Kismet | Damon Salvatore

Chapter 8

Three hours later, Elena was cured.

"Oh, thank fuck," said Maribel when she examined her blood and saw no evidence of the inserted genes. "It worked."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. "I'll go tell her the good news!" said Caroline brightly.

Maribel smiled to herself, starting to clean up her makeshift lab that took up almost the entirety of the study she'd been permitted to use. One by one, she closed all the windows, and as soon as she was done, she sat down to write a summary of both procedures, perfected now that she'd performed them twice.

"Hey, Maribel."

She looked up, her smile only growing. "Elena. How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted, but a lot better," said Elena, coming to sit beside her. "You got me the injection before the hallucinations got too bad."

"I'm glad to hear that. All back to normal."

"Yeah... listen, Damon talked to me about some stuff. Things you said to him."

She remained calm, knowing she'd done nothing wrong. "Yes. I assume he told you the full extent of it?"

"He did. I wanted to thank you."

Now, this surprised her. "Thank me?"

"Ever since I realized I felt something for Damon, everyone has been trying to get me away from him. Insisting he's a bad person. Telling me I couldn't change him. I was stubborn. No one had ever summarized it all so well. Well enough for himto see it. He's saying he wants us to take a break from each other, reevaluate, find a way to live without depending on one another. And that... is more than I've ever accomplished with him. Stefan told me that two people can either be in love with each other, or they could be friends, but they couldn't be both. And I think, though I did love Damon, there's a chance he'll be able to stay in my life and we can be functional friends."

Maribel tapped her arm reassuringly. "No one should ever be stuck in a toxic relationship. I wish you both the best as you learn what it's like to be without each other. If I might overstep, admittedly, this is really not my place, but I think you could benefit from being away from both Salvatores, romantically. Maybe a fresh start is good."

"I think I may take your advice on that," said Elena gently. "Caroline encouraged me to do the same thing. Though, don't tell anyone, but I think the real reason behind it is that she has a thing for Stefan."

She raised a brow. "Are you serious?"

"Yep. I sense something different with the two of them. Something... more than before. I think they like each other but either haven't realized it yet or haven't admitted it to themselves. You know what? I think that's what I'm going to focus on outside of school. Getting those two together."

Maribel shrugged, figuring there was no harm in that. "That sounds fun. Semi-professional matchmaker while you take a break from relationships."

"I can help you, too," offered Elena. "Bonnie mentioned Enzo talks about you a lot."

She laughed lightly. "Oh, no, it's okay. I'll figure that out on my own. I appreciate it, though."

"You sure? I think I'd do a very good job of setting you two up."

"I'll let you know if I ever want to take you up on that offer, I promise. I'm just glad you're happy and healthy, Elena."

She drove back to Whitmore shortly afterward, knowing she had a ton of homework waiting to be done at home. She received a text while she was preparing a meal to enjoy with her lecture notes, informing her that the Travelers had roped Caroline, Stefan, and Enzo into some deal. They needed Stefan's help with something, and in exchange, they would find and destroy the other Ripper virus injections Wes left behind before Damon killed him.