#s: damon pleasant

[webraciszekbastion]

Can I ask for Damon (p:eg), Pocket (drf:sh) and Levi (drdt) hcs with a female s/o that is the Ultimate Novelist and works too damn much she doesn't take a break?

Of course buddy !

I have seen several, such requests and it seems to me, to be charming to write. Immediately admits that I like the fact that you chose Damon for this request. anyway I hope you enjoy.

Fem s/o Ultimate Novelist who works non-stop, without taking breaks.

Pairing: Character x Fem!Reader

Damon Maitsu

Damon is a book fanatic, so when you met, he was curious about your talent.

In the library of the academy you found, many of your books. Oh boy ! Your mistake. The number of sleepless nights, by Damon, to finish reading, your books, is only increasing.(Please, at least buy him a coffee after a night of reading)

Damon started talking to you a lot. He praised you a lot for your interesting plot and imaginative plot twists.

Very quickly you became close to each other. You helped Damon become more open and patient with his classmates. Damon became your Beta-Reader for this.

Quickly, however, your conversations became shorter and there were fewer and fewer of them during the day.

You were very anxious to have Damon read new material at certain times, after which it was again difficult to communicate with you.

It happened that you didn't come to class. This did not surprise Damon. Attendance at class is not mandatory, but when he saw that you came after a few days, with crumpled clothes, a mess in your hair and your eyes stuck on the screen, Damon became concerned.

During breaks, you were either sitting in a corner, continuing to pull the storyline, or taking notes. If you spoke, it was only when you were talking to the publisher or cover designers.

Damon had to take you to the cafeteria when he saw that you were starting to lose weight. No luck. Usually you were able to sit down an hour of notes and leave without even touching the food. Occasionally you moved something while writing, but not much, and most of the food landed on your blouse anyway.

When you forgot about the meeting with Damon again, he did not want to pretend that nothing was happening. This time he went to you.(He cares too much about you, but he won't say that out loud)

When he entered your room and saw you half-conscious, thinking what to write, he was worried. However, seeing the mess and dirty clothes, all over the floor, his worry quickly, turned into frustration.

Damon snatched your laptop, taking a notebook of ideas from the shelf and a tablet from the nightstand. You started asking him to return the items, explaining your busy schedule. Damon, however, was adamant and said that until you have bathed, eaten and rested a bit, your treasures, will not leave his room.

When you heard this, from Damon, you realized how much you had neglected yourself. Because of the mess at your place, you bathed in Damon's bathroom.(No worries. Damon is educated and respects the privacy of others)

When you finished bathing and changed into the tracksuit you got from Damon, you went out to him. Damon at that time prepared for the two of you, something to eat.

He's not a great cook, so your meal was macaroni and cheese and chicken sandwiches made from dinner rolls. It was nice, though, because you couldn't remember the last time you ate.(Don't be picky. Free food is always good)

After the meal, Damon, recounted to you every funny and absurd situation from the whole week, involving your class. You both laughed. Later you watched, some movie recommended by Kai. After this nice time, you stayed at Damon's place for the night.(That's because your room continues to be a mess, and because Damon wanted to be sure that you would sleep through the night normally tonight) You really de-stressed and relaxed in Damon's presence.

You still devote a lot of time each day to writing, but now more consciously with meal breaks in the pleasant company of your new friends.

The hour of 7:30 pm is officially the moment when you finish work for the day. It is also the time when you go to Damon and spend cas together. Mostly you talk about everything and nothing, cuddled in each other's arms.

Pocket

An attractive girl, quiet, mysterious, keeping to herself, absorbed in her own affairs. You definitely caught Pocket's eye.

He asked Rox and Enigme to talk to you.(It's not that he's shy. He just doesn't want to give the bad impression🥺)

Enigma pushed him to talk to you. It was probably the most awkward conversation starter ever.

Pocket, however, managed to make you laugh. It was a little ice-breaking, after which you started a normal conversation.

You like to listen to his stories from matches and training sessions. According to you, he would be a very interesting protag in the book. He for that, like hypnotized, can listen to the plot of your books and new ideas.(In particular, he likes to imagine the character of the lovely protagonist girls, or rather any female character)

Whenever he talked to you, you were engrossed in work. But you always responded, answered and showed that you were active in the conversation. That's why it didn't worry him too much.

His concern grew when he noticed that no matter what time of day it was, you always sat in the lobby, typing something on your laptop.

Pocket is convinced that for the past two days, you have been forgetting to eat, so, he has started to bring it to you in the lobby. He was heartbroken when he sees that you can eat an entire meal in less than three minutes and continue to sit down to write.

Every worry on Pocket's part, you explained to him with a busy schedule and chasing deadlines. Because of this, he began to help you more. When you had something to move, he did it, meals during the day ? Do not worry Pocket cooks well, so he will take care of it. Something to carry, something to bring ? Pocket is at your disposal. Pocket is confident that when you are done, you will finally find time to rest.(So naive and innocent)

Deadlines passed, and in their place came more responsibilities and more ideas that you had to write down. In addition, you could have survived by drinking coffee instead of a meal.

Now Pocket saw you mostly as you walked from the lobby to the kitchen to make coffee. Of course, you had a tablet to write and check emails while you did so.

You go for coffee so often that you finally moved with your writing to the lunchroom. When Twin, Moraiteru and Enigma see you in the kitchen, they just turn away. They are afraid to interact with you.

Pocket wanted to know what they were talking about. When he walked into the kitchen, his jaw dropped. The number of cups of coffee you drank was probably greater than the number of balls Pocket had bounced in a season.

Pocket wanted to get you to take a break, but you were a walking bundle of nerves who only talks about work.

At some point you started to fall. Pocket caught you at the last moment. He started to panic and immediately went with you to Scarlet.(It took about fifteen minutes before Scarlet understood what he was saying)

Scarlet assured Pocket that it was from lack of sleep and an overdose of caffeine. She and the baseball player carried you to their place and put you to bed.

Pocket prepared you the best meal he could and brought you probably twelve packs of water (Scarlet said you must be well hydrated now).

You started going with Pocket to every meal. Of course, he's ready to slap you on the hands if you only look at coffee, sodas, energy drinks and other drinks that have caffeine in them.

With Pocket, you also talk to the rest of the class more often. With Rox, Cancel and Cross, you have interesting discussions about books and other topics you bring up. For that, both you and Rissi have fun when Twin, makes parodies of your books. Surprisingly, the four of you get along very well.

Despite the heavy workload, you are now trying to take a more healthy approach to it. If you overdo it again fortunately Pocket will come and remind you to rest. What would you do without your guardian angel ?

Levi Fontana

Levi recognized you at the beginning of the year. You are his favorite author. It was actually an honor to meet you in person.

Talking about your work, how you take inspiration, how you started your career, was a fascinating experience for Levi.

Levi pointed out during the conversation that you have slightly damaged hair. He didn't want to be nosy, so he didn't pursue topic. He gave you hair care tips for that.(However, it didn't give him peace of mind that someone as put together as you are had hair torn up)

At first, he found it interesting to watch you create a new novel.

However, when he noticed that you weren't going to meals and were wearing random wrinkled clothes, he was worried and a little disappointed with your attitude.

Unlike the previous two gentlemen, Levi doesn't leave you to fend for yourself.

When he saw that you were dressed dirty, he would go to the boutique on the next floor and pick out a change of clothes for you. Later, when he handed you the clothes, he told you to change and do the laundry.

At least you had to eat two meals a day. Of course, in situations where you get too carried away in the land of your imagination, Levi supervises by eating with you in your room.(In this way, your meals together became a routine)

Whether you drink the right amount of water during the day is also supervised by him.

When you spend too long at work, Levi closes your laptop and tells you to eat something or rest. You usually don't have the courage to argue with him, and when you are absorbed in your work and you argue with him, Levi brings Hu to help.(You are well-mannered and respect the opinion of the group's mom)

Levi prefers to keep an eye on you, especially after you once showered yourself with orange juice in the cafeteria and your breakfast consisted of a handful of cereal.

While writing, you tend to wander around the halls. Levi, he's calm because you and Nico usually walk together, so someone is keeping an eye on you.

You once went for a walk down the hall after spending the whole day in your room writing a new novel. Nico tried to point out that you were still in your pajamas. However, you were absorbed in a conversation with the publisher.

Nico couldn't reach you, so they went to Levi for help. They said you were pale, shaking your head and could barely keep your eyes open.(Your little adoptive brother is worried about you 🥺)

Levi was tired of your workaholism. He went with Nico and took the tablet from you, telling you to go to your room, he told you to sort yourself out.

You went to the bathroom to wash and change.Levi, meanwhile, cleared the notebooks, papers, laptop and other things from your bed so that you could lie down.

You started arguing that you still had a lot of work to do on the last chapters of the book and that you still had to proofread two other books. Levi honestly stopped listening to you when he realized you didn't want to go to sleep.

While you were explaining your schedule, Levi took one of the blankets and wrapped it around you. He then placed you in bed, holding you tightly so you couldn't move. You screamed and complained that you couldn't sleep now, but Levi was already asleep, or he was very good at pretending to be. So like it or not, you fell asleep on your own a moment later.

When you got up in the morning, Levi was lying next to you, looking at you. You were grateful to have him with you, because after a sleepless night earlier, you now felt like a new person.

Levi started spending more time with you in the afternoons. He was happy when you two could spend time together, especially when he saw you finally taking time to de-stress.

Now Levi is calm because when you feel tired from work, you call him. Usually then one of you comes to the other's room. You always relax and fall asleep faster in Levi's arms, and since Levi doesn't mind, why not take advantage of it.(Of course he's happy. He would do anything for you)

[denimbex1986]

'Though he’s worked with writer-director Christopher Nolan for over two decades, Cillian Murphy steps into his largest studio lead role to date in Nolan’s upcoming biopic, Oppenheimer. Starring as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man appointed to head the top-secret labs for the Manhattan Project, Murphy discusses with Collider’s Steve Weintraub the preparation for this role and what it was like to "experiment and explore" on set with Nolan.

With a uniquely penned screenplay unlike any Murphy’s received prior, Oppenheimer presented him with the opportunity to once again explore the existential themes Nolan films favor, this time as the leading man. Dubbing himself a “Nolan veteran,” Murphy has appeared as a supporting actor in many of the director’s most notable features, from his take on the Dark Knight in 2005’s Batman Begins to the Oscar-winning Inception. Now, he leads an ensemble cast alongside Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Josh Hartnett, and David Dastmalchian.

During this one-on-one interview, Murphy describes what it was like receiving that phone call from Nolan, how long he had to prepare for filming, and why this screenplay blew his mind. We also find out what kind of feedback Nolan gives on set, which Oppenheimer scene was the most challenging to shoot, and what it will take for Murphy to do a 28 Months Later sequel. For this and more, check out the full interview in the video or transcript below.

COLLIDER: I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time, but there are going to be people out there who have never seen anything you’ve done. Besides Oppenheimer, which is obviously incredible, what would be the thing you want people to watch first if they’ve never seen your work?

CILLIAN MURPHY: That’s a good question. I hate looking at my own films [laughs]. There’s a film that I have a great affection for that I made in Ireland called The Wind that Shakes the Barley, which is a film I’m very proud of. It’s a little insight into Irish history, but it’s a beautifully made film by Ken Loach.

Yeah, he’s okay.

MURPHY: He’s pretty good. [Laughs]

You’ve worked with [Christopher] Nolan before, but what was it actually like when he reached out to you and said, “I’m thinking about doing Oppenheimer. I want you to do the role?” As an actor, what is it like getting that call?

MURPHY: I think any actor in the world would, first of all, want to work with Chris, but second of all, do a lead for him. I can’t think of any better word than it’s a dream. It sounds like such a cliché, but it’s the truth. But I had no idea he was going to call me. He just called me out of the blue. That’s his MO; you never hear from him and then he calls. [Laughs] So he called me, and I genuinely didn’t know what it would be, and then he said, “I’m making this movie about Oppenheimer and I would like you to play Oppenheimer.” It’s a big shock, and a very pleasant one, but then you kind of go, “Okay, now I have a lot of work to do.”

Completely. You get off the phone with him, and are you immediately in your head, like, “I need to just start studying?”

MURPHY: Yes. Yes, exactly that. He told me the day we were starting to shoot, so I knew I had six months to really go in. I would have taken more, but six months was good. We just went straight at it from that day. We were just into it.

One of the things about this film is it was filmed with IMAX cameras, and it’s incredible, but as an actor, because it’s a huge camera, what is it like when it’s right there near you, and you know every shot is incredibly expensive, and it’s also incredibly loud?

MURPHY: You kind of get used to it. And I’m a bit of a Nolan veteran so I’m kind of used to the huge cameras and the racket they make. We have an amazing DP, Hoyte Van Hoytema, and an amazing camera team, so it doesn’t become a big deal after a while. If you started thinking, “Oh, this is gonna be my face 80 feet on the–” You just can’t think about it like that. Chris never talked about it like that. He just cares about the performances and what’s happening in the moment and the truth of the scene.

I’m sure when you looked at the schedule and saw everything you were going to be doing, you maybe had a day or two circled in terms of, “Oh, that might be a tough day.” What was that day or two that you had circled where you were in your head a little bit in terms of performance, or what was required of you that day?

MURPHY: To be honest with you, they were all like that. [Laughs] But the section of the movie that I loved working on the most was the section in the room, in 2022, when we were all in the hearing. We shot in this tiny, shitty little room. There weren’t any moveable walls or anything like that; it was just all of us in there with this huge camera. That felt almost like doing a play. We did that for two weeks, so all these incredible actors, Jason Clarke and everybody, would come in and do their piece. I found that very emotional and heavy, but in a brilliant way. It was a real challenge. So, that was my favorite chunk of the movie in terms of shooting.

What do you think would surprise Christopher Nolan fans to learn about making a Christopher Nolan movie?

MURPHY: He’s not that sympathetic to toilet breaks.

[Laughs] That’s not what I expected you to say, and it’s also very honest.

MURPHY: I’ll leave that there.

I’m fascinated by the way directors craft a performance. Clearly, Chris is looking for things in each take, and he knows exactly what he wants. What is he like to work with when he’s not getting exactly what he wants out of you? Can you talk a little bit about how he directed you?

MURPHY: He is brilliant with actors, understands actors, loves actors, really believes in actors and what they can bring to the story and to the character. So an awful lot of the time we’ll just find it. We’ll be shooting, but we’ll be finding the scene, and he’ll let us experiment and explore stuff. Then he may come in, and he’ll just whisper very quietly in your ear. Generally, the notes are very precise and succinct and brief, but they can totally spin the performance. That’s his genius. It also comes from the fact that he’s written it, so he has direct access to it, but he’s phenomenal, like really phenomenal.

I saw this last night in IMAX 70mm and it is amazing. First of all, the movie’s incredible, but seeing it in that presentation– Have you seen it in IMAX, 70mm?

MURPHY: I have not seen it in IMAX 70mm. I’m going to, I’m looking forward. I’ve seen Chris’ other movies in that format and I cannot wait to see it.

Is it going to tweak you a little bit in terms of when you see your face on that huge screen? Some actors I speak to, they really can’t watch themselves.

MURPHY: I don’t enjoy it. I don’t know many actors that do love looking at themselves. But I love watching it with an audience because that’s what cinema is, isn’t it? It’s a load of strangers in a dark room collectively invested in this thing, so watching it on your own in the screening room is not the same. I want to watch it with an audience.

100%. I’ve seen movies just like you in a small room with nobody, and it doesn’t have the same impact, the energy of everyone.

MURPHY: Exactly, yeah.

I’m curious, what was it like for you to read the script for the first time because he wrote the Oppenheimer stuff in a different way? Can you talk a little bit about that?

MURPHY: So he wrote the script in first-person, which I’d never encountered and never experienced. It blew my mind. Also, I realized that was a huge responsibility because everything is kind of subjectively through Oppenheimer’s eyes, except for the black and white bits which are objectively from [Lewis] Strauss’ (Robert Downey Jr.) point of view. It was one of the best screenplays I’ve ever read, without a shadow of a doubt. For example, he wouldn’t say, “Oppenheimer walks into the room and speaks to Strauss.” He would say, “I walk into the room,” and “I walk over and speak to Strauss.” That’s how it was written.

Christopher Nolan, Hoyte van Hoytema, and Cillian Murphy Oppenheimer on the set of OppenheimerImage via Universal I can’t imagine as an actor because you’ve read so many screenplays. It’s never like that.

MURPHY: Never. Well, not in my experience. I’m sure every script will be like this now. [Laughs] They’ll all be copying Chris.

That wouldn’t come as a surprise. If you were to do a Nolan double feature with Oppenheimer, what is the other movie you would watch with it?

MURPHY: That’s a good question. Do you think it should complement it, or can it be kind of random?

It could be anything.

MURPHY: If you wanted a science double bill, you’d probably go for Interstellar, right? Which, I absolutely adore that movie. If you wanted a complete palette cleanser you could watch The Prestige, which is also, I think, one of Chris’ undervalued but brilliant films. I don’t know. What do you think?

Inception would be an interesting one. As long as I could see it in an IMAX theater, it would be great.

MURPHY: Yeah, same.

So, there’s been talk of a 28 Months Later sequel, but you’re starting to reach the point where is it better to do 28 Years Later?

MURPHY: Totally. I was talking to Danny Boyle recently, and I said, “Danny, we shot the movie at the end of 2000.” So I think we’re definitely approaching the 28 Years Later. But like I’ve always said, I’m up for it. I’d love to do it. If Alex [Garland] thinks there’s a script in it and Danny wants to do it, I’d love to do it.

I think the 28 Years is way better because it would be a reflection of how you’ve aged.

MURPHY: How ancient I am. [Laughs]

I don’t think that’s the thing. [Laughs] My last thing for you, Oppenheimer is about three hours, but I’m assuming there were deleted scenes. Do you remember any deleted scenes or were there a lot of deleted scenes?

MURPHY: There’s no deleted scenes in Chris Nolan movies.

Really?

MURPHY: That’s why there are no DVD extras on his movies because the script is the movie. He knows exactly what’s going to end up– he’s not fiddling around with it trying to change the story. That is the movie.'

[karmas-chameleon]

I've written a bit of Manfred and Damon interacting, but I think this is the first time I've really had just him and my S/I talk

Despite the amount of time that Police Chief Gant and my boyfriend spent together, it wasn't often that I was left alone with the former. Manfred was reluctant to let me. Not out of concern for my safety, or even my comfort; it was an entirely selfish reason. He had warned me that Gant was highly experienced with obtaining information from people, and would use all his tricks to try and probe me for sensitive details.

Embarrassing me wouldn't likely be his intention - on the contrary, I was merely a weak link that enabled him to get more ammo to use on Manfred. I wasn't about to protest that. All Gant had to do was say the right word (or the wrong one), and my face would blush a bright red. If that wasn't enough, my body language would give me away just as well. I was an open book full of top secret information.

But when the two of them were at work on the same crime scene and Manfred walked off in a huff to chastise some poor detective, I was left vulnerable. It was just as well, I had some questions of my own I wanted to ask.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Gant said with an amiable smile as he sidled up to me. “I don't often see you when there's still a body on the ground. What's the occasion?”

“Oh, well, um…” I glanced out the window past the police tape to the other side of the street. We stood in a restaurant I'd never eaten at before (and couldn't anytime soon), but right by the crime scene sat a confectionery. “I haven't really been to this part of town, and Manfred told me we could go buy some candy after he was done. Which…sounds like a pretty morbid date, now that I say it out loud.”

Gant chuckled. “Oh, it sounds quite pleasant to me. Aside from the company, perhaps.”

“What do you mean?”

“It's just that I could never imagine Manny as the type to take someone out for sweets after work. I suppose I still can't.”

“He's nicer than you think, y'know. I mean- to me, anyway. Maybe he'd be nice to you too if you weren't trying to bug him all the time.”

Gant placed a hand on his chest and gasped in mock horror. “Me? Whatever did I do?”

“You keep calling him ‘Manny’, for one thing, and I'm sure he's told you to stop.”

“Ah, that. I give everyone I like a little nickname, you know. Helps build a friendly working relationship.”

“Yeah, I've heard-” I paused, and frowned. “Wait, why don't you have a nickname for me, then?”

Gant shook his head. “Now that's a line I don't dare cross. Annoying Manny is one thing, but his girlfriend? I don't want to know the consequences of that.”

“So you admit you're doing it just to annoy him!”

“Hmm? Guilty as charged, I suppose.”

The conversation seemed to die down after that, and it didn't feel like I'd given away anything particularly valuable about my boyfriend. Maybe the chief of police was just interested in an ordinary chat that day.

