Just a quick one-shot that I wanted to write and post while I had the time. I know I should have spent longer working on this, but I'm just the busiest of bees.
Set post Bad Moon Rising.
The Lies Beneath It All
"You do get it, don't you? Why I can't trust you?" She has a fierce hatred for anything other than the truth, but she forces the words out even though they're somewhat of a half-lie. She should have said 'why I can't trust you anymore,' but then she'd be admitting to trusting him in the first place, and she really doesn't want to see his face fall when he's realizes he's lost that trust – for good.
She sees him swallow and glance at the floor like he'll find all the answers there, and then lick his lips. When he looks back up at her she can see the sadness in his eyes, and she thinks that maybe she's been looking at this situation completely wrong. Perhaps it wasn't Katherine that broke him. Perhaps it was her.
"I get it," he says simply, taking a small step back even though they weren't close in the first place. She almost wants to take her words back, just to make him feel better (because how can she be doing this to him?) but then she remembers the sound of Jeremy's neck snapping, and any regrets she might've been starting to have disappear.
Or at least, most of them do.
"So I think you should leave," she tells him, and she doesn't just mean leave her house. Her voice is firm but her resolve is wavering and she has to keep reliving her brother's death even though it's painful because it's the only thing that's keeping her grounded. If she lets herself forget what he did for even a second, she'll end up forgiving him. Just like she always does.
His blue eyes pierce into hers in the kind of way that is so powerful that you either have to look away or just surrender. She's about to attempt staring him down when he blinks and nods and turns to walk out the door.
And she thinks this is goodbye.
"Wait," she demands suddenly, uncrossing her arms for the first time since he got here. She didn't mean to act on it, but there has been a flicker of doubt in the pit of her stomach since the night before last, when he told her he hadn't seen Jer's ring. His head tips back for a second as he looks at the ceiling, and she wonders if he is praying to God that she would just stop throwing him out and then reeling him back in. She takes a deep breath and then, "Did you see it?"
She's already asked him once, but he doesn't seem surprised that she's doing it again. Maybe he knows that she's desperate for a different answer than the one he gave her. Maybe he knows that their entire relationship – whatever that relationship is – is riding on this, and that if he answers correctly, they don't have to let it go. She doesn't have to let him go. Because maybeshe wants to know what they could be.
Lie to me, she begs him silently. If you saw the ring, lie to me.
And he's tempted to.
He appears in front of her with the vampire speed that she is just starting to get used to after all this time, and presses a kiss to her temple while brushing a loose strand of hair away from her face. "I saw the ring," he whispers into her ear honestly (because he knows she has a fierce hatred for anything other than the truth) even though it hurts like hell.
And even though those weren't the words she wanted to hear, he sounds so defeated that she lifts her hand to hold his for some sort of act of comfort (and she wonders if maybe there's a little bit more forgiveness in her after all). But her skin never touches his because disappears before she can make contact.
He's gone, and she doesn't think he's coming back.