[fic] Gravity Hurts (9/9)
Title: Gravity Hurts (9/9)
Author: badboy_fangirl
Characters/Pairings: Alaric POV; Jeremy + Damon (+ Alaric); Damon/Elena, Stefan/Elena, Jeremy/Bonnie; with appearances by everyone for this part.
Word Count: ~1800
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Spoilers: Everything through S3.
Summary: A bromance for the ages.
Author's notes: This fic is derived from this thread of discussion with shipperjunkie.
Previous Chapters: [1] | [2] | [3] | [4] | [5] | [6] | [7] | [8]
Add'l A/N: It's always hard to come to the end of a story, but I put this one off even longer because it was such a fun surprise. I never expected what it became, but it's been one of my most favorites to date of anything I've written. Many thanks to Katie for the spark of the idea and for her encouragement along the way. And to everyone else who enjoyed the bromance, and the romance, I hope this is a satisfactory ending! I had all these plans of Jeremy's big apology for Bonnie and everything, but it just felt right to end it here. [Consider it a deleted scene: just know that Damon helps with an elaborate romantic set-up in the woods behind the Boarding House, and Jeremy sweeps Bonnie off her feet!] xoxo
Jeremy's phone beeps and both he and Alaric look over at it curiously. Sitting at the kitchen table, it's almost like old times except that Alaric can't eat anything, of course. But they're sitting there chatting about nothing like it's perfectly normal.
Because that's what they do. They roll with it. They've all learned to deal with the oddness of their lives as best they can. He hates to think of it, but Ric's sure that once Bonnie binds Klaus into his own body, and Elena's on the safe road to coping, he'll be unable to make contact like this.
The thought is deeply saddening, so he tries not to dwell on it.
Jeremy's eyes widen as he looks at his phone, and the incoming text message. "Damon says they're gonna stay at the Boarding House, just for tonight." He looks up at Alaric. "Should I go over there? Show Elena I'm okay?"
Ric shakes his head, a suspicion growing very steadily within him. "Damon will have told her you're fine. Let's just give them...some time alone."
Jeremy's smile is almost a leer. "You're not gonna pop in over there tonight, are you?"
"No," Ric agrees quietly. "Definitely not."
There's a beat of silence, and Jeremy's grin fades. "Poor Stefan," he says, his voice sympathetic, his eyes soft. "I mean, I'm never gonna forgive him for letting her die, but still. Poor him."
Ric watches as Jeremy wolfs down more chicken and potatoes and as the young man is chewing, he advises, "You should forgive him, Jer. It doesn't do you any good to hold on to it. And even if Stefan's not Elena's boyfriend, he'll always be Damon's brother. The Salvatores will always be in your life, one way or another."
"Damon's pissed at him, too, so don't be too sure about that," Jeremy says, mouth full.
Ric inclines his head. "He's his brother, Jeremy. His eternal, never-gonna-die brother. He won't be mad at him forever."
Jeremy swallows. "Well, and how mad can he be if he gets the girl, right?" He chuckles, and then his eyes go wide. "Oh, wait, so now, Stefan will hate Damon! Shit. It's a never ending cycle."
Ric nods. "Now you're starting to get it."
The next morning, Ric blinks himself into the Boarding House, but he imagines the kitchen until it materializes around him. As it turns out, that's the right place, because Damon and Elena are standing near each other as Damon pours them cups of coffee.
"...text said he'll be home in a few. He was at Caroline's. Maybe they were dealing with Klausler," Damon says, setting his phone down on the counter as he hands Elena one of the cups.
She sips carefully, and turns around to lean her hips against the cabinet. Her eyes dart around, almost as if she senses a third party, but then she says, "I just don't want him to walk in and know, you know? Like just look at me and know I had sex with you."
"Six times," Damon says with a grin. "You had sex with me six times." He reaches over with his free hand and chucks her under the chin. "This is a reason to be grateful you're a vampire, Elena. If you were human, you wouldn't be able to walk today."
Ric mutters, "Gross," under his breath just as Elena makes a sound of disgust and says, "You're terrible," but she sounds rather affectionate, and Ric can't quite wrap his head around it.
