A/N: All the positive feedback I've been getting from chapter 2 has really been an inspiration and I can't thank you guys enough for it, especially those of you who have been leaving a review for each chapter.

I've been writing nonstop for the last few days in the effort to get all my jumbled thoughts into text before I forgot them, so hopefully I can manage to please most, if not all, of my readers with this chapter, when Elena is finally forced to confront her feelings about the "D" word. Because there were so many requests for the tomb scene, I'm going to address the prologue to that as well in here, briefly. Just a little teaser of what's to come ;)

Happy holidays to everyone! You know what the best present would be? If I could get 60 reviews by Christmas. That. Would. Be. Incredible. Reviews = love.


"We should go back," Jeremy insisted. "No stone left unturned and all that." No one really knew why he was here. Bonnie was a witch, Caroline and Stefan and Rose were all vampires – where the hell did Jeremy come in? Rose studied the group, giving them all a careful once-over. The one most under her scrutiny was Jeremy; other than his nifty piece of jewelry, he didn't seem to have any real purpose in Elena's little army.

Rose shot him a withering look. "I think we've already gotten as much out of Slater's computer as we could have." The truth was, she didn't really want to go back. It held too many bad memories for her; first, finding Slater dead, and from the angle of the stake, it looked like he'd done it himself. Or was forced to do it, Rose mentally added, a chill running down her spine as she remembered Elijah's bland face as he'd ripped the hearts out of the guys who had come to take Elena to Klaus. The second memory was one of Damon playing savior to Elena. The look of fierce protectiveness and love in his eyes was impossible to miss, so Rose had no idea why Elena was still in the dark about his feelings for her.

After centuries of being just Trevor's best friend, Rose wanted more. She wanted love, romance, danger…she wanted someone to look at her the way Damon looked at Elena when he thought no one was looking. Tragic as it was, Rose had the feeling that deep down, she was a little jealous of Elena. So many people willing to die for her, lambs for the slaughter, yet they did it anyway just because they loved her.

Just like Trevor had loved Katerina once upon a time, Rose thought, fighting back a lump in her throat. The parallels between the two girls were unmistakable, yet what Katherine had done with malice and manipulative intent, Elena was completely innocent of. She didn't seem to have any idea of the power she wielded over the Salvatore brothers, and maybe that was a good thing.

"Yeah but you could have missed something," Jeremy argued, standing up straight, suddenly looking more mature and less like Elena's screw-up kid brother. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking obstinate.

"I hate to agree with the runt here, but he could be right," Caroline spoke up softly, ruffling Jeremy's hair affectionately when he shot her an affronted look. "I mean, you guys were in a rush to get out of there and Damon isn't exactly known for his awesome crime scene sweeping skills…there could definitely be something more to be found in Slater's apartment. We should go back and investigate." Her eyes lit up at the prospect of doing some pseudo-CSI exploration.

"One problem with that, Vampire Barbie," Jeremy retorted, moving away from her hand so he could fix his 'do. "You're on werewolf duty, remember? Full moon, Lockwood curse, Neanderthal asshole jock in need of your help?" He rolled his eyes for effect.

Rose couldn't resist a small smile over the top of his head with Stefan, both of them thinking the same thing: He's spending waaay too much time around Damon. It was obvious that Jeremy looked up to Damon, even though Damon was sort of an ass to him, and had killed him once, even though Jeremy's ring brought him back to life.

"You," Rose said, pointing her finger at Jeremy. "You with the quick comebacks, you volunteering yourself?"

Stefan's face quickly grew worried. He and Bonnie were trying to find a spell to help them get the moonstone back from Katherine, but so far they weren't having any luck. It would be safer for Jeremy to help them research rather than go gallivanting with Damon's new squeeze. "No, he's not going," he began to say, but Jeremy cut him off. "Hell yeah I am," he responded, giving Stefan a defensive look. "She's my sister, Stefan."

"And you're her little brother, which makes me responsible for you," Stefan protested. Bonnie nodded her head in agreement. She didn't want Jeremy getting involved in the supernatural world any more than he or Elena did, but after he'd dated two vampire girlfriends, it was pretty hard to keep him in the dark.

"What kind of weird vamp logic is that?" Jeremy countered, looking to Rose for assistance.

Jeremy's earnest desire to help tugged at Rose's heart strings and she sighed heavily. "I know I'm going to regret this," she muttered to herself, then glanced at Stefan. "He can come with me. I promise I'll keep him safe."


Elena fidgeted in her seat as she ate her burger. After their intense moment in the parking lot, she didn't really know what to say to Damon that would break the tension between them, not that he seemed too concerned about it, anyway. She stared at him in annoyance as he nursed his water, looking vaguely disappointed that it wasn't the bourbon or scotch he usually favored.

