Good day my lovelies! I have to say that I am pleased with the response this chapter received here on FFn. I was iffy about posting it here, due to the rating issue, but I am glad I did. Here is the second chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 2

Damages

The next morning, Elena awoke to the sunshine bearing through her window. She groaned, thankful it was Saturday. She was also surprised to find that there was an arm draped around her waist.

At first, she thought it was Stefan, but then she remembered the events of the previous night, and looked over her shoulder to find that she was, in fact, laying next to Damon. To say that she felt ashamed hardly covered it. She had committed an act of such betrayal at such a critical time in her relationship with Stefan. If he didn't end it, the guilt alone would kill her.

Carefully, she pulled herself from his grasp, sitting up in her bed. Instantly, she felt the effects of the night before. Her head pounded, and her entire body ached. She held the sheet close to her chest, her eyes wincing from the pain. On top of that, she felt the tears welling in her eyes again, threatening to pour down her face.

"Well, don't cry on my account."

Elena's eyes shot open and turned to the voice that she hoped didn't belong to the person she knew it did. Her heart ached at the sight of Stefan, sitting in her desk chair, arms across his chest, glaring at her.

Damon awoke too, hearing his voice. Of course, he didn't seem too worried. Damon never seemed to think the crisis was as dire as it was. He sat up, "Baby brother. Glad to see you could join us."

Stefan stood, "I'd expect this from you Damon, but Elena? Please tell me that he at least compelled you? Please tell me you didn't willingly sleep with him?" Stefan picked up her robe off the back of her bedroom door and threw it at her. "Cover yourself."

Elena couldn't speak as she grabbed the robe, tyeing it around her. She stood quickly and took a step towards him, "Stefan..." Her voice was weak, full of guilt.

His hand reached out, gripping her by the arm a little too tightly. All the while, Damon stayed put, leaning against the headboard, arms propped and watching the show.

"Tell me Elena. Tell me you didn't willingly do it."

"Stefan," she started, "Stefan, I..I'm sorry."

He squeezed her arm.

"Stefan, you're hurting me."

"Why, Elena? Just tell me why?" His grip didn't loosen and she saw the pained look that filled his eyes. "I thought you loved me."

The tears slipped out without her control as she tried to pull away, but his grip tightened, "I'm sorry, Stefan. I do love you."

Damon moved from her bed now. She didn't watch him but from the looks of it, he was pulling his pants on. Next thing she knew he was by them, "Let her go Stefan."

Stefan's teeth gritted, making her cringe, "Why would you do this to me? You always have to ruin everything Damon! You always have to take away the things that matter most to me!" He released her arm and turned to Damon, rushing him fast, slamming him into the wall, "She's NOT Katherine. WHY would you do this to me?"

"You're the one who took Katherine away from me!" he countered, but his voice was more amused than angry, like he had accomplished something triumphant.

She moved away, backing against her bedroom door, "Just, STOP Stefan! Just leave him alone!" She wasn't happy with herself, and by far she was angry with Damon, but she didn't want Stefan to kill him. At least not in her house. "Get out Stefan! GET OUT!"

Stefan turned, and she saw that his face was contorted, his teeth extended and his eyes dark and malicious. She winced away from him, hating to see him in that state, and then a moment later he was out the window, leaving Damon standing there alone.

It only took a moment for Damon to speak, "Well, that went well." He saw the look in Elena's eyes and curbed his joking demeanor and started to speak but she cut him off.

"How could you be so carefree Damon? You knew this would happen. You've RUINED everything like you always do!"

Next he was upon her, pressing her against the door. He pinned her arms to the wood, not allowing her to move as he pressed his lips to the base of her throat.

It took her by surprise, his quick movements. She would never stand a chance against him. And she felt the fire well up within her again but she squashed it, consumed by the anger. She growled, something that Damon was finding very erotic as he continued to trail his lips along her skin. "Get the fuck off of me Damon. I hate you."

Damon laughed, a sound that enraged her even more. "If I had a quarter... Elena, my love, you had every moment to say no; to say stop. I did not compel you. I did not force you to scream my name in ecstasy. You are just as much to blame. And don't tell me you didn't have fun." He pulled her hair out of her face and looked at her, surprised at the conflict he saw within her eyes. He had actually thought all night that maybe this had happened because she just needed someone in that moment, that all along the tiny little instances where he thought there might be a spark was wrong. But he saw it now. He saw the passion, the confusion, and the anger swirling around, each emotion fighting for dominance.

