Hey guys! Thanks to my loyal reviewers, but I would love to gain more of you!
I am so incredibly nervous for the upcoming weekend! How does one prepare for that?

Hope you enjoy!

Hurt

Cara just sat in her bed, staring at the wall. Tears had stopped flowing. She only felt the numbness now. She heard Damon shouting to someone, and leave short after. She just hoped he wouldn't get himself into trouble. When Damon got back, she was surprised to see him holding a bucket of ice.

'You seem like a Cookie Dough person, or at least I thought,' he muttered. Then he looked at her again, and saw the blood was still there. 'But first, I am going to clean you up a bit,' he said, rushing down to put the ice in the freezer.

'How are you feeling?' he said when he got back.

'Numb. Empty. Weak. Stupid. Something like that,' she shrugged.

'He must've taken too much.. Here, let me help you,' he said, biting his wrist and holding it out to her.

She was still a bit disgusted by it, but she knew it would help. She sipped, and made a face. Kol's was so much better, she thought unwillingly. Tears welled up again, but she made them go away. She drank a bit more, until Damon was satisfied, and wiped her mouth.

'Good,' Damon said. 'Now let's get you cleaned up.' He went into the bathroom and got a wet towel. Slowly, and carefully, he wiped all of the blood away. He made sure Cara didn't see the towel afterwards, and he threw it away.

When he got back, Cara looked up at him, with puffy eyes. 'Thank you, Damon…'
A warm smile appeared on Damon's face. 'You're welcome, don't worry about it.' He went down to get the ice cream, got some clothes and put them on her bed. She was still in a towel after all. When he made sure she was taken care of, he left her to rest, and made his way to his bottle of Bourbon.

A knock on his door snapped Kol out of his misery. 'What?' he growled.

'Can I come in, little brother?' Elijah's voice asked.

Kol doubted. He wanted to talk to Elijah, needed maybe, but he didn't know if he was up for it right now. So he just scoffed, and let Elijah decide.

Elijah walked in, expecting to see a seething Kol, but instead he saw a broken boy, hiding his pain in anger. He stood there for just a minute, staring as Kol.

'What?' Kol snapped.

Elijah shook his head. 'It's okay for you to be hurt, you know. I won't tell Nik,' Elijah winked.

'I'm not hurt! I'm angry!' Kol said, even though he was lying, big time.

'Sure you are,' Elijah said. He went over to the bed, and sat next to Kol, not looking at him. 'Of course you are angry, but once you calm down, you'll see you weren't just angry. You'll see you were angry because you were hurt.'

'And why would I be hurt?' Kol said.

'Because you did something bad to the woman you love,' Elijah said simply. 'Cara.'

Cara's name made all of Kol's anger disappear. 'What have I done, Elijah?' he whispered. 'I hurt her… I deliberately hurt her!' He raised his voice. 'I hurt her, because she is one of the only ones to stand up to me! And I couldn't handle it. And then when you came into the picture, I lost it.' Kol threw a pillow through his room.

'You lost it because of me?' Elijah asked surprised.

'You and Cara were all teaming up at the Grill, looking so cozy, humiliating me…' His body still burned thinking about that, even though Cara said that was stupid.

'You were jealous?' Elijah said, still surprised. He should have known this, but there just was a connection with Cara he couldn't deny. 'There is nothing to be jealous off! Trust me, Kol. There is a connection between us, but it is the same one as the one she has with Klaus. It's typical really. She's with you, and all of a sudden she actually gained two brothers.'

'Brothers? So to you Cara is already like family?'

Elijah nodded. And the fact that Cara was hurt enraged him, but he also knew it wasn't entirely Kol's fault.

'Well, I'm sorry then that I ruined it,' Kol snapped. He meant it, even though it sounded harsh. He didn't want to hurt family.

Elijah smirked. This was the best apology he was going to get from Kol. 'I should warn you , though,' Elijah said seriously. 'Klaus is going to talk to you tomorrow, and he won't be nearly as patient. And neither will Damon. I'm sure you'll see him as well.'

'What about Cara?' Kol whispered. He flinched at the pain he felt, just thinking about her.

Elijah still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Kol, his little impulsive brother, loved this one girl so much. He shook his head. 'I don't know, but Klaus is going to talk to her as well, tomorrow.'

Kol sighed desperately. If Klaus was going to talk to Cara, he could forget about her.

'I'll put in a good word for you,' Elijah said, not being able to see his brother so broken.

Kol looked up at him, so hopefully, that Elijah's heart almost broke. 'You'd do that for me?'

'I would, but then you have to promise me you'll gain control over your emotions.'

'I will, don't worry… I don't want this to happen again…'

'This is not a guarantee, you know that right?'

Kol nodded. 'I know. But it's worth a shot.' He hugged Elijah. 'Thank you brother…'

For a moment they both felt like they were the two young kids they used to be a thousand years ago.

Cara's phone rang, but she didn't bother to pick it up. Whoever it was, she didn't want to talk. When it stopped, she picked it up to see who it was. Elijah. Oh, well.

A text message came in, also from Elijah. This made her chuckle a bit. He sure was persistent.

I just talked to Kol, thought you wanted to know. Elijah
Why would I want to know?
Maybe you were curious to hear what he said?
Well, no. I couldn't care less right now. She did want to know though.
Too bad. He's broken, Cara. He's lost, and he's incredibly sorry. He truly loves you.
If he loved me, he wouldn't have hurt me in the first place.
I know, but he has trouble handling his emotions. I'm going to help him with that. Please, just give him another chance. He thinks he has lost you forever. Plus, Nik is going to talk to both of you tomorrow, and that will do more damage than necessary, I believe.

Cara stared at Elijah's words for a while. Could this really be true? Of course she wouldn't forgive him immediately, and he would have to do some serious groveling, but still. Everyone makes mistakes right? And if Elijah was going to help him…

How will I be sure this won't happen again?
You won't. But I'll vouch for him. You just have to trust me.
I trust you.
Thank you.

She put her phone down, and she felt a rush of exhaustion wash over her. She drifted off, hearing Damon come in, to put some soup on her table. He stroke her hair out of her face, and kissed her head lightly. Cara smiled. Everything will be fine.