(2) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Five

Damon walks with Cassandra out of the Lockwood Mansion, they've both had enough for the day. She's tired and still hungry and feels like she needs a shower to wash Katherine off of her. She just wants this day to be over. This week. This month if she's honest. It really is one thing and then another for her. For this town. It really can't catch a break at the minute. Damon looks at her, his fingers brushing against hers. She smiles and glances at him.

"Yours or mine tonight?" He asks her as they head towards her bug.

"Jenna wants to keep an eye on me, so probably best we...cool it for tonight" Damon hums and then nods a little as he turns, both of them stopping. He brushes her hair back from her face and winks at her.

"You know" He starts with a smirk. "It was kind of hot listening to you with Katherine" She raises an eyebrow. "I know you are all-powerful with..." He wiggles his fingers at her. "Your wiggly woos. But that mouth of yours" She snorts. "Oh boy, listening to you...." He smirks at her. "You're something else, you know that, Cas?" He tells her warmly. She hums and nods.

"Don't you ever forget it" She pulls him closer to her. "Now kiss me so I can go home" She puckers her lips and he gives in. Of course, he does. He knows he'll do anything for this girl. He cups her cheeks as he deepens the kiss, her fingers clutching to his shirt.

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

At the Salvatore Boarding House, Damon walks into the living room and pours himself a drink, a small smile on his face. He's satisfied with where he is. Satisfied with his relationship because.....it's his choice. No one is controlling this relationship. It's just him and her. Enjoying one another. He picks up his glass and hums slightly, starts to leave, to check on Ally. But then stops. Tilts his head.

"Very brave of you to come here" He states and then turns his head to look at where Katherine is sitting on the couch.

"I wanted to say goodbye," She tells him.

"Leaving so soon?" He asks her with a bite to his tone.

"I know where I'm not wanted"

"Don't pout. It's not attractive on a woman your age" Damon tells her. Katherine scoffs.

"Ouch" Damon drinks his drink and starts to walk out of the room. Katherine vamp-speeds in front of him. "What, no goodbye kiss?"

"Why don't I kill you instead? What are you doing here?" Damon asks her.

"Nostalgia, curiosity, et cetera" She answers.

"I'm better at the enigmatic one-liners, Katherine. What are you up to?" He asks her.

"Trust me, Damon, when I'm up to something, you'll know it. Come on. Kiss me. Or kill me. Which will it be, Damon? We both know that you're only capable of one." She inches closer towards his lips. He turns and walks away. She rushes in front of him again and grabs him by the throat. She pushes him down to the floor and lies on top of him. "My sweet, innocent Damon." She coos. He turns himself on top of her and grabs her by the throat. He finally has her where he wants her. He could kill her. End it all. That's all he's wanted for 145 years. He squeezes tighter as he glares down at her. "You really love her, don't you?" Katherine asks him, grabs his wrist and yanks herself free of him, sending him to the floor. Damon glares up at her.

"I won't let you come between us" Damon warns her.

"I don't think that's going to be an issue" Katherine counters and crouches. "Come on, Damon. You really think you're relationship material? How long is it going to take you to screw this up? Or worse...screw her up?" Katherine draws her fingers over his chest. "As a lover you are great" She purrs. "But a boyfriend..." She pulls a disappointed face. "That's where Stefan excelled...the loving, devoted, perfect boyfriend" Damon looks away from her. "You don't have it in you to be those things...." She leans closer and kisses his cheek before she leaves. And he lays there. Processing what she said to him.

..........

Damon stumbles a little as he makes his way up the stairs of the house to the next level. His hand keeping him steady against the wall.

"Ally?" He asks as he enters that room she claimed but it's empty. He frowns a little and moves to sit on the end of her bed, a half-drunk bottle of whiskey in his hand. "Where are you?" He asks. He really needs his best friend to make this better. To tell him that it was a lie. That Katherine is wrong. Because right now. He believes her.

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

Cassandra hums along to a song playing on the radio as she leaves the bathroom, pulling a towel from her hand and shaking out the locks. When she looks up she finds that Damon is sitting on her bed. She is startled by his appearance and jumps a little.

"Don't do that" She scolds him and clutches her chest. "Thought we agreed that tonight...you wouldn't be here" He hums and nods.

"Well, just doing my part in the neighbourhood watch" He counters, she frowns a little and cocks her head.

"Have you been drinking?" Damon holds his forefinger and thumb a small distance apart, indicating that he has been drinking a little. She cocks her head a little. "And upset..." She draws out. "Why are you upset?" She asks him.

"No, I'm not upset. Upset is an emotion-specific to those who care" He argues.

"Come on, Damon. That's a lie. You care" She counters, he looks at her. "You care about me, right?" She asks him. He looks down.

"You know that I do" He whispers. She moves closer to him.

"So why are you upset?" She asks him.

"Katherine" He answers. She hums and gives him a look. "She was at the house...."

"Let me guess" She starts. "Tried to get into your head" He looks up at her. "Damon, this is what she is going to do, she already tried it with Stefan and with me....she was bound to try it with you as well. Just ignore her"

"But what if she's right?" He asks her. Looking at her. "What if she's right about me?

"No, Damon, she's not right, she's a liar and a manipulator" She argues. "You can't let her do this...You can't let her get into your head like this...."

"I know that I don't deserve you," He tells her. "That you can do better than me.....You deserve better"

"This isn't about me" She stops him. "Look at what she's done to you, what she is doing to you. The way you think so little of yourself right now....." She offers softer. He looks away from her. "Why does it matter what she thinks of you?" Jeremy hears the commotion and looks in the doorway.

"Cas, what's going on in here?" Jeremy asks. Damon and Cassandra look at him.

"Nothing, Jeremy. It's okay, just go back to bed" Cassandra tells him, knowing that it is probably not wise for other people to be around Damon right now.

"No, it's not okay, Cas" Damon argues, he looks at Jeremy and then at Cassandra. "He wants to be a vampire" He rushes at Jeremy and pushes him against the wall.

"No, Damon, stop it!" Cassandra snaps. "You came here to talk to me, so talk to me," She tells him. Damon clenches his jaw. "Talk to me...tell me what she said that's got you so wound up" She touches his arm. "Damon" She whispers. He looks at her. She strokes up his arm as her eyes glow red. She doesn't want to have to use her telepathic powers to get him to stop, but calming him down isn't invasive. She's not changing the way he thinks, just keeping him calm so he doesn't do something he'll regret. "Just focus on me...whatever it is, you can tell me...." He closes his eyes and lets out a breath.

"She said that I was going to screw it up. That I was going to screw this...us up. Screw you up...." Damon tells her. "And she's right"

"No" Cassandra argues and glances at Jeremy. "She's not right" She turns back to Damon. "Put him down...and I'll tell you why she's wrong....do you know why she's wrong?" Damon shakes his head and then lowers Jeremy. Cassandra lets out a relieved breath and looks at her brother, they share a look and Jeremy nods before fleeing. Cassandra uses her powers to shut her bedroom door.

"Why is she wrong?" Damon whispers. She moves to him and he looks at her.

"Because you have me" She assures him as she touches his face, he leans into her hand as she brushes her thumb over his cheek. "I know who you are, Damon, I know what you are and I am aware of what you could have done in the past, I am not naïve enough to not think about that...but I am still here" She steps closer to him and he presses his forehead to hers. "I am still here"