A/N: Sorry about the long wait guys, but university comes first! Good news, the semester is over and I got final grades today so in celebration, here is a short chapter for you guys. Even though Mother's Day is this weekend, I hope to get a lot of writing done so we will hopefully have an update shortly!
Elena glanced up from her hands to watch Damon prod the fire. Within minutes he had it roaring and turned to sit down across from her, oblivious to her attention.
"I would have told you, had I known." He spoke quietly.
"I know."
"I really am sorry."
"I know."
"Is there anything I can say to take this all back?"
Elena sucked in a deep breath, contemplating his question. She knew he was sorry, she knew he didn't mean for everything to blow up in their faces like that. But what was done was done, they could only move forward or not at all.
"Frankly, no. You know, I didn't give a damn about your side at first. I was so, so angry with you. But things are snowballing too fast. I only came over yesterday because I didn't want you to be blindsided with what people were saying like I was. And then Stefan – who has never been on our side, by the way – tells me to talk to you. So, I need to know what happened. All of it. Before I can move forward."
"Elena," Damon hesitated.
"No." she cut him off. "You don't get to be hesitant. You don't get to hold back. If you had been honest from the beginning, then sure. But not now."
Damon closed his mouth and gave a curt nod, looking chagrined. "Tell me what you want to know."
"Is Katherine still here?"
"Yes. No, no, not in this house." He backtracked quickly at the look of horror on Elena's face. "But she is here in town."
"Do you have any idea why?"
"I assume she wants something. Katherine always wants something." Damon shrugged.
"How did you guys leave things? Maybe that will answer the question."
"I met Katherine during a very…volatile part of my life. I wasn't handling things well. I was constantly worried about Stefan while trying to throw myself in school. I was fighting with my father constantly, with him threatening to cut me off once a week just to get me to do what he wanted. I didn't have anyone to turn to, I was the one others turned to.
"Katherine was different. Vibrant, seductive, all-encompassing. With her, I could forget all the shit at home. She was a great distraction, and as a fashion major, she was as far from my life as you could get. Things were great, really great, for a long time. But if there's one thing I know about Katherine, it's that she's never what she seems."
Elena shifted, uncomfortable at Damon's admission. She knew Damon had loved before her, she may be young but he wasn't. The chances of him not finding love until 25 were slim to none, especially given his looks and personality. But just because she knew it was inevitable didn't mean she wanted to hear all about his past liaisons. Especially with a woman who looked a lot like her.
"What happened?"
"I loved her, more than I'd loved anyone before. She was there for me when my father died, and helped me take care of Stefan. Never once did she seem unenthused or unhappy about the fact that I was responsible for someone. So, on her 22nd birthday, I asked her to marry me. This part you already know. She said no, told me how she never wanted to marry me, that she just felt bad for me. I screamed at her, I was furious. I had thrown myself into the relationship because I just didn't want to deal with home. That night I packed up my stuff and moved Stefan and myself into an apartment just off campus."
"And then let me guess – she told someone, I'm assuming Stefan, that you were abusive."
Damon nodded as he looked down, suddenly captivated by his shoes. It took a moment for Elena to place the emotion on his face, but it was shame.
"I don't believe you actually hurt her, Damon." Elena leaned forward to hold Damon's hand, her fingers wrapping around his. He looked up to meet her gaze and she winced at the pain reflected in his eyes. This was her Damon, the one who made her dinner the first time she came over and took her to the decade dance and was so kind and patient and passionate. He was just as hurt by these rumors as she was, maybe even more so.
"I'm sorry." She continued after the moment of silence made it clear that Damon wasn't ready to speak.
He jumped back, wrenching his hand away before he flew to his feet. "Wait, what? Why are you sorry?"
"You've spent the last few years not understanding why your brother hated you. And to find out he's held animosity toward you for false reasons, that must be hard. I don't know what I'd do if I was in that sort of situation with Jeremy. And then if on top of all that, the person you loved didn't even believe you…I'm just-I'm sorry." Elena hated that she hadn't come to Damon sooner about the snippets of half-truths that she'd heard and for letting this fester for as long as it had. She hadn't been ready to deal with the idea of it being true, and she had been selfish for that.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Elena. God, I-I can't…fuck, Elena." Damon's pained voice stumbled. He pulled her up and held her close in his arms. "I love you so much. I fucked up and I'm sorry, but please don't feel bad. I can't handle that. Promise me you won't." He whispered into her hair.
