The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Ten

The pub where Elena and Damon ended up was spry and ful of people, but of course Damon made sure they didnt retain to wait for a table. He lounged crossways one side of the booth, looking as compulsory and relaxed as a big gorgeous cat, and listened peaceably as Elena talked. Elena set herself gaily chatting by, fil ing him in on al the minutia of her campus life so far, from decision taboo that Professor Campbel knew her parents to the personalities of the other students shed met in her classes.The elevator was real y crowded, and slow, and my lab discriminateners tail was against the buttons. Somehow she accidental y pushed the shock button, and the alarm started going off. Elena took a sip of her soda. Suddenly, a voice came turn out of nowhere and asked, Do you have an emergency? And she give tongue to, No, it was an accident, and the voice said, What? I cant hear you. It went on analogous that, back and forth, until she started shouting AccidentAccidentDamon stopped follow patterns in the condensation on his glass with one finger and glanced up at her through his lashes, his lips twitching into a smile.When the doors opened on the design floor, there were four security men standing there with a medical kit, Elena finished. We didnt know what to do, so we scantily paseoed preceding(a) them. When we got out of the building, we started to run. It was so embarrassing, but we couldnt stop laughing. Damon let his slight smile expand into a grin not his usual cool twist of the lips or his brief, bril iant, and enigmatic there-then-gone smile, but an honest-to-God cheek-puffing, eye-squinching grin. I like you like this, he said suddenly.Like what? Elena asked.Relaxed, I suppose. Ever since we met, youve been in the middle of some crisis or another. He raised his hand and brushed a curl away from her breast, gently touching her cheek.Elena was vaguely aware of the waiter standing by the booth, waiting for them to look up, as she answered with j ust a touch of womaniz eat onion, Oh, and I suppose you had nothing to do with that?I wouldnt say I am the one whos been most to blame, no, Damon said cool y, his grin fading. He looked up, his look sharp and knowing. Hel o, Stefan. Elena froze in surprise. Not the waiter, then. Stefan. One look at him, and she winced, her project dropping. His showcase could have been carved from stone. He was looking at Damons hand, stil stretched across the table toward Elena.Hey, she said tentatively. How was your study group? Stefan stared at her. Elena, Ive been looking all over for you. Why didnt you answer your phone? Pul ing out her phone, Elena saw that there were several(prenominal) messages and texts from Stefan. Oh, no, Im so sorry, she said. I didnt hear it ring.We were supposed to meet, Stefan said stiffly. I came to your manner and you were just gone. Elena, people have been disappearing al over campus. He had been scared, afraid that something terrible had happened to her. His eyes were stil anxious. She started to reach out to comfort him. The particular that shed lost the Power shed had so briefly was hard for Stefan to accept, she knew. He popular opinion her mortality made her fragile, and he was afraid hed escape her. She should have melodic theme it through, should have left him more of a message than a officious text saying she would return soon.Before she could touch him, Stefans gaze morose to Damon. Whats going on? he asked his brother, his voice ful of frustration. Is this why you fol owed us to break ege? To zero in on Elena?The look of hurt that crossed Damons face was only a subtle shadow and was gone so chop-chop that Elena wasnt entirely sure she had actual y seen it. His features settled into an face of indolent disdain, and Elena tensed. The peace between the brothers was so fragile she knew that and yet she had let Damon flirt with her. Shed been so stupid.Someone should be storage areaing her safe, Stefan, Damon drawled. Youre too busy playing human again, arent you?Study groups. He lifted an eyebrow scornful y. Im move youve even noticed that theres something going on around this campus. Would you rather have Elena alone and in danger than have her spending time with me? filter lines were forming around Stefans mouth.Youre saying you dont have an ulterior motive here? he asked.Damon waved a hand disparagingly. You know what I sense for Elena. Elena knows what I detect for Elena. Even that sports-loving Mutt of yours knows how things are between us. entirely the problem isnt me, brusk brother its you and your jealousy. Your wanting to be an ordinary human Damon made quote label with his fingers and stil carry on with Elena, who is hardly ordinary. You want to have your cake and eat it, too. I havent done eachthing wrong. Elena wouldnt have come with me if she didnt want to. Elena winced again. Was this the way it was eer going to be? Was any minor misstep on her part going to set Damon and Stefan at each others throats? StefanDamon, she implored, but they ignored her.They were patent at each other. Stefan stepped closer, flexing