Chapter Twenty-Seven: Implicit Demand For Proof

I know you're not a liar
And I know you could set fire this day
Go ahead and make me look away
Strike me down
I am calling your lightening
Down from your dark hiding place
Go ahead and show me your face
~Twenty One Pilots

Nilly was leaning on the bathroom sink, staring at her reflection, when her cell ringer made her jump. She looked down at the phone in her hand, the screen lit up 'Elena Calling'. Well it was now or never and with a sigh Nilly hit the answer button.

"Hi," she said, her voice echoing slightly in the empty bathroom. There was a pause on the other line.

"Nilly, hi." Elena's voice said back. Nilly was quiet. What was she supposed to say? "Are you okay? Are you safe? Where are you?" Elena asked, her voice starting to sound frantic.

"I'm fine," was all she answered.

There was another pause. "Nilly…"

Nilly didn't want to here it anymore. Another word from Elena and Nilin might snapped. "You lied," she nearly shouted into the phone.

"Not until I explain, please."

She squeezed the phone in her hand. "So you didn't lie?"

Another pause. "Just tell me where you are so I can come get you." Elena said.

Nilly tired to steady herself. "No, I don't think I want you to come get me," she answered back.

"You're with Damon?" Elena asked.

Nilin clamped her teeth down. "Yeah, I'm with Damon."

"You can't even answer when I call you, yet you can stand being around him, a vampire?" Elena asked, her voice rising.

She laughed bitterly, "I didn't really have a choice."

"Nilin, where are you?" Elena tried again.

"I'm safe, and I'm hanging up," was all Nilin answered.

"Nilin, wait!" Elena frantically said into the phone.

"You have thirty seconds."

"Really Nil—"

"28… 27…"

"Fine, go ask Damon about Katherine. See how long you can be around him then."

"What?"

"Ask him about her and your resemblance to her. Then call me to come pick you up," Elena said into the phone, her voice strained.

"Katherine? What the hell are you talking about?" Nilly asked.

"Just do it Nilly, trust me," she said. Nilly almost broke her jaw because of how hard she clenched it.

"Trust you? Am I supposed to believe that?" she asked with a strained voice.

"Listen-" Elena said, but Nilly had enough. She hit the end button, hanging up on Elena. Nilly splashed some water on her face and pulled her wavy hair into a ponytail. She still had the same pair of white shorts on and she desperately wanted trade them in for sweatpants and some aspirin.

Then with one final deep breath she left the bathroom. As she walked back to Damon, she saw that he now had two huge plates of food. By the looks of it hamburgers, overflowing with fries. With a sudden pain in her stomach, Nilly realized she was starving.

She sat back down on the stool slowly, not meeting Damon's eyes. She didn't want to be here anymore, she hated him for dragging her along. He slid one of the plates towards her, it smelled amazing.

"Thanks," she said without looking up at him, shoving a fry in her mouth.

"You're very welcome." Damon smirked, taking a bite of his burger.

"This nice act. Is any of it real?" she asked him, turning to finally meet his eyes. He stopped mid bite and put his burger back down.

"I've never been good at acting," he said.

Nilly snorted a laugh and looked back down at her plate. "Had me fooled," she mumbled.

Damon turned to her and rested his elbow on the bar. "What if we play honesty hour?"

Nilly's eyebrows pulled together confused. "Honesty hour?"

Damon looked at her, a smirk playing on his lips. "What, you've never played it at one of your girlie slumber parties?" he asked her.

"I never went to any slumber parties," she told him, her brows still pulled together in confusion.

He stared at her. "What a sad childhood you must have had." Damon shook his head.

"Thanks for reminding me," she shot back. "Anyway, what's this Honesty Hour?"

"Well it's very simple," he smirked. "But I'll try to explain it for you new timers. We ask each other questions about anything, nothing is off limits and you have to be completely honest."

Her eyes narrowed, "You're telling me to be honest?"

Damon put his hands up. "We. We have to be completely honest," he said.

Nilly thought for a moment. Why the hell not? What else did she have to lose?

