Chapter 3: Family Hardships.
-x-x-x-
"Cain was angry,
And he moved with a blood red fury.
So now one brother's dead,
And one brother's born."
Paper Route – Glass Heart Hymn.
-x-x-x-
When Skylar awoke, she looked over to find the crow had left; just as she had expected.
Getting dressed and going downstairs to have breakfast with her family, she couldn't shake the feeling of unease that racked through her body. She wondered if she should tell Bonnie about everything. After all, it would prove that her friend wasn't just seeing things, that her Grams wasn't lying to her and that she is an extremely special human being. But, on the other hand, that could just freak Bonnie out more than she already was.
She knew that she definitely had to tell someone, she could be in serious danger.
"Hello, sweetheart." Mayor Lockwood greeted his daughter, rising for his chair at the table to give her a hug. "Are you alright, you look worried."
Shaking the thoughts from her head, she gave her father a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a weird dream, I think."
"Alright." He smiled in return, "Take a seat, breakfast will be out in five minutes."
Mayor and Mrs Lockwood had made a rule that they had to all eat as a family at least twice a week. Tyler made constant attempts to get out of them, often trying to convince his parents that he had some form of football practice, but it would always end with an argument between him and his dad; making for a very awkward morning for everyone at the table.
As she sat down, she felt Tyler's hand graze her own. Glancing to her side, she locked eyes with him to see a look of concern. He knew her better than anyone, and he knew in that moment that she had lied to their father; he knew there was something bothering her and that it wasn't just a dream.
Shaking her head slightly so that only he would notice, Skylar made it clear to her brother that she didn't want to talk about it yet. She had no idea if she would ever be able to bring herself to talk about it; to find the words to explain what was happening. Until a year ago, she had shared every detail about every day with Tyler without hesitation, but he had changed; there was always the worry that he would mock her now.
Giving her hand a slight squeeze, Tyler took his hand away and carried on with the conversation that he and their mother had been having.
"I expect you both to keep an eye on each other at the comet tomorrow night." Their mother told them. "There are far too many animal attacks happening lately, that poor girl." She let out a sigh, looking towards her daughter. "You and your girlfriends always stay as a group; do you understand me? You too, Tyler, I don't want you or Matt wandering off alone."
"Yes, mom." The twins replied, as the chef for the morning placed their breakfast in front of them.
"I'll never be alone." Skylar confirmed. "Don't worry."
Mayor Lockwood scoffed. "Of course, you won't. Tyler, there is no need for you to be away from your sister tomorrow night, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir." Tyler sighed.
"I don't care if your friends want to fool around, your sister is your priority." Their father grumbled, taking a bite of bacon.
Shuffling her food around her plate, Skylar mumbled. "You know, dad, if there really is an animal attacking everyone then Tyler is in just as much danger as I am…"
Noting the stern look she received in response, Skye bowed her head, understanding that her father wanted nothing more said on the matter. Glancing at her brother, she saw the thankful look in his eyes. Their father could be too hard on him sometimes.
-x-x-x-
"And you're 100% sure that is was a crow that you saw last night?" Bonnie asked as she walked with Skylar through the school halls.
Skylar had managed to catch her just as lunch was starting, the need to tell her just too strong to fight. "Yeah… It was just sat outside my window all night." She explained. "Almost as though it was staring inside, how weird is that?"
She had decided to only mention the crow that she'd seen the past couple of nights, still trying to convince herself that everything else was just her mind playing tricks on her; there wasn't any guy stood outside her house, or in the woods.
"Skye, when I touched you and saw that crow… I got a really bad feeling. I don't know what it means, but-"
"But it's probably bad." Skye cut in. "Something really bad, right?"
Bonnie looked at her with sympathy. "I think so. But who knows? Maybe I'm just going crazy." She offered.
"Maybe we both are…" She sighed, hoping that all the strange occurrences were coming to an end.
"Guys!" Caroline called, running up to the pair. "What's up?"
Skylar looked at her best friend, mind filled with the drunken state of her the night before. "Nothing really. What happened to you calling me this morning? I was worried when you didn't show up today."
"I'm sorry." Caroline said, sincerely, before a huge grin spread across her face. "I just couldn't stop thinking about that hot guy from The Grill."
"What hot guy?" Bonnie asked, as they all stopped at her locker.
