N: So, this is the second chapter, hope you like it…
As always a big thank you to Valerie (2serendipity) for her help!
The consequences
They were back in the living room. Bonnie and Stefan were doing their best to calm Elena. She'd been crying, yelling and cursing for the last forty minutes or so. There was only so much she could take…
It looked like she was indeed living in a world where Damon had never existed. Just thinking about it pushed her straight into another panic attack. 'This can't be happening!' she thought to herself. Damon had to be 'alive' (well, undead); he needed to be there for her…to take care of her, to save her…. 'What did a world without Damon Salvatore look like? It should be better, right?' But was it? Because Damon had never existed, Caroline had died; because he hadn't been there to give her his blood and save her. Because Damon had never existed, Coach Tanner was still alive. So did that mean that…every person that Damon killed (directly or indirectly) was still alive?
"So, Vicky's alive?" she didn't realize she'd asked the question out loud until she heard Stefan answer it.
"Oh, you mean the girl that used to go out with your brother?" he asked.
"Yes, that one," she answered.
Stefan placed his hand over hers and Elena knew that was a bad sign.
"She died of an overdose a few months ago. And since then…well…your brother…let's just say, he took the path to self-destruction."
"What do you mean by that?"
"He…he's a drug addict, he dropped out of school…"
"Oh God…"
"That's not the worst part…" Stefan whispered and Elena's eyes found his.
"Whatever it is, just spill it! I will find out sooner or later," she demanded.
"He tried to kill himself…twice," Stefan said after a few moments of silence.
"What? How could you let that happen? How could I let that happen?" she asked. She didn't realize she'd started crying again until she felt Stefan's cold fingers wiping the tears from her face.
"I'm sorry, Elena, I tried compelling him a few times, but because of my diet…it didn't work," Stefan said, looking at her with an apologetic look on his face.
'And there I was, thinking Damon had been a bad influence on him…' Elena thought.
Losing Vicky so soon after his parents' death had been too much for him. Damon hadn't been there to take it away, to make it easier on him, so he snapped. It all made a strange sort of sense, but at the same time, it didn't.
"What about Lexi?" she asked…moving on to another one of Damon's victims.
"Who's Lexi?" Stefan asked, surprised.
Elena looked at him, incapable of hiding the surprise that was written all over her face. It didn't make any sense. How could it be that Stefan didn't know who Lexi was: where did Damon fit in that equation? Little did she know that Damon had been the one to meet Lexi first and that Damon had sent her to Stefan. He had also been the one that had begged her to take care of his little brother before he left Mystic Falls. Without Lexi's help, it had taken Stefan years and years to transform into the person he was today.
Elena looked at the floor, playing with her hair…she was afraid to ask, but she needed to know…
"Hm, what about…Isobel?" She asked with restraint, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.
Her birth mother had found Damon, Damon had turned her into a vampire. So… if Damon had never existed, making it impossible for Isobel to find him, did that mean that Isobel was still human?
"Your birth mother?" he asked.
"Yes…" she answered, a sparkle playing in her eyes as he seemed to know whom she was talking about for a change.
"Elena…we looked for her, right after I told you you were adopted…"
"And…" she pushed.
Bonnie moved closer and shook her head in denial at Stefan.
"She needs to know, Bonnie…"
"Know what?" Elena interrupted.
"Elena, your birth mother had been dead for the past 3 years. She was killed by an animal."
Elena covered her mouth with her hand, to hold in a scream. She knew immediately that her mother must have been killed by a vampire; not by an animal. What she didn't know was whether Isobel had tried to find another vampire, one that, unlike Damon, didn't have 'turning someone' on his 'to-do' list, and that he killed her instead. So Damon might have turned her into a damned creature, but at least she was a living undead damned creature.
Elena felt like she was trapped inside a snow-globe, minus the snow. Her world seemed to be turned upside-down by a missing person… how many times had she wished that Damon had never come to Mystic Falls? How many times had she wished that he had never existed? … Not once had she thought that that could be such a bad thing.
"I need to process this…it's too much…" she said and got up from the chair.
"Of course," Stefan approved.
"I'm going to go home…I still have one, right?" she asked and Stefan smiled slightly, even if they both knew she was being serious.