"Okay, fine I'll play," she said, popping another fry in her mouth. Just then Bree came back over and handed Damon a beer.

"I'll have one," she said. Two surprised eyes turned towards her. "Time out remember," she said. "Plus I have a feeling this game's going to need a beer." Bree came back over, another beer in her hand.

"There you go," she said handing it to Nilly.

She took a sip and then turned back to Damon. "Newbie's go first," she said.

Damon smirked and gestured his hands for her to go on. Nilly thought for a moment, she wanted to start off slow before getting to the real question Elena had implanted in her brain. Finally she spoke.

"Why'd you pull me out of the Jeep?" she asked slowly. There was a pause as Nilly tried to read Damon's face.

"Why wouldn't I? You were all damsel-in-distress like and I might be a vampire but I'm not cruel," he answered. "Well, all the time," he winked.

Nilin rolled her eyes. "I mean you could have just left me on the side of the road or something. Why'd you take me with you?" she asked.

"Uh, that's two questions and it's my turn." Damon said mouth full of fries. Nilin just narrowed her eyes in frustration. "Who was that vampire you hit?"

Nilly unintentional inhaled a mouth full of beer. She knew the conversation was going to come to this, but she didn't expect so quickly. Damon watched her as she got over her coughing fit and manage to breath again.

"Innocent pedestrian?" Nilin tried.

Damon shook his head and put a hand to his chest. "And who's the deceiving one now?" he asked, with fake shock. "Try again," he told her, dropping the act.

She sighed. Why is it so hard to say? "He's the, uh, ex," Nilin put it. Damon's eyebrows knitted together. "I met him when I moved from MysticFalls. He's not a good person. Not a good person at all," she explained. "His name's Christian and like you said before, he's out to get me." Nilly finished quietly, starring at her plate. Her appetite was suddenly gone. "What I told you at the boarding house about him is true too, by the way. He's just a little more violent than a human."

Damon was quiet beside her, she didn't want to look up so instead she asked a question. "Where's this Katherine girl, you said you knew where she was but you hit a dead end?"

Damon moved, clearing his throat. "Well," he said very hesitantly. "She and 25 other vampires are trapped in a tomb under the burnt remains of the old FellsChurch and I need a witch's crystal to get her out of it," he spoke quickly as if hoping she didn't catch what he said. But she did.

Nilly closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead. "So Katherine's a vampire… and there are more vampire's in MysticFalls," she reiterated slowly trying to get all the information correct. But her brain had ceased to work anymore.

"Mmhm, yup." Damon said.

She opened her eyes to look at him. "And why is it now I'm hearing about this?" she asked.

"Nuh-uh, what'd I say? One question per round," he said, smirking.

Obviously she's not getting an answer for that one. "Okay, then it's your turn." Nilly said with a strained tone.

"This Christian dude, why is he out to get you?" Damon asked taking a sip of his beer. Nilly inwardly groaned. She didn't feel like reliving this with Damon, at the moment. But, she couldn't figure how not to tell him, so she might as well be blunt about it.

She threw her hand up. "He is a delusional person, what else can I say? In his mind, I'm his and no one else. So when I ran away, he went hunting after me. He thinks its a game and I have to play along because he's threatened my family. He only started threatening them when he realized threatening my life wasn't working anymore." Nilly told him.

Again stillness came over Damon, Nilly noticed it and this time she looked up at him. His fists were clenched, eyes on hers. They looked darker and colder than she's ever seen.

Nilly shrugged. "You asked," she said, taking a sip from her beer. "Do you love Katherine?" she asked quietly, taking her turn. Damon didn't speak. "You said we had to be honest," she reminded him.

He slowly seemed to unfreeze. "Yeah, I do. I have for over a century now," he answered, just as quiet as Nilin. She just nodded her head. "I can see why you hate vampires so much, now," he continued. "I understand why you went speeding out of the boarding house last night."

Nilly kept her eyes on her plate, "Was there a question in there?"

