"I think I deserve the sole title of worst guardian" he mumbles as he casts his gaze at his drink causing Damon to give a slight roll of his eyes taking a quick swig from the bottle before setting it down "that's where I beat you my friend…prepare to feel ten times better" he begins tapping his fingers against the counter "technically speaking you're not even family….Stefan is my brother, my little brother….I'm the one that's suppose to protect him not the other way around…..and instead I'm stuck here while my brother is doing god knows what considering he's Klaus's bitch" he mutters releasing a heavy sigh before grabbing his life line and raising it to his lips taking another swig.
"Still" Alaric replies as he clasps the bottle in his hand "Jeremy is drinking beer and getting high and I just do nothing" he replies grimly causing Damon to release a rich chuckle "Baby Gilbert is doing what most teens do….my baby brother is ripping apart people….I'm sure as we speak, Elena and Jeremy have yet to kill anyone so safe to say I win this round."
There talk was completely grim, and yet there was calmness to it as they both raised their bottles up "I'll drink to that" Alaric says clacking his bottle against Damon's as they both take a swig, Alaric the first to remove the bottle as he sets it down "as much as everyone makes you out to be a dick you're a good guy why don't you ever show it more….and that includes Elena's friends" he states giving Damon a knowing look.
"Ugh" groaning at his buddies knowing smirk "I can't bond with the Scooby Doo gang they're just blah" he says rolling his eyes "and I'm not a good guy I'm selfish….I do bad things, the role of good is reserved for my brother, and once we're done with this Freaky Friday thing everything will return to normal."
"See that's it right there" pointing his finger accusingly towards Damon's direction "you accept the role of being the dick…..but you've done good things, everything you do is behind the scenes like what you're doing for Jeremy and Elena helping to distract them from all this….how you're helping me out, and what you did for Rose."
"Fucking Rose" his body stiffening as he feels a lump in his throat "I didn't do anything for her I snuck into her mind…..contorted images to make everything warm and fuzzy which included sunshine, rainbow and rolling hills…..all I gave her was a damn delusion."
"You gave her peace Damon, face it you're a good guy" pausing for a moment he clears his throat going onto the subject that he wanted to talk about tonight "speaking of being a good guy there's….there's something I need to ask you to do for me" he begins to explain but gets interrupted as Damon waves his hands up.
"Woah….woah what happened to the rule of no chick flick moments" he asks with a raised brow "though I am a fan of the Bromance Ric you can't handle these baby blues" he teases wiggling his brows "not to mention I'm a boobs man and you don't bare them….Elena though" giving a knowing smirk which results in him getting knocked upside the head.
"First off dick don't talk about Elena like that….second I'm trying to be real here….with all this hell breaking loose we can't predict what's going to happen tomorrow or the next day, or day after that…..and those kids they've lost a hell of a lot" glancing away for a moment as he's instantly reminded of Jenna "if something happens to me."
The smirk that he's wearing vanishing as Alaric brings up the gloom, he had already lost his brother, and now talk about death wasn't something he wanted to talk about, especially with his only friend, but he wouldn't show it "don't be all gloomy that's Stefan's job….nothing is going to happen to you" he coolly states, giving a casual shrug going back to his bottle.
"I'm asking you to be serious for a moment Damon" he half growls out causing the blue eyed Vampire to flick his attention back to him "this is Mystic Falls anything can happen here…death happens here just as much as those damn town events" shaking his head "if there comes a day where something happens to me I need you to promise me that you will take care of Elena and Jeremy, that you'll look out for them….protect them all they have is each other….it may be just the two of them but their bond is strong, promise me" his gaze intent on Damon "promise me you'll take care of them" his hand in offering.
It was depressing to think of such things, but he was right, everything he said was right, giving a brief nod and cutting the sarcastic act he takes his offered hand "I promise" giving it a firm shake and offering a reassuring smile "I'll take care of the kids."
—
"I broke my promise" he whispers into the cold night as his gaze remains trained on the head stone in front of him reading the name Alaric Saltzman as he raises the bottle of bourbon to his lips taking a swig before removing it from his mouth as he shakes his head "I told you I would protect them" swallowing hard as he casts his attention elsewhere "they only have each other, but their bond is strong" repeating the words that Alaric had said to him back then "it's broken now….because he's gone and Elena" shaking his head he raises the bottle back to his lips taking another swig.
"She's gone" his eyes closing recalling the events of today "she has him on his bed…..tucked in as if he's taking a nap…if everyone is arguing she silenced them telling us we're disrupting his sleep" he releases a bitter laugh "you could take a damn chainsaw and turn it on and he wouldn't wake up….everyone sees a damn lifeless corpse" he says through gritted teeth "yet she's just seeing her napping brother, her little brother, she's not accepting that he's gone….he's gone" he shouts out growling in annoyance as he swings the bottle.
