I would like to thank Porkchopsmall for correcting my work :) Thank you dear!

PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR THE AUTHOR'S NOTE BELOW! VERY IMPORTANT!

THE CHAPTER FOLLOWING THIS WILL BE UPLOADED AS A NEW STORY: Holding on and Letting Go, Part 2.


Damon gulped down two glasses of bourbon at once, playing with the phone in his hands. He was sweating and biting at his bottom lip. After minutes of placing it down and picking it up again, he dialed the very familiar number.

"Damon, what a nice surprise," Wes said cheerfully.

"Cut the crap, Wes," Damon barked, "What the hell do you want?"

"You know very well what we want, Damon," Wes's tone turned serious. "We want the girl. Otherwise, we are going to kill her daughter, that you have clearly bonded with. Bring us the girl, or suffer the consequences, especially now that we know for sure that the girl is more than a Guardian-to-be. If she develops into a Guardian, she'll be ruthless just like her ancestors were. They have more strength inside them than any other Guardian. Do you want innocent lives on your conscience, Damon?"

"Elena is not a monster, and hasn't even started to develop Guardian symptoms."

"Are you sure, Damon? Her inability to be compelled? Her lustful nature?"

"Elena is anything but lustful."

"She was Mason's whore, Damon."

"You know nothing," Damon spat at him. "Don't come near me or the people I care about."

"You seem to be taking my threat lightly, Damon," Wes continued. "I'm going to say this again. Either you bring the girl to us, or we'll kill little Emily."

"I'll find a way to protect her," He vowed.

"Yes, like you found a way to protect Kimberly," Wes said evilly as he started to laugh.

Damon turned red with rage. "Don't speak her name."

"You know what?" Wes said, "Your daughter and your wife died because of you. Because of your pathetic compassion towards a poor little girl. But what if I told you that Kimberly is very much alive?"

Just then, the room suddenly felt so quiet that the silence was deafening. Damon could literally hear himself struggling for breath.

"You're bluffing…"

"Am I?" Wes challenged.

"After all these years of friendship…" Damon muttered, "You dare hurt me this way?"

"I'm not lying to you, Damon," Wes said. "We managed to save Kimberly's life. Some of the Guardian blood was used to restore her back to life."

"Even if this were true, Kimberly would've died from aging," Damon spat.

"We turned Kimberly into a vampire," Wes added. "She's very much undead, and taken into a safe place where you cannot ever meet her unless we permit you to do so. What did you think? When you signed up for this life; Kimberly was our only leverage. Now, being the generous host I am, I will let you talk to Kimberly and let Emily live if you hand Elena over."

"I'm sorry, Wes," Damon said. "But I'm going to have to call you a bluff. Don't call me or threaten me ever again."

"You won't survive," Wes said angrily. "Without the blood you're dead and Elena has not fully blossomed-she won't be able to give you the blood you need. You'll die."

"I'll find a way to survive," Damon spat.

"That's what I thought," Wes continued. "But what if I send you an image right now, of your precious Kimberly? Would you believe me then?"

"Kimberly is dead," Damon said bitterly. "I saw their lifeless bodies."

"See for yourself," Wes laughed and soon, an image appeared on Damon's phone. Damon looked at the image in horror.

No, this couldn't be happening. Wes was bluffing…he had to be!

But then again, he looked at the image and there he could see Kimberly, his beautiful little girl. She looked older; yet she didn't seem to have changed much.

"Are you really going to let her down again? For the second time?" He taunted; "You could save her, Damon. You could get her back, have the life you always wanted. That's what you always wanted; Damon…a family, someone to love you and need you. A daughter who would do anything to catch your attention."

"W-What do I have to d-do?" Damon stammered as he looked at the image of his beautiful girl, who seemed like she was a child of about eight years old, looking at him through teary eyes as she seemed to be locked in a dark and small room.

"Bring Elena to us at midnight," Wes instructed. "We'll take care of everything. She always belonged to us, Damon, it was always the plan. Then, we can take her to a place where her Guardian powers will surely never be blossomed."

"Don't make me do this, don't make me choose."

"See? The girl has made you weak! Bring her to us tonight; near the lake in the forest; or suffer the consequences!"

Silence.

Damon didn't even have chance to think. He felt the world spin, unable to take in anything Wes had just said. His daughter and Emily's lives were both hanging, and he knew that if Wes realised that Emily was in fact, Elena's sister and not her daughter; hell would break lose.

He had started to care about Elena. He did, he cared about her and he felt addicted to her. However, he thought, maybe Wes was right. What he was feeling for her was not real. It was programmed, he was always programmed to use her sexually; just like she was programmed to lure him in. His daughter was still alive, and he'd be damned if he disappoints her again.

But then again; Elena was kind and genuine. She wasn't a monster and when they slept together it was always passionate; caring. He knew that if he gave her up, they would break her. They would turn her into the person she was when she was with Mason; insecure, cold, void of any emotion yet secretly dying inside. What if they unleashed the monster in her?

