Chapter seven

"I walk in a field with wings,"- With Wings by Amy Stroup

"I'm not dying," Charlie said quickly, glaring daggers at Damon.

"You basically are, Charlie. Don't pretend that you aren't." Damon spat, as Stefan looked back and forth between the couple.

"I have cardiomyopathy, Stefan." Charlie explained, pushing her dark locks out of her face. "It's a disease that affects the heart muscle. I have restrictive cardiomyopathy, the least common type and I have a very serious case. I need a heart transplant, and without it- no matter the pills I'm taking- I have a very good chance of my heart failing. I'm number three on the list though, and my doctor doesn't know if I'm going to live long enough to get a heart."

Damon smashed a lamp suddenly, causing Charlie to jump. "I like I said before, Charlie's dying, and she won't let me change her." Damon said bitterly, before walking out of the room.

Charlie sighed, and sat down on the bed, placing her head in her hands. She knew that her disease was causing Damon just as much pain as it was her. Maybe even more. Stefan sat down beside his sister-in-law.

"Are you okay, Charlie?" he asked sympathetically.

Charlie nodded and sighed. "Damon and I don't actually fight very much, more like bickering. But one of the only things that we really do fight about is him changing me." she admitted.

"Why won't you let him?" Stefan asked curiously, and she sighed again.

"It's a long story, Stefan. I just don't think I'm ready to be one. It seems hard, difficult, dealing with your thirst and fighting to hold on to your humanity. I want to see if I can beat this, I think I can." She said, and Stefan squeezed her shoulder.

"I'm sorry that you have this." He said, and Charlie smiled softly.

"I'm sorry that Damon fell in love with a broken girl." She laughed humorlessly. "It took me a long time to get him to clean up his act, Stefan. If I do die, don't let him go back to that."

"You won't." he said quickly, causing Charlie to raise her eyebrows. "You and I both know that Damon would change you before he would let you die. Even if you hated him because of it."

Charlie sighed- Stefan was right. "How long have you had this, cardiomyopathy?" Stefan asked after a few silent moments.

"I was diagnosed with it when I was sixteen, but the doctors think that I've had it for years before it was discovered. That's why my case is so bad, that I need a transplant." She explained.

"If your case is so bad, why aren't you in a hospital?" he asked.

"Damon gives me his blood a few times a week. It doesn't heal my disease, but it helps a lot with my symptoms, and lets me actually have a life. My Doctor says that I'm the strangest case she's ever had. My cardiomyopathy is so bad that I need a transplant, yet my symptoms aren't as nearly as bad as they should be. She doesn't know that my husband is a vampire." Charlie said, playing with her wedding ring.

"I'm guessing that's why Damon proposed to you, because of your disease." Stefan guessed, ad Charlie nodded.

"I didn't see it coming, but I was so happy when he did. I love him, Stefan." She smiled, and so did Stefan.

"I can see that." He said, and then stood up. "You should talk to him, Charlie."

Charlie nodded her head. "I know, and I will." She murmured, as Stefan left.

Kingston, New York

Four months ago

Charlie bit her lip, as she unlocked Damon's apartment with the key he gave her. She had bad news to tell him, and Damon didn't react well to bad news.

"Hey babe." Damon called from the kitchen, as she dropped her jacket and purse onto an armchair. The apartment was messy, and Charlie sighed. She cleaned Damon's apartment- basically their apartment, since she practically lived there- almost every day, and he managed to make it messy right after.

She walked into the kitchen, to see him making spaghetti, her favorite. Charlie smiled slightly, as she wrapped her arm around his waist. She loved it when he cooked for her, and he knew it too.

"Hello, love." She breathed, resting her head against his chest.

Damon wrapped one arm around Charlie and stirred the sauce with the other. "It smells amazing." She murmured absentmindedly against his shirt.

He smirked into her dark curls. "I felt like being nice, and decided to make your favorite dinner." He said.

Charlie didn't respond, and instead breathed in his scent. He smelled amazing, like bourbon, cologne, and soap. She snuggled closer to him, and he chuckled.

"Did you miss me, Char?" he asked, slightly sarcastic.

Again, she didn't respond, and Damon began to worry that his girlfriend was mute. "Charlie, what's wrong?" he asked, pulling her away so that he could see her face.

Charlie just sighed, and pushed a lock of hair out of her face. "I just got back from the doctor's…" she trailed off, and Damon stiffened.

"Oh no." he whispered, and Charlie bit her lip. "I'm guessing that you didn't get good news." He sighed.

"I got bumped down the list, for a heart." She said, exhaling loudly. Damon closed his eyes, and pulled her into his arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, and closed her eyes. when Damon held her like that, she could pretend that she didn't have a life threatening heart disease.

