Okay, this is a long one. I think it came out as 21 computer pages.
Enjoy!
Oh yeah . . . previously, Damon was being jealous again and she drove off in a huff, so . . . continuing from there . . .
Chapter Twenty-one
As Damon watched the taillights fade into the night he felt something he was fairly certain was shame and guilt, but he quickly shut it out.
So what if he didn't like sharing his whatever-Rebecca-was with his brother. He didn't think anyone could blame him for that, not after their history. And he hadn't been manhandling her or mistreating her, had he? No, he'd been . . . Staking his claim, letting her know he thought of her as his. She had been his reason for existing for the last 145 years; he'd wanted to get back to her. And so, yeah . . . Claiming her as his was . . .
Very caveman of me, Damon admitted to himself. And obviously not something she likes.
But it wasn't like the sentiment wasn't returned. Now that he had her he wouldn't stray. Besides he'd had 145 years worth of straying and not once had any girl captivated him like Rebecca had and still did.
He liked the way she thought, the way she explained herself, the way she wasn't repulsed by vampires just because they were vampires. Which was odd in and of itself because she was the Slayer. By definition she should hate all things supernatural, but she had looked past the vampire thing - even before he'd become one - to try to see the person behind the demon - not that he thought he was a demon, just not human.
"Hm. She's the one that needs to get over it," Damon muttered, going back into the boardinghouse.
He was feeling extra petulant and childish so he slammed the door behind him just so he could hear the noise it made. It brought him no joy.
"Damn," he said, annoyed now.
It seemed his peace of mind had gone with Rebecca when she'd left. It seemed she had as much power over him as he did over her.
Double damn.
When Rebecca arrived at Elena's the first thing she did before she even got out of the car was call her dad to tell him she was at Elena's and she didn't know how long she'd be there.
Rebecca had decided that since she was being mostly truthful she could at least do that now, and it would keep them from arguing as much. Her dad had been strict because he'd known about vampires. She understood it now. She thought he'd gone about it the wrong way, but she saw why he'd done it. It didn't excuse his behavior, though, even if his keeping Rebecca home to take care of Chelsea had just been a way of protecting her, but she could forgive him as long as he tried to do better.
As with most things in life . . . She would have to give to get.
When Rebecca got inside Elena told her that Matt had called; Vicki was with him. Rebecca texted Stefan to let him know, so hopefully he could take care of it on his own.
Jeremy was upstairs and Jenna had class again, so Elena and Rebecca were free to talk openly.
"So . . . Are you here to baby-sit?" Elena asked, trying to lighten the situation a little.
"Yup."
"Oh. Good. Jeremy wanted to go see Vicki as soon as Matt called. I tried to explain he needed to stay away from her, that she was dangerous, but I . . . I didn't know what to say."
"You could've gone with the truth."
"Yeah, that would've gone well."
Rebecca nodded knowingly and Elena looked at her sympathetically.
"That's you every day, isn't it? Never knowing what to say or how much? It sounds lonely."
"It is. But having friends helps a lot. And now you know so . . ." Rebecca sighed. "How're you doing with all of this?"
Elena's shoulders straightened up, like she was trying to look stronger than she was. "I don't know. I told Stefan I couldn't be with him but that I wouldn't tell anyone."
"You broke up with him because he's different?" Rebecca asked, not able to hide the judgment in her voice. She had thought better of Elena.
"No, I broke up with him because it scares me. He's, I mean . . . I don't know. He said he doesn't kill to survive, but . . ."
"Okay, speaking as a friend . . . If you like him, the other stuff shouldn't matter. If you can be happy with him, you shouldn't let the other stuff matter."
"But it's not that simple."
"It can be if you let it be."
That was when she figured out how she could be with Damon when she knew he could up and kill someone tomorrow if he had to. She let it be simple. She liked him - or loved him - so the other things didn't matter.
There was a creak on the stairs. "Jeremy's coming."
Jeremy stepped into the kitchen and went to the fridge to get some water.
"Hey, Becca," Jeremy said. "I saw your Dad's car outside."
"Yeah, um . . . I came over to visit and see if you'd heard from Vicki."
"I know she's with Matt, but she hasn't called me, no."
"Oh."
That was surprising since Vicki had been so adamant about seeing Jeremy earlier. Maybe what Rebecca had said about her maybe hurting Jeremy had gotten through and she wouldn't be alone with him. Matt, on the other hand . . . Vicki was alone with him right now.
"Uh . . . I'll be right back."
She went out on the porch and dialed Stefan's number after consciously skipping over Damon's - he wouldn't be any help, not now; he was upset with her anyway. She hadn't forgotten their argument; she just had more important things to worry about.
"Hello?"
"Hey, uh, is Matt okay?"
"Yeah. I'm keeping watch, but he wouldn't invite me in. I can't get in."
"He doesn't have vervain in his system; compel him to let you in."
"I can't."
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Now's not the time to have a moral crisis. Just -"
"No, I mean, I can't. It . . ." She heard Stefan sigh. "Because I don't drink human blood my compulsion doesn't always work right. It's easy to reverse by other vampires, and sometimes it fades away."
"Oh. Well, did you want me to come over since I can actually get inside?"
"No, it'll probably just agitate her. That . . . wouldn't go well."
"Okay," Rebecca agreed easily. "Well, just call if they leave, okay?"
"Yeah, I'll see you later."
"Mm-hm."
Rebecca went back inside after she hung up and went to the kitchen where Elena was asking Jeremy if he wanted to go to the Halloween party at the school.
"Sure. Sounds, uh . . . Sounds fun, can't wait." Jeremy's tone suggested he'd rather have been doing something else - or anything else.
"I know you're upset about Vicki, but you can't be with her. She needs to get better; the best thing you can do for her is let her go."
Rebecca suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Elena obviously didn't really know what it was like to care about someone. When you loved someone you didn't run away just because they had problems; no, you try and help them.
"What does that even mean 'let her go'?" Jeremy asked. "Oh, okay, sure. Since we're such experts on letting people go, right?"
