The Vampire Diaries – Every End Has A Start von Asu91 ================================================================================ Kapitel 62: The Farewell Gift ----------------------------- Ich habs endlich mal wieder geschafft ein neues Kapitel hochzuladen. Wieder einmal tuts mir wirklich Leid, dass es so lange gedauert hat :( Ich hatte eigentlich vorgehabt euch dieses Kapitel zum Weihnachtesgeschenk zu machen, aber... während der Feiertage schafft man es selten mal an den PC. Aber jetzt gehts endlich weiter. Ich hoffe ihr habt alle schöne Festtage mit euren Familien verbracht und viele Geschenke bekommen ;) Vor einiger Zeit hab ich mal erwähnt, dass ich noch eine Überraschung für euch habe und die kommt jetzt in diesem Kapitel. Unsere Lieblingsböse Katherine hat ein kleines Abschiedsgeschenk hinterlassen... Viel Spaß! _________________________________________________________________________________ The next morning when Elena woke up, she was confused at first about the fact that there was someone in bed with her - but then she remembered the who and the why and a wide smile spread on her face. "Good morning, sunshine," Damon's voice floated into her ears and for once she didn't mind him calling her by this pet name. She actually enjoyed the sound of it. Sleepily she opened her eyes. "Good morning," she greeted him. "Did you turn off the alarm?" "Yeah. I couldn't stand the sound," he answered and she grinned. "Someone in the shower?" "Not right now, there isn't." "Good. Then I better hurry before we run out of hot water," she said and got up much to Damon's dislike. She grabbed some clothes from her closet and her drawer and headed for the bathroom. Knowing girls Damon stayed in bed a little longer, waiting for her to get back to him which she did half an hour later. All dried, dressed and styled. She took a seat on the bed and put on her shoes. "You want me to give you a ride to school?" he offered. "Thanks but I'm catching a ride with Bonnie," she replied while texting Bonnie. When she was done she got up and grabbed her bag. Now Damon got up, too. "Do you have to leave already?" he asked, pouting a little as he slid his arms around her waist. "Unfortunately. Just gonna catch breakfast downstairs. Bonnie will pick me up in a few," she answered, giving him a small smile and slung her arms around his neck. "Pick me up from school at five?" "I'll be there," he promised and leaned in to kiss her. When she felt his lips against hers it felt like a big balloon was being blown up in her chest and the feeling even increased when she kissed him back. Kissing Damon was the best thing she had ever experienced. Reluctantly she pulled away after a minute. "You can stay here and grab a shower if you want," she told him. "Jenna's gonna leave any minute." "Okay. See you later, sunshine." "You know, I'm gonna think of a pet name for you, too," she threatened. "Enjoy yourself." "You bet," she assured him, gave him one last smile and walked out of the room. She went downstairs where Jeremy was just grabbing his breakfast and lunch for later. "Morning, Jer," she greeted him merrily, filling a cup with coffee and took a sip. "Morning. And congratulations by the way," he added smirking. "So you eavesdropped on us," she figured. "Anna couldn't really help herself. Vampire hearing and all," Jeremy explained shrugging but the smirk wouldn't leave his face. Amused Elena shook her head. "Jenna leave yet?" "Just out the door." Elena finished her coffee and grabbed some food to go before they exited the house. Outside their ways parted. As Jeremy got into his car and drove off Elena got into Bonnie's. "Morning," she chirped. "Wow, you sound happy," Bonnie observed smiling and pulled out of the parking lot. "What happened? I want all the details!" Elena laughed and began to tell. After he had heard Elena and Jeremy leave Damon grabbed some of his things he had brought from the manor and headed for the bathroom. That was when he first noticed that the door to the adjoined bathroom was closed and he heard water running. Someone else was obviously occupying the bathroom already. Totally immersed in Elena he hadn't noticed it before. So he waited patiently until the person inside had finished the shower and exited the bathroom through the regular door. Damon stepped into the hallway and was surprised to meet Anna. "Hey you," she greeted him. "Living here too, now, huh?" "As are you," he observed. "For a while now," she agreed. "Well, I guess we'll meet more often in the