Broken hearts find your way / Make it through just this day (For Rebekah)

[prodigalsavior]

[ooc: After this.]

Well, that needed to not happen again, Damon thought to himself as he moved through the city, blending with the crowd and shadows. The bright lights were all around, but that just kept even more people's attention off of him. There were too many other things to look at.

He'd forgotten how easy it was to hunt in the city, and he had to wonder why the hell he'd ever left. It wasn't for anything...god. It seemed so long ago. Thinking he'd be the one to free Katherine. That she'd love him forever, that they'd hunt the night and lord it over everyone else, just the two of them.

That he wouldn't be alone, haunted only by the girl who'd been taken and the brother who'd damned him.

Fuck, but what was that saying? The more things changed...

A girl bumped into him, and apologized before thinking she could slip past him. Damon's hand slipped out and grabbed her arm, hard and fast. Before she could bother protesting, he had caught her gaze, compelled her to silence. Then slinging an arm around her, he guided her down the street, looking for a quiet place for a snack.

Maybe that would take his mind off the level of fucking horror these last few months. Or keep him from taking out his phone and sending a text for another night of...not aloneness.

Comments

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

Rebekah let her eyes drift closed as she leaned in to rest her forehead lightly against his before shifting so their cheeks were pressed lightly together. They did fit well together, she had noticed that the night of the ball the first time they had danced together and later when they had spent their first night together. Even now she could remember that night; of how it had been hard to keep their hands off of each other once they decided to just give in to whatever attraction was between them.

It suddenly made her wary as she leaned back suddenly to look at him, her eyes dark. "Are you playing with me again?"

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

It was a fair question, and Damon didn't blame her for asking. He hadn't been playing with her the first night, but then he'd used her, and that it was to try and keep people safe wasn't fair, especially in light of everything else that had happened. If he hadn't been so determined to figure out what she wanted, then to get the stakes...

Ric might still be alive. Sage might still be alive. Elena--but he couldn't go there. Rebekah wouldn't have lost two brothers, and while he couldn't really be sorry to see Klaus go after all he'd done....He couldn't forget her screams, either, and how even when Stefan had been ripping people to pieces....him dying would have killed something in Damon, too.

So, yeah. Playing with her did really well for all of them.

He shook his head a little, and there was nothing but a momentary sadness in his eyes. "No. I don't know...what we're doing, but no. I'm not playing with you." A shadow of his general devil-may-care flashed, though it was a little forced. "Unless you've got some super-fun games in mind. Then I'll play."

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

Rebekah wanted to believe that he wasn't playing with her. She had wanted to believe it before but Sage had taken great pleasure in ripping the wool from her eyes and exposing his plot. She had enjoyed making Rebekah look and feel like a fool though she had done her best to cover how bad it had made her feel.

But then he had saved her from Ric. She had wondered if maybe it was to make up for hurting her but...if it wasn't, then why had he done it?

Her eyes flickered down to hide her doubt as she looked at his chest, frowning just a bit before she looked up at him. She offered a wry smile then. "I can usually come up with an idea or two." One corner of her mouth perked up a bit more. "And I seem to recall you're pretty creative too."

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

Damon waited while she considered, and took the smile--however wry--as a good sign.

"An excellent point. Together we should be able to come up with something..." And if they termed it in playing games--however fun--maybe they could avoid looking at anything deeper. That would be great, really.

His deep hadn't really been working well for him lately.

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

She told herself it was safer not to look for anything deeper.

She offered a crooked smile as she nodded in agreement. "Hasn't been a problem before."

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

He was pretty sure they were both right on that...safer, not too deep, simple, fun. They couldn't go wrong with that, could they?

"It really hasn't," he said again. "I think we'll manage."

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

Sure, they would manage but why didn't she feel so sure? What was it that left her feeling unsettled as she leaned in to rest her head against his shoulder again. She let out a little breath as she closed her eyes. She stayed quiet as they continued to dance through the rest of the song and even another one. They lingered in dancing slowly even while the others danced quickly around them but it felt right for the moment.

