Addie groaned as the gentle jostling of a car brought her back to consciousness. Klaus flashed her a quick glance before focusing back on the road. The purple coloring in the shape of a hand around her throat told him he got her good. Her eyes squeezed tight as she tried to recollect what happened.
Klaus had clutched at her neck, cutting off her air supply. He'd made her blackout. Because he was angry. And he was upset because he had overheard her conversation with Caroline. He heard her discuss Elena. Klaus knew Elena was alive. That was bad, very, very bad.
Still not opening her eyes Addie lifted a hand to gently rub where Klaus had grabbed. The pain from the light graze made her certain he had left a bruise. Frowning she muttered, "You choked me."
"You lied to me."
"You choked me!"
"You lied to me."
"You-"
"Are we really going to do this all day?" Klaus drawled out in boredom as he turned towards the warehouse. "Consider the choke your warning. Next time you lie to me I'll kill you."
Rolling her head against the back of the seat Addie gave Klaus a smirk so smug she deemed it worthy of Damon. "I've never lied to you."
He growled, "You said I killed your sister."
"And that's true; you did kill her. She was dead for a few hours and then my uncle gave up his soul or something in some witchy spell. So, John died to bring my sister back to life," she explained. "I still don't like you for temporarily killing my sister, though.
Klaus gave a grunt of anger as he threw the car into the parking space. Before Addie could even begin to get out Klaus was opening her door and unbuckling her seatbelt. She swatted at his hands, insisting she was perfectly capable out getting out on her own but Addie stopped fighting when he grabbed her just above the elbow hard enough to make her eyes water. Her feet stumbled as her roughly yanked her from the car.
"You don't need to manhandle me! I'm sure I can follow you. I've been doing it for like six weeks," hissed Addie as the hybrid dragged her through the warehouse.
"Shut up before I kill you," he snarled as they turned to where Rebekah and Stefan were. "Gloria's gone. She's cleared out. We need to get a new witch immediately and I know just where to find one," he quickly snapped at the two vampires. His grip on Addie lessened as he noticed the awkward tension. "What's going on?"
"Something's wrong. He was asking about Mikael. He's not with us, Nik. I can sense it," Rebekah urgently insisted.
Stefan shook his head at the accusation and tried to reassure the hybrid, "She's wrong, Klaus."
Addie let out a shriek when Klaus was suddenly at Stefan, breaking his neck. She gasped in horror as he crumbled to the ground, lifeless. "What - Why - why would you do that?" she stammered, making it a point to look anywhere but Stefan. Even though he was only temporarily dead, the awkward angle of his neck still made her stomach violently churn.
"Would you prefer I have done that to you?" Klaus asked in a cool, casual voice that didn't betray the anger flaring in his eyes. "He'll wake up, you wouldn't. I find choking you to be a much nicer way of punishing you for your betrayal."
Her tongue hurt as she bit at it to keep from retorting about how she never technically betrayed him.
"Rebekah, take Addison to the car as I get some guys to load up the truck. We leave now."
Addie felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as they left the city of Lynchburg via Highway 29. Klaus had refused to tell her where they were going but she knew now. The road passed right through the center of Mystic Falls. The witch he knew of must have been Bonnie. While they were in town he could snatch Rebekah's necklace, the talisman, right from her sister's throat. She wondered if he would do that before or after snapping Elena's neck. He was in a very throat and neck maiming mood. Every few hours or so they would stop at a rest area and Klaus would get into the back of the semi truck following them and temporarily kill Stefan again. At each stop he also took the time to compress her airways until she blacked out again. In the rearview mirror she had gotten a glance of the dark purple scars he had left. The bruises where he had grabbed her to pull her out of the car weren't nearly as nasty looking.
They were screwed, she and everyone she cared about. It had been impossible to manage Klaus without fatalities and him being in a good mood. Now, Klaus was pissed and had Stefan under his command. It was not likely that Alaric had simply forgiven Damon for being a dick and killing him, making the vampire on bad terms with everyone but her sister. Unfortunately a vital part of Team Badass was Damon and him getting along with everyone. Without any sense of harmony and cooperation they stood absolutely no chance of defeating Klaus. It had been a disaster attempt when it seemed like there was a possibility of winning.
To put off on deciding whether it was wiser to assist Klaus or if it was worth fighting him, she leaned forward between the front seats and asked, "Who's Mikael?"
"No one," Klaus gritted out. His knuckles turned white as he held the steering wheel tighter.
"I totally believe that," Addie replied without a hint of sarcasm. "What made you think Stefan was against you for asking about Mikael."
"Mikael does matter," the hybrid snapped harshly. "Stefan was obviously against me because he has let me believe this entire summer that Elena was dead."
She tilted her head in feigned confusion and falsely hesitated, "But, Rebekah was the one who sensed something off about Stefan. He hadn't been talking to her about Elena; he had been discussing Mikael. Somehow, Mikael matters."
Klaus tensed and grumbled, "I think I prefer you unconscious."
"About that,Niklaus, how long do you plan on making me pass out simply because I didn't tell you my sister was alive?" demanded Addie. Innocently she added, "I really didn't think it mattered and don't see why it does."
"It matters because I was lied to and because all we know is that the damn necklace is with some girl. That narrows it down to approximately three billion people. I need a witch to find out more. Mystic Falls has one with the power of a hundred witches," he explained reasonably.
"Not to mention we get the chance to rip that cow's bloody head off," Rebekah snarled quietly.
"Bonnie lost access to the witches when the sheriff killed my brother and she screwed with the balance of nature by bringing him back. And what cow?"
"Your sister! Your suppose-to-be-dead sister!"
Ignoring the chill of dread that ran down her spine Addie scoffed, "I'll agree that Elena's a cow but I don't see why we should kill her for that."
"Stefan is never going to love anyone like he loves your sister with her still alive," the blonde spat.
Even though she knew it was a risky, stupid act, Addie couldn't force down the laughter that bubbled up. "Seriously? You want to kill my sister because you're jealous of her? It's been 90 years! Move on; Stefan has. Do you think he's going to fall for the person that kills the girl whose love lifts him up, turns thunders into spring and flowers, and every other disgusting romantic cliche?"
Quicker than Addie could see, Rebekah's hand shot towards her throat. Lightning fast reflexes allowed Klaus to grab his sister by the wrist before she could reach the other girl. With a fake yawn of boredom he reprimanded, "You two have gotten along all summer and now you're going to get into a catfight over a guy. I hope you realize how petty that is."
"Oh, I had no intention of getting in a fight," Addie quipped back. "I don't give a damn about Stefan's love life. I was simply pointing out that killing my sister wouldn't solve anything. Rebekah's short temper just got the better of her."
