Damon Salvatore in all his knight in shining, dark armor approached Elena Gilbert in her room, as she came out of the bathroom in her nighties.
"Nice p-j's," he commented.
She looked at him.
"Damon, I'm tired."
He stood just inches in front of her.
"I brought you something."
He held her Vervain necklace up so she could see it.
"My necklace. You got it back. I thought I lost it."
She reached up to take it from him, but he pulled it back.
"Please give it back."
"I have to tell you something."
"Why do you have to say it with my necklace?"
He gave her a look.
"Damon, don't go there."
"You only have to hear it this once."
They looked at each other.
He began.
"Elena, I love you. And it's because I love you that I can't be selfish with you. I don't deserve you, but my brother does."
He set the necklace down on top of her dresser and bent down towards her, his left hand caressing the side of her face. With a gentleness she didn't know he could possess, he kissed her on the lips. Once. Then twice. She didn't know what possessed her to do it, whether it be politeness or something telling her this was supposed to happen, she wasn't sure. She only knew that the second time his lips touched hers, she kissed back.
They pulled away and looked into each other's eyes.
Now she knew. She loved both Salvatore brothers. She had been stubborn, telling Damon 'It will always be Stefan.' Why had it taken her so long to finally see it? To finally admit to herself that, like Katherine, she loved them both? And like Katherine, she had chosen Stefan in the beginning. But unlike Katherine, she saw her mistake and wanted to fix it. She wished she could. But she couldn't without hurting one of them. She had already hurt Damon by choosing Stefan like Katherine had.
"God, I wish you didn't have to forget this," he said, but before he could compel her, his brother came in at vampire speed and through him.
Both realized he had seen what had happened, as the brawl went on.
Amazingly, even at the rate they were going, they managed not to hurt or break anything.
"Stefan, stop! Damon! Both of you!" she yelled at them from where she stood.
They ended it with Stefan jumping out of her window the same way he had come.
Damon strode up to her.
"Now where were we?"
"Damon, don't. I love you. You don't need to make me forget."
By now, she had her necklace on.
"Very well, then," he replied, sensing she was telling the truth.
He leaned in and they shared yet another kiss.
Elena Gilbert woke up to sunlight shining through her window. She sat on the side of her bed to wake up and recalled last night. Everything. She walked over to her dresser to pull out clothes to wear for the day.
When she headed to the bathroom, she saw the door was closed, so she opened it and saw him there. He was just putting on his shirt, also getting ready for the day.
"Damon, what are you doing here?"
"Clearly, you don't remember last night."
Then she remembered. She had gone to bed with Damon beside her.
"I thought you would've left by now."
"It must be shocking to you, me still being here after our little sleepover, then."
"I wouldn't call it a sleepover. And unless you want me to have to get ready in the guest bathroom, you should probably leave."
"What? You don't trust me to behave enough?"
"Trust is putting it mildly considering you."
"Well, if your housekeeper is still away, I'm going to fix you some breakfast with a little taste of wine."
He gave her a smile and then walked up and kissed her forehead.
"See you downstairs."
She closed the door behind herself.
"Weird," she commented to herself before starting the shower.
A few minutes later, she walked into the kitchen and saw Damon putting some French toast on a plate, which he set down on the bar. There was already a glass of wine ready for her.
"You know you don't have to do this just for me, right?"
"I know, but let's just say this is my gift to you for the day."
She sat down at the bar and began to eat, while he turned the stove off and set the pan in the sink.
"I didn't know we were cooking today," Alaric commented, as he entered the kitchen a few moments later, when Elena had finished her toast and was sipping wine.
"It's my gift to her for today. Something I think she enjoyed very much."
"Yes. Thank you, Damon."
"You are very welcome, Elena."
"Wine first thing in the morning?" Alaric commented, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, it's not like you've never done that before, Ric. And besides, it's not a crime," Damon replied to him.
Elena stood up and set her dishes in the sink.
She looked at Damon.
"So what are we doing today?"
"Let's go to my place. A guy has to eat or he dies from hunger."
"I hope that wasn't a joke, because that wasn't funny."
"Let's go. See you later, Ric."
"Keep her safe, Damon."
Alaric watched as he and Elena left him alone in the empty Gilbert house.
It was a dark, cold night as Elena walked through the woods on her way home.
Suddenly, as she got closer to the heart of the woods, she heard the sound of a werewolf, as if it was attacking something. It was growling and snarling. So she decided to follow the sound to investigate. She just hoped it wasn't someone that she cared about.
When she arrived, she saw who and what it was attacking. Katherine Pierce. She needed help. It looked like it had already bitten her more than once. And right now it was tearing into her arm.
With as much as she could muster, Katherine dislocated its shoulder with her free hand and through it off herself. It howled in pain and then limped off, as she got to her feet and grabbed for a tree to lean against, once she was on her feet. She rested her head on the bark of a tree and closed her eyes.
Elena rushed over to her.
A scent wafted over the vampiress.
"Elena," she whispered before collapsing, the last of her strength evaporating from her.
Elena caught her as she collapsed.
Without hesitation, Elena took her cell phone out with her free hand and called Damon for help. She couldn't exactly carry her all the way back to the Salvatore boarding house. She wasn't a vampire, hybrid, or even a werewolf. She was only a human. Just a human. Nothing else. Nothing attached.
Damon walked quickly into the mansion and went upstairs to his bedroom, Elena following behind him.
Once inside the bedroom, he layed Katherine down on his bed. He kissed her forehead and then turned around to look at Elena.
"Get a wet wash cloth and stay with her. I'll be back."
"What are you going to do?"
