Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries, Elena would have remembered and kissed Damon after he gave her the "I love you but I don't deserve you" speech at the end of "Rose". I'll settle for the fanfics, for now.

Chapter 6: Uninvited Guest

Caroline forces a smile on her lips as she brings the breakfast tray down to her mother's room. She'd attempted to make scrambled eggs, since it had seemed like the easiest thing to make. They were a little crispy, but at least the toast wasn't charcoal and she couldn't screw up with the orange juice since that came out of a carton.

She'd even gone outside to pick a few wildflowers to put in a small glass vase; even if she couldn't cook, she could at the very least get points for presentation. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, even though it isn't necessary anymore, she pushes the door open.

Liz is lying on her cot, staring at the ceiling; but she immediately sits up, on her guard as she glances at her warily before turning her head away from her.

"Made you breakfast!" Caroline says cheerfully, trying to break the ice.

Liz simply stares stonily at the wall.

Pursing her lips and trying not to let it get to her, Caroline sets the food down on the side table. Her mother doesn't even look at it.

"I know I've never been the greatest cook, but I tried, you know?"

Liz continues to stare at the wall and Caroline sighs in frustration.

"Are you seriously going to just pretend I don't exist?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest to avoid showing how much her mother's hurting her. She'd been an idiot to think anything would change between them; it was no secret that she and her mother had never seen eye to eye on anything. Things had been so much easier when her dad was still in the picture.

Liz chooses that moment to pour more salt in the wound that is their relationship.

"Yes," she says coldly. "So please go."

Caroline fights back the tears and turns back to the door.

Her mother obviously wasn't going to hear anything she had to say; just like all the other times she'd needed to talk.

She shakes her head, wondering why she'd ever thought this latest drama would actually bring them closer.

"As usual, you don't care, got it! Just like before I was a vampire."

She opens the door, her voice cracking with emotion as she mutters "It's not like I died or anything."

She hears her mother's soft gasp and had she known any better she would have thought she actually cared.

Inwardly she has to laugh bitterly at the irony of the situation; she'd had to actually die before Liz's maternal instincts kicked in.

"Are you really dead?" she asks, tears springing to her eyes.

Caroline glances back at her, but doesn't turn around.

"Yes, and no." she replies softly, about to leave again.

"How is that possible?" she asks.

Caroline considers walking out and muttering "as if you care," in typical teenage apathy, but something in her mother's tone stops her in her tracks.

She closes the door and turns back to the bed and the chair sitting across from it.

"Damon," she says simply, meeting her mother's eyes for the first time in, well, ever.

"He tried to save me back when I was in the hospital."

Liz closes her eyes, taking this information slowly.

"Damon did this to you?" she whispers, anger lacing her words.

Caroline shakes her head.

"No, he didn't turn me; not on purpose anyway."

She closes her eyes and sighs.

"Look, it's hard to explain. I don't even really remember since I was pretty out of it."

Liz takes a deep breath, recognizing instantly that Caroline is getting flustered; at least that part of her seems to have remained the same.

"How do you turn?" she asks.

Caroline stares incredulously at her.

"You mean you're on the council and you don't know?"

Liz shakes her head.

"We never even started hunting until the killings started, and honestly, we were more concerned with ridding our town of the problem than asking questions."

Caroline rolls her eyes.

"Typical, shoot first ask questions never," she bites out sarcastically.

Liz shrugs.

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth. I guess it never really hit me until I found out you were infected."

"This isn't some disease, Mom, this is my life now. It has been since before I even left the hospital."

Liz nods. "I know, but you have to understand this is hard for me."

Caroline looks down at her hands, feeling like the little girl who has just disappointed her mother all over again. She's surprised when a hand reaches out to touch hers tentatively. Their eyes meet and Liz forces herself to smile.

"But I'm willing to try," she said.

Caroline smiles back. Finally they are talking the way a mother and daughter should.

