To Change or Not To Change: Time Traveling AU

Chapter 16: Burn Baby Burn

~x~

Elena walked cautiously to the office. She had a bad feeling about something and she wasn't sure what to make of it all. She first thought it was Jeremy but then she reminded herself that Jere was doing fine. He was doing very well in school and she shouldn't worry about him. The principal was waiting for her and Elena was confused. The principal- Mr. Walker was his name, a man that looked fairly similar to Rick Grimes from the Walking Dead, but he was very nice. Mr. Walker looked very saddened and Elena wondered why.

"Miss Gilbert, follow me," Mr. Walker said calmly.

Elena nodded and followed the man inside of the room. Inside, Elena found Liz waiting and Elena was very confused. "What's going on?" She asked.

"Why don't you sit down, Elena?" Liz asked calmly. Mr. Walker stepped out of the room knowing Liz had this. Elena sat down, looking confused as she glanced towards the retreating Mr. Walker and then faced Liz. "Sweetie, something happened…"

"Is Jeremy okay?" Elena asked, her heart rate beginning to pick up. Was her brother okay?

Liz took Elena's hand. "Early this morning, your father- he, well, he was drunk Elena to put it bluntly." Elena's eyes widen further. Was Grayson okay? "Your dad was very drunk. And he wasn't thinking straight. Jeremy was upstairs in his bedroom, and your Aunt Jenna was in your room- but Elena. Grayson caught the house on fire. He locked the doors so Jenna and Jeremy couldn't leave the house…"

Tears flooded Elena's eyes as it sunk in. Her family was dead. "Are they all…dead?"

Liz shook her head. "No, they all suffered many burns and your aunt didn't make it however, your father and brother are in the hospital right now…"

Elena jumped to her feet. "I've gotta-"

"They're in comas, Elena." Liz stopped the teen from running to the hospital to be by her family's side. Liz took Elena's shaking form into her arms and let the teen break down.

They're in comas…Aunt Jenna is…dead… Now full on crying, Elena couldn't stop her body from shaking as she sobbed. "L-Liz, can you please take me to the hospital? I-I've gotta be there…" Elena said brokenly.

"We can go," Liz said reassuringly. She led the teen from the school, Mr. Walker giving a pitying look towards Elena. "Mr. Walker said you don't have to worry about school, sweetie. He'll send your school work with Caroline. Your teachers were informed, alright? Don't worry about anything else."

Elena nodded. There isn't anything else I can worry about… She thought weakly.

~x~

Once at the hospital and given the room number to her brother's and father's room, Elena ran like a mad woman to them. She didn't go into Grayson's room first, instead going to Jeremy's side. Jeremy was hooked to many different machines and looked like a tiny child. Elena walked towards his side and took his hand into hers. "Jere?" her voice was weak and childlike. "It's me…"

She broke down crying as she buried her face into his hand. Jeremy, her baby brother, was laying on this bed in a coma. He usually was so strong, yet here he was. And she couldn't help but long for the Gilbert ring. However, as much as that would have saved him from the supernatural, this fire was not caused by such but instead by their father.

Liz hadn't explained how they knew it was caused by Grayson but everyone could see he was edging towards the big fall.

Elena swallowed as she held onto her brother's hand. "I'm so, so, so sorry I couldn't…" She sniffled. She hadn't thought about what Grayson would do now that she was out of the house. But she also remembered when she had lost Jeremy for 'good'; she had gone off the deep end. She kissed his hand gently.

A hand touched Elena's shoulder.

She looked over and found Liz. She had been silently hoping for Damon but knew that he was busy. He's always busy.

"You need anything?" Liz asked gently.

Elena shook her head. "No, y-you've been so helpful…I-"

Liz gave her a small smile. "If you need a place to stay, my door is always open."

"Thank you," Elena said honestly. "I've…I've got a place to stay, I've been staying with my boyfriend lately…"

Liz smiled gently. "Would you like for me to call him?" She offered. Liz knew that the brunette was having a really rough day.

Elena looked up at the woman. "That would be amazing, but, I'll do it. It shouldn't take too long…." She said gently. She stepped out of the room to call Damon.

It went straight to voicemail.

"Hey Damon, I know. I should be in school. Why aren't I in school?" Elena joked weakly into her phone, holding in her tears. She laughed brokenly. "Well, my dad- he um…There's been an accident. There was a fire at my house- my dad and Jeremy are in comas…Aunt Jenna's dead…" Elena chewed her lip. She seriously wished she could be talking to him instead of leaving a message. She needed him. "I'm at the hospital. I just wanted to let you know….I love you, bye."

She hung up and then went back to Jeremy's side.

~x~

Three hours later, a doctor finally came to talk to Elena. It appeared that her dad had gone brain dead. They were doing tests to rule it out but it wasn't looking good. The doctor- Doctor Shepherd- had come to talk to Elena about possibly making Grayson Gilbert a donor.

"Miss Gilbert, I know this is a seriously tough time, but right now, is the best chance we have to get Grayson's organs-"

"Do whatever you need to, Dr. Shepherd. Just please, help someone else. And save my brother….he's only 14." Elena said. She hadn't moved from Jeremy's side the whole time. She turned to look at her brother. "I hope you know that my dad was an alcoholic, and his organs might not be in the best conduction. But use whatever you can. Just please, save another kid."

Doctor Shepherd nodded. "I will do the best I can,"

Elena's eyes filled with tears. "Is Jere gonna be okay?"

"There is some brain activity, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that he wakes up. I went in with my partner Doctor Sloan and we fixed all we could." The Doctor explained. "Doctor Sloan is our head of Plastics and Burns. So Jeremy is in the best of hands,"

"Thank you," Elena said gently.

Doctor Shepherd nodded and left.

