You caused my heart to bleed

Jeremy couldn't help but to grin down at her and he let out a slight chuckle as he gave her a small squeeze. "Alright, got it. So, neither of us will go easy on each other," he decided with a small nod. He was already aware that it would take quite a lot to hurt a vampire, so he wasn't necessarily worried about hurting her. Still, he couldn't help but to say, "But, if I do end up managing to hurt you in some way, you'll have to tell me, though. Got it?" He quirked a brow as he looked down at her, though his tone and expression were completely serious about the decision. He didn't want to hurt her, though he was sure that he wouldn't. Still, it was better safe than sorry, because he knew that it was fairly possible that if he didn't tell her to tell him if he hurt her, she probably wouldn't tell him at all. As long as she was okay either way, then he supposed everything would be okay in the end.

To her later words, he offered a small nod and hummed in response. "Let's put it off for after we leave here. The time here is meant for us to relax and enjoy ourselves after everything that's been happening lately, after all," he murmured the suggestion, entirely hopeful that she would agree to it without much of a problem. He was about to say more, but she had caught him off guard with her kiss. With a small grin, he returned it happily, enjoying the feeling of her lips pressed against his. This was what they needed: some down time, some time to just enjoy each other's presence.

---

Letha tried her best not to laugh at his question and she couldn't help but to grin mischievously over at him. "Perhaps I like the idea of teasing you and leaving you desperate?" she asked with a small smirk on her features, her brows quirking as she eyed him. Shrugging the thought away, she focused on her drink and hummed in response to the subject of drink. "Perhaps we will have fruity drinks next, then. It's a shame that vampirism makes us all alcoholics." Her tone was joking, but, in a way, it was true. She didn't know a single vampire who hadn't indulged in the enjoyment of alcohol more often than not. It took a hell of a lot more to get them drunk, but it was mostly to curb their craving for blood a bit. Or to just numb them. Shrugging the thought aside, she took a long sip of her drink, ignoring the taste of it because it definitely wasn't one of her favorites.

"On the way, huh? Great. I can read that instead of listening to your ramblings." Her grin reflected that she was mostly joking, but she honestly did intend to read the book as often as she could. Finishing her drink, she set the glass down as well and frowned slightly. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. She's gone this long without knowing. If she finds out that you're the reason I left, I can't imagine she'd forgive you so easily. I know she'd eventually forgive you, because you're family - but, we have an eternity and she could spend most of that eternity ignoring you. I don't like the idea of being the cause of that."

Damon rolled his bright baby blues when he saw the rather mischievously grin that appeared across Letha's face, "You can tease me all you like. But when have I ever been desperate? I certainly can't remember a time, I'm sure you won't be able to think of a time either." His tone of voice soon turned cocky as he never let himself get desperate and that is something that Letha should have been able to guess about him. He did chuckle at her comment about all vampires being alcoholics, but it was true and all vampires knew that. He drank to take the urge of his blood lust, he first started to drink to numb himself when he realised he was a vampire and didn't want to be. The same went for his siblings, he never enjoyed watching his sister drink but sometimes she just needed to so she could keep control over herself. "We can get all the fruity drinks that you want," He told her as he knew whiskey wasn't a taste that everyone would like, even Stefan didn't like the taste to begin with but he got used it over time.

"Hey, my ramblings are interesting to listen to. Thank you very much, everyone listens to me when I ramble." He shot back at her, even if her grin said that she was joking. He had checked on the book that morning and it should arrive within a short few days, he quickly finished his glass of whiskey and set the empty glass aside on the table. He suddenly became serious as he knew Letha was right, Belle would hate him and she can hold a grudge for a long time if she wanted to prove a point. "Yeah, you're right. But because I never told her the truth, she was upset with you because she thought you just left her. I should have told her what happened when it first happened, although if I did then I'm sure she would have killed Katherine on her own." He did smile at the image that came to him, Isabelle hated Katherine probably more then he and Stefan did.

---

Isabelle loved how protective Jeremy was over her, when it really should be the other way around. She was a vampire after all and he was a human, so he might have hunter senses but it still took a lot to be able to hurt a vampire and Belle has been around for a long time. She knew how to defend herself if she did get attacked by someone, "I'll agree to that. But you really don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine." She assured him but she still felt a warm fuzzy feeling inside her body, knowing that he would still feel horrible if he did ever somehow manage to hurt her when they were practicing. If he hadn't mentioned it and he did hurt her, Belle would have just kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to be the cause of Jeremy feeling bad that he hurt his girlfriend, no she would deal with it and forget all about it. But now she couldn't, because she didn't want to lie to him when they made an agreement.

Nodding her nod, she completely agreed with him. This time away was all about them, a time when they didn't have to worry about their family or friends or something happening to the small town they lived in. They could do whatever they wanted, if they didn't want to do a single thing then they were allowed. "I love the idea of relaxing here, maybe later we could go for a dip in the lake." She smiled up at her boyfriend before she kissed him, she had all of these emotions running through her body every time that she kissed Jeremy. She really couldn't get enough of him, just being there in his arms was more than enough to make her the happiest girl in the entire world.

