Song I listened to for this chapter: Christmas Nights in Blue by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Walking down the street in New York, Damon has his head down. It’s snowing, heavily, with the lights from the different Christmas decorations on the townhomes around him twinkling. The lights are playing on the snow falling as well as the ice and snow on the ground. The sight is one that would make any viewer think of Christmas Cards or just thoughts of the season that is upon them in New York.
None of this is imposing on Damon’s thoughts, as he makes his way to the old Bar on the corner. He just wants to lose himself in drink again, forget the mistakes he has made.
He ignores those who watch him walk by, the man a visibly broken shadow of his past self. Too many regrets have come and gone, until all there is left is the shell of a man who has given up, but something prevents him from taking that last step.
If you asked Damon himself, he would say punishment is the reason he doesn’t take off his ring in the middle of the afternoon on a sunny day. No matter how many times he has attempted to do it. However, if you asked others who had known of what happened, they will tell you there is just a little amount of hope that they are have for a happy ending is what preventing Damon from ending his life?
See, Damon lost everything. Moreover, he did it not by his hand, but that is exactly what he has been made to think. There are forces at work that he has no control over. Since the man refuses to believe others have that sort of power over him, he believes that only he could have been the one to make the mistakes.
Occasionally, it is acceptable to blame others. Especially when they are the ones who made the mistakes. For this story, we will only deal with Damon. He is the one needing to build his bridges again, or make stairs if he hits a wall.
Going back to the dark haired man, we find him opening the door to the bar he has been frequenting. Damon walks into the dark bar, moving to his spot, by the tree that all the lights but the blue ones are out. He ignores it as he has since they put it up; just raising his finger and the bar tender brings his drink. Knowing Damon’s habits, he has the second one ready after Damon tosses the first back quickly.
‘Same ole as every time.’
Damon dismisses the man, never knowing they had the same thought.
Damon stares down into the brown depths of his drink. When his mind sees eyes that match the brown and he growls slightly to himself as he takes a drink. He just can’t seem to get rid of the thoughts of the woman who has driven him to this point. But then love doesn’t easily relinquish those in it’s grasp.
Then to his amazement, a song breaks through his concentration. Sometimes Tom, the bartender, has local bands come in. Nevertheless, this time it was an older man playing on the piano, the melody from the keys one of Christmas. Damon is surprised that Tom had someone coming to play Christmas carols. But then, it is the season, he thinks to himself sardonically.
Taking another drink, Damon just relaxes, listening to the music. His mind listening to the melodies, causing him to remember the last Christmas he was happy.
(Flashback)
It had been over a couple years to think about it. He had been in the Boarding House, sitting on the floor with his brown haired beauty in his arms, laughing at the stories Stefan was sharing about Christmases in the past.
She had turned to look up at him, her brown eyes shining with happiness and love as she raises an eyebrow up at him, “Really? You. Mr. Grinch himself, dressed up as Santa for the kids?”
He rolls his eyes at her and giving a lopsided grin down at his love, “I felt sorry for them. I may have hated everyone at that time, but the War was going on, and most of them had been just been orphaned. Can you really say no to a bunch of pleading children eyes?” He will never admit to his loving side in front of all these people.
She just laughs at him.
The rest of the group is all scattered around, watching the two of them with grins on their faces. None of them had thought the two of them would be right for each other, but there was no way of denying how Bella had managed to get Damon to fall for her. He is devoted to her in a way he had never been to Elena.
Damon sighs into his glass remembering their first meeting. He basically fell for her that moment in time, but denied it for a long time. The look on her face when he looked into her eyes was it.
Taking another drink, he thinks back to that time.
(Flashback)
Bella had been a complete surprise. She had been on the run, and had literally run into Damon when she had come into the Grill. He had caught her as she had bounced off him.
She had looked behind her as he steadied her, and she asked him, “Thanks, but it would be better for you to let me go.”
Damon had raised his eyebrows, and asked her, “Why is that?”
She looked back at him, her eyes reluctantly moving away from the door. She met his ice blue eyes, and just stared for a second. Then she shook her head minutely, and told him, “I have someone chasing me. I am not good for anything but a body anyways. Just believe me when I tell you that you are better off letting go of me.”
He just smirked, but when he would have quipped back at her, she twisted herself out of his arms, and was off through the bar.
Blinking in shock, Damon turned to follow her. He is more surprised on how fast she moved. He barely caught the tips of her hair as it made its way out the back door.
Damon had been curious. He had tried to follow her, and instead had found only ghosts of the scent he had been enjoying when she had been in his arms.
It wouldn’t be until later that he found out that she had been running from a Cold One. Moreover, to his shock, as well as the others, it was Kol Mikaelson who rescued her already once.
He had in fact turned her, with Klaus helping him. They had left her for a day to grab stuff to bring her to Mystic Falls, but the Cold One had found them. She had almost had Bella, and instead Bella had gotten away only by the skin of her teeth. She had been running since then, only remembering that the brothers had planned to bring her to Mystic Falls. What they hadn’t told her was which one. Would you believe there is one in Nevada? Therefore, she had worked her way here, running from her past literally. She had learned how to feed, and compel others to make sure they didn’t remember her on her own.
The gang had been shocked to find that she had been less than a day old in her new life when she had started to run away.
Stefan is the one who had found her, and when she was mumbling about Kol, he took a chance and called the Original.
They had not parted on good terms, but they had parted all alive. Well, except Finn. Then, he had tried to kill them all, and they had found out that if any Original died, his line did. That had made a cease fire, that all honored. Rebekah had tried to kill Elena, but she instead had been daggered and put back to rest. Kol had been close to it, but when he went to Denver, he had come across the almost dead Bella and decided that there was just something about her. He had tried to heal her, calling his brothers to him.
Klaus had been the only one who answered.
When he arrived, he too was enthralled by the small woman who was fighting for her very life. With the information that Kol had given her so much blood that he could smell him clearly on the woman, and she was still in a bad way, Klaus had made a decision to make her a hybrid, he wanted her to always be able to fight for herself. Only there was a problem.
After a long fight, she woke and they had helped her transfer over with the help of a helpful for once witch. They had bargained for some of Elena’s blood, and Bella had come through all the way. However, she was not a Hybrid, no instead she is a Mikaelson now.
Klaus had been the one who came for her, and he had crouched over her snarling when Kol had followed him into the alley. Kol took one look at everything, then sniffed. He growled out to Klaus, “The bitch was here!”
Klaus looks up at his brother, and Kol took Bella from him. He carefully held her, taking note of the injuries. Klaus turned to Stefan, demanded from him an answer, “How did you find her?!?!”
Stefan had smirked and told him. “She has Damon searching for her. I just happened to find her before he did. She literally ran into him, and managed to pique his curiosity.”
With a savage growl, Klaus turned back to Kol, “Well?”
Looking up at him, Kol shook his head. “There is more than an attack here at work. She is healing, but underneath the damage, it looks like she was failing, dying.”
With a growl, Klaus turned on Stefan. “Gather the gang at your place. I will bring them and we will explain. We may need some more blood from Elena to heal her. I don’t know. But my new sister will not die!”
And with that, the two Originals are gone, leaving a mystified Stefan.
It had come to be a shock to everyone, when Bella refused to tell them why she was unhealthy. Elena felt for the fellow brunette, and freely offered her blood to the other to help. Damon on the other hand had sat in a chair, and with his hands held against each other, and the tips of his fingers meeting at his lips, he watched.
He felt a pull to the woman, but what he couldn’t understand was the frantic movements of Kol. Klaus was bad, but Kol was worse. He wondered if Kol was in love with the tiny woman.
What they had been told was that Kol shared his abilities with the woman. She is, for all intents, his sister. His twin if you wanted to truthful. It had taken a witch, when she was starting to die even with Klaus changing her. The helpful witch had appeared, and with their permission, she did a spell that made the woman an Original. Kol’s twin sister Original.
And she is slightly tied to Klaus from his trying to give her his Hybrid status. She is sturdier than Kol from it, but not a full Hybrid. The major thing is she is already immune to a werewolves bite.
So Kol was frantic over the sister he had always wanted, the loving caring version. Klaus had been surprised by the love he felt for this little woman, again, as a sister. When she had been missing, the two men had hunted for the two of them. One, the red head, to kill. The other to save.
After that, Damon and Bella had gotten closer, and eventually Kol and Klaus had to give into the love from the two.
This had made the Originals and the group found common grounds. This Christmas it had Elijah, who had come quickly to love the new sibling, Klaus with Caroline, Kol by himself, but doting on his sister as she teases Damon.
Another song floats through his mind, and Damon brings himself out of the memory. The blessed memory he keeps trying to drown out of his head with alcohol.
His attention caught by the song, an old one that he has not heard since he was a child. He looks up at the old man, and he raises an eyebrow as the man winks at him as he plays.
Damon sighs, and taking another drink, he tries, as he has done so many times before, to find where he went wrong. He had to have done something to land himself here. So far from friends, and family. So far from the one, he loves more than anything.
All of a sudden, a tall blond man sits down beside him. Damon looks at him, not recognizing him at all. The man has a blue sweater on, over some light grey slacks. He has a scruff on his face, and his voice has an accent Damon cannot place as he puts in an order for a bourbon.
The man turns and looking into the light blue eyes of Damon, he smirks. His own brighter blue eyes sparkle as he holds his hand out to him, “Eric.”
Taking the hand, Damon returns, “Damon.”
Eric turns slightly, and nodding his thanks to the bartender as he places his drink before him. He soon is taking a drink, looking over the bar. He then looks at Damon, “So what brings you here?”
A wry chuckle makes its way out of Damon’s mouth. He shakes his head minutely, “The usual.”
“Ah.”
Putting his drink down, Eric summarizes, “Woman issues. Or family, or you might be the lucky drawer of the winning of having both. Which would it be in this circumstance?”
“All the above.”
A look, Eric nods one side of his head. “Sounds very familiar.”
At the look from his companion, Eric expands on his comment, “I came here looking for someone. My own female. We often find ourselves dropped in odd places. I for one, get tired of being dropped off without a concern of how we find ourselves.”
Damon smirks, “Sounds like it happens often.”
Right before he takes another drink, Eric mutters, “Too often for my liking.” He takes the drink, and then asks, “So what about you? I’m waiting for a call, and wanted a drink. Are you waiting?”
Playing with his glass, Damon slowly shakes his head. “Nope.”
Putting down his drink, Eric turns his head. “Then why are you here?”
“Trying to forget.”
Snorting, Eric asks him, “And how is that coming?
“Abysmal if you really want to know.” Damon takes another drink, and signals for another one. “I am screwed no matter what. If I want to forget her, I think more on her. If I want to know what I did wrong, I see nothing wrong. No matter what I do, nothing works but me being miserable.”
Looking at the man, Eric feels for him. “Have you tried asking her or them what went wrong?”
“No.”
Eyebrow raised, “Then how do you know you did something wrong?”
Rolling his eyes, Damon answers him, “I normally do it. I am cursed to mess up things that are perfect. I thought I managed to get past it, but well, here I am.”
Nodding his head, Eric thinks through the comments said and unsaid. “So basically, you normally mess up something, so this is your fault automatically?”
The dark haired one snorts. “It fits the situation perfectly.”
