The Vampire Diaries – Every End Has A Start   von Asu91
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                        Kapitel 9: Hanging By A Moment
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Bin wieder da und wünscht ich wäre nie gefahren. Die Messe war absolut
furchtbar. Alles was schief gehen konnte ging schief. Naja, wenigstens waren die
langen Zufahrten von Vorteil. Zwei neue Kapis hab ich geschafft. Eins ist
fertig, dieses hier, und das andere folgt so schnell wie möglich. Will mir
nicht allzu lange Zeit lassen weil ich unbedingt an die aktuelle Storyline der
Serie knüpfen möchte also die Verbindung von Isabel, Elena and Alaric, Alaric
der Damon auf den Tod seiner Frau anspricht, dass Jeremy das mit den Vampiren
ahnt und... hab ich was vergessen? Einfach alles halt. Für jetzt aber erstmal
ein paar Damon/Elena Momente, obwohl nicht wirklich was passiert außer dass
Damon mal wieder sein Ego raushängen lässt XD Viel Spaß!

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Dear Diary,
it's been some time since my last entry. So much has happened in only two days
that I had to accept and think through.
I think Damon and I bonded a little more during our trip to Florida. I really
enjoyed hanging out with him and I dare say he enjoyed being with me, too. Last
weekend he showed me a completely different side of him he didn't show before.
It's hard to believe but he actually has a soft side. Tough on the outside, soft
on the inside describes him perfectly. He took me to Disneyworld and Sea World
and had a sunset walk with me… in short he did everything that makes a girl
happy and elated. Now, I don't know why he did it. He had this 'Just felt like'
thing going on but is that it? Or might it be more than that? Might he actually
like me?
Ah, I'm drifting…
Well, the weekend wasn't always juicy. The idiot in me practically had to ask
him about Katherine and forced him to go through some painful experience again.
When he finished telling me what happened I could clearly see that he was
hurting. I wanted to give him comfort like I did in the woods back then but my
anger toward Katherine took control of me. I said some pretty nasty things about
her and got into a fight with Damon who's obviously still in love with her. Too
much to let go of her anytime soon. But I can't help him with that. He has to
see for himself that Katherine isn't worth it to remember or even love her. I
hope he will someday…
Another thing that's been bothering me is my resemblance to Katherine. I
inquired Damon about that too but he made it pretty clear that he knows the
connection but would rather die to tell me. No pun intended. And I wonder why?
Is it so bad for me to know? Why? If it's really that bad then why does no one
tell me and comfort me at the same time? I'm 17, soon coming of age. Shouldn't
it be my decision whether or not I want to find it out? I'll definitely ask
Damon again or Stefan if he ever comes back because Damon kind of told me he
wouldn't return all too soon…
Oh and by the way there are two dozens of vampires in Mystic Falls. All
previously trapped in the tomb and now on the loose thanks to Damon who forgot
to take the bag of blood he'd brought for Katherine with him again. One vampire
must have snatched and emptied it, becoming strong enough to open the tomb from
the inside. I just wonder why the seal didn't stop him but I guess it's no
longer working because of Grandma Bennett's death.
Great. And now Damon wants me to play Van Helsing and kill each and every one of
those monsters just because I had a good shot at two of them which was more a
lucky reflex than talent but I'll have to do it because Damon refuses to kill
his own species.
So Lexi didn't belong to his species? Go figure…
I guess I don't have much of a choice. If I don't do anything no one will. At
least I can count on Damon to protect me. It's the least he can do. And I have a
hunch that from now on he will perform this task with great responsibility,
reliability and to uttermost satisfaction. He'd better he would. The expression
on his face he had when he thought the vampire got me was telling…
Well, Van Gilbert will go to bed now, regaining strength to hunt for good marks
at school tomorrow.


