Cannonball

Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Vampire Diaries.

Hi everyone! I'm back from my travels (as of just 5 hours ago, jetlag is kicking my ass!) and it was amazing! However I was also stuck on a flight for 12 and a half hours with no ability to sleep, which means that my imagination went wild and I ended up starting a brand new story on the notepad on my iphone!

To those of you who are reading Feel This Moment, don't worry, I will be updating that soon. The only reason this is being posted so soon is because I had written it out on my phone, whereas the next chapter to Feel This Moment is still in progress, I will be hoping to get it finished some time this week.

This is the prologue to my new story Cannonball, this chapter is going to be in the future and then the story will go back a few months to start from the beginning.

The Gilbert's and the Salvatore's are two families in a small town who hate each other, one family good, the other bad. The hatred slips down the generations, including the youngest one. But it has been said that there is a fine line between love and hate.

I will give a proper introduction in the next chapter, which is essentially chapter one.

April 19th 2013.

Friday 10:12pm.

Mystic Falls.

I sit anxiously in the drivers seat, my hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as the rain pounds furiously against the windows and the hood of the car, nothing more than a few centimeters can be seen ahead of me in this dark night in Mystic Falls and I let out a bitter laugh at the irony before raising my hand and slamming it down against the wheel in frustration, trying to fight the sting in my eyes as I think about what I'm about to do.

The door opens and a strong gust of wind overtakes me for a moment before the passenger door is slammed shut again and I turn to the side to see a breathless looking Elena staring at me, her eyes red like she's been crying, her hair dripping wet from the rain outside, but her face is anything but weak.

"Who's car is this?" her voice is raspy and puzzled and I can tell already just from the tone of her voice that she had in fact been crying.

"It doesn't matter." I shake my head dismissing the question immediately. A stolen car is the last of our problems right now.

"What's going on Damon?" she asks with a hint of fear in her voice. "Jeremy, he said...he said that..." she trails off shakily and I know what she was going to say.

"It's not true, Elena. I swear." I shake my head furiously, desperately, needing her to believe me. That no matter what I've done in the past, I haven't done this.

She nods her head and places her hands on my face. "I know." she says firmly. "I know you're innocent. I believe you."

"If only your father had the same belief." I grunt sadly. "A warrant has been sent out for my arrest, Elena, I'm a wanted man."

"No." she gasps, shaking her head. "No, this isn't right, you've been set up! You're innocent!"

"No one will believe me, Elena. My finger prints were on the damn gun!"

"That doesn't mean that you shot someone with it!" Her eyes start to water. "God!" she raises her voice in frustration and turns away, her eyes filling up with angry tears. "What are we going to do, Damon?"

"WE are not going to do anything, Elena." I tell her sternly. "This is my mess, not yours."

"Now isn't the time for your stubborn strong willed annoying tendencies to come out to play." she glares at me. "So I'm going to ask you again, what are we going to do?"

I sigh and look down guiltily, this isn't fair, Elena doesn't deserve to be involved in something like this, she deserves so much better. "Elena-"

"Don't." she cuts me off with a warning tone to her voice. "We don't have time to argue. If my Dad is going to arrest you, he'll be no doubt looking for you right now as we speak and I'm sure it won't take him long to figure out that you could be here with me."

"Which is why you need to get out of this car and go home, Elena! I'm not getting you involved in this!"

"Too late for that!" she argues back, not backing down. "You're an idiot if you think I'm just going to walk away from this, walk away from you." she shuffles back around in her seat and places her hands back on my cheeks. "I love you, Damon." Her eyes water again and I can feel mine doing the same. "I love you so much, and I'm not going to lose you, ok?"

"I don't think you have a choice." I tell her quietly, a lump in my throat. "You're Dad is powerful with the law in this town, Lena, do you really think that he's going to allow you to visit me? To see me? To even speak to me?" she stays silent for a moment, her hands still on either side of my face, her dark brown eyes looking deep in thought.

"Then we run." she whispers.

"Elena no-" I shake my head furiously but she cuts me off.

"Don't fight me on this! We don't have time, Damon! We need to run! We need to leave!"

"You don't need to ruin your life for me!" I snap at her in frustration. "If you come with me, Elena, that's it, your life is over"

"No it won't be. It'll just be starting because I'd be with you!" she tells me almost desperately.

"And what about your family? Your friends?"

"My family are the last people I want to be around right now." She mutters bitterly. "And besides, it won't be forever. The truth will come out eventually, Damon, it always does, you of all people should know that. You have people here who are on your side who are going to clear your name, ok? Klaus, Stefan, your Uncle Zach, even your Dad! They will fight for you. Until then, we need to go because there is no way in hell that I am letting you rot in a jail cell alone. This isn't up for argument, we need to leave this town, this state tonight!"

