Chapter Twenty-Nine: Not Your Fault
I'm a fight with myself, till I'm bleeding.
Just a taste of your skin starts the healing.
Anyone from my past, get your ammo.
Find my sun in the dark side of my shadow.
This love found us, now I see it.
This love up down, please believe.
~AWOLnation
She could hear murmured voices off in the distant as she started to come to.
"She must've used a lot of power today, her body's still not use to it. She's just drained," a man's voice was explaining.
"I could imagine, she was dropping bodies left and right," a girl replied. She sounded familiar. Were they taking about her? Nilin wasn't sure. "I don't like that expression on your face," the girl said.
"It's just…" the guy paused. "She's surprised me, that's all."
Nilin was becoming more aware. She was starting to feel the gash of her forehead and the soreness in her back. Groaning, she turned her head to the side to see where she was. "Damon?" she called out, seeing the outline of someone.
"Nope, guess again," he said, coming and squatting down next to her.
Nilin squinted her eyes. "Finch? What… what are you doing here?" she asked, trying to sit up. He just pushed on her one shoulder making her lay back again.
"Elena called me, you're at the Salvatore's boarding house. You passed out and they were worried," he clarified. "I was just explaining to Elena that you went a little too hard today, but it's nothing to fret about."
"Oh, good," she said, closing her eyes again. "Does this mean I get the rest of the day off then?"
Finch laughed. "It does, take it easy for a couple of days. No more covert vampire rescues for you."
"Aw, damn," she sighed.
"I'll check on you tomorrow, okay kiddo?" he offered.
"Mmhm," Nilin hummed. She felt him swipe the hair off her forehead before standing up.
"I'll show you out," she heard Elena offer. Then they left the room. Nilin's hand went to her forehead. She felt a bandage there and let out another groan.
Very carefully she tested out each part of her body, assessing the damage. At the moment her entire body just hummed in pain. There was an ache that ran down her spine with even the slightest twitch of a muscle. Other than that though, everything seemed to be working properly.
Suddenly there was another presence in the room. "How do you feel?" a velvet voice asked. Nilin opened her eyes and popped her head up, a little too quickly. She fought the queasiness that came with the sudden movement as Damon walked into the parlor. He kept his back to her, staring into the fire that was burning.
"Like I just fought a vampire," Nilin attempted to make light of the situation.
Damon didn't say anything— bad timing for jokes apparently.
"We did it though," she continued awkwardly. "I mean, I was just so worried that—"
"Oh, you were worried? How do you think I felt when I got back to the car to find Elena in a panic because you wouldn't open your eyes?" he nearly bit her head off, turning sharply to eye her down.
Nilin cringed back into the couch. She saw this coming, she just wished he'd given her a little more time to prepare. Giving it her best not to show how sore she was, Nilly slid up on the couch to give him some room to sit. He didn't move.
"I'm sorry, okay?" she told him finally. Damon just snorted. "I just drained my battery, its nothing Damon," she tried.
He laughed. "Now you sound like him."
"Who? Finch? Well, he kind of knows a thing or two about this." Nilin defended. Damon just shook his head. "What?" she demanded.
"Why are you always so reckless?" he snapped at her.
"Kinda the pot calling the kettle black, don't you think," she said back calmly. She wasn't going to fight with him anymore tonight.
"There's a difference though," he told her.
"Oh and what's that?"
"My recklessness doesn't get me killed." Damon retorted.
Nilin sat up more, feeling the aches. "You're mistaking my selflessness for recklessness," she countered.
He just laughed at her. "It's foolishness."
"I was saving my sister and your brother." Nilin said slowly.
"By taking on a hundred plus year old vampire by yourself?" He just snorted a laugh and turned away from her. "You should have stayed in the car," he told her.
"Do you honestly think I wanted to be in that situation? This wasn't some premeditated plan that I thought up just to piss you off," she snapped before she could calm herself down.
"This isn't about pissing me off," he told her, "this is about your thick skull nearly getting you killed again."
"I was trying to help," she defended.
"Well stop trying to do that. You're no help. You're just a distraction. You're a liability, Nilin, don't you see that? Even with your little sparkler trick, you're still feeble." Damon let her have. He was cruel when he was angry. She was taken back, but she didn't saying thing. He was just trying to hurt her. It worked. "Next time I tell you to do something, you do it," he ordered. "I could have gotten Stefan out of that house, without you and Elena prancing around, trying to get yourselves killed."
She kept her mouth shut and let him get it all out. He was angry, understandable. If yelling at her was his way of cooling down, so be it. Nilin had tough skin. "Is that all, sir?" she asked sarcastically, turning back to look at him.
