Gravity

It's time to go home

"I'm sorry that I had to call you with bad news... again." Rebekah sort of apologized to Caroline.

Caroline smiled. "It's ok, I'm starting to get the idea that whenever we decide to go away something bad happens."

Rebekah wanted to say something heartfelt and warm but having Elijah in the room next door in excruciating pain and Damon on the other side of this door dying made her task a lot harder.

Caroline wasn't one to wait for kind words to disguise how bad things actually were so she smiled warmly at Rebekah and stroked her arm, when she opened the door she found Damon lying in bed with his eyes closed and sweating, he looked ghostly white and when she touched his hand he felt cold as a corpse. "Damon..." she softly called him.

His eyes fluttered open and a weak smile graced his features. "Vampire Barbie..." he murmured and immediately started coughing from the effort.

"You don't look so good." she handed him a handkerchief so that he could clean himself.

After cleaning his mouth Damon grunted while facing the ceiling. "Been here, done this. I'm becoming an expert in werewolf bites."

Caroline glanced at Rebekah. "Bekah tells me that you don't want us to call Stefan..." she looked back at Damon. "He should know about this Damon."

"I don't want my brother to remember me like this, I'd like to go down as the handsome eternal stud that I once was."

It was a remark that made everyone smile but the moment didn't last, Rebekah was visibly worried and Caroline wasn't entirely cold-hearted to the situation either.

"I'm sorry Caroline." He said serious.

She shook her head. "Will everyone stop worrying about that? I have plenty of time to go on other trips with Klaus, we kind of have eternity to explore my tourist side."

Damon licked his parched lips. "No... I'm sorry for what I did to you when we first met."

Caroline looked down on her lap not sure how to properly react but not looking straight at him was one option. "Damon... you don't have to do this."

He looked at the ceiling again searching for the right words to tell her. "I was wrong... and I was a dick. I shouldn't have used you like that." he faced her again.

"You're already hallucinating." she smiled nervously.

"I honestly only compelled you because I thought from the get go that you were pretty incredible. And let's be real, you would never be with a jerk like me willingly, not after you realized how much of an ass I actually was."

Caroline felt a bit dizzy, Damon's words were unexpected and surprisingly not late enough, although never truly hoping he would apologize to her the moment itself was perfect, she was about to marry Klaus and Damon was that last bit of her past that still made her doubt if she was ever going to be good enough for Klaus.

"Caroline... I could have gone for any girl in this town but I chose you because I saw the same that Klaus saw in you. I'm sorry that I made you doubt yourself but you are that amazing and everyone's lucky to have you as their friend, I know that Elena loved you like a sister and you should know that."

Caroline looked up at him teary. "Why are you telling me this now Damon?"

He smiled and then held back a scream that ripped through his heart cage, he calmed down when he felt Rebekah's touch on his hand, it felt good and soothing. "Klaus was just smarter than all of us, he actually went for it. He knew what he wanted while none of us did. Every guy in this town was too screwed up to begin with, I know I was. There was no chance in hell I was going to let myself fall in love again, not after Katherine and when I did... I lost Elena as well. It's time to give up but I'm happy that he didn't and that you are the one walking away with real love out of us all." he whispered staring at this ceiling like it was the last thing he was ever going to see.