Disclaimer: TVD belongs to whoever receives the royalties and that sure as hell isn't me. I just pretend while I'm writing.
Summary: It starts as the taste of him hits her tongue and before all is said and done, tears and blood have been spilled and lives have been lost... but most importantly none of them will ever be the same.
Elena's journey to realization that she's in love with the other brother. AU from the moment Damon forces his blood on Elena. Prequel to Unsuccessfully Saying Goodbye, but can stand alone.
AN: I want to say thank you to all my lovelies that are still reading and an extra special thank you to all those of you who have reviewed, favourited and alerted... I really heart you all so terribly much!
I'm not sure who's running a higher temperature; me or Damon... it makes us do, say and write inappropriately strange things.
oOo
Unwillingly Succumbing to Truth
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healing the hero
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"Happy fucking birthday to me!" That's the phrase that wakes her up accompanied by someone groping her ass underneath her borrowed shorts. She blinks her eyes open drowsily as she's being crushed against said someone... namely Damon.
His eyes are glazed over and his skin is a sickening shade of grey and large droplets of sweat are making their way down his body soaking everything in their path... it's spread further.
"Damon." She says warily not sure how he'll react in the state that he's in.
He purrs delightedly as his name rolls lazily of her tongue. "Don't be such a square, baby. It's my birthday." He whispers his velvety voice caressing her skin before sucking in a long inhale of her neck. "You smell delicious doll, how about you let daddy have a little taste, hmm?"
She can't control her body and she shivers in response to him as rivers of liquid heat run rampantly through her, collecting at the apex of her thighs. It doesn't matter that he's a shadow of his magnificent self in his debilitated state, he still has enormous power over her body... he always has.
Sniffing the air, undoubtedly not missing the scent of her arousal perfuming it, he rolls his shoulders and gives her behind a firm squeeze as he grinds his hardening bulge into her overheated core earning him an involuntary moan from the brunette beneath him.
"Damon." She exhales his name in a breathy whisper that was supposed to be a warning instead it causes him to purr once again. The sound makes his whole chest vibrate, the sensation of him reverberating throughout the half awakened girl sending her spiralling further from reality.
"Bad Damon!" Caroline's hiss and sharp slap to the back of his head snap the both of them out of it. Thank goodness for Caroline.
The raven haired vamp has instantly flipped over and has a firm grip around the blondes throat. "Cool it paper shaker, wait your turn." He chides inches from her face with a creepy smirk plastered on his pale face. He's clearly not himself... well, his now self or whatever.
Rolling her big blue eyes and huffing she pushes him off effortlessly. "Get over yourself. It's NOT your birthday." As she says it he blinks repeatedly and looks utterly lost.
"Off course it's not my birthday, it's almost summer." The previously delirious boy says frowning slightly in confusion. "I don't even celebrate my birthday." He mutters as he slumps back onto the bed in between the two girls.
Rolling her eyes once again the vampiress nudges his shoulder playfully shooting a mischievous wink towards her brown eyed friend. "Well you were just about to have Elena for your birthday breakfast... in the 1950's by the sound of it." She says clearly holding in a bout of giggles.
Groaning he rubs his face tiredly as he mutters. "Someone just stake me. Take me out of my fucking misery."
"You seemed far from miserable just now." Caroline barely gets out before the two girls erupt into petals of laughter. It's such a relief to be allowed to not take everything so damned seriously despite the gravity of it all... because of the gravity of it all.
Covering his ears and pouting like a petulant little child, playing along and indulging them he says. "It's not funny. I could have killed you." He can be so very wonderful when he wants to.
This only sends the two girls into an even more violent fit of laughter which is so contagious that he gives in and laughs tiredly along with them until he starts coughing uncontrollably. Both girls hover nervously over him with cold compresses and endless amounts of lukewarm blood and wolfsbane... which he continually, with a curled upper lip, informs them tastes like cat pee.
