Author's Note: So..thank you to everyone who read the first chapter and added it to their favorites or story alerts. I would like more reviews,though. I want to know exactly what YOU think about the story. Do you like it? Not like it? Are all the changes of perspective confusing? Are any of the characters out of character? Are any of them too non-likeable? Or too likeable? And…I hope you all don't mind that I added a character that wasn't in the show. I mean, Stefan had to have some reason to go outside. And I personally kind of like that character I made up. I hope you do too. =3 Please review, review, review.
The music began to play. It was a very slow, romantic song. All of the couples were swaying back and forth together to the music but Damon and Elena were doing more. They were waltzing elegantly, looking like they were perfect for each other. When the song gets to the chorus, Elena smiles widely and looks a little excited. "I love this song. It's from one of my favorite movies," she says in an enthusiastic voice. Damon raises his eyebrows a little at her excitement. "What movie?" he asks curiously. "Enchanted," Elena replies. When Damon looks confused, Elena explains, saying "You know. It's the movie where the princess from a fairytale world ends up in modern day New York City and meets a guy who she ends up staying with. Then her prince from the fairytale ends up there too. There's a ball and everyone goes to it-the princess, the prince, the guy, and his fiancé. The princess ends up dancing with that guy to this song. Everything's going great until the prince's wicked stepmother gives the princess a poisoned apple. The only way for the princess to recover is for her to get kissed by her true love. The prince kisses her, but she doesn't get better. Then the guy kisses her and she wakes up. In the end, everyone lives happily ever after." Elena looks at Damon, blushing a little. She's sure that she's boring him. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Damon is looking at her like she just told the most interesting story in the world. He's also smiling in a sad way. Because of this, Elena frowns and looks at Damon with a concerned expression on her face. "What's wrong?" Damon shakes his head a little. "Nothing, Elena. Nothing at all." But the sad expression won't leave his face. Elena doesn't believe it but she knows that Damon won't tell her unless he wants to. She nods a little and they continue dancing in silence. As they're dancing, they're looking at each other. In fact, they can't stop looking at each other. Elena begins to smile and so does Damon. Dancing with Damon is a lot of fun, actually. And he's not too bad to look at either. And his eyes… Stop Elena, stop. I love Stefan, not Damon. Stefan. Not Damon. But a small annoying voice nags at Elena's head. It says : If you love Stefan, then why did you agree to dance with Damon? Why were you flirting with him before? Why do you not want this dance to end? While Elena tries to ignore that voice, Damon is just staring at her in wonder. She's so beautiful. I can't believe she's actually dancing with me. And she looks like she's enjoying it too. As the music builds to a crescendo, Damon spins Elena around and then brings her closer to him again and they continue waltzing, still gazing into each other's eyes. The music ends and most of the couples get off the dance floor. But Damon and Elena seem to be paralyzed. Neither of them can seem to move or say anything. They just continue standing in the middle of the dance floor, looking into each other's eyes.
Stefan waited patiently in the forest near the edge of the Lockwood estate. He had hoped that the person he was meeting would have been here by now. He didn't want to leave Elena alone too long and was sure that it was only a matter of time before she came out to find him. He sighs a little as he tries to think of what he would say to her if she asked him what he was doing out here. He couldn't explain, of course. She wouldn't understand. Damon might have understood but Stefan hadn't told him either. He didn't want to risk his brother telling Elena. He knew that Damon wouldn't mind making him look bad for keeping secrets. As he thought about Damon, he wondered why his brother had even come to the party tonight. Although Damon loved parties, he usually wasn't a big fan of the ones that the Lockwoods had. They were always too formal for his taste. And he was always complaining about the music. Something special must have happened to get Damon to attend a Lockwood party without being forced. Maybe something with Klaus or Elijah. Or Katherine. No, Damon would have told me about that. I think. Stefan sighed again as he tried to figure out why his brother would have showed up tonight. And then he realized something. Of course. He had, of course, heard his brother talking to Alaric on the phone a few days ago. He hadn't heard the whole conversation but had heard enough to know that his brother was becoming really serious about his feelings for Elena. Stefan wished that he could go inside but he knew he couldn't. If Damon wanted to try to get Elena from him, fine. Let him. But Elena will never be his. Stefan knows that Elena loves him and always will. She would never love anyone else- especially not his brother. But a part of him is still worried. Although he trusts Elena completely, he knows that his brother can be really charming. A lot of women were attracted to him. Of course, Elena was the exception. Wasn't she? A frown appears on his face as he begins to worry. Elena was in there alone. What if Damon was already talking to her? What if they were dancing together? What if they were….? Before he can finish his thought, he hears a voice come from behind him. He turns around to see a somewhat shadowy figure standing near the trees. "Hello Stefan," the shadow says with a smirk.
