"Stupid stupid baby brother," Damon thought. "You allowed the one girl you supposedly loved more than anything, would do anything for, die?! I should have given up on you just like you gave up on her all those months ago. But instead I helped her find you, I comforted her and put aside the ever growing love I feel for her. And you apparently I saved her life. My blood is what brought her back to us both." Turning away from the fading tail lights, Damon went back into the Gilbert lake house to talk to Jeremy about growing that mark that might just lead them to a cure.
"How could he do this to me? To us?" thought Elena as Bonnie sped onward toward Mystic Falls. When she woke up a vampire and saw Stefan by her side she was relieved, but the sight of Damon had completely made the whole night's events worthwhile. She thought since she chose Stefan she would never see Damon again. Through the following weeks of her transition to her new normal, Damon was by her side, guiding her, supporting her, loving her as only Damon could. She didn't want to hurt Stefan but his idea of helping her was changing her into someone that she just couldn't ever be. The afternoon that she finally told him everything was one of the worst of her life but it was a necessary heartbreak. She couldn't lie to Stefan any longer. The love for him she once held in her heart had been replaced by her love for Damon. How much of those feelings were a result of Stefan abandoning her? She didn't know and frankly, she didn't care to find out. Knowing wouldn't change the fact that somehow she'd found that her whole existence had led her to Damon.
Stefan, after breaking things off with Elena, had returned to the boarding house, packed his things, informed Damon at the door that Elena was a single girl now, to Damon's shock, and moved to Caroline's. A friend if ever there were one, Caroline supplied alcohol and a ready ear for the whole situation to be broken down. She had never been a fan of Elena being with Damon and she had been sure to let Elena know how she felt about the whole situation months ago. Having Stefan around gave her a much needed distraction from her own personal dramas. Klaus was really getting under her skin and Tyler had all but broken up with her. Having someone to vent to was relieving for her as much as it was for him.
Meanwhile, not even a day after breaking up with Stefan, Elena found herself at the Salvatore house sipping whiskey by the fire with Damon. It had been a rough few days. Caroline had made her opinion of Damon clear earlier that day and Stefan had not been as upset as she expected him to be when they broke up, which worried both her and Damon because they both knew the extent to which Stefan cared for Elena. As she explained these details to Damon, her friend through all the hell she'd been through, she felt like she could relax for the first time in what seemed like decades. Her human life seemed more and more dream-like by the day. She thought back to a year ago when she and Damon had danced at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Stefan had been out draining people uncontrollably and Damon had stepped in to be her partner. At the time she had felt the sparks for the first time.
Coming back from this reverie, she said, "I was just thinking…" Damon finished her sentence for her saying "…about last year, us dancing together."
"Yeah, I was kind of hoping I could dance with you again today." Elena quietly admitted.
Even when Stefan told him that he and Elena had broken up, Damon couldn't help but think "such beauty cannot possibly be mine to have." Damon sat next to Elena and intently listened to her vent. When she mentioned last year and the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, he didn't hesitate for a moment. He stood up, took Elena's drink and set it on a nearby table, and offered her his hand. She took it and they began dancing in front of the fireplace to a tune they both heard only in their heads. When Damon spun Elena, he could no longer resist the urge to kiss her and so he pulled her to him and passionately gave in to the actions he had been holding back for so long. It was pure ecstasy to watch the passion he felt reflected in Elena's eyes as she ripped his clothing off of him as they slowly made their way to Damon's bedroom. Once there, he took no mercy in undressing her painfully slowly; even for a human it would have been torture. He couldn't be entire sure he wasn't dreaming. All he had ever wanted was Elena and to have her not only in his house, but with him, and without an ounce of guilt, it had to be a dream. No man could be so lucky. Especially one with a past as dark as Damon's.
She threw him onto the bed and began to remove her own clothing. She knew she was driving him mad, but had he not been doing the same to her for the past year? Gently, Damon reached up and took hold of her, pulling her beside him on the bed. There they lay for a few moments just reveling in the fact of what they were doing. Unable to hold back any further, Elena straddled him and removed the very few remaining pieces of clothing separating them from being entirely naked. She kissed him passionately and continued a barrage of kisses behind his ear, down his neck, to the crease where his neck met his collar bone. She reached down, stroking the length of him and gasped aloud as she realized what she'd been missing all this time. Stefan had not been average by any means but Damon was beyond her wildest dreams.
