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"Stefan-wait!" A seventeen year old Damon Salvatore ran after his younger, eleven year old brother, Stefan Salvatore, into the woods. "Stefan!"
"You're growing o~ld," the younger Salvatore teased, sticking his tongue out.
"More like inching closer to death at the hands of our father," he murmured, rolling his eyes as he brushed his curls out of the way. "Where are we going anyway?"
"I just want to show you something, now, hurry! Father will be home soon."
"Now, he realizes," the older murmured, taking his younger brother's hand anyway.
It was quite a hike. Maybe Damon really was old, or his brother just had better tolerance than him.
"Stef-"
"Damon... look.." Stefan turned his older brother about and showed him the sun starting to set and sleep.
"Wow..." the raven-haired Salvatore breathed out, his blue eyes sparkling in the sun.
"I know... I've never taken anyone here before. Just you."
"Why?"
"Just... felt like I wanted to. We're brothers. You deserve to find a place of your own to seek peace and freedom."
Damon could only nod, pulling his baby brother to his side.
∞
Damon gave a groggy grunt to whoever was trying to wake him up, throwing the blanket over his head and turning to his side.
"Damonnn," Caroline whined, laying down next to him and hugging him a bit too tightly. "You promised."
"So did you, Goldilocks. Now, let me sleep."
"Hello? The father of my children who were originally from your wife? A little help?" Damon managed a muffled chuckle, and so did Alaric, still chuckling as he sat down.
"Damon, come on. Get up."
"Noooo," he whined, almost sounding like the way Stefan did all those years ago when he still possessed his innocence.
Caroline nodded at Alaric and let go of Damon, only for the former History teacher to manhandle the cured vampire into his arms bridal style, the other yelping at the sudden action.
"Ric-what the hell?!"
"You're not running away, Damon. Not today." The still-twenty-three year old only huffed, nuzzling his head on Alaric's chest.
How Damon never aged even after being cured, they didn't know yet, but they've got foreign hands helping them out.
Freya Mikaelson and Vincent Griffith helped them out from New Orleans, skimming and scanning through all the grimoires in their possession.
"Alrighty-o. What's on your agenda for waiting-for-Damon-Salvatore-to-die-activities for today?"
"Why do you talk about it like that?"
"It's the only realistic way to describe it," he shrugged and smirked, but the pair saw right through him. He might've tried to play himself off as cool and breezy about it, but in reality, he was more than worried.
The cure should've let him continue aging by now. But no, he was still stuck as the twenty-three year old he was when he was turned.
To say that he was terrified was an understatement. He was scared, beyond scared, even, of what tomorrow could bring.
For all he knew, he could die at any moment.
"Damon? You okay?" Caroline worriedly asked when she noticed him staring off into the distance.
"Ehem. Um.. yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. Anyone up for raiding our wine cellar?" Alaric looked like he was about to say something but Caroline shot him a look, restraining him.
"Yeah, why the hell not?"
"Alright, I'll meet you down in a minute. Prepare to have your minds blown~" he dragged on the 'n' and chuckled, wincong and groaning softly once the two were out of sight.
His head felt like it was being spun around at about a hundred twenty miles per hour, and the sickening feeling in his stomach didn't really help that much either.
Everything hurt and felt like it was being broken and snapped repeatedly, brushing against each other.
He could feel the sweat trickling down his neck and back, yet he wasn't doing anything that required him to exert so much effort.
His breathing was laboured, but shifted back to normal almost as soon as Alaric appeared on top of the stairs.
"You coming?"
∞
Damon was having the time of his life with the pair, so much, that he almost forgot he was supposed to call Freya and Vincent with an update.
"Oh crap, we gotta go. We can't make Jeremy watch the girls for the whole day. Are you sure you'll be okay, Damon?" He nodded and flashed his signature smirk, waving them off.
"Okay. We'll come by tomorrow." Caroline pulled him into a hug, squeezing him, before Alaric's arms enveloped him.
He may had just been hallucinating, but he felt Alaric's lips press onto his hair, sighing.
"Bye.. Damon." He nodded, waving them off as their car drove away.
