First one-shot... I know, it sucks, I'm not too proud of my Damon, but I really had to write this and get it off of my chest somehow. Hope you guys enjoy. If not, that's fine and I totally understand why, haha.

V, this is really for you. Feel lucky because you are, babe.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries, all credit is due to the owner. Mia is also not mine, but an OC I wanted to put in from the very talented writer, who's name you see a couple lines above. Caecilia Mikaelson, however, IS my OC.

Again, Enjoy. Or... Don't. XD

"You ever think… That the Earth was a star once?"

Caecilia softly murmured her question from her place on the grass, bare arms surrounded by the gentle prickles of the lush green. Her chest rose and fell slowly, a sign of content from where she stayed. The approaching footsteps came closer and closer to her ears, as even the pace was one that she could recognize now.

"Now, you know Stefan will have a fit about getting your dress dirty. He's too much of a mom not to notice later." Came the dry and snarky reply from Damon, the vampire that approached her before taking a seat on the grass himself. The night of outside was quiet, much quieter than what he expected to hear with his enhanced senses. Staring ahead while the girl beside him stared up at the sky, he realized that this is where Cae had been the whole time. While they were scheming ways to kill her siblings, she was out here counting the constellations in the stars.

"You really shouldn't run off like that. I don't want to get into the habit of putting out Amber Alerts." Damon said to her, only for her confusion to rise.

"Who is Amber?" Caecilia frowned before adding, "I didn't run off. I just…. Needed some air. There's too many people… And my mother being there, it's-..."

It's a lot on her. This much, Damon could figure. Of course, she didn't know about who was plotting to kill who inside, and if she found out-...

No, Damon sighed heavily to himself. It was when she found out…. She will crumble. She wouldn't be able to handle it. His mind shifted gears to focus on her, blinking at the sight of how at peace she seemed to be. The golden curls of her hair fanned around her like a halo, truly fitting for a girl like her. Her blue-green eyes never shifted from the sky above, clearly focused on the subjects of her first question. Damon looked up to see the shining stars from space, however many light years away they were. "What are you going on about? Was Earth a star? I'm sure it was… Might wanna ask the scientists on Google that question. Surely, they know everything." He shrugged, his own blue hues flickering between the many different stars above.

Caecilia took his unsure answer as enough of an affirmative, humming softly to herself in thought. "To be a star…. And to either create life with time… or to turn into a dark, black hole.." She thought aloud. It was an interesting thought, just enough to make the vampire beside her frown and furrow those eyebrows of his.

"You been sneaking into Jeremy's pot stash or something? Where's all this coming from?" He raised one brow. Caecilia shook her head and slowly sat up, a sigh leaving her as she rested her head on his shoulder. He didn't tense like he used to, make another smart remark. It was becoming more of a natural thing, each other's presence. "I feel like this was all by design, somehow… From everything of life and death outside of just Earth.. To what it becomes… And what it aligns to for us to see when we're paying attention." She confessed in her thoughts, the air she breathed cooled her lungs from the clinks of bubbling champagne and flasks of something much stronger hidden in some coat pockets. Damon scoffed, noticing once more just how innocent she was… Naive… And… Imaginative.

"Well, if there's anyone behind the alignment of them, I'd say it's some six year old brat with a crayon."

"You think you could align them better?"

"Pfft. Is that a challenge?"

Caecilia smiled, nothing more coming from her as she rested in her spot, eyelids getting heavy…

The clink of the glass cup hitting the wood again to be refilled was nothing of the casual sort of gesture. The sloshing of the whiskey recoating to fill the glass was a heavy and somber pour, blue hues that focused on them were nothing but a half-lidded haze. He lifted the glass to his lips once more, not bothering to open his ears to the footsteps that approached. They weren't those little, meek footsteps that shuffled around in search of him. They weren't the footsteps that mattered. No one mattered. No one else.

"You think drinking it all away will help anything?" Came the low voice, a steady and calm one. Even, a fucking always. The fire crackled in the fireplace, but there was no one to be kept warm. This house was empty. Lifeless. Cold. No fire or sips of whiskey would help with that.

"Tell me, little brother." Came the mocking reply of a question. "Just what is there to drink away? Certainly isn't my life. I got forever. You made sure of that." And with that, he took another sip, the burn down his throat with the alcohol wasn't that smooth burn like he was used to. Like it used to be.. It was ragged…. Clawing at his throat on the way down.

Stefan had nothing to say to that, jaw clenching once as his eyes cast downwards at an angle. He held back a sigh, just as exhausted as his brother was.

With a lick and roll of his lips together, he eventually spoke up after a bitter quietness.

"She doesn't have much longer. There's not much time left." He whispered from his place of the doorway.

"Okay, almost there. I promise. And no, we're no on the roof again." Damon rolled his eyes at the memory from last time the girl went on the roof. To say that he couldn't hear for another hour was an understatement. Leading Cae into the room, he continued to hold his hands over her eyes, the heat from the rushing blood flew to her cheeks and her eyelashes fluttered against his fingers.

"Ah! Not yet. I'll tell you when." He told the witch over her soft giggle. The black kitten on her bed was curled into a ball, eyes on the surprise above and flickering to the two familiar faces while staying in his spot for once. Maybe he heard enough to understand the lingering threat of 'Stefan' and becoming a 'snack' one day.

"Damon, just show me already!" Caecilia told him in rising excitement.

"Okay, okay…. Just so you know. That challenge was accepted." Before she could reply with her confusion, he lifted his hands from her eyes for her to see. Those ocean orbs opened up quickly, surprise filling her eyes as there was light all around. Small little fairy lights, arranged and secured, floating all around and above.