The blonde-haired person shakes his head and glances up as he mutters, “I see your problems now.” Then he clears his throat, “I have found in my dealings with the other sex that it helps to talk. I have thought I have done things, to find out it is not my fault.”
Damon just chuckles. “Oh I did it. Just not sure what. I just had her twin brother and the rest of the family mad at me. I was chased out of the town we lived in by them. Moreover, my own family helped them. Every time I called, it never was answered. So I am not sure how more plain it can be that it was my fault.” He tosses back the little left in his glass and signals for another one.
Watching him, Eric is reminded of all the times he has seen himself at this point. He wonders how his angel ever put up with him, but then he remembers how she had showed the two of them all the missteps they had taken in the different ways you can in the universe. So he thinks of what he can do to help fix this mess.
“When was the last time you tried?”
Turning his head, Damon asks, “What does it matter to you?”
Sighing, Eric tells him bluntly, “It matters. No one should be sitting on Christmas Eve in a bar drinking away memories. I have made mistakes, and it has taken another person talking to me, even when I didn’t want to listen, to make me see reason.” He rubs his pointer finger along his eyebrow and asks, “What would it hurt if you would to call? You may be shocked.”
Damon stares out the window to the outside, where the snow is coming down like pure salvation. He remembers when Bella dragged him out to play in the falling snow, excited more than anyone he had ever known at the prospect of playing in the snow with him did. From there, he remembers so many other times, and the words of the man beside him as well as the music from the old man combine to make him think.
He pulls out his cell phone, and turning it on, he takes a deep breathe. Then he presses send, calling the last number he has once called a couple times a day just to hear her voice.
It rings a couple of times, then a breathless voice answers, “Damon?”
He is shocked, and couldn’t make a sound, until she said his name again, and he breathes a revenant “Bella.”
Smiling to himself, Eric nods as he finishes his drink.
A year later, they are seated in the Boarding House, with Damon playing with his Bella’s fingers, kissing the ring he had placed there the month before. He had just finished telling the story yet again.
Kol is shaking his head, “So you never saw where the guy went?”
Not looking up at his brother in law, “Nope. He was there, and was gone the next minute. I sure wish I could see him again, to thank him for the help.”
Klaus is sprawled out, his head in Caroline’s lap, “I just wish we could find that red headed bitch. She and that family have made our lives miserable for the last time. I am hunting them, and have killed a fair few, enough to gain the attention of their so-called royal family. After the New Year, if they are not here, then it will be hunting season. No one messes with the Mickaelsons.” He is growling the last out.
Damon shrugs. “I’m just happy that you found out the truth.”
The group grins, with Stefan telling him, “Well if you had not turned the phone off, you would have heard much sooner.”
The dark haired vampire just rolls his eyes, as he looks adoringly on his wife. “Well, it all came to a good end.”
Bella grins at her husband, “Fitting for a carol even!”
The rest of the group groans, throwing pillows at them.
Outside a tall blonde covers his mate in his wings, kissing on her neck he tells her, “Another mission finished. And they are back together.”
The blonde female in his arms snuggles back into his arms. “Who knew this was so difficult? However, well worth it. It is time to go back.”
He chuckles, and holding her close, he tells her, “Just wait until we are home, my lover. I have many things I wish to do to you…”
With that said, the two of them fade out, no marks in the snow where they were just standing. The wind blows snow where they were, and the scene inside could be from a Christmas card, a family laughing and loving.
Final count: 3,455
The reason this one was so late, was that MistressJessica’s Final Strand inspired this story. And since that was inspired by EricIzMine’s Multiverse, well I wanted it approved before I published it. Angela, you are missed, more than you can ever imagine, but your memory still resides in our hearts, and that is the best way to be remembered. Thanks for the memories, and I hope you are enjoying yourself in the Multiverse!
Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it.
Pre Edit Count – 8,501 Words
Song I listened to for this chapter: Drive By by Train
The sun is shining on a blue Camaro as it slithered through the roads of Virginia heading to its home in Mystic Falls. The vampire, who is driving, is tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as he listens to his radio.
The vampire looks as though he is your typical bad boy, black hair, black leather coat, over a black t-shirt with dark jeans. He is heading home after a long sabbatical from home.
He turns his head, slightly bobbing to the music, and out of the corner of his eye he sees a person. A brunette standing there on the side of the road, watching him. Then he turns his head immediately back to see if it is her.
But there is nothing there. And Damon can’t help but be in pain remembering her. The one that had, for one night, made his life seem to make sense. That had completed him. He remembers that one night, the precious, perfect night, always.
He had woken up the following morning, and not sure what to do with the picture of angelic perfection beside him, and with the memories that filled him, he had slipped out of the room that had been scented with the activities of the previous night. He had sworn that he had not been gone for more than five to ten minutes. But when he returned, she was gone.
He had spent the month following that tearing up first the hotel, then the city, then anywhere he could possibly find her.
But nothing. No trace of her.
He had finally put her out of his mind, or at least tried. But nothing did. He remembered every moment of that night, and he felt himself fall more in love with his angel, his angioletta.
So the remote idea that he had just seen her was enough for him to flip his car around on the road, and stop. He is outside the car in seconds, and he is scanning the area with his eyes, his nose raised as he tries to catch a whiff of her perfect scent.
But…nothing. He cannot help the loss he feels through his body. But he doesn’t give up. Soon he is in the forest, and a scent wafts past him, a scent that could be her own. He stands still and tries to gather all the information, basically soaking in the scent.
However, that moment passes. And he is left again with the memory of her. He closes his eyes, and stills himself, trying not to let the feeling of loss pervade him as it has many mornings.
When he feels himself settle, he leaves and heads to his car much slower than he had moved here. He is hoping for a chance, a hint of his angioletta.
But nothing, and with a more solemn attitude than hours, even minutes ago, he gets into his car. He had lost sense of time while he had searched for her. This is not the first time, nor would it be the last. He will search the world for her.
Right now, he needed to head home. The calls have gotten frantic. It is something new, to have friends and family who cared for him. So he is heading home, to tell them what has happened, and then to leave once he has settled them.
He slightly smiles, knowing they will be shocked. He had left after they had Klaus settled. He had gotten tired of being second choice, never anyone’s number one choice. So he had left and headed out for a road trip, telling the others that he will be back…eventually.
He had drifted, trying to figure out what to do with his life. Finding out that Elena chose Elijah over him, well that had been the last straw, but he could not deny the girl he thought he loved her happiness. His trip and finding his angioletta showed him that he had not loved her. He had loved the potential, the resemblance of her, the one he had given up his mortal life for, but not her, Elena the person. And Elena had deserved far better than that.
Stefan and getting him off human blood had been harder than anything in the past. He had stuck by his brother, and helped him every step of the way, even after Elena had chosen Elijah.
Caroline had forgiven him, and she had been the one who had told him that he needed to leave, to get himself together. Then she had shyly told him that she would take care of Stefan. He had been shocked at Barbie loving his brother, but he said nothing.
Klaus and Bonnie had been the shocker of Mystic Falls. Well, to be honest, no less than Rebecca and Jeremy. He had shook his head at one point and asked if it was something in the water and blood of the town. So many couples never even imagined are together.
And to admit it, Damon had been hurting. All the love in the air and none of it for him. He had felt sorry for himself, and he hated it. So he had left to spend some time losing himself in some mayhem and half naked girls.
He had gotten more tired of it than he thought he would. When that happened and he drove himself to the place he figured would help him get out of his funk.
Now, without knowing he had reached Mystic Falls, he has pulled into the Boarding House. He sighs, staring at it, still lost in his memories of that night. The one night that had changed his life.
Walking inside the house, he is greeted by Stefan appearing at his doorway to his room as he sets his bag down on his bed.
“Glad to see you home. We were worried.”
Damon nods, his hands moving quickly as he unpacks. He will wash later. He will be doing many things he normally dismisses, but he needs to keep his mind busy.
“Everyone is coming over, if that is alright with you.”
Stefan is looking over his brother, and he is…concerned. Damon is neither acting like normal, nor anything have they heard since he left has made them think he is doing well. There had been tales of him looking for something, or someone.
From what Stefan is seeing, there is something definitely on Damon’s mind.
Damon ignores his brother, telling him, “I am heading to take a shower. I will come downstairs to be social when I am done.”
Stefan watches him as he heads to his bathroom. He leaves, pulling out his phone and telling the person on the other side, “We have a problem.” He listens and answers them, “No, he is home. But there is something wrong.” He nods and tells them, “Thanks. I will be waiting.”
With that he heads downstairs with a glance back at Damon’s room.
Damon is in the shower, and slides his hand over his hair, pushing it out of his face. He had heard his brother’s half of the conversation. But he dismisses it. He knew there is something wrong, and he had spent the time searching for his Angioletta thinking through everything. He had come to the conclusion that she is what he wants.
He regrets walking out of the room, no matter how brief. He had only walked to where he could have some time and space to think, just right outside the hotel. It had only taken a few minutes for him to decide that he wanted her, to take that chance, and to run back to their room to wake her, and his heart dropping out as he found her gone. Her clothes, her body, everything that had been hers had been gone.
But he had felt hope when he didn’t find one item. And no where he searched, did he find it. It being so unique, he had others looking for it and it had not appeared anywhere at all. It gave him hope as eternal as the shape of it as long as he doesn’t find it.
He sighs, then reaches out to turn off the water and grabs the towel hanging on the wall. He dried himself and then wrapping the towel around his waist, he heads back to his room to grab his clothes. He only pauses as he takes in the person standing there, but other than that momentary halt in his movements, nothing giving any indication he has noticed the person in his room.
Watching him, she finally asks, “Are you going to ignore me now?”
He stops, closing his eyes. Then sighs, “No Elena, I am not ignoring you. I am trying to get dressed. I have been led to believe there is an intervention being held for me downstairs.”
“Intervention?”
He nods as he grabs some clothes to put on and heads back to his bathroom since it seems that she will not leave him alone for him to dress.
Elena lifts an eyebrow as she noticed that he didn’t take the chance to drop his towel in front of her. “And why do you think we will be doing that?”
He snorts as he dresses, and is soon in front of her with his own lifted eyebrow. “You’re telling me that you guys hunted me down, all called me, even Klaus and Witchy, to have me come back to say hi?”
She frowns at him. “What did you expect from us, Damon? We heard rumors that you have went nuts for the last couple of months.”
He frowns, searching his memory, then his eyes narrow as he realizes he has been searching for her that long. “I have not been nuts.”
Sighing, Elena went to hug him, but he is stiff in her arms. She backs up and looks at him sadly. “You allowed hugs when we were friends.”
He looks down at her. “When I hoped for your love and reveled in each and every time you touched me. Now, it just feels wrong. Your love is given to another. I no longer want to seduce you.” It makes his skin crawl in even touching another woman that is not her.
Elena just frowns up at him. Then she blurts out, “This isn’t you! You never let the chance of flirting go by, even if it was with someone you knew wouldn’t be yours. What is going on?”
From downstairs, Elijah is listening, and then suggests to the two upstairs, “Why don’t you come down here and talk. Not all of us are vampires.”
Damon just lifts an eyebrow, and he leaves her to go downstairs. Elena is just shocked, and soon follows him.
