Chapter 14

The dinner went by rather uneventfully, minus the waitress gawking at Damon every chance she got and interrupting their meal every five minutes to 'check' if they needed anything else. 'They' referred to Damon, as the girl didn't even as much as blink in Elena's direction. This reminded Elena of high school, except this time she was on the opposite end of the spectrum, feeling like the unpopular, shy girl hanging around the most popular guy at school and competing for his attention with a cheerleader.

Although much to Elena's surprise, Damon didn't entertain the flirtatious interaction. At least not since he had initially dazzled her with those charming icy blue eyes when he first entered the restaurant. Thinking about it that way made Elena realise that she couldn't place much blame on that girl. She simply fell under his spell, just like most did whenever Damon gave them the 'look'.

"You've got a little something here." Damon reached over the table to wipe away some sauce from the corner of her lips, pulling Elena from her thoughts.

The tip of his thumb gently caressed her bottom lip in the process, lingering there for a few seconds. With anyone else this moment would have been awkward, but with Damon, something so mundane turned into something sensual.

"Thanks." She mumbled out, a fresh blush tainting her cheeks. "Did you decide where we're going to?"

"Nope." He replied simply, folding his arms on the table.

"Whatever you're running from can't be that bad, Damon." She chirped in cautiously.

"I'm not running. Just postponing the inevitable." He shrugged.

"Which is?"

The corners of his eyes crinkled with humour. "You're making it sound pretty damn simple."

"I just think that by putting this off, you're only going to make it worse. The anticipation, the overthinking, it doesn't lead to anything good."

"Believe it or not, that's usually not my thing."

"I know that all too well, after all aren't you the one who told me to take the leap?" She rolled her eyes, reminding him of all the times that he'd shown her how to let things go.

"With what?"

"For one, allowing you to corrupt me?" She smiled suggestively, and they both laughed at the comparison.

"So, is that what I'm doing, corrupting you?" He smirked, leaning back in his chair.

"Well yeah, kind of. I was a perfectly good girl before I met you, never had a one-night stand, never really dared to live." A reminiscent tone laced her voice. "And now look at me; sitting with you in a diner in the middle of nowhere, half naked, laughing about it."

Damon watched as Elena fumbled with a piece of tissue, smiling candidly whilst elaborating on her story. She'd come a long way in the space of a couple of days, opening up to him and letting her guard down, but so did he.

He was a dick on most days to most people, if not everyone. And at the beginning he used to just pull at Elena's strings for the fun of it. There was no part of him that wanted to play nice.

Now, Damon couldn't imagine being so cold and distant with Elena. Being around her made him softer, gentler, all together not very Damon-like to those that thought they knew him.

"I like that version of you." He admitted faint heartedly.

"The half-naked one?"

"I personally prefer when it's all off. But that's not what I meant." He laughed, shaking his head. "I liked you from the start. The pain in the ass Elena, but also the fun and opinionated one. The one who doesn't take shit from anybody. Especially not from me."

"If I recall correctly, that's when we practically bit each other's heads off."

"Sure, we clashed, but isn't that what makes this more enjoyable?"

"The fighting and the screaming? Your idea of enjoyment is a bit screwed up." She chuckled

"That's what makes us so good in bed."

"Nah, that's just me." She added and giggled at her own joke, her nose scrunching up.

Damon joined in, laughing alongside Elena, more at her silliness and childlike humour than the joke itself, but there just was something so contagious about her. He could swear that whenever she'd walked into a room or smiled, everything around seemed brighter and better.

"You ready to get out of here?" Damon asked, as they both came down from the laughing fit.

"More than you know." Elena threw her head back and exclaimed satisfied.

"Hey, I think this is for you." She unfolded the piece of paper that she'd scrunched up and handed it over to Damon. "I didn't notice that there was something written on it."

Damon leered at the phone number dotted on the piece of paper and then darted his eyes back to the waitress who winked at him from the across room. He then watched as Elena began to gather her things, sliding her phone back into her purse, very obviously trying to mind her own business and not pass a judgement on him. To the naked eye, Elena didn't seem all that bothered by it and that was the green light that he needed, right?

"Earth to Damon?" Elena waved a hand in front of him as she appeared by his side of the booth, working on putting her hair into a high ponytail.

Damon scrunched up the piece of paper again and placed it strategically next to the tip. "Let's go."

"Why'd you do that?" Her eyes lit up.

He stood up, slipping the wallet into the back pocket of his jeans and leaned in, cupping Elena's cheeks and planting a short, sweet kiss on her parted lips. Elena stilled at first, completely taken back, but quickly eased into the comfort and warmth of Damon's lips, returning the kiss.