"Okay," she begins. "Well like I said I don't really remember much, but Damon and Stefan filled me in on the details after it happened. Basically you have to die with vampire blood in your system, and then you have to feed on human blood to complete the change or…" she pauses, not sure if she should say anything more.

"Or?" Liz prompts her, eyes searching.

Caroline takes in another shuddering breath, forgetting once again she doesn't need to.

"Or else you die," she finished.

Liz gasps, closing her eyes against the tears threatening to fall.

"Oh," she chokes out in an almost-sob.

"If it makes you feel any better, I would have died anyway from the accident if Damon hadn't saved me," she tries, smiling softly to show her mother she's okay with everything.

"It doesn't," Liz admits, tears now welling up in her eyes. "It makes it even worse, knowing that either way I would have lost you that night."

Caroline shakes her head.

"You wouldn't have," she assures her. "Vampire blood…it has healing powers. You only turn into a vampire if you die with it still in your system, and I wasn't supposed to die. I was actually getting better, and if things had worked the way Damon had planned, I would have left that hospital alive."

"But, you…" Liz stops herself, unable to accept even now that her child had died.

Caroline nods. "Yeah, nobody planned on that happening. Like I said, I wasn't supposed to die. Damon's blood had completely healed me, but it was still in my system when she killed me."

"Who killed you?" Liz asks.

"Well, this part is where it gets weird." Caroline says, almost excited now.

Her mother is actually hanging on her every word, listening to her talk about the crazy events of the past few months without rolling her eyes once.

Liz smirks. "I doubt that things could get any weirder."

Caroline laughs lightly at her mother's joke. "Well, trust me on this one, okay?"

Liz only nods, motioning for her to continue.

"Elena came into my room that night, or who I thought was Elena because she looks exactly like her." she says, watching her mother's eyes go wide with surprise.

"Elena has a vampire twin?" Liz says out loud, trying to make sense of it.

"Actually it's way more complicated than that, and I promise I'll explain that later…that is, if you want me to."

She watches her mother for signs of her pulling away, but surprisingly she's nodding her head in understanding, so she continues.

"Anyway, she told me her name was Katherine and that she wanted me to give a message to Stefan and Damon. Then she smothered me with a pillow until I died, and when I woke up I was so hungry and really disoriented. Nobody knew what happened to me yet, so I was all alone. I didn't know what would happen…and there was this bag of blood…"

She decides against telling her mother about the nurse, not wanting to scare her.

"Anyway, I completed the change and when Elena, Stefan and Damon found me it was already too late."

Her face brightens, wanting to erase the sad look from her mother's face.

"But Stefan's been really helping me, and Damon too! And Bonnie even gave me this ring so I can be out in the sun and still live a pretty normal life, you know, aside from the needing to drink blood to stay alive…or whatever I am now."

Liz can't hide the horrified expression. "You kill people?" she gasps.

Caroline shakes her head vehemently.

"No, no it's not like that! I told you about the blood bag, right? Well I mainly feed off those. It's not as good as the fresh stuff, but it beats the animal blood Stefan's been trying to get me to drink."

"So you steal the blood from the hospital?" Liz asks, suddenly feeling calmer knowing her child wasn't out harming people at least.

"Damon does," Caroline corrects, wanting to make it clear that he doesn't hunt (at least not anymore, but her mother didn't need to know that).

"I've been pilfering his supply," she adds, a guilty smile on her face.

"So, as long as you have blood, you don't need to kill?" Liz asks, almost hopeful.

Caroline bites her lip.

"I want to," she admits, wanting to lower her head in shame at her mother's reproachful look. "It's my basic nature now. But, on a healthy diet, I can control it," she adds. "I'm getting better at it! I'm better than Stefan," she laughs softly. "He's a bit of a problem drinker, a blood-ahoic."

Liz doesn't smile, her eyes still filled with concern and sadness. "I don't want this for you," she whispers.

Caroline is surprised at her mother's concern for her, having never really felt it before.

She nods her head.

