Elena's POV

The word kidnapping was definitely the first word to be used on this little... road trip that I basically had no say in going along with. Sure, after I tipped my car over and Damon came to my rescue like my knight in shining tinted black armour was I grateful he was there. After all, what I ran into certainly wasn't human by the way he seemed to lock his shoulders and body back in place after I'd accidently hit him with my car. But was that really my fault?

Well, yes, of course it was.

Though... I mostly blamed Stefan for my erratic and blurred state.

That was the night I had first openly told Stefan, told him that I couldn't walk away from us or let him do the same because I loved him.

And I said those three words as they flew past my lips so perfectly that no one was meant to hear them but Stefan. That I wasn't meant to say them to anyone else but Stefan. And that was definitely something I would say over and over again to make him stay with me.

However, it was the events that seemed to awhirl after that was I left... dismayed. That was also the first night I had slept with anyone, intimately. I had slept with Stefan Salvatore and lost my virginity to him. And I was completely on Cloud Nine as folks seemed to say whenever they were in a happy state. Though I was beyond happy.

That was the night Stefan and I had meshed together and become one. But also on that night, I thought it would bring us closer than ever and that nothing could ever tear us apart. That our love was too great for us to sever apart like that.

But oh how wrong I was... and how hurt. Because my fairy-tale soon turned into that of an utter nightmare and I knew it was real and that I wasn't dreaming. Heck I even pinched myself to make sure it wasn't a dream.

To think all I had to ask for was a glass of water which would have Stefan leaving the room as I wondered and took in everything in his room that was precious to him, that he held dear and was important enough to keep. Though little did I know there was one item in particular just lying right in the open. Just one little picture, with a name and face of his past that he kept in his room because he thought it was memory that was dear enough to keep in his room.

Katherine Peirce. 1864.

That was Stefan's old flame, the woman he loved, but that didn't bother me like it should have. No. It was what she looked like.

And this woman, the picture I was staring down at, I might as well be looking into a mirror because she was the spitting image of myself.

This wasn't just someone who bore the same colour of hair, the eyes, the shape of the face, the lips, the nose, but rather my mirror image. This woman I was looking down upon, even with her hair in a bed of long flowing ringlets was it clear to see the resemblance. It was uncanny and right there and then did I come to the conclusion that Stefan had been lying to me the entire time. And maybe it wasn't intentional but this picture was laying right out in the open that I had no choice but to come to the conclusion that Stefan was simply with me, loved me, slept with me all because I looked like Her.

And there was no getting around this for him because this was solidly primed into my mind that it was hard to believe Stefan even loved me for me. He loved me for Katherine, the real woman he was in love with. And right there and then I knew I could no longer stay... Not with him.

Before Stefan could come back did I tear away the vervain necklace from my neck and quickly dress back into my own cloths while throwing his shirt off to the side. I wanted nothing to do with him at this point, not even that necklace that could save me from a vampire's compulsion.

And right now I didn't care where I was going as I grabbed the keys to my car, revved up the engine and started to speed away as far away from the boarding house as I could go. Lying wasn't something I took to well to. And with Stefan, there had been nothing but lies but this... this was too much!

I could handle the fact that my boyfriend, or maybe he was my ex boyfriend now? But either way, I could handle that he was a vampire, that he had a vampire brother and that my best friend was a witch.

But this lie was something I simply could not take.

Speeding down the empty road in Mystic Falls through the darkness, I was so glad there wasn't a soul in site, not a car in my path. I could feel my vision starting to blur because of the tears I was fighting to hold back. Everything between Stefan and myself was a complete and utter Lie. I knew I meant nothing to him. And if I did mean something, it was just that I was his Katherine

What I thought was going to be the beginning, starting fresh with Stefan and this relationship, only for it to end in utter hurt and despair was something I hadn't imagined to happen.

I fell for the ways of a vampire, just like so many other silly girls did in books. They were lured to the vampire by their charm and looks until they were fed on and killed. Although in my case... I just lured myself in for my heart to shatter. And these assumptions of what I was to Stefan in my head didn't help in the slightest which is what led to my car being totalled.

But to think the remedy I would need to escape this reality, to put my heartbreak on hold and all my problems concerning my relationship was the elder Salvatore brother; Damon.

Damon on the other hand had quiet the opposite idea. He had already been heading out to Georgia because of one simple reason and one simple word. Katherine. Now that was one Salvatore that really did have his mind on the prize. Damon wanted nothing more than to have his beloved Katherine back. And the one place that he thought would give him answers was Georgia.

