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Chapter 14: Natural

Part 1

Cramps in her stomach and something wet and sticky on the sheets made Elena wake up groaning. She got out of bed, her hands on her stomach. She turned around and screamed. Both of the Salvatore brothers came rushing to her room, but as soon as they saw the blood, Damon pushed Stefan aside and locked himself in, the moment Stefan's face turned. "Oh, come on, dick!" Stefan moped as his face changed back.

Damon walked to Elena. "Are you alright?" he asked feeling awkward. Elena heavily shook her head. "No, I'm sick. My stomach hurts and I'm bleeding" she looked up. "I'm dying, Damon"

Damon averted his head to hide his grin, but Elena noticed anyway. "You're making fun of me!" she exclaimed upset. "I'm bleeding to death here and you're laughing with me?"

"Elena!" Damon said in the middle of his mirth. "You're not dying! This is completely normal, trust me"

"This is normal?" she waved at the dirty sheets and raised her eyebrows.

"Yes" Damon said. "It's… natural. It's a sign you can get babies"

Wrong thing to say. Elena had calmed down a bit, but now she was back at the panicking stage. "I'm having babies now?"

"No! That's not what I meant" Damon groaned. God, did he suck at this. "I have an idea. I am going to call Caroline and I'll let her explain you everything about the birds and the bees, alrighty?"

"Why do you think she can help me?" Elena asked suspicious.

"Because she's a girl and this happens only to girls" Damon explained.

"Oh" Elena blinked. "Hey, if this happens to girls, then what happens to boys?" she asked when Damon dialed Carolines number.

"We have nice dreams and we get excited, but in time we learn to control the excitement" Damon answered uneasy.

"What do you dream of?" Elena asked, her head diagonally, not at all curious. Damon's cheeks turned pink and he swallowed. "Eh… next question, please"

Part 2

After Damon had made that awkward phone call, he was the one being called. "Miss me already?" he said, thinking it was Caroline.

"Are you okay?" Alaric asked. Without awaiting an answer he continued. "How good are you with cars?"

"I can drive them quite well" Damon bragged.

"Yeah, I know, but not's not what I meant" Ric said. "Remember I spent the night in prison?"

"Well, since I'm planning on telling the next generation of Saltzmans I couldn't possibly forget" Damon smirked.

"I had to leave my car there, on the street" Alaric said. "And a tow truck brought it back to my loft"

"Wow, I didn't know you could park a car in there" Damon joked. He imagined how Alaric rolled his eyes.

"Outside. I meant outside" he said.

"So, you have your car back. Then what's the problem?" Damon now wondered.

"They haven't been exactly careful with it. I'm not going to say it's wrecked, but I can't drive it like this" Alaric explained. "So I'm calling you to ask you a favor"

"No, Ric, sorry, you're not getting a new car for your birthday" Damon said. "Not until you learn how to drive responsible"

Alaric sighed impatient. "Just knock it off with the dumb comments" he said a little annoyed. "I just need to know if you could help me fix it. If you can't, fine, then I'll call Stefan"

Damon pictured Alaric and Stefan working at Alaric's car and it didn't appeal to him at all. Ric was his buddy.

"No, I'll be right there"

Part 3

Elena was too ashamed to leave her room and she didn't open when someone knocked. And thus Caroline invited herself in. She found her best friend sitting in a corner, her arms thrown around her knees.

"Ah, poor thing" Caroline sighed compassionate as she walked to Elena, a box in her arms. "Damon told me what happened. You okay?"

Elena shrugged and wiped her tears. "He's says this is normal. How would he know? He's a dude, isn't he?"

"But he's right" Caroline said and she sank down next to her.

"My stomach hurts" Elena sobbed. Caroline searched through her box and conjured a small box of painkillers. She took one and handed it to Elena. "Take this. It'll take the pain away" Elena accepted the pill, but didn't take it in. "Just swallow it, Elena, it can't hurt" Elena put the pill in her mouth and as her cheeks moved up and down Caroline hastily added: "No, don't chew it!"

Elena shivered by the horrible taste and looked afraid at Caroline. "Is something bad going to happen now?"