"I know," she replies sadly, and then her eyes brightened again. "But, when life gives you lemons…"

There's no sense in feeling sad over things they can't change. Besides, for the first time in her life (or was it un-life now?) her mother is actually there for her.

She cares and that made everything she'd gone through these past months actually seem worth it.

Her ears pick up the sound of footsteps rushing up the stairs, followed by a loud crash a few flights up. It's coming from Stefan's room.

"Stefan's home," she says in explanation when her mother stares at her in confusion, obviously not able to hear the vampire upstairs destroying his possessions.

"I should probably go check on him," she excuses herself. "He sounds upset, and I don't think he should be alone."

Liz catches the slight smile on her daughter's lips, but nods her head and motions with her hand for her to go. She can tell there's something going on between the two of them, but she won't push Caroline to tell her just yet; they've only begun to heal their relationship after all.

As she watches her daughter shut the door behind her, Liz turns to the food that had been laid out for her. It doesn't look too appetizing, but she picks up the silver fork anyway; her daughter had tried after all.

Stefan roars as he sends the table and all its contents flying; the sound of wood splintering and glass shattering is mildly satisfying. He gets why Damon does it so often now.

It's starting to sink in, and he's regretting his decision to let her go.

He still loves her, and this is starting to become too much for him. She's choosing Damon.

He's truly lost her.

He thought he would be okay. He thought this was what she needed. He thought this was what he needed. But the more he pictures the two of them together, the more it really hurts.

No wonder Damon had one promised an eternity of misery for him! This fucking sucks knowing that the woman you thought you would love forever doesn't love you.

And the worst part is that he only just started to mend the relationship with his brother. They were getting along and now…

He's basically lost the two most important people in his life all in one night. One stupid decision has fucked everything up!

How the hell is he going to be able to face them after this? How will he be able to stand it? Living here, in this house, with Damon living here too?

Oh god, he's going to end up hearing them in Damon's room, or in Damon's shower…it's all too much!

He notices the small photo on the desk in the corner, the one of him and Elena looking so happy together. He practically crushes it in his hands before hurling it across the room to join the rest of his broken furniture.

He finds the chest by his bed next, wanting to throw that too.

She's left him for his brother, and he feels like destroying every inch of the house; knowing even as he hurls the chest against the wall and leaves a large dent in the paneling that it won't be enough.

It would never be enough.

"My, someone's upset!"

He pauses, still gripping the top of his leather chair and nearly tearing through it.

How dare she show her face here!

He growls low in his throat; a warning. She's lying on his bed, amusement in her cold dark eyes as she smirks at him. He wants to rip that smile right off her fucking mouth.

"Get out," he growls.

Katherine sticks her lower lip out, pretending to pout. "Now you're just trying to hurt my feelings."

"I'm serious, Katherine," he warns. "If you don't get the fuck out of here right now I will rip your fucking throat out."

Katherine rolls onto her stomach, her breasts thrusting out provocatively from her low cut black V-neck.

"Kinky," she winks at him.

In an instant he grabs her by the throat, his fist clenching.

Her eyes widen in fear for just a split second, but being that she's older and stronger than he is, she quickly gets the upper hand.

She pins him to the bed, straddling his hips and licking her lips hungrily.

"If you wanted to play rough, lover, all you had to do was ask," she taunts.

Stefan fights for control, but she has him effectively pinned underneath her.

"What do you want, Katherine?" he growls.

She wiggles her hips in reply, pouting when she doesn't get the desired reaction.

"I wanted to see you," she purrs. "I heard you broke up with my annoying little doppelganger and figured now would be the perfect time to remind you how much better the real thing is."

"Not interested," he bites out.

Katherine isn't listening. She leans down, placing a soft kiss at his neck.

"Oh, but I think you are," she purrs, raking her nails over his chest seductively.

He tries to buck his hips to get her off of him, but she holds on, grinding down hard.

"Get off," he growls.

"Trying to," she retorts cheekily.

When he doesn't take the bait, she pouts.

