Oh, my god. I can't believe it. The last chapter is finally here. I've been waiting to write this chapter for so long, the scenes I've been anticipating for so long are in this chapter and I can't wait for you to read them. There isn't much I can really say. I'm going to start working on the sequel right away. I'm not sure what it's called it but I have decided that when it's almost ready I will put up an author's note and let you all know what the name of the story is and when to expect it to be out.
If there's anything anyone would like to happen in the squeal please tell me. I'll see if I can work them in. I really hope you guys like this. Let me know.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's.
Chapter 37: As I lay Dying
"Hey, you've reached Justin; I can't pick up the phone right now but…" She ends the call clinching her phone tightly in her hand as she turns back to the living room where Jasmine sat on the couch in the same spot Adele found her in when she arrived at the apartment.
"Why would he do this?" She mumbles again and Adele sighs running a hand over her forehead. She moves out of the kitchen, and rounds the couch to look at Jasmine. Her green eyes shine with tears that continue to spill over onto her flushed cheeks, Willy sits at her feet looking up at her with sad brown eyes.
"I don't know Jazzy but I'm trying to get a hold of Justin. He's not answering." Adele explains handing the raven haired girl a glass of water. She takes a small sip of it before turning her tear filled gaze up to her blonde friend. "Call Nate." Adele opens her mouth but closes it bringing her phone up. Why hadn't she thought of that?
It rings, four times before he answers and Adele frowns when he doesn't say anything, she looks at Jasmine who is watching her closely. "Nate?" She calls out softly through the phone.
"Princess…" He dwells out before breaking off into a cough. "You need to hang up..."
"Nate…"
"Hang up Princess, hang up the ph–" He breaks off in a loud groan that turns into fits of coughing. Adele's gut twists in the most uncomfortable way as she swallows. Something was wrong here and she hangs up quickly. Jasmine frowns at her, her tears having stopped for the time being.
"What's wron–" Adele's phone blares loudly in her hand and she looks down at it with wide eyes. To her completely horror it's a video call from Nate and she looks over to Jasmine who urges her to answer it.
"Nate…" She says as the video comes up and there's nothing but a concrete wall. The screen begins to redirect and Adele pushes down the fear and horror that twist painfully in her gut when it isn't Nate who comes up on the screen.
"James." She says through clinched teeth.
"Hello Princess." The man laughs and Adele cringes at the sound.
"Where's Nate? Where's Michael?" Jasmine comes up behind her, appearing in the video as well but James ignores her, his focus completely on Adele.
"There right here, would you like to see?" He turns the phone to a figure huddled in a corner, out of the direct path of sunlight from an overhead window. "Nate." She whispers and his dark head snaps up. She can't see much of him, the shadows making it difficult to make him out at all. "What did you do to him?"
"I've been looking him Nathanial for almost three years now; he's slipped through my fingers every chance he got so when I had the chance to catch him I took it. All it took was a slip of Vervain in his drink and he was mine for the taking. Don't worry about him Adele; he's as good as dead." Just to prove his point two men appear from the sides. They reach into the corner and drag him from the shadows; she's able to see him more clearly as they drag him into the sunlight.
Jasmine lets out a loud gasps, her hand covering her mouth as Nate throws his head back letting out a deafening scream filled with agony as his skin begins to burn. "Stop! Stop!" Adele yells and lets out a breath of relief when the two guys let him go and shoots back into the corner pressing himself as hard as he can against the wall.
"Now in regards to your ex…" Adele's breathe catches, her lips parting in horror as the camera is turned again. He's on his knees, being held up by the arms by a guy on each side of him, his head is hanging blonde hair blocking her view of his face and his breathing is rigid. "Oh my god." Jasmine mumbles behind her.
James hands the phone off to some else, moving towards Michael. He grabs the boy by the hair lifting his head and his black eyes open, blinking and focusing on the camera. Adele's lips press together as she looks at him. His bottom lip is split and there's a gash on his forehead that is bleeding slowly. "Say hello to your ex-girlfriend and current girlfriend Michael." James taunts before letting his head drop again and Adele shakes her head. "Let him go." She breaths out.
"Now that wouldn't save my greater purpose."
"Yeah? And what's that?" She growls out, her fear replaced by anger.
"You finally joining me." He answers with a bright smile.
"I already told you, I'll never join you."
"I don't think you understand Adele." He reaches back over, grabbing Michael by the hair again and picking his head back up. "You don't have much of a choice. You either join us or we kill him." Her heart rate sky rockets as Jasmine's hands wrap around her arm and squeeze.
"You wouldn't. He's human." James smile turns wicked as he pulls from his pocket a syringe full of…is that blood? Adele narrows her eyes at the small screen. James tilts Michael's head to the side and inspects his neck closely. Adele gasps when he shoves the needle of the syringe into the side of his neck causing Michael to hiss in pain.
Adele watches with a horrifying realization that it was blood, vampire blood as Michael's wounds begin to heal. James throws the now empty syringe to the side. He turns to look back at the camera with that same wicked smile. "Is he?" He asks and Adele frowns in confusion as James moves behind him. He wraps an arm around Michael's neck, using his other hand to hold the side of it and Adele's eyes widen. "No! No James, please!" Jasmine screams jerking away from Adele as her hands fly up to cover her face and Adele almost drops the phone as James snaps his neck with one swift move.
"You have until the end of today Adele. Make the right decision, save your ex." James says as they let Michael fall and Adele's eyes stay on him as she swallows back tears. No, she wasn't going to cry. The bastard didn't have the pleasure of seeing her cry. "I'll contact you."
"No." James stops on his way over to the phone, his brows furrowing in confusion. "No." Adele shakes her head, her hands beginning to shake as the anger turns to rage. "You're forgetting that I've lived in in this town for 17 years. I know every inch of it as if it was my own house. I'll find you." She ends the call and almost throws the phone across the room.
"He killed him." Adele turns her head to look at Jasmine, with her hands still over her face, she shakes her head. "He killed him. He actually killed him." She cries and Adele moves over to her, prying her hands away from her face.
"Yes, he did." She says and Jasmine chokes on a sob. "But he'll come back."
"As a vampire!"
"It's better than nothing!" She snaps causing Jasmine to swallow, her green eyes wide. "But we need to go."
"Go where?" Jasmine calls following behind her as she rushes into Michael's bedroom. Jasmine watches as she runs the room, grabbing a duffle bag from the closet, throwing clothes and essentials into it. She shoves it into Jasmines chest as she exits the room and Jasmine spins on her heels to follow her. "Adele, where are we going?"
"To find him."