"No, it'll work just fine" Caroline sighed. "But it's not a good taste" She stood up and stuck her hand out. "Come on, get up, we're going to get you cleaned up" Elena took her hand and walked uneasy with her. At the door she braked. "What?" Caroline frowned. "Damon and Stefan are out there. I can't face them like this" Elena said ashamed.

"Damon is gone to Ric, they're fixing his car" Caroline reassured her. "And I haven't seen Stefan, but this is a big house, we can easily find a way around him"

"Okay, then" Elena gave in with a small voice and they left the room.

Caroline guided her to the shower and she closed the door. She helped take off her upper clothing, but the underwear she left to Elena herself. "I'm going to close the curtain now, you can handle yourself now?"

"You're staying here?" Elena asked.

"If that's what you want" Caroline said.

"Yes, please" Elena said. "I want to know some things"

"Yeah, I thought you would" Caroline said, while Elena put on the shower. She shrieked. "Elena?" "I'm okay, it's just cold" "Okay, so, what do you want to know?" Caroline asked. "Why does this happen? And will it happen again and if so when? How long will it go on?" Elena fired her questions.

"This happens so that women can have babies later. You get it a few days every month and it will end when you're about fifty" Caroline answered.

"Fifty?" Elena exclaimed. "Why do we need to have babies? Where do they come from anyway?"

It was a good thing Elena couldn't see Caroline's face. At first she thought Damon had blown the situation a little out of proportion, but now she realized he was right. Elena was in bad shape.

"Ehm…" Caroline started, feeling uneasy. "You had sex with Stefan, right? You slept in his bed, you kissed and he did things with you and you liked it?"

No answer. Then, a few seconds later: "I kind of remember I slept in his bed, but I can't remember the feeling. Is it supposed to be nice?"

"If he's good, it should be heaven" Caroline laughed.

"Hey, Caroline?" Elena asked. "You slept with Damon, right? Was that… heaven?"

Caroline's cheeks turned red. "Eh…next question, please"

Part 4

Kelsey threw down the shovel when her phone rang. Without looking at the screen she pressed cancel.

"How long are you going to keep avoiding me?"

Kelsey turned around and looked at Derek, who put away his phone. "Until you get it in your thick skull that I don't want to talk to you"

"We have to talk" Derek said.

"I just buried my sister" Kelsey said emotional. "I had to leave her last night, because I was turning and now I can't even given her a proper funeral. I just put her in the ground, like a dog"

"I'm sorry" Derek said. "I feel terrible about it. Amber was my girlfriend"

"Yeah, well, she couldn't have meant that much to you" Kelsey shot at him. "Where were you that night? Why weren't you there to help us?"

"I got chicken" Derek said soft.

"We have to go to the Boarding House" Damon said urgent. He looked at Derek. "You're coming with us?" Derek looked from Damon to Alaric and then shook his head. "No, I'm going to stay here" Damon, Alaric, Stefan and Katherine ran outside, leaving Derek in the bar.

"So, once again you acted like your own cowardly self" Kelsey said disgusted.

"I'm sorry" Derek repeated.

"That's not bringing her back" Kelsey said angry. "Don't you get it? This is my fault! I bit her" she cried.

"No! It's not your fault" Derek said sharp. "If she hadn't been turned vampire one bite wouldn't have killed her. She might've been sick, but she wouldn't have died. The one who turned her is responsible for her death"

Kelsey stared at Derek. "Stefan Salvatore turned her"

Derek stuck his hand in his coat and pulled out a stake. "Then you know what to do" he said, handing out the stake.

Part 5

Alaric and Damon were standing in Alaric's garage. "You call that not wrecked?" Damon said, looking at the car.

"It's not that bad" Alaric said, not very convincing. "We can still fix it"

"Alright then" Damon gave in and he rolled up his sleeves. He walked at the front side of the car and gave a look at it. While he did some things Alaric came standing next to him. He leaned against the car.

"You've been hanging out with Elena quite a lot lately" he started. Damon avoided Alaric's look and pretended to concentrate on fixing the car. "Not that I mind" Alaric continued. "But… is something going on between the two of you? Did she break up with Stefan?"

Damon let out a deep sigh. Didn't Ric understand how painful this conversation was? "We're just friends, okay? She's still with Stefan" he said annoyed.

