You Won't Hear Me Say The Word

by velja

Pairing: Damon/Elena

Genre: Drama

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Damon knows that there's no way Elena is ever gonna forgive him for turning her birth mother into a vampire. But he wouldn't be Damon Salvatore if he'd simply accept that, right? So he seeks out Elena and talks to her.

Warning: Spoilers for Episode 1x15 "A Few Good Men"

Author's note: Just a short one-shot that popped into my head after watching "A Few Good Men". There should have been a Damon/Elena talk in her room in the end, don't you think? So I wrote one. Hope you like it. Oh, and I fixed two tiny mistakes I made when posting this earlier. Thanks to clarkloveslana for pointing one out to me.

The metallic frame of her parents' picture poked into Elena's thigh hard enough to leave bruises. But she didn't feel it; she didn't feel anything beside the gutwrenching emptiness inside. Elena was seated on her bed, nearly hunched over, and her hand was still clasping the cell phone she'd picked up from the streets earlier this evening. It had belonged to the stranger that had thrown himself in front of the truck. Elena had just now used it to trace the line back to her birth mother.

She had just heard the sound of her birth mother's voice for the first time in her life.

Isobel Flemming, Alaric Saltzman's supposedly dead wife.

The one Damon had killed… no, turned into a vampire. The one he'd earlier at the Grill been gloating about 'having a drink with'.

Elena felt a new wave of rage fill her and with a furious cry she threw the cell phone across the room. It smashed into the wall and clattered to the ground with a satisfying crunch.

"Whoa, easy there," a dark voice suddenly sounded from the corner. Elena's head snapped up and she saw Damon slowly step out of the shadow into the small radar of light her bedside lamp created. "You could easily hurt someone!"

"Damon!" Elena's voice nearly doubled over from rage and before she knew it she'd jumped off the bed and had stepped directly into his path. "How dare you come here after… you, you… you turned my mother into a vampire!"

Elena slammed both fists against Damon's chest repeatedly but he didn't budge at all. He didn't even flinch but took her anger in stride.

Damon assumed that's the least he could do. Let the girl take it out on him. Not that he was feeling any regret, mind you. After all, Isobel had wanted to be turned, she'd begged him for it… Should he perhaps tell Elena?

Damon finally stopped Elena's tiny fists hammering against his chest by taking hold of her wrists. He lowered his head and looked straight into Elena's furious brown eyes.

"Okay, that's enough, Elena. Listen."

"I don't wanna listen, you…" Elena tried to break free but Damon held her too firmly. Though, she noticed, he wasn't hurting her.

"Too bad, because you will listen. First of all, I didn't know that Isobel was your mother. I didn't even know you existed, Elena!"

"And that's supposed to make it okay?" Elena couldn't believe her ears.

"Well, it should lessen your anger somewhat," Damon shrugged. He knew immediately that he'd made a mistake saying that because Elena's eyes flashed up in hate.

"How can you…?"

"Okay, maybe not," he quickly cut her off. "But, listen. There's one thing you need to understand, Elena. While I did not know that Isobel had a little girl somewhere..." Damon paused and sought her eyes. "She knew."

Elena stopped struggling against Damon's hold and stared into his face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Damon tried to keep his voice patient and gentle. "She knew she had a daughter. And she came to me anyway. She left you, Elena! She gave you up. She sought me out and begged me to turn her!"

Okay, now it was out. Damon bore his cerulean eyes into Elena and waited for her to react to this revelation.

"No, you're lying!" Elena spat. "She wouldn't…"

"Yes, she would!" Damon cut her off once again. He let go of Elena's wrists and stepped closer to her, invading her personal space like he always did. "Ask the teacher if you don't believe me. He'll tell you..."

Damon broke off, suddenly remembering that he'd just killed Alaric Saltzman. It wouldn't do to push Elena's nose onto that, would it? No, not if he wanted Elena to stop being mad at him.

Though Damon didn't let his thoughts linger on why he wanted Elena not to be mad at him. It wasn't as if he cared about what she thought. It wasn't as if he cared about her, right? He threw a quick look at the girl he absolutely didn't care about and noticed her eyes were set firmly on his. Elena was waiting for him to say something.

Damon let out a deep breath. "Look, Elena. Isobel was obsessed with vampires. She tried to find out everything she could. She sought me out. She wanted to become a vampire."

Elena felt all strength leave her legs. She stumbled back and fell down onto the edge of her bed. Her eyes never left Damon's though. She tried to find any sign of deceit in them but… for once his eyes were clear of any. Damon looked at her with a mixture of contempt and concern; as if he couldn't quite decide on one emotion yet.

In the end concern won and Damon crouched down in front of Elena. "I told you before, Elena. She left you. She sucks!"

He lifted one hand and his fingertips slowly ghosted over her cheek. Softly, barely noticeable, he tugged a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You won't hear me say the word, Elena. But, believe me. I am."

And then, before Elena had time to voice or even think of anything to say, Damon was gone in the blink of an eye.

The curtains at her window rustled and fluttered in the soft breeze he left behind. To Elena it sounded like the softest of whispers.

'I'm sorry'.

The End

Please tell me what you think.