~x~
She slows to a stop, yelling a curse at the stoplight. It was the third one that had stopped her. How was she supposed to find him in time if the world was fighting against her? Her phone blares loudly in the cup holder and she jumps turning her blue eyes to look down at it. She picks it up and breathes a sigh of relief when the name displayed is Damon. She ignores the call placing it back into the cup holder.
"Who was that?" Jasmine whispers carefully. Adele was being a bit snippy not that she could really blame her with everything she'd been through in just 2 days. Jasmine admires her, she thinks if it was anyone else, they'd have just given up already but Adele was still fighting.
"Damon." She answers calmly and Jasmine eyes her.
"Why didn't you answer it?"
"If he wanted to talk he had the perfect chance earlier but all he did was ignore me. He missed his chance, now he's going to have to wait." And she was back to being snippy but at least it wasn't directed at her. The light turns green and Adele shoots forward, the engine revving loudly as she does.
"Where are we going?"
"They we're in some kind of warehouse. They took Michael this morning which means they didn't have the time to leave town. There are only three abandoned warehouses in Mystic Falls. My best guess is there at the old storage warehouse, its run down and isolated enough that nobody ever goes out there anymore. If I we're James and needed a warehouse to do my evil bidding, I would pick that one." Adele explains and Jasmine nods in understanding. It was really smart, she would've never thought of it but then again she hasn't lived in the town for 17 years.
"Where is it?"
"It's about a mile away from the boarder that separates Mystic Falls and Fells Church."
"Fells Church?"
"Michael's never taken you to Fells Church?" Adele sends her a frown as she shakes her head. "I used to drive up there to have lunch with Mikey almost every day, there's this little café that has the most amazing sandwiches. Remind me that we have to take you there."
"Yeah, if we can get him." Jasmine mutters, tears pricking her eyes.
"We'll get him. Hey," Jasmine turns to look at Adele, who sends her a hard look. "We'll get him."
~x~
She runs a finger over her bottom lip as she stares at the large black SUV from across the street, she was right not that she was surprised. Though James could be thought of as unpredictable, Adele had a mind that was on many levels, ingenious and twisted.
"There here. Why are we just standing here?" Jasmine whispers coming up to stand beside Adele, who is stood scouting the area around them. There wasn't anyone around which were both a good thing and a bad thing.
"We can't just run in there half-cocked." Adele mumbles. "We need a plan."
"We're not. You have a gun and amazing aim while I have the power to make their minds explode." Jasmine mutters, her green eyes wild as Adele regards her thoughtfully. They can't go storming in there, she might have a gun but she can take a guess and say that everyone in there does as well and she's not even sure how many are actually in there. From the video there was 5 plus James.
"I got an idea." She says after a moment of Jasmine staring. "Follow my lead."
She jogs across the street with Jasmine close behind her and if Jasmine expected her to pull one of those moves where she ducks behind the SUV and sneaks her way into the building she was sadly mistaken because she slows to a walk as she's nearing the steel door off to the side of the building, the one that was meant for the workers when the place was still running.
She sends a glance Jasmine's way who's watching her closely, having no idea what she's thinking. Adele shocks her by lifting a fist and knocking on the door. "Adele, what are you–" Adele quickly shushes her as the steel door unlocks and cracks open slightly, someone peeking out of the crack studies her closely. "Who are you?" There gruff voice calls from the other side and Jasmine watches as Adele sends the man a sarcastic smirk.
"I'm beginning to think that your little cult needs a little help in communication." She remarks and Jasmine is able to keep herself from jumping when Adele's foot connects with the center of the door causing it to swing open, the guy who was holding it being sent to the ground.
Adele pushes her way into the warehouse, her eyes singling out James right away who looks up from staring at something on a make shift table, his eyebrows raising when he notices her. "James." Adele calls with a bright smile. "We need to talk."
~x~
Jasmine presses closer to the blonde as five different guns are pointed at them at once; even the guy Adele had hit with the door was pointing a gun at them whilst still lying on his back. Adele doesn't seem fazed by this though why should she, she obviously knew they weren't going to shoot her seeing as James silently orders them to lower their guns with a wave of his hand.
"What a nice surprise Miss. Gilbert. Remind me never to under estimate you again." Adele scoffs at this stepping closer to the man. "And I see you brought Miss. Reed with you. What a pleasure." Jasmine scowls but stays silent. "I'm guessing you're here for the Landon boy right?"
"Well nobody ever accused you of being stupid." Adele remarks holding her head high as she regards him and he ignores her opting to single to someone behind him.
"Justin, bring the boy forward." Adele's brave act filters but only for a second, not long enough for anyone but Jasmine to notice as Justin appears from the back of the building, dragging with him Michael's lifeless body. He drops him at James feet, standing tall and emotionless beside him. "I suppose he should be waking here shortly." James says lifting his eyes from Michael. "But the stipulation still stands. You either join me or we force him to complete the transition and kill him."
"And my answer is still the same. I'll never join you. I'd rather be dead." A muscle in his jaw twitches as an obvious sign of annoyance.
"Be careful what you wish for Adele." Adele jumps her head whipping to the side as someone grabs her by the arms from behind. She struggles, her eyes meeting Jasmine's as someone has grabbed her as well. She can see the intentions in Jasmine's green eyes and shakes her head as she turns back to look at James.
"If you think Jabba the Hutt here is going to scare me, then you don't know me as well as you think." The guy's grip tightens slight causing Adele wince as her bruises from Damon are still very much present and sore.
"I'm not trying to scare you Adele, I just need you to understand that you don't have a choice. You've never had a choice Adele. I gave you the option to make this easy as a courtesy to you but I'm done being polite. You decided you want to do this the hard way, it's going to be your fault that this innocent dies."
"I don't think so. He's not going to die James. Not today." Adele sends Jasmine a look and right away the guy holding her lets go, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he hits the ground. Adele slips her gun from the waistband of her the shorts under her dress and fires a shot at the guy holding Jasmine. He lets her go yelling out and stumbling back as the shot hits him in the shoulder. Adele shoots again, hitting him in the chest and he drops to his knees before hitting the ground on his stomach.
Adele turns the gun to the right, shooting again at a guy who's rushing up while raising the gun in his hands. The bullet hits him in the neck and he makes a choking noise as he stumbles back, falling onto his back. Jasmine takes down the next one, throwing a hand up that sends him flying into the back wall, his head slamming against it, cracking his skull.
Jasmine and Adele's attention turns to the next hunter who is lifts his gun his finger nearing the trigger. A swift kick to the wrist has the gun skidding across the pavement, the hunter's attentions drawn to the side his eyes growing wide. "Are you kidding me Taylor?" The hunter snaps. "What the hell are you doing?"
