Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.
Murdering Love
Part 2
"Where are you going in such a hurry?"
Lennox lets out a quiet sigh as she faces Damon. "I'm going to look for Stefan and Elena."
"No dice, sunshine." Damon smiled a little too wide.
"What are you talking about?"
"I talked to my brother. Trust me when I tell you that you don't want to know." Damon gestures.
Lennox steps up to him. "They were together all day?"
"Yes." Damon gives a curt nod. "But they weren't alone, if that's what you were insinuating."
"I wasn't—" Lennox starts.
His expression turns serious suddenly. "Maybe you should."
"Maybe I should what?" Lennox quirks an eyebrow.
"Insinuate." Damon pronounces the word clearly as if trying to make sure Lennox doesn't misunderstand.
"What are you"— Lennox throws Damon a disbelieving look.—"Are you trying to say that—"
Damon narrows his eyes slightly. "I'll be at home if you need me."
Damon turns and walks to his car. Lennox takes a step after him. "Damon!"
"Damon, if you know something, tell me!" Lennox calls out but Damon continues towards his car without acknowledging her. "Damon!"
Lennox lets out a huff as he gets in his car and closes the door before peeling out of the driveway. She runs a hand through her hair when she realizes that she doesn't have a way to get home since Caroline drove her and Elena to the pageant. She started back towards the house with a sigh.
"Lennox!"
She twists around only to come face to face with Stefan. She backs up a couple steps before folding her arms over her chest. "Where have you been all day?"
"I was working on something important." Stefan responded but there was a subtle guilty look in his eyes.
"Don't do this to me right now." Lennox shakes her head. "I need a straight answer for once."
"I can't tell you yet." Stefan purses his lips. "But I promise that soon I'll be able to tell you everything."
"Elena knows, doesn't she? She's been in on your little secret since the beginning." Lennox studies Stefan's expression. "Am I wrong?"
"No." Stefan responds.
"Was she with you today?"
"She was helping me, yes." Stefan nods.
"I still don't understand why you can't tell me."
"Because I don't want you to get your hopes up about something that might not work out."
"I am asking you to tell me. Please, Stefan." Lennox reaches forward and grabs Stefan's hand, intertwining their fingers. "I hate feeling like this."
"Like what?" Stefan offers a confused look.
Lennox glances at the floor as she shifts her weight. "Like you don't trust me."
"I do trust you. I'm doing this because I don't want you to get hurt." Stefan squeezes her hand softly.
"Well, it's not working." Lennox presses her lips into a thin line. "You've been spending so much time with Elena and I'm not the only person who has noticed."
"We're just—"
"I want to believe that you're just friends but you've pretty much admitted to keeping secrets and everyone keeps insinuating that—" Lennox's voice cracks. "—that you and Elena…"
"I would never do that to you." Stefan steps up to Lennox and cups her face in his hands. "I love you."
"I love you too." Lennox takes a shaky breath when her eyes start to sting. "And that's why I'm giving you a chance to tell me if anything happened between you and my sister."
"Lennox, we didn't—" Stefan shakes his head.
"Stefan, this is your last chance." Lennox bites down on her lower lip. "I would rather you tell the truth now—no matter how much it hurts—rather than me figuring out later on that you were lying."
Stefan pulls away from her immediately, breaking all contact. She tries to focus on holding back the tears welling up in her eyes. He turns away from her and she can hear him let out I quiet sigh as he rubs a hand over the back of his neck. He turns back to her with tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Lennox. I'm so sorry." Stefan starts towards her. "I never wanted to hurt you."
"You slept with her?" Lennox asks bluntly.
Stefan's jaw tightens. "Yes."
Lennox runs her hand over her forehead as the tears in her eyes spill onto her cheeks. "When?"
"A few days ago." Stefan pauses. "When you visited Whitmore."
"Was that the only time?" Lennox drops her gaze to the floor. Her emotions were on a roller coaster but the one that managed to remain constant around every turn was the feeling of betrayal. She realized that was the one word that best described it all. Stefan had betrayed her trust. He had betrayed her.
"Yes." Stefan assures her quickly.
"Don't act too surprised when I say I'm having a hard time believing you." Lennox shakes her head lightly. She backs up a couple steps and runs a hand over her hair.
"It's the truth." Stefan starts to move towards Lennox but she quickly stops him with a warning glance. "I slipped up and I'm sorry but it only happened that one time."
"Slipped up?" Lennox scoffs. "I think it's safe to say that it was a lot worse than that."
"It was mistake. One that I've regretted since the second it happened." Stefan squares his shoulders. "But I promise that it didn't mean anything."
