Forever Is Not Enough

Myrtle's

1912 - Mystic Falls, Virginia

Elena struggled to sleep that night, though she desperately wished to be unconscious. Jordan sat, compelled, awake, and vigilant in the chair by the window, and every noise that he made seemed to reverberate through the room as though they were in the center of a great hall. Her thoughts were plagued by images of Damon. First, she only pictured his mouth in that irritating smirk, then his eyes raking against her skin like diamonds on glass. She could still feel his hands running up her thighs. She sat up before her thoughts could run away any more than they already had. She sat up, jamming her fingers into her eyes until she saw blue and green spots. She sat like that for hours, no longer pretending to sleep and thinking of how much she hated him. Then, uninvited, she would again picture his smile or hear his laugh, and she would suddenly be filled with the desire to forget it all and turn over to find him lying next to her. She finally fell asleep with a thick pillow caught in a very tight grip.

She awoke in a very foul mood. Jordan, his back hunched and his eyes struggling to stay open, was unfortunate to be the first to come upon her. She wrenched him out of his chair and fed on him without warning, something he was not used to. She left him to clean himself, granting him permission to sleep, while she readied for the day.

She stared out of the window as put on her earrings, ignoring the faint hope that she would see Damon watching her from the oak tree. She made a decision, staring at the waving branches, that she would tell him to leave.

Lucy had just come from the kitchen as she made her way to the front door. "Where do you think you are going?" she asked coldly.

Elena could not help feeling smug as she adjusted her hat in the mirror above the fire place. "I felt like a walk," she said.

Lucy opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself when she spotted the ring on Elena's finger. Elena braced for a fight, but Lucy left the room without another word and Elena heard a door slam somewhere deep within the house. For a moment, Elena tried to remember if she was supposed to keep her ring a secret. She finally decided that it would not make a difference either way, and continued out of the door.

It was brisk day, completely devoid of clouds. She trekked across the field very casually, so it would appear to anyone who was watching that she was very underwhelmed with wherever she was going. This was a very unimportant visit, with absolutely no effect on her at all. Why, she had almost forgotten to even make the trip at all. At least that is what she hoped she looked like.

She entered the old Salvatore house without knocking, for she was sure he would hear her anyway. She could hear his feet crossing from one end of his room to the other; he was rummaging through something by the sound of it.

Damon was bent over a sack of things when she entered, shoving his arm down to the very bottom to retrieve a very wrinkled shirt. He was shirtless, of course, and it occurred to her that he was probably that way on purpose. She blinked, willing herself to look at his eyes and only his eyes. He looked very pleased with himself.

"Damon," she said through pursed lips.

He slipped his arms into his shirt, leaving it unbuttoned. "I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

"You're arrogant to expect me back at all."

"Arrogant," he said, raising a finger in the air, "but correct."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I hope you aren't feeling too happy that I've come."

"Why is that?"

"I came to tell you to leave."

He did not seem as hurt by this as she hoped. "I'll be happy to, but unfortunately, I can't leave without my brother, and... anyone else who would like to join us."