Because you're you-and I'm me
A/N: I can't get out of apologizing for the delays, can I? Hm. ._.
Disclaimer: I don't own the vampire diaries. I do not! Yet. ._. Huehuehuehue.
~VD~
The Grill was decked out beautifully this evening. Alaric and Jenna had just finished decorating, and were now sitting inside the grill, talking, flirting, and having fun. Damon heard them before he entered, thus chosing to turn around, not wanting to interrupt, and bumped straight into someone.
It was her. Oh, God. Caroline. She looked absoloutely wonderful. She always did, he noted. Her curls looked extra bouncy, but that wasn't what was so extraordinary. Her eyes. They held a happiness he'd never seen before. She was happy. Happy without him. He swallowed hard. This had been his idea. He had to live with it. He sighed.
"Watch it, Salvatore." Caroline spat out. The words hurt more than he could ever comprehend. Hearing his name roll off her tongue so coldly nearly killed him inside. He took a deep breath, composing himself, and then sneered at her.
"Didn't see you there Forbes. Then again, no one ever sees you."
She narrowed her eyes, staring him down, disdain radiating off of her. It suited her. He had to hold himself back. All he wanted was to run his hand along her cheek, tell her how amazingly breathtaking she looked, and then kiss her deeply. But he had chosen his fate. He had to live with it. She shrugged, stepping past him, ramming into him purposefully, before nodding to her companion. The pretty blonde stepped after Caroline, but not before giving Damon a very obvious once-over. Then she smirked and winked at him. Damon nodded at her, amused. His skin singed, reminiscing about the contact it had made with Caroline. He could get lost in it forever.
As soon as she was gone, however, he sighed, leaning against the grill. He was in public, he would not disgrace himself by letting the tears flow freely. He didn't know how long he'd been standing outside, but after a while, Alaric came outside with two glasses of Bourbon. He nudged him.
"You better come inside. We're about to be auctioned off. Wouldn't want to miss that for the world, now would we?" He laughed.
"How the hell did I think I could live through this without touching her? Without kissing her, showing my love...I am a fool." Damon groaned, downing his bourbon.
"You did what you thought was right in a spur of the moment kind of plan. Now it backfired. Deal with it, will you? You've always had ways of distracting yourself."
"What if I go back to her?"
"And make her fall for you all over again?" Alaric asked, displeased. "I'd rather you don't. I am, first and foremost, her friend. Though I consider you one now as well, Caroline is like a daughter to me. I will not have you hurt her anymore."
"If I could just..."
"No. Absoloutely not. You know just how hard it was for her, loving you the first time around. It takes her a long time to admit her love for somebody. You know that. She can't take that back so easily, it will destroy her if she finds out your ulterior motives."
"I don't have any." Damon looked at him, skeptically.
"I meant the compulsion." He said, his voice flat. Damon looked away.
"Probably the thing I regret most."
Alaric sighed as, he too, knocked back his bourbon.
"Leave it to you to regret your most noblest action. Come one, the ladies of Mystic Falls are waiting."
Damon sighed one last time, before heading inside.
~VD~
"I don't know why this is so raved about. It's not interesting." Caroline groaned. Carol Lockwood was standing on the stage, introducing the bachelors. Well, it seemed more like she was interrogating them, as poor Alaric was so befuddled by one of her questions he could do nothing but stammer. Caroline felt bad momentarily, before chuckling. Katherine looked at her skeptically.
"You're just miffed because you were forced to put your name in." She poohed it. Caroline gave her a glare.
"Of course I am. How could my mom do that to me? Just hand me her ticket and dissappear. What if I end up with 'Plumber Boy'?" She said, disgusted.
"Or Salvatore?" Katherine smirked.
"You go on about him an awful lot, you know that?" Caroline laughed. "You're just desperate to ruin my happiness, aren't you?"
"Well, I bet he could pleasure you in bed immensely." Katherine wiggled her eyebrows. Inside, she felt her need to follow what she was ordered to do rise again. She swallowed it back. She would not obey him. Or his commands. She was Katarina Petrova. She did not take orders from anybody. So she breathed out loudly, stilling herself, hoping Caroline wouldn't take notice of her strange, unusual behaviour.
Caroline, on the other hand, was having trouble of her own. Her mind, at the mention of her and Damon in bed, conjured up many images of the two of them making love. It seemed damn realistic. The thought of it made her panties wet. Oh God, was she attracted to Damon Salvatore? She shifted in her seat. There was no way he could ever find out. He'd laugh at her, tease her mercilessly. Unless...if she was clever about it.
