Keeping Secrets
Ch. 11
She woke up to Damon tickling her sides "You turned my alarm off again didn't you?" she groaned as she rolled over then pressed her lips to his. He hummed as positive answer and rolled on top of her. When he nibbled on her neck she tilted her head to the side. "You can if you want." Katie sighed as she slid her hands up his back and looped her arms around his gripping his shoulders.
Damon sighed and kissed her neck then nibbled on it. She thought he was going to bite her like she told him he could, but instead he started kissing her chest and looked into her eyes as he kissed down to her inner thigh. She watched as the whites of his eyes turned red and the veins under his eyes popped to the surface. A quiet whimper left her lips when he bit her and he slid his hand over hers, his way of telling her he was sorry that he hurt her.
Thirty minutes later Katie was getting dressed for school. "So Stefan has offered to help us open the tomb." He told her from where he laid on her bed with his hands behind his head and his feet crossed.
"I thought he was totally against you opening the tomb." She said as she pulled a black Linkin Park shirt over her head.
"Yeah, well, he'll do anything to get me out of town. Including letting Katherine out." Damon said with an eye roll as he sat up and spun to hang his feet off of the bed.
"And you believe him?" Katie asked as she walked over and grabbed her jeans off of the bed next to him.
"Nope, not for a second, but…" he stood up and watched her put on her pants, "I'm going to play along and let him think that I trust him."
"So I'm guessing that I need to play along as well?" she asked and he hummed a positive answer then picked her up and walked her over to the roll top desk that had taken the place of the nicer one that had been in the room, and set her down on it as he started kissing her. She sighed and wrapped her legs around him when he started kissing her neck. Once again those three little words made their way to the front of her mind and were on the tip of her tongue, but she bit her lips closed. Eventually he kissed his way to the other side of her neck and threaded his fingers through her loose waves. "Do you know how badly I want to ditch school and lock myself in here with you all day?"
"Mmhmm." He hummed then stopped kissing her and turned his back to her. "Hop on."
She rolled her eyes at him, but jumped on his back without question. He held her legs around him while she held on to his shoulders. "Where are we going?" she asked with a small laugh.
"Somewhere." He answered playfully as he left her bedroom.
When she realized where he was taking her she spoke up. "Why are you taking me to Stefan's room?" she asked as he came to Stefan's door at the top of the stairs.
"Because he and Elena are probably having as good of a morning as ours and I want to ruin it." he answered honestly. "Plus the four of us need to have a little chat. Now be a dear and open the door for me." Katie just laughed as she let go of his shoulders and opened the door. "Rise and shine sleepy heads." Damon chimed as he walked in and set Katie down on the floor.
"What are you doin'?" "Damon, please!" Stefan and Elena said at the same time.
"Katie, what are you doin' here?" Elena asked when she noticed Katie behind Damon.
"Has Stefan not told you that I live here now?" Katie asked with a tilt of her head and a look at Stefan.
"Not here in this house here. Here as in Stefan's bedroom." Elena cleared up as she pulled the white sheet higher up her body.
"Apparently the four of us need to talk so…" Katie answered with a shrug then motioned at Damon.
"Seriously, get out of here." Stefan told them.
"If I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it." Damon said as he walked in and sat down on the bed beside where Stefan was laying. Elena raised her eyebrows at him and Katie snickered as she walked over and leaned against the foot board of the bed. "Now listen. We have some very important business to discuss."
"And it has to be right now?" Elena asked upset about them ruining their morning. Katie felt bad about it, but then she remembered the fight they'd had the other night and she no longer felt bad.
"Well, we have lots to do now that we're all friends and working toward a common goal." He said then stood up and wrapped his arm around Katie's waist. "So in order to open the tomb, we need to find the journal to get the grimoire to undo the spells. First thing first," he looked at Elena and pointed at her, "Since you are Elena Gilbert, you're on journal duty."
"Since when am I helping?" Elena asked as Katie watched Stefan resituate in the bed, the white sheet sliding down his nude torso.
"Well, Stefan's helping and since you've taken up residence in Stefan's bed, ergo…" Damon told them then looked at Katie to see her looking at Stefan. While Stefan was talking to Elena Damon snapped his fingers in Katie's face. When she gave him a frown he gave her a what-are-you-doing look. She just smirked and shook her head at him.
"I'll look for it today." Elena told Stefan then covered her head with the sheet.
