The Vampire Diaries(BxB)

3: Smoky Mountains

I arrive to Damon's bedroom, as he's looking into his closest at the articles, maps, and notes. "Just can't stay away, can you?" He asks. "You've been dodging my calls." I say. "Yeah, well, busy dating a dead fake girlfriend and all." He says. "Why didn't you tell me?" I ask. "Happy Birthday, Ethan. Stefan killed Andie. Cake?" He asks, and looks at me, and walks past me. "He called me Damon." I say, and he stops. "What?" He asks, and I look at him. "Stefan called me last night." I say. "Well, what'd he say?" He asks. "He said, give me a second, I have to get further away. And then I heard a whoosh, and then he said, happy birthday, Ethan. I asked Sheriff Forbes if she would trace the call's origin. It came from Tennessee." I say. "Where he's binge drinking on the country folk." He says, and walks over to the fireplace. "We went through this, Ethan. Stefan's gone." He says, and throws them into the unlit fire with his right hand, and grabs a box of matches with his right hand, and looks at me. "I don't mean geographically." He says, smiling. "If he was gone, he wouldn't have called. Hell, he even wished me Happy Birthday." I say, and he turns around, and I look to my right, and back to him, and turn around, and walk off. I'm at Alaric's apartment, constantly knocking on his door with my right hand. "Go away, Damon!" He exclaims, and I knock harder, and the door opens, as I put my hand down, and see Alaric, shirtless, buttoning his pants. "Hi." I say. "You're, uh.. not who I expected." He says. "I need you to tell me what you know about Stefan and Tennessee." I say. "Did you miss the part where I checked out of all this?" He asks, and walks into his apartment, and I walk in, as he walks over to his shirt. "Come on, Ric." I say, and look out the door, and shut it with both hands, and back to him. "Whatever Damon knows, you know." I say, as he walks to his kitchen, and I follow him. "Ask Damon." He says, and opens his fridge with his right hand. "Yeah, but Damon's not exactly in the mood to help right now." I say, and he shuts his fridge, and walks over to me, holding two beer bottles. "For good reason. Because it's not safe for you. Stefan's off the rails." He says, and I take some dirty plates, and put them in the sink, looking at him. "Yeah, but he's still holding on to his humanity, which means he can still be saved. He wished me Happy Birthday." I say, and take the two beer bottles, and set them down, away from him. "Because I'm not the kind of person who checks out. Look, he would never give up on me." I say, shaking my head. "I'm not gonna give up on him. Tell me what you know, Ric." I say, and he sighs, and looks down. "Please." I say, and he looks up at me. "They've been tracking Werewolves, he and Klaus, all over the Eastern seaboard. I thought we had them just outside of Memphis. Do you think he's the terrible danger Elijah was talking about?" He asks. "No. I don't. He would have mentioned Klaus." I say. I'm at the Grill, talking with Tyler. "A lot of us like to keep to ourselves for the full moon, chain ourselves up. But there are some werewolves that like to gather in places were they don't have to do that, where they can enjoy it." He says. "What kind of places?" I ask. "Mountains, state parks, deserts, that kind of stuff." He says. "Anywhere in Tennessee?" I ask. "Yeah. Here. Give me your phone." He says, and holds out his right hand. "I'll try to pull up a map." He says, and I hand him my phone with both hands, and he takes it with both hands, and types. "Thanks for this." I say, looking up at him, and he looks at me, and tilts my phone, sideways. "I know it's asking a lot." I say. "As Tony likes to remind me, Stefan's in this mess because I bit Damon. I figure I owe you one." He says, and I smile. "Have you talked to him today?" He asks. "No. Why?" I ask. "Just curious." He says, and looks back at my phone, and clicks. "Here." He says, and hands it to me with his right hand, and I take it with my right, and hold it up, seeing the Smoky Mountains. "That's your best bet." He says, and I sigh. "Thanks." I say, and get up, and walk over to Alaric, and sit by him. "Did you get anything?" He asks. "How do you feel about a little