Down a Crooked Path - Chapter Twenty-One
Title: Down A Crooked Path
Author: fallinangelz21
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries (tv show)
Pairing: Damon/Elena, (Stefan/Katherine), (Caroline/Tyler)
Rating: R
AN: Some loose ends should be burned. Sequel to Self-Inflicted Wounds.
Oh, LJ...what would I do without your bizarre formatting issues? *sigh*
Chapter Twenty-One - Opening Night Jitters
Staring at the ceiling, and unable to sleep, Elena lay in the middle of Damon’s bed, twirling her daylight ring around her finger. Tomorrow was the day - the Founder’s Party - and even though she’d spent every waking moment since the near-disaster at the Grille working on her control, she was plagued by anxiety.
What if’s tumbled through her head, disrupting the peace of mind she desperately needed for the party in the afternoon.
What if she hurt someone she cared about - someone she’d known since childhood?
What if she exposed them all - Caroline, Damon, Tyler, Stefan and Katherine - to the entire town?
What if she put her friends and family in danger because she couldn’t keep her bloodlust in check?
What if she failed?
Whimpering softly, Elena closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips to her forehead - trying to silence her over-active brain by pressure and sheer force of will. She needed to sleep. She’d spent her day setting up for the party with Damon, Caroline, Tyler, a handful of caterers and event planners whose heartbeats had barely stirred her heightened senses. The small success gave her comfort, but it was also frustrating as hell - the exhaustion that usually came after a full day of keeping her base desires under control was nowhere to be found.
Sighing, Elena rolled over onto her side, pillowing her head in her hands as she stared at Damon’s empty spot next to her on the bed. Speaking of nowhere to be found, she thought as she took in the smooth, undisturbed sheets. Reaching out, she trailed her fingertips lightly over the high-thread count cotton, wondering where her boyfriend was and why he wasn’t in bed with her.
Again.
A part of her had been staying awake to wait for him - leaping at the opportunity given the fact that she hadn’t fallen asleep the second her head hit the pillow - but as time had passed, she’d been forced to consider the idea that maybe he wasn’t going to come.
Maybe tonight he’d leave her to deal with her nightmares alone.
I don’t believe that, she vowed, banishing the traitorous thought to the back of her mind. He was in the house, caught up in a book or something. He would have told her if he were going out.
Wouldn’t he?
Following an impulse, Elena threw back the covers, deliberately messing up the perfectly straight sheets on Damon’s side as she slid across the bed and placed her feet silently on the floor. Holding her breath, she crossed to the door and slipped through the opening into the darkened hallway. The second floor was dark and silent, but the railing of the staircase stood out in sharp relief, illuminated from below.
Cautiously, Elena crept across the landing toward the stairs, tuning in with her heightened senses. The smell of burning wood and the soft snap and crackle of flame told her that someone had a fire going in the living room. Closing her eyes, she tried to pick out a more concrete sign of life, but vampire heartbeats were almost impossible for her to detect from a room - or in this case a floor - away.
Biting her lip, Elena looked back toward Damon’s bedroom, toward the huge, comfortable, empty bed that waited for her within. She should go back and try to sleep. She needed it, needed to be focused and at her best for the party.
She needed Damon.
How could she be focused and at her best if she spent the entire time worrying about her boyfriend?
Moving with extra care, Elena descended the stairs, relieved that her bare feet made no sound on the wooden floor, but knowing that it would be a damn miracle if she managed to observe Damon without him knowing.
~*~
Hunching down in the passenger seat of a rental car, Elena strained to see over the dashboard while keeping out of sight. A weak draft of cool air trickled out from the vents, barely alleviating the heat from the June sun beating down on the car. Narrowing her eyes at the unfamiliar dash, she adjusted a few controls, basking in the blast of cool air. Shooting a glance toward the driver’s seat, she muttered. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
Jeremy snorted as he rolled his eyes. “Right, because this was all my idea.”
“You’re the one who wanted to know what Damon does all day,” Elena argued, lowering her oversized sunglasses to study the massive front doors of the county library that Damon had entered fifteen minutes ago.
“And you’re the one who decided to follow him around Atlanta instead of just asking him,” Jeremy retorted.
“Oh, please,” Elena muttered, rolling her eyes as her cheeks flushed with heat. “You were all over the spy game, James Bond. I didn’t hear you complain-.”
“Shhh, here he comes,” Jeremy whispered, hitting Elena on the arm to shut her up as if Damon might somehow hear her through the glass and steel frame of the car from fifty feet away as he jogged down the marble steps to where he’d illegally double parked the Camaro.
Slouching down even further, Elena’s heart raced as she glanced at Jeremy. Leaning forward, her brother had both arms braced on the steering wheel, his face almost pressed against the windshield in an effort to keep an eye on Damon’s car. After a few long moments, Jeremy twisted the key in the ignition and quickly pulled out onto the bustling Atlanta street.
“He’s three cars ahead,” her brother announced as Elena cautiously sat up in her seat and located the classic car. Hiding behind the sunglasses and a floppy straw hat that she usually reserved for the beach, Elena felt equal parts idiotic and exhilarated as they tailed Damon through the mid-day traffic. Regardless of whose idea it had been to stalk Damon, she had to admit she was having fun.
