Chapter 11
Damon angrily pressed the end call button before redialing the number for the hundredth time. His jaw clenched as he listened to the phone ring until her voicemail, which sounded too perky for her, picked up.
"God damn it, Gwen, answer your phone!" he snapped, ending the call once more and slamming his phone on the bar.
He picked up the tumbler of bourbon and downed its contents. His mood soured even further when he noticed Stefan had returned home. They hadn't seen or talked to each since Damon had taken the Bennett Grimoire from him and Elena two days ago. No doubt, the lovebirds had been plotting how to stop him. He really wasn't in the mood to entertain any of their pathetic attempts at the moment. If Stefan was smart, he'd keep quiet.
"Problems?" Stefan asked, walking to the bar to pour his own drink.
Unsurprisingly, Stefan wasn't the bottle of bourbon from his brother and his glass from the counter, Damon crossed the space to sit on one of the leather coach.
"Of course not, my life is nothing by sunshine and roses," Damon replied dryly.
Stefan lightly swirled the liquid in his glass as he leaned against the bar, stuying his brother. "Sounded pretty upset just now. What? Gwen didn't jump when you commanded?"
"You don't need to concern yourself about Gwen," Damon said, taking another shot. Maybe if he drank enough, his brother would be less annoying. It might not have worked in last a hundred or so years, but there was always a chance.
"After Caroline, I feel I do," Stefan said, his false, easygoing stance changing to serious and superior as he stood straight with folded arms and a furrowed brow. "What exactly are you doing with her?"
Sighing, Damon held his hand over eyes as if to ward off an oncoming headache. He set both bottle and glass on the side table and stood up from the couch, facing his brother head on.
"As hard as it might be for you to believe, Gwen likes me," he said smugly, enjoying as Stefan's frown deepened from confusion. "And the situation with Gwen is nothing like the situation with Caroline. She's helping me of her own free will. Thankfully, because even if I wanted to compel her, I couldn't."
"What do you mean?" Stefan asked, his condescending demeanor losing out to his curiosity.
Damon grimaced. He hadn't meant to share that, but his own cockiness had gotten the better of him. Shrugging, he figured he may as well use this to get Stefan off of his back about Gwen.
"She can't be compelled. I tried the first time I met her," Damon explained, picking his phone up from the bar in case she did respond to his many messages. "I saw her walking alone at night. Thought she was pretty and would make a nice snack. She was completely unaffected."
Stefan smirked. "Are you sure it wasn't you?"
Rolling his eyes, Damon said, "I'm sure. I've tried several times. She's immune to compulsion."
Stefan mulled over this information and shrugged. "So? Her not being affected by compulsion doesn't make her an asset to you. At best, her involvement has been convenient but not necessary. What are you really doing with her?"
Stefan stared at his brother with genuine interest, causing Damon to bristle. He was using her, of course. He was a vampire; that's what he did. Leave it to Stefan to try to make more of something than what was there. St. Stefan was always hoping for signs Damon wasn't a monster.
"It's a business arrangement," Damon snapped. "She helps me get Katherine, and I help her figure out why she can't be compelled. That's it. She's nothing but a passing interest."
A cold sensation ran through him when he said those words. He almost felt as if he'd said something wrong. But that didn't make sense. It was the truth. As soon as he had Katherine, he'd be gone. Gwen would've been dinner if he'd been able to compel her. Her immunity made her mildly interesting, but not significant. Before either of them could say anything else, Damon's phone started to ring.
"Sure," Stefan finally said, a hint of an amused smirk on his lips. Nodding to Damon's phone, he continued, "You better get that. It looks like your business partner is calling."
"Where have you been?" Damon demanded, quickly climbing the stairs to his room so he could talk in private. When he reached them he heard the front door shut, indicating that Stefan had left. Probably off to give Elena an update.
"Sorry," she said. Damon thought she sounded tired. It was practically noon though; she was normally an early riser. "I lost my phone and of course it died, and I was …. Well, I had to deal with something. Listen, um, we need to talk in person. Is there a chance we could meet somewhere today?"
