When Elena opened her eyes again, night had fallen. She turned to her right and her eyes fell on the sleeping Damon. The feverish sheen that had coated his skin earlier was gone and he looked peaceful.
Suddenly, Elena sucked in a sharp breath at the searing pain in her gums. She could smell the small amount of blood left in the discarded bag and the veins under her eyes crawled. She needed more.
Elena crawled out of bed and headed downstairs to the blood cooler in the basement. She made it into the foyer when the door flew open. A blur of blonde hair flew into the boarding house.
"Stefan? Damon?" Caroline called before her eyes landed on Elena, frozen, "'Lena, what are you doing here?"
"I came to yell at Damon," Elena dropped her friend's gaze.
"Is he…?" Caroline couldn't even get the words out. It was obvious that Damon was not Caroline's favorite person either, but she had been there when Tyler bit him, not even knowing the price Damon was paying for saving them. She owed him.
Elena shook her head, "Katherine showed up earlier with a cure."
"There's a cure?" Caroline was astounded. "So many people came back from the dead today."
Elena sputtered. Did Caroline know about her transition? Could she sense it, "What are you talking about?"
Caroline eyed Elena curiously, "Well first you. Then Jeremy. Now Damon."
"Jeremy?" Elena was shocked, "What happened to Jeremy?"
"Bonnie didn't call you?" Caroline shook her head in disbelief.
"I didn't bring my phone."
Caroline looked everywhere in the foyer but at her friend, "My mom. She shot him."
Elena tried to process what she was hearing, "And she's not supernatural. The ring didn't work for this."
Caroline was crying now, "But Bonnie. She took him to the witch house. She found a spell to bring him back. He's alive."
"I have to go." Elena hurried passed Caroline and out the door. She was about to get into her car but she remembered she had a faster means of transportation now. She blurred across town, slowing as she came upon her house.
Just as she was walking up, Bonnie and Jeremy where helping each other up onto the porch.
Elena slowed her speed as she crossed the distance between her and her brother.
"Jer," She reached out to hug him close to her body.
He squirmed under her tight grasp, "Easy 'Lena. I already died once today."
She pulled back, horrified at the joke, "That's not even funny."
"I'm sorry," He wrapped his arms around her again, "You're right."
Bonnie shifted uncomfortably next to the pair. The day had surely taken it's toll on her. She felt weak from the power she lacked now that the witches had turned on her. But she watched her best friend clutch her boyfriend, knowing it was worth it. Elena nuzzled her face into Jeremy's neck but suddenly her body went rigid.
And that's when Bonnie saw her friend's eyes turn crimson and the veins surfaced under her them. In an instant, Elena was doubled over in searing pain. She clutched her head, screaming in agony. Jeremy turned to see Bonnie's gaze focused darkly on Elena.
"Bonnie, what are you doing?" He shook his girlfriend. Elena growled, "Stop it! You're hurting her."
"Get inside, Jeremy." Bonnie instructed, her stare never leaving Elena.
Jeremy looked between Bonnie and Elena, "But—"
"I said, get inside!" The tone in Bonnie's voice made Jeremy listen. He stepped inside the house and Bonnie followed him across the threshold. She broke her hold over Elena who slowly recovered on the porch.
Without warning she lunged at Bonnie but the invisible barrier kept her from reaching the witch. She was livid and she was hungry.
In a blur, she was pinned against the railing. She viciously fought Damon who used his body weight to pin her down.
"Jeremy, listen to me," He turned over his shoulder, still fighting to keep Elena down, "You do not invite her in until I tell you you can. You hear?"
Jeremy just stared in horror at the scene in front of him. Part of him wanted to fly from the safety of his home to fight Damon off of Elena but the other part of him feared his sister.
"Do you hear me?" Damon yelled his question again.
"Yeah," Jeremy didn't take his eyes off his thrashing sister, "I got it."
Damon focused on Elena, her fangs had dropped and the look in her eye screamed zero humanity. "Don't watch," He instructed Bonnie and Jeremy.
With little time to contemplate his actions his hands gripped Elena's face and he swiftly snapped her neck. She stopped thrashing and she fell in a heap at his feet. He inhaled a deep breath before reaching down and scooping her up into his arms.
