Save Me from Myself

Before I got off the bed I heard a knock at my bedroom door, then the door opened and my father walked inside the room with a pretty wildflower bouquet.
"Surprise!" he said on a cheerful tone, walking closer to me and handing me the flowers.
I took the flowers and hugged him, than replied really surprised: "Dad, it's so good to see you! Did mom know you were coming?"
"Of course she knew. She was the one who convinced me to come." he replied looking at mom who entered the room and began to giggle.
"You tricked me!" I said, pointing at her with a smile, then continued: "You didn't invite Kyle over for dinner."
"Who's Kyle?" dad asked curiously, looking at mom and then at me.
"Let's go to the dining area. I'm hungry and I bet you are too." I replied with a smile, ignoring dad's question.
I told dad to bring his luggage to my bedroom, then we went to the small dining area from the living room and talked about everything and nothing while we ate.
After a while I decided to bring up a touchy subject. Before I left my parents home and moved to Mystic Falls, me and dad had a serious disagreement concerning my future and I wanted to sort things out for good.
"So, since you decided to come over, I guess you're not angry anymore." I said on a serious tone, looking at my father.
"I wasn't angry." dad replied shrugging his shoulders. "I was disappointed." he added bitterly.
"And it's obvious that you still are." I sighed.
"We can change that. I talked to your aunt this morning and the job offer is still available." he replied after taking a sip of red wine.
"Can we please talk about something else?" mom asked, trying to prevent another conflict between us.
"I'd better wash the dishes." I added while I was picking up the dirty dishes.
"And I'll help." mom replied, then she stood up and followed me to the kitchen.
"Why did you call him? He's getting on my nerves." I questioned mom. At that point I would have preferred dealing with mom and Kyle then dealing with dad who was trying to control my life.
"I called him because he's your father and you two can't be mad at each other forever." she replied on a serious tone.
"I bet you knew that he called aunt Genevieve. You both want to convince me to move to New York." I accused mom, rolling my eyes and avoiding her glance.
Before she could say something, we heard the doorbell rang and my father shouted from the living room: "Don't worry, I'll get that."
"You must be Kyle. Come on in." I heard dad saying after he opened the door.
"So, you did invite Kyle after all." I said, looking mom in the eyes.
"No, I didn't. I have no idea who that is." she replied shrugging her shoulders.
I rushed to the living room to see who the mysterious visitor was and I almost had a heart attack when I saw my father and Damon sitting on the couch while talking and drinking wine.
"What are you doing here, Damon?" I asked him on a serious tone, still surprised about his visit.
"Don't be rude to your guest, Maddy. Bring him some strawberry pancakes and a coffee." dad said with a smile. "Excuse her, she's upset with me and she's taking it out on you." he added, looking at Damon.
Mom heard our conversation and came back to the living room with a plate of pancakes. "I'm afraid we ran out of coffee." she said with a smile. "I'm Marianne, Madeleine's mother." she added on a cheerful tone.
Damon stood up and kissed mom's right hand. "I'm Damon Salvatore. It's so nice to finally meet Maddy's parents." he replied with a smirk, looking at mom and then at me.
"It's so nice to meet you too, Damon." mom said with a friendly voice. "Sylvester, why don't we go to the kitchen and let the kids talk?" she added, looking at dad.
My parents went to the kitchen and I started to talk to Damon to find out the reason why he came to my apartment without even calling.
"You can take a seat now." I said to him, pointing at the couch and he complied. "So, what brings you here?" I asked, looking Damon in the eyes.
"I came to see if you are mad at me. And I also wanted to meet your mom." he replied with a grin. "By the way, you didn't tell me that your father is visiting too." Damon added surprised.
"He got here a couple of hours ago." I replied as I took a seat on the couch next to him.
"You didn't tell me if you're mad at me or not." he said with puppy eyes.
"I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself because I don't know who wrote that letter." I replied on a disappointed tone. "It can't be Jeremy. He's just a kid, he can't be in love with me." I whispered, knowing that my parents could hear our conversation.
"Don't worry, maybe some bored teenagers wanted to play a joke on you." Damon tried to comfort me.
"Maybe you're right." I replied with a brittle smile, then took a sip of wine from my half-empty glass.
"I should go now. I don't want to bother you and your parents. Tell them I said goodbye." he said with a soft voice, then he stood up and headed for the front door.
"I will. Thank you for stopping by!" I replied on a friendly tone.
Before he stepped out, Damon popped another question: "By the way, who is Kyle?"
"Kyle is my neighbor, he lives next door." I replied with a smile.
"Did he give you those flowers?" he asked a little jealous, pointing at the wildflowers that I put on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"No, my dad brought them." I replied with a chuckle.
"Oh, ok..." he replied a little embarrassed, causing me to laugh.
We said goodbye to each other and after he left, my parent came back to the living room. Dad was tired, so I sent him to my bedroom to sleep and I stood in the living room with mom who started questioning me about Damon. She said that he made a good impression on her and I 'm pretty sure she believed that Damon wrote the love poem. After a while she went to my bedroom to sleep and I cleaned up the living room, then I fell asleep on the couch while watching TV.
I spent the next two days preparing the girls for the competition and hanging out with my parents. I finally convinced dad to accept the fact that I wasn't going to leave Mystic Falls and he said he wasn't angry anymore. Tuesday evening I helped mom and dad pack their bags, then I took them to the bus station.
"Take care of you, Maddy! Call us if you need anything." mom said with a cheerful voice while she hugged me.
"We're both proud of you, Maddy. I thought you couldn't make it on your own, but I'm glad you proved me otherwise. Never give up on your dreams! We will always be there for you, no matter what." dad added with a smile.
I thanked them for their support and then we said goodbye to each other. I looked at the bus and waved them goodbye as it was leaving the bus station, then I went home to pack my things for the competition.
The next morning I met the girls on the practice field to have a final talk about the competition. When we were ready to go, we got on the bus that was waiting for us in the parking lot. I was looking for an empty seat when Elena told me to sit next to her. She apologized for the way she behaved a few days ago when she ignored me and told me that she was very excited about the competition.
We got to the location where the competition took place in less than 30 minutes and the girls started to warm up. Five other high schools were competing against us for the trophy and although it wasn't easy, Elena and the girls won the first place.
When we got back to the high school everyone congratulated us for our performance. The girls decided to throw a party at school later in the evening and everyone was invited to celebrate with us. Elena, Caroline and the boys went to the supermarket to buy juice and snacks while the other girls sat up the decor.
I decided not to wear anything fancy, so I put on a white lace top with a pale pink cardigan, a pair of blue jeans and white ankle boots. I put on some makeup, then I called for a cab.
When I got to the party, everyone was having a good time. Some of the students were dancing while others were talking and drinking. I sat at a table and talked to the girls for a while, then I felt the need to get away from the crowd and went to the football field. I took a seat in the grandstand and sat there for a while, looking at the sky as the rain started to pour down on me. I closed my eyes while felling the cold raindrops on my skin and smiling for no reason. Somehow, it reminded me of the night when I came to Mystic Falls when it was raining heavily and I got splashed by Damon's car.
I was still smiling when I opened my eyes and saw Damon staring at me with a smirk on his face.
"Hi there, rainy girl!" he said, looking me in the eyes while taking a sit next to me.
"How long have you been watching me?" I asked a little embarrassed, trying to avoid his glance.
"Long enough to say that I enjoyed the view." he replied with a smile while he shrugged out of his leather jacket and cloaked me in it so I wouldn't feel cold.