A/N Thank you for your great reviews! I hope that you like the second chapter.

Thanks to my Beta and friend Cdaye8184, you're great! xxxx

I do not own the Vampire Diaries. Otherwise, I would be the one playing Elena, and I would choose Damon.


Before he knew it, Damon sped towards the voice, which apparently was coming from a car. Realization hit Damon within seconds, and when he saw the young teenager in the car, wearing nothing except her undergarments, his natural instinct told him to yank the door open and shove the man out of the car. He didn't have to think twice to know what was being done to her. Seeing a woman screaming in her underwear and pinned underneath a man twice her size was obvious enough. He stood protectively in front of the girl, who was traumatized, her eyes looking blankly through him, as if she couldn't actually see him.

Letting out an animalistic growl, Damon pinned the man to the ground and ripped his head off without remorse. He stood up, feeling like a huge weight was lifted off his chest, and then wiped the blood of the rapist away, feeling satisfied and slightly heroic.

He heard a soft whimper coming from the girl's throat and pity infested itself in his cold heart. He wasn't going to leave her there, but he had no idea what to do with her. She was fading fast, there was no way she could tell him where she lived.

When he pulled her out of the car, his breath caught in his throat at the sight of her face. Her eyes were half-open, but he could see the familiar chocolate brown orbs piercing through his soul, or at least what was left of it after over a hundred years of sinning. Her figure, her face, her perfect red lips… She was the spitting image of his backstabbing ex-girlfriend, the girlfriend that he freed from a tomb because he was too desperate for love. He realized that she was shaking, probably with the fear and cold, and that her eyes were wide open now, tears streaming down her cheeks as she pleaded mercy with her eyes.

No, this girl couldn't be Katherine, right? She couldn't have returned. She had promised him that she'll never love him. Besides, Katherine never had the decency to feel something-fear, pain, vulnerability…and this girl was experiencing them all right at that moment. He took off his leather coat and wrapped it tightly around her, hoping that he'll reduce her vulnerability. It was obvious that she was ashamed of being half-naked in front of a complete stranger after almost being raped. He tried to look around for her actual clothes, but he didn't find any except some tatters here and there which must've been the remnants of her clothes.

His breath, however, caught in his throat when he saw her round belly, and he gasped loudly. He wasn't a family man by all means, but he could tell when a woman was pregnant. The girl, who was a child herself, was carrying an infant in her. Realization hit in almost immediately, and he could understand why she had chosen to protect her belly when the man was on top of her, raising his hand on her.

He chose not to comment, though, instead he tied the sash around her waist securely. He was feeling sorry for the girl, and for once, he genuinely wanted to help. He inched closer and whispered, "Miss, can you tell me where your house is? Are your parents home?"

But at the sentence, the girl shook her head roughly, almost in panic. "No, no," She cried.

"Calm down," He said, brushing a few hairs out of her face. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just tell me where I can take you."

"No, you've d-done enough," She whimpered, "Thank you, I'll leave when I'm feeling better."

"Go? You're in no position to be alone," Damon said, a wave of protectiveness surging inside him.

"I'm f-fine, really," She continued shakily, "Your kind words have been enough." With great effort, she tried to get out of the car wobbling to and fro, obviously struggling immensely.

She barely made it a centimeter away when her legs gave out and she felt her head spin. Damon caught her before she hit the ground, and drank in her unconscious form. He knew what he had to do and he didn't think twice.


When he arrived to his house, he laid her down on a canopy bed. She was still wrapped in his coat, and she seemed to be asleep now. Noticing her tummy in the light, he realized that she wasn't in the early stages of her pregnancy either. A wave of concern and unnatural fear washed over him. What type of a human being would try to hurt a pregnant woman? He was starting to doubt who the monster here was.

He closed the door silently and went downstairs for a much needed drink. Guess he was going to need the sunlight ring again after all.


When Elena woke up the following morning, the sun rays gently caressed her face. It had been so long since she felt the sun on her face, and felt warm. Wait a minute, she thought. The sun, the warmth…She wasn't home. Her home didn't offer those things, right? Then where was she?

She looked down and felt anxious when she found out that she was wearing a leather coat, with nothing except for her undergarments beneath it. As she looked closely, she realized it was a men's coat, and it was too large on her.

She wiped the sleep off her eyes and sat up, puzzled. It was then that the door opened, almost noiselessly, and tension filled up her body.

She stood up, expecting the worst, and it was then when a man with piercing blue eyes came in. His face seemed to soften when he saw her, and Elena remained still, afraid of asking anything.

"Are you okay, miss?" Damon said awkwardly, trying to be polite. e hadn't used the word 'miss' for so long, before the night's events. The word sounded foreign coming from his lips.

"W-Who are you?" She asked, her back against the wall.

