I hope you enjoy this oneshot that i came up with at the end of last weeks episode. it kinda takes place right after that, and it follows what i think should happen throughout. let me know what you think.
I own nothing.
"Stefan, what's been going on with Damon? I havent seen him much lately." Elena said as she padded into the kitchen one morning.
"He's been busy." Stefan answered, hating lying to her, but needing to respect Damon's wishes of Elena not knowing.
"What's he up to? Is he researching how to kill Klaus?" she asked.
"No. He's just dealing with some stuff." Stefan answered, wishing he could change the subject.
"Is he avoiding me?" she asked the hurt clear in her voice. Stefan immediately wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him.
"He could never avoid you Elena. He's just dealing with something. I promise. Everything will be okay." he assured her. Elena buried her face in Stefan's chest, the worry still weighing heavily on her mind.
Damon sat up in his room, reclining on his bed, listening to Elena and Stefan's conversation. He didn't want to, but the desperate sound in Elena's voice kept coming to him. So she was worried about him. The thought reassured Damon considerably. Worry could mean that she didn't hate him. Right now, the idea of her not hating him, gave him the strength to continue on. The bite was getting worse and worse, he was starting to hallucinate, and the blood lust was getting to be unbearable. He had seen what had happened with Rose, and now he was experiencing it first hand. He was keeping his distance from Elena so she would be safe from him. He would never forgive himself if something happened to her because of him while he was like this. The sickness was getting worse, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he succumbed.
Later that evening, once Elena was safely in bed, Stefan ventured into Damon's room.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" he asked seeing Damon reading.
"Bored as hell." he answered flipping through the pages of the book.
"If its any consolation, Elena is worried about you." Stefan said taking the chair beside his bed.
"I know. I heard your conversation with her. I don't want her to worry about me. She has too much to worry about. It's not fair to burden her with my problems." he said.
"I know. But she cares about you, so therefore she's going to worry one way or another. Do you need anything before I leave?" he asked.
"No. I'm good." Damon answered.
"Alright. Good night Damon." Stefan said before walking out and closing the door behind him. He went straight to his bedroom where Elena was curled up sleeping. He laid down beside her and watched her sleep before sleep overcame him as well.
"What is the point of going to school Stefan? I mean there's so much going on in my life right now that school seems unimportant." she asked.
"School is normal Elena. You need to get back to normal life, its time." he said pulling her to the front door.
"But why? I don't understand why school is so important right now, with everything that's going on." she insisted.
"What exactly is going on right now Elena?" Stefan asked.
"Klaus is still alive. Damon is being distant. Something's wrong with him Stefan, and I want to know what it is. I'm worried about him." she said lacing her fingers through his.
"I know you are but he's fine. I promise." he said squeezing her fingers trying to mask the agony he felt for lying to her. He seemed to have reassured her, because she willingly followed him out to the car and climbed in the passenger seat, allowing Stefan to drive them to school.
Damon watched the from the window, while drinking a bag of blood. It was getting to be difficult keeping anything down. Almost anytime he ate or did anything, he would start coughing and the blood would come back up again. When he was sure they were gone and weren't coming back, he ventured downstairs. His room had gotten to be far to familiar, so he grabbed himself another bag and flopped down on the couch. Pulling his sleeve up he realized that it was getting worse and worse. Out of idle curiosity he wondered how much time he had left. While he was sitting there contemplating his existence, someone rang the doorbell. Sighing he rose and walked over to the door, opening it to find Andy standing there.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I wanted to see you. Are you going to let me in Damon?" she asked.
"It's really not a good time Andy." he said running a hand through his dark hair. Just when he had thought he had gotten rid of her, a huge coughing fit started in him, and he doubled over.
"Damon, are you alright?" she asked pulling him over to the couch.
"I'm fine. Just go home." he demanded.
"Damon I really think I should stay. You're not healthy." she insisted.
"Just leave. I need you to leave." he insisted.
"Fine call me if you need anything." she said before leaving the house. Gaining control of himself, he relaxed back into the couch picking up a book from the coffee table, he started to read. He ended up falling asleep laying across the couch and didn't realize it when Elena walked in the door.
Elena walked in and seen Damon sleeping. She smiled, feeling better now knowing that he seemed to be alright. He opened his eyes seeing her walk in and he quickly checked to make sure his bite was covered not wanting her to see it.
"Elena, your home early." he said.
"I'm home at the same time I usually am Damon." she answered.
