Chapter Twenty-Six
Damon arrived at the Grill about five minutes after Ric had texted him to let him know that Jules was there. Stefan was also there – Damon didn't know why – and was trying to get him to not talk to the girl who had bitten Rose.
"What're you doing here?" Damon asked his brother.
"I'm waiting for you. Listen, there are a lot of people here."
"Oh, well, there goes my plan to rip her spleen through her back." Damon rolled his eyes at Stefan's concern. "I'm not gonna kill her in a crowded restaurant."
"Listen, I know you're upset about Rose."
"Why does everyone think I'm upset about Rose? I'm fine. I don't know if you know this, but sometimes vampires die. Now, I'm gonna have a friendly chat with the lady-wolf, brother. Ease up."
Both Damon's and Stefan's phones rang at the same time. Damon was grateful it took Stefan's mind off of him.
Damon looked at the screen of his phone and saw that Rebecca was calling. He didn't want to ignore her, but he needed to get done with this werewolf drama quickly. He put his phone on silent and then went and sat down at the table Jules was at eating a salad.
"Well, if it isn't the one I meant to kill," Jules quipped. "I'll have to get that right next time."
"You won't live to see another full moon. Unless . . . unless you tell me how to cure a wolf bite. And then I won't kill you."
Jules looked at him and he knew he had her attention because she refused to look away from him.
"Promise?"
"Yes," Damon said seriously.
Jules picked up her purse, pulled out a twenty dollar bill and placed it on the table, all the while looking like she was debating what to say.
Eventually she stood up and said, "Bite me."
Damon got up and went after her. He grabbed her before she could walk out the door and turned her around to face him.
"I'm not afraid of you," she said in a sing-song sort of voice.
"Then you are very, very stupid."
"How's your friend? Rose? Is that her name?" Jules asked. "Have the chills started? The unbearable pain?"
"If there's a cure, tell me. Or start watching your back."
"Did I mention the dementia? It'll eat away at her brain. Soon she'll be rabid. You want a cure?"
Damon nodded while hoping that all Jules was saying wasn't true. All of this should have been happening to him. He had been the one Jules had wanted. Rose had pushed him out of the way. She had saved his life.
"I'll tell you the only cure that exists. Take a stake and drive it through her heart."
Rebecca had called Damon's cell phone six times. She didn't know why he wasn't picking up. Maybe he was taking care of Jules or something.
The seventh time she called she got a very annoyed – almost ticked off, "What?"
"Damon, you need to get home," she said, ignoring his tone. She knew he was completely stressed over Rose.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Well . . . Rose . . . is . . . a little better."
"What?" Damon made it sound like it was impossible. Maybe it was. "How?"
"I . . . let her drink some of my blood. It helped a little. It didn't cure her completely, but she isn't as bad as before. I bought her some time for you to find something."
"Well . . . are you with Rose right now?"
"No. She's asleep."
"Good." She heard Damon sigh. "There may not be a cure. And things may become worse. Dementia. If she becomes violent . . ."
"Oh." If Rose became violent while Damon wasn't there . . . Rebecca may have to kill her. "Um . . . good thing I sent Elena and Chelsea away then."
"Look, I'll be back soon, okay? Call Diana and see if she knows anything. I'll call Ric and do the same."
"Okay. I love you," she said deliberately. Damon was hurting and needed to know he wasn't alone.
"Love you, too."
She heard as the phone line became empty and she took the phone from her ear. She hoped Rose didn't become violent. Rebecca didn't want to have to kill her. If things were going to become as bad as Damon had said, though, killing Rose would be a kindness. She would no longer be suffering.
Rebecca suddenly heard a thud – it sounded like someone had fallen. Maybe Rose had tried getting out of bed and hadn't been able to hold herself up.
She went back to Damon's room to check on Rose, but the girl wasn't there. She wasn't in the bathroom either.
"Rose?" Rebecca called out as she went back out to the hallway.
Rebecca checked Rose's old room and then the library/study room that Rose seemed to like. There was no sight of her. She had to be somewhere in the house because it was daylight and Rose didn't have any day-walking jewelry.
