Here we go, we're getting into the home stretch now. Only five chapters left. As always let me know what you think.
I stared my mother down, wanting her to feel uneasy sitting across from me. I didn't want her looking comfortable or at ease. I didn't blame any of this on Jeremy, he was forced to leave me behind.
"I need to speak to you, Elena. It's important. Can you please tone down the hostility?" She asked and I shook my head.
"I think I've earned the right to be hostile. At least a little bit. You abandoned me." I reminded her harshly.
"I had to do what I did. I was scared for my life and my son's life. You could have hurt us at any point. Your father told us to leave. If he hadn't I would have stayed, I promise you I would have." She said and what she said stopped me for a moment.
"Dad made you and Jeremy leave?" I asked quirking my eyebrows. That wasn't the story I heard. He told me that they had left him just as they left me. He had no idea it was going to happen and I believed him.
"Yes. He's been in contact with me this whole time. We're still married despite what I'm sure he told you. Elena, you have to believe me. I have no reason to lie to you." She pleaded.
"How did you find me?" I asked, that was the million dollar question I needed the answer to. I was completely anonymous here. No one was supposed to know, even my father whom I haven't seen in months.
"Your father. His friend at the blood bank contacted him and told him where you are." She said to me and I vowed to choose a new place to get blood from now on.
"Answer me one question "mother," where did dad go after he left me?" I demanded. I felt like I knew exactly where he went. But now I wanted to know why, and how long he had been planning this. Caroline sat down beside me as if she knew I needed the support. She was right. I had sent Damon away, so Caroline was easily the next best person to be here with me.
"He came back to us. He moved home to be with Jeremy and me. It's where he belongs, you know it as well as I do." She told me.
"Ok, well then what are you doing here? You know since you're so afraid of what I'm capable of." I demanded.
"I wanted to give you a warning. Your father is coming to teach at Whitmore again, and we're moving here to be with him. Your father and I want you gone by then. We don't want you around Jeremy because you're a monster. If you're not gone by next week, your father is going to force you out of town." The woman who was once my mother said to me.
"So you expect me to just pack up and leave because you and dad want me to?" I demanded.
"Yes. Your father has been trying to destroy you for a long time, he's bound to be successful this time." My mom said and I shook my head.
"What are you talking about?" I demanded.
"Every town you went to were vampire activity hubs. Your father was nearly positive each time that you would get caught and killed. He felt that he wouldn't have that on his conscience if you were killed by hunters. Your father knew he made a mistake when he saved you. He thought he couldn't bear to see you die, but now he realizes that you're a monster just like I do. His plan went awry when you found Caroline. So he left so he could regroup. Your choices are as follows, you can either leave, or you can stay and be killed. Your choice." She told me. Her voice was devoid of emotion. It killed me to see the woman who birthed me have no feelings at all for me. It hurt, but I could live with it.
"You're the monster Mrs. Gilbert. Elena is the furthest thing from a monster I've ever seen. She is the most caring, compassionate, amazing person I've ever met and I'm so lucky to have met her last year. Elena and I have put down roots here and we're not leaving without a fight." Caroline jumped in. I didn't know what to do. The thought of leaving Damon slayed me, but I knew how persistent my father could be. If he really wanted me dead, then he would most likely succeed.
"My only question is why are you warning me? Why not let him surprise me here and take me out?" I wanted to know.
"Because despite everything, I did give birth to you, so there are some lingering feelings. I may not ever want to see you, but that doesn't mean I want to see you die. You're a vampire, compel yourself some tickets and go live somewhere far away from here." She told me standing up.
"We're not going to let you walk all over us. You can leave now Mrs. Gilbert." Caroline ordered standing up.
"I will. Just remember you have one week to get your affairs in order, before the world as you know it comes crumbling down unless you make the wise decision." She told us before striding out of my house like she owns it. When I heard her car drive away, I sank into the cushions with my head in my hands. Go figure, I put down roots for the first time and now it's being forced away from me.
"We aren't going to let them run us out of town are we?" She asked me hopefully. I knew that Caroline would follow me wherever I chose to go. She'd said it many times, we're a team. We stick together.
"I don't see any other choice Care. We stay, we die." I said and she shook her head.
"You have Damon now. I have Tyler. We can't just give that up." She argued.
"I know and it's going to be hard. But I don't know how far my father is willing to go to get what he wants. What if he uses Damon, or Tyler against us? Will you be able to stomach the idea of something happening to them because we're being selfish? I don't think I could. If my dad turns the entire town on us, we're going to lose them anyway. Mayor Lockwood doesn't like you anyway, what will she think if she finds out you're a vampire?" I asked and she sniffled.
