a/n: I have been putting off writing this request for a while now, which I sincerely apologize for. The truth of the matter is, I wasn't entirely sure what to do for this episode. It's such an incredible, heartbreaking episode full on hearting, epic moments and I just didn't know how to make it my own without ruining the scenes, never mind keeping it logical. Of course we were all screaming for something more to happen as Damon lay dying, but let's be reasonable- he's dying. Not exactly his shining moment to prove how manly and great he is in the sack. With that said, I've now gone back and watched the scene and I think I've come to a reasonable conclusion. I hope you all like it Happy Reading.
p.s. the show never tells us how Elena gets Damon back to the Boarding House from town square, considering that her car is at the Boarding House, where she left it after being kidnapped by the sheriff, but for arguments sake and for the flow of the story, let's say Damon drove her car there to find her…can we agree to use our imaginations? hehe
Dedicated to loveyoualways21 (for thinking that I could actually do this and giving me the push I needed to try)
Elena ran through the grounds as the Burning of Atlanta and Rhett Butler distracted everyone in the town square. She had to find Damon, she just had to. He'd come to her that morning, desperate for forgiveness, basically his last death bed wish and she'd denied him. Not only that, but she'd denied him and then asked for the one thing he could not give her; time. He was running out of time to give her, and she was running out of time to find him. As Rhett realized he and Scarlett were running out of time before the Yankees could find them, she dashed behind the screen, her eyes searching the dark grounds desperately.
The music track played loud and ominous, almost a track for herself as she searched. She stopped then, she could feel him, she could smell his cologne, and then she heard him. "Elena." His voice was breathless, nearly faint and she turned around to see him standing behind her, the burning flames of Atlanta at his back. At first she didn't see anything all that wrong with him, aside from the pale and sweaty skin. "Damon." She moved toward him, her arms around him as he swayed and sagged against her. He was heavy but she pushed through and tried to move him. "Thank God, come on. We have to get out of here, we have to hide you."
"Where are we going?" he sounded far away and she watched his eyes fade out as if his mind was somewhere else. His lack of response made it harder to drag him.
He tripped and doubled over, holding his side as he tried to stand. She came around, her hand on his arm. He looked terrible and she felt her heart slowly breaking. "Relax, we need to get you out of here." Then all of a sudden he was up, and so was she.
She felt the harsh pain of being slammed into the pole, his strength returning for the moment, but his eyes still somewhere very far away. "I choose you Katherine."
Oh God, he was hallucinating. She tried not let the panic sink in as she fought to connect their eyes. "Look at me, hey! It's Elena." He looked up at her, searching her face, but not really her face. "It's Elena." His eyes darted from her face to her throat and he slowly leaned forward. She instantly realized what he was imagining, what he was thinking and she fought against him. "No Damon, no!"
"I have to." His voice was breathless, his eyes vacant. As he bent closer she could seen the veins darken under his eyes, heard the pop of his fangs as they slid into place. "If we are to be together forever."
The sharp pain cut into her skin and she cried out. "No, Damon stop. Stop, you're hurting me." She continued to beg, desperate for him to back off, desperate for him to wake up.
Finally her cries called him back to reality and he staggered back, shock and disgust on his confused face. "Elena." She watched him fall to his knees, all the strength gone as the memory of Katherine faded away. She held her hand to the wound on her neck and kneeled next to him, wrapping her arms around him. "Damon." She whispered, looking around for any kind of help.
The car wasn't that far away, but if he kept attacking her every few feet, neither of them would make it. She looked down at him, sadness and regret glazing his eyes. "I'm sorry." He mumbled, beginning to fight it near impossible to talk.
"Its okay." She tried to smile and pulled them both up. "I need you to walk a little more. Just a little more, where did you park the car?"
He pointed a few feet away and she nodded. "I'm sorry Elena."
"Shhh." She wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him across the parking lot. Thankfully everyone was watching the movie and paying them no attention.
