Closer than Most Prologue
Title: Closer than Most
Rating: M
Characters: Damon and Elena
Summary: Elena comes back to Mystic Falls after being compelled to stay away and meets the Salvatore brothers all over again.
A/N: Here is the first finished draft of Closer than Most. Let me know what you think or what you would change!
Elena Gilbert stood staring at the fireplace, letting the flames transport her to another world, even for just a moment. Everyone she knew was at the Lockwood’s attempting to murder Klaus and here she was, left alone in the boarding house.
Her life had been a spiraling mess up to that point. Klaus has Stefan under his compulsion and her blood was the only way he could make his hybrids. She was just so tired of being in the middle of this war. Sometimes she wanted to be 18. She wanted to go to parties, fall in love, get married, have children. Things like that would’t happen if she kept falling in love with vampires.
Vampires. Not just one.
She shook her head as if her brain was a giant Etch-A-Sketch and would erase that thought from her mind. It sure didn’t erase the longing in her heart. Sometimes her heart would physically squeeze and ache. She ignored the reasons, but it was silly. Everyone knew what she was trying to avoid.
She was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard the door open behind her. She quickly turned around to see Damon enter the house. He looked a little worse for wear, but he was alive. For that, she was grateful. She tried to read his face to see any sign as to how the night went, but he gave nothing away. He just strode into the room, took the glass tumbler out of her hand, and downed the amber liquid she used to calm her nerves.
“Turning to alcohol, Elena,” he asked, but no humor colored his tone.
“What happened tonight?” She asked, trying to keep her voice even as the light from the flames danced across his beautiful face.
“He’s dead. Both of them are,” Damon said, he looked shocked saying it, like it still hadn’t set in.
“What?” She felt her eyes go wide and her jaw go slack, “What happened?”
He finally turned to face her.
“I went to stake Klaus. I had him,” he said passionately, taking a step closer to her.
“Then Stefan, in all his glory came in and stopped me,” he continued, disbelief coloring his voice, “He saved Klaus, Elena. He saved Klaus because he wanted his freedom.”
Elena tried to take everything in. How could Stefan do that? Didn’t he know that when Klaus died his compulsion would be broken?
“I thought you said they were dead?” She asked in a small voice.
“They are. Apparently when an Original stakes another Original with that specific stake, they both go up in flames,” Damon said.
“It’s strange,” Elena mumbled.
“What’s strange?” Damon asked. She should’ve known that Damon would hear her.
“That he’s really gone. I’m not just a human blood bag anymore,” she said, a little bit of wonder in her voice.
“You were never just a human blood bag, Elena,” Damon said quietly, taking a step closer to her and gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Her skin was on fire from the barely-there contact.
“Elena,” he whispered after a few quiet moments, his fingers still lingering on her cheek, “Stefan’s gone. He’s never going to be the same.”
“He’s never going to be the same,” he repeated with more anger before throwing the glass into the brick fireplace.
His outburst caught her off guard and she found herself desperate to calm him down. She closed the distance between them and grabbed his arm so he’d face her. Which he quickly and roughly shrugged off.
“Damon,” Elena said his name and she saw a little tension leave his frame. She moved closer and cradled his face in her hands. He finally calmed down and met her gaze. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized how close she was to him. She steadied herself with a deep breath.
“Then we’ll let him go,” she said firmly, “We’ll let him go. We’ll survive this, Damon. We always survive.”
Their eyes locked for several tension-filled minutes. She could feel her heart starting to pound in her ears and she was sure he could hear it too. She watched him slowly lean into her and she braced herself for what was coming, but he stopped just short of her lips. She nearly fell over from all the butterflies in her stomach. She was shocked that her hands weren’t shaking. He was leaving it up to her. The ball was in her court and she was the one who had to decided where this would go.
She took a deep breath and finally let everything she’d been pushing away come flooding into her mind. Every moment from the past year and a half. The way he looked at her, the way he always put saving Stefan before himself, the way he stepped in between her and Klaus every time they were all in the same room, the way he always protected her. The way he’d always protect her.
