"Hey, I'm Caroline," the bright bubbly blonde almost ran up to Emma the next day at Mystic Falls High, "I'm looking for volunteers for the Homecoming comity."
Emma put down her sandwich that she had brought for lunch on the wooden picnic table and looked up at Caroline, "Yea you definitely didn't change much."
Caroline gave Emma a confused look.
"Emma Peters, we went to elementary together."
"Oh my God! I knew you seemed familiar! Elena come here!"
Emma rolled her eyes knowing well that she was lying and was now calling in reinforcements to help her remember.
"Look, it's Emma from elementary," Caroline grinned.
Elena looked Emma up and down, "Oh wow, hey, how is your family?"
Emma hated this question and dreaded it every time she got it when someone recognized her, "It's just me and Katie now."
"I see, I'm sorry Emma," Elena seemed very genuine, "I know how that is if you ever need anyone to talk to."
Both girls sat silently for a moment.
"Hello ladies," Stefan came and plopped down next to Emma and grabbed her bag of M&Ms, opened them and popped a few in his mouth.
"What the hell?" Emma was shocked at the bold behavior from someone she hardly knew.
"Stefan," Elena said in a warning tone, "now is not the time to act like an ass."
Before Stefan could say anything there was a rev of the engine of an older car, everyone looked up to see Damon standing next to his light blue 1969 Chevy Camaro.
Emma couldn't help but smile at him as he leaned against it in his leather jacket with a black shirt underneath and dark denim jeans. She could appreciate a guy with a badass car and looks to match. Damon pointed right at her so there was no mistaking who he was trying to get attention from in the group, then motioned with his finger for her to come to him. Without a second thought Emma grabbed her bag, leaving her half eaten lunch on the table and almost ran over to Damon.
"Hi," she said with a smile when she reached him.
"Hi yourself, feel like ditching the last half?" He smirked.
"And why would I just go hang out with some guy I've only met like, twice?" Emma crossed her arms but couldn't hide her smile.
"Because my dick of a brother just stole your lunch and you should let me make it up to you," Damon shrugged.
"Hold up," Emma's arms fell to her sides, "Stefan is your brother?"
"Unfortunately," Damon glared at Stefan over Emma's head, "come on, I'll replace your lunch."
Emma walked over to the passenger side of the car and got in, Damon noticed her admiring the interior of the car and running her hand over the smooth leather.
"You like old cars?" He asked.
Emma nodded, "I'd love to get my hands on a '67 Impala. Even if it was trashed I would get that baby up and running even if I had to dead lift the engine into place by myself."
"Please call me so I can see you attempt that," Damon laughed slightly.
Emma rolled her eyes, "Okay so do you know anywhere that isn't the Mystic Grill around here with a good cheese burger? I am not going to get busted for skipping."
"Isn't Alaric going to just rat you out?"
"Nah, I'm his favorite person in the world."
"I noticed, what's up with that?"
Emma sighed, "He was friends with my dad and eventually became like that uncle that is just always around."
Damon could tell he was pushing the conversation in a direction that would lead to a road that Emma may not want to relive at the moment so he steered it away, "So I do happen to know a good diner in the next city over."
"Let's go then," Emma smiled at him, partially because she was well aware of what he was doing with the distraction and partially because spending time with him seemed like it was going to be fun.
Once they hit the highway Damon let the engine open up and pushed the speed limit, Emma rolled down her window and Damon did the same. Damon wished he could drive for hours just so he could keep the smile that she currently had on her face. She liked a bit of trouble and he liked that about her. Just off the highway was the small diner that Damon had mentioned and he reluctantly pulled in and parked the car. The diner was very old school, like it never quite made it out of the fifties.
As they got out Emma asked, "On the way back can we put the top down?"
Damon let out a small laugh and a grinned happily, "Careful or you may become my favorite person in the world too."
