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ᗪEᗩᖇ ᒪOᔕT ᒪOᐯEᖇ

"True compassion means not only feeling another's pain, but also being moved to help relieve it"

( - Daniel Goleman)

Opening the heavy black front door with ease, Amelia was surprised to find the house completely organized. All the mess of the random furniture in the living room space was gone, and the house was awfully clean. She hated it.

"It is quite late, don't you think?" The hoarse male voice sounded from her right, coming from the lounge chair that she was only able to see its back.

"I am a creature of the night, after all." She said with a smirk as she walked towards him and collapsed in exhaustion upon the sofa across him, causing him to raise his eyes from the book he read.

"Have you let Stefan out of the tomb?" He asked her calmly and she hummed with her eyes closed. When he noticed her state, he closed the book and settled it on the small table that separated between them.

"Are you alright, Lia?" He asked her in concern.

"Yes." She simply answered, and with that, she proved him she's clearly not alright. At any other time, she would respond with a sarcastic and mocking comment or at least ask him why would he asks her that question. This time, however, she didn't.

"Amelia Laura Mikaelson, you better tell me what's the matter right away-"

"Or else?" She chuckled and answered, yet to open her eyes nor sit straight.

"Or else you will carry the burden on your heart all alone. You know you cannot hide anything from me for long." He noted.

Her eyes opened slowly, feeling as if her lashes are heavier than ever. She knew he was right. Eventually, she sighed and sat straight with her eyes darting to his patient stare.

"I saw Damon today. It was oddly.." She started, looking for the right word.

"Painful?" He suggested and she coked a brow.

"Painful would be an excessive choice of words, I must say." She humored with a chuckle. When she saw that Elijah's expression hasn't changed and stayed serious, she rolled her eyes and moved in discomfort before answering.

"It was.. Oddly pleasing and distressing at the same time." She cleared her throat and mumbled, trying her best not to look vulnerable.

He nodded and after a moment of silence, he got up and sat next to her on the sofa, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. She rested her head on his chest and took a deep breath while he strokes her hair calmly.

"Can I ask you something?" He suddenly spoke and she opened her eyes without moving. He was meaning to ask her that ever since he got back home after visiting Elena, and although he knew it's probably not the right timing to ask her such a question in her exposed state, he just couldn't stop himself. It bothered him.

"Sure. What is it?" She exhaled deeply and said indifferently.

"Are you completely dedicated to our plan? To our intention to stop Niklaus' wrath?" He asked her, his heartbeat racing and skipping a beat as she sat straight, distant from him.

"And why would you ask that?" She seemed offended or worry at the same time.

"It is just a question, Lia." He shook his head and said.

She took a deep breath and stared at his eyes boldly. "I will do anything for finding and bringing back to life our precious siblings."

He brushed his dry lips with his tongue and nodded. "Good."

She inhaled deeply as if she could breathe again, and returned to her previous position by her twin brother's side.

"So now I am supposed to protect the suicidal bitch my old lover's in love with?" She abruptly mumbled in tiredness, "Wonderful."

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After Damon discovered Rose was bitten by a werewolf and was about to die, he tried to help her as much as he could. Somehow, he cared for her a little. Although his mind was awfully disturbed after he saw Amelia, he cherished Rose's state that occupied him. Yes, it was selfish of him to be a bit happy Rose's sick and that he needed to help her, but the number of emotions that attacked him when and after he saw her was too overwhelming for him to bear.

When he walked into the library, he watched Rose's teary eyes staring at her hands in sadness. He held a blood bag in his hand and looked for a glass.

"I was born in 1450. That makes me 560 years old." She stated.

"Well, if you were a bottle of wine..." He joked, trying to make the situation seem lighter so she wouldn't be so anxious.

"So I can die. I've lived long enough." She continued herself, ignoring his sarcasm.

"You know, if you're gonna be morn, I'm just gonna kill you myself just to put me out of your misery." He said and poured the blood from the bag into a glass.

"Come on, it's just a little werewolf bite." He mumbled.

