Chapter 9 – Save Me

From "Save Me" by Shinedown.

A/N: I AM SO SORRY! I was out of town for a week, which is why this wasn't getting worked on. I know, real life, eh?Anyway, I am blown away by all of the people who read this! Thank you so much! In this chapter is Jeremy's waking and how Damon and Stefan help him to adjust, the aftermath of Damon's little big mistake, and the way Stefan will act about all of this. I'm also going to add Bonnie in here somewhere, K? Oh, and don't worry, Damon will patch things up…or will he? xD

Damon and Stefan: [fighting for no reason whatsoever]

Elena: Guys! Stop! [Panicking] Damon! You're hurting him! Stop!

Me: [grabs a handful of popcorn and shoves it in my mouth, laughing.]

Elena: Nykki! Make them stop!

Me: Me? Why me? You're their girlfriend! [Laughs]

Damon and Stefan: [growl at me]

Me: [grins]

Damon and Stefan: [are suddenly pulled apart by someone]

Damon: [growls] who did that? [Exposes fangs]

Stefan: Ow. [Looks at his cut arm] Damon, you bastard!

Damon: [turns to see who stopped the fight.]

Elena: [shocked]

Damon: [smirks] well, well, Isobel.

Isobel: [smiles] Hey, Nykki. What's up?

Me: uh… [Confused] Not much… [Inches away from Isobel.]

Isobel: Don't worry; I just came to read the story with you guys. [Pulls up a chair.] Is that popcorn?

Me: Uh…yeah… [Hands the popcorn to Isobel.]

Isobel: On with the story! [Smiles]

Damon, Stefan, Elena and Me: [shocked into silence]

…Please just save me if you can from my blasphemy in my wasteland! How did I get here and what went wrong? Couldn't handle forgiveness, now I'm far beyond gone…

Jeremy opened his eyes groggily, not sure of where he was. He slowly sat up, full aware that he was not at home, in his bed. Then the memories flooded through his mind. Anna giving him her blood, John, Damon coming to his room, him wanting to feel nothing, to turn off the pain. He grabbed the bottle of pills Vicki once took from the house, drank Anna's blood, and then swallowed every single pill.

He was…dead…? Where was he? He stood up and nearly fell on his face.

"Jenna? Elena?" He called. He was so confused and his head hurt like crazy. Did he take the pills too early after he drank Anna's blood? Did he just die? Was he in Hell?

He heard the sound of faint footsteps run across the hall and a door slam. It had to be Elena. He walked slowly over to the door, but before he could grab the doorknob, the door was yanked open. Jeremy looked up to see Damon with an unpleasant smile on his face.

"Well, well. He wakes."

"Damon?" There was something about Damon that was frightening him now. "What am I doing here?"

"Well, Jeremy, by killing yourself, you missed one hell of a party." Damon took one predatory step towards him and Jeremy took one back. "Well, I compelled your Aunt, killed a Vampire I've loved since 1864, Elena broke up with Stefan for me, I jacked that up, and here we are."

"What-" It was too much. Jeremy's head was pounding.

"So, my little speech did more harm than good, apparently." He said. "You know, if you wanted to turn off the pain all you had to do was ask me to snap you neck, ending your little life." Damon took another step towards him. "But no, you had to be a Vampire."

"I-"

"Have you learned nothing, Jeremy? Being a Vampire isn't necessarily a luxury in your case."

"You-"

"Do you know how much harder you have made your life? Elena's life? Jenna's life? You knew nothing about this and you chose it because you thought it was easier." Damon's voice turned deadly. "Well, I'm here to tell you that your life is about to get more complicated than you can even imagine."

When Jeremy didn't respond, Damon took a step back.

"So," he said flatly. "Do you want to die or become a Vampire?"

"I-"

"Don't say you don't know, Jeremy. Just answer the question."

"I want to be a Vampire."

"Alright. Come with me." Damon turned on his heels, not looking behind him to see if Jeremy was following.

Elena quickly got her pajamas on and collapsed on Stefan's bed – she didn't know where else to go. She should have known that she was just a replacement for Katherine to him. She'd always expected it out of both of them, but after they said that she was nothing like her, she finally believed they loved her for herself.

