Bad Day
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing: Damon Salvatore x Plus size! Reader
Warnings: None
Description: You’re having a very bad day when Damon Salvatore decides to make it worse, but then maybe he also makes it much better.
It was one of those fucking days.
You know those days when everything just goes completely, spectacularly wrong?
You shouldn’t have even been surprised. Once you’d woken up and your favorite sweater had had cat puke on it, you should have given up there. But no - you just had to power through and continue your day.
You got a call right after breakfast that your car payment hadn’t gone through, and now you’d have to pay a late fee you couldn’t afford. While running errands, you’d managed to knock over your Starbucks in the middle of the aisle of Target, forcing you to have to buy another coffee. And once back home, you were greeted with a passive aggressive note from your neighboring apartment asking you to close your door “just a tad quieter”.
By the time you had to get ready for work, your ‘fucks to give’ meter was dangerously low.
You quickly tossed on your uniform shirt and broke several traffic laws driving to the Grill, because of course you were late. At a red light, you tossed your messy Y/H/C hair into a ponytail, griping at your reflection as some asshole in a sports car cut you off. Really? Who the hell drove sports cars in Mystic Falls? You’d only ever seen one person do that, and that was Damon Salvatore.
You scanned the license plate. Then you squinted to see inside the drivers seat and swore loudly. Damon fucking Salvatore. And he waggled his pale fingers at you before peeling off at top speed.
He was there at the Grill when you finally clocked in, tossing apologies at your manager and ignoring Matt’s teasing grins as you settled behind the bar and counted up your liquor. The day bartender threw you a goodbye and a sympathetic look.
Once finished your count, you sauntered over to Damon, who was enjoying a scotch on the rocks with a self righteous grin on his face.
“You cut me off.” you said, placing your hands on the bar.
He shrugged. “Did I?”
Damon had been drinking at the bar of the Grill long before you worked there, but somehow after you started you felt as if he was suddenly there all the time. You’d had an easy relationship at first, due to your infamiliarity. He was a flirt, you were determined to make good money. You flirt with Damon, he gives you a twenty on top of his tab. That was how it had always been for you, and for the other bartenders before you.
But something had changed, and you remembered the day that it did almost as well as you remembered Damon’s drink order.
It had been a slow night, with only Damon and his buddy Alaric holding down the fort. Most of the other drink orders came from tables, and those were practically empty too. You elected to pass the time with Damon and Ric, talking about nothing and everything. That quickly nosedived into a pissing contest between the two men and which one could do a handstand when you mentioned offhand that you were able to perform a fancy little trick, and that had been your downfall.
“There’s no way!” Ric was crying, his words slurring out of the side of his mouth. “You prove it right now.”
You folded your arms across your chest and shrugged, your grin too confident. Damon’s eyes were laser focused, and he took a long drag of his scotch, watching you intently.
“Don’t tease us…”he said finally.
You sighed, and cursed yourself.
Normally, you wouldn’t mind showing this particular party trick off for customers. It happened sometimes on raucous nights, when people were coming from or on their way to parties, looking to boost their mood and spend their money. It felt good to do it and see the looks of awe on their faces, sometimes even lust.
But you were feeling very self conscious at the prospect of doing it for Damon Salvatore.
You couldn’t deny he was attractive. His face, yeah, but his swagger was practically debilitating. He had the confidence of a much older man, which was funny considering you were the same age. There weren’t guys your age acting like him, of that you were sure.
It fueled your desire toward him as much as your flirtatious little routine did.
But Damon was always on the arm of the skinniest, hottest girl in the room. He’d chased after Elena Gilbert for a while, and she was less than half your size. There was no way his flirting had anything more to do with you than you wished. He liked to have fun, plain and simple.
Ric was slamming his fists on the table now, demanding you not to leave them hanging.
You mustered up all your courage - they knew what you looked like, you thought. They were asking you to do it.
So you lifted yourself up onto the bar in a much more fluid motion than you might have ever expected from yourself, and in one easy rotation you were doing a handstand.
