A/N: So this is slightly angstier than usual…
Also, I apologize in advance if there are problems with the link for this chapter. I've tried to upload it twice now with no success. Hopefully the third time will be the charm.
Something was wrong. As May became June, Damon watched as Jeremy started to wander the boardinghouse like a caged animal. Halfway though June, Jeremy had all but moved out, spending most of his nights with Jenna and Rick and Hank, leaving Damon alone, while Stefan sent him sympathetic glances and murmured patronizing words about couples and rough patches.
The further Jeremy drifted away from him, the harder Damon felt like he needed to cling, because he wasn't about to let the most important thing in his life disappear. On the nights Jeremy did stay at the boardinghouse, Damon fell asleep wrapped around him, holding tightly and almost always woke up alone, or with Jeremy sleeping as far away as possible.
He tried not to think about it now, when he was buried inside of Jeremy and trying to fuck away whatever was wrong, but he couldn't help it, especially since this was obviously a Jeremy who was just going through the motions. Damon pulled out and rolled away from his boyfriend, wondering idly how destroyed he was going to be when Jeremy left. Because that seemed like the only possible outcome of all of this distance. Jeremy would drift until he disappeared completely from Damon's life, and Damon would be left alone. Again. He'd always thought Lexi was spouting bullshit when she talked about the way vampires could love, until it happened to him. He supposed when all this was over, he could track down Katherine again. It would be violent and toxic and miserable, but it would probably hurt less than this did now.
Jeremy's hand landed on his hip and Damon rolled to his other side, facing Jeremy reluctantly. "What?"
"I think maybe we should talk."
Damon sneered. "I'd rather not do the long-drawn-out goodbye, thanks."
Jeremy blinked slowly at him. "What the fuck are you talking about Damon?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Gilbert. I know you want to leave." Jeremy looked immediately guilty and Damon shook his head. "That's what I thought. So just go, okay. We don't have to talk about it."
"Obviously we do, because you don't get it."
"Sure I do. You made a mistake, choosing me and now that you've got the rest of eternity, you want to see what else is out there. So go ahead. I was on my own for a hundred and fifty years before you, I'm sure I can manage without you." The worst part of that statement was knowing that neither of them actually believed it.
"Day," Jeremy said softly. "I feel like I want to crawl out of my own skin. I'm claustrophobic and trapped and—
"What part of I don't fucking want to talk about it aren't you getting?" Damon snapped.
"Would you just listen to me for a second?" Jeremy snarled. "It's this fucking town I want to leave, not you." Jeremy sighed. "I can't stay here forever. I sort of thought we agreed on that."
Damon was torn between laughing and shouting at Jeremy for letting them get into this tangled misunderstanding. "Of course we agree on that. So why didn't you just say something instead of turning into a total zombie?" Damon scowled.
"You seemed pretty happy with the way things were, hanging out with Jenna and Rick and you get along so well with the baby and I just figured if you were happy here, I could make it work too. Only I can't, obviously."
"Jesus, Jeremy." Damon sighed. "I was only doing all of that because I thought you would want to stick around for awhile. I mean yeah, the baby's pretty fucking adorable, but if Jenna calls me at two in the morning one more time, begging me to come over because he won't stop crying and I'm the fucking baby whisperer or whatever, I'm going to leave whether or not you come with me."
"So the road trip is back on then?"
"Yes."
"When can we leave?"
"As soon as fucking possible."
"This weekend?"
"Yes."
"Good." Jeremy nodded. "Now that that's settled, there's something else we need to clear up."
Damon frowned, "What?"
Jeremy covered Damon's body with his own, pressing him into the soft mattress. "You need to stop worrying about me leaving you. I'm not going anywhere without you, Day. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because I'm yours."
Damon leaned up, capturing Jeremy's lips in a fierce kiss, his tongue pushing past Jeremy's teeth and his hands tangling roughly into Jeremy's hair. Jeremy was his, the only one who'd ever wanted to be his, and Damon wasn't ever going to let that go.
