Chapter 11: Animosity
A/N: Here is chapter 11! Hope you all enjoy it and hope you won't murder us for the mean cliffhanger at the end ;) Also, just another reminder to please read our one-shots 'Serendipity' and 'Infinite'! They're prequels to this story so it'd benefit you all ;D Thank you for reading and please follow, favourite and review! Another thing we'd like your opinion on: What do you think of us changing the title to 'Requiem' ? It has a nice ring to it and fits in well with what's coming (*hint hint*) and there are so many stories called 'New Orleans'. Should we change it? Or no? :)
Damon was bent over the sink, blood stained cloth in hand. Furiously rubbing at a mark of blood on his left temple that refused to come off, he gave up, and tossed the once white towel into the garbage. Looking up into the mirror, he noticed his younger brother standing in the doorway, arms crossed.
Anticipating Stefan's reply, Damon pushed his way out the door, half colliding with his brother on the way out. "Don't. I don't want to hear it."
"What you did was wrong, Damon! You could've gotten killed, and I can't have that right now!" Stefan began to pursue Damon, adamant that his point would be heard.
Having heard this speech too many times to count, Damon tuned out, letting Stefan speak the words, but allowing them to flow in one ear and out the other. After what must have been five minutes of unbelievable torture Damon turned around, and snapped. "Look, Stefan, I don't care. I don't care that I might have nearly died today, and I sure as hell don't care about Little Miss Sunshine."
Stefan rolled his eyes, and sighed. Damon had always been like that, always pushing away the truth, even though he knew his feelings were genuine. "Fine. Suit yourself. But know that when the time comes that you do care about Caroline, I won't be here to pick you up off the ground." Grabbing a light jacket, Stefan slung it over his shoulder, and shouldered his way out the door.
Content for the moment that he wouldn't be seeing his brother for a while, Damon poured himself a drink and lay down on the couch. He could feel the encroaching curse of having to think and to feel, and he quickly downed the small glass before he could get too lost inside himself, because god forbid he be burdened by his speculations.
Attempting to ignore the growing pounding in his head, he focused on the ceiling, counting the number of small cracks that emanated from each top corner of the room.
"You okay?"
Damon sat up, and looked across the living room to see Alaric, right leg resting over his left, brows furrowed in concern yet still carrying his trademark smirk.
Setting his glass down, the dark haired vampire turned to face his old friend. "Do you want me to be honest, or do you want me to lie to you?"
"Well, technically I am your subconscious…"
Damon rolled his eyes and grinned, happy to have heard from Ric for the first time in a good while. He had to admit, he missed the spirit of his drinking buddy, but some days he really wished that Alaric wouldn't go poking and prodding his nose in business that wasn't his own.
He opened his mouth to give a snarky reply, about how everything was absolutely not okay. That the reason he came to New Orleans wasn't to revisit painful memories, or get nearly maimed by an Original vampire, but to win Caroline's heart...or have his own broken.
Disturbed by the creaking open of the front door, he was about to go forth and taunt his younger brother for throwing such a fit, only to return within what must have been minutes. His voice was caught in his throat though, as he took in the figure of the vampire that stood in his doorway.
"Caroline?"
"I don't think you can." Klaus felt sadness overtake him as the rift between him and Caroline grew ever wider. For a brief moment, he almost pitied himself for his predicament, but he quickly disposed of the feeling in an effort to avoid falling into an abyss of regret. He did, however, still love his wife. No matter how many emotions he pushed away, no matter how many feelings he despised, he would always love his Caroline.
"Love, I haven't shown you the world yet. You can't give up on me now." He'd replaced his shock with a cocky façade of contentment which only served to make Caroline feel even more alone than she had when he'd been away from New Orleans.