You could feel the fabric of your shirt rising up, but you ignored it. You carefully started placing the majority of your weight on your left hand.
You could hear Ric and a few customers oohinh and aahing at you, and it spurred you on. You lifted your right hand into the air, and separated your legs a bit. And then you were doing a handstand on one hand.
You held the pose as Ric hollered and cheered, and then easily flipped backwards and onto your feet again before jumping back behind the bar, standing once more on your own two feet.
“Am I drunk or did I just witness cirque de soleil?” Ric asked.
“You’re drunk.” You told him, as you wiped off the spot on the bar where your feet had been. “But you did witness something pretty cool.”
Your eyes flitted over to Damon, curious to see if he had any kind of reaction. What you saw stopped you in your tracks.
His eyes were dark - darker than you’d ever seen them. There was something hungry in their expression, like you were dessert and he had saved plenty of room. His lips were covered by his tongue as it slowly lapped over it, before he closed his mouth and swallowed.
“Let’s do a shot.” Damon decided, reaching out and placing his hand on top of yours. “I’m buying.”
“Shots!” Ric called, and you internally groaned. He definitely did not need another one.
But you were glued into Damon’s atmosphere, and you watched as his thumb stroked along your hand. “You want me to do a shot?” you asked.
“That was hard work you did up there.” He encouraged. “You must be thirsty.”
You flushed, hoping Ric couldn’t see the effect he was having on you. When you glanced over, he was exclaiming happily as a Bruce Springsteen song came on, completely ignoring you. Your blush must have been crimson, and your cheeks felt as if they were on fire.
Damon’s thumb was still marking its path on your skin. You needed to get away fast.
“I’ll get those shots.”
“Sounds good.” Damon said.
“I’ll need my hand to pour them.”
He let out a sound of displeasure, but withdrew his hand from yours and you robotically turned away, pouring three shots of Bulleit bourbon. If your hand was shaking and you spilled one, that was between you and the security camera.
You, Ric and Damon cheersed, tapping your glasses on the bar top before throwing the alcohol back. Ric sputtered and coughed, and you giggled as he tried to compose himself.
“Well that’s me!” he said, standing up and lurching dangerously to the left. “I’m tapping out.” He went to put his card down, but as usual Damon stopped him. He started waving his card in your direction, but you made no move to grab it.
“I don’t even bother running you up a tab anymore. Damon’s always got it covered.” You admired that about Damon. A lot of people thought of him as kind of shitty, but you knew better. He was loaded, and he always spent the majority of that money on other people. Even after Elena had rejected him for good, he still came in and covered her tab from time to time. He’d done it for all of their friends. He’d even done it for Matt - despite their apparently rocky history.
Ric sighed in defeat. “Me and my teacher’s salary are very thankful.”
Once Ric had left, it was you and Damon. Alone.
Never before had you felt so nervous serving him by yourself. Whatever you’d seen in his eyes after your little show had altered the atmosphere between the two of you. It thrilled you and scared you all at once.
“How come you never told me you were so flexible?” Damon asked, as you cleaned Ric’s empty glasses. He hadn’t taken his eyes off you, and you were avoiding meeting his gaze like the plague.
You shrugged. “I didn’t realize you had any interest in my level of flexibility.”
“If it’s about you, I’m interested.”
Since when did he say things like that to you? God, and if his words didn’t just send shockwaves straight to your core. Had you stepped into an alternate reality where Damon Salvatore was horny for you? No, that couldn’t be right. He was a flirt, and he was probably still heartbroken over Elena picking his brother.
“Damon.” you said finally, meeting his eyes. “I’m not sleeping with you.”
He frowned. “And why not?”
You gave him a knowing look. “I know you.” He was looking for a rebound, and you wanted more than that.
His frown deepened, and within a few moments Damon had gone from sad to furious. There was something working beneath the surface, and he looked….hurt.
“Well, fuck you very much.”
He stalked out of the bar, and your jaw was on the floor. Never did you ever expect Damon to get mad when rejected. How many girls had said no or called him names or even slapped him while you’d watched, bemused, from your side of the bar? And every time he’d smiled or shaken his head. He’d thought it was funny. So what made you different?
