Warnings: fighting, talks of familial member dying (Vicki), swearing (fuck mentioned once by Tyler), previous bad relationships
Word count: ~600
Mini summary: Tyler’s dumb, you’re hurt. At least Tyler fought to keep you.
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The argument has already worn you both down to bone. Voices hoarse. Tempers frayed. Tyler’s pacing like a caged animal, running a hand through his hair.
“Why does everything have to be this hard with you?” he snaps. “Why can’t it ever just be—simple?”
You stiffen. “Because my life didn’t come simple.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he says quickly. “I just—” He exhales sharply, frustrated, reckless. “Vicki didn’t make things this complicated.”
The second the name leaves his mouth, he knows.
Your face goes still in a way that scares him.
“Oh,” you say softly. “Wow.”
“That’s not—” He steps toward you. “I didn’t mean—”
“She was my sister,” you cut in, voice shaking. “And you just told me she was easier to love than I am.”
“That’s not what I was saying,” he insists, panicking now.
“It is,” you say, backing away. “It’s exactly what you were saying. You just said the quiet part out loud.”
You grab your jacket with trembling hands.
“Don’t,” Tyler pleads.
You laugh, hollow and sharp. “This is the part where I leave before you do.”
The door slams behind you.
Outside, the rain is already pouring, like the sky has decided to match your chest. It soaks through you instantly as you stumble down the steps, breath coming in broken pulls. You make it halfway down the street before the sob finally tears loose.
Behind you—
“Fuck.”
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Footsteps. Running. Fast.
“Wait!” Tyler shouts. “Please—wait!”
You spin when he grabs your arm, rain streaking your lashes, anger and grief crashing together.
“What makes you different?” you demand. “Huh?”
“I shouldn’t have said that,” he says immediately. “I was angry and I was wrong.”
You rip your arm free. “You compared me to my dead sister, Tyler.”
“I know,” he says, voice breaking. “And I hate myself for it.”
You shake your head, laughing through tears. “Jeremy left when I got too much. Kol left when I stopped being fun. Luke left when things got complicated.” Your voice cracks. “Everybody wants me when I’m easy. Nobody stays when I’m hard.”
“That’s not fair,” he whispers.
“It is,” you snap. “It’s the pattern. I’m lovable right up until I need something. Until I take up space. Until I stop being convenient.”
The rain is relentless now, drenching you both.
“I keep bracing myself,” you admit, quieter now, more broken. “For the moment you decide loving me costs too much.”
Tyler steps closer, hands shaking when he cups your face.
“You are not inconvenient,” he says fiercely. “You’re hurting. And I should have protected that—not thrown it back at you.”
“You don’t know you won’t leave,” you whisper.
He gestures around them—the empty street, the downpour, the fact that he chased you without thinking. “I know I’m standing out here in the middle of a rainstorm instead of letting you walk away. I know I’m choosing you right now.”
Your breath stutters.
“Please,” he says softly. “Come home with me.”
You hesitate. “Why?”
“Because I’ve never done this before,” he admits. “I’ve never chased someone. I’ve never given a speech in the rain. And I’m doing it because I don’t want to lose you.”
You swallow hard. “That’s… a good start.”
Relief floods his face like he didn’t realize he was holding his breath.
He kisses you then—slow, careful, apologetic. Like he’s promising without saying it. You cling to him, rain and tears and warmth all blurring together.
When you pull back, his forehead rests against yours.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I see you.”
Hand in hand, soaked and quiet, you walk back together through the rain—no grand declarations, no guarantees. Just two people choosing not to walk away.
"you don't wanna be high like me, never really knowing why like me. you don't ever wanna step off that roller coaster and be all alone" mike posner, i took a pill in ibiza - seeb remix
Tyler had been trying to get a rise out of Caroline since their bad breakup. He had been trying to sweet talk you into being with him so he could get revenge on Caroline.
"Back off, Tyler, I'm warning you. Nothing, and I mean nothing, will come, between us especially not an asshole like you." The blonde seethes after hitting the wolf.
Pairing: DamonxOc, TylerxOc, ElijahxOc then KlausxOc endgame.
The feel of Damon’s lips on her cheek pulled her from yet another repeat dream of Elijah and Hannah. Katie decided to play with Damon and pretended to still be asleep as he kept kissing her in an attempt to wake her up. He kissed her other cheek then her chin, her neck, her chest and when she pressed a kiss to her stomach, just below her belly button she couldn’t help but laugh. He did it again knowing it tickled her. “Okay, okay, I’m awake.” She laughed as she reached down and hooked her hand under his chin, pulling him up to kiss him on the lips. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” He echoed back then reached over and grabbed her phone. “You got a message from Elijah last night.” He handed it to her to see Elijah’s name on the screen with a message under it.
She opened the message, “Lunch at the Mystic Grill, 12:00. Come alone.” She read out loud then clicked her phone off and tossed it aside. “That gives me five hours to hide away in bed with you.” she said as she rolled over onto her side to look at him.”
“As much as I would love that, don’t you have work?” he asked and Katie turned her eyes to the sheets they were laying on.
“Yeah…no. I quit.” She answered. “It’s just another part of my old life that I can’t fit myself back into. There’s too much vampire crap going on for me to actually make it through a full shift.”
“I won’t argue with that decision.” He told her as he rolled them over and laid to the side of her as he brushed her hair to the side, admiring her. “But if you quit your job what are you going to do about paying your bills.”
“Compel the repo. man when he comes to repossess my car? Sell my house and all the bad memories it holds? I don’t know, but I’d rather quit than be flaky.” Katie answered and Damon looked at her with a face that said he wanted to say something, but didn’t know if he should. “Whatever you’re thinking, say it.”
“I can’t see you making this decision a few months ago.” He said exactly what she thought he was going to say.
“I wasn’t a vampire stuck in the middle of vampire problems a few months ago. Now my soul is tied to an original vampire’s, Elena is possibly going to be sacrificed and has no interest in stopping it and I have to go meet with said vampire that my soul is tied to and talk about who the hell knows what because the topic of he and I is going to be off limits.” She said as she rolled them over and started kissing his face randomly. “Do you see time for waiting on tables and serving you bourbon in there anywhere, because I don’t.”
“Okay, you’ve made your point. I won’t talk you into going back to work as long as you go to school.” He told her making her roll her eyes.
“I’ve worked practically my whole life to go to college and make something of myself. That part of me hasn’t changed. I’ll go to school, make the best grades I can and when I slip, that’s what compulsion is for.” She said.
He rolled them back over and looked at her with warning eyes. “Damon.” She drawled. “I’m kidding. I’m not going compel my teachers…again.” She added with a smile. “Now can you please take my mind off all of this until I have to shower and meet Elijah?”
Damon laughed and pressed his lips to hers.
TVDTVDTVD
At twelve sharp Katie walked into the grill and over to the table where she saw Elijah waiting for her. As soon as she sat down a waitress walked over to take their order. Katie simply ordered fries, something that could be eaten quickly or slowly depending on how fast she wanted the conversation to be over. Elijah didn’t order anything and already had a glass of water sitting in front of him. “Can I start the conversation?” Katie asked as the waitress walked away.
“Yes, of course.” He told her with a pleased smile.
“I have some…ground rules.” Elijah smirked and waved for her to talk. “I don’t know what you had planned for us to talk about today, but we aren’t going to talk about my past life as Hannah, us or you and Hannah. Everything else is fine.”
“Understood.” Elijah told her with a nod. “So what do you do for fun?” he asked as the waitress walked over with their drinks.
Deciding to let him lead the conversation for now she answered the question. “Before Katherine snapped my neck I…” she tried to think of the things she considered fun. “wrote poetry, hung out with my friends and was attempting and failing to teach myself to play guitar.” She answered then grabbed her coke and took a drink. “Now…nothing.”
“I know you’re in school.” She said remembering the history paper on her desk. “Any extracurricular activities?”
“Cheerleading, track and softball, but our coach was…” she was going to say murdered, but looked around the restaurant and changed her mind, “attacked by an animal. So all sports got canceled for the year.” She answered getting an odd look from him.
“You don’t come across as the kind of girl who would enjoy cheerleading.” He said with a look that said he was intrigued.
“Yeah, I know. My grandfather pushed me into it. Plus it’s actually kind of fun pretending to be super peppy.” Katie said as she crossed her arms over her chest. “What about you? Ever go to college?”
“Unfortunately no.” he answered then took a drink of his water. Getting tired of the small talk, Katie looked down at her hands as she thought about asking him what she really wanted to know. “If you have a question, just ask. You do not have to be nervous around me.”
“You saw my parents when you were in my head…” she started, putting her hands in her lap under the table so he wouldn’t see her fidgeting. “Do you know them? Did they ever succeed in getting into your inner circle or whatever they were talking about?”
“No. I’ve never seen them before. They went to New Orleans. My family has not resided there since 1919. They were probably given outdated information.” He told her.
Katie bit the inside of her lip as she looked down at the table with a frown. “Right, well.” Katie sighed and scratched the back of her neck uncomfortable. “Maybe one of these days I’ll find my father myself and as him what he’s still doing there since he obviously isn’t keeping you and you’re brother from me.”
“You have yet to call my brother by his name.” Elijah pointed out. “You don’t know it do you?” he asked and she shook her head no. “It’s Niklaus.”
“Niklaus as in Klaus?” Katie asked. “The oldest vampire in the history of time?”
“I am older than him, but yes.” Elijah answered.
“Wow, okay.” Katie blinked. “So do you have any more siblings who might want to kill me?” she asked then placed her elbows on the table and motioned for him to bring it on with her hands. “Hit me with some family history.” She placed her arms on the table and leaned in clearly interested.
He smiled a little, pleasantly surprised with her playfulness. “My father was a wealthy land owner in a village in eastern Europe. My mother bore seven children.” He started.
“So were you born a vampire or…?” Katie asked a little confused.
“How my family became vampires is a very long story for another time. I was born human as were my siblings. What you heard of my brother is true for all of us. We are the oldest vampires in the world, the original family and from us all vampires were created.”
“I have a feeling I’m going to be saying wow a lot during this conversation.” Katie said as the waitress finally walked over with her fries and set them down in front of her.
“My family was quite close, but Klaus and my father did not get on too well. When we became vampires, we discovered the truth.” As he spoke, Katie munched on her fries. “Klaus was not my father’s son. My mother had been unfaithful many years before. This was her darkest secret. Klaus was from a different blood line.” Katie’s brows rose. “Let me guess, you are thinking…Wow?” he asked with a small smirk.
Katie laughed a little as she swallowed her food. “Actually I was thinking…Ooh scandalous.” She said like an interested interviewer then smiled as she picked up a fry. “Please continue the story.”
“When my father discovered this about Klaus he hunted down and he killed my mother’s lover and his Entire family. Not realizing, of course, that he was igniting a war between species that rages until this day.” He paused to give Katie time to put the pieces together.
“Vampires and werewolves.” Katie said out loud. “Klaus is part werewolf…part vampire?”
“A hybrid, yes.” He answered and Katie put down the fry she was about to eat. “A hybrid would be deadlier than any werewolf or vampire. Nature would not stand for such an imbalance of power. Therefore the witches, servants of nature, saw to it that my brother’s werewolf side would become dormant.”
When Katie saw Damon and Elena walk into the grill she frowned. “Will you excuse me for a minute?” Elijah nodded so Katie stood up and headed over to them. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Better question is why are you here with Elijah.” Elena said with a confused look at Katie.
“I’ll explain later.” Katie told her then looked at Damon for answers.
“We just need to talk to John.” He said with a point at John where he stood near Alaric and Jenna who were sitting at a table. She hadn’t even noticed that they were at the grill. Katie frowned and looked back at Damon. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep my ears and eyes to myself.” He told her then leaned into her as he said, “My lips, however…” he smiled right before he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him as he kissed her.
Elena cleared her throat reminding them they were in a public place. So the broke the kiss and let go of each other. “So much for no PDA for a couple weeks.” Katie said making Damon roll his eyes with a smile. “I’ll see you later.” She told him then walked back over to Elijah. “Sorry about that.” She sighed as she sat down across from him. “So Klaus has a dormant werewolf gene.” She prompted him to continue.
“I would like some fresh air. Care to take a walk with me?” he asked not liking the fact that Damon was now at the grill and most likely wasn’t keeping his ears to himself.
Katie looked down at her cold fries and watered down coke. “Sure.” She stood up and pulled cash out of her pocket.
“I have already covered the bill.” He spoke up as he stood from the chair.
“But all you had was water.” she argued with a point at the glass of water on the table.
“A gentleman never allows the lady to pay.” He argued back making Katie smile. “Shall we?” he asked motioning for her to go first.
She put the money back into her pocket and they went outside, him opening the door for her like the gentleman he was. “Thank you.” she told him with a polite smile as she stepped outside. Realizing that they were out in the sun she turned her eyes to his hands.
“Trying to see if I wear a daylight ring?” He asked as he held up his hand for her to see the lapis lazuli ring on his right hand. He then dropped it and held his arm out for her to take as they walked.
“I thought nothing could kill you.” she said as she took his offered arm, slipping hers though it. Touching him even over the layers of his nice suit caused the feelings she always had when near him to stir in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t help looking up at him to see if he felt it too.
