RIPPED AWAY~ damon salvatore

Prologue

I stand outside the Salvatore Mansion throwing stones at the first window on the second story. After about the fourth stone, the window creaks open and I stop. Someone peers over the ledge at me and I smile. He holds up his pointer finger for me to wait.

I nod in agreement and sit down on the wooden swing in their backyard. Soon enough, he comes and sits beside me throwing their arm casually over my shoulder. I turn to him: my best friend, Stefan Salvatore.

"So, why did you drag me out here in the middle of the night, Aubrey?" he asks, grinning against the moon light.

"I couldn't sleep. Too much on my mind," I tell him sighing.

"You mean Damon?"

"Yes. How could he just leave me and run away to war?" I cry into his shoulder.

"I tried to warn you, Aubrey. Damon runs away when things get hard. He's not the type to stay and fight for what he wants," Stefan comforts me.

"Fight for what he wants? You make it sound like he wanted me in the first place," I sob harder, clutching onto him for support.

"You know he loved you. Even if he sometimes sucked at showing it, Damon loved you. More than anyone else. Don't you ever forget that," he tells me and I nod.

Damon may have left me, but Stefan's right. He loved me and I loved him. No matter how much I want to hate Damon, I really can't. Deep down, I always knew we wouldn't last. I wanted something permanent and Damon was never someone to be pinned down. I just have to move on and face the facts.

I pull away from Stefan. "You better get back to bed."

"You can stay the night if you like," he suggests.

"No, your dad already hates me as it is. He thinks I'm trash," I murmur.

"Don't listen to him. You're not trash. Nowhere close," he assures me. I smile. He always makes me feel better.

"No, I better get going home," I tell him, standing to leave.

Stefan nods and walks back inside. I leave the Salvatore property and start my walk back towards my home across town.

All I can think about is Damon leaving for war. I can't help but blame myself, but I didn't tell Stefan that. If I did, he would know my secret. The same secret I feel drove Damon away because I refused to tell him. I knew if my secret ever got out my whole world would come crashing down. But now that Damon's gone, it feels like my world has already collapsed.

Maybe I should have just told Damon my big secret. Anyway, it's too late for that now. He's gone. No one will ever know I'm a witch.