Chapter twenty eight

"Cry until it's over,"- Cry by Jason Walker

Damon and Stefan walked back to Charlie's room silently. Stefan had managed to convince Damon to feed and the elder Salvatore brother had needed the blood. suddenly, Damon stopped walking, a unfortunately familiar scent hitting him.

"What?" Stefan asked him, stopping too.

Suddenly, realization hit him. "Oh no," Damon whispered before he ran off. Stefan followed his brother, seriously confused.

Damon knew something was wrong as soon as he reached the room. complete silence. No beeping from machines. No weak, irregular heartbeat. Only one steady heartbeat coming from Karen. Damon ran to his wife's side, and his eyes widened at what he found.

Charlie was dead.

It hadn't hit Damon fully, as he stared, unblinkingly, down at his wife. Charlotte Marie Matthews, born October 22, 1989 was dead. Stefan suddenly appeared next to his brother, looking down at his dead sister-in-law as well.

"No…" Stefan whispered, not believing it as well. The bubbly, sweet British girl who had changed his brother for the better couldn't possibly be dead.

Just as Stefan turned to try to console his brother in any way possible, Damon suddenly let out a shaky laugh. It was full of relief, as if he had just dodged a terrible tragedy. in realty, one had just happened.

"Damon-?" Stefan was confused by how he was acting. Damon had just lost his wife, and now he was laughing.

Damon ignored his brother and bent down and kissed his wife's cold lips. He grinned as if there was a private joke between him and Charlie. Finally, Damon looked up at his brother. "I fed her my blood before she died, Stefan."

Relief instantly ran through Stefan. He let out a shaky laugh too, identical to his brother's. the bubbly, sweet British girl wasn't gone for good.

Damon hadn't felt more relieved than he did at that moment. He was so glad that he had given Charlie his blood. if he hadn't, he'd be a widow right now. Damon kissed Charlie again, this time on the forehead. He knew that she might be pissed when she came to, but Damon didn't care, as long as she was alive. He'd have forever to get her to forgive him.

Damon was sure that Charlie was going to hate him more for the story he compelled people to think, her own mother to think. He compelled everyone to think that Charlie was dead for good. He had his reasons, though. It would make things easier in the long run, and it would make Jason think that he had killed her successfully.

He had watched as Karen sobbed over Charlie's "dead" body. He allowed the doctors to take her away to the hospital morgue, only to steal her back later. He had to compel even more people, because he couldn't allow Karen to bury Charlie, but it all worked out eventually.

After Damon had completely sold the story that Charlie had died from her cardiomyopathy, he took her home. He wanted Charlie to come back, and was impatient for her to. He just wanted his Charlie back, his wife back.

He didn't know how long they were in their bed, Charlie's head on his chest, her heart still. Finally, a gasp brought him out of his thoughts, and Charlie sat up straight.

"What? What happened? Where am I?" Charlie demanded, looking around the room, looking for Damon. she found his shirt and grasped it tight. Damon grabbed his wife around the waist and pulled her tightly to him.

Charlie ignored her questions, the ache in her gums, her aching head, and just kissed her husband. She didn't understand what was happening to her, but did understand that Damon had almost lost her- that she had almost lost Damon.

After a few minutes of kissing, Damon pulled away but didn't unwrap his arms from her. "You're changing Char," he murmured into her hair.

Charlie's face was pressed into her husband's chest, and she frowned. "Changing? You mean into a-"

"-a vampire. You're changing into a vampire," Damon finished for her.

Charlie didn't remember being a ghost. She didn't remember asking Damon to change her. but she did remember her decision before her heart failed. She did remember that she wanted to be a vampire. So Charlie wasn't angry at Damon for changing her.

"Okay." She smiled slightly, though inside, she was terrified. "You're going to help me though, right? You're going to teach me how to control my urge to kill?"

"Of course," Damon answered automatically before frowning. "That's it? You're not going to slap me and yell at me that I took the choice away from you?"

Charlie sighed and buried her face deeper into Damon's chest. "I always knew that, deep down, you'd change me. I was just humoring myself to think that'd you just let me die if I didn't want to be a vampire. I know that you'd rather me hate you and be alive, than love you and be dead."

"Well, I'd prefer that you'd love me and be alive. but yeah, you're right," Damon murmured, running a hand through her curls.

Charlie pulled away and smiled up at her husband. "Damon, I decided that I wanted to change before my heart failed," she told him, and his eyebrows shot up.

"You did?"

Charlie nodded. "Mmhmm, so I'm not angry at you for doing something that I already decided on."

Damon was silent as she laid her head back on his chest. "Well, that's good. I said that I'd be okay with you hating me, but that doesn't mean that I want you to," he told her.

Charlie smiled slightly and kissed Damon's jaw. "I love you, you know that?"

"Well, I hope so Char. Because you and I are spending eternity together and it's going to be pretty awkward if you don't."

