Sorry it took me so long to update. It`s been a bit hectic lately.
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Damon woke with a start in the middle of the night. He blinked into the darkness, wondering what had disturbed his sleep, when he heard it again. A noise from downstairs. Someone was sneaking around in the house and he was pretty sure it wasn`t Stefan. Detangling himself from Alaric`s arms he got up quietly. The teacher mumbled in protest and turned over to hug the pillow instead. Damon grinned and shook his head fondly. He would`ve loved to stand there a moment longer and just watch Ric, but there were more pressing matters at hand.
Silently he snuck out of the room and down the stairs, spotting the dark silhouette almost immediately. It took him only a second to recognize the nightly visitor. "Elena, what are you doing here?" The girl whirled around in shock. She obviously hadn`t heard him approach. "Damon, I … I needed to see you." she whispered, stepping closer. The vampire frowned, glanced at the clock. "It`s 3 am in the morning." Elena averted her eyes. "I know. I`m sorry."
"Where`s Stefan?" She looked up again, bit her lip. Damon wondered why she was so nervous. "I left him sleeping in my bed. I know I shouldn`t have come here, but… after what happened tonight I just needed to make sure you`re okay." The vampire snorted. "And you couldn`t have called or waited until morning?" He would never understand that girl and her annoying need to check up on everybody. But this was strange even for her. "I had to see you." she said again. "What happened tonight, I … it made me realize how much you mean to me."
This was taking a turn he didn`t like. She couldn`t really mean the words the way he was interpreting them. The vampire just stared at her, completely puzzled. Before he had time to react she suddenly closed the distance between them and kissed him. For a second he leaned in. When he`d first come back to Mystic Falls, he had wanted this. Wanted her. But now it felt wrong. Breaking the kiss, Damon grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her away. "Elena, don`t."
She looked at him with wide eyes. Had obviously not been expecting him to reject her. "You`re a sweet girl and I like you, but this… This is wrong. It`s not gonna happen." He couldn`t believe he was saying this. "Go back to Stefan." Elena stumbled backwards without taking her eyes off him. Then she turned around and ran.
Damon raked a hand through his hair and sighed in frustration. What the hell? He turned towards the stairs and jumped in shock. Alaric was standing on top of the staircase, watching him with a strange look. „What was that all about?" the teacher questioned. Damon shrugged. "Hell if I know." He slowly moved up the stairs, walked past Alaric without looking at him directly. "You pushed her away." Ric noticed, while he followed the vampire back into his bedroom. "Yeah." Finally Damon turned around and met his eyes. He couldn`t read the look on the teacher`s face. Had no idea what Ric was thinking and it was unnerving him. "You didn`t think I would?"
"I wasn`t sure what you`d do." the teacher admitted. Damon turned away with a frown. Did Ric really think so little of him? Did he really believe Damon would run off with some pretty girl? Or was he only scared because it had been Elena? Because Elena looked like Katherine and corrupting her would hurt Stefan?
The vampire didn`t move when he heard Ric step closer. "Look at me, Damon." Slowly Damon complied. Ric`s face still gave nothing away, but there was an intensity to his voice the vampire had seldom heard. "You`ve got to understand me, Damon. This thing between us… I have no idea what it means. What any of this means. Looking at our history, can you really not understand that I`m… that I`m scared you`ll leave as soon as something better comes along? What if Katherine returns? You`ll disappear again. And maybe this time you won`t make me forget and it`ll be even worse, because instead of just a vague empty feeling I`ll actually remember what I`ve lost."
For a moment Damon was rendered speechless. He`d really had no idea how Ric felt about all this. Felt about him. They`d never talked about this thing between them, what it meant, where it would lead. Not three years ago, not now. If Damon was honest with himself, he had to admit that he had been insecure. Afraid to ask what exactly Ric felt for him. It had never crossed his mind that the teacher might be just as insecure and afraid as he was.