In that moment, the anger took hold again, and she growled, still struggling against him, "Get out of my room. NOW."

He would've continued to tempt her, but a knock on the door stopped him.

It was her Aunt Jenna, "Elena? Elena are you okay? What's going on in there?"

Damon stopped and turned to leave, but not before he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a quick farewell kiss that left her breathless, and even more irritated.

Elena turned quickly, opening the door to face her aunt who had the most confused look on her face.

"Is everything all right in here?"

Elena nodded, "Yeah, um. I had a bad dream, and then I fell out of bed." She formed a half smile, secretly praying that her aunt would buy it. Thankfully, she did.

"Well, you should be more careful. Look, I'm going out to buy some groceries and then I have a lunch date with a friend. Are you gonna be all right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine. Where's Jeremy?"

"He's asleep. Anyways, are you sure you're all right? What's that on your neck? Did you land on something?"

She reached for her neck, wincing as she touched a tender spot, "Yeah, I guess so. I'll take care of it." She smiled, "I'll be all right."

"Okay then. I'll see you a little later."

"Bye." After that, Elena shut her door, locking it again. She moved over to her bed, crawling into it again. She grabbed the extra pillow that Damon had slept on, pulling it to her chest and let her tears flow again, and this time they didn't stop until she fell back asleep.

Damon entered the library to find Stefan sitting on an ottoman, facing the fire. He had a bottle of whiskey, half empty, and was throwing photos into the blaze in front of him. Damon walked up, grabbing the bottle and taking swig before he sat in a chair adjacent to Stefan, who was paying no attention to his entrance.

"Stefan," Damon started, "I'm not going to say I'm sorry, because we both know that would be a lie. But I will say, that I should not have done that. I will say, that I was wrong." Damon meant it, to an extent. He really never thought she would actually go through with it.

Stefan scoffed tossing another photo of Elena into the fire, "Damn right you are. Did the thought not enter your mind as to what you were doing? Do you only ever think about yourself?"

"You know the answer to that question."

"Yeah, well, you're a piece of shit. And now you've ruined the only good thing I had going here. It's time to move on now since that thing is now gone."

"She loves you, Stefan."

"Yeah, that's completely obvious. Hence why in my moment of weakness, she fucks my brother. I saw it in her eyes Damon, she told me to get out. Not you. ME. Even if I could fix it, it would never be the same, because I saw the conflict in her eyes when I caught you. I saw it when she hesitated when I asked her if you compelled her. It will never be the same. So let me just ask you, big brother, was it worth it?"

Damon would never say yes to Stefan's face, even though he undoubtedly knew the answer. He would also never tell him how he truly felt about Elena. That, just as Stefan felt the need to know her, and be near her, so did he. He, just like Stefan, loved Elena, just like they had both loved Katherine.

He chuckled.

Stefan's attention snapped to him, "What's so fucking funny?"

Damon waved his hand, "I'm sorry. I was just thinking."

"Thinking what? That it was funny that you once again ruined my life?"

"No. And let's not get to pointing fingers. You, after all, got Katherine locked away, or chased off. Whatever. But it wasn't about that." At least not entirely, he thought.

Stefan grabbed the whiskey, taking a few long gulps before he tossed the last of the pictures into the fire, then turned to Damon, "I am leaving Mystic Falls. I do not want you to follow me. You do whatever the fuck you want, but I'm gone."

"And what about Elena?"

"What about her? She made her choice. She obviously doesn't trust me and doesn't want to be with me. I will respect those wishes. You, will leave me alone. Do you understand? For once in this soulless, miserable existence, please leave me alone. Whatever chance we might have had at being brotherly again, it's gone. I'm done. I apologized for Katherine, for what I did, yet you still haven't truly forgiven me. Let me be."

Damon nodded slowly, "I understand." He understood all right. He understood that Stefan was being a coward. He understood that instead of fighting for Elena, he would just let her go, walking away from everything, just as he always did. He stood, moving away from Stefan as left the room, heading to his own to relax for the day.