"Just a little, fatal-to-a-vampire werewolf bite." She let out a breathy chuckle.

"Well, according to a legend which is notoriously unreliable source." He added and she smiled before he handed her the glass. "Drink up. Blood heals."

"Yeah," She said after she took a sip, still not daring to look at his eyes as he stands above her, "It does feel like it's working."

"Let's have a look, come on. Let me see." He told her and she turned her back to him, letting him expose the wound. He examined the nasty bite mark, understanding that it had spread and going to continue until her last breath.

"How is it?" She asked desperately.

"Definitely...better." He muttered, helping her put her black shawl around her body again.

"You wanna talk about it?" She asked when he returned to stand in front of her and poured her another glass of blood.

"Talk about what?" He asked with furrowed brows, taking a sip from the bag himself.

The green-eyed vampire tilted her head and lifted her brows impatiently. "Come on, Damon. I'm dying. Spill out your feelings."

He narrowed his eyes with a frown before he rolled his eyes and leaned against the table behind him. "What do you want me to say?"

"How did it feel? To see her again?" She asked softly.

"Felt like crap. Happy now?" He raised his voice without noticing. His walls of defense trembling.

"No. It's not what you felt. Not really." She insisted whilst he took a few steps further, his back's turned to her.

"Yes, it did!" He exclaimed, turning around to look at her angrily. "Seeing her alive after I mourned for her for years and also learning she's a freaking thousand-something years old vampire, yeah, it actually does feel like crap!"

His heavy breaths were the only sound in the room as the two of them stayed silent. She didn't know what to say, but she was happy she finally succeeded to let his guard down.

"What did she say? Was she mean? Callous?" Rose asked quietly and hesitantly.

He stayed silent for a long moment before shaking his head lightly. "No. I don't know. She looked.. Different, but still her."

"I thought you said she wasn't so.. bitchy, back in 1864." She furrowed her brows in question.

"A. she always was kinda tough and passionate, and B... There was a hint of sensitivity in her eyes when we talked at the Mystic Grill. She cared." He said as he recalled their short conversation from last night, slowly realizing those facts.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise before she inhaled deeply and pursed her lips while thinking. "You think you will talk to her anytime soon?"

"I think I don't have much of a choice, especially now that Elena made a stupid deal with her and Elijah." Damon shrugged before taking a deep breath and looking at Rose's eyes. "I think she's gonna stick around, and I don't know whether I like it or hate it."

Rose chuckled with a sympathetic smile. He looked soft, for a change.

He returned a small sad smile of his own before he came up with an idea. It probably was a stupid one, but he had to try for Rose's sake. Also, after finally telling all that he was feeling about Amelia's presence, he became interested.

Did Amelia lied and pretended the whole time or some of the things were true? Was she changed completely or there's a part from the Amelia he used to know in the present Amelia?

He turned around and faced Elena, exchanged a few words as he told her to keep an eye on the sick vampire until he'll come back.

He signed for Elena to come after him to the other room for a moment and she followed him.

"Damon. Is she gonna die?" She whispered.

"Probably. The wolf bite caused some kind of infection and it's getting worse." He returned quietly.

"Like poison?" She asked with a frown.

"I don't know, Elena. I'm not an expert in the field." He said in frustration before sighing. "But I think I know someone who can help us out."

"What? Who?" She asked with her brows raised in hope. Maybe there is a chance for Rose after all.

"You have Elijah's number, right?" He ignored her question and came up with a question of his own.

"Wh.. Yeah, I do." She nodded in confusion. "Are you going to meet Elijah?"

"Nope." He said and turned around, starting to make his way to the front door whilst speaking to her. "Text Elijah. Tell him I need to have a little chat with his sister. I'll be at the coffee shop."

"What?! Damon!" She called when he slammed the door behind him and stormed into his car, leaving the brunette human confused and upset. Regardless, she delivered the message to the original vampire.

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Sitting in the chair and taking a sip of his coffee cup, his leg jumped up and down in distress. Now it seemed to him like a stupid idea that he was already regretting.

His ice-blue eyes searched her figure through the few people who passed in Mystic Falls' streets once in a few minutes.

