Chapter 26

Disclaimer: TVD characters belong to L.J. Smith and the CW

Damon could hear Gwen constantly fidgeting in her sleep, as he had every night for the last week. It was a different kind of restless sleep than what she had experienced when they first arrived at the cabin. She refused to talk about what was bothering her, or even to admit that she wasn't sleeping well. Worse, she had grown distant in the last few days, spending most of her time locked in her room or out walking in the woods. She barely spoke ten words a day. Between the isolated location and Gwen's silence, Damon was losing his mind.

"So you've heard nothing?" Damon asked impatiently. "You sure you're not stalling so you and Caroline can have an extended couple's vacation?"

"I swear we've been looking," Stefan sighed. "Bonnie's even reached out to her mom to see if she or any of her friends have heard of this guy."

"And?"

"Nothing we don't already know, and only rumors of where he could be."

"And, uh, how's Elena in all of this?" Damon asked, figuring he should. He had not heard from her in couple of days.

"She had to go home for a few days. Jeremy was, uh, having some problems, but she'll be back in two days."

"But how is she?" Damon repeated, not interested in what drama Jeremy had found himself in this time.

"She doesn't seem angry, but you two still have a lot to talk about."

"I know."

"Listen, I've got to go," Stefan said. "I'm meeting Caroline to follow-up on another lead."

"All right, thanks," Damon said, ignoring the feeling of defeat.

"Was that Stefan?" Gwen asked, making one her few appearances for the day. She sat on the couch next to him, looking as if she had not slept for a week. Damon noticed she was still in her pajamas and her hair was messy. She must have just woken up.

"Yeah, still no luck."

"Well," she started hesitantly, "I've had some."

"What? How?" His curiosity piqued, Damon leaned forward.

"It's crazy," she said, rubbing her eyes. 'But, uh, I had a dream. Actually, I've had the same dream for the last few nights. I think it's a message from Zach. He's on his way here."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Damon asked in disbelief. "How could he send you a message in your sleep? Or know where you are?"

"Magic," she answered simply, shrugging. "I've heard of similar spells, and we know he's powerful. We don't really know what he's capable of."

"Fuck," Damon muttered angrily.

"I think we should meet the others in New York. You don't want him following us to Mystic Falls. I think it'll be safer if we can get lost in a big city and lots of people."

"Yeah, I guess," Damon agreed, slightly thrown by how quickly she came up with a plan.

"We should leave today," she pressed.

"Uh, all right. I'll go get us a car. You should get cleaned and packed. What exactly was this message?"

"It doesn't matter," she said, looking away from here. "All that matters is that we get out of here, now. I don't think I'm strong enough to face him, not yet anyway."

"Okay." Damon nodded, choosing to believe her odd behavior was just a fearful reaction to the dream. "I'll be back in an hour."

"So we'll check in, then go meet everyone for breakfast," Damon explained as he parked the car in the hotel's garage.

"Sounds like a plan," Gwen said, forcing a smile. The hotel they were staying at was not as luxurious as Damon would have liked, especially after living in a cabin for so long. But Gwen had insisted on keeping a low profile. Plus, Stefan was already staying at this hotel and the girls were staying only a few blocks away.

The ride up had been awkward. Gwen had hardly spoken at all during the day they were trapped in the car together. Well, that was not entirely true. She would talk about directions, food stops, and theorize about what Zach could be planning; but she would shut down every time he tried to talk about them sleeping together. She insisted he needed to talk to Elena, which was incredibly frustrating for Damon. At that point, it was taking all his effort to just remain civil toward her.

Gwen remained silent as they checked in and made their way to their room. He ignored her; he assumed she was still unhappy they were sharing, even though he had requested separate beds. They were on their way to meet up with Stefan and the girls when she said she left something in the room and ran to catch the elevator. Damon waited for her in the lobby, wondering for the hundredth time what he had done to make her so cold.

"Sorry," Gwen said, reappearing a few minutes later with a green scarf in hand. "Forgot my scarf."

"Yeah, no problem. Let's go."

Winter in New York was obnoxiously cold, not that it really bothered Damon. However, Gwen was shivering despite the heavy winter coat they bought for her on the way to they city. Damon forced himself not to feel bad or to help keep her warm. He knew his efforts would only be rejected.

They reached the café in about ten minutes. Damon heard Gwen mumble a "thank god" as they entered the warm restaurant. Damon smirked, then noticed Stefan sitting in a booth in a back corner. Gwen spotted him a second later and led the way over to him.

"Hey Stefan," she greeted, shrugging off her coat before sliding into the booth. Damon elected to slide in next to Stefan, and ignored the curious glance his brother shot him.

"How are you?" Gwen asked.

"Pretty good. It's been kind of nice to be out of Mystic Falls for a while. How was the drive down?"

"Long," Damon answered curtly, causing Gwen to shift uncomfortably and become too interested in her menu.

