(1) The Phoenix (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Seventy-Five

At the Mystic Grill, Damon is sitting at the bar with a nearly-empty alcohol bottle. He made his way through it pretty quick. Drowning his sorrows. He's an idiot. He should have let Daphne handle it however she wanted to. And if she wanted Kol to kiss her, then that's her prerogative. With her, he's turned into a hormonal teenager, just like all of them. He's not any better than them. He's a jealous mess. He supposes that's a sign that he genuinely does care for Daphne, that he wouldn't feel this way if she was some passing fancy. Rebekah walks up to him, taking the empty seat at his side.

"Hi. What are you doing?" She asks him. Damon gives her a look before taking a drink from his bottle whilst staring straight at her. He is not in the mood to deal with her after the night's disastrous events.

"Drinking" He answers when he lowers the bottle. "What do you want?" He asks her and then drinks the last of the bottle before he grabs a new liquor bottle from behind the counter, setting it on the bar next to his elbow. Rebekah touches his arm and turns a flirtatious smile on him. As if he can't read what she's trying to do. First Kol. Now Rebekah. He's starting to think this is all some big game to them. To get between them, to mess with their heads. Fine, if that's how they want to play, he can play too. He leans closer to her, his hand on her knee. "Are you sure that's what you want?" He asks her. "Sure you want to go there?" She leans in with a sly victorious smirk. But they are interrupted by a server who stands on the other side of the bar.

"Food" The server sets the takeaway bag of food onto the counter. Damon takes it and stands grabbing the bottle with his other hand before turning back to Rebekah who stares at him, confused.

"It was never going to happen" Damon points out. "You're not my type" He looks over her. "Too blonde...not nearly enough magic....and you're an evil hag" He shrugs a little and then walks away with the bag of food. He is going to make things better with Daphne. He thought to do it with greasy food and alcohol. He shouldn't have reacted the way he did, and he knows he scared her. He's probably ruined everything with her but he wants to try and make it up to her.

.........

Daphne is a nervous and emotional wreck, that is the only way to describe just how she is feeling as she paces the length of the Gilbert living room. She's changed out of her dress into sweatpants and a vest. She didn't feel comfortable in that thing anymore. Not after what she saw. She'd gone to the Grill because she assumed that Damon would have left in search of a drink to escape from events. She wanted to talk to him about what happened. To make sure he was okay. And she was right. There he was. With Rebekah Mikaelson, of all people. All sat there and cosied up together. She knows it would be out of revenge, out of retaliation to what happened at the party. But it's not like she asked Kol to kiss her. She doesn't think she was putting out those signals. None of this is her fault. And she was already feeling scared of all of this feeling stuff, to begin with. And then this happens. Her mind is a mess. She rubs at her eyebrow. She doesn't want to think about what they could be doing. The door closes behind her with a click and she spins to find Damon standing there, watching her, and she has no idea how long he's been standing there watching her. He gives her a small smile but he can see that she's still upset. She's very upset.

"What are you doing here?" She asks him, he holds out the bag of take-out food. "You know what" She starts and shakes her head. She doesn't want to do this. She doesn't want to talk about it. "I don't care..." She argues with herself and then turns on him. "I saw you," She tells him. "I saw you with...." She motions with her hand. "With Rebekah...."

"You were at the Grill?"

"I have a hard time dealing with all of this, to begin with, and you know this....and you still go and..." She closes her eyes as he sets down the bag of food, moving closer to her. "Maybe all of this was a mistak..." He suddenly kisses her, shutting her up. Mostly before she gets herself so upset that there will be no coming back from it. She's confused and surprised so it does take her a moment to kiss him back, but she does kiss him back. He smirks a little as he pulls back, his hands on her face.

"It's just you," He tells her softly, she sniffles a little with a frown. "Only you" He adds, promising her.

"I thought..." She starts and shakes her head. Utterly mortified that she thought the worst of him at that moment.

"No" He argues. "I was picking up food to apologise" He admits, nodding to the bag.

"Apologise?" She whispers in question, not sure what he has to apologise for when she's the one freaking out here.

"For Kol" He answers. "For what I did...."

"You are sorry for saving me from unwanted attention that was clearly making me very uncomfortable?" She asks him, shifting closer to him, her fingers touching the buttons on his suit jacket. He blinks a little and then looks down at her.

"You weren't...scared of me?" She gives him a look.

"Big strong vampire man" She comments with a purr. She didn't hate what he did. She wasn't scared of him. She's pretty sure she's in love with him. But she hates what this has done. That neither of them came out of it feeling great, when they should have. Damon defended her when she couldn't. There was nothing she could have done with Kol's hands on her. She couldn't use apparition, she couldn't risk taking him with her and splinching herself. She couldn't reach her wand, his reflexes are faster than hers. And even getting her hand out to use her telekinesis would have alerted him to her doing it, and he would have stopped her. She was stuck in his hold with him kissing her. Damon stepped in to help her when she couldn't help herself. And yet the night ended with them both feeling terrible. Damon gives her a soft smile, realising that they've both been really stupid tonight, and it could have all been fixed if he stuck around after he snapped Kol's neck.

"I do like the sound of that" He pulls her closer, his arms around her back.

"Coming to my rescue" He looks down at her softly. Anyone else would have yelled at him for what he did. But not her. He lifts a hand to her face, cupping her cheek. She keeps surprising him. He is sure about her now. More so than before.

"Always" He assures her and she blushes a little. He brushes his thumb over her cheek and then leans closer to press his forehead to hers.

.......

Upstairs, Damon kicks closed Daphne's bedroom door before turning his attention back to her in front of him, his fingers laced with hers as he leans closer, brushing his lips over hers, pushing her back with each step towards her bed. She pulls away first, stopping to pull her shirt over her head, his jacket hitting the floor. Item by item, they undress till they are both utterly naked before one another. His eyes shift down her, his hand finding her waist before he lays her back onto her bed, covering her body with his as he kisses her. She lets out a small moan against his lips. It is not as rushed as their first time. He's going to take his time. To show her that it is just her. Only her that he wants to be with. Even if he's not ready to tell her just how he feels...he can damn well show her. Daphne waves her hand behind his back and the light turns out around them.