Save me from myself (Damon Salvatore)

Chapter 12: Damsel in distress

        When I opened my eyes I found myself lying on the living room couch. Damon was sitting next to me while holding my left hand and playing with my curls.
         "Damon?" I asked staring into his piercing blue eyes, still confused about what happened.
         "Don't worry, you're safe now." he tried to comfort me with a gentle voice.
         "What happened?" I asked as I was trying to remember how I ended up on the couch with Damon by my side.
         "You tell me." he replied with a smile. "The door was wide open and you were lying on the floor." he added on a worried tone.
         "I... someone hit me in the head and I guess I passed out." I replied while scratching my head. "But what are you doing here?" I asked really surprised.
         "Well, I told you to give me a call as soon as you get home and you never called. Plus, you didn't answer to any of my calls, so I was worried." he looked me in the eyes as he replied with a soft voice.
         Surprisingly, I wasn't feeling any pain, so I touched my head to see if I had a bruise or maybe some blood over my hair.
         "What are you doing?" Damon asked with a smirk.
         "This is weird. Aren't you supposed to groan in pain after being hit with a heavy object? Instead, I have no bruises and I feel unusually good." I replied confused.
         "I don't know, I've never experienced it." he grinned with sparkling blue eyes. "But I'm glad you're ok." he added while gently touching my forehead and then my left cheek.
         I sat up on the couch and looked around to see if everything was in place. Several paintings, a broken vase and some of the decorations were strewn all over the floor, surrounded by muddy footprints.
         I stood up, rolled my eyes and sighed while heading to the other rooms. The kitchen and the bathroom were also messy, but my bedroom was in pretty good shape, except from some clothes that were lying around.
         "Don't worry, I'll help you clean up the house." I heard Damon saying as he was leaning against the bedroom door frame.
         "It's not the cleaning that I'm worried about." I replied with a weak voice.
         Damon came closer and pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head on his right shoulder, then tears started to cloud my vision and a single stream fell down my face. Damon cupped my face between his hands and wiped my tears away with his thumb.
         "Everything is going to be all right. Please, don't cry!" he whispered as he looked into my brown eyes.
         He pulled me into another hug and we stood there silently for a while, lost in our thoughts. For the first time in my life I felt protected in a guy's arms and I didn't want to let go of him.
         "Are you feeling better now?" Damon broke the silence.
         "Aha..." I replied with a brittle smile and he smiled back.
         "We should call the police. They have to know what happened and maybe they will be able to find the one who did this." he added on a serious tone.
         "You're right." I replied, then I grabbed my phone and dialed 911.
         I talked to a woman and she said that I had to wait until the morning because all the detectives were busy. I wasn't happy about it, but I took advantage of those extra hours to see if something was missing and Damon helped me. We tried not to touch anything that could ruin the crime scene. At first glance it looked like only my laptop was missing. Then I looked at my left wrist and discovered that my bracelet was gone.
         "He stole my bracelet too." I said with sadness in my voice while looking at my wrist.
         "No, I found it on the floor and put it on the coffee table. It must have fallen off." Damon replied with a smile, then walked to the coffee table, took the bracelet and put it around my wrist.
         "That's better!" he said with a smirk, then gently kissed my hand and I blushed a little.
         At that moment the doorbell rang and Damon offered to open the door.
         "I'll get that. It must be the detective." he said as he rushed to the front door.
         I took a seat on the couch waiting for Damon to bring the detective to the living room when I heard him talking to someone else.
         "Well, well, look who's here!" Damon said sarcastically. "Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough for one day, loverboy?" he continued being ironic.
         I rushed to the door and saw Jeremy staring at Damon with sadness in his eyes.
         "Jeremy, what are you doing here?" I asked surprised.
         "I came to apologize, but I had no idea I was going to interrupt whatever you were doing." he looked at me as he replied disappointed.
         "Um... it's not what you think." I replied awkwardly while scratching my head.
