Say You Love Me Damon Salvatore

Flashback-

“Oh, yeah!” Nicole giggled enthusiastically, turning up the radio. “Na, na, na, na, na. Na, na, na, na, na, na. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na-na-na!”

I rolled my eyes. Nicky said this was our signature song. She’d sing all the Stefani parts and I’d sing all the Eve parts. “Come together all over the world. From the hood of Japan Harajuku girls. What? It’s all love. What? Give it up. What?”

Nicole laughed, taking her eyes off the road. “Shouldn’t matter, shouldn’t matter, shouldn’t, shouldn’t matter, shouldn’t matter.”

“What? Come together all over the world. From the hood of Japan Harajuku girls. What? It’s all love. What? Give it up. What……” As Nicole pulled into the parking lot of school, I noticed a new, beautiful black Camero with a new, beautiful guy to match. He was older, maybe seventeen. But boy, was he gorgeous! He had blonde hair, cut short, with darker roots, I could see as we got closer, and bright brown eyes. He had a lean body with just enough muscle.

“Whoa,” Nicole parked the car, staring at the new guy. “Isn’t he….”

“Yeah,” I said with a smirk. “And he’s totally mine.”

Nicole laughed. “Sure he is! I’ll bet he doesn’t like little girls coming after him!”

I glared at her. “Do I honestly look like a little girl?” Before she could say anymore, I got out of her ridiculous purple convertible and walked over to the new guy. “Hi,” I said.

He smiled at me. “Hi.”

“I’m Olivia Ashwern, the official newbie greeter for this school. Welcome.”

“Thanks, um…actually, I think that girl over there’s new, too,” he said, pointing at this awkward looking girl.

I grimaced. He wasn’t really going to call my bluff and make me show her around, right? I thought quickly. “And I’ll be sure to greet her just as soon as I show you around.”

“Thanks, but I think I can manage.” He took a brown book bag and started for the enormous steps of our school.

I looked back at Nicole, who was laughing. “Grab my bag!” I yelled to her before taking off after the new guy. “Hey, wait up!” I almost tripped on the steps, but caught myself. Wow, he was a fast walker. “I don’t think you realize how confusing this school is!”

“I can manage,” he said again, not waiting for me to catch up with him.

“I’m gonna be in so much trouble with the committee if you don’t let me!” I threw out.

He stopped, turning around with a smile. “We can’t have that, now, can we?”

I caught up to him, standing on the step below him. He was still tall, even without the extra step. I shook my head, slightly out of breath. “No, we can’t.”

“In that case,” he held out his arm. “I’m Jeremy Huygens.”

I smiled. “Welcome to our dumpy, yet somehow lovely school, Jeremy.”

Now-

I hate to admit it, but I watched Labyrinth again, just to make sure it wasn’t as dumb as Damon thought. It wasn’t; still awesome. I felt like ditching school, but I didn’t. I got dressed in plain clothes; a black T-shirt with a pair of pink Converse, dark blue jeans, and black Converse.

“You okay?” Jewels asked, walking beside me to biology. “You look a little pale….”

“Nah, I’m fine,” I lied. I felt like shit and wanted to go home.

Jewels and I sat down at a random table. I looked by Mrs. Travers’ desk to see a cart beside it. Ah, shit…

“Today we’ll be dissecting a fetal pig,” Mrs. Travers explained. “Jordan, why don’t you start; take a pig and pass the cart on down.”

Mrs. Travers went on, talking about the parts we were going to focus on. When Jewels handed me the dead, baby pig, I was already panicking. The pig looked so glossy, small, and…well, disturbing.

“Liv, what’s your problem?” Juliet whispered to me.

“Nothing,” I lied.

“Now take the knife in front of you and just poke a small hole between the front legs and cut down until you reach its back legs,” Mrs. Travers instructed.

I took the knife, poking the hole and cutting down. Pig guts gushed out of the open belly immediately. Oh, God. Everything I’d been holding back wretched up, spreading everywhere on the lab table. Juliet screeched, standing up in a hurry to get away from my vomit.

“Mrs. Travers!” she said.