Jeremy and Bonnie gasped, seeing Elena's limp body hang in Damon's arms.
"She's going to be fine," He promised as he backed off the porch, "I promise you'll have her back." And with those words he blurred his way back to the boarding house.
Barely a day into her transition and Damon had almost broken his promise to her. He was sure had she succeeded in attacking Jeremy either Bonnie or himself would've had to put her down. And he was even more sure that she would come back to haunt him for letting her lay a finger on her baby brother.
Damon laid her carefully on the couch in front of the fireplace. All he could think about was getting a drink in him. After the last 24 hours, he needed a stiff one. He needed a lot of stiff ones. It didn't make it any easier to watch Elena healing in front of him.
He poured himself two fingers of scotch and stared at the flickering flames in the fire that always seemed to be burning when he needed to ponder life. He savored the drink in hand, unsure of how long Elena would be out for. All he knew was that when she woke, he needed the edge to be taken off because she was going to freak out on him.
"What happened to Elena?" Damon didn't turn around at the sound of her voice. He stayed, transfixed on the flames.
He brought his drink up to his lips again, "Vampire Barbie. What are you still doing here?"
"I was looking for Stefan. To see if I could stay here for a bit," she timidly revealed her plans hoping the older Salvatore would have a little compassion for her, "I can't be around my mom right now. Not after what she did."
"Everything's gone to hell," Damon mumbled. He turned to see Caroline standing over Elena, studying her.
She cocked her head towards Damon, "Is she…?"
Damon shut his eyes and nodded.
"But Bonnie said she brought her back. She said she was okay." Caroline rambled.
Damon confessed the day he had had to Caroline. How they were both on the brink of death and how he had been the one to convince her to complete the transition. He explained the promise he had made her and the near attack on Jeremy.
"It's my fault." Caroline shook her head, "I stormed in here ranting about my mom, about Jeremy. I didn't even take the time to sense something was different about her."
Damon sighed, pouring himself another drink. Before he could throw it back, Caroline snaked the glass right out of his hand. She gulped half the glass down, barely making a face at the amber liquor. Damon turned over another tumbler and poured one out for himself.
"We have to stop playing the blame game," he admitted. "Everyone's done something to bring on a little bad lately."
Caroline collapse on the couch opposite Elena. "What are we going to do with her?"
"I was thinking a studded leash," Damon raised an eyebrow sitting down next to Caroline.
"Damon." Caroline warned.
Damon threw his hands up defensively, "I'm going to keep her here until she's under control. We don't need a Vicki Donovan 2.0. She's not getting a daylight ring until she graduates."
Caroline nodded, taking in Damon's plan but suddenly she blurted, "But she's Elena Gilbert."
"Uh, yeah, I know."
"No, I mean. She's expected to be places. Jenna's funeral for one. And school. Fundraisers." Caroline rattled on, "She's kind of a big deal here."
Damon gritted his teeth. Caroline had a point. If Elena dropped off the face of the Earth, the townspeople would notice. And even though Mystic Falls wasn't a huge city, compelling the whole town to not notice would be a feat, even with Caroline's help.
"We need to prioritize her appearances," Caroline instructed. "She has to be at the funeral. There's no way around that."
The funeral would be soon, so he had his work cut out for him.
"And school's almost out," Caroline continued, "I'm sure we can convince the administrators to let her finish off the year at home. Considering."
"Using the Gilbert family death toll to our advantage," Damon threw out.
Caroline winced but ignored him, "I guess town functions we can play by ear."
"Who knew you could take control?" Damon studied the blonde baby vampire.
Her mouth dropped open, "I'll have you know I'm on virtually every committee they've got at school."
"You've got spirit, yes you do, you've got spirit…." Damon chanted.
Just when they had almost forgotten Elena was even there, she drew in a sharp breath and sat up, gasping for air.
"What happened?" She rubbed her neck.
Damon sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "I kept my promise. You go all t-rex and I break necks."
"Jeremy," Elena recalled the encounter. "I told you. I told you this would happen."