Emma winked at him and tossed her bag over her shoulder before confidently walking past him, purposely letting her hair swish almost into his face as she passed. The smell of her cocoa butter shampoo smacked Damon in the face and he felt momentarily intoxicated, he quickly recovered and rushed to catch up to her.
They sat across from each other at a booth by the window, neither of them bothered to open the menus that had been sitting on the table already.
A bouncy woman with dark hair came up to the table and spoke to Damon first, "What can I get for you?"
"Two cokes and two cheese burgers please," Damon ordered for both of them, he looked over to Emma before letting the waitress leave, "Wanna make this a date and share a milk shake like they did in the fifties?"
Emma thought for a moment, "Chocolate?"
"And a chocolate milkshake please," Damon finished the order and the waitress promptly left.
"So now this is a date?" Emma raised her eyebrow.
Damon gave a side smirk, "Only if we were in the fifties."
"Well, you have your Greaser jacket on but I forgot my poodle skirt so I guess not," Emma said sarcastically.
"You are more like the end of the movie version of Sandra Dee, and I can't see you as a prep."
"There is no way in hell I would ever wear leather pants."
"I wouldn't mind seeing it," Damon couldn't help but flirt slightly and wink at her, it was nice to relax for a while with everything with Klaus and Stefan going on.
"Alaric is going to kill you,"
"Nothing new there," Damon shrugged as their drinks, food, and milkshake all arrived at the same time.
Emma looked over her burger by peeling the layers back and checking each one to see what the quality of each one was, "Ooo, homemade pickles."
"You take your burgers seriously," Damon observed.
Emma looked up, not sure if she was embarrassed or not, "American classic, what's not to like? Besides, I haven't been able to find one as good as the ones my dad used to make."
"I'm sorry," Damon said genuinely.
"I'm the one who asked you to find me a good burger, all you did was bring me to a place you like," Emma gave him a reassuring smile.
She picked up her burger and took a bite, nodding as she lowered it and chewed.
"Did I at least find you a good one?"
"I'd let you bring me back," Emma smirked before taking another bite, "you know, I actually don't know that much about you, beyond the fact that you are from one of the founding families. Which is super pretentious if you ask me."
Damon let out a loud laugh, "Yea I guess it is after one hundred and fifty some years. What do you want to know?"
"Well, I like burgers, so what is your favorite food?"
Damon had to use all of his self control not to make a bad joke, "Pancakes."
"I make the best," Emma said happily as she took a sip of the milkshake just after Damon.
"You're gonna have to prove that one day, especially after the meatballs," Damon gave his famous flirtatious smile and Emma had to admit to herself that she fell for it a little bit.
Once they had both finished their food and milkshake Emma excused herself to the restroom, because of the age of the building they were outside on the side wall. Inside Emma tried to touch as little as possible and used the hand sanitizer in her bag instead of touching the beat up old sink. Emma exited the bathroom and put a little more sanitizer on her hands and rubbed them together.
"Hey sweetheart," a gruff voice came from Emma's left side and she looked that way to see a large man approaching her, "whatcha got in that bag?"
"You're wasting your time dude, it's a school bag, at best you are inconveniencing me," Emma was confident she could handle herself in this situation; the man continued his approach and someone else appeared behind him, he had a knife in his hand, "Trust me, you are about to mess with the wrong person."
Emma put her arms at her side and let her bag slide down to her right hand. She sighed as the men got with in reach of her, before they could make their move Emma swung her bag up and into the groin of the first man, temporarily knocking him out of action which gave her a moment to deal with the more dangerous foe. Emma let go of her bag and put her hands in front of her face, ready to block his attack while also looking for an opening to take him down.
"Come on dummy, I don't have all day," Emma tried to provoke him.
It worked and the man tried to slice at Emma's side, she quickly jumped back but grabbed the man's arm at the same time it passed by her before she twisted it as hard as she could in an unnatural position, the man began screaming in pain. Emma kicked him away from her and once his head hit the concrete she knew he would stay down.
