chapter twenty-three,

Marian demanded as she entered the Salvatore's home. Damon looked up at her with an eyebrow raised, seated comfortably on the leather couch. "Tell me why you undaggered Elijah." He lifted his drink to his lips. Angrily, Marian flicked her wrist, causing the glass to fly into the wall.

"Would you believe me if I said I said I did it to make you happy?" he said, a smile on his face. "You've been so down lately, and I wanted to cheer you up." Marian rolled her eyes.

"I read the note, idiot," she told him. "What are you planning to do with Klaus?"

"What note?" Damon asked innocently.

"The one where you want Elijah to help plan Klaus' destruction," Marian stated.

"Oh," said Damon. "That note." He stood up, swiftly walking towards the staircase, Marian following. "Yeah, Elijah was all-in. Said you'd be really happy with our plan, but we shouldn't let you in on it."

"Why not?" She wondered why she would ever be happy with a plan that would possibly kill her uncle.

"Because, pretty girl." He turned around, looking down at her as he tapped her nose with his finger. "You've been a little too attached to a certain Original Hybrid recently, and we can't risk you tattle-taling on us." Marian caught his hand as he went to tap her nose again.

"I'm not attached to him," she argued.

"You killed Mikael to save him," Damon said simply, walking down the hallway and into his room. "He was our ticket to freedom."

Marian laughed humourlessly. "You think he would've let you live once he was done with him? Mikael hunted me for a thousand years; killed me five times. His purpose was to rid the world of vampires, you're no exception," she explained.

He smirked. "I seem to recall you telling me I was so pretty that the devil himself couldn't kill me."

"Times change, baby," she said slowly. "The devil died and got replaced by his daughter, and she can take whatever she wants. Including you."

Damon hummed, stepping closer to her. "Well, if she looks like you, she can have me."

Marian scoffed, pushing her away from him as she shook her head. "Unbelievable—what are you doing?" she asked quickly, noticing Damon take his shirt off.

"What does it look like?" he quipped. "We've got a dinner party to get to."

"What dinner par—oh my God, Damon!" she gasped as he stripped down. She quickly covered her eyes as he walked around to his drawers, pulling out a pair of dark jeans and underwear for him to wear.

"It's nothing you haven't seen before," he said simply.

"That doesn't mean I want to see it," she argued.

"Consider it an early birthday present," he told her.

"You remembered?" she asked, a deep frown on her face. She hadn't expected him to remember her birthday, especially after he'd thought she was dead all this time.

Damon lifted the hand that covered her eyes. "October twenty-first when the sun kisses the horizon," he said softly. "I never forgot."

The ghost of a smile sat on her lips.

"Marian, I've tried so hard to get over you for over a hundred years," he continued. "But no matter what I do, I can't stop thinking about you: your voice, your smile, your laugh, your touch..." He paused for a moment. "And what kills me is that no matter how much I try to convince myself I'm in love with Elena, it's nothing compared to how much I love you."

Marian couldn't speak. She didn't know what to say. Even Damon seemed shocked by his sudden revelation. Still, she took a step forward, ignoring the way he flinched as she did so. In that moment, all she could think about him; memories from her old life resurfacing. He had made her happier than most, and she'd missed him terribly. She'd meant what she'd said when she was sure she was going to die—Marian would always love Damon Salvatore.

"I shouldn't want you as much as I do," he admitted, his voice quiet. "I shouldn't want to kiss you when I'm kissing Elena." He looked deeply into her eyes.

"Damon, I—"

It was only when they heard the front door open and close that the pair realised just how close they were. Damon cleared his throat, moving back to the bed as he pulled a dark brown shirt over his head and picked up a dress that had been neatly laid there.

"Your uncle dropped this off. Said you should wear it tonight." He handed it to her as he left the room, not looking at her as he took two shirts from his wardrobe and walked away. She could faintly hear him talking to someone—probably Stefan—in another room. "Get dressed. We're going out."

Marian sat on Damon's bed clutching the dress he'd given her, her mind full of questions and memories. But of all the thoughts running amuck inside her head, two in particular stood out: had she really almost kissed Damon, and had she wanted it to happen?

...

Marian huffed as she knocked on the front door, giving up on her search for the house keys Klaus had given her. She jumped slightly as Elijah opened it immediately, a smile on his face.

"Niklaus, our guests have arrived," he called inside. In a moment, his brother was beside him.

"Damon. Stefan," he greeted the brothers. "Marian, looking lovely as always." She smiled smally as he turned his attention back to the Salvatores. "Elijah tells me, you seek an audience. Very bold. Let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilised men, shall we?"

