Disclaimer: I don't own anything blah blah blah. I hope the nice people at the CW don't sue me, nor does LJ Smith doesn't pull an Anne Rice.

Damon, scotch in hand, hears Stefan entering the room. Despite staring into the crackling fire, he sees him fiddling with his ring out of the corner of his eye.

"Over the whole 'I'm going to kill myself and die' rampage, I assume?" Damon smirks. He swirls the amber liquid around the tumbler before drinking from it.

"Elena really helped me through it," Stefan says curtly before adding sarcastically, "thanks for your concern."

"I would say I'm hurt when I'm really not. I'm just holding up to my end of the promise. I don't hate you because of what you did to Katherine; granted she's still alive. I hate you because you were never meant to be turned. It was supposed to be me, only me. And that's why you'll spend an eternity with me. An eternity of misery. Get used to it, it's only been a century and a half," Damon says in a dangerously low voice.

He gets up and is about to head out but is stopped by Stefan. He clamps a hand on Damon's shoulder and his dark eyes bore into Damon's pale cerulean eyes. Damon easily throws him against the wall. The look on Stefan's face isn't fear but pain after being so weak and without blood.

"Until you get some squirrel blood into your system, you should really be careful," Damon hisses. "Even then, you won't be a worthy opponent. Say hi to Bambi for me," Damon adds, his lips twisting into a smile.

"Get over it, Damon," Stefan pleads. That damn witch was right, his heart of gold would prove to be a pain in the centuries to come. "Because it kills me to see my only family left hate me."

Damon barks with humorless and harsh laughter. "You lost your only family when you fed from Father all those years ago. You were no brother of mine the day Katherine got taken. So just leave out of your plans to be brothers who care about each other whatsoever. If you want to live a human life so badly, go play house with Elena."

"Don't you dare bring Elena into this," Stefan whispers. He worries when Damon's lips curl into another smile which can only mean bad things.

"Really? Because I would say Elena is very much a part of this. Elena's the one who gave you her blood. Elena's the reason you were all suicidal and even more brooding than usual. Elena seems to be the girl you truly love and Elena just happens to look exactly like Katherine. It seems that everything traces back to Elena!" Damon explains angrily.

"I never stole Katherine from you. I met her first, if you've forgotten," Stefan almost yells.

Damon is way to riled up to stop though. "Oh, no, no, no. That's where you're wrong. If you didn't steal Katherine from me, you wouldn't be standing here in front of me. You'd be in your tomb next to dear old Dad. I loved Katherine," Damon grits through his teeth and for a second, Stefan wonders if there are actual tears in his eyes, "and you stole her from me. And because of that, I'm going to take Elena from you. From right underneath your feet. I'd keep an eye on that one. She just might wake up one of us. Or better yet, next to me."

"Damon. Don't do this," Stefan begs. He doesn't bother trying to fight Damon, he knows he's defeated. This is his only other option.

"Why shouldn't I? It always seems to be about a girl, doesn't it? Why does everyone else get their happy endings!" Damon yells. "Why am I the one always stuck with the unhappy ending?"

"Don't do this. Not for me but for Elena. Don't do this to her."

Damon doesn't say anything but the glint in his eye is enough for Stefan to know Damon's not lying. It's always a girl. It's always the same bloody girl.

Elena flops onto her bed, feeling relieved to be in her own bed and worry-free. She just wants to curl up and write in her diary until her hand falls off. She turns onto her side and nearly screams when she sees Damon staring at her, smirk intact. He's resting his head on his hand, his weight on his elbow as he lies on his side as well, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Well, hello Elena," Damon says smiling. He hears her heart furiously racing. "Scared?"

"No, just surprised. I've gotten used to the whole vampire sneaking up thing. How did you get in?" Elena asks. She puts a hand to her heart and feels it pounding against her chest.

"I was invited in," Damon says simply with a sly smile. "Stefan's back to normal. Brooding and all saint like but he's Stefan."

Elena sighs with relief. "I was really worried about him. You should be too. You're his only family left."

"I think you fail to realize that I no longer consider Stefan my brother. Still, I couldn't having him robbing blood banks dry and killing beauty pageant contestants. The town council is really on edge about this whole vampire issue," Damon grumbles.

Elena rubs his resting arm almost sympathetically. "You may hate him now but there was a time when you guys were best friends. Two peas in a pod. Isn't time to bury the hatchet? The Katherine thing is getting really old."

"If only it was that simple," Damon replies, stroking the side of her face delicately in return. He feels the blood rushing to her cheeks and can't help but smile. "You should get some sleep. It's been a rough week."

Elena nods sleepily in agreement and gets up so that she can get ready for bed. "Why are you here, again?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just thought you'd need a little vampire company."

Elena finishes brushing her teeth before she can laugh grimly. "Everything has just been so hectic since the whole vengeful vampires kidnapping Stefan. And with Bonnie back. I just can't wait until things get back to normal."

"Define normal," Damon raises an eyebrow.

"Stefan back to drinking animal blood, Bonnie speaking to me, you... you dealing with the Founders' council and searching for Katherine-" Elena freezes when she realizes what she just said."Damon, I didn't mean it like that-"

"It's okay you know," Damon rolls his eyes. "I have someone named Johnathon Gilbert to deal with first."

"Oh, him," Elena mumbles. "Even his 'family' isn't too fond of him." Elena gets under her covers and Damon scoots over ever so slightly so she can have space. He sits up, leaning against her headboard as she snuggles under the familiar duvet, looking up at him. "Thank you though. For someone who doesn't care much about anything but himself, you aren't such a bad person," Elena manages to say as her eyelids close into a slumber.

"Soon, Elena. Soon you'll be mine," Damon says in a whisper so quiet, even the enhanced hearing of a vampire would barely be able to catch. Elena's chest rises and falls with every breath that she takes, her mortality practically at his fingertips. He feels her snuggle closer to him and he finds himself stroking her hair as he watches her sleep.

TBC

A/N: Please review. I would love to see what you thought of it. I'm still on this high from last weeks episode and can't wait til the next. I have big plans for this story...