"That's where you're wrong, Klaus." Klaus' eyes drifted downwards in anticipation of her next words. She called him Klaus when she was upset. 'Nik' had always been reserved for the moments she was most in love with him, and he knew that this time, the speech she gave him would not be loving or affectionate. "I can leave you, if I want. I love you, I'm not afraid to admit it, but I know I'll never be able to make you truly happy. I need to think about myself for once, and feeling like a failure for the rest of my life? That won't ever make me happy either."
He deliberated for a brief minute, attempting to think of words that would not offend her. He was wondering a dangerous terrain and he knew that if he wasn't careful, he would be left with nothing. "And what of your previous plans?" A smile lifted onto his face as he endeavoured to create a friendly air of conversation. "I believed that you intended to save me. Personally, I like myself the way I am, but the way I see it you're stuck with me until you achieve your goal." Caroline only shook her head in response, letting him know that she didn't believe his newly acquired playfulness was genuine.
"Alright then." She raised an eyebrow, testing him. Her stomach churned at the thought of the answers her next question might bring her, however she knew it had to be asked eventually. "Let's see. Can you tell me what happened to my mum?"
"Caroline, sweetheart." He took hold of her hands, as he slightly rolled his eyes, keeping up a friendly demeanour whilst also offering her a small gesture of sympathy. "I never took you for someone who would forget the way her own mother died. However, if I must repeat the story… It was a cold and stormy night as young Gilbert wondered the perilous streets of…" His somewhat sarcastic re-telling of a tragic tale ended as he was again slapped upside the head.
"No jokes, Klaus. My mother's death isn't a joke. No need to be so insensitive. What I meant was, were you telling me the truth when you told me she passed away?" When Caroline raised one eyebrow in a questioning gaze, Klaus' smile only lifted.
"I'm sorry, love. I lied to you." He clutched his heart for dramatic effect before continuing. "She… she moved to Antarctica to live as a hermit." Klaus paused for a moment, giving Caroline a heartfelt look of distress before allowing his face to fall flat. "That was a lie too. If you want to find her, she's six feet under the ground with a marble gravestone forever weighing over her head."
The look Caroline rewarded him with was nothing short of a ferocious glare. "So if I were to call her right now, she wouldn't pick up?" Her gaze was cold, calculating, and Klaus knew he could only stave off the truth with more dodging replies.
"I'm not sure, love." He frowned for a moment, deliberating as she watched him carefully. "Maybe she will. You know," a mischievous grin took over the lower half of his face, "perhaps they have phone service in heaven." Caroline continued to watch him carefully, flicking her thumb against her index finger as she thought. Keeping eye contact with him, she fished her new mobile phone out of her pocket, grateful that she had picked one up on her way to the hospital the night before. Calling her mother's house, she waited as the endless ringing began.
Klaus began to smirk as the phone continued ringing and Caroline relaxed a little bit. As much as she missed her mother and as much as she'd like her back, she'd always known that she would outlive her. In the past year, she'd come to terms with her passing, and she realised now that the relief of Klaus telling her the truth brought her more comfort than the idea that her mother was alive and unknowing of her daughter's existence.
"Hello, Forbes' residence." Caroline stiffened in shock as her mother's voice drifted through the phone. She gaped at Klaus as the smirk quickly dropped from his face, replaced by a mixture of guilt and irritation. "Hello? This is Elizabeth speaking." Caroline nearly dropped her phone as she quickly came to the realisation that her mum was on the phone. Her mother was still alive.
"Mum?" She spoke in quick, joyous tones. "It's Caroline! How are you?" Her words were choppy, bland and unoriginal as a result of the shock she felt at this new development.
"I think you have the wrong number." There was a pause from the other end of the line before Caroline's mum continued. "Although, if I did have a daughter, I would have called her Caroline. You have a beautiful name." Caroline's eyes widened as she tried to process this new bit of information. Someone had compelled her mother. Someone had taken her memories away. And she didn't even have to guess at who it was.