Skylar furrowed her brows, wondering how Bonnie had managed to miss him. Surely her phone call hadn't taken that long.
Caroline sighed, "He left right after Skylar did. I didn't even get a chance to ask him anything." As she leaned against the locker, she zoned of for a moment, thinking of the mystery man. "You guys honestly should have seen him, he was so hot."
"Well, Mystic Falls is a small town." Skye reasoned. "I'm sure you'll manage to run into him again, Care."
"I better." She mumbled. "What were you guys talking about anyway?"
As Bonnie started to fill Caroline in about her whole witch situation, Skylar couldn't help but wonder if Care was going to be in trouble with this stranger that seemed to be lurking around every corner. She couldn't shake the bad vibe that she got, even if he was as attractive as Caroline said he was; looks were almost always deceiving.
"Crazy family, yes." Bonnie said. "Witches? I don't think so."
"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night." Caroline grinned.
Bonnie let out a laugh. "I didn't see him, you did. Why didn't you just talk to him?"
"I don't know, I was drunk." She snickered.
Raising a brow in disbelief, Skylar said "Cause that's ever stopped you. Usually that makes you even more talkative."
Mocking a glare in her best friends direction, she replied "Well, if you had seen him, you would understand. I think even you would have blushed."
"I think you were obviously drunker than I thought if you think any kind of face could have that effect on me." Skye smirked. "You're so easily enamoured."
"I am not." Caroline argued, playfully shoving Skye's shoulder.
Snickering, Skye raised her eyebrows. "You were planning your wedding to Stefan just yesterday and now all you can talk about is this mystery guy."
"That means nothing." She denied, as they waved goodbye to Bonnie and walked into the locker room to get changed for Gym.
-x-x-x-
After school, the girls all went to The Grill to grab a bite to eat whilst they folded up the information leaflets for the comet tomorrow night. Caroline was organising the whole thing, as per usual; and as always, roped Skylar into helping out. The pair would be spending the next day setting everything up, making sure that there were enough candles for the town and where the best spot to watch the comet would be.
Skye didn't really mind, she supposed it would look good on a college application, but if she was being honest with herself, she wished that she could just sit back and relax; enjoy the events without any pressure.
After Caroline had tried to grill Elena for information, Bonnie had done her a kindness by bringing up a story that her Grams was telling her the night before. It was about how the comet was a sign of doom and the last time it went overhead there was a ton of death and carnage; a dark story but interesting none the less.
"Yeah," Caroline started, the sarcasm dripping from her voice. "And then you poured Grams another shot, and she told you about the aliens."
"I think it's interesting." Skylar defended Bonnie, "Hearing about this kind of stuff, I mean. It makes everything seem more magical and mystical. Imagine how boring life would be without stories like that."
"Thank you." Bonnie said, giving Caroline a smug look. "At least someone gets it."
Caroline just rolled her eyes, turning back to Elena. "Anyway, so then what?" She asked, bringing the conversation back to Stefan.
"So, then nothing." Elena replied.
"So, you and Stefan just talked?" Caroline questioned in disbelief. "All night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"
"Nope." Elena shrugged. "We didn't go there."
"Not even a handshake?" She sighed, frustrated. "I mean, Elena, we are your friends, okay, you're supposed to share the smut."
"We just talked for hours."
Exhaling, Skylar turned to Caroline. "Not everyone is obsessed with sex like you are, Care."
"You don't get to add to the conversation when you're apparently aiming to become a nun." She quipped.
"I'm not aiming to become a nun. I'm just not full of the raging hormones that you seem to be."
"Whatever," She sighed, "What is with all the blockage?" She asked Elena, "Just jump his bones already. Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex."
"Profound." Elena said sarcastically, folding over one of the leaflets.
Furrowing her eyebrows, Skye watched as Elena zoned out, almost as though she was actually contemplating what Caroline had said. "You can't seriously be that easily swayed by her?" She scoffed.
But Elena never answered, collecting her things as she stood up.
"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked.
"Caroline's right." Elena answered. "It is easy. And if I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out if it instead of starting the day the way I said I was going to."
Watching her walk off, Skye couldn't believe she had listened to Caroline. Even Care seemed surprised that her pep talk had actually worked.