He poured another drink and downed it again, sweat covering his forehead. What was he to do? He cared about her. He really did-But she wasn't like him. She was a hunter, a predator; and he was the prey. Even if she herself doesn't know it.

Damon didn't sleep at home that night.


Elena woke up early the next morning, happy that things were going great. Damon had become her best friend; and even though she knew that it was too soon, she started to have feelings for him and it wasn't just due to the fact that he made her body sing in bed, that he had turned her into some kind of sex monster. Her feelings for him were beyond that and she really wanted to thank him for everything that he had done for her.

She really wanted this to work. Sure, she was having some bad days lately as she felt like there was something different going on inside her body, as if there was this strength inside of her. She knew that it was probably due to the fact that now, she was free. This was her new life and soon, everything would fall back in place-Emily could grow up attending a nice school in town, and she had Damon by her side. She didn't even know what Damon was to her but she certainly knew that he cared about her, otherwise he wouldn't have saved her life countless of times and offered her to live with him.

He was still soundly asleep and Elena wondered whether he had gone out at night; because it wasn't likely for Damon to sleep until noon. Yet again, he had told her the night before that he felt tired, so Elena didn't wake him up. Instead, she started to prepare their lunch, cooking Damon's favourite meal, which was her lasagna, something that she had mastered over the years.

Just then, she turned, only to find him looking at her. She put a hand over her heart and let out a small scream in fright. "Oh my God, you scared me!"

"I'm sorry," He pouted, looking at her through tired eyes.

"What's wrong? You don't seem well."

"I'm just tired," Damon said, but as soon as he walked towards her, she smelled the terrible smell of alcohol and cigarettes on his clothes and realised that he wasn't wearing his pyjamas.

"Where the hell did you go last night?" She muttered in disgust as the smell seemed to sicken her, "Did you go out to drink?"

"I couldn't sleep so I went for a drink or two, I was back home by two," Damon rolled his eyes.

"You seem as if you're having a hang-over."

"Fine. I met a friend of mine, and we drank more than a drink or two. He happened to be in town, and we just did what vampires do."

Elena nodded her head.

"Hey…"

"It's alright, Damon, I know that you needed it. I thought that something happened to you, that's all. Why don't you go have a shower? I made lasagna."

"Yes, that would be great," Damon said half-heartedly as he disappeared into the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Elena sat Emily down on a chair as she started to serve the lasagna, still feeling a bit hurt that Damon had went out without telling her, but then again, they weren't officially together, either, despite that they cared about each other. She tried to push those thoughts away and not spoil their evening together.

Elena cut the lasagna into small pieces and started to feed Emily, until Damon emerged from the bathroom, looking and smelling a lot better. She offered him a small smile and nodded towards the food.

"I hope that you're in the mood for lasagna…if not, I'll make you a lighter meal. I didn't want to wake you up."

"It's fine, I'm hungry," Damon told her as he sat around the table and downed a glass of water, as if he were trying to conquer his thirst. Yet he knew that water wasn't what he needed.

He tried to control himself as much as he could as Elena put a portion of lasagna in front of him; which smelled delicious. Elena sat down and started to eat as he forced a smile on his face and took a forkful, praising her cooking skills, yet kept chewing for minutes.

"What's wrong? You don't like it, do you?"

"No, I love it," Damon said when he finally realised that she had been watching his every move, "I'm just not feeling really well."

"What's wrong?" Elena practically flew from her seat and went to feel his forehead.

"I'm thirsty," He admitted. "The blood bags aren't giving me enough strength lately."

"Oh." Elena took a few steps away from him, "I…I didn't realise."

Damon nodded as he tried to control himself, knowing that what he was feeling wasn't because of the lack of Guardian blood in his system; but also because of the guilt of what he was about to do that night.

"Drink from me," Elena finally breathed out, "My blood will sustain you."

"I don't want to hurt you, Elena," Damon told her gently.

"You won't. Just please, be gentle…" Elena took his hand and lead him to the kitchen; away from Emily's view, and put her hair to a side.

Damon looked into her eyes for a moment, nodded, and sunk his fangs into her neck; causing her to cry out at first but then, he slowly stroked her hips as if to calm her down. Soon, the pain subsided and it turned to pleasure, especially when Damon started to lick the blood that fell down just above her chest. She hummed and relaxed her whole body against his, savouring the feeling of his arm around her body.

"Thank you," He said after a while as he wiped away the blood until Elena only had two neat bite marks on her neck.

"You're welcome," She said softly. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes," Damon lied. "I am. Thank you."


"You know, we should really go out tonight…I had fun yesterday," Damon said later on that evening, "There's a movie we can watch together."

"Yeah, sure," Elena said, happy that he was attempting to date her like a normal couple, "It'll be fun."

