...

When you and Damon talk things out,,,
Warnings deep angst and sadness, feelings

Gracie
Gracie Atwood never imagined that the small town of Mystic Falls would become a place that haunted her every waking moment. It wasn't the town's strange, dark history that kept her up at night, but rather the man who had wormed his way into her life with a reckless, intoxicating kind of charm. Damon Salvatore.

It had all started innocently enough, or at least, she had thought so. But when you're drawn into the lives of the Salvatores, innocence is a fleeting concept. Damon's unpredictable moods, his sharp wit, and those eyes—those eyes that could make her feel as though he was peering straight into her soul—had ensnared her in ways she couldn't explain. And it wasn't just his piercing gaze that made her heart race, it was the way he made her feel both alive and utterly broken at the same time.

Tonight, Gracie stood at the edge of the Salvatore mansion's balcony, the wind tugging at her hair as she stared out into the dark forest beyond. The sun had long since set, casting the world in shades of midnight. She had come here to escape, to think, but the weight of her thoughts pressed on her chest, suffocating her.

She had seen Damon earlier that evening—his usual half-grin in place, but there was something more there, a weariness in his posture, a quiet sadness in the way his lips lingered over a word.

"What are you thinking about, Gracie?" he had asked, his voice low, almost too soft.

She had wanted to say nothing, to brush him off, but the honesty in his gaze kept her from turning away. Instead, she had asked the one question that had been plaguing her mind for weeks.

"What's it like, Damon? To live forever?"

The question had hung between them, awkward, heavy. Damon had looked away, his face twisting in an unreadable expression.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," he had replied, a slight bitterness threading through his words. "Immortality sounds appealing until you've lived it for a century or two. Or three."

Gracie had seen the flicker of something in his eyes—pain, perhaps, buried deep beneath layers of indifference. She knew that Damon wasn't someone who wore his vulnerabilities openly, but she also knew him well enough to see through the mask he had carefully constructed.

Now, standing alone in the dark, Gracie couldn't help but feel the ache of those words gnawing at her. What did it mean to be in love with someone like Damon? A man who had lived for centuries, who had seen countless people come and go, whose heart had been shattered so many times that it no longer seemed capable of repair?

Her heart ached for him. She had never wanted to love him, not really. She had told herself that she was strong enough to resist him, to walk away. But how could she? How could anyone resist someone who had the power to make you feel like you were the center of his world one moment, and then leave you to drown in your own loneliness the next?

The sound of footsteps echoed behind her, and Gracie's heart stuttered. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Gracie," Damon's voice was rough, his usual smoothness tinged with something raw. She didn't turn to face him immediately, afraid of what she might see if she did. But when she finally did, her breath caught in her throat.

Damon stood a few feet away, his expression unreadable, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his leather jacket. The faint moonlight caught the contours of his face, casting shadows that seemed to deepen the sorrow that always seemed to linger in his eyes.

"You shouldn't be out here alone," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Especially not after... everything."

Gracie swallowed hard, the weight of his words settling over her like a blanket of guilt. He was right. Everything had changed in the last few months. Since that night—the night he had kissed her for the first time—it felt like her life had been torn in two. She couldn't go back to who she had been before, not after the way Damon had made her feel.

But at the same time, she couldn't move forward with him. Not when the love he offered was as fractured as the man himself.

"What are we doing, Damon?" Gracie's voice cracked as she spoke, the vulnerability slipping out before she could stop it. "I don't know how to keep doing this. Every time I think I understand you, every time I think I've figured you out... you change."

Damon's eyes darkened, and for a moment, he looked like the man she feared, the one who could tear her apart without a second thought. But then the cold mask melted away, and he stepped forward, closing the distance between them.

"I don't want to hurt you, Gracie," he said, his voice low and earnest. "You think I'm a monster, but I swear to you, I'm not."

Gracie shook her head, tears threatening to spill over. "I never said you were a monster," she whispered, her voice trembling. "But you're... so broken, Damon. And I don't know how much of me is left to give you anymore."

He reached out, gently cupping her face in his hands, his thumb brushing away a tear that had escaped. His touch was tender, almost too tender for the man she knew to be capable of such softness.

"I'm not asking for you to fix me, Gracie," Damon said quietly. "But I need you. You're the only thing in this world that makes me feel... anything."

Gracie closed her eyes, unable to hold his gaze any longer. She had heard those words from him before—had heard them, but never truly believed them. Not when his past haunted him so relentlessly, when every inch of his being screamed that he didn't deserve love.

"I can't fix you," she whispered, the words breaking her heart as they left her lips. "And I don't know if you can fix me, either."

For a moment, the silence between them was deafening. Damon's hand fell from her face, and he stepped back, his expression conflicted.

"I know," he said quietly, as if the admission had cost him everything. "But I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to stay."

And that, right there, was the crux of it. He wanted her to stay. But Gracie had no idea if she could. She was already drowning in the depths of her own feelings for him, and the more she allowed herself to fall, the more she feared she'd never be able to claw her way back to the surface.

But Damon Salvatore was nothing if not persistent. And in that moment, Gracie realized with a sinking certainty that no matter how much she wanted to run, no matter how badly she wanted to protect herself, she was already too far gone.

Ava's notes
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New imagineeee
Another one!!
How do we feel after this...?
Justice for Gracie literally again
Also I encourage you all to request whichever charachters you would love to see!

Lmk if you ever want part twos

Another oneshot is hereee... hope you love it
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