Emotions

Installment 1: Need

Description: Damon's feeling weak and comes to the one person he can trust to help him. How does she handle the situation?

Context: Late season 3 fic. AU where the motel scene in Denver never happened.

Rating: T

The night was cold: snow was swirling in a white haze outside of Elena's window. Elena was curled up in her bed, wrapped in her comforter, sleeping peacefully. She hadn't slept peacefully in so long, but the cold outside contrasting to the warmth of her bed made her feel genuinely calm. She was having a dreamless sleep, until a cold wave of air rushed into the room, making her shiver.

Elena slowly opened her eyes. A soft clunk came from behind her. Fear quickly struck her; she remained as still as she possibly could, assessing the situation from her position. Another clunk sounded, followed by a whispered, "shit!"

Elena furrowed her brow at the whisper—she recognized that voice. Elena pursed her lips and rolled her eyes before turning over to face the intruder.

"Damon, what are you doing?" Elena asked, faking annoyance. In reality, her heart jumped to her throat at the sight of him.

Damon was straddling her windowsill: one black jean clad leg on her floor and the other dangling out the window. He was trying to duck under the window, but instead, he hit his head on the glass. He was obviously very drunk.

"I—I need talk—talk to you, 'Lena," Damon slurred, trying once more to slip into the room. His foot caught on the side of the house and he began falling into her room. Elena quickly jumped from her bed and ran over to catch Damon before he collided with the floor. The contact would've made a loud sound that would've definitely woken up Alaric and Jeremy.

"Damon, come on. You're dragging snow all over the place."

"Sorry," Damon mumbled. Elena sighed and helped him stand up. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they walked over to her bed. Elena helped Damon down to her bed and kneeled in front of him, taking one of his shoes in her hand. She began to undo his shoelaces.

"What's wrong with you?" Elena asked. Damon shook his head and fell back on her bed. Elena grunted in annoyance and finished taking his shoes off. She picked up his legs and helped him under the covers. She crawled in next to him and faced him.

Damon opened his beautiful blue eyes and stared at Elena. She tried to ignore the way her heart skipped a beat and the way her breath seemed to leave her body.

"I'm a little drunk," Damon mumbled.

"I noticed."

"Where's Stefan?"

"At your house probably," Elena whispered.

"I thought he'd be with you."

"No."

A silence fell across the room as Elena's words sunk into Damon's skin. After a moment and without any warning, Damon wrapped his arms around Elena's waist and placed his head on her chest. He inhaled deeply, loving the way her lavender scent overwhelmed his whole being and calmed him.

Elena hesitated. She knew that she shouldn't let Damon get this close to her—she just began repairing things with Stefan, and Damon was an addicting toxin. She kept her arms at her sides before slowly returned his hug. She hated how content and bubbly she felt in his arms. Elena pressed her cheek to the crown of Damon's head and closed her eyes.

"Why?" Damon slurred. His breath tickled the bare skin of her neck.

"Why what?" Elena asked.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because I care about you, Damon," Elena whispered.

She draped her leg over Damon's legs and entwined her fingers in his hair. It was unnerving, seeing Damon like this. She had always seen him as a stronghold, impossible to break. Unfortunately, she knew his soul was already broken.

"But you love Stefan," Damon mumbled. Elena tensed up at his words.

"Uh," she whispered hesitantly.

"You love Stefan, Elena, it's okay. I get it. It'll always be my baby brother."

"Is that what's got you down?" Elena asked, suddenly upset at his fatalistic attitude. "The fact that Stefan's back to normal?"

"No," Damon insisted, pulling away from Elena slightly so he could make eye contact with her. He was sobering up quickly—the beauty of being a vampire. "I'm glad that my brother is back on the Bambi wagon; I'm upset that you are going to throw away everything we've created this year because he's back."

"What do you think we've created?" Elena asked with bubbling anger. Only Damon could pull such a sudden reaction from her. "We're not together, Damon! We've never been together."

Elena watched as Damon's previously soft eyes turned hard and dark and she instantly regretted her words.

