Words cannot express my deepest gratitude for the many reviews I received for the first chapter. They were heartwarming and exciting to read.
I hope the interest and excitement continues after this chapter! In case it's not obvious…buckle up folks, this will be a full-fledged story!
And to "leyton203", who joined FF to tell me to keep going- I hope I don't let you down and thank you so much!
I would really love it if you all would review again and give me your thoughts/suggestions on the direction of the story!
ANOTHER BIG QUESTION! Klaroline or Forwood? *Hint*
Review?
Chapter 2
Damon was relieved. He had finally finished telling Caroline about the two times he had compelled Elena, after Caroline had refused to find some bourbon. It actually felt nice, getting that off his chest. At the same time, every defense mechanism he hid behind was cursing him.
"It's a little concerning that you still haven't said anything Barbie. Are you in shock?" Damon joked, trying to get some kind of a reaction from her.
Typically, a speechless Caroline Forbes was not a good thing.
Caroline was fuming. "TWICE? You sabotaged yourself from the start Damon! Love is supposed to make you blind not self-destructive!"
Caroline was imploring him to fight back, to defend his choices. She liked fair fights, and Damon's admissions were upsetting.
She was already planning. One day, when Elena remembered, Caroline was somehow going to see Damon's confession of love. He had refused to share it with her.
He averted his ashamed eyes from her shaking fingers. Since when did his love life concern Caroline Forbes to this degree? He had prefaced this conversation with a reminder that Caroline was not his therapist.
He probably should remind her, before she had them both sobbing and watching a chic flick.
"All right, I think we've established that. Fifth time you've said it," Damon muttered dryly. "Why do you care so much?" Harsh, but Damon liked to know people's motives.
He figured the shock of losing Klaus and Tyler in the same day was finally taking effect on Caroline.
He sniffed the air- salt. Caroline was crying.
Damon was taken aback. Barbie was finally cracking. For once, her lack of talking bothered him.
It was ironic how Caroline always took care of everyone else, and now, Damon, of all people, had to take care of her.
Karma really was a bitch. Alaric would be laughing his ass off, Damon thought, smiling a little.
"Because maybe, Damon, maybe I want to see if someone can still have a happy ending."
Barbie on a mission. He liked it.
"I don't think it matters that much Caroline. It's not a game of who met her first…and it shouldn't come down to that." That was one thing Damon was sure of. This would not be a petty game of who talked to Elena first.
He sounded so wistful. Reflecting on that night always gave him a certain degree of peace. Elena- happy…her only problem was Matt, not centuries old vampires. The way she blushed as he had stepped closer…a mysterious stranger with all the answers, she had called him.
Now the roles were reversed.
"You really don't get it, do you?" Caroline laughed incredulously.
It was about time he had some sense knocked into him.
"You left her with two voids in her memory. That wasn't fair. Not to her…not to you. How could she make an honest choice? It's like you gave her a puzzle with the two biggest pieces missing! Denied her of a possible future!"
His heart was sinking. He felt his smile falter. "She made her choice." Damon shrugged nonchalantly, trying to maintain some dignity.
"I don't think she did." There they were. The words Damon had been thinking, hoping, constantly for the past couple of hours.
Damon could be so stubborn, so blind when it came to love. Caroline refused to let him intimidate her. "She said she was setting you free."
"Ouch. Is there a reason you're bringing this up again…because I'm way too sober for this conversation."
Caroline ignored his snide comments. "Well, you know what they say about two people…don't you?"
Damon waved his hand in the air. "Refresh my memory." If it made Barbie feel better, then so be it.
"If they're meant to be… they'll always find their way back to each other."
Damon swallowed. A man's heart could only be wounded so many times.
"I don't think Elena chose. Not at all."
Damon snorted, but his fragile state did not escape Caroline's notice.
They both looked at Elena's still body, thinking the same thing.
"This changes everything," Caroline whispered.
"I know what I said before, just say here!" With her. Barbie would keep watch.
There was something Damon needed to see, and preferably before Stefan was back and tried to stop him.
Damon had to know, and his brother's lack of information provoked him further.
Had she suffered? How cold had the water been?
What did she go through during the final minutes of her human life?
"Excuse me," Damon crept along the hallway, unbothered by the cluster of nurses awing at his every move.
Damon had offered to compel all of the staff, but Meredith insisted she had enough sway to change the visiting hours for one night.
The room was dark. Machines beeped and gurgled, monitoring Matt's fragile, and waterlogged, condition. This was Damon's only shot.
The blinds barely moved as he flicked them shut. His black boots clunked against the wooden floor.
Matt was ghostly pale. A sharp contrast to Elena's morbid blue.
Damon sighed. The mix of water and medicines had probably pushed most of the vervain out Matt's system. Unfortunate for Matt, but perfect for Damon's purposes.
"No time like the present," Damon muttered, steadying himself. Now or never.