Elena closed her diary and put it aside. Then she reached for the lamp on her
bedside table and turned it off. Soon after that she was asleep.
Some minutes later someone invaded her room through the open window. It was
Damon. He looked around to find Elena sleeping soundly. He smiled, walked over
to her and pulled up the blanket to her chin.
'Sweet dreams, Elena,' he whispered.
Then he turned around and left. He had come to see if some other vampire had
chosen the Gilberts for food and was lurking in front of their house, waiting
for one of them to step out. There was no such vampire to Damon's relief. There
had never been one for the last three days he had checked.
There was another reason he came every night to look after Elena. After their
trip they hadn't met again. He assumed that Elena wanted some space to digest
everything she had learnt but even if he granted her that space it didn't mean
he had to stay away from her. So he was watching her. On her way to school and
back, everytime she left the house he was following her. Like a stalker but only
to make sure she was safe.
He was also looking forward to talking to her again which he would sooner than
she might expect it. They couldn't avoid each other forever and at the weekend
at the latest he would go hunting with her. Besides, they were friends, weren't
they? And that friendship meant a lot to him. So did Elena. She was giving him
something of such great amount that he could hardly give back. Trust. That was
why he had gone on that trip with her and wanted her to be as happy as possible.
It had been his way to say thanks and give her something back.
And they'd come back and – boom – gotten attacked by vampires who should
have been safely trapped in the tomb. It'd been stupid and careless to smash the
bag of blood against the wall. There was no excuse for his foolishness not even
his temporary distraction at that time. It was his fault that Mystic Falls was
facing 'animal attacks' again, that Sheriff Forbes and the Council had to become
active in dealing with it. Damon was supplying them with verveine and had to
talk more often to the sheriff than he would have preferred. Sheriff Forbes was
very fond of him for his assistance in the past and counting on him to continue
his services to her satisfaction. Damon was constantly assuring her that the
problem was being taken care. At some point he had even said too much. Talking
to the sheriff he had said 'We're on it' and regretted it at once as his
statement left a lot room for questions like 'Who is we?' and 'How do you do
it?' His usual answers were 'Me and my brother Stefan' and 'Oh, you know, stake
and things like that'. However he was bathing in undeserved glory because he
hadn't moved a finger since Sunday. He had passed this task to Elena who
definitely wasn't going to hunt during the week with school in the morning which
he understood perfectly. And what did he care about people. As long as there
weren't people he or Elena knew were concerned he couldn't care less. But Friday
night she would rid Mystic Falls of some vampires. Until then the remaining two
days she could do whatever she wanted and he could, too.


Thursday morning at nine Elena had lots of things on her mind and not even one
of them involved Damon. From Monday on she had been working on her strained
friendship with Bonnie and Caroline. Convincing them of that Damon didn't mean
more to her than they did was so much easier without having him around.
'Elena, are you free for the weekend? Matt and I are celebrating our two months
anniversary,' Caroline announced.
'Sure. I'll be there,' Elena promised. Forgotten was her vampire-hunting-duty.
'I'm really happy for you guys,' she added. 'Matt deserves some happiness after
everything he's been through.'
'I'm doing my best to keep him entertained,' Caroline replied smiling.
They kept talking about the little party, typical girl stuff like what they
would be wearing when two random girls' talk brought them back to the present.
'Did you listen to the news this morning? Someone was attacked again!'
'Another animal attack? How many people have died so far? Five?'
'Six so far.'
Bonnie and Caroline exchanged a look with Elena.
'By the way, how's our psychopath doing?' Caroline asked.
'I know what you think,' Elena said. 'But it's not Damon.'
'How can you be sure?'
'I saw them.'
'Them?' Bonnie repeated appalled.
'Yeah, plural. We don't know how many yet,' Elena explained. And now she
remembered her agreement with Damon. That she would have to kill those
monsters.
'But where do they keep coming from?' Bonnie inquired.
Elena held Bonnie's gaze for moment, silently communicating the right answer to
her before she gave a wrong one.
'We don't know.'
Bonnie seemed to have understood. She looked pale. Elena was worried about her.
She still wasn't stable, still affected by her grandmother's death.
'We're taking care of it, Damon and I,' Elena added.
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'We'll hunt and kill them.'
'Are you out of your mind?' Bonnie exclaimed shocked. 'Don't you know how
dangerous it is?'
'I'm not alone. Damon's with me,' Elena reminded her.
'Yeah, Damon. Like you can trust him,' Caroline muttered.
'I do trust him,' Elena pointed out. 'He's saved my life before and I'm sure
he'll protect me.'
'Speaking of the devil,' Caroline said now. 'Look who's flirting with the school
secretary.'
Elena turned her head to school office down the hall. Someone was talking to the
secretary. She recognized the expensive leather jacket even from the distance.
He isn't flirting with her, she thought. He was leaning in close, probably
holding the secretary's gaze. He's compelling her.
'He's probably doing some research you know? Checking for new students who could
be vampires,' she explained but somehow she thought there was more behind it.