So she made a decision and closed the small space between their lips. Kissing Damon in the living room was totally different from kissing him on his deathbed. This time he was an active participant. His lips were soft to the touch, but firmly moving against hers. She let herself get lost in him as her body melted against his. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her even closer.
She loved how small she felt in his arms, how protected, how loved. Her hands moved from his face to the soft hair on the back of his neck. He ran his tongue over the seam of her lips and her lips automatically opened for him. His tongue explored the warm confines of her mouth. When she moaned into him, he could hardly contain his self control.
She tasted like everything he’d ever loved. Rain, sunshine, and humanity. She made him feel human for the first time in 150 years.
He lifted her legs around his waist and sped her to the nearest wall. She moved her hips into him and he moaned into her mouth.
“Elena, you gotta stop that. I only have so much self control,” he mumbled into the skin on her neck. A small smirk played on her lips as she pressed into him again.
“What if I don’t want to stop,” she whispered. Her breaths coming out in small pants.
He pulled back so fast that he almost dropped her. His eyes held so many questions and even some insecurities.
“What are you saying?” He whispered in disbelief. It was to good to be true.
“I want you, Damon. All of you,” she said earnestly, her doe eyes were burning into his soul. Or whatever he had.
“Don’t joke about these things, ‘Lena,” he shook his head as he set her on her feet and took a step away, running his fingers through his hair.
She understood why he wouldn’t believe her. She barely started believing herself. But she knew what she wanted, what she’d denied herself for almost two years. She needed to do this. For her. For Damon. For them.
“Follow me,” she whispered and without waiting for acknowledgement, turned and headed up the stairs. She moved at a slower than normal pace, but she could feel him following her, not once complaining about how slow she was moving.
She found the door she was looking for, walked in, and held the door open for him. Her heart was pounding furiously, she could hear the blood rushing in her ears.
“Why are we in my room?” Damon asked quietly after she closed the door.
“I told you, I want all of you. I meant that,” she whispered quietly. And took a deep breath before she slowly pulled her shirt over her head. The stood staring at each other in silence. The only sound was her labored breathing and her heart beating in her ears.
She took a small step toward him so she could reach her hand out and lay it over his heart.
“Elena,” he whispered, it sounded more like a plea than anything.
She didn’t respond as her hand slowly moved down his chest and met her other one at the hem of his shirt. She gave him a small smile before she tugged his shirt over his head and threw it near hers. When he didn’t move away from her touch, she took another step closer and placed a kiss on his chest as her hands freely explored the strong planes of his chest and stomach. She looked up at him through her eye lashes, gave him a small smile, a chaste kiss on his lips, and took a step away from him.
She saw confusion in his eyes before her hands went to the button of her jeans and she slid them down her legs. She could feel his gaze on her every move. Once she stepped out of them she moved herself closer to him again. She kissed a trail over his clavicle, up his neck, and settled at the base of his ear. He let out the most beautiful sound as her teeth tugged on the lobe of his ear.
“I’m not afraid anymore,” she whispered right against his ear. The moment he processed what she said, the tension in the room lit on fire.
His arms pulled her against him and he moved his head so he could capture her lips. She walked him backwards until the backs of his legs hit the bed. He easily slid his hands under her thighs and picked her up. He turned quickly and gently dropped her on the bed. His body quickly covered hers and her mouth found his once more. Her hands explored his back, touching and scratching every inch of skin she could touch. His hands moved up and down her sides before dipping behind her and unhooking her bra. He leaned back as he removed it from her body and stared down at her in awe.
Any other time, Elena would’ve felt self conscious with the gaze he was directing at her, but there was something in it that made her feel alive. He slowly slid her panties down her legs so he could gaze at her entire body without anything in the way. She was perfect. He always knew.
He used his magic on her and worked her body to a fever pitch with his talented mouth and hands before he slipped out of his jeans and boxers and moved up her body.
He hovered above her and gazed into her eyes. He could feel her heart beating frantically and it pleased him that he could have such a strong effect on her. She looked so beautiful with her hair across his pillows, spread out over his sheets, his name on her lips.