He placed a hand on top of Matt's head and connected their minds. Damon was cautious, and he wandered around, searching.
He shivered violently as something powerful tugged at his mind. He had found the right memory.
It was dark and cold. Damon frowned. He should be able to feel the water.
Matt must have been going unconsciousness on impact, Damon thought.
Since he was using Matt's mind to access the memory, he would have to experience from Matt's body.
Turn! Open your eyes! Damon couldn't help himself.
He felt something hitting him in the gut, repeatedly. It was hard enough to semi-revive Matt.
Over and over again, fierce pounding, determined and strong.
Damon felt sick. It was Elena.
His poor angel. Alone and conscious when she died, trapped in the same watery grave where she had cheated death once.
A tear slid from Damon's cheek. It splashed on the ground, the noise shaking him out of Matt's mind.
Three doors down, Elena was about to start her life as a vampire.
He vowed to be there every step of the way.
Damon closed Matt's door quietly, trying not to focus on his shaking hands. He had developed a newfound respect for the human boy, not that he would admit it to anyone.
Matt had tried to save Elena. And had he been conscious, Damon knew that he would not have left Elena to die.
"Well, well. Still meddling, Damon?" He turned quietly. What was it with him and blonde vampires?
She had the nerve to show her face again.
Damon's hands twitched with an animalistic need to tear Rebekah's head from her body.
He placed his body in front of Elena's door, growling.
Rebekah would never touch her again.
"This day just keeps getting better and better. What the fuck do you want?" Damon snarled without fear of retaliation. Damon's anger was an insurance policy that this would be a fair fight.
"Still impulsive as ever I see." Damon couldn't help but notice how tired Rebekah looked.
Too bad he didn't care.
"I helped you get away… and then you do this? You kill the person I would die for?"
Rebekah's eyes flashed with brief shock at Damon's unashamed declaration. His eyes followed her every move, looking for a chance to pounce.
"That's a bit melodramatic, isn't it? Word on the street is she's coming back. You really should be thanking me."
"Thanking you?" Rebekah had officially gone crazy.
"I took care of the whole 'Elena's a human problem.' Now you won't ever have to worry about Elena deciding to turn or not. You're welcome."
"You are so wrong, Rebekah. I almost feel sorry for you. Almost."
"Oh come on, Damon. Don't tell me this wasn't something you never wanted," Rebekah quipped.
"Of course I hoped one day she would turn! But not like this. Not this way." He was disgusted at how proud the Original sounded.
"Then how could you be sure she would turn?" Rebekah huffed, losing patience.
"I wouldn't Rebekah! But I would never force her. I would believe in something that you don't seem to understand or value. I would hope that one day; our love would be so powerful that not turning wouldn't even be an option."
Rebekah stomped her foot.
"And now you've taken that experience away from me," Damon told her bitterly. He allowed his fangs to protrude from his gums, warning Rebekah that he was in no mood for games.
Damon had imagined it a hundred times.
One morning, he would be pretending to be asleep. Elena would lightly stroke his face and ruffle his raven black hair. Sunlight would engulf the room, highlighting Elena wrapped in a sheet, pressed against his body.
All of a sudden, her hand would stop. He would open his eyes and study her beautiful face. What's the matter, princess? He would ask. She would roll her eyes, realizing he had been awake the whole time.
She would sit up and hold his hands, and smile. I'm ready. I want to turn. I want to be with you forever Damon…
"Whatever you say Damon. At least it was a quick passing." Rebekah seemed to be trying to justify her actions now that she was more rational.
Damon felt no pity. "Yet, she STILL DIED!"
Damon's eyes shone with anger. "Did I not mention that she was alone? And awake? She sat there, I don't know, five minutes, fighting to live but staring death right in the face."
"I had to protect my family, Damon. I'm sorry if your poor Elena was scared but so was I!"
"I guess the same fear your brother felt right before that monster drove a stake through his heart," Damon retorted.
Rebekah gasped. Damon smiled bitterly. He had always been good at striking where it hurt.
"I think it would be wise for you to make yourself scare for a while. I can't quite remember who, but that stake is lying around somewhere." He winked. "And now that I know you didn't start my bloodline…well I'm sure you can figure it out own your own."
Damon still wasn't finished. "You come near Elena, Stefan, or Caroline, or Matt or any of them…Elijah can't sweet talk me. Just remember that."
Rebekah sped away quickly, the wind hitting Damon in the face. He sighed, silently acknowledging a victory.
Someone slapped him in the back of the head. "Damon Salvatore! What the hell are you doing? Get in here NOW!" Caroline whirled back into the room, leaving the door open.
Elena.
A/N: Once again, there are so many reviewers to thank!
Thank you to all, and next chapter I will have your names listed, I just wanted to get this out there as fast as I could!
I hope it was enjoyable, and please review! :)