"Stefan," Lennox turned to him and shortened the distance she had placed between herself and Stefan, "you cheated on me and it wasn't just some random girl. It was my sister, your epic love."
"I swear that it meant nothing." Stefan tries to reach for Lennox's hand but she pulls it away.
"How can you expect me to believe that?" Lennox gestures to him.
"All of it is true, Lennox. Yes, I slept with her but it was only that one time and it was an honest mistake." Stefan reaches for her again but she stumbles back. "Please, you have to believe me. I would never purposely sabotage this relationship. I love—"
"Don't you dare! You have no right saying that to me. Not now." Lennox pushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I need to go… clear my head."
"We need to talk about this." Stefan calls after her as she begins to walk back to the house.
"No. The only thing I need to do is get away from you." Lennox retorts.
"Look, I understand how you must feel, what you must think but what I did with Elena meant nothing. We never meant to—"
"Just stop, okay? I just want to go home." Lennox waves him off but he continues to follow her.
"You said you wanted me to tell you the truth."
"I did." She spins back around abruptly. "Bt that doesn't make it hurt any less, Stefan."
"I know—I just…" Stefan rubs the back of his neck. "I need you to believe that you are the one that I love."
Lennox lets out a short laugh, shaking her head. "You don't hurt the people you truly love."
"Lennox, please…" Stefan pleaded quietly. "It was a mistake."
She looks him straight in the eye. "Cheating is a choice, not a mistake." She pursed her lips into a thin line and let out a brief sigh. "And you chose to sleep with my sister."
She turns on her heels and hurries back to the house, wiping away the remaining tears on her face. She tries to keep everything at the back of her mind but the tears continue to well up in her eyes. As she searches for her blonde best friend she begins regretting letting someone else drive her to the pageant.
"Where's the fire, love?"
Lennox doesn't bother looking at the speaker. "Have you seen Caroline?"
"She's around here somewhere." Klaus responds as they both pause by one of the many tables in the yard. "Why are you looking for her? Are you trying to make sure that I was telling the truth?"
Lennox scoffs as she bites her lip. "I just want to go home."
"Well, knowing Caroline she'll probably be last person to leave." Klaus tells her.
Lennox twists back around, changing her target as she begins to make her way through the mass of tables. Klaus raises an eyebrow at her but she ignores it. "Where are you going?"
"Trying to find someone else to give me a ride home." Lennox mutters without breaking a step.
"You know I have a car, right?" Klaus keeps pace with the younger Gilbert twin.
"I'm aware." Lennox's voice comes out weak and strained.
"Then I guess your problem is solved."
Lennox stops in her tracks and faces the hybrid. "Thanks but no thanks."
Klaus narrows his eyes as he lifts his hand to her face. She shudders subtly as he wipes away a single tear that had broken free. He looks down at his fingers as he rubs them together. "You've been crying."
"Great detective work." Lennox rubs her eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find Matt or Tyler or anyone who else for that matter."
"Why were you crying?" Klaus questions as she starts looking around for her friends again.
"That's none of your business." Lennox lets out a heavy sigh.
"Knowing you, it probably had to do with—" Klaus starts in a humorous tone.
"You don't know me, Klaus!" Lennox spins back around. "You only think you know me."
"I know enough about you to know that you don't cry very often." Klaus moves closer to the younger vampire.
"I don't have time for this right now." She shakes her head as she heads into the house.
Lennox speeds up when she hears Klaus' footsteps not far behind her. She comes to an abrupt stop the second she spots Matt by the front door.
"Matt!" She calls out to catch his attention and he steps towards her warily. "Can you give me a ride home? It's kind of urgent."
"Are you okay?" Matt pushes some hair out of her face as he studies her tear-stained cheeks.
"I'm fine. I just want to go home." Lennox sighs quietly. "Can you please take me home?"
"I don't think that's a good idea." Matt huffs as a worried expression crosses over his face.
"Why not?"
"I was just about to take Jeremy home and he's still in his vampire hunting mood." Matt pauses as he glances over Lennox's shoulder. "And I don't think he's going to be able to suppress the urge a second time around."
Lennox claps a hand over her forehead as she takes a few deep breaths. "I don't have anywhere else to go."
"Stefan and Damon have plenty of room at the—" Matt begins.
"That's not an option." Lennox states colder than she meant to. She gives Matt an apologetic look and steps closer to him as she lowers her voice to a hoarse whisper. "Stefan and I…"
Matt nods quickly, not needing a further explanation to Lennox's relief. She could see Klaus standing only a few feet away out of the corner of her eye. She stiffened as he strolled over to them.
