Because you're you-and I'm Me Chapter 4

A/N: Wheee, me is back. I'm feeling happy, so that means you guys are being fed a nice, long chapter. Enjoy. :D

Disclaimer: I own the vampire diaries. I'm also a good liar. ;) Which is why I should own them, but don't. Oh well.

~VD~

Caroline ignored the screaming hysterics of the people gathering around Vicki. She ignored Jeremy crying for help. She ignored Elena's panicked scream. She walked towards the woods. She knew what she saw. Damon was here. Of course he'd come to wreak havoc. He was impulsive like that. She should have known. She reached the trees in no time, putting on a jog-like tempo. She followed her mind. It would lead her to him. A split second after she entered a clearing, she was pushed against a tree.

"Looking for me?" He smirked into her face. She raised her eyebrows.

"Actually I'm looking for a mountain lion. Have you seen one?" She asked innocently.

"Haha, very funny." He smiled, looking drunk.

"Isn't that what the town is going to slip it in as anyway?" She stated the obvious. Damon acknowledged that. Then he smiled his weird smile again, his eyes closed.

"So why were you looking for me? Got a death wish?"

"Not really." She shook her head. He loosened his grip. A little. Only a little. Then he looked down into her eyes. Stared, more likely.

"So, earlier, when we were talking…"

"We weren't really talking. You were distracting me, so you could go ahead and kill my ass." She deadpanned.

"And look how that played out." He smirked.

"I'm still kicking." She acknowledged.

"How do you know about vampires?" He asked impatiently. She chuckled. She chuckled because it was so ironic. So damn ironic.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She said, smiling fakely. Damon was obviously annoyed. He rolled his eyes. Of course. She would be difficult. She was a fighter, that was obvious.

"Indeed I would. And you're going to tell me." He started, looking dangerous. She should be scared. Any sane person would have shit their pants. It was true. How was she still standing there? She was human!

"You can't…compel me, Damon." She said. She hated herself for stuttering. It made him flash her that stupid smirk.

"No, I could just fuck it out of you." He said, smiling at her deviously. He made a move to touch her waist, and she panicked. Memories came flooding back to her. The pain, the screams, the menacing laughter. She felt a tear form in her eyes. No. No. Stupid Damon was not going to see her cry. She would not show weakness in front of him. Ever. Weakness fucked everything up. So, she went for the kill. She swung her hand back, and backhanded Damon across the face. To her dismay, he caught her hand before she could pull it back though. He looked pissed.

"Seriously, Forbes? I'm trying to be civil, trying very hard not to kill you here, and that's what I get? I might have to change my mind about that, I could kill you this very second." He vented. Physical contact made Damon Salvatore pissy. Noted.

"Then why don't you?" She snapped back. These phases were stupid. These phases when she was weak. When she felt the urge to give up. To stop the fighting. She needed to stop them. Stop these phases that were showing people weakness.

"Because you're no use to me dead, dammit!" He pushed her harder against the tree. He was very frustrated now. She didn't notice until now that he still held her hand in his. He now started to smell it, trailing his lips across her forearm. She stared at him, mesmerized.

"How do you resist compulsion?" He muttered against her. "It's on you. I can smell the vervain. No. It's in you. Where is it? In your blood?" He concentrated. Obviously this was pushing his vampiric senses to their limit. Caroline didn't know why it pleased her. It had been her idea anyway. Her back-up plan in case she forgot to drink vervain. Or put on the annoying jewelry. She noticed then that she still hadn't said a word. Too busy holding back the tears. She felt something prick her skin. He was biting her wrist. Not in a hurtful way. He was careful. Why was he careful? If he was rough, at least she'd feel something. He pulled back seconds later. He let her arm drop to the side. She didn't make a move to clutch it. He was completely astounded. That was impossible. How was she doing this?

"You're blood is delicious, you know that?" He looked at her, his mouth red, her blood dripping from it. She bit her lip. Was she embarrassed? Or was she in pain? He didn't know. He couldn't tell with her.

"Delicious and vervain-free…" he continued, relishing in the blood on his skin. "Somethings different about it though. It tastes…stronger. Do you drink a lot?" He guessed, teasing her a little bit. She still didn't respond.

"Hey what's wrong with you? You're usually all fight-back and piss-me-off. Did I offend you?" He asked curiously. Was he a psychopath or something?