"Aww, what's the matter? Still bent out of shape over Damon stealing your girlfriend?"

His eyes narrow menacingly.

"How would you know?" he demands.

Katherine wags a finger at him before touching it to his lips playfully.

"Silly Stefan," she chastises. "Don't you know by now that I make it my business to know everything?"

He opens his mouth and tries to bite the offending digit, earning a glare from her.

"If you don't play nice, I'll have to teach you a lesson in manners," she warns him.

Stefan glares mutinously back at her.

She rolls her eyes and sighs.

"You know, I was really counting on today being pleasant," she pouts.

"That makes two of us," Stefan spits out bitterly.

Her eyes glitter with triumph as she smiles knowingly.

"It still could be," she purrs. "I hear revenge sex is quite popular right now."

At his shocked expression, she smirks.

"Yes, I know about that too," she taunts.

"Of course, Little Jeremy was all too willing to spill the dirt; though I'll admit I had to persuade him a little first."

"What did you…" Stefan gasps, trying to shake her off him again.

"I let him live," she cuts him off. "Wouldn't want to upset that moral code of yours."

She rolls her eyes.

"Besides, he might prove to be useful later."

"Leave him out of this, Katherine," Stefan growls.

Katherine shrugs. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't. What do you care anyway? I'd think you'd want to see her suffer after she hopped into bed with your brother."

"She wouldn't," Stefan mutters, though he knows it's a lie.

"She would," Katherine taunts. "I can't say I blame her; after all, he is quite a tempting, tasty treat."

She shivers in remembrance before looking down at him again.

He looks murderous, but she knows he can't do anything about it.

"Oh, don't get me wrong," she purrs. "You satisfied me too, obviously. You're just so gentle and loving, one of many reasons why I chose you. But Damon…."

She lets out a little sound between a growl, squeal and moan of pleasure.

"Well, there was a reason I kept him in my bed. He's just so…passionate."

She closes her eyes again, as if she's picturing their times together.

"Mmm, I bet your little Elena is enjoying herself just as much as I did, or should I be referring to her as his Elena now?"

Stefan growls in response, his fingers digging almost painfully into Katherine's bare thighs; her black skirt has ridden up to her hips and most of her lace panties are visible.

She catches him looking and smirks.

"Gotta say, out of all the centuries, this one is definitely my favorite," she purrs, wiggling her hips again so he can feel the dampness on his jeans.

"So much less to get in the way…"

Her fingers trail down to the button on his jeans, popping it open and grazing a fingernail down the zipper teasingly.

"Come on," she says in a sing-song voice. "You know you want it…"

She's about to pull down the zipper when she senses another presence in the room and pauses, rolling her eyes.

"I don't recall saying I wanted a threesome."

"Funny, considering your history with both brothers I thought you'd be totally into that," Caroline quips, her arms folded across her chest as she stands in the doorway.

Katherine's eyes narrow menacingly at the blonde vampire.

"I killed you once; I can just as easily kill you again."

Caroline shrugs her shoulders and places her hands on her hips, completely unfazed. "You don't scare me anymore, Katherine."

Momentarily forgetting about Stefan underneath her, Katherine gracefully moves off the bed, stepping toward Caroline like a cat stalking its prey.

"My, we've gotten brave haven't we? You really think you can take me?" she challenges.

"I can hold my own," Caroline replies confidently; though inside she's trembling.

Katherine pretends to examine her nails with disinterest.

"I doubt that, but I'll let it slide for now. Besides, why would I waste my precious time killing you when all I really came here for was to see Stefan? After all, he needs comforting now that Elena's off doing such deliciously naughty things with his big brother, and I mean that in every sense of the word. Tell me, is he still as good as I remember? Or were you just another one of his Happy Meals?"

Katherine suddenly whirls around to find Stefan behind her, a jagged piece of wood from his demolished table clutched in his fist.

She's too quick for him and with a flick of her wrist she knocks it away.

