A/N: Didn't I just finish a story? You'd think my brain would want to take a rest from DE for a while, but Noooooo. I stayed up last night writing a description and brief outline for this story in my head. So I'm back with another crazy AU (also AH).
Of course per the description, Elena and Damon will NOT exclusively be hooking up with each other throughout this story. Consider this your fair warning. My TPL readers know that I like to mix it up sometimes (though they might tell you that they hate me for it). At least I deliver on my promise for a happily ever after for DE.
I'm dancing in the room as if I was in the woods with you
The strobe lights flashed around the noisy nightclub as Elena took a sip from her cranberry and vodka, her fourth cranberry and vodka since she'd gotten there actually. Electronic dance music pulsed around her and she tugged the hem of her black bodycon dress down slightly. She leaned over the railing to look down to the dance floor below her, a mess of sweaty drunk people grinding against each other in the dark. One more drink and she'd definitely be ready to head down to the center of it.
"Are we ready to dance yet?" Bonnie asked as she leaned her head on Elena's shoulder. Bonnie had promised to be the sober driver tonight, but that didn't mean she couldn't tear up the dance floor while she watched her two roommates drink themselves into a stupor over their boy problems.
"One more drink first!" Caroline answered. "We need to make sure we post a group picture on Instagram so Tyler can see how much fun I'm having without him!"
"Oh God, if you know who sees that, I will never hear the fucking end of it," Elena groaned, finishing the last of her drink and throwing her cup in the trash. "I'll get us another round. Bonnie, you want a water?"
After Bonnie nodded her head in response, Elena made her way over to the bar. She placed her order easily. After all, the bartender had been staring at her cleavage since she'd gotten there. While she waited for her drinks to be ready, she fished her phone out of her clutch and checked it briefly.
He'd called her three times and texted her twelve. Instead of bothering to respond to any of them, she put her phone back in her clutch and paid the bartender for the round. She tried to pick up all three cups, but she wobbled a little and fell into the guy that was sitting at the bar next to her. She'd managed to save Bonnie's water and Caroline's beer, but her precious cranberry and vodka spilled all over his shirt before she'd even taken a sip of it.
"This is my favorite shirt," an annoyed voice gritted out to her.
"It's a black t-shirt," she answered without looking at the source of the voice. She turned around to face the bar again. She'd have to buy a replacement drink. "I'm sure you can find another one."
Normally, Elena would be apologizing to the guy profusely. The thing was, Elena didn't feel like being demure and docile right now. She'd been letting her ex-boyfriend lecture her all day and she wasn't about to take any shit from some guy in a Hanes t-shirt at a nightclub.
"It's actually Yves Saint Laurent," the voice responded.
"And I'm actually not impressed," she quipped.
She finally glanced up to him and she had to do a double take at the crystal blue eyes that were boring into her. They were a stark contrast to the almost jet black hair. His jawline was so sharp that she thought for sure she could cut glass with it.
"Hi not impressed, I'm Damon Salvatore." He held out his hand to her.
Elena just stood there a little slack-jawed and a whole lot mesmerized. She knew exactly who he was because he'd given a guest lecture in one of her business classes at NYU last year. Not only was he incredibly good looking, he'd managed to start his own investment firm and turn it into a billion dollar Wall Street staple by the time he was thirty. Then, as if that wasn't enough, he took a chunk of that money and started a non-profit to help combat poverty.
Yeah, he was basically perfect. She drooled over him then and she was drooling over him now. The difference was that now he could see her.
"Hello?" He waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention.
"Uh, yeah. I'm, I'm Elena Gilbert actually," she stuttered out. "Sorry about your shirt."
He shrugged and smirked at her. "I'm sure I can find another one."
"I'm not normally this rude. I'm just having the worst day. Can I pay to have it cleaned?" she offered.
"How about I buy you a replacement drink instead?" Damon deflected.
Elena opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Caroline sauntering up to her.
"Bonnie's in the bathroom, but she wants to go dance as soon as she gets out. Where's my beer?" Caroline reached around Elena to snatch the glass bottle off of the bar top in front of her before glancing toward Damon. "Who's this guy?"
