**Okay, so I changed A.J.'s hair color from light brown to blond, because I couldn't find a young enough actress with light brown hair to use in my fan fiction trailer**

A.J.

I sat at my desk, trying to concentrate on my History paper, though it didn't do any good. Because all I kept seeing was two piercing blue eyes, all I kept feeling was silky dark hair between my fingers, all I kept hearing was his voice. I tired to stop, but I couldn't. I heard a glass break and realized my uncle was drunk. Again. My parents had divorced, went their own ways, and left me with my uncle.

I stared down at my index finger, which still had a long, rugged cut on it from the previous night. Suddenly feeling frustrated, I slammed my history book closed and crawled in bed. I grabbed by MP3 player and started flipping through songs until I found something I could fall asleep to. "Look After You" by the Fray lulled me to sleep, but my last waking thought was remembering holding Damon in my arms as he died.

Damon

I opened the window and slid in, having no idea what the hell I was doing. Tracking her had been easy, but I still don't know what the hell I thought I was doing in her bedroom. She was sprawled out in jeans and a tank top on top of her blankets, sleeping soundly. I cocked my head, and with my vampire hearing, tried to figure out what song she was listening to on the MP3 player she had on. I identified the song as The Fray's "Look After You." I walked over and, careful not to wake her, sat on the side of her bed. I put almost none of my weight on the mattress, and I knew if she started stirring I could disappear out the open window and lock it before she even woke up. I reached out and pushed a lock of her long hair out of her face. Looking at her, I realized how striking she was. She had smooth, ivory colored skin, waist length light blond hair, and clear gray eyes with little flecks of blue and green in them. I remembered the color of her eyes even though right now they were closed. I leaned over and pressed my lips against her forehead.

"Sleep well, A.J." I said against her skin.

I disappeared before she even knew I'd been there to begin with.

A.J.

I showed up at the boardinghouse, praying I was at the right place. I'd asked around, and a blond girl named Caroline had told me that the Salvatore brothers lived at the "really big old boarding house" was how she had put it. So, here I was, having no idea what I was doing. I knocked on the door, and a guy who looked about my age (which is seventeen, by the way) with green eyes and a brooding forehead answered the door.

"Hello." He said, brooding at her.

"Hi. My name is A.J., I'm looking for Damon." I said, his brooding/staring thing making me nervous.

"He's at Mystic Grill or on his way home, but I'll tell him you stopped by. Oh, I'm Stefan, by the way." He said, extending his hand.

"It was nice to meet you, Stefan." I smiled, shaking his hand. I nodded my goodbye and retreated to my car, sighing in frustration. I would have liked to have seen Damon. But at least now I'd heard verbal confirmation that he was alive. And even though I'd somehow known he was alive, Damon's brother (or at least I assumed Stefan was Damon's brother) confirming it helped more than he knew.

I drove home and went in the house, still filled with relief.

Or at least I was until Uncle Darwin got home.

Damon

Stefan was on the couch reading when I got home.

"Hello, little brother." I said sarcastically, plopping down in the armchair next to the couch.

"One of your playthings came by looking for you." Stefan muttered without preamble. Damon cocked an eyebrow and looked up at Sir Broody.

"Beg your pardon?" I asked, folding my arms and propping my feet on the coffee table.

"Some blonde girl came here looking for you. Said her name was Amy or Ally or-"

"A.J.?" I asked, cutting him off and getting to my feet.

"Yeah, her." Stefan said, going back to his book. I grabbed my jacket, which I'd taken off as I'd come in the house, and took off out the door. I got into my GTO and pulled out of the driveway, all the while wondering why she wanted to see me. I pulled up in front of her house and arrived at the door in a blur of motion. I knocked and waited until A.J. answered it. Damn it, why couldn't I get over how damn pretty she was?

"You came." She whispered, blinking once.

"I'm not all that surprised that you sought me out. Like all women, you just can't get enough of me." I said, my lip curling up into that cocky half smile that reduced all women to quivering puddles.

A.J. just crossed her arms and scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself." She said, stepping back in implication I could come in. I stepped over the threshold, looking around. She didn't need to invite me in, simply because I'd been in this house once around a century ago. Of course, an entirely different family had been living there at the time, but I'd still been invited.

"Look, don't let this go to your head. I just wanted to see that you were okay." She said, sitting on the couch and motioning for me to do the same. I sat down and propped my feet on her lap, which she promptly shoved off. I sighed at her stubbornness.

"Well, as you can tell, I look very good." I said, meeting her eyes. She just sighed and shook her head at me. Then we both heard a car pull up and her eyes widened briefly.

"My room. Now." She said, grabbing my hand and pulling me along behind her as she half walked, half ran down the hallway.

I almost made an innuendo at her so desperately pulling me into her room, but the panic in her eyes shut me right up.

She sat down on the bed and tried and failed to look calm.

"A.J., what's wrong?" I asked, sitting next to her and forcing her to look at me by putting my hands on either side of her face and turning her towards me. The concern for her I felt was immediate and I reacted almost on instinct.

"Nothing." She said, though I didn't buy it one little bit.

"Tell me." I said, looking deep in her eyes. And though it would have been easy, I didn't even try to compel her. I figured that was the least I could do since she had, after all, saved my life.

"It's nothing. Really." She said, looking away. She moved her eyes from mine, but I was still holding her so that she couldn't turn her head.

"A.J., you saved my life. You saw a side of me you never should have had to. You can tell me anything." I said, brushing her hair out of her face. The gesture was simple and affectionate and felt oddly natural.

"I know, Damon. But just because I came out there last night does not mean you owe me anything." She said, and I realized offhandedly I liked the way she said my name. I also realized that for some reason, she didn't trust me. Hell, I didn't think she trusted much of anyone.

"I know that." I said simply, though I didn't mean it. Of course I owed her. I owed her my life, as melodramatic as that sounds.

She gave me a look that said she knew I was lying but didn't say anything. I could tell by the way she anxiously tapped her fingers on her knee and the way she glanced around the room that she wanted to be alone.

"I have to go, but if you ever need anything, just give me a call, okay?" I said, writing my cell phone number on a sheet of blank notebook paper that was laying on her desk.

She nodded and smiled and I thought I saw a glimmer of fear in her eyes, but when I looked at her again, it was gone.

"It's always have and never hold, you've begun to feel like home. What's mine is yours to leave or take. What's mine is yours to make your own."

~The Fray