A/N: Okay, so I know it's late, but it's still Wednesday and I still managed to get this new chapter up! I really hope you guys like this one and are okay with the way I went about it. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or followed this story or myself. You guys are awesome. Okay, I'll let you read now. Enjoy!

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Damon groaned and smacked his phone, effectively shutting it up. He opened his eyes to see a beautiful flow of brown hair spread across his chest. Smiling lightly, he closed his eyes intent on going back to sleep.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Groaning again, Damon grabbed the phone and answered in a growl, without looking at the caller ID. "What?"

"Damon? Where are you?" Elijah's worried voice broke through Damon's sleepy haze and he was immediately awake. Shit! "I went to your hotel room this morning and knocked a bunch of times, but you didn't answer. I assumed you were just sleeping in a while longer, but enough is enough. I need you to get dressed and get down here. My event is starting soon. I'll let it slide this time, but you must be on time to the dinner I have planned tomorrow evening."

Damon looked down at the woman sleeping peacefully on his chest and sighed. "Yes, I'm sorry Elijah. I will be right there. Give me a half hour." He hung up the phone without waiting for an answer and contemplated how to get up without rousing Isobel. With the way she was tangled up with him, it would not be easy. Very, painfully slowly, Damon slid out from underneath her, moving in a pillow to take his place. She moaned quietly and hugged the pillow. Thankfully, he hadn't woken her up.

He walked over to her bathroom and gagged at the sight. The toilet was absolutely filthy. He hoped to God she hadn't been using that. Damon decided his best bet was to just catch a cab back to his hotel and rush to get ready in time. He walked back over to the bed and slipped his shoes back on. As a last minute decision, he left her a short note and exited the house quietly. On the porch he locked her door and turned to see a woman on the porch to his right putting backpacks on her kids and sending them off with kisses. She had coffee skin with dark brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. When she turned to look at him, Damon gave her a polite smile in which she returned a wary look. Deciding not to dwell on it, Damon turned and made his way back up the street to a more busy area of the city where he could catch a cab and hopefully ease Elijah's worries.

Once he was showered and dressed, Damon checked his phone and saw three missed calls from Stefan. He shot him a quick text, explaining that he was busy with Elijah and would call him after the event. Hopefully that would placate him for now.

After a week of endless planning, the event went swiftly and smoothly. Other than the fact that Elijah had requested a publisher present, Damon truly wasn't needed; he was just there for appearances. He spent most of the time off mingling with other guests, picking up new clients and desperately avoiding Rebekah's greedy stares. Most of the time his mind wandered back to the beautiful woman he had spent the night with. It had been the first time in over a year that he had spent the night with a woman without having sex with her, and it felt kind of nice. Damon hadn't thought that he would get that feeling again, and was surprised to find it happen with a stranger. Even though he knew it was a slim chance in Hell, he wished that he would be able to see her again.

Elena woke up sometime around mid-afternoon. She smiled at the feeling of the sun on her coming in from her solitary window. Breathing in, she moaned quietly at the smell that overtook her senses. It was his smell; Damon's, the stranger that had held her and comforted her when she had finally broken. Elena winced slightly, remembering how weak she had actually been last night, but the feeling didn't last long. He hadn't pitied her like most others would have, she felt pure understanding in the way he had spoken to her and held her.

She rolled over, hoping to find him there, but she would be lying if she said she had expected him to stay. She tried to fight back the feeling of disappointment wash through her when she confirmed he was no longer there. Sighing, Elena stuffed her nose in her pillow, never wanting to remove his scent from her bedding. It was absolutely heavenly. Remembering she had to be at the club in about a half hour, she slowly dragged herself out of bed and went to her dresser.

Sitting on the top, under one of the candles, was three hundred dollars and a short note. She smiled, practically hearing his voice and seeing the smirk that went with it as she read it.

You gave this back without my permission, therefore it still belongs to you. I'll be in Portland a couple more days. Don't be a stranger, stranger. –Damon

Underneath his message he had scribbled in his cell phone number. Against better judgment, Elena programmed it into her phone. Hey, you never know. She quickly dressed in her lingerie and threw on a hoodie and baggy sweats to cover up before leaving the house. Just as she locked up, she turned to see Bonnie just leaving her house as well.