"You can always take up residence with me." Klaus suggests innocently.
"No thank you." Lennox responds without acknowledging him.
Matt looks between Lennox and Klaus for a couple seconds. He clears his throat and shoves his hands into his pockets. "You can stay over at my place but I'm going to give Jeremy a ride home first. I'll come back to get you."
"At least let me drive you there." Klaus speaks up again. Lennox exchanges a look with Matt before giving a curt nod.
"I'll see you in a little bit then." Matt says as he walks around Lennox.
"After you, love." Klaus sidles up next to Lennox and gestures to the door. Lennox sighs as she walks out of the house.
"You've barely said anything." Klaus says and slides a glance in Lennox's direction.
"Turn left." Lennox directs as they approach an intersection.
"Is this all because of Stefan?" Klaus questions. Lennox rolls her eyes as she stares out the window. "Don't tell me there's trouble in paradise already."
"I don't understand how you can act like you hate me one second and then—"
"I never hated you." Klaus interrupts. "I just didn't want to associate with you any more than I was forced to."
"What changed your mind?" Lennox perches her elbow on the door and rests her head on her fist.
"I realized that your identity situation was a lot more complicated than I first thought." Klaus gave a mild shrug.
Lennox turns her head to shoot Klaus a look. "I don't have an identity situation. I know who I am."
"No, you don't." Klaus shakes his head. "You only think you do."
The younger vampire sits upright. "What are you talking about?"
"You don't remember who you used to be so you don't realize how many similarities there are." Klaus peers over at Lennox. "I see so much of her in you all the time. But I guess that shouldn't be such a shock."
"Turn right." Lennox mutters as she shifts in her seat.
"My brother believed that you should have gone back to using your original name once you found out the truth." Klaus smiled lightly and made an abrupt turn. "I knew from the beginning that you would never do that and he realized that after a while."
"Elijah isn't a part of this anymore. This is between you and me."
"Do you remember how much you affected Elijah and I and our relationship?" Klaus asks in a husky tone.
She nods subtly. "I remember everything."
"Then I think you know that what I said before—the day of the ball—was a lie."
"So, what's the truth?" Lennox returns quickly.
Klaus keep his eyes on the road as he clenches his jaw. "The truth… is that I don't know what to think about you anymore."
Lennox turns her head and studies his profile for a moment. "That makes two of us."
Klaus meets her eyes for a second and she catches the whisper of a smile on his lips. He turns his attention back to the road until she tells him to pull over in front of a single story house.
"This is where you'll be staying?" Klaus throws her a look as he stares out her window at the house.
"Just for tonight, I think." Lennox throws open the door. "I've known Matt since I was a baby so I've been here more than a couple times before."
"Well, it looks like you have a visitor." Klaus gestures over her shoulder and she spins on her heels.
Lennox feels a rush of conflicting emotions when she sees Damon standing by his car in the driveway. She takes a deep breath before turning back to Klaus.
"Thanks for the ride." She murmurs quietly as she runs a hand through her hair.
Klaus nods understandingly, his eyes flickering over her shoulder. "Anytime."
Lennox flashes a small smile and shuts the car door. She hears Klaus' car drive away as she approaches Damon.
"How'd you know I'd be here?" Lennox asks as she folds her arms over her chest.
"Matt called me—told me that something happened with you and Stefan." Damon shifts his weight. "He also added that you're not allowed to go to your house."
"I'm allowed, it's just not recommended while Jeremy's all—" Lennox waves her hand through the air.
"Hunter crazy." Damon states, a smirk working it's way onto his lips.
"Why are you here, Damon?" Lennox asks a little harsher than she meant to.
He lets out a long sigh as he pulls his hands out of his pockets and straightens up. "I'm guessing you found out about Elena and Stefan."
"And I'm guessing that you already knew." Lennox countered.
"I didn't know for sure but I think everyone was assuming." Damon shrugs.
Lennox scoffs to herself. "Everyone except me."
"I thought it had at least crossed your mind." Damon tries to reassuring smile but his expression quickly sobers. "Truthfully, I wanted Stefan to be the one to tell you… or Elena."
"Why?" Lennox studies him. "Did you think I would be mad at you if you were the one to tell me?"
"I knew you wouldn't be too happy, that's for sure." Damon throws her a look. "I'm a little surprised you're not going all fatal attraction right now."
Lennox lets out a heavy sigh as she folds her arms over her chest. Damon is probably the last person she should be talking to about her love life but she knows that he's the best person for the job.