"I know you may not see it, but trust me, Jer, it's for the best."
Elena looked at Rebecca, seeking help, but Rebecca looked at the floor. Elena would not get help from her because Rebecca didn't agree with how Elena was handling the situation. She should've told Jeremy the truth; he needed to know so he could make his own decision on the matter.
"For months after Mom and Dad died, I felt like crap," Jeremy said, moving closer to Elena. "Like nothing-really-even-mattered crap. Then all of a sudden I started having these moments where things started to feel just a little bit better and Vicki was in every single one of them. So you may not see it, but trust me . . . Keeping me away from her is not for the best."
Then Jeremy walked out of the kitchen and went back upstairs.
Rebecca sat at the kitchen table and clasped her hands in front of her.
"I still think he should know the truth so at least he'd be prepared if she ever came here."
"No," Elena said firmly.
Rebecca sighed, trying to keep her patience. "Look, I know you're trying to protect him. I get that. I do. But if you keep coddling him from the big bad world, you're only gonna turn him into someone who will get us all killed."
"Becca . . ."
"No." She stood up again. "Just no. He won't know what to watch out for, he won't know not to invite her in, he won't know how to defend himself if - no, when - she finds him. If he doesn't go to her, she will seek him out and you can't be with him all the time; you just can't, and what then?"
Elena had already made her mind up and Rebecca knew that she wouldn't be able to get through no matter what she said, but she had to say these things because they were true and she was worried about what was going to happen to Jeremy because of all these lies. Elena, however, didn't respond to any of what she'd said.
"Fine. But if anything happens to Jeremy, it's on you," Rebecca seethed. "If he was my brother -"
Elena's eyes flashed with anger. "But he's not your brother." Then Elena walked away leaving a fuming Rebecca in the kitchen.
Rebecca didn't know what Elena's problem was. Well, yes, she knew the problem was she'd found out her boyfriend was a vampire and that one of her best friends was a Slayer who was with another vampire. Rebecca wasn't stupid; she got that that was stressful. But she didn't know why Elena had just snapped at her like that.
And instead of Rebecca feeling hurt from it, she felt angry.
Rebecca ended up going to the Halloween party with Elena and Jeremy, mostly because she'd said she would keep an eye on them and she wasn't one for not following through on her word. If she said she was going to do something, she did it. The only thing that she wasn't honest about was her secret and then, of course, Damon's and Stefan's secret, but that was unavoidable.
Elena had dressed as a nurse; Jeremy was a hooligan - pretty much dressed as himself; Rebecca had just thrown something together and she now looked like a gypsy. She had a white ruffle-shirt that came a few inches above her belly-button so her midriff was bare. She felt slightly uncomfortable showing that much skin, but she dealt with it. The sleeves of the shirt covered the slight discoloring of her skin from Damon's fingers, which was good because she didn't want to hear Elena bitch about it. She wore a long peasant skirt - red with sequins that sparkled when light hit them. She wore sandals, because wasn't that what gypsy's wore back in the day?
Her accessories were a red bandana, which she wore in her hair, and a few gold bangles on her wrist. She still had on her vervain-filled cross necklace, but that was because it was a necessity.
She became aware of a few guys - namely Matt and Tyler - looking at her. Matt looked more surprised than anything else, but Tyler looked interested. A few of the lower classmen were looking, too, but as soon as they caught her eye they would glance away quickly.
She knew that her body had become even more toned since she had begun training and it made her curves even more pronounced; that's what everyone was looking at.
Elena, Jeremy and Rebecca ran into Caroline and Bonnie. Rebecca stayed to chat with them but kept an eye on Elena and Jeremy too.
"Oh, my God! I love your costume," Caroline squealed, hugging Rebecca. Rebecca guessed all was forgiven about the Damon thing . . .
"Uh, thanks. I just threw it together an hour ago. You guys look great too."
Both Caroline and Bonnie were dressed as witches. Caroline had on a purple corset number, with sparkles all over her body. The only reason Rebecca could guess witch was because of the conical hat on her head. Bonnie's usual dark hair was covered by a blond wig and Rebecca began playing with the plastic dream hair.
Then she noticed Bonnie was wearing the necklace they'd taken from the Lockwood mansion. She didn't mention it because Caroline was standing right there and would've started asking questions that neither of them could've answered honestly.
"Cider for the ladies?" Tyler asked, coming up behind them. "It's a Lockwood special."
"Oh, no way," Bonnie said. "Last year, I was hung-over until Thanksgiving.
Rebecca giggled at that, but shook her head at the proffered drink. "No thanks. I have to be responsible tonight, can't drink."
"Well, I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with," Caroline said, taking a drink from Tyler. Rebecca couldn't tell if Caroline had been joking about the making out thing, but knowing Caroline . . . She'd probably been completely serious.
"Sounds like a plan." Tyler clinked his glass against Caroline's and they both began sipping. Then, in a sudden act of kindness, "Do either of you want something that doesn't have anything in it?"
"I'm good," Rebecca said. "And I'm gonna go back to Elena and Jeremy now. Uh . . . Bonnie, Caroline . . . Can I call you guys later?"
"You know you don't have to ask, Becca," Bonnie said. "You can call anytime."
"Yeah, I mean, we haven't seen each other a lot lately, but we're still your friends," Caroline said, and Rebecca could tell Caroline was being sincere for once.
Rebecca felt a sudden surge of guilt go through her, because . . . She was letting Damon feed from Caroline. She wasn't being a good friend at all.
"Thanks, you guys."
Meanwhile, at the Grill, Damon was up to some harmless flirting. Harmless, because that's all he was doing and it wasn't even genuine flirting. He was just trying to get information out of Carol Lockwood, who was a little drunk.
She'd remembered who he was from the Founder's party and even who he'd been with. He'd tried compelling her, but she had a vervain bracelet, so . . . He'd done the next best thing, which was buying her a few drinks.
"So, you need vervain?" he asked. She was drunk enough to have spilled that little secret.
"Yes. My husband and I only have left what his parents left him. And Zach had promised that he could supply us with more."
