Wrong Salvatore 28
Two days passed by incredibly slowly or at least Damon believed they had gone by very slowly.
He rolled over in his bed and that was when he heard the noise. There were hurried footsteps, moving with purpose, coming from the other end of the hall. He sat up in bed; it wasn't like he'd really been sleeping anyway. He couldn't, not without Elena with him. The house had been so empty the last few days, and not just because of Elena's absence. He hadn't seen or heard from Bonnie and Stefan in the last few days. It was strange.
"Stefan, is that you?" he called out.
He got no response. His eyebrows knitted together as he pulled on his trousers and a white wife-beater and made his way to his brother's room. When he pushed the door open he came face to face with the witch. She had a suitcase out, just like Elena had had a few nights ago. What was it with these girls leaving the Salvatore brothers?
"You're leaving," he stated, to which he got a small nod of confirmation from Bonnie. "Does Stefan know?" he asked. Once again, he received a nod in confirmation.
He let out a large sigh as he moved his right hand to rub his throbbing forehead. Bonnie leaving was probably crushing Stefan. What the hell had gone down between them?
"Don't go Bonnie." He couldn't believe that he was begging yet another girl to not leave the Salvatore Boarding House. "Stefan needs you."
Bonnie paused in her ministrations and held on tightly to the dress that was in her hand. She took a deep breath and looked Damon in the eyes, giving him a sad, almost sympathetic smile. That was weird. It was almost like she was pitying him.
"If that were true Damon, I wouldn't be leaving. What Stefan needs is help. Help that I can't give him without getting destroyed in the process."
"Stop speaking in riddles and just tell me what the damn problem is!" he snapped. All the lies over the last month from a number of people were getting to him. He just wanted the truth. Why did everyone find it so hard to give it to him? They all seemed to find it much easier to spin him some bullshit.
Once again she gave him that stupid sympathetic smile and he had to fight the urge to tell her to shove it where the sun don't shine.
"I'm sorry Damon but it's not my place to tell you. You need to hear it from Stefan."
"And how long is that frikking gonna take? In case you hadn't realised he's been MIA lately."
She turned around and continued folding clothes into her suitcase. "I've been keeping an eye on him. He'll be coming home soon."
She zipped her suitcase closed and took one last glance around the room to see if there were any other important items that she had to take with her right away. Coming to the conclusion that there wasn't, she picked her suitcase up and pulled out the handle.
She looked at Damon and debated on what to tell him. "Look after Elena. She'll come around sooner or later and with this amnesia thing, she needs you more than ever."
With those departing words, she left.
Damon was lying on the living room couch with a glass of bourbon in hand, when he heard the front door open for the second time that day. This time it was indeed his sibling who came in. It seemed that Bonnie was right when she had said Stefan would make his return soon.
Stefan tried to discreetly make his way to the stairs but stopped in his tracks when Damon's voice rang out through the Boarding House.
"Want to tell me why I caught Witchy moving out this morning? Or are you going to spout some bullshit about how it hurts too much to talk about it?"
Stefan turned to look his brother dead in the eye. Damon could see that he had some sort of resolve, like he had a mission he had to complete. He didn't answer Damon's questions and instead he vampire sped to his room.
The fact that he had ignored him, didn't sit well with Damon. Bonnie's riddled words repeated themselves in his head. Stefan was definitely hiding things from him and he needed answers. He needed to know how things went down between his brother and his wife. He first needed to know what caused Bonnie and Stefan to break up. It couldn't have been what had gone down with Elena, could it?
"So it seems that Judgey left, but I guess that's not a surprise to you." Damon was clearly fishing for information as he followed Stefan into his room. Stefan glanced at him but didn't say a word. "Are you seriously going to leave me in the dark? What the hell happened between you two?"
Again, Damon got no response and this time it frustrated him to no end. However, before he could put his frustrations into words, he noticed Stefan take out a suitcase. What the fuck was this? Was someone planning a cruel game on him? Was he dreaming or something? There was no way in hell he was watching a third person pack up their things and leave the Boarding House. He had to be trapped in some freakish nightmare that was on a loop.
"You're leaving too? What the fuck is this? Is there some kinda ghost in this Boarding House that is scaring everyone away?"
