Cold. She was so cold. Cold. She was so cold. It felt as if ice was rushing through her veins. And her lungs felt like they had that one time her dad had taken her scuba diving in the lake by the cabin and she came up too fast; were they going to explode or crush? The pressure in her head was equally intense and cold. She tried to raise her tongue to the roof of her mouth, a cure for brain freezes her sister had taught her several years ago, but found she couldn't move the muscle. Slowly she became aware of voices but they sounded as if Addie was trying to hear them from underwater. What felt like ages began to give way to some clarity.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" she interpreted of the brighter sounding voice. "First her mom and now her sister? Are you just hellbent on killing every member of Elena's family? Who's next: Jenna or Jeremy?"
The darker, bitter voice was flippant, "I told you I didn't do it. The history teacher went all psycho and stabbed her."
"Yeah and you couldn't have stopped him if you wanted to, right Damon? He was just too strong," Stefan sarcastically snarled.
"Nope," Damon cheekily responded, popping the 'p', "I tried but the guy was a loose canon."
"That was your fault for taunting him about how you killed his wife right in front of everyone!" Stefan snapped in exasperation.
"Nah; he needed to work on anger management. You'll take care of the body, yeah," Damon more commanded than questioned. Addie felt herself being lifted by what felt like an arm under her knees and another supporting her neck. His voice came out so near that she was definitely certain Damon was holding her, "Of course I wouldn't let Elena's sister die. She's been through enough pain with her adoptive parents. But I refuse to feel guilty about her birth mom. She gave her up; she wasn't a mom.
Addie was jostled just enough to tell that Damon was climbing stairs but for the most part he had a very solid and secure grip on her that she wouldn't have expected. She tried to open her eyes, make a sound, jerk in protest of being carried but her body felt too weak. Addie heard the opening and shutting of a door just moments before she was aware of Damon laying her down on a very soft bed, her head propped up by pillows. The cold silk sheets seemed to brush nearly all of her skin. Of course; she was in Elena's scrap of a dress. If only she had worn something more sensible maybe she wouldn't be so cold.
The bed dipped next to her and cool, calloused fingers brushed hair off her forehead and behind her ear. "Ads," Damon said gently, the backs of his fingers stroking Addie's cheek.
She tried to respond; tried to make even the slightest movement to show that she had heard him.
Damon's voice cracked as he pleaded with her unresponsive form, "Come on, Addie. Wake up. Please don't make me…."
Addie laid there for long, agonizing minutes wondering what Damon would do if she didn't respond. She was fighting to but every muscle was just to heavy and stiff to move. Until she felt Damon slightly open her mouth and press something against it. Her throat flexed, swallowing the cool, metallic liquid that trickled into her mouth. Addie could feel her throat and stomach warming from the inside out as the fluid passed through them. Desperate for warmth, she was pleasantly surprised to find her lips sucking at the thing pressed against her, certain that it was a cure.
"There you go," Damon crooned, cradling her head up more so she didn't choke on his blood. When he saw her hand rising towards his arm, he pulled his bloody wrist away. "That's more than enough," he murmured, wiping the blood from around her mouth with the sleeve of his shirt.
"Noooo," Addie argued feebly, slowly opening her eyes to find herself locked in a gaze with Damon.
"Yes," Damon said in a mockingly weak voice. "It's plenty to heal you. More would work faster but it would also take longer to leave your system. I'm already going to have to make you my prisoner for a day."
"Prisoner?" she said confusedly, her fingers, still chilled, twisting in the black sheets.
Damon nodded as he stood up and worked the blankets out from under Addie before pulling them up around her neck, "Yeah. I have to make sure you don't die with my blood in your system. I didn't save you just to have Elena pissed at me for turning her little sister into a vampire."
Addie squeezed her eyes shut to try and hold back the tears that threatened to come forth. It always came back to Elena. The memory of her asking Damon to let her die came back. Damon taunting Mr. Saltzman, Elena and her fighting at the Grill, Damon drunk and about to kiss her. It all came back. And everything always came back to -
"Elena," Addie mumbled in disgust. She wanted to argue with Damon; yell at him for not respecting her wishes and set the record straight that she was just fine on her own and would not be his prisoner. Yet, he was Damon the Vampire and she was just a girl. He'd always get what he'd want.
Addie turned away from Damon and closed her eyes. Her lungs still felt odd and as she pulled the blankets up to her eyes, she wondered if she would ever be warm again.
