**Chapter fifty three**

Going home

*Hailey*

I stared at Zane and backed slowly away from him. The last time I saw him, he was ready to kill me. Zane noticed what I was doing, and dropped Molly's heart onto the floor. He sighed. "I'm no good at apologies Hailey, but Julia says if I don't apologize, she leave me. So… I'm sorry that I almost killed you. I hope that saving you now cancels that out."

I frowned at him. He sounded sincere, and it would seem obvious that he had no plans to kill me, but what if he just wanted me for himself? As if reading my mind, Zane said, "If I killed you, your vampire would hunt me down for the rest of eternity, and I don't care for hiding. Besides, Julia has taken a fancy to you, and I would never risk losing her."

I sighed, and then nodded. "I accept your apology," I told him.

Zane grinned, just as Julia walked into the bar. She beamed at me, and I smiled back at the vampire who saved my life. Then she looked down at Molly's body and gave Zane a dirty look. "Was this really necessary?" she asked warily.

"Love, the witch was going to kill Hailey," he defended himself.

Julia looked at me, and I nodded to confirm his story. She looked back at Zane and frowned at him. "Did you apologize to Hailey?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes, love," he said, sounding like a six year old getting scolded.

Julia looked back at me for confirmation. "He did, and I forgave him," I told her, still breathing hard.

"Good for you, I would've punched him," she said, glaring at her mate.

He smiled a "you know you love me" smile- one Damon had given me on similar occasions- and then pulled her to him. Julia struggled, but eventually gave in. he kissed the side of her head, and she rolled her eyes playfully.

I smiled slightly- I hoped that that was Damon and I in fifteen years, and in three hundred years. Even when one of us screws up, the other can't stay mad for long because we love each other for so long.

Julia, still in Zane's arms, looked at me and said, "This isn't some random run in, Hailey."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did you follow us here?"

She shrugged. "If that's what you want to call it."

I raised my eyebrows and put a hand on my hip. "Why did you stalk us here?" I was glad that they did, because I would be very dead if they hadn't.

"We came here to offer our assistance," Zane said, resting his chin on Julia's head.

"For what?" I asked, smiling knowingly.

"To help you and your friends kill the tomb vampires," Julia said.

"Why?" I asked.

"One, they're annoying as hell, going all territorial on Mystic Falls," Julia said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, they were all 'join or die,'" Zane said.

"Two, we picked the 'or die' part, so we need to kill them before they kill us," Julia said.

"And lastly, we feel bad for almost killing you, so we thought that we could make up for it by adding more numbers to your army," Zane finished.

I considered their offer. It was a good offer- I trusted Julia and knew that Zane wouldn't try anything, and we could use all the help that we could get. But Damon wouldn't like it at all.

"What the hell happened here?"

I looked up at Damon when he suddenly appeared at my side. He looked at Molly's dead body, and then at Julia and Zane. "Damon, no!" I exclaimed, using all my strength and body weight to hold him back.

He glared daggers at the two vampires, and Zane stood protectively in front of Julia. "Why is Molly dead, Hailey?" he asked me through gritted teeth.

"She was going to kill your human," Zane said, bracing himself for Damon's attack.

Damon looked down at me in shock. "I should really learn how to watch my mouth," I said sheepishly, not moving from in front of him.

"It's going to get you killed soon," Damon said, relaxing. I could see the guilt in his eyes. It was his idea to see Molly, so in his eyes, it was his fault that I almost died.

I moved to his side, and gripped his hand. We'd talk about Molly later. "Zane killed Molly to save me, and then Julia showed up. They want to help us kill the tomb vamps," I told him, already knowing his answer.

"Hell no."

"We can help you," Julia insisted.

"We don't need your help," Damon snapped, before dragging me towards the door.

"Just give us a moment," I told them, before letting Damon pull me outside. It was night, but the streets were mostly empty.

"We need as much help as we can get, Damon," I told him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"We don't need help that much," Damon muttered stubbornly.

"Damon, we drove to Atlantic City to see your ex-witch slut who was still very much into you- we're desperate," I said, giving him a look.

"They almost killed you, Hailey! I don't want their help," Damon insisted.

"But they didn't! And they apologized! Damon, the tomb vamps are after them too, they won't double cross us," I insisted.

"No, but if it comes down to us or them, they'll pick themselves!" Damon said, glaring slightly.

"So would we, Damon! We're on the same side, why not work together? There's no way you, me, and Stefan are going to be able to take on all the tomb vampires- and that's even if you don't lock me in a closet. We need their help, Damon. But more importantly, they need our help."

Damon stared at me for a few seconds, before sighing. "If they double cross us Hailey, 'I'm going to be really pissed at you," he said finally.

I smiled victoriously, and then stuck my head inside the bar. "Welcome to Team Awesome," I told them.

'If you double cross us, I'll rip your hearts out," Damon called over my head.

"Same goes for you," Zane said back.

"We'll go back to Mystic Falls and keep an eye on things," Julia said to me.

I nodded, and then Zane wrapped up Molly's body and hefted it over his shoulder. "We'll take care of the body, too," he told us.

After they left, Damon and I walked back to our hotel. It was silent the entire walk, until we were in the elevator. "We have to go back, don't we?" I asked quietly.

He looked down at me. "You know we will," he said, as the elevator stopped on our floor.

"I don't want to!" I whined. "I can't face her yet, Damon!"

"Hailey, we can stay here as long as you want, but you'll know that we'll go back soon. It's not in you to hide," he said, as he unlocked our hotel room.

"I don't know, I think that I'm okay with hiding out here," I said, as I walked into our room.

I took off my jacket, when suddenly I felt like someone was jabbing at my brain with a white hot curling iron. Damon caught me before I crumpled to the ground. I gasped in pain, and clutched my head. I was having a vision, and we both knew it. I just held on tight to Damon, until it fully came to me.

In a graveyard, there was complete chaos. Mathew Lockwood screamed and shouted, as he was held down by tomb vampires. They sunk their teeth into his neck before he completely stopped moving.

Loud feminine screams filled the air, as Elena was caught by a couple of tomb vampires. Stefan was held down and forced to watch, as they drained Elena of life. Stefan continued to scream, even after she stopped moving, her big brown eyes staring up blankly.

I felt tears roll down my cheeks, when I came out of my vision. Damon looked down at me in concern, and brushed my tears away. "What did you see?" he asked softly, as I buried my face into his chest.

"The vampires kill Mathew Lockwood and Elena," I mumbled into his shirt, before looking up at him.

"We're going home."

~LMF~

A/N: thank you to: AubreySalvatore, SomebodyWhoCares, HawthorneTree, jacquline, Samantha meyers, Kelsey, vdemily, and Ravenator for reviewing!

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~Abby ;)