"Is this seat taken?" The British familiar accent heard from behind his back and he didn't even make the effort to turn around and face her.

"Of course you'd make an entrance." He chuckled indifferently and said.

"I always do." She said as she walked forward and took her seat in front of him when the only thing separated them right now was the small roundtable.

She took off her black fancy sunglasses and laid them on the table, her eyes darting to his pair of eyes that she so desperately missed for years.

He looked at her as every hint of sarcasm and humor disappeared. "I know."

The smirk she once wore upon her lips disappeared and soon enough, she forced herself to break the intense eye contact and clear her throat. "So.. I must admit, I was very surprised when Elijah told me you wished to meet me, consider our last encountering."

"I need your help with something." He said with a sigh as he crossed his arms on his chest.

"And here I thought you simply missed my lovely face." She chuckled in amusement and said, then rolled her eyes and smiled softly. "What can I assist you with?"

"What do you know about werewolf bites?" He settled his elbows upon the table and leaned a bit forward.

She furrowed her brows in confusion and when he hasn't extended, she inhaled. "That they are repulsive in appearance."

He snorted. "Yeah, tell me something I don't know."

She mimicked his action and leaned forward on the table, minimizing the space between their faces and hands. "Who got bit? Is it Stefan?"

"No," He shook his head quickly. He looked at her dark-oak eyes for a moment, hesitating whether telling her or not. "It's Rose."

She coked a brow and narrowed her eyes. "I wasn't aware the two of you were close."

He lifted his brow and shook his head. "Careful, Amy. Jealousy does not look good on you."

"Ugh," She groaned in dismissed and smirked, "Everything looks good on me and you know it."

He rolled his eyes, biting his lips to stop the smile that threatened to reveal. "Isn't there something you can do to help her?"

"And you ask me as, what? A werewolf?" She humored.

"As the oldest person that I know that I assume who gained some information through the years. Although I wouldn't be surprised if I'll find out you're also a werewolf and lied about it." He supposedly joked, although there was bitterness in his voice that pierced her heart like 10 different arrows at the same time.

She leaned back on the chair's backrest and sighed, linking her fingers in toughness. "I might have something that can help her state."

His eyes widened and he let out a breath of relief. "Thank you."

"I do not recall saying I will provide you this thing." She chuckled and tilted her head in mischievousness. She was hurt by his comment.

"What do I get out of it?" She lowered her brows in question and narrowed her eyes.

He stared at her eyes and shook his head slowly. "You know they say your emotions are off?"

"Oh, do they?" She smiled, exposing her bright teeth. "Nice to hear."

He leaned forward again, looking deeply into her eyes before whispering wit clenched jaw. "I don't believe them."

When her smile vanished, he used the opportunity to continue. "I think you feel, and I think you care, and that's why you'd help us."

"You are so confident that you know everything." She shook her head with a devilish smirk. "Then let me tell you something, my old lover,"

She leaned forward and reached with her finger to brush his lipa in temptation, "You do not know anything,"

She stood up and took a step forward before lowering her lips to his ear, her warm breath caressing his skin and shivers his spine. "And you do not know me."

And with that, she walked away and left astonished and confused Damon to sit in his place. He tried to decide whether that was a useless try, or maybe he got something out of this conversation. Maybe he learned something about her.

Maybe she's right and he doesn't know who is she anymore.

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As the day continued, Damon and Elena, who were concerned for Rose's state, became more and more hopeless. She was starting to hallucinate and attacked Elena several times as she thought she was Katherine. She escaped and attacked a few humans, and eventually, Damon found her and returned her to the boarding house.

Covered in sweat, Rose was laid on Damon's king-size bed, whilst Damon sat next to her and waited for her to return to the consciousness and wake up.

"Hi there." He whispered when he saw her lashes rising and revealing her forest-green eyes.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled after gulping heavily and remembering the damage she caused under the effects of the werewolf bite.

"You went on a murderous rampage. It happens." He joked, trying to make her relax and she succeeded to let out a dry chuckle.