"Sorry to disturb you, ma'am." Caroline quickly mumbled a reply, hanging up the phone. She was on the verge of a mental breakdown and did not wish for her mother to experience a stranger breaking down over the phone. That's all she was now. A stranger. A stranger to her family, a stranger to her mother, and at times she was even a stranger to herself. It was all Klaus' fault. She directed her malicious gaze over to him, her quiet sadness morphing into a hateful fire.
"How could you do that to me? You compelled her to forget me!" she screeched as he tried to capture her hands in his once more. "She's my mother, my only family! Why would you do that?" For once, Klaus let himself feel truly remorseful for his actions as Caroline's body racked with sobs in front of him. "You need to go to Mystic Falls right now and get rid of your compulsion! Right. Now." She was seething, smoke almost dripping from her lips. Klaus knew, however, that there was nothing he could do to remedy the situation, so he simply told her that he couldn't do it.
"What do you mean you can't do it?" Her voice had dropped now, so quiet it was almost silent.
"I mean what I said, love. I can't take the compulsion off your mother." He shrugged his shoulders in subtle regret, placing his hand on her knee to offer quiet comfort. She shoved him off though, standing up and backing away from him.
"That's it then, Klaus. You took my family from me, you took my life from me, and now you're taking my happiness too. I'll find a lawyer and drop the divorce papers off in the morning." He hung his head as she made her way out of the apartment. Just as she was about to leave though, Caroline heard his quiet voice making its way through the room.
"Caroline, you know, if you do choose him," Klaus began, his voice laced with barely hidden disgust. "If you do choose Damon, make sure he can give you everything. Make sure he can protect you, look after you, give you the world. You won't let me do that for you anymore, but you deserve a man who can. Make sure he's worth it. I'll let you go for now, because I know it's what you need, and I'll be content in the knowledge that you have someone who will look after you. Just know this though. I tried living without you. I've tried it for a thousand years. It didn't work out for me, and I always learn from my experiences. I just don't have it in me to live without you, Caroline. So take all the time you need, but just know that at the end of it all, I'll be here waiting."
His voice was alluring, promising, and it made her heart stutter. In the end however, there was only one phrase she could push out through the haze of devastation that had overtaken her heart.
"You'll be waiting forever."
The next time Klaus looked up, she was gone.
The surprise slowly faded from Damon's eyes as Caroline invited herself into living room, letting herself fall somewhat gracelessly on the leather couch, across from where Damon had now resituated himself.
The two vampires sat in comfortable silence until Caroline decided to break the now growing tension in the room.
"So… where's Stefan?" She gave a tentative smile, obviously made uncomfortable by the idea that she was alone with Damon.
"Out." His response was curt and cold, completely the opposite of how he wished it would be in his head. He wanted to be warm and inviting, but it simply wasn't him, and instead he focused on pouring himself yet another drink, hoping to wash away the awkward tension sitting in the empty space between them.
"Are…" Caroline stuttered for a moment, eyes nervously trained on Damon's back as he kept up his stony silence. "Are you alright?" She paused again, the words almost getting caught in her throat. Her thoughts were a jumble, trapped in oblivion like flies in a tangled web. "I mean… I know Klaus is… He's… You have to… I hope you're okay." She stopped herself there, rendering her mouth unable to spew out more twisted half-sentences, trying to save every ounce of dignity she had left.
Damon slowly turned to face her, eyes ice cold as his bored into hers, seemingly looking into her soul, trying to see her true motives and intentions. "You're worried about me—that`s nice... but I`m fine, why wouldn't I be?" This time around his calm attempt at kindness seemed far too odd and sudden, made horrific by his unreadable expression, and it sent the atmosphere in the room reeling. Out of habit, yet another glass of liquor was downed in mere seconds, and he welcomed the precarious tilting of the ceiling like an old friend.
"Yeah, um," Caroline paused for a moment, trying to find the right words to continue the somewhat choppy conversation. "It's just... You looked pretty bad when I left." She gave him a sad smile, knowing that he would notice the obvious way she had excluded Klaus from her response.
