A/N: This technically takes place after the events of Miss Mystic Falls, but ignores the awesome, sexually-charged dance between Damon and Elena-that is another fic for another time. This is acknowledging only the repercussions of Damon having to babysit Stefan while he detoxes.

The Upside of Babysitting-Part 1

Damon was in a foul mood. Elena knew that the moment she came up from the basement. One of the thick glass tumblers he was always drinking from hit the wall beside the door and shattered just as she walked into the kitchen. Instead of apologizing for nearly blinding her with broken glass, he turned away groaning.

"Good morning to you, too."

"That's a stupid expression. There's nothing inherently good about mornings, and definitely not anything good about this one."

Elena walked to the fridge and pulled it open. "What put you in such a good mood?"

"I'm hungry." Damon jiggled his leg impatiently as he glared around the kitchen. He opened the cupboard door behind him just so he could slam it shut. "I'm hungry and there's nothing to drink."

Elena pulled a bottle of blood out of the fridge and tossed it to him. "Tada."

"That's Stefan's stuff." Damon let it hit the floor and roll away. He frowned at it in distaste and grabbed a vodka bottle off the counter instead. "I don't do the Stefan diet; it's like Atkins for vampires."

"So, naturally, getting hammered is the better option." Elena pulled a carton of milk—purchased specially for her—out of the fridge. "What happened to all the blood he stole? There was a big freezer of it in the basement."

"I returned that, of course." Damon poured himself a shot and threw it back. "I'm the big hero of the council—I staked the vampire responsible for stealing all that life-saving nectar and returned his filthy contraband, or so the story goes. Little did I know I'd be stuck babysitting a 162 year-old the next day instead of finding a fine neck to suck on."

Elena pulled herself up to sit on the counter. She scooted over until she was next to him. "So go find a fine neck."

Damon favored her with his signature snarky smirk. "Thank you, Elena, that hadn't occurred to me. Of course I'll go get some blood, leaving you with your sentimental nature alone with the extra-broody vampire downstairs. You would never think of opening that door and letting him out, not even to show how much you trust him. Oh wait, you would, wouldn't you?"

Elena glowered at him but didn't say anything.

"Exactly. So you see my dilemma." Damon sighed and looked wistfully at the ceiling. "I was planning to refill at Duke last night. College girls at frat parties are always such a treat—blood and alcohol, all in one neat, scantily-clad package."

"Well…" Elena thought, scratching her wrist absent-mindedly. She realized what she was doing and looked down. A pale blue artery stared tantalizingly back at her. She spoke slowly. "How hungry are you?"

Damon threw back another shot. "Pretty hungry, considering I was planning to eat twelve hours ago. I'll have some fun words of thanks for your not-so-saintly boyfriend when he sobers up."

"I mean, could you still control yourself if you came across a blood source?" One finger traced the blue line up and down.

Damon glanced over at her and saw the motion of her finger. He stopped with a third shot halfway to his mouth; slowly, he lowered it back to the counter. "Elena…"

Elena met his gaze. "Just enough to get you through until he's better. It's my fault that he relapsed, so it's my fault that you didn't eat last night."

"Actually, it's the fault of Mystic Falls for not being a college town. All I ask is one dorm of drunken party-girls, but they can't even supply that to the man who keeps saving them from the evil vampires." Damon drank the shot he'd held off from a moment before. When Elena didn't respond, he glanced back at her. "Oh, come on. You're not serious."

Elena looked at him levelly. "If you won't leave the house when I'm here and you won't leave him alone, then you could be stuck here for a while. I'd rather you took a little now while you can still control yourself."

Damon ran his eyes very deliberately down her body and smirked. "As much as I'd love to snack on you, Elena, I don't think the situation calls for that yet."

"Is that why there's tension all over your face and your fists are clenched?" When Damon didn't respond, Elena moved her wrist toward him, deliberately flexing to make the artery more visible. "Take it."

Damon's gaze flicked away from her wrist to her face with effort. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

His eyes moved back to her wrist. Very slowly, very gently, he took her arm, repositioning himself right in front of her. He ran a finger lightly over the blue line under the skin.

Elena shivered.

Damon smirked. "And I'm not even trying. Stefan must not be tending to your needs if I can get you going that easily."

"It was a shiver of revulsion." Elena narrowed her eyes at him but couldn't stop a small smile from lifting the corners of her mouth.

