a/n: So I've been hit by writer's block yet again when it comes to my multi-chapter stories. At least the ones I have started on FF anyway. So until that goes away and I can write more for them, I'll be doing more one-shots and maybe another story altogether. Happy Holidays everyone!

p.s. This story makes 11 for 2011 and I did 10 for 2010 so expect 12 for 2012!

Cure My Tragedy

Elena looked around the lake house and sighed. While it hadn't been that long since she had been there last, it was still a lot to take in. The time she had spent with Stefan was not enough to erase the memories of her parents and in a way, that was alright with her. At this point, she was more than okay with not remembering Stefan. It had been her decision to stop chasing after him especially when he proved over and over again that he did not want to be chased after.

That had been a few months ago. Now it was holiday season and the last thing she wanted to do was spend it in a place where everyone was depressed. She wasn't really in the mood to be festive, but she didn't feel like sitting around the house with Jeremy and Alaric and watch them mope about either. This way she could get away from everything that had been going on in Mystic Falls and get a little bit of peace and quiet. She had planned on using this time to actually go through her parents things as well as whatever else was lying around the house.

It wasn't until her stomach growled and she rummaged around the kitchen to discover nothing that she realized she had forgotten to stop at the store on her way over. She glanced at the clock and groaned. If she hurried, she could catch the market before it closed. As she set about to gather her things, Elena began to get that familiar feeling in her gut that told her she wasn't alone anymore. She shrugged it off, chalking it up to the fact that she wasn't used to being out here on her own and her paranoia had been kicked into overdrive. Lost in the need to rush, Elena pulled open the front door only to drop her stuff and jump backwards at the sight of Damon about the knock.

She placed one hand over her heart and the other over her mouth. "Damon!" she hissed as she glared at him. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Good," he said and pushed past her without an invite.

"Good?"

"You should be frightened. That's what you get for taking off all by yourself at a time like this. In case you forgot, you died. That means that even though the house is in your name..."

"Vampires would no longer need an invite," she finished and mentally chided herself. Of course she should have known that.

"Not to mention the fact that there are things out there that don't need an invite," he said and crossed his arms as he stared at her. "So, mind telling me just what the hell you were thinking when you decided to run away to the middle of nowhere?"

Elena opened her mouth to argue, but knew it was pointless. He was right; a fact that she hated to admit. She shrugged instead. "What do you want me to say, Damon? I'm sorry?"

"For starters."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes as she shut the door and locked it. "I just wanted a few days to myself where every decision I made didn't mean life or death."

"Still, you should always have someone with you."

"I didn't want anyone with me. That was also the point of coming up here."

"Well, I'm not leaving now, so you can either deal with that or we can go back to Mystic Falls right now."

She shook her head again. "I don't want to go back."

"Then I'm staying here."

She sighed. "Fine." They remained in the foyer for a minute or so before she noticed the way he was staring at her. "What?" she finally asked, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

"I'm just wondering why you wanted to spend Christmas away from your friends and family," he said.

"Jeremy and Alaric have fallen into this routine of moping around the house and doing absolutely nothing to try and pick themselves up. Bonnie's away on vacation and Matt went with her. Caroline has Tyler. Stefan..." she started and then cleared her throat. "Like I said, I just wanted to get away from everyone. I'm not really in the holiday mood I guess."

"What about me?" he asked in a tone that struck her more deeply than she would have liked to admit.

She shrugged again. "I never pegged you as someone who celebrated the holidays. Actually, you made quite the show of avoiding everyone last year so I just assumed..." she let her voice trail off and then cocked her head to the side. "How exactly did you find out that I was here?"

Elena was surprised at the way Damon shifted awkwardly and the way his face went blank, a sign she had come to know as him trying to hide his emotions from her. "I went to see you this morning and Alaric told me you weren't there. I said I would wait and that's when he told me you were here."

"What did you want to see me about?" she asked.

Damon heard her stomach growl and took that as an opportunity to change the subject. "I'm going to assume that you were on your way out for food?"

She nodded. "Everything's probably closed now."

"It's Christmas Eve. What did you expect?" She shrugged again and Damon smirked. "Luckily for you, I came prepared," he said and moved to open the door again. Elena wasn't going to let her earlier question go unanswered, but for now, the promise of food was enough to let her postpone it. With a sigh, she followed him out to his car and helped him carry things back inside.

Once dinner was eaten, Damon and Elena began to clean things up. Just as they had many times before, they stood side by side at the sink as if it were completely normal. "Sorry for barging in on you like that, but you have to understand something Elena. Your life is in danger and you can't just go running off on us like that. We can't protect you if we're not around."

Elena nodded and offered an apologetic smile. "I get it Damon, I do, but you have to understand something too. My life is always going to be in danger and you're not always going to be around to save it." She shrugged and put the dish she was drying onto the rack before turning to look at him. "Yes, I should have told you, or someone else where I was, but I really don't want to spend the rest of my life having to check in with someone. I thought this was a good a time as any to get away for a few days."