"I need to go away for a while," Stefan answered vaguely. "I need to work on myself."
"Stop chatting shit Stefan. You're already broody enough as it is. What is really going on? What happened between you and Bonnie?"
Stefan sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. Now that Damon looked more closely, he realised his brother looked very pale and he was really sweaty. He even had bloodshot eyes like he hadn't been sleeping and they were puffy which meant he had definitely been crying. If anything, Stefan looked just like he did. He even looked like he had a lot of alcohol in his system.
"Do I need to go kick that witch's ass?" Damon asked, the concern for his brother sobering him up. It didn't make sense though; Bonnie had looked as distraught as Stefan in the morning.
"No!" Stefan stopped packing and turned to look at his brother. "There's something I have to confess, Damon."
Damon didn't like where things were heading. A confession? What had he done? It had to have been serious if it caused Bonnie to leave him. Even he could tell that the witch had been madly in love with his brother. Why else would she go against her nature and beliefs that all vampires were evil and deserved to die, if she hadn't loved his brother so strongly?
"What is it?"
"I… I fell of the wagon. I started drinking human blood again and I can't control my thirst," Stefan blurted out. He looked away from Damon, ashamed of himself.
"What?" Damon asked genuinely shocked. How had he not noticed what had been going on with his brother? Had he really been that focused on Elena and their situation, that he hadn't noticed his brother struggling? Guilt consumed him. He had been such a bad brother lately. Stefan had needed him and he hadn't been there. And Bonnie left him, because of his struggles? He was going to kill that bitch when he saw her. He knew she was, well… judgey, but surely she should have known this was always a possibility with Stefan. Damon was amazed by how long it had taken Stefan to relapse. "How did it happen?"
Tears slipped down Stefan's cheeks as he recounted his failures. "It was the third time after I visited Elena in hospital when she was still in her coma. I'd walked to the hospital, and whilst I was walking back home, about a mile away from the hospital, there was this woman. She was bleeding out," Stefan rubbed his tears away as he continued. "She had totalled her car and had managed to escape. When she saw me, she just collapsed in my arms." He took a deep breath, not wanting to relive what had happened. "Her blood, it was everywhere, all over me and then I couldn't… I couldn't stop myself." He didn't bother elaborating on what happened next to the woman. They both clearly knew what happened next. "I didn't visit Elena again because I was scared of what I'd do to her and everyone else in that hospital."
Damon felt for his brother, but what could he do? He told Stefan a thousand times over that he was being an idiot for trying to live off of animal blood. He couldn't believe he'd left Elena in Stefan's care so often in the past month. Knowing that he had left her with a volatile, uncontrollable monster scared him to his core. He had to thank the heavens that Stefan hadn't attempted to take a chunk out of her.
"Stefan-" Damon began but was cut off by Stefan.
"That isn't just it. There's more. I.. I… I-"
"Oh spit it out Stefan! I know we have eternity and all but I really don't want to waste it listening to you trying to get a sentence out."
"I kissed Elena. It wasn't her who initiated the kiss."
And with those words, Damon's world came crumbling down, once again.
"What?" he whispered. He cleared his throat, "You did what?" he asked his voicing cracking halfway through the sentence.
"I kissed her. I lied before when I said that she kissed me." Stefan stared Damon straight in the eyes, and watched the turmoil that he had caused him swirl around in his blue eyes.
And then things happened so fast, neither of them were entirely sure what exactly happened next. All they knew was that Stefan was being pulverised by Damon.
Damon had pushed him to the floor and was throwing persistent punches at him, hitting his face, his torso, his arms… just any part of Stefan's body that he could.
"You," PUNCH. "kissed," PUNCH. "my," PUNCH. "wife?" PUNCH. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Damon asked in a rage.
The only response Stefan could conjure up was spitting up his own blood.
Damon wasn't going to stop hitting his brother until he started feeling better, but he quickly found that whooping his brother's ass didn't bring him as much happiness as he thought it would. It didn't even minimise the rage he felt towards him. The lying, cheating, manipulative, son of a bitch deserved so much more than getting his ass handed to him.