"Okay, then" Alaric said relieved.

"Why is it such a big deal for you anyway?" Damon asked, getting back at the car.

"I only have the best interest for Elena" Alaric said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Damon asked annoyed.

"It means I'm not sure if you would be good for Elena" Alaric said careful. "I know she's more to you than just a friend, but she already has a boyfriend. Stay away from her"

Damon didn't answer, but pulled some threads.

"You're angry now" Alaric noted. "Look, I don't want to piss you off, but you can be kind of reckless"

"Yeah, I heard you" Damon said. "I'm reckless, I'm not good enough, she already has Stefan, yada yada yada. Did you ask me to come here to help you or to preach on me? Because in case two I'm leaving now and you can call Steffie, so he can help you"

Alaric imagined him and Stefan working on his car and it didn't appeal to him at all. Damon was his buddy, not Stefan.

"No, I'll keep my mouth shut"

Part 6

Caroline had convinced Elena to leave the house to enjoy the summer weather. "Just because that bitch is visiting you doesn't mean you should stay inside" And so they walked around the streets. Random streets. It was a total coincidence they ended up at Alaric's loft, seeing Alaric and Damon working, shirtless. It was hot. The weather. Elena crossed the street, while Caroline walked further.

"Hey, Caroline!"

Caroline looked around when she saw Alaric waving. She flashed to them. "You couldn't tell me?" she asked Elena. Elena pulled her shoulders. "Sorry" "Mind if I get one of these?" Caroline asked, looking at the crate underneath the table with tools. "Sure, go ahead" Ric said.

"Can I have one?" Elena asked.

"No, sorry, you're not old enough, Elena" Alaric said. He accepted the beer Caroline handed to him. She gave one to Damon too. Elena tried to swipe it from him, but he held it high above her head.

"Elena, can I talk to you?" Alaric demanded and before she could answer he pulled her away from Damon. Damon already knew what Alaric wanted to talk about and he shut the hood. He turned around and leaned against the car, taking a sip from his beer.

Caroline came standing next to him, reaching out a small box. Still drinking Damon looked at the box out the corner of his eye. "What's that?" he asked as he put the bottle down on the roof.

"Painkillers" Caroline explained. "I told Elena she can only have one each day, but I don't trust her with it. Can you keep these with you?"

Damon accepted the box and put it in his pocket. Then he looked back ahead.

"What is she doing here?"

Caroline followed Damon's stare and saw Bonnie standing just outside the garage.

"Hey", Bonnie shyly said. "Can I talk to you?"

"No" Damon said short.

"I wasn't talking to you" Bonnie replied cold. She looked sharp at Caroline.

"Eh, yeah, sure" Caroline said confused and she followed Bonnie to the other side of the street.

"Was that Bonnie?" Elena asked, who took Caroline's place. Damon nodded and grabbed his beer, before Elena could take it. "Oh, come on, just let me have one sip, one. I just want to know how it tastes"

Damon let out a deep sigh, seeing no way out. "Alright, just a sip" he gave. He put his finger in the opening of the bottle and capsized it. Then he held it against Elena's lips and slowly smeared them.

When he wanted to take away his hand Elena took it and stuck his finger slowly in her mouth. Then she lay her hand in Damon's neck and pulled him closer. She pressed her lips on his. She grabbed his hair and Damon gently pushed her down on the hood.

His hands slowly searched their way up, while he kissed Elena's jaw line. Elena pinched her nails in Damon's back and curled up against him. She pulled up her knees and threw her legs around Damon's waist.

"Elena?" she heard Damon say. "You're drooling"

Elena blinked and shook her head. She wiped her mouth, avoiding Damon's stare. Instead she focused on Caroline and Bonnie, wondering what they were talking about.

"I know he hates me and he has every right to" Bonnie cried. "But I can't forget him. I tried so hard, but I can't"

"I thought you hated him" Caroline frowned. "And even if, your family would never approve"

"I know! They would never forgive me, but I can't help the way I feel" Bonnie said. "What does it matter, he won't talk to me anyway"

"Well, why did you have to jinx Elena?" Caroline said a little helpless.