"Sure it was." Damon smiled back at her before returning his attention to her wrist. The fingers of one hand slipped down and interlocked with hers, tilting it back to make the artery stand out. He tilted his head, considering, and lowered it to her wrist. His fangs brushed her skin.

"Wait."

Damon's hot breath hit her wrist as his sigh reached her ears. He straightened with an obvious effort but didn't release her hand. "Tease."

"Will it hurt?" Elena knew she was making him exercise all the control he had, but she couldn't help it. She felt like a kid at the doctor's office about to get her first shot; she didn't really want to know beforehand if it did hurt, but if it didn't she'd like that reassurance.

"I don't… know." Damon's eyes searched her face, his eyes squinting slightly in the way they always did when he was thinking.

"But Katherine fed on you."

"I liked it too much to care. Her feeding was usually accompanied by other acts of the flesh." Damon's eyes flickered around the room then settled on her face. His usual cocky manner returned. "If you're offering…"

"No." Elena gave him her best reproving stare. "Blood only."

"If you insist." Damon sighed dramatically and returned his attention to her wrist. In an instant, seriousness returned to his demeanor. He raised her wrist to his open mouth. He paused for just a moment, teeth teasing her skin, and then he bit.

The initial puncture made Elena gasp, but the jolt of sharp pain was only momentary; it quickly dulled to an ache. She leaned her head back against the cabinet, considering the feeling of having your life flow sucked from your body. It wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be. He was leaning against her legs where she sat on the counter, holding her secure in case the blood loss made her weak. The pulling sensation wasn't entirely unpleasant, but it was having an effect on the rest of her body. Her heart—from a combination of fear and a little excitement—had sped up, and the blood was pounding loudly in her ears and flaming in her cheeks. To Elena's horror, it seemed to be pulsing in… other places as well.

Of course, the bastard noticed. He paused just long enough to speak, the smirk evident in his voice. "That sudden rush of blood increases the flow to other areas as well. Did dear Stefan never mention that?"

"Just drink."

Instead of returning his mouth to her wrist, Damon released it. His hand brushed her hair back from her neck and lightly brushed the carotid artery; his eyes followed his fingers. "I'm a little worried about your heart; it seems to be having trouble pumping all that blood to your wrist. I'd better change locations."

Elena tensed a bit but didn't pull away. She watched his face closely as he stared at her throat. His eyes were red but he still seemed to be in control. "You're making that up."

"Smart girl." Damon didn't even glance at her face before his mouth was on her neck. His fangs pierced the skin in an instant.

The gasp that escaped Elena's lips was quieter than it had been before—she'd been more prepared for the quick pain as his teeth sank into her skin. What she wasn't prepared for was how much more intense the sensations were with his mouth on her neck. With the adrenaline already pumping through her body, she was hyper-aware of everything—the hand that cupped the other side of her neck, coaxing her head into tilting and allowing him greater access; the other hand that pushed her knees apart so he could step in closer; the body that was suddenly pressed against hers, giving him a better, deeper angle on her throat. Elena felt the blood pump harder toward the uncomfortable pulse below her stomach.

Damon pulled back just far enough to look at her flushed face. "Well I could do this all day, but you seem to have had about as much as you can handle."

Elena wanted to smack that smirk right off his face. She contented herself with slamming a roll of paper towels into his stomach. "Clean your mouth off; you look disgusting."

"If by disgusting you mean irresistibly studdly, I'm sure that's true." Damon wiped his mouth but didn't make any move away. His eyes studied the bite marks on her neck then flicked over the ones on her wrist. He waited in silence.

Elena reached up self-consciously and pulled her hair around to cover the imprints his teeth had made in her skin.

Damon made a sound of annoyance and frowned. He bit through the skin on his own wrist and offered it to her. "You humans and your frustratingly slow healing times. Here."

Elena leaned back from the drops of blood pooling on the punctured skin. "Ew, no."

"Drink mine, or those bite marks will be visible to your extra-angsty boyfriend down there. Given the mindset he's in, he just might let himself die after all."

"Or he would kick your ass for feeding on his girlfriend."

"Maybe," Damon acknowledged. "But more likely he'd just add 'brother ate girlfriend' to his list of why the world makes him broody and die down there."

Elena rolled her eyes but took hold of the wrist he offered. Very slowly, she raised it to her lips.

A/N: Technically, this was supposed to be a one-shot. I got tired of writing halfway through and was too lazy to push myself through it, so the Elena-drinking-Damon's-blood will be part two. Yay!