Zach had been growing the damnable herb, but it was proving useful.
"Well, I talk to him all the time, so why don't I just ask him?" They both took a sip of their drinks, while he let her think. "How much do you need? I mean, how many people do you think?"
"Well, there's our children, of course. And friends, family, and everyone on the Council."
"The Council?"
Damon could tell Carol thought she'd said too much when she said, "Zach knows how many."
Yeah, well, Zach is dead, so that doesn't help me, Damon thought impatiently.
Carol put her drink down and giggled. "You know what? I am so late. My husband is not going to be happy with me."
"Well, are you happy with your husband?" he asked, and smiled seductively. Earlier, when Damon had been a few booths down, he'd seen Carol and her husband arguing.
"You're flirting with me," she said, smiling back.
"You flirted with me first."
"True."
They both laughed and stopped flirting at the same time; he was taken and so was she. Granted, neither he nor she was exactly happy at the moment, but the situation was still the same.
"Let me escort you to the school. It's not safe out there . . . alone. I mean, I've seen ten vampires tonight."
"Well, if only the real ones were as easy to find," Carol said.
"How's that search going?"
"Oh, well, we had the Founder's party and anyone who arrived during the day was eliminated as a suspect."
"Oh . . ." Both he and Stefan had arrived during the day, so they were safe.
"And all the rest were just dead ends, so . . . Anyway, I gotta go."
"Okay."
Back at the school Rebecca was having a little fun. She, Matt, Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, Tyler, and even Jeremy were in a group dancing together. Music filled her head as she whirled around, arched, twisted, and spun around again. She even had Jeremy smiling a little. He kept looking around, for what Rebecca didn't know, but she continued dancing anyway.
As she swung her hips she bumped into all three guys. Though she knew Jeremy and Matt didn't care she made sure Tyler knew she didn't mean anything by it.
Eventually Bonnie had to go in the school to get more candy - she was on candy duty for the night - and Rebecca went with her.
"So . . . Your necklace . . ." Rebecca began. "Your Grams gave it to you?"
"Yeah. She said it's a witch's talisman or something. She said it belonged to the most powerful witch in our family."
"Emily Bennett," Rebecca said, nodding. "Yeah, that's what she said when I gave it to her."
"Why did you give it to her?"
Rebecca shrugged. "Because I didn't know what else to do with it."
The two of them made it to the cafeteria and loaded a bunch of candy into some paper bags.
"Okay, come on."
Rebecca picked up two of the bags and left two for Bonnie. They went outside and found a big cauldron pot to pour the candy in, and that was when Rebecca felt the familiar sensation of Damon being really close, so she turned around. He was right behind her.
She didn't speak to him; she just continued pouring the candy into the pot. He was not forgiven for acting the way he had earlier.
"What, no hug?" he asked sarcastically.
"Are you in a better mood?"
When she looked at him now she noticed he was slowly taking in her costume. He seemed to like it. She shook herself out of it because Bonnie was here, too, and she didn't know Rebecca was still hanging around Damon.
"What are you doing here?" Bonnie asked.
"It's Halloween. I'm enjoying the party," Damon said, glancing briefly at Bonnie. Rebecca noticed that his gaze dropped to the necklace and she could tell Damon recognized it. It wasn't surprising since he'd been alive back then.
"Just stay away from us," Bonnie said, and Rebecca smiled a little a Bonnie's boldness.
"Bonnie, it's, uh . . . It's okay. It's a free country, he can be here if he wants."
"Hm . . . Well." Bonnie didn't say anything, she just grabbed Rebecca's arm and began tugging, but Damon grabbed her other arm to keep her in place.
Oh, here we go again, she thought, feeling like screaming.
All thoughts of screaming went out the window when Bonnie clutched at her chest after letting go of Rebecca's arm. Bonnie had to catch herself on the cauldron so she wouldn't fall over.
"Bonnie?" Rebecca yanked away from Damon to help a steadily collapsing Bonnie Bennett. "Bonnie's what's happening?" Was she having a heart attack? She was clutching at her chest like it hurt.
"Come on," Damon said, gently drawing Rebecca away and then picking Bonnie up in his arms. "We gotta get away from prying eyes."
"Yeah, okay."
Rebecca willingly followed him - she put aside the anger from their argument for the time being. Damon led her into the school. It really scared Rebecca because Bonnie wasn't fighting, and her dislike of Damon would've made her fight.
"Is she even awake?" Rebecca asked, her throat feeling full. "Is she -"
"She's still breathing, and her pulse is fine, but she's unconscious. Where's the nurse's office?"
"Um . . . Come on."
She began leading the way now and, even though it felt like hours, they were in the nurse's office within a minute and he was placing Bonnie on the little cot bed that was there.
"So . . . What has the little witch stumbled into?" Damon asked, tilting his head just-so, so he could examine Bonnie. Rebecca almost thought he was talking to himself.
She left him to it, fairly certain Bonnie was safe for now with him, and went in search of those pink things that you put beneath the nose of a person who's fainted. What the hell were they called, anyway?
What had happened? Bonnie had been fine until Damon had grabbed Rebecca. Maybe there had been some kind of weird transference or something. Something had passed from Damon through Rebecca and into Bonnie?
"We should get her to her Grams, maybe she could help," Rebecca said, knowing Damon could hear. "When it comes to the mystical side of things I'm lost. That's so off my pay grade."
She opened a drawer and began going through the stuff and came up with nothing.
"You . . . recognized the necklace,' she said, and felt the air shift as Damon stopped behind her. "Emily's necklace."
"Yeah. Emily gave it to Katherine before Katherine was taken away. Then it was given to me."
"What?"
Damon noticed Rebecca's jaw had clenched when he'd said Katherine's name. She'd basically turned her nose up at it. Well, no time like the present for a story, he guessed.
"That night when I told you I'd be back, I went to Emily and asked her to save Katherine. I promised to do anything if she would save her."
Rebecca crossed her arms in front of her and set her jaw angrily.
"Not my fault," he said. "I was under compulsion at the time, remember?"
