The road was almost completely empty, dark and wet after the evening rain, and you were driving far too fast, your hands gripping the steering wheel too tightly after the argument with Stefan. His last words were still echoing in your head, the irritation, raised voices, that familiar anger mixing with exhaustion. You were distracted. Too distracted. And that was exactly when something appeared in the middle of the road - a dark figure, sudden, unnatural, standing directly in your lane. Instinctively, you jerked the wheel hard, the tires screeching loudly against the wet asphalt, and a second later the car slammed violently into a tree.

The impact was deafening.

The airbags exploded open brutally, knocking the air from your lungs for a moment, shattered glass sprayed everywhere, slicing across your neck and shoulder, while one thick branch crashed through the windshield barely missing your head close enough for you to feel splinters against your face. Adrenaline hit instantly, hard and dizzying, and for a moment you couldn’t even process what had happened. Then the pain came. Deep. Tearing. Somewhere beneath your ribs.

You looked down, trying to see if anything had pierced you, but you saw nothing except blood and trembling hands. And yet you could feel it clearly - like something was stabbing straight through your stomach and out your back. You couldn’t move. Warm liquid ran down your forehead, blurring your vision, and a second later everything went black.

When you opened your eyes again, you only caught fragments of scenes. Damon pulling you out of the wrecked car with terrifying ease, his voice somewhere beside you. “Come on, stay with me.” Then darkness again.

The next time you woke for only a few seconds, feeling his hand tapping lightly against your cheek, forcing you to open your eyes. “Hey, don’t do that. Look at me.” Everything spun. You were slipping away again.

The next time, you felt his hand pressed hard against your stomach, exactly where the pain was worst. Only then did you realize something actually had pierced you, even though you hadn’t seen it before. The adrenaline must have fooled you. You could taste blood against the roof of your mouth, feel warmth spreading across your clothes, across Damon’s hands, across everything.

Blood.

Too much blood.

And despite all of it, Damon still kept himself under control. He didn’t even let his fangs come out. His jaw was tense, his breathing heavier than usual, but he stayed focused only on keeping you conscious, making sure you kept breathing. Self-control was the only reason you didn’t become another source of hunger for him that night.