Dear Diary,

It seems like the world suddenly stopped spinning and I'm nothing more than an empty body of ice. I can't stop thinking about what would have happened if I would have never given Stefan human blood. It is, after all, my fault that he's currently locked up in the basement of the Salvatore brothers' home. It hurts to see him struggle, to hear him cry out into the night while trying to fight the throat cutting lust for blood. I wish nothing but to hold him and take away his suffering and pain. Aunt Jenna knows something's up, as well as Uncle John. They've both noticed my actions lately. Plus Stefan hasn't been around in the past few days.

Just like I expected, people started talking after me and Damon's little dance at the Founder's Day pageant. That day has changed my life in more than one way. For one, that was the day Stefan began his rehab in the basement. For two, he almost killed a girl. For three, Damon took me by complete surprise. I don't want to admit it to myself - I can't be falling for my boyfriend's brother. I mean, he's Damon for crying out loud. The king of darkness; the one who kills people for fun. I hate to say it but for the past two days, my thoughts have consisted of both Salvatore brothers...

Elena Gilbert put away her pen silently as she closed the velvet cover of her diary. She allowed her fingers to linger over the softness of the small book below her palm. It'd been almost a year since she'd been recording her daily life. Each time she went back and read the previous entries, she felt as if the event had just happened. She frowned to herself, almost in sorrow. Thoughts of Stefan filled her mind all while she thought about the first time she'd ever written about him. It was the first day of school. He'd shown up in fancy clothing - nothing from around town - and instantly caught her eye. From the moment their eyes locked, she knew she had to be with him. However, Stefan didn't feel the same way immediately. For days he tried to ignore her presence and act as if she didn't exist in the world. She was actually close to giving up her hopes of being with the dark, mysterious new student. Thankfully, faith happened and things forever changed between the two.

Stefan had opened up to her only days later. He revealed everything about himself to her, including his deepest secret. In all honesty, she was the least bit afraid of him. This was Stefan Salvatore, the farthest thing away from evil. She knew she could trust him instantly. Just as she knew she was in love with him from the moment she laid eyes on him. There was more than meets the eye, however. After meeting Stefan, her life had begin to change. There was Vicki's death, learning her mother was also a vampire and still alive, and finally, discovering that Stefan and Damon were both in love with a vampire in the early centuries named Katherine. The scary part was that Katherine could have easily passed as her twin sister.

"Thinking about me? Hmm...Who could blame you?"

She felt his crooked smile before she saw it. Almost on cue, Elena turned around to face those dark, tempting eyes belonging to no one other than Damon. He smirked as he slowly folded his arms and walked towards her. She fought hard to resist the smile creeping upon her face.

"Don't flatter yourself Damon. Not every girl falls for your tricks, you know." she replied.

Damon's face hardened a bit before returning to its familiar cocky appearance. "You will, eventually," he stated slowly in a harsh whisper as his eyes stared deep into her own, causing her to shift uncomfortably.

Elena moved away quickly. She needed to remove herself of Damon's glance before she did something that would hurt not only her own self, but also Stefan. The desire for Damon was beginning to become harder to resist.

"How's Stefan?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Damon chuckled to himself as he lounged across her bed. He prompted one arm behind his head and grabbed her photo album with the other. Silence filled the room for a moment as he flipped through the pages, staring at the pictures of his brother and her. Suddenly, he stopped and his expression got softer, almost amused. He turned the album towards her to allow her to see pictures of the two together during Founder's Day.

"Stop worrying so much. It's just Stefan," he replied.

She simply rolled her eyes in reply to his usual cockiness. As she began to walk away from the dark vampire, she heard him quickly arise. Before she knew it he was in front of her, blocking her entrance to the living room. Suddenly, Damon was serious.

"Elena," he started. He looked deep into her eyes and for amount it almost felt like he was an actual human with feelings. "You don't need to be so dramatic, really. Stefan's a vampire and all you're worried about is if he survives. You aren't so bright for a human. You should be worried that he'll break out of those bars any moment and be on a blood spree...which actually doesn't sound so bad right about now."

"Well I am stupid. I've been on Stefan's side the entire time and I'm not leaving him just because times are rough. Besides, it's my fault he's in there. If I wouldn't have given him human blood-"

"You would both be dead. Stefan was obviously too weak to move. They would have tortured you first, to hurt Stefan more. Seeing you hurt, and knowing he couldn't do anything to save you, would have killed him emotionally. Then once you were on the thin line between life and death they would have tortured Stefan in front of you, then eventually killed you both. That's how real vampires act," finished Damon.

