I Know The End | D. Salvatore

Ceilings

I stuffed my hands into the pocket of my coat as I stepped out of the car in front of the Lockwood estate. People were turning up in flocks to bring food and pay their respects to the family of the mayor, who had died in the basement alongside the tomb vampires. I couldn't shake the thought out of my mind that Damon could have been one of the people who died down there.

"Looks like the whole town has turned out." Aunt Jenna said as we walked up to the front door.

"Yeah, well, he is-he was the mayor." Elena said

"Why don't they save it for the funeral?" Jeremy asked, not wanting to be here at all.

"It's what people do. The Lockwoods were here for us when we went through this. It'll be quick. We'll drop off the food, pay our respects, go." Jenna said.

My eyes locked onto a very familiar figure who was standing on the front porch of the house with a glass of whisky in his hands. Damon glanced my way, his jaw clenching before he averted his gaze out onto the estate.

"In and out? Sounds like a plan." Jeremy said, perking up at the idea of getting to leave as soon as possible.

"You guys go ahead. I'll, uh, be right there, okay?" I said. Jenna and Jeremy nodded and started to walk into the house. Elena shot me a curious look, her eyes darting between Damon and I, before she decided to follow after Jeremy and Jenna.

I walked over to Damon, feeling slightly nervous at the sight of him after what had happened between us. "Hey. How are you doing?" 

"Great, Althea. Walking on sunshine, thanks for asking." Damon said with a sarcastic lilt to his voice.

"Damon-" I huffed lightly and started to speak, but he interrupted me with a mocking tone of voice. "Althea."

"We should talk about what happened." I said, feeling my heart rate increase and my stomach twist at the thought. Even though he was the one who had kissed me on the cheek, I still felt the fear of rejection sitting deep in my chest.

"Talk about what?" Damon asked, seeming to not want to look me in the eyes. He kept his gaze locked on the large garden of the estate in front of us.

"You know what." I said with a sigh, wishing that he would stop avoiding what happened.

"Nothing happened, Thea. You made that very clear." Damon stated bitterly

"Is this about what I said to El-Katherine." I caught myself, remembering that I hadn't actually spoken to my sister that day. "I didn't mean that. I just didn't know what to say."

"Sure." Damon muttered with a scoff before he raised his glass and took a swig of the dark amber liquid.

"What did you want me to say? Yes, Elena, you did interrupt us. I was about to kiss your boyfriend's older brother." I snapped, feeling frustrated by the entire situation.

"Well, not those exact words." Damon smirked. Though the look of hurt was still prevalent in his blue eyes.

"You're hurt over this, over my words. But you don't have to be." I shook my head. My gaze was almost sympathetic, but I pushed it down so he wouldn't get annoyed.

"Mm, no. I don't get hurt, Thea." Damon stated

"No, you don't admit that you get hurt. You get angry and cover it up and then you do something stupid." I stated, pointing out the obvious. "And you know what? If you would stop mulling over a throwaway comment, you would realize that I didn't reject you. I haven't rejected you."

"Are you going to?" Damon asked, trying to mask his nervousness. The look in his eyes told me he was anticipating heartbreak and trying to pull away before it could catch him off guard.