She returned his gaze with the same intensity before slowly reaching her hands out and gently tracing the contours of his face. He was flawless. So flawless that it rendered her speechless. He held himself above her, frozen under her gentle hands. She sat up a little to press a soft kiss to his lips. She laid back down below him and smiled up into his eyes.
“I love you, Damon,” she whispered. She could’ve laughed at how his eyes almost bugged out of their sockets, but the intensity of the moment and the tears in her eyes stopped her.
His hand cupped her face and he softly rubbed his thumb across her skin. The look of wonder in his eyes almost stopped her heart then and there.
“I love you, Elena,” he cried as he finally pressed himself into her. Her back arched off the bed as her body adjusted to his welcomed intrusion. She was floored by how perfectly they fit together. It was like they were made for each other. A lone tear escaped her eye as she smiled at him. He wiped it away before he started moving over him.
The only sounds in the room were skin moving against skin and the sounds of their names echoing around them. He cried her name like it was a sacred prayer. The sound only pushed her closer to the edge as she wrapped her legs around his waist to feel as much of him as possible. She threaded her fingers through his hair in an attempt to hold onto any form of coherent thoughts. The second her fingers squeezed tighter and he whispered words of love into her skin, they both fell over the edge into the most beautiful oblivion they’d ever experienced
He collapsed on top of her and she loved the feel of his weight pressing her into his mattress. She pressed soft kisses into his shoulder and absentmindedly combed her fingers through his hair. In that moment, they experienced true happiness.
---BREAK---
She wasn’t sure how she did it, but she managed to tangle herself from his grasp and get home. She’d convinced him that she’d come by in the morning, but she needed to be at home with Jeremy and Ric. Who were both sound asleep when she carefully snuck through the door.
She tiptoed up the stairs and slid into her room before shutting the door behind her. A wide smile broke out on her lips as she leaned back against the door. She had been so brave tonight. She felt elated, liberated even, after finally giving in to the thoughts she’d work so hard to forget. Every fiber of her being knew she loved Damon, but she never allowed herself to admit it for fear the guilt would eat her alive. She knew she should feel a little guilty, but she couldn’t seem to muster an ounce. She couldn’t love a ghost and that was what Stefan had become, a shell of him former self. He was no longer the man she loved and she moved on from that.
She finally flicked the lights on and had to stifle a scream as she saw Stefan standing in her room.
“What are you doing here?” She asked quietly as her heart picked up in fear.
He let out a humorless laugh.
“I can smell him all over you. Inside you,” he practically growled. Her blood boiled. She was perfectly happy when she had gotten home and now he was making her feel like dirt.
“I knew it was only a matter of time before you’d go running to him,” he snarled at her, taking slow steps toward her. “That you’d settle for the lesser brother.”
Her veins were on fire as she pulled her hand back and released it across his face.
“You don’t get to make me feel guilty. Damon has nothing to do with this. You left. You made a choice and I made a choice to move on. I told you I wouldn’t love a ghost and I meant it,” she spat at him.
“I won’t let you become Katherine,” he said a little softer.
“I’m not. Katherine played you both. I made a choice and I choose him,” she said strongly.
A sadistic smile spread across his lips as he took a few more steps toward her. She tried to sink back against her door to move away from him.
“Elena,” he whispered as he cupped her face in his hand. She lifted her gaze to meet his and found herself pulled into it. Panic started to flood into her as she realized what he was going to do. She cursed herself for giving Rebekah her necklace and not taking the precaution to ingest vervain some other way.
“You are going to leave Mystic Falls. Now that the danger is gone, you want to leave it all behind and try to live normally without vampires, witches, and hybrids,” he said in a monotone voice. She knew she needed to run, get away from him, but her body wouldn’t move. Tears flooded her eyes when she realized she couldn’t fight it.
“You are going to forget about the past year and a half. You will forget me and Damon. You will forget Caroline is a vampire and that Bonnie is a wish. You will go to a new school in a big city, you will go to college there and you will never return to Mystic Falls.”
