Damon x oc

14

"Yeah they are," Bonnie said happily. Elena glanced at Scarlett and the redhead winked at her – the plan was working. Scarlett quickly excused herself to go to the bathroom. As soon as she had shut the door to Elena and Jeremy's shared bathroom, she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. Scarlett washed her hands and quickly ran a brush through her waist length hair before re-joining her friends.

"Well, look who it is." Scarlett froze on the stairs, one hand resting on the bannister as she stared at the current bane of her life and his new girlfriend.

"What are you doing here, Damon?" Scarlett asked coldly. She could see Elena, Stefan and Bonnie staring at her from the corner of her eye, but her gaze was fixed on the dark haired vampire at the foot of the stairs.

"Caroline and I bought dessert, hope you don't mind." Damon's voice was flippant as he smirked up at her, his eyes silently daring her to complain. Elena stepped forward slightly, her gaze flitting between Damon and Scarlett as they stared silently at each other.

"Scarlett, if Damon being here is a problem ..." Caroline started to voice a complaint, but Scarlett shook her head slightly. Elena had no idea what she had done when she allowed Damon to enter her house, but there was nothing that Scarlett could do about it now.

"No problem at all," she said quietly, walking the last few steps down the stairs. "I'll get plates." She took the cake box from Caroline's hands and hurried into the kitchen, ignoring the triumphant gleam in Damon's eyes. She was tired of playing his game, whatever that game was. Elena came into the kitchen behind her and placed a hand on her back in support before the two of them got to work serving the cake and making coffee.

"Seriously, Scarlett, are you okay with Damon being here?" Elena asked quietly as she got forks out of a drawer. The redhead smiled before she replied, knowing full well that the vampires in the house would be able to hear her no matter how quiet her voice is.

"Sure, I'm absolutely fine with being forced to spend time with a first rate asshole," she said as she put extra sugar into Damon's coffee just to annoy him. Elena, having finished sharing out the cake, leant a hip against the counter and watched her friend with a worried gaze. She made no comment as Scarlett added four more spoonful's of sugar to Damon's already over sweet coffee and stirred vigorously.

"He's only been in town for a few days, what can he possibly have done to make you react like this?" Scarlett sighed heavily as she placed the coffee mugs on a tray.

"Nothing, I guess. He just ... he really gets on my nerves," she finished lamely. Elena frowned as she got milk from the fridge.

"You can't read him, can you?" Scarlett's head shot up and her eyes widened.

"What did you say?" she asked nervously. Not noticing her friend's reaction, Elena shrugged as she poured milk into the steaming cups of coffee.

"You've just always been so good at reading people. Maybe it frustrates you that Damon isn't so easy to understand." Scarlett's gaze lowered to the kitchen counter as she pondered Elena's words. Since he had arrived, she hadn't really tried to understand Damon. She'd been too busy trying to keep up with his mind tricks to give any thought to finding out what he was really like.

"Maybe you're right," she murmured. Elena smiled slightly, and the two girls carried the cake and coffee into the living room, handing it out before sitting down. Scarlett sat on the floor next to Bonnie's chair, as far away from Damon as she could get. When he caught her eye, he smiled and toasted her with his coffee mug before taking a sip. Scarlett had to stifle a laugh at his expression when he forced himself to swallow the sugary beverage. There was silence as they all ate dessert, but in true Caroline fashion, the blonde couldn't stay quiet for long.

"I cannot believe that Mr Tanner let you on the team, Tyler must be seething! But good for you, go for it." Scarlett and Bonnie glanced at each other and rolled their eyes simultaneously. The redhead was secretly quite happy – it seemed that Stefan now had another person fighting his corner in the form of Bonnie Bennett.

"That's what I always tell him," Damon chipped in. "You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you, you have to go get it." He glanced across at Scarlett and saw her sniggering quietly with Bonnie.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today," Caroline said absently. "It's only because you missed summer camp. I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routine..."

"I'm sure Bonnie wouldn't mind working with her," Scarlett said sharply in Elena's defence.

"Of course, she'll get it," Bonnie added.

"I guess we could put her in the back..." Caroline continued as if she hadn't even heard Scarlett's words. Elena shifted uncomfortably on the sofa and Scarlett shot her a sympathetic smile.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena," Damon said, tilting his head questioningly to one side. Before Elena could reply, Caroline had already started answering his query.

"It's just cos her parents died. I mean, yeah, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun."

"Caroline, that's really inappropriate," said Scarlett as she placed her empty mug on the coffee table. Her head was starting to pound from the amount of tension in the room.

"Don't even get me started on you, Scarlett," Caroline burst out. "Your mum drops dead two years ago and you just forget about everything – cheerleading, friends, socialising. I mean, come on, life goes on. Deal with it already." She paused and blinked slowly, as if only just realising what she had said. "And I say that with complete sensitivity..." she finished quietly. Scarlett was practically choking on emotions; her own hurt as well as Elena and Bonnie's anger at Caroline's outburst. She needed to get away. She needed to breathe.

"I'm going to do the dishes," she said softly as she rose shakily to her feet. Elena started to rise as well.

"I'll help – "

"No Elena, you stay. I'll be fine." Scarlett just about managed a smile before she picked up the stack of plates on the coffee table and hurried to the kitchen. She barely heard Bonnie rebuke Caroline for her comments, or Damon mention Katherine while she concentrated on forcing back the tidal wave of emotion that threatened to consume her. Her long fingers gripped the kitchen counter and she closed her eyes, concentrating on her breathing as the storm slowly subsided.

Once she had calmed down, Scarlett focused on rinsing the dishes and placing them in the dishwasher, humming softly to herself as she worked. She leant over to put a plate in then stood up, sweeping her hair over one shoulder.

"One more," Damon said as he entered the kitchen, waving a glass in his hand. Scarlett smiled slightly as he walked towards her.

"Thank you." She reached out to take the glass from Damon's hand, but it slipped through her fingers. She gasped, sure it was going to break, but Damon's hand flashed out and caught it before the glass had fallen more than a few inches. Scarlett giggled slightly as he handed her the glass.

"Nice save ... for a vampire," she teased, whispering the last part so that only he would hear it. Damon gazed at her for a moment, studying her, then smiled slightly.

"You should laugh more often. It suits you. It makes me want to laugh, and that hasn't happened in a very long time." He leaned back against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. Scarlett raised a single eyebrow slightly and smirked at him.

"You, serious? Never." Damon chuckled softly at her joke and watched as she rinsed the glass in the sink. He shifted slightly, drawing Scarlett's attention back to him.

Love
         Kat