"Hey, Bon. Mind if I bum a ride?" Elena gave her a hopeful smile. Bonnie also worked at the club, but she was a bartender and not a dancer. She had been working there much longer than Elena and the two had formed a nice acquaintanceship. Bonnie would occasionally give her rides to the club, and if she didn't have a late shift, Elena would watch her kid's for her.

Bonnie smiled sweetly and replied, "Sure, Izzy, hop in." Elena's smile faltered. She truly hated that she had to use the stupid name with Bonnie. As much as she liked Bonnie, Jeremy hadn't been comfortable with it. Stupid overprotective brother. As they drove to the club, Elena noticed that Bonnie seemed a little tense, and kept her mouth pressed tight. Elena knew Bonnie's mannerisms well enough to know she had something on her mind.

"All right, Bon, spill. What's on your mind girl?"

Bonnie hesitated, not sure whether or not it would be appropriate to dig. She and Isobel were friendly, but she knew from the very beginning that this girl had her personal walls up and sealed tight. Throwing caution to the wind, she went for it. "Who was that man that left your place this morning?" Bonnie relaxed slightly when she saw Isobel smile in response.

"He was a guy that had been at the club earlier." She looked at Bonnie and saw worry in her eyes. "No, not like that. We didn't actually do anything, not that I didn't try. He just spent the night with me, no big deal." She knew how Bonnie felt about turning tricks. Dancing for money was one thing, but outright selling your body for sex was a whole other thing. Bonnie had successfully kept a roof over her kids head, food in their bellies, and clothes on their backs without resorting to such vile methods, and Elena was impressed.

Content that Isobel hadn't resorted to such extremes, she grinned mischievously and said, "He was hot as hell babe. You're telling me you didn't want to jump his bones?" Bonnie smiled hearing Isobel laugh; the girl definitely knew how to laugh.

"Of course I did. I'd be a damn fool to not want him. Oh God, his eyes. Did you see his fucking eyes Bonnie?" His eyes would be her undoing, she knew it. When he looked at her with those eyes she could just feel herself unravel under his stare but she couldn't find it in herself to hate it.

Bonnie just laughed in reply. They pulled up to the club and exited the car. Just before they walked into the club, Bonnie stepped in front of Isobel and lightly grabbed her wrist. She lowered her voice and said, "Just be careful, okay?"

Seeing Bonnie's concern and worried look made Elena's heart clench and her stomach drop. This woman truly cared for her and didn't want to see her get hurt. She didn't know her whole story, hell she didn't even know her real name, but she still cared for her. Feeling uncomfortable, and not knowing what to say, Elena nodded quickly and stepped into the club.

When the event came to a close and all the guests had vacated the room, Elijah inquired as to whether or not Damon would care to join him and Rebekah for dinner. Glad to have his brother as an excuse, he politely declined the invitation, ignoring Rebekah's disappointed scowl, and made his way up to his hotel room. Damon pushed the number two speed dial on his phone and Stefan picked up on the second ring.

"Why is this the first time you're calling me? You got in last night and I don't even get a call until almost 24 hours later." Stefan's voice was stern, as if he were reprimanding a child.

Damon scoffed. "Relax, mom. I promise to call next time I get to the park to play with the other kids. Jeez Stefan calm down. You're gonna give yourself worry lines and go prematurely gray. I can take care of myself."

He heard Stefan give a heavy sigh on the other side of the line. "I just wanted to make sure you landed fine. You could have at least texted me letting me know you arrived. I don't ask for much."

"Um, yes you do. But we can save that argument for another time. Did you want anything else, or can I go now?" Damon was seriously sick of his brother treating him like a child, especially since it was technically supposed to be the other way around. Right now, he just wanted to go to sleep.

"Can't you just sit and talk to me for five minutes, Damon? Dammit." Stefan huffed angrily and Damon realized Stefan had something on his mind.

"All right, Stef. What is it? Get it all out. Purge."

There was a slight pause on Stefan's end before he hesitantly said, "I know you're probably not going to like this idea, but what if you used Portland as your time off that we talked about. You're already away and everything is fine here and you can just stay and relax."

"Nope, no way Steffy, by the time I get back to New York I'll have been here three days. That's more than enough time away. I have that stupid dinner of Elijah's to go to tomorrow night and then the next morning I'm out of here. I won't budge on this." There was no way he was staying away from the office longer than necessary. He hadn't taken a vacation since he was promoted, and he didn't even remember how to do it properly, especially not alone. No, he had to go back to the office. Working was all he knew.