“Where’s he going?” Jeremy asked, tugging awkwardly on the bill of the baseball cap she’d made him wear.
Elena looked around. “The park,” she said, recognizing the familiar scenery. “Grant Park.”
“What’s he going to do?” Jeremy grumbled as he found a place to park half a block away from where Damon had left the Camaro. “Feed the birds?”
“You sound disappointed,” Elena chuckled, climbing out of the rental car and doing her best to walk casually as she kept Damon’s familiar form in sight. “Were you expecting him to spend the day preying on humans?”
“Well, he’s a vampire,” Jeremy said, pitching his voice low even though there was nobody close enough to hear. “It’s really not that much of a stretch.”
Oh, it kind of is, Elena thought, biting her lip as she recalled the night before Jeremy had arrived. Preying on humans for blood wasn’t necessary when Damon had a willing donor right there in bed with him.
Not that she would ever, in a million years, share that fact with her brother.
Following at a safe distance, Jeremy and Elena spied on Damon as he made his way through the vast acreage to the Oakland Cemetery located on the grounds.
“Visiting friends?” Jeremy quipped, grunting as Elena smacked him in the stomach with the back of her hand. Ducking behind huge family monuments and mausoleums, they followed Damon’s progress through the burial ground. He didn’t stop at any particular grave, but his path was seemingly random and winding enough for Elena to guess that her brother might be right. She and Damon had done the tourist thing last fall and she knew there were a lot of Confederate soldiers buried there. It wasn’t a stretch to assume that Damon might have fought beside one or two of them.
Before she had a chance to dwell on that sobering thought, he led them out of the cemetery and into a wide, open area. Feeling exposed without the granite tombstones to hide behind, Elena tugged on Jeremy’s arm and made him slow down.
They continued to hang back as Damon followed the cement walkway towards an area that Elena recognized as the local farmer’s market.
“Grocery shopping?” Jeremy asked incredulously as they wandered amidst the food stands. “Your boyfriend is boring.”
“Well, we do need to eat and Damon’s on this organic kick right now.” Elena supplied with a grin. “Something about it bringing out true flavors or whatever.”
“This is lame.” Her brother declared. “Damon is lame.”
“And you hero worship the ground he walks on,” Elena teased with an easy grin. “What does that say about you?”
“Whatever,” Jeremy retorted, rolling his eyes and tugging on the baseball cap again in an effort to hide the flush of embarrassment at being called out. They followed Damon through the farmer’s market as he made a few purchases before heading back toward his car.
The rest of the morning and early afternoon was more of the same as Damon unknowingly led them through his day. After the famer’s market, he stopped by the High Museum of Art, nearly losing them amidst the dizzying maze of wall partitions and sculpture before heading back to the Camaro and making a pit stop at his favorite liquor store.
“Now, this is more like it,” Jeremy announced as Damon pulled into the parking lot of a hospital. Climbing out of the car, he opened the trunk and retrieved a cooler, swinging it casually as he walked confidently toward the entrance.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Elena asked, grabbing Jeremy’s wrist as he whipped into a parking spot and opened the door before he’d switched off the engine.
“Following Damon,” he replied, looking at her askance.
“Not in there,” Elena insisted, shaking her head for added emphasis.
“Aw, come on,” Jeremy groaned, slouching back against tan leather seat. “He’s going to go in there and compel himself some blood. This is like, the most interesting thing he’s done all day.”
“How is watching Damon compel some orderly ‘the most interesting thing he’s done all day?’”
“It’s the most vampire-y thing we’ve seen him do since you guys moved to Atlanta. I want to see him in action!”
“Give me a break, Jer. There is no way we can scope him out in a hallway full of sick people with my floppy hat and your baseball cap,” she argued, mortified by the notion of getting caught stalking her boyfriend on a blood run off all places. “He’ll see us.”
Grumbling, but unable to argue with her logic, Jeremy crossed his arms, slouching down in the seat as they waited for Damon to exit with his ill-gotten blood bags. They didn’t have to wait for long - within twenty minutes, he’d strolled out through the front doors with an obviously full cooler in his hands.
Rush hour had begun and traffic was picking up as Damon pulled out of the hospital parking lot and maneuvered slowly through the Atlanta streets. Jeremy had a difficult time keeping up with him, actually driving past him as he pulled into a parking spot in the shopping district.
“Quick, quick,” Elena ordered, craning her neck to keep an eye on him as Jeremy swooped into a spot a few cars down from the Camaro. They watched as Damon paused on the sidewalk and gazed at a storefront. Narrowing her eyes, Elena studied the elegant script etched into the glass of the door.
D. Geller & Son, she read, struggling to make out the smaller words across the bottom. Where Atlanta gets…
Engaged.
Engaged? Elena gasped, her throat going dry as her lungs stopped functioning. Damon had just gone into a jewelry store - a jewelry store with a reputation for engagements.
What the hell is he doing?
“What’s he doing?” Jeremy asked, inadvertently echoing her thoughts as he leaned across the console separating the seats to get a closer view. “What kind of store is that?”
