DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight or Vampire Diaries. They both belong to their rightful owners.

~~RETURN~~

Summary: After killing Katherine once and for all, Damon returned to the place he once stayed when he was spying on Stefan. But he reached his destination only to find out one devastating truth. Bella's dead. Or is she really?

Previously...

His eyes snapped open when he felt a powerful force near his location. He turned to the direction of the pull but it disappeared the moment he stepped towards it. He was sure that he wasn't just imagining it, so sure even though he's uncertain of its location. He stayed put in his position but remained alert with his surroundings, just in case it comes back.

"Well, this is certainly unexpected," a voice interjected outloud. He turned around abruptly and his eyes met the eyes of the person he never thought of seeing again. She stood by the window, her dark long mahogany hair cascading down pass her shoulders. She was dressed in a black fitted dress that ends three inches below the knee, her feet propped in black three-inched heels. Her expression showed no other feelings than surprise and mocking wonder, an expression that he had never seen her wear before.

"Bella?"

Then a huge smirk crossed her face...

~:~:~

Damon POV

"Damon," she acknowledged with a smirk on her face. Damon wasn't sure, but it seemed to him that she was pleased about something. Perhaps, it was my reaction, he thought sourly. He knew that he shouldn't have acted surprised. But how could he not? This girl in front him, was the same girl he thought he'd never see again. "Are you alright Damon? You seem to be going into shock," she whispered in a tone that Damon had never heard from her before.

"Are you real?" he lightheartedly asked, his eyes trained on hers as he waited for a response.

Then he heard her laugh, the same laugh that he was accustomed to hear twenty years ago. "I'm very much real as you are," she answered, rolling her eyes at his tactics. Her voice was amused and sultry. It was not the same voice he used to hear before, but her laugh was the same. He was somehow glad to find out that there were still things about her that were still the same, that somehow, he still knows who she is.

He silently watched as she walked around the room, examining every piece of furniture, her heels clicking at every step she makes. Then she suddenly turned and looked directly at him with a questioning look on her face. "I'd never guess that you'd prefer this place," she commented looking around the room with mild critical eyes. He could clearly see that she was not impressed.

She turned to meet his eyes again and he saw the puzzled glint in her brown orbs. "I deemed you as one who prefers luxury and comfortable living. I sort of assumed that you'd choose some place much more...suitable for your taste," she added as she eyed the old stone-hard bed with distaste. "But I was wrong, wasn't I?" she asked, sitting down at the edge of the bed, crossing her legs and looking at him expectantly.

"No, you're quite right," he calmly admitted, smirking slightly at the curious look on her face. She looked so transparent, as though her thoughts were ironed on her forehead, but Damon knew better. He knows that she's hiding something...he just can't figure it out. He kept his eyes trained on hers as he propped himself on the couch, his head supported by his right hand as he watched the emotions crossing her face.

She smirked as though she finds his answer quite humorous and it supposedly was. "Really? Well then it seems like you've lowered your standards, Damon," she smiled beatifically at him and he looked away, disappointed. He hoped to decode the purpose of her visit, but according to the expression she has, it seems like he'll have to work harder for it. Also, her actions seemed to point out that she indeed knew that he was trying to figure her out and she was certainly amused.

Damon caught on the mock in her tone and he instantly grew cautious. He knows that their conversation wouldn't be entirely about lifestyle preference. He knows that she wasn't there by accident. He assumed that she was the one who had been watching him for quite awhile now. She might be the one who had been following his trail ever since he left Mystic Falls.

With all the anxious inquiries forming inside his head, he replied nonetheless. "I didn't have time for shopping when I found this place so I borrowed some furniture...without permission," he said, putting words that would not give his speculations away. "I do intend on returning them, that is, if I can still remember where I got them," he added, sitting up and reaching for the half-full wine, he spotted on the floor.

Damon could feel her stare fixated on him, but he refused to look at her and searched for a glass somewhere. "Well, then you haven't change a bit, Damon," she whispered. He heard her rise up from the edge of the bed, making as minimal noise as much as possible. Curiosity as to why she stood up got the best of him, he permitted himself to look. He saw her making her way towards him, with a wineglass in her hand.

