A life in the shadows

26

"Okay, Damon. You ready to leave? And stop flirting with Lacey." Damon rolled his eyes and exchanged numbers with the girl before walking over to his brother.
"I'm ready." He said. Lacey walked over to the two, and gave Matteo a hug.
"Bye, Matt."
"Stay out of trouble, Lace. And it's not too late for some payback on Roger."
"It's okay. I can fight my own battles. It's his loss, not mine."
"That's right." Matteo ruffled her hair and waved at everyone else in the room before walking out with his brother.
"Back to Mystic Falls. You glad?" He asked as he and Damon got in the car.
"Nah, I kinda liked hanging out yesterday."
"You did?"
"Yeah, and even though we didn't find the perfect ring in that shop, I'm glad you brought me to come shopping with you."
"Of course. There's no one else I'd rather have there. Although, I do need to find a ring before I propose."
"Maybe we can look around some more before we go back to Mystic Falls?"
"You'd like that?"
"Can you stop acting shocked that I actually want to spend time with you."
"Alright, let's go. I think there's a small store around here."
"Drive away." Damon smirked.

Siobhan had successfully fed the two young women and they had taken her to the theater to watch a movie. She found it weird that they called it a theater and they found it weird that she called it a cinema. To Siobhan, theatres were places you'd go to see plays and musicals played out right in front of you. But she had a fun time with them. They'd gotten a few snacks to munch on inside.
"Okay the movie was kinda fun." She admitted as they walked hone.
"Kinda?"
"The guy beside me kept burping so that was a little distracting." She cringed in disgust as Elena and Caroline laughed at her. Her phone chimed with another text. "So Matteo and Damon won't be coming home for another few hours. They "got held up" apparently."
"What could they be doing? Nothing much seems to interest Damon, except sex, blood and violence." Caroline counted.
"He can't be that bad." Siobhan said.
"He's a lot different than Matt remembers."
"Of course, but, I mean our friends seemed to like him well enough. The ones Matteo sent after Damon."
"How many did he send?"
"Oh, so many over the years. I lost count. Matteo was adamant someone be there for his brothers since he couldn't. So he sent friends. Most were only supposed to observe, but they all ended up actually befriending him."
"And Damon never had an idea?"
"It's not like all his friends were sent by Matteo. Or that they befriended him because of Matteo. They became friends because they enjoyed his company."
"Have you met Damon? Dick, douchebag, all round asshole?" Elena lightly nudged Caroline who looked at her defensively. "What? It's true."
"He can be kind of good. You have to admit, in the past year, he's changed a lot."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he's good. He insults us every chance he gets, but dies nothing to you. He calls me blonde barbie, or blondie if he's being nice. I'm just saying, Damon is a dick," at Elena expression she sighed. "But maybe he's still changing for the better."
"I hope so. Matty's been really looking forward to having his brothers back. And it looks like it's going well with Damon." Elena's phone chimed. She picked up.
"Hello?"
"It's me. Don't acknowledge that I'm me. Pretend I'm Jeremy." Damon's voice came through.
"Is everything okay... Jer?"
"Yes. So Matteo and I need you and Caroline to take Siobhan shopping."
"Why?"
"Matteo's got a surprise ready for her. Go into- what's it called?" Damon hissed at his brother. Siobhan and Caroline looked questioningly at Elena who waved them ahead.
"Madame Taylor." Matteo told his brother who relayed it to Elena.
"Tell her who the dress is for and she'll give you one that's on hold."
"What's going on?"
"It's a surprise."
"Okay, see you soon. Stay out of trouble."
"Bye." Damon hung up.
"What was that?"
"Jeremy forgot his keys. Wondered what time I'd be getting hone. Apparently he has plans this evening."
"Jeremy?" Caroline scoffed disbelievingly.
"Right? Anyways, whatever, uh let's go shopping. We've pretty much done everything else there is to do in Mystic Falls."
"Sure, I love shopping." Siobhan grinned, linking arms with Elena and Caroline, and dragged them over to her car. They all piled in and Caroline directed her to the mall. Elena searched up Madame Taylor. Turns out it was a small boutique, on the edge of the mall entrance. She sent a quick text to Caroline explaining Damon and Matt's plan and leant forward taking over directions as Caroline read her message.
"Here. This place looks nice." Elena pulled Caroline and Siobhan into the tiny store.
"Madame Taylor?" Siobhan asked.
"Yeah, I don't think I've been in here before, you know?" Elena split off from the girls as she claimed to look at other dresses.