At midnight they returned at their own apartment. With a careful push Damon opened the front door, whilst holding the helpless girl in his arms. Stefan had offered to hold her but Damon had insisted that he took the matter into his own hands. Wendi stood in the hall way and rushed over to hold the front door open for them to pass through. Stefan gave Wendi a reassuring smile as they walked in. Wendi shot him a questioning expression and Stefan just rolled his eyes in response, this showed Wendi that it was clearly another one of Damon's actions being put on Stefan. Damon took long but silent strides into the front room, making his way to the long couch in the centre. He walked around and carefully laid the girl onto the couch just in front of the fire place. Wendi walked to Damon's side as Stefan hid the chemical in a glass cabinet across the other side of the front room. "Where did you find her?" Wendi asked, shocked out of her wits. Damon let out a tired sigh, "She was just lying in the middle of the road. We don't know what happened to her." Stefan walked around the couch at leaned against the arm of it, examining the girls face. "Either way, we plan to ask her when she wakes up...right?" Damon nods in approval, "Yes. Let her sleep for now." Stefan nods and steps away from the couch letting Damon push a cushion underneath her head to make her more comfortable. Stefan wondered for a moment when Damon last seemed this caring, which was years and years ago. Damon had never had to care for anyone or show any kindness. This struck Stefan as a little suspicion to see from him. Damon rushed over to the cupboard over at the side and pulled out a folded up quilt which he delicately laid over the girl's cold body.

"There. That should keep her warm."

"Turning soft are we, Damon?" Stefan whispered into her air. Damon could sense his thoughts and turned, grabbing his collar in a aggressive manner. "Just because I'm helping a girl out from dying in the cold does not mean I'm turning soft!" He growled. "I will never be soft! You hear? I will fucking rip you in two if you carry on." Wendi panicked and stood between the two of them, pushing Damon away him. "Calm down, Damon! Jeeze, what is wrong with you?" Damon swallowed and stepped away, brushing his hand through his hair. "Nothing. I just hate it when people think I'm fucking soft! I'm not! I'm a killer!"

"Why did you bring her here, Damon? When she wakes up, she's gonna ask questions. She'll know! Straight away, what we are!"

Damon gave a helpless shrug, "I'll think of something."

"Yeah and fast!" Wendi pushed.

Stefan stood behind Wendi, shooting Damon a angry glare. Then before anything else could be said, Stefan vanished in the blink of an eye out of the front room, leaving Wendi and Damon alone. Damon gave a long sigh and gave Wendi a serious look, "Where's Caroline?"

"In bed. She's asleep."

"Ok. Good."

"Did you get it? The potion?" Wendi hoped he did.

Damon gave a slow nod, "Yes, don't worry. We got it."

"Good."

"Klaus caught us..." Damon added at the last minute.

"WHAT!?"

"Wendi, chill! It's ok, he-"

"Oh, great...trust you two to-"

"Wendi! It's fine! Klaus was fine about it! We made a deal!" Damon reassured her. Wendi folded her arms over her chest with a scowling look on her face, "What kind of deal, Damon?"

"Let's just say, I owe him a mortal." Damon whispered in response.

"You've got to be joking."

"Nope. True talk, Wendi...true talk." He grinned, gazing down at the girl. For a moment, Damon considered to hand the girl over to him but the kind side of him reasoned with him. How could he hand over this cold helpless girl over to Klaus? She looked barely alive and her body had no warm form of temperature. How could he?

"I'm guessing, that girl...she is the mortal, I take it?" Wendi guessed.

"No." Damon replied simply.

"No? Damon. You've saved her now she'll find out what we are! The only solution is to hand her over to Klaus! We can't keep her!"

"We can. I'll just lie and say I'm on the look for one."

"Damon, you're insane! You can't seriously be thinking straight!?" Wendi hoped.

Damon shook his head, turning towards to watch the burning flames in the fire place. He didn't answer Wendi. He didn't know what to say. He knew she was right, if he wanted this to be easy he would just hand the girl over to Klaus but looking at her fragile helpless form, he couldn't believe he could be capable of such. Damon had killed many mortals and vampires but how could he do this? That would just be crawl, god knows what this girls had already been through. He was not up to make her state of future worse for her just by handing her over to the worse of many people! He had completely forbidden the thought. Wendi gave up trying to get through to him and stormed out and through the long hallway where Stefan had vanished down. Wendi returned to examining sick Caroline, hoping her temperature was at a fine standard, they were all begging for Caroline to hold on. Stefan had grown fond of Caroline and found it hard to choke his tears back as he stood over her as she laid in the bed. Wendi rushed into the room and jumped at Stefan's presence. "Oh my god, you scared me!"

"Sorry." He muttered in reply.

"No worries. How is she doing?"

"Not bad. She seems fine, I guess."

"We'll give her the potion tomorrow, yes?" Wendi confirmed. Stefan nodded in confirmation. The hours ticked by as Wendi and Stefan sat by Caroline's bedside, hoping she would soon wake.

Blur...just a blur...

Flames...burning...

Vision is closing, light is extending...

Where...?

Where...?

Words fail...words cannot be compatible...

