This is my first fanfiction and I'm super excited to get going with it! Updates will be once or twice a week (usually). I'm really looking forward to explore the DELENA relationship. I hope you enjoy reading! reviews are always nice and encouraging!(: xoxo

WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT BURNED DOWN!? Damon Salvatore yelled through the phone."it just did, Damon there was nothing I could do! It's not like I wanted it to bc catch fire." Stefan replied defensively; Damon rolled his eyes wishing that he was with Stefan so that he could beat his ass. This is what happened when he left his stupid, good for nothing brother alone for a day. "A house doesn't just burn down by itself, brother." Stefan sighed resigned, "we'll ours just did." He stated.

Then a thought dawned on Damon. Elena. "Was she there?" He whispered so quietly that if Stefan hasn't had vampire hearing he wouldn't have heard. "Yes, she was." The younger brother said just as quietly. Damon's anger melted off in an instant and he could feel himself crumbling. Elena Gilbert would forever be his one and only weakness. "I'll be there soon." He said after a long silence, and with that he ended the call.

Damon drove for a good three and a half hours before he was back in Mystic Falls; he hated himself for choosing today to go to Georgia. He had left her in danger, she could have died, and it would have been on him. He decided right then and there to never leave her again. He would always be close by, a phone call away, if she ever needed him. Always.

As he walked up to the remains of the boarding house a surge of emotions rushed over him. Sure he was upset that it was gone, everything he had kept over the years was now a big pile of ash, but she was alive, that was all that mattered. "Damon!" Stefan called as he made his way out of the forest. "Was now really the best time to go bunny hunting?" Damon snarled resentfully. Stefan rolled his eyes, "what crawled up your ass?" He asked annoyed. "Well let me go through the list. my house is charred, all of my belongings are ash, and my.." He paused, rethinking what he was about to say, "and Elena could be dead." Stefan lowered his head, "I know." "ELENA COULD HAVE DIED!" Damon screamed across the clearing, wanting his brother to understand what an absolute moron he was. "Do you not think I know that, Damon?! She's MY girlfriend." He replied, putting an extra emphasis on the "my". It was no secret to anyone that Damon loved Elena and Stefan had come to terms with it, but for him to act like Stefan didn't know what could have happened to Elena was crossing the line.

"Well I'm okay, so we don't need to worry about that now." A voice came from behind the brothers. Damon turned around to see the dark haired, brown eyed girl that he loved with the entirety of his being and he smiled. She gave him a small smile in return before looking at Stefan. "So did Bonnie's flight take off safely?" He asked, the exchange between his brother and Elena not lost on him. "Yeah, she is off to Paris for the next month." She said tiredly. "When did you get back?" She asked Damon softly. "Just a few minutes before you." She nodded solemnly, "how are you?" She asked, knowing exactly how Damon would respond. "Peachy." He said, giving his trademark smirk. She sighed, and made her way towards him, wrapping him in a tight embrace. He could feel her warm body pressed against him, and slowly he wrapped his arms around her waist, wanting to keep her there. Forever. Stefan observed the event with a disgusted expression. He knew Elena meant it as a friendly gesture, but his brother never took anything friendly when it came to Elena. Sooner than Damon would have like, Elena pulled away giving him a final smile before walking towards Stefan.

Damon stood in shock for a moment before his sarcastic facade returned. Those were the moments Elena loved, the moments when Damon let his guard down and she could see him for who he truly was. "So, what's next?" He asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow, "can I share your room?" He smirked, nodding his head in Elena's direction. She rolled her eyes, feeling Stefan stiffen beside her. He had never like Damon and Elena's friendship, but he had come to terms with it over the years. "I think that spots taken." She smirked back, looking up towards Stefan who visibly relaxed. "Is that an invitation, Mrs. Gilbert?" Stefan asked formally. "Indeed, Mr. Salvatore" she purred, sounding to much like Katherine for her liking. Damon groaned, making Elena burst with giggles, "well I'm not sleeping with Ric!" He growled. "You can have Jer's old room!" "Fine." Damon agreed, and with that they headed to Elena's.

