CHAPTER SIXTEEN | WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

EVEN THOUGH KATHERINE PIERCE WAS FINALLY GONE, SHE LEFT ELENA WAS ONE FINAL PARTING GIFT. Just before she headed to the Salvatore House and condemned herself to death, she injected herself with Wes' Ripper Virus, which meant when Elena woke as herself, she would be ravenous and attempt to feed on all of the people that she loved. So, Bonnie had a new witch, Liv, seal Elena into Whitmore College so she was not a danger to anyone while Caroline attempted to find an antidote.

"Eve," Damon's groggy voice spoke as he woke up from a nap. He lifted his head as she sat down a few meters away from him. Evelyn had spent the night in the cell with Damon since she refused to leave his side. "You don't have to be here you know, Jeremy and Matt are dicks but it would give me greater comfort if I hurt them instead of you."

"I figured you'd say something like that," She smiled to herself before she then looked back up at him, his blue eyes locked with hers. "I'm not going anywhere. Here is where I wanna be. And, here is where I'm gonna be, okay?"

"Well, I mean, a few days ago you would've had a very different response to that." Damon chuckled awkwardly as did she. "No, I'm sorry. Let's talk about something else. Something important."

"Important?" She echoed with a confused expression that swept across her face like a wildfire.

"Yeah, like where you want me to take you when I can get the hell out of these damn chains." He lifted his hands up a little as the chains made a noise, then he dropped his hands back into his lap.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe I like you in those chains. Or, even better, we could switch the roles, hm? But, no, you know that I prefer surprises." Evelyn winked, then she rested her head back against the stone wall. "Granted, I've had enough surprises to last a lifetime, but I think I could handle just one more. I promise to look pretty so don't show me up."

"Nobody could ever show you up. Not in my eyes, anyway." He smirked before chuckling under his breath. "Oh, Evelyn. I'm so sorry for leaving you, I swear to you I will never—"

"—No, no, no." The brunette vampire immediately shook her head as she interrupted his speech. "Damon, whatever you're about to say, say it to me when you're cured, okay?"

"Okay." The Salvatore smiled back at her as she tucked a strand of brunette hair behind her ear before she bit down on her lip just as her phone vibrated. The vampire yanked her from her pocket and groaned when she read the text. "What's wrong? What is it, Evelyn?"

"Bonnie. She needs me." The Austin vampire slowly got up to her feet as she pushed her phone back into the back pocket of her denim jeans. "Apparently Elena's losing it at Whitmore, I don't even know. I just— I swear I'll be glad when this damn Ripper-thing has gone. I love you, I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I love you, too." He called after her as she walked out of the cell, closing the door before sped off to assist Bonnie.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

When Evelyn finally arrived at Whitmore she saw the doppelganger was throwing all of her belongings from her dorm room in the fireplace. Evelyn turned her head to Bonnie and Liv, who stood at the threshold of the barrier spell, and gave them a confused look as they just shrugged. It seemed like they had no luck getting the girl to talk. and she was going off the rails. Evelyn was currently the only vampire available in case something happened.

"What are you doing, Elena?" Evelyn tilted her head to the side when she saw Elena look over her shoulder for a few moments. Evelyn's eyes darted around the room and saw dozens of boxes of Elena's belongings.

"I'm cleansing myself of anything Katherine's ever touched. My toothbrush, my clothes, my sheets." The doppelganger spared a glance for Evelyn before she continued to throw things into the fire.

"Elena, stop. You're not yourself." Bonnie told her in an attempt to reason with Elena's frantic outburst, but the Gilbert girl just scoffed in disbelief.

"That's ironic because I wasn't myself for weeks yet nobody noticed." She growled before she threw more clothes into the fire.

"She's losing it." The witch, Liv, whispered to both girls in a worried tone but it was almost as if the comment had irritated Evelyn.

"Oh, that's weird. I thought you were a witch. I didn't realize you doubled as Sherlock freakin' Holmes." Evelyn muttered back as Elena rushed over to the boundary of the spell.

"Are you Liv?" Elena got as close to them as she possibly could with a desperate look in her eyes while she stared at Liv. "I'm sorry if we've met before, but I'm really gonna need you to drop the seal and let me out right now."

"No, she's not doing that. Not yet." Evelyn shook her head before Liv could even respond to Elena's demands. "Why the hell would you think that we'd let you out of here?"

"It's too dangerous for you to be out in public when you're sick," Bonnie tried her best to remain calm in the situation, but she could see Elena was losing it.

"You think that's dangerous?" Elena's voice broke into a sarcastic laugh before she began shouting through gritted teeth. "If you don't drop the seal right now, I will kill you."

"Like hell, you will." Evelyn snarled back with narrowed eyes. "You can't do anything from inside there, so just sit your ass down."