"I…" She started, but her throat was bone dry. The wound hadn't stopped bleeding. She coughed. "You… idiot...You're over 150 years old, and still don't know that a person bleeds out after being bitten in the major artery." She choked out, collapsing onto the floor. Her eyes rolled back into her head. Damon's eyes widened. He dropped to his knees besides her. Oh damn. My jeans. Damon hated that part of him that was so shallow at some moments. He focused on the dead girl. No, she wasn't dead yet. She had a pulse. But he had cut into her wrist the wrong way. He should know better. He bit into his own wrist, and held it to her mouth.

"Drink." He urged. She shook her head weakly.

"No." Came through her lips as a whisper.

"Do you want to die, Caroline Forbes? Because you will if you don't drink." He said, biting into his wrist again, as the wound from before had already healed. He saw her nod. She nodded. What? She…no way he was letting that happen.

"If you don't drink it willingly I'll force it on you. Last chance." He sighed.

"Don't…want to be…vampire." She croaked. She was crashing. It was all coming to an end. She felt the light fade from her eyes, the last thing she saw was Damon rolling his eyes and biting into his wrist again. Then everything went black.

Damon had seen it happen. He saw her fading, and he had acted on impulse. He opened her mouth, and trickled his blood into her. She would not die today. She had information about Katherine. Tomb or not, he needed to find out about her.

~VD~

Jeremy was rejected at the hospital. He had arrived there to have the doctors tell him Vicki was going to be just 'peachy' in a few days' time. It annoyed the fuck out of him, the way doctors would always sugarcoat everything. He decided to head over to Caroline's house. He was in no mood to put up with Elena's constant 'You-used-to-be-so-much-better-than-this' speeches, or aunt Jenna's crap attempts at connecting with him. Caroline was his family. Not them. The realization shocked him, but it was true. It needed to be said. Or, well, thought. He wasn't good at this, alright? He shook his head as he almost knocked down the door when he didn't see light in Caroline's room. She should be home already. She said she was going to call him when she got home. Why was she not calling him? Matt walked by, on his way home.

"Hey Jer, take it easy, you're going to knock down the door." He yelled from across the street, and then he jogged over. Jeremy descended the stairs leading to Caroline's home.

"Maybe that's my goal." He shrugged easily.

"Ha-ha. Hilarious. What's going on between you and Care?" He asked, putting on a softer tone.

"Since when do you have the right to ask?" Jeremy replied, smugness coloring his face.

"I don't. I guess, but I care about her."

"Oh god, why did you and Elena ever break up? You're perfect for each other." Jeremy groaned in frustration. Matt looked remotely hopeful. Being a dick was fun, if you had one person who genuinely liked you to fall back on.

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, his blue eyes looking at Jeremy, shining with hope. It sickened him on some level.

"You both have that annoying quality superpower of caring about everyone." He said, rolling his eyes. Matt elicited the response Jeremy wanted to hear.

"Dick."

"I'm going home. Take good care of Vicky. I reckon' you care about her too." He chuckled as he made his way home. In some ways, he was a disturbed little kid. He didn't know why it gave him such a high, why it kicked up his spirits. It just did. But everybody was a little twisted in their own way, weren't they?

~VD~

"You are not dying today, Forbes. Stay alive!" Damon grunted as he swept her up in his arms. She was light as a feather. Where did she get all that strength then? It confused him. He got back to the main issue at hand though. Ha-ha, hand. Yeah, funny pun, brain. Bit her the wrong way. How stupid am I? He felt seriously idiotic.

He tried her house, rushing through the streets at vampire speed. He had given her plenty of blood, why wasn't she healing? "Dammit, Caroline. Why aren't you healing?" He yelled into her face. Next he tried the sheriff's station. He could smell the sheriff. At least her wrist wound was healed. They'd put her in for mental illness if they saw the bite he had left. Did she have any internal injuries? He had pushed her around pretty bad. Maybe she had bruises from their sexual encounter a few days back? No, she had been completely fine afterwards. He needed to stop worrying about it. Taking a deep breath, Damon stepped inside, yelling.

"Somebody help!" His voice made the sheriff snap out of her thoughts. She came running towards him.

"Oh my god, Caroline!" Her mother cried out. "Caroline, baby, wake up!" She shook her head.