"Yes. Go on." Her voice was still clipped, though.
"Emily harnessed enough power in that necklace to save them, the ones in the church."
Rebecca nodded, remembering what Emily had told her. "They're under the church in a tomb."
Damon's face showed his surprise at her knowledge.
"Uh, Emily told me," she said. "I didn't know you were the one who asked her to do it, though."
"You . . . never said anything."
"Well, after she told me I was waiting for you to wake up, and then after you realized what had happened I didn't think you'd want to know." She wanted to reach out, grab his arm or something, but she didn't know if he'd want her to. "Anyway, what did she want in return?
"She wanted me to make sure her lineage survived."
"Bonnie," Rebecca said, suddenly remembering her friend. "I was trying to find one of those sniff-y things to wake her up, but I guess -"
"She didn't hit her head, she'll wake up on her own."
"Okay."
Damon watched as Rebecca sat down and began fidgeting, running her fingers through her hair; she was really worried.
"Okay, what is it? Bonnie's not hurt, so there's something else."
"She . . . has visions sometimes, Damon. She sees things, and obviously this was something very powerful to make her react like that."
"And you want to know what it was?" he deduced.
"Yeah and . . . The night of the Founder's party something happened to her. She went into a trance and I think she was possessed for a second. She said 'You can't let them out' which I didn't know what it meant until just now. Then Bonnie didn't remember any of it. She didn't even remember giving me the crystal. I gave it to Grams, and Grams gave it to her."
Damon sat beside her just to give her the sense that she wasn't alone. She had all these problems to deal with on top of the Slayer thing that sometimes he didn't know how she functioned, and she was so worried about everyone else she sometimes didn't have time to worry about herself.
"Okay . . . So, if she agreed to do what you asked - and she did because she told me that even though she thought being a vampire was a curse not all of them deserved to die - then why all of a sudden is the tomb not supposed to be opened? I know she said only a Bennett witch could do it, but I know Sheila probably wouldn't go for it, and Bonnie's not experienced enough."
Damon shrugged. There was nothing in the tomb he wanted, so it didn't matter to him.
"Could you at least pretend to care?" Rebecca asked quietly. "I mean, even I don't care bout the ones in the tomb . . . I care about what's happening to Bonnie. I mean, what if something's trying to take her over permanently? She's a good friend and I don't want to lose her.
"I don't know anything more than you do," Damon said. "Maybe you should ask your Watcher, that's what she's there for."
"Oh, right." Rebecca grimaced. "I haven't talked to her in a while. She probably thinks I'm dead. I'll call her tomorrow."
Damon sighed and stood up. "Bonnie's waking up. Are you . . . good now?"
He wasn't used to asking that question and meaning it, so it came out weird, nervous and tentative, and it annoyed him because that voice didn't belong to him; he wasn't that person.
"Yeah, I think I just needed to vent."
They both went to the room with the bed in it, and Rebecca helped Bonnie sit up when her eyes flew open.
"Bonnie, you scared me half to death!" she said. "What happened? What did you see?"
Bonnie looked timidly over at Damon before glaring half-heartedly; she was apparently too weak to do anything more.
"He knows about you, so you can be straight with us."
"You told him?" Bonnie asked, now turning her glare to Rebecca.
"No, he was there that night we had dinner at Elena's, remember? She brought it up."
"Oh. Right. Well, that's okay then."
"So . . . What did you see?"
"I didn't see anything exactly. It was more a feeling. I felt . . . wrong, like something was missing - that was when I was just touching you."
"And then . . . When Damon touched me . . ." Rebecca led her on.
"It was worse - like it was the same thing, only more. It actually made my heart hurt. There was so much pain and loneliness and I just couldn't deal with it. I just wanted it to stop, to go away."
Rebecca swallowed convulsively as Bonnie began to cry. She must've felt what Damon had felt after Rebecca had had to leave him in the past. It was magnified, though, because Damon was a vampire.
"So your body shut it off," Damon said softly.
Rebecca looked at him and he just met her gaze steadily. God, was that how he'd felt for the last 145 years? Lost and alone? Was that why he'd shut everything out? He just hadn't been able to deal with it on his own. And that was why he was the way he was now; he just didn't know how to handle people he genuinely cared for. Even her. He probably didn't even remember how to have a relationship anymore.
When Damon had begun to speak Bonnie had snapped out of it and was now fidgeting on the bed.
"How'd I get here?"
"Damon carried you."
Bonnie looked at Damon, shook her head, and looked back at Rebecca. "I think I'm gonna go home."
"Do you need someone to go with you? Are you feeling sick or dizzy?"
"No, I'm . . . okay. But I'll call you later tonight."
"Good, when you get home so I know you got there okay."
"Yeah, I will."
A few minutes after Bonnie left Damon got a call from Stefan, telling him that Vicki was at the party and he wanted to know if Damon would help find her. So Stefan met up with him and Rebecca and let them know Jeremy had disappeared.
Damon heard Rebecca groan and curse under her breath. Right, her precious Jeremy was in trouble. Maybe. Then he watched her take a deep breath and close her eyes, and he just had to know . . .
"What're you doing?"
"Reaching out, trying to find her. I told you once I could feel vampires."
"Yeah, but won't Stefan and I get in the way of that?"
"No, I've been around you and Stefan enough to tell the difference. If she's anywhere in the school or here at the party at all I will feel her."
When Rebecca opened her emerald eyes Damon could tell she was in Slayer mode. She held herself very differently now than she normally did. Usually she was relaxed, but now every step she took had a purpose behind it.
Finding Jeremy, helping Jeremy, and helping Vicki or stopping her; whichever came first.
Rebecca pointed in the general direction of where she felt Vicki was. Stefan took off running and Rebecca stood still for a second and grabbed at her skirt. She pulled it up to reveal a wooden stake that was bound to her right calf.
Damon smirked at her. "You always carry that thing around?"
Rebecca shrugged. "I usually have it in a bag. Do you need one?"