"Great, we'll watch the nine thirty pm one," Damon continued as Elena disappeared into the bathroom. "It's a horror movie but it's great."

"Sure, fine with me…" She mumbled, "I'll have a shower and straighten my hair. You can call Em's babysitter."

"Okay."


Elena took forever to get ready; but she managed to finish her hair by eight thirty. Damon drove slowly, enjoying the fresh air as Elena asked Damon about the movie.

The cinema was nearly forty five minutes away so when they arrived, they immediately purchased their tickets and found their seats with a popcorn and coke in hand. Damon soon realised that Elena would scoot closer to him when the movie got intense.

"Funny how you scoot closer to a vampire when the movie gets scary…" He muttered in her ear, and Elena laughed soundly.


"It was great, wasn't it?" Elena asked Damon close to three hours later when they returned back to the car.

"Yeah, it was," Damon agreed as he turned the engine on, "I told you it seemed very promising."

"Yeah."

Silence suddenly filled the car as Damon grabbed the steering wheel like it was a lifeline, driving quite fast. Elena said nothing even though she knew that Damon was speeding, but then, the car suddenly stopped.

"Dammit, I think something's wrong with the car," Damon moaned.

"Flat tire?" Elena suggested as Damon got out.

"No. I think we ran out of gas," He moaned. "I'll check if there's a gas station nearby. We might need to call for help, there's no way I'm letting you walk back to our house."

"Can't you just use your phone? I forgot mine."

"I tried it, my battery's dead," Damon muttered, "We'll ask for help."

"Where? There are no houses here…"

"Yes there is, there's an old couple that lives in a small house in the forest. They are nice people; I've known them for quite a while."

"Are you sure it's safe to go out there?" Elena asked him, a bit of skepticism in her voice, "It's dark."

"Of course it's safe, you're with me…" He whispered faintly and took her hand, leading her into the dark forest.

"It's beautiful here…" Elena said after a while, as she saw an amazing, crystal clear lake. "This is amazing."

"It is, I planned to bring you here one day," Damon replied. "Shall we move?"

"Can I stay here? You can go get help, it won't take you longer than a few minutes if you use your vampire speed."

"Okay, fine. Keep the torch, I'll be back in five minutes."

"Okay…" Elena whispered, her torch in hand. "I'll wait for you here, then. This place is amazing."

Damon kissed her on the lips, a bit deeper and longer than usual.

"What was that for?"

"No reason," He breathed against her mouth. "I'll be back."

He disappeared from in front of her, and Elena smiled.


Damon put his phone against his ear. "Wes?"

"Is it done?"

Damon let out a deep breath. "It is. You'll find her by the lake, just like you told me."

"Good. We'll take care of her ourselves, my men are already there. Turn the engine on, Damon, and drive back home in peace."

"What about Kim? Where should I come to get her?"

Wes let out an evil chuckle that made Damon's blood run cold.

"What about Kim?"

"What shall I do to see my Kimberly?" Damon shouted in the phone, "You promised me that you'll hand her over to me."

"And I would, if Kim existed," Wes let out another evil laugh. "It's funny how easy it is, to mess with a vampire's mind when he is obviously under the spell of a Guardian, love-struck and foolish, and has little amount of Guardian blood in his system. It was so easy getting a witch to make you believe that what you saw was your daughter's photo."

"No," Damon's eyes widened in horror. "You tricked me! You used my weaknesses and the love I have for my daughter against me!"

"I'm sorry, Damon," Wes told him. "You brought this on yourself."

"I won't let you take Elena!" Damon yelled, hanging up as he ran back to the forest, using all his vampire strength.


"Come on, Damon…what's taking you so long?" Elena cried desperately as she shivered from the cold.

He'd been gone so long and now she was getting worried.

"Oh, sweetheart…Damon is not coming back."

Elena gasped and turned, but as soon as she did, blinding pain exploded in the back of her head. She collapsed to her knees and just made out the evil laughter of a mad man, before her whole world faded to black.

This is it. This is the final chapter of Holding on and Letting Go-Part 1. Thank you so much for your amazing support. I have always planned for this story to be super long because as I used to state in the earlier chapters, I consider this story to be a journey...a journey to saving one's self, where Damon and Elena are clearly both haunted by their past, Elena obviously with what Mason did to her and Damon with the Guardian stuff as well as his daughter and wife's deaths. Obviously, Elena is taken by Wes to a place where she could never truly develop her guardian powers; away from Damon and Emily as well as the life Damon had desperately tried to help her get to. But what happens when she is again taken to the toxic land of sin?

Please stay tuned for the next chapter; the sequel, Holding on and Letting Go Part 2. The reason why i'm not gonna continue on the same story is because it will be too long and I want it to be a separate story so that I could focus on the different aspects of Damon and Elena's life.

Thank You for your incredible support; please stay tuned! I will upload a chapter to remind you that you will be seeing the sequel soon; however pls subscribe to me as an author to get the notification when the new story is up.