No Strings Attached

Day 1

Elena Gilbert sits alone at the bar, a glass of whiskey half empty in front of her. This isn't her usual place for a drink, but she finds herself perched on the unfamiliar stool anyway. It had been a long day and she didn't want to spend her evening staring at the man she equally loved and hated.

Damon Salvatore was his name. They had met back in high school and had been together ever since. It was rare to stay with your high school sweetheart and Elena used to take pride in being one of the few. But things were different now and she was regretting her decision to uproot her life just for a boy.

After graduation, Elena had applied to her fair share of colleges in the hopes of getting into a good med school. She may not have gotten into her top choice, but anything was better than community college back in Mystic Falls. But then Damon had intervened, explaining he had a great job opportunity over in Kansas and he wanted Elena to come with him.

How could she refuse? It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her. Damon obviously meant business if he wanted Elena to move halfway across the country with him. So she scratched her college plans and moved to Lawrence, Kansas, opting instead to apply to the University of Kansas. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, she had told herself at the time. She would make new friends, get through med school and make a home for herself with Damon.

They did all of these things. Damon owned the most popular bar in town, Elena was working as a resident at the local hospital and they had a small home on the outskirts of town. Everything was perfect.

And yet it wasn't. Elena was never home anymore, her residency taking up all her free time and then some. She was always on her feet, running up and down the hospital corridors to check on her multitude of patients. Just like every other small town, they were understaffed and it was her responsibility to pick up the slack. Elena had known what she was getting into, but Damon had not.

He didn't seem to understand Elena didn't have a choice. To him, she was choosing not to be at home. She was choosing to be at the hospital and away from him. He had always been possessive and controlling growing up and it came to the foreground of their relationship because of this.

And so the arguments began. They were different than the little fights, the ones that could easily be solved with a simple apology or a small peck on the cheek. These were far beyond anything Elena had ever endured. The two would fight about everything, no matter how big or small. They argued over why the other had forgotten to buy eggs, throwing out accusations about false love and neglect. They argued over the electricity bills, blaming each other for wasting too much time on the Internet. Then they would argue about the more important things. Like Elena's hours at the hospital and Damon's drinking problem.

Most nights they were able to press pause, deciding instead to fall into bed and pretend everything was all right. That there relationship wasn't falling apart right in front of them.

Tonight was not one of those nights.

Elena had been sitting at the kitchen counter when Damon came home, her work sprawled out before her and causing Damon to scoff.

"What was that for?" Elena hadn't even bothered to look up at him, choosing instead to keep her eyes on the charts in front of her. There was a child in desperate need of a pancreas transplant and it was Elena's job to find a suitable match.

"I thought you were going to stop bringing your work home," Damon slurred, stumbling over to the sink to poor himself a glass of water.