He closed the door and finally clamped a hand over his heart, breathing shakily.
He wasn't okay, that much he knew. He needed to call Freya and Vincent.
"F-Freya.." he croaked out, trying to stop himself from falling onto the wooden floors of the boarding house.
"Damon? Damon, what's going on? Are you okay? Damon? Damon!" But the raven-haired former vampire had already fallen to the ground, eyes barely open and his breathing getting shallower by the minute.
The pair got there (with Keelin) almost seconds later, their concerned eyes scanning the house fearfully before he felt Keelin's presence above him.
"He's here!"
"Oh my god-Damon? Damon, can you hear me? Vince, help me carry him up." Arms swept from behind his back and knees, carrying him upstairs to his room.
The world around him was starting to blur, and their murmurs became nothing but jumbled sounds.
This isn't the way I'm supposed to go.
I haven't told everyone how much they meant to me, yet.
I haven't told Ric that I love him.
I need to stay alive.
"Freya..." he whimpered, hand seeking hers. Their fingers tangled within a millisecond, the older's hands soothing his.
"I'm here. I'm here,"
"Hurts.." he whispered, guiding her hand to his throat and chest, trying his best to not let his tears fall.
"I know.. I know.." she laid his head on her lap, running her fingers through his hair.
"Freya.." Vincent called, his face fallen and expression unreadable.
"Vince? What-" she clamped her mouth shut when the other used his chin to gesture towards Damon.
"V, come on," Damon rasped, almost whining. "I'm already dying, might as well tell me."
"Hey," Keelin began to protest, kneading his leg. "Don't say that."
"You're not gonna like this, Damon,"
"Humour me,"
"Damon.."
"It's okay, Vince." He gave him the best smile he could, nodding.
"The cure is... well.. it's not functioning like it's supposed to. See, you're supposed to be able to age like a normal human behing, right? You're supposed to be thirty-four, thirty-three by now. But you're not."
"I'm.. I'm really dying, aren't I?"
"No," Keelin said forcefully, glaring at Vincent. "No one's dying anytime soon, especially not you."
"Keelin, you just heard him.. I'm basically a ticking time bomb."
"Is there anything..." Freya trailed off when the man shook his head, giving Damon a sad smile.
"The only thing we can do now is take the cure out of you. That way, this'll all be easier."
"The same thing we did with Katherine.."
"Exactly. Listen, man.. um.. is there anything we can do to help?"
"Let me attend the twins' party. And... I have something I need to say to Alaric. Then.. then you can take the cure out."
"I'm sorry," tears pooled in the blonde's eyes, caressing his wrist. "We promised-I promised I'd do everything I can to help you."
"Don't," he almost moaned, taking her face in his hands. "I'm grateful, Freya. Thankful, really. I got to be closer to you guys, it feels like we're a quadruple now," they chuckled, the room filled with so much love and emotion.
"Thank you, really. For this. It was the greatest last few months I could ask for."
"Can we do anything to lift your spirit up?"
"A good start would be.. can you make an anchor? Between our world and the dead? I... I wanna see my brother, our friends one last time."
"Of course."
∞
"Damon? Omigod, you came!" Josie ran into his arms, laughing. He winced at how tight she was hugging him but wrapped his arms around her anyways, sighing.
"How could I miss your party? Your mom and dad would have my head for it."
"Hi."
"Hello, Caroline mini-me. Happy birthday." He hugged Lizzie next, trying to remember her scent.
"Hey um, where can I find your dad?" The twins stared a look before turning back to him. "He's finishing something up in his office."
"On your birthday? Not on my watch." Josie was about to go after him but Lizzie held her wrist, shaking her head.
"He deserves to know. We'll be here when he comes back."
Damon walked through the halls, admiring and embedding every single detail in his mind. He was a little bit worried, however, when he believed he was lost.
He passed by a semi-open door and heard hushed voices and sniffling inside, like someone was crying.
"Are you happy?" One of the voices, a woman, asked, her voice cracked and broken.
"I'm happy right now. In the arms of my demon-possessed baby mama," Jo? Jo was alive?