"Emma!" she heard a panicked Damon behind her.
The other man began to sit up and Emma quickly gave him a swift kick to the head, which knocked him out. Emma picked her bag up off the ground and looked up to see Damon much closer to her than she had thought.
"Are you okay?" He asked as he checked her over for any wounds and used his sense of smell to make sure she didn't have any open ones.
"Yea, I'm fine, these guys probably need an ambulance though," Emma smiled up at Damon, his concern for her was amusing, "I don't feel like dealing with cops so, can we just get the hell out of here before they show up."
"Yup," Damon said as he let her walk ahead of him, using his lightening speed he quickly went to each man and snapped their necks effectively killing them, Emma was right, they had messed with the wrong girl.
Damon was starting to like her even more, cause the chaos and get then hell out of dodge. The top to the car was already down, Damon had been strapping it down when he heard the commotion on the side of the building, knowing that Emma was over there he took off running only to find that she had already dealt with the situation just fine on her own.
After Damon had climbed in the car beside Emma he started the ignition but hesitated to put the car in reverse for a moment.
"Are you okay?" Emma asked her eyebrow cocked as if what had happened was just a normal Tuesday for her, for Damon it was, but she didn't know that.
Damon thought for a moment, it had scared him when he thought that Emma was in danger; and more than just because Alaric would literally kill him if something happened to her.
"Yea, just wondering where the hell you learned to fight like that."
"Mostly Alaric, who was taught by my dad, who believed strongly in the occult stuff."
"And you don't," Damon raised his eyebrow.
"I don't know, I grew up learning all about it but I've never experienced any of it," Emma thought she had said too much and backed down.
Emma had hunted plenty of vampires before. Her father took her on hunting trips regularly anytime they would find some news paper article online or otherwise that didn't add up. They had been looking at Mystic Falls just before her parents had died, but they dropped the case when an article was published that some huge mountain lion had been caught in the area. It was an unlikely story, but one that was usually released once the vampire who was responsible was dead. Both of them had figured that some other hunter must have stepped in and they decided to stop the search.
"You are okay though right," Damon asked with his brow furrowed looking at Emma's amber brown eyes.
Emma laughed, "I'm sorry, but did you not see that? I totally kicked their asses."
Adrenaline was still rushing through her blood and Damon could hear her heart beating fast, so he pushed the gas petal down a little further and could see her smile wider out of the corner of his eye.
Emma leaned on the side of the door and let her hand wave with the flow of the wind. It reminded her of the long road trips she took with her father, but her companion was definitely quite different this time. There was no denial in her as far as her attraction to Damon, she had never been one of those 'yes but no' type of people, when she wanted something she went for it. The day was only beginning for them and it was already the best time she had had in a long time.
Damon slowed the car down as they began to reach Mystic Falls again and he noticed Emma's brightness dim slightly, "Not ready to go back?"
"Not even a little bit," she admitted.
"Okay," Damon shrugged and turned the wheel hard, making the car drift and the tires screech as he made a fast u-turn and then sped back the way they had come.
Emma laughed as she held tightly to the door to keep herself feeling balanced, once they were straight again and Damon's lead foot had taken back over she looked over to him and smiled, when he turned to face her he had a smile on his face too. Neither of them turned their head to hide from the other. Emma didn't turn and blush, and Damon didn't turn and just stare from the side of his eye.
"Are you kidnapping me now?" Emma giggled.
"That's a little melodramatic but, you kind of implied that you wanted me to."
"I'm good with it," Emma said as she plopped back in her seat all the way and faced forward.
Damon turned his eyes back to the road, just like Emma, he was happy to be running from his problems for at least a few more hours. After driving for a while Damon finally turned off the highway and onto an almost hidden dirt road, as the car bounced with the first few bumps of uneven road he saw Emma look his way and raise her eyebrow.
"What?" He asked like he had been accused of something horrible, as per the usual.
