The image of Liz almost dying was fresh on my mind. It replayed over and over again, as if it were a film that got stuck on replay. The image was vivid, to the point where I could feel my hands pressing against her chest and hear the distant beep of the heart monitor. It was the reason why I was tired, why my body slumped with fatigue wherever I was. Sleep was distant, and so was sitting still. Liz, a woman I considered like a mother, was slowly dying and there was nothing I could do about it but watch her perish.
There were several knocks coming from the open door, but I still jumped. Damon stood there, an arm against the doorway while the other rested on his waist. "Well, you're jumpy," he noted as he walked in. "What's wrong with you? You've been in this trance for weeks."
I shrugged my shoulders. "Damon, I'm tired, so whatever you have to say, say it now."
He pursed his lips and half-rolled his eyes as he waved a hand. "Oh, please, you haven't slept in days so I know that's a lie." He stood in front of me, both hands on his waist and his eyes burning holes into my skull. "I just got back from the high school with Elena; I compelled Principal Weber to let Jeremy graduate early. I mean, I compelled him into art school in Santa Fe, so I guess he should thank me for his future." He stopped talking and sighed, taking a seat besides me. "Okay, enough moping."
"I'm not moping," I mumbled as I pressed two fingers to each side of my temple. "I'm just tired, okay?"
"Tired or miserable?"
"Aren't they the same thing?" I sighed and turned to him, shaking my head. "Liz is dying, Damon. She's slowly dying and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm miserable because she..." I took a deep breath and looked towards the open door, focusing on the wooden wall in front of it so I wouldn't end up crying again. "I'm miserable because she reminds me so much of my mom; because I care so much about her; because she and Caroline are the only family members I have left. After she's gone, it's just going to be Caroline and I, who are basically dead."
Damon was quiet for several seconds, until a chuckle escaped his mouth. "Wow, okay, that's a lot. I thought you were just miserable because you and Stefan were in a complicated stage of your relationship."
Stefan and I weren't fighting, because to fight one had to talk. After we slept together the night Liz almost died, we rarely spoke. There was small conversation when we were in the same room, smiles, a simple peck on the lips, and then nothing. The kisses were forced, as if he wasn't sure whether he wanted to kiss me. It wasn't a fight. We were slowly separating, but we were too afraid to actually do it.
"Yeah," I breathed, unsure of what to say.
"Okay!" Damon slapped his hands against his knees as he stood. "Come on, we're going to give Jeremy the good news that he got to graduate early."
"I can't go," I said. "I have to go to Liz; it's her last day of work and she's going to spend the rest of her days in peace and tranquillity at the cabin. Caroline wants me to drive down there with her." Those words sounded distant as I said them, tasted bitter.
"Lucky for you, I'm also going," he said. "Caroline called this morning and said that I should help, because you've been distant lately." He followed me as I moved around the room, as if he were making sure I wouldn't leave. "Is it because she and Stefan are getting close?"
"Why are you so nosy?" I opened the closet door and peered inside, grabbing the first thing my hand touched. "This has nothing to do with that. I just realised that the people I love are mortal, and I can't really die, and that sucks."
He sighed. "I'm not one to have these heart-to-heart conversations, so I'll be waiting downstairs."
In a second, I was alone again. My hands dropped to my side, the piece of clothing falling to the floor. I had been alone many times, practically became friends with Loneliness, but it still became strange once it began again. A sigh escaped my lips as I leaned down to grab the piece of clothe that fell.
Once I changed and went downstairs, Damon practically dragged me out of the house and to his car. The ride was silent, except for the music playing from the radio. I kept my hands on my lap, my fingers playing with each other. My mind began to wonder towards Stefan, the boy that seemed to enjoy breaking my heart. If I began to think about the beginning of our relationship, I noticed that it almost always ended up with heartbreak.
The Mystic Grill was closed for another hour, which meant that the only people in the restaurant were those Matt let in. It was like a small party where everyone said goodbye to Jeremy Gilbert, who was leaving town to attend university. Elena was waiting up front, a cap and a high school diploma in her hand.
"You compelled Principal Weber, you get to do the honours," she said, pushing the items towards Damon's chest.
Damon gave her a tight and sarcastic smile. "Hmm, thanks."
Elena smiled then turned to me. "Clara, hey! I thought you were taking Liz to the cabin for Care's surprise."
"I was," I nodded, "but Damon dragged me out of the house because, apparently, I'm not that trustworthy."
"Please, you've been moping around for weeks," he said. "I'm doing you a favour."
