Chapter 6: Nowhere Near Ending

It was a dark, cold and gloomy night. The storm growing fierce by the second. The rain was heavy, falling without a break. The wind was strong, the howling and whistling echoing throughout the town. The tall, rugged looking man walked through the rain, his eyes catching sight of the house as he looked around for any sign of moving vehicles. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he walked up the drive and raised his fist, knocking on the door. Waiting for a few minutes, he turned as the door opened, Damon standing in the doorway, confusion evident on his face.

"Uh, yeah? Can I help you with something?" Damon questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, look...my car broke down a little up the road, would you mind if I used your phone?"
"Hmm," Looking over his shoulder, he nodded, "Yeah sure, come on in."

Opening the door wider for him to step in, Damon ushered him inside as he came in. Looking around the house, he studied it with a curious look in his eyes and looked over to see a young girl bouncing on the couch as she was singing along to the cartoon on the television.

"The phone is just over there." Damon pointed over as he walked over to Elena.
"Damey, sing with me!" The brunette giggled, continuing to bounce.
"Start calming down, its time for bed soon." He turned the volume down.
"Ohh." She whined with a pout.
"Don't give me those chocolate-brown puppy eyes, it's already late enough."

"You're Damon Salvatore right?" The man spoke after hanging up the phone.
"And how do you know that?" He frowned suspiciously, looking him over.
"I...see you at the Grill a lot. I'm a History teacher, the name is Alaric."
"Uh huh, I see."

Damon shook his head, turning his attention back to Elena as she was still bouncing on the couch, singing at the top of lungs. Lifting his drink from the table, he took a gulp of bourbon, spitting it out just seconds later as the glass slipped from his grip and he reached for his throat. His insides churned and burned like an inferno. Alaric slipped the stake from his jacket pocket as he walked towards Damon, ready to strike. Hearing the commotion, Elena turned her attention away from the television to see Damon hunched over in pain as Alaric made his way towards him, the stake in his hand. In a panic, Elena jumped off of the couch and ran over, tears glazing her eyes as she hugged Damon's legs. Alaric froze in his steps, watching the two in confusion.

"Damon, no!" She whimpered, holding onto him.

Elena looked over her shoulder, tears falling as she seen Alaric standing with the stake in his hand. Gasping in fear, she turned towards him, standing in front of Damon as she held her arms out in a protective way.

"No hurting!" Elena frowned, tears staining her soft baby cheeks.
"What? But...I don't understand." Alaric frowned, 'I thought that-'
"That I'm a vampire who's holding a young girl hostage?" Damon croaked hoarsely.
"Well, yes that."

"Lena," Damon slowly bent down after catching his breath, "I'm okay sweetheart." He stroked her hair.
"Me...go to bed...please?" Elena whimpered, her bottom lip trembling.
"Yeah, of course." He turned to Alaric, 'You-'
"I'm sorry that I misunderstood."
"I'll be back."

Lifting Elena into his arms, Damon moved down the hall and up the stairs to his bedroom. Setting Elena down on the bed, he went to her room and grabbed her bear off of the bed as he made his way back to see the brunette staring down at the floor. Walking over, he bent down and tipped her chin up gently to find her crying. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he slowly wiped her tears away.

"Lena, I am fine, I promise you."
"Please don't leave me." She sobbed.
"I will never ever leave you. Never."

Holding her close to him, he lightly rocked her back and forth as she cried into his shoulder, fisting his shirt in her hand. Tucking her hair back, he kissed her forehead and pulled the covers back, laying her down. Laying her bear next to her, he tucked her in and laid next to her, smiling softly.

"I am always here." He whispered soothingly.
"Night." She murmured.
"Goodnight pretty girl."

After waiting until she had fallen into a deep sleep, he left the table lamp on and kissed her head as he walked out, closing the door over. Cracking his knuckles, he made his way back downstairs to find Alaric studying new pictures he had hung up of him and Elena. Clearing his throat, he watched as Alaric swiveled towards him.

"So, what was your plan, huh? Killing me in front of a child?" He frowned.
"Look-" Alaric started.
"What are you? Hunter at night, teacher by day?"
"It's a long story. I just thought that you-"
"Listen, I am all that she has and...she's all that I have. She, she's like my best friend. If anything happened to her, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Her life...is mine."

It was a cold and dull morning. The traffic on the roads was packed up as drivers honked and cursed from behind their car windows at each other. The rain was heavy and depressing, not lightning anyone's mood. Elena lay sleeping soundly in bed, the room in complete darkness. The alarm digits flickered from 4.59 am to 5.00 am as a ringing sound began shrilling throughout the room. Elena moaned and reached over, hitting the box to relax her eardrums. Rolling onto her back, she pressed her fingers against her temples as her head was pounding in pain.

"God." She whispered, taking a breath.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she looked around the room, trying to see through the darkness. After all the commotion last night, she went to bed and fell asleep straight away. It just meant she had more time to get ready for school today. Flicking the lamp on, she looked around the room, her head feeling heavy and her sight hazy. Sighing, she dragged herself out of bed and over to the bathroom as she flipped the switch, light blinding her as she moved into the bathroom as she moved over to the sink. Staring into the mirror, she frowned as she seen she was pale white. Splashing her face with water, she let out a breath.