Huffing, the older vampire shook his head, and he tried to hide a humourless smile, but when he failed to do so he stood up, nearly knocking over the coffee table in the process. Looking to his left, he saw Ric gazing up at him with such disapproval in his eyes that he felt like a young boy again, always at the receiving end of his father's abuse. Damon couldn't stop staring at the occupied seat directly next to him, and he couldn't help his intake of breath as he attempted to formulate a reply to Alaric's unheard lecture.
Caroline responded to Damon's clumsy behaviour by moving her lips into a straight line, showing him that she was most definitely not amused. "Damon?" she queried, cocking her head slightly to the right in an attempt to decipher the older vampire's mind. "If you don't want me here," she began, not entirely sure if she wanted to be there herself, "I can go. I mean, it's not like much can hurt me anymore than I've already been hurt so... I'll just... Go find Stefan, or something." She slowly lifted herself off the couch, pausing only when Damon began to stare blankly into the space next to him. She made to leave, warily noting that nobody wanted to be around her anymore. Not even the people who claimed to love her.
"Look, Barbie…" The oldest Salvatore began rudely, only for Alaric and his conscience to curse himself for being so impossibly impolite. What the hell is happening to me? Damon wondered vaguely, remembering the days where he didn't give a single damn about what others thought about him and his less than impeccable manners. Sighing, he began again, "No...please, just stay." The expression in his eyes was infuriating yet heartbreaking at the same time, but for once, Damon decided to make his first attempts at being hospitable, and possibly even friendly. As Caroline sat herself back down, he poured himself another drink out of habit, and offered, "Do you want me to get you something, Caroline?"
"A new life." This time, Caroline's response was fast. Too fast. She wasn't thinking and the words just came out before she ungraciously flopped sideways, landing on the couch as she grunted. Damon looked at her in mild amusement and fond interest, noting that Caroline's blond hair had fallen out of its ponytail, forming a golden halo around her head. Lying face down on the couch, Caroline's mind quickly caught up with her. She realised that this was Damon - not his younger brother - and she quickly returned to her formerly upright position. Brushing her hair back in a sweeping motion, she allowed a wall to build itself around her feelings again, trying her best to maintain a shaky air of propriety around a man who had never been her friend, but yet had never been her enemy either.
Damon paused in what he was doing, glass halfway to his lips. He saw that just forthe briefest of moments, Caroline had let her guard down around him, and it pleased him far more than it should've, but was subsequently disappointed to see that her wall of stone had been rebuilt around her and she was too far out of reach.
He didn't bother to sit back down and instead opted for pacing the room in an attempt to rid himself of all his excess nervous energy, still trying to ignore the growing ache in his head where the crusted blood still lay. With Marcel running the city, it was hard for travelling vampires to feed on proper fresh blood, and Damon longed for even a stale blood bag to stave off his cravings.
Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he looked towards Caroline, eyes searching deep into hers once more, but broke their eye contact right before he began. "So, how's Klaus?" He knew that she knew he didn't really care, and was only asking out of the so called kindness of his own heart, but he wasn't ready to admit to her that his question was aimed more at their relationship and less at how the Original was actually doing.
"Oh he's..." Caroline paused, trying to find a neutral word. "He's fine." She eventually decided on the age-old response, allowing Damon to form his own conclusions on the wellbeing of the original hybrid. She fidgeted with her hands as she intertwined her fingers together and allowed her thumbs to take on an intricate yet melancholic dance. Damon was almost taken aback when he noticed tears welling in her eyes, not quite ready to be the comforter of the day, but to his vague relief she quickly brushed her hand across her forehead, the motion assisting her in adopting a happy countenance as the tears disappeared. "You know Klaus," even she was almost startled when she continued, "he's always got something to keep his mind off his troubles." Caroline's smile unnerved Damon, her tone of voice contrasting the empty sadness present in her eyes.
