Chapter Nine

                                    

                                          
I woke up feeling refreshed. I slept really good last night. I checked my clock, and it was 8:43am. I checked my phone, and I had messages from the groupchat with Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena. They were all from this morning.
                          
C: Do you guys want to hangout today?
                          
B: I'm down.
                          
EG: Let's do it.
                          
C: Where at?
                          
I decided to text the groupchat now.
                          
ER: Sorry guys, just woke up.
                          
C: Hey Ellie.
                          
EG: Morning
                          
B: Good morning 
                          
C: Where do we want to hangout?
                          
B: We could meet at the grill?
                          
C: I'm good with that.
                          
ER: Me too.
                          
EG: Okay, grill it is. See you guys at 11?
                          
C: 11 is good.
                          
ER: See you then :)
                          
B: Can't wait!
                          
At this point, I decided I had to get up and get dressed because I didn't have that long to get ready and eat breakfast.
                          
I picked out some jean shorts and a Coca Cola logo tank top that had a knot at the front. I put my hair up in a ponytail and put on some Birkenstock's.
                          
I went downstairs to find Charlie sitting on the couch. 
                          
"Hey, Aunt Charlie."
                          
"Morning Kiddo. How'd you sleep?"

                          
"Good, you?"
                          
"Could be better. I'm gonna make some eggs for breakfast, you want some?" Charlie asked.
                          
"Sure, thanks again." 
                          
Just then, the doorbell rang. 
                          
"Can you get it?" Charlie called out to me. 
                          
"Yea." I went over to the door and opened it. I saw Damon standing on the porch.
                          
"Oh, Damon. I didn't know you were coming."
                          
"Well, now you know." 
                          
"Okay, um, whatcha need?"
                          
"Just wanted to talk to you about last night. Can I come in?"
                          
"Uh, yea." 
                          
Just then, it looked like Damon had a realization. "Actually, I'll just stay here." 
                          
"Are you sure? It's kinda chilly out."
                          
"I'm good." He said, crossing him arms.
                          
Then, Charlie appeared at the door. "Damon! Hey! What are you doing here?"
                          
"Just wanted to talk to Ellie."
                          
"Oh, okay. Come on in." 
                          
"Thank you." Damon smirked as he stepped in. That left me slightly confused, but I brushed it off, just like everything else.
                          
"Come on upstairs, we can talk in my room." I told him as I led him up to my room.
                          
Once we got there, I left the door open a crack. We both sat on the bed, facing each other.
                          
"Listen, I just wanted to apologize for being so mysterious yesterday. I realized that I came off really weird." He said, looking at me. His face looked very sincere.
                          
"I want to apologize too for bringing Katherine up. It was really forward, and you weren't ready for that conversation." Damon put his hand on my knee. It made me feel some type of way, butterflies in my stomach. We looked at each other with strong eye contact. 
                          
Damon said to me, "I was never going to be ready for it. I'm glad you brought it up, it showed me you were serious about this." Damon and I never broke our eye contact.
                          
Then, my phone rang. It was Elena. "Oh, shoot, I was supposed to meet Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline right now. Give me a second." I answered the phone. 
                          
"Hey, Ellie. Where are you?"
                          
"Hey, I'm so sorry I lost track of time."
                          
As I was talking to Elena, Damon said in the background, "Hey Elena," with a voice that was the type of voice where you could tell he was trying to get on your nerves.
                          
"Are you with Damon?" Elena asked, confused.
                          
"No, well, yes." I said. 
                          
"Oh. Okay. Why?"
                          
"He showed up because he wanted to talk to me."
                          
"Oh, um, okay." Elena said. 
                          
"Sorry, see you soon."
                          
"Yep." Elena hung up.
                          
"Shit," I said. 
                          
"What's wrong?" Damon asked.
                          
"Don't say anything to Elena, Bonnie, or Caroline, but they both warned me about you. They said you were a douche." Damon laughed.
                          
"I get that a lot." 
                          
"From what I can tell, you're super nice so I don't know what that's about." 
                          
Damon laughed again. "Oh, baby, we are just getting to know each other." 
                          
I got the butterflies again. Fuck.
                          
"Um, I should probably go meet them at the grill."
                          
"Oh, yea, sure, do you want a ride?"
                          
"No, that's okay, I can take myself."
                          
"Okay. See you later." 

                          
I walked down the steps to see that Charlie had made eggs. 
                          
"Charlie, I'm so sorry, I gotta go meet Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie. Can I have them later?"
                          
"Yea, of course. Have fun."
                          
"Thanks, be back later." I stepped out the door, Damon following. I felt a hand brush my ass, but I thought it was an accident. Instead of saying something, I just opened my car door and looked at Damon before stepping in. He winked as me as he got in his car and pulled out of the driveway. I did the same shortly after and drove to the grill. I saw my friends sitting at a booth and I walked up to them and sat next to Caroline. 
                          
"Sorry I'm late." I told them.
                          
The four of us ordered food and some drinks and talked, getting to know each other more. Next thing you know, Damon and Stefan walked in. Elena stood up to say hi when Stefan pulled her close and whispered something in her ear. Elena looked super worried and came back over to us. 
                          
"Guys we gotta go," She said. 
                          
"What?" Caroline asked. Elena looked at Caroline, giving her a look.
                          
"We have to go now, we don't have much time."
                          
"Guys, what's going on?"
                          
As I said that, five people walked in. Four men and a woman. The man in front was a redhead who had a big smirk on his face. I looked over at Damon, who looked at me, then back at the people. Everyone else in the bar seemed unphased. I looked at Caroline.
                          
"Klaus."