Disclaimer: I do not own any of the rights to the book series or the television show The Vampire Diaries. All I am doing, is borrowing the characters and have them act out imagined scenarios.

A/N: So, I decided to turn this one piece into a story. I hope that I will actually manage to complete it, since it has been a long time since I have even begun, let alone finish a story. That is why I tend to stick to one parters, but as I was working on a new Damon/Elena one piece, I realized that it would actually work really well as a continuation of this one. I hope you'll like the end result, even though it is a bit sloppy, I admit.


Second Best

"You're my Shangri-La"

Elena roused from her sleep in a flustered state, this being the fourth night this week that had happened. She seemed incapable of wrapping her head around it, but she continued to try because there must be some irrational reasoning behind her constant dreams filled with him

She raked her fingers through her locks, which were just as distressed as she was. "Perfect," she whispered to herself, kicking her covers off her. She was already plenty warm as it was, hot in fact. She placed her hands on her cheeks, feeling for herself how they burned against her skin and how damp her palms were.

She made a face as she wiped her hands on her tank top, bundling the fabric up in one hand and pulling it away from her skin as far as the fabric would stretch. "Why?" she wonder incredulously and out loud as she got up out of bed. She wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, not before she had calmed down some, because right now she was on the edge.

Elena blushed as she caught her reflection in the mirror: her hair a lovely mess, fabric sticking to her in all the desired places, and her skin carrying a more than healthy glow. She allowed a smile to spill over, touching and only enhancing her already pleasing features, unable to deny feeling good about herself in this sensual state of being.

Normally she didn't mind waking up like this, so close to—Elena bit her tongue mentally. It wasn't right, because usually it was Stefan who drove her to climb the walls, but it hadn't been him for a few nights now. It had been him instead. Damon.

It always started off innocently enough, some flirting from his side and followed by her putting up a fight, somewhat of a fight anyway, before things increased to a more serious degree. And she always found herself pulling him back in just when he was to pull away from her completely. And she couldn't let him pull away. After their version of foreplay, they would end up everywhere: on the bed, the floor, against the wall, on the counter, and in the shower.

She bowed her head as the crimson hue coloring her face deepened. She had to find a way to stop, feeling incredibly guilty for having Damon in her head instead of Stefan. It should be Stefan, although somewhere she had to admit, at least to herself, that Stefan had never ignited such a spark within.

Instantly and spontaneously making up her mind to be rash for once, she scampered to take control of the situation. Elena pulled on a pair of jeans, stepped into her cozy Ugg boots, and threw on a sweatshirt over her tank top. After grabbing her keys, she left her house for that of the Salvatore brothers. If she went to Stefan like this, all hot and bothered, she would be able to make it up to him in person, have an outlet for her frustration, which was of a sexual nature apparently.

She was looking forward to being able to get out of her clothes quickly and lose herself in Stefan, knowing somewhere that it wasn't going to be for all the right reasons, but it was the best she could come up with.

However, she was faced with the worst case scenario, or the best one depending on how she chose to look at it, when the door opened and it was Damon Salvatore standing behind it. Not Stefan.

His expression instantaneously shot from being bored to obviously interested as he laid eyes on his unexpected, but very welcome guest. Elena's expression also changed as she became aware of the lack of Damon's attire, the entirety of it being a pair of black sweatpants. He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more, purposely doing so, or Elena thought so anyway. He was too good looking for his own good.

"Looks like we're both a little underdressed." He nodded in her direction and Elena followed his gaze down to her sweatshirt. She suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious and self-doubtful as she fidgeted with her feet, her Ugg boots seeming an unbelievably unglamorous choice now, even though he was dressed in much less.

"I'm cold," she justified lamely. It was an obvious lie; she was anything from cold and her temperature was only raising. "Can I come in?" she asked, impatient as she already moved toward the door opening.

Damon gave her a once over, her behavior a little more restless than usual, and kicked the door open completely, though he didn't move from where he was standing. "By all means, come in." His eyes held an amused glimmer as he remained standing in the door opening while she made herself as compact as she could as she intended to pass him sideways.

Unfortunately for her, Damon sensed her uncomfortable state and took satisfaction in teasing her as he placed a hand on the door frame, the movement quick and sudden. It startled her, but not because she hadn't expected it but because there was a large part of her that found it thrilling to have him so up close and personal. Her back was against the doorframe and his hand just above her shoulder, and his body only inches away… She couldn't fight the urge as she shifted and erased the remaining distance, her chest against his. Her breathing became a little shallower and she knew he noticed the second it changed. She forced herself to look away, glancing into the house instead. "Where's Stefan?"