"I don't know why you won't let me compel you to the top of that damn list." He muttered into her hair, embracing her tightly.

Charlie frowned, and pulled away from him. "I told you, I would feel guilty as hell if I got a heart unfairly, because you compelled some people. It wouldn't be right, if I took that heart away from somebody who really needed it." She explained.

Damon frowned down at her. "And you don't need it?" he retorted.

"I do, but not the way that person might." Charlie argued, her hazel eyes blazing.

"I need you. How is that for a reason?" Damon said, bending down to stare Charlie in the eyes.

"That's very selfish of you, Damon." she whispered, rendered breathless at the look in his eyes.

"I'm a selfish person, Charlie. Of course I choose you over some stranger. I would choose you over somebody I knew really well." Damon said, cupping her face.

Charlie sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I know you would, Damon. but that doesn't change how guilty I would feel. Please respect my decision." She said, before pulling away from him, and going into the living room.

Charlie started picking up magazines and clothes from the floor. Cleaning always calmed her down. Damon always teased her for being a neat freak. As Charlie straightened a blanket thrown carelessly over a couch, Damon blurted out two words she never expected to hear from him.

"Marry me."

Charlie froze; sure that she had heard him wrong. Slowly, she turned around to face him. "What?" she whispered, breathless.

Damon walked over to her, and got down on one knee. Shockingly, there was a ring in Damon's hand, proving that he had thought about proposing before he had done it. Charlie's eyes were glued to it.

"Charlotte Mathews, will you marry me?" he repeated in a deep voice, his eyes filled with such a deep emotion, it caused her to tear up.

"Oh my god." She repeated, covering her mouth. "That's why you made me dinner. You were going to propose, and I ruined it with my crappy news."

Damon smiled slightly, brushing a tear as it fell down her cheek. "I hope that you're crying happy tears." He murmured.

Slowly, Charlie shook her head. "I don't believe it." She breathed, now crying heavily. It was ruining her makeup, and she was sure that she looked like a raccoon. "Yes, Damon. Yes, I'll marry you!" she exclaimed, trying to wipe her tears away.

Damon beamed up at her, before kissing every part of her that he could reach. Her stomach, her collar bone, neck, jaw, cheek, forehead, lips. The couple locked themselves in a type embrace.

"I love you so, so much." Damon mumbled into her hair, as he hugged her tightly.

Charlie smiled, hugging him back just as tightly. "I love you too, love." She mumbled, still in shock.

Damon slipped the engagement ring onto her ring finger, and kissed Charlie again. Charlie had pearly tears rolling down her cheeks, but a gigantic grin on her lips. "God, I love you so, so, so much, Damon." she breathed.

Maybe this day wasn't a total bust, after all.

Damon was staring into the fire, a glass of bourbon in his hand. Charlie watched her husband, gnawing on her lip as she did so.

"Damon, can we please just let this go?" she asked softly, walking up to him.

"No Charlie, we can't." he said stiffly, not looking at her. "We have before, but we can't now."

"Will it make you stop being mad if I promise to think really hard about becoming a vampire?" she asked, touching his arm.

Damon stiffened, but automatically relaxed under her touch. "I love you Damon. don't you ever forget that." She breathed.

Damon sighed, as Charlie's hands reached up and started rubbing his shoulders. "You can't just massage your way out of this, Charlie." He said, despite him closing her eyes. he couldn't help it- Charlie gave amazing massages.

Charlie kept rubbing his shoulders, humming softly as she did. Slowly, Charlie kissed his shoulder, then his neck, then his cheek. She stopped rubbing, and instead kissed Damon. he groaned, before wrapping his arms around her tiny body.

"You're not just going to sleep your way out of this mess, Charlie." He mumbled against her lips, as Charlie slipped her hands under Damon's shirt and rubbed his chest.

"Mm hmm, Damon, you're right." She said, smiling smugly, as she pulled his shirt off.

Damon struggled to keep his composure, as his wife pushed him down on the couch and mounted his waist. Their lips never broke apart as Charlie slowly pulled her dress off.

As soon as Damon saw her pink, lacy panties, he groaned and then gave in. Charlie giggled slightly, as he flipped them over, and practically tore her dress off of her body, revealing a matching pink bra. She moaned softly into his mouth, as he tore her underwear off too.

Damon was right, Charlie couldn't make him forget about their fight by having sex with him, but she could distract him. and Damon really needed that distraction.

A/N: Cardiomyopathy is a real heart disease. Let me tell you, it took me forever to find a heart disease to fit into my story.

Thank you to: SomebodyWhoCares, Be My Baby, CrackHeadBlonde, Samantha meyers, vdemily, and Marina164509 for reviewing!

Review, gracias!

~Abby :)