Chapter ten

"Looking at you now, you would never know."- Wires by Athlete

Kingston, New York

Eight months ago

Charlie and Damon had been seeing each other for two months. Charlie didn't know what to call their relationship. She didn't want to assume that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. But they weren't just hooking up, especially since they hadn't slept together yet.

Charlie was starting to notice strange things about Damon. He got weird around blood, and sometimes, when things were getting really hot and heavy between him, she'd swear that his face would change. For a split second, she would swear that his eyes would look red and veiny. But then they'd go back to normal, and Damon would act like nothing happened.

She had yet to tell Damon about her disease, and knew that she had to do it soon. Charlie was falling in love with Damon, and wanted him to know what he was getting into before they became something serious.

It was Friday night, and Charlie was being dragged to a party by her mother. It was for charity, research for heart diseases. Charlie had talked her mum into letting her bring a date, and despite Karen's open hatred for Damon, she agreed that he could come.

The doorbell rang as Charlie smoothed down her red dress. She felt her heart race as she walked down the stairs and opened the door.

"Whoa," Damon said, losing his composure when he saw Charlie. She blushed, her hazel eyes lighting up and a grin forming on her lips.

"You clean up well," she said, and Damon smirked.

"You don't look so bad yourself," he said, as she walked out of her house, and locked the door.

"I convinced my mum to meet us there," Charlie told him, as they walked to his car.

Damon nodded, trying to regain his composure. He didn't know what his plan with Charlie was. At first, they were just friends, and Damon was okay with that. But now they were basically dating, and he was crazy for the little human woman next to him.

But there was something off with her, she wasn't completely normal. Charlie was hiding something from him, but Damon was hiding something from her too. He didn't know how to go about telling her that he was a vampire. He knew what her reaction would be, and for some reason, Damon didn't want to lose her. He cared about her, maybe too much.

"Thank you for coming with me tonight," Charlie said abruptly, sliding into the passenger seat of his car.

Damon smiled softly, as he shut her door. "It's my pleasure," he murmured.

The truth was, Charlie had him wrapped around her finger. He found it nearly impossible to say no to her. After Damon slid into the driver's seat, he pulled a box out of a compartment. "Here," Damon said, as he gave it to her.

Charlie opened the black box that had a simple red bow on it. She gasped slightly when she saw a beautiful pendant necklace. "Oh my god, it's gorgeous." She said, her fingers lightly brushing the red stone in the middle.

"I'm glad you like it," he said, as he helped her put it on. The necklace smelled nice, like it had herbs in it.

"Thank you so much," she beamed, as she fixed her hair. "What is this for?"

"Nothing, just something I had lying around," Damon lied.

"I love it, Damon. Thank you so much," she said, kissing his cheek.

Little did Charlie know, her new necklace was filled with vervain.

When Charlie woke up, Damon was awake. She smiled sleepily, and snuggled into his chest. Damon was stiff though, and it made her frown. "What's wrong, love?" she mumbled, half asleep.

Damon didn't answer, but Charlie already knew the answer. "What did my mum say to you?" she asked, wide awake now.

Damon looked deep in thought, like he was actually considering what her mother had told him. Charlie bit her lip, knowing that whatever Karen had told him wouldn't be good for their marriage.

"Please Damon, talk to me," she urged, and his blue eyes flickered to her.

"She stopped by last night when you were asleep," he told his wife finally. "She was trying to talk me into leaving you."

Charlie exhaled loudly. "Please tell me that you just pushed it aside, that you're not thinking about it," she whispered, her heart sinking.

Damon didn't answer, and Charlie knew the answer. "Damon, we can't let her ruin us," she told him.

"She has a point, Charlie. Maybe you are better off without me," he said quietly, and she gave him a sharp look.

"Don't say that. You know that I wouldn't. You know that I'd be lost without you," she told him, needing him to push all thoughts of leaving her out of his head.

"Charlie," Damon sighed, looking at his wife. "I love you, so much. This isn't about that, it's about what you deserve. And maybe I'm not that."

Charlie gave him a hard look. "I don't care about what you and my mother think I 'deserve.' I want you, I need you." She insisted.

