9: RIGHTING THE WRONGS

"Damon, I can't believe you told Sage everything and you've yet to tell me anything. I want to know too," Alaric complained in a mock childish manner. While waiting for Damon's reply, Alaric lightly drummed his fingers against the hospital bed frame.

"Quit bellyaching fuck boy! I'm gonna be in this hospital for three more days, that's more than enough time to tell you my entire, frickin life story! So anyway, here's what I told Sage. I think I like Elena, but I don't know how to approach her, and I'm seriously afraid of that psychopath Tyler, so there you have it. My conversation with Sage summarized in a sentence," Damon retorted while running his fingers through his short hair. He closed his eyes shortly thereafter, enjoying the solace of a momentarily silent room.

"Well fuck Tyler. I agree with Sage. Tyler's just insecure. He's having trouble letting go of what isn't his any longer, namely a lovely woman named Elena Gilbert. I mean, I was talking to Stefan just a short while ago. He said that Tyler is not usually such a violent person. It's just that, well, he doesn't know how to handle his feelings for Elena. And he sure as hell doesn't know how to handle the fact that Elena no longer loves him," Alaric informed.

A voice came from the doorway. "Alaric is right," Tyler murmured sheepishly.

"Whoa, whoa, get away from me fucker! How much of the conversation did you hear? We were actually talking about-El-um. El-um-

Eleanor Roosevelt. Yah, I have a mad crush on Eleanor Roosevelt. So get away from me man, I don't want any trouble!" Damon stumbled on his words as he formed a cross with his fingers. He shielded his head protectively behind his arms.

"Look, I don't want to cause any more trouble! I want you to know that I'm not usually a violent person. That's probably hard for you to believe, but I'm not. It's just that, well, how do I explain my behaviour? Here's my attempt. I've gotta say, Elena is probably the best thing that happened to me. When I was with her, I was on top of the world. I was just always insanely protective of her. Before she became this sexy rocker diva, I had already been noticing all the guys giving her flirty grins. Of course, she never reciprocated those feelings towards those guys, but still, what was I to do? I got jealous, and tried to control her. And she broke up with me for that reason. And it's been hard letting go. So I tried to move on, I tried to fuck as many girls as I could in one night, thinking that it would help, but it didn't ease the pain. If anything, it made the situation worse. And recently, she has changed her style slightly; she's sexier now, and bolder, and the guys are just flocking to her in swarms. I guess old habits die hard. I still feel really jealous when guys hit on her. And well, seeing that she got up close and personal with you and all, I just lost my head. I completely lost my head. I never meant to hurt you or Elena. And, as hard as this may be for me to say this, if you want to go for her, I'm not going to stand in your way anymore. She's not mine anymore, and I think that I should realize that and move on. It'll definitely be difficult. But I realize that Elena deserves to be happy. And to show that I really do love her, I've gotta do what's in her best interest," Tyler conceded, offering Damon a genuinely apologetic smile.

"Are you serious? I mean, are you fucking with me or something? What made you change your mind?" Damon wondered, still skeptical of Tyler's sincerity.

"Well actually, I started out handling the situation the way I usually do: I went binging. Stefan found me at the bar that I like to go to when I'm at home in Vancouver. He tried to help me out with my problems and shit. And I guess I took his points into consideration. But it wasn't until I was at home, listening to Fuel's songs Hemorrhage, did the answers all come to me. You know those lyrics "Don't fall away and leave me to myself, don't fall away and leave love bleeding in my hands, in my hands again; Leave love bleeding, in my hands, in my hands, love lies bleeding.' Well, they made me realize that my love with Elena is bleeding, and it probably can't be mended, with the way I handled things after the breakup. I continued to control her, I continued to be an ass, I slept around. It's no wonder she decided not to get back together with me. So here's my advice to you Damon, if you're serious about her. Don't be jealous. She's a strong woman, she's independent, and she doesn't need a man controlling her every move. Appreciate her for who she is," Tyler clarified. "And anyways, I also wanted to come by and see how you're doing. You're alright, right? I mean, you're not going to press charges right?"

Alaric smirked, "Not if you say sawwy." He stared expectantly into Tyler's dark auburn eyes.

"Alright. Damon, I'm sorry for stabbing you in the neck. I'm sorry for threatening to rip your balls off. And I promise, I won't go psycho on you if you decide to get with Elena," Tyler expressed his regret.

"Excellent, just excellent! Now run along Tyler, you aren't welcome here," Alaric sneered evilly, evidently attempting to bruise Tyler's ego. Damon, however, did not have such malicious intents.

"Hey, Tyler by the way. It takes a real man to admit his errors. I respect you for that. And no, I'm not going to press charges," Damon grinned, forgiveness gleaming in his eyes. Tyler, who had started towards the door, turned around and smiled at him.


Author's Note: Thank you for reading and the feedback, follows, and favourites. Special thanks to YAZMIN V, bellax0xchristina, zikae218, brittany salvatore 1864, and mylove4klaus.