~x~

It was now reaching dinner time. Elena still hadn't heard anything from Damon and it was beginning to worry her. She had just gotten dinner, sitting quietly beside Jeremy's bed with the food Doctor Shepherd had given her. Her phone was on vibrate and she kept throwing it glances, waiting for Damon to message her or call her.

She looked down at her food and sighed. Doctor Shepherd had been so kind towards her, she couldn't thank him enough. But that might have been because Elena had signed off on Grayson's organs.

Did I make the right call? Elena thought with a shaky breath. Of course I did. Those organs will help someone out there who needs them.

Elena heard her phone against the table, and she literally jumped for it. She pressed the home button, praying for Damon's name to appear but instead, it was Caroline's.

Elena, how are you doing? Do you want Bonnie and me to go up there? -C

Elena couldn't hide the disappointed look on her face.

I'm fine Care-bear. -E

Are you sure? Bonnie and I can be there in like 5 minutes. -C

The brunette smiled faintly at her friend's caring nature. She looked over at Jeremy. Elena did need people but she only wanted one. And he had yet to contact her.

There is something you could do. Could you try and get into contact with Damon? He hasn't responded to me. -E

Sure thing! Anything for you Lena -C

Thank you Caroline -E

Now with hope filling her chest, Elena started eating and waited patiently for Caroline to get into contact with Damon and for Doctor Shepherd to come baring good news about Jeremy.

~x~

Damon's phone had died. He had cursed his luck as he stood carelessly in his living room, sipping on bourbon as he waited for Elena to come home. He needed her by his side.

He was watching some random show on the television, feeling awfully out of it. Stefan had gone off to hang out with Matt at the Grille. So Damon was home alone and enjoying it. His thoughts went from Elena to Katherine. As much as he wanted to drill his girlfriend for answers on his ex-lover, he figured that it wouldn't be wise. For one, Elena had no idea she had even told him any of the stuff she had in fact told him. For two, she hadn't exactly said anything about Katherine in their future.

Did he not get the tomb open? Was that why he did not have Katherine by his side?

It bothered him. He had always figured that once Katherine was out of the tomb, they could run off together and simply be. But instead, something happened, obviously. Elena said they ended up together. He shifted in his chair as he thought, his bourbon seemingly his only friend in the moment. She also said he died.

How had he died? This thought still haunted him. Somehow, somebody had found a way to kill Damon Salvatore.

It sent shivers down his spine, just thinking about it. He shook his head, turning to glance at the entrance to the living room. Still no Elena.

He shook his head and looked back at the fireplace. Another thought entered his mind. Elena said she use to date Stefan. From what Damon had heard from Stefan himself, Elena had never showed much interest in him but something was drawing him to her. It was like a pull from his soul to hers. It had bothered Damon.

Not because he was dating Elena….but because he felt the same thing.

Obviously, Elena had made her choice. Damon. But still, in her world, she originally went to Stefan. He cuddled his head in his hands, shaking his head. His brain hurt.

A loud knocking pulled Damon from his haunting thoughts. Better be someone freaking important. Damon thought with a scowl.

The vampire stood and headed for the door, not minding how much swagger he put in his walk. Most girls- especially Elena he had come to figure out- loved this walk. He pulled open the door, giving a bored expression to the person. "Yes?"

It was some blond girl Damon had seen Elena hang out with a few times. Carly is it? Camilla? Candice? He thought as his brows furrowed. No, they don't sound right…

The petit blonde looked slightly annoyed and cocked her hip to the side. "Damon, is it?" She asked, sounding fairly pissed off.

What the hell did I do?

"Who's asking, Blondie?" he asked biting back a growl.

She huffed. "Elena told me to come find you. Why haven't you been answering your phone?" She demanded.

Damon did not owe this woman an answer. But something about the way she glared made Damon think about what she could say to Elena. She could convince her Damon wasn't good enough for her. "It died." He stated. "What's wrong with Elena?"

"It's not Elena," The woman said. Damon still was trying to figure out her name but nothing came to him. She sounded sad. "It's Elena's brother Jeremy, her aunt and her father. There's been an accident…"

Worry filled Damon's being.

"Grayson caught their house on fire. He killed Jenna and now Jeremy's in a coma. So is Grayson." The woman explained.

Damon didn't know what he was doing, but soon he was moving and he was going for his car.

"Just take mine! I'll bring you to the hospital!" The blonde led him over to her car. No questions were asked. It was clear that Damon cared about Elena and so the blonde brought him to the hospital.

It seemed everything was going in slow motion for Damon as he tried to get to Elena.

It took years it seemed to finally get to the hospital. Damon nearly ran over some teenager but he didn't care. The girl- Candice he was pretty sure- had told him the number and now Damon was going there. He pulled back the door to find inside…

~x~

Ha! Cliff-hanger!

Another emotional chapter and we're stepping further away from the show. Sorry guys. Grayson and Aunt Jenna are dead. Jeremy is in a coma. Think he'll wake up? Or do you think Doctor Shepherd will be looking for Jeremy's organs?

Drama, drama, drama! :D

Ooh this was an interesting chapter to write. Near the end, it sort of got away from me. I had this image of Caroline talking to Damon sounding very pissed and looking pissed. Also, Damon hasn't had the chance to think about Katherine lately… Will she show up is the question for you all now. Elena didn't say anything about her while she was drunk, now did she? ;)

Please, review. It'd make my day. I've been feeling really done lately and you guys know what happens when I get down- people die (in my stories). Originally, I wasn't even going to kill off Aunt Jenna but look what happened. Grayson killed her. Ugh… sorry.

Nerdy~

REVIEW PLEASE! Love you babes *kisses and hugs* See you all next week!

(PS: To any other Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving!)