AN: Thank you for your continuing support and wonderful words. I appreciate all of my reviews. I'm excited where this story is going. Omg I can't wait to get it all out. Its going to be fucking epic. I only brought Stefan back because it was absolutely necessary. And NO Elena is not going to get back with him. EWWWW. I can't even write that, makes my stomach turn.
Confusion runs through me along with a raw instinct to back away from Stefan. I haven't been expecting to see Stefan. I haven't wanted to see him at all. I haven't even realized until now that everything actually felt really normal without him around. I feel myself moving closer to Damon slowly, my back to him. I can feel myself just seconds away from hitting his chest.
"She was…" Stefan is starting to say but I cut him off.
"I really don't think that something that happened over fifty years ago is a main priority to discuss right now." There is a venom to my voice, it startles me for a moment but I don't regret how it came out. "What are you doing here Stefan?"
There is silence all around his. I can hear the whispers of Anna and Jeremy upstairs, both in their own world far away from this one.
"I felt like something was missing, an emptiness, I thought that coming back to Mystic Falls might help. Its like I have been drawn to this place. " In a way I can understand what he is trying to say but mostly I more concerned that he might try something.
I can feel my whole body becoming alert, all of my senses kicking in. I'm just a few inches away from Damon, enough for me to feel his presence at full force. Stefan's eyes are watching me as I position myself by Damon's side, my eyes scanning over Stefan for any sign that he is ready to move.
"You changed her." There is a broken tone to his voice, sadness fills the cracks of it.
"Partly, Katherine did the rest." I can hear the anger in Damon's voice, something that is becoming harder for him to hold back. I try to focus on his voice as a few flashes of Katherine from that night going through my mind. Just how beautifully tortured she looked, how it makes her truly frightening. The part that makes it the most horrifying is how I'm scared that one day the monster inside of me will break loose of these chains that I have held down and turn out just like her. Where my body is brutally pressed against the confines of my tense flesh as I am trying hard not to be what she is. I'm afraid that if I fight if hard enough that I will never win, that it will end up happening anyways.
I feel Damon's hand rest in the small of my back, a comforting gesture as he sees through me how Katherine looked that night. I push the images aside, my concern for Damon rising in me more than anything at the moment. I don't want him to hurt himself again.
"Katherine is here?" His voice is almost even, the shock that should have been there is completely gone. Damon doesn't seem to think anything of it, I steal a glance at him to read his face, nothing. I seem to be the only one with a small rising suspicion about his reaction to Katherine's return.
"Obviously." There is a vehement tone to Damon's voice.
Stefan looks over at me, his eyes scanning me up and down. His hand reaches out towards me, "How are you doing?" just before his hand can reach me I move just the slightest. That's all it takes for him to realize that I don't want his hands near me.
"I'm doing fine." My eyes are still on him, watching his movements. Both of his hands are not at his sides, safely away from me. An act that I would have welcomed in my old life is now something that is hard for me to even tolerate thinking about. I don't know what it is that is making me not want Stefan anywhere near me. Maybe it is because I remember all of the lies and the false hopes from when I was a human. The easy way that he was able to sway my mind. I don't ever want that happening again.
"She's just like the human Elena, all of her human emotions are still there, just mixed with new ones. There isn't any confusion with her though." Damon is talking about me almost as if I am not standing right next to him. I don't mind though, it just means the less that I have to say to Stefan. I can feel a small amusement rise up in Damon.
What's so funny? I ask him, grateful that this works between just me and him. I can see that Damon is now trying to hold back a smirk.
I've been listening to you this whole time, you're absolutely repulsed by the thought of him even being in this kitchen with you. I never thought that I would see the day. The happiness in his voice is evident. I want to glare up at him but I don't want to give anything away.
"You're feeding her human blood?" Stefan asks as he is looking at the mug of cooling blood that is still resting in Damon's hand.
Oh god, this still isn't some brother rivalry thing still? There is a small irritation to my voice. Damon knows that I am not Katherine and I am not a substitute to make him feel better just to hurt Stefan.
You're not and you know better than that. You shouldn't even be thinking it. I just can't help but to find it funny. Damon is know wearing his crooked smile, something that he was trying to hold back.
"She's a newborn vampire, I can't just give her animal blood. Do you realize how stupid that would be? She would be beyond weak. If I ever let her outside the smell of humans walking around would drive her into a frenzy. She's not killing anyone, most importantly I would never let her fall to that. Even if there was the small chance that Elena slipped she would never forgive herself for hurting someone." I look up at Damon with a small amazement in my eyes. He knows me a lot better than I thought he did, I guess it shouldn't surprise me though.
One of the many reasons why I had never asked Stefan to turn me was because I was terrified of completely losing who I am. When it came down to it I knew that Stefan wouldn't be able to handle me if I turned into some ravenous beast.
With Damon though everything seems a lot easier. The hunger is still there, so is the undying lust I have for him. Besides those two things though I'm still me and its because I have him by my side. I know that if I ever fall, if there is even a small chance I would turn into that monster that craves nothing more than fresh human blood that Damon will help me.