Damon shook his head. This girl and her phone. She probably spent half her time losing it or forgetting to charge it. Even though he was still annoyed with her, he felt his initial anger over not being able to reach her lessen. Plus, she sounded pretty serious. Whatever she wanted to tell him must have been important. Maybe he'd find out why she'd spent yesterday morning at Bonnie's grandmother's house without having to reveal that he was keeping tabs on her.
"Come over to house as soon as you can." He knew she'd have to get the car from her uncle, which could take some convincing.
"All right, see you soon," she said before ending the call.
There was a knock on the front door about a half hour later. Damon rolled his eyes at her ingrained civility. Everyone else just barged in, welcome or not. When he opened the door, he was surprised at the state Gwen was in. She'd been swaying and wringing her hands until she'd come into full view, immediately becoming still and forcing a smile. Damon had thought she'd sounded tired on the phone, but that hadn't prepared him for the dark shadows under eyes and disheveled dress: baggy sweatshirt, yoga pants, and a messy ponytail. Maybe she had just woken up. He stood aside to let her in and led her to the living room.
"So what is it you needed to talk about?" he asked, taking a seat and motioning for her to do the same. She moved to one of the armchairs, but remained standing. He watched as she tapped her fingers on the back of the chair, biting her lip as she thought.
"Right, well, remember the other night in the car? I was looking through the grimoire and I had that weird, sudden headache?"
Damon nodded. She had clutched her head as if she was having a brain freeze. She'd also claimed that it was nothing.
"It wasn't," she continued, looking apologetic. "It was actually a series of visions."
"Why didn't you say something?" he asked, his voice harsher than he meant.
"You were a little … intense after the confrontation with Stefan and Elena. And I really wasn't sure what had happened. But then I kept replaying it in my mind and got really freaked out. So I went to talk to Shelia; turns out she's been looking into me. She found out that my father is the leader of some super evil witch coven, which makes me a witch. And — "
"Wait," Damon cut in. Her rambling was almost too fast for even him to keep up with. "You're a witch? That's it?"
"Yes?" she said, confused. "Why?"
That didn't make sense. Damon had compelled plenty of witches. Being a witch didn't protect someone from being compelled. As far as he knew, only vervain did that. He'd expected her to be something else, something new.
"Being a witch doesn't make you immune to compulsion," he said, sighing from disappointment. "I thought the big would reveal would be more interesting."
Gwen glared at him, all nervousness disappearing. Despite the many things not going right for him, he couldn't stop himself from smiling. He enjoyed it when her temper won out over her trepidation of angering a vampire.
"Sorry this is interesting enough for you, but maybe that has something to do with my father and his family messing with dark magic for the last century. According to Shelia I could be a ticking time bomb of evil."
Damon laughed so hard he was practically doubled over. Shelia Bennett had lost her mind if she thought Gwen would ever do anything destructive or harmful to another person. Besides, she was one witch. One witch couldn't do much damage on her own; even with the aid of dark magic.
"What does she think you're going to do? Turn people who annoy you into toads?" he joked between laughs.
Her glare deepened as she finally sat down, slumping against the chair in a pout. "I'm so glad you find this amusing."
Damon stopped laughing, coughing to cover up a few lingering chuckles. Seeing her slouched in the armchair with folded arms and an annoyed expression only added to the ridiculous prospect of her being some evil witch. She just wasn't like that; wasn't like him.
"Why are you telling me all of this?" he asked, though he was glad he knew why she'd been at Shelia's. He hadn't been able to stop himself from thinking that she must have been plotting against him.
"Part of our deal was being honest with each other," she said with a shrug, her voice soft considering she still looked a little put off.
Given his brother's and Elena's recent betrayal, Damon was more than a little taken aback by her words. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off of him, but didn't understand why. Thankfully, Gwen didn't notice anything had changed.
"Plus," she continued, "I need your help."
"With what? I can't really help you with magic," he said, leaning forward.
"I know that," she scoffed, mimicking his movement so that her elbows rested on her knees. "Shelia's convinced my dad will come for me, especially since my powers are starting to manifest. Considering they're known for burning towns to the ground and people have a tendency to go missing around them, I'm willing to bet this won't be a happy reunion."