That gasp, Damon had never heard a more erotic sound in his existence. The feeling of her smooth, warm hands on him was almost too much and he had to fight against himself to not ravage this beautiful creature. He promptly flipped Elena so that he was on top of her and slowly began raining kisses behind her ears, down her cheeks and neck to her collar bone. He began massaging her sex while he continued his trail of kisses over her breasts, stopping at each nipple to playfully bite and tug at each before continuing his maddening decent down her extraordinary body. Elena's moaning became louder and louder as Damon continued to ravage her slowly, passionately, in a way that he knew Stefan never did, never could have. When he finally reached her lower stomach he stopped altogether, spread her legs and began his rain of kisses up and down both of the insides of her legs. Finally taking hold of the situation, realizing it wasn't a dream at all, that she really was there, giving herself to him, allowing him to show her how much he loved her, how much he'd loved her from the first time he ever laid eyes upon her, Damon found himself short of breath. Elena had taken his breath away. It was a good thing vampires didn't necessarily need to breathe…or sleep for that matter.
Elena was not sure she could take any more of this. Damon's gentleness in stroking her sex and making his way ever closer to the source of her heat was enough to make her go mad. The fact that this was Damon being gentle was a little above her ability of recognition. At the same time, hadn't she always known that with her, Damon was everything he swore he wasn't? Caring, selfless, gentle; these were traits that he had never shown to anyone before her. He was making her feel things and make noises that she was previously unaware any living, or unliving, creature could make. Every time he kissed her, a blanket of warmth, protectiveness, and love washed over her. The arousal she felt was becoming almost painful and when he moved on to her inner thighs, well, that was the same as pushing her off the top of a Mount Everest sized mountain of pleasure. She climaxed and yelled out his name as he took the opportunity to feast upon her like a starving man at a buffet.
Damon had never been this gentle, this passionate with anyone before, not even Katherine had ignited in him the feelings he felt for Elena. As she yelled out his name, he knew, once and for all, she was his. The End. Close the book and go to sleep now. Without hesitation he returned to her face and began passionately kissing Elena. It was a very heady feeling he got, kissing her, something he wasn't sure he would ever get used to, or ever get enough of. Their bodies molded together like they were built as one and broken apart at some point. The feeling of her, her scent filling every cell of his mind and soul, the feel of her skin against his, the taste of her lips. He knew that this would be all he would ever want, that she would be all he would every want. She was so wet that it surprised him when he came as quickly as he did. His passion for Elena was just too much for the both of them, he concluded as they both climaxed and he collapsed beside her.
They lay there for the rest of the night talking and snuggling, kissing and making love. The rest of the world melted into nothingness and neither of them minded it a bit. After holding back so much for so long, the release of their feelings, actions, and words had enclosed Damon and Elena in a world of their own. Around 2 am, Elena's eyes began to droop and she cuddled against Damon and fell asleep within moments. Damon only held on for a few minutes, watching her sleep, before he too fell into the deepest sleep he'd had in at least a century.
The next morning Damon awoke alone in his bed. Afraid he had dreamt it all he called Elena's name. She came bouncing into the room in one of his button down shirts and propelled herself onto the bed next to him. "Good morning." Elena said and before he could respond with his usual wittiness she covered his mouth with hers in a kiss that would have made him blush, if he were still capable of such human things. He held her in his arms for a few minutes and breathed in her scent, still having a hard time believing the events of the previous 24 hours. Reality slapped him across the face as he realized that at least one of them had to be in public that day. As he gently swept a strand of hair behind her ear, he whispered "You have to go to school…" She groaned in agreement but made no attempt to leave his side.
Wow. Last night had been the most erotic and thrilling night of her…well, existence. Damon had filled her mind, body and soul with a passion and love that she until about 12 hours ago didn't know existed. When she woke up and watched him sleep, a sense of disbelief washed over her. A small part of her felt like she was betraying Stefan but then memories of what had transpired between them the previous day entered her mind. She quietly slipped out of bed and slipped on the first shirt she found. She went into the bathroom to shower and get ready for a day at school that she desperately wanted to spend elsewhere with Damon. When he called her name she had just finished towel drying her hair and came bouncing into the room because she was so happy with life. When she curled up in Damon's arms she melted into an eternity of warmth and love that she didn't particularly want to leave, ever.
After what seemed like forever, Elena reluctantly left the comfort of Damon's embrace to get dressed and go to school. As she came down the stairs, Damon greeted her with a lunch bag, undoubtedly filled with a blood bag, and her purse. Damon asked her to not say anything to Stefan just yet. She said that she would tell him but agreed that they deserved one selfish day to themselves before letting all hell break loose. They walked to the door and as he opened it for her, Stefan appeared on the other side.
