This part will be partly be post the episode Plan B.

Chapter 3

I Didn't Think

Damon was relieved when Elena finally left. He needed time to compose himself. He went to the bathroom, knowing that Stefan would probably be home soon. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and scowled. He was a mess. His hair was rumpled, his eyes and nose were red, and he had tear stains on his face. He washed his face and checked the mirror again. He had lost the tear stains but everything else was the same. It was obvious that he'd been crying and he went to his room quickly.

The last thing he wanted was for Stefan to see him and want to know what had happened. He'd want to die if his brother, or anyone else for that matter, found out about this little arrangement.

He sat down on his bed but stood right back up and growled. His butt was definitely sore. Elena wasn't anywhere near as strong as his father had been, but that strapping had still hurt. She'd been really ticked off and running on adrenalin, which had made her stronger than usual.

It was also mainly just pain, it wasn't really a wound, so it wasn't healing either. He was tempted to check what his rear looked like in the mirror but refrained. That was something he'd done after his father had punished him, and he wasn't a child any longer.

He laid down on his side and stared at the wall. Why had he cried like that? He hadn't cried since he hadn't found Katherine in the tomb, and even then he'd only shed a single tear. He'd been hurt much worse than that strapping. He sighed and shook his head. It hadn't just been the strapping, it had been her words. He'd felt so guilty all of a sudden. He still felt a little guilty, but his butt throbbed, reminding him that he'd definitely paid for his wrong doings.

He wouldn't let himself dwell on it anymore. Suddenly feeling exhausted, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Things were interesting for awhile. He was relieved when Elena didn't find out he'd tried to off Mason and it'd failed. He'd be certain she wouldn't be happy about that. But then Elena and Stefan seemed to be fighting, and that was unusual.

Being good was so boring.

Then of course, Mason nearly got them killed, which seriously ticked him off, and Caroline's mother found out about them, which was really inconvenient.

But then they'd finally managed to capture Mason, and he'd gotten his revenge. He'd loved torturing him, finding out new information, before savagely ripping his heart out and taking the moonstone that Katherine had wanted. He hadn't been able to resist taunting Katherine about it over the phone even though Stefan tried to stop him.

That turned out to be a huge mistake.

He didn't think he'd ever felt worse in his entire life when he heard Elena tearfully break up with Stefan because Katherine told them she'd kill the people Elena loved if they didn't stop seeing each other. They'd been sneaking around but obviously she'd found out and what Damon did had set her off. Elena's Aunt Jenna was in the hospital because Katherine had used her powers to make her stab herself. Elena was afraid Jeremy would be next.

As Elena started to leave he said, "Elena I did it. I was the one who riled Katherine. I wasn't thinking. I didn't think."

"It doesn't matter Damon." Elena looked at him with heart broken eyes. "She won. Katherine won." She left.

Damon felt his own eyes well up a little, then heard a soft whimper and went into the room where Stefan was. His brother was trying to hold back tears, and failing miserably. He watched helplessly as they broke free and trickled down his face.

"Stefan... no... don't cry. We'll find a way to get rid of Katherine..."

"This is all your fault. You just had to call her didn't you? Didn't you?"

He flinched. "I'm sorry. If I'd known she'd do something like this..."

"She always does something like this! But just like always you had to open your big fat mouth!"

Elena was right. Being sorry couldn't always fix things. "You want to take a swing at me? Go ahead if it'll make you feel better."

"Nothing is going to make me feel better! You... she..." Stefan crumpled to the floor then and sobbed.

What had he done? He'd ruined everything. Stefan and Elena had been broken possibly beyond repair. He sat down by Stefan and rubbed his back like Elena had done for him.

When Stefan looked up about ten minutes later after his sobs died down to hitches, he was shocked to see that Damon had tears in his eyes too. None had actually fallen, but they were there.

"I'll kill Katherine myself if I have to," Damon said seriously. "I won't let her do this."

"You actually care don't you? Why? Why after all this time? I thought you wanted me to suffer."

"I did... I don't now. Besides it's not just you. Elena is suffering too."

Stefan looked at him in wonder. Was this really his brother? The same person who had been tormenting him for over a lifetime?

Damon helped him up. "You should get some rest. I'll try to figure something out."

Stefan nodded wearily and made his way to his room. Damon slowly sat down on the couch. Could he really kill Katherine? The woman he had loved and searched for, for over a century? Half of him hated her but the other half still had feelings for her.

But if Katherine lived, she'd probably end up killing Elena, and one thing Damon knew, he definitely didn't want Elena to die. But he wasn't sure if he wanted Katherine to die either. He hated this.

He stared into the fire, knowing there was no way he was going to be able to sleep. He was in for a long night.

The next day he met up with Elena at the hospital. "How is Jenna doing?"

Elena wouldn't look at him. "She's going to make it, but I don't think you should be here Damon."

"Katherine didn't tell me to stay away from you, just Stefan."

"You really want to take that risk? I don't really know exactly what she wants Damon."

"So because you can't see Stefan you don't want to see me either?"

She bit her lower lip. "I just don't want to take the risk of anyone else getting hurt.."

He nodded. "Yeah... I got it."

He turned away and walked out of the hospital. Someone else had already gotten hurt, he thought as his chin trembled slightly. But the worst part of all was that he'd done it to himself.

To Be Continued...