❝guilt complex❞ 

"DAMON, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Damon furrowed his eyebrows at Jenna, his glance darting between her and where Elijah was talking to Carol Lockwood. "Trying to–"

"Oh, wow, you came!"

His eyes widen briefly when he sees Andie saddle up beside them, and he frowns at Jenna's confused look that darts in between them. He takes a moment to understand, but as soon as he does his face scrunches up in disgust. "Oh, god, no!" He turns to Andie and lays his hands on her shoulders. "Listen, sweetheart, I'm flattered, but I'm married."

Damon doesn't wait for a response as he pushes between the two women, heading straight towards Elijah and Carol.

"Damon!"

"Carol!" The vampire smiles at Carol, taking her outstretched hand and giving her a chaste kiss on the cheek in greeting. 

The grinning woman gestures between the two men surrounding her. "Elijah, I want you to meet Damon Salvatore. His family is one of the Mystic Falls Founding Families."

Damon hums in confirmation and smirks as he looks to the Original. He plasters on a charming smile and takes a step towards Elijah subtly. "Carol, can I borrow our friend here? I want to ask him a few questions about our town's... rich history."

Carol looks delighted at his friendliness and waves them off, and Damon throws an arm around Elijah's shoulder, ignoring the glare being sent his way by the Original. As soon as they're out of earshot from the woman, Damon removes his arm and steps away from him. 

Elijah narrows his eyes at Damon, but there's a small smirk playing on his lips. "Hello, honey."

Damon winces. "Oh, my god, let it go. Alaric was on my doorstep, I couldn't exactly tell him I was on the phone with you."

The irritation leaves Elijah in a moment and he perks up slightly. "The teacher?"

Damon nods like it's obvious, then winces again. Elijah eyes him warily. "What? What did you do, Damon?"

"I might've told Ric about the dagger,"

Elijah is silent for a moment, before he turns around and walks away from Damon.

Damon stands still for a moment, his face morphing into a look of disbelief before he follows the Original back to the empty office. He glances behind his shoulder and sees John Gilbert saddle up beside Alaric, and he curses under his breath before shutting the door firmly behind him.

"Why on Earth would you do something so stupid?"

Elijah is leaned against the desk, but his hands are shoved in his pockets. His stance radiates nonchalance, but there's no denying the lingering threat behind his eyes.

"He asked if John gave me anything useful, and I couldn't very well explain that I threatened him  but still didn't get anything from him. That's totally out of character for me." Damon exclaims, holding his hands up in defense. 

Damon pauses for a moment, and meets Elijah's piercing stare. "I guess I could've done exactly that, though."

"That human now knows about the one thing that could destroy me and my siblings." Elijah gestures to the doors Alaric is standing on the other side of, mingling unwillingly with John Gilbert. "If I end up daggered, Klaus won't come until he knows the threat is eliminated and I don't think you're willing to kill the teacher."

"Of course I'm not killing Ric!"

Elijah straightens up and glares at him. "Then tell him the dagger is fake,"

"What, you just want me to go and tell him everything I said was a lie?" 

The Original shrugs and reaches for the doorknob. "Figure it out, Damon. If I end up daggered, Klaus will never let Rosemary return."

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"Today was a bust,"

Damon frowned up at his ceiling, his dark eyebrows furrowed on his forehead.

Alaric lazily rolled his head to look at his friend. "Yeah," He pauses briefly. "What are you gonna do about John?"

Damon sighs indifferently. "I'm gonna kill him."

Alaric frowns. "Elena will never forgive you if you kill her dad,"

Damon looks at him dubiously. "Am I supposed to take that into consideration?" He swirls the bourbon in his glass slightly. "John lied to me about the dagger and I got cornered at that horrid tea party by Elijah, who, by the way, is too smug for my liking."

So it wasn't completely a lie. Elijah was too smug for his liking, and the party was terrible. He had to deal with Andie's sad eyes following him around the whole time, and consequently, Jenna's glare. 

Alaric nods in agreement. "He's got nice hair, though."

Damon scoffs internally as Ric stands. "You want another one?"

He silently hands his glass over to Ric, but stays immobile where he's slumped down in his seat. He heaves a sigh, more frustrated now. "He's gonna be hard to kill,"

"Yeah," Ric nods. "At least you didn't try that dagger on him before you knew it was fake. You need more information."

"I'm out of sources!"

Alaric narrows his eyes at Damon for a moment, but drops his curiosity. "Jenna told me you turned Andie down today. Apparently you were pretty harsh, which has landed you at number two on her Most Hated list, right behind John."

Damon huffs and rolls his eyes, taking his drink back from Alaric. "I just told her the truth. I'm a taken man, it'd be unfaithful of me to see another woman."

"Haven't you slept with other women, though?"

"Once or twice," Damon shrugs, wincing at the sudden memories from decades ago. "I'm turning a new leaf." 

Ric scoffs incredulously, sitting up to look at his friend in disbelief. "You don't turn new leaves, you just burn the whole tree down. What's going on with you?"

"I guess you could call it guilt,"

"You? Guilty?" Alaric snorts a laugh, unaware of the irritation that flickers across Damon's face.

He quiets after a moment and looks at Damon. "Just don't kill her,"

"If I did, who would report her death?"

Alaric sighs at his petulance. "Just don't do it, alright? She's friends with Jenna and it's bad enough that I'm lying to her about everything else. I hate the lies."

"Talk about a guilt complex," Damon muses, sitting back in his seat as Alaric pulls his phone out.

"I gotta go. I gotta pick Jenna up. Don't worry, I'll show myself out."

Damon's vision is dark behind his closed eyes, and he's got his arms folded beneath his head. "Good luck," 

He sits in the silence that Alaric leaves behind, finally starting to relax after the long day. But as soon as he sink further into the chair, a crash sounds from the hallway, startling him. 

He moves quickly and walks towards the hallway, his eyes widening when he sees Alaric holding onto a knife sticking out of his stomach. Ric groans as he stumbles to the ground and before Damon can move to help him, a man jumps down a few feet away from him.

Damon turns around quickly and swings when the man comes running towards him. His punch lands, but the man moves with ease and wraps his arm around Damon's neck. As Damon struggles against his chokehold, the man slams a syringe into his neck.

Damon grunts at the feeling of the vervain rushing through his system and slams the guy against the wall with a choked inhale. He grabs the man by his arms and flips him over his head, releasing the hold he'd had on Damon's neck as he slammed him into the ground. 

He holds the werewolf down with one hand and rips the syringe out of his neck with the other, throwing it away haphazardly. With a snarl, he punches his hand into the werewolf's chest and rips his heart out. 

Damon throws the unbeating heart on the ground and turns around, listening for others. "Come on out, you mutts. I've got a craving for puppy hearts."

Silence rings through and Damon chuckles coldly. 

"Let me tell you how this is gonna go; you try and torture me for information, I don't talk, somebody loses a heart." He glances to the dead werewolf laying in his hallway. "Well, another heart."

Damon smirks when he hears footsteps on the wooden floors, and his smug smirk widens when he sees Jules and two other werewolves standing there, weapons in hand. He claps his hand together, splattering a bit of blood on his face.

Jules immediately lifts her shotgun and fires it into Damon's chest, and he winces when the wooden bullets pierce his chest. With an irritated sigh, he pulls the bullets out and drops them on the floor.

He meets the werewolf's eyes, seeing the sudden hesitance in them. "That wasn't very nice. You ruined my shirt."

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author's note; i love this chapter for some reason (damon and elijah banter tbh) damon and elijah are just guys being dudes 

edited and published; 3.23.22. 

- liz