"But Caroline and I were thinking-" Damon cut him off quickly, "I don't care what you or Caroline were thinking. I'm coming home in two days. End of story. The company better not be in ruins when I get back, Stefan. I'll call you before I board." Damon hung up before his brother could get in another word and tossed his phone on the nightstand. He fell back on the bed and glared at the ceiling before he closed his eyes.

He cursed a few moments later hearing the shrill tone of his phone. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw it was a number he didn't know. "Hello?"

"Fuck, Damon, I'm sorry I know this is totally out of line and I don't even know why I called you but- ow! Shit." Her voice was rushed and panicked, and Damon knew it was Isobel calling. "Ah dammit, my fucking heel. Listen, I didn't have anyone else to call but there's this fucking creep from the club following me and I have a lot of fucking money on me and I don't want to lead him back to my place and I know I shouldn't even be calling you for this but-"

"Where are you? I'll be right there." Damon quickly grabbed his jacket as she gave him fast directions. He rushed out of the hotel and hailed a cab, intent on getting to her as soon as possible.

Of all her fucking luck, of course she was being followed by some creep. As if she didn't already have enough shit to worry about, now she had to worry about being robbed. Her broken heel was making it difficult to walk properly, and every now and then when she turned her head Elena saw the man slowly getting closer. Hurry up, Damon. Dammit. She felt pathetic depending on him for the second time in 24 hours. However, if she had to choose between being broke and beaten or being dependant, the choice was obvious. She hadn't left the street she told Damon, but if she didn't throw the guy off soon he would close in on her.

Elena turned back to see how much space she had, and stopped in her tracks when she didn't see anybody. The man following her was no longer there. Great, now I'm either just paranoid or I'm seriously screwed. She pulled out her phone to call Damon when a clammy hand covered her mouth and a second one roughly held her waist. She tried to pull free but she was much weaker physically than she used to be and this man was much stronger than her. She felt herself being dragged into a tight alleyway and knew her attempts were futile.

"Stop moving, bitch!" The man slapped her across the face with the hand that had previously been covering her mouth, and when she let out a small yelp, he quickly put it back in place. The sting on her face was unbelievable. If she thought Klaus' slap yesterday was bad, this was excruciating. Elena tried kicking him, remembering some of her self defense lessons, but she was so tightly pressed between the wall and his body that she could barely move.

Elena wished desperately that Damon would hurry up and get there. At this point he was her last hope; she knew the ending of this story wouldn't be pretty. As a last attempt, she tried her best to scream out, but his hand was effectively muffling her. The monster holding her started to rip her clothes off, leaving her cold and for the first time she felt naked in just her lingerie. Her back was rubbing up against the brick wall behind her, cutting into her skin. In her whole life, she had never felt so dirty and so violated. Even as a stripper, she never felt this disgusting. Tears streamed down her face as she gave up the fight. Her will had completely left her, and now she just wanted to curl up and die. Nothing, no pain in the world could compare to this. She was sure of that.

She heard him unzip his pants and slide them down. Elena sobbed heavily, knowing without a doubt now that this was it. She was being raped. Maybe she deserved this, maybe this was some kind of sick karma for her past. She was sure her back was bleeding, but that thought took a backseat when he growled in her ear. "Aw, dont cry. You know you like it like this you little whore."

"Please, don't. Please!" It was all she managed to get out before he lifted her up and ripped her legs open and prepared to enter her. Elena continued to sob and shut her eyes, trying to think of something else, anything else to help take her mind away from there. She heard a vicious yell from somewhere to her left, and she was dropped to the cement ground, scraping her back down the wall as she fell. Her head met the cement and dizziness overwhelmed her. She could faintly hear grunting and the sickening sound of flesh pounding flesh. Desperately fighting to stay concious, Elena tried to see what was happening. The sounds died down and she felt strong comforting hands lightly grasp her face. The last thing she was able to comprehend were brilliant blue eyes before darkness took her under completely.

Damon knelt at the battered woman's side, hating himself for not getting there sooner. If only he had run a little faster, or left the hotel a moment sooner. He looked over to the body of her attacker, satisfied that he had at least beat him to unconciousness. The bastard deserved much worse than that, but Damon didnt need a murder case on his hands.

Damon gently moved his hands up to hold her face and carefully looked her over. She had a handprint on the side of her face that was sure to bruise, and he could see that her whole posterior was scraped up and bleeding. He knew she was going to be sore for days, but he needed to clean her scrapes. After seeing her bathroom this morning he wouldnt be able to clean her properly there. If anything she would end up severely infected instead of clean.