"Yes, of course you do," Bonnie answered.
"And Jenna…she's…still alive?"
"Yes, she is; heartbroken, but very much alive."
"Heartbroken…?"
"Well…yeah, over that news guy, what was his name again? Logan, something…"
Logan, what would her aunt still be…oh, wait! Of course…Damon never turned Isobel, she'd really died. Alaric never saw Damon doing it, so he never came to Mystic Falls to look for him. Alaric had never met her aunt, so she was still all over that first class jerk.
"Are you ok?" Stefan asked, seeing her cheeks change color.
"Yes…I'll be fine. I just…I never realized how many things Damon changed in my life until now," she answered, forgetting for a second there, that they had no idea who Damon was.
"Elena…this guy…you keep talking about him…he seems important to you…do you…are you…ah, never mind!" Stefan meant to ask her if she'd been in love with this Damon guy she kept talking about…but something stopped him…and he realized he didn't really want to know.
"You've made me all curious about this guy…" Bonnie said, "…I think it's time we meet." As she said this, she moved closer to Elena. "Give me your hands!" she ordered and Elena obliged. At least her best friend was still a witch. "Now, close your eyes and think about this guy, picture him in your mind!"
Elena closed her eyes and Damon's blue ones popped into her head. The image brought a smile to her face that made Stefan move uncomfortably.
"You're talking, girl…he is HOT. Oh…he's a vampire too. You've saved him…from a fire, sort of…and he's saved you. He…he's in love with you…" At the last words, Elena opened her eyes, which broke Bonnie's connection.
"Hey, you weren't supposed to open your eyes." Bonnie protested.
"I saw an image of you and him…in a bar…you were so happy…I haven't seen you smile like that in years…" she said.
Elena knew immediately what her friend was talking about…but she decided to play dumb.
"Probably my memories are all mixed up…"
"No, I don't think so. This guy…is everywhere; in your mind…in your soul…in your heart…" Bonnie said, looking straight into Elena's eyes.
"Yes…he is a very big part of me…" Elena admitted. "Bonnie, I need to ask you something…"The other girl nodded, and Elena went on, "…is your grams still alive?"
She just needed to know if Damon was responsible for the death of her best friend's grandmother. Just like Bonnie reproached her so many times.
Bonnie bit her lip and took a deep breath before answering.
"She died two months before Caroline…in her sleep actually." She answered.
Elena pulled Bonnie into a tight hug, and then turned her attention back to Stefan.
"The night that the vampire attacked me, I had an accident, right?"
"Yes…"
"That night…I left because I saw that picture of Katherine…"
"So, you remember?" Stefan asked, sounding somewhat excited.
"She looked just like me, I freaked out, I felt betrayed and lied to…" she said, remembering the exact feeling she'd had that night. She also remembered the accident and how terrified she had been when she saw the man in the middle of the road pulling himself up and walking towards her…she remembered Damon saving her…but this time he hadn't, because he'd never existed, and so the vampire had attacked her.
"You took off before I had the chance to explain. You hit a vampire with your car and he attacked you." Stefan said calmly. He took a few steps forward and pulled the material of her t-shirt down, revealing her shoulder.
"He bit you… pretty bad. When I got there, it was too late…you were…almost dead. I gave you my blood but since it wasn't strong enough, you still have the scars…"
Elena moved in front of the huge mirror on the wall and took a long look at the scar on her shoulder.
"Scars…" she said.
"Yes, you have another one on the back of your neck," Stefan said and she turned around.
That one looked even worse…she couldn't stop the growl that came out of her throat.
Damon had saved her that night…in so many ways…. Giving her the time out she needed, taking care of her, and most of all…because of him she didn't have those scars on her body…but this was the real word…a world in which he never existed and she had the scars to prove it.
"I have to go…I'll be fine…I just need some time." She said.
She kissed Stefan on his cheek, gave Bonnie a quick hug and got out of the house, almost running towards her car.
A few hours later she was reading the big bright sign on the right side of the road that said, 'Welcome to Georgia'.
N: I had no idea Elena is going to just leave and stop in Georgia when I started this chapter…she just did, lol. Do you still like the idea or I should just go and shot myself? Review and tell me!