The vampire bit his lip nervously. He didn`t like to talk about his feelings. Didn`t really know how to voice them. But he knew he had to say something now. They couldn`t keep this thing unaddressed forever and just hope that it would work out in the end. He also knew that he would have died tonight if Ric hadn`t come to save him. Again. Still it didn`t make it any easier to find the right words.
"When I first came back to Mystic Falls, it was because of Katherine. I wanted to free her from the tomb. Then I met Elena and she looked just like Katherine… it was… weird. I flirted with her, mostly because I knew it would rile up Stefan. Back then I only wanted Katherine. And then I found out that she wasn`t even in the tomb. That she knew where I was the whole time, but didn`t want me to find her. That she never loved me. It crushed me, at first. But then I got over it and for a moment I really contemplated going after Elena." he admitted haltingly.
"She looked like Katherine, but she was… like a better, sweeter version of her. And earlier… when she kissed me… for a second I was tempted. But it felt wrong. I realized that I never really wanted her. It wouldn`t work out. She`d want me to change, to become a second Stefan. I`ve never been the good guy. I don`t want to be the good guy. She wouldn`t understand. You do. You accept me the way I am."
Ric regarded him with raised eyebrows. Had listened to his halting confession without showing much reaction. "So you like me, because I accept the fact that you`re a homicidal vampire with psychopathic tendencies?" he asked now. Damon shrugged, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Maybe?" Alaric snorted and turned away. Damon hesitantly took a step closer.
"I like you because you understand me. You don`t judge me. Sometimes I think you`re the only one who ever really understood me. And leaving you two years ago, making you forget…. that was probably the stupidest thing I ever did. And believe me, I did a lot of stupid things in my life." This confession wasn`t easy for the vampire. He wasn`t used to that much honesty.
And still Alaric seemed torn. "So you don`t want Elena?" Damon shook his head. If the scene earlier had proven anything, then that he didn´t want her. Had never really wanted her in the first place. But Ric wasn`t finished. "What about Katherine? What if she suddenly shows up here and wants you back?" Damon hesitated. He had asked himself the same question, had wondered what he would do. "I`ve spent 145 years searching for her, only to find out that she never wanted me to find her. If she came back now, I`d tell her it was too late. I`ve moved on." he said honestly.
Finally the teacher nodded and sat down on the bed. "Okay." Damon frowned down on him. "Okay? That´s all I get for pouring my heart out? Okay?" He felt his anger rise, was just about to tell Ric where he could stick his okay, when the teacher chuckled and pulled him down onto the bed, so they were at eye level. "What more do you need me to say, Damon? Okay, I believe you. Okay, let´s just forget about Elena and Katherine and Isobel and move on. Just you and me." That sounded a lot better, but Damon wasn`t about to give in that easily and just continued to look at the teacher.
"Guess we`re both not exactly good at vocalizing feelings. But I trust you. I thought you knew that." Ric said with a sigh. "You never said that." the vampire pointed out. "I let you feed from me. Twice. I thought that would`ve been prove enough." Well, he might have a point there, Damon had to admit. "Okay." he mumbled finally, making Ric chuckle. The teacher looked like he wanted to comment, but Damon cut him off. "Hey, it`s late and I almost got killed tonight. Again. Give me a break."
"Yeah, you really got to stop doing that." Alaric muttered. "Don´t tell me. Tell John Gilbert." the vampire shot back, noticing the strange look on his friend´s face. "You think he made it out of the building in time?" Damon shrugged. He didn`t really care, truth be told. "Knowing our luck, he probably did." Anything else would be too easy. Their life was never this easy. Ric nodded. "Then we`ll find a way to get rid of him for good. Together." There was no mistaking the determination in his voice.
"But as you said, it`s late. And it´s been a tough day, so… sleep?" The vampire readily agreed and they settled down again, cuddled against each other. Damon had trouble falling asleep again. He replayed the conversation in his head, glad he had finally said these things aloud. And it had been less awkward than he expected. Maybe they really had a chance. And while he lay there in the darkness, listening to Alaric`s even breathing, a smile spread over his face and for the first time in a long while he dared to hope.
