Disclaimer: I only own my OCs
A/N: So I've worked out why the previous chapters took so long to write, there was a depressing lack of Dalexa scenes. Apparently I pump out chapters when our favourite couple are together lol Since posting the previous chapter, I've written three and started a forth, which means that I have a backlog! This chapter started very differently to how I planned but I am sure that you won't complain ;)
XXX
"Hey," the soft sound of my boyfriend's voice had me glancing over my shoulder. I was sat on the stone railing outside, looking out at the very well-tended to garden, my feet swinging aimless patterns beneath me. Damon quickly stood behind me, arms wrapping around my waist. "How are you doing?"
"I feel a lot better now that I'm home," I sighed, relaxing back against him. We got back late the other night, retreating back to the Boarding House after dropping Elena off at her home. I gave Jenna a quick update, checking in on my idiot brother as I did so. Jeremy was lucky, I was too focused on not stressing out my aunt to properly berate him for running off and doing stupidness. It was probably why he avoided spending any alone time with me since. He knew that I was close to throttling him for what he did. But he couldn't avoid me forever, which was what I had messaged him earlier.
Yesterday morning, Elena had appeared on the Boarding House doorstep, overnight bag in hand and a determined look on her face. She was determined to find her missing ex, and I knew that there would be nothing to distract her. Which was how we had spent all of our day yesterday, speaking to witches, trying to get in contact with Bonnie, working out how far Stefan could have gotten following his release from that damn safe. And so, despite my desire to just curl up in our bed in Damon's arms, I stayed in the parlour, looking at anything that my sister gave me and talking through her ideas.
It had been the same today, which was why I had retreated outside after dinner. I just needed five minutes where I didn't need to think about all of the problems in our lives. Five minutes where I didn't need to be reminded of all the ways that I had failed my loves ones. So many of them were suffering and there was nothing that I could do to help them. Stefan had spent the whole summer suffering and I had failed to find it. It was a nauseating thought.
My boyfriend rested his chin on the top of my head as he tightened his grip on me. I knew that our little adventure in torturing, courtesy of Silas, had heightened his overprotective instincts. Which was why he had barely left my side, disappearing only to speak to Sheriff Forbes when she called for updates on our search. I didn't mind so much. It was comforting, having him around again. And it was just what I needed.
"I feel a lot better now that you are home too," Damon muttered into the cool evening air. "And if I have my way, you aren't leaving any time soon."
My lips quirked up into a small smile, "I missed you too, Day."
We both knew that I would have to leave at some point. With the mystery of our dad and Megan lingering back at Whitmore, I knew that Elena would want to go back. And I would have to go back with her. I couldn't let her go back alone, not with a murderous vampire haunting the hallways. I had to protect her and… I wanted to know how Megan was connected to our dad too. I didn't like not knowing and even though I would seriously regret whatever answers we found, I still had to know them.
"I'm serious, Ally," I rolled my eyes at the stern edge to my boyfriend's voice. "I let you leave one time and you end up getting tortured by your sister, thanks to Silas."
"Well, that wasn't exactly my fault," I pouted, reaching up to grip his arms. "And you were there for some of the torturing. So I don't think it should be counted against me."
"Alexa," Damon shook his head before releasing his grip on me, only to quickly grab my hips and turn me around so that we were facing each other. "You leave my side for the first time in months and you get hurt. Forgive me if I'm not exactly keen for that to happen again."
I sighed before pushing myself to my feet, reaching up to cup my boyfriend's face, thumbs stroking those delectable cheekbones, "Hey, I'll be fine. It was a one-time thing; Silas doesn't have a reason to get into her head anymore. And besides, I won't be leaving anytime soon. Even when we find Stefan, he's going to need time to heal. And I won't let him go through that alone. I, like, owe him big time."
His strong hands settled on my hips, squeezing hard, as he shook his head, "I just don't want to wash anymore blood off of you."
"Well, you don't need to worry about that, the only blood that you'll be cleaning off of my skin going forward will be from bites during sex," I let my face change, a cheeky smile on my face as I carefully scraped my fangs against his jawline.
I could tell that Damon was trying to resist my playing and my attempts to make him feel better. But I could feel his lips twitching up into a smile as I nuzzled his neck, fangs still out. But eventually, he just laughed and shook his head, "I'm trying to be serious, Ally."
"I know," I shrugged, tilting my head back to give him a toothy smile. "And I'm trying to reassure you. You can fight it, but we both know that I'm going to get my own way."
And to emphasise my point, I slowly dragged my fingers down his chest before slowly stroking my favourite thing in the world, keeping my touch featherlight. I hid my smirk in Damon's neck at his sharp intake of breath. I knew exactly how to play him, to get my own way, if pouting didn't work. But it was more than that, I knew it would help to reassure my boyfriend. And I hated it when things bothered him. Especially if they were things that I couldn't do anything about. AKA fuck you, Silas.
"Alexa," Damon's voice rumbled his chest as his hand shot down to grab my wrist. I leant back to give him my best innocent look. He just gave an unimpressed me one in return, "You really don't want to be playing games right now."
"But I didn't get to finish my last game," I pouted, leaning forward to nip his jaw with my human teeth. "And it's been so long, I need you."
I was just about aware of Damon muttering, "Damn it, Alexa," before his lips were crashing against mine. It was as fierce and passionate as I wanted it to be, sending thrilled spikes of pleasure up and down my body. I clung onto his shoulders as he practically devoured my mouth, a strong thigh slotting between my own.
Damon gently bit down on my bottom lip before one of his hands tangled itself in my hair, pulling my head back. His lips brushed against the sensitive spot beneath my ear before he whispered, "You are far too spoiled."
I could only gasp out my agreement as he bit down on the spot that had my thighs trying to clench together, leaving a mark that would unfortunately quickly heal. I could feel Damon's lips curl up into a smirk against my skin. Well, I wanted him to play with me and I had definitely gotten what I wanted.
I tried to grind down against his thigh, desperate for some friction, but the strong hand gripping my hips hindered my movements. Which only served to amuse my boyfriend as he lavished attention to my neck, leaving me with a necklace of hickeys, replacing each one as it healed.
"Damon," I eventually whimpered out, closing my eyes against the setting sun, as my body grew tight with pleasure, practically throbbing. But I was frequently denied what I needed to fall over the edge. "Please."
"Hm, I don't know, do naughty, spoiled girls deserve to get what they want?" Damon purred, releasing his grip on my hair, only to lightly circle my nipple instead. He stared down at me, looking far too amused for my liking, especially as my breath hitched each time his finger brushed against my very sensitive nipples.
It was me just about managing to twitch my thigh forward, lightly brushing against his very hard cock, that persuaded my boyfriend that giving into me and letting me win was worth it. He looked down at me, eyes dark, before he picked me up, holding me tight against him before speeding up to our room.
I landed on the bed, Damon's body covering mine, every inch of his body pressing against me. I quickly wrapped my legs around his hips, as I felt his hard cock, still annoying confined in his jeans, pressing against my core. He stared down at me as I slowly moved my hips, seeking the friction that I was meanly denied earlier. From the amused look in my boyfriend's eyes, I could tell that he knew what I was doing. But since he didn't stop me, I steadily increased my speed, searching for release as the pleasure built.
But before I could get there, and I was so so close, Damon stopped me by pressing his hips down, preventing me from moving. I couldn't hold back my whine as I was so cruelly denied. My boyfriend smirked down at me as I pouted, his voice deliciously deep, "Do you remember our favourite word 'restraint'?"
I narrowed my eyes at that, my denied orgasm eating away my self-control, "Damon, you better not be thinking what I think you are."
He was.
The little shit slowly stripped my clothes from my body, lips never leaving my skin. I gripped the satin sheets above my head, my stubbornness to not be beaten warring with my desire to rip Damon's clothes off. But I wouldn't let him win just yet, even if it was getting harder and harder to follow his orders to keep my hands still. Especially when I felt his breath against my core.
I bit my lip, trying to hide the whimper that slipped out, as Damon slowly wrapped his lips around my clit, gently sucking. It was torturous and perfect and painful all at the same time. It was just what I needed and at the same time, it wasn't enough. Even when two fingers slowly entered me, brushing against that magic spot, it wasn't enough. I needed more than the gentle, careful movements. And the little shit that I loved knew that.
I felt him smirk against my skin as I whispered, my knuckles turning white with how tight my grip had gotten, "Damon, please."
His thumb replaced his tongue as he nipped my thigh, "What do you need, baby?"
"More," I moaned out, my breath hitching as for a moment, I got the pressure that I needed. But it didn't last for long. I let out a whine when the gentle movements returned, even as Damon's fangs scraped against the soft skin of my inner thigh.
I could feel his gaze on me, dark and hungry, even as he denied his own pleasure to torment me through mine. But I didn't care. The only thing that I cared about was the steadily increasing pressure. It wasn't enough, not yet, but it was slowly getting there. It wasn't until I gasped out his name again, begging for more, that he took pity on me. The sudden increase in pressure took my breath away, even as he purred, "Call out my name, Alexa, remind the world that you are mine and only mine."
And even though a pleasurable haze filled my mine, consuming all coherent thought, I still managed to obey, moaning out his name. My voice cracked as Damon's fangs sank into the soft skin of my hip, prolonging my orgasm.
I was so caught up in finally getting what I needed, that I wasn't aware that Damon had stopped until he was gently opening my fists. I opened my eyes, completely unaware of when I closed them, and stared up at my boyfriend as he hovered over me. His clothes were finally gone and I could feel every inch of his body against mine. I wrapped my shaking legs around his hips as he slowly moved them. My breath hitched as his cock brushed against my sensitive core, but that didn't stop me from trying to direct him inside.
Damon laughed against my neck, deep and throaty, before playing nice and giving me what I wanted. He especially enjoyed it when I whimpered out his name as he slowly entered me, filling me completely. He kept his movements steady, even as I gripped his shoulders, nails digging into his skin. But I was unable to focus on that, my barely faded orgasm had returned with a vengeance. It took barely any time for me to fall over the edge again, whispering out Damon's name over and over again.
Damon let out a groan against my neck, his thrusts becoming harder and sharper, as he gave up playing games, focusing on joining me in falling over the edge. I was barely aware of time passing, unable to focus on anything but the pleasure consuming me, until I felt his fangs scrape against the sensitive spot beneath my ear. I gasped out a "yes" just before Damon sank his fangs into my skin. The sharp pain had my eyes rolling back as my boyfriend fell over the edge with me.
I knew that I looked like a complete mess, judging from the satisfied and impressed look in Damon's eyes when he pulled back to look at me. But I didn't care. I had definitely gotten my own way and I didn't regret it in the slightest.
XXX
We didn't fall asleep until the early hours of the morning. Have I ever said that I loved vampire stamina? Because fuck me, it was one of the most amazing things ever. I was wrapped up in Damon's arms, his naked body pressed against mine, the satin sheets just about covering us. I knew that my boyfriend was already awake, from the way his fingers stroked my stomach, and the way that his lips brushed against the bare skin of my shoulders.