Damon's eyes searched her face, looking for some hint of what she was getting at. Prompted by his silence, she continued her spiel, albeit a little more awkwardly.
"Well, I don't really know how to say this, but … I need your help in figuring how to deal with him. By any means necessary," she said, adding the last bit with forced conviction.
"Elaborate," Damon requested.
"You're a morally gray person. Maybe a little evil, really. I'm not sure," Gwen rambled again, her voice trailing off as her thoughts took her on a silent tangent. After a second, she shook her head and refocused, missing Damon's amused smirk. "Anyway, you probably think similarly to him. If I want to keep myself and Ric safe, then I need to think like you and him, and —"
"Be willing to kill."
The words hung in the air between them. Gwen looked uncomfortable again, as she searched for a way to deny it. Finally, she frowned and nodded.
"Yes," she sighed, falling back against the chair. "I sound insane, don't I?"
"No," Damon said; his voice so low that she didn't hear him. He cleared his throat, not sure why he was so affected by her. Firmly, he said, "No, you sound practical."
"So you'll help me?" she asked hopefully.
Damon paused. As soon as he got Katherine to of the tomb, he was leaving Mystic Falls. And he really had no idea how to make someone think like him short of compulsion or trauma. Both of those options were out of the questions. Still, he couldn't stop himself from agreeing.
"I'll do what I can," he said, making sure to leave himself an out. However, he didn't miss how she relaxed with his weak promise; she even smiled.
Standing up, Gwen collected her keys from the side table. "Thank you. I have to go — Ric thinks I just ran over to Caroline's — but thank you."
Her gratitude made him uncomfortable; he almost felt guilty for misleading her. Thankfully, he was saved from having to deal with it by Stefan's return.
"Elena's missing," Stefan said, barely a second after slamming the door open. "Anna has her. Damon —"
Stefan froze mid-sentence, finally realizing Gwen was there too. If Damon wasn't so annoyed with his brother, he would have laughed at the bewildered look on his face. Stefan snapped out of his shock, deciding saving Elena was more important than worrying about Gwen.
"Anna has her. You have to tell me where she is," Stefan pled, practically falling to his knees next to Damon as he launched into a seemingly-genuine apology for what happened at their father's grave two nights ago. Damon was unmoved. He wasn't interested in helping his brother, especially after how he and Elena had lied to him.
"Sorry, Stefan, can't help you," Damon said, his voice chillingly neutral. "Gwen, I think it's time for you to go home."
He stood from the couch and walked over to Gwen, placing a hand on her back to guide her to the door. Unsurprisingly, Stefan didn't give up that easily.
"What? Are you afraid she'll see the monster you really are?" Stefan snapped, panic giving way to anger.
Gwen's eyes darted between the two brothers, her pace picking up. When Stefan appeared in front of them, she stepped back so fast that she bumped into Damon who had to steady her so she didn't fall over.
"Not at all," Damon stated, a slight edge to his voice as a cruel smirk appeared. "I hope Elena dies."
Leaving a stunned Stefan behind him, Damon finished leading Gwen to the door. He was about to close it behind her when she turned around.
"You should help him," she said gently, meeting his eyes.
Damon was too thrown to say anything. Wasn't this the same girl who was asking for help on how to be evil, or "morally gray"? As if reading his mind, she shrugged. Damon closed the door, feeling more conflicted than he had only a few seconds ago.
As Gwen switched off the car's engine, her phone started to ring loudly, causing her to jump slightly. Cursing, she rummaged through her purse for the damn thing. The ringing seemed like it would never stop; yet she still stressed that she might miss the call. She really needed to change the ringtone. Upon finding it, she briefly glanced at the caller's name.
"Hey Caroline," she said as she answered the phone. "I didn't expect to hear from you today. I thought you were busy with Matt?"
"Uh, that's postponed," Caroline said, her voice a little loud as she tried to talk over the background noise. From what she could hear, Gwen guessed Caroline was at the Grill. "Anyway, this guy Duke is throwing a party in the woods tonight. It's kind of a tradition. You want to go?"
Gwen groaned internally. She really didn't. Standing in the cold woods for hours didn't seem like any fun to her. But Scott had texted her about the same thing earlier that day. It didn't look like she would be able to get out of this.