Finally she pulled away, looking at him. "Let's go to your place."

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

Damon hadn't figured for certain that she'd want to go home with him, but somewhere in the dancing, having her against him, moving to a beat all their own, he'd known he would have to ask.

Convenient, then, that she did so first. He gave her a bit of a smile, stepping back and offering his hand. "Sounds good."

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

Rebekah hadn't planned on it but there was a deep sense of loneliness that she needed to banish even if it was only for a little while. She offered a little smile as she nodded. "Lead the way."

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

He smirked, just a bit, even as he curled his fingers around hers to lead her back out of the club. "I'd think you'd remember where it was." Just a little teasing.

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

"I remember the front room and the bedroom." She smirked right back at him, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze as he led her out of the club.

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

"There isn't a great deal more to it, I'm afraid," he said with a wry smile. Not that he didn't have the money, but he'd sort of taken the first decent place he'd found.

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

"Do you really need anything more?" She asked with a faint chuckle.

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

"Not really," he admitted, breathing in the air as they stepped outside.

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

Stepping outside, she paused as she looked around, letting the sounds of the city wash over her before she smiled a little more. "I missed what this place was like a century ago but it's still one of my favorite places in the world."

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

"It wasn't much different except for the tech," Damon said a bit ruefully. "Gangs fighting for control of certain territory. Tenements. The wealthy living in their mansions. Artists starving in garrets..."

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

"So many places to hunt and to have fun." Rebekah added with a pleased sort of smile as she glanced over.

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

Damon chuckled. "That's certainly true..." Though a century ago, he had only just been discovering the possibility of fun, after fifty years of brooding. God, he'd been dull.

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

"At least we don't have to worry about anyone watching us too closely here." She decided that was a good thing as she glanced over at him again.

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

He nodded, glancing around. "No town council, no small town prying eyes. I've always liked cities for that. Somehow always end up back in Virginia, though." He made a face. "Not any more."

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

"No desire to go back?" She asked casually but it wasn't really a casual question, was it? Part of her wondered if it was even worth getting involved with him on any level. Especially if there was a chance he was going to go running back to Elena and his brother.

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

He slid a sideways glance at her. The casualness was...not really all that casual, and he knew it wasn't an easy question.

"Not now or any time soon," he said quietly. He had no doubt he'd go home, eventually, but. "There's nothing for me there."

Ric had been his best reason to stay, once Elena made her choice. He was gone, too.

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

Rebekah really was sorry about Ric. She hadn't really known him but he had seemed nice enough and he had been important to Damon. It seemed cruel to her that he had gotten caught up in her mother's schemes.

"I see." She nodded her head slowly.

"I'm never going back." She decided a moment later, shaking her head. There was too many painful memories there for her.

[prodigalsavior.livejournal.com]

He tilted her a sideways look, then found himself reaching for her hand as they walked. Yeah, he'd wanted her brother dead and would have happily killed him himself--even if it killed him, if he were honest.

There'd been a time when he'd been happy to include her in that, and Elijah and Kol, too, though mostly because....he saw no other way out of the war Klaus had brought. If the others had gone...the way they had now. He was glad, now, that she hadn't been killed, too.

"Had you been back much since...I don't know--you were human or whatever? Or was this the first time?"

[itconsumesher.livejournal.com]

Rebekah was surprised by the contact but she didn't pull away. There was a part of her that starved for that connection and so she curled her fingers around his, thankful for it, as they continued to walk away from the club.

At one time, she had been on their side but then Elena had staked her. She might have even helped them afterwards but she had eventually come to realize that they would never let her in on their little circle of friend. She would always be an Original, a threat and Klaus's sister which meant she couldn't be trusted. It was a lonely feeling but she had gotten used to it. At least, that's what she told herself.

"I've been back a couple times over the centuries." She replied, glancing at him. "At least at first. I guess I went back looking for the good things, the happy memories, and to visit my...to visit the graves of those we lost." Her brother and her mother.