Emma turned her to face the road in front of her without saying anything. It was starting to become golden hour and the orange of the sky mixing with the navy of night made the prettiest purple Emma had seen.
Damon parked the car and turned off the ignition at the edge of the forest, facing a quarry. He got out and leaned against the front of his car. Emma got out slowly, not sure what they were doing out there. As she leaned against the car on Damon's right side he looked down at her and smiled in amusement as she tried hide that she was checking her back pockets for metal decorations before she leaned too hard, he definitely appreciated the gesture and the fact that she could appreciate a good antique, but what would happen if or when she found out he was technically an antique too.
"The sunset is really pretty from here," Emma finally broke the silence between them.
"Did you think I brought you out here to murder you?" Damon joked, although several would argue that it wasn't outside the realm of possibilities.
"Nah," Emma playfully put up her fist as if she were about to try and fight him, "I think I can take you."
Damon scoffed and pushed her fist down, but kept a hold of one of her hands, pulling her into his chest before he wrapped his arms around her waist, "Listen here Spunky, you would never see me coming."
Emma didn't fight his hold, but she did find it odd that she was content to stay there. They were both taking a moment to memorize the others face. This literal whirlwind of feelings had been build in both of them all day. Damon leaned down slightly.
"This is probably a really bad idea," he said softly.
Emma linked her hands behind his neck and began to pull him down to her level at the same time, "I think we both have a bad habit of bad ideas."
"And then acting on them," Damon finished her sentence.
As their lips touched Damon felt alive again, it was like he suddenly understood his brother's odd obsession with Elena, the right woman really could make him crave something other than blood. Emma took control and pulled him in tighter and Damon could hear her heart pounding and could feel her warmth as the blood in her body began to rush. She bit his bottom lip as they parted momentarily and it made him smile before they connected again, it was like he couldn't pull her close enough to him.
A sudden howl made Damon jump and pull away from Emma, "We should get out of here."
Emma wasn't ready to let go of him, "Its just a wolf, if it makes you feel better we can hop in the back seat of the Camaro."
Damon grabbed her arms and gently forced her to let go of him, but he kept a hold of her wrist, "Trust me, there is nothing sexier than you saying that, but why don't we head back to the boarding house?"
Emma sighed defeated, but suddenly had a slightly evil grin on her face and Damon wasn't sure if he should be worried or not.
"My place is closer," she teased as she pulled away from him and gave him eyes that dared him to take her then and there.
"Well, Em, I cannot argue with that," he said as he moved at a frustratingly slow pace to his car, "besides, we don't know if those are regular wolves or werewolves."
Emma rolled her eyes at him but smiled at his use of her name that was usually reserved for people she felt close to, "Werewolves only come out on full moon, tonight is a half, and they were hunted to extinction by vampires eons ago."
Damon got what felt like chills when he heard her so casually refer to not only werewolves, but vampires. Then she had she said it as a fact that, up until a few months ago, he also thought was true. His face must have read as something other than slight panic to Emma because she let out a laugh as he turned the engine over.
"My dad was the head of the department that had occult studies in it," she shrugged as she leaned back into the leather seat and grabbed his hand, pulling over to her side and keeping a hold of it like she didn't want to forget his touch in the time it would take for them to get back to her apartment.
"Right well, I'll be able to rock your world better in a bed instead of the back seat anyway."
Emma's hand squeezed his tighter as he began to back up and make a three point turn to get his car turned to leave the quarry and get back to the highway. The sooner the better, he was cursing himself for thinking it was a good idea to take her out there in the first place. Klaus's hybrids roamed all over that area, if that wolf was one of his, then it would only be a matter of time before Klaus would set his eyes on Emma just for associating with either Salvatore.
When the long drive to Emma's apartment was finally at an end and Damon pulled his car into the parking spot in front, it was like the howl in the woods never happened, they couldn't even make it out of the car before they were connected by a kiss again. Emma made herself pull away and the look she gave him made him wish he could use his vampire speed to get upstairs and throw her onto her bed. She led the charge up the stairs and into the apartment, she quietly said something about her sister not being home odd, but Damon dismissed it quickly. He was ready to grab a hold of her and make her his.