The next time you’d seen him, he’d asked for a drink and didn’t say a word to you other than a hi, bye or check, please.
And then this morning he’d cut you off, as if he somehow knew you were having a shit day and wanted to make it even fucking worse, as only Damon Salvatore could do.
Which sucked, because you’d spent weeks wishing that he would man up and talk to you, and explain why he’d been so hurt that day. You’d spent weeks wanting to have Damon back, cracking jokes and flirting with you and being your best customer.
So you confronted him. It was going to be another slow night, and you more than had the time.
“You cut me off. And you did it on purpose.”
This got his attention. He looked up from his drink, his nostrils flaring.
“I cut you off because you’re not a very good driver.”
You rolled your eyes. “Oh, come on! I wasn’t even moving!”
“And yet, your inexperience was glaringly evident.” He downed the last of his scotch and shoved the glass toward you. “And I’ll take another whenever you’re ready to work.”
Oh, he had another thing coming if he thought he was going to speak to you like that! You clicked your tongue against the roof of your mouth and moved quickly to pour him a shot - you were on the clock after all, even though you’d much rather leave him hanging - but not the top shelf he was used to. Oh no, you were pouring him the cheap stuff.
You slammed the glass in front of him and slid it over, glaring. He gave as much as he got, giving you a wicked little smile before taking a sip.
And promptly spitting it out.
“What the fuck is that?” He asked, rising to his feet. He grabbed a handful of cocktail napkins and dabbed at what he’d spilled onto his shirt, but the damage was done.
“Oh, sorry, were you looking for something specific? Unless you specify, we typically just give customers the rail.”
You had no issue being bitchy bartender tonight. In fact, it was kind of fun to dish it out. And he deserved it for being a jerk.
“What the hell is your problem?” He yelled. “I cut you off. It happens. I’m kind of an asshole sometimes.”
You groaned in frustration. “What about the whole silent treatment for three weeks? I tell you I don’t want to sleep with you and you act like a child!”
He bristled violently at that, and then looked around for a moment. You weren’t really sure what he was doing until he grabbed Matt by the scruff of his neck and brought him around to your side of the bar.
“Y/N needs a fiver. You’ve got this covered, right?”
Matt sighed, but started cleaning pint glasses. You were about to protest when Damon began dragging you off, and Matt smiled apologetically.
“Just go with it! It’ll be a lot easier!” He tells you, and then he’s gone and you’re being dragged through the back of house and out the back door.
Once outside, Damon released his grip on your arm.
“What the hell are you doing?” You ask, incredulous. “I’ll get written up if I’m gone too long.”
“Look.” Damon says, ignoring your pleas. “You…you hurt my feelings that day, ok? You said something kind of mean, or implied it at least. But…I shouldn’t have handled it like that. I’m working on that stuff.”
“Mean?” You asked. “What did I say that was mean?”
He sighs. “Do I have to spell it out?”
You nodded. “All caps, double spaced, please.”
He laughed despite himself. “You basically implied that I am some womanizing creep that wanted to use you for your body.”
You blinked. And then blinked again.
“Ok, two things… the first: are you NOT a womanizing creep that uses women for their bodies?”
He raised his eyebrows, and his head tilted in thought. “Ok fair point.”
“And the second: that’s not what I meant at ALL.”
He brought a finger up to his mouth and placed the tip on his lower lip. “……you didn’t?”
“No. Damon, what I was trying to say was that I’m not your type, and that you probably just wanted me for a night because you were drunk. Which is great and fine, but that’s just not what I’m looking for. I want a relationship.”
There was confusion in his too-blue eyes, and he took a step toward you, entering your personal space.
“What do you mean you’re not my type?”
Oh lord, this was exactly what you didn’t want to talk about right now. You blew out a steadying breath, choosing your words carefully.
“The girls you date are usually of the same variety….both in looks and in size. So I just figured I wasn’t really your type.”
Damon’s entire face changed. Gone was the confusion and the mock anger, replaced with a quiet rage. He flexed his knuckles, and you involuntarily stepped back. He kind of looked pissed.