She sucked in a rapid breath and found herself in her room alone.
Rating: M
Characters: Damon and Elena
Summary: Elena comes back to Mystic Falls after being compelled to stay away and meets the Salvatore brothers all over again.
A/N: Here is the first finished draft of Closer than Most. Let me know what you think or what you would change!
Elena Gilbert stood staring at the fireplace, letting the flames transport her to another world, even for just a moment. Everyone she knew was at the Lockwood’s attempting to murder Klaus and here she was, left alone in the boarding house.
Her life had been a spiraling mess up to that point. Klaus has Stefan under his compulsion and her blood was the only way he could make his hybrids. She was just so tired of being in the middle of this war. Sometimes she wanted to be 18. She wanted to go to parties, fall in love, get married, have children. Things like that would’t happen if she kept falling in love with vampires.
Vampires. Not just one.
She shook her head as if her brain was a giant Etch-A-Sketch and would erase that thought from her mind. It sure didn’t erase the longing in her heart. Sometimes her heart would physically squeeze and ache. She ignored the reasons, but it was silly. Everyone knew what she was trying to avoid.
She was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard the door open behind her. She quickly turned around to see Damon enter the house. He looked a little worse for wear, but he was alive. For that, she was grateful. She tried to read his face to see any sign as to how the night went, but he gave nothing away. He just strode into the room, took the glass tumbler out of her hand, and downed the amber liquid she used to calm her nerves.
“Turning to alcohol, Elena,” he asked, but no humor colored his tone.
“What happened tonight?” She asked, trying to keep her voice even as the light from the flames danced across his beautiful face.
“He’s dead. Both of them are,” Damon said, he looked shocked saying it, like it still hadn’t set in.
“What?” She felt her eyes go wide and her jaw go slack, “What happened?”
He finally turned to face her.
“I went to stake Klaus. I had him,” he said passionately, taking a step closer to her.
“Then Stefan, in all his glory came in and stopped me,” he continued, disbelief coloring his voice, “He saved Klaus, Elena. He saved Klaus because he wanted his freedom.”
Elena tried to take everything in. How could Stefan do that? Didn’t he know that when Klaus died his compulsion would be broken?
“I thought you said they were dead?” She asked in a small voice.
“They are. Apparently when an Original stakes another Original with that specific stake, they both go up in flames,” Damon said.
“It’s strange,” Elena mumbled.
“What’s strange?” Damon asked. She should’ve known that Damon would hear her.
“That he’s really gone. I’m not just a human blood bag anymore,” she said, a little bit of wonder in her voice.
“You were never just a human blood bag, Elena,” Damon said quietly, taking a step closer to her and gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Her skin was on fire from the barely-there contact.
“Elena,” he whispered after a few quiet moments, his fingers still lingering on her cheek, “Stefan’s gone. He’s never going to be the same.”
“He’s never going to be the same,” he repeated with more anger before throwing the glass into the brick fireplace.
His outburst caught her off guard and she found herself desperate to calm him down. She closed the distance between them and grabbed his arm so he’d face her. Which he quickly and roughly shrugged off.
“Damon,” Elena said his name and she saw a little tension leave his frame. She moved closer and cradled his face in her hands. He finally calmed down and met her gaze. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized how close she was to him. She steadied herself with a deep breath.
“Then we’ll let him go,” she said firmly, “We’ll let him go. We’ll survive this, Damon. We always survive.”
Their eyes locked for several tension-filled minutes. She could feel her heart starting to pound in her ears and she was sure he could hear it too. She watched him slowly lean into her and she braced herself for what was coming, but he stopped just short of her lips. She nearly fell over from all the butterflies in her stomach. She was shocked that her hands weren’t shaking. He was leaving it up to her. The ball was in her court and she was the one who had to decided where this would go.
She took a deep breath and finally let everything she’d been pushing away come flooding into her mind. Every moment from the past year and a half. The way he looked at her, the way he always put saving Stefan before himself, the way he stepped in between her and Klaus every time they were all in the same room, the way he always protected her. The way he’d always protect her.
