Eternal Contemplations (20/?)
Chapter Twenty
“My engagement party is tomorrow.”
The words feel like ice cold water being doused on him.
“So… am I going to be the other guy? You little boy toy on the side?” Damon says jokingly with a bravado he does not feel.
“Don’t you like being my dirty little secret?” Blair whispers conspiratorially.
“If I’m going to be the other guy, this means it’s okay if I have slumber parties with sorority girls right?”
Her kisses stop then and are replaced with an icy glare.
“I don’t like to share.”
“Neither do I,” he counters. “If I don’t get any sorority girls then you can’t have your little lacrosse jock. It’s only fair.”
“No sorority girls,” she answers grudgingly. “I’m going to tell Nate…”
He grins. “Now that’s something I like to hear! And the sooner the better.”
“But give me some time.”
“How much time do you need? Just call him up, tell him it’s over. The end!”
“I’d like to be a bit more sensitive than that.”
“It should be like ripping off a bandaid. It might hurt him a lot now, but in the long run he’ll be better for it.”
“This party has been in the making for years! His grandfather is going to be there! I can’t just…” A frown forms above her eyebrows and he sees distress chase itself across her face. “I can’t just bail out now. It would humiliate him.”
It’s too much reluctance and hesitation on her part and he’s getting knots in his stomach.
“Do you still…love him?”
He doesn’t know what he’d do if she says yes, but luckily for him she doesn’t.
“No. I don’t,” she answers confidently. “But I still care about him. Can’t I still care about him?”
“Is it selfish of me to wish that you wouldn’t?” He tries giving her his most charming smile.
“Yes.” She was quick to reply. She smiles and her tone grows softer. “But I understand.”
He sighs and runs his finger down her cheek.
“All that space you have in your heart, I want to occupy it all. I’m a greedy bastard, but I don’t care. I don’t want to share you with anyone.”
“You don’t have to share me. I love you.”
No pause between the two statements. No hesitation. That last phrase comes out of her mouth so naturally she didn’t even think about it. He can’t stop the grin from spreading across his face. It’s such a boyish look on him that she finds herself smiling as well.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. Can you repeat it again?”
The grin on his face grows smug and she rolls her eyes, but they’re both still smiling at one another and she doesn’t mind.
“I… like you.”
“Just like? That wasn’t the word you used before.”
“I thought you didn’t hear me properly the first time, how would you know what word I used?”
“I’m pretty sure it was a stronger word than ‘like’.”
“Really? Silly me… I completely forgot what I had said!”
“Did you now? Hm… now what can we do about that?”
“I don’t know… maybe…” she bends over, puts her lips close to his ears and whispers, “you can help me remember.”
She lets out a shriek which turns to a giggle when he hoists her up into the air and seats her down on top of the bar.
“Let’s get to it then.”
The smile he has on now is absolutely roguish and she loves it. She doesn’t hesitate to wrap her legs around his waist, pulls him in before he even has a chance to lean in to kiss her. He presses his lips against the bare skin at the nape of her neck. It’s a bit cold and she shivers from his touch.
“So tell me…” he moves his ministrations lower and she closes her eyes and tilts her head back. “Do you remember now?”
“Hmm… still a bit fuzzy.”
He pauses from leaving butterfly kisses trailing down her arm to lean back and take in her smugness and laughs.
His fingers trail up her leg, his finger finding where her thigh-high socks end and smooth silky skin begins. “Well… I better try harder to remind you then, shouldn’t I?”
He lowers his head and replaces his fingers with his lips and she fails to smother the gasp that escapes her lips. She can feel him smiling against her skin.
“Remember yet?”
“I…” her voice trails off as he continues venturing further north.
“You?”
He lifts his head up and the groan she lets out in frustration doesn’t escape his notice.
“I…”
“Yes?” he presses. She knows she won’t get what she wants unless he gets what he wants.
“I said I love you. Are you happy now? You sadistic, cocky, pain in the-”
“Just the beginning would have sufficed.” He places a quick peck on her lips to stop her from pouting. “But I’ll take it.”
They kiss again and again and again. The sky outside is already starting to brighten up. She doesn’t get home until six am in the morning.
xxx
It’s ridiculous how happy he is. He’s walking through the hotel lobby and he just can’t stop grinning. The receptionist at the front desk is trying to flirt with him and he vaguely recalls saying something back, but for the life of him he doesn’t remember what. Blair’s three letter words continue to play on loop through his head. He takes the key card she hands over to him, but ignores her attempt to bat her eyelashes at him. He just reenacts how he found out that Blair Waldorf is ticklish in his head and continues on his way.
The moment he steps out of the elevator everything changes.
His happy thoughts dissipate, the smile wiped off his face. He can feel her presence on the other side of his hotel door even before he slides his plastic hotel key card through the slot and turn the door handle.
“Welcome back, sweatheart.”
Katherine smiles up at him from her position lounging on the plush white loveseat, her feet propped up on what seems to be the sturdy shoulders of a half naked bellboy, leisurely dining on grapes. The fruit doesn’t fool Damon. The bite marks on her newly acquired footstool doesn’t escape his notice.
