Ok. As usual - I do not own The Vampire Diaries (but don't I just wish!) and I don't know any of the characters.

You guys are awesome with your reviews! I had no idea that Elena could stir up so many emotions - and I'm loving it! I find her a bit docile at times on the TV show, so very happy that she gets your blood boiling. She's being quite a b*tch - I agree. :)

And I'm so in love with all of you. You recite my words as well. WOW! Thank you so much, that to me is such a great compliment. xxx

And again, thank you for all of the story/favorite/author alerts I've received, and pm's. I treasure them all!

Will stop talking now:

The room was charged with their longing. None of them made a single move to leave. They just kept still, their bodies pressed against each other.

'Tell me if you want me to stop', Damon said eventually, in a low voice.

Elena had to swallow before she answered, not sure her voice would hold.

'No.'

Damon let his tongue trace her slightly parted mouth. It was pure electricity that passed between them at this point. He had to steady Elena with his body and he held her up by their entwined hands. Elena closed her eyes with a shaky sigh.

He was still keeping her other arm in an iron grip, so she couldn't reach out to touch him, like she was yearning to, and by the time he let her arm go to cup her breast she couldn't remember what it was she had wanted to do with it in the first place.

'Do you want me to stop doing this?' Damon asked, teasing her nipple through the material of her top with his thumb. Elena shook her head no, knowing that her voice would break. He smiled against her mouth before he took it in possession. The kiss he gave her was furious and breathtaking. He bit down on her lip, drawing blood, but she didn't mind. She actually wanted him to, she needed him to. And she could hear his breath catch as her tongue slid into his mouth as a response.

His hand left her breast and found its way between her thighs. Elena automatically parted for him. The relief was acute, near painful and she let out a sigh of gratification.

Damon was rubbing her slowly and he chuckled while still kissing her.

'Would you want me to stop this?' He unzipped her jeans and slid his hand inside feeling her wet and ready for him. He stopped for a second when he noticed her lack of underwear, but quickly resumed a grip on himself as he gently started caressing her clit. He moved away from her mouth, gently letting his tongue trace her neck down to the bite he'd given her earlier that night. He kissed it and licked it slowly before looking at her from under heavy lids.

Their eyes met and he easily slipped one finger inside of her. Elena let out a gasp and grabbed his arms as Damon nearly lifted her from the floor. She could feel his hard on against her thigh when he pressed himself closer to her, it made another rush of heat go through her body and land between her legs with a satisfied sigh.

'So, I'm quite sure you don't want me to stop doing this? He smiled ruefully as his finger glided in and out of her. She shook her head, biting her lip not to moan out loud. His finger was stroking against her sweet spot while the back of his hand gently rubbed her clit, making the room spin and her eyes nearly roll to the back of her head.

'Damon', she exhaled, trying to gain control over herself, but he was relentless. He let another finger slip inside of her to caress her quivering insides and she rolled her hips against his hand in a steady motion. Damon rubbed himself against her and she was dying to feel him inside of her. He sucked her bottom lip and then let his tongue slowly massage hers as he kissed her. She tried to grab hold of his neck to keep him there.

It happened so fast, she wasn't prepared at all, so she nearly fell forward as he stepped back and let her go.

'Good, remember that next time you see me', Damon said, leaving her panting against the wall. 'And to think that I didn't even need to compel you to get you to admit it.'

The smirk on his face ignited a pure red eyed fury in her and she tried to reach out to slap him, but his reflexes were faster than hers, and that annoyed her even more. He had the decency to back away from her a bit though.

'Get out!' she nearly shouted at him. 'Get out and leave me alone.'

He laughed quietly before his features turned serious. Within seconds he had her against the wall again, arms above her head in an iron tight grip.

'You know you want me, you just admitted as much' he whispered against her mouth and pressed his hard on against her burning heat. He kissed her slowly and chuckled as she tried to bite his lips.

'Now it's your turn to come after me.' His eyes turned bitter. 'I've been chasing you long enough.'

Before she could say anything he was gone. The only trace of him was the curtains slowly stirring, that, and the fact that she was turned on beyond belief.

Damon had to sit in his car for a while to calm himself down. He looked back at Elena's house and hit the steering wheel with the back of his open hand while cursing under his breath.

He knew he had to be patient. But Damon Salvatore didn't do patient. He had never been a patient human, and he was an even less patient vampire.

He also knew that Elena was stubborn, but how stubborn, he wondered? And would she really go back to Stefan after this? The thought of it made Damon sick to his stomach. Just imagining seeing Stefan kiss her after the night they'd shared…

He turned the ignition and drove off. It was still time to get a late one at the The Grill. He needed to be around people. And he felt he owed Rose a drink, a parting drink. He missed her already.

Another thing was; he wasn't really up for going back to the boarding house. Looking Stefan in the eye was hard enough on a day to day basis knowing he had feelings for his younger brother's girl. But now, it was going to be hell. He had actually broken one of the cardinal rules of brotherhood; he had slept with the one person his brother loved above all others.