hike through the Smoky Mountains?" I ask. "You wanna hunt down a pack of werewolves on a Full Moon?" He asks. "We'll be out of there before the moon is full." I say, and he sighs, and looks down and forward, rubbing his forehead with his left hand. "If you don't come with me, I'm going by myself." I say, about to stand up, and he looks at me. "What? You're the one who told me that I could handle things on my own now." I say. "Yeah, I meant like frozen dinners and SATs, which you probably don't need to study for." He says, and I glare at him, and he looks for and down. "All. All right fine. Let's just. Let's just go." He says, and pulls out cash out of his left pocket, and sets it down, looking at me. "But, uh, you're driving." He says, and I smile. "I love driving. I'm gonna use my new car." I say, and we both get up, and walk off. We're hiking through the Smoky Mountains along side a river, holding my black water bottle in my right hand. "In a couple hours, the Full Moon's gonna rise just above that ridge." He says, pointing up with his right index finger, and puts his hand down. "If Tyler's right, that's where the pack'll be." He says. "You were a boy scout, weren't you?" I ask. "Shut up." He says. "A Boy Scout/ Vampire Slayer." I say, and drink some of my water. "/Slash Whiskey Drinking all around lost cause." He says, and I laugh, and I put my water bottle in my bag, as we stop walking, and he crouches down, and opens his bag, and see a lot of weapons. "Wow. You came stocked." I say. "Well, we aren't exactly bird watching." He says, looking at me, and back to his bag. "Here." He says, and turns back to me, holding a grenade in his right hand. "Put that in your bag." He says, and I take it with my right hand. "Vervain Grenade?" I ask. "Wolfsbane." He says, standing up, looking at him, holding one in his right hand, and I put it in my bag. "Well, since we're exchanging gifts.." I say, and pull the Gilbert Ring out of my pocket, and hold it out to him, and he looks at it, and then to me, pointing at it with his right index finger, and puts his hand down. "That's John Gilbert's Ring." He says. "It was yours once. Go ahead. Take it. It'll protect you from whatever supernatural danger we're about to get ourselves into." I say. "He gave it to you." I say, and shake my head. "Yeah, but I'm a Doppelganger. It's not gonna work on me. He left it for if I ever have kids. Magical male born children." I say. "Yeah, well, then why don't you save it for future generations of stubborn, relentless, magical, baby Gilberts?" He asks. "Ok, and how about you borrow it until after we survive this? I'd feel bad if I got you killed before happy hour." I say, smiling, and he gives a small laugh, and smiles, and takes it with his right hand. I walk over to the water, and set my bag down, and take off my red and black flannel, now wearing my gray tank. "I don't know why you think that you're a lost cause." I say, and look at him, smiling, and I see Damon as he pushes me over the giant bush, as I scream, and land in the water, and come up, gasping, and look at Damon. "Damon! How are you even here?" I ask, and he looks at Alaric. "Thanks for the tip, brother." He says, and they look at me, as Alaric steps forward. "You sold me out." I say. "You think I'd take you to a mountain range of werewolves on a Full Moon moon without backup?" Alaric asks. "Get out of the water, Ethan." Damon says. "If I get out of the water, you're gonna make me go home." I say. "Yes, because I'm not an idiot like you." He says, and Alaric looks at me. "Right now, you're both acting like idiots." Alaric says, and I shake my head. "You gave up on him, Damon." I say, and look to my right. " I didn't give up on him, Ethan." He says, and I look forward. "I faced reality." He says, and I look at him, as he's closer to me. "Now get out of the water." He says, and I cross my arms. "No!" I exclaim, and he walks towards me. "What's your big plan, Ethan? Huh?" He asks, and jumps down, and walks towards me. "You gonna walk through a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow, and wait for Stefan to stop by?" He asks, and I step backwards. "My plan is to find him and help him. Damon, this is the closest that we've been to him since