He gave her a small smile that told her he did. “That’s not entirely true.” He told her as they slowly walked down the sidewalk. “The witches won’t allow anything truly immortal to walk the earth. Every creature needs to have weaknesses in order to maintain the balance.” Katie looked across her shoulder at him curiously. “So while the sun will not kill me it still burns.”
“What about fire?” Katie asked then glanced ahead of them.
“It hurts, but it will not kill me nor will a werewolf bite.” He answered. “I hope you will forgive me for not telling you what will kill me.”
Katie looked up at him. “If you didn’t already know what would kill me I wouldn’t tell you either, no offense.” They walked quietly for a minute as Katie thought about what all he had told her. “So if the sun won’t kill you, why does Klaus want the sun and moon curse broken?”
“Ah, the curse of the sun and the moon.” He said as he looked around them with a smile.
“Why do you say it like that?” she asked looking across her shoulder at his handsome face.
“Because it’s not real.” He told her straight out making Katie give him a tilt of her head with furrowed brows. “Klaus and I planted that story in Roman scrolls, African carvings, Aztec sketches and any other culture or continent we felt like.”
“Why?” Katie asked as she placed her other hand on his arm.
“The easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelganger or to get your hands on some long, lost moon stone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout for it.” he answered making her stare at him.
“So what do you need the moon stone and Elena for if not to break the sun and moon curse?” she asked not taking her eyes off of him as they walked. The smile he gave her suggested she already knew the answer to that question. “Oh my god.” Katie gasped and stopped walking and let go of Elijah’s arm. “He wants to unlock his werewolf gene.”
“Yes. If allowed, Klaus would sire his own bloodline. He’d build his own race, endangering not just vampires, but everyone.” Elijah told her as he walked around her to stand face to face with her.
“Do you plan on letting him do that?” Katie asked with wide, scared eyes. “I mean, you already admitted to helping him plant the sun and moon story all over the world.”
“I helped him because I loved him. That’s changed, now he must die.” He told her and she just stared at him. “I promise you, I will not let him hurt you.” He told her as he slid his hand over her cheek.
Hating the way skin to skin contact with him made her feel she grabbed his wrist and took his hand off of her. “Can I ask how you’re planning on killing him?” she asked as she looped her arm back through his so that they were now walking back to the grill, facing the setting sun.
“I’m sorry. I can not reveal that information to you.” he told her sounding genuinely sorry.
“Understandable.” She told him with a hard faced nod.
“You are mad at me.” He observed as he reached over and placed his hand over hers on his arm.
“I’m not mad.” She couldn’t help looking up into his eyes as they walked. “I’m grateful you have willingly told me everything that you have.”
“Willingly?” he asked a little amused that she thought she could pull it out of him another way.
“Yeah…” she drawled as she looked down at the ground and kicked a rock sending it skipping down the sidewalk. “Damon suggested that I flirt with you to get you to open up.” She admitted as she scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably then looked across her shoulder at him to see him giving her an amused smile. “I don’t think he understands how…drawn, to you I already feel.”
“That is the first time you have admitted to feeling something for me.” He pointed out making her keep looking at him as they strolled along the sidewalk.
“It’s not like I can keep ignoring the fact that every time you touch me I…” she trailed off with a shake of her head. “But it’s not real.” She wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince, her or him. “It’s just a spell put on us by Fiona.”
“We are breaking your rules.” He pointed out with a smirk.
“Right.” She took in a deep breath and let it out. “Change of subject.” She sighed as she looked over at him, taking in his hair and eyes. “I liked your hair better in the 1830’s.”
“You are flirting with me.” He observed and she looked down at the ground then up at him through her lashes. “Well, I like your hair better now.” She blushed a little and turned her eyes to the ground. “The wild curls were a bit…problematic.” His words caused images to flash through her minds eye and she stopped walking causing him to stop and turn to see a confused look on her face as the images kept flashing. “What’s the matter?”
“A memory.” She answered as she closed her eye to see the images better.
Hannah was laughing as she hovered over him, her nose brushing his as she pressed her lips to his, her hair covering both of their faces. He rolled them over with lightening speed then sat them up. “That hair of yours while beautiful can be quite…” he paused and reached over the side of the bed, pulling the lacing out of her dress before he sat back up, “problematic.” He was clearly annoyed but she just giggled as he brushed her hair back and tied it away from her face with the lace. “Now, where were we?” he asked and she leaned in brushing his nose with hers, teasing him by lightly brushing her lips across his. Needing more he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into him kissing her hungrily as he rolled them over and sank into her.
While she was standing on the sidewalk with her eyes closed Elijah watched as her facial expression changed as if she was experiencing with the vision she was seeing. When she opened her eyes and looked at him, lust was in her eyes. “What did you see?”
Instead of answering him Katie zipped out of sight desperate to get away from him before what she was feeling won the battle that she was losing in such close proximity to Elijah. He looked around making sure no one was looking before he chased after her, finding her leaning against the back of one of the stores with her hands on her head that was leaned back against the bricks of the building, breathing hard.
He walked silently over to her and took her hands from her head, making her eyes snap open. In a flash she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into her pressing her lips to his in a hungry kiss. He gripped her hips and picked her up, causing her to wrap her legs around him as he pressed her back into the building. As if her hands were not her own she started unbuttoning his shirt as he kissed her neck. But when the lust driven fog that had clouded her brain began to clear she forced herself to take her hands from him, slamming them back into the bricks, cracking one of them. “Stop…” the word sounded pained. He too was foggy headed and her word didn’t make it though. “Elijah…please…stop.” He stopped kissing her neck, but didn’t let her go. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” She panted, resting her head on his strong shoulder.
“What did you see?” he whispered in her ear then back up so she could drop her legs from around him.
“We were in bed.” She started as she took a step back and started buttoning his shirt. “My hair was in both of our faces, getting on your nerves. I thought your aggravation was funny.” It was obvious to both of them that she was only buttoning his shirt out of the need to touch him. “You tied it back from my face and we started kissing and…” she breathed hard just from talking about it as she buttoned the last button, under his tie.
“I remember.” He told her as she made herself step back and take her hands off of him. “Please, let me give you your memories.” He almost begged, the desperation in his voice surprising her.
“I’ve told you why I don’t want that.” She argued. “No.”
“Perhaps they don’t have to come from me.” He started as he cupped her face in his hand. “A witch once put a dam in your mind it could be possible for one to completely unlock all of your past memories, not just the ones of us, but…”
“No, Elijah.” Katie insisted. “I’m sorry, we obviously loved each other…a lot, but I love Damon. I’ve made that clear from the beginning and it’s still true now despite my mixed signals today.” Part of her wanted to throw herself at him again and another part wanted to run to Damon. “If I have fulfilled my part of yesterday’s agreement I would very much like to go home now.” She looked around them just now realizing that it had gotten dark outside.
When she looked back at him she brought her hand up to grab the wrist of his hand that was still on her face. He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers like she had done to tease him in her memory. When she didn’t kiss him back he pulled away and took his hand from her face. “You can go.”
She sped away from him to the back of the grill where she walked around it and to her car. She was getting inside when her phone started ringing. “Your timing is incredible.” She answered Damon.
“The blond werewolf has your blond friend.” He told her angrily. “Where are you?”
“Getting into my car about to go home.” She told him. “Where are you?” she asked right before he walked out of the grill and headed her way.
“I’m driving.” He told her as he walked around to the driver’s side and held his hand out for her keys. So she gave them to him and headed to the passenger side. “Tyler knows about us. Jules told him that we killed Mason. To make a long story short Stefan has Tyler and Jules has Caroline.”
“Awesome.” Katie sighed as she put on her seatbelt. “So where are you going?” she asked.
“A clearing near wickery falls.” He answered as he started driving.
TVDTVDTVD
“Tyler is free to make his own decisions as soon as you release Caroline." They heard Stefan say as they walked up to where he and Tyler stood outside of a camper that Jules stood in front of.
"My brother the peace maker." Damon said as the walked up making Stefan and Tyler look at them.
"Katie?" Tyler asked looking at her across his shoulder as she moved to stand beside him and Damon.
"Hi." She told him quietly with a quick, awkward wave.
"Since Stefan got here before me I'm going to let him try it his way before I resort my way...which is a little bloodier." Katie shook her head at him then looked at Jules. "So give us Caroline."
"Let go of Tyler." Jules argued.
"Give us Caroline. Without a full moon it’s not an even fight and you know it." Damon pointed out. "We will take you."
"I’m not so sure about that tough guy." Jules replied then whistled making more werewolves step out of the shadows. Most were carrying wooden stakes or other weapons and one had a tank of gas and a flame thrower. "Let’s try this again. Give us Tyler."
Katie, Damon and Stefan all exchanged looks before Damon looked at Tyler. "You heard her." He jerked his head at Jules. "Get over there."
Tyler walked over and stood next to Jules before a guy standing closer to the camper asked. "Which one of you killed Mason?"
"Um...that'd be me." Damon answered not surprising anyone.
"Boys! Make sure that one suffers." The guy pointed at Damon with a stake.
The three of them looked around. "We can take them." Damon encouraged.
"I don’t know about that." Stefan countered.
"Yeah...I think I'm with Stefan on this one." Katie said looking around at all the werewolves.
"Well then." Damon headed straight for Jules kicking off the fighting.
"Shit." Katie scoffed having no clue how to kill a werewolf or fight in general.
Stefan grabbed the guy who was now attempting to use the flame thrower and used him to hold off two werewolves. So seeing that they were distracted, Katie rushed over and broke one of their necks and when the second one made a move for her Stefan burned him with the flamethrower, distracting him enough for Katie to break his neck too.
When a wolf came at her she freaked and jumped high, avoiding his grappling move then landed right behind him and snapped his neck. One rushed up behind her and staked her between her shoulder blades causing her back to arch as she screamed out in pain. She fell on her stomach on the dirt and attempted to reach back to pull it out, but the wolf that stabbed her stepped on it, pushing it further in. She screamed, digging her nails into the dirt.
Damon tried to make a run for Katie, but Jules shot him in the shoulder making him fall to the ground. When Caroline came out of the camper Jules rushed to her and pinned her to the side of it, holding the gun to her head. Katie watched from the ground as Tyler stood in the doorway looking at Caroline with scared eyes. “Tyler, do something!” she yelled and the guy stepped on the stake again making her scream.
Tyler was about to take a step out of the camper when all of the wolves besides him grabbed their heads in pain and fell to the ground. Katie was pushing herself from the ground when Damon came over and pulled the stake from her back then helped her up and wrapped his arm around her side. “Elijah made a promise to Elena. I’m here to see it’s upheld.” The witch that knocked the wolves out spoke and Katie looked up to see that it was Luka’s dad. “You need to go.” Damon, Katie, Stefan and Caroline all walked over to him. “Get out of here, now.”
Katie looked back at Tyler then let Damon help her walk away. When he got into the drivers seat she looked over at him. “How’s your shoulder?” she asked with a nod to the bullet hole.
“Healed.” He answered. “How’s your back?”
“Healing.” She answered as she rolled her shoulders. “I’ve only had one blood bag today.” Damon reached over and cupped her face in his hand, looking at her with worried eyes. “I’m fine.” She took it off of her face and kissed his palm. “Let’s go home, a blood bag, a shower and your bed is calling my name.” he gave her a smile and started the car.
TVDTVDTVD
Water poured over them from the shower head above them as Damon ran his hands over her sudsy skin. “Not gonna lie, seeing you break someone’s neck tonight was kind of hot.” Damon told her, his lusty voice in her ear before he kissed it.
She smiled and slid her arms over his that hugged her from behind. “It’s kind of my only move.” She told him as she turned in his arms, wrapping hers around his waist. “I’ve been thinking about asking Alaric to teach me how to fight.”
“I can teach you how to fight.” He said as he started kissing her neck.
“I think we both know that if you tried to teach me we’d just end up in bed.” She told him with a smirk.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He said as he moved to kissing the other side of her neck. Katie pulled away from him to rinse the soap from her skin then step out of the shower. He could tell something was as off as soon as she walked away from him. “So what did you and Elijah talk about?” he asked as he finished showering without her.
“A lot.” She answered. “Mostly him and Klaus and the sun and moon curse.” She answered as she dried off.
“You know I can tell when you’re keeping something from me right?” he asked as he turned off the shower and stepped out. Katie looked at him with guilty eyes as she wrapped her towel around herself. “What is it?” he wrapped a towel around his hips as he walked over to her.
“I think you and I have both severely underestimated how much my tie to Elijah…the bond we share…affects me.” She said as she walked around him and into his room. He didn’t like how she was avoiding his touch. “I had a new memory…a vision…come to me when I was around him today and it was…” she could think of a thousand different words to describe it, but none that she wanted to say to Damon. “Like the dream I had in your car.” She said instead. Damon just stared at her, his jaw a little slack. “I…god this is hard to say to you…” she sighed as she headed to her clothes that she had laid on his bed.
“You love him…don’t you?” he asked not moving from where he stood in the archway of his bathroom.