“I don’t know,” Elena stammered quickly, shoving him back over to his side of the vehicle. Swallowing, she tried to convince herself that she was leaping to conclusions. There had to be a logical explanation - other than the obvious. There was no way Damon was in that store looking at engagement rings.
Was there?
Elena had more than half an hour to dwell as she waited for Damon to exit the store. By the time he walked through the door, she’d chewed off all of the fingernails on her right hand and her stomach was in knots. Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, Damon did little to ease her anxiety as he scanned a piece of paper - that may or may not have been a receipt - before shoving it into his pocket and heading back to his car. Slouching in her seat once again, she and Jeremy waited for Damon to drive past their parking spot before backing out and beginning the chase anew.
Traffic was terrible, but Jeremy managed to keep the Camaro in his sights, following Damon into the parking lot of a supermarket. Thinking they’d be safe hiding amidst the aisles, Elena let Jeremy shut off the car and follow her boyfriend inside.
The supermarket was huge and packed, bustling with the after work crowd as they perused the aisles in a hurry to find food for dinner and get home to their families. Unable to find a balance between staying out of sight and keeping an eye on Damon, Jeremy and Elena quickly lost him in the sea of people.
“After all of that, we lose him in a grocery store?” her brother sighed dejectedly as they made their way back to the rental car. “That’s so pathetic.”
“At least we didn’t get caught,” Elena said with a strained chuckle, still rattled by Damon’s visit to the jewelry store. She loved him, she’d already decided that she wanted to be with him forever, but there was something incredibly real about the idea of marriage that left her reeling.
Rush hour traffic clogged the streets, making the drive back to the apartment take twice as long as it had that morning. By the time Jeremy pulled into the guest parking spot, he was over his disappointment that Damon hadn’t done anything particularly supernatural and had begun wondering what they were going to have for dinner.
“I don’t know,” Elena replied, sliding her key into the door to her third floor apartment. “I thought maybe we could…”
She’d been ready to suggest that they go out to eat, but the mouth-watering aroma of eggplant parmesan and garlic bread stopped her words as she opened the door. One glance at the place settings on the dining room table told her all she needed to know.
Damon had beaten them home and started dinner.
“Hey,” he greeted them, glancing up at them as he tugged a cork out of a bottle of red wine. “Where have you guys been?”
Stammering, Jeremy’s bravado fell by the wayside as he scrambled for a response. “We, um-.”
“I was showing Jeremy around Emory,” Elena replied, shooting her brother a look before turning her attention to the food spread out on the counter. Worse liar in the world. “Looks like you had a busy day.”
“Nothing special,” Damon shrugged, pouring the wine into three separate glasses. Handing one to her, he smirked. “Nice hat.”
Taking the glass, Elena’s eyes went wide as she automatically reached up and tugged the hat off of her head. Running a hand through her disheveled hair, she narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend as he winked at her. Taking in the knowing glint in his eye and combining it with the smug curve of his lips, caused Elena’s stomach to drop to her feet.
Son of a bitch.
“You knew!” she cried, pointing an accusing finger at him as her jaw dropped. Her cheeks burned as she shook her head. “Oh my god, you knew the whole time, didn’t you?”
“Wait, what?” Jeremy asked. “What are you talking about?”
“When did you figure it out?” Elena demanded, fighting a smile of indignation and embarrassment as she leaned on the counter and stared him down. Of course Damon had known. How could she have ever been so stupid as to think that she could track him without getting caught? Not only was he a vampire, he was her vampire, hyper-aware of her every move, much to her endless frustration.
“When did I figure out what?” he asked with exaggerated innocence that chased away any remaining doubt Elena had been harboring over whether or not he’d been stringing them along the entire freaking day. “That I was being followed?”
“Aw, man,” Jeremy sighed, tearing the baseball cap off of his head as he made his way dejectedly toward the couch.
“When was it?” Elena repeated, ignoring her brother as she squared off with Damon. “The farmer’s market? The liquor store?”
“The library,” Damon revealed with a wicked grin as he leaned over the counter and kissed her quickly on the lips. Elena started, dumbfounded and more than a little chagrined at the knowledge that her attempts at stealth had been that pathetic.
“I would recognize that horrendous hat anywhere. Caroline has the most questionable taste in history.”
Elena’s jaw dropped as she protested. “This hat is adorable!”
Damon raised a brow. “Right. Just like the penguin umbrella stand currently uglying up our front door.”
“I look awesome in this hat!” Elena declared indignantly.
“You look awesome in anything. It doesn’t mean that that hat is any less horrendous.” Damon responded nonchalantly, as he began slicing cucumbers for the salad.
The compliment warmed her, even as she rolled her eyes at his derisive appraisal of Caroline’s taste in fashion.
“Wait,” she said as another thought suddenly dawned on her. Casting a glance at Jeremy, she moved to the other side of the counter and joined him by the chopping block. Hooking a finger into the waistband of his jeans, she whispered. “You knew I was watching when you stopped by that jewelry store?”
“Yeah,” he said without sparing her a glance as he focused on the food.
Elena bit her lip, wedging her hip between the counter and Damon so that she could get his attention. “So…it was all just…part of your game, then?” she asked, tugging him closer as she tried to decided what she wanted his answer to be.