         "Come on, you don't owe him an explanation." Damon rolled his eyes at me. "He's the one who's got a lot of explaining to do." he hissed.
         "Can you let me talk to him for a moment? Alone!" I demanded him, annoyed about his comments.
         Damon complied and he went to the kitchen while mumbling and rolling his eyes in disapproval.
         "Look, I can't really talk right now. I'm caught up in the middle of something and Damon is helping me." I told Jeremy and he gave me a questioning look. "You have to leave now, but I'll call you later. I promise." I added on a friendly tone.
         "Are you going to be safe with him?" he asked a little worried.
         "Yes, I'll call you later." I replied with a smile.
         Jeremy looked at me with sad eyes as he waved me goodbye and seeing him like that really broke my heart.
         "Wait!" I said as he was heading for the stairs.
         Jeremy looked at me with puppy eyes like he was begging for my forgiveness.
         "You don't have to apologize. I'm not mad." I added with a smile.
         He smiled back and thanked me with a weak voice, then walked down the stairs as I closed the front door.
         "You don't have to be so rude, you know?" I taunted Damon as soon as I went to the kitchen.
         "I can't stand him." he replied bitterly.
         "He can't stand you either, so you're even." I grinned.
         "How can you not be angry after everything he did last night? Maybe you like him more than just a friend." he mumbled with sadness in his voice.
         "I'm gonna pretend you never said that." I rolled my eyes at him.
         Before he could say something else, I left the kitchen and went to the living room, visibly annoyed about his behavior. I sat on the couch while waiting for the detective to come. Damon stood in the kitchen, feeling guilty about what he said.
         Ten minutes later, I heard the doorbell rang. Detective Wilkerson finally showed up and I started to tell him what happened. Two police officers gathered evidence from my apartment while the detective questioned me and Damon.
          "Excuse me for being so late. I had to work at another important case before I got here and I insisted to be the one in charge with this robbery. I was the one who investigated the murder of Dianne Hastings, the girl who was killed two moths ago in this apartment.  I think it might me a connection between her murder and this theft." the detective said, looking at me and Damon.
         "A girl was murdered here?" Damon asked with big blue eyes. "Did you know about this?" he gave me a questioning look.
         "Um... yes." I replied awkwardly, trying to avoid his glance.
         The detective began to ask me questions, but Damon looked at me with a worried face the whole time. I guess he thought that I was in danger ever since I moved to my new apartment and I actually began to believe that too.
         A couple of hours later, the detective and his team finished their job at my apartment. Before they left, the detective gave me a card with his phone number to call him in case I needed help.
         "Pack your things, we're leaving." Damon said as soon as the police left the apartment.
         "What?" I gave him a questioning look.
         "You're not staying here alone after what happened, so you have two options: one - you move in with me and Stefan, two - I move in here with you. Which one do you prefer?" he asked on a serious tone.
         "None of the above, I can take care of myself." I replied with a smile.
         He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and continued on a worried tone: "You're not safe here alone. You got lucky this time, but who knows what happens if the two cases are connected and the person who attacked you is a murderer."
         "No one will kill me, the guy stole my laptop and he's never coming back." I rolled my eyes at him.
         "I can't risk losing someone I care about, not again." he sighed bitterly. "Stop being so stubborn and let me protect you." he added, looking at me with puppy eyes.
         "Fine, I'll pack a few clothes." I complied.
         I went to my bedroom and put a few clothes inside my backpack while Damon was waiting for me in the living room. I only took my pyjamas, two pairs of jeans and a couple of tops along with my phone charger and my toothbrush.
         When I was ready to go, I grabbed my backpack and went to the living room. Damon led me to the front door and held it for me as I stepped outside. Before he closed the door I looked again at the messy living room and sighed.
         "I can't leave the apartment like this. I have to clean it up." I said with sorrow in my voice.
         "Forget about this now! You didn't sleep last night and you need to get some rest. We'll come back tomorrow." Damon convinced me as he shut the door and locked it, then gave me the key.