"Okay. Okay, I won't. I promise." She agreed. She felt a weight lift off her shoulders as his arms held on to her tight. She knew they weren't back to how things were, and there were still things that needed to be discussed, but their talk was a big step in the right direction, and that was all she could hope for.
Elena sat in front of the mirror, watching her aunt curl her hair.
"Thank you for helping me, Aunt Jenna."
Jenna laughed. "Don't thank me just yet. You'll wish your mom were here when I'm done with your hair."
She finished the last few curls before she sat the wand down and stepped back. "All done!"
At Elena's lack of a response, her aunt asked, "You doing okay, Elena?"
"I'm fine, just…. you know." She replied lamely. Jenna didn't know the full extent of what was going on between Elena and Damon, she didn't want her aunt to worry, and she also didn't want to give her aunt a reason to dislike Damon. It was best to keep their drama quiet. At least for now. She knew Jenna would find out soon enough, rumors were flying through town already.
Jenna walked out of the room, giving Elena a chance to change into her dress. She started to unbutton her shirt when the door opened and Caroline came in.
"Hi Elena." Caroline smiled timidly.
"Hi."
"I um…look, I'm sorry Elena. I didn't mean-"
"Caroline, no. I can't-I'm not doing this right now." Elena turned around to cut Caroline off.
"Elena,"
"No! We're about to walk downstairs, Caroline, and everyone will see you and say 'Oh, look how beautiful the Sherriff's daughter looks, did you hear about her work on the MF Beautification Committee?'. Do you know what they'll say about me, all because word somehow got out about Damon hitting me?" Elena hissed furiously.
Caroline's eyes widened comically and Elena probably would have laughed under different circumstances. "What? How?"
"Don't act so surprised, you're more tuned into the gossip than I am so I know you had to have heard people at school. He didn't, by the way."
"Who spread it through school, though?"
Elena took a moment to relax her breathing before she responded. "Who else but you? You told Bonnie, and I know she didn't say anything."
"What-how do you-" Caroline sputtered before she was interrupted by the door opening to reveal the Salvatore brothers.
Lovely. Perfect, just perfect, Elena thought.
"Stefan told you. You told Bonnie." Elena's hand fisted around the open ends of her shirt, holding it closed.
"What's going on?" Damon asked, looking back and forth between the two girls. Elena crossed her arms and fixed Caroline with a tight-lipped smile.
"Care to share with the class?" Elena knew she was being snotty but had trouble caring.
Caroline opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water as she looked at Damon and Stefan for help. Stefan watched her with incredulous eyes. Elena guessed he never found out about Caroline spilling to Bonnie. Damon had one hand still on the doorknob, watching the scene before him intently.
"While we're on the subject of your inability to keep your mouth shut, why didn't you tell me? You know I would've been discreet."
"Elena, I…I don't know what you want me to say." Caroline faltered, her eyes watering with unshed tears.
"The truth, Care. You're one of my best friends. If our roles had been reversed, telling you would have been my first priority. Instead, you decided to make sure the whole school knew."
"I mean, sure, I believed it at first. But as I spent time at Stefan's, I got to know Damon and then Stefan told me the whole story and I just-look, I knew Damon wasn't a bad guy, okay? You know me! You're my best friend, do you really think I'd let you be alone with Damon if he was dangerous? And I didn't tell the whole school, I promise. I only told Bonnie, you have to believe me."
"Just get out, please. I can't even look at you right now." Elena cried, giving a frustrated swipe across her face to get rid of her tears.
"God, Elena, I-" Caroline banged her fist on the table beside her. "Look, I'm freaking sorry, okay? But I knew you were okay. So don't you dare throw this holier than thou shit at me, I'm sick of it."
"Hey, hey, why don't we just calm down before we say something we don't mean. Just cool off." Stefan stepped in and gently pulled Caroline back.
"And you!" Elena rounded on Stefan, the blonde forgotten. "You're even worse than her. You didn't think to ever talk to your own brother? You were just content to believe the worst about him? You two deserve each other." Elena spat furiously, her eyes shooting daggers at the couple.
"Fuck you, Elena." Caroline was out of the room before Elena could blink, Stefan right behind her. Elena took two deep breaths before she burst into tears, allowing the stress and anger to escape her body through the sobs that tore through her body. She doubled over, one hand grasping the table to keep her upright. Damon's arms were around her in an instant, pulling her into his arms as his shoulder muffled her cries.
"I'm sorry, Damon. I just, I'm so angry. And I have to walk downstairs and see all those people and it's just-it's too much." Elena pulled away but kept her eyes focused on the knot in Damon's tie. She worried that the tears would come back if she looked at his crystal blue eyes.
