prodigalsavior | The first day of the rest of your life (For Elena and Ric)

Damon was torn on whether any of them should be going to the stupid Founder's Party. There were far too many of them and, honestly, nothing good came of them. But Elena did need to get out, to get on with life or whatever. Damon wasn't sure what that would look like, but he felt like he needed to help her figure that out.

Maybe part of it was the thrill of deciding something--anything--with Ric, even if they hadn't told anyone, hadn't discussed when to tell anyone, or how or...whatever. It didn't matter right now. Elena was hurting and, if he was honest, so was he. Whatever else...Stefan was his brother and he loved him and watching all he'd accomplished fall apart again hurt. No Lexi to pull him back this time, either. She was the only one who ever had, but thanks to him, she wouldn't be fixing things this time.

It seemed like Stefan didn't want to be fixed.

Damon would be damned--more damned?--if he let his brother take Elena down with him.

Which was why he was letting himself into her house and putting coffee on, and starting to bang pots around to figure out what they should make to go to the party.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

the_realsavior

Truthfully Elena was awake when she first heard the noise in the basement. At first she didn't really pay attention though, dismissing it as Jeremy or Ric getting themselves breakfast as she sat in the middle of her bed staring at her phone.

At the moment, she was debating sending a message to Elijah just to see how he was. They had seen each other the morning after the night on the roof but there hadn't been any time alone since returning to Mystic Falls. At times she alternated between wanting to talk to him and then not. The idea of getting involved with anyone after Stefan was daunting and a little heart breaking as she had thought, at one time, she would be with Stefan for the rest of her life but that wouldn't happen now. And now there was Elijah...

The banging downstairs gave Elena pause as she frowned and then shifted over her bed while moving to tuck her phone into her back pocket. Making her way downstairs and into the kitchen, she paused at the sight of Damon being there. Not that it was a surprise, really, but there were times when she thought he would know what had happened between her and Elijah just by looking at her.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked casually.

From:

prodigalsavior

Damon gave her a sunny smile and held up a pot. "The Lockwood party is today and it's a potluck. I don't have much food in my kitchen, so we have to use yours."

From:

the_realsavior

The noise she made was somewhere between a groan and a sigh as she tilted her head back in almost utter defeat. A small part of her wanted to back out, knowing the others would understand, but it wouldn't be fair to anyone. Not to her, not to her friends and not to Damon who was clearly making an attempt.

"We should make chilli." She murmured as she moved to get some stuff from the pantry.

From:

prodigalsavior

Damon made a face at her. "Everyone is going to bring chili. We will be drowning in chili..."

From:

the_realsavior

"It's a family recipe." She made a face at him, starting to gather everything on the counter.

From:

prodigalsavior

"I'm well aware." He made the face again. "Everyone is bringing a family recipe for chili. Doesn't anyone have family recipes for anything else?"

He smirked and leaned in past her, maybe a little too close, to snag one of the spoons.

From:

the_realsavior

Despite herself, Elena found herself smirking even as she gave him a little jab to the stomach with her elbow. "Be nice."

From:

prodigalsavior

"I'm being very nice," Damon murmured. "I'm trying to save you, here."

From all sorts of things.

From:

thisismybar

The noise woke Ric, and he woke up kind of wanting to die. Instead, he took a shower. Then he went in search of the source, because the noise didn't involve screaming bloody murder or walls being knocked down and that meant he had time to.

The scene he walked in on, though, wasn't exactly what he expected. "Morning."

From:

the_realsavior

"I know, you're always there saving me." She murmured back, turning her head slightly to look at him. It was true though. He had been saving her a lot lately, being there when she needed him....which made her feel bad that she was lying and hiding the truth about what had happened that night.

She opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself as she jumped a little at the sound of Ric's voice.

Turning her head to look at him, she cleared her throat as she took a small step away from Damon. "Morning."

From:

prodigalsavior

Damon had been watching Elena intently, trying to read her, to see if she was really okay--and knowing she wasn't, but not what to do about it. He should have heard Ric coming, but he hadn't, really, and he jumped a little, too, when he was suddenly there.

Mirroring Elena, he took a step back, as well, and gave him a smile. "You're just in time."

From:

thisismybar

Ric looked between the pair of them, eyebrows drawn just a bit down. "Just in time for what?" he asked, going for as reasonably neutral as he could, but also giving Damon something of a look. He couldn't really help it.

From:

the_realsavior

"I'm trying to convince Damon we should make chilli....what's wrong?" She blinked at the look, glancing between them both.

From:

prodigalsavior

"And I'm trying to convince her that chili is the exact opposite of what we should be making. Everyone brings chili." He looked back with an arched eyebrow that asked the same thing Elena had...if Ric was willing to say anything.

From:

thisismybar

Ric was asking a few silent questions of his own, when he looked at Damon. More than a few, actually. He still didn't want to be an ass, especially to Elena, but he felt like he'd walked in on... something a lot more than a discussion about chili, and Damon wasn't exactly a bad liar, when he wanted to be.

"Is that all I interrupted, then?" he asked, more lightly. Didn't come off casual so much as slightly loaded, but-

From:

the_realsavior

Elena's brows drew together but she nodded a little as she grabbed the celery so she could wash it in the sink. "Yes. And we should hurry so we can get to the Lockwood estate as soon as possible or Caroline is going to come looking for me."

From:

prodigalsavior

Damon spun away from the look in Ric's eyes and shook his head. "You realize nobody even really likes chili, right? Or that at least some people would like some variety..." He sighed.

At least she wasn't breaking over Stefan? On the surface. Though his gaze flicked to the necklace she was still wearing.

From:

thisismybar

Ric noticed Damon looking away, and he noticed where Damon's gaze landed, too. He took a second or two, to compose his face and voice. "There won't be any shortage of pasta and jello salad, either. What time are you supposed to be there?"

From:

the_realsavior

Elena wondered at the sudden tension in the air but she did her best to ignore it. "Fine." There was a sigh in her voice as she stood with her back to them, looking down at the sink. "What do you suggest we make?"

From:

prodigalsavior

"Not til lunchtime," Damon answered Ric's question, though he was worried both at Elena's sigh and Ric's obvious upset and ran a hand through his hair.

"Do you have sausage and chicken?"

From:

thisismybar

"Chicken, yes. I'm not sure about the sausage. What are you thinking?"

Ric was thinking of running, actually, but was forcing normal back - for Elena's sake. Honestly, she sighed and he just... wanted to make it better. And hated that he was the cause.

From:

the_realsavior

Standing there, she brought her hand to the necklace around it, toying with it out of habit as she looked out the window over the sink. Once again she had the strange feeling she was missing something.

She was quiet as she listened to them figure things out.

From:

prodigalsavior

"One of my family's old recipes," he said lightly, trying to pull her back into it.

He watched her hand go to the necklace, frowning a bit at that.

"It still needs the celery, so you can keep on with that," he told her, moving to the fridge, because movement was good. Checking what they had, he was pleased to see sausage, and pulled the chicken out.

"Ric, you're on chicken duty--cut it into chunks, then you're going to saute it with onions and peppers, which I'll take care of."

From:

thisismybar

Ric took the chicken from Damon, and found a place with counter space to put it, before going to find a cutting board and a knife. There may have been a moment of violent fantasy that he would not, in a million years carry through with, involving the knife. "How big do you want the pieces?"