Damon turned his head, regarding her with an inscrutable expression as he shrugged. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
~*~
Elena paused at the foot of the stairs, bouncing on the balls of her bare feet as she listened intently to the sounds coming from the living room. She didn’t want Damon to know she was awake, let alone potentially spying on him.
She wanted to catch him with his guard down.
Holding her breath, she crept toward the doorway that led into the living room, carefully studying every inch of space for a glimpse of him as it came into view. Steadying herself against the ornate woodwork framing the opening, Elena leaned forward, taking in the room inch by slow inch as the antique furniture and the dying embers in the fireplace came into view.
No Damon.
Frowning, she was about to admit that she’d been wrong when she heard the distinctive sound of crystal hitting crystal followed by a splash of liquid.
Oh.
The drink cart was still out of sight.
Opening her mouth in a silent gasp, Elena ducked around the corner, completely out of sight, as Damon unexpectedly came into view. Her pulse pounded in her head, radiating throughout her entire body so loudly that she was certain he would hear it. Closing her eyes, she drew a slow, silent breath before daring to take another look.
Standing before the fire, every line of Damon’s body screamed fatigue. His shoulders were tense, drawn nearly to his ears and even from across the room she could make out the shadows beneath his eyes. Every few minutes, he brought the glass to his lips, taking a healthy sip that she wondered if he could even taste.
He’s drinking again, she realized, her heart breaking a little. Really drinking. While he’d never stopped indulging, there was a difference between a guy who thoroughly enjoyed a good single-malt scotch and what her boyfriend was doing now.
Elena had noticed the difference in the past two weeks, but for some reason in that moment, the knowledge hit home in a physical, painful way.
Bringing the glass to his lips again and taking another healthy sip, Elena continued to watch as her boyfriend stared coolly into the flames.
She knew this Damon even though she hadn’t seen him like this in years.
Not since those brutal 3 days when they’d been looking for Stefan back in Savannah and they’d fought.
He’d pulled away then.
Just as he was pulling away now.
Damon was drinking to escape from something, to drown it in an ocean of mind-numbing alcohol so that he didn’t have to feel it. The question was - what? The memories of what had happened with Landis? The guilt?
Her?
Elena’s stomach turned as the thought crossed her mind. It wasn’t the first time she’d questioned the affect her transition was having on Damon. She’d wondered about it since the night they’d been reunited and he’d seen her vamp out for the first time. What had started out as an idle thought was swiftly snowballing into a full-fledged fear.
What if Damon’s feelings for her had changed?
Elena shrank back as Damon headed toward the couch, settling onto the cushions and stretching out with his feet toward the fire. Pressing her cheek against the smooth wooden paneling, she watched as he bent his arm behind his head and drank in silence. The embers in the fireplace dwindled into smoldering coals as time passed slowly. Between sips of bourbon, he let his arm drape over the side of the couch, gripping the tumbler loosely as it rested on the floor until it was time for another drink. Elena knew the moment he’d dozed off by the way his fingers loosened and relaxed around the crystal glass.
Closing her eyes, she focused on the soft sound of his heartbeat, feeling closer to him than she had since she’d turned. Tears pooled behind her eyes as her entire body ached with longing - longing to be with him, longing to curl up beside him on the couch and simply breathe until their heartbeats matched and she fell asleep. She knew with absolute certainty that if she did, there’d be no nightmares. If she and Damon could just find their way back to each other, they’d both be able to heal. Listening intently as tears rolled down her cheeks, she waited until she’d counted one hundred evenly-spaced, slow beats before opening her eyes and creeping silently into the living room.
Perching gingerly on the edge of the coffee table, Elena brushed the tears off of her cheeks, mindful of the slightest noise as the antique piece took on her weight. Curling her fingers into fists to stifle the urge to reach out and trail her fingers down his cheek and trace his lips with her thumb, she studied his sleep-softened features in silence.
Is this where you’ve been sleeping? she wondered, knowing with an unsettling certainty now that he wasn’t sleeping with her. She’d assumed that he’d eventually made it to bed each night simply because he’d been there when she’d woken up screaming, but now she realized that with his vampire hearing her cries of terror would carry to him anywhere in the house.
Why was he doing this? Was it guilt? Fear? Revulsion? Leaning forward, she narrowed her eyes, as if she’d somehow see beyond his walls now that he was asleep and vulnerable. Her weight shifted, causing the coffee table to creak and a furrow to appear between Damon’s brows. Panicking, Elena surged to her feet, blurring out of the room and up the twisting staircase to the second floor. Ducking inside of his room, she leapt back into bed and curled onto her side.
Silence
Why the hell did I do that? she wondered, straining her ears to catch any sounds of movement from the first floor over the thundering beat of the pulse between her ears. Her relationship with Damon was falling apart at the seams and here she was, feigning sleep like a child caught out of her room after bedtime. Why hadn’t she woken him? Why hadn’t she demanded answers? They couldn’t go on like this forever, together but not, as the strain on their relationship increased on a daily basis. Why hadn’t she started the inevitable fight that loomed on the horizon?
Because I’m afraid.
Elena’s heart constricted painfully, skipping a full beat as she curled her body into a tighter ball and clutched the covers beneath her chin. She hadn’t asked Damon the questions because she was afraid of his answers.
