SEMPITERNAL ━━ Damon Salvatore ²

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"What's the deal with that? He's like your guardian now?" Tyler questioned. Jeremy shrugged. "Sort of, yeah. I think he feels responsible for us," he explained, aiming the bow. Carter sat down in the leaves, running her fingers through her straightened hair. "Do you like him?" Jeremy shrugged again. Tyler moved toward the cans. "Yeah," Jeremy spoke, watching him. "Yeah– I like him." He kept the bow aimed, Tyler in the middle. "You wanna move out of the way?!" Carter's eyes widened as Tyler scoffed. "I'm a hybrid, Gilbert. You can't kill me unless you cut off my head or rip out my heart. And you're not gonna do it with that lame ass crossbow! Go ahead!! Take a shot! Unless you don't think you can hit me."

The strawberry blonde sighed. "You're an idiot, that's what you are," she spat at her cousin, gasping as the arrow flew through the air. Tyler's fingers wrapped around it as he caught it, smirking. After all the shenanigans with Tyler and Jeremy, she decided to go back to the boarding house. The two boys were getting a little weird for her with their manly adventure. She used the key Damon had given her and let herself in, slinging her bag to the floor beside the door. "Damon? You home?" she called out, dropping her keys on the key rack. "Hey," he spoke, popping up against the wall. A smile spread across her face as she approached him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

She took him by surprise, pressing her lips against his hard. "Mm," he hummed, his fingers squeezing her waist appreciatively. "What was that for?" She simply shrugged. "I just love you," she admitted with a grin. His smiled faltered, pressing his forehead against her own. "Damon? What's wrong?" He sighed, his hand curled around the nape of her neck. "I have something I need to tell you, and it's about time I did." She eyed carefully, his breath fanning against her face. "Let's go sit down." She nodded in response, letting him pull her into the living room. The two sat down on the couch, their hands tangled together. He refused to meet her eyes, obviously nervous about what he had to say.

She gently caressed his cheek, bowing down to meet his eyes. "You can tell me anything, Damon," she reminded him. He frowned, despite her attempted soothing words. "I didn't kill Jackson, Carter." His words were quick, a statement that slammed into Carter's seated form like a truck. She slowly pulled her hands from his, resting them in her lap. "I didn't kill him. Stefan did," he explained. His eyes were soft, examining the girl beside him as she stared silently at the floor in front of her. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked softly, keeping her eyes locked on the rug. He shuffled closer, his knee brushing hers. His hands wrapped around her waist, ignoring her attempt at pushing him away.

"You and Stefan were already... I don't know, baby. I know you love him, and I didn't want that to change. Your happiness is my reason to keep going," he explained, rubbing gentle circles into her hip. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You let me hate you... to protect him?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, gaze intently burning at the rug. Her face was directed to the side, his hand gripping her chin. "I took everyone else you trusted away from you. I didn't want to take away Stefan, too," he explained, his blue eyes pleading. She felt the warm tears build up behind her eyes as she stared at him. His hand moved to cup her cheek, his lips flicking upward into a grin.

She felt her chest restrict as she stared at him, imagining how everything could have gone so different. Would she had died if she had known it was Stefan? Would she had risked her life? Her eyes flutter closed as the tears hung to her long lashes. Damon kissed her forehead delicately, pulling her body into him. She accepted his offer, curling onto his lap and allowing his strong arms to wrap around her. "I'm so sorry, little banshee," he whispered, leaning back against the couch. She sniffled in response, burying her head into his chest. "Let's not talk about it anymore... please," she begged, letting his palms glide across her bare legs.

He hummed softly, a tune she didn't recognize. But his soft tone sent her eyelids batting furiously to keep herself awake. "Are you tired?" he questioned, running his fingers through her strawberry blonde locks. She nodded reluctantly, sighing as he stood up, with her in his arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, and her legs around his torso. His hands were planted beneath her bottom, keeping her from sliding down his lean figure. "I hate that you're leaving me so soon," he teased, despite the fact it was pretty much the middle of the day. She hadn't been sleeping well, anyway, not since the situation with Klaus and Stefan. She hummed in response, her head rested on her own arms. She kissed his neck gently, his chest rumbling with a chuckle.

"I can make you really tired really fast," he whispered seductively as he moved up the stairs, closer to either of their bedrooms. The free bedroom was actually hers, but she had a habit of falling asleep in Damon's bed, or not falling asleep at all. She smiled against his neck and gently bit down on the skin. He moved quicker, speeding into his room. "That's it," he remarked, tossing her body onto his bed. Their lips attached hungrily, his body hovering over her own. His hands were already pulling at her shirts, close to ripping it off when there was a knock on the door downstairs.

"Ignore it," he growled, moving his lips from her cheek to her neck. She let out a soft hum at his teeth nipping at her skin, surely bruising the area. His hips rocked against hers just as another knock echoed in the empty house. He continued to ignore it, despite her body stiffening. "Damon, maybe you..." Her words were lost as his hand cupped her breast, squeezing it harshly. His teeth sunk into her shoulder, earning a soft whimper. "Shh," he shushed seductively, kissing back up her shoulder, locking his lips around her prominent collarbone. He was close to hiking her skirt when a hard banging came from downstairs.

The raven haired vampire groaned loudly, pulling himself away. "I'll be right back. Don't.. move.." She nodded in response, biting down on her lip as he moved out the door. Carter lazily blew a stray strand of hair from her face, falling flat against the cool duvet covering Damon's bed. They could never catch a break.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

AUTHOR'S NOTE;

big news!

so, stefan killed jackson... not damon.

who saw that coming??