Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 20

Elena felt herself begin to panic. "He doesn't have to know, Damon" Elena insisted. "Derrick left. You scared him off. He won't be back" she said, trying to calm herself down.

"Sorry, kid" Damon said, opening his car door. "Stefan's going to find out one way or another and trust me, it will be better if it comes from you" he said. He walked to Elena's side of the car and opened the door for her. Elena remained where she was for a moment before getting out of the car. She walked a few paces behind Damon, trying to decide if she could take off and outrun him. Then she remembered that she had had a rough evening and probably did not need to be physically exerting herself like that. And, it was getting dark.

Stefan opened the front door, having heard a car door slam outside. He saw Damon and then Elena. "What's going on?" he asked.

Damon waited for Elena to go ahead of him into the house before walking in. Stefan followed, confused as to what was going on. "Elena" Damon said.

Elena stopped and turned to face Stefan. She looked up and met his eyes and found him looking at her with concern. "Derrick showed up at the Grill" she said quietly.

"He what?" Stefan practically yelled, turning to face Damon. "What do you mean he showed up?" he asked angrily.

"Why are you yelling at me? I'm the one that showed up and saved the day!" Damon yelled back, clearly frustrated with his younger brother.

"And where is Derrick now?" Stefan questioned, still ignoring Elena who was standing off to the side. Her muscles were tense as she watched the two brothers arguing.

"I don't know" Damon shrugged. "I told him to stay away from Elena. He left" Damon explained.

"You just let him go?" Stefan yelled. He could not believe how stupid his brother could be sometimes. Well, he could. But he wanted to believe that Damon was smarter than that.

"What was I supposed to do with him, Stefan?" Damon asked. "Tie him up and throw him in the trunk of my car?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes, that is exactly what you should have done!" Stefan continued yelling. "Now he's just going to come right back after her!" he spat. "You don't think, do you Damon? Were you not given that ability? He's dangerous! And you just probably pissed him off. So now we have to sit and wait for him to come back after her? Do you know what he is capable of?"

Elena could not stand in the room any longer and listen to Stefan and Damon shout at each other. Not after what she had just endured with Derrick. So many emotions were beginning to build up inside of her that she felt like she would lose it. Anger. Fear. Confusion. Sadness. And the list went on. Stefan continued to yell something at Damon and Elena used this opportunity to leave.

Damon and Stefan both turned to watch her run up the stairs. Their fighting ceased for the moment. Stefan cursed under his breath as he leaned his hands against the back of the couch. Screaming at Damon in front of her was no way to show her that he was going to protect her. It only showed her that he was feeling defeated. Damon felt uncomfortable by the silence. "If I were you, I would probably go and check on Elena" he said, throwing it out there for Stefan to consider.

This only made Stefan angrier. "No, you know what I have to do right now? Call that incompetent PI of yours to tell him he's fired!" Stefan yelled one last time before storming out of the room.

Damon heard a door slam. He figured Stefan would be preoccupied for the next half an hour or so, so he quietly climbed the stairs and went in search of Elena. It wasn't hard to find her. He could hear her sobbing in one of the guest bedrooms. When he pushed the door open, she was sitting on the floor against the bed with her knees pulled up to her chest and her face buried. Damon quietly sat down next to her. "You're not okay, are you?" he spoke softly.