A/N: So we've decided to collaborate. And this is what happened. Review and tell us if you think we were successful, because we're pretty proud of ourselves. ;)

~ rinny08 and Vesuvious

"Where are we going?"

Jeremy looked over at Damon's profile, trying to get a read on his thinking. It was almost impossible of course, if Damon didn't want you to know what he was thinking, you didn't know. Damon had showed up on his doorstep about half an hour ago and had all but dragged Jeremy out the door. Instead of being a normal person and telling him where the hell he was driving for thirty minutes, he left Jeremy with nothing but: "It's a surprise."

So here he was riding in the passenger seat of Damon's Camaro driving to only God knows where. Glancing over at Damon, he waited for a reply. Finally Damon turned to him, and flashed his usual charming smile and strangely intense eyes. And if Jeremy's pants did get a little tighter, and his heart skipped a beat, then so what? It wasn't getting Damon off the hook.

"You really don't understand how surprises work, do you?"

"Damon, we've been driving for thirty minutes now. You dragged me out of the house with no warning at all, and we seem to be in the middle of Nowhere, Virginia. So what the hell?" Jeremy's patience was beginning to wear thin, and Damon's ability to be an obtuse asshole when he felt like it was really getting on his nerves.

"Will you relax? We're almost there." True to his words, they pulled into a parking lot five minutes later. As they were pulling in, Jeremy looked around at their surroundings. They were parking next to what looked to be a small local restaurant. It was a squat, pleasant-looking building made of red brick. There were a couple of lanterns hanging next to the door that lent the place a feeling that it was rather old. He glanced at Damon; well, at least it was old for some of them, he amended.

Damon got out of the car without making eye contact and Jeremy turned to open his door. He was beaten to the punch, however, because suddenly Damon was there opening the door. Oh shit. Damon was being…nice. Jeremy's shock must have shown because Damon rolled his eyes with his customary smirk in place and simply walked away. Jeremy scrambled out of the car to make sure he wasn't left behind. Damon was already opening the door, but this time he didn't bother holding it and simply let it bang shut behind him.

Jeremy sighed and rolled his eyes with an almost rueful smile on his lips. He should have known. This must be Damon's idea of a joke. Mocking the rather intimate physical relationship they'd had lately but never talked about. But Damon was Damon, and Jeremy knew what he was in for when he started this.

He yanked the door open in time to hear a voice call out in Italian, "Signore Salvatore! E 'stato troppo lungo! Come sei stata?" And was shocked to hear Damon reply fluently with, "Giovanni! E bello vederti!"

Jeremy stood awkwardly while Giovanni continued to talk to Damon, shooting Jeremy a curious look. "E chi è questo? Di solito mangia da solo."

Damon glanced at him and Jeremy readied himself for an introduction that never happened. Instead Damon just smiled at the Italian man and winked, "Lui è con me."

They followed Giovanni to a table, Jeremy even more confused than he had been in the car. He'd thought things would get clearer once they arrived at their destination, but obviously he'd been wrong. Damon continued to chatter in Italian with the old man, while Jeremy flipped through the menu and felt ignored. Honestly, what was the point of driving him all the way out here if Damon was just going to have a conversation in a language Jeremy didn't speak with a man Jeremy didn't know in a completely deserted restaurant?

Giovanni disappeared (although Jeremy had a sneaking suspicion he'd be back for more conversations Jeremy couldn't participate in) and Damon picked up his menu.

Jeremy frowned. "Why are you eating?"

"That is generally what people do in restaurants."

Jeremy huffed out an annoyed sigh. "You know what I mean."

"Giovanni makes real Italian food. Not the stuff Jenna tries to pass off as Italian at your frequent family dinners."

Jeremy bristled and opened his mouth to reply as Giovanni returned with a bottle of wine. He and Damon spoke in English this time, but they might as well have been speaking in Italian again, since Jeremy didn't speak wine either. He didn't even like wine, but before he could protest Giovanni had poured it and Damon was handing Jeremy a glass.

Giovanni left them alone at the table again, but not before glancing between the two of them and winking at Damon. Which was just…weird.