"Woah.." She breathed in disbelief, her lungs twinging at the sudden in and outtake. To anyone, it was a bunch of cute fairy lights that only one could find on a post in Pinterest or Tumblr.

But to Caecilia...They were all..

"Stars… They're all stars…" She beamed, fingers going up to the lights to gently brush against them. Damon held back a scoff, letting the girl have a moment for once. Stepping off from the doorway, he watched as he walked over.

"Don't get too excited. We won't be floating anytime soon." Lifting a hand, he slowly closed his around her own outstretched one, feeling her soft skin in support. "Told you I could align them way better. Every girl in Mystic Falls will be jealous. Even Stefan." He flashed that signature smirk of his, watching her laugh in response.

"Tell me, Stefan. What's your secret? How'd you do it? How did you manage to seal someone's fate and link it to your own like you did?" Damon asked, eyes narrowing as he began to walk over to him.

"How is it that you can trap one but can't save another? I just want to know. I sure as hell couldn't do it. I couldn't save her." He growled, his eyes wide with the slowly revealed fear, an unravel to the war raging in his mind. Stefan nodded, accepting the focus of Damon's growing rage to pinpoint at him now.

"Damon, you've done all you do-..."

He was interrupted by the sound of smashing glass, the cup, once empty again, was hurled into the brick of the chimney inside and scattered to the floor; remained of glass shards as well as the few drops of whiskey left reflected from the burning fire in its place. Damon watched the glass break and the fire flicker, all rage in his eyes diminishing into the loss of hope. He didn't say anything for a moment, the picture of the golden girl he could only recently admit he loved coming to mind.

"I don't want to know what all I did…. It clearly doesn't matter if it's outweighed by what I didn't do." His voice was low, accepting… More of a statement to himself than his brother.

Her pulse was slow….Weak..It was becoming a question of just how Damon could still hear it, even with his hearing.. She was intrinsically broken, the cracks became aging lines in her heart.

He held onto her hand, a tiny squeeze was all that she could give as a form of response.

"I like this song… Who was it by again? I mean, you know… Who made it?" Caecilia looked up to Damon, her little feet on top of his as she danced with him, fingers locked and tangled together.

"Cigarettes After Sex. A pretty good band for vibes and weed." Damon replied, seeing the distaste on her features. "Cigarettes After-... That doesn't sound too fun.. At all.." She laughed softly, blushing as she wasn't able to relate to the feeling.

"Believe me, it's wayyyyy better than it will ever sound to your innocent little ears." He replied, his smirk slowly fading as she grew serious. What was wrong?

"Damon?...Thank you."

"For what, lights?" Was it really that serious to her?

"..For giving me the stars." She whispers, looking up at him.

The stars, she said. Little did she know that she was a star. Far beyond any reach he could ever stretch. For anyone…. Too far away from a world like this..

A moment of silence passed as eyes locked onto each other's, the music fading away as gravity brought them closer.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Came the soft question from the brown eyed teen that stood outside the door. Her door. She wanted to go in and at least see her one more time-... Surely, it would be the right thing to do…

Mia's pain flashed across her memory, making her eyes cast downwards. What was she saying? Of course, it was being it being right or wrong. Caecilia was a friend. And regardless of what they did as well as her family…. Caecilia had stayed pure and true to herself. Her thoughts and beliefs in helping any as well as everyone she could….

Damon-...He loved her. Of course, he wouldn't admit it, but it didn't take his current self-destruction to finally realize that.

"I wanna see him. I can help. I can support and be there-" She tried, but was stopped with Stefan's voice.

"I don't know, Elena… I think he just needs to be alone right now… I need to call Elijah, have them come down here… Like I said to Damon, if Bonnie is right about what's going on and her body giving up on her, then she doesn't have much time. This isn't something magic can just fix...Damon's blood won't help, spells can't do anything.." He trailed, his chest clenching on a somber note as he looked away for a moment.

"Caecilia knew what she was doing by saving him. And she's paying the price."

Caecilia knew it would be any minute now, the spell completing in replacing the link from Damon to herself. Of course, it had taken a lot out of the witch. She may have been a Mikaelson, but she wasn't invincible. This much she knew.

And no, she wasn't invisible…. But she was capable. She was capable of way more than she ever thought of herself. The dark haired, blue eyed vampire made sure that she'd see it for herself.

So that's why she had to say him for what was coming. The witch that was planning to kill him was too powerful to stop… But Cae knew that she could save him.

Washing off the blood from her nose and lips, forcing herself out of the lightheaded feeling, Caecilia quickly wiped away the blood before leaving the bathroom to find Damon's voice calling for her. He had to show her something….

Cae had rested her head against Damon's chest as they swayed softly to the soft, eyes closed to hide the slowly growing discomfort of heat filling her body. Just a few more moments… Just a little bit longer.

The hand that squeezed Damon's weakly spoke for itself. Reaching for time that was already lost… Pulled away from her..

The moment that their lips met for the first time. She begged herself and to the impending doom that loomed over her, like a darkening cloud above a meadow.

Just a little bit longer…

"...Cae?" Came the voice that sounded like it was underwater, the sharp pain that filled her entire being was enough to pull the witch under, falling away from his grasp, slipping from the stars… The stars that he gave to her..

Her first kiss had only been just as quickly with her last, unresponding lips to another pair in gentle contact, every bit of love, pain, suffering, and regret that the infamous Damon Salvatore came to know.

"My star. You're my star." Came the last whisper Caecilia Mikaelson would ever hear, the last bit of life floating away, too far to ever reach.

Annnnnnnddddddd That's it! That's all I got. Hope it was okay! Sorry for the cringiness. Anyway, read and review! Thanks, guys!