"Damon, meet my roommate Caroline. Caroline, this is Damon. I spilled my drink on him." Elena quickly introduced them.
Caroline narrowed her eyes at Damon. "I know you."
"Oh you do?" Damon raised his eyebrows.
"You're that guy who was on the front of Forbes magazine last month! Top 30 Under 30 or whatever!" She drunkenly pointed a finger at him.
Elena nudged Caroline with her elbow and leaned to whisper into her ear. "Act like you've met a millionaire before, will you?"
"I am," Damon nodded his head slightly and stared intently at Elena. "What are you drinking?"
"Cranberry and vodka, please."
Damon placed the order and paid for her drink. As soon as Elena took a sip from the cup, she moaned lightly at the taste. Few things tasted as delicious combined together as vodka and cranberry juice.
"Well sorry to say, Damon. Elena here owes me a dance so," Caroline wrapped her hand around Elena's wrist and hauled her away from the bar.
They collided with Bonnie who had just come out of the bathroom. "That line was unbelievably long. Can we dance now? Finally?"
The three of them held onto each other as they went down the staircase and into the lower level of the nightclub. Caroline led them all to the center of the dance floor and they started to sway to the music. Three songs in, Elena felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Damon standing behind her.
"May I?" he yelled at her over the music.
Elena's eyes widened, but she nodded her head and allowed him to snake his arms around her waist. She looked to Caroline and Bonnie for their reaction, but they'd gone to request a song from the DJ and basically left her alone with him.
Damon was actually a pretty decent dancer. Elena had to give him that. Most guys were just looking to grind their junk into a girl's ass for a song or two, but Damon moved with her. He was keeping up with her and he smelled fucking amazing while doing it.
She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his chest as their hips moved and she could feel his grip tighten on his hips. If her ex knew this was happening right now, he'd surely flip his shit. Elena couldn't let thoughts of him get in the way of how Damon was making her feel right now, which if she was being completely honest was unbelievably turned on.
The song ended too quickly and Damon stepped away from her, breaking Elena out of her trance-like state.
"Thank you for the dance," he spoke into her ear and again all she could do was nod her head before she watched him disappear through the crowd.
"Oh girl, he is so hot!" Bonnie exclaimed as she dragged Elena off of the dance floor.
"Where were you two? He could've kidnapped me!" Elena lightly smacked them on their arms.
"Oh don't act like you weren't loving it. We wanted to give you some privacy. We were right over there!" Caroline pointed to a spot a couple of feet away.
"He is kind of hot, isn't he?" Elena bit her lip just thinking about the way he grabbed her waist.
"He clearly wants you!" Caroline encouraged.
"I'm not exactly available," Elena responded.
"Last time I checked, that asshole had no claim over you!" Bonnie egged her on.
Elena's expression must have given her away because both of her roommates looked at her disapprovingly.
"Did you sleep with him again?" Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest and arched an eyebrow.
"Stop with the judgment, Bon. You don't know how persuasive he can be!" Elena yelled back.
Bonnie held up her hands defensively. "Sorry, okay? No judgment. We just want you to move on with your life. What better way than a one night stand with Mr. Rich Guy Do Gooder CEO? He's basically your dream man!"
"You think so?" Elena pondered it for a moment. To say that her love life was complicated would be a vast understatement, but she was technically single. Was it true that the best way to get over someone was to get under someone else? Maybe it was. Maybe a little sex with a good looking rich guy who she would clearly never see again could be just what she needed.
"He's at the bar staring you down," Caroline sang.
Elena directed her attention to the bar and surely Damon was standing there talking with a friend, but clearly staring directly at her.
Bonnie lightly pushed Elena towards the bar. "Go talk to him. Go."
Elena moved her feet in front of her ever so slowly. She'd already grinded on him, why was she so nervous now that the possibility of going home with him was present?
