Chapter 1

Elena sat on the edge of her bed, hunched over, one hand massaging her forehead, the other gripping her cell phone.

"Elena, I…..You know how I…." Stefan struggled.

Elena winced as she braced herself for yet another apology. She could hear the desperation in his voice. She longed to be able to forgive him. She wanted more than anything to put this all behind them and go back to how things were before. Before Klaus. Before Katherine. Before werewolves and blood sacrifices. God, what has become of my life? Elena thought before saying, "Stefan, I know." She sighed, loud and long. "It's just going to take some time. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure, Elena. Have a good night," Stefan said, sounding resigned. He wouldn't push her. He never pushed her.

Elena hung up the phone and laid back on her pillow, suddenly feeling exhausted. Memories popped up unbidden of a time when she and Stefan had been happy, a time she couldn't imagine being with anyone else, wanting anything different. Elena tried to imagine what her life would have looked like had Stefan never stumbled into it, and by association, Damon. Elena's heart contracted involuntarily at the thought. She still would have been the doppelganger, of course. Still walking, talking, and breathing danger at every turn. But maybe, just maybe, she would have lived a normal, human existence. A boring existence. A blissfully boring human existence. The idea was picking up steam now. Damon had been the catalyst for everything that had gone wrong. If Damon hadn't come back to Mystic Falls in a misguided attempt to release Katherine from the tomb then Klaus never would have learned of her existence. John and Isobel would have continued to watch over her from afar, and the most she would be dealing with would be having a witch as a best friend. Sure, Stefan wouldn't have been there to help lessen the grief from the loss of her parents, but she would have managed eventually. She had Jenna and Jeremy. Of course, without Stefan, she'd also be dead. Drowned at the bottom of the lake with her parents. Well, there's that.

Elena shook her head to dismiss the thought. Dwelling on what ifs never helped anything. She just had to live one day at a time, one moment at a time. Survive Klaus. And then, well, and then she would see.

Elena's curtains rustled as a gust of wind blew through her open window. She looked over to find Damon casually sitting on her window seat. Her stomach fluttered without her permission as her eyes hungrily took him in. He was beautiful. From his muscular build to his smoldering half smile to the tips of his raven black hair. Elena wanted nothing more than to go over to him right now and run her fingers through that hair and Wait, what?! Stop it, Elena! Elena chided herself. She knew she was attracted to him. Who wouldn't be? But lately that attraction was getting harder to ignore.

"Am I interrupting something?" Damon smirked, taking in her reclined position on her bed and her obvious distress at finding him in her window. "I mean, I can come back if you need a few more minutes to get the job done. Or I could help?" His smirk turned devilish and his eyes sparked.

Elena shivered at the thought of Damon helping with that particular deed. She couldn't help but imagine his hands on her. Holding her. Touching her. Bringing her to the edge. Elena shook her head to tear her thoughts back to reality before Damon could see the effects his words were having on her. She threw a pillow at him. "You're sick," she intoned.

Damon caught the pillow with ease, sticking it behind his back and resting himself against the wall. He smiled again. "You love it," he winked.

"What are you doing here, Damon?" Elena asked, getting out of bed suddenly. She began busying herself with her nighttime routine. Anything to distract her from looking at Damon, from wanting Damon. She shivered again. Damnit, Elena!

"Are you cold?" Damon asked innocently, ignoring her question.

Fuck! Elena thought. He'd noticed. "Uh, no." Shit! "I mean yes. Maybe a little."

Damon chuckled as he reached back and closed the window. Turning around, his eyes roamed her body. He took in her almost bare legs, clad only in her navy sleep shorts. He moved on to her chest, cleavage slightly showing at the top of her peach cami. For a moment, neither of them breathed. Then, roughly, "Maybe you should put on some more clothes." He stood abruptly and marched to her closet, returning with a black hoodie that he tossed unceremoniously in her direction.

Elena caught it and put it on, zipping it all the way up. "Thanks," she muttered, feeling embarrassed and grateful. She'd felt naked under his gaze.

"I just came by to let you know Barbie's downstairs. She's got babysitting duty tonight," Damon said, moving to open her bedroom door.