"Thank you." Damon told her even though he couldn't see her.
"How do we know that this journal will hold the location of the grimoire?" Stefan asked. "We're really going to take the word of this vampire? He seemed like a bit of a dimwit."
"Do you have any better leads?" Katie asked earning a stay out of it look from Stefan and a smirk from Damon.
"Ok, what exactly is a grimoire, anyway?" Elena asked coming back out of the covers.
"It's a witch's cookbook." Damon answered.
"If Wikipedia is right it contains instructions on how they create talismans and how to perform spells and charms." Katie spoke up. "Basically it like the little recipe boxes that most moms put their super secret recipes in." Katie answered earning an impressed smirk from Damon.
"Every spell that a witch casts is unique unto itself. So every witch would document their work." Stefan answered in a less metaphorical way.
"Yeah, cookbook." Damon said brushing off how Stefan described it.
"What about our mystery vampire?" Stefan asked. "Dimwit obviously wasn't working alone. So whoever's out there knows who we are."
"And I don't like that disadvantage, so…" Damon clapped his hands, "Chop, chop." He turned his back to Katie and kneeled down with his arms out to the side for her to jump back onto his back. She smiled and jumped as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You know, I really like this whole ménage-foursome team thing." He called as he walked to Stefan's door. "It's got a bit of a kink to it." he said then laughed, "don't screw it up." He sing songed then tickled Katie's leg making her yelp then laugh as he walked down the stairs.
After having a small breakfast Katie grabbed her bag and her phone, but couldn't find her keys. "Damon, do you have my keys?" she called as she headed into the living room to find him sitting on the couch with her keys dangling from his finger and a smirk on his face. She smirked deviously and tapped her chin in thought trying to come up with a way to get them from him. "Hmm." She hummed as she walked over, straddled his lap and pecked him on the lips then started kissing his neck. He sighed and placed his hands on her shoulder blades where she wouldn't be able to reach her keys. "Please give me my keys?" she begged quietly. He laughed breathily and shook his head no. "Give me my keys and I'll…" She leaned down and started whispering dirty things in his ear.
"Ooh, I like the sound of that." His husky voice that made her insides shiver. She smiled and held her hand out for her keys. "You are lucky I like you so much." He smiled and slapped the keys into her hand. "Especially considering you were totally checking out my brother earlier."
"I was looking at him yes, but if you could read my thoughts you would know I wasn't impressed." she told him honestly.
"I call bullshit." he told her with a rise and fall of his brows.
"You remember how I said too much muscle freaks me out?" she asked and Damon hummed. "Stefan freaks me out. His muscles are too bumpy and hard looking it kinda grosses me out if I'm being completely honest." she said as she pushed his hair back out of his face. "I'll always like you better." she whispered as she leaned down and started kissing him.
"Seriously guys, not on the couch." Stefan said as he and Elena walked in on them. Elena just stared at them with wide eyes never having seen her friend in such a position with a guy before.
Katie just laughed and slid back off of Damon to land on her feet and stood up. "Will I see you at the grill later?" Katie asked as she straightened her book bag on her shoulder and looked down at Damon.
"I'm probably still going to be busy looking for this stupid Gilbert journal." He sighed and stood up and followed her to the door. "Have a good day at school." He smiled and kissed her before he walked out of the door and shut it behind her.
Later that day Katie stood at the bar washing glasses and putting them away because Ben had decided to take the day off and go on a date with Bonnie. When she looked up from the sink she saw Ben and Bonnie walk in and sit down at a table in her section. So she pulled her note pad out and headed over to their table not bothering to grab menus since they both probably knew them by heart now. "What can I get you guys?" Katie asked as she walked over. They told her their drink orders and said they had already eaten and wouldn't be ordering food. She was giving them their drinks when Damon and Jeremy walked in. Damon sat at a table by himself and Jeremy met up with a girl she'd seen at the grill with him a few times. She pulled out her phone and texted Damon. "What's up? I thought you were tracking down the journal."
She saw him pull out his phone and text her back. "I am. Jeremy's little girlfriend has it." she read then looked at him one more time then got back to work to keep from distracting him. As soon as Jeremy and Anna left Damon did too. A few minutes later Katie was finishing up putting away the glasses when she looked up and saw Bonnie kiss Ben then pull back as if he had burned her. Bonnie looked at Katie and they frowned at each other. "What's wrong?" Katie mouthed but Bonnie turned back to Ben. She watched them until Bonnie stared toward the bathroom then took a quick turn for the doors.