So she made a decision and closed the small space between their lips. Kissing Damon in the living room was totally different from kissing him on his deathbed. This time he was an active participant. His lips were soft to the touch, but firmly moving against hers. She let herself get lost in him as her body melted against his. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her even closer.
She loved how small she felt in his arms, how protected, how loved. Her hands moved from his face to the soft hair on the back of his neck. He ran his tongue over the seam of her lips and her lips automatically opened for him. His tongue explored the warm confines of her mouth. When she moaned into him, he could hardly contain his self control.
She tasted like everything he’d ever loved. Rain, sunshine, and humanity. She made him feel human for the first time in 150 years.
He lifted her legs around his waist and sped her to the nearest wall. She moved her hips into him and he moaned into her mouth.
“Elena, you gotta stop that. I only have so much self control,” he mumbled into the skin on her neck. A small smirk played on her lips as she pressed into him again.
“What if I don’t want to stop,” she whispered. Her breaths coming out in small pants.
He pulled back so fast that he almost dropped her. His eyes held so many questions and even some insecurities.
“What are you saying?” He whispered in disbelief. It was to good to be true.
“I want you, Damon. All of you,” she said earnestly, her doe eyes were burning into his soul. Or whatever he had.
“Don’t joke about these things, ‘Lena,” he shook his head as he set her on her feet and took a step away, running his fingers through his hair.
She understood why he wouldn’t believe her. She barely started believing herself. But she knew what she wanted, what she’d denied herself for almost two years. She needed to do this. For her. For Damon. For them.
“Follow me,” she whispered and without waiting for acknowledgement, turned and headed up the stairs. She moved at a slower than normal pace, but she could feel him following her, not once complaining about how slow she was moving.
She found the door she was looking for, walked in, and held the door open for him. Her heart was pounding furiously, she could hear the blood rushing in her ears.
“Why are we in my room?” Damon asked quietly after she closed the door.
“I told you, I want all of you. I meant that,” she whispered quietly. And took a deep breath before she slowly pulled her shirt over her head. The stood staring at each other in silence. The only sound was her labored breathing and her heart beating in her ears.
She took a small step toward him so she could reach her hand out and lay it over his heart.
“Elena,” he whispered, it sounded more like a plea than anything.
She didn’t respond as her hand slowly moved down his chest and met her other one at the hem of his shirt. She gave him a small smile before she tugged his shirt over his head and threw it near hers. When he didn’t move away from her touch, she took another step closer and placed a kiss on his chest as her hands freely explored the strong planes of his chest and stomach. She looked up at him through her eye lashes, gave him a small smile, a chaste kiss on his lips, and took a step away from him.
She saw confusion in his eyes before her hands went to the button of her jeans and she slid them down her legs. She could feel his gaze on her every move. Once she stepped out of them she moved herself closer to him again. She kissed a trail over his clavicle, up his neck, and settled at the base of his ear. He let out the most beautiful sound as her teeth tugged on the lobe of his ear.
“I’m not afraid anymore,” she whispered right against his ear. The moment he processed what she said, the tension in the room lit on fire.
His arms pulled her against him and he moved his head so he could capture her lips. She walked him backwards until the backs of his legs hit the bed. He easily slid his hands under her thighs and picked her up. He turned quickly and gently dropped her on the bed. His body quickly covered hers and her mouth found his once more. Her hands explored his back, touching and scratching every inch of skin she could touch. His hands moved up and down her sides before dipping behind her and unhooking her bra. He leaned back as he removed it from her body and stared down at her in awe.
Any other time, Elena would’ve felt self conscious with the gaze he was directing at her, but there was something in it that made her feel alive. He slowly slid her panties down her legs so he could gaze at her entire body without anything in the way. She was perfect. He always knew.
He used his magic on her and worked her body to a fever pitch with his talented mouth and hands before he slipped out of his jeans and boxers and moved up her body.
He hovered above her and gazed into her eyes. He could feel her heart beating frantically and it pleased him that he could have such a strong effect on her. She looked so beautiful with her hair across his pillows, spread out over his sheets, his name on her lips.
