A/N: Hi everyone. This is just a short drabble and tag to the season three finale. I am way behind on VD, so when I came across this written down in one of my old school notebooks, I figured - why not?
Please note that I do not own any of the characters mentioned, nor the world they exist in. Hope you enjoy the Damon & Alaric friendship!
Thanks Buddy
Time seemed to slow as Damon watched Rick stumble mid-punch. Worry for his former friend overtook the need to survive as Rick crumbled in on himself. Rushing forward, Damon managed to catch him before he hit the ground. He slowly lowered himself and Rick to the ground, unconsciously cradling his best friend's head.
"Rick? Rick!" he shook the 'older' man's shoulders. "No! You can't be dead!" he exclaimed as his rapidly moving fingers struggled to find a pulse. Damon froze as his brain slowly caught up to the situation. If Rick was dead, then that meant… "No…" Damon moaned as he sank further down onto the ground, his hands clenching in the hair at the nape of Alaric's neck. He had just spoken to her mere minutes ago. She couldn't… she shouldn't…
The selfish voice at the back of his head whispered sinisterly to him, 'She got hurt on the way to see Stefan. If she'd come to see you, she might not have been dead.' Damon squashed down the voice, silencing it. He loved Elena, and had promised himself to honour her choice, no matter what it was.
He scoffed aloud. Not that her choice mattered anymore. She was dead. Gone. It was like losing Katherine all over again, except this time – it was worse. Still frozen in place, Damon ran his fingers through his best friend's hair. "She's gone, Rick. You left first, but… we were expecting that. We could prepare ourselves. But now she's gone too. I have no one left…" His whispered words died off as Damon blinked his insecurity and tears away, before standing and picking Rick up in a fireman's lift.
"I'll get you home, Rick. You're Elena's stepfather and you were like a dad to Jeremy. You deserve a proper burial, at the very least." With those words, Damon headed to his car, carefully strapping Rick in, before heading back to Mystic Falls. He needed to see Elena's body and to see that Jeremy was okay – under the circumstances… He owed it to Elena and Alaric.
As Damon drove away, a silent figure stepped onto the side of the road. Watching with grief-stricken tears of gratitude filling his eyes, Alaric watched his best friend drive his body away. He knew that Damon would do everything he could to help Jeremy. But he, unlike Damon, knew what Elena's future held and he knew that Jeremy would need a lot of help. Raising his eyes, Alaric watched Damon's car turn out of sight. "Thanks Buddy," he whispered, before stepping back and fading into the consuming darkness of nightfall.