Click here for Part Two
Author: fallinangelz21
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries (tv show)
Pairing: Damon/Elena, (Stefan/Katherine), (Caroline/Tyler)
Rating: R
AN: Some loose ends should be burned. Sequel to Self-Inflicted Wounds.
Oh, LJ...what would I do without your bizarre formatting issues? *sigh*
Chapter Twenty-One - Opening Night Jitters
Staring at the ceiling, and unable to sleep, Elena lay in the middle of Damon’s bed, twirling her daylight ring around her finger. Tomorrow was the day - the Founder’s Party - and even though she’d spent every waking moment since the near-disaster at the Grille working on her control, she was plagued by anxiety.
What if’s tumbled through her head, disrupting the peace of mind she desperately needed for the party in the afternoon.
What if she hurt someone she cared about - someone she’d known since childhood?
What if she exposed them all - Caroline, Damon, Tyler, Stefan and Katherine - to the entire town?
What if she put her friends and family in danger because she couldn’t keep her bloodlust in check?
What if she failed?
Whimpering softly, Elena closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips to her forehead - trying to silence her over-active brain by pressure and sheer force of will. She needed to sleep. She’d spent her day setting up for the party with Damon, Caroline, Tyler, a handful of caterers and event planners whose heartbeats had barely stirred her heightened senses. The small success gave her comfort, but it was also frustrating as hell - the exhaustion that usually came after a full day of keeping her base desires under control was nowhere to be found.
Sighing, Elena rolled over onto her side, pillowing her head in her hands as she stared at Damon’s empty spot next to her on the bed. Speaking of nowhere to be found, she thought as she took in the smooth, undisturbed sheets. Reaching out, she trailed her fingertips lightly over the high-thread count cotton, wondering where her boyfriend was and why he wasn’t in bed with her.
Again.
A part of her had been staying awake to wait for him - leaping at the opportunity given the fact that she hadn’t fallen asleep the second her head hit the pillow - but as time had passed, she’d been forced to consider the idea that maybe he wasn’t going to come.
Maybe tonight he’d leave her to deal with her nightmares alone.
I don’t believe that, she vowed, banishing the traitorous thought to the back of her mind. He was in the house, caught up in a book or something. He would have told her if he were going out.
Wouldn’t he?
Following an impulse, Elena threw back the covers, deliberately messing up the perfectly straight sheets on Damon’s side as she slid across the bed and placed her feet silently on the floor. Holding her breath, she crossed to the door and slipped through the opening into the darkened hallway. The second floor was dark and silent, but the railing of the staircase stood out in sharp relief, illuminated from below.
Cautiously, Elena crept across the landing toward the stairs, tuning in with her heightened senses. The smell of burning wood and the soft snap and crackle of flame told her that someone had a fire going in the living room. Closing her eyes, she tried to pick out a more concrete sign of life, but vampire heartbeats were almost impossible for her to detect from a room - or in this case a floor - away.
Biting her lip, Elena looked back toward Damon’s bedroom, toward the huge, comfortable, empty bed that waited for her within. She should go back and try to sleep. She needed it, needed to be focused and at her best for the party.
She needed Damon.
How could she be focused and at her best if she spent the entire time worrying about her boyfriend?
Moving with extra care, Elena descended the stairs, relieved that her bare feet made no sound on the wooden floor, but knowing that it would be a damn miracle if she managed to observe Damon without him knowing.
~*~
Hunching down in the passenger seat of a rental car, Elena strained to see over the dashboard while keeping out of sight. A weak draft of cool air trickled out from the vents, barely alleviating the heat from the June sun beating down on the car. Narrowing her eyes at the unfamiliar dash, she adjusted a few controls, basking in the blast of cool air. Shooting a glance toward the driver’s seat, she muttered. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
Jeremy snorted as he rolled his eyes. “Right, because this was all my idea.”
“You’re the one who wanted to know what Damon does all day,” Elena argued, lowering her oversized sunglasses to study the massive front doors of the county library that Damon had entered fifteen minutes ago.
“And you’re the one who decided to follow him around Atlanta instead of just asking him,” Jeremy retorted.
“Oh, please,” Elena muttered, rolling her eyes as her cheeks flushed with heat. “You were all over the spy game, James Bond. I didn’t hear you complain-.”
“Shhh, here he comes,” Jeremy whispered, hitting Elena on the arm to shut her up as if Damon might somehow hear her through the glass and steel frame of the car from fifty feet away as he jogged down the marble steps to where he’d illegally double parked the Camaro.
Slouching down even further, Elena’s heart raced as she glanced at Jeremy. Leaning forward, her brother had both arms braced on the steering wheel, his face almost pressed against the windshield in an effort to keep an eye on Damon’s car. After a few long moments, Jeremy twisted the key in the ignition and quickly pulled out onto the bustling Atlanta street.
“He’s three cars ahead,” her brother announced as Elena cautiously sat up in her seat and located the classic car. Hiding behind the sunglasses and a floppy straw hat that she usually reserved for the beach, Elena felt equal parts idiotic and exhilarated as they tailed Damon through the mid-day traffic. Regardless of whose idea it had been to stalk Damon, she had to admit she was having fun.
