Chapter 3
Two days later and Damon has still been by my side at night. I am feeling more rested and feeling better than I have in months. Matty and Caroline both have said that they are seeing more of the old me coming back. Maybe Damon was right. I was taking some of my power back a little at a time and that is because of him. It's the night of the dance and I was starting to get nervous. "Are you okay?" Caroline asked me as we were doing our hair and makeup. "I will be. Just my nerves." I tell her. "Matt, Damon and I will all be there with you. Nothing will happen to you. I promise." she tells me and I start to calm down a little. An hour later, we are headed out the door, arm in arm with Matty and Damon and headed to the dance.
Walking into the dance, I start to tense up a little and Damon pulls me a little closer and whispers in my ear, "I got you. Just breathe." I take a deep breath and see him looking at me. I nod that I am ready and we walk farther in and take a table. Elena, Stefan, Jeremy and Bonnie all come over and see me there. They all hug me and tell me how happy they are to see me there and that makes me relax a little. We sit around, listening to the music, talking and laughing when Matty says he is going to get him and Caroline some punch. Damon asked if I wanted some and I said yes. He kisses my cheek and walks away with Matt. "I need to hit the ladies room." I tell Caroline and she nods as I walk towards the bathroom. Once I am in the hall, I hear a very familiar voice. "There's my favorite play pretty." I freeze. It was him. Nate. I couldn't move. He walks up behind me and starts to walk me towards the bathroom when all of a sudden he is pulled away and up against the wall. Caroline has her arms around me and I look up to see Damon was the one that grabbed Nate. I see him in Nate's face and I see Nate's face go blank. "What is he doing to him?" I asked. "Compelling him most likely." Caroline answers. I see Nate walk off and Damon rushes to me. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" He cups my face to look at him and I say "No. He didn't hurt me. I'm okay." And that was all I got out before Damon had me pulled to his chest with his arms around me whispering "He won't hurt you. I told you I would protect you." Before we walk back into the dance, I asked Caroline to let us talk for a minute. "What did you do to him?" I asked. "I knew you wouldn't like it if I did what I really wanted to do so I compelled him. I told him to forget he knows you and that when he looks your way, he isn't to notice you. I also told him that he was to leave the dance and that he had a great time and went home alone." he tells me. "Thank you Damon." I say before kissing him softly.
We head back into the dance and everyone in our group looks at me like they want to ask if I am okay. "I'm fine guys. Damon took care of it." I tell them and they look at him shocked. "I compelled him. That's all. Do you all just expect me to do bad things?" he asked and they all said yes, almost in unison and I found myself laughing for the first time in a long time. "Dance with me?" Damon whispered in my ear. I nodded yes and stood. Walking out to the dance floor, he pulls me close and we sway back and forth to the slow song playing. Looking in each others eyes, it's like we are the only ones there. No one else existed. Like we were in our own little world. "You look beautiful by the way." he says and I blush. "Thank you Damon." I say. "You seem to be saying that a lot lately." he says and I laugh. "Well, you give me a lot to be thankful for." I tell him and he smirks. "I really like you Char. I know you feel something too. I want to see where this could go but we will take it at the pace you want. Okay?" he asked and I smiled softly and said "Okay." He smiled and asked "Okay?" I just nodded and said "Okay." We finished the dance and by that time, the dance was ending so everyone headed to the Grill to hang out. Everyone except for me and Damon.
Getting back to my house, I was physically and mentally exhausted. Stefan called and said he needed Damon so I told him that I would be fine and to call me in the morning. He kissed me goodbye and headed out the door and I climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep.
Standing in the hallway at school with Nate and his buddies, Nate asked if we wanted to take the party somewhere else. Everyone said yes and since he was my boyfriend, I trusted him and went along. I didn't tell Matty I was leaving. Next thing I see is we are at the clearing at Wickery Bridge and Nate and his two buddies are hanging out and drinking. I didn't want to drink but I noticed that Nate was talking more to his friends and hanging less with me but they all kept watching me. I start to get a bad feeling when all of a sudden they surround me. "Nate, what are you doing?" I asked as he comes up behind me. He pulls my arms behind my back and whispers, "Just having a little fun." One of his friends pulls down the top of my dress, exposing me while the other starts running his hands up the skirt of my dress. "Please stop. Don't." I cry but they just laugh and Nate says "You have been teasing me for months. Now it's time to put out." They start to lower me to the ground and Nate is holding my arms while another is holding my legs and the third is ripping off my panties.
