I'd firstly like to thank 'TrueLoveAlwaysLP' for all her great ideas. They have given me such inspiration for this Chapter. If anyone else, have any ideas that could really help, please let me know! Secondly, Thanks to everyone who has added this story to their alerts, it's given me motivation to update. Please, continue supporting me, with your reviews, alerts...etc. It means a lot. Thank you! Enjoy (:

Chapter 3

They brought the little dog home, he was full of excitement. He was now, blessed with the name 'Sam'. If it was up to Damon, he would have called him Dog for the rest of his life, but Elena insisted he had an identity. They had a variety of names from nearly all the letters of the alphabet, from Adam to Zac, they thought of them all.

Elena carried Sam in her arms while Damon tackled the bags, like a good little house husband. He struggled to find his house keys, as he juggled between searching bags and rummaging through his pockets. He could hear the dog panting in his ear as he started to get frustrated. Maybe Stefan was home? He reached for the doorbell, hoping that his brother would answer

Ring

Before long, Stefan opened the door, staring at his brother, like he didn't know who he was. Damon squinted as he watched as the blood veins started forming around Stefan's eyes, he could see his fangs starting to emerge. Was he seriously craving blood right now?

Stefan was going through his I-need-to-be-a-good-person stage, once again and he promised himself he wouldn't drink human blood. He was on his "bunny" diet, as Damon liked to put it. He found it all slightly pathetic now, Damon lived on a blood diet and he wasn't ripping the town apart, he didn't understand why Stefan couldn't be just like him. He needed moderation. One day they would be the kings of moderation, he thought with a smile

"Stefan?" he asked, wondering what exactly was wrong. Unless he had a sudden urge to bite Elena, he had no idea what he was craving. Then he realised what was wrong, he muffled a laugh. He had to admit, it was pretty funny. Stefan was craving the...dog

"Get that thing out of here" Stefan whispered, his heart was pounding fast, this was the first time he felt the urge to drink a dog. Normally, he was all for the wild animals but a common household dog was new for him. He tried not to breathe and take in that godly scent, he could almost see the blood pumping in its little body

"What's wrong brotha? First bunnies, now innocent dogs what are we going to do with you?" He laughed, patting Stefan on the back as he walked past.

As soon as they were in the privacy of the living room, he pulled Elena into his arms. Kissing her gentling on the lips

"mm that was yummy" he said smiling as he kissed her again

"Oh you liked that did you?" Elena laughed. She loved being wrapped up in his strong arms. She could stay there forever. She thought, as she stared into his eyes, they reminded her of a crystal ocean; within minutes her thoughts were interrupted

"Damon. Elena. You might want to see this." They both looked in the direction of Stefan's voice as they parted from each other. He tucked a loose hair behind her ear, and walked hand in hand towards the voice

"This better be good, Stefan, cause we..." Damon broke off as he saw it. He could feel the blood rushing to his head. Elena had clasped her hands to her mouth as she looked at the extent of the mess

"That Damn Dog" he shouted, as his eyes followed a trail of pee that lead around the room like a train track. It was everywhere, all over the curtains, all over his leather couch. It didn't end there. He followed the trail as it wandered into the bedroom, all over his sheets. He put his hands on his head as he took it all in. He could kill that dog

"SAM" he shouted, with rage in his voice

"Damon, don't hurt him. He's only little" Elena came running into the room.

That was when, he murder the dog.

He came back into reality as he realised, Elena would probably kill him if he even laid a finger on her dog. The dog always wins, he thought shaking his head.

It had taken him hours to get rid of the stench. It was literally in every nook and cranny possible. He didn't even think a dog could hold that much water. Thankfully, he dragged Elena and Stefan into cleaning; he wasn't doing it on his own. Paired with rubber gloves and a basin full of soapy water, they had a fun afternoon. As he laid his head on his pillow at the end of the night, he thought that hopefully he wouldn't have to cope with any more mishaps thanks to Sam.

"Sam" Elena called, as her little Labrador jumped up at her, wagging his tail behind him. He was adorable, she thought. Lifting him up into his arms she embraced as kiss and tickled behind his ear. She wasn't sure he actually recognised his name yet, but he seemed to appear when she called.

"Damon?" she yelled "You home?" It had been an almost a two days since they had gotten Sam and Damon had been acting strange. He hadn't really bonded with Sam and she didn't know why. She loved him, so why didn't Damon? The only reason she even thought of getting a dog was to be closer to Damon, she thought this was the answer, obviously not. He didn't exactly hate Sam but he didn't exactly love him either.

She put Sam down, as she found Damon sitting on the bed

"I've been calling you" she looked at him as he rubbed his temples "is something wrong?"

"Do you know what that dog did?" looking down at the floor, he sighed, there was a pause before he continued "He chewed up, all the pillows, every single one." He could see Elena muffle a laugh, this wasn't funny. Why was she laughing? He paid a lot of money for those pillows, he could cope if it was just one but it was pretty much every single pillow he owned, bed pillows, couch pillows, chair pillow, you name it he chewed it. He only had to leave the house for an hour and that was what happened

"Damon, he's a puppy. He's still getting used to his new home, don't be too hard on him" she smiled, crouching down next to Sam "look at his little face, he didn't mean to, say sorry Daddy" He laid his eyes on Elena, then on the dog. He sighed.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it now. What's done is done. I'll just have to replace all the pillows" he stood up and walked towards her, lifting her to stand. He took her face in his hands

"I love you" he kissed her cheek

"I love you too"

Damon felt bad. He wasn't himself lately and he knew she felt it. It was that damn dog. It had to be, there was no other explanation. It was driving him mad, the pillows weren't the only thing it did, and this was minor compared to what it had been doing. He was shaking his head as he walked out the living room. He didn't want to be in the same room as that dog anymore. He couldn't bare another day. He just couldn't.

Elena sat there alone, on the bed Damon had sat only moments ago. She had Sam by her feet as she stroked his head. What just happened? She thought. Damon was sad but she didn't know why. Was it Sam? She had visited, almost every single day since they brought Sam home and it was fine. It was romantic, since then their love life had boosted remarkably and if she was being honest, she thought everything was perfect. They were both happy, this was what they wanted. She knew Sam could be a handful, he was a puppy, what did they expect. He needed discipline that was all, she hoped. She had to do something

Following the same path Damon took, Elena found him in the bathroom, washing his face. She was silent by the doorway, just watching him. He was deep in thought, looking at his reflection. What was he thinking? She thought

"Hey, just had a thought. Why don't I stay here for a while, just while Sam is getting used to place" she smiled warmly "It'll be better with both of us"

Damon looked over at her, she was so quiet he hadn't even realised she had been standing there until she spoke

"I'd like that" he dried his face and closed the gap between them. They were inches away from each other; he could practical feel her breath. He smiled with a wink "I'd like that a lot"

She reached up on the tip of her toes and kissed him softly.

"Why don't we go to dinner, tonight? Just you and me?" she asked, searching his face for answers.

"I know just the place"

© Ms Zola, March, 2012