The Beginning | Damon Salvatore #1

Chapter 19

When they were all back at the Salvatore house, Elena took Alex upstairs to her room to clean her up in silence. She heard what Damon said and it took all of her strength, supernatural or not, to not rip his head from his body.

Sam and Dean stood in the living room with Stefan and Damon, waiting for nothing. Dean thought Alex had made her choice, but seeing Damon look miserable in front of the fireplace, he wasn't sure. Had she chosen differently?

Stefan sighed, walking over to the small cabinet at the edge of the room to pull out an old bottle of bourbon for Damon. He poured a glass for both him and his brother; the sound of the liquid hitting the bottom of the crystal glass was the only sound in the room save the crackling of the wood in front of Damon. When he offered the glass to Damon, however, he only glanced at it and turned away, leaving Stefan's outstretched hand still gripping the glass. He nodded and turned to the other men in the room.

"Either of you like bourbon?" He asked. Dean never looked up, but Sam, after checking to see if his older brother was going to accept it, decided to do it for him.

"I'll take that," he said, rather eagerly.

Dean rose from his seat and walked toward the stairs that Damon had alighted. He had to see Alex. Once he topped the stairs, though, he wasn't sure which room was hers. He stood there awkwardly as he eyed each door, willing himself to know the room, but he couldn't until Elena emerged from one of them and he knew it was hers. Elena, upon seeing Dean, shook her head and huffed.

"Look, I know you have a thing for her and everything, but you can't just go and confess more confusing phrases of undying love to her right now. She just turned someone human, and not just any someone, the oldest vampire on the planet, so why don't you and your brother just get out of here. She's not completely incapable of texting you or calling you if she needs you," Elena said with more passion than she'd intended.

Inside Alex's room, she sat on the bed with wet hair, second-guessing all of her emotions that had formed over the past few weeks. She wasn't sure where she was missing it; she thought Damon felt the same for her. He'd acted like everything they'd shared was meaningless. She couldn't understand it.

In an instant, she rose from the bed and rushed to the door, opening it and turning down the hall, not knowing Elena and Dean were standing at the top of the stairs. Dean tried to run after her, but Elena held him firm. Her strength was unmatched. Once Alex was in front of Damon's door, she didn't knock. She opened the door to reveal Damon standing at the window. Her heart beat hard in her chest as he turned to look at her. Pain shot through him as he saw the tears in her eyes.

"Why would caring about you mean eternal unhappiness?" She asked, begging him with her eyes to be honest with her. He shook his head and avoided her eyes.

"Alex, I would give anything to be with you and not feel guilty," he said, making her feel like he was ripping her heart from her chest and holding it in his hand, ready to drop it at any moment.

"Why do you have to feel guilty?"

"Because I'm not redeemable and you are chosen. How can I force you to give it up for me? You've changed something in this town, in this house, and I can't just let you walk away from God to be with me," he said, feeling a hitch in his chest as the words left his mouth and her feet took steps toward him.

"You are redeemable, Damon. If Elias is worth saving to God, you are much more," she said, placing her hand on his face as she got close to him.

"What if you're wrong?" He said, letting a tear escape his eye. She shook her head, placing her other hand on his face.

"I'm not. I promise," she whispered. He shook his head and brought her hands down as he had done in front of the weakened Elias.

"Could you love me if I were still a vampire, if I never knew how to accept His offer that I once had, if I never escaped this monster's body?" He asked, regretting using the word "love," but he knew it was what mattered in the end. Could she love him? Her hands reached back to his face as she pressed her lips to his, letting her tears stain his cheeks as well as hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck; he pulled her to him gently. When she disconnected the kiss, she smiled.

"I love you now."

Damon pulled her in for another kiss, wrapping his arms around her tightly now, grasping for all that she was. Outside the door, though, stood a man. He'd pretended like he was going to leave it alone and go downstairs with Elena, but doubled back down the hall to find Alex. As he stood there, watching them, his heart cracked and it felt as if he bled inwardly. He turned away and went back down the stairs and without a word to anyone, not even Sam, he exited the house.