❝torturous wait❞

DAMON DROPS THE NOTE LIKE IT'S BURNED HIM, HIS BREATH STALLED IN HIS CHEST. Disbelief rattles him as his brain tries to conjure every bit of rationality he might have left in him. Any excuse would suffice to calm the sudden hope he'd not allowed himself to feel for the past century and a half.

He'd spent the better half of his eternal life convincing himself there was no possible way, and yet there was proof in his trembling hand, right before his eyes.

He sets the note down on the table with a shuddering sigh that no one elses takes notice of, and exchanges it for the vial of blood that had been left with it.

He can feel Elena's eyes on his back, but he just uncorks the vial and turns to Rose. "Drink this," She looks up at him through dazed eyes and he urges it towards her dry, cracked lips. "Trust me on this one, yeah?"

She nods quietly and he pours the blood into her mouth, watching her grimace through her sore throat before she swallows it.

Damon takes a step back as Rose sighs, blinking rapidly as a sudden energy bursts through her. Her hand goes to her heart and she sits up in bed quickly, pushing herself to her knees and out from under the sheets.

She turns her bare shoulder towards Damon, breathing recklessly in relief and his hand pats the bare skin there with a half-smile on his face. "What'd I tell you? Good as new,"

Elena gasps at the sight of Rose's unmarred skin, healed from the fatal bite, and Damon shifts Rose on the bed with a slight nudge. The older vampire looks at him, relief and gratitude shining in her eyes.

"I'm alright," Rose nods to herself before lunging at Damon, encasing him in a hug that conveys every bit of emotion she was feeling at the moment.

Damon pats her lightly before pulling back from her, a small yet genuine smile on his face. "There's, uh, one more present for you, Rosebud." He grabs the daylight ring off his table and holds it in front of her, watching a tear skid down her cheek as recognition hits her.

"A daylight ring?" Her voice is thick through concealed sobs, and he nods in silent confirmation. She slides the lapis lazuli ring over her finger and clasps her hands gratefully as she tries to contain her sheer happiness.

Rose looks up at him, curiosity shining through her tears. "Who did this? Why would they–"

Damon shrugs her questions off, still hyper-aware of Elena's presence in the room. "I'm looking at it like a homecoming present. And, uh, a reminder that I should try to keep my first friend in a hundred years alive."

Rose chuckles, looking to Elena who's in silent awe at the entire situation. "I owe you my life, Damon. And whoever did this for you, for me. What could I possibly do to thank them?"

He smiles, more to himself than her and looks to the neatly written note on his side table. "You can tell her when she gets here,"

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His disbelief swept into every inch of his being. Through his bloodstream, into his undead heart, into his brain. He'd convinced himself over the years that what's done was done. His wife was dead at his father's hand, at Katherine's word. He was no longer in denial about it, of that he was sure.

But from where he sits on the edge of his bed, the handwritten note still clenched between his fingers, he wonders if it's all some sort of joke. He brushes his thumb over the letters again, hoping he'll summon her somehow, or get some sort of confirmation that it is real.

It could all just be his mind playing deceitful tricks on him. It wouldn't be the first time, just the first time in a while. But he knows that it's not just some cruel trick. No, if it weren't real, Rose wouldn't be downstairs celebrating her new life. Her third chance at freedom, all because of her.

Her. His wife, his Rosemary. Lingering in the shadows this whole time.

Had he been so blind to her presence? From what little she wrote, she spoke as if she'd been keeping track of him through the years but he'd never even looked for her.

Through the pain he suffered of losing her in 1864, he had accepted his fate once Stefan turned him. He was doomed to live an immortal life without his wife, and without his brother.

He never looked for her. Could they have been together already had he tried to? Could he have prevented himself decades of heartache and misery if he just looked over his shoulder any time he felt a lingering stare?

The questions float around his mind, and his grip tightens on the note before he stands and walks over to his mantle again.

He drags his thumb across her face, swiping through the dust as the memory hits him. It felt like just last week, they'd gotten married in the small chapel in the beginnings of Mystic Falls, their friends and family surrounding them. The picture had been taken for free, in the spirit of love and celebration. The photographer had insisted, and had told them they'd regret not immortalizing the moment in time.

Damon hadn't known how right the man had been that day, for the memory was forever ingrained in his mind, the photo serving as the perfect time capsule to his painful past.

He smiles to himself. To Rosemary, frozen in a time where the world felt like their oyster.

"I got it," He mutters, looking at his wife's unmoving eyes. "I got the message, Ro. I'll see you soon."

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Elijah leaves the tomb, quickly exiting the forest back into civilization once again. He pulls his phone from his pocket as it begins to ring and he rolls his eyes at the paranoid instincts of his brother.

"Did you get it done?"

He rolls his eyes at the less-than polite greeting. "I did. She trusts me now."

"Oh, goody. The precious doppelgänger trusts the Original vampire. How poetic."

"I am a man of my word, Niklaus, you know that,"

His brother huffs on the other line. "And what did you promise her?"

