"No, Elena don't give up. Come on, fight back." Damon challenged her again, she was agitated and felt like sinking back on the couch. She hadn't been this tired in a long time, minimal sleep and training with a vampire really took a toll on her. Elena grabbed her water bottle and took a large swig, she needed the energy.

"I really can't Damon, you're too strong and right now I'm too weak." Elena told him as she lowered herself on the couch and slowly closed her eyes. Suddenly she felt the air twisting around her and her back was pressed against the hard floor. As she opened her eyes Elena realized that Damon had her on the floor and his body was hovering over her as he pinned her down using both his hands to restrain her. She was blocked.

"You're a human and I'm a vampire. I will always be too strong for you and you will always be too weak. The best thing you can do is train and surprise the damn vampire. Ready?" He told her, his breath hitting her cheek and all she was capable of doing in that moment was smell him. It was consuming her. Elena took a couple deep breaths and tried to get him off of her body, Damon only tightened his grip using his vampire strength making it impossible for her to move. Once again, Elena felt the air move and then they were standing up and her back was pressed tightly against his chest. Her mind went to the first time they started training which caused her face to flush.

"Don't be predictable, remember the element of surprise is your best shot. Your other option is death, or be used as bait, or be turned into a vampire, be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, be a slave to the vamp-"

Elena interrupted him by rolling her eyes and mumbling, "Yeah, I get it Damon." In response, Damon let her go and used his vampire speed to hide somewhere in the house. Elena took another deep breath then went to check that her weapons were all in place. As she was adjusting the stake that was strapped around her thigh she was forcefully pushed against a wall at the other side of the library and her head pounded back and fourth lightly. She grabbed the vervain bomb she had stuck on her hip, luckily Damon had let her arms free and was holding her to the wall by her shoulders, and suddenly struck Damon's face with the bomb. They both gasped when his face started to burn and Damon groaned loudly before dropping onto his knees. Elena fell down to Damon's body and attempted to calm him down.

"Shit! I'm so sorry Damon! There isn't any vervain supposed to be in them!" Elena quickly got up and went to grab the glass of blood Damon had on the table and hurried back over to him, Damon greedily drank the blood in all of one gulp and then he heard the noise of Elena laughing and he frowned. Why the hell was she laughing?

He frowned and after coughing a couple time, he managed, "Wait, are you laughing? You smashed a bomb full of vervain in my face, I really don't see the funny side to this."

"I know, I know and I'm sorry but I actually beat you. No offense. Imagine if someone else attacked me like that, I would have had enough time to stake them." Elena gleamed proudly with excitement before teasingly admitting, "And the way you drank the blood was kind of like a hyperactive kid who just found his mother's coca cola stash." Damon sat up and Elena noticed how they looked like a happy couple; sitting on the floor with proud smiles on their faces and Elena's hand still pressed against his cheek. She cleared her throat, trying to dodge any awkwardness or moments of tension, before retreating her hand back and slowly stood up as Damon did the same.

"How about we celebrate with a glass of bourbon?" Damon asked with a smirk present and doing the 'eye thing' that he didn't have a doubt in his mind that Elena secretly loved.

A gleam appeared in her eyes and she let another smile beam before hinting teasingly, "I would prefer if you paid for a meal and few drinks at the grill..." Of course, her doe eyes were in full affect to accompany the smirk tugging on her lips.

Damon chuckled before agreeing to her plan. "Sure, but you should probably go shower. You wreak of sweat."

"Yeah well someone had me working out against a vampire for the past five hours." Elena muttered before she made her way upstairs, suddenly she stopped. She and Stefan were over, it didn't feel right to use his room any longer. Elena glanced at Damon's room briefly but a moment later the water was running in the en suite bathroom of another guest room.

An hour later and they were seated at a table at the Grill waiting for their food to arrive with two glasses of bourbon between them.

