(1) The Phoenix (D. Salvatore)

Chapter One Hundred and Eleven

Damon watches Daphne who has not moved from his bed since she fell into upon their return the day before, except to use the bathroom. He's worried about her but he knows that showing her that he's worried, isn't really going to help her. She is not the sort of person that would like her hurt being pointed out to her, or acknowledged in any way. She is the sort of person that likes to wallow in herself until she feels better. He's just not sure that is the right way any more. There are so many of them around her, so many that love her and care about her, and shutting herself away from them and their help, it's not going to work anymore. Damon folds his arms over his chest and tilts his head.

"Did Elena text you?" He asks, she hums and nods.

"About the school dance? Yeah," She answers. "I'm not going" She is quick to point out. "Because if I just lay here doing nothing then nothing I do can go wrong" She mumbles. Damon lets out a breath and nods a little. They should have seen this coming. Daphne proved with Kreacher's death, with Sirius and Tink, that she does not do well with failure or death and right now, she is feeling both of those things. Damon moves to get dressed for the day. They have enough to worry about, with Alaric going AWOL, Kol still out there, Klaus still a threat, and probably something else he doesn't know about, they really need Daphne at her best. Which isn't happening right now.

"Did you not have school dances at your fancy magic school?" He asks as he finishes getting dressed.

"Not really" She answers. "Just two....a yule ball every year and then the graduation ball when we...well, graduate. I never much liked them"

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" He asks. "Given your sister's track record at these things, I thought you would be all over it"

"Given my current run of bad ideas, she might be better off if I don't go" She counters, swishing her wand through the air but not casting from it.

"Oh, you have to stop with the self-pity, Red, it is not an attractive look on you" She turns a glare at him.

"I'm sorry, is me being upset getting in the way of you getting your dick wet" She almost snarls at him. Damon sighs and closes his eyes.

"That's not....." He starts to argue but then shakes his head. Right now, he doesn't think anything he says will be good enough. She deflects with anger. They've seen it before. Only the subject of her anger isn't here to be the focal point. Kol is not here for her to snap at. Meaning it has fallen to Damon. He knows she means nothing by it and that she's just angry and upset at Kol, at herself. She seems to take those sorts of failings to her heart. Lets it drag her down. She will be fine in the end. Maybe. He was simply trying to lighten the mood. Make a little joke the only way he knows how. It didn't work. He knows she would be all over a joke like that, just as he would, but he can see just how much this is getting to her. He lets out a breath and moves to the bed, crouching next to her. "Do you want me to bring you anything?" He asks as he brushes his fingers through her hair.

"Something really greasy" She answers and turns her head to look at him. He gives her a small smile, reassuring her that it's okay. She's hurting. It's not about him. He leans closer and kisses her.

"At least think about going to the school dance" He whispers when he pulls back. "They would all feel better if you were there with them.....failure or not" He assures her, brushing his fingers over her cheek. "I would feel better if you came" She nods a little.

"Think about it" She assures him, that is all she can promise right now. She has no intention of going out today. Or tomorrow. She needs to flush it out of her system. Just do nothing and nothing more can go wrong. She'll be fine after a few days. Just as she was the last time. She just needs to deal with this her own way. The way she has always dealt with her pain. Alone.

"I'm going to go and talk to Ric's doc friend, see if she knows where he's disappeared to" He admits, scratching at her head a little. She hums in acknowledgement, closing her eyes. "I'll be back later with some food" He adds and then kisses her forehead before he stands and leaves her to her wallowing.

..........

The truth is that with everything else going on, Damon didn't want to add more to Daphne's current mood. Because she would blame herself for Alaric going off of his magical herbs and running off. He can deal with this. He just needs to figure out what is going through that man's head. Right now, with the threat right on their doorstep, they need all hands on deck. Daphne is down for the count for at least a few days. They need everyone else to be at their best. Otherwise, they are not going to be prepared for shit to go bad. Because knowing their run of luck lately, it is about to go absolutely tits up in some way. He suddenly appears in front of Meredith Fell in the hospital, causing her to jump. She rolls her eyes and gives him a look as he smirks.

"Don't do that, it's not funny!" She scolds him.

"Oh, come on, it's a little funny" He argues. She folds her arms over her chest and clenches her jaw.

"What do you want Damon?" She asks him.

"I need medical advice. For a friend. Alaric, you remember him, right? About six foot two. Tried to hack you into pieces" Damon answers but his snark is not helping her mood or her desire to deal with him.

Meredith: How is he? Are those herbs that the girls made for him working?" She asks him.

"I don't know" Damon states and then holds up a glass jar that holds the herbs that Bonnie and Daphne spelled to help Alaric. "Can they work if he doesn't take them? I found these in his loft untouched" This is what he didn't want to tell Daphne. She would see this as yet another failure. She and Bonnie worked this out together, Daphne with the spell, and Bonnie with the herbs. It was a joint effort. But it was her idea and she found the spell. He couldn't bring himself to call her and tell her about this. Not until he is sure about what is going on. Because he feels like she is about to snap. And he's been there. He's been right on that edge, and he knows how he snaps, but he doesn't know how she will snap. Yet.