Once again I am sorry for the wait. It's annoying, yes, but with all the work I have to do, unavoidable. I've got relatives over, so I thought I would take a break and get writing.

Hope you like this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries or any of the characters save for Nefertari.

xXx

Chapter Five

Going home

"Stay here," commanded Damon.

"But – it could be-" Tari didn't get to finish her sentence before Damon cut her off.

"Tari, trust me, it isn't." Holding her back, he cautiously approached the slightly open door. Before her very eyes he disappeared. She stood there, feeling as if she was going to die from fear. She had never been this scared before in her life; the slightest noise had her leaping out of her skin. She almost few as if she was going to throw up.

She checked behind her, but there was no one. Then again, if a vampire was coming after her, it would only take a second for them to snatch her away. She turned her head round and then jumped back, realising a body was right in front of her.

She placed her hand on her heart. "Damon, for God's sake, don't do that!"

His face was indifferent to this remark. He stared down at his daughter. "No one's in there...anymore. But someone has been."

"Who?" She lowered her voice. "A vampire?"

He paused, but shook his head. "I don't know. It looks just like a robbery, but then I don't know if anything's been taken."

Tari felt her heart work up to her throat. "A robbery?" Without thinking she pushed past Damon and entered the apartment that she had once called her home.

The place looked as if it was a junk yard. The sofa cushions had been torn, the stuffing all over the living room. The mahogany coffee table had been broken in half; books had pages torn out of them and tossed carelessly round the room; glass was all over the floor.

Tari gazed round, feeling her eyes fill with tears. First Mom dies, and now someone has to go and tear apart the house.

She took a step aimlessly, but felt a hand grab her arm. "Careful," she heard her father hiss. "There's glass."

Anger was building up inside of her, and Damon was provoking her. She snatched her arm away. "I'm wearing shoes." Turning away, she stepped towards her mother's room.

To her surprise, it was in pristine condition. Tari stood for a moment in shock before hurrying to her mother's jewellery box. Everything was there: her tacky things, her precious pearls, even her glittering diamonds. Why would a robber tear the house apart but not take the jewellery?

Damon stepped inside the bedroom. He looked somewhat out of place in the soft, pastel coloured room. The walls were lavender coloured, the covers soft and perfectly made, everything in ideal condition. Damon just looked wrong in it.

Gazing in the mirror, she saw him slowly approached. "You should go to your room. Check on your own things."

Tari replied, very quietly, "I don't want to."

Damon felt his own irritation beginning to spark. "Tari-"

"I DON'T WANT TO!" Her voice injured his sensitive ears. To her horror she felt tears falling down her eyes. When had she become such a cry baby?

Damon walked over to her, attempting to take her in his arms, but she fought against it. Her fists banged against his chest and, though they didn't hurt him physically, he could feel the pain in those attacks. Grabbing her left wrist, he pulled her towards him and held her, though she struggled in his arms.

"It's not fair! It's not fair! I don't want this! I don't want this!" He held her ever more tightly. He could hear her agony, the pain. It hurt, he knew, losing your mother, especially when you weren't ready for it.

All the time she cried, he held her. It wasn't him, this gentleness; this was Elena, this was Stefan, this wasn't him. But this moment differed from all the others because this girl, this sad sobbing girl was his daughter. His own flesh and blood... And now she had lost her mother. Now she had no one but him.

He gritted his teeth, wondering what he would have to do for her. How much he would have to change for her.

Soon he felt her legs weaken. In one swoop he had her in his arms and carried her to Rebecca's old bed. Sitting down, he pulled her onto his lap. He felt her lift her arms against his chest, weakly trying to hit him, but it was like a feather landing on him.

For an hour and a half he soothed her, stroking her dark hair, murmuring words of comfort every now and then. Only when he felt Tari's breathing even out did he let go, carefully placing her on Rebecca's bed. He saw his daughter snuggle deep into the covers of the bed. Was she able to smell her mother on the sheets as heavily as he was?