No, what was she thinking? She couldn't sleep with him. He'd never let her live it down. Then again, if he could do what he did in her mind.
That's the thing though, Caroline. It's in your mind. Who knows what kind of a lay he'll be.
So she had to seduce him, without him knowing. That was going to be hard. And then she'd have to leave him alone. She couldn't start anything with him. She barely tolerated him as it was. So what I her body disagreed with her mind? She had made her decision.
Seducing Damon Salvatore was on. So on. She smirked evilly as she caught his eye, raising her glass at him suggestively.
~VD~
What is she doing?
Damon felt a rush of elictricity surge through him, pooling in his loins. It had to be electricity. Sure, he loved her more than anything, considered her the hottest, most amazing, most incredible creature on gods earth, but it had never been this primal. What had caused it?
Obviously, it had been her cheeky look as she raised her glass at him.
There was nothing wrong with that.
Except there was. Everything was wrong. She should only just tolerate him. Her flirting with him would fuck with his mind even more. He couldn't have that. That was absoloutely out of the question.
Why would she do that?
Why?
~VD~
"Witchy." Damon yelled into the phone.
"What?" She said, tired, exasperated.
"We need to speak. Why aren't you at your house?" He demanded, slightly annoyed. The Caroline thing was unnerving him to no end. He had half an hour until the actual silent auction began, and he needed to find out what this was about.
"I'm at the cellar. My dad's returned, I don't really enjoy his company these days."
"Is he more judgy than you?" He asked, teasing her a bit. He could practically see her roll her eyes.
"If your reason of calling have anything to do with requiring my help, I suggest you don't mess up the chances of me aiding you even more." She yawned.
"I'll be there in a moment."
~VD~
"I'm going to need another drink." Caroline said, getting up.
"Tired of me already?" Katherine mocked flirtatiously.
"Ah, I could never tire of you, sweet Katherine. I'm just tiring of everybody else." She said, bowing.
"Away with you then, my fair maiden." Caroline made to leave, but Katherine held onto her wrist at the last second.
"How long will your enchantment last?" She asked, looking around.
"As long as I want it to, and...continue to pay the price."
"What is that price you keep going on about?"
"Some other day, okay? I need that drink, and I need it now." She said, spotting someone familiar at the bar. He nodded at her, then went outside. She was curious. What was he doing here?
Grabbing a vodka shot, she downed it, then left the grill. She knew mixing her drinks wasn't the best idea, her human brain opposed it. The demon part however, it shrugged at it, craving another shot to dull the weird images of her and Damon entwined in a vertical tango. Shaking her head, she looked around, spotting his retreating form across the street.
After a while she caught up with him. They were now a fair bit away from the grill, ensuring Katherine couldn't hear them. Clever man, he was.
"What do you want, Lucifer?" She asked, stopping him in his tracks. He turned around, his long coat slapping against his calves. His chest was bare, the shirt underneath ripped. His whole body was covered in tattoos.
"I think we'll be needing to have a talk again. I brought you something." He asked, conjuring a box.
"What is it?" She asked, taking it, curiously. He raised his eyebrows, then whipped his head a bit, getting the dreadlocks out of his face.
"Something you carelessly left behind in my cottage." He mused. When she opened the box, she stared at it for a while. There was a, now cleaned, heart inside it. It had a small black crack on the edge of it.
"How has this not occured to me?" She said, slapping her forehead. He shrugged.
"I daresay you had other things on your mind." He looked around. She nodded.
"What brings you here?" She inquired.
"Did I not promise to look into your demon side?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Yes. However I think it foolish of you to come to town alone. You know not who is here." She wondered.
"Caroline, you should know better than to think I'd come alone." He looked at her, pointedly.
"You did last time, remember what happened?" She smiled, sweetly.
"Back to being a bitch, I see. Yes, I thoroughly remember you killing me, ripping out my inner organs. But I am not alone this time." He assured her.
Christopher stepped out of the black. He winked at her.
"Pleasure seeing you again."
"Wish I could say the same." She lied. Secretly, she formulated a new plan. It was crazy, thinking Damon would go for her and leave it at that after a shag. Maybe it would be easier with Chris. He definetely was gorgeous, she had to admit. Light brown hair, green eyes, defined muscles, 5-o-clock shadow, chiseled features. Yes, definetely hot.
