Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Vampire Diaries. What a shame.

Author's note: Hi everybody! This is my first try at a fanfiction in the Vampire Diaries world. I wrote this because the last episode (The house guest) pissed me off so much. Poor little Damon, everybody just keeps kicking into him. Stop that people! Doesn't he deserve a little love? Well, he will get it from me.

This is actually a one-shot, I post it in two parts because it elevates the drama…

Anyway, English is not my native language, so if there are any grammar mistakes and so that's because of that. Sorry.

If you enjoyed reading it please review! Pretty please!

Love,

Wil

Here we were, at the endgame. Klaus, who really was the monster who we all expected, stood before me, waiting for me to answer his question.

The two Salvatore brothers were just a step behind my back, compelled not to move. I turned around taking my eyes from the oldest living vampire who wanted me to make the hardest decision of my life. I looked at Stefan first. He stared into my eyes directly, so sure of my answer. I could tell that he struggled; he knew what my choice would do to the other, and he was already sorry for his brother. My eyes moved to Damon. Poor, wrecked and torn Damon. He wasn't meeting my gaze. I couldn't see those beautiful eyes and that handsome face, because he turned down his head waiting for the verdict.

"All right Ms. Gilbert, I gave you enough time. Please, announce your candidate now!" ordered Klaus in the same aristocratic manner as Elijah used to speak.

I had the name in my mind, but I knew that it would break a heart if I say it out loud, so I hesitated. I knew I could save only one of them. Klaus made it clear that he only needed one vampire for the ritual, so one could leave free. He made it my duty to pick which one of them will live, and who will die with me.

It was time for my declaration.

TWO DAYS EARLIER…

The boarding house seemed empty when I stepped in. Stefan missed school, so I came to check on him. I couldn't find him in his room, and the living room was also deserted. A little bolt of jealousy crossed my mind as I noticed, that Katherine was missing to, but I dismissed the thought immediately. They could be gone separately.

A groan, coming from the direction of the sofa told me, that I was not alone in the house. I inched closer, taking a stake out of my bag. I knew that it would be useless against Klaus but I was hoping that I could surprise any lesser vampire.

Well, there on the sofa laid a slightly lesser vampire than Klaus. He had one of Jonathan Gilbert's journal open and face-down on his chest and covered his eyes with his lower arm. An empty bottle of scotch stood on the table beside him. I lowered the stake, turned it around and poked him with the blunt end. The action earned me another irritated moan, but he didn't let down his arm.

"Damon, wake up!"

I poked him again, but this time he grabbed the stake with his free hand, snatched it from my fingers and tossed it into the remains of the fire. I shrieked partly because of his abrupt movement and partly because of a splinter found its way to my forefinger.

"Ouch!" I said as I got around the sofa. I shoved his feet off the arm of the furniture and sat down on it, sucking my finger. It seemed very trivial that in the shadow of the imminent death my greatest trouble was a little fragment of wood in my finger, but it irritated me more than a stake in the belly would. My trailed nerves magnified every little nuisance like it was the end of the world.

After a few minutes of unsuccessful attempts to take the damn thing out I let out a resigned sigh and took back my finger to my mouth.

"Do you need help with that?" I heard Damon's voice from beside me. I turned in his direction just to notice that he no longer covered his eyes, but he was looking at me with amusement, probably for minutes now. I just shook my head, signaling no.

"I'm better in that, you know," he said pointing to my lips around my bruised finger. I immediately pulled it out, which resulted in a silly popping sound. I blushed like hell when Damon laughed out loud.

"Let me," he reached for my hand while sitting up beside me a little closer than it was necessary, which made me a hundred times more unwilling to give him it. It would be too intimate and I was trying to avoid those moments with him.

"Come on, I will only use my hands, I promise," he assured me with an impish grin and already grabbed my hand before I could protest.

He started working on taking out the little bit of wood. He really used just his hands, but he used too much of them. I thought that fondling my wrist and gently tracing my palm was not crucial for the procedure, but I didn't complain, just pretended like I haven't noticed. It all started to become a little too sensual and I felt the need to say something that would ruin the moment.

"What was the occasion?" I nodded toward the empty bottle.

Damon looked up with a slight irritation that I didn't just shut up and enjoy the moment rather than questioning about topics he didn't want to talk about. I assumed he didn't want to talk about it because he just shrugged and looked down on my hand again.

"Hey, where's Stefan?" I asked because suddenly it came to my mind that I came here to find him. Damon slightly squeezed my hand at the mention of his brother which surprised me. He wasn't usually so jumpy because of Stefan. Something must have happened between them. And now Stefan is missing. That didn't sound good.

"Where's Stefan, Damon?" I asked with a little more worry in my voice and I jerked my hand out of his touch, which he noted with a disappointed sigh. The splinter wasn't in there; I haven't even noticed when it came out.

"Damon!" I continued to demand his answer on a high pitched voice.

"How should I know! Maybe they are out with Katherine and your mommy and daddy for a lunch," he snapped. He said those names with so much acid in his voice that was starting to feel too much, and that was coming from me, who hated all of them like hell. "They would make a nice little family!"

Katherine, Uncle John and Isobel together somewhere with Stefan? That sounded very unlikely and I was starting to feel that I was missing something here.

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused as he bolted up and started pacing around the room like a caged beast.