he left. I'm not going home." I say, shaking my head. "Klaus thinks you died when he broke the Curse. That makes you safe. This, this is not safe." He says. "I'm not leaving before we find him." I say. "It's a Full Moon tonight, Ethan." He says. "Then we'll find him before then. Damon, please." I say, and he looks to the left, and back to me. "Ok. Ok. But we are out of here before the moon is full and I'm werewolf bait." He says. "I promise." I say. "Unless you wanna relive the whole deathbed kissy thing." I say. "I said I promise." I say. "Fine." He says, and turns around, walking out of the water, and I follow him. We're walking through the woods. "How you doing?" Damon asks. "Fine." I say. "You know, I could help you." He says. "No, thanks." I say. "Just one little fwoosh." He says. "Yeah, with my luck, you'd drop me." I say. "What are you guys, eleven?" Alaric asks. We're continuing walking through the woods, as the Sun's about to set. "We got about a mile left." Alaric says. "The Sun's about to set." Damon says, and I sigh, and look to my right at the Sun. "I can see that, Damon." I say. "I'm just saying." He says. "The Moon doesn't reach its apex for a while. We have time." I say, and we hear a twig snap, and another, and see a bloody man coming towards us, as Alaric holds his cross bow out, and the man approaches us. "Stay where you are." Alaric says, and the man looks at Damon. "Vampire." He says, and dashes towards Damon, as Damon dashes towards him, but the man pushes him against a tree, trying to bite him, and Alaric shoots the man in the back, as I crouch down, pulling out the Wolfsbane Grenade with my right hand, and open it with my left. "Damon!" I exclaim, and throw it to him, and he catches it with his right hand, and throws it in the man's face, and the man screams, as I duck to the right, and look back at the man, as he's on the ground, as I stand up, and he groans, trying to stand up, and Damon kicks him to the ground, as I'm breathing heavily. "Let me guess. Hybrid." Alaric says, and I look at him. Alaric's finishing up tying the man to the tree, as I pouring Vervain onto ropes, holding them in my left, and Alaric approaches me. "These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer. What else do we have?" Damon asks. "Ric, here. Take these." I say, and Damon reaches for them, and Damon touches them, and exclaims. "Ow. Shit." He says, and looks at me. "I said Ric." I say, and Alaric takes them. "Thanks. All right, that's the last of the Vervain. We don't have enough stuff to hold him. I don't think we're gonna make that Ridge before the Full Moon." He says, tying the ropes around the man, and walks back over to me, and I approach the man. "If we can get him to talk, we don't have to." I say, and reach for his face with my right hand, and he wakes up, gasping, as I pull my hand back, and down, and take a step back, breathing heavily, and his neck cracks from left to right, and I step back to the guys, as he screams. "Is he turning?" Damon asks. "It's impossible. It's still daylight." I say, looking at the Sun, and back to the man. "Tell him that." Alaric says, and Damon rubs over to him, putting his hands on his shoulders. "There aren't supposed to be werewolves out here until the moon is full." I say. "You know, those ropes aren't gonna hold the wolf." Alaric says, and the man snarls, trying to bite Damon. "Damon, we've got to get out of here. We gotta get out of these mountains now! Damon, now!" I say, and push his back, and we turn around, and run off. We're running through the woods, and I trip, and am about to get up. "Don't move." Damon says, and I lift my head up, and see a wolf, as I gasp, and he snarls at me, and looks to his right at Damon, and back to me, snarling, and I move my head back, flinching. "Here, doggie, doggie." Damon says, and the wolf looks at him, and Damon dashes off, and the wolf follows, and I get up, breathing heavily. "Come on. Let's keep moving." Alaric says, extending his right hand out. "We can't leave Damon." I say, pointing behind me with my left thumb, and put my hand down. "He can handle himself. Let's move." He says. "No. If he gets bit, he'll be dead. I'm the reason he's out here." I say. "I am the reason he's