Katie's eyes went wide when she saw Ben whoosh in front of Bonnie and put his hand over her mouth as he pulled her out of the grill. She stopped what she was doing and headed for the back exit, texting Damon as she walked. She was about to hit send as she opened the back door, but Ben came out of nowhere and hit her in the back of her head, making her world go black.
The sound of the bathroom door shutting woke Katie up. "Katie?" Elena asked and Katie opened her eyes with a groan as she grabbed the back of her head.
"Elena?" Katie asked as she looked around and saw Elena standing near the door and Bonnie still passed out in the bathtub. "Where are we?" she asked looking around the small, hotel looking bathroom. "God, Bonnie" Katie groaned and pointed at her witch friend. "Check on Bonnie."
Elena wet a rag and started pressing it to Bonnie's head. "Bonnie?" Elena asked when she saw Bonnie's eyes start to open.
"Elena?" Bonnie asked as Katie appeared behind her. "Katie?"
"You're okay." Elena calmed her.
"Ugh, my head…" Bonnie complained then realization hit. "Oh my god, Ben is a-"
"Sush." Elena cut her off, tapped her ear and pointed to the room. "They can hear."
Katie stood up, turned on the faucet then put the toilet seat down and sat down. "I was so stupid!" Bonnie whispered as she sat up.
"No, he had all of us fooled." Elena told her quietly.
"What's going on? Why are we all here?" Bonnie asked.
"My guess is it has something to do with Emily's grimoire. Anna had the Gilbert Journal so she wants that tomb open too. In order to do that they need a witch to do the reversal spell i.e. you." Katie explained as she closed her eyes in pain and pressed a hand to the back of her head.
"What?" Bonnie asked with a look between her friends. "Why didn't I know about any of this?"
"I don't know why Katie didn't say anything, but I was trying to keep you out of it, hoping it would never come to this." Elena answered not looking at Katie.
"Yeah I'm apparently slow, I didn't put two and two together until now. You're a descendant of the witch that put the spell on the tomb, it would make since that you'd be the one they want to break it." Katie said as she sat up and put her head in her hands.
"No way, I won't do it." Bonnie said with a shake of her head. Ben busted in making all of them jump. He turned the water off and glared at Bonnie. "You're wasting your time. I'm not gonna do it."
Ben just smiled and grabbed Elena and Katie, holding them by the backs of their shirts. "That's why they're here. Motivation for you to behave." Ben smiled at Bonnie. "You know, you shouldn't be so desperate. You made it too easy." Ben threw Katie to the side and opened the bathroom door. "She wants to talk to you." He pushed Elena out the door then shut it behind her staying in the bathroom with Katie and Bonnie.
After a while Anna knocked on the door and Ben grabbed the two girls by the arm. "Hey, I'm leaving. Keep them buttoned down." She told Ben then glared at him. "Compulsion won't work. Just use violence."
"Right, I got that." Ben told her aggravated then pushed Katie and Bonnie to sit on the bed next to the one Elena was sitting on. "Sit. Behave." Ben practically barked at them then looked at Bonnie. "So you're the key to this. Literally." He took his jacket off and put it on the back of the wooden chair that sat in the middle of the room. "Tell me, how long have you been a witch?" he asked Bonnie as he sat on the arm of the chair.
"Is there anything to drink here?" Elena asked taking the heat off of Bonnie.
"Are you offering?" he asked standing up to tower over her with a smile. "There's water on the night stand."
Elena grabbed the glass and was about to take a drink when Bonnie asked, "Hey. Can I have a sip?" Elena gave her a questioning look. Katie, who's face was hidden from Ben by her red waves, mouthed the word fire and Elena handed Bonnie the glass. Bonnie threw it on Ben and set it on fire. While he freaked out the three girls ran for the door.
Bonnie and Katie got out, Katie leading the way, but he got the fire out and grabbed Elena. "Come back in, shut the door!" he yelled.
Bonnie and Katie looked at each other before Katie looked at Ben. "Please, don't hurt her." Katie asked.