She lifted the right side of her skirt up higher and Damon's mouth went dry. Her skin was tan and looked silky smooth. He clenched his hands to his sides so he wouldn't reach out to feel if it was as soft as it looked.
Damn her for wearing that costume, Damon thought. What's she showing off her body for anyway?
He'd seen the way every male at the party had been eyeing her. He understood why - her body was magnificent, and in the right light she even had a certain glow about her - but he didn't have to like it.
"Damon?" She handed him the stake and pulled one off her thigh. "Mouth looks better closed."
"Mouth . . . What?"
Rebecca grinned and blushed. "You were staring."
"That's because you're practically half-naked, and I am made of male parts."
"I remember," she said, flushing further. "Come on."
Damon put the stake in his jacket pocket and Rebecca kept hers behind her back. She let him lead now that they had a direction to start from, and he concentrated on listening for Stefan or Elena or Jeremy. He wasn't exactly familiar with the last; he'd barely said two words to the kid. Then he heard a scream and grabbed Rebecca and held her firmly against him.
"Close your eyes," was the only warning he gave before he took off faster than a bullet. She had her arms around his neck and was holding on tightly and he noticed she had listened and closed her eyes. Her heartbeat had picked up and he wondered if it was fear or exhilaration. Whatever the reason, she hadn't complained when he'd grabbed her without warning and had taken off.
She showed him more trust than he thought he deserved, but he appreciated it nonetheless. Especially after their little fight earlier.
He finally reached where the scream had come from - behind the school where the busses were kept. The scene they found would've been sad if he wasn't so indifferent to the situation.
Vicki had been staked through the heart and had mummified; Stefan had done it. Elena was crying and bleeding, and Jeremy was flipping out, screaming Vicki's name over and over. To the kid's credit, he seemed more worried about the fact that Vicki was dead rather than the fact that he could've died. And he didn't seem too worried about the vampire thing, if he'd even figured it out. Which he probably had because it looked like Vicki had been vamping out when she'd died. She'd even died with her fangs in place.
"Looks like we missed all the fun," he said, putting Rebecca on her feet.
Rebecca didn't mention Damon's comment; she just grabbed his hand and squeezed a little. She was going to go to Jeremy now, he just knew it.
"I have to take care of him, Damon. He needs me right now."
Rebecca watched as Damon clenched his jaw, but was grateful when he nodded. He wasn't going to argue? That was a relief. Maybe he'd finally realized he could trust her, or maybe he'd realized he'd overreacted and wouldn't do it again.
"Thank you."
She went over to Jeremy, who was being restrained by Stefan. Jeremy's face was covered in tears and his lip had blood dripping from it. Elena was standing there in shock, so Rebecca didn't fault her for not being able to take care of Jeremy; Rebecca had fainted the first time she'd seen a vampire die, so, the way she saw it, Elena was taking it better than she had.
Elena's side was bleeding badly, soaking through her white nurse's uniform. She had a few scrapes on her arms, and her neck was bleeding; Vicki had obviously bitten her. Rebecca picked Jeremy to comfort since he was the more traumatized of the two. She gently took him from Stefan's arms and Jeremy began holding onto her like his life depended on it. He was silent now, sobbing into her shoulder.
She wrapped her arms around him and glanced over at Damon to make sure she wasn't upsetting him. His expression was unreadable, but he was looking at her too.
Jeremy's legs gave out and Rebecca was the only thing holding him up. His whole body was shaking, and she let them both fall to the ground.
"Oh, Jer . . . I'm so sorry . . ." she said, not knowing if she could say anything else. It wouldn't matter because anything she said wouldn't get through anyway. But even if it did, it would sound lame or stupid.
Rebecca began to cry, herself, because someone she loved was in pain, and that was one thing she couldn't take. She didn't like the thought of people being hurt, whether it was physical or emotional. Vicki's death had been quick, probably over in a matter of seconds, but Jeremy's pain would live on.
"Becca, get him out of here," Elena said. "Please."
Rebecca's grief turned to rage at Elena's request. How dare Elena think she could ask Rebecca for anything?
"I told you," Rebecca said, contempt lacing her voice. "I told you this would happen and you didn't listen."
Rebecca helped Jeremy to his feet, and, because he was shaky, Stefan grabbed onto Jeremy too.
"What are we gonna do with her?" she whispered loud enough for only Damon and Stefan to hear. Stefan looked a little lost, so Damon took over. Rebecca assumed he was going to bury Vicki somewhere.
"You," she heard Elena say, and she looked to see that Elena was talking to Damon. "You did this. This is your fault."
And that was the last straw. Damon may not have cared what Stefan or Elena thought about him, but she did. Rebecca didn't want to just let go of Jeremy, so she kept hold of him while speaking.
"Actually, Elena, it's yours. You're the one who kept this from him. And . . . By the way, Vicki fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Damon didn't kill her. He went out that night and Vicki was one of the people he attacked, but she didn't die, so he gave her some of his blood so she would heal. Vicki was messing around on the stairs and tripped over her own two feet. But nobody stopped to get the whole story, did they? You all just assumed because it's him. You just blamed him because it's convenient."
Rebecca shook her head in disgust and began tugging Jeremy along; he followed her willingly enough. She hoped he had been too busy grieving to have paid attention to anything she'd just said; he'd have questions and she really didn't feel like getting into it tonight.
"I have my dad's car, but someone has to drive."
Since Damon had to bury the body, Stefan was the only other choice. Rebecca didn't know why Elena couldn't take Jeremy home, but she didn't really care at that point because Elena wasn't who Jeremy was clinging onto. Elena wasn't who Jeremy needed.
Once in the car, Jeremy and Rebecca in the backseat with Stefan driving, Rebecca began checking Jeremy over for injuries. Other than the blood on his lip he was physically fine.
"Jeremy, sweetie, look at me."
He lifted his head and she could tell it was hard; it was like he had no strength to.
"Did you drink from her? It's important." He shook his head absently. "Good, that's good."
"Wh - what happened? To her?" Jeremy bit her lip and more tears fell. "She . . . She bit me and . . . Elena. And . . ."