But when I shifted slightly, pressing back into his warmth, he shook his head, murmuring, "It's still early, go back to sleep, Ally." But before I could, there was a knock on the bedroom door. Damon muttered something unpleasant under his breath before calling out, "What do you want, Elena?"
"Are you decent?" my sister replied, pausing in her movement to open the door.
"Decent enough," I replied as Damon sat up, turning me so that my head was resting against his chest. I didn't mind, I just relaxed against him as he tugged the blanket up to my shoulders.
Ellie gave me a less than impressed look at our position but it wasn't enough to stop her from saying, "I had a dream about Stefan." She sat down next to me, eyes wide with worry and I noticed that she was still in her pjs, her hair messy from running her fingers through it. "It was more than just a pit in my stomach this time, though. It was real. It was like I was there with him."
"And this couldn't wait until a more sociable hour?" my boyfriend grumbled as he tightened his grip on me. I could feel his hand on my hip, fingers drawing nonsensical patters on my skin. I knew that he was worried about his brother, but after what happened at Whitmore, he was also worried about me. And my twin's weird dreams about Stefan weren't helping with that worry.
"I'm sorry," Elena winced, glancing at the clock next to us. "It was just so vivid. It… it scared me."
"What did you see, Els?" I asked softly as she reached out to rest a hand on my calf.
My twin didn't even hesitate in answering, "I saw Stefan walking out of this bar. It had a red awning and this broken neon sign, and he was screaming in pain."
"Well, shit," I sighed, glancing up to exchange a glance with Damon. "Did you see anything that could help us locate the bar? Any names or signs that could help us?"
When Ellie shook her head, Damon muttered, "Well, should I go check in the attic, see if there's a crystal ball? Maybe you can conjure up an address."
I rolled my eyes, giving his chest a gentle tap before snorting, "Damon, play nice."
"I'll play nice when your sister's psychic dreams become more useful," my boyfriend rolled his eyes.
But before Elena could say anything and I knew that she would, judging from the offended look on her face, a new voice interrupted us, "Route 29. Joe's Bar."
We all turned to look at the bedroom door, where the most unwelcome houseguest in the world lingered. I narrowed my eyes at her as Damon tightened his grip, tugging the blanket up higher, so that it was covering more of me. We knew that she wasn't a threat, not in her delicate, human state. But considering the last time I saw her, she was trying to kill me, I couldn't blame my boyfriend for getting a bit overprotective. As for me, well, I just didn't want to be anywhere near her. She had gotten so many of my loved ones hurt, just to protect her bitchy ass, and I was not impressed that we had to look after her.
"How the fuck do you know that?" I raised an unimpressed eyebrow, even as my twin's grip on my leg tightened.
I could tell that Katherine really didn't want to answer me, but the seriousness of the situation must have compelled her too, "I think I had the exact same dream."
While the two doppelgangers stared at each other, I just groaned at closed my eyes, resting more of my face against Damon's chest. He let out a sympathetic noise, hand resting against my cheek, before kicking the other girls from the room. He gave Elena strict instructions to get herself ready for a road trip before focusing his attention back on me.
I kept my eyes closed until the door clicked shut behind my sister before muttering, "Please tell me that this isn't happening."
"I know, baby," my boyfriend sighed, thumb stroking my cheekbone. "But just focus on the positive, we can finally go and find Stefan."
"It's the only thing stopping me from hiding beneath the blanket until the day is over," I opened my eyes and scrunched up my nose. Damon let out a hum before rolling me onto my back, propping himself up on an elbow to look down at me. "I mean, seriously, why are Elena and Katherine sharing dreams? Of all people, why them?"
"Must be something doppelganger related. Silas and Stefan are also doppelgangers, maybe they are connected in some way because of that."
"Well, that sounds like it will end in a lot of trouble for everyone involved," I muttered before Damon pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. "You know we can't leave Katherine behind while we track down Stefan."
"I owe," my boyfriend agreed, an annoyed edge to his voice. He had done so well in keeping us separated ever since I returned back to Mystic Falls. It probably helped that the former vampire was keen to avoid me, since I had made it quite clear that she was relying on quickly disappearing mercy to survive. But now, we had no choice but to be around each other. As there was no way in hell that I would let Silas get his slimy hands on her.
XXX
It was only the seriousness of the situation that stopped us from getting distracted while getting changed. We were both eager to bring Stefan back home. And if that meant giving up a morning of sex, then it was a worthwhile sacrifice. Although, that didn't stop Damon bring wrapping his arms around me after I had gotten dressed, making me promise that I would stay safe. I knew that he never used to get worried about me like this, but he also knew that Silas would have a grudge against me. Technically, I had betrayed him by breaking that deals that we made. And while he hadn't mentioned anything yet, I got the feeling that it would come back to bite me on the ass sometime soon. Which was something that my boyfriend was keen to avoid. And when you factored in the fact that we had absolutely no idea who had found Stefan, it was enough to set his overprotective instincts into overdrive.
After promising that I wouldn't take any stupid risks, I left to go track down my twin, while Damon looked up our destination. I found my sister in the library, closing her journal as she stared down at the map in front of her. We were yet to discuss what happened at Whitmore, before we left. Oh, we both felt guilty over what happened. I should never have kept so many secrets from my sister and I knew for a fact that Ellie felt guilty over failing to overpower Silas' mind control. But as much as I wanted to discuss it and clear the air, Stefan had to take priority.
"Hey Els, how you doing?" I asked, keeping my voice soft, as she picked up Stefan's daylight ring, a pensive look on her face. I was hesitant to break the silence, but I knew that the younger Salvatore's absence weighed heavily on my sister's mind. Especially since she had been feeling weird all summer.
My twin glanced over at me as she curled her fingers around the ring in her hand, before sighing, "I don't know."
Before she could say any more, Damon walked into the room, tucking his phone into his pocket, "So I've found 9 bars along Route 29 and none of them are called 'Joe's'."
"Katherine got something wrong, shocker," I muttered, rolling my eyes as my boyfriend stood by my side. He rested a hand on my lower back, fingers stroking the sliver of skin between my shorts and tank top.
I knew that Damon wanted to say something, probably agreeing with my little dig aimed at the former vampire, but before he could, Elena murmured, "I had a feeling that there was something wrong all summer, and I ignored it." I exchanged a glance with my boyfriend while my sister stared down at the map on the table. "But I was right, Stefan was in a safe, and probably killed whoever it was that found him… I know it sounds crazy, that I'm following some psychic dream, but it's the only lead that we have."
"It doesn't sound crazy, it is crazy," Damon rolled his eyes. "But I'm open-minded."
"Besides," I shrugged as my boyfriend finally gave in to his overprotective instincts and tucked me into his side. "If we're following your crazy psychic dreams, then we don't need to continue playing nice with the pious witches in Richmond. Cos that was getting tedious."
Ellie frowned and went to ask more, but she was interrupted by everyone's least favourite person. Katherine sauntered into the room, looking as shit as usual, a bag in hand, "Shotgun." At the raised eyebrows that she received, the older doppelganger shrugged, "What? I get carsick in the back seat. Another charming, human side effect that you two stuck me with."
"A, you're welcome," I smirked, enjoying the dirty look that I got. "And B, you aren't going anywhere near the front seat. Soz hon, but that is reserved for me."
While I just enjoyed tormenting the woman who had hurt me so many times, my sister just looked at my boyfriend, "Please tell me that she's not coming?"
"Trust me, I have no interest in Katherine's wellbeing," Damon rolled his eyes as the oldest in the room dumped her bag on the table. "But for some reason, Silas wants her real bad, and if Silas wants her, then I want her more."
"Can't we just stash her in the cellar?" my twin grumbled while Katherine went to go sit on the coffee table. "Or maybe in a deep, dark well with a pair of water wings?"
"Ooh, I like that second idea," I looked up at Damon with a hopeful look, only to get an unimpressed one in return. Well damn, there goes that hope. Killjoy.
"Do you really think that I wanna take a road trip with you, America's most boring, self-righteous girl?" Katherine sneered, before glancing over at me. "And you, the person who ruined my one chance at happiness." I couldn't hide the proud look at her words, my lips curling into a smirk as my boyfriend snorted, squeezing my hip. "Just remember, Damon wouldn't have to play bodyguard if you two hadn't shoved that cure down my throat."
"You were trying to kill Alexa!" Ellie snapped back, narrowing her eyes.
"And she was trying to kill you too, Els," I unhelpfully pointed out, determined to make Bitcherine suffer as much as possible. I knew that we had to keep her safe, so that we could make Silas miserable, but that didn't mean that I couldn't have any fun.
"I will admit, though, I take great pleasure knowing that you disappointed so many people when you wasted that cure on me," the former vampire smirked as I debated whether it was worth just locking her up somewhere and hoping for the best.
"Yeah, but shoving it down your throat was just so satisfying," I smirked back, ignoring Damon muttering my name.
I went to say something else when he cleared his throat, raising his voice and giving Katherine a look, "Alright, play nice, or I'm gonna revisit the deep, dark well idea."
"Does that mean that I have to play nice?" I glanced up at him, unable to completely hide the wicked look on my face. The look that I got in return had shivers running up and down my spine. But unfortunately, Katherine did what she did best and ruined my fun.
"I wanna find Stefan just as much as you do," the bitch stood up, narrowing her eyes. "And not just because I don't wanna be a pawn that you can trade off for his life. I care about him, I always have." She generously ignored my snorted "bullshit". "And since we've been having the same dream, makes me think that you care about him just as much."
Before Elena could open her mouth to retaliate, Damon rolled his eyes, urging me from the room, "Okay, train's leaving the station. Choo-choo!"
XXX
As previously declared, I sat in the passenger seat, forcing the doppelgangers to sit next to each other in the back seat. Even if I wasn't guaranteed the front seat, I knew that Damon wouldn't make me sit next to Katherine. Especially since the woman just wouldn't shut up. Every five minutes she just had to make a snide comment and it made my fingers twitch. Normally it wouldn't get to me like this, but I think it was because I was trapped in the car with her. And, even more unfortunately, we needed her. She also had the dream pointing to Stefan's whereabouts, so knew the location that we were searching for. And damn, relying on the bitch for help was a very annoying thought.
"You sure you know what you're looking for?" Damon asked my sister as we drove down Route 29. "Last bar had a red awning and a neon sign."
"I'll know when I see it," Ellie confirmed, staring hard out of the window, determined not to miss anything.
"Me too," Katherine piped up, unable to help herself. My fingers twitched again as I debated whether it was worth just knocking her unconscious. Fortunately for my former tormentor, my boyfriend rested his hand on my thigh, giving it a squeeze. I glanced over at him, quirking my lips up into a smile at his raised eyebrow.
