Title: Remember Me

Author: Athar Riordan (thelosthighways)

Summary: AU. For fifteen years, Stefan hadn't heard from or seen Damon before his return to Mystic Falls. So what did Damon do in the fifteen or so years spent apart from his brother? And how does the arrival of a teenage girl who Damon calls friend linked with that period in Damon's past? (Title may change.)

Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries does not belong to me- I'm just borrowing the characters for the usage of my plot bunnies who bugged me to try my hand at writing a Damon centred story. I'll give them back when i'm done. Story is inspired partly through some episodes of Vampire Diaries but also the songs "Josh Groban – Remember Me" , "The Fray – Look After You" and of course "Trading Yesterday - Shattered" to name the three big ones.

Author's Note (Long one which you may like to read first to understand where i am coming from – this is how nervous i am about writing for this fandom- trust me this should be the only long note you will hopefully read so apologies now):

Okay, so this is my first go at a VD fanfiction so i don't know how this will go down. (what's worse is that i have a supernatural story that needs continuing but VD decided to attack me with the aid of my muse which has decided to bite me with an idea).

For the purposes of not having a slow start, it is to be assumed that Damon and Morgan have known each other for about 4-5 years (so pre-series) and have kept in contact over this period. Mirroring Stefan at the beginning of the show, Damon didn't tell Morgan he had a brother- and visa versa – so i've left space for bonding between the two characters.

Now, i know some of the back plot to this story – in particular Damon's relationship with the Campbell family as it will play a key role in this story in terms of some of the secret's Damon has buried. Secrets which Morgan may-or may not- unintentionally bring to the surface – figured in my head (i have also written two important scenes which will sadly not be appearing this early in the story which annoys me to no ends).

I'm thinking of turning chapters into flashbacks – and flashbacks will appear a lot in this story- so there will be jumps between past and present (i will alert you to these at the beginning of the chapters).

Okay so there is the long AN (i apologise again, but this fandom is totally new to me- about... 3 weeks which is why i'm nervous because it hit me hard- i am caught up now though from s1-2). I do hope this is okay and that i am able to continue. Like my other story, i am a terrible updater (especially during uni term time) so please do forgive me for long absences.

Now, on with the story...

Prologue

Dear Diary,

I saw him again today. Damon Salvatore. He's been hanging around the campus for a week now, and we went out for drinks last night. He's tall, dark and broody- the kind of guy most girls dream about with the dashing good looks all the while holding an air of mystery about them. Very cliché and yet, i find myself drawn to him. Is this normal after meeting a guy under a week ago? I don't know. But there is something about Damon, something I know that I have only began to scrape the surface of.

P.C.

If I don't say this now I will surely break
As I'm leaving the one I want to take
Forgive the urgency but hurry up and wait
My heart has started to separate

A teenage girl of around Seventeen jumped off the coach as the doors opened just outside the local bar in a small town called Mystic Falls. Pulling her black jacket collar close about her, Morgan pulled her bag strap up and over to her other shoulder so that the bag strap could lay diagonally, whilst the bag rested against her Jean clad hip. The wind which had become apparent as soon as she had stepped off the coach, now whipped her long hair about her face- obscuring her blue coloured eyes as she pushed the vagrant strands behind her pierced ear.

There now, steady love, so few come and don't go
Will you won't you, be the one I'll always know
When I'm losing my control, the city spins around
You're the only one who knows, you slow it down

Morgan looked around the deserted area, as she tried to get her bearings. The text message had said for her to come here, to this small town in Virginia, and she had followed it's instructions. She hadn't seen the person who had sent it in years – not since she had begun to ask questions about her past, and her parents- and was curious as to why they would bring her here for her to find the answers she had been searching for.

Oh, oh
Be my baby
Ohhhhh
Oh, oh
Be my baby
I'll look after you

With a sigh, the teenager picked a direction – one which appeared to lead into the centre of town- and began to walk. Morgan hadn't slept in nearly three days, and the adrenaline she had been running on was now begin to leave her. She needed to find a place to stay in order to take a much needed sleep after the events of the past couple of days which had led to the untimely death of vampire who had been intentionally turning people just for kicks.

She had spent two days and nights tracking the thing, and she had managed to catch up with the young man only when he tried to turn a small girl who had slipped out of her house in mid sleep walk. The girl would be fine, although Morgan hoped her parents would take the necessary measures to ensure their daughter did not escape the house again. For her troubles, the teenager had managed to awaken aches from an old Shoulder and Knee injury she had sustained in a car accident a few years back which meant that her adrenaline was being spread across more than one cause for collapse.

Pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket, Morgan checked the address she had hurriedly scribbled down before asking a passerby for directions- which the older man was willing to give- before heading toward the edge of town. The address she had been given was a boarding house under the name of Salvatore- but, the man said, only the two brothers reside there now.

An hour's walk later and two energy bars with a bottle of water found Morgan standing in front of the mansion building before her. Walking up to the old oak door, Morgan raised her hand to knock when she noticed the red tassel hanging down beside the door which Morgan guessed was linked with the doorbell mechanism. Pulling on the chord, Morgan took a step away from the door and turned to look out into the early morning mist.

The door opened behind her, and Morgan turned to find a surprised young man – no older than her- standing there in dark t-shirt and sweat pants. Stefan looked in surprise at the teenager before him. She wasn't someone he had met before, and he hadn't seen her around Mystic Falls high school.

"May i help you?" The vampire asked as Morgan gave him a weak smile.

"Good Morning, i'm sorry to disturb you so early. I'm new here but i was given this address by a friend. They said i should come here as soon as i arrived in town." Morgan explained apologetically, only now realising the time.

Stefan regarded the teenager before him. She was about 17 years of age; long brown hair cascaded down her back to just below her shoulders, the top of her head covered in a hat against the cold morning. The girls pale skin created a contrast with her blue eyes, which were looking at him with childish curiosity as well as mild confusion. She was also around Elena's height, if not an inch or so taller. But... there was something familiar about the girl... something he couldn't quite place.

"Whose is your friend?" Stefan asked lightly, curiosity lacing his voice. Although the Salvatore mansion was seen as a boarding house where visitors could stay whilst in town, no one had been directed here in many years – not with the house being occupied by vampires.

"His name is Damon. He's a friend of my fathers, he asked me to drop by sometime so here i am" Morgan explained with a slight shrug of her shoulder as she looked down at the piece of paper she had been taking out of her pocket during her explanation.

"Yes, Damon lives here. I'm his brother, Stefan." Stefan said by way of introduction. He regarded Morgan's expression as he said this. The girl seemed surprised but was quick to cover the emotion up.

"Pleased to meet you, Stefan. My name is Morgan." Morgan replied a carefully placed smile on her face as she offered him her hand, which he took into a brief handshake.

"Morgan, nice to know. " Stefan smiled. "Please Come in, its cold out." Stefan said as he stepped aside and allowed the younger girl to enter.

"Thanks," Morgan smiled as she entered the Victorian structure and took in the lustrous period decor which went throughout the Boarding House. Taking her scarf from around her neck, and pulling off her heavy jacket, Morgan allowed Stefan to guide her into the main living area.

"You're welcome. I'll just see where Damon is."

Morgan nodded as she took a seat at the edge of the couch closest to the fire, which was still burning and warming the room.

*Dream/Flashback*

The Music of the bar vibrated through the floor as two friends clinked two shot glasses before downing them. Damon Salvatore sighed in content as he allowed the liquid taste to burn on his tongue before swallowing as he watched the comical reaction of the young woman beside him.

"Too strong for you?" Damon asked with a smirk and raised eyebrow.

"No," Piper Campbell said with a slight cough. "Not strong. It's the strong kick after it. I thought after the other 3 shots, this would be... less kicky."

Damon smiled. "You would think that, but where would be the fun in downing shots if there wouldn't be a kick?"

Piper smiled as she held up the now empty shot glass. "Touché,"

*End Dream/Flashback*

"Damon, Wake up." Stefan sighed as he opened the closed dark curtains.

Damon Salvatore's blue eyes shot open as his brother entered his dream in order to wake him from his apparent deep slumber. Groaning as the early morning light hit him. He lay with the covers about his waist, to reveal his bare chest, and the top of his dark boxer shorts. "What is it Stefan?"

Stefan rolled his eyes as he picked up a dark t-shirt which Damon had must have thrown aside the previous night, and threw it at Damon as he said, "Morgan's here."

"What?" Damon sat bolt upright at the mention of her name. Stefan nodded mutely at the frown Damon's face now held, as Damon quickly pulled on the dark t-shirt and reached over for a similar pair of dark trousers which he quickly pulled on from his place at the edge of his bed.

"Morgan's here. She said that you text her and she came straight here." Stefan repeated as Damon stretched past him for a dark t-shirt which he had strewn on the floor. "Who is she?"

"A Friend," Damon answered distractedly. Obviously he hadn't been expecting the teenager's arrival so soon, though he didn't protest when Stefan had spoke of the text. She said Tuesday, Damon cursed silently to himself, she's early.