Rebecca shook her head. "Not right now, Jer. I will explain everything, but not tonight. Tonight you just need to . . ." She didn't know what he needed, but it wasn't to have everything thrown at him at once. "Tonight you just rest and then, in the morning, if you still want to know . . . I'll explain, okay?"
Jeremy nodded; it was almost a jerk, though, it was so fast. He laid his head back on her shoulder and she began playing with his hair. She had tears in her eyes again. That night had gone horribly wrong; she hadn't wanted it to end that way. She had hoped they could help Vicki. But now, thinking back, no one had been able to help her when she'd been human, so why would vampire-Vicki be any different.
By the time they got to Elena's house Jeremy had calmed down enough to function on his own and he went upstairs. Rebecca made to follow him, but Stefan stopped her.
"What you said about Damon . . . Were you telling the truth?"
"I had no reason to lie. He did . . . attack her because he was starving. And he did give her blood to heal her. We were dancing around and she fell. Now I've really gotta get to Jeremy, at least until Elena gets back."
"Okay. I'll wait outside."
In Jeremy's room she saw he was on the bed hugging his knees to his chest, stray tears still falling.
"Jer, did you want me to leave, or . . ."
"Why does everybody have to die on me?" Jeremy asked, voice broken.
Rebecca didn't know what to say to that. First his parents and now Vicki. Her first instinct had been to say she wasn't going to die on him, but she couldn't promise that, not the way her life went.
"Please, just make it stop. It hurts."
Since Rebecca knew there was nothing she could possibly say to make him feel better she just sat with him until Elena got home, which was only about fifteen minutes later. Rebecca went out to give Elena and Jeremy a few minutes, and she sat with Stefan on the porch. That was when she realized she was shaking. She hadn't been able to let go and everything was bottled up inside. The two main things she was focused on were the regret she felt about Vicki dying and the pain she felt because of Jeremy's own pain; the last one was almost crippling.
She fought back the tears because she just couldn't let it out yet. If she started she wouldn't be able to stop, and she needed to be able to function at least until she got home.
"I wanted to help her." Stefan said softly. "Instead . . ."
"Yeah." Rebecca was barely able to hear her own voice, but she knew Stefan had heard her perfectly.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"No," she answered honestly. "Everything that could have gone wrong tonight did, and now everything is just so messed up."
"I'm sorry."
Rebecca looked at Stefan and saw that, yes, he really was sorry. He had pain and regret written all over his face, much like she probably did.
"You did what you had to do, Stefan. She attacked Elena, probably would've killed her."
Stefan nodded but didn't look comforted. He stood up when Elena came back outside. She was still in her nurse's costume, but she had a blanket wrapped around her.
"How's he doing?" Stefan asked.
"He's a mess," Elena replied, tears in her eyes too. "I don't want him going through this again. He's just a kid."
"Elena, what can I do?" Stefan asked. "I - what can I do to help? I'll do anything."
"Can you make him forget?" Elena asked softly.
"Elena . . ." Stefan shook his head.
"Stefan, please. I don't know how he'll ever get past this. I want him to forget everything that happened."
Now Rebecca stood up. "What? You - after everything that . . . Tonight was a sparkling example of why he shouldn't be kept in the dark, Elena. He could've died, and you almost did!"
"He's in pain, Rebecca! He's . . . not gonna be okay unless . . ."
"Unless what? You get someone to tamper with his memories? No, we all feel pain, Elena. And you know what? It hurts like hell sometimes and everything sucks for a while, but we get better, stronger because of it."
"It's not your call to make," Elena said firmly but softly.
"It's not yours either. It is Jeremy's mind that will be messed with, Jeremy's memories that . . . If . . ." Rebecca's body deflated - everything just went away because she couldn't handle everything anymore. She didn't want to have to be on top of everything all the time.
"Elena, your memories are what make you. You tweak one little thing and you get a completely different person. I've seen it happen."
"If I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work," Stefan said, becoming referee guy. "Because of who I am, because of how I live. I don't have the ability to do it right."
"I can do it."
Of course, Rebecca felt Damon coming about five seconds before he appeared on the porch, but the usual relief she felt when he was around was bogged down by everything else. Not to mention, those words were not ones she wanted to hear.
"If this is what you want . . . I'll do it," Damon said.
As he said that, Rebecca's shoulders sagged in defeat because Damon was going to do what Damon wanted to do - she'd taught him that - and if this was it, then Jeremy's memories were history.
"It's what I want," Elena said, looking from Stefan to Damon.
"What do you want him to know?"
"I want you to tell him that Vicki left town," Elena began, and Rebecca shook her head again, not agreeing with the deceit, "and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her. He's gonna miss her but he knows it's for the best."
Damon nodded and went inside. Part of Rebecca wanted to follow him, but the other part just wanted to leave. She didn't even want to look at Elena right now. How could Elena be so stupid? Rebecca just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she found some sense.
Making Jeremy oblivious to the things around him was not the way to make this better; it wasn't the best way to handle this situation.
"Part of me wishes that I could forget too," Elena said softly. "Forget meeting you . . . Finding out what you are, and everything that's happened since."
Rebecca realized Elena was talking to Stefan, so she tuned them out as best as she could. She didn't care about their drama right now.
"I don't want it to be like this. I don't wanna feel like this."
Rebecca rolled her eyes at Elena's remarkable self-involvement. Tonight shouldn't have been about her and Stefan's whatever; it should have been about Vicki - who was really dead now - and Jeremy. Elena should have been upstairs comforting him, not asking someone to take the pain away just so she wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.
"He's a vampire, Elena. That's what he is. Deal with it or don't, but make a damn choice," Rebecca said, real contempt behind her voice. "I'm going home."
"Becca . . ." Elena was hurt, Rebecca could tell, but she couldn't bring herself to care right now, not really.
"Don't! I'll see you later."
When Rebecca got to her dad's car she just stopped and closed her eyes for a second. She was so tired from the last few hours she'd spent on the emotional roller coaster that was her life. She slumped against the side of the car and then ran her hands through her hair, tugging a bit. She focused on breathing properly.