"I just wanted to make her happy again!" Bonnie explained. "She's been through so much and I wanted her to be happy. She's been crying over Stefan's departure and everything that's happened to her. I just wanted to conjure a smile on her face. I never meant for things to get out of control"

Caroline sighed and looked at the other side of the street, where Damon and Elena were taking pictures with Elena's phone.

"She has Stefan" Bonnie said, knowing what Caroline was thinking. "They're going through a hard time right now, but they'll work it out. They have to, they belong together. Elena can't have both"

Caroline averted her head back to Bonnie. "May I ask where this sudden change of heart comes from? You hated him and now you're crushing on him?"

"A lot has happened while you were gone, Caroline" was all Bonnie said.

Part 7

The Gilbert House

Stefan kicked the door open and walked in.

"You can't do this" Katherine said behind him.

"Since when do you have a conscious?" Stefan scoffed. "Look, I'm just going to grab Elena and then I'm out"

"Why? Why can't you let her be for a second?" Katherine said frustrated.

"Because she needs me now" Stefan said. "She's going through an emotional time right now"

"She's PMS'd" Katherine disdained. "She needs a pillow, a pot of ice cream and a good chick flick"

Stefan turned around. "I can't lose her, Katherine" he said with a sad face. "I love her"

Katherine literally turned her back on him. "Now what?" Stefan said annoyed. "Come on, Katherine, you know how I feel about her. There's nothing new about what I just said"

Katherine turned around again, pissed. "If it's not Amber, it's Elena. Where do I fit in this? We had a history together, Stefan. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Stefan pointed both his index fingers at her. "There you said it, history, so it's all in the past. And when it comes to Amber, it's my fault if she's dead. Can't you understand I feel guilty about it?"

"You didn't force her to attack Elena" Katherine said.

"No, but I turned her, I'm the reason Klaus could use her. I'm the reason Elena got abducted on her birthday" Stefan said.

"Elena got what?"

Stefan and Katherine turned around. Jeremy was standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

Part 8

Evening fell and the gang at Alaric's loft had moved inside. Damon had given in to Elena's beer request and she was now halfway her second. Status Quo was playing and Caroline made her way to Damon. She took his hand and pulled him with her. Bonnie took his place.

"Hey, Elena" she said soft.

"Hiii" Elena smiled and she threw her arms around her friend and squeezed her. "How you doing?"

"Fine" Bonnie said. "You?"

"Very good" Elena answered. She looked up and gasped. "Looook, I can see the stars"

"It's seven, it's not even dark yet" Bonnie said. "And we're inside. You can't see the sky"

"They really are there" Elena said breathless. "They are so bright and shiny"

"Yeah, I think you got enough" Bonnie said, taking Elena's beer.

In the meantime Caroline used her excuse of dancing with Damon to talk to him. "You know I'm a very bad liar and with you I'm not even going to try it. So I'm just going to come out and say it. Bonnie is really sorry for what she did to Elena. She really hopes you can give her a second chance"

Damon rolled his eyes. "You may be a bad liar, Bonnie is a great one. She's got you all wrapped around her finger"

"You need to let it go, Damon" Caroline said. "She's really sorry" She looked at Bonnie and gave her a sign. Bonnie got up and Elena watched how she walked to Damon. Caroline let go of Damon. "Dance, talk, work it out" She walked away.

Elena smacked the bottle, which she had stolen back from Bonnie, on the table. She staggered to Damon and Bonnie, grabbed Bonnies shoulder and pushed her away. "Stay away from him, bitch" she babbled.

"Elena, you're drunk" Bonnie said annoyed.

"No, I'm not" Elena denied. Her head rocked up and down and she gagged. "I feel sick"

Part 9

The Salvatore Boarding House

Stefan and Katherine were back home. Stefan had told Jeremy everything that had happened on Elena's birthday and only after making sure Jeremy wouldn't do anything stupid he had left.

"You must be hungry" Katherine said and before Stefan could comment she went off to the basement. She came back with two bags of blood and walked to the cupboard, where she pulled out two wine-glasses.

She poured the blood in the glasses as if it were wine. She gave one to Stefan and lifted hers to toast. "Cheers" she said and she hooked her arm in Stefan's. She pulled him to the couch and made him sit down.

