Love at First Bite

☆ in the rain pt.1

"Okay class, please don't forget to email me any questions you have about the assignment. Remember, you need to choose a country or city to research on. Thank you, you're dismissed"

*Bell ringing*

It had been a few days since Elena last talked to Damon. Ever since they met, they had only been exchanging glances when Elena would pass by the empty classroom Damon took over. But it was only that. Just seconds of eye contact. Anyway, Elena was busy trying to keep up with homework and assignments and whatnot. She was just trying her best to fit in and hopefully get used to her new life. 

Once the school bell rang, it was like a sign for the rain to come. It started pouring outside, gray clouds filled the sky and Elena sighed at the thought of walking home in this downpour. While packing up her locker, she realised in disappointment that she had left her umbrella at home. 

"Urgh really? I've gotta call Jeremy"

*ring ring* "Hello, Jeremy?"

"Yeh hey Elena, what's up? I'm kinda busy right now"

"Well I was just gonna say its- wait hang on why are you busy?"

"Oh didn't I tell you? I signed up for the basketball team and they're having a practice tonight so they wanted me to join and get a feel for it"

"Oh crap that's right, sorry Jer I totally forgot. Um will you be okay to walk home by yourself?"

"Yeh sure I'll be fine one of my friends can give me a ride, how 'bout you? I thought it was pouring outside, sounds like a storm"

"Yeh it is, but I'll be fine, I've....got my umbrella with me"

She didn't know why she lied, or why she couldn't tell Jeremy the truth. But deep inside, Elena wanted Jeremy to just have fun. To not worry about his sister and to play basketball like a normal highschool teenager. Being Elena's adopted brother, he couldn't help but worry about her all the time. But their life here in Mystic Falls was a fresh new start. Elena didn't want to ruin that for him by making Jeremy her babysitter. 

"Oh okay cool, I guess I'll see you at home Elena.. Love you"

"Love you too Jer" 

Elena made her way to the door, almost everyone had gone home already and the school halls were empty, only a few mindless chatter and distant sounds of squeaking shoes filled the air. By the time she came to the door, the rain had settled and the tiny pitter patter of droplets against the cement comforted Elena. 

"Hmm, I could probably run home and not get too wet"

"Yeh you probably could"

Like a jolt of electricity, Elena's shoulders raised in surprise as she turned around to see who had just spoken to her. It was Damon. 

"Hey there Creepy, good to see you again. Of course, we keep seeing eachother anyway but now we're finally talking" Damon joked, his smile curling into the right side of his cheek where his dimples started to show. 

"Oh! Ha ha, Damon. Yeh long time no see, why are you still here?"

"Well Miss Elena, I was actually serving some after school detention. BUT the teacher gave me a free pass out of the kindness of her heart"

"Wait the teacher just let you go? What did you do? Why were you there in the first place?"

"Well they caught me skipping class, and as to the matter of how I got out, let's just say I'm quite....persuasive" Damon tilted his head downwards and grinned like he was up to something.

Elena didn't understand what Damon meant, but for some reason the way he talked to her, the way he smiled, it was so charming. 

"Um, well anyway  I need to get home, so I'll see you-"

"Wait hang on, you're gonna walk through this rain alone? Don't you have an umbrella at least?"

"Yehhhh about that....I was just planning on running through it. I mean it's not even raining that hard anymore and I could probably make it-"

All of a sudden, Damon opened the umbrella he had been carrying with him and lifted it above Elena's head.

"Here."

Elena looked at him with gentle eyes, surprised at this sudden kind gesture. Maybe there was more to this trouble-making delinquent after all.

"No, no I couldn't"

"I insist....Creepy" Damon smirked.

"Damon, I'd hate to imagine you walking in this rain drenched and alone by yourself too. At least...share it with me?"

Damon looked her up and down, his eyebrows tensed as if he was trying to decide whether he should accept her invitation. 

"Sure" He replied decisively. 

As they walked together, the sound of wet gravel under their shoes and rain droplets smacking against the umbrella distracted them from the awkwardness of the situation. Their shoulders just inches apart from eachother, and Elena couldn't stop thinking about the warmth of Damon's body and the smoke of his breath. 

"You really like to stare at people huh?" Damon whispered.

"OH-oh my gosh I'm so sorry I didn't even realise"

There was a pause.

"It's okay, I don't mind. It's not like I haven't been staring either"

Elena's heart skipped. Damon HAD been looking at her this whole time. Even at school, she always found her eyes drifting towards Damon, and it made her feel at ease knowing maybe, he liked looking at her too. 

"Oh hey Damon, your shoulder's getting wet"

Damon turned his head to see, and sure enough, his jacket was getting wetter and wetter by the minute. 

"It's fine, you're dry right?"

"Yeh but you're not. Come on we'll switch sides, I don't want you getting a cold or anything just 'cos you had to keep me dry"

Just as Elena took hold of the umbrella, Damon took Elena's hand off and snatched it out of her grasp. 

"No no no, I'll be fine. I don't get sick anyway and plus, I'm not supposed to be here, WHICH MEANS it's better you stay dry and I get a little wet"

"No Damon-"

As Elena started coming up with a reason to take the umbrella she noticed something. A warm feeling on her hand. She lifted her palm to see Damon's hand in it. They were holding hands. Damon was still holding her hand from when he took it off the umbrella. They both glanced at eachother, and quickly pulled their fingers away. Elena crossed her arms in embarassment, and Damon rubbing the back of his head to play it off. Damon looked over to Elena, as Elena looked away from him, he noticed the smooth locks of her fair falling upon her shoulders, and the blushed pink tips of her ears from the cold. He smiled and thought to himself,

"She's so cute"

Just then, thunder rumbled in the sky and the wind started blowing more ferociously. The trees and bushes shook violently, and the rain began to pour harder and harder. And there was Elena and Damon, walking through the middle of it all. Until, Damon spotted the faint glow of a Cafe in the distance.

"Elena, let's go. We have to go inside"

"W-wait what are you talking about?" Elena raised her arm to protect her face from the sheer force of the wind and the rain.

"I-I can't see anything, where do we go Damon?"

Like an instinct, Damon took Elena's hand and ran with her towards the Cafe. Almost drenched in rain and running blindly in the storm, still Elena couldn't help but think about the feeling of Damon's hand in hers. They rushed in and closed the door behind them. Elena looked over at Damon, his dark hair dripping rainwater on his cheeks, the tip of his nose red and his warm breath smoking. 

"Elena, let's sit here"