He was seething. "Yes, that is. Goodnight, Nilin," was all he said. And with that, he left the room. Nilly pulled the bandaged angrily off her forehead and crumbled it, throwing it across the room before laying back down on the couch.
Damon left Nilin, seeing red. He was furious at her. Her lack of concern only caused him to grow angrier. She was the most stubborn person he had ever encountered in his one hundred and eighty plus years. She could have died, and didn't give two shits about it. Well, if that's how she wanted it to be, so be it. He wasn't going to stick around to see the outcome of that. Well, that was what he told himself anyway.
Who the fuck was he kidding?
Damon would tether himself to Nilin as she sunk herself into the Pacific Ocean. He knew that. She knew that. No one was going to win here. They were a destructive, dysfunctional pairing, that was for sure. He knew how to get under her skin and she knew how to push his buttons. As he clamored up the stairs it dawned on Damon how much worse that conversation could have gone. If Nilin was feeling one hundred percent a screaming match would still be going on.
He made his way up the stairs and turned the corner only to come face to face with Elena. She looked surprised… and pale. She took a few steps back apologizing.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered quickly. "How's Nilin? I was just about to take her home now."
"Peachy," Damon said, attempting to brush past her. Elena grabbed his arm though, stopping him.
"Wait, Damon," she said. "Listen, don't be too mad at her. Please," she begged. "It's all my fault, what happened, it's on me."
"What are you talking about?"
"I went into the house, I left the car. I just couldn't sit there and do nothing. And Nilin being Nilin, she went after me. She was trying to stop me, Damon. That's all," Elena confessed. "I was the one being reckless."
"You were also the one eavesdropping," he accused.
"You two aren't the quietest when you fight," she explained.
Damon sighed and shook his head. "We weren't fighting, I was," he said. "She didn't tell me any of this."
"Why would she?" Elena shrugged. "She knows how people work, it's scary. She knew you needed to blow off some steam, so she took it. That's Nilin for you."
"Yeah," Damon agreed. "That is."
Elena looked uncomfortable standing there, which made him realize that this was probably the most civil conversation that they had in a long time. Progress. "Goodnight, Damon," she finally said, slipping past him. "Thank you, for getting Stefan back."
"All in a good day's work," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. Elena just smiled before going down the stairs. He waited to hear them leave before he moved to check on his brother. Didn't he feel like an asshole now, he would need some bourbon to help him lick his wounds tonight.
He went down the hall to Stefan's room, the door was closed. Damon opened it and swung the door wide open, it was pitch black in there. He only took a step in the room before he was hit with the sharp stale scent of blood.
Damon walked around to Stefan's bed, kicking an empty blood bag. "Oh boy," he said as he saw Stefan sitting on the floor, cradling a torn open bag of O negative. "Not good."
Nilin made her way out of her steamy bathroom, a towel around her and hair still wet from the hour long shower she just took. She rolled her aching shoulders as she sat on the edge of her bed and began the task of combing her curls out. It had been a very long day and Nilin was feeling it.
She could feel herself slowly but surely getting better, so that was a plus. But still, she could sleep for a thousand years and still be tired. She needed to sort things out in her head, but there was just too much going on and she was too exhausted. Nothing was too pressing that it couldn't wait till morning to deal with.
With a huff, Nilin forced herself to get up and throw on some pajamas; her usual old oversized t-shirts and sweats. She left her room to go downstairs to get something to eat when she heard voices coming from Jeremy's room. As she got closer is sound as if he was talking to someone.
Nilin's eyebrows pulled together when it sounded like a girl was talking back. She put an ear to the door. Then she opened it, revealing Jeremy standing in the middle of his room looking a little thrown off guard. "What are you doing in here?" she asked.
"Anyone ever teach you to knock?" he asked, being a defensive teenage boy.
"No," she answered simply. "Now answer me."
"I was on the phone," he said, pulling his cell out of his back pocket. Nilin looked at him skeptically. "Can you leave now, please?"
She eyed him. "Fine. Goodnight."
"Night," he called as he closed the door on her. Nilin shook her head and made her way down the stairs. She found Elena in the kitchen with Jenna, both with steaming cups of tea. Nilin went over to the cupboard, pulling out a box of cookies and shoving two in her mouth. She turned to find the two of them staring at her.
"What?" she asked, defensively. "It's been a rough day," she told them, popping another in her mouth.
"Well brace yourself for another one in a couple days," Jenna sighed. "There's another founders day event on the calendar."
