You Are My Life

Second Chances

~ Mallorie ~

After a brief bit of excitement where Mallorie staked Rebekah while she was getting ready for a homecoming that Mallorie wouldn't be attending, Mallorie waited at the Salvatore house for hours praying Klaus wasn't killing the ones she loved. She knew Elena wasn't going and was holed up with Alaric for the night. Elena's texts were the only thing keeping her sane until Damon came back. She was in the same boat with Stefan going as well. 

When the front door opened, Mallorie was ready to leap into Damon's arms or stake whoever walked through the door. It was Damon, but he wasn't happy. Something had gone wrong. It had to have. Why else would he be mad?

"What's wrong?" Mallorie asked.

Damon marched into the parlor. "Mikael is dead, not Klaus. We are back to square one, thanks to Stefan."

Mallorie blinked. "What?"

"Stefan tackled me right as I was about to stake Klaus." Damon threw his arms up. "Klaus picked up the dagger and killed Mikael. Now he's riding off into the sunset with my brother."

"How did this happen?" Mallorie asked.

Damon poured himself a drink. "We thought of everything, Mallorie! Klaus having hybrids. Mikael turning on us. We brought in Katherine, so you weren't in danger. Anything that could have gone wrong, we were prepared!"

Mallorie shook her head. "I don't understand. Stefan wanted Klaus dead. More than anything. That's what we were counting on."

"We blew it." Damon sighed and took a swig of his drink.

"Where's Katherine?" Mallorie asked.

"She ran for the hills like usual, the minute things got bad! And who blames her?" Damon made his way around the drink table and couch to Mallorie. "Klaus would've crushed her. I had him, Mallorie. I had Klaus! This could have all been over!"

Damon turned and threw his bottle of bourbon into the fireplace. The glass shattered, and the flames momentarily grew. 

"Hey! Damon." Mallorie walked over to Damon. She tried to turn him, but he jerked out of her grip. This time, she grabbed his arm tighter and turned him to face her. "Hey, listen to me." Mallorie placed her hands on his cheeks. "We'll survive this. We always survive. Trust me."

Damon shook his head. "We're never getting Stefan back. You know that, don't you?"

Mallorie pursed her lips. How was she supposed to handle this vulnerable side of Damon? "Then we'll let him go. Okay? We'll have to let him go."

As if they were memorizing it, Damon's eyes traced every inch of her face. He nodded his head and slowly leaned toward Mallorie. Just as their lips were about to touch his phone rang. Mallorie took a step back.

With a frustrated frown, Damon fished his phone out of his pocket and answered it. "Not interested in the play-by-play of our failure right now, Katherine." Mallorie tried to calm herself down and missed what Katherine said. "That's not very comforting at the moment. You're going back into hiding?" Damon asked. There was a pause, and then he said, "Take care of yourself, Katherine."

Damon hung up the phone. Mallorie felt his finger under her chin, and he pulled her gaze back to him. His fingers tickled her jawbone as they crept up to cup her cheek. Goosebumps rose in their wake. 

"We are going to find a way to take care of Klaus," Damon said.

His pale blue eyes bore into Mallorie's. There was an intensity there that she couldn't quite place. Damon leaned in slightly, but Mallorie pulled away.