hallway." "Did you eavesdrop on us?" "No, I wouldn't do that," she lied, smirking. "Don't you have a class to attend to?" he grumbled. "Yeah, I do. I always catch up on Jeremy later. Vampire speed and all. Quite useful when you have to share the bathroom with four people." "Good that I don't," he said cockily and went to enter the bathroom. "Oh, by the way, I think I just ran out of hot water," Anna called while walking downstairs. "You've got to be kidding me!" Damon shouted indignantly. "Nope. Enjoy your shower, Damon!" Irritated by her laughter Damon entered the bathroom and eyed the shower. Maybe he should consider a pop in at the manor. With Stefan as the currently only resident there was definitely a lot of hot water left... Anna exited the house and sped away. Five minutes later she reached the school parking lot where Jeremy was just pulling up. "God, I love this," he enthused, getting out of the car. He put an arm around her and pulled her close while they walked up to the school entrance. "You have to turn me. This is so cool." Anna just chuckled amused, shaking her head. "You and Damon?" Bonnie exclaimed as she pulled up in front of the high school. "Yup. Me and Damon it is," Elena confirmed, enjoying the puzzled look on her friend's face. "But how? I don't understand," the witch asked as they got out of the car. "After I killed Katherine we kissed," Elena told her deliberately leaving the blood exchange out. "It felt right then and it still does." "Hmm... and Stefan?" "Well, that's something else," Elena sighed. "He didn't take it very well. He's jealous of course but in a mean way. He told me a couple of things I want but couldn't have with Damon." "That's really mean," Bonnie agreed. "Like what?" "Peace and calm. But I don't agree with him. I daresay I've seen all of Damon's many sides and peace and calm is possible with him, too." "But mostly it's an adventure with him, isn't it?" Bonnie opined. "Yeah but I think that's a good thing. Fun, adventure, passion… these are things I never had with Stefan," Elena replied. "Well, I don't care who you're with as long as he doesn't hurt you. If Damon makes you happy I'm happy for you." "Thanks, Bonnie," Elena said, giving her a smile which she returned. "Do you see Caroline anywhere?" "No, she's nowhere in sight. Maybe she's with Matt." "No, she not. Matt's over there. Alone." They walked over to Matt to ask about Caroline. "Hey, Matt." "Hey," he greeted them back. "Have you heard from Care?" "No, we were going to ask you about her," Bonnie answered. "I haven't seen her since Friday night," he told them. "I tried to reach her but she isn't answering her phone. It's not like her," he added worriedly. "No, it's not," Elena agreed, exchanging a stern glance with Bonnie before dialing Caroline's number on her cell. Like Matt had told them no one answered. She shook her head. "Nothing." "We should drop by after school. See if she's okay," Bonnie suggested. "Yeah, let's do that." At five Elena left the school building with Bonnie, quite happy. She had managed to catch up on some of the things she had missed while Katherine had terrorized her. She had signed up for Yearbook because Bonnie had gotten her in and newspaper. Starting in the middle of the term was difficult but a girl in the group had assured her that it was no problem since Caroline was head of the group. Hearing the name of her second best friend Elena's thoughts returned to Caroline. She was really worried about her. The last time she had missed school was when she had been with Katherine. Caroline never missed school. Outside the building they said goodbye to Matt who couldn't go with them because he had to work. Then they walked over to the parking lot where a certain someone was already waiting for at least one of them. "Hi," Elena greeted him and they kissed. After that Damon's gaze turned to Bonnie. "Witch," he said, nodding. Bonnie returned the gesture. "Damon." "You're actually a decent witch," he acknowledged. "And you know how to kick ass." Bonnie beamed at the compliment. "Thank you. You didn't do badly yourself, either." Now Elena spoke to Damon. "We were going to check on Caroline. She wasn't at school today." "No, she couldn't. I know where she is. Katherine left a farewell gift." He sighed. "Get in the car. I'll explain everything to you," he added, holding the passenger side's door open for her. "Meet us at the manor," he told Bonnie who nodded and got into her own car. "This is a bad joke, right?" Damon had filled Elena and