“No.” she answered as she pulled on a pair of lace panties. “Right now, when I’m not around him…no.” she grabbed her bra and put it on while thinking of the right thing to say without lying to him. “But when I’m near him…it feels like I do. And when I had that vision today…it was like dirty cupid shot me with an arrow and all I could think about was jumping his bones.” She pulled on a tank top.
Damon walked over to his dresser and grabbed a pair of boxers. “So what did you do?”
“I ran.” She answered as she pulled on a pair of cheer shorts then sat down on the bed. “But he didn’t know what was wrong so he followed me.” She watched him put on his boxers then turned to look at her with glaring, pissed off eyes.
“Just say it Katie.” He told her as he walked over to her. “I can see it written all over your face so just…say it.” his harsh tone caused her eyes to water.
“I lost control and I kissed him.” she admitted in a shaky voice as a tear slipped. “I made a mistake.”
Damon whooshed out of the room, slamming the door behind him and Katie flinched as a picture crashed to the floor, shattering the glass. Refusing to break down for the millionth time since she turned, she headed to the parlor where she knew alcohol would be in stock. She was staring at the decanter, playing with the rim of it as she debated getting drunk when Stefan walked in. “Are you okay?” he asked seeing the tear that betrayed her.
She quickly wiped it away and looked up at him and his worried eyes. “No.” she answered letting her eyes fall back to the decanters in front of her.
Stefan walked over and took her hand off of the bottle then dropped it. “I have a healthier alternative.”
“Yeah?” she asked not looking at him. “What’s that?” she asked not really interested.
“Girls night at Caroline’s.” he said making Katie look up at him, confused considering she hadn’t heard from her friends. “Both of you have had a hard night, Caroline more so. I think you could all use it.” Katie stared at him, a little shocked that Stefan was suggesting a slumber party. “I thought you, Elena and Bonnie could surprise her.”
“That…” Katie sighed looking around as if she might find Damon, “sounds like the best thing I’ve heard all day.” Her reply made Stefan smile. “I’ll go change and pack a bag then meet you guys there.”
Katie went to her room, tore a piece of paper out of a spiral notebook and scribbled down a note for Damon. She taped it to his door then grabbed her things and headed out.
TVDTVDTVD
Katie, Elena and Bonnie stood on Caroline’s front porch, each holding their pillows and overnight bags like a bunch of preteens, as Stefan knocked on the door. Caroline answered wearing a robe with her wet hair tied up in a bun. “Hey.” She greeted Stefan since the girls were standing were Caroline could see them. “What’s going on?”
“I was a bit worried about you after everything you went through tonight.” Stefan told her with his hands in his pockets.
“I’m fine.” Caroline replied with a smile.
“Good, but just in case, I…uh, brought some back up.” He told her with a point over his shoulder as the girls stepped into view, Elena first.
“We’re gonna slumber it.” she told her as she stepped inside.
“We haven’t done it in ages.” Bonnie told her as she walked inside.
“It’s long over due.” Katie chipped in as the three of them hugged Caroline who started crying.
TVDTVDTVD
The girls sat around on Caroline’s bed surrounded by junk food with bowls of ice cream in their laps. The three girls giggled and laughed, letting lose, but Katie just stared down at the strawberry ice cream that she swirled around with her spoon. “Hey!” Caroline said as she snapped her fingers in Katie’s face getting her attention. “What’s up with you?”
“Nothing, just distracted…I guess.” She said as she picked up a potato chip and dipped it in the melted ice cream.
“Well, talk about it.” Caroline told her and Katie shook her head no.
“Come on, that’s what tonight is all about.” Elena pressed.
“Y’all are happy and laughing, I…don’t want to squash the mood.” Katie brushed them off then ate the chip.
“Katie…” Bonnie sighed making Katie look up at her. “Talk to us.”
“Tonight is all about making Caroline feel better.” Katie tried again, but her friends all dead panned at her. “Fine…I…” Katie sighed. “Dear lord where do I start.”
“Try the beginning.” Bonnie told her making Katie smile.
“Okay…” Katie scratched at her head. “Well, after Damon healed me from the car wreck and before I turned I…found out that I was three weeks pregnant.”
“What?” “Oh my god.” “Oh, no.” Bonnie, Caroline and Elena said at the same time.
“Does Tyler know?” Caroline asked.
“Yeah, but he doesn’t know that I lost it because of Katherine.” Katie answered then looked up from the bowl of ice cream to Caroline. “You were right when you said that my relationship was doomed from the moment Katherine killed us. I know I should’ve tried to make things work with him, I should have been there for him, but…just looking at him reminds me of the family I could have had, the child I could have given a better life than the one I had.”
“Hey, at least you’re happy with Damon.” Elena attempted to make her feel better, but all it did was make her feel worse.
“Yeah,” Katie attempted to smile but it looked pained, “but just like last time we were together there is someone else in the picture making things complicated.”
“Who is Damon going after now?” Bonnie asked with a frown.
“It’s not Damon…it’s me. I’m screwing things up.” She answered as she leaned to the side and sat her bowl on the floor, no longer interested in it.
“What?” all three of them asked together.
Katie took a deep breath in an attempt to hold it together. “This is going to sound crazy, but my soul was linked to Elijah’s in the 1830’s by a witch names Fiona.”
“That doesn’t just sound crazy it is crazy. You weren’t alive then.” Elena told her with a shake of her head.
“Ever heard of reincarnation?” Katie asked then told them about how she came to be linked to Elijah.
“So do you love Elijah?” Caroline asked curiously.
“No. I love Damon with every bone in my body.” Katie answered then grabbed a chip out of the bag in front of Caroline and tossed it into her mouth. “But when I’m around Elijah it’s like…how I feel about Damon completely disappears and gets replaced by Elijah.” She answered staring down at the bed. “When I’m around him I have to fight as hard as I possibly can to not hug him or kiss him…its torture.”
“You went to him yesterday didn’t you?” Elena asked making Katie look up at her. “You said you were going to do what you could to find a cure for Rose.”
Katie nodded. “I promised him that if he told me if there was a cure that I would have lunch with him today.”
“Did you?” Bonnie asked.
“Yep.” Katie answered popping the p at the end of the word.
“That’s why you were with him at the grill today.” Elena realized and Katie nodded.
“Damon suggested that I flirt with him to get him to confide in me. I couldn’t do that so I was just…friendly with him. I was holding his arm as we walked down the sidewalk and he made some comment about how he liked my hair better than Hannah’s and a word he used triggered a past memory…a vision almost. I’ll spare you the details, but when it was over…I ended up making out with him behind a store.”
“Whoa.” Bonnie said making Katie look up at her.
“Ew.” Elena added.
“Is he a good kisser?” Caroline asked getting scolded by Elena and Bonnie, but for the first time that night Katie started laughing. “What?” Caroline asked.
“Nothing.” Katie shook her head and stopped laughing but still smiled. “Becoming a vampire has changed you…but it hasn’t changed you that much.” Caroline smiled and shook her head at Katie. “Yes, he is a very good kisser.” She answered. “But that’s not the point. I told Damon what happened and he got pissed and just…took off. I don’t know where he went, but I’m afraid he’s going to do something stupid.”
Elena pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed Stefan. “Hey, is Damon there?” she asked and Katie could hear Stefan on the other end of the line. “No, I don’t want to talk to him. I was just making sure he wasn’t off doing something stupid to get back at Katie.” She once again heard Stefan’s reply. “Yeah, we’re binging on calories, she’s fine.”
“Okay, no more boy talk unless they’re famous.” Bonnie told Elena and Katie as she urged Elena to hang up the phone. Elena told Stefan goodnight.
“Damon is at the boarding house. Stefan said he’s been in the library, drinking since he got home.” Katie sighed in relief. “Now, what Bonnie said, no more boy talk.”
“Why don’t we watch a movie?” Bonnie suggested.
“Oh, what about the notebook?” Caroline asked perking up.
“No.” all three girls answered at the same time then started laughing.
Pairing: Damonxoc, Tylerxoc, Elijahxoc then Klausxoc endgame. Warning: None
Katie’s sat straight up in bed, breathing hard as she pressed her hand to her neck. The image of getting her head ripped from her body all too fresh in her head. “Hey.” Damon grunted as he sat up with a groan and slid his hand over her naked shoulders and back. “Come back to bed.” His sleepy voice caused her to look over at him as the images from the night before flooded her head and she got out of bed faster than she meant to.
“I shouldn’t be in here.” She started picking up her clothes only to find her tank top ripped down the middle. “Really, did you have to rip my shirt?” she asked holding it up for him to see.
He smirked at the drunken memory. “Pretty sure you liked it when I did that.”
She rolled her eyes and tossed it aside. “For future reference, don’t destroy my clothes.” She said as she put on her panties. “Drunk, lust driven me and sober, somewhat clear headed me apparently have two different ideas of what we like.” She pulled on her shorts and headed to his dresser to grab a shirt.
“For future reference?” he asked with a hopeful voice as he got out of bed and walked over to her, grabbing her hips and pulling her into him.
She turned in his arms and walked out of his grasp. “Yes, future reference.” She said as she scooped up his boxers, threw them at him then started putting her bra on. “Obviously I’m going to break up with Tyler, especially after last night.” She pulled the shirt over her head and stuck her arms through the baggy sleeves. “I can’t believe I cheated on him.” Damon watched her pull the shirt down over her slim torso with a smile on his face. “I’m pretty sure my moral compass got chunked out the window as soon as I turned. I used to-”
Damon put his hand over her mouth to shut her up with a smile still on his face. “That moral compass of yours that I love so much is still intact.” He took his hand off of her mouth and moved his hands to rest on her hips.
“Then why do I feel like such a horrible person?” she asked, starting to calm down a little.
“Because of that compass. If you didn’t have it you wouldn’t be feeling guilty right now.” He told her then cupped her cheek in his hand. “You got drunk and you made a mistake. It happens.”
Katie sighed and rested her head on his chest. After a few second she looked back up at him. “You’re not going to say anything about the fact that I just said that I’m going to break up with Tyler?”
“Nope.” He told her with a small smile that grew into a full on bright smile that showed off his smile lines and made Katie smile too.
She shook her head at him and walked over to look at his phone on the bed side table. “Okay, I need to go get dressed.” She put his phone down and started to her room.
“No.” he pouted as he rushed up behind her and grabbed her sides, holding her to him before she could leave his room.
“I have to go back to school at some point. There’s no use in putting it off.” She replied as she took his hands off of her and opened the door revealing Stefan with his hand raised to know on it.
“Katie.” He said with a confused and curious look on his face.
“Um…Hi?” the awkwardness of Stefan finding her coming out of Damon’s room wearing Damon’s shirt caused her greeting to come out as a question. “It’s exactly what it looks like, no I don’t want to talk about it, please don’t tell Elena and I’ve got school to get to.” She said in a rush as she walked around him leaving Damon behind to deal with his brother’s backlash.
“Damon.” She heard Stefan’s warning voice.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you little brother.” Damon said in a condescending tone.
“We need to go talk to Katherine.” Stefan told Damon and Katie stopped eavesdropping.
After showering off the shame of the night before she dressed in a pair of light wash jeans, a white wife beater shirt with a pink, white and orange plaid button up over it that she buttoned half way and a pair of ankle boots with a slight heel. Her hair was almost dry by the time she finished getting dressed so she threw it up into a messy ponytail and headed down stairs.
“Do you want me to drive you to school?” Damon asked when she walked into the kitchen with a blood bag in her hand.
“And risk Tyler seeing me with you before he even knows that I’m back in town?” she asked rhetorically. “I’m good thanks.”
“Why does it matter if you’re just going to break up with him anyway?” Damon asked as he walked over and stole a sip of the blood that she was drinking straight from the bag to save time.
“Because I still care about him, Damon, and I want to let him down at gently as possible.” She said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time.
He noticed that she still hadn’t changed her background picture. “Then you might not want to let him see your phone.” She just rolled her eyes, downed the blood bag and headed for the door. “Leaving a little early aren’t you?” he asked following her to the door.
“I have to stop by my house and grab my school bag then compel my teachers before classes start.” She replied as she pulled the front door open.
“You’re going to your house?” he asked with a frown knowing how hard it was going to be for her to return to the scene of the crime.
“Yes.” She sighed as she walked over to her car and tossed her duffle bag of dirty clothes into the passenger seat. “And I’m going by myself.” She turned to face him and he opened his mouth to protest but she placed her finger of his lips. “I need to do this alone.” He frowned and looked back and forth between her green eyes. “I’ll be fine. I promise now go help Stefan figure out how to get the moonstone from Katherine.” She took her finger off of his lips and got in her car.
TVDTVDTVD
She stood on the porch of her house, staring at the door as if her grandfather was standing on the other side of it, pissed at her for sneaking out again. “No one’s home!” the woman across the street yelled making Katie turn around to see the nosy neighbor lady headed her way, her yappy little tea cup poodle strolling beside her on a hot pink leash.
“I know Mrs. Ratcliffe, it’s me.” Katie inwardly groaned as she met the woman on the sidewalk. This woman had caused her to get in trouble with her grandpa on several occasions. She was the one who told her grandfather about Damon sneaking into her bedroom window.
“Katie, sweetie, where has your handsome grandfather been? I haven’t seen him in weeks.” The woman asked with a too sweet smile that made Katie want to punch her.