Elena wanted to protest that she didn't need a babysitter, but she knew it wasn't true, not with Klaus still hanging around wanting to make her a one person human blood bank.

Damon opened the door and gestured her out. Elena walked through into the hallway, taking in his smell as she passed within inches of his body. It was a smell she'd come to associate with desire and danger. A smell she wanted to lose herself in.

"You're not staying?" Elena asked, trying to level her voice, praying she sounded casual. What is going on with me?

"Do you want me to stay?" He cooed seductively, raising is eyebrows and leaning close.

Elena struggled to breathe normally. She managed to roll her eyes and push him gently away. "No, Damon. I was just wondering why tonight you've recruited Caroline to help babysit, when every other night, it's been you sleeping on my couch and eating all Jeremy's Doritos."

"Stefan's not been," he hesitated, "transitioning well." He says transitioning more as a question than a statement. Is it the right word? Is there a right word for this situation? "Anyway, I thought I'd stay at the boarding house tonight and have some brother bonding time. See if I can help him out a little. Now that Klaus doesn't seem like an immediate threat, that is. That bastard really did a number on him."

Stefan. Elena couldn't believe it, but for a moment, just a moment, she had forgotten about him. Guilt clouded her face but all she said was, "I think that is a great idea, Damon." And looking him in the eye so he would know she meant it, she said, "Thank you." With that, Elena turned to go see Caroline and make a sandwich. She'd missed her friend and she was starving. I haven't eaten since breakfast, she realized. She turned back around to ask Damon if he wanted a sandwich, but he was gone.

Damon stormed into the boarding house, slammed the door, and came to an abrupt halt. He ran both hands threw his hair as he lifted them above his head in a sign of supplication. Then he roared as he yanked his leather jacket off and threw it across the foyer. It wasn't enough. He wanted to throw something breakable. No. He wanted to bite something. To rip someone's throat open and tear their head from their body. He breathed heavily and closed his eyes as he willed the rage to disperse. He couldn't afford to be out of control. Not now. Not with so much at stake.

Why did he let her get to him? Why did he continue to punish himself? He had thought that they were making progress, that while Stefan had been gone, she was finally starting to see what he saw, feel what he felt. But now Stefan was back and Elena was back to being Stefan, Stefan, Stefan. Fucking Stefan.

Part of him wanted to pack his bags and get out of dodge, leave both Stefan and Elena to rot. He would never actually do it, but the thought was there, all the same. That's what Katherine had done, wasn't it? She had chosen self-preservation over friendship and love. It was this sobering thought that made him dismiss the idea completely. He would never do anything that would make him even a little bit like her.

Damon thought back to just a few minutes ago in Elena's upstairs hallway when she had turned to thank him for helping Stefan. The emotion on her face. The utter despair that permeated the atmosphere. She seemed lost in that moment, and he wanted nothing more than to go to her, to hold her tight against his chest, to whisper assurances that everything would be alright. He wanted to help her find herself again. Instead, he had left. He couldn't help her. Only Stefan could.

Despite that knowledge and her thanks, he wasn't helping Stefan for her. As far as Elena was concerned, he knew that helping Stefan was not in his best interest. Because Stefan would go back to being his boring, bunny eating self, and Elena would go back to loving and adoring him unconditionally. And he'd be out in the dark. Again.

Nope. He was helping Stefan for himself. After all, Stefan wouldn't be in this position had he not been saving Damon's life. Damon felt he owed it to his brother to help him. Sure, that was part of it, but it was more than that. They had been in a moderately good place before all this Klaus shit had happened. He wanted that back. Simple as that.

Tonight seemed almost normal, Elena mused as she nuzzled under the covers. She and Caroline had made popcorn, watched a movie, and talked about Tyler. Elena had strictly forbidden discussion of Stefan, and for once in her life Caroline had listened. She didn't bring him up once. It was just what she needed. Maybe I'll actually be able to sleep tonight. Elena closed her eyes and felt herself begin to drift off.

