❝happy to exist with you.❞
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

DAMON'S ARRIVAL BROKE CHARLOTTE FROM HER FLOATING STATE, AND SHE BLINKED OUT OF HER HAZE AS HE KNEELED BEFORE HER. His bright eyes ran over her figure, focusing on her luckily unharmed neck, and he seemed to relax ever so slightly and step out of her space. "Are you okay?"

She nodded silently, and he took the answer without further question, aware of their audience. Clearing his throat pointedly, he looked to Stefan and Elena, raising his brows. "How'd he get in?"

"He was invited in,"

"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night," Stefan elaborated on Elena's words, giving his brother a flat look.

"Well, he gets points for that," Damon shrugged, looking at Elena. "Did he say what he wanted?"

Elena huffed, shaking her head. "No, he was a little busy trying to kill Charlotte,"

"And you have no idea who this is?"

"No. Don't look at me like that– I told you we had company." Damon gave his brother an incredulous look. "And why would I know anyone that wants to kill Charlotte?"

Elena gave him a fearful look. "You think there's more than one?"

Damon shrugged a shoulder. "We don't know,"

"Damon," Stefan sighed shortly. "He was invited in."

The dark haired man nodded at his brother's repeated words, and glanced over his shoulder at Charlotte where she sat on the stairs, obviously still in a daze. "Then we go get him tonight. You up for it, sunshine?"

"Damon, I don't think–"

"That's a bad idea,"

"What do I have to do?"

Charlotte's voice cut over Elena and Stefan's concerned ones, and they turned to look at her. She kept her gaze on Damon, giving him an imploring look. "What do you want me to do?"

"Charlie,"

Damon glanced at his brother and Elena, face twisting in irritation at their stubbornness. "Until we get him, this house isn't safe for anyone who lives in it. It's worth a shot,"

Charlotte nodded in agreement and hoisted herself up to her feet, adjusting her slightly crinkled dress. "What are we doing, then?"

Damon gave her a content, smug smirk and stood from the couch. "We're gonna go to the dance. After all, you got all dressed up and it'd be a shame to see it go to waste,"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"So, what, are you like dating him now?"

Charlotte glanced across the table at Caroline, and then spared a glance at Cory, who was rolling his eyes into his punch at her upset tone. She cleared her throat softly and shook her head, giving Caroline a small smile. "No, Caroline, I am not dating Damon."

"But you came here together," The blonde frowned, her eyes darting between Charlotte and Damon's figure, where he stood a few feet away with Stefan and Elena. "Like on a date."

"Aren't you trying to date Matt?"

Charlotte's eyes widened and she inhaled sharply as Caroline's gaze shot to Cory, who was standing, observing the interaction with rapidly growing irritation. Bonnie covered her mouth with her hand, obviously trying to hide an amused smile at the bickering that was about to start.

"What? Why does that matter?"

"I was just wondering why you sounded so jealous at the thought of Charlotte dating Damon, considering you've spent the entire week complaining about Matt not wanting to date you,"

"Cory, enough,"

Caroline's mouth twisted into an angry frown and the embarrassed flush in her cheeks only worsened when one of the men in question slid up to the table. Her eyes found Damon's frame as he stood beside Charlotte, leaning his elbows onto the table with a smirk.

"What are we talking about over here?"

Caroline scoffed and walked away, and Charlotte gave Cory a glare that he just smiled at, poorly feigning innocence.

Damon's eyes drifted from the gap Caroline's departure left, and he dropped his gaze to the witch beside Charlotte. "Hi, Bonnie, so nice to see you again,"

Bonnie rolled her eyes and grabbed her punch, stepping away from the table. "On that note,"

Charlotte huffed a laugh, shaking her head as she reached for her own cup of punch. "She does not like you at all,"

Damon rolled his eyes, almost mimicking Cory's poor attempts at innocence. "People hold grudges over the silliest things, Charlotte,"

"Oh, you two are disgusting now, I can't believe I forgot," Cory groaned, shaking his head distastefully. "Charlie, I'm going to dance and hopefully not melt into a puddle from the force of Caroline's glare."

Charlotte felt her cheeks get hot and she glared at Cory as he disappeared into the crowd, leaving just her and Damon at the table. Turning to the vampire, she propped her cheek up on her hand, giving him an inquisitive look. "Have you seen any sign of him yet?"

Damon sighed, frustration taking over his smirk. "No, and if I have to spend all night with a bunch of sweaty teenagers for nothing, I'm going to do very bad things,"

"What are you going to do now?"

