Damon sighs tiredly as he put on a clean, non-ruined shirt in some haste to answer his ringing phone.
He picks it off his bed, sees who the caller is, and debates whether or not to actually pick up.
It had been a long day, all related to his plan of keeping the council off of his and Stefan's tracks.
The council, the group of people in Mystic Falls that knew about vampires, such as the sheriff, and Tyler's mom: Carol, and her husband: Richard.
He didn't know the rest, didn't even know the 'council' existed until around the time when he was trying to get his ring back from Stefan in the forest, and the two came across Logan Fell, who was hunting them down using the Gilbert watch as a supernatural compass.
Pretty far-fetched, right?
That's what he thought, but suddenly the members of the city had become a threat to Damon and Stefan, and Damon said he'd deal with it, after saving Stefan's life from Logan, by killing Logan.
Anyways, the council was beginning to suspect that, because the killings hadn't stopped, the vampire they're hunting might be someone that could somehow walk in daylight, and that their day-time Founder's Party wasn't enough to rule out who.
After supplying the sheriff with Zach's vervain, and she telling him this, Damon had to think of a way to avert all eyes away from him and Stefan,
and it just so happened that another vampire had walked into town that day:
Lexi.
He knew the consequence of killing her, yes,
but he also knew the consequence of being discovered.
The choice was obvious to him.
Expecting it, Damon gets attacked by Stefan, who spares his life as a 'getting even' for the time Damon had saved him from Logan.
As said, it had been a long day.
So why, oh why, was Emily Gilbert calling him up eleven that night?
"What?" he bitterly answered. For a few seconds, there was silence. Damon clenched his jaw irritably, but raised a brow in confusion, till her quiet voice spoke through.
"…You know, I was gonna call you this morning…to thank you for what you did to my brother," she says. Damon buffs air from his nose in a small release of tension. He would have somewhat appreciated the gratitude if it didn't sound like a preface to a scolding. He walked back to his side-table with a bourbon decanter atop and two glasses. He poured himself a drink as he asked:
"And?"
"And then you go and do something like that," she says with a tiresome tone. There it was, the thing he didn't think he'd want to hear. He was about to tell her off when she resumed: "I just don't get it, Damon. If not out of sympathy, then I at least thought you'd be smart enough to realize that living with your brother isn't going to get any easier when you kill his best friend."
"Not that it's any of your business, Emily, but what I did was for Stefan," he said, gulping down the contents of the cup as he paced his room.
"What do you mean?" she asked in a confused tone.
Okay, first of all, he didn't want to tell her. Second of all, she's the last person who should know that the sheriff actually has means of ridding the town of vampires.
After all, he'd once told her that there was no one she could run to, and he'd like for her to remain on that as a fact in case she got any ideas to rat him out.
"Like I said. It's none of your business. And, is this seriously why you called?!" he asks with bewildered features.
"…I honestly don't know why I called," she says.
"Well, then do us both a favor, and just don't," he says, about to end the pointless conversation. Emily gets the feeling he's about to hang up, and quickly says:
"Damon, wait!"
Had she been yelling or something, he probably would have hung up already, but he was curious.
"What?" he pushed.
"…Thank you…For Jeremey," she said.
He didn't want it to, but it did,
it did affect him.
You see, it wasn't like the usual 'thank you's he got, because most of what he did came with an ulterior motive: doing something and expecting something in return, even if the second party wasn't aware of that.
But, what he did for Jeremey…
Why did he do it?
He couldn't remember, and didn't care enough to try,
because a part of him knew why.
He hangs up then, and tosses the phone on the bed.
…
…The picture of Emily crouching next to the body, silent, with hands covered in blood.
It was the silence.
The fact that she didn't lash out, even when he flat out told her it was his fault above hers.
She just looked at him, and wordlessly left.
That was why.
XXX
The next day was a quiet one. Well, at least at first.
Emily went back to attending college, needing to get her mind off things.
The horrid feeling of guilt was still there every time she awoke from numb sleep, and she couldn't keep letting it control her life.
What's done is done. She had to try and move on.
When she came home, she met with Jeremy and Jenna, who were heading out to the Grill for lunch, and offered she come with them. Emily declined. She had a stack of homework to do, and wasn't going to get anything done in a crowded place that had nowhere to charge her laptop.
A short while later, she gets a text from Jeremy, telling her her boyfriend was there. She asked what boyfriend. He said Damon. Emily rolled her eyes, told him he wasn't her boyfriend, and told him to stop texting her, cause she was busy.
Not long after, Elena comes home with Bonnie.
