KATHERINE WAS FINALLY DEAD, THANK GOD. They had gotten Damon into the cell in his house, and they were trying to keep him kind of weak since the only ones watching him had been Jeremy and Matt. Those were the two people that he was most likely to kill.

Charlie was visiting her boyfriend, and she accompanied him into the cellar as he brought Damon some blood. They opened the door, and instead of handing it to him, the Gilbert boy sat it down on the floor, just out of Damon's reach.

"Hilarious, you two. Give me the damn cup," the vampire ordered with an eye roll. Jeremy, looking pleased with himself, gently slid the cup of blood toward the man with his foot. The Salvatore man finally clutched the cup and chugged the contents down in seconds. When he finished it, he chucked it at Charlie, who easily caught it because of her enhanced reflexes. "Wipe that smile off your face."

"Hey! You're lucky I'm even helping you! Considering the last thing you did for me was to tell Enzo to strangle me to death," Jeremy reminded him.

Charlie nodded in agreement. She sighed because she was just beginning to think that Damon was a fairly good guy. Then, he had to go and try to kill her boyfriend. "Yeah, I seriously contemplated throwing some werewolf venom into that glass of blood of yours, but Jeremy stopped me because 'Elena and Stefan would be mad.'"

"Quit crying! Your precious Jer Bear is still around," Damon groaned, and they both just glared at him. That was an extra hour before he got his next glass of blood. Oh, well.

"Yeah, which is more than we can say for Aaron Whitmore," Matt informed him as he stepped into the room. He raised his eyebrows at the vampire, trying to make him feel guilty. With all of her other friends gone, Charlie had realized that she was spending almost all of her time with Jeremy and Matt. So, she needed to forgive Caroline soon so that they could hang out. "Weren't he and Elena tight? Does she know that Damon killed him?"

Jeremy questioned, "I don't know.. Does she?"

"I don't think she does," Charlie added, shaking her head and turning to Damon with a smirk. She tilted her head at him, waiting for his answer to the question, even though she already knew what it was.

"No, she doesn't because I'm going to be the one to tell her. If any one of you clowns beat me to it, I'll rip your tongue out," the Salvatore man threatened, A phone started ringing all of a sudden in Jeremy's front pocket. He pulled it out, and Damon's eyes widened. "Don't you even think about it!"

Damon fumbled at the chains that prevented him of getting a hold of his phone while Jeremy answered it sarcastically and with a really high pitched voice. "Damon's phone!"

"Jer?" Elena asked from the other end of the phone.

Damon was getting angrier and angrier by the minute, and it was hilarious to watch. Charlie just kind of laughed while Jeremy conversed with his sister. "Yeah. How are you feeling?"

"I killed you once before, Gilbert," Damon told him, and they all knew that Elena heard that from the other end of the phone because she was a vampire with vampire hearing. Even if she did not have vampire hearing, he still said it loud enough to hear normally. "I'll kill you again."

"Someone wants to speak to you," the Gilbert boy informed Elena, and he finally handed the phone over to Damon so that he could speak to Elena. He and Charlie went back upstairs while Matt monitored the phone call.

However, it only took five minutes for Matt to be screaming at them for help. They ran down the stairs and immediately saw Damon with Matt in a chokehold and the Gilbert ring thrown across the room. Jeremy exclaimed, "Woah! What the hell?"

"I need to see your sister," Damon informed them, and Charlie audibly groaned. How was Matt stupid enough to get himself in that position? And why did Damon always have to threaten people? He knew that Elena would kill him if he killed Matt, but he did not seem to care. "Undo my chains, or I'll kill him."

"I can't. You'll kill her," Jeremy told him. None of them really trusted Damon around Elena anymore.

"She's going to hurt herself, Jeremy. She's totally unraveling," Damon insisted. Matt tried to protest, but Damon shut him up quickly. The vampire groaned, seeing the hesitation in Jeremy's eyes. Charlie decided that it was Jeremy's call because it was his sister. "Stop being an idiot, Jeremy. Trust me. She needs me. I would never hurt her, Jeremy."

☾❄☽

THEY HAD FINALLY GIVEN UP AND LET DAMON GO. Now, the couple was sitting on the couch in the Salvatore house, enjoying some peace and quiet for a moment. Jeremy asked, "Why is something supernatural going on every second of every day?" He paused for a moment as Charlie leaned her head on his shoulder. "You know, none of this would even be happening if Stefan and Damon never came to town."

"None of us would be vampires, we wouldn't have to deal with all of this crap, and a lot of people would still be alive. You might still be dating Vicki Donovan," she pointed out. Actually, Vicki would probably already be dead from a drug overdose or something, but she felt really awful for thinking that. So, she did not say it.

He shrugged and shook his head, knowing that he had always had a crush on her, even when he was dating Vicki or Anna or Bonnie. "I think I would've found my way to you sooner or later."

"I would still be a werewolf, though, just not a hybrid," she added, although it might not be true. Klaus probably would have came for the doppelganger sooner or later, and he would have found the first available werewolves to turn into hybrids.

"We need to talk about that, actually," he said like he just remembered something, and he turned so that they were looking at each other, which made her really nervous. He tilted his head curiously and asked, "When should I turn?"

She was shocked, and she prayed that he did not mean vampire turn because she was not going to let that happen. "What?"

"Into a vampire. I don't want to be too old," he explained, and her stomach dropped. He could not be a vampire. He was only seventeen, and he had this whole life left to live where he could grow old and have kids.

She shook her head, praying that she had just fallen asleep and that this was all a dream because there was no way in hell he was asking her when he should become a vampire. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're a vampire, Charlie," he said, even thought that was obvious. He was implying that he wanted to be a vampire with her, which was really freaking her out. She could not ask him to give up his life for her when they had been dating less than a year. "You're going to stay sixteen, and I'm going to get old. I would be perfectly happy as long as I'm with you."

"I can't ask you to give that up for me," she told him, and she climbed to her feet because she was unable to sit still. She began pacing the floor and biting her fingernails nervously.

He shook his head, looking up at her because he knew that this was the girl that he wanted to marry and spend his life with. He had always sort of known it. "You're not asking. I'm telling you that I'm doing it."

"What if you get sick of me, and you regret it?" she asked. SHe would hate for him to give up his life for her and then end up not actually loving her. He would be stuck like that forever, and it would be her fault.

"I don't think that's possible," he chuckled out, and he stood up and took her hands in his, forcing her to look him in the eye so that she knew that he was being sincere. "I want to be with you, Charlie, forever. I'm sure of it."

She grinned and blushed, and she sighed, knowing that she could never say no to him, especially after he said all that. "I do too. Can you wait a little bit first, just so you can make sure that there's not a doubt in your mind?"

"I'm sure, but we'll wait if it'll make you feel better," he assured her, and she smiled before plopping back onto the couch with him next to her.