Damon stared at Addie as she ignored him. This wasn't what he expected. She was probably still recovering from having almost died but he had still anticipated more indignation and outrage from her at his actions. The Addie he knew would be chewing him out for saving her life, for killing her teacher, for his transgressions at the Mystic Grill. This Addie was meek and weak. It was almost as if… but that wasn't possible; she hadn't actually died.
"Aren't you pissed at me?" Damon asked bluntly, starting to get annoyed,
"No," Addie sighed, still not facing him.
Damon grit his teeth together, knowing she was lying, "Why not?"
"You were just doing what you thought was right. Thank you," Addie said softly.
Damon shook his head slowly, thoroughly confused, "You're not compelled anymore, are you?"
"Sorry?" Addie questioned, giving him a frightened look over her shoulder. That was all the confirmation he needed.
"How the hell…" he trailed off, standing to pace his room.
Damon knew when people died but reawoke to begin transitioning to a vampire, that could break compulsion. His death or his verbal command were the only other ways that Addie could have broken free of his compulsion. She wore vervain but that didn't protect her from the compulsion that he had placed her under when they first met, when he had ordered her to take control of her life. How was it that now she was back to the weak and insecure girl he had met that night in the rain? What had caused the compulsion to break?
Addie's stomach twisted in knots over and over again each time she heard Damon turn to begin pacing to the other side of the room again. What had he meant that he had compelled her? She didn't ever recall being compelled. And now she somehow wasn't compelled? What did that mean? She pulled the black silk comforter over her head, driven by a sudden desire to disappear from the world, starting with the streams of sunlight streaking Damon's room.
Damon crossed his arms as he leaned back against the doorframe of his spacious bathroom. Damn if he hadn't gone and shot himself in the foot with a wooden bullet again; though this time he really had no idea how it had happened. Watching Addie burrow in his bed he realized that his compelling her to take control of her life was just a Band-Aid for a bigger problem. Rip the plaster off and the wound still bled; she was still in a million pieces and worse, he could smell the fear she secreted in the form of adrenaline.
He didn't like her like this. She wasn't his Little Ads. She was boring.
"Take off the bracelet," Damon snapped, yanking the covers from over Addie's torso.
Her ocean blue eyes went wide as she shook her head, clutching her wrist to her chest, "No."
"Take. It. Off," Damon snarled and hissed, fighting with Addie for her wrist. He growled as the vervain treated leather ate at his fingers like acid but he eventually worked the strap free, having to practically hold Addie down to keep her from fighting him. He saw the terror fill her eyes and if he was a better person he would have felt guilt but he was selfish and that's how he enjoyed life. "Take control of your life," he ordered, staring deep into her eyes.
"Take control of my life," Addie echoed, her eyes unfocused and distant.
A resounding crack filled the room as Addie's hand made contact with Damon's cheek. Normally she'd preach that violence was never the answer but he had gone way too far.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? How can you possibly be pigheaded enough to think you have any right to compel me about how to run my life?" Addie demanded as she kneeled to tower over Damon, too angry to be bothered by the rising hem of Elena's dress.
"See?" he grinned smugly, rubbing at his bright red cheek. "Doesn't that feel so much better than hiding under the covers?"
"I don't know, Damon! Does it?! You said the exact same thing to me the first night we met and it was like overnight I was a completely new person. I asked you if you had ever compelled me! I told you I felt out of control. I asked if you were capable of telling the truth and you said you were!" Addie yelled, using Damon's shoulders as props to keep herself balanced so that she was higher than him for once.
Damon shrugged roughly, upsetting Addie's balance and sending her flopping on his bed. "You're so much more fun, this way, you know? It works more right away rather than overnight Don't be mad about the compulsion; I'm making your life better. Look at it this way: now you get to see Elena go all red and screamy over something as stupid as a ruined dress. WIthout me, you never would have lived to see that entertainment."
"Fun? Better? Entertainment?" sputtered Addie shaking her head with disgust.
Damon laughed, looking down at Addie. He had always wondered how she would respond if she found out he had compelled her.
"Come on," he said encouragingly; he couldn't resist teasing her. "You're a smart girl. You can string words together to form sentences." He poked the raw, red flesh just where the dress was torn. The blood from the wound was still fresh enough that some clinged to his finger as he pulled away. It was odd that it was still so warm, he reflected as he rubbed the small amount of liquid between his thumb and forefinger. As he peered at it closer he realized another strange characteristic to Addie's blood; it smell extremely sweet. Each person had their own scent but he had never smelled blood so sweet. A rare and always unwelcome occurrence swept over him as a memory for his human life consumed him.