The older vampire was disappointed in her response, wishing she had elaborated a little bit more on where they both stood in their complex marriage. Caroline could see the conflict in his eyes, the uncertainty of whether or not he should push for the answers he'd wanted, as he'd always done in the past. After all, Damon Salvatore always got his way...but not this time. This time he restrained himself and took a deep unnecessary breath, and resumed his highly strung pacing around the room, slowly increasing in momentum. He began to feel himself speak, but he didn't recognise the words coming from his mouth. "You shouldn't be with him, Caroline." Caroline looked shocked, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously, warily wondering if Damon was aware of the conversation she'd just had with her soon-to-be ex-husband. Damon's breath caught in his throat as the nervous energy he had been channelling through his incessant pacing came to a sudden halt, bursting outward in a cataclysmic event worthy for encyclopaedias.
"I don't like, Klaus, Caroline! He's made a mess of my life, and of yours, and it pains me to see that I'm so much better for you, and you haven't spotted that yet!" His voice was rising in volume, but still remained oddly calm and purely sincere. "I mean hell, I'm no Klaus. I don't destroy the lives of others, and I only ever wanted the best for you." His lips curled up in a sneer, words becoming harsh and biting. "But of course you know best, don't you. You know that I have always been the one to hurt you and flip your life upside down...but it's your choice." His face was up in hers, far too intimate for a moment like this one. "Now make it."
"I'm..." Damon watched as Caroline struggled to speak, her hands curling into tight fists as she leaned forward on the couch. Her eyes were wide, startled from his sudden outburst, and Damon began to fret when he noticed that Caroline had visibly begun to shake. Her next words were so silent, too empty of emotion, as they drifted and spread throughout the room. "I'm not with him. Not anymore, anyway." When Damon next looked at her, she'd buried her face in her hands as quiet sobs softly danced between them, heard only because they were in such close proximity. He gently pulled her hands away and lifted her chin so she was forced to look at him. Despite the tears sprinkled across her cheeks, and the newly developed redness in her swollen eyes, to Damon, she still look flawlessly beautiful. And yet, although she was vulnerable, although she was despairing, one couldn't help but notice the defiance still buried deep within her heart.
Damon didn't say anything - couldn't say anything - and he got lost in her eyes, still brimming with unshed tears. Using his thumb to brush away the small droplets of water trailing their way down her cheeks, he sighed, stood up, and resumed his old position on the couch next to her, but noticeably closer to the blonde vampire; and just like before the two sat in a comfortable silence, Damon exchanging dazed glances with Alaric. Finally following the basic rule of social etiquette, Damon stared down at the carpet, following its intricate patterns, and muttered so softly, that if it weren't for Caroline's vampire hearing, she wouldn't have picked it up, "I'm sorry…" He wasn't really though. In fact he was nearly jumping for joy at his newfound opportunity to win the heart of the broken-hearted vampire sitting next to him.
"No you're not." Caroline's voice was cold and Damon quickly directed his gaze back to her, expecting the now familiar flat expression she used when she shut people out. On the contrary, however, her face was not expressionless — she had turned to look right at him, her eyes piercing through his soul with an emotion that could be described as nothing less than gratitude. "But thanks. For being here." Although she did not smile, and although she immediately averted her stare after her speech, Damon knew she was completely sincere in her words.
Damon smiled and shook his head, he exhaled deeply for what must have been the millionth time that afternoon, and looked at her directly once more. "You're welcome, Caroline," and his old trademark sarcasm shone through, and for the first time in a while, he was happy. He was content with where he was and the company he was with, and continued to wonder in his head how in the world he got where he was.
