Save me from myself (Damon Salvatore)

Chapter 11: Let the drama begin

        Although I wasn't feeling cold, I snuggled gratefully into his black jacket, mostly because I was attracted by the scent of his luscious perfume and I almost felt guilty for leaving him shiver in the middle of the pouring rain.
         "How did you know I was here?" I asked curiously.
         "Maybe I know you better than you think." he said with a smile.
         I smiled back and replied: "I doubt that."
         "Well… I know you like dancing. You enjoy standing in the rain and eating mint chocolate. I also know that you're not afraid of the dark and that you're very beautiful when you smile. And I can see that the rain makes your hair curlier." he replied with a smile, looking me in the eyes and playing with my wet curls.
         "I'm talking about the serious stuff… about those things that define me as a person." I sighed, shrugging my shoulders.
         "Everything that I said earlier defines you as a person. And I can't learn more about you unless you want me to." he added with blue puppy eyes.
         This time I didn't reply. Damon was right. I didn't give him the chance to discover the real me and I had no idea what was keeping me from doing it. We remained silent for a moment and all we could hear was the rain falling from the sky along with the loud music from the party.
         Then he stood up, held out his right hand and said with a seductive voice: "May I have this dance?"
         I grabbed his hand, stood up and looked him in the eyes, then said with a smile: "Only because it's one of my favorite songs."
         We stepped away from the grandstand and walked on the grass. Damon let go of my hand, then put his arms around my waist while I put my arms around his shoulders. And there we were, dancing in the rain on my favorite love song, Take Me To Your Heart by Michael Learns To Rock, looking into each other's eyes and smiling like fools.
         Dancing and being so close to him felt good and for the first time in my life I actually had butterflies in my stomach, But his unusually cold body made me kill the groove as soon as the first song was over.
         "You can have your jacket back. I'm not cold." I said with a soft voice, pulling away from Damon and returning his jacket.
         "No, keep it." he replied with a smile.
         "But you're freezing." I added on a worried tone.
         "I have poor blood circulation, that's all." he said with a grin.
         "Just take it..." I replied, handing him the black jacket.
         "Alright, but first take a look inside its left pocket. It has something that belongs to you." Damon added with a smile on his face.
         I gave him a questioning look, but I did as he said and I found a beautiful jewelry box. I stared at him with big eyes and he began to giggle.
         "Come on, open it. It won't bite, I promise." Damon encouraged me. "And don't worry, I'm not asking you to marry me... yet!" he added with a huge grin.
         I faked a smile, then opened the box and laid my eyes on a cute bracelet with small pearls and a heart-shaped locket in the middle.
          "Do you like it?" he asked as he took the bracelet out of the box and put it around my left wrist, then kissed my hand.
         "It's beautiful, but I don't think I can accept it. You don't have to buy me presents." I replied looking him in the eyes.
         "I didn't buy it. It's been in the family for decades, just waiting for someone special to wear it." he said on a cheerful tone, then added with a smirk: "Plus, you can't deny that it looks good on you."
         Just when I was about to reply, Elena came to us on the football field and interrupted our conversation.
         "Hi! Have you seen Jeremy? I've been looking all over the school for him, but he just disappeared." she asked on a worried tone.
         "No, we haven't. Did you try to call him?" I asked concerned.
         "Several times, but it went straight to voicemail. I also called Jenna to ask her if he went home and he didn't." Elena said bitterly.
         "Don't worry, we'll help you find him. I think I know where he might be." I tried to comfort her.
         "We?" Damon asked surprised, looking me in the eyes and shaking his head in disapproval.
         "Well, if you don't want to come with us, we'll just have to go alone at the cemetery in the middle of this rainy night." I replied on a careless tone, shrugging my shoulders.
         "Cemetery?" I heard Damon and Elena saying at the same time.
         "Um... long story." I replied awkwardly while scratching my head. "Do you want to find him or not?" I asked looking at Elena and she nodded.
         "Fine, I'm coming with you. But only because you asked me to." Damon looked at me and grumbled.
         We got to the parking lot looking for Elena's car, but we couldn't find it.
         "Come on, don't tell me you forgot where you parked your car." Damon taunted her.
         "I'm pretty sure it was right here." she explained, pointing at an empty parking lot that was next to the front entrance steps.
         "Let's just take my car." Damon rolled his eyes and sighed, leading us to his vehicle.
         We stepped inside his car and got to the cemetery in less then 10 minutes. For our surprise, Elena's car was parked at the entrance.