Instead she smiled back just as sweetly and said, “Oh, nowhere, just hanging around at the bottom of a lake while fish feed on his body.”
“W-what?” the woman stuttered, a horrified look on her old face.
Katie busted out laughing then looked into the woman’s eyes. “Forget what I said about him behind at the bottom of a lake, you know he retired and bought a motorcycle. You saw him drive away on it during the night after he shipped me off to my long lost aunt’s house. However, I’m back because I’m eighteen and he can’t make me do anything anymore and from now on you’re going to keep your nose out of my business.” The woman blinked as the compulsion sank in and she gave Katie a smile. “Have a good day Mrs. Ratcliffe.” She told the woman with a wave over her shoulder as she headed to the house, unlocked the door and went inside.
The smile faded from her face as her eyes landed on the broken glass from the tv that was scattered over the floor of the living room. She wanted to clean it up, but she knew she didn’t have time. So she went upstairs, tossed her duffle bag onto her bed, grabbed her school bag then headed back to her car.
TVDTVDTVD
She was leaving her pre-calculus class when she literally bumped into Tyler. “Watch where you’re g-” he started then realized it was her that he’d ran into. “Hey, when did you get back?” he asked with a confused but somewhat happy look. “Did you get contacts?”
“Yeah.” She answered with a scratch at her nose forgetting that she no longer wore glasses. “I got in late last night.” She lied smoothly. “Sorry I didn’t call, there was no cell reception where my aunt lives.”
“No biggie, I’m just glad you’re back.” he said as he grabbed her hand and leaned in and kissed her. She forced herself to kiss him back, but he could tell something was off. “What’s wrong?” he asked with a frown.
“Nothing.” Katie lied again and made herself smile. “Look I still have a lot of make up work to get before class. Can we talk after school?” she asked as she let go of his hand.
“Yeah, sure.” he said with a confused nod.
“Okay, see you later.” She said then headed to the last teacher she needed to talk to, Alaric’s. The other teachers had all been compelled to give her varying grades from 90-100, but Alaric knew what she was and couldn’t be compelled.
She knocked on the open door of the classroom making him look up from the desk he was standing behind to see her standing in his doorway. “Katie.” He said unenthusiastically. She walked inside and stood in front of his desk. “I was wondering when you would be coming back.” he said as he walked over and shut the door. He gave her a disappointed look as he walked back over to her. “Caroline was back after a week, what kept you out so long?” Katie realized then that Damon and Stefan didn’t tell him everything.
“I don’t really want to answer that question.” Katie replied as she pushed the strap of her bag further up on her shoulder.
“Do I have to worry about my favorite student eating her classmates?” he asked making her crack a small smile.
“I was told teachers didn’t have favorite students.” She popped off.
“Whoever told you that is full of shit. You’re interested in your work, you do it on time, get good grades and you don’t try to kiss my ass to get better grades. You also stood up to Mayor douche bag.” He said with a roll of his eyes then gave her a look that old her to be serious. “Now answer the question.”
“No, I’m not going to eat anybody.” She answered and he gave her a look that suggested he didn’t believe her. “Damon and I-”
“Please don’t ever start a sentence with the words Damon and I.” he interrupted her.
She just rolled her eyes. “We agreed that if I started to feel too on edge or murderous that I would give him a signal and he would get me away from people. So how about if I get too overwhelmed I’ll ask to go to the bathroom to get away and get myself together or just leave if I can’t handle it.”
“I don’t know…” he drawled skeptically.
“Your class if my first one of the day. So I’ll know if I can’t handle this one I won’t be able to handle the others and I’ll unfortunately skip school again.” She reasoned.
He took in a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest like he didn’t want to agree with her. “Okay.”
“Good, now back to the main reason I came here.” She said happy to have the hard part out of the way. “What can I do to make up what I missed?”
He stared at her for a moment as he thought about it. “Just be here on time everyday, write me a paper on…I don’t care, something interesting, and I’ll forge some grades like you compelled you other teachers to.”
“Really?” she asked with a surprised smile.
“Really.” He said with a tight smile of his own. “Someone will get suspicious if the other teachers have individual grades for you and I have one make up assignment.”
Katie’s smile got bigger. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now get out of here.” He told her with a jerk of his head to the door.
She looked at her watch as she walked out of history class to see she had twenty minutes to catch up with Bonnie and Caroline who she hadn’t seen or spoken to since she got back. She found them outside in their usual before school hang out spot under a tree out front. “Hey.” Katie greeted them as she walked up.
“Hey, you’re back.” Bonnie said with a smile, surprising Katie. “How are you?”
“Good, dealing, adjusting.” Katie said with a sway of her head. “Which is a lot easier with this.” She held up her hand that she wore her ring on. “Thank you, so much, Bonnie.”
Bonnie gave her a small but genuine smile. “You’re welcome.”
“I’m guessing Stefan and Damon filled you in about Tyler?” Caroline asked and Katie nodded. “Did Stefan tell you that I told him what I am?” she asked reluctantly.
“No. Why would you do that?” Katie asked with wide eyes.
“Because he figured it out.” She answered looking ashamed. “I didn’t tell him about you. He thinks I’m the only one in town.” Katie breathed out a sigh of relief. “He said he ran into you earlier. He asked me if I knew you were back and said you were acting weird. What’s up?”
“I’m…going to break up with him after school.” Katie answered reluctantly with a scratch at the back of her neck.
“What, why?” Bonnie asked. “You two are so cute together.”
“I…just…” Katie couldn’t figure out how to finish the sentence.
“I get it.” Caroline spoke up. “I broke up with Matt because I couldn’t handle keeping secrets from him. You and Tyler have it worse…you’re both keeping secrets.” Caroline hit the nail on the head.
“What she said.” Katie pointed at Caroline to answer Bonnie’s question.
“Our relationships were doomed from the moment Katherine suffocated us.” Caroline said with a flick of her brows and a roll of her eyes.
“She suffocated you?” Katie asked.
“Mmhmm, with a pillow.” Caroline answered as the bell rang. “That’s not how she killed you?” she asked as the three of them started walking to class.
“No, she snapped my neck.” Katie answered.
“Well that was harsh.” Caroline replied then sped up, headed to a different class than Bonnie and Katie. “See you guy later.” She waved over her shoulder as she left them behind.
“I’ve been a part of some weird conversations, but I think that one takes the cake.” Bonnie said with a freaked smile as they walked into the almost empty history class making them both laugh as they took their seats.
TVDTVDTVD
After school Tyler met Katie at her car, a pissed off look on his face as he walked over to where she stood with her door open. “Are you going to break up with me?” he asked stopping a few feet away from her.
“What?” Katie asked shocked that he somehow knew.
“Tiki told he she over heard you telling Caroline and Bonnie that you were going to break up with me after school.” He told her with flared nostrils.
“I hate her.” Katie sighed as she rested her head on her arm that rested on the door.
“Is it true?” he asked not giving up on getting an answer.
Katie picked her head up and looked at him, fighting hard to keep her emotions at bay. “I know at the hospital after the…” she paused and took a deep breath, “the ultrasound that I said we were good, but…we’re not.”
“Do you blame me?” he asked with an accusatory look.
“No.” she shook her head and he looked at her like he didn’t believe her. “No I don’t, Tyler. I don’t blame any one.”
“Then what’s the problem?” he asked with a glare. “We lost a baby that neither of us needed. Big deal, so what?”
Katie hugged herself and started banging the toe of her shoe down into the pavement of the parking lot. “I needed it, Tyler.” Her voice cracked as a tear slipped down her cheek. “I didn’t want to be a teenage mom, no one does, but that baby would have been the only person on this planet to love me unconditionally no matter what I did or mistakes I made.” All anger fell from his face. “And every time I think about being with you all I can feel is the pain of what I lost, what we…lost.” He just stared at her with wide eyes of realization. “So I’m sorry, but yes…it’s true.”
Tyler watched in shock as she got in her car and drove off.
TVDTVDTVD
She managed to hold herself together until she got into her house, then she pressed her back against the door and let it all come out as she slid down it. Eventually, after about an hour of sitting there wallowing in self pity, the putrid smell of unwashed dishes that had been sitting in a hot house made its way into her senses and she pulled herself up from the floor. With a new goal to take her mind off of things she turned on the big stereo in the living room and started cleaning the house.
In four hours time not a speck of dust was left in the house, the dishes were washed and put away and all the clothes had been washed, folded and put away. She was packing a bag to bring to the boarding house, thinking about packing up her grandfathers things when she remembered that when her grandfather moved in he didn’t touch the things in the basement. So she finished packing her bag then headed down to the basement.
Boxes upon boxes were stacked all the way up to the low ceiling of the dark room. She made her way through the maze until she reached the light in the middle of the ceiling and pulled the string illuminating the dusty space. She new that the version of her in her dreams had a thick Irish accent so she started looking for boxes of her Irish father’s family photo albums or any kind of family history. Thankfully they were all labeled and after forty five minutes of wiping dust off of cardboard she finally found one labeled “Finnegan Family Photos and Such.” She un-stacked the boxes, took it out and carried it up to the living room.
She was half way through the box of photo books and lose photos when she came across a folder with really old sketches of people inside. She was going through them when she saw herself. The woman from her dreams was drawn beautifully in black and white along side the little boy from her dreams and a man she had never seen before. She flipped it over to see if it said who the people were to find a date along with the names. “1835, Ronan Finnegan with wife Hannah Easton-Finnegan and son Jonah Finnegan.” She read aloud then turned the paper back over staring at the woman’s face that was, but wasn’t her own.
She jumped when the front door opened and Damon walked in. “What are you doing?” he asked looking around at the pictures scattered all over the coffee table and sofa.
“Research.” She answered as she put the old drawing on the end table and started picking up her mess.
“That doesn’t sound fun.” He said as he started helping her.
“There’s nothing fun about my life anymore.” She sighed not looking at him, but the things she was putting back into the box.
“Tell me about it.” he said with a grunt as he moved things off of the couch, stuck them in the box then sat down kicking his feet up on the table.
“Hey, watch it. That’s my ancestors you’re putting your dirty shoes all over.” She complained as she slapped his feet for him to move them.
“Your ancestors?” he asked curiously as he sat up and watched her put the last of the pictures in the box. He reached in and picked up a sepia picture of a woman in a Victorian style dress with her boobs pushed up way too high by a corset. “She’s hot.”
“Really, those big boobs doin’ it for ya?” she asked with a glare across her shoulder at him.
“Hey, seems like they run in the family.” He told her with a look down at her chest that caused her to punch him. “Ouch, that actually kind of hurt.” He scolded her as he rubbed his arm.
She took the picture from him and tossed it in the box before she closed it. “You think she’s hot, tell me what you think about,” she reached over him and grabbed the drawing off of the end table, “her.” she handed it to him.
“Whoa, that’s not creepy at all.” He said with a look at her with creased brows and wide eyes. “Who is this?”
“Hannah Easton-Finnegan.” Katie answered. “Past life me.” She said as she picked up the box and headed to the basement. “Rose was right about the past life me being one of my ancestors.”
"So you really buy in to all this reincarnation crap?" He asked as she put the box near where she found it.
"I don’t have any other explanation for that picture or the fact that I've never seen Hannah and Elijah before yet somehow I see them in my dreams every night." She said as she headed to the stairs then into the living room.
"Should I be jealous of Elijah?" He asked a little freaked.
"No. Why would you?" She asked as she grabbed her duffle bag and threw the strap over her shoulder.
"Because you dream about him every night." He answered as if it was the obvious one.
"You have nothing to worry about. I promise." She grabbed the picture and headed for the door. "How did you know I was here?" Katie asked changing the subject.
"I saw the light on when I was leaving Elena's." He answered.
"What were you doing at Elena's?" She asked curiously.
"It's a long story." He told her as he opened the door and jerked his head at it telling her to go first. "I'll fill you in when we get home." He told her as they walked out and to their cars.
TVDTVDTVD
Katie sat on the couch in the boarding house living room with her legs tucked up beside her. "So because the heartless bitch told Elena that Klaus will kill everyone she loves if we keep him from breaking the curse, Elena tried to turn herself over to him?" She asked and Damon hummed a positive answer from where he stood in front of the fireplace with a glass of bourbon in his hand. "And while you were off rescuing her, Jeremy got the moonstone out of the tomb, but Katherine got Jeremy and Stefan got stuck inside the tomb getting Jeremy out."
"Yyyep." He popped the p at the end of the word.
"Is it just me or are the Gilberts incredibly stupid?" Katie asked.
"It’s not just you." He answered then turned from the fireplace to look at her. "So how was your day?"
"Everything I have to say is going to sound like child’s play compared to your day." She said with a sigh as she got up and took the empty glass from his hand.
"Tell me anyway." He said as she refilled his glass and poured her a drink of her own.
"I spent the morning compelling my teachers to forge me good grades." She started as she walked over and handed him his glass.
"What about Alaric?" He asked knowing he couldn't be compelled.
"He forged my grades, but assigned me a research project to make up for it." She explained then took a sip of her drink. "After that I caught up with Caroline and Bonnie and that went better than I thought it would. But after school I was confronted by Tyler who was pissed."