~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*

I kept hacking it up at least four times after I got out of the biology room. Mrs. Travers sent a note to the principle, and my mom let Juliet drive me home.

“Almost to the car,” Jewels assured gently. “You okay?”

I nodded. Oh, God, I smelled awful. Not just from barfing, but you know how you smell when you’re sick? Maybe it’s just me, but I can definitely smell sick. Juliet’s arm around my shoulder stiffened. I picked my head up. “What…?” I could smile. Or die. I wasn’t quite sure with Damon which it was going to be. He was leaning against his car, until he saw us. Now he was making his way over.

“Go back to class, Jewels. It’s okay,” I said.

Jewels glared at Damon. “You’re mom told me to take you home…”

“Jewels, please…” I said pleadingly.

Juliet was adamant. “No way.”

“Right now I’d think I’ll cry.”

“Hello, Juliet,” Damon greeted smoothly. “Mind if I take over?”

“Yes, I do. Mrs. Ashwern told me to take Liv home.”

“Liv wants Damon to take her home,” I mumbled, pouting. Damon smirked at me.

“Only boyfriends take care of their sick girlfriends,” Juliet said stubbornly.

I rolled my eyes. God, Jewels, do you always have to stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong? I thought.

Damon had this glint in his eyes. “Liv is my girlfriend.”

I stared at him, completely astonished.

Juliet was, too. “Well, I, um….” She cleared her throat, becoming stern. “I better not get in trouble, an you better take her straight home!”

Damon chuckled, putting his arm around me and leading me to his car. “Yes, ma’am.”

When we were in the car—God, it was making me sick, even with Damon going thirty-five—I said, “You didn’t have to say that, you know.”

“Say what?” Damon kept his eyes on the road.

I would have shifted, had every movement not been killing my stomach. “That…I was your girlfriend.”

Damon smiled at me. “But aren’t you?”

I thought, being sick and all, I couldn’t blush. I did. “Damon, I could kiss you right now.”

“Why don’t you?” he said mischievously.

“Uh, one ‘cause you’re driving, and two, I’m sick.”

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t get sick. Pucker up, babe.”

I laughed softly. “Of course you get sick.”

“Meh, not really.”

I looked at him skeptically. “I have vomit breath, you know.”

He made a face. “In that case…”

I smiled, letting my head rest on the seat and dozing off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~**~

I woke up feeling like shit; even worse than that morning. I was in my bed and thank God the only thing that was missing on me were my shoes. I looked around my room to see Damon sitting in my computer chair, staring out the window with a concentrated look on his face.

“Hey,” I said hoarsely.

Immediately, he turned his head and smiled at me. “Hey. How you feeln’?”

“Like hell. You didn’t have to say, you know.”

“Sure I did,” he said, still grinning. “You want anything?”

“Water, maybe.”

Damon had a glass all ready for me, anyway. And it tasted metallic in my sickly mouth. Ugh. My mouth felt like how it does in the morning when you have to brush your teeth. I was sure it smelled worse. I sat up to go brush my teeth.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m brushing my teeth,” I told Damon.

He shook his head. “You can worry about impressing me later.”

“Ugh. Remind me never to let you take care of me when I’m sick again,” I groaned, lying back down.

“I won’t listen, anyway.”

Did that mean he’d stick around ‘till I got sick again? I didn’t get sick often….In any case, I dozed off five minutes later.

~~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When I woke up again, I looked at my computer chair, but Damon wasn’t there.

“Damon?” I called, my voice protesting the volume I had intended.

“Olivia?” my mom popped inside my room. “Damon had to go, hon. He was having eye problems or something.”

I smirked. Ha, he could get sick. Though it wasn’t funny, him getting sick.

“Okay.”

“How’re you feeling? I got you some 7Up, Saltines, and tomato soup. You want any?”

Food? Gluh. I shook my head. “No, thanks. Did Damon say if he’d come back?”

“He said he’d try, but I told him to stay home.”

Gee, thanks, Mom. “Okay….I think I’m gonna sleep a little more…”

“Okay, honey,” my mom moved my bangs away from my face. “Call if you need me.”

I smiled. ‘K.”