"Do you know what you're going to order?" Damon asked. "Because the gnocchi is delicious."

Jeremy wondered if Damon thought he was incapable of ordering food for himself. "Uh, I think I'm going to go with the chicken cacciatore, actually."

"Oh." Damon said, and an uncomfortable silence fell between them. Jeremy wasn't surprised, considering they hadn't done much talking over the past couple months. A waiter appeared, and Damon ordered the apparently delicious gnocchi while Jeremy stuck with his chicken, despite Damon's recommendation. Considering Damon didn't eat, Jeremy wasn't about to trust his judgment on pasta dishes. Besides, he still wasn't convinced that Damon wasn't playing some sort of elaborate joke on him.

After a few more moments of excruciating silence, Damon asked, "So how's school?"

Jeremy wanted to snap at him, but from the way Damon cringed Jeremy could tell he knew it was a stupid question. So he shrugged and gagged down a sip of his wine, which made Damon flinch again.

"Seriously, Damon, what are we doing here?"

"I told you. We're eating real Italian food for a change."

"We don't ever eat together. Unless you crash a family dinner."

Damon didn't have a reply for that; instead Jeremy watched as he grabbed a piece of bread from the basket on the table and drizzled olive oil on it, eating it slowly.

"Want some?" Damon asked, offering Jeremy the bread in his hand. Jeremy took it without thinking, and was chewing his second bite before realizing how strange it was to share bread when there was a whole basket of it on the table. He thought about saying something, but that was just going to make it stranger.

"This food better be worth it." Jeremy said, "Considering you dragged me all the way here."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Quit complaining. It's not as if you had plans."

Jeremy wished he could prove Damon wrong on that front, but of course he couldn't and the vampire knew that. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He'd been annoyed since they got here, and he was getting closer to angry with every single thing Damon said.

By the time their food arrived, Jeremy was alternating between glaring at the checkered tablecloth and glaring at Damon. The vampire opened and closed his mouth several times and fidgeted in his seat, and that just annoyed Jeremy more. This had been Damon's idea in the first place, and he was acting like he didn't have a clue what was going on either.

And okay. The food was good. Really good, actually, but Jeremy wasn't about to admit that and give Damon the satisfaction he would feel in being right, so they ate in tense, awkward silence instead.

Once their plates were cleared away and Damon finished off his third (or maybe it was his fourth, Jeremy hadn't been counting) glass of wine, he asked, "Do you want dessert?"

Jeremy couldn't fathom why Damon wanted this torture to continue, but he doubted saying that would go over well.

"Uh…" he fumbled for a way to say no.

A slow smile spread across Damon's face, and out of nowhere he was being charming. "C'mon. You know you want to."

Jeremy shrugged half-heartedly, "Pick whatever. I'm full."

Damon's face fell slightly, like he was personally offended that Jeremy didn't want dessert. Which just didn't make any sense. Why did Damon care?

Damon ordered his tiramisu and ate a few bites of it in silence when it arrived. Then, without warning, he was shoving a forkful of it in Jeremy's face and Jeremy opened his mouth automatically and had a mouthful of tiramisu before it dawned on him that Damon was feeding him. Jeremy was used to it being the other way around.

"Good, right?" Damon said, his expression weirdly hopeful or some other emotion that didn't belong on Damon's face.

"Uh. Yeah."

They shared the rest of Damon's dessert, although Jeremy got his own fork rather than letting Damon continue to feed him like a toddler. Giovanni and Damon bickered in Italian about the bill, and eventually Damon bullied the older man into letting him pay for their food.

And then they were back in the Camaro, driving silently back towards Mystic Falls, and Jeremy kept waiting for Damon to let him in on the joke or the secret or whatever the fuck this had been about. Because Jeremy had no idea.

Rather than dropping him off at home, Damon drove to the boardinghouse, and normally the assumption wouldn't have bothered Jeremy, but tonight he was still annoyed and confused and frustrated with his inability to understand what Damon was trying to do.

"Do you want to come in for a drink?" Damon asked, killing the engine on the Camaro before Jeremy could answer.

