A/N: My fic chapters are usually never as long as the past two (and maybe this one), but Katie and Damon's story has already played out in my head and I need to share it. As always, please review.

Katie woke up early Saturday morning, but stayed in bed, listening for her step-dad to leave on his early morning booze run. If he had been the type of drunk that passed out in bars, she would've been nervous people would find out about them, but all he did was go out in the morning and come back and drink until the next morning. Other then that, he stayed in the house.

When she heard the door downstairs slam shut, she jumped out of bed and ran to John's room. She hadn't been in there yet so she scanned it, ignoring the smell of filth and stale booze. She went to the closet and tried to shuffle through things quickly, without making it obvious to John that she had been messing around in his room. She knew her parents' journals were around somewhere, Katie had always wanted them to feel closer to her parents and John used that against her by hiding them.

The closet turned up nothing and there was nothing under the bed either. She was losing time and hope fast. Sweating, she tossed her sweatshirt on the bed and then got down on her hands and knees. She pushed herself further under the bed, not ready to give up hope. A board gave way under elbow and before fixing it, Katie noticed the journals hidden there. She cheered and pulled them out, not even caring about spiders or other hidden creepies. She slide out from under the bed and went back to her room, cradling the three books. She heard the door downstairs open and she hastily shoved the journals. Then it hit her, she left her jacket on John's bed.

Katie ran to John's room, grabbing her jacket and turning to leave just as he came in.

"What're you doing." He asked dangerously.

Katie thought quickly, she didn't want him to even consider her stealing the journals, so she mentioned the one the she knew he would readily believe.

"I-I needed money." She said, almost whispering. She needed to brace herself for what was going to come, but her mind could think of nothing except coming pain.

Katie didn't listen to his screams or answer his questions, she tried to clear her mind but that didn't dull the pain of a slap across the cheek, his ring slicing her jaw right below the ear. She fell to the ground and he grabbed her arm, forcefully dragging her down the hall and throwing her into her own room.

"If you ever try stealing from me you ungrateful little bitch, it'll be the last thing you ever do." He yelled.

Katie's eyes blurred, she didn't want this. Nate wasn't here anymore so she had no one she needed to be strong for. She had no money saved for college, she was stuck in the middle of a dangerous plan involving mythical creatures, and she was being physically and mentally beaten down to the point that she couldn't take it anymore. She had been here before, and it was a dark place. She picked herself up, shoulder burning from being dragged and a hand print bruise already forming. She didn't bother wiping the blood dripping down her neck; instead she pulled a razor out of her jewelry box.

She pulled her arm out of her shirt and stared at the five straight, raised scars on the inside of her bicep. It had been over a year since she cut; Nate saw the fresh cuts one day and called her out. She had let him down and she hadn't intentionally hurt herself since then, until now. She put the metal against one of the already made scars and pushed, her fingers remembering their old technique. The pain sent a thrill up her spin and she cut the next four scars open. When she was finished, she didn't feel as calm as she used to feel after cutting. Instead she felt like she let Nate down, her little fourteen year old brother, rotting in foster care instead of being with his sister.

She threw the razor under her bed, and grabbed a dirty towel off the floor, pressing it against the five cuts. She let herself cry, wiping the blood off her face and smearing Neosporin over the straight slices on her arm. Finally, she ran out of tears and cursed herself for her weakness. She fell against her pillows, momentarily confused by the hardness pressing into her back before she remembered the journals. She was strengthened by the idea of reading her parents' words tonight after John went to sleep.

Katie dressed in a bulky cream sweater and jeans, slipping into comfortable knock off Sperry's. Even though she rarely had spending money, she loved fashion and thrift stores always had nice things, cheap. Her eyes were puffy and there was nothing that could be done about that but a few drops of Visine and a layer of make-up later, she looked presentable except for some minor swelling where John struck her.

Hearing John snoring through the thin walls, she decided it was safe to go down to the kitchen and make food. Halfway through defrosting chicken breasts, the doorbell rang. Katie froze; no one was supposed to come here. Then her heart sank, the only one who knew where she lived was Damon Salvatore.

Grabbing another pencil she stalked over to the front door, poising the pencil and throwing the door open with a scowl. Instead of seeing the rude, heartless, damned, sexy vampire, she saw Matt. Who held his hands up innocently upon seeing her furious face.

"Whoa, is this a bad time?" he asked, his eyes questioning and falling on the uncovered cut on her jaw.

"No, I thought you were Damon." She laughed, opening the screen door and stepping outside with Matt. "What's up?"

"Well if you haven't eaten yet, I was going to meet up with Bonnie and Caroline at the Grill…if you wanted to come."

"Still no Elena?" Katie asked sadly. Since being allowed in the vampire loop, she'd been welcomed with open arms, which meant being subjected to all the drama a pack of supernatural fighting teenagers came with. She didn't think Elena was to blame for Bonnie's mom turning and ultimately her death, that was on Damon. But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel bad for the unrequited love Damon had for Elena.

"Not yet." Matt said sadly. "So you up for it?"

