Unconditional, unconditionally
I will love you unconditionally
There is no fear now
Let go and just be free
I will love you unconditionally
(Katy Perry: Unconditional)

She snuggled in closer letting out a small moan as she felt heat emanating from the naked sleeping body, lying right next to her. She wraps an arm around under his back while the other curls up on top of his chest, inches from where her face rests. Her long legs are intertwined with his muscular ones. Her body is entirely fused together with his, as if the world had made the two perfect for another. Two puzzle pieces that connected together, flawlessly.

Seizing the moment, she savours the quiet. Everything is finally at peace, there's not a single un-ordinary sound to be heard in the entire house. No sounds of life other than, the calm breaths coming from the sleeping man beside her. Stefan was long gone from Mystic Falls, having run off to the Big Apple with Katherine to celebrate the holiday season while Jeremy had decided to move in with Matt, thinking it would be better off to live at the Lockwood Mansion rather than at the Boarding House, where he was more prone to see things he did not want to see. Bonnie wasn't far behind Jeremy also moving in to the Mansion, wanting to be as close to Jer and as far away from her empty house. Caroline had opted to stay with her mom over the holidays, wanting to spend as much time as possible with her; knowing that one day there'd come a day where that wouldn't be possible. Tyler had finally come home; after realising all he really did need, was Care's love. That he could survive in the end with only that. Though it had taken quite a bit of begging on Tyler's part, but Caroline loved him too much to stay mad at him for too long. It's easy to say that he hadn't left Caroline's side since. Everyone was more or so, okay, for the first time in forever. She was definitely going to appreciate the times because if she couldn't be grateful for this, what more would she need to be happy. She was content as was everyone else, and that was enough. She could live in the moment, one step at a time.

She exhaled softly as she felt a hand rub her back ever so lightly, caressing her bare skin. Her eyes flutter open and she shifts her head, staring into his cerulean orbs.
"Mhmm…that feels nice." she whispers, playing with the little wisps of hair on his chest.

"Yeh?" he questions with a deep rasp in his voice before rolling them over, pinning her to the bed, his body hovering over hers.
She stares forward at him, a stunning smile on her face. Her brown locks are sprawled lusciously over his pillow. Her bare breasts on show, only for his eyes. She lets out a sigh of pleasure as his fingers trail down her sides slightly tickling her. He leans down adorning her face with delectable kisses. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulses forward matching kiss for kiss. It then begins. With one quick movement she is on top again. Smiling proudly, as if it was the greatest achievement; one upping Damon. She giggles as she brings her face to his, initiating an onslaught of exaggerated, wet, sloppy kisses.

"Elena, what are you, a dog?" he cringes slightly swiping away her saliva. "I'm not a chew-toy."

She laughs as his face contorts to a scowl and she finally relents on her assault. She rests herself on his chest. Taking the end of the bed sheet, she helps him wipe away the residue from her kisses.

"So…" she says coyly running a finger along his jaw line. "Do you have any plans today?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. It involves you, me and us never leaving this bed." He raises an eyebrow, begging her to defy him.

She rolls her eyes and lets out an exasperated sigh.
"So…you wouldn't be opposed to coming-?"

"No, definitely not." he smirks, cutting her off.

"Damon!" she shrieks, sitting up and grabbing a pillow from beside her and hitting him in the head. "Let me finish." she says narrowing her eyes at him.

"That's what she said." he snickers before getting hit with the pillow again.

"Damon." she whines.

"Fine." he exaggerates, before grabbing the lumpy pillow that had just been thrown at him and whacking her in the side. She stares at him in shock. Completely bewildered that he just hit her with the pillow. He was definitely very playful this morning.

"You. Did. Not. Just. Do. That." she says emphasising every single word, her hands on her hips.

"All's fair in love and war, kitten." he smirks, before sitting up suddenly, pulling her legs around his pelvic bones, before his hands come to rest idly on her hips. "Now, tell me what you'd like to do today." he mumbles as he burrows his face in the crook of her neck, gnawing on her skin as his canines make their way forth. He loves when he can calm her down with just a touch.

She moans at the sensation, completely unaware of the tactic he's employed; Distraction 101. Her eyes close, focusing on how shivers run down her back and goosebumps run up her arms. He shifts his head up to the base of her jaw and he continues working his way up towards the outer shell of her left ear. He lavishes it, nibbling on it but careful not to puncture the delicate cartilage.

"Lena" he whispers into her ear, tickling her with his breath, his fingers now trailing up and down her spinal cord.

"M-hhm" she mumbles incoherently.

"What are we doing today?" he asks again.