"No one asked you," Elena briefly removed her gaze from the window to give her doppelganger a glare. At least I wasn't the only one losing patience with the cured vampire.
"I'm just trying to make conversation," the bitch sniffed, crossing her arms. "Anything to drown out the sound of eggshells breaking." My fingers twitched again, even as I rested my hand over the one that Damon had on my thigh. His touch was the only thing keeping me from snapping, either verbally or physically. "So, Elena, I couldn't help but overhear. You've been dreaming about Stefan all summer? And sweet, young Alexa just persuaded you to ignore your feelings. All while she was trying to get witches to search for him, knowing that something was wrong. Ooh, that must be putting a strain on your relationship."
"FML," I muttered, closing my eyes as my head slumped back against the seat. "Why did we bring her with us, again?"
Damon just gave my thigh another squeeze, silently reminding me to calm down, before my twin rolled her eyes, "They weren't dreams. It was just a bad feeling, like something wasn't right with him." She kindly ignored the dig that Katherine had made about me knowing that something was wrong. Although, that could be because of the little adventure in torturing that we had a couple of days back. Something that we were yet to discuss.
"Oh, no, yeah, sure," Katherine snorted. "I totally get it. there's still a connection between you two. Maybe deep down, you know that he was your one true love and breaking up with him, because of Alexa, of all people, was a big mistake."
"Um, rude," I muttered, tapping my fingers against my boyfriend's hand. It wasn't quite enough to get rid of the energy raging around my body as I itched to get away from Katherine and this conversation. But it did something to help.
"Ignore her," Damon glanced over at me. "As soon as the vervain's out of her system, we'll compel her and we'll put her on mute."
"Who needs to wait for that, I can just knock her out," I grumbled, before wincing and mouthing an apology at the unimpressed look that I got from my boyfriend. It was so easy to forget that the bitch was delicate now and I couldn't just use my strength if she annoyed me. It was a shame, because I definitely didn't get to punch her enough before shoving the cure down her throat.
"Or maybe Stefan's been trying to reach out to you all summer," Bitcherine sneered after giving me a dirty look, deciding that my sister was an easier target. "But you let yourself believe Alexa and Damon so you ignored his attempts, so he reached out to the person that he trusts: me."
I really couldn't hold back my laughter at that. Even when Damon sighed out my name, his own lip twitching, I couldn't stop. I snorted out, "Oh please, Stefan doesn't trust you. No one trusts you. That's why you are in this mess. The only reason why you got the same dream as Elena is because you are both doppelgangers. Now are you going to shut the fuck up or am I going to have to go back there and make you?"
"Maybe you're right," Katherine sniffed, rudely ignoring my threat to shut the fuck up and leave everyone alone. "Elena and I had the exact same dream on the exact same night. Why would that mean something?"
"Can I just give her a little punch?" I pouted, looking over at Damon while my twin glared at her doppelganger. "I won't knock her out, I'll just daze her. Please?"
"Maybe later," my boyfriend gave me a tolerant look while the former vampire gave me a dirty one. "If she doesn't learn that keeping quiet is the smart thing to do."
"Katherine Pierce isn't smart," I rolled my eyes, slumping back in my seat as the hand on my thigh slowly moved up, fingers lightly stroking the soft skin of my inner thigh. And I was immediately reminded of our activities from last night. And just how much Damon loved to teach me the art of restraint. "But fine, I'll play nice for now."
"That's all I ask," Damon gave my thigh a squeeze and I couldn't stop the smile from forming on my face. This would have been a lot worse if he wasn't here with me. Not that he would have been anywhere else. I knew that he would not leave my side, not right now, not unless something extreme happened.
XXX
After that, every time Katherine opened her annoying little mouth, Damon gave my inner thigh a squeeze. His fingers drew patterns on my skin during the quiet moments and it was enough to get me to relax, even a little. And that was the only reason why Katherine's tongue remained in her mouth.
Other than Katherine's little comments, things were mostly quiet. The doppelgangers stared out their respective windows, looking for the mysterious bar from the dreams. Sometimes I helped out, but most of the time, I just stared at my boyfriend. I could tell that he was tense, from the way that he gripped the steering wheel just a smidge too tight, from the set of his shoulders. And I couldn't blame him. His brother had been missing all summer and now that we finally had a clue, it was one that proved difficult to find. So he had earned a little bit of tenseness. And Katherine being a little bitch almost definitely didn't help. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything that I could do to help, so I just settled for brushing my fingers against the back of his hand every now and then. It would do, until we managed to get some time alone.
We were making good progress until the unwelcome human in the car announced, "I need to pee. Can we stop off somewhere?"
"Can we leave her behind when we do?" I muttered, rolling my eyes. Damon gave my thigh a warning tap before agreeing to stop off at the next place that we found. I was slightly surprised that he gave in so easily, but maybe he needed a break from her big mouth too.
Fortunately for everyone in the car, it didn't take long before we reached one of the non-Joe's bars along the road. Even I knew that it wasn't one of the possible bars, due to the bright green awning. So I felt absolutely no guilt in delaying our search for a few minutes.
While Damon let Katherine out of the car, warning her not to take too long, I did the same for my sister. Ellie paused beside me as I placed a light hand on her shoulder, "You might want to see if you can grab something to eat before getting back in the car, even if it is just a bag of peanuts." I paused before frowning, "Damn, what if Katherine is allergic to them, how do we even find out?" I shook my head, waving away from distracted thoughts. "I don't know how much longer we will be driving for, so you might as well take advantage of this break."
Elena nodded before rolling her eyes as Bitcherine walked past us, "I'll also make sure that she doesn't do anything stupid."
"Shout if you need me," I gave the other doppelganger a distrusting look as she sauntered inside the bar. My sister agreed before quickly following her. My stomach twisted as my twin disappeared from my view. Even now, I hated it when she was out of my line of sight, especially in a strange place. And even more so when Katherine fucking Pierce was there too. But there was nothing that I could do, other than remind myself that the older woman wasn't a threat, not right now. She was too weak and pitiful, too focused on complaining about broken nails and aching muscles.
I wasn't aware of the fact that I was staring at the unknown building with narrowed eyes until Damon's arms were wrapping around me, tugging me back against his chest. I went willingly, content to rest against his strong body until my twin returned to my line of sight.
"She's fine," my boyfriend sighed into my hair. "Not even Elena Gilbert can get into trouble in that tiny little building."
"Logically, I get that," I reached up to rest my hands on the arm just beneath my boobs. "But I still can't help but worry. That girl can get into trouble in a paper bag."
I generously ignored his snorted, "Just like her sister."
Instead, I asked, "How are you doing?"
"Fortunately, focusing on stopping you from throttling our unwanted guest is helping to distract me from the situation that my own brother is in."
"See, I provide a public service," I shrugged, a quick laugh leaving my lips as I turned around in his arms. I reached up to cup Damon's face, thumbs stroking those delicious cheekbones. "You know, you can worry about Stefan. Hell, everyone in the car is, so just join in. Then you will feel absolutely no guilt in bullying Katherine with me."
"Maybe I should have just locked her up in the Boarding House," Damon rolled his eyes before tapping my nose. "Play nice, Alexa, otherwise we'll be having another discussion about restraint."
I couldn't stop the smirk from forming on my face, "And what a terrible thing that would be."
My boyfriend raised an eyebrow, giving my hips a squeeze, before huffing out a laugh and pressing a kiss to my forehead, "Oh Alexa, what am I going to do with you?"
"Oh, I have a few ideas," I purred, giving him a quick kiss. "But unfortunately, they will need to wait until we are back home."
"You're insatiable."
"And you're addictive. It's not my fault," I pouted pitifully, wondering if our humans would take long enough for me to get some teasing in. Especially since I could tell that it was helping to take Damon's mind off of the situation that his brother was in. He could stress about that once we found the bar. For now, I wanted to do all that I could to ease the tension inside of him.
"You're just spoiled," Damon laughed, glancing over my shoulder to see if the doppelgangers were returning.
"Perhaps," I conceded with a shrug, a cheeky smile on my face. "But you love it."
My boyfriend just agreed with a hum, tucking my head under his chin before giving me a squeeze. I relaxed into his arms, happy to indulge him as his hand gripped the back of my neck, keeping my entire body pressed against him. If it helped to reassure him, then I would do whatever was needed.
XXX
Not long after we started driving again, my sister told us about Matt's phone call. The blue-eyed cutie was apparently taking his previous duty to protect Katherine seriously. As he asked about her, seeing if she was okay, while also asking about Stefan. I was surprised but it was a typical Matt move. The boy cared far too much and I respected that. Even if some of that care was directed towards Katherine fucking Pierce.
"He did sound weird when he asked," Elena pointed out with a frown, glancing over at Katherine. The other woman was leaning against the side of the car, her head resting against the window. She wasn't quite asleep but I knew that it wouldn't be long until she was. And thank god for that. Even if just being around her was intolerable, she was a lot easier to deal with when she wasn't awake.
"Maybe his conscious was rebelling at the thought of checking up on Bitcherine. Because let's face it, it is a distasteful thought," I rolled my eyes, shifting in my seat so that I could look at my sister. I sensed more than saw Damon's look, followed by a tap on my knee. I gave him a wink before opening my legs, which had been crossed together, letting him rest his free hand on my leg again. It seemed to amuse him, when he was able to persuade me to behave by squeezing my inner thigh. Just like his game of teaching me restraint amused him. And if it kept his mind off of the shitiness of the situation, then I was content to let him play his games.
Ellie gave his hand a distasteful look, seeming as though she was tempted to get him to remove it, like she normally did. But maybe she realised that it was more than flirting, it helped ease the tension in our bodies. So she let it go, to instead say, "It didn't feel like that. I can't quite put my finger on it, but he definitely sounded weird."
"Well, you can investigate it when we return home with Stefan," I offered, trying not to do anything to make her worry about something else. Not that there was anything to worry about. I'm sure that Matt was fine. He was probably the safest of us all. Which was something that I was determined to keep that way. I made a mental note to check in on him once we returned. "Now, since the distasteful one is finally being quiet, do you want any help looking for this bar? I can cover this side."
"Thanks, Lexa," my twin gave me a tired smile. I knew that she hadn't been sleeping well, even when she wasn't having psychic dreams. If we didn't need to find Stefan, and if I thought that she would even agree, I would have made her take a nap too. But I left that battle for a later hour. Hopefully she would just relax a bit if she knew that she had a competent person helping her.
"Don't mention it," I returned the smile before looking out of the window on my side, keeping my body where it was. I wasn't going to sacrifice Damon's calming touch, even if it did put my neck at an awkward angle. "I don't suppose you remember any other details from your dream? Because I don't exactly trust Bitcherine's ability to remember details."
"Alexa," Ellie sighed out my name and I gave an unrepentant shrug. Why should I care if I said some nasty words about her? It was the least that she deserved. Besides, she was still asleep. Although, I would have said it to her face too.