"I think you're rubbing off on me, before you came into my life I used to hate bourbon. I remember drinking way too much of it a party and the aftermath wasn't very pleasant" Elena admitted to Damon as she eyed and splashed the drink around in the glass. It had been a long time since Elena felt at ease, like she could actually smile without having to feel guilty about it.

It had been four months since Klaus died. Three months since Stefan decided to leave, to try and gain control of the blood-lust by himself. Two months since Caroline and Tyler left to travel the world. They hadn't had any life-or-death situations in four months and it felt incredible. Sure, there was the odd vampire that decided to visit Mystic Falls because of the gossip going around about the one thousand year old tale of The Original vampires, Katherine Pierce managing to escape death once again and the Salvatore brothers having fallen in love with not only the same woman again but the exact mirror image of the woman they were devoted to back in 1864. It had been strange, for those left, that they didn't have to worry about death anymore. It was strange not having Stefan around and definitely odd without Caroline in their lives on a daily basis.

"Thank you Damon. This is nice." Elena admitted with the same smile that she wore earlier.

Damon could only reply with a relaxed, "Yeah, it is." Before his mind was suddenly on overload. Nice? Spending time with her ex-boyfriend's brother who was not only a vampire but who she knew very well was completely in love with her was nice'? What the hell? The nice moment suddenly got ruined in his own mind and the anger he usually felt towards his own feelings were begging to take over. In a split second later his full glass was empty and he wished that Alaric was still alive so he could have some to drunkenly purge to.

They ate their food mostly in silence with Damon trying not to talk too much. Stefan had been gone for three months and he and Elena had yet to talk about where they stood with each other, even though they did spend most of their days side by side. Though he loved being able to be with Elena most of the time, Damon was sick of it. But as usual, he didn't want to hurt her so he shut up. He was pleasant for most of the night, they had their light conversation and even laughed a little. By the end of their meal, Damon had felt himself relaxing and was just enjoying being in Elena's company. The anger inside of him that was directed towards the both of them was increasingly lowering every time he was able to witness Elena smile, which was a lot.

"Thank you Mr. Salvatore. This was a really nice night, I had fun." Elena told him once he had parked outside her house, the smile still present.. Though she had yet told Damon, she knew how she felt about him. She had known for a long time but still very much afraid to act on them. After all, he is Damon Salvatore. But every time they were about to part ways, she had a nagging feeling inside of her and just wanted to throw herself at Damon and never let him leave her sight. Elena composed her thoughts quickly but not very effectively.

"Anytime Ms. Gilbert." Damon watched her for a few moments, she didn't move. The only thing she did was look outside, straight ahead of her but he could tell by the way she kept biting the inside of her cheek that she was thinking about something. He turned his body around to face her, "Elena, don't take this personally but are you going to get out of my car?" Her body jerked at the sound of his voice and now they were facing each other properly. Their faces close, so close. Elena's breathing changed and her heart began to race, his piercing blue eyes wore directly in front of her and she couldn't will her self to look away from them. The passion in his eyes were always so clear that is astounded her, his beautiful blue eyes. They stayed like that for a moment, looking at each other and slowly they let their passion consume them. As it always does. Shockingly, it was Damon who looked away from her eyes first to glance at her lips. He didn't kiss her though, he tried to compose himself but then Elena's soft hand was on his neck as her thumb grazed his jaw line . He couldn't hold it anymore. Apparently, neither could Elena. This kiss wasn't like the one they shared on her porch or the one they had shared in the motel, it was somewhere in between. It was gentle but desperate, sweet but rough, loving but angry. Most of all it was absolutely, incredibly loving and all around consuming for the both of them. Too soon, they pulled away from each other and Elena's breath was still lingering on his lips with their close proximity.

"Drive." Elena mumbled from her slightly swollen lips and Damon's brow furrowed slightly.

"Huh?"

"Drive. To the boarding house." Suddenly Damon's senses perked up and he could smell Elena's arousal, he could her heart beating rapidly, see the lust and passion filled in her eyes and then he grasped one of Elena's hand in his. He didn't want this to be about just sex, he wanted this to be them. He needed this to be them and he needed it to be about love. Cautiously, he looked at Elena's face and she slightly smiled at him and gripped his hand as well.