“Where’s he going?” Jeremy asked, tugging awkwardly on the bill of the baseball cap she’d made him wear.
Elena looked around. “The park,” she said, recognizing the familiar scenery. “Grant Park.”
“What’s he going to do?” Jeremy grumbled as he found a place to park half a block away from where Damon had left the Camaro. “Feed the birds?”
“You sound disappointed,” Elena chuckled, climbing out of the rental car and doing her best to walk casually as she kept Damon’s familiar form in sight. “Were you expecting him to spend the day preying on humans?”
“Well, he’s a vampire,” Jeremy said, pitching his voice low even though there was nobody close enough to hear. “It’s really not that much of a stretch.”
Oh, it kind of is, Elena thought, biting her lip as she recalled the night before Jeremy had arrived. Preying on humans for blood wasn’t necessary when Damon had a willing donor right there in bed with him.
Not that she would ever, in a million years, share that fact with her brother.
Following at a safe distance, Jeremy and Elena spied on Damon as he made his way through the vast acreage to the Oakland Cemetery located on the grounds.
“Visiting friends?” Jeremy quipped, grunting as Elena smacked him in the stomach with the back of her hand. Ducking behind huge family monuments and mausoleums, they followed Damon’s progress through the burial ground. He didn’t stop at any particular grave, but his path was seemingly random and winding enough for Elena to guess that her brother might be right. She and Damon had done the tourist thing last fall and she knew there were a lot of Confederate soldiers buried there. It wasn’t a stretch to assume that Damon might have fought beside one or two of them.
Before she had a chance to dwell on that sobering thought, he led them out of the cemetery and into a wide, open area. Feeling exposed without the granite tombstones to hide behind, Elena tugged on Jeremy’s arm and made him slow down.
They continued to hang back as Damon followed the cement walkway towards an area that Elena recognized as the local farmer’s market.
“Grocery shopping?” Jeremy asked incredulously as they wandered amidst the food stands. “Your boyfriend is boring.”
“Well, we do need to eat and Damon’s on this organic kick right now.” Elena supplied with a grin. “Something about it bringing out true flavors or whatever.”
“This is lame.” Her brother declared. “Damon is lame.”
“And you hero worship the ground he walks on,” Elena teased with an easy grin. “What does that say about you?”
“Whatever,” Jeremy retorted, rolling his eyes and tugging on the baseball cap again in an effort to hide the flush of embarrassment at being called out. They followed Damon through the farmer’s market as he made a few purchases before heading back toward his car.
The rest of the morning and early afternoon was more of the same as Damon unknowingly led them through his day. After the famer’s market, he stopped by the High Museum of Art, nearly losing them amidst the dizzying maze of wall partitions and sculpture before heading back to the Camaro and making a pit stop at his favorite liquor store.
“Now, this is more like it,” Jeremy announced as Damon pulled into the parking lot of a hospital. Climbing out of the car, he opened the trunk and retrieved a cooler, swinging it casually as he walked confidently toward the entrance.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Elena asked, grabbing Jeremy’s wrist as he whipped into a parking spot and opened the door before he’d switched off the engine.
“Following Damon,” he replied, looking at her askance.
“Not in there,” Elena insisted, shaking her head for added emphasis.
“Aw, come on,” Jeremy groaned, slouching back against tan leather seat. “He’s going to go in there and compel himself some blood. This is like, the most interesting thing he’s done all day.”
“How is watching Damon compel some orderly ‘the most interesting thing he’s done all day?’”
“It’s the most vampire-y thing we’ve seen him do since you guys moved to Atlanta. I want to see him in action!”
“Give me a break, Jer. There is no way we can scope him out in a hallway full of sick people with my floppy hat and your baseball cap,” she argued, mortified by the notion of getting caught stalking her boyfriend on a blood run off all places. “He’ll see us.”
Grumbling, but unable to argue with her logic, Jeremy crossed his arms, slouching down in the seat as they waited for Damon to exit with his ill-gotten blood bags. They didn’t have to wait for long - within twenty minutes, he’d strolled out through the front doors with an obviously full cooler in his hands.
Rush hour had begun and traffic was picking up as Damon pulled out of the hospital parking lot and maneuvered slowly through the Atlanta streets. Jeremy had a difficult time keeping up with him, actually driving past him as he pulled into a parking spot in the shopping district.
“Quick, quick,” Elena ordered, craning her neck to keep an eye on him as Jeremy swooped into a spot a few cars down from the Camaro. They watched as Damon paused on the sidewalk and gazed at a storefront. Narrowing her eyes, Elena studied the elegant script etched into the glass of the door.
D. Geller & Son, she read, struggling to make out the smaller words across the bottom. Where Atlanta gets…
Engaged.
Engaged? Elena gasped, her throat going dry as her lungs stopped functioning. Damon had just gone into a jewelry store - a jewelry store with a reputation for engagements.
What the hell is he doing?
“What’s he doing?” Jeremy asked, inadvertently echoing her thoughts as he leaned across the console separating the seats to get a closer view. “What kind of store is that?”
“I don’t know,” Elena stammered quickly, shoving him back over to his side of the vehicle. Swallowing, she tried to convince herself that she was leaping to conclusions. There had to be a logical explanation - other than the obvious. There was no way Damon was in that store looking at engagement rings.