"I don't think you know this, Damon, but not everyone likes to go out and drink all the time," Elena said, with pure sarcasm in her voice. "You drink all the time, for any reason."
"She's calling you an alcoholic," I said, a small smile on my lips as I looked at him.
Damon rolled his eyes and walked into the Grill, us following behind him. He marched towards Jeremy, who sat in a table with a bottle of alcohol in front of me, and pushed the diploma to his chest. "Look who graduated!" He laid the cap on his head, tapping it several times and causing the boys' head to dip.
Jeremy grinned. "Principal Weber was okay with it?"
"Sure," Damon shrugged. "I mean, basically flunking, missed a hundred days of school, and you can barely spell the word 'cat', but sure. He was fine with you graduating early."
"We," Elena said, glancing at Damon quickly, "helped the process along." She let out a sigh after staring at her brother, and began to walk away. "I'm gonna get a drink."
"She okay?" Jeremy asked.
"She will be," Damon said, breathing in deeply. "We all will. Somehow, we'll find a way to move on without you, Jeremy." There was sarcasm in his voice, but it made the youngest Gilbert grin. "Oh, hey—just did." He began to walk away, but then stopped and pointed at the cap. "Look under the cap. I jacked a little going-away present from Ric's girlfriend's stash."
Jeremy pulled the cap from his head and looked at it, his eyes widening as he pulled a small baggie with a joint. He held it up with a small smile on his lips.
"You got him a joint as a going away gift," I said, slowly, trying to wrap my head around it. "Could you be more sentimental?"
Damon shrugged his shoulders. "I tried. Hey, put it away, you idiot! Tell your sister, I'll kill you. Again."
"I have nothing," I said as I shrugged my shoulders at the boy, "because I was too busy moping." It was sarcasm.
"She was," Damon nodded.
I quickly glared at him before looking back at Jeremy. "But, you do have my phone number so if anyone's giving you a hard time, I can just scare them." I smiled at him and nodded. "We're not that close, but you're a pretty cool kid."
Jeremy smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Clara."
"No problem, Kid," I said as I tapped his shoulders. "Oh, wait!" I searched through the pocket of my coat, and pulled out an open pack of mint gum with only one stick missing. "I do have this, so maybe consider it as a going away gift? You can use it to freshen your breath before kissing a girl."
He laughed and grabbed it, shaking his head. "Uh, thanks," he said, amusement in his voice. "I'm sure I'll use it."
"Good boy," Damon mused as he grabbed my arm. "Come on, we have to get Liz."
I glanced back at Jeremy and smiled. "Bye!" I said as Damon continued to pull me. "Have a great time in Santa Fe!"
The Mystic Falls Police Station had always been dim, but it appeared dimmer as Damon and I made our way in. There was half-eaten cake on a table, a small goodbye party for the Sheriff that was leaving her work. Each police officer, deputy, and sheriff that passed by were mumbling about Liz Forbes, about how they would miss her and what a great woman she was. Those conversations made the sense of mortality sink in deeper. Liz was dying, and there was nothing I could do about it.
She sat on her desk, phone to hear ear. Caroline's voice was clear, speaking about how Stefan was with her because she needed an extra pair of hands for the surprise she was planning. It made my chest ache a bit, but I pushed it away and leaned my head against the doorway as fatigue surged through me.
"Not to be blunt," Damon began once the call ended, "but I think dying gets you a ticked out of work. Just saying." He walked closer to her, leaning his hands against the desk and giving her a smile.
I stepped in and stood besides him, my arms to my side. "How are you feeling?" I asked her, forcing a small smile on my lips.
Liz inhaled deeply. "Like I'm not gonna leave this job with unfinished business," she said, then glanced down at the countless folders on the desk. "I have all these open cases."
"Well," Damon breathed, "let me see if I can help you close a couple of them." He sat down and grabbed the files from besides her, opening each of them and getting a quick glance. "This one was me. Me. Also me. Clara's. Clara's. Ooh, this one was Stefan's. Oh, wait. No, me, yeah." He threw each folder into a box, until the stack disappeared and left behind a cocky Damon.
Liz nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I always had a sneaking suspicious that it was you."
"Clara too," he said, giving me a wide smile. "We can't forge that I'm not the only one that's not really cautious."
"She's family," Liz pointed out, "she's forgiven."
"Ha!" I said to Damon, smiling.
Liz pulled another file, blue, and pushed it towards him. "How about his one?"
He grabbed it, the smile disappearing. "Elena's parents," he said, slowly. "Didn't know there was an open investigation."