         "There's your car!" Damon pointed at it with a smile as we got out of his vehicle.
         "I'm going to kill Jeremy." Elena said with an angry voice.
         "At least we know it wasn't stolen." Damon smirked, causing me and Elena to give him a dark look. "Ok, I'll shut up." he sighed, making me smile.
         A few minutes later we finally found Jeremy sitting on the ground next to his parents' graves with a bottle of beer in his right hand.
         "What the hell is wrong with you, Jeremy?" Elena scolded him. "Not only you steal my car, but you also drink beer and drive?" she blamed him again.
         Jeremy stood up and tuned around surprised to see us there.
         "Stop pretending that you care and leave me alone." he replied before taking a sip from the bottle.
         Elena gave him a dark glare, then walked closer to him and shoved him like she was trying to make him react, but Jeremy ignored her.
         "Are you on drugs again?" she continued to scold him. "Stoned and drunk... Mom and dad would be so disappointed to see you like this." she added bitterly.
         "Mom and dad are gone, ok?" Jeremy shouted at her. "And stop making me look bad in front of Maddy." he added with a weak voice.
         "That's enough." I said on a serious tone, looking at Elena. "Let's just take him home. You're to angry right now, don't say things that you're gonna regret in the morning." I added on a motherly tone.
         "She's right, you can scold him when he's sober." Damon said with a smirk.
         Jeremy glared at Damon and threatened him with an angry voice: "Stay out of this! Anyway, I'm drunk only because of you."
         Elena and I gave Damon a questioning look and he sighed.   
        "What? I didn't do anything." Damon defended himself.
         "You stole her from me." Jeremy clarified with sadness in his voice, looking at Damon while pointing at me.
         I stared at Jeremy and froze for a moment. What was he talking about?
         "I saw you guys dancing in the rain and..." Jeremy added bitterly, but Elena interrupted him.
         "Jeremy, stop!" she begged him, rolling her eyes.
         "I bet you took credit for the poem I sent to her." Jeremy said resentful.
         "What poem?" Elena asked still shocked about his confession.
         "Your little brother wrote her a love poem." Damon answered before I could reply to her question.
         "Maddy's right, we should deal with it tomorrow." Elena said with a weak voice, visibly embarrassed about what happened.
         "Let me drive you home." Damon said as he put a hand on my shoulder.
         "Can you deal with him alone or do you need our help?" I asked Elena.
         "No, it's fine. I'm really sorry about what happened." she replied awkwardly.
         "Come on, I'll help you bring him to the car." I added on a friendly tone and she nodded.
         We finally managed to bring Jeremy to Elena's vehicle. He was so drunk that he immediately fell asleep in the back seat. Damon was waiting for me in his car while I said goodbye to Elena.
         After she left, I went back to Damon's car and sat next to him on the passenger seat. My hair and my clothes were wet, but I wasn't shivering. I was still shocked about what happened and I couldn't make a sound. Instead, I stared through the windshield without even blinking, lost in my thoughts. Damon took off his jacket and wrapped it around me, then said with a soft voice: "Don't worry, everything is going to be alright. You'll be home in no time."
         "I don't want to go home." I replied faintly. "I wish I could disappear."  I added mostly to myself.
         Damon pulled me into a hug and gently kissed my forehead. I looked at him with a brittle smile and hugged him back. We sat there for a few moments until I started to sneeze and we both began to laugh.
         "I'll stop at a pharmacy on our way to your home." he said with a smile.
         "There's one just across the street from my apartment." I smiled back.
         He started the car and 15 minutes later we got to the pharmacy. Damon insisted on waiting for me as I was buying some meds for the flu, but I convinced him not to, since the pharmacy was only a two-minute walk from my apartment. Instead, he made me promise to call him as soon as I get home.
         After buying the pills, I crossed the street and got to the building. As I was climbing up the stairs I thought about everything that happened that night. At that point, all I wanted was to have a warm bath and sleep in my comfy bed.
         As soon as I got to my door, I took the key out of my pocket and tried to unlock it, but it wasn't working. Then I pulled the door handle and discovered that the door was unlocked. 'That's odd...' I said to myself as I stepped inside, knowing for sure that I unlocked the door before I went to the party.
         The hallway was dark as always, so I slammed my hand against the wall, trying to find the light switch. But before I could turn on the light, someone hit me in the head with a heavy object, causing me to groan in pain before I passed out.