He had to know why he did it. He needed real answers. He couldn't put it together himself. It made no sense. Stefan had gotten over Elena… at least that was what he had thought. His brother had been his best man at the wedding; he had been happy for him. He couldn't have been that good at lying for three or so years.
"Why did you do it Stefan? I have to know," he asked, his voice steely as he dismounted his brother's bleeding body.
He went to the corner of Stefan's room where there was a bottle of gin, not his usual choice of poison, but he'd deal. He needed something to help keep the vampire in him in check or else he wouldn't be able to control his want to severely torture his brother.
"Speak up Steffy. Unless you want me to hit you some more that is."
"I- I don't know," he managed to say.
"You don't know?" Damon spit back, stressing each word. "Are you serious? So you're telling me that you just kissed my wife for kicks?" Oh there was no way he wasn't going to be hitting Stefan again… soon.
"No, it wasn't like that."
"Well then, what was it like Stefan? There's only so much bullshit I can take, so you better speak up quickly or there's no telling what I'm going to do."
"I think it's the bloodlust," Stefan said, coughing up more of his blood. "It makes this other side come out of me. I don't really know why."
"Oh come on Stefan. This isn't about the bloodlust. Learn to own your actions! There has to be a real reason behind it. Do you love her? Do you still love Elena?"
Stefan closed his eyes in shame. "A part of me will always love her." Damon let out a large breath as his brother's confession lingered in the room. "It's just that when she came back home, after the incident, she was different. She was more like the Elena that I was with. Her lingering feelings for me, it woke something up inside me. I tried to get over it but I don't know, I couldn't, I guess. So I kissed her and she made it clear that there was nothing between us anymore. I know you think the human blood had nothing to do with it but I honestly think that I'd never have done it if I wasn't so buzzed on human blood. I love Bonnie and I never would've betrayed her and hurt you if I had my head screwed on properly."
"That doesn't change the fact that you still would've had feelings for Elena. You just would've been a coward and would have kept it in whilst you still silently betrayed both me and Bonnie," Damon stated and Stefan dropped his head as the truth behind the words couldn't be denied.
Damon dropped his face into his hands. This was all such a big mess. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't stand to look at his brother without being overcome with murderous rage. His reasons weren't good enough. No reason would ever be good enough.
"Are you still on human blood?"
"I've managed to control the thirst for the last two days," Stefan answered honestly.
"Not drinking a sip of human blood is not called control Stefan. When are you going to learn that?" Damon snapped, frustration at his brother's antics getting the better of him. Stefan didn't know what to say in response and decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut. He was in no shape to get into another fist fight with Damon. "Would you have told me the truth if you were still on the blood high?"
Stefan swallowed. "I don't think so. I was being selfish and I was desperate which is why I came up with the plan to lie to Bonnie and have you overhear, even though it was so obviously going to backfire."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Damon said as his hands came out it in front of him and he tried to get his head around what Stefan had just let slip. "You planned it all?"
Stefan realised his mistake and immediately braced himself to run as he saw Damon storming towards him again. Unfortunately for him, the lack of proper sustenance and his earlier ass-kicking meant he'd hardly moved by the time Damon had reached him and kicked him to the ground again. Once again, the punches were flying. "You, son of a bitch! You planned to ruin my marriage. How can you even call yourself my brother?" Damon asked, losing himself in the pain and heartache he was feeling.
"Damon," Stefan gasped as his body took another blow. "Stop!" Damon didn't listen to him. "Please! It hurts." Hearing his brother begging, Damon's mind came back to him and he immediately moved away from his brother.
He looked at his brother, beaten to pulp, lying on the floor. Everything was a mess. He didn't know how they'd ever get passed this. He didn't think he could ever forgive his brother.
Yes, he'd kissed Elena and done a hell of a lot more than that to her whilst she was with Stefan, but the situation was completely different back then. First of all, Stefan wasn't married to Elena and second of all, it had been consensual on both sides, a mutual decision. But wait, had Elena wanted to kiss Stefan? No, Stefan had said that Elena yelled at him after he did it.
"You should leave Stefan," Damon advised.
"That was what I was trying to do!" Stefan replied angrily, still lying on the ground, working up the strength to sit up.
"No, I think you should leave Mystic Falls for a very, very long time."
