CHAPTER 8

Caroline stood outside Damon's room, nervous and fidgety. She wasn't sure what kind of mood he was going to be in and when Damon didn't want company he let you know. The residual fear she had of him fluttered in her stomach as she made the decision to enter his room. She pushed open the door and peaked inside. He was still in bed.

"Damon?" She whispered, now unsure of whether he had simply been moving around in his sleep.

"What is it Caroline?" He mumbled, evidently awake. He didn't move as she approached him and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" She asked gently, reaching out to touch him, but quickly changing her mind in the process. He still looked weak and vulnerable, very un-Damon like.

"Fine." He said without any tone in his voice.

"Do you need some more blood? I can get some for you." She offered, again having to stop herself from patting him gently on the hip. It was so natural for her to comfort her friends when they were hurting. Strange to feel like he was actually part of that group now. He had always been a necessary evil add on to the group that she had tolerated because he would do anything to protect Elena. Now she saw him differently.

"Why are you still here Barbie?" He whined sarcastically trying to squirm away from her when he froze in pain. She couldn't help herself this time and she cooed at him, rubbing her back as he relaxed back into the position he had been in previously. Obviously he was too weak to fight her as he let her stroke him.

"Because you need somebody and because…I'm your friend Damon." She didn't care how he responded anymore. She wanted him to know that she meant it. Slowly Damon turned over onto his back to look at her. She could tell that it took a lot out of him to do so. He had bruises on his neck where Elena had partially torn his larynx out. Thank god for fast healing! His eyes were as wide as saucers and black with thirst as he stared at her incredulously.

"Since when?" He asked his eyes boring into hers like a drill. God he had such an intense stare it ruffled her feathers a little.

"Since I saw you let my best friend almost kill you today without trying to stop her." He gave out a small laugh.

"Well, that's me off the bat isn't it? I always have a death wish." She took the opportunity to take one of his hands in hers and he watched her with curiosity as she held it between both of her hands.

"You really do love her. So much that you let her do this to you. You would've let her tear you apart if it made her feel better." He didn't respond to her statement. He just stared at her as though he was too exhausted to muster up a denial. He closed his eyes and she sighed inwardly squeezing his hand. His black eyelashes fluttered and she realised that he had fallen asleep. She had never realised how long those eyelashes were. It was strange to remember the intimate moments that she and Damon had shared when she was his human blood bag. He had looked wild and exotic when she had stared up at him during sex, but she hadn't noticed the tiny details – his long sweeping lashes, the tiny wrinkle lines at the side of his mouth, the curve of his bottom lip. He didn't look exotic now, he looked angelic. She shook her head laughing at herself. He was a looker one way or the other and truth be told, even when she had hated him for what he had done to her, she could still get a little hot and bothered around him when he flirted, wanting her to do something for him. It seemed inappropriate to still feel flushed looking at his features when he was so ill and in love with her best friend. That was the power of Damon she guessed. He groaned in pain in his sleep and she stroked his forehead gently trying to soothe him. She placed a fresh blood bag down beside his other hand, ready for him when he awoke.

"Elena?" He whispered, but she could see from his eye movement that he was still asleep. Her heart squeezed and she smiled at him. She'd been so wrong about him. She was going to make it up to him by making sure that he and Elena had a chance to work things out.

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They had both cried and opened the floodgates of their emotions. It had hurt to let all that emotion in but Stefan had held her and soothed her. She wanted so badly to turn it off but he had calmed her and helped her to see how important it was to let herself hurt for a while. Stefan had stayed with her all night in the cellar. She hadn't wanted to leave for fear that she might hurt someone again and so he had come in and stayed with her to help her through the night. She lay in his arms as they both stared at the ceiling. He had been teaching her some meditation techniques and they were really helping. Caroline had popped in to let Elena know that Damon was healing, he was just sleeping now and his injuries had healed. Elena didn't know how she could ever thank both of them enough for being there. If she had killed Damon she would never had been able to go on. It was strange that she felt like she could tell Stefan that. He had listened and empathised, even though she knew how much he still loved her. They hadn't talked like this since before Klaus and it meant so much to her.

Stefan had given his blessing for her and Damon to be together. He couldn't watch both of them tear each other apart with longing and anger. He had watched that happen between him and Damon over Katherine and he didn't want to be the cause of that. The more Elena had confided about how she felt and what she had been going through the more he was convinced that he should stay and be there for her, even if it was just as a friend. She needed to have someone she could talk to like this and he was as yet unsure of Damon's abilities to deal with such intense emotion. Damon had been denying powerful emotions for a long time and he might need Stefan's counsel too. When he became aware of Elena's breathing changing he carefully separated himself from her and quietly left the cellar room. He didn't bother locking it, hoping that she would make the decision herself to come out and face whatever happened next. Caroline was waiting upstairs by the fire.

"How is he?" Stefan asked as he approached and sat next to her again. Strange that it felt like they had become parents over the past day and night. She smiled up at him as he lowered himself down.

"He looks a lot better, all the bruising is gone now. I just checked on him."

"Thank you Caroline. For everything you've done." He smiled at her. She raised her eyebrows and an expression came across his face that looked mischievious. He giggled in response and confusion. "What?"

"I'm not done yet." She stated proudly.

"What?" He leaned in towards her. She grinned.

"We need to fix them Stefan. As long as you are ok with that?" She added the last sentence on suddenly looking a little unsure.

"What are you thinking?" He teased smiling.

"You know Damon. When he's back to normal he's going to be a douche-bag again and he is going to try and push her away, that's just how his safety bubble works…" she waited for him to but in and correct her, but he remained silent listening to her "When she wakes up, she's still going to feel sorry for herself and repentant. She's not going to trust herself with him, so I think she will try and avoid him too." Stefan nodded. "Then we will be back to square one again. We need to give them a push. They need to get past this and I think we are the only ones that can help them."

"Ironic isn't it?" Stefan laughed. "I have to force my brother to allow himself to love my girlfriend." Caroline tilted her head sadly at him and he smiled again. After a moment of silence from Caroline, he sighed. "Ok, what's the plan?"