Justin pulls his own gun from its halter on his side and hits the man in the side of the head, he stumbles back his hand coming up to the bleeding wound when Justin shoots, hitting the guy in the shoulder. He falls with a loud groan as Justin whirls around on James who's disappearing through one of the back doors. He goes after him at full speed.
"What was that?" Jasmine speaks up after a long minute of staring at the now closed door they disappearing though. She turns to look at Adele, who isn't looking away from the door. "I…I think he just fled." Adele mutters with a tilt of her head. "I'm guessing the guy isn't used to fighting his own battles and when Justin made his show of turning on him, he knew he couldn't win. He fled."
"Yeah but that doesn't…" Jasmine breaks off in a small shirk as the hunter Justin shot grabs her arm. Adele is raising her gun to shoot when the guy screams, letting go as Nate who Adele had completely forgotten about in all the hype comes up from behind and sinks his extended fangs into the hunter's neck.
He lets the lifeless body go, opening his dark eyes to look at Adele and Jasmine. "That, I needed." He remarks, licking blood from his still extended fangs. Adele shakes her head at him before turning her head, taking in the damage around them. Nate walks away from them to retrieve something from the table James had been at when they walked in. Adele turns her head to watch him and he holds up a ring much like Damon's to show her before slipping it on.
"Michael." Jasmine mutters causing Adele to look back over watching the raven haired girl jog over to her still dead boyfriend. She drops down behind him, rolling him over and pulling him into her lap. Adele looks away as she begins to brush the hair from his face.
The backdoor creeks loudly as it opens and Adele and Nate look over watching Justin enter. He spots them and begins a slow jog over, his steps echoing against the walls. "I lost him. I couldn't catch him before he got to the SUV." Adele releases a heavy sigh, her eyes falling back over to Jasmine and Michael. "Adele…" Justin steps towards her, his fingers brushing her arm lightly. "I'm so sorry. He didn't call me until he had Michael and when he did I had to come, I had no idea what he was up to, if I had known I would've stopped him." She pulls the hair tie from her hair running her hand through it to break up the French braid.
"It doesn't matter. It happened. When he wakes up I'm going to take him to the old Lockwood cellar just long enough to…explain everything to him. While I'm doing that you two need to clean this up and then meet us there because Nate can help him understand what it means to be a vampire that is if he decides to complete the transition."
Nate nods, agreeing silently and though Justin doesn't say anything or do anything she knows he agrees. She moves past them, leaving them to whisper to each other as she bends down to Michael. She can hear Nate's angry whispers but isn't able to make out his words, so she tunes it out focusing completely on Michael's still face.
"What if he doesn't want to complete the transition?" Jasmine whispers staring at her with wide terrified eyes. Adele swallows keeping her eyes on Michael. "Then we respect his decision." Though Adele knows Michael and she knows he'll complete it. He has one major reason to stay alive.
With a sharp intake of breath, Michael's whole body jerks upright and Jasmine's arms tighten around him pulling him back down as his black eyes look up at her. "Jasmine." He crooks out his hand reaching up to grab at her arm, holding it tightly as he sucks in air. "It's okay. You're okay." Jasmine whispers, bending down to rest her head against his chest as her eyes fill with tears once more. "What happened?" He gets out, his eyes moving over to Adele.
"You don't remember?" She whispers the question as Jasmine lets him sit up. He looks away from her, down to the floor as he continues to take deep breaths.
"I…I remember coming home and Jasmine telling me that I need to go to bed but before I could someone knocked on the door, when I opened it…I was attacked. I woke up…" He takes a moment to look around. "Here and I…I remember some guy, he was telling me how I shouldn't be so easy to trust people I hardly know, how I don't really know anyone as well as I thought and then he was talking to you, I think when he stick me with something and…I don't remember anything else. It's all just blank."
Adele sighs, taking his hand in hers and he looks up at her, his black eyes regarding her carefully. "There are things Michael that I haven't told you. Things I've been meaning to tell you but haven't had the chance." He frowns. He already knew that. "That man…he killed you. Michael, you we're dead."
"What?" He mutters looking down at their hands.
"I'll explain everything, I will but right now we need to get out of here." He meets her eyes. "You have to trust me. Mikey, do you trust me?"
His answer is almost immediate. "Of course."
~x~
His head falls back against the stone wall of the cellar. Adele had long since stopped talking, after explaining everything about James and her summer and exactly what was happening to him. They we're just waiting for him to say something, anything but he wasn't sure what to say and in all honesty what could he say? In the span of an hour he just found out that vampires are real and he was in the process of becoming one because of a guy who has an unhealthy obsession with his ex. Oh and he can't forget the part about his current girlfriend being a witch. She's a frigging witch.
How did this happen? How did his life become this? He's been a good guy; he's done everything he could to be a good guy, why was this happening to him? Why was this happening to them? There seems to be more to it, more Adele has to fill him in on, but isn't; probably holding back in an attempt not to overwhelm him but it was a little too late for that.
"The choice to complete the transition is yours Mikey. You have to decide if you really want to." Adele says after he still hadn't said anything.
"And what happens if I don't choose to?" He mutters his eyes directed at the ceiling.
"You die." She whispers and he closes his eyes. "You have 24 hours to make the decision."
"What is there to decide Adele?" He breathes out opening his eyes and turning them to her. "I have a sister that needs me; I can't leave her with no one. I promised her she could come stay with me this summer, how am supposed to just give up when she needs me?"
"You can't." She says and he nods.
"I can't." He agrees and she looks away from him, pulling her phone from the ground beside her. "What now?" He asks watching as she begins to type something out on her phone.
"I text Nate and tell him to stop by the hospital on his way here." She explains.
"For?"
"A blood bag." He grimace and she notices, cracking a smile in his direction.
"It might sound gross but if you're actually serious about living, it'll be the best thing you ever tasted or so I assume." She mutters. Michael groans, his head falling back onto the wall. Jasmine sighs, grabbing his hand and he laces their fingers together. "It's okay." She mummers to him leaning over and kissing his shoulder. "We'll get through this," He turns his head to look down at her. "One step at a time." She assures and He tries to smile but ends up shaking his head instead and she leans up, pressing her lips to his a soft kiss that holds all the reassurance he needs.
~x~
Adele ignores his call for the 2nd time as she crawls into bed. She'd just gotten out of the shower. It was close to 2 in the morning, Nate had shown up with 3 blood bags and had given Michael a small pep talk about control –to Adele it sound more like a small rant– before ripping open the first bag and handing it to him.