There was silence then Damon asked, "Do you believe it's possible to love two people?" he asked with his voice still low. Nilly wasn't going to think too much into that question. She wouldn't let herself.

Nilly shook her head, "No, it's not possible. You have one heart for a reason. If you love two people than you're not truly in love with the first, because if you were you wouldn't have fallen for the second," she gave him her inner Dr. Phil answer.

Instead of letting him say anymore she asked another question, the one that had been on her mind this entire time. "Tell me about Katherine and my resemblance to her." she turned towards him. He looked stunned, shocked actually. "What? Did I say something?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Who said anything about you resembling her?" he asked, straightening up.

"Elena… and I have a feeling I'm not going to like the answer," she semi-groaned. "Let me remind you that you have to be completely truthful right now and the slightest bit of trust I have to offer to you is hanging on a thread." Nilly said, sitting up on her stool.

They were facing each other, now. He just stared at her as if he wasn't sure what to say. Nilly finished the last of her beer and found her self squeezing the bottle in her hand. Finally he spoke.

"You look alike." Damon said reluctantly. "You have an uncanny similarity when it comes to looks, personalities on the other hand…" he shrugged.

"What do you mean? We have the same eye color or something?" Nilly asked.

"No, hers aren't as bright as yours," he answered almost smirking again.

"Damon can you be serious with me for one second here?" she asked, getting frustrated.

He looked her right in the eye, smirk vanishing off his lips. "When I first saw you, I though you were her," he said, slowly. "If my heart could have stopped, it would've."

Nilly swallowed hard, something clicking in place. "So it wasn't resemblance to Elena that made you want to talk to me, it was Katherine." Nilly said slowly. Damon didn't deny it. She nodded, "So that's what's with this nice act."

"Nilin—"

"Then why'd you keep up with the whole act?" she cut him off. "Was I occupying your time until you could figure out how to get the tomb open?" She was blatantly ignoring the one question per round rule.

"At first, yes. Or that's how I saw it, but then everything changed. I knew you weren't her the moment I saw your eyes, the moment I heard you sing, Nilin." Damon said. "I didn't think things would get this out of hand."

Nilly didn't say anything at first. Process, Accept, Move on. She slowly nodded her head, "Yeah me neither." Her voice was calm, but she needed another beer.

She knew why Elena told her to ask about Katherine, she wondered how Elena knew Damon would tell her the truth. Nilly herself didn't realize he'd actually tell her so much the truth.

"Nilin—" Damon went to say again. She held up her hand to stop him, a soft smile touched her lips.

"You were honest with me Damon, that's all I've ever wanted. And I believe you, I do. Don't feel bad or anything, it's the truth. And sometimes it hurts and other times people need to hear it. So it's okay, Damon." Nilly said.

He smiled back at her. "God, you need another beer," he smirked.

Nilly rolled her eyes at him. "I think I need something a little stronger than a beer now," she said. He grabbed Bree's attention, who poured them two shots. Nilin watched Damon as he flirted with Bree until she went to help another customer, smiling at his jokes. Then he slid the shot to her.

"I'm going to help you," Nilly said as if she finally confirmed a decision in her head. She reminded herself of her father for a moment.

"With?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Getting Katherine out of the tomb," she answered.

Again that shocked expression came over Damon's face. "And why would you want to do that?" he asked suspicion in his voice.

Nilly just grinned at him. "Because that's Nilin Gilbert for you. That's what I do, I help the people I care about. And this Katherine chick clearly makes you happy, so" Nilly shrugged. Damon was quiet, he didn't say anything just looked her over. Nilin knew he was trying to see if there was a double motive or loophole that he couldn't find in her offer. "Really Damon? You're having a problem trusting me now?" she asked. "If you should trust anyone, why not me?"

He held his glass in front of him. "If anyone, you," he said. Nilly tapped her glass with his and threw her head back, downing the shoot. Damon smiled at Nilly, a different smile. They had reached something, tonight. An understanding.

It was as if Nilin had been the one to bring the court room to an agreement. Her father would be proud.