“I was wondering something,” I began. “Do you…do you actually like spending time with Manfred? Or do you just like bothering him? Um, sorry if that sounds rude.”

“Oh, you're fine. It's true that he's rather fun to mess around with, but that's not the only reason I like to talk to him. I don't think he'd give me the time of day if that was all I intended.” His jovial expression became a bit more solemn as he twirled a bit of his hair between his fingers. “When I met Manny, he was much the same as he is today. Fewer wrinkles, maybe, and with less of a reputation behind him. But he still did his best to strike fear into anyone who would stand against him, and innocent bystanders as well.”

He looked in the direction Manfred had gone in when he left to give his reprimanding, and I followed his gaze. His description of my boyfriend sounded accurate to me. Everyone was afraid of him, even the ones that stood on his side. Nearly everyone, at least.

“He didn't seem like the type to make friends easily,” Gant went on. “Seemed like a lonely way to live, if you ask me. So I tried to be friendly with him. I don't think he's quite warmed to me yet, but he tolerates my presence like nobody else. Present company excluded, of course."

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “He could use some more friends, I think. And I know Manny wouldn't spend so much time with you if he really hated you. Do you think there's anyone else he could-”

“Hmm? What was that you said?”

“I was just asking if-”

“No, no. You used a certain name.” Gant grinned wide, and I felt my heart sink. “It sounded so natural, too. Has my little nickname caught on?”

“I-I, um-” 

The police chief clapped his hands together excitedly. “Ohoho, I knew it! I've made a pet name for the great Prosecutor von Karma!”

“You did not!” I could feel my face heating up in betrayal of me. “I was just using that because you kept saying it over and over. That's all.”

“A little advice: don't go into professional poker. You just don't have the aptitude for it. I'd tell you not to go into crime either - you wouldn't last a minute under questioning - but I don't think your boyfriend would let that happen in the first place.”

I blinked at him. “...Huh?”

“Well, Manfred, or Manny to you, he's got quite a bit of influence. You'd think being in a relationship with a defense attorney would be more helpful in a tight spot like that, but you'd be wrong.” He chuckled to himself. “They could only keep you out of prison if you're actually innocent. And I'd say Manny's salary is another point in his favor over those attorneys.”

I frowned. “I'm not interested in committing any crimes. Or in his salary.”

“Is that so? Those sweets of yours have to come from somewhere.”

“They don't cost that much! I could buy a few candies with my own money.”

“What is it about him, then? Don't tell me it's his personality.”

“That's part of it, actually. He's very nice to me.” I stared defiantly into Gant's eyes, for at least a solid two seconds before his icy gaze made me look down. “...And he looks good. I think. Very, um, stylish.”

I was only met with more silence. I glanced up to see the police chief still staring me down and quickly averted my eyes.

“I know you probably won't believe me, but I think he's cute. Even with the wrinkles.” I paused for another uncomfortable moment, able to feel the eyes boring into me without even seeing them. “...What more do you want from me?”

“Oh, that's plenty. I was just wondering how much you'd say if I stayed quiet.”

I managed to look back up at him and saw a wide, infuriating grin. Maybe Manfred really had no other friends if he chose to spend time with this man.

“So, I suppose you've already told him all of that?” Gant asked, fiddling with his hair again.

“Sort of. I mean, maybe not in those exact words. I don't know if I have the courage to call Manfred cute to his face.”

“Don't worry about that! I can pass it on for you.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but a loud reprimand came from behind me.

“Damon! Cease bothering my assistant and get back to work this instant!”

I turned around to see my savior stomping over, cane in hand. “Manfred! Are you done yet?”

“I am.” My boyfriend reached my side and glared at Gant, making me grin for the first time in a while. “You, on the other hand, still have business to take care of, and I'm not staying around to watch. When I come into the office tomorrow, I expect to have all I need for a prompt trial.”

The police chief nodded, looking rather unperturbed. “Of course. Have fun on your date, Manny.”

“Hmph.” Manfred beckoned for me to follow him, and led the way outside and past the police tape blocking off the crime scene. We walked a short distance toward the candy shop, but he stopped and turned to me before crossing the street, just out of view of the restaurant’s windows. “...What did he do?”

“Well, he showed me what you have to deal with whenever you work together,” I replied with an awkward laugh, and cut it short when I saw that my boyfriend wasn't laughing with me. “He didn't make me say anything too embarrassing about you. I think.”

It was embarrassing for me, if anything. But maybe I could get ahead of it by saying the words myself rather than leaving them for Gant to share. 

That wasn't entirely true. The fact that I was using the nickname Gant made up was much more information than I wanted to share, though I wasn't sure if he'd use that against Manfred. And telling the chief of police how cute I thought my boyfriend was wouldn't exactly be a loss for him. Surely every girlfriend thought their partner was cute; the only difference was that mine happened to be a sixty-five year old man.

“Uh, c'mon, let's just go get some candy,” I said instead, taking Manfred's hand and hoping the courage would come to me before we got to the store.

“Very well. Just know that all you have to do is say the word, and I can bring up my own dirt on Damon. He's not the only one who can weaponize information.”

“You've got something on him?”

“Plenty. There are a host of incidents that he'd rather be forgotten, some that would simply cause a minor stir in the police department and some that would have him fired. Just mention any of that, and he'll quiet down for you.”

“That does sound pretty convenient. But, um-” I slowed my pace as we neared the confectionery, pausing just before the doors. “...There's something I wanted to say, real quick.”

Manfred looked at me with renewed concern. “What is it?”

“Uh…I just, erm, wanted to say that you look-” I swallowed a lump in my throat and tried my hardest to raise my voice above a whisper, “...cute. Like, um, you look n-nice, I mean.”

My boyfriend stared at me for a second before a smile slowly spread across his face. “Thank you. You're quite cute as well, especially when you turn that particular shade of pink.”

I giggled, all of my nervousness bubbling up and fading away. “I've wanted to tell you that for a while. It just kinda sounded weird to use that word, I guess.”

“Not at all. I always appreciate compliments, and they mean much more coming from you.”

“Maybe I'll tell you how cute you are more often, huh?” I leaned against him and wrapped my arms around one of his, nuzzling him playfully. “My cutie pie. Putting the cute in prosecute. My…prosecutie?”

I fell into a fit of giggles and the occasional snort, somehow overwhelmed by my own terrible pet name.

“Y'know, I think I'll stick with ‘Manny’,” I said when I'd managed to recover. “Mr. Gant did make a good nickname, I'll give him that much.”

Manfred pressed a kiss to my forehead and grinned at me. “Indeed. Just don't tell him that, hmm?”

“Uh…about that. I might have called you Manny in front of him.”

“...Ah. A little blackmail may be in order, then. But first, let's get some sweets."

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Honor in Crisis

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, NTT, Titans, JLI, Arrowfam, Flashfam, GL Corps, Infinity Inc

Summary: Every chapter will focus on one character specifically and then I'll update their statuses in order.

This is a no powers au/fix-it fic for Heroes in Crisis. I wanted to focus on the characters and their healing. I decided that'd be easier to put some of these characters in a fic like this and work on it more from a real-world perspective. I DO want to say that I do not believe healing is linear so don't plan on a clear-cut happy ending. I'd say (and idk for sure) we're gonna eventually get a bittersweet ending for certain characters but nothing tragic.

Chapters: 5/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Kole Weathers, Lilith Clay, Eddie Bloomberg, Michael Carter, Michelle Carter, Rani Carter, Charley Parker, Grant Emerson, Roy Harper, Grant Wilson, Joseph Wilson, Thaddeus Thawne, Bart Allen, Helen Claiborne, President Thawne, Todd Rice, Alan Scott (DCU), Damon Matthews

Relationship(s): Damon Matthews/Todd Rice

Additional Tags: No Powers AU, Canon Divergent AU, Fix-It Fic, Angst, TW // Suicide Attempt Mention

Chapter Five: Patterns (Charley Parker's POV)

Charley opened his journal and took a deep breath before jotting something down. His therapist didn't say anything and hadn't said anything for twenty minutes. Charley glanced up every few minutes to see if his therapist was irritated, but he wasn't. "You asked about my childhood last time," Charley mumbled without looking up. His therapist didn't say anything. He just made a soft noise. "I've been thinking about it a lot. The one thing I could come up with was something from when I was in first grade. It was raining the whole week, and I had a hole in my shoes. My teacher's husband worked in a shoe store, so one day, she kept me after recess... And she offered me these little blue rain boots. They had little sharks on them."

"Did you take them?" his therapist asked.

Charley looked up and shook his head. He didn't understand how his therapist could think he'd accept that gift. "No, I spit in her face," Charley replied, "She pitied me. I could see it on her face. It was disrespectful."

"Was there something else she could've done to make the gift acceptable?" his therapist asked. Charley scoffed dramatically and shook his head again, looking back at his journal. "So the gift was unacceptable because she made you feel pitied?"

"Yeah... And I mean, I shouldn't have spit in her face, but I-. She was making everything worse. Had I gone home in those boots, they would've tried to beat the crap out of me," Charley replied.

"How did she react?" he asked in reply.

"She wiped her face... And I thought she was gonna hit me, but she-. She hugged me," Charley answered.

"What did you feel when she did that?" his therapist questioned. Charley chewed his lip and looked back down at his lap.

"I knew I shouldn't have spit in her face... I knew it was wrong," Charley whispered. He looked back down at his journal and wrote something down. "You asked me what I felt, though... I felt guilty... Doc Morton?"

"Yes, Charles?" Dr. Morton asked.

Charley liked that Dr. Morton called him Charles. It sounded pleasant coming from him. It made him feel like Dr. Morton took him seriously. Coming from anyone else, it would've felt like an insult. "I don't know who to trust... So I don't trust anybody. I keep writing down stuff that I remember, and I go over it all the time... I keep trying to figure out the pattern for myself," Charley whispered.

"And what have you found?" Dr. Morton questioned.

"I'm violent. I didn't see myself as a violent person, but anytime someone tries to be kind to me, it ends badly for them," Charley whispered, "What do I do with that?"

"You did it," Dr. Morton replied. Charley didn't understand, so he stayed silent. He shook his head out of confusion. "You recognize that there's something wrong. You see a pattern. That makes it much easier to stop yourself before you repeat it. It doesn't mean that your work is done, but it does mean that you're moving forward."

Charley smiled. "Thanks, Doc," he whispered.

Dr. Morton nodded. Charley liked Dr. Morton. He'd been patient and straightforward through the whole process. The silence didn't anger Dr. Morton, and Charley felt free to pull his thoughts together in the silent moments. He was relieved that he'd gotten somewhere. "What feelings tend to come up when you come to these sessions with me, Charley?" Dr. Morton questioned. Charley didn't like that question. He screwed his face up and looked up at the ceiling.

"I feel like I'm messed up. Sometimes I think I'm doing so good, but then I come back and sit here like an idiot trying to figure out what to say," Charley replied, "I do everything I'm told. I do all this journaling, and I don't know if any of it is even important."

"Well, Charles, that's subjective. What feels relevant to you?" Dr. Morton questioned.

Charley looked down at his journal and flipped through the pages. "You asked me a few sessions ago if I ever tried to hurt myself... I know I said no, but my roommate told me there's no point in lying about that kind of stuff here as long as I don't wanna hurt myself now," Charley looked up, "Is that true, Doc?"

"Well, yes. You said you lied. Do you feel comfortable elaborating?" Dr. Morton asked. Charley shrugged. He didn't know if it would do any good, but he trusted Dr. Morton wouldn't ask if it was irrelevant.

"Yeah... Okay. I tried to kill myself once," Charley confessed casually, "I lied because I didn't want to end up worse off than I was when I got here. I didn't have anywhere to go, and it seemed the best thing to do." Charley tried to look as detached, but he couldn't look Dr. Morton in the eyes. It was still painful to talk about. He hadn't talked about it since it happened.

"What made you change your mind?" Dr. Morton asked.

"This guy pulled me over the railing by my shirt, and I thought he'd chew me out. Instead, he took me to Walmart's, and we sat out front, and I told him my life story. He was cool. Good to me, even... He got me a job as a janitor at the museum he worked at," Charley answered. He caught himself smiling.

"From the looks of it, it seems like you remember that instance with fondness—."

"Yeah, but I—. I fucked that up too. I got on my feet and moved to California. I loved it there... I made a ton of friends. Then, I got robbed and left for dead," Charley interrupted, "And I guess that's where my bio dad comes in. I don't remember a lot about that time. I just know he nursed me back to health. He told me about where I come from. Everything was great, but he left again. After that, I turned on anybody that ever did anything for me. I was pissed because I blamed the guy who saved my life for my dad leaving me again."

"Why did you blame him?" Dr. Morton questioned.

"Because he and his girl came from the same place my dad did. It's no coincidence—. It's not their fault he left, but I blamed them. I did a lot of shitty things to them because of it. I turned on them, and I never got to apologize," Charley whispered, "I just wanted my dad to want me."

"You felt rejected?" Dr. Morton asked. Charley shrugged.

"Yeah... I was literally rejected like three times. So, yeah," Charley replied, "Like... My parents gave me up when I was four, and then when I was eighteen, I got the boot from my fucking foster family, and finally, my dad comes back, and I'm thinking I'm gonna spend the rest of my life making up for lost time, and he just fucks off and gets killed." Charley realized he'd leaned in out of anger and collected himself. "Fuck, Doc Morton... I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Charles. I can tell that brings up a lot of emotions for you still... But I appreciate you sharing that with me," Dr. Morton commended him. Charley shook his head.

"But what's so important about my dad not wanting me?" Charley asked. At this point, he no longer cared about seeming hard. Tears streamed down his cheeks. "Who cares if kids used to beat the shit out of me? Or that I tried to jump off a bridge? Who cares?"

"Charles, all of those things are important. You're helping me piece together the puzzle of who you are, and in doing so, you're helping yourself. You even managed to point out one of your own patterns for yourself. This is just the beginning for you, but only you can make this work. I can't make therapy work for you," Dr. Morton replied.

Charley put his face in his hands and nodded. He didn't say anything else. The time was almost up anyways, and Charley didn't want to get into anything else. Besides, he wouldn't have shared half of what he shared with his priest. Charley was too embarrassed to say anything else. Dr. Morton wrote something down on a sticky note and placed it neatly at the bottom of a printed sheet of paper. At the session's close, he knocked on Dr. Morton's desk. "See you next week," Charley whispered.

"Have a good day, Charles," Dr. Morton smiled.

[blazenka]

Forthcoming

 Returning to Mystic Falls for a visit, Elena awakes to find she's been sent unwillingly into the past. Not only does she have to avoid changing past events; she must also deal with a cold and detached Damon who is the only one who knows she's there.

Original source: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7073903/1/Forthcoming

Chapters: 17

Published: June 12, 2011 - December 31, 2011

Words: 41434

Rated: Fiction M - Language: English - Genre: Romance/Supernatural - Characters: Elena G., Damon S. - Reviews: 117 - Favs: 132 - Follows: 95

Exported with the assistance of FicHub.net

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Epilogue

Chapter 1

~Ѱ~

May 2014

"Why is it so hard to pack things neatly in one suit case?" Elena wondered out loud as she stood back from her bed and the massive collection of clothes that suddenly seemed to be fighting her.

While Elena concentrated on the mess while trying to sort it out, a set of masculine arms wrapped around her waist before planting a gently kiss against her pulse, "Perhaps you're trying to take to much? We're only planning on staying a week, Elena," the owner of the voice argued.

Of course, girls and their clothes - she wanted to be prepared for the Virginia weather she missed while attending university. Of course, she wasn't about to admit she might be taking too much.

"Oh, and what are you packing? Black shirt and jeans… at least I'm trying to have diversity," Elena countered before turning to face him, "Damon."

"Hey, that outfit has worked so well for me over the years. And why mess with perfection when it got me you," he gave his usual mischievous smile before wiggling his eyebrows.

"You're outfit is definitely not the reason we are together," she answered back before removing herself from his arms.

"Not even in the top ten?" He asked, following her across the room to in front of her vanity.

"Nope," she smiled as he withdrew her back into his arms, smiling back at her through the mirror.

"Then why, pray tell, are we together, Ms. Gilbert?" Damon whispered, drawing out his slight southern accent.

"Because… I find myself infatuated with you and I might love you," she whispered back before she turned around to kiss him.

Damon wasn't about to waste any opportunity to kiss Elena but dreaded the knowledge he would have to cut it short of the usual average for their kisses, "You're going to make us late for the airport, Elena," he warned as she fiddled with the buttons on his shirt.

"I was on time for once before you came in here, Damon," she countered, emphasizing his name just as he did with hers.

"Point taken, but I'm already packed and it feels like your taking forever," he jokingly whined as she returned to her clothes covered bed.

"You're telling me a hundred and fifty year old vampire has no patience?" she smirked as she managed to zip the bag shut.

"For you Elena," he said as he picked up her cases, "I'd wait life times - but we need to get to the airport hence we are kind of in a hurry so - let's go," he finished before pushing her through the door of their apartment flat.

"Welcome home!" Jenna greeted her at the door, Alaric not too far behind.

"Hey," Elena greeted as she embraced her aunt and her future uncle, "So glad we can make it."

Alaric gave her a look at the 'we' part but Jenna spoke first, "Where's your bags?"

"She'll be staying with me." Right on clue, Damon appeared behind Elena with a "pleasant" smile, "Jenna, lovely as ever. So happy you two crazy kids decided to tie the knot after… well, everything."

"Damon what are you doing here? More importantly, what are you doing with my niece?"

"Well, I'm Ric's best man here and… I'm sort of seeing your niece in the romantic sense."

Jenna gave her soon-to-be yet possibly-not-now-after-all-this husband a look before turning to Elena, "I thought you were through with… vampires," she whispered, not too sure of the fact still.

"Jenna, things have changed and… Damon has been there for me," she tried to explain but wondered why she even tried. They knew this was the exact reason they kept this a secret from everyone, well - except Caroline (who told Tyler) and Stefan. She wasn't exactly looking forward to explain all this on top of everything from the past. Elena just wanted to move forward with her future.

"It's just… I knew Damon went to visit you in college but I thought that was just how Damon is not that he… does he?"

"No worries Jenna, my intentions with your niece are honorable," he tried to reassure her before glancing to Ric, knowing his friend knew how he felt about Elena but never brought it up to his girlfriend. 'Way to make things easier on me, Ric.'

"I didn't mean to drop this on you before the wedding I just… we should have thought about this more," Elena admitted as she took a seat on the couch - a new couch in her old home.

"No, no… it's okay. I can… kind of understand. Just a surprise after everything with Stefan," Jenna admitted as she grabbed a four glasses and a bottle of wine.

"Damon would never do that, he couldn't do  that," Elena responded as Damon took the seat with her, lacing his fingers with her.

"But on to better and brighter things," Damon announced while gazing into Elena eyes before turning to Jenna and Alaric, "Your wedding."

Elena took a deep breath before knocking on Bonnie's door, Damon's words ringing in her ears.

"She might not be as forgiving as Jenna, Elena. Bonnie has never been my biggest fan."

Yes, but that had been years ago - thought they had gotten past all that as they matured.

"Elena!" Bonnie cried as she hugged her dear friend while Elena eagerly returned the gesture. While years and miles had separated them, seeing one another again seemed to rekindle the relationship even death and tragedy couldn't destroy.

"So glad you've come for Jenna and Ric's wedding. Jeremy is so excited he left as early as he could from campus. Unfortunately, he won't be here till before dawn," Bonnie informed Elena as she led her into the house. Elena knew this house well too - it use to belong to Shelia.

"You and Jeremy are still… doing alright?" Elena cautiously asked, not sure how much detail she wanted into her brother's dating life.

"The long distance gets hard at times but with technology now it's like he's in the room with me. We video chat all the time, can even sync movies to watch them together. It's been okay but it will be so much better with both of you in town. Do you know if Caroline is coming?"

"Yep, with Tyler in tow," Elena answered, not sure how much she should tell. Bonnie and Caroline really hadn't been talking when they went off to college. And Elena only talked to Caroline so much was because they happened to go to school in the same part of the state.

"God, it's been so long since I've been able to talk to her. Glad to here she's still with Tyler. Once they worked everything out they've been good for one another… other than Tyler possibly biting her," Bonnie mused as she fixed drinks.

"So this leads us back to you. How have you been? Hooked up with any college guys I should know about?"

Elena released a forced laugh that sounded too anxious, unfortunately Bonnie picked up quickly on that fact.

"Oh god, you're pregnant?"

Now Elena was just caught off guard. "No Bonnie, you don't have to worry about that. I am seeing someone - someone you know," she admitted, but still delaying the actual truth.

"Oh really? So someone from town but I can't really imagine who - at least anyone off the top of my head… it's not Matt is it?"

