My first Vampire Diaries Fanfic! Woohoo! Hope you enjoy :)

Chapter One

After all the events of the day, Elena was exhausted and ready to sleep. Yawning, she pushed open the door into her bedroom and stepped inside.

"Cute PJs," someone said. Elena jumped and traced the voice to the window, where Damon sat, leaning forward and toying with something small and silver. He smiled weakly.

"I'm tired, Damon." Elena said, her tone suggesting that he should leave. Instead, he stood up and took a step towards her. In his hand he held up a silver chain with an oval pendant – Elena immediately recognised it as her vervain necklace.

"Brought you this," Damon murmured, still smiling. Elena took in a deep breath and said,

"I thought that was gone." Damon shook his head once, still holding it up.

"Thank you," Elena breathed when he said nothing, reaching for the necklace. As soon as she got close, Damon pulled back, leaving Elena's hand reaching for air. She lowered it slowly and stared at him.

"Please give it back..." Elena said quietly, sensing where this was going.

"I just have to say something." Damon said, getting a quick response.

"Why do you have to say it with my necklace?" She asked as a sense of unease washed over her.

"Because what I'm about to say is..." Damon paused. "Probably the most selfish thing I've ever said in my life." Elena began to shake her head.

"Damon, don't go there." She warned.

"Look, I just have to say it once." Damon spread his hands, stepping forward as Elena stepped back.

"You just need to hear it," he continued. A serious look suddenly spread across his face, and he took a deep breath.

"I love you, Elena," he said, not moving his gaze into her eyes. "And it's because I love you... I can't be selfish with you."

Before the words were even out of his mouth, Elena felt tears well in her eyes. She couldn't handle this. She had wanted to prove that she was not like Katherine, and what happened in 1864 wouldn't happen to her. But looking at her situation, it was the same deadly love triangle.

Elena was speechless, watching Damon.

"You can't know this," he said, blinking several times to clear the tears in his eyes. He tilted his head to the side, watching Elena's expression.

"I don't deserve you. But my brother does." Damon murmured, leaning forward. Elena summoned up courage and took in a breath to speak, but his lips were already pressed to her forehead. She could only see his pale neck, and after a second he pulled back to face her again. She swallowed and breathed deeply, not sure what to think.

"God, you shouldn't have to forget this..." Damon muttered. "But you do." He came close again, and Elena saw his black pupil expand slightly. She recognised what he was doing –trying to compel her. Her vervain bracelet felt heavy on her wrist, and she closed her eyes to stop tears from escaping her eyes.

"Damon -" when she opened her eyes, Damon was gone and her vervain necklace was around her neck. Elena's window was wide open and wind blew the curtains. Taking in a shaky breath, she sat on the corner of her bed, allowing herself to now cry.

. . .

It was for the best.

That's what Damon kept thinking. It was best that Elena didn't know of his feelings for her, and remained oblivious. But to him, it was unfair. He had loved Katherine, but she had only been using him and had always loved his brother, Stefan.

Elena was similar – not just in appearance. She loved Stefan – it would always be Stefan. Damon felt that the only people he loved were those that he couldn't have. He let out a yell into the darkness, not sure of what he was saying.

"Damon?" his brother Stefan approached him. They stood in the darkness in the woods surrounding Mystic Falls, extremely pale against the dark surroundings.

"What?" Damon gritted his teeth, facing Stefan.

"Are you okay?" he asked, cautiously approaching him.

"Yes." Damon forced out the words. "Fine." Before Stefan could say any more, he was ghosting through the trees, headed to the boarding house.

As he passed behind houses, he heard humans inside. Their breathing, their heartbeats... It all seemed to call out to Damon. He wanted to kill. To let out his pain on another - to satisfy his thirst.

When he had nearly reached the boarding house, a little gasp caught his attention. Damon slowed and came to a stop behind a small white house. A girl was standing near Damon, holding a bird feeder as if she was about to hang it on the fence. She was frozen, staring at him with wide eyes.

Her hair was dark brown and grew to the middle of her back, where it was cut evenly. Her skin was pale and her features small, especially her little mouth that was hanging open. The girl's eyes were a warm brown, and all of it seemed to remind him of someone. She was as tall as Elena and looked about the same age.

This drew Damon in, smirking slightly as he heard her breaths come quicker. He advanced forward, hearing her heart pounding and smelling the blood that coursed through her veins. She was still unmoving, but had managed to drop the birdfeeder.

As Damon got closer, he opened his mouth and let his fangs come down, getting a small whimper from the girl. He didn't waste any more time and went straight for her throat, grabbing her shoulder and pushing her head back. He bit roughly, tearing at the skin on her neck. Finally, at a useless time, the girl let out a strangled scream and tried unsucessfully to pry Damon off.

After a few seconds, he felt the last drops of blood seep from her and realised that her screaming had stopped. He stepped back and let her fall to the ground, wiping the remaining blood of off his mouth. Damon quickly looked around, and when he noticed that no one was around he swung the dead girl up into his arms and carried her out into the woods to a stream not to far away.

Lazily, he dumped her in the rushing water and watched as she floated downstream. He was satisfied, but couldn't keep the sense of disgust out. He hated himself for being this monster, but he would never admit that to anyone, not even Elena.

Sighing, Damon turned around and continued home.

Thanks for reading! Sorry it was such a short chapter... I seem to always make my first ones short! If you liked it, please review. If you didn't, please review with... Constructive critisism? :)