He leaned back, just enough to let her know that it had gotten to him, but he would never admit it to her in so many words. "Out." He dropped his hand and she entered the house.

"Out where?" She crossed her arms in front of her, like a shield, one that was meant for her and not for him.

Damon let out an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes for the added dramatic effect. "Feeding, if you can call it that. Forrest critters hardly qualify as food, but, hey, that's just my opinion."

Elena nodded. "You know when he'll be back?"

"A few hours?"

Elena nodded again, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her sweatshirt. "Mind if I stay here tonight? Wait for Stefan?" she added as an afterthought.

Damon shrugged, smiling widely. "The more the merrier."

"Thanks." She began making her way up the stairs, taking off her sweatshirt as she did so, unable to bear the clamminess anymore. It was restraining. A shower was what she needed, a cold one as a matter of fact. That would fix everything, get rid of this feeling. She threw Damon a backwards glance, but he was no longer at the bottom of the stairs. It was probably for the best that he had left her to herself, though she couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of disappointed.

She turned her head and swallowed her scream as she found Damon standing in front of her. She would've made a nasty fall down the stairs if he hadn't grabbed her by the hand and pulled her in to him. He stumbled backwards, maneuvering her a safe distance away from the stairs before releasing her, though it took her a few seconds before pulling her body from his. Her hands on his bare chest for balance she didn't need, but sought.

"If you're going to die, it isn't going to be because you fell down the stairs" Damon said, smiling a cocky smile that revealed his fangs for a split second.

Elena rolled her eyes, the teeth doing nothing to her, not any more, although the smile did too much to her. "You're not going to kill me, Damon, so stop pretending you will."

He tried to meet her gaze, his very much open to the truth for once, but she didn't see it. She was too busy looking anywhere else but at him. She wrung the fabric of her sweatshirt between her hands. She definitely needed that cold shower bad. "You got a shower?"

"No," Damon answered sarcastically, "you know us vampires, we like our dirt." He snorted and shook his head. "Everything okay with you, you seem a little… off."

Elena lowered her eyes to her hands, not daring to look at him. If she did, she would find something more to find charming about him and she didn't know how long she—She definitely needed a shower. "It's just been one of those… nights," she said, looking at him again, the sweatshirt pulled tightly against her abdomen. "So, the shower, you mind if I take one, here?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to go home and shower and then come back." He gave her a look before passing her and opening one of the doors. "Here you go, it has running water and everything," he teased with a raise of his eyebrows.

She shot him a smile. "Dirt didn't seem your thing."

"Or yours… You look clean enough," he remarked.

When she didn't retort and simply slid past him into the bathroom, he shrugged and went to get her a towel. She was in nothing but her tank top and underwear when he came back, almost as if she had done it on purpose, but he knew that couldn't be true. She would never do anything like that, maybe for his brother, but not for him.

He respectfully restrained himself from giving her a good once-over. Instead he stayed standing in the doorframe and threw her the towel. She caught it.

"Thanks, I'm all set now." She turned her back to him and began taking off her tank top. When she went to unhook her bra, she looked back at Damon over her shoulder, her hair cascading down her face in a way that was unbelievably attractive to him. "Close the door, Damon." She continued undressing, knowing he was still there, but she found herself not caring. Instead she felt wanted and confident, though she didn't know what would happen if Damon wouldn't listen to her.

But he left and closed the door. It took him more restraint than he thought he had, but he did it, he had denied his brother's girlfriend for the second time. What was going on with her? She couldn't keep tempting him like this, challenging him because he would have to give in to her sooner or later.

Inside the bathroom, the water running over her body and giving the illusion of her own cocoon, Elena was trying everything she could to get Damon out of her head. The only problem was that the shower was only enhancing her feelings; it was the water pouring down on her skin and the intimacy of the small space. She wanted him to be in here with her.

Her breathing quickened and she leaned back against the wall, eyes closed and teeth sunk in her bottom lip. She made sure to keep her hands where she could see them because they were itching to stray downwards. The shower wasn't having the effect she had wanted it to have. He was too deeply engrained in her head to simply drown him out. She couldn't even blame what was going on with her on him. He hadn't done anything, hadn't compelled her… he felt for the necklace around her neck, she always wore it, so what she was feeling must be coming from inside herself.