"Stop pretending that you don't feel anything for me, Elena," Damon said bluntly. "I see the way you react to me… how you get goose bumps when I do this…" he whispered, removing his arm from around her waist and trailing his fingers up her arm; Elena shivered, "…how your heartbeat quickens when I do this…" Damon placed his hand over her heart and surely enough, her heartbeat began to race. Damon flashed a smug smirk and she rolled her eyes. She was getting flustered. "Or how I can take your breath away just by touching you here." Damon placed his hand on her cheek and Elena inhaled deeply.

"Damon…" Elena whispered hesitantly, trying to find the strength to push him off, force him out of her bed, send him home, but she couldn't.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me that there's nothing between us," Damon whispered. Elena inhaled deeply and stared into his cobalt eyes. She knew the words, but she couldn't say them. She couldn't lie, but she couldn't hurt Stefan like that either. Elena sighed and rolled over onto her back, untangling herself from Damon.

"I know there's something between us," Elena admitted. "But nothing can happen."

"Because of Stefan?"

"Yes, because of Stefan." Elena responded. She turned over onto her side to face Damon again. Her eyes instinctively drifted to his lips. They were hypnotic, screaming at her.

"Tell me what you want, Elena. Don't think about it, just tell me. What do you want right now?"

"I want you to kiss me," Elena admitted without thinking. The moment the words fell from her mouth, she knew that there was no going back. Damon's lips twitched up into a little smile; Elena watched the movement and bit her bottom lip. Her body was humming in anticipation. She wanted him to kiss her. Her morals were slowly disappearing the longer he stared at her. She began to convince herself that maybe kissing Damon once would get him out of her system.

"Okay," he whispered, leaning in. Elena's heartbeat thundered in her chest. She could feel his warm breath on her face. Damon hovered above her lips for a while, torturing her with the tension. Elena's breathing picked up. She needed to feel his lips on hers.

Damon inched a little closer. Elena placed her hand on his bicep, urging him forward. Damon smirked at her and pulled back slightly. Elena grunted, unable to take it any longer. She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down to her lips.

Damon let out a little grunt and Elena let out a whimper as their lips connected. The pure satisfaction and need that coursed through them was electric. Months of pent up sexual tension hit them full force.

Elena opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. Damon tongue slipped between her lips and she moaned at the taste of him. She could still taste the alcohol on his breath, but it was oddly appealing. Elena pushed Damon off of her and quickly began unbuttoning his shirt. Damon smirked and let her peel his shirt off. She threw it to the floor and pulled him back to her lips.

Damon kissed her feverishly. Her skin was heating up, allowing for the perfect contrast to Damon's cold skin.

Damon grabbed the hem of her PJ shirt and ripped it off her body. His hands explored the length of her torso and Elena shivered at the contact. Damon dropped his head to her neck and began sucking and kissing the skin there.

"Damon…" Elena whispered breathlessly.

"Elena…" Damon whispered against her skin.

"Damon, we shouldn't do this," Elena said, but her body language said the opposite: she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him flush to her body.

"Oh, we shouldn't?" Damon asked with a playful growl. He nipped Elena on the clavicle and Elena let out a loud squeal and giggle. Damon chuckled and kissed her lips again. Elena wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging him closer to her.

Elena and Damon were so lost in their own little world that they almost didn't notice Elena's bedroom door opening suddenly.

"Elena!? Are you okay?!" Jeremy asked worriedly.

Elena practically jumped out of her own skin. She pushed Damon off of her and grabbed the blanket on her bed, wrapping it around her bare torso. She looked up at Jeremy with a guilty expression.

Jeremy stood at the doorway. His eyes switched between Damon and Elena, then back to Damon again. He narrowed his eyes at Damon, obviously thinking that Damon hurt Elena. But then, his eyes dropped to the discarded clothing littering the floor.

"What's going on in here?" Jeremy demanded. Elena buried her face in her knees in embarrassment.

"Well, that's my cue to leave," Damon said, casually standing up and grabbing his shirt. He turned back to Elena and bent down, kissing her on the back of her head before standing up and looking at the traumatized Jeremy. "Good to see you, little Gilbert." Damon said before walking over to the window and disappearing out it.

Elena looked up slowly and made eye contact with Jeremy. They stared at each other for a second before Jeremy spoke up:

"What the hell, Elena?"

A/N: Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. Also, feel free to submit suggestions for the next emotion that Delena will experience together and whatever rating you want that chapter to be. I have no problem writing T-M. Just leave it in the reviews and thanks for reading!