It had been such a long time since Damon had actually visited a bar. He had been out of the penthouse, of course. It wasn't as if he'd been locked away in his home, nursing a bottle of whiskey and catching up on trashy, barely entertaining television. Of course he'd been out. He had visited friends and gone grocery shopping (and blood bank 'shopping') to re-stock his place. It wasn't quite to the point where he would adopt dozens of cats and only socialize in chat rooms.
Tonight he was walking the streets of Lawrence in a kind of funk. Oh, he'd never admit it, but a good portion of it was due to the high school prom. What had he expected? For Elena to deny herself a good time? That would have been selfish. And entirely fine with Damon. In his head, the way he imagined it, prom would have gone a little more like the decade dance in Mystic Falls minus the bloodshed. He would have been happy to compel the chaperones and be Elena's dancing partner for the night. Instead it would be Anakin escorting her to the event and that created massive amounts of sour grapes for Damon. He had figured that a night spent on a bar stool, compelling the bartender into giving him free booze would be the perfect thing to lift his mood.
He was on his way to one of the quieter drinking establishments, not in the mood for loud conversation and louder music, when his sensitive ears picked up what sounded like a familiar voice. Damon took pause and froze in his tracks, listening for more. All he needed to hear were the words you're hurting me and he was off at breakneck speed to find the source of the sound. He rounded a corner, making his way into the alleyway. There she was - Galinda - and she was in bad shape. Damon couldn't help it. He felt the change in his face. His eyes darkened and the veins beneath them became more prominent. Fangs appeared where there were once normal, human teeth.
"That's not how you treat a lady." His voice came out in a growl. Bullying pissed him off, but what pissed him off more was that sweet, gentle Galinda was this jackass' prey. He would pay for that. Damon rushed over to James and shoved him into a brick wall with enough force to knock the wind out of him. He was just getting started.