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The next time they were awoken by the incessant ringing of Damon´s cell phone. It was still partially dark outside, not even really morning yet. Grumbling the vampire answered his phone, after recognizing the sheriff`s number. "Damon, it`s…. Caroline was in an accident. And.. can you meet me at the hospital?" Liz asked, her voice quivering. The vampire stifled a sigh. "I`ll be right there." He put the phone down and got out of bed, not surprised to find Ric awake as well. "That was the sheriff. She wants me to meet her at the hospital. Caroline had an accident."
"Want me to come with you?" Ric asked without hesitation. Damon nodded, grateful for the support. They got dressed quickly and Alaric drove them to the hospital, where they found Liz at the reception desk. "Liz.. Is she okay?" the vampire asked, noting the worry on the sheriff`s face. "She's weak. They're doing everything they can, but... they don't know if she's going to make it. And… I need your help Damon." she said. Damon nodded. "Sure, anything Liz." The sheriff glanced at Alaric, who had been silently watching the exchange.
"It`s okay, Liz. Ric is up to date. I told you I would enlist his help." the vampire reminded her. "Whatever I can do to help.. just tell me." the teacher offered. "I guess you both know what went down last night?" the sheriff asked. Both men nodded. "Why did no-one tell me about the plan?" Damon wanted to know, although he already had a pretty good idea. "I wasn`t told either. John Gilbert and the Mayor went behind my back. I would`ve never allowed this to happen, Damon. Believe me. I even tried to stop it." He did believe her. Despite the fact that she hated vampires, he kinda liked the woman.
"Mayor Lockwood is dead. They thought he was a vampire. They put him in the basement." she continued. "Mayor Lockwood was a vampire?" Ric asked in surprise, glancing at Damon for confirmation. Liz quickly shook her head. "No, no. A mistake was made. They said he dropped like the others when John's device went off but he… he couldn't have been a vampire. I've known the man my whole life. And now Carol Lockwood is gonna want answers and all I can think of right now is Caroline and ..." the sentence ended in a sob. It was strange to see this tough woman cry. Damon pulled her into a hug, comforting her awkwardly.
She cried against the vampire`s shoulder, seemingly grateful to finally have someone to rely on. Damon actually felt bad for her. After a few minutes she pulled away, wiping her eyes. "God, I`m so sorry." she muttered, embarrassment colouring her tone. "Don`t worry about it." the vampire shrugged it off. "We`ll see what we can find out. You just stay here and…" He had no idea how to finish that sentence. "Caroline is a fighter. She`ll make it." Ric cut in. Liz nodded gratefully.
Walking away the two men spied Bonnie and Elena in the hallway. "Damon…" Ric started, but the vampire ignored him and made his way over. Just in time to hear Elena ask the witch if there was anything she could do for Caroline. "She doesn't know how, do you? No, you don't because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that." He just couldn`t help but rub it in. Stupid witch had almost gotten him killed last night. "Well, I can take down a vampire. That spell was easy to learn." the witch shot back, glaring at Damon. "That`s not exactly helpful, Bonnie." Alaric cut in sharply.
Damon had to stifle a grin at her dumbfounded expression. He loved the fact that Ric was protecting him. But the teacher was right. There were important things to take care of right now. He could worry about the judgy little witch later. "I can give Caroline some blood." he offered, but Elena declined immediately. "Just enough to heal her. She will be safe in the hospital and it will be out of her system in a day." the vampire reasoned. "It's too risky, I can't agree to that." Elena insisted. Strangely enough even Bonnie disagreed with her. "This is Caroline. We can't let her die." She turned to Damon. "Do it."
The vampire raised his eyebrows at the obvious command. Did she actually think she could boss him around? After everything that had happened? "She`s right, Elena. Let him save Caroline." Ric again, playing the voice of reason. Finally Elena nodded, albeit reluctantly. Ric turned to Damon again. "Will you need help, getting into her room?" Damon shook his head. "I guess I`ll have to wait a bit, but then I can just compel a nurse. It`ll be easy." he assured.