"Well, at the time, I was taking care of Elena and Jeremy, and I didn't want to drag them through more heartache," she divulged. "Then, when I was finally ready to reopen the wound, Elena moved on, and you and I had become friends, and I worried that..."
"What, that I was involved?" he quickly interrupted. There was a flash of sadness in his eyes. "Liz, no. No, I promise you."
She nodded and exhaled, closing her eyes to force back the tears. When she opened them, she reached for the phone. "Miranda left me this message two hours before they got in that car, two hours before they drove off that road for no reason."
"Liz, it's Miranda Gilbert. I have something urgent to talk to you about. Please call me back as soon as you can."
"Well, I'll be damned," Damon breathed. "Looks like you a good, old-fashioned, sheriffy whodunit on your hands."
"You think someone purposely made the Gilbert's drive off the bridge?" I asked, watching as Liz stood to grab more files from the boxes.
"They were a founding family," she said.
"But, you think it was a vampire," Damon said, raising a brow. It wasn't a question, but a fact.
Liz stopped and sighed, dropping the folders onto the desk. "That night, you saw Elena, and Stefan pulled her out of the car."
"Yeah," he breathed as he opened the folders. "You know, this would be real fun if I had some..."
"Top right hand-drawer," she finished for him, half glaring and half amused. "Why were the two of you in town the night her parents died?"
Damon opened the drawer and pulled out a bottle of half-empty alcohol. "This is why you're a terrible sheriff." He opened the bottle and took a swig, letting out a sigh of almost relief.
"No, I'm a terrible sheriff because one of my best friends is the perp in half my open cases," she snapped. "Why were the two of you in town the night her parents died, Damon?"
I glanced between the two of them, seeing the pain in both of their eyes. They had become very good friends since he came into town, better friends after she found out that he was a vampire. It was a strange friendship, but it was there. She cared for him, he cared for her, and it hurt him that she was blaming him. I stared at him, my mouth pressed together tightly as my hands rested flatly on an open file.
"Well," he began, "believe it or not, Liz, I once had a mommy too. She died around that die. In the years that my emotions were 'on', I would stop by to leave flowers on her grave." The cockiness disappeared from his face, and his lips pressed together as he got back to he file in his hands.
"You never talk about her."
"Not much to say," he sighed. "She died, old-timey disease..."
"Consumption," I finished for him. His eyes landed on me, and stayed there for several seconds, until Liz spoke up.
"Why do I feel like you're leaving something out, Damon?"
Damon looked away from me and down to the file he had, closing it and pushing it to the side with the rest. There were pictures laid out of the incident. "Why don't we use your investigative instincts to solve this, Liz?" He motioned her to come closer with his fingers. "Check this out. Why were the Gilbert's taking Wickery Bridge when Old Miller Road was clearly ten minutes faster, and why are there no skid marks at the scene of the accident, and why was the trunk full of luggage as if they were going out of town?"
"Is this a maths question?" I asked, scrunching up my face in distaste.
Liz hit me in the arm with the back of her hand. She glanced back to Damon, and nodded. "Something did happen that night."
"Or it was just an accident," I said, glancing between the two of them. My eyes landed on Liz. "Not everything that happens in this town is from the supernatural."
"I just closed half of my cases because the majority of them were Damon," she pointed it, crossing her arms. "A few of them were you, Clara."
I took a deep breath and nodded, pressing my lips together. "Okay, yeah, you're right." I slapped my hands against the arm res as I pushed myself up. "Maybe something did happen. How about calling Elena?"
"I don't want to open old wounds."
"It's been years since it happened," I softly said, giving her a small smile. "Yeah, the wounds are still there, and they will open a slight bit when you mention it or show it to her, but they don't hurt as much. She's strong, Liz, and she got through it with time." I stared at her for a couple of moments, realising that I wasn't speaking about Elena, but about Caroline.
Liz stared back at me for several moments, her mouth slightly open and the tip of her nose red. She looked away and inhaled deeply, pulling out her cellphone from her pocket. "I'm going to call Elena," she said as she dialled. The phone rang several times, then went straight to voicemail.
"I'll do it," Damon sighed, pulling out his phone.
Liz nodded, then walked out of the room. I stared after her, biting my lower lip and knowing that I screwed up by unknowingly speaking about what would happen after she was gone. Instead of standing in the office and listening to Damon speak to Elena, I followed after her. She stood in front of the coffee maker, a disposable cup in her hand as she poured some sugar in.