Bonnie in on what they were going to find at the manor - or rather who. "Don't get too close to her," he warned them. "She's... on edge." He opened the front door and gestured to them to enter. "They're in the parlor." They walked through the foyer into the parlor and found Stefan there, together with AWOL Caroline. The blond looked jittery. She was holding a glass filled with a liquor that looked a lot like blood. "I can't believe it!" Bonnie exclaimed shocked. Damon who had followed them, now entered the parlor, too. He sniffed and grimaced. "Ugh, what is this, Stefan? I told you it's not gonna work. You should know best." "I thought we could give it a try." The younger Salvatore shrugged. "Yeah like with Vicky?" Damon reminded him sternly. Stefan averted his gaze. "She needs the real stuff in order to control her urges and she needs it regularly." Suddenly Caroline seemed to have snapped out of her trance and took in the presence of her two friends. Her gaze met Elena's and she jumped, dropping the glass of blood. "You! Get away from me!" she shouted panicky. Stefan put a firm hold on her shoulders. "Calm down! Remember what I told you before? It's not Katherine. It's Elena. If you listen carefully you can hear her heart-" "Stefan, no!" Damon exclaimed. But it was too late. The very same moment Caroline's vampire senses had focused on Elena. She could hear the beat of her pumping heart and see the artery in her neck. Within seconds Caroline turned from a harmless high school girl to an unpredictable predator. Unable for human eyes to follow Caroline sped over to Elena s the bloodlust took over. Damon quickly rushed between them and stopped the blonde who was baring her fangs at Elena. "Hey! Hey, cut it out, blondie!" Damon ordered her angrily. "I told you it's not gonna work," he then added to his brother while they shoved Caroline back on the couch together and waited for her to calm down. Elena and Bonnie watched in horror, clutching their hearts. "I'll be right back," Damon said. In the blink of an eye he sped out of the room and returned with a blood bag and a straw. "Drink!" he ordered Caroline and handed her both. "Will somebody please explain what happened?" Elena urged, still shaking from the sudden attack. "I found her in the woods when I was hunting last night," Stefan explained. "She was hiding in the tomb." "That's probably how she survived daylight," Damon assumed. "As you can see she's completely out of it," Stefan went on. "She told me Elena had tried to kill her and that she had killed a couple of trampers in bloodlust." "Oh my God," Elena mouthed. Damon walked over to her and took her into his arms. "Damon wanted to kill her but I wanted to check in with you first." "No! There's no way she's gonna die!" Elena refused and shoved Damon away. "Elena, she can't control herself," Damon reasoned. "Don't I have a say in this, too?" Caroline chimed in now. "No, blondie, actually you don't-" Damon started but Elena cut him off. "Yes, of course you do. I know you want to live and you will." She slowly walked over to Caroline. "Elena, don't," Stefan warned her. "It's okay," she replied. "You don't want to hurt me, Caroline, right?" "No," Caroline confirmed solemnly. Elena walked closer and slowly took a seat next to her friend whose breathing started to hitch. "Elena, get away from her now!" Damon instructed. "No." Stefan knelt in front of Caroline and grabbed her shoulders tightly again. "Remember what I told you. When you feel the bloodlust taking control you take shallow breaths and tell yourself you're stronger than it." "I can't," Caroline said, starting to sob. "Yes, you can. Try it, Caroline!" Caroline closed her eyes and did as Stefan told her. She tried to block out the scent of Elena's blood and her thumping pulse. After a few minutes she leant over, carefully put her arms around Elena and repeated the procedure until she was in control of her urges. Then she pulled Elena closer and sobbed into her chest. Elena hugged her back and patted her back soothingly. While doing this she looked at Damon and said "She can do it." He shrugged. "We'll see." "I can take care of her for a while. Teach her how to control herself," Stefan offered. "That would be great," Elena agreed and turned to her other friend. "What do you say, Bonnie?" Bonnie was still paralyzed by fear, staring at her friend. "I - I still can't believe this is really happening." "Yeah, well, if she lives she gonna need something to protect her from the sunlight," Damon told