Rose had spent most of her life in the shadows; she really was nocturnal – she had no other way to be. Rose was vulnerable and sick right now, so where would she go to feel more secure? Probably the darkest place in the house she could find.
The cellar; the basement.
"Rose?" Rebecca called again when she reached the door to the basement.
She went down the stairs and almost immediately found an empty blood bag. Maybe Rose had come down here because she'd been hungry, not because she'd been scared. Rebecca quickly walked to the room where they kept the cooler for the blood bags and saw that there were five more blood bags on the floor and a sixth one was in Rose's hands. She was biting into the bag like it was going to be her last meal.
Maybe she thought it was.
"Rose?" Rebecca said softly, inching toward her. "Rose, you shouldn't drink that fast. It's going to make you sick."
"But I'm so hungry!"
"I can see that." Rebecca touched Rose's shoulder and helped her up. "Why don't we go back to Damon's room? I'll bring some more blood and you can rest, okay?"
Rose nodded and Rebecca bent down to pick up the empty blood bags. Blood was all over the floor and she knew she'd have to come back down after Rose fell back asleep – the floor needed a good scrub.
Before Rebecca could stand back up on her own she was being grabbed and fangs were sinking into her neck. Rose was biting her.
Obviously Rose was changing mentally because she never would've bitten her otherwise.
Dementia, Damon had said. The wolf bite was going to drive Rose insane and the process was already starting.
It was night by the time Damon got home, and he immediately knew something was wrong because the front door was wide open. Rebecca wouldn't have left Rose on her own, so either someone had gone in and hadn't shut the door, or someone had come out. Maybe Rose had run off and Rebecca had chased after her.
As soon as Damon stepped inside he smelled blood. Rebecca's blood and others mixed in. He rushed to where the smell was coming from and saw something that stopped his heart. Rebecca was on the floor and she was grey and veiny, the way vampires looked when they were dead.
There was a wound on her neck and blood all around her and on her. She had been bitten. She wasn't dead then. She'd been bled dry, but she'd be fine once she got some blood in her.
What she really needed was something fresh, but the blood bags would have to do. He didn't have time to find her someone to drink from.
His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out, annoyed that people seemed to call him only when he was busy.
Caller ID said Liz, so Damon had to take it. This could be about Rose.
"Yeah?"
"Hey, Damon, can you come to the school? There's been an attack outside near the trash pickup site."
"Sure, I'm on my way."
"Thanks. I'm trying to keep the body contained, but people are starting to ask question."
"People?"
"There's a pep rally tonight, Damon."
"Oh. I'll be there in ten minutes."
Once Damon had given Rebecca a blood bag she had begun to stir. He explained quickly why they needed to go to the school and she nodded, grabbed another blood bag and followed him upstairs.
"You're feeding from a human later, Becca," Damon said. "You literally just died again tonight."
"I did?"
"Yes. You had no blood left in your system. I had to revive you."
"Oh."
Rebecca went to their room, Damon following her, and quickly changed clothes because she couldn't go out with blood all over her.
"I didn't know that she – One minute she was fine. Well, starving, but . . . you know, fine . . ."
"Then she just snapped?"
"Mm-hm."
After she was presentable they went directly to the school. When they got there, Damon made sure Rebecca was good to go – meaning he needed to know she could get around well on her own. She could, he was happy to see. She still needed to fresh feed, though. Once they got Rose back, he'd make sure Rebecca got something to make her strong again.
The parking lot behind the school was filled with police cars and crime scene tape. The man who had been killed was indeed near the trash cans – the man had been a janitor for the school.
"Thanks for coming so quickly," Liz said when she saw them headed her way.
"No, I was close by, Liz. What happened?" Damon said, pretending to be breathless, as if he'd had to run to get there.
"A vampire. Luckily one of my deputies found the body before anyone else saw him."
"We have to secure the area, then."
Liz nodded and Rebecca agreed whole-heartedly. There were teenagers outside near the football field where the pep rally was being held.
