It was late at night, maybe around 3am, but she wasn't asleep. She had work to do, and a lot of it by that, and the last thing she needed was something distracting her, because then she wouldn't be able to reach her deadline. And the publishers hated that, so she had to overdose on coffee and anything with caffeine, mostly Monster energy drinks, in order to get her work done on time.

She was only twenty-five years old, but already a published author, and a very successful one by that. She wrote vampire novels. All sorts of them, action, drama, even romance. Her fans knew her as A.J. Lovegood, but in reality she was just plain Arabella Jones. Her friends called her Bella, and only one very special friend was allowed to call her Abby. He was the one who gave her all the facts about vampires. He knew them very well because he himself was one: a vampire. But only a few people knew that and she was one of them. She was really good at keeping secrets, when she wanted to.

Bella was still in her jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt. She didn't change into her pajamas, because she knew she'd be awake until at least 5am, so she saw no point in changing. She went to the fridge, took another Monster and went back in the living room, sitting on the sofa, looking at the screen of the laptop. She cracked her knuckles and was just about to start typing when her phone rang. She looked at the display, but didn't recognize the number. She answered anyway.

"Hello?"

"Abby… Help…" a man's voice came from the other end; it sounded like the man was in real pain.

"Damon? What happened? Where are you?" she immediately got worried.

"The girl… she was full of vervain… I can't…"

"Damon! Damon, listen to me carefully. Where are you?" he responded something that wasn't quite understandable, but she understood it. "Ok, I'll be there in ten minutes. Don't move, do you hear me? Do not move!"

"Just… hurry up" he barely muttered and ended the call.

"I had a feeling this might happen…" Bella said to herself, went to the fridge, and from one of the lower boxes took out a sack with blood and threw it in her bag. After that she grabbed her car keys, ran to her car and sped off to where Damon was supposed to be. She pulled over and ran in the forest, quickly finding him.

"Here, drink." She said, tossing him the sack with blood, and then she went to the girl. "Thank god, she's still alive." She said, took the girl in her arms and carried her to her car. Then she went back to Damon, who had drank all the blood from the little plastic sack and was about to throw it away. "Ah-ah-ah, we don't do that, Damon. Give it to me." He handed it over and she shoved it in her bag. "We have to take the girl to the hospital, but you have to compel her first. Wake her up, tell her she was attacked by a wolf, but it got scared when it saw the headlights of our car, ran away, and then she blacked out. Got it?"

"I'm on it." He said and waked the girl up, working his vampire mind tricks on her while Bella went back to the spot and tried to make it look more like there was a struggle between a human and an animal.

"Ok, I'm done. You?" he nodded. "Ok, now we can go to the hospital."

After everything in the hospital was over, they headed back for Bella's house. When they got inside, Bella locked the door, went to the fireplace, threw the empty plastic sack in there and lit the fire.

"Please tell me you have another one of those, because I could really use some more blood. I'm still weak." He looked at her with his puppy-dog eyes.

"That was the only one." She said and plopped down on the couch next to him.

"You should really stock up, seeing as how you have a vampire lover and all." He said and kissed her neck.

"True," she said and gave out a quiet moan, "but that vampire should be perfectly able to take care of himself. I can't raid the blood bank like you guys do. The only reason I had that was if an emergency occurred. Which it did, so I'm going to have to snatch some more tomorrow."

"Come to think of it, how did you get it?" he asked, still kissing her neck.

"A really close friend of mine works at the blood bank. She can 'hook me up' with a sack or two every now and then."

"Well, that's cool, but I can't wait till tomorrow, I need more blood now. I'm gonna go hunting." He jumped and in a flash he was at the door, but he couldn't go through it, it was like an invisible wall was keeping him inside. "What the hell?"

"It's quite handy to have a witch for a friend, don't you think?" Bella said with a smug smile, standing in the living room's doorframe.

"Bonnie? But when?"

"While we were at the hospital. I think you've caused enough trouble for tonight, so you'll be staying here."

"How long?"

"The barrier will be gone tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night?" he almost cried. "What am I supposed to do until then?!"

"Ouch, that hurt you know." She said, pretending to be offended.

"You know what's gonna hurt more? When I rip out your throat!" he was getting pissed, but didn't move from his spot.

