At The Beginning [Stefan & Damon Salvatore]

Chapter 136

Grove Hill Residence

At the apartment Cassie and Alaric are ransacking the apartment while Damon emptied the blood bags. "Find anything yet?" Cassie asked turning around. "No, I looked everywhere. The place is...The place is clean." Alaric replied with a disappointed look on his face. "Well, I found this; behind the blood in the fridge." Damon said as he tossed Alaric a beer. "Oh, man, this was a real dead-end." Alaric said with a deep sigh. "I wouldn't beat myself up over it, man. What did you think you were gonna find, huh? Isobel with a cigar and slippers?" Damon asked with rude sarcasm, "You mean how you do everytime Katherine's mentioned?" Cassie asked snarkily. "Stop being a hypocrite Damon." Cassie snapped at him and sat down next to Alaric.

Alaric suddenly started to chuckle. He ran his hand over his face. Cassie knew he had cracked. He was embarrassed for still looking for her. "Oh, man. I...I gotta stop this. I can't...I can't keep searching for her." Alaric said as he came to a realization. "Really? After only two years? That's actually moderately healthy." Damon said with surprise. "What are you going on? 146?" Cassie asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "Well, I figure the 200 mark is probably a good stopping point." Damon said with a shrug. Cassie shook her head at him. "Ahh. I mean, no answer is enough. I keep thinking I wanna know why, when, you know, the precise moment. When my wife decided life with me wasn't enough." Alaric said with sadness in his eyes.

Cassie put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "She charmed me, your wife Isobel. She talked a good game, man. She was smart. She had this excitement in her eyes. I probably should have known there was something different about her, some tie to Katherine. There had to be some reason I didn't kill her." Damon said tryingto understand his reasoning. "Damon..." Cassie said in a warning tone. "That's enough, Damon. I don't wanna hear anymore. I just don't want to waste any more of my life. Searching for answers that I really don't want. I'm through with Isobel. I...I'm done with all of this. Yeah." Alaric concluded. He stood up and walked out the door. Cassie let out a deep sigh. "Well, that was fun." Cassie said and then stood up from the couch. "Ready to go?" She asked Damon. Damon looked up at her. "What's with you Cassie?" He asked confused. Cassie furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?" She asked his and crossed her arms over her chest.

Damon stood up from where he was sitting. "Why are you being so cold to me?" He asked with hurt in his eyes. Cassie rolled her eyes. "Maybe because I have to be." Cassie said harshly. Damon now furrowed his brow. He didn't understand what she was getting at. "God Damon! You're still in love with Katherine while I'm in love with you!" She raised her voice at him. "I can't live forever, Okay? I don't have an eternity to waste pining for a guy who's pining over his ex." She said as tears welled up. "I need to stop being in love with you, So please just leave me alone." She said then walked past Damon, out the door. Damon just stood there dumbfounded. He didn't know how to fix this or if he could. One thing he was sure of is that he lost Cassie.