"Oh, Scott texted me about this," she said, feigning interest. "I was planning to meet him there. Maybe you can give me a ride?"
And maybe Ric would prevent her from going out, she thought hopefully.
"Perfect! It can be a double date. It could have been a girls night, but Elena and Bonnie are totally MIA. Dress cute, and I'll pick you up at seven."
Caroline talked so fast that Gwen didn't get a chance to say anything before her friend ended the call. Caroline's comment about Elena and Bonnie not responding to her calls bothered Gwen. She had no way of knowing what had happened with Elena; Caroline was clearly exaggerating. However, the part about Bonnie made Gwen uneasy. It seemed too much of a coincidence that Caroline couldn't reach Bonnie. Then again, the odds had to be astronomically high that they'd both been kidnapped. Deciding to follow her instincts, Gwen opened her contacts, clicking the call button when she found Shelia's listing.
Stefan found us. We're safe; everything's fine.
Gwen reread Bonnie's text for the tenth time while she waited for Caroline to pick her up. Unfortunately, Ric was too distracted to do his normal interrogation about her plans. He'd rushed in about an hour ago, stayed five minutes, and left again. She hadn't had the energy to wonder what he was up to at the time as she'd been too worried about Elena and Bonnie. Now though, her concern could shift to him entirely. Sighing, she read the text for the eleventh time and was still disappointed by the lack of information.
Glad you're both safe. If you're up for it, Caroline and I are going to some party in the woods tonight. It's near the old church.
Just as she sent the text, a car horn sounded from the driveway. Gwen set her phone to silent and dropped it in her bag. She hadn't figured out how to change the ringtone, so she'd decided to keep it on silent. Sliding into the passenger's seat of Caroline car, Gwen forced a smile to at least look excited.
"This isn't torture, you know," Caroline quipped, taking in Gwen's expression that didn't at all mask her feelings, as she left the driveway. "I promise it'll be fun."
"Sorry, just a little tired." It wasn't a lie. The last few days had been chaotic. So much had changed for her that it felt weird to be going to a party.
"Well get over it 'cause tonight is all about having fun. And if that's not enough for you, you can finally get some one-on-one time with Scott that's not squeezed in between classes or work or whatever. What's going on between you two anyway?"
Gwen hesitated. Scott had been the furthest thing from her mind, which definitely wasn't a good sign for them. She shrugged and hoped she sounded causal when she tried to answer Caroline.
"I mean, I guess we're dating. We talk. We have actually hung out without you or Matt. We've made out," she said, as if listing these things would convince Caroline — or maybe herself — that they were together. "We haven't really talked about it, though."
Caroline sighed dramatically, clearly unsatisfied with Gwen's assessment. "That's so unromantic. Do you even like him?"
She thought she did. Gwen knew Scott was the kind of guy she should like. But she had wanted to say 'no' to Caroline's question. She wasn't looking forward to seeing him. On reflection, Gwen realized she didn't even prioritize spending time with him. If he didn't make the plans or reach out, they didn't ever go out. Plus, she lied to him all the time: She lied about Damon, vampires, where she was, and now she'd have to lie about who she was. Scott deserved better.
Yet, even after realizing all of this, Gwen knew she wasn't going to do the right thing. She felt bad for how she had treated him, and, maybe it could work if she paid a little more attention to him. She ignored the feeling that told her that was a bad idea.
"I do," Gwen said, surprising herself with how sincere she sounded. "I don't have a lot of luck in the dating area. I don't want to rush anything."
Caroline smiled sympathetically. "I get it, but maybe be less aloof. Scott really likes you, but he can be a little dense. You may need to actually have that conversation."
Gwen nodded, feeling a knot form in her stomach. That was the last thing she wanted to do.