"What? She's asleep. Let me insult her while she stays this way. It'll make it a lot easier to deal with her when she does eventually wake up."
Elena didn't have anything to say to that, so instead she shook her head, "No, all I can remember is the red awning and broken neon sign. Sorry."
"It's cool, sis," I gave her a quick thumbs up. "I assumed as much but figured that it was worth asking."
We settled back into silence, all of us focused on our respective jobs. And not waking up the most unpleasant person on the planet. Even if she did snore. Ugh, how was the woman annoying even when she was asleep? If it wasn't for the fact that I wanted a break from her mouth, I would have woken her up.
It was a thought that Damon apparently sensed, as he gave my thigh a small squeeze. I rolled my eyes, giving his hand a tap before resuming stroking nonsensical patterns onto his skin. I wasn't going to disturb our peace, even if her little snorting snores were getting under my skin. I wasn't that much of a masochist. Which was something that I muttered under my breath. My boyfriend let out a small snort at my words, shaking his head before focusing on the road. I was tempted to give him a dirty look for that, but I resisted, instead making a mental note to make him pay for that when we got home.
The road that we were slowly running out of. We had passed seven of the bars along route 29 and none of them were the one that we wanted. There were still two left for us to check out, but I wasn't feeling too optimistic. We were relying on information from a human Katherine Pierce. The idiot that thought that crashing a car with her inside of it was a good idea. I didn't put too much faith in her words. But hey, she could surprise me. She needed to, if I was being honest. If we failed to find Stefan along route 29, then fuck knows where we could go from there. We would just have to return home and maybe threaten a witch into doing a locator spell. Asking nicely just wouldn't work anymore. Not with a starving Stefan stumbling around without his daylight ring, vulnerable and hurting.
XXX
Bar number 8 was the one that we wanted. The relief in Elena's voice as she identified it as the one from her dream was palpable. And it had me relaxing too. We were finally close to finding Stefan. And once we had the younger Salvatore home, I just need to track down Bonnie and bring her home too. Because I hadn't forgotten about my MIA friend. It was only Jeremy's reassurance that he was in contact with her that had me putting Stefan first.
Damon slowly pulled up outside the bar, turning off the engine before glancing over his shoulder. Katherine was still asleep and judging from the way he quietly encouraged us to exit the car, he wanted to keep it that way. Not that I was complaining, it had been nice, not listening to her grating voice. A thought that I had frequently muttered.
As Damon helped her out of the car, my sister quietly asked, "Are we really just gonna leave her in the car?"
"The only time that she shuts up is when she's sleeping," my boyfriend replied, rolling his eyes. "And I didn't want to disturb our peace and quiet. Besides, your sister is a lot easier to deal with when Katherine isn't around."
My twin agreed with a sigh and shake of the head. Which had me narrowing my eyes at them. They were being unfairly rude and if we didn't have a Stefan to save, I would have been making my displeasure known to them.
Something that Damon must have sensed as he gave me a wink before grabbing my hand, tugging me towards the bar. I went to follow him only to pause when my sister did. She was staring up at the bar, a fearful look in her eyes. I knew that the dream was freaking her out, and the fact that her dream was real, that must have been freaking her out even more.
"I though you said that this was the one," my boyfriend had paused by my side when I did, glancing back at my sister.
"It is," Ellie confirmed with shot nod, glancing over at me when I murmured her name. "It looks exactly like it did in the dream. Isn't that a little freaky?"
"It's a lot of freaky," Damon gestured for her walk forward and it was only my reassuring nod that got my twin moving. "And we can discuss just how freaky it is later. But for now, let's go see if Stefan's inside."
The mention of her ex had my sister moving quicker. She would have pushed her way into the bar first, if it wasn't for the arm that I held out in front of her. Elena gave me disgruntled look but allowed me to tug her backwards so that the two vampires in the group could enter first.
The bar was empty, except for one of the workers. The girl looked young, with short blonde hair and a friendly face. And, more interestingly, a bandage on her neck. Now, I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. But considering Stefan was known to be here, would it be beyond belief to assume that she had had a run-in with our missing Salvatore?
The girl glanced up as we approached the bar, an easy smile on her face, "Can I get you something?"
"Yeah, sure," Damon replied, a charming smile on his face before he caught the girl's eye, compelling her as he asked, "Why don't you tell me what happened to your neck," he glanced down at her name tag before resuming eye contact, "Jo?"
"Some sicko attacked me," Jo immediately replied, her voice flat. "Bit me, told me to run, so I did, and when I looked back, he was on fire."
Yikes, poor Stefan. It sounded as though he really went through it. And that just sharpened my desire to save the other vampire. I owed him so much; I couldn't let him suffer any longer. I wouldn't let him suffer any longer.
"The sun must have come up," Elena murmured, looking over at Damon. "He doesn't have his daylight ring."
"We didn't see his body outside, which means that someone must have rescued him," I was quick to reassure my sister, grabbing her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.
My boyfriend nodded, before asking the bartender, "And then what happened?"
"Some woman shoved him into a truck, drove away."
"Of course," I rolled my eyes before doing some compulsion of my own. "I don't suppose you can give us this woman's name? Or any information about her?"
Jo shook her head, "I don't know who she is. But she was driving Cam Peterson's truck. He lives about ten miles down that dirt road out back."
"Thanks, hon," I sighed, releasing her from my compulsion, before glancing at the other two. "At least we have an actual destination this time."
While I tried to reassure my sister, the blonde poured a shot, nudging it over to my boyfriend, "Here. Looks like you could use one of these."
"Hmm, I could," Damon agreed, taking the offered drink. "Thank you." I had just turned around to properly face my twin when my boyfriend started gagging and coughing. I exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Elena before spinning around. I quickly pulled Damon into my side, forcing him to rest against me, just as he gasped out, "Vervain!"
"Bitch!" I cursed, glaring at the blonde bartender. "What the fuck is wrong with you! Why did you do that?"
Unfortunately for me, it wasn't Jo who answered. Instead, a stranger emerged from the back room. Her accent was thick, as she narrowed her brown eyes at us. Wavy brown hair curled around her face, brushing against her leather jacket as she shrugged, "I told her to pour him a drink or I'd kill her."
I immediately grabbed Ellie's arm, forcing her behind me as I tightened my grip on Damon. The pain from the vervain must have been brief, as he was soon standing up. He rested a hand on my stomach, ready to push me behind him. I was relieved that he was quickly getting back to full strength, as I would definitely need his help to protect my sister.
"Who the hell are you?" my boyfriend demanded, sounding less than impressed. It was the second time that he had been attacked with vervain in a short amount of time. And I knew that he was doing the same as me and cursing the existence of that damn fucking herb.
In response, the stranger just raised a gun, pointing it directly at me. To be fair, she probably wanted to aim it at my twin, but since she was firmly behind me, that was not going to happen. Unfortunately, before we could eliminate this new threat, our favourite most-hated woman walked through the door.
Katherine sauntered in, subtly rubbing at her eyes, before freezing as the stranger swung to point the gun at her. I had to give it to the former vampire. She immediately raised her hands, trying to look as unthreatening as possible.
Content that no one was moving, even as I felt Damon's hand tensing on my stomach, the stranger demanded, "Which one of you is Katherine Pierce?"
True to form, Katherine immediately pointed at my sister, "She is!"
I couldn't stop the resulting eye roll, even though I knew that this was just not the time. But Katherine just couldn't help herself. See, this was why locking her up was always a good idea. But no, we just couldn't risk Silas getting his slimy hands on her. Ugh, I really hated the bitch.
But the stranger never moved the gun away from Katherine. Instead, a sly smirk formed on her face, "Katherine is a compulsive liar… but, I need her alive."
I didn't know what the woman was planning, but I just glanced over my shoulder. I was not going to let my sister get hurt, not because of Katherine fucking Piece. So I just muttered, "Els, grab Katherine and run. Don't stop until we find you."
I could practically feel the other two getting ready to ask what I was up to. But before they could, I did something that would definitely get me told off later. I used my vampire speed, hoping that the woman was just a regular old human. I kicked the stranger in the chest, watching as she crashed back into the table behind her. Various knick-knacks fell to the floor as I yelled at my sister to run. Luckily she did so, not needing any further prompting.
I kept my gaze on the other woman as I heard the door slam shut behind my twin and her doppelganger. But unfortunately, life really hated me. As the stranger's face vamped out, a furious expression on her face, as she pushed herself up using vampire speed.
"I've heard about you and your habit of getting in the way," the woman spat before grabbing my arm before I could dart back. She swung me around, quickly swapping our places, and my back slammed back against the wall. I couldn't stop myself from closing my eyes as my back erupted in pain, less than happy at being slammed back against the firm wood. The unmistakable sound of vampire speed echoed around the room before the stranger disappeared after our vulnerable humans.
"Fuck me," I groaned, slumping forward. But before I could hit the floor, a firm body blocked my fall. Damon quickly gathered me against his chest, hands cupping my face. I opened my eyes and looked up at him, wincing at the unimpressed look on his face. "In my defence, she was not supposed to fight back like that."
My boyfriend rolled his eyes but let it go for the moment, even if he did mutter something about having words later, "Wonderful. Now we've got a vampire bounty hunter to deal with. I don't suppose you recognised her?"
"Unfortunately not," I sighed as the pain in my back quickly faded away. "And that is really annoying me."
"Well, whoever she was, she wants Katherine, which means that she's probably a Silas spy."
"Even when he isn't around, he's being a little bitch," I grumbled before reaching up to grab Damon's wrists. "I need to go get Ellie back, even if that means saving Katherine too. You go on ahead and find Stefan, we'll catch up when we can."
"Absolutely not," Damon shook his head. "Alexa, she will hurt, maybe even kill you, if you get in her way."
"That's if I encounter her," I gave his wrists a quick squeeze. "Trust me, I have no intention of going anywhere near her. I'll grab our humans and get them to safety. Stefan needs to be your concern right now. A different stranger has him right now and I don't particularly like that thought."
I could tell that he wasn't impressed with my words, but he could argue against them. We had come out here to save Stefan, we couldn't fail in that goal.
"Fine," Damon sighed an unhappy sigh before pressing a firm kiss to my lips. "But if there is any sign of trouble, you grab Elena and leave Katherine behind, do you understand me? I don't care how bad Silas wants Katherine; she is not worth you getting hurt. You got me?" At my nod, he kissed me again, this one slightly more desperate. "Be careful."
"You too."
XXX
It didn't take me long to find the doppelgangers. While they had gotten further than I thought they would, they had also stopped moving, despite my orders not to. It wasn't Elena's fault, as I could hear her urging the older woman to keep moving. It was the panic in her heartbeat that had me increasing my speed. I knew that my sister worried about me, even though I was more than capable of looking after myself. Although, it was probably a good thing that she wasn't around to see the strange bitch throw me against a wall. I knew that I would get lectured for my reckless actions by Damon later. I didn't need to add my sister's worried words to that. Especially when we still had to clear the air concerning the other day.