Nilin and Elena simultaneously groaned.
"Why?" Nilly asked, taking a seat on one of the stools.
"Because this is Mystic Falls," Jenna said, taking a sip out of her mug.
Nilin sighed. "Can't I play hooky or something?"
Jenna laughed. "Nice try. We're all going, so no complaining."
"What's this one even for?" Nilin asked, slouching down on the counter.
"It's the pre-party to the Miss Mystic Falls Gala next weekend," Jenna explained.
Elena smacked her forehead and groaned. "That's next weekend?" she asked. "I completely forgot I'm a part of that."
Nilin started to laugh, which earned her an elbow to the side. "Ow," she smacked Elena's arm. Elena just smacked her back. Jenna just shook her head as she emptied her cup into the sink.
"Well, this should be a fun two weeks. We'll get everything sorted out in the morning, Elena. Get some sleep. See you girls in the morning," she said before heading upstairs.
"Goodnight," Elena and Nilin simultaneously called after her.
"Elena Gilbert the next Miss Mystic Falls, huh?" Nilly teased, popping another cookie in her mouth.
Elena rolled her eyes as she slid the package to her, "I'm glad you find humor in my pain."
"If it's painful then why are you doing it?" Nilin asked. "I was never one for the whole proud founding family thing."
"I signed up for it so long ago with Caroline," Elena explained. "My mom was the one who wanted me to enter."
That's all she needed to say for Nilin to understand. It was a tribute to Elena's mother. "I forgot my lovely Aunt Miranda was Miss Mystic Falls back in her day," Nilly smiled, nudging Elena.
"Yeah, and now it looks like I'm going to give it my best to follow in her footsteps." Elena laughed a little, taking a bite out of a chocolate chip cookie.
"No pressure though, right?" Nilin joked.
"No pressure." Elena chuckled again. "With that said, I'm off to bed," she said, sliding off the stool she was sitting on. "Goodnight, Nils."
"Sweet dreams," Nilly called. She took another cookie from the packaged and sighed. "And then there was one."
x
"Come on, we're leaving now," Jenna was calling from downstairs. Nilin slipped on her other heel and threw on her quarter sleeved leather jacket as she scurried down the steps. She barely slept the last couple nights— ever since the whole Stefan rescue. Nilin hoped she did her makeup well enough to conceal that little fact.
Nilin had on a pale turquoise dress that came to right above her knee. It was strapless, hence the fitted leather jacket she wore over it. Her hair was pulled back into a pony tail that hung down her back and she went a little heavy on the eye makeup. It gave her that all around edgy look that she was going for.
As she reached the bottom of the steps she saw Jenna looking her over. Her aunt nodded in approval. "Hot, very controversial for a Founder's Day event," she commented.
Nilin just shrugged, "I'm protesting the status quo." She popped her collar, and grinned.
Jenna just shook her head, before she yelled up the stairs. "Elena, Jeremy, now."
"Coming, coming," Elena called, coming down the steps as she swung a light tan camisole over her dress. It was a white dress with floral pattern, the colors of the flowers matched the pale pink heels she had on.
"So that's how you're supposed to dress? Hmm, good to know," Nilly retorted, getting her an eyeroll from both Elena and her aunt. Jeremy was the last one to come down the steps, grumbling about how dumb this was.
"The three of you are something special, aren't you?" Jenna said as she pulled open the front door and shuffled them out.
"But you love us," Nilin sung, with a smirk still on her face.
"Car, now," Jenna ordered, giving her a little shove.
Stefan stood off to the side as he watched his brother charmingly talk to the Sheriff and Mrs. Lockwood. Both women seemed entranced by him, causing Stefan to shake his head somewhat. He looked around the Lockwood mansion that was done up to Founder's standard, all the guests were mingling about. Damon said something causing the two women to laugh loudly and for Stefan to cringe.
Damon just winked at his brother before excusing himself and strolling over to Stefan. "So baby bro, where's our dates?" he asked.
"I don't know, Damon." Stefan said, looking out towards the pond. "Why don't you go look for them or are you too busy flirting your way into the Founder's Council?"
Damon chuckled. "I'm already in the Council, brother— a very respected member at that." Stefan gave him a pointed look. Damon just shrugged. "We needed someone on the inside," was all he said as he took a drink from a passing server. "I nominated me."
"Just don't get too cocky, Damon. Wouldn't want anyone to get hurt," Stefan advised his brother.
"Of course not, Stefan," Damon smirked. "Who would want that? Speaking of people getting hurt, how's the detox going?"