I was walking in a beautiful, secluded garden. I had my IPod in my ears—listening to Homecoming, by Hey Monday—and holding a metal Spiderman lunchbox. Wait, what?! The Hey Monday thing was cool but Spiderman? Couldn’t have picked a hotter superhero, Mom? Like, maybe, Superman—Tom Welling version, yeah!—or Wolverine? Well, my mom never was one for picking out the good stuff, just the stuff on sale.

Suddenly flashes started and I could hear clicking. I blinked, making out a bunch of people snapping cameras. Here’s the thing; the cameras were old and everyone was wearing 50’s suits and bowler hats. Okay….

“May I?”

I turned my head as a hand was placed on my waist. My jaw dropped. Ryan Reynolds—in the same 50’s suit as everyone else—smiled down at me and I think I died. “W-why…?” I stuttered.

“Because you’re the star of the show,” he chuckled.

“Huh?” I looked again before me. My peaceful garden turned into the red carpet and my Spiderman lunchbox turned into a red clutch. Well….everything was black and white, though….Oh, well, Ryan Reynolds looked good in black and white! AND HE WAS TAKING PICTURES WITH ME ON THE FREAKING RED CARPET!

“I can’t believe I’m here!” I gushed aloud.

Ryan Reynolds smiled. “You’re the….homo.”

What?!

“Hon, you’re drinking 7Up whether you like it or not,” he said.

Oh my God, this is ridiculous. What is he talking about?

A guy on a motorcycle passed me, beeping an annoying horn. The light was red and I was driving a red and blue convertible. God, would that guy stop beeping at me!

“What’s your problem?!” I yelled.

The person on the motorcycle turned off their helmet. “Drink the 7Up, Rachel!”

“YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!! GET BACK HERE AND….” I started swearing up a storm, sounding more like the dad in Christmas Story when he’s fighting the furnace.

“RACHEL OLIVIA!”

I looked beside where my mom was, staring at me. I smiled innocently. “I think I’m feeling better now.”

“Mm hmm. Here,” she handed me a clear glass before leaving the room.

“Ah, thanks,” I drank the 7Up gratefully. I looked at my TV and smiled. Just Friends was playing, explaining a bit on my crazy dream. I reached for my cell and checked the messages. Texts from Steph and Juliet, asking if I was okay and giving me the homework assignments. A corny quote from Jewels, saying, “If snowflakes were kisses I’d send you a blizzard.” and saying, “Haha, I noe u luv these awsum, corny quotes—hope ur feeln better, grl!”

That was all. I was setting it on my nightstand when it started ringing. With the amount of text messages she’d sent me, I only guessed it was Juliet and answered.

“Hello?”

“Feeling better than you looked this morning?”

My skin still crawled when I heard his voice, but I got angry. “Leave me alone!”

Jeremy chuckled. “Feisty today. Sounds like a perfect day to drop by.”

I hung up, dialing a new number. “Hello?” the person said on the other line.

“Hey,” I said breathlessly. “’Member when I said we could hang some time?”

“Yeah….”

“I can meet you at Galaxy Lanes in a minute, if you and Stefan still wanna hang out with me.”

“Of course we would! We’ll meet you there!”

Great.” I hung up, grabbed my keys, and ran out the door to my car.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*

I’m a coward, I know. I could have ended this whole thing; I could’ve just called Damon over. But what if Jeremy hurt Damon? Jeremy was insane, it was possible he could hurt—maybe even kill—Damon. And I didn’t want that to happen.

So what did I do?

I went bowling with Stefan and Elena. How…enjoyable. Stefan was glaring at me the entire time and Elena was trying, awkwardly, to make up for it with impossible cheerfulness.

I grabbed my bowling ball—a pink eight pounder—and swung it at the pins, getting a gutter. Elena laughed at me. “I get another turn,” I said, waiting for the ball.

I swung, crossing my fingers. I hit two pins. Well, crap. I shrugged. “Guess I’m not too good at bowling.”

Stefan was at a table, reading a book and totally ignoring us. I think I hated him. I was positive, but I was pretty sure I hated him. He seemed like such a pussy. What did Elena see in him?

“So,” I said while Elena got a strike. Damn her. “How long have you and Stefan been together?”