"No… no, he never really talked to us after the whole finding out ordeal," Elena paused but Bonnie just gave her a look just asking for her to continue, "Before I tell you exactly who it is you should know he's been really helpful the last year with college and everything. After everything with Klaus and Stefan I don't think I would have gotten through it all without him. He's been there, never giving up and I just thought it was time I stop keeping him waiting and…"

Elena looked up to see Bonnie's stiffen stature and wide eyes - as if everything Elena had said physically hurt her - or maybe Bonnie had become overcome from realization.

"Bonnie?" Elena asked out to her friend, which seemed to snap her out of the shock.

"Damon…" Bonnie whispered before he voice gained strength, "Damon Salvatore? Elena, please tell me I'm wrong or at least, you're joking!"

"Bonnie, I would never joke about something like this." Elena paused to push a strand of hair behind her ear before she rose her eyes to her friend, "Everyone knows how he feels about me and I've grown to feel the same."

"But Elena… how can you be in a relationship with a man whose done… all those things?" Bonnie argued, she could never forget how cruel Damon could be even if Elena was willing to.

"Bonnie, he's changed - you know this," Elena's irritation rising - she thought they were past this, "And most of those things were done to save people we know."

"That doesn't absolve him of everything he's done!"

"I know that but I just thought you would be… never mind Bonnie, I'll see you tomorrow but my trip was long and I just don't have the energy to fight with you," she turned towards the door with a sigh, trying to release the anger before she left.

"Okay, I'll see you at Jenna's in the morning," Bonnie answered, knowing she would run into Elena when she went to visit Jeremy once he got home.

"I'm actually staying at the Boarding House with Damon so maybe I'll see you tomorrow," Elena answered.

"But Elena…" Bonnie began before Elena cut her off, "Bonnie, don't… just don't."

Elena turned back to her friend with a forced smile before she turned and shut the door behind her.

Bonnie watched the closed door for a while after hearing Elena leave in her car before she decided to act. "Sorry Elena. You might think I'm a terrible friend but…" Bonnie turned to her book case to retrieve one of her grimoires, "but you need to remember what kind of person Damon Salvatore really is."

Elena climbed the dark stairs to Damon's room before the door swung open and she landed on the bed.

"Hey," she smiled up into his clear cerulean eyes.

"Hey," Damon replied, smiling - possibly just to be happy to see her or the fact she was comfortable with his vampire powers, "What took you so long? Not that I'm trying to sound like the jealous boyfriend or anything…"

Elena just smiled as she situated herself on his bed before stripping out of her clothes, "Maybe I was out with some hot guy instead of you?" she questioned, playing into his game.

"Really?" he raised his eyebrow in challenge as he magically seemed to appear under the covers beside her, propping himself on his elbow to look straight at her.

"Yes, some hot steamy… fireman," she replied as she tried to stifle her giggle.

"Elena? You take writing courses in college and that's as original as you can get? A fireman, really?" Damon scoffed as he rolled back against his pillow.

"No, I was with Bonnie and took my time getting back here… I just don't want to talk about it," Elena answered honestly as she rested into the crook of his arm.

"She found out we were dating and she wasn't too happy about it," he figured out on his own. Yet when Elena gave him her usual 'look', he continued, "Sabrina is not fond of me and I could see that coming from a mile away - without my vampire abilities."

"Maybe if you didn't call her Sabrina…" Elena countered.

"You guys will be fine by the morning and this whole week you, her and Caroline with be buddy-buddy like old back when before…"

"Before everything happened," Elena finished for him as they settled into each other's arms for the night, "I hope your right," she yawned as she fell asleep after he gently kissed the crown of her head goodnight.

~Ѱ~

Hope you've enjoyed this story, thank you for reading.

next chapter

[acbloom]

Short Story pt.2

sorry, there's no title for this lmao.

Carolina steps out into the cool air, well, more like stumbles, but Damon easily steadies her by grabbing her arm and standing her upright. She giggles, then hiccups again. Damon starts to think that maybe he shouldn't be asking her to leave with him while in this state.

"Let's grab some food, and water, definitely water." He says. Carolina looks embarrassed but agrees to go get food. They walk hand in hand, for Carolina's sake, across the street and around the corner where a pizza shop is. Damon sits Carolina down at a table outside and goes to order them a pizza. While Damon is inside the shop, Carolina fishes her phone out and does her best to text Mia that she's okay and probably won't need a ride home. She sets her phone down on the table and closes her eyes, savoring the smell of the pizza in the cool midnight breeze. When she opens them, Damon is sitting in front of her, observing her carefully.

"What?" Carolina blatantly asks.

"You just have super nice posture, it's interesting," he replies, shrugging. He folds his arms behind his head and slouches back into his seat.

"I used to be a ballerina, maybe that's it?" Carolina suggests. She smiles at the compliment though. "Tell me about yourself, Damon." Damon raises his eyebrows and inhales deeply, thinking of what he could tell her. She's still drunk enough to probably forget anything says for the next thirty minutes. Or at least until the pizza kicks in.

"Well, my full name is Damon Kreed," He ventures.

"Damon Kreed," Carolina says, trying it out on her tongue. She likes it. "How old are you Damon Kreed?" Damon shifts uncomfortably in his seat. He acknowledged that he was going to an 18+ club, meaning everything would be legal, but as a 26-year-old, he didn't want to accidentally hit on an eighteen-year-old. Or in this case, buy her a drink and take her out to dinner.

"How old are you, Carolina..." He asks, redirecting the question.

"Carolina Kazimieras -" she hiccups, "- and I'm 21." The server comes out then, placing the pizzas silently on the table, then retreats back into the shop.

"I'm twenty-six, miss Kazimieras," Damon replies while releasing a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Carolina raises a slice of pizza as if it were a glass of champagne and then takes a big bite out of it. They eat in silence for a bit, and Damon can immediately see Carolina's demeanor change. The buzz is wearing off, and it's wearing off fast. She looks uneasy. "You feeling alright?" Damon asks, after finishing his last slice. Carolina looks up at him briefly, then back down at her own empty plate. A small smile is playing on her lips.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't normally do this. I mean, go out. Not that I'm assuming we're on a date or anything-" she's tripping over her words and finally slumps back into her seat, giving up.

"Believe it or not, I don't either. But I thought after seeing a girl like you, why not." Damon replies smoothly. Carolina starts to feel her stomach heat up again, in such an uncomfortably pleasant way that it makes her shiver. "Are you cold?" Damon asks immediately, his eyebrows furrowing.

"No, no I'm fine," Carolina says reassuringly. She feels her sober-state courage coming to the surface, so she decides to take advantage of it before it slips away. "I do, however, would like to get into something more comfortable...?" Damon ears perk up at that, and he slowly lifts his gaze up to look into Carolina's eyes. They stay locked on his, confident.

"You can come to my place, it's just down the street? Plus, I'd like to change into something more comfortable too." Damon says, gesturing to his unbuttoned polo and black slacks. Carolina stands up, tugging her skirt down in a very normal way, but it's extremely sexy to Damon and he stands up rather abruptly, wanting to get to his apartment as soon as possible. Carolina eyes him curiously but follows him down the street anyways.

***

Carolina cautiously steps into Damons apartment and immediately likes what she sees. It's dark and atmospheric, with soft, warm lighting accenting the living room and kitchen, which consists of a black marble island. It looks like a New York flat, and not the small city apartment that it is. His couch is situated to face the small fireplace that Damon is currently lighting, but other than the sofa and a few standing lamps, there isn't much else.

"Quite the bachelor pad you've got here," Carolina compliments. She turns around and sees the entire back wall covered in hundreds of books. Even if he hasn't read them all, Carolina thought it was one of the most attractive things she's seen in a guy's house.

"Thank you, I do quite like it myself." He says proudly, chuckling softly at the same time. "Make yourself comfortable," Damon gestures to the couch, so that's where Carolina finds herself to be. She kicked off her shoes at the doorway, and now she was sitting with her legs folded to the side of her, enjoying the warmth coming from the fireplace. Damon comes back and places a small cup of coffee in Carolina's hand. She smiles up at him as he takes a seat next to her.

Damon's large body makes the couch sink in and Carolina ever so slightly leans into him. She still has to look up to make eye contact with him, but it doesn't bother her. Nor Damon. Without thinking, Damon slowly starts to lower his face toward Carolina. She doesn't know what to do, so she just stays still and lets her eyes close naturally. His lips meet hers softly, slowly. They stay like that for a few seconds, then Damon pulls away, a smile on his lips. Carolina didn't know a simple kiss like that could make her feel so good. Her head feels fuzzy.

"Sorry, you just looked so pretty," Damon whispers. Carolina sets her coffee down on the side table and situates herself so she's kneeling on the couch facing Damon.

"Do I still look pretty...?" she asks, wanting him so desperately to kiss her again. A slow smirk spreads across Damon's face, his heartbeat quickening in his chest.

"Beautiful."

[lifetime-want]

[dustedmagazine]

Eli Winter — S/T (Three-Lobed)

Eli Winter by Eli Winter

This may be Chicagoan guitarist Eli Winter’s first self-titled album, but that certainly doesn’t indicate a paucity of collaborators. And while Winter, a folk experimentalist with formidable chops has focused on these skills on previous releases, here he revels in musical partnerships. Ryley Walker, Yasmin Williams, Tyler Damon, David Grubbs and the late jaimie branch are all featured on the album. Compositions that are filled with interesting combinations but never overstuffed make this an engaging listen all the way through.

“For a Chisos Bluebonnet” brings pedal steel to the fore with Winter’s guitar, the resulting duo entirely in keeping with leftfield country. “Davening in Threes” employs a trio of guitars in an effusive jam. A brief drum solo sends it into a slow, abstract section with aphoristic punctuation. It then returns to the opening’s freewheeling demeanor. In its opener, “No Fear” has creepy, howling vocals and whammy bar guitar playing angular melodies. This is followed by low guitar arpeggiations, guitar glissandos, and propulsive drums. It is like an alt-folk horror movie score. The coda knits a signature Winter riff between the gradually diminishing clangor. 

“Brain on Ice” is quite different. An enjoyable, ambling tune with recognizable changes and an old-fashioned turn around. Once again, pedal steel matches guitar riff for riff and chugging bass and drums fill out a pleasant, yet skillfully deployed, ambience. “Dayenu” features branch, and every note serves as a heartfelt valediction from this extraordinary musician. Midway through, there is once again a pause and interlude followed by a sweet-toned descending progression featuring chord melody by Winter and a fiery solo by branch. The final track, “Unbecoming” begins with solo harmonium, a delicate sound that foreshadows the lyric, autumnal quality of Winter’s playing. A compound tune with a Celtic quality, “Unbecoming” gradually builds into a rousing close with fleet fiddle joining the other instruments. 

The genre hybrids that Winter addresses in S/T mix well, and the arrangements are, to a song, well-crafted and conceived. It appears that Winter thrives with a bit of company. One hopes he will make collaborative albums in the future as well. 

Christian Carey

[ifuckinglovestvincent]

THE FORTY-FIVE: ST. VINCENT

Sleazy, gritty, grimy – these are the words used to describe the latest iteration of St. Vincent, Annie Clark’s alter ego. As she teases the release of her upcoming new album, ‘Daddy’s Home’, Eve Barlow finds out who’s wearing the trousers now.

Photos: Zackery Michael

Yellow may be the colour of gold, the hue of a perfect blonde or the shade of the sun, but when it’s too garish, yellow denotes the stain of sickness and the luridness of sleaze. On ‘Pay Your Way In Pain’ – the first single from St. Vincent’s forthcoming sixth album ‘Daddy’s Home’ – Annie Clark basks in the palette of cheap 1970s yellows; a dirty, salacious yellow that even the most prudish of individuals find difficult to avert their gaze from. It’s a yellow that recalls the smell of cigarettes on fingers, the tape across tomorrow’s crime scene or the dull ache of bad penetration.

The video for the single, which dropped last Thursday, features Clark in a blonde wig and suit, channeling a John Cassavetes anti-heroine (think Gena Rowlands in Gloria) and ‘Fame’-era Bowie. She twists in front of too-bright disco lights. She roughs up her voice. She sings about the price we pay for searching for acceptance while being outcast from society. “So I went to the park just to watch the little children/ The mothers saw my heels and they said I wasn’t welcome,” she coos, and you immediately recognise the scene of a free woman threatening the post-nuclear families aspiring to innocence. Clark is here to pervert them.

She laughs. “That’s how I feel!” From her studio in Los Angeles, she begins quoting lyrics from Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Red House’. “It’s a blues song for 2021.” LA is a city Clark reluctantly only half calls home, and one that is opposed to her vastly preferred New York. “I don’t feel any romantic attachment to Los Angeles,” she says of the place she coined the song ‘Los Ageless’ about on 2017’s ‘Masseduction’ (“The Los Ageless hang out by the bar/ Burn the pages of unwritten memoirs”).“The best that could be said of LA is, ‘Yeah it’s nice.’ And it is! LA is easy and pleasant. But if you were a person the last thing you’d want someone to say about you is: ‘She’s nice!’”

On ‘Daddy’s Home’, Clark writes about a past derelict New York; a place Los Angeles would suffocate in. “The idea of New York, the art that came out of it, and my living there,” she says. “I’ve not given up my card. I don’t feel in any way ready to renounce my New York citizenship. I bought an apartment so I didn’t have to.” Her down-and-out New York is one a true masochist would love, and it’s sleazy in excess. Sleaze is usually the thing men flaunt at a woman’s expense. In 2021, the proverbial Daddy in the title is Clark. But there’s also a literal Daddy. He came home in the winter of 2019.

On the title track, Clark sings about “inmate 502”: her father. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his involvement in a $43m stock fraud scheme. He went away in May 2010. Clark reacted by writing her third breakthrough album ‘Strange Mercy’ in 2011; inspired not just by her father’s imprisonment but the effects it had on her life.“I mean it was rough stuff,” she says. “It was a fuck show. Absolutely terrible. Gut-wrenching. Like so many times in life, music saved me from all kinds of personal peril. I was angry. I was devastated. There’s a sort of dullness to incarceration where you don’t have any control. It’s like a thud at the basement of your being. So I wrote all about it,” she says.

Back then, she was aloof about meaning. In an interview we did that year, she called from a hotel rooftop in Phoenix and was fried from analytical questions. She excused her lack of desire to talk about ‘Strange Mercy’ as a means of protecting fans who could interpret it at will. Really she was protecting an audience closer to home. It’s clear now that the title track is about her father’s imprisonment (“Our father in exile/ For God only knows how many years”). Clark’s parents divorced when she was a child, and they have eight children in their mixed family, some of whom were very young when ‘Strange Mercy’ came out. She explains this discretion now as her method of sheltering them.

“I am protective of my family,” she says. “It didn’t feel safe to me. I disliked the fact that it was taken as malicious obfuscations. No.” Clark wanted to deal with the family drama in art but not in press. She managed to remain tight-lipped until she became the subject of a different intrusion. As St. Vincent’s star continued to rocket, Clark found herself in a relationship with British model Cara Delevingne from 2014 to 2016, and attracted celebrity tabloid attention. Details of her family’s past were exposed. The Daily Mail came knocking on her sister’s door in Texas, where Clark is from.

“Luckily I’m super tight with my family and the Daily Mail didn’t find anybody who was gonna sell me out,” she says. “They were looking for it. Clark girls are a fucking impenetrable force. We will cut a bitch.”

Four years later, Clark gets to own the narrative herself in the medium that’s most apt: music. “The story has evolved. I’ve evolved. People have grown up. I would rather be the one to tell my story,” she says, ruminating on the misfortune that this was robbed from her: a story that writes itself. “My father’s release from prison is a great starting point, right?” Between tours and whenever she could manage, Clark would go and visit him in prison and would be signing autographs in the visitation room for the inmates, who all followed her success with every album release, press clipping and late night TV spot. She joked to her sisters that she’d become the belle of the ball there. “I don’t have to make that up,” she says.

There’s an ease to Clark’s interview manner that hasn’t existed before. She seems ready not just to discuss her father’s story, but to own certain elements of herself. “Hell where can you run when the outlaw’s inside you,” she sings on the title track, alluding to her common traits with her father. “I’ve always had a relationship with my dad and a good one. We’re very similar,” she says. “The movies we like, the books, he liked fashion. He’s really funny, he’s a good time.” Her father’s release gave Clark and her brothers and sisters permission to joke. “The title, ‘Daddy’s Home’ makes me laugh. It sounds fucking pervy as hell. But it’s about a real father ten years later. I’m Daddy now!”

The question of who’s fathering who is a serious one, but it’s also not serious. Clark wears the idea of Daddy as a costume. She likes to play. She joins today’s Zoom in a pair of sunglasses wider than her face and a silk scarf framing her head. The sunglasses come off, and the scarf is a tool for distraction. She ties it above her forehead, attempts a neckerchief, eventually tosses it aside. Clark can only be earnest for so long before she seeks some mischief. She doesn’t like to stay in reality for extensive periods. “I like to create a world and then I get to live in it and be somebody new every two or three years,” she says. “Who wants to be themselves all the time?”

‘Daddy’s Home‘ began in New York at Electric Lady studios before COVID hit and was finished in her studio in LA. She worked on it with “my friend Jack” [Jack Antonoff, producer for Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Taylor Swift]. Antonoff and Clark worked on ‘Masseduction’ and found a winning formula, pushing Clark’s guitar-orientated electronic universe to its poppiest maximum, without compromising her idiosyncrasies. “We’re simpatico. He’s a dream,” she says. “He played the hell outta instruments on this record. He’s crushing it on drums, crushing it on Wurlitzer.” The pair let loose. They began with ‘The Holiday Party’, one of the warmest tracks Clark’s ever written. It’s as inviting as a winter fireplace, stoked by soulful horns, acoustic guitar and backing singers. “Every time they sang something I’d say, ‘Yeah but can you do it sleazier? Make your voice sound like you’ve been up for three days.” Clark speaks of an unspoken understanding with Antonoff as regards the vibe: “Familiar sounds. The opposite of my hands coming out of the speaker to choke you till you like it. This is not submission. Just inviting. I can tell a story in a different way.”

The entire record is familiar, giving the listener the satisfaction that they’ve heard the songs before but can’t quite place them. It’s a satisfying accompaniment to a pandemic that encouraged nostalgic listening. Clark was nostalgic too. She reverted to records she enjoyed with her father: Stevie Wonder’s catalogue from the 1970s (‘Songs In The Key Of Life’, ‘Innervisions’, ‘Talking Book’) and Steely Dan. “Not to be the dude at the record store but it’s specifically post-flower child idealism of the ’60s,” she explains. “It’s when it flipped into nihilism, which I much prefer. Pre disco, pre punk. That music is in me in a deep way. It’s in my ears.”

On ‘The Melting Of The Sun’ she has a delicious time creating a psychedelic Pink Floyd odyssey while exploring the path tread by her heroes Marilyn Monroe, Joni Mitchell, Joan Didion and Nina Simone. It’s a series of beautiful vignettes of brilliant women who were met with a hostile environment. Clark considers what they did to overcome that. “I’m thanking all these women for making it easier for me to do it. I hope I didn’t totally let them down.” Clark is often the only woman sharing a stage with rock luminaries such as Dave Grohl, Damon Albarn and David Byrne, and has appeared to have shattered a male-centric glass ceiling. She’s unsure she’s doing enough to redress the imbalance. “There are little things I can do and control,” she says of hiring women on her team. “God! Now I feel like I should do more. What should I do? It’s a big question. You know what I have seen a lot more from when I started to now? Girls playing guitar.”

If one woman reinvented the guitar in the past decade, it’s Clark. Behind her is a rack of them. The pandemic has taken her out of the wild in which she’s accustomed to tantalising audiences at night with her displays of riffing and heel-balancing. Instead, she’s chained to her desk. Her obsession with heels in the lyrics of ‘Daddy’s Home’ she reckons may be a reflection of her nights performing ‘Masseduction’ in thigh highs. “I made sure that nothing I wore was comfortable,” she recalls. “Everything was about stricture and structure and latex. I had to train all the time to make sure I could handle it.” Is she taking the heels off when live shows return? “Absofuckinglutely not.”

Clark is interested in the new generation. She’s recently tweeted about Arlo Parks and has become a big fan of Russian singer-songwriter Kate NV. “I’m obsessed with Russia,” she says. In a recent LA Times profile, she professed to a pandemic intellectual fixation on Stalin. “Yeah! I mean right now my computer is propped up on stuff. You are sitting on The Gulag Archipelago, The Best Short Stories Of Dostoyevsky andThe Plays Of Chekhov. I’m kinda in it.” The pop world interests Clark, too. She was credited with a co-write on Swift’s 2019 album ‘Lover’. At last year’s Grammys she performed a duet with Dua Lipa. It was one of the queerest performances the Grammys has ever aired. Clark interrupts.