"Don't make me!" he yelled. Katie and Bonnie looked at each other to see what the other thought they should do. A part of Katie wanted to run and leave them behind, but another, much bigger, part knew that if she ran Ben would most likely hurt both of her friends and she couldn't let that happen. So she gave Bonnie a nod and they both went back inside. "Lock it!" Ben yelled so Katie turned her back on him and locked the dead bolt and the chain. Ben grabbed Bonnie and threw her into the bathroom.
Katie and Elena were sitting on separate beds when the door was kicked in by Stefan who threw the curtains open making Ben yell and dive for shade. "Stefan!" Elena yelled and ran to him while Katie ran to the bathroom and got Bonnie.
"Get outside." Stefan told them and Katie and Bonnie ran out of the door behind Elena.
Stefan said something that Katie couldn't make out to Ben then came back outside and they started walking. "How did you figure out where we were?" Katie asked running to catch up to Stefan's quick steps.
"Bonnie's grandma did a locater spell for me." He answered as they walked into the town square.
"Did Damon know where we were?" Katie asked wanting to know why it wasn't Damon who had just rescued her.
"He knew you were missing and he couldn't have cared less about finding you." Stefan answered uncaringly.
Katie walked quietly behind the rest of them with her arms crossed over her chest until they got to Bonnie's gram's house. "So what do we do now?" Elena asked as they walked into the dining room of Grams house.
"Well for now you need to stay here." Stefan answered.
"A prisoner, in my own home? I don't think so." Grams said from where she and Bonnie sat at the dining table while Katie, Elena and Stefan stood around them.
"I can't protect you if you leave the house." Stefan argued.
"We'll protect ourselves." Grams argued back.
"Katie, I know you've been helping him, but we need you to switch teams." He told her with his usual brooding face. "I know you think he cares about you but he doesn't. He's manipulating you."
"We need to let him have Katherine back." Elena interrupted getting confused looked from all of them. "He's not gonna stop until her gets her. If we help him, maybe that ends it."
"No. He doesn't deserve to get what he wants." Bonnie argued with a look over her shoulder at Elena. Katie bit her lips in order to keep herself from starting a fight.
"What other choice do we have?" Elena asked and Katie couldn't help but wonder why she was actually on Damon's side.
"Witches being pulled down by vampire problems… As much as we try to do to say out of it." Grams said with a mad look at all of them then turned her eyes to Stefan. "I'll open the tomb. You get your brothers girl and destroy the rest with fire. Then this will be all over."
"We still have to get Damon to agree." Stefan said with his arms crossed over his chest.
"He already agreed once." Elena pointed out.
"Yeah, and then we double crossed him." Stefan replied making Katie frown.
"How did you double cross him?" Katie asked making Stefan and Elena look at her.
"We found the grimoire, without him. He force fed me his blood and threatened to kill me in order to get it back." Elena told her with her snooty face on.
"So now he's angry." Stefan added with a shoulder shrug. "Katie, do you think you can get him to agree to our plan? He trusts you, he's said so himself." Stefan asked.
Katie sighed and placed her forearms on the table as she leaned down and rested her forehead on them. She didn't know what to do. It was a given that the vampires that were in that tomb needed to be killed. There were enough vampires in town as it was, but they were offering to get Katherine out first, the only reason Damon wants the tomb opened at all. She stood up and ran her hand through her hair pushing it out of her face. "How do I know that you're not lying to my face right now? How do I know that you aren't just saying all of this to use me to get him on board then when the time comes you kill Katherine too?" she asked.
"Katie we wouldn't do that to you." Elena stepped up trying to make Katie understand.
"You and Bonnie might not," she turned her green eyes to Stefan's, "but I don't trust you Stefan. I've heard too much from Damon about the kind of person you can be and I don't blame him for not trusting you."
"Katie, please, I am begging you. Help us and I promise we will let Katherine out." Elena put her hands on Katie's shoulder and gave her a light shake.
"Fine, okay? Fine." Katie brushed Elena hands off of her. "I'll go talk to him, but I'm not promising anything. Especially if he cares for me as little as Stefan says he does." Katie left them behind and walked to the grill where her car had been left.
She found Damon in the library of the boarding house. He grabbed his jacket off of the back of the chair and started to grab the grimoire when he spotted Katie standing in the doorway. "Hi." He told her with a smirk.
She crossed her arms over her chest and didn't smile back. "Did you know that Anna and Ben were holding me hostage?" she asked as she walked down the steps and into the library to stand across from him. He hummed a positive answer. "So you were just going to leave me there?"