When they arrived at the party fifteen minutes later, Gwen almost flew out of the car. It's not that Caroline had been annoying her so much as she felt suffocated. She could only talk about relationships so much. As the cold air sunk into her clothes, she was glad she'd thrown on her long underwear under her jeans. It had to be in the mid-thirties out. Her winter gear was keeping her warm, but she didn't imagine she would stay long. These Mystic Falls teens were either hard core or insane for throwing a party in the woods on a winter night. Not to mention the burned-down church that held Katherine wasn't too far away. Briefly, she wondered when Damon planned to get her out. But before she could spend much time on that, Matt and Scott appeared in the crowd of inebriated teens. For the second time that night, Gwen forced a smile.
Scott wrapped an arm around her and kissed her cheek, a genuine smile on his lips. Gwen guessed that answered Caroline's question. She dropped her gaze, turning her attention to their friends.
"Now what?" Gwen asked, still wondering what the draw of the party was besides free beer.
"You drink, you freeze, you lose a few digits," Matt joked. "They're setting out the second round of beer now. I figured we'd get some after the rush."
"Always the manager," Gwen teased. Their conversation was awkward. She realized they'd never all been together and outside of school. Caroline's double date idea might end in disaster.
Gwen was proven wrong, however, as Caroline stepped up and took control of the conversation. She mostly stayed silent after that; making the appropriate facial expressions or noncommittal responses when necessary. At one point, Scott and Matt went to get them beer while the girls moved closer to the fire, the cold night air was starting to defeat their layers and winter outerwear. When they returned, the three of them picked up reminiscing about some field trip gone awry during freshman year. Gwen was about to zone out completely, when Caroline interrupted.
"Is that Elena with Damon?"
Feeling just as confused as Caroline sounded, Gwen spun around to see if it was true. Damon and Elena were cutting through the partygoers, clearly on a mission to get somewhere and not very happy about it. When Damon's eyes met Gwen's, he indicated for Elena to walk over to the couples.
"Elena, where's Stefan?" Caroline asked, a hint of unease in her voice. Gwen's back was still turned, so she missed her panicked grab of Matt's hand.
Elena half-smiled, but ignored her question. Instead she turned to Gwen and asked, "Can we talk?"
"Sure," Gwen nodded. Slipping out from Scott's arm, she added, "I'll be right back."
As soon as they were out of earshot of the others, Damon turned on her.
"What are you doing here?" he snapped.
Damon's intensity surprised her. She didn't owe hime constant updates on her life. Besides, this wasn't anything relating to witches or vampires. "Drinking and being bored mostly. Why?"
"We've been trying to get a hold of you ever since you texted Bonnie," Elena answered, quickly. "We're opening the tomb. You guys need to get out of here."
Gwen blinked. "What, are you crazy! How am I supposed to get them to leave? And what about everyone else?"
Elena opened her mouth, but Damon moved so he was standing right in front of Gwen, bending down so he was eye level with her and blocking Elena completely.
"I don't care how you do it, but you and the airheads need to leave. Now," he said, firmly.
"You can't compel me," she reminded him, unnerved by his gaze.
Anger flashed across his face and he clenched his jaw. His next words were spoken with a very measured tone, though Gwen still understood them to be a command and not something up for debate.
"Go. Bonnie and her grandmother won't do the spell if her friends are in danger."
Gwen sighed, glancing back toward Caroline and the boys, who were all watching them with expressions that ranged from curious to disgust. She'd promised to help Damon get Katherine out. Doing this was clearly part of that deal.
"Fine," she said. "But Damon, no one but Katherine gets out. That was our deal."
With a barely noticeable nod, he stood back and began leading Elena away from the party. Gwen was half-tempted to follow. She felt she should be helping Bonnie and her grandmother, but knew she'd be useless. At least she could make sure their friends were safe.
"What was that about?" Caroline asked when she returned to her friends.
"Nothing," Gwen said, affecting a cherry disposition. "You know, I'm kind of bored of this whole party in the words thing. I think we should go somewhere else."
Matt scoffed, raising an eyebrow at her sudden Queen Bee attitude. "And where should we go?"
"Scott's place," she said, matter-of-factly. Turning to Scott, she asked, "Your parents are out of town, aren't they?"
"Uh, yeah," Scott said slowly. He clearly didn't know what to make of Gwen's new attitude either. "I guess we could go."
"Great. Let's go."