Georgia would give him what he needed to get Katherine out of the tomb considering the witch or the old witch Emily had destroyed they last thing he had remaining. But then again everything had changed when he saw Elena's car lying there on the road. The car was upturned and someone had been moving towards it. His first thought was to see what was wrong no matter what.

For the first time he was actually worried about someone else that didn't concerned Katherine but then again that had always been the case with Elena. For some reason; she always seemed to be different with him. She was the only person that had ever tried to help him but then she had to be the person that had chosen his brother. He was shut out again. A second option which he wished he wasn't. He wanted to be her first option but never showed it.

How could he? He couldn't show that piece of weakness in him. He wouldn't allow himself too.

It had been so many years since he had felt anything for anybody and now there was someone who liked exactly the same as his Katherine yet she was different. She wasn't the same as Katherine but he found himself liking that about her. Damon found himself actually enjoying the young girls company but then again in Georgia he realised that something had happened between Elena and Stefan.

She didn't want to talk to him and she actually wanted to stay with Damon? No he had to be dreaming right but he wasn't. She did actually want to spend time with him. But then again maybe she just wanted to stay away from Stefan?

Wasn't it the same thing? He was more than sure that they were different but believing they were the same gave him a certain boosting of hope that he enjoyed when he was around Elena. For some reason he liked that feeling. He liked being around her. For once he wanted to be around her.

And she wanted to be around him. Was that right? Probably not but he wasn't caring about that. The one thing he noticed was he didn't have to use compulsion on her. He didn't use any because he wanted to know the truth; he wanted to see if she really did care for him and although he hadn't really worked out the complete truth yet.

He was happy to know she just liked his company and wanted to continue being in it. Elena Gilbert was actually Fun. She was actually having fun with Damon Salvatore.

Was that even aloud?

Every thought of that had flown out of the window. He didn't care if it was aloud or not, he was doing it. Maybe coming to Georgia wasn't for Katherine maybe he didn't need Katherine. And there it was. The one thing he never thought he'd hear himself think. He was actually dismissing Katherine for Elena. It wasn't the right thing to do was it? Elena had Stefan –or he thought she did- she wouldn't want him.

Never would I have thought Damon was the answer to my problems.

It was just a little road trip to Georgia to get more information of the tomb Katherine was imprisoned in, but still, it seemed to be exactly what I needed. Or as he so put, five minutes...

Even with Stefan calling me that one time, finding out that I was with Damon; suddenly I didn't care how he felt. I didn't care with Stefan disapproving the fact that I was suddenly miles away with his brother. Though of course I was a bit on edge to be with Damon, and I understood Stefan's concern because Damon was a master with compulsion. And I wasn't wearing any vervain.

However, I knew Damon hadn't compelled me at all. He wanted me to trust him, and what better what then to establish this trust then by this road trip. Actually in a way I felt as if this draw back with Stefan was bringing me closer to Damon in a way. Because at least now driving back to Mystic Falls did I know I could count on him, that I could trust him and.. Have fun with him?

Oh god something must have been in the water or something because I could actually admit that I had FUN with Damon Salvatore!

Why would Elena ever want Damon?

But then all fun had to come to an end sooner or later and for Damon it seemed to be sooner. Lexi's lover was now a vampire and he was back for revenge. Unfortunately for Damon that meant he was in deep trouble. Damon had killed Lexi in order to get the founder's council off of his and supposable his brother's safety.

But it worked, kind of, they no longer believed that there were vampires in the town, they thought by killing Lexi that they had finally gotten rid of them but of course how wrong they were.

But then it had caused Damon more trouble as well. Not only had he killed his brother's best friend but Lexi's had a lover who was dying to put it right. He wanted to show Damon what it was like to loose someone. Lexi's lover was now a vampire and he was trying to burn up Damon.

So all because of Damon's choices to stay safe; they had almost killed him. If it hadn't been for Elena anyway.

If it hadn't been for Elena he would be dead now. So in all basic's they were even. Well in some ways they were. Damon had saved her life when her car was tipped by that unknown vampire and Elena had saved his life when he really needed it. When Lexi's lover wanted to kill him. He would still owe her his life for that even if he really didn't want to admit it.

How could he admit to Elena that he really was grateful for her saving his life without sounding all nice and well soppy?

