lydia gilbert ➳ the vampire diaries original character

✧ D E L E T E D S C E N E #6

deleted dialogue from act one: always and forever
damon apologizes to lydia while she's in the hospital.

Lydia couldn't stand looking at them while they were here. For more than one reason. For one, Lydia knew they didn't want to be with her. They were only there because they felt they had to be, but they'd rather be somewhere else. Lydia couldn't blame them. She would rather be somewhere else. But she also hated being looked at like she was dying. Before, all that did was make her feel sad, because it would remind her that she was actually dying. Because of that, they treated her differently. Everything they did reminded her of her fate. Now, she didn't know what her fate was. She knew that she wasn't really sick anymore, but something was still wrong otherwise she wouldn't be in the hospital.

That brought her to her third reason for sending them away. Lydia didn't know if she could trust them. She was being lied to. Someone lied to her and it started with her parents. Whatever the reason was, maybe it was related to why Elena and Jeremy were so distant, why they didn't want to be close to her. Lydia liked to think that they were innocent in this deception. They were just children when Lydia was "diagnosed". How could they have known anymore than her? And Jeremy was a terrible liar.

Finally, Lydia also just didn't want to subject them to a painful, restless night on the chairs beside the bed. Lydia hated being in the hospital overnight, she didn't want anyone else to have to be uncomfortable too. So she sent Elena, Jeremy, Caroline, and Stefan away when she began to doze off. Shortly after they left, Lydia suddenly became very awake and was now bored.

A knock on the door signalled to her that someone was there, but she just assumed it was a nurse coming to check on her and told them that it was okay to enter. Unfortunately, it wasn't a nurse. It was Damon. One of the last people that Lydia wanted to see right now.

Damon didn't look like he quite wanted to be there either. He didn't come in with some smirk or making a sarcastic comment, so Lydia wasn't sure what to expect from him. She also just wasn't expecting him. She was pretty sure that visiting hours were now over, but she wasn't surprised that he somehow made his way around that.

"Can I come in?" Damon cleared his throat before he asked, already stepping inside the room and closing the door behind him.

Lydia didn't say anything. She saw Damon earlier, but only for a few seconds and she wasn't quite interested in what he had to say then. She just brushed him off.

"I, um," Damon paused as he sat down on the edge of Lydia's bed by her feet. He looked over at her and frowned before rolling his eyes."Why do you keep grabbing the emergency button?"

"Why does it bother you that I'm grabbing the emergency button?" Lydia shot back at him. She was sure that she wouldn't have to use it, but after Jade, Lydia didn't want to make the same mistakes. She didn't want to be around someone who had shown to her that they didn't respect her and could be violent towards her.

"I just came to say, that I didn't mean to scare you earlier," Damon continued, ignoring Lydia comment.

"I know," Lydia answered. She didn't know what else to say to that. He had, technically, already apologized and, Lydia knew that excuse. Lydia knew Damon's personality type, she knew who he was. He was aggressive and Lydia knew that being around him could lead to her getting hurt. It was who he was and he didn't seem to be making any changes to it. If the situation were to happen again, he would react the same way. Because it came down to Lydia and Elena, and she knew Damon would always choose Elena.

Lydia didn't mind that. She wasn't closer to Damon than Elena was. It was no different than Kol choosing Lydia over Elena, he would have no reason to put Elena first, just like Damon wouldn't put Elena first. That didn't mean he had to act the way he did. Elena didn't ask Damon to grab her and try to physically force her to stay. That was Damon's choice and Lydia knew he would do it again.

"I know that we haven't really had a chance to talk lately," Damon continued.

"I guess we've both just been pretty busy," Lydia said with a nod of her head. Her and Damon were friendly, but they were never really that close. Damon was somewhat like an older friend who had gone off to college and would check on her occasionally. That being said, they were certainly a lot closer before than they were now. At least before, Lydia knew that she could call Damon in an emergency and he would come to help her if she needed. She somewhat missed having a friendship with him. He was the only person who didn't look at her like she was broken and didn't treat her like she was sick and dying. When Lydia was around him, she often forgot that she was sick.

"And I can tell from that Stefan like expression on your face that I let you down," Damon added, causing Lydia to smile slightly. She knew exactly what face Stefan was referring to, though she had only seen it once before.

Lydia didn't feel let down by Damon though. She never expected much from him. He was just Elena's friend, if she could even call him that, and Stefan's brother. He wasn't the one who disappointed her."Well, you're here now."

"This counts?" Damon sounded uncertain, Lydia knew what that must've been. She didn't sound too convincing because the truth was, Lydia knew that they were all hiding something from her, regardless of whether or not it had to do with her being sick. She figured that would be a lot easier to figure out if she continued to act the same way as she would have in the past. That meant staying quiet and accepting apologies from people who didn't deserve them.

Though Lydia knew a small part of herself accepted his apology because she wanted it to be true. She wanted to believe that her former bonds with her friends would strengthen again. That they would want to be part of her life like they once were, but Lydia knew that most likely wasn't true. All they did was disappoint her.

"Of course it does," Lydia forced a smile."But if you don't mind, I think I need to get some sleep. I'm sure I'll be undergoing more than my fair share of tests in the morning."

"Well, that was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be," Damon sounded relieved, standing up from the bed."And here I thought that I was going to have to bring you a chocolate milkshake tomorrow from the Grill in order to win you over."

"I'm sure whatever doctor I see tomorrow will be happy to know that you have no problem helping me not follow my diet," Lydia rolled her eyes playfully. He had a habit of encouraging her to indulge in some of the foods that she should be avoiding.

"Then you can expect a strawberry milkshake around noon once your tests are done," Damon winked at her."It's a fruit. Much healthier."

Lydia breathed out a laugh and leaned her head against the pillow."Goodnight, Damon."

"Goodnight, Starry Eyes."