"Why was he pissed?" He asked then took a sip of his drink.
"Tiki, a senior that I'm on the cheer team with, overheard me telling the girls that I was going to break up with him after school." She explained.
"What a bitch!" Damon scoffed exaggeratedly making Katie smile a little.
"Yeah, so I basically told him that being with him after losing the baby was too painful and I couldn’t be with him anymore. Which is true so it’s not like I lied, but..." she downed her drink. Damon took the glass from her, cutting her off for the night.
"I know that was hard for you," he said as walked over to her and placed his hands on her hips, "but can I just say how ecstatic I am that you are free to be with me without feeling like shit about it?" He picked her up.
She laughed and wrapped her legs around him out of instinct. "I would prefer you show me." She told him with a smile and a flick of her brow.
He kissed her and walked forward, pressing her back against the wall next to the fireplace as he moved his hands to her jeans covered thighs, holding her legs around him. She gripped his neck with one hand while the other slid up into his hair as he kissed and nibbled on her neck.
“We’re the only ones home, right?” she asked in a huff and Damon hummed a positive answer. “Good.” She whooshed then over to the couch, straddling his hips as she tore open his black button up shirt and started kissing his chest, collarbones and neck.
When he’d had all he could take of teasing each other with strategically placed kisses he whooshed them over to lay in the ornate rug in front of the fire place.
TVDTVDTVD
They laid on the rug, covered with only a thin throw blanket. One of his hands played with her hair while the other absentmindedly rubbed her arm that laid on his chest. “So are we telling people about us now?” he asked quietly.
“Might as well. It’s not like either of us can manage to keep our hands off each other.” she answered with a look up at him. “Just…no PDA if Tyler’s around, at least for a couple of weeks. I don’t want to be inconsiderate.”
“Okay.” He told her quietly. “I know you’re probably tired of me asking, but how are you on the whole ‘I’m tired of being afraid’ front?”
“Getting better.” She answered as she pulled her phone out to see what time it was. “I’m still scared of the repercussions of keeping Elena from being sacrificed, and what this whole reincarnation thing means, but I think my whole getting-it-all-out-session with you last night really helped. Not that I’m happy about the way it happened or the timing.” She said as she moved to straddle him not caring that she was nude in the middle of the living room. “And as horrible as this is going to sound, breaking up with Tyler felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest.”
Damon just brushed her hair out of her face and sat up. “We’re naked in the middle of the living room.” he pointed out with a cheeky smile, changing the subject.
“Would you prefer us be naked elsewhere?” she asked with a look around the empty house.
“Your friends tend to let themselves in unannounced, so…” he said making Katie realize she really didn’t want to be walked in on.
“Right. Then let’s relocate.” She stood up and held her hand out to him so he grabbed it and stood up, draping the throw blanket across her shoulders.
It didn’t take long after their heads hit the pillows for them to fall asleep wrapped up in each other.
~*Dreaming*~
She kneeled in the forest gathering kindling. The evening sun bounced off her copper curls making it look as if flames were engulfing her head. Her 8 year old son Jonah stood at her side, weakly holding onto her shoulder.
A twig snapped close by causing her to look up, her green eyes wide with fear. Wolves had attacked their cabin the night before, killing her sister and injuring her son. However instead of a wolf her fearful gaze landed on a handsome man with kind hazel eyes. "Hello." He told her as he held his hands where she could see them. "Please, do not be afraid of me."
Her gaze turned skeptical as she slowly stood and pushed her son protectively behind her back.
"Do you speak English?"
"Yes." she replied meekly, keeping a hand on the sweaty, pail, blond headed boy behind her.
"Your boy, he is hurt." She said nothing but gave him a nod. "I need sustenance and shelter. If you provide, I will heal your boy."
"I don't have much." she replied. Her Irish accent thick in her words.
"If you help me," she took in how weak he looked. "I'll help your son and get you more food." He told her taking a step closer to her, making her take a step back.
"Help my son first." She told him sternly.
"If you would kindly show me to your home I will heal him there." He told her in his naturally softer spoken voice.
She nodded then motioned to him. "Your name?"
"Elijah." He told her with a polite nod and small smile.
"I’m Hannah this is Jonah." She placed her hand on her sons back. "Come." She jerked her head for him to follow her. She led him to a small two room cabin and opened the wooden door for the boy and went inside then held the door open for him. When he didn't come in she spoke again, "Please, come inside."
Only then did he come inside and let her shut the door behind him. "Jonah, do you speak English?" Elijah asked and the ill boy who sat in a wooden chair at a small dining table with a very infected bite on his forearm nodded, sweat pouring down his forehead. "What I am going to ask of you will be undesirable, but I need you to do as I say. Understand?" Elijah asked as he sat down across from him.
"Yes, sir." Jonah answered weakly.
"Do you have a cup?" Elijah asked turning to Hannah. She nodded and handed him a metal cup. They watched as Elijah cut his wrist, blood dripped slowly into the cup, filling it a fourth of the way before the cut healed. "Drink." He pushed the cup across the table to the child. Jonah looked to his mother with wide eyes. Elijah followed his gaze to Hannah. "You have my word, it will heal him."
Knowing that they had nothing to loose, Hannah nodded to her son. "Do as he says, Jonah." The boy took the cup and gulped it down with a disgusted expression. They all watched as the nasty, infected bite on his arm slowly healed until it was gone completely. "What kind of sorcery is this?" Hannah asked, backing up until her hips hit the unlit wood burning stove behind her.
Elijah just looked Jonah in the eyes. "Go to the room and rest." Jonah nodded and went to the only other room in the cabin and shut the door behind him. Only then did Elijah look to the wide eyed Hannah. "I was told by a woman in the nearby training post that you are kind and accepting of those who are different."
"Fiona sent you?" She asked, shocked that her friend, a witch, had sent this man her way. "You're a witch?"
"No. I am a vampire." He corrected her politely.
"I don’t know what that is." She told him not moving from where she stood.
"It means I am strong, fast, and I can control the minds of humans." He told her. "But all of that is weakened if I don’t have sustenance." Hannah grabbed a wooden bowl, set it on the table and took off the white cloth that covered it, revealing three small biscuits. "food is not the substance I require."
"Then what do you require?" She asked confused yet intrigued by him.
"Your blood." He answered as be covered the biscuits back up.
"My blood?" She asked with raised brows.
He saw no judgment in her eyes, just intrigue and a touch of fear. "You may cut yourself and fill a cup, but I would prefer to bite you as it lowers your risk of infection."
"You want to bite me?" She finally walked over and sat down across the table from him. "Fiona didn't send you here to pull my leg did she?"
"I assure you this is no joke." He told her.
Hannah thought about the deal they had made. She was low on food and money and hadn't seen a deer in weeks. Elijah had said he would get them food if she helped him and he had already healed Jonah. She had no reason to not believe him. So realizing her only options were to help this man and trust that he would get them food or die of starvation she stood up and walked around the table. "I trust you will not take what you need then leave us to starve?" She asked with raised brows.
"I am a man of my word." Somehow she could tell he was telling the truth. So she held her wrist out to him. "This is going to hurt." He warned her as the whites of his eyes turned red and veins protruded from the skin around his eyes. "My apologies." He sank his teeth into her wrist causing her to wince from the pain and squeeze her eyes shut.
~*End Of Dream*~
She woke with a sharp breath only to realize that she wasn’t in the cabin anymore, but in bed with Damon. With a sigh she let her head fall back onto the pillow. This dream was different than all the others and it felt different. Mostly because she remembered every detail about this one now that she was awake and the funny feeling was back in her stomach. Absentmindedly she placed her hand over her flat stomach. “You okay over there?” Damon asked making her jump.
“Yeah.” She answered quietly as she turned onto her side and propped her head up with her hand. “Just had a different dream is all.”
“Ugh,” he groaned really not liking her dreams. “It wasn’t another dirty one was it?”
“You’re so jealous.” She shook her head with a smile. “No. It was about the first time Elijah and I met. Apparently I had a friend who was a witch and she sent him to me for help.”
“Why kind of help?” he asked skeptically, like he wanted to know, but didn’t at the same time.
“He needed blood. Fiona, the witch friend of mine, knew I had an open mind and sent him to me.” She explained.
“And did you give him your blood?” he asked remembering how intimate it was when he would feed on her.
“My son had a very bad infection from a wolf bite so Elijah and I made a deal. If he saved my son I would give him sustenance. He specifically never said he needed food. I get the feeling he’s the kind of man who makes sure his deals and promises have no loopholes. I saw no other options so yes, I did. He bit my wrist and I woke up.”
“None of that surprises me.” He said with a roll if his eyes. “But I’m not going to lie, that sounds a lot like you and me. You and Elijah made a deal that benefited your son in exchange for blood. You and me made a deal that benefited your friend, in exchange for blood. Sound similar?”
“I need to stop telling you my dreams.” She turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.
“No, I want you to.” He turned onto his side and started absentmindedly trailing his fingertips over her body sending tingles through her skin wherever he touched.
“Why?” she asked sliding her hand over his lightly freckled shoulder and arm.
“Because…no secrets, no lies, remember?” he asked and she rolled over, pushing him onto his back as she straddled him. “Besides, I want to know everything I can about my enemy.” He placed his hand on her thighs, rubbing them with his thumbs. She took a deep breath and looked at him like she wanted to tell him something but didn’t know if she should. “What?”
“I have a theory about all of this Elijah crap I’m feeling.” She told him as she stared at her hands that roamed his chest. “When I had that dream in the car, it was the first time I’d had a dream that didn’t end with me getting my head ripped off. I was close to Elijah when that happened because he was in that house with Elena, Rose and Trevor. Then at the coffee shop I could literally feel that he was near me.”
He grabbed her hands off of his chest to get her attention. “What are you getting at?”
She placed his hand on her sides. “I can tell when he’s near, that can be useful. I just don’t know exactly how close he has to be before I feel something.”
“You had a new dream this morning.” He pointed out and Katie nodded.
“And a slight odd feeling in the pit of my stomach.” She added. “So I think he’s at least in town.” She fell down, placing her hand on each side of his head and kissed his nose. “And considering Elena has been doing everything she can to be sacrificed, I’d say that’s some good information to have.”
“You’re right. It is good information to have.” He told her then rolled them over. “Now shut up and kiss me.” She slowly lifted her head and brushed her lips across his then started kissing his shoulder. “You’re such a tease.” He complained and squeezed her side making her squeal then bust out laughing
“No, no, no.” she laughed, squirming under him as he continued to tickle her. “No fair, I haven’t found your ticklish spot yet.” He kept tickling her, loving the sound of her girlish laugh. “Damon, stop it.”
He stopped his assault on her sides and looked into her eyes. “What are you gonna do if I don’t?” With a whoosh she rolled them over letting the blood rush to her eyes as she pinned him down. “That doesn’t scare me.” He told her and she could practically see the lust cloud his eyes.
She leaned down and ran over fangs over the skin of his neck. “It wasn’t supposed to.” She whispered in his ear as she felt her fangs disappear.
He rolled them back over now pinning her down, “God I love you.” he whispered before he started kissing her.
He had moved to kissing her chest when his phone chimed. “Ignore it.” she urged but he pulled away and rolled over to grab it off of the bedside table.
“I can’t. Stefan made me promise to protect the suicidal doppelganger. So I’m meeting with Bonnie and to figure out a way to keep her from doing anything stupid.” he told her as he checked his messages. “Bonnie’s here, we should probably get dressed.”
“Ugh…if I have to.” She complained as she rolled out of bed then stood up. “Um…my clothes are still in the living room…”
“Well then I’m pretty sure Bonnie knows we’re together again. I told her we’d meet her in the living room.” he told her as he grabbed a button up shirt out of his drawer and a pair of boxer shorts and tossed them to her.
“That’s not exactly how I wanted my friends to find out about us.” she said with an embarrassed smile as she pulled on his clothes while he too started getting dressed. “I’m going skip the save Elena from herself plan making if that’s okay. I’m going to get my job at the grill back.”
“Why?” he asked with a disapproving tone.
“Because unlike you my family wasn’t rich. I have bills to pay and currently no income.” She pointed out as she grabbed the doorknob.
“Don’t you think you should stay here considering Elijah is most likely in town?” He asked as he walked over to her as he pulled a black t-shirt over his head.
“I can’t put my life on hold because of him.” She replied as she pulled the bedroom door open. “The more normal things I do the more normal I will feel.”
“Okay, but if you get into trouble-”
“I’ll call you.” she interrupted him then headed to her room
A few minutes later she came down stairs to see that Damon had cleared the living room of their clothes and Bonnie and Jeremy sat in the living room talking with Damon about trapping Elena in her house. “Hey.” Bonnie said when she saw her. “Damon said you’re getting your job back at the grill?” She asked as Katie walked in with a black coffee tumbler of blood in her hand.
“Yep.” She answered then took a drink.
“Just a little warning,” Bonnie said as she stood up to talk to Katie face to face, “Caroline is meeting Tyler there later and she said he is very upset with you.”
“Great.” Katie sighed then pulled her car keys out of her pocket and put her cell phone in it. “Thanks for the warning. Let me know if you guys need help with suicide watch.” She told them then headed to the door.
