So, I finally finished the second chapter! I hope you will like it. I go to Italy for two weeks at July 22, I will update soon after I'm back. Motherlanguage is Dutch, so I apologize in advance for any language mistakes. Enjoy!

I came home late that night. I had talked to Damon a little longer at the library, explaining how to get to my house and arranging for him and Elena to meet me there at Thursday morning. It was Tuesday, so I had almost two days to convince myself to be nice to the girl, even though I really didn't want to. I had to be on my best behavior to make her listen to me, or she would draw her own plan and probably run into Klaus' arms trying to save Stefan on her own. That would be really her thing. I smiled weakly. If she would die, she would be out of my way. Right after I had that thought, I chided myself. I should not think like that. Letting her die would not kill Klaus, and no innocent people should die, whether I liked them or not. I was better than that. Or maybe not. I sighed when I thought of all the people I had killed in my long life. There were many. I had had thousands of years to evolve into a somewhat merciful being, and I had taken my time. My good behavior had started quite recently, if you could call a century or two recent.

I poured myself a glass of blood. I stole it from a blood bank, since I did not want to feed on people anymore if it was not necessary. Of course it was way more satisfying to drink directly from a human, but I tried not to. I found that my self control was better if I hunted less. Also, since I did not want to kill any innocent humans, I would have to keep one around to feed from and erase his memory if I wanted fresh blood frequently. I did not want to go through the trouble of pretending to like one. I had nothing against human men, but I had learned not to love them, since they are so temporary. It would not be real love anyway, since you had to compel your lover not to be afraid of you once he found out what you were. Elena really was a special girl in that department, I had to admit. When I thought of reasons not to be with men, Damon popped into my head. I drained my glass of blood and exchanged it for a glass of red wine. I curled myself up on the couch and stared into the flames of the fire I lit in the hearth. After a while, I retreated into myself like only a real old vampire can. Instead of sleeping ( we vampires do not need to sleep every night, though we get real tired after staying awake for a long time), I thought about my long life. I thought about my family, about my brothers that had been killed by my oldest brother. I thought about my parents, who had disappeared first. I thought about Klaus staking me, and about how I escaped him. I had suspected he would come for me, so I had made arrangements to escape as soon as he thought I was out of the way ( meaning I had compelled lots of humans in advance to come and get me once I was staked). I had managed to stay off his radar, so he still thought I was dead. Or as dead as a staked original vampire is. And now I was plotting to kill him, my own brother, and I was in love for the first time in my very, very long existence.