"Ah, you wouldn't do that."

"Why wouldn't I do it?"

"Because, I have vervain, and I wouldn't hesitate to shove it down your throat if I consider it necessary. And also, because you care for me. As much as you'd hate to admit it."

"Here's where you've got it wrong, I don't care for you, I'm in love with-"

"Elena? Oh, I know. But you still care for me. And you proved it tonight."

"How?" he asked, as if certain that she wouldn't be able to explain.

"Who did you call for help? Elena? Stefan? Caroline? You called me. Your love for Elena has sent you on a path to self destruction and I'm always the one saving your vampire ass from trouble and covering you up so the council won't suspect you. And you wanna know something else? It was my blood you drank from that sack, mine! You think I would just steal some innocent person's blood to feed a vampire? I have a deal with my friend there. I go to 'donate' my blood, but it ends up with me, without anyone ever knowing I was even there." She went closer to him, closing the door and locking it again. "You want blood? Go ahead." She said, exposing her neck to him.

"You know I can't do that…" he said with a tortured voice.

"Just do it. I don't mind."

He hesitated for a second, but then he gave up. He kissed her neck, trying to make her relax a bit, because she was quite tense, and then he gently sunk his teeth in her soft skin. He felt tears roll down her cheeks, she was crying.

"Abby!" he had stopped, and he was looking her in the eyes, worried, but she averted her gaze. "Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's… no, you didn't hurt me." She said and wiped the tears off her face. "Do you need more?"

"No, I uhm… I'm fine now. But I could use something else to drink." He said innocently.

"There's a Monster on the table in the living room. Haven't opened it yet, so help yourself. I'll be right back." She said, climbing upstairs to the bathroom, where she put a bandage on her neck. She looked in the mirror. There were black streaks down her cheeks, her make-up was smudged because of the tears, and her red hair was messy.

She removed her make-up and tied her hair in a pony-tail. Now that the make-up was gone, her emerald green eyes really stood out. Combined with the red hair and the freckles on her face, it made her look like she was Irish. Which wasn't too far from the truth, as one of her grandmothers was Irish. She headed back down and sat on the floor, grabbing her laptop, leaving Damon alone on the couch, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. You know I like writing on the floor." She shot him a glance and he lost himself in her eyes for a second. "Something wrong with my face?"

"No, I just… Nothing." He said and took a sip from the energy drink in his hands.

Bella was typing really fast, looking only at the screen, but Damon could tell that she was thinking about something else while she was writing. The single tears that occasionally escaped her eyes were a dead give-away, but she pretended it was just because her eyes were irritated by the computer's light. After about an hour, she was done typing and the sun had started to rise. She saved the document and closed the laptop, putting it back on the table.

Damon had dozed off, despite the energy drink. She looked at him for a second. He was so cute and peaceful when he was sleeping. If only he could be calm like that when he was awake… she whispered to herself and headed for the kitchen to make some breakfast. She was in the mood for pancakes, so she quickly got the products out of the fridge, got the mixture ready and half an hour later the pancakes were done. She made a lot more than she could eat, even though she knew Damon rarely ate human food. She was putting the pan in the sink when she felt two strong arms around her waist and a hot breath against her neck.

"Mmm, pancakes." Damon murmured in her ear. "Just what I wanted."

She turned around in his arms, giving him a chance to try and kiss her on the lips, but in the last moment she turned her head to the side, and he kissed her cheek instead. "Someone's in a bad mood." He said, trying to sound grumpy.

"I wonder why that might be." She said sarcastically, broke free of his embrace and got the maple syrup from the fridge.

"Actually I was hoping you could tell me." He said as they both sat at the table and she shot him one of those are-you-for-real looks. "Or maybe not." He mumbled.

"Well, I most sincerely do apologize for my behavior, Mister Salvatore, but not all of us had the luxury to take a nap. Some of us had to sacrifice their sleep so they could save a friend and still do their own job." She smiled at him and poured syrup on her pancakes.

"Wow, you're mad at me."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Well, why else would you be trying to drown your pancakes with maple syrup?"

"What?" she looked down at her plate and she understood what he meant, she had poured half the bottle in her plate. "Oh, well. I could use something sweet in my life right about now."