“What about it seemed queer?!”

You know… The lip bite, for one!

“Wait. Did she bite her lip?”

No, you bit your lip.

“I did?!”

Everyone was talking about it. Come on, Annie.

“Serious? I…”

You both waltzed around each other with matching hairdos, making eyes…

“I have no memory of it.”

Frustrating as it may be in a world of too much information, Clark’s lack of willingness to overanalyse every creative decision she makes or participates in is something to treasure. “I want to be a writer who can write great songs,” she says. “I’m so glad I can play guitar and fuck around in the studio to my heart’s desire but it’s about what you can say. What’s a great song? What lyric is gonna rip your guts open. Just make great shit! That’s where I was with this record. That’s all I wanna do with my life.”

More than a decade into St. Vincent, Clark doesn’t reflect. She looks strictly forward. “I’m like a horse with blinders,” she says. She did make an exception to take stock lately when the phone rang. “I saw a +44 and that gets me excited,” she says. “Who could this be?” Well, who was it? “Paul McCartney,” she says, in disbelief. “Anything I’ve done, any mistake I’ve made, somehow it’s forgiven, assuaged. I did something right in my life if a fucking Beatle called me.”

Now there’s a get out of jail free card if ever she needed one.

Daddy’s Home by St. Vincent is out May 14, 2021.

[procrastinatorimagines]

Our Little Secret (Part 4)

Fandom: TVD / The Originals

Series: Our Little Secret

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 //

Part 7 // Part 8 // Part 9 // Part 10 // Part 11 // Part 12 // Part 13 // Part 14 // Part 15 (Final)

Pairing: Klaus x Reader

Warning/s: none

Word Count: 2,552

Summary: It’s the Mikaelson family ball and Y/N just wants to have a magical evening with Klaus, but nothing is ever as it seems in Mystic Falls.

Tags: @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce​ // @april-14-blog​ // @akshi8278​

It was a dance, it was just a dance, so why were you feeling so self-conscious?

Klaus had figured that it would be the best way to keep you safe, now that his family already knew about you going out in public together, and meeting his mother, seemed like the best way to ensure no blood would be spilled. 

You’d noticed a change in Klaus recently, spending more time with his mother and family had given him a more optimistic approach to the future, and you were happy to see that this future he envisioned contained you.

He’d left you a dress, a gorgeous off the shoulder saphire ball gown, the price of which you didn’t even want to think about as you stroked the fabric on its hanger. Perfect fit, not that you were surprised, Klaus had always had an eye for that sort of thing. 

Glancing back at that dress as you did your hair and make up, you started to feel optimistic too, maybe things were finally starting to look up In Mystic Falls, maybe...

Elena wasn’t happy that you were going with Klaus, but she’d been too preoccupied with something else to put up much of an argument, which wasn’t like her. There was definitely something else going on, but her and the Salvatores were keeping you in the dark. You’d never exactly been in their inner circle as such, but you knew they were keeping even more from you now that you were with Klaus, you just hoped everything was okay.

The house was swarming with elegantly dressed people as you arrived, Klaus waiting outside for you, arm out to take. His face lit up when he saw you, taking in the dress like he’d never seen it before, even though he’s the one who bought it. 

All your fears about tonight melted away when you saw his smile, all that you wanted to focus on tonight was the two of you.

“Hello, love,” Klaus greeted you with a kiss on the cheek, “you look perfect,” you blushed, smoothing down the skirt of the dress as he smirked. Dresses weren’t usually your thing, especially something as fancy as the one you had on now.

“Thanks,” you replied, straightening out his tie a little before heading into the main room. You couldn’t help but look around in awe, the Mikaelson household was... impressive to say the least, it took your breath away. The columns, the marble, the chandelier... They certainly had refined taste, you guessed after a thousand years anyone would. 

Klaus twirled you slightly as he led you onto the main floor, where some couples were already enjoying a moderately slow dance, it looked like a fairytale. It felt like one too as Klaus put a hand on your waist, leading you into a dance. 

You couldn’t help but smile, looking up at Klaus as he looked at you in wonder, he was mesmerised by you. “I’m glad we get to do this,” you told him. Your friends and sister hadn’t arrived yet, so you were glad for some uninterupted moments with Klaus, and you relaxed into the magic of it all.

“There’s no one else I’d rather be here with,” he told you honestly, spinning you in time with the music and pulling back into him closer than before, faces inches apart as he dipped you gently. This was all that you’d wanted, to be out with Klaus in public, everything else a million miles away, you could almost forget about anything else that had happened, and for a second you allowed yourself to feel normal. You were just a girl, and he was a boy, and you were enjoying a dance.

That fantasy didn’t last long though, as you spotted Damon, Stefan, and Elena entering as Klaus leaned in for a kiss. He stopped when he noticed your expression harden a little, turning to see them enter. Elena’s eyes went straight to the two of you, flanked by the Salvatore’s like they were her bodyguards.

She looks amazing, she always did, and with the Salvatores looking like that, it looked like some kind of cat walk as they swept across the floor and into the hall. You and Klaus paused your dance as the music began to change. 

“Everything alright love?” Klaus asked you with a nod in the direction of your sister. You wanted to say yes but honestly you weren’t sure, they couldn’t be planning anything for tonight could they? Besides, what was there to plan, everyone was on peaceful terms now, weren’t they?

“I hope so,” you said honestly, not being able to give him a proper answer as you saw the rest of his siblings fill into the hall. Most of the guests had arrived now, Klaus would be going to help make a toast with his family soon, and then you’d be formally meeting them as his girlfriend.

You felt extra nervous, you’d probably have felt the usual level of nervous meeting your boyfriend’s family if he was a regular human, but Klaus was a thousand year old Original vampire, whose siblings were just as old and whose mother was a seriously powerful witch. No big deal right? 

“They’ll love you,” he tried to reassure you, sensing the dread that was creeping in. He seemed so sure, so happy now, you wished you were as confident as him about this whole situation, but you still had this feeling, something you couldn’t shake. 

But you tried, putting on another smile as you squeezed his hand, “well as long as you do, that’s all that matters,” you told him as Elijah called everyone to attention, standing in the middle of the spiral staircase, glass in hand for a toast.

Klaus winked at you, kissing you on the cheek quickly as he made his way to where his siblings were taking their places. You gravitated a little towards Elena, not wanting to stick out too much in the crowd as the Mikaelson’s began to look around at the guests.

You had a sinking feeling that some were sizing up their next meals, but you tried to shake that feeling, you eyes shooting to the new figure that appeared next to the siblings. She was older, more mature looking and dressed like she knew just how powerful she was. Her very stance seemed to command respect as she listened to Elijah make his toast.

Esther, their mother, you realised as you watched her, only half listening to what Elijah was saying, noting the way her eyes skimmed the crowd, looking between you and Elena curiously as she did. 

Elijah wrapped up and everyone toasted, the Mikaelson’s all making their way down on the main floor to mingle. Klaus made a beeline straight for you, looking proud as his mother headed in the same direction.

You and Elena shared a look, and you could tell she was concerned about you, but she gave you a small supportive nod, one which you returned as you took a breath and met Klaus half way.

“Mother, this is Y/N, Y/N, this is my mother,” Klaus introduced the two of you, unable to contain a happiness you’d rarely, if ever, seen on him so openly. Esther offered you her hand to shake, her smile more tight and contained as she surveyed you carefully.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” you told her as Klaus put an arm around your back.

She nodded, “the pleasure’s all mine, it’s good to finally meet the person whose made my Niklaus so happy, thank you.” Klaus looked a little embarrassed but your heart couldn’t help but swell.

“Well he makes me happy too,” you told her, not sure why you’d felt so nervous about meeting her. It’s not like you needed anyone else’s approval to be with Klaus, that much had been clear already, but you had to admit, it felt very good to be accepted by Klaus’ mother.

Klaus clearly looked like he felt the same way as he looked between you and his mother. That’s what was different, you realised, Klaus looked younger almost now, not so much weathered by the years now, like his mother being here had lifted a weight from his shoulders. 

“I would love to stay and chat, but I think I best do some rounds first,” Esther excused her self, looking back at you for a second with an expression you couldn’t quite read before she headed off. You didn’t have a chance to think about what that meant before Klaus practically swept you off your feet.

“Another dance?” He offered you a hand very dramatically, dipping into it as he grinned at you, practically bowing.

“Don’t mind if I do,” you giggled, curtseying as best you could as accepting his hand, letting him bring you back onto the dance floor. 

You lost track of Esther quickly, as Elena, but you didn’t give it as much thought as you should have done, too caught up in the moment with Klaus, your worry pushed away. Later, you’d wished you had given it more thought, realised that the evening had been so perfect that it must have been too good too be true. 

But soon you were laughing and dancing with Klaus, so caught up in your own temporary happiness as you shared a champagne toast with all the other guests and enjoying the delicious food being served. 

Before you knew it, Klaus was walking you home, both of you happy and content with your amazing night, his jacket over your shoulders as you talked and laughed. It was dark, but you could see the stars as you walked. Elena was already home when you arrived on your front steps, the light shining from the living room and her bedroom.

Your hand was still in Klaus’ when you paused at the door. “Tonight was perfect,” Klaus said, wrapping his arms lazily around you as he drew you in for a goodbye kiss. You were a little lightheaded when he eventually pulled away, or maybe it was the champagne, but whatever it was it had left a warm and pleasant feeling all over you.

“Yeah it was,” you replied, resting your forehead against Klaus’. “Goodnight Klaus.”

“Goodnight Y/N,” Klaus said finally, accepting his jacket back from you as he gave you another quick kiss, neither of you wanting this night to end but knowing that it had to. 

You didn’t go inside straight away as Klaus headed down your steps, looking back at you multiple times before he disappeared from sight. Only then did you sigh, taking a breath before straightening up. Tonight had been a dream, but you knew it was about time to face reality.

Elena and the Salvatores had mercifully left you both alone most of the night, besides the occasional small talk, or back talk where Damon was concerned, so you didn’t know quite what to expect when you headed in. But it was time to face the music.

You unlocked the door and headed inside, not finding Elena in the living room or kitchen as you made yourself a glass of water, finally slipping off your heels and wandering up the stairs, a small smile still on your face as you made your way to your room.

Elena was clearly in hers, her door open a crack to reveal other figures too, Damon and Stefan no doubt, you thought as you opened your door, pausing as you caught your name being mentioned. 

“Y/N will never forgive me,” you heard Elena saying, conflict clear in her voice as Damon scoffed. 

“It’s for her own good, and for the good of everyone else,” he replied, “he’s a monster, and none of them are innocent, she’ll realise that eventually.” Were they talking about Klaus, the Mikaelsons?

“Damon’s right Elena,” Stefan agreed, “we’re better off without them.” You swallowed hard, not even daring to breath as you kept listening, hand frozen on your door handle. Without them?...

“Esther’s giving us a free pass, a way to kill the Originals once and for all, and I say we take it, you’ve already done the first step,” Damon said as your face turned to one of shock and horror. 

They were going to kill the Mikaelson’s, kill Klaus, and Esther was helping them... That’s where they both disappeared off you, you realised, kicking yourself for letting your guard down, not registering what was happening right in front of you.

Damon saw you then out of the crack in the door, face falling as you turned quickly, dropping both your shoes and glass of water. It clattered to the floor as you tried to make your way down the stairs, but Damon was much quicker than you, blocking your path.

Stefan and Elena made their way out of the room then too, and Elena at least had the good sense to seem guilty as she stared at you.

“Well this won’t do,” Damon said, standing firm as you tried to push past him.

“I won’t let you do this,” you told them. Why couldn’t they see that Klaus wasn’t the demon they all thought he was? The Mikaelson’s were making a home for themselves here, they didn’t want anymore trouble... 

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Damon informed you as Elena cast him a warning look, “what? We can’t let her tell Klaus.”

Elena was at a loss for words so Stefan spoke up. “Damon’s right, she’ll warn him the first chance she gets, we need to do something with her.”

“I’m standing right here,” you interjected angrily, “and you are not going to do anything to me. Elena-” you pleaded to your sister as she shared a look with Damon, having a silent conversation you couldn’t follow before they both looked back to you.

“I’m sorry Y/N, but it’ll all be okay, you’ll see, this will only be temporary I swear-” she tried to explain but you were hardly following.

“Elena what the hell are you talking about?” You demanded, your stomach dropped as strong hands grabbed you. Stefan looked sorry, but Damon was clear in his objective as he whisked you away from your sister, your house.

Before you knew it you were in a dark room, whirling around to find Damon shutting a large door. You were back at the Salvatore house, you were in the damn dungeons.

“Damon!” You yelled, slamming into the door as it shut, locking you in. “Damon!” You tried again but he shook his head.

“Sorry Y/N, but it’s for your own good,” he told you through the bars as you slapped and pushed at the wood, unable to do anything. 

“You can’t leave me down here!” You cried out as he turned to walk away.

“It won’t be for long,” he promised, but it was a cold comfort for the one stuck in a cell.

You screamed in frustration, not saying anything in particular as Damon left, leaving you all alone, with no way to warn Klaus... They had a way to kill him, and you were stuck here, unable to do anything. 

Sobbing you fell back against the door, slipping to the floor and curling your knees up to your chest. 

What the hell were you going to do now?

[thememoriesofaqueen]

Goodbye

Summary: This story is set in 5x11 shortly before Katherine dies. Stefan and Elijah come and say goodbye to her. One-Shot. Pairings: Steferine & Kalijah  Word Count:  3.868 TW: Death

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A/N: This was written out of a mood because I felt like writing angst. Hope you like it. Stefan is giving Katherine the dream he also has given her in the show in 5x11. Please leave feedback if you liked it and my work because feedback keeps me motivated ♥

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Katherine's breath was labored, her fingers and closed eyes twitched weakly as she was captured in partly dark dreams. Stefan had made her last days as comfortable as possible, but he couldn't do anything about the dreams and memories that occupied her mind.

It is strange, the thought, that dying is such a long process. She kinda expected that it's over rather quickly. One moment she's alive, the next she's dead. Perhaps it would have been better if they hadn't taken her to the hospital after her heart attack. She really can't remember much about that moment. She remembered talking to her daughter Nadia over the phone and then she remembered pain. She remembered the severe pain behind her sternum that radiated into her left arm and she remembered the tightness in her chest before the room turned upside down and everything went black.

Perhaps letting her die at that point would have been merci, at least her dreams back then were filled with fond memories. Memories of her pregnancy with Nadia, memories of how excited she was when labor finally started. Then she remembered Stefan and the first time she had laid her eyes on him.

Those dreams (or rather memories) had been pleasant. They kept her calm and warm. They were about the people she cared most about at the moment, about the people that loved her.

Those dreams always felt like a different reality, a chance of happiness. Nadia's birth. Meeting Stefan for the first time. They gave her peace. Perhaps they were also the reason why she kept going and fighting because the foolish part of her believed that she could still have a chance of that happiness, no matter how critical her situation is.

Hope, they call it.

And hope can be strong, can keep one going on, no matter how hard it is. It's so different from the reasons why she managed to survive for so long. She did it out of spite, she did it because she wanted to choose her own destiny. She also did it because she was scared of what is going to happen if she didn't do it. She was scared of death and the aftermath -- but having an immortal life thankfully did not pose this question. Until now.

To be fair, perhaps hope is not the only thing that kept her going right now, that made her hold on to dear life so desperately. Katherine Pierce is afraid of death, not knowing what comes afterward. She knew she's going to pass over to the Other Side where she's doomed to watch the world for all eternity without being noticed. Without anyone being capable of hearing her. Finding peace is the only option to be free from that torment.

But is she going to find peace?

Based on her rather dark and scary dreams she doubted it.

Malicious tongues say that it is deserved. That she deserves the torment and the pain. And perhaps she did. However, her bad deeds weren't the things that occupied her mind every hour, no matter if awake or asleep.

It was guilt.

Guilt of what had happened to her daughter, guilt of not being capable to do right when she got a second chance to be with her. She felt guilty that she wasn't capable of overcoming her fear of being a disappointment and a burden for her daughter. Katherine knew she was dying, although she didn't expect it to be so soon, and pushed her away because of it. She felt guilty for not being capable of accepting Nadia's attempts of bonding with her. She wanted to spare her the pain of losing her if she got too attached to her.

She also felt guilty for not having been able to find out about Nadia's survival earlier. She had believed her daughter to be dead after she couldn't find her in 1498 but how could it have slipped her attention that she was searching for her? Yes, there had been many people that were looking for her but shouldn't she have been able to feel it that her daughter is out there? Shouldn't a mother be able to feel that her child is still alive?

Perhaps it's unnecessary to ask those questions but Katherine wished she would have had more time. More time to get to know her daughter. More time to show her that she loved her.

And then there's also the other guilt: The deeply imprinted memories of her family. The blame she carried with her for half a millennium.

Somehow, her dying, slow mind kept spiraling back to that fatal day in 1492 when she found her murdered family. Her papa, her mama. Her younger sister. All dead because of her, killed in the cruelest way just to set an example.

It was her fault, her fault alone.

She killed them. She did it.

She murdered them. She had signed their death warrant.

A painful gasp left Katherine's slightly opened lips and her petite body cramped.

She didn't really feel the wet washcloth that softly swept over her forehead, trying to cool her down a bit. A part of Katherine knew it was Stefan that stayed by her side and continued to try making it as comfortable for her as possible.

She didn't really feel the wet washcloth that softly swept over her forehead, trying to cool her down a bit. A part of Katherine knew it was Stefan that stayed by her side and continued to try making it as comfortable for her as possible.

She wished she could open her eyes and see him. Insure herself that he's really here, with her. That she's not alone. The dreams are bad but it's even scarier to be all alone in the dark.

»No one's coming to say goodbye, Katherine. Because no one cares.« Damon's words echoed through her mind and she tensed again. No one cares. No one cares, about you, Katherine. You're alone and hated. No one wants you. You don't deserve to be loved.

You don't deserve to be loved.

You're going to die all alone.

Another gasp left her lips and she coughed before she felt that she's slowly emerging from the depths of her consciousness.

"Hey, hey. It's alright, Katherine. I'm here."

Stefan's green hues appeared in her blurry vision and she blinked a few times, hoping to get a clear vision of him.

"You're still here...." her words were slurry and she had to fight to even get them out of her mouth.

Stefan seemed to notice it and grabbed the glass of water on the nightside to over it to her. However, Katherine was already too weakened to reach for it. With a sigh and an empathic expression on his face, he carefully raised it to her lips and let a few drops run into her mouth. It helped against the scratching in her throat and she thanked him for it.

"I'm glad you're ... you're here. Please don't ... don't .... Damon."

"Damon won't set a foot into this room anymore," Stefan looked guilty and angry at the same time. "I'm sorry for what he has done to you. He's ... searching for a scapegoat. Said he needed an outlet. It was wrong and I wish I could undo it."

"It's not your fault, Stefan... " she tried to offer him a smile but it's probably only a faded glow of what it used to be. It costed too much power - power she didn't have anymore.

Stefan sat down at her bedside and took his hand into hers, his thumb slowly and carefully brushing over the back of her hand.

"I wanted to say ... I'm sorry too." his gaze studied the brunette's feature carefully. "I always denied that I ever loved you. It's a lie, Katherine, I know you never compelled it. It was real back then and I believe ... I believe that a part of it is still there."

Katherine closed her eyes at his confession, focusing on the warmth of his hands on hers.

There it was again: The hope she had been feeling. She knew it was too late, that they don't have the time anymore. But knowing that she is loved by him did mean something to her. It added value to the last couple of days because now she knew he hadn't helped her out of pity.

He truly cared about her.

It's a cruel twist of fate that it's too late now. That they never stood a chance. That she'll never find out if they could have been something.

It saddened her and yet it warmed her heart at the same time.

"...Nadia?" she managed to ask, feeling it hard to open her eyes again.

"She left"

"Good. I don't ... shouldn't see me die. 's her turn to live... I made ... selfish decisions all my life. It's ... the right thing. I love her... I want her to be ... to be safe. Tell ... Tell her that." It may not seem nice that she pushed Nadia away and perhaps it seemed selfish of her for not wanting to live. But jumping inside her daughter's body was never an option she would even consider. She wished for her daughter to live her life, free from guilt. Free from her and what it means to have her in her life. She could be free and independent. Katherine's thankful that Nadia didn't stay to watch her wither away. It's not something a child should see.

"I will, Katherine", Stefan caressed the back of her hand again and offered her an assuring smile, letting her know that he'll let her know.

It's a tragedy of life that they only had so little time left and never really got to know each other. Stefan might not agree with the way Katherine is handling the situation, but he respected her wish, especially if it eased her mind.

