I own nothing! Again sorry for the long wait.
Chapter VI: I... I'm so sorry
Stefan Salvatore walked the unnaturally quiet streets of New Orleans with an indescribable sense of fear and joy, the two powerful feelings mixing and contrasting and driving him insane. He couldn't think, could not focus on what he should do or ought to do. All he knew was that he had to be alone for a bit, which is why he left in such a hurry from Klaus' manor and why he was currently creeping himself out with scenarios of what this news could bring. He could lose his brother again, and he hasn't even gotten him back yet, not truly. Damon was different than he had been a year ago and Stefan had barely scratched the surface of why that was.
The green eyed vampire continued walking, turning a new street corner every time he heard the unmistakable sound of parades and fanfare that was New Orleans' evening. Klaus had been the best host – though Stefan had a feeling that was more to do with Caroline being there, then the hybrid himself – and frankly, Stefan had liked it there. Surrounded by people that were his friends, his brother had been nice, the atmosphere had been warm and welcoming and he had felt the happiest he had been in a while, and then Liz called. Then Elena spoke and she asked to come along and Liz agreed if only because she couldn't help the young woman any further. Stefan was at a crossroads and he could only go one way, but wished to go the other. Elena changed everything. She always did that, she was special in that certain way that caused a ripple effect to start around her and it was the last thing he wanted now. He loved her though. God, did he love her! But sometimes it was better for her to stay away. He could remember even now the feeling in his stomach when she came to him and said she had made a deal with Elijah. It had been a sucker punch to their plan and it had ultimately ruined everything because Elijah hadn't been able to kill his brother. It turned out alright nevertheless, even better since Klaus dying meant them dying, but he hadn't known that then. Elena coming to Amsterdam would be just like that, but on an emotional level.
What would Damon do? Or say? Or feel? Would it destroy what he and Bonnie had built between them? Would it… oh, he didn't know what to do! What could he do? He couldn't tell her not to come; she would feel betrayed and hurt. He could hear her voice, the happiness, the relief of being awake and alright for now, her joy and love when she said she could join them. He shook his head. He couldn't think about this now, and he needed to head back soon. The plane was in half hour and he needed to tell the others about Elena.
He rushed to the manor and entered in a haze. He stopped short soon after though when he saw the couples dancing, some of the other vampires had arrived as well and they were mingling. He could recognize Marcel talking to a girl that looked about 17 years old. They were laughing and swaying to the upbeat rhythm of the song he hadn't heard before. His eyes searched the dance floor and found Caroline and Klaus, the hybrid being surprisingly good at this kind of dancing despite his age. He resumed his search until his eyes landed on his brother who was dancing with the Bennett witch. The two were lost to the outside world, swaying slowly to a beat of their own. Stefan remembered when Caroline had told him that's how he and Elena danced. He smiled. Maybe it would be alright if his wife came. He watched as Bonnie smiled at his brother, her eyes shining in the low lights. He saw Damon stepping just a tiny bit closer and dipping her playfully. He noticed the two laughing, carefree and Caroline and Klaus drawing closer and joining in the fun. Stefan sighed when he realized the closeness between the four, clearer now than ever before. He had missed out on that.
Then just as he contemplated going there and telling them, he saw a flash of fear going through Caroline when Klaus lightly pulled her against him, and watched as Bonnie gathered the blonde into her arms and how Damon whispered – what he could only assumed were – soothing words into Caroline's ear. Stefan noticed Klaus' sadness and heartache and Damon's worry and Bonnie's protectiveness. And suddenly he felt like a cold bucket of ice had been thrown over him and inside him. There was just too much he still didn't know. Too much they hadn't told him. He didn't even know what had put Bonnie in a coma, or who had killed Katherine or why was Liz so pained when she looked at Elena in Caroline's bed. He was confused and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Stefan!" he heard Caroline yell and he turned to face them again. He walked to them and gave a questioning glance. "We need to go soon, do you have everything?" the blonde continues and Stefan has to struggle not to ask what had happened earlier. He manages somehow though.