"You really need to bulk up on your vitamins," she taunts.

Caroline lunges for her as she pins Stefan to the wall. She tosses the young vampire with ease and turns back to Stefan who is still fighting against her.

"Looks like you've got another secret admirer," she purrs, though she glares darkly at Caroline's beaten form against the opposite wall.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance," she spits out.

Caroline lifts her chin defiantly.

"We're not afraid of you, Katherine."

In an instant she has the blonde pinned against the wall, glaring.

"You should be," she growls, releasing her to rush toward the door.

She stands in the doorway, glaring at them both.

"You all should be."

Her eyes lock on Stefan's and she places a hand to her lips before lowering her palm again to blow him a kiss.

"I'll be in touch," she purrs at him before disappearing in a blur down the stairs.

Immediately Stefan rushes to Caroline's side, holding her tenderly and staring at her with concern.

"Are you okay?" he asks her.

She nods, then her eyes widen in fear.

"Mom!" is all she says before she shoots downstairs to the basement.

She practically bursts into tears when she notices her mother is lying on the cot with her eyes shut, but then she notices she's breathing steadily.

Liz had only fallen asleep.

Caroline breathes a sigh of relief. Her mother was safe, but how long would that remain the case?

A few seconds later she feels Stefan appear beside her.

"She's gone," he says simply.

Caroline looks up at him worriedly.

"What if she comes back?" she whispers, not wanting to wake her mother just yet.

"We can't protect her on our own like this; you saw what happened. Katherine's a lot stronger than us and Mom's…" she trails off, the tears flowing freely.

Stefan puts his arms around her, holding her tight against his chest. He wants to shield her from everything.

"It's alright," he whispers, stroking her hair. "We'll find a way to keep her safe, I promise."

Caroline doesn't say anything. She wants to believe him, but the image of Katherine effortlessly pinning him down is burned into her mind. She knows he'd try his best, even drink their entire blood supply if it would help, but she doubts it will.

They need more than a few days to wait for him to become stronger, and that's time they just don't have. As much as she hates to admit it, they need Damon's help.

She just hopes that wherever he and Elena have gone, they'll be able to reach him in time.

"Breakfast is served, my lady," Damon announces as he pulls the cart into the room. Elena gapes at him. She's never seen so many trays of food in all her life.

"You didn't have to go to all this trouble for me," she blushes, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Why not?" he asks as he busies himself with uncovering the trays of food; there's an assortment of crepes with various toppings of fruit, sliced strawberries with a side of whipped cream, delicious omelets, crispy pieces of bacon and hot buttered toast. He'd even ordered a pitcher of orange juice.

Elena gestures pointedly at the banquet he's just laid out before her.

"Because there's enough food here to feed ten people," she explains.

Damon smirks. "Twelve, actually."

At her raised eyebrow he shrugs.

"What can I say? I wanted to spoil you, is that so wrong?" he pouts adorably and Elena can't help but smile.

"No, it's just that…nobody's ever done anything like this for me before," she explains. "It's a little overwhelming, I guess."

"You're worth it," he says simply, handing her a plate. "Now, eat up; you're going to need your strength later."

He gives her that cocky grin and she rolls her eyes.

He could be so sweet sometimes, but he always masked it quickly behind the arrogant smirk and lecherous comments. Anyone else would probably roll their eyes at her and tell her she was crazy for thinking Damon was even capable of having a sweet side, but then she was likely the only one he'd allowed close enough to realize it.

She doesn't know what makes her so special; she hadn't even really liked him before their trip to Georgia. She'd been a little attracted to him in the beginning before she found out what he was, but until they'd spent the whole day together she had only really thought of him as her boyfriend's annoyingly handsome but incredibly evil older brother.

That trip had changed everything.

She catches Damon watching her as she moves down to the foot of the bed and attempts to load up her plate with a little bit of everything; not wanting to seem rude when he'd gone to so much trouble for her.

He's smirking slightly, amusement in his eyes and she sighs.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks.