"But-"

"You're here now, right? So it doesn't matter anymore," she interrupted and turned back to face the sink, taking the dish that he was handing her. Silence fell between them for a little while again before Elena spoke. "So why did you come to see me this morning?"

"Later."

"Later?" she questioned. "Damon-"

"I will answer you later. Right now, we've only just begun."

Now Elena was really confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Tomorrow is Christmas and you don't even have a single decoration up. Not even a tree," he said, his tone full of disappointment as he shook his head.

"Have you lost your mind?" she asked, laughter bubbling up in her throat.

"Come on, Gilbert, you need to get into the right frame of mind. Now," he said, grabbing the towel from her hand. "Go put on something warm. We have a tree to find."

Elena continued to stare at him, still trying to see if he was serious or not. "I don't even have anything to decorate the tree with. We usually came here during Spring Break and Summer Break."

Damon sighed. "Alright, then we'll just have to settle for a roaring fire, movies, and hot chocolate."

Elena's brow arched and she took a half step back. "Okay, it's official. You've completely lost your mind."

He smirked at her. "Well then, what do you want to do?"

She returned his smirk with one of her own. "I like the movie idea."

"Good choice," he said and followed her into the living room where she rummaged through the bag of holiday DVD's he had brought with him. Apparently, he had wiped out that section of the store on his way to the lake house because not a single DVD was open.

Elena lit up when she saw "The Santa Clause" and began to unwrap it as she moved to stand by the DVD player. "My dad and I used to watch this one all the time."

"Never seen it."

Elena wasn't shocked by that at all. "You'll love it."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Once the movie was in, Elena grabbed the remote and moved to sit on the couch with Damon. "How many Christmas movies have you seen?"

"Five?" he guessed. "I never really liked this holiday so the movies were more annoying than anything else."

"So why are you wanting to watch them now?"

He sighed. She was not going to stop asking questions until he gave her an answer. "Because this is the first year that I've actually wanted to spend the holiday with something other than a bottle of booze," he admitted, keeping his eyes on the TV. He could feel the heat of her eyes on him, but he refused to look at her. "That's why I came to your house this morning. I had a gift for you."

"Had?"

He couldn't help but grin at that. "Well you don't get it now," he said, turning to look at her. "Not after the stunt you pulled by running away by yourself."

She smiled softly. "For the record, I thought about inviting you."

"Why didn't you?"

"I wanted to be by myself instead."

"Fair enough," he said and turned back to the TV as the previews began. He saw Elena bite her lip from the corner of his eye and turned to look at her as she began moving towards him, causing the kiss she had been planning to plant on his cheek to end up on his lips instead. It caught them both by surprise, but neither of them moved right away. It was Damon to turn his head first. "Sorry."

"I'm not," she replied and leaned in to kiss him again. It was something she had been thinking about doing for a long time now, but the time never felt right. Damon didn't hesitate in the slightest as he drew her over him so that she could straddle his waist. They parted their lips at the same time, a slight moan escaping from both of them as they truly tasted each other for the first time. Damon kissed her with relentless passion; something he had been fantasizing about doing for so long now. As he caught the scent of her arousal, everything became so real and he broke the kiss by pushing her away again.

"Elena, I can't. It would ruin our friendship."

She shook her head. "Damon, we haven't been friends for some time now. I'm not exactly sure when, but at some point we became more than that. I was just too scared to admit it." She then leaned in and placed her lips against his ear, nibbling at the lobe, hoping to get his resistance to fade.

"Wh-what?" he stammered. He was trying to process what she had said, but the scrape of her teeth on his flesh was making all of his blood flow south.

"I want to repay you for making dinner," she whispered in a husky tone.

Damon knew exactly what she meant and it was enough to break the spell she had cast on him. He used his speed to get out from under her and stood up, leaving her on the couch. "Elena, what the hell has gotten into you?"

She looked a little hurt by his rejection, but she pushed herself to her feet and did her best to hide it. "I've been thinking about it for awhile now. From what I've heard and seen, being bitten can be..."

"Pleasurable," he supplied, making her blush.

She nodded. "But every time I think about it, all I remember is Klaus and every other vampire who has just torn into my throat and the fear that followed."

Damon looked away. He was one of those vampires that she mentioned.

She shook her head as if reading his mind. "But with you it was different. It hurt, yes, but it made me feel something else and I-"

"You're the one who is against the biting humans thing, remember."

"I'm against the killing humans and using them as playthings," she corrected.

He shook his head adamantly. "Elena, I can't."

She shifted awkwardly and looked at the ground. "I just thought if you could show me that other side of being bitten that the nightmare's would go away."

Damon stared at her, deciding what to do. She was offering him everything he had ever dreamed about, but it felt like a trick. It felt too good to be true. They had come so far in their relationship that he didn't want to do anything to upset it. He took a deep breath and nodded. He moved to stand in front of her and lifted her face up so that he could look into her eyes. "If you want me to show you how pleasurable a bite can be, you're going to have to let me do it properly. Once we do this, we will definitely cross a line. A line that there is no coming back from."

