Chapter fifteen

"I don't love you and I always will,"- Poison & Wine by The Civil Wars

Kingston, New York

Seven months ago

Damon had explained it all to Charlie. He told her about vampires and their powers- his powers. He also told her all about him and other supernatural creatures. Charlie sat quietly as he talked. She didn't talk, she didn't move. Damon was worried that once he stopped talking, she'd run screaming from the room. But then a part of him expected her to. He was a vampire, a monster. She should be afraid.

"Well?" Damon asked after he finished explaining everything to her.

Charlie didn't respond, and she seemed to be processing everything. "I get it, you can leave. I won't kill you in your sleep, Charlie," Damon said suddenly, resigned.

Charlie's hazel eyes looked up at him, surprised. "Well, I sure hope not. But thank you for clarifying that with me," she told him.

Damon frowned at her. "Aren't you scared of me?"

"Honestly?" Charlie sighed. "A little bit, yes," she admitted.

Damon didn't expect anything less, but he still flinched slightly when the words came out of her mouth. "You should be, Charlie," he told her honestly.

"I mean, you just told me that you're a vampire, Damon. Of course I'm scared! But… I still love you," Charlie said, her eyes widening at how honest she was being.

Damon slowly turned around to face her. "You do?" he asked quietly.

Charlie nodded slowly. "I love you, Damon. And not even you being a vampire can change that."

Damon stared at the little human woman who had brought out his humanity those past months. He was a monster, and still she loved him. Slowly, Charlie made her way to him. She wrapped her arms around him, but he remained stiff.

"Just say that you love me too, okay?" Charlie whispered to him.

He did. Damon did so much that it scared him. But if he told her now that he didn't, she wouldn't be stuck with a monster. Now was Damon's moment to be selfless with Charlie. He opened his mouth, but the words got stuck in his throat.

"I love you," Damon whispered finally, before hugging Charlie to him.

"I get bathtub sex and a lingerie fashion show on the same day? Either I did something right, or you did something wrong."

Charlie giggled, as she spun around in a satin and lace number. "I just thought that both of us could use the distraction," she explained, her wet hair dripping onto her pale skin.

"I'm noticing a pattern. It seems like lately whenever we have sex, it's to distract us," Damon mused, his eyes roaming over his wife's curves, accented by the black lace.

"Well, it does provide an excellent distraction, doesn't it?" Charlie countered, before changing into a lacy red one piece.

"You were right- they really do leave nothing to the imagination," Damon said his voice thick with desire.

Charlie only had time to smile, before Damon pulled her into his arms. She giggled against his lips, her wet hair dripping onto his bare chest. She moaned out loud, as his lips traveled from her mouth to her neck. Damon pulled the red lace from her, careful not to rip it. He really liked that one.

After their second round of sex that day, Charlie rested her head on her husband's bare chest. She was half asleep; Damon had tired her out today. "So how did the doc's go?" Damon asked as he pulled the body tighter around them.

"Fine. She says that I have to rest, and that you should give me massages," Charlie mumbled. She purposefully didn't tell Damon about how her cardiomyopathy was worsening- it would kill the mood.

"Well, I would right now, but I know what it would lead to, and you look like you're going to pass out any second now," Damon mused.

Charlie mumbled something unintelligible in response, before falling asleep in his arms.

When Charlie woke up the next morning, Damon wasn't next to her. She frowned slightly, before finding a note in his hand writing on the nightstand.

Mrs. Salvatore-

You're on bed rest today. No arguments, no excuses. I got a call from your doc saying that you need relaxation, so you will be relaxing. When I get back, I'm going to give you the best damn massage of your life, and it will- unfortunately- not lead to sex.

Love, Mr. Salvatore

Charlie giggled at his note, before lying back down on the bed. She could handle with being lazy for a day. The only time she got out of bed was to take a relaxing bubble bath- which wasn't nearly as good as yesterday's.

At one in the afternoon, Damon returned to her. She was reading a book, when suddenly she had her back against Damon's chest, and he was slowly kneading at her shoulders. She sighed in contentment, as Damon kissed her neck in greeting.

"Where did you go?" she asked, as her husband massaged away the knots of stress at her neck and shoulders.

"Can't tell you, it would break the rules of your stress-free day," Damon told her casually, and Charlie frowned.

"That just makes me more stressed, Damon," she argued.

"Don't worry about it," he told her, his hands kneading away the knots of stress.

"But-" she started to argue, but was silenced with a kiss.

"Don't worry about it," he repeated.