Klaus flung the vampire's hand back into her lap and flashed Addie a quick and wicked grin. "That's where you're wrong. The whole point of breaking the curse and becoming a hybrid was to make more hybrids. I haven't been able to do that. Now my bet is, it has something to do with the fact that your sister is still breathing."
She had to hold her hands to keep them from trembling in anxiety but her voice was laidback and disinterested, "You know, you might still want to contact the Original witch before you do something you can't undo, like kill Elena. I mean her blood was the key to breaking your curse. I don't know this Original witch but I do know that witches like to keep a balance. Allowing for a line of essentially invincible hybrids seems to go against screwy supernatural nature. I think that's why you can't make them. But Gloria said every spell has a loophole; I'm taking the liberty to apply that rule to nature. I mean, vampires should burn in the sun but daylight rings prevent that nasty little side effect. Loophole. Elena was supposed to die in the ritual and she technically did. To me, it seems like nature would need a backup plan to stop you from making hybrids if you did succeed in breaking the curse. What if killing Elena was that plan? You might be able to be a hybrid but if she's dead, you can't make more hybrids."
It would be just like the Original witch to cast some kind of spell that would leave him stuck as the only hybrid. She had a particular hatred of him. Addie was right, though. Everything had a loophole. Elena couldn't be the loophole because she was supposed to be dead. But she wasn't. Klaus rubbed at his chin as he thought, "Your sister is alive, though. If killing her was to stop me from making more hybrids, I shouldn't be having a problem making them if she survived the curse breaking."
Addie faltered and ran her hand nervously through her hair. Pulling a random string of words out of her ass didn't seem to be improving the chances of Klaus not killing Elena. He had needed Elena's blood as the last part of his sacrifice. Human blood was needed as the last step in transitioning into a vampire. Elena's blood allowed for the activation of his werewolf side. What if her blood allowed for the activation of vampire traits in a werewolf? Addie let out a long groan at the idea. At the curious look from Klaus she simply shook her head and helplessly said, "I don't know. If she was important to letting you be a hybrid, I just suspect she's important to the hybrid species."
"You make a good point," he admitted. He knew there had been a reason he was so interested in Addie and wanted to learn more about her. "I won't kill Elena-"
"Nik!" Rebekah cried out in protest.
He held up a hand, indicating he wanted his sister to calm down. "I won't kill her until I figure out her role in all of this." From the cup holder Klaus fished out a tiny electronic chip and passed it to Addie. "Time to switch back to your national number."
"Why now?" she questioned, already starting to remove the SIM card from England.
"I need you to track down some people. That will be easier with everyone knowing you're back in town." He could hear the hitch in her breathing and speeding of her heart. "I suggest you cooperate, Addison. Have you not yet learned that there tend to be fewer casualties when things go my way."
"Come on! Wake up," Addie insisted, repeatedly smacking Stefan's face.
When something cool and wet soaked through the knee of Addie's jeans she jumped to her feet with a squeal. Several times she gagged when she saw that a pool of blood was spreading out around Stefan's abdomen. Rebekah, in a jealous fit, had rammed a crowbar through the vampire. As soon as she made sure Stefan was incapacitated the blonde had headed inside the high school to assist her brother.
Klaus had ordered Addie to track down her sister, Bonnie, and Tyler. Addie didn't exactly talk to Tyler but she had his number and would call him last. It was the night before school started and that meant it was senior prank night for Tyler. There would be no question that he would be at school. She dreaded the idea of Klaus going to fetch Tyler; there would be too many innocent bystanders causing mayhem for the janitors and teachers. Klaus wasn't going to kill Elena until he had contacted the Original witch which bought her some time. Her sister was the safest person to call but she didn't answer. Addie wasn't surprised as she wouldn't have answered Elena's call, either. Bonnie was in the most danger; the hybrid wanted her to do magic Addie wasn't sure Bonnie was even capable of. He would torment the witch until he got what he wanted and if he couldn't get his way, he'd kill her. When she tried to get out of calling her best friend Klaus compelled her to do it.
It was agonizing deciding whether she should keep up the charade where Damon had never helped her learn to resist compulsion and call Bonnie or to finally stand up to Klaus. What was the point of being compulsion-proof if she was just going to do everything her enemy commanded anyway? But if Klaus found out she had been acting every time he had compelled her she highly doubted she would last another heartbeat. It was selfish and cowardly but she had called Bonnie.
Her best friend answered on the first ring and immediately started gushing about how good it was to hear from Addie and how glad she was that the younger girl was back in town. The more she talked the more the guilt mounted in Addie. When she heard Tyler and Caroline saying something about mousetraps in the background the blood drained from her face. They were all in on senior prank night which meant her sister likely was, too.
Abruptly Addie cut Bonnie off and tried to warn her. "Relax, Bonbon!" The nickname was a word to catch her attention and alert her that Addie was going to use the secret code they had made up to discuss Elena right in front of her. She mulled over her word choice carefully. The first letter of every word would spell out the warning. Addie exhaled in a slight relief in noting that Bonnie's quietness meant she understood what was going on. "Kisses, love, and unifying stuff." She gave a short laugh to indicate that she was done with her message. "I get it! I missed you, too. Actually, I missed your magic. I kept burning my thumb every time I lit my chocolate scented candle from M&M World. Your power would have been greatly appreciated. Anyways, I have something I need to tell you tonight," she said with a false eagerness.
"Tonight?" Bonnie had replied in disbelief and understanding.
"Yes. It has to be tonight. As soon as Jeremy corners me I'm going to spill this secret and, trust me, it is not something I should be telling my big brother. I need girl talk. Where can we meet?"
Bonnie answered in a horrified whisper, "Addie, I'm at school with everyone!"
"School. Awesome. Stay put and I'll be there in a few minutes," she had chirped brightly as she glowered at Klaus when he nodded his head in approval.
With a "dead" Stefan moved from the semi to the back off the black SUV with Addie, Klaus had peeled off towards the school. Stefan had started to breathe again and gave a soft groan. Before arrogantly stalking into the school Klaus instructed Rebekah to incapacitate Stefan when he came back around then join him inside. He was halfway to the front door before he returned to compel Addie to stay out of the school.
Addie kicked at Stefan's leg, the movement reminding her of the wet, dark stain at her knee. She rushed to the back of the car and was violently ill. Blood made her more than a little squeamish and knowing it was on her was just too much. Returning to Stefan she tried to yank the crowbar out of his stomach. Her hands flew from the metal as if it just came from the forge when there was a loud, moist squelch of internal organs. It took everything in her not to be sick again.
