Story: Inked Hearts

Chapter 1: 'We were both young when I first saw you'

Summary: 'Emotional cheating is also cheating, Damon.' 'Why do we hurt someone we love so much?' 'You were going to kiss her.' Damon S is happily engaged and head over heels for his fiance Elena, but he commits a sin, a sin she can't forgive. He cheats on her. Elena is emotionally wrecked. Will Damon win her back or is it too late for them? 5 chapters.

Warning: This is going to be one of the most intense fic I have written.

It wasn't like Damon hadn't met her before, she was always in his social circle but they rarely came across each other. She was in the same school as his but she was in a different grade so they didn't ever get to talk to each other in school.

After school, she went to Boston University and he was offered a business program in Nyc. During summers, whenever Damon would return home, his mother would often make him drop her to Mrs. Gilbert's private parties. He got to see her a couple of times sitting in the garden, sipping from her lemonade, clad only in her bikini, sunbathing. God, she was hot. But their interaction was just about it. Until one day, he noticed her returning from the library. It was raining and she was walking down the lone road, skipping in the puddles, eventually breaking into a second-long dance step. She would stop and look up to the sky, allowing the droplets to fall on her face.

He watched her, amused. Should he offer her a car ride? What if she finds it weird? With that thought, he realized that it wasn't a good time to introduce himself. He drove his car past her, eventually looking back at her once and twice.

Time flew and three years passed like a dream. He now worked at his father's company. As the elder son, Giuseppe Salvatore favored him and wanted him to handle their company. Damon was going to be the proud owner of one of the biggest transport company in the country. Now Damon Salvatore wasn't exactly a slacker but he wasn't much hardworking either. He rather sit back and party then work all day tirelessly.

Thanks to his good looks, excellent body and godly sex skills he was quite famous among the ladies. There weren't much ladies left in Mystic Falls that hadn't visited his bedroom. He had a couple of relationships but they didn't last long. So for now, he enjoyed hook ups and one night stands.

But fate had other plans for him. His mother called him, one morning while he was busy preparing for a meeting. Grayson Gilbert, a very dear friend of his father, had died of heart attack. He immediately took a flight to Mystic Falls. He wanted to be there for his father at such a sad occasion. There he met her again. This time face to face.

Never even in his wildest dream did he realize that he would meet her in such absurd circumstances.

Elena Gilbert was sitting on the swing outside the porch, her hands folded. Her eyeliner was smudged and her mascara was starting to run. She still looked beautiful though, like a gothic angel.

He bit his lower lip, deciding to talk to her but as he stepped toward her, her mother beat him to her and sat next to her. She whispered something in Elena's ear and the brunette nodded. She stood up, straightened the creases off her dress and walked inside the house. For a moment, their eyes locked, he read all sadness in her eyes. She was devastated, struggling to live but she was trying to hold herself. If only he could just take her in his arms and hide her from all the wrongs in the world. No grief should ever touch her. He thought.

She looked away, not giving much thought to him.

He didn't get to talk to her that day again, although he wanted to but he never got the chance to. Fate had another game planned.

A month later, his father asked him for a meeting.

Right on time, Damon entered the office. There she was, Elena Gilbert, seated on the chair in front of his father.

"Welcome." Giuseppe greeted him happily. "That's my son. Elena. Right on time as always. Didn't I tell?"

Elena smiled softly, her eyes landing on him.

"Uh. I'm not interrupting something, am I?" Damon asked as he took the seat next to the brunette.

"Not at all. Damon, meet Elena Gilbert, new addition to our legal team. She'll be working alongside Miss Bennett for you. I want you to give her special attention. Teach her everything you know. She might be inexperienced but she's real hard worker, she won't disappoint you."

"Yes, sir." Damon nodded.

"Elena, your job is to keep him and us out of trouble. Understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Salvatore."

"Good. Now get to work you two." He said with a smile as he turned to a file.

Elena picked up her bag in one hand and a couple of files in other hand.

"Let me help." Damon offered.

