AN: Thank you to all my readers and reviewers! I have about one more chapter left, so please R&R and let me know how I'm doing!

Rated M – for language and general naughtiness ;)

Ch. 2 – Hunger, madness, and all things insane

I picture your mouth when I get myself off. And I curse you while I cum hot and needy into my own hands…. I want to be exploding into yours.

DS

She's taken to reading his letters under an old Weeping Willow tree.

Its shade casts a dark shadow over her, making her feel at home with her lurid thoughts.

Elena has dreams of making love with Damon here, under these shadowy leaves; Damon's hard body, insistent on top of hers.

Her back would dig into the moist undergrowth, leaving imprints in the shape of her body behind in the fragrant soil.

The smell of his sweat and cologne would intertwine with the earth's richness, overpowering her senses. What a lovely cocoon that would make.

Anything can happen here, she thinks.

And even as she's slipping her hand slowly under the waistband of her jeans, and a sigh gets caught up somewhere in her throat….

She still can't believe what she's currently in the process of doing.

Elena Gilbert does not get herself off in public…except… she does.

And somewhere out there, Damon is smirking and watching.

Even if she hadn't been told in his earlier letter, she would still be able to feel his eyes on her.

The thought makes her cum so quickly, so abruptly, that Elena can't quite muffle the curses spewing out of her dry lips.

A scream however is unacceptable, so Elena bites down on her lips hard enough to make them bleed. The blood enters her mouth, and Elena thinks of something else she'd like having invade her taste buds.

I'm watching you.

DS

Her heart throbs, one beat for every word he's written. Her life song is being created by him.

Your love became like ivy, a small tendril you implanted in my heart until it grew and pulled - till it had the whole of my heart entangled within its clinging grasp.

-Elena

It scares her that all she can see in Stefan's gaze are murky shadows, like the bottom of a mud filled lake clouding its surface.

So she tries to ignore the shadows in Stefan's eyes and the light elucidating Damon's. She even tries to ignore how that light seems to illuminate a pathway she wants embark upon. It's a passage filled with sunlight and lined with fresh smelling flowers. A trail promising evenings lit up with fireflies, and nights culminating in fire made from nothing but their naked bodies rubbing together. She can see their whole future lined up in Damon's eyes, as easily as if there were actual words printed in his icy orbs.

Elena figures it out quickly, if she didn't already known from the start. He knows that she knows of course, and when they meet face to face (heart to heart) – he taunts her with their secret, shared knowledge.

He'll drag a white piece of paper along whatever surface is within Elena's eyesight.

He'll bring a snow white envelope up to his lips and lick it.

He'll tie a colorful ribbon around his wrist, only allowing Elena a quick flash of its color before hiding it again under his shirt sleeve.

Of course the color always matches his mood.

She's sure her boyfriend's noticed by now. Even she can admit that she's looking a little worse for wear. Funny, she really doesn't give a shit. Besides, Damon said he liked the whole crazy, wild look she's got going on these days. (His letter that morning went on and on about how her tangled hair and guilty eyes made it look like he'd just fucked her on his own brother's bed)

Her focus is gone, her thoughts consumed by his letters.

In class, in the shower, in her dreams - all she hears are his words running through her head. When she closes her eyes she sees his handwriting, scrawling his messages beneath her eyelids. Their glow warms her heart as much as it does her body. She sleeps as far to the edge of their bed as she can, as far away from Stefan that the mattress will allow, with her body facing away from his. She doesn't want to share air with Stefan while in her mind she's sharing words with Damon.

If she has no paper, she'll pretend there's an invisible keyboard in front of her and will "type" out his letters, her fingers ghosting over a plain wooden desk. When she runs out of letters to "re-type," she'll create her own – addressed to him of course.

If we ever start to make love, how will we ever stop?

Elena

She feels their stares by the itching it creates between her shoulder blades. It creates a tickle she can never satisfy with a mere scratch of her fingernails. Elena should care that they care. Their concern should warm her heart, but it doesn't. Actually, she feels nothing these days. Her secret has consumed her. She doesn't care. Why should she, she has her letters after all.

Her heart is a staccato beat, drumming DA-MON, DA-MON – his name becoming tattooed to her breastbone.