However, he couldn't relax. He found himself thinking about Elena; thinking about how she looked the night before when she had been riding him, her eyes locked into his intently, lustfully. He hadn't compelled her at all. It had all been her, and he couldn't deny what he saw in her eyes, a glimpse of what could be between them. And then again, the way she looked at him this morning.

He tried to play the bad ass, tried to pretend he had no remorse for what had occurred. For the most part, he didn't but there was a little remorse, mostly for hurting Elena. With her, he felt different,

After debating for a few hours, he decided that he would go see her. He took a shower, changed clothes, and came back downstairs to find Stefan sitting in the same spot, next to a now empty bottle. He said nothing as he walked out the door, honoring Stefan's wishes.

He took his time getting over to Elena's, because he knew that she would more than likely still be pissed. He didn't blame her, but he had to talk to her. When he got there, he went to the front door. It almost surprised him how courteous he was being. He could easily pop in through her window, but he decided against it. He wasn't to do this right, so he stood at the door, and knocked.

A few seconds later the door opened, and her brother Jeremy stood there, a scowl on his face. "What do you want?"

Damon would have said he was confused as to why Jeremy was so cranky, but he wasn't. One of two things had occurred: Elena had told him, or he had heard everything that had happened the night before and this morning.

"Is Elena here?" he asked.

"She is, but she doesn't want to see you."

"Please Jeremy?" Damon resisted the urge to compel him, knowing that it would bite him in the ass later if he did.

Jeremy didn't budge, "No."

"Please?" He was losing his patience.

"Why should I?"

Damon sighed, "Because I really need to talk to her? Because I'll wait out here all day if I have to, Jeremy."

Jeremy stood there for a minute, then finally moved aside, "Fine. But she's going to be pissed that you're here."

"I know," he said moving past him and heading straight up the stairs to her door. It was shut, and Damon knocked. He could hear her through the door, sniffling, no doubt she had been crying.

"What do you want?" She sounded terrible, and suddenly Damon felt a small tinge of guilt tug at him. Minuscule, but nonetheless there.

"I need to talk to you."

"Go away, Damon. I have nothing to say to you."

"Please, Elena?" He was hearing that word come out of his mouth a lot today.

"No."

He turned the knob, the door was locked. He leaned against the door frame, "Elena, you can either open the door and let me in, or I can just break it and come in. I want to do this the right way, so please. Let me in."

He listened for her, hearing her sigh, then sniff before he heard the rustling of the sheets then the movement of her footsteps toward the door. The lock clicked and then he heard her move away, back to her bed. He reached for the handle, turned it, then entered slowly, cautiously.

Elena sat on her bed, a pile of tissues next to her, she gathered them, and then moved them to her waste basket, then grabbed a clean one, and blew her nose in it. She looked pathetic, and Damon knew it was his fault.

He didn't move near her, but he did shut the door to allow for a little bit of privacy. She didn't look at him, but she did speak, her voice hurt and angry, "What do you want, Damon?"

For once, he was at loss for words. It took him a moment, but he managed to conjure the words he couldn't even bring himself to say to Stefan, "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Ha! You've ruined everything! You aren't content until everyone else around you is miserable! This is all YOUR fault Damon! I don't need your apologies. I don't want them, so you can just get the fuck out."

She was furious. She couldn't believe he had the audacity to show up here and pretend that he felt any remorse, whatsoever, for what he had done.

"How can you just be angry with me, Elena? I did not compel you last night. I think you're just as angry with yourself, but you're too righteous to see it!" He tried not to yell, or even raise his voice, but it did, just a little. "Yeah, I may have wanted it to happen. Yeah, I knew the consequences, and I knew that Stefan would be pissed, but I didn't actually think you'd give in. All my life its always been Stefan, Stefan, Stefan! What about me? Why should I have to always sacrifice? I could love you just as good as him! Maybe better!"

Elena's eyes shot to him, a glare mixed with confusion, then she scoffed, "You could love no one, Damon. All you think about is yourself."

He shook his head, "No, I have the capacity to love, but when you've always lived in the shadow of your brother who always gets the girl, it can make you a little bitter." He decided to try his luck and moved to the bed, sitting at the foot, "You can't say you didn't feel it, Elena. I know you don't want to admit it, but you felt it too. I didn't compel you, so why else would you have given in?"

