"You're incorrigible." I giggled in hushed tones as he bit my ear.

"And you love it," Damon whispered so seductively into my ear goose bumps rose all over my body.

Damon's arm held me close to his body as it settled over my stomach.

"I haven't trained you well enough," I giggled as I tried to ignore the feelings that arose as he kissed my neck. I settled even deeper into my thin pillow as I tried to prevent him from kissing me to leave me to sleep. "You're cockier than the boys I usually tolerate." I shut my eyes tightly as I spoke with a serious tone in my voice, but a smirk on the corner of my lips.

"Aw," he smiled as he nuzzled my neck with his nose. "You think you can train me." He laughed, and my eyes sprung open as he teased me.

"Are you mocking me?" I grabbed his hands and pushed him away from me as I tried to sit up.

"Me? Mocking you?" Damon's eye brows rose in a faux incredulous manner, that easily made all my anger dissipate as I couldn't help but smile. "Of course not. I've been trained too well to do that." Damon nodded softly as he kissed me just below my belly button in an adoring manner that caused me to almost forget everything.

"Damon," My eyes fluttered closed for just an instant, my body almost succumbing to the feelings he was causing in me as his lips slid down lower, and lower… "We haven't finished discussing this." I finally gritted my teeth and pulled his head up to face me.

"Always such discipline." Damon shook his head as he used his knuckles to prop his naked self-up and sitting directly in front of me. "You might be the only person in the world who can be on the cusp of an orgasm and out of stubbornness pull away." Damon shook his head with a small laugh.

"Answer me honestly," I whispered as I leaned over on my hands and knees and reached over to touch his face with my hands and look adoringly at the only man I knew I would ever be able to love.

"I might make it my life's mission to correct that horrible habit." Damon ignored me as his sapphire-colored eyes stared into my chocolate brown ones.

"Elena," he breathed as he moved his face to kiss my hands. "You know you don't really control me." He laughed, almost nervously, as if he wanted me to cut the poor guy a break.

"I don't?" I whispered quickly, and for some reason I wasn't as upset as I would've been had any other boy told me the same thing.

"No, Elena." He took my hands in his and looked into my eyes sweetly. "Don't you know that if you could control me like you do all the rest, I wouldn't be here?" Damon lifted an eye brow as he lifted a hand to his lips and kissed it softly, and I stared at our intertwined hands with some sort of mystified stare.

"Why wouldn't you be here?" I whispered back.

"I love you, Elena." Damon moaned as he kissed up my wrist, and up my arm.

"I love you too, Damon." My eyes fluttered shut as I relinquished my body to the sweet feeling of his lips on me.

"You see," Damon ceased his kisses and my eyes flew open once more. "Proof you don't control me."

"What?" I stared at him, every fiber of my being turned on and very confused. And stupidly, unafraid of the emotions he caused me to feel that were sure to be the cause of my demise.

"You love me, you never loved any of the rest, and you never will." Damon grinned softly as he leaned over, pushed me smoothly on my back and began kissing me.

Before we got too into our passionately sweet kiss and before I could forget what I wanted to say, I stopped kissing him for a quick moment and spoke.

"It's true. I don't control you. If I did I wouldn't love you, and you wouldn't be here." I stared at his face that was directly in front of mine, as it held still in my hands and began to understand the meaning behind my words.

"I know." Damon grinned. "I know that from here on out, you'll only ever be able to love me, just as I will only ever be able to love you." His serious words were spoken so closely to my face that I could feel each breath that he used to speak.

After a serious and deep life-changing stare, where we both understood the depth of both of our feelings for the other, his lips attacked mine; happy that they would be in an uninterrupted reunion with their partners.

As he kissed me, the small amount of fear that I had at the thought that I would never be able to be happy without him slowly waned when he made me forget even my own name as he drove me to ecstasy.

"Elena," Bonnie whispered as she leaned forward from the desk that was directly behind me in our history class.

"What is it?" I spoke lowly, through my teeth that were smiling widely for the professor who had just took to his desk and grinned at me.

"Tyler won't stop asking about you."