"Oh, I must was fallen asleep." he mused.
"Is everything alright Damon? I havent seen you in a while." she said.
"I've been busy. But I have things to do, I'll see you later." he said using vampire speed to get upstairs. Once he was safe in his room, he engaged in yet another coughing fit. He could feel his body getting weaker and weaker and he knew now that it was only a matter of time, before he couldn't take it anymore. He knew that he needed to talk to Stefan today when he got home.
Elena went over to Jenna's house, where Jeremy was still staying even after Jenna died.
"Jeremy, are you here?" she called walking through the front door.
"Yeah. In the living room." he called back his voice breaking.
"Hey, Jer. What's wrong?" she asked taking a seat beside him.
"I just miss her you know. I mean I think I drive people away. First mom and dad. Then Vickie. Anna. Jenna. Even John's gone. People always leave me." he said.
"Mom and Dad died in an accident. Vickie was killed because she was dangerous, and granted that wasn't entirely her fault. Anna was killed tragically. Jenna's death was the most undeserved ever. She was killed as a sacrifice. And its gonna take a long time to get over it Jer. And John. I don't know what happened with him. But I know that none of them chose to leave you. They were taken from you and it wasn't their decision. Because they all loved you in different ways just as I love you." she assured him.
"Don't leave me please. You're all I have left." he cried into her shoulder.
"I wont. But we still was Alaric, and you have Bonnie. She cares about you too." she assured him. They sat together for a while, trying to get over losing another parental figure.
Stefan drove home as fast as he could after reading the message from Damon saying that he needed to talk to him. He knew that if Damon was asking for him to come home, that it must be important. He parked his car and ran into the house, making it up to Damon's room quicker than humanly possible.
"What do you need Damon?" he asked moving to stand by him. Damon looked worse than he even did earlier in the day and he knew the bite was slowly making him go crazy. It was good that he was keeping his distance from Elena, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he ever hurt her.
"We need to talk." he said hoarsely, as the pain was beginning to be too much.
"Okay." Stefan said sitting down.
"I'm getting worse. And I don't have much time left. I talked to Elena today because she caught me downstairs. And don't worry she doesn't know, but it was hard to keep my composure. In my mind she was the enemy, I had to escape to keep from hurting her. It's getting hard and I need you to promise me something." he said.
"Okay. What?" he asked.
"I need you to stake me. Its getting harder all the time. The visions and hallucinations are getting worse. I understand now what Rose went through. I need you to stake me the sooner the better. You need to find some way to get Elena out of here for a while. Because I'm ready." he said honestly, Damon's voice breaking for the first time Stefan can remember. He knew he wasn't turning off his emotions anymore.
"We're looking for a cure Damon. I have Bonnie searching for a spell. She knows one exists. Just give it some time." he begged.
"There is no cure." Damon said firmly, already having accepted his fate, he turned his attention away from Stefan, and Stefan knew it was time for him to leave.
Stefan left the room and immediately called Bonnie. "Have you found the spell yet? Damon wants to die tonight." he said.
"I'm in the last book. If its not in here then I don't know what to do." she answered grimly.
"Okay, hurry." he said hanging up. It was odd, after a century of hating his brother, he didn't want to lose him now. Losing him now would hurt. Stefan did as Damon, asked and he asked Elena to hang out with Jeremy for a while. When he was done with his phone calls he went back upstairs to see Damon, but he found him asleep. He also seen a piece of folded paper on his bedside table. He grabbed it seeing Elena's name on the outside. Stefan knew it was his way of saying goodbye. He took the note downstairs and opened it. It was short only a few lines, Stefan knew that this was his way of being strong throughout his goodbye. Stefan took the note over to Jeremy's and left it with him, telling him to let Elena have it a little later.
Stefan went home and sat in the living room, hoping Bonnie found the spell before it was time. He was just waiting for Damon's message, saying he was ready. He hoped that Bonnie found the spell before he was ready. Stefan didn't want to kill his brother, he couldn't do it, not now. Someone knocked on the door and he went to answer it. He seen Bonnie on the other side, not looking assured.
"You didn't find it did you?" he asked.
"Not yet. I'm still looking, but I'm here because Elena found Damon's note. She's on her way over here." Bonnie said.
"I didn't want her to see that, until it was done. Jeremy was supposed to hide it from her." he said worried.
"I know. Tell you what help me look for the spell while we're waiting for Elena, and for Damon's message." she said. He nodded and looked through the spell book with Bonnie.