God, what was going to happen next? Vicki; Jeremy; Elena . . .
Matt. Vicki's brother! What was he going to do? He didn't have anyone anymore. His mom was gone all the time, he didn't even know his dad, and Vicki was dead now. And he couldn't even know that, not since everyone was so hell-bent on being so damn secretive.
Rebecca's lower lip began to tremble and she clamped down on it with her teeth to keep it still. She bit harder than was necessary so she could focus on something other than her emotional turmoil.
"Fuck!" she shouted, and she didn't care who heard her. She wanted to curse, so she was going to curse. It was loud and drawn out, and when she stopped she was out of breath. She didn't feel any better, though, because cursing didn't solve anything; the problem was still there.
She opened the car door and plopped inside, but didn't start the car because Damon appeared, and within two seconds she was in the passenger seat and he was in the driver's.
"What're you doing?"
"Taking you home. You don't need to drive, you're upset."
"Hm." An almost hysterical laugh burst from her chest. "I don't know what it is I am, but it's more than upset."
"Because of Jeremy?"
Rebecca noticed there was no trace of jealousy at all, which was good because she couldn't deal with that right now, not on top of everything else.
"Because of everything. Vicki, Jeremy, Elena, Matt . . . He's gonna wonder what happened to her, and he'll never know."
She blinked away the tears and turned to look out the window. They were nearly at her house.
"Why'd you do it? Why'd you make Jeremy forget?"
"He was broken, Becca. Did the kid a favor."
"Of course he was broken. It only happened tonight! I mean, he would've gotten better as time went by. After he processed what happened."
"He would've told somebody."
"No. He wouldn't have. Because I would've asked him not to, and he would've listened because it was me."
Damon pulled into her driveway and she sighed. She didn't want to have to be here . . . alone.
"Can you stay? Please . . . Just don't leave me alone."
Damon took in her face, broken and in despair, and he knew he couldn't deny her anything, not right now. Because she needed him, and she was admitting it out loud to him.
"Yeah. Bedroom window?"
She smiled a little. "Yes. Thank you."
It still shocked him whenever she said that because he still wasn't used to being thanked. More than that, though, was that he wasn't used to having someone around to thank him, to be grateful to him. Most people, they see a vampire and that's all they see, so he had either killed them or compelled them to forget, depending on what they had done when they'd found out.
"You're welcome," he said.
He waited for her to get inside and distract her dad and aunt, who were in the kitchen, and then he went to her bedroom window, found it wasn't locked, and went inside to wait.
Her dad didn't try to keep her from going to bed, he just asked if she was hurt and when she said no Damon heard her coming to the room. He heard Robert and Tina talking, in the living room now, but he didn't care enough to listen in. He got the gist, though. Tina didn't understand Robert's sudden leniency toward Rebecca. Damon didn't understand it much, either. If he'd had a daughter, he'd have become more strict if he'd found out she was supposed to kill vampires. He'd have had a big, fat NO ready for her every time she wanted to go out at night.
Rebecca stepped in the room and glanced at Damon, who was looking at her too. He had unexpressed concern in his eyes and all she could do was stand there and shrug. His little Rebecca was lost and didn't know what to do.
"I'm, uh . . . I'm gonna change, but I'll be right back," she said softly. She grabbed a few things from a drawer and went to the bathroom. Damon began thinking about the night's events.
Finding Vicki dead - he wasn't sorry for it, but it was a shame she'd had to die so soon. Though she'd have had a bad ending even if she'd stayed human, if she hadn't broken her neck to begin with. Out all night, partying with losers, sleeping around. She would've disappeared eventually. Somebody would've killed her or she'd have overdosed on drugs or something.
Then there was Jeremy. He'd seen how Rebecca was with the kid and it was like she'd told him . . . Jeremy was like a kid brother to her. Maybe even more, like she had a maternal love for him. Damon had nothing to worry about when it came to Jeremy.
Then there was Elena. Rebecca had defended him when Elena had blamed him about the Vicki situation. Until that night, Damon had never seen a royally pissed off Rebecca - she had looked at Elena like she'd wanted to pop her one or something. She'd been contemplating violence, that was for sure.
When Rebecca got back he took in her usual PJs. Shirt and shorts, even though it was nearing November. His gaze was drawn to her arms - her gypsy shirt had been covering them, but she had bruises on her upper arms. Finger marks, as if someone had been rough with her.
"What happened there?"
She looked confused for a second before she looked down herself. "It doesn't matter."
She rubbed her hands over her arms, though. She looked around her room like she'd never seen it before, and then she locked her door.
"Becca . . . What happened?"
She'd never kept anything from him before and he didn't like that she was now.
"You," she said, looking down at the floor, refusing to meet his eyes. "Today at the car because of Stefan. Yesterday at the front door because of Jeremy. You squeezed too hard."
He had done it? Granted, a few bruises were the least of their problems right now, but the fact that he'd been the one to leave them was frustrating. Compared to the fact that he'd nearly drained her dry the other day, this was a very small thing, but he hated the thought of himself causing her pain. Next to losing her completely, it was the most excruciating thought that ever floated around his head. It was excruciating because it was so easy to do, him being a vampire and her being human. The Slayer, yes, but still human.
His mind flashed back to the two times he'd gotten jealous, and he hadn't thought he'd been gripping hard enough to leave bruises. But her little speech about him mistreating her made sense now because he had left bruises.
He felt her hand touch his face and he looked at her. She was smiling softly and he saw she didn't seem lost anymore because she was focusing on him. She didn't look mad, either, which was a relief. He thought he was going to have to apologize, which he didn't want to do.
"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked.
"Because I didn't want you to know. It wasn't that important."
"Hm. Regardless -" he kissed the inside of her wrist and resisted the urge to bite "- next time just say ow, okay?"
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Oh, but that would've made sense. And you are never sensible if you can help it."
"True," he admitted. "Still, you can't just let me hurt you. And I won't know I'm doing it if you don't tell me."