Stefan's face scrunched up as he let his brother's words sink in. He had really fucked up this time. Usually, he could rely on Damon to fall back on, but this was Damon telling him that he wasn't going to be able to forgive him for a long time. He was going to be alone for a long time, with no brother to support him. He'd destroyed all that they had recovered over the past four and a half years. It was gone, just like that.
"Okay." Stefan nodded as he got up and limped over to his suitcase to pack some more clothes and other important items.
Damon didn't move from his position. His eyes were staring off in space as his mind was a million miles away. He couldn't believe that in the end his relationship with his brother, his own flesh and blood, had come down to this.
Stefan cleared his throat to gain Damon's attention. Damon's eyes flicked towards his brother who was now standing by his bedroom door, suitcase in hand.
"So I guess this is goodbye... for a while?" he asked unsure. He had to know if this was forever. He wouldn't be able to stand it if he had truly ruined the relationship with his older brother, the only person that had been a constant in his life. He'd been there since the day he was born. They obviously hadn't spent a great deal of their lives together, especially after they were turned, but Stefan had always known that Damon was there if he needed him, even when his sibling had claimed to hate him.
Damon took in the image of his brother in front of him. It would be the last time he saw him for God knows how long. He heard the question in Stefan's words. His blue eyes looked straight into his brother's green eyes and he gave him a small nod. It was so small that had Stefan not been a vampire, he wouldn't have seen it. With a small, sad smile on his face, Stefan departed. The front door of the Boarding House slammed closed as the third person with no intention of coming back, left.
Damon made his way back to the living room and quickly fixed himself another drink. As he lay down on the couch, he finally let the guilt that he had tried not think about whilst talking to Stefan, consume him. He'd made a complete mess of things between him and Elena.
He'd made the biggest mistake of his life by not listening to her side of things before running away. He should've had more faith in her. It was just that she'd scared the hell out of him when she'd been spouting her love for Stefan as soon as she woke up from her coma. It didn't seem like a stretch that she might actually act on those feelings. Still, he was wrong to doubt her and to not hear her out. They could've avoided all this unneeded drama if he had just asked her whether what Stefan had said was true or not. He'd just assumed that because Stefan was his brother and because he'd overheard it, it must've been true. Now that he thought about it, he realised he'd texted Stefan when he was five minutes away from their house, making it easy for Stefan to get his timing right to spread those lies to Bonnie, about his wife.
Oh shit. Elena still didn't know the truth about what had gone down between him and Katherine. He had to tell her. He couldn't bear to have her keep thinking that he had sought comfort in that bitch's arms. He had to clear up this gargantuan chaos. It was all caused by their inability to not jump to conclusions and their stupidity for not listening to the other and finding out the truth, before making rash decisions. They'd both been complete idiots. Neither one of them had actually done anything unforgivable. Stefan had forced himself on her and Katherine had tricked him into letting her kiss him. They'd let other people get in between their relationship and mess it up.
He sat up and scrambled to get his coat. He ran out of the house, one arm in his leather jacket, whilst his other arm tried to get into the other sleeve.
Damon pounded on the front door. He had to see her and he had to see her right now. When no-one opened the door after a few seconds he pounded his fist against it again and again.
"Hold on!" he heard Jenna scream from the other side. "I'm on my way!"
When Jenna opened the door, she rolled her eyes at the person standing on her patio. She should've guessed from the relentless knocking.
"What do you want Damon? Want to torture another niece of mine? Well I'm sorry to say that I only have the one."
Damon sighed. "Come on Jenna, I have to see her. I need to make things right."
"Well as promising as that sounds Damon. I doubt there's anything you can say that will make her forgive you. Katherine? Seriously?" Jenna asked accusingly.
Damon rolled his eyes. God, she was almost as judgey as Bonnie. "She told you?" Damon asked, his words laced with a little annoyance.
"No, I'm just God, so I'm omniscient." Damon smirked at her sarcasm. Now if only she wasn't so judgey, he could really like her. He understood why Ric loved her. He knew who wore the pants in that relationship. Where was Ric, anyway? Maybe he could use him to get into the house. Speaking of the devil, Ric made his way towards them, having exited the kitchen.