He always knew it, deep down, but still. Seeing Elena Gilbert's love for Damon Salvatore? That's something new. He doesn't know if Stefan will be able to smell the sex on her as much as he'll be able to see the adoration on her face as she looks at Damon. Of course, the adoration from Damon towards Elena only seems intensified, and when she looks away from him the subtlety fades completely from his expression. Open worship is all he can think as he watches Damon watch her walk across the kitchen to sit on a barstool at the island.
"Just, let me talk okay? When he gets here, don't be snarky and assy, please?" Elena asks, setting her cup down.
"I won't," Damon says quietly. "I already promised Caroline. If this happened, I couldn't rub it in Stefan's face. Of course, I didn't really think it would happen, and sure as hell not this fast, but, you know, lucky for you, I'm adaptable."
Elena watches him with a puzzled expression. "You promised Caroline you wouldn't rub it in Stefan's face?"
Damon shrugs like it's no big deal. "She got me in a weak moment."
"A weak moment. Yeah. Okay," Elena says, still clearly shocked.
They both fall silent as the front door opens and Stefan calls his brother's name. Damon waits a beat and then calls back, "We're in the kitchen."
Stefan enters the room a moment later and his eyes fall on Elena first. He gives her a soft smile. "Everything okay?" he asks.
Elena nods. "Yes, yes, I'm fine."
Damon smirks, but no one's looking at him but Ric, so it goes unnoticed. "What's up with Blondie?" he asks, and Stefan turns toward him.
"We were at Bonnie's, protecting her from Klaus. She's almost ready to do the spell. Jeremy's coming over this afternoon and they're going to try connecting with Sheila again. If we're lucky, it will all be over today."
Damon snorts. "When have we ever been lucky?" he snarks.
"Damon..." Elena says, her voice soft. He looks at her, almost as if he forgot what was about to go down here. His expression transforms into something sort of enthralling.
Guy is so whipped, Ric mutters, and then chuckles to himself. Damon would die to know he thought that, but what else can he say. It's crazy obvious to him, even if he hadn't overhead them talking about their marathon of sex.
"I'll leave you two alone," he says, giving Elena a meaningful stare. He takes his coffee cup and heads for the living room.
Ric stays for a moment, his eyes on Elena's face as she says, "Stefan...I need to be honest with you..." but then he just can't watch it. It's not because of any deep affection he feels for Damon's brother. It's just the fact that when your heart gets ripped out, there probably shouldn't be an audience, even one you don't know about.
He goes with Jeremy to Bonnie's later that day, and Damon and Elena arrive without Stefan. He wants to ask, through Jeremy, what's up, but it's not really the time. Caroline is still there, having waylaid Klaus long enough that he believes Bonnie's about to do the spell that will put him back in his body.
"I just texted him," Caroline says. "I'm sure he'll be right over." She shudders a bit. "But he's bringing his body with him. So." She nods her head. "This has to work, right, Bonnie?"
"It'll work," Jeremy says, and Ric and Sheila exchange looks.
"Will it?" Ric asks her.
"I think so," she says, but she doesn't sound as positive as he would like.
When Klaus-in-Tyler's body arrives, he snarks at everyone as the casket with his not-quite-burned-beyond-recognition body is unloaded in the backyard. Alaric finds it funny that he never noticed the similarities between his best friend and this douchebag who killed Jenna until he was in Tyler Lockwood's body. Klaus agrees to kneel before Bonnie so she can put her hands on his head to perform the spell. He thinks she's just putting him back into his body, but it's both that and a dessication spell all at once. Jeremy has, of course, volunteered yet again to be the human heart that gets stopped, and when Sheila grabs a hold of him to transfer her power to Bonnie, she also reaches for Ric's hand.
"How can I help?" he asks. "I don't have any power."
"It's all energy on this side, History Teacher," Sheila says, wagging her fingers at him until he puts his hand in hers. Immediately he feels an electric current, something going through the essence of him that reminds him what it was like to be alive, with sensation constantly part of his existence.