"Actually, no, not really." Jeremy snapped. "I don't understand what just happened tonight. It was weird and awkward and totally pointless if we're just back here to fuck anyway. Plus you don't even eat human food. And don't give me some bullshit line about how Giovanni's food is the exception, because it was good but it wasn't earth-shattering or life-changing."

Damon's jaw tightened, a muscle jumping in his cheek for a moment, before he shouldered open his door and got out of the car, striding towards the house. After a few moments alone in the dark car, Jeremy followed. He found Damon nursing a drink and leaning against the fireplace.

"I just don't get it, Damon." Jeremy said, wishing he didn't care quite so much, because he doubted he was going to get a real answer from the vampire.

Damon drained the rest of his drink quickly and set the empty tumbler on the mantle. "There's nothing to get."

Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest tightly. "I don't believe that. Whatever this was, it wasn't just for the hell of it."

Damon snorted. "So, what, now that we've been fucking for a couple months you think you know me? You don't know anything."

Jeremy stepped closer to Damon. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. Because if you did, you'd have no problem understanding exactly what tonight was. Try putting your brain to use and figuring it out."

Jeremy scowled, but couldn't help wracking his brain for clues. The whole night had just been so ridiculously outside anything they ever did he didn't know where to start. There was the opening the door thing. And the wine, which was just strange. And sharing food. And Damon's pathetic attempt at small talk. It was all sounding a little like a date. Except that couldn't possibly be right, because this was Damon. There had been touching. Jeremy thought it was accidental, but maybe not. Damon's hand on his back when they sat down, the brush of his fingers over Jeremy's knuckles when he grabbed his glass of wine and what had possibly been the beginnings of a game of footsie. And the strange invitation to come inside for drinks and, oh god, it had been a date. What. The. Hell.

"Seriously, Damon? This was your idea of a date?" Jeremy said, caught somewhere between disbelief and a surreal feeling that this couldn't actually be happening to him. This was Damon Salvatore. He didn't take people on dates. He fucked them and he drank their blood but he never cared about them. Did he? "Because it's probably the worst date there's ever been."

"You would know, I suppose, from the numerous dates you've been on." Damon snapped.

"Damon, you dragged me out of my house, you spent half the night talking in a language I don't speak, you insulted my family, you asked me about school—

"All right. I get it," Damon said, and the tone in his voice was something Jeremy had never heard before. It was almost…hurt. "It was a stupid idea and we won't do anything like it again."

He pushed off the fireplace and started turning away, his shoulders slumped in defeat, and something like panic clutched at Jeremy's heart. He didn't know why, but he knew he couldn't let Damon walk away.

"Damon. Wait." He reached out, grabbing Damon's wrist and turning the vampire back towards him. Jeremy struggled to find the words for something he didn't even understand. "It's just…you could have started out by asking me to dinner."

Damon scowled. "Funnily enough, I don't enjoy being laughed at and then rejected."

Jeremy sighed. "So you thought this was better?"

Damon glanced away from Jeremy, unable to meet his eyes. "It didn't end up quite so disastrously when I planned it out in my head."

Jeremy shoved his hands in his pockets. "Um. Maybe we can try this again sometime. I mean, not this exact night, obviously, but the whole date thing."

The corners of Damon's mouth twitched upwards. "Are you asking me out?"

"Yeah." A slow smile spread across Jeremy's face, "I am."

"Alright, but you have to pay next time. It's only fair." Damon said with a waggle of the eyebrows and a sparkle in his eyes. His amusement dimmed when Jeremy pinned him with a smoldering gaze.

Jeremy looked down between them and softly wrapped his fingers around Damon's wrist. Turning, he led them up the stairs to Damon's room. When they reached the foot of the huge bed that dominated the room Jeremy turned to face Damon. His eyes trailed slowly up Damon's black button down shirt until they locked with Damon's.