Downstairs, Damon is at the bar, getting himself a drink. He needs something to get through their well intentions. Then he can be gone and go back to the side of the road to see if he can find anymore hints. He is already upset he didn’t think to check for foot prints.
Klaus is sitting there, Bonnie on his lap as he watches Damon. He is not fond of the vampire, but even he had worried when he received reports from around the country that Damon had been searching for someone. If Damon really wanted to find this person, well, Klaus will help, once they find out why.
Klaus had been the one that told the rest about the odd behaviors that had been reported to him. Damon not flirting, Damon being intense in a new way. Even he had been shocked with the reports that the man he had researched intently as one of the protectors of the current doppelganger is acting completely contrary to what is normal. But it did remind him of some of the reports, whenever he would be chasing rumors of Katherine.
Then had come the information from one of his sources that had blown him away.
That had finally gotten the rest to call Damon home to get to the bottom of everything. That news had made them all shocked, and when he proved it to them, they had finally agreed something was wrong. Until then, they all thought it was him blowing off steam, acknowledging that there was something to the need to do it.
Damon not drinking from humans at all is not his typical behavior. There had been rumors of his drinking animal blood, that is what made them call for him.
Damon ignores them all, staring out the window, then sighs. “Well, let’s get this over with. I have things to do, people to see, places to be.”
Stefan lifts an eyebrow, “People? Which people?”
Damon looks over to him, and he lifts an eyebrow. “Of all my words, why do you pick that one word out? What do you think brother, dear? Why are you all here?” He suspects the reasoning, but he wants them to say it. To see which of the outlandish rumors they believe.
The rest of them look at each other, then Elijah from where he is leaning against the bookshelf with Elena in his arms, looks at him, and then admits, “We have heard rumors. Then we found proof of this rumor being confirmed. Do you want to talk to us?”
Damon snorts as he tosses his drink back, then gets ready to pour another. “Not really.”
Caroline tilts her head. “Not really as in you don’t want to talk to us, or not really in what we found? Aren’t you curious?”
Smirking, Damon pours himself his scotch, tells her, “Let me guess. Klaus here heard some rumors of me looking for someone. So who knows?” Here he shrugs, “He got curious. Or got more reports then got curious. Either way, he looked into it. Then he was curious, thinking this is not normal behavior. But then, what did you think happened to me? I was bewitched?”
He looks at them, as he shakes his head. “Either way, Witchy here can tell you I am not bewitched. With that eliminated, you guys can stop worrying about me. It isn’t like you really care.”
And with that statement, he caught something out of the corner of his eye, and he turns, and meets her eyes for a second, then the glass is shattered on the floor as he is gone, out the door the next second.
Klaus has his mouth open in shock and he finally asks, “What the hell was that?”
Elena had happened to be staring out the window when Damon had looked and she is pale as she whispers, “Him confirming the rumors.”
Bonnie just can’t help it, she asks, “But why? And more importantly…Who?”
Damon is out chasing after the woman of his dreams, his Angioletta. He calls out, “Bella, wait!”
In front of him, in the forest, a small woman stops. Not turning her head, she finally asks him, “Why?”
He stops just inches away from her and takes a deep breath, taking in her scent, noting the differences, but more importantly, savoring the scent. But he quickly answers her, “Why what?”
Biting her lower lip, she asks, “Why did you leave?” Her head is slightly lowered, waiting on the answer.
He is still staring at her, shocked that after all the searching, all the times he had dreamed of this moment, it is here in front of him. But he doesn’t want her to leave him, so he answers her quickly. “I was overwhelmed. I was frankly scared as hell. I didn’t know what to do, because for the first time in my long life, I finally fell in love. Other times were just a hint. So, I had to step away. I needed that time to think. But when I came back, after quickly deciding I wanted this, I wanted you, you were gone.” And for that moment, he feels the pain of that moment all over again.
She says nothing, and Damon tells her the rest. “I searched for you. Minutes, hours, days, weeks. Months. Spent doing nothing but looking for you. I followed all the clues I could find. I went to West LA on a rumor. New York on a whisper. I even went to Santa Fe on a hunch. Nothing. Then when I give in to all the calls to come home I see more hints of you than ever before. And now, you are here. In front of me.” He moves closer to her, needing the distance to be gone.
Bella has a tear in her eye. But still, says nothing.
His heart tearing in his chest, Damon takes a chance and puts his left hand on her shoulder. “Bella, my Angioletta, please. Talk to me? Tell me what you want, and I will do it. I will give you whatever you need to never leave me again. But let me hear your lovely voice tell me this.”
She can’t help the sob. Then his hand slid down her arm, and he turns her to him, and he brings her close to him. She allows it, not able to fight the need to be with the man who had stolen her breath away in a night. She curls into his body, as if needing the warmth of his body as she gives in to the pain that had her chasing down this man.
He rests his head on hers, breathing a sigh of relief that she is allowing this, and tells her, “Shhh. There is no reason to cry. Tell me what is hurting you, so I can fix it. Just… please, Bella.” He hurts that she is crying, and he cannot tell the reason, nor if it is in pain, sorrow, or maybe…just maybe relief and joy?
She is soon sobbing harder in his arms, and he holds her. Content if this is all she will allow.
Finally, she looks up at him, and he wipes her tears away. Staring into his eyes, she tells him, “I woke up in your arms, and couldn’t believe that you would actually stay with me. Nobody ever seems to want that. So I wanted to stay still, to just stay in the moment. But it ended as I figured it would. You woke up. I stayed still, not wanting to end it. And you stayed there, just long enough for me to hope, then the next second, you were gone. You had only pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt, but…my heart had felt crushed in that second. So I grabbed my things and slipped out.”
His arms tighten around her. “I swear I came back.” His voice is hoarse, but the honesty is plain on his face.
She nods, “I saw. But I was scared. And I wasn’t sure why you came back. So I ran.” She lowers her head at the last part, ashamed of how she reacted.
He closes his eyes. “I searched for you. I wanted you. I still want you.” He is laying it out for her, something he normally wouldn’t do, but he truly wants and needs her.
She looks up at him, and her left hand travels down his arm to his hand, and she touches the ring that matches her own. “I saw you once. I followed. And I saw this. It gave me hope. I decided that I needed to be what you needed, so I went away for awhile, but I came here to find you. I was a little shocked when I saw you driving here, and panicked. But I finally came to the place you listed as home.” She is biting her lower lip, nervous. She is putting herself out there, but…
His hand grips hers. “I’m glad I put the address down then.” Then he leans back to look her in the eyes and tells her, “I want this. I want everything that we promised to each other that night. I want to live up to those promises, and show you what love is. Will you allow me that?” His eyebrow lifts in his typical move.
She looks at him, and her eyes tear up, “I want that. But, Damon, that night, I fell. I don’t know what happened, but I woke up in the morgue. I…attacked some woman for her blood. I am not what I was.” Her voice shakes, scared. She is not a vampire like she knows of, so she is unsure if something messed up with her as it normally does.
He pulls her closer as he holds her he apologizes over and over again. “I should have been there for you. I am so sorry, my angioletta. I thought I dreamed of giving you my blood, but while it may sound selfish, I am so glad I did so. But I should have been there, guiding you, teaching you.” He regrets his leaving her even more, and he thought there was no way he could do that, but hearing and knowing what she had to go through, never knowing anything about it.
He remembers a slight memory of a crowd of people around the stairwell, but had thought it had been a suicide. He had been wrapped up in looking for Bella, that he had not given it a second thought. But he wondered why no one had called him. Or if it was the normal, oops we made a mistake and hide it under a rug, thing that happens.
She looks up at him, “You know what happened to me?”
He nods. Cupping her face he explains, his ice blue eyes intent on hers, “I am a vampire. I am so glad you never took off the ring I gave you, because you would have burned in the sun. The ring I gave you is the mate to my own. I have carried it for a long time. The way you turn into a vampire, is when you die with a vampire’s blood in you. Then when you wake, you have 24 hours to finish the change, by ingesting human blood.” And he is never happier that she did complete the change. He would have had a hard time killing her to make her like him, but that is not needed at this time. If she accepts him, this will be forever.
She looks at him, “I have eaten normal food, and it was just a shock to find that I need human blood. I finally went to a hospital and stole some blood bags, and I was thrilled when that worked.” She gave a wry grin, remembering how nervous she had been until it had worked, and then spent a little bit wondering why the vampires she knew didn’t do the same.
He caresses her jaw and tells her again, “I am so sorry, anima mia.” The pain of knowing the woman he loves had gone through all that on her own, knowing he is her sire, is a truly new torment.
Bella snorts at him. “Why? From what I am gathering, I am the one who ran away. You looked for me, and I hid.”
He smiles, one side of his lips lifting up further than the other side. “My Bella. There she is, the woman I had met at the bar that night. The woman I then spent so much time with before we decided that getting married was a great idea.”
She just laughs, “You suggested it, told me that you have never found a more perfect person to enter into that institution with than me. Why wait, when you already knew perfection, had a ring and was in the city that could do it right away. What female could resist that?”
He gives her a wry grin of his own, “And it was all true. But I have been alive for over 150 years, and never gave thought of being married. Is it any wonder why, when I woke up and realized what I had done, I needed a moment to think? I was set to be the eternal stud, the party boy.” He then cups her face in his hands as his blue eyes grow intense as he tells her, “None of it mattered, I knew after I met you, that you were it. There was no mystical connection, but there was a very real physical one that we only touched on sating that night, and a feeling of finding the person who I could be content with. I want you, need you. My searching for you was a compulsion.”
She laughs. “At least we know there is nothing magical, since you would have found me long ago. But you know what? I had someone swear that I was theirs, and they left me in a forest, lying on the floor. I rather have this with you, than whatever that was. This feels right.”
Damon smiles down to her, “So we are going to do this? Until the final death do we part? Because, I truly want to do this with you.” And he holds his breath waiting on the answer that will define what is to happen. One way or the other, he will have this woman by his side. But if she wants to be wooed, he will do that. Whatever she wishes, he will grant except leaving her alone. He doesn’t think his heart will stand that.
When she nods giving him his heart’s desire, in seconds his mouth is slanted over hers, giving into his need for his wife. The woman he had given his heart to, and is thrilled that she is now here, agreeing to be his wife.
She opens her mouth to his, needing more, and he groans upon tasting her. His mouth is quick to dominate hers, and his tongue is soon mapping out the last mouth he will ever be kissing. His hands are wrapped around her shoulders, holding her to him. One slowly slides up, cupping the back of her neck, as both revel in the fact that neither need to breathe.
Damon finally lets her mouth free, as he kisses her jaw, loving the noises that she is making as he finally gives into his need for her. This is what he wants, this passion he had found quickly that night. One that matches his own.
Her head leans back allowing him access to her neck, her hand holding his head to her. And then she giggles as he places some very wet kisses on it, looking up at him when he tickles her too much.
Damon is staring down at her with a smile, and tells her, “Mine. And I am yours. I will mess up, I will make you mad. I will do a lot, and while some of it I will be sorry for doing, a lot of it will be me being sorry for hurting you. I am a bad man, but I am yours.”
