A/N: Hey guys! Thank you all so much for all the reviews! Over 800! You all are great. I'm so glad you guys are loving all the chapters. I can't reveal anything, but if I do continue with the Kol scene in 4x12, that'll not be the last of him, I promise. Thank you all so much for the reviews!
Not A Winter Wonderland:
Beth jerked awake to the sound of her phone going off. She looked around remembering the night before. Her and Kol got home and agreed to watch a movie, but got preoccupied. She smiled as she saw him still asleep besides her in the bed, his hand around her waist, Pirates of the Caribbean still playing on the tv. They'd never get to watch that movie. "Hello?" She answered her cell phone. "Yeah...sure...what? Okay...one hour...no don't come. I'll come to you. Okay? Bye." She hung up on Damon.
"I guess the date really is over." Kol groaned as he pulled her closer.
"Yeah, it's just Damon. He needed some help with Jeremy so he doesn't go crazy and kill all vampires, and that includes you. I don't want him to find out about you. So we cure this problem, before he knows you're in town." She explained as he absentmindedly stroked her arm.
"Sounds like a plan, any chance I could come with you?" He asked mischievously.
"I'm going up to the Gilbert cabin, so no." She told him. "But I should be back by tonight." She promised him.
"Okay, I'm holding you to that." He told her seriously, as she leaned down to peck him on the lips.
"I know you are. I've got to get dressed." She sighed as she got up, taking the blanket with her, leaving him the sheet. Just like Kol, though, he got up, not covering himself up. "You honestly have no sense of modesty do you?"
Kol grinned as he zipped over to her side and pulled her close. "When you have a amazing body like I do, what's the point?" She rolled her eyes and walked away from him.
"Cocky!"
"You love it!"
After showering and getting out of the house, Beth finally got up to the cabin that she had been with once before. She remembered the day that she stabbed herself, to dagger Elijah. It all seemed so long ago. She shook out the nostalgia and got out of the car. She saw Damon waiting outside for her, as Elena walked towards the house. "Hey, what's going on?" She asked/
"We're trying to help Jeremy with his vampire addiction problem. Professor Shadypants is here though, Elena invited him. I don't trust him." He said with suspicion, before looking over at her. "Just be careful of him, El. He was asking questions about you at the pageant and I didn't like it."
She rolled her eyes. 'I'll be fine, Damon. Why'd you want me here, anyways?"
He shrugged, but he actually wanted to see her. He was hoping that they wouldn't drift apart again. He wanted his best friend back, especially if he had to give up the girl of his dreams. "Moral support."
She rolled her eyes at him as he followed her into the house, behind Elena. She saw Bonnie helping Shane and Jeremy move furniture around in the room. "Okay, listen, we are ready to get started, but before we can do that, we need her." He said about Elena. "In here."
Jeremy looked tense as he saw his vampire sister. "This is your house now, Jer. You have to invite me in." She reminded him, trying to reach out to her brother. He didn't say a word, just looked at her.
"Go ahead, Jeremy. Invite her in." Shane pressed him.
"You can come in." He said with a nod. She smiled happily at him as she walked in. She touched his arm gently and stepped into the house. Before any of them noticed, Jeremy took a stake from behind him and went to stake him.
"Jeremy!" Bonnie shouted. Elena quickly grabbed his arm and twisted it around his back, avoiding his aim. She looked hurt that her own brother would try and stake her like that. They all took a step forward to help, but she had him in a defensive position. It was bad if he tries to kill Elena for a second time, let alone a first.
Beth later followed Damon out, as the others tried to find a solution to Jeremy's problem. She found him on the phone with his brother, looking very guilty. "I think she's running around, trying to figure out how to deprogram Jeremy...Not well...peachy...gotta go." He hung up the phone and turned to see his friend looking at him. "What's up with the judging eyes?"
"What was that about?" She asked him curiously as he walked towards her, and the house.