Emily exits her room to greet them, and overhears Elena's words to her friend.
"It'll be okay, Bonnie," she said.
"Hey, guys," Emily called, smiling as she descended the stairs.
"Hey, Emily," Bonnie smiled back politely.
"What's wrong?" Emily asked the distraught-looking Bennet.
The two friends share a look before Elena, habitually, answers Emily.
"Damon's…threatening Bonnie," she says. Emily's brows raise in surprise.
"What?" she asks, confused.
"It's no big deal," Bonnie dismisses.
"Of course it is, Bonnie," Emily states. She faces Elena again, fairly displeased.
"Why?" she asks.
"He wants her necklace, but she doesn't have it any more. She threw it away," Elena answers.
"Wow. Wow. Slow down. Her necklace?"
The two share another look.
"It's okay. We can trust Emily. She knows all about Damon, and…other stuff," Elena says weirdly. Bonnie seems hesitant.
She then faces Emily,
and recalls the time the Gilbert had advised her to go visit her Grams, for vague reasons.
She assumes that somehow, Emily knows the truth about her,
and, sees no harm in telling her, like she had Elena.
"I'm a witch."
Emily takes this in,
then nods.
"I know," she says.
"You do?" Elena asks, taken aback.
"It was pretty obvious," she smirks lightly, infecting the two with humor. "Come on. I'll make some coffee, and you tell me what the deal with this necklace is. I wanna know why Damon's after you for it."
And so she tells her,
tells both of them all about the dreams she'd been having, about a ghost ironically also named Emily, but was similar in features to Bonnie, with an attire that looked to be centuries old.
The first time she dreamt of her, Emily said 'it's coming.' Bonnie was in a forest, and when she woke up, she was actually in a forest.
The second time ended up being in similar circumstances. Emily guided Bonnie to the Fell Church that had burned down, and said: 'this is where it started. And this is where it has to end,' then continued to ask Bonnie for help.
Bonnie then tells Emily Gilbert what Damon had said to her. He seemed to know who the ghost was, told Bonnie he wanted to help her, as opposed to waiting for the ghost to give him the necklace itself. He also told her to tell the ghost that 'a deal's a deal.'
With all the information given, Emily decides to confront Damon, if only to understand the situation more,
or maybe she was looking for excuses to see him.
"Emily, wait," Elena calls, following Emily, who was getting dressed, into her bedroom. "What makes you think he'll talk to you?" she warily asks. Emily simply knew he would, but didn't think that would convince Elena.
"I don't. I'm hoping he will," she answers instead, taking the clothes hanged on her wardrobe's door-knob and stripping.
"…Emily…I know you think…that a part of him is good," Elena starts. Emily sighs tiredly at her words as she pulled on her jeans. "Especially because…he helped Jeremy…But the truth is we don't know why he did that, and we don't know what he's capable of," she insists. Emily agreed with her on that, but her instinct opposed it. It was stupid, she knew, but she couldn't help it.
"I'm just gonna ask him some questions, Elena. I'll be back quick," she says, fixing on her black t-shirt and slinging on her bag.
Ask some questions, that's what she told herself she was going to do. Ask some questions, ask him to leave Bonnie alone…
But she also knew that those weren't the only reasons.
Emily heads down the stairs and Elena looks after her in concern. She descends the stairs with her, intent on calling Stefan the minuet she left.
If there was one thing neither Gilberts could do, it was to get their older sister to do something she didn't want to.
Bonnie watches from the kitchen warily, and when Emily is gone, Elena approaches her.
"Did she…did she just leave to talk to him?!" she asks in shock.
"Emily seems to think that negotiating with Damon is an option," Elena sighs, dialing Stefan's number.
"But…he hurt Caroline, and he threatened me! Why in the world would she think that?!"
Elena pauses and looks to Bonnie opposite her at the kitchen counter. "…Damon did something…He helped us with something…Granted he wouldn't have had to if the problem wasn't his fault…" Elena rolls her eyes, then they fix at an invisible spot as she considers something. "…I think…I think, in some crazy way…she might also…"
"…Like him?!" Bonnie exclaims. Elena exhales in tension, calling Stefan and placing the phone to her ear. "That's actually not very surprising," Bonnie suddenly says. Elena furrows her brows at that. "Remember her ex?" she smirks lightly.
Elena's eyes widen slightly.
Emily's ex.
The guy from last year, Alec.
First year college mystery guy, a flirt, the untrustworthy kind.
Emily was head over heels for him, till he left Mystic Falls just the year after.