Charlotte and Damon look up as Stefan and Elena approach them, matching looks of concern and confusion on their faces.

Damon heaved a sigh and gave them both a visibly fake smile. "I was going to ask Charlotte to dance with me. Might as well make the most of our night, right?"

Elena's eyes widened and she looked to her sister, but Charlotte was looking at Damon with more amusement than his comment suggested.

"What do you say, sunshine?"

"I say that's a great idea, Damon,"

Charlotte lays her hand in Damon's outstretched one and lets him pull her onto the dance floor. They settle into a sway, somewhat faster than normal with the upbeat music, and Charlotte wraps her arms around his shoulders, intertwining her fingers at the back of his neck.

"Not that I don't have complete faith in the public school system, but, uh," Charlotte gestured around the decorated gym. "I don't think the fifties were like this."

Damon hummed lightly, giving her an amused look. "You may be right about that,"

"What did you do in the 50s? Do you even remember it?"

Damon almost made a joke about her treating him like a geriatric, but she seemed genuine, and that haunted, distant look in her eyes from earlier had faded into something slightly nervous but present nonetheless. But his answer, if he told the truth, would dampen her mood again he's sure, so he tries to formulate a vanilla response that's still honest without the gory details.

With a heaving sigh, Damon pretended to be inconvenienced by her question, because even if she had been joking with him and making fun of him, he still wouldn't be upset in her company and under the scope of her curious nature.

"I was in Augustine," He sniffs, ignoring her confused look. "Small place near Whitmore, probably doesn't exist anymore. I was there with a friend, Enzo, for a few years before I high-tailed it out of there and terrorized the locals of some poor small town."

He shrugs at her wide eyed look. "And yes, I do remember it all. I remember everything from my life– a consequence of immortality. You can't really get any of the side effects of old age, so everything is just as fresh as it was a hundred years ago,"

Charlotte's hands tightened where they laid on the back of his neck, a momentary action of comfort. "It's a gift and a curse I guess, huh?"

"Something like that,"

Charlotte smiled softly up at him, and let her eyes drift around the gym again. Her slightly relaxed state disappeared in a split second when she spotted the familiar hoodie, and Damon's hands went tight around her waist when he felt her tense.

"Damon," Charlotte whispered, her eyes darting rapidly away from the man's figure in hopes he hadn't seen her spot him. "Far corner."

Damon spun them around quickly, and Charlotte let out a shaky breath when he cursed lowly, confirming her fears. "Go find your sister,"

"Damon,"

He pushed her away from him, a stern gleam in his eyes. "Go find Elena. Stefan and I will handle this."

Charlotte reluctantly parted from him, pushing through the crowd in the opposite direction as she tried to locate Elena.

Her cell phone started to ring suddenly and she stopped, fishing it out of the small pockets sewn into her dress. She answered the call and lifted the device to her ear, feeling her stomach drop when there was no immediate sound through the speaker.

"Hello, Charlotte,"

Charlotte inhaled sharply, her spine straightening as she lifted her eyes, looking frantically around the gym.

"Here's what you're going to do," He doesn't wait for a response, doesn't seem to want one at all, and Charlotte feels a wave of nausea hit her. "There's an exit door behind you. You have five seconds."

Her eyes landed on the open door that led into the hallway and she swallowed roughly. "I'm not following you,"

"Or your brother dies," He says, like he was finishing a sentence.

Charlotte's eyes widened at his threat and when she snapped her gaze around to find Jeremy, she saw the man standing a few feet away from him, staring directly at her.

"I could snap his neck so fast, I bet there's not even a witness. Now start walking."

"Don't touch him,"

"Keep walking," He said, smirking darkly. "Or I'll get your sister, too."

Charlotte choked around a fearful sob that died in her throat and she turned on her heel, practically sprinting for the exit he'd pointed out. She hung up the call and stumbled as she shoved her phone back into her dress, turning a sharp corner as she ran.

She looked over her shoulder and whimpered as her heels made echoing clicks down the empty hall, and in an effort to preserve herself, she ditched her shoes without slowing her pace.

She rushed over to a set of double doors and pushed against them, feeling helpless when a chain rattled on the other side. "No, no, no," She looked over her shoulder, whimpering softly when she saw the vampire approaching her slowly, like he knew she had no chance of escaping.

Forcing herself to move out of her frozen state, she abandoned the locked doors and turned down the hall, pushing the next open door she saw. She stumbled into the cafeteria and ran to the double doors across the room, only to find them locked again.