Rebecca nodded and sat beside him on the bed. He had her hand in his, which she didn't mind. She found it ironic, though, that Damon Salvatore, badass vampire, was a hand holder.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked softly.
Damon nodded, and she turned on the TV in her room hoping to cover their voices. Her dad was used to her going to sleep with the TV on, so he probably wouldn't suspect anything.
"Tonight when you helped Bonnie . . . You had nothing to gain from it . . . So why?"
Damon shrugged. "I promised I would protect Emily's family if she saved Katherine. Emily held up her end of the deal, and just because I made that pact while I was being compelled, I still made it; a deal's a deal."
Rebecca didn't know how to express how happy it made her that he still had some sense of honor left in him. So she kissed him softly to show her appreciation. It was like the kiss she'd given him the night he'd opened up to her a little. That had . . . only been the night before, but it felt like months had gone by. Courtesy of the too eventful, too stressful day.
Damon responded quickly enough but didn't try to deepen the kiss at all. He happened to like these kisses - the sweet, tender ones that showed him how much she cared for him.
She accepted him the way he was; she didn't care that he was a vampire with urges that didn't fit the human scale - hell, she didn't care that he wasn't human. Damon knew that he could sometimes act like a monster when he wanted to, and at best he acted like a cold-hearted bastard - and that was about 90% of the time - but she loved him like he was just a man, vampire not included.
No, she didn't pretend like his vampire side didn't exist because, really, how could she? But she didn't treat him any differently than she did anyone else because of it, either.
She helped him feel . . . less like a monster, because if he could have someone like Rebecca - someone good like her - without having to compel her, then he couldn't be that bad, right? Because villains don't get the girls, not the good ones. If he were really a monster, then the world wouldn't let him have her, not willingly.
And all this self-reflecting was bringing him down to a very dark place. Dark places were not good for him. Negative emotions led to . . . very bad things when it came to him. People usually got hurt.
And it was making him thirsty, so he pulled away from Rebecca just a little. For the first time in a very long time, he hid his face from someone. He still thought Rebecca shouldn't have to see him like that.
Rebecca didn't have to ask questions, she knew that emotions - especially the intense ones - brought the vampire to the surface; she didn't know why, she just knew they did. She also knew that human blood, fresh human blood would take the edge off.
"Damon," she whispered, lifting his face up so she could see just how much whatever he was feeling was affecting him. "Please don't hide from me."
His eyes were blood red and the veins were still protruding underneath, but his teeth were still blunt. She caressed his cheeks, because usually that helped, but it didn't this time. It made it worse and he pulled away even more.
"What's wrong? I can't . . . I won't know what to do if you don't tell me what's wrong."
Was he hungry? Well, thirsty? Or angry? Really, he had no reason to be. They'd been touching and kissing and then . . .
"Was it me? Did I . . . do something wrong?"
Damon breathed deeply. Hearing the uncertainty in her voice, hearing that she was blaming herself pissed him off because clearly it wasn't her fault at all. He needed to get control of himself now. He'd had control for so long, but feeling emotions anew was hard and stressful, even the ones that didn't feel bad.
Like being genuinely cared for; it was hard for him to grasp and get used to. It had been so long between times that he'd been with Rebecca, and so much had happened in the in-between, and the Damon she'd known was buried so far down he was barely the same person he'd been. But . . . His humanity was trying to claw its way out - and that was dangerous for everybody.
Dangerous because his human self had felt everything deeply. He had felt, when he was human, that if his heart wasn't in it then it wasn't worth it, and so, yes, the things and people he cared about got everything he was. He didn't do things halfway - if he didn't feel with his whole heart, he didn't give up his time with it.
He finally was able to flip the switch and his face went back to normal. Why had it been so hard? It had never been that hard before, damn it!
"What just happened?" Rebecca asked softly. She didn't reach for him, though, because he had pulled away from her and he would come back when he was ready.
"Feeling's resurfacing. No big."
"Is it . . . really that difficult?" she asked curiously. "And was it me?"
Damon's blue eyes found her green ones and her heart skipped a beat. His eyes were open - no walls to be seen. Just Damon, not who he was pretending to be.
"Yes, it's that difficult. Imagine not feeling anything for 145 years, and then imagine opening yourself up and everything hitting you at once."
Rebecca couldn't imagine that; it was impossible for her. No, she wasn't the most emotive person in the world, but she felt. She knew what it was like to hurt, but she knew what it was like when everything felt good, too. She'd felt everything in-between and couldn't imagine how it felt to not feel, to just be numb to everything. And then to have it all thrown back at you . . . Practically forced upon you . . .
"I'm sorry if . . . if it's bad."
Damon shook his head and moved back to her. He was in complete control now. "Tonight . . . What just happed wasn't bad. Or it didn't feel bad." He tried to swallow back the words that he wanted to say because he didn't like being this open, this vulnerable, but he also thought he owed it to her to be completely honest since she was with him. "I'm just not used to that yet."
"That?" she asked. "That what?"
"When you kiss me like that," he admitted, uncomfortable now.
Rebecca's eyes widened when she understood. "So it is me."
"You are the reason it's happening," he said. "It's not your fault, it's just who you are. How you are with me. You let so many things slide, some things that you probably shouldn't, but you do it anyway, for me."
Damon realized he'd never really acknowledged it out loud, the things she did for him, and he wanted her to know he appreciated it even if he usually didn't say anything.
Rebecca smiled softly for a second, but then she frowned. "You . . . I make you lose control because I care?"
"It doesn't matter," he repeated her earlier words. "It'll get easier once I get used to being with you again, being around you again." This time he was the one caressing her face. "Don't stop caring. The emotions I think I can learn to deal with. You deciding you can't be with me for my own good, that I can't handle."
"Always care about you?" She smiled again. "Check.
Okay, so I think the last part is a little OOC for Damon, he's not usually that open, but I'm going by my opinion that he could be that way if he wanted to be. And if he felt secure in whatever relationship he's in, he might let someone in like that.
Let me know what you think.