I'll keep this one short, thank you so much for supporting me still after so long and for liking my story as much as you do, I love you all so much! I really hope you like this chapter, I know I do, so please enjoy!

And when there's nowhere else to run
Is there room for one more son
These changes ain't changing me
The cold-hearted boy I used to be

-The Killers-

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He was a vile man.

That was a fact Damon Salvatore no longer took an effort in refuting, he was who he was and there was nothing that could change it. That didn't mean he enjoyed who he was or that he regretted it either because being that man had allowed him to protect the people he loved.

But the nightmares were always there to haunt him: the voices asking for mercy, the lifeless eyes staring back at him, the stench of blood and death that filled his nostrils whenever he entered dreamland. They chased him, the shadows of the people who had perished at his hands, the countless lives he had taken throughout the years, the sins he would never be able to erase, they were all there waiting for him whenever he closed his eyes.

Except on the nights she slept next to him.

She had been a scared scrawny girl of six the first time she climbed into his bed, and from that night since she had shown him the peace nothing else was able to give him, she had chased his nightmares away with the sound of her laugh and her careless thoughts. Elena was a breath of fresh air, a balm for his tortured soul.

And yet that didn't stop him for hurting her. From showing her the cruelty of the world in order to make her strong, to break her just to put her back together himself, because that way he would become her whole world and the only thing she would need.

He was a sick fucker.

A bastard who enjoyed her pain and her happiness, who relished in being the center of her world and the one thing she needed the most. But his depravation had reached new heights ever since he returned and was able to hold her in his arms again when he felt her going lax in his arms and his nostrils filled with the scent of her perfume.

He had fucked Rose against the wall that night, while images of Elena moving against his body filled his mind, wanting nothing more than being buried inside the body of the woman he had loved like a sister for so long.

What had changed? In which moment Elena had transformed herself from the person he wanted to protect more than anyone in the world to the one he wanted to possess. Was that feeling inside him all that time? Brewing and growing inside him until he could no longer contain it?

He could barely hold himself now, as his driver took them through the colorful and warm streets of Cali, she was sound asleep with her head resting against his shoulder. He breathed in deeply the scent of her perfume and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, she snuggled into him and he closed his eyes in order to steel himself against her. To force back those dark thoughts that swirled in his mind and make himself see her as nothing but the sister he had grown up with.

As if somehow sensing the turmoil that swirled inside his head, Elena stirred and her eyes fluttered open. A sleepy smile covered her face as she snuggled into his body as if it was the most normal thing in the world, in a way, he guessed it was.

"Are we there yet?"

Damon threw a quick glance to the rows of trees that now surrounded them and knew the answer to her question in a heartbeat. It had been years since he last set foot in his grandfather's state in Cali, but the place was still carved in his memory, rooted so deep like the sound of his father's laughter and the scent of Elena's skin. Damon always had the sense that it was in that dangerous paradise where he truly could find peace, where he was absolutely happy.

"Look around" He whispered in Elena's ear.

The girl straightened up at the same time she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, her disheveled short hair covered part of her face as she looked around the massive trees rising before them.

"It's always so beautiful" She whispered in awe as the driver took a turn to the left and they found themselves in front of tall gold iron gates.

He took a deep breath as the driver exchanged quick words in Spanish with the intercom before the gates opened wide and they continued their journey forward. He felt his shoulders relaxing and the air easing softly into his lungs, the imposing property rose before them, as magical and beautiful as his childhood memories.

"How is it possible that it's been so long since I last came here… and to feel like no time went by at all" Elena told him as if she somehow could understand exactly what he was feeling, Damon sometimes wondered if perhaps they were part of the same being separated in different bodies. It sure felt like that.

He took her hand as the driver stopped in front of the house and said a few words in welcome "It was one of the things I've always loved about this place" He told her as he helped her out of the car "It's like time stood still"

His eyes drank in the ostentatious garden and palm trees, elevated before them, in the obnoxious fountain his grandfather insisted on keeping, the ever-present bustle of people around and magical scents coming from the kitchen. He observed the three-story brick wall mansion and was once again that little boy in his father's shoulders, always more at peace and relaxed under the Colombian sun than in the cold and wet castle-like home his father's family, owned in Napoli.

"So beautiful" Elena's murmurs brought her back to the present and he looked down to see her observing the place in the same way he had been doing. Her eyes misting as a thousand memories somersaulted her.

He threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to his body "I thought you hated coming here?"

Elena rolled her eyes and jabbed him swiftly on the side "I hated being here without you"

"Cheeky little thing," He said with a laugh before pecking her lips gently. Such an innocent gesture, which suddenly had acquired a completely different meaning for him "Ven aqui mi amor, vamos a recordar" (Come here love, it's time to reminisce)

Elena rolled her eyes for a second time as she followed him inside, her hand clasped tightly on his "I love how you keep expecting me to understand what you say"

Before he had time to answer her, an old aged lady barreled towards them. The wrinkles around her eyes were more prominent, her once all dark hair was now tainted with white wisps, and her cheeks had more fat than they used to but despite all the changes she was the same as Damon remembered her.