He took a step back and sure enough, Alaric and Jo stood there in each other's arms, crying.
He felt his heart sink to the ground upon seeing the scene unfold before his eyes.
"D-Damon? What are you doing here?" He wiped his cheeks and walked past Caroline, ignoring the blonde's protests.
He made sure Keelin, Freya and Vincent didn't see him before running out of the school.
He walked home in the rain, shivering from the cold and shaking from his sobs. He stomped to the kitchen, breathing heavily by the sink.
"Whatever you're thinking of doing, mate, don't." He sharply turned his head, regretting it soon enough as he felt a sudden head rush.
"There now, gently," he let his supposed-to-be-dead best friend lead him upstairs to change into dry clothes.
Damon was silent the entire time, letting Enzo take care of him.
"How are you here?"
"You didn't really think that Freya and Vincent would let you live by yourself, now, did you?"
"You've been here all this time?"
Enzo nodded. "But we agreed on never letting ourselves be seen unless it truly was needed."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Hello, Damon."
"L-Liz? But you're not-"
"Supernatural? Well, you can thank Sheila for that."
"Bonnie's Grams?" The blonde nodded, sitting next to him.
"Why?"
"Because she knows Bonnie loves you and cares so much about you. We all do."
"Even if you were a dick to us most of the time," he laughed, turning to face Jenna.
Three of the people he cared about the most were there with him, and it's all that mattered.
"Can you stay here with me?"
"Of course." Jenna held him in her arms, his head on her chest, whilst Liz and Enzo sat on his opposite sides.
∞
Damon opened his eyes when he heard the soft playing of a piano, the tune something he couldn't quite place.
Loving and fighting
Accusing, denying
I can't imagine a world with you gone
It seemed as if his entire life was flashing before his eyes.
From the time his mother was pregnant with him, her holding him for the first time, Giuseppe holding him for the first time, him and Stefan running around.
Memories that brought warmth and familiarity in his heart.
The joy and the chaos,
the demons we're made of
I'd be so lost if you left me alone
The next memories that flashed came in decades. Twenties, fifties, sixties, seventies with Lexi, eighties, nineties when he went home and killed a member of the family, and finally, his memories when he let himself into Elena's life.
It had already been chaotic by the time he was in the picture, but that didn't stop him from letting it worsen. Guilt washed over him like angry waves over sand.
The drowning sensation in his chest got worse when he saw his happiest moments with Jenna that no one ever knew existed.
Once or twice a week, thrice if they're lucky, all three of them-Alaric, Damon, and Jenna-would go to the Grill or out of town just to drink.
Most of the time, it was only Jenna and himself if Ric was too busy with work. They had no limits to their topics, sometimes laughing to no end, sometimes crying, sometimes debating, and god forbid, most of the time flirting.
It was during those times that Damon had really let himself enjoy conpany and let other people into his heart, only for one of them to perish.
He couldn't explain the heartbreak he felt when Jenna had died. He couldn't face Ric, but that was an entirely different story.
He was bitten by Tyler while helping Caroline, putting his life in harm's way. The pain brought him back to the time Rose was still around, his heart breaking even more.
Rose was one of the few people who'd started to bring out the best in him. He liked her so much and he felt like home with her. He even thought of the possibility of falling in love with her.
But she was taken from him too soon. And he later found himself hurting again.
You locked yourself in the bathroom
Lying on the floor when I break through
Damon had seen and witnessed so many deaths, thar it wasn't a surprise for him to find a body.
From all the pain, however, he considered taking his own life. Even if it was only temporary.
One of the first few times he did it, Jenna was the one who found him. And this was before she knew he was a vampire.
He had excused himself to go the bathroom after she'd 'convinced' him to join her for a school-related gathering.
He stole a knife from the kitchen and hid in the bathroom, slashing his wrists and letting himself bleed on the floor. Quite hilariously, though, almost immediately after he did the act, Anna came in and snapped his neck, in hopes of finding Jeremy.
Of course, Jenna's protective instincts kicked in and she quickly moved to check him, stumbling back when he suddenly opened his eyes.