"Elena, stop!" Bonnie yelled out. She could see how broken and tired Elena had become just because of the virus. "This is the virus. It's in your head. Katherine wanted to destroy you, and it's working. You have to fight it."

"Oh, my God." The doppelganger raised her hand to her forehead and immediately began to panic with fear in her eyes. "You're right. You're right, Bonnie. You're right. I can't— I'm letting her win. I'm letting her win. I can't— I'm not gonna let her win!"

Elena paused and walked away from the boundary before her eyes fell on a hockey stick that was leaned against the wall by the staircase. She sped right over to it and snapped it in half, over her knee. Then, she turned on her heels and threw it directly into Liv's chest. Liv cried out in agony as she dropped to her knees between Bonnie and Evelyn.

"Oh, my God. Liv!" Bonnie's eyes widened and she dropped to the floor beside Liv. She held onto the girl who gripped her hands over the wood that impaled her chest. "Evelyn, do something! She needs your blood."

Elena turned on her heels and moved back to the boundary, where she glared at Evelyn. She watched the Austin girl bite her wrist, but just before she could, Elena tossed another piece of the hockey stick right into Evelyn's back. "Elena!" Evelyn spoke through gritted teeth as she dropped to her knees and attempted to reach the stake from her back. "Elena, you don't need to do this. Please, just stop."

"What? I need to get out of here, Evelyn. I'm gonna go crazy if I don't." The doppelganger's eyes drifted to Liv. "Looks like you're gonna need to drop this seal because if I don't give you my blood, you're gonna bleed to death. So, really, it's your choice."

Evelyn watched as Liv reluctantly dropped the seal while Bonnie yanked the piece of wood from Liv's chest just as Elena stepped her feet over to her. Elena bit her wrist and offered her blood up to Liv, who was about to bleed to death. The witch accepted it just as Evelyn managed to yank the stake from her back.

"Evelyn." Elena heavily sighed as her eyes drifted up to the older vampire, who began to circle her just like a predator would do with its prey.

"Elena, I know you don't want to hurt me. Look, it's just this Ripper-Virus, it's got inside your head and it's making you say and do things that—" Evelyn put her hands out in front of her for protection, but Elena just rolled her eyes.

"You're right, I really don't want to hurt you, Evelyn. I mean, you are my friend. But, right now, I don't—" She paused, as her hands began to run through her matted locks, then her face transformed into one Evelyn knew all too well, "I don't really have a choice."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A loud gasp escaped Evelyn's lips as she opened her eyes. She blinked a few times and then shot her hand straight up to her neck, but there was no wound there. She had absolutely no idea what happened, why she was laying in her bed at the Boarding House, or even how she got there. She turned her head to the left and saw Damon stood over her with a smile on his face.

"Does this mean— Oh, my God. Damon, are you cured?" Evelyn raised an eyebrow with a wary look on her face while she watched a smile form on Damon's face. The smile was all the confirmation she needed, and she jumped up from the bed and threw her arms around him.

"What gave you that idea? Perhaps the fact that I've quite literally got my hands on you and I don't wanna sink my teeth into your neck, hm?" He smirked out after a few moments of appreciating the fact that he could hug the woman he loved without wanting to rip her head off. "Do you really think I'd risk coming in here if I wasn't?"

"What happened? How did I end up here?" Evelyn looked at Damon with furrowed brows. Her head tilted to the side and her nose crinkled at the confusion. "All I remember is that Elena was about to make me into a vampire-smoothie."

"That's when I dashed in, sexy as hell, and saved the day," Damon responded with his signature grin that caused her to giggle lowly. "You're welcome, by the way."

"But—" Evelyn attempted to speak once more, but Damon placed his index finger over her lips and she suddenly stopped.

"It's my turn to speak." He looked at her up and down before he placed his hand on her cheek. His thumb danced against the skin of her cheek as Evelyn melted into his hold. "I will never leave you again," Damon promised with a confident look in his eyes.

Evelyn couldn't fight the feeling of warmth she felt whenever she looked into Damon's eyes. He truly was home for her, and she for him. Her smile effortlessly turned into a smirk when she felt his lips press hungrily against hers. Damon kissed her like it was his first and his last time all rolled into one— it was enough to completely leave Evelyn Austin breathless.

The Salvatore's hands drifted down to her hips, almost as if he were making the most of being able to touch her. His touch gave her goosebumps, even more so now considering they had not been able to be within close proximity of each other without risking certain death.

Before she knew it, Evelyn had pinned down to the bed below her while she was straddled on top of him. She kissed him passionately, hungrily, and as if she was oxygen deprived and he was the oxygen. With every kiss, every touch, the two vampires concluded that they could never be without the other. And, they would surely die if they were separated again.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───