Just as she spins around, the vampire is before her, shoving his hand into her hair and yanking her towards him by her scalp.

She let out a pained, fearful scream as he shoved her, sending her flying across a table onto the floor. Grunting as pain ebbed from her ribs, she scrambled for the pencils that had fallen to the floor off the table he'd thrown her across.

He picked her up off the floor and slammed her against the wall. His face transformed before her eyes, veins crawling up beneath his eyes and fangs coming down from his gums.

Before he could sink his teeth into her, she shoved her hand forward, stabbing a pencil into his stomach.

At the sudden pain, he took a step back from her and his face reverted back to normal. Charlotte took the moment to swing forward again, but his hand came up to block the pencil. Instead of going into his neck, the pencil stabbed through his hand, and Charlotte winced at the grisly sight.

He groaned in pain and Charlotte desperately stabbed him with the last pencil, using the momentum to shove him away from her and to the ground. She stumbled away from him, backing into the mop bucket as he forced himself to his feet.

She turned around and grabbed for the mop handle, breaking it over her knee. The splintered wood sliced at her skin and she felt another wave of fear wash over her when she realized the scent of her blood had caught his attention again.

Charlotte thrust her hand forward, attempting to drive the makeshift stake through the vampire's heart, but he caught her wrist before she could. His grip tightened dangerously around her wrist and she clenched her teeth as her bones creaked and popped beneath the force of it.

The broken handle fell out of her hand when the pain became too much, and a scream crawled its way out of her throat and her knees crumpled when he went for her throat again.

The smallest pinprick panged at her neck and she cried out, bracing for the full force of his terror, only to be pulled away from him at the last second.

"Charlie!"

Charlotte spun around in her sister's arms, clinging to her as Elena did the same. Her eyes flickered across the cafeteria and she watched as Stefan held his hands up in surrender.

"Nobody wants to kill you, we just wanna talk,"

The vampire scoffed and ignored Stefan, attempting to run back to Charlotte, who flinched instinctively in Elena's arms.

Stefan moved suddenly, his arm a blur as he threw the broken mop handle to Damon, who caught it with a glare and lodged it into the vampire's chest with ease.

Charlotte looked away as the vampire fell to his knees, and Stefan and Damon moved to circle.

"You feel like talking now?"

"Screw you,"

Damon ripped the stake from his chest and thrust it back in just as hard, clenching his jaw irritatedly. "Wrong answer. Why are you doing this?"

The man smirks, looking up at the two Salvatore men. "Because it's fun,"

Damon wrenches the handle upwards, causing another groan to punch its way out of the vampire's chest. "What do you want with Charlotte?"

The vampire's dark eyes shift to her, where she stands behind Stefan at Elena's side. "She looks like Katherine."

Damon rears back from him, looking at Stefan confusedly. His brother mirrors his look and they both turn their attention back to the vampire. "You knew Katherine?"

"Oh, you thought you were the only ones," He scoffs, both in pain and incredulity. "You don't even remember me."

Damon kneels, disregarding his words. "Tell me how to get in the tomb. Hm?"

"No,"

Stefan reaches for him this time, twisting the stake inside of his chest. He waits for the vampire to let out a strangled groan before letting go, waiting for him to speak.

Panting through his pain, the vampire trembles. "The grimoire,"

"Well, where is it?"

The vampire gives Damon a taunting look, shaking his head slightly, and Stefan wrenches the stake again.

"Check the journal! The journal," He yells out, trying to move away from the pain. "Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert."

Damon stands up straight again, sharing an irritated look with his brother.

"Who else is working with you?"

Damon rolls his eyes at the lack of response. "Who else is there?"

"No," The vampire breathes out. "You're gonna have to kill me."

Damon crosses his arms over his chest and looks at Stefan, having a silent conversation with his brother as they come to a mutual conclusion. Damon steps back towards Charlotte and Stefan rips the stake from the vampire's chest and drives it back in, this time directly into his heart.

Elena gasps at Charlotte's side while Charlotte just holds a hand over her mouth, biting down harshly on her tongue to hold back tears.

"What–" Elena turns breathlessly looking at her boyfriend. "How are you going to find the others now?"

"He had to die,"

"But–"

"Elena," Stefan gives her a sympathetic look. "He was invited in. And he wouldn't stop coming for Charlotte... not if it was about Katherine."

