smile. you're ruining the mood.
his fingers were like a vice upon her wrists , but they weren't threatening. if anything , the pressure was probably supposed to be comforting , grounding , but she couldn't focus on anything except her own anxiety. stefan hadn't shown. it was stupid to begin with , the pageant. all caroline's idea , of course.
it's a tradition , elena ! you have to dress up & attend with a guest , elena !
nothing she wore felt beautiful. it all reminded her of how excited her mother had been for something like this , & she wasn't here to celebrate it. blue worked , it hugged her curves decently , so she'd hoped that when stefan stood at the bottom of those stairs , she could clutch his arm & hide in his shadow for a while. but he didn't come. instead , it was damon who now held her at the edge of the crowd , watching as people mingled & drank. elena blinked at his words , uttering a soft scoff before tossing her hair back & lifting her chin to take a long breath.
❛ oh , please. half these contestants don't want to be here , caroline's running this thing like a dictatorship. ❜ with a teasing nudge , doe eyes shifted to catch his expression from their corner , flexing her fingers in his grip to loosen their ice & slide her arm between his instead , plastering a bright , painfully fake smile across her lips & giving him a slight tug. ❛ come on , then. let's go dance. ❜ it helped that the platters of bubbling , gold filled champagne flutes were stacked just at the opposite end of the dance floor.
@sal5ation