Damon looks out of the window and watches carefully as Stefan smiles across at Elena, her cheeks pink from the cold air. Stefan presses the back of his hand to her cheek and the quickly removes his jacket, Elena laughs and tries to give it back to him but Stefan grins and wraps his arms around her to keep the jacket on her shoulders. She steps out of his embrace and pulls his jacket tighter around her and walks towards Sam. Stefan watches her for a moment before smiling at his feet and catching up with her.

Damon raises the glass to his lips with a smirk, sipping the bourbon and allowing it to mix with the revenge building in his stomach. He glances at his laptop and reads the e-mail again.

Damon,

Long time no see brother. Give me a call when you want to get out of that wretched town, Chicago could do with another King.

About the incident, I heard that it was none other than your little brother that ratted you to the cops, the guilt got too much for him and he ran to the station and gave the receptionist a letter and swore her to secrecy via a pinky promise. This is all pillow talk so I could be wrong of course but I rarely am. I figured you knew that already however, apparently not. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.

Klaus.

P.S. Blood does run thicker than water, but who we call our own blood is a different story, Brother.

It was Stefan all along.

"You should get a jacket of your own, Elena." She spun round to Damon and looked down at Stefan's jacket laying in the booth beside her.

"I didn't think he was going to make me go walking this morning, I do own jackets, Damon." She smiled and Damon grinned at her.

"Do you mind?" He asked, gesturing to the seat opposite her.

"Of course not, I was just getting a hot chocolate and some soup." Elena told him while rubbing her hands together.

"On your own?" She nodded and he pouted at her. "A gorgeous girl like you shouldn't be having lunch on her own." He inwardly patted himself on the back when she blushed and bit her bottom lip.

"Dating is messy." She shrugged and he crossed his arms on the table.

"You aren't seeing anybody?" When Elena looked at him, he could see confusion in her eyes.

"Not since Matt." She told him and he felt suddenly like he was intruding on her life. "He was ready to get married and have kids."

"You aren't?" Elena looked up at him.

"Sure, one day. Everybody wants to be able to love someone and know they love you back just as much." She seems adamant on this idea and Damon wonders what a week in military school would do to her.

"Not everybody." They hold each other's gaze while her soup and hot chocolate are put on the table in front of her. A silence sits between them and Damon is unsure if it is comfortable or awkward.

"How are you back?" She asks, cradling the mug in her hands and Damon looks away quickly. "Damon?"

"I'm a likeable guy." He hopes it is enough but he knows it isn't.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm buddies with my supervisor." Damon flags down a waiter and asks for some fries as Elena dips bread into her soup.

"Is he nice?" Elena asks when Damon pulls off his leather jacket and thanks the waiter for the fries.

"She's satisfactory." Elena looks up at Damon and he focuses on his fries, her hand reaches and grasps his wrist.

"Please don't say that means what I think it does." He looks at her hand and seems momentarily in awe of how small it still is after four years. Elena's grip tightens and he looks up at her, an array of emotions in her eyes.

"What do you think it means?" He asks quietly. How can she know what he meant?

"Oh god Damon, you didn't sleep with her to get out did you?" Her horrified expression makes Damon pulls his arm away from her hand.

"I had to adapt Elena." He snaps at her and she watches him with pity. "I was fifteen. You think military school has many fifteen year olds in? God no. it's eighteen year olds who beat the crap out of you, they steal your clothes, piss on your bed, and the worst thing is no one gives a shit. Everyone knows and no one cared. Not until she came along and frankly, Elena, I'd rather fuck her than sleep in piss." He stares at Elena angrily.

"I'm so sorry." She whispers and Damon is about to snap at her again when she slides out of her side of the booth and sits beside him, entwining her fingers into his hands that he has in his lap.

"Elena, don't." He whispers and she looks at him. "This is wrong." He frowns.

"Do you remember when you told me you were going. You shrugged at me and said 'six months? That's almost as long as watching Stefan play baseball.' and you saluted me like it was a joke and you walked away." Damon stared at his fries. "I was so angry at you. So unbelievably angry that you just passed it off."

"Elena, I couldn't say goodbye." He wasn't sure he said it loud enough for her to hear, not until her hands gripped around his.

"I know. I realised that after you got on the bus. Everyone on it looked so old and then you got on and you were so small." She sighed as her phone buzzed. He missed the feeling of her hands in his when she picked her phone off the table and looked at it.

I was just thinking about that time when we all dared you to tell Damon his shirt looked cute and you told him and he pushed you in the lake and you cut your arm really deep and he told our parents you fell in. And you told me he was such a jerk and you hated him! S xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elena quickly put her phone down on the table but Damon had seen the text.

"That's a lot of x's." He commented and Elena sighed. She stole one of his fries as his hatred for Stefan built even more. Stefan was trying to get Elena to go against him. Ha. Likely. "I was so upset when that happened." She looked up at him as he ran his fingertips along her bare forearm where the small scar was. "I was so angry at myself for hurting you, you kept telling me it was fine and it was just superficial and I remember thinking one," He held up one finger to show her. "how the hell did a twelve year old know the word superficial. And two," He raises another finger. "that I'd never forgive myself for making you hurt."

His two fingers tucked a few loose pieces of hair behind her ear and he saw her swallow thickly. Her lips parted and Damon just had time to see Stefan walk into the Grill before he pressed his lips to Elena's. She moaned into his mouth and he cupped her face with his hands, deepening the kiss. All too soon she had pressed her forehead to his and split their lips from each other.

"I think," She sighed and Damon smirked inwardly. "I think I'm falling in love with Stefan." The words stabbed in his stomach.