I snapped out of my retreat when I heard someone at my window. It must have been three in the morning. In half a second I was standing against the wall next to the window, a wooden stake in my hand. I did not bother to carry any other weapon with me, since I would be able to kill humans and almost any other creature with my bare hands without an effort. Only a quite old vampire would put up a good fight, and only my brother would be able to kill me. Staking him would at least delay him from doing that, so I would have time to kill him properly by ripping his heart out and burning it. Only I was left to do it, because only I was strong enough to put my hand in his chest and get to his heart. Of course, that was not as easy as it sounds. He is really strong and I would probably get severely injured during the fight and of course I would die if I lost.
Within another second, I realized the person at the window was not my brother. I relaxed. He probably still thought I was dead. Sooner or later he would find out I was not, and I was afraid that would be real soon. He would be furious, and a furious Klaus was terrifying, even to me. I raised my eyebrows at Damon, who was standing at a safe distance from the window.
'You're not spying on me, are you?' I said in a mildly sarcastic tone. It was obvious he was.
'I am.' At least he was honest.
'You might as well come in, then.' I went to the back door and opened it. I went back to the living room and refilled my glass with bourbon. I also poured a drink for Damon, and after a little hesitation, he accepted it. I sat back on the couch. If I would have been human, I probably would have slumped down, because that was what I felt like. But since I am a vampire, I moved graciously. Vampires do not slump. Ever. To my surprise, Damon sat down beside me. I wondered why he was not suspicious anymore, and I asked him.
'I thought about what you said this afternoon. You have no reason to help us, and yet you risk your own life to protect us. You would kill your own brother to do it. I know he has harmed you, too, but still. I saw you sitting here, and I just know you were thinking about killing him. I saw it from your expression. It's hurting you. And you have not touched Elena. I know you hate her.' The last sentence sounded like a question. I saw from my peripheral vision that he was looking at me. His expression was a mix of amusement and wonder. I returned my gaze to the flames.
'No, I have not touched Elena.' If I sounded grumpy, then so be it.
'Why?'
'You ask too many questions, and about the wrong subjects.' I snapped. I was starting to regret I had let him in. I did not want to talk about this. On the other hand, I never expected we would be this close at all. His suspicion seemed vanished, and he did not look hostile anymore. Wow, he really had thought this through and decided to turn the other way completely. He actually looked quite relaxed, even though I had just snapped at him. Suddenly I felt a lot happier. I had to cherish what I had, and just accept what would come. It might all be over soon enough. I tried to decide which way I would go. If I would be honest, he might be angry at me for saying I hated Elena out loud. Also, I would have to admit my feelings, and I would be really embarrassed if he turned me down. Maybe he would even laugh at me. On the other hand, this opportunity was not likely to show up again. I might never be able to tell him how I felt. For an ancient vampire I was very new on the romance thing, and I wanted to make most of it now that it had entered my life. I decided to go for it.
'Yes, I hate her', I sighed.' Though I know she hasn't done anything wrong.'
Now Damon looked confused, and curious. He was not angry though, and that was a good thing.
'Then why do you hate her? She's…' When he saw me looking he stopped talking. 'Sorry', he said. 'I just don't understand why you're helping us, if you hate her, though I believe you really want to.'
'I hate her because she is so stubborn she will probably ruin every plan we make, and I might lose my head saving her life. I would still save her, because I like you and you love her. I also hate her, because… because I really, really like you.' I was glad I could not flush because I certainly would have, if that were possible for a vampire. I looked down at my hands. Damon was silent for a moment, I think he was startled. When he finally spoke, he sounded surprised and uncertain.
'I don't know what to say..', he started. 'I did not expect anything like this. I.. I like you Mariella, but I learned only today that you are not trying to kill me. And I am in love with Elena, of course.' Hearing him saying it out loud really hurt. I tried to answer with a little dignity. Lucky for me, I had had centuries of putting my feelings aside. This kind of hurt was new to me, though.
'I know that. And I know you don't feel the same. I just wanted to tell you, since this might be the end of my long life. I have never felt this way before.' I turned to look at him. 'I have never been in love before Damon, and I thought I owed it to myself to tell you now that I am, regardless of the consequences. I hope you will still let me help you. I will behave myself.' Okay, I had not succeeded at dignity completely. Can you blame me? I sighed and looked into the fire. When Damon took my hand he caught me by surprise and his touch sent an electric jolt trough my body. I shivered with pleasure, despite the situation. He must have felt it, but he did not turn away.
'I feel... honored', he said. 'You are a special woman, Mariella, and you might not realize it, but you are also one of the most powerful woman on this earth. Yet you are not cruel, like most powerful people, and you came to me, of everyone, to try to save me from your brother. I don't know if I'm worth it.' He grinned and I tried to smile. He was being nice to me. He stroked my hand with his thumb, and I felt another jolt of pleasure. I just could not help myself. Damon continued.
'I feel flattered you chose me to love, and I wish I would have met you earlier, in different circumstances. I would be lying if I'd say I'm not attracted to you. You are hot.' He wiggled his eyebrows like only he could. I smiled a little.
'Of course I will let you help me. Not only are you our only chance at surviving, I do like you and I hope we will all get out of this alive. We'll come up with a plan later. Now you have to go sleep, you look really tired.'
Before I had time to respond to this, Damon stood up and, really quickly, pecked me on my forehead. Then he moved out of the door with vampire speed, closing it behind him. I actually was really tired, all the emotion had worn me out. I went to my bedroom and fell asleep the moment my head touched the pillow.

So, what do you think? Has Mariella won you over a little bit or is everyone still on team Elena? Let me know in the reviews!