“I was just enjoying some room service. Would you care for some?” Of course she’s motioning towards the shirtless bellboy even as she plops a large grape into her mouth.
He smiles back at her sweetly and says, “No.”
“You’re starting to sound like your brother,” she states, annoyance and irritation pervading her tone. She swings her feet over and stands up, brushing the wrinkles out of her dress.
Damon turns to her abandoned footstool and pulls the guy up to his feet with one hand. “Go clean up and bandage your neck, put on a shirt and go home. Tell your boss you got a family emergency.”
Katherine watches his exchange with a disgusted look on her face.
“Now you not only sound like Stefan, you are him.”
“What do you want, Katherine?”
Why is she here? Better question, why isn’t Stefan watching her? Something felt enormously wrong. Not that there’s ever anything right when Katherine’s concerned.
“Maybe I just missed you,” she says sweetly.
“Come now, Katherine. We both know you can lie better than that.”
She laughs, the sounds of her voice piercing like shards of glass.
“How was Blair by the way?” Katherine asks menacingly. “I can smell her on you. Chanel no.5… how quaint.”
“It’s none of your business,” he bites out.
She snorts derisively and makes a move over to where he is. “Come now, Damon. Hasn’t the novelty worn off yet?”
“I love her.”
It’s such a simple statement, but it changes everything. It gets Katherine angry.
Katherine goes looking for Damon not because she suddenly realized that she loves him and only him, but because he loved her and she thrives on that sort of devotion. He had always been there to make her feel wanted, special and she needs that feeling. She needs the devotion. Without it she’s just another blood thirsty monster. It might be a selfish reason to want him back, but Katherine has never been a very selfless person to begin with.
Katherine snorts in derision. “If you’re going to get a substitute, at least get a better one. I guess since Stefan already scored Elena, you had to deal be the next best thing.”
“Blair’s not a substitute. She’s not like you. She’s not a monster.”
“If I’m a monster then what does that make you? Give it up already, Damon.”
“I won’t. I love her.”
The words stab at Katherine.
“I know ‘love’ is a difficult concept for you to grasp, but it’s real. I love Blair. And nothing you do can change that.”
“Don’t you get it?! She doesn’t want you! She picked Nate!”
Damon continues with his calm demeanor, carefully taking off his jacket and folding it over the arm of a chair, despite Katherine’s little tantrum.
“You compelled Nate.”
“She doesn’t know that,” Katherine points out snidely. “And judging from what I’m reading from this Gossip Girl person, Blair either doesn’t know or doesn’t care. Her engagement party starts at seven doesn’t it?”
“She’s breaking it off.”
“So what? Now you guys can go gallivanting off into the sunset and live happily ever after?”
“Well, not so much ‘gallivanting’ per say. I was thinking our time together would be better spent inside behind closed doors… but yes. Happily ever after sounds pretty good,” he answers cheekily.
“But what about me?” she nearly shrieks.
“You were doing just fine the last time I checked,” he bites out. “That bellboy being a prime example.” It comes out harsher than he expected.
Katherine does the unexpected and smiles a smile like she’s won, like she’s figuring it all out. She walks over to him, places one hand on his chest, the other caressing his face.
“Are you jealous?” she says with a smirk. “I kind of like it when you’re jealous.”
Honestly he doesn’t care if Katherine whores around with bellboys or any other member of the hotel staff, because she’s Katherine and that’s just what she does. You can’t change a leopard’s spots and he’s done of trying.
He takes her hands in his and replaces them at her sides. “It’s over, Katherine.”
Her smile quickly turns into a scowl, but he doesn’t care.
“You’re going to regret this,” she threatens. “You’re going to be sorry for choosing her over me. I promise you.”
“No. What I regret is spending over a century acting like your stupid lovesick puppy. Now get out of my hotel room.”
“Fine,” she hisses. “I’ll leave.”
She saunters her way to the door and opens it. Just before she slips through the opening, she turns to him one last time.
“Oh. I almost forgot,” she makes a show of slapping her forehead. “Silly me.”
She reaches out into her pocket and draws out Stefan’s signet ring.
The one that lets him walk around in daylight without burning in the sun.
“What did you do to Stefan?” Damon snarls. “If you lay a hand on my brothe-”
“I told you that you’d be sorry for picking her didn’t I? Did you really think I wouldn’t keep my word? You should know by now that I don’t use empty threats.”
“You bitch!”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but the sunrises around… 6:30 right?” She toys with the ring before slipping in onto her finger.
“It’s already 6:25…Better hope you get to Stefan quickly, before there’s nothing left. The meadows besides Founder’s creek don’t provide such great coverage from sunlight.”
He doesn’t waste any time listening to her gloating and pushes past her to get to the door.
“If you don’t hurry you might just become an only child!” she calls out after him. Her laughter follows him through the corridor.
xxx
Damon doesn’t waste any time rushing back to Mystic Falls. He’s nearly half way there when his phone starts ringing. The screen flashes Elena’s name across the screen and he picks up midway through the second ring.
“Damon! We have a huge problem!”
“Have you found him?!”