"Wait," Skye said to the pair still with her. "Does that mean that she woke up today saying that she was going to bone Stefan?"
The three girls laughed before Caroline shot her a smug smile. "Told you that you were a nun."
"So many hormones around me… Yet I don't understand any of it." She sighed. "Maybe I'm an alien?"
"Ask Bonnie's Grams." Care snickered.
Bonnie playfully hit Caroline's arm with one of the flyers. "Shut up."
-x-x-x-
"Hey." She greeted Tyler as she arrived home that night. "Have you seen Vicki tonight? How is she doing?"
"I don't know." He replied, shortly, making his way up the stairs.
Her face scrunching with annoyance, she called after him. "Tyler! That's it? You don't know?"
"Yeah." He pressed, storming into his room. "That's it."
Hearing his door slam shut, she had the sudden urge to destroy everything around her. What the hell was his problem? Vicki had been in the hospital since the attack last night, but Tyler hadn't bothered to go and see her at all this entire day? Skye wasn't exactly Vicki's number 1 fan, but she deserved better than that.
Vicki could have died last night if Jeremy hadn't have found her. The wound on her neck something everyone was talking about, man that had seen it had called it the stuff of nightmares. She didn't understand why so many people were getting attacked by animals recently; a couple of campers being found just that morning.
But honestly, none of it made any sense to her. If it was an animal, why had it not been drawn to the rest of the party goers? Why hadn't it come over to the large crowd of potential victims a minute away from the attack? Why hadn't it attacked her when she had wandered into the forest on her own? Nothing added up when it came to Vicki's attack; why did it only attack her neck? Surely a wild animal would have completely mauled her?
Skylar's mind kept forcing the idea of the Gilbert journals back into her head.
With something like this happening back then, no wonder his mind had jumped to the mythical immortal creature. But this was not a fantasy world, and she was not crazy.
Closing her bedroom door behind her, she heard Tyler exit his own room. She considered confronting him, telling him that if he insisted on sleeping with Vicki then he should at least do the decent thing and go to see her when she got hurt.
But she couldn't. Maybe she was just thinking the worst? Maybe, he just couldn't handle seeing Vicki in that state and had to avoid her at all costs. Surely he had managed to get information out of Matt throughout the day... She at least hoped that he had.
Skye really wanted to believe that her twin brother, her partner since birth, was still a decent guy deep down.
Not only that, but she had a horrible suspicion that if she was to confront Tyler with the rage that was building up within her, she would no doubt say something that she would regret at a later time.
Stroking Splinter's fur as she let him climb onto her shoulder, she looked out her window to see the crow that she already knew would be there. "What's happening Splinter?" She asked. "Nothing makes sense anymore."
-x-x-x-
The next day, just as the sun was getting low, Caroline and Skylar were stood talking about how they were going to distribute the candles for the night. They had gotten small cupped candles for people to hold throughout the night, needing to overcome the melting wax issue.
Looking down at her phone to see how long they had until the comet was meant to appear, Skylar gave her opinion. "I don't think this is a very hard event to organise, Care. We'll just put the boxes of candles out in a few locations, light a few of the candles, everyone can light each other's.., You know, I light yours, you light Bonnie's, etc, etc." She explained. "It's not a difficult concept." She said, looking up from her phone when she realised how uncharacteristically quiet her best friend was being.
But Caroline wasn't there.
"Care?" She asked, turning around to find Caroline staring into the distance.
Walking up to her, she looked in between Caroline and the empty space that she was intensely watching in confusion. "Care? You okay?" She asked.
"It was him." Caroline replied quietly, almost as if talking to herself.
"Him?" Skye questioned. "Him as in..? Abe Lincoln? I'm going to need just a little but more information than that."
Hitting her on the arm, Caroline stormed back over to the candles. "Him as in the hot mystery guy from The Grill the other night."
"I missed him again?" Skye almost yelled, looking around to see if she could spot anyone that could possibly be him around the square. "I should have let my curiosity get the best of me at the damn Grill, I can't believe this keeps happening."
"You are seriously missing out." She smirked, before it faded into a confused frown. "But I don't understand where he went… He was stood right there and then just suddenly vanished."
Shrugging, Skylar sighed dramatically. "Maybe your lust filled brain is starting to drive you mad. It's so sad, and yet so plausible."
