❛ ACT I ❜
-ˋˏ chapter six ˎˊ-

CAROLINE FORBES smiled sheepishly at the brunette vampire across from her, nervously playing with her charm bracelet on her wrist as Sofia stared her down.

They were seated in a booth at the Grill, catching up and Caroline revealed that she stayed with Tyler Lockwood during his transformation the previous night. Including the fact that she almost got bit and that didn't fly well with Sofia.

"I can not believe you didn't call me Caroline. I would have dropped everything and come to help you, you know that. I know you care about Tyler about he's a werewolf. One bite from him and you die." Sofia scolded the blonde making her sigh.

"I didn't call you because I knew you would go all overprotective on me and give me that look you give when you scold." Sofia stared at her. "See! That look!" Caroline defended before taking a sip from her milkshake.

Sofia sighed "You could've died, Care. Werewolves are temperamental and violent when they transform, they don't know the difference between their friends and their prey."

Caroline huffed in defeat. "Okay! But you weren't there Sofie. Tyler looked vulnerable and he was in so much pain." Caroline looked down in sadnnes, obviously she cared for him.

Sofia nodded slowly and grabbed Caroline's hand, making the blonde meet her eyes. "I know, and I also know that you will do it again because you want to help him. Just, promise me next time if it gets too much you will call me, please?"

Caroline nodded at her, glad Sofia wasn't mad anymore. "I swear! You're already on my emergency contacts."

"Good." Sofia winked playfully to lighten the mood and Caroline smiled. "I'll be back, I just need a drink."

Sofia ordered a glass of bourbon and payed the bartender before making her way back to their booth. Caroline raised her eyebrow. "Day drinking? Something is bugging you if you're following Damon's habits."

Sofia chuckled at her words before taking a large gulp from the drink. "You're not wrong." She exhaled loudly.

Caroline nudged Sofia's foot with her own under the table. "Tell me."

The older vampire nibbled on her bottom lip in hesitance before giving in. "Okay, so is it okay to, I don't know, find yourself attracted to someone you're not supposed to be attracted to at all? Especially if they are powerful and can easily kill your friends and family?" She rushed out in one breath before taking the last gulp from her drink.

Caroline's eyes widen at how fast Sofia spoke before blinking and finally saying something."Depends, how attractive are we talking? Edward Cullen or Jacob Black?"

Sofia shook her head. "Better."

Caroline's jaw dropped. "Better than Edward Cullen?!"

She nodded before covering her face with her hands shamefully. "And he wears a suit."

She heard Caroline gasp dramatically. "But suits are your weakness!"

"I know!" Sofia groaned in her hands, picturing Elijah standing in front of her with his suit and good looks.

"Wait." Caroline moved Sofia's hands away from her face. "Are you talking about Elijah?" She asked slowly, remembering when Elena mentioned him.

Sofia pouted her lip and nodded with a wince and Caroline dropped her wrists and squealed. "Oh my God! This is just like a romance novel."

Sofia raised an eyebrow and slumped back into the seat with a frown. "What?"

Caroline excitingly tapped the table with her hands. "It is! You, the stubborn girl who rejects her feelings and him, the handsome gentleman who won't stop until she gives in! Ugh I'm jealous!"

Sofia shook her head at the girl's words and stood up to leave, ignoring the ideas that Caroline shot at her. "Nope, I'm not hearing anything!"

The brunette rushed out of the Grill but she can still hear Caroline squealing. Sofia rolled her eyes and massaged her temples with her fingers. "Snap out of it Sofia." She whispered to herself.

Before the Gilbert could open her car door her phone rang. She let it ring until she was seated in the car before picking up when she saw Damon's name. "Hey." She greeted tiredly and reversed out of her parking with the phone in the passenger seat.

"Hey Sofia."

Sofia's eyebrows furrowed at the use of her full name; something is wrong. "What's wrong? " She questioned in concern.

