Another little one-shot for you. i wrote this before season 4 started so i didn't know about the whole elena-can-only-drink-from-the-vein thing.

enjoy :)

"It's all about control" Damon said, shooting a pointed look at his brother "Something Stefan here doesn't have"

"Well at least I don't sleep with my food." Stefan retorted

"No, you rip their heads off instead" Damon smirked, folding hiss arms

I sighed "Are you two still fighting"

"No" they said in unison, but they were sending death glares at each other.

Damon and Stefan were still angry at each other; Damon was mad with Stefan for rescuing matt first, and Stefan was mad with Damon, well because he was Damon.

But they were teaching me how to drink from a human without killing them, something I really didn't want to learn yet I needed too if I was ever going to survive.

"Why can't I just live off animal blood?" I whined, trying to avoid looking at my first victim…matt. Stefan and Damon had both agreed that it would help me stop if it was someone I cared about, but I think secretly Damon is hoping I can't resist, he still hates matt.

"We've already had this discussion Elena" Stefan said gently, coming over to me and wrapping his arms around my shoulders comfortingly "It's too dangerous"

"Yeah, look what happened to him" Damon said casually "It turned him into a ripper"

I shuddered at the memory, I had almost lost Stefan, but he had pulled through.

"Stop it Damon" I scolded him lightly "I'm just slightly nervous, that's all"

Damon groaned "Great, the Vampire, y'know, the creature with fangs and super fast reactions is scared of the human" he looked at matt with a very strange expression "Some vampire you turned out to be"

I took another deep breath, trying to calm myself; this was not a good idea, what if I killed matt?

"It's okay" Stefan said, taking in my worried expression "We can do this another time, we've still got enough blood bags for a couple of days, and then we can send Damon out of town to get-"

I cut him off with a small kiss

"It's okay, I can do this"

"Of course you can" he murmured reassuringly, moving to the side of me so I could see matt.

He was stood right in front of me, his head cocked to one side, exposing the delicate flesh of his neck and the tiny rivers of scarlet criss-crossing all over his body. Damon had compelled him, but matt had agreed to do this.

"Oh get on with it" Damon complained from the doorway

I shot him a dirty look

"You can go if you want Damon"

"I would, but I don't trust Stefan around human blood, especially not straight from the source" he said cockily "And someone needs to be there to stop you"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Damon" I said mock-enthusiastically.

"My pleasure" he grinned "Now, bite just here" he pointed to the thickest red river of blood "and drink until you feel his body shudder once, any more and you'll take too much."

Damon turned to look at me taking in my agonized expression

"You'll do fine Elena" he said seriously "besides, he owes you at least this much" he added, obviously talking about matt.

I nod at his words and take a deep shaky breath, knowing full well that I was as ready as I'll ever be. I closed my eyes and shakily bit down on the vein, exactly where I had been told to by Damon. Sucking in the rich red liquid, the fragrant aroma and fruity taste of blood filled my senses as it did when I drank from a blood bag. This however was so much nicer, the warmth and the fact it flowed into my mouth with every beat of his heart seemed to satisfy every inch of my being. I could tell why people got carried away as I hungrily sucked down hard on my friend's neck. All too soon I felt his body shudder and Damon's low warning, telling me to stop.

I gathered my thoughts and put all my will power into ripping my mouth away from the exquisite banquet from which I was feeding.

As soon as I pulled away I sped to the other side of the room, bracing myself against the wall for fear of temptation pulling me back.

"Take him out" I managed to say, not taking any air back in. I refused to look at the wound on his neck, refused to look at the seeping scarlet goodness that was running out of the two tiny fang marks.

I closed my eyes and felt an arm around my shoulders

"You did so well" Stefan praised, kissing the top of my head

"Thanks" I said, smiling back up at him

I had done it, I had fed without killing.

Maybe I could do this afterall…