Gravity

Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries!

Yikes! So here it is, the prologue of the sequel to Cannonball! This is set about six weeks after the last chapter of CB. If you haven't read that fic already, I suggest you go back and do so or this won't really make a lot of sense!

I hope this was worth the wait and a big special shout out to Mara_A_Miller for not only being my beta (again) but for helping me come up with the name! I know I drove her crazy because I could never decide!

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, I hope you enjoy the prologue!

May 31st 2013

Friday 10:15am

Winnfield, Louisiana

I shift my sunglasses briefly and tilt my head to eye up Damon from the corner of my eye. He's standing at the counter, leaning over it as far as possible as he twirls a piece of the blonde shop assistants hair around in his finger. I scoff when I hear the girl giggle, so loud it echoes around the room. I turn my back to them and continue walking along the aisle, one eye on the lookout while the other eyes the items in front of me.

I discreetly pull my backpack in front of me before shoving a handful of chocolate bars inside. I keep walking further away from the counter before making a turn towards the fridges. I look to my left and then to my right before grabbing two bottles of water and some soda, dropping them into my open bag. I walk slowly back towards Damon, subtly shoving more items into my bag on the way.

I roll my eyes when I hear that annoying giggle again and grab a large bag of chips before finally approaching him.

"Are we going or what?" I slam the bag of chips down onto the counter in annoyance. I feel impatient as I look between the two of them, the girl straightening up and her smile fading as she looks at me.

Damon turns to face me with a smirk. "Sure. This all you want?" he questions casually as he moves the bag across the counter.

"Yep." I reply in a bored tone. "I'll go wait in the car."

I hear Damon chuckle to himself behind me just in time to hear the annoying blonde ask if I'm his girlfriend. Damon replies with a swift no and I roll my eyes when I hear him spin a lie about me being his brother's girl.

Yeah, right.

I squint under the blistering sun as I walk back to the truck. I pull the door open then glance back towards the store to see the girl waving flirtatiously at Damon as he leaves.

I watch as he puts his sunglasses back on to cover his eyes from the heavy sun. He climbs back into the truck and throws the bag of chips onto my lap.

"What took you so long?" I raise my eyebrows and he chuckles.

"She was a chatty one."

"Yeah, you seemed to be enjoying it, Luke." I tell him pointedly, referring to the fake name I heard him use when he introduced himself flirtatiously.

Damon laughs as he starts the engine. "I was just being in character!" he defends himself amused and I roll my eyes trying to hide my smile. "Well? What did you get?"

"Here," I pass him his bottle of water while it's still chilled. "I got us some chocolate, sandwiches, soda and a couple of tins of soup."

"Soup?" he frowns. "How the hell are we supposed to eat that?"

"We can heat it up in the microwave of whatever motel we end up in tonight," I defend myself immediately but freeze when I see the grimace on his face. "No Damon!" I scold him quickly because I know exactly where this conversation is going. "You promised!"

"I know baby, I know, but we need to save our money." He reasons attentively. "What's one more night?"

"What's one more night?" I practically shriek in reply. "Damon, we've slept in this damn truck for the last three nights! I haven't showered in four days! I feel dirty and I stink."

Damon scoffs. "That's not true, you smell beautiful." He tilts his head and smiles sweetly at me.

"Damon," I groan in annoyance.

"Elena?"

"Urgh!" I whine loudly and shuffle in my seat. "You are so annoying!"

"I know," he smirks, his hand reaching out to pat my thigh, "but you know I'm right."

I huff and t urn away because I know it's true. The money that we took away with us plus the eight hundred dollars from selling Klaus' car was starting to run thin fast. I didn't realize how expensive gas was until now. So we have resorted to trying to save money as much as we can, by spending nights sleeping in the truck and stealing food from gas stations and convenience stores.

If someone told me six weeks ago that I'd become a pro in petty thieving, I'd have laughed out loud and told them that they're crazy. Yet here I am, six weeks into being on the run and I think if it would be acceptable to add theft to my resume I would that I'm the best at it. In fact, being a better shoplifter than Damon is something that I surprisingly like to brag about, much to his dismay.

Damon almost got us caught once about two weeks ago. We were in a store somewhere in western Alabama and one of the shop assistants caught him mid-way of slipping a bottle of shaving foam into his bag. They threatened to call the cops unless he handed that the rest of the contents over, but Damon being Damon wouldn't just walk away and instead we found ourselves running out of the store, Damon punching a security guard on the way. In the end, we had to pay some back lane dealer that Damon found (I didn't want to know how) to get us a fake registration plate to replace the one on the truck until we made it out of the state.

To say I gave him a hard time about it would be an understatement.

