Dark Moon | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 11

As the evening wore on, she heard less and less voices each minute. She didn't emerge from her hiding place until she heard every last person leave. It was the early hours of the morning when the music stopped, and all that remained was the debris created by all the drunk teenagers that'd been in the house.

She'd gone down to start cleaning up. Picking up a plastic bag, she tossed all the cups inside of it, waving her hand every now and then to clean up smaller bits of trash that were harder to get all at once. The carpet had several beer stains, and she'd moved the keg outside to prevent any strange smells accumulating. She popped all the balloons and threw them away too, taking down the streamers and moving the furniture back to its original place. She felt tired, but she wanted to finish at least this task, because in around fifteen hours, she'd be succumbing to yet another painful transformation, meaning she'd be MIA for a few days, and she didn't want to leave this mess to Damon or anyone else.

Esmeray felt crappy. The whole point of having stayed throughout the night was to try and get some relief after feeling horny for months, and she hadn't even succeeded at it. Taking care of it herself wasn't the same— she wanted someone, anyone, to do it instead. Her lack of confidence held her back, and now, she was resorting to playing maid in order to distract herself from the desire to hump everything in sight.

Suddenly, she heard a loud series of crashes upstairs, which was a very substantial distraction. Looking alarmed, she used her wolf speed to get back to the landing where the rooms were, and saw Stefan's bedroom door was open. She went inside and found Damon throwing objects around, growling angrily and making a mess of the room, breaking objects and overturning tables to spill books on the floor. He picked up a guitar and was about to slam it down when he stopped himself, realizing that Esmeray was there.

With a gulp, the hybrid wove her hand, and the broken objects began to repair themselves. He set the guitar back down, but didn't turn to face her, as if he was ashamed of what he'd done.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

"Stefan killed Andie," he muttered, flexing his fingers as if he still had the urge to do more damage.

Her breath hitched. "Damon... I'm sorry."

"There's nothing you could have done about it," he said plainly, brushing past her and heading to his room. She followed after him, feeling worried. "Damon, do you need to talk about it?" she asked.

"No, I don't want to talk about it," he snapped. "Elena made a big deal about finding out that I've been tracking Stefan, and I just don't need this right now." He stopped in the doorway, letting out a shaky sigh. "Just go to sleep. I'll be fine in the morning."

"You don't sound like you'll be fine," she said, crossing her arms. "I'll leave if you really want me to, but it might help you to talk about it."

"What do you want me to say?" he yelled, whirling to face her. "Do you want to hear me rant about my guilt? I killed my brother's best friend and she was the only person who could have gotten him back on the wagon. He killed someone I cared about— it doesn't matter that Andie was only my fake girlfriend, she was also my friend, and I didn't want to see her get hurt. I want Elena, and I want to be happy with her, but I can't do it because I know I'm moving in on my brother's girl and that's not okay. She makes me feel like I matter even though I'm a fucking monster."

He turned away again, walking into his room, and she went inside before he could close the door, hugging him from behind, which made him tense. "What the hell are you doing?" he said lowly, as if he wanted to shove her off and toss her off the staircase.

"This is what my mother used to do when I felt overwhelmed," she said softly, resting her head against his back. "I used to lose control and tear our house apart and she would never be mad. She'd just hold me until I felt even slightly better. Sometimes, we just need a hug and we don't know it. I'm sorry, Damon. I know how special Andie was and I know that you care about Stefan and I know that Elena means a lot to you... I want to tell you that things will work out but I don't know if they will. I just want you to know that you're not alone. I don't think you're a monster."