Charlie just sighed, and leaned against her husband. She closed her eyes and relaxed as Damon massaged her. Ten minutes later, he pulled away when all the knots of stress were gone from her.

"You should give me a foot massage now," Charlie said with a slight smirk, lifting up her bare feet. Damon sighed, before moving out from behind her, and shifting his wife so that she was lying on the bed and her feet were in his lap.

"So, can you tell me why vampires, werewolves, and hunters would all team up to kill the Salvatore brothers? Who did you two piss off?" Charlie asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

Damon sighed, but decided to give into his wife and talk about the attacks with her. "I don't know. I figured that Stefan's attack was just a way to get at me, but apparently not. My guess is that both of us have pissed of each group separately, and now they've decided to team up." What he didn't say to Charlie was that he was worried that the vampires, werewolves, and hunters would hurt her to get to him. He didn't want to scare her.

Charlie closed her eyes again, as Damon rubbed her feet. He was glad that she was finally getting some relaxation since coming to Mystic Falls. When he started to hear her deep breaths that indicated she was sleeping, Damon stopped massaging her feet and threw a blanket over his sleeping wife.

Damon left his room to let Charlie sleep, and walked down the stairs to the living room. Damon had spent most of the morning looking for any sign of his and Stefan's attackers with Alaric and Stefan. They didn't have any luck, though. It seemed like the werewolves Damon killed yesterday was the only sign of anything supernatural in town- besides the brothers.

As Damon made his way to the kitchen for blood, he suddenly heard a very unwelcome voice coming from the living room. He groaned out loud. James had told him when they went to the bar that he was going to talk to her, but yet, here she was.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite mommy-in-law," Damon drawled, as he walked into the living room. Karen Hart was talking to Stefan and Elena, but she narrowed her eyes when she saw Damon.

"Where's my daughter?" she asked sharply.

"Sleeping," he answered coolly, walking up to his brother's side.

"Every time I come over here, she's sleeping," Karen complained.

Damon bit back a retort about how he tires her out, and just smirked at his mother-in-law. "Maybe she's just hiding. "I can wait for her," she said, trying to hold back her anger.

"Please don't," Damon begged.

"Mum? What are you doing here?" Charlie yawned, as she walked towards them. Damon frowned slightly; Charlie needed to relax, and Karen being here was only going to stress her out more.

"I need to talk to you, sweetheart," Karen told her, giving Charlie a smile. Despite the fact that she hated Damon, Karen really did love her daughter. Maybe it was because she loved Charlie that she hated Damon.

"Okay," she sighed, resigned. "Let's go outside, I could use some fresh air."

Charlie and Karen walked out of the boarding house. As soon as they were gone, Elena and Stefan turned to Damon. "That's Charlie's mom?" Elena asked.

Damon groaned, and walked towards the kitchen. "She just loves you, doesn't she?" Stefan said sarcastically, as Damon poured himself a glass of blood.

"Please, this is the best she's ever treated me. Last time I saw her, she was trying to convince me to leave Charlie," Damon admitted, downing the crimson liquid. "James- Charlie's dad- came here though, and talked to Karen about it, though. Apparently, she took his words to heart."

Damon wasn't completely convinced, though. Karen hated him too much just accept his marriage with her daughter. He couldn't imagine what her reaction would be if she found out that he was a vampire.

"What did you want, mum?" Charlie asked, as she inhaled the fresh air. It was another great day- the sun was out, the birds chirping. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"I wanted to apologize, Charlotte. Your father has made it clear to me that I will lose you if I keep trying to tear you and Damon apart," Karen told her daughter.

Charlie softened. "I love both of you, mum," she told her.

"I know, honey. I'll work on keeping my thoughts to myself," Karen said, before hugging her. Charlie returned the hug, glad that her mother seemed to accept her love for Damon, finally.

It was an act, though. Only Karen herself knew that. She would only be much more covert on trying to drive Charlie and Damon apart. It was foolish, to be so open about it in the first place. She was placing more stress on Charlie, more stress on her heart.

"How about you go get dressed, and we can go out for lunch?" Karen offered, eager to spend time with her daughter. Despite her overbearing nature, the two were close before Damon came into the picture.

Charlie nodded eagerly, before hurrying back into the house to change. Karen got a peek of Charlie kissing her husband sweetly, before the door shut. Even though they seemed to be a sweet couple, Karen was convinced that it would be better for Charlie if Damon wasn't in her life.

Besides, what mother would want their daughter to be married to a vampire?

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

Keep the reviews up!

~Abby ;)