He held open the screen door as seven-year-old Stefan waddled past him and into the house. Damon shot out a hand to steady the large, heavy fruit cradled in his brother's arms, small and still slightly pudgy with baby fat.
"Don't drop it!" he exclaimed in fear for what must have been the hundredth time since they had started the trek home from Mrs. Elizabeth Forbes' vegetable patch.
Every few weeks in the summer the town gathered together one evening to eat and trade the latest gossip while the kids enjoyed an excuse to play outside until stars and moonlight were the only light. This dinner part of what Mrs. Salvatore was making happened to be Damon's favorite, fruit salad with fresh vanilla custard. His mother wouldn't make the custard until they had all gathered in the town square but the dicing of the fruit was always done in the late afternoon. Other mothers took turns making the fruit salad but Damon always thought his mom made the best; she was the only one who served it in a watermelon bowl. No matter what slice of fruit you ate there was always a slight hint of watermelon.
Damon was always entrusted with the special task of selecting the biggest, healthiest looking watermelon from Mrs. Forbes' garden. This particular morning, Stefan had pleaded and pestered until Damon finally caved and let him tag along. Sometimes having a little brother was cool but now Stefan just wanted to follow him everywhere. Showing Marie Fell his secret swimming hole with Stefan chattering beside him and being the main focus of Marie's attention was not Damon's idea of a good time. Stefan could also be whiny; he had started to cry when Damon went to pick the right watermelon off the vine. The blubbering only stopped when the larger watermelon Stefan wanted was picked. It's color wasn't right; it wasn't ripe enough and it would be too tart. His little brother again began to pitch a fit when Damon said he was too small to carry the 20lbs fruit the two miles back to the house. Stefan had to lean his head around the melon to even see where he was going. Again, it was either walk across town with his brother making a scene or to let him have his way. Damon felt like he always let Stefan get his way.
"Here, Momma!" Stefan said proudly, presenting the watermelon to their mother who stood in kitchen dicing peaches from their backyard.
"Why thank you, baby boy! Wow!" smiled Lily Salvatore, gasping with slight exaggeration as she took the fruit from her youngest son. "You're so strong to carry this! It looks so yummy. Did you pick it out?"
"Uh-huh," Stefan grinned.
Damon stalked to the kitchen table, "Don't baby him. It's gonna be too sour."
"Damon," Lily chastised her eldest, giving him a scornful look, "your brother did a fine job! It will taste perfect. I'll need you to pick me a few more of the softer peaches."
Damon glowered. He knew the extra peaches were to hide the tartness of the watermelon. He was never coddled like Stefan was. It'd just be Stefan's loss if his parents wanted to treat him like a baby. He'd grow up to be a nancy pants sissy like crazy Jonathan Gilbert. At least Stefan would be able to spit seeds like a man, Damon grinned to himself as he watched his mother cut off the top fourth of the watermelon.
"Mom, can Stef and I have the top?" Damon asked, already making his way to grab for it.
Lily pulled the piece of fruit closer to her with the carving knife. "You know you're allergic to watermelon."
"It's not like it's going to kill me," Damon insisted. "I'll be really itchy and look like I have two busted lips for a couple of days. I'm tired of just getting the aftertaste, once it's touched all the other fruits."
"Fine," Lily sighed, slicing up the piece her son had wanted so that her sons could hold it and eat it, "but I don't want to hear one word of complaint when you're scratching yourself raw."
Damon grinned widely as he passed his mother a plate to place the fruit onto, "Deal."
He and Stefan were in the backyard for hours as Damon taught his little brother how to spit a watermelon seed at least 20 feet. Damon was right; the fruit was on the sour side but he never stopped to pick the extra peaches. He taught him how to balance the flat of the seed on the tip of his tongue and the back edge of his bottom lip before sucking in a deep breath through his nose and exhaling through a small gap through his lips, almost as if he were whitelisting. For the first hour Stefan could spit no farther than five feet. Damon definitely felt it was one of the cool times to have a little brother when Stefan showed off his new skill that night and bragged about how his brother had taught him, even if Marie Fell found it gross. Damon didn't even regret teaching Stefan as his whole face was puffy from eating so much watermelon and hives broke out across his hands and in his mouth for handling the fruit for so long.
After that reaction, watermelon always smelled sickly sweet to him; even though Stefan would pick the tartest on Mrs. Forbes' vines. The years past and he began to detest the sickly sweet taste that hid in his mother's fruit salad. It didn't bother him that he became more and more sensitive to the fruit, eventually so that it's juice on other fruits would cause hives. The only time Damon hated that watermelon had turned sickly sweet and that he was allergic to it was also the only time he regretted ever teaching Stefan how to spit a watermelon seed; when Stefan taught Katherine Pierce how to spit a watermelon seed.