Spying a loose piece of gravel Addie snatched it and dropped to her knees by the vampire's head. The rough rock rubbed back and forth across the thin skin at her wrist. She knew her blood was poisonous to Stefan but what if it could still make him stronger? Damon had gotten better for a little while when he drank from her as he died from the werewolf bite. A curse fell from her lips when she broke through the skin but she continued to scrape at it. A little scratch wasn't going to provide him with enough blood.
When Addie had a steady flow of crimson liquid pouring from her wrist she pressed it against Stefan's lips. Nothing happened so she used her free hand to pull his jaw down and open his mouth. She saw his adam's apple bob as he swallowed. Immediately he began coughing and sputtering and gasping for air as he shoved Addie's arm away from him. After a minute of gagging Stefan ripped the crowbar from his stomach with a pained groan.
"Glad to have you back among the living," she grinned at him. "Well, living dead, at least."
Once he felt the swelling in his throat recede from his vocal chords he demanded, "Any particular reason you're trying to kill me?" Klaus had dragged them back to Mystic Falls and was pissed. This wasn't a time for games.
"I wasn't trying to kill you, idiot. I was trying to bring you back to consciousness. My blood may be lethal to you but that doesn't necessarily mean it can't do what blood is suppose to do for you. I mean, drinking it made Damon stronger," Addie explained with a shrug.
Stefan sat up, having felt his stomach stitch back together. Could have been her blood or it could have been all the human blood he had running through his system. Concerned he questioned, "Damon's been feeding off of you?"
She sneered at the judging note in his voice and eyes. Telling him Damon had only really drank from her twice, both times at her own insistence, seemed like she would be violating some unwritten rule. Details of Damon drinking her blood just felt too personal and intimate to share with his brother. Her brows furrowed as she scolded the vampire, "That's none of your business. That's between me and Damon. Second, we have much bigger issues than your brother at play. I don't know if you've noticed but we're in the school parking lot. It's pretty lame and boring out here. Inside, every idiot is indulging in prank night, including Elena the doppelganger, Bonnie the witch, and Tyler the werewolf. I know Caroline is also there but I don't think Klaus has much planned in using her. Yeah, um, the important part is Rebekah and Klaus being in that building up to something. I'm compelled to stay out here leaving you as our only option for a rescue mission. Though, I did give Bonnie a five minute warning that Klaus was coming but I doubt that really gave her the time to cook anything up but-"
"I got it," interrupted Stefan, already on his feet. "Where's Damon in all of this?"
"Probably inside?" Addie wasn't exactly sure where Damon would be after he had his little temper tantrum.
"Call him and make sure he's inside. If he's not, tell him to get down here. I'm gonna need his help."
Addie's lips pursed and she drew out, "Yeah…. I don't think he's in a mood to listen to what I have to say."
"Make him," Stefan snapped before flashing out of sight.
Scowling, Addie pulled out her phone. She hadn't been lying; Damon likely didn't want to talk to her after breaking up with her. A text he couldn't simply ignore or hang up on, though.
Addie: Where are you?
She hadn't sent the message to Damon, though. While it was senior prank night and she and Jeremy would only be juniors, he was still dating Bonnie and was Elena's brother. Addie needed to know that her brother was somewhere far away and safe. Her next stream of messages were for Damon.
The keys spun around on the ring with a tinkling as Damon made a circular motion with his finger. Chucking them had proven useful in getting Katherine to reveal her diabolic plot. If he hadn't pulled over there was no telling how much further she would have made him drive before admitting to having an unconscious Jeremy in the trunk and how she intended to use the fact that he was seeing ghost to find a way to kill Klaus.
"Don't fall asleep, Jer. You might have a concussion." he warned, walking back towards the teen seated at the picnic table. His head was in his hand looking heavy and his eyes were closed. On the right side of his head was a bloody mess from where he had slammed the kid's head into the table. Trying to make Anna show up and talk made it totally justifiable.
He muttered in response, "Thanks for the concern, dick."
Damon stopped spinning the keys as a familiar ache hit his chest. Addie always called him a dick. Had she picked that up from Jeremy or was it the other way around? He moved his head from side to side, hoping to literally shake out any thoughts of the girl.
"Oh, stop pouting. He took one for the team. Everyone back home will thank you once Klaus is dead," Katherine taunted with a smirk.
Damon gave her a look of disgust as he patted down his pockets. Somehow he didn't think he'd ever come to hate his latest ex-girlfriend like he did his first. With time thinking of Addie may hurt less but he'd never grow to hate her, even if she had picked Klaus over him. He scowled at Katherine and demanded, "Where's my phone?"
"Do you need to check in with Elena? Make sure it's okay you pummeled her little baby bro?" she mocked.
Elena wasn't his concern. Addie said she'd be back before school started, which was the next day. If she wasn't… well, he'd either hunt Klaus to kill him for hurting her or he'd hunt Klaus to drag her ass back to Mystic Falls whether she liked it or not. Jeremy and Elena were still her responsibility; she didn't just get to check out on her family.
"You know you have it."
Katherine shrugged innocently, "What can I say? I needed you present here and now."
He held out his hand to her but she just kept smiling. He barked, "Katherine, phone, now." With an overly dramatic sighed she pulled it out and passed it to him. "Addie's been texting me," he mumbled, seeing the notification. More surprisingly, he had missed two calls from her.
"What? Didn't you guys break up?" Jeremy snarled. "I haven't gotten a response from her in like a week but she'll text you? She's telling you to tell me she'd decided to run off with that Europe guy because she knows I'll kill her, isn't she?"
"It's her American number. I'm not sure what she wants," he muttered, scrolling to the top of the list of text. Damon didn't correct Jeremy about Addie not being in Europe for the same reason he never told Elena that he had run into her sister in Chicago. It would just add unnecessary stress to their lives to know that Addie was willingly hanging out with their immortal enemy who had a fondness for killing. "It's a lot of texts."
Addie: Where are you?
Addie: Damon, WHERE ARE YOU?
Addie: Damn it, Damon. Stop ignoring me. It's an emergency.
Addie: Ok. Cool. I'll just tell Stefan you have no interest in helping him.
Addie: Come on! Stop being a dick! Klaus is HERE, in Mystic Falls.
Addie: Your ass better be inside the school and helping to save, oh, I don't know, just about EVERYONE, otherwise you have no justifiable excuse for ignoring me and I will kill you.
Addie: Look, I know I always told you I never wanted or needed you to be the hero or the good guy. I may have heard that you've been having a lot of people expect that of you lately. I don't blame you for wanting to check out on this.
