Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries.

Note: This story is set 1 week after "Founders' day", season 1, but does not follow the events of the series after that. Also, Katherine is not back in town for this story. The rest of season 1 is followed (where necessary).

Chapter 1

It's not like she is someone who is easily confused! Her whole life had become a collection of choices she made, after all. She knew the distinct boundary between right and wrong, good and evil; she knew just what she wanted to do, which side she wanted to take, whom she wanted to help, and whom she wanted to save. But when it came to the Salvatore brothers, she was always torn. She didn't want to think of herself as the thick blatant line dividing them; she liked to think that she was the common thread keeping them together.

And now they had managed to tear her inside out again, but in a completely different way. Because this time, she had to chose between the two of them- she had to choose whom she could believe and whom she could trust, and so far, that turned out to be the toughest thing she ever had to do in her bizarre life.

It all began on a Tuesday evening. She was sitting happily in her room, surfing the channels in her TV to find something worth watching, while texting Bonnie about school and homework and normal teenage stuff. She should have known normal wouldn't last much long.

When she came across the news channel, the first thing she saw was the all too familiar river of dark red color. Blood. She had been into all kinds of situations with all kinds of vampires, but this one sent a shiver through her spine. Because this time, a blood bank was robbed and people were killed so ruthlessly, it had tinted the whole place red.

She really, really, really hoped it wasn't him this time, but that was the first name that echoed in her ears when she saw the brutality.

She grabbed her phone and quickly dialed his number. "Stefan? Where are you?"

"I was with Alaric, just trying to get some extra credit in History." He paused, frowning in worry. "Is everything alright?"

She rubbed her neck with her hand in frustration. "It's Damon… I think he's been on a killing spree again. I'll go talk to him. See you at your house?"

He let out a sigh, tired of this happening again and again, and tired of hearing her sound so worried. "Sure. See ya. Love you."

She wanted to say she loved him too, but her lips froze when her eyes flickered on the screen and she saw more and more of human blood. Stefan's not like that. She told herself, but she couldn't bring herself to say his words back. She hung up quietly and got dressed.

When she was running across the hallway to climb down the stairs, she paused when she saw that the light in Jeremy's room was still turned on, even though the door was locked. She bit her lip in worry. Was he awake? Was he watching TV? Did he watch the vampire-news? She shuddered again when the images flashed in her mind, and shook her head as if to keep them away. She knew it would affect him badly, especially after his complicated relationships with Vicki and Anne.

"Jeremy?" she asked softly, knocking on his door twice. She waited, but no reply came. Her heart broke when she imagined that he was still mad at her. Wouldn't he ever forgive her?

Looking at her watch and seeing it was getting late, she sighed, climbing down the stairs and sneaking out of the apartment. She could hear sounds in the kitchen and knew John Gilbert was still up. She was so glad that she could slip out unnoticed.

Her gladness doubled when she saw that Stefan was standing outside her door, waiting for her, and a smile formed on her lips.

He smiled back at her, and pulled her into a comforting hug. "Everything's okay."

Looking at the kitchen light through the window and at the light at Jeremy's room, she knew everything was as far away from okay as possible.

Even when she reached the house, he was sitting in the living room, drinking from a blood bag. It made her blood boil and the vein in her forehead pop out. Sometimes she felt like she could just chop Damon into the tiniest possible pieces. How could he be so inhumane, so insensitive, so…. intolerable!

"Hello brother", Damon fake-smiled when he saw them, "Hello Elena. Oo, you look mad. Trouble in Paradise?" he smirked up at her, happy to think that they were fighting.

She shot him a glare and turned on the TV, giving him his answer in the form of a screen full of shots of blood.

He turned his head to look at her, "And what made you think I did this?"

"Because you and Stefan are the only vampire in town right now, and that is something Stefan would never do and you can do without even batting an eyelid." She shot back, her glare turning harder and harder with every minute she saw the blood bag in his hands. Couldn't he throw the damn thing away, at least when she was around?

It hurt him to hear the conviction in her voice and the hatred shining in her eyes. The least he expected from her was that she would let him speak; she would ask him if he did this, considering she was his only friend and he believed he had done enough to earn her trust. But clearly, he was guilty until proven innocent.

"Why did you do this Damon?" she asked, her voice broken in frustration. She tried so hard to bring him out of this dark life; she tried so hard to change him into a good person. It hurt her so much to see that she failed. And it scared her to even think about what Bonnie would do when she heard about his doings.

He looked at her with hurt in his eyes. "What do you think?"

"You do not need to take revenge for what John did to you!" she scolded, maintaining eye contact with him so that he couldn't lie to her. There was always hope, and she wasn't giving in so easily, not after going through so much. "Let it go, Damon. It's all in the past now. I know what he did wasn't right, but we can all live together in peace, and-"

"-I did not do it!" he finally snapped, cutting her off. The way he looked straight into her eyes and didn't flicker an inch when he said this had her torn again. Because now, she actually believed him, and she believed Stefan, which left her nowhere to go and nothing to conclude.

She sat up, looking from Damon to Stefan, studying their expression. "Then who did this?"

A/N: hi guys! How are you all doing? I hope you liked reading this fic. Should I continue or just drop it? Please review! Thank you :)