"Face it, Stefan, she's gone" Katherine said smug. "Elena has forgotten all about you. Better do the same"

"Well, I have to walk these shoes, so it's kind of hard to forget all about me" Stefan shot back. Katherine rolled her eyes and drank some blood. She put her glass down and decided to just go for it.

She leaned forward and kissed his clavicle. Her tongue licked its way up, her teeth chewed his earlobe and Stefan sat just by lifeless. Katherine pulled away and sighed. "Gee, you're boring. Since when did you get so boring?"

She began to undress. When her upper clothes were removed she threw herself on top of Stefan.

"Okay, cover up, sis"

Stefan quickly pushed Katherine off of him and stared shocked at the doorway, where Damon was standing with Elena in his arms.

Part 10

Katherine quickly put on her clothes as Damon carried Elena upstairs. "You can lay her down on my bed, I'll sleep on the couch" Stefan said. Damon held his steps, but didn't turn around.

Then he walked further to Stefan's room where he lay Elena down on Stefan's bed. He took off her shoes and left. He went to Elena's room-yes, she had her own room in the house-and collected the dirty sheets, which had been lying there since morning.

Downstairs Stefan was furious at Katherine.

"See what you've done? Now Elena will think I cheated on her and I didn't do anything!" he raged.

"She's sleeping, Stefan! She didn't see shit!" Katherine shot back.

"When will you get it in your head that I have no interest in you whatsoever? If you're so eager on having someone to play with, try Damon" Stefan fired.

"That's low, even for you" Katherine said. She got up to open the door; someone had ringed. A short, blonde girl was standing in the doorway. Her face was wet of crying. "Hello, I…eh…I need to talk to Stefan Salvatore"

Katherine raised her eyebrows and looked down on the visitor. "Who's asking?" she said arrogant.

"Kelsey Lindy" Kelsey said who succeeded in keeping her voice under control.

"Let her in, Kat" Stefan said and Katherine reluctantly stepped aside. Kelsey walked into the room and Stefan got up. "I'm really sorry for what happened to your sister. You are her sister, right?"

Kelsey only nodded.

"I never meant for anything fatal to happen to her" Stefan continued.

"And that makes it okay?" Kelsey now said.

"No! Not at all! I'm not trying to make excuses" Stefan hastily said.

"Good" Kelsey said. "I couldn't bear to hear them"

Katherine slammed the door and Stefan looked up. "Can you cut to the chase, dear, we don't have all night"

Kelsey ignored her. "In ten minutes the moon will rise and I will turn. I should bite you and make you suffer the way Amber has suffered"

"I understand your pain" Stefan said, but Kelsey covered her ears not to hear it.

"Stop trying to talk yourself out of it! Stop trying to pretend you know how I feel! You can't possibly know!" she cried. She breathed heavily. "You're lucky I'm not like you. I don't play with people, I don't manipulate them, I don't use them for my own personal gain, I don't make them suffer"

"Tick tock, tick tock" Katherine teased. She yawned. "Stefan, please, snap her neck, rip her heart out, liberate her from her pain"

"Speaking of hearts…" Kelsey conjured a stake out of her pocket, the stake Derek had given her. She aimed for Stefan's heart, but the moment she wanted to stake, she gasped. Her eyes bulged and blood came out of her mouth.

Soundtrack

Jimmy Eat World: Always be (14x01, Elena pms'd)

Fountains of Wayne: All kinds of time (14x02, Ric calling Damon)

Halestorm: Bad Romance (Lady Gaga cover) (14x03, Caroline giving Elena sexual education)

Parachute: All that I am (14x04, Derek trying to talk to Kelsey)

We are the in crowd: Rumor mill (14x05, Alaric talking to Damon about Elena)

Hedley: She's so sorry (14x06, Bonnie tricking Caroline)

Sara Bareilles: Gonna get over you (14x07, Stefan and Katherine talking about Elena, Amber)

Status Quo: Rocking all over the world (14x08, Caroline talking to Damon about Bonnie)

Sara Bareilles: Machine gun (14x09, Katherine trying to seduce Stefan)

Avril Lavigne: Slipped away (14x10, Kelsey wanting to kill Stefan)