Addie: Damon, I'm not asking you to be the knight in shining armor. I don't care if you come to help EVERYONE. I'm asking you to come help your brother when he stands up to Klaus because you know that he's going to get his ass killed without you. Then you're going to feel guilty about your brother being dead.
Addie: Please come. We both know that guilt controls the on/off switch to your humanity. I couldn't bear to see you turn it off.
Addie: Damon….
Addie: You know, even though we broke up, I think some part of me still thought you'd be around whenever something serious went down. Foolish, idealistic thoughts of a child, I suppose.
Addie: You can't tell me you aren't even the slightest bit interested in taking revenge on Klaus for winning me from you.
She had to be desperate if she had resorted to using that on him. It didn't matter though; he would have answered her instantly if he had know. His fingers yearned to break Katherine's neck for stealing his phone.
"It's Klaus."
"No turning back, Damon," Katherine said sharply, reminding him of why she'd made him drive so far.
"Shut up, Katherine," he snapped curtly. His fingers ran through his hair as he thought of what to do.
"Hey!" she shot back quickly. "Look at the big picture. The best shot at taking out Klaus is by finding Mikael."
He rolled his eyes and turned from her. Finding and waking up a vampire hunter that happened to be a vampire was not going to help him. Addie needed him now. He looked down at Jeremy, pressed the keys into his chest and instructed, "Stay with her so Anna can guide you. I'm going back."
Katherine snatched the keys from Jeremy and took a few steps towards Damon, who was already walking away. "You're going to get yourself killed," she called after him. "The Damon I remember wouldn't have been that stupid."
Damon gave her a cold smirk over his shoulder and retorted, "I wouldn't have done it for you."
Addie rested on the hood of the big black SUV as she watched Klaus exit the hospital. He hadn't told her much about what had happened in the school but from what she had gathered, things could have turned out a lot worse. Bonnie was safe because she somehow managed to contact the original witch. Caroline was safe because she hadn't done anything stupid. Tyler was a hybrid, which Klaus insisted he'd be happy about because he would never have to turn into a werewolf again. Addie wasn't so certain the athlete was cool with being part vampire but he hadn't died like all of Klaus' other attempts so she'd consider it a win. Elena had suffered some serious blood loss when Klaus compelled Stefan to eat her. He hadn't ripped her head off, which Addie supposed was a minor victory. Their only great defeat and casualty was Stefan's humanity; Klaus had ordered him to turn it off. Addie couldn't predict the ramifications about that but she doubted they would be good.
"So I was right about Elena being alive not being the problem," Addie said quietly as Klaus stopped in front of her. Her lips twitched as she teased him, "Aren't you glad I told you not to kill her?"
Klaus hummed noncommittally. "Turns out her blood is the solution."
"How did you know? I mean, did the Original witch just tell you that?" she wondered, questioning if the witches really did work to keep a balance in nature if that was the case.
"Exact opposite," he smirked. "Told me the doppelganger needed to be dead. Given how much the Original witch hated me, I knew that the smart thing to do was the exact opposite of whatever she said."
"What did you do to this witch that she's still screwing with you from beyond the grave a thousand years later?"
He crossed his arms and looked at her arrogantly, "My ability to be an annoying pain in the ass almost rivals yours."
Addie nodded in agreement before casually remarking, "It's a really good thing I'm mortal. Bonnie would seriously screw with me in a thousand years for how obnoxious I've been. Although she wouldn't trap me with some kind of crazy curse."
."Well, it makes sense from the witch's perspective," Klaus admitted. "You were right; Elena's death was her fail-safe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse. The doppelganger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead-"
"You couldn't use her blood to create some new ultimate super species," Addie finished with a sigh. First witches, then vampires, then werewolves, and now hybrids. At least there wasn't any ghost. If it bleeds, you can kill it. Ghost did not bleed. Of course, Klaus was the exception to the rule of nature because there always had to be one.
He nodded. "Leaving me alone for all time."
Her head tilted curiously as she slipped off the car and stepped closer to Klaus, looking up into his face. "Is that what this is about? Your obsession with hybrids? You just don't want to be alone?" she asked quietly, almost sadly.
Klaus caught her chin and tilted her head back until he made eye contact with her. Her eyes were almost the same shade of blue as the brightly lit night sky. "What I want," he hissed dangerously, "is to take my girl, take my hybrid the hell out of this one-pony town. I already have Rebekah getting the truck."
"About the part where you take my sister, you think we could work something out? Say I supply you with a donation of O doppelganger negative whenever you call and Elena gets to stay here?" Addie suggested with a weak smile.
"The whole reason you've survived this summer, Addison, is because your wise. Do I seem like a man who will fall for that compromise?"
She resisted the urged to roll her eyes. "I'm wise enough to know that betraying you would be a death sentence. There's nothing to fall for when I'm being sincere and genuine."
He didn't look away from her but a smile tugged at his lips, "Well, look who finally decided to show up to the party."
Damon growled territorially. He did not like how close Klaus's face was to Addie's or the way he held her chin. If it hadn't been likely that Addie would kill him for stepping in between them, he would have. His snarl lessened when she stepped away from Klaus upon seeing him but the way her face colored was unsettling. Addie was perfectly fine which only left one concern. "Where is she?"
"Elena? Ah, she's making a donation to a greater cause," Klaus replied breezily. Damon made to storm past him and into the hospital but the hybrid stepped directly in his path, pushing a hand against his chest. "I'm afraid I can't let you interfere, mate."
"You'll have to kill me."
"Oh, I would love to kill you," Klaus beamed before frowning, "but I made a pledge to your girlfriend and brother, and unlike them, I keep my word. Although, you know what, thinking about it now, he probably doesn't care that much anymore and my promise to Addie only lasted until she was safely back in Mystic Falls." He slammed Damon against the hood of the car and moved to rip his heart out.
"You don't want to know about your friend Mikael?" choked out the vampire, fighting to push Klaus' hand off of him.
Not caring it was childish, Addie stomped her feet in frustration and yelled, "I want to know about Mikael! I'm sick of being the only one who doesn't know about this Mikael person!"
"What do you know about Mikael?" Klaus interrogated.
"Just that he knows you're here."
Klaus' grip on Damon slackened slightly as he paled. "You're bluffing."
"Katherine and I found him," Damon sneered superiorly. "Consider it our leverage."
The hybrid roared as he tossed Damon against another car. He crumbled to the ground groaning.
"Damon!" Addie cried out in horror, rushing to his side. She dropped next to him and tried to help him sit up and ascess him for injuries but he brushed her off, propping himself up on his own elbows.
