She could have dozed for hours but she heard the groan from the bed sat up immediately. "Damon?" His eyes opened and focused on her, which was the best sight she had seen all day. "Hi." She squeezed his hand and her smile got bigger when he squeezed it back. Thank god for vampire healing. The swelling had gone down quite a bit in his face and she knew that once he was wake he'd be okay. "How are you feeling?"

Damon managed to raise an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Sorry," she said, blushing. "That was a dumb question." At least he was able to make with the comments. He was getting back to himself and she couldn't ignore the relief that was washing over her body.

He struggled to push himself up and Elena slid an arm around his back. "Thanks," he said, leaning against his head board.

"Hungry?" she asked, resting a hand on his leg. It had to be hard for him to accept her help, when he was so used to be the strong one and in control of the things around him. But she was glad he hadn't kicked her out yet, or made any rude comments to her. She also knew that he didn't want Stefan taking care of him.

Damon shook his head. "Did you take the bullets out?"

Her heart dropped. She was supposed to take them out? "Oh my god," she said, in horror. "No I didn't." She wondered how much damage she had caused by not taking them out, but no one told her they had to come out. Damon hadn't been conscious enough to tell her that the bullets needed to be taken out, and she hoped he'd be okay.

"We got to take them out," he said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to push his body up. "It'll hurt worse if we don't."

Once again her arm was around his waist and she was helping him to the bathroom. "One sec," she said, going back to the lock his bedroom door. She knew what he needed and her heart was racing as she prepared for what she was about to do. With a calming breath, she headed back to the bathroom. "I don't know how I'm going to do this." She wasn't a doctor; she had no professional experience for this kind of thing.

"There's only two," he said, handing her the tweezers. "Just grab the bullets tight and pull. It's going to hurt, but don't stop."

Elena bit her lip but she began the daunting task of extracting the two bullets and with Damon's instructions, she was able to tug them both free from his flesh. She dropped the tweezers on the counter before carefully wiping the little bit of blood away from the holes that were already healing. "You alright?"

Damon nodded. "Just need rest," he said, swaying a little on his feet.

Her hands took residence against his hips as she helped him steady himself. He needed blood and she knew that. It hit her like a ton a bricks how bad he needed to have nourishment. "Damon," she said, moving her hair to one side. "You have to feed."

"I will," he answered, shaking the dizziness from his head. "Just need a day to heal."

"Damon," she said, once again, before lifting his gaze to hers. "You need human blood, right now. And I'm offering you mine." There was human blood downstairs, but somehow she thought hers would be better for him. It would help him heal faster.

He shook his head, weakly trying to push her away from him. "I could never do that," he said. "It would change everything between us. I would never be able to let you go, Elena."

She knew the consequences for allowing Damon to feed on her. It would be hell with Stefan. She had known for some time that Damon had feelings for her, more than just friendship, and he had all but just admitted it. "You fed off Caroline," she said. She had seen the marks he had put on Caroline, and how painful they looked. She had also seen how easily he threw her out like she was nothing.

"That was different," Damon said, shaking his head. "She was nothing, just food. I used her."

Elena bit her lip before gently grasping his hand and bringing it to her cheek. "You're not going to get better if you don't feed," she said, staring up at him. She couldn't use Caroline as an example or anyone else he had fed off of. She was so much more to him than food and she knew it.

He moved closer to her, stroking her jaw bone lightly. "Elena, you don't know what you're asking," he whispered. "You have no idea what it would do to me."

She stared at his open expression as he gave her a chance to back out of the situation and she felt the shift inside of her. She lifted her head to press her lips against his and the slight pressure she felt in return was enough to ease her mind. She slid an arm around his neck as she hugged him tightly to her, only pulling back to pull air into her lungs. "I'm serious, Damon," she panted, leaning her forehead against his.

His lips carefully caressed her pulse point sending shivers down her spine as he slipped a knee between hers. "Elena," he whispered, his fangs gently slipping into her flesh.

She moaned in pleasure and tossed her head back as she clutched him against her. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, not like she thought it would be. She had been prepared for pain, but she hadn't prepared for it to feel this good.

Damon's knees shook from exhaustion and emotion as he lowered them to the soft rug on the floor. He was being careful as to how much blood he pulled from her, keeping his focus on her heart rate. She whimpered his name as one of her long legs wrapped around his hip, and he affectionately licked the wounds closed on her neck. His body was already feeling years better as he rested his weight on his arms so he could stare at her flushed face.