She was about to open it when she felt Damon behind her a second before she felt him grab her hand and pulled her back into him. She smiled and turned in his arms. He kissed her then stepped back and opened the door for her. “Have a good day.”
She kissed him again and pressed the button on her keys to unlock her doors. “I love you too by the way.”
TVDTVDTVD
She had compelled the manager to give her back her old job and she was working the bar when Caroline walked over to her. “Hey, how are you?” she asked in her always sweet voice.
“Good.” Katie answered with a nod. “I’m also wishing people would stop asking me that.” She told her light heartedly. “How’s Tyler? I know the full moon’s tonight.”
“He’s freaking out.” She answered quietly. “We found Mason’s journal and a recording he made of his first transformation. It was…awful. I mean you can’t imagine the pain that Tyler is going to have to go through tonight.”
“I wish there was something I could do.” Katie thought out loud as she stared down at her hands that were fiddling with a rag, hating that Tyler was having to go though unimaginable pain.
“You could’ve been there for him, Katie.” Caroline replied in an accusatory tone that made Katie frown up at her. “No one was stopping you from telling him the truth and being there for him. Matt doesn’t know about the supernatural, I couldn’t tell him. But you could’ve told Tyler.” Katie felt the prickles of guilt stabbing into her chest.
“I thought you understood why I had to break up with him.” Katie pointed out getting defensive.
“I’ve thought a lot about it and realized that it’s because you both had secrets that it could’ve worked for you.” Caroline explained. “Instead you threw him aside for Damon.”
“Who told you?” Katie asked holding back tears.
“You just did.” She answered then turned around and walked over to a table.
Not long after that Tyler walked in with a black duffle bag thrown over his shoulder. When his eyes found Katie he gave her his signature pissed off look making her turn her eyes down to the bar. Knowing she shouldn’t she trained her ears on him and Caroline. “This girl mason knows stopped by the house.” He told Caroline quietly. “She said he never made it back to Florida. My moms freaking out and she was on the phone with your mom when I left.” Katie looked up at them meeting eyes with Caroline who probably guess that she’s be listening. “We should probably get going.” Tyler told her then cast one more mean glare at Katie before he left.
Katie pulled her phone out of her pocket and relayed what Tyler said to Damon. Not long after she texted him he showed up at the grill. “Here.” Damon handed her a bag of tiny yellow flower petals.
“What’s this?” she asked as she took it.
“Wolfsbane.” He answered. “The vervain of werewolves.” He answered as he leaned his forearms on the bar.
“So why are you giving it to me?” she asked as she stuck it in her front pocket.
“If the woman asking for mason shows up, slip it in her drink when I tell you to. Alaric and I will handle the rest.” He told her and she looked over at Alaric who gave her a wave.
“Okay, will do.” She said not liking that she was getting pulling into doing dirty work, but she couldn’t avoid it forever. “Working here was never boring after you showed up.” He just smiled and headed over to Alaric and she got back to work.
She was waiting on a customer when she saw a blond that she didn’t recognize walk in and ask Matt if he knew Tyler. After she got her answer she went over to the bar and ordered a drink from the new bartender that seemed to be a lot less flaky than their past bartenders. So Katie didn’t get to slip the wolfsbane into her first drink. When she was done waiting on the people who needed waiting on she headed back over to the bar and managed to discretely compel the bartender to get lost for an hour so she could take his place.
When she was almost finished with her first drink Alaric came over pretending to be drunk and ordered a drink for the woman so Katie could mix in the herb while Damon came over and distracted her. Eventually Alaric left Damon to his flirting and information fishing while Katie pretended to work while listening in on them. Just when she thought Damon had convinced Jules to drink the drink that Katie had mixed for her she smelled the wolfsbane and slammed the glass down. “You fool.” Damon gave Katie and Alaric a look that said they’d lost. “You think you’re clever, don’t you?”
“What do you want with Mason Lockwood?” Damon asked now getting to the point as Katie moseyed over, pretending to wipe down the bar.
“He’s my friend.” Jules replied.
“Well, I’m sorry to inform you that you probably won’t find him.” Damon told her with a sneer.
“And why not?” Jules asked with an attitude.
“You should leave town.” Damon told her.
She scoffed, “Are you threatening me on a full moon? How stupid are you?” Jules asked before Alaric came over.
“Damon, how ‘bout that second round?” he asked trying to diffuse things.
“I think we’re done here, Ric.” Damon told him angrily as Jules stood up and Damon turned back to her. “You think I’m afraid of you?”
“No, I don’t. That’s your vampire arrogance. You should be.” She told him getting in his face. “I sniffed you out the moment I entered this bar.” She turned her eyes to Katie, “you too along with your pathetic wolfsbane.” She then looked over her shoulder at Ric. “See, I’ve been at this a long time. And any other night of the month, the situation would be reversed, but tonight…is not the night to pick a fight with me.” She grabbed her clutch off of the bar and looked Damon up and down. “You’ve been marked.” She left the grill.
“You’ve been marked?” Katie asked with a look between Damon and Alaric. “I wonder if she knows how stupid that sounds.”
“You stay here.” Damon told her getting a raised browed salute from Katie as he stormed out with Alaric on his tail. Katie tuned her ears in on him as he did. “Where is she?” Damon asked as they walked out.
“Let it go, Damon. Don’t be stupid.” Alaric told him.
“What, I’m supposed to let her just get away?” he asked. “You’ve been marked. What the hell kind of wolf throw down crap is that anyway?” Damon ranted.
“Damon, look up. Just look up.” Alaric practically yelled at him. “If this werewolf stuff is true, one bite and you’re dead. One. Bite. Alright? Don’t risk it. Just get Katie, go home, lock your doors and we’ll deal with it in the morning.”
“Yeah.” She heard Damon answer so she went into the back, found her manager and compelled her to let her go for the night. She met Damon in the front. “You were listing to us weren’t you?”
“Eavesdropping is easy to do without meaning to.” She answered with a shrug as they walked outside.
TVDTVDTVD
They walked into the boarding house and locked the door behind them and were about to head to his room when he stopped making her stop and realize that some one was there. “You feelin’ any weird vibes over there?” he asked her over his shoulder with wide eyes.
“I’m pretty sure it’s not Elijah if that’s what you’re asking.” Katie answered before they headed to the library where they found Rose sitting at the desk.
“You’re back?” Katie asked with skeptical eyes.
“Didn’t mean to just drop in, but Damon wouldn’t answer his phone and I don’t have anyone else’s number.” Rose defended herself.
“What do you want?” Damon asked as he leaned on the archway of the library entrance and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I wanted to apologize.” Rose answered.
“Just admit it. You don’t have anywhere else to go.” Damon said making Katie give him a look that told him to be nice. The woman had been on the run for who knows how long, it wasn’t her fault she never had the chance to settle down somewhere.
“I’m sorry about Elena.” She told them as she walked over to them. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t know she had a death wish. But I called you. I tried to make it right, okay?” Damon looked like he was considering letting her stay. “I’m sorry, Damon.” He just looked at her like he was still thinking. “And I…have no where else to go.” She added with a small smile.
Damon didn’t say anything so Katie spoke up. “Well, I don’t have a say on if you can stay here, but if he doesn’t let you I have place you can crash.”
Rose was about to say something when they heard glass break in the living room and they ran there to see that a window had been broken. They could hear the growl of a wolf, but couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Damon grabbed a sword off the wall and started walking around cautiously. Before either Katie or Damon could see it standing next to Damon about to attack him, Rose yelled his name and pushed him out of the way, getting attacked instead.
Katie sped over to the wolf that was biting Rose’s neck and kicked it as hard as she could in the side sending it flying off of Rose to tumble across the floor before it sped out of the broken window. Damon and Katie both went to Rose’s side as she sat up. “How bad is it?” Damon asked looking at the large gash on her shoulder.
“It hurts.” Rose replied as she looked down at it then back to Rose.
“It’s healing.” Katie pointed out with a wide eyed look between the two of them.
“Oh my god. I thought a werewolf bite was fatal. I thought….” Rose started crying from both trauma and relief as Katie and Damon shared a relived look.
“It’s alright.” He soothed her as he hugged the crying Rose. “You’re gonna be okay.” Katie reached out and rubbed her back, not knowing what else to do.
When she stopped crying Katie convinced her that a shower to get all the wolf slobber off of her would make her feel better. While she did that, Katie and Damon waited for her on the couch in the library. “Was that Tyler or Jules?” Katie asked as she looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap.
“Pretty sure it was Jules.” Damon answered then looked at Katie where she leaned on his side with his arm wrapped around her. “Why would Tyler come after us?”
“Because he’s really pissed at me.” Katie didn’t look at him, but down at the drink in her hands.
“I don’t like the guy, but I don’t think he would purposely hurt you.” he said looking down at her guilty face.
“You didn’t see the way he looked at me at The Grill today.” She said still not looking at him. “Will you do me a favor and call Caroline to see if Tyler got out?”
“She’s your friend, why don’t you do it?” he asked making her finally look at him.
“We kind of got into a disagreement about me breaking up with Tyler. I don’t really feel like dealing with her at the moment.” Katie answered so Damon pulled out his phone and called Caroline.
“It was Jules, not Tyler. He was locked up all night.” He told her as he put his phone away. “So this wasn’t your fault. It was mine.” Rose walked into the library wearing a red silk robe. “I talked to Caroline. She said Tyler was all locked up.” He told her as she sat down in the armchair.
“So… it was Jules. The other werewolf, the one who attacked you.” she confirmed.
“Yeah.” Damon said as he reached behind the couch and grabbed a decanter and an empty glass. “I’m sorry. I picked a fight with her.” he handed the glass to her and poured her a drink. “She was coming after me.”
“All’s well that ends well.” Rose said with a shrug then took a drink.
“So how’s the bite, all heal up?” Katie asked curiously.
“Yeah.” She said with a nod. “Seems that way.”
“Rose, uh,” Katie and Rose both looked at Damon, waiting for him to say whatever it is he was trying to so awkwardly say, “I’m happy that the legend was fake.”
“Me too.” Katie said as she stood up and threw back her drink. “Maybe they made it up to keep us away. Kind of like they did with the whole silver thing.” She thought out loud as she walked around the couch and set her glass down.
“Maybe.” Rose replied to Katie then looked at Damon. “You never told me if I could stay. Seems like you guys could use my help with this whole Elena madness.”
Damon looked at Katie. “Don’t look at me, your house your say.” She told him as she walked around to stand between him and Rose at the end of the couch.
“You’re welcome to stay.” He told Rose and smiled at Katie.
“Welcome to the team.” Katie told Rose as she set her hand on the shoulder that had been bitten and Rose flinched. “What’s wrong?”
“That hurt.” Rose looked at Katie, confused as she pulled down the side of her robe revealing her skin that was eroding away where she had been bitten. “Oh, no.” Rose sighed as the three of them shared worried looks.
TVDTVDTVD
After doing what few things they could think of for Rose until morning, Damon and Katie headed to his room. He gave her a confused look when she stopped at his door. “What are you doing?” he asked walking back over to her.
“I’m going to sleep in my own room tonight.” She answered knowing he wouldn’t like it. “As much as I love waking up with you, I still need time to myself…to just…be alone for a bit.” She told him.
He stuck his bottom lip out like a pouting little kid making her laugh. “Please don’t make me sleep alone.” He begged making her smile and shake her head.
“Goodnight, Damon.” She told him and shoved him into his room, still with the pouty look on his face as she turned away from him.
She was headed down the hall from Damon’s room to hers when she started to get the feeling in the pit of her stomach. Instead of doing what she knew she should have done and run to Damon, she followed the feeling to her room and opened the door. She didn’t see Elijah sitting in her desk chair until she walked inside and flipped on the light. “Oh my god.” She jumped and started to whoosh the room but he whooshed in front of her.
“I would not advise that.” He told her with a smirk on his face.
Pairings: Damonxoc, Tylerxoc, Elijahxoc, Klausxoc endgame. Warning: Mentions of mental and physical abuse.
Katie stood in her bedroom looking at herself in the full length mirror. Her dark red hair was pinned in a sideswiped style, the nicest thing about her look for her date tonight. Tyler had told her to wear something casual. So she simply wore distressed dark wash skinny jeans, red flats and a black long sleeved Henley shirt.
She was applying a thin layer of clear lip gloss when her text chime dinged and she looked at her phone to see a message from Tyler, “Change of plans. Meet me at the Grill.”
Katie texted back, “Okay, leaving now.” Then tossed her lip gloss in her bag, grabbed her keys and headed out.
When she pulled up to the grill she noticed it looked busy for a Sunday night, but she brushed it off and headed inside to meet Tyler. As soon as she stepped inside everyone yelled “Happy birthday!” as they blew horns, twirled noise makers and popped of party poppers. Katie yelped and jumped back, completely taken off guard causing everyone to laugh.
“Sorry, I got roped in at the last minute.” Tyler said with a shrug as he stepped out of the crowd. “I blame them.” He said with a point at Bonnie, Caroline and Elena standing a few feet away from them with smiles on their faces.
“Hey, don’t blame us.” Bonnie laughed and held her hands up in surrender
“Yeah, we know you hate surprises.” Caroline added.