Was there?
Elena had more than half an hour to dwell as she waited for Damon to exit the store. By the time he walked through the door, she’d chewed off all of the fingernails on her right hand and her stomach was in knots. Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, Damon did little to ease her anxiety as he scanned a piece of paper - that may or may not have been a receipt - before shoving it into his pocket and heading back to his car. Slouching in her seat once again, she and Jeremy waited for Damon to drive past their parking spot before backing out and beginning the chase anew.
Traffic was terrible, but Jeremy managed to keep the Camaro in his sights, following Damon into the parking lot of a supermarket. Thinking they’d be safe hiding amidst the aisles, Elena let Jeremy shut off the car and follow her boyfriend inside.
The supermarket was huge and packed, bustling with the after work crowd as they perused the aisles in a hurry to find food for dinner and get home to their families. Unable to find a balance between staying out of sight and keeping an eye on Damon, Jeremy and Elena quickly lost him in the sea of people.
“After all of that, we lose him in a grocery store?” her brother sighed dejectedly as they made their way back to the rental car. “That’s so pathetic.”
“At least we didn’t get caught,” Elena said with a strained chuckle, still rattled by Damon’s visit to the jewelry store. She loved him, she’d already decided that she wanted to be with him forever, but there was something incredibly real about the idea of marriage that left her reeling.
Rush hour traffic clogged the streets, making the drive back to the apartment take twice as long as it had that morning. By the time Jeremy pulled into the guest parking spot, he was over his disappointment that Damon hadn’t done anything particularly supernatural and had begun wondering what they were going to have for dinner.
“I don’t know,” Elena replied, sliding her key into the door to her third floor apartment. “I thought maybe we could…”
She’d been ready to suggest that they go out to eat, but the mouth-watering aroma of eggplant parmesan and garlic bread stopped her words as she opened the door. One glance at the place settings on the dining room table told her all she needed to know.
Damon had beaten them home and started dinner.
“Hey,” he greeted them, glancing up at them as he tugged a cork out of a bottle of red wine. “Where have you guys been?”
Stammering, Jeremy’s bravado fell by the wayside as he scrambled for a response. “We, um-.”
“I was showing Jeremy around Emory,” Elena replied, shooting her brother a look before turning her attention to the food spread out on the counter. Worse liar in the world. “Looks like you had a busy day.”
“Nothing special,” Damon shrugged, pouring the wine into three separate glasses. Handing one to her, he smirked. “Nice hat.”
Taking the glass, Elena’s eyes went wide as she automatically reached up and tugged the hat off of her head. Running a hand through her disheveled hair, she narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend as he winked at her. Taking in the knowing glint in his eye and combining it with the smug curve of his lips, caused Elena’s stomach to drop to her feet.
Son of a bitch.
“You knew!” she cried, pointing an accusing finger at him as her jaw dropped. Her cheeks burned as she shook her head. “Oh my god, you knew the whole time, didn’t you?”
“Wait, what?” Jeremy asked. “What are you talking about?”
“When did you figure it out?” Elena demanded, fighting a smile of indignation and embarrassment as she leaned on the counter and stared him down. Of course Damon had known. How could she have ever been so stupid as to think that she could track him without getting caught? Not only was he a vampire, he was her vampire, hyper-aware of her every move, much to her endless frustration.
“When did I figure out what?” he asked with exaggerated innocence that chased away any remaining doubt Elena had been harboring over whether or not he’d been stringing them along the entire freaking day. “That I was being followed?”
“Aw, man,” Jeremy sighed, tearing the baseball cap off of his head as he made his way dejectedly toward the couch.
“When was it?” Elena repeated, ignoring her brother as she squared off with Damon. “The farmer’s market? The liquor store?”
“The library,” Damon revealed with a wicked grin as he leaned over the counter and kissed her quickly on the lips. Elena started, dumbfounded and more than a little chagrined at the knowledge that her attempts at stealth had been that pathetic.
“I would recognize that horrendous hat anywhere. Caroline has the most questionable taste in history.”
Elena’s jaw dropped as she protested. “This hat is adorable!”
Damon raised a brow. “Right. Just like the penguin umbrella stand currently uglying up our front door.”
“I look awesome in this hat!” Elena declared indignantly.
“You look awesome in anything. It doesn’t mean that that hat is any less horrendous.” Damon responded nonchalantly, as he began slicing cucumbers for the salad.
The compliment warmed her, even as she rolled her eyes at his derisive appraisal of Caroline’s taste in fashion.
“Wait,” she said as another thought suddenly dawned on her. Casting a glance at Jeremy, she moved to the other side of the counter and joined him by the chopping block. Hooking a finger into the waistband of his jeans, she whispered. “You knew I was watching when you stopped by that jewelry store?”
“Yeah,” he said without sparing her a glance as he focused on the food.
Elena bit her lip, wedging her hip between the counter and Damon so that she could get his attention. “So…it was all just…part of your game, then?” she asked, tugging him closer as she tried to decided what she wanted his answer to be.
