Prompt from jads1000: In Season 6, a newly returned from the prison world Damon should apologize to Caroline for what he did to her in Season 1.

I know this can be a very sensitive issue, and I wanted to keep the characters as true to themselves as I could. There are references to Damon's abuse and manipulation in Season 1, both from his and Caroline's points of view. Please consider that before choosing to read, and my inbox is always open.

"Wait." Caroline squeezed her crossed arms tight to her body. "You're saying that Bonnie is all alone in some prison world, except for the psychopath trying to kill her?"

Damon had been explaining his sudden reappearance to Stefan, surprised when Caroline barged in to hear the story for herself. While she had a right to know what happened to her friend, he could do without the accusatory tone. Narrowing his eyes, He waved his bottle of bourbon in the air. "It's not like I chose to leave her behind, Barbie," he defended. "She sent me through with the ascendant, and I have no way of getting back."

"Like you'd even try," she muttered.

Damon frowned angrily. Caroline's low opinion of him was nothing new, but Bonnie's sacrifice was too fresh for him to deal with anything else. "You have no idea what it was like," he accused, pointing toward her threateningly. Stefan stiffened on the couch next to him, but he was too incensed to care about his brother's chivalry. "Kai is a monster."

Staring him down, Caroline's eyes seemed to burn with rage. "You're right," she spat. "I have no idea what it's like to be hunted by a monster when I have no way to escape. I don't understand at all how vulnerable she is, that all she can do is wait for someone to rescue her, knowing full well that no one will."

Stefan stood up, but Caroline jumped out of his reach when he tried to hug her. "Screw you, Damon," she seethed before adopting a sickly amused grin. "Oh, wait…"

With that, she turned on her heel and flashed out of the apartment Stefan had commandeered. Both brothers were left with their mouths hanging open, though Stefan's hands were balled into tight fists. Blinking, Damon searched for anything to say. "Well, that was-"

"Shut up," Stefan warned. Tiredly, he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't- Just shut up."

Taking a sip from the bottle, Damon nodded as Stefan sped upstairs. His snark never failed him, but there was nothing he could have said to make the situation lighter. It had been years since his...relationship with Caroline, he only ever brought it up as a joke.

To him, it was a joke.

With the way Caroline ran out, Damon wondered for the first time if it really bothered her that much. His stomach twinged in discomfort, wondering if Kai was bothering Bonnie in a similar fashion. He took another swig to chase away the accompanying shudder.

In true Damon fashion, he bore the brunt of Stefan's silent treatment until his little brother remembered how much they needed each other. Caroline hadn't been around, too busy avoiding them both and keeping Elena blissfully unaware at Whitmore.

But Liz was sick.

It had been a shock for Caroline, and Damon watched as Stefan forced himself to give her the space she demanded from him. Every time he tried to step in, she would push him back out. There wasn't anything Damon could do about it, save for not making the situation worse. But if Stefan was barred from the campus hospital, it meant Damon needed to sneak in without Caroline knowing.

He spun a sad story for Elena, about how Liz was a dear friend and he just wanted to visit her while Caroline was in class. Though her tampered memory had her looking at him with suspicion, Elena led him to Liz's room and promised not to tell.

Damon Salvatore did what he wanted, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let Blondie ban him from anywhere he wanted to go. What she wouldn't know couldn't hurt her. At least, that was the rationale he was clinging to as he handed Liz a bouquet of flowers.

"Thank you," she accepted kindly before her gaze turned shrewd. "I thought this was supposed to be a Salvatore-free zone."

For a moment, Damon was terrified; she knew. Liz knew about everything, and she hated him for it. But she smiled, and he automatically relaxed. Of course she didn't know. He would be dead by now. "Caroline's in class," he answered. Smiling easily, he nodded toward the door. "Stefan refused to come in, though. Respecting her wishes and all that."

"I wish she'd forgive him," Liz sighed, stroking one of the lilies. "She's going to need him once-"

"Nope," Damon interrupted. "None of that. You're going to live forever."

Liz rolled her eyes, reminding Damon so much of her daughter. "I'm not," she said firmly. "And I need you to promise me something."

His throat clogged with emotion, Damon's eyes went wild. "Liz-"

"Just keep an eye on her," she continued. "Especially with Bonnie gone and Elena moving on, and Stefan...I just need to know she's being taken care of. And I trust you."

Damon's stomach roiled, like he was going to be sick. It was an irrational thought for a healthy vampire, but he felt sick nonetheless. Confessions choked him, every bad thing he ever did to Caroline flooding his mind and begging to fall from his tongue.

I compelled her. I scared her. I used her for blood, sex and mind games. I-

"Please, Damon."

Looking up, he realized he had never seen Liz look so frail. Even he wasn't selfish enough to burden her with his dastardly needs, not to only appease his own conscience. "Okay," he whispered, wanting to do anything to make her rest easy. The words tasted like ash in his mouth. "I promise."

Caroline had been hiding in the dorms for weeks, refusing to deal with the stupid Salvatore brothers. Stefan thought he could just weasel his way back into her good graces after ditching her, and she was not having it. Even better, she finally felt justified in telling Damon to go to hell without worrying about pissing off her friends.

How sad was that?

As angry as she was that Elena essentially erased herself, Caroline could admit to being a little relieved to have someone else on the anti-Damon train for a while. It made her feel a little less crazy that she was the only one to care how awful he was.

A knock at the door sounded, distracting her from the textbook she'd been trying to read. Listening closely, she unfortunately recognized that drunken breathing.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. The same could apparently be said for silently cursing Damon Salvatore's name.

"Elena's not here," she called, irritated.

"I know."

He sounded miserable, and Caroline kind of wanted to see it. Ripping open the door, though, she grimaced. "Are you seriously pouting?" She could practically see the haze of liquor surrounding him as he slumped pitifully in her threshold.

"I'm sorry."

"For pouting?" Caroline asked, confused as to why a drunk Damon was darkening her doorstep.

He shook his head in denial. "No, Caroline," he implored, pinning her with his ice blue eyes that were bloodshot with alcohol. "I'm sorry."

Memories flashed in her mind.

"You are the only stupid thing here. And shallow. And useless."

"I am so over you now."

"Don't talk. Please."

"No, no, no! Get away from me! NO!"

Frozen, Caroline wasn't sure how to react. Never in a thousand years would she have expected for Damon Salvatore to apologize for anything, let alone for anything involving her. Especially not for-

"I hope you're not expecting a trophy for finally doing something decent," she snapped, crossing her arms. When he just looked blankly back at her, Caroline scoffed. "Apologies will never make up for what you did to me, especially not drunk ones that are years too late."

Letting out a deep breath, Damon looked almost solemn. "But you deserved to hear me say it," he sighed. "I was wrong to use you like I did, and I know I can never make it right."

"Damn straight," she muttered. "I've got homework to do, so you can go now." She shut the door in his face, leaning against it to stave off a panic attack. Pulling out her phone, she tried to focus her breathing so she could dial Stefan's number.

"Caroli-"

"Come get your stupid brother," she ordered before hanging up. She felt a little bad, considering that was the first time she had called him since the Savannah debacle. Still, she needed Damon to be gone so she could process in peace.

A minute later, she heard Stefan fussing outside her door. "What did you do?"

"I'm sorry," Damon answered, slurring. "I'm so sorry."

Once they were gone, Caroline felt the tears come.