Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their respective owners.

Props to my beta, Poppy S-O.

Elena gives Stefan a quick hug and dares to give him a fast peck on the lips before heading towards the Grill.

"I'm off to do the impossible," Elena says, sighing with a hint of bitterness.

Stefan gives her a weak smile. "Just think about how much easier are lives will be once this is over," he whispers in her ear.

Elena nods, not feeling too confident.

"And you're positive Stefan and Elena have broken up, right?" Katherine asks, scrutinizing her appearance in the mirror. Not a hair out of place, of course. She adjusts her necklace and smirks to herself, liking what she sees.

Caroline nods hastily. "One hundred percent sure. She and Stefan are so over."

Katherine stops smiling, gritting her teeth slightly. "You better be right or I will kill you."

"Thanks for meeting me here, Damon," Elena says, stirring sugar into her coffee.

Damon gives her a smile which appears more like a smirk. "The pleasure is mine, Ms. Gilbert."

Elena sips on the scalding hot coffee to keep herself from snapping back at him. She burns her tongue and the hot cup nearly slips out of her hand. Damon is speedy to have a hand supporting the cup from below with a grim look on his face.

"You should really be careful," he says, helping her set the cup down.

"I'm fine," Elena snaps. She apologizes, remembering she had a mission to complete. "Listen, I've been thinking and it would suck to lose you as a friend."

Damon looks up immediately, a new type of brightness in his eyes. "Are you serious?"

Elena forces herself to smile and nod. "Perhaps we should go somewhere a little more… quiet?"

Of course, Damon's first to stand up and Elena reluctantly follows him outside.

"We need a new plan, Elena."

Elena sits cross-legged on her bed, hugging her teddy bear. "I know but we can trust Caroline, right?"

"Caroline is Katherine's minion out of fear, Elena," Stefan reminds her. "If Katherine wants information, she's going to threaten and manipulate it out of Caroline."

Elena shakes her head. "She's my friend, she won't do that."

Stefan sighs. "If Katherine's threatening to kill Caroline, it doesn't matter if you're her best friend. Caroline isn't exactly the martyr if you haven't noticed."

Frowning, Elena asks, "What do we do then? How do we convince Katherine we've broken up for real? You're not suggesting we actually break up, are you?"

Stefan takes a moment to think before saying, "Katherine wants what she can't have. She only wants me because I'm with you."

"What are you saying? Go out with someone else so she'll get jealous and leave us alone?"

Stefan shrugs, nodding.

"But who in the world is going to make Katherine jealous? No... You can't possibly be suggesting him." Elena realises with sinking fear just what Stefan's means. "Please, please, please not Damon. Why him? After all that's he done?"

"I know, but he's one of the few who can actually protect you. He's stronger than me, for now, and it's only pretend. You just have to make Katherine and him believe it's real."

He sits down next to her on the bed, wrapping an arm around her. Elena rests her head on his shoulder, leaning in against his body.

"Only pretend…"

"I realized what you said was true. I have been lying. I've been lying to Stefan, you, and more importantly, myself." Elena tries to sound as convincing as possible but it's easy when Damon is barely able to contain his obvious excitement.

"What does this mean for us, then? As friends?" Or lovers, he adds in his mind.

Elena avoids eye contact as she whispers, "Sure, we're friends." She feels a finger lifting her chin up before two large hands cup her face.

"How are you?" Damon asks with genuine concern. "It must be a bitch to have a crazy vampire who looks exactly like you on the loose. And with your whole break-up with Stefan…"

Elena feels a pang of guilt in her heart. She may hate Damon but that doesn't mean she doesn't feel bad tricking him into believing that they were friends again. "I'd rather not talk about it," she mumbles truthfully.

Damon understands and one hand drops from her face. Elena feels his fingertips gently brush against hers. He takes her hand carefully in his and Elena doesn't object to the more-than-just-friends touching.

Hot tears start to form in Elena's eyes and she tries to look away. She's feels so manipulative, just like Katherine – just like what Damon said. Damon wipes away the tears with his thumb, hushing her. And now, seeing this sensitive, comforting side of Damon was only making her feel worse. He was supposed to be heartless with no redeeming qualities. Why was he making it so hard to hate him? She's so lost in her thoughts; she doesn't notice his lips tentatively press against her cheek. She doesn't even notice Alaric Saltzman watching dumfounded, or Caroline, ready to report everything back to Katherine.

Her and Stefan's plan was going perfectly, with all the right people watching but she could care less. Elena could only concentrate on reminding herself that Damon Salvatore was the monster who ruined her life.

"Have you ever thought that Elena doesn't like you because you're a dick?" Alaric asks. He's dipping carefully pointed wooden stakes in vervain.

Damon rolls his eyes. "Is there any particular reason you've started setting up an arsenal in your garage?"

Alaric gives him a look, holding up the stake to let it dry. "I can't have you're crazy ex-girlfriend killing everyone in this town."

He sees a glimmer of pain flash across Damon's face. "I got you to thank for turning me into Buffy, remember?"

"Well, this was fun. But I have better things to do. Don't give me that look; I'm not going to kill any co-eds."

A/N: Short chapter, I know. But I have big plans for this story. So leave a review because then I'll be happy and forget about that the fact that there is NO NEW VAMPIRE DIARIES THIS WEEK. Don't worry; I'm going to be okay.

BTWs, was Damon too OOC? I'm slightly paranoid. Or just some lovesick puppy?