Michael had taken a sip out of it and gaged. He looked ready to refuse to drink it before Adele saw the hunger set in and he tore throw the blood bag in a quick second. When he'd torn into the 2nd one, the whites of his eyes had turned red, the veins under his eyes become present and had begun to pulse and when he threw that one away only to grab the last one she saw his extended K-9's. She had to turn away, the mere sight made her urge to cry that much stronger. This was a guy she had grown up with, a guy who was a first for a lot of things for her, he was the first guy she ever loved and she still loved him to a certain extend. She made him into this, this was her fault and she could still feel the guilt as she curls up under her blanket.
Her phone rings again and she grabs it, quickly ignoring the call again. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone that included Damon. She wasn't in the mood for his mood swings. He couldn't go from ignoring her to being desperate to talk to her that fast, if she wasn't careful he was going to give her whiplash. All she wanted to do is sleep. She needs to sleep.
~x~
She stands leaning against the side of her mustang as she waits outside the main lobby of Michael's apartment building. Justin is standing beside her, smoking a cigarette and watching the main entrance.
Nate was inside with Michael and Jasmine, compelling the owner of the building to let Michael out of his contract so Jasmine can sign for it. It was the only way Michael would be able to get into it and because it was in his name and he died it would be impossible for him to enter. He insisted that he needed into the apartment; he went on for 10 minutes about not being able to just leave Willy behind.
It was true what they say about the heightened emotions, she's seen more emotion from Michael in the last hour then she's seen from him in the three years she dated him. It was actually quite amazing.
"You know this isn't over right?" Justin speaks up causing Adele to glance over at him, she holds up a hand to block the sun from her eyes as she does. "He got away, he's going to regroup and he's going to come back harder than ever."
"Yeah," Adele says turning back to watch the three emerge from the office. "I figured."
"As long as you know that I'll be there. You can't get rid of me now." She smirks up at him as he stomps out his cigarette bud.
"I'm not going to lie Justin, when I saw you yesterday I doubted you." He nods shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, scoffing his boot against the road.
"I know, I saw it in your eyes, but I told you Adele that I was going to help you and I meant it. You'll never be in this alone. We'll win this fight."
"Or die trying?"
"Or die trying."
~x~
Elena smile softly up at her boyfriend as he's making his way over to them. Today Mystic falls is showing a special screening of Gone with the Wind. It was probably the most looked forward to day for any young girl who happens to leave in the town. Some we're even dressed up for the occasion. "Hey." The vampire mumbles looking between the three sitting on the blanket. Elena had decided to drag Jeremy a long with her, saying that they needed a normal day while Caroline joined them, not being one to miss a chance at seeing Gone with the Wind for the 20th time.
"Hey. Look who couldn't resist an epic romance." Elena jokes though Stefan doesn't smile as he bends down to her, his eyes looking around them.
"Where's Adele?" He questions.
"I actually haven't seen her since yesterday. She came in after I went to bed last night and was gone before I woke up. I texted her and she said she was too busy to talk but she'd meet us here later." Elena explains.
Stefan nods, a pained expression flashing across his face before it's gone. "Will you take a walk with me?" Elena frowns and nods slightly as she pushes herself from the ground. Stefan offers his hand and she quickly takes it letting him lead her away from Caroline and Jeremy.
"I'm breaking the rules, you know. Movie night's supposed to be a distraction. Tomorrow we can return to our regularly scheduled drama." Elena says as they stop a ways away from the rest of the population at the park.
"I know. I wish this could wait, but it can't." He takes a deep breath, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I need you to call Adele."
"I already told you, she said she's busy. She's not going to answer."
"No, Elena. You need to call her, text her, blow up her phone until she response or calls you. I need you to get a hold of her." His green eyes are so serious that Elena finds herself taking out her phone and dialing her sister's number. It rings twice before going to voicemail.
"What's going on Stefan?" She asks before she hits redial.
"The other night when Damon was helping Tyler, something happened. Tyler was starting to transform, and Damon was bitten." Stefan explains to her, causing the brunette's mouth to open as she stares up at him. She swallows, tarring her eyes away to look around them before looking back up. "Is it…is he going to…"
"Yeah." Stefan nods and Elena feels like she's been punched in the gut. "Oh, my god." She mutters, placing a hand on her stomach.
"He doesn't want me to tell her but she needs to know. She needs to see him before…"
"Stefan…" Elena's brown eyes stare up at him, wide and terrified. When it came to Damon, Adele was the most vulnerable. Elena wasn't sure how Adele would handle this.
"It's not over." He says quickly. "There might be a cure, but I have to find Klaus to get it."
"No. He's going to kill you." Elena practically yells, she wants to help Damon but there had to be another way, she didn't want Stefan dying as selfish as that was.
"No, he had the chance to kill me, but he didn't." He reminds her. "Whatever Damon's done, whatever has led him here, I'm the one that made him become a vampire in the first place, so if there's a chance for a cure, I owe it to him to find it."
Elena wants to refuse to let him do it, but knows she can't so instead she pulls him into a tight hug. "Call Adele, do whatever you have to, to get ahold of her but make sure you tell her there's still hope. Make sure she tells Damon, that there's still hope." Elena nods against his shoulder.
~x~
Damon's head rolls to the side as he leans against the stones in the cellar Stefan locked him in. He felt so weak and he didn't like it. He's never liked feeling so weak. He blinks only when he opens his eyes, he's not in the cellar anymore. He's walking down the hall back in 1864; he's getting ready to leave for the war.
He's walking by Katherine's room; he can't help but peer in through the cracked door and stops when he sees her sitting in front of her mirror, fixing her pearls. "Mr. Salvatore, spying on a lady is a sign of very poor manners." Katherine calls her dark eyes glancing up into the mirror, finding his.
He enters the room slowly, figuring it was no use to flee. He's already been caught. "My apologies Miss Katherine." He calls lightly.
Katherine turns in her seat, sending him a sweet smile that holds a thousand promises. "But since you are here, my corset strings seem to be knotted. I wonder if you can undo them."
"Of course." He mutters moving forward as she stands, turning around so her back is to him. He ignores the corset as he reaches her, instead pushing her hair over one shoulder, running his fingers along the smooth skin of her neck. She leans into him, tilting her head up so she can properly see him. "Will you miss me while off defending the South?" It sounds like a perfectly innocent question.
"I shall." He answers as his eyes meet hers through the mirror.
"Then I hope you will hurry back. I fear I will be lonely with you away." She tells him, sending him another one of those smiles; it threatens to undo him completely.