her. "Cast a spell on a ring a something." "I don't think I can," Bonnie replied sadly. "Of course you can," Damon corrected. "I'm sure the spell's in the Grimoire." "No - I mean, well yes, probably, but I can't," she insisted. "Why not?" Elena asked. Bonnie averted her gaze from Caroline and turned to Elena. "She's a vampire," she stated almost pleadingly. "So what?" Damon said sharply. "So are Stefan and I. And you still help us out, occasionally." "That's different. You're not close to me..." Bonnie began. "Exactly-" Damon started to cut her off but Caroline was louder. "Bonnie, I'm your friend!" she reminded her reproachfully. "I'm sorry." "Bonnie!" Elena urged her. "Had you rather she died?" "No, of course not." "Then what's your problem?" "Bonnie," Stefan turned to her. "Nothing's really changed. Only she will notice the difference. But she can learn to control her urges. I'll teach her. No one will get hurt." Bonnie pursed. Her gaze lingered on Caroline. "Please help me, Bonnie," Caroline begged her. "No one else will get hurt, I promise. I didn't want this but I don't to die, either." "That's the point," Stefan said. "Technically Caroline's dead but actually she never left you. She can continue her life like nothing happened." Bonnie pursed her lips a little longer, then she let out an exhausted sigh. "Fine. I'll look the spell up," she gave in. A wave of relief went through the group. "Thank you," Caroline and Elena said. Bonnie gave them a curt nod. "I'll go now. See you later." Without another glance the witch turned around and left. Stefan and Elena's gazes met. Elena tensed up. This awkward silence between them made her uncomfortable. Damon could sense it. He cleared his throat loudly. "We should get going, too." To stress the meaning behind his words he held out his hand to Elena who took it and let him help her up. Caroline looked at them, puzzled. "Where are you going?" "Home," Damon and Elena answered in chorus. They both smiled about the coincidence. Damon gave Elena's hand a squeeze that Caroline didn't miss. "Oh my God, are you two together now? Jeez, it's only been a few days and I've missed so much." "Yeah, well, we'll catch up later, Care. I'm really tired," Elena emphasized. She wanted to escape Stefan's penetrating gaze. "Okay," Caroline said a little disappointed. "See ya." "Bye, Care." Elena hesitated before adding a quiet. "Bye, Stefan." and hurrying out of the manor, dragging Damon along. "Wow that was awkward at the end," Damon remarked when they were back at Elena's. "Yeah, thanks for pointing it out," Elena retorted, brushing her hair in front of the mirror. Damon frowned. "You mad at me or something?" Elena exhaled deeply. "No." She put the brush on the drawer and faced him. "Rather at myself for letting Stefan get to me." Damon predicted "He won't just drop it and give you up." "Yeah, he's stubborn like that." "Or like you?" "Like me?" "Back at the manor you were stubbornly protecting Caroline." "Of course I was. Caroline's my friend and in contrast to Bonnie it doesn't matter to me what she is. I've been around vampires for a long time. I got used to them." "Rather grew attached to them," Damon corrected grinning and caused Elena to chuckle. She walked over to him who was sitting on her bed, took a seat on his lap and put her arms around his neck. "You might be right about that," she said and kissed him longingly. But when she pulled away she frowned. "Why did you want to kill Caroline?" "She's new to this and honestly I don't think she'll manage to control herself," he answered truthfully. "So killing her was the easy choice." "Pretty much, yeah." "Hmm," she said, got up and faced him with a stern look and her arms crossed. "And choosing to be with me instead of forever mourning over Katherine, was that the easy choice, too?" she prompted. "What? Where's this coming from?" "Just some unresolved issues," she mumbled under her breath, biting her lower lip nervously. "What unresolved issues? Talk to me, Elena!" he demanded. "It's just something I've been thinking about," she began. "What am I to you, Damon? Or rather who am I to you? Cause I won't be your rebound girl for Katherine," she clarified. "You're not. You're not Katherine," Damon said calmly. "Yeah? Then tell me. How am I not Katherine? I'm her doppelganger," she reminded him. Damon sighed and nodded knowingly. "Stefan never told you these things, did he?" "Told me what?" "The things you need to here," he answered. "Look, you may look a little like Katherine." She