"What was that for?" She asked a little breathlessly when he pulled away.

"No reason." He replied simply, placing a hand on the bottom of Elena's lower back, leading her towards the door.

"Oh let's pull over here!" Elena called out, sticking her head out the window as they drove past a small lake.

"There's a parking spot right there, and maybe we can catch the sunset." She climbed back into her seat, her face beaming with excitement as she turned towards Damon.

"Mm, I don't know, is there anything else you wanna try to ply me with?" He chuckled, amused by her spontaneous reaction to the world's most simple things, like a secluded lake.

She hit him playfully but failed to wipe the smile from her face. "For the last time, we are not having sex in the back of this car."

"On the hood?" He proposed, raising a brow.

"No." She replied sternly, watching him pull over in the spot that she directed him to.

"So where do you want to do it?"

"Is this how you pick up all these girls that eat from the palm of your hand?"

His forehead creased in contemplation. "I've never really had to work this hard before. I give them the look, they throw their arms around my neck, you know how it goes."

"Ugh, disgusting." Elena blinked dismissively, getting out of the car.

Damon switched off the engine and followed in Elena's steps, walking down a gravel path and heading towards the empty lake dock.

"That's a little hypocritical of you, don't you think?" He questioned, wondering out loud.

"Are you trying to say that I'm just like them?" Elena abruptly turned around outrightly offended, her eyes widened in shock.

"No,"

She cut him off before he could explain. "The only guy that I throw my arms around is you. The only guy that I kiss is you. So, please, don't compare me to all the other girls who open their legs for you one night, and then move onto someone else the next."

She turned around on her heel and continued walking.

Damon sighed, cursing himself for being an idiot. "That's not what I meant!" He called out after Elena, catching up to her.

"So then enlighten me, what did you mean?" She didn't try to conceal the sarcasm, as she sat down on the edge of the deck and began to remove shoes from her tired feet.

Damon propped himself next to her, securing his hands on either side of him.

"You're nothing like them." He reiterated, watching Elena dangle her feet in the water. "I guess what I meant is that's how it usually goes with us. We share one look, and all goes to hell. We're not all that great with words."

"Yeah, I guess we're not." She agreed reluctantly with a small sigh. "Sorry."

"Me too." He smiled faintly and gazed up at the grey clouds collating in the sky. "Not so sure about that sunset."

Elena laughed tiredly, shaking her head. "Today's just not a good day, is it."

She leaned back and laid down, leaving her feet in the cool water and staring up at the sky. Damon mirrored her movements and they now laid next to each other, listening to the sound of water lapping.

"Rose never cheated on me."

The declaration spurred out of nowhere, and Elena's breath hitched in her throat.

"Did she tell you that?"

He sighed, folding both arms under his head. "She said that she staged the whole thing to make me jealous. To see if I still loved her."

"And how does that make you feel?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know, it's fucked up, isn't it? That's not just weird in my book, right?"

"Yeah, that's totally fucked up." She blew out a sigh of relief, glad to know that he wasn't acting completely crazy.

Would he take Rose back? Did he regret leaving the relationship behind? Those were just the first few questions circling Elena's mind.

"And that's what I told her. But then she brought up all these times that I wasn't there for her, going to sleep not knowing if I loved her. And I don't know, I guess it made me realise how shitty I was towards her."

"So you think that it's your fault?"

"No." He said sharply, but then grimaced. "Maybe it is, I don't know. I was a dick to her most of the time, I knew that she wanted so much more than I was willing to give her. For the longest time I thought that I loved her, but I was so far off."

"She could have walked away. You didn't make her stay." She pointed out, not being able to accept the fact that Damon was the only one who'd been in the wrong.

"So, you don't think that I had any part in this?" He sounded surprised.

"I don't know, Damon. You're the only one who can answer that question." Elena shrugged her shoulders. "But I do know that no relationship is perfect, and that fault usually lays on both sides, at least to some extent. If you knew that you didn't love Rose then yeah, you should have let her go. But that doesn't make it okay for her to try and manipulate you by using guilt and jealousy."

"Yeah, it seems like we are beyond repair anyway."

"Are? Hasn't it been awhile since you two broke up?"

"It has." Damon confirmed with a nod. "That didn't stop her from asking me to give us another chance."

"Oh…" The word left her lips uncontrollably, like someone had stolen the ground from beneath her feet.

"Yeah."