Damon's silky voice was still running through her mind. He should have been breathing her name, not Katherine's. Tears ran down her cheeks once again. That means every time they were together, when he whispered her name, it was a lie. He was thinking of Katherine the whole time. He was caressing Katherine, kissing Katherine, making love to Katherine. She was Katherine to him.

There was a quiet knock on the door. "Elena?" It was Stefan.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

Was she Katherine to both of them? "Yeah, it's open."

Stefan opened the door slowly, obviously wondering why she was in his room.

She stood up. "Sorry. I'll…um…sleep on the couch, tonight."

"What happened?"

"We were – uh…"

Stefan gave a pained expression. "I heard that part."

"Oh." She blushed. "He…" She couldn't say his name it hurt so much. "Called me...Katherine…" The words brought up a brand new fit of sobs from Elena.

Stefan pulled into a hug – a friendly hug – and she started crying apologies.

"I should have just left. I shouldn't have gotten involved with either of you, after we broke up and Damon and I got back from Georgia."

Stefan started whispering nonsense meant to soothe her, but it made her more upset.

"Why are you being so nice to me? You should be upset with me!"

Stefan sighed. "It's part of being a Vampire. I can shut out the emotions, have you not learned that?"

"No, Stefan, don't do that. Please!"

"It's okay, Elena." Stefan held her for a few seconds before he abruptly stood up.

"Stefan? What-"

"Ssh." He said. He listened. "Dammit."

"What?"

"Jeremy and Damon are out feeding."

"What?" Elena cried. "He woke up? Damon? Feeding? WHAT?"

"Come on."

Stefan and Elena ran down the stairs and out into the night to find Damon and the newest Vampire of Mystic Falls.

Damon watched clinically as Jeremy drink from the bite wound that he made for him on the neck of the young girl. He said he wouldn't feed in town anymore, but who gave a damn now? Jeremy pulled back and looked at Damon, who urged him to continue. Suddenly Jeremy's newly formed fangs sprouted and he struck as quick as a cobra. Damon watched as he nearly drank the poor girl dry.

He put a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "Alright, that's enough." But it took Damon using all of his strength to pry him off of the 18 year old's neck.

Jeremy licked his lips as his fangs retracted. Damon looked at him with some sort of approval.

"Alright," Damon said. "That one was easy. Drunk, alone and dumb. Now watch how it's really done."

Damon took off out of the woods, hearing Jeremy follow. They got to a college party nearby and Damon turned to Jeremy. "Now, don't move. Just watch me."

Jeremy nodded and Damon picked out a girl by a group of friends and walked over to her.

"Hello." He said to her. She had short red hair and light brown eyes.

"Hi. I'm Bailey."

"Damon. Do you go to school here?" Damon's voice was flirty and persuasive.

"Yes, um…do you?"

"No, I'm visiting a few friends. I'm from out of town."

"Oh, well, why don't I show you around?"

He smiled. "Why not?"

Bailey said bye to her friends that were obviously checking Damon out and giggling as they walked off.

She smiled at him and gradually got closer to him while they walked away from her friends and talked about whatever was in this town that Damon already knew about.

"There are these legends of Vampires around here."

"Really? Do you believe them?"

"No." She laughed.

"Ah." He nodded. He glanced at a hidden Jeremy, silently telling him to pay attention. He looked into the girl's eyes, compelling her. "You want to take me into the woods. You won't tell your friends where you are going."

"Hey, you wanna go into the woods?" She grinned. "We can have a lot of fun out there." She said suggestively.

"I'm sure we will." Damon smirked and she giggled. She took his hand and led him towards the edge of the woods, inches away from Jeremy.

Bailey leaned against a tree and Damon leaned in as if to kiss her. Bailey started to respond when Damon put a hand over her mouth and sank his fangs into her neck. She felt her struggle with him until she finally lost her will to live and passed out. Damon drank enough to show Jeremy, but not enough to quite quench his thirst.

