Damon stood outside the Gilbert house, finger to his bottom lip, in wonder. Elena had kissed him back. There was so much in that kiss, so much reined in passion between them that they eventually could no longer control. He found it funny that he'd spent all this time, even after meeting Elena, searching for Katherine when Elena was the one he wanted all along. Elena was the one who truly held his heart now, and he liked it this way. After 145 years of loneliness and longing, he'd finally found his meaning, his reason for existence: Elena.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a shrill scream coming from inside her home. He sped up the steps and through the door in search of Elena and found her standing in the kitchen. She was staring wide-eyed at John, who lay bleeding on the floor. He looked at Elena and suddenly it hit him. The sick realization. "Damon?" she breathed, those large brown eyes filling with tears. Damon hardly heard her. His thoughts were on that kiss that they had shared on the porch. It was Katherine. He'd kissed Katherine.
Damon swallowed hard and glanced at Elena, his gaze soon moving to the floor. "Katherine," he finally spoke, his voice barely a whisper. "Katherine's back." Elena brought a hand to her mouth. "Oh, God." You idiot, Damon cursed himself. You should have known Elena wouldn't kiss you back. She's Stefan's.
Damon shook his head; he needed to focus. He bent down to check John's pulse. He was still alive. Of course, he thought to himself. Katherine would want him to suffer. "Call 911," Damon ordered, pulling out his cell phone. Elena nodded and grabbed the home phone off the wall.
Damon took a few steps away and dialed Stefan's phone. "Stefan, you may want to come to Elena's house. Katherine's back." He didn't wait for an explanation; he hung up and turned to Elena, who was now speaking with the 911 operators. "I'm checking the house."
He ran through the lower level of the house and found nothing, then raced up the steps to check upstairs. He doubted Katherine would be there; her job here was done, at least for now. But he had to make sure. He needed to know that Elena would be safe. He didn't give a damn about anyone else. He stopped at Jeremy's door and politely knocking never crossed his mind. He wouldn't put it past Katherine to harm Elena's little brother. He tried opening the door but it was locked. Teenagers. He braced himself and kicked the door in; Jeremy lay on his bed. "Jeremy," Damon yelled. "Jeremy!" He raced to the bed and turned Jeremy over; he didn't move. "No, no," Damon groaned. "No, come on, kid." He shook Jeremy and got no response, then grabbed him and raced down the steps with the unconscious boy in his arms.
"Elena, screw 911," Damon called out, making his way towards the front door. "I can get us there faster." Elena ran behind him and shrieked. "What happened to Jeremy?" "A hopefully botched suicide attempt, I hope," Damon replied, racing to Elena's car. "Get in. And call Stefan. Tell him we're headed to the hospital."
Damon stopped. "My blood," he said, turning to Elena. He didn't wait for Elena to reply; he bit his wrist and reached for Jeremy, whom he'd placed in the backseat. Wait. Jeremy mentioned vampires before, Damon realized. "He didn't want to feel pain; he asked me if vampires could shut out the pain. Maybe he had vampire blood." Elena stared at him. "You mean he could be a vampire?" Damon took her hand. "I know you don't want this, Elena. But I'll tell you what may work." Elena nodded, desperate for an alternative. "Anything," she answered. "We could try to pump his stomach. Take him to the hospital, say it was an overdose. They'll flush his stomach and maybe the blood will be out of his system, as well as the pills. Or," he continued, giving her a grave look. "We could let him turn."
Elena shook her head. "No. We have to try. Jeremy doesn't know what he wants; he doesn't really want this." Damon nodded and glanced at his bleeding wrist. Well, that was pointless, he frowned. "What about John?" Elena asked. John. Right. "You want me to feed him my blood?" Damon asked her incredulously, an eyebrow lifted. Elena tilted her head to look at him and squared her jaw. "He's my father, despite all else." Damon gazed into her eyes and knew he couldn't refuse her this. He owed her. He simply nodded and put his wrist to John's mouth. I can't believe I'm doing this, he thought to himself. Bastard tried to kill me and I'm saving his worthless life. Soon John was feeding from Damon's wrist. "Drink up," Damon said, rolling his eyes. "I haven't got all night."