She put her whole reaction to Damon Salvatore down to her not having gotten laid in a while. She just needed to be thoroughly fucked, and then all would be well, as it had been before. Hopefully Christopher would be down for that.
"Mean woman. You haven't changed at all."
"Well, it hasn't exactly been long since we last met." She smiled. "What did you find?" She hopped onto a closed trash can, crossing her legs. Lucifer cleared his throat.
"Well, the colour is specific to one demon. As mine is a light red, I am the only demon to have that colour." He said. She nodded.
"Yeah, I figured that out."
"How?"
"Looked into it, no big deal." She dismissed. "What else?"
"It's strange that you think that there's automatically more." He mused.
"Well is there?" She questioned.
"Yes." He sighed. She smirked knowingly at him.
"Don't hesitate to tell me, dearie."
"You have many options in being a demon. You can control your powers, or you can let someone control you." He started. Looking at her pointedly, he continued. "We have both chosen the former, even though it took me dying to change it. That's what it takes. Always."
She nodded, taking it in. So she could control her own actions. That was good. She had suspected it, as she had been acting on her own accord, but it was good to have insurance none-the-less.
"Secondly, if you control your own powers, you need to find something to...say...finance your powers. To pay the price. But judging by the look on your face you know that too." He sighed.
"I know I have to pay a price. I've been drawing the power from myself. So, I can use it, but it exhausts me." She said.
"Exactly. That's the option where your soul remains intact. You can have a long life, but not eternal. Someday you'll become too tired." He explained, looking at her, his eyes heavy. All she could do was nod. He had no idea how good it felt to get some proper insight into the topic.
"What's the other option?" Christopher asked, confused.
"You become what I am." He shrugged. "You 'finance' your powers by draining humans. You recognize their fear, exploit it, sometimes killing them. It tears at your soul though. You become less human-like with every person you kill. But, it feeds you. You learn to live forever. Deformed, but immortal." He shrugged.
"How deformed?" Caroline asked, skeptical.
"Well, your eyes become permanently red, well, red for me. I haven't gotten that far yet. Because I died, you know?" He shrugged.
"So technically, isn't every demon immortal? If we can just come back from death?" She questioned.
"Excellent question." He pointed out. "Yes, you could. But it requires a connection to someone here." Lucifer shrugged, yet again.
"What, like a marriage?" Christopher was a very confused vampire at the moment. Caroline sort of felt bad for him.
"No, like a blood connection." Caroline murmured.
"Precisely." Lucifer smiled. "Someone that has ingested your blood before you died, and willing to bring you back."
Caroline wondered about that.
"What will happen to the person attempting to ressurrect you?" She was sensing something dark. Demon's didn't have child-friendly ways of doing things. They were the lowest, meanest of all supernatural creatures. The scum. Ruthless and cutthroat.
"Depends on what you want to happen to them. We may be the meanest, but we can control everything we want to. That's the good thing about us." He smirked.
"You talk about us as if I am a fully-fledged Demon as well. Remember I am only half." Caroline sniggered.
"See what you want to see. You may still have human qualities. You may still be able to eat, sleep, and drink. But you can do everything I do." He shrugged.
"But that's exactly what sets us apart." She shrugged, mimicking him.
"No, what set's us apart is your ability to feel." He dismissed it.
"Then I must be missing something, because the last time we met you were definetely feeling something, Lucifer. Remorse, wasn't it? Or was that another side effect of dying?" She asked, faux-sweet. Lucifer sniggered.
"Well played. I feel too, if I allow it."
"Back at that again. You keep talking in circles." Caroline raised one eyebrow, staring at him.
"That's the whole point of it. That's all there is to being a demon. Well, at least the kind you choose to be. Being in control. That's what you wanted, that's what you got. Being demonic just gives you the means to manipulate everything you want, the way you want it."
"Wicked." Christopher said, in amazement.
"Yes, wicked." Caroline said, absent-minded. "Anything else?"
"The heart." He pointed towards the box that sat next to her. "I trust you have a safe place to hide it?"
She nodded.
"Yes."
Lucifer nodded.
"Here's the thing. It needs to be destroyed."
"I know. That was my original plan."
"It needs to be destroyed by your demonic powers. It goes slowly though. A crack a day. I already started, but I'm not able to get far, because of my previous alliance to him. You have to do it. Make sure you hide it well though, because when Caia comes looking for you, she'll no doubt look for that as well." Lucifer warned her.