"You dragged me to this thing, I shouldn't even be here," Stefan answered honestly. He'd lock himself in his room for the past several days, trying to get a hold on the cravings. This party was in no way helping.
"Come on, don't be a downer, it's a party for the founding families!" Damon said with sarcastic pep. "That would be us. It'd be rude to skip it," he shrugged.
Stefan shook his head, "I really liked you a whole lot better when you hated everybody."
"Oh I still do," a smirk appeared on his lips again. "I just love that they love me." Stefan looked at his brother and rolled his eyes. Damon eyed him, he was noticeably tense and constantly fidgeting. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm good, I'm fine," Stefan answered quickly.
"No cravings? No urges? Is that whiskey you've been drinking all day doing its job?" he prodded, crossing his arms over his chest. Stefan just laughed. "We are who we are, Stefan. Nothing's going change that," he said on a more serious tone.
This whole martyr act was really starting to piss Damon off. The Council seemed to be back on the vampire bandwagon and this wasn't the time for Stefan to drop the ball.
"Nothing will make you happier to just see me given up, huh Damon?" Stefan asked, rolling his shoulders uncomfortably.
Damon had had enough of this. "Whatever, it's inevitable," he said, downing the rest of his drink.
His brother shook his head again. "I'm going to find Elena," Stefan said, before walking away.
"Don't embarrass me, young man," Damon called with a smirk on his face. Then he went to get another drink.
Nilin made her way up the steps of the Lockwood mansion with Elena by her side. "So," Elena drawled out. "How are you and Damon?" she asked.
"Haven't talked to him since we got Stefan back, so I wouldn't know," Nilly told her. This was Elena's way of feeling out the situation. She was seeing where Nilin stood on all of this, too bad Nilly wasn't giving anything up. "What about you and Stefan?" she flipped the subject. "How's he doing with the whole human blood ordeal?"
"He's fine," she answered quickly, clearing her throat a little. "He told me he's got it all under control. It's just going to take some time," Elena said as they made it to the front door.
"Well, you know, just be carful. You've never seen a Stefan on the human stuff before." Nilin warned.
Elena gave her a sharp look. "He's not on it anymore. He's getting it out of his system and going back to animal blood."
"Sorry," Nilin breathed out as they walked into the house. "My bad."
"No, sorry. I didn't mean to sound snippy. It's just tough." Elena said, laying a hand on Nilin's arm. "Try and have fun tonight, okay?" she smiled, before going off to find Stefan and leaving Nilly by herself.
The Founder's event was crowed, guest were mingling about everywhere. The large parlor smelt like expensive wine and charitable money. People dressed to the nine stood off in groups of four or five, laughing and chatting away. Servers dressed in the standard white collared shirts and black vests went from cluster to cluster, dispensing cocktails and finger foods.
Someone caught her eye across the parlor. It was Damon, he was watching her critically as she stood in the large doorway of the Lockwood mansion. They locked eyes long enough to make sure Damon knew that she saw him. Then Nilin let out a low breath and tightened her pony tail before walking in the opposite direction. She didn't feel like having another 'make Nilin feel like shit' fest with him.
Instead, she found Tyler and Matt sneaking into the Mayor's office. She followed them in and stuck a hand on her hip. "So this is where the real party is," she said as she walked over to the two guys. They both jumped at the sound of her entrance.
"Jeeze Nil," Tyler breathed. "You scared the shit out of me."
"What, you think I was someone busting you?" she asked, spotting the bottle of rum in his hand.
"I told him, his dad's going to beat his ass when he catches him," Matt said, taking a seat on one of the leather couches in there.
Tyler laughed. "Let him try," he challenged.
Nilly chuckled as she leaned on the edge of the big wooden desk. "It's been a rough week, I think we can all use a drink… or six," Nilin said with a smirk on her lips.
"That's the Nilly I know," Tyler smiled, pouring her a drink.
They both looked to Matt. He sighed. "Screw it, pour me one too," he finally said. So Tyler did and Matt downed the whole thing in one shot. He coughed a little, turning red in the face which caused Tyler and Nilin to start laughing. "Shut up," he panted, punching Tyler in the arm as he came to sit next to Matt.
"So, Nilly," Tyler sighed, leaning back and taking a drink straight from the bottle. "Why has your week been so shitty?"
Nilin pushed off the desk, a sly smile on her lips as she strutted over to them. She took a seat on the glass coffee table, crossing her legs. "Well, there's this guy," she started. Both Tyler and Matt groaned. "Hey, you asked."
"She's talking about Damon Salvatore," Tyler said to Matt. They both started to laugh again.