If she was being truthful, it was because she hadn't had sex with anyone else in three years. Since the first day she moved into her freshman dorm, it had been him. They'd met in the dining hall on her first day of college and that was it. She'd been swept up in a whirlwind romance with him ever since where they'd fight then make-up on almost a weekly basis. It'd gone on for three years and when she finally stopped returning his phone calls, he'd officially broken up with her. That didn't stop them from sleeping together at least once a week for the last three months. It had become a very unhealthy and very repetitive cycle.
But now was her chance to break that cycle. Elena took a deep breath and walked the last remaining steps to where Damon was standing at the bar. He was still engaging in the conversation with his friend, but his eyes never once left her.
"Hi," she spoke once she was close enough for him to hear her.
"Hi back," he answered.
They both stood there and eyed each other up and down silently for what felt like forever. Elena was clearly sizing him up and the liquid courage in her system prevented her from being ashamed about it. She was blushing, but not out of embarrassment. It was purely because of the way he was methodically gazing at her, which made her so warm that she felt like she was catching fire.
The sound of his friend clearing his throat grabbed their attention and she turned to look at the man standing beside of Damon.
"I'm Enzo," he held out his hand to her and she shook it.
"I'm Elena. Nice to meet you, Enzo." She started to pull her hand away from his, but he wouldn't let go just yet. Instead, he brought it to his lips and kissed the back of it.
"Enzo's quite the charmer, at least he thinks he is." Damon took a sip from his drink.
"Now is that any way to talk about your closest and dearest friend?" Enzo mocked offense and it was at that moment that Elena picked up on his British accent. "We've been mates since boarding school and this is how he treats me."
Elena giggled in response, but she nervously chewed on her bottom lip because she wasn't sure what to say next. She started to look around for Bonnie and Caroline for backup, but they weren't within her eyesight.
"Can you not scare her away?" Damon teased Enzo. "Elena, can I buy you another drink?"
She nodded her head. "Um, sure."
Damon ordered another cranberry and vodka for her. Elena knew she probably didn't need it. She was getting close to her limit, but it was a kind offer from an extremely attractive and impressive man. She wasn't about to turn that down. What she couldn't figure out was how to translate this interaction into sex. She wasn't very good at flirting. She hadn't tried to do it in so long that she'd become pretty rusty at it.
"Do you have any friends with you?" Enzo asked her as she sipped her drink.
"Yeah, my roommates. They're around here somewhere," she replied while looking around for them again. She spotted Caroline's blonde hair weaving through the crowd with Bonnie behind her and coming towards them.
"Why does it take a million years every time I need to go to the bathroom here?" Caroline complained as she approached them. She looked briefly in Enzo's direction and briefly acknowledged him with a hello.
"Bonnie and Caroline, this is Enzo. You've met Damon." Elena made the introductions quickly.
The five of them actually fell into pretty easy conversation over the loud music and they spent the rest of the night talking at the bar. Damon, ever the gentleman, insisted that everyone's drinks be put onto his tab. Elena didn't even want to know what that bill was going to look like at the end of the night.
Bonnie started to yawn. She was the only sober one and it was getting really late. "I have to take Grams to church tomorrow. I don't know how much longer I can stay," she said regretfully. It wasn't easy being a good wingwoman for Elena when she had to be awake and presentable in less than 5 hours.
"I can drive Elena and Caroline home," Damon politely offered. "That is, if you two want to hang out a little while longer."
Caroline never really missed a beat when it came to being a wingwoman, sober or drunk, tired or not. "What kind of car do you drive?"
"A Camaro," Damon said proudly.
"She's his baby," Enzo cut in. "He loves that car more than anything. I almost threw up in it one time and he threatened to leave me on the side of the road."
"CEO, philanthropist, and psycho car lover?" Elena teased.
"Triple threat," Damon replied.
"You sure you're okay to drive?" Bonnie asked Damon. "Do not drive drunk with my best friends in your car."
"Positive," he reassured.
"Okay. I love you both. Be safe. Call me if you need me. Do you promise?" Bonnie hugged Elena and Caroline tightly.
"We promise," Caroline replied.
Elena nodded her head as well.
