𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄 [𝟑]

𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

CHAPTER FOURTEEN | LET HER GO

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

ELIZABETH FORBES WAS DEAD. She had passed away in the hospital after Damon and Riley had taken her in. As to be expected, everyone was completely crippled by the loss of Caroline's mother. After Liz's death, the group of supernaturals crashed at the Salvatore house, knowing that nobody wanted to be alone— and nobody wanted Caroline to be alone, either.

Once Riley had woken up, she noticed that Damon was missing from the gaggle of people sprawled out across the floor. The little witch slowly managed to get up to her feet before she rubbed her eyes once more and headed into the kitchen to get a coffee. Much to her surprise, she saw Damon sat at the table with several crumbled pieces of paper around him. "What're you doing in here?" Riley eyed him up and then the pieces of paper. "Damon, have you even been to sleep, or have you been up all night trying to write Liz's eulogy?"

"Not only are you beautiful, but you're smart, too." Damon groaned out as he dropped his pen down onto the notepad, and got up to his feet. "Liz is trying to have the last laugh, trying to teach me a lesson. I don't know."

"I don't think this is about teaching you a lesson. I think it's about Liz knowing you're the perfect person to do this." Riley shrugged simply as she filled two cups with coffee. She then turned on her heels and handed one of the cups to Damon, while she held the other within her own hands. "Today is about Caroline, and what she needs to hear. I think you understand how Caroline's feeling better than anyone, right now."

Damon blinked as his gaze met the with the woman he loved. "What'd you mean?"

"Liz was your best friend, yes. But, she was probably the closest thing you had to a mother, too." Riley smiled hesitantly as she watched the Salvatore nod slowly.

"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" Damon smiled appreciatively after he took a sip of his coffee. He then watched Riley head back toward the door and back into the living room.

"You've all asked what you can do to help." The blonde vampire spoke to Riley, Elena, Matt, Tyler, and Stefan. She was preparing a plan of how she wanted the day to go ahead of her mother's funeral. "There are five day's worth of projects on here. We are going to do them in one. We can break the rules and cut through the red tape. I expect my mom to be properly celebrated and buried by the end of the day."

"Sure, Care," Matt spoke with a nod and a smile. "Whatever you need."

"Riley, Elena, you're coming with me."

"And, where is that exactly?" Riley got up to her feet and raised an eyebrow to the vampire.

"Casket shopping," Caroline said with a nod. "Let's move."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

After the casket shopping was done, Riley headed back to the Salvatore house to get changed for the funeral. She pulled a black dress from her closet and held it up against her while she examined it. A light smile brushed across her lips when she decided that was the dress she was going to wear.