Finally, she turned off the water and got out of the shower, cooled down on the outside, but the flame still flaring on the inside. She re-dressed herself in her underwear, bra, and tank top, leaving behind the jeans, Uggs, and sweatshirt for what they were: too warm. She eyed herself in the hallway mirror, modesty wasn't an issue for her, not tonight and she knew she would be pushing his buttons in all the right places, but all she had on her mind was him so she made her way downstairs, not thinking twice.

"Well, don't you look tasty," Damon commented, appearing behind her as she entered the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks, but didn't turn around. She let him come to her. "Almost good enough to eat," he went on, his breath on the nape of her neck as he purposely invaded her personal space.

"Just to eat?" she asked playfully, giving him a flirtatious look from beneath her lashes as he came around and faced her, temporarily stunned by her words.

Feeling her hands creep beneath the shirt he had thrown on snapped him out of his state. "Elena." He placed his hands on her wrists, intent on pushing her away. This couldn't be happening, her coming on to him out of her own free will. "What are you doing? You'll break my little brother's heart," he sharply pointed out, his eyes intensely landing on hers.

Something in her eyes flickered and the glimmer in them went out only to come back on a few seconds later. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but she owed it to herself and to Damon, and Stefan to see whether she truly wanted this, or whether her feelings for Stefan were strong enough to hold her back. She let him push her hands from under his shirt only to place them on his chest again.

She pushed him backwards and he caught his weight against the counter, and then she pounced. She was all over him too quickly for him to muster up any restraint and prepare himself. Her mouth found his and she pushed her body against his, meshing together almost perfectly, like their bodies were made for this moment right now. Her hands disappeared under his shirt and slid up his abdomen lightening fast; only to drop back down so slow that it caused the most amazing sensation.

She smiled against his open mouth as she felt him respond, holding her around the waist gently, while having another hand entangled in her locks. He let her savor the moment as he lowered his head and began kissing her collar bone instead of her neck like she had expected him to do. She said his name and he trailed kisses back up to her mouth, devouring her as he brought both hands to her waist, lifting her effortlessly. She wrapped her legs around his waist as if it was the most natural thing to do and he held on to her, telling himself that this would never happen again. She must have slipped in the shower and banged her head or something…

… but she seemed so sure of her actions, she was the instigator yet again. He stopped kissing her so he could look at her, the way she looked at this particular moment. He cracked a crooked smile as he took her in, her half naked state, her face, rosy from excitement… It was too good to be true, it had to be, and it was.

They heard the front door open. Elena's eyes widened, but she didn't have time to say anything, she couldn't. What could she possibly say? She closed her eyes in despair and felt Damon put her back down. "Damon," she tried to come up with something, but by the time she opened her eyes again, he was nowhere to be seen, but he had left behind a token… her sweatshirt.

She cowardly put it on and went to open the fridge, taking out the first kind of soda she could find, closing the door just as Stefan strolled in. "Elena, what are you doing here?"

She managed a smile. "Nice to see you too."

He came up to her and kissed her. "Everything okay?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah, I just couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come here and try and sleep with you," she said, realizing it probably hadn't sounded so cute to Damon who had appeared in the doorframe.

"And so the hunter has returned," he joked and she looked at him, trying to find a crack in his perfect face, a sign that would let her know that the intimate moment they had shared had affected him as much. But she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, so maybe it was just what it was… a few heated kisses, passionate…

She looked away and reached for Stefan's hand, her comfort blanket even when she just made out with his brother. She gave it a squeeze. "I can go home if you want? I didn't mean to—"

"I'm glad you're here," Stefan cut her off and pulled her into him, the way Damon had not so long ago. Stefan placed a kiss on the top of her head, on top of her imaginary halo and it made her feel worse and uncomfortable. What was she doing, prancing around the house dressed in practically nothing when her boyfriend wasn't even in that house?

"You okay?" Stefan asked her again, more softly this time.

She nodded and pulled herself from him. "Just tired, the shower must've done that," she added an explanation for her half dressed condition. "Can we go up?"

Stefan nodded, faintly smiling. "Of course." He gave his brother a nod and headed for the stairs.

Elena gave Damon a look, trying to get across everything she was feeling and how sorry she was, but unsure yet if she wanted to take it back or not. She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything as she trailed behind Stefan up the stairs, feeling his eyes on her all the while.


Please leave behind a review? Well, I am extremely curious to hear what you thought of this chapter and of me turning this into a story? Compliments as well as critique is more than welcome. I'd like to think of myself as a writer at heart, so I am always looking to improve. Thanks for reading and for sharing in my excitement and obsession!