"Okay fine." I reluctantly give in and blow some air up onto my face as the sun starts to get hotter. "We'll sleep in this damn heap of metal for one more night."

"I knew you'd understand," he grins while grabbing a hold of my hand and sliding his fingers through my own. "We'll stay in a motel tomorrow, I promise."

I nod my head and mumble an agreement before lifting our joint hands to my lips and kissing his knuckles softly.

I know that he is only making these decisions to benefit us, and I can't be mad at him for that.

"I love you." I press another kiss to his hand, turning to smile when he faces me with a grin.

"I love you too." He squeezes my hand before turning his head back towards the open road ahead of us.

I walk out of the liquor store with a six pack of beer in my hands. I slide my fake ID back into my wallet and watch from a distance as Elena sits on a park bench across the street reading what looks like a local newspaper.

I figured since we are planning on sleeping in the truck tonight I may as well make things a little more interesting for her. I gathered up some loose change and bought us some beer and asked the shop assistant where the nearest secluded lake is around here. We've done it a few times over the past few weeks while we've been on the road; camping out under the stars with nothing more than a blanket and each other, the humid summer nights making sure we don't freeze.

I climb into the back of the truck and place the beer into the cooler ice box that I picked up a couple of weeks ago after the first night they did this, because it tastes like devil's ass when it's warm. I jump down and glance back at Elena who still looks pretty engrossed in what she is reading. I decide to take the opportunity of her being distracted to do something that has been on my mind since the moment we left Mystic Falls.

I walk along down the street and round the corner, looking around discreetly and pulling my cap back onto my head. I approach a pay phone I spotted earlier and pull off my sunglasses, sliding the coins into the slot and dialing the number that I know by heart.

"Come on, come on." I mutter impatiently as the call continues to ring. I turn away from the traffic on the road behind me, shielding the view with my back.

"Hello?" the gruff sound of an English accent picks up and I smile. It's been so long. I clutch the pone tightly in my hand and clear my throat.

"Klaus," I close my eyes for a brief moment at the familiarity.

"Damon?" My friend sounds surprised to hear from me and I don't blame him. It's been six long weeks with absolutely zero contact.

"Yeah, it's me. Look I don't have long but uh…I just…I need to know what's going on." I admit nervously. Sometimes the thought of everyone thinking I'm a murderer keeps me up at night and it's not something that I want to have to get used to live with.

"How are you? How's Elena?" Klaus asks quickly, completely ignoring the question. "Where are you?"

"I'm good." Considering the circumstances, it's the truth. "Elena is good too. We're uh…we're in Louisiana right now."

Klaus chuckles and it feels good to hear it. "What on earth is in Louisiana?" he asks bemused.

"Nothing." I admit with a small laugh of my own. "But it's not Mystic Falls."

"It's not Mystic Falls." Klaus repeats calmly.

"Klaus," I look around again quickly with my eyes, making sure that I'm alone, always on the lookout. "I need you to tell me what's going on."

The line stills for a moment. "Damon…"

"Please. Just tell me."

"Grayson is trying to you kidnapped Elena." Klaus states quietly and I freeze.

"What?" My jaw drops and my heart rate starts to speed up.

"Elena is still under eighteen, you're not." Klaus replies hesitantly. "I think he wants people to believe that she isn't with you by choice."

"That's…that's twenty years." I breathe out in shock. Surely Grayson isn't that delusional?

"I know."

"Fuck." I run a hand down my face. "People don't really believe that do they?"

"No." Klaus replies immediately. "No not at all. Mystic Falls may be full of small minded idiots but they're not completely stupid. Apart from Grayson I think most people realize it was Elena's choice to leave with you. He's trying to push that charge on you, but from what Stefan tells me no one is taking it seriously and he can't actually try and convict you for it."

"Okay." I nod slowly and let out a shaky breath because now comes the real problem, "and Vaughn?" I ask quietly.

Again Klaus stills for a moment and I wait anxiously for him to reply. "Nothing's changed." I cringe and look down at my worn shoes. "The cops still think you did it, and you running away hasn't exactly helped them believe otherwise."

"I know." I grunt with a grimace, "but did I have a choice? If I stayed, I'd be in jail right now facing God knows how many years in prison."

"I know, Damon. I would have done the same thing. I don't really know what's going on with the case. Grayson and the Sheriff are trying to keep your family in the dark as much as possible. I only know what Stefan shares with me."

"How is Stefan?" I ask curiously, a pit landing in my stomach at the thought of my baby brother.

"He's fine. I mean…he misses you and he wants you to come home but he knows that you can't." the phone line starts to beep and I cringe.

"Klaus I've got to go. I don't know when I'll be able to call you again."