“We were just going to give you your gifts at school tomorrow like we always do.” Elena said with a guilty look.
“Then whose idea was it?” Katie asked with a look around.
“That would be me.” Damon spoke up as he strutted out of the crowd with a cocky smirk on his face. “I wasn’t aware that you hated surprises.” he told her as he walked over to her. When Damon got too close for comfort, Tyler wrapped his arm around Katie’s waist. Damon looking at Katie, cut his eyes over at Tyler “Give me a minute with the birthday girl?”
Tyler looked at Katie, silently asking her if she wanted to be left alone with him. “I’ll just be a minute.” she said awkwardly and he kissed her then walked off. When she was out of sight she looked up at Damon.
“Happy birthday.” He told her with a smile as he showed her a metal clasp envelop.
“What is that?” she asked as she tried to take it from him, but he jerked it up out of her reach.
“Your birthday present.” He told her with a look that told her it was the obvious answer.
“Yeah I realize that, but what’s in it?” she asked getting playfully snippy with him.
“It’s a surprise that you’re going to have to wait till the end of the night for.” He told her as he brought it back down to her level. “So I’m going to ask you not to bring your boyfriend home with you tonight, because I want to be with you when you open it.” he told her as he held the envelop out to her. She started to take it, but he pulled it back. “Deal?”
“Deal.” She told him and he handed her the envelope. “I’ll go put it in the car and I promise I won’t peak at it.”
When she got in from putting the envelop in her car she met up with her friends where they stood at a table with a few gifts on it. “Open them.” Caroline told her cheerfully then announced to the room that it was time for gifts.
“I’m going to murder Damon.” Katie mumbled under her breath as the people that had brought gifts gathered around, which wasn’t a lot of people. Most of the people in the grill, making it so packed were just there for the party atmosphere, not because they knew or cared about Katie.
“This one’s from us.” Elena told her as she picked up a white, oblong box with a teal bow tied around it.
Katie untied the bow and took the lid off the box revealing a bracelet with three different colored star charms hanging on the chain. “Best friends are like stars. You may not always see them, but they’re always there.” She read the inscription on the underside of the lid out loud. “Aw, you guys…” she got engulfed in a group hug. “Thank you.” she told them as they let go of her then turned back to the gift table as Bonnie walked off to join the onlookers and Elena moved to stand with Stefan and watch her open the rest of her gifts.
Caroline picked up a square brown box with a navy blue bow tied around it. “That’s from me.” Tyler spoke up and walked over to stand beside her while she opened it. “I was going to give it to you on our date tonight but then this happened.” He said with a motion to the room.
“It defiantly smells good.” Katie comment as she untied the bow then lifted the flaps of the box the revealing 10 thin bars of soap. She took out the card and read, “Enjoy these little leftovers of our handmade all natural soaps.” She smiled at Tyler. “Who told you I like hand made soap?” he pointed to Caroline who just shrugged. She looked back at Tyler and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips. “Thank you.”
“One more.” Caroline told Katie, as she picked up a thin, rectangle, unwrapped white gift box. “Who’s this one from?” Caroline asked looking on the box for any indication of who it was from, but she found nothing. “Okay, well, here’s this one.” She shrugged and handed the box to Katie.
She popped open the scotch tape that was holding the box closed and took the lid off. White glittery tissue paper covered the gift so she lifted it up revealing a framed picture of Katie, Tyler, Caroline, Matt, Elena, Stefan and Bonnie that had been taken at the Christmas festival. The picture was framed in a thick, silver, metal frame with rhinestones inset into it. “I really wish I knew who this was from.” Katie said feeling an overwhelming amount of love for everyone in the picture who were also watching her open her gifts. None of them seemed to give any indication of who it was from. So Katie set the photo back in the box and stacked the other, smaller gift boxes on top of it.
Seeing that she was about to take the gifts to her car to get them out of the way, Damon stepped up and took them from her. “I’ve got that, you enjoy the party. Pretty sure Caroline’s about to shove cake down your throat.” He said with a nod at Caroline.
She was bringing out a cake with cobalt blue icing flowers on the corners of it. Caroline lit the candles and everyone in the restaurant started singing happy birthday. Katie blew out the candles setting off another round of horns, noisemakers and party poppers.
While everyone else ate cake Katie and Tyler danced. They took a break to eat dinner with her friends then when the night was over Tyler walked with her to her car, kissed her good night then they went their separate ways. Katie wished that she hadn’t told Damon that she wouldn’t bring Tyler home with her, she had been looking forward to spending time with him, but she had promised. So she went home alone.
When she walked into her room and set her gifts down on her bed. She was about to open the envelope Damon had given her when she heard a knock on her window. Damon was standing on her roof, outside her window. Katie walked over and opened it. “Since when do you knock?”
“You’ll see. Now, invite me in so we can open your gift.” he said then smirked at her.
“Okay…” she drawled. “Damon Salvatore will you please get your ass inside my house so that I may open my birthday gift?” she asked with sarcasm dripping from her words.
“Thank you smart ass.” He told her as he ducked inside then sat down on her bed. He patted the spot next to him so she sat down. He watched her lift up the metal tabs of the clasp then pull out a stack of papers. “There was a reason I didn’t want you to open this at the party.” He warned her as she looked at the first piece of paper.
“You got the house put in my name?” she asked with a look from the paper to him.
“Yep.” He popped the p at the end of the word. “You are officially legally able to kick your grand father out of your house.”
“I think I’ll keep him around for a little while. He pays some of the bills that I can’t.” she told him with a frown.
“Keep going.” He motioned to the papers.
As she flipped through copies of news articles from New Orleans and reports from private investigators she started realizing what this was and why Damon hadn’t wanted her to look at it at the party. “Oh my god.” Katie covered her mouth at the image of her mother’s dead body. A wooden stake was sticking out of her chest, her skin blue with protruding veins. As she continued through the paper work she found out that her mothers body had been shipped to the Mystic Falls mortuary where it was incinerated and disposed of. “All it says about my father is that he’s still missing and has an empty grave in the Mystic Falls cemetery.” She pointed out with a confused look at Damon.
He took the envelope from her and looked inside then pulled out a color photo of her father exiting a brightly lit bar in New Orleans. Damon pointed at the time stamp in the bottom corner. “I took this myself.”
“My father’s still alive?” she asked with a wide eyes smile.
“Yes and no.” he answered glumly making Katie’s smile fade and her heart sink.
“He’s a vampire.” She said more than asked and he nodded. “You obviously got close enough to snap this picture. Did you talk to him?”
“I didn’t let him know I knew you.” he said with a frown. “I casually mentioned that I hated making myself stay away from my human family.” He explained. “I got him drunk enough that he mentioned his daughter, Scarlett.”
A tear slipped down her cheek at the memory of her father chasing her down the hall as a little girl, calling her Scarlett as she ran away screaming and giggling. “He always called me his Scarlett.”
“Katie he…” Damon started reluctantly as she wiped the tear and put on a strong face, “He made it clear that he would never have anything to do with you. He said you were better off without him. That it wasn’t safe for you to have a vampire in your life and he hoped you never learned about us.”
Katie’s brows creased as she struggled to keep confused, hurt tears from falling. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” Damon told her with a pained look.
She stood up, placing her hand over the pendant that hung around her neck as she started pacing the room. “How…how could he just…” she was losing the battle with her tears, taking beep breaths in a futile attempt to calm herself. “How could he leave me here?” she could no longer talk or pace as tears flooded her face and sobs shook her shoulders.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Damon stood up and placed his hand on her shoulder, “come here.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face into the crook of his neck. He threaded his fingers into her hair, cupping the back of her head as he shushed her soothingly. After a few minutes he scooped her up and laid her on her bed. “Be right back.” he told her quietly then went to her bathroom and grabbed a soft wash rag and wet it. When he walked back into her room he saw that she had sat up and was leaning against the head board with her knees pulled up. Her arms rested across them. “Didn’t mean to make you cry on your birthday.” He told her as he handed her the rag and sat down beside her.
“It’s my party. I’ll cry if I want to.” She joked flatly as she took off her glasses and wiped her face. Damon smiled a little and rubbed the small of her back. Katie tilted her head back, resting in against the headboard behind her and draped the rag over her face. When the rag got warm, she took it off of her face and tossed it into the clothes basket across the room. Damon looked down at her as she leaned over resting her head on his shoulder. “It’s always felt like there was this huge blank space in my life, not knowing if my parents were alive or lying dead in a ditch somewhere…” As she spoke Damon moved them around so they were lying across the bed. “I used to tell myself that they got dragged into some cult or mafia madness and couldn’t come back for me because they had been placed in witness protection.” She snuggled into his side placing her hand on the expensive black button up shirt that covered his chest. He slid his slender hand over hers holding it in place. “It’s a stupid story I know, but now I don’t have to come up with stories. I don’t know the whole true one, but I at least know the ending.” She tilted her head up to look him in the eyes. “Thank you for filling in some of that blank.”
He gave her a small smile as he cupped her cheek in his hand. “You’re welcome.” When she laid her head back down on his shoulder he kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her. Things fell quiet as they both got lost in thought and the feel of each other. So Katie was confused when Damon said, “It was Stefan by the way.”
“What?” she asked with a frown up at him.
“The famed picture. It was from Stefan.” He elaborated. “He didn’t want to upset his jealous little girlfriend or your boyfriend.”
“Huh, never would’ve guessed it was from him.” She said as she sat up, pulled the box out from under the others that sat on the foot of her bed and pulled the photo out.
Damon sat up and looked at it over her shoulder. “Gotta admit, I’m kinda bummed I’m not in that picture.” Katie looked at him over her shoulder with a frown. “What?”
I just realized that I don’t have a single picture of us.” She stated.
“Here.” Damon grabbed her phone, pulled up the camera then leaned in and pressed his cheek to hers as he snapped a picture. She laughed as he propped his chin up on her shoulder and took another one. She was turning to kiss him on the cheek and he was about to kiss her on hers when their lips brushed. They both paused and looked into each others eyes for a second. Katie’s slipped closed as he closed the few centimeters of space between their lips causing her heart to race.
Without meaning to Damon snapped a picture then the phone slipped from his hand to her bed as he wrapped both of his arms around her waist. All too soon the fog cleared from Katie’s mind and she looked away from Damon, breaking the kiss. “Damon I-”
“You love Tyler.” He finished for her and she nodded. “I know. I’d have to be blind to not see it.”
“I’m sorry.” She whispered, her eyes getting misty as she closed them and pressed her forehead to his. “You told me to stop stringing you along and choose. I choose him. I choose normal and simple.”
“You’re happy. Don’t be sorry for that Katie Cat.” He whispered then pulled his head back to see her open her eyes and give him a look that asked if he was okay. “I’m not going to go murder anyone if that’s what that worried look is about.” She just rolled her eyes and gave him another look that told him to be serious. “I know how to admit defeat.”
“Who are you trying to fool?” she asked sarcastically.
“Okay so I’m a selfish, sore loser.” He admitted and she cracked a small smile. “But I love you. So I’ll settle for friends.” He said as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Her eyes slipped closed when he brushed his thumb over her cheek bone and she heard the whoosh of him leaving through the window. She opened her eyes to see the curtains blowing in the wind.
She picked up her phone to see the picture of them kissing on the screen. An ache shot through her chest at the sight she had never seen before. Knowing she couldn’t keep it on her phone for Tyler to possibly see she emailed it to herself, saved it to her computer then deleted it from her phone.
~Eight Days Later~
She stood in the dressing room of the founder’s hall taking the rollers out of her hair while wearing a corset and puffy skirt to fill out the white and green dress that Scarlett O'hara wore to the party at the beginning of Gone with the Wind. After she finished her hair complete with green bows that matched the dress on each side of her head where her hair was pinned up to look like Scarlett's, she put on the dress and headed outside.
As she headed to the float her eyes found Damon and Stefan staring at Elena in her time era dress making Katie realize that they both were probably feeling like they had been jerked back in time. She ignored them and was walking past them when she heard Damon call out in an Irish accent, "Katie Scarlett!" She found herself smiling as she stopped and turned around to see him walking toward her. "You took the theme and your name a little far don’t you think?”
"I've always wanted an excuse to wear this dress." She said with a smile down at her outfit.
"The 1800s really suit you." He told her as he walked closer and adjusted one of the green bows making her roll her eyes. "Seriously if you were alive back then every man within a fifty mile radius would've been fighting to be your beau."
"And would you have been one of them?" She asked being coy.
"Absolutely." He told her with a cocky smile.
"Liar." She told him making his smile fall. "You wouldn't have seen me for Katherine standing in the way." She walked around him to Tyler who was walking over to them. "Hey handsome." She told him as she looked him up and down taking in his grey soldier’s uniform for the float for the history class. "You know, all ladies love a man in uniform."
"Oh yeah?" He asked as he leaned down and kissed her.
"Are you sure you can't be on the founders court float with me?" She asked with a frown.
"You know I can't. Mr. Saltzman's grading all of us on it." He said with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine. The guy that escorted Caroline for the pageant has agreed to stand up there with me." She sighed.
"Guys, get on your floats." Tyler’s mom told them as she walked by.
