"Damon what are you doing?" Elena stood up from where she was kneeling beside Jeremy. She put her arm around his and looked up at him. He was holding the closed vial and thinking.
"Well first I'm sorry Elena, but you are human and pregnant and from what I have noticed I think we are out of more vervain from using it all on Stefan so...newbie vampire plus you ergo...not safe." He sped forward and snapped Jeremy's neck and the young boy slumped to the floor.
Elena backed up hearing the snap of her brother's neck. It almost felt like deja vu seeing Damon do that, but she knew this time that Jeremy was okay. He was a vampire and he would come back. She walked slowly back into Damon's arms, hoping it would show him that she was okay with what he did and knew that it was very much to protect her and the babies.
She remembered Caroline as a new vampire and her killing the carnival worker and remembered fearing for Jeremy's life when Vicky had turned and wanted to see him and she had forbid it. So she knew this at least for now was the right decision for everyone here.
Damon kissed the top of her head an unspoken way of telling her too that he would not take chances with her life and their children's. But his mind was still very much on the blood he was still holding in his hand. Klaus had been smirking at him since the moment he rolled the vial into the cabin and he found himself wishing he knew how to read minds. Why could that have not been a vampire perk?
"So...why after all this time would you just heal him...just like that? No strings?" Damon stared suspiciously at Klaus. "What do you have to gain?" His mind was racing as he held the blood in his open palm. He looked back at Stefan laying on the couch, so weak and so thin. He did not even look like himself; like he was desiccating to nothing right in front of them.
Damon saw the pleading look in his brother's eyes. He wanted so much to heal him. To save him. But Klaus just filling up a vial and giving it to them? It seemed too good to be true. He walked over to stand beside him. "What should I do Stefan? You know I want you better. I want you at my wedding, to watch my babies grow up."
He heard Klaus laugh at that. Damn he didn't need the Original knowing they were getting married did he? Well it was too late to take it back now.
Stefan nodded weakly. "I want that too."
"If there is even a chance I can cure you?" Damon was deep in thought. Klaus' words about always being one step ahead running over and over in his head as he turned the vial around and around in his fingers.
"No Damon. You can't trust him, you know that. I want to be there for all of you, to watch you raise those babies. But you know as well as I do that that bastard would not just give me the cure. He wants Elena. And him not healing me is his leverage." Stefan sat up more feeling more tickling in his incredibly dry throat.
"I'm taking away that leverage, brother. I'm prepared to die. Just let me go, to keep her and your babies safe. Then he has nothing over you." Stefan begged him, lifting his head again shaking it back and forth.
Klaus was watching with baited breath not entirely sure what would happen. Stefan's little speech did not help things. Maybe he wouldn't go for it. He had one eye on Elijah and was studying him wishing he knew what he was thinking. His brother often knew how to outsmart him. They had much the same mind and both could be very cunning.
Elena slid her arms around Damon's waist from behind and leaned her head against the hollow between his shoulder blades. "Just do what you think is best baby. I trust you and whatever you choose...we will get through it together."
She hugged him tighter, offering whatever she could so he knew that whatever he chose she would respect that. Of course she wanted Stefan healed. It was breaking her heart to see him like this. But Stefan was right and what Damon was thinking was right. There was no way that Klaus would just lose his only bargaining chip to get her to come outside.
Damon turned around, leaning down and brushed his lips over her forehead and sighed, leaning his head against hers. Her presence helped sooth him just like every other time she was close. What the hell should he do? He would never forgive himself if he made the wrong choice and Stefan died when he could have saved him. But Klaus would not just hand him the cure without an ulterior motive. It probably wasn't even his blood. It was probably a decoy vial just like Caroline said she had for Katherine.
He turned back to Klaus. "No, Stefan is right." He ran his free hand through his dark hair. "I don't believe after everything...after all you want from me and my family that you would just heal my brother. Thereby giving me another person to help protect Elena and our babies from you." He shook his head, more sure now than ever. "No. I've seen sleight of hand and I don't believe you gave us the vial with your blood in it. You wouldn't."
And with that he crushed the vial in his fist, letting the blood seep between his fingers and drip onto the floor. He winced slightly as the glass pieces cut the inside of his palm before letting the pieces of the smashed vial tumble down in front of him and wiped his bloody hand on his jeans while grinning at Klaus. Had he called it right?