'Elena Gilbert,' Damon said, pronouncing every syllable extra clearly. 'I'd like
to know where I can find her now,' he declared.
'I'm sorry, I cannot share this information with you if you're not the police.
You know, data security,' the secretary apologized.
'Miss,' Damon said, strain in his voice and a smile on his face as he put his
sunglasses down and fixed her. 'You know what you'll do now?'
'No…?'
'You'll run a scan on Elena Gilbert in your system, tell me the name of her
class and print out her timetable and give it to me.'
'You know what?' the secretary now said. 'I'll run a quick scan on her in the
system. What was name again?'
'Elena Gilbert.'
'What is it that you can't ask me but have to compel the secretary for?' an
angry voice came from behind. Damon flinched and turned around to see Elena
standing there, her arms crossed and looking sternly at him.
'Hey, Elena. How are you, honey?' he asked, giving her a so not sincere smile.
'I'm fine. Thank you. What are you doing here?' she demanded.
'Me? Oh, nothing just some research you know?' He waved it off.
Elena shot him a uh-huh-and-what-are-you-really-doing look. But just when she
was going to ask him the secretary interrupted.
'Here you go. It's all on the sheet,' she said and handed the sheet to Damon.
'Thank you, Miss,' he said sweetly then turned back to Elena. 'Look, it was nice
to chat with you but I gotta go. Sorry, hun. See you.'
'Yeah, you, too… And stop calling me honey!' she shouted after him when he
left the office, unable to see the wide grin that his lips formed.


In the hall he passed Bonnie and Caroline by.
'Ladies,' he greeted them cockily before he resumed walking.
'We'll he's charming. You gotta give him credit for that,' Caroline said. Bonnie
kicked her leg. 'Ow!'
'He's only charming if he wants something from you,' Elena muttered, rejoining
them. That was of course not entirely true. Damon had shown her that he could be
different without any ulterior motive but she would keep statistics before
judging him.
'Hey, what time is it?' Bonnie now asked worriedly.
'Ten minutes after History started,' Caroline told them, looking at her cell
phone. 'What are you waiting for? Get going!'


They hurried to the classroom. The new history teacher was already there when
they arrived, taking down their delay in his notebook. Elena watched him
disapprovingly and sat down. She opened her bag to take her stuff out when
someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and was surprised to see
Damon sitting there where Stefan used to.
'Hey, Elena, long time no see.' He smirked.
'What are you doing here, Damon?' she hissed before she realized. 'You enrolled
at high school again?'
'I was bored.'
'You were bored?' she repeated incredulously.
'Yeah. Hanging out at home waiting for you to return from school in the
afternoon was boring,' he explained.
'Why do you want to wait for me anyway?' she demanded suspiciously.
'I thought that was obvious,' he replied matter-of-factly.
Elena opened her mouth to demand an answer from him when the teacher told the
class to shut up and listen. Reluctantly Elena turned around to the front. Her
peace and quiet didn't last for long. Soon after she had turned away from Damon
she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out, hiding it under
the desk and glanced at the display. She received a text message.
I hope you're free on the weekend, hun
Elena stifled a groan and started texting back.
How'd you get me number, jerk
Behind her she could hear Damon chuckle.
Stefan, was all he texted and Elena sighed. She could have expected Damon to
take Stefan's phone and copy her number into his own. A minute later she
received another message.
I hope you didn't forget our little date and I hope you don't mind that I chose
the weekend for it.
Of course she did mind. She had just told Caroline she'd be at her party and
that was what she told him now.
That's unfortunate, Damon answered. But you might want to reconsider your plans
with so many vampires around. Did you read the paper? 6 attacks by now. You
gotta take care of it, hun.
Declaring her to Van Gilbert was one thing, ruining her weekend by giving her a
guity conscience was something else entirely.
She started to text him back when an angry voice called her name.
'Miss Gilbert, please hand me your phone.'
Elena looked up into the face of her new history teacher who was standing just
in front of her.
Shoot, Elena thought and handed her teacher the phone.
'Thank you,' he said. 'You can have it back at the end of my class when we'll
have a little chit-chat about your behavior in my class.'
Elena pulled a face. She crossed her arms and forced herself to follow her
teacher's historical sermon. Then after some minutes Damon tapped her on the
shoulder again. She casually turned around and grabbed the piece of paper he was
holding out for her to take. She unfolded it and read it.
Elena, Elena, Elena. Always getting yourself in trouble. Who told you to text me
back?
Behind her she could hear Damon sneer. Elena took a deep breath, then as calmly
as possible screwed up Damon's message. No she wouldn't let him get to her. She
wouldn't…


