"I still can't believe it!" Elena exclaims, her arms wrapping around me again, pulling me into a hug. We're probably going to break worlds current record in hugging throughout the day, if such thing even exists. "I can't believe you're home!" she whimpers, hugging me tighter. For the first time since she became a vampire I can feel the increase of strength in her body.
I can see Stefan giving me a sympathetic look before handing a glass full of beige fluid over to Damon. "How did you manage to get home, anyway?" he asks curiously. I remember how broken he seemed when we've seen him in Rome, and I remember his stricken and shocked face expression when he had seen his brother lying on the floor next to me several hours ago. I remember him being frozen into place before speeding over to his brother, crouching beside his body, shaking him by the shoulders, trying to wake him up. I remember the relief in which his shoulders fell and peace that glassed over his eyes when Damon's eyelids fluttered open.
"Ah," Damon shoves his nose into the glass, inhaling deeply, "I've missed you so, so much," he strokes the glass, looking at it adoringly, "I thought about you everyday I've been away."
I roll my eyes at that, but a smile still manages to sneak up my lips. When I notice Stefan watching me, curious and surprised, I pull my look away from Damon.
"That's a really complicated story," I reply in Damon's name when Elena finally shakes herself off of me. "I'm still not sure how.." I trail off, trying to find the logic in those keys, or at least trying to understand the magic in them. No spells, no incantations, it was enough just to bring them together in order for them to work. Maybe that's where their power lies - in solidarity. Separately, they're useless, but together, they can create a portal. They don't open the doors, they create them.
"Where were you?" Elena adds another question to the list.
"Some other dimension," I answer quickly. I still don't know which.
She gasps. "Another dimension?"
"Seriously?" Stefan cocks his eyebrow in my direction.
Why would I be joking about something like that?
"Fairies, goblins, giants, midgets," Damon starts counting all the species we encountered during our stay there, "And, with my luck, of course, all of them hate vampires."
"How did you manage to survive?" Stefan inquires. Always so rational, technical.
"Bonnie kept mi in line, of course," he says matter-of-factly.
I don't look at him. I don't dare to. But his words say so much more to me than they do to Stefan and Elena.
"I don't doubt that," Stefan chuckles, and I blush so hard that I'm surprised smoke signals don't start coming out of my cheeks. "What did you eat, I mean?" he continues.
I can feel Damon's eyes on me. His look is so intense that I do everything in my power not to look at him, but fail miserably. Our eyes meet, but before anyone gets a chance to notice it, I look down at my wrists, where his teeth went. The puncture wounds have healed completely, leaving no trace of him ever feeding from me.
"Oh brother, you know I always find some innocent soul to suckle life from," he jokes, downing his drink.
His comment makes me cringe.
"Oh, Bonnie!" Elena exclaims, not paying much attention to Damon's comment, "You must be starving!" her voice is warm, and her tone motherly. Worried. Protective.
"No, I'm okay," I shake my head. I'm really not all that hungry. Tomorrow, I'll probably crave a nice home cooked meal, but today eating is the last thing on my mind. "I'm just tired," I admit. Or lie. I'm not sure, it sounds as half lie, half truth, and it feels like it.
"Well let's get you to the bed, then," she tugs at my arm, and I know that she's referring to one of the guest rooms in the mansion. I don't know why, but I don't feel comfortable with staying here tonight.
"Great," I'm quick with my reaction, "I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight."
I can see Stefan and her exchange quick, half confused glances from the corner of my eye. "Oh," she says, smiling at me, "Right. Just let me get my keys."
"I can't believe you didn't call me the exact minute she appeared on your floor!" Caroline scolds Elena only god knows which time this week.
Elena rolls her eyes, but Stefan laughs, just like he always does. It's become a routine of ours, this conversation. We've repeated it so many times in these five days I've been back that I'm praying to all forces known and unknown no one ever brings it up again.
"Don't laugh," Caroline throws a pillow at Stefan, hitting him right in the face. He had probably let her, he has reflexes fast enough to stop a flying pillow if he really wanted to. "They almost gave me a heart attack when they appeared in our room!"
"Ladies," Damon walks into the room in his usual attire, black on black. On black. His hair is messy, and his eyes are screaming mischief. "And Stefan," he smirks before his eyes fall on Caroline who's sitting next to me on the floor. "I see you're here again, Barbie," he teases her.
She frowns at him. "And I see you still haven't drowned in your own vomit," she snaps at him before shifting her attention to me, "I really wish you left him there."
I look at Damon, but he's not looking at me, so I don't feel the obligation to defend him. Instead, I just smile weekly at Caroline.
"Ah, your witty remarks bring me so much pleasure, but that's not why I'm here," he says sarcastically, everything but the last part, "I'm here to ask if anyone is up for a road trip?"
Everyone in the room look at him, in stunned silence, as if he's crazy.
"A road trip?" Stefan asks to make sure he had heard him right.
But before Damon has time to confirm his brothers suspicions, I make myself heard. "Sure, sounds fun," I say it more enthusiastically than anyone would expect me to. My response even takes Damon off guard, so slight shock flashes across his face.
"What?" Caroline snaps, surprised.
Ever since we came back, I've been so restless. I'm always waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever does. Maybe crossing to another dimension woke up my wanderlust.
"You just got back! And now you want to go away again? With him?" she furrows her brows, spitting out in confusion and disgust.
Damon puts his palm over his heart. "You'll hurt my feelings!"
"Oh like you have any!" she retorts angrily.
"Caroline, I promise I'll stay away from rabbit holes that lead to another dimension."
"Anyone else?" Damon asks before Caroline has time to add anything else.
Stefan and Elena look at each other, communicating in a language unfamiliar to the rest of us.
"We're in," Elena confirms, tapping her palm against Stefan's knee.