Klaus grinned back at him. "Wow, Damon. I. Am. Impressed. There is that prize DNA working for you." He pulled out the other vial and waved it in front of him, before tucking back away in his jean pocket. "Maybe I underestimated you."
Damon laughed slightly at that, putting his arm around his fiance. The panic that he had felt praying that he had not just gone and made the wrong choice was settling down in his stomach. "Damn right you did. You are not ever getting your hands on Elena or my babies! I would die before I let that happen!"
Klaus' grin grew on his face. "Well it might come to that Damon. Possibly sooner than you think." He winked at him like he knew something Damon didn't but he had no idea what the hell it could be. "You can't kill me, little vampire. And that is what it will take to stop me."
Elena grew bold and came out from where she was hidden in Damon's arms. She was furious at everything and it was all about her. She stood tall beside her love and glared daggers at the Original monster. "You almost had me before, when you nearly ripped Damon's heart out. That was as close as you are getting! Now that I know about our babies, there is nothing that you can do to get me out of this cabin! I will protect them with my life!"
She was full of anger and nearly spiting at him. Her one hand was laced with Damon's and the other protectively over her belly. She was panting hard, feeling the anger racing through her. It probably wasn't good for her to be so worked up. Stress would not be good for the babies. But right then she wasn't thinking of that. She just wanted to lash out and defend her family.
Klaus took another step forward and rested his palms on the invisible barrier. A smirk grew from his pursed lips. "Oh really, sweetheart? You say that now...but you have already seen what I can do. I just completed your brother's transition into a vampire and I could have left him to die with that werewolf bite, or staked him if you didn't come out here. But he was not my target." He hissed as he leaned his head down, his look daring, making her shudder.
"I also have your best friend Bonnie and your friend Tyler too. And I still have the blood that will heal that nasty werewolf bite." His voice lowered more looking back and forth between Stefan and Damon before his eyes rested back on hers, his voice sounding even more menacing. "There are witches on the way here right now. I have been looking for you for centuries and I promise you darling that unless you come out here on your own...there will be no one left alive that you love!"
Elena shrank back a little, feeling much less brave after hearing how determined and well planned this attack actually was. She ran over what he had said in her head. "Tyler? You have Tyler here too?"
Klaus nodded and motioned his head back towards the garage, his fingers tapping absentmindedly on the door frame. "Oh yes. His venom has been very handy. How else did you think I infected young Jeremy? How do you think I can infect anyone else till you surrender yourself to me!"
"Nic stop it! This has to end!" Caroline had stood up from where she had been kneeling beside Stefan, listening to everything and having no idea what to do or feel. She knew Nic hated her for betraying him but she could still see love in his eyes. She knew she hurt him, but that did not mean he could not forgive or be reasoned with. She had to try.
"I will not let you kill my friends! You say you won't hurt them. You say no one has to die...but you need to let it go." She was near tears feeling so torn. She knew that she had barely known him a day and she hated what he was doing to her friends. But her feelings for him were unbelievably strong too and she had no idea how that could be possible in such a short time.
"I love you Nic. I do, so much...after everything, even hearing you threaten my friends. I know I should hate you, want to kill you for what you are doing to them...but I don't and I have no idea how that is possible. All I know is that my feelings are so strong despite everything! But you have to stop!" She was standing in front of both Damon and Elena putting herself between Klaus and them, her breath just heaving out of her.
Klaus' expression softened as he looked at her. He listened to her pleading with him feeling so torn. A part of him ached to do just what she asked, but something inside him stopped him from fully letting it go. He swallowed hard, is voice still strong and forceful back at her, despite his wavering emotions. "I can't Caroline! I can't just let it go! Mikael will not stop! He will kill you! He will burn you alive, just like he did Aurora!"
His eyes were like fire at her trying to get her to understand. "Don't you see, luv. This is not about me anymore. I admit that yesterday even I was doing this for me. Just to kill my father. To end his reign of terror in my siblings lives. But I love you too. I want to just walk away and leave your friends alone, even after all my searching for so long and all I did to make that spell work. Part of me wants to let Damon and Elena raise the babies I made possible for them to have, in peace and safety. I want to give you that! I still do! But I can't!"