Elena pulled up in front of the boarding house, angry, and hurt. Angry at Damon for trying to keep her away, and hurt that he didn't want her there, didn't want to survive for her. She walked into the house determined to see Damon before he died. Stefan heard her walk in the house and he caught her before the staircase.
"Don't go up there please." he asked.
"I have to. I need to see him. Why would you keep this from me?" she asked.
"He didn't want you to know. He didn't want you to worry." he answered.
"Yeah. I understand his reasons, I just don't understand yours. You knew that I cared for him, yet you kept me from him. I have to go see him right now." she said walking past him up the stairs. She needed him to know that she didn't hate him. She needed him to know that she cherished his friendship. She needed him to know something else too, she just didn't know what it was yet. She paused outside his door, and took a deep breath. Feeling how much she needed him in her life now that he was going to be gone forever. She opened the door and seen him fast asleep as he was earlier when she seen him. She walked into the room and sat by his bed, mesmerized by now unguarded he was when he was asleep. He roused when he heard her walk in the room. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I needed to see you. I cant believe you wanted to leave me without saying goodbye." she said.
"I did say goodbye. I wrote you a letter." he said quietly, as if he was trying to keep his strength up.
"I didn't want you to say goodbye in a letter. I don't want you to say goodbye at all. You cant leave me." she said emotionally.
"Elena. You have Stefan. And you have Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline, Alaric and many other people who love you. You don't need me." he insisted.
"Yes I do. I need you Damon. It took me so long to figure it out, but I need you Damon." she said.
"You don't. You have Stefan." he insisted weakly.
"I know. I love Stefan I do. But I need you Damon. It's been this way for a while now, but I couldn't admit it. I'll always love Stefan, but I'm in love with you. I love you Damon, don't leave me." she begged.
"You love me?" he asked in wonder, the words he had wanted to hear for so long finally being said.
"I love you. Please don't leave me." she said crying. He reached his hand up to cradle the side of her face. She leaned into his palm, and held it to her face with her other hand.
"I love you too." he said quietly. His revelation made her sob even harder, and she leaned down to bury her face in his chest. He wound his arms around her, holding her tightly to him. He knew that now when he went out, he would at least be happy. The woman he's in love with, loves him too. The moment was broken, when Stefan and Bonnie walked in. The emotions on Stefan's face, gave away that he heard all of Elena's confession, but he tried to hide them well. Bonnie was carrying her spell book.
"We found the spell. The spell will get rid of the bite, and you will be healthy again." Bonnie said. Stefan stayed by the wall and Elena switched places with Bonnie so she could do the spell. She went to stand by Stefan who looked at her with a mixture of sadness, pity and acceptance.
"You love Damon" he said quietly accepting it, while watching Bonnie and Damon.
"I do. I'm sorry Stefan. If it wasn't for Tyler biting him, and the possibility of losing him, I would never have found out." she insisted
"There's that I guess." he said.
"Stefan, I'm sorry…" she started.
"Don't. It's fine. You fell in love with my brother. Its about time someone chose him." he said accepting his fate of losing Elena.
"Thank you for understanding." she said. He smiled slightly at her, and took her hand in his, assuring her that everything would be okay. They lapsed into silence and watched Bonnie. She was chanting in Latin, while holding Damon's hands in hers. Damon's eyes never left Elena's the entire time, conveying his love for her in the way his eyes held hers.
Damon watched Elena, trying to ignore the pain surging through his veins while Bonnie continued to chant. He would be worried she was killing him, if he hadn't known that her killing him would hurt Elena, and Bonnie would never hurt Elena. The pain suddenly went away and he felt fine. Bonnie let go of his hands and he sat up needing to see the proof of Bonnie saving him. As he hoped the bite was gone and he felt perfect.
"It's done." she said and she left the room. Stefan followed her thanking her on his way downstairs. He wanted to leave the room so Elena and Damon could be together. When they realized that they were in love, they thought he was going to die. As quickly as she could she ran over to him. He pulled himself out of bed and wrapped his arms around her. She clutched him, as if she was never going to let him go. He kissed the top of her head just holding her until she calmed down.
"I love you." he said for the first time without something being held over them.
"I love you too." she said raising her face and smiling at him. He smiled at her, hearing the words falling from her lips before closing the distance and kissing her with everything he had. When they pulled apart they were both breathless. They both knew they had a lot to deal with, but right now they were both content with being together.