"You don't have to be afraid," Damon set the mug of coffee and the plate with an egg down on the bedside table. "Do you remember what happened last night?" He asked her in a soft voice.

She gazed at him with her beautiful, brown eyes, and then they widened. "You saved me," She concluded.

Damon nodded his head. "You said you didn't want me to take you home but then you passed out on me. I couldn't leave you there."

She visibly relaxed and took a hesitative step towards him. "Why?"

Now he was getting puzzled. "What do you mean, why?"

"Why did you save me? You don't know me. You don't even know my name." Elena persisted.

"Why wouldn't I save you? I couldn't just stay there and see you abused like that." Damon answered shrugging but he was being completely honest.

Elena shook her head, a single tear escaping her eyes. "I'm so sorry, it's just that…I'm all alone in this world."

"No you're not," He eyed her tummy, and Elena flinched.

"I should go," She said, her voice shaking.

He grabbed her arm, but she yelped. "Please, I have to go," Elena said, the fear returning in her eyes.

He let her arm go immediately, like he had been scalded, and then spoke slowly. "What is it?"

"My fiancée is waiting for me," She whimpered, "I can't keep him waiting."

Damon could hear her heart beat fast. "We can call him and ask him to pick you up."

"No, don't," Elena said with wide eyes. "Please don't."

He was about to say something when his eyes trailed downwards on her neck and he was shocked when he saw a purple bruise covering the area, and he reached forward to fold the part of the coat down.

"Where did you get that?" He asked, trying not to violate her mind by compulsion. The way this woman's heart was beating when she mentioned her fiancée was strange, and after years of experience, he still needed to be sure. He wouldn't let a delicate woman go if she was being abused or violated in some way.

"I don't want to be reminded of what happened yesterday." Elena shook her head frantically trying to block out the memories.

"No, that bruise is not recent, I can tell," His eyes narrowed.

"My life doesn't concern you," Elena said quietly. "My fiancée will be mad if I don't return."

"It's your fiancée, isn't it?" Damon mumbled.

"I don't know what you mean."

"He hits you," He stated, "That's why you want to go back. You're scared of him. You're scared that he finds you."

"Why would you say that? No," Elena answered quickly-too quickly.

"I can read people. I know that you're suffering." Damon whispered.

At that, Elena let out a helpless cry. She wrapped her arms around herself and sobbed in front of the stranger who had offered her more kindness than her own fiancée. Her story went deeper than just physical abuse. What her supposedly lover did to her was traumatizing, and it had left an impact on her social and mental health as well.

"Hey, it's okay," Damon said, trying to soothe her. What was he supposed to do?

"What's your name?" He asked her softly, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.

"Elena G-Gilbert," She mumbled between sobs, looking up into his mesmerizing cerulean eyes.

"Elena, my name's Damon Salvatore," He spoke as gently as he could and grabbed her arm again. "You can't go back to him, Elena. He'll hurt you."

"I have nowhere else to go."

"You said so yourself, Elena. You said you're alone. I'm all alone too," He muttered. "Stay here. At least for a few days. You're free to leave whenever you please, but I won't let you go back to him."

"I have nothing to give you." Elena said, feeling inferior.

"And I'm not demanding anything out of you, Elena," He assured her. "I just want to help you. Can you trust me?"

She stared at him and saw sincerity in his eyes. She had dealt with so much pain in her life that even if he was a bad man, she wouldn't care. He couldn't hurt her more than her fiancée had.

"Yes," She finally answered. "I don't know why, but I do trust you."

He offered her a gentle smile. "Eat up, Elena. You have to keep your nutrition high. In the meantime, you can borrow a few shirts until I get you something better to wear."

"O-okay," She stammered, feeling uneasy and vulnerable.


Damon couldn't even understand why he had just offered help to a woman. And not just any help, he was going to share his house with her-A woman. A woman who was unusual, since she was not like those women that shared his bed.

It was like a piece of ice around his heart melted right away. He was going to kill himself but then she appeared and he felt this protectiveness for her that wasn't even explainable. Maybe it was because of her uncanny similarity to Katherine, he thought.

But when he saw the bruise and saw the way she looked at him, and the way she was acting…He was sure that the girl had been experiencing pain. She was so weak, so scared of people. Even the way she had talked about her fiancée, it was obvious that she was afraid of the man. And he just knew that her fiancée was behind her suffering. He spent over a hundred years walking on earth, and he could relate to things.

He went back to her room and handed her one of his shirts, which was big and baggy enough, shampoo and shower gel.

"I'll buy you some actual stuff later," He said with a smile.

"Why are you doing this?" Elena asked him as she took the items.

"Let's just say that I think you're a pretty special girl, Elena," He said warmly, and with that he left, leaving her alone with her thoughts. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, she smiled.


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