There's no description...but there's instinct...

She cannot be sure...her stomach is swirling...

Is it panic...?

Is it her home...?

Her eye lids are rising...the image before her is clearer...

Where?

She wakes up with groggy words. "Wh...Where...?" Her words are glum and groggy, failing her sleepily. She turns her head, examining the room, trying to see passed her blurry vision. The room is a light and the curtains are drawn back, allowing all the windows around her provide sunlight. "It's ok." A voice speaks, a hand reaches out and rests on her shoulder, calming her panic that swirls around in her stomach. She glances up and a face stares back at her, smiling softly. "Who...?" She tries but she can barely think let alone form words. "I'm Damon." His smile widens and he helps her sit up. She rubs her forehead and readjusts her eyes, squeezing them shut tight and blinking a few times. "Where am I?"

"It's all fine, don't worry. You're in my...house." Damon struggled to explain, trying to sound as human as possible. "How did I get here?"

"Well, perhaps you could explain what you were doing, lying in the road?" Damon questioned, eyeing her curiously as he handed her a glass of water from the side table. "Was I?" She asked, confused. She swallowed at least several gulps of water from the glass and handed it back to him with a shaking hand. He nodded, a little concerned by her unawareness. "Don't you remember? You was lying in the road, in the middle of the night." Damon recapped the whole scene for her, hoping it would jog her memory. She gave it a long thought and then remembered, "Oh...yes. I was in the middle of an argument...I think."

"An argument? With who, may I ask?"

"A friend. Nothing really important. Just silly." She smirked to herself, shaking her head at the situation. Damon breathed calmly and sat down on the couch next to her body. "Was you attacked?" She immediately shook her head in horror, "No, no. I..."

"What?" He pushed, "You can say. You can tell me."

She shook her head, "No...I...I don't want to."

"What's your name?" He tried instead. At first the girl ignored his questioned but her eyes slowly looked up to lock with his. "Elena." She finally answered. He smiled widely at her, "Hello, Elena." He greeted coolly. His polite greeting made a slight giggle escape her lips. "Hello, Damon." She replied with a shy smile. Then in that second, that very second, Damon felt a spark. Something important between them. His heart slowly melted at how she pronounced each syllable of his name with such care. Elena noticed his surprised expression become visible and she bit her lip shyly, turning her head away. Before the conversation could escalate Wendi rushed in, "Is she-?" Damon snapped his head round, his eyes immediately meeting Wendi's. "I see she has woken up." Damon gave her a stiff nod, "Yes. Could you bring her some breakfast, please?" Wendi smiled over at Elena. "Sure." She turned on her heels and turned to her left where the kitchen was. "You don't need to do that." Elena spoke to Damon. Damon's eyes shot back round to her and for a split second Elena thought she saw a blazing red colour in them. Damon immediately shook it off, trying to hold it in. "No. I insist. I refuse to let you go without food." Elena smiled shyly up at him once again, shocked at his generosity. "Well, thank you."

"No problem."

"No, really, thank you for taking care of me and everything."

"Oh, really it's fine. I'm happy to help." He reassured her, smiling as his eyes shone with a million smiles to go with it.

"I feel like I know you." Elena whispers. Damon smirks and shots her a grin, "I've got that sort of face!" Then the pair of them burst out in laughter. Elena breathe, trying to catch her breath. "That's a first."

"What?"

"I haven't laughed like that in months."

"Why not?" Damon seemed baffled.

"Oh...just stupid...I've never really been able to see the funny sides of things...that's all."

"Oh. Well, I could teach you a few sarcastic lines to laugh at?"

She laughed at that, finding him easily amusing. "You're funny, I'll give you that!" She giggled uncontrollably. "Aren't I just!" Damon grinned charmingly, straightening his shirt collar in a humouring gesture. She grinned in response. Wendi walked in from behind the two of them from out of the kitchen and held a tray with a plate of jam on toast and a cup of hot chocolate. "Here ya go!" Wendi sung, placing the tray securely on Elena's lap. Damon smiled approvingly at Wendi, "Cheers, Wendi."
"No worries." She replied to him, watching the girl begin to chew on the toast. Damon nodded towards Wendi, his eyes telling her to leave the two of them alone. Wendi obeyed his request and quickly vanished from the room. Damon watched Elena eat, happy to see her build her strength back up. As he gazed at her, admiring her beautiful long brunette locks drape over her shoulders. He couldn't help but notice how young she seemed to what he was. When he saw her lying helplessly in the middle of the road, she seemed much older somehow. He wasn't sure what he assumed but she was different, that was all he could say about her. "How old are you?" He asked her, eyeing her curiously. She swallowed the last piece of her first toast, "Seventeen." Damon didn't respond, he just shot her a kind smile.

"You?"

"Me?" He asked and she nodded. "twenty-three" He answered clearly. She smiled softly, "Cool." He smirked and shot her a quick wink, "Getting old!" She laughed and shook her head, "You're far from it. My grandmother, she's 96 and she's still hanging on!" That made Damon chuckle, if only she knew how old he REALLY was. In vamp years. In that moment he began to recap the whole eight hundred years of his existence. Oh boy, would he love to tell her.