"Ouch, that hurt." He pretended to be offended.

They finished breakfast, and as soon as Bella was about to start washing the dishes, Damon volunteered himself to do it. She shrugged her shoulders, took a Monster from the fridge and went back to the living room. She got out her game console, connected it to the TV, sat down on the floor, only about two meters away from it, and started playing a game while Damon washed the dishes. Soon, she really got into the game and he could hear her from the kitchen.

"Die, evil babies! Die! Take that!" he imagined what her face looked like when she said that, the contentment written all over it. A small smile appeared on the edge of his lips. "AAAH! BOLTERFLIES!" she shrieked, and a second later Damon was next to her.

"What's wrong?"

"Damn it!" she said, jumping in her place because she wasn't expecting him, and paused her game. "What do you want?" she said, a bit pouty. She didn't like it when her games were interrupted.

"You were screaming your lungs out, I thought something was wrong."

"Oh, that. No, everything's fine, I just got surprised by the bolterflies, nasty little fuckers."

"The bolterflies?" he repeated, completely clueless, but then he remembered. "Oh, you're playing that game again. What was its name?"

"Alice madness returns." She responded before he could even try to remember it.

"Yeah, that one. But I thought you finished it last week?"

"Oh, yeah, but what's the harm in playing it all over again?" she said and stuck out her tongue at him.

"I think you're getting addicted. Games aren't all that healthy you know."

"Oh? And you're not just saying that because I totally kicked your ass at 'Colin McRae Rally' last month? Cuz, we can always have a rematch you know." She teased.

"You're on. Just name the game."

"Need for speed underground." She said and a wide grin appeared on her face. "You get the game ready, I need another Monster" she said and headed to the kitchen.

She took a can from the fridge, and closed it, but remained in her place with a far-off look on her face. She didn't know how long she could keep this up, always being there for him, but never being more than a friend, or a fuck-buddy. Credit where it was due, the sex was fuckin amazing, but she wanted more than that. She wanted emotional commitment, a real relationship with him. It was getting more and more difficult for her to keep a straight face when around him, and hide her true feelings.

She couldn't stand the way he looked at Elena, the thought that he would never look at her like that. She would always just be the good friend-with-benefits kind of girl for him, and it killed her inside. Bit by bit. Sometimes when she was alone she would drown her feelings in alcohol and listen to sad songs, crying and being mad at herself for being so weak and pathetic. But every time she got out of it. As soon as the alcohol had left her system she would stand tall and say "Fuck it, I'm better than that" and go on as if nothing had happened, until the next time she would drink away her feelings.

Her thoughts were interrupted when once again she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist, and a hot breath against her neck.

"You seriously have to stop doing that." She said, freeing herself from his arms.

"Yeah, probably. But I thought there was something wrong, you didn't come back right away and when I came here, I find you spacing out, as if you weren't even in this world." He said a bit worried.

"Oh, that. I just had an idea for my next chapter." She said and headed towards the living room, sitting on the floor, grabbing the joy-pad. "So we'll have to make this quick. Just one game. And then I go back to my story."

"Dead-line again?" he said, sitting down next to her, starting the game.

"Yes, now shut up and don't distract me." She commanded and they started the game.

The race was over pretty quickly, needless to say, Bella was the winner. Damon got up and went to sit on the sofa, pouting, because he had lost to a girl, again. Bella just crawled closer to the table, took her laptop, made herself comfy on the floor, opened it and started to type again.

"Well someone seems to have an unusual amount of inspiration." Damon said, but Bella shot him a look. "Just saying."

"I have a dead-line. If the story isn't finished by then, I'm dead. Well, metaphorically speaking. The sooner I finish it – the better." and she went back to typing, escaping in the world that she had created. Soon, she was entirely lost in it, oblivious to everything happening around her, but suddenly she was brought back to reality by the light snores escaping Damon's lips every now and then. Damn, maybe he really does need more blood, he never sleeps this much… she quietly got up, went to him, and gently took out his phone from his pocket, and then quietly went outside on the porch and dialed a number.

"What do you want, Damon?" a slightly annoyed male voice came from the other end.

"Stefan, it's me, Arabella." She said sheepishly.

"Oh, hi Bella. Wait, is something wrong with Damon?"