I came to a stop just before them, getting two completely different reactions. Katherine staggered back a step, stumbling into the collapsed tree behind her, while Ellie stepped forward, resting a hand on my shoulder.
At her questioning look, I muttered, "I'm fine, Els, nothing to worry about."
Before my twin could say anything, and from the disbelieving look in her eyes, I knew that she would, Katherine spoke up, rolling her eyes. But I could see the relived look in her expression, "I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I'm really glad that it's you. My leg is cramping and I'm freezing. And Elena wouldn't let me rest."
"Elena was right," I gave the other woman a look. "I was able to find you a lot easier because you stopped. And if I can find you, that means that the bitch from the bar could have. So let's get going, before she makes a reappearance and ruins my day even further."
But before we could start moving, Katherine dug her heels in and asked the one question that I never thought she would, "Why didn't you kill me?"
I knew what she asking, what she was really asking, but I was not in the mood to answer. Not after getting ass kicked trying to defend her and my sister. Not while my sister was in danger, in these stranger woods, while being chased by a strange vampire, "Because you actually have value for once in your life. And if keeping you alive and by my side makes life difficult for Silas, then I will keep it that way. Because fuck that asshole."
But the former vampire was not to be persuaded otherwise, even when I grabbed her wrist to tug her forward, "No, I mean, after you two shoved the cure down my throat. I was trying to kill your precious Elena. Why didn't you finish me off, we both know that you were more than capable to doing so in that moment in time. Why did you leave me alive?"
I let out an aggravated sigh, turning to properly face my sister's doppelganger. I could practically feel my sister vibrating next to me, itching to get moving. Whether that was moving away from danger or moving towards Stefan's location, I didn't know. But I could sympathise. I, too, wanted to get out of here and Katherine was not helping that.
Which was probably why I didn't bother keeping my words gentle, "Why didn't I kill you? It's because I was riding high on the miracle of my twin being brought back to life, permanently, despite me expecting to say goodbye to her. It probably helped that my humanity had returned with a brutal vengeance and the thought of killing anyone, even you, had my skin crawling. You weren't shown mercy because of yourself, Katherine, you were shown mercy because you weren't important in that moment in time."
"Or maybe you thought that being human was punishment worse than death for me," Katherine snapped back, sounding less than impressed with me words. Which was a her problem. She was pushing me for answers, maybe she should have just backed off when I fobbed off her question before.
"Truthfully, that never occurred to me in the moment, but now that you mention it, it was a delicious side-effect of an instinctual act," I knew that my smile was on the sharp side from the way that the older woman winced. But I couldn't bring myself to care. "Now, are you ready to get moving? Or do I need to throw you over my shoulder and carry you? Because I will do that, if it means getting my sister to safety."
The doppelganger must have sensed the seriousness in my words as she quickly stepped forward, getting her ancient ass into gear, even if she did give me a sly smile, "Well… thank you. I'm glad to you that you care, even if you are a condescending bitch."
"Well, it isn't the worst thing that I have been called," I rolled my eyes as I tugged my two humans through the woods. "Especially this year. But let's save the rest of this very weird bonding sessions until we have reunited with Damon. Because having extra vampire muscle to keep you two safe would definitely help me relax. Which benefits everyone as a stressed me equals a bitchy me."
I kindly ignored my sister's muttered agreement. It was the least that I could do after sending her off on her own with Katherine. As I knew that it would not have been a pleasant experience. Especially if the woman had moaned as much as she was when I found them.
I ushered the two through the woods, back in the direction of the bar. Which set all of my instincts screaming. But I didn't know where the before mentioned dirt road was in relation to the woods. So I had to lead us back towards the dangerous bar with the bitchy stranger. I could feel my body tensing with every step as the woods remained silent around us. I didn't know if it was a natural silence for the trees or if something had spooked the local wildlife. I knew that my grip on the humans' wrists was slightly too tight, especially when Katherine muttered under her breath, but I couldn't help it. Something bad was about to happen, I could feel it in my bones.
And I was soon proved right when cold hands wrapped around my neck. Darkness followed, mixed in with the sound of my twin screaming my name.
XXX
Damon's POV
It didn't take me long to reach the cabin that the bartender had mentioned, even if every instinct in my body was screaming for me to go back for Alexa. But I had to trust that she was alright. She was capable to taking care of herself, even if she did take stupid risks when it came to her twin's safety. But I couldn't think about that. My girl wanted me to rescue Stefan and I wouldn't fail her.
I carefully opened the door, keeping my movements slow, only to raise an eyebrow at the sight before me. Stefan was here but I wasn't expecting him to be tied to a chair by vines. On the floor, there was a circle of herbs, with my brother in the middle. A fire crackled merrily in the hearth, the smoke doing nothing to cover the herbal smell in the room. I was relieved that Stefan was awake, that would make saving him easier.
"Stefan," I greeted my brother with a nod as I stepped into the circle, crouching down in front of him. "You couldn't call a brother?"
"Nice to see you, too, Damon," Stefan nodded back. There was a hungry look in his eyes, even as his skin shone with old sweat. Life hadn't been easy for my brother since his rescue, but it wouldn't be long until he had a blood bag in his hands and he was on his way back home.
"What the hell is going on here?" I asked, examining the vines tying him to the chair. The person responsible for this had done a thorough job, and I was reluctantly impressed. Even if I was annoyed in that moment. Both of Stefan's wrists and legs were tied to the chair, with vines around his middle, just for added annoyance.
"Well, Silas' ex-girlfriend decided to come back from the Other Side," my brother huffed out as I gave an experiment tug on the vines.
"Qetsi-whatever?" I frowned, pausing in my movements. My brother when to answer when he paused, glancing behind me. I shot up, putting myself between Stefan and the newcomer. But I wasn't expecting to see a woman behind me. She held a flower in her hand, an unimpressed look on her face.
"It's Qetsiyah," the infamous witch rolled her eyes before looking at Stefan. "Do you see why I wanted to change it?" I watched as she wandered over to table at the side, carefully putting down her flower. While she was distracted, I gave an experimental tug on the vines again. Only to look back up when the witch spoke, "You won't be able to break those vines. The spell won't release him until I get what I want."
I rolled my eyes before moving to Stefan's side, keeping a hand on his shoulder as I gave Qetsiyah a loo, "Well, I guess the rumours are true. You are a ray of sunshine. Question: why is my brother wearing your compost pile?"
The witch turned around at that, content to pause in whatever it was that she was doing to brag about her little plan, "I'm going to link Stefan to Silas. Casting a spell on his doppelganger will neutralise Silas' mental powers. Once he's weakened, I will force him to take the cure."
"Well, that's a great idea, force the cure down his throat," I nodded before scoffing. "The cure is gone, done, it's ingested."
"Katherine, you mean?" Qetsiyah shrugged, not sounding bothered by that. "I'm aware of her condition. She was supposed to be with you."
Before I could deflect attention away from Katherine, as I knew that any questions related to the former vampire would inevitably get everyone in trouble, my brother spoke up with a frown, "Wait. Katherine took the cure?"
"We have a lot to catch up on, Stefan," I gave his shoulder a pat before pausing. "Wait a minute. What do you mean 'she was supposed to be with me'? Did you plant those dreams? What is it, some kind of, like, witch party trick?"
The witch nodded before asking, "So where is she?"
"We ran into a little snag," I deflected, my mind still pondering the dreams. So they were anything destiny related. They were just a trick from a crafty little witch. Well, that ought to put the twins' minds at ease.
"Then I'll get started without her," Qetsiyah shrugged, holding her fingers over a little bronze bowl. She started chanting her witchy nonsense and I knew that it was time to leave. Things didn't end well when witches did that. And I was not in the mood to hang around and see how everything would go to shit.
"Okay, well, thanks for the hospitality," I smirked, once again tugging on the vines holding my brother down. "But we should really get going if we want to beat the traffic."
"Yep, yep, he's right," Stefan nodded along, clearly as eager to get out of here as I was. Not that I blamed him. Whatever the witch was planning, he was right in the middle of it all. And that definitely wouldn't end well for him.
The witch paused in her chanting, giving us a hard look, "Probably don't want to get on my bad side."
My smirk turned sharp as I moved so that I was between her and my brother. I hadn't come all this way only for him to get hurt. I had spent all summer trying to find him, only for an insane ancient witch to mess with him, "You realise that you're not the only one with a bad side, right?"
"Aren't you brave," Qetsiyah's hands clenched. "Without Silas' mental powers, he is an immortal nobody. We can defeat him. Isn't that what you want?"
I was about to tell the witch that we would find another way. One that didn't involve my brother getting hurt. And that she could just deal with it. But before I could, my idiot brother weakly groaned out, "Just do it, alright? Just get it over with. Do it."
XXX
Alexa's POV
I woke up to the sound of my twin chanting my name. It took me a moment to work out why her voice was tinged with desperation. But once I did, my eyes shot open and I pushed myself up. Only to groan as the tight muscles in my neck and shoulders let out a protest. I muttered out a curse, ignoring the discomfort, instead focusing on my sister.
Elena was crouched down by my side, a frantic look on her face as she rested a hand on my leg. I quickly scanned her, making sure that nothing had happened to her while I was on a snapped neck timeout. She didn't look injured, but I had to make sure. I had worked so hard, done so many terrible things, to keep her safe and alive. I refused to let anything happen to her now. Especially when I managed to fail in protecting her and the dumbass doppelganger. No, I had managed to get my neck snapped, because I decided to play Katherine's games and be vaguely nice to her.
"Els, are you okay?" I grabbed her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. The sound of her heartbeat, pumping away strong, did help ease the tension in my body. While I couldn't do anything to turn back time and prevent her from being put in such a vulnerable position, I could just focus on the relief that she was okay. "You didn't get hurt, right?"
"I'm fine," Ellie was quick to reassure me, a relieved look on her face. "That woman just grabbed Katherine and sped off."
"She wasn't interested in you?" I frowned, trying to work out who this woman was. "On one hand, that's a huge relief. But it's so weird. If you're going to grab one doppelganger, why not just grab the second?"
"I think she wanted Katherine for something else," my twin shrugged, sounding like she didn't particularly care about the mystery of the cured vampire. Instead, she just grabbed my hand, giving it a hard squeeze. "She just made a comment about how we looked alike before disappearing. Where's Damon?"
"I sent him on to go get Stefan," I shifted slightly, wincing at the soreness in my neck, before wincing for another reason. "After promising that I would be fine. Damn, he really isn't going to let me leave the house after this. Goddamnit. I can't even take my frustrations out on the bitch. Don't suppose you'll keep this between us?"