No there wasn't really a way. Especially the way she spoke about it. She constantly went on and on about how she managed to save the life of Damon Salvatore. Well he guess she was right but there was no way Damon was going to let her simply go on and on with it. Every time she commented with it; Damon would just say it was lucky that her and Lexi spoke. It was true though.

If Stefan and Lexi didn't have that much in common then why would Elena be able to help?

Though I wasn't much of a drinker, or a drinker of any sort... God had I been wasted last night.

Then again, taking these five minutes did indeed call for a beer... or two... three... six... and a few shots. Well, at least I was blowing off steam and having a rather great time.

Hell, I even beat Damon in a drinking contest! Now that was something that had to be on my list of achievements.

Though despite the actually fun I was having with him, not I nor him for the matter counted on Lexi's lover who was now a vampire to come after Damon and kill him because he killed her. And even though I had my differences with Damon, I would not let him die, not ever. So I persuaded Lexi's lover to allow Damon to go free just before he lit the match to torch his body.

I saved his life.

Heck, I was human and I managed to save the life of Damon. Now that was something I was going to hold over him for as long as I lived.

How would she help?

The only reason she got though to Lexi's lover was because she was in the same kind of place as he was. She was in love with a vampire –although he wished she wasn't- and in the end if they were going to stay together forever then she was going to have to make the choice to either become a vampire or not be with him.

Well if it had to be a choice between Stefan or no body he would prefer to save his little brother the trouble and say nobody. In honest he would have rather kept her to himself, compelled her, done something else. But he couldn't bring himself to do any of that. He couldn't compel her to like him because he wanted her to like him. He really did want her honest option.

Which was stupid. Idiotic. There was no way he should care what she thought. But he did; and he hated that part of him, he had been living on bags-oh-blood for far too long.

His emotions were coming back to him and he could no longer just simple shut them off like he use to be able to. Stupid bags of blood. Stupid humans and that stupid founder's council had him snacking like this. It was brainless.

He wanted to go back to his old non caring self where Damon could torture his little brother for eternity just like he promised him he would. But then again maybe it was best; after all he had been slightly nicer this way. He hadn't killed anyone in a long time if he didn't count that witch in the bar. Okay he hadn't killed anyone because of him drinking there blood.

That was more the simple way thing's where going along. But then it all had to end so easily. Everything that had happened to day seemed to be coming to an end all two quickly for him. It wasn't just him though that seemed to be wanting to push for a longer day. She wanted to take her time going home?

He couldn't have said it better myself

And as we drove back to Mystic Falls, I couldn't help but flaunt that in his face for the zillionth time.

However my cheerful mood only lasted so long when Damon had declared we were almost back home. But what was this sudden feeling I was having? The fact that I didn't want to go back. No. I wanted to stay in Georgia more, stay anywhere and have Damon distract me for another five minutes.

Through the drive when he said that, I couldn't but slowly let my smile slip into a frown. The scenery out my window was passing far too quickly for my own liking. I didn't want to go back! Besides, Damon had me all to himself and I was powerless to do anything. So why wasn't he taking advantage of this opportunity with me? He should be keeping me away longer.

"..I suppose I should thank you for this trip. It helped me, actually. But, could you drive a little slower, please?"

My words were sincere and I meant them. Because in the time I was away, I felt... somewhat happy, and I was very much distracted which was the main goal.

Maybe both of their minds were thinking in the same sort of way. After all she was the one to ask him too slow down; Damon wasn't forcing her to do anything. He was giving her the option and she was taking it.

"No problem, I'll take as long as you like…"

He couldn't help but tilt his head to the side slightly seeing her reactions. Was she really being serious with him or was this a test? He wasn't quite sure and he could never really work out what Elena was thinking but he wasn't going to complain altogether. He was getting her to himself. Right now there was no one else just him and her.

She was pleading with him to take his time but she didn't need to do that. In fact just with her words he had slowed himself right the way down and was planning out a longer route but then again he could always just make a few stops on the road home. He didn't want to go home to quickly himself. He was being thankful that she was the same.

However, it was on that last single little word, "please" did I turn my attention from the window as my doe brown eyes focused in on Damon. I wanted him to take his time getting home, I was in no rush. And I could feel my eyes pleading with him to slow down... or even take a couple long routes back because I was in no way ready to face Stefan.

In fact, I was... scared. If only just a little. But I was scared all the same. I didn't want to hear more lies, I didn't want to go back and see him after he'd been lying to me about something like this.

All I wanted was to just take a time machine back to Georgia and somehow prolong my stay with Damon.