Neither do the long-distance deal very well, and things weren't serious enough between them for them to try.
But Elena didn't see much to compare between Damon and Alec.
Maybe it was because Damon was a vampire! Who killed people!
"Hey," Stefan's voice tunes in, snapping her out of it.
XXX
Before driving off, Emily texted Jeremey to make sure that Damon was still at the Grill.
He was, and so that's where she went.
Upon entry, Emily spots him first, and doesn't notice Jenna, or Jeremy in the Grill. They don't notice her either. Jeremy had his nose in a book, and Jenna was flirting with his new history teacher: Alaric Saltzman.
"Richards. A coke please," she smiles at the bartender, sliding on the stool next to Damon. He faces her and raises a brow, tequila bottle in hand and a glass.
"Are you stalking me, Gilbert?" he asks as Richards slides a glass towards her and she hands him pay with a quiet thank you.
"Getting rid of me is easy, Damon. Just stop harassing everyone I know," she says, looking at the ice-filled glass with interest. Damon noted she was avoiding eye-contact with him.
"I'd love to do that, Emily. If they stopped getting in my way. Your little witch friend has my necklace," he irritably tells. She smirks at that.
"Okay, A. A guy wearing a necklace is a real turn-off," he smirks at that too. "and B…how do you know what she is?" she finally catches his gaze. Damon turns away.
"Unless you're offering to get me that necklace, we got nothing to talk about," he tiredly says, refusing to confess.
She is somewhat disappointed with his attitude. He was so much more open before she found out what he was.
Well, she guessed it wasn't a matter of being open, more like pretending. So was this the real him? A non-social, bitter guy?
"Why do you want it?" she asks.
"That's none of your business," he plainly retorts. She squints her eyes at him.
"It is, actually," she says. He turns at her confident tone as though in mock. "Considering what it is, I'm concerned with what you want it for, Damon."
What he wanted it for.
There's only ever been one main goal since he'd come to Mystic Falls.
"You have no idea what it is, Emily, so stop pretending like you do," he says.
"Well, why don't you enlighten me. It's not like you have anyone else to talk to," she smirks sarcastically.
"Says the vampire-killing lone-wolf," he shoots back in amusement. Her humor fades away, and heart sinks in her chest.
"That's not funny," she says, breaking eye-contact.
He was getting tired of being affected by her sorrow. She needed to toughen up, and quit being such a baby.
"No, you know what is? How pathetic it is," her eyes snap to his again in anger, "that you're giving so much crap about someone as worthless as a junkie," he quietly, harshly states.
"As opposed to you turning her for feeling sorry for her?!" she retorts just as quietly, just as harshly.
Neither were aware how much closer they'd gotten to each other as the argument grew heated.
Damon was about to negate her statement, when someone cut in.
"Emily," Stefan calls.
Both turn to face him, and Damon quickly turns away irritably at his presence.
He walks up to them.
"Mind if I talk to my brother," he signals an obvious 'leave' with his eyes. Emily is certain Elena had called him. She exhales in a release of tension.
Stefan then gives her an assuring nod, and she realizes he is here for the same reasons.
She nods, and gets to her feet. "Knock yourself out," she picks up her coke and walks away. Damon glances at her departure, and awaits Stefan's approach.
It would be a long night.
"Hey," Emily greets her brother, whom she'd spotted in a booth.
"Hey. You came," he states.
"Yep. Damon's an ass," she tiredly says, picking at Jeremy's fries.
"Yeah? What'd he do?" he asks, turning away from his homework, relieved to catch a break.
"He's acting all mean and ruthless. Thinks it's cool," she answers tiredly, sipping her coke.
"What'd he do?" Jeremy pushes. Emily faces him. Obviously, she couldn't tell him.
"Forget it. What I really wanna know, is what Jenna is doing with that dude," Emily smirks, pointing at the laughing pair far off.
"Ho, ho. That. He's my new history teacher. Mister Saltzman."
"Saltzman? Seriously?" Emily smirks.
"Haha. Yeah, I know. But he's really cool. Wants to help me get my grades up. Told me to write an article about a local topic, non-internet and stuff. Jenna said I should look at all of dad's history stuff in the closet," he said.
Emily's eyes widen slightly in consideration.
Dad's stuff was the reason she knew about the other world…
It seemed Damon, Stefan, and witches had suddenly become a part of their life…
Maybe Jeremy finding out was a good thing, and maybe it wasn't…She decided to leave it to how much he starts believing those books.
She couldn't decide whether keeping him in the dark was better, or if keeping him aware was safer.
She couldn't decide.
XXXXX