Charlie giggled and kissed him again, this time his cheek. She was inching closer to his lips. "I love you too," he said after a while, eying Charlie's soft lips.

Damon finally flipped them over and pinned Charlie beneath him. "I can think of one good thing about you becoming a vampire," Damon muttered as he kissed Charlie's neck.

"What's that?" she asked, breathless.

"I don't have to be gentle anymore."

She laughed slightly. "Love, if all the times we've had sex were you being gentle, I want to see you rough."

Damon growled slightly. "I'll be able to show you Rough Damon when you're not so breakable," he muttered against her skin, his fingers skimming her stomach.

Suddenly, Charlie's hunger became too much to control. "Damon, I'm hungry," she whined, causing him to pull away from her neck.

"Of course you are, you're in transition," Damon said. He can't believe that he was stupid enough to forget that she was going through the change, that she was probably starving. He blamed his lust and desire and physical need for Charlie. He had allowed it to get the best of him.

"Can I get some food then?" Charlie asked. The ache in her gums was uncomfortable.

"How about I get you some blood instead?"

Charlie gulped slightly. She knew that once she drank the blood, she would be a vampire. She would never, ever be human again. She knew that Damon would eventually force her to drink blood, and that eventually she'd give in, but she needed a few more minutes before she became a vampire.

"Soon, alright? I just want a few more minutes," Charlie murmured, pulling Damon back to her. his lips molded against hers, and her hands quickly unbuttoned his shirt. Damon gave into his lust. Desire, and physical need for his wife, and practically tore her clothes off of her.

Surprisingly, Charlie didn't let Damon be dominant. She flipped them over and rested on Damon's hips, a leg on either side of him. Damon let Charlie take control, because it was hot when she did. Charlie, clad in only her underwear, slowly ran her hands down Damon's chest, heading towards his pants. Damon growled, torn between letting her continue her game and just flipping them back over and taking her. Charlie giggled and kissed Damon.

"You're so impatient," she murmured against his lips, before smirking and teasingly sliding her bra off strap by strap.

"Look who's talking," Damon growled, his eyes glued to his wife and her teasing.

Charlie grinned before finally giving into her own desire. Twenty minutes later, Charlie rested on top of Damon. both were completely naked, and breathless. "You should be on top more often," Damon commented, playing with one of her curls.

"What does my mother think happen to me?" Charlie asked after smirking. Yes, sex was pretty good when she was on top. But sex with Damon was always good.

She buried her face into his neck, waiting for him to answer her question. Damon bit his lip. "Uh, funny story. she thinks you're dead."

"What?"

Charlie sat up straight and frowned at Damon, all after-sex euphoria washing away from her. "Why would she think I'm dead?" she demanded.

"Because I made her," he answered calmly.

Charlie glared. "Damon-" she started to argue, but he cut her off.

"Before you get pissed at me, making Karen think that you died was smart. First, it means that she's out of our marriage for good-" this earned a glare. Damon smirked before continuing. "If she didn't think that you died, she'd eventually notice that you're not aging. that I'm not aging. It's safer this way, trust me."

Charlie sighed. She saw his logic. "You're right. It's just… she's my mum, Damon," she mumbled, laying back down on top of him.

"I know," he murmured, brushing her hair out of her face. After a while, he added, "The first century is usually the hardest. It's when all of your human friends and family die. Some vampires go into depression and try to kill themselves, because they don't want to be alone."

"But you won't be alone, Charlie," Damon said meaningfully. "You'll have me."

"I'll have you," she agreed, not minding that at all.

After a while, Charlie stood up and got dressed in Damon's shirt. Damon put on his boxers. "Wait here, and I'll get you some blood," he said, before disappearing.

Charlie sat down on the bed, biting her nails due to her nervousness. She was scared to be a vampire, but she trusted Damon to help her through it. By the time he was done with her, she'd be a badass vampire. Charlie giggled slightly at the thought.

"Here you go," Damon sais, suddenly appearing in front of her with a glass full of blood. Charlie took it, her fear melting away at the thought that Damon would be at her side throughout the entire process.

"Cold feet, Char?" he asked her. Damon knew that he had to be considerate of Charlie's feelings. She had been apprehensive to change in the beginning, he had to make her as comfortable as possible.

She shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "No, mine are toasty warm," she said wiggling her toes. He offered her a small smile.

"Just- don't let me become a monster, okay Damon?" she whispered quietly.

Damon shook his head. "Never."

Charlie took a deep breath, then she gulped down the warm blood, sealing her fate as a vampire.

A/N: only one more chapter left! I think that I'll include a fluffy epilogue for you guys too. I'm sure that I could crank one out. Beware though, it'd be mostly fluff.

Thanks to: LillianaKay2011, SomebodyWhoCares, Lady Syndra, Be My Baby, KimmyWSmith, Samantha meyers, sofiecanwrite, nickiR0x, Stefanie, and .twilight for reviewing!

Reviews are awesome!

~Abby ;)