"Don't cause a panic," Liz called her men, "but let's move this party into the cafeteria.
"I'll take the east side of the school, you go west," Liz said to Damon.
"Sure. Okay."
"Uh, Sheriff," Rebecca said. "I was almost attacked earlier tonight. Um . . . If this is the same vampire . . . don't go near her. She's almost . . . feral. Um . . . like she's starving. Just call one of us, okay?"
Liz seemed surprised that Rebecca had almost been attacked. What, Slayers couldn't make mistakes?
"Yeah. Okay."
It didn't take long for Damon and Rebecca to find Rose. She had killed another man and was now chomping on the guy's girlfriend. They were probably students.
"Rose, stop!" Damon shouted.
Rose pushed the girl away and ran after him. Even though Rose was five-hundred-and-some-odd years old, Damon was stronger than her in that moment. He was able to force her to the ground and keep her still.
The look in her eyes, though, was horrifying. There was nothing there but hunger and desperation. There wasn't any evil there – the disease she had made her insane, but it did not make her evil.
"Rose." There was no recognition in her eyes. She didn't know who he was – or probably even where she was. Maybe she didn't even know who she was. "Rose. It's me. It's Damon."
He repeated her name and his, trying to get her to come back to herself. He knew it was working when she began to stop struggling.
Rose began to sit up and she looked around. Where once a predator had been now was a lost young woman.
"Did I do this?" she asked frantically when she saw the two bodies lying on the cement. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I never meant to hurt anybody!"
"I know," Damon said. "I know, I know."
Damon watched as Rose collapsed back against the ground. He didn't want her to go back into herself. That was the last thing they needed.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Damon realized that Rose wasn't talking to him. She was apologizing to Rebecca. Damon didn't know whether she was apologizing for attacking her or for killing the young couple, but he did know that Rebecca wouldn't hold either against her.
"Come on, let's get you home."
"No, I don't have a home," Rose yelled. "I haven't had a home in so long. Oh, make it stop. Please. I hate it. Make it stop!"
Damon knew the last part was either about the pain or the memories, but he wasn't sure which it was. Damon knew then that he was probably going to have to kill Rose.
They couldn't rely on Rebecca's blood forever, and it was only a temporary fix. Besides, it had only helped with the pain for a few hours, and it hadn't done anything at all for the dementia.
Damon picked rose up, cradling her in his arms, and motioned for Rebecca to follow him. They needed to get to the car so they could get Rose back to the boardinghouse.
At the car, Damon told Rebecca to get the keys out of his back pocket. Someone needed to keep watch over Rose and it couldn't be Rebecca. She wasn't up to full strength yet and he didn't want her getting hurt again.
Halfway to the boardinghouse, Rose fell asleep. Rebecca was glad. If Rose was sleeping, it meant she wasn't in pain.
Rose was, however, talking in her sleep about her home. It was probably fresh in her mind from Damon mentioning them taking her back to the boardinghouse.
"She was used to fields and trees and horses," Rebecca said. "She said she came from St. Austell, near London."
They reached the house and Damon carried Rose up to his bedroom. Rebecca had told him that she had been caring for Rose there, so that was where he was taking her.
While Damon was putting her on the bed, Rose came awake.
"Hi there," he said.
Rebecca noticed she had to look around. Rose probably hadn't known where she was to begin with.
"I'm sorry," she muttered.
"You went on a murderous rampage," Damon said. "It happens."
Rebecca knew Damon was just trying to make Rose feel better. She added, "It wasn't your fault, Rose. Neither of us blame you for it."
Though three people were dead tonight because of the infection Rose had running through her veins.
"I don't like taking human life. I never have." Rose looked at Rebecca. "It's the worst part about it. The hunt. The need to kill, the thirst. The pleasure it brings you afterwards."
Rebecca's breath seemed to catch in her throat. She didn't know how it felt to kill someone from bleeding them dry, but she had killed before. She hadn't gotten pleasure from killing, but the one life she had taken – John Gilbert's life – had brought a small amount of satisfaction when the deed had been done. It had also brought guilt.