Bonnie starts chanting, as does Sheila and it's all over within ten minutes. Tyler collapses, Jeremy wakes up, and Ric tells him to calm a sobbing Caroline with the news that Tyler will wake up soon, just as good as new.
A half hour later, after Tyler's awake and talking, Damon and Jeremy load Klaus's casket into Jenna's old car. There are hugs all around and then Elena says that she and Damon are going to take Klaus's body to an undisclosed location.
"Wait," Ric says, and Jeremy stops, looking back at him. "Ask them not to leave just yet," he says, which Jeremy repeats. Everyone circles back to stand on the sidewalk in front of Bonnie's house. Ric turns to Sheila. "Can we try something?" he asks.
She gives him a little smile. "I think I know what you want," she says. "And the spirits are inclined to help, since Klaus can't wreak any more havoc." She grabs Jeremy by the hand. "Take Bonnie's hand again," she says.
"Ric and your Grams are trying something," Jeremy says, turning towards Bonnie. "She wants us to hold hands again."
Bonnie's fingers lace through Jeremy's and then Sheila grasps Ric's hand with her free one. "Can you see him?" she asks of her granddaughter.
"Hi, Alaric," Bonnie says with just a touch of a sob in her throat.
"Hey, Bonnie," he says, smiling.
She turns her head towards Damon and Elena. "Take my hand," she says, reaching out.
Elena steps forward, and then Damon, both of them wrapping their hands around Bonnie's. Her tear-filled eyes direct them across the circle, and Elena gasps, "Ric!" when she sees him.
Damon's eyes meet Ric's, and there is a moment of complete, utter silence. His eyes glisten, and then he nods his head almost imperceptibly. Ric finds he has no words now either, even though there are a million things he ought to say to all of them.
"Time is short," Sheila warns.
Ric looks at each of them, individually. "I love you," he says. "I love you all."
Everyone's crying, both living, dead, and undead, but Ric manages a smile through his tears. "Goodbye," he says, because that's the other thing he never got to say. "I'll see you again. Someday, when you're ready."
And with that, he closes his eyes one last time.
Author: badboy_fangirl
Characters/Pairings: Alaric POV; Jeremy + Damon (+ Alaric); Damon/Elena, Stefan/Elena, Jeremy/Bonnie; with appearances by everyone for this part.
Word Count: ~1800
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Spoilers: Everything through S3.
Summary: A bromance for the ages.
Author's notes: This fic is derived from this thread of discussion with shipperjunkie.
Previous Chapters: [1] | [2] | [3] | [4] | [5] | [6] | [7] | [8]
Add'l A/N: It's always hard to come to the end of a story, but I put this one off even longer because it was such a fun surprise. I never expected what it became, but it's been one of my most favorites to date of anything I've written. Many thanks to Katie for the spark of the idea and for her encouragement along the way. And to everyone else who enjoyed the bromance, and the romance, I hope this is a satisfactory ending! I had all these plans of Jeremy's big apology for Bonnie and everything, but it just felt right to end it here. [Consider it a deleted scene: just know that Damon helps with an elaborate romantic set-up in the woods behind the Boarding House, and Jeremy sweeps Bonnie off her feet!] xoxo
Jeremy's phone beeps and both he and Alaric look over at it curiously. Sitting at the kitchen table, it's almost like old times except that Alaric can't eat anything, of course. But they're sitting there chatting about nothing like it's perfectly normal.
Because that's what they do. They roll with it. They've all learned to deal with the oddness of their lives as best they can. He hates to think of it, but Ric's sure that once Bonnie binds Klaus into his own body, and Elena's on the safe road to coping, he'll be unable to make contact like this.
The thought is deeply saddening, so he tries not to dwell on it.
Jeremy's eyes widen as he looks at his phone, and the incoming text message. "Damon says they're gonna stay at the Boarding House, just for tonight." He looks up at Alaric. "Should I go over there? Show Elena I'm okay?"
Ric shakes his head, a suspicion growing very steadily within him. "Damon will have told her you're fine. Let's just give them...some time alone."