"Let's just get Stefan home and then we'll worry about your boyfriend's ridiculously overprotective tendencies," my sister rolled her eyes before climbing to her feet. I repeated her words under my breath before accepting her helping hand. I knew that she had a point. But still, only I was allowed to point out Damon's overprotectiveness. And I was definitely the only one allowed to mock it.
When I got to my feet, I slowly rotated my arms and head, trying to get rid of the soreness. I knew that getting your neck snapped was not a fun experience, but fuck me, I didn't think that it was this bad. Like what the hell. And vampires back home just did this for shits and giggles?
"FML," I groaned, giving the back of my neck a squeeze before looking at my twin. "How long was I out, by the way?"
"Maybe an hour?" Elena frowned, thinking deeply. "It wasn't that long, really."
"Well, I guess I don't need to use my speed to get us to the cabin now, so that's a bonus for you," I sighed, turning around, trying to get my bearings. "We can use your speed instead." I paused before adding, "Well, as slightly speedier human speed. Because Damon is just as much of a trouble magnet as I am, and I just know that he is getting himself into trouble."
"Just like you did," Ellie pointed out, as I worked out what the right direction was. I grabbed her hand, tugging her closer before we started walking back towards the bar.
"Yes, but we aren't going to mention that," I rolled my eyes, giving my sister a look. "That stays between us until I work out a way to tell him that doesn't get me into trouble."
Elena went to say something before pausing. She studied my face, probably spotting just how tense I was, before sighing, "Are you okay?"
"I mean, I feel so fucking sore and I don't know how long that will last for," I gave her a quick smile, before increasing my speed. "But I'll be fine. Everyone back home seems to get over it quickly, I'm sure I will too. And then I will save our idiot Salvatores before allowing myself to be pissed off that someone stole Katherine Pierce."
"I'm surprised you're bothered by that," my sister rolled her eyes, but she let me dictate her speed. "I would have thought that you would be relieved that you aren't around Katherine anymore."
"Well, yes, I am. But I didn't want anyone else to have her," I scoffed, shaking my head. "She was mine to torment. I've earned it."
"Once we've saved Stefan, then we'll work out a way to get her back from the person who took her," despite the situation, I could hear the amusement in her voice.
"I can accept that," I conceded after thinking on it for a moment. "One thing at a time. Save our idiots and then steal back the bitchiest bitch to have ever lived."
"Oh joy, you're in one of those moods now," I heard my twin mutter behind me. But I kindly ignored her. I knew that I was being touchy and bitchy. But I couldn't be held accountable for that. Someone had snapped my neck, stole my bargaining piece and just pissed me off. And that didn't take account the trouble that my boyfriend was inevitably getting himself into. The only consolation was that my sister didn't get hurt. The bitch left her alone and for that, I was thankful.
XXX
Damon's POV
I failed to convince Stefan that he was being an idiot for agreeing to the witch's plan. He ignored my hissed words as he just stared out of the open front door. I don't know what had happened to him, but it must have been bad if he was willing to let someone play around with his brain if it mean stopping Silas. I should have done more over the summer to find him; I should have been more forceful in persuading the witches to do their spells. Instead, he had spent months drowning over and over, thanks to Silas. And even now, when he was out of the safe, he wasn't safe.
When it became clear that my idiot brother was ignoring my words, I stepped out of the herb circle and paced back and forth. In the middle of worrying at Stefan's mental state, I tried to ignore the worry burrowing in the back of my mind. I knew that the girls should have been here by now. Even with two humans to look after, Alexa could have covered the ten miles between here and the bar by now. And the fact that none of them had arrived was unnerving. I knew that I should have gone with Alexa before coming for Stefan. I just hoped that she fine and that it was nothing bad keeping her away from my side. Because I couldn't deal with worrying about both of them right now. I had to trust my girl. And if something had happened to her, well, I would just add the person responsible to my list of people to rip apart.
I returned my focus to the room when the Qetsiyah, or rather, Tessa, as she declared that she would rather be called, dipped her fingers into the bowl of hot molten metal that she had carefully be monitoring. I couldn't stop my body from tensing as she started chanting, a look of deep concentration on her face. It wasn't like one of Bonnie's spells. This language was different, harsher, sharper. It was different to what I was used to. And I didn't like that. Because that meant that I didn't know what the consequences of this spell would be.
Despite all of my instincts screaming at me to stop her, I just watched as she stepped up behind Stefan. Her metal covered fingers pressed against my brother's temples. Her eyes closed as Stefan gasped, his body tensing, muscles straining against the vines. His gaze shot to mine and I went to step forward, desperate to get rid of the fear in those green eyes. It had been years since he had looked at me like that, looking so young. And I didn't care for it. Especially when there was nothing that I could do to help him, to reassure him. But the spell must have done something to the circle of herbs. They had become some kind of barrier, as I was unable to step over them.
I let out a vicious curse as I was denied entry, unable to save my brother from the pain of the spell. Stefan's eyes screwed shut as he let out small grunts of pain. But the witch just kept on chanting. Her fingers pressed harder against Stefan's temples, her nails digging into his skin. I let out a word of warning, but neither of the two in the circle acknowledged my words.
All I could do was watch on, completely helpless, as Tessa continued to chant, her face scrunched up, a look of deep concentration on her face. Stefan's body tensed, the vines being the only thing keeping him in place. I glanced over my shoulder, hoping that the girls were back, that they could help me do something to get Stefan away from the witch. But I was alone, unable to save my brother.
I stepped back when the herbs surrounding the other two ignited. The heat was intense and the herbs let out a strong smell. I could just about detect vervain amongst the smoke, but it wasn't enough to bother me. Tessa clearly wasn't using it against us. It was only involved because of the mystical properties that it held, thanks to the Original Mommy's spell.
There was a victorious edge to the witch's expression as Stefan let out a whimper. I narrowed my eyes, raising my voice to demand, "What are you doing to my brother?"
Tessa opened her eyes, finishing her chanting to smirk, "I'm frying Silas' brain. No one said that it would be pretty."
She wasn't kidding.
Blood began to drip from Stefan's eyes, thick and dark. It dripped down his face, clashing horribly with his pale skin, staining the grey of his t-shirt. My brother forced his eyes open, looking at me one final time, before his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness. The pain and fear in his eyes had me narrowing my own. Stefan was supposed to be safe, now that we had found him and knew where he was. But life just wasn't that fair. I had failed my brother again.
"That's enough," I snapped as my brother's head lolled to the side. He was still alive, which was the only thing stopping me from finding something to impale the witch with. "You've done your little spell, now leave him alone."
"Relax," Tessa rolled her eyes, finally removing her hands from Stefan's face. But she stayed within the burning circle. The flames were getting lower, but they continued to block the way to my brother's side. "You know, he wanted this. He wants to hurt Silas just as much as I do."
"I don't care," I paced back and forth, never removing my gaze from my brother. "There are other ways to take down Silas. Ways that don't involve torturing my brother."
The witch just shrugged, looking down at the metal coating her fingers, rubbing her fingertips together. I narrowed my eyes at her, not impressed with being ignored. But until the herbs stopped smouldering, there wasn't a lot that I could do.
XXX
Alexa's POV
It didn't take long to find the dirt road behind the bar. Ten miles was not a short distance to cover and I just knew that I would end up carrying Elena for most of it. But now, until the soreness disappeared completely, I would let her walk. Besides, there was something else that I wanted to do.
We had been walking for around 10 minutes when I sighed, "Els, I'm sorry."
My sister glanced over her shoulder at me from where she had been powering ahead, "For what?"
"For keeping so many secrets from you," I winced, tugging on the end of my ponytail. I sped up slightly, grabbing her hand. "For lying about Silas and Stefan and Bonnie and the bullshit going on back home. I never should have hidden it from you. I just… I didn't want to ruin your happiness." My twin sighed out my name and I shook my head. "For the first time in ages, you were properly happy. And after what happened… I guess I just wanted to preserve that. You deserved to be happy, Els. And I foolishly thought that I could sort everything out before you heard about it. Instead, it just gave Silas the ammunition that he needed to get into your head."
Ellie was silent for a moment before giving me a soft smile, "I do understand why you didn't tell me. You haven't exactly been subtle over the summer, Lexa. You've been obsessive over looking after me, after my happiness. I guess I was just worried. Jeremy was missing and you didn't even know that it had happened. I had been having these feelings about Stefan for months and I had been ignoring them." She shook her head. "I'm sorry that I didn't do better in fighting Silas' mind control and that I tortured you. And Damon."
"It's cool, Els, what's a little bit of torturing between twins?" I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. I knew that we should be speeding up. But we also needed this. This was something that we should have discussed days ago. And now that we actually were, I was going to do it properly. When my twin spoke my name, scolding me for my cavalier attitude, I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry for what I said while you were, you know, doing the deed. I was a right bitch."
"Well, I was shoving vervained fire pokers through your legs."
"Yeah, you were. That was annoying impressive, by the way. You've gotten strong."
"Well, while I can't compete with your vampire strength, Lexa, I do have to do something."
"Feeling stronger makes you feel safer, doesn't it?" I sighed, keeping my voice soft. "I get that, I did the same after my multiple deaths."
"Does that feeling ever go away?"
I winced, unwilling to tell my sister the truth, but I knew that I couldn't lie to her again, "No. Not for me, anyway. Even as a vampire, I still feel that way sometimes. No matter how strong I am, I don't always feel safe. I guess what happened on the island hasn't helped with that."
"Vaughn really did a number on you, didn't he?"
"One day, I might feel generous enough to give you more details, but I can say that it was one of the worst days of my life. Especially with how it ended."
At Elena's sudden intake of breath, I couldn't hide another wince. We hadn't really discussed her death. Oh, I had expressed my guilt for what happened, for getting her killed, for practically presenting her to Katherine on a silver platter. But we never really discussed what happened after. How I turned off my humanity so that I could orchestrate a mass murder, how I had ended up hurting so many people that we cared about.
"Do you know the real reason why I lied to you about everything, Ellie?" my voice was barely above a whisper, but I knew that my twin could hear me. "If I don't keep you safe, if I don't keep you happy, living the life that you've always wanted, then it was all for nothing. Everything that I did with my humanity off, all of those people that I hurt, all of the people that I… killed, it would have been for nothing. And I can't let that be for nothing. I need those horrible actions to mean something. Otherwise I just don't know what I would do."
"How bad was it, Lexa?"
"Their faces still haunt my dreams. I could describe every single one of them to you, their faces, their expressions as they died. I could tell you about the perfume, the aftershave, that they were wearing. Their clothes. I get it now, why Stefan has his walls of names. I didn't always find out the name. So instead, I have all of their faces memorized. I figured it was the least that I could do."
Elena was silent, staring down at the ground as I urged us forward quicker. I didn't mean to tell her that much. I had always sworn to protect my twin from that period in my life. But it was like, once the words started coming out, I couldn't hold them back. I needed to reveal my sins to my sister. I had to reveal just how far I had fallen. Maybe then, I could start to accept the forgiveness that my loved ones had generously extended. It was forgiveness that I didn't deserve.