"Well, Elena's sired to me." He admitted, sadly. She felt a rush of sympathy for him. "But before I knew that she and I...we...well we kinda."
"Gross, do not need details." She made a face. He chuckled. 'Moving on."
"Anyways, after that I found out about the sire bond. There's no way that we can break it, since it's directly linked to her feelings for me. I told Stefan that I was going to let her go, but it was more difficult than it sounded. So now he doesn't know that I've been selfish and haven't sent her away." He told her with a sigh.
"I'm sorry, Day. I know it must be hard for you, especially with you finally getting her." She told him. It wasn't a secret how in love with Elena that Damon was, and she knew that he didn't deserve to have to question her feelings for him. He gave her an appreciative smile before pulling her into the house.
Elena was on the side, looking very upset and left the room. Bonnie came over to them. "It didn't work. He still wanted to kill her and it wasn't pretty. Shane tried to use the fact that they're family to suppress his urges to kill her as a vampire." She explained as they walked back into where Jeremy sat on the couch, looking at photos.
"You okay? Shane wants to try again." Bonnie told him.
Damon scoffed and walked into the room. "Survey says ehh. Professor Shane has been dipping into the magical herbs a little too much, if he thinks using a vampire to suppress the need to kill another one is going to work on a Hunter. It's like dangling a cheeseburger in front of someone on a mater cleanse. Just find someone else to attach your warm and fuzz detour feelings to." He explained, obviously looking at Bonnie. Beth rolled her eyes. "Gee, I wonder who that could be."
"You." Jeremy said, looking at Bonnie. She looked shocked. "I feel that way about you." He told her as they shared a smile.
"Well, this isn't awkward at all." Damon said.
Both girls rolled their eyes. "Way to kill the moment. We'll be anywhere else." She told them as she pulled Damon out of the room to give them some time alone. "Would it kill you to actually let them have a moment without ruining it for them?"
"Forgive me for not being a romantic like I'm sure your Junior is when he isn't taking off people's heads with baseball bats." He smirked sarcastically as they walked outside, when he noticed something. "What's that?" He asked, looking at her necklace that held the engagement ring that Kol gave her.
"Nothing." She quickly told him pulling her jacket closer. "Come on. Shane's talking to your girlfriend."
Damon looked at her suspiciously, but followed her all the same, picking up the axe Jeremy had. "If your hypno herbs work, we should be signing Kumbaya around the fire by dinner." He told them. He held up the axe, slightly, the threat clear. "So now, tell me why I'm not killing you?"
"Damon." Beth told him warningly.
"I'm serious. Why are you after the vampire cure?" He asked. It wasn't like he was a vampire and someone always wanted something. In his time on earth, he knew everyone who wanted help usually had an alterior motive, something in it for them.
"I didn't say I was looking for the cure, but I can tell you where to find it." He said seriously, as he took a step towards Damon. All of them looked suspicious, as far as they knew, only the hunters sword could do that.
"Klaus sword will tell us where to find it." Beth said.
Shane looked at her, interested. "The sword will lead you there, sure, but so can I." He explained.
"How?"
Shane looked at Damon, who seemed to relax his hand on his weapon. "Because I've already been there."
After hearing the shocking truth from Shane, they all went into the living room area. Beth took a seat and Elena sat next to her, as Shane sat across from them. Damon hovered protectively next to the couch as they looked at what he was unwrapping, a old rock. "It's a rock." Damon said obviously.
"No shit, Sherlock." Beth rolled her eyes.
"It's not just any rock." Shane chuckled.
"Hm, so is this that silly little wives tale that you told at the occult exhibit?" Damon asked as he walked behind the couch to get a bottle of bourbon.
"Just shut up and let him speak." Beth reprimanded him. They were never going to get anywhere with his comments and he was getting on her nerves. Shane gave her a small nod of thanks.