He set Bailey on the ground and whispered in her ear. "You don't remember what happened. You went for a walk when an animal suddenly came at you and you passed out."

He stood up and smirked at Jeremy. "And that's how it's done." Funny, he thought. Those were the same words Katherine had said when teaching him.

Jeremy smiled obviously mesmerized by Damon's power.

Oh, he was going to have fun with this one.

Elena watched Stefan's face as he drove her out to the woods. What was Damon doing to her brother? Stefan suddenly hit the brakes and opened the car door. Elena followed him to the edge of the woods where she saw Damon, Jeremy, and two unconscious teenage girls on the ground.

"What have you done?" Stefan shouted at his brother.

"I was showing Jeremy how to be a Vampire." He said indifferently.

Elena could hardly believe this.

"Jeremy, listen to me," Stefan said. "There are different ways to do this. Our actions define who we are, do you understand? You don't have to be like Damon…or Anna."

Jeremy let out an animalistic growl and looked as though he was going to pounce on Stefan before he saw Elena. He stared at Elena like he didn't recognize her.

"Jeremy?" Elena whispered fearfully.

"You…Elena…?" It was like he was truly seeing her for the first time.

"Yes, Jer, it's me." She looked at Stefan, but he clearly didn't know what was going on with Jeremy either.

"You…" Jeremy suddenly rushed over and hugged her, making both of the Salvatore brothers stiffen, ready to pull him off if needed.

"Yes, Jer." She smiled.

"Elena," He said pulling back. "You have to become like this!"

"Wait, what?" That was definitely not what she expected.

"It's amazing! I can see so much clearer now! I can move so fast and I can hear everything going on around me! Elena, I can turn off the pain! Damon's showing me how!"

Figures. He's a natural at it. "That's great but…I don't want to be a Vampire."

Jeremy shrugged indifferently. "I'm gonna go see Jenna."

"NO!" All three of them shouted in unison.

"Jeremy, you're not going to be able to live with Jenna anymore." Stefan said.

"Wait, what?"

"You'll be tempted-"

"Wait, you're kidding right? I would never hurt her."

"That's what Vicki said about you," Elena said. "And she did."

The veins appeared under Jeremy's eyes and his canines extended. "Leave her out of it!" He hissed.

He nearly ran towards her until Damon grabbed him by the hair and pulled him back. Elena tried to reason with him again.

"I'm just trying to tell you that Jenna can't-"

"So, what, am I just going to be an outsider again? Alone? That's what I became a Vampire to get rid of."

"I told you," Damon said passively.

Jeremy growled. "Screw you guys." And he was gone.

"Jeremy!" Elena cried.

"Dammit, Damon!" Stefan yelled angrily.

"Me?"

"Yes you!"

"What did I do? It's not my fault he twisted what I said around for himself."

"Wow, you're just screwing everything up aren't you?"

Knowing what he meant, Damon face darkened as his fangs appeared, his eyes turning animalistic. He grabbed Stefan by the throat and threw him against a nearby tree.

"Damon, don't!" Elena said.

He didn't pay attention to her. There was something off about Damon. He seemed almost as if he was possessed or something, like his mind was somewhere else. "Now, little brother," He said, looking down at Stefan on the ground. "You go find the kid. I'm taking Elena home."

Before either of them could protest, Damon grabbed Elena and in less than 3 seconds had her in Stefan's car. He slammed the door and flitted to the other side. He turned the key and put it in reverse."

"Put your seatbelt on." He practically growled. Elena quickly obeyed and Damon sped out of the woods furiously, not looking back at his brother once.

Elena kept her eyes on the road as Damon drove to the boarding house, about 45 miles over the speed limit.

She glanced at him and saw his eyes were sternly on the road and his hands were clenched on the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white.

She wanted to say something to him, something to help him, because she knew he wasn't being himself, but she couldn't bring the words out.

She took a deep breath. "Da-"

"Don't talk, Elena." He hissed.

Elena closed her mouth, ignoring the tears that threatened to escape. She hadn't expected such coldness or detachment in his voice.

He pulled into the driveway of the boarding house and she instantly pulled on the handle of the door, only to find that it was locked.