"I hate mornings."

Lifting her toothbrush from the counter, she brought it up to her mouth and gagged, dropping the brush again as she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. Running over to the toilet, she hunched over it, vomiting into the toilet bowl. Holding onto the edge of the toilet, she gasped in pain as she felt like her stomach was being ripped out. Coughing, she vomited again and again as she fell to her knees. Tears glazed her eyes as her body began to shake uncontrollably. Vomiting again, she sobbed and slowly pushed herself up and held onto the counter, just about able to brush her teeth. After finishing, she flushed the toilet and held her stomach, sniffing as she took a shaky breath and slowly made her way back into the bedroom. Losing her balance, she was ready to hit the floor, until she was caught from behind.

"Woah, I got you." Damon spoke into her ear gently, holding her close to him as she held onto his arms.
"Damon." She whimpered in pain, closing her eyes tightly.
"Shh...its okay, I got you."

Damon slowly lifted her into his arms and made his way over to her bed as he gently laid her down, tucking her hair back behind her ear. Sitting on the edge of her bed, he wiped her tears away gently and looked her over, seeing that she was a sickly pale white. Resting the back of his hand against her forehead, he knew she had a temperature and bit his lip with worry.

"Oh Lena, are you alright?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"No." She sniffed, noticing that his hair was ruffled and messy, also the fact that he was shirtless, "Did I wake you?"
"That doesn't matter," He sighed, "Did you feel any signs of sickness coming on?"
"No...no. I felt fine yesterday, I just woke this morning...and my head. I felt so dizzy and it just came up."

"Uhm." He looked at the time, rubbing his neck, "Are you uh-"
"Am I?" She frowned, resting her head back as the pain in her stomach was intense.
"You know." He coughed, clearing his throat, his eyes darkening an inch.
"Damon," She gave him a look, "I am not pregnant, alright?"
"Just uh, checking."

Letting out a sigh of relief, he got up as he grabbed the bucket from the bathroom and placed it to the side of the bed. Pulling the covers over her, she rolled onto her side, tears glittering in her eyes as she rubbed her stomach and took a deep breath, trying to not think about being sick. Who actually liked being sick? Everyone cried during it. Not surprising since it always ripped your guts out and left the aftermath. Damon sighed softly, bending by the bed as he kissed her forehead and rubbed her arm gently.

"There is no way in hell you're going to school. I could teach you more than that place in an hour anyway. I'll call Alaric, let him know you won't be in, alright? I'll go get you water and some tablets, then I will come up and put a film on for you. I just want you to relax. We don't know what you have yet and I know you hate the doctors, so the best thing to do is just rest and sleep it off, okay?"

Nodding weakly, she swallowed as he kissed her cheek and got up, walking out. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, her eyelids heavy and forcing themselves close. At least it was Friday, by Monday she should be feeling better and she can return to the horrors of school. Rubbing her hand over her stomach, she counted from 1 to 10, trying to think of something other than being sick. Uh, it was going to be the worse day ever. Her worries soon disappeared as she fell into a slumber.

There was light breaking through the curtains, the heat in the room growing by the second as the sun was burning hot. Elena rolled over in bed, her skin clammy as her hair stuck to her forehead, her lips dry and parched as she slowly opened her eyes, pain thrumming through her head. Moaning in pain, she slowly pushed herself up, feeling a head rush, making her sick. Swallowing, she too a deep breath and looked around, pushing the covers off. Looking over on the bedside, she seen the glass of water sitting with ice and a couple of tablets. Damon must have recently brought them up. Leaning over, she took the tablets in hand, swallowing them down with the ice-cold water as she felt her stomach gurgling. Sighing, she placed the glass down again and laid back, pushing her hair back away from her eyes.

Hearing voices, she raised an eyebrow and turned her head to the side. All she could hear was murmuring. Taking a breath, she got up from the bed and froze. Wow, brain frenzy. Blinking, she moved over to the door, pulling it open as she poked her head out, listening to the voices to hear Damon and Alaric in conversation. Now she remembered, he was supposed to be over for dinner today. Just as she was about to step out, a whip of air hit her in the face as she jumped back in fright, Stefan standing in front of her with a grin.

"Hello again. Damon told me you were feeling a bit iffy today," He looked her over, "Well you look it."
"Can I help you with something?" She frowned, not having the energy to deal with whatever this was.
"Nope, I doubt it. I have more years of History than you."
"Well, if you'd excuse me." Elena went to move around him, but he grabbed her back.
"Now now." He pulled her back into the room, no gentleness involved, "Sick girls should stay in bed."
"Uh, get-"
"Tut, no talking either."

Just as she was about to retaliate, she found herself pushed back onto the bed, Stefan standing at the door again with a grin on his face. Narrowing her eyes, she took a deep breath, not having the best strength now to call for Damon and tell him to sort out his asshat of a brother.

"No worries. Damon told me to check on you. We TRUST each other. So this should be fun." He smirked, "Bye Elena."

Walking out, he closed the door shut tightly behind him as Elena's heart was beating fast, not in a good way either. Panic was settling within her. She didn't like him in the first place, now she was getting a worser feeling. Whatever this was between them, it was nowhere near ending.

A/N: Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think! :D

Shauna

xxx