"Oh, didn't I?" he asked as he filled the glass with the wine and watch as her lips touched the rim and the alcohol disappeared to her mouth. He averted his eyes to look at the smooth hand holding the glass. The semi-precious gemstone, lapis lazuli, stood out on her right hand. She was wearing the ring, the protective talisman, on her ring finger and it made him curious.

"No, you didn't," she countered suddenly, making him look away from the dark blue stone on her finger. Her tone was firm and Damon knew that she should not be contradicted. "Though...I expected you to be much more...different." she said the word as though she was expecting something changed about him. Damon stared at her questioningly, asking what she meant by the specific word. Vampires are constant creatures. They don't change.

As though she read his mind, she quickly smiled and the simple act silenced his thoughts. "I thought the girl would change you. Wait. You got your girl, didn't you?" she asked, her tone didn't have at least a hint of cautiousness. It was abrupt and casual, like she was trying to avert his thoughts from the ring...and it seemed to work.

Damon did not expect that. He assumed her to show a little bit concern, but she only seemed to be teasing him and not at all serious. "What girl?" he asked, feigning confusion. He knew exactly who she was referring to, but he didn't like to acknowledge it, feeling that she might just let go of the topic if he did not answer.

She crossed her arms and tilted her head to the right, her hair flowing to the same direction. "Your Elena?" she asked, looking around the room as though she'll find someone there. Damon easily figured out what she was trying to do but he kept quiet and refrained from frowning. He knew that she was trying to get a reaction from him and he knew that she was slowly succeeding. "Well that's odd...I thought she'll be with you. Ain't she your 'Princess of Darkness' now?" she asked in a saccharine voice that was so unlike her.

"Stefan got her before me," he whispered, not showing any emotion with his apathetic facade. But he was sure that she at least saw his discomfort, which explained the slight smile lingering on her lips. Then he realized that she was trying to evoke a violent reaction from him, a reaction that he was trying hard not to release. His jaw locked and his eyes became guarded as he waited for her response.

"Oh, really?" she asked, acting surprised and awed. "Who knew that little Stefan could once again steal the girl of your dreams?" she said, clearly expecting that she would not get an answer from him. She walked around him, her fingers trailing at his tensed shoulders. He stayed motionless, his hands in tight fists, as Bella continued to provoke him. "I must say, I am impressed by your little brother. Whoever gets under your skin always impress me."

"But still, that must have struck you hard didn't it, Damon?" she asked him with feigned sympathy. He clenched his hands tighter on his sides, trying not to let his anger get the best of him. But it seemed like Bella wasn't concerned about that at all. She continued to provoke him and it lessened Damon's resolve by each passing minute.

"To be beaten by your own brother on your own silly game." She shook her head as her tongue clicked, indicating that she pitied him, though she really did not. He could see her satisfaction at his unease. To see him slightly flinching at her every word but his hurt couldn't possibly compare to what he had made her feel before. "How heartbreaking that is," Bella mocked him with kindness and fake pity.

Damon's jaw snapped and his eyes flashed at her. He suddenly grabbed the hand that had been trailing on his chest and held it firmly. He didn't know what he expected, but most humans would definitely be frightened with that simple act. But what did he assume? Bella is definitely not human anymore. "What do you want from me?" he demanded.

Bella, who seemed amused at his reaction, looked at the hand that was holding hers. Her eyes flickered to his face, a smirk forming on her lips. "Oh, me?" she asked and she laughed humorlessly. "I don't want anything from you, Damon. I just wanted to see how you've been after...how many years? Oh, yes twenty isn't it? Quite a long time now..." she trailed as she took her hand away from his grasp.

She took the wine bottle from his other hand and began pouring its remaining contents on the glass in her right hand. His eyes once again flickered on the ring on her ring finger. "Who gave you the ring?" he asked as he stared at the design engraved on the dark blue stone. The initial 'B' stood out exceptionally, it was written in golden calligraphy, embossed on the silver encasing the gemstone.

"Not someone you probably know," she answered, slightly twirling the glass before drinking on it.

Damon stared at her, his eyes narrowing. "Enough games Bella," he demanded. But she ignored him by sipping some more wine.

"I'm not you, Damon," she snapped, her eyes narrowing but a smirk lingered on her lips. "I don't play games that I don't finish," she added as her left hand smoothed the crease on his black shirt, her fingers trailing over to his collar, almost touching the skin on his clavicle. "And this is not a game." He watched her closely, wondering about what she could possibly be thinking.