"I wasn't meant to be evil," Rose continued. "It hurts."
"Well, then stop talking about it," Damon told her.
He then turned his back on her and Rebecca watched him. She knew Damon had been affected by Rose's speech - he had killed by feeding before. Damon had even told her about the high that came with killing, that it was a temptation he had to live with every day, that every vampire who had fed had to live with.
"Damon's a lot like me," Rose said. "He wants to care. The minute he does, he runs away from it."
"Except with me," Rebecca said lightly. Rose was right, though, because Damon did run away from feelings, from any strong emotion that he couldn't deal with.
"Except with you," Rose agreed. "You make him feel human. You can never forget it, what it's like to be human. It haunts me, but it's the only thing that's kept me going."
Rose suddenly grabbed her stomach and began yelling. The infection was taking hold of her again.
Damon grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away and gently shoved her toward the door.
"I've got this."
"Well –"
"Just go," he said firmly.
She nodded. "Okay, but . . . I'm gonna call Diana and see if she knows anything – something that will help. Don't let her stop fighting. Not yet."
Tyler Lockwood had been sitting on Caroline Forbes' front porch for the last hour waiting for her to come home. Ever since he'd found out that she would've been killed just for helping him, he hadn't been able to think of anything else. He needed to know why she would risk it.
Finally the blond made it home. "Hey, where've you been?"
"Oh. Down at the school. Uh, what's up? W-what do you want?"
"We need to talk," Tyler said.
"Why?" Caroline seemed hesitant. "What's wrong with you?"
"I just don't understand one thing. Why would you risk it? If a werewolf bite kills a vampire . . . why would you risk it? I could've killed you."
"But you didn't," Caroline said, smiling softly.
"I don't understand you, Caroline."
The blond rolled her eyes and walked past him. She dug out her house key so she could unlock the front door.
"Why is it so hard for you to let someone else help you?" she asked him.
"Well, that's not it."
"Yeah, it is, Tyler." She turned back around to face him. "You know, it's like you don't want anyone to care about you. And I'm sorry I care. I care, Tyler. So forgive me if I overstepped my boundaries by actually giving a –"
Tyler grabbed her and kissed her. He couldn't help it. It just felt right. His hands went into her hair and his lips lingered for a few seconds.
Tyler is kissing me, Caroline thought, a rush of warmth and affection running through her body. She was enjoying it too. But she shouldn't have been. She still loved Matt, Tyler's best friend.
Oh, God. Matt.
She hadn't even felt his way when she'd been kissing Matt. Why hadn't she? She was supposed to love Matt. She wasn't supposed to be crushing on his best friend.
Caroline pulled away and whimpered because she hadn't wanted to. She already missed his lips on hers.
"We can't do that," she said weakly.
"I'm sorry," Tyler said. "It's –"
"Everyone needs to just stop kissing me!" Caroline exclaimed.
The blond turned around, opened the door, and stormed inside only to slam the door in Tyler's face.
Back at the boardinghouse, Damon was in the bed trying to comfort Rose. She had settled down from her most recent fit and seemed to be dozing off now.
"Who'd have thought you'd be a nice guy?" she asked softly.
"Hm. I'm not nice. I'm mean. I like it," he teased.
"You lie," she countered.
"Shh. Shh. Just sleep." Damon began playing with Rose's hair. "Just sleep."
After a few seconds Damon created a scene that was as close to Rose's home as he could with the information he knew. He manipulated Rose's mind to see the place he had created.
The weather was nice. The trees had just begun to change to autumn colors. The grass had begun to turn brown, and there were horses – about three of them – walking around the field Damon had created in his mind for Rose to see.
Rose had longer hair in his mind, and she was wearing a blue, laced, fifteenth century style dress. More importantly, she was happy and not in pain.
He sat down in the middle of the field and waited for her to come to him. She didn't disappoint. After a moment, she came and sat with him.
"This was my favorite place to come as a girl," Rose said. "How did you know?"
"Word gets around. You told Rebecca where you were from."