"No, I was going to get you back tonight, after the tomb is opened." He told her as he set the grimoire down and placed his hands on her hips.
"So after you get your vampire girlfriend back?" she asked knowing that once he has Katherine back he'll no longer care about her."
"Yep." He answered popping the p at the end of the word.
"Right, well despite the face that you were going to leave me to be tortured all day, I convinced Bonnie to help you." she told him as she placed her hands on his chest. "The plan is: Open the door, break the seal, get Katherine out and torch the rest of them."
Damon pressed his forehead to hers and looked into her eyes. "Can I trust you?"
"You'll always be able to trust me, Damon. No matter what happens I'll always be on your side." She told him as she slid her hands up to rest on each side of his neck.
"Thank you." he whispered then pressed his lips to hers and what almost felt like a goodbye kiss.
"So tonight's the night huh?" she asked as she let go of him and picked up the grimoire.
"Yep." He answered and took the book from her when she held it out to him.
"Okay. Then let's get this over with." She grumbled and headed for the front door with Damon on his heels.
The car ride to the church was quiet so Katie started talking realizing that this might be the last time she was ever alone with him. "So I've been thinking." She started making him look across his shoulder at her. "I'm going into the tomb with you and I'll give Katherine my blood.
"I don't think that's a good idea." He argued.
"I know you grabbed a blood bag, but wouldn't it be better for her to have the fresh stuff?" she asked and he couldn't understand how even though she loved him she was still trying to do right by the other woman.
"Katie I really don't think you should go in there. There are going to be ugly desiccated vampires everywhere."
"Like it or not I'm with you until you're with her." she told him stubbornly.
He smiled and rested his hand on the back of her neck, rubbing it with his thumb lovingly. "I love" he almost said you, but he paused.
"If you want to say it just say it." she told him without looking at him.
"You sure?" he asked with a glance over at her.
"Yeah, tonight's going to hurt regardless. I might as well know how you really feel before it's over. Stefan seems to think it's all been an act to manipulate me into helping you and having sex with you. I want to know the truth." She told him still not looking at him.
"Katie look at me." He told her, but she couldn't make herself do it. He pulled the car over and stopped. "Look at me Katie Cat." She finally looked at him fighting hard to keep the tears from her eyes. "I love you." he told her looking her in the eyes as he cupped her face in his hands. "I'm I am so sorry I've done this to you. I never wanted to hurt you."
"Then don't." her words came out broken as a tears slipped down her cheek. "Leave her in there and live the rest of my life with me."
Damon squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his forehead to hers. "I can't do that. You deserve so much better than any life I could ever give you. You're supposed to become a doctor and have kids and all the things come with being a human."
"I don't want any of that." Katie argued.
"That's a lie and you know it." he told her as he let go of her face and pulled back out onto the road. "I owe it to her to get her out of there." He told Katie in a firm voice that let her know their moment was over and there was nothing she could do to keep tonight from happening.
When they pulled up near the church Katie saw that there were a bunch of cars around and when they got out of the car they could hear music. Of course a party would be going on tonight of all nights. They ran into Caroline and Matt on their way to the church, but Caroline could tell that Katie wasn't in a good mood and kept the conversation short.
Damon whistled when they got within earshot of the church. "Brother." He greeted Stefan. "Witches." Damon walked past them.
Stefan turned to Katie. "Everything okay?"
"Peachy." Katie popped off with a sarcastic smile. Then headed down into the tomb herself.
Not long after, Bonnie, Grams, Elena and Stefan joined them. "Air, earth, fire." Grams said as she lit three torches.
"Water." Bonnie added as she held up a bottle of water and handed it to her grams.
"That's it, just water from the tap?" Elena asked.
"As opposed to what?" Grams asked.
"I just figured maybe it would have to be blessed or mystical or something." Elena answered earning a smile from the older woman.
It was quiet as they all watched Grams and Bonnie getting ready. Damon walked over and stood behind Katie wrapping his arms around her shoulders as he leaned over to Stefan and said, "Admit it, you can't wait to get rid of me."
Stefan gave him a small smile and a head shake. "I can't wait to get rid of you."