When she got to the car she pulled open the door and helped him into the passenger side. She could see the bulge in his jeans where her keys sat and she laid the seat back so he could rest. She placed one hand on his arm, feeling just how cool his skin was. She had to hurry. The panic set in and she dipped her hand into his pocket, grabbing the keys and running to the driver's side. She drove like a maniac, all the time murmuring things to Damon, hoping she was comforting him a little. His hand reached out and grabbed hers, and she held on as he did.
She was scared, but she had to remember that he was even more scared. "Home." He mumbled, his head falling to the side.
"Yes, home." She answered, turning onto the street that would lead to the Boarding House turn off. Why did they have to live so far out of town? "We're almost home."
"Home." He closed his eyes, licking his lips. He was dehydrated, she had to get him water. She had to get him to bed.
The fifteen minute drive felt like three hours, and when she finally pulled up to the house, she calmed down a little. Just enough to get her to think straight long enough to get him out of the car, into the house and up the stairs. He held onto her for dear life as she helped him onto the bed. When she moved away to get a face cloth he gripped her hand almost painfully. "Shhh." She soothed, brushing his hair back from his sweaty forehead and smiling as warmly as she could. "I'll be right back."
He nodded slowly, unable to find much strength now that he was back in his bed. He knew why she'd brought him here, to die. Elena turned from the depressed state he was in and dashed to his bathroom, looking through cupboards. When she found the facecloth she ran it under cold water, taking a moment to look at herself in the mirror. She was terrified, she couldn't help it. This was Damon, Damon that had done so many things, hurt so many people and yet she couldn't stand the thought of losing him. It was all too much.
She tugged her jacket off and let it fall to floor, then splashed water on her face. She wished Stefan were here, anyone really to tell her what to do, what the right things to say where. She couldn't rely on anyone for this. It was her and Damon now, and that was the way she was going to let it be. Taking a deep breath, she went back into the bedroom, relieved to find that he was still laying on the bed. She went over to him, wishing there was something magical she could do or say to take his pain away. His eyes were closed and she wondered if he had fallen asleep, or worse…if he had already died. Then he whispered her name and she crouched down close to him.
"Elena."
"It's okay Damon, I'm right here."
"Elena get out of here." His face grimaced in pain, desperation heady in his voice. "I could hurt you."
"No you won't." she reassured him, shaking her head and wishing he would look at her. "I'm here until the very end. I'm not leaving you."
"Get out of here." He tried to yell, but only ended up screaming in pain, coughing out and grabbing his chest, her heart tightened and she couldn't take it anymore.
She got up on the bed with him, settling her body behind his. "Hey, it's okay." She reached down to rub his chest, feeling helpless, useless. "Shhh, it's okay. It's okay."
He coughed, letting his head rest against her chest. "It's not okay." He managed, repeating it once more and letting his eyes open slowly. "All those years I blamed Stefan, no one forced me to love her. It was my own choice."
"Shhh." She wished she could hold him tighter, but she didn't want to hurt him.
"I made the wrong choice." He looked up at her, something in his eyes she couldn't understand, but something she wished desperately she could. "Tell Stefan I'm sorry. Okay?"
She nodded, holding the cloth to his face and her breath in her lungs. She didn't want to think about telling Stefan anything. Telling Stefan that would mean that Damon wouldn't be around to tell him himself, and she couldn't think about that. "I will."
They stayed like that for a while, her just holding him and trying not to cry. She had to be strong, had to stay strong for him. With a little rest his voice slowly returned as his body seemed to stop fighting, seemed to accept that he was going to die. "This is even more pitiful than I thought." He still sounded like he was half asleep, not half dead, just half asleep.
She couldn't think dead yet, she just couldn't. "There's still hope."
"I've made a lot of choices that have gotten me here. I deserve this. I deserve to die."