Damon's face was carefully expressionless, but his eyes practically glowed with intensity in the light of the fireplace. Reaching out tenderly, Jeremy smoothed his hands up Damon's chest before reaching for the top button of his shirt. In a blur of motion Damon's hands snapped up to capture Jeremy's wrists almost gently. Jeremy gasped in surprise and looked up to find something strange flickering in Damon's eyes. Jeremy was convinced it was a trick of the light, but it almost seemed as if the corners of his eyes softened and his face took on an almost caring expression. Jeremy didn't have time to react, however, before Damon softly pulled Jeremy forward by his wrists and Jeremy almost instinctually wrapped his arms around his neck. Releasing Jeremy's wrists Damon let his hands smooth down his sides until they rested on Jeremy's hips. He gripped them tighter and pulled Jeremy closer until there was no space between them and their breaths softly collided and intermingled.

Jeremy's heart was beating wildly, and he was having trouble breathing normally with Damon being so…different. They'd had sex before, more times than Jeremy could keep up with, but not like this. This was something altogether new, and Jeremy decided it was something he could get used to. Damon being considerate was not something that happened every day. Jeremy's nervousness must have shown because Damon reached up a hand to slide up his neck and tangle in his hair. Jeremy had an instant to be surprised before Damon's lips pressed softly to his.

It didn't matter, however, because Jeremy wanted this, and if Damon was willing it to give him then he wasn't going to say no. Crushing his lips to Damon's, he tightened his arms around his neck and didn't resist when Damon's hands made their way around Jeremy's hips and down under his thighs. Damon lifted him easily, wrapping Jeremy's legs around his waist as he walked them closer to the fireplace without breaking the kiss. When they reached Damon's white shag carpet in front of the fireplace, Damon carefully laid the teenager down on it just as Jeremy nipped at Damon's bottom lip. Damon let out a small groan and Jeremy took the opportunity to slip his tongue past Damon's lips. Damon's hands fisted themselves in the carpet on either side of Jeremy's head and he couldn't keep himself from pressing his body down into Jeremy's as their tongues continued to tangle deliciously.

Jeremy had to pull away finally to breathe, and Damon only took it in stride as he moved his soft lips to Jeremy's neck. Jeremy let out a small gasp, and stroked a hand down the arch of Damon's spine as he gave another slow roll of the hips. Jeremy didn't like how many clothes they were still wearing, and decided he should move things along. Gripping Damon by the hips, he rolled them so that Damon was spread eagled on the soft white carpet with Jeremy straddling him. Jeremy smiled down at Damon as he smoothed his fingers up Damon's chest once again, this time without being stopped when he began to unbutton Damon's shirt. Damon was silent, but his eyes shined in the flickering firelight as he watched Jeremy. Bending forward, Jeremy placed his lips on Damon's chest and carefully kissed the warm skin as he continued moving down the buttons. Damon couldn't do anything but throw back his head and groan at the incredible feeling of Jeremy's soft lips on his body. When he had the shirt unbuttoned Jeremy threw it open wide to his gaze and sat back up. Smirking down at the blissful expression on Damon's face, Jeremy began to explore Damon's naked chest with his hands. His fingers trailed over the heated ridges of Damon's abs causing the muscles to flutter. In a blur of motion Damon flipped them again, his body arching against Jeremy's as he sucked and nipped at his pulse point. Jeremy let out a breathless chuckle, the feel of Damon's excitement spreading through him like an electric current. He dug his fingers into Damon's back as he arched his body up into Damon's, the feel of their erections rubbing against each other dragging a groan out of both of them.

Damon pulled back a little bit from Jeremy, just far enough to tug up on his shirt and help him pull it off. He eased his weight back down on Jeremy, and they both sighed at the soft slide of warm skin, their hands moving to explore and tenderly touch, almost like this was the first time again for them. There was something different charging the air of the room; things between them were less frantic. Both of the two men were taking the extra time, to not just explore, but to remember. Committing to memory the feel of each other's bodies with the smooth slide of lips and gentle touches.

Sliding backwards, Damon dragged his hands down over Jeremy's chest and stomach until he reached the clasp of Jeremy's jeans. Damon could already see Jeremy's erection straining against the denim, and his already over inflated ego grew a little bigger. Jeremy's hands fumbled over his when he didn't move fast enough, and Damon smacked them away before he unbuttoned his jeans and dragged the zipper down slowly. Jeremy groaned and bucked his hips up, frustrated that Damon always had to be such a tease. Damon knew how excited he made him, yet he insisted on reveling in it every chance he got.