Once Bonnie had left, Elena and Caroline both finished their drinks. Damon had switched to water at this point, but Enzo was still knocking back shots.
"Can you take a picture of us, please?" Caroline tapped the shoulder of a girl standing near them and handed her phone over.
Enzo, Damon, Caroline, and Elena all huddled together to snap a picture. Elena was all smiles. This night had allowed her to get away from the mess that was her life for a little while and it was just what the doctor had ordered.
"Do not post that online. He'll freak out," Elena quietly warned her roommate.
"Oh, chill. It's fine." Caroline pulled up Instagram and started testing out different filters.
"Caroline, I mean it."
"Ugh, okay." Caroline shoved her phone back into her clutch.
"Please tell me that we're stopping for food on our way home?" Enzo slung his arm around Damon's shoulder.
"Oh! I could go for some French fries!" Caroline added.
Damon looked at Elena, who nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Fries it is," he confirmed.
By the time they pulled up at the drive-thru, Caroline was asleep in the backseat with her head resting on Elena's lap.
"I don't think she'll wake up to eat anything," Elena whispered. "Maybe just grab her a water? I don't think I want anything."
Enzo started stuffing fries into his mouth as they pulled out of the parking lot.
"Do not get grease all over my leather seats," Damon warned him in a stern voice. "Again."
"Relax, mate. I got this." Enzo wiped his greasy fingers onto his jeans instead.
"We are dropping your drunk ass off first." Damon navigated his way to an apartment building and Enzo climbed out of the passenger seat.
He tried to bow, but stumbled instead. "Farewell, beautiful ladies."
Once Damon pulled away from Enzo's apartment, he glanced into his rearview mirror and connected eyes with Elena.
"Sorry about him. He's an idiot. Where to, Elena?"
"Um, we're about a mile east of campus. Take a left here." She gave him directions to her house and soon they pulled into her driveway safely.
Elena knew this was it. She could take Caroline into the house, bid Damon goodnight, and go to sleep alone in her own bed. That's what her ex would want. That's what he was counting on. But that wasn't what she wanted to happen.
"Could you help me get her upstairs?" Elena motioned to Caroline.
"Yeah, sure." Damon answered as he stepped out of the car. He reached into the backseat and picked her up easily.
Elena walked up the driveway and searched for her keys in her clutch while he followed behind her with a sleeping Caroline in his arms. Careful not to wake Bonnie, she stuck her key into the front door and slowly turned the knob.
Damon followed her up the staircase until they came to Caroline's room. He placed her down on her bed and she barely stirred at all. "She's out like a light," he whispered to Elena.
"Thank you," Elena told him as she rested her hand on his shoulder. The thrill of that tiny touch made her heart flutter.
After they closed Caroline's bedroom door securely, they stood in the hallway alone together. Elena knew now was her chance. Damon had been a perfect gentleman to her all night. There were no red flags in sight. This would be a great one night stand.
"It's late to be driving alone. You could stay the night here, if you want." She shyly shuffled her feet beneath her.
"Oh, that's okay. Couch sleeping isn't really my thing." Damon turned to walk down the stairs, but Elena caught his wrist and tugged him toward her bedroom door.
"You're really going to make me spell this out for you, aren't you?"
"Nope. Message clearly received." Damon followed her into her bedroom and she closed the door behind them softly.
"I should warn you that I'm not very good at this," Elena began. "At least that's what I've been told."
"Is this some kind of new seduction technique that I'm unfamiliar with?" Damon raised an eyebrow at her as he took purposeful steps towards her. He ran the pad of his thumb along her bottom lip slowly.
"I'm sorry. I'm just kind of nervous."
"Let me try to ease your nerves then," he whispered before capturing her lips in a long and gentle kiss.
They broke apart and Elena felt like she could collapse from just that one kiss alone. She was desperate for him and he'd only just touched her lips.
"Am I helping?" he asked.
She nodded her head slowly.
"Good," he chuckled as he began to kiss her again.
