Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries or the cast, obviously, but all the other charcters are mine (:

Never Let Me Go

(Damon Salvatore/Aubrey Dalton)

Prologue

"And it's breaking over me,
A thousand miles onto the sea bed,
Found the place to rest my head.

Never let me go, never let me go.
Never let me go, never let me go."

(Never Let Me Go, Florence + The Machine)

"Damon?" she called into the dark, empty room, rubbing her head where a nasty headache had begun to rear its ugly head. She got up and walked, well limped, to the living room where she found him sitting on the couch. When he noticed her presence he immediately appeared before her.

"Hey," he whispered, moving strands of hair out of her face, finally resting his hand on her cheek, "how are you feeling?"

"I've been better," she said trying her best to sound casual and ignore the shooting pains in her lower abdomen and legs. She noticed he appeared more morose than usual. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… just fine," he said distractedly, glancing off to the side. She knew that look and it did not bode well.

"Damon." she said sternly.

"I've been thinking…" he began.

"Oh no Damon not that again. We've been through this before," she reached my hand out to place on top of his. He quickly withdrew his hand from her cheek and helped her to the couch. "Damon I'm not a cripple. I still possess basic motor functions," she whined as he picked her up bridal style and set her down on the couch. He chuckled humorlessly. They sat on the couch in silence for a while before he spoke up again.

" I've been thinking… that it's time for me to leave," he said as he traced the fading bite mark on the side of her neck. She looked up at him, meeting his gaze. An awkward silence fell again before she abruptly spoke up.

"No." she said adamantly.

"Excuse me?" he asked a little taken back by her sudden outburst.

"You're not leaving. I know what you're thinking, it's written all over your face. You're not going to leave me because you think you're a monster, you're not. And you are definitely not leaving me for because of Katherine," she said as sternly as she could muster.

"It's for the best…" he began.

"Oh don't give me that crap Damon, you know that wasn't your fault…" she started but he cut me off.

"It was Audrey. It was my fault she came after you, and it was my fault that I wasn't there to protect you. I was reckless. You're safer without me around," he said softly. She scoffed.

"Damon… don't. This is exactly what she wants. She's just toying with you…" she said pleadingly.

"I love her," was all he said. She bit her lip.

"You haven't seen her in over a hundred years Damon. She never bothered to contact you. She doesn't love you Damon. She's just using you to get to Stefan," she said.

"You're lying," he seethed.

"No Damon I'm not."

"You don't know her."

"She's a borderline psychopathic bitch who manipulates your feelings for her to torture you and get to Stefan. She's not worth it Damon!" she all but shouted at him. This was just getting ridiculous.

"I… I can't let go…"

"Damon, I need you. And I know you need me too," her voice was breaking and she bit her tongue to bite back the tears threatening to spill. He turned around and sat back down on the couch, for a moment she thought she had gotten through to him. It was only when she saw the look in his eye that she realized what he was doing, my eyes widened. "Damon. NO! Damon, you can't. Please."

"I'm sorry Audrey. This is for the best," he said.

"Damon. You can't do this. I… I love you," she said pleadingly, the tears beginning to run down her cheeks.

"I…," he opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it. He was silent for a while before he spoke again. "I'm sorry," was all he managed to say. I tried to look away, but his gaze was too strong. She found herself unable to look away from his piercing blue eyes. The tears were now pouring out in streams along her cheeks, she could taste the saltiness on her lips.

"When you wake up you're going to forget that Damon Salvatore ever existed; you'll forget the existence of supernatural creatures. You'll go back to your normal life before. You'll meet a nice guy and maybe settle down. He'll love you and care for you, and you'll forget you ever met me. If people ask you how you got hurt tell them you hurt yourself when you fell down the stairs" She could feel the memories slipping away. She tried her hardest to grab onto them, to keep them from slipping away but she couldn't. Slowly she felt the world around her fade, falling into a peaceful slumber. When it was over he carried her back to the bed and laid her down on it. He ran his fingers through her beautiful brown locks one last time, taking one last moment to watch her peaceful form before placing a kiss on her forehead. She awoke the next morning with a painful headache, bruised ribs, no memory of a Damon Salvatore, and an ache in her heart that she couldn't quite explain.