As soon as she closed her door Damon had her pushed up against it, his leather jacket already sliding down one arm and then the other before he tossed it aside. Emma eagerly began to pull her jacket off before letting it fly off somewhere into the room, she then began to pull on Damon's shirt, she could feel his muscles pass beneath her fingers as she yanked his shirt upwards. He finally helped and then went straight for her shirt, which she was more than happy to lose in the mess of cloths that were beginning to scatter across her floor.
Damon lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, he took a quick moment to see that she had a queen. It wasn't his huge king, but it was better than a twin sized bed. It made him smile when she let out a quiet squeal as he tossed her on the bed before quickly closing the gap and climbing on top of her, as he took in a deep breath he could smell her body begin to release pheromones and it drove him even crazier. No other woman brought up any feelings like this in him.
They gently ground on each other for a brief while before Damon lost his patience and began to pull on Emma's belt while she grabbed his and tried to undo it without looking, with a slight bit of frustration both parties eventually accomplished their goals. Emma could sense Damon's urgency and need as he kissed a line down her neck, lingering there for a moment before trailing down her chest and nipping at her left breast slightly before he looked up at her and licked his lips. She felt his hand slide beneath her and unclasp her bra with almost no effort, like he had just turned on a light switch. With nothing holding it together anymore Damon slipped her bra off of her and exposed her chest to him.
Emma began to pull at the elastic of his briefs while trying to simultaneously push the blanket to the side, Damon let out a small laugh and helped her with the blanket, pulling it over the both of them. He simply slipped his finger around one side of her pink panties and pulled it down, Emma was quick to move so he could pull them all the way down before he removed his own briefs.
Happy that they were both finally naked Damon was quick to begin work to make Emma moan his name in pleasure. He slipped his hand down between her legs and rubbed her clit, her body arched at his at the touch, she grabbed onto his shoulder to brace herself for him as he lowered himself into her and began to rhythmically push his way in and out. Damon used one of his hands to support himself while his other hand brushed her hair out of the way and traced along her soft jawline, he used his fingers to memorize the feeling of the nape of her neck. While Emma was under the impression it was his style of foreplay, it was actually just a way to try and satiate the desire to taste her blood while it was flowing so quickly, prey always tasted better when they were afraid and their blood was rushing with adrenaline. This wasn't much different.
"Damon," he heard her say softly, her eyes were closed, just enjoying the feeling of them making love, he shook his head when he thought of sex that way, he had never thought of having sex as making love.
As a new distraction he grabbed Emma's hip and rolled over so she was on top of him, she wasn't able to keep the same rhythm he could but hers was still satisfying. Emma was happy to be in control, she knew she couldn't keep up with his moves but she hoped that she could still make him feel good. The effort had begun to make her pant and sweat slightly, the back of her mind noted that Damon didn't seem to get tired even though his pace seemed like it should have made him exhausted, it had even taken some of her energy just bracing for each bit of it.
Damon could feel the inside of her start to tighten as she began to get closer to orgasming and he quickly turned them again so he could regain control, as soon as he did she let out a quiet moan and her entire body seeming to convulse in pleasure under him, just watching and feeling her in his arms was enough to send him over the edge and he hid his face in her hair, near her neck enough that he could smell her as her body began to regulate itself again but far enough away that he could fight the urge to just nip her a bit.
"Em," he gently moaned as he allowed himself the sweet release of his own tightened nerves.
After taking a moment to relax again he moved so he was laying next to her, but still kept her close in her arms.
"Okay, you were right, that wouldn't have been as awesome in the back seat," Emma giggled into his chest.
"Still would have been fun," Damon shrugged, "but you have to see how good I can be before I half ass it in the back seat of a car."
"Good to know that I may have a chance to do that again."