"Am I dreaming?"
Damon shrugged and smiled. He watched Rose turn her face to the sun, and they both sighed.
"The sun is so warm," Rose said. "I miss this. I miss being human."
"Humanity's not all it's cracked up to be."
"I had friends. I had a family. I mattered."
"You still do," Damon said.
"No," Rose said sadly, tears forming. "But you do. You've built a life, whether you want to admit it or not. I spent five hundred years just existing."
"You didn't have a choice. You were running from Klaus."
"No, there's always a choice," Rose said firmly.
Damon didn't want to argue with her. He'd brought her there so she could find peace and that's what he planned on giving her.
"You know, you are ruining our perfect day with your strange philosophical babbling."
Rose laughed. "I'd like to enjoy the fresh air. Will you enjoy it with me?"
"For a while."
Rose leaned against him and grabbed his hand. Damon let her. He figured she knew why he'd created this dream land for her and she was probably readying herself to die.
"Thank you," she said. "The pain's gone."
"I'm glad," he whispered.
"Will I see them again? My family?"
"I think you will see whoever you wanna see," Damon said. He wasn't too well-versed on any type of theology, but he knew most people believed in some sort of afterlife – a spiritual life.
"That would be nice. Maybe I'll see Trevor too."
Rose sat up straight and turned to look at him.
"I'm not afraid anymore," she claimed.
Back in the real world, Damon was reaching for the stake Rebecca always kept under her pillow and placed it gently above Rose's chest. Rebecca had gotten hold of Diana, but she hadn't been able to help so Damon was doing what he knew had to be done.
"I'll race you to the trees," Rose said, standing up and reaching for him.
"Well, you'll lose."
Rose shook her head and smiled. "I'm older and faster."
"Oh, you think?" Damon teased, standing up with her. "Well, I'm the one controlling this dream. Maybe I'll cheat."
Rose was still smiling. "On the count of three?"
Damon nodded.
"One . . . two . . ."
Before Rose could get to three, Damon shoved the stake into her heart knowing if he'd allowed her to get to three he wouldn't have been able to act. Rose grunted and Damon closed his eyes against the pain he was feeling. He felt it as a solitary tear fell down his cheek.
This was his fault. Jules had been coming after him. If he hadn't riled the lady-wolf up, this wouldn't have happened.
Rebecca was downstairs pacing in front of the fireplace.
She wanted to go upstairs to Damon because she'd heard when the stake had punctured through Rose's heart. She wanted to go and comfort Damon, but she knew he wouldn't accept it right then, not even from her.
She would have to wait for him to come to her and she knew he would eventually. When he did come downstairs, he had Rose's body in his arms, and there was a mask of indifference.
"Call the sheriff. Tell her we got the vampire," Damon said. "I'm gonna go bury her now."
Rebecca nodded and pulled out her phone. "Okay, but . . . Do you want me to come with you?"
Damon's jaw tightened. "No."
"But you don't need to be alone right now."
"Yes, I do," he claimed. "That's exactly what I need. Just go get Chelsea. I'll be back when I'm done."
Rebecca watched Damon walk out the door and then she dialed Liz's number. When the sheriff answered Rebecca said, "We got the vampire. Um, Damon is going to bury her somewhere no one will find her."
"How'd you find her?"
"Um . . . she found us, actually," Rebecca lied. "We were patrolling the school and that's where we . . . got her."
"Thank you. Ya'll have kept this town safe once again," Liz said before hanging up.
The town was safe again, but at what cost? Damon had lost a friend, had had to kill a friend.
She wished he had let her go with him. She knew he must be hurting. He wouldn't really let anyone help him, though. She knew he wouldn't because he tried to shoulder everything on his own just like she did; neither one of them were good at letting someone take care of them.
Rebecca knew Damon would be gone for a while, but she didn't want to risk him coming home and her not being there so instead of going to Elena's to get Chelsea, she called the brunette and asked her to bring Chelsea back.