"Do you want to know what happened?" Caroline's words were soft and Damon grunted in approval, although he really didn't give a damn about what her hybrid husband had done this time. "You were right." He lifted an eyebrow, believing for a moment that she was blaming him for her issues, however, as he soon realised, this was not the case. "He compelled my mum to forget me. He compelled me to forget Elena. He doesn't know how to love. He's over a thousand years old and I'm supposed to teach him how to feel?" She laughed humourlessly. "I'm not even 30 yet! He sees me as a play thing, a toy he can control, and I can't be in that kind of relationship. There are so many lies in our marriage, so many things that he's hiding to 'protect' me. Klaus disappears all the time and leaves me to fend for myself. He can be impossibly sweet at times but for the most part, he doesn't care. I can't handle it anymore. The jealous rages, fighting all the time. He doesn't trust me. I don't think he trusts anyone and I don't think he ever will. Klaus only believes in himself and he'll never believe in me, no matter how much I love him. That's why I ended it." She paused for a moment, watching Damon carefully, but he almost had no reaction to her story. Caroline knew that he was unsurprised. She knew that she was the only person who, for the past few years, had been lost in an illusion of who she wanted Klaus to be.
Cautiously, gently, she continued. "What was it like for you? Being with Elena, I mean." Caroline didn't ask to upset Damon or to merely continue the conversation. She was genuinely interested in hearing about her best friend's relationship with the man now sitting beside her on the couch. After Caroline had moved away from Mystic Falls, she hadn't heard anything about Elena's life, and she was yet to find out about her best friend's escapades before she died.
"With Elena, it was passion. It was pure, and it was her… but all the while there was a part of her that wanted to be with Stefan. I mean, after all it was always Stefan." Damon's tone was bitter, and full of long lasting resentment for his younger brother. "She kept denying it, I mean of course she did, and I never really believed her. But you know what was the worst part?" Damon's eyes had narrowed, icy blue eyes looking into Caroline's. "Everyone thought she'd be better off with him. Even you wanted her to be with Stefan, damn it!" He had begun to fidget, memories from the past assaulting his thoughts and mind, but he couldn't stop. "Despite my brother, we were somewhat happy, and all those days I spent with her were the best I'd ever spent in my 174 years of existence. That was...until she died." Damon noticeably cringed and took a moment to gather himself, wound still raw even after all those years. "Everything was fine until we stepped into that stupid car and crashed into the goddamn bridge. And then...poof. Out she went like a blown out candle. No sign she was ever with us." Damon was someplace else now, in a world only he knew because only he had witnessed it. "I even got her to agree to turn; we discussed it a hell of a lot before she died. And what's really killing me is that we were so close. But you know the rest. It was too late. Over. Now here I sit, talking to you, all alone."
As Damon ended his tale, Caroline nodded grimly, upset by his words but still glad that he'd opened up to her, even just for a little while. "Well," she quipped, "at least Klaus didn't die on me." At Damon's responsive silence, she thought over her previous words before realising that they were completely inappropriate. "I'm sorry," she quickly stammered. "I know she meant a lot to you… She meant a lot to me too. I shouldn't have said that. I know you're upset."
Damon's head whipped around quickly, startling Caroline slightly as he looked at her apprehensively. "And that's where you're wrong, Caroline. I'm not upset. Upset is an emotion specific to those who care."
As the room lapsed into an uncomfortable silence once more, Damon allowed his thoughts to float back to an event which had occurred almost three years before.
The sky was a deep rich blue, white clouds dotting the sky periodically, but quickly disappearing into the horizon as the wind restlessly blew them away. A small gathering, all dressed in black, stood around a newly dug hole in the ground, hoping…waiting.
Damon looked upwards, squinting against the harsh rays of the sun. To him, the sky seemed happy. Too happy. Far too happy to be shining brightly on a day where the love of his life would be lowered in a coffin into to the dirt, left to the worms and decay that awaited her below. Looking around at the expressions of those who stood in a small semi-circle, Damon noted that he was the only person there without tears brimming in their eyes. In fact, he felt quite heartless, really. If anything, he should be the one falling on his knees, quiet sobs wracking his body...not Matt. Matt never deserved this, Bonnie never deserved this, even his brother Stefan, whom he resented so much, didn't deserve to see his one true love be lost to the world they were permanently cursed to live in forever.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to commemorate the loss of Elena Gilbert."