Too many shots later, Nilly was surrounded by a group of people as they all tried to shoot their glasses back the fastest. For the third time in a row Nilly slammed her shot glass on the table first. Clapping her hands, she let out a tipsy "Woo!"

She turned to Damon who was wiping Tequila off his chin. "You missed a little," she teased.

He just smirked at her, "Sorry I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol."

"It's in the genes!" Nilly laughed, "Us Gilberts come from a long line of drinkers, you know?" She smiled and then turned to Bree. "Another round?" she asked.

Bree shook her head, her dark curls flailing about. "Honey, you should be on the ground," she said, flipping Nilly's glass over.

Nilly winked, "That's another thing, besides the whole jaw unhinging, my tolerance is way up here." She threw her hand in the air. Turning to a smirking Damon, she smiled, "I'm not even drunk yet."

All of a sudden her phone went off, vibrating the table. It was Jenna. Nilly fumbled with it as she backed away to the exit. Holding a finger up to Damon to tell him she'd be right back, Nilly pushed open the exit door. The wind blew, throwing Nilly's hair in her face as she hit the answer button.

"Hello?" she said as she struggled to pull her hair to one side.

"Nilly? Where are you? Are you okay?" her aunt asked.

"Huh? Yeah. No, I'm good. Everything's fine. Hold on, Jenna I can't hear you" Nilly said stumbling down the stairs a little bit. She caught herself on the railing as her aunt's voice became frantic in her ear.

"Everything is not fine." Jenna said. "I got a call from-" The phone flew out of Nilly hand as she clumsily tripped over her own foot, falling to the ground. She landed on the cement.

"Ouch, ow, ow," she complained brushing her knees off.

Her phone had slid off the sidewalk, she could still her Jenna's voice. "Hello?"

Nilly got up rubbing her wrist sorely and reached for her phone on the ground. When she stood up, chills went down her spine. The atmosphere had changed, the night was too silent, the air too cold. She held the phone to her ear, "I'm fine Jenna, I'll have to call you back." She hung up on her aunt, closing her fingers around the phone at her side.

Nilly scanned the dark back-parking lot. She stepped to turn around when a hand clamped over her mouth and she met his cold silver eyes. Nilly dropped her phone, but never heard it hit the concrete.

Damon had been watching Bree from the corner of his eyes. She kept throwing nervous glances at him. He caught her eye and smirked at her. The familiar sound of a panicked heartbeat filled his ears. Something wasn't right, she was keeping something from him.

"I'm going to give you another chance, Bree." Damon said casually, as she made the mistake of standing in front of him, the bar between them. Now that he had a new ally, Damon had renewed motivation to open that tomb. "How do I break the spell?"

Bree shook her head, he could hear her heartbeat pick up even more which confirmed his suspicious that she wasn't being up front with him. Using his inhumanly speed, he was over the bar and pushing Bree against the shelves of alcohol. He smirked as a gasp escaped her lips.

"The tomb can be opened," she stammered.

His eyes narrowed. "You're lying!" he said, tightening his grip on her.

"Emily's grimoire, her-her spell book." Bree blurted out. "If you know how she closed the tomb the reversal process will be in her book. You can open the tomb," she explained.

Damon relaxed his grip. "And where is this book?" he asked.

Bree's wide eyes darted away from his. "I-I-" she stuttered.

"You have no idea." Damon snapped.

She shook her head, swallowing hard. "No. I'm telling you the truth." Damon stepped away from her, walking around the bar.

He took the shot glass in his hand, drinking the contents. "Now was that so hard?" he said, slamming the glass on the counter and shattering it. He grabbed his leather jacket and headed for the door.

Getting what he wanted, Damon could finally find Nilin and leave. He went out the exit Nilin had awhile ago, leaving the bar and a still shaken Bree.

Author's Notes:

There's Chapter 27 for you. I changed it up a little bit, Bree lives! Haha, tell me what you guys think, especially about what you thinks going to happen next. Guess who's back? Find out Friday :)
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