"I'm sorry," I quickly said, pressing my hands together in front of me. "I shouldn't have..."
"You're right," she broke in, turning to me with a pained smile. "Clara, you're right. It's going to hurt Caroline at first, but then it'll get better with time. I just can't get through the fact that I'm..."
"Yeah," I interrupted. I didn't want to hear the words that would leave her mouth: I'm dying. "But, we will all be there with her. She won't be alone, not even when she pleads to be alone. Whatever she asks me to do, I'll do it—I promise."
Liz smiled and nodded, glancing down to the cup of coffee in her hand. "Let's get my mind off of this topic, 'kay?" She looked up and took a deep breath, her face still red from the pushed-back pain. "What's happening between you and Stefan?"
"What?"
"I noticed," she pointed out. "Clara, you visited almost every day I was in the hospital, and Stefan would tag along. You two are distant, so what's happening between the two of you?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "We're distant," I simply said. "We've been distant for months." I glanced down at my hands and smiled, softly, as if my lips couldn't spread any wider. "You know that he disappeared for months, and Caroline and I went to find him. The only reason he came back was because Enzo killed a friend—I still think she was more than just a friend, by the way, and turned her into a vampire. He was going to drop her on us and then skip town, again. If Damon hadn't returned, he wouldn't be here, and I would still be miserable wondering where he was and if he was fine." A soft laugh escaped my lips, pained and barely there. "He said he loved me, but I'm sure you don't make the person you love miserable and call that love."
"End it," she said with a small smile. "Clara, you deserve happiness. If he's not making you happy, then end it. Find someone else who makes you smile, someone who would call when they disappeared for months on end." She chuckled and shook her head, her eyes moving behind me. "Find someone who you know just as much as they know you." Her eyes landed back on me and she smiled.
"Elena's here." Damon's voice came from behind me. I turned to see him standing there, his head slightly leaned back as he slightly pursed his lips. It was the face he did whenever he was deep in thought, or whenever he was wondering about something that needed time.
"Come on, then," Liz breathed. "Let's close my last case."
Elena was in her office, her eyes darting from picture to picture. Her fingers brushed against each of them as her brows furrowed, her mouth slightly open. When Liz asked her about the change of route, she looked up and shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly, I don't remember why we took that route home, and I had no idea that there was luggage in the trunk."
"What about the lack of skid marks?" Liz questioned. "Any reason why your dad would just drive off the road like he was trying to avoid something without braking?"
"I was texting with Bonnie when it happened," she said with a soft smile. "Embarrassing, I know."
"What about the voicemail?" I asked.
"I wasn't home that night," she said as she shook her head. She stopped and looked at Liz. "You really think there's something up with my parents' crash?"
"I don't know, but given the way this town works, I wouldn't be surprised," she said. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Elena. I know I should've brought this up sooner, but in those first few weeks after your parents died, I..."
"No, you took care of Jeremy and I." Elena laid a hand on top of Liz's. "I remember. Poor Jenna was trying and failing, but you let us stay at your place. You took us to school, made us dinner."
"Wait," Damon spoke up. "You cook?"
"You really tried," Elena laughed.
Liz laughed too, a big grin on her lips. It brightened her appearance, making her look a bit more happy.
"I'll see if Jeremy knows anything," Elena said as she stood. She went towards Damon, laying a hand on his shoulder and kissing him.
I looked away, turning to Liz. She opened a file and looked through it, the smile she had on her lips fading. Her eyes closed and her lips went to a straight line, her body slightly swaying. She held herself up by pressing both hands against the desk.
"Are you okay?" I asked as I grabbed her by the arm, holding her up.
She raised a hand and nodded. "I'm good," she breathed.
"Are you sure?" Damon asked, taking a stand to the other side.
Again, she nodded. "I'm fine." She leaned slightly against the two of us. I noticed that the hold of her hand had diminished, slightly shaking as she held herself up. From her hand, I looked up at her face. She was pale, and tiredness was evident on her.
"I think you need to take a seat," Damon said as he pulled her back on the chair. He leaned in front of her, staring up at her face. "Do you need anything?"
"Water would be fine," she said, giving him a small smile. When he walked out, she took a deep breath and chuckled. "You're lucky you never get to experience this, Clara."
I shook my head. "Immortality is not that great," I said. "Really, it isn't. In fact, it's pretty lonely."
"No," she said. "Other than helping Caroline, I want you to promise me something else."
"Anything."
"I want you to stop pushing people away," she said, softly, a smile on her lips. "I want you to promise me that you're going to live your life happy, without pushing those that care about you away."