"Rose-uh, Rose got bit." His voice held sorrow, something Damon never showed.

Sofia cringed, her brain not letting the words sink in. "You bit her? Damon, I don't want to know about your weird sexual turn ons you two have. I know you're new to this best friend thing but normally, friends don't share -"

"What? Sofia, no I meant she was bit last night by that stupid werewolf friend of Mason's."

Sofia's eyes widen and she harshly stepped on the brake pedal in the middle of turning a corner. "What?!"

"It's looking bad Sof, and we both know there's no -"

" There's no cure." Sofia closed her eyes and bowed her head.

Over the past few days, Sofia had grown a liking to Rose and vice versa. Rose wasn't what Sofia first thought she was. The older vampire was fun and kind once you got past her walls. Sofia did get past them and considered Rose a friend.

A friend she's going to lose.

Letting out a shaky breath. Sofia quickly started driving again but with more speed and in a different direction. "I'm coming over."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Sofia shut the large door of the Salvatore Boarding House and quickly made her way to the library where she could hear Damon and Rose talking. When she passed the stairs, she noticed Elena descending them. "What are you doing here?"

Elena shrugged. "Stefan."

The two sisters entered the large library and saw Rose seated on the couch by the fire with Damon sitting in the arm of the couch with a glass of blood. But what made Sofia's heart drop was the gruesome bite mark on Rose's back.

"How is it?" The accented vampire asked, not realizing the sisters were behind them.

Damon winced. "Definitely better." His tone was anything but convincing. "Right girls?" He turned to look at them before Rose looked as well.

Elena gripped her bag tighter, eyes glued to the bite. "Uh, it's not bad."

"Oh yeah, it's healing nicely." Sofia tried to sound honest, but Rose saw right through them.

"Where's Stefan?" Damon changed the topic.

Sofia ignored their conversation and reached into her back pocket for the chocolate bar she bought on the way. She sat next to Rose and offered the treat with a smile. "Here, chocolate always helps."

Rose looked pale and weak, bags forming under her now dull eyes. Her wound wasn't looking good and it was painful from how Rose tried to mask it. The pixie cut vampire smiled. "Thank you, I can't remember the last time I had chocolate."

"Bambi." Damon called her and Sofia turned away from Rose to her friend. "Can you stay here and look after Rose for a bit?"

"It's not necessary." Rose looked apologetic towards Sofia but the brunette shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I like taking care of people." Sofia smiled.

Damon clapped his hands. "See? She's a do-gooder. She can't resist."

Damon and Elena left the room and Sofia gave Rose one last smile before following them. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She asked the raven-haired Salvatore once they were in the foyer.

Damon rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, you're right. I should have run to the phone while Rose was bleeding out and in pain." He replied sarcastically, receiving an eye roll from the girl.

"Damon." Elena said softly. "Is she going to die?"

Damon shrugged. "Probably."

Sofia slapped his arm and glared at them both. "Are you two stupid? She can hear you so stop being so negative."

"Her senses are affected; the wolf bite caused some kind of infection and it's getting worse." Damon reassured but it only made Sofia feel worse for Rose.

"Like poison?" Her sister asked.

Damon lips formed a line in mild irritation. "I don't know Elena. I'm not an expert in the field."

"I'm sorry." Elena sympathized, seeing how much this affected Damon.

He scoffed. "Death happens. We come and we go. Sooner she dies the better. It's gloomy as hell in here."

Damon walked towards the door and Sofia followed him and stopped him from leaving. "Damon." She said seriously, eyes staring into his cold ones.

Damon thought that he could act like he didn't care and hide how much Rose dying was hurting him. But he forgot Sofia read him well. He acts cold and nonchalant to put up a mask to hide the fact that he cares.

"Sofia." Damon said with a bit of venom, more annoyed now that Sofia saw through his act.

"Don't act like this Damon, it will make it harder to let her go later. And we both know she won't make it until tomorrow." Sofia said in a soft tone, grabbing his hand in both of hers.