"Elena," Damon's voice was distant. "You are not Katherine."

I am to you.

"My mind…I can't…" She looked at Damon only to see something she never thought she'd ever see. Tears.

Stefan walked through the woods, listening with his senses rather than his ears for Jeremy. He suddenly felt another presence, but it wasn't a Vampire.

"Stefan?" He turned to see Bonnie standing before him, her dark hair and dark clothes blending in with the night. "What are you doing out here?"

"Katherine came back."

"I know."

"You know?"

Bonnie nodded. "I felt it. Then it stopped. I'm guessing she and Damon left town?"

Stefan gave her a pained expression. "No. Damon killed her."

"Damon? What-"

"She tried to kill Elena. Turn her into a Vampire."

"And he stopped her? Why?"

"Because…" Stefan remembered Isobel's words to Elena. "Because he's in love with her."

Bonnie was clearly not surprised about the fact, but more so that Damon admitted it. "Where is Elena?" She asked carefully.

"With Damon."

"How has she dealt with all of this?" she asked, concerned for her best friend.

"She's…with Damon."

"What? What do you mean, Stefan?" She took a step towards him, hoping he wasn't saying what she thought he was.

"They had been…together…" He couldn't say what they were doing when they were together. He prayed Bonnie understood what he was saying. She did. "Since the night we talked to Isobel. I guess when Elena found out Damon loved her…"

"I thought you made him promise history wouldn't repeat itself."

Stefan looked at her with a look of sorrow and irony. "It didn't. She chose him."

"What?"

Stefan nodded. "Jeremy is a Vampire." He said, desperate to change the subject.

"Damon turned him?" The little witch was definitely angry.

"No. He drank Anna's blood and killed himself."

"Oh my gosh."

"Yes, and he ran off. I have to find him."

"I'll help."

"Thank you, Bonnie."

"I can do a locator spell for Jeremy if we find some blood or hair."

"Alright." Stefan searched the ground with his keen eyes and found some of his hair on the ground from when Damon grabbed him.

"Here," He handed it to Bonnie.

She began to concentrate.

After a few minutes, she opened her eyes, which were wide with fear.

"Stefan," Bonnie said and he looked at her. "I found him."

Was Damon really crying? That is definitely nothing that she would have never expected. It wasn't full on sobs, just silent tears that didn't dare escape his eyes just yet.

The sight made Elena's throat ache and she took her seatbelt off, and took note that Damon didn't flinch away when she lightly wiped the tears away.

"Damon…" What was she going to say? She had to let him know that she understood he was confused. She had to do something for him.

She'd never seen him so vulnerable before, and she knew that in a matter of minutes the emotional wall would be back up. Unless she did something for him. Unless…

"Damon," Elena whispered. "Look at me." When he made no effort to do so, she said, "Pleae don't shut me out like this."

Those astonishing blue eyes met her and the world began to slow. She would never again let him build up walls against her. She would give him everything Katherine never did. Anything he needed – truly needed. Love. Unconditional and completely pure.

There was something off about Damon – his mind wasn't with it since he killed Katherine.

To her surprise, a hand reached out and fingers brushed up against her cheek.

"Elena," he said her name so softly, almost like a prayer. She looked into his unshielded eyes that seemed to be sparkling.

"Elena," He said again. "I...love you."

Finally, in 145 years, he says he loves someone. Damon Salvatore just admitted his love.

Me: Everyone say it "Awww!"

Damon: Uh…o…kay….

Stefan: [brood]

Elena: [silent]

Me: Okay, then. [pouts]

Isobel: Psh, like Damon would ever admit to loving anyone. And what's the deal with Stefan and Bonnie? Please don't tell me they're going to get together! And Elena? Gosh, what the hell? Why would she choose Damon? We all know that Elena is going to end up like Katherine. And what's the deal with Katherine dying? What was the point of that? Yeah right, like Damon will ever have the guts to stake her, he'd probably start crying at her feet or- [gasps]

Isobel: [gets staked by Nykki]

Damon, Stefan and Elena: O.0