"Yes, though… Sheriff Forbes called." He hesitated. "Elena is awake." He swallowed and noticed the tense look around him. Only Caroline seemed to be fine, but even her expression looked forced, like she had to put on a happy face. He didn't like that. It made him equally tense.
"That's good though, right?" she asks, faking a smile that is so good that Stefan doesn't even realize it's not true, that it hides a year's worth of blame.
"Yes, but she wants to join us." He doesn't miss the grimace on Damon's face though. "I can't stop her. I think she's already boarding the plane. Apparently she had booked it when she found out where we went and that was a few hours ago. Liz said she tried to stop her, but couldn't."
"Well can't you tell you wife to stay home? She tends to mess things up." Spat Damon who then grunts in pain when Bonnie jabs an elbow into his stomach. The grunt turns quickly into a cough which then becomes a coughing fit. The cold isn't treating him well it would seem. Damon takes to glaring at the witch, holding onto his chest as the coughs get harder to withstand. He hates how easily he can get breathless. He hates being sick.
"I don't control what she does Damon. She's my wife not a pet I can command to stay!" Stefan glares at his brother who in turn steps closer, letting is hand fall to his side, ready to fight in spite of the fact that he's only human. Stefan doesn't seem to realize that either as he tightens his fists. Caroline pushes herself in-between them before things can escalate further. Luckily for both men.
"Guys! No need for a fight. It's not going to help with anything. What's done is done!" she tells them and nods with a smile at Klaus as he pulls an angered Damon away from the younger Salvatore. The blue-eyed man struggles for a while before he relaxes into the hybrids hold. He is too weak to even put up a fight. God! I need some meds! This is pathetic!
"Care is right. Damon! Stop it!" Bonnie pushes her boyfriend behind her when he tries to push Caroline out of the way, in one last try to quell his anger. "Elena will just do what Elena wants. We'll deal. We have bigger problems." That seems to bring the discussion at an end. Damon sighs and nods, taking Bonnie's hand and pulling her towards the exit as Klaus tells them they have to go if they want to catch the plane. Stefan either doesn't notice or he doesn't want to notice the reproach in Bonnie's words. Either way, he stays quiet on the road to the airport, his mind swirling with thoughts of being reunited with his lover. He smiles when he fingers his wedding band.
"Why does she have to come? I mean, it's not as if she can help in anyway!" Damon complains to Caroline as soon as the plane sets off. Bonnie makes herself comfortable, leaning her head onto his shoulder and nuzzling her nose into the apex of his neck and shoulder, reminding the former vampire of a little bird. The woman then takes Damon's arm into her own and closes her eyes, exhaling as if there is a bone-deep tiredness that plagues her. Maybe there is. Damon just smiles and kisses the top of her head and lets her use him as a human pillow.
"Well, we don't have much choice, now, do we?" Caroline whispers for Bonnie's benefit and stretches her arms above her head. She slumps afterward, her right hand finding Klaus' who was sitting on the seat opposite to them, next to Stefan and an old lady that just took out her knitting set. Entwining their fingers with a small quirk of her lips, Caroline winks at her lover, squeezing and sending a questioning look at Stefan. It would be weird if he could hear them, but thankfully Klaus shakes his head. Stefan is out cold, and even if he were awake, the earplugs are turned to max so he wouldn't be able to hear anything.
"But we should! They left us!" Damon answers, his whispers loud enough to cause Bonnie to nudge his hand. He apologizes and stares blatantly at Caroline, knowing she would understand his question. His throat irritates him from that whisper anyway so he should shut up for a bit. Slowly searching through Bonnie's handbag, the man unearths what he's been looking for. He almost sighs in relief when the cough syrup passes his throat, alleviating the scratchiness he feels.
"We'll see. Maybe we can get her to stay in the hotel?" but even as she says this, Caroline knows it's a lie. Elena wouldn't do it, not for anything. The brunette has always been too stubborn for her own good and it's beginning to grate on Caroline's nerves. If only Saintly Good Perfect Elena would listen to someone, then perhaps they could win this. Damon scoffs – with good reason – and the blonde lets out an undignified snort. The two friends have to struggle to keep the laughter at bay. Bonnie just fell asleep.
