Chapter twenty one

"It started with a whisper,"- Everybody Talks by Neon Trees

"Don't you dare try to kiss my husband, you little bitch," Charlie growled at the Vampire who was on the ground. Damon was frozen in shock, but Charlie didn't even glance at her husband.

Charlie's hand ached in pain, but she didn't have time to properly react to her broken hand, because Rachel jumped up, growled at her, and then lunged for her throat. Damon was there, though. Before Rachel's hands could get around Charlie's throat, Damon broke a leg off of a chair and shoved it into her heart.

There were shouts and screams as Rachel fell to the ground, dying. Damon immediately went to compel every person in the bar and Charlie was left to watch the vampire turn gray and die. She couldn't offer up any sympathy or remorse for the vampire. The only thing she regretted was that she didn't get to stake the home wrecker herself.

"How's your hand?" Damon asked quietly ten minutes later, as they drove to a deep cove to drop Rachel's body in.

"Fine," Charlie said shortly, looking out the window. She was in serious pain and her hand was broken, but she was angry at Damon- more like jealous and confused. Was he going to kiss Rachel back? Or was he going to push her away? Charlie would never know.

Damon sighed and pulled to the side of the road. He bit his wrist and offered the blood to Charlie. "Drink," he ordered.

She shook her head childishly and Damon narrowed his eyes in agitation. "Can you not be stubborn once in your god damn life and just drink my blood?" he growled.

"Were you going to kiss her?" Charlie blurted out as the wound on Damon's wrist healed.

"What? of course not," Damon said like he couldn't even believe she was asking.

"You sure? Because old Damon would've. Hell, old Damon would've slept with her by now," Charlie said, ignoring her aching hand.

"Do you really think that I would cheat on you, Charlie?" Damon asked her, slightly hurt. They both knew his past, but Damon wouldn't do that to Charlie.

"Yes? No? I don't know," she sighed and leaned against the seat. "I just feel like everything and everyone is trying to break us up, like the entire universe is against us."

"I wouldn't have kissed her back, Charlie," Damon insisted, not liking what she had said. "Believe me; I wouldn't do that to you."

Charlie sighed and finally looked at her husband. They had been through too much to let some blonde home wrecker get in between them. Did it really matter if the world didn't want them together? No, not to Charlie.

"Give me your blood," she demanded, and Damon sighed in relief before biting his wrist and giving it to his wife.

After Charlie's hand healed, they continued their drive to get rid of Rachel's body. After driving for ten minutes, they stopped and then Damon grabbed Rachel's body and they started walking to the cove.

"When did you get that left hook?" Damon asked after a few silent minutes. Charlie smiled slightly.

"Believe it or not, I used to get in fights a lot," Charlie told him, grabbing his hand. Rachel's body was wrapped up in a blanket and thrown over Damon's shoulder.

"No way," Damon said, his eyes widening in disbelief. "You're too nice. You probably apologized right after you kicked a person's ass."

Charlie laughed. "I used to get in fights with cheerleaders," she told him. "I never regretted beating up those bitches."

Damon groaned. "I can't even tell you how much I regret missing that," he said and she laughed.

"Cheerleaders are dirty fighters, let me tell you that. I finally got sick of all of the hair pulling and learned how to throw a decent punch."

"Who knew my wife was such a badass?" Charlie smirked and squeezed Damon's hand.

They came to the cove and Damon tossed Rachel's body in without saying or doing anything. Then he turned to his wife and kissed her. "Let's get you home," he mumbled against her lips. "I want to hear more about these girl fights you got into."

Charlie laughed and kissed her husband back. Not even a blonde home wrecker was going to tear them apart.

"No, I don't want to go," Charlie whined during their last morning at the Bahamas. She pouted in their bed, and Damon stopped his packing to chuckle at her expression.

"We have to return to the real world some time, Charlie," he told her.

Charlie suddenly smirked mischievously and sat up. She made her way to the edge of the bed and grabbed Damon by the shirt and pulled his lips to hers. Damon knew that she was trying to prolong the time they would have to leave, but he still kissed her back.