Now he bent down on the cream carpet, near the bedside table. If he knew Rebecca – and he did – then he would be right in what he was thinking.

Sure enough, when he reached underneath the table and touched the wooden ceiling, he felt the smoothness of paper. With an easy tug he ripped the tape which had held it in place. Now he lifted it close enough so he could read it.

It was a letter. On the front of it, clearly written in biro, was the name Damon.

XxX

At first Tari thought that it had all been a dream. The accident, the vampires...everything.

But it only lasted for a brief moment. She brought her hand to her face, which felt sore and stiff. She could hear Damon in the next room, moving things round. Tari couldn't bring herself to open those sliding doors and reveal herself to be awake.

Instead she looked round the room. Her mind still couldn't unravel the puzzle: why had they trashed the rest of the apartment – though she didn't know about her room – and not this room?

Part of this was killing her. So many memories resided in this room: Sunday mornings when her and her mother would have breakfast in bed; stormy nights when she would crawl into bed next to her mom. There were so many of them, and she couldn't push them away.

Standing, she went over to the bookcase. Her mother, like herself, was an avid reader. There were so many that there was barely any room to pull a book off. She raised her finger, running it along the cold spines.

It was only then that she took in the title of the books. Most of them were just normal, mundane novels, but the sections that she had been looking over were...vampire novels. There was Bram Stokers' Dracula; Room Thirteen; True Blood; the Twilight series; The Historian; Anne Rice's novels... Tari had never noticed the number of vampire books that her mother possessed. How had she not seen this? How come she hadn't made the connection?

Yes, because that's what every girl would assume – that her father was a vampire.

She heard footsteps behind her, though she refused to turn around. A thick arm came round her chest and had to take a step back, her back colliding with his body. "She knew," Tari murmured.

Damon rested his chin on her head. "Of course. Why did you think we broke up?"

"I thought you broke up for the same reason that every other child's parents break up: you weren't ready for commitment; you weren't ready to be a father; you 'just didn't gel'."

Damon chuckle. "You should pack."

Tari wished she could see her father's face. "I don't want to go," she muttered like a sulky child.

He reached up to her head, smoothing her hair. "I know." He waited for a moment, showing that he acknowledged her pain. "But you have to."

Tari closed her eyes for a moment, feeling anger well up inside her. Damon felt her tense, and immediately felt the urge to calm her down. She was already filled with fury and sorrow, he couldn't make it worse. "I can pack for you if you want."

She raised her eyes, looking round the room. "Can you pack Mom's things?"

Damon too, glanced round the room. "What, everything?"

"Everything," replied the girl. "Everything in the room that isn't tied down."

"Except the furniture."

"The sheets and the mattress."

"No!"

"Damon-"

"Tari, what the hell is the point of bringing the mattress when I have a perfectly good one at home?" He was still holding onto her, and once again placed his chin on her head. "I'll take the sheets, but that's the best I can do," he conceded. "Clothes, books, DVDs, anything that will fit in a box, fine – but not the mattress."

Tari could feel herself growing angry again, but she felt Damon's soft breath in her ear. "Calm down. You're just going to get yourself upset over nothing. Now," he said, finally releasing her, "go and pack."

XxX

It was hard, for the both of them. It was hard for Tari because she was boxing up all of her things, leaving behind her home; and it was hard for Damon because of all the memories. Something that could have taken him minutes took him nearly an hour.

Tari carried a box to the living room. Setting it on the coffee table, she looked back to the kitchen. Wondering if there was anything she wanted, she wandered through the cupboards. Her mother had lots of cooking utensils, but they often ordered out, even went out on occasions for breakfast, despite the fact that her mother had been a chef. "Why do I want to cook when it's my job?" was her reason. As a result, Tari could barely make toast.