They drove to the hospital mostly in silence until Elena turned to Damon. "What about his fingers?" she asked. "Ah," Damon replied, trying his best not to laugh. "They'll be stubs. Vampire blood can only do so much." He turned to Elena and smirked. "It won't make you grow limbs or walk on water." Elena didn't laugh but she didn't have an offensive retort, either. "Well, he did try to kill Stefan. And you," she shrugged. Damon smiled. "And I have you and Bonnie to thank for saving my life," he told her. He hated repeating himself; he'd poured his heart out to Katherine on the porch not long before, thinking it was Elena. He wasn't good with this heartfelt stuff; he figured Elena would learn soon enough where his heart lies. But he had to tell her one thing. It was wrong not to. This would be awkward.
"Uh, Elena," he continued. He had her full attention now, though he was pretty sure he'd ruin it. "I kissed Katherine," he paused. "…Thinking it was you." He tried to sound nonchalant, how he usually was while letting the cat out of the bag, but failed in it miserably. He dared to sneak a look at her to catch her reaction. It wasn't anger. Elena's eyes went down to her lap. "Oh," she whispered. "Damon…" "I know I promised you I wouldn't make you regret being my friend and I intend to keep that promise. But that kiss, I… It was spontaneous," he explained. "I like you, Elena. A lot. I might even-" "Damon, I love Stefan," Elena interrupted. "I love you. As a friend. But Stefan and I, we're soul mates." Damon nodded. "I know that," he replied, squaring his jaw and turning to look through the windshield, nearing the exit to the hospital. "Forget I said anything."
"Damon-" "We're almost there." Damon pressed his foot harder on the accelerator, determined to get some space between them as fast as possible, and was soon parked in the lot in no time. "We're here. Let's go." He quickly got out of the car and rushed over to the passenger side to open her door. "Thanks," she mumbled. Damon inclined his head and moved to open the back door and carry Jeremy. "We'll leave John in the car," he said, speaking to no one in particular, hefting Jeremy in his arms. "He'll be fine where he is." Elena nodded. "Caroline's here too; I should check on her once I know Jer's okay." "Sure," Damon muttered. They made their way to the entrance of the hospital to find Stefan standing inside.
"What happened?" Stefan demanded, eying the boy in Damon's arms. "He tried to turn himself; we're trying to stop it. Your girlfriend can explain the rest." Damon walked off and carried Jeremy to a nearby nurse, who led them to a room down the hallway. "Katherine stabbed John and Damon fed him his blood," Elena explained. She wouldn't tell Stefan about the kiss; that was Damon's secret and Damon's alone. He was already devastated. If there was anything she could do to lessen his pain, then keeping that to herself was the least she could do. "John will be okay." Stefan still seemed in shock that Katherine was back. What did she want now? Hadn't she done enough?
"We don't know where she is now," she told him. Stefan nodded. "The good thing is that you're safe." "And Caroline?" Elena probed. "She'll be fine. Internal bleeding. Surgery." Very evasive. Caroline was the last thing on his mind right now and it was evident. "Look – as long as we're together, I doubt Katherine will try anything," Stefan went on. "Just stay here with me. It's a public place. She knows it's way too risky. If we stay like this, out in the open, you'll be safe. And somehow we're going to have to find Katherine." Elena nodded. "Find her," Stefan continued. "And destroy her."
"And you can defeat her?" Elena asked. "Not alone," he sighed. "She's about 500 years old. The older, the stronger. Even Damon and I together would be a stretch against her." "You need help, then," she inquired. "Do you know any other vampires who can help you?" Stefan shook his head. "None who would help, no." Elena suddenly looked up. "Mr. Saltzman." "His ring," Stefan considered. "That would definitely be an advantage." "Then maybe he'll help us." "Maybe." Stefan paused. "Where's John?" "He's in the car," Elena answered. "Why?"
Stefan frowned. "I doubt it's a good idea to leave him in the car. Seeing as how Katherine almost killed him." Elena cursed herself for not thinking of that sooner. "Of course." Stefan cupped her face in his hands and gazed into her eyes. "Stay here. I'll go check on him." Elena watched Stefan rush out of the exit doors and wondered why Damon hadn't thought of that beforehand. Well, Damon hated John. John's dying would be no loss to him.
Stefan approached the car to find John safely asleep in the backseat. He breathed a sigh of relief and before he could turn around, he heard a voice from behind him. "Hello, Stefan."
He slowly turned around to find Elena's Doppelgänger standing before him. He took a deep breath before saying anything and took in her features. She's obviously been watching Elena for a while to pick up on her mannerisms, clothing, and how she styled her hair. But the jacket was different; the blouse wasn't even the same color. Katherine wore a silver chain around her neck, the actual pendant tucked under the collar of her shirt. She sported an evil grin just for him and cocked her head to the side. "Katherine."