Damon hummed and leaned around Katie and pecked her on the cheek. "We're ready." Bonnie told them from where he and Grams stood in the middle of their circle. The two of them joined hands and started speaking an old sounding language. After a few minutes the flames of the torches spiked and the stone door that Damon and Katie stood in front of opened. "It worked."
"Of course it worked." Grams replied to her granddaughter not looking at her but at the door.
"I'm gonna go get the gasoline, I'll be right back." Stefan told Elena then headed up the stairs.
"You ready?" Damon asked as he held his hand out for Katie's.
"Yep." Katie smacked her hand into his.
"What?" Bonnie asked with a confused look between Damon and her friend.
"Did you really think I was going to go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" he asked and Bonnie looked at Katie as if she had betrayed her.
"That wasn't part of the plan." Grams told Katie with a look that told her not to go in.
"It's part of my plan and it looks like I was right not to trust you guys." She looked up at Damon and jerked her head to the open stone door.
"Don't take her in. I'll bring the walls down." Grams warned him.
"You'll bring the walls down if I don't. You think I trust you?" Damon asked.
"Only as much as I trust you." Grams popped off.
"Enough!" Katie stopped them. "Both of you. We're going inside and I'd really like it if we both survived it. We stick to the original plan and everyone wins." Katie told them then disappeared behind the door, dragging Damon in behind her. They wandered the dark tombs. She had a flashlight and him a torch, but he let go of her hand and left her behind. "Damon?" she called as she slowly navigated the tomb, trying not to trip over desiccated vampires. "Damon?"
Someone grabbed her from behind and she screamed as she was turned around and her flashlight landed on Anna's face. "You really are stupid enough to do anything for him aren't you?" Anna asked her and Katie took a step back from her only to stumble over someone's leg. "Mother?" Katie shined her light on a vampire woman who was leaning against the stone wall. "Mother." Ana rubbed her shoulder then turned to Katie. "Your boyfriend did this you know."
"His father did this not Damon." Katie argued. "But I'll help her if you'll let me." Katie pulled a small pocket knife out of her back pocket and opened it.
"Why would you help me?" Anna asked from where he kneeled next to her mom. "What's the catch?"
"Because I'd do anything to get my mother back." Katie answered. "The only thing I ask is that she doesn't drink me dry and you don't tell anyone that it was my blood that got her out of here."
"Okay, we have a deal." Anna nodded so Katie kneeled down, wrapped her hand around the blade of the knife and quickly pulled the edge across her palm. Anna's mom started stirring as the scent of Katie's blood.
Katie cupped her hand and held it up to the woman's mouth that opened wider as her blood slipped between her lips. "Come on, Anna's mom, drink up." Katie told the woman not knowing her name.
"Her name is pearl." Anna told her.
Katie nodded then looked up when Stefan appeared, "Katie, I heard you scream." He told her then realized what she was doing. "What are you doing?" he asked with frown.
"Being cooperative." Katie replied and wiggled her fingers in an attempt to get more blood flowing and Pearl closed her mouth over the cut, the color flooded back to the woman's skin. So Katie pulled her hand back. "If that's not enough to get her out of here I'm sorry. I have to find Damon and Katherine." Katie told Anna and stood up, pressing the bottom of her shirt to her hand.
"Thank you." Anna told her then turned to her mother who said her name.
"Get out of here, Katie, I'll find Damon." Stefan told her and put his hand on her shoulder to push her out of the tomb, but Katie pulled back.
"I told Damon I would be with him till the end of us an I meant it. You go if you want, but I'm finding him." She turned from him and ventured further into the tomb not paying attention to where he went.
"Katie, Damon and I aren't coming out." Stefan told her looking sad. "Bonnie and her grandma didn't break the seal, they just opened the door."
"Does Elena know you're trapped in here?" Katie asked with creased brows.
Stefan nodded. "I heard you scream. I had to make sure you were safe." he answered and Katie looked at him realizing that maybe he cared about her more than he let on. "Let's go find Damon. They're working on breaking the seal, but it won't last long." He placed his hand on her back and they started walking the tunnel until they found Damon.
"Damon?" Katie asked seeing him kick the wall in frustration.
"She's not here." She told her walking the room like a trapped tiger.
"What?" Stefan asked, pushing Katie behind him.
"She's not here!" Damon yelled and threw the blood bag he had been planning on giving Katherine against the wall causing blood to splatter everywhere.
"Damon we need to get out of here." Stefan told him.
