Chapter Sixty: Head is Not My Home

Made it out and cut it out. Take things slow as we may bruise
To reach our unpredictable pass
Your heart, your heart understand mine
Found in forbidden nights, sharpest loud and place is quiet
Know the promises we make, guard now and never again
My mouth your lips, your hands my hips
Hard time right now will set free and relieves us of our misery
Secrets lie in our way
Your kiss tastes better outside the light of day
Know you're sure to scratch your back
Break my knuckles feel them crack
I reveal nothing, both played fate
Pretend not to worry our hearts your hearts that sting
~MS MR

Nilly sat, perched on top of Damon's bathroom counter. Her head was pressed against the wall, as she struggled to keep her eyes open. God she was so tired, she felt like she could sleep for days. Her entire body was like one giant bruise, everything hurt. She slowly felt her eyes close themselves as she waited.

"I have a bed, you know? It's much more comfortable," Damon said as he walked into the bathroom, coming to stand in front of her. Her eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice. She picked her head up off the wall and eyed him.

"I know," she reminded him. He smirked at her, handing her a white towel. "Thanks," she said. She took the towel and laid it next to her. Then she turned her arm over and used the tweezers to begin gingerly picking pieces of gravel out. She looked up at Damon who was staring down at her arm. "You don't have to be in here, I can handle this," she told him wearily.

He smiled at her and chuckled. "I'm offended that you think I have so little self-control, Nilin." He snatched the tweezers from her hand. "Self-control is one thing I am very good at," he smirked as he grasped her other hand.

Nilin rolled her eyes at him, as he picked up where she had left off. She heard the pling of fragments hit the sink as Damon cleaned them from her arm.

She winced slightly each time, but tried her best not to show it. "You know, a bit of vampire blood would fix this right up," he offered, his eyes on her arm.

"I think I'll be fine, give it day or two." Nilin said as Damon pulled the last piece of gravel out of her cuts. He took the white towel from next to her and wiped away the remaining blood on her arm before he wrapped it up.

"Let me take a look at this," Damon spoke, his voice a little strained. "I know you've been trying to hide it from me," he said as he swept the hair off her shoulder. He revealed the nasty bite marks; one on her neck and another on her collarbone.

"I didn't want you to get angry and do something stupid," she explained in a small voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, cleaning the dried blood off of her.

"You're an impulsive vampire, Damon, you know what it means," she said, cringing as he brushed over the bite on her neck.

"Sorry," he mumbled under his breath, concentrating on his task at hand. Though Nilin wasn't sure what exactly his apology was for.

"So what's the diagnosis, Doc, am I going to live?" she asked trying to light the heavy atmosphere around them.

"I believe so," Damon said, tossing the now red towel to the side. "We got lucky this time."

"I know," she sighed and slowly leaned back on the wall again. Nilly was sure her body was littered with a cocktail of bruise, cuts and scrapes, but she wasn't too eager to find out. The few aspirin she had taken a while go were beginning to dull her throbbing head.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her. Nilin was pretty sure he wasn't referring to her physical condition anymore.

"Yeah," she answered momentarily. "I mean, I know I shouldn't be, but I feel good. I fought back tonight, and it felt good." Nilly told him with a lopsided grin on her lips. She looked up into Damon's eyes; they were watching her intently.

His fingers tucked her hair behind her ears, and cupped her face. "You shouldn't have had to fight back, Nilin," he told her. She could start to see the emotions peek out from his cool features.

There was still anger held in his eyes. He was still furious. He had let Stefan and Elena have it when they made it to the boarding house, Magnolia backing Damon up. Nilly had been stunned, she had never seen Mags or Damon so angry before. Nilly was afraid it was going to get violent so she had faked a dizzy spell that shut everyone up. That's how she ended up in Damon's bathroom.

"Damon—" she started to say.

"No. You know I'm right, Nilin. You shouldn't have been in the cemetery by yourself," he cut her off. "What were you thinking going there?"

"I wanted to visit my parents, Damon. Alone," she tried to explain, laying one of her cold hands on his cheek. His skin felt warm against her fingers. "You can't protect me forever, you know that. Especially now, after tonight he's going to be even more determined than ever. I pissed him off, I'm not playing along with his game. I got away and I wasn't supposed too."

"This isn't over yet, Nilin. Stop acting like it is. We are going to get this bastard." Damon swore.

"I can have someone watching me every second of the day but there's going to be that one moment where I'll be walking to my car or taking out the trash and it will be over," she said. "It's inevitable."