         As I was walking down the stairs I began to feel really tired. Even the small backpack was starting to feel more like a crushing burden and I could barely walk. Damon looked at me with a smile and took the backpack in his right hand.
         "You look very tired. Do you want me to carry you to the car?" he smirked.
         "No, I think you've done enough for one day." I mumbled.
         "Look, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I know that you're not in love with Jeremy. I was a little jealous because you took his side over mine, that's all." Damon clarified, knowing that I was still a little upset about his comment.
         "Jealous?" I asked with raised eyebrows.
         "Come on, don't make me say it out loud." he rolled his eyes.
         "Say what?" I asked playfully.
         "That I like you... a lot. You know I've never hidden my feelings for you." he answered with a smirk.
         I blushed a little and remained silent for a moment, but Damon wasn't happy with it.
         "Aren't you going to say anything?" Damon shrugged his shoulders, waiting for me to say that I like him too.
         "There's your car!" I replied as we got to the parking lot, trying to change the subject.
         He had a disappointment look on his face as we got into the car and I felt kind of sorry for him, but I wasn't ready to say what he wanted to hear from me. We remained silent on our way to Damon's house and I almost fell asleep on the passenger seat.
         When we got to his place, Damon gently whispered in my left ear: "Sorry to wake you, but I'm sure you'd sleep a lot better in a comfy bed."
         I opened my eyes and saw a huge old house surrounded by trees, located in the middle of nowhere. I froze for a moment and gave Damon a questioning look.
         "Welcome to my humble home!" he said with a smile.
         "This house is anything but humble." I replied as I got out of the car.
         We stepped inside and Damon showed me the kitchen and the bathroom, then he led me to a big room with a huge bed, a big wardrobe and lots of old decorations.
         "This will be your room from now on. I'll leave so that you can unpack your things and get some rest." he said kindly.
         "Thank you, Damon!" I replied with a smile before he left.
         I unpacked my clothes and put them in the wardrobe, then I changed into my pyjamas and snuggled under the blanket. I fell asleep instantly and woke up only when I heard a knock at the door.
         "Come on in!" I said with a sleepy voice.
         Damon walked inside the room and greeted me before he sat on the bed.
         "Did you sleep well?" he asked with a cheerful voice.
         "I slept like a baby." I replied while rubbing my eyes. "What time is it?" I asked Damon.
         "It's almost 9. I didn't want to disturb you, but I thought you should join me for dinner. You barely ate today." he said a little worried.
         "Thanks! Just give me 5 minutes to get dressed and wash my face." I replied with a smile.
         "Sure, I'll wait for you downstairs." he replied as he left the room.
         I changed into a white sleeveless top and a pair of jeans, then went to the bathroom to wash my face. When I got out of the bathroom I bumped into Stefan on the hallway.
         "Hi, Maddy! Damon told me that you're going to stay with us for a few days." he greeted me.
         "Hello, Stefan!" I greeted him. "Yes, Damon convinced me to leave my apartment because someone broke in last night. I hope that doesn't bother you." I added with a sad smile.
         "Of course not, you can stay here as long as you want." he replied on a friendly tone and I thanked him.
         "Damon is waiting for you in the kitchen." Stefan added before he went to his room.
         I went to the kitchen and saw Damon chopping some vegetables and mixing them in a bowl.
         "Do you need help?" I asked with a smile.
         "The salad is almost ready, but you can turn off the stove. I may have just burnt the steak." he replied awkwardly, causing me to burst into laughter.
         We ended up ordering a pizza because the steak had an awful taste and we had to throw it to the trash can. After eating dinner, we went to the living room and watched TV for a while until I began to feel sleepy again.
         It was almost midnight when I told Damon good night and went to my room to sleep. Before I switched off the light, I took my cell phone out of the backpack to see if I had any missed calls. That's when I remembered the promise I made earlier that day. 'Damn, I forgot to call Jeremy.' I thought to myself as I threw myself in bed with the phone in my hand.