What the HELL was Stefan doing on the other side of that door? Damon presented his most untelling smile and Elena walked by telling Stefan she would see him in Biology. It crushed Damon that he wouldn't get to kiss her goodbye or, for that matter, for the next 8 hours. He was hooked on Elena and it was hard as hell to be away from her. Still, they had promised to keep their secret from Stefan for the day and so he happily invited him in for a drink.
Once inside, the brothers sat down on the same couch Elena had sat on the previous night and drank the same whiskey. The irony of the entire situation was almost too much for Damon to take and the smirk that spread across his face looked like his usual sarcasm. If only Stefan knew what his precious Elena had been up to the night before with his bad-boy brother. Stefan had come over to make his peace with Damon, pack his things and leave town for a while. Elena had made her choice. It was Damon.
Damon did his best to hide the joy building inside him. He was sad to see Stefan go because they were brothers and he did love him. But….this removal of his baby bro would eleviate the tension he was sure Elena felt. She really wouldn't even have a chance to tell Stefan the truth about just how "together" she and Damon were. Just before Stefan finished moving his stuff out of the house, he turned to Damon and mentioned "You know Elena's sired to you, right? I tried to talk to Tyler about ways that it could be broken, but as far as anyone knows, there's no breaking it…unless you tell her to leave, forget you, and never see her again." As Stefan closed the door behind him, Damon stood dumbfounded in the entryway.
Sired? Only werewolves could be sired. Right? Damon rushed to see Tyler who explained to Damon how when a human is in love with a vampire before he or she is turned, especially if it is that vampire's blood that turns them, they are in fact sired to the vampire they were in love with when they were alive. Damon was devastated. So everything Elena did now was because he told her? How could he continue to be with her when he knew he had such control over her? How could he ever know how she really felt about him now? All these questions and only a slight relief: she was in love with him before she died. He had been right all along. But now, there was no way to tell, unless…No. Damon would not, could not stand to break the sire bond, to tell Elena to forget him and stay away. But if he ever wanted to truly be with her…It was then that Damon knew what he had to do. When Elena returned home from school that day, Damon was waiting for her in the library. Lounging on the couch he greeted her and she promptly pounced on him and covered him in kisses in between telling him how her day had been. He finally had to pull her away and tell her about Stefan leaving, and about the sire bond.
She was upset that Stefan had felt he needed to leave, but more upset by the sire bond. No matter what this whole sire thing meant, she decided, she was still in love with Damon and wouldn't just walk away of her own free will. She attempted to create a diversion from their precarious situation by mentioning the problems she'd been having with Jeremy that had forced her to move into chateau Salvatore. Jeremy had been awakened as a vampire hunter and ever since had been unable to control his urges to kill vampires, especially Elena. Bonnie had taken Jeremy after school to the Gilbert lake house to help him learn how to control his problems. Elena told Damon that Bonnie needed vampires to test Jeremy out on. She was totally game but Damon's look told her she would not be going alone.
"How could she put herself in a situation where her own brother might dagger her at any minute?! Once again I am reminded of how stubborn that 18 year old woman I am hopelessly maddeningly in love with is. Of course I have to go with her, if nothing else so that I can protect her from her own idiocracy." Once they arrived at the lake house, he helped Bonnie get everything set up and filled her in on everything. She agreed to take Elena away the next day, if need be.
The ritual to rid Jeremy of his urges was not an easy one and unfortunately was not successful enough for Elena to be safe. Finally Damon thought up that Jeremy should detour those feelings to Bonnie, who he had been in love with for over a year now. This strategy worked and Damon quietly slipped out to the docks while Elena reveled in her new bond with her brother, relieved that he no longer wanted to kill her.
After a while, Elena noticed Damon standing alone out on the docks. She went out to him and held his face in her hands. He gently pushed her off and looked her in the eyes. He told her that she needed to leave him, to move on with her life. He cried as he told her this and she burst into tears trying to get him to stop. But it was too late. The sire bond was broken and Bonnie showed up to usher Elena into the car.
Damon watched Elena drive out of his life. Tears were still streaming down his face as he turned to help Jeremy pack up and leave. His help wouldn't be needed after all. Elena would go back to living at her house, he would…leave, he supposed. What was there for him in Mystic Falls now? When he arrived at the Salvatore house, though, his plans of leaving were halted the moment the door opened…
Elena knew that Damon had done the right thing. The sire bond between them was unnatural and could not continue to exist. When they arrived at the Salvatore house, she quickly went inside and gathered her belongings. Wasn't she supposed to feel compelled to go home and never see Damon again? She didn't feel that compulsion, though. True, she had felt the sire bond between her and Damon break, shatter is more like it. But nonetheless here she was, unable to leave him. She knew then what she had to do. She went out to Bonnie who was patiently waiting in the car to take Elena to her house. Elena told her everything she had just discovered about how she felt. To Elena's astonishment, Bonnie agreed and wished her the best of luck. As Elena watched Bonnie's tail lights disappear she knew: Damon was it for her. No turning back. Sire bond or no sire bond, she was his and he, he was hers. Forever.