"What's going on here?" he asked cluelessly as Damon rolled his eyes again. His impatience was getting the better of him. He should've just busted Elena's bedroom window. It was closed, hence he'd gone for the front door but it seemed that that had been a bad decision.
"Ric, let me in," Damon bit out. He was in half a mind to just burst into the house.
"I'm sorry I can't do that mate," Ric replied. He signed from behind Jenna's back that Jenna would kill him if he let his friend into the house.
Damon's face screwed up. He'd had enough with this shit and went to push past Jenna and into the house but he was stopped by a barrier. It was the kind of barrier that existed when a vampire had never entered a house before; but that made no sense in this situation because he had been inside this house numerous times.
"What the hell is this?" he asked angrily.
Ric swallowed, feeling guilty. "Bonnie came over and did some witch voodoo. It's a spell she recently discovered that uninvites vampires into houses."
"Just invite me the fuck in. I need to talk to Elena. I need her," he pleaded.
"I'm sorry Damon but until Elena wants to see and speak to you, you're not stepping one foot into this house," Jenna said.
"Please, Jenna," he begged.
Her face softened as she spoke again, "Damon, wait for her to be ready. She'll come to you, I swear." And then she closed the door in his face.
Jenna knocked firmly on her niece's bedroom door. She heard a weak 'come in' from Elena and entered the room. She looked her niece. If anything, Elena looked worse now than she had when she had first turned up at her doorstep with her suitcase in hand. Elena's eyes were puffy, her skin was pale and her cheeks were tear-stained. She was still lying under the covers, letting time pass her by.
"Damon came by."
"I heard," was all Elena said.
"Did you want to see him?"
"No."
Jenna sighed. She didn't like seeing Elena this way. In fact, it had been a very long time since she'd last seen Elena this upset.
"Elena, you're going to have to talk to him at some point."
"I'm not ready yet," Elena replied, shooting her aunt a glare.
"You know I argued so much against you marrying Damon. I was so angry because I was so certain you were making the wrong choice."
"You're making the wrong choice Elena! You're only nineteen years old for God's sake. You have no idea how much work needs to go into a marriage just to keep it going, let alone make it a happy marriage."
"No offence Aunt Jenna, but you don't know what it takes to make a marriage work either because you've never gotten married."
"I have a lot of friends that are and every single one of them would back me up on the fact that you are making a stupid, impulsive decision. It seems Damon's worn off on you more than I thought."
"I'm going to marry him Aunt Jenna, whether you approve or not."
"What are you going to do when you finally realise that you can do so much better than him? Do you really think he'd just let you out of the marriage? He is possessive and cruel. Stop letting his good looks tell you otherwise. You don't want to do this Elena!" Jenna shouted.
"You don't know him like I know him. I can't do better than him; he is the best that there is. Even though it will never come to it, he would let me out of the marriage if I really wanted it. You know why? Because he values my happiness above everything else in the world. And do you know why I'll never leave him? Because I value his happiness above everything else. He's neither possessive nor cruel. He's sweet, funny, witty and generous. He's selfless, compassionate and yes a little dangerous, but I love him. Oh and his good looks... they're more than just good looks. He's the most handsome guy that's ever walked this Earth and he's mine, but don't worry, I don't let his looks fool me. Somewhere down the line, you'll realise how right I am about him."
Jenna let her head hang in defeat. "There's no way I can convince you not to do this, is there?"
Elena shook her head vehemently. "I'm marrying him, no matter what."
"So be it then." Jenna gave up with arguing. There was no use. She knew her niece would choose her fiancé over her own aunt. She may as well embrace the marriage. It was better than losing her only niece, the one she had come to love as a daughter.
"Elena?" Jenna asked waving her hand in front of Elena's face to get her attention.
"What?" she asked, snapping out of it.
"I asked if you were okay. You seemed a little out of it," Jenna said, concern lacing her voice.
"I'm sorry, I spaced out a little. I'm all ears now," she replied, her mind still lingering on the memory she'd just gotten back.
Jenna gave her a funny look, like she wasn't quite sure whether she believed her niece of not but in the end, she decided to dismiss her doubts. "Well like I was saying, I was wrong. I still remember you shouting at me, how I was wrong about yours and Damon's relationship. You know us Sommers hate admitting we're wrong but I'll admit it, right here and now, that I was wrong about your marriage to Damon."