Damon looked down and sighed before pulling away and opening the door." I'll be back before dark. "

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Sofia walked into Damon's bedroom, where Rose rested, with a bowl of ice water and a cloth. "This will help make you more comfortable."

Sofia drenched the cloth in the cold water and twisting it to get rid of the rest before placing the folded cloth on Rose's heated forehead. She was complaining about how her body's temperature was high.

Rose let out a satisfied sigh that turned into a slight cough. "You know what you are doing, don't you?" Rose said knowingly.

Sofia nodded and sat next to Rose on Damon's bed. "I have two younger siblings and whenever our parents would be out of town, they would get the flu or something. I was the only one who could look after them."

Rose closed her eyes and patted Sofia's knee that was propped up on the blankets. "You're a good big sister, Sofie."

The Gilbert smiled at the compliment and soaked the cloth in the water again and repeated the process, wiping away the thin layer of sweat from Rose's skin.

"I try my best but sometimes being the oldest sucks." Sofia admitted honestly, remembering all the times she felt like she was a bad sister or times when her siblings blamed her for things out of her control. Naturally as the oldest, they turn to her for solutions and comfort but before Jenna, Sofia had no one older to do the same for her.

Her parents loved her deeply, but Sofia matured faster than Elena and Jeremy, growing more into adulthood, so they didn't fuss over her as much as them.

Rose opened her eyes tiredly and Sofia moved so Rose's head rested in her lap, running her fingers through her short hair to make her fall asleep. "I want to tell you about Elijah." She mummed weakly.

"Not now, you need to rest Rose." Sofia insisted, despite wanting to know.

Rose ignored her words, determined to finally tell her. "No, you deserve to know how powerful this can be. It's a connection -" Rose cut herself off as the bite sent a surge of pain through her veins, making her scream.

Sofia jumped, startled, before reaching to Damon's bedside table and handing Rose a glass of blood.

"Thank you." Rose gripped the glass and took a sip before abruptly throwing up the blood onto the silk white sheets. She coughed violently and Sofia sped to Damon's bathroom with the cloth to soak it in hot water for the sheets and Rose's face.

Sofia couldn't stop her eyes from glazing with tears that she wouldn't let fall as she turned the tap on swiftly. Rose needed to consume the blood to keep herself sane, so what happens now since her weak body is rejecting it?

Sofia heard a thump and squeezed the cloth before walking into the bedroom. She noticed the absence of Rose. "Rose?"

The brunette turned around and gasped as her back hit the wall harshly, Rose's arm plunged deep into her chest, hand gripping her heart. Sofia chocked in pain as Rose slightly pulled at the organ. "Rose! Stop!" She yelled desperately.

"It's all your fault Katerina. You Katerina, you did this!" Rose seethed, hallucinating the doppelgänger as she held Sofia's wrists in one hand, the other tempting to rip her heart out.

"Rose, please!" Sofia cried. "It's Sofia! You're hallucinating Katherine, I'm not her!" Sofia struggled to escape; Rose was stronger.

Rose's wild eyes widen in horror at her actions as she snapped out of it. The pixie haired vampire let Sofia's heart go and removed her hand from her chest, taking steps away from the Gilbert. "Oh my God. Sofia - I'm terribly sorry." Rose sobbed, clutching her stomach.

Sofia fell to the fall with a loud gasp of relief, letting the hole in her chest heal. Her eyes snapped to a crying Rose, pity consuming her despite the ache in her chest.

"I'm so sorry." Rose apologized, looking down at her bloody hand in guilt and shame.

"Rose, it's okay." Sofia got up and brought Rose into her arms, hoping to comfort the older vampire. Sofia didn't take Rose's actions personally; the vampire couldn't control it.

"My mind - I can't control my own mind." Rose stated in sadness once Sofia guided back to the bed.

"It was only for a second -"

"But I almost killed you."