Damon tuned out at that point, not even moderately interested in anything the pastor had to say. He knew Elena. He knew everything she was and could be and he just wanted this man to cease talking and just allow the few of them to mourn. Alone.
Time ticked on relentlessly slowly, and at last the afternoon sun began to peak over the trees when each of them were called up one by one to say a few words. Matt begun, unshed tears pooling in his eyes, and Damon could see that it was such an effort for the young busboy to keep them from spilling over.
"Elena. Man, she was something special." He laughed, salt water trails finally spilling over and landing like dew on the grass underneath him. "We'd known each other since we were kids, and growing up with her was a privilege I never really appreciated." Bonnie quietly approached him and handed him a tissue, receiving a grateful nod from Matt. "And now she's gone, and I never really told her that she was so much more to me than just a friend."
Matt stood up there for a few moments more, and threw the small bouquet of flowers he held tightly into his chest on top of the now lowered coffin. "May she rest in peace." Resuming his place amongst the small group of mourners, Bonnie stepped forward, dark makeup leaving black streaks down her cheeks.
"Elena was my best friend, and I don't know what I'll do without her. I regret all those times I went without speaking to her, letting her think I hated her...but I never could. I loved her like she was my sister and I would do anything to have her back."
Bonnie's speech continued for a few moments more, but Damon was lost in reading the gravestone now being placed in front of the freshly dug hole where her coffin lay.
"And now I know Jeremy would like to say something," Bonnie smiled sadly at her love, their fingers brushing briefly as she walked back into her place. Jeremy spoke, head held high where Bonnie stood only moments before.
"Elena was the best sister I could've ever asked for, and so much more. She was there for me when Mum, Dad, Ric and Jenna weren't anymore, and she's taught me to be the person I am today. She pulled me through so much and I don't know how I can thank her." Jeremy slowly unclipped the bright red rose that was pinned to his suit, and held it gently in his hand for a few moments. "She's like this rose. Eternally beautiful, but now returning to where it belongs." Kissing the delicate flower, he dropped the rose upon the coffin just as Matt had done, and turned around to face the gravestones littering the too crowded cemetery. "I miss you, Elena...please come back." He returned to Bonnie, gripping her hand tightly as he tried incredibly hard not to break. He had just lost the only family he had left, and his only reason to stay was the young witch standing beside him.
"Damon…" A small push forward on his back urged him to stand before the group of three friends, and he realised that after all this time, he still didn't know what to say.
"When someone dies-" Damon cleared his throat, not happy with how he had begun. Elena wasn't just someone. She was his one, and she deserved so much more than he could say out loud. "Not only was Elena a friend, but she was a lover, and a sister." Looking at everyone's faces one by one, he could see the pain etched in their expressions, and he knew that this particular wound would take far too long to heal. "People say that life is too short. They're right...and I hope that when she died, she died happy. Even though she lived a life full of hardship and sadness, she also pushed through and woke up every day trying harder than the previous, and that makes her the strongest person I know. It's a shame my brother couldn't be here today, after all he'd have so much to say." As usual his tone was full of anger and resentment, and deep inside he was glad his brother wasn't here. That the favourite brother wasn't here. "But here I stand...Still as deeply in love with her as I was since the moment I met her."
With that final statement of his unrequited love, he turned on his heels and walked straight out, not even wanting to see the mounds of dirt get piled over her. At that point he already knew she was gone.
"Damon?"