"Good. Your up." Bonnie says far too brightly as she saunters into the room avoiding eye contact with the already dead patient coughing up recycled blood. "'Lena can I borrow you for a bit?" She says accompanied with a cryptic smile that the brunette hopes means that it's time to get the ball rolling.
The two best friends glance at their other best friend. "I've got this. Go." The blonde says with a hopeful smile as she makes sure the almost permanently dead boys view is blocked. When the witch closes her eyes briefly in confirmation the two others squeal delightedly.
The undead boy groans loudly. "Dying here. Show a little compassion..." It's kind of cute that he's attempting to milk his own impending death as much as possible, but also very tragic. The boy is clearly in desperate need of a heavy dose of TLC.
Once they're down stairs and out of earshot she's met with her brother, father, favourite were-wolf and a scowling soon to be official ex-boyfriend. The three look serious, but hopeful... obviously the fourth does not.
"So?" She asks impatiently before she even reaches the final step.
Her brother grins widely and his eyes glitter with tears of relief that he's holding back. "Sixty; forty." He says looking impossibly pleased.
Her witchy friend rolls her eyes fondly. "Those are the odds of this working." She explains. "They reluctantly pointed me in the direction of a few spells that I need to modify slightly. We're just waiting for Alaric and Jenna to get here with supplies that I need and then we're good to go."
Throwing her head back she lets out a bubbling laughter that boarders on hysteria. She's so fucking relieved. "What the hell are we doing down here? Lets go give him the fan-freaking-tastic news!" She doesn't wait for an answer she just races back up the stairs throwing a... "Come on!" … over her shoulder as she does.
She hears them all bound up the stairs after her. The weight lifted off her at the prospect of him living is so euphoric that she thinks she might spontaneously levitate.
Throwing herself up on the huge bed with the two vampires she giggles and jumps excitedly up and down. "Great news!" She shouts as the dying undead boy grimaces and covers his ears.
It's a good thing that he did because the vampiress lets out a high pitched squeal as she and their hazel eyed friend join the brunette in her hopping up and down on the sicklings overly large bed. The five males watch them with various degrees of amusement until the three girls panting fall in a heap covering the soon to be not dying boy.
"Not that the three of you sharing a bed with me isn't potentially good news... however by the four guys NOT glaring at me, I have a feeling it's something else... unless that floats your collective boats." The dogpiled boy says lewdly causing more than one snort, sneer and eye roll... but earning himself an almost successfully suppressed giggle from his favourite doppelgänger.
Once again it's her brother that can't keep the news to himself for long. "Watch it or someone essential to your cure might back out." He singsongs and she can feel her favourite vampire tense and become eerily still beneath her... she'll have to put a pin in that thought and revisit it later.
The three girls unpile and grin down at the blue eyed boy who seems to be in shock.
"There's a forty percent chance it wont work." The broody green eyed monster says to his brother effectively unfreezing him.
Rolling his eyes and snorting Damon makes it quite clear what he thinks of his brothers statement. "Well, that beats a hundred percent chance of dying, don't you think?" He smirks tiredly. "Bring it on!"
"Cheertastic!" Caroline exclaims sending the girls into another fit of giggles and making the guys either roll their eyes or look confused.
"We come bearing gifts!" Jenna shouts from the hallway making everyone turn to look at the two stragglers. It's time!
Hopping off the obscenely large bed the witch asks. "Where can I set up?"
"Third room down the hall on the left is empty." The younger Salvatore replies looking contemplative... to everyone's HUGE surprise. – insert eye roll here -
"Ingredients come with me." Bonnie orders and heads out of the room.
Grabbing the jar-o-blood from Damon's mini-fridge in his closet the doe eyed beauty follows her friend with the wolf-boy in tow who's relieved the gifts from the newest arrivals. A thought creeping up on her she turns in the doorway.
"Aren't you coming to help set up as well Care?" It's deceitful, but she knows the vampire on the bed too well... he'll try to stop her if he realizes that she's an essential ingredient... besides it wouldn't hurt having someone that can help her cover up the wound she's about to inflict on herself.