"I just love our lives so much here. I'm going to miss Tyler. He might not be my epic love but at the very least I love spending time with him. It's always been easy for me to move on, but this might be different. I love this town. It feels like home." She said sadly.
"Imagine how I feel. I'm nearly positive that Damon is my soul mate no matter how corny that sounds and I'm about to lose him." I told her and she sniffled again.
"You know I'll follow you anywhere, so if you think we should leave, then we will. I just wish we wouldn't. What are you going to do about Damon?" She asked me and I shrugged.
"My head thinks I should be with him tonight but tell him I'm leaving town and we can't see each other again. The longer I spend with him the harder it's going to be to leave. But my heart says spend every possible second with him and beg him to come with us when we leave. But I can't do that. I can't take him away from his family." I said. I didn't know what to do, it was an impossible situation. The worst thing I could imagine was hurting him again and it was inevitable.
"I need to spend as much time as I can with Tyler. I'll tell him we're leaving tonight and that I want to be with him every possible second until next week when we're gone." Caroline decided and I wished I could be more like her. I wished I could make a decision like the one she made. She made it sound so easy, even though I knew the decision was anything but.
"I'll give you tonight with Tyler, I should call Damon. He's probably worried." I said. It was early evening now, and I had promised to call him when I was done with our visitor. He was probably thinking the worst.
He answered on the first ring and I asked him to come pick me up. I knew he was wondering what took so long, so I steeled myself to tell him when he picked me up. Tyler pulled up a few minutes later and I smiled as I went to stand on the porch to wait for Damon. He pulled up a couple minutes after Tyler so I walked out to his car and got in.
"Is everything okay?" He asked and I offered him a smile, hoping he couldn't see through how fake it was. I didn't have it in me to pretend, but I needed to until I knew for sure what I was going to say.
"We should go pick up my car, then I'll go over to your house with you. Caroline has Tyler over for the night." I told him and he nodded. It was like he knew there was something wrong, but he was keeping his mouth shut for the time being. We drove to the Falls and dropped me off by my car.
"I'll meet you at my place." He said and I smiled and got into my car. When Damon pulled away, I followed him. At his house he was leaning against his car when I pulled up. "Now you're going to tell me the truth."
"Later, your parents are by the door." I told him hearing then speaking from just inside the door.
"Yeah, they're going to some sort of charity barbeque tonight. They wanted us to come but I declined." He responded as we walked up the front walk with our hands swinging between us. We needed to let it appear that there was nothing wrong.
"Are you sure we can't convince the two of you to come along? It's probably your only chance for Stefan to ever cook for you." Damon's dad asked him when we walked in. He was referring to the charity barbeque the football team was putting on. Tyler was skipping it to be with Caroline, and the cheerleaders were exempt since they weren't an actual part of the team. The cheerleaders had a carwash that Caroline and I weren't going to be here to participate in.
"No, we made plans to go out for dinner, just the two of us tonight." Damon lied. We hadn't made any plans but I was glad he came up with something. We needed to talk even though I still had no idea what to say to him. I needed to come up with something quickly because Damon's dad clapped his shoulder and took Lily's hand as the three of them left the house. When the car pulled down the driveway Damon turned to me expectantly.
"Okay, where do I start?" I asked as I walked up the stairs. I wanted to have this conversation in the privacy of his bedroom. I felt safe and comfortable there. Nothing could touch me if I was in his arms.
"The beginning. Who was at your house?" He asked softly.
"My mother. She showed up to warn me that my father was out to kill me and had been since the year I turned and I took a bite out of a guy in New York. My parents are moving here with my brother Jeremy next week. Oddly enough my dad is legitimately going to start teaching at Whitmore while they live here. But he doesn't want me around when that happens, so he gave Caroline and I an ultimatum to get out of town before next week or else he's going to kill us." I explained, shortening the story.
"You're not going to go, though. You and Caroline are vampires, against him. It's a no contest. You're not leaving, right?" He asked looking panicked for a brief moment.
"Damon…" I trailed off.
"No. Damn it Elena, I just got you. I'm not letting you go so soon." He argued. I knew how he felt, the idea of leaving him was killing me too.
"We don't have a choice. He'll tell everyone that I'm a vampire. My father won't have to even lay a single finger on me. It'll all be done without his input. Or worst case, he targets you to get to me. I couldn't handle it if something happened to you." I pleaded.
"You don't have to worry about me Elena. I don't want you to leave. We can figure it out." He said taking my hand and kissing the back of it.
"I wish we could. But we can't. I refuse to put the people I love at risk." I insisted.
"What about the person I love? I love you Elena, and I'm not going to sit back and watch you leave me here to rot. We can do this, Elena. We can convince the town of your goodness. We'll start with my mom and dad. We can figure this out, Elena. Don't let a little threat ruin what we have. Please Elena." He pleaded.