I stay silent as I think about her words, because she's right, my family may be dysfunctional but we are loyal to each other, through thick and thin, besides, I know that Klaus won't give up on my either.

"Ok." I agree after anxiously thinking it through, still not sure if this is the right way to go but it's not like I have a lot of time to decide. My heart skips a beat as I watch her eyes light up and a smile cross her lips, despite the situation. "But we need to move fast." I place my own hands on her face and gently stroke her soft skin. "Go back home and pack a bag, make sure you pack light. Take as much money as you can get, but no cards." She listens to my instructions and nods her head firmly. "And leave your phone." I tell her seriously as an afterthought.

"Ok." she leans forward and kisses me softly on the lips, her forehead leaning against mine.

"Meet me at Klaus' house in 30 minutes exactly, try not to be even five minutes late baby." I state clearly. "Don't stop to talk to anyone and don't let anyone know that you're leaving, ok? Not even Bonnie and Caroline."

"Ok." she repeats before kissing me again and moving out of my grasp to open the door.

"Elena." I call out, stopping her just as she was about to shut the door. "I love you. Be safe." she smiles and shuts the door and I wait for a few moments, watching through the side mirror as she runs down the street before I quickly look around and pull away, making my way over to Klaus' house, my hands involuntarily shaking as I pray that this nightmare will end soon.

I run all the way back to my house from where Damon was parked a couple of blocks away, doing exactly what he said about not stopping to talk to anyone as the rain soaks through me.

I make it to my house luckily without any problems and I let out a sigh of relief to see that both my parents cars aren't there, meaning that they aren't home, I just hope that Jeremy isn't around either.

I decide against calling out for him when I step inside, not wanting to draw attention to myself if he is home, instead quietly creeping up the stairs towards my bedroom, stopping briefly by my brothers bedroom door to listen in for any kind of movement or sounds.

Nothing.

But that could just mean he has his headphones in, so I still need to be cautious. I quickly walk into my bedroom before going into the bathroom and locking the door on his side, quickly grabbing a handful of essential toiletries before dumping them on my bed. I rummage around hurriedly for my gym bag before dumping them inside and then moving to open my wardrobe and pulling out clothes, hurriedly placing them inside, making sure I only bring stuff I need.

Travel light, Damon said.

I lean down under my bed and pull out my old wooden box that I keep private stuff inside, I unlock it with the key that I keep hidden and open it up and rummage inside, stopping when I see a picture of me and Damon. It was taken just after the New Year, and it was a self photo taken on my phone that I got printed out, one of Damon's arms is stretched out holding the phone to take the photo, while the other is wrapped around me tightly, pulling me as close to him as possible as he holds a big grin on his face. I sit beside him, my lips pressed against his cheek, one of my hands cupping the side of his jaw. I smile and tuck the photo into my purse, not willing to leave it behind.

I quickly pull out the envelope that I was originally looking for and look inside to see the money that I had been saving from my allowance ever since I was a little girl. My Dad always taught me to never spend all of my pocket money at once, to put a little away each time because maybe one day I might need it.

That one day is today.

I lock the box back up and slip it back under the bed, putting the key inside the envelope with the money and placing everything inside my bag. I zip up my bag and look around my room, hoping that this won't be the last time that I will be here, that Damon will be cleared sooner rather than later and the only trouble that I will be in will be from my parents for running away and not from the law for harboring a fugitive.

I glance at the time as I swing my bag over my shoulder to see that I have just 15 minutes left to make it to Klaus' house, which without my car, is only just enough time but I know that if I walk fast, or even run, that I will make it on time.

I quietly close my bedroom door behind me, just in case Jeremy is actually home, before I creep back down the stairs. I'm about to leave but I freeze before I touch the handle of the front door of my childhood home, the home that I have lived in all my life.

A sudden wave of panic and fear overtakes me as I realize what I'm about to do, what I'm about to give up.

My family, my friends, my education.

My future.

The second I walk out of that door my life will never be the same again and there is a pit of fear and anxiousness resting in my stomach that is screaming at me to ask if this is all worth it?

"I've only got a few hundred dollars in cash." Klaus walks out into his hallway with a wad of notes in his hands. "If you want we could make a quick trip to the ATM? Or you could wait here and I'll quickly go now?"

"No, no." I shake my head as I take the money from him, extremely grateful for what he is doing for me already. "I don't have time for that, but thank you, this is more than I could have asked for." I shove the money into my bag, briefly looking out of the window to check that there is nobody suspicious hanging around and no sign of the police.

There's no sign of Elena either.

"Stefan will pay you back for me, just give him this." I hand him a folded up piece of paper that I used to write my little brother a brief letter, basically saying goodbye as well as instructing him who to speak too and who to avoid if he wants to help me clear my name.

