"I just want to check on Jeremy." Elena argued.
"We can't leave Mystic Falls now Elena. We are this close to having Esther and I want to be here when the bitch is locked up and murdered again." he argued.
"But Jeremy." she insisted.
"Elena, Jeremy is safe. Right now he is not as important as other things. Alaric is still vacillating between sanity and insanity. We need to make sure his alter ego doesn't make a reappearance. That is most important right now." he said.
"Bonnie and Caroline and everyone else can watch that. I want to go see Jeremy. I'm going whether you come or not." she said crossing her arms across her chest.
"Damn it. Fine, but if Alaric relapses its on you." he said not happy about this decision.
"He wont. I have faith in Bonnie and her herbs that are keeping Alaric sane." she told him.
"Let's get this over with." he said grabbing his keys from his pocket and walking out of the house. She sighed and shook her head. He was being so difficult, and he didn't seem to understand why she needed to see for herself that her brother was alright. He was the only family she had left.
They spent the entire flight to Denver in silence and as he compelled his way to a car she didn't speak to him. The entire way to where Jeremy was supposed to be they never spoke a word.
"Why are you mad at me?" she demanded.
"Maybe because there was a plan in motion and it required you and me in Mystic Falls. But no, we are here in Denver because you need to see your brother." he snarled.
"What are you talking about?" she demanded.
"Just never mind. You have this amazing ability to ruin plans. Elijah, Klaus and myself were supposed to trap and kill Esther, but no I'm here with you." he said.
"Jeremy is the only family I have left. It's only natural I want to check on him." she said.
"Well use the phone. Hell he's safer here than he would be in Mystic Falls." he said as they walked towards him batting in one of the batting cages.
"He's my brother Damon." she said shortly as she walked over to him.
"Elena, what are you doing here?" he asked hugging his sister.
"I came to see you. How are you doing?" she asked hugging him back tightly.
"I'm great. You guys should meet my new friend. His name is Kol." Jeremy said happily just as Kol walked over.
"Jer he's not a friend." Elena said.
"Sure he is." Jeremy stated.
"No Jer. That is one of Klaus's brothers. He's evil." Elena said softly.
"No he's not. You've been in Mystic Falls too long Lena." Jeremy said.
"No she's right. I was just waiting for the opportune moment to kill you. Now seems like a good time." Kol said.
"Why? I thought you were my friend." he stated feeling betrayed.
"Well I want to prove that the originals are still in control even if my dear brother has went over to the dark side. Rebekah and I still want you all dead." he explained. Kol reached into the bin of baseball bats and chose one before beating Damon down with it. Damon came back and stabbed the bat into Kol's stomach before ushering Elena and Jeremy away from the batting cages.
"Where are we going?" Jeremy demanded as Damon pulled both him and Elena away from the batting cages.
"Away from here." he said pushing them both to the rented car. Elena got into the passenger seat while Jeremy climbed into the backseat. Everyone was silent in the car and for a moment Jeremy wondered what was going on with Damon and Elena. There was clearly something going on but he wasn't sure what it was. He pulled up in front of a motel and stopped the car.
"This is where we're staying?" Jeremy asked looking at the motel.
"Kol wont find us here." he said walking up the stairs.
"I'm just surprised about Kol. I thought he was my friend." Jeremy said upset.
"Given your track record with friends I would have been more careful. Have you met you?" Damon asked as they walked up the stairs to the rooms.
"Damon would you be nice to my brother for thirty seconds?" Elena asked annoyed.
"Do you want your thirty seconds now or later?" he asked sarcastically.
"God." she said rolling her eyes. He let them into the room and shut it behind them. Elena went and sat on the bed while Jeremy sat on the other bed. Damon sat down on the chair across from the beds.
"So what are we going to do now? We have a psychotic original vampire after us, who is doing whatever his psychotic sister wants him to. We wouldn't be in this mess right now if it weren't for Elena needing to see you." Damon stated.
"But then my brother would still be in danger." Elena retorted.
"I have to call Klaus, see how the Esther hunting is going." he said pulling out his cell phone and dialling the newly familiar number.
"Where the hell are you?" Klaus asked without any preamble at all.
"In Denver, dealing with some more of Elena's family issues." he answered calmly.
"What about your survival issues?" Klaus demanded.
"I have to go. We'll be home tomorrow sometime." he said hanging up on the belligerent original. "I'm going to freshen up. You two should get some rest." he said leaving the room to go get his bag from the trunk of the car.
"What's up with you and Damon?" Jeremy asked when Damon was gone.
"It's complicated." she said.
"What's with you and Stefan?" he asked knowing all the complications usually surrounded her relationship with Stefan.
"Nothing. Stefan and I are over." she said.
"And you and Damon?" he asked.
"Well we're together, but we haven't spoke all day. We had a fight." she answered.
"What did you fight about?" he asked.
"Coming here. He wanted to stay home and take care of the threat. I wanted to come here to see you." she said.
"Oh." he said lapsing into silence. Damon came back in a few minutes later and went straight into the bathroom before emerging a couple minutes later. He walked around to the other side of the bed Elena was in laying down on top of the covers. The room was bathed in an awkward silence, Jeremy still wrapping his head around Elena and Damon together, Elena and Damon still mad at each other. The tension between the couple was tangible and after a few minutes of lying in that bed without touching him she got up and rushed out of the room. Jeremy sat up seeing his sister rush out of the room.
"Elena?" he called.
"I'll get her." Damon said following her out of the room. Jeremy shrugged his shoulders resigned to letting the vampire get her. At least if they worked out their issues maybe they would get some sleep tonight.
"I want to be alone Damon." she insisted.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You know this trip could kill us?" he demanded standing a few steps away from her.
"If we didn't come here, Kol would have eventually killed Jeremy. I could have lost him too. You do realize that if I lose Jeremy I will have lost everyone that I have ever loved? I cant do that." she said.
"Your life with forever be infinitely more important than Jeremy's. I will always choose you." he told her.
"I know, but I will always choose Jeremy." she told him softly.
"I know that." he answered.
"But yet you disregard me and pout all day because we are here." she said.
"Elena, I have expended a great deal of personal trouble to keep you alive. And this is the best chance we've had of ridding the world of our greatest enemy, now we may have lost the chance. Elijah has Esther but we don't know how long he'll be able to keep her before she escapes again. We're starting back at square one." he said.
"We'll make it work Damon. We always make it work." she told him.
"Esther will come after you again, and I cant take that. I love you Elena, and your pathological disregard for your own safety pisses me off." he confessed.
"I know and I'm sorry. But it was Jeremy. I cant risk losing him too." she said.
"I wouldn't risk him either. Just because of what he means to you. But you're not alone. You have me, Alaric, Stefan, Caroline, Bonnie and so many other people who love you. I'm sorry for today." he told her.
"Me too. I hate being mad at you especially now. It seems like such a waste considering I never know how much time we have left." she said leaning her head on his chest.
"Me too. So how about we kiss and make up?|" he asked his familiar smirk appearing on his face.
"We can kiss but the makeup will have to wait until we're alone. Jeremy's in that room." she said reaching up to kiss him passionately.
"Damn Jeremy Gilbert." he said before kissing her again.