"Yes ma'am." Katie sighed then kissed Tyler one more time before she headed to the float where Caroline was standing higher than the rest of them. Elena and Stefan stood on the pillar below Caroline while Katie and her substitute escort stood one down from them.
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When the parade was over Katie went to the founder’s hall and changed into street clothes then met up with Tyler and enjoyed the festival. Eventually when they had their fill of cotton candy they went to the grill and started playing pool.
"You know, one of these days I'm going to beat you." Katie said after she stood up from failing to sink a ball.
Tyler was going to say something back, but he saw Katie make a face and place her hand over her mouth. “Are you okay?” he asked, but she shook her head no and made a run for the bathroom.
Katie barely made it into a stall before her dinner came back up. With a groan she stood up and flushed the toilet. "What the hell was that about?" She thought to herself trying to figure out what was wrong with her. She felt fine until a waitress walked by with a sizzling plate of fajitas and the smell wafted in her face. She loved fajitas. Why would the smell make her sick? "Oh my god." The fact that mother nature was two weeks late hit her like a punch to the gut and she placed her hand over her lower stomach. "Okay, Katie, get it together. Don’t freak out, it could be nothing. Having a lot of sex can throw off a period and there is a stomach bug going around."
She was washing her hands, when Caroline came in. "Hey, Tyler sent me in to check on you."
"I'm fine." Katie said, putting on a fake, but believable smile as she turned off the water and grabbed some paper towels. "Pretty sure I just ate too much cotton candy." She lied and tossed the paper towel into the trash as they walked out of the bathroom. Caroline went back to Matt and Katie met Tyler at the pool tables.
"Hey are you okay?" Tyler asked as he slid his hand around her waist.
"Yeah, I just got a little sick to my stomach." She said as she waved him off. "I'm fine now." She gave him a smile and grabbed her pool stick.
Tyler got quiet when he saw his dad walking over. "What are you doing here? I told you to go home." His father asked.
"I decided not to." Tyler told him with a defiant tone.
"If I tell you to do something you do it!" The mayor snapped while grabbing Tyler's arm, hard.
"Get off me." Tyler jerked his arm from his father.
"Mayor, is everything okay?" Caroline asked as she rushed over with Matt not far behind.
The mayor looked at Caroline and Matt then looked at his son. While he wasn't looking at her, Caroline mouthed, "Are you okay?" to Katie who nodded.
"Please, Tyler, I need you to go home. Now. Take you're friends with you." He told Tyler softer and calmer now that he knew he had an audience.
"Why, what's the problem?" Katie asked confused.
"I can't explain." He said as he looked around at the four of them. "But all of you need to get home. Please."
"Yeah, okay." Tyler told him skeptically.
"Here, take my car." Tyler's dad placed his keys in Tyler's hand. "It’s out back." Tyler nodded and placed his hand on Katie's back. "Caroline, Matt, go with them." Caroline and Matt nodded and grabbed their things.
They were on their way to Tyler's house with Tyler driving, Caroline in the front passenger seat because she hated sitting in the back of a car and Matt and Katie in the back when Tyler asked, "What the hell is that?"
"What the hell is what?" Katie asked scooting to the middle to see out the front glass, thinking Tyler saw something in the road.
"That noise." Tyler answered then grabbed his head with both hands, groaning in unbearable pain.
"Caroline the wheel!" Matt yelled from beside Katie.
Caroline grabbed the wheel and tried to get control of the increasingly speeding car, but she failed and the car crashed into a brick wall. Katie saw the fleeting image of Caroline's screaming face as she flew past her from the back seat and crashed into the front glass. That was the last image she saw before her world turned black, like someone flipped a light switch.
TVDTVDTVD
Tyler and Matt were sitting in the waiting room when Sheriff Forbes came out of the double doors that Katie and Caroline had disappeared through on stretchers.
"What's happening? Is Caroline alright?" Matt asked as he stood up and Tyler followed.
"Um, there was some internal bleeding. They're taking her into surgery." She answered, shaken up.
"What else did they say? Is she going to be okay?" Matt asked.
"They're going to do everything they can." She answered knowing it was hospital slang for it doesn't look too good.
"What about Katie?" Tyler asked and Sheriff Forbes eyes started to get misty. "Please don't tell me she's..." Tyler asked as his eyes watered, but he didn't cry.
"She's...alive. She's suffered a traumatic brain injury and her..." she paused to get her voice under control. "Her neck is broken. If she wakes up there’s a chance she’ll be paralyzed."
"Oh god..." Tyler sank down into the chair not knowing what else to do.
"Tyler, have you talked to your mom?" Sheriff Forbs asked.
"I left her a message telling her I was here." He answered in shock.
"You need to call her." She told him, hating that he was going to possibly lose his dad and his girlfriend on the same night.
"What is it?" Tyler asked.
"It’s your dad." Sheriff Forbs answered sounding like she was going to break down.
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"Bonnie." Elena called as she found her friend pacing the hospital hallway. "How are they?"
"Caroline's out of surgery, but she’s weak. They don’t know if she's going to make it." Bonnie answered. "Katie's unconscious. They won’t know anything for sure until she wakes up, but they don't think she will."
Damon, who was watching them, felt an invisible dagger stab into his chest.
"What?" Elena asked as she placed her hand on her stomach and Bonnie pulled her in for a hug. "Isn't there something you could do, like, a...a spell or something?" Elena asked as they let go of each other.
"She doesn't know how." Damon spoke up as he walked over to them. "Do you?"
"No." Bonnie answered. "I don’t."
"No you don’t." Damon said walking closer. "Because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that."
"Yeah well, I can take down a vampire. That spell was easy to learn." Bonnie bit back.
Damon turned to Elena. "I can give them some blood."
"No, no way." Elena argued.
"Just enough to heal them. They will be safe in the hospital, it will be out of her system in a day... they'll be better, Elena." Damon argued back.
"It's too risky. I can't agree to that." Elena stood her ground.
"I was only asking on the behalf of Caroline. You can't stop me from giving Katie my blood." Damon told her with one of his pissed off smirks.
"Do it." Bonnie spoke up making the two of them look at her like she was crazy given her stance on vampires. "This is Caroline and Katie. Okay? We can't let them die." She looked at Damon. "Do it."
"If I do this for them, you and me call a truce?" Damon asked.
"No, but you'll do it anyway...for Katie." Bonnie told him with a knowing glare.
TVDTVDTVD
Damon walked into Katie's ICU room, his eyes landed on her bruised and badly cut up face and body lying motionless in the bed. A ventilator tube was sticking out of her mouth, a machine making her chest raise and fall. "Katie Cat..." he sighed, resting his hand on her forehead brushing her red waves out of her face.
He was biting his wrist when he heard it, a small rapidly beating heart that made him freeze in place. "Oh...no..." he groaned and grabbed the rails of the bed leaning over it, placing his forehead on her stomach, the small heartbeat growing louder. “How could you be so stupid?”
With a pain twisted face he bit his wrist and held it over her face, dripping his blood into her mouth.
TVDTVDTVD
Katie woke up in the middle of the night gagging on the tube that was down her throat. Panicking, her heart rate spiked causing the monitor to start beeping, altering the nurse. Tears ran down her cheeks as they put a shot of something in her arm and her world turned black again.
The next time she woke up, she found the tube gone. The only thing attached to her now was the I.V. in her arm. Feeling like she had swallowed shards of glass, she pressed her fingertips to her neck. A passing nurse saw her moving and stopped in her tracks. "Ma'am." She called with raspy words. The nurse walked in. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Um, let me go get your doctor." the nurse told her with an odd look.
Before Katie knew it a doctor and two nurses came in and started throwing around the words miracle, broken neck and severe brain trauma. "Can someone please tell me what is going on?" She asked getting mad at being talked at and about as if she wasn't there.
The doctor told the nurses to leave then sat down on the stool in the room and rolled over to sit near her head. "We can't figure out how you have healed." He started.
"Healed from what?" She asked as he handed her a Styrofoam cup if ice chips.
"What's the last thing you remember?" He asked for a second time.
"I told you. I was in a car with my friends and the driver thought he saw something in the road so I scooted to the middle of the back seat to see what he was talking about." She explained, agitated with him.
"That car crashed and you went through the windshield." He explained and Katie's jaw slacked. "Just 12 hours ago. You suffered a broken neck and a very traumatic brain injury. You shouldn't even be able to move your head right now."
"You're telling me I'm supposed to be...what, paralyzed?" Katie asked, confused.
"Yes, but you're not and we don’t know why or how." He told her with an astonished head shake.
Katie's eyes went wide with realization. The only explanation to her recovery was that Damon or Stefan had given her blood. "What about my friends?"
"The boys in the car with you were fine, but your friend Caroline is experiencing the same miraculous recovery as you." He told her with a confused shake of his head. "For right now were running blood tests."
"So when can I get up and walk around?" She asked already getting tired of being in the bed.
"Just take it easy for now. Okay?" he asked as he patted her arm.
"Okay, where are my personal belongings?" She asked looking around for her things as she realized her necklace was no longer on her neck.
"I'll get a nurse to bring them to you." He told her as he stood up. "Do you have any other questions before I leave?"
"Yes." She told him with a dry mouth and a weight on her chest. "I think I'm pregnant."
"Okay. We'll do a blood test to check." He told her with a nod then left.
A few minutes later a nurse walked in with a white plastic bag that contained her phone, purse and jewelry. She explained that the clothes she had been wearing were disposed of. She was putting her necklace back on when Bonnie walked in with a smile. "Hey." She said as she walked in and gave Katie a hug. "How are you?" She asked as she let her go.
"Apparently my recovery is miraculous." Katie told her with an eye roll and Bonnie gave her a knowing smile. "So who did it?" Katie asked quietly.
"Damon." Bonnie answered as tears pooled in her eyes.
"Aw come on. Don't get mushy on me Bonnie Bennett." Katie told her with a playful warning tone.
"I'm sorry..." Bonnie said as she wiped a tear. "It's just...we almost lost you."
"Well you didn't. I'm fine. Sore, but fine." She said as she put a finger on each side of Bonnie's lips and pushed up the corners. Bonnie smacked her hand away but smiled.
"There's something you need to know." Bonnie said, her smile falling.
"What?" Katie drawled.
"Tyler's dad died." She told her solemnly.
"How?" Katie asked.
Bonnie told her about the Gilbert device that the mayor and John used to incapacitate the vampires in Mystic Falls. She also told her about how she lied about removing the spell from the device and without meaning too caused the death of the mayor and the near death of two of her best friends along with Damon and Stefan. "Are you mad?" Bonnie asked, ashamed of herself.
"No, Bonnie, I'm not mad." Katie told her with a shake of her head. "I know how you feel about vampires, I get it."
"I'm so sorry."
"Bon...it’s fine...stop apologizing." Katie told her with a look that said she was going to punch her if didn't stop.
"Okay, okay." Bonnie told her in surrender. "I'm going to go check on Caroline." She told her and gave her another hug. "Call me if you need anything."
A few hours later her doctor knocked on the door then let himself inside. "Well, Miss Finnegan, all of you're blood work came back perfectly normal." He told her as he stopped to stand beside her bed.
"And the pregnancy test?" She asked reluctantly not really wanting to know the answer.
"You are pregnant." His words took her breath away. "We're going to have an ultrasound done to figure out how far along you are and make sure everything is okay. Do you have any questions or concerns?"
Katie could only manage to shake her head no. As soon as the doctor closed the door behind him she broke. Tears flooded her cheeks. She felt like a complete and total idiot. How could she, responsible and on top of her future Katie, screw up so tremendously?
She was staring off into space, quiet tears slipping down her cheeks, when a nurse walked in, pulling an ultrasound machine on wheels behind her. "Hey, I'm here to..." she stopped seeing the tears on Katie's face. "Are you okay?"
"No, but I will be eventually." Katie answered then pulled her hospital gown up, exposing her lower stomach while her waist down was covered by the tan hospital blanket. "Let's just get this over with."
The ultrasound tech. checked her wrist band and asked for her birth date then started the ultrasound. It took a few minutes, but eventually Katie saw a little black circle with a little flickering grey circle floating around in it. "It looks like you're at about three weeks.” Katie heard the nurse, but all she could do was stare at the little flicker on the small screen. After watching her take some measurements then wipe the clear gel off of her stomach the tech. turned to her and handed her a print out of the ultrasound. “Is there anything I can get you?” she asked.
“Can you let someone know that I won’t be accepting visitors?” she asked and the tech nodded.
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That night, Katie was woken up when someone jerked the pillow out from under her head. Her eyes landed on Elena with her pillow in her hands and an odd smile on her face. "Elena what the hell?"
"Nope, try again." She told her with a tone she'd never heard from her friend before.
When she noticed that Elena’s vervain necklace was missing puzzle pieces in her brain snapped into place. "Katherine?"
"In the flesh." She told her with a sway of her body. "I have a message for Damon."
"Then tell him yourself." She told her with a glare.
With a whoosh Katherine tossed the pillow aside and grabbed Katie's head in her hands. Katie tried to get her hands off of her but she was no match for Katherine. "Tell him I said, you're welcome." With a twitch of her hands Katie's neck snapped, killing her instantly.