"Go find my brother and tell him what happened. He may be over the edge, but he still cares. A sire's bond is strong. When you're sired, you'll always care about your sire and it'll hurt when your sire is gone for good. We need a cure. Fast. Just one werewolf bite is deadly to vampires. I've never dealt with this before. I don't know the cure. And Katherine's been bitten more than once. I'm estimating three or more bites she has had," he told her.
"Be careful, Damon."
"Aren't I always?"
He walked over to her and kissed her before vanishing.
Stefan Salvatore walked the streets of Mystic Falls, Virginia. He was hurt. Mentally. He couldn't believe it. After all he and Elena had been through, how could they do that to him? He was angered and hurt all at the same time. He had mixed feelings about what he had seen. Now he truly realized that he and Elena were over. Done for. His brother had won. Like always. He had always taken from Stefan what he wanted for himself. How selfish of his brother. He thought that he had changed. But he was wrong. He seemed to always be wrong about one thing or another these days.
Just then, he stopped. There stood Damon.
"If you've come to apologize, you don't need to. You won. It's over."
"Actually, it's about Katherine. She's dying, Stefan. A werewolf bit her. Elena found her and she told me what happened."
"Where is she?"
"The house. Elena's with her."
Stefan decided that his feud he had with Damon should wait until after Katherine was okay. He wanted Katherine to live. She was his sire and she had chosen him in the very beginning. And now that he thought of it, he still loved Katherine.
"We need Klaus," Stefan told him.
"Why?"
"His blood is the cure."
"So what's the plan?"
"You're going to go get Klaus to give you his blood so she'll live and I'll watch Katherine."
"You better behave."
"Oh, I think I can manage it better than you ever could."
Damon watched as his brother left at vampire speed to go watch over Katherine.
He sighed. Nothing ever would really change when it came to Stefan and Katherine. Those two would always love each other. No matter how many centuries you put between them. Or better yet, no matter what obstacles they had to cross to meet. But he was way over being jealous about their love. He loved Elena and she loved him.
With that, he started to make his way towards where Klaus lived with his sister Rebekah.
Klaus was at home sitting on his couch drinking a glass of blood, when Damon walked in.
"What a surprise. What do I owe of this special visit of yours today? Is this about Elena? Is she well?" Klaus greeted him.
"I wouldn't be here unless I had to. I need your blood. Katherine was bitten by a werewolf."
"Now why would I just hand you over my blood?"
"Because it's for Stefan and Katherine."
"You know I don't do favors. But since this is a family matter, I'll oblige."
Klaus stood up and set his glass down on the end table beside his couch.
Elena was damping a wet wash cloth on the vampiress' face, when she slowly came to.
She stopped, setting the cloth on the end table.
"Elena?" she said weakly.
She looked down at her vampire descendant.
"Hey."
"I'm dying," she informed her.
"I know. Damon filled me in."
"Where are they?"
"I don't know where Stefan is, but Damon went to go tell him what happened and find the cure."
There was a second voice that answered Katherine, as he walked in.
"I'm right here, Kat. And I'm not leaving. I'm here until the end."
Elena looked up to see Stefan in the room, walking towards them, looking at Katherine with so much worry and love. Damon had been right. But of course, Damon was always right. He knew things that most vampires as young or old as him, would never have known. Probably not until it was too late. But him loving Katherine only now was a betrayal all on its own. He had betrayed her yet again. First for doing the most horrid things he could ever do and say to her. And now, this. It broke her heart.
He strode over to Katherine, as Elena left the room to leave them alone. She couldn't stand to see them together like this, even if Katherine was dying. She knew this, so she simply left the room. She didn't want to argue with him or anything about her decision a few nights ago. The decision that she loved Damon more than she loved Stefan. But in truth, she truly would always care for Stefan. But she loved both of the Salvatore brothers. At least, she thought she did. She wasn't so sure if she should keep fighting for Stefan to come back or not. He didn't need her like he used to need her. And she had Damon. She didn't need Stefan anymore. She hoped that he would see it sooner or later. She just hoped.
Stefan walked up to Kat and sat on her bedside. He stroked her hair.
"You're going to get out of this, Kat. I promise you. You're not going to die if we can help it. Damon went to get the cure. I won't let you die. Never. I love you," he confessed to her.
She smiled weakly.
"I love you too."
He bent down and kissed her.
She kissed back softly, very weak and helpless now.
"You're not going to die. Not yet, Kat."
"That's what you say," she whispered.
He looked down at her.
He didn't want to lose her. He loved her. She was his sire. He would always care and love her. He had in the beginning the moment he set eyes on her when he had been human. And he still loved her. He would love her forever.
"It's like fate all over again," she whispered.
He took her hand in his and kissed it.
"No it's not. As I said, you're not going to die tonight. I'm not ready to say good-bye, Kat. Maybe someday I will have to, but not tonight. Not when we have just began to get back to normal the way it used to be between us."
He looked into her eyes.
She closed her eyes.
"Stefan, sometimes it's hard, but you have to," she whispered.
She rested her free hand softly on the side of his face.
"Kat, you can't leave me. I don't want you to."
"Maybe someday I'll come back," she susurrated. "But for now, I'm dying."
"Please, Kat. You have to stay with me just a little bit longer."
He kissed her again and she kissed back in susurration.
A few minutes later, Damon walked into the room.
"Got it," he announced.
He walked up to them quickly.
Stefan took the bottle.
"Kat, it's here. You're going to be fine."
Stefan pulled her into his arms and had her drink it.
Once finished, he layed her gently back down.
"Thank you," she said.
"You're welcome," Stefan replied.
Damon left the room and came down the stairs to leave the two love birds alone.
It was a dark night, as Stefan and Katherine walked alongside each other, hand in hand. They were now together as one. And now, they would move on with their lives, as much as they could. They would never leave each other. They loved one another too much to hurt the other. They were happy. So were Damon and Elena.
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