Elena's eyes fluttered open and she smiled a little. "Feel okay?" She could feel the blood pumping in her ears as she processed what had just happened to her. Everyone called him a monster, but she knew better. He could control himself and make sure that he didn't hurt her when he was feeding.

"More than okay," he answered, getting to his feet, slowly helping her up as well. "What now?"

Elena fixed her shirt and licked her lips. "I have to sit for a minute," she said, moving around him to head to his bed before she passed out. She stared at his body, that was almost void off all bruises and the cuts that were marring his face were almost gone, as were the bullet holes. "You look much better." She was amazed how fast his body was healing.

He kept himself away from her as he stared into her eyes. "Stefan isn't going to like that you let me bite you," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I know," she said with a sigh. Damon was keeping his guard up and not bringing up the fact that she kissed him, or enjoyed his bite. He didn't want to make a thing out of it if it wasn't important right now. "It's definitely not going to be a pretty conversation." After a moment she got to her feet and approached him. "I wasn't playing games with you Damon. I just… it had to be the right time to tell Stefan."

Damon relaxed as their hands linked together. "I'm not going to be second best to anyone, Elena," he said, softly. "Never again."

She knew what he was really saying. He wasn't going to share her with Stefan, so she was either all in or she was out. "I promise you that it won't be like that," she said. "I need you to trust me and let me handle it." She kissed his cheek softly. "I've got to go home and take care of a few things, but I'll see you later?"

He nodded and leaned down to kiss her softly. "Be careful," he said.

She smiled and stole another kiss before she left the room. Her heart was hammering against her rib cage as she made her way downstairs, hoping she could avoid Stefan for the time being. She'd have to face him sooner or later, but she sighed in relief when she got to her car with no encounters. She needed a little time to think before she had this talk with Stefan.

The drive home was uneventful, unlike her thoughts that were causing a train wreck in her brain. Her phone vibrated when she locked her front door behind her and she smiled seeing Damon's name. 'Miss you already'. She remembered when she used to look forward to those messages from Stefan, but she had been feeling the spark fade for some time now. Her phone vibrated again, this time from Stefan, saying he wanted to talk to her for a few minutes. She knew she should say no and wait a little bit, but her thumbs had a mind of their own and typed yes. She changed her clothes, slipping a collared shirt over her head that would work with her hair to cover Damon's mark.

There was a knock on her door not two minutes later and she groaned before heading downstairs to answer it, revealing Stefan. She smiled at him and headed to his car with him. She buckled up as he headed away from her house. "You okay?" she asked, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm fine," he answered. "Damon seems to be better."

"Good," she said, as they parked at the cemetery where her parents were buried. She knew Stefan had reservations about her and Damon, and now he had every right to be, but that didn't make any of this easier.

"Elena," he said, softly. "I know something's wrong."

"Let's walk," she suggested, as they both got out of the car and made their way through the paths. "Nothing is wrong, but I do have to tell you something." She could do this. She was a strong person, she just hoped Stefan could handle it and not freak out. She turned to face him as they paused in the middle of the path. "Damon and I kissed, by accident I guess." She felt a little bad that she had glossed over her kiss with Damon because it was anything but an accident, but she didn't want to rub it in Stefan's face.

"Kissing isn't an accident," he said, looking away from her. "You used to hate my brother but I can see he's won you over."

"It just happened," she said, shaking her head. "This hasn't been going on for awhile, Stefan. It just happened and I'm being honest with you about it." He didn't say much of anything and she could see the distant look in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," he said, pulling her into a hug.

Elena hugged him tightly and when the hug seemed to go on a little too long, she got worried. "Stefan?" Nothing could have prepared her for the searing pain that shot through her body as his fangs tore into her neck, right over Damon's mark. There was no use in trying to push him away from her and the trees started spinning before she felt herself drop to the ground.

Stefan pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number before laying it next to her head. "Hi beautiful," came Damon's voice.

Elena felt tears slid down her cheeks as Stefan disappeared. "Damon…" she choked out, trying to reach the phone, but any movement made her head spin even more.

"Where are you?" he asked and she could picture him already out the door.

She swallowed and sniffled. "Grave…"

"I'm on my way." And the line went dead. She relaxed against the grass as she allowed her eyes to close. Damon was on his way. He'd get to her in time before something else did.