"It doesn't make sense. They locked her inside." He said more to himself than Katie and Stefan.
"If we don't leave now, we're not getting out." Stefan tried to get through to Damon, but he wasn't listening.
"How could she not be in here?" he asked still pacing the room.
"It's not worth spending all of eternity down here!" Stefan yelled at him. "She's not worth it!"
"No!" Damon shoved Stefan.
"Damon!" Katie finally untied her tongue getting Damon's attention. "I can't lose you. Please." She held her hand out to him.
He shrugged his jacket sleeve that had slipped off of his shoulder during his rampage back on and walked past her, not taking her hand. She and Stefan followed him out of the tomb. The door slammed shut behind them and Elena threw herself into Stefan's arms as soon as she could. Elena and Stefan ran up the stirs to outside where Jeremy was lying on the ground knocked out while Katie followed Damon up the stairs. Elena walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist before Katie had the chance to. "I'm sorry." She told him while Stefan and Katie just watched the weird exchange.
When Elena let him go Katie walked over and got his attention. "Come on, I'll drive you home." He shook his head no but handed her his keys.
"Take my car home." He told her numbly and she just nodded.
She drove Damon's car to the boarding house and left his keys in the seat then got into her car and headed to Bonnie's grams house. As she let herself in side she heard Bonnie crying and Elena talking rushed and tensely to someone on the phone. Katie followed their voices to Grams bedroom to see Bonnie crying hysterically holding her grandmothers hand. As Katie looked at the older woman she realized she wasn't breathing and tears started slipping down her cheeks. "Oh my god, Bonnie." Bonnie looked over her shoulder at Katie who fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around her friend. Elena hung up the phone and joined them in their group hug.
It was two in the morning when the ambulance drove away with Gram's, who had been pronounced dead at the scene, in the back. The three girls stood on the porch as it drove away. "Do you want us to stay with you?" Katie asked from where she stood beside her friend.
"No, I really need to be by myself right now." Bonnie said with a shake of her head and Katie looked at Elena to see what she thought about it.
Elena nodded. "Okay, well, don't be afraid to call one of us if you change your mind." She told her.
"Or both of us, we won't care." Katie added as she walked down the porch steps.
"Thank you guys." Bonnie told them then went back inside.
"You think she'll be okay?" Katie asked as she wiped her stuffy, sore nose with a tissue.
"Not for a long time." Elena said as she walked past her.
Katie walked into the boarding house and was greeted by Stefan. "Hey, I heard about grams. You okay?" he asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Not really." Katie answered as she walked past him.
"Well, you know where my rooms at if you ever need to talk about…anything." He told her as he moved up to walk beside her. "Just…knock, next time." He told her referring to how she and Damon burst in this morning.
"You got it." she told him as he parted ways, him headed to his room while she headed to the living room where she found Damon with a glass of bourbon in his hand as he stared at the fire in the fire place.
"So Katherine's alive." He told her where she stood between the couches that sat on either side of the fireplace.
"What?" Katie asked with a creased brow.
"Yep. She has been this whole time." He told her. "Apparently she was in Chicago in 1983." He said as he stood up and finally looked at her.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Katherine didn't give a shit about Damon. "I'm so sorry." Katie's hand fisted her necklace.
Damon downed the bourbon then went to the set of crystal on a table that set behind one of the couches and refilled the glass. "You're welcome to keep staying here, but we're over."
"What?" Katie asked, staring at him with wide, shocked eyes as her heart leapt into her throat.
"You heard me." He said as he grabbed his glass and walked over to her. "We're done, just like we planned all along."
"The plan was for you to be with Katherine and that didn't happen. So no, were not over." Katie argued.
"Yes we are!" Damon yelled and threw the glass against the wall then whooshed over pinning her to the wall with her hands in his on each side of her head. "Get this through your thick little skull. I...don't...want you."
"Damon." Stefan's voice pulled Katie's eyes to him where he stood behind Damon at the end of one of the couches. "Let her go."
She turned her eyes back to Damon and leaned as far forward as she could to get in his face. "And you get this through yours. I…love…you." she glared into his eyes that kept glaring into hers. "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone." The only thing keeping her from crying was her anger. "But you should know, if you push me away right now, I will not come back to you. No matter how much you beg me, how much you say you miss me it will…not…work. So think long and hard about what you're doing right now." She leaned her head back against the wall and stayed quiet for what felt like forever, glaring at him, giving him time to think, before she said, "Simple question. Simple yes or no answer, are we really over?"