"Good. Then you`ll excuse me. Bonnie, can I talk to you for a second?" The witch looked just as surprised by Alaric`s request as Damon felt. He watched the two of them move away a few steps. Not far enough to be out of the vampire`s earshot however. Damon was sure Ric knew that, so he had no problem listening in.
"This vampire hate thing you`ve got going on.. it has to stop, Bonnie." the teacher stated firmly. "What? You don`t ..." Bonnie started to protest, but Ric cut her off. "I know you went through a lot and I understand where you`re coming from. Believe me, I do. But this is going nowhere. You`re putting Elena in an impossible position, making her chose between you and her boyfriend. And that Caroline´s in there right now, fighting for her life - that´s your fault, Bonnie. Caroline got hurt because of your hatred. Because you lied to your best friend. Think about it."
He turned his back on her and the young witch stormed off, tears forming in her eyes. Well, Damon never thought Ric had it in him, but he certainly liked this protective streak. He noticed Elena looking after her friend worriedly. "She`ll get over it." The girl frowned at him, but didn`t say anything. Noticing that they were alone for once, Damon decided to get the inevitable, awkward conversation over with and told her they needed to talk about last night.
"A lot of things happened last night. What exactly do you mean?" Great, now she was playing dumb. "Your little visit at the boarding house earlier." Damon explained. Elena gave him a puzzled look. "But I wasn`t at the boarding house." The vampire stifled a curse. "Really? You`re going to pretend it never happened?" He couldn`t believe this. "I don`t know what you`re talking about, Damon." she insisted. "I`m talking about the fact that you showed up in the middle of the night, telling me you were concerned. That you had to see me. You kissed me, Elena."
The brunette took a step back and looked at him like he`d lost his mind. "I wasn`t at the boarding house, Damon and I certainly didn`t kiss you. I was with Stefan the whole night." she claimed. Damon was about to retort, when all of a sudden Stefan appeared next to him. "She´s telling the truth, Damon. I couldn`t sleep. I watched her the whole night. She didn`t even leave the room." the younger Salvatore insisted. This was getting ridiculous. Damon hadn`t been hallucinating. Ric had seen her as well.
"Okay, A – that`s creepy and B – I don`t believe it. She was there." Damon shot back. By now he had to fight the urge to shout. He was already in a bad mood, so now was not the time to provoke him. Stefan took a step closer to his brother and glared at him. "What game are you playing now? Are you trying to make me jealous? Cause it`s not working." he accused. "I`m not the one playing games." the older one growled, his voice rising, despite his attempt to stay calm. Suddenly a strong hand landed on his shoulder. Alaric – who else. "What`s going on here?" the teacher asked.
"Nothing, Alaric. Just my brother being his usual twisted self." Stefan said angrily. Damon snorted. "Elena suddenly can`t remember coming to the boarding house earlier. And she also can`t remember kissing me." he explained, actually calming down a little under Ric´s touch. "Because she wasn`t there." Stefan insisted again. "Sorry to tell you this Stefan, but she was there. I saw her." Ric let them know. "But I wasn`t…" Elena started protesting again, but was interrupted by the arrival of Jenna, who hurried up to the group.
"Elena, I came as soon as I got your message. How is Caroline?" Elena frowned and wanted to know where her aunt had been. "At the fire department. I had to fill out a report. I told you earlier." The brunette shook her head. "No, you didn't." Jenna insisted that she did. This went back and forth a few times. It was rather comical to watch. Until Damon suddenly realized what all this confusion meant. "Oh you`ve got to be kidding me."
All eyes turned to him. "Katherine." he muttered darkly. It took a moment until it clicked. He could practically see the moment the others understood. "You mean Katherine was at the boarding house earlier?" Ric asked. Damon nodded. "Pretending to be Elena." Just great. Why did she have to show up now? Just a couple of month ago, Damon would have rejoiced. Now he just wanted her gone from his life. She really had some timing.