You're not Katherine and this is not a dark twisted romance straight from hell. I am not going to let you become anything like her or become what I once was. I'm not going to be out there reeking havoc or killing because that's not what I want you to be. Damon had heard my thoughts which I don't mind. His own response was a reassurance that I wasn't looking for but is nice enough to hear.
"I guess you're right." Stefan's voice has wavered. Its easy to hear the pain behind every syllable of his words.
"If your plan was to rush back here to check on Elena and try to win her back then you can just forget about it because I know that she is not going anywhere. Now unless you want to leave town again you can stay and help us with Katherine." Damon is still harsh to Stefan. I don't blame him though. Almost a year ago I would have been upset by his demeanor but how can I now after I know everything that he has been through.
In the truth of everything I am happy that I am with Damon. I'm happy that in this life after he was betrayed by his brother for Katherine and then betrayed by Katherine for over a hundred years that I can bring him a form of happiness. Damon never deserved any of that. I'm not condoning that lives that he took, I'm not saying that it was justified. In a way though, if those things had never happened Damon wouldn't have turned out the way that he did. The good thing that has come out of all of that though is that I believe it has made him in a way a better person. I think that it was all just a shaping of who he should be for all these years and now he can finally be a better person.
You think of me almost as if I am not a vampire. Damon's words interrupt my thoughts snapping me out of the trance I was in.
Its obvious that you have a soul. The fact that you were a vampire had nothing to do with why I didn't like you in the beginning. It was just the things you did. Being a vampire has nothing to do with it. Except for when you would go on murderous rampages…I trail off remembering those days that weren't that long ago.
Yes but those days are behind me.
I don't say anything but instead smile up at him. I seem to keep forgetting that Stefan is in the kitchen with us. I look over at him as his face seems sullen. I let my smile drop not wanting to seem to happy in front of him because honestly I am not happy that he is here at all. Even if he wants to help fight Katherine.
Is he staying here? I ask Damon, my eyes still looking at Stefan.
Yes he is.
I try not to groan in displeasure but Damon can sense my annoyance. I hear him trying to hold back a small laugh but the grin on his face if evident of it. I glare up at him but it just seems to fuel him even more. I walk out of the kitchen heading up stairs leaving Damon and Stefan to exchange some more brotherly words.
Its just beyond amusing that you are highly annoyed by his presence now when before you couldn't stand to be away from him. Damon's thoughts break through once more as I am heading up the stairs.
Laugh it up Damon because when he does something stupid I'm going to rub it in your face. I feel childish but honestly I'm trying in a small way not to let out laughter.
What do you think he is going to do? Damon's voice is serious this time, all amusement gone from it.
I don't know but honestly I don't trust him.
Something feels different about Stefan. I can't place my finger on it exactly. I'm not too sure what his motives really are but I don't know if they are of the best intentions. He could be back for revenge against Damon but then again I doubt that because he should know that Damon would win. He should know that Damon is a lot stronger than he is. I don't think that Stefan would risk drinking human blood again just to try to kill Damon, I think that he is too self righteous for that.
I keep my own thoughts running, trying to drown out the noise of their voices downstairs. Anything that they are talking about I know that Damon will tell me. I would rather have him tell me than be eavesdropping.
I don't even hear their conversation end or hear Damon coming up the stairs but within a second he is standing in front of me.
"Thinking like a true vampire now?" Damon says to me as I am sitting on the bed, my legs crossed as I stare up into his blue eyes.
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"Assuming the worst in everyone." Stefan. Damon thinks after. I keep my eyes locked with his. I know that he was still listening to me the whole time that he was downstairs.
I just don't trust him. I don't think that you should either.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I consider Stefan to be an enemy. Were you not taught that in history class from a famous Chinese general names Sun-tzo. Looks like I need to talk to the teacher for a proper history lesson. Damon leans in close to me, causing my body to fall back onto the bed as he crawls on top of me.
I lift my arm up and smack him lightly. "Do you really think that I remember everything from my history class?"
"Oh that's right, how could you pay attention when you were so plagued with worry over Stefan. Or the days that he was there I'm sure that you were sitting there making starry eyes at him. 'Oh Stefan!'" Damon's voice gets high pitched as he tried to imitate my own. I let out a laugh as I push him off of me. I forgot how playful he can be.
I straddle my legs around Damon so he is pinned perfectly beneath me. "You're right I should run back to him right now!" I make sure that my voice is as over dramatic as I can make it as I pretend to get up.
Damon quickly grabs my wrist though pulling me down close to him. "You're mine." After Damon says the words there is a low growl in his voice. Its not frightening, I find it kind of sexy. I smile down at him as I let my lips connect with his petal smooth ones. The lust that I have been repressing all day comes rushing back to me. I run my hands up his shirt, feeling his smooth skin and the definition of his solid muscles. A low growl escapes my throat. In a sift motion Damon has me lifted up and then tossed underneath him so he is now on top of me. I let the passion consume me as Damon's lips crash onto mine.