“You think I didn’t want to sleep with you because you’re not skinny?”
You struggled to get words out. “I mean, yes? In a way…”
“Are you fucking stupid?”
Did he really want an answer to that? Based on the dangerous look in his eyes, it was probably in your best interest to stay quiet.
He was now fully in your space, standing with you toe to toe. His arms were crossed over his chest, which was absolutely heaving. He was very, very angry and it was kind of turning you on.
“I have been throwing hints at you since the moment you started working here. I tip you double the amount I tip anyone else, I always call you pet names, I’m constantly flirting with you…and you really thought I just wanted one random night of fun because you were warm and available?”
His words were like shockwaves to your system. Now that you were faced with it, you realized that no other bartender had ever said anything good about Damon’s tips. Anytime you were switching shifts, he never called anyone else “darling” or “sweetheart”. He flirted, sure, but you were always different….
“Oh my god….” You said quietly. “Oh my god, I didn’t even realize…”
His hands were on your hips, and your senses were assaulted by him. He smelled good, clean with a hint of spice. His eyes were making you melt with the heat of his gaze. His fingers, too, worked over your skin in delicate little circles, and you knew that given the chance those fingers would drive you wild.
“I do want to sleep with you.” He says, and you sigh but he places a finger on your lips, shushing you.
“I do, and I’m not afraid to say it. I got…overwhelmed when you did that sexy little handstand, and I moved too fast. But what I really want is to take you on a date.”
You tentatively wrapped your arms around his neck, your forehead resting against his. “Yeah?” You ask.
“Yeah.” He breathes.
You don’t answer, just press your lips against his and let yourself drown in him. His lips are like brands against yours, and you can imagine steam coming off you both as your mouths battle for dominance, slotting and slanting over each other again and again until you’re breathless.
“Ok, but if you bring me here for our date there will be actual hell to p-“
He cut you off with another searing kiss. A promise.
So maybe it wasn’t such a bad day after all.
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Bartender AU recs
two young lovers, half-priced drinks by sadwhales aka @farfromohio (complete, 41k words)
Mickey ,the hot bartender, saves Ian the college student, from a bad first date.
Suncatcher by @wehangout (WIP, 42k words )
Private investigator Ian is trying to solve a mysterious burglaries case when he ends up brainstorming with Mickey, a clever and hot bartender.
Jerkface 9000 by @jackieq (oneshot, 14k words)
Bartender and bar owner Mickey befriends Ian when he comes to his bar after catching his ex , Caleb, cheating on him. (pretty canon compliant Ian- mentions of Caleb, Trevor, EMT training and Monica's death)
Between the bars by crazynadine (Complete, 27k words)
Mickey is a bartender in gay bars, working at a gay valentine getaway (weekend full of cliche romantic bullshit) that Ian gets invited to by the boring guy he's been seeing. What happens when the guy's ex comes to win him back and Ian is dumped in front of everyone? He's going to make the most out of it.
In Case of Emergency... by @flamingbluepanda (One-shot, 2k words)
Ian is a bartender and lives in Boston, and the only close relationships he has are with his patrons at the bar. One night Ian gets a call from the hospital that Mickey, one of his favorites and fellow ex-Chicagoan, is in the hospital.
To the Ends of the Earth by @yeah-all-of-it (WIP, 64k words)
Mickey is a bartender at a small town in Wyoming, he has been seeing Angie for a few years now, but it's nothing serious. Mickey doesn’t know why Ian, an outdoorsy traveler who just showed up one day, is evoking feelings in him he’s never felt with Angie. Or any other girl he’s ever been with for that matter.
Cleansing Wave Flowing Through my Veins by @toastyhusbandstand (One-shot, 5k words)
Mickey, a bartender at the Alibi room, finds himself once again in Ian’s bed, right in the enemy’s lap. He’s admitting he’s a junkie. And he needs his fucking hit. What’s the stage that comes after denial?