out here. I told him where we were, and I'm telling you to keep moving. Let's go. Ethan, now!" He exclaims, and we run off. Alaric and I are back in my car, as Alaric is in the front seat, and I'm in the passenger seat. "Stefan's out there somewhere and now Damon, and we're just sitting in this car?" I ask. "Let the vampires fight the hybrid zombie mountain man. I'll take care of keeping the humans safe." He says, and I look at him. "I thought you were checked out of taking care of people." I say, and he looks at me. " I know what you're doing. Don't. There doesn't need to be a lesson here." He says, and looks forward. "You're better at it than you think, you know?" I ask. "Oh, boy, are you a sucker for a lost cause or what?" He asks. "You're not a lost cause, Ric. You're just lost." I say, and he looks down. "But so is Jeremy, and so am I. Our family is gone. We don't have anybody. I'm sorry, but you don't have anybody either, so.." I say, and he sighs. "We're kind of good for each other. And you're technically my Step Father." I say, and he holds up his right hand, showing the ring, and looks at me. "I'm keeping the ring, then." He says, and I smile, and so does he, and we hear footsteps, and look to our right, and see Damon, walking, and get out of the car. "Damon." I say, and close my door with my left hand, and walk over to him. "Are you okay? Did you." I say. "Fine, bite free. Get back in the car, please." He says, as he bumps into me. "Can you just give me a minute to appreciate that you're not dead?" I ask. "I'll give you 10 seconds. 9, 8." He says, and grabs my shoulders, and turns me around, pushing me, as I walk. "Hey, Ric, did you happen to see where I parked my car?" He asks, and Alaric walks off. "Damon, stop being such a caveman." I say, and we get in the car, and I look out the window, and look up, and back down, and up again. I'm walking out of my bathroom, with my green towel over my shoulders, and see Damon by the window, and sigh. "Seriously?" I ask. "I was wrong." He says, and I take a step forward. "Are you drunk?" I ask, and he looks at me. "No." He says, and I take my towel off with my right hand, and put it down. "I thought Stefan was gone, but I was wrong." He says. "You saw him out there? Damon, is he okay?" I ask. "No, he's not okay, Etha. He's an insufferable martyr that needs his ass kicked.. But he can be saved." He says, and I cross my arms. "What happened out there? What changed your mind?" I ask. "I changed my mind because even in his darkest place, my brother still can't let me die. So I figure I owe him the same in return." He says, smiling. "I'll help you bring him back." He says. "Thank you." I say, and nod, and he approaches me. "But before I do, I need you to answer one question. What made you change your mind?" He asks. "What do you mean?" I ask, uncrossing my arms, and grab my towel, and fold it. "You were so hellbent on staying on that mountain, then you just gave up. So what changed your mind?" He asks. "We were under attack, Damon." I say. "You had a bag full of weapons and a teacher with an eternity ring. You could have kept going." He says. "It was too dangerous." I say, and put the towel down. "It was too dangerous going out there to begin with, so what was it?" He asks. "Why are you being like this?" I ask. "What changed you're mind, Ethan?" He asks, stepping closer. "I didn't want to see you get hurt, ok?" I ask, shaking my head. "I was.." I say, and he smiles. "I was worried about you." I say, and he smiles bigger. "Thanks." He says, and begins to walk off. "Yes, I worry about you." I say, looking at him, and he stops, and looks at me. "Why do you even have to hear me say it?" I ask, and he walks over to me. "Because when I drag my brother from the edge and deliver him back to you, I want you to remember the things you felt while he was gone." He says, and touches the right side of my face. "Goodnight, Ethan." He says, and runs his hand through my hair, gently, and turns around, and walks off, and I see Alaric walk up the stairs, holding two bags in each hand. "How's it going, Ric?" Damon asks, walking down the stairs, and Alaric sets his bags down. "Know what you're doing there?" He asks, and I shake my head. "No, I don't." I say.