his fists, and Damon clenched his jaw, silently daring Stefan to make a move. For the first time, Elena saw a resemblance between them.I cant do this, she said. Her voice sounded smal and soft to her own ears, but both Salvatore brothers heard her and whipped their heads toward her with atrocious speed.I cant do this, she said again, louder and more firmly this time. I cant be Katherine.Damon scowled. Katherine? Believe me, darling, nobody here wants you to be Katherine. Stefan, his face softening, said, Elena, sweetheart Elena off-and-on(a) him. Listen to me. She wiped her eyes. Ive been walking on eggshel s, trying to keep this this thing between the three of us from tearing us apart. If anything good has come out of al the stuff thats happened, its that you found each other, you started being brothers again. I cant She took a deep breath and tried to find a sensible hardheaded voice somewhere intimate herself. I think we should take a break, she said flatly. Stefan, I love you so much. Youre my soul mate, youre it for me.You know that. She looked up at him pleadingly, silently begging him to understand.Then her eyes moved past him to Damon, who was staring at her with a furrowed brow. And Damon, youre part of me now. I feel for you. She looked back and forth between them, her hands clutching each other. I cant lose either of you. But I need to figure out who I am now, after anything thats happened, and I need to do it without worrying rough destroying the relationship between you.And you need to figure out how you can be acquaintanceships with each other, even if Im in both of your lives. Damon let out a skeptical noise, but Elena kept talking.Il understand she gulped if you cant wait for me. But I wil always, always love you. Both of you. In different ways.But for now, I just cant be with you. Eithe r of you. She was tearing up again, and her hands agitate as she wiped her eyes.Damon leaned across the table, a smal twisted smile hovering on his lips. Elena, did you just break up with both of us?The bust dried up instantly. Damon, I never dated you, she said angrily.I know, he replied, and shrugged. But Ive definitely just been dumped. He glanced at Stefan, then quickly away, his expression closed off.Stefan looked devastated. For a moment, his face was so bleak that it wasnt hard to confide he was more than five hundred years old. Whatever you want, Elena, he said. He started to reach for her, then pul ed his own hand back to his side. No matter what, I wil always love you. My feelings arent going to change. establish whatsoever time you need.Okay, Elena said. She stood up shakily. She mat up like she was going to be sick. Half of her wanted to pul Stefan to her, kiss him until that broken expression on his face went away. But Damon was watching her, his own face inscruta ble, and touching either of them felt wrong. I need to be by myself for a while, she told them.At any other time, she knew, both of them would have objected to the idea of her walking the campus alone. They would have argued, fol owed her if she wouldnt walk with them anything to keep her safely under their protection.Now, though, Stefan moved aside to let her out of the booth, his head bowed. Damon sat very stil and watched her go, his eyes hooded.Elena didnt look back at them as she crossed to the door of the pub. Her hands were shaking, and her eyes were brimming with tears once more. But she also felt as if shed carried something very weighed down(p) for a while and had final y been able to put it down.This efficacy be the best choice Ive made in a bulky, long time, she thought.Dear Diary,Every time I remember the look on Stefans face when I told him I needed space, my chest aches. Its like I cant breathe.I never wanted to hurt Stefan. Never. How could I? Were so close, so wrapped up in each other that hes like a piece of my soul without him, Im not complete.ButI love Damon, too. Hes my friend my dark mirror image the clever, plotting one who leave alone do whatever it takes to get what he wants, but who has a kindness deep inside him that not everybody sees. I cant imagine living without Damon, either.Stefan wants to hold on to me so tightly. He cares for his brother he does and Damon cares for him, too, and having me between them is messing that up.All three of us have been held so closely together by the crises weve had to deal with of late my death and rebirth, Klauss attack, Damons return from the edge of death, the phantoms attack that every move weve made, every thought weve had, has been wrapped up with the other two. We cant go on like this.I know Ive done the right thing. Without me between them, they can choke brothers again.And then I can sort out the tangled move of my relationships with both of them without having to worry tha t any move I make will snap the tenuous bond between us.Its the right decision. But still, I feel like Im dying a slow death. How can I live for even a little while without Stefan?All I can do is try to be strong. If I just keep going, Ill get through this time. And in the end, everything will be wonderful. It has to be.