It's hard to see how she tormented herself in her last moments and Stefan could tell that it was indeed her last moments. The doctors in the hospital already told him that every single organ of her body is failing and she won't make it another day. And yet Katherine fought. He sensed that she fought although he has no idea what it was on what she's holding on to. However, Stefan also noticed that it gets harder for her with each moment. He could hear that her heart has dropouts, that her pulse and breathing are weak. And he could see that she's in pain by the way her body is cramping and tensing.

It's hard to see how she tormented herself in her last moments and Stefan could tell that it was indeed her last moments. The doctors in the hospital already told him that every single organ of her body is failing and she won't make it another day. And yet Katherine fought. He sensed that she fought although he has no idea what it was on what she's holding on to. However, Stefan also noticed that it gets harder for her with each moment. He could hear that her heart has dropouts, that her pulse and breathing are weak. And he could see that she's in pain by the way her body is cramping and tensing.

Katherine breathed a 'Thank you'.

"You need another syringe..." he told her, wanting to numb her suffering.

"No... Stef ... scared of the memories."

Stefan frowned, having already assumed that it's not only the physical pain that's tormenting her.

"I'm going to help you with it, Katherine. Close your eyes."

"But I want to see you...."

"You will," Stefan promised her and watched how the corners of her lips tilted upwards for a short second before her eyes closed slowly as he injected her carefully with the drugs from the hospital.

After Stefan gave Katherine's nightmare and memories a happy ending and therefore making sure she feels at peace, he slowly withdrew from her mind and looked at her now relaxed figure.

Memories flashed through his mind as he re-lived the moments with her. Her enchanting beauty, her perfect olive skin, her contagious laugh. She always knew how to have a good time. And no matter what one should think of her and her doings, but she was smart. She always found a loophole, a way out. Until now. It saddened him to know that not even someone like her lasts forever.

"I hope you find peace" he mumbled and softly pressed her hand that was still in his. He knew that she won't wake up again with these drugs in her system. Taking another look to watch her calm features, Stefan leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Goodbye, Katherine."

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Chapter 2:

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Up to this moment, after she suffered the heart attack that initiated the process of dying, Katherine believed that death was hard and painful. However, after Stefan injected her with another, the final, syringe and gave her that beautiful dream, it felt so easy. Her mind floated and found comfort in the dream she so wished had been the reality.

Suddenly, however, Katherine found herself in the living room of the Salvatore Boarding House. She has no idea how she got there and she looked around hastily, seeing the bunch of idiots who celebrated her death.

"Katherine...."

Her gaze immediately swept to Bonnie who apparently was capable of seeing her while the others don't. Apparently, the whole anchor thing really has worked.

"Ding dong. Does that mean the witch is dead?"

Katherine turned her head to stare at Damon who had a stupid grin on his face. However, it couldn't convince her that he indeed did have a good time. No, it rather was a pitiful attempt to convince himself that he was fine although everyone knew that he was dissatisfied with himself.

So that's it... it happened.

She knew what she theoretically should do, yet she couldn't. She couldn't do the final step.

Katherine looked around in panic, shaking her head while Bonnie stared at her in confusion.

"No. Uh-uh. It's too soon. I can't!"

From the corners of her eyes, she saw a shadow entering the room. She noticed how everyone's heads snapped wide-eyed in that direction but Katherine couldn't figure out who or what it was. Instead, everything went black again.

This kind of darkness was a different one.

It wasn't scary, it wasn't painful. Everything appeared to be ... dulled. Wrapped in cotton. It felt like she was ... without a body. Weightless. She felt strangely disconnected as if her spirit is floating in some kind of intermediate plane.

She hasn't passed over on the Other Side, has she? She can't remember. But while she was floating in some kind of strange atmosphere, she also felt oddly connected to something, to another realm. Something that felt so familiar. It reminded her of an astronaut that floated in space but still had a safety line to protect him.

Eventually, Katherine felt a light pressure. A warmth.

She couldn't recognize it, couldn't tell where it came from. But it gave her a good feeling and she focused on that.

Again she had the feeling as if she's emerging from something, only that this time, it was deeper and more infinite than before. As if she's diving through different layers of different spaces.

Suddenly, Katherine's eyes snapped open and she took in a shallow breath that rattled in her lungs, eyes darting around in panic and confusion without seeing anything.

"Katerina..." she heard a surprised voice whisper from far, far away although Elijah was directly in front of her, his forehead leaned against hers, his hands cupping her cheeks.

"Elijah..." she whispered groggily, recognizing his voice. She blinked a few times to see better, although her vision was still blurry.

"I thought I came too late ... your heart ... your heart stopped beating."

She stared into his teary face, relief but also worry clearly written over his expression.

"You're here..." she whispered weakly and tried to muster a smile. The attempt alone exhausted her endlessly.

"I am, Katerina, and I won't leave," he told her in a soft tone and tried to swallow down his grief. The Original had cradled her lifeless body in his arms but now he gently rested her head back into the pillows, careful to not hurt her. She seemed terribly fragile and although Elijah refused to believe it, he knew they didn't have much time left for he knew that her heart has indeed stopped before. It probably is going to remain a secret how she had managed to come back but he knew that their time is limited. Although he wished there would be more that he could do, that there would be something he could to do help her.

"Sorry ... you've ... see me like that," she muttered and mentioned something with 'wrinkles'. The corners of his mouth twitched and he tucked a lost curl of once so shiny hair behind her ear.

"I assure you, you're the most beautiful woman I've seen. You'll always remain an exquisite beauty, Katerina," he confessed, knowing how vain she was. And it's the truth, although her hair was dull and with a touch of grey, although her skin was pale and worrying transparent she still was a beauty.

There were so many unspoken questions he wanted to ask her. So many things he needed to know. What has happened? Why hasn't she reached out to him? What could have been done? Could he have saved her if he returned to her any time sooner? Could her fate have been changed if he never left? ...

Stefan had told him that she won't wake up anymore, that her body has grown too weak, and that she won't feel any pain. Everything spoke against her waking up again but yet she did for some reason. Elijah is aware that the younger Salvatore told him the truth. He could see it himself, see that she was already far, far away although she reacted to his presence and his words. Her beautiful chocolate brown orbs lacked their usual spark, even they appeared dim. Nonetheless, he could see in those once so shiny eyes her relief, her happiness that sparked an even deeper love for her.

"I shouldn't have left you, Katerina," he whispered; regret swinging in his tone. Perhaps if he hadn't been too afraid of Klaus' threats and his ability to turn them into reality rather quickly, this could have been prevented.

"And I love you, Katerina. No matter what." his voice was still low as he caressed her beautiful face. "Love is so incredibly rare but know this: I have found it with you. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. All I wanted was your safety," his voice broke as he uttered those words

"You ... love ... me?"

It pained him to hear how much she struggled to utter her question but he nodded, his thumb carefully caressing her cheek.

"Yes, I do, Katerina. Yes, I do. And I beg your pardon if it didn't seem like that." It is a regret he's going to carry it with him forever and he didn't expect her to accept his apology. It was his fault for how they parted. And it was also his fault that he hasn't found the right words and letting her know that their separation has nothing to do with his feelings.

"I forgive you, 'lijah" her words were strangely clear, and in her eyes sparked something that hadn't been there before.

He took in a deep breath, wishing that this conversation could be held in a different situation, wishing it wouldn't be a goodbye.

"I ... love you ... too. You just .... you just found me in the wrong universe," Katherine uttered, tears dwelling in her eyes. Now she knew what it had been that had prevented her from passing over to the Other Side. Unconsciously, she had waited, had hoped, for Elijah to return. Had hoped that she does matter to him. That he still cares and loves her.

He was the string that kept her connected to this world and she so desperately tried to hold on, although that string grew thinner and thinner.

"My blood ... perhaps it saves you" he offered, already uncuffing his shirt to bare his wrist. Katherine, however, only let out a sob.

"'s too late. Pl-please stay?"

Elijah let his hand fall into his lap and bit down on her lower lip as his last desperate attempt to save her was not accepted, making it clear that he's going to lose her in the next minutes. His confession of loving her has revived her for a moment but the energy quickly faded away.

"Of course, I will," Elijah's voice trembled and he had to fight the tears, not wanting to make it harder for her. The Original carefully moved up to her and pulled her even more carefully towards him, his arms loosely wrapped around her petite frame.

He wasn't ready to let go, wasn't ready to say goodbye to her. But he could see that she and her body grew tired, although she fought it.

For a long moment, Katherine's eyes rested on him before they fluttered close.

"Tell me ... something," she requested, trying to hold on as long as possible although she grew groggy and everything went blurry.

Elijah swallowed and thought of something fitting... of something that gave her peace.

"I knew you liked the rose gardens in England. I often watched you admiring all those flowers and blossoms like it's something you've never seen before. You could spend hours in those gardens without doing anything else. When you left, I preserved one of your favorite roses so it'd always remember me of you. It laid in between the pages of my diary and was always with me, no matter where I lived."

Katherine hummed groggily in response.

"There's a rose named after you ... it's a pretty shade of rosy that merges in bright pink...." he continued and finally stopped when he noticed how weak her pulse was. However, he could see by the deep frown on her face that she was trying to delay it.

He knew it was time...

Elijah took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

"It's okay to let go, Katerina. I'll stay with you. It's okay... go get some rest" he assured her, his fingertips brushing over her scalp.

His voice was far, far away as the string faded away and her mind floated deeper in the endless space that was dipped into a shade of pink. Flowers ... rose scent ...

"We'll meet... again .... 'lijah", she didn't know if those words actually left her mouth, if he was able to hear it but she needed to get it out. They'll meet again eventually, she was sure of that.

Then, she entered the bright light of the horizon and her heart stopped again. This time for forever.

"Good night, Katerina", Elijah uttered when he heard Katherine's heart-stopping, a silent tear running down his cheek as he pressed another kiss on her temple and kept holding her lifeless body, "You'll live on in my heart, always and forever."

[thebrotherssalvatore321]

Don’t Call Me Love

Pairing: Klaus x Oc (Kaite)

Warnings: suicide attempt

Setting: New Orleans

Summary: The first time she met an original was in the 1830′s when she fell in love with Elijah and had a witch link their souls. Klaus killed her and because of her link to an immortal she was reincarnated as the friend of Elena, Bonnie and Caroline. She is a vampire and recently broke up with Damon who fell for Elena and found out Elijah loves Hayley.

A/N: This is a possible future chapter of a story of mine on fanfiction.net. If you like this story give Keeping Secrets by Daffodil3126 on Fanfiction.net a read.

Katie sat on the plush sofa in a bedroom of the Mikealsons home in New Orleans. A half empty bottle of bourbon sat on the coffee table across from her and a half full glass was in her hand as she stared off into space. Slow quiet music filled the room from the Bluetooth speaker on the fireplace mantle. Klaus let himself in, walked over and sat down next to her earning a glare from her as he draped his arm over the back of the couch and gave her a closed lipped smile. “Hello, love.”

“Don’t call me love.” She told him with an eye roll as she looked away from him and took a drink.

“Why not, love?” He asked just to prod the bull.

“Because I’m not your love and it’s not a term I find enduring.” She answered then turned her head in the other direction.

Just to get under her skin he slid the backs of his fingers over her soft shoulder that her black, ribbed, racer back tank top left bare. Knowing what he was trying to do, she ignored him. “What about Katie Cat?” he asked and her nostrils flared as she whipped her head around to glare daggers at him. “Oh yeah…” he drawled with a smile, “That’s what Damon used to call you.” she felt a pain shoot through her chest at the thought of Damon and how bad he had hurt her by falling for Elena. Had she been sober she would have concealed it better, but Klaus saw the hurt in her eyes before she hid it and turned her head again, pressing her lips against the cold glass in her hand. He’d known about Katie and Damon because of Elijah’s link that tied their souls together. He also knew that Katie had come to New Orleans hoping to put the link to Elijah to use only to find him kissing Haley. “Sorry.” He told her quietly as he rested his palm on her shoulder absentmindedly.

“Yeah…I seriously doubt that.” She sighed as she turned to look at him. “Why are you even in here?” she asked with a glare.

“I heard you were visiting, found it hard to believe.” He answered and she gave him a look that asked why it was so hard to believe. “College classes start tomorrow and thanks to Caroline I know that you’ve been dead set on med school since you were twelve.”

“Yeah, well, things change…people, change.” She sighed and glanced down at his hand on her shoulder then threw back the rest of the bourbon in her glass.

His hand fell from her shoulder when she slid to the edge of the couch and leaned forward, refilling her glass and pouring another. “Are you talking about Damon or Elijah?” he asked looking at the flexing muscles of her back. “Or perhaps you or Elena?”

She put the stopper back in the bourbon and leaned back, turning to Klaus as she pulled her feet up onto the couch and tucked them to the side. “All of the above.” She answered then took a sip of the drink and reached over and picked up the second glass and handed it to him. “I’ve been told you should never drink alone.” He gave her a small pursed lipped smile as he took the offered glass.

“Do you know the reason you should never drink alone?” he asked then took a sip as Katie shook her head not really giving it much thought. “Because most of the time if you’re drinking…there’s something you need to get off their chest and that can’t happen if you’re alone.”

Katie smirked at him. “Are you suggesting that I should bare my soul to you and get all the things that have me feeling like punching a brick wall off my chest?” she asked then took a drink.

“Well, I do have ears.” He told her then smirked.

She considered it for a second before she remember exactly who it was that she was talking to. “I don’t think that would be the best idea.” She replied.

“Why not? I’m a good listener.” He argued with a smile and made a come at me motion with the hand his drink wasn’t in.

“You’re also a powerful hybrid who could use anything I might say against me in the court of vampire law.” She countered as she stood up and walked over to the window and looked down at the always busy streets of the French quarter.

"There is no vampire law." Klaus pointed out.

"Exactly." Katie replied still looking out the window.

“Katie I promise you, whatever might come out of your mouth tonight will be forgotten as soon as I walk out that door.” he told her with a point to the bedroom door.

“And how do I know you’ll keep that promise?” she asked as she turned from the window and walked over to look down at him where he still sat on the couch.

“Because like you I don’t break promises.” He answered simply then gave her a questioning look that asked if she was going to talk to him or not.

She took a deep breath and let it out as she said, “Okay.”

“Very well then.” He patted the couch and she downed her glass then sat down where he had patted. He grabbed her shoulders and moved her around to lie on the couch with her head on his leg. He brushed her hair back so that it was fanned out over his lap. “Now, close your eyes and tell me all about it.”

She closed her eyes and felt him start messing with her hair. “All I can think about is how stupid this feels.” She opened her eyes and looked up at him looking down at his hands in her hair.

“Eyes closed.” He gently scolded her and she shook her head with a small smile on her lips as she closed her eyes. “Why did you come to my city?”

“Because I was wanted to see my dad, the man I haven’t seen since I was ten when he and my mother abandoned me in a pointless mission to keep you and Elijah away from me.” She answered as he played with her hair, relaxing her. “Turns out now that I’m a vampire he can’t stand the sight of me even though he is a vampire too.”

“Parent’s are overrated.” He commented.

“Yeah. Especially when you’ve lived two lives and both fathers hate you and neither mother could grow a freaking backbone.” She complained. “Remind me my I’m complaining about my life to you again.” She said as she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

“You used to have so much fire in your eyes.” he told her quietly as he looked into her eyes and brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek. Her eyes fluttered in an attempt to hold back her tears. “I want to know who snuffed it out so I can kick their arse."

“Why do you care?” she asked all too aware of his hand where it rested on the hollow of her neck.

“Because I care.” He answered and was surprised when she accepted it. “Keep talking please. Eyes closed.”

“I didn’t just come here to see my dad.” She started again as she closed her eyes.

Klaus gasped exaggeratedly and she looked up at him. “Don’t tell me you came all the way here to see me.”

He looked down at her with a playful smile on his face and she laughed a little. “No, although it’s been a pleasant surprise so far.” She shook her head and closed her eyes. His thumb brushed back and forth over her neck. “Elijah told me that if I ever needed him I could call to him with our link and he would find me.” She explained and she started picking at her cuticles, feeling the pain return to her chest. “When I caught Damon with Elena I had a panic attack and I called to him, but he never showed. I thought it was just because he was tied up at the moment and couldn’t get to me. Then I get here and find him with Hayley.” The ache in her chest intensified and tears started slipping down her cheeks, wetting his pant leg that her head still rested on.

“So screw love.” He suggested. “Go to college frat parties, snack on handsome un-expecting lads and enjoy the single life.”

“You make it sound so easy.” She said as she wiped her face with her hands.

“It is easy.” He encouraged.

“Not when I have to share a dorm room with Elena, Caroline and Bonnie.” She pointed out. “I can’t be around Elena without wanting to murder her. Caroline isn’t taking sides because according to her you can’t help who you fall in love with. And Bonnie thinks Damon and I never should have been together as long as we were. According to her I’m a doormat.” She picked her hand up and started fiddling with her daylight ring instead of picking at her cuticles. “I’m starting to think that because I shouldn’t be alive in the first place that there is no one out there for me. I should’ve stayed dead after you killed me.” She sniffled getting tired of crying and sat up, wiping her face with her fingers.

She was grabbing her glass of off the coffee table when Klaus stood up and held his hand out to her. “Dance with me?” he smiled when she placed her hand in his. He walked her around to the fireplace and turned the slow song up a little. “Did you know that I made a quick appearance at your senior prom?” he asked as he wrapped his arm around her waist and she placed her hand on his shoulder. She shook her head no as she slid her hand into his. She didn’t remember seeing him at the prom, but she knew he was in town around that time. “Of course you didn’t. You were too busy moping in the corner, pushing a cube of cheesecake around on your plate with a plastic fork.” She frowned wondering why of all things he remembered exactly what she was doing. “You looked ravishing in that lavender ball gown by the way.” She looked into his eyes, wondering why he was telling her this. “Had it been possible I would have asked you to dance, but more pressing matters were at hand.” He slid his hand down to the small of her back and pulled her closer. She didn’t resist and slid her hand from his shoulder to rest on the nape of his neck. Her cheek brushed his and her eyes slipped shut from the intimacy of it. “I know you hate me and I deserve it after everything I’ve done to your friends in Mystic Falls, but-”

“I don’t hate you.” his hand on her lower back pressed further into her at her words. “I don’t particularly like you sometimes, but…if I had lived the life you have I can’t say I wouldn’t be just as paranoid and untrusting.” She pulled back as much as his hold on her would let her and looked him in the eyes. Without meaning to her eyes slipped down to his lips and when a smile stretched over them she looked back into his eyes.

He let go of the hand he was holding and grabbed her hips, jerking her into him making her gasp at his roughness before she laughed and grabbed each side of his neck. He looked her face over as if to make sure she wanted him. To answer his unspoken question she jumped and wrapped her legs around him as she pressed her lips to him. With super speed he spun them around and pressed her against the wall next to the fire place. A gasp left her lips at the force of her back hitting the wall and it only fed the flames that were growing between them. She grabbed the hem of his black long sleeved shirt and started fumblingly pushing it up his torso. With a devilish laugh he took his hands off of her and pulled the shirt off then grabbed the neckline of her tank top and ripped it open.

She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into her as she pressed her lips roughly to his. With a growl that sent a pleasurable shiver down her spine he whooshed them over to the bed on the other side of the room and laid her down, attacking her neck. A moan left her lips when he grazed his teeth over the sensitive skin.

He sat up, pulling her with him, not breaking the kiss as he unhooked her bra and slid the straps down her shoulders. Another gasp left her lips when he placed his strong hand on her chest and pushed her back on the bed, sliding his hand down between the valley of her breast to her stomach, causing her breath to hitch and a laugh to leave her lips when he hit her ticklish spot. He smiled and looked onto her eyes with lust as she popped the button of her shorts open and jerked them and her panties from her body.

In a flash she rolled them over and started kissing her way sloppily down this perfectly toned torso to the button of his jeans. Deciding to mess with him she slowed things down and looked up at him through her lashes as she unbuttoned his jeans and slowly pulled the zipper down. Her fingertips brushed over the skin of his hips as she hooked her fingers under the band of his boxers. “Get a move on, Sweetheart.” He complained breathily. She gave him an evil smirk then swiftly pulled the rest of his clothes off and caught him in her mouth. “Bloody hell.” He gasped making her laugh which only made it feel that much better for him. He let her carry on for a minute or two before he sat up and threaded his fingers into her hair making her look up at him as he pulled her up to him with her hair.

