Damon stared at the red headed girl in front of him that he'd spent most of his vampire existence trying to get away from. He hadn't seen Marissa in almost fifty years, not since she'd found him in Dallas.
He hadn't been a vampire long when he'd changed her on whim because he'd been bored and lonely. But he'd had no idea how messed up Marissa had been emotionally. Damon had quickly learned he'd made a terrible mistake.
"What are you doing here?" Damon asked.
"Watching you." Marissa sashayed over to him, grinning in that manic way that set his nerves on edge. "I'd heard you were going soft, but after watching your exploits last night I see those rumors were wrong."
"Just go away, Rissa." Damon tried not to cringe as her hand cupped his cheek. Her green eyes met his as she leaned forward to kiss his mouth. He turned his head. "No. I told you the last time we ran into each other that we are not happening again."
"And I believe I told you that I would never give up on you, Damon." She raked a finger down his cheek, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. "You and I are so good together. I don't know why you refuse to see it. Maybe I'll just find your dear little brother and have some fun with him instead."
"Go for it." Damon stepped away from her, telling himself he wasn't going to give in to her this time. "Stefan is on human blood again. And it's worse this time. He might actually be a challenge for you now. Of course, you'd have to go through Katherine to get to him."
Arching an eyebrow, Marissa's emerald eyes glittered. "You finally found her, huh? And she chose dear little brother over you?" She threw hear head back, her red curls bouncing, and laughed. "Oh that's priceless. You spent all of those years searching for her, and she didn't even want you?"
Gritting his teeth against the anger and lust that were starting to boil inside him again, Damon smirked. "At least I can take a hint. Why don't you try it, Rissa and get lost?"
"Not until you introduce me to your newest obsession, baby." Her eyes met his, and Damon's body went cold. "Oh yes. I've heard about your little human. I've also heard that she looks like Katherine. Coincidence?" She laughed again. "I don't think so. You can't have Katherine so you went after someone who looks just like her. And I'm the mental one?"
The thought of Marissa coming anywhere near Elena nearly sent Damon into a panic. He quickly clamped down on the alarm that was snaking through his veins. If he let Marissa see it, she would definitely go after Elena. But he couldn't stop himself.
"You will leave Elena out of this." He wrapped his hand around her throat.
Licking her lips suggestively, Marissa grinned. "Wow. You've got it bad, baby. I can see it in your eyes. It's like Katherine all over again. I really need to meet this girl."
"No, you don't." Damon tightened his grip. "I promise I will kill you."
Marissa started to laugh, but then stopped as she saw the truth in his eyes. "You're serious. Now I really want to meet this girl. Besides, I've heard a lot about this little town of yours. Mystic Falls. If it's good enough for Klaus and Elijah to visit, then maybe I should check it out too."
"How the hell do you know all of this?"
"I have my ways. I told you that I would always keep tabs on you, Damon." She reached up to pull his hand away from her neck. She reached down to rub her other hand against his groin. "I even know that you almost died from a werewolf bite. Thankfully, you survived. Now, how about we go inside and have some fun. I've missed you, baby. And you know it's futile to try to resist me."
Although Damon didn't want it to, his body responded instantly to her touch. Grabbing her wrists, he turned and pinned her against the wall, crushing his mouth against hers. He hated the effect she had on him. He loved it. Maybe he was just as sick as she was. Maybe he should be with her instead of Elena.
Elena. Damon pulled away from Marissa.
"What the hell are you doing, Damon?"
"I could ask you the same thing, brother." Damon sneered as he turned to face Stefan and Katherine. "Ready for another round?"
"Stop it, Damon." Katherine scowled at him.
Looking at Katherine reminded Damon of Elena, making him instinctively step away from Marissa. What was he doing? He didn't want to be with Marissa. He wanted Elena.
But Elena isn't here. Marissa is. And Marissa is the type of woman you deserve Damon.
"Well hello there, little brother." Marissa smiled as she sauntered over to Stefan. She reached up to stroke his cheek, but Stefan's hand snaked up to catch her wrist.
"What are you doing here, Marissa?" Stefan grimaced.
Sticking her lower lip out in a pout, Marissa batted her eyelashes. "I just came to check in. It was about that time again you know. And look at you." Her eyes raked over Stefan from head to toe and back up to meet his gaze. "Little brother got sexy. Enjoying that human blood again aren't you?"
"This is Marissa?" Katherine stepped up between Stefan and Marissa.
"Well hello Katherine." Marissa smiled. "I've heard sooo much about you. You really did a number on this one." She tilted her head in the direction of Damon.
"Back off." Katherine stared at Marissa, who laughed as she stepped back in Damon's direction.
"Oh we are going to have so much fun." Marissa kissed Damon's cheek. "See you in Mystic Falls, baby."
And then she disappeared.
As everyone around talked and laughed as they sat around the lunch table, Elena sat quietly and pushed the food around on her plate. It had been hours since Katherine had texted her that she and Stefan were almost there. Elena had been glancing at her phone every five minutes since.
What if Damon had already been gone by the time they'd gotten there? What if something bad had happened and that was why Katherine wasn't contacting her? What if they found Damon and taken him to Klaus?
As Elena realized that very well could have happened her heart lodged in her chest. Oh God. She'd been so desperate for someone to find Damon that she hadn't even considered the fact that Katherine and Stefan could take him to Klaus. What had she been thinking trusting Katherine?
"You okay?" Matt leaned over and whispered in her ear, bringing Elena out of her troubled thoughts.
"As fine as I can be right now."
"You haven't eaten anything." He gestured to her full plate.
"Maybe that's because I'm too terrified to eat, Matt," Elena snapped, making everyone at the table look at her. "It must be nice for all of you to sit here and act like there's nothing wrong. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here driving myself crazy with worry because the guy I love is out there somewhere while a vampire-werewolf hybrid is hunting him. Because you know that's what's happening right? Klaus is hunting Damon, watching him, biding his time, waiting for the perfect time to strike."
"Elena," Matt said as he reached for her hand.
"No!" Elena shoved her chair back from the table and jumped to her feet. "And to make matters worse, Stefan and Katherine are the ones out there trying to find Damon! His brother who tried to kill him last night and his psychotic ex-girlfriend who would gladly throw Damon under the bus at the first chance if she benefited from it! So you guys go right ahead! Sit here, eat, drink, and be merry. I'm going upstairs."
Everyone was silent as Elena walked out of the room. While she wanted to go out onto the porch for some air, she couldn't. She couldn't step through the door thanks to Bonnie's stupid spell. So she did the next best thing. She went to the window seat in her bedroom and opened the window.
After taking a couple of deep breaths of fresh air, Elena's nerves settled enough so that her hands had stopped shaking. She pulled out her diary and began to write, pouring out all of her fear and desperation onto the pages. Only when she couldn't see for the tears did she stop writing. And promptly threw the journal across the room.
Hugging her knees to her chest, she curled into a ball and let the tears flow. It was weird. She'd cried so much in the past twenty-four hours, it was kind of amazing that she still had enough tears left to cry.
If anyone had told her two months ago - shit one month - ago that she would be sitting her crying her eyes out over Damon Salvatore she would have laughed in their face. But here she was, doing just that.
When her phone chirped, Elena yanked it from her pocket so hard that the phone almost flew out of her hand and out the open window. But she somehow managed to hold on to it.
Relief washed over her as she read that Damon was okay. Katherine had found him. Now Elena just had to hope that Damon would come home. She didn't care about whatever he'd done while he was gone. None of that mattered to her anymore. She didn't care how many people he'd killed or how many women he'd slept with. She just wanted him home. She needed him home.