Beautiful madness
Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.
Damon drunkenly stumbled into the darkness, feeling his way back to the familiar tomb that he once thought held all the answers. The faint moonlight cast shadows on his face, not at all different from the ones that haunted his mind. The dark liquid in the bottle he held in his grip sloshed unsteadily as he stumbled, the little that was left of it anyway. He pitched forward, barely catching himself in time, his hand shooting out towards the wall sharply. The jagged surface cut into this skin but he couldn't feel it, he simply watched as dark blood trickled down his arm towards the ground. He stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity until he suddenly snapped, a low growl erupting from his throat that transformed into a howl.
"Katherine!" Damon yelled into the night, "Katherine! Where the hell are you? Katherine! Show yourself!"
"Calm down, Damon," Katherine said from the shadows, only half her face illuminated but enough of it shown through the darkness to show her amusement as she leaned against the wall, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company on a night like this?"
"You..." Damon said full of contempt as he faced her, losing his balance a little as he turned to her, taking a few steps towards Katherine, "This, all of this, is your fault. Every last thing. I blame you."
"Don't flatter me too much, Damon. I think I'm blushing," Katherine said mocking him, finding his misery entertaining, "But color me curious, why in the world are you in such a state? Did you kiss the wrong girl again or something? Don't worry, I'm sure one day you'll get luck and you'll finally get to kiss Elena."
With that, Damon sent the liquor sailing through the air, the bottle smashing loudly an inch from Katherine's head. She barely flinched as she picked up a stray piece of glass and flicked it back towards him, "Alright, so I'm clearly not forgiven for that little incident. If it's any consolation, I think that Elena really does believe you're someone worth saving. Bravo for getting that right. But I don't think that little kiss we shared is what's gotten you in this state tonight."
"It's your fault," Damon said his words a bit slurred as he repeated them, the hopelessness coming off him in waves.
"Be specific, Damon," Katherine snapped, "I have a long list of crimes I can take credit for and I'm not in the mood to guess. What the hell are you talking about, Damon?"
"Rose is dead," Damon whispered, sinking to the ground on his knees, "She's dead."
"Rose?" Katherine said frowning for a moment before recognition dawned, "Oh, that Rose….the one with the 'friend' who was in love with me. Trevor, wasn't it? Dead. Both of them, I assume? Hmm, well I must say that I didn't expect her to last into this century but what's more shocking is that you care and that you're letting yourself feel it."
"She's dead. She's dead. She's dead." Damon said over and over, his eyes blank, completely ignoring Katherine for the moment, letting the words sink in.
Katherine rolled her eyes, "Get over it. In the grand scheme of things, Rose is at best insignificant. You're overreacting, Damon. Reserve the theatrics for Elena's death. It shouldn't be too long from now."
Damon's head snapped in attention the second he heard Elena's name, his blue eyes blazing with contempt, causing Katherine to smirk.
"Ah, the magic word has gotten your attention. I see you're still so smitten and totally gone on the doppelganger. How is she doing, by the way? How does she like her new purpose in life as Elijah's bait? I bet she misses when I was the only one tormenting her. Give my regards to her, Damon. Tell her I miss her too." Katherine said smiling sweetly, venom dripping from every word.
"Why…why did you pick Mystic Falls? Why did you force your way into our lives all those years ago?" Damon said in a broken voice, "If it was just Stefan that you loved all along, then why didn't you just leave me alone?"
Katherine straightened up, losing her own playfulness as she eyed Damon, the questions getting to her, "You never questioned it before."
"Well, I'm asking you now," Damon said standing up, locking eyes with her, "I need you to tell me why it had to take more than a century for you to set me up for heartbreak, why I had to go through more than a hundred years of this life and lose so much. For what, Katherine? There has to be some greater reason other than for your amusement because my existence needs to mean more than that."
"Because Stefan needed you," Katherine answered bluntly, "He wouldn't have survived this long if he didn't have you in some way. I knew I'd cause a rift between the two of you but in the end, I trusted you'd keep him alive. And I was right."
"And the best supporting actor goes to…me." Damon laughed bitterly, "That's all I am to everyone. The son who never lived up to expectations, the guy who never got the girl and the wannabe hero who always failed to save the victim. But hey, it's better than nothing right? At least, I'm in the story. At least, even if people around me are dropping like flies, I'm still standing. Hey, at least Elena knows I exist right? So thank you, Katherine, for turning me into the monster that lived long enough to find the girl I never even dreamed about, so I can watch her risk her life every single week. "
He took one step closer to the opening of the tomb where Katherine stood silently watching him, "I never thanked you enough for this undead life and the ability to compel Elena to forget I actually told her I love her. And you know what? I think soon enough I'll be able to thank you for the gift of being able to watch her die. Or maybe dying for her. One way or the other, I still need to be grateful to you for that right? And since I'm in the mood to share what's inside my head...you know what I feel right now? Like I'm waiting for the day I won't be able to protect her. I won't be able to save her. She's going to die, just like Rose. So thank you, for coming into my life and making sure I live to see that day."