"Mi nene" (My baby) The woman said as she threw her hands around him and pulled him down for a hug "Oh Damon, tanto tiempo sin verte aqui" (Oh Damon, it's been so long since you last been here)

"Vanesa" He whispered her name as he returned the hug, his eyes filling slightly with tears without him understanding why "Oh Dios como extrañaba tus abrazos" (God, how I missed your hugs)

The woman released him and patted his cheek lovingly "Solo haces que me sonroje" (You like to make me blush)

Elena cleared her throat awkwardly and jabbed Damon on the side "And yes, I am here too"

The round brown eyes of the woman moved towards her "Is this Miss Elena?" She asked before a wide smile spread on her soft face "My God girl, you've grown so much! Such a beautiful young lady" Vanesa's arms now moved towards Elena, who accepted her embrace excitedly.

Damon chuckled and threw her a pointed glance "Happy now?" He joked "You always the attention for yourself bonita (Pretty Girl)"

Elena laughed as the woman released her "What can I say?"

Vanesa clapped her hands excitedly in front of her "Oh I swear this was fated, I just finished making a whole tray of manjar blanco my dear" Damon watched as Elena's eyes lit up at the mention of her favorite Colombian dessert "Tell me you still love it?"

"I haven't eaten it since I last came here, but my mouth is just watering by talking about it"

"Wonderful!" The woman grabbed by the shoulders "Join me in the kitchen so I can fill that belly with it" Her eyes made a swipe of her and she gave her a disapproving glance "You look so thin"

Elena grinned and looked at Damon "Oh I missed coming here"

He returned her grin and nodded in direction of the kitchen "You go, I'll go see grandfather"

The air seemed to change around them at the mention of the old man, Elena's face softened and she reached to squeeze his hand "You sure? I can come with you"

Damon shook his head. He always tried to keep Elena as informed about their world as possible, but there were things, things that were too dark for her precious heart. Things he planned on discussing with his grandfather and he didn't want Elena anywhere near them.

His grandfather didn't have much time and it would be his turn to step up, and in order to achieve what it was needed for him to be who he was supposed to be he needed no distractions, he needed to be strong and he needed her as safe as possible.

"I'll catch up with you later," He told her and watched her follow Vanesa to the kitchen with a smile on her face. A smile he wanted to conserve in there forever because Damon Salvatore might be a vile man but Elena Gilbert would forever be his saving grace.

His hand rested on the wooden balustrade as he climbed the stairs, his fingers tracing the old wood that existed even before was born. His eyes took on every small crease on the walls or a new stain on the tile floors, anything that showed him the changes the places had suffered in his absence.

He was almost sorry to realize the house hadn't been altered much since his last visit, that it remained impassive and unscathed despite the number of days he had been away. That the changes existed only in his heart, in his soul, in the heaviness that ate at him with every passing day.

The house remained untouched by the perils of time, but the same couldn't be said about the man who was now laying on the big canopied bed that occupied a quarter of the main bedroom. The man with bronzed skin and white hair, whose wrinkles took in the entirety of his face and whose blue eyes seemed weathered and sullen.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up" The voice that spoke sounded raspy and tired, long gone was the man who's resonating voice could command an entire room to silence "That uncle of yours finally got his affairs in order?"

Damon took a deep breath and tried to hide the emotion that surely was spread across his face. It seemed unbelievable to him that the man who was once larger than life could be reduced to a sick fragile old man.

"He did"

The old man's features hardened and for a second Damon saw the spark back in his eyes "Chin up Damon, I didn't raise you to be a pansy" He barked.

Damon chuckled and walked further into the room "You didn't raise me old man" His steps taking him to the big old leather chair placed against the window.

The old man clicked his tongue "Mock me all you want, we both know that snake of John Gilbert didn't do it and much less your own father" Disgust and shame dripped from his every word and suddenly Damon's memory took him back to the last summer he got to spend with his father, sensing the distress at his words the old man brought him back to the present with another bark "Chin up Damon, you're getting too soft"

Damon's eyes narrowed "Look who's talking"

"Arrogant boy" He spat out, but traces of a smile appeared on his face "Let's see when you're eighty and suffered three strokes, let's see how you feel after that"

"I guess the joke's on you then, isn't?"

His grandfather chuckled alongside him. One of the most feared men of Colombian mafia about to die down by old age and infected lungs, not by gunshot or torture like they once thought. A warrior, about to be taken away by nature itself.