"Damon, you don't do friends," Stefan said with a raised eyebrow. "Who is she really, a fling from a few towns over."

"Friend will be the only answer you're getting, Stefan." Damon growled as he stood up from his askew bed, and stood to his full height – gaining a few inches on his forever 17-year-old brother- giving Stefan a glare as he stepped past him. "Excuse me."

As Damon walked past him and out of the door, Stefan couldn't shake the feeling that there was something his older brother wasn't telling him. Sure, the two had their secrets, but there was something about the girl downstairs Damon didn't want Stefan to know. And this made Stefan want to know more.

Damon stifled a yawn as he walked into the Boarding House's large living area. As the vampire stepped down into the living area where two couches, a couple of chairs and a coffee table were situated, Damon found Morgan seated at the end of one of the sofa's closest to the fire with her eyes closed.

"Late Night," Damon said, by way of alerting the teenager to his presence. Morgan opened her eyes immediately and blinked owlishly as she turned to Damon who came over to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Morgan answered as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. "I'm sorry i woke you guys up. I know I'm early but I didn't want to hang around that place when they found a body." Morgan explained as she straightened herself.

Damon nodded with a weak smile. He had known Morgan for nearly 5 years, and so he was fully aware of the world she walked in with her parents. He had spent a year or so there himself in the early '90's.

"It's fine. It's not like i only got in myself about an hour ago or anything." Damon smirked with his usual air of cockiness Morgan had grown used to over the years. Sure, she hadn't seen the Vampire in a couple of years, but they stayed in contact- even if it was through texts and rare phone calls. It was a very weird arrangement, but it was one the two had become accustomed to.

"Seriously?" Morgan asked with a yawn. "Was it a girl? Because I'm sure Mara would hate to hear that you're heart belongs to another."

Damon rolled his eyes knowingly. Mara, one of Morgan's close friends, had developed a crush on Damon the last time he had met up with Morgan and her parents on the rare occasions he had agreed to meet up with them. That was the time Damon still searched for ways to bring Katherine out of the tomb she was believed to have been sealed in; when Damon didn't care about anyone but Damon. That was another reason he and Morgan being 'friends' was a surprise to those who knew the older Salvatore.

"No, i assure you it was not a girl." Damon answered. "More like an issue of the wolf kind."

"Werewolf?" Morgan asked her curiosity sparking.

"Looks like it could be." Damon nodded before turning his head to her. "Wait, what do you know about werewolves?"

Morgan shrugged as she yawned once more. "Only what Gramps and others have told me. It's not a lot though. Werewolves are rarely seen because they were killed to the brink of extinction a couple of hundred years ago. I think it was vampires or something that did the deed."

"Ah how is Mackland these days," Damon asked at the mention of 'grandpa'. "Is he still sore at me for killing that dog?"

"You mean the dog you fed off because you'd run out of blood bags?" Damon nodded. "Oh you know. He still wants to stake you. Star had belonged to Grams after all."

"Hmm, thought so." Damon said with a slight wince. Mackland Campbell was not a hunter Damon liked to cross- he wasn't a hunter many vampires liked crossing because normally they wouldn't live past the first meeting.

"I like the house by the way," Morgan said, looking around the vast room. "Is this the original place or did you rebuild?"

"Rebuild. The original house went into disrepair after 1864. This was built a few years after- very similar in many respects." Damon explained. This was the first time Morgan had come here, but Damon had told her about it after their first meeting, when Damon had pulled Morgan out of the river when she had fallen in – or jumped- after an argument with her uncle and aunt (who just happened to had be her adoptive parents).

Turning back to the teenager, Damon could see that she was trying her best to keep awake. Truth be told so was he after keeping an eye on the Lockwood estate the past few nights, he hadn't slept properly in days. "Maybe you should get some sleep, you look like you're about to collapse."

"It's nothing major, I'll be fine." Morgan assured him, although the constant yawning was making it obvious to them both that sleep was required- it didn't help that Morgan's yawing set off Damon as well.

"How long has it been since you slept properly, hmm?" Damon asked with a raised eyebrow. Morgan looked guiltily at him before murmuring something under her breath. "You haven't slept in 3 days? Are you trying to put yourself back into hospital?"

Morgan gave him a weak glare. Damn vampire super-hearing, the teenager cursed.

After mixing hunting with stressful situations at school (exams and essays), Morgan had collapsed through exhaustion and had ended up in the hospital for a week a year-and-a-half ago. This had resulted in very angry adoptive parents, strict lectures from both doctors and teachers- and a not to happy Mackland turning up and giving her an even bigger lecture about taking care of herself.