"Do you know how I was able to forgive Stefan for what he did when his humanity was off?" Ellie's soft voice had me glancing over at her. Once she was content that she had my attention. "It was because he expressed regret for his actions. He felt guilty for what he did and he wished more than anything that he could go back in time and stop himself from doing it. I don't hate you for what you did, Lexa. I know that you regret it."
"I don't regret all of it," I sighed, shaking my head. "I would still turn my humanity off, if it meant bringing you back to life. That was never up for negotiation, Els. But I do regret hurting the people that I did. If there was a way to save you without anyone getting hurt, I would have leapt on it in a heartbeat."
"I know you would have, Lexa. I know."
XXX
Damon's POV
The moment the fire died down; I was at my brother's side. I gently cupped his face, wiping away the blood that I could be. Tessa walked past me and I glared up at her, "Alright, we're done here."
"You're right," the witch shrugged, sounding completely unbothered by the situation. "We're done. It worked."
Worked far too well, in my opinion. Especially since Stefan was yet to wake up. I gently tapped his cheek, repeating his name, "Stefan. Stefan! Stef." When my attempts at rousing him failed, I carefully rested his head against the back of the chair, before glancing up at Tessa. "Damn it. whatever you did to him, undo it."
"Relax," the witch rolled her eyes, focusing on her little flower on the table. "I just burned through his conscious mind. He'll wake… eventually. You sure you want to take him home? We both know that Stefan had his doubts about your relationship with Alexa."
"Stefan's doubts about my relationship are not new, nor do they concern me," I muttered before pausing in the act of removing the vines. "Have you been spying on us from the Other Side?"
"Don't flatter yourself," Tessa scoffed, shaking her head. "It was like watching a soap opera, except boring and with no volume control. You know, there was one thing worse than being on the Other Side and watching Silas resist the cure."
"Oh yeah?" I snarked, dumping the vines to the floor. "What was that, realising that your plan totally sucked?"
The witch's fists clenched as she spat out, "Century after century, I watched versions of Stefan and Elena find each other, like magnets, always the same story: conquering all, falling in love, completely oblivious to the pain that they left behind. You didn't think that your brother was Silas' first shadow? Destiny has been trying to get the doppelgangers together forever."
"Look here, Miss Crazy, why don't we just dial down the destiny talk a notch, okay?" I rolled my eyes, resting a hand on Stefan's shoulder. I knew that I should just get us out of here and go searching for the girls. That whatever it was that Tessa said would not be good for anyone. But I got the feeling that the witch wouldn't let us leave until she said her bit. She was practically vibrating in place, the insane look back in her eyes. "If Stefan and Elena are made for each other, then super, they can do whatever they want. It isn't any concern of mine. In fact, it will just give me more peace to be with Alexa."
"You don't want to hear it, but the universe is working against you and Alexa."
"If you're trying to downplay your reputation as a being a psychopath, you might not want to say that you're a spokesperson for the universe."
"You don't get it, do you, Damon?" Tessa moved so that she was blocking the front door, her arms crossed, fists clenched tightly. "You won't get your happy ending with Alexa. The doppelgangers, whenever they are finally reunited, death follows them, misery follows them. But they aren't affected. No, it's always just one person who is. This time, it is Alexa. And she will never be happy while they are together and she will die. It's only a matter of time."
"What are you saying?" I narrowed my eyes, moving to block my brother from the witch's view. "Alexa isn't a supernatural occurrence; I know that for a fact."
"She isn't," the witch conceded with a shrug. "What Alexa represents… it's more like the leftovers. The scraps from the spell. Sometimes there is a brother, sometimes there is a sister. But they always die. The doppelgangers are happy, so someone needs to be miserable. It was an unintended consequence of the immortality spell."
"You're insane."
"Amara had a sister, Katherine had a sister, Elena has a sister. Sooner or later, the curse will get Alexa."
"So what are you suggesting? That I leave Stefan here with you while I run off and live happily ever after with Alexa?"
"I'd keep him safe," Tessa had a wistful look on her face before shaking her head. "And Alexa gets to live out the rest of her eternity."
"You have a bad track record with men," I smirked sharply, clenching my fists.
"I want to keep him safe. Now that he's linked to Silas, Silas can't mess with our heads, and as long as there is the possibility that Stefan will reunite with Elena, your happily ever after is in danger. Take it from a woman who's had front row seats for two thousand years."
I stayed silent for a moment, staring hard at the witch in front of me. She really did seem to believe her words, which had me tensing slightly. Logically, I knew that she was just being crazy, there was no way that destiny would take my girl from me. But Alexa had been put through so much pain, while Stefan and Elena were together. No, I couldn't think like that. My girl wanted Stefan back, I wanted Stefan back. I wouldn't let some psycho ruin that.
"No one would have to know?" I asked quietly, inching closer to the oblivious witch.
"No one has to know."
Tessa looked happy, thinking that she was getting her way. It was something that I was happy to ruin. I used my speed to wrap my hand around her throat, squeezing tightly. The witch choked, struggling in my strong grip. I was just getting ready to snap her neck, getting rid of another pesky little throat, when Tessa managed to choke out a spell.
My head erupted in pain and I cursed witches and their spells. I grabbed my head, fingers digging in before Tessa uttered another spell. I found myself flying through the air before I crashed into the ridiculously ornate fireplace. I landed heavily, even as the pain slowly faded. My head slumped down to rest on the floor as I watched through blurry eyes as Tessa walked out of the cabin. As my body recovered from her annoying little spell, all I could do was hope that Alexa remained safe and not near Miss Crazy.
XXX
Alexa's POV
Since it had been far too long since I separated from my boyfriend, I felt absolutely no guilt when I picked Elena up and sped her towards our destination. I heard her grumble out my name before clutching onto me, but since she didn't argue, I knew that she was getting just as worried as I was about the Salvatore brothers.
It didn't take long to reach the cabin after that, but it was still too long for my liking. But I knew that I couldn't be reckless here, even if I was itching to reunite with Damon. No, I had to protect my sister. My vulnerable, delicate, human sister.
I put her down by the Camaro, keeping my hand on her shoulder. She gave me a questioning look but I stayed silent, listening hard. Other than the crackling of a fire, I couldn't hear anything from inside the cabin. I honestly didn't know if that was a good thing. But I knew that we had to go in there.
"Elena, stay behind me and if I say run, then you run," I gave my twin a stern look, waiting for her agreement, before I let go of her shoulder. The moment that she was free, Ellie ran inside. She gasped out Stefan's name as she reached the front door. I glanced around one more time before speeding after her.
The first thing I saw was Elena hovering over Stefan. The younger Salvatore was slumped on a chair, clearly unconscious. There were smears of blood on his face, starting from his eyes. There was a clammy, sweaty tinge to his skin and I just knew that he had been through some shit. But before I could ask how he was, something else caught my eye.
"Damon?!" I immediately sped over, dropping to my knees at his side. They hit the floor with a thud and Damon's eyelashes fluttered against his skin. "What the fuck happened?"
I reached out, resting a hand against his cheek as I glanced around. There was a circle of burned herbs around Stefan, with a pile of vines beside them. Various magical looking knick knacks were dotted around the small room. But there was nothing that could let me know what the fuck had happened to my boyfriend. Although, it was enough to reassure me that I could focus all of my attention on him and not have to worry about any threats emerging.
"Alexa?" my boyfriend blinked his eyes open, he frowned for a moment before his hand reached out to rest on my knee. I immediately grabbed it, giving it a squeeze.
"Hey baby, you okay?" I ran my fingers through his hair before resting my hand on the back of his neck.
"Never better," he groaned, shifting that his head was resting against my leg. "I feel like I should be asking you that."
"Pfft, you know me, I'm always okay, never better," I was just thankful that he couldn't see my face, as I definitely couldn't hide my wince. I would tell him what happened, eventually, but not when he had been hurt himself. "I'm not the one who got wrecked by… something."
"Tessa," Damon helpfully supplied, opening his eyes again, glancing over at our siblings. Elena was still fretting over Stefan, but she didn't look like she was doing anything foolish. And since the younger Salvatore was looking as alive as a vampire could, I was content to just check in on my boyfriend.
"Tessa?" I frowned. "Do we know a Tessa? Or have we found someone else that doesn't like us?"
"It's what she goes by now, she's the crazy bitch that Silas keeps complaining about."
"Oh joy of fucking joys," I rolled my eyes. "Of course she is around. Is she the reason why Stefan is messed up?"
"She fried his brain while doing the same to Silas."
"Wonderful," I sighed before helping Damon sit up. He, thankfully, seemed to have recovered from whatever it was that this Tessa did to him. Ugh, I was not impressed with this bitch. Not only did she apparently fuck up Stefan's brain, she had the audacity to hurt my boyfriend. Honestly, when I saw her, I was going to give her a piece of my mind. "Something else to add to the list of fucked up things of the day. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Damon was quick to confirm, actually looking fine, as he cupped my face, checking me over. There was an unusually intense look in his eyes as he stared at my face. It gave me an uneasy feeling as I knew that nothing good would come from that look. "Are you sure that you're okay?"
"I'm just worried about you," I pressed a kiss to his forehead, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him close.
"I'm fine now, Ally, all recovered from Tessa's witchy nonsense," Damon's grip was tight as he tucked my head under his chin. It was more than we had had to split up during a risky and potentially dangerous situation. No, something had worried him enough that he was squeezing me tighter than normal.
"Well that's good, I can kick her ass without worry," I mumbled into his neck, allowing him to indulge his overprotective instincts for a moment and work through whatever it was that had him worried.
"You aren't going anywhere near her, Alexa."
I went to snark something back before pausing and taking a deep breath, "Okay, I'm going to temporarily accept that, but I will be coming back to it. Now, are you going to be okay to drive us home or do you want me to? Cos I want to get our siblings out of this cabin before something else happens."
"I can drive," Damon nodded, pulling back only to cup my face again. "I'll get Stefan in the car; you just focus on the humans."
"Um, only one human," I winced at the raised eyebrow. "Bitch from the bar managed to steal the other one. If it is any consolation, she took the one that we don't like."
My boyfriend sighed, "We'll discuss those circumstances later. I just want to get you out of this cabin."
"A shared feeling, my love."
XXX
Damon kept a tight grip on my thigh as he drove us home. Not that I was complaining. After walking in on him unconscious on the floor, I was just relieved that he was back to normal. Seeing my boyfriend out of it was not something that I was used to and I honestly didn't think I would ever get used to it. Not that I was going to let it happen often. If I had my way, this would be the last time that it happened.
During the drive, we took turns in updating each other on our respective adventures. Damon told me all about Tessa. Apparently Qetsi… her, had decided to take on a more modern name. Either way, she was on my shit list. But there was something that he wasn't telling me. I couldn't quite work out what, but when Elena asked what Tessa had said, he had hesitated, glancing over at me before focusing only on the witch's Stefan frying spell. That had immediately taken all of my sister's attention as she returned to fussing over the unconscious vampire.