He paused, trying to reign in his anger and frustration. "Its not about me anymore. My father will kill YOU Caroline, YOU! Just because I love you! He probably already knows about us. He has witches on his side and they are always searching, always looking for my weaknesses so that he can race in and destroy me once and for all!"
Caroline stepped forward again and right onto the porch in front of Klaus, her vampire eyes blazing yellow. "Then let me die, Nic! I will not let you hurt innocent, little babies to save me!"
Klaus was overcome with emotion and wanted so badly to do what she wanted. But he had already lost Aurora in the most gruesome, horrific way possible and he could not go through that again. He grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the door frame. "I can't let him kill you!" he screamed at her. He was breathing harder now too, his eyes darting back and forth, like there could be a threat to her right there.
Nic sighed, looking longingly at her and reached out to stroke her cheek with the back of his hand. At first she stiffened but she did not pull away from him. "If it made you happy my lovely, I would walk into the line of fire and let him rip me apart just to be done with it. To finally stop running and just let him come. I would do that for you." He was imploring with her, his voice strained, his eyes teary, as his thumb ran over her bottom lip and he felt her shudder.
"But I know my father, Caroline. Hell, he isn't even my real father. I don't know why I keep calling him that. He is just the psychopath that destroyed my childhood. He hated my very existence so much because I was the product of my mother's betrayal! He blames me for him killing her!" He slammed the wall beside her head and she gently reached out and put her one hand on his arm. He looked up in her eyes feeling her touch.
"He has always hated me and he would not stop with just killing me. He would purposefully tear you apart just so he could see the shock, and terror and pain on my face! He would laugh at us knowing he finally found a way to hurt me as much he claims I hurt him."
He loosened his grip on her arms as his head fell, not wanting to look into her wide eyes. "He might keep us both alive for decades and continue to torment you to prolong my suffering. He is the monster here Caroline, not me!"
Klaus looked back into the cabin seeing that Damon was listening intently to all he was saying. He wondered what the young vampire was thinking. He shrugged his shoulders at him. "There is no other way. Nothing else on this earth will kill him. I have searched for centuries for the answer and this was it."
He looked desperately at Damon wondering if there was some way to make him understand. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this at all. These are secrets buried deep in with my family. But when Mikael became a vampire like us, his children, he used a much more powerful spell, bound by the moonstone, and the Original Petrova who brought forth doppelgangers every few centuries. He became an indestructible force, greater in strength and speed and cunning than all my siblings combined. He did all this behind my mother's back knowing that she had betrayed him and he was waiting for the right moment to strike back at her."
He took a deep breath, remembering the pain of discovering all this. He looked to Elijah imploring his sympathy too but his brother looked to be just listening but not making any moves to defend him or say how right he was about his father's hate.
"But as powerful as that spell he forced the witch to cast was...nature needed balance. And the only way he could be destroyed was the blood of a child. A product of both a vampire and a Petrova doppelganger. The only spell I ever found to undo his power from the long dead witches grimoire was a spell cast to create twins. In decades, in almost 1000 years there has never been a child like that...until now."
Damon was in shock of all he had been hearing. The whole thing sounded fucking insane. No matter how powerful this 'Mikael' sounded, he would never let anyone use his babies blood for anything. No one was ever going to harm his children!
"That's a good story Klaus. But there is no way we are letting you hurt our babies. If you two are as in love as you say," Damon nodded toward Caroline. "Then take her and run. Get out of here and never come near my family again!"
"No, Damon. That is not going to happen. He will find us and he will kill her. And I can't let him hurt her!"
Damon stepped forward, pushing Elena more behind him. "Well I sure as hell won't let you hurt Elena or my children!" His stance was just as daring, his jaw tight, his fists clenched, his rage coming off him in waves.
Klaus stepped forward too, the magic barrier the only thing between him and Damon. "I can't let you do that Damon. I will find a way to get to her...even if I have to burn the damn cabin down to the ground to force you out!"
He slammed his fists on the outside of the cabin, shaking the walls around them in his fury.
Caroline was standing beside him trembling, hearing the anger in both vampires voices. No one was backing down and this would likely end in a bloodbath. She stood silent and tentatively peeked up at him through her long lashes.