Elena flinches at the reminder and she looks back to her older sister, seeing her standing there with an otherwise blank look on her face. Elena wondered how she could keep herself composed after everything she's been through just tonight, but she couldn't linger on the thought.

A door closed somewhere nearby and the sound echoed, and the four of them looked through the glass windows on the doors, watching as a shadow passed in front of them.

Damon looked at his brother, and then his eyes darted to Charlotte.

"Go,"

Damon looked back at Stefan, who nodded reassuringly. Sighing, Damon turned and started walking in the direction of the doors. "Take her home."

Charlotte watched him go silently, and couldn't help but wish for him to come back.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Charlotte had lingered in Jeremy's room when she got home, not even bothering to change out of her dress before she made herself comfortable on his bed under the guise of wanting to watch him draw whatever it was he had in his sketchbook.

Eventually he'd fallen asleep and Charlotte had carefully taken his sketchbook out of his hand, unable to stop the way her eyes fell to his latest work. She inhaled sharply when she realized that it was her, her curls twisted in the gray shades of pencil lead. Her face was parted into a smile, one that she felt like hadn't existed since May.

The thought makes her sad, and she spares one last look at her little brother before setting his things on his desk and leaving his room.

She walks the short trek across the hall to her room and shuts her door softly behind her, letting out a shaky sigh as she's encased in silence.

Her eyes flutter open and she feels the breath stolen from her lungs when she sees Damon standing before her.

"Damon," She holds a hand to her chest, letting out the deep breath that had stalled in her lungs at her startle. "Is everything okay?"

He nods, giving her a short, terse smile. "We handled it, don't worry."

Charlotte shakes her head slightly, looking confused. "Why are you here, then?"

Damon steps forward, bringing his hand up to her neck and slowly, softly, running the pad of his thumb over the small scab left behind from the vampire's attempt to get at her neck.

Charlotte's pulse races under his touch, but she feels relaxed, she feels safe in his presence, so she pays it no mind.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay,"

Her hazy eyes focus back in on him at his words and she feels her brows come together as her face twists into something of endearment. "Oh," She blinks, feeling heat burn at the back of her eyes at his simple words. "Thank you."

She hopes he can't hear the sudden tremble in her words, but his eyes examine her too closely to miss it. She always feels like she's under a microscope when he looks at her, but he makes her feel so safe that she doesn't even notice it half the time.

"Did Jeremy ask about it?"

His hand is still over the small wound, just miniscule enough to catch attention if she didn't have her hair covering it. The only reason Damon saw it is because she hasn't taken her hair down from the remnants of her updo that was less purposefully messy, and more I was almost killed twice messy now.

She nods at his question. "I told him it was just a scratch from my earring. He can't tell the difference,"

Damon nods, apparently content with her reasoning. He waits a moment before speaking again. "Charlotte," His voice is soft, like they've both come to the conclusion not to speak above a certain level for fear of the moment being ripped away from them again. "Are you okay?"

There's something about his tone, or just about him in general that makes her feel like this, so inexplicable even in the vast vocabulary she contains. It's why his question, too concerned to be anything but genuine, but not overbearing and pushy like other people, breaks the dam.

Tears fall from her eyes before she even realizes it, and she watches understanding pass over his face before his hand slides around to the back of her neck and his other one pulls her into his chest.

She lays her cheek against him and dampens his shirt with her tears, feeling weak in the knees with how much she was trembling. She clutches onto his back, clinging to him in an attempt to remind herself that she wasn't alone– she was here, she was present, she had Damon.

"I–I was so scared, Damon,"

"I know," He whispers the words, cheek resting softly atop her head as he holds her so gently it seems like he's holding a porcelain doll. "I'm sorry."

She shakes her head stubbornly against his chest, barely able to move. "Thank you," She mutters, suddenly overcome. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Damon frowns, pulling back to look at her.

Her tear-filled eyes and flushed cheeks make his heart ache and he instinctively brings his hands up to wipe her cheeks off. "For what? Why are you thanking me?"

"Because you saved my life," Charlotte breathed out, pushing up on her toes to properly hug him. She buries her face in his neck and whispers another round of thanks, and Damon tries to pick up the pieces of his heart from off her floor.

Something about her words pluck at something inside of him, and he feels, for once, guilt free about bringing Charlotte into his life. He could hardly regret it when she did things like this. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note; ok i didn't end up double updating last time bc i got super busy,, two of my best friends got married this weekend and we have spent it celebrating so i didn't have time to write, but here is a sweet, long chapter to make up for it 

edited and published; 10.10.22.

- liz