Finally, my first tryout at a Vampire Diaries fanfic. I remember watching this show alongside my sister back when I was younger, especially seasons 3 & 4 and I used to look up information on the official TVD wiki, whether it was the episodes or the characters. It's an intriguing show to say the least and I only watched the first four episodes so far, so I'm not the biggest TVD fan or well-informed of the franchise, however, I've heard that The Originals is a much better show than TVD, so I might want to check the show out as well as TVD. I also heard they made a series called Legacies, but that doesn't interest me at all.

What surprised me is that The Vampire Diaries actually predated Twilight (or Shitlight as my friend Aragorn II Elessar would like to call it), with the original novels being released fourteen years before the first Twilight novel. Hell, I think both franchises are more similar than one could give credit. A weak, female character gets drawn into a love triangle between two supernatural beings (vampire brothers in TVD, Vampire and Werewolf in Twilight), turns into a vampire and meets a cult of ancient vampires (The Originals in TVD, The Volturi in Twilight). Doesn't that sound familiar?

Also, I heard that Damon generally comes off as an asshole to everyone around him, even his loved ones. I mean, think about it. He tried to make Stefan's life miserable, he tried to steal Elena from him, he killed Lexi, Tanner and Zach, he killed Aaron after "Elena" broke up with him, he raped Caroline and manipulated her, he turned Isobel into a vampire, he killed Zach's wife and hell, he even insulted his mother when she was dying. That's cold. And not to mention, I heard his relationship with Elena is very toxic and unhealthy and the only female who seems to bring out the best in him is Bonnie Bennett. Makes sense.

Anyway, this is a what-if scenario of 162 Candles, where I decided to change the ending. We all know that Stefan spares Damon's life and they end up bonding again, but I still hate the fact that Lexi's death was glossed over and Stefan allowed Damon to get away with it. I watched some clips of the episode for research. This will not be Damon friendly.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. It belongs to the CW, Julie Peck and L. J. Smith.


Mystic Grill

A few moments have passed since the attack on the Mystic Grill. The vampire who tried to attack Sheriff Liz Forbes, Lexi Branson, was killed when Damon Salvatore interfered and killed her by staking her in the heart, "saving" the sheriff's life. With Lexi's death, the Mystic Falls police thought that they had killed the vampire they had been looking for.

In reality, this was all a part of Damon's plan to destroy the life of his younger brother, Stefan, and make him suffer. He knew it was his brother's 162nd birthday and compelled Caroline Forbes to throw a party at the grill and contacted the police so they could inject vervain into Lexi and have him kill her to prevent the Counsel from discovering that he and his brother were vampires.

Damon could make excuses for killing Lexi, that he was doing this to protect him and Stefan, to get the police and Council off the trail, but in the end, it still didn't remove the fact that his act was rooted in selfishness.

Inside the grill, Sheriff Forbes was arresting the barman as he pleaded. "Lady, I checked everyone's IDs."

"Yeah, apparently you didn't" Sheriff Forbes sarcastically remarked as she handed the barman to her fellow officers, who took him outside the grill and into custody. Damon approached the Sheriff and had a sigh of relief.

"Pretty handy with that stake, Damon." Sheriff Forbes told Damon.

"It's just...reflex." Damon remarked. "I guess the adrenaline kicked in."

"This nightmare is finally over."

"Yeah." Damon told the Sheriff. "Call a lucky break with that witness, without her you wouldn't have been able to ID the vampire."

"Very lucky." Sheriff Forbes said as Damon nodded at her. "Well, thank you again."

"You're welcome." Damon assured as Sheriff Forbes left the grill and Damon smiled to himself. He knew his plan was working step by step. He managed to trick the sheriff into thinking that he was by her side.


Outside the grill, Stefan saw Damon getting out of the grill and tightened his fist in anger. He was fueled by anger and hatred towards his brother. He thought that he could help Damon, but now it was too late. There was nothing good inside of him anymore and killing Lexi proved that to him.

He didn't ask for any of this. Lexi was the only friend he had while he was in his ripper mode. She helped him regain his humanity twice and they formed a brother-sister bond. He was clearly devastated by her loss. And it wasn't just Lexi that he lost. Ever since Damon came back to Mystic Falls, all he suffered was loss and misery. He recalled witnessing Damon murdering William Tanner in front of him, finding Zach's dead body and when Damon turned Vicki Donovan into a vampire.

As Stefan began tracing Damon's footsteps, Elena Gilbert followed him and tried to stop him. "Stefan, Stefan!"

"He killed her." Stefan told Elena, with sadness and anger in his voice. "He killed Zach, he killed Tanner, he turned Vicki. I have to kill him."

"No, you can't do that..."

"Why are you trying to save him?!" Stefan asked, confused by the fact that Elena might be defending Damon. "Elena, he's never gonna change! Don't you see that?! He's never gonna change!"

"I'm not trying to save him, I'm trying to save you!" Elena tried to reason with Stefan. "You have no idea what this will do to you. Please, Stefan."

"Everywhere I've been, pain and death follow. Damon follows me. No more." Stefan declared, having come to the conclusion that he should kill him to end this suffering.

"Stefan, please. Please just-just talk to me; Let me be here for you. Talk to me." Elena pleaded, but her pleas fell into deaf ears.

"No." Stefan told her. "You were right to stay away from me."

Stefan then left the scene and headed to kill Damon, leaving Elena behind. Elena was worried that killing Damon would bring nothing but pain and suffering for Stefan.


Salvatore Boarding House

Damon was having a drink in Stefan's bedroom, contempt about his actions and waiting for Stefan to show up. He then turned around and saw Stefan standing there, filled with rage.

"Told you I'd take care of it."

Stefan ran and charged at Damon, punching him in the face and throwing him to the floor. Stefan walked towards him and grabbed Damon by the shirt, punching him repeatedly until Damon kicked him with his feet and sent him to the ground. Both Salvatore brothers got up and utilizing their super speed, charged at each other, until Stefan pinned Damon against the wall, ready to kill him.

"Come on!" Damon tried to convince his brother. "I did this for you, to get them off our trail."

"You never do anything for anyone but yourself." Stefan remarked, clearly not giving into his brother's manipulations.

Stefan pulled a wooden stake from the back of his pants and stabbed Damon with it. Damon let out a groan of pain as he sensed the stake driving into him before he looked up and saw the stake lounged into his heart.

"What did you just do?" Damon asked.

"I thought you still have some good in you, but you proved to me you no longer had one the moment you killed Lexi." Stefan told Damon. "I'm done letting you get away with your actions."

Stefan then drove the stake further into Damon's heart and Damon let out one last groan before Stefan pulled out the stake from his heart and saw Damon's lifeless body turn grey. Stefan dropped the stake on the floor and stared sadly at Damon's body. He was saddened that he couldn't save Damon, but he knew he had no choice but to kill him if he had to stop the attacks on Mystic Falls.


And that's the end of the story. Like I said, Damon generally comes off as major asshole and he doesn't seem to change at all. Granted, Ian Somerhalder does a great job in the role and brings charisma to the character and while Damon does have some redeeming qualities, in the end, he's still a selfish prick who intends to make Stefan and everyone's lives miserable. What's worse is that Stefan and everyone else at Mystic Falls give him a pass for his actions because of his charisma and he never gets called out on it.

If the characters felt a bit OOC, that's my first time doing a TVD fanfic, so I'm really sorry about that.

Let me know your thoughts on this story and I hope you enjoyed it. Stay safe everyone and take care.