❝i don't want to wake up if you're not here❞

DEAREST ROSEMARY,

It's been four months since I left and I miss you more than I thought possible. Is it odd to miss every little thing about someone? Even the things you didn't know you knew about them?

I miss your laughter, and your beautiful smile. The way you loved to sit on the hill behind the house and look up at the clouds. I miss the way that you would listen to me talk about anything at all, and always have something to say back to me.

It's hard being here, knowing I'm fighting for the wrong side, but father will kill me if I don't. I know that it's an idle threat, but I'm just a boy trying to please his father at the end of the day.

It's hard being away from you and Stefan, I feel lost without the constant that you have always provided for me. It may sound terrible, but I keep praying at night that I'll be discharged out of the blue, so that I can come home to you. I just want to come home to you.

I miss you, Rosemary.

Dream of me?

Your love, Damon Salvatore.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡

My love,

I could hear your voice as I read your letter, and it only made my heart long for you more. I find myself counting the days as they pass by, simply wishing for your return.

Stefan is doing alright, but we both miss you and it's hard to pretend things are normal when someone you've been around for the better part of your life is suddenly gone. I know this is hard on him, and I'm trying to keep his spirits up as best as possible but it's hard when I myself am struggling to not wallow in my longing.

It seems like just yesterday we confessed our love, and now you are simply gone. You ask if it's normal to miss things you didn't notice, but is it normal to feel as if my heart is breaking in my chest because you are not around? I hope you do not feel this, as it's simply debilitating. I wouldn't wish such a thing on you, no matter how much I miss you.

As for the war– I understand. I do not agree, but I understand. After your mother's passing, no matter how much you disagree with him, Gisueppe is all you have and you'd be ignorant to throw it all away right now. Stefan couldn't handle that on top of possibly losing you to the war. Sometimes family is all we have.

I miss you as well, love. Much more than I thought humanly possible. I wish you could come home to me now.

I love you, Damon. And my head is filled with dreams of you every night.

With love,

Your dearest Rosemary.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡

My dearest Rosemary,

I wish I could heal your heart, and fulfill your wishes that I did not feel the same pain as you but I'm afraid I can't. My heart aches with the distance put between us and I hate that you are feeling it as well.

I made a friend, and he asked if I had a woman to write home to. I told him that I did, and he asked about you. I went on for nearly a full hour, before we were called out to battle. We moved around again, which is why it took me so long to write back. I can't say much, but I'm tired and find myself wanting nothing more than a hot bath and to be lulled to sleep by one of your stories.

You were always reading some fantasy story, some crazy book about a beast falling in love with a normal girl. Beauty and the Beast, or something. You remind me of Belle, a quiet, smart girl who falls in love with the man no one else could stand. Does that make me the beast?

Dream of me again, darling?

Your love, Damon.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡

My love,

You compare me to Belle, and it's a likeness I am fond of, but you are no beast. Perhaps the beast in my stories, yes, because he was tender and loving to the woman he loved like you are with me. He protected her from the people that threatened to hurt her, and the ones that tried to take her away from her home.

You would do that for me, and in that sense you are my beast. But you are not some unloveable creature like the village thought him to be. If I am Belle, sweet and kind, I was destined to fall in love with you from the start.

Stay safe, Damon. Stefan sends his love.

With a sad heart,

Your dearest Rosemary.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡

My love,

Stefan has found a woman, by the name of Katherine Pierce. She's come to the house with her friend Emily, and your father is allowing them to stay. Stefan is infatuated, much like we once were.

Katherine is gorgeous, and her friend Emily is sweet but quite reserved. She doesn't seem to trust me, and I feel as if Katherine has something against me. I'm not sure if Emily's opinion of me is based off of something Katherine has said, but there's certainly animosity between us.

I suppose I can do nothing but support your brother, as I consider him family as well. He talks as if he loves her, perhaps too much, but I am quick to remind myself that we were like that as well.

I want to say something to him because I worry what would happen if she left him, but I fear he will just get angry. He's a lot more volatile these days, and it's upsetting. I suppose that his kind heart left with you, just as mine did.

Wish for this to turn out alright, please?

Your dearest Rosemary.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡

My dearest Rosemary,

The war is worsening by day. I'm sorry it's taken me months to write back, but we have been moving around so much that I've barely had time to sleep, let alone write everything I want to say.

I am wondering more and more if I made the wrong decision, allowing my father to rule my life. He is my father, and I love him but he has become cold after my mother's passing. I can't help but think we would be married and happy if I told him no, and stayed with you.

I wish I was home with you. These nights are terrible without you next to me, and I find myself longing for you all the time.

I still have that cloth you gave me, and it still smells like you but just barely. It's the only thing that has kept me sane with the haunting things I have witnessed. My dreams are filled of you and the gardens, because I find you look radiant when you are surrounded by flowers as bright as you.

You are here with me in my worst times, and for that I am grateful even if it's not the same as holding your hand while we walk.

The days are long and cold, but I remind myself that I have you and it makes it better.

Thank you for grounding me, even if you aren't aware of the power you hold.

I love you.

Your love, Damon.

P.S. when I come home, no matter if it's in three weeks or three years, I hope you have waited for me like I have for you.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡

author's note; these aren't necessarily in order, just sat little letters I imagine they sent one another when Damon was off in the war.

edited and published; 8.15.21.

- liz