"Right, long story short. Once upon a time, there was a witch named Silas who loved a girl, who wanted to be with her forever, so he and his best friend, another witch, made an immortality spell and then Silas' best friend witch got jealous and killed Silas' girl before he had a chance to make her immortal. Well, cursed to an eternity without his one true love, Silas finds a way to reverse the immortality spell and then before he has the chance to take it, his former friend buries him underground, leaving him and the cure to rot." He explained to them all.
"So it's a cure for immortality?" Elena asked confused.
"Human blood is the life force of an immortal. No more immortality, no need to feed on blood, you dig up Silas and you've got your sure." He told them seriously.
xxxxx
After successfully using Bonnie to cure Jeremy's vampire killing obsession's, they all gathered in the living room to get Christmas decorations. Beth decided to give them time alone as a family and went out onto the terrace where she was surprised to see Damon sitting on the railings. She sat besides him. "Not your scene?" He asked as he handed her the bottle of bourbon.
She shrugged taking it from him. "Not exactly. It's more of a family thing." She looked down remembering Alaric. It hurt to know that this would be one of the first holidays that he wouldn't be here for. She took a sip of the alcoholic drink as he burned down her throat. Beth saw a look of sympathy go through Damon's face. "I'm not sure digging Silas up will exactly be good, Damon. I mean this is one of the world's first immortal beings. Who knows what he could want, or why he wants it. He could be dangerous."
Damon sighed as he grabbed the bottle back. "We'll cross that bridge when we get it, El. Let's first just use Shane to get there." She nodded in agreement, but still had her concerns. "But first I have to do what I should've done before we left, and let her go." He nodded over at Elena.
"Do what you think is best, Damon." She told him seriously. She couldn't imagine how hard it'd be for him to do that.
He sighed and nodded, before looking over at her. "I'm surprised you came her at all, what with Junior probably wanting you to stay away."
"I can take care of myself, he knows that." She nodded, as she looked down.
"Were you ever going to tell me?" He asked her, curiously. She looked confused until he tugged on the chain that held her ring, bringing it into view. She swallowed hard as he took the sparkling engagement ring into his fingers. "I mean you seriously think that I wouldn't notice when you left one day, dropping out of school to get married?" He scoffed.
She pulled it back under her shirt. "It's not like I'm getting married now, Damon. Kol had this from before I died and he kept it. He just wanted me to have it, to keep it safe." She explained sternly. "Not like you would care."
"Of course I do." He scoffed making her turn to look at him. "I may not be all touchy, feely like Stefan is, but I do care. I just don't want you to make a mistake. You're young, you have you're whole life ahead of you, something that was robbed of a lot of people. Be sure before you do anything." It was like he could read her mind and in that moment, she remembered the Damon she knew. The one that she would do anything for, that she trusted. Surprising him, she hugged him.
"Thanks." She mumbled. He hugged her back, relaxing before pulling away. She saw Elena comintg out towards Damon and decided to give them a moment. "I'll be inside. I'm here if you need me." She walked away, letting her friend let go of the one he loved.
Moment later, Damon had them all packed and ready to go. He agreed to stay here and teach Jeremy how to fight as long as they left, but she knew it was only because he didn't want Elena to be there. She watched as Bonnie said her goodbye's to Jeremy and Elena said hers to Damon. They drove off in their car. "You okay?" She asked him, softly as she stood next to him. "I can always stay if you want."
He gave her a small smile. "As okay as I will be. Here, you need to get going. It's late." He told her opening the car door for her. And to his surprise, for the second time tonight she hugged him and he hugged her back, without hesitation. He needed this, to feel that for a minute it would be okay, they'd be okay.
"I'm a call away." She reminded him, as he kissed her head and pulled away.
"I know. Drive safely, watch out for the scary monsters." He teased her as she got in. He smiled weakly before closing the door behind her, and letting her drive away, wishing that it wouldn't' hurt some much that he had to let both of his girls go.