Katherine stared straight into him, her eyes calculating and menacing as she breathed out her response, "You're welcome."
Damon's face contorted in inexplicable fury and all reason left him, consumed with the desire to rip her head from the rest of her body. He wanted to see Katherine bleed as if it was the only way to erase the image of death in his mind.
"Damon! No!" Elena's voice cutting through the haze with perfect clarity as Damon turned his head towards her, a puzzled look on his face.
His eyes traveled down to his arm where her hand rested, pulling him back with whatever force she could muster, "Damon, come on. Don't do this. You'll be stuck in there and then what? I might not be able to get you out. Damon. Please. Enough."
"Party pooper," Katherine said to Elena, "And here I almost had someone to play with in this lovely tomb."
Elena glared at Katherine, her hand still on Damon's arm, gently easing him away from the tomb, "Come on, Damon. Let's go."
Damon's mind slowly began to process everything, all at once as Elena's hand anchored him to the present. He saw that he was only a few steps away from crossing the seal so he could fight Katherine. He saw the broken shards of the bottle he consumed determinedly hours ago. He saw Katherine whose very posture could not be trusted. And he saw Elena look at him, concerned and worried over at the state he was in. He saw her…and only her.
"Rose is dead." Damon said blankly, trying to shut off all his emotions, something he could do so easily before…before Elena wormed her way into his very consciousness…his heart.
"I know," Elena said nodding slowly, her arms slowly encircling him, "I know, Damon."
"It's Katherine's fault. She set all of this motion," Damon said weakly, standing still like a statue in ELena's arms, "She's a bitch."
"Don't we all know it," Katherine said sounding bored, "What else is new, Damon?"
"Shut up," Elena said sharply, her voice sure and commanding as she stepped away from Damon to face Katherine squarely, "You've done enough damage so just do everyone a favor and shut the hell up."
"Feisty," Katherine replied with a bemused expression on her face, "Runs in the family. Alright, have your moment with Damon. I won't even tell Stefan about it."
Elena ignored her and turned to Damon again, "Please, Damon. Let's go. You're not stable enough to be here…the last person you need to be around is Katherine when you're dealing with grief."
"And who should I be around, Elena? You?" Damon said a bittersweet smile on his face, "Believe me, Elena, it's easier to be around her than you right now."
"Why?" Elena asked genuinely surprised.
"You know why losing Rose hurt so much? She's a friend and it sucks that she's dead but it's more than that. Her death just reminded me how easy it is from someone to be gone just like that and she's a lot harder to kill than you, what with your fragile humanity. So it's easier to be around Katherine because she only reminds me of the century and a half or so that I've wasted on her. And that's easier to swallow than having to look at you and see everything I stand to lose but can never really hold in my hands. Loving you is a spectator sport, Elena, and I just don't know if I have it in me to see it through to the end." Damon said shaking his head before walking away, stumbling as he found his way out, leaving Elena shocked and unable to move.
"I take it this is the first time he used the word 'love' when it came to you," Katherine said casually, "Or at least the first time you can remember."
"What?" Elena said sharply, turning to Katherine, "What do you mean?"
"His tale to tell, not mine, sorry." Katherine said with a shrug, smiling at Elena.
"Whatever," Elena said shaking her head, "If there's even any good left in you, then please just stop tormenting, Damon. You've done enough damage. Just stop."
"Damage? Me?" Katherine said mockingly, "You're giving me too much credit, Elena. Besides, I can never hurt him the way you can. Sorry, the way you already have. I've known the boy for quite awhile now and for someone who's strung him along for a hundred years, take it from me, he's broken and it's all because of you."
Katherine opened her mouth to continue but only a strangled cry came out, her hands flying to her middle to grasp a wooden stake that Elena threw with surprising precision. Katherine pulled it out but was weakened nonetheless, "You missed. Stake through the heart kills the vampire—not through the stomach."
"Who said I was aiming to kill, Katherine?" Elena said, "Just stop trying to make things worse than they already are. Just stay in your prison and stay out of our lives."
"Damon loves you." Katherine rasped out before Elena walked away, desperate to pay forward the searing pain the wood caused in her body, knowing the words that would still Elena's heart, "He told you but he made you forget."
Elena turned around, her eyes full of sadness and resignation, instead of the shock that Katherine expected, "I'll just pretend I never heard you say it."
Katherine looked at her in surprise, her pain replaced by shock, "What game are you playing, Elena?"
Elena shook her head, "No games. He wants me to forget, so I'll play along. It's the least I can do."
"You love him," Katherine said simply, not a question but a statement of fact.
Elena could only give her a pained smile, as she shrugged, the only affirmation she could offer, "If only it were that simple….Goodbye, Katherine."
Katherine watched Elena walk away, listening for the footsteps to fade completely before she slid down to the floor, a smile spreading evilly on her lips, "Just as I had planned. Perfect. Just perfect, my sweet and innocent Damon."
A/N: A one-shot unless inspiration strikes and I figure out how far I can take this piece. In any case, I hope you enjoyed it!