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Poll: Queso: 2. Guacamole: 1. Plain: 1. Chili cheese: 1
Chapter 6
Caroline held her best friend in her arms as the brunette's cries weakened.
"Elena, I know what you're feeling. Right now, everything you felt as a human is coming back and hitting you a million times harder. You get used to it pretty quickly, but it takes about a day or two. I know you don't want to hear that everything will be fine, but everything will be fine," the blonde whispered, rubbing her friend's back. "I know you never wanted to be this, but it's okay. Everyone you love loves you just the same."
Elena pulled back to look at her friend. "Thank you so much for being here Caroline," she managed through sniffles. "I feel like you're the only person who doesn't hate me right now."
"Elena, no one hates you," Caroline reassured her.
"Bonnie's mad for what happened with Abby, Damon's upset with me for what I said at the Original's ball, and Stefan's hurt because he thinks I moved on to Damon," Elena said shakily, trying to quell her tears.
"Well, they all have a valid reason, Elena," Caroline told her softly. "It doesn't mean they won't come around."
"Now that I'm a vampire, I'm going to live forever, Caroline," Elena stated, picking at the bed sheet. She looked back up at her friend. "I'm going to spend eternity with the Salvatore brothers, and no matter what I do, I have to hurt one of them."
"You don't have to spend eternity with them, Elena. They're not the only vampires you know," Caroline smiled. "As soon as we graduate, you and I could get out of here; maybe go to New York. We could do whatever we want. Two hot chicks like us? We'd be a couple of regular heart breakers!" she exclaimed, nudging the girl beside her, hoping to earn a smile.
Elena forced a smile at her friend. Caroline was trying to help, and Elena knew that. She appreciated that. But everything she said just seemed to trigger such terrible emotion for Elena. Wasn't breaking hearts her problem? She looked up as she heard footsteps approaching.
Damon appeared in the doorway, grasping something in his hand. He rapped his knuckles on the door frame lightly before catching the girls' attention.
"How're you feeling?" he asked tentatively, walking in and sitting in the chair next to the bed. He could tell that she had been crying, and he felt selfish for running away.
Elena answered with a nod.
"You need to get on your feet, get used to things," Damon told her, offering her a bracelet. It had the same stone in it as Caroline, Damon, and Stefan's rings. She knew exactly what it was for. It was to help her walk in the sun without burning. "I got this from Bonnie before she took Abby back to her house. She knew you wouldn't be comfortable around her until you were comfortable with yourself, so she said call her when you're ready," Damon relayed.
"Thanks," Elena said, holding out her arm as Damon fastened the bracelet around her wrist.
"Well, I'll just be going," Caroline said, giving Elena a pointed look before hugging her on the way out.
Damon offered Elena his hand. "You ready?" he asked, anticipating her questions and nervousness to learning what being a vampire was all about.
"As I'll ever be," she sighed, taking his hand.
"Alright, so next, we're going to talk about running," Damon told her. "Now, you actually don't have to put any effort into running super-fast, you have to put effort into running like a human. To control yourself."
Elena nodded. This was so much to take in, she hated it. She ran passed Damon with ease, then focused to run back to him as a human pace, as he had instructed.
"See, you're catching on just fine!" the black-haired vampire encouraged. "That will come in handy when you're chasing bunnies…or deer…or whatever defenseless woodland creature you decide to feed on."
"Damon-"
"It was a joke, Elena," Damon assured her. "But seriously, it will come in handy when you're murdering Bambi for breakfast."
Elena cracked a smile for what felt like the first time since she had accepted her fate of becoming a vampire. She bumped into him with her hip, causing him to smile as well.
It was nice seeing Elena smile again, hearing the sound of her soft laughter. Damon was glad that she seemed to be returning to the Elena that he knew, and that he was the one helping her with that transition.
Oh but how quickly things could change.
It was in the middle of strength training when she snapped.
"Damon, we've been doing this for hours. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I just want to take a break!"
Damon, while teaching her, had begun to worry about the Originals. How they could be watching them right now, and how Elena didn't know how to defend herself. He had begun to push her harder than he had at the beginning of the day.
"Not until you're able to fight me off," Damon insisted as he slammed her into a tree. She needed to be able to fight for herself. He wouldn't let her out of his sight until he knew she'd be safe.
"You've had over one hundred years of experience, I've had 5 hours; can we do this tomorrow?"
"Yeah, and the Originals have had over one thousand years' experience, Elena. Now fight me off," he demanded, switching them to where he had her on the ground.