"I would think Stefan should be company enough." He remarks somewhat bitterly as Katherine laces their fingers together before turning around to face him.
"Is it so wrong for me to want you both?" He's about to open his mouth to answer, but stops himself when he has the sudden urge to turn around. He turns his head, wondering what it was that was behind him and when his eyes catch a flash of blonde, he spins away from Katherine to stare in awe.
"Adele." Her blue eyes soften at him; the smile she sends him makes him dizzy with different emotions, none of which were bad. He steps forward, only to stop. What was she doing here?
"Can't you see?" She calls over the distance to him softly, her voice wrapping around him like silk. "She's playing you, she doesn't love you. She could never love you."
Katherine's fingers touch his cheek lightly, pushing his head over to look at her. "Promise me that you will return quickly." She whispers, her eyes hypnotizing.
"Damon…" Her shivers as his name falls from her lips, turning his head back around to look at her. "Don't." She mutters. "Don't do it. She can't make you happy." He sucks in a breath as her hand lifts. She holds it out to him, her blue eyes so wide, so…consuming that he finds himself lost in her, completely forgetting Katherine's presents behind him. He doesn't even realize when he grabs her hand and everything starts to vanish around them morphing back into the cellar. She's the last thing to disappear and all he's left with is the memory of her smile.
~x~
She's leaning against the counter in the kitchen of the apartment. Nate and Michael we're in deep conversion on the couch, Jasmine was making something on the stove on the other side of the kitchen and Justin headed back to his motel room. He said he had some things to take care of which Adele thinks means he has something related to James, he needs to do. She didn't question him, just told him to be careful.
Adele's phone blares loudly from the counter and out of the corner of her eyes she can see Michael flinch. She grabs it quickly muttering a sorry as she checks who it is. It's Jeremy…again. "Just answer it. There obviously not going to leave you alone until you do." Jasmine calls and Adele sighs. She's right, this was the 3rd time Jeremy called, Caroline had called 4 times before that and Elena 5. She slides the bar over and presses it to her ear.
"Jeremy…" She scolds, she's about to tell him that she doesn't have time but he cuts her off.
"Adele…just listen to me, okay? You need to come down to the park. You need to meet us here. It's extremely important that you do, if you don't…you might regret it." His voice is low, his tone serious, worried, and pained all mixed up together and she blinks in surprise. Both Nate and Michael have stopped talking, there staring at her. She can only guess that they had heard, Nate was obviously teaching him the hearing aspect of being a vampire.
"Yeah…" She says after a second. "Okay, I'll be right there." She hangs up, grabbing her car keys from the counter as well. "I have to…uh I have to go. I'll call you guys later." She hugs Jasmine and Nate quickly and sends Michael a reassuring smile, having been warned against hugging him for the time being.
~x~
Elena is pacing, her arms crossed over her chest. How was she supposed to do this? How was she supposed to tell her sister that Damon was dying? How was anyone supposed to tell someone that the man they love is dying? Because Adele did love him whether she was in a place to attempt it or not.
Caroline is watching her, biting at her nail, she hasn't spoken a word since informing her that Damon was dying and it was there job to get a hold of Adele and tell her. She didn't even seem to notice when Gone with the Wind started. Adele had said something to her yesterday about being worried that something might be wrong with him but she had blown it off. What a way for it to come back and bite her in the ass.
Jeremy had been the one to get a hold of her and with a three second conversion he came back to tell them that she was on her way, now they we're waiting, away from the screen, away from prying eyes and ears. He straightens when he catches a flash of blonde hair in the crowd of people but as the blonde sits down to cuddle with a guy, he realizes it's not her.
"Hey." He jumps, as do Elena and Caroline before spinning around to find his sister standing behind them. Her lips twitch slightly as amusement shines brightly in her blue eyes. She had enjoyed giving them heart attacks and Jeremy wants to roll his eyes because that was just her, she's always loved sneaking up behind people and scaring the hell out of them, even when she wasn't trying she still got the biggest kick out of it. "Hey." He breathes out.
Her blue eyes turn to look between Elena and Caroline, showing curiosity and a slight hint a worry. She knows something isn't right; his phone call had given that away. "What's going on?" She asks.
Jeremy takes a small step back, his eyes falling to the ground as Caroline becomes wildly interest in the movie she can barely see all the sudden. Adele notices and her small grin falls slowly as she looks to Elena who is the only one brave enough to meet her stare. "What's wrong? What's so important that I had to come rushing down here?" She demands to know, her hands coming up to rest lightly on her thin hips.
Elena swallows back her urge push Caroline forward and run, she didn't want to have to be the one to do this. Elena had the time while she was waiting to realize that while she and Jeremy have lost a lot, Adele's lost more. She lost friends, a fiancé and here she was about to tell her that a guy who single handedly helped her move on, the guy she now loves is going to die as well. How does one handle that? "Elena…" Elena's brown eyes which have moved to look at her shoes snap up. "What is it?"
She opens her mouth only to close it because she can't figure out how to say it. Jeremy seeing her struggle takes a step back up and mentions Adele to the bench beside them. "Maybe you should sit down." He mutters causing her to look over at him. Adele snorts, moving her arms to cross over her chest as she straightens herself out. "I don't want to sit down." She snaps. "I want someone to tell me what the hell is going on."
"Adele…" Everyone looks over to the blonde vampire, somewhat surprised. She'd been so silent they almost forgot she was there. She looks over to Jeremy and Elena before letting out a breath of air and straightening her spine as her eyes move back to her best friend. "Damon's dying." She says softly and Elena gaps at her. Caroline ignores her stare, it was better to get it over with fast, kind of like popping a shoulder back into place. The longer they dragged it out the more it was going to hurt.
Adele's stare is blank as she looks at Caroline. Nobody says anything, there just waiting for her reaction that doesn't seem like it's ever going to come and there shocked when she snorts a laugh. "That's very funny but seriously I don't have time for this." She turns ready to walk away but Elena reaches out, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her back.
"Adele…" Elena sighs. "We're not kidding."
"Yes, you are." Adele says her voice soft as she looks at Elena with wide blue eyes.
"Stefan was the one who told me to get ahold of you, it happened a few nights ago. Tyler bit him. He's out looking for something, anything to help but it's a very slim chance he'll find something." Adele can hear her, can make out every word she's saying but she can't seem to grasp them. She feels like someone was threatening to rip her world out from under her feet. She could hardly breathe, her stomach hurt, her chest is tightening painfully.
"Adele…" Caroline's voice calls but it sounds miles away. "Are you okay?"
