Chapter Ten: I Forgive You, I Always Have

3rd Person Pov

"I'm not sure this is gonna work." Bonnie told Stefan.

"You've done a séance before, right? Contacted Emily Bennett." Stefan asked her. "Maybe one of the witches know how to help Damon." He told her.

"Let's just hope they want to." Bonnie told him.

They both stood up. Bonnie closed her eyes and started chanting.

"PHESMATOS MANEX, UN DOMO HAX, FERO ADIUVEX. PHESMATOS MANEX, UN DOMO HAX, FERO ADIUVEX. PHESMATOS MANEX, UN DOMO HAX, FERO ADIUVEX." Bonnie chanted.

"Bonnie?" Stefan asked.

Bonnie stopped chanting. She opened her eyes and looked at Stefan.

"Emily." She said. "Why have you come here,Stefan?" Emily asked.

"I need your help." He replied. "I need to know if there's a spell that can heal a werewolf bite." He told her.

"No. Nature ensures a balance to everything." Emily told him.

"Is it true or are you just saying no because it's Damon?" He asked her.

"Perhaps it is his time to die." Emily told him.

"No. That's not balance, that's punishment." He told her.

"I will not give you what you want." Emily told him.

"So you're saying that there's an answer to give?" Stefan asked. "Please, if you know something, just tell me. Help me save my brother. If you're not gonna do it for me, at least do it for his children. They need him." Stefan told her.

"AHHH!" Bonnie screamed as Emily's spirit got out of her.

"Bonnie." Stefan kneeled down to help her.

"They don't want us here. They think I'm abusing their power." Bonnie told him.

"They know something. There's an answer. They just don't wanna tell me" Stefan told her.

"Yeah. I heard them say a name." Bonnie told him.

"What was it?" Stefan asked her.

"Klaus." Bonnie told him.

"Hey, there you guys are." Caroline ran across the grass to Elena, Jeremy and Jenna as Alison strolled the stroller with the babies, behind Caroline. "Who's hungry?" She asked as she reached them.

"Are we really doing this?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes, we are really doing this." Caroline replied. "Yeah, we're going to take a page from Scarlett. We made it through the war. I know you guys went through hell, and my mom knows I am a vampire. So basically, it's like Atlanta has burned down. And yet, in spite of everything, we persevere." Caroline sat down.

"Hmm, downside, my best friend is still stuck in the history teacher/vampire hunter apartment under the big bad original control. But hey, upside. No one actually died and the babies are safe." Alison said.

"Hmm, beside Jules." Jeremy pointed out.

Ok, true, Jules died and Jenna became a vampire. Other than that, everyone else is safe. Safe until Klaus comes back. Which they are hoping not anytime soon.

"Carol,hi. How are you feeling?" Sheriff asked as Carol walked right into her office.

"Better, thank goodness. It was a terrible fall." Carol replied. "Shouldn't you be at home resting?" Sheriff asked.

"I've been resting. Now I'm ready to work. I need you to update me on where we are with the vampire situation." Carol told her.

"Well, there's been some developments, but I'm handling it." Sheriff told her.

"Are you?" Carol asked. "I left you in charge of this town's safety and I'm not seeing any results." She told her.

"I said, I'm handling it." Sheriff told her.

"Then see that you do, sheriff because if you can't, I'll find someone who will." Carol told her before walking out of the sheriff's office.

"Hey." Stefan went up to the gang, who were in the park.

"Hey." Elena greeted him. "Look, who couldn't resist an epic romance." She said.

"Care, will you come take a walk with me?" Stefan asked her, not bothering to answer Elena's statement.

"Um, why don't you ask Elena. Your girlfriend." Caroline told him.

"And besides, I'm kind of in the middle of spending time with my kids." She added.

"I need to talk to you...about something important." He told her before giving her a look that said "It's a life or death kind of situation."

"Uh, sure, ok." Caroline got up.

They walked as far away as they can from the group.

"So what is so important that you have to drag me out of spending time with my kids?" Caroline asked as the stopped walking.

"Listen, um the other night when Damon was helping you and Tyler, something happened." Stefan told her.

If Caroline wasn't alert, she is now. She looked at him with a worried expression on her face as she waited for him to continue.

"Damon was bitten." Stefan told her. "What? Tyler bit him? Is he ok?" Caroline asked as she was freaking out inside, going through the worst scenarios that would happen to Damon. "Oh my god. Is he… he's gonna-"

"Yeah." Stefan answered. "He told me not to tell you but I figured if you wanted to talk to him, I wouldn't wait." He told her.

Caroline didn't respond. She just looked over to her kids. They're going to lose their father. Her poor babies. It's too soon. They're so young. They need their father in their lives.

"Hello, Katherine." Stefan greeted her as he entered Ric's apartment.

"Two days, I've been waiting. I'm supposed to be free of Klaus' compulsion by now. He's supposed to be dead." Katherine told him.

"We ran into complications." Stefan told her.

"Complications?" Katherine asked.

"Doesn't really matter. I just need to find him. Do you have any idea where he might be?" He asked her.