"I am not mad." She whacked Skye with a leaflet, chasing after her, laughing.
"Crazy Caroline!" Skye mocked once she was far enough away from her. "Some great alliteration right there, kind of poetic, don't you think?"
"You suck!" Caroline called after her and she giggled, returning to the boxes of candles.
-x-x-x-
As the comet finally came into view, the small group came together.
Sitting down at the table, Skylar pulled out her sketchpad, deciding to draw the scene above her. Drawing had been a shared passion of the Lockwood twins since they were little. As their relationship drew more and more strained, their sketches became few and far between. It almost seemed wrong to Skye, to carry on with something that used to connect the pair when they hardly saw eye to eye anymore.
However, the comet only occurred every 145 years, so Skylar took the opportunity to pick up art once more for the night; since she would never see this phenomenon again. She refused to miss the chance to capture the picture, as she sees it, forever. The stars, the moon, the comet beautifully crossing the night sky… It was so amazingly perfect that she could never let it pass her by.
"Can you hold this for me?" She asked Tyler, holding her candle out to him.
"Yeah, of course." He responded, taking the candle, already knowing what she wanted from him. As he turned to look back up at the sky, he held the candle at the right angle to make sure the paper was lit perfectly for her to see.
Before she started to sketch, she quickly gave Matt's arm a comforting squeeze when she realised he was staring longingly over at Elena, who was talking to Stefan.
"Little bit higher, Ty." She laughed, noticing his hand starting to droop as he spoke to Caroline. "If I spend my time sketching out this picture, just for you to set my sketchbook on fire, I'm going to set you on fire."
Tyler quickly righted his hold on the candle, sheepishly saying "Sorry."
"How and Earth can this be a sign of death?" She asked Bonnie. "It's amazing."
Shaking her head with a slight laugh, Bonnie sighed. "I don't know, Skye. Grams had quite a bit to drink that night, who knows if she actually meant anything by what she said."
-x-x-x-
Once it started getting late, the group decided to head into The Grill to have a meal together before having to return home for the night. Though, that was going to be longer than any of them expected, as Jeremy Gilbert approached them to inform everyone that Vicki Donovan was missing.
"She probably found someone else to party with." Tyler dead-panned. "Sorry pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced."
As Elena turned to question Jeremy about the pill pusher comment, Skye turned her attention to her twin brother. "What the hell, Ty?" She whispered, grabbing hold of his arm. "She's missing and the most you can do is make a dig at Jeremy?"
Tyler simply rolled his eyes at his sister, choosing to ignore her and go for Jeremy once more. "She's never gonna go for you."
One thing that the Lockwood's had in common was their random temperament; going from a cheerful and happy disposition to plain furious and aggravated within seconds. It would often give people pause, trying to figure out what was wrong with them, but the siblings themselves never quite understood their problem.
While they argued about how Vicki had slept with Jeremy, Skylar decided to tune everybody out, not wanting to say anything she may regret. She wondered where the elder Donovan had disappeared to, she couldn't have gone far. Who even had the courage to wander off on their own so soon after they'd gone through such a vicious attack?
"And I didn't even have to force her into it." Jeremy sneered.
That caught Skylar's attention.
As everybody split up to search for Vicki, Skye quickly dragged her brother off with her. "What the hell did he mean by 'force her into it', Tyler?" She seethed, trying her best to keep her voice down as to not attract attention.
"He's just a dumb kid looking for attention." He scoffed, trying to walk away from her. "Don't think too far into it."
"No." She stressed, grabbing is arm and turning him back to face her. "Jeremy Gilbert is many things right now, but he would not accuse someone of that for no reason. Now what the fuck did you do, Tyler?"
Snatching his arm back, he growled "It's none of your business, Skye. Just leave it."
Watching him start to walk away, she followed him down the quiet street, unable to believe what her brother was turning into. "Who the hell are you!?" She yelled, no longer able to control her anger, no longer concerned with who heard her. "When did you become this person? I mean, I get it, dad can be a real dick to you but come on." She ranted as her brother turned to look at her with wide eyes. "You have a sister; how could you even contemplate doing something like that to a girl!? How can you treat girls the way that you do?"
"Stop it, Skye." He forced out, his own anger boiling from within. "You don't even know what you're talking about."