Gwen woke with a start early the next day. The soft morning light illuminated the room just enough for her to remember where she was. Briefly, she tried to figure out what woke her — she could have sworn she heard yelling — before remembering what had happened. She placed her face in her hands and groaned, regret growing. A grunt came from the dark-haired form next to her, but he didn't stir or wake. Cursing herself, Gwen quietly slipped out of the twin bed, gathered the items of clothes she hadn't slept in and her phone, and made her way to hallway bathroom. Thankfully, she was the only one awake. Once she was safely inside the bathroom, she dropped her clothes to the floor and sunk down to join them, trying to sort through her jumbled memories.
After she'd convinced them to leave and go to Scott's, Caroline had suggested a drinking game. Gwen couldn't remember what it had been, but it didn't matter. The beer from the party had disappeared quickly, so they'd borrowed some vodka from Scott's dad to finish the game. The game had either gone on too long or Gwen was really bad at it, if her pounding head and aching stomach were anything to go by. Predictably, the more they drank, the touchier they became with their respective partners. Gwen flushed, embarrassed as she remembered enticing Scott upstairs by taking her shirt off while Matt and Caroline were still in the living room and in sight of the stairs. Her only saving grace was that she'd had a tank top on underneath her sweater.
How could she have slept with him? A few hours earlier, she'd been thinking of breaking up with Scott because she'd realized she didn't really like him. Guilt mingled with regret as she realized how horrible it would be to break up with him now. She'd have to wait a few days, so she didn't destroy his self-esteem. Gwen sighed. A part of her couldn't help but think the sex hadn't even been worth it for all this added drama, which only increased her guilt. God, she was horrible.
Needing a distraction, she glanced at her phone. She was surprised to see two text messages from Elena. They never texted each other directly; only in a group message. Curious, Gwen opened the first text.
Katherine wasn't in the tomb. Damon's upset.
Gwen frowned. Damon was probably more than upset. He'd been so sure she was there. If she wasn't there, then where was she? She wished Elena had sent more information. Sighing, she opened the second message, which had been sent only two hours earlier.
The spell was too much for Shelia. She went in her sleep. Bonnie's left to be with family, but I have books for you.
A lump formed in Gwen's throat as her eyes pricked with unshed tears. Rationally, she knew she couldn't have down anything, but Gwen was now convinced she should have been there with them at the tomb last night. Making it worse was the fact that all the bad from last night seemed completely pointless since Katherine, the object of it all, hadn't even been there. In that moment, Gwen felt true hatred for a woman she had never met.
Poor Bonnie, Gwen thought. Shelia was clearly the only adult in her family that gave her the time of day. Bonnie had to be heartbroken; she shouldn't have been worrying about books or Gwen right now. Gwen went back to her message log and scrolled until she found Bonnie's name. But when she'd opened the conversation, she realized she had no idea what to say. Everything she thought about sending felt wrong or awkward. Still, she needed to say something.
I'm sorry about your grandmother. Let me know if there's anything you need.
She pressed send, knowing it was lame but also knowing that those messages meant more than people thought when they lost someone. Gwen remembered how much they helped when her mom died. Sure, most were empty gestures; but it still felt good to be thought of during that time. Hopefully, Bonnie felt the same, and knew Gwen meant it.
Cold from the tile floor, Gwen decided it was time to get up and get on with the day. Ric hadn't called yet, which meant he didn't realize she wasn't home. She needed to get Caroline to drive her back before that changed. She stood up and began dressing. Gwen had been relieved not to wake up naked. It seemed she'd managed to slip on her underwear and sweater sometime last night, probably because it was cold. She redressed as much as possible, only leaving off the long underwear since she knew would over heat. As she went to inspect her reflection, an unexpected movement from outside the window caught her eye.
The second story bathroom window faced the barn, and at first Gwen thought it must have just been a bird flying by that distracted her. It was a clear morning and she didn't immediately see anything unusual. After a minute, however, she watched as the barn door opened and a man slipped out into the light.
Her first thought was that Scott's parents had come home early, causing her to panic. She quickly realized her mistake as she observed the man, who seemed to be in no hurry to leave. He was much too young to be Scott's dad and his skin was darker. What was really off, however, were his clothes. The barn was far enough away from the house that she couldn't see their details, but she could tell they weren't in the best condition — and there was a large patch of red on the front.