Seeing her clothes thrown to the side, he gently put them back on her, trying not to jostle her too much. Very delicately, Damon lifted her into his arms and grabbed her bag then carried her back to the main road. He called for a cab and laid her on his lap, telling the driver to hurry to the hotel.

When he arrived, he got many strange and suspicious looks. Damon wasn't surprised, this was a five star hotel and Isobel honestly looked like she had just crawled out of the ground.

After successfully manouvering both himself and Isobel into the room he placed her onto the bed and went to go run her a bath. Once the tub water reached a soothing and relaxing temperature Damon walked back over to the bed to lift the tattered woman and gently placed her in the tub. He left her lingerie on, not sure if she would be comfortable with him seeing her like that. He was worried that she was still unconcious, and if she didnt wake soon, he'd bring her to the hospital. He wasn't sure if she had hit her head when she was dropped.

Damon was just about to start washing her back of the dirt and blood when he heard a phone ring that he didnt recognize. Looking around the room, he realized it was coming from her bag. Thankful that he didnt have to dig, he lifted her phone out and looked at the caller ID that listed Jeremy as the caller. "Hello?"

There was silence on the line before the man on the other line answered in a confused voice. "Uh, who is this?" It was familiar but he couldn't place it.

"Damon, who are you?"

"Um, John. Where is Isobel? Why do you have her phone?"

John? Why did that name sound familiar, too? And why was he listed as Jeremy? "She's with me. She had a bit of an accident so I'm taking care of it." That wasn't giving too much information out. Damon felt safe with his choice of words.

"Accident? What the hell do you mean? Where is she? Is she okay?" This time, the man's voice was rushed and panicked.

"I'm sorry, I don't know you and I don't know who you are or what you want with her. She's been through a rough night and I'm sure she doesn't want to see anyone tonight." There was no way he was giving her up to a stranger in her phone. For all he knew, this guy may want to finish her off.

"She's my sister, you dick. Tell me where the fuck she is, now." Sister? Isobel had a brother? Why weren't they living together? What kind of a deadbeat brother let his sister live in a rotting house with a perverted landlord?

"I'm not sure. How can I trust you're telling the truth? How do I know you're not just going to hurt her more?" Something was off.

"You tell me where my sister is right fucking now, or I swear to God when I find you you're fucking dead."

Sighing, Damon gave him the hotel address and room number. He figured if the guy turned out to be lying to him, he could always kick him out. Damon walked back over to the tub where Isobel was still lying there. He decided to continue washing her as he had planned before the phone call. He winced when he looked at her back. Most of the blood and dirt was gone, but it was still scraped and swollen.

Several minutes later, Damon heard the impatient pounding on his door. He opened the door to a panting and disheveled boy, as if he ran the whole way here. Upon closer inspection, Damon realized that this was the bartender from the night before. "Where is she? Where is my sister?" The fire in his eyes reminded him of the fire he had often seen in Isobel's, and he let him through, gesturing him towards the bathroom. Damon saw the color drain from his body as he looked at his sister.

"Oh my God. 'Lena, 'Lena wake up. Please wake up." Jeremy stared at his sister with nothing but fear and worry in his eyes. He couldn't lose Elena too, he just couldn't. After the accident, she promised they would always have each other. She promised him that she would never leave him. Don't you dare die on me, Elena. Don't you leave me. Jeremy placed his hands on his sisters face and gently stroked her bruised cheek. What kind of monster would do this to his sister? "Elena, please wake up. I need you, please." She didn't move, and Jeremy started to panic. He then remembered the man that was watching him. Shit. He stood up and turned to look at him. "What happened?" His voice was hard.

Damon looked at the boy's heartbroken expression and knew then that he wasn't lying. This man was Isobel's brother. But he hadn't called her Isobel, he had called her Elena. Tucking that piece of information in the back of his head for later, he sighed sadly and leaned against the sink. "I don't know everything. All I know is that about an hour ago she called me panicked saying that someone was following her and she didn't want to lead him back to her place. She asked me to come get her, so I quickly got in a cab to take me to her. By the time I made it to her…" Damon paused, not sure if he should continue. He didn't want to be the one to relay the story.