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Skylar couldn't believe any of this. "Would you be fine if someone did that to me?"
"Skye.."
"No, Tyler. What does she mean to you?" She asked, getting in his face. "You string Vicki along like she's your girlfriend, but do you actually give a shit about her? You obviously tried to force her into God knows what, you left her alone in the woods when she was drunk. Hell, after she was attacked you didn't once go to the hospital to see how she was doing. Did you even ask Matt how she was?"
As Tyler looked to the floor in shame, she knew her answer.
Before she could stop herself, she felt her hand lash out.
She slapped him right across the face.
He looked at her in shock, but she couldn't bring herself to care. He wasn't the brother that she remembered, the brother that she used to admire so much, the brother she had been inseparable from. That brother, her brother, was dead; gone. She didn't recognise the guy who stood in front of her just then.
"It's time you grew the hell up, Tyler. Your actions have consequences, dad won't pay for everything." She sneered, storming off.
Finding a small street away from the people gathered close by for the comet, she sunk to the floor against a wall. She felt empty, as though a large part of her had died inside. Her twin brother, her other half, was a complete stranger to her now. She felt the tears start to slide down her face. She wasn't the type to cry so easily, but it felt as though her reality had shattered before her eyes.
"You alright?" She heard a man ask.
Gasping, she looked up, wiping her tears away. Finally focusing on the man in front of her, she recognised the clothing she had constantly seen him wear. It was the guy from The Grill, the guy Caroline was searching for, the guy she was almost certain had been watching her from afar. He was stood directly in front of her, a look of concern gracing his features.
Sniffling, Skylar rose to her feet. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"You sure?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "You don't look so fine."
"Yeah." She answered, forcing a smile onto her face. "It's okay, just, family drama."
The man sighed, "Not that I can understand." He assured, noticing her look of worry at the situation that she was in. "I didn't mean to startle you, I'm Damon."
Looking at his outstretched hand, she mumbled. "Damon…"
The name brought a few thoughts to her mind. When Stefan had been talking to her about his own dickhead brother, he'd mentioned that his name was Damon. The fact that they both seemed to appear in the town at the exact same time didn't seem like a coincidence.
"As in, Damon Salvatore?" Skylar asked.
Damon smirked. "You've heard of me?"
Shrugging, she felt the sudden urge to get far away from the man in front of her. "Not much." Stefan hadn't sung his brother's praises, and by the smirk on his face and the look of utter deceit in his eyes, she was inclined to believe the worst.
"Well, I'd be happy to tell you more." He said, shifting closer to her.
Skylar was deadly aware of the wall that she was already pressed against. If she wanted to get away, then she would have to do it quickly, before he managed to get any closer to her.
"As wonderful as that sounds, I should really get going." She said, trying to keep her tone light and friendly, but barely managing to.
But her attempt to flee failed, a hand coming to rest on the wall beside her head. "You don't want to get to know me?" Damon asked, giving the Lockwood girl a once over that made her shiver. He was too close.
"You know." She started, voice slightly failing. "I have a friend that would love to get to know you. If you let me move, I might just introduce you."
Of course, there was no way she would be introducing her best friend to the man who stood before her, a mere whisper of air between them. Damon Salvatore radiated danger, but there was only a part of her that was scared, a large part wanting to fight, to rip this guy's head off for smirking at her the way that he was.
"How about you tell me your name first?" He reasoned, the smirk only seeming to widen.
Was it safe to tell him her name? She reasoned with herself, trying to figure out a fake name, but pondering the idea that if he knew who she was then he would let her go. Nobody would want the heat of doing something to the mayor's daughter.
"Skylar." She answered. "Skylar Lockwood."
"The mayor's daughter?" He asked, giving her another once over that left her feeling exposed. "How fortunate."
"Fortunate?" She asked, face scrunching in confusion. "In what way?"
Before she could blink, his face was mere centimetres from hers, his eyes starting deep into her own. "I think you want me to walk you home, Little Lockwood." Damon muttered, his tone smug.
Why the fuck would she want that? "I think you're a bit presumptuous, Mr Salvatore." She sneered, placing a hand on his chest as an attempt to gain some much-needed distance.
Damon stood frozen, a look of disbelief crossing his features, which just seemed to anger the girl in front of him more. Did he really just assume that would work on her? That he could smirk and give her flirty eyes and she would just invite him back to her home? Were the girls her age really that easy?