His voice beamed loudly with uncertainty, and Elena could only imagine the internal battle of thoughts that played out in his head. Gosh, how much she would give to be able to catch a glimpse of what he was thinking.

"Well, what did you say?" She chewed on her lip tremulously, waiting for his reply.

"That I'd think about it."

"Is this you thinking about it?"

"I don't know." He turned to face Elena for the first time since they started this conversation. "She's leaving for the airport right about now, and I was supposed to let her know before she left."

"Do you want to head back to the hotel?"

Everything in Damon protested against the possibility. This right there felt good. Being in the middle of nowhere with no one else around, without the pressure to be someone he wasn't. Looking back at his adult life and all of its ups and downs, Damon couldn't pinpoint a single moment in which he felt this carefree and at peace.

"Honestly? No."

"So, let's stay. Here or somewhere else," Elena hummed softly, a sparkle in her eyes. "It's not like we have anywhere to be for the next two days."

"You'd want to do that?" He questioned, cocking an eyebrow. "Be stuck with me for the whole two days, away from everything else?"

"I'm stuck with you right now, and it's not so bad."

The frown of suspicion on his face now turned into a smirk. "Don't tell me I didn't warn you."

"Don't hold it against me If I go crazy." She countered, smiling up at him.

Damon returned the smile, any signs of previous stress and tension left his body, as he scooted himself up on one elbow and leaned over Elena, studying the delicate contours of her face. It was starting to get dark, as the clouds settled in and a colder wind wrestled its way through the fields and branches, leaving a trail of goose bumps on her exposed skin.

He gently pressed his palm against Elena's cheek, brushing away the messy strands of hair that fell down the side of her face. They spent a few seconds just staring at each other like that, not in a rush to end the moment, with no place to go. The glowing appreciation shone bright on Elena's face, as she drowned in the depths of smoldering gaze, once again forgetting who she was and why the hell she would wake up regretting this the next day.

But then Damon captured Elena's mouth in a fierce kiss and instinctively tangled her fingers into his dark hair, pulling him on top of her, pressing every inch of herself against him. And regardless of what anyone tried to tell her, this was right.

They went the whole day without as much as a touch, not counting the innocent kiss at the diner that totally took Elena by surprise. But that was different, it was sweet and short, like they'd known each other for the longest time and that was their way of saying 'we're good'.

Now Damon's mouth was teasing hers with languid, sensual kisses that shot chills straight down her spine, and she hungrily reciprocated the passion that he poured into these ministrations. Simultaneously, his hand slipped under her shirt, the tip of his fingers skirted along her lower abdomen, stopping right above the warmth of his skin burned to the touch, awakening every nerve in Elena's body and eliciting acute moans that he swallowed with every kiss.

Not wanting to wait any longer, she reached for the hem of Damon's t-shirt and tried pulling it off rather messily, bumping his head in the process. He grinned against her mouth, pausing their kiss to help her undress him, and once they'd successfully taken it off, he threw it somewhere to the side.

Elena bit down on her swollen lip, her eyes roaming over Damon's bare chest, devouring the faint outline of his abdominal muscles. Perfection was the only word that came to mind. Needing to close the unwanted space between them, she reached out and ran her hand down his sternum, brushing past his nipples, making sure to hold their eye contact.

There was something special in watching the desire flooding his gaze, darkening the pool of his orbs, knowing that was the power that she had over him. Giving him a slow, carnal smile that translated all of her desires into a single look, Elena pushed herself up on her elbows and slid off her shirt, remaining in nothing but the skimpy bikini that she had been wearing underneath. Feeling Damon beginning to lean in, she reached behind her back and untied the knot of the bikini top, releasing her breasts from their confines.

Damon's mouth partially gaped at the sight, unleashing the self-restraint that he had managed to keep locked up until then. He hungrily recaptured her lips and began untying the knot at her neck to completely rid her of the bikini top. Once it was off, he delicately cupped one breast, tracing tiny circles around the nipple with his thumb, feeling it harden under his touch. Elena gasped into his mouth, as her breath began to shorten, and her entrance grew slick with desire.

Much to Elena's disappointment, the delicious teasing came to end when Damon moved his hand up into her hair, providing for extra support as he laid her flat on the deck, supporting his weight with the other hand. As he hovered over, a droplet of water slid down her shoulder and dropped onto her collarbone, prompting Elena to crook one eye open. It had gone unnoticed by both of them that it had started raining and all of their stuff was slowly soaking up, leaving them with ruined clothes and no place to warm up.

"Wanna move this somewhere else?" He proposed, gently nipping her earlobe.