They were on their way to the boarding house.

With their bodies entangled they tumbled inside the boarding house, their lips crashing together and their tongues battling. Their hands were all over the place, suddenly Elena jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and his hand cupped her ass while the other was traveling all over her back. Elena tightly grabbed the back of his neck. Their foreheads were pressed together. Their lips were constantly meeting. Their emotions were overwhelmingly exciting and soon enough they were in Damon's room. They stopped. Still holding onto each other, no words were said only a gentle kiss of agreement and understanding before they slowly made their way to the bed, lovingly and teasingly stripping one another.

It was full of lust, passion, gentleness and their completely fierce love. It was scary, enticing and wonderful. It had never been like this before. In the motel it was about testing what they could be. This was them being them and this time, there was no holding back and no one else there to interrupt them. No, not this time.

Suddenly Elena was in her underwear whereas Damon was in pants. This time, they slowed down but they did not stop. They couldn't stop. Her hand slowly traveled down his chest as he was struggling to keep a groan from escaping his throat. Elena's hand grasped onto his belt and as she looked back into his eyes, she unclasped it and at the same time she felt her bra loosen. Damon had unclasped it without her realization and a nervous, excited giggle escaped her lips. For the first time in a long time, the widest smile spread over Damon's lips. Sure, he had smiled a lot in the past two years and all of those were simply because of Elena. This was different though, now he was truly happy. In this moment he felt completely alive and he owed all of that to this girl that was now kissing all over his jaw. He dropped them onto the bed, their bodies naked and ready for one another.

Damon's lips traveled from her lips, to her jaw, down her neck, over her breasts and back up again. Her whole body was covered in goose bumps and it felt like she had waited forever for this. Maybe she had. He consumed her every thought, feeling and action. He made her forget about every worry she had and was able to get her to live her life, to smile, to laugh, to have fun. His love was fierce and passionate and consuming. They made each other feel alive and that's what love is. Like she said a very long time ago, they had an understanding. Their bodies were joined as one for hours, in more ways than one as Damon was consumed by his love and lust towards this one woman and fed from her, showing one another how much they truly loved and trusted the other.

Elena woke up with the sun stinging her eyes, slowly she turned around and was faced with an empty bed and a note that read,

"Liz called, slight emergency. Won't be long. - D."

A smile slowly crept upon Elena's face,

for the first time in a long time she truly fell at peace and excited. That energy had her grabbing her phone, her fingers rushing over the screen until it started ringing.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Damon's voice teased, "Sorry I had to leave."

A blissful and tired smile slipped onto Elena's face, "As long as you'll be back, I guess I can forgive you." Not being able to help herself but worry at the fact that the Sherriff needed Damon's help again, she heard herself anxiously asking, "Is there anything we should be worried about? Why did Liz call?"

"No, there is nothing to worry about Miss Gilbert. Believe it or not, this really was an animal attack with a happy ending; the woman survived and is on her way to the hospital. Do me a favor?"

Without the smile leaving her face she breathed, "Depends."

"I think you'll like this one." Damon chuckled before his voice got deeper and he suggested, "Don't leave the bed."

Damon heard a soft giggle escaping through Elena's lips before she pretended to tease him, "Mm. You know? I think I'd rather get dressed, go shopping, go to the zoo."

Damon growled, "You're torturing me."

"Good. I'll give you fifteen minutes, if you're not here in then, I won't be eith-"

Elena wasn't given the opportunity to finish her threat before Damon's body zipped into the room and was on top of her in the bed forcing a gasp and another giggle from Elena's lips. After Damon managed to remove his lips from Elena's he teasingly asked, "What were you saying again?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing." She answered breathlessly before attaching her lips to Damon's neck and pretending to bite him with her human teeth, forcing a chuckle from Damon's throat that was soon followed by a teasing growl as he flashed his fangs.