Stefan and Delena: Origin

{18} Hope

I'd been in my room for three days. The school dance was now two days away. I hadn't heard anything from Damon, I tried calling him. Only voice mail was answering me. I left messages, but he didn't call back. I sent him texts, no reply. I didn't feel up to calling Stefan and asking him if Damon was at the Boarding House. I knew that I needed to, but I couldn't yet.

"Hey. You okay? I thought you would like some breakfast." Jeremy offered, setting down a tray of waffles with syrup and a glass of orange juice.

"Thanks, Jer. That's really sweet of you." I fake smiled.

"I know the last couple of days have been a bit weird for you. I mean, you and Damon have never gone this long without talking. You need to sort it out." Jeremy told me, sitting down on the end of my bed.

"I know, but I don't even know where he is. I've tried calling him, texting him, I've left a whole bunch of messages, no reply." I sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"If you want, I'll call Stefan?" He suggested. I nodded, my Brother really did deserve a nice girl.

Jeremy picked up the home phone and dialed the Boarding house, putting the phone on speaker.

"Hello? Elena?" Stefan said.

"Er, no it's Jeremy. I'm calling on behalf of Elena. Just wondering if you know where Damon is?" Jeremy asked rather maturely. 

"No clue, I thought he was with you? Well at least that was what I was hoping. I tried calling him but I kept getting his voice mail." 

Any hope I had that Damon was okay, was slowly going down the drain.

"Um..." Jeremy didn't know how to respond.

"Do you have any ideas where he could be?"  I said loudly, hoping Stefan could hear.

"Hmm..." Stefan hummed. "You could try Alaric's old apartment. I don't think he'd sold it or anything. He might be staying there."

"Perfect! Thanks Stefan, thank you so much!" I said, my hope starting to return again.

"Oh, and Elena?" Stefan said quickly before Jeremy hung up.

"Yeah?"

I'm really sorry, about... You know. The other day, I wasn't myself. I really don't know what got into me. And... Um, do you think it would be okay if I was to come with you to look for my Brother? I owe him a big apology too."

"Sure, I'll see you at Ric's in a bit." 

***

 I stood outside the building of Alaric's apartment (also known as the loft) with Alaric himself. Just waiting for Stefan, who was only five minutes late.

"Why do we have to wait for him again? If there's anyone in the whole entire world that Damon would want to see right now, it's definitely not Stefan." Ric pointed out.

"I know, but if there is a chance that Damon is in there and he doesn't want to talk to us and leaves. Neither of us are strong enough to take him on. Stefan might be able to stall him for long enough." I explained. 

"Okay, I see your point. We do need the guy with the funny hair after all." 

I couldn't help but laugh.

A few more minutes past and Stefan arrived.

"So we ready to go in?" Stefan asked. Ric smiled and whipped out the key to his apartment, and up we went. As got up the stairs, Ric popped the key into the lock and opened the door. It swung open and we were exposed to an empty apartment. No Damon. 

"Anywhere else you guys think we could try?" I suggested.

"Elena... We can't just keep looking at every possible place he might be. I know we've only tried one place. But I think we should wait for him to come back on his own terms. You know what Damon's like. Just be patient, I'm sure he's fine." Ric told me and he pulled me into a hug. I buried my face in his shoulder, letting out the tears.

"I think Alaric's right, Elena." Stefan agreed. He placed a cold hand on my shoulder, letting me know he cares.

They were right, the only way to get Damon back was to let him find his way back. He was the kind of person you didn't want to push into doing something, who didn't want to see angry or upset, and definitely who you didn't want to pick a fight with. There were only a few people that were more intimidating than Damon, and two of them happened to be snooping about Mystic Falls. They were both after the exact same thing, their little friend. I don't know why, or how, but I suddenly got an idea on who that 'friend' was. Damon's suspicion was growing on me, for I was starting to suspect the same person he was.