"No, thank you. I can carry it myself." Elena said softly but strictly. Damon pursed his lips, watching her struggle with the bundle of her files and her purse. She almost tripped but she never asked for help. She carried all her things by herself.

She was head strong and she always wanted her way. He found out that in a couple of days. Despite the biggest tragedy she had just faced, she was cheerful.

He would watch her from his cabin as she worked all day long whilst calling her mother every hour and talking to Bonnie. During lunch breaks, she would sit by her girl gang, Caroline Forbes from the HR department, Andie from the Account and Bonnie Bennett from the legal department, she would often tap the table and hum a song or would gossip about other townies.

She kept her communication to him minimum though. Maybe she was intimidated by him because he was her boss or maybe she just didn't like him that much. Either way, there were six months in his life when they didn't talk to each other, other than casualties.

Until one day, she said, "Mr. Salvatore."

"Aha?"

"I'm sorry to intrupt but… will you be working late tonight too?" She asked.

He looked up, surprised by such personal question.

"Uh. I know, this is weird coming from me but… tomorrow is your mother's birthday. Don't you guys have something planned."

"Oh. Oh. Shit." Damon's eyes widened. "I forgot."

Elena nodded, looking down.

"Thank you so much for the reminder, Miss Gilbert. Now… all I need is a gift… but…," He mumbled to himself. "Miss Gilbert."

"Yes."

"Will you help me pick out the gift please? Actually every year, I always have my secretary buy it for me, but she's on the leave today."

"I would love to help, Mr. Salvatore." She offered him a soft smiling, a smile that engraved her name on his heart.

..

..

"Why can't I just buy her some expensive jewelry instead?" Damon asked as he looked at the piano.

"Because she has tons of that. Play her a song she loves. This would make your gift more personal." She said, rolling her eyes as if the fact was so obvious. "My dad would love it whenever I made him something." She added, fondly.

"What did you give him?"

"Mostly paintings."

"You're a painter." He asked.

"Yes, well, not of professional sort but still I tried. Painting is a part of my soul and by making paintings for my dad I used to give him a portion of my soul. He cherished them like treasure." Her tone was full of love as she spoke of her father.

"You really miss him, don't you?"

"He was my best friend." Elena said, wiping a lone tear. "Anyway. Back to you."

"I don't know, Elen-, Miss Gilbert."

"It's okay you can call me Elena." She said quickly, making him smirk.

"Try." Elena added.

"It's been so long."

"Try already." Elena's tone almost seemed somewhat annoyed.

"Okay."

His fingers glided over some keys but they stopped. "I don't remember." He struggled.

Elena rolled her eyes again and stepped toward him, standing behind him now. She covered his eyes with her soft hands.

"What…"

"Shh." She breathed. "Relax. Take a deep breath and try to remember the tune."

He took a deep breath, calming down his muscles, although her soft floral scent was driving him wild. Silence filled the room.

"Can you hear the tune." She whispered.

And like she said, he could hear a distant hum. He never knew when his fingers drifted to piano and played the tune of his mother's favorite song. "Endless love."

..

..

His mother was reduced to tears when he played her the song. She proudly announced to everyone that Damon's gift was her favorite. It made Damon really happy to see his mother so glad.

His bond with Elena strengthened more and more as he spent more and more time with her. In no time, they had developed a close friendship. Sometimes all of Elena's friends and his friends would hang out and have lunch together. It sooner became a routine.

"What are we eating today?" Damon asked while she was working on a project that Guispepe had given her.

"Whatever you want."

"Don't do that shit with me, Lena. You always tell me to pick a place and then when I pick a place you always complain about it. No. No. I am too hungry I'm in no mood to argue. Just pick a place so we could go have lunch." He said.

"Seriously Damon. I'm busy. Just pick a place. I'll be fine with anything."

"Okay. How about Xan's?"

"Nope. Too unhygienic."

"See. I knew!"

"Damon, I have a legit reason for that." Elena pointed out.

"Okay. Chinese?"