Her smile gets bigger and she leans forward, “Damn right you are. And you better make it up to me. Cause living with me mad at you will not be fun, but I promise not to run to far away if I get too angry, and I will always come back to you.”
He lifts an eyebrow to her, “Within a week, let’s just say? I won’t deny I will probably make you leave just to get away from my fuckery, but I don’t think I can stand to be that far from you again. I will come begging at your feet for my mistakes and you to forgive me, but never run away to the point I cannot find you, my angioletta. It will drive me insane.” He watches her eyes, so that she can tell he is being honest.
Bella just shakes her head at him. “How messed up are we, that we are promising each other this, when we just met again?”
He smirks, “Realistic. I will be the romantic and loving man for you, but I know myself. I spent a long time thinking only of myself, and I am not sure that I can make the change overnight. I will try, but I will need your patience. I also don’t expect you to be a saint and put up with my shit. You have every right to be angry with me, if I fuck shit up. But as long as we can talk, we can make this work.” He truly believes that, knowing on his end he will do almost anything to keep this woman. The only things he will not do is give up on them.
She is still smiling, but she sighs. “Ok.”
He kisses her again, supporting her when her knees weaken, and he grins down at her. Wanting nothing but to take her to his home, and proceed to worship her from head to toe. Again.
Then his smile fades as he remembers what is waiting for them at his home. “Dammit.”
Bella looks up at him, her brown eyes searching his, trying to find out what is wrong.
He sighs, then bringing her into a hug; he uses her scent to calm himself. “Seems that my searching for you threw some switches and people took it upon themselves to have an intervention.”
She frowns, “All the people back there in that house?”
He nods. “My searching for you is not normal, so they called me back thinking there is something wrong. I came back since I searched everywhere I could for you, and thought a day at home, get them to stop calling me, and get some fresh clothes before I went back out looking for you would be best. I never dreamed that it would give you back to me.”
She chuckles, and asks, “So what do you want to do?”
He sighs, “Go back. Get them out of our house, and then we can renew our vows and reenact that night.” That is what he wants right this second. He wants to show her his love for her, many times and as often as possible. Physically, emotionally, everything. She owns him right now.
Laughing, Bella asks him, “Is that all you think of?”
He looks down at her, as they stand there together, “It was one of the best nights I ever had. So yes, it repeats often. In fact, I want to add to the memory, and as many times as possible. Is this going to be a problem?” He teases her.
She shakes her head, and with a last hug, he sets himself, turning back to the house, offering her his arm.
Looking up at him, as they walk back, “If you really don’t want to do this, why are you?”
He thinks as they walk, and finally tells her, “Because they do care. I am not such a dick that I don’t feel anything. But this town has a lot of unpleasant memories for me.” To say the least.
She nods, “I searched what I could of you, and knowing what I do now, you were either born here, or came here right afterwards. I read a lot, finding a lot of similarities to what I had thought was an ancestor of yours.”
He nods, then decides to let her know some of his past. Who better than his wife? “I was born in Italy, but Stefan was born here. We moved after the plantation needed us here. My father’s older brother was set to inherit the lands in Italy, and the lands here had been given as a thank you to the family. My father wanted to be in control of his family and life, and hated how much his brother liked me. So he left, bringing us all here. The journey weakened our mother, and when Stefan was born, she ended up losing her life.” He hated that, he truly loved his mother, she had been the one that supported him. But she had asked him to love his brother, and so he had.
By the time he finished, they were within sight of the boarding house. She asks, “So where is the house? This cannot have been it.”
He grins down at her, “It is a shell, one I think I will rebuild with you. Stefan enjoys the boarding house, so it will work out better.” As he says the idea, he is embracing it. He longs for a home, and this will settle it. The other house is a shrine to a memory only he has of a man who loved him as a father should have.
She just raises an eyebrow, “Just rebuild it like that?”
Looking up and narrowing his eyes at the people still in the house, “Yep. You didn’t think I spent all my time partying, did you?”
She couldn’t answer, since they arrived at the house, but she gives him a look telling him this was far from over. He grins, and kisses her forehead as he guides her through the door he opened for her. “Later, I promise.”
And with that they are soon under the firing squad.
After a couple of hours of being questioned by the group, Bella understood Damon’s reluctance in dealing with them. But even she could see the shock as he introduces her as Isabella Salvatore. Stefan’s eyes had dropped to her left hand, still wrapped around Damon’s arm, and his eyes widened, knowing of the ring.
Then had come the fast and furious questions, often thrown without regard if they had answered the last one. Finally, after standing there and allowing them to do that for a little bit, Damon growled at them to tell them enough.
“I had quickly found my normal ways of dealing with stuff left me bored as hell. So I took off towards Vegas, knowing it was one of those places I could lose myself for awhile. Instead, the very first night I was there, I met this wonderful woman, and the rest is now history.”
Klaus is the one who put the clues together. “You were searching for…your wife?”
Damon’s eyes flash, but he nods.
Bella is the one who explains to the group, hoping that they will allow this to end. “He stepped out of the room, and I ran away. As I ran away, I fell down the stairs and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the morgue and bit a human. I had no idea of your type of vampire, and just thought I fucked up as I have been known to do. So I went away to get control as I was told that I needed to do as a newborn, shockingly, I found I had much better control, and I spent the time deciding what I wanted. Then I came to find him, using the address he had supplied on our Wedding License.” Nothing more, nothing less.
Elena looks at the woman across from her, telling her, “If you don’t want to be married, we can take care of it.”
Damon’s growl rings out, as he pulls her closer, that the people in the room had anticipated, but her own growl ringing out with his was not even thought of happening.
They had thought this woman needed saving from Damon, all of them having been used by him in some way in the past, and they can all attest to the fact that a lot of them did it willingly. So they were prepared for this to be the same situation.
Bella shakes her head, and announces, “If anyone tries to separate us, or annul our marriage, it won’t matter. What you are doing is messing with pieces of paper. And what we have is going to last longer than the paper they are written on. I may have not known how long I agreed to, but I have no intent in not honoring my vows to my husband.”
With that Damon pulls her around and puts his arms around her, his head on top of hers obviously showing that this is his, and he will protect her. But she is still facing the room, allowing her to fight and do what she needs to. He is supporting her.
Stefan had been quiet, but he gets up at that point. He walks over to them, and with a little bow, he introduces himself, “Stefan Salvatore, your brother-in-law. I am happy to meet you. And I am going to tell you this; I hope you have a lot of patience for him.”
She smiles, and tells him, “Glad to have met you. Now, if you guys don’t mind, Damon and I have a lot to still discuss, and he wished to be inside to do so.”
Damon looks at them all, and bluntly tells them, “Newlyweds reuniting after a long separation. If you are still here, I don’t want to hear a thing about it.” And with that, Damon swings his bride in his arms and soon has her up the stairs and into their room, a huge bang signifying that they are wanting privacy.
Elijah just shakes his head and holds his hand out for Elena. She stares at him, and asks, “We are just going to leave?”
Klaus is up and pauses by the Doppelganger, “She heard your offer, and rejected it. If she ever needs it, she knows where to find you. Other than that, it is not my practice to get in between happy newlyweds. Not unless there is seriously something wrong. Now tell me, do you think Damon is going to hurt her?”
Shocked at his implication, Elena shakes her head, “No! But that poor girl!”
Elijah cocks his head and laughs, “Actually I think she can handle Damon quite well. Time to go Elena, before even you hear things that are supposed to be private.”
With that they all leave.
Elena took a long time, as well as Bonnie to accept the changes in Damon. Watching him with Bella was a wake up call. She was jealous, that he had never let her see this side of him, but then she didn’t want to see it either. She, as always, saw what she wanted to see.
But watching them around town, as they worked on getting Bella’s name changed, started cleaning out the structure that used to be the plantation house and while they even argued in home stores on what they want, was something that finally got through her head that Bella is willing in this marriage, that she is just as much besotted with Damon, as he is with her.
Bella is slightly shy, but when she and Damon get to arguing, anyone can see she is a match for him. The argument that often comes about is that Damon wants their new home to be a home reflective of their tastes, and she cannot understand why he wouldn’t want the old structure rebuilt.
Finally one day Stefan sits her down, and tells her in detail that shocked Damon as he stood out of sight, why the old home would be too painful to rebuild. “Damon is doing something huge, he is rebuilding it when he is the one who let it fall apart on purpose. But let him make it into a home reflecting both of your tastes. If you want to see a home that is the same as it was, ask him to take you to the Salvatore lands in Italy. Those he preserved everything. But do not ask him to do that to this house. Let him have joy in a place that brought him nothing but sadness and pain.”
And that was that. Oh, not that they didn’t fight about details, but now it was friendly bickering on colors, fabric and so on.
Damon also fulfilled his promise to take his wife on every surface of the boarding house, and often teases her that when they are in their home, he will do it all over again. He thinks a month will be sufficient time.
Stefan just shook his head, while Caroline laughs at them. There had been many heavy kissing sessions that Stefan and Caroline had been involved in, that they had entered the house, and immediately backing out, hearing the unmistakable sound of Damon making sure his wife knows how much he loves every part of her body.
Amazingly, they find that Bella loves everything Damon does for her. Damon often brings her flowers from the plantation if he visits there without her. He takes her for walks, and if they come back rumpled and with leaves or twigs in their hair, they are both laughing and glowing. And Stefan just grins as he goes back to whatever book he is reading at the time, or whatever else he and Caroline are engrossed in.
The two of them are like, and unlike any conventional couple. Bella has yet to drink from another human, and Stefan had heard a very interesting conversation, it seems that since Damon met up with her again, neither has he. It seems that him not drinking from a human was that, a rumor. But it had been done so rarely, Stefan had figured that had been the cause of the rumor.
However, when Bella started to feel unwell, Damon bundled her off, and when they came back, Bella was upset, and Damon was comforting her. Stefan heard a couple, “You didn’t kill him, Angioletta. I promised you wouldn’t and I kept that promise. It will get easier, but for some reason, we need to drink from humans.” And a lot more promises of the same vein. It shocked Stefan to find out that Damon had ended up taking Bella to drink.
But there were other signs that the two of them loved each other very much. There were looks, touches and other unconscious things they did for each other, and watching the two in a kitchen was highly entertaining.
There had been repercussions on the intervention, and the main one is that Bella really didn’t like Elena. She didn’t care that Damon had been attracted to her, she brushed that off. But the suggestion that Bella was Damon’s pet, that had pissed her off to a higher degree than had been thought.
All in all, it was an interesting time while the house was built and the two learned to live with each other and with Caroline and Stefan at the same time. But none of them were more relieved than the other when the plantation home was finally finished.
Damon swings his love in his arms, carries her over the threshold, and looks down at her adoring the fact she is still here with him. The time that had passed had made him fall even more in love with her, and she him. He enjoys the times they talked after a bout of making love, or even wild sex.
They often did things, like showering and bathing together. In fact, there is not much they didn’t do with each other, and when they did separate for any length of time, well Damon always brought her something back, little things like flowers from the gardens that he wished to surprise her with after he got what her favorites are.
The other things he did was bringing her books, or just little trinkets. He never flaunted his wealth, neither of them enjoying that, but he made no secret of how wealthy they are. He had sat down with her and showed her the financials. Seems the lands in Italy had come to him, since the brother had never married nor had any children. This was the plan beforehand, but Damon’s father had not liked the lack of control he had over it.
