Salvation (TVD Fan Fiction)

Chapter 35

3rd POV

On the way back to the Boarding House…

"We're getting married!" Rhi squealed excitedly as she leaned over to kiss Damon's cheek.

"We're getting married!" Damon laughed in affirmation, waiting for the reality of it all to set in on himself. He flashed Rhi a mega-watt smile before averting his eyes back to the road.

Damon was overjoyed. Previously he never would've considered getting married - ever. Why would he? He lived out his life as the eternal stud and had recruited hundreds of women to his bed over the years. Perpetual bachelordom seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Marriage was out of the question, and even love in general was painful, pointless, and largely overrated.

But that was all before Rhiannon. It wasn't until he reunited with her and remembered the life they had before that he realized what he was missing in this one. Rhi was incomparable to any other woman he had ever met, she was the game-changer. He knew that when everyone else heard that he was engaged to be married, they were bound to have more than their share of jokes to crack, but Damon didn't give a damn. He had wanted to marry Rhiannon when he was a human, and fate had cruelly snatched away that opportunity from him. Damon knew he would not allow anything or anyone to take Rhi away from him again.

Hearing the leather on his steering wheel grind in protest under the stress of his tightened grip, Damon tried to calm his thoughts. As much as he wanted to just enjoy this night with Rhiannon, Damon's euphoria was shadowed by the threat of Rebekah and Kol. And now, potentially even Esther, according to Elijah.

He sighed and found himself wishing that all the Originals were sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic. He was tired of a new danger crawling out of the woodwork at every turn, threatening Rhi and his happiness, which were now two mutually inclusive entities. If Esther really did pose a potential danger to Rhiannon as Elijah claimed, Damon knew his only option was to take her out. He knew he needed a plan, and an epic one at that. One that the fearless little redhead at his side knew nothing about, because she would be sure to oppose it.

Damon felt Rhi squeeze his hand and he glanced over at her and offered a smile that he hoped wasn't as transparent as it felt. He still couldn't pick out any of her thoughts, but her soft green eyes reflected something that looked like worry.

Before she could say anything, loud raindrops began thudding against the windshield. As Damon flicked on the windshield wipers, lightning flashed, illuminating the darkened clouds above them. Damon knew that telepathy or no telepathy, Rhiannon was beginning to pick up on his anxiety and it was best to change the subject.

"You're finally unscathed again," he observed as he surveyed her healed wounds out of the corner of his eye.

She rubbed the side of her face where her gash had been and felt nothing but smoothness. Other than a few tangles in her hair and frayed tears in her dress, Rhi was flawless.

"I might heal slower than you, but I'm a lot more durable than you. I'm not as fragile as you see me, Damon," she informed him as thunder reverberated against the car windows.

Damon eyed her surreptitiously as she spoke, then shook his head as he pulled the car into the driveway of the Boarding House.

"Yeah, I'm not going there with you. Not tonight. That topic of discussion falls in too closely to the 'shit we agreed not to talk about' category," he told her as he shoved the Camaro in park and slid the key out of the ignition.

Damon ignored the mildly reproachful look she gave him and reached underneath the driver's seat. "New subject!" he said with newfound enthusiasm as he presented her with a bottle of bourbon. "I believe we have a reason to celebrate."