"That's a nice bracelet." Damon dead-panned, his eyes trained on the piece of jewellery around her wrist. "Where'd you get it?"
"I'm not sure why you're suddenly taking an interest in my accessories, but I really don't want to have any kind of conversation with you right now." She responded, pushing harder on his chest, the part of her that was once afraid now filled with rage like the rest of her.
As if the universe was suddenly kind to her, she heard her brother's voice. "Skye?"
They may have been having serious problems recently, but she had never been so happy to see him before in her entire life.
Within seconds, Damon had backed away from her, giving her enough room to swiftly escape into Tyler's arms.
"Are you okay?" He asked, holding her at arm's length to check her over. "What's wrong?"
"I'm fine." She responded, glancing back to see that Damon Salvatore was no gone. "Let's just go…" She said, wondering how he was able to leave without either one of the twins noticing.
-x-x-x-
Damon watched from afar as the Lockwood children returned to the boy's car.
There was only one way that Skylar Lockwood could have resisted his compulsion; that bracelet was laced with vervain. He wasn't sure how anyone here had managed to get access to the herb, but it was the only explanation.
Frustrated that his plan had to be delayed, he wiped a hand down his face in annoyance.
He would have to go for Plan B, he thought, glancing over to the blonde that was walking around.
Damon could wait until the Founder's Party to get into the Lockwood Mansion if he really had to. He needed that crystal, he wasn't going to leave without it.
The elder Salvatore doubted that he could seduce Skylar the human way anymore, unable to remove her memories of tonight. But he would wait, try to find a moment where she would be without the infuriating piece of jewellery.
Considering the idea of Stefan giving her it, he quickly shook the thoughts from his mind. His younger brother wouldn't have known about his need to get into that building.
Maybe the whole thing was a coincidence.
-x-x-x-
After the run in with Stefan's older brother, Tyler had decided the safest move was to go home. Luckily, Stefan had found Vicki and brought her back to Matt; she was safe. She had wandered off in a drugged-up haze.
Skylar considered talking to Stefan the next day, try to ask him about Damon, get some information out of someone who already meant so much to her friend. Stefan seemed trustworthy, surely, he would gladly open up?
Damon, on the other hand, came off as predatory. Skye's mind overflowed with thoughts of the past few nights, the feeling that she got when she was in the woods; like she was prey. And by the sheer confusion on Damon's face, she concluded that he wasn't faced with rejection often.
Looking into her mirror as she tied up her hair, she froze, noticing a dark figure standing on her balcony.
Damon Salvatore.
Spinning around, she came to find that he wasn't there.
Walking tentatively over, she closed the balcony doors; locking them as they shut. Skylar looked out of them to see that there was nobody there. But she wasn't about to be the idiot girl who you see in horror movies who goes towards the possible danger, Skye was staying in her room for the remainder of the night; with the light firmly on.
Taking Splinter out of his cage, she placed him down on the pillow next to her. "You're being forgiven for now, Splint. If you see anything, let me know."
He gave her a small lick on the forehead as she laid down, almost in an attempt to comfort on purpose.
It took what felt like forever until she finally felt tired enough to sleep. But just as she was on the edge, her phone vibrating from the bedside table caused her to jolt fully awake again.
Guess who finally got a chance to meet the hot mystery guy? Don't wait up! – C xx
Panic sunk into Skylar's stomach, thinking of Caroline going anywhere with who she was sure was Damon Salvatore. She hoped that her best friend would be okay, knowing that if she tried to get her to stay away from him, she'd ignore her. Looking at the gym bag on her chair, Skye remembered that it was cheerleading practice tomorrow. There was no way that the blonde would miss tomorrow… She better be at school.
Please be okay, Care.
-x-x-x-
"There's a ghost in the mirror,
I'm afraid more than ever.
My feet have led me straight into my grave.
Oh Lord have you walked away?
Oh Lord have you walked away from me?"
-x-x-x-
A/N:
Thanks for reading! Highly appreciate it!
Yes, I decided to change it to third person so that I could include some Damon thoughts in there. I'm so sorry to those who have to re-read it cause a LOT of it is the same. I'm so sorry.
Thank you for sticking with me so far.
~ fawningfantasy x