Two months.
Two months we had lived together in perfect harmony.
Two months my life had settled into a calm routine.
Two months I had been fooled into believing things were okay.
Two months was how long it took for Katherine to return.
I sighed as I heard the knocking on the front door and I pulled the pillow over my face. "Damon," I groaned. "Would you get that?" I threw my hand out to my side to push him, hopefully waking him, but my fingers fell on nothing but the silk sheets. I pushed the pillow aside and looked at the bed beside me. Damon wasn't there.
I sat up and quickly searched the room. His jacket was still thrown over the chair at the desk and his shoes were by the closet. Normally I would assume he had heard the knocking before me and gone to answer it, but that wouldn't explain why the knocking was still occurring.
I looked over at the alarm clock: 6:04 AM.
I climbed out of the bed and rushed to my dresser, tugging on some pajama pants and a loose t-shirt.
As I headed downstairs, an uncomfortable feeling washed over me. Where was Damon? And who was so persistent at the door this early in the morning?
When I reached the door, I hesitantly moved aside the curtain hanging on the small window. I sighed in relief when I saw it was only Jeremy.
I unlocked the deadbolt and then the door handle lock. "Do you know what time it i-" I began to ask as I pulled open the door, but Jeremy surprised me by rushing past me and into the house. His eyes were wide and his breathing was labored, as if he had rushed here.
"Jeremy, what's wrong?" I asked quietly, trying to keep my heartbeat at a normal speed.
"Where is he, Elena?" Jeremy was pacing the floor, leaning into different rooms and looking. I followed him as he started up the stairs.
"Who?"
"Damon!" he nearly yelled.
My brow furrowed. That was a good question. "I really don't know, Jeremy. What's going on?"
He suddenly stopped on the steps and spun around to face me. His eyes were wild and sweat was beading along his forehead. He stared at me for several seconds before forcefully grabbing my upper arm and going the opposite direction, down the stairs. "Have to get her out of here. Get her away from him," he mumbled to himself.
I tried to pull away. "Jeremy! What are you doing?"
"It's not safe!" he responded.
After several failed attempts, I was finally able to jerk away from his grasp. "What are you talking about?" I rubbed the spot on my arm where he had been holding and winced slightly; I knew it was going to leave bruises.
Jeremy rubbed at his temples with his fingers, his eyes clenched tight. He was repeating, "We have to go," to himself.
I walked over to him and gently reached for his wrists to pull his hands away from his face. "Jeremy?"
He flinched away, his eyes shooting wide again. When he realized it was just me, he exhaled deeply and shook his head slightly. "Elena, Damon isn't safe."
All of my attempts to keep my heartbeat steady seemed futile now as it hammered in my chest, sending my pulse racing along my skin. "What are you talking about?"
His brow furrowed deeply. "I'm having these… flashes or something." He reached up and gripped the locks of his hair. "I'm losing my mind, Elena. Ever since I met Damon I've had this nagging feeling that I know him from somewhere and now I'm starting to have dreams and…last night I had one and it was so…vivid and…damn, Elena, I thought I was losing it. But then she told me I wasn't and…when I woke up, all I could think about was getting you out of here. I have to get you out of here. I don't think I could stand it if you stayed."
I tried to hide from Jeremy that it was becoming increasingly difficult to breath as he spoke. He was remembering when Damon attacked him. I had worried about this constantly since the first time…well, second time they met.
"Jeremy, you said so yourself – they were just dreams. There's nothing to worry about with Damon."
He shook his head. "No, Elena. I know it seems stupid, but I need you to come with me. You can't stay."
I sighed. "Jeremy, I think you should just go back home, okay?"
He looked around again. "Where is he, Elena? I need to see him."
"I seriously don't know, Jeremy."
He looked back at me, his eyes narrowed. "Why would he be gone this early in the morning?"
I bit down on my lower lip. I didn't know how to answer that. He was normally still with me in bed at this time of the day.
Although I didn't know where Damon was, I felt the need to try to cover for him. "He had errands to run, so he started early."
"What errands?"
I groaned. "Jeremy, I don't know! Now seriously, this is ridiculous. I want to go back to bed."
