A/N: Hope you all enjoyed chapter 1. I have several ideas whirling around about the last episode. I can hardly contain myself

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Elena inhaled deeply as they entered the boarding house. She used to think it smelled like an old house most of the time, but with her heightened senses revealed so much more. Blood, warmth, Damon's cologne, his body wash, the faint smell of various woods; she sensed it all. "Did you talk to Stefan?" she asked when she determined the house was empty. She was glad they had some privacy. She hated having everyone in their business just because she was Elena. Some things she just wanted to be kept private; just between her and Damon.

"I haven't since I left him at the diner," he said his brows creasing. "He said he was fine while I went to look for you."

The tension was already starting between them and Stefan was going to be a constant in both their lives, and she did not want things to always be uncomfortable. "Damon, I promise nothing is going on with Stefan," she said, carefully. "Never again. I know how it may have looked today, but I would never hurt you like that." Stefan was her past. She had long since had closure with him, and she was content with the way things were. Whether he was or not, she had no idea, but all she cared about was being with Damon.

"I know," he said, closing the distance between them. "I know you love me Elena… and I knew when we were apart." Her heart jumped in anticipation. She had not been expecting that out of him so early. But it made her just as happy. She could never stop loving him and it was killing her to follow his rules about being apart. His phone vibrated, revealing a text from Enzo. "Hm."

"Everything okay?" she asked, fighting the urge to lift up her heels a little to peek over his phone. He would tell her, he told almost everything. But she wasn't going to lie; she was interested in what Enzo was up to after dumping her body. With everything else going on, they didn't need this complication. She didn't want to always look over her shoulder for him, or worry about him coming after Damon.

"Enzo left town," he said sadly.

"I'm sorry," she said, grabbing his hand. "I know you did it to save us." Having gone through the process, it was liberating when it happened, but the pain was still there. She had seen what it had done to Damon to watch another friend lose control. Her heart broke when Damon tried to stop Enzo from shutting it off, but he had been too late. He had lost so much. The helpless look in Damon's eyes when he realized he lost Enzo cut her to her core. Again he had given up something precious for her. He wouldn't have been so extreme if it was only Stefan that Enzo had attacked.

"I wanted to help him," he said with a weak shrug. "Do right by someone. It was my fault that all this happened."

For a minute, she was quiet. "You know Damon," she said, tightening her grip around his fingers. Her first sensation when she became a vampire was always being cold, except when Damon was near her. For weeks her hands had been like ice, but right now to her, it felt like their hands were going to go up in flames, but she refused to let go. "For once, you need to do right by you and no one else. Even me." Whatever that may be, she would support him. He deserved unconditional love from her right now, everything she could give him to get through this. They had to do it together.

"I am," he said, scooping her up. "And doing right by me means taking care of you. And you need rest."

"I don't know why none of us can stay out of trouble," she muttered, resting her head on his shoulder. She could walk, pretty easily at this point, but she wasn't about to tell him to put her down. "For one day. Is it too much to ask?"

"Is it too much to ask that you stop looking for trouble?" he countered as they entered his room, carefully setting her on her feet. Reluctantly dropping his arms from around her, afraid she would slip through his fingers. He could so easily mess this up again. He always messed up the good in his life. "You need to feed, especially after your neck being broken."

She noticed various things around his room, her things that she had left. One of her many hoodies was on the floor, some of her candles were on his dresser, and he obviously burned them while they were separated. She could see half the counter in the bathroom with some of her perfume and makeup. He was still waiting for her, even if he didn't realize it. A picture of them was still on the nightstand, on his side now though. "He probably thought I deserved it," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "After everything I did to you, I got off easy." Enzo probably hated her before he shut everything off; and that was just amplified in magnitudes once he shut it off, coupled with his heart ache. And what better way to hurt Damon then to hurt her.

Damon shook his head. "He's not like that sweetheart," he said, tilting his head towards her. "I never blamed you for anything." Of course he didn't. Ric had told her some of the stories about being drunk with Damon… and how he was more open when he was drinking… a lot. But now, after everything they had been through, she could only imagine the pain he was in. The same pain that was inside her.

"Should have," she said, raising glassy eyes to meet his. Both the brothers put her on this pedestal and she felt like she failed them every time something wrong. She hated that she had this control over them… they deserved better. "Instead of blaming yourself."

He slowly sat next to her. "Let's just... put the past behind us," he said, carefully. "Both of ours. We will start fresh and relearn each other. Neither of us is perfect Elena and it won't do us any good to keep dwelling on the past."

"That sounds like an awesome idea," she said agreed as her cell phone rang. "It's Bonnie."

"Answer it," he said shrugging. "Then I'm serious. You need rest."

She pushed his arm as she took the phone call, toeing off her boots as she got up to dig around his dresser for pajamas. However, her conversation with Bonnie quickly altered her movements as she faced Damon. Bonnie gave her swift instructions and the call was over before her brain could process. "Bonnie said I have to go into hiding," she forced out past the lump in her throat. "More people after my blood and Stefan's." She ran a shaky hand through her hair that was already starting to knot. "Great."

Damon pulled the suitcases out, like it was the most natural thing in the world for them to be running. "Did she say for how long?" he asked as he started pulling his clothes from the closet and dresser. It scared her how fluent he was at picking up and leaving. She wondered how many times he had thought about it when they had fought.

"Nope," she said, heading to the bathroom. "Where will we go?" Running from witches never seemed to work. They always found her. Cursed vampire blood.

"I'll take care of that," he said. But she had to admit, when they had situations like this, it turned her on to see how well he handled things. He was all business and no bullshit. "I'm going to go pack up the blood."

Her phone rang again once he was gone, this time it was Stefan. "I can't talk right now," she said as gently as she could. She didn't want to hurt Stefan, but her she had made her choice clear. Stefan was always going to be a part of her life, and she didn't want it to be awkward anymore between the three of them.

"Enzo is dead," Stefan said, freezing her heart. "Damon thinks he left town, and I want to keep it that way. I just want you to know that you're safe."

"I'm not going to lie to him Stefan," she said, angrily. How dare he ask such a thing of her? Damon knew her inside and out. Did Stefan really think that she could hide this from Damon? Every time she had lied to him in the past, things had gone horribly wrong, and they were supposed to be on a new page. How could she possible work things out with him, starting with a lie?

"You have to," he said coldly. "We just got him back Elena so for now, you have to. Damon will forget about him and move on to something else. If you don't want to lose him, don't say anything."

Elena sighed and hung up as she ran a hand over her face. She couldn't possibly keep this from Damon, especially now. She cared about Stefan, but she was not going to let him influence things with Damon anymore. But it could wait until they were on the road. She stuffed the rest of her things into the suitcase, zipping it up as Damon joined her once more. Before he could get a word out, she smashed her lips against his.

"What was that for?" he asked in wonder, his hands settling on her waist, pulling her close to his body.

"Because I love you," she answered truthfully, holding his cheeks tenderly. "And it's been awhile since I had one."

A bright smile appeared on his face, even amidst the danger they were both in. But he kissed her once more, this time more forcefully, his hand fisting in her hair as his tongue slipped over hers. "I love you too," he said, almost in a growl. His brows creased as he dropped his arms from around her, almost disappointed that he couldn't have her right now, but they had to go. Her safety was number one priority, and that was enough to put his libido on hold. "Let's get out of here."