"Shall I turn it into wine?" she finally quipped, munching furiously just so she had something to do.

Broken out of his thoughts, Damon's head snapped up. "What?" He looked confused. Elena sighed. "Forget it. It was a joke. Sounded funnier in my head." Damon paused, staring at her over the rim of his cup.

Pulling an onion out with her teeth, Elena sucked it into her mouth and closed her eyes with pleasure. "Delicious," she smacked her lips, shooting Damon a mischievous grin.

"Gonna kiss Stefan with that mouth?" Damon shot back, wrinkling his nose at the prospect of kissing someone with onion-breath.

"Maaaybe," Elena sing-songed, dabbing at her mouth delicately with a napkin. "Aren't you going to eat anything?"

Damon's eyes visibly darkened and he fought for facial control as his muscles twitched into his vamp-face. "Nothing on the menu appealed," he said shortly, hoping she'd drop it. He hadn't fed for a while, which had been a stupid move on his part, especially with all the evil they were up against. "Uh, listen. You finish up your burger, I need to go compel the cashier." It wasn't the best way he could have phrased it, but the burning desire to feed made him short-tempered.

It was almost comical how quickly Elena's eyes bugged out. "What? Why?"

"A growing boy needs to eat, Elena," he mocked as he stood up. "Don't you want me to grow big and strong?"

Elena stared after him as he stalked towards the register. She knew he wouldn't kill the girl, but she wasn't exactly thrilled to know he was going to snack on someone with her right there. She watched as he said something to the girl, who then dutifully said something about taking a break, and then they walked outside together.

A few minutes passed and Damon still hadn't returned. Elena passed the time by texting Caroline, asking how Werewolf Junior was faring this close to the full moon. Care's response was less than optimistic, and Elena fervently hoped that whatever happened, it wouldn't involve Damon "taking care" of the situation by eliminating Tyler Lockwood, which was a very real option in his mind.

Drumming her fingers against the table, she finally decided to see what was going on. She'd never actually seen a vampire in the act of feeding and something about it morbidly aroused her curiosity. She knew she should feel disgusted, and a part of her was, but a larger part of her wondered if the act was as intimate as her imagination and the media led her to believe. Stefan had never broached the topic of feeding from her neck, and she didn't really want to bring it up, so both of them just pretended it wasn't even an option. Unable to resist, Elena shoveled the last of her burger into her mouth and then followed them out.

He was so engrossed that he never sensed her approach. Elena's heart skipped a beat as she took in the sight before her. The girl, maybe in her early 20s, was draped over Damon's arm, moaning softly as his mouth assaulted her neck. It didn't take an idiot to see that he'd seduced her before biting her; her lips were swollen from his kisses and her blonde-streaked hair, so perfectly straight when she'd given them their order, was now mussed. By Damon's hands, Elena thought darkly.

The girl's leg was hitched around Damon's waist as he leisurely drank from her, taking her up against the wall like a whore. Elena cast a nervous glance around, wondering if he truly didn't have any shame, doing this out here for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to see.

The girl clearly seemed to be enjoying the bite, possibly even getting off on it, Elena realized. She felt vaguely disgusted, not because he was feeding from a human, but because he was…well, he had been all over her. Elena turned and went back in, her heart contracting in short, painful spasms. She had no idea why she even cared.

The door swung open, letting in a cool breeze, and then the girl came back in, looking a little disheveled, but no worse for the wear. Less than a minute later, Damon re-entered and headed to their table. Elena feigned disinterest, languidly sipping her water.

How dare he stand there in front of her after what he'd just done? Elena knew that as a vampire, he needed to feed (not that she approved), but she preferred not to think about that aspect of his and Stefan's lives, and after such an emotional day, she knew that her anger towards Damon was irrational, but that knowledge did nothing to calm her. She wasn't disgusted with him for feeding but she was filled with an emotion that she wasn't ready to confront – jealousy. "All full?" she asked sarcastically, trying to mask her emotions by sucking savagely on the straw until the loud rasping noise of air against ice was heard.

Damon gave her a funny look and didn't respond, instead reaching for his jacket, which he'd hung behind his chair. "Let's go," he said, jerking his thumb towards the door. Elena had the oddest look on her face, he mused as he shrugged his arms into the leather.

Elena stood up silently, feeling a little deflated as she saw the girl give Damon a sexy wink as they left. As she waited by her door, waiting for him to unlock the car, she was stunned to see her face reflected in the window. It was twisted into an expression of pain; Elena's breath caught in her throat and she felt almost dizzy for a moment as she realized where she'd seen that exact same expression before. Damon.

Damon had worn that expression on his face after he and Stefan had rescued her from Rose and Trevor's clutches, during their first run-in with Elijah.

