(1) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Ninety-Seven

Damon folds his arms over his chest, his eyes on Cassandra as she wakes in his bed, yet again. Not that he is complaining. She looks pretty great in his bed. All cute and burritoed. He cocks his head and smirks.

"Are you going to go home any time soon?" He asks, she hums a little and looks at him.

"No" She answers, he smirks and shakes his head. "Your bed is bigger than mine" She comments as she spreads out in his bed with a smile. He can't fault her on that because his bed is huge compared to hers. "And John isn't here"

"That is true" He agrees, she then looks at him.

"Do you want me to go home?" She asks him as she leans up a little.

"What?" He counters. "No, you're fine" He assures her as he pulls on a shirt just as her cell phone rings, she groans and reaches for it on the little table beside her.

"Hey" Cassandra greets as she picks up her phone.

"Hey, are you on your way?" Elena asks, Cassandra frowns a little.

"Way to what?"

"You promised Caroline you'd help build the Miss Mystic float for the Founders' Day parade." Elena reminds her. Cassandra groans and flops back onto the bed. Now she remembers. She did promise Caroline she would help. But that was before she had access to the most comfortable bed in the world. "Cas..." Elena starts.

"No, I know, I'll be there" Cassandra promises as she sits up again.

"So...Is Damon there?" Elena asks. "Can you put me on speaker?"

"Yeah, two secs" Cassandra pulls her phone away to set it on speakerphone, setting the phone down on the bed. "Okay" Cassandra then motions to Damon who rolls his eyes slightly. She smirks and looks down.

"I wanted to check in" Elena starts. Damon smirks a little.

"Well, I'm doing great, thanks for asking" Damon teases as he climbs back into bed with Cassandra.

"Checking on Stefan" Elena counters.

"Oh, him? Oh, he's...he's terrible" Damon teases as he brushes Cassandra's hair over her shoulder so he can kiss the skin there.

"What's the matter?" Elena suddenly panics.

"He's just back to boring, straight-laced, off the junk. You've successfully cured him of anything that was interesting about his personality" Damon answers.

"Don't forget who helped me" Elena reminds Damon.

"I hate myself." Damon smiles into Cassandra's shoulder. "Did Uncle John mention anything to you about my field trip with the history teacher?"

"No. I'm avoiding him. Why? What's he up to?" Elena asks.

"You mean other than handing over a magical necklace to your sister to zap her powers?" Damon asks.

"Yeah, other than that" Elena answers.

"I don't know. But I'd love if you could find out for me"

"I've got to go" Elena offers, not really agreeing or disagreeing to help Damon. "Don't be late, Cassie" She adds and then hangs up. Cassandra picks up her phone and hangs up too. Damon wraps an arm around Cassandra, pulling her back to him, his lips on her neck.

"I have to go" She argues, but shows no move to actually leave.

"Before you go" He starts as he nuzzles into her neck before he pulls back, turning to the bedside table. She blinks a little and turns to him. He picks up a box from the side and holds it out to her, she tilts her head in question. "I got you a little something" He admits and clears his throat. He shakes the box at her, prompting her to take it from him and open the lid to reveal a small key. She pulls it out of the box, a little vampire inspired keyring hanging from it. She gives Damon a look. "It's outside" He offers, which just makes her frown harder at him.

........

Cassandra pulls her jacket on as she and Damon leave the house. And it is instant. She knows exactly what this key is for the second she sees it. A bright yellow VW Bug is parked on the gravel drive. She looks at Damon who shrugs a little. She can't believe he did this for her.

"You got me a car?" She asks him.

"Yeah..." He answers and then frowns. "You don't like it?"

"No" She argues quickly. "No, I do....it's..." She lets out a soft breath and looks at him. "It's perfect" He smiles to himself, proud of himself. She moves closer to Damon who raises an eyebrow at her. "Thank you" He wraps an arm around her shoulders and she leans into his side.

"I really do know absolutely nothing about cars" He reminds her. "But Stefan gave it the once over, he says it's fine...should run perfectly" She hums a little and smiles at him. "Aren't you going to be late?" he asks and pokes her nose, his hand moving to her cheek. He winks at her and she hums again. Pulling away, she heads to the car, smiling to herself. Damon tucks his hands in his pocket as he watches her get all happy and giddy about the car as she climbs in and drives away. Behind Damon, Ally appears, she tilts her head in question.

"She likes it then?" Ally asks, Damon hums and then looks at her.

"Thanks for the tip," He tells her, she shrugs and smirks. "Where've you been hiding these last few days anyway?" He asks her.

"New romance" She offers. "It's fragile, I thought me being around might..." She shrugs, and he does note that she hasn't answered him. "Anyway..." She draws out and looks away from him. Damon smirks and kisses her cheek before heading inside. Ally watches him go before she swings her arms at her side and then follows him inside.