I DO NOT OWN THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, NOR DO I OWN ANY CHARACTERS THAT ARE FROM THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS ARE GRACIE AND ABBY.
This is my first fanfic so I hope y'all like it, I am a huge Daroline fan and always will be! I am really excited to share this story with you guys.
Main Characters: Caroline, Damon, Gracie, Abby, Bonnie, Stefan, Rebekah, Elena, Enzo, Katherine, Liz.
Please note that this is an AU and everyone is human.
Thanks hope you enjoy the story
"Shhh, shhhh. It's gonna be ok, everything will be ok." Caroline whispered to her baby in her hospital room, unsure if she was reassuring her crying daughter or herself. She sat in the room alone, she went through childbirth alone. Her mother had to was responding to a fatal car crash, her friends were in mystic falls, her dad was across the country, and her boyfriend. 'Ex- boyfriend' she corrected, left her to be with her best friend, ex- best friend.
Caroline started to cry along with her child, soft cries turned into sobs. She felt like she was drowning and no one would jump in the water to save her. She felt like she was dying.
She looked at the baby who cries seemed to dissapate, she was sleeping. 'Thank god' caroline thought. She rocked her side to side continuing to cry. She only looked up when she heard the door creak open. Her blue eyes met dark brown ones.
"Hey..." he said softly as he entered. "Hey, what's wrong?" He continued as he neared her, he noticed tears streaming down from her puffy eyes onto her face. He the noticed the sleeping baby in her arms.
"Oh my God Care..." he smiles slightly as he watched the baby. "She's beautiful." He whispered as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Can I..."
Caroline muttered something of a "mhmm" and nodded her head. He then took the baby into his arms, rocking her side to side. Smiling softly at her, a smile filled with love. Caroline continued to cry the entire time. He noticed, so he set the baby into the crib next to the bed. He then took Caroline's hand and put into his. "I'm so sorry." He muttered as Caroline began to break down more. "You didn't deserve this, I know that, but... you deserve this." He said as he motioned to the sleeping baby next to her. "She is going to be the best thing to ever happen to you, she is going to complete you, she'll help heal you. She isn't going to leave you Caroline. I won't either." He said, Caroline nodded her head in agreement, she rested it on his shoulder, crying softly.
You won't be alone forever.
"This game sucks..." Damon mumbled as he once again lost a game of Candy Land to Gracie.
"I'm sorry what was that? Did you just say that Gracie is the best at Candy Land because she beat you 10 times in a row?" Gracie declared loudly so the whole house heard. Throwing her arms up in the air as she finished.
Damon smirked. "No, I meant that this is totally unfair." He denied although he didn't state why, probably because he was a sore looser.
As if Gracie could read his mind... "Oh c'mon don't be a sore looser, besides, you have two people on your team. If anyone is experiencing unfairness, it's me." Gracie replied, pointing to the baby in Damon's lap, who was currently squealing in excitement as she slammed her hands on the game board. In turn knocking all the game pieces off.
"Yeah, she's very helpful." Damon quipped, removing Lilah's arms from the game board for (what felt like) the one-hundredth time. She squirmed in response, but was easily distracted when Damon placed her Sofie the Giraffe toy in front of her.
Gracie giggled a little before she spoke again. "So, wanna play again." She asked, sitting up more.
"I was actually hoping that we could, umm, get to know each other a little bit." He answered, but instantly regretted it when he saw Gracie get visibly uncomfortable. Dammit, the last thing I wanna do is freak her out, "But only if you want too, it's totally fine if you don't. It's just that I don't know that much about you and from what I gather, you don't know that much about me either..." he trailed off.
Gracie was a little taken a back but mostly embarrassed, she felt so stupid, she was sitting here playing Candy Land with him when he wanted to get to know her. Duh Gracie she thought. Through Damon's insistent talking she found her words again. "It's fine!" She insisted a little too loudly which caused Damon to jump (and Lilah to give him a quizzical look, or as quizzical as a look can get for a baby) and face her again. She looked him in the eyes, we really do have the same eyes she thought. "I mean- it's fine, it's a good idea." She repeated, this time expressing her thoughts softer. She was reassured by the the way Damon's face lit up that she had said the right thing.
"Ok, uhh, what's your full name?" He asked, he knew why her first name was Gracie but he didn't know if she had a middle name or anything like that, but knowing Caroline Forbes, she probably did.