A few moments later, Damon and Elena recover from their paralysis and begin to walk away from the dance floor. Before Damon can say anything, Elena speaks, saying "I'm…um…I'm going to see if I can find Caroline and Bonnie." Damon nods. "Ok." He watches as Elena walks away. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Elena walks through the crowd, trying to see if she can spot her friends. She was still a little dizzy from her dance with Damon, but is trying to put it out of her head. She knows she shouldn't be feeling like this about her boyfriend's brother. Her conscience is nagging at her but she's finding it so hard to listen. Damon was being really nice tonight. And he had been changing lately. He was becoming a lot nicer. And….No, I won't think about that now. No. I'm going to stop thinking about Damon like that starting….now. Finally, she sees her friends hanging out with her brother and Tyler. She walks over to them, smiling brightly and trying not to look guilty. "Elena! Where have you been? We've been looking for you all night,"Caroline says in her usual perky voice. Elena shrugs a little. " I've been….around." She doesn't want to tell her friends where she just was. Although she's surprised they didn't know. There hadn't been too many couples on the floor. How had the missed her dancing with Damon? Her smile widens as she realizes she has nothing to worry about. Her friends hadn't seen her dancing with Damon. Everything is ok. Bonnie is watching her with a knowing looks. Uh oh. Maybe I spoke too soon. Her friend smiles at her. "Hey Elena. Glad to see you. Where's Stefan?" Of course she asked about Stefan. Elena smiles back at her friend as widely as she can before saying "Hey Bonnie. Stefan went out for some air." Bonnie raises her eyebrows. "Really?" She gives Caroline a look that seems to say "I could use some help here." Caroline sees Bonnie's expression and decides to act on it. "Why would Stefan want air when you look so pretty tonight, Elena? And besides it's not like he needs to breathe." Elena laughs a little at Caroline's attempt at help. "Thank you, Caroline. And don't say that too loud. We wouldn't want anyone who doesn't know about….you know….to hear." Caroline shrugs. "Whatever." She turns to Tyler next to her and says " I love this song. Let's dance." Tyler shrugs and they walk towards the dancefloor. Bonnie gives Jeremy a look that says "I would like to talk to your sister alone,please." He takes the hint and says " I'm going to go get some drinks." Bonnie smiles at Jeremy. "Thanks." As soon as he's gone, she looks at Elena accusingly. "What's going on? I saw you dancing with Damon and the last time I saw Stefan he was walking out the door looking worried." Elena blushes at the mention of Damon. "But…I…I thought you guys didn't see that. And…I don't know what's going on. Stefan really did go outside for some air. At least, that's what he said. I don't know what the real reason is. But he said he'd be back soon. I was waiting for him and Damon came over and was his usual charming self. He asked me to dance and I agreed and…..that's it." Bonnie frowns. "Ok, now I'm really worried. Stefan didn't tell YOU something? Either he's on human blood again or he's working on something really dangerous that he doesn't want any of us to know about. But back to Damon…..why did you agree to dance with him? You could have just said no." Elena sighs. "What do you think he could be doing? Should we go find him? And about Damon….I really don't know. I…I guess a part of me….wanted to dance with him." She blushes again and looks nervous as she waits for her friend's reaction. She knows that Bonnie doesn't like Damon. In fact, until recently Elena hadn't been his biggest fan either. But now…..things were different. Bonnie smiles kindly at her friend and gestures for her to sit down at her table. Elena sits and Bonnie immediately starts talking. "I'm not sure what we should do about Stefan. I'm sure that he's smart enough to handle whatever it is. But if he doesn't come back within an hour, then we'll start looking. As for Damon…." She sighs before continuing. "You know I've never been his biggest fan. In fact, I would be very happy if he left this town. But even I have to admit that he cares about you. And the two of you did look great together on the dancefloor. I do think,though, that you shouldn't lead him on. Even though I wouldn't mind him being hurt, you know how he is when he's like that. And we don't need any more mysterious deaths in this town. Besides, he has to help us with the sacrifice and he can't do that if he's completely unbalanced. I think that you should talk to him alone later tonight and tell him that it didn't mean anything. You can sort out your feelings after we've made sure that you're going to stay alive." Elena nods when Bonnie is finished. "Ok. But what do you think I should do? I'm so confused, Bonnie. I love Stefan. I know I love Stefan. At least, I think I do. But when I was dancing with Damon tonight, I felt…..something. Something more than anything I've ever felt with Stefan. I don't know when it happened. Damon and I have always had a complicated relationship and I've never really liked