He said nothing and pulled her to the side of the house away from the door, away from more prying ears and she went with him without any argument. She had no idea what to say. It felt like her whole world was spinning out of control and she was powerless to stop it. Yet somehow something pulled her to stay with him. She knew she was safe with him and it felt like she was being drawn to be there.
Damon felt Elena's hand brush his arm as he watched Klaus and Caroline step out of sight. "Damon," she had whimpered weakly. He spun around at vampire speed and caught her as she fainted in his arms. The last few minutes as he and Klaus had fought he could hear her little human heart getting faster and faster. He had held her tighter in his arms trying to calm her before he had stormed forward once more. But her racing heart had not slowed down.
He picked her up under her legs and carried her towards the empty couch. Elijah moved toward them and moved some pillows around and lifted her head that had fallen limply off his arm. She moaned and Damon thought she was waking up but her eyes remained closed. He stroked her face lovingly as he sat down with her cradled against his chest. She had been through so much, and she was pregnant and he was stupid enough to think a massive head to head fight with Klaus would not upset her. He did not know much about babies at all, but he knew stress was never good for the mother. He just rocked her back and forth in his arms wishing he could just whisk her away from all of this nightmare.
Stefan had been quiet and felt the effects of the blood he had been given re heal his organs again. He could breath better and swallow. Everything did not ache. But the relief barely lasted and he felt his insides screaming again far quicker than the last time. There was no more blood left for his body to use. He just wanted it to be over. Klaus was never going to give him the cure and he sure as hell would not let Caroline close enough to him to steal more of his blood. He had heard most of what Klaus had said about the spell and he hurt too for what Elena must be feeling right now. He wished he could be there for her. He could hear it in her voice how scared she was. She was actually pregnant and with his brother's children. She should be so happy right now, not in terror for their tiny, little lives to be torn away from her.
"Brother," Stefan barely gasped out.
Damon turned his head toward him his mind still racing. Was Klaus really fucking serious about burning them out of there? He was scrambling in his head what to do...His brother was dying, the love of his life was unconscious in his arms and pregnant with his twin babies, and he had an Original vampire hellbent on taking her from him to use their babies to kill his father!
He leaned his head back against the back of the couch and just shut his eyes. He needed to think, needed to somehow get ahead of all this and figure out how to safe everyone. He heard Stefan gasping and coughing again and he looked back at him, his own eyelids so heavy not wanting to open them again and face any of it.
"Please just kill me Damon. I can feel the blood working less and less every time. I just want it to be over, please." Stefan pleaded, his eyes bloodshot and his voice cracking. "You have enough to deal with brother. I can see it in your eyes, how hard this all is on you. You need to focus on Elena and the babies. You need to get her the hell out of here. I will only slow you down and you know it."
Damon was angry, torn and so confused about everything. "No! No Stefan! You do not just get to give up on me little brother. Not yet! There is still time. I will...think of something." He had laid Elena down on the couch and moved back over to the other couch across from them where Stefan was lying.
Stefan was shaking his head as Damon ripped into his wrist and forced it against his mouth. He tried to push him away. He didn't want more blood. It was barely lasting anymore anyway. But he was still a vampire and feeling nearly desiccated he could not resist the intoxicating scent of the blood. He opened his mouth and bit hard into Damon's wrist.
"That's it, Stef, take as much as you need."
Damon squeezed his brother's shoulder and tried to smile at him. "I know I am being selfish with you, but not yet. Just not yet." He let him suck long and hard feeling Stefan's hand over his own gripping his wrist tight. He sounded all tough to Klaus but inside he was terrified of losing Elena or the precious babies she was carrying. So the thought on top of that, of losing his brother was just too much.
Damon could hardly stand to look at him though. It hurt SO much to see him like that. He looked like he was already dead. His cheeks were so hollow, his eyes sunken in and bloodshot. His lips were so dry and cracked and even his skin looked like it was growing deathly pale. He pulled the blanket back up over him and heard him groan again in pain.
"Stefan, lets just get you to a bed. You could at least be more comfortable," he suggested while running the back of his hand over his brother's cheek. His skin felt like it was on fire.