I wake up screaming and Matty runs into the room. "Charlie, it's okay. It was just a dream." Matty says. "I...can't...breathe." I pant out trying to catch my breath. Caroline takes out her cell phone and I hear her say "It's Charlie." and within minutes Damon bursts into the room. "Char, baby, look at me. Breathe with me. In. Out. In. Out. That's right. Keep breathing." He says and when my breathing evens out he pulls me to him and whispers "I got you baby. They won't hurt you. I promise. I got you." and the more I hear his voice the more calm I become but I still can't speak. All I can do is cry. Damon lays down with me and I can't go back to sleep.
The next morning, I still haven't slept. I can't. "Morning baby. Did you get any sleep?" Damon asked. I just shake my head no and curl back under the covers. "Are you hungry?" he asked and again I shake my head no. "Will you eat something?" he asked and again I shake my head no. He just pulls me to him. There was a knock at the door and Matty and Caroline walk in. "Can we talk to you guys?" Matty asked. "Stefan, Elena and Bonnie are downstairs and we were all talking. We think it might be a good idea for you to stay at the boarding house for a while." My eyes go wide and I start to cry again. He was getting rid of me. Was he tired of my attacks? Damon rubs my back while Caroline explains. "Charlie, you seem to only have any peace whenever Damon is with you. I love you, Charlie. You are my best friend. I want you to be safe and happy and that seems to be with Damon. But we are all just a phone call away." I just nod my head. "Caroline will help you get packed. Damon and I will be downstairs waiting for you." Matty says and I just nod. "Are you okay?" Caroline asked me. I just shake my head no. I still haven't spoken much.
Downstairs, Matty explains my attacks to Damon. "When she has these attacks, it's usually because she dreams about her attack. When she does, she will normally have small panic attacks for the next few days. She won't eat or sleep and she won't speak." Matty says. "How do you normally handle it?" Damon asks. "The only way is to just make sure she isn't alone for the next few days. I could never get her to eat or sleep or speak but with you she is different. She might respond if you asked her to." Matty says and Damon nods. Caroline and I walk down the stairs with a couple of suitcases and head to Damon's car. "We left some of her things here so that she will have them when she comes home." Caroline says. Walking to the car, the guys put my bags in the Camaro and Caroline hugs me and whispers, "If you need me, just call and I will vamp to you. Okay?" I just nod my head and hug her tighter.
Walking into the boarding house, I think that Damon is going to put my things in a guest room but am surprised when he takes them to his room. "You will stay with me. Is that okay?" he asked. I nod my head. "Come on. We can unpack later. You need to eat something." he tells me and I walk behind him. "Will you eat a sandwich?" he asked and I nod my head. He makes me a grilled cheese sandwich and I ate most of it. He sits down beside me at the island and pulls me to him. "Do you trust me?" he asked and I nod. Taking my hand, he takes me outside and we walk into the woods. Sitting down outside the Salvatore crypt, he pulls me onto his lap. Sitting there, he asked "Tell me what you are thinking." I sat there for a minute before finally speaking. "The dream." I say simply. "Will you tell me about it?" he asked and I didn't answer. "Remember what I said about taking that power back?" he asked and I started talking. "Nate and two of his friends took me to that clearing. They were drinking and talking in whispers and then they surrounded me. Nate held my arms while one started undressing me and the other started pulling me to the ground. Nate held my arms, another held my legs and the third raped me first. Then the one holding my legs and then finally Nate. When they were done, they left me there. I went to Caroline's house instead of coming home. She wasn't there so I used my key and changed into some of her clothes before going home and locking myself in my room. I didn't tell anyone what happened until a few days later." I say and he holds me tighter but doesn't say anything. "You know what the worst part was?" I asked and Damon squeezed me. "I was a virgin. That is how I will remember my first time." I tell him as the tears start falling again. "I promise, when you are ready, I will give you a first time that will be better than you have ever imagined. But only when you are ready. I don't care how long that takes. You are mine, Char. And I am yours." he tells me before kissing me softly. We sat there quietly for a little longer before he picks me up, bridal style, and vamps us back to his room to try to sleep.