Gasping, Gwen ducked down out of sight; suddenly afraid he could see her. Maybe that's why he hadn't left: He was trying to figure out if he could get into the house. Did he know they were there? Could he hear them? Pulse racing, she dialed Damon without thinking.
And was sent straight to voicemail.
"Damon," she whispered, afraid to wake the others or have the mystery vampire hear her. "I'm at Scott's farm and just saw a vampire come out of the barn. He was covered in blood. I think the others escaped from the tomb. His clothes look really old."
She experienced a sinking feeling as she spoke, realization dawning on her. From what she'd learned from Damon, feeding on animals wasn't preferred by most vampires unless they were desperate. And it made more sense, especially with the spell being too much for Shelia and Bonnie, for him to be from the tomb than some random vampire that just wandered into town. They could not catch a break today.
A knock at the bathroom door stopped her from continuing her message. Hanging up, she called out, "Yes?"
"Are you ok in there?" Scott asked, his voice just above a whisper. Caroline and Matt must still be asleep.
"Y-yeah, fine," she said, her voice still shaking. "I'll be out in a minute."
As his footsteps faded away, she texted Caroline to wake up and take her home. Gwen went as far as calling and hanging up after the third ring to ensure her friend woke up. She needed to get out of here, and fast.
Thirty minutes later, she was back in the passenger's seat of Caroline car. A very disgruntled Caroline sitting next to her. Gwen's urgent behavior had confused everyone. She was pretty sure Matt thought she might be crazy. Good, she thought, maybe he'd convince Scott to dump her. That would make everything better. The poor boy had looked at her like a lovesick puppy all morning despite her very evident desire to leave. He hadn't even been phased when her good-bye had included an awkward, one-armed hug.
"Are you going to tell me why we had to leave at the crack of dawn?" Caroline grumbled.
"I told you, I have to get home before Ric realizes I'm not in my own bed."
Gwen silently thanked the powers that be that Ric had an established history of being a strict guardian. Sometimes, it really came in handy.
"Did it occur to you that he may not be home? He is dating Elena's aunt."
"All the more reason to get home early," Gwen said nonchalantly. Caroline hmm'd, a small smirk playing on her lips.
"Are you sure there's not another reason?" she teased. "Something happen last night that you want to talk about about?"
Caroline laughed while Gwen fought to stop from visibly squirming. She felt bad enough. She didn't want to risk embarrassing Scott by telling Caroline the truth. Instead, Gwen let Caroline's laughter fade to silence, which pretty much answered Caroline's question. For once, she didn't pry, and Gwen was grateful.
Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up to her house. Caroline had been right: Ric must have spent the night at the Gilberts' because his car was missing. Gwen felt a little relieved, at least something was going her way. She thanked Caroline for the ride and hopped out. Waving good-bye, she watched as her friend's car disappeared down the road. When she turned to go inside, she immediately stopped in her tracks: Damon was sitting on the porch steps.
He must have walked here as she didn't see his car anywhere. Slowly, she walked up to him, trying to judge his mood. His was was stoic, but Gwen could see distress in eyes and the slump of his shoulders. Despite the act, it was clear he was hurting.
Gwen sat down next to him and waited for him to say something. When he didn't, she started, "I know Katherine wasn't in the tomb, but she has to be somewhere. We'll —"
Damon laughed humorlessly. Turning his head slightly to face her, he said, "She's not trapped anywhere. She's been the free this whole time. She…"
His voice broke and he dropped his head so she couldn't she his face. Gwen felt yet another deep, sympathetic pain in her heart. Katherine had never been trapped. She could have found him at any time. He certainly hadn't made his goal a secret. She hadn't sought him out because she didn't want him.
Gwen had no words to event attempt to comfort him with. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against his. She'd half-expected him to push her away, and was surprised when he sunk into her, welcoming the embrace. They sat there; the blinding light and quietness of the morning creating a small world that only included the two of them.
AN: So we had a little from Damon's POV here. I might switch back to him again sometime; I haven't planned that far. Hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter!