Before he could even reach for the doorknob, the door opened and there stood…Elena?
Damon was confused and upset that the sire bond did not break. He was about to attempt to break it again when he looked into Elena's eyes. Since her transition, looking into her eyes, he had always noticed a certain tint that wasn't there before. It made her muddy brown eyes look more hazel. But looking into Elena's eyes now, that tint was gone. He could swear he saw it leave her eyes when he said for her to leave and never think of him again.
Elena melted into his arms he realized she was in love with him. She had been in love with him all along. She really was his. Damon had found his Princess of Darkness and he wasn't going to let her get away. Ever. He hauled her over his shoulder and carried her giggling into his bedroom, tossing her onto the bed. Quickly, with vampire speed he tore at her clothing until there was nothing left but the ivory silk of her skin.
She couldn't help but try to pull Damon down over her, there was a draft in the house as it was winter and contrary to popular belief, vampires could get chilled. She finally succeeded in pulling him on top of her, ripping his clothing off and then ravaging him like a starving child would a buffet. His scent filled her whole being and she knew she was home; she had made the right choice by staying.
Slowly he entered her and she gasped with pleasure as he filled her slowly, pulled out, and then slammed into her, causing her to call out his name. His lips brushed hers and their tongues met as he continued their slow ascent into pure bliss. Right when he was sure she would fall, he kissed her with all the love and passion he'd held in him for over a century. They fell together then and lay there marveling in the wonder of one another.
How could anything be more perfect? Elena wondered as she nestled into the warm embrace of Damon's arms. Laying her head on his chest, she slowly began to fall asleep feeling safe, warm, and above all, cherished. Just before she could fall, though, Damon spoke. "I'm sorry, my angel, for the things I've done to hurt you in the past." Lifting her heavy head, she kissed him lightly and said "It's in the past. I know that you've always looked out for me, Damon, and that you always will."
Damn right I will, thought Damon. He peppered kisses on her hair and then began the descent down her glorious body once again. Elena would not be getting much rest tonight; he was going to make sure of it.
The next morning, Elena jolted awake. She rushed into the shower and was drying her hair when an alarmed Damon came in asking "Where's the fire, angel?" She shot him a look of sarcasm and he was at her side in a minute, taking the towel from her hands and continuing where she left off.
"Seriously, lovely love, where are you off to so quickly? Did you come to your senses so soon?" With that he smirked at her in the mirror. "No," Elena replied, "you know I have school in less than 30 minutes. I overslept." "I see. Well that would make sense, if it weren't Sunday, my princess."
Elena immediately burst out laughing. "You have got to be kidding me. I have been losing my mind trying to look decent and I have nowhere to be? Ugh." At that she turned around and plucked the towel out of Damon's hands. "You will never have to work to look 'decent', Elena. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever had the privilege of laying eyes on." Damon said as he tipped her head toward him. She closed her eyes as their lips met and it was all…well, down from there. How the bed was still standing that evening, neither of them knew. They had spent the entire day giving and taking of one another and neither of them knew if they would ever be able to stop or get enough of the other.
Finally they were both exhausted. Elena lay on Damon's chest; quietly snoring as he gently played with her hair and kissed the top of her head. She shifted and he watched her peaceful face as she slept. If ever he wished he could read the thoughts of another, now was that time. He'd give anything to know what was making her smile in her dreams. Quietly be mumbled this to her and to his utter shock she replied, in her sleep, "You, my love. You make me smile when I'm asleep and when I'm awake." Damon couldn't quite believe what he'd just heard. A tear escaped as he realized just how much he meant to her. He looked down at her face and she opened her eyes.
Seeing that Damon had been crying, she immediately shifted and was kissing away every tear. She asked him what was wrong and he replied "Nothing. Not one thing for the first time in my entire existence is wrong right now." Confused, Elena propped herself up on her elbow and studied Damon's features. Finally she leaned in, kissed him passionately, looked him in the eyes and said the three words Damon had never heard in his entire life, "I love you, Damon."
"I love you too, my princess." Damon replied.