"Where'd he go?"
Addie looked over her shoulder for Klaus but couldn't find him. "Elena," she whimpered, clumsily getting back on her feet.
"I'll get Elena," Damon said urgently, grabbing her by the shoulders and gently shaking her to get her focus, "but you have to go home."
"My-"
"Go home, Addie. He won't get Elena. You have to go home right now, understand me?" he said quickly, searching her teary eyes. She nodded and he was in the hospital before she blinked.
Damon rubbed at his face in exhaustion as he ascended the stairs. Thankfully Klaus hadn't touched Elena and had just taken a couple of pints of blood. It had just been a matter of getting her home. As he tucked her into bed she told him disconnected parts of the night. None of it was really important except Klaus had made his brother flip the switch on his humanity.
When he knew Elena was fine he made to check on Addie, just to be sure she hadn't run off with Klaus again. He'd knocked for a solid ten minutes without a response. More concerned over her welfare than privacy he entered the way he typically did, the window. The room was empty and absolutely nothing had been moved since she'd left for England. With a long stream of colorful words he began calling and texting her, getting no answer. Bonnie nor Caroline had heard from her. He spent an hour speeding through town and the woods looking for her. When Addie was upset she ran. Maybe she had been too anxious about her sister and had just taken off on a run. But he couldn't find her.
Eventually he resigned himself to going home. It didn't look like Klaus was interested in killing her just yet, at least not from what he had walked up on. Tomorrow he would start the process of searching for the bastard again. When he did reach home he had a little encounter with his humanity depraved brother. Klaus had left him with instructions to protect and guard Elena. And he was still a problem drinker. That was going to be a blast. Stefan had insisted that Klaus left Addie behind but Damon wasn't entirely convinced. Klaus could have just ordered Stefan to say that. It did give him a little hope, though, that she had just gone running and he missed her.
He had to bite his tongue to keep himself from having a raging fit when he entered his room. Instead he focused on counting the number of brush strokes as he brushed his teeth in effort to get the last taste of Katherine out of his mouth. He tried to hear every drop of water hit the tiles as he showered. Picking out a pair of boxers had been a three minute task; he'd counted every second. From the second drawer down in his dresser he took another four minutes deciding on the dark grey undershirt. He made a point of ignoring the photo of him and Addie that he had removed from the nightstand and stuck into the drawer that used to be filled with her thing. He went into his closet to change and spent a good five minutes towel drying his hair. Back in his room he turned on the sound machine and the sound of crashing waves filled the space. He opened the thick red curtains to reveal the starry night sky and turned off the light. When he could no longer think of ways to procrastinate Damon sat on the edge of his bed.
"I told you to go home," he admonished, feeling her eyes on him.
Addie sighed tiredly as she pulled Damon's black satin comforter over her shoulder. "Didn't we have a discussion about home and where it was just hours before I left," she recounted, "or did I just dream that?"
Damon winced; she felt like she was at home when she was with him. Things were different though, they couldn't just go back to that. He grimaced, "Things changed. That's not how this works anymore."
"I figured as much but that doesn't change how I feel," she said quietly. She toyed with the hem of his shirt she wore. While she'd taken a couple of his with her and spritzed some of his cologne on them after every wash, they still never smelled perfectly. It was the different laundry detergent that messed it up. Being back in a proper smelling shirt just felt right.
He inhaled and exhaled slowly several times, trying to think of the right words. "You're my ex-girlfriend. How you feel is no longer my concern," he lied.
That hit her like a slap to the face. Addie had accepted that Damon had broken up with her but she had believed that would change once they were geographically together again. "You don't mean that," she told herself. "You're angry and hurt and there's just so much of this summer that you don't understand."
"You're right. So, explain it to me. Make me understand," he hissed through gritted teeth.
She laughed bitterly. "You know, if you so obviously didn't care about understanding I would. You're just looking to start a fight. I'm… it's been a long time, Damon. I can't fight with you now. It's taking everything for me to not break down into a blubbering mess as it is," she admitted. Addie cleared her throat with new resolution and faked strength. "You don't care about my reasonings and explanations. I'm not your girlfriend so I don't see any reason why I should have to explain myself to you. We could simply go along never discussing this summer."
"A lot has happened this summer."
"Oh, I know. Do you want to tell me everything you've been up to this summer?" He didn't answer. "That's what I thought."
Damon pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt the headache only associated with her start. Warily he questioned, "What do you want, Addie? You don't want to talk. You know we're not together. But you're still here."
"Aren't you sick of sleeping alone?" she asked lightly.
His throaty chuckle was cold. "It's quite presumptuous of you to assume that I have been."
"True," Addie conceded after a moment. She hadn't considered Damon being with someone else and it made her feel ill. "Though, having a girl in your bed would have shut down your flirting with Elena so it's not too far of a leap for me to guess that you haven't had one. Am I wrong?"
"You're insane if you think I haven't been with another girl because I wanted to keep flirting with your sister."
"Then why haven't you?"
The throbbing behind his eyes started. Damon wasn't just going to tell her that it was because he was still so fucking in love with her that he didn't even notice anyone else. "Well, I gave Katherine a chance but it turns out she just doesn't do it for me anymore."
"Can't imagine why not," Addie muttered bitterly. Something burned painfully in her chest at the news.
"Jealous?"
"That depends. It is Katherine and she has been known to throw herself at you since you've become all dark and cranky. Did she kiss you or did you kiss her?"
"A bit of both," Damon determined, thinking back to kissing Katherine as he drove with an unconscious Jeremy in the trunk.
She gagged dramatically. "Consider me a bit jealous then. At least I'm jealous over something that actually happened as opposed to some delusion of what you think happened."
Damon's grip on the edge of the bed tightened. Addie had picked Klaus over him. They were in a very compromising position when he had shown up at the hospital. He didn't think she'd ever actually done anything with the Original but he was getting close to her. That was just one of the many reasons he needed Mikael to kill the bastard. Annoyed he grumbled, "I'm not discussing him with you."
"Good," Addie declared as she sat up, "because I have no intention of that either."
"What are your intentions?" he demanded as he became more and more impatient with her.
"I want to sleep," she answered as she crawled to kneel behind Damon. The heels of her palms pressed into the small of the back and moved up over the brawny expansion. Her fingers digged into the tense muscles at his shoulders.
Closing his eyes Damon inhaled sharply and stressed, "Addie."
"Damon," she drawled out as her lips skimmed the column of his neck.