"You can't honestly think that," he looked at her in disbelief. "I promised you I'd do whatever it takes to keep you safe and I meant that." Damon reminded her.

She looked down and fought back the prickle of tears in her eyes. Damon tucked his finger under her chin and tilted her head up. "You trust me, don't you?" he asked her, his voice unusually tender.

"Yes," she answer, her voice wavering a little.

Then a smirk came to his face. "Then you're staying here, at the boarding house, until this is over." Damon said.

Nilly's eyebrows rose. She slid off the counter, immediately regretting the quick movement. Pain reverberated throughout her entire body.

"What?" she asked dumbfounded, after the wave of pain had surpassed.

"You have new sleeping arrangements," he smiled.

"I can't just say here," Nilin said, registering the bombshell that was just dropped on her. "What am I going to tell Jenna? Oh, a psychotic vampire is set on ripping my throat out so I'll have to say at an old creepy boarding house until we can kill him. By the way, did I forget to mention that the home owners are vampires too?" she said sarcastically. "Somehow I don't think that's going to go over well."

Damon laughed, amused by Nilin's rant. "Elena has already taken care of it. She told Jenna you went to visit Mildred for a little before school starts," he explained.

"Damon—" she tried again.

"He knows where you live now, Nilin. He followed from your house to the cemetery. You aren't safe there anymore," he told her.

"And what about Jenna and Jeremy, huh? What about Elena? He knows she lives there then too." Nilin argued.

"Stefan and Bonnie have that taken care of. They're not letting Christian get anywhere near your family," he reassured her. "They're safe."

Nilly stared at him. "Unbelievable," she exasperated. "You people are unbelievable."

Damon continued to find her reaction hilarious. He leaned on the counter as he fought back his laughter. "Elena's going to get a bag of your things to keep here. She made all the calls already and everything. All you have to do is pick a bedroom," he told her.

"I want the one farthest away from you," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Pout all you want, I almost lost you today so this is one thing you don't get a say in." Damon said. The emotion in his voice caused Nilin to pause and look up at him. She could almost see through his walls, the bricks crumbling. As he looked at her, his eyes held burning fear and determination… and something else.

It was so vivid that it caused Nilly to whisper an, "Okay," with no further argument. She'd just have to learn to like her new sleeping arrangements.

As quickly as it came, the emotions went. Damon built his false mask back up, hiding behind it once more. And again Nilin had that feeling that she was the only one, in a long time, to see that vulnerable side of him. The thought made her smile.

Feeling brave, she stepped forward slowly. She reached up, sliding her hand to the back of his neck and pulling his head down to her level. Then she kissed him, their lips creating electricity. Her pain and problems seemed to be eased away. Nilin didn't hold back. She had told Damon that she trusted him, but now she wanted to show him. She let her walls come down around her as they kissed, his arms snaking around her waist and pulling her into him. She was in a bone crushing grip against him and nothing had ever felt better.

Finally the human had to pull back to breathe, her chest heaving slightly. Faint traces of hungry veins had snuck under Damon's dark eyes. His hair was messy, thanks to her fingers raking through it, and his lips were slightly parted. He was the most stunning thing Nilin had ever seen. Neither of them looked away as Damon's control took over and the snakes disappeared completely.

"What is wrong with me?" Nilin questioned out loud. "I've been down this road before, I've seen how it goes and it nearly killed me. Yet here I am, standing in front of you."

"You're here because you know this is different," he told her, placing a hand on her cheek. "You forget that I've also been here before," Damon said, the corners of his lips turned up a little.

"I'm terrified, but I'm still here. Does that make me stupid?" she asked quizzically.

"Incredibly," he answered quickly, a hint of a smirk on his lips. "You're very stupid," he continued. His hand dropped from her cheek, any traces of humor gone. "I could hurt you, I want to hurt you."

"How come you don't then?" she challenged, looking up at him. He took a step back from her. She dropped her hands from his neck, letting him create the space.

"Because the thought of it is unbearable," he answered her. She saw his brash façade teetering again.

"Then why are you so worried?" she asked softly.

"Because," he started, crossing his arms over his chest. "There is a very dark part of me that wants to rip your beating heart out of your chest and drain every last drop of your blood."

Nilin swallowed hard. The words hit her hard. She knew he was trying to scare her. Damon was the kind of person who would rather he be hated then loved because it was easier.