Another time he did it, Ric caught him. All three of them spent the night in Jenna's room, watching countless films, when he decided to take his ring off and go sunbathing on the roof.
Of course, Alaric couldn't sleep considering the fact that the two people he loved the most was in the room with him. He felt it when Damon stood up. And he certainly heard the vampire's light footsteps to the door.
Before he could go, however, Alaric was already behind him, arms around his stomach.
He pulled the younger back to bed, sandwiching him between himself and Jenna so that he couldn't escape.
I pull you in to feel your heartbeat
Can you hear me screaming?
Please don't leave me
The moments that Stefan never knew when the three of them ran away together weren't always fun and memorable.
There was one deadly time that Damon was kidnapped and tortured while Alaric and Jenna were forced to watch.
They weren't bound by anything, but they were being held back. Jenna yelled for them to stop, but they didn't.
When they finally did, Jenna immediately sprinted over to his barely conscious body, pressing her ear agaonst his heart.
She cried his name, begging him to wake up.
To hold on.
Hold on I still want you
There were times when Damon felt like he was getting in between them. Alaric and Jenna were wonderful together, and looked beautiful.
Anyone would want to be with them.
But not Damon.
He didn't want to tear them apart the way he did with himself while pining after someone who didn't love him as much.
Jenna had yelled at him, screamed at him, cried, and begged for him to stay.
She had told him how much she and Alaric wanted nothing more than to have him with them.
Come back I still need you
He ran away, only this time, he was by himself. He had gone to New Orleans and drank alone, dancing with anyone who had to offer.
He ignored each call, each message, each voice in his head pleading for him to come back.
Eventually he returned.
The one tome he couldn't, however, scarred him to this day.
The day he left Enzo. That hurt him the most before Alaric and Jenna even existed.
Enzo's face and the sound of his voice, even his scent, was forever locked within his senses, always missing it, him, later being joined by Alaric and Jenna.
Let me take your hand
I'll make it right
Bonnie wanted to help him. She wanted to let herself care for him the way he cared about everyone despite hiding it.
And whenever he was asleep, she made sure that he was safe and sound, and was only dreaming of vivid, peaceful colours.
I swear to love you all my life
The night before Jenna let herself be used in the sacrificed, she told Damon that she loves him.
The night Alaric came clean about his feelings and apologized for his actions, he told Damon he loves him.
The night after he and Enzo reunited, the other had told him how much he loves him.
When it finally sunk in that Stefan was gone, Caroline had told him she loves him.
And when it all felt like too much to handle, Bonnie repeatedly told him how much she loves him.
Long endless highway,
you're silent beside me
Driving a nightmare I can't escape from
Damon ran away again, this time as a cured vampire, and drank. He even met up with Klaus who surprisingly wasn't in a murdery mood.
He drunk-confessed all that he went through and hiccuped his way through some of them.
His emotions eventually got the best of him, leaving the Original hybrid no choice but to call Bonnie to pick him up.
He sat silently in her car, the tears freely streaming down his face.
Helplessly praying,
the light isn't fading
Hiding the shock and the chill in my bones
"Freya? What's going on?" Bonnie began to panic when she saw Damon unconscious on the bed.
"We... we took the cure out of him. He's aging faster than average."
"Wait, why?" Elena asked, brushing the hair from his forehead.
"He asked us to. There's something he hasn't told you.."
They took you away on a table
I pace back and forth as you lay still
"No.. no no.. no.." Elena gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"How? The cure, it-"
"It wasn't working well for him."
"How.. how long has this been going on?"
"He found out on the twins' tenth birthday." Elena let out a strangled cry, falling into Matt's arms for support.
Damon slowly blinked his eyes open, the blurry scene in front of him making his heart ache.
"E..len..a.."
"I'm here," she stammered, taking his hand in hers. "I'm here, Damon.."
He weakly chuckled, reaching over with his free hand and wiping her cheek.
Bonnie sat on his other side, placing a hand on his chest and feeling the weak heartbeat beneath the skin.
"Please don't leave me," Elena sobbed. Damon only squeezed her hand, turning when he felt Bonnie's tears fall onto his shirt.