Flashback:

Elena didn't think she was ever happier to see anyone in her entire life. Sheer relief filled her as she saw Damon gazing up at her with a smile that rivaled her own. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rose blur away quickly before anyone could stop her. As Damon made to go after her, Elena told him to just let Rose go, and miraculously, he listened. Giddiness swept through her as she dashed down the stairs, eager to reach him as quickly as possible and put this nightmare behind her. All she wanted to do was launch herself at him and find comfort in his arms.

And then…reality set in. One second, it was just her and Damon; the next, Stefan had come into her line of sight, holding his arms open for her. Irritation flashed through Elena as Stefan's arms quickly encircled her into their strong embrace. She couldn't help but feel as though Stefan's presence had ruined the moment, but guilt quickly followed the thought and she sighed, too tired to deal with the internal war that was raging inside of her. Instead, her arms came up to wrap around his neck and she inhaled his familiar, comforting scent. Stefan held her in a safe cocoon but she couldn't resist looking past his shoulder towards Damon, who was standing there with a tormented look on his face, as though the sight of her in Stefan's arms physically pained him.

For one impossible second, Elena wanted to mouth "I'm sorry" at him. She knew that from his perspective, it must have seemed like she had been racing to Stefan from the start. Instead, she parted her lips and mouthed the words "thank you" to him. A look of understanding passed over his face and he returned her unspoken words with a "you're welcome" of his own. Their eyes met, communicating what words never could. Subtly, Elena tried to disengage herself from Stefan but his arms merely constricted tighter around her. Hugging him back was a natural gesture, but she felt wrong doing it front of Damon.

Damon glanced at Elena as she got herself settled in the passenger seat. She looked a little sick and he wondered if maybe the stress of the day was finally taking its toll on her. "Elena?" he asked tentatively. Her head barely turned a fraction of an inch. "Elena," he said again, this time more firmly, touching her arm. It was a feather-light brush of his fingertips, but she jerked away as though she'd been scalded. "Don't touch me," she hissed, giving him an accusatory look.

"What's the matter with you?" Damon snapped. She knew what he was, he made no efforts to hide it, so why was she acting like such a bitch?

"You!" Elena sputtered. "You fed…on that poor girl, and you just…just…ugh!" She ran her hands through her hair roughly in frustration. Elena felt like she couldn't breathe and she knew that it was because of more than just righteous anger that came from Damon's inability to tell the difference between right and wrong.

Damon let out a short bark of laughter as he started the engine. "Oh, I forgot, I'm only allowed to worship the ground you walk on, right?" He shot her a scathing glance. His entire world may revolve around her, but he sure as hell wasn't going to follow her around with his heart on his sleeve in the hope of some scrap of affection. His heart may belong to her, but he was still a vampire, and that meant he wasn't going to roll over for her and let her dictate his life.

He'd meant it mockingly, yet guilt washed over Elena as she realized that her jealousy was inappropriate. "It was just so… intimate," she revealed quietly.

His eyebrows came together in a puzzled frown. He wasn't even aware she'd watched them. Was she jealous? No, impossible. Elena wasn't Katherine. "Isn't that better than just attacking someone at random?" Damon asked pragmatically, pulling out of the parking lot, flicking his eyes to her. "She didn't feel terror, only pleasure, and to be perfectly honest, that chick was so hot for me, she didn't even require that much compulsion." He had the oddest feeling that Elena didn't really care about the girl at all but was just trying to pick a fight with him for reasons only her own hormonal teenage brain could fathom. "Besides, 'Lena, I'm more concerned about you," he quipped. "You're turning into quite the voyeur."

Elena inwardly groaned. He could be such a guy sometimes. "It seriously doesn't bother you, rubbing up against a total stranger?" Elena asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Should it?"

"You forced her to do something she didn't want to do. You violated her mind," Elena accused, narrowing her eyes at him.

"No, I didn't," Damon said quickly. "Well, okay, I did. But only a little. I might have pushed her in the right direction, but I could sense her attraction to me."

Elena gaped at him incredulously. "And that gives you the right to make her your all-you-can-eat buffet?"

Damon sighed. He didn't like having this conversation because it made him feel oddly guilty, and that wasn't a feeling he had much experience with. So he said the one thing he knew would shut her up: "Why? Are you offering up a vein?"


A/N: I know, I know, I'm evil for that cliffhanger. Ch. 4 won't include any Damon/Elena, since I want to try and focus a little more on the others to make the story more well-rounded, so you'll all have to wait til Ch.5 to see what Elena's response will be! Next chapter will be featuring mostly Stefan/Katherine with some Jeremy/Rose thrown in as well. Happy holidays, everyone! If you click those little blue words, that'll make my day.