I stared at her and bit my bottom lip, the back of my throat aching. "Okay," I said, my voice breaking. "Yeah, I'll promise you that. I mean, how hard can that be?"
"It'll be hard," she said, "but I know you can go through with it. You've gone through a lot, so this should be easy."
"Let's not talk about this," I said as I stood. I began to grab the files and piling them, putting each into their destined box. "You're talking as if you're going to die today, Liz. I'm sorry to tell you but you have a long time until that happens."
She chuckled and stood, grabbing the files as well. "When you're close to death, you get philosophical."
Damon walked in with the water at that moment. After he handed it to Liz, he helped us put the files in the boxes and take them out of the office. In an hour, the sky had darkened and the office was empty. All that was left was the desk and a lamp, Liz sitting on it as she read one last thing.
Damon walked in, pushing his phone to his pocket. He had stepped out when Elena called. "So, the message was a joke," he said as he took a seat in one of the chairs by the corner. "Miranda wanted you to bust Jeremy for smoking pot."
"Well, what about everything else?" she questioned. "I mean, the route, the skid marks? What about the luggage?"
"There was a storm the day before," Damon said. "Jeremy's dad was planning a secret trip to their lake house, and the storm rained them out."
"The storm," she repeated, realisation lighting her features. "The storm that dropped a power line across Old Miller Road, explaining why they took Wickery Bridge, which had a drainage issue before its renovation, meaning the road was probably still slick."
"Slick roads," Damon said, nodding, "no skid marks."
"The storm, that was the reason. Mystery solved." She closed the file and exhaled. "Clara, would you mind calling Caroline and telling her that she can surprise me tomorrow? I'm not really feeling up to it tonight."
"Yeah," I nodded. "Absolutely."
"I'll go get the car," Damon said, standing. He gave me a look, motioning to the door with his eyes.
I walked out with him, calling Caroline in the meanwhile. She answered after the second ring, her tone as happy as it could be. When I told her what Liz said, her tone died down. I knew her well enough to know that she was making herself sound okay, which made me feel terrible. When the conversation ended, I turned to Damon. "She's getting worse," I said.
He nodded. "I already told Elena," he said as he motioned to the phone on his hand.
"We should keep an eye on her," I said, glancing back to the building. "I'll stay with her tonight."
"I'll stay, too," he said. "Two pair of eyes is better than just one, Clara." He spoke slowly, as if he wanted to say something else about the situation but decided not to.
Once we got the car and drove to the station, I made Liz sit up front while I sat in the back. I kept an eye on her, seeing how she kept her eyes out the window, staring intently. It was as if she were trying to memorise the town, each thing that passed by her. When we arrived at the house, she lingered outside with her eyes at the house, a small smile on her lips.
Once she got changed, Damon tucked her in. I watched him with a bit of awe, an image of a child replacing Liz and the room quickly changing. I had to blink several times and focus on the now, on Liz sitting on the bed and Damon making her smile. They were having a heartfelt conversation, so I stepped out and went to the kitchen. Even though I stood there, I could hear Liz crying. She spoke about her family, about how she was ordinary and Caroline was extraordinary, and she needed to know that.
I swallowed back my tears and stared at the kitchen counters, focusing on the colours. As I heard the conversation between Damon and Liz, I realised that he too thought of her as a mother figure. It pained my heart.
When Liz asked for the drink he had offered her at her office, that was when I went back to the bedroom. Damon was smiling down her, his hand still on hers.
"Yeah?" He stood and walked over to me, still smiling. "I'll be right back. Want rocks, or you want neat?" There wasn't an answer, which caused the smile he had on his lips to disappear.
I pushed by him and sped towards her, laying my hands on her shoulders. "Liz?" I called her name several times, shook her, waited for her to open her eyes. "Liz, come on, open your eyes. Liz, please!" I turned to Damon, eyes wide and tears falling freely. "Damon, I can't wake her up!"
"Hospital, now!" He picked up Liz and hurried to the car. I sat in the back with her, trying to wake her up at the same time I called Caroline. My voice was full of panic, words barely understandable because of the crying.
Once we got to the hospital, they rushed around her. I was about to go in with her, but a nurse pushed me back. I stared at the closed doors, my hands trembling and my eyes wide and the constant beeping ringing in my ears. Damon stood besides me, his shoulder pressed to mine, hands brushing against each other.