After Damon had finished with his story-time, I knew I was obligated to tell my own. So, I carefully described just how I had lost Katherine Pierce. How she had decided that running away from a bitchy European vampire who was a tad on the gun happy side was the perfect time to confront me over my mercy all those months ago. I somehow managed to carefully omit the fact that I had managed to get my neck snapped. Well, I managed it until my sister opened her big mouth.
I was just trying to describe how the unknown vampire had snatched Katherine when Elena rolled her eyes, "Just tell him, Alexa, we both know that you'll eventually blab it out."
"There's a time and a place for that sort of information to be revealed," I gave my twin a dirty look, ignoring the unimpressed eyes staring into the side of my head. I knew that I would not finish this journey without revealing the fact that I had managed to get myself hurt. "And guess what, this is neither the time nor place."
"Alexa," Damon's voice was a painfully even and I winced. It was never a good sign when he did that. And I couldn't even do anything about because Elena and Stefan were in the car. Damnit, I had absolutely no cards to play here.
"FML," I gave Ellie one final dirty look before shifting so that I could look at my boyfriend. I winced again at the unimpressed look on his face and I knew that I would pay for trying to keeping this secret from him, even if it was only temporarily. "If it helps, I was totally going to tell you. Once we were back home and in a relaxed setting." When Damon repeated my name, I sighed. "The bitch from the bar somehow managed to sneak up behind me while I was leading the humans back to the bar, so that I could track down the dirt road. She snapped my neck and stole Katherine while I was on my timeout."
"I leave you alone for five minutes," Damon's grip on my leg was more painful than comforting. But I knew that it was tied into whatever it was that was going through his brain. I patted his hand, before slowly drawing pattens on it with my fingertips.
"I think I should be flattered," I shrugged, failing to keep track of my big mouth. "She knew that she couldn't take me in a fair fight, so she pussied out and got me from behind."
"Alexa, you might want to watch what you're saying," my twin muttered from the backseat. I winced and glanced back over at Damon. His jaw was clenched and I could tell that he was not dealing well with this. It was kinda worrying, not gonna lie. Normally, he would get all overprotective, declare that I wasn't allowed to leave his side for a few decades and give me that look that promised me that I would definitely enjoy him expressing his displeasure over my latest escapades. But this was different. And I cursed that Tessa bitch for whatever it was that she said that got into his head.
"Fuck me, I am really screwing this up," I muttered, before reaching out. I carefully cupped his face, making sure that he was still able to see the road. "Look, Day, I promise you that I am fine. Yes, my shoulders and neck are still a little bit tight and could really do with a massage. But I promise you, I am fine." I glanced over at my sister, "Els, tell him that I'm fine. I feel like I am doing an awful job right now."
"Despite being a trainwreck, you are fine," Elena sighed, shaking her head at me. "She was out for around an hour, Damon. And when she woke up, she immediately started motherhenning me. You don't need to worry about her, well, no more than you usually do."
"I feel like you aren't really helping me here," I squinted at her before deciding that reassuring my boyfriend took precedence. "Day, talk to me."
"I knew I shouldn't have let you go on alone," Damon sighed, removing his hand from my thigh, only to grip my hand instead. "You always manage to get yourself hurt."
"Uh, I take offence to that," I gave his hand a squeeze, relieved that he was finally relaxing. "I don't always get myself hurt. And besides, look who's talking. I found you unconscious on the floor. That wasn't exactly fun for me, hon."
"I know you two are having a moment," Elena cleared her throat from the backseat. "But please remember that I am back here. I know what you two can get like when you are like this."
"Relax, Els," I rolled my eyes, enjoying the way that Damon's lips curled up into a cheeky smirk. "We'll wait until we get home before we physically reassure each other."
XXX
"Okay, baby, time for you to tell me what's going on in that gorgeous head of yours," I sighed, catching Damon's attention. Once we had returned home, we had left Stefan in the parlour with Elena, before retreating to the library. As much as I wanted to keep an eye on our newly returned vampire, I knew that I needed to find out what was bothering my boyfriend.
We were sat on the sofa, with me on Damon's lap. His arms were tight around me, holding me close to his chest. I was just content to be held against him, especially when one strong hand started rubbing away the soreness in my muscles. I didn't realise just how tense they were until he worked his magic touch on them. I knew that my sigh of relief was part of the reason why his grip was so tight.
I could tell that my boyfriend didn't really want to tell me those horrible thoughts buzzing around his brain. But I didn't give him a choice. I didn't like it when something bothered him and I had proven that I would get vicious if I had to, in order to put his mind at ease. Of course, I was not expecting him to say what he did.
According to some ancient old witch, I was doomed to be miserable and die, if Elena hooked back up with Stefan. It was a side effect of her little immortality spell, apparently. The sibling of the doppelganger always suffered the consequences, which ended with death. It was… it was a bit of a mindfuck. But I couldn't focus on that. I could tell that Damon believed the witch's words. I knew that he was a worrier, especially when it came to me. And being told that I was destined to be miserable and die if our siblings got together would not have helped with that.
"So, let me get this straight," I sighed, shifting slightly so that I could look my boyfriend in the eye. I cupped his face, thumbs stroking those delicious cheekbones. "This Tessa chick, who we all know has a screw lose, said that I am the physical representation of the pastry scraps from when I make a pie. And because of that, I will die if our siblings bump uglies again."
"That pretty much sums it up," Damon moved his hands to my hips, holding them tight. I knew that he knew it was bullshit. That it didn't make any logical sense as we knew about the fates of siblings of some of the previous doppelgangers. And they didn't fit this pattern. But it was hard, hearing that the person that you loved was in danger. So I didn't judge him for believe the bitch's words. I just did what I could to reassure him. To reassure him that I would be fine. That I would be happy and healthy and not dead. Hell, I was the happiest that I had ever been and that was not going to change any time soon.
"Well, that sounds like a load of horseshit," I tapped his nose with my finger. "Katherine's sister died before she met a Stefan doppelganger, thanks to Klaus. The woman from when the Originals were human, Tanya or Tatia or whatever her name was, she clearly never met a Stefan doppelganger and she died before she could. So her supernatural relationship clearly didn't lead to her sibling dying. That witchy bitch was just trying to get into your head, Day. Don't let her."
"You haven't exactly been blessed with good luck, Ally," my boyfriend sighed but I could feel his body relaxing. Honestly, that Tessa bitch was going to get an earful if she ever encountered me. No one got into Damon's head, no one except me.
"What are you talking about?" I scoffed, a teasing smile on my face. "I got you, didn't I? That makes me the luckiest girl in the world."
"Stop trying to be charming, Alexa," Damon rolled his eyes, but I could see that he was feeling better already.
"Trying to be charming? Please, I am charming. In fact, I am so charming that Tessa won't see it coming when I shove those vines so far up her ass that she is spitting out flowers."
"That's not so charming," my boyfriend laughed, shaking his head before pressing a kiss to my palm. "But is a pleasant mental image."
"I'm glad you think so," I smirked, shrugging a shoulder. "I can conjure some more if you want, I'm feeling particularly creative right now."
"As much as I love it when you get like this, you might want to put it on pause for now. You can describe your revenge fantasies later."
"Okay, I can accept that. I'll even throw in some Silas related ones, because fuck that guy, he got Stefan's mind fried."
"At least he hasn't shown his face today," Damon sighed, his hands moving to my shoulders. I let out a content hum when his strong hands started massaging my tight muscles. He slowly moved up and down my back, focusing on my neck every now and then. We both knew that this would be a lot easier if my back was to him, but after the day that we had had, it was nice to be this close. And on a more selfish note, I liked being able to make sure that my words had eased the worries plaguing his mind. Fuck you, Tessa.
"Nah, we only had to deal with one ancient weirdo," I muttered, closing my eyes as his thumb brushed that sensitive spot under my ear. I could practically sense his lips curling into a smirk, but that was as far as we went. As much as I wanted to drag him up to our bed and have my way with him, we had to stick around for Stefan. Until the younger Salvatore woke up, none of us would be able to properly relax. And God, I hoped that he woke up soon.
XXX
Once I had done a damn good job at reassuring my boyfriend, we returned to the parlour to check in on our siblings. Stefan was still unconscious, with Elena sitting by his side. She held one of his hands in hers and I spied his daylight ring sitting on his finger, back where it belonged.
"Well, he's got his daylight ring back," Damon smirked, looking satisfied that his brother was now safe from the sun again. His arm was wrapped around my waist, keeping me tucked into his side. But I didn't mind. I would never complain about being held so close to the man that I loved. "We're all set for a picnic."
"He's lucky that he has a brother who looks out for him," Elena smiled, standing up and walking over to us. "Otherwise you might have pawned it for a pinball machine." When Damon just hummed, my sister gave him a look. "You're suspiciously quiet. Are you going to tell me what Qetsiyah said back at the cabin?"
"She just spouted some illogical bullshit in an attempt to get into Damon's head," I spoke up, unwilling to tell my sister. Maybe, once Stefan was awake and okay, I would tell her about Tessa's nonsense. But it wasn't a conversation for right now. "Only for it to be defeated by my superior intellect."
I could practically feel Damon's eyeroll, but he did shrug, "What Alexa said… kind of. But she did tell me a very interesting little story about the history of doppelgangers, how they're fated to fall in love with each other. Basically, the universe programmed you to fall in love with Stefan."
"The universe?" Ellie raised a disbelieving eyebrow before glancing over her shoulder at the other vampire.
"Her words, not mine."
"So, she's crazy?" my twin shook her head.
"That's putting it lightly," I snorted, before movement behind my sister caught my eye. I couldn't stop my smile from forming. "Hey, look who finally woke up!"
"Welcome back, brother," Damon looked as relieved as I felt as the younger Salvatore slowly stood up, glancing around. There was a confused look on his face as his gaze settled on us.
"Stefan, we missed you," Elena breathed out, looking a lot more than relieved. It was adorable. And I got the feeling that they would find their way back to each other. I mean, she put my heart eyes to shame.
"Uh, I'm sorry," Stefan spoke slowly and I felt that unwelcome feeling in my stomach. "I… I have no idea who you people are."
Ellie's smile immediately disappeared as she turned around to look at us. Damon raised an eyebrow while I just sighed, "Fuck my life."
XXX
A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Especially a smut scene that was over 2k lol that was not planned but damn, these two just write themselves at times! I hope Tessa's warning made sense, it's something that I have been subtly hinting at for a while but I don't know if I was too subtle lol thank you for the reviews, my lovelies, please keep them coming! They make writing a lot more fun and I love hearing what you all think of what I am writing. The next chapter will probably be up in a couple of weeks, to allow me to keep building a backlog while planning season 6 onward. Until next time, I hope you enjoyed xoxo