Charlie pulled her husband onto the bed and crawled on top of him. His fingers played with the buttons of his shirt that she was wearing and his hand grazed her thigh. Damon flipped them over so that he was on top and kissed Charlie's jaw down to her neck.

"Bite me," she gasped out, her hands running through her husband's hair.

Damon pulled away, desire for both his wife's body and blood running through him. "You sure?" he asked her, his voice thick. He could already feel his fangs pressing into his bottom lip.

Charlie nodded and that was all Damon needed before he sank his fangs into her skin. She hissed in pain, but like he always did, Damon removed his fangs as soon as he broke the skin. Charlie's warm blood flooded into Damon's mouth, and Charlie moaned with pleasure.

After a few minutes of drinking her blood, Damon forced himself to pull away. He wiped his mouth and then fed Charlie some of his blood. When Damon went to get back to packing, Charlie grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back to her.

"I'm not done with you yet," she smirked mischievously and kissed him passionately.

After a quickie, Charlie and Damon drove to the airport. Charlie didn't want to leave and neither did Damon. But he was right; they had to return to the real word sometime.

"How was your vacation?"

Charlie looked away from the bags she was unpacking to smile at Elena. "Almost completely relaxing," she said.

"How did things end up with Rachel?" she asked as Charlie dumped sand into the garbage can.

"Well, Rachel is currently in the ocean," Charlie informed her. Despite how compassionate Charlie was, she couldn't manage to feel remorse or sympathy for her.

"Did you kill her?" Elena asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shook her head, ringlets flying. "No, Damon did."

"I thought that they were friends," Elena said, bemused.

"Well, I walked in on Rachel trying to kiss Damon so I punched her. Then she tried to kill me, so Damon killed her," Charlie explained.

"You punched a vampire?" Elena asked brown eyes wide.

Charlie smirked at the teenager. "Despite having a heart disease, I'm pretty badass, Elena," she joked, making a pile of dirty clothes.

"So what happened here?" Charlie asked, running a hand over the bite mark Damon had made that morning.

"Nothing eventful." Elena shrugged. "I felt like somebody was watching me at my house last night," she admitted.

Charlie's eyebrows shot up. "Did you tell Stefan? It could be the vampires, werewolves, and hunters that want him and Damon dead," she said.

Elena nodded. "There wasn't anything or anyone there, but that doesn't mean anything."

Charlie sighed and sat down on her bed. "I don't like that there hasn't been any sign of them since the attack. I feel like they're just biding their time."

"They are." Elena joined Charlie on the bed. "The sooner this whole thing is done with, the sooner you and Damon can go back to New York."

"I don't think that I want to go back," Charlie admitted. "I wouldn't mind staying here, and it's good for Damon to be near his brother- they're finally patching things up."

"You're planning on staying here?" Elena asked, sounding excited.

Charlie nodded a small smile on her lips. "Mystic Falls is growing on me," she said simply. She still had to talk to Damon about staying at Mystic Falls permanently but he would move them to Mars if that was what Charlie wanted.

Charlie grabbed the basket of dirty clothes and walked down to the basement to do the laundry. She passed the living room to see the brothers talking and looking like they were having a decent conversation. She smiled to herself as she walked past the brothers- Damon was finally getting his brother back. Who was she to ruin that?

As Charlie passed the front door there was suddenly a knock at it. She put the basket to her hip and then went to answer the door. When she saw who was behind it, she sighed.

"Mum, I thought you left, like weeks ago?" Charlie was done with her mother, finished.

"Charlotte, there's something you need to know," Karen said in a particularly desperate voice. Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing you could say would change the way I feel about Damon," she said shortly. "Now if you'll excuse me-"

Karen caught the door before it slammed shut. "Charlotte, please just listen to me!"

"No, I don't think that I will," she said defiantly, making to shut the door again.

"Your husband is a vampire, Charlotte!" Karen exclaimed. "You're married to a monster!"

Charlie's eyes widened. How the hell did Karen know?

A/N: Be My Baby, Samantha meyers, Booth-Bones4life, SomebodyWhoCares, and Boo13 for reviewing!

Reviews are inspiring!

~Abby :)