"Damon wait! One more thing," he rushes out quickly. "There's a guy I know who lives in Austin, Texas. He's an old friend of mine who used to date Rebekah, our families used to vacation together. His name is Marcel, find him and tell him you're a friend of mine. You can trust him, he'll hook you up and-"

The line cuts off before Klaus can finish his sentence. I curse and slam the phone down in frustration. I lift the cap off from my head, the scorching hot heat is making my hair stick to my forehead and I push it away in frustration.

I sigh and slam my hand against the old rusty metal of the phone box before I make my way back towards the truck. How the hell will I be able to find one man in a city as big as Austin? Then again, with a name like Marcel maybe it won't be that difficult.

I find Elena exactly where I left her. She looks beautiful and all of the frustration disappears as I approach her and she looks up at me with a smile.

"Hey, what took you so long?" she drops the newspaper and pushes herself up to her feet.

"Sorry, the old guy at the cash register had a lot to say." The lie accidentally leaves my mouth. It's not like I want to purposely hide my contact with Klaus from Elena, but I know that she'll only just worry if she finds out. Lately, Mystic Falls and everyone in it has become a sort of taboo subject between us. It's best when we aren't reminded of it because it's easier that way. "Come on, I got us some beer and I want to take you somewhere."

"Oh yeah?" Elena tilts her head at me curiously; a sweet smile on her face a she slides her hand into mine as we walk back towards the truck. "Where?"

"You'll see."

I giggle happily as Damon playfully bites my neck and try to squirm away but he keeps me wrapped up tightly in his arms holding me still. I sigh contently and lightly kick my feet in the water of the lake that we are sitting at. The stars are reflecting into the dark water making it look beautiful, and the only sound that can heard is the one of nature. It is so peaceful and quiet out here.

I love it when we can find a place like this away from the real world, a place we can press pause on our life for one night where we can relax and not have to constantly look over our shoulder overtook with paranoia in case someone recognizes us.

"Stop!" I squeal when Damon blows a raspberry against my neck from his place sitting behind me. His longer legs stretch to the side of my own as they float in the water beside mine. He tightens his hold around me again and I close my eyes, leaning back to rest my head against his shoulder.

I sigh again and play with his fingers that are resting on my stomach. "I like it here."

"Me too," he murmurs softly into my ear before pressing a soft kiss to my cheek. "I bet you're glad we didn't stay in a crappy motel now, huh?"

I hold in a witty comeback. "Okay fine," I give in with a reluctant smile. "I admit that this is so much better."

"I told you," he squeezes my hip and removes one of his arms to pick up his beer and takes a long sip. I follow his lead and do the same, the cold liquid refreshingly sliding down my throat.

"Where are we going tomorrow?" I tilt my head to look at him over my shoulder with a smile, his arms coming back around to hold me against him. There's something so exciting about not having a plan, just getting in the truck and driving with no real destination. Sometimes I like to pretend that we are just having the summer of our lives, that we are here by choice and that this is all just one big adventure.

It's easier that way.

"Let's go west," Damon muses with a smile, a look in his eyes as he gazes out towards the water. "See where the road takes us."

"I like the sound of that." I agree and turn my head to press a slow soft kiss against his lips. I pull away slowly and lean my forehead against his, my hand caressing his cheek softly. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He smiles back with his eyes closed.

"You know," I turn back around and splash some of the water at my feet, watching as the rings travel across the lake. "I could really get used to this. You and me, on the road. I know these things aren't supposed to last forever, but I do know that we can survive."

"We always survive." He confirms my original sentence, repeating the same three words that I said to him so confidently all those weeks ago when we first started this journey. They still hold as much truth as they did back then. I still believe it. I still believe in us.

Being on the run isn't easy. It's far from it. It's tough, intense and we're always looking over our shoulders, never being able to fully trust anyone we meet, not that we'd have the time too anyway.

We never stay in the same place for too long.

There have been times in old grimy motel rooms when Damon and I have argued like never before. Times when I even went as far as packing a bag with the intention of leaving to go back to Mystic Falls. Damon even offering to give me a ride to the train station himself.

But I never ever even opened the front door, and Damon never ever even picked up his keys.

We go through good days and bad days, some days we can't keep our hands off each other and others we can barely stand being in the confines of the same truck. There are other days, like today, when we feel completely relaxed and happy, but with those days also comes the other days of fear. The fear of being caught, fear of all of this being for nothing.

But no matter what happens, we both know the one truth that is keeping us going, something that comes from love and trust and will stand to the end no matter what.

We are in this together.

Well? Please review and let me know what you thought! I'm actually really nervous about this one so I hope you all liked it :)

Thanks for reading!

Until next time :)