Elena froze. She felt Stefan's teeth pierce her skin and tried to pull away. Her mind wheeling at what he'd said.

"Stefan stop." He wouldn't let her go. His teeth fixed at her neck. Elena felt consciousness slipping away as her blood was drawn.

Elena opened her eyes. She felt a searing pain at her neck… someone was shaking her. She saw that she was in her bed and realized that she was completely naked, the covers drawn up to her chin.

"Elena! Elena, wake up."

She turned her head slightly, ignoring the pain in her neck to see who was trying to wake her. Her eyes met Damon's brilliant blue ones and she frowned slightly, wondering what he was doing here.

"Elena, Stefan's disappeared. You need to wake up."

At the mention of his name it came rushing back. Katherine. He had called her Katherine, and he had bitten her. That explained the pain and wooziness. She turned her attention back to Damon, trying to blink back the tears that were forming in her eyes. Trying to pull back into reality she saw Damon's worried face and his words finally sank in.

"What… What do you mean disappeared?"

Damon looked at the tired girl in front of him and hated that what he was about to say would hurt her.

"I got up this morning and his stuff was gone, his car as well."

Elena nodded. That made sense to her in a weird way, she figured he had felt so guilty after what he had done that he had to get away. She couldn't check the tears now, letting them fall freely down her cheeks.

Damon's brow furrowed slightly and he gently brushed a tear away with his thumb, looking reassuringly into her eyes.

"Hey, I'm sure he's fine… we'll find him I promise."

Elena looked up into those bright blue eyes realizing that Damon thought that Stefan had left involuntarily. She shook her head as she cried.

Damon pulled her into his arms without even thinking, and held her tight against his chest. She winced slightly but he barely noticed.

"He's not coming back." She said into his shoulder, praying that her hair was covering her neck.

"He left. He's not coming back." Her voice broke and the tears fell even harder than before.

She knew that the words were true as they came out of her mouth. Something had happened in that tomb. Something had changed him, she had noticed the reservations in his eyes the minute she saw him, but she had brushed them away just wanting to revel in his being there with her. She silently cursed herself for not paying more attention, asking him what was wrong.

Damon interrupted her inner monologue as he pushed her away and looked at her.

"Elena he wouldn't leave without saying something to you… or me."

Elena just shook her head and sank, sobbing back into his arms. He held her tight as his brain worked overtime trying desperately to figure out what was going on.

He wondered why she was so quick to assume that Stefan had left of his own accord. He knew it made the most sense but he couldn't believe that he would leave Elena. He had always thought that Stefan's love for her was undeniable. When he was around her he was how he used to be with Katherine back in 1864. Loved up, blissed out… whatever cheesy expression you wanted to use, Damon was sure it applied to Stefan and Elena. Now he wasn't so sure.

Damon's eyes darted around the room looking for clues. Maybe they'd had a fight and Stefan was just overreacting. He dismissed the thought just as quickly as it had entered his mind. Elena was too broken up for it to have been something like that. His eyes caught sight of something scarlet on her pillow he frowned and looked closer. He froze as the realization came crashing in around him. He hadn't noticed when he first came into the room but it stank of blood. Elena's blood.

Damon looked at her more closely. She was pale, her skin almost translucent. She was clinging to his arms for support as if sitting up in bed was difficult. She had the sheets held under her arms and her hair was pulled over to one side of her face. He tried to cool the rage bubbling up inside him. He took a deep breath.

"Elena, move your hair." He said very calmly, controlling any reactions that might show on his face. Elena looked scared.

"What?"

Damon reached forward and carefully scooped her hair to the other side of her head. He bit his cheeks to stop himself reacting to what he saw. He knew if he let her see him lose it she would be even more frightened. Right now he just had to help her, focus on that; help Elena. He turned his attention back to her neck; the skin was covered in huge gashes where teeth had ripped through it. Dried blood was smeared down her collarbone and clumps of her hair were stuck together.

"Oh Elena" he choked out.

Elena began to cry hysterically as Damon looked at her neck. She didn't know what to say; she just felt Stefan's betrayal tearing through her heart.

"He bit you." It wasn't really a question, more a statement of fact. As Elena nodded miserably he pulled her back into his arms and held her, letting her cry.

"He called me Katherine" Elena managed to choke out between sobs, and then she felt blackness surrounding her.

Damon felt her body go limp in his arms and took a deep breath, considering his options. Elena needed help; she had lost too much blood. He could take her to the ER but then there would be questions asked. Jenna and Jeremy were sleeping just down the hall so here wasn't an option. He imagined how Jenna would panic if she found Elena's bed empty and covered in blood in the morning. Coming to a decision he grabbed Elena's dressing gown from the back of the door and wrapped it around her. He picked her up and gently placed her on the armchair. Then he moved quickly, replacing the bloody pillowcase, making her bed neatly and skillfully forging a note in Elena's handwriting.

Caroline in crisis! Went out early, didn't want to wake you.

E x

He left the note on her pillow, and then scooped Elena back into his arms and, careful not to jostle her jumped out of the window, into the night.

Sorry it's such a short chapter... more of a filler really but I am in the process of writing a really long chapter 4 :) LOTS of delena haha! Anyway I hope you guys enjoy... read review etc ;) x