But to take these lands, he had to also acknowledge that Damon would inherit it all. Otherwise, it would revert to his brother and heirs. That they were the same person, did not matter, all that mattered was that Giuseppe thought he had control, and he had sent Damon to be in the Confederate Army, hoping that he would die so that the favored son, Stefan, would inherit everything.
When that didn’t happen, Damon was shocked to find they had a half brother that his father had cheated on his mother with. Nothing worked to bring them together, and his own father killing both the little brother he adored as well as himself was the final nail in that coffin.
Now, Damon and Stefan are settling into a close approximation of the relationship they had before. It helped that Stefan admits that he knew he was the favorite, and did nothing to help Damon out with Giuseppe. But the death of Damon and he made it obvious if you didn’t have your brother, who did you have?
Bella had casually asked if there was a curse on their family, since it seems all the good intentions always seem to backfire with each other. The two brothers had looked at each other and thought about it.
Stefan fully welcoming Bella into the family was a huge step. He truly treated her like his older sister, glad to have Damon back and being more like the man he had admired and tried to be like when he was growing up.
The house had a definite nod to its heritage on the outside, but the inside was simple, but elegant. The two of them clashing on the details, had made a one of a kind home that felt like a true home that neither have ever had.
Damon took care of Bella, but he allowed her as much freedom as she ever wishes to have. The only part he did put a foot down was clothing. He took her shopping, and quickly showed her that it was a not a chore with him, and he was only wanting her to be comfortable. But he also loved to watch her try clothing on, so he will come. Turning each and every trip into a memorable one, made it a fast favorite way to travel, since they often would take a weekend to themselves and come back with bags of clothing and stuff for the house.
But now, the house is finished, and Damon had warned everyone to leave them alone. They were in their home, and he is going to do as he promised her earlier. He will make sure the entire house was christened. He even went so far to tell Bella, if something didn’t work, they will replace it.
She was amused, but seeing the look on his face, as he set her down, cupping her face and kisses her in the manner that he loves to make her legs weak. As she closes her eyes in bliss, he moves down her throat, kissing the necklace he gave her at their one year mark, another lapis lazuli, but so small, no one ever sees it, instead they see the intricate works of the necklace.
He looks up at her, and taking in her face, he then shreds their clothes. They can always buy more. “For now, until otherwise stated, this is all we will be wearing”
As he picks her up, and pushes her against the door, she laughs at her husband, “Can it be technically called wearing if there is nothing?” Then he takes her ability to talk away with a twist of his hips and they join in the most intimate way two beings can be.
He kisses her face, neck, upper body, everywhere his lips can reach, letting her get used to him. He had checked her before, never wanting her to be in pain, but the scent of her arousal had told him that his plans were fully supported by his little wife.
Then he pulls back, and with a look, soon is sliding in and out of silky wet, warm walls. His eyes grow dark with lust and love, as he is making love to the only woman he can never seem to get enough of.
Locking her eyes with his, she tries to move with him, and then groans at his smirk. In many ways it is heaven to have her husband, her lover to be so talented, Gods, his mouth alone can make her lose consciousness, but times like this when he wants to pleasure her, and she can’t do as she wishes and move with him, that drives her nuts.
Damon, having made sure that she knows she is at his mercy, is soon moving quicker, his pelvic bone hitting her clit, making her writhe in his arms. Spreading her legs with his arms so he can go even deeper in her, soon there is only the sound of skin slapping, and the moans and groans of two beings being pleasured. The look on his face was one of male pride, and ecstasy. But the predominate emotion? Love. Love for his wife.
This time is a fast and furious coupling, one that Damon had looked forward to since this morning, and had rushed them out of the house as soon as he could.
When the two of them cum, Bella’s orgasm driving his own as usual, they slump towards each other, breathing hard.
When he catches his breath, he smiles down at her, “Round one. We have the floor, the walls, the chairs and so many more places in this room alone.”
Bella laughs, “Damon, it’s just the foyer!”
He nuzzles her neck, nipping at it, “And your point is?”
“We will take forever if you are going to basically want to cover the entire house!”
He looks up, and smirking down at her, “That is the point, angioletta. I will have you every way possible, and once we are done, we will do it over and over and over. I told you I wanted to make new memories for this spot.” But his eyes are gentle with the love he has for her, and he is smirking at her in his favorite expression.
She cups his face, and tells him lovingly, “I love you, Damon.”
He leans in and kissing her, telling her with his lips brushing hers, “I love you too, my Bella.” And with that she pushes him, and he falls to the floor on the rug, and soon is moaning as his wife rides him, only leaning forward to capture her breasts in his mouth, watching her face the entire time.
She had told him once, that if he can bliss her out making love to her, she aims to do the same when she is in control. And sure enough, when he tugs on a nipple, she works harder to have him release them and be able to think about nothing but her taking him into her body.
Soon, Damon is fluttering his eyes, and he lays down releasing her nipples, enjoying the site of her working over him, taking her pleasure, while driving him insane. He can feel her dripping on his balls, and he only wants more and more. Sure enough as she has one hand behind her and another in front, helping her in moving on him, she brings herself to completion, and soon finds herself on her back, her lover moving in and out, his fingers moving on her clit, trying to extend her orgasms just that little bit until he releases.
She loves his face when he cums, the pure pleasure on it making it even more beautiful, knowing that she will be the only one to see it from now on, the only one to make it happen.
The two of them are grabbing the air they feel as if they need, and Damon murmurs, “Round two.”
They both laugh and Damon soon has her in a new position, and the only sound in the house is one of their lovemaking.
The years went by, Damon and Bella had moved away to the house in Italy, and then plan to travel around the world. But not until that house is christened also, Bella had just laughed at him but had willingly, happily helped him in his endeavor.
The rest of the group only laugh, and Klaus had mentioned to Elijah, that it is lucky Damon’s wife is as lusty as he is. The two males laugh, jealous inside. Damon was just honest with his wife, has been since the beginning, and they are quickly finding out that is the way to go.
Elena and Bonnie had turned as well as Jeremy. Tempers will fly, and couples would separate for a couple years, but the love that had been forged in the fires of Mystic Falls always had them coming back together.
However, for Damon and Bella, they kept that promise in the woods. Neither could go for the full week, often finding the other and apologizing. Bella had found that Damon absolutely was apologetic that he upset her, but there were times he could care less about the cause. It came down to one thing, she loves him, and he loves her. Neither of them ever doubted it, and it was what made them the couple that stayed the course no matter what.
By the end of their fist century together they knew of each other’s pasts and both found a lot of common ground in it. However, it was their similarities, and the fire inside of each that the other loves.
Damon is leaning against a tree, Bella in his arms as they watch the sunrise, a ritual they often tried to keep. Preferring the symbology of the rising, than the setting of the sun.
He has an arm wrapped around his little wife, and he is nuzzling her neck. They often drank from each other, and the scents of the two are completely mixed with the other.
“It is hard to think that a hundred years ago we met in a bar in Las Vegas, and here we still are.” Bella is playing with his hand, as they watch the sun.
Damon smiles, “No, it isn’t. I told you, you are it for me. This is just one of many more centuries coming, angioletta. And I think I have done what it takes to allow you to see it. I love you, Bella Salvatore, and I never regret that I walked in that bar, and fell in love with you. I just now look forward to loving you more each day.”
As the sun rises and shines its first rays on the couple, it finds them in an intimate embrace, lips locked.
Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it.
Pre Edit Count – 8,395 Words
Song I listened to for this chapter: It is What it Is For by Lifehouse.
Damon sat at the bar drinking. He is glaring at the sight of Elena and Stefan sitting together. He has given up. No more. He has given so much for her, and she continues to run to his brother. All he wants is a chance. Nothing more, nothing less. But it is so complicated, so very complicated.
He sighs as he looks down. He had a chance. He had a woman who had loved him for himself, and he had loved her. But then she left. He could not find her later on, and decided that she didn’t want him.
So he came here, and met the elusive Elena. He glamoured their meeting at the bridge from her, and he very well might have driven her to his brother. But she reminded him of her. And he thought that this may be the answer, the chance to truly be home .
He looks down as his drink is refilled, thinking that tonight is going to be one of those nights. One of the nights that he cannot think of anything but her.
So he decided to go down memory lane.
He ran into her in a dry dusty town. Sunlight everywhere, but a college gave him plenty of food to find. It had a party atmosphere. He loved it, and used it to escape his past. He gloried in the sun, knowing that there is always that chance that one slip where his ring might fall off and he would be dead. He flirted with the chance of his death by sun.
But then, one day…one day is what changed his life. He ran into a petite brunette. She had a heart shaped face and big brown eyes. He had narrowed his eyes at her in that instant. But then, he had smiled.
And she had smiled back.
He had crossed the coffee house and sat down beside her. He had grinned when she blushed at his actions. He had not encountered an innocence like hers in decades. Damon had actually tried to think of one before that time, and couldn’t. It had been rare.
And he had been inclined to protect her. He had encouraged her to talk to him. She had been shy, but soon he broke through that shyness. She was a high school student who was taking classes in college. She had been in a group of students who had been elected to do college work, and the only sophomore there, which is why she was there at the coffee house late at night, by herself. It was a safe place.
That had gotten him interested enough to talk to her, and he was shocked at how intelligent she was. Of course, when he had learned she was so young, his interest had left. Mostly. At least that is what he tried to tell himself.
He had walked her home that night, having fun just being himself, a self he had not shown anyone since he had been turned. She had opened up to him. He had laughed so freely as she had wryly pointed out that she was not a sorority girl, and he would have a better chance with one of them. He teased her that maybe he wanted to have an intelligent conversation once in a while.
When they had walked up her drive way, he had been shocked that the house was dark. “Your folks went to bed already?”
She had shook her head. “My mom is out with her boyfriend. They stay at his house when they…want to be alone. He doesn’t want to upset me.” She had shrugged at the oddness of the newest in a string of men her mother had dated. Though, this is one that seemed like he really cared.
Damon had looked at the house, outrage blossoming deep inside of him at the thought of his stella being alone at home. He had looked down at her, frowning. He had finally asked her, “Do you have a cell phone?”
She had looked away from him. It wasn’t in their budget. The only reason she could participate in the program was her grades. “No.”
His frown deepened. He didn’t like the fact that she would be home alone, nor did he like the idea of her walking into the house alone.
She had looked up at him and her face just bloomed under the smile. “Damon, are you worried about me?”
He snorted as he analyzed the house and searched for anything wrong. But the other house was close, and he was not sure if what he was hearing was there or at her house. At least on the other side of her house was the desert.
“Me worried about you? Please. You can take care of yourself.” And he turned back to her, his eyebrow arched.
She just laughed, then walked up to the door. She opened it with her key, and asked, “Damon, will you please check out the house for pitiful ole me?”
He grinned, and then made a show of inspecting the house, noting that while the house was nice, her things were older. There were the belongings of another woman, her clothing in much better shape than his stella’s. There were other things, signs that his stella was the responsible one in the house, not the other woman.
When he came back to the front door, he told her, “Told you that anything would be scared of you. Nothing. Not even a mouse.”