Her knees started to buckle from the sensation, but Damon was quick to hold her up in his arms. He walked them over to her bed and rested her on her back. He reached up to tug off his t-shirt then slid off his jeans. Elena loved how mussed up his hair had become. She smiled at the sight. It was the first time all night that he looked less than perfect.
Then she looked down and took in the rest of his body and suddenly she was not smiling anymore. He was so fit, so perfectly sculpted. She was starting to feel a little self-conscious in comparison.
"I don't work out," she warned as he started to lift her dress off of her. He threw it on the floor and she suddenly felt so exposed in just her underwear. Damn Caroline for convincing her that she didn't need to wear a bra with this outfit. She could really use the extra fabric right now.
"So?" he asked before his lips went to her collarbones.
"I'm sorry," she apologized again.
"Stop saying you're sorry and just let me kiss you."
"Sorry," she said again.
His head shot up and he looked her into her eyes.
"I mean, okay. Kiss me."
Damon's lips found hers then trailed their way between the valley of her breasts and to the edge of her underwear. He hooked a finger into each side and pulled them down. He was about to trail his tongue further down when she pulled him up.
"Can we just do it already?"
He smiled at her. "Yeah, of course."
Damon leaned over her to grab a condom out of his wallet. He rid himself of his boxers and rolled it over his length carefully.
"Ready?" he asked as he hovered over her.
Elena closed her eyes. "Ready."
He slowly inched into her, giving her time to adjust little by little. Elena was thankful for this, because although she hadn't gotten a good look at what he was working with, she could already tell it was much bigger than what she was used to.
"Are you, are you okay?" he gritted out, clearly trying to maintain his self-control.
She opened her eyes and met his. There were still so cerulean and mesmerizing. More importantly, they made her want to trust him. "I'm okay."
Damon took this as an okay for him to start moving. He began slowly, testing out different angles and speeds. Whenever Elena responded, he'd keep doing that for a little while. She'd never been with someone who cared so much about whether she was enjoying it before.
As her moans intensified, so did Damon's motions. She was breathing his name over and over again as his thrusts became more erratic. He spilled into the condom and collapsed on top of her.
After a few minutes, Damon rolled off of Elena. "Bathroom?" he asked.
"Straight across the hall," she replied as she tried to catch her breath. That had been the single most amazing sexual experience of her life and she barely knew this man.
Damon wrapped a blanket around himself as he quietly padded out of her bedroom.
Once the door shut and Elena was alone, she pulled the covers over her body and draped her arm across her eyes. She was officially properly fucked. So that's what Bonnie and Caroline had been raving about all this time.
Just as she was about to pass out, she felt the bed dip next to her as Damon laid down.
"You didn't finish, did you?"
"Oh, you don't have, I mean, I don't normally-" she stuttered out.
"You've never had an orgasm before?" he asked, genuine shock in his voice.
"Well with myself, but never with anyone else." She blushed. This was kind of an uncomfortable topic from someone she just met.
"Not acceptable."
Damon dove under the covers and she felt his warm breath tickle her inner thighs.
"Seriously, Damon. It's okay. You don't have to-" Her words were cut off with a gasp as his tongue made slow and languid contact with her apex.
She reached her hands down and ran her fingers through his hair. Her back arched off of the bed. Damon was far from the first guy to ever go down on her, but it had never actually felt this pleasurable before. It had always felt nice, pleasant even; but it had never actually rendered her speechless until now.
The small circles his tongue was making were sending her close to the edge already. Her added two fingers to help her along and she was gone. Her toes curled up, her legs straightened, and her hands flew from his head to grip the covers instead.
If nothing else came out of this hook up, at least one thing did. Elena realized that an orgasm feels so much better when someone else gives it to you.
"Elena?" Damon whispered as his head popped out from underneath the comforter.
"Hm?" She pulled the covers around herself as her eyes started to feel heavy with sleep.
"Whoever told you that you weren't very good at this shit, they seriously lied to you."
With that, Elena finally dozed off for the night.