Stefan detached his fangs from Damon's arm and smiled in thanks at him. He knew for the brief time that the blood was working there was almost no pain and he longed for just a few minutes without pain. It didn't even seem like he needed the vervain to keep the ripper in him down. There was no strength left for anything.
He looked back up at Damon "Okay," he nodded slowly.
The elder Salvatore helped him stand, and put his hands under his arms to take his weight, which even that felt so much lighter than he should feel as a strong adult. He walked him over to the main floor bedroom, not thinking Stefan would want to try to go back up all the stairs again. He gently laid him down and heard Stefan moan, hopefully in relief of the more comfortable place to rest.
Damon smiled down at him, feeling the tears wanting to come. He knew he was kidding himself that they weren't running out of time. He knew it as well as Stefan did. But he could not give up on him yet. Klaus was carrying around a vial of his own miracle blood, likely just to taunt them but maybe there was some way to get it from him.
He sat down on the bed and smoothed his baby brother's sticky hair from his face. He had always taken care of him and had been more of a father figure to him than their dad ever was. He should be the one in this bed. He wanted so badly to take the pain from him.
As he lifted up the blanket to pull it up to cover his brother's shivering body he nearly gasped out loud. There at the sight of the bite mark on his arm...were Thick. Black. Veins. They were creeping out on all sides of the wound and spreading up and down his arm. Shit, it would not be long now.
Stefan tried lifting his head. "Damon," he breathed out before his head fell back down.
Damon crouched down at eye level to his brother, his knees bent, almost kneeling on the floor. His eyebrows were raised wondering what he wanted to tell him as he took his hand and squeezed it.
"Go to her," Stefan gasped out. "Be with Elena. She needs you brother."
Damon stifled a sob and wiped away a tear starting to slip down his cheek. "But you need me too," he choked out, his voice barely above a whisper. He laid his head down on the edge of the bed.
"God damn it Stefan, I did not think it would end like this for us." He felt more tears and let them slide down his cheeks as he snapped his head back up. "I'm supposed be the big brother. I'm supposed to take care of you. I'm supposed to keep you safe. Me! This should not be happening to you!"
Stefan turned his head more to look directly in his brother's eyes, the normal deep green of his eyes now almost clear they were so pale. Damon just let the tears fall silently into the sheets beneath his head as he looked at him, his heart breaking at the sight of Stefan so weak and so near death.
"You are taking care of me," Stefan coughed and gagged. Damon grabbed the garbage can by the bed and the younger Salvatore leaned over, his stomach contracting painfully, but nothing came up. His head fell back down on the pillow a few seconds later.
Damon stood back up knowing that he needed to check on Elena, but he also wanted to stay with Stefan. If Klaus was actually getting set up to burn the place down then they all might not have much time left together. He clasped his brother's head in his hands looking sadly in his eyes. "I'll be right back." And he stepped down the hall toward the living room. Elena was still laying peacefully on the couch and he saw that Elijah must have brought Jeremy somewhere else cause he could not see either of them anywhere. Damon bent to scoop Elena back up and carried her with him back to the bedroom where he had left Stefan.
He had no idea if this would be really awkward for his brother, but he just could not bear to leave either of them right now. He smiled at Stefan as he stepped back through the door and he saw his brother already dragging himself over on the bed for Damon to sit down. He sunk down in the mattress, leaning his head on the headboard, with Elena unconscious in his lap, his legs crossed at the ankles his black boots rubbing together as he got comfortable. He pulled up one of the blankets around her and just held her in his arms as he sat beside his dying brother. Neither of them spoke but knew what the other needed right then and both offered the deepest respect to those needs.
Stefan smiled at him seeing Elena looking so serene in sleep. He coughed some more and looked back up at Damon. "You are taking care of me. You are taking care of both of us, all of us. Believe me, Damon. It means so much for me to have you here. For us not to be fighting or jealous or angry at each other."
"I need more blood Damon please. There is so much I want to say to you before it is too late. There isn't much more time." He saw Damon nod and he adjusted Elena in his arms, her head leaning against the middle of his chest and he reached out his arm. Stefan took it and bit down and sucked up more blood. Damon needed to be strong too so he was careful not to take too much but just sip slowly.