"Oh god he's gone" this time it comes out as a whisper "Jeremy Gilbert is dead" swallowing the lump in his throat "Elena's last family member is dead….little Gilbert" it's as if he's just hearing the news, his body staggering back as he takes a seat on the marble bench "dead."
"Everyone thought I hated him, I keep myself silent when they talk about him, because they think I didn't care….granted in their defense when you snap that persons neck it's understandable to see what they'd think something like that" he mutters with a faint smirk. "Want to know something" his brow raising waiting to hear a whispered yes before he continues "I cared about the twerp….he was like the Grim Reaper any girl that showed the slightest interest in him died swinging all the way back to everyone's interest in Elena….Vickie died because I killed her, turned her and then Stefan killed her to protect Elena….Anna died because John killed her…..Jenna, Jenna died because of Klaus round about once again to Elena….and you…you" not even having the power to finish it seeing as Alaric's death still haunted him "the bottom line is after all that hell he still remained loyal to his sister…that's…he has" flinching slightly "had my respect …he loved Elena regardless of what some damn birth certificate showed and he protected her….even if it ended him."
Silence once again drapes over him causing him to raise the bottle to his lips taking a heavy swig "I wish you were here….because I have no clue what the hell I'm doing….you'd be completely ashamed in me" waggling his finger towards the direction of the headstone "don't say differently….when you were here Elena was still human…..now she's a fucking Vampire…..Jeremy was still alive….human, not sporting invisible tattoos and having the urge to go hunt something….and now he's dead….I fucked up on my promise…royally…you should be the one here….not me, you say you didn't know what you were doing, but they loved you….you were family me" raising his hands up in an I don't know gesture "I'm just the guy who has the woman he loves sired to him….and the one deemed as the selfish asshole who snapped Baby Gilbert's neck…all true though."
Moisture hits him causing him to cast his gaze up towards the night sky "great" he mutters as droplets of rain begin to fall onto the him "my mother" his breath hitching in his throat trying to recall the last time he spoke of her "as a little boy she told me when it rained it meant that one of the angels of our loved one's was crying" giving a weak smile "can't be you though….real men don't cry" the irony of it all hitting him hard as he feels a droplet of water run down his cheek hastily wiping it away assuming it's just another droplet of rain, but the another one slides down, and another causing him to look up at the sky "really" he shouts out "is this punishment for my past sins" he's waiting, waiting for something, a sign, a voice anything "because if you want to punish me here I am" rising from the bench he stretches his arms out offering himself "punish me…do your worst…just leave her the hell alone she didn't deserve this…..Stefan and I are the bad ones, we're the one's who've done no mercy kills…..she did nothing….nothing….out of everyone in the entire world she looses everything….you take everything…..why…..tell me why" he growls out.
It takes him a few minutes to realize he's actually trying to have a conversation with the big man upstairs, and he stands there in utter silence until flicking his gaze back to the headstone "tell me what to do…..ho-how can I make her better, how can I still have her hold onto hope….te-tell me what to do" he's practically pleading now, something completely out of character, but he's desperate "her compassion, selflessness….humanity that's what saved me….I can't let her lose that….she's lost so much her beautiful heart I refuse to let her lose that….yet I don't know what to do….please tell me what to do." The sound of a bell chiming sounds and for a short fraction of a second he feels a sense of hope that this might be a sign, but then he realizes where the sound is coming from, reaching into his pocket he fishes out his Black Berry, his heart dropping at the text from Caroline.
[text] You need to get here now, she's flipped the switch. Stefan is trying to calm her down, but they are all failed attempts, I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but we need you Damon, she needs you.
And there it is, the world had been crumbling beneath Elena's feet and now it was the last straw, because it had swallowed her completely whole, and it wasn't Saint Stefan that was being asked to save the day, it was him, the white knight disguised as the dark knight being asked to save the fair maiden, only this time was different, this time Damon knew even he wouldn't be enough. Sending a quick reply back alerting her that he's on his way he shoves his phone back into his coat pocket, grabbing his bottle he crouches down, setting the bottle right beside his headstone, making sure always to leave enough inside the bottle just on the off chance if he wanted a drink. His hand raises up resting on the headstone "I broke my promise" he whispers again, wiping away the dried tears from his cheeks wanting to give no one the idea that he Damon Salvatore was actually crying, his mask slowly creeping back on, completing his facade "but I give you my word I'm not going to give up on her." Giving the headstone a pat as if he was giving his old friend a pat on the back he offers a weak smile, rising to his feet he casts his gaze over his shoulder "we'll talk again soon buddy, but for now I have to go save our girl" and without another word he flashes off into the night.