Jeremy's smile is almost a leer. "You're not gonna pop in over there tonight, are you?"
"No," Ric agrees quietly. "Definitely not."
There's a beat of silence, and Jeremy's grin fades. "Poor Stefan," he says, his voice sympathetic, his eyes soft. "I mean, I'm never gonna forgive him for letting her die, but still. Poor him."
Ric watches as Jeremy wolfs down more chicken and potatoes and as the young man is chewing, he advises, "You should forgive him, Jer. It doesn't do you any good to hold on to it. And even if Stefan's not Elena's boyfriend, he'll always be Damon's brother. The Salvatores will always be in your life, one way or another."
"Damon's pissed at him, too, so don't be too sure about that," Jeremy says, mouth full.
Ric inclines his head. "He's his brother, Jeremy. His eternal, never-gonna-die brother. He won't be mad at him forever."
Jeremy swallows. "Well, and how mad can he be if he gets the girl, right?" He chuckles, and then his eyes go wide. "Oh, wait, so now, Stefan will hate Damon! Shit. It's a never ending cycle."
Ric nods. "Now you're starting to get it."
The next morning, Ric blinks himself into the Boarding House, but he imagines the kitchen until it materializes around him. As it turns out, that's the right place, because Damon and Elena are standing near each other as Damon pours them cups of coffee.
"...text said he'll be home in a few. He was at Caroline's. Maybe they were dealing with Klausler," Damon says, setting his phone down on the counter as he hands Elena one of the cups.
She sips carefully, and turns around to lean her hips against the cabinet. Her eyes dart around, almost as if she senses a third party, but then she says, "I just don't want him to walk in and know, you know? Like just look at me and know I had sex with you."
"Six times," Damon says with a grin. "You had sex with me six times." He reaches over with his free hand and chucks her under the chin. "This is a reason to be grateful you're a vampire, Elena. If you were human, you wouldn't be able to walk today."
Ric mutters, "Gross," under his breath just as Elena makes a sound of disgust and says, "You're terrible," but she sounds rather affectionate, and Ric can't quite wrap his head around it.
He always knew it, deep down, but still. Seeing Elena Gilbert's love for Damon Salvatore? That's something new. He doesn't know if Stefan will be able to smell the sex on her as much as he'll be able to see the adoration on her face as she looks at Damon. Of course, the adoration from Damon towards Elena only seems intensified, and when she looks away from him the subtlety fades completely from his expression. Open worship is all he can think as he watches Damon watch her walk across the kitchen to sit on a barstool at the island.
"Just, let me talk okay? When he gets here, don't be snarky and assy, please?" Elena asks, setting her cup down.
"I won't," Damon says quietly. "I already promised Caroline. If this happened, I couldn't rub it in Stefan's face. Of course, I didn't really think it would happen, and sure as hell not this fast, but, you know, lucky for you, I'm adaptable."
Elena watches him with a puzzled expression. "You promised Caroline you wouldn't rub it in Stefan's face?"
Damon shrugs like it's no big deal. "She got me in a weak moment."
"A weak moment. Yeah. Okay," Elena says, still clearly shocked.
They both fall silent as the front door opens and Stefan calls his brother's name. Damon waits a beat and then calls back, "We're in the kitchen."
Stefan enters the room a moment later and his eyes fall on Elena first. He gives her a soft smile. "Everything okay?" he asks.
Elena nods. "Yes, yes, I'm fine."
Damon smirks, but no one's looking at him but Ric, so it goes unnoticed. "What's up with Blondie?" he asks, and Stefan turns toward him.
"We were at Bonnie's, protecting her from Klaus. She's almost ready to do the spell. Jeremy's coming over this afternoon and they're going to try connecting with Sheila again. If we're lucky, it will all be over today."
Damon snorts. "When have we ever been lucky?" he snarks.
"Damon..." Elena says, her voice soft. He looks at her, almost as if he forgot what was about to go down here. His expression transforms into something sort of enthralling.
Guy is so whipped, Ric mutters, and then chuckles to himself. Damon would die to know he thought that, but what else can he say. It's crazy obvious to him, even if he hadn't overhead them talking about their marathon of sex.
