Return To Mystic Falls

Without Hesitation

Elena chews at her lip, looking around at Damon, Stefan, and I. There's fear there as if she truly understands the gravity of having Katherine offer up her help. We shoved a vampire who uses any leverage she can to get her way in a situation where she could have died. We'll be repaying this favor for decades if not longer. This will be a dark cloud Katherine holds over our heads for the rest of her miserable life. "Wow. That's...not good."

"No. No. That's not good at all," Damon reiterates, pulling me in closer to him as Katherine joins our group. There is a fear in the room, one that will continue to assault us all every time Katherine is around. This is our new hell, one we allowed ourselves to be put in.

Stefan, still holding Elena tightly, doing everything in his power to protect her from this new danger, turns to address Katherine, "Everything taken care of?"

"I'm guessing you're going to want this back," Katherine holds out the necklace Stefan gave Elena. The girl quickly collects it, holding the token close to her heart. "Your pretty little outfit is going to need a good dry clean."

Elena stares up at Stefan, still clutching her necklace tightly, shrinking away from the vampire standing before her, "You're going to have to get her out of here before Jenna gets home."

"Is that all you have to say to me?" I guess the lack of all of us bowing down at her feet is already starting to get to Katherine. I should have known. The narcissist in Katherine can't let her do something without the praise and admiration that comes along with it.

Elena gaining some bravery amongst her own vampire protection unit, takes a step away from Stefan, "This doesn't change the way I feel about you."

"I don't much like you, either, if we're going to be open," Katherine answers, leaning against the stair railing. "And frankly, I'd be happy to see you dead, but if we're going to try and take on Klaus, we kinda need you to be alive. So, I'm not a threat to you, Elena. If any of you are going to believe anything, believe that."

Outside, a car pulls up, muffled laughter filling the air. We need to get Katherine out of here before Jenna opens that front door. We'll have time for sharing our feelings about each other later. "Wow, riveting stuff. Now, if everyone's done with the touchy-feely crap, we might want to get out of here. Jenna and Ric just pulled up."

"Shall we?" Damon offers me his arm, the two of us linking elbows as we slip out the back door and into the night. For now, everything is at peace.

Damon lies across the bed, flannel pajama pants covering his lower half. I watch him for a while. He concentrates, taking in every word on the worn out pages of the Gilbert Journal. His lips fall slightly apart, ocean blue eyes moving back and forth. A piece of hair slips out of place, falling across his forehead. His bare chest rises and falls as he takes slow even breaths. I could tell him the truth, why I'm back, what the end game is. He'd be hurt, but he'd understand. My handsome, precious Damon, always so forgiving. He has to understand, I'm doing this for him, for all of them.

Tiptoeing across the room, I crawl onto the bed, kissing my way up Damon's stomach to his chest. Gently, I nibble at the vampire's neck, my lips meeting his. He sets the journal aside, tangling his fingers in my hair as our lips work together. I drink him in, enjoying the feeling of his skin against my own. We hardly get moments like these anymore. The vampire flips us over, hovering above me, his eyes hungry.

"I love you," Damon whispers.

"Forever and a day," I grin back before pulling him back to me.

Damon's arm curls around my shoulders, holding me close to his side as he begins to flip through the journal again. I pull myself closer to him, soaking in the warmth radiating off of our bodies, not shielded by the duvet. "You know what I can't figure out."

"What's that?" I mumble back, tracing patterns onto Damon's stomach.

The vampire turns on his side, encasing me in his grasp, twisting and untwisting strands of my hair around his finger as he combs through the tangles. "How the town knew Emily Bennett was a witch. I mean, because according to Jonathan Gilbert, he was the only one who knew. I know he didn't turn her in."

"Don't look at me," I answer with a shrug. Emily Bennett and I hardly ever interacted. When we did she was nothing but civil. We came to a mutual understanding of one another. Our enemy wasn't each other. It was Katherine. The only way to take her down was to work together. "I never had an issue with her."

Damon frowns, leaning in to kiss me again. As our lips touch, he pulls away, eyes set on the door. I turn to see what he's looking at. Katherine stands in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. Thinking she'd move on and find her own place was wishful. She won't leave the Salvatore mansion until she's gotten every scrap of information she wants.

"Emily Bennett was a loose end. I like mind tied up." Katherine walks across the bedroom, sitting on the edge of Damon's bed. "You know what I can't figure out?"

Damon sits up, making sure the blankets stay covering me, "Do I care?"

"Why you won't tell me where to find the site of the witch massacre." Katherine pouts, bottom lip pushed out over her upper one. She flirts silently; batting her long eyelashes as she fishes for the information she wants.

Damon, privy to Katherine's tactics, ignores this, "Because I have no clue." He curls me closer to his side, staring Katherine down as he plants a kiss on top of my head.

I watch her shift; disappointed in the fact that Damon isn't giving her the attention she wants. Katherine has never liked that Damon picked me. She loathes when he throws out love in her face. Right now, it's the only way to combat her attacks. She wants to get between us, to make us doubt each other. By showing her we're stronger, and more in love than ever, we've put a kink in her master plan. Katherine's big, puppy dog eyes, and bright smile have no power here. "You knew that Emily Bennett was the key to getting me out of that tomb and something tells me that you did everything in your power to make sure she was safe, yet you have no idea where she was killed. Who's the liar now?"

"We left town," Damon answers simply. "I didn't give a shit about Emily Bennett.

Deciding to change tactics, Katherine's face changes yet again. This time innocent, eyelashes still flying a mile a minute as she runs a finger over Damon's jaw. It takes everything in me to not reach up and break it. She doesn't get to waltz in here and try to make things like they were. "You hurt me today."

"Tit for tat," Damon shrugs, brushing away Katherine's touch.

The brunette slinks forward, pushing her breasts up and out as she leans forward, "You were mean and very rough."

"Don't start Katherine," I sit up, pulling the blanket with me. "I don't want to get blood on the new sheets."

Katherine recoils, sitting back on the edge of the bed, "You wouldn't dare."

"Katherine," Damon shifts a little on the bed so that he's sitting all the way up on the bed, one arm crossed over his chest, the other gesturing towards the door. "There are six other bedrooms in the house, go find one."

Katherine stands, continuing to pout as she stalks out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Throughout the house I can hear other doors being violently pulled on their hinges, only to be loudly shut seconds later. She's throwing a tantrum, hoping one of us will come out and apologize, inviting her back into our lives with open arms. She's used up all her chances, run through all her favors. There's nothing left for her.

"Would you really kill her?" Damon asks as he settles back under the blankets, his arms wrapping tightly around me, chin resting on my shoulder. I can feel his warm breath on my cheek as he talks.

Curling my fingers between Damon's I nod, "Without hesitation."