She had laughed, and he had fallen for her completely. But he told himself that it wasn’t right, that she was too young.
He had gotten into a pattern; he would pick her up, take her to her coffee shop, and spend time with her, even if it was when she was working on her homework. There would be times when he would go and get her chai tea refilled and get himself a drink, and just watch her as he waited in line…the way she bit her lower lip as she worked on her papers, or how her hair fell into her face.
Then he would shake himself and tell himself that she was not old enough, and that it would be wrong in so many ways to be with her as anything but friends.
But she made it hard. He had been around enough to know she was feeling the same, that she was falling for him, too. He had also found out that she could not be glamoured, so he made sure to treat her as only a friend.
There were many exchanged looks, times their hands would meet, times both thought that they could take that chance, break down the walls, stop denying their feelings, but they never took that step.
Then came a day that Bella wasn’t home, and he tracked her to the park by her house as she sat on a swing.
He sat down beside her, and asked, “What’s up?”
She had sighed and looked down at her feet, a habit he had thought he had broken her of, before replying, “My mom is staying here for me for the next school year.”
Damon had kept his opinion of her mother not so hidden, he in fact had found his distaste for her growing as the two became closer. When she had gotten married, and the new husband had started to take care of her like someone should, he had been thrilled. He was also thrilled that the man could be glamoured. Since then, his Stella’s life had been so much easier. A cell phone was the first thing to be given to her.
So he looked at her and raised his eyebrow, “Ok. And what’s the problem, short stuff?”
She looked at the sun setting in the distance, and told him, “She’d rather be with Phil. I’d rather her be with Phil. What type of daughter does that make me?”
Damon sighs. “One who cares for others.”
She laughed, having heard his discourse on how she needed to be a little more selfish. She then looked off, “Will you still be my friend if I move to Washington?”
He looked at her out of the side of his eye, then told her, “Always. Who knows, I may decide Seattle will be my new home.”
She snorted. “Not enough sorority girls for you, Damon. But then, I haven’t seen you with any lately.”
He smirked. “Told you I needed someone more intelligent to talk to. Found her, no need for the ditzy air heads.” Then he turned serious, “What about your school?”
She dug her toe in the dirt, and replied, “The credits will be there one way or the other. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to live there with her commenting all the time on how she wishes she could be with her new husband. You know how she gets.”
Clenching his teeth, Damon nodded. It was something he absolutely hated. He cannot seem to make a compel stick with the woman. He had tried many times, but it never stayed with her long enough.
She sighed as she looked down. “I’m going to do it. I’m going to move in with my father. There is nothing here but you, but then, nothing is going to become of the two of us, is there?”
And he turned to her, shocked that she mentions the very thing they seem to always avoid. His mouth dropped open, and nothing came out.
She stared at him, and then nodded. “Ah well. It is what it is. Just promise me you will never forget me.”
He blinked rapidly as he tried to make himself understand what was really going on here. He finally told her, “I will never forget you. Never. Can’t, don’t even suggest it.”
And with that she nodded her head one last time. “I’m going to go call my Dad. I’ll let you know what happens.”
With that she left, and he watched her walk away, hearing and smelling her tears. He gripped the chains hard as he made himself stay where he was, telling himself that she was too young. And by the time she would be old enough, he would have to leave anyway so as to not to give away his secret. But he couldn’t help the tear that dropped from his ice blue eye as he watched her walk away, not knowing that was the last time he would see her in the sun.
She had called him, and then managed one way or another to avoid him. When he had grown tired of it and needed to see her, he had gone to her house, only to find she had already left a week ago. She had called him and had never let him know in their conversation that she had already left their city.
Damon had searched for her, incredulous when he found her one night in Port Angeles, walking, actually being herded by four men to an alley. He seethed, and was ready to jump in and defend her when a silver Volvo squealed in and a teenager about her age stepped out. He ordered his stella inside the vehicle, not taking no for an answer. Something about the teen bothered him, but he was watching to see what happened.
The two made it out of the situation, and Damon had cleaned up after them. He had been ruthless with the remains of the humans, leaving nothing to be identify them for attacking his stella. Then he had taken to the skies to find her, to make sure she was fine.
And he saw the two in a window of an Italian restaurant, and watching the two, made the choice to walk away. The teen was more her age and there will be none of the supernatural in her life if he left now. That was the hardest choice he made, admitting to himself he loved his stella, and that he was being so unselfish in allowing her to live her life.
He kept tabs on her, and had been upset when she started to date the teenager, and found it way too painful to watch over her from a distance. He had left the state, and went home, taking the long way home. Not knowing that she would disappear from sight in less than a year.
His stella would be 22 now. He had not come home for years afterwards, taking his anger and frustration out on the humans around him. He had tried to tell himself that he was just infatuated, that there was nothing there.
But right now, as he sits there drinking, he admits to himself that not only did he love Bella Swan, he still loves her. Elena was a poor choice to replace her; she had nothing of the qualities that had drawn Damon to his stella.
He looks down into his drink, wishing he could go back in time and tell her everything, but it is so complicated, so hard to admit he had been wrong. There are some things where age doesn’t matter, and love is one of them.
In the shadows, a young woman watches the dark haired man nursing his drink. She has had nightmare after nightmare in her life after she left him on that swing.
She had tried to bury the pain, trying to save herself from the heartbreak of an unrequited love. She had thought she had found someone new, but that love was not as true as the one she felt for the man in front of her, and she had suffered for it in ways she could have never have imagined.
Luckily, a stranger had come upon her in the woods when Edward had left her, and had rescued her. He had been drawn to her, and at that moment when life didn’t seem worth it, he had given her a reason to live.
He had stayed by her side, telling her that she needed to finish high school, and grow up. She would never want to be in the situation of being stuck at an age that meant dealing with high school students for the rest of her long life.
The new man was not a love interest, but treated her more as a daughter than any would ever imagine. She had later met a brother of his, and he too had been surprised at the care that was lavished on her.
She had gained a new life, and phased out her old friends, the ones that took advantage of her heart and treated her without a though of how she would feel. And to be honest, she would never have thought of it except that he had taught her to look outside of herself, and that it was fine to be selfish.
Nik had taken her out of the town the day she had graduated, then sent her to what he called the Old World to finish growing up. He had also visited her often, listening to her when she talked about the man who had changed her life. He had been quiet the last time he had visited her, asking her many questions about her Damon.
Then he had sighed, and covered his eyes as he told her, “I think he found someone else, love. I wish it was not true, but I think he has moved on.”
She had looked at him, and then sighed. “If I tried to replace him, not once but twice, how can I be upset he has done the same thing?”
He shook his head as he looked at her. “I will hurt him for the pain he has made you suffer, love. No one under my protection is to be hurt. Especially not you. “ He had stood and come to rest before her to cup her face, “I swore to you that I would treat you as my daughter, and have I not?”
“You have.”
He had stared into her eyes, then kissed her forehead. “Soon, you will be mine. I am readying the house for you, and as you demanded, my siblings are being brought there. I will undagger them, telling them the truth of why I have kept them that way for so long.”
She had cocked her head to the side and asked, “And you made sure the doppelganger is alive?”
He noded. “All done as you had requested. But I wish I had known what I do now. I would have caused him more pain.”
Bella stood and moved away from him to look out the window at the English estate. “It’s all water under the bridge, Nik. He caused me no more pain than the others. I caused the pain in that instance. I walked away from him. I never let him know where I was, nor did I even give him the chance to say goodbye. If there is pain, it would have been caused by me. And we both suffered if that was the case.”
He had been quiet, then as a change of subject, had told her about the ritual and how everything had gone down. It had taken him years longer than he would have liked, but he wanted her to not be upset with him. He had done much that may have made him the bad guy in his home town, but he accomplished the one thing he had set out to do before he will turn the woman in front of him.
She is his daughter. He has killed for her, has not killed for her. He had come across her in Phoenix when she had been under the care of the Major. He had watched as she outsmarted him and left. She had told him later it had been to save her mother, a woman he had decided did not deserve the dedication of her daughter.
He had watched over her since then, and been enraged when the Cold One had left her in the woods. He had carried her out of there, gave her his blood to heal her, and had taken care of her since then.
Nik had enjoyed listening about the young man who she had loved, and still loved. How he had encouraged her to become more, to open her eyes to the rest of the world. So he had looked for the man called Damon.
Never would he have guessed that it would be Damon Salvatore. And the thing was, if the man had not been so dedicated to Elena, he would have encouraged the two to meet as they are a lot alike. Damon would understand her better than others, understanding losing that first all consuming love. If Nik could not choose one of his own siblings, Damon was a man who he could allow his daughter to date, if the man would give up his womanizing ways.
That had been one of the reasons Nik had him investigated – to find out what had stopped him for awhile, and that was after the ritual. To find that the man was his Isa’s Damon, well, it made him drop everything to come talk to her.
He had waited until she was older, until he was the hybrid, to turn her. Per his witches, she would be a hybrid as well, unable to be killed if he waited until now to turn her. If he died, she wouldn’t. And what more does a father want for his daughter but to make sure she would survive after him?
So now he prepared her for the change, wanting her to be vampire before he took her home. He hated knowing he would have to kill her, but he cannot wait for her to rise, to finally be his daughter.
He spent the night talking to her, making sure she was ready, and then gave her his blood like he does anytime he was home with her, never wanting to take a chance that she might die beforehand. She thought nothing of it by now, and drank it mixed with her wine at dinner.
That night as he walked to her bedroom, he was a few seconds late, and she had fallen down the stairs and snapped her neck. He caught her at the bottom, but the damage had already been done.
Nik had been heartbroken, angry at himself for not escorting her himself, but he had wanted to make sure all was ready, and had taken a moment to take a drink to fortify himself to do what was needed. Instead, well, Elijah would have stated that it was fate, that this was the time for her to change.
Isa woke up the following morning, and Nik was sitting beside her bed, holding her hand, hoping that she would wake. When she did, he hugged her tight to himself, telling her, “Thank God, Isa. I thought I had lost you.”
She had grinned weakly at him. “Good thing you make sure I have your blood often.”
He shook his head, then asked, “Are you sure?”
When she nodded, he turned to the side, and after grabbing a blood bag, told her, “Drink up. It is the doppelganger’s, but I wanted to take no chance, and this was what I was told would make sure.” He will never tell her how many times he had tried before, and how he had found out this was the only way.
No, some things she didn’t need to know, and if she did find out, it would never be the true way. No one knew about it. He had left town by himself, dragging the only known Werewolf that he had kept. He had remembered how distraught Isa had been with his suggestion to kill Tyler, but when he had explained the process of changing, she had made him promise to help him.
So even though Damon almost ruined it, he had managed to hide Tyler that night.
Now, he watched as Isa finished the transition, and smiled. “How does it feel?”
Now Isabella watches the man whom she loves, and sighs. She turns to walk out, a virtual ghost to all who she doesn’t want seeing her. Tomorrow is the ball, the one which Ester is planning, but Nik is going to announce to all that he has a daughter.
Neither he nor Isa trusts his mother, and they finally, after talking themselves almost hoarse, have the rest of the family except for Finn believing them. Isa’s skills have helped them find out how much Finn wants to end his life, and they are having Sage attend the ball, hoping that makes him more willing to listen.