He halted just before me and I stood up too just to found myself inches from his face. It looked raged and pained at once. As I learned before a sad, angry and drunk Damon is not a life insurance. But I wasn't afraid of him. He would never hurt me and there was no one in sight to take out his anger on.

"Did you know that Parents-of-the-year went so protective over you they even made a deal with Katherine?" he hissed between his teeth.

"What kind of a deal?" I asked frightened, because anything that included those three people could not be good for me or the ones I love.

"Katherine stays to help with the big bad and they will spare one of us." he informed me with a straight face, but the slight crack in his voice, which not many people would notice, told me the additional information. She didn't choose him.

"The dagger?" I asked as the picture slowly started to come together in my mind.

He slowly nodded but waved his hand in resignation like he didn't care that the past love of his life trying to get him killed. But he couldn't fool me. His eyes sparkled with anger and suppressed hurt. The last and only time I saw him like that was the time when Rose died. He let me hug him then, but I had the feeling he wouldn't want that now. That wasn't enough. The only problem I didn't know what was the appropriate thing to say, so only a lame 'sorry' came out.

"For what? For Katherine wanting me dead?" he asked laughing mirthlessly. "A lot of people want me dead. I got used to it."

"But it's Katherine. Do you still…"

"I don't give a shit about that bitch," he interrupted me before I could finish my question. I sighed in relief. What was scary that that was not only because it would be bad if Katherine would still be able to manipulate him, but it somehow bothered me personally that he would love another women. With that covered I still didn't understand why he was pissed so much. It wasn't unexpected from Katherine to play these kind of games, and if he doesn't care about her love anymore then all these tantrum seemed a little too much fuss about nothing.

"You know what hurts me," he asked in a conversational manner. The crazy thing about Damon was you could never know what he really thought. He could threaten you with a torturous death and compliment you with the same tone and both sounded believable. So when he said that he would willingly admit that something reached his heart so that it hurt him I was more than eager to listen. It would be a first time, and I was trying to make him make a confession like that for ages.

His eyes got softer and he was looking into mine directly. From the corner of my eye I saw that he lifted his hand to reach my face but dropped his hand halfway like he changed his mind. I would have let him do that. I know that whatever he was going to say he would mean it.

"You want me dead too," he said with sorrowful confidence, which made my heart sink.

"No, Damon, I don't!" I protested in a hurry. I hated that he thought I would want him gone. There was a time when I really wished that but somehow he always found a way to worm himself back to my heart. Right now the thought of him dying scared the hell out of me, and also the idea that he thought that I value his life and friendship this little.

"You know you are my friend, and I don't…" I started to prove him wrong but he interrupted me again.

"You would want me dead if that would mean Stefan's life."

I gaped at him. I really didn't know how to answer to this. I never gave a thought about it because I never had to make that kind of decision. I loved Stefan, I really did, but I cared about Damon very much. Maybe too much. How would you choose between losing an arm or a leg, because both of them were that important for me.

He took my silence as an answer as I saw him mouth 'Right' just before he turned to leave. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't find the right words to say, so I just watch him walk out of the room. He was at the arch of the hall when he stopped.

"Would you promise something for me?" he asked and only turned back when I said yes.

I swear I could see a single tear in his eyes so not like him and so beautiful that I wanted to run to him, hug him and tell him I would promise and do anything just so I would never have to see him so crushed again.

"If you ever have to make that choice, you will stake me, before you break my heart," he said simply and held my gaze waiting for my answer.

I started to cry. I knew he was serious. I knew that it wasn't just an empty phrase he really wanted my word. I couldn't agree on that. I shook my head but he run back at me with vampire speed and only stopped just an inch before me. Our bodies almost touched he grabbed my arm on both sides so much it hurt.

"Promise!" he begged me with his eyes. If he would be able to compel me I was sure he would have made me say those words.

I nodded with between two sobs, because frankly I didn't know what other option I had. He looked at me for a very long minute in which I have tried to phrase a hundred different things I wanted to say to him but I failed to tell him any of those. Because when I blinked to empty my tear filled eyes he disappeared.

I collapsed onto the sofa unable to stop the crying. I always knew that Damon loved me. He never said it out loud, but I knew, like probably everyone else in this town. But I never thought that his love was this deep. My guess was, that it originated in male pride, a consequence of that he couldn't have me and his little brother could. Or maybe he projected his love for Katherine on me. Or simply because it would bug Stefan. Not for a second it occurred to me that his love was genuine and how much I hurt him every time I used his affection to reach my goal. Now I could understand his pain for always coming second after his brother who got everything.

Speaking of whom… he chose that moment to enter the house. He smiled when he saw me on the sofa but his expression became concerned when I turned around. He must saw my blood shot eyes and tear-streaked face.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he hurried towards me.

"Where were you?" I questioned him with more frustration that he deserved. I couldn't help but think that none of this would have happened if he would have been here. I could live my probably not so long life the way I used to, ignorant to Damon's feelings. But that wasn't a possibility any more.

"I was out hunting. We ran out of blood," he explained. "What happened to you?"

He sat down beside me and pulled me into a hug.

"Can we not talk about it?" I asked in a weak attempt to pretend like everything was the same.

"Of course," he said to me stroking my hair and I know that nothing would be the same again.