"Damon, get off me!" Elena struggled.
"No. You have to make me get off. It's not that easy," the vampire taunted her.
"Get off!"
"No."
"Damon!"
"Make me."
"I don't want to do this anymore, Damon!"
"This was your choice, so you have to learn!" he shouted at her in motivation, only to realize what he had said, and how utterly wrong and terrible it was.
With hurt and anger ablaze in those brown eyes of hers, Elena threw Damon off of her, his back hitting a tree.
"My choice?" she cried, standing up. "Damon, I did this for you! I did this so you wouldn't die! I did this so I wouldn't have to-"
Damon cut her off by pulling her into a tight embrace, her head pressed against his chest, right where his heard was. His hand was on her head, not allowing her to turn and yell at him.
"I didn't mean that Elena. I know why you did it, and I will be eternally grateful for that. I just- I hate that it came at the expense it did. I know you never wanted this. And you didn't deserve it. You deserved to live your life as normal as possible. I hate myself for this, Elena. And I hate that you'll always resent me for it. And I take my anger out on you, because of what I made you. I'll never be able to apologize enough for getting myself into the situation I did, that caused you to turn into this." He could feel tears glistening at the back of his eyes, and he felt a wet spot on his shirt, presumably from Elena's tears. He stroked her hair, hoping that his apology had earned him forgiveness.
Elena slowly pulled back from the vampire, wiping her eyes. "It's fine, Damon, no harm done," she said, looking down.
"I just want you to be safe. I want you to be able to protect yourself," he continued, causing her to look up. "I don't want to be scared every time I leave you, wondering if that will be the day Klaus comes." He moved forward, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand as he stared at her. "I don't want to feel sick to my stomach every time you don't answer your phone. I want to know you're able to defend yourself. I want you to live, Elena. I never wanted you to share in this curse; this punishment," he explained.
Elena could see the anxiety, the fear, the hope, the self-loathing in his blue eyes as they bore down on her. He cared for her. A great deal. She had always known this, but she had pushed it away. She had tried to keep it locked up. But she knew if there was ever a time, this was it.
"Damon…" she began, faltering. Her mind was rushing with what she would say, how she would approach this. "Don't blame yourself for this. I don't," she told him, placing her hand over the one on her face. "It's hard. And it's going to be hard, but I'll get used to it. Especially since I have you to help me."
Blue eyes stared into brown eyes in a moment of pure, organic, silence. Their hands had become intertwined, and Elena's breathing had become shallow.
She slowly rose up on her toes, breaking eye contact only for a brief second as her eyes flickered involuntarily to his lips. She looked back into his eyes gauging his reaction before she brought their lips together.
It was sweet. Natural. It was something completely new. She had made the first move. She had put herself out there, taken a chance. She pulled back after a few seconds and looked up at Damon.
He was looking at her with a look in his eyes that she had never seen before. It took her a second to place it. Happiness. True happiness.
"Elena-" he began.
"I love you, Damon."
He couldn't control the smile that spread over his features.
"I'm so sorry about everything I've put you through. It was wrong. I've just been so scared of becoming Katherine, I just wanted to ignore-"
"Hey, hey, hey," Damon shushed her, bringing his other hand to cup her face. "You are nothing like Katherine. Do you hear me Elena Gilbert? Nothing." He pulled her into a tight, reassuring hug.
She squeezed her arms around him. It was so nice to have that reassurance, to know that not everyone thought she was changing into a monster.
"What about Klaus?" the brunette asked, voicing what had been in the back of her mind through the whole transition.
"We'll deal with that when the time comes," he told her as she looked at him.
Elena nodded. Seeing the worried look on her face, Damon closed the gap between them, kissing her with fervor, his hand cradling the back of her head as he took control of the kiss. It was the first time Elena didn't hesitate in kissing him back, and Damon couldn't contain his joy. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her into the air, causing her to break the kiss and laugh.
"I love you, Elena."
"I love you too, Damon."
A third voice made its way through the trees.
"Well isn't this cute?"
The two vampires looked towards the voice, where Katherine Pierce made her way out of the foliage, a smirk on her face.
I need to go into hiding now, don't I? I couldn't resist ending it like this. I had to. Please review and tell me what a terrible person I am. And how you liked the story. I hope the Damon/Elena scene was to everyone's liking, and I'm sorry you only got a little glimpse of their relationship. I really love hearing what you guys have to say, I can't stress that enough. If you only review one of the chapters, let it be this one!
xoxo klcthenerd
