**Chapter twenty seven**
Just friends
*Hailey*
My days at the hospital past by quickly. I was stuck there for four days, even though I healed very, very fast, and my "broken" arm and leg were fully healed on day two. The doctors said that they must've made a mistake and that they were never broken in the first place, but I knew the truth.
It was Damon's blood that healed me, that saved my life.
Elena was always by my bedside, all four days. She brought me books, magazines, and real food; so that I didn't have to eat the gross hospital sludge that they tried to pass off as real food. They didn't fool me.
On my second day at Hospital Hell, Elena came baring gifts and news. She brought me the latest magazines she could find at the store, my stuffed bunny -which I had had since I was four, and had named Floppy. I used to sleep with him all the time, but I hadn't since I hit middle school and "Grew up". It was nice to have him around though- and some food from McDonald's. But her news was much more important to me.
"Stefan confronted Damon last night, about saving you." Elena told me hesitantly, pulling up a chair to the side of my bed.
"Oh, how'd that go?" I asked, already knowing what she was going to say.
"Damon said that he didn't save you. Hailey, he-"a look of pure loathing passed through Elena's brown eyes. "He told Stefan that he didn't care if you died. He doesn't care about you, Hailey. I'm so sorry."
Her words still made me flinch, even though I knew better than to believe them. Elena obviously did though.
"He's an asshole, Hailey." She said fiercely, opening her laptop and setting it in front of us. "With any luck, he'll be out of Mystic Falls and our lives before you get out of here."
I nodded, and silently turned my attention to the movie, The Help, playing on her laptop. I knew that Elena wanted me to agree, to call Damon a name and say how badly I wanted him out of my town. But I couldn't because it would all be lies. Like how Damon lied about saving me.
I knew it as well as I knew my own name. Damon Salvatore doesn't save just anybody; he saved me because he'd miss me if I was dead. And that was good enough for me.
I didn't forgive him for lying to me, for breaking my heart. It didn't change the fact that it will always be Katherine for him. But Damon honestly cared about me, enough to save me. I could accept that, mostly because I missed him like hell.
That was another reason why I wanted to leave this damn hospital, so that I could see Damon, and try to fix our screwed up relationship. because he had yet to visit me. Not that I expected him to show up, I just wished that he would.
Another reason I hated my hospital stay was my mom.
They called her right after they called Elena. And she was pissed. No, not because some jackass didn't know how not to drink and drive- that was my story. No, mommy dearest was pissed because I brought her home early from her vacation. And in return, she made my hospital life even worse- which was saying something. Thankfully, Elena -who she liked much, much more than her own daughter- convinced her that she should continue her vacation on my third day at hell.
I had visitors besides my bitch of a mom, Elena and Stefan. Matt and Caroline came to see me, and things between Caroline and I was much better. We had an unspoken truce that we'd tolerate each other for Matt's sake.
Tyler came to see me too. Things between us were kind of awkward, since I hit on him in my hurry to get over Damon. I regretted it now, I could've ruined our friendship.
"Hey," Tyler said awkwardly, as he set a half-dead pot of flowers on the table next to my bed.
"You suck at giving presents, Tyler." I told him bluntly, frowning at the pathetic daisies.
"I do not!" he defended himself, sitting down in the chair next to me.
"Tell that to the card I got on my birthday last year, made out of a napkin and a green crayon." I shot back.
"It matched your eyes." he retorted.
"Or the piece of toast I got on Christmas four years ago- with a bite already out of it." I said, and Tyler shrugged.
"I was hungry." He defended himself.
"What about the bottle of beer I got for Hanukkah last year?" I asked, trying to cross my arms over my chest, but the damn cast got in my way.
"What's wrong with that?" Tyler asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm not Jewish, and I hate beer." Tyler rolled his eyes.
"Just face it Tyler, you're a cheap bastard who sucks at buying presents and forgets birthdays and holidays." I said, and Tyler laughed.
An awkward silence settled over us, as we both remembered my last words to him. I sighed, hating past-Hailey who was looking for a rebound.
"I'm sorry about Friday." I blurted out, looking at the white, sterile room we were in. it was creepy. "I hit on you, and I shouldn't of have. I sort of… just got broken up with, and I was looking for a rebound. Since you're a man whore, I ran to you."
Tyler ignored the jibe, and frowned at me. "I didn't know you were seeing anybody." He murmured to himself.
I shrugged. "It's not important, I just want to forget it, okay?"
Tyler nodded, "It's forgotten."
With my mom gone with the awkwardness between Tyler and I, I thought that things might be getting better. I was wrong, of course.
Elena and Stefan went into over-protective parent mode, and refused to let me be alone, in case any of the tomb vamps decided to come and finish the job they started. Stefan even spiked the waiting room coffee with vervain. It was insane, and I felt like I was being suffocated. I always had to stop and remind myself that they were just trying to keep me alive.
