Wayward Hearts: Book 2

Part 41

"I'll be watching you," Alaric promised Emma.

Emma laughed and nodded, "I figured as much."

"Ric and I are both going to kick Damon's ass if he doesn't treat you right," Lexi crossed her arms.

Emma rolled her eyes and pulled Lexi in for a hug before moving to hug Alaric. She did her best to shove her emotions down and just enjoy her moment.

"I'm going to ride with Stefan down to the quarry to dump Silas," Lexi smiled before walking away, "tell Dean I said to stop being a dick."

Emma giggled slightly, "Trust me, I will."

Lexi walked away and towards Stefan.

"Em," Damon walked up to Emma with his hands in his pockets, "I need to talk to you."

Emma nodded and followed him inside, Damon stopped by the fireplace before he turned to face Emma.

"I wanted to apologize," Damon met Emma's eyes.

"That seems like a good place to start," Emma nodded in agreement.

"Let me finish. I said I wanted to. And then I realized, I'm not sorry," Damon shrugged as Emma looked at him in shock.

"You could have died today, and instead of taking the cure, you chose to die. You walked away from me, knowing that you might not make it," Emma took a deep breath as she noticed the flames in the fireplace start to dance erratically.

"I'm not sorry. But you know what I really am? Selfish, because I make bad choices that hurt you. Yes, I would rather have died than be human. I'd rather die right now than spend a handful of years with you, only to lose you when I'm too old and sick and miserable and you're still you. I'd rather die right now than spend my last final years remembering how good I had it and how happy I was, because that's who I am, Emma, and I'm not gonna change. And there's no apology in the world that encompasses a world where I can't have you," Damon laid out his argument.

Emma looked at him astonished, "I have never asked you to change Damon, I have never questioned your reasoning, and I sure as hell never want to again. Do you understand how many books, and spells, and sleepless nights I have had just trying to get you back? Only to watch you almost throw it all back in my face because you won't fight for yourself."

Damon saw everything from her perspective, his arms dropped to his sides "Em..."

"So guess what Damon, if that's what you need from me for the rest of eternity then fine. I will happily be that person that fights for you when you won't do it. I will drain myself of every bit of my energy to get you back up when you fall. If that's my job and what you need me to do, then I'll do it. I love you too much to lose you," Emma's emotions were starting to get the best of her and her voice cracked on the last word, "again."

Damon crossed the room in two giant steps and closed the gap between himself and Emma, pulling her into him and locking his lips against hers. He held Emma's face gently as his lips moved with hers. As the kiss ended, Damon kept Emma close, resting his forehead against hers.

"I love you Em," he whispered.

Alaric came through the door and the couple quickly back away from each other a few steps.

"Don't bother on my account," Alaric grinned at Emma.

"I'm not sold that this doesn't still bother you," Emma crossed her arms.

Alaric shrugged, "You're happy Em. At the end of the day, that's all I care about. Besides, now that you are immortal, you need someone to share that time with. Humans can't live in the same world that we do."

"Matt's ability to survive is shocking," Damon laughed slightly.

"Moon is full," Alaric pointed out as he glanced out the window.

"Guess that means that the Winchesters dealt with Metatron. Unless you suddenly don't remember me," Emma smiled at Damon.

"You knew about the time line?" Damon looked at Emma, shocked.

Emma nodded, "Yeah, I knew."

"Don't screw this up Damon," Alaric said from his seat.

"With you always looking over my shoulder, how can I?" Damon turned to look at Alaric, but he was gone.

Damon let out a sad sigh, but Emma came up to his side and wrapped her arms around his waist. Emma's phone began to ring, when she pulled it out of her pocket she saw that it was Sam.

"Hey Sammy," she greeted him when she answered, "I'm guess Metatron is out of the picture."

"Yeah Em, Cas has him, but um..." Emma could hear something was wrong just by Sam's tone of voice.

"Sam, what happened?" Emma could feel her heart start to pound, Damon looked at her with his eyes full of concern as he watched drop the phone to the ground in shock as soon as Sam told her what had happened.

"Em..." Damon pulled her close.

Emma's hands tangled in her hair as she sank to her knees, "No...no, no, no...he can't be dead."

Emma started sobbing as Damon knelt down next to her and pulled her into his chest. Damon reached down and hung up her phone, she could call Sam back when she was ready to deal with it.

"Dean...he can't be dead," Emma shook her head as if she was trying to get the thought out of her brain, "no, no, no."