Damon scooted back from Jeremy a little more and slipped his fingers under Jeremy's waistband before yanking his pants and boxers down in one go. He pulled them off Jeremy's ankles before standing up and stripping off the rest of his clothes as well. When Damon rejoined Jeremy on the carpet he lay on his side and pressed his body up against Jeremy's. Sliding one hand over Jeremy's stomach he moved it to grip Jeremy's cock, and swallowed the resulting groan when he slipped his tongue between Jeremy's lips. Jeremy couldn't help tangling a hand in Damon's hair as he groaned into the kiss, Damon's other hand still firmly tugging on his cock.

Jeremy didn't know where Damon got the lube, all he knew was that Damon let go of his cock and a moment later he was pressing a slick digit into him. Jeremy let out a small whimper that went straight to Damon's cock, and when Damon pressed closer Jeremy could feel his hard length against his thigh. Jeremy pulled his arm out from under Damon and reaching down between them he gripped Damon's cock and gave it a squeeze and tug. Damon groaned out his pleasure into Jeremy's mouth, his hips bucking into the circle of Jeremy's fist. Damon added another finger quickly and Jeremy had to pull away from Damon to suck in deep breaths as rocked his hips against Damon's fingers.

Finally it was time and Damon was kneeling between Jeremy's legs, his arms holding him up on either side of Jeremy's face. As Jeremy stared up into Damon's eyes, he felt mesmerized by the infinite depths he found there. Damon wanted this, he wanted them. Jeremy gasped and threw his head back when Damon finally pressed into him, filling him completely in one thrust. Damon relaxed one arm down to rest on his elbow and used the other one to stroke down Jeremy's flank and pulled his leg tight against his hips as he rolled forward once again.

The expressions flickering across Jeremy's face fascinated Damon as he carefully watched him in the flickering firelight, the shadows throwing everything in stark contrast. Jeremy reached up to wrap a hand around Damon's neck and pulled him down to crush Damon's lips to his as Damon's hips picked up their pace. Jeremy was forced pull his lips away and rest his chin on Damon's shoulder as Damon's thrusts started to make him pant. Damon reached down between them and pumped Jeremy's cock, his hand gripping him so perfectly couldn't help biting down on Damon's shoulder to smother the embarrassing whimper he would have let out. Damon groaned into Jeremy's neck then, his breath pleasantly fanning over Jeremy's sweaty skin.

Damon sat up, and things turned frantic as they both felt their orgasms getting close. One hand stroking up and down Jeremy's cock, Damon used the other one to fan his fingers over Jeremy's sweaty stomach his hips never slowing their pace all the while. Jeremy clutched desperately at Damon's shoulders as he pounded into Jeremy one last time and Jeremy's orgasm exploded out of him. His vision blurred at the edges, but he could still see enough to watch Damon's eyes almost roll back in his head as he followed Jeremy over the edge and sink softly into Jeremy's arms.

It was several minutes of quietly breathing and listening to the fire before either one of them bothered to move a muscle. It was Jeremy who first broke the stillness, reaching up to entwine his fingers in Damon's hair, whose face was still tucked into Jeremy's shoulder. Damon finally stirred, pressing a kiss into Jeremy's skin before rolling off of Jeremy and sitting up against the bed. It was another long moment before Jeremy got up the courage to look over at Damon. He was staring off in space, his brows furrowed slightly in thought. After a moment longer, the firelight reflecting like a tiny dark mirror in his eyes, Damon looked over at Jeremy and smiled slightly. Holding out a hand to Jeremy he pulled the boy into his arms, Jeremy's strong back resting against his chest and his head lying back against one shoulder. They didn't move for a long while after that, content to simply watch the fire die down and finding comfort in the other's presence as the shadows grew longer.

Italian translation (since we know you probably didn't go look it up)

Giovanni: Mr. Salvatore, it's been too long! How have you been?

Damon: Giovanni, it's good to see you!

Giovanni: And who is this? You usually eat alone.

Winking Damon: He's with me.