Even with only staring at the ceiling, Rose could sense Elena's presence in the room as she slowly and silently entered the room.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I don't like taking human life, I never have." Rose admitted and Damon turned to look at the human with an annoyed expression.

"You shouldn't be here." Damon scolded firmly.

"I know," Elena breathed out the words and nodded lightly, "But she said she can help."

The two vampires looked at Elena's disturb and uncomfortable expression as she took a step forward, allowing the door to open and reveal the original vampire.

Damon's whole body tensed and his eyes widened at the sight of her before a smirk spread onto his lips. Maybe he was satisfied that if she's here it means she can help Rose and by that Rose will survive, or maybe he was happy with the thought that he was right - that she still cares.

"W.. What is sh-" Rose started to mumble in panic, looking between Elena, Damon, and Amelia.

"Calm down, Rose-Marie. I am here to help." She nodded in reassurance and looked at smirking Damon for a moment.

Rose looked at her in fear and hesitation, until she let herself believe Amelia and nodded for her to come closer to the bed. She had nothing to lose, isn't she?

Damon stood up and let Amelia take his spot on the chair. He sent her a small smile before going to stand next to Elena and watch the two older vampires.

Opening her clenched fist, Amelia exposed a small tube that was filled with crimson red liquid.

"W.. What is it?" Rose started to move in discomfort and worry.

"Easy, warrior," Amelia chuckled quietly and opened the tube. She offered Rose the tube and sighed. "Drink it."

"Is that.. Blood?" Elena asked in confusion from behind.

Amelia simply ignored her question and kept her looking at Rose's suspicious eyes. She nodded lightly before she whispered with a small soft smile. "Drink it, darling. It'll help."

Rose inhaled deeply and with shaky hands, she took the tumb from Amelia's offered hand. She held the cork and opened the tube before she brought it closer to her mouth and swallowed. The metallic taste immediately waking up her senses. It was a different kind of blood.

When she emptied the tumb from blood, she breathed heavily and furrowed her brows to the brunette woman who sat beside her.

Amelia stood up and exhaled loudly, turning to look at Damon and Elena with a nod. "It should heal her."

Damon and Elena exchanged a glance of surprise before looking at Amelia again, who turned once again to face the no-longer-dying vampire. "Rose-Marie. I granted you an opportunity that not many, if not nobody, would be given. Now, you must leave Mystic Falls and move to somewhere else. You cannot tell anyone you've been recovered from a werewolf bite, or else people will start wondering and I cannot afford it to myself. Do we understand each other?"

Rose nodded without hesitation. "T.. Thank you."

Amelia nodded and took a deep breath. After a moment of thinking in silence, she spoke again. "And.. Rose? Use your eternity wisely. Enjoy every moment of happiness that life can offer."

Rose breathed a smile and Amelia smiled sympathetically without even noticing. She turned around and looked at Damon's soft smile. Her smile faded as she went back to keep herself distant and she walked past him out of the room.

"Amelia, wait!" He stormed out of the room and followed her in the corridor. She didn't turn around.

He sped to her and stood in front of her, blocking her way and causing her heart to skip a beat. "What?" She asked as she tried to regulate her breathing.

He looked at her in silence, trying to decide on which words to use. He stared at her lips that he craved to feel, her cheeks that he desired to brush with his finger and her hair that he wanted so badly to stroke.

"Thank you." Was all he succeeded to say.

She looked at him and her lips parted. Suddenly, it seemed like their faces were way too close in her opinion, yet she was so fascinated by the rush she felt from within her veins that she couldn't complain.

She didn't answer. But she smiled. A small smile, but it was pure and emotional and hypnotizing.

She bit her lips and turned around, sped outside of the boarding house.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before a smile graced his lips.

It was that moment when Damon found hope again. It was that moment when he knew that somewhere deep within, the Amelia he knows was hiding. She was far and covered with shields, but she was there.

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A/N

A little boring chapter but Amelia is such a softie and Damon's about to fight his way to her heart :)

Let me know what part you liked most in the chapter!

Until next time,

JAZZY