Screw the fact that this was a mirror image of the drama called Katherine. That was in the past. Damon had left all of that behind the moment he closed Katherine in the cave. She was forgotten. As he parked the car outside the bar, he tried to shrug the feeling of guilt right off him. It used to be so easy to do, but these days, it was near impossible. Elena had stirred some crazy feelings inside of him and he couldn't lay them to rest. Once again he cursed under his breath at the thought of her.

He had been scared of himself and what kind of thoughts he'd had in Elena's room. All he'd wanted to do was to rip that godforsaken necklace off her neck and compel her to want him and him only, to forget about Saint Stefan and her damned promise to him. But he'd held back. He'd done the right thing by her, and really, by himself as well. Now she would come to him because she really wanted to, not because of compulsion.

It was just that this good guy-thing took such a long time to benefit from, which called for endurance and staying power; which called for whiskey. Lots of whiskey.

Sitting down at the bar, Damon tried to sort his head out once and for all. He would leave Elena alone. He would pretend to Stefan that nothing had happened. He would…

Damon could sense his brother in the vicinity and he winced, knowing that he still had Elena's scent on him. Quickly ordering a double whiskey, he turned his head around to see Stefan standing behind him with a worried look on his face.

'Why haven't you called me, Damon?'

Damon smirked at him.

'Checking up on me, Pops? And here I thought for all these years that I was actually the older brother. My bad.' He turned back to pick up his drink, trying not to move too much because of the glorious scent stemming from his clothes and body.

'Where are Rose and Elena? I got back and the house was empty. And I could smell blood. Lots of it.'

Damon nodded for Stefan to sit down beside him.

'Give my brother whatever he likes', Damon said to the bartender before looking at Stefan again. 'Elena is at home, to the best of my knowledge. And Rose, well, she's dead.'

Stefan stared at his brother. He quickly scanned the room for anyone who might be listening to their conversation. When he was sure that wasn't the case he turned back to Damon.

'What do you mean Rose is dead? When I called Elena earlier, she said Rose was out for the count. I swear to you, on my life, that if you let Rose hurt Elena…'

Damon cut him off.

'There you go again, dear brother, throwing blame. I've done nothing wrong here. Elena is safe at home. I checked in on her a while ago. She's fine. A bit shook up, but fine. Not a hair curved on her pretty little head.'

'What happened?' Stefan looked as if he were about to throttle Damon. 'And why didn't you call me? When did this happen? Did it ever occur to you that I might have an interest in Elena's wellbeing?'

There was a weight on Damon's shoulders that he felt desperate to ease. His old self would have thought it only fair what had happened, but now. The guilt was tangible and it was hurting him. And he had no one to blame but himself. He shouldn't have done what he did, and to say that he did it out of love for Elena was stupid and reckless.

It was the truth, but sometimes the truth hurts too much.

'Rose tried to attack Elena and I stopped her by killing her. She's buried out in the woods. Elena went home and I checked on her before I came here.' He looked over at Stefan. 'Oh, and I'm just fine by the way, Stefan. Not hurting at all by the fact that I had to kill the only person who cared for me. Thanks for asking.'

Stefan even had the decency to look guilty, as Damon did what he does best; obscuring the truth by adding faults in other corners of the mind. In other words; placing blame where there is none. He'd perfected the art many, many years ago. And he was still surprised that it worked so well on his brother. He nearly gave Stefan a slap over the head for falling for it, again.

'I'm sorry, Damon. It's just, when it comes to Elena I tend to go overboard sometimes.'

'And haven't we all noticed', Damon mumbled into his drink.

Stefan ignored Damon's pun, and stood up to push the bar stool against the bar.

'I should go see her. She must be really upset. I should never have left her alone; I had a feeling that something would go wrong.'

Damon had to force himself not to grab hold of Stefan's arm to keep him put. He didn't want him to go over to Elena's and comfort and her god knows what.

'Look, why don't you give her a call instead. She said she was tired when I left her. Today has been quite an ordeal for her, Stefan. You can go over there tomorrow.'

He watched Stefan grab his cell out of his jacket pocket and relaxed a little.

Stefan sat back down while dialing Elena's number. There were quite a few seconds passed before she picked up. Damon strained a little to hear her because of the music in the background. She sounded a little subdued, and he couldn't hear the usual relief in her voice when she spoke to Stefan.

She politely answered the questions about Rose that Stefan asked, but kept really vague on what she'd been up to after Rose's death. Damon swallowed hard when Stefan asked about Damon visiting. If she would lie about him being there, it would look really bad. But she didn't. She told him that Damon had been there briefly before heading out.

'Would you like me to come over', Stefan asked in a soothing voice. 'You might not want to be alone.'

There was a pause, and Damon held his breath. He could feel the neck of his shirt straining against his throat all of a sudden and heat rise through his body. If she said yes…

'No, Stefan. I'm fine; I was just on my way to bed.'

Damon smirked into the glass.

That's my girl, he thought as he downed it in one. Pointing to the bartender that he wanted a refill, he turned to Stefan hanging up on Elena, who looked quite disappointed at being turned down.

Stefan ordered a glass of whiskey, single on the rocks. Compulsion where it was needed it seemed.

'Going straight for the hard stuff. Nice.' Damon smiled at Stefan, who only glanced at him before taking a large sip