He flipped them over and attacked her neck as he sank into her pulling a gasp from her before she moaned, “Klaus.” He grabbed her hand that was hastily exploring his chest and pinned it to the bed, his fingers threaded together with hers. Her fingertips pressed into his smooth back while he kissed her neck and rocked into her, pushing her closer and closer to the edge of falling into pure ecstasy. When he stopped kissing her neck, keeping his head tucked next to hers, his breathy moans in her ear pushed her over. “Klaus I-” He cut her off with a hard kiss as he tumbled over the edge with her.

She thought that once they had reached their high and the orgasm passed that he would roll off her and finished coming down from the high separately then cuddle, but he didn’t. He stayed where he was, kissing her coming completely down from the high together until his hungry kisses turned gentle. Only then did he slip out of her and slide to lie beside her, brushing his hand over her cheek as he did, turning her head to look at him.

Usually this is when she would stare off in the distance and zone out to revel in the post sex quietness, but instead she looked at him. She never would have thought that Klaus would be the one to make her feel something good for the first time in a long time. “Are you always this quiet after?” he asked with a smirk and she moved to rest her hand on the side of his neck as she tucked her arm under her head.

“Pretty much.” She answered quietly then looked at her hand on his neck. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, Sweetheart. I like seeing you like this…” he told her as he slid his hand down her neck, over her arm and to her wrist that he grabbed taking her hand off his neck. She thought that maybe he didn’t want her touching him, but he surprised her and pressed a kiss to her palm.

Her eyes fluttered from the intimate contact. “Like what?” she asked then watched him kiss each of her fingertips his attractive full lips.

“Completely and beautifully unraveled.” He answered quietly as he set her hand on his chest and sat up grabbing the thin white sheet to pull it over their naked figures, but he paused, his eyes trained on the door. “Uh oh.”

Wide eyed Katie sat up and grabbed the sheet, pulling it over her chest. “Elijah.” whispered seeing him standing in the doorway with a slack jaw.

His shock at seeing her in bed with Klaus quickly faded and he tucked his hands into his pockets. “Don’t cover up on my behalf.”

Katie took her ashamed eyes off of Elijah to look at Klaus. “Don’t look at me, Sweetheart, you’re the one with the power right now.”

Katie looked back at Elijah as both men waited for her to speak. With a pounding heart she slid from the bed and pulled on a silk robe. Klaus made a move to get out of bed but she held her hand up, stopping him. “You stay.” She pointed at him making him smirk as she tied the robe and walked over to Elijah, pushing him out of the door with a hand on his chest.

“Did you really sleep with him or is this some rouse to make me jealous?” he asked with a hard face.

“It’s not a ruse.” She answered quietly and his lips tightened. “I don’t need to explain myself to you when not even twenty four hours ago I walked in on you and Hayley.”

“That was different.” He told her coldly.

“How?” she asked getting mad at him.

“It’s different because I have genuine feelings for her. My involvement with her goes deeper than meaningless trysts.” He argued taking a step closer to her. “You deserve better than him.”

“Because you’re better than him, right?” she challenged.

“I did not say that.” He defended.

“But didn’t you?” she asked with a pissed off laugh. “I mean you always say that whoever I’m with isn’t good enough for me. You don’t want other people to have me yet you don’t want me either.”

“Katie.” He tried to calm her, but she stepped back.

“Don’t Katie me!” she yelled at him surprising herself. “I’m not usually one for ultimatums, but I have no choice.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Right here right now, chose me or Hayley because I can’t take this any more. Being tied to you without actually being with you is killing me, Elijah.” She felt tears pooling in her eyes but refused to let them fall. “I’ve held out hope that one day we could make it work, but it’s never going to work.”

“Katie, please don’t do this. Klaus has gotten under your skin you’re not thinking straight.”

“Klaus has nothing to do with this. I’m thinking more clearly now than I have in a very, very long time.” He took a step to her and tried to cup her face in his hands, but she knocked his hands away. “Choose!” He paused and looked down at the ground for a few minutes then back up at her. “You’re choosing her, aren’t you?” she asked and he nodded. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she bit her lips closed and nodded. She turned her back on him and opened the door to her room, but paused and turned back to him. “I found a decent of Fiona a year ago. I’ll find her and have her break the link.”

“Katie don’t-” he was cut off by the door slamming in his face. Now out of his sight she grabbed a vase that was sitting on a pedestal next to the door and whipped it at the wall as a pissed off scream ripped through her body. After taking in the bits of shattered glass that had scattered over the floor she took her daylight ring off and threw it across the room.

Klaus caught it right before it hit him in the face. In her despair she’d forgotten he was still in the room. So when she crossed the room, threw open the balcony doors and stepped into the morning sunlight it didn’t have a chance to catch her on fire like she had intended. Klaus wrapped his arms around her pressing her ring into her chest as he pulled her back into the shade of the room. “Damn you Klaus, let me go.” She growled fighting his hold on her, but he was far stronger than her.

“And let you walk out onto that balcony and remove yourself from this world? Sorry sweetheart that’s not going to happen.” Knowing if he let her go she would just make another run for the sun Klaus whooshed them over to sit on the bed, her back pressed against his chest as he held her in place.

“Please, I just want it to be over.” She begged through her tears. “No one will miss me just let me go.”

He held her while her body shook with sobs. After a few minutes her tears came quieter, but Klaus still held her, now leaning back on the headboard. Her phone started ringing. Klaus picked it up from the bedside table to see that it was Damon. He put the phone in front of Katie so that she could see who it was and she shook her head no. He pressed the talk button and put it to his ear. “I’m afraid Katie Cat can’t come to the phone right now.”

“Klaus?” Damon asked confused to hear that he had answered Katie’s phone. “What the hell did you do with Katie?”

“I’m sorry it sounds like you actually care.” Klaus responded angrily.

“I can hear her crying. What did you do?” Damon asked angrily.

“Other than save her life, nothing.” He answered arrogantly.

“Put her on the phone now.” Damon practically yelled.

“Very well.” He pressed the phone to Katie’s ear. “He wants to talk to you, Sweetheart.” Katie took the phone out of his hand and hung up. A few seconds later the phone started ringing again and Klaus answered it. “Take the hint mate, she doesn’t want to talk to you.” he handed her the phone and she hung up then turned it off.

“You can let go of me now.” she whispered as she wiped her face, no longer crying.

“And if I don’t want to?” he asked teasingly as he pulled the silk tie of her robe.

“Then do me a favor and hold me in a different position.” She answered making him smile and move her around so that they were under the sheet and she was lying on top of him. Her head was tucked under his chin and his arms were wrapped around her.

“Do you really think no one would miss you?” he asked, but didn’t get an answer. “Answer the question, Sweetheart.”

“Yeah. I really do.” She answered and Klaus felt a warm tear fall onto his chest. “All of my friends are wrapped up in their own lives and boyfriends… It’s already like I’m not there. Bonnie might take it harder than the rest, but she’ll still move on.” Klaus rubbed her back absentmindedly. “I don’t fit in anywhere.”

“Seems to me that you fit quiet nicely right where you are.” His quiet words made her push herself up to look at his face. “Stay here, in New Orleans…with me.”

“Klaus I…” she started but didn’t know how to finish.

“There’s a med school here. All you’d have to do is transfer.” He suggested. “And I am an amazing study buddy.”

She smiled at his comment. “I can’t just transfer and what am I supposed to tell everyone?” she asked. “Caroline can’t know I’m moving here for you…”

“Why not, she is still with Tyler is she not?” he asked and Katie rolled her eyes.

“Yeah but I think we both know she’s still carrying a torch in her back pocket with your name on it.” she argued as she slid her leg over him and sat up to straddle him. “and I’m about ninety-five percent sure that you are still carrying one for her.” she said as she trailed her hands down his toned, but not too toned stomach. “I’ve lost to her so many times and I refuse to set myself up to lose to her again.”

“Then fight for what you want.” He told her as he slid his hand up her thin stomach, stopping between her breasts.

“I have, Klaus.” She argued getting angry. “I have fought…with every cell in my body… and every time I do, what I want doesn’t want me back.”

He grabbed the back of her head and pulled her down to him, the tips of their noses touching. “I do.” Her wide shocked eyes stared into his. “I want you.” he told her again to drill it into her head. “Now fight for me.” Katie caught his bottom lip in a passionate kiss that told him just how bad she wanted him.

[aivaehdaevis]

The More Things Change: Ch 6

The More Things Change

by Aivaeh

Disclaimer: Familiar characters, plot elements, and settings belong to L.J. Smith, Julie Plec, and the CW. The author of this work of fanfiction has made no money from it. Summary: I have no idea how it happened, but one morning I woke up in the world of The Vampire Diaries. Which, aside from the insanity of waking up inside a television show made real, might not be so bad—if I weren't stuck in the body of vampire magnet and doppelgänger herself, Elena Gilbert. Pairing(s): OFC x Damon, OFC x Stefan, OFC x Elijah, OFC x Klaus Rating: M Warning(s): Graphic descriptions of violence on par with the show itself. References to sex and drug use. Mind control and all the issues of consent that go along with it. Character death. Master List External Links: AO3 | FF.Net | Wattpad

Chapter Six

I found the bulbs in a downstairs storage closet.

Hunting for them gave me something to think about other than Damon's threats and the insanity of being stuck in a television show. I went to change the bedroom's first, but when I threw the switch, the light turned right on. A test of the rest of the lights were the same. The lights worked just fine.

I tried to convince myself it was a wiring issue, but there's no denying I felt more vulnerable in the Gilbert house.

Replacing the bulbs back into the supply closet, I continued snooping around. I didn't find anything exciting. The vampire-related weapons and diaries were at the lake house. My biggest discovery were the heirlooms and a ton of documents related to the family's history stored in the basement. I only glanced through some of it before going back upstairs.

Back in Elena's room, I settled in for some homework. My poor performance in Biology and Tanner's comments in History convinced me to finish it before the party tonight. Besides, it was a normal thing to do, nothing supernatural involved. Trigonometry took the longest, but by the time I was done with the chapter questions for history, the sun was getting low in the sky. "Hope you appreciate this, Elena," I muttered before huffing out a tired breath.

I was scouring Elena's closet when the phone rang.

Picking up a cordless handset from her desk, I said, "Hello?"

"Elena," Caroline said in a frantic rush, "I needed you here an hour ago!"

Crap. "Sorry. I lost track of time." I grabbed the first thing I could reach that had long sleeves. Elena had nothing but nice clothes, anyway. I couldn't go wrong.

"Well, get over here."

Uh, where was here? I wondered if there was a non-suspicious or weird way to ask this when the phone clicked and the dial tone hummed in my ear. "Great."

I ended up looking the park up online. It wasn't that difficult to get to from highway seventy-five, one of three roads that led out of town.

I hurried through another shower and was drying my hair when there was a knock on the connecting door. I fiddled with the hairdryer until I found the power button. "Yes?"

There was a beat of silence. "I heard you're driving again, but the car was in the garage," Jeremy said, voice muffled by the wood.

"Someone else took me to school today, but yeah. I drove to the Grill."

"You driving to the party?"

"I'm leaving as soon as I'm done. Caroline wants my help."

"Can I ride along?"

"Oh. Sure."

"Cool."

"Let me finish up."

Jeremy agreed and left me to it.

Once I was dressed and ready, I knocked on his door. He walked out in a hoodie and jacket. Together we made our way down to the kitchen. Jenna hadn't come home yet, so I left a note on the fridge saying we'd be at the falls.

The sun was on the last leg of its journey across the horizon. The sky was flush in pastel pinks and violets, gradually settling into molten gold. It was pleasant enough out to roll the windows down as we pulled out of the garage, letting in the song of crickets. Jeremy plugged his mp3 player into the stereo and alternative rock pounded out the speakers.

"Doesn't driver pick the music?"

Jeremy's answering shrug was largely swallowed up beneath all the layers he wore.

Well, this would be fun.

This time, it was a right out of the driveway. I paid attention to the signs as I navigated the neighborhood. I needed to take Grotto Avenue instead of Washington. It would lead to the infamous Wickery Bridge and connect to seventy-five.

Once we'd turned onto Grotto, the speed limit picked up to forty-five, and the wind rushed past the window as I sped up. I had to speak louder to be heard. "How have things been lately?"

Staring out the passenger window, Jeremy's reply was bitter. "How do you think?"

I had nothing to say to that. I watched the dashed yellow line on the road, the trees lining either side speed by as I tried coming up with something more innocuous. "How are your classes?"

Another half-hidden shrug. "Alright I guess."

"You guess?"

"Yeah." Jeremy fitted his hand through the crack in his window and sliced through the wind.

"Good talk," I muttered.

I thought the wind would've taken my words, but Jeremy lifted his other hand in a thumbs up.

The wind and music replaced any attempts at conversation after that. The only time I wondered if I should try to say something was as we approached the Wickery Bridge. I ran a critical eye over the structure. Whatever damage had been caused when their parents' minivan had gone into the river must have been repaired.

Jeremy stared out the window as he'd been doing that the whole way. Something changed, though. Like a heavy and colorless smog that saturated the car, the mood turned dark and toxic, suffocating any attempts at conversation.

It didn't let up until the bridge disappeared behind us and we'd reached the highway. The rush of wind turned into a roar. The sun glared off the horizon and made it hard to see even with Elena's sunglasses and the visor. It was a relief when it sank beneath the treetops, and I was able to see comfortably again.

The sky was all deep merlots and dark heather by the time I saw the turn off. Rocks ground beneath the tires and pelted the undercarriage as we drove down a gravel road that twisted snake-like between the woods. Once we were half a mile in, the road turned paved. The smoother drive led up a steep hill to a large parking lot. Several vehicles were already there, a mixture of cars and trucks and vans. I pulled in and joined them.

Jeremy and I got out. Distant voices drifted through the trees, almost drowned out by the frenzied chirrup of crickets. I followed Jeremy, who didn't hesitate to step off the pavement to a dirt trail that led further up a gently sloping hill. Old trees stretched overhead all around us, growing darker as the last light of the sun surrendered to the silvery glow of a distant half-moon that had begun its ascent.

I hugged my jacket tighter around me. There was a humidity to the air that made it chillier than it had felt during the drive. I supposed it came from the falls that granted the park its name, though I had no idea where they were.

We found Caroline at a series of pavilions that had carved out a small space in the middle of the woods. Basically, the giant frames of empty houses. She was busy tearing plastic cups out of their packaging and stacking them on the fold-out tables pushed flush against one of the open-air railings. Bonnie was beside her.

"Hey Elena, Jer," Bonnie greeted.

As Jeremy raised a hand and gave a close-lipped grin, Caroline spun about. "Good! Jeremy, help Aaron and Matt hang lights over the bridge."

She must have meant more lights like the ones strung around the pavilion. Outdoor Christmas lights by the look of them, except with bigger, colorless bulbs. They were pretty, if unnecessary. Several outdoor floodlights that must have been put up by the park provided more than enough light, and a bonfire was already flickering away in a pit a safe distance away.

Jeremy's expression didn't so much as twitch. "Hello to you too, Caroline."

Caroline's lips pressed into a line as she sent Jeremy a look. "Hello, Jeremy. So nice to see you." She flashed a plastic princess smile. "Please help Aaron and Matt."

Jeremy rolled his eyes and, hands stuffed into his pockets, headed out of the pavilion to one of the paths that led deeper into the forest.

"There's a bunch of six packs in the back of Aaron's truck," Caroline then informed me with all the command of an empress. I didn't know what Aaron's truck looked like, but it shouldn't be hard to find. Just look for the liquor store in the back.

I ended up trudging back and forth through the woods as night crept over the forest. Caroline and Bonnie just set up tables and coolers. I had a feeling I was being punished for 'forgetting' to arrive earlier.

Teenagers started to trickle in, a strong bass beat began to pulse through the trees, and the lot was filling up. I was halfway through—she wasn't kidding about it being a bunch of beer—when a distinct rumble echoed through the trees. I squinted as headlights pierced the darkness and shone in my face.

I wasn't surprised when those headlights slowed as they approached, stopping a short ways after passing me, revealing the distinctive blue camaro with Damon in the driver's seat. "Hello, Elena."

"Damon," I sighed.

His eyes darted towards the six packs and back to me. "Am I too early?"

"No. I think it's just starting." I picked up four more six packs. The pair I carried in each hand clinked merrily as the bottles swayed. Carefully, I hopped off the truck bed.

"I prefer to be fashionably late," Damon said.

"Why am I not surprised." I turned and headed back up the path.

The camaro gave a purr before gliding away as I stepped off the pavement and onto the hard-packed ground. There was still enough space that he'd find something. I anticipated it wouldn't be long before he was pestering me again.

Sure enough, I wasn't a quarter of the way up when he appeared beside me. He sidestepped around until he was doing his backwards walk in front of me, reaching out for the cases of beer. "Allow me."

I held them back. "I've got it, Damon."

"Elena."

"Damon." I wondered if he was actually tripping every other step, and just moving too fast for me to see it.

"I can have this done before you even reach the top," he reminded me.

"And how will I explain that?"

The expensive silk shirt, top few buttons undone, stretched across his shoulders as he shrugged. "Who will care enough to ask?"

I did want this task to be over. I slowly held out the beer. "Fine."

He smirked as he took the cases from me—and promptly disappeared from sight. I did hear the stir of leaves every other second. It was less than a minute when he appeared beside me again. "Finished." If smugness were a resource, Damon would've had enough for every man, woman, and child on the planet.

I replied with a grudging, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Elena." Before I could start up the hill, his arm ended up around my shoulders. His warmth still managed to surprise me. "Why don't you introduce me to your friends?"

I shook my head. "No."

Damon's arm slid off me. He started walking. "Maybe I'll see if Caroline wants—"

I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He allowed it. "You promised."

"As long as you," he tapped my nose, "were agreeable."

"Do you have to threaten all the girls?" I groused.

"No. Not usually." Arm back around my shoulders, he grinned. "You're special."

"Why?"

The trail crunched underfoot as he guided me towards the pavilions. "Why what?"

"Why am I special?" I knew it had to do with Katherine, but wasn't he supposed to still be in love with her? Why spend so much of his time bothering me?

Something in his stare set my nerves alight with a nervous energy. It skittered along my spine and spread out until every inch of me was alive and awake. "You're beautiful. Very seductive."

Uncomfortable in my suddenly hypersensitive skin, I squirmed. Afraid it'd tip him off to his effect on me, I tried for nonchalant. "Seductive?" I scoffed. "And you've met hundreds of beautiful, seductive women."

"None like you," he returned.

I gave him a flat stare.

His brows rose. "It's true."

I pictured a certain self-centered vampire in period clothes. "Why don't I believe you?"

"Because you have major trust issues."

"Can't imagine why."

We reached the top of the hill and the clearing. The pavilions were lit, strung lights adding a softer, magical quality the harsher park lights lacked. A good gathering of people was strewn about, arrayed in clusters around the wooden structures, the grass and the fire, to the treeline. The conversations were already lively. Even as we stood there, I could hear more coming up the trail behind us.

"Lets get a drink," Damon suggested, guiding me towards the coolers I'd spent the early portion of the night filling.

I eyed him. "What do you mean by a drink?"

He tilted his head towards me and smirked. The closer we moved towards people, the more tense I became. Thankfully, he went for the beers instead of the teens hanging out beside them, snagging a pair of bottles by the neck. His thumb slipped under the edge of one's cap, popping the top off without effort. He held it out to me.

I accepted, still fixing a weary eye on him as he opened the other. I wasn't a fan of beer, but I definitely wanted a drink. I endured the yeasty flavor for a good-sized gulp. Pulling the bottle away, I'd have wiped my lips, but I had lip gloss on. I settled for rubbing them together.

Damon guided me back up to the largest of the three pavilions. The creak of our steps almost lost to the shifts and pounding of all the other feet. The smell of pine was strongest here. The people parted before us like a school of tiny fish breaking apart and gliding around a bigger predator.

Caroline and Bonnie were at the back railing, each one with a cup of what I assumed would be beer. Madison, Sarah, Aaron, and a few other cheerleaders and football players made up the rest of Caroline's entourage. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Damon. "You came!"

"I said I would," he answered.

Still trapped under the hard muscle of his arm, I settled for another swig.

"Everyone, this is Damon. Damon, this is everyone," Caroline introduced.

"Yeah. Elena's mentioned most of you." He pointed with the hand holding his beer. "Bonnie, right?"

Bonnie nodded before her gaze slid to me, a clear question in her pale green gaze. I just shook my head.

Damon proceeded to freak me out by naming the rest of the little group, even the three I wasn't familiar with. He knew Elena's friends better than me.

"When did you and Damon get together, Elena?" A blonde cheerleader that Damon had called Sophie had a pixie's face and a beauty mark over her left eye.

"Yesterday," he answered before I had a chance to say anything.

We exchanged a glance, mine already finished, his full of mischief. I fumed, wishing I could shrug out of his hold, and took another drink.