"It might be" He answered, a flicker of emotion shining in his eyes "But if this is the way I'm going, then so be it" His eyes snapped closed for a moment before he opened them again, a harshness had clouded them in a span of seconds "But first, I need to know I'm leaving the right man in charge"

"You doubt of me?"

"I doubt of your heart"

Damon chuckled and leaned back on his chair, "I don't have one of those"

"You can fool everyone else but me boy" The man breathed deeply and settled more comfortably on his pillows "Your hands might be stained with more blood than anyone could ever imagine, but your heart isn't blackened yet, not completely"

Damon flinched back "I thought that was what you wanted" He bit out, irrational anger taking hold of his body "You're not precisely a saint"

"And I never claimed to be!" The old man growled out "I've done more damage than I could ever atone in one lifetime, but at least I love and protected my family"

Damon sucked in a breath, the meaning behind his grandfather's words wasn't lost on him. He knew what he was referring to, or more accurately who and the mere mention of that haunting memory was enough to make him shake with rage.

His nostrils flared as he tried to compose himself "My mother—she's… she's going to be an issue"

"Your mother is a fool!" The other man shouted "Can barely believe that woman came out of my lovely Diana" His upper lip curled in a snarl, his eyes narrowing when he saw the expression on his grandson's face "Don't look at me like that, you know I'm right"

Damon ignored his words and instead redirected the conversation to its original topic "Stefan's on it"

A wide smile spread across the old man's lips, transforming his entire face, "Of course he is, my boys, would never let me down"

Damon remained in silence for a couple of seconds, his eyes lost in the courtyard that spread itself behind the window "I won't let Elena get in the middle of this" He murmured after a while.

"I don't expect her to be" His grandfather answered "That girl has more steel in her than you think, she might end up leading the whole thing"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Damon said with a chuckle before he took a deep breath and moved his eyes back to the man in the bed "I missed you, grandpa"

"Yo tambien muchacho" (Me too boy) The man answered as his features softened slightly "Ahora dejate de pendejadas y endurezete, hay mucho trabajo por hacer" (Now, enough with the nonsenses and get tough, there's a lot work to do)

Damon smile widened, grateful to see the life coming back to his grandfather's features.

It didn't take long to find her. Despite the years and the changes she had suffered through the years, he still knew her like the back of his hand, so the minute he walked out of his grandfather's bedroom, he went in direction to the big backyard pool where he knew he would find her.

Elena was lounging in one of the golden iron recliners his grandfather fancied so much. He stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted her, she was wearing what could only be considerate as an indecent bikini, or at least that was he thought at the moment. The mint green polka dot fabric contrasted with her slightly bronzed skin in such an alluring way he couldn't help goosebumps breaking at the sight, the Brazilian cut and the pink lace on the edges made the ensemble even more irresistible and though he hated himself for it he couldn't help but feel himself grow at the picture she painted.

Her eyes were closed and her short hair caressed her cheeks in the most delicious of ways, he groaned low in his throat and chastised himself for being such a hot-blooded man before straightening up and marching towards her.

"I thought it would take longer for you to feel at home"

Elena's lips curved in a smile as she opened one to look at him "Are you kidding me? It's freezing cold in New York at the moment, of course, I'm going to enjoy this bit of sunshine"

He chuckled and sat down on the recliner next to hers "Cheeky"

Elena sighed deeply before opening both eyes and moving so she could rest on her side and stare at him "How is your grandad?"

"The man is a though oak, I wouldn't be worried about him"

He wondered if she could see the vulnerability he realized had slipped into his voice, lately, it seemed harder for him to hide what he was feeling. He felt about to explode, like something inside him was about to snap at any moment and everything would come loose.

She gave him a kind smile that answered his question "I hope we get to see him by dinner time" She said "It's been ages since I last saw him"

He nodded solemnly and mimicked her position on the recliner "It seems like a lifetime ago, isn't?"

Elena remained in silence for a couple of seconds before she reached out to him, her hand tracing the marred skin on his face with gentle touches "What's on your mind, Damon?"

"Sorry?"

"You look different," She said as he leaned into her touch, his eyes closed so she couldn't see what was hidden behind them "It always seems to me that you turn away for a moment and when you return to me you're not the same as you were"

"It's called life Elena"

She released a sigh that was filled with sadness "Not an ordinary one"

"No, no it isn't"

Her hand abandoned his face and sneaked down until it reached his hands, she laced their fingers together "I'm glad I came with you Damon"

He took their joined hands to his lips and placed a soft kiss in there "I'm glad too, Bonita. I've missed you"

She smiled at him "Not more than I"

A storm was brewing in the horizon and the aftermath was going to be catastrophic, Damon could only hope he was strong enough to come out a victor and to resist the urge for Elena that grew inside him with each passing minute.

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