Elena gasped to herself as she thought about what Damon had just stated. She'd never thought about it that way. Damon did have a point. If she wouldn't have fed Stefan the blood, there would have been two lives lost that night. But still, she couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Well still, I shouldn't have allowed that to happen to him, Damon. Stefan's been spending the last few weeks trying to protect me. I should have been there for him to protect him when he needed it. After all, you weren't there for him," she stated coldly.

Suddenly, Damon's faced hardened as the veins protruded underneath his eyes. She saw his fangs slowly extended as the anger welled up inside of him. He clenched his fist while restraining himself. Never before had she seen him so angry.

"In case you didn't notice, I was the one inside that house fighting off three vampires on my own. I'm so sorry I didn't have time to stop defending not only myself, but also the teacher, to go and save my brother."

With that he was gone, leaving her alone in the room. She knew what she had said had angered him, but more than anything, she knew it hurt him. Deep down, somewhere inside of Damon Salvatore, there was a bit of love for Stefan, that she was sure of. However, talking to Damon always made her upset. Unlike Stefan, she knew that he wasn't careful with his words. Unlike Stefan, he said the hurtful and rude things because he knew that it would fire her up.

Elena's eyes fluttered open to greet the sunlight slowly sneaking its way into her room. As she regained consciousness, she recalled the events from the previous night. The fight between Damon and herself, him leaving angrily, Stefan not gaining any progress in the blood situation. She groaned to herself knowing that the day would only continue to become more stressful. She quickly grabbed her cell phone and called Damon.

"Why are you such a nuisance," she heard from the other end. The familiar mysterious voice waited for her reply.

"How's Stefan?" she asked.

"Elena, if Stefan does any better I'll call you. Now unless you're calling me to tell me that you've finally come to your senses and have decided to leave my worthless brother, I have better things to do. Good-"

"Damon, wait," she cut off, "I'm coming over."

"Suit yourself. Not like I actually care about where you are."

Elena heard as silence fell around her. Damon had obviously shut the phone and hung up on her as usual. She was getting used to it by now. Did she really expect Damon Salvatore to have any actual feelings? Her thoughts continued to play at her mind as she started to get ready for an interesting evening at the mansion.

She climbed out of her tiny car and took a quick glance at the large wooden doors shutting out the outside world. The first time she had ever been to the mansion she was in shock, never before had she seen such a large house. It was that very day she had met Damon. At the time she was unaware that he was a vampire, but she had always noticed a large crow watching her. She should have known something was up when that same crow flew into the house, leaving a very tall and lean guy standing in front of her. Almost instantly, she could feel the tension between Stefan and his brother that day.

"Come in, the doors just magically open themselves," he called out.

Elena looked around for the loud voice belonging to no one other than Damon as she closed the wooden door. "Sorry, didn't know I needed your permission to do as I please."

Slowly, he appeared into the room wearing his usual dark jacket, along with a pair of dark paints and a dark shirt. He smiled at her mysteriously, before speaking once again.

"Damn, I wish you were a vampire. You'd make one hell of a queen of the darkness. I would love nothing more than to rip out this tiny little vein here, feed you my blood, then kill you," he replied. Elena shivered as Damon brushed her hair back and ran his fingers over her protruding neck vein.

"But you won't," she replied calmly.

"What makes you so sure?" he asked.

"Because if you really wanted to, you would have done so already. I trust you Damon," stated Elena.

"Hm, I suppose you're right. You really shouldn't trust me though. I trusted one person in my life, and look where it got me. Trusting no one...but me," he said.

Damon's dark eyes burned into Elena's soul. He had never once open up to her, or even showed emotion for that matter. It was obvious that he was talking about Katherine, and he was right, the one person he thought he could trust had screwed him over in the end.

"You don't always have to be so against everyone, you know. You could trust me," Elena replied.

Damon stared at her for a minute or two before turning on his heel. As he disappeared into the distance he called out, "Stefan isn't doing any better. And don't go down there alone. I really don't feel like having to worry about protecting you right now."

This is my first Vampire Diaries story and my first story since about two years ago. I'm trying to take things slow, and make the characters really in character. I don't want to make Elena and Damon too friendly, because Damon doesn't really open up to anyone, nor is he ever really serious. Stefan's going to be in the chapters to come, but for now it's just the basic relationship between Damon and Elena, and how it's growing. Anyway, please review and tell me if you like it and what I can work on. I don't own anything except this story. Thanksss---katrina