Katie thought for a minute, and then grabbed her wallet and keys. "Let's go."

When Katie got home, John was passed out in front of the T.V so she quietly snuck up to her room. She changed into pajamas and then curled into bed, pulling out the three journals. One was ancient and falling apart, but the other two were in relatively good condition. She opened one of the newer ones and found her moms familiar handwriting. The familiar sight made her eyes fill with tears. Sometimes she hated her mom for leaving her, it wasn't fair that her mom got to take the easy way out. But in the end, she missed and loved her more then anything.

She opened to one of the earlier entries, it was short and undated:

A man named John came into the restaurant today and left his number on the table. He's not much of a looker and he's loud and obnoxious, but he left his number and he's an engineer. I never thought I'd have to resort to gold digging to pay the bills and give my family what they deserve, but I think I'll give him a call. He cant be that bad.

Some days I miss Adam so much I don't even know how to function. I see him in Katie and Nate's faces it kills me. But I know he would need me to be strong, to protect them with my life, and he continue to try and put and end to the terror Klaus put in our, and everyone else's, hearts.

Fondly,

Piper Fell

Seeing her moms signature made Katie's heartache, and seeing how wrong she was about John made her palms sweat with anger. Things could've been so different if her mom had just fought her depression. She leaned her head back and blinked away tears.

A knock on the window startled her out of her thoughts; she hesitantly got out of bed and went to the window to find Damon perched carefully on the roof under her window. Knowing he couldn't enter, she opened the window.

"What do you want." She asked blandly.

"Can I come in?" he asked, giving her a seductive smile that she wasn't going to fall for.

"Are you insane? No you cannot come in, I like to be able to sleep at night knowing I have a good chance of waking up." She hissed, wanting to slam the window but also curious about why he was there.

"Look, I'm sorry I tried to feed you my blood. It's not like I was going to kill you, I just wanted a little reassurance of some sort." He said, gesturing vaguely. "And I don't apologize often."

"I'm not letting you in. I have the journals but I want to read them first." She said, lifting her chin, knowing her decision would bother him.

"Are you serious? I could read ten times faster then you and get this whole thing over with. Besides, you have no idea what to even look for." He snapped, obviously aggravated.

"I never knew my dad and I never understood my mom, I don't even really know what this vampire thing has to do with me yet. I know you're heartless, but this is my decision take it or leave it because Bonnie is on my side and I know she could easily burn you with her min." She crossed her arms defiantly.

Damon exhaled aggravated, he realized that the five foot two blonde was not budging. Her green eyes glared at him, boring into his sole. He looked away. "Fine. Compromise with me at least."

"No." Katie said, she didn't want to help Damon at all. She was only doing the journal thing to help get rid of a dangerous vampire who may have killed her dad.

"Please?" he asked, batting his dark eye-lashes. Bonnie had told her that Damon was throwing himself into projects now that Elena and Stefan were warming back up to each other. He needed a distraction apparently. That bit of pity she felt for the human part of him that was hurting was what changed her mind.

"What kind of compromise?" she asked, twisting her drawstrings.

"You let me look at the journals now, in your house. Then let me take one home to read and when I finish, I'll return it." He suggested, his voice still leaking with irritation.

"Can you just please not kill me in my sleep? And don't steal all of the journals and run away because your compromise is a win-win." She warned.

"Except that I don't compromise," he said, rolling his eyes. Katie was amused and Damon took it back. "I promise, now may I come in?"

"Yeah, come in." she offered, hoping she wouldn't regret it.

Damon stepped in and brushed himself off. Katie hastily pulled on a sweater to cover her cuts and the hand shaped bruise on her forearm. She didn't want any pity.

"Here," she said, passing the three journals to him.

He sat on her bed, kicking his feet up. She batted his shoes off her bed, not wanting to sleep in dirt. He flipped through them, careful of the frailer pages. "Is there any one that you want first?" he asked her, not looking up.

Katie was surprised he asked, "I'll keep my moms. It's probably the least helpful anyway. You can take the other two." She offered, feeling generous since he offered her first choice.

"Excellent," he declared, snapping the book shut but not making a move to leave. "Your bed is comfortable."

"I know." Katie sighed, not sitting. Something about someone being in her house made her uncomfortable.

Damon stood and Katie sat, "You don't have to do the opposite thing of me every time, Katie."

"Don't do that" Katie said, folding her legs criss-cross.

"What?" Damon asked, looking relatively confused.

"Say my name at the end of, like, every other sentence." Katie rolled her eyes.

Damon narrowed his eyes at her; he didn't notice that he had been doing that. The smell of blood caught his nostrils and he sniffed, glancing around the room. Katie shot him a curious glance, unaware of what he was doing. He used a foot to slide the razor out from under the bed, where it had landed after she threw it. He stared at the razor for a second, and then looked at Katie. Her skin crawled, his eyes passed over her whole body. His face twitched into several emotions, questioning curiosity, surprise, interest. Katie hoped he wouldn't ask, hoped that he didn't even realize the truth, but it was futile.

"I'll see you around, Katie." He finally smirked before jumping out the window.