Damon sighed and walked over to his liquor cart, pouring himself a glass of bourbon. Of course, Elena had driven him to drinking. Again. It seemed like she was the only reason he drank lately. Which evidently meant he was drinking a lot more than he had in the past.

He had just had yet another fight with her, all because he had brought up their kiss. That damn kiss, which he had thought she had wanted just as badly as he had. It had been perfect. Beyond perfect. Of course, the morning after he had woken up in a better mood than he had been in in over a century, expecting everything to be different between them; for the better, obviously. She had kissed him back! That was a huge step forward.

But, of course, Elena had to go and dash his fragile hopes, claiming, every time he mentioned it, that "It had been a mistake," or "They had gotten caught up in the moment." In other words, all she wanted to do was move on and forget it ever happened. Just like last time.

But Damon couldn't. He couldn't, and he hated it. Was it so much to ask for her to admit she felt something? If she had hated it as much as she seemed to think she did, why in hell had she kissed him, too, instead of slapping him in the face or something like that?

Grimacing at the though, Damon poured himself another drink.

"Looking for a drinking partner?"

Damon looked up from his glass, which he had been just about to take a drink from. The glass froze at his lips. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Klaus was standing a few feet away from him, lounging against the wall. "I'm bored," he said simply, and Damon rolled his eyes.

"Go have your hybrids entertain you. I have more important things to deal with that you right now,"

"Oh? Like the fact that you kissed your brother's girl and thought she liked it, but now she's denying it ever happened?"

Damon frowned and Klaus grinned. "I have good ears."

"Get out. Please?" Damon said, not feeling like dealing with Daddy Hybrid today.

Klaus walked over and poured himself a glass of whisky. "You know, I happen to agree with you on that subject. Elena has obviously developed feelings for you, and is just too stubborn to admit them out loud."

Damon snorted, downing his drink. "You're telling me…"

"Also, you've clearly become her better option, given that you haven't tried to kill her in the last few months, and Stefan happens to be very guilty in that department."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Why are you suddenly so interested in my love life?"

Klaus shrugged casually and took a drink. "It only seems appropriate to indulge in the town's gossip if I'm going to move into the quaint little town of Mystic Falls."

Damon snorted again and rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt that my love life with Elena is a popular subject at the elderly ladies tea parties."

"Oh, but it is! Everyone in town is either interested or appalled by your obvious love for Stefan's girlfriend."

Damon frowned. "Oh, really? What else is a big gossip topic?"

"Well, there's Jeremy Gilbert's sudden disappearance from town, Alaric Saltzman's drinking habits being a bad influence on his students, and, of course, the murder of sweet young Dr. Fell's ex-boyfriend." He leaned in closer and whispered, "Don't tell him, but apparently some people suggest that Mr. Saltzman played a part in that. You know, drunken jealous rages and all. But, of course, you would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Damon frowned, pouring himself yet another drink at the reminder of the whole Katherine-doesn't-love-me-neither-does-Elena-let's-kill-Jeremy fiasco.

Klaus tutted as he took another sip of his whisky. "Tisk tisk, Damon; keep drinking like that and rumors may start to fly about you being an alcoholic."

Damon rolled his eyes, which were rapidly becoming blurred. "As if there aren't already."

Klaus shrugged, taking another drink.

"What about you?" Damon asked, flopping on the couch. "I'm sure your love life is fascinating, what with the hundreds of years' experience and all. You cannot tell me that Bekey was the extent of your female connections."

His eyes growing a bit distant, Klaus bit his lip and poured himself another drink.

VvvvV

"So, you were in love with a damn Petrova, too?" Damon scoffed, taking another deep pull from his crystal bottle of bourbon.

"Not just any Petrova," Klaus said, his words slurred as he clutched the bottle of whisky, "The Petrova. Charlotte. Of course, she ditched me and turned herself into a bloodsucking fiend as soon as she found out that I was considering killing her for my hybrid ritual; it turns out women don't take too kindly to their boyfriends having homicidal thoughts about them."

Damon grinned. "Oh, the trails of being a vampire…"

Klaus grinned. "I have to say, though; you and your brother have me beat in the Petrova area; you loved two of them, and Stefan banged two of them."

Damon frowned. "Since when do British people use vulgar slang?"

Klaus shrugged and took another drink. "I'm drunk, who cares about being proper?"

Damon shrugged. "Fair enough."

Klaus was lounging on one of the leather sofas, and Damon was sprawled across a large leather arm chair. Both were likely drunker than they had been in a while.

"So, what's up with you and Caroline?" Damon asked, glancing over at Klaus.