It was one AM, and I woke up from my sleep yet again. I had had troubles sleeping that week, with dreams of a box, knife, house, and a familiar girl waking me up. I wished I knew what it meant- if it was a vision, or just my messed up subconscious.
Elena was asleep in the chair next to me, and I sighed before trying to fall back into sleep. But something caught my eye, in the corner of my room.
I blinked, and he was gone. But I was so sure that I had seen Damon, checking up on me. I was grinning to myself, hugging Floppy tight, when I fell back into a dreamless sleep.
~LMF~
I embraced day five, my last day with open arms. I was finally leaving, and I was so excited. Elena was going to pick me up and take me back to my house. I missed my house. I missed Ellie. I hadn't seen her in so long.
The car ride was normal, and I could tell Elena was glad that I would be protected by my house. I was pretty glad too. I knew that I pretended to be the usual "not afraid of anything" Hailey, but I was. I was afraid of the vamps that wanted me and my friends dead. I was scared, though I'd never tell anyone that.
Alone in my house, I finally let the exhaustion from not getting any real sleep take over and I fell asleep on the couch, not even bothering of walking up the stairs.
A few hours of no crazy dreams later, I woke up to find that it was pitch black outside, but I felt wide awake. It was a Wednesday night, but I didn't start school until next week, so that I could "recover."
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, as I sat up. Ellie was curled up at my feet, fast asleep. I smiled slightly at her, before an idea popping into my head. I didn't think, I just did it.
Grabbing my mom's car keys, I drove to Damon's house. I needed to see him, even though it would be awkward. He still hurt me pretty badly, and I was far from over him. But I had things that I needed to tell Damon, and I missed him so much.
I prayed that Stefan wasn't home. Damon would never be honest if his brother could hear us. I knocked hesitantly on the front door, thinking of what I might say to him.
Damon opened the door, and his eyes widened when he saw me. He didn't say anything, and walked into his house. I followed him, shutting the door behind me.
"Is Stefan home?" I asked, as Damon took a long swig of whiskey from a bottle, not even bothering to use a glass.
Damon shook his head slightly, refusing to meet my gaze. I just sighed, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Thank you." I told him bluntly.
Damon turned around and raised his eyebrows at me. "For what?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "You know what."
Damon turned away from me. "I don't know what you're talking about." he said stubbornly.
I just raised my eyebrows at his back. "You don't fool me, Damon Salvatore. I know that you saved me from the car accident, that you fed me your blood so that I wouldn't die, just like I know that you checked on me every night that I was in the hospital. You may fool Stefan and Elena into believing that you're a heartless, careless monster, Damon, but not me."
He didn't say anything, just stared intently at me, as if searching for something. I smiled at him again. "But don't worry, your secret's safe with me. I won't tell the others that you actually have a heart."
He didn't respond, just turned away, and then drained the rest of the bottle. I sighed quietly to myself, and stared at his back. It seemed like hours before he spoke.
"What do you want, Hailey?" He didn't say it like I was demanding anything, more like he was curious.
"I missed you Damon." I said abruptly, and Damon stiffened. "That doesn't mean that I forgive you, or that you didn't break my heart. But I missed you like hell, and if you leave, I'll track you down."
He turned to face me, an unreadable expression on his face. "Why are you saying this? What do you want?" he repeated.
"I want us to be friends, Damon."
I could practically hear his eyebrows shoot up. "Friends?" he repeated.
"I don't hate you Damon. I mean, it wasn't like what we had before was anything serious." that was the first time I'd lied to him. What we had wasn't just a fling to me. Hell, I was falling in love with him. I flinched slightly at that thought.
"Besides, we were friends before, we can be again. And you, me, Elena, and Stefan need to get over our differences and team up if we have any chance at fighting off the tomb vamps." I added.
Damon nodded slowly, seeing the truth in my words.
"Fine, Friends." he agreed.
I smiled at him. "Come on, friend. I'll let you but me a drink at the Grill."
Exes being friends never worked, I knew that. I watched Matt and Elena struggle with it every day, even though both of them had moved on. It would never be the same, your relationship. It was like taking a step back. It was trying to fit into something that you had outgrown. It was like me trying to be crazy, party girl Hailey, when I had matured beyond her. It was like Damon pretending to be a soulless, heartless monster, when he honestly cared about me. It never worked.
Yet, Damon and I agreed to be just friends, nothing more. And that's when the sexual tension settled over us like a fog, never moving, never thinning.
~LMF~
A/N: I couldn't have Hailey hate Damon too long, it's not in me or her. My Thursday doesn't feel right, since there's no TVD on tonight. I got a taste of my own medicine, with that cliff hanger about Elijah. I missed him!
Thank you to: SomebodyWhoCares, jacquline, msgreenphoenix, colleenrawr, Pinkbeca, aireagle92, Chella8181, kat, stefanie, vdemily, and Carrie9586 for reviewing!
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~Abby!