Her hands ran along his sculpted biceps as his earlobe slipped between her lips. She smirked as he stifled a groan. Her fingertips slid under the front of his shirt, tickling over the taut abs. Hot kisses left a path of fire along his throat. He bit his lip as he felt her begin to nibble at his neck.
"Addie," he groaned as stern as he could when her nails scraped lightly along his stomach.
She hummed in response, pleased at the way he unconsciously tilted his head so she had better access to his neck. His words were pushing her away but his body responded to her touch even more readily than before.
"This isn't sleeping," Damon muttered. He couldn't resist leaning back into her when her hands, no longer exploring his chest, encouraged him too. Softness, heat and the scent of cucumber melon assaulted his senses.
"Gold star for outstanding observation skills, Mr. Salvatore," snickered Addie. Leaving one hand over his racing heart she used the other to move his head, allowing her to attack the other side of his neck. She felt him sink into her touch as she played with the silky, raven locks. "It's a prelude."
"Do you recall the fact that we're broken up?"
The was a cold sting to her voice as she retorted, "Of course I recall that. Since when did teasing you become linked to dating you?"
He shivered as she blew a gentle stream of cool air over the scorching, damp trail she'd made. And, damn, was she teasing him. Addie knew what his heart raced in anticipation for and it was not the light, gentle caresses. He groaned and they both knew it was in frustration and not at the sensations. If she wanted something from him she knew how to get it but that wasn't what she was doing. There was no rationale in his mind for her behavior. That meant she was running on her own warped sense of logic and he didn't have the energy to try and figure that out.
"Since I dated you. Casual encounters aren't your style, which is what this would be since we are most definitely not together," he explained through gritted teeth while he tried to keep his breathing even as the little nips became harder.
"See, you've made them my style. Damon Salvatore is synonymous with casual encounters. I've found that you've been quite impressionable on me for better and worse. While our relationship may have had depth, your history and your encouragement to have flings in Europe suggests that more informal encounters are perfectly acceptable."
Damon growled quietly as he gently but commandingly tugged at the back of her hair to get her off his neck and turned to look her in the eye. She blinked at him several times and he knew. "You're lying," he proclaimed. "I don't know what game you're playing, Addison, but I'm not indulging you. It's been a long day. Go home. Go to bed. You start school tomorrow."
She rolled her eyes at him and snorted, "Since when do you care if it's a school night?"
"Since you've become just another thing that I care about and not something I'm passionate about," he retorted.
"If you're gonna lie you need to make sure your voice doesn't get higher," Addie informed him, sounding detached and bored.
"Ok, you know what? I'm too tired for this," he snapped, putting a little distance between them as he sat against his headboard. "Let's not be us for five minutes. Let's cut the games and subtlety and communicate like two normal people. Can you do that?"
She frowned at him. "I think we both know neither one of use is normal and to fake it would be a lie. Not to mention, in case you haven't noticed, we're not very good at communicating with each other or the rest of the world."
"Humor me. Why are you here? Why are you teasing me? What do you want? What are you expecting of me? You know you are the only one who can get away with this shit? Ignoring an order and then frustrating the hell out of me would have gotten anyone else killed," he vented.
Addie's lips twitched slightly; there was still hope. He still cared about her. Anxiously she ran a hand through her hair as she looked up at the ceiling, hoping it would tell her how to ask for what she wanted.
Damon scowled as the moonlight bounced off her throat. He'd noticed the discoloration when he first saw her with Klaus and when he got home but he was too furious to address it both times. "I promise you I'm going to kill him for this," whispered Damon, his fingertips grazing the light bruise on her arm. He barely touched the dark purple bruising of hand on her throat, afraid to hurt her. "For that I'm going to make sure it's very painful."
"Caroline called. Klaus was supposed to be in a building but he wasn't. He heard me discussing Elena. As punishment for not telling him she was alive, he kept snapping Stefan's neck at almost every rest area between here and Chicago. While stopped he also took the opportunity to make me black out," she quietly explained.
"He never should have laid a hand on you," Damon seethed.
"This was the first time."
"Still."
She shifted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but his face. "He offered to heal me but I didn't exactly trust him not to try turning me."
Damon pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head as the pieces started to come together. Addie had teased him in hopes that he would do it back. After he did very obvious signs of their encounter would linger until she drank a bit of his blood. "Did it ever occur to you to simply ask like a normal person?" he uttered.
"Yeah and you'd tell a normal person no and that they deserved whatever they got for being too close to Klaus," she answered curtly.
"You're not just any other person, Ads. Even if you did deserve what he did, which you didn't, I could never leave you in pain," he reassured her as he dug a nail into the pad of his finger. Her tongue flicked out and swiped the bright red bubble of blood off when he held his hand out to her. His lip tugged awkwardly as he instructed, "Suck. That's way worse than my love bites. You need more than a drop." The familiar tingle of hunger hummed through him as he watched her drink his blood. Damon pushed back the feeling, knowing it was only a thirst for her blood. He pulled his finger from her mouth with a pop when the bruise was healed.
"Thank you," she said, color flooding her cheeks.
He nodded. "Anything else I can do for you?"
Addie opened and closed her mouth several times as she struggled to find the right words. Damon wasn't the only prideful one. They weren't dating so things couldn't just go back to being easy. Never had she needed to ask about spending the night with him and she didn't plan to start. She stared at her hands in her lap and muttered, "Do you think it's possible for Elena and me to hate each other more than when I left?"
"That depends on whether or not you two are being reasonable and rational," Damon answered with careful consideration. "I think that if you truly hated Elena, you would have told Klaus about her being alive long ago. And Elena didn't really hate you; she was just jealous of you. Of us."
"Then she had the first part of summer to flirt with my boyfriend and the second part you were both unattached and…," she hesitated, "I'd rather not know what you two did. Though, I can't understand why she'd be jealous anymore. Klaus stole Stefan, basically breaking them up. Klaus drove you to break up with me. We're both single because of Klaus; she can't be upset with me and saying Stefan saved you so you could be with me or be angry that I got the happy ending because none of it is true or even makes sense. Plus, she's spent all summer with you so I'm guessing she's realized that being with you isn't something to be jealous of."
"Thanks," Damon bit back sarcastically. "I totally feel the appreciation."
Addie shrugged and raised her hands defensively. "It's not my fault you're a pain in the ass."
"Do you really think that?" he asked seriously.
"There are few certainties in life but that you are a pain is definitely one of them."
He turned to look out at the night sky instead of at her. Sadly he surmised, "You weren't happy together."
She rolled her eyes and exaggeratedly said, "No, I wasn't which totally explains why I've been so fucking miserable and have felt like shit since you dumped me." More quietly she confessed, "I don't recall a happier time than when I was with you."