She leaves, and soon enters the mansion, and Nik is there. “You went to see him didn’t you?” He watches her, the woman who would always come first in his life.
She smiles at him, touched as always by him caring for her, “Yes. And he looks miserable.” Broken. Her smile drops off as she remembers the site of him at the bar drinking. No, he was not the man she met, the man who had been full of life. It seems the time between their separation and now has been as hard on him as her.
Nik looks off and nods. “Tomorrow he will know you are here. Are you ready?”
She looks up at her father, thinking, and after a moment, smiles at him, “Yes. I am finally ready. For whatever comes.”
The following day Damon gets an invitation hand delivered to him with his name written on it, in a familiar scrawl, but he could not place where he had seen it before. He nods his head to the hybrid that delivered the invitation. He had planned to go anyway, since Elena would be there, and he had nothing else to do really.
He sighs, wishing he could take the person that he truly loved. He is so tired of trying with Elena. It will never happen for him, and he lost the one person who would have been perfect. He tosses the invitation down on his nightstand and just falls into his bed on his back. He had everything he needed to be ready for tonight.
Damon closes his eyes as he thought through everything that had happened. He had been shocked later, when he looked back on it, about how easy the Original took it on them; he could have killed any of them at any time. Instead, it was almost like he was holding back. Even when he took Elena for her blood, he had released her and she had been resting in bed by the time Damon had found her.
He looks to the ceiling, thinking about his stella, who he had tried to track again. He had found the Cullens but they didn’t have the brunette who had starred in his dreams so often. He had been angry to find that the penny haired teenager didn’t look any different, nor was he looking like he was upset. No… in fact, he was in high school, dating another.
But the fact that they didn’t look any different has him contemplating a road trip when this farce of a ball is done with. He wanted to know what they were since none of them looked to have changed. And given the amount of time that had passed, and the age they are, there should be some differences.
Closing his eyes, he thought about the woman he loves, and how he plans to beg her for another chance, how he will tell her everything, hoping that she will give him that chance.
There is a knock on the door, and he looks to see Elena there, twisting her fingers in her shirt sleeves. “Do you have a second?”
He rolls his eyes, “What do you want, Elena? Stefan not paying you enough attention and you need me to pay you some too?” He is done with her. He hated the fact he has played her games this long. He needed to stop this. Tonight he is going because it is what his brother has asked for, but no other reason.
Elena looks at him as though he hurt her, “What are you saying Damon?”
He sits up and stares at her, “That I am done playing the game for you. No more. Stefan can have you or whatever vampire you decide you want. I am going for my brother, then I am going to be leaving the state for a little while.”
She shakes her head as she takes a step in, “You’re leaving? But there is still the threat of Klaus and the rest of the Originals, we don’t know what they are planning! You can’t leave now!”
He chuckles as he watches her. “You are quite the little actress are you not? You are worried about you, yourself and no one else. Some advice for you, don’t fuck up what my brother feels for you. I fell for it twice, and it seems you Petrovas like Stefan. But I am done.”
Her face screws up in anger, “How dare you! I am nothing like Katherine!”
He snorts as he vamps in front of her, “You are just like her. You strung us both along for the longest time, and I am done playing the game. I will be at the ball tonight, but that is it. Leave.”
She stares at him, then raises an eyebrow, “How will you get in?”
He smirks, “Oh don’t you worry, little Elena, I have my ways.” And with that, he shuts the door in her face. He shakes his head, amazed by the sense of freedom he feels. Now to just get through the night.
Isa is dressed, and she stands outside on her balcony in a rust colored mermaid-style gown that falls to her feet. Her hair is free from any restraints; she remembers how much Damon had loved it styled that way.
She is looking out over the grounds when the door behind her opens, and she smiles as she recognizes her father’s voice. “Are you ready, love?”
She nods and heads inside, stopping when she sees his face, turning around for him to see the gown.
He smiles, proud of her. “If he hurts you…”
Shaking her head, she tells him, “I left him and he has that right. This is it, no more running, I am going to face down the last of my human past. If I can convince him to give me a chance, I will do anything.”
He shakes his head as he glides to the mirror and ties his tie, making sure it is straight. “You can tell me whatever you want, but you are my daughter, and a father has the right to protect his little girl.”
She comes up behind him and, staring into his blue eyes, asks, “Why did you pick me out of all the people in the world?”
Shaking his head, Nicklaus meets her eyes that remind him of Elijah, “Because you are my daughter. Just because I choose you makes no difference in my eyes. You may as well be the child of my loins. I love you as my own, I am announcing to the world you are mine, and that you are my heir. I have and will kill for you, but even more importantly, you have had me change my ways. Hopefully it is enough.” He mutters at the end.
She laughs, “You still worrying about the blonde Barbie?”
He gives her a look, and she lifts an eyebrow at him, “I respect you, Nik, but don’t ask me to respect her. She is younger than I am in every way. I will never say anything against her, but are you not the one who has encouraged me to speak my mind, especially to you?”
A voice chuckles from the doorway. “Yes, brother, have you not encouraged my niece to speak her mind?”
Elijah stands there staring at the two before him. He had been shocked when he had met Isabella for the first time when they had set their plan in motion. He had fallen in love with her, and wished that she could see it. Instead she loves Damon Salvatore, and all her uncles are ready to fight for her. They all love her, even Rebekah, but they also honor her choices.
However, even if she is his niece per Klaus, if Damon does not live up to his chance with her, Elijah will be working to gain her love. Kol has mentioned that he, too, would love to woo his niece, telling Klaus that since she is not blood, there is nothing wrong with it.
Klaus had growled at them both, stating that if he finds even a hint of them forcing themselves on her in any way, he will kill them. She is his.
Isa laughs at her uncle, telling him, “He has, as well as you. The two of you and that God-awful summer you spent teaching me the things I should know as a princess. I have no idea how any of us made it through it.”
Both men smile at the reminder of the summer in question. It had been after Klaus had her agreement to become his daughter, and both men had been tired of how she always looked at the ground and never walked with her head held high as she should.
So they both used the time they had and taught her grace. She can now walk in heels, and do it so confidently that the night she had tripped and fell down the stairs had been an abnormality, not the norm for her any more. But it had never stopped either of them from escorting her anywhere. As they told her, it was an honor.
Elijah leans against the door jam, “Your invitation was received, and accepted. He will be here. Are you sure that you want to do this? We can have you both meet at another time. There is much happening tonight.”
She nods, her hand going to her stomach, “I am nervous, and want it over with. But what will you do about the doppelganger?”
Elijah growls, “Leave her to me. There is nothing that will happen without us knowing about it. I have already managed to compel her. And just for you, Isa, she is upset because Damon told her he was done with her.”
She cannot help the smile nor the hint of happiness in her eyes. She had worried about competing for his love, and now it looks like she just has to compete with herself.
Nik puts his hands on her shoulders and tells her yet again, “He will be a fool to turn you down, love. Just be confident.”
As much as he hates to say it, Elijah tells her, “There are no worries, Isa. How can he resist you?” And with that he holds out his arm, and smiles as she comes and puts her arm through his, and Klaus is soon with them in the hallway, his own arm taken by her on the other side.
Elijah grins down at her, “Let the games begin.”
Damon walks through the door and hands his invitation to the person taking them. His watchful eyes are evaluating any risk factors. He had made a point of coming without his brother and Elena. As he told her, he was done. And he wanted there to be nothing between them as he knows the penchant the Petrovas have for trying to change minds, or influence others to change the minds for them.
It was unusual for Damon to show up stag to a party like this, but he didn’t care. His mind was partly on why he was here, and the rest was on the trip he will be taking tomorrow. It would be the first step on a journey that will hopefully lead him back to his stella.
He straightens his dark suit, then takes a glass from the staff walking around, tossing it back and setting it back on the tray.
He managed not to be shocked when he hears Elijah’s voice behind him, “Trouble in paradise? Or have you given up on the doppelganger?”
Turning around, Damon meets the Original’s eyes and tells him, “Done.”
Elijah looks him over, upset all over again that this man won his Bell’s heart before he had a chance. “Interesting. Well there will be plenty happening tonight to keep your interest, I suspect. Watch Elena. We suspect that there is more to my mother requesting this ball than just wanting to meet with the founding families.”
Damon lifts an eyebrow. “Telling secrets, Elijah? But then, we can’t really trust you, can we?”
Klaus chuckles as he walks towards them. He knows of Elijah’s feelings toward his daughter, but long before she met him, he had known of Damon, never suspecting that this was the same Damon. “Don’t be too hasty, Damon. There is much you will be happy about. Just do me a favor, mate. Wait at the bottom of the stairs. There will be someone to meet you. Someone I hope you will be happy to see.”
Looking at him, Damon shrugs. “Very well.”
With his agreement, the two Originals smile, then Klaus clasps him on the shoulder as he walks past him, “All good, mate. Trust me.” And with that they pass him as they make their way to retrieve Isa to introduce her to Mystic Falls.
Stefan is soon at his side with Elena still walking through the door. “What was that about?”
Damon shakes his head. “No idea, but I am sure tonight will be one for the books.” Stefan nods, and Damon then hears his sigh as Elena came towards them. “Problem, brother?”
Stefan looks at him, then says, “Let’s just say I have been thinking, and I heard what you said earlier today. Would you mind company on your trip? I feel like I need to clear my head some.”
Damon turns and looks into his eyes, searching them. Then he nods as Elena comes up to them. He tells him, “Be happy to have you.” And with that he walks away, a smirk on his face.
A shadowed form frowns, glad she has insisted on tonight since it sounds like Damon is planning to go away. Hopefully he will put it off when she begs him. Hearing the sound of the ball starting and the family being gathered, she makes her way to her father, and stands behind him.
Klaus smiles as he feels her, and before Elijah can say his announcement as planned, Klaus interrupts him. “Good evening to all. Tonight is an age old tradition for my family, and also happens to be the debutante of my daughter. With the blessing of my family, I would like to introduce you all to Isabella Mickealson.”
As he announces the last part, his daughter steps out of his shadow, and he is watching Damon as she appears. Damon is waiting at the end of the stairs as they had requested, and the look of awe, surprise, and devotion is clear on his face. Klaus is sure his daughter will not be disappointed.
Damon is shocked as he stares at his stella, his Isabella that he had been set to turn the world upside down to find, and instead, she is standing here being announced as Klaus’s daughter.
His eyes trace the changes in her face, in her whole being, and he cannot help his smile as the promise of her beauty that had been present at 16, has now come to fruition.
Then she is escorted down, and he sees the moment she notices him. Her eyes widen, and the smile that had been present turned into a real one. Klaus stops in front of everyone, and, smiling, he asks Damon, “Will you escort my daughter, Damon?”
Damon’s eyes barely leave hers as he tells the Original Hybrid, “I would be pleased to do so.” And with that he holds out his hand, hoping she will take it.
Isa cannot help her smile growing even wider as he answers her father, and she takes his hand. The two of them stare at each other as Klaus watches them.
Elijah sighs and looks at Kol; the two of them are glad that she is happy, but not at the fact that there is no chance for them. He clears his throat, “As my brother has mentioned, it is a tradition for our family to hold these balls. I ask that you participate in the dance to open the ball.” With that the family descends the stairs, all of them grinning at their niece and at the fact that neither she nor Damon has stopped staring at each other.