Stefan let go and nodded to him in thanks, closed his eyes slowly leaning his head back down on the pillow. He opened them moments later, glassy and full of tears. "I need to tell you, I was so jealous at first...seeing Elena falling in love with you. It hurt so much, watching her slip away from me. I love her Damon. I do. So much."
Damon stroked his brother's hair with the hand not holding Elena against him and managed to force a half smile to his lips. "I know, Stefan. I know you do."
"I miss her," Stefan sobbed, tears flowing down his cheeks. She was so close right now and he wanted to reach out and touch her somehow. His hand hesitantly reached out toward her as he looked up in his brother's eyes with the unspoken question in the air.
Damon nodded his silent permission and Stefan reached out to hold her hand in his. "I miss how we used to be. She was the best thing that ever happened to me." He sniffled and wiped his nose, his head turned more focusing on his brother's sad tear streaked face as his fingers stroked the inside of her palm. "But I know you and her are so much stronger than we ever were. I can see it so clearly Damon."
He paused a moment wetting his dry lips. "I kissed her yesterday Damon," he mumbled softly, his hand falling away from her like he thought his brother would rip her away from him after what he just said.
"I knew it was so, so wrong. Klaus had fed so much on her when he found us, after he blew up your car. We both thought you were dead. She was crying for you. She thought I was you and before I knew it she had pulled my head down and was kissing me."
Damon's eyes were wide, this was news to him. He had no idea. Thinking back, that was when he had the jagged metal in his leg and was going in and out of consciousness. He had no clue what was happening to anyone else then. "It's okay Stefan. It's okay. I'm not mad at you," he assured him quickly. He could feel Stefan's guilt in his words.
Stefan was fully sobbing now. "I'm mad at myself," he hissed out between clenched teeth. "Elena was begging YOU to make love to her and feel so bad that I wanted her so much. I wanted to kiss her one more time knowing I was dying. So I did." Stefan body was wracking with sobs as he curled up into himself, pulling away from both of them.
Damon's heart ached for his brother. He did not even give it a second thought and laid Elena down on his other side and turned and held his brother to his chest as he cried. "It's okay Stefan. I promise. It's going to be okay. I'm right here."
He growled in frustration at no one in particular since they were the only three of them in the room. "I hate so much that this is happening to you. I'm so sorry that I threw the wolf at you instead of just killing him myself. I was so selfish too just wanting to hold Elena again after everything we had been through." Damon admitted to him. "You are not the only one that made mistakes. I got into the bathtub with her to help her wash cause she was so weak Stefan. It was completely innocent but I felt guilty doing that back then too knowing she still loved you then. So don't think you are the only one who screwed up."
Stefan nodded and reached out with his good hand to squeeze his brother's hand. "I hate the wolf too, mostly for condemning me to death but also for how Elena and I ended." He was facing her sleeping form and looking deeply at her peaceful face as Damon held his head to his chest. She looked so much better, the scar on her cheek had almost totally faded away. All the scars from their relationship being ripped apart were now only on the inside of both of them.
He was crying harder now and it hurt his body so much to move at all, let alone not stop shaking with sobs. "I know that Elena bonded to you so much from what the wolf put us all through." He spoke slower, feelings the weakness coming back. "What we all went through looked like it forced her to confront her feelings she must have already had for you. And I could see right away how incredible your connection was. Even from that first kiss when you scared her and made me want to kill you, I could see you had affected her deeply. Even when you compelled her to cut you with the wolf's knife, I could feel the electricity between you two from across the room. It was impossible even for me to deny."
Stefan didn't know if he wanted to see the expression on his brother's face right then but he dared to look up. Damon was looking down at him with so much love in his eyes. He smiled up and him weakly. "You were at your best there Damon. The most calm, compassionate, willing to endure so much to spare her any pain. She leaned on you through all that hell and you did everything in your power to keep her safe." It was hard to watch but he saw Damon reaching out while still holding him and running his fingers lazily through her hair as she lay beside them. He really was at his best and even here and now he was trying to sooth them both the best he could.
"What he put her through in the tomb Damon. I wanted to die then already. That was the worst horror I have ever lived through in all the years we have been alive. Worse that my ripper days. I would have staked myself 1000 times over to spare her the pure hell she went through all because of me."