The words finally hit her and her senses suddenly come back to her. Her doe eyes opening, lust fading away as she snaps out of it. She shifts her weight so that she's leaning slightly backwards in his embrace. Her eyes shine brightly; mischievously. She's already got her revenge planned out.

"I see someone's happy to see me." she stares down, looking at his impressive length, ignoring his question. She strokes him so lightly that it wouldn't even be considered a touch.

"Elena, I swear to god, if you start something, you better be prepared to finish it." he growls at her.

She shoots him a pointed look. Her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Well in that case, I guess I should go shower. Places to be and all. After all, ain't nobody got time for that." she says cheekily jumping off him and heading towards the shower, making sure to put a little oomph in her step; sauntering into the bathroom leaving a bewildered Damon behind. He deserved it she thought to herself. Turning on the taps she steps under the spray of hot water counting down the seconds before she feels a pair of strong arms snake around her waist. It's not long before her wet soaping body slaps loudly against his.

They had finally made it out of the shower. Their first warning bell had been when the hot water ran out leaving a not too pleased Damon who had endured most of the impact when the cold water spurted through, thoroughly cooling him down. She hadn't been able to contain her laughter when it had happened, effectively killing the mood. He was just a tad grumpy now. She had some cheering up to do.

After getting dressed she slips on her knee length boots and she walks over to him. "Aw, is someone feeling a little grouchy. Better be careful, soon you'll be hitting sulking, broody territory." she says slapping his cheek lightly.

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who took a frigging cold shower." he mutters before scowling as he slides on a button-down shirt. "Especially when it was not a warranted one."

"Well, how about I make it up to you later?" She says suggestively, bringing her hands to the buttons and fastening his dark blue shirt.

His scowl becomes a tight lipped smile as he watches her do up his shirt. Reminding him how she'd done it once before, when he had been in a drunken haze after finding out Katherine wasn't in the tomb. How far they've come since that day.

"Me, you, and that bed." she echoes his words from earlier. "And maybe that red lingerie set that you love." she drawls out last word.

"You're incorrigible" he growls pulling her to him, kissing her fervently.

"Come on, Grumpy, we have work to do." she says breaking from his ardent kiss.

"Yeh, yeh." He grumbles. His eyes follow her, and widen when she grabs his keys . "Elena! Wait! You are not driving my camaro."

"We'll see about that." she rushes out the door but is quick to stick her head back in with a cheeky smile. "P.S , you might want to put on some shoes." she says pointing to his feet.

He can hear her laughing as she pads down the stairs. He shakes his head at her antics staring down at his bare feet. She sure was something else. Lately she had been so fiery and sassy and he loved it. She kept up with him, wit for wit. He didn't have to slow down for her, she matched him word for word. It definitely kept him on his toes. Putting on his shoes he makes his way downstairs grabbing two blood bags from the fridge. He warms the bags up at the perfect temperature, 98.6. Grabbing two thermoses, he empties the bag contents inside sealing the containers. His gums ache as the smell hits him. It had been a while since he had last fed. It had been a long time since they had fed. They had been strapped to the bed ever since she'd come home for the break, only leaving when social obligations called their names, which thank god had been only a few.

He hears her revving the engine which breaks him out of his thoughts "Oh god." He groans loudly, and she revs the engine harder. Chucking the empty blood bags in the trash, he quickly wipes the bench down. He hurries out the door with the thermoses, stopping only to grab his leather jacket and on second thought hers as well. Elena sometimes forgets it's the middle of winter and that normal beings don't wear just a shirt. He finally gets to the car and throws their jackets into the back seat. She's out of the car, leaning against the driver's door, waiting for him. She's giving him the puppy dog eyes and the pout.
"Please!" she begs batting her lashes at him coyly.

He doesn't answer her, instead he just hands her a thermos and takes a drink from his own. He watches as her eyes brighten when she smells the blood. She quickly grabs the cup from him, knocking back a swig. He growls as she moans from the sustenance. His eyes, trained on her, watching the way her throat clenches as the liquid slides down.

"What?" she says innocently, when she catches him looking at her like he was going to pounce her.

"You're a minx. You know that?" He says as his free arm pulls her against his chest, where he bows his head and swipes his tongue along her upper lip, licking her blood moustache away. "Mmm-tasty." he huskily whispers in her ear.

She leans into him, her knees weakening from the hoarseness of his voice .

"Hey, we can't have you fading now. You're driving and Carmen, needs you to be alert." He informs her. He internally sighs, he's going to regret this. He knows he is but he can't help it, he would do anything for his girl.

"Really?" she exclaims, jumping up and down a little. Her eyes gleam with happiness she can't believe he's trusting her with his precious car. "Wait, 'Carmen'? You've named your car?" she says slightly amused.