"No." She breathes. "I have to go. I have to go to him." She turns, dashing off before anyone could say anything. Jeremy tells Elena to go with her, not trusting his sister to be able to drive right now.
"Adele!" She slows down, looking back to her sister who comes running up beside her. "I'll drive you." She reaches out taking Adele's shaking hand and peeling her car keys away from her.
~x~
Jasmine glances at the clock for the 4th time in the last 10 minutes causing Michael to shift. Jasmine looks up, feeling the movement in her legs as they are resting on his lap. She finds him staring at her, his black eyes regarding her carefully. "Are you okay?" She asks softly. She'd asked him that 5 times today and he rolls his eyes at the question.
No he wasn't all right and she damn well knew that, it was taking everything in him not to rip her throat out but Nate told him to suck it up, that being near her was the only way he was going to learn to control his hunger and she was the only one he needed to be around right now considering his feelings for her –which have magnified greatly he's noticed and She was the only one going to be able to fend him off if need be.
"I'm fine, are you okay?" He asks wanting all the focus off of him, he'd had enough attention to last him his whole life which according to Adele and Nate is going to be a very, very long time. Jasmine sighs, her green eyes leaving him to look at the clock again.
"I'm worried."
"About?"
"Adele." He nods narrowing his eyes slightly. He had been wondering about her as well, from her brother's phone call it sounded like something was wrong. "She ran out so fast, I just feel like something's wrong. I didn't get a chance to talk to her yesterday but when she arrived but something was wrong. I think someone died because she was dressed in all black and she had been crying but I hadn't asked."
"I know everything that happened with James but I feel like there's more going on with Adele then she's letting on." He voices his thoughts causing Jasmine to snort.
"You have no idea." She mummers softly, resting her head against his shoulder and he stiffens, holding his breath and trying hard not to listen to the sound of her heartbeat which causes her to sit back up. "Sorry." She mumbles and he swallows thickly.
"I remember that guy…Stefan's older brother. He compelled me at a fair to attack Tyler Lockwood and then I was attacked by Caroline of all people." He wants to laugh at the memory. It seemed almost unreal that Caroline Forbes could hurt anyone.
"I heard about that. He was trying to prove something to everyone, he ended up being wrong." Michael looks at her and she sighs realizing she should explain. "That Tyler guy is a werewolf, he didn't want to believe werewolves exist but they do and there bite is deadly to vampires, one simple bite and your dead."
"Tyler's a werewolf?" Michael groans. "That makes so much sense." Jasmine laughs, as she leans forward grabbing her smart phone from the coffee table. "I'm going to call her, see if everything's okay."
With his new sense of earing, he listens as the phone rings before clicking on as Adele answers. She gives a shaky hello that has Jasmine glancing up at him with a frown. "Hey, is everything okay?"
"No." Adele answers, sounding about ready to cry. "Elena's driving me to the boarding house. The full moon was a couple nights ago, Tyler bit Damon." Jasmine gives off a short gasps sitting up and swinging her legs from his lap, her hand covering her open mouth.
"Oh my god, Adele…"
"He didn't tell me. Jazzy, He should've told me. I knew something was wrong and all I did was ignore him when he was calling. God, I'm so stupid!"
"Adele, you're not stupid." Jasmine says softly and Michael watches her, watches as her green eyes fill with sympathy. He didn't understand what was going on, he wasn't sure who Damon was or his importance to Adele but she was upset and that's all that really mattered.
"Yes I am. I knew something wasn't right and instead of getting to the bottom of it, instead of confronting him, I ignored him. I thought he was pushing me away when I needed him the most. Jenna and John died and he wasn't there for me so I got mad at him. I should've been there for him." Michael's eyes widen slightly as he to sits forward, to glance at Jasmine. John died? Jenna died? Both of them? When? How? How much did he really not know?
"Like you said, he didn't tell you there's no way you could've known. Are you going to see him?"
Adele takes a deep breath, most likely trying to settle herself down before answering. "Yeah. I need to, I can't…" She trails off causing Jasmine to run a hand through her hair.
"I understand Adele." She whispers. "Just go, I'll call you…later." Adele says goodbye and hangs up. Jasmine takes a deep breath before pulling the phone away and placing it back on the coffee table.
"Who's Damon?" Michael asks causing her to jump slightly. She would have to get used to his being able to hear everything now.
"Damon is Stefan's older brother." She answers. Ah, that's why the name sounded so familiar. "Adele is…completely in love with him." She mutters and everything is so much clearer as he sits back.
~x~
Adele closes the door to Elena's car softly, looking up at the huge house. Standing here now, she wasn't sure she could do it, she wasn't sure she could go in there and see him like that.
Elena comes up beside her, taking her hand and giving it a soft squeeze. She wasn't going in there with her, Adele realizes, she was just there for moral support until she actually made it into the house and then she was going to leave because Adele realizes that even if she doesn't think she can do it, she has to. She has to do this, alone.
She takes a deep breath and lets her hand go, walking towards the house. She's almost to the porch when she hears a soft squeak from behind her. She's about to turn around when Liz appears in front of her, placing a hand over her mouth to keep her from saying anything. "Don't make a sound." She tells her as two deputies are coming up from behind her. Adele's eyes are wide as she looks at her. Her being here couldn't mean anything good.
~x~
Liz was just an afterthought. She'd opened the cellar door and he'd thrown her against a wall and escaped. He needed to find her, he needed to find Adele and he wasn't going to do that locked up in the cellar until he dies. If he was going to die, he was going to make sure he saw her first. He wouldn't die without seeing her.
He makes it to the park, where crowds of people have gathered for a showing of what looks like Gone with the Wind which reminds him of Adele's desire to watch the movie with him. He was supposed to cook for her; he was supposed to teach her how to cook.
He stumbles, stopping to catch his balance. When he looks up, he sees her. She standing by the statue to his side, she's in that sundress she was in in the picture he stole from her. She's barefoot, her blonde hair blowing slightly in the breeze and she's looking down at her phone in her hands.
"Adele." Her blue eyes snap up, catching sight of him and she blinks before a slow sweet smile makes its way across her face. She looks ready to come near him when suddenly she's gone replaced by the sight of her brother.
"Damon." He says with undertones of relief in his voice. Alaric called him not even 10 minutes ago asking him if Adele was with him and when he had told him no, Alaric told him that if he found her, to get her somewhere safe because Damon had escaped and he was looking for her. Alaric told him that he was unstable and he was worried that he might hurt her without meaning to so when he saw Damon, he jumped at the chance to stop him.
"Where's Adele?" Damon asks, blinking up at him. "I need to see Adele."
"Okay." Jeremy nods. "Let's get you out of there first."