Damon cleared his throat sniffling back more tears. "It was not your fault! None of it. Don't you dare die thinking that Stefan!" Damon's throat was tight, his voice nearly growling in anger. "This is ALL Katherine! All of it! She killed that man's wife and baby, not you! She dragged you into it and compelled you. Then she ran from Klaus years ago when he was searching for her to break the curse and she manipulated Rose to feed her her blood and she killed herself. She was probably going to get ripped apart by the wolf and you being fucking Saint Stefan saved her ass and got bitten."
He took a huge breath before continuing, feeling more and more rage building. "And what does she do to thank you for saving your life? She ran away like the scared little bitch she is and took the cure that Caroline stole for YOU. She is at fault brother...for everything! And if I ever see her again I will rip her apart with my fucking bare hands!"
Stefan nodded at him silently like he had just had the truth shook into him by force. He knew every word that Damon had just snarled out at him was the complete and honest truth.
Damon was quiet for a few beats just holding his brother tight, his hand still absently running through Elena's hair. "I mean this might sound as insane as everything else but I actually feel sorry for Klaus. Unless he totally just lied to us all out there he really sounds like he loves Caroline and that he doesn't want to hurt our babies." He pursed his lips, his mind going over everything he heard. "It even sounded like it wasn't that he wanted to hurt us. He kept saying he couldn't let Caroline die. That he wanted to let us go but he actually 'couldn't'….like there was something preventing him from walking away." He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I am just talking as crazy as him, but it sounded really odd, didn't you think?"
He paused and Stefan did not answer him. For the tiniest heart pounding seconds he thought he was gone. Until he calmed his undead heartbeat that was racing and could hear the slightest, faint breaths from his brother's lungs. If he was a human he was sure his blood pressure would be going through the roof by now.
Just then he heard Elena moan weakly. She was waking up. He gently lowered Stefan back to the bed and wrapped him back in the blankets. He smiled seeing her eyes opening slowly and lifted her up under her thighs, her arms instantly went around his neck as he carried her out of the room to let Stefan sleep.
Walking back through the kitchen. It was quiet with no one around. He carried her to the couch and then fell down into the cushions with her in his lap; his favorite way to hold her. He sucked in a deep breath as his head fell to her chest and he felt her hand go up into his hair. He was exhausted and just laid there. Her scent, the feel of her against him, her touch just wiping away all the insanity he had been feeling at everything that had just happened; with Klaus, with Jeremy turning, with his brother's painful confessions, and now his awareness that she was carrying not one but two of his precious babies. It was all just too much. He closed his eyes, just soaking in her presence feeling her cradling his head to her chest as her fingers tangled in his hair.
God, he loved her. That was all he knew right now. There was a vampire coming to possibly burn the cabin down around them anytime but all he could think of was how much he needed to feel her right now. He rested his hand on her belly under her shirt and sighed deeply at the heartbeat he could feel in his palm. There were two heartbeats not one...two. Two, tiny people that had no power to protect themselves or their mother. It was all up to him.
A/N; Well I hope you liked it. Reviews and readers are falling so I'm starting to wonder if people aren't wanting me to continue? Book 1 had over 12,000 views, Book 2 almost 10,000 and here we are nearing almost half as long as Book 2 already and the views are just over 3000.
Is it because I started another story and this one is not updated as quickly? I really thought people would love a story about their lives and after the finale but maybe I should just focus on one story or the other? What do you all think? I want to honor you guys the readers and do what I can to do what you want.
I realize that there will be some of you that will think I am crazy for even suggesting to focus on one story or another but others' of you that I only heard from in the first couple chapters and then nothing since. If I am doing something wrong or if there are things you don't like about the story please let me know.
I've also tried to write longer chapters but longer chapters take longer to write and edit and all that so I can't write a full chapter in one evening like I could with a 3000ish word chapter. So I'm not sure if you liking the longer chapters or if smaller ones more often is better.
There is so much more to this story yet that I would love to tell you. We are building to the mid climax here before the time jump.
Oh and I tremendously apologize for less Delena in this chapter. I promise it in the next one for then to get to talk and share and have some time together. Stefan just had a lot he needed to say and as I wrote it just kept flowing. So sorry.