Damon turned his head, regarding her with an inscrutable expression as he shrugged. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
~*~
Elena paused at the foot of the stairs, bouncing on the balls of her bare feet as she listened intently to the sounds coming from the living room. She didn’t want Damon to know she was awake, let alone potentially spying on him.
She wanted to catch him with his guard down.
Holding her breath, she crept toward the doorway that led into the living room, carefully studying every inch of space for a glimpse of him as it came into view. Steadying herself against the ornate woodwork framing the opening, Elena leaned forward, taking in the room inch by slow inch as the antique furniture and the dying embers in the fireplace came into view.
No Damon.
Frowning, she was about to admit that she’d been wrong when she heard the distinctive sound of crystal hitting crystal followed by a splash of liquid.
Oh.
The drink cart was still out of sight.
Opening her mouth in a silent gasp, Elena ducked around the corner, completely out of sight, as Damon unexpectedly came into view. Her pulse pounded in her head, radiating throughout her entire body so loudly that she was certain he would hear it. Closing her eyes, she drew a slow, silent breath before daring to take another look.
Standing before the fire, every line of Damon’s body screamed fatigue. His shoulders were tense, drawn nearly to his ears and even from across the room she could make out the shadows beneath his eyes. Every few minutes, he brought the glass to his lips, taking a healthy sip that she wondered if he could even taste.
He’s drinking again, she realized, her heart breaking a little. Really drinking. While he’d never stopped indulging, there was a difference between a guy who thoroughly enjoyed a good single-malt scotch and what her boyfriend was doing now.
Elena had noticed the difference in the past two weeks, but for some reason in that moment, the knowledge hit home in a physical, painful way.
Bringing the glass to his lips again and taking another healthy sip, Elena continued to watch as her boyfriend stared coolly into the flames.
She knew this Damon even though she hadn’t seen him like this in years.
Not since those brutal 3 days when they’d been looking for Stefan back in Savannah and they’d fought.
He’d pulled away then.
Just as he was pulling away now.
Damon was drinking to escape from something, to drown it in an ocean of mind-numbing alcohol so that he didn’t have to feel it. The question was - what? The memories of what had happened with Landis? The guilt?
Her?
Elena’s stomach turned as the thought crossed her mind. It wasn’t the first time she’d questioned the affect her transition was having on Damon. She’d wondered about it since the night they’d been reunited and he’d seen her vamp out for the first time. What had started out as an idle thought was swiftly snowballing into a full-fledged fear.
What if Damon’s feelings for her had changed?
Elena shrank back as Damon headed toward the couch, settling onto the cushions and stretching out with his feet toward the fire. Pressing her cheek against the smooth wooden paneling, she watched as he bent his arm behind his head and drank in silence. The embers in the fireplace dwindled into smoldering coals as time passed slowly. Between sips of bourbon, he let his arm drape over the side of the couch, gripping the tumbler loosely as it rested on the floor until it was time for another drink. Elena knew the moment he’d dozed off by the way his fingers loosened and relaxed around the crystal glass.
Closing her eyes, she focused on the soft sound of his heartbeat, feeling closer to him than she had since she’d turned. Tears pooled behind her eyes as her entire body ached with longing - longing to be with him, longing to curl up beside him on the couch and simply breathe until their heartbeats matched and she fell asleep. She knew with absolute certainty that if she did, there’d be no nightmares. If she and Damon could just find their way back to each other, they’d both be able to heal. Listening intently as tears rolled down her cheeks, she waited until she’d counted one hundred evenly-spaced, slow beats before opening her eyes and creeping silently into the living room.
Perching gingerly on the edge of the coffee table, Elena brushed the tears off of her cheeks, mindful of the slightest noise as the antique piece took on her weight. Curling her fingers into fists to stifle the urge to reach out and trail her fingers down his cheek and trace his lips with her thumb, she studied his sleep-softened features in silence.
Is this where you’ve been sleeping? she wondered, knowing with an unsettling certainty now that he wasn’t sleeping with her. She’d assumed that he’d eventually made it to bed each night simply because he’d been there when she’d woken up screaming, but now she realized that with his vampire hearing her cries of terror would carry to him anywhere in the house.
Why was he doing this? Was it guilt? Fear? Revulsion? Leaning forward, she narrowed her eyes, as if she’d somehow see beyond his walls now that he was asleep and vulnerable. Her weight shifted, causing the coffee table to creak and a furrow to appear between Damon’s brows. Panicking, Elena surged to her feet, blurring out of the room and up the twisting staircase to the second floor. Ducking inside of his room, she leapt back into bed and curled onto her side.
Silence
Why the hell did I do that? she wondered, straining her ears to catch any sounds of movement from the first floor over the thundering beat of the pulse between her ears. Her relationship with Damon was falling apart at the seams and here she was, feigning sleep like a child caught out of her room after bedtime. Why hadn’t she woken him? Why hadn’t she demanded answers? They couldn’t go on like this forever, together but not, as the strain on their relationship increased on a daily basis. Why hadn’t she started the inevitable fight that loomed on the horizon?
Because I’m afraid.
Elena’s heart constricted painfully, skipping a full beat as she curled her body into a tighter ball and clutched the covers beneath her chin. She hadn’t asked Damon the questions because she was afraid of his answers.
Click here for Part Two