Slowly Jeremy walked toward me, his eyes locked with mine. "Elena, swear to me right now you don't know anything about Damon."
"What are you talking about? Know what about Damon?"
"Swear to me you don't know what he is."
I unintentionally swallowed hard. He definitely knew. I could see it in his eyes.
"I-I don't… know… I don't know anything, Jeremy," I stuttered softly.
Abruptly, Jeremy grabbed me and lifted me over his shoulder, eliciting a half gasp half shriek from me.
"Jeremy, what are you doing!" I screamed. I was tired of men thinking they could just do this with me – force me somewhere by carrying me.
"Getting you out of here," he said flatly.
"Put me down, Jeremy!"
"I can't do that."
I heard the handle turn and the wood scraping the frame as he opened the door, but instead of walking through, we suddenly stopped. I felt Jeremy's hands start to shake against my legs.
"Um...hi?" I heard Damon's voice.
"Move," Jeremy said coldly.
"Elena, are we going somewhere?" Damon asked.
"She's going home with me," Jeremy answered, his voice wavering slightly. I could hear in his voice he was trying to act strong and stern, but he was genuinely afraid of the situation.
"Elena?" Damon asked again, ignoring Jeremy.
I sighed. "Jeremy, put me down," I requested softly.
"Elena, no," he groaned.
"I think you should do as the lady asks," Damon told him in an unyielding tone. His voice portrayed he was absolutely serious.
We stood still for several seconds when unexpectedly Jeremy turned and starting running, me still over his shoulder.
With me turned around, I looked up at Damon who was still standing at the door. His eyes were questioning and he held up his hands slightly, indicating he didn't know what to do. He had promised me that he wouldn't do anything to harm Jeremy.
We turned the corner into the kitchen and I knew Jeremy was heading for the back door.
"Jeremy, put me down now!" I told him as forcefully as I could.
He didn't respond and when I was about to yell at him again, a force ran into Jeremy, knocking him to the ground. Before I fell on top of him, two hands grabbed me.
I looked up into Damon's apologetic eyes as he stood up and gently placed me on the ground.
Jeremy was pushing himself up from the floor, his eyes wide with fear. "I knew it," he said, his chest heaving from running with me on his shoulder. "You are…I knew it…"
Damon knelt down in front of him. "You don't know anything, Jeremy," he said firmly and I knew he was compelling him to forget. "You had never met me before the night at your Aunt Jenna's."
I expected Jeremy to nod and repeat the words as he had before, but he continued to shake his head. "You're lying!" he yelled.
Damon turned to face me, his brow furrowed. The compulsion wasn't working.
"She said you would lie!" Jeremy continued.
We both looked to him.
"Who said I would lie?" Damon asked.
Jeremy opened his mouth as if he were going to respond, but then his face fell in confusion. "I…I can't remember," he admitted. "But she said you would."
Slowly I walked toward him. "Jeremy what are you talking about?"
"She helped me remember what Damon was," he said, looking at the floor. "But she said he would deny it. And you would, too."
"So what am I?" Damon asked and I quickly looked at him, shaking my head. I didn't want Jeremy to say the words.
Jeremy looked up, his eyes narrowed and tight. "A vampire," he sneered.
In that instant, my heart broke. I didn't want Jeremy to be introduced to this world. That automatically put him danger.
"Damon, don't let him remember," I whispered, my voice panicked.
Damon looked at Jeremy again. "You had a dream that I was a vampire, but it isn't true. I am not a vampire." I could see in his face he was trying with all his might to compel Jeremy, but by the expression still in Jeremy's eyes, it wasn't working.
Damon stood up and Jeremy scrambled to his feet as well.
"Jeremy," Damon began, "I want you to sit here in the kitchen while Elena and I have a talk."
Jeremy scoffed. "No, I'm not letting her out of my sight."
"Jeremy, it's okay," I told him. "Just please wait here."
"No, Elena," he repeated.
In a blur, Damon had grabbed Jeremy and sat him in a kitchen chair. "You. Will. Wait," he said again through clenched teeth, an inch away from Jeremy's face.
Jeremy simply nodded and shrunk back against the wood.
Quickly,, Damon walked toward me, gently grabbing my arm and pulling me into the living room.