"Yea well, that was one hell of an end to a date."
"You wanted to share the milkshake," Emma said as she grinned widely at him.
"I regret nothing," Damon said as he kissed the top of her head.
Emma rolled out of Damon's arms and looked around on the floor for a moment before she gave up and just stood and walked over to the top drawer of her dresser. Damon admired her tight butt while she picked out a new pair of light blue underwear before reaching down and grabbing his shirt and tossing it over her head. He was slightly annoyed but all was quickly forgiven when he saw how beautiful she was in it. It fell just low enough to cover the color of her panties, the sleeves were a bit big on her and the fit was over all just a few sizes above where she would normally be.
"Where do you think you are going?" Damon demanded.
"I'm hungry," Emma started walking towards her door, "want anything?"
Damon got up and quickly found his briefs and his jeans, putting them on before he caught up with Emma just as she was entering the kitchen area and opening the fridge. She was digging around and set a couple of bottles of water on the counter before she began to dig again, she gave up and opened the freezer. She had a victorious look on her face when she pulled out a pint of chocolate ice cream, she turned to Damon to show him just as a light they had never turned on lit up the room.
"What the..." they both heard Katie say.
Emma closed the freezer door to just as much of a surprise when she saw a nearly naked Alaric and her sister in what was clearly his shirt.
"I could say the same thing," Emma's eyebrow raised at her sister as she took in the situation the four of them had found themselves in.
Katie looked down slightly embarrassed, "I won't ask if you don't."
"Done," Emma agreed before she started to pull a spoon out of the drawer next to her.
"And put my friggin' ice cream back," Katie added to her list of demands.
Emma groaned in disappointment, "Dammit. Fine."
Neither girl noticed the daggers that Alaric was glaring at Damon while they had their own small bicker about ice cream.
"Good night," Emma called out as she grabbed Damon's hand and dragged him back to her room.
Once they were settled back into bed Emma began to pull Damon's shirt off so she could put on one of her own but Damon stopped her, "Leave it on, it's kinda cute and sexy."
Emma gave him a sly smile as she slipped under her blanket with him and let him pull her close.
"Aren't you still hungry?" Damon asked.
Emma shrugged, "Meh, I'll just wait for the morning."
Damon wished he had the capability to just put off his hunger like she could. Taking a small bite from either girl wasn't an option. He knew neither Katie or Emma were drinking vervain, otherwise he would have been able to smell it on them, but both girls wore matching rings that looked like they were late 1400s and each had a uniquely orange gem in it. There was no way they weren't spelled in some way like Alaric's. Damon decided to try it with something simple.
"I'm sure your sister wouldn't be that mad about you eating her ice cream," Damon stared intently into Emma's eyes compelling her to get up.
Emma didn't react to it, "Yea she would."
Damon huffed slightly in frustration. Emma scooted down further into her bed and began to rub her eyes. Damon did the same and began to plan his quick trip out to feed and be back before Emma woke up. He heard Alaric arguing with Katie on the other side of the apartment.
"You're just going to ignore the fact she is bringing home a guy?" Alaric began walking the fine line between helpful and overbearing.
"She is eighteen Ric, I'm just glad she moved here with me instead of staying in North Carolina alone," Damon could hear the annoyance in Katie's tone.
Alaric tried once again to get the sisters to argue, "She skipped school today, my class is her last one and she wasn't there."
Damon heard Katie toss something on the bed in frustration, "Same thing Ric, she is a legal adult. I will take her skipping sometimes if that means she actually graduates high school instead of using our parents dying as an excuse to go off the rails. Did you know she was actually hunting down vampires with my father? At least here I can keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't get herself killed."
"But..."
"That is enough Ric," Katie begged him to drop it,"You are friends with the guy, which means he can't be that bad; so stop it, if she likes him then whatever, as long as she stays out of trouble."
Damon smiled at the fact that Katie was using Alaric's screwed up friendship with the vampire against him.