She hated the fact that he was right. She hated it, and it made her want to hate him even more. Now he was sitting closer, and she could feel her blood boil beneath her skin; in anger, in frustration, and in longing. She drew her knees to her chest and pressed her back against the headboard.

He made no effort to move closer, but instead stayed seated; his voice growing tender as he spoke, "I'm not saying that you have to, and I don't deserve anything from you with the way I've been since returning to Mystic Falls, but I care about you, Elena, and if Stefan wasn't so blind, he'd see what a huge mistake he's making. I'd like you to consider it, consider us."

Elena sniffed, an eyebrow raised. Was she really hearing this? Damon, wearing his heart, well, for lack of a better word, on his sleeve? "You must want something, really bad. Why else would you play this game? It's not funny, Damon. I want you to leave."

He reached a hand out, his finger grazed over her arm, "I'm not playing a game, Elena. All I want is you. For once, I want to be the brother that gets the girl. What's so wrong with loving the 'other' brother?" His smile was sincere, and caused a small tinge in Elena's heart.

As long as she'd known Damon, she'd never seen him be so real. This scared her. She wasn't sure what to say. She loved Stefan, but it was true, she felt something for Damon as well. And she was mad; mad at herself, mad at Damon. Why couldn't things be easy? Why did she have to fuck up?

For a few minutes neither of them spoke, and she didn't meet his gaze. Then, she shook her head, "Damon, this is all too much. What about Stefan? Haven't we hurt him enough?"

He tried not to smile as he thought to himself that she was actually considering what he'd said, "It wouldn't matter. He plans on leaving tomorrow anyway."

She couldn't say she wasn't surprised, but at the same time, she was. She drew her head up to meet his eyes, and she was amazed to see that he had the most tender look in his eyes. In a way, it kind of freaked her out, because she wasn't used to seeing him like this. She was used to the tough exterior, bad ass Damon. Not to say he had never exhibited kindness, but it usually came with a price.

She drew in a breath and then let it out slow, "What about you?"

"I don't plan on going anywhere. At least not right now. Look, I know what I'm asking is a lot. I just ask that you consider it, and I know I don't even deserve that."

"I'll think about considering it. That's all I can give you now."

He nodded, "Fair enough." He stood up and headed toward the door, "I'll see you soon, Elena."

He was reaching for the handle when she spoke, "You're right you know."

"About what?"

"I did want it. More than I should have; in ways I don't understand. And I am mad at myself, probably even more mad than I am at you. I deserve to lose him," she sniffed, "I deserved it all."

He shook his head moving back to her, "No, what you deserve is someone who isn't a weakling; someone who isn't gonna run away when things get rough. I knew he would be pissed, but I figured he'd get over it. Instead, he's running, which I suppose is typical. Still, you deserve better than that. You may have made a mistake, but doesn't everyone? If anything, I should be the one leaving."

She felt herself get a little angry as she thought that his statement was very true, "Then why aren't you?"

"Ouch," he responded with a slight smirk. That was the Damon she knew. "Fair enough, I deserved that. I'll leave town if you like." He shrugged, "It's whatever."

His nonchalantness was enough to make her cringe, "Get out. I knew the 'Oh Elena I care about you' speech was a crock of shit."

He sighed, "No, I meant it. You know me, I have a hard time not making everything a joke. I'm cynical and arrogant. I'm moody, stubborn, and a complete smart ass," he paused for a minute before grinning, "But I am quite charming too."

"Yeah, see? So how could I ever trust you if you never take anything seriously?"

Damon was getting frustrated. He reached down to trail a finger along her cheek, and watched as a shiver ran through her, "Because I am serious." He ran his thumb across her lips and then removed his hand, "I'll see you soon, Elena."

She watched as he moved away from her and excused himself from her room and headed downstairs. She heard the front door shut, and not long after, Jeremy appeared in her doorway.

He didn't look happy as he said, "We need to talk."

Chapter 3 is ready, well, I have all the way through chapter 5 written, but if you want an update, leave me some love! :)

Have a good day!

And feel free to find me on Twitter: twitter dot com / heiwahippie