Nodding knowingly the blonde follows quickly leaving the rest of them to... well, do whatever while they wait.
It doesn't take long before the third room down the hall to the left is littered with white and blue candles in various hues, shapes and sizes. Bonnie snaps her fingers not even bothering to look up from the grimoire she's perusing and instantly every single wick in the room is ablaze. The three others in the room gasp at the breathtaking transformation that's taken place.
There's a large chalice with delicate etching sitting in the middle of the room on top of a small side-table next to a funny looking knife. It's old, wavy and sort of creepy looking and she doesn't particularly look forward to it slicing through her skin.
"Care I need you to leave the room, but be ready Elena's going to need your help as soon as we're done." Bonnie says looking particularly witchy as she says it... actually it's more the air that seems to be electrified, to the point that it almost crackles, around their friend making her think that she does.
The blonde slinks out of the room flipping the lights off and closing the door behind her after nodding that she understands.
The hazel eyed girl gestures for the two remaining to come stand with her in the middle of the candlelit room and the doe eyed girl brings the full glass jar with her.
The witch closes her eyes and begins to mumble in a language neither of the two others understand. This keeps going for quite some time without anything happening and the pair are staring to fidget impatiently... then out of nowhere the loud crack of thunder suddenly rumbles breaking the calm and the candles flames rise high with a vicious hiss; licking at the ceiling.
The girl with the cinnamon complexion standing in front of them snaps her eyes open; eyes clouded over and unseeing as they shine in an eerie opalescent glow. The unnatural light making the girls features seem as if they've taken on another's shape; higher, rounder cheekbones, a lionesque nose sitting proudly above large full lips.
Her muttering grows louder, but that voice speaking is not the voice of their childhood friend. It's far too hoarse and there is a hint of something sinister in the lilt... there is no longer a distinctive American accent to the unknown language being spoken. No, this is NOT Bonnie Bennett.
The not Bonnie reaches out her slender hand palm up and Elena, after glancing quickly over at the wolf who shrugs, hands the jar hesitantly over to the awaiting girl... woman? Whoever she is, she's captivatingly frightening.
She's pouring and speaking and there is something utterly off with the fluid way she's moving, as if the girl isn't a girl at all, but rather some sort of ferocious jungle cat circling its prey. It's beautiful, mesmerizing and utterly terrifying... and so not Bonnie.
Next up is Tyler who's breath doesn't even change when the witch slices a large gash on the inside of his forearm where thick deep red tracks instantly form. His eyes however flash in a bright amber and glow warmly until his skin begins to knit as it self heals. He's strangely calm and almost seems a bit bored as his foot starts tapping impatiently as he waits for his wound to bleed enough and close up.
Is she the only one who's afraid?
She swallows thickly when she realizes that it's her turn to have her flesh sliced with the large knife that is already coated in sacraficial blood. Hissing at the stinging pain that comes from being cut deep enough to exposed muscle tissue, she reminds herself that she's already chosen... wait... chosen?... this is so not the time to be thinking about this.
There's an unfamiliar tingling radiating from the wound, working it's way throughout her body; every drop given sending a wave of tingles further until she's completely engulfed in the strange sensation.
By the time enough of the doppelgänger's blood has dripped into the chalice she feels faint and quite wobbly... not to mention slightly high and tingly all over. She feebly clutches at her arm trying to stop the bleeding; it's not even close to working.
Unpredictably the not Bonnie witch slices her own arm and lets herself bleed generously into the chalice as well. She then tosses herbs and other odd looking things into their combined blood still muttering incomprehensibly as her blood still oozes out of her wound dripping slowly to the floor where it pools.
The concoction bubbles thickly making the already faint girl nauseous as it starts stinking up the place, smelling of death and echinacea. The thick electricity in the air crackles, emitting small scent burst of copper and sulphur into the air... then as abruptly as this thing started it stops.