Once we were out of earshot of Jeremy, he spun to face me, the cold expression on his face falling into one of concern. He ran his hands over my body and I couldn't help but wince when he touched my arm.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly, pushing up the sleeve of my t-shirt to look at the now bruised area.
"I'm fine, Damon," I told him, pushing his hand away softly. "What's going on?"
His gaze met mine and he sighed. "I think Jeremy's come in contact with vervain."
"What?" my brow furrowed. "How would he even know what it was?"
Damon looked away and stayed silent. I could tell by his expression he was hiding something.
"Damon," I started slowly, "What's going on? Where were you this morning?"
He looked back to me. "Stefan called."
"When?" I hadn't heard from Stefan since we talked at the hospital.
"This morning."
"And you went to go meet him?"
He nodded. "He told me he's pretty positive Katherine has made her way back to Mystic Falls."
My heart dropped into my stomach as it all made sense. Katherine had been to Jeremy's house. She had helped him remember what Damon was.
"What do we do?"
"I don't know yet," he answered honestly. "Stefan is trying to find where she is exactly."
"Damon she's going after my family." I could fell the panic welling inside of me and tears started to brim along my lower lashes.
His hands came up to hold my face. "No, it's going to be okay," he assured me. "She didn't hurt Jeremy and we're watching Jenna. Everything will be fine."
"You don't know that," I whispered.
"I do," he nodded. "I won't let anything or anyone hurt you or your family, Elena."
After our talk, Damon and I sat down with Jeremy and told him everything.
I didn't want to, but Damon said we had no other choice now that he remembered. He said with Jeremy being aware of the situation, he might even be able to help by keeping an eye out.
Jeremy handled everything much better than I had expected. The idea of vampires existing didn't seem to faze him too much.
However, I could tell he was angry with me for willingly staying with Damon despite what he was. He asked me more than once, and in front of Damon, to come home and leave the whole situation alone. I simply told him that wasn't possible at this point.
Getting Jeremy to leave was more difficult than convincing him I needed to stay. It was only when we told him Jenna needed him to watch her that he finally agreed, but with the promise he'd be calling multiple times a day and stopping by again in the morning.
We said our goodbyes and then I went back to the living room.
Damon was sitting on the couch. He was bent over, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands.
I slowly walked toward him. "Damon?"
He sat up straight and looked at me. "Hm?"
I sat down in an antique, straight-back chair. "He's going to be okay, right?"
"Who, Jeremy?"
I nodded.
"He'll be fine, Elena. Him knowing is really for the best anyway. It'll help all of us for him to be more aware of his surroundings. And he'll let us know if Katherine comes around."
I bit down on my lower lip. I still didn't fully agree with him, but the damage had already been done.
I felt the air whip around me as Damon swiftly moved to kneel in front of me. He took my hands in his and waited for our eyes to meet.
"Elena, I don't want you to worry about Katherine or anything else. When I say things will be fine, I mean it." He lifted up until our lips met and kissed me softly. Twice he pulled away, then moved forward again, lightly grazing my lips with his own. He leaned away and slowly my eyes opened. "Do you understand?" he asked.
I nodded that I did.
He leaned forward to kiss me again and as our lips met, a knock sounded against the wood on the front door.
I groaned. I was tired, it was still only 8 AM, and I didn't want to deal with Jeremy anymore.
"Please make him go home," I said against Damon's lips.
He laughed and stood up. "I'll do my best."
I leaned back against the chair and waited to hear the exchange between Jeremy and Damon.
The front door opened and my heart stopped as I heard her voice.
"Good morning, Damon."
Authors Note: Ooooo, sorry about the cliffhanger.
Let me know what you thought of the chapter! I know it was short, but I've been really, really, really busy lately.
As a side note for you guys reading my other story, 'Addictions'. The new chapter should be up soon, but in the meantime, I made a video to go along with the story. Check it out at (and because it won't allow me to post links here, you'll have to copy and paste this address and replace all the (DOT)'s with a period) youtube(DOT)com/watch?v=slJDG2sHvgM
For more information on where I am with stories and what-not, either read my blog at writingtoberemembered(DOT)blogspot(DOT)com or follow me on twitter: APhobiac
See you guys next chapter!