Reckless Love (Elena & Damon)

2 - Dateless

We get attached to temporary things,
and then wonder why happiness never lasts.

'You're what?' Caroline screeched, causing most people in the cafe to look up and stare at her, but she didn't care, her eyes weren't on everyone else, they were only on Elena.

'Caroline calm down.' 

'I will not calm down! You're going on a date with Damon Salvatore, as in my boyfriends brother!'

'It's not a date,' Elena promised Caroline, 'and it's not a big deal either.'

'It is a big deal! This could ruin everything between me and Stefan!'

'Don't be silly, Care. I would never let it.'

Caroline frowned and folded her arms across her chest. 'It's not necessarily something you can control Elena.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well what if you two start dating?'

'That's not going to happen - '

'But what if it does. What if you date for a few months and then it ends so terribly and you can't even be in the same room. Imagine how that would affect Stefan and I.'

Elena sat in silence for a while thinking over what her best friend had just said. She hadn't imagined that Caroline would be this angry about her going out for a simple dinner with Damon. Of course, she understood why Caroline could be a little on edge about the situation, but she had no idea she would be this on edge. The dinner that Elena and Damon had planned was harmless, so harmless that Elena knew she could tell Caroline and thought she would not kick up this much of a fuss. 

'That's never going to happen Caroline, but if by some minuscule chance that it did, I assure you Damon and I would make sure that we get over whatever differences we had for the sake of you and Stefan.'

'But you know nothing about Damon!' Caroline screeched again. 'You have no idea if he'd be willing to act civil around you! 

'And you have no idea that he wouldn't be willing!' Suddenly Elena found herself yelling at almost the same level as Caroline. She sighed and ran a stressed hand through her hair. 

Before this breakfast with Caroline - that Elena had planned to give her the heads up about tonight - she was actually looking forward to tonight. Damon intrigued her and she found herself wanting to get to know him. She liked how he had made her feel last night, she liked the idea of being new to someone and having them want to know about her. Everyone she surrounded herself with had known her since she was a child, they knew every inch of her life, there was nothing new left to discover. She liked how Damon didn't know her, how they could spend time learning about each other. But of course, with the way things were going with Caroline, they would never get pass one meal together let alone dive into the treacherous waters that were their histories. 

'Look, if it's such a big deal then I'll cancel on him. Just say I'm sick or something.' Elena didn't really want to cancel on him, not at all, but she would give up one dinner date with Damon for Caroline in a heartbeat.

Caroline huffed and uncrossed her arms. 'No, don't do that, that's silly.'

'Then what the hell do you want me to do?' Elena replied with a laugh. 

Of course, Elena wasn't surprised with what Caroline had said, as she knew the type of person she was. Caroline could object against something for hours on end, but as soon as her objection could affect someone else, she would back down. In this case, however, Elena wasn't sure who Caroline thought cancelling would affect. Surely she knew that it wouldn't affect Damon at all really, after all, Elena and Damon had only met once, and there was no way a cancellation with a girl he had just met would affect him enough to make him feel some genuine feelings of remorse.