They followed him into the dining room where Marian could see a mass of food sitting on the table. Two females stood to the side; no doubt Klaus had compelled them into being servants.

"It's better to indulge him," Elijah told the brothers.

"I didn't come here to eat, Klaus," Stefan said, sounding bored. "In fact, I didn't want to come here at all, but I was told I had to because you would hear us out."

Klaus forced a smile onto his face. "Well, we can sit and eat or I can reach down your throats and pull out your insides. The choice is yours." Marian sat down immediately, as did the others. She immediately began to serve herself having had only a small lunch and a hot chocolate for breakfast. "You lost your appetite."

Marian looked up to see that Stefan hadn't moved since he'd sat down. "Eat," said Damon. She could hear the annoyance in his voice. "I thought we agreed that we would leave the grumpy Stefan at home."

"That's the spirit. Isn't it nice? The five of us dining together?" her uncle asked. "Such a treat." He turned to face Damon. "Is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger from my brother?

"Well, I know how he felt about you, so I figured the more, the merrier." The older Salvatore winked at Elijah. Marian frowned; what could that possibly mean? she wondered while looking between the two.

"Well, Elijah and I have had our share of quarrels over the century. But we always make it through."

Stefan spoke up. "Kind of like you and Rebekah, right? Where is she, by the way? Last I checked she was still daggered because you were afraid to face her."

"If you're referring to the fact that Rebekah knows I killed our mother, I've already come clean to Elijah," Klaus said simply.

"What?" Marian shrieked. "You killed her?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Marian, love, you really need to keep up with what's happening."

"Hey, Stef, remember when you killed dad?" Damon interrupted. "Might want to dial down the judgment until dessert."

"We're here to make a deal, Damon," Stefan told him. "Doesn't mean we need to kiss his ass for seven courses."

Marian could tell that Damon's patience was wearing thin. "I'm just saying we have a long evening ahead of us. Pace yourself."

The four continued talking while the young witch ate, trying her best to remain focussed on her food rather than the conversation the others were having. Occasionally, she could feel Damon's hand slipping onto her thigh, a mischievous smirk on his face. She kept pushing it off, though somehow it kept finding its way back. Marian took a deep breath, anger simmering inside of her.

"Stefan. Where is the lovely Elena tonight?" Elijah asked suddenly. Marian took a sharp breath in.

"I don't know. Ask Damon," Stefan answered saltily. "He gets all the girls' attention," he continued, looking at Marian who gulped.

Klaus snickered, making Marian shoot him a nasty look. "I'm sorry, you've missed so much," he said to his brother. "Uh, trouble in paradise."

"One more word about Elena and this dinner's over," Stefan grumbled.

"Touchy touchy," she mumbled. Klaus smirked at him and childishly placed his finger to his lips, promising in amusement to keep quiet about Elena.

"You know what, probably best just to keep Elena in the do-not-discuss pile," Damon intervened.

"You're probably right," Klaus said.

"Yeah," Marian stressed. She could see the gears turning in her uncle's head.

"It's just the allure of the Petrova doppelgänger, still so strong. What do you say, brother? Should we tell them about Tatia?"

"Please no," Marian groaned in annoyance. She hated the mere thought of the girl who had driven her uncles apart.

"Now why should we discuss matters long since resolved?" Elijah questioned.

"Well, given their shared affection for both Elena and Katerina, I think our guests might be curious to learn about the originator of the Petrova line." Marian scoffed.

"Well, we're not going anywhere Elijah. Please, do tell," Damon said as he took a sip of wine.

"Excuse me, I have to go and vomit," Marian said, pushing her seat out from the table and walking towards the bathroom. She didn't want to hear this story again, not when it had caused so much trouble within her family. Even more, she didn't like it when her uncles talked about their love lives.

The thought of her family drinking the girl's blood to complete the spell to make them immortals made her sick.

Marian had liked the girl at first. She had been nothing but kind and gentle, a motherly figure—which she guessed now was her maternal instinct, Tatia was at the time pregnant with another man's child. But as time has progressed, she realised the wedge the beauty's allure was causing between Klaus and Elijah.

She wandered aimlessly around, trying to find the bathroom. Instead, she found herself in the room with the coffins. Her family. She wished more than anything to have them back, so much so that she almost marched right up to them and pulled each dagger out. But she couldn't. Klaus would have her head. She'd lose them for another lifetime.

also, how do we feel about marian and damon's little moment?? lmk :)

part ii:

tvd s3, e13, ""

wc: