Vampire Diaries Imagines

Guilt Party - Damon Salvatore

It wasn't like her to be so closed off.

YN had always been the life of the party-social, talkative, the kind of person who could pull you out of the worst mood with just a look. My built-in best friend. My little sister.

But ever since Stefan left-since he disappeared with Klaus-she hadn't been the same.

Neither of us had.

But at least I still put on a front. I still drank, still threw out my usual sarcastic quips, still acted like I wasn't falling apart on the inside. YN, though? She wasn't even pretending.

She barely spoke, barely left the house unless she had to. The girl who used to drag me out just for the hell of it now barely stepped foot outside her room.

And I knew why.

She blamed herself.

She thought she should've stopped Stefan from leaving. That she could've done something-anything-to change how things went down. It was a damn lie, but I knew better than anyone how guilt could chew you up from the inside out.

Which was why, while Elena's birthday party was going on downstairs, I found myself walking down the hall to my sister's room instead.

I didn't even knock. Just opened the door, fully prepared to drag her out of whatever self-pity cave she'd holed herself up in. But the second I stepped inside, the words died in my throat.

She wasn't even dressed for the party. Hadn't made the slightest attempt to get up, let alone join the rest of us. Instead, she sat curled up in the window seat, knees pulled to her chest, staring blankly at the darkening sky outside.

My heart clenched.

I'd seen her upset before. Hell, I'd seen her pissed, seen her cry, seen her throw things at my head. But I had never seen her like this.

Silent. Still. Lost.

For a moment, I just stood there, watching her.

Then I sighed, stepping further into the room. "Well, this is depressing."

She barely moved, barely reacted. Just blinked slowly before turning her head slightly toward me. "Damon." Her voice was quiet. Not in a way that meant she was annoyed with me. In a way that meant she barely had the energy to say my name at all.

I forced a smirk, shoving my hands into my pockets. "You do realize there's a party going on downstairs, right?"

YN let out a slow breath and turned back toward the window. "I know."

I raised a brow. "And you weren't planning on showing up because...?"

"I don't feel like it."

Her answer was simple. Flat. Like she wasn't just skipping a party but checking out of everything entirely.

And that? That wasn't gonna fly.

I moved closer, leaning against the window frame beside her. "Look, I get it," I said, voice softer than before. "You miss him. I do, too."

She flinched, like just hearing his name hurt.

"I should've stopped him," she whispered after a moment.

I clenched my jaw. "YNN-"

"I should've done something," she went on, shaking her head. "I froze, Damon. I just stood there and let him go. And now-now he's gone, and we don't know where he is, and what if we never-"

Her voice cracked, and she sucked in a sharp breath, like she was trying to keep herself together.

I hated it. I hated seeing her like this, hated that she was carrying all this guilt when none of it was on her.