moving on - damon salvatore [1]

NINE

IT'S BEEN A few hours since Caroline barged out of Tyler's house, and gave Matt a piece of her mind.
She found herself in an unhappily familiar place, as she sat by the bar, stirring a cocktail bitterly.

She remembered the scene all too well; crying at the Grill over boy troubles, and her non existent love life. But call her crazy, she thought things might actually be different this time. She thought she had found love - real love with Tyler. She thought that him breaking the sire bond for her, that that had meant something. Apparently it didn't mean enough, to get him to stay. And that really sucked.

Maybe that's where it all went so horribly wrong. Her boy troubles. She remembered sitting right in this exact chair a mere year ago, spotting Damon smiling at her from across the room. He was the start of her troubles, the first of a few to crush her heart. First it was him, then it was Matt, and now...Tyler. She wondered who the next lucky guy to break her heart would be...

"Next one's on me." A plaid smiling college student waved at the bartender, as he slid into a stool right beside Caroline. "I'm fine." Caroline sighed, but the guy shrugged it aside and spoke to the bartender again. "Keep em' coming."

The bartender nodded as he placed a stack of four fireball whiskey shots onto the table before them.

Screw it - Caroline thought to herself, it was free after all. She didn't even have to compel anyone.

"Cheers." She said to the guy, who's name she didn't care to know, as she grabbed the two shot glasses in front of her and chugged down the drink quickly. It burned her tongue but numbed her soul, and she liked that feeling.

The bartender kept placing drinks on the table one after another, and Caroline kept downing them with ease, Guy following closely behind her.

Sometime later, Caroline was finally feeling the effects of the alcohol, and she was quite enjoying herself. She forgot about stupid Tyler, and Matt, Elena, Damon, even Klaus. In fact the only guy Caroline was concerned about was the one in front of her.

Guy, she called him, because he was a guy, after all.

Guy was getting cuter by the second, his receding hairline almost completely hidden by his baseball cap, and the nacho stains on his flannel blending in with the plaid lines. His eyes were blue too, which was a bonus. Boys with blue eyes were just a different level of hot, Caroline thought, as she leaned in closer to Guy. People cheered as Caroline leaned closer to him and pressed her lips against his for a kiss. She kissed him hard, so hard in fact, that she drew blood. It was delicious, but she didn't stop, she didn't care. Not until a rough hand grabbed her shoulder and shrugged her harshly.

Caroline growled, a murderous hunger in her throat, which immediately softened when she noticed who the intruder was.

"Caroline? What are you doing?"

Bonnie looked at Caroline with pure concern, and a hint of disgust around at the table, and mess Caroline made. There were dozens of scattered liquor bottles across the table, and a small crowd had gathered around to see Caroline's drinking manifest. Guy was clutching a napkin to his lip, trying to stop the bleeding.

Caroline looked to the ground in shame, not wanting to look into Bonnie's judgemental eyes.

"We're over." Caroline said softly, a stray tear falling from her eye. "He doesn't want me."

After a long stretched moment of silence Caroline glanced at her friend, seeing a blank look on her face.

"Who?" Bonnie asked, earning a frown from Caroline.

"Tyler! Who else?"

"Oh, honey." Bonnie pulled her friend in for a tight hug, and Caroline closed her eyes, finding a moment of comfort. "He'll come around." Bonnie smiled softly as she pulled away. "You're amazing. Sooner or later - he's gonna see that."

"Yeah." Caroline agreed, but she couldn't help feeling her heart plummet down her chest. Why couldn't he see it now? Why was she always the one waiting around? If she was so amazing, how come nobody ever seemed to want her quite as much as she wanted them?

"I think I'm gonna go home." Bonnie nodded as Caroline stood up from the bar, grabbing her purse. "Sleep off the hangover." Caroline joked, and Bonnie chuckled.

"Oh wait - before I forget." Bonnie reached into her large bohemian purse and pulled out a crisp envelope. "It's from Damon."

"Damon?" Caroline asked, running her hands through the thick envelope. Her name was written in small cursive letters, completely unlike what she imagined Damon's handwriting to be. The envelope was closed with a familiar red S seal in the back, S for Salvatore - no doubt.

"I really think you should read it before throwing it away." Bonnie said seriously. "He seemed really genuine when he gave mine to me."

"He gave you a letter too?" Caroline asked incredulously, and suddenly sober.

Bonnie smiled and walked away, leaving Caroline with a rush of thoughts she couldn't even begin to process.

______

Caroline sat at an empty bench in the park, her trembling fingers ripping open the seal of the envelope and freeing the letter inside. It was folded with precision, written with care. If Caroline didn't know any better she might've though Stefan had written it, since this seems to be his usual forte.

She took a shaky breath and began reading:

Dear Caroline,
I was thinking a lot about what you said to me a few weeks ago. You were right. I am a terrible person. I don't deserve Elena, and I don't deserve you. I don't deserve anyone, in fact. I'm not a good person. In the past I was content with that, I really was, but ever since I started spending time with you...that's when everything changed. You didn't make me a better person Caroline, but you made me want to be. For the first time in years, I feel like maybe there's hope for me, just me, not as an extension of my brother, or Elena, or Alaric, but only me. I want to thank you for that. And I want to apologize. I'm sorry.

I hurt you when we first met, I treated you horribly, and I haven't realized it but I don't think I've ever truly stopped. When I saw you I saw one of the darkest parts of my past, and it made me feel ashamed. But lately when I see you, I see a friend, and a bright possibility of the future.

I know you hate me, but you're probably one of my closest - and only friends. How sad is that?! I know now that I obviously mistook your friendship as something more, and I'm sorry for that, and for trying to use you to get over Elena. And I'm sorry for not saying all this in person, but to be honest I'm too chicken for that. Maybe in a couple hundred years we'll meet again, and you'll be glad I was someone you used to know. But for now just know that I'll miss you, and that I truly am sorry.
Best wishes,
Damon

***

Chapter 9 is finished!
How did you guys like this chapter?

Damon's letter to Caroline was really emotional, what did you think of it?

QOTD: What did you eat for dinner???
I had spaghetti with meatballs, and it was delicious. 🤤

As always thank you guys for reading, please don't forget to comment and vote - it really does mean a lot!! See you in the next chapter!❤️