"Happiness is something to be jealous of."
"Damon, most people don't like you because you're such a dick. Being with a dick is not something to be jealous of. I was happy with you because I enjoy dealing with your dickish tendencies. Normal people would not be happy about that," Addie explained slowly, talking to him as if he were a small child trying to grasp a large concept. "If Elena was truly jealous of me having you, she wouldn't be trying to change you. At least I've been told that's what she's doing."
Damon didn't deny it; he had accused her of trying to make him like Stefan. "Fine. She wasn't jealous over me. She was jealous over what we had with each other. She didn't have that with Stefan anymore."
"Not that I'm an expert but I always thought what we had was better than their relationship," she commented.
He laughed. "Yeah, well, it turns out that a relationship is better when only two people are involved," he determined as he affectionately tugged at her blue hair. The first time Addie dyed her hair it was because Katherine had ordered her to. While he had liked the reddish purple he appreciated her new look more. Addie had decided to stay original, to not mind standing out or care about breaking a social norm. The blue was all her.
"You know, I'm pretty sure Katherine wasn't a kinky third in their relationship," she rebuttaled.
"Literal, always so literal," Damon muttered with a smirk. He wrapped an arm around her waist and moved her closer to as he draped her legs across his lap. The bright yellow smiley faces that covered her shorts surprised him. She'd gone through his underwear to find his lucky boxers. When they were dating he eventually conceded into putting them away in her drawer, the second drawer, after washing them. She always wound up sleeping in the first pair of boxers he'd let her borrow before he got the chance to wear them. Addie probably would have preferred to sign a deed over the boxers than the deed to the boarding house. By habit his hand ran down the smooth skin of her thigh and back up to the bottom of his boxers. "A relationship is better when two people are exclusively interested in each other," he amended. "Our relationship was you and me, not you, your feelings for Stefan, and me."
Addie nodded in realization, "Right. Theirs was always Elena, Stefan, and you."
"Hey, once I realized I had a chance with you it was Elena, Stefan, and her feelings for me. I removed myself from that equation," defended Damon. "You would not have been stupid enough to even give me the time of day if I was interested in your sister."
"I saved you from being burnt alive despite knowing you wanted Elena," she reminded him.
He snorted, "Bad example. You let me end up in that basement because I wanted your sister."
"Nooooo. I let John throw you down there because you were… not a good guy." She hated calling him bad.
He remembered the night they met and how he almost strangled her with a smirk. "So, we've both tried to kill each other only to let each other survive." Her head bobbed in agreement. "I'm gonna say we're stuck with each other because I know I can't kill you now and I strongly doubt you'd kill me without reason."
"There's still hope. I'm not ruling out the possibility of you giving me a reason to kill you."
"Now that's not fair," he whined. "What you think of as reasonable cause not only varies from day to day but is usually only reasonable to you." That reminded him of her original question. "Do you hate Elena more than before?"
Her eyes narrowed at him in a challenge. "If you disagree with my reason I always have the backup reason of you being a self-proclaimed serial killer."
"I'm like a reformed serial killer. Do you know how long it's been since I've murder somebody?" Damon pointed out defensively. She opened her mouth but he quickly interrupted, "Excluding anyone I've killed in the effort to protect you or your sister."
"Yes. The night that-"
He put up a hand to stop her. Rose remained a touchy topic. Damon didn't exactly feel like he cheated on Addie when he slept with her as they weren't exclusive. There hadn't even been a discussion of what they were to each other. Just because they acted like they were dating it didn't mean they actually were. Addie had agreed with his point of view until Elena and Bonnie talked to her. That had led to her not talking to him for three weeks and more sex with Rose.
"You get my point. I easily could have killed Bill Forbes for threatening to out me."
"So? There's no statute of limitation on murder."
He'd never get away from that but he knew Addie didn't judge him for it. Damon sighed, dropping his head to her shoulder. "So, there's something even more bizarre than me not killing Bill Forbes."
"Oh?" she acknowledged, running her fingers through his hair.
"Like you, he can't be compelled. Though, I highly doubt he's like you with vampy sense. His blood is bitter and he mentioned something about how the brain is a powerful tool and can be trained. Did you ever get answers about you from Klaus?" Damon sneered, recalling she claimed she wanted to stay with Klaus to get answers.
"He knows more than he would tell me. I don't really want to discuss it. It just makes me worry about Jeremy," Addie muttered distractedly. She ran the length of his hair through her fingers. "Your hair got longer."
Damon lifted his head and looked at her curiously. "What's wrong with Jeremy?"
"He's fine for now. I don't want to discuss it, Damon. It gives me anxiety," she insisted firmly.
"Ok," he conceded, shivering when her hands brushed against his face as she pushed both hands through his dark locks. His hair had a bit of a curl to it as he hadn't bothered to style it after showering. He never let it get as long as it had in 1864; it had too much wave to it and became a hassle at that point.
"It got a lot longer. You need a haircut." He shook his head between her hands. "You look more attractive with it shorter. Nothing major, just a little trim."
He raised an interested eyebrow before putting on a mask of neutrality. "The good thing about being single is not having to worry about how attractive you are."
Addie's brow furrowed in confusion as she continued to play with his hair. "I thought half the point of dating someone was not having to worry about if people find you attractive because you already know someone does."
"Well, yeah, but if we were dating I would feel like I have to get a haircut because I know I can be more attractive to you. In dating you have to make sure you stay attractive to someone."
"I totally did that dating thing wrong then. I didn't give a damn about what you thought when I colored my hair or pierced my tongue," Addie confessed with a small shake of her head.
Damon gave her a knowing grin and suggestively questioned, "You didn't think about how I would react to a tongue piercing?"
"It only crossed my mind when someone brought it up. Thought about it for a fraction of a second before deciding that you would either like it or you'd have to get over it if you wanted to keep kissing me." She stuck her tongue at him and made sure to angle it so he could see the happy yellow bunny and the words 'you suck' at the top of the piercing.
He snorted. The irony was probably lost to his innocent Ads. "How much does that hurt?"
"When I got it? Worse than when I broke my arm. Now? It doesn't hurt at all."
"And have you learned how to use it?" Damon grinned suggestively.
"Well, I've learned how to not bite my tongue." He snickered and shook his head. She gave a warning tug to the silky hair her hand buried in. "Don't be a dick."
Without thinking he closed the few inches between them, softly kissing her. He grimaced when he felt her hand in the center of his chest. Damon pulled away slowly, murmuring, "Sorry."
Addie leaned away from Damon, her lips pursed. She moved her hand from over his heart before the quick beat mesmerized her. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably and she ran a hand through her own hair. "You broke up with me," she reminded him quietly. "You have to accept the distance that comes with that."