Unbidden, thoughts of Damon pulled Elena back from the abyss of sleep and the delicious nothingness that it offered. Why did he just rush off like that? Is he mad at me? Why do I even care? Then, Enough! Elena pushed all thoughts from her mind. There would be time to figure everything out. Hopefully. But right now what she needed was sleep. Blissful, dreamless sleep.

Elena stormed into the boarding house, note from Sheriff Forbes in hand. It was her 18th birthday, and apparently Stefan's present to her were two dead women in Tennessee. She needed to tell Damon what the Sheriff had found. She turned the corner to go look for him and ran right into his naked, dripping wet flesh.

"You heard me coming!" She accused, flushing and hiding her eyes as she took three giant steps backwards, away from his, well, ALL of him.

"And I want to hear you coming," Damon breathed, as he closed the newly created distance between them with vamp speed. He grabbed her forearm and gently pulled it away from her eyes and back down to her side. His other hand caressed her cheek. He leaned in and kissed her lips almost chastely, but his words juxtaposed his actions. "I want to hear you coming over," kiss, "and over," kiss, "and over again."

Elena felt the flood of heat between her legs and she was acutely aware of her nipples hardening with desire as they grazed his bare, damp chest. He pulled her head down slightly, exposing her neck, and he kissed it. Softly at first, then more earnestly. Elena let out a small gasp. Her body involuntarily pulled him closer. Her hips lifted to grind into his erection. His NAKED erection. What on earth am I doing? Elena fleetingly wondered, but she didn't have time to dwell. Damon moved his hands down her body until they were on her ass. He squeezed and growled into her neck before lifting her up to rest on the back of the couch.

Elena wrapped her legs around Damon's waste and wrapped one arm over his shoulder. She used the other hand to run her fingers through his hair, Oh, his beautiful hair, before pulling him away from her neck so she could taste his lips. He deepened the kiss, using his tongue to part her lips.

Damon pulled away just long enough to pull her maroon spaghetti strapped top up over her head. Her necklace tangled in the lace and for a frustrating moment she was stuck.

"Help! Damon, get this off of me," she struggled, and Damon was all too happy to comply. He ripped the shirt apart in one easy movement and flung the tattered pieces aside. He went back to rip away her bra, but she halted his hands.

"I'll do that. I'd like to be able to wear it again." She unsnapped her strapless black bra and discarded it near her shirt. Damon took in the sight of her bare chest hungrily, his eyes darkening. He brought his hands up to massage each breast. Slowly and gently rubbing his thumbs over her already hardened nipples. Elena moaned and her hips bucked as he squeezed each nipple between his fingers. She wanted him so badly. She began kissing him again as she brought her hands down to his bare cock. She slid her hand lightly around his erection and slowly ghosted along his shaft. He moaned. She tightened her grip and pumped up and down again and again and again. His breath became shallow and his kisses more insistent. She was so turned on.

"Damon," Elena breathed.

"Yes, Elena?" Damon asked between kisses along her jaw and around her ear.

She grabbed his head in both her hands and brought his forehead to rest against hers, halting any further progress. Making eye contact so he was sure to understand her, to believe that she wanted this as much as he did. "Take me," she said.

That's all the encouragement he needed. Damon pulled her off the couch and yanked her shorts and panties down in one fluid motion. He picked her back up by her bare butt cheeks and with vamp speed whisked Elena to his bed.

Damon settled between Elena's legs and began kissing her again. He brought his hand to her clit and massaged it, varying his strokes from slow to fast and slow again. Elena gasped and rolled her hips against his hand. Damon moved his fingers down her sex, parting her labia and feeling her wetness. It was his turn to gasp. "You're so wet. I could smell it, but I had no idea…" he trailed off.

Elena snapped to attention. "You could smell it?!" She was horrified. What did he mean?

Damon chuckled as he continued to tease her, rubbing his hand up and down, around and around. "I'm a vampire, Elena. I have enhanced senses. I can smell when you're aroused. I can hear your heartbeat increase. There's not much you can hide from me," he explained calmly, seductively. "Dirty girl," he added as an afterthought, smirking at her.