Damon leaned down to get in her face and said, "Yes" then let go of her hands and backed up not breaking eye contact with her. She moved around him and gave Stefan a nod of thanks then went to her room.
That night she cried herself to sleep feeling more alone than she had in a very long time.
The next few days seemed to be a messy blur of helping Bonnie with her grams funeral, and Damon dragging multiple women to the house and partying with them at all hours of the day and night.
After Grams funeral Katie came home to see Damon with a blond on his lap as he drank from her neck. As always the sight sent a dagger through her chest and she had to bite back her tears. "Katie!" Damon called her name in a cheery voice seeing her watching him from the entry way. He pushed the girl to the side and walked over to her. "You look hot in black. Who are you all dressed up for?"
She just looked up at him with eyes that were red from crying and put her hand on the table to her right that had shards of broken glass that used to be a vase on it. She didn't know what happened and she didn't really care. "Gram's funeral." She answered coldly as she discreetly inched a piece of the glass into her hand.
"You should join us, have some fun." He suggested with a smile, his face smudged with the woman's blood, as he put his hand on the table next to hers.
Katie smiled back then let the smile turn to a sneer as she slammed the glass into the back of his hand. His face didn't show the slightest hit of pain. "Fuck you, Damon."
That night, after she had changed out of the black lace funeral dress, showered and made sure her school work was in order for Monday, she heard a knock on her door. She closed her journal and walked over to the door, but paused when her hand grabbed the knob. "Who it is?" She asked suspiciously.
"It's just me, Stefan." She heard from the other side so she pulled the door open.
"Hi." She said with a forced smile. Real ones didn't come easily anymore. She left the door open and sat down in the center of her bed.
"I know Elena's a mess, but how are you?" He asked as he moved her desk chair over to the foot of the bed and set down.
"Oh I'm walking on freaking sunshine." She quipped as she moved around to sit cross legged. Stefan smiled at her sarcasm. "Every time I walk in and see Damon with some compelled slut in his lap it's just another ray that gets added." She said as she turned her eyes to her hands as she picked at her cuticles.
"I wasn't just saying it to be nice when I told I was here if you ever needed to talk." Stefan told her as he leaned forward putting his elbows on his knees. "I want us to be friends, Katie."
"The last guy that told me he wanted to be my friend ripped my heart out and keeps repeatedly stabbing it." Katie replied looking up from her hands in her lap to seeing him looking at her with an extra crease in his always brooding brow. "You want to know how I'm doing?" She asked turning her eyes back down to her hands. "Three months ago I lived with someone who would randomly beat me for shit that I didn't do. Now I live with someone who hurts me every time I walk through the door."
"I'm sorry." She could tell when she looked at his green eyes that he meant it.
"When we were packing my stuff Damon found my parents will, hidden in my father's old desk. According to it my parent's house becomes mine when I turn eighteen." Katie hadn't told anyone about her parents will. There hadn't been a good opportunity. "So I'll only be here until February. After that I'll kick my grandfather out, get my house back and be out of your hair."
"You're not in my hair." He told her with a shake of his head. "You know I was the one that suggested that you stay here, right?" he asked.
Katie gave him a suspicious side look. "Really?"
"Why is that so hard to believe?" he asked. "You need a room, we have plenty." He said with a motion around him.
"I guess I can believe it." She said as she looked down and started picking fuzz from her conforter. "I mean you did run into a tomb that you didn't know if you could get out of just to save me." She pointed out. "Thank you by the way."
"How's your hand?" he asked with a nod toward her left hand.
She held it up showing him the two inch slash mark that had scabbed over. "It's healing."
"You will too, you know. It's just going to take time." He told her.
"Yeah, but I cut this one earlier when I stabbed Damon with a piece of broken glass." She said as she held up her right hand. "How's that for an analogy?" she asked as she let it fall to her lap and he just shook his head.
"First loves always hurt the worst." He told her as he leaned back in the chair.
"Who said he was my first love?" she asked and he just rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, okay, I guess it was obvious." She said with a roll of her own eyes.
"Okay, I may be a vampire, but I still need sleep." He said with a sigh as he stood up and walked over to her door. "Goodnight Katie."
"Night." She called as he walked out and shut the door behind him.
