ᴀɴɴᴀʙᴇʟ ʟᴇᴇ • ᴛᴠᴅ x ᴀʀʀᴏᴡ x ᴛᴏ

V. ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅᴇʀ'ꜱ ᴅᴀʏ

"Perfect!" Damon exclaimed. "Give me the address."

"Oh, so you can go without me?" Alaric scoffed. "No, I don't think so."

"I'm not going with you," Damon stated. "You tried to kill me."

"Yeah, well, you did kill me," Alaric retorted.

Damon stopped talking, noticing he was getting another call. "Hold on," he said to Alaric, before changing lines. "What?"

"I'm just grabbing some clothes, and then I'll be right over," Elena's voice echoed through the phone. "How's Stefan?"

"Extra broody," Damon said. "Hold on," he said, changing lines again, going back to Alaric. "You drive. Pick me up in an hour. Annabel is not coming."

"Hey!" She protested.

"Done," Alaric said, haging up.

Damon, now on the phone with Elena, stated. "He won't eat anything."

"He has to eat what's his favorite..." Elena's voice trailed off. "Kind of, um... You know. His favorite type of animal blood."

"Stefan likes puppy blood," Damon replied, dead serious. "Little golden retriever puppies with cute, floppy ears. That's his favorite."

Annabel smacked the back of his neck, and he yelped. "Ow!"

"Stop being an asshole," she scolded.

"Annabel?" Elena asked.

"Hi," she muttered shyly, she then turned to Damon and said, "Your joking doesn't help."

Damon shrugged. "Helps me. Now, Elena, hurry up. I can't babysit all night. I have things to do."

Elena scoffed. "I would say, "drop dead," but-"

"Very funny," Damon said, hanging up.

"What do you mean I am not going?!" Annabel exclaimed the second he put the phone away.

"I am not bringing you to a house full of vampires again," Damon argued. "Besides, somebody needs to stay with broody pants and make sure he doesn't set himself on fire."

"I hate you," she pouted.

"Hate you too."

❈

NOT long after Damon left, Elena showed up. She muttered a short hello to Annabel before heading straight to the basement. When she got back to the living room, Annie was surprised to hear that Stefan had upgraded his need to self-punish to suicidal ideation.

"Why would he say that?" Elena asked, sitting down next to Annabel as the brunette poured her a glass of wine.

"He feels bad about hurting that girl," Annabel said. "He is struggling with the guilt, but it will pass."

"Will it?" Elena questioned. "Because he seemed to be in a lot of pain."

"According to Damon, that will pass, too, once he eats," Annabel muttered.