Before Katherine could respond, she grabbed Stefan by the shirt and pulled him around the corner, him leaning against the wall. Stefan heart beats at the position they are at. They looked into each other's eyes. He felt like he's breathing for air, looking into Katherine's beautiful eyes. '

'No stop it Stefan, you're with Elena.' He told himself.

"Klaus, you're back." Katherine said interrupting his thoughts. "Look who decided to come for a visit." Katherine pulled him out, letting go of him.

As Caroline pulled up into the Salvatore Boarding House driveway, she saw her mother's car in front of the house.

'Oh no.' Caroline thought as she quickly got out of her car and ran inside.

When she got inside she saw her mom, ric, Damon and some of the deputies in the living room. The deputies were aiming their guns at Ric and Damon, surrounding them.

"Stop." Caroline said as she went into the middle where Ric and Damon are at. "Mom, don't do this. Please." Caroline begged her mother.

"I have to, Caroline. He had hurt a lot of people. He had murdered a lot of people. He's a monster" Liz told her daughter.

"I know mom. I know that more than anyone here." Caroline told her. "No one knows how much of a monster he is more than I do." She added. "He hurt me." She turned to face Damon. "He used me, manipulated me, took advantage of me, lied to me...broke my heart into a million pieces" She said. "But he also showed me what a great person he is. What a great father he is." She said. "It's not the end Damon, you don't just get to give up after everything you've done to me, after everything you'd put me through. I love you Damon. I know I said there is no chance we would ever get back together and I mean that. But it doesn't mean I don't care about you. You are the father of my children. You have proved yourself many times that you deserve them, that you love them. Don't give up. They need you. We need you. All of us." Caroline looked him in the eyes.

Before Damon could say anything, they heard a gun being fired. They look toward Liz, who had her gun pointed toward Damon. Ric quickly stood in front of him and got shot instead.

"Oh my god." Liz said as she slowly put her gun down shakingly as she realized what she had just done. "Call an ambulance." She told one of her deputies.

"No, don't." Caroline quickly said before she bent down and bit into her wrist.

"What are you doing?" Liz asked as Caroline put her wrist against Ric's mouth.

"I'm saving him." She told her mother. "Come on Ric. Drink. Don't die on us before we officially make you our kid's godfather." She told him.

Damon kneeled down by his friend's side with an shocked expression on his face. Liz had a shock, confused look on her face. A few minutes later Caroline felt Ric's hand grab her arms as he drank her blood. Seconds later he let go of her.

"Good to have you back buddy." Damon told him.

"It's not over yet." Ric told him.

Caroline got Damon up to his room and laid him on his bed as Ric watched the sheriff and the deputies downstairs, making sure they don't leave.

"Did you mean that?" Damon weakly asked her.

"Mean what?" Caroline asked as she put the warm towel on top of his forehead.

"That you love me?" He asked.

Caroline looked at him before taking a seat next to him.

"Well...there is a part of me that would always love you. No matter what horrible things you do or have done." She replied.

"I'm sorry." Damon apologized.

"For what?" She asked.

"Everything." He replied.

"I know. And I forgive you Damon, I always have." She told him.

They both looked into each other's eyes. It's still there. Their love for each other is still there.

"Am I uh interrupted something?" They both heard a voice.

They both turned to see Alison standing in the doorway.

"Uh no, come on in." Caroline replied getting off the bed. "I'm gonna go check if everything is okay downstairs." She told them before heading downstairs

"Hey." Damon said weakly.

"Hey." Alison said softly. "Why didn't you tell us?" She asked as she sat on his bed facing him.

"What's to tell? I'm dying." Damon responded.

"Exactly. Damon, you're dying. What, you think it's better for everyone if you're gone?" She asked him.

"When I'm gone." He corrected her.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You were just going to leave your kids? They're not even a year old yet, Damon. They need you. They need their father." Alison told him.

"Coming from you that's ironic." He said.

"I did what I had to do to keep them safe. Was it the right decision? Definitely not. If there was any other way, I would have taken it. But there wasn't." Alison told him.

"I wasn't talking about them." Damon told her.

"Oh." Alison said as soon as she realized what he was talking about.

Caroline listened to their conversation before going downstairs. She doesn't know what to feel. Damon was actually going to let himself die. She knew that he knew there's no way, Klaus was going to help but she couldn't believe he wasn't actually going to let him die and leave his children. She is beyond furious at him that she didn't want to hear anymore. Once she stepped on the last step on the stairs, she noticed that the deputies were gone and that Jenna and Alison compelled them to forget what they saw tonight. The only one left was her mother, who she specifically told them not to compel her. Elena and Jeremy are on their way over. She hasn't heard from Stefan since he talked to her at the park about Damon. The babies are asleep upstairs. Alison put them to bed before going to see Damon. Ric and Jenna went into the library to give Caroline and her mother some space.

"How?" Liz asked.

"I've explained it to you once. But I had to make you forget because I was afraid of what you might do." Caroline told her.

Liz was shocked to hear the words coming out of her daughter's mouth. Caroline was afraid of her?

"But, I'm not anymore. I'm not going to be afraid of you mom." Caroline said interrupted her thoughts. "I'm still me mom. I'm still your little girl." She stepped closer to her mother. "It's me mom, it's me." She hugged her.

Liz hugged her daughter back as they cried into each other's arms.

End of Chapter