"No." she shook her head and slid down on the bed next to him, allowing herself to let go, to feel her connection to Damon in the final moments. She would never get another chance to be here, in his arms and she couldn't bring herself to waste it. His eyes were closed, his lips white, and for the first time she allowed herself to see what it looked like to have him so close to death. "You don't."
"I do Elena, it's okay." He smiled slightly, relieved to know that she cared, glad that she was here to be with him. "Cuz if I'd chosen differently I wouldn't have met you." It was probably one of the truest things he'd ever said in his life, and she knew that. The realization hit her hard in the chest and she looked at him, searching for the right words. "I'm so sorry. I've done so many things to hurt you."
She shook her head, knowing exactly what she needed to say, exactly what he needed to hear. She forced herself to smile, even though she wanted to cry. "It's okay, I forgive you."
All a new pain came over his face as he spoke again. "I know you love Stefan, that it's always going to be Stefan." She couldn't stand to see the pain, she needed to be closer to him and so she lay her head on his chest, her hand over his. The tears wouldn't hold back any longer, and she let them fall, glad he couldn't see her lose control. "But I love you. You should know that."
She held onto him tightly, desperate to do something, anything. She couldn't return the endearment, but she could try to put a smile on his face somehow, one last smile, one last time. That's how she wanted to remember him, her Damon; smiling and laughing and trying to flirt her into submission. She needed that right now and she would have given anything to have him back like that. She nodded, wishing there was more she could say, more she could do. "I do."
She felt his momentary smile against her hair, wished she could have seen it, but she just couldn't lift her head yet. It was far too perfect just lying there with him. "You should have met me in 1864, you would have liked me."
That had her looking up, first to his eyes then his mouth. "I like you now," she fought back a new threat of tears and forced herself to hold on a little longer. "just the way you are."
He wanted to say something, but he couldn't find his voice. She watched his eyes close, knew she was losing him and suddenly she couldn't help herself. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his lightly, hardly an epicly romantic kiss, but one filled with passion all the same. "Thank you." He whispered, and she smiled when he did. That was how she would remember him; that was what she would take with her when this moment ended and she was all alone again. His eyes closed, any final signs of color fading from his cheeks. This was it, the moment was ending, she could feel it. The tears threatened once more, but another voice shocked them back.
"Well it's me you should be thanking." Elena looked back to see Katherine standing in the doorway, a bottle in hand. "I mean, I'm the one that brought the cure." Damon's eyes opened slowly, taking in the new sight. "I thought you were dead."
"I was." Elena answered, watching Katherine sit on the bed, opening the bottle.
"You got free." Damon said, his eyes heavy.
"Yep, finally." Katherine sounded slightly bored, slightly in a hurry to get out of town and yet she was still here.
"And you still came here?"
"I owed you one." She smiled, flattening her hand against his cheek for a moment, smiling slightly, making sure the cure was beginning to work before sliding off the bed.
"Where's Stefan?" Elena asked, looking between Katherine and Damon.
"Are you sure you care?"
Elena had been through enough already tonight and she didn't feel like deal with another vampire. "Where is he?"
"He's paying for this." She said, showing her the bottle. "He gave himself over to Klaus, I wouldn't be expecting him anytime soon."
"What do you mean, he gave himself over?"
Katherine shrugged, shaking her head. She couldn't even believe it herself what Stefan had done. "He just…sacrificed everything to save his brother, including you. It's a good thing you have Damon to keep you company." Elena risked a glance at Damon, relieved to see his was slowly returning to normal. "Goodbye Elena." She turned, then looked back, having to get just one more jab in. "Oh, it's okay to love them both. I did." She smirked slightly and tossed the bottle.
When Elena caught it, she was gone. Damon pushed himself up on his elbows, finding a little of his strength, looking at her, clearly terrified of what she would do or say next.
a/n: okay, so there is the first chapter of this two shot. I will post the second chapter shortly, so no worries there, and it will hopefully have a little of the smut I'm so 'famous' for hehe hope you all enjoyed this look into the final episode ;)