Time hangs suspended in the deathly silence for what may be a moment or an eternity before the three of them crumble to their knees as the jar crashes and breaks on the floor. The flames once again flicker before rising to the ceiling with a venomous hiss. Caroline burst into the room in a blur of blonde locks and pink flannel just as the flames die and suddenly it's day outside... when did that happen?
The vampiress tears into both wrists and presses them firmly against both girls mouths, letting her syrupy essence flood into them and fill them with heady vanilla flavoured love. Thank goodness for Caroline.
The four of them make their way slowly back to Damon's room. Bonnie carefully carrying the antiviral.
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"What took so long?" Jenna questions sitting at the unconscious vampires side dabbing at his skin with a wetted cloth. His brother's taken a sharp turn for the worse and now he can finally breath a little lighter now that the potion is there.
"What do you mean? We've been gone for half an hour tops." Tyler answers with an eye roll which is almost funny, except it's annoying and it's not been half an hour and why aren't any of them taking this seriously?
Alaric clears his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, it's been six hours." He says slowly. It's unfathomable how the man ended up being his brothers friend after everything he'd done to him, but he's none the less glad that his brother has someone other than himself on his side... most of the time.
Elena puts her hands in the air signalling for everyone to be quiet. "So not important right now." He really hates it when she speaks in half constructed sentences... even when she's right. She's such a lovely writer that it's quite strange that she insists on speaking that way.
He watches her cross the room and sit down in the spot her aunt previously occupied. She shakes his non-damaged shoulder lightly until he wakes. She's such a good soul, his girlfriend. She even indulges his dying brother by cupping his sickly pale cheek and whispering that they are fine in his ear.
Bonnie switches places with her next holding a blood filled chalice. Were it not for the disgusting smell of werewolf then he'd have had trouble holding back his bloodlust. How Caroline can stand the stench is quite beyond him.
The witch speaks a few words which seem to be some sort of mix between Swahili and Igbo before urging his brother to drink. Elena of course being as helpful and sweet as always helps her by raising Damon up and supporting him from behind while making sure the chalice doesn't tip too much blood all at once.
He's glad to see that her bruises have faded. He must have overreacted; they couldn't have been that bad considering that they're already gone. It must have been his conscience playing a trick on him. He'll make sure to apologize later... grovel if necessary. Although she's sure to be more docile and compliant once this is all over. The girl is such a worrier.
Cringing slightly he watches as his brothers intensely blue eyes roll back into his head as he seems to have some sort of seizure. He moves closer to the bed with his big brother glad that he's not the one having to hold him down as his sweat soaked body convulses.
He hates this; not being able to be the one who's saving him.
Little Jeremy Gilbert hops on the bed with Caroline to further restrain his brother. "Bonnie is he supposed to be doing that?" The Gilbert boy questions.
"I don't know." She shrieks back in alarm. "He has to drink the rest of it." She adds gesturing to the half full chalice.
The three adults in the room seem to be rooted to the floor, staring wide eyed at the unfolding events while the wolf paces back and forth nervously.
"Caroline take my place and Tyler take hers." Elena orders and the two comply; Tyler restraining his brothers legs and Caroline holding him up in a sitting position while restraining his arms.
Bonnie and Jeremy move back slightly as Elena proceeds to straddle Damon's waist and place her hands on either side of his face... undoubtedly in order to pry his mouth open. She leans her forehead to his and stokes his cheek with the back of her hand while whispering soothingly. She's being to quiet for even his sensitive ears to pick up anything other than fractured words.
With obvious effort the elder Salvatore attempts to subdue his involuntarily convulsing limbs as he parts his lips to allow the rest of the elixir to be poured into his mouth. His sweet little doppelgänger tips the chalice to his brothers lips and lets the liquid run slowly into his waiting mouth. After the last drop passes through his lips and right after he swallows for the last time, his sweat glistening body goes limp.
Now they wait.
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AN: Clearly someone's in denial... and it ain't me. Be wicked and join me in the Stefan bashing by scribbling a few hateful words for him in your reviews!