"Don't worry about paying me back mate." Klaus shakes his head at me and I watch as he turns his head to glance at the time on the clock on the wall. "Shouldn't Elena be here by now?"

I gulp slightly and nod my head, hoping that she hasn't ran into her father or anyone else that could stop her or delay her.

Or that she hasn't changed her mind.

"She'll be here." Klaus tells me firmly, almost like he can read my mind. "But in the mean time, here." he pulls out his car keys and holds them out in front of me and I look at him confused. "Take it."

"What? No. Klaus, I can't take your car." I look at him like he's crazy.

"Yes you can and you will. That car you have out there has probably already been reported stolen, therefore you're more at risk driving that around than even your own. So take the damn keys, drive it out of state and if you want you can sell it for scrap metal or something if you need the cash, or keep it, whatever you wanna do, but take it, Damon."

"Klaus you've done enough." I shake my head in protest.

"Stop being an idiot and take the damn thing!"

I laugh despite myself and take the keys from him. "Thank you." I tell him sincerely.

"You'd do the same for me, I'd hope." he smirks and I laugh and slap him on the shoulder.

"You know I would." I smile but it falls when I notice the clock on the wall.

Elena should be here by now.

"Damon," Klaus looks at me sadly. "You need to go."

"Just five more minutes." I protest weakly.

"Damon, you should have left ages ago, she's already twenty minutes late. You can't stay here any longer, the cops are looking for you and they've been here once already looking for you, who's to say they won't come back? Detective Gilbert is gunning for you, he'll search this town high and low a dozen times alone if he has too! You're a sitting duck right now!"

I run my hand shakily through my messy hair, trying not to think of the possibility of Elena not coming.

But then again, that's more likely to happen than her actually running away with me isn't it? I was shocked when she suggested we leave town, but I knew how much she loved me so I believed it, I believed she could do it. I should have took into consideration how much she loves her family too.

Of course she's not going to want to leave them and her friends behind for a messed up waste of space like me.

To ruin her life for me.

She deserves so much better. So much more.

"Ok." I take a deep breath, willing myself to stay strong.

I can do this alone.

I can do it.

Klaus nods his head and I turn around and open the door, looking around to make sure that no one is around before I quickly dart towards Klaus' black Range Rover that is parked on his driveway. I open the back seat and throw my duffel bag inside before turning to face my best friend who has had my back through everything.

Good and bad.

"I'll call you from a payphone in a couple of weeks, once I'm long gone from Virginia." I tell him with a small smile.

"You sure you want to waste your dimes on lil old me?" he smirks at me and I roll my eyes before wrapping my arms around him in a hug.

A manly hug, of course.

"Be careful." Klaus pulls away, a serious look on his face.

I nod my head and open the drivers door but stop before I get inside, turning back to face Klaus. "Look after Elena for me please." I ask him sincerely. "Don't let her get anymore involved in this than she already is, keep her safe, Klaus, I love her more than anything else in this world, please keep her safe for me."

"I'll protect her." he tells me firmly, his voice full of honesty and I instantly believe him.

"And Stefan too." I add as an afterthought. "Baby bro can barely tie his own shoe laces." I smirk teasingly and Klaus laughs and nods his head and I sigh before climbing inside and shutting the door behind me, quickly sticking the key into the ignition, the engine roaring to life.

I reverse out of the driveway, my eyes looking into my mirror behind me but just as I'm about to speed away, I look up back at Klaus to see him waving at my frantically to stop and I can barely hear my name being shouted from his lips. I frown confused and brake, rolling down the window anxiously.

"Klaus? What?" I ask with a hint of panic. "What's wrong?"

However he just smiles and points to my right and I turn my head and my heart stops.

It's Elena.

Before I even know it I'm out of the car and she's in my arms, clinging to me tightly, her head buried into the crook of my neck. Her duffel bag discarded on the floor behind her.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" she gasps breathlessly. "I'm so sorry, but I'm here, I'm here now. I love you, I'm here!" she pulls away and kisses me hard on the mouth and I immediately return it, our kisses hot and sensual and for a moment I forget about where we are, what we are about to do.

"Damon!" Klaus brings us back to reality with a thud and I immediately pull away from Elena and turn to face him and my heart drops to my stomach when I see that he no longer has a smile on is face, instead there's a look of panic and fear.

And that's when I hear the sirens.

So? What did you all think? Please review and let me know if you want me to continue! I would love to know your thoughts!

I hope you liked it and I hope you didn't find this too vague. I know that I didn't give a lot of back story to what is going on, but this is the prologue which is a snippet into the future, and the next chapter will start the story from the beginning and you will find out exactly who Damon and Elena are and how they got to this point.

So please let me know your thoughts, it really does mean a lot!

Thank you :)

Until next time!