At the Grill, Tyler Lockwood had just sat down across from Jules, the woman who had come looking for Mason. She had called his house looking for him, had said she wanted to talk to him, so Tyler had come. Maybe she had found out something about Mason and just needed help finding him. Maybe.
"Thank you for coming," she said.
Tyler nodded. "So what d'you want from me?"
"Just to be your friend. Mason would've wanted that." Jules leaned forward and whispered. "I know about Mason. And you."
"You know what?" Tyler asked. He wasn't going to give away his secret without first making sure that she actually did know.
"I know you're a werewolf. And I know your little friend, Caroline, is a vampire."
"How d'you know about Caroline?" he wondered.
"You can't sniff them out?" The girl seemed confused, but then recognition filled her face, and then sympathy. "Oh. You are brand new. How many times have you turned?"
Tyler didn't answer so the girl reached over and grabbed his hand that was on the table.
"Hey, I can help you."
Tyler removed his hand from hers and placed it on his lap.
"Do you know where Mason is?" Tyler didn't really want help from this woman. He wanted help from his uncle. Mason had been the one to explain the curse to him. It only made sense that Mason should also be the one to teach him how to deal with it.
"He's dead, Tyler. He was murdered."
"No." That couldn't be true. Mason had sent a text stating that he was going back to Florida.
"You wanna know who murdered him? Your little blond vampire did."
"No. Caroline would never do that."
Caroline had put her own life at risk to help him. There was no way that Caroline would've killed his uncle.
"She and her little vampire friends were behind it, Tyler."
"Caroline is the only vampire in town."
"Is that what she told you? She lied. This town is crawling with vampires. But don't worry. We'll get them."
Tyler didn't know what to believe. Jules seemed so sincere in wanting to help him, but he didn't want to believe that his friendship with Caroline had been based on lies. He'd never had anyone be there for him the way Caroline had been.
He didn't want that loyalty to have been false.
After burying Rose, Damon headed straight back to the boardinghouse. Elena's car was in the driveway, he noticed as he parked his car in the garage. He guessed Elena was there to drop Chelsea off.
When he went inside he saw Rebecca and Elena on the couch, but Chelsea was nowhere to be seen. He assumed that meant she was asleep and upstairs in her room. A quick listen later and it was confirmed.
Rebecca stood up and handed him a whole bottle of his favorite bourbon.
"No glass?" he quipped.
"Figured you might need the whole thing."
"Hm." He looked over at Elena. "Baby brother's not home. What're you doing here?"
"I wanted to see if you were okay."
"I appreciate the gesture." Damon took a huge gulp from the bottle he was holding. "I'm just glad it's over."
"You know I don't believe that," Elena said.
"Go home, Elena. Get some rest. It's a whole new day tomorrow."
Rebecca heard the shakiness of Damon's voice and knew he was about to break. She also knew he wouldn't do it in front of Elena.
"Damon, I'm your friend. And a friend usually knows when their friend is hurting."
"What d'you wanna hear?" Damon snapped. "That I cared about Rose? That I'm upset? Well, I didn't and I'm not."
"There you go," Elena said. "Pretending to turn it off, pretending not to feel. Damon, you're so close. Don't give up."
"Elena, go home," Rebecca said. Really, Elena wanted to push about this now? When Damon was hurting the most? Really great timing. "I'll call you tomorrow."
"And you're one to talk about giving up. That's all you've done is give up." Damon pointed to the door. "Go home. There's been enough doom, gloom, and personal growth for one night."
Elena grabbed her stuff and silently walked out the door. Rebecca wasn't watching her, however, because Damon looked like he was about to fall apart.
"Hey," she said softly, stepping up to him and wrapping him in her arms. He looked so young and vulnerable at that moment. She didn't know what to do. One wrong move on her part and Damon would pull away from her.
"Damon, tell me what to do."
His arms came up and held her so tight she could barely breathe. He buried his face in the hair that was resting on her left shoulder and just breathed.
"You cared about Rose. And you're upset," she said, countering his earlier words.
"I feel, Rebecca," he said. "And it sucks."