Elena rolled over and the sunlight hit her directly in her eyes. It was too bright in her bedroom. She needed better curtains. Thankfully, the sunlight allowed her to get a last look at the gorgeous naked man lying beside of her in her bed. He was sleeping peacefully.
What was the protocol for the morning after a one night stand? Was she supposed to wake him up?
She didn't have to debate it much further because his eyelids fluttered open just as she shifted to get out of bed and find some clothes.
"Hey you," she breathed as she pulled the t-shirt over her head. She threw some yoga pants on as well.
"What time is it?" he asked her, rather curtly.
Elena reached for her phone out of her discarded clutch, but it was dead. She'd been a little too preoccupied last night to remember to charge it. "Um, I don't know. Do you have somewhere you need to be?"
"I've got a meeting I have to go to," he gritted out as he started searching for his clothes.
"But its Sunday."
"Yeah, and I'm an important person."
Why was he being so terse with her? This wasn't how he was behaving last night. He'd been so funny and kind. Now he was acting, well he was acting a lot like someone else that she was all too familiar with. Someone she was trying like hell to pry out of her life.
Elena stood there motionless as he went about getting dressed. She wasn't really sure what to say.
Damon pulled his black shirt over his head. "Oh don't tell me you're going to be one of the clingy ones. I thought someone with your sass would for sure understand how this worked. We had a mutually beneficial sexual encounter. Let's just leave it at that."
She still didn't say anything to him, but her eyes started to prick with tears. She may have been out of the game for a while now, but she wasn't stupid. He'd played her. He pretended to be the nice guy, when he was actually just an asshole the whole time.
"Are you catatonic or something?" he asked her after he slipped his shoes on. "Look, Elena. This was fun. You're really hot so thank you for the good time last night. I don't do relationships. I don't-"
"I wasn't looking for a relationship," she finally said. "I just thought you were a good person."
"There's no good or bad people. There's only people. I just happen to be a person who appreciates sex, especially sex with beautiful women such as yourself. I also happen to know that said women appreciate the fantasy. The good looking rich guy with a heart of gold is the ideal fantasy so I give that to them for the night." Damon shrugged his leather jacket on.
"You're a liar," she bite out while she wiped traitorous tears with the back of her hand. She'd been so vulnerable with him last night and he didn't deserve that. She hadn't felt this used in such a long time, at least not by anyone else but her ex-boyfriend.
"Not a liar. Just a really good pretender, sweetheart," Damon slammed her bedroom door behind him.
Elena was left alone in her bedroom and the angry tears started to fall. If this was what a one night stand was like, she was never planning on having one again.
A few minutes later, she heard a light knock on her door. Elena took a couple deep breaths in and wiped her tears away. "Come in," she said.
Caroline peaked her head through the door as she cracked it open. "My head feels like it's being hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer."
Elena nodded in response and Caroline must have noticed her red eyes because she walked in and offered her a hug.
"Hey. Hey, what's wrong? What happened?"
"He played me. He's an ass." Elena accepted the warm embrace and rested her head on Caroline's shoulder. "He was so nice to me last night. So nice that it was too good to be true, but he was a completely different person this morning. I might as well have been sleeping with the same person I always sleep with."
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have urged you to hook up with him, Elena. I thought he was a good guy too. He fooled me too."
"At least I never have to see him again," Elena added.
Caroline nodded her head. "That's fortunate for him because I'm pretty sure I'd kick his ass if he ever stepped foot in your vicinity again."
"That is why I love you."
A loud banging interrupted their hug and Elena ran downstairs to figure out where it was coming from. The banging was so loud that the floors were vibrating beneath her feet as she approached the front door. She crept up to the door and was about to look through the small peephole to see who it was that was causing the banging. Her heart pounding in her chest as she did so because she had a feeling she already knew who it was.
"Who is it?" Caroline called out as she came down the stairs.
"Elena! I know you're in there! Open this door or so help me I will break it down!"
Elena stopped dead in her tracks. She didn't need to look to see who it was. She knew that voice very well. She knew that tone very well. He was here and he was pissed.
A/N: And that is our first chapter! Let me know what you all think!