Love at First Bite

☆ in the rain pt. 2

"Elena, let's sit here"

The Cafe was lively, bustling with energy from the crowd of townspeople who also found shelter from the rain. Soft jazz music echoed in the room, and the ambience was calm and comforting. Elena and Damon sat at the corner next to the window, a single candle illuminating their faces with a warm honey glow. Elena couldn't stop shivering from the cold. Damon noticed. He quickly took off his leather jacket, wiped away any remaining droplets from it, and placed it on Elena's shoulders. She looked up at him, her eyes softening.

"W-why'd you do that?"

Damon was about to say something, but he hesitated and looked away. 

"It doesn't matter just wear it"

"N-no Damon, you should-"

Before Elena could finish speaking, Damon cut her off, calling over one of the waitresses to order something. A blonde lady wearing a dark green apron with a pencil tucked behind her ear came over. 

"Well hi there cutie" Damon flirted. 

The waitress smiled, flattered from his reaction and replied, "Hehe um-it's actually Susan. Please call me Susan"

As the waitress bit her lip and twirled the pencil in between her fingers, Elena couldn't help but feel disgusted by the obvious flirting happening in front of her. The thought of this 'kind, generous Damon' who gave her his jacket quickly dissolved into reality. She figured now, he was just another playboy who couldn't turn away from an easy blonde. 

"We will have two meat pies-"

"Oh-um heh I'm not hungry" Elena interrupted. 

"Hm. Okay well then, Creepy over here will just have some coffee, and I WILL have one meat pie and a glass of bourbon please, Susan" Damon purred as he said Susan's name. She walked away from the table looking back at Damon seductively. 

"Ugghhhhh" Elena said under her breath.

"I heard that" Damon said sarcastically. 

*Sigh* "Well, sorry you had to see that but I guess I'm just irresistible to Susan. Or any woman who lays their eyes on me" Damon said while smirking at Elena.

"Woow yeh you know what, I guess you are. After all, a lonely delinquent man-child pining away in an empty classroom with no friends and no one to talk to at school REALLY DOES sound like the man of every woman's dreams" Elena retaliated, smirking back at him. 

"OUCH" Damon joked back. 

"Also, did you just order bourbon? Because I'm pretty sure it's a few years away before you're actually ALLOWED alcohol?" Elena asked. 

"Wellll I've been drinking it ever since I was 12 so the whole alcohol age limit thing doesn't really apply to me"

"Uh-huh, sure it doesn't" Elena nodded smiling. 

It felt like every time she talked to him and the more she got to know him, the more curious she became about who he really is.

"Soooooo Elena. What's up with you these days? Other than doing your part for the community and getting kids to stay off alcohol" Damon said sarcastically. 

Elena chuckled. "Well, I'm just super swamped with all the homework and assignments they've been giving us. Do the teachers always give so much work?"

"Why do you think I don't go the classes Elena?"

Elena smiled, then she looked down at the table, suddenly deep in thought. 

"Actually, there's one assignment I'm working on now. We have to choose a place or a city or something to research on. Their history, their culture"

"Okay, FUN. Soo where exactly were you thinking of?"

"London, England" 

Damon's eyebrow twitched. A concerned expression grew on his face, but then suddenly he smiled, like nothing was wrong.

"Oh London? Pffft yeh I love that place"

"Well I only chose it because it's where I grew up, before moving here"

Damon's eyebrows raised. "No kidding, I grew up there too"

"Wait what?? Really? That's-that's amazing! I've always wanted to talk to someone that lived in London too!" Elena chuckled, surprised and excited, she instinctively took Damon's hand to ask him more questions.

But just before they could talk further, the waitress came up with their food and drinks. Elena and Damon noticed, once again, that their hands were touching. They pulled away from eachother. Susan noticed, and her eyes and mouth scrunched up annoyed with what she just saw. She put down the dishes on the table with force.

"Here's your food. For you. And your girlfriend" She said with an annoyed tone. Susan looked down at Damon with fury, stomping away but not before death-staring him. 

Damon and Elena looked at eachother. They burst into laughter. 

"Ha ha ha ha ha! I CAN'T believe that just happened"

"Ha ha, well sometimes it doesn't pay to be as handsome and charming as me" Damon grinned.

All of a sudden, Damon's expression changed from happy to worried as he looked down at his plate of food. 

"Hey Damon, what's wrong? Did she put something in your food? Ha ha" Elena joked. 

But Damon had no response. He continued to look down at his plate worried, his eyebrows furrowing and his eyes looking right and left in confusion. 

"I-I um, I have to go" Damon muttered, hurriedly grabbing his jacket off Elena and putting down money for the bill. 

"Wait, what just happened? I'm sure it's fine Damon I was only joking"

"No no it's not you. I-it's just....I have to go"

He rushed out of his seat and like a gust of wind, he was gone. Elena sat there, utterly confused and alone. She sighed and sipped her coffee, not even knowing what to do or how to react after that. That's when she remembered to check her phone. 

"It's 8pm??! Oh my god I have to get home"

The trees rustled outside, and the rain still continued to pour but not as intense as before. Elena sat there feeling hopeless about how she was going to get home when she noticed something hanging on Damon's seat. The umbrella.

"Did he leave this for me? Or did he forget it?" Elena wondered to herself. 

She took the umbrella, got out of her chair and started making her way to the door when she saw something purple out of the corner of her eye. It was a flower. A garnish on top of Damon's pie that he left untouched. She looked at it closer and just as she was about to touch it, she felt a sting at the tip of her fingers. 

"Tsss ow" She exclaimed. 

That's when she realised. It was vervain. A forest herb like any other, except it was the one flower, the only flower, harmful to vampires. 

"Wait if this is vervain, then that means-"

Elena started to feel uneasy. She swiftly left the Cafe. Thinking about it more on her walk home, she felt even more confused. Did the waitress put it there? Does she know about vampires? Does Damon know about vampires? The moment Elena reached home and lied down on her bed, she took a deep sigh. The umbrella Damon had left was now sitting quietly in her room. She took it in her hands and twirled it around. By accident, she triggered the opening mechanism and the umbrella expanded. But then, she noticed something written on the tag of the umbrella.

"Property of Damon Salvatore"

Looking at that tag, she knew exactly what to do. She made up her mind. Tomorrow, she was going to to talk to Damon, about EVERYTHING.