Jeremy looked at the man he remembered from last night with hard eyes. "I need to know what happened to my sister. She's unconscious and unable to tell me. What happened?"

"I managed to get there in time before anything really could happen. When I arrived she was lifted off the ground and pushed into a brick wall by a man who had his pants around his knees." Damon's voice was full of disgust, and he continued saying, "I stopped him before he had a chance to continue and beat him until he was unconscious. I couldn't take her back to her place, that bathroom is filthy. So instead I brought her here to try and clean some of her wounds."

Watching the man tell the story with such disgust and sincerity in his voice, Jeremy knew that Elena was right to trust him. This man had taken care of his sister last night with Klaus, and now it seemed he had been there to protect her again. "Thank you. For last night as well."

Damon was taken back. "How did you know about last night?"

Jeremy scoffed. "She's my sister. I wouldn't let that fucking creep anywhere near her unless she had someone she trusted with her. And seeing how you've saved her twice now, I can see she made the right choice. You can be trusted." He held out his hand and Damon shook it firmly.

Hearing that she trusted him gave Damon a feeling he couldn't exactly describe. It was a gratifying feeling, as if he actually did something right for once and was actually getting acknowledged. This girl was dragging up a bunch of emotions that he just wasn't used to feeling. Damon looked back at the woman in the tub and nodded towards her. "We should probably get her out and dressed. Her wounds are all clean, but they're going to take some time to heal."

After giving an affirmative nod, Jeremy helped carry his sister out of the tub and into the bedroom. He watched as Damon went to his dresser and pulled out a navy button up shirt and a pair of white boxers.

Holding out the clothes in front of him, Damon walked towards the brother and sister. "Um, you probably want to get her out of those," he said gesturing towards her lingerie. "Do you uh, want my help? Or should I just wait in there?" He pointed to the bathroom, not sure if his help would be appreciated.

Jeremy's eyes hardened, protective of his sister. He knew that lots of men had probably seen her exposed, but he wouldn't do that to her without her permission first. "I got it, thanks."

Once she was dressed and he was given the signal he could enter, Damon walked back towards the bed. The boy was sitting on the bed with his sister's head in his lap, gently stroking her hair. "You can leave her there for now. She should wake up soon…" When the boy nodded, Damon went to go get cleaned up and dressed himself. Carrying Isobel had gotten him dirty as well. "I'm just gonna hop in the shower. I'll only be a few minutes."

When the man went into the bathroom, Jeremy seriously contemplated taking his sister and leaving. Unfortunately, Elena was a bit too heavy for him to successfully carry all the way back to either of their houses. Sighing in resignation, he leaned back against the headboard; still gently caressing his sister's hair. He thought about what she had been through and how she would feel when she woke up. Why hadn't she called him in the first place? Why had she called this Damon guy? Jeremy felt frustrated, angry that he couldn't be there for his sister when she truly needed him like she had been there for him. He couldn't help the guilt that coursed through him.

When Damon exited the bathroom, he saw the anguished look upon the boy's face. "Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault, or mine, or hers. It's that sick monster's fault. He did this. If you beat yourself up about it, you're only going to hurt her more. If she loves you with as much intensity as you love her, she won't want you to feel guilty." He knew what he was talking about. Damon could list on two hands and a foot the amount of times that Stefan had gotten severely hurt and Damon had blamed himself. Each and every time, Stefan would only be more miserable seeing the guilt on Damon's face. Eventually, Damon learned that what his brother had needed was just to be loved and comforted. Stefan never wanted pity, and he never wanted to know that he was the reason for Damon's suffering. In the end, it was better to just have a happy, comforting face.

Jeremy knew that Damon was right, but everything inside him screamed that this was his fault. That he shouldn't have even let Elena run away, and he shouldn't have run with her. Hell, he wasn't even technically with her. They had to put up face public appearances, pretending to be strangers. Jeremy couldn't even count how many times he had seen Elena upset in public and want to run and hold her, but wouldn't be allowed to. If they were going to be running together, they should be running together. Jeremy vowed that when she woke up he wouldn't let them live like that anymore. Consequences be damned, he would not leave his sister.

As the minutes passed without any changes, Damon sighed and grabbed a blanket from the closet. He wrapped himself up in it and laid on the loveseat at the foot of his bed. Both men lay there, unable to sleep, waiting for the same girl that they both cared about to regain consciousness.

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! As always, review! I can't make the story any better unless you guys help me out! Thanks!