"So?" I rolled my eyes.

Tyler was a worthless dog who I had, at one point, stupidly thought was going to help me get out of the hell hole that I lived in. His father was an important military officer in Mystic Falls, and he had a hell of a lot of connections – that caused me to see him with much more tolerable eyes than I would have in other situations, seeing as how my heart had always belonged to Damon.

Damon and I were childhood sweethearts; I had known him all my life. But we broke up when I was 15 because he thought I was too ambitious. We hadn't gotten back together until last month when I had just turned seventeen.

Tyler and I had gone out for six months. But like a lion, I waited until I had secured every position until I took the opportunity to attack my prey. I had been the very best girlfriend he could have ever asked for. I gave Tyler my sole attention. I didn't act needy. I didn't bore him with the details of my day, I didn't sleep with him, but I pleasured him in other ways. I did everything he wanted, all with the hope that one day he would introduce me to some important people, including his parents, and raise me up from my despairing place in society.

But he didn't. And when I asked him if I would ever be able to meet his parents, he laughed in my face. Needless to say, I broke up with him. That was months ago though, and I had dated several people before getting back together with Damon. But since it had been so long, I didn't understand why Tyler still thought I would give him the time of day.

"So he gave me something to give to you and wants to know if you're ever going to take him back."

Take him back? Hell no. But receive his gifts…. Well, that was quite a possibility.

"What is it?" My curiosity got the best of me.

"I don't know, I didn't check. But it was in a jewelry box. I put in your backpack."

Jewelry! It couldn't be! I hadn't had a single jewel in my possession for years. And I could only look admiringly at the jewels of all the lower middle class people that surrounded me at Mystic Falls University.

I decided I wouldn't look at it, until I was completely alone. Only then would I be able to reveal my true emotions and celebrate whatever gift it was that Tyler had given me.

"Don't talk to me about him again, Bonnie. I'll deal with him from now on." I turned my head quickly to tell Bonnie, and she nodded silently in reply.

"Alright, today class we're going to be moving onto a new unit." Alaric, my professor/uncle pursed his lips. "As you all know, since we just finished discussing the causes, and victories of the Last War, I had planned on going back and have you all study the colonial times of the Old United States, to see how their constitution had been drafted."

Several kids in my class nodded, already knowing that this was the course of action Mr. Saltzman, my Aunt Jenna's husband, had planned to take.

"However, after his dinner with Colonel Kahn, Dean Crystal has informed me that the curriculum of this course will be changing to studying the government as it currently is."

Everyone ooh'd and ah'd around me. And at the mere sound of Colonel Kahn's name, I knew that my next destination after this classroom was to the dean's office. The dean, who admired me so, would tell me all sorts of details about what the Colonel was like! Perhaps he had asked him about the capital? Perhaps he had some details about the captivating Evita capital that had so enthralled me my entire life? I wanted so badly to visit, but because I was of very low economic stature, my chances of going at a young age were next to none. Unless….

No! I immediately shouted to myself. I would not go through with my plan of seducing the dean into paying for a trip to the capital. You're in love with Damon. My conscience scolded me.

I quickly quieted my conscience down as I reminded it that I would do no such thing. I loved Damon far too much to betray him by going through the plan that had been working so well until I had gotten back together with him. I couldn't leave the love of my life so simply. It would be far too difficult for me to betray him and be apart from him for so long.

"After class you will be walking outside to receive the new State donated history text books. Your homework for tonight will be to read pages 4-20. I'll give you a brief introduction as to what the book talks about now." Alaric sighed.

"Now as you all now, after the Last War," He started.

"You mean World War 3," Daniel, I think, interrupted him.

"Daniel Peterson, how many times must I say that I abhor that name before it gets through your thick skull?" Alaric tilted his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if in pain.

"Sorry, Mr. Saltzman."

"It's fine. Anyways, as I was saying: after the Last War, about twenty years ago, although the US won the war, most of the West Coast was so attacked with nuclear weapons by China, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, that its practically uninhabited now. Thankfully, the east coast aka us, excluding the old capital of Washington D.C., was left intact. Now, for the past twenty years, with the help of what's left of the European Union, we've been in a period of reconstruction. But since the nuclear attack of the terrorists that ended the war in Washington D.C., killed most of the past leaders of government, what happened to our government?