Sofia frowned at the distant look in Rose's eyes. "You need to rest." She said softly

"I'm scared." Rose whimpered, her voice fragile as she clutched the blanket to her chest.

"You're not alone, I'm here." Sofia sat next to her and gently laid Rose onto the pillows.

"Here? Where's here?"

"In Damon's bedroom, with me." Sofia reassured her.

Rose closed her eyes in pain and shook her head. "I want to go home."

Sofia repeated the action of running her fingers through Rose's damp hair to calm her. "Tell me about it." She encouraged, wanting to distract Rose from her known fate.

"St. Austell, thirty kilometers south of London. With fields and trees and horses." Rose said softly, in a dream like state.

"It sounds breathtaking." Sofia hummed.

Rose opened her eyes, back to reality, her gentle smile falling into a frown.

"When you live long enough, everything disappears. So much time wasted, I just wish I wouldn't have been so afraid."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Sofia entered the bedroom with a clean white sheet in her grasp. "I brought a clean sheet."

Sofia's eyebrows furrow in concern when she didn't see Rose where she left her. She didn't leave the house; Sofia would have heard her.

Her body tensed when she inhaled the mouthwatering smell of a large amount of blood in the air. Her eyes snapped to the door and she followed the scent. Within seconds, Sofia was in the basement.

With fast advances, Sofia turned the corner leading to the cell and gasped at the sight. Rose was on the floor, empty blood bags littered carelessly around her. The older vampire snapped her head in Sofia's direction and snarled, blood covering her mouth. "Katerina!"

Sofia shook her head in fear of what Rose would do to her, especially now that she keeps seeing Katherine in her place. She sped back upstairs but before she could reach the foyer, Rose tackled her from behind and pinned her on the floor.

"Rose stop! You're hallucinating! I'm not Katherine!" Sofia grunted when Rose banged her head on the floor harshly.

"You traitor!" Rose hissed, venom lacing her tone.

Sofia quickly threw Rose off her before speeding towards her to snap her neck but Rose pushed past her and out the door.

"Shit." Sofia cursed and ran out the door to follow Rose's scent but large hands grabbed her arms and pulled her back inside. Sofia went to punch the person, but Damon's face came into her view. "Damon." Sofia gulped.

"Are you okay?" The Salvatore asked, seeing her scared and worried state. "Wait, where's Rose?" His blue eyes scanned the house but Sofia was already pulling him out the door by his sleeve.

"She attacked me and left! We need to find her."

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"Damon there she is!" Sofia's eyes widen and she was already running towards the scene with the Salvatore next to her.

They have been searching for Rose for twenty minutes before Liz Forbes called Damon about a vampire loose at the High school. The two immediately knew it was Rose and ran there just in time to stop the vampire from killing a girl.

"Rose stop!" Damon demanded as he pulled her off the crying and bleeding girl. Rose pushed at him and they fell to the ground in a struggle.

Sofia knew Damon could handle himself so she knelt down next to the bleeding girl and bit into her wrist, forcing the human to drink her blood for the bite to heal.

"You got really drunk and tripped over your own feet and hurt yourself. Now you're going home, forgetting that I spoke to you." Sofia compelled the teenager, irises dilating in sync with the younger girl.

The girl nodded slowly, got up and walked to her car.

Sofia exhaled and turned back to see Damon cradling a sobbing Rose in his arms, the most heart-breaking expression she's ever seen on his face as he knew what had to be done.

"Damon -"

"Let's go." He said coldly and ran back to the house.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Sofia and Rose were in the same position they always were in, Rose's head on her lap with the Gilbert calmly brushing her fingers through her hair. The silence was suffocating, both girls knew this was their last moment before Rose was relieved of the never-ending pain forever.

Sofia was utterly distraught. Her mind was telling her to say her quick goodbye and go home to rest, not thinking twice about her new friend. But her heart was telling her she could save Rose despite knowing damn well there wasn't a known cure for a werewolf bite.