​It was difficult for Jeremy to believe that he shouldn’t worry about Isabelle. Of course, he knew that she could take care of herself – she had been doing it for over a century, he was sure, because her brothers were too busy with their own problems and obsessions with Katherine to really be able to help her much. With over a century of practicing, he was more than aware that she was capable of taking care of herself – she was a vampire, after all, so it usually came with the species in the first place. That didn’t mean that he wanted her to think that she had to handle things alone. Nor did it mean that he didn’t want to be there to help her when she needed it. He didn’t want her to think that she was alone. “I know that I don’t need to worry, Belle. But that won’t stop me from doing it,” he told her quietly as he gave her a gentle squeeze and let out a sigh.

“A dip in the lake, huh?” He quirked a brow as he thought over it, though he couldn’t help but to jokingly ask, “Can vampires even swim? Or do you guys just float?” He pressed his forehead against hers gently, his words spoken all in good fun. After all, he didn’t want to upset her. He just wanted things to be calm for once, because way too much had been happening lately and he was sure that they both needed a break – as long of a break as they could manage to get before something drastic happened in Mystic Falls again. With their luck in the town, he was sure that it wouldn’t actually be long before they had another dilemma on their hands. Peace never lasted long in Mystic Falls and that was why he wanted to enjoy this time with her as much as he possibly could. “We’ll have fun, regardless of what we do.”

---

His words caused Letha to quirk a brow, both in mild amusement and curiosity. “I can think of a few times that you’ve been desperate,” she drawled out, though she didn’t bother going into details about it, since he was usually desperate when it came to Katherine. The thought of it left a bitter taste in her mouth and she refused to let that bitterness seep into her words. Instead, she shrugged and focused on her drink in hopes of enjoying even a small amount of numbness. “Oh? And you promise to drink them all?” She grinned, then, because she knew that Damon probably didn’t care what he drank as long as it was some kind of alcohol or blood. But she was also pretty sure that him drinking a fruity drink would draw some embarrassing attention if anybody in the Grill knew him – and, maybe, that was what she was aiming for.

She snorted, though, before she could continue thinking too much about it. “I call bullshit. Your ramblings have always made you seem like a half mad lunatic,” she hummed out, “I bet it’s even worse now. You probably seem like a full mad lunatic now.” A teasing smile flitted across her features, but she shrugged and let herself relax while she could. It was easier than it had been when she first arrived, but it was still difficult in the end. She tried not to let it bother her and tried to avoid letting Damon notice, though. “Well, it’s not my place to tell her, Damon – not when it might make her upset with you. If you want her to know, you should tell her. It’d be better coming from you than it would be from me, anyways. At least, if you tell her rather than me, she has a higher likelihood of forgiving you sooner.”

(Sorry these replies are so bad!)

Damon rolled his eyes as he couldn't think of any time when he was desperate, although he did tend to block out times when he was desperate. "I promise to drink any of your fruity, girly drinks." He told her with a grin, he loved all alcohol and would drink it all. He wouldn't even care if he was seen with a girly drink in his hand, he had been around for long enough that not much could embarrass him and if someone did make a comment about the drink he had then he knew he could get them to apologize. "Actually my ramblings aren't as bad anymore, I've improved as you'll probably see if you stick around." He wasn't sure if he was lying or not, he never thought of his ramblings to appear bad or if he was a lunatic. Although it wouldn't be hard for him to appear like that to people who didn't know him, not that he cared about what people thought of him. He once used to care more than he'd like to admit, back when he was human and trying his hardest to make his father proud of him. But he soon learnt that he just had to please himself and no one else mattered that much to him, apart from his siblings of course.

He let out a sigh as he knew Letha was right, it would be better coming from him if he decided to tell his sister the reason behind her friend leaving so suddenly. "Oh, she'll forgive me. It might just take some time, that's all." He admitted as he sat back in his chair, Belle would be furious with him but she would calm down and then they would talk about it. It could take Belle days to weeks to even months before she forgave him, it all depended on what he had done.

---

Isabelle smiled as Jeremy pretty much promised that he was going to be there and he would always worry about her, which felt so nice to have after taking care of herself for so long. Feeling his squeeze she closed her eyes briefly as she enjoyed the sweet moment she was sharing with him, but then he ruined it but sharing a joke with her. "Hey, we can swim." She smiled knowing that he was only joking with her, "I knew how to swim when I was still human. My father taught me," She told him before she rested her forehead against his and let a sigh escape through her lips, she wished that she could have shown Jeremy what the town was like when she was human. But that was impossible and Belle knew that but she still wanted him to know what it was like for her growing up, hell her father probably would have loved Jeremy as neither of them are that fond of the supernatural creatures in the world. "We will have fun and we'll enjoy every last second of our time here," She softened her voice as she moved her fingers along his muscular arms, the warmth that his skin gave her was beyond anything she had felt before. It was reassuring to her, that just because she was a vampire, it didn't mean she couldn't be happy and find love.

This wouldn't last long, Belle knew that for sure because things never stayed quiet in Mystic Falls. Plus they still had school that they couldn't miss out on, well Jeremy couldn't because Belle wouldn't allow him to fail at something so important in his future. It was completely different for her, she has gone through high school more times than she'd ever want to admit to anyone. But it would be something involving her brothers and Elena that would be the cause for them to head home, that's just how things seemed to work around the small town these days. Something that Belle would eventually want to take Jeremy away from, when he graduated school then they could do anything with their lives and she wanted to make sure he wasn't near any creature but her.