"I don't see the point." She gives a weak shrug. "Stefan loves Elena more than he loves me and there's nothing I can do to change that. I know that now."
"I don't think that's—" Damon starts, his eyes filled with sympathy.
"He slept her, Damon. He could have said no. He could have walked away but he didn't. Neither of them did." Lennox tried to keep her voice from wavering. "He wouldn't have hurt me like that if he loved me."
"People make mistakes all the time, Lennox. You have to give him a chance to make it right."
"And give him the chance to lie to me again? No way." Lennox shakes her head slowly.
"He's not going to lie to you." Damon tells her.
"Maybe not but he wont be telling me the truth either." Lennox pauses as Damon throws her a look. "He's been keeping too many secrets."
Damon stiffens as he runs a hand over his face, releasing a loud huff. "I'm about to take a very high, annoying road." Lennox narrows her eyes but Damon continues before she could interrupt. "Because I know you think that Stefan's been lying to you. Which, yeah, he has, but the secret that he and Elena had been working together to keep isn't what you think it is. He only kept it from you because he was trying to help you. And after he kills me for telling you this, I want you to throw my ashes off the Wickery Bridge, okay?"
Lennox laughs as Damon takes a steadying deep breath. "There may be a way out of this for you, Lennox."
Lennox looks at Damon, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"There may be a cure for vampirism." Damon clarifies in a husky tone.
The younger girl just stares at him for a few moments as she tries to make sure that she had heard him correctly. Lennox exhales slowly as Damon steps towards her, hand extended towards hers. "Elena and Stefan had been working together to find the cure for you."
"You expect me to believe that after centuries and centuries of having no way to reverse vampirism, there's suddenly a cure to be found?" Lennox asks him.
"There's been a cure all along. The way to find it has just been lost for a while." Damon tries to lighten the seriousness with a shrug but Lennox fixes her gaze into a glare. "Klaus was the one who told Stefan about how to unlock the map."
Lennox scoffs. "There's a map?"
"That's not even the best part." Damon forces a smile before diving into the details of the cure. By the time he finishes Lennox is already leaning against his car rubbing her temples as if she's been hit with a sudden headache.
"So, my brother has to kill god knows how many vampires to unlock some secret map and in the mean time his urge to kill me will grow." Lennox pauses. "Well, from what I heard, this will work out perfectly."
"I know how it sounds but if it does work out you could have the chance to reverse all of this." Damon gestures to Lennox.
She sighs softly. "And what if it doesn't work? Jeremy will have a constant urge to kill me and there will be no way to fix it."
"We'll figure something out." Damon assures her.
"Damon, I don't think this is a good—Ah!" Lennox suddenly falls to her knees and cradles her head in her hands as an excruciating pain pulses through it.
"Lennox?!" Damon drops down beside her, taking in her sudden weakened appearance.
"My head. It feels like—gah!" Lennox recoils as another pang of pain hits her.
"There must be a witch nearby." Damon grunts as he pulls Lennox closer to him. She grits her teeth and leans into him as the pain continues to cripple her.
"Not nearby. Right here."
The unfamiliar voice causes both Damon and Lennox to twist around. The continuous pain comes to a sudden stop as Lennox blinks at the person standing a few feet in front of her.
"Adam?" Lennox drops her hands and makes her best effort to sit upright.
"You know this guy?" Damon narrows his eyes as he looks up at the stranger.
"You could say that." Lennox nods weakly as she takes in Derek's appearance. It seemed that he had aged a decade in the last year but his eyes still held the same touch of mischief.
Lennox takes a deep breath as Derek's lips quirk up into a taunting smile. She meets Damon's eyes for a second before turning back to Derek. "I killed his sister."
I'm sorry this took so long to get up. I was having a lot of trouble with some of the conversations in this chapter but I hope it came out okay. Sorry for any mistakes. I didn't have time to proofread the chapter. Please follow or favorite if you enjoyed this chapter and leave a review with any opinions or suggestions.
~/~I am still thinking about changing Lennox's name to Emilia. Thoughts? And there was another idea brought to me to eventually split this story into two separate ones. This one would keep her in Mystic Falls and the other would have her go to New Orleans with the Originals. Or I could just have her go to New Orleans and focus on that story. Thoughts? Please let me know in a review. It helps to know the opinions of the readers.
***I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed (heytay1, Guest(s) 1-6, grapejuice101, .391, SomebodyWhoCares, Maria D'cousta, Krystal, Nati1729, Daisy Diaries, Wazouskiiiiiiii, juferronato123, kkice14, 13).