He figured that nothing would be answered if he continued to stare and so he spoke. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, sounding at ease. He noticed that her eyes were the darkest of browns, almost black. It was still the same eyes that he had looked at twenty years back. But the way they reflect the light, the way they were hooded by her long lashes made them entirely different.

She didn't answer right away. She leaned in towards the skin on his neck, just right above his veins. He could see her eyes dilating as she trailed her forefinger on the major vein that pumps the blood through his whole system. She inhaled, closing her eyes as the scent entered her system. "That's for you to figure out," she whispered as she leaned toward his ear, breathing on his scent.

He closed his eyes, prolonging the feeling of someone's warmth close to him. But then she pulled away and his eyes snapped open. She was walking towards the couch he was previously sitting on. She sat down, her back leaning firmly on the soft cushy cushion. Damon watched silently as she closed her eyes and sigh as though she was tired.

He watched her chest rise and fall in accord to her breathing. In and Out. Rise and Fall. It was odd to think how Damon compared himself with the simple innocent act. Oh, how he came in her life. It was easy and it felt natural. But then he detached himself and he knew it suffocated her. He knew that she would need him over and over, just like she needed to breathe.

Over and over.

It became an unending cycle.

A cycle that he broke the moment he flew out the window.

~:~:~

Damon continued to ask her about the man who gave her the ring but she refused to give anything away. No names, no clues, nothing. Trying to be cocky didn't work either. She just flirted back, making him forget what he was trying to do in the first place. He wasn't able to get anything out of her. Everything that she says only added up more questions rather than answers.

After some moment of constant questioning, she decided to give some clue. "I know, for a fact that he's probably not the kind of man I would want for myself, that he's not the kind of man that you would want for me. But—" Then she gave out a sarcastic laugh. "Don't you think that that's a little bit hypocritical, Damon? I mean, I am aware that he sleeps with other women, human women, just like you do." she hinted with a little bit of irritation. But then he continued to listen as though her words didn't mean anything to him at all.

She took no notice of his indifference as she continued. "We both know that it is his way of entertaining himself, right?" She asked again but it was clear to him that she wasn't expecting an answer. Her tone was becoming was more serious in every minute that passed. And Damon knows that she's serious though her tone showed otherwise.

She stopped for some moment, staring at the empty bottle of wine on the floor with steady eyes. Then she shook her head as though she was trying to remove a memory from her head, before continuing. "I also know that he flirts and socialize with human sluts but then he drinks them dry right afterwards." She gave out another dry laugh before carrying on.

She paused again, probably thinking her memories over. "Of course, he occasionally meets other women like us, but I'm not worried or bothered. I know what he does and I accept it no matter what," she fervently said the words and Damon knew that Bella believed in every word that she had just said to him. But it sounded as though she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince him.

He silently watched as Bella took in the last drops of wine from the glass and licked her lips. He watched as her eyes glaze over, as though she thinking about something that he probably had no idea about. "Why?" he breathed out after a moment of silence. Her eyes refocused on him, not a smile on her lips. "Why do you trust him?" he asked curiously, removing the concern from his tone.

She suddenly stood up from the couch, her eyes never leaving his. Her lips were in a tight line that showed no hint of amusement. "Because he always comes back to me," she emphasized on the certain word and Damon slightly recoiled from her cold steady gaze. She averted her gaze from his, looking outside the window with a frown on her face.

There was suddenly a shattering sound of glass and Damon looked and saw it damaged into pieces of shards. She didn't look fazed about breaking the wineglass with her bare hands, but she looked interested at the blood that stained her precious ring. She smiled ruefully and massaged her injured hand with the other. It healed moments later, leaving traces of dried blood on her hands.

"Glass is easily broken and easily dispatched...it's so easy to break them and get another one in exchange. It's funny how humans cannot see that they're the glass in our eyes...easily broken...and easily dispatched," she murmured as she stepped hard on the broken glass on the floor, grinding them into smaller pieces with her heels. Damon watched her with his guarded eyes. He's aware of what she's implying, but there seemed to be no words to be said.

She just stood there, holding her bloody hand with the other, examining the stained ring with curiosity. "It is funny how this stone, a sign of protection, could mean much more than that," she whispered, staring outside the window as though she was thinking of the man that had given it to her. "Could mean much more to me," she whispered, almost inaudible to his ears.