him but now….." Elena shook her head a little. "Now I don't know. I don't know what I feel and that's killing me." She frowned and looked at Bonnie with such a lost expression on her face that Bonnie could barely stop herself from crying. She pat Elena's hand comfortingly. "I don't know what you should do, Elena. Only you can know what you feel. But I do know one thing. If you really loved Stefan, then you wouldn't feel anything but friendship for Damon. I'm not saying that you were never in love with Stefan. I know you were. But maybe somewhere along the way you fell for Damon. As much as I would love for you and Stefan to be together forever, I should have known that you would have fallen for Damon eventually." Elena raises her eyebrows at that last sentence. "Wh-what do you mean? I'm not Katherine. I'm not just playing with Stefan and Damon's feelings. I'm…" Bonnie pats her friend's arm again to calm her down. "I know that you're not Katherine, Elena. Trust me, I know. All I meant was that I've seen the way Damon looks at you. I've noticed all his flirty comments and meaningful looks at you. I've seen the way you two are together. You're always making jokes with each other. You're always comforting him and he's always saving you. It's obvious to everyone that he's head over heels for you even if it is in his own twisted way." Bonnie laughs a little when she sees the annoyed expression on Elena's face at the word "twisted." "I'm not trying to insult him, Elena. It just comes out. What I'm trying to say is that…..either way you choose you will be choosing someone who loves you. But, Elena…." Bonnie's expression turned serious. "In the end, you need to choose the one that you love. Not the one who's the safest. Not the one who's the most exciting. But the one you love the most." Elena nods and says "Thanks Bonnie. I'll do that." Bonnie hugs her friend. "Good." She moves away just as Jeremy reappears with the drinks. "Here you go." He says as he hands one to Bonnie and one to Elena. They both say "thanks" and change the topic of conversation to something less…..serious.
Stefan smiled. "Viktor. I'm glad you could make it." The shadow moves forward, coming out of the darkness. He is a rather tall man with dark hair and dark eyes. He is wearing casual clothes, jeans and a T-shirt. He looks perfectly normal but there is something about his expression that would intimidate any sane person. "Well, you wanted me to come. And since you had a good reason, I decided that I would." Stefan nods and gestures around to their surroundings. "Why did you want to meet here?" Viktor shrugs a little and says "I thought it would be an easy location for you since you were going to the party anyway. And I think there's something….poetic about secret meetings taking place in the forest." Viktor smirks in such a Damon-like way that Stefan has to stop himself from laughing. "Well…..I'm just glad that no one is likely to come out here. So….did you find the spell?" Viktor shrugs. "Maybe. For a price." He smirks again. Stefan frowns. "What price?" Viktor moves closer to Stefan. When he's standing right in front of him, he says, in a threatening voice "That you and your brother leave Mystic Falls." He moves away a little as he continues speaking. "There have been too many attacks and I feel that if you two weren't here there wouldn't be any. In fact, your brother was responsible for…quite a lot of them." Stefan shakes his head rapidly. "I'm sorry, but I can't leave Elena. And Damon hasn't killed anybody in a while. I can't promise that he never will again, but I can't force him to leave either." Viktor sighs and puts on a fake disappointed expression. "That's a pity. Because I have the spell all ready. In fact…" He pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket. "I have it right here." Stefan moves to grab it but Viktor moves it out of his reach and then lifts his other hand up. Before Stefan can say anything, he's stuck to a tree. Viktor laughs evilly and moves closer to Stefan. "Now…..what do you say to my conditions?" Stefan shakes his head again. "No. I'm really sorry. I can't agree to that. But….I'm sure there must be something else you want." He says that in an almost pleading voice. Viktor looks thoughtful, considering. He lets Stefan down and begins to pace around the area a little. After a few moments, he turns back to Stefan and says "Ok. I've thought of something. I'll tell you the spell if…." He stops talking just to increase the tension. "If you'll let me have a little meeting with your brother." Stefan frowns. "You want to meet with Damon? Why?" Viktor smiles. "To get him to promise not to kill any more people in town. And if he won't agree…I could always just kill him." Stefan shakes his head again. "No. You can't do that. Damon's my brother. I won't let you kill him." Viktor sighs and fake frowns. "Fine. Have fun watching Elena die." He begins to walk away but then Stefan calls him back. "Wait." Viktor turns around slowly and raises his eyebrows. "What?" Stefan sighs and then says "You can meet with Damon. But only if I can come too." Viktor considers it for a moment and then nods. "Deal." They shake hands as the night grows darker.