"Gracie Rose Forbes, well I guess Forbes-Salvatore now." She answered, feeling hints of excitement as she added Salvatore to the end.
Gracie Rose Damon thought. Rose was one of Damon's best friends, she died in the same fire that killed his brother, Malcom. He understood that Caroline did not give Gracie the middle name Rose for him, she had her own reasons for giving her the name. "That's a nice name." He replied sincerely, his heart aching just a little bit.
"What about you, what's your full name?" She inquired, Damon Salvatore was already and interesting name, she believed it could only get more interesting from there.
"Damon Salvatore, I don't have a middle name." He replied, laughing slightly at the fact, he didn't know why though, probably because he was nervous.
"Oh, that's cool." Gracie said, she was expecting something more extravagant, guess not.
"When's your birthday?" He asked her.
"November 6." She answered. "What about you?"
"June 18."
Gracie simply nodded her head. The conversation was nice but not... real. It was almost as if they were avoiding the questions they really wanted to ask each other, because they were afraid of the answers. Gracie thought of ways she could work around this, ways she could ask a subtle question but receive a real answer. "So, Elena's... nice. How long have you two been together?" She asked, using the term nice, loosely.
"Uhh, yeah. We've been together for..." Damon contemplated on telling Gracie they've been on and off for 10 years, he was scared of how she would react. "for a while." Was the explanation he decided on.
"Hmm... do you love her?" Gracie blurted out, she had always been blunt.
"Wha- uhh, yeah of course." Damon answered although the question startled him. He had hesitated, he didn't know why.
"That didn't sound convincing." Gracie replied, trying to provoke a real answer from him.
"Gracie-" he started before he heard the door open, he turned to look behind him and saw the other guests walk through, the first face he could make out was Caroline's laughing one. That damn laugh he thought.
Lilah turned to look where Damon was looking and starting squealing and laughing when she saw her parents walk through the door, this broke Damon out of whatever trance he was in. "I'll be right back." Damon said to Gracie as he walked towards the blonde couple, a giggling Lilah in his arms.
He came face to face with a very excited Rebekah. "So how'd it go?"
"Hey!" Caroline greeted Gracie when she sat on the floor next to her. "How'd it go?" She asked. "Was it fun, what did you guys talk about, was he nice too you-"
"It was fine!" Gracie interjected, she loved her mom and her questions but she was still quite upset with her and didn't want do the whole "first degree" thing. She looked to her mom who's voice had seemed to dissipate. She could see the hurt in her mother's eyes, she felt a little bad, but she couldn't- I can't do this with her yet. She stood up abruptly and left the room, leaving behind a defeated Caroline. So defeated that she didn't notice Elena enter the room.
"Mommy issues?" She commented, leaning against one of the walls, a small smile across her face.
Caroline didn't look towards her keep your cool Care, she told her self.
"Bitchy issues?" Katherine said as she entered from another hall, along with Abby.
Recently Katherine couldn't bare her sister, she was seriously pissing her off. It was always "Do you think Damon's going to leave me for that bitch?" or "Do you think he still has feelings for her?" It took all of Katherine's self control to not answer with, If he knows what's good for him.
She couldn't talk to her parents about Elena's recent change in attitude (or should she say the attitude that Elena always had, but had been covering up for 10 years), because they always favored her. The only person who she could talk to was Jeremy which was hard because his attention had also been stolen by Elena's drama.
"Whatever, all I'm saying is that it's your fault she's acting like this." Elena admitted harshly, hoping to gain a reaction from Caroline.
"You don't think I know that, don't lecture me about my child Elena." Caroline cautioned, her own eyes meeting Elena's brown ones.
"Just making sure, I mean of course if you wanted advice on what it's like to not have a father up until your 9 ask Abby, I'm sure she'd know." Elena retaliated, hoping maybe she'd provoke a reaction this time.
At first no one said anything, to stunned to answer. No one thought sweet, sensitive, innocent Elena could say something like that, but, you know what they say about assumptions. Katherine was seeing red as Caroline's face contorted in astonishment, followed by Abby storming out of the room. "What, gonna glare me to death." Elena chirped, satisfied with her affect on them.
"Burn all your bridges Elena, see if I care!" Katherine shouted at her sister, before she ran after Abby.
Of course at that moment Damon decided to rejoin them (baby-less). "What happened?" He asked when he saw the glare Caroline was giving Elena.