Damon feels like he’s choking for air even though he doesn’t need to breathe. His undead heart beating at a million miles per minute. It was all his fault. He’s the one who wanted to free Katherine. Stefan told him it was a bad idea. He told him that it was a mistake and that he would regret it. He should’ve listened. Now his brother was going to pay for his mistake.
“What? Who?”
“Stefan! Did you find him?! Is he okay?! It’s already been nearly half an hour. He couldn’t have lasted that long. This is all my fault! I should’ve-”
“Wait, wait! Slow down! Stefan’s fine.”
“What?”
“Stefan’s right here besides me. He’s fine, but his ring is missing and so is Katherine. That’s what we were trying to call you about.”
He hears some shifting about in the background and then Stefan’s voice comes on.
“Damon. It’s me. I’m alright.”
Relief comes rushing through him.
“I thought… I thought you were going to die. Katherine came to find me. With your ring on her finger. Said she left you for dead. Tied up somewhere near Founder’s Creek. Was going to let the sunrise finish you off.”
“I’m alright. It is okay, Damon. I’m okay,” Stefan soothes.
“I thought you were going to die! What the hell were you doing letting her steal your ring?!”
“She drugged me.”
“Haven’t you learned to check your drink by now?” Damon berates.
“I thought you were worried about me just a minute ago.”
“Well since you’re not dead, then you’re just an idiot who got drugged by his crazy ex-girlfriend.”
“Our crazy ex-girlfriend,” Stefan corrects. “And let’s not forget who she has it out for right now.”
“Guys! You’re missing the point! Why would Katherine lie about Stefan?” It was Elena’s voice that said this.
“Because Katherine is a psychotic bitch. I told her it’s over and now she’s going ballistic.”
Never before has Damon ever wanted to rip somebody limb from limb as much as he did now.
“But if she was going to hurt Stefan to get to you… and Stefan’s okay… then why?”
“To distract him. It was all a distraction.” It was Stefan this time.
“From what?” Elena asks.
It doesn’t take Damon long to figure it out.
xxx
Inside her room Blair is sitting at her vanity table, her phone in hand.
I need to see you. Can you come over? - B
She finishes typing her message to Nate, sighs and brushes her hair back from her face with one hand. What Nate did with Serena was unthinkable, but since he came to find her in Mystic Falls he’s done everything he possibly could to make it up to her. He was the model of an attentive, doting boyfriend. Everything she ever wanted him to be. He’s trying so hard and like she’s told Damon, she might not be in love with Nate anymore, but she still cares about him. Before things go further between Damon and herself she needs to tell Nate and soon.
She hears creaking from the door behind her and she turns around expecting it to be Dorota with her breakfast but it isn’t.
“Hello, Blair.”
Blair moves to grab her phone to call Damon, but suddenly Katherine’s in front of her. She yanks the phone of Blair’s grasp and tosses it behind her where it clatters to the floor.
“What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
“That darling maid of yours down stairs invited me in… right before I snapped her neck,” Katherine says leisurely with a cruel smile.
Blair’s heart drops to the bottom of her stomach. Katherine killed Dorota. Dorota, the only person who has ever been like a parent to her, was dead. She was murdered. In cold blood by this emotionless, psychotic monster in human clothing. She bites her inner cheek to keep her eyes from tearing.
“It’s a wonderful staff you got here... she was oh so sweet and adorable with that little polish accent of hers. Not very competent though, letting just anybody in. Can be dangerous you know?”
“Sorry, it’s the best we could do since we abolished slavery. Emily says ‘go to hell’ by the way. Bonnie had a few four lettered words to share as well.” Blair struggles to stay calm. Breaking down now would be doing what Katherine wants and she’s not about to give her the satisfaction.
“You think you’re so clever.”
“I don’t think it,” Blair quips cheekily.
Katherine leisurely strokes the edge of Blair’s vanity table as if she had all the time in the world. Of course since she is immortal she really does have all the time in the world.
“You must think he actually care about you, Damon that is. But the truth of the matter is that you were just a substitute for me. Damon always did have a thing for brunettes.”
Blair rolls her eyes at Katherine’s attempts to provoke her.
“You know what your problem is, Katherine? You’re a spoiled, greedy bitch. Damon was in love with you. But that wasn’t enough. You wanted Stefan, too. And now you’ve lost both of them. Deal with it.”
“Watch your mouth, mortal!” Katherine screams, her fangs fully bared. “You little slut. What’s so great about you? He came for me! He was only using you to get to me!”
“Katherine, please spare me your hysterics. What the hell are you doing in my room?”
“I’m here to kill you.”
Behind Katherine where it had slid under the dresser Blair’s phone vibrates. Nate’s reply flashes across the broken screen unnoticed.
I’ll b over in 5. - N
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A/N: Sorry for the very belated update! Been busy with school and life, but I’ve been loving the new seasons of both Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries! Also been checking out some awesome Damon/Blair youtube videos! They’re very motivational to my writing. =D I’m so glad more and more people are loving this crossover pairing! So I finally sat myself down and finished this chapter. Already working on editing the next one so hopefully I can get that out soon as well. Hope you guys enjoy this! I love all of your support!