A/N: I read the books back in the day when they were new. Damon was hot then. I had doubts about Ian Somerhalder pulling it off but he's made me fall in love with Damon all over again. The TV show is definitely it's own spin on the books so I thought, what the heck, I'll put MY own spin on it. It's probably not great, but it amuses me. And Damon's hot; that's all I need when I read the stories. *grin*

Chapter 1

"What is this?" Damon asked incredulously, motioning toward the girl Stefan was carrying into the house.

"She was drugged." Elena explained simply, following behind Stefan.

"Hos-pi-tal." Damon stretched the syllables out to emphasize his point. Stefan and Elena ignored him. "Seriously, why here? You know how I feel about strangers."

"She was roofied or something at the party by vampires. She'll be fine when she wakes up, but we needed to take her somewhere safe. You know how safe a hospital is when it comes to vampires." Stefan laid the girl on the couch gently.

"Wait, how do you know they were vampires?" Damon looked suspicious.

"I recognized them from before. The ones that took Stefan." Elena knelt by the girl, putting a hand to the girl's forehead. She stirred but didn't wake up. "I saw them give her the drink but didn't put two and two together until she fell. They were watching her," Elena shivered involuntarily. "Stalking her. It was creepy."

"They were still there when we left. Elena and I are going back to find them before they hurt someone else." Stefan told his brother.

Damon frowned. "Why? Wait- what? You're leaving her here with ME?"

Elena stood. "Yes, I expect you to be good to her. She needs to be in the same condition I left her in, which is alive."

"No, no. I'll go on the vampire hunt, you stay and babysit. You can't do anything against vampires anyway." Damon pointed out, setting down his glass in preparation to leave.

"Elena got a good look at them, she'll be able to help spot them quicker. We just need you to make sure she's safe. That should be easy as I don't suspect that they will come here looking for a fight. They obviously were just going for the easy kill." Stefan looked to the girl at the couch. "She's lucky she's friends with Elena."

"So you know this girl?" Damon looked at Elena. "Who is she?"

Elena started making her way toward the door, the boys following behind her. "Emma Chamblee. She's a few years older than me. She owns the bookstore in town. Her brother went to school with Jenna."

"Wait, Chamblee- that's not a very common last name-" Damon was cut off by a look from Stefan. "Oookay." Damon nodded. "Babysitting duty it is then."

"We'll be back soon. If she wakes up, just try to be...nice, okay?" Elena patted one of Damon's shoulders before heading out the door. Stefan just gave his older brother an intent look before following after his girlfriend.

Damon watched them go a moment, letting himself feel a little jealous that they were the adventurers and he was the house wife. He finally closed the door and wandered back toward the sitting room where the girl was.

He sat across from her, watching her sleep. It would be so easy to kill her right now; he could almost taste her blood on his lips. She certainly was attractive enough to keep his interest for a while but the more he thought about it the more he realized he wouldn't want to drink from a drugged, passed out girl; might as well be drinking from a corpse. Where was the fun in that?

He took a sip from his glass instead and looked at her face closer. He knew the last name and this girl was definitely a relation. The same nose, same cheekbones, probably the same shade brown eyes. This was the sister of Jacob Chamblee. This made her the most interesting thing in his day so far.

She stirred, sighed, then fell back into unconsciousness. Probably just as well. He'd prefer it if she just slept until Elena got back and she could deal with the emotional mess this girl would probably be. He wanted to avoid the drama if at all possible. He picked up the book he'd been perusing before Elena and Stefan's sudden arrival. It was a novel he'd read before but it seemed something that would pass his babysitting time quicker. "Hurry back, kids." He said under his breath, turning a page. "I'm getting hungry."