Chapter 20

Damon squinted against the brightness of the headlights as the high school teacher's SUV pulled up the house. He should go. He should have left a half hour ago when she had gone inside. Yet he had found himself unable to leave Gwen potentially vulnerable after the day's events. Her mood had baffled him. He could have understood her being upset: Someone should have realized she was missing. But there was something else. Damon was sure something else had happened that day. He deflected enough to recognize the behavior in others, and she had been more evasive than upset. Even now, he could still hear the increased rate of her heartbeat.

Gwen rarely kept anything from him. Why wouldn't she just tell him what was wrong this time? He gritted his teeth as his thoughts flashed back to Isobel. She had Gwen captive for hours. She could have said or done anything in that time. Then Damon remembered how Gwen had looked when he had seen her at Isobel's hideout: guarded but there was a hint of something else. Possibly disappointment, but he could not understand why. Though even as he tried to puzzle out her feelings, the heavy weight in his stomach only increased.

A sigh from inside the SUV drew him from his thoughts and, seconds later, Gwen's uncle exited the car.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, his irritation obvious as he slung a bag over his shoulder and walked toward the front porch where Damon sat.

Damon bit back a sarcastic retort, making an effort for Gwen's sake. She would not enjoy having to break up a fight between them, especially after today. Plus, he knew that he had been lucky Ric survived his last attack and that Gwen had forgiven him. Most people could only forgive so much and he was not interested in testing hers.

"No, I just didn't want to leave her alone," he said, glancing back toward the house. Pointedly, he continued, "Since I'm not allowed inside, I stayed here."

"And you never will be," Ric said, leveling a stare at him before glancing toward the house himself. "How is she?"

"Pretending she's not upset, but she is. She's been unable to settle since she went in."

Sighing, Ric ran a hand through his hair and took a seat next to Damon on the top step. Damon automatically slid over, surprised Ric had not walked past him. But in the porch light, he could see the guilt etched into the teacher's face, making him look about five years older. He was not ready to face her.

"I should have called," he said, though it was more to himself than to Damon. "I should have called her or tried to follow up with her, but I just assumed she was safe with the float group. And you know how she is with her phone."

Damon nodded, feeling equally annoyed at her habit to forget her phone or let it die. "Yeah, I do. But we all dropped the ball on this one. At least, you didn't just leave her there with that crazy bitch — no offense."

"None taken," Ric said, sounding tired. "I just don't understand why Isobel took her in the first place. We were doing what she asked…."

"I don't know, and Gwen wasn't in a sharing mood," Damon muttered. He pictured her walking down the street toward her home, gaze averted and arms folded. His frustration with her sudden secretiveness grew. What did she know? Damon was so lost in his thoughts that, for a moment, he did not notice Ric observing him. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"She got to you."

"Who? Isobel? I think you're confusing me for you," Damon scoffed

Ric shook his head. "No, Gwen. She said something to you, and that's why you're sitting here."

If he allowed himself to dwell on, her comment about his and Isobel's shared past bothered him for reasons he did not understand. It was old news, and yet something about Gwen's tone had stung. But that was not it, not completely. Really, it was how useless he had been earlier. How he had been unable to help her when she actually needed him. That, and his guilt, is why he had been reluctant to leave the house while she was alone.

"Not exactly. I just needed to be sure she was safe after today," Damon admitted begrudgingly. "I know she's safe, obviously, she has her powers —"

"Her powers don't make her safe."

Damon glanced toward Ric, who looked almost guilty. "What do you mean?"

"She's just a kid, Damon," Ric said. "She's a kid who has been thrown into a crazy situation she should never have been brought into in the first place. Gwen has powers and — yes — she's strong, but you saw today that she's not invincible. In fact, she's probably more vulnerable than any of us realize."

Damon's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"She didn't tell you? About her father?" Ric asked, surprised.

Damon's frown deepened, remembering the day she had come to him, panicked and rambling. She had been worried about him coming after her and wanted to be able to protect herself and her uncle from him. Actually, she had wanted him to her be able to kill her father if came to it. He cringed internally at his oversight, though he could not bring himself to feel truly guilty about it. He could not picture her as a killer, even with her temper.

"Yeah, I think Grandma Bennett got it in her head that her father was going to come after her. He's supposed to be super dangerous or something."

"That's one way to put it," Ric muttered. "It's complicated and I still don't understand the mechanics, but he wants her power. By binding her magic with that wristband my sister was able to hide her from him — though I feel there were a few other steps she should have taken. Moving her here, I guess that somehow triggered everything. Since she's been training and using her magic, he can track her now. He's going to come after her."

"Then we'll deal with him," Damon said with a shrug. "You have two vampires and another witch. She won't have to face him alone. Plus, she nearly exploded my living room once. I think she'll be fine if he does show his face."

"God, Damon, you're not hearing me. Gwen isn't ready to face him. She's training, but she's not as in control of her magic as she acts. It's too tied to her emotions. There's no way she can win against someone who has decades of practice, especially if it means potentially killing her father. And that other witch? She's only a kid, too."

Damon remained silent, processing what Ric had said. "So what exactly is your plan?"

Ric shook his head and shrugged. "I don't have one — yet. But it's clear Mystic Falls isn't the safest place and there's no reason for us to be here."

"So what? Move to a new town? For how long?" Damon asked.

"I said I don't have a plan," Ric repeated. "But if moving around gives her enough time to train so she's stronger and more in control, then it'll be worth it. And since I'm the adult in her life, I get to make that decision."

Damon's jaw clenched and he sat forward, hiding his face in the shadows. "Not sure why you're telling me this."

Ric stood up, hitching his bag up on his shoulder. "Because if we leave, I need it to be a clean break. I need you to not pull her back here or …. Well, I just need her to have one less complication in her life."

"Right," Damon muttered.

Ric stood behind him for a moment, considering saying something else but thought better of it. "Good night, Damon. Thank you for looking out for her."

Damon did not acknowledge him or even move when he heard the door close again. Ric's words had hit harder than he would have liked to admit. He did forget how young Gwen was and that she had only been using magic for a few months. She was usually so strong, so confident even when she worried, it was easy for him to forget how vulnerable she was. His mind flashed to her being attacked when they rescued Stefan, when Stefan attacked her, and earlier that day when she was compelled and completely alone. The guilt he had been feeling earlier returned tenfold.

Still, Damon did not like the idea of Gwen leaving town and, as he began heading home, hoped it would not come to that. He was not sure he could be as selfless as Ric was asking him to be.