~x~
Elena leans against the desk in Sheriff Forbes office, watching her sister pace the room biting at her thumb nail. Once they we're forced in here and the door was slammed on them, Adele had beat against it for a good 10 minutes before giving up and she's been pacing ever since.
She wants to say something, anything to reassure her that it's going to be okay but how could she do something like that when she wasn't even sure it was going to be okay? She had no idea what was going on outside of this office. There was no way to tell what they've done or haven't done to him.
The office door opens and Liz walks in causing Adele to stop pacing as she turns to face the woman. "Where's Damon?" She demands. "What have you done to him?"
"Why do you even care?" Liz snaps. "You know what they are, what they do." She moves around Adele sounding frustrated and annoyed which Adele takes as a good sigh, it must mean that he got away but that also means he's roaming the streets most likely in a delirious state.
"I understand why you hate them but you're wrong." Elena says standing up straight to turn to Liz who's behind her desk.
"There murderers," She glances between the Gilbert Twins. "End of story."
Adele's about to say something but the office door opens again and a deputy enters. "Damon Salvatore was just spotted outside entering The Grill." He informs Liz, Adele quickly turns back seeing the woman getting ready to leave.
"You have to let me come with you," Liz glances up at her. "He's sick. He's…he's not himself." She pleads but Liz just shakes her head turning to look at the deputy. "Keep them here." She orders him as she's leaving the office and the door slams on them once again as Adele covers her face with her hands having the urge to scream.
5 minutes and she's back to pacing, Elena's back to leaning against the desk. Adele is muttering to herself but Elena can't make out anything she's saying. Finally she stops, leaning her hands against a chair as she looks at Elena. "We have to get out of here. We have to go get to him. He could hurt someone, they could hurt him." Something flashes across her face as she looks away from Elena towards the window beside her. She turns, opening the wooden shutters, her gaze thoughtful.
Elena jumps when Adele suddenly picks up the chair and hurls into the window. The window shatters as the chair goes through it, Elena watches as Adele uses her foot to knock out the sharp edges of the glass left before she's pushing herself up and jumps from it. Elena glances at the door before quickly following her.
Adele runs across the street and pushes her way into the closed Grill. As she rounds the corner into the main area she spots Liz sitting on her knees with Caroline across from her. Elena rushes forward and she follows. "What's going on?" Elena asks as she stops, Liz and Caroline glance up at them.
"How…how did you get out?" Liz asks and the sisters glance between each other.
"That's not important right now. What's going on? Where's Damon?" Adele asks. Caroline sighs, looking up at them.
"I don't know where Damon is but…my mom was aiming for him and I guess he ran and she shot Jeremy. He died…" Sensing the freak out about to happen she quickly stands up. "But Bonnie has him, she and Alaric went up to the house, she said she knows what to do." Adele closes her eyes briefly before turning to Elena.
"Okay…go…go find them, I'm…I'm going to go find Damon." Elena nods and with one last glance at Caroline and her mom they run off.
~x~
She jogs through the people sitting on blankets, enjoying the movie. Some send her annoyed glances while others ignore her completely and when she doesn't see him she jogs around the screen coming out on the other side where she slows down to a stop looking around. She runs a hand over her face. How was she supposed to find him? He could be anywhere.
"Adele." She spins around with a sudden rush of relief. She takes in his appearance as she swallows. He looks horrible, his eyes are weak, he's sweating and he looks about ready to collapse.
"Damon." She breathes rushing forward. "We have to get you out of here. We have to hide you." She moves under his arm, letting him rest it over her shoulders as she wraps an arm around his waist. She helps him move forward slowly.
"It's you." He mutters turning his head to look at her. He stumbles and she isn't able to catch them both causing them to fall. She hits the ground on her butt while he lands on his knees but he doesn't seem to notice as he continues to stare at her. "Is it right?" He mutters and she looks up at him with a frown. She pushes herself up onto her knees in front of him, needing to get him up. "You're really here?" He continues. "You're not going to leave me again?"
"No." She says quickly. "Damon…no. I'm here." She assures him and looks around when he suddenly falls forward to rest his head against her chest. She wraps an arm around him, brushing her fingers through his hair. "I'm right here."
~x~
"Adele…" She reenters the room from the bathroom, with a wash cloth in hand coming over to the side of the bed to look down at him. "I'm right here." She says softly using the towel to wipe some of the sweat from his face. "You need to get out of here…" He says and she shakes her head. "I could hurt you."
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you." She tells him.
"Get out of here…" He groans, rolling onto his side before coughing. He sits up slightly gripping at his chest as he does and Adele moves in behind him letting him fall back against her as he clams down, his breathing rigid as he listens to her mutter that it's okay focusing on her fingers running lightly over his arm.
"It's not okay. It's not okay." He groans. "All those years, I've blamed Stefan. No one forced me to love her. It was my own choice." She bites her lips as she listens to him, wiping the wash cloth across his forehead. "I made the wrong choice. Tell Stefan…I'm sorry. Okay?" She swallows past the tightening of her throat, fighting back tears as she nods. "Okay."
He falls silent. This had been what he wanted, he wanted her and now that she was here, he still couldn't find a way to say everything that he felt he needed to say. She was warm and she smelt good, he realizes just how sad this really is. How he'd been so bad for so long and now his downfall was going to come in the form of a small werewolf bite. "This is even more pitiful than I thought." He finds himself saying.
"There's still hope." She whispers, her chin resting against his head.
"I've made a lot of choices that have gotten me here. I deserve this. I deserve to die." She slips out from behind him and bends down beside the bed to look at him. "No, you don't."
"I do." She shakes her head but he stops whatever she's going to say. "Adele…It's okay, cause if I had chosen differently, I wouldn't have met you. I'm so sorry; I've done so many things that hurt you." The tears she's been trying so hard to fight well up in her eyes as she shakes her head at him again. "It's okay Damon. I forgive you…for everything. None of it matters anymore, it's never mattered."
"I know you love him…" Adele sucks in a short breath, how come she hadn't been expecting him to say something like that?
"No…" She says softly but he continues as if she hadn't said anything.
"But I love you…" She closes her eyes, causing a tear to slip down her cheek. "I need you to know that."
"Damon…" She opens her eyes just to see his eyes have closed. "I love you." His eyes open again and he blinks trying to focus his blurry vision on her. "It's been you, I've loved you but I just…you we're right. I was scared. I knew I'd lose you."
"You'll…you'll be okay." He mutters and she stops fighting the tears, she can't stop them. It's just not worth fighting them.