But that was before her parents had died, and she had gone to live with Mackland, which had given her a more stable environment than the travelling with her adoptive parents had been unsuccessful in giving her.

"No," Morgan mumbled, blushing slightly under Damon's early morning glare. "The vampire was going after kids, up until last night my tracking had been unsuccessful."

"Am i to assume that this vampire only came out during the night?" Damon asked. Morgan nodded. "Then do tell me what you were spending your days doing that you couldn't sleep then?"

"I was searching the derelict buildings, storage lockers and cemeteries in the city. The place was pretty big and this was my first time solo. Jake is at his folks in South Dakota and Dean is in Washington with his Dad and dad's girlfriend looking at college brochures." Morgan shrugged.

"Well now you can sleep. Because as much as i am loving this extremely early catch up session, even Vampires need sleep and you haven't been formally introduced to my darling brother – which could be awkward seen as i didn't tell you about him or he about you."

"Yeah why didn't you tell us about him?" Morgan asked with a quizzical look. Even this early in the morning, Damon's sarcasm knew no bounds.

"What was to tell?" Damon asked. Morgan was about to answer but the vampire held up a hand "Ah! Bed Now."

"Yes Dad." Morgan grumbled sarcastically, causing a frown to appear on Damon's face which instantly disappeared when Morgan gave him a curious look.

"You are aware I am old enough to be your Great Grandfather a few times removed?" Damon asked by way of deflecting.

"Urgh, don't remind me." Morgan groaned. "You stay twenty-something for all eternity while the rest of us mere mortals reach the ends of our mortal coils and fade out of memory and time."

"Too early for morbid speak. You're too young and it's still an ungodly hour of the morning." Damon sighed exasperatedly as he stood up and stretched, his arms entwining above his head as he reached his full height; His joints cricking after beginning to relax on the comfortable sofa- no wonder they were yawning so much.

Turning around, he held his hand out to Morgan who took it and used it as leverage to pull herself up. She then bent down in order to pick up her forgotten bag which lay against the side of the sofa on the floor. That was when Damon noticed a white gauze plaster just above the waistband of her jeans on her side. When Morgan turned back to the vampire she could see his gaze had hardened.

"What happened?" Morgan gave a 'hmm' as Damon turned his head to the side which she had the plastered gauze pad.

"Oh I fell on something sharp i think a few weeks back and Mackland patched me up. It's healing now- I promise no blood is spilling." Morgan said by way of reassurance.

"We'll talk about it later." Damon answered with a quick raise of the eyebrow. "Now follow me."

Leading Morgan up the stairs, onto the first landing where he and Stefan's rooms were situated, Damon guided the girl to the end of the corridor where his room was and opened the door opposite. Morgan entered and stood for a moment with an open mouth at the large bed and well furnished room, with the window facing South East.

"Wow, this is beautiful." Morgan breathed, her tiredness momentarily forgotten.

"You have on suite so you don't have to battle for the toilet facilities and i know how you love your window views." Damon said by way of explanation. He couldn't help but smile at the childish wonder on the teenagers face. It reminded him of Stefan when he was a child... back when they were human.

"Thanks Damon its, it's great." Morgan answered as she placed her bag on a chair in the room, before turning to him.

"Well," Damon coughed. "Get some sleep. My room is opposite so knock if you need anything."

"I will, thanks Damon." Morgan nodded.

"Your welcome."

TBC..

Authors Endnote:

So what are your thoughts on my shaky attempt at VD Fanfiction? Should i Continue? Was it believable? Did i bring Damon too much out of character to be true?

Please let me know your thoughts on this because I want to keep this as real as i can. (But try not to flame too badly if this is all wrong – total newbie here)

I decided to put both sections together after i had initially thought of ending the prologue with Damon headed down the stairs (i was going to make the Damon/Morgan section a separate chapter but it would be too drawn out). I hope its a well rounded chapter and that the Diary entry and Dream/Flashback at the beginning and near the middle didn't interrupt you reading (it's been a while since I've used flashbacks).

Incase people ask, i am still trying to work out the timeline for this fiction. I would assume it's S2 with the mention of werewolves so i would say at this moment it is AU of 2x01-2x06, but i didn't want to specify a proper time as of yet until i begin to maybe introduce Elena/Katherine/Caroline and Bonnie into this story.

(yes as much as this is a Damon centred fic we do need other Canon Characters, but I'm going to try and stick to only a few for the time being as we are exploring Damon's recent history- by that i mean up to the last 20yrs at most and so there will be more OC than canon in places- sorry fans).