For a moment, they just stood there in their peaceful silence, listening to the rain that was starting to pour outside the confines of their shelter. Damon was aware that the downpour of rain was not forecasted on the weather news of South Carolina in that evening. He was sure that he was not the catalyst of the change. He looked at Bella for answers, but she still has her back to him. She was still looking out the window with an unperturbed expression on her face.

Damon followed the direction of her eyes and noticed what was familiar for the first time. It was in placed in the same direction, the same proportion, the same angle. It was in the same height, same width, same everything. Its wooden edges were frayed due to time and its hinge sash was already nonexistent. Damon could see why she had been staring at it for an immeasurable time...

Heavy rainfall fell upon the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina. The house of the famous Ricci Family stood in its glory, unperturbed by the chaos of rain and thunder outside its confines. All that can be heard from within was the cry of a young woman and the pleas coming from her lips, "Damon…don't leave." The young woman of eighteen grabbed his arm.

His eyes caught her tear-eyed face and he averted his eyes immediately, not wanting her cries to influence his decision. He refrained from eye contact as he tugged her hand off him as gently as possible. But she continued to grasp his arm in despair and he couldn't do anything but pull it away with much more force.

She staggered backward, tears rolling down her face, staining her already soiled clothes. "When you leave you won't be coming back!" she accused him, but her voice sounded a mere babble of unintelligible words. "Damon, please!" she continued to beg, but he ignored her and walked towards the door. She knelt, blocking the door in the process as she sobbed, knowing that she's not strong enough to keep him back.

"Bella, you have to move," he demanded, his eyes menacing as it bores into hers. She shook her head furiously, sobbing in the process. He permitted himself to look at her one more time and he regretted it. How could he possibly forget this? How could he possibly sleep at night knowing he'd done something as irreversible as this?

In the end, he decided not to prolong his stay much longer. He heard her cry his name when he took off as a crow out the window and left the young woman sobbing on the cold wooden floors of the Ricci household. He closed his eyes and saw her face, tear-eyed and broken on the floor, sobbing for him to return...

Then his eyes snapped open to reality when he heard her voice calling his name. He was once again facing the familiar window of pain, window of despair, window of no return. "I must say, Damon...this meeting had been very interesting," she started, still looking outside the window, unaware that he was just thinking about how he had left her. "There's so much to think about, so much to plan," she whispered as she stepped forward, her finger tracing the ragged edges of wood on the windowpane.

He heard her sigh as she pulled back her hand to trace her ring once again. "This meeting had been very eventful and I know, for a fact, that this would not be the last time." Before he could even get a word out of his mouth, she transformed into a white-feathered bird. Before he could even move a step forward, the majestic bird flew out of his window. Before his heart could beat another rhythm, she disappeared into the dark night sky...

She, Bella, disappeared the same way he, Damon, had disappeared from her life...

.

.

.

A/N: I forgot to mention that Elena did NOT die after Katherine was killed. Sorry about that. I just forgot that Elena sort of died in the book after Katherine was burned to ash. She wouldn't play a big part in this story so it doesn't really matter, but she will be mentioned every now and then.

~I hope this chapter is worth the wait. It's really hard to write a chapter that actually portrays feelings. Please do tell me if this was good, I don't know if this is your cup of tea.

"What is your name?" she asked the young girl. The human looked around the age of seventeen and looked almost identical to her. She frowned when she noticed that the girl does not have darker eyes like her. Bella's eyes moved further down and her mouth turned to a grimace when she noticed what the girl was wearing. It was insulting to see someone who looked much like you wear shabby clothes. What would happen if people thought you were that person?

The human girl shrunk deeper to her chair when she noticed Bella's criticizing gaze. "I-Isabella," the girl stuttered, making Bella smirk in return. She was trying hard not to frighten the girl until the right moment, but she couldn't resist teasing her meal.

"Really? That's a coincidence, I know someone very close to me whose name is Isabella too," she mused, smiling at the terrified girl beside her. She listened to the girl's unstable heartbeat and smiled, knowing that she's the reason for the girl's fright. "Tell me, are you travelling alone?" she asked the young Isabella while her eyes intently focused on the girl's, compelling her to answer.

Bella smirked at the girl's immediate answer. "Y-yes."

"That's very convenient..."

Review for a LONGER Preview. (620 Words) :D