"They can stay one night, then they're out!" Ric said sternly. "Are you kidding me Ric?! they just lost their house!" Elena exclaimed, annoyed at Alaric's lack of understanding. "Elena, they aren't staying. End of story...i'm doing this for you." He insisted. Elena rolled her eyes, "yeah, I'm sure."

"Elena, we are talking about stefan, your boyfriend, and Damon, your...well whatever you and Damon are. Its not like they can't find a place to stay."

"They shouldn't have to." Elena mumbled under her breath before marching down the stairs.

"I assume you heard the conversation?" Elena questioned, as she walked into the living room where Damon and Stefan were sitting. "You assume correct." Damon said, and Stefan shook his head in agreement. Elena let out an annoyed sigh, "I don't know what his problem is! You stay over all the time Stefan, and Damon and Ric are friends!" She vented, her voice just below a scream. "I see Ric's point, and he's right, it's not like we can't find somewhere to stay." Stefan said, trying to sooth her anger. "Well I think he's being an ass." Damon spoke, just loud enough for Ric to hear from upstairs. Elena gave a small smile before going to sit next to Stefan on the couch.

"So where will you go?" She asked, trying to calm down. "We can get a room at the bed and breakfast." Stefan returned, not to worried about the situation. "I am not staying in a bed and breakfast, brother!" Damon said sarcastically. "Well it's either that or the side of the road." Stefan returned stiffly, obviously still not in the mood for jokes. "...or I could stay with Rebekah." Damon drawled, winking in Elena's direction. She wrinkled her nose, "the original bitch?" She asked, disgusted. "That's the one." He smirked. She shook her head, obviously not liking that idea. Damon arched an eyebrow at her, "Jealous, Gilbert? You know I would stay with you if I could." "Me? Jealous? Get real, Salvatore." She shot back sarcastically. Stefan groaned and got up to go get a drink.

He hated this, his brother and Elena would go back and forth for hours, it was almost like they forgot he was even in the room. It was a connection that he and Elena didn't have, and it made him nervous. "What's wrong?" Elena asked from behind him. He sighed, not wanting to lie to her, "Damon." He said hesitantly. "What?" She replied, shock evident in her voice, "I thought you two had been doing better?" "We have, it's just..you and Damon seem to have gotten really close." He mumbled, hating that he sounded like a jealous boyfriend. Elena rolled her eyes, "Damon's my friend, maybe even my best friend, but I love YOU. Nothing is going to change that Stefan, I promise." He gave her a half smile before leaning forward to kiss her on the top of the head, "I know" he whispered.

Elena has been laying in bed awake for the past hour, thinking about the events of the day. She didn't understand how Stefan could be sleeping so soundly when his house had randomly burnt to the ground. Every possession he had thought important enough to keep was in that house, and now it was all gone. She looked over at her alarm clock and groaned, 3:00 AM, she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep tonight, she was sure of it. She rolled off the bed quietly, not wanting to wake Stefan, and headed downstairs to get some air.

"What are you doing up so late?" She heard a voice ask her from the kitchen. She made her way in that direction and jumped up on the counter beside Damon. "I could ask you the same thing." She replied, running a few fingers through her hair. "Can't sleep." He replied honestly, sipping the glass of bourbon in his hands. "I see you found Ric's stash." She smirked, nodding towards the drink in Damon's glass. "I figured it was the least he could do." He shrugged, hopping off of the counter, a mischievous grin on his face. "What's going on?" Elena asked, genuinely confused. "We are having late night chocolate chip pancakes." Damon said, a half smile gracing his lips.

Elena smiled, enjoying this rare side of Damon. Stefan was usually the thoughtful one; Damon had a reputation of being the jack ass player, and he lived up to the stereotype, but sometimes when it was just them he would show his other side. "Can I help?" She asked, joining Damon by the pantry. "I never turn down help in the kitchen," he smirked, "unless it's from stefan...he's horrible at cooking." Elena let out a small laugh, and despite everything that had happened that day, she was happy.