A squeeze at her hand has her turning to Klaus whose eyes are asking her if she is alright, if the episode from Marcel's party has truly passed. She smiles, reassuring and loving. It had, she was fine. She just couldn't risk sleeping, not with the nightmares threatening to swallow her. They let go when the stewardess comes that way and she orders a coffee. The flight is uneventful, but the knowledge of why they are going to Amsterdam burns inside their minds. Bonnie sleeps through most of the flight, even when Damon and Caroline decide it would be a good idea to watch a movie – a horror one, which had Care jumping and screaming every so often and Damon laughing his ass off at her, the two commenting whenever something is found as hilariously incorrect. Klaus is busy drawing, something new that Caroline can guess is her based on how often he turns to stare at them, and Stefan … Stefan listen to music and talks to Elena who apparently had only half an hour before she reached the airport.
Eventually Bonnie is awake and Caroline loses her partner in crime as he and the witch begin engaging in some very sweet and out of character actions – from Caroline's point of view anyway, seeing as she had never seen Damon in love before or Bonnie this open. She likes it though, despite the boredom that settles over her because of it. She even feels proud because she knows it was partly due to her meddling that it is currently happening. She gives Klaus a smug look, one that says "I told you so" and blows him a kiss. When they land, the lightness fades faster than anybody could expect, and Caroline has to fight off the feeling that she should kiss Nik one last time, because, really, that's ridiculous.
Damon is the first one out of the plane, his nose stuffy and his head pounding, but none of it reflects on the outside as he puts on his sunglasses, looking every bit a rock star he seems to think he is. Caroline is next, her palm connecting with his hair as she slaps him upside the head. Bonnie is last letting Stefan follow Klaus so they can get their baggage. She slips on her own sunglasses when the sun threatens to blind her with its brightness.
"Stefan!" they hear as they exit the airport and Damon's hand tightens around Bonnie's and Caroline gasps into the close-mouthed kiss she was giving Klaus. Elena is then lunging herself at her husband, her arms thrown around Stefan's neck and her lips merging with his like they haven't seen each other in ages – which was almost true, but come on! – and the other four stop walking altogether. When the couple finally disentangles, it's as if the others are invisible as Elena tugs Stefan to a taxi without a second thought.
"What?! No 'Hello' for us?!" Damon grounds out unable to stop himself and the brunette is frozen on the spot. Bonnie feels the man's hand tremble with either hurt or anger, she isn't sure, and caresses his knuckles. Caroline seems to mirror Damon's sentiments though as she steps next to the former vampire and speaks.
"Yeah! A whole year and not even a look? Weren't we supposed to be friends forever?!" Caroline basically spats out the words, feeling them dipped into poison as she speaks and sees Elena flinch. She is not shaking though, Caroline is unnaturally still beside Damon, barely breathing even. Elena blinks and her eyes well up in tears and her bottom lip quivers oh-so-softly that Bonnie almost – almost – gives her an aneurism. "Here come the waterworks!" The two women who've known Elena their whole lives think simultaneously.
"I'm so sorry." Elena says, tears streaming down her face, and she looks sorry, truly remorseful, but it doesn't change anything, not really, not when she got to spend a near full year in happiness and calm. Not when they had to deal with everything else, with creatures created by magic and coma and rape and heartache. Not now. "How did that song go?" Caroline wonders. "Too little too late? Yeah, It's too fucking little too late!" she thinks, embracing her inner Damon. She says nothing though, nothing out loud, because she knows better, because she is better than that.
"I'm so sorry" the woman repeats, Stefan's arms around her waist, her own hands over his, their wedding bands clearly visible, and that is what doesn't allow Caroline to say the words, to accept the apology, because despite the tears, Elena is happy, Elena has what she has always wanted and they just ache. They are broken, shattered, and shards are missing so they can never be put together again. So Caroline just walks past Elena and Stefan, tugging Nik behind her and seeing Bonnie comforting Damon with a soft look, a gentle touch until they move forward as well, ignoring the quiet sobbing of Elena Gilbert. Finally putting themselves first.
It's just too little too late…
A little too wrong
And I can't wait
You know all the right words to say
You know it's just too little too late
- Jojo "Too little too late" -