Her eyes went to the phone. The light was flashing red, showing there had been a missed called. Without thinking twice of it, Tari went to the list and scrolled down, checking who had called. Brad, Mom's boyfriend from two months ago; a school friend or two; people from her Mom's work; and...

The name Damon Salvatore was on the list. Tari leant closer to read the date. She swiftly took in air as she realised that he had called at eight that morning, before they had even set off; before her mother had even decided on the idea.

Her mind began to turn. Why did he call that day? Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't she tell me? Why had Rebecca told her they were going to surprise Damon? Why not tell her he called?

What if Damon had gotten sick of not seeing her, and threatened of her mother? It was obvious that her mother knew he was a vampire, which was now the reason why they broke up; and probably the reason why Tari hadn't seen much of him throughout her life. What if he set a trap for them, so that...

STOP IT! Damon would never do that... Would he?

Her heart began hammering. It all seemed a little too suspicious: the death of her mother, the vampire hunting her down – and then Damon had 'oh so suddenly' rescued her.

If it had been nothing, why had neither of her parents told her about the phone call? Why had her father been so hell bent on her staying with him? Did he kill her mother?

"Hey." Tari jumped as Damon appeared from the other room. "Are you ready to go?"

Tari blinked. He father was a vampire – of course he had the strength to kill her mother if he wanted to. "Yeah," she said, stumbling over her words. "Almost."

Damon sighed and pulled her into a hug. Tari wanted to remain stiff and cold, but she felt herself melting into his embrace. "It's okay, Tari," she heard him murmur. He rubbed her arms, warming her cold arms. "It's going to be okay."

Maybe, she thought. Maybe not.

XxX

Tari was once again leaning against the cool window of the car. She was tired. She was always tired nowadays. It wasn't as if she was doing anything physically exhausting, but emotionally she felt as if she was on a wild rollercoaster, unable to get off.

Forty five minutes. Damon smirked. He thought she would give into sleep before half an hour was up; she'd hung in there for a while.

Truth be told, he was worried about her. That outburst showed him the girl had a lot of anger inside her. The loss of her mother had hurt her badly – almost as badly as it had hurt him. She was suffering, and damn it, Damon didn't know what to do. There were no painkillers that you could take to cure a broken heart.

Hours later, they arrived back in Mystic Falls. The first thing Damon did was lift her out the car and take her inside. Instantly Elena and Stefan met him at the door.

"Why the hell didn't you answer my phone calls?" said Stefan, while Elena asked, "How is she?"

Damon, as usual, ignored Stefan. "She's okay," answered Damon. "Take her upstairs, would you? I need to get her things out the car."

Without hesitation Elena took Tari in her arms. Stefan saw Damon's eyes linger on the girl as Elena turned away, carrying her up the stairs. He hid a knowing smirk as he followed his older brother outside.

Later, the three vampires sat in the living room, the warm fire crackling near them. Half of Elena's face was illuminated by the light, the other half shrouded in darkness. "What happened?"

Quickly Damon downed a glass of scotch. Elena glowered at his actions – what a responsible parent, she thought. "She was almost taken," he explained, sitting opposite the husband and wife. "I got there just in time. He was about to drain her blood."

Stefan and Elena exchanged a quick glance. "So she-"

"-knows?" Damon finished. "Yes."

Stefan gave a low moan, holding his head in his hands. "Great."

"She's okay," Damon said. "Just a little confused. She understands about vampires though. She's fine with it."

"Are you sure about that?"

Damon narrowed his eyes at Stefan. "What is that suppose to mean, little brother?"

"All I'm saying is that it's hard for people to adjust."

"Elena was fine!"

"After a while, yeah." He earned an indignant look from Elena for that remark.

"She'll be fine," snarled Damon, sitting down back on the armchair. "She's my daughter."

"My point exactly."

Before Damon could open his mouth, Elena said, "As long as Tari's fine, that's the main thing. Is she okay with staying here?"

Damon shrugged. Elena gave him a glare that (though Damon would never admit it) made him inwardly squirm. "She will be."