Elena smiled, still holding her blue bowling ball. “Gosh, it seems like forever….”

“Where’d you meet?”

“School. He was the new kid, I was the popular one,” she giggled. “Pretty much love at first site.”

Kinda like me and Jeremy…new kid and popular girl…hmm… “I had one of those…” But why get into that discussion? “So were you ever, like…with Damon?”

“Um…” Elena moved a strand of blonde hair from her face. “No, not together, but I was in love with both guys…”

From the look in her eyes, I could see she wasn’t really over Damon. “But you saw Stefan first and chose him.”

She nodded. “Yeah…”

“Well, I’m glad you did,” I laughed.

Elena smiled. “Me, too. Stefan’s a good guy. He takes care of me and I love him.”

But he was less exciting than Damon. She didn’t have to say it for me to know she wanted to. I could see it in her eyes. Absent mindedly, I checked my phone. No more calls for Jeremy, and we’d been here for at least an hour.

“Getting bored of me already?” Elena teased.

I put my cell away and smiled. “’Course not.”

“Olivia, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

Elena put her ball down and sat next to me on the carpet floor. “You seemed….like you were in trouble when you called. What was going on?”

I looked away. Figures she’d ask.

“Was it…Damon?”

I didn’t like the tone in her voice. It was like she’d been expecting him to do something the entire time. I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t Damon. Why do you ask?”

She sighed. “He doesn’t stay with….girls very long. I just figured it was ‘bout that time where he’d…I dunno, dump you or something.”

She did know, and she didn’t think he was going ‘to dump me or somethn’. She thought something else; I wasn’t quite sure what, but something. But I’d just have to let it go for now.

“Hmm…No, he didn’t dump me. He wasn’t even the reason I was calling you….”

“Who was?”

I sighed. Should I just her or not? Would she even believe me? I wasn’t going to take another chance at bringing someone else into my problems. “I gotta go. My mom’s probably worried where I am.” I stood to leave.

“Okay,” Elena got up, too. “Hey, how ‘bout we all hang out again sometime? Only, maybe, you drag Damon along with you.”

“’K. I’ll call or text you.”

“See you, Olivia.”

I waved goodbye and on my way out I kicked Stefan’s boot. He looked up in surprise and I smiled innocently. “See you, non-social. Maybe you’ll be more comfortable next time when your brother’s around.”

Stefan frowned and I walked away, though wanting to skip. Picking on Stefan took my mind off Jeremy, though. What if he came to my house anyway, though? My mom had left to go grocery shopping, what if she came back and he was there?

I’m such an idiot; I needed to get back home!

I burst through the front door, panicked. “MOM! MOM! MOM, WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“Kitchen!” she called back, perfectly normal sounding.

I sighed in relief, walking into the kitchen. “Hey.”

She smiled brightly, stirring whatever was in the huge pot of hers. “Hey, hon. How’re you feeling? Where were you, anyway?”

“Oh,” I rubbed my forehead. “I’m feeling a lot better. And I was out bowling with Elena and Stefan.”

“Oh, how wonderful! Did you have fun?”

I smiled, sitting on the counter. “You’re in a good mood.”

My mother grinned. “I’m going on a date tomorrow!”

My face fell. “With who?”

“His name is Joseph Barker; he’s a new teacher at the school.”

“What does he teach?”

“Drama,” my mother sighed. “He’s a great guy, Olivia.”

“Yeah, so was Dad,” I mumbled.

My mom stopped stirring and sighed. “Honey, it’s been eight years. I think I deserve to go on a date.”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t,” I said honestly. “I just think you should be careful.”

She gave me a pointed look. “That goes both ways.”

“Mom, really, are we gonna talk about boys?”

My mother grinned. “Maybe.”

I stared at my feet, pretending to be all ashamed. Then like that, I started giggling. “Okay, alright, let’s talk about boys!”

For the next hour and a half, my mom and I talked about boys. I told how great Damon was and she talked about of dreamy Joseph was. Then we made cookies, ate most the cookie dough, watched the Titanic, Just Like Heaven, and a bunch of other girly chick-flicks.

This was the best girl’s night out. And who knew it’d be with my mother?