"Careful." Damon held her back. "We don't know what injuries she might've sustained."

"Who are you?" She sniffed through her tears.

"Major Damon Salvatore, at your service." He did a quick salute, and then focused back on Caroline.

"You…you found her like this?" The sheriff's lip quivered. She couldn't hold back the tears.

"Sheriff Forbes, I assumed she was your daughter. I was talking to her, and suddenly she collapsed. I have no idea why. Her heart stopped for a second, but I was able to revive her. She's unconscious now." Damon rambled on. He needed to stop talking. He was getting ahead of himself.

"We need to get to a hospital."

"Yeah, but isn't the hospital directly next to the sheriff's station?" Damon asked, kind of out of breath from talking too much.

"Let's go. Can you carry her?" Elizabeth Forbes asked fiercely. Damon nodded in response and then started heading for the hospital. Liz followed suit.

~VD~

Caroline felt nothing. Everyting around her was black. Then she heard a beep. She was obviously hooked onto some machine. How had this happened?

She remembered dancing, and partying. That much was for sure. She remembered not drinking much. Just a beer, and half a bottle of Vodka. Okay, maybe she did drink more. But she was always proud of her high alcohol tolerance, so that wasn't it.

She remembered Vicki's attack. Damon attacked her. Damon drew her to the woods. Damon bit into her wrist. Damon.

This was Damon's fault. Her lack of awareness was not caused by Alcohol, or the fact that she had not eaten the entire day. It was because of the smug little bastard of a vampire who wouldn't leave her alone.

Why hadn't he left her to die? It would have been the perfect cover story. 'Overdepressed daughter of sheriff finally offs it' or 'Sheriff-like suicide'. Nobody would question it. Why had he forced his blood on her? Oh god. Realization washed over Caroline. He was going to turn her. She was going to become a vampire.

Was he here right now? When was he going to put his plan into action? She tried to struggle, but her body wouldn't respond. She was dead. Was she dead? Her body wasn't responding. She felt like she was dead. Maybe Damon hadn't saved her. Maybe she was just…dead. Imagining things.

Then she felt something.

A prick.

A needle being inserted.

It was true then. She was in a hospital.

~VD~

Damon watched, as Caroline began to stir 2 hours later. She opened her eyes wearily. She didn't want to. She was still tired. Then she saw Damon. Instantly, she jerked backwards. Her eyes were widened in shock.

"Get away from me." She shrieked. Caroline Forbes didn't shriek. Why was she shrieking? Her throat hurt. He sighed.

"I can't do that, Caroline. I need…information." He air quoted it.

"I don't want to be a vampire. Get away." Her throat hurt like a bitch. "What did you do to me?" She asked, panic flowing through her. Damon laughed. The asshole laughed. Caroline's mood changed from scared to seething within a split second.

"That's how I get emotion out of you? That's the thing you're scared of? Turning? Oh Caroline, you're strange." He chuckled amused. Caroline swallowed hard, trying to regain some moisture in her throat. Damon passed her a glass of water.

"How do I know it's not poisonous?" She said nervously.

"It' not." He winked.

"Wh…why should I trust you?" She coughed again.

"Caroline, you need to drink it." He sighed. She was a real handful. She shook her head again. Damon rolled his eyes. The he took a swig out of the glass.

"There. See? Not poisonous. Now drink." He ordered.

"You're a vampire. You're not affected by poison." She pointed out. Damon let out a frustrated sigh, went over to the nurse, compelled an unopened bottle of water, thanked the nurse, and walked back to Caroline.

"You're annoying as hell, you know that? Okay, listen to the sound. Fzshhhh!" Damon mimicked the sound as he opened the bottle. "There you go, fresh, not-poisoned and ready for drinking. Now please don't strain my nerves anymore." He begged. Caroline took a big gulp out of the bottle. She couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Are you saying you like the backtalking version of me more?" She tested, smirking. Yes, Damon Salvatore wasn't the only one who had the smirk down to pat.

"Haven't decided yet." He mumbled, absent-minded. Caroline sighed.

"Why are you here?"

"To talk to you. To make sure you're okay. I found you, after all." He said, mock-sweetly.

"You caused the injuries, after all." She replied just the same way. He held himself back from smiling.

"Besides the point."

"You should have left me there."

