Chapter 6 – Where are thou?

It had been about a week now since Elena had left and she still had not call. Damon was dealing as much as he could, keeping it together for his kids, but he knew that no matter how much he would do, he would not be able to fill the hole left by their mother's absence.

Both Sophia and William refused to sleep without their dad by their side and Damon ended having them in his room every night. He watched them slowly drift into sleep, unable to find some himself. He was always thinking and thinking over and over again about their reality. He had hoped that Elena would have come home by now and that they would be actually trying to solve their problems together. Damon was deeply hurt but even more, the impossible situation was started to anger him. He could understand Elena leaving him but the kids?
And every night that would be his torture, wondering what she was doing, where she was, was she alone? Did she think of him? Did she even worry about them three?
He missed his wife even if he was too proud to admit, deep down he knew it, he felt it and it was burning him inside.
And every night Damon would watch the sun rise, signaling another dreadfully long day, full of expectations from his kids…

His two children… He knew even if they did not say it, he knew. Every afternoon, when they came back, he could see the glow of hope in their eyes that their mother might have come back home. But every time, it was the same disappointing face he saw at dinner.
If only she would call…No one would even tell him where she was, not as if her best friends did not know.

Flashback

"Caroline, don't lie to me! You know where she is! At least let me talk to her, only once! Just let me speak to her! On the phone or in person! I don't care, Just tell me!" Damon was practically begging.
Bonnie had made it clear earlier that she would not tell him where Elena was, emphasizing on the fact that she believed that "You are the worst thing that could happen to Elena just like this marriage. I am glad she finally got out of it."

Caroline was Damon's last hope and he was running out of option here. The kids were miserable without their mother and they would ask about her every day, who could blame them? It was their mother. Damon knew how it felt to be without a mum, he grew up without his, and it was killing him to know that his children were feeling the pain he felt all the while he was growing up.
"Damon, she made me promise not to tell you anything. I feel your pain, I promise you and I cannot even imagine what the kids are going through right now, but you and I both know Elena loves them. But I can't tell you anything. Please, be the father they need right now and leave the Elena part to me for the moment." Caroline tried to soothe Damon as much as she could. Though she did not like him at first, she had learned to know him and they had become good friends and she really hoped that Damon and Elena would be able to sort out their issues at some point.

Damon had spent the whole day trying to catch up the lateness he had accumulated in his work though his mind was elsewhere. It seemed like the world had stopped. Every time the phone would ring, he would rush to it, hoping it was Elena. Elena, Elena. Everything was Elena… The family pictures on his desk, their wedding picture hanging on the wall, their house full of her memories, their bedroom, the things she had left in their bathroom but even more, their children…

Damon was so lost in his thoughts that he did not notice his brother coming in.

"Damon? Damon! Back to earth brother!" snapping Damon out of his reverie.

"Stefan! Did not hear you come in."

"Yeah, thought I'd pass by to see how you were doing…"

Damon smirked, "What brother… walking on egg shells around me because you think I'm going to explode? Don't worry I'm not. I am the very definition of perfectly fine"

Stefan rolled his eyes, not believing any of his brother's words. If there was one thing he knew his brother was very good at, it was hiding his feelings.

"Still no sign of her, huh?" Stefan asked.

"Not even a phone call… I mean, okay I get it, she is pissed off with me. I know, I admit, I was a dick to her. The lousiest husband ever too, I acknowledge even that! But damn it Stefan, how could she just walk out like that on all we built? She left it to me to tell the kids she was leaving! It's as if she did not even care about how they would react! I just don't know how to feel anymore! And I have to lie everyday to my kids, and tell them that she will soon come back, that it all will just be like a nightmare! I feed them lies and at some point they're going to realize it. All I am asking for is just one damn phone call, damn it!"

Stefan watched his brother spill all he had kept for days inside, and he knew then, that his brother was breaking more than he was willing to show. Damon would never speak his heart out like that and he knew his brother was simply at the point where he did not know what to do.

"What if she never comes back Stefan?" a broken Damon uttered. And Stefan felt his heart breaking at his brother's sight. Damon was fighting the tears as he looked at his brother with dejected eyes.
Stefan simply walked to his brother and hugged him.
"Keep the faith Damon. She will come back….
And if she doesn't, we'll figure out what to do. But either way, Damon Salvatore ain't going down without a fight, right?"

"I just want her back Stefan. I need her." Damon barely whispered, hanging on tight on his brother. He knew he looked like a kid and he may seem weak but he did not care. He needed his brother at that moment and that was all that mattered.

Stefan left his brother's office some two hours afterwards, vowing to himself that he was going to bring his sister-in-law back or at least, he'd try as hard as he can, for his brother's sake and that of his nephew and niece and mostly, for Elena's sake too.