A doctor came out twenty minutes later, ruling that she was in a coma and the only thing they could do was make her comfortable. Damon spoke to him while I just stood there, watching as they took her to a room. I followed until I was at the doorway of the room, and stared. I wondered if my mother would have been like that when she died of consumption all those many years ago.
"She's gone," I softly said when I felt a presence besides me. "She's gone, isn't she?"
"She's stable," Damon said, his voice breaking.
I sucked in a breath to stop myself from crying, but it sounded as if I choked. "How long does she have?"
"Not long."
"She needs longer." I looked up at him. "Caroline's not here yet. S-she can't..." I tried to finish the sentence, but I ended up crying instead. I had experienced Liz dying once, and it had ruined me. This was the second time, the truest one, and I knew that I wasn't going to be the same afterwards.
When I heard Caroline's voice, I walked out the room and stood there. Then, I called to her.
She turned and stared at me. "Clara," she breathed. "Damon."
"She fell asleep," Damon began to explain, his voice soft and broken. "We couldn't wake her up. They said she slipped into a coma. They said they can make her comfortable."
Caroline pushed by us and went to the room. I heard the exact moment her world shattered; the intake of breath, the almost-relaxed slump of the shoulders, and then the pained whimper. Her sobs echoed around me, making me feel pained and more determined to help her through the inevitable. I turned and walked to the room, but stayed outside and looked in from the window. She sat on the bed, her eyes not leaving her mother.
"Hey," a soft voice said besides me. Stefan stood there, his phone to his hand.
"Hi." It was all I could say, all that came out of my mouth.
"Clara," he breathed, "we need to talk. About us."
"You have terrible timing," I mumbled. "But, yeah, we do. Just, not now. Now right now."
Thankfully, Damon walked in. He stood to my other side, his eyes focused on Liz.
"What'd the doctors say?" Stefan asked.
"She's stable, but, you know."
"How much longer?"
"Not long. The hospital says she has a DNR, so..." He sighed and turned. "I'm gonna get some air."
I didn't know how much time passed, but I stood there and just stared. It was as if my feet didn't want to move, as if I were paralysed. I wanted to walk in to the room, hug Caroline, and tell her that I would be there for her, but I couldn't move. "I can't..." I breathed, taking a step back. "I can't go in there." I turned to Stefan and pointed inside the room with my chin. "Help her, please."
Stefan stared at me for several seconds, but nodded and walked in.
I walked out of the hospital, and took a deep breath once I stood outside. The fresh air was cold, like a gentle caress that wiped away the tears that continued to fall down my cheeks. Even though I wasn't crying, they fell, and fell, and I couldn't stop them. I sat down in one of the benches, let my hands fall on top of my lap, and stared at nothing. My mind raced with every thought that it could possibly have: I needed to be there for Caroline, I needed to be in that room, I needed to speak go to Stefan, I needed to keep my promise. Then, I thought of myself as stupid for having problems with my love life while Caroline was losing her mother.
A scoff escaped my lips and I pressed my hands to face, a groan escaping afterwards.
"I know," a soft voice came from besides me. "I feel the same way."
I pulled my hands from my face to face him. "I just can't... I don't want to believe that Liz is gone, Damon."
He sucked in a breath and nodded. "Me neither," he said as he leaned back. "Me neither, honey." He sat close to me, shoulders and arms pressed together. If I let my hand fall to my side, I would be grabbing his. We stayed there, like that, for what seemed a long time. It was actually minutes, but in those minutes I decided to that I was going to be strong for Caroline, because she was family and she needed me the most. My love life could wait, because family came first.
In the small amount of silence we had outside of the Mystic Falls Hospital, Damon and I remembered Liz Forbes. No words were exchanged, but we reminisced about her. A mother that had taken care of us, a friend that was there to hear and give opinions, a sheriff that protected the town from the normal and the supernatural.
"We should go back in," Damon said, standing. He reached his hand down to me, a barely-there smile on his lips. When I grabbed his hand, he gave it a gentle squeeze and pulled me with him. Inside, as soon as Elena appeared, he let go of my hand. Matt stood with her, eyes red.
It was as if we were all waiting for the worse. When it came, when the constant beep echoed around us, we walked inside the room in silence. Liz looked peaceful, as if she were asleep with a small smile. A good dream. Besides her, Caroline sobbed, her shoulders shaking with each intake and outtake of breath. She turned back to us, nose and cheeks red as tears fell, and shook her head. "She's gone," she sobbed.
a/n: ya'll, there's going to be a third book.
this is going to be a trilogy, and the third book will be called darkling.
should i make it when caroline turns off her humanity or at the season finale?