"Well, she's my baby. Been with me for a very long time. Be easy on her, okay?" he says frankly. "Now, will you tell me, where you plan to take us today?"

"Well," she says cautiously, "It's nearing Christmas time, and I was thinking about last year and how Christmas pretty much sucked. I was sired to you, Jeremy was trying to kill me, Klaus killed the hybrids and Tyler's mom and overall it was an awful time. And then- " she rambles.

"Lena?" he cuts her off, looking at her expectedly, telling her to get to her point.

"I-wanna-go-pick-a-Christmas-tree!" she says rapidly all in one go.

"Oh-kay." he says hesitantly not quite expecting that.

"It's just, I remember you said you haven't celebrated Christmas since you were a human and it got me thinking how I haven't either. And the year before that, it just felt too soon with my parents gone. However with all that's happened, I just want our life to move on from everything and make some new memories, new traditions." She suddenly looks at him, letting him know that she is entirely serious about this. "I want to decorate a Christmas tree while singing jingle bells, and wrap tinsel around the staircase while wearing a reindeer antlers, and place mistletoe at every doorway, so that I get to kiss you whenever we enter a room. Then when all that's done with; I want to turn off all the lights and sit by the fireplace watching the fire blaze its warmth, as stories are told and hot chocolate is being drunk. And I want to do this, all with you. I know you haven't been big on Christmas and such but I-"

"Yes." he cuts her off slightly dazed.

He is completely blown away by her little declaration, he had no idea she felt like that, that she wanted these memories with her, these types of traditions. She hadn't brought it up and he hadn't either. He remembered last year when she had been sired to him and had pulled out the mistletoe from behind her back and wielded it above their heads, and how all he had wanted to do was, sweep her off her feet with as many kisses as she wanted. Oh god he had wanted to, but he couldn't, it wasn't right. He had to be the bigger person, the mature head. He didn't want her to one day, wake up and hate him because he had taken advantage of the sirebond. He couldn't bear it. So he did it, he let her go and they spent the holidays apart. But here they were, a year later, together, with no sirebond in question, and finally no drama, no bad guy waiting in the shadows to kill them all.

He jumped at her Christmas idea. He wasn't even ashamed at how quickly he had agreed either. He didn't have to be anything but himself around Elena. He had learned that over the past few months. She would never leave him, and he couldn't bear to leave her either. And as she painted this picture of Christmas in his head he couldn't help but want it too. He wanted to remember as well. Remember the way the whole house would smell like cookies for a whole week before Christmas from his mother's baking. And the way he and Stefan would wake at the crack of dawn as kids to open their presents.

She smiles up at him, completely stunned that he had agreed.
"Really?" she says shocked. "You really want to this?" her excitement bubbling forward.

"Yes." he voices seriously, bringing a hand up to her face and cupping it gently. "I would do anything for you. I'd hope you'd know that by now."

"But it's just so much to ask for and I know you haven't been big on holidays and-" she trails off biting her lip nervously.

"Lena, it's not too much and you're right I haven't been big on holidays, but that's only because there hasn't been anyone worth celebrating with, till you." he looks at her deeply and she can't help but tear up a little. "I promise you, we will do this right, everything from the tree to the hot chocolate. I bet you've never even tried my hot chocolate, my mother's recipe not even Stefan kno-"

This time she's the one who cuts him off tilting her head up at him she seals the deal with a kiss.

"I love you-I love you-I love you." she says peppering his face with a multitude of sweet kisses.

"I love you too." he vows. "Now c'mon we have a tree to shop for." he opens the driver's door for her, waiting as she hops in and soon they're on their way. The road wide open just as their hearts are to one another. With each other by their side, they could do anything. If the world decided to throw another curve ball, it wouldn't be long before they'd conquer it. Alone they stood in pieces, but together they were invincible.

A/N: Hai everyone, I can't believe how it's been about a year, since I've started writing. I've grown to love it so much. And I wanted to thank you all for sticking with me, for reading, reviewing, favourit-ing and following my fics, and for all the support a lot of you tumblr folks have given my co-owned Delena fanfics rec blog. It really means so much to me. Thank you so much.

Anyway I hope you have enjoyed this little one shot. If I get enough of a response I might give you a second part. Where they pick out a tree and take it home and decorate it. Hahah Sorry if Damon's a little sappy in this. He just is sappy though, but only around Elena. I wanted to give you something sweet, especially in this time, with the fight that just happened.

And one last thing; this fic is part of the Christmas One!Shot challenge and you should check out, Jocey's aka elenasempathy's, fic. She has also taken the challenge and written a Christmas One!Shot. So please make sure to check out her story. P.S it's super adorable.