"You have a lovely girlfriend Damon." She spat at them before standing up to leave the room, her high heeled boots clicking as she did so.
Damon turned to face Elena a worried but knowing look across his features. "What did you do?" He questioned.
"What I had to." She answered as she straightened up off the wall to kiss him, before going to their room.
It had been a while since Caroline's debacle with Elena, and she hadn't spoken to Gracie since. It was like her daughter was avoiding her, no- she is avoiding you Caroline corrected. This left Caroline feeling utterly conflicted, on one hand she could try and talk to Gracie again but most likely receive a glare or she could find Damon and ask him about his afternoon (more like and hour, which was supposed to be 25 minutes, but Rebekah probably stalled everyone).
Instead Caroline walked outside towards the lake to clear her head, she stood towards the edge of the dock. She tucked her sweater tightly around herself to shield from the autumn air before inhaling deeply, letting it fill her lungs. She listened to how the wind moved the trees and leaves around her, watched as it pushed the water in various directions. Later she would say that the tears pooling in her eyes were from "allergies" but she knew she was only lying to herself. "When did things get so hard?" She whispered, her voice cracking the tiniest bit.
"They were always hard." Said a familiar voice from behind her, sending a shiver up her spine. "I mean, I'm assuming so... wasn't there." He said as he took the place next to her.
Caroline let out a corse laugh. "You didn't make it any easier." She recalled, remembering what the past years had been like. She sniffled as she brushed a tear off of her cheek.
Damon turned to her, noticing her demeanor. "Are you crying?" He asked her, tensing up when her gaze met his.
"The weather's changing, we're outside, in the wilderness-ish. Allergies." She answered, turning away from him, facing the lake again.
"You don't have allergies." He corrected, also looking back towards the vast lake, that had turned a blue-gray color. She didn't reply, just kept... staring. "Gracie Rose, it's a cute name." He continued, sighing softly when he finished.
"She told you."
"Mhmm, even added Salvatore to the end." He allowed a small smile creep onto his lips, he knew this would probably piss Caroline off but he could enjoy Gracie's words for a while.
"That's a mouthful." She joked.
Damon chuckled. "Yeah, if that's a mouthful I can only imagine what Abby's full name is." It was Caroline's turn to laugh.
"You don't know our niece's full name, shame on you." She gushed, not knowing why the fact was so funny.
"Eh, the last time I said it was years ago, she told me that Abigail sounded like an old mean British nanny's name." He said laughing as did Caroline.
"She's an interesting girl."
Damon simply nodded his head, agreeing with her. At this point they were both laughing non-stop, not really understanding what was so funny. Maybe it was because there lives had gotten so complicated that they need to enjoy the little moments of easiness they get.
After the laughter died down Caroline once again inhaled the chilly autumn air, before sighing deeply. "I hate you." She mumbled, her tone becoming more serious.
"I know." His tone matching hers.
"And you don't care?"
"Only if you want me to."
It was then Caroline locked eyes with Damon, she was confused. Two weeks ago he was livid with her, but now, he seems as if he doesn't care. "Why aren't you angry anymore? I mean, 2 weeks is small in comparison to 10 years. I don't get it..."
"Don't get what?" He sighed.
"Why your being so nice too me! Or how you're staying so calm! You should hate me, you should hate that I hate you!"
"What do you want me to say? That I hate you, that I'm angry with you-"
"Yes!" She shouted at him, her arms wrapping around herself.
"No." He replied, his blue eyed gaze piercing through hers.
"Why not?"
"Because hate's a strong word Caroline." He said before walking past her towards the house. Leaving Caroline alone with her thoughts once again.
When Damon reached the house he turned back, looking towards the blonde watching the moving body of water. He wondered why he had said that, or why he didn't tell her he hated her like she'd asked. He admired the way her hair blew in the wind and how her cheeks became a bright shade of pink, how even in her most stressed time continued to look gorgeous. He couldn't tell her what she wanted to hear because...
Hate's a strong word.
Hi! It's been a minute! This chapter was fun and cute to right! I hope y'all enjoyed it!
Sry this chapter isn't as long!
Up Next: What will Bonnie do when she finds out about what Elena said to Abby? What is Elenas goal? Is Damon really handling the situation as well as everyone thinks he is? How does Gracie feel about all of this?
Stay tuned to find out!
Reviews are appreciated!
Thanks for reading!!! Byeeeeee! :)