gave him a look. "Okay, you look a hell lot like her but you're not her," he emphasized. "And I'm glad you're not. Come here," he suddenly said and waved her over. She hesitantly sat back on his lap. He encircled her with his arms and held her gaze. "You're totally different from Katherine. You wanna know how? Yeah?" She nodded. "You, Elena, are the kindest person I've ever come across. You really let Mother Teresa look small." Elena chuckled at that. "Really. You befriend monsters like me. You always see the good in someone and manage to bring it to the surface. You forgive people even if they did the unforgivable. And you are incredibly brave for your age, I might add. Remember when we went hunting vampires together? Or the little Katherine stunt you pulled? Not every girl would do that but you did. Because you don't care about yourself as much as about anyone else. Other people always come first. You're everything Katherine was not. And Katherine was everything you are not. Selfish, manipulative, indifferent... And you look different, too," he continued, letting his index finger trace the cheek and her jaw line to her delicate neck. "You style your hair differently. You don't wear much makeup and..." His finger came to a halt at a certain point on her neck. "You this little mole right here. This is something I have never seen on Katherine or Isobel for that matter but on Jeremy. So I guess it derivates from your Gilbert line of family." He placed his lips on the spot on her skin and kissed it softly. The gently touch caused Elena to sigh. He lifted his gaze to meet hers again. "I know you hate John's guts but now you might be the time to start appreciating your Gilbert heritage," he suggested. Elena gave him a wide smile. "And just so you know," he concluded. "Choosing you was the hard choice because I know my brother is quite devastated about losing you but I think it was the right choice. I don't regret it for a second." "Me neither," she told him. "Thank you, Damon. I really needed to hear this." "Anytime, sunshine." The smile on her lips grew wider, bewildering Damon. "What? No shove against the shoulder? I thought you hate this pet name?" "It actually sounds nice when you say it," she admitted to him sheepishly. "Oh, really? In that case you'll be hearing it a lot more often, my beaming beauty," he said and skillfully caught her hand before she could execute the move he had anticipated all along. "Oh, I take that back. Still a little touchy on that, aren't we?" He grinned. "There's no need to overly emphasize it," she muttered. "Point taken. Can we do something less broody now?" he asked. "Like...?" "Like this," he said and started tickling her everywhere. Elena squealed as she tried to stop him. Then she shoved him with his back on the bed. She was hovering above him now, grinning superiorly down at him. Damon smirked. "I like where this is going." "Sorry, that's all you'll get for now," she replied and got off of her frustrated boyfriend. "Elena, that's not fair," he whined. "Sorry, but I've got homework to do," she told him shrugging. Damon stared at her in disbelief for a moment then groaned in frustration and lay back down. "You're such a tease..." _________________________________________________________________________________ Ich musste Caroline einfach zum Vampir machen. Seit sie es in der Serie ist, ist sie eine meiner Lieblingscharaktere. Als Vampir ist sie richtig cool! Bevor ihr jetzt denkt Damon = Warmduscher Oo Ich brauchte nur einen Grund um ihn zu seinem ursprünglichen Zuhause zu schicken, damit er das mit Caroline erfährt. Damon ist ganz sicher kein Softy, der auf warmes Wasser besteht. Ich glaub sogar, er duscht lieber eiskalt ;) Wie hat euch Damons kleine Rede gefallen? Ich fand, dass Thema musste unbedingt noch geklärt werden. Übrigens steht jetzt ein paar glücklichen Delena Kapiteln nichts im Wege. Caroline wird sich im Griff haben. Nur Stefan könnte zum Problem werden... Apropos Stefan. Ich werd ihn in dieser FF nicht mit Caroline zusammenkommen lassen. Ich weiß einige fanden das ganz süß in der Serie. Aber ich bin kein großer Fan von AU Pärchen. Mal abgesehen von Delena und neuerdings auch noch ein anderes. Dreimal dürft ihr raten wer XD So, ich wünsch euch allen einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr! Mögen all eure Wünsche sich erfüllen und eure guten Vorsätze eingehalten werden. Bei mir wirds wahrscheinlich nicht klappen ;) Bis dann, eure Asu Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)