"Yes, Rachel." Alaric pointed to the blonde as he sat with his leg lifted on the corner of his wooden desk.

"It collapsed, and people went crazy."

"Well, sort of. But not really. Anybody else?" Alaric looked around and caught my hand up and nodded for me to speak.

"Although the government collapsed, a man named Elijah Mikaelson, the remaining speaker of the house, took control of what was left of the government and commanded the remaining thirty-five state militias to take control of the people and force the people to stop reaping havoc."

"Very good. Glad to see someone was paying attention last semester. So after President Mikaelson took over after the war ended, he began to take several visits to the European Union to have discussions that resulted in the discussion that has shaped the policies of the New United States for the last twenty years. Those discussions are now known as the Round Table Discussions." Alaric slid his hand into his pockets and began to walk around as he waited for us to copy down all the words into our notebooks.

"After the Round Table Discussions, President Mikaelson set a series of reconstruction policies that are still in place today. Unfortunately President Mikaelson passed away back in 2104, of lung cancer that had developed unbeknownst to him.

"Following President Mikaelson, his brother Klaus Mikaelson took his position automatically, waiving off elections due to the consistent chaos of the people. He feared the country would turn to the worst, and all the developments his brother had made would fall to pieces if they were allowed to vote.

"So, after the no elections, the second President Mikaelson set up the new capital in-"

"Evita," I whispered simultaneously with him.

The capital I was obsessed with; the setting of all of my favorite dreams.

The home of the rich and famous.

"Evita is located on the southeastern coast of Florida, where Miami had previously been. Do all of you recall last semester when I pointed to the exact location on the map that the Dean had so generously lent us specifically for that class?"

Several books, maps, and more had been destroyed by the war. President Jennings, the president who had been killed by the attack at the end of the war in Washington D.C., had established an executive order to the military to collect any and all updated maps during the war, to collect the best intel on the geography of the world, since the Russians had made it their first order of business to destroy all of our satellites in space. The Dean had such good connections with the Virginian state government, that he had been given one map to share with the entire university whenever it pleased him.

We all nodded; the event was so special – I would certainly never forget!

"Well, you all remember then that Evita is at least a three months trip by horse and only about 3 hours by plane, if you can afford it." Alaric nodded.

The world relied on gas called shale gas – a form of gas that the US discovered around 2005 or 2006. It was one of the reasons the US won the war. While the rest of the world had basically exhausted their usage of oil in their areas, the US had reverted to its abundant supply of shale gas. I had heard on radio advertisements that it was relatively cheap since there was a ridiculous amount, but I was way too poor to afford it. Plus, there weren't enough cars to make it affordable enough for me to go on one to the capital and pursue my dream of being an actress. I had to travel by foot or by horse. The twenty year long war had depleted a ridiculous amount of steel resources and the cars that had been made prior to it, had become too old and unkept. Several cars needed tune-ups that couldn't be made because there weren't the necessary tools to update the cars.

Yeah, the war basically ruined everything. I heard on the radio that the world had been set back at least 150 years. We basically had the technology of the 1950's. I wonder what the technology of 2080 was like if we had been set back 160 years. It seemed advanced enough to me now…

"Evita is now run by the first elected president since 2087. Now, I know the last election was about 11 years ago, but do any of you remember the controversy of the election of 2100?" Alaric raised a brow.

I quickly raised my hand. I knew all the answers of course. Even though the election had happened when I was only six, I constantly asked the Dean questions about the capital, and listened to the radio as often as possible.

"Yes, Elena." Alaric pointed at me after making sure no one else had their hand up.

"President Alexander won by only a thirty percent of the popular vote."

"Very good." Alaric nodded. "And do you all know how that happened?" Alaric asked rhetorically. "Before the war, the voting system was far different in the old United States. After President Klaus was elected, he changed the electoral process to only allowing the popular vote. Since Congress was so fresh and new, they just allowed the president to do what he wanted.