Caroline's earlier enthusiasm had dimmed. "So this is, what," her smile threatened to fall off her face, "a date?"

"Mmhmm," Damon replied, pulling me closer to him.

Bonnie's brows flew up. "Oh."

Half of my bottle was already gone.

"In fact, I really should be thanking you for tonight, Caroline," he went on blithely. "Elena wasn't sure about going out with someone as old as me. Then your name came up, and she became much more agreeable."

Mother fu—

"Really," Caroline replied. Flatly. Her stare was piercing, like a dagger. One she probably thought she'd pulled out of her back.

A series of looks exchanged between the others ensured that this news was going to be around the whole school by tomorrow morning.

"Elena, can I talk to you real quick," Bonnie interjected.

"Absolutely Bonnie," I said, relief lightening my voice.

Damon shot me a close-lipped smile. "Don't wander off too far," he said into the top of my head. "Wouldn't want to run into any animals."

I nodded, and Damon's arm left my shoulders, but not before his hand skimmed my spine. I shivered before hurrying to Bonnie's side, and the two of us headed over towards a spot near the fire pit while Damon went about charming the rest of Elena's friends.

As soon as we were down the pavilion's steps, Bonnie turned to me. "What's going on, Elena?"

I wasn't sure what to say. Damon had to be listening. "Damon said he wanted to go with me to the falls." I shrugged.

"You said he was using you to get to Stefan," Bonnie reminded me.

My lips twisted of their own accord. "Yeah. I think I maybe judged him a little harshly." I forced myself to add, "He's been great so far."

"And when Stefan shows up?"

We reached a spot a few feet from the fire, close enough to see one another in the dancing light, but far enough for some privacy. "I told you. Stefan and I are friends."

"Friends don't look at each other the way you two did the other night and at lunch, Elena." Bonnie shook her head. "This seems like a bad idea."

No kidding. "It'll be fine, Bonnie." I forced a smile. "Just like you predicted."

She shot me a thoughtful look. "Maybe it's worth a try."

"What?" But I had a feeling of what she'd say.

"Reading your future." Bonnie shook her head. "It's crazy, I know. But Grams says I can."

"Long as you aren't charging ten bucks a minute," I quipped with a small smile.

Bonnie snorted. "Here," she held out a hand. "Let me see your hand."

Remembering she'd seen the crow and Damon in the show, I let her close her eyes to concentrate and took her hand.

Bonnie's eyes popped open immediately. She dropped my hand like it was red hot and took a step back, a strange look on her face.

I frowned. "What?"

"I—I don't know."

"Bonnie?"

"A woman."

What?

"I was holding her hand instead of yours. You were behind her, yelling at me." My blood turned to ice. "I couldn't hear what you were saying. It was like some kind of fog separated us. But you were frantic. And scared."

I stared. I couldn't think of anything to do or say, so I did and said nothing.

Bonnie shook her head, throwing up her hands. "I… I don't know. I don't know what I saw." She looked around and then said, "I'm going to get another beer."

I watched her rush off then turned far enough to look over my shoulder. There were a few people further back, but no doppelgänger.

That couldn't have been Elena, could it? Maybe Katherine?

Shivering, I rubbed at my arms. I could feel the fine hairs standing on end, tickling as my sleeves rubbed against them. Blowing out a breath, I turned to head back to the pavilion.

And nearly ran into a solid wall of muscle. I took a startled step back, head snapping up. "Stefan?"

He smiled. "Hey." His brows pinched together. "I didn't scare you, did I?"

"Just startled," I assured him.

His lips softened into that small smile. But it only lasted a moment before melting away. "Is something wrong? You look upset."

I took a breath and shook my head. "No, just—something weird Bonnie said."

"Oh?"

"It doesn't matter." I let my hands fall to my sides. "You made it."

His eyes were still searching my face, his expression concerned. He didn't think it was nothing. But his, "I did," suggested he was willing to drop it.

"Stefan!"

We both stiffened at the sudden greeting. Standing right behind Stefan, Damon sported a wry smirk.

Stefan levelled a low-browed, guarded stare at Damon. Damon met it with a smile, his crinkled eyes glinting like arctic light off an ice sheet. "Beer?" he offered, holding up an unopened bottle.

"What are you doing, Damon?" Stefan stared so hard it was as if he was trying to see into Damon's head.

"Well, Stefan, I'm enjoying the party I was invited to. You should give it a try sometime." Damon's gaze shifted to me. "Finished with your friend?"

Bonnie. I looked around and found her back up on the pavilion with Caroline and the others. She was hugging her arms, eyes darting around until they fell back on me. As soon as she met my stare, her eyes widened and slid away.

My brows gathered. "I guess so."

Damon shoved the beer into Stefan's hand and strutted over to my side. "Why don't we go look at the falls?" His arm found it's favorite perch across my shoulders.

Stefan's eyes fixed on me. I offered an apologetic smile before finishing my drink and setting the empty bottle on a log behind me. "Whatever."

Damon gave Stefan a little wave with the hand draped over my shoulder. "Later."

As Damon guided me back towards another trail, he turned to look over our shoulders behind him. "Oh, he's pissed," he gloated.

I caught sight of disappointed Caroline, eyes down on her cup while Bonnie looked troubled beside her. "Is there anyone you don't enjoy screwing with, Damon?"

"Hmm, let me think—nope." Damon and I rounded the trail and moved into the trees. Eventually the pavilions became a distant twinkle of lights through the leaves, and then disappeared.

There were more lights strung up along the trail. "Why do you want to make Stefan miserable?" I knew the story but wanted to hear it from him.

"Ask him." Damon lifted a bottle, and from the swig of beer inside. "Although Steffy's not being very open with you right now."

"What do you mean?"

Damon smirked. "Mm, not yet." He pulled me closer. "I want to see the look on his face when you figure it out."

That I was the spitting image of Katherine and that's why he's so interested in me? Yeah, Damon was going to be disappointed.

A bridge strung with lights waited ahead of us. It must have been the one the boys had worked on. Our footsteps thumped against the wood as we crossed to the middle. Damon guided me to the railing, where the lights twinkled along the arch overhead. Leaning an elbow on the rail, he nodded off in the distance. "Can you see them?"

I squinted and saw a hint of the falls in the glint of the moonlight. Mostly I heard them. A constant, low spray of churning water. "Not well."

"Want to get closer?" Damon asked before throwing the rest of his beer back and then tossing the bottle down into the river.

"It looks pretty far," I said doubtfully.

Damon moved his arm off my shoulders and turned around. "Hop on."

I blinked. "What? Like, on your back?"

"Like, yes. Duh."

"What, so you can get me somewhere secluded and feed?" I folded my arms, ignoring the excited tingle in my belly. "No thank you."

Damon looked over his shoulder. "I won't feed on you tonight."

"And I should believe you because…"

"Because I haven't lied to you."

"My bag," I corrected.

"I haven't lied to you today," he amended. He sighed. "Just get on, Elena. Do I need to threaten someone again?"

As I grit my teeth and walked over, I heard him mutter, "Most stubborn woman I've ever met." Knowing I was frustrating him me smile slightly.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. He extended his arms out to the side for my legs. Frowning, I hopped up. His hands cradled the backs of my thighs. I was glad I'd picked out a pair of jeans and not leggings or, heaven forbid, a skirt.

"Hold on tight," he said. "And don't let go."

I tightened my hold till, if he'd been human, he'd probably be choking. I also locked my ankles over his abs and said, "This is very Twilight."

"If you're expecting me to sparkle later on, you're going to be sorely disappointed."

Before I could reply, the bottom dropped out of my stomach. It was like one of those barrel rides, where they spin around so fast, you're pressed up against the wall while all your organs feel shoved back. If it weren't for Damon's grip on me, I doubt I'd have been able to hold on.

The world was a smear of darkness. I had to close my eyes and hide my face in the crook of his neck as gorge rose up my throat.

Thankfully, it was over almost as soon as it began. "Alright," he yelled over the roar of crashing water.

Able to breathe without feeling as if my lungs were being squeezed, I took a breath of humid air. I was cautious as I opened my eyes. Fortunately, we'd stopped. I lifted my head higher.

We were on the edge of a cliff overlooking the falls. The water looked like mercury in the moonlight. It flowed over the edge into a misting veil of cascading silver, plunging into the churning river below. Fireflies danced along the shore. Without the city lights, the stars were a bright dusting of glitter across a velvety darkness.

"It's beautiful," I breathed.

Damon looked back. His eyes were bright, more silver than blue, like the water and the stars. They stared for several long moments. Unable to endure the building tension any longer, I asked, "What?"

He blinked and turned back around. "Want to go skinny dipping?"

I shoved his shoulder. "No!"

"You're no fun, Elena," he complained.

I was about to make a comment about perverted crows when his muscles stilled beneath me. His head swiveled to the right. He walked towards the edge of the cliff, until he was close enough to lean over the ledge. Which he did… with me still riding his back.

I held on tighter, heart pounding against his back as the wet air rose up to hit my face and blow back my hair.

Then he stepped off the ledge.

It happened so fast I barely had time to draw a gasping breath before my stomach flew into my esophagus as we plummeted. The ground slammed into his feet, sending a shockwave up his legs. Damon merely straightened up and started walking, not so much as a twitch in his stride.

"Don't do that!"

"Shh." He nodded his head, letting go of one of my thighs to point. "Looks like I wasn't the only one with the idea to go skinny dipping."

I squinted in the direction he was pointing and discovered two distant figures bobbing in the water. They were—well. Yeah. They'd had the same idea. Their faces were mashed pretty firmly together. Averting my eyes, I turned to look back, and saw a pile of clothes strewn over a large boulder that had cracked apart from the cliff face.

Damon let go of my other leg, and I slid down his back to the ground. Before I could ask what he was doing, he had his shirt up and over his head.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. "What are you doing?!" I hissed, mortified at the expanse of naked back. I could trace the muscles with my eyes as they shifted beneath pale skin. The scapula of his shoulders slid together and apart. Biceps bulging as he moved his arms to— "Don't take off your pants!"

"SHH!" he hissed. "I swear, Elena, if you scare off dinner…" he threw a warning glare over his shoulder.

"Scare off—" my eyes rounded again. "You can't… eat them!"

"Uh, yes I can." Damon moving his hands around to grip either side of the wasteland of his jeans was the only warning I had that he was about to drop them.

I looked away as I heard the rustle of stiff fabric and clicking of the zipper. "Damon, don't!"

"Stay here," he ordered.

Before I could think better of it, I looked around and grabbed his upper arm. I was careful not to look down, but to meet the annoyed stare of the vampire whose eyes were already darkening in anticipation. "Don't, Damon," I entreated again. "You don't have to. I'll drive you to the hospital myself. Help you get to the blood supply."

He stared at me as if I were mad. Considering his black and red eyes, it was a terrifying glare. "Elena. We've had this discussion. I can't feed from you, so I'm going to eat them," he flung a hand out, "instead."

I quivered, and my throat seized, but despite my suddenly chattering teeth, I managed to say, "Feed from me, then."

He paused, his dark eyes rounding in surprise. "You'd let me?"

I trembled but nodded.

His sights narrowed, face tilting down as his gaze flew over my body. He scoffed. "You care about a couple of strangers that much?"

"You won't kill me," I reasoned. Whether I was trying to convince myself or him, I wasn't sure.

His sights narrowed. "I won't? How can you be so certain of that?"

I couldn't admit to my knowledge of Katherine. "Because you like me. Enough to find out where we put the spare key to the front door and what my friend's names are. You wouldn't go to all that trouble just to murder me."

"You know, plenty of murderers go to that much trouble," he pointed out amiably.

I stared. "You care."

"I told you, I'm a vampire, Elena. I don't have any humanity."

"I don't believe that." I chewed my lip. "I think, somewhere deep down, you regret hurting people." His eyes narrowed. "And you want to go back to being human."

Damon stood still, the moonlight reflecting off his pale skin as if he were glowing. He stared with those monstrous eyes, veins pulsing beneath his eyelids, until they began to drain to his normal arctic gaze.

Relief so powerful I could have collapsed washed over me. I smiled, real and wide and unbelievably happy. Damon smiled back.

And I realized I'd made a terrible mistake.

His smile was a dead thing. His eyes empty of all emotion except fury. His cheeks pulled back so far it was almost as if he meant to snarl, instead. He ducked, grabbed his pants, and pulled them back up. By the time he had them fastened, the smile had fallen from my face.

His hadn't. It was like it was carved there.

He grabbed my arm. "Upsy daisy," he said, all faux-cheerfulness.

He nearly threw me as he swung me onto his back. I barely had time to wrap my arms and legs around him before he was leaping up the cliff. I couldn't watch him punching the rock with his fingers, instead I shut my eyes and did my best to endure the gravity-shifting speed at which he moved.

When we came to a stop, I heard voices off in the distance. The sharp and emotional words of two people fighting.

"I want you to know, you can thank Stefan for this."

"What?"

Damon grabbed my arm and dragged me with him. I had to step quickly to keep up. "I do love that Gilbert blood, and you did offer. But since I can't have yours, I'll have to take it from somewhere else."

I was confused as to what he meant, until we rounded a tree and—

Vicki and Jeremy.

Damon's hand was gone, along with the rest of him. Suddenly he was in front of Vicki. She only had time to widen her eyes in shock before, "You're thirsty. You're going back to the party for a drink."

"Hey, whatever. I'm out of here," she replied before turning around.

"What the hell?" Jeremy demanded. He put his hand on Damon's bare shoulder as Vicki continued walking away.

"Jeremy!" I shouted, terrified.

Damon whirled around. His eyes were black. His lips were drawn back, revealing all his teeth. His canines were pointed and glistened. His jaw opened so wide it looked as if it couldn't be attached to his skull.

"Damon! No!"

Jeremy shouted. Damon struck.

It was so fast and hard, it was as if Damon had tackled him. Jeremy fell back, Damon on top of him. They hit the ground. Something squelched and Jeremy screamed. Damon snarled.

I stared, horrified. Then I was moving. Skidding over rock and moss and leaves and dirt as Jeremy wriggled and shouted in pain. As the slurping continued.

At their side, I stood frozen for too long, trying to figure out what to do. I finally grabbed a handful of Damon's hair and tried wrenching him off. He ignored me. Blood was pooling on the ground. Some of it slid to the tip of Elena's shoe.

Jeremy had stopped screaming and was gazing up at the treetops with glazed eyes. I realized Damon intended to kill him.

"DAMON!"

I grabbed another fistful of hair and yanked. I ended up with handfuls of black hair, but Damon was still draining Jeremy. I yelled, kicked at his ribs. Jeremy's eyes slid shut.

And then Damon was flying away from him.

His side slammed into a distant tree, hard. He grunted as he landed on the ground.

And standing over Jeremy and in front of me was Stefan.

Damon, rubbing the back of his hand across his chin, smearing Jeremy's blood over his face, let out a mocking laugh. "Really, Stefan? This again?"

Stefan's jaw ticked. "I won't let you hurt her."

Damon snorted. "That's what you said last time." He grinned, showing off his pink-stained teeth. "Didn't stop me then, either."

"You've gotten what you wanted," Stefan said. "Leave."

"I don't know. He's still breathing."

I grabbed Jeremy and leaned over him.

"Is this helping, brother?" Stefan asked. "Does it make you feel less like a traitor to her memory?"

Damon grinned. "As if she compares."

"You're right. They're nothing alike."

The two stared silently as the leaves rustled overhead.

Damon grinned. "I can enter anytime. You can't protect them."

"Leave," Stefan demanded.

Damon shrugged, bare skin still gleaming in the dim light. He licked up the blood from the back of his hand and smirked at me. "See you soon, Elena."

And he was gone.

I collapsed to my knees, staring off into the darkness. Then turned to the boy on the ground. He was ashen, his neck smeared with blood where the skin had been torn into. I didn't know what to do. "Stefan!"

Stefan knelt beside me, frowning. "He's dying."

"Help him. Please, Stefan!"

Staring down at Jeremy, the blood vessels in his eyes pulsing, Stefan eventually shoved down his sleeve and bit into his wrist. "I don't know if there's enough time," he warned as he held the open wound over Jeremy's mouth and squeezed his forearm. Blood trickled from his wrist and dropped between Jeremy's lips.

Transfixed, I waited, everything in me a bundle of wrought nerves. I looked for the slightest sign that Jeremy was healing. Nothing happened.

I was about to ask Stefan to try feeding him more when the side of his neck began to meld back together. It merged completely, smooth and unblemished, as if the wound hadn't happened at all.

Jeremy opened his eyes, wide and terrified and darting to and fro as he gasped awake. He met my stare, and then Stefan's small smile, and lifted a hand to his neck. "What?" he asked as he brought his hand before his eyes, staring at the blood staining his skin.

Stefan frowned. Meeting my eyes before looking down at Jeremy. As soon as Jeremy locked eyes, searching for answers, Stefan's pupils contracted. "You had too much to drink. You fell down and hit your head. You weren't attacked."

"I wasn't attacked," Jeremy repeated slowly.

Stefan blinked and Jeremy looked woozily around before holding a hand to his head. He grimaced at me. "Think I drank too much."

"I'll take you home," I said, soft and gentle as I took a hand. Stefan took the other, and together we helped him up.

As soon as Jeremy was standing on his own two feet, Stefan looked to me. "We should talk."

"Yeah."

Stefan glanced at Jeremy before gazing back at me. He lowered his voice as Jeremy wandered towards the trail. "Tonight. Once everyone else is asleep. I'll be waiting outside your window."

The idea should have terrified me, but Stefan had just saved Jeremy's life. I nodded. "Okay."

Stefan nodded back. "I'll make sure you get to your car."

Together we followed the lights back towards the pavilions. Jeremy would occasionally stretch his neck and rub at his head. It was quiet except for the distant music and the rustle of leaves.

Except the closer we got, the bigger commotion we heard.

When we stepped out into the open, several eyes turned to me. "Hey, Elena! This some kind of prank?" a boy I didn't recognize asked as we strode near him.

"What?"

"Elena!"

I turned to see Caroline hurrying across the grounds, a frown on her face. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything."

"What's going on?" Jeremy asked.

Caroline huffed, holding out her phone. "Elena's gone nuts. She's texting a bunch of crazy stuff at everybody." Caroline scowled. "It's not funny."

"Caroline, Elena doesn't have her phone," Stefan said.

Caroline's brows flew up. "Then who's doing it?"

"What do they say?" Stefan asked.

Caroline turned her phone back. "A bunch of stuff. Like, a dozen nine-one-ones. A whole wall of text that's just help me over and over. And another that says imposter. And thief."

Stefan held out a hand. Caroline handed her phone over. I leaned over his arm as he began to scroll through all the texts. There were dozens, just as Caroline said.

"Whose gotten them?"

"Like, everybody," she said, waving an arm.

"I haven't," he said.

"Everybody in her contacts? I don't know," Caroline returned.

A cold chill had my body hair standing on end as Jeremy pulled out his phone. "Me too. Must have happened while I was out."

I looked around to find the whole party staring at me, a confused murmur of voices sweeping through the gathered teens like a spreading virus. Bonnie was back at the bonfire and met my stare with the same unsettled look on her face. Our eyes met.

All the lights blew in a flurry of popping bulbs, and darkness swallowed us.

[doomonfilm]

Reflection : Chasing Amy (1997)

Of all the highly quotable directors in existence, Kevin Smith is (and more than likely will always be) on of those champions.  His movies have a wit and rhythm to them not present in the films of many of his contemporaries.  After a pairing of films that had pretty much pigeon-holed Smith into the realm of college-level, immature humor, he surprised everyone with the extremely heartfelt and mature (in terms of the ViewAskewniverse) offering that is Chasing Amy. 

Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) are not only friends of twenty years, but co-creators of the wildly successful comic book Bluntman and Chronic.  After a signing appearance at a New York City comic book convention, the duo assist fellow comic artist Hooper X (Dwight Ewell) in a publicity stunt to help promote his comic, White Hating Coon, on a minority panel.  During the stunt, Holden meets Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), creator of the comic Idiosyncratic Routine, and is instantly smitten with her.  Holden attempts to kindle the flames he feels, only to be hit with the shocking revelation that Alyssa is a lesbian.  This news, however, does not dissuade his attempts, and after an awkward courting period and a flurry of emotional sharing, the two become a couple.  This move not only rocks Alyssa’s social world, it creates a rift between Banky and Holden that threatens to not only damage their success, but their friendship as well.  As Holden attempts to navigate his relationships with Alyssa and Banksy, news of Alyssa’s past comes to light that shocks him, further causing problems in his mind while bringing both relationships to an uncomfortable and unfortunate breaking point.