"…to die?" He said skeptically. She nodded. "Are you suicidal?" He asked.

"Sometimes." She shrugged. He went over to her bed quickly.

"Care. Hey. Care! Look at me. Suicide isn't supposed to cross the mind of a girl your age. You're supposed to be care-free, and have boyfriends that make petty love confessions and shit." He tried.

"Maybe the whole world should be care-free, then." She grimaced.

"I am not even going to start how wildly inappropriate that 'joke' was." He looked dead-serious.

"Because you're a jackass uncapable of feelings now that you've turned your magical little fairy-switch off?" She said sarcastically.

"As I was saying, if you'll let me finish this time, how do you know about vampires?" He asked.

"How did you find out about them first?" She asked back in return.

"Fell in love with one." He shrugged.

"Oh, wow. That's just stupid. I just stumbled across one." She said.

"Now, come on, I know there's more to it. Come on, you can tell me. We're friends." He said.

"We don't even know each other." She said.

"You seem to know me awfully well though. How do you know Katherine?" He asked.

"The chick that looks like Elena? She got me out of a sticky situation a couple years back. Boy, that had me confused, seeing how she looked exactly like her." Caroline shook her head, a small smile plastered on her face.

"And I'm guessing you owe her life to her now?" Damon joked. Internally, shock rushed through him. She knew her. Katherine hadn't been in the tomb. She had been lying. Damon's head started to spin.

"No. I already saved her ass 3 times before. We're…friends."

"Katherine doesn't have any friends." Damon threw in.

"Neither do you, but you have favorite people anyway. Let me guess…there's a witch. You met her in…college." Caroline smiled. Damon tried his best not to falter. How the hell did Caroline Forbes, small-town girl, know this stuff?

"So you know Katherine?" Damon stated.

"Used to. She hasn't been here in…way too long. She has to come when Elena is busy though. It's hard, trying to differentiate the awesome one from the one with the ability to 'care' for every single sandgrain on the beach."

"I take it you don't like Elena?" Damon questioned. She paused.

"I don't like vampires either, usually. I shouldn't be talking to you about this stuff." She said. She looked at her wrist.

"Why? We were having such fun."

"Correction: You were having fun tormenting me." She said, tired. She yawned. "What time is it anyway?"

"It's almost eight. But I'm guessing you don't want to go to school?" He said.

"Yeah…" She admitted, biting her lip.

"See, I do know you." He smiled. "I already got you discharged." He said, satisfied with himself. He picked her up.

"Why are you being like this?" She asked, reluctantly putting her arms around his neck for stabilization.

"You almost died on me." He pointed out, walking out of the hospital.

"You don't care about that." She said snidely.

"No. I guess I don't. My magical little fairy-switch is off, right?" He smirked. She rolled her eyes.

"It is off, don't try to deny it." She yawned again.

"And you still haven't told me how you resist compulsion." He said.

"Because that would make me pretty stupid, wouldn't it?" She asked, as if it was obvious.

"Why would that make you stupid?" He asked, arriving at her house. He put his hand into her back jeans pocket. She looked at him warningly, he pulled out her key.

"You're an emotionally damaged vampire who's come to wreak havoc upon the town." She said as he entered the house. "And apparently you already have an invite." She stated. He smirked.

"What can I say? Your mom likes me. Where's your room?"

"Well at least there's something you don't know." She said, tiredness coloring her voice. "Last door on the left." He entered her room swiftly, and carefully placed her on the bed.

"See, I'm not so bad, am I?" He smirked.

"You're pretty bad. But you can be sweet when you want to be. I'm going to go to sleep now, and when I wake up, you won't be here. Capisce?" She questioned.

Damon just smirked. She closed her eyes and drifted away. She felt good. Maybe the vampire blood was doing something to her. She didn't know. All she knew is she wanted to sleep.

He looked at her for several minutes. She knew something. He'd have to figure it out himself because apparently she was not the kind of person to spill something. He sighed as he seated himself on her bed. She was already out, dreaming about someone. Possibly the Gilbert kid. He didn't know why that pissed him off. Then he heard her mumble something in her sleep.

"Damon."

He stared at her.

~VD~

Wohoo. This be long chapter. I'm already working on the next one, just saying. I love writing this fic. I also love reviews, so go ahead and leave one. :D