"Damon" is branded throughout her insides, so obvious to her but a secret to everyone else….This shouldn't excite her as much it does.

Giving into you will be like an exhale, completely liberating and paramount to my survival.

Elena

Her fantasies get out of hand. Her thoughts turn so graphic that even though it's Elena herself thinking such thoughts, they make her uncomfortable. Her hands fist, clutching at the sheets beneath her palms before giving in with a strangled groan – fingers seeking out that painful ache.

Just you wait until I get you in my bed…

DS

Pleasure spreads throughout her body, she's feeling everything. Hell, Elena thinks she can even feel the electricity lighting up her nerves, jumping from synapse to synapse - flooding ecstasy into every crevice of her body.

It's enough that Elena wants to stop for a minute and applaud them for a job well done.

Has she really never noticed before that Stefan kinda walks around looking constipated? How the hell did she miss that? She supposes it could be quite funny actually…if it weren't so annoying.

She likes her men snarky; she's decided….not cranky.

On occasion, his words are simple.

Katherine took away my humanity; you gave it back to me. I'd paint the streets with Katherine's blood for you.

DS

…well simple for him, anyway.

I'm only alive when I'm with you. So don't let me die.

Elena

Hers can be simple too. Well, as simple as her love for him can possibly be.

Damon has a way of speaking through his whole body.

His eyes are the first thing she'd noticed. And not just their admittedly gorgeous color, but it was something about the way he was able to emote through them.

He uses his whole body, and his whole face to talk. He uses everything in his impressive arsenal to communicate much more than just mere words, he emits unspoken messages and secret intentions in a way no one else ever could.

It shouldn't surprise her that even without his usual array of tricks at his disposal; he still manages to express a thousand different things, with a measly few words blotted in black and white.

And Elena's become fluent in all his languages. (Probably in the same way he's become fluent in all of hers).

So when he says crude things that any other girl would scoff at, Elena knows it's his way of being romantic.

She doesn't feel much guilt anymore.

Then the photos start.

It really shouldn't be construed as erotic. There's no private parts exposed under harsh lights. No over-the-top, staged poses.

The image in front of her should look simple, boring even.

She's exposed more flesh during Church...

Arranged her hair in sexier styles...

Worn more makeup on Sunday mornings…

So there really shouldn't be anything remotely appealing about the photo he's taken of her.

Except, there is…

The image currently causing her to flush is contained within a small square of black and white (how could anything be less threatening)?

But she feels the perspiration dotting her hair line and trying to run over and cool her over-heated flesh. Elena licks her lips and brings the photo close to her chest, cradling it against her breast like a newborn. It's that precious to her…it's that forbidden for anyone else's gaze.

Her back is to the camera; her neck turned exposing only her profile. The image is somewhat grainy, enhancing certain things and blurring out others.

Her blouse is thin and loose, exposing one glistening shoulder blade.

(Everything else is fully covered and dark).

Her hair is straight and cascading down her face, obscuring everything but a glimpse of cheek, and spiky eyelashes.

Her open, pouting lips are another story. They and her one exposed shoulder are on full display, highlighted starkly. They are all pearly whites and pastel grays against the darker, shadowy background.

Minutes pass, and Elena's heart is still pounding against the glossy paper-like substance she has pressed against her chest. There really shouldn't be anything so sexy about that image of her, but all Elena knows is that the idea of anyone else seeing this is about as horrifying as someone finding nude photos of her.

She can't understand what it is about the photo that is so blatantly sexual. Is it the expression on her face? The way her lips are parted, open in invitation? Is it that one bare shoulder, hinting at her somewhat buried sexuality?

No, Elena decids. It's not any of those things; it had nothing to do with how she's sitting or what emotions are playing across her face.

The reason she looks so sensual, so exotic, is because of Damon.

Because Damon took the picture.

He used his eyes and his fingers to create, and preserve her image for all eternity.

Because to Damon, she is beautiful.

And Elena finds herself thinking that's all that matters.

Tbc…

Thoughts anyone?

*cricket cricket*

Thoughts on "The Homecoming then?"

I know I wasn't the only one disappointed with the lack of a Delena kiss (*cough cough… Eden*) although that last scene between them was pretty epic ;)