Title: Hauntings Of A Lover
Author: Jade Dupree
Series: Immortal Love
Rating: PG-13/T
Show: The Vampire Diaries
Genre: angst, drama, general, hurt/comfort, romance, suspense
Story Type: Short Story
Warnings: Some cursing, but nothing serious.
Pairing: Sorta Damon/OFC (Destiny Crawford)
Complete: Yes
Summary: After dealing with a flash back of a past lover, Destiny, Damon now spends the morning dealing with more memories and tries to keep them private. Sequel to Forgotten Memories.
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the TV show 'The Vampire Diaries', any and all characters from TV show belong to the creators of said TV Show. I do not own, know or have anything to do with Ian Somerhalder or anyone from the show. I do own the character 'Destiny Crawford', I am not making any money from this fan fiction, it is simple an idea that wouldn't leave me alone.
Author's Note: This is the second short story of the series 'Immortal Love', which I have decided to do as short stories, unless an idea changes. It is set in Season 2, after both Katherine and Elena have rejected him, but before he'd 'given' Elena up to Stefan.
_
Damon stared into the fire that burned in the fireplaces. Since he'd woken up earlier this morning, he hadn't been able to get back to sleep. The memory of Destiny, of what they had together simply refused to leave him alone. He sought comfort from his favorite bottle of scotch, but even that didn't numb him as he hoped. With a low groan, he rubbed his forehead as he tried to lock those thoughts away again. Sadly, he knew that was a hopeless fight, with today being her birthday, he knew her memory would remain for the rest of the day.
"Damon?"
He glanced up to see Elena at the entrance of the living room. With a slight frown, his eyes shot to the nearest clock. Damn it, he thought as he saw it was almost nine. With a heavy sigh, he downed the rest of the amber liquid. "Yes Elena?" he said as he rose to his feet. "How might I be of service to you today?"
This time a frown came to Elena's face as she watched him move to pour more scotch in to his glass. "You sound annoyed."
"Well you're an insightful one that's for sure," he said before he took a sip.
"Why? Did something happened?" Panic entered her voice as she took a step towards him. "Is it Stefan or Katherine?"
A humorless laugh slipped from his lips. With a shake of his head, he leaned against the table that held all the liquor. "Contrary to popular belief, not everything that annoys me has something to do with those two."
"Then what is it?"
"Not something I want to discuss with you," he said with a smirk. "Now what do you want?"
Elena looked taken back for a moment. Sure she was used to Damon's ways, but this seemed more strange then usually. With a small shrug, she brushed her hair back behind her ear. "Uh... I was just stopping by to see Stefan. Do you know where he is?"
"Upstairs would be my first guess." Damon smirked at her again, before he made his way back to the couch. "But seeing as I'm not his keeper, I really don't know. Not to mention the fact that I don't care."
"Okay, just stop it Damon," Elena said, her voice firm. "I know you're still ticked that Katherine didn't choose you, but you shouldn't take it out on Stefan. You're brother's done a lot to you, but what happened with Katherine really wasn't his fault. It was hers."
"Again, you're assuming that what I said has something to do with those two. I meant that what I'm dealing with right now is at the forefront of my mind, Stefan is over hundred and fifty years old, he can take care of himself." There was a pause as he took another drink. His brows came together before his eyes cut to her once again. "Why the hell am I explaining myself to you?"
"Because we're friends." Elena made her way over to him before she took a seat on the couch as well. With a deep breath, she faced him. "Won't you tell me what's wrong? Maybe I can help."
A mocking smile covered his face at her offer. Oh yes, she'd like to help alright, he thought. He could already picture her reaction as he confessed to what he had done to Destiny. How he stalked her, toyed with her, loved her and eventually turned her. That he had made that woman promises of a life together, ones that he had no real intention to keep. Most were silent promises in moments of pure passion, others he had verbalized, but they all were promises none the less. All he broke when he allowed her to walk away as he clung to the memory of Katherine.
"Just go away," he said, his eyes shifted to the flames once more.
"What?"
"Go away, Elena," he said, though it was more of a snap really. He glanced over at her. "I don't need your help nor do I want it. You've made it perfectly clear where we stand as so called friends. I'm your friend when it's convenient and beneficial to you. I don't like to be used anymore than anyone else. So why don't you just go find Stefan and leave me the hell alone?"
His words did what he wanted, they hurt her. Of course, he was always pretty good at things like that. His dark expression remained on his face as she moved to quickly leave the room. With a huff, he shook his head and looked away. Maybe he was too harsh on her, but he honestly was sick of having to prove himself. Granted, he wasn't perfect and he had done some stupid things, like killing Jeremy. Still, did that mean she had a right to use him and dangle their friendship in front of him? He sure as hell didn't think so.
"You were still too hard on her."
Damon froze mid-sip as he heard that voice. With a shaky breath, he lowered the glass as he looked around the room. There, behind him at the bookshelf, Destiny stood. Only he knew it wasn't really her, just another form of the memory. He closed his eyes as he took a slow breath. "You always were a bleeding heart."