'Damon!!!'
History class was over and Elena had had a friendly talk with her teacher who
gave it to her short and bluntly.
You suck at history.
Somehow that guy reminded her of Mr. Tanner and she wished Saltzman would still
be there.
Furious Elena had gone search for Damon during her lunch period and found him by
the snack machine, taking out a TWIX.
'Hey honey, did you enjoy history?'
She shoved him. 'No, I did not. Why do you always have to get on my nerves?
Leave me the hell alone! I don't want to see you before Friday night!'
'That's tomorrow, by the way,' he reminded her.
'Tomorrow then. Mind my words or I'll really get angry,' she snapped and turned
around to leave but Damon grabbed her arm and stopped her. 'What?'
'Oh, come on, Elena. Don't be so uptight. We haven't talked to each other for
days.'
'So what? Do I have to talk to you?' she demanded.
'No but–'
'But what? Did Stefan tell you not only to watch over me but to talk to me,
too?'
'You're pissed. I get it,' he replied. 'Still about the tomb thing.'
'No!' she shouted. 'Stop reading my mind! Okay, so maybe I am pissed about that.
About having to cleaning up after you.'
If Damon was hurt by that he hid it well because his expression never changed.
'It's okay to be scared,' he told her.
'I am not scared!' she spat. 'Just pissed! Just go. Please,' she added
emphatically.
For a moment you could see pain flicker through Damon's eyes but then his gaze
returned to normal.
'I can't,' he said matter-of-factly. 'I've got school. I cannot leave before 4
a.m. but if it's what you really want I'll leave you alone then.'
'It's what I want,' she confirmed and turned around to leave.
Damon watched her walk away, part of him wanting to just keep on keeping her
company, part of him accepting that she rejected him.


The following classes Damon did not address Elena again. He granted her the
space she requested but he didn't stop watching her. In Math, Biology and PE. He
could feel Elena's discomfort in PE. As she had quit cheerleading she had been
forced to take another PE class and picked volleyball. However she wasn't very
good at it, either, practically embarrassing herself in front of her class mates
and Damon who had casually picked each and every class Elena had signed up for.
And as if it wasn't already bad enough, Damon was in Elena's team.
'Stand behind me!' he ordered her when she missed another ball.
'No!' she refused out of breath and leapt forward to hit the ball over the line.
'Trust me,' he insisted. 'You'll thank me for it.'
Elena glared at him but did as she was told. She stepped back behind Damon, from
now on catching and hitting every ball that approached her and she realized.
Back row was just fine for while front row definitely wasn't. And at the end of
PE she knew she had to say thanks to Damon.
'Thank you,' she said completely sincerely on their way to the changing rooms.
He gave her one of his smugly smiles that were saying 'Told ya so.' Elena smiled
back before entering the girls changing room.


PE was their last class, ending at exactly 4 p.m. Damon walked over to his car,
not once looking at Elena. As agreed before they would part at 4 p.m. However
little did he know that Elena had changed her mind. So he was surprised when she
followed him to his Mustang. But of course he felt her presence closing up on
him. So he turned around to her fast, smiling smugly when he startled her.
'Yes, Elena?'
'Um, I was wondering if maybe…'
'Yes?'
'Maybe you could give me a ride? My car broke down the other day,' she added
explanatorily.
'Why don't you ask Bonnie or Caroline?' he suggested.
'Matt picked Caroline up and Bonnie…'
'Oh, let me guess,' he offered. 'She was already gone before you could ask
her?'
'Yeah, something like that,' she said, trying to withstand his penetrating
Uh-huh look. 'Okay,' she gave in eventually. 'So maybe I wanted to apologize for
being a bitch earlier.'
'Bitch is far too harmless to describe your behavior earlier.' Elena smacked his
arm and he grinned. 'Just kidding. Hop in. I'll take you home.'
Elena smiled in relieve and gratefully got into the car. Damon did, too, and
directed his Mustang out of the parking lot of Mystic Falls Highschool.
'So,' he began.
'So?'
'So you know I haven't accepted your apology yet,' he let her know.
'Excuse me?' she said indignantly. 'What involves a Damon-worth apology,
please?'
'Oh, it's actually pretty simply,' he told her. 'Just come over tomorrow night
to fulfill your duty.'
'That's it?' she asked half-laughing. 'It seems to be very important to you that
we go kill those vampires.'
'It is,' he confirmed. 'I can't let the town become all too aware of vampires.
If they would I would have to leave and I think it's in your interest, too, that
I stay.'
'Is that so?' she said.
'You tell me,' he replied and grinned.

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