"Relax," Damon scoffed. "You're checked into vampire rehab now."
"This isn't funny, Damon." Elena slammed her fist on the couch cushion.
"Hey, 'Lena, just calmed down," Caroline crossed the living room and sat down next her best friend. "I know it's a lot to take in, but you've got to work on keeping your emotions in check."
Elena turned to Caroline, tears threatening to spill over, "But Jeremy is all alone. He's got no one. And I can't do anything about it."
Caroline didn't know what to say. She glanced at Damon. Damon rolled his eyes and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"I'll call Ric. See if he can pull himself away from the bar long enough to play big brother or whatever."
Elena glared at him. She felt the anger rolling off of her so she took a deep breath, "Thanks."
Damon disappeared from the living room, phone pressed to his ear.
"Hey," Caroline's soft voice cut into Elena racing mind, "Have a little faith in us, in yourself. We're going to get you through this."
Elena squeezed her eyes shut, forcing a few tears down her face, "There's just so much going on right now and I feel useless."
"We're just going to take everything one step at a time."
"But we don't have time." Elena exclaimed, "Jeremy died. Stefan's sold his soul to Klaus. And Damon…We're all just such a mess, defenseless right now."
Caroline placed a reassuring hand on Elena's shoulder, "Breathe. Everything is heightened. You can't let it drive you crazy, because it will."
Damon waltzed back into the room tossing a blood bag onto the table in front of Caroline and Elena. Elena squirmed at the sight. Her gums ached and her throat burned.
Caroline snatched the back off the coffee table and brought it over to Damon's bar. She ripped off the plug. The sheer act caused Elena to snap her head in Caroline's direction.
"She can drink from a glass, ass." Caroline poured the thick blood into a tumbler and brought it over to Elena.
Elena took the glass in her hands and stared down at the liquid. Her fangs had dropped and her eyes were changing but she just stared and breathed. But no matter what she did, the blood won over her and she gulped it down hungrily.
"So Ric's going to hang out with Jeremy," Damon informed the girls. He turned to Elena, "Don't get any ideas. He's no Buffy but he can handle a stake."
"Okay," Elena stood up. "I'm just going to go lie down."
She dragged herself up the stairs, massaging her gums as she went on. Her first instinct was to turn into Stefan's room but before she got over the threshold, she took in how it was unchanged. Because Stefan wasn't here. She didn't want to disturb that. Elena couldn't bring herself to sleep in that bed. Instead, she found herself crawling between the black silk sheets of the other Salvatore.
She settled in and his scent surrounded her. With her enhanced sense of smell, she could smell the saltiness of his sweat still clinging to the sheets. And for some odd reason, it was comforting.
But with Elena retired, the other undead inhabitants kept on.
"She's worried about everyone," Caroline filled Damon in, "Stefan. Jeremy. You."
Damon nodded at the obvious, "But she's a liability. The most important thing is to get her in the driver's seat or else she'll self destruct."
Caroline agreed but that didn't make her entirely okay with everything, "But Stefan. He's really working with Klaus?"
"According to Katherine."
"And she's a regular encyclopedia Britannica." Caroline scoffed.
Damon smirked before returning his face to the same stoic look. "Stefan's a big boy. He can handle himself. He'd want Elena safe before we devise any Saving Saint Stefan plans."
"Okay," Caroline relented.
"I wasn't looking for your permission." Damon added, "But I'm glad I've got someone else on board."
Caroline shifted, "And you're sure it's okay I stay here?"
"We've got rooms to spare," Damon motioned upstairs, "It's like I'm starting a vampire sorority house."
Caroline rolled her eyes and made her way to the stairs. "Good night, Damon."
"Hey Blondie," Damon called after her, "Just keep your ears open. You know how tricky this one can be."
Damon finished his drink, alone with the fire again. He placed the glass on the mantle and blurred up the stairs. He stopped short entering his room at the sight of Elena curled up in his bed. He shrugged and crossed the room, slipping into the bed next to her.
Almost immediately she snuggled into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, swearing it was a safety precaution because she'd have to break free in order to do any damage. And with that, both Damon and Elena's new lease on life came to a close.