"I'll leave you two alone," he says, giving Elena a meaningful stare. He takes his coffee cup and heads for the living room.
Ric stays for a moment, his eyes on Elena's face as she says, "Stefan...I need to be honest with you..." but then he just can't watch it. It's not because of any deep affection he feels for Damon's brother. It's just the fact that when your heart gets ripped out, there probably shouldn't be an audience, even one you don't know about.
He goes with Jeremy to Bonnie's later that day, and Damon and Elena arrive without Stefan. He wants to ask, through Jeremy, what's up, but it's not really the time. Caroline is still there, having waylaid Klaus long enough that he believes Bonnie's about to do the spell that will put him back in his body.
"I just texted him," Caroline says. "I'm sure he'll be right over." She shudders a bit. "But he's bringing his body with him. So." She nods her head. "This has to work, right, Bonnie?"
"It'll work," Jeremy says, and Ric and Sheila exchange looks.
"Will it?" Ric asks her.
"I think so," she says, but she doesn't sound as positive as he would like.
When Klaus-in-Tyler's body arrives, he snarks at everyone as the casket with his not-quite-burned-beyond-recognition body is unloaded in the backyard. Alaric finds it funny that he never noticed the similarities between his best friend and this douchebag who killed Jenna until he was in Tyler Lockwood's body. Klaus agrees to kneel before Bonnie so she can put her hands on his head to perform the spell. He thinks she's just putting him back into his body, but it's both that and a dessication spell all at once. Jeremy has, of course, volunteered yet again to be the human heart that gets stopped, and when Sheila grabs a hold of him to transfer her power to Bonnie, she also reaches for Ric's hand.
"How can I help?" he asks. "I don't have any power."
"It's all energy on this side, History Teacher," Sheila says, wagging her fingers at him until he puts his hand in hers. Immediately he feels an electric current, something going through the essence of him that reminds him what it was like to be alive, with sensation constantly part of his existence.
Bonnie starts chanting, as does Sheila and it's all over within ten minutes. Tyler collapses, Jeremy wakes up, and Ric tells him to calm a sobbing Caroline with the news that Tyler will wake up soon, just as good as new.
A half hour later, after Tyler's awake and talking, Damon and Jeremy load Klaus's casket into Jenna's old car. There are hugs all around and then Elena says that she and Damon are going to take Klaus's body to an undisclosed location.
"Wait," Ric says, and Jeremy stops, looking back at him. "Ask them not to leave just yet," he says, which Jeremy repeats. Everyone circles back to stand on the sidewalk in front of Bonnie's house. Ric turns to Sheila. "Can we try something?" he asks.
She gives him a little smile. "I think I know what you want," she says. "And the spirits are inclined to help, since Klaus can't wreak any more havoc." She grabs Jeremy by the hand. "Take Bonnie's hand again," she says.
"Ric and your Grams are trying something," Jeremy says, turning towards Bonnie. "She wants us to hold hands again."
Bonnie's fingers lace through Jeremy's and then Sheila grasps Ric's hand with her free one. "Can you see him?" she asks of her granddaughter.
"Hi, Alaric," Bonnie says with just a touch of a sob in her throat.
"Hey, Bonnie," he says, smiling.
She turns her head towards Damon and Elena. "Take my hand," she says, reaching out.
Elena steps forward, and then Damon, both of them wrapping their hands around Bonnie's. Her tear-filled eyes direct them across the circle, and Elena gasps, "Ric!" when she sees him.
Damon's eyes meet Ric's, and there is a moment of complete, utter silence. His eyes glisten, and then he nods his head almost imperceptibly. Ric finds he has no words now either, even though there are a million things he ought to say to all of them.
"Time is short," Sheila warns.
Ric looks at each of them, individually. "I love you," he says. "I love you all."
Everyone's crying, both living, dead, and undead, but Ric manages a smile through his tears. "Goodbye," he says, because that's the other thing he never got to say. "I'll see you again. Someday, when you're ready."
And with that, he closes his eyes one last time.