Her soft laughter filled the room and his heart. Oh how he missed hearing that sound, all the joy that was in it and never once mocking to him or anyone else. She could find the humor in the simplest things, things he'd over look. The laughter died down and he could have sworn he felt a shift as she leaned on the couch. He tilted his head to look up at her. Those glorious blue eyes that grew dark when he touched her and those sweet lips that breathed his name so many times for so many years. A shudder ran down his spine.
"I know you're prefer me to be more dark like you," Destiny teased, "but I'm not like that. Remember, that's one of those things you liked about me."
"I only liked the fact you were good in bed," he muttered, a faint smile on his lips.
Suddenly, she was beside him on the couch. They didn't touch, but she was so close to him that he could if he wanted to and he knew he wanted to touch her again. To hold her in his arms, to erase all the hurt, the pain he caused her. Of course Damon was no fool, even if he did ever find Destiny again, she'd never let him into her heart again. That was the punishment he had to live with for the rest of his undead life. A perfect punishment too, he sentenced her to an undead life without him, now he was the one who had to live without her. Fate had a cruel sense of humor.
"Well, I'm sure that was part of it." A tiny, knowing smile crossed her lips. How many times had he seen that smile? Whenever he said something to her without realizing it, something that he truly meant and she cherished it. A smile reserved only for her lover, only for him. "I do know better though and I know you better. You shouldn't have been so hard on her, Damon, she just wanted to help."
"You don't know Elena."
"I know she looks like Katherine, that you want her now instead of Katherine because you see how that one really is. Sadly, once again, she wants your brother rather then you and now you have no idea what to do."
Damon pressed his lips together before his eyes dropped to his hands. "Actually, I have an idea on what to do," he whispered. "I just don't know how well it would work."
"What's the idea?"
He glanced at her again. Though he knew she wasn't really here, knew this was just an image from his mind, he still liked the fact he could talk to her. Really talk to her, sure he didn't tell her everything, but they still talked. She listened, she offered advice and she really cared. Why had he been stupid enough to let her leave?
"Damon, what's the idea?" she repeated.
"Going to find you," he said while he took another drink.
Silence fell around them. He hadn't really expected her to say anything, but he hoped she would. Maybe not beg him to come find her, but at least tell him it wouldn't be a waste of his time. After another moment, he shifted to look at her, saw that she stared at him without moving. Cautiously, he reached out to touch her cheek, but he knew that it was only in his mind that he felt the soft skin. "I made a mistake."
"You've made a lot of them, everyone has," she said, before she pushed his hand away and rose. "I don't honestly know what you want from me, Damon. I spent years trying to take your mind off her, but nothing worked and you let me leave. Now that she doesn't want you, now that you can't have her look alike, you want to come back to me? Why should I open myself up to you again like that?"
"So glad I did this now instead of going to find you first," he muttered. "Isn't it enough that I'm sorry?"
"No, because I have no security. There is no guarantee that you won't break my heart again."
Damon stood up to take a step close to her. His blue eyes blazed with anger. "Have I ever once lied to you?"
"You made promises you never meant to keep," Destiny answered as she met his gaze straight on.
A silent curse stumbled from his lips as he turned away and moved to the fire place. Of course she'd remind him of that, of what he promised to give her and never did. She asked for so little, yet he refused her. All for some bitch that wanted his brother instead of him. Always Stefan, it was always Stefan for everyone. Their father, Katherine, Elena, all the friends they had, everyone would choose Stefan in a heartbeat over him. Everyone expect the one he pushed away.
"I need you," Damon whispered as he stared into the flames. "I know I was horrible to you. I could never make up for what I did to you, but I need you. Even if you only give me one day, I just need something to strengthen me. You always had a good way of knocking some sense into me."
"Damon?" Stefan's voice came from the doorway.
With a hard swallow, he glanced over his shoulder at his younger brother. "What?"
"Who're you talking to?"
A smirk settled on his face before he turned around fully. His arms came to rest across his chest while he leveled his eyes with his brother's. He should have known the memory would do that to him, get him caught like some loony. Still, he would act as if nothing was wrong, he was good at that after all. "Why Stefan, I didn't know you'd be interested in my nightly activities. Wouldn't Elena find that a little unusual?"
Stefan watched him for a moment. "That didn't sound like nightly activities," he commented. "You sounded almost sad. But that can't be right? What would you be sad about?"
"Exactly," he replied with a grin. "You're getting better at reading me little brother, I'm touched."
"Sure," he said with a faint smile. "I'm taking Elena to school."
"Make sure you take an apple for your teacher," Damon said as he moved to sit back on couch. "They still do that right? Give apples to the teachers? Or has it changed to like an MP3?"
"Bye Damon," Stefan said as he turned for the door.
He watched in silence as his younger brother left, knowing that had been a close call. What Stefan wouldn't give to know about that part of his sordid past. Just some more stuff Stefan could use against him and how he was the 'good' brother, while Damon was the 'bad' brother. All that bull would make anyone sick to their stomach and he was no exception. Still, even if things hadn't ended badly with Destiny, he was a bit glad she never met Stefan. He wasn't sure how he'd handle it if she chose his little brother over him as well. He was sure about one thing though, his mind wouldn't recover.
The End