"You're wrong. You've always been wrong, I won't be okay Damon. I need you, I need you here, I need you with me. I can't do this without you. You're everything to me." She cries softly cupping his face in her hands. "Damon, you promised me."
"I'm…I'm sorry." His eyes close again and she chokes back a sob as she lets her head fall against his chest. "You can't do this to me." She says against the fabric of his shirt before picking her head back up. She looks at him before leaning forward and pressing her lips softly to his. He doesn't respond and she pulls back before moving into the bed beside him and laying her head against his chest, taking his hand into hers. She can hear the faint beating of his heart and it makes her silent tears come faster.
Adele picks up her head at the sound of a faint knocking from down stairs. "Hello! Anybody home?" A voice that sounds strangely like Elena floats up but by the mocking tone Adele knows it's not Elena. She sends one last glance down to Damon before getting up and rushing down the stairs. What the hell is Katherine doing here?
She reaches the front door surprised. She's been expecting Katherine to spring out from somewhere ready to kill her but she finds her leaning against the door frame just outside of the house and her lips fly into a smirk. That's right. Elena technically died which makes her the sole owner of the house. How delightful. Though her glee is short lived as she remembers just whose house she owns and how he's right upstairs dying.
"What do you want Katherine?" She growls out stopping at the open door.
"Now, now. Don't get all defensive." She sings holding up a glass bottle of some king of red liquid. "I am after all the one who has the cure." She smirks as Adele's eyes widen. She holds it up to her and before she can think about it Adele snatches it surprised when Katherine just lets it go.
"So you got free?" Adele asks after exaiming the bottle.
"Yep. Finally and when Damon asks cause I know he will tell him I owed him one." She turns ready to walk away but Adele calls out after her.
"Where's Stefan?"
"He's paying for that." She mentions to the bottle. "He gave himself over to Klaus. I wouldn't expect him anytime soon."
"What does that mean? 'Gave himself over to Klaus'?"
"He sacrificed everything to save his brother." For a moment her expression is grim before she replaces it with a smirk. "Good luck breaking the news to Elena. Good bye Blondie." And she's gone before Adele can blink.
Adele doesn't stop to think about what she said, she pushes it from her mind completely as she rushes back up the stairs to Damon's bedroom. He's exactly where she left him having not moved a muscle but his eyes open as he picks up on her foot steps and he looks up at her with hooded eyes. "Where did you go?" His voice is raspy, he's struggling.
"I went down to get this." She holds up the bottle for him to see as she sits back down beside him. "It's the cure Damon. Katherine brought it." She pops it open placing it to his lips and making him drink it. When it's empty she replaces the top and throws it to the end of the bed.
"Katherine?" He asks, his voice already stronger and Adele feels like she could cry in relief.
"Yeah. She said she owed you."
"But where's Stefan?" Adele swallows, looking down at him her expression going from relief to grim and he stiffens.
~x~
Adele hangs up the phone with a sigh as Damon emerges from the bathroom. After breaking the news to him and sitting there for a while just to make sure he was really going to be okay, she'd sent him into the bathroom to take a shower but hadn't heard it come on. She'd taken the time to call Elena while he was in there.
She'd found out that Jeremy was okay. That Bonnie with the help of Emily was able to bring him back and he was now at home resting with Alaric and her looking over him. Adele then went into informing her about Stefan.
Elena had cried not that it surprised her, she had said she was coming over there but Adele talked her out of it, telling her that there was nothing they could do about it tonight, that they would talk about it tomorrow, they would figure something out, they always did, they've made the impossible happen more than once, they could get him back but it wouldn't happen tonight.
She looks up at Damon as he's slipping into a new shirt, leaving it unbuttoned as he turns to her as well, he has something to say. She can see it. "He…he shouldn't of done it." He says and Adele pushes herself up from the bed. "Damon…" She mutters.
He moves forward, coming to stand in front of her and she looks up at him with a new sense of relief. He was really okay, she could hardly believe it. "No Adele…this was the worst thing he could've done…out of all the stupid things he's ever done, this is by far the…" He cuts himself off as Adele grabs the sides of his shirt pulling him towards her.
"Shut up." She breathes as she leans up pressing her lips to his and his eyes close, his arms coming around to encircle her waist as he pulls her into him, marveling at how well she fits against him. She pulls away, resting her forehead against his.
"I love you." She mummers causing him to shutter as he brushes his lips against hers.
"Say it again." He whispers and she smirks moving her arms up to wrap around his neck.
"I love you." She mummers again as she pulls him backwards. Her knees hit the bed, causing her to fall and she pulls him down with her as he captures her mouth in a kiss as his fingers skims down her thigh leaving a burning sensation that as her wanting him even closer.
~x~
She slips from the house, closing the door softly behind her. She pulls the sleeves to Damon's button down shirt further down her arms as she makes her way across the driveway to Michael and Jasmine. Jasmine had called her, wanting to talk to her and telling her they could be at the boarding house in 10 minutes. That the two had decided that they needed to just go and ride around for a while, to give Michael some fresh air.
Michael leans up, kicking down the kick stand to his bike as he can hear her approach and Jasmine smiles softly at her from standing beside the bike. As Adele reaches them Michael turns the bike ass as Jasmine pulls her into her arms hugging her tightly.
When she pulls away Adele sends her a soft smile. "How are you?" She asks turning to Michael who sends her a lopsided smile. "Horrible." He answers and she sighs softly, he can sense her guilt, he'd been able to sense it from the moment he woke from the dead. "Don't worry about it short stuff. I'll be okay sooner or later."
"What about you?" Adele turns her blue eyes back to Jasmine. "How are you?"
"I'm good." She smiles. "I'm actually really good considering."
"So Damon's okay?" This causes her smile to widen as she nods. "So where do you guys stand now?"
"I'm not sure Jazzy; I'm not worrying about it right now. All I know is he's alive and I'm going to bask in that fact."
"What about James? You know he's going to come back. He's not going to take being defeated lightly." Jasmine voices and Adele actually laughs.
"We'll take care of him when the time comes; right now we just need to take care of ourselves. We need to…regroup." She tells them. "We need to be our strongest."
"Well you know what they say…" Jasmine smiles at her blonde friend shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "What doesn't kill you…"
"Usually succeed in a second attempt?" Adele raises an eyebrow with a smirk with causes Michael to snort a laugh as Jasmine shakes her head.
"I was going to say makes you stronger."
"Oh well yeah…" Adele laughs. "That too."
Thank you all so much for sticking with this story, I know you didn't have to and it means a lot that you have. I hope you all enjoyed and once again let me know what you thought of the story as a whole by typing a review in the blank little box below please. :p