Damon nodded and exhaled slowly. He leaned back against the headboard and mimicked her nervous tick. She had lied to him about traveling Europe. She had put herself in danger by being with Klaus and Stefan, even if he couldn't eat her he was still off the rails. She had chosen to stay with Klaus. She picked Klaus over him. That was why he broke up with her; he had to remember his reasons. He sighed, "I know. It's late; I should take you home."
"That's why I asked about Elena," Addie replied quickly. She didn't want to go home; she just wanted Damon. Though she wasn't desperate and he would have to play by her rules of the breakup if that's what he wanted. "Do you think Elena and I could be worse than before?"
"The fact that you ask that makes me say yes. Why do you want to know?"
"You're gonna be pissed," she whispered.
He laughed humorlessly. "You seem to forget that I'm already pissed at you."
She studied him critically and demanded, "Since when do you treat people you're pissed off at so nicely?"
"I wasn't very nice when you first showed up."
"I'm still breathing, have faced no harm, you haven't even threatened me. In fact, you healed me. What's with the nice act?" she asked suspiciously.
Damon shrugged. "I'm pissed at you. That's just it, though. Nothing else has changed. I'm still madly in love with you."
Adde's lips pinched as she said slowly, "I'm confused."
"I'm too angry to be with you, no matter how much I love you. If we were together we would just fight and I don't mean like we usually do. We wouldn't be bickering; we'd be screaming and yelling and actually fighting. We'd go from love to hate faster than going from zero to sixty. I don't want to fight with you. Your friendship is too important for me to lose it like that. And that's why I'm nice to you. I still care about you and want you in my life. I'm still going to be here for you. So, lay it on me. I bet you didn't do anything to make me more upset," he challenged her with an encouraging smile.
She inhaled sharply and talked to her hands in her lap, "I may or may not be responsible for Klaus figuring out how to make his hybrids."
"What?" he asked dryly.
"Klaus found out Elena was alive and planned to kill her. I opened my mouth to reason with him and try to save her. I had to convince him that her being dead wouldn't solve his hybrid problem. Then it got into witches and curses and the balance of nature and how killing her was a trap and a way to keep everything in check and I don't know. You know I pull 90% of what I say out of my ass!" Her eyes were wide, pleading, and brimming with tears.
"Doesn't sound like you told him that Elena's blood was the key to making hybrids."
A small whimpering moan issued from her throat as she curled in on herself. "I didn't flat out tell him that but I thought that. If I thought it, it's not such a leap to assume that Klaus had the same idea. I should have gotten him to stay focused on finding the talisman to contact the Original witch. Get this; it's the necklace Stefan gave Elena. Katherine took it when she fooled Bonnie into thinking she was Elena. Lord knows what she wants with it but I don't see how Klaus chasing after Katherine would be a problem. She's out run him for 500 years; if she could just keep doing it for another 80 years we'd have no problems! No Klaus. No Katherine. We'd have a drama free life. Stefan would have his humanity! I should know better than to try and reason with someone above my level. You always trip me up in my logic; Klaus has 850 years on you. I was no match for him. I led him right to Elena!" she rushed out, hardly breathing.
Damon raked a hand over his face. He couldn't directly blame her but she really should have gotten Klaus to focus on the necklace. If she didn't have to use reason and logic for everything Klaus may never have thought of Elena's blood. "There's no proof you gave him the idea," he muttered. "You might not have done the smartest thing but it's not your fault."
"You think my sister is going to see it that way?"
"Nope," he drawled out, popping the 'puh' sound.
Addie nodded. "That's what I thought. I'm afraid to face her."
He brushed away three tears and comforted, "She doesn't know what you did, Ads. There's nothing to fear."
"Yeah, no, you're right. Nothing to fear but my subconscious until I spill the beans or Stefan tells her. Imagine that nightmare."
"Well, technically, this is your house. Your room down the hall is still set up," Damon offered indirectly. "But there is a vampire with a drinking problem living here."
"I've always managed to overlook your little habit," Addie said with a watery smile.
"Ha ha. I mean the bloodaholic with no humanity."
"Stefan and I get along."
Damon shook his head and searched for the right words. "With no humanity, it doesn't matter if you get along or not. If you're a buzzkill, if you're annoying, if you so much as look at him wrong you're dead. Or, you know, he might just get bored and kill you for no reason. You're more than welcome to stay here but I'm not going to trust Stefan alone with you. Even at night."
She planted a firm kiss on his cheek and hugged him. "Thank you, Damon. Thank you so much," Addie said as she laid back down on her side of the bed. A small step made in her goal to get what she had really gone over for.
"You're welcome, love."
Addie bit nervously at her lip as she watched Damon get comfortable. When he finally settled on his back she asked, "How far does you being pissed off at me reach?"
"What do you want?" he sighed wearily.
"You never answered if you were tired of sleeping alone," she whispered with a flush.
He removed his from under his head and stretched his arm out to her. "Come on."
Addie was quick to curl up against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. Immediately everything but her and Damon ceased to exist. This was what she had wanted. Sleeping with him was the single thing she missed every night for over three months. It was almost as good as she remembered. "When did you start sleeping in a shirt?"
Damon smirked to himself but forced a groan. "Move," he grumbled, wiggling his shoulder. She moved away to give him just enough room to pull off the undershirt. "Better?" he snicked, pulling her close to him.
"Perfect," she purred, loving the feel of him lightly rubbing her back. Her hand skimmed over the firm muscles of his abs, finally resting over his heart. After a couple of minutes it resumed wandering over his chest and stomach.
"Addison," he muttered sharply. She tiredly hummed in response. His voice softened as he understood she wasn't doing it consciously, "Stop moving."
"Sorry," she murmured as she draped a leg over one of his and rolled further into him.
He kissed her forehead and quietly told her, "I love you, Ads." Her hand pressed harder against his chest. That was good enough; he hadn't expected her to say anything and it was a step up from her tensing every time he said the three words. Not for the first time he wondered if he would ever convince her to believe in love. He supposed being broken up wasn't the way to do that but she'd hurt him. He was not as mad at her as he was hurt. She needed to explain more about her summer and how that all went down before he would start to get over it. In his opinion, it didn't fall to him to ask for an explanation.
Damon glanced at the clock. He had been hoping for one thing since she had told him she wouldn't be back until school started. His wish had come true. It would be a little awkward now that they weren't together but he was still going to do it. For the first time in a long time he felt excited.
A/N: Thank you so much everyone for all your follows, favorites and comments!