"Something wrong?" Stefan prompted.

"No," Gwen responded, a little too quickly. "We've just had a lot of one-on-one time lately. Not much to talk about any more."

"Really?" Stefan asked, unable to completely hide the disbelief in his voice. When both Gwen and Damon refused to elaborate, he decided to grill Damon about it privately. "Caroline just texted me that they'll be here in about five minutes — and 'they' does include Elena."

"That's good," Gwen said, her tone oddly positive. "From what you've told me, their relationship is something out of a romance novel. I've been telling Damon for days that he really needs to talk to her and work things out."

Damon rolled his eyes with a scoff escape. All she had been saying was that he needed to talk to Elena; he had assumed she wanted him to end things with her, but now he realized it was the opposite. She regretted having sex with him and wanted them both to forget about it. No wonder Gwen had been avoiding him.

"Excuse me," Gwen said, setting down her menu and picking up her purse. "I need to use the restroom."

Once Gwen was out of earshot, Stefan turned on Damon. "What's going on with you two?"

"Nothing," Damon said, surprised at how well he was handling her rejection. What happened between them really must have been nothing; he would have expected this to hurt more. "It's just what she said, too much time together."

"I don't buy it, but try to act normal when the others get here. We have enough to deal with," Stefan said. "Especially if you want to try to salvage things with Elena — and I'm not sure you can."

"Honestly, I'm not sure if I want to," Damon muttered.

"Well, they're here," Stefan said, lowering his voice. "You'll have to figure that out later."

"Hey," Caroline said cheerfully as she slid into the booth on the other side of Stefan. Looking all lovey-dovey, they kissed hello. Damon rolled his eyes at the nauseating sight and caught Bonnie doing the same. Elena slid in next to Bonnie. Her face was in pout mode, and she seemed to be struggling with something.

"Hello, Damon," she said stiffly. "Where is she?"

"Hello, Elena. It's nice to see you too," Damon said affecting his usual smug attitude. "How's Jeremy?"

Elena rolled her eyes and refused to answer. Sensing a fight, Caroline quickly stepped in. "Where is Gwen? I thought she was coming with you?"

"She went to the bathroom. She'll be back in a minute," Stefan answered. "When did you get back, Elena?"

"Last night," she answered but her eyes never left Damon's. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, that's what we're here to figure out," Damon said, his signature smirk plastered on his face. "Gwen says this Zach guy has found a way to track her."

"How?" Bonnie asked. "They don't have a connection, and I doubt he has anything that belongs to her. How was he able to track her?"

"I don't know. He's been sending her messages through dreams, so something to do with that?"

Bonnie looked doubtful. "I've never heard of such a thing."

Damon shrugged. "Well, that's how Gwen explained it. And she grew up with magic."

Bonnie looked unconvinced, and Damon found himself beginning to question her explanation and recent behavior. She had been ready with the plan to come to New York. Had this all been an act?

"Shouldn't she be back by now?" Elena asked. "How long does it her to go to the bathroom?"

"We checked into the hotel and came straight here. I'm sure she's just freshening up," Damon explained.

"Well maybe someone should go check on her?" Elena suggested.

"I'll do it," Bonnie said, adding a "be nice" under her breath to Elena. Elena rolled her eyes, but let Bonnie out of the booth.

"This is nice," Stefan said, earning him a glare from both Caroline and Elena.

"She's gone," Bonnie said when she returned to the booth.

"What?" the other four asked in unison, causing some of the other diners to stare.

"She's not in there. She must have gone out the back."

"Why would she leave?" Elena asked. "She's turned all of our lives upside down. How could she just leave?"

"Let's go check the hotel," Caroline suggested. "She probably just got nervous and needed some rest before really meeting us all. We can be a bit intimidating."

"She took on a psycho coven. I'm not sure how intimidating we are," Elena mumbled.

"Elena's right," Damon sighed, slumping in the booth. "Gwen won't be at the hotel. She's been acting strange for days. She just wanted to get here and disappear."

"But why?" Stefan asked. "Going out on her own could be suicidal."

Damon shrugged. "She never wanted or asked for our help."

"So…what do we do?" Bonnie asked. "Do we go after her, or do we let her go?"

Everyone looked at Damon, who took a minute to answer. "We let her go, and we go home."

"Damon, are you sure?" Stefan asked, not liking this decision for several reasons.

"It's what she wants and we should respect that. Why don't we just skip breakfast and go back to Mystic Falls and our lives?"

"I like that idea," Elena said, the faintest hint of a smile appearing on her lips.

AN: Hey guys, posting this a little early because I'm in the middle of move and will be turning in all my internet equipment early. I was going to have it through tomorrow, but a giant fucking snowstorm is hitting us tonight and lasting through tomorrow, and I want to limit the amount of driving I have to do in it. Not sure when the next chapter will be posted. Should be Wednesday if everything goes well.