Caroline's voice pulled Damon's mind from his musings and he turned to look at her, eyes full of devastation although the rest of his face was blank. She gave him the briefest of innocuous smiles before gently placing her palm on the side of his face. Staring directly into his eyes, her words were soft and gentle, reverberating to the very depths of his broken heart. "You pretend you don't hurt, that none of this affects you, but I know you Damon. I know you can feel the pain and the loss. I know you feel it more than any of us. And I want to be here for you, just like you're here for me."
For a second, Damon could have sworn that Caroline's eyes had flashed down towards his lips, but the moment was ephemeral, fleeting, and he knew there would not be one like it again. He was shocked however, when she reached forward and pulled him into a tentative hug, slowly drawing circles on his back with delicate fingertips. He didn't move, rigid with surprise from the unexpected moment, but still Caroline did not let him go. Ever so slowly, he brought his arms up to return her embrace, and silently they comforted one another in their grief.
"Sorry to break up this rendezvous, but Caroline has somewhere she needs to be." The two vampires quickly pulled away from their hug and turned simultaneously to find the owner of the disruptive voice. Caroline spotted him first, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, a familiar smirk scattered across his face. Sneering some more, Klaus continued, "Truth be told, the sweetness of that moment was sickening." His face scrunched in an effortless display of disgust, before he turned to Caroline once more. "I'd quite like it if I could talk to you, Caroline."
"You see, I don't think you understand, Klaus." Both Caroline and the hybrid were shocked when Damon started speaking, forcefully talking back in disgust at Klaus' presence. "She's not yours anymore, and you can't force her to listen to whatever shit comes out of your mouth. If she really wanted to spend all her free time looking at your ugly hybrid face, she wouldn't have spent the whole afternoon with me, now would she?" Damon grinned, a devilish smile spreading across his previously innocent expression. "And that's the best part…" Damon had now stood up and circled behind Klaus, whispering in his ear menacingly. "She. Came. To. Me." Annunciating every word, he rounded back to stand next to Caroline, slightly in front of her in case she needed protecting. Caroline gripped his arm tightly, silently trying to communicate to him that enough was enough, and if he didn't stop right now he'd get seriously hurt. Klaus was beyond pissed, and Damon was truly aware that he had pushed too far, and now that Elena was gone, he had nothing to lose...except Caroline, but Damon knew that Klaus would never do anything to hurt her, even if the Original wanted to make the both of them think otherwise. "What does that tell you, huh, Klaus? It tells you that I've been right all along. You are a dick!" If possible Damon's grin grew ever-wider and in his crazed euphoria he nearly missed Caroline's amused snort that was ungracefully omitted beside him.
Quickly recomposing herself, Caroline brought herself back to the reality and severity of the situation at hand, and she prayed that Damon would shut up before he had his head taken off. "Enough of one to push your wife straight into me, anyways. And you know, I've done some pretty bad things to her in the past, so I guess you're just a bigger idiot than I was. I mean you're old as hell, isn't that supposed to make you the wiser of us two?" Damon laughed humourlessly but maliciously before continuing to verbally attack Klaus. "I know! Let's play a little game...you can guess which one of us she can put up with more! Or I could just tell you since you'd probably get it wrong. And guess what the answer is? Me. It will always be me from now on. I'm the one she's speaking to right now, so how about this. You get out. Leave. I don't give a crap where you go. Hell, you're not even wanted here right now, and you never. Will. Be. So goodbye! Adios!" Damon raised his hand and waved Klaus away, mocking him as he gleefully bid farewell to the original hybrid, but his smile slowly faded when, as expected, Klaus made no move to leave the room.
By the end of Damon's speech, Klaus was infuriated, although he did not show it on his face. "Did your mother never teach you, mate, that brevity is the soul of wit?" As his words came to an end, he smiled an almost malicious smile before ripping a wooden leg off a nearby chair.
"Then again," he added, turning. "You never had much wit." In a flash Klaus was standing in front of Damon, the makeshift stake embedded in the younger vampire's chest. Caroline screamed, her voice piercing through the air around them as Damon dropped to the ground.