"Not exactly…"

"What did he do this time?"

"Uhm, nothing you need to worry about. I, uhm… took care of it, sort of… Uhm, anyway, he needs some blood, but I don't have any, and I already allowed him to feed on me, but-"

"Wait, you did what?"

"It doesn't matter. But he really needs some more blood, he just keeps falling asleep, he doesn't have much energy. And I know what you're going to say, but I can't let him go out and hunt, this is what got him here in the first place…"

"Wait, what?"

"I told you, I took care of it. But I was worried he might do something stupid again, so I had Bonnie set up a barrier, and now he can't leave my house until tomorrow evening… So, I would really appreciate it if you could drop by and bring some blood for him? Please?"

"Uhm, yeah, sure, I'll be there in about half an hour."

"Thank you, Stefan!" she almost sang, and then ended the call and quietly got back in the house, tip-toe-ing to the living room, where Damon was still asleep on the sofa. "Oh good, he hasn't woken up yet." She whispered to herself and placed his phone back in his pocket. She couldn't help it, he was so cute and peaceful like that, she gently sat next to him and cuddled in him. She kept an eye on the clock, and when half an hour had passed, she quietly sneaked out of the house, waiting for Stefan on the porch, and soon enough he arrived.

"Hey, thank you so much." Bella said as she took the bag Stefan handed her.

"He's still asleep?" he asked, and she just nodded. "That's good. Bella, I need to have a talk with you."

"Okay… what do you wanna talk about?"

"It's about Damon… and, well, you."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because, I know how you feel about Damon."

"What? How did you know? I haven't told anyone!"

"Well, actually, it's quite obvious. But it seems like my brother is the only one oblivious to the fact."

"Oh…"

"And I know you know how he feels about…" he didn't finish his sentence, but Bella knew who he meant. "He's just Damon, you know. He always does what he wants, gets in trouble… Which reminds me that I have to thank you for saving his ass these past few months, I really am grateful."

"Yeah, well, I wish he would show a bit more gratitude…" she said and looked down at her shoes.

"Look, Bella… I'm sure that if you just keep being there for him, he'll come around eventually. He just needs time to see what he has right in front of him."

"Yeah, you'd think he would've noticed by now but… Whatever. Well, I need to be going back inside, and once again thank you for bringing this." She said and went back inside the house. She went to the living room, placed the bag on the coffee table, and gently climbed on Damon's lap, waking him up with a kiss.

"Well, you seem to be in a better mood." He said when he was finally awake and their lips parted.

"Not exactly. But I have something for you." She said, bending backwards without getting off him, giving him a nice view of her now exposed belly. She grabbed the handle of the bag and gave it to him. "Stefan brought this just now. I thought you could use it."

"Wait, why did you call Stefan?"

"I needed to, there was no other way to get you this."

"Oh… Well, in that case, I forgive you." He said with a smile and placed his lips on hers.

"Okay, enough of this." She said and climbed off him. "You have to feed, and I have to write. I've almost finished this." She said, plopped herself on the floor and grabbed her laptop, immediately starting to type again.

Just as the clock hit 10pm, Bella triumphantly closed the laptop with a smirk on her face, and gave out a long sigh.

"Finished already? I didn't know it was even possible to have it finished so quickly."

"Well, my super power is writing. For the time it takes other people to write 5 pages, I write 20 pages. I'm creative like that." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, this calls for a celebration." He said, heading for the mini-bar hidden in the wall. "What would you like?"

"Ah, you know me, I'm a simple girl, just… 'Johnny' black." She put the laptop on the table, and moved herself to the couch, lifting her legs on the coffee table.

"I keep forgetting you're such a guy at times." He said and laughed, handing her the glass.

"Yeah, well, I've always been a tom-boy." She said and took a big sip from the glass.

"Well you sure don't look like one." He said under his breath.

"Did you say something?"

"Uhm, no, I didn't. Let's just drink the whole bottle and then celebrate it with something a bit more… enjoyable." There was that spark in his eyes, the one that made her stomach all tingly, the one that made her burn with desire.

"Or," she said, placing her and his glasses on the table, "we can just skip the drinking and start with the enjoyable part…" she locked her lips with his in a passionate kiss, and before they knew it their clothes were scattered on the floor….