Kevin Smith’s first two movies, while entertaining, are mostly self-indulgent pieces of world-building, foundation-laying work for the ViewAskewniverse.  What makes Chasing Amy stand out from Clerks and Mallrats, however, is the attempt to integrate this world-building into broader cultural and social issues, such as toxic masculinity (well before there was a title to it) and the treatment of minorities in the broader society.  Smith manages to keep his faithful in the fray by continuing his practice of threading all of his stories together, directly referencing events and people from the previous two films and continuing to embrace the New Jersey aesthetic he was famously known for.  He even manages to bring Jay and Silent Bob into the mix for more than a gratuitous cameo, not only tying their antics into the narrative directly, but seeding their actions for what would eventually become Dogma very subtly. 

The maturity that Smith showed in his attempt at a love story was, at the time, quite admirable, as he self-admittedly embraced ‘dick and fart jokes’ up to that point.  Choosing to give his ‘protagonist’ (which we will return to later) such a seemingly impossible hurdle to overcome was fresh for the romantic-comedy genre, which gave his film a unique energy.  The smart choice to not allow Holden to have his cake and eat it too amplifies the heartbreak that all parties involved in the main narrative feel in the fallout of the choices made by Holden.  Alyssa threatens to be one-note quite often throughout the movie, but when allowed the space to navigate emotionally, Joey Lauren Adams manages to bring depth to the character, refusing to allow her to become either the femme fatale or an apologist for her past actions and choices.  Allowing her to also be a peer to Holden and Banky (though not as successful a peer) also gives Alyssa equal footing as a character, rather than making the pursuit further blurred by adding a fan/creator element to it.  

While some would argue that the film ‘has not aged well’ based on it’s use of homophobic slurs and it’s flippant approach to homosexuality, I’d argue that it has more impact than ever as the years go by.  As society has grown to validate the behavior of men behaving badly, it’s actually refreshing to see a character like Holden in a film of this nature.  As a young man, I did not realize it, but despite his placement as the protagonist of the film, very little of him is admirable in terms of character.  He eschews all hints and warnings, choosing instead to continue in a series of self-validating ‘escapades’ to prove some skewed sense of self-worth, only to eventually break at the inevitable facing of Alyssa’s past.  When that bridge is reached, rather than cross it with Alyssa, he chooses instead to go it alone, burning it in his wake with the torch of judgement and creating a divide that he and Alyssa can not recover from.  To further make things worse, when faced with the task of the ‘revelation’ of his actions, he makes all of the wrong choices, continuing to ultimately worry about himself and his personal validation, killing his relationship, friendship and working arrangement in one fell swoop. 

Kevin Smith is clearly using Ben Affleck to channel very personal thoughts and opinions, but with that taken in mind, Affleck still manages to bring moments of charm to the surface to balance against his cringiest character choices.  Joey Lauren Adams gives a performance bigger than the typecasting that tended to come with her mousey voice (up to that point), providing a couple of powerhouse monologues that up the dramatic ante of the film.  Jason Lee gave a breakthrough performance, proving to be more than just comedic talent in his continuing transition from pro skateboarder to legitimate actor.  Dwight Ewell was the pleasant surprise of the film, managing to straddle the fence of being the most militant character (though in a faux sense) while also being the most stereotypical presentation of homosexuality in the film.  Jason Mewes and Smith give the first true curveball performance in their canon of being Jay and Silent Bob, with Mewes bringing more nuance than usual to his performance, while Smith shines in his largest on-film monologue up to that point.  Cameos by Ethan Suplee, Scott Mosier, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon and Brian O’Halloran also provide memorable moments.

While not the most ambitious or mature film of the Kevin Smith catalog (we’d have to wait until Red State for that one), Chasing Amy is a huge step in the direction of growth and validation in terms of film-making.  Thankfully, Smith chose to make films like these an occasional treat, allowing continued low-brow humor to balance out his loftier affairs.  It’s hard to argue that if not for Chasing Amy, Smith would not have grown into the popular film-maker that he is today.

[immuto]

❝I’m too sober for this shit.❞ (for Damon)

‘Now then, that sounds like a personal problem to me.’ A smirk follows his words and Damon downs another drink, relishing in the pleasant burn that slides down his throat as he casts a look at the other across the table from him. ‘There’s plenty of libations to go around. ‘s not my fault you’re just sitting there like a lump on a log.’

↳ @stcrmbreakr : drinking starters

[justfangstvdto]

Open Coffin | Chapter 12:  “Where do we go from here?”

Pairing: Kol x SalvatoreSister!Reader

Chapter Summary: Y/N and her brothers, still in the Lion's den, have to deal with secrets that will be uncovered by none other the master puppeteer himself; Klaus. But behind the Puppeteer´s back, a plan has been formed that will change the course of action.

Warnings: angst, drama, horrible time management, typical violence, plot divergence (as always)

Word count: 3346

Tags & Author Note at the bottom. Feedback is welcomed and appreciated.

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Previously on Open Coffin: 

“Stefan. Where is the lovely Elena tonight?” Elijah asks, changing the subject to something more pleasant.

Or so he thinks.

“I don't know. Ask Damon.”

Klaus laughs out loud, while Elijah seems to be startled by Stefans reaction “I'm sorry, you've missed so much.” He says “ Ah, trouble in paradise.”

“One more word about Elena and this dinner's over.” Stefan flashes Klaus a false smile, his eyes dead serious.

Klaus smiles and puts a finger to his lips as a promise to keep quiet about Elena.

“You know what, probably best just to keep Elena in the do-not-discuss pile.” Damon

“You're probably right.” Klaus agrees “It's just the allure of the Petrova doppelgänger, still so strong. What do you say, brother? Should we tell them about Tatia?”

“Now why should we discuss matters long since resolved?”

“I don't see the point either.” You shrug “You fell in love with Tatia like you two fell for Katherine. And Elena.”

“Well there are other stories to tell, Y/N.”He says and stares at you, torturing you with his eyes “For example, there is your undying love for my brother Kol.”

“What?!”Damon chokes on the wine he was drinking, glaring at you from across the table.

That bastard.

The room falls completely silent. Merely the fireplace crackling in the background deflects from the fact that everyone is staring at you. Only Stefan looks at the ceiling, rolling his eyes at Klaus awful timing.

Speaking of Klaus, he, of course, smiles like a Cheshire cat.

“Oh, you were unaware of your sisters love affairs?” He says fakely offended by his indiscretion “How rude of me.”

“Niklaus, this is not the time to-” Elijah begins, the Peacekeeper in him in full swing, but Damon interrupts him

“No no do tell. We´re curious, right Stefan?”

“Not really, no.” Stefan shakes his head “I know all I need to.”

“You knew?!”

“Leaving the oldest brother in the dark. What a turn of events.” Klaus puppeteers yet again.

You bite the inside of your cheek to avoid saying anything about Klaus unnecessary commentary.  

Damon once again proves that he doesn't trust you still. Not even when it comes to love.

“Are you gonna say anything or are just gonna sit there?”

“What do you want me to say? I won't apologize for falling in love. “

“Love? You can't actually think you one, know what love is and second, think that he, a Mikaelson is capable of anything remotely close to love.” He blurts out suddenly unaware of his environment. He looks at both Mikaelson brothers and raises his hands in defense “No offense.”

“And you would know that how? Right, you don´t. You haven't known me for centuries.” You glare at him, your fury rising to an already unhealthy level “Besides, I don't see why you should be allowed to judge me anyway, considering your past. Or present.”

“That has nothing to do with-”

You plunge the knife you had been clutching into the expensive table, the pinch damaging several inches  “It has everything to do with that!”

“Finally!” Klaus claps as if to congratulate himself “I feared you’ve lost your fire.”

“I'm so fucking sick of your double standard.” Damon swallows, quite a bit baffled by your sudden offense “Need I remind you,  you are in the same exact situation with yet another doppelganger claiming to be so in love you’re willing to sacrifice your relationship with your own brother. Do I like any of that? No. Do I judge you because of it? Actually yes, but I would never tell you what to do. So, don´t you dare judge me or the only good thing that has ever happened in my life. Don´t you dare.”

The room falls silent yet again, only the breathy laugh of Klaus on the opposite side of the table. He, of course, seems to enjoy this quarrel, especially because for once it's not him and his sibling's bickering.

Must be refreshing indeed.

“Now now, we don't intend to judge anybody, now do we? Your brother, as well as I, are merely curious about how you came to know of my brother's whereabouts in the first place.” Klaus asks, more satisfying his curiosity than Damons “Somebody must've sent you. I would´ve known if a Salvatore lived in New Orleans.”

“Do you really want to know who send me? I don't think you'd be happy with the answer.” You say and Klaus narrows his eyes, trying to gather any information as to who you're referring to.

“You were sent? Like a spy?” Stefan asks, now curious despite his previous statement.

“You could say that.” You nod“ It was in 1913. I was ordered to gather information about the Original family. So I did. When I learned of Kols history I discharged my mission and we joined forces.”

“Why would you do that?”

There it is. The moment at the crossroads. You could either go down the same path you´ve been trodding on since you returned to this dreadful town. It's the path lead by the fear of losing your brothers again, so you kept secrets hidden behind lock and key or you sugar coated them to lessen the blow.

Then there's the unknown, foggy path, where every secret and bottled feeling lies out in the open. The road might be lonely, but if there is one feeling you´re used to it is loneliness.

Screw it. Nothing left to lose anyway.

Secret´s out. Better to abandon the path the led to nowhere.

“Because he was abandoned by his family like I was. The odd ones out that nobody seemed to care about.”

Stefan looks on his plate as does Elijah, a rush of guilt rushing over both of them. Stefan seems to feel responsible for sending you away after he figured out that you were the one that told your father about Katherine. And Elijah, well, he stood by while Klaus daggered his siblings and did nothing. Of course, he feels guilty. He should.

Klaus and Damon, on the other hand, don’t seem to be too faced by all of it. Their masks of anger and wit still glued to their faces.

“And somewhere along the line, we fell in love. Until he decided to take him away,” You reminisce, pointing at Klaus,“ simply because we planned on doing the same to him he did to all of his siblings.” You look at Klaus, his face unchanged, almost bored by the telling of your story. “And you saw it as a betrayal, didn't you? As if you never betrayed your family before.”

“And despite all your joined ambition look where you are now. Kol is safely tucked away, as is the key ingredient of the weapon that has the same effect as a common dagger. You´ve dealt your cards, now haven't you?”

He's right. You have dealt your cards and you don´t have an ace in the hold.

“So, that's why you waltzed back into town, isn't it? To find Kol?” Damon asks, eerily similar to Stefan only mere days ago.

“No, Kol not the only reason. I came back to help Stefan. And maybe even for you. Not that you care of course.”

“Now now, Y/N, don't forget the best part about your arrival. Or should I say Elijah´s arrival?

“Niklaus.” Elijah shakes his head, warning his little brother to stop treading on the path of alienating you and your siblings.

But Klaus being Klaus he decides to make things worse instead. “Tell me, who falsely lured my dear brother to Mystic Falls with the promising news of yet another Petrova doppelganger, hoping it be me who comes running?”

Stefan snickers at Klaus words and shakes his head in disbelief.

“Something funny?” Klaus asks, not quite understanding the reason for Stefan's amusement.

“Yes. You.” Stefan looks at him  “She wouldn't do that, you're lying.”

“Such faith in your sister. It´s ill-placed I'm afraid.” Klaus sighs and looks over to you “ Isn't that right Y/N?”

Stefan glances over, his eyes fixated on you once he sees the guilt written over your face “Tell me he's lying.”

“I can´t. It's true.” Your voice is shaking with the heartbeat that seems to be stuck in your throat.

Stefan blinks once before he lowers his head, the truth sinking into his bones. You are responsible for Elijah finding Elena. You're responsible for Klaus coming back here and breaking his curse. And you are responsible for everything that has happened after.

How could is own sister, that he loves, be the cause of his misery that has befallen him?

“Say something, please.” You plead, burning tears of frustration and hurt threatening to fall from your eyes “Fine. We're right back where we started, aren't we? After everything I did for you.”

“You mean what you have done for yourself,” Damon speaks out what presumably everyone in this room is thinking.

“Nothing I did was intended to hurt you or Stefan, but believe whatever you need to believe. I know that my intentions coming back here were true. Not entirely unselfish, but true. If you can't see that, so be it.”

Klaus opens his mouth to pour another tinge of salt in open wounds, but Elijah stops him from doing so.

“That's enough.” he says “Why don't we move this evening along and discuss the terms of this proposal, rather than relive memories that have no place at this table?”

“You know what, you go right ahead. I'm done.“ You throw the handkerchief over the plate and get up “Congratulations, Klaus. You win. You burned me out. I give up.” You look at Stefan who refuses to even meet your gaze.

You don't even have to look at Damon to know what he shares his brother's fury.

Tears roll down your cheeks as you turn around, not looking back once. Slamming the door behind you, tears now freely running down your face blurring your sight.

You showed them the side you´ve been hiding. The rotten part of yourself. All the lies, loneliness and secrets were put out in the open. All the feelings of despair and loneliness.

You spoke the truth and you were judged for it. Worse, you´re ended up right where you started. Yet another set of memories that will soon crumble, be immortalized and buried six feet under.

What´s left to do then leave and never look back?

Exactly, nothing.

Meanwhile at the Mikaelson Manor

“Let´s get to the deal then. ” Damon says and leans forward, his elbows resting on the table “Klaus gets his coffin back, in exchange, he and the Original extended family leave Mystic Falls forever.”

“The deal sounds fair, brother.” Elijah shrugs.

“I don't think you understand. Elena's doppelgänger blood ensures that I will always have more hybrids to fight those that oppose me. I will never leave her behind.Nor will I leave my family.” Klaus shakes his head and gets up to pace the room “Let's say I do leave her here, under your protection, what then? How long before one of you turns her into a vampire? Or worse, how long before she dies caught between your feuding?” Damon looks at Stefan at Klaus words, but Stefan keeps his head down, still digesting the secrets that have been laid before him. “You see, each one of you truly believes that you're the one that can protect her, and that is simply a delusion. Gentlemen, the worst thing for Elena Gilbert is...the two of you.”

Damon gives Klaus a weak smile “I'm gonna get some air.”

“Let me deal with this.” Elijah springs up from his seat and follows Damon outside.

“Well, I guess the only reason you agreed to this evening, Klaus, is to drive a wedge between us,” Stefan says, as he paces the room. He can´t seem to sit still anymore.

“Oh no, you're doing that well enough on your own.” Klaus laughs, obviously still very amused by the chaos he caused.

Klaus and Stefan turn their heads as Elijah and Damon reenter.

“Elijah...is there a problem?” Klaus asked wearily, already sensing that something appears to be wrong

“Where are your manners, brother? We forgot dessert.” Elijah takes the cover off the tray one of the servants bring in.

Two silver daggers lie on it.

Klaus looks at the tray and his eyes widen “What have you done?”

“What have you done? You see, I've learned not to trust your vulgar promises, Klaus. And after your despicable act tonight I decided to abandon my tactic. We're doing this on my terms now.”

Right on cue, Kol enters the room, eyes burning at the sight of his bastard brother.

“Kol.” Klaus says, fear written over his features. Kol is the sibling he fears the most, especially now that he just severed the ties with you and your brother. Kol will be furious once he finds out.

And if Klaus and Kol share one aspect of their personality, it´s rage.

“Long time, brother.” Kol walks towards him and Klaus backs away.

The oldest brother Finn, now undaggered as well suddenly appears and grabs a dagger and stabs Klaus through the hand “Finn, don't!” Klaus rushes away, bumping into his sister.

“This is for our mother.” Rebekah stabs Klaus in the heart with the remaining dagger: She pulls it out the dagger out and Klaus falls back into Kol's arms and he restrains him.

Elijah looks at Damon and Stefan switching before his eyes land on Kol. Should he tell his little brother to go with them to find Y/N? Or would Kol feel even more excluded as he already does if he sends him away?

“Stefan, Damon, you're free to go.” Elijah says and gives them a nod “This is family business.”

“Salvatore?” Kol pushes Klaus over to Finn, the thirst for revenge overshadowed by the longing he feels for you.“Was your sister with you´?

“She left.” Damon answers shortly. He is still bitter about the secret you´ve been hiding. Right now, he couldn't care less where you are.

“Take me to her,” Kol demands.

Stefan and Damon share a quick look, having one of their silent conversations. They both know that if Kol is anything like his siblings, he won't take no for an answer.

Besides, Stefan can't help but think how you are dealing with this situation.

Even after everything you´ve done to get here, he knows that sometimes drastic measures like luring the Mikaelsons to Mystic falls and every chaos that has unfolded is necessary. If it was in this case, he has yet to figure out.

“Fine.” Stefan agrees to Kol´s demand “Let's start at home.”

Kol glances out the slightly dirty passenger window, outlandish looking cars fly by, accompanied by strangely dressed people either talking or looking at a handheld device.

It's safe to say he's confused by the sudden time leap.  He feels even more like an outsider in this day in age, than he used to.

“So you´re-” Damon begins to talk, attempting to form some sort of non-awkward road conversation.

“I'm in no mood to talk. Especially not to you.” Kol blows him off. After everything you've told him about your family quarrels, Kol doesn't have the slightest desire to talk to Damon.

“Nevermind, I do have one simple question.” Kol shifts in his seat to catch a glimpse of Stefan in the backseat “Who do I have to torture to find out who scared  Y/N away?”

“Who do you think?” Stefan scoffs, the answer obvious to him.

“Nik, of course.” Kol looks out the window, hands clenched and lip twitching.“Let me guess, you played his hand, didn't you?“

“It's her own fault. She could've told us the truth.” Damon says, the bitterness and fury hearable.

“Because you handle the truth exceptionally well the last time.” Kol scoffs and shakes his head.

Your brothers remind him so much of his own siblings. He too is always the first to blame or the one that´s judged the harshest, even if his own siblings committed as awful of atrocities.

Sometimes even worse ones.

Y/N | Boarding House

You´ve been crying all the way to the Boarding House. Calling it home now, would not be appropriate. At least not anymore.

Your brothers searched for the first indicator to push you away again. And Klaus served it on a silver platter.If they want to get rid of you so badly, so be it. You'll cross the town borders in the next minutes without looking back.  

A new adventure awaits.

Another road redefined.

You swing the heavy bag containing your belongings over your shoulders, as you turn to get a last look at your room that has never quite felt like home. You close the door behind you, as well as the metaphorical door of this failed attempt to reconcile with your brothers.

Alone, like you´ve been used to for the last 100 years.

Maybe it's better this way. Wherever you to set foot in chaos soon seems to follow. They´re better off without you.

You open the front door, stepping outside under the darkening sky, your heart both heavy for leaving, especially the way you do, but the tiniest part of you feels freer.

Finally, they know what you´ve been hiding for a long time. Not everything still, but the most important parts.

You take a deep breath before turning to close the door behind you. The wind seems to pick up once you do, a swift breeze running down your back. Before the door fully closes, a firm hand wraps around your neck, squeezing tightly before pulling you into the darkness with a swift break.  Your bag falls on the floor, as does your phone as your attacker drags you away at rapid speed.

Not a minute later, Damon speeds down the driveway and Kol jumps out while it's still moving, impatient to see you again. He has the brightest smile on his lips and he knows once he can wrap his arms around you, every pain he endured will be washed away.

He´ll know he´ll be whole again.

His smile quickly falters as he stops at the door that's still ajar, the bag on the floor catching his attention. He looks around him in panic, searching for any indication of you. When he can´t find one he kicks the door open in rage and worry, speeding through the entire house searching room for room, but nothing.

Kol balls his fist and returns outside, grabbing Damon by the neck holding him firmly a few feet above the ground.

If this would be any other vampire than your brother, he would go straight for the heart. But he knows no matter how much your brothers hurt you, you would never let anyone hurt them as long as if there's no way around it.

“Where. Is. She?” Kol grits through his teeth, voice dangerously calm and sharp.

“Knock it off! We don´t know where she is.” Stefan intervenes, but Kol doesn´t budge.

Stefan then switches from defense to offense and speeds towards him. Kol doesn't even have to look behind him to anticipate the attack and grabs Stefan as well.

“If you would´ve stood by her for once in your pathetic lives, she would be here. Now you will help me find her. And we will find her, do you understand?” They nod, face already red from the loss of oxygen.

“Very good.” Kol releases them and they heave for air, coughing their way back to normal breathing “Let's get started then, shall we?”

A/N: Guys, before I start, please put the pitchforks down!!! I know letting them miss each other by just a moment this is cruel, very cruel in fact. But how boring would´ve been if I just went with the normal plot line. I mean, I am a sucker for that overdramatic running into each other's arms thing, but the angst won once again.

Also, what do you think about the secret(is) revealed? Do you think Stefan and Damon overreacted? I know where I stand, where do you´? ;)

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