"I know. But you know what? You're gonna do it anyway. I'm going to help you fix your makeup and you're going to walk down those steps with a smile on your face, dance with me, and then forget about all those fuckers. They're not important to you anyway. You are so much better than this town, Elena." Damon consoled as he gently wiped her eyes dry before giving her a gentle smile.
Elena nodded. "You're right, okay."
10 minutes later she was walking down the winding staircase and linking her arm with Damon. He smiled reassuringly and gave her hand a small squeeze. She followed his lead through the French doors out to where the other contestants were lined up with their partners.
"Oh my God, how can she be here with him?"
"I don't see any bruises, but you never know these days."
Elena winced at the whispers that surrounded them. She knew they were false but that did little to calm her nerves. She just wanted to put all of this behind her, but it was hard when half the town knew.
"Just look at me." Damon whispered, giving her a smoldering stare.
She did just that as he took her hand in his while his free hand wrapped itself around her waist. The rest of the world slipped away as she allowed him to spin her around the room. She felt the intense heat radiating off him and with his arm wrapped around her protectively, pulling her close, she felt safer than she had in a few days-safe, protected, calm. He still had this effect on her, given everything. Then again, she'd never doubted her feelings for him. She understood she still loved him dearly, her body's response to his mere presence proved that.
After a few minutes, the dance was over and he moved to pull away but she tightened her grip on his hand. She wasn't ready to let go-as soon as they left that dance floor things would go back to how they had been. The spell would be broken, and she wasn't ready for the pain to come back again.
"Elena, it's okay, let go." Damon whispered and she loosened her grip and allowed him to lead her on the lawn where everyone was socializing before they announced the winner.
She let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.
"Come walk with me for a minute?" Damon asked, motioning towards the line of trees on the edge of the Lockwood property.
"Just for a minute." Elena agreed. Once they were away from prying eyes and ears Damon turned to Elena.
"I'm so sorry I put you through this." He brushed a curl behind her ear. "The last thing I'd ever want to do is hurt you, and that's precisely what I did by not coming out and being honest with you from the start."
Elena's eyes darted to the empty space beside his head and gave a small shrug. "It will pass. Aimee Bradley will get pregnant or Vicki Donovan will get too high at a party and everyone will move on to that."
Damon sighed and grasped her chin, pulling her face toward his. "Tell me what I can do."
Elena opened her mouth to tell him that there was nothing he could do, but stopped at the sight of Stefan hurrying over, a scowl distorting his features.
"Sorry, can I talk to Damon for a minute?" Stefan stepped closed, hesitating.
"What is it, Stef?" Damon's eyes darted to Elena in emphasis.
Stefan's lips thinned as he glanced at Elena. "Alone. Please?"
Elena gathered her dress and pulled away from Damon. "I'll see you around."
Elena headed back to the house, knowing they would announce the winners soon and Elena needed to be present for at least that much. She walked through the French doors and spotted Jenna and Alaric over by the donations table, quietly chatting. Before she could reach them, strong fingers gripped her arm and she was hauled around the corner.
"Caroline, seriously? Leave me-"
"Katherine's here." Caroline interrupted as she glanced around the corner before turning back to Elena.
"What? Why? Why is she here?"
Caroline gave a delicate shrug. "I have no idea, but after the dance Stefan and I were talking and she just walked over to us. She really does look a lot like you, Elena. It's kind of creepy."
"Gee, thanks." Elena brows knitted together in irritation. "What did she want?"
"She was just pulling the sweet and innocent act, sad that Damon refused to return her messages, confused about why Stefan wouldn't talk to her. Apparently, she and Stefan were pretty close back in Chicago. After we got her off our backs he said he was going to find Damon and warn him."
"He did." Elena wondered why Stefan felt the need to be so secretive to Damon about Katherine, but she was sure she'd find out soon enough. A few moments later, Mrs. Lockwood rushed Elena and Caroline to the back patio, where they were going to announce the winner of Miss Mystic Falls.
"Thank you all for coming out and helping us ring in the 150th anniversary of this town's founding with the Miss Mystic Falls pageant! I would like to announce a guest judge this year. She has been kind enough to offer a generous donation that will be put toward this year's upcoming project for the restoration committee."
"Miss Katherine Pierce!" Mrs. Lockwood called as Elena looked over to see her aunt escorting Katherine.
"What?" Caroline gave a muted gasp.
