Chapter Eighteen

When Caroline entered The Grill looking for Ella it was to find her and Damon laughing together as Damon stole one of the French Fries from Ella's plate. She froze in the doorway, staring at the pair. From where she stood it seemed as though the pair were on a date and the notion made Caroline's stomach turn. She had been so sure than Ella had been in to Jeremy, yet here she was laughing and flirting with Damon.

She started to hope that Jeremy didn't see this just as the man in question walked through the door behind her. He didn't speak as he stopped next to her, just stared at Ella and Damon for a few seconds before walking away. Caroline still caught a glimpse of his face before he turned away from her and he looked crushed. Frowning, Caroline marched over to Ella and Damon's booth and stood beside the table, her arms folded across her chest.

"Hello Caroline," Damon smiled briefly, looking up at the young woman.

"Damon," Caroline nodded curtly before turning to Ella. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Ella shrugged.

"In private?"

"Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of Damon," Ella responded, a frown of her own puckering her brow.

"It's fine Ella," Damon assured her. "I'll be at the bar."

Damon got up from his seat and walked away as Caroline slid into the booth across from Ella. Ella watched Damon walk to the bar before turning an angry glare on Caroline.

"Well?"

"What are you doing here with Damon?" Caroline demanded. "After what you saw in your dream, what he's going to do to you? Do you want to make it easier for him? And what about Jeremy?"

"What about him?"

"I thought you liked him?" Caroline pressed.

"I do like Jeremy, but I still don't see that he has anything to do with Damon," Ella answered, her frown deepening.

"Jeremy likes you too, how do you think he feels seeing you here, on a date with Damon on the same day you were supposed to be hanging out with him."

Ella paused for a moment before she burst into a fit of laughter, surprising her friend. Caroline couldn't understand what about their conversation was so funny and glared at the other girl while she waited for her to calm down.

"Me and Damon? Dating? Have you lost your mind?" Ella finally gasped through her laughter.

"If you're not on a date then why are you here with him?" Caroline wanted to know.

Ella's laughter died and she looked up at Caroline, her gaze brimming with mixed emotions. "He was helping me to control my empathy so that I would be able to be around my friends without snapping at them whenever someone around me got angry. We spent the morning working on it and now I can pretty much block it out, but it still takes a lot of effort. If I wasn't focusing on keeping it all out it would overwhelm me. Then because I hadn't had breakfast and was meeting Jeremy here soon anyway he asked if I wanted some lunch. Damon's my friend Caroline, just like you. I love you Caroline and I'm grateful that you're looking out for me, but you don't need to protect me from Damon. Please understand that."

Caroline sighed. "I don't understand it, not after everything he's done. You don't know him the way I do, but if this is what you want then I'll accept it."

"I know him better than you think, but thank you."

"There's one person who might be harder to convince," Caroline told Ella, she pointed over Caroline's shoulder. Turning in her seat Ella followed her friend's direction and saw Jeremy standing by the pool table watching them.

Ella felt her heart accelerate at the sight of him and she knew that Caroline would probably hear the change but she didn't care. All of a sudden there was no one but Jeremy; it was as if everyone else just melted away.

Without saying anything Ella got to her feet and walked toward the object of her affection. With every step toward him her heart beat steadily fasted and her smile widened. It had only been a few hours since she's last seen him but at that moment he seemed to be better looking than Ella remembered, even though at that moment he didn't look happy.

"Hi," Ella breathed when she reached him.

"Hey," Jeremy nodded before turning his back on her. Ella felt as if he had slapped her across the face as she stood frozen, watching him rack the balls on the pool table.

"Jeremy? Is everything all right?" Ella asked when she finally found her voice.

"Why wouldn't it be?" he asked without looking at her.

"Are we still on for our date?"

"It wasn't a date remember? You made it perfectly clear that we were just friends," Jeremy answered coldly. "Anyway, shouldn't you be getting back to Damon?"

"Why are you being like this?" Ella whispered, she felt that if she tried to speak any louder she'd lose it and start crying in front of everyone.

"I'm not being like anything Ella. I know we were supposed to be hanging out today, but all things considered I don't think that'd be such a great idea anymore," he shrugged.

Ella couldn't speak, she felt as if an ice cold hand had been thrust through her chest and was now gripping her heart. She thought back to her conversation with Damon in the car, about how if she fell in love with Jeremy there would be no going back, but if he ever broke her heart it would have a devastating effect on her. She wondered now if this what he had been talking about.

Would her heart grow cold? Would she be frozen for the rest of her life, unable to love anyone else? Was that what she was doomed for? A life alone, devoid of love.

Tears filling her eyes, Ella turned on her heel and ran from the restaurant. She didn't look back, she didn't listen when Caroline and Damon called out her name, she just ran. All she could think of was getting home before she broke down completely. She had to get away from everyone before the wall came crashing down and she lost control.

Still focusing on getting home, Ella burst through the doors and into the bright sunlight. She turned in the direction of her house and ran, before she knew it everything was whipping past her in a blur. She was moving faster than should have been possible, Damon had said that her abilities weren't physical, they were psychological, but here she was running through the streets with her surroundings whipping past her at an alarming speed.

After a few minutes Ella stopped running and found herself standing in her front garden. She had run from the Grill to her house in less than a few minutes. Damon had said that she wouldn't be able to do that being a Fae, so then maybe she wasn't a Fae after all. But if she wasn't a Fae...what was she?

TBC...