"How do you know?" Nilin glared.
"Oh come on, Nilly." Tyler smiled. "Everybody knows there's something going on between you two. No big secret."
Nilin just grumbled. "You suck, Lockwood."
"Yeah, yeah," he laughed, taking another drink.
"Fine, how about you? Huh?" Nilin asked, finishing the remnants of her glass. She held it out, and Tyler refilled it.
"My father is the world's biggest douchebag," he announced.
Nilin laughed, "I could have told you that one," she said.
"Yeah, that's not very earth shattering," Matt added, taking a sip from his glass. "I found out my sister was dead this week," he said, quickly sobering the mood.
Tyler coughed awkwardly.
Nilin grabbed the bottle out of his hand and started to fill Matt's glass up. "Yeah, I think you need this more then us, buddy," she told him. "Drink up." He smiled a little and then all three of them simultaneously tipped their heads back, downing the liquid.
Matt started coughing again and Tyler let out a low whistle. "That's some strong shit," he laughed.
Nilin shook her head and placed her empty glass next to her on the coffee table. "Light weights," she teased them.
Just then the door to the office swung open and Elena walked in. She looked at Nilin and then at the bottle in Tyler's hand.
"Uh, oh," Nilin said under her breath.
"Really, Nil?" she sighed, shaking her head as she walked closer to them. "You're alone for two seconds…" she shook her head. "I really don't feel like keeping an eye on you too tonight."
"Well, the parties over, boys," Nilly said to Matt and Tyler.
"For you," Tyler said, taking another swig of from the bottle. "She's not my sister," he laughed.
Nilin just rolled her eyes and stood up. She went over to Elena. "No harm. I was just having a little fun, like you told me to do."
"Terrible time to start listening to me," Elena said, taking her arm and leading her out of the room. "Stefan's a little off, he's been drinking too." Nilin gave her a strange look. "He says it helps the cravings," Elena explained further. "But that's not all. Apparently Jeremy has been asking about Vicky's death."
"What, you think his memories are coming back?" Nilin asked in a hushed whisper.
"No, as far as I understand Damon erased all of those. We just need to keep an eye on him," Elena explained.
"What we need to do is squash this while we can," Nilly interjected.
"That's why I came to find you."
Nilin paused. "Wait a minute here, I'm not talking to him if that's what you're getting at."
"Why not, Nilin?"
"Because this is your mess, I wasn't even in town when all this went down. You talk to him, he's your brother," she answered.
"Fine, I'll deal with this and Stefan and Damon," Elena grumbled.
"Damon?" Nilly asked.
"Yeah, he's been pestering me."
"About what?"
Elena gave her a pointed look. "You, of course." Nilin just groaned. "You're avoiding him," she pointed out.
"Yeah, so?" Nilin crossed her arms over her chest. Elena just shook her head. "I'll deal with it, don't worry." Nilin promised. "Now if you excuse me," she smirked, turning and going back into the office where Matt and Tyler still were.
Elena groaned and walked back to the main room of the mansion where most of the party was happening. When she walked in, the music was playing loudly and people were dancing, including Stefan…
"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon asked, coming up behind her.
Elena jumped a little and took a step to the side. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked.
"Eventually," he shrugged. "One way or another."
She looked at him concerned, biting the inside of her cheek. She watched as Stefan started dancing with Kelly, Matt's mom. Elena shook her head. "Have you noticed what your brother has been up to?"
Damon laughed, taking a sip of his drink. "No, I have been too preoccupied with yours," he answered.
She turned her back on the dancers and leaned an elbow on the bar. "You mean how he's been asking about Vicky? Yeah I've heard, but he knows that her death was ruled an overdose."
"Really?" Damon asked. "'Oh but sheriff, someone buried her. Who would do that?" I know I know! Me!" he pointed to himself. "I mean I could compel him but he's wearing vervain."
"No, I don't want you to compel him," Elena snapped, eyeing him.
"If he keeps asking questions…"
Elena cut him off. "Damon, no I'm serious. I'm not going to do that to him again. I'll handle it."
He just smirked. "Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you." Then he walked away, leaving Elena with a very uneasy feeling.
Someone tapped her on her shoulder. She turned around to find Stefan there, smiling. "Please dance with your alcoholic vampire boyfriend," he asked.
Elena laughed and took his hand as he led her through the dancing crowd.
Author's Notes:
Hey guys! Look I'm updating! I know, shocker. Contain yourselves. Thank you all for the recent comments and favorites. I really appreciate it. It fuels my fire to write. You are all so amazing, keep it up. See you soon!
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