"We had Chinese last time."

"Indian?"

"I have a board meeting tomorrow. Indian food does funny things to my stomach. I don't want to end up farting throughout meeting."

"Mexican."

"Ugh. I just said I had board meeting."

"Elena. Will you just please agree to one place? I am goddamn hungry." Damon said through his teeth.

"Okay. Okay." Elena closed her file. "Let's just go to the grill."

"Finally? Wait. What grill?" He asked.

"It's just like a couple of miles away."

He took a deep breath but nodded. "Okay. But I'll drive. Your driving sucks." He said as he grabbed the keys.

While they were on way, Elena teased him now and then playing with his hair or nose, making him sneeze.

"Woman. You know I'm hungry enough to eat you and I hate it when someone touches when I'm driving." He held her arm.

"Okay. Okay. I'm sorry." She said, pouting.

He rolled his eyes but smiled.

"Take my phone and turn on gps. Guide me to the location." He ordered.

"Okay." She said as she took his phone. She placed her feet on the dashboard like always, even though she knew he hated that.

"Take a right." She said.

"Okay." He said as he turned the car.

"I was kidding." Elena laughed.

"You're kidding." He said, looking at her. But when he saw her expressions he frowned. "You witch."

She let out a musical giggle.

"Good. Now we are stuck in traffic. Just great." He said, frowning.

She kept on laughing and laughing.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him, her face just an inch away their breath mingled with each other.

"What… what are you doing?" She asked, feeling unnerved by his closeness.

"Punishing you." He whispered, looking at her lips.

Her eyes dropped to his lips, her chest heaved.

He bent and captured her lips in a hot kiss that could have started campfire without a match. Their lips danced together in a painful slow way; then started to turn into a-frenzy that demanded a much speedier tempo.

They kissed and kissed until a car behind them horned, popping the bubble.

..

..

It's been six months to that beautiful day. It hadn't been even a day after that kiss when Damon asked Elena out on a date. They would work all day together and would spend nights out either making love or going out to explore city. They loved each other's company and tried to be around each other all the time, almost obsessed with each other.

Four months ago, Damon declared that he loved Elena and asked her to move in with him, the very day Elena got promoted.

Her job increased but that didn't let her affect her time with Damon. They would watch movies, have bubble baths or just lay on bed and stare into each other's eyes, crazy in love.

Damon swore that he'd never been so happy. Elena had walked into his life and his heart and made everything just so beautiful. She made him so happy, he wanted to make her happy for the rest of his life and decided to propose to her.

He'd taken her out on a rainy day to the same road that he'd seen her long time ago, the very day he'd seen her dance.

She looked at the beautiful sky and opened the car door.

She walked into the rain and looked up, letting the droplets fall on her face.

"Isn't this beautiful?" Elena said as she twirled.

He laughed watching her antics. "Yes, it is."

He looked at the ring tightly clutched in his fist. Should he do it? Should he ask her to be his forever? She was after all his best friend, his lover, his girlfriend, he now wanted to make her his wife. He wanted to make her his forever.

With that thought, he walked toward her. He slowly took her hand, stared at her finger before he slipped on the ring.

She gasped. "What… what does this mean?"

"You're my everything, Elena. This means that you're my world. Only mine." His eyes spoke everything even though he couldn't. He wanted to shout it to her and the rest of the world that he loved her more than anything in the world. And that she was only his. He wanted to tell her that she was the sun in his dark life, the moon in his nights, his reason to smile and live. He wanted to say so many things but he only gazed at her, because dear God, she was so beautiful.

"Promise me this is forever?" Elena asked, tears streaming down her face.

"I promise."

He moved his hands to cup her face, his touch gentling as he melded her lips to his. The kiss deepened as she opened for him and his tongue searched out the dark, sweet cave of her mouth, savoring every moment. If only time could stop, if only they could stay like that forever. If only…

This is only a five-chapter story. Short story.

Do tell me if you're interested in the story and how did you observe the characters so far.

The stories will be continued if the response is good enough.

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