Elijah stops before he crosses the street, smirking to himself. "I told her I'd keep her friends safe. I am going to do just that."

Klaus's eye roll is practically audible through the phone and Elijah resists one of his own at his brother's childish manner. "What of Rosemary?" He questions, shifting in his stance where he stands on the sidewalk in the middle of Mystic Falls.

"She's ready to be reunited with her long lost husband, of course. She's become rather snarky, though I have no idea why,"

Elijah hears something crash in the background, and then Klaus's cry of how old the now-broken vase was. A female voice chimes in, audibly annoyed and fed up with Klaus's behavior. "Fuck your vase! I've been married longer than you've had that thing!"

Elijah huffs a barely concealed laugh, wiping his hand down his face exasperatedly.

"Elijah, she broke my vase!" Niklaus cries petulantly through the phone, and he stifles more laughter at the interaction.

"You deserve this, brother,"

He hangs up before Klaus can retort something antagonistic back to him, and his eyes flutter across the street where Damon is entering the Mystic Grill with a heavy glare on his face. Elijah rolls his shoulders and crosses the street, entering the pub just a moment after Damon.

He seeks the vampire out and sits down across from him, a smirk in place where Damon has a glare.

Damon gives him a bitter smile and swallows the rest of his drink down before he speaks. "So were any of you Original dickwads going to tell me that my wife is alive?"

"No." Elijah shrugs carelessly, watching Damon's ire grow at his bluntness.

"So you're telling me that I've known you and your family for nearly fifty years, and all this time you knew Rosemary was alive?" Damon fixes him with an accusing glare and Elijah mentally rolls his eyes.

"We didn't tell you because it wasn't safe for her to be with you,"

"And it is now because...?"

"Because my brother is going to kill Katherine," Elijah clasps his hands on the table, and watches Damon's argument dissipate entirely in the wake of his words. "I promised Rosemary I'd let her explain everything, but just know that it hasn't been safe for your wife to find you since she was turned. Even though she was running from Klaus, Katherine had people working for her to find your wife and,"

He gestured vaguely before settling his hands back on the table. "Finish the job, so to speak. I'm sure she had delusions of what would happen with you afterwards, but my family has kept Rosemary safe over the years." 

Damon frowned, his knee bouncing anxiously beneath the table. He knew the Mikaelsons well enough to know that they didn't do much for free, so it only brought more questions to light. "Why would you do that for her?"

Elijah sighed, smiling slightly. "Rebekah found Rosemary wandering in the woods near Mystic Falls, and immediately knew she'd been turned. She helped her finish the transition, and go after a few of those hunters that came after her, and they became close rather quickly. Rebekah's always been a bit obsessive about things, and Rosemary has helped balance her out over the years."

Damon was only glad to hear that she hadn't spent her days lonely and miserable like he had. 

"She was distant from all of us for a long while in the beginning," Elijah spoke, knowing Damon was listening to every word he spoke. "The heightened emotions got the best of her, and she was quite reclusive for a while, but she came to me one day and asked me to do something for her." 

Damon raised a brow, silently urging the Original on. 

"She asked me to find you." 

Realization hit Damon almost immediately, and he dropped his gaze almost shamefully. "She's the reason you always showed up to check on me," 

"Precisely." 

Rare vulnerability shines in Damon's tired eyes and he looks pleadingly at Elijah. "How is she?"

Elijah doesn't look shocked by his question, nor his sullen demeanor. "She's lonely. I'm sure you think you've suffered much more on your own, but I'm ashamed to admit none of us have ever really been able to help her. There have been more than enough times she's done things she's less than proud of, something I'm sure you understand as well." 

Damon's heart aches at the thought of her suffering. He finds himself longing for her to be with him again, just so he can rid himself of the last memory he had of her. Of them. She'd disappeared to take a bath that fateful night, and the next thing he knew, Stefan was pulling him back from lunging at their father. She'd kissed him goodnight, and he'd taken it for granted. He'd taken it all for granted.

"She's not happy with Niklaus right now," Elijah's voice reels him back from his spiraling thoughts, and Damon frowns slightly as he processes his words. Elijah shrugs, an amused gleam in his eyes. "She's throwing a bit of a tempertantrum, I'd say. Breaking his things, compelling anybody in a five mile radius to hate him." 

Damon swallows, a small, forced smile twitching at his lips. Rosemary's antics were something he'd missed, but the reminder that she's not with him yet doesn't allow him to be happy she's even alive. "How long until I can see her?" 

"Klaus should be here within the week. I don't know when he plans to deal with Katherine, but as soon as she's taken care of I assume Rosemary will be free to go as she pleases."

Damon nods, and silently asks himself how bad another week could possibly be after 175 years of waiting. He quickly decides that it's hell. Utter hell. 

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author's note; crazy that when i first published this book, there was no pandemic. i was seventeen. i turn 20 in july, and millions of people have died. 😐 

edited and published; 1.17.22.

- liz