(1) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Elena leaves the Gilbert house and moves to where Stefan is sitting on the porch steps. Jeremy is an utter mess over what happened, about what he saw, about what Cassandra did. Elena doesn't understand but she can comfort their baby brother through this as best she can.

"Are you okay?" Elena asks Stefan as she sits beside him, he glances at her and gives a sad smile.

"I, uh...I wanted to help her. But instead...." He admits and then clears his throat, not really wanting to talk about it. "How's he doin'?"

"He's a mess. I don't want him going through this again. He's just a kid" Elena admits.

"Elena, what can I do? I...What can I do to help? I'll do anything"

"Can you make him forget?" Elena asks Stefan.

"Elena..."

"Stefan, please. I don't know how he'll ever get past this. I just want him to forget everything that happened"

"If I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work...Because of who I am. Because of how I live. I don't have the ability to do it right" Stefan admits.

"I can do it. If this is what you want...I'll do it." Damon offers as he and Cassandra approach the house. Cassandra shakes her head.

"No" Cassandra scolds. "You can't do this to him..."

"Cas" Elena starts.

"You can't just take something back because you don't like how it came out...."

"It's to protect him" Elena defends. Cassandra shakes her head.

"It's...wrong" She adds. "You're removing his free will...." Both Cassandra and Elena turn to Damon, wanting him to choose which of them is right here. His eyes flicker between the two of them.

"It's what I want," Elena tells Damon, who glances at Cassandra who raises an eyebrow back at him. He turns back to Elena.

"What do you want him to know?" He asks her, Cassandra shakes her head and clenches her jaw.

"I want you to tell him that Vicki left town and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her. He's gonna miss her, but he knows it's for the best" Elena answers. Damon goes inside to find Jeremy and Elena turns to Cassandra who glares back at her before heading into the house.

........

Damon leaves Jeremy's bedroom, closing the door behind him before he heads down the stairs. Cassandra paces the living room, clearly very upset. But he has his reasons for siding with Elena on this. None of them to do with her or Jeremy but everything to do with Cassandra. He stops and looks at her as she throws down her shawl on the couch before dropping down on it herself, burying her head in her hands to cry. He's just not the sort of person to tell her those reasons. The bottom step creaks when he steps on it. She snaps her head around. Caught out. She swallows a little. He goes to say something, he's not sure what, but he wants to say something to her. She just shakes her head at Damon, she can't deal with him right now. She just wants today to be over. There will be some big bust-up between the sisters, but right now, everyone is just too tired. They will deal with it when it comes but until then...everything will go back to normal. So he does the smart thing, he shuts up and heads out of the house.

............

Damon cocks his head, watching Cassandra sleep, she's been crying again, even with her eyes closed it is clear. He lets out a breath and sits at her side, fingers reaching out and brushing her hair back from her face. He came back to check on her. Killing someone is a big deal. He's actually surprised she's sleeping at all. Maybe she has a stronger stomach than he gave her credit for.

"Do you know why I did it?" Damon asks as he strokes her hair. "Why I sided with your sister?" He counters. "Because.." He lets out a breath. "With your powers, with what you did, it would have changed the way he looked at you forever" He lets out a breath. "At least I bought you some time to find some answers, and this way you can tell him on your terms...." He shrugs a little and twirls her hair around his fingers. "You did what you had to do to protect him...to protect both of them, they'll understand that....." He stands from her bed and moves to stand at her window, to watch the crow that sits on her windowsill. Behind him, Cassandra is watching him, showing she was awake the whole time and heard everything. She wiggles her fingers and red mist seeps out, travelling along the floor and then rising to touch his hand, he looks down and smirks a little, holding his hand up to watch the mist weave between his fingers, he glances back at Cassandra who gives him a look.

"You in here every night?" She asks him, he gives her half a shrug and moves closer to her. "It's a little creepy" She offers, he snorts and sits on her bed as she sits up against her headboard.

"You heard me, didn't you?" He whispers, she nods.

"Yeah, I can pretend I didn't though, if you want?" He looks at her, she smirks at him. She seems to have forgiven him for the whole Jeremy thing. At least.

"I meant it" He assures her, she nods.

"Yeah, I know," She tells him. "Make sense when you put it that way...." She gives a half shrug and lets out a breath. He toys with her hair, his eyes drifting to her necklace, which reminds him that he saw his crystal hanging around the neck of someone else.

"I saw Bonnie Bennett wearing my crystal," He tells her, she raises an eyebrow.

"Oh, you mean the one you dropped" She argues. "Finders keepers" He gives her a look. "Fine, I'll ask for it back...Can I go back to sleep now?" He hums and nods. "Are you staying?" They share a look and he shrugs. He's not sure. She's caught him out. He should leave. He shrugs. She gives him a look and then tucks herself back into bed, leaving space for him if he chooses to stay.