"I'm good here." She managed to breathe out when his lips reached her ear. "You?"

"Perfect."

He smiled against her skin, planting kisses down her neck and occasionally gently grazing it with his teeth, which Elena welcomed with enthusiasm, arching into him and providing easier access to the spot next to her jugular. By now he'd learnt that she loved being kissed right there.

With steady hands, she reached for the zipper in his pants, pulling it down in one swift motion. Maybe if she'd taken a second to pause and look at this with a sober mindset, she'd feel ashamed for taking all that she desired so boldly, but for once it felt good not to dwell in the what if's.

They kicked off his shorts in a messy manner, not giving a single care in the world, when Damon's palm snaked under her bikini bottom and his fingers wandered to the place where she'd craved him the most, slipping into her wetness. Elena whimpered at the sensation, as he slowly began to pump his finger in and out of her, whilst placing sweet pressure on her bundle of nerves. They continued to kiss in a haze, their hands roaming over their naked bodies, gifting each other with endless amounts of pleasure; not at all in a rush to get anywhere, just simply drowning in the moment.

They laid down for a while after that, drifting in and out of sleep, despite being out in the cold, as night-time crept up on them.

"We should probably get going." He whispered, pressing his lips against her temple.

"No, I don't want to." She whined in protest, hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

He ran his hand up and down her naked back in a soothing motion, sporting a soft smile. "We have to, you'll catch a cold."

"That's fine, I don't mind."

"Yeah, that's until you get sick. And then you'll be all, Damon, you're a jackass."

She giggled, lifting her head. "I've never done such a thing."

"Mm, not since a couple of hours ago." He rolled his eyes, sitting up.

He gathered Elena's clothes, passing them over to her and then worked on getting himself dressed. This wasn't the most comfortable place to have sex and the pain in his knees reminded him of that, but he still didn't regret any part of it. He enjoyed every minute, probably more than he liked to admit to himself.

"Are we sleeping in your car?" Elena asked, slipping on the t-shirt.

"No way, we're getting a hotel room." Damon rejected the notion with a stern shake of the head, the last thing he needed was sleeping in the most uncomfortable position, scrunched up in the Camaro.

"Good luck finding one at this time." She interjected with a mumble, following him to the car.

"Oh, I will. Pass me the keys?"

Elena raised an eyebrow and gave him a questioning look. "Why would I have the keys? It's your car."

"Elena, this isn't funny." He sighed, putting his hand out.

"I wasn't trying to be funny, Damon." She huffed out, annoyed. "You never gave me the keys."

The colour drained from his face, as he frantically patted down all his pockets and still found nothing. "Well then where the hell are they?"

"Please, don't tell me that you lost them?"

"I didn't lose them, you did." He grumbled under his breath, getting down on his knees and searching around the car.

"I never had them!"

"Will you stop shouting and turn on the flashlight, you know, be helpful or something?"

Elena glared at him, albeit he couldn't see much of her expression in the dark. She took out her phone in order to turn on the flashlight, but the battery must have run out earlier on and she didn't realise it until now.

"Give me your phone."

"I left it in the car, use yours."

Fuck.

"My battery is dead..." She added after a while.

"Are you being serious?"

"No, I felt like having a laugh in the middle of nowhere at midnight. Yes, I'm being fucking serious!"

Damon got back up on his feet, a heavy sigh leaving his lips, as he tiredly run his hand over his face.

"Okay, calm down." He squeezed her shoulder in a comforting manner. "We'll figure something out."

"Like what? We're basically stranded in the middle of nowhere." She began to panic, nervously tapping her fingers against her forearm, her eyes darting to the surrounding forests. "There are no houses around, no people, nothing. Just a dark forest, and I bet you that we don't wanna know what's hiding in there."

Damon immediately regretted his outburst, sensing that she was getting more and more anxious by the second. So, he did what he felt was best, and wrapped his arms around her petite frame.

"Hey, I'm here." He rested his chin against her forehead. "There's nothing to worry about, I won't let anything happen to you."

"Okay?" He checked in, scanning her face for any clues.

"Okay." She gave him a small nod, cosying up to his chest.

A/N: Surprise, early update! Very early for me, but your reviews were so lovely and motivating that I had to get this out asap. (Cannot say thank you enough!) I'm currently on a small vacation, so had the extra time to whip this up. I know, you're not fans of cliffhangers, but had to stop it there! I hope you enjoyed this one :) A little bit of smut, a little bit of serious Damon which we don't get to see much of. Thoughts? What are they going to do stranded in the middle of nowhere? Stay safe everyone! xx