They cooked in silence for a little while. It wasn't an awkward silence, more of a companionable silence, but then she heard Damon mumble something under his breath. He gave a small chuckle and returned to pouring the batter. "What are you laughing at?" She asked with a curious expression. "You." He replied, giving her a half smile that gave her butterfly's in her stomach...butterfly's that shouldn't be there, she reminded herself. "What did I do?" She asked, still confused. "You have batter all over yourself" he laughed, gesturing towards her shirt. She looked down and burst into a fit of giggles as well. Her shirt had blotches of batter stains all over it. "I'm uhh...saving it for later." She said sarcastically. Damon winked at her, "I can always help you." He said with a smirk.

Elena froze, dropping the mixing bowl she had been holding to the ground where it shattered into pieces. Damon glanced around, unsure of what to do. "Elena?" He asked, worried. "Damon, she's behind you." Elena warned. Damon glanced behind him for a second time, "Elena, nobody is behind me." "Oh my god, Damon!" She shrieked and then fell to the floor in tears. He raced to her side, placing an arm on her shoulder. "Elena, it's okay, you're okay, I'm here." He soothed, running his fingers through her long brown hair.

Suddenly her eyes became less glassy and she stopped crying, "what...but...she...you were on fire, she lit the kitchen on fire and you.." She began to cry again. Elena hated crying, it made her feel weak, but here she was, sitting on the kitchen floor, crying. "Elena, nobody was here...I'm fine." Damon replied soothingly. What did she mean he was on fire? Had she been sleep walking? Impossible, she had been awake just moments before. Was it a ghost? It couldn't be, only Jeremy could see ghosts, and he was at a boarding school in Florida. "Damon, I swear I thought you were as good as dead." Elena sobbed, and Damon pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her. "It's okay, we can talk about it in the morning. It's okay." Damon whispered quietly into her ear.

"What the hell is going on?" Stefan growled from the doorway. Damon had heard him coming, but he couldn't leave Elena, not in the state she was in. "I think we might should talk about this later." Damon said, rolling his eyes. His brother was more concerned that Elena was with Damon than the fact that she was in the floor weeping. "What happened Damon?" Stefan asked again, trying to make the question sound like a demand. All he knew was that he had been upstairs listening to Damon and Elena laughing for the past 2 hours, and then next thing he heard was something shattering to pieces and Elena going into hysterics. Damon groaned, "Really Stefan?" "Yes Damon, I would like to know what you and my girlfriend have been doing since 3:00 AM and why she is on the floor crying. Is that really to much to ask?" Stefan said firmly, trying to keep his voice quiet so that he didn't frighten Elena.

Damon sighed, looking down at the girl in his arms; she was asleep. He scooped her up and carried her to her room, placing her on her bed. He gave her a light kiss on the top of her head before speeding back down to Stefan. "Why don't you just go hunt some bunnies, or shape your hair, or write in your diary, or something?" Damon said sarcastically, not really wanting to talk about what had happened. "Are you ever going to take anything serious?" Stefan asked, royally pissed at Damon. "Depends, are you ever going to get a decent haircut?" Stefan slammed a had against the wall, making the paint chip and flutter to the floor. "Just tell me what's going on!" He demanded through gritted teeth. "Elena couldn't sleep, I couldn't sleep, we were making pancakes, and then she thought that the kitchen was on fire..." Damon said nonchalantly, "any questions?" He raised an eyebrow. "Why would she think the kitchen was on fire?" Stefan asked, confused. Damon rolled his eyes, "wouldn't I like to know." He grumbled, walking into the kitchen to retrieve his glass of bourbon. It was going to be a long night.

okay, so hopeful enjoy enjoyed this chapter..please leave a review and let me know how I'm doing!

*to clarify: Damon and Elena are at best friend status.