Elena nodded and reached up to cup his face. Gently, she brought his lips down to hers and kissed him tenderly. Damon let his hands trail down her sides, stopping at her hips. With superhuman speed, he grabbed her hips, hoisted her up, and carried her to her bedroom after she hooked her legs around his waist. When they stopped, he was hovering over her on her bed, staring into her eyes as if giving her one last chance to back out. To show him that she was serious, she kissed him again and sealed the deal.

The reality of what she agreed to had finally began to sink in when Damon began undressing both of them. What surprised her the most was how unafraid she was. The moment he pulled her top over her head caused her body to heat up with anticipation. He removed his shirt as well before he moved to hover over her again and then began kissing his way down her body. He stopped between her breasts and reached up with one hand to alternatively cup them. He could feel the way her nipples hardened beneath the fabric and it made him ache for her. Slowly, he moved his way further down her body, stopping at the waistband of her jeans.

He sat up on his knees as he began to undo her fly before slowly pulling them down her legs. He gave a once over of her nearly naked body and subconsciously licked his lips, causing Elena to shudder. She was embarrassed and excited all at once and her nerves were starting to get the best of her. She groaned slightly as Damon's fingers hooked around the waist of her panties and began to slide them down her legs so slowly. As they fell to the floor, Damon moved further down the bed before he wedged himself between her legs and laid on his stomach.

Elena was a little confused, having thought that he was simply going to bite her neck. "Relax," Damon demanded, his breath fluttering over the inside of her thigh.

She nodded, but felt herself tremble as he placed a kiss onto her silky smooth skin just outside the place that ached for his touch the most. For reasons unknown to her, her body seemed to relax after that and Damon began kissing a trail up to the apex between her thighs. The moment his fingers parted her folds, Elena's fingers gripped the comforter. The feel of his tongue making her squirm slightly.

Slowly, he began sucking at the bundle of nerves while his index finger slipped inside of her body. Her back arched slightly off the bed and she moaned loudly. Her body grasped at him, trying to draw him in deeper, but Damon was determined to take his time. He set an even pace of suckling and thrusting before adding another finger. "Damon..." she moaned as she became ever closer to her climax. When Damon sensed that she was truly on edge, he replaced his mouth with his thumb and moved his lips to the inside of her thigh again. It was then that Elena realized what he was about to do and the thought alone brought her to the beginning of her orgasm.

Damon continued his ministrations on her as he let his fangs come down. When the time was right, he let them sink into her skin and it launched her into her most intense orgasm to date. Damon continued until she came down from her high and by the time she could see straight, he had finished undressing them both and was hovering over her once more.

"That was..." she panted.

"It's not over yet," he informed her and reached down so that he could guide himself into her.

Elena arched her body into his, angling her hips so that she could accept as much of his length as she could. They both moaned in satisfaction from their official union. It was a feeling Damon would remember for the rest of eternity; one that he was determined to savor. Elena had already reached her peak, meaning she was already close to it again, so Damon set a slow pace, giving them time to adjust to each other.

Elena began to meet his thrusts eagerly, trying to increase the pace and Damon gave in. He rocked his hips harder and harder, getting deeper and going faster with each thrust. In hardly no time at all they were both closing in on their releases and Damon moved his wrist to his mouth. He cut himself on his fangs and moved his wrist over Elena's mouth. She pressed her lips around the wound without hesitation and then felt Damon's lips on her neck. Her eyes rolled back and she arched her neck to allow him better access. Before she knew it, his fangs were piercing her flesh again and they were coming together.

When everything had settled down, Damon rolled off of Elena to lie by her side. They both stared up at the ceiling; Elena trying to catch her breath, Damon praying that this was not a dream. Elena had had an idea of what it would have been like to have Damon bite her, but this was the complete opposite of what she had in mind. Even then, she was much more satisfied with how things had gone then what she had imagined.

She turned to look at him and smiled. He returned the smile, waiting for the other shoe to drop. He knew reality was going to come crashing down on her at any second and she would beg him to make her forget. She frowned when he saw him wince and then moved around so she could cup his face. "I don't regret this at all, so you can stop thinking that I do."

She knew him so well that sometimes she scared him. "What happens now?"

She grinned and pushed herself up so that she could kiss him soundly. "Now we could either go back down and watch the movie like we originally planned or we can stay here and do that again." His eyes went wide and she hooked her leg over his waist so that she was straddling him. "Personally, I like the second option best."

Damon reached up so that he could steady her. "Just to be clear, I'm not looking for just one night with you."

She leaned down and cupped his face. "Me neither," she whispered and brushed her lips over his.

"This is my new favorite holiday," Damon stated, causing Elena to giggle as she sat up again.

"Merry Christmas," she said between giggles. Her laughter turned into moans as he entered her again. This was by far the best Christmas ever.