, then released it. "Nothing," he replied, opening his door and quickly exiting. He seemed to be contemplating telling her something; a mixture of amusement and trepidation flickering in his expression. The moment passed and he made his way to the rear of the car, stepped halfway into the road to fling the SIM card across to the opposite side, then he returned and opened her door for her. As she grabbed her bag and stepped out, his amusement returned. "Oh, FYI... so do I." He closed the door behind her.

"What do you mean?" She didn't read enough into it at first. She assumed he was making a joke she wasn't getting.

"I mean, I also have a lodge by the lake," he clarified. "I guess we'll be neighbors for the night."

Elena stomped her foot. "Are you kidding me?!" Was there any place she could stay where this guy wasn't her neighbor? It was like he was haunting her! She threw her hands over her face, groaning in exasperation. Then she decided that she would retain the little sanity she had left. It didn't really matter. It was a large area and they'd likely be nowhere near each other. It also took care of where he was going to stay for the night. She let her hands fall to her sides. "Whatever," she sighed. "Just... stay at your place, and I'll stay at mine, and let's not face each other again until morning."

She walked to the trunk of the car and put her bag inside. Now that she had Damon's phone, there was nothing inside it she needed, and she didn't fancy carrying it all the way to the lake. She especially didn't fancy asking Damon to carry it for her.

But it turned out, she didn't need to – Damon took it out of the trunk before Elena could close it, and he threw it over his shoulder, gesturing with an arm out for her to begin their walk.

They had barely taken a few steps before they heard the sound of a car coming up quickly behind them, and Damon took Elena by the arm and pulled her into the nearby woods. She struggled against his grip as he swung her behind a tree, out of sight from the road.

Was this guy serious? He was totally paranoid! She peeked her head out from behind the tree. There was no way the driver of that car was –

The car stopped behind hers.

She recognized it. A white Mercedes SUV. It was Elijah's.

Damn it, she was so sick of Damon being right.

They watched cautiously as Elijah got out of his car and circled hers a couple of times, checking and re-checking his phone screen, likely wondering why the tracking signal had stopped and yet Elena was nowhere in sight.

"Change of plans," Damon whispered to her. "We're taking a shortcut through the woods."

Elena scoffed, "I'm not wandering alone through the woods with you. I'd rather take my chances with Elijah. I'm not scared of him."

"Tell that to the inside of his trunk when he throws you in there," Damon growled in a low tone. He watched Elijah head into the trees opposite, where he had tossed the SIM card. "This is your chance. I'll be right behind you." He pointed deeper into the woods. "Run."

Elena crossed her arms. "No."

Damon glared at her impatiently, gritting his teeth. "Fine. If you won't run from him, then run from me."

She dropped her arms, confused. "Excuse me?"

"Here's another one of your tropes – I catch you, I kiss you."

"That's not the trope," she hissed. "It's supposed to be, 'I catch you, I...'" She pressed her lips together, leaving the mystery word hanging in the air between them.

Damon raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to finish. "Well...?"

Elena cleared her throat and paraphrased. "'... ravish you.'"

The corner of his lip tweaked upwards. "'Ravish'? Since when did you write for Mills and Boon?"

"Shut up, I'm just correcting you."

He stepped closer, his eyes burning into her. "Do you want an upgrade? Because I'm down for that if you are."

"I don't even want the kiss!"

His eyes widened. "Then... run."

He wasn't serious, was he? Damon hadn't exactly demonstrated having the most reliable moral compass, but was he so desperate to keep Elijah away from her that he would actually do this? All she knew was that Damon had moved even closer – too close – his chest rising and falling in anticipation, and he was staring hungrily at her lips.

And for a moment, Elena was rooted to the spot, not wanting to run anywhere. Until his head lowered ever so slightly down to hers, close enough to smell her hair, breathing her in. He was playing a predatory role from one of her books, trying to goad her into running. It wasn't real... was it? "You wouldn't dare," she uttered without an ounce of confidence.

Damon's head turned rapidly, catching movement in his peripheral vision. Elijah had emerged from the opposite woods and arrived back on the road. He was studying the other side curiously, scanning for movement among the trees. Then he returned his attention to her car, cupping his hands as he stared through her windows in a last-ditch attempt to locate her phone. This would be the final time Elijah would be distracted. Their last opportunity.

Damon swung his sight back to Elena, his voice growing desperate. "Wouldn't I?"

Elena suddenly realized from his tone that he would. Maybe Damon was only protecting her, but he was also prepared to do whatever it took to force her to run from him, so long as it meant her running from Elijah too.

She took a step backward. Then another.

Then she finally did what Damon wanted, turned on her heels, and took off into the woods.