Elena watched as Jenna accepted the envelope from Katherine with a gracious smile before they both turned to the crowd for the photo op. Katherine had found a reason to be at the pageant after all. Elena wondered if she had planned to give a donation all along, or if she was just trying to weasel her way back into the Salvatore brothers' lives. Either way, it made Elena incredibly anxious.
After the round of polite applause had died down, Mrs. Lockwood handed the mic and sealed envelope to Katherine and stepped back. Katherine held her chin high and shook her long curls out of her face before she turned to the line of teenage girls.
"You know, I grew up in a big city so I never experienced pageants and founders' events, so I'm so happy to be a part of this one as a guest. This town means a lot to someone very close to me, and I would do anything to help the members of a town that helped shaped him into the amazing man he has become."
Elena followed Katherine's seductive smile to see it aimed at Damon and it took all her considerable grace to keep her face neutral while her blood boiled in anger. How dare this woman come to her home, accuse her boyfriend of such atrocities, and then stand in front of the town and act as if she was some sort of besotted little fool.
Katherine opened up the envelope in her hand and cleared her throat. "This year's Miss Mystic Falls is Caroline Forbes!" she announced with a toothy smile.
Elena smiled graciously and inclined her head slightly before turning to congratulate Caroline as she walked up to accept the crown from Mrs. Lockwood. The applause lasted for several seconds and then the girls exited the small platform and dispersed into the crowd to join their respective friends and family. Elena exited to the left of the stage, away from the crowd so she could take a few moments to collect herself.
"Elena, are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't know. Stefan just told me she arrived and you were already up there before I could do anything."
"I'm fine, Damon." Elena forced herself to breathe slowly through her nose, not allowing the tears of anger to fall.
"You don't have to lie to me." Damon gently pulled her chin up to face him.
"Katherine's been trying to contact you?" Elena asked in confirmation.
"Yes," Damon sighed, "but I've ignored her. I promise we haven't spoken or even been in the same room since she first showed up."
Elena was silent for several moments. She desperately wanted to get away from the crowd, and as far away from Damon's ex as she possibly could. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to be alone with Damon yet. He had been great through everything, giving her space when she needed. But she wasn't sure what she wanted and where they stood and she didn't want to lead him on until she had worked things out herself. At the end, her need to be in a less pressured situation won out and she looked back up at him.
"You want to get out of here?"
Damon smiled in relief. "Absolutely."
Stefan watched Katherine stand by while Mrs. Lockwood crown Caroline. He had no idea what Katherine was up to, but he wasn't going to leave until she told him the truth.
"What are you doing here, Katherine?" Stefan sighed as she approached him. He was over Katherine and her drama. Once upon a time, he would have fallen for her antics, but not anymore. She had played Damon and Stefan's animosity and misunderstandings towards each other for her benefit, causing so much trouble.
"Oh, Stefan. That hurts. I thought you'd be more excited to see me." Katherine pouted as she sidled closer to Stefan.
"That was before I found out you lied."
A mischievous smirk grew on Katherine's face. "Touché."
"Look, you're not doing any favors for anyone. Damon hates you, I don't much like you, and don't even get me started on Elena and Caroline. I'd steer clear from them, they're out for blood." Stefan warned.
"Oh, but that's what makes it so much fun. That little girl and her lackey friend don't even know what 'out for blood' means."
Stefan knew she was laying out bait for him, and he refused to take it. She wanted to get a reaction out of him like she could so easily pull one out of Damon. But he refused to give her the satisfaction.
"It was nice talking to you, Katherine." Stefan gave a wooden smile as he turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Katherine called.
The corners of Stefan's lips twitched as he inwardly cheered at his successful plan. Ignore Katherine and you'll get answers.
"Yes?"
"I'm here for Damon." she held her hand out desperately.
"Damon doesn't want you, Katherine. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not." Stefan shoved his hands in his pockets, ignoring her gesture.
Her hand flew to her hip, her moment of weakness over. "Sure he does." She scoffed. "He wanted to marry me."
"Yeah, years ago. Things have changed, Katherine. Damon's moved on. He's with Elena and believe it or not, he's happy with her."
She let out a cruel laugh. "With that child? She's far too innocent for him. She wouldn't know how to handle him. We both know Damon is far too dark and damaged for her." She stepped closer to Stefan, placing a manicured hand on his shoulder.
"Well, it was nice chatting with you, Katherine. But my girlfriend is walking this way and we've got places to be. Have fun wreaking havoc in someone else's life." Stefan gave her an insincere smile before walking past Katherine to take Caroline's hand.