"And you all remember that twenty electoral parties sprung up after the war. There were socialists, fascists, new statists, old whigs, new republicans, old democrats, etc. So when the election came, the people voted for their own political parties' presidential candidate. And though only thirty percent of the population wanted President Alexander, he got the majority percentage. And he's been president ever since. The election's coming up after 11 years, now. Let's take that into consideration when we do our reading tonight, alright?" Alaric smiled at all of us, and as if planned the bell rang.

I stood up quickly and smiled at Alaric on my way out. "Thank you!"

"I'll see you this weekend at the party." Alaric nodded with a soft smile as I headed out.

Since I was poor and on scholarship, I had originally only been allowed to attend one class – Alaric's. But after a few manipulations and favors from the Dean, I was allowed to attend all of the classes. Today, being Friday, I only had one class though.

Just then, I felt hands wrap around my eyes from behind me and I gasped as someone whispered in my ear, "Guess who?"

"Oh! Damon!" I turned around with a large grin. "What are you doing here?" I shrieked.

Damon was just as low-class economically as I. He had to work several jobs in order to support his family of five – his dad had left his mother when he was very young, he hardly remembers him at all.

"Damon, what are you doing here? Don't you have work?" I smiled as I felt extremely giddy as he held me close to his chest.

"Elena, there's something I have to tell you-"

"Oh, no! Damon, don't tell me you got fired from the steel workshop! They were paying you five dollars a week! That was such a good opportunity-"

"No, Elena, it's not that." His face was suddenly pale, but as long as he wasn't fired I couldn't care less what had happened.

"Elena! There you are I've been looking all over for you." Dean Crystal suddenly appeared before me with a soft, yet angry looking smile.

"Dean," I quickly pushed Damon away from me and stepped in front of him. It wasn't that I was embarrassed of Damon, or the fact that he was wearing a very wrinkled and stained shirt, or the fact that he was a bit sweaty. It was the fact that I didn't want the dean knowing I had a relationship – although I loved Damon with all of my soul, there was a selfish part of me that was afraid of what might happen if the Dean knew that Damon and I were seeing each other.

"I wanted to invite you to dinner at a Dan's cabaret tomorrow night at nine," The middle-aged man smiled. "My brother is bringing a friend from the capital and I would love if I could have the luck of having your company."

"Absolutel-" Damon growled from behind me.

"I would love to!" I quickly said loud enough to overwhelm any noise that came out of Damon's mouth. "Then you would be able to tell me about the dinner you had with Colonel Kahn!"

"Yes, that sounds wonderful. I'll see you tomorrow night." The Dean smiled as he completely ignored Damon from behind me and walked away.

"Damon!"

"Elena!"

We both yelled at the same time as soon as the Dean was out of sight.

"Damon! You cannot behave like a caveman just because we're dating!" I yelled as I stormed off to the parking lot.

"A caveman? Me!" Damon yelled.

"Yes!"

"Well, I'm sorry if I didn't want my girlfriend going out on a date at a time like this" Damon growled.

"Damon! He's the reason I've been allowed to study here! He's given me all of those scholarships! This is hardly the time for jealousy."

"Elena, you think I don't want you to go out with him because I'm jealous?" Damon's voice cracked and I turned to see what the hell was going on.

"What do you mean? Of course you were jealous!" I yelled. "Weren't you?" I looked at him incredulously.

"No! I was trying to stop you from making plans when you were going to be otherwise occupied!" Damon yelled.

"Why would I be otherwise occupied Damon?"

"Elena," Damon paused and looked down, looking as if he had kicked a puppy and felt horribly sick about it.

"What is it?" I whispered as I walked towards him. "You're scaring me, Damon."

I was torn. On the one hand, I was desperate to know what Damon had to say so that I could just get it out of him and make him feel better. But on the other hand whatever he had to say seemed too horrible for me to want to hear. Perhaps it was better if he just didn't say anything?

"Jeremy's dead."

Those two words shattered my heart and changed my life forever.