Elena knew she should be embarrassed. She attempted to think of all the times she'd been aroused by him, all the times her body must have given her away without her knowledge. But she was too turned on to think clearly. Too caught up in the moment to care. Instead, fed up with the teasing and the talking, she rolled on top of Damon. She lifted her hips so his erection hovered at her entrance. She rocked slightly. It was her turn to tease now.

"Elena," Damon groaned.

And with that, she ground down, taking him to the hilt. They both gasped. Damon moved his hands around her hips, taking some of the weight as she continued to ride him. They were both so worked up and it all felt so good, so right.

"Touch yourself, Elena," Damon whispered.

In all her past sexual encounters, this was something she'd never had the courage to do. She was too inhibited. But with Damon, something in her relaxed. She continued to ride him with the help of his strong hands as she brought one hand to her breast and the other to her clit. She was so close to the edge she could taste it. "Damon, I'm gonna…" She moaned as he thrust up, harder and faster. "I can't…" She felt the pressure building with each thrust and each circle of her fingers on her sex.

"Come with me, Elena." Damon ordered as he continued to thrust up faster and faster. It was this order that sent her over the edge. Her body tensed and her legs shook as she found blessed release. She screamed his name and with it she felt him release inside her. She collapsed on his chest as she rode out her orgasm. He held her for dear life, stroking her hair.

Elena woke with a start. Her whole body was throbbing. She felt sated. She stretched and curled back down into her covers trying to puzzle together what had just happened.

Elena remembered every detail of the dream. It had been the day of her birthday party. The day Sherriff Forbes had given her the information on the killings in Tennessee. The day she had walked in on Damon buck ass naked. All that had really happened, but that was it. In reality, she had given him the note, they had fought, and she had left. The rest of it had only ever happened in her fantasies, but none of her fantasies had ever compared to this. Not even close. This dream had been different. It had felt real. It was visceral. Every sensation she had in the dream, she had felt in real life. It's no wonder that she had orgasmed in her sleep. She only hoped she hadn't actually called out his name. And if she had, she prayed that Caroline was too sound asleep to have heard.

Elena grabbed for the vervain necklace around her neck ensuring it was still in place. It was. That meant it probably wasn't Damon playing around in her head, but if not him, then who? And how, for that matter?

This had to have something to do with Damon. Elena grabbed her cell and called him before she could over think it. What am I going to say? She thought as the phone rang. I just had the most amazing wet dream about you and was wondering why. I mean, other than the obvious fact that I'm completely and totally hung up on you, body and soul. Umm, no.

"Hey, you," Damon answered on the first ring. It took her off guard. She was expecting his usual biting sarcasm. Something along the lines of, "Miss me already." Instead, his voice came through the phone and melted her heart. The sound was love, like she had just woken up in his arms the morning after a passionate night of sex.

"Hey," Elena answered simply, losing focus. Why did I call? And when she remembered, her cheeks flushed red.

"Did you need something? I was just getting ready. Figured I would head that way in half an hour."

"No. Umm, how did last night go with Stefan?" Why did I ask that? Elena hit her palm to her forehead. She knew she was stalling.

Damon's voice changed ever so slightly. "It was good. Making progress. Is that why you called?"

Elena just couldn't bring herself to ask. What was she supposed to ask anyway? Feeling stuck, she said the only other thing she could think of, "Why'd you leave so abruptly last night? Are you mad at me?"

"No, Elena." Damon answered, sounding annoyed. She could almost see his eyes rolling.

"Then why?" she asked again.

"Your nothing if not persistent, are you?" Damon quipped. "Look, if this is why you called, can we talk about it later? I had the most amazing little wet dream last night and now I need to throw my sheets in the wash and take a shower. So if we're done…."

Elena's words stuck in her throat. He had a wet dream? Do I dare ask? What would I normally say to that comment if I weren't fishing for details?

Elena's thoughts were interrupted by the door banging open downstairs and Caroline's voice, "Bonnie, what's wrong? Are you ok?"

Elena knew Damon could hear everything as plainly as she had, so instead of explaining, she simply says, "I'll see you when you get here," and she hung up the phone.