"Damon, if she doesn't want to stay here-"

"She knows that she needs to," Damon interrupted. "What would you suggest, Elena? She needs to be protected."

Elena wanted to protest, but she knew that Damon – however much she hated to admit it – was right. She sank back down in the sofa, defeated, and felt Stefan's comforting arm around her shoulders.

"I'm going upstairs," he said, leaving Stefan and Elena. No doubt they would talk about Damon, if what he was doing was "morally correct". But Damon couldn't care less. He was right: they knew it, he knew it, and more importantly, Tari knew it.

xXx

Tari waited three minutes, counting to 180, to make sure Elena left. Cautiously she opened her eyes, gathering her senses. She knew that she would only have five minutes, tops, to search her father's room.

She didn't know what she was looking for; she didn't have a clue. She opened up to drawers, but only found clothes – mostly black, of course. In the small amount of books she checked, there was no hidden document.

She listened hard. She could still hear Damon talking to the others – at least, that's what it sounded like. I'll have to check later, she thought, trying to stifle a moan. She went over to the bottle of scotch, wishing that she could have some. She probably wouldn't even like it, but if it gave her relief...

Her eyes wandered over the desk, and then froze. She lifted the pad up to her face, her eyes over the markings on the pad. It had been made through the last page, which her father had ripped off. If she looked hard enough, she could make out the word Rebecca.

A creak in the stairs, and she was back where she had been laid. She tried to focus on breathing clearly, hoping that Damon's vampire hearing would not notice. She heard the door open and close, and then footsteps coming towards her. It took everything for her not to react to this.

A hand brushed over her face. "Tari," he murmured, watching her eyes flutter open. "You should get changed for bed."

Tari sat up slowly. "When am I going to have my own room?" She wanted to get out from under her father's eye as soon as possible; it would be easier for her to start sneaking around, looking for evidence.

"We'll start sorting it out tomorrow," he said smoothly. His blue eyes then focussed in on her face. Tari tried to look away, but he placed on hand on her chin, directing her face to look up to his. "As long as you don't try to run away again, otherwise they'll be consequences."

The seriousness in his eyes scared her. Quickly she nodded, and Damon's features relaxed. "Good girl. Now, you should get changed into your pyjamas."

Trying to keep calm, she stood up and went to the bathroom to change. Was she scared of him? Yes, a little. But she could manage. She needed to act like the perfect little girl, the one that Damon could trust. Once she found out what happened to her mother, then she could exact revenge. Even if it was her father.

When she came outside, Damon had already changed on was in bed, reading a book. She crawled under the heavy covers and turned away from Damon, trying to sleep despite her nerves. She didn't trust Damon; that she was sure of.

Slow down your heartbeat, Tari told herself. If this theory of yours is true, then he had a chance to kill you. He's not going to now. You weren't his target.

A second later she heard the light switch off. Once again Damon's arm wrapped round her waist, forcing her to lie flat. She didn't struggle, though she wanted to. Right now she wanted to run as fast as she could.

A kiss was planted on her forehead, almost making her start in surprise. It was the first time he had ever kissed her. "Goodnight," he murmured in her ear, settling down on the bed. Within a few minutes he seemed to be asleep.

Tari inwardly sighed. For the unforeseeable future, she would be living with her father. There was no escaping that. Unless...

The girl began to move around, testing how far she could get.

For one moment, she felt the amazing relief; the hope of being able to flee, or at least be able to get up to get some water. But then Damon's arm tightened round her waist. He squeezed her so tight that all the breath left for her body; for an instant she felt true as she couldn't breathe. The fear stretched the time she couldn't breathe, making it feel like minutes when it was only moments before his muscles relaxed again. She gulped in air, relieved.

Tari couldn't help but wonder if it was a warning.

xXx

03/07/11: Not my best chapter, but I think I've improved on it. Anyway, hope you liked it!