"We need you, Damon. I still need you. How could you do this to me?" She whispered, emotions on the verge of overpowering her.
"I got Matt's text, what's going-" Alaric cut off when he saw Damon's state.
Pale, sweaty, Elena and Bonnie crying by his side. He didn't want to believe his theory.
No.
He was just fine.
He was okay.
"Damon?" Josie whispered, eyes filling up with tears. Lizzie was silent beside her, tears gracefully rolling down her cheeks.
"Hey, kiddo," he weakly chuckled, barely keeping his eyes open. "I'm sorry I couldn't dance with you two like I promised."
"You're okay. He's okay, right?" She frantically asked the adults in the room, letting out a choked sob when their tears answered her.
"Josie. It's okay. I need you to let go. I'm not strong anymore to hold this down. This is the only way I could go."
"No!" She sobbed, dropping onto her knees. Lizzie knelt down next to her and hugged her, unable to stop herself from crying, too.
"Damon, I-"
"Shh.." he shushed Alaric, smiling. He beckoned the older closer until he sat down and cupped his cheek with one hand, smiling when he leant onto it, but frowning after when he felt the wet tear marks on the skin.
"Don't say anything.." he smiled, caressing the skin with his thumb. "I'll be okay. I just want to go home. I can hear her. My mother. She's telling me, 'Damon, my baby, let's go home.
"And.. I want her to take me home." Alaric began to sob, leaning his forehead against the raven-haired boy's.
"Please don't leave me, Damon. What would I do with you gone?"
"I trust you. I know you can do this." Alaric shook his head, more tears mixing with the other's.
"I love you, Alaric Saltzman." Damon's fingers tangled with his tightly, breath shaky.
"I love you too, Damon." Damon's eyes closed with a smile, content.
Hold on I still want you
"Damon? Damon?" The other's once tight fingers went limp, letting go of his.
Come back I still need you
Alaric's head hung low and he began to sob, shoulders shaking as he felt the other stop breathing.
Caroline held Bonnie as they cried together, unable to accept that Damon, of all people, was gone.
Freya, Keelin and Vincent stood aside as they cried, giving the small, extended family the space they needed.
Josie and Lizzie held each other on the floor, kneeling next to their father.
Matt held Elena as she sobbed in his arms, his own tears mixing with hers.
Stefan stood aside, head hung low with the realization that his brother was gone.
Jenna, though they couldn't see her, wrapped her arms around the twins and Alaric, hoping to bring them some kind of warmth.
Enzo looked at Liz and Sheila and nodded, sighing.
It was only a matter of time.
He looked all around the room, from those who were still in the world of human and supernatural being, to the ones who were there as ghosts.
The Mikaelsons were there as respect for him and his family.
Rose stood next to him, fingers entwined with his. Lexi stood by the foot of the bed, smiling sadly, while Vicki and Tyler stood behind her.
Katherine stood next to Elena and Matt, placing a hand on her doppelganger's back as the other held Stefan's.
Jo looked over them all, saddened by Damon's fate.
He looked around once again, and managed a sad chuckle.
"And the fool thought no one cared about him."
∞
"Hey, Dad.."
"I-I'm sorry, who are you?"
"I'm your daughter. Or was, in an entirely different universe. But, I died there, too. For you, actually.
"I'm assuming that the witches kept their end of the deal, seeing as we're both here."
"Wait, you... you died?"
"It's a part of my transformation. I gave my life, so the witches could assure me with yours. They promised me that they'd bring you back, somehow.
"And.. I guess they did. Or they're going to.
"But.. I need to go and get as far away from Mystic Falls as possible. I doubt that I'd want to kill my family first thing when I come back."
"Wait," he grabbed her wrist, eyes unsure and wide with fear.
"What's your name?" The girl smiled and hugged him.
"Stefanie Katherine Rose Salvatore."
The world around him began to disappear, and soon enough, so did the image of his daughter.
"Stefanie? Stefanie!"
Bright light filled the room and blinded him, until it went dark.
The last image he remember was his family standing around him, mourning him, before he lost consciousness.
Come back I still need you