"What does she want?" Elena asked. "Do you think she… she´s after me?" Her voice quivered and Stefan quickly pulled her into his arms. "If she wanted you dead, you would be dead by now. But you're not. So clearly she has other plans." Damon mused. "Right and we need to find out what those other plans are and not provoke her in the process." Stefan spoke up again. Damon snorted. "She's Katherine. She loves to play games and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's been up to before she wants you to know."
"And what do you propose we do?" the younger Salvatore asked, clearly annoyed. The older one smirked. "I'm just gonna ignore the bitch." Easy as that. Elena looked frightened and Stefan warned that this wouldn`t be smart. But Damon insisted that being ignored would lure Katherine out. Force her to make a move.. If there was anything that woman hated, it was being ignored. "Yeah? And then what? What are you going to do then?" Stefan wanted to know. Damon shrugged. "Stake her; rip her head off, something poetic. We'll see."
"Maybe John knows something." Elena muttered suddenly. Stefan nodded, looking thoughtful. "You`re right, John could know something through Isobel. Your mother was in touch with Katherine. Where is John? Has anyone seen him?"
"He´s at home." Jenna let them know and Damon sighed in annoyance. He knew the guy wouldn`t be dead. Would`ve been too easy. "We left Jeremy and Anna at home." Elena suddenly remembered. "Don`t worry. They`re safe." Jenna assured. "John stumbled in late last night. He was pretty bad off. Looked like he`d been in a brawl. I wasn`t surprised, after what Jeremy had told me, but I pretended to be all concerned. He didn`t want to go to the hospital, so I patched him up. Slipped a few sleeping pills into his tea and chained him to the bed post once he was asleep. He´s going nowhere."
Elena looked completely shocked, while Damon and Ric chuckled. The vampire mused that he might actually start liking that woman. "Nice idea." he commented, earning himself a grin. "It was spontaneous." Jenna turned towards her niece again. "So, if you want to question him…" Swallowing hard, Elena nodded. "Stefan and I will do that." she decided. "Be careful. She could continue posing as Elena." the younger Salvatore warned, before hurrying off with his girlfriend in tow.
"And what do we do now?" Jenna asked. Damon noticed the quarterback exiting Caroline´s room and remembered his earlier promise. "Wait here, I`ve got to take care of something." he ordered. Ric nodded his understanding, so Damon went over and peered into the room. Liz was sitting at her daughter´s bedside. Not good. He had to get her out of there. Looking around he spied a nurse walking by and stopped her. "Get the sheriff out of the room for a few minutes. Tell her to fill out some forms or something." he ordered, compelling her. The nurse nodded and followed him into the room.
"Sheriff Forbes? You`ll need to fill out another form." Liz looked up, the exhausting showing clearly on her face. "Another one?" The nurse nodded and told her it was very important. "I can wait here while you`re gone." Damon offered. Liz thanked him and followed the nurse. Damon took her vacated seat and looked down at the unconscious girl. She looked pale and lifeless, lying there, hooked to machines, her blonde hair framing her head like a halo. Checking to make sure that no-one was around, the vampire bit his wrist and forced some blood into her mouth.
Caroline swallowed automatically, almost like her body was recognizing the blood as medicine. Damon gave her a little more than probably necessary. Then he pulled his wrist away and carefully wiped the blood from her lips. "Guess I owed you one, Blondie. I wasn`t exactly the picture perfect boyfriend." he muttered. Understatement of the year. He had been horrible. Had abused the poor girl and bossed her around. Had used her desperate wish to feel loved to spy on his brother and Elena. And the saddest thing was, that he actually understood her on some level. This need to feel loved, to feel like you mattered to someone. It was something he knew all too well.
He startled out of his reverie when Liz returned. "Thank you for staying with her." she said with a grateful smile. Damon nodded and got up. "She`s strong. She´ll be out of here in no time at all. You`ll see." The sheriff resumed her position at Caroline`s bedside. "And don´t worry about Carol Lockwood. Ric and I will take care of it." the vampire promised. Liz thanked him again, so he left the room quietly and re-joined Ric and Jenna.