With My Eyes Clear, I'm Sober by cantfuckinbelievethis (orphan_account) (One-shot, 2.7k words)
Ian is a self conscious veteran with a prosthetic leg that is on the verge of giving up on dating, but Mickey, his cute bartender, is right under his nose.
Magically Delicious by @the-rat-wins (One-shot, 6k words)
Mickey takes Mandy to a bar with fucking magic tricks for her birthday, per her request. What happens when she sends him to get the hot redhead bartender's number for her?
you found me, you knew me by jinlin5 aka @doodlevich (complete 43k words)
Ian is a psychic, specializes in tarot and palm reading. Mickey is a Boys Town bartender who happens to be a huge skeptic. He obviously doesn't believe in soulmates, but kissing Ian had unlocked feelings that scared the shit out of him.
an honorable mention - Quatervois by DodgerBear @dodgerbear84 (one of my favorite WIP, 41k words) Ian isn't technically a bartender but he serves Mickey at a bar a couple of times.
Closeted soldier Mickey meets farmer Ian (with a couple odd jobs) in a bar when on leave from his base in the Deep South. The tale of beautiful gay panic.
I bet I missed so many good ones (also I've read all of these and want more to satisfy my addiction) so please tell me about your favorites!
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Hey liv! Do you know any fics that have Draco (or Harry) as a bartender or that are set mostly in a bar? Thanks in advance! :)
Hi anon! Sure thing, here are some recs:
Thanks for all the Fish by dracogotgame (T, 2k)
Harry's latest break up with Ginny gives him food for thought.
The Mispronunciations of Draco Malfoy by daisymondays (T, 4.6k)
'Muggle AU where Harry is a barista and bartender and keeps running into his most stuck-up customer’ aka ‘All the times Harry managed to mispronounce Draco and the one time he got it right.’
Pub Night by sdk (E, 7k)
In a cramped loo at The Bitter End, what Harry and Draco do is only about one thing: getting off. ...Isn't it?
An Aching Soul by writcraft (M, 14k)
Draco Malfoy escapes to the Muggle world to avoid his parents, memories of the war and Harry Potter. However, some things prove harder to escape than others as Draco realises when his favourite Muggle haunt is rudely invaded by a post-war Harry who is struggling to cope with grief, growing up and the battle with his inner demons.
It's Friday (I'm in Love) by punk_rock_yuppie (E, 16k)
At first, Draco only hangs out with them on Fridays after work; then he starts shagging Potter after pub nights. Then all the rest of the gang tries to befriend Draco and even worse, Potter tries to date him. It’s an absolute disaster, if you ask Draco.
Take These Lies by pennygalleon (E, 20k)
There’s a portrait of his godfather in Draco Malfoy’s potions shop and Harry needs to know why. But that’s not why he keeps coming back.
Midnight in the City of a Hundred Spires by shiftylinguini (E, 25k)
Harry Potter is a missing person. Draco Malfoy is a vampire. They are the last two people one would expect to bump into each other in a Creature Bar in Prague, yet to Draco’s absolute shock that is definitely Harry fucking Potter sitting across from him. Even more surprising is that Potter may have a case for him.
Saviour of the Seas by Booktopus (E, 45k)
For the 10th Anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic has chosen to celebrate with a cruise to Norway to view the Northern Lights aboard the Savior of the Seas. Did they actually think Harry would want a bloody cruise ship named after him?
The Pure and Simple Truth by lettered (G, 65k)
Harry, Draco, and Hermione go to a pub. Harry, Draco, and Pansy go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Pansy, and Hermione go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron, and Pansy―you guessed it―go to a pub. I could go on. In fact, I did. Harry, Draco, Hermione, Pansy, Ron, Blaise, Luna, Goyle, Neville, and Theodore Nott go to a pub. In various combinations.
Chasing Shadows by manixzen (E, 93k)
The murder of Lucius Malfoy seems impossible—no cause of death, no traces of spell-work, no potions in his system. The only leads Harry and his partner have are the trail of missing wizards the deeper they go. That and the help of the victim’s estranged son who now spends his time bartending at a queer-friendly Muggle pub.
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