She returned his gaze with the same intensity before slowly reaching her hands out and gently tracing the contours of his face. He was flawless. So flawless that it rendered her speechless. He held himself above her, frozen under her gentle hands. She sat up a little to press a soft kiss to his lips. She laid back down below him and smiled up into his eyes.
“I love you, Damon,” she whispered. She could’ve laughed at how his eyes almost bugged out of their sockets, but the intensity of the moment and the tears in her eyes stopped her.
His hand cupped her face and he softly rubbed his thumb across her skin. The look of wonder in his eyes almost stopped her heart then and there.
“I love you, Elena,” he cried as he finally pressed himself into her. Her back arched off the bed as her body adjusted to his welcomed intrusion. She was floored by how perfectly they fit together. It was like they were made for each other. A lone tear escaped her eye as she smiled at him. He wiped it away before he started moving over him.
The only sounds in the room were skin moving against skin and the sounds of their names echoing around them. He cried her name like it was a sacred prayer. The sound only pushed her closer to the edge as she wrapped her legs around his waist to feel as much of him as possible. She threaded her fingers through his hair in an attempt to hold onto any form of coherent thoughts. The second her fingers squeezed tighter and he whispered words of love into her skin, they both fell over the edge into the most beautiful oblivion they’d ever experienced
He collapsed on top of her and she loved the feel of his weight pressing her into his mattress. She pressed soft kisses into his shoulder and absentmindedly combed her fingers through his hair. In that moment, they experienced true happiness.
---BREAK---
She wasn’t sure how she did it, but she managed to tangle herself from his grasp and get home. She’d convinced him that she’d come by in the morning, but she needed to be at home with Jeremy and Ric. Who were both sound asleep when she carefully snuck through the door.
She tiptoed up the stairs and slid into her room before shutting the door behind her. A wide smile broke out on her lips as she leaned back against the door. She had been so brave tonight. She felt elated, liberated even, after finally giving in to the thoughts she’d work so hard to forget. Every fiber of her being knew she loved Damon, but she never allowed herself to admit it for fear the guilt would eat her alive. She knew she should feel a little guilty, but she couldn’t seem to muster an ounce. She couldn’t love a ghost and that was what Stefan had become, a shell of him former self. He was no longer the man she loved and she moved on from that.
She finally flicked the lights on and had to stifle a scream as she saw Stefan standing in her room.
“What are you doing here?” She asked quietly as her heart picked up in fear.
He let out a humorless laugh.
“I can smell him all over you. Inside you,” he practically growled. Her blood boiled. She was perfectly happy when she had gotten home and now he was making her feel like dirt.
“I knew it was only a matter of time before you’d go running to him,” he snarled at her, taking slow steps toward her. “That you’d settle for the lesser brother.”
Her veins were on fire as she pulled her hand back and released it across his face.
“You don’t get to make me feel guilty. Damon has nothing to do with this. You left. You made a choice and I made a choice to move on. I told you I wouldn’t love a ghost and I meant it,” she spat at him.
“I won’t let you become Katherine,” he said a little softer.
“I’m not. Katherine played you both. I made a choice and I choose him,” she said strongly.
A sadistic smile spread across his lips as he took a few more steps toward her. She tried to sink back against her door to move away from him.
“Elena,” he whispered as he cupped her face in his hand. She lifted her gaze to meet his and found herself pulled into it. Panic started to flood into her as she realized what he was going to do. She cursed herself for giving Rebekah her necklace and not taking the precaution to ingest vervain some other way.
“You are going to leave Mystic Falls. Now that the danger is gone, you want to leave it all behind and try to live normally without vampires, witches, and hybrids,” he said in a monotone voice. She knew she needed to run, get away from him, but her body wouldn’t move. Tears flooded her eyes when she realized she couldn’t fight it.
“You are going to forget about the past year and a half. You will forget me and Damon. You will forget Caroline is a vampire and that Bonnie is a wish. You will go to a new school in a big city, you will go to college there and you will never return to Mystic Falls.”
She sucked in a rapid breath and found herself in her room alone.