His voice was muffled, but Rebecca could still hear – feel – the pain residing there. Damon's whole body was trembling and Rebecca was just so lost. How was she supposed to deal with a broken Damon? He'd never been this way before. This was new.
"What sucks even more is that it was supposed to be me. Jules was coming after me."
Of course. Damon was feeling guilty. He had made Jules angry and had become a target for the wolf. Or course, when the wolf had gotten there, Jules had bitten the wrong vampire.
"Oh, Damon, no," Rebecca exclaimed. "You . . . I don't want you to feel that way. It's not your fault."
Rebecca pulled away from him for a moment so she could reach up to touch his face. There was wetness there. Tears.
"Jules was coming at me. Rose pushed me out of the way," Damon said. "She saw the wolf jumping and –"
Oh. Rose had actually saved his life.
Rebecca cupped his face and met her gaze with his own. She stared at him sternly.
"Damon, I liked Rose. And I'm sorry she had to die, but I am not sorry you are alive. And I'm not sorry that she saved your life."
Damon looked at her and she noticed the insecurity there in his face. Did he really think so little about himself?
She grabbed his hand and gently tugged. "Come with me. I want to show you something."
Rebecca led him upstairs and then to Chelsea's room. She smiled when she heard the snore of her baby sister.
"Look at her, Damon. Listen to her."
Rebecca squeezed Damon's hand and she watched as Damon took in the perfect innocence that was an infant.
"Damon, this is why Rose saved your life. It's because you have one. You have a family now. She understood that and she cared about you."
Damon let go of her hand and Rebecca watched as Damon went to pick Chelsea up. Any other night she would have complained about him getting Chelsea's days and nights mixed up, but she knew Damon needed Chelsea's presence. It would be a reminder that Rose's sacrifice hadn't been in vain.
When Elena got home she met Stefan at the door. She was surprised to see him. She'd tried calling him earlier but he hadn't answered his phone.
"Stefan, you're home."
"Yeah." He took a deep breath. "Rose?"
Elena shook her head. She didn't feel like talking about Rose. As far as she was concerned all Stefan needed to know was that Rose was no longer alive.
"I, uh – I called Isobel."
"I know. It's okay. Did you find her?"
Stefan grimaced. "I left a message and she called me back. She didn't tell me where she was, only that she was busy. She did say she would come when she had the chance."
Elena shook her head. "Why? She doesn't care about me."
"Maybe she does. You just don't know it."
"Can I tell you a secret?" Damon asked as he and Rebecca entered their bedroom. He'd played with Chelsea for a few moments and then had put her back to bed.
"You can tell me anything," Rebecca replied, bringing his hand up to kiss his knuckles.
"I have a big secret and I've never said it out loud," he confessed. His speech was a little slurred from the copious amounts of alcohol he'd consumed earlier. "I mean, what's the point? It's not gonna change anything. It's not gonna make me good. Make me adopt a puppy."
"Well, you know . . . Stefan would just eat it anyway," she quipped.
Damon appreciated her attempt to lighten the situation. He couldn't bring himself to smile, though, no matter how hard he tried.
"I'm not human, Becca. And I miss it. I miss it more than anything in the world!"
Damon heard Rebecca gasp and then she was caressing his face, wiping away tears that he hadn't been aware were falling.
"That is my secret," he whispered.
"Oh, Damon . . ."
What came next were the sweetest kisses Damon had ever received. He believed she was trying to take the pain away with her lips. He wanted it to work even though he knew it probably wouldn't.
Rebecca reached for his shirt, and before she began unbuttoning it she asked, "Will you let me love you tonight, Damon? Let me take care of you."
Damon didn't like handing the reigns over to anybody ever, but tonight he needed it. He needed to be loved and comforted, and he needed it more than he ever had before.
He missed being human, but Rebecca made him feel like it was okay that he wasn't. That was what he needed tonight, so he gave her permission to love him the way she wanted to.
Okay, so it's REALLY hard to describe Damon's pain in this episode, so I hope I did okay. And again, I've had this typed out for a while, but I just got around to proofreading it. I promise to try to do better in the future!