"I can't," Caroline says sadly, now that she's the only one left out, "I promised my mum I'd meet her today."
"Pity," Damon says sarcastically, and Caroline gives him an angry look, a crease appearing on the bridge of her nose. "Everyone, to the Damonmobile," Damon starts towards the door, and I hurry to catch up with him, leaving everyone else behind.
"Are you feeling unsettled, witchy?" his choice of a nickname surprises me. He hasn't called me by anything but my name for quite some time. None of his nicknames for me suit all the serious conversations we were having recently.
After initial surprise, I answer. "Maybe. Where are we going?"
He smiles. "It's a surprise."
Lovely. I love surprises.
"Damon, what are we doing here?" Stefan asks suspiciously just at the moment Damon knocks on the door.
"Patience, brother," Damon replies calmly.
I have no idea what we're doing here either. None of us know, except for Damon, and he's not so forthcoming about sharing his plans.
I know where we are. A long time ago, I've directed them to this place, when we had other problems on our hands.
A tiny woman opens the door. She resembles a child, with her shortness and tiny frame. Her hair is on fire, and her eyes are sleepy. When she recognizes us, her eyes grow in wonder.
"What are you doing here?" she asks. It's not her intention to be rude, she's surprised. She wasn't expecting us here. I didn't expect to be here, either.
"Hello, Wanda. May we come in?" Damon asks politely. It's hard to get used to his voice not being sarcastically polite all the time. Sometimes, he's polite, and he actually means it.
"Umm," she shakes her head like she's trying to shake off her confusion as well, "Sure. Yeah."
Damon walks in first, and the rest of us follow, all wearing the same confused look as Wanda. I smile at her weakly, shrugging my shoulders a little.
"Can I get you something. Some - " she never gets to finish her sentence, because Damon cuts her off.
"Arden and Milly send their regards," he says, looking her right in the eye.
I look at him, completely lost in this whole situation. What does she have to do with Arden and Milly?
Wanda swallows, her eyes becoming teary all of a sudden, and her lips start trembling. "Wh - where did y-ou see them-m?" she stammers, and those words come out of her throat as if someone is pulling them out.
"Wait, what are Arden and Milly?" Stefan asks.
After a short period of silence, Damon replies. "Her children."
That knocks the air right out of my lungs. Her children? How did he figure that out?
And by the look on her face, it seems to be true.
"Where are they?" Wanda asks again, this time more coherently.
"I don't know," Damon says, and her brows furrow, her face adapting an angry stance.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"We went to some other dimension, but we don't know which one," I clarify. I don't want him to anger her.
"Fairies, midgets, leprechauns, world full of such weird little things," he adds.
"When did you figure out they're her kids?" I ask Damon, angry with him for not sharing this piece of information with me sooner.
"Not until we got back home," he replies, still looking at Wanda, "Ever since we met them, they seemed so familiar. Milly's stubbornness, Arden's attitude.. I just couldn't remember where I've seen them before. Or, in who," he gives Wanda a self satisfying smirk, proud of himself for finally figuring it out. He turns his back to us, and moves toward a shelf on the other end of the room. He takes something from it, and when he turns around, I notice that there's a picture in his hands.
Wanda, Arden and Milly are in it, smiling towards the camera.
"And then, I remembered seeing this picture the last time we were here."
"That's why you tried to stay young for so long. You were trying to buy yourself time to find your children," Elena says, finally figuring it out.
Wanda nods slightly, but doesn't say anything.
"Why are you telling me this? What do you want?" she looks at Damon, her eyes flashing with anger. She doesn't appreciate him playing with her like this. With such a sensitive matter.
"Nothing," he surprises her with his answer, "I just thought that it would be a nice thank you for all you did for us before."
Wanda cocks her eyebrow at him. She doesn't seem to believe him.
"Nothing else?"
"Nothing else."
"The other dimension has softened you."
"It seems that it did."
DAMON'S POV
I didn't tell Bonnie about me theory because I wasn't sure quite sure about it myself, not until we walked into her living room and I actually saw the picture on the shelf, convincing myself that my memory is not playing tricks on me. I would have felt pretty darn stupid if they weren't actually her children.
On our way home I stay silent and Bonnie tells Stefan and Elena everything about Arden and Milly. Actually, she tells them a lot of things that have nothing to do with Arden and Milly, she got so caught up in the story that she started retelling them all of our adventures, conveniently leaving out the.. tricky parts.
"So.." Stefan says, appearing from behind me. A glass full of sickly sweet liquid appears near my shoulder, so I grab it as quickly as possible, like I'm afraid it's going to disappear. "You were over there for six months," he sits next to me.
We're sitting on the stairs on the back side of the house, looking at the stars. I've missed those stars.
I snicker. I sound like a cartoon character. I have to remember to never snicker again. "Felt more like six years," I comment.
"Yeah? Six years all alone with Bonnie. It must have been hell for you."
His comment catches my attention. He never commented my dislike for Bonnie, at least not in such open way. Sometimes, he would tell me to stop acting like a child, pulling the pigtails of a girl on the playground, but that's as far as he went.
"What do you mean?" I ask him.
"You hate her," he says as if that's the most common thing in the world, "And she hates you. Or did you forget that?" he's challenging me.
"We weren't alone. We made a lot of friends."
He chuckles. "Yeah, I can bet."
I frown. He's giving me a migraine. I'm nowhere near drunk enough for this conversation.
"What's your point, brother?" I snap.
He doesn't seem too affected by it. "You know my point," and with that, all conversation dies down.
We stay in silence, looking at the stars, like we're waiting for something to happen. Like we're looking at them for the last time.
After at least half an hour of silence, he adds, "It makes sense?"
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Because to me, it's makes no sense at all.