"I just want you to be happy, Charlie. Even if that means I can't have you," Damon sighed, closing his eyes.

Charlie softened. "I've never been happier than when I'm with you," she whispered, kissing him softly, before getting out of bed.

"We can't let my mother drive us apart, Damon. I won't allow it," she called, as she walked to the shower. Charlie was going to go have a word with her mother.

Damon and Charlie swayed slowly on the dance floor, her head resting on his shoulder. Despite her mum making little digs at Damon, and introducing Charlie to a young man who was in school to be a doctor, the evening had actually been fun.

"Why does your mom hate me so much?" he asked, resting his chin on top of her head.

"I don't know, I think it's the fact that you're a bad influence on me," Charlie mumbled, her eyes closed in contentment.

"How I am a bad influence, Miss Charlotte?" he asked in a slightly amused voice.

Charlie rolled her eyes at his stupid nickname for her. "I've never snuck out or broke curfew before I met you," she informed him.

"What twenty one year old has a curfew?" he asked, as he spun Charlie.

"The kind that live with very suffocating mothers," she retorted.

"Well, I think that if she suffocates you any more, you're going to mouth-to-mouth," he smirked at her, and Charlie rolled her eyes.

The danced in silence, and Charlie closed her eyes again. Despite her heart disease, Charlie had never been happier than at that moment. Suddenly, she blurted out three words that would forever change her life.

"I love you."

Charlie and Damon both froze when she said it, but she realized right then how true they were. She was in love with Damon Salvatore.

"I do," she said, looking up at his shocked face. "You don't have to say it back," she told him. It was soon, and she didn't want him to say it if he didn't mean it, just to spare her feelings.

Damon was frozen still, has he had his own revelation. He had done something that he had never intended to do. He had fallen in love with Charlotte Mathews.

"I-I think that I love you too," he whispered, and Charlie's breath caught in her throat.

Both realized at that moment that they had to tell the other their secret, and soon.

"Charlotte, what on earth is wrong with you?"

Charlie had just marched into the Grill, where her mother was bound to be plotting her next attack on her daughter's marriage, and knocked the cup of tea that her mother was about to drink right out of her hand.

"What's wrong with you?" she retorted, so angry that steam was practically coming out of her ears. "You're trying to ruin my marriage! Who the bloody hell does that?"

Karen Hart sighed. "Charlotte, I only want what's best for you-" she tried to say, but Charlie cut her off.

"No, you don't. Not really. Because if you did, you would see that Damon's the best for me. I don't care if you hate him, mother. I don't care if you think he's going to kill me in my sleep, and bury mu body in the woods. I'm so sick of you trying to rip Damon and I apart. If you say or do one more thing that could, in any way, shape, or form break up my marriage, I will never, ever talk to you again. You will be dead to me. Do you understand?" Charlie told her mother, who listened with wide eyes.

"Charlotte-" she tried to say, but Charlie just cut her off again.

"Do you understand, mother?" Charlie snapped, her eyes blazing.

Karen sighed, and just nodded. "You can't stop a mother for wanting the best for her daughter," she said quietly, as Charlie walked away.

"You crossed the line of 'motherly concern' a long time ago, mother," Charlie said darkly, before leaving the Grill.

As Charlie drove back to the boarding house, still out of breath from telling off her mum, she hoped that she wouldn't have to worry about her marriage ending any more. For once, Charlie just wanted one drama-free moment, where she wouldn't have to worry about her brother-in-law dying, or her marriage being broken up, or her heart giving out. But Charlie didn't grow up in Mystic Falls, she didn't know that people lived and breathed drama.

As she pulled up to the boarding house, just missing Damon's Camaro, she noticed an unfamiliar car parked in front of her husband's prized possession. Her brow furrowed, Charlie got out of the car, wondering who it belonged to. Her question was answered when she saw a very familiar man waiting outside of the house for her.

"Daddy?"

A/N: thank you to: KimmyWSmith, Be My Baby, SomebodyWhoCares, jacquline, and Marina164509 for reviewing!

Reviews are very much appreciated!

~Abby ;)