Damon escorts her to the ballroom, and takes her in his arms, and when the music starts, they move to a dance that he had learned in his human lifetime. His eyes never leave hers, and he notices that she is no longer human, but dismisses it.
Isa gazes into his ice blue eyes, unable to believe he is here, and accepting her. They both sway to the dance, neither saying a thing, but their eyes communicate whole conversations with each other. Their hands soothe the others heart, promising that they are now here, and neither will leave the other again.
Others notice their preoccupation with each other. Klaus is grinning as he dances with Caroline, very happy with the way that part had fell in line with the plan.
Elijah watches Elena, and sees the hatred for his niece on her face as she watches Damon being someone she has never known as she had never accepted his love to the point he could show it as he does now. His brown eyes harden to the doppelganger, realizing as Damon and Stefan had before, that she playes with the hearts of others.
Much too soon for Isa and Damon, the dance comes to an end. Damon refuses to release her hand, and he tells her as he pulls her forward, “I was about to leave tomorrow to search for you.”
She smiles up at him, “Lucky that I convinced Nik to introduce us tonight. Damon, I am so-“
He puts his finger to her lips. “There is no sorry. I was a fool, I denied the love I felt for you because I felt it was wrong with you being so young. That you are here, and willing to give us a chance, is more than I could ever wish for. So, no ‘I’m sorry’s,’ instead a promise for us to give this a real chance.”
She grins up at him, “I promise.”
He grins back at her, his eyes a light color as he traced her features. “You are so beautiful.” He chuckles as he watches her blush.
But all good things must come to an end, and soon her father is by their side, grinning at them both. “I take it you both decided to be smart and let bygones be bygones?”
Both nod, neither moving their eyes from the other, and Nik cannot help but laugh. He slaps Damon’s back as he tells him, “I give you permission to woo my daughter, Damon Salvatore. Just promise to treat her right, and I will support you two.”
Damon’s smile gets bigger as he tells them, “I will treat her like the princess she is.”
Nik just laughs, then turns to his daughter. “Let him in on the surprises for tonight. I am off to get Finn on our side.”
Sighing, Isa turns to her father. “Be careful. She is in my room.”
He nods, and kisses her cheek as he leaves the two lovebirds.
Damon lifts an eyebrow, “So, you’re an Original?”
She smiles, “So, you’re a vampire?”
He grins and pulls her to him to tell her, “I missed you so much, Stella.” He rests his forehead on hers, his eyes closing in bliss as she hugs him back.
She sighs, then pulls away from him to grab his hand and tug him outside. Once she is sure they are as alone as they can be, she quickly tells him what is going on.
His mind keeping up with hers, his eyes widen as he realizes how close they all came to being killed by the Witch. “So Nik found Sage, who used to be my tutor in this world, to get Finn to realize that there is a reason to not kill off the family, which would lead to them dying, along with the rest of us.”
She nods, looking him in the eyes, “Except for me, for some reason. Nik was told if he waited until the curse was removed, he could change me and I will become his daughter in all ways. He also needed the blood of the doppelganger to complete the change, as it was needed the first time to make them all. He and Elijah were pissed that the witch who told them about changing me forgot that important fact. Nik cannot change another without her blood. It had been another restriction on him. But for the fact that I begged both of them not to kill if they can help it, well, our meeting may have been different.”
Damon stares at her as everything falls into place. “That is why Klaus never killed any. He had Jenna to change, but found another to substitute for her at the last second. He did it all for you.” He had wondered, many times what had changed the man’s mind about using Jenna, but instead had a vampire that the world wouldn’t miss.
She nods as she looks at him. “And Elijah didn’t betray anyone. He had to do what he did to make sure that you will be there, that the ritual will go through, and that the current doppelganger would live through it all. I could not take someone dying unless it was deserved. It had been that, my request, that took him all this time to gather everything together. Plus he was wanting me to be older. “
Damon cups her face, and tells her, “Thank you. I don’t care about Elena anymore, but losing anyone at that time would have been hard on us all. So I thank you. “
She grins at him, “Nik was going to look for you, and imagine his surprise when he finally put all the clues together and realized that my Damon was you.”
He smirks, “How many Damons did you think were out here?”
She laughs.
He looks away for a second, then asks, “Where were you?”
Looking up at him, “In England. Neither he nor Elijah wanted me in the States when this all happened. Seems they were worried that if a certain Damon Salvatore had learned that I meant something to them, he would use me against them.”
Damon eyes widen as he shakes his head. “The opposite, in fact. If I had known it was you, I would have done anything to have a chance. But, as much as I would like to find out everything, we need to get inside and watch this play out.”
Isa grins back at him. “It should be enjoyable.”
They grin at each other, and Damon escorts her inside.
The rest of the night continued as the three of them had planned. Finn had been overjoyed in finding Sage and was floored when she told him what would have happened if he had gone through with his mother’s plan.
He had stared into her eyes, a lot like his niece had done when meeting Damon, and told them everything.
With that information, none of them drank the wine, and as soon as the ball ends, Finn was the one who daggered their mother and placed her back in the coffin she had inhabited all this time. To make sure no one would be able to open it again, he and Sage left to bury her body in a place only they would find.
Damon and Isa spent time after the ball together, and discussed what had happened. When he became angry at her treatment by the Cullens, he had wanted to leave and make them pay.
But before he could even think of going off and doing something to them, he needed to make sure his Bella is his.
So he went to Nik, in the old time tradition, then took Bella out one night for a walk. They had chatted about anything and everything, and slowly walked onto a plot of land that had ruins on it.
Bella looks around, then looks at Damon, “What is this place?”
He smiles, then drops to one knee, holding out a ring for her, “This is the place I wish to build our home. This is the place I am hoping you will allow be the start of our forever. This is the place I am holding not just this ring, but my heart out to you to accept. This is the place I am asking you to marry me.”
She grins at him, and tells him, “Yes, of course! Damon?!?!?”
He jumped up and held her to him, kissing her deeply. “I want to make you mine in every way. I also want you involved with me rebuilding the Salvatore Plantation. I just want to show you my love for you, and this is one of a thousand ways for me to do so.” He holds her close to him, his eyes looking over a place he had never thought to return to, but his stella is more than worth it.
Their marriage was a low-keyed affair, well, as low-keyed as the leader of the Founding Council marrying the Princess of the Vampire world could be. But more importantly, it had been what Isa wanted. She had them married in their new home, in the garden that she had planned with Elijah.
Damon had been a nervous groom, but not about him being married. He had been worried that something would come along and try to ruin their night. And there was reason to be worried. Elena had tried to crash the party, but Kol had taken her away and locked her in the cellar in the new house. No one was going to ruin his niece’s wedding, even if he would rather have been the groom.
Stefan had been unglamoured and remembered Rebekah, and the past he thought he had blacked out for. The two of them soon got back together, with Stefan quickly coming out whatever hold Elena had had on him.
To say she was not happy about it was an understatement. But as the Supernatural world shunned her, she found out quickly that her so-called ‘special’ status was nothing if Klaus didn’t need her.
The wedding had been one straight out of Midsummer’s Dream, with the fireflies all around them as they said their heartfelt vows to each other. There was even no unnatural light as they used torches to illuminate the night where it was needed. Everyone had been amazed at the wedding, but it will never be forgotten, nor will it ever be matched.
After the wedding, and the honeymoon, Damon met with the Originals about his revenge against the ones that had hurt his Bella. He figured that they would like to help out. He had gotten close with all of them.
Instead, Nik and Elijah allowed him into their plan for the Cold Ones, and he had been overjoyed at the revenge being planned. Soon the Originals had boarded the plane that took them to the Volturi. And they watched as the Cullens found out why the three kings were put into power. The Originals ruled all the vampire races, and they made sure the Supernatural world learned to not mess with any of them.
Damon had watched with glee as their holier-than-thou attitude was corrected, and the fact that none of them will ever be able to be alone made him chuckle.
His wife had just elbowed him in his side, and he had pulled her closer, kissing her neck as he watched Edward seethe.
That night, as they walked to their room, he kissed his wife at the door. His eyes worshipful as he stared at her, he said, “I swear, every time I look at you, you are more beautiful than the last.”
She laughed at him, and shook her head. Then she gasped as he had them on the other side of the door, and the side of him that she loved came out. Her husband was always hungry for her, and since she was the same about him, it made life interesting for the two of them.
Damon was soon panting as he removed her clothing while pining her to the door. He chuckled as he realized she was wearing the underwear he had given her just a week ago. “My, my, black looks even better on you than I imagined it would.”
She moaned as his mouth descended on her breast still cupped in the bra, tracing a line where the silk met her body. “Enough talking, more action, lover boy.”
He smirked as he complies with her request. The deal made was that he could tear apart anything he bought her, so he kept her well supplied in under things, often begging her to wear something he had bought.
Her body was perfect in every way to him, and he worshiped it. Then he couldn’t help but chuckle as he realized she was ripping his clothes off, too. “You will be having to go shopping with me soon..”
At that she grasped his head and pulled it up to meet her eyes. She lifted one eyebrow at him, “Really?”
He grinned at her, and then thrust inside of her. As always, she was more than ready for him. They both moaned as they were joined once more, and then there was nothing in the room but the steady slap of skin against skin as they make love to each other.
As was normal for the two of them, they finished together. Damon held her to him as he made their way to their bed, his hips still moving to thrust inside of her. When he placed her on the bed, she moaned now that she could finally get the traction to be able to move her body with his.
He stared into her eyes as they worked to bring themselves to another finish, and when they did, he roared out her name as her own call was lost in his voice.
When they were both finished for that round, he fell to his back, holding her to him. He grinned at her as she moved her body on his, “More?”
She grinned back at him as she moved up and down his cock, working him as he promises only she can do. He was still hard inside of her; both seemed to always be ready for the other. But this time was more of lovemaking than the other two.
They both watched the other, Damon’s hands on her hips, never doing more than helping her keep her rhythm. Their heartbeats, breathing, and minds mingled together in the way that the other has only ever found with their other half.
When they were both feeling that fire burning inside each other, they sped up, wanting the ending for the other. Isa leaned back as she rode him, her head tilted back to let her hair fall on his thighs.
He never closed his eyes, not wanting to miss a second of her as they run towards that edge. When they jumped from the cliff, both of their eyes meet and they swore that, like always, there was a bright flash.
When the light cleared from their eyes, Damon held his love to him, nuzzling her. “I love you, Stella.”
She smiled at him, and told him, “Always and forever.”
And the silence in the room was not oppressive, no it was comforting as the two rested in each other, trusting the other to keep them safe.
It truly is amazing the stuff you can find on the internet. I searched Alexander Skarsgard leprechaun and the picture above is what popped up. I think it is fitting for today. Sorry I missed posting last week, but Daylight Savings in the USA screwed me up. Losing one hour completely wrecked my week. I…
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Damon sat at the bar drinking. He is glaring at the sight of Elena and Stefan sitting together. He has given up. No more. He has given so much for her, and she continues to run to his brother. All he wants is a chance. Nothing more, nothing less. But it is so complicated, so very complicated.