She cared too much. That was her weaknesses, Sofia realized. She lets herself get attached and grow fond only to have it thrown in her face brutally as the truth comes to her. She met Rose a week ago and she let her guard down and started a friendship with the very vampire who was dying in her arms.

Sofia was sick of people dying.

"You're only hurting yourself more Sofia." Rose's hoarse voice said and the brunette didn't realize her eyes started to blur with tears.

"This isn't fair." She whispered, staring into Rose's dull and almost lifeless eyes with sadness. "You deserve a happy ending, not a sad one."

Rose coughed weakly before speaking again. "Not everyone gets a happy ending Sofia, no matter how much they deserve it. But I'm sorry Sof, I don't like taking human life, I never have." She said, referring to how she attacked that girl.

"You weren't in your own mind." Sofia sighed, hearing how Damon was muttering to himself downstairs, trying to talk himself into killing Rose.

"It's the worst part about it: the hunt, the need to kill, the thirst, the pleasure it brings you afterwards. I wasn't meant to be evil. It hurts."

Sofia shut her teary eyes at Rose's words, swallowing hard. She knew what Rose was talking about as that was what she felt when she turned. Over time she forced the predatory instincts that came with being immortal away and never let herself fully let go. That's why she drinks from blood bags, not humans, despite her instincts telling her to do the opposite.

"Then stop talking about it." Damon snapped in annoyance, entering his bedroom making Sofia exhale and open her eyes.

"Damon's a lot like me. He wants to care but when he does, he runs away from it." Rose told her like she wasn't the first person he did that too when he arrived in Mystic Falls.

"Oh, I know." Sofia sent Damon a pointed look.

"I'm sorry for what I've done today." Rose apologized again, only making the situation harder.

Sofia gave Damon a look as to tell him she needed to say goodbye. He stiffly nodded before leaving.

She cleared her throat. "You've apologized enough, you didn't kill her." Sofia soothed the dying vampire.

Rose looked up and met Sofia's gentle orbs. "You must have one of the kindest hearts, Sofia Gilbert. You need to hold onto that and fight. I know you're scared but you're also strong, you'll get through this." Rose smiled softly at her; her skin paler than ever.

Sofia understood that Rose was talking about Klaus but they didn't need to talk about that in her last moments.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you Rose." Sofia's voice cracked, the tears returning as she hugged her with so much affection, Rose felt loved after so many centuries.

Rose weakly smiled at Sofia. "It's been a pleasure knowing you Sofie. You showed me friendship and care, thank you."

Rose knew what was coming and she wanted the pain to end. At least she died knowing someone cared for her.

Sofia felt that familiar sting in her chest that occurred last when Liz told her about her parents. She let out a small sob and got up from the bed, lying Rose gently down. She gave her friend one last hug. "Goodbye Rose."

Then Sofia Gilbert left in tears, not being able to take another person dying in front of her.

That night felt like forever. Sofia sat on the couch downstairs, waiting for Damon whilst wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Rose's death was bringing up the old emotions in Sofia but she didn't want to leave just yet.

She needed to know Damon was okay.

She stood up when Damon came downstairs, not sparing her a glance. "You need to leave Sofia." His voice was hard and cold, failing at hiding the heartbreak in them.

Sofia didn't say anything and walked towards him to stand in front of him. Damon refused to meet her eyes until Sofia cupped his jaw to move his head to face her. His eyes showed anger and sorrow, a single tear track on his cheek.

She knew he wouldn't initiate it so Sofia wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him tightly, he needed it, no matter how much he denies it. "I'm sorry." Her weak voice broke the heavy silence, shutting her eyes.

Damon slowly returned the hug and squeezed her even tighter after a few seconds, letting a few silent tears fall as his best friend held him.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This chapter made me so sad, especially after I watched the episode. Rose's death definitely hit hard and Damon was sweet when he showed her, her home before killing her :(

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