Elena was a little taken aback from Jenna's words, especially so soon after reliving the heated argument that had passed between them years ago. She moved to sit up, her back lying against her headboard. "What do you mean?"
Jenna sighed. "I used to think that you and Damon were never going to work out because it seemed like it was only him who was gaining from your relationship. I thought that you were helping him to be a better man but he was doing nothing in return. I knew you guys were happy but it seemed like you two were just in an extended honeymoon phase. I worried that it was lust that was keeping you from detesting him. Why else would you be so willing to give when you got nothing in return? It wasn't until you guys got married that I found out he was a vampire and believe me, I flew off the handle. I genuinely thought you had ruined your life. Somewhere along the line, however, I saw that I was wrong. He let you experience new things. He took you to extravagant places and he let you live life to the fullest. He challenged you and helped you to think outside the box. He was in fact, like you had told me many times, perfect for you."
Elena remained silent throughout her aunt's speech. She didn't know quite what to say in response. She didn't need to say anything though, as Jenna continued to speak.
"It used to freak me out how much of an effect you had on each other. You guys were so in sync, not just with your movements, but with your emotions as well. It was scary seeing how quickly Damon picked up on a change in your emotions, but you seemed to love the way that he knew what was going on inside of you. It must be frustrating the hell out of him that he can't seem to do it anymore since you're accident."
"You'd be amazed by how he still knows a lot about how I'm feeling. Sometimes I think he knows how I'm feeling better than I know how I'm feeling!" Elena chuckled.
"I think you should forgive him," Jenna said honestly, getting to the point of the conversation.
Elena knew it had been coming and yet she still hadn't been prepared for it. "I don't know how to," she answered honestly.
"I think maybe a clean slate is the way to go. You've both made mistakes and you've both urged the other to make mistakes. Even if you don't feel like you can forgive him just yet, you should definitely hear him out. You need to tell him about what happened with Stefan as well and about your feelings for him."
Elena's eyes shot up to look at Jenna. "How am I supposed to tell him that I love him, even after all he's done?"
"He did one bad thing Elena. Think about how patient he's been with your whole amnesia debacle. He's been supportive, caring and loving. These are all things I once thought Damon was incapable of. I know that right now, him kissing Katherine seems like the end of the world, but if you think about it objectively, all it is a blip on a beautiful journey that you two have taken. Hear him out on it. Maybe there's more to story than you think. Honestly, I can see that he loves you so much; I personally don't understand why he'd kiss Katherine. There has to be a real reason for it. Besides, if there's no hope for you two, there's basically no hope for the rest of us!"
"I think I just need some time."
"And you have it. Just don't take too much time. Damon might end up doing something drastic without you. I never know what's going through that vampire's head."
"Neither do I," Elena replied as she went back to her lying position in bed.
Another two days went by, most of which Damon had spent as drunk as a skunk. He'd forgotten how awful being lonely was. For the last three and a half years he'd had Elena on his side and for the last four and a half years he'd had Stefan with him as well. The Boarding House felt more like a ghost house these days. The only one walking the large halls was him.
Tyler had come by a couple times to help him with the boredom. He secretly felt that Tyler may have been sent by Caroline to check up on him, make sure he wasn't suicidal. That being said, he was grateful to Tyler for drinking away with him and not forcing him to talk about his issues. All the girls in Mystic Falls had obviously sided with Elena. That fact that there were sides frustrated the hell out of him. There didn't need to be sides! He and Elena were just having a series of misunderstandings. If only he could talk to her…
Alaric had cleverly stayed away from Damon. Damon's anger and annoyance towards his best friend hadn't decreased one bit. Stupid bugger let that witch put an uninviting spell on his house.
His phone started ringing and Damon felt around his pocket, trying to get to it. His fingers fumbled a few times, yes, he was definitely drunk.
Speaking once again of the Devil, Ric's name shone up on his phone. Damon pressed the answer key and brought the mobile up to his ear.
"I was wondering when you'd grow a pair of balls and work up the nerve to deal with my wrath."
"Damon, you need to get to the hospital quickly. Jeremy's been shot."
And just like that, Damon sobered up.