"The blonde?" Klaus asked and Damon nodded. "I don't really know… I thought I would have Tyler kill her, but then I thought of saving her to get her mother on my side. Then I started talking to her, and I actually gave her the choice of whether or not she died." He glanced at Damon. "Did you know how depressed that girl is? It's sad, really…"

Damon took another drink. "People use her a lot. It can't be that great for self-esteem." He looked guilty. "I used her when I first came back to Mystic Falls. I tried to kill her, but it backfired on me; my damn brother had laced her drink with vervain, and he locked me up in the cellar for almost a week with no blood."

"Yeah… Stefan really is a bastard, isn't he?"

"Yup."

Both took another drink, and Klaus looked thoughtfully at Damon. "Do you really love Elena? Or is it just because she looks like Katerina?"

Damon snorted. "Katherine's a bitch; I would never love Elena just for that reason."

"But it was a contributing factor, wasn't it?"

Damon frowned. "I guess, in the start. But Elena's… special. Katherine is just a bitch."

"But you loved Katerina for over 100 years!"

Damon shrugged. "Yeah…. And she turned out to be a bitch."

"Oh, surely she isn't that bad…"

"This coming from you? She's the reason you had to wait over a century for another shot at making hybrids! Not to mention she almost screwed it up for you this time, too!"

Klaus shrugged. "True… she really is a bitch, isn't she?"

"Biggest bitch out there."

"Tell me more about Caroline." Klaus suddenly said, curiosity evident in his tone.

Damon shrugged. "Bubbly, talks more than I want to listen, outgoing, plans parties that are way to outrageous, has a heart of gold, and is a sucker for a lost cause."

"A sucker for a lost cause?"

"She fell in love with a werewolf. Ergo, lost cause."

"She also was in love with a hybrid."

Damon shrugged and took another drink. "For a few weeks. Why do you care?"

Klaus looked confused. "She's been nice to me lately. I killed people she cares about, and she still finds it in her… heart of gold to be nice to me."

"That's Caroline for ya. Always a sucker for a lost cause…"

Klaus glanced at Damon. "I suppose that makes Elena a sucker for a lost cause, too?"

Damon frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, she seems to care about you enough. You, evidently, are a lost cause."

Damon glared. "I am not…!"

Klaus started to laugh. "You're sitting in your parlor, drunker than Dionysus during the Olympics, having a casual conversation with the enemy. That clearly makes you a lost cause, Damon."

Damon looked depressed at the truth in his words. "I'm not a lost cause…" he mumbled, taking another drink.

"Why do you think that?"

Damon glared and didn't answer.

Klaus grinned. "Exactly. You don't think you're a lost cause, because Elena told you that you aren't. Whatever Elena says is golden to you, Damon. Admit it…"

"I have admitted it! I've said that I love her a thousand damn times! It's her who won't admit it!"

Klaus grinned and took another drink.

Damon glared. "You think I'm a lost cause? Everyone you know hates you and wants you dead. You kill people regularly, and you sacrificed innocent people just so that you could be a monster! You turned my brother into a psycho who I don't even recognize, and then he turned on you, too! You have no one, Klaus. If that doesn't make you a lost cause, I don't know what does. Only Caroline seems to see something else in you, and everyone knows that Caroline Forbes doesn't have the world's best judgement."

Klaus didn't seemed bothered by Damon's words. "She really is special, isn't she? Pretty, kind hearted, witty, and stubborn, too…" his eyes widened and his smile faded away. "Bloody hell…" he muttered.

"What?" Damon snapped.

Klaus met his eyes, looking slightly afraid. "Is that how you feel about Elena?"

Damon rolled his eyes and took another drink. "Obviously…"

Klaus jumped up and began pacing. "No. No, no, no… this can't be happening…"

"What? What's your problem?" Damon asked.

"Damn it!" Klaus yelled, tossing the crystal bottle of whiskey into the fireplace.

"Hey!" Damon yelled in irritation. "That was a fucking antique…!"

"I swore this would never happen again. After what that doppelganger bitch did to me, I swore I would never feel like this again…"

"Feel like what? What are you blabbering about…?"

"Damn it, mate," he turned to face Damon, looking unsure and nervous. Something Damon wasn't used to seeing in Klaus. "I think I'm falling in love."

A grin tugged at Damon's lips as he leaned back in his seat. "Join the club, pal."

"But love ruined you! I can't end up like you! You were brilliant; evil, hell bent on revenge… and now look at you! You're a drunken slob, all because of some pathetic human girl!"

Damon frowned. "Well, that was uncalled for…"

"Damn it!" Klaus yelled again. "I can't be falling in love with some little eighteen year old baby vampire! I'm a bloody Original!"

Damon grinned. "Admit it, Klaus. Go on; admit it."

His rage and confusion was slowly being replaced by certainty as Klaus fell into a chair. "This is impossible…" he looked up and met Damon's eyes. "I'm falling in love with Caroline Forbes."

Damon grinned in satisfaction; the first step in psycho vengeful vampire hell bent on torturing Stefan rehab?

Fall in love.

Now they both had the same problem; convincing that one special girl that she belonged with them…