"And none of you have any idea when she might come around?"
Christopher cleared his throat. She looked at him, expectantly.
"About that. You should be expecting a sign of life from Elijah soon. He wants to meet you. Talk about Caia."
"I knew you didn't just come to enjoy my company." She looked at him, amused.
"Oh, we can enjoy each others company today. I'll return to the others later." He winked. She smiled. He was actually sweet. Her bitemarks from him tingled a bit. That would be her connection with him. Now it was established.
"Yes, well, I'll be leaving. Caroline, you have my number. Inform me of anything new you find. We are, after all, allies now."
"Bet I can still kick your ass." She murmured. He simply smiled, dissappearing.
"I hear there's a bachelor auction going on inside?" Christopher nodded towards the grill.
"Yeah. I'm just dying to find out if I won a hot date you can suck dry tonight." She laughed.
"Oooh. Allow me to escort you inside." He laughed. She laughed.
Perfect distraction from the surges of want she felt for Damon.
~VD~
"Boo." Damon said, scaring Bonnie. She screamed. He was on the ground instantly, clutching his head in pain.
"I told you not to do that asswipe!" She screamed.
"Not my fault if your caterwhauling charms are less than mediocre." He shrugged, sitting down in a comfy chair.
"Damon, don't test me."
"Upset because Gilbert is away for the day?" He smirked. She glared at him. "No sex to relieve the tension?" He sniggered. Bonnie's glare was murderous by now.
"Damon." She said, warningly. Damon smiled knowingly. "Tell me now what you want help with, or allow me to kill you."
"Alright. It's not so much something I need help with, more like Caroline." He started. Bonnie was alert immediately.
"What did you do?" She asked, looking at him directly again.
"Why do you always assume I do something?"
"Have you met you, asswipe? You didn't kiss her, did you?" She asked, scared, but scolding.
"No." He wrinkled his forehead. "She looked at me today."
"Oh, that's unusual." Bonnie drawled sarcastically. Damon gave her a pissed look. "Not so funny when I do it, is it?"
"Shut up, judgy. It wasn't just any look. It was a look full of primal desire. She looked at me as though she was about to drag me out of the room and have her very wicked way with me." Damon sighed. Bonnie looked disgusted.
"No offence, but you're sure that look was meant to mean that?" She asked, carefully now.
"Absoloutely."
"And you're sure it was meant for you?" She tried again.
"Yes."
"Then we have a problem.
"Obviously." Damon said, miffed. "Do you know how hard it was to hide the boner from Carol Lockwood?"
Bonnie grimaced. "Ew."
"So what's happening? Did the compulsion wear off? Is she remembering?" He asked, hope colouring his voice.
"Aw, Damon. You know I hate to dissappoint you..." She started.
"Don't lie, it's unbecoming." He dismissed, annoyed.
"No, she's not. The thing is, you compelled away what her heart and mind felt for you. Not...her...body. She remembers the desire she held for you. The pure, erotic want. She's probably confused about it, because she dislikes you. If she choses to act on it, you have to reject her." She looked down, colour flushing to her cheeks at the thought of Caroline shoving Damon against a wall, having her way with him.
"I can't do that Bonnie. I'm having trouble keeping my breathing straight when she walks by." Damon groaned.
"You have to be strong. Be the man you chose to be. Don't overthink the choice. Stick with it."
"For heaven's sake, Bonnie! I'm only a man! I can't resist Caroline if she throws herself at me!" Damon was exasperated. He threw his hands up, in a surrendering position.
"Then avoid her." She said, biting her lip. Damon looked at her.
"You have no idea how hard this is. I had no idea either. I see her in the room, my entire world is better. And then she treats me with this cold manner, my entire heart shatters, time and time again. I think of her every second, every day. I just can't stop it. No matter how hard I try. The thoughts keep coming back." He stared off into space sullenly. Then he shook himself out of it, looking at his watch.
"Damn, time for the auction. Think of something, witchy. Please." He begged, leaving the cellar quickly.
Bonnie was left speechless. That kind of love...
That was rare.
~VD~
Hello, me hearties. :) I love reviews. Give me a review pleaaaaase? :3
I know it's a slow chapter, but I had hoped to offer some insight into the demon principle, as it's kind of unusual. What do you think? Like it? Hate it? :) Let me know.