Sickly sweet; that's how her blood smelled. He didn't think it was possible to be allergic to blood as a vampire but he was almost certain that Addie's blood would range from the sweet intoxication he use to get from watermelon to something poisonous all at once.
"Should I bother putting this back on or are you just going to rip it off again and compel me to let you munch on my jugular," Addie's snarling voice cut through his thoughts.
Damon looked back at her and the vervain treated leather she dangled between two fingers. Addie's eyes were focus on his fingers smeared with her blood. Quickly, feeling like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Damon wiped his hand on his pants.
"i'm not compelling you to do anything else. Except maybe act like a rational person if you don't," Damon shrugged, trying not to look distracted. "And I have no intention of drinking your blood. It's far too sweet for my taste."
Addie watched Damon through narrowed eyes as she struggled to fasten the leather band back on her left wrist using only her right hand. Call her stupid but she did trust enough that he wasn't going to hurt her, at least not at the moment. He'd just saved her from the brink of death. Though he had definitely looked lustfully at her blood between his fingers for a few moments, it quickly passed and his face was composed of repulsion and curiosity. She was safe; he was just an egotistical, arrogant dickhead.
"You're confusing fun with reckless and out of control. A stupid, careless person thinks they can actually find something of value in a monster like you and hopes it might just be possible to befriend the ultimate predator. A person who acts without thinking, someone out of control, is the only person that would be senseless enough to slap a vampire, even if said vampire deserved far worse for abusing his powers of compulsion. Of course should I suspect anything better from someone who has killed both my history teachers in cold blood for no reason!" Addie stated venomously.
Damon placed a hand low on Addie's hip, slightly pushing her into the mattress. He leaned close to her, dropping his head below hers and forcing her deep blue eyes to meet his lighter ones. When he spoke, he made sure to be firm but as honest sounding as possible.
" Remember the news? A big mountain lion killed Tanner and all those other people who died around that time," Damon said innocently, a twinkle in his light blue eyes. "As for what I did to Saltzman, that wasn't cold blood; he, well, he would have killed you first had I not been there to save you with my blood. Then he was coming after me. Call it a combination of protectiveness and self-defense that drove me to kill him."
"You must really think me stupid if you expect me to buy that," Addie blinked at him blankly. "They were both defenseless victims against you Damon! I don't buy what the news says about a damn mountain lion because I'm sitting in front of the real predator."
"No. I didn't really think you would but it was worth a shot. Everyone else bought the mountain lion story," Damon shrugged.
"Thank's because they don't have the misfortune of knowing you," sneered Addie.
Damon closed his eyes in frustration before slowly opening and locking gazes again. His voice dropped to something almost resembling fondness and tenderness, if Addie didn't know better. "As for everything you have done, that's not recklessness. That's not being out of control. All I've done is bring out the fight you keep buried deep inside you face the next day. I've watched you ever since we met. You can't hide from me that you haven't been nearly as depressed as you were before. You found the strength to go to therapy to handle the loss of your parents and your depression. You admitted you were flawed enough to read self-help books and strong minded enough to put the offered information to use. Before you never would have been so fiercely protective of your siblings and your relationships with them. Before me, you never tried to mend things with Jeremy after your parents died. I've heard straight from Elena how much closer you two are. You can try and deny it but I've been on the receiving end of how concerned about your sister you are; I don't think you would have made such the effort to show it in the past.
"You hang around a vampire because of his good looks, his styles, his charm, and his unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift. You spend time with we because you're smart enough not to cross me; not to mention a part of you knows I've earn your trust. You know you're safe with me. You call me out into the middle of the night because just as much as you think I want a friend, you want me as a friend. You're bold enough to call me out on my crap because when you're in control of your life, you're not going to let anyone, not even someone as fearsome as me, walk all over you."
Addie shook her head, "I will never forgive you for compelling me, Damon. It's immoral to do such a thing. Erasing people's minds is one thing but completely altering who I am is beyond explainable or justifiable. I know you think humans are your playthings to do with as you please but we actually have feelings. It's not right for you to take them away and play God. I always knew you were a deadly, ruthless monster, Damon but finding out that you have compelled me because you like me better some way, you are a horrible, heartless person."