"I'm just surprised at your appetite," he teases.

His own plate is much smaller in comparison; consisting of only half an omelet and a bit of crepe with an assortment of fruit on top.

"I just don't want to waste anything," she says defensively. "You did order a ridiculous amount of food for just the two of us."

Damon smirks, looking pointedly at his plate and then back at hers.

"Yeah, well you're not supposed to sample the entire banquet all at once. You need to pace yourself. Besides, I wasn't expecting you to eat an eight course meal or anything; I just couldn't decide what to get so I just ordered anything that looked good."

Elena can't help but smile at his almost romantic gesture. Damon catches the look she's giving him and shifts uncomfortably on the bed, suddenly nervous.

"You can be really sweet when you want to be," she whispers softly.

She's looking at him so intensely he swears he can feel his own heart beating; though that's impossible.

He licks his lips, wanting to tell her just how much she means to him; how much he loves her.

"Elena…" he can't finish.

He doesn't understand why this was so hard.

Why he could say it to her as she slept, but never let her actually hear it?

Steeling himself against his emotions, he lets the cocky smirk make its reappearance.

"You should eat before everything gets cold; don't want you passing out from hunger or anything."

Elena picks up her fork, stabbing it into the portion of omelet on her plate as she attempts to mask the disappointment in her eyes by averting his gaze.

She'd been so sure he was going to tell her he loved her, even though she's already known long before Isobel had told her. She'd felt it when he'd taken her hand and led her down the steps of the Lockwood manor. She'd seen it in his eyes as they moved in the rhythm of the dance, and felt her heart leap in her chest when he'd finally taken her into his arms.

Time had stopped, and she had felt like she'd come home.

It had unnerved her back then how intense their connection had been; she'd still been fighting her feelings and convincing herself she belonged with Stefan, after all. She hated that things had fallen apart afterward; hated how Katherine had stolen that moment on the porch from her.

She still didn't know what Damon had said, thinking he was pouring his heart out to her instead of the evil bitch vampire. She wished that moment had been hers; especially now that she realizes that she loves him too, and has for quite a while now.

She'd tried to tell him after they made love, and he had stopped her. He'd promised they'd talk, but they haven't really come close to saying anything that truly needs to be said.

Damon watches the emotions play across her face, wishing he could ignore the pain they bring him. He knows he isn't being fair to her; she has admitted to having feelings for him and confessed to having wanted him a long time ago, and he can't bring himself to do the same thing.

It isn't that he doesn't love her; he loves her more than he's ever loved any woman, more than he'd ever thought possible.

He also doesn't question her feelings for him anymore, because he can read it in her expressions; hear it in the way her heart always seems to beat faster whenever he's around her.

The question is whether or not he deserves her love.

For all his arrogance, Damon often wonders what she even sees in him.

Sure, he's handsome, an amazing lover, and could charm even the most frigid ice queen if he wanted to, but he has led a pretty selfish existence, even when he'd been human.

Elena is far too good for him, and while he loves having her in his bed and loves her, he isn't sure he deserves to have her after everything he's done.

She'd said it herself last night; he'd hurt her, and he can't promise that he won't do it again. He'll try not to, but he has a tendency to upset her even when he doesn't intend to.

You don't deserve her, the voice sounds a lot like Stefan's as it echoes in Damon's mind.

He frowns slightly, but forces a smile when Elena looks up at him, holding a strawberry to her lips. There's a generous amount of whipped cream on the fruit and her tongue suddenly flicks out to lick sensuously at it. Her eyes meet his, a seductive smile graces her beautiful face and he feels himself harden for her again.

He leans in closer and opens his mouth as she offers him the treat; he closes his lips around her fingertips, sucking the juices and the cream from her skin.

Her eyes darken in desire and she moves to place the plate back on the cart, lying back onto the bed in invitation.

Damon hovers over her, losing himself in the heated kisses that follow.

He may not deserve her, but he will enjoy her for as long as she's willing.