The Revenge Con

18. Alone

"He's engaged." Elena blurted out as Damon opened the door.  

"What?" She hadn't been expecting to face him, though she should've guessed. It was his house.

"Damon!" She gasped as she processed who stood in front of her. Elena was nearly out of breath and Damon wondered if she had run there from Matt's. 

"What's wrong?" He questioned, noticing the puffiness around her eyes. 

"Is Bonnie here?" Elena fidgeted with her fingers. She was already on edge and facing Damon of all people was not helping.

"No, she's out with Kai for the day. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I should go." Elena turned to leave but Damon caught her wrist. 

"You don't look like you should be alone right now." He sighed. She had gotten used to the cockiness but the softer side of Damon was all new to her. She met his eyes and was sure he was being sincere. "I know I'm not your favourite person but I'm better than nothing." Elena contemplated his words. She glanced down to where he was still holding onto her hand. "Come on, you should sit. I'll get you some water." Damon scanned Elena's tense form. "Or something stronger." Elena nodded gratefully and allowed him to bring her inside. She sat down on the couch in his living room. Damon came back with two glasses of bourbon, handing one to her before sitting down.

"Thanks." She mumbled awkwardly. 

"So why don't you tell me what's got you so upset?" Instead of answering him, Elena downed the entire glass, ignoring the burn in her throat. "I'll go grab the bottle then." Damon chuckled. When he came back she refilled her own glass. "So who's engaged?" 

"What?" 

"When you got here you said he's engaged. So who is it? The cop you've been staying with? Bonnie mentioned he was an ex. Or is this about the guy from the book? You know, the billionaire in the tabloids." 

"His name is Elijah." She snapped. 

"So Elijah's engaged?" Elena nodded. "To who?" She pulled out her phone and showed him the news article about the "Mikaelsons Reunited". In the picture, Elijah was sitting next to a woman with long dark hair and a charming smile. Damon scrolled through the article, his confusion growing. "How do you know they're engaged?" 

"Look at her finger." Damon scrolled back to the top of the article and zoomed in on the picture. Her hand was pixelated but you could see a faint line on her left ring finger. 

"Wow, impressive. You should tell your roommate to hire you at the station." He teased. She grabbed back her phone and stood up.

"I should just go. Clearly, you can't take this seriously." 

"Hey, I was just trying to lighten the mood. I'll stop. So Elijah's engaged, that's why you're upset? You guys have been broken up for what like a year?" 

"Almost 9 months." She corrected. 

"He moves fast." Elena should've known. Elijah fell hard and fast for her and technically with Katherine before her. She shouldn't have been surprised that he had found someone new just as fast. It made her feel like a fool for holding on for so long. She had thought Elijah was her soulmate and that one day they would find each other again and all would be forgiven. But clearly, he was thinking that about someone else. "Why do you care anyway?"

"That my ex-fiance is engaged to a woman less than a year later? I wonder..." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. 

"Wasn't your whole relationship a sham?" Bonnie had never explained to Damon the truth about their situation. Anytime he had asked about it she denied it and ignored him.