Damon pulled away and stood up, "Doesn't really matter what you think. I'm not having you turn into a baby vamp on my watch." He riffled through the black wood dresser and pulled out a black t-shirt and a pair of black boxershorts. Rolling them into a loosely packed ball, he sent them gliding through the air and over to Addie. "That will cover you better than the dress you keep tugging at, pull it's not bloodstained."
Addie looked back at Damon pointedly. He looked back at her blankly.
"Aren't you going to give me some privacy?" she said snarkily, detesting the idea of being locked up with Damon.
"Bathroom's all yours," he responded overly gracious, gesturing grandly to the adjoining bathroom.
"There's no door, jackass. Besides you can't keep me here all night; Jenna will wonder where I am," Addie pointed out logically, crossing her arms in front of her, as if that settled the matter.
Damon leaned against his dresser and mirrored Addie's arm movements, "I broke into your phone and texted Elena that you were spending the night at Caroline's. I know you and her aren't bosom buddies but considering Elena looked like she wanted to kill you, I figured you chances of dying were less if you stayed here rather than going home. Elena will tell your aunt where she thinks you are."
"You know, I'd be mad about you unlocking my phone but I've learned my feelings and opinions have no affect on you. Have I mentioned that you're also an idiot?" Addie inquired, cocking her head at Damon's arrogant form. "Elena is going to surmise exactly where I am. She thinks we're close, which we so are not anymore, but I'm her sister and I would never want to hurt her so I have to make it look like we arent close. Hence, I would lie and say I'm hiding out at Caroline's while she is pissed off at me for what happened at the Grill when she should be pissed at you. By the way," Addie smirked, "what was your drunken ass thinking back there?"
Damon rolled his blue eyes. "You're overthinking something very simple; Elena will not give the lie a second thought. As for what I was doing, well," Damon shrugged innocently, "I was baiting Rick about his wife. Granted, I didn't know the relation to Elena at the time."
"I'm not talking about that, Damon. I mean, what did you think you were doing when Elena came over to us? You know, the whole reason my sister is pissed off at me?" Addie admonished, waving her hand around in the air for effect.
Damon rub the back of his neck awkwardly, "No idea what you're talking about, Ads." Damon hid his slightly redden cheeks and headed towards the door, "Call out when you've finished changing."
Addie nodded to Damon's retreating back. When the door clicked into place, she slid from the warm, soft comfort of his bed and began to peel of the forest green dress that she had felt so self conscious in all night. A hiss of pain escaped her lips as the area of the dress soak with blood had to be sharply tugged away from her skin. She walked to Damon's bathroom and found a stack of burgundy washcloths. She wet the corner of one with warm water and squirt a pump of hand soap over the wet patch. Using the damp section of the cloth, she rubbed away the blood that was in between her sternum and ribs and what had spilled down her stomach. Finally cleaned of the blood, she laid the cloth out flat to dry. Spying a bottle of listerine and Dixie cups, she rinsed out the lingering metallic taste in her mouth before she returned to the room and pulled on the clothes Damon had offered her.
"Done," she grumbled as she slid back into the bed, know that Damon could hear her, despite her quiet voice.
Damon strolled back into the room, extra pillows and a blanket curled under an arm, which he deposited on the chaise in the corner. Figuring he would sleep there, she scooched to the middle of his large bed and turned away from him and curled up for sleep.
"Entertainment will be telling Elena I tossed that dress in the fire. Will you light one in the morning?" Addie questioned suddenly groggy and tired.
"Only if you promise to tell me about her reaction," smiled Damon.
Addie shook her head against the pillow, "Not worth it. I'm done with you as soon as you let me go, Damon."
Damon tugged at his hair in frustration. "Night, Ads. Don't go rolling of the bed and cracking your skull open and dying on me in the middle of the night," he half-joked as he flipped off the lamp next to the bed, the only source of light in the room.
Damon stretched out on the chaise, using pillows to prop himself up and the soft blue blanket to cover himself. Something felt deeply wrong. there was a tugging deep in the pit of his stomach. almost like a burn the slight burn of hunger, though he was full. It reminded him of when he left Stefan at the train station during World War II, to go off and fight without out his protection. He was suppose to watch out for his little brother but Lexi said the best way he could do that was to leave him alone. Was he suppose to let Addie go off without him?
A/N: Wow! Your responses to the last chapter and the possible ending was overwhelming that I have decided to continue! What's up with Addie remembering being compelled when she shouldn't? Any theories? (I promise she's not going to turn into something invincible or anything). Will she make up with Elena? Damon? Also, do you guys like the flashbacks Damon and Addie have before they met each other? Particularly Damon in his human life? I can't decide if they fit or if I should just write them out as one-pieces.