"I thought you were master of self-control?" she asked, once she was sure her voice wouldn't break.

"Most of the time," he answered.

"That's enough then," she said softly, and filled the distance between them. Her hand came up slowly to stroke his cheek.

"It won't be enough forever," he warned her. She felt his finger's slide through her hair, wrestling with her curls slightly. She shook her head.

"I don't think about forever," she finalized and a smile came to his face. He ducked his head down and kissed her once more. This one was soft, it tingled her lips as he pulled back.

"You're still incredibly foolish," he joked.

Nilin glared at him, pushing back on his chest a little bit. "And you aren't, Mr. Salvatore?" she eyes him, unable to help her smile. His grin returned to his lips.

"There is a difference between foolish and thick headed," he defended.

She raised her eyebrows, stepping back from him this time. "I wouldn't be too sure about that," she teased.

Elena had brought over two suitcases filled with Nilly's things, along with her guitar. She had managed to sneak all of it past Jenna and Jeremy without either of them knowing.

Both girls now sat in one of the many rooms of the boarding house, the one Nilly had opted to stay was on the second floor of the house on the far end of the hallway. The room was dimly lit at night, at the moment the only light coming from an old antique light fixture on the bedside table.

She had chosen the room because of its strange layout. It had stained wood floors and exposed beams in the slanting ceiling. A huge mahogany dresser and desk sat pushed to the one side of the room right under the long windows. The widows, like most of the others in the house, were draped with velvet curtains. These were pulled shut and looked as if they had been that way for years.

What took up most of the space in the smaller room was the magnificent bed that sat on the one wall. It was a canopy bead with dark wooden beams. Someone had stripped the sheets and laid fresh ones in their place. At the foot of it was a large coffer, with a lock.

It was probably the smallest rooms in the house, with odds and ends of furniture thrown in there, but Nilly found it the most comforting. At the moment, she and Elena were sitting on the large bed. Elena had her back resting on the headboard as Nilly went through one for the suitcases.

"If you need anything else, you tell me. I'll smuggle it out of the house for you," Elena assured her. She had a small smile on her face and Nilly knew what was bothering her.

"It wasn't you're fault," Nilin said when she saw Elena's eyes linger on the large band aid on the side of her neck. Nilly had changed out of her dirt and blood crusted clothes she had been wearing and now had on a dark purple sweatshirt and black leggings that hid most of her injuries. The only ones showing was the bandage on her neck and scrapes on the side of her cheek.

"I could have stopped you or gone with you, I wasn't thinking." Elena said, her guilt finally showing. "I mean if it wasn't for Magnolia and Shellie you might be…" she trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

"First, I would have gone no matter what you said. And second, Mags and Shells were there and they did save me and I'm not dead. Okay? It's not your fault." Nilly said sternly, wanting to squash this conversation quickly.

"Okay," was all Elena said, her eyes downcast. Nilly sighed and scooted up the bed. She wrapped her arms around Elena and rested her head on her shoulder. "Are you sure you'll be okay here?" Elena asked after a moment.

"You wouldn't let me stay here if I wasn't going to be," she pointed out.

"I guess you're right." Elena mumbled. Nilly lifted her head off Elena's shoulder and smiled.

"I am always right, dear sister," she informed Elena with a grin.

"Sure you are." Elena rolled her eyes. Both girls laughed but eventually the room silenced again. At some point they had scooted down the bed and now both heads shared a pillow.

Nilly had her arm looped around Elena's bicep and Elena's hand clutched Nilly's between the two of them. They were silently comforting one another, knowing each needed it.

The more time went on, the harder it was for Nilly to keep her eyes open. Her body was so sore that taking in deep breaths hurt like hell. It felt like she had been trapped under a pile of bricks all day. When Elena began to sink into a doze she mumbled, "Maybe I should just stay for the night."

Nilly nodded, "Yeah, if you want."

"I'll just tell Jenna I slept over Bonnie's," she said, finishing with a yawn.

"Good idea." Nilly sighed as her eyes closed. Elena buried her head into Nilly's unmarked shoulder.

"Mmhm," she hummed in agreement. Nilly let out one last content sigh as sleep drifted her and Elena off together.

Author's Notes:

Hey guys! Sorry for the late update! I've had SO MANY exams and papers due the past week, it's insane. But here I am, late but at least I'm updating. I want to thank everyone again for sticking with the story. I appreciate it. And to all the new followers, WELCOME! :)
See you on Friday.

RLS

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