"I don't like risking you." I said with a shake of my head.
"You won't. I'll do whatever you ask of me. If you want me to only be with you or locked up in my room to keep me safe, I will. I won't like it, but it's better than losing you. You finally have a home and I don't want you to lose it. I won't lose you Elena." He said.
"All that sounds so good Damon, I just fear that it won't work out like that." I sighed. He was making me lose my resistance. I was supposed to come in here and tell him I was leaving. I was supposed to not let those blue eyes affect the decision I had to make. But here I was thinking that maybe he was right. That maybe we could fight my dad.
"I'm sure it'll be more difficult than I made it sound, but we'll get through it. We have until next week to get it something figured out. If we can convince the town that you're okay then your father won't be able to convince them you're a monster. It will work." He spoke confidently. I don't know if he was really feeling that confidence, or if he was just trying to convince me.
"Damon, I don't know. It sounds so good but I can't." I said.
"So you're just going to leave me like we never shared anything at all? You're going to be able to walk away from me?" He demanded, the hopeful look on his face gone now. It was replaced with a completely disheartened look and I hated that I was the one who put it there.
"You think I'm going to be able to walk away from you? No I won't. It's probably going to kill me. When a vampire falls in love like this, they love forever. You'll move on, you'll meet someone new, but not me. You may think I'm being selfish, but this is the most selfless thing I've ever done. I can't be selfish with you. I love you Damon. Damn it I love you so much that even thinking about leaving you, leaves an aching hole in my chest. I can't do it, but I'm doing it for you." I ranted, somewhere along the way flashing from the bed to the floor where I started pacing. I didn't stop ranting until he touched my hand, stopping me.
"I'm never going to move on either." He said just before he kissed me. I didn't hold back this time, I wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly as he kissed me. I slipped my hands under his t-shirt and pulled it up and over his head. He broke the kiss long enough to let me throw his shirt to the floor before his lips were back on mine. His arms tightened around me and it was like we couldn't be close enough. With my hands on his chest I pushed him back towards his massive bed. He fell backwards onto it and I climbed up so I was straddling his waist. He broke the kiss once enough only long enough to pull my shirt over my head leaving me clad in my lacy blood red bra. He suddenly flipped me over so he was straddling me. If he wanted to take control I would be more than willing to let him.
"I need you Damon." I whispered and he pulled away. I was devastated until I realized he was undoing his pants. He pushed them down along with his boxers before helping me with mine. I was far too desperate for anymore playing. I just needed him. Right. Now. When he crawled back onto the bed, I beckoned him forward as I moved further onto the bed. Hanging half off the bed just wasn't comfortable.
"God I need this so much." He groaned into my ear. I could feel how hard he was between us and I knew he wasn't lying. He needed me about as much as I needed him.
"Please, take me." I begged and he slowly sank inside me inch by glorious inch. Once he was fully seated inside me he started moving. He was far bigger than what I was used to but it was perfect. Everything was perfect right now so I stayed in the moment. He rocked into me several times, the pace slow and sweet. It was like he was trying to convince me that I needed to be here with him instead of running. The problem was that it was working. My demon was close to the surface as he brought me higher and higher. I wasn't that controlled that it wouldn't come out when I was heightened in any way.
"You can show me." He said and I didn't know he was paying that close of attention to my expressions. When he said that I let go and veins enveloped my eyes and my fangs popped into place. "Beautiful." He said when he thrust a couple more times before I came. I called out his name in bliss and I was only vaguely aware when he followed me over the precipice.
A few minutes later we were lying in each other's arms, legs tangled.
"I don't want to fight anymore. But please don't leave me. There is always another option." He whispered into the darkness of the room.
"How can you be sure?" I asked hopefully.
"Because the universe wouldn't have given me you only to take you away so soon. Not even they are that cruel." He whispered.
"I'm not entirely convinced of that fact, but I'll try. I'll try to stay because this is my home. I'm not ready to lose it." I decided. He grinned and leaned over and kissed me once more.
"So what finally convinced you? Was it the mind-blowing sex?" He asked and I laughed and shook my head.
"Now, the mind-blowing sex only served to remind me just how much I love you. It would physically hurt to be separated from you now." I told him.
"Well I'm glad. I'll protect you Elena. I won't let anything happen to you." He whispered vehemently.
"You have to promise me something though. If it goes south you have to not try and save me. Don't get involved Damon. In the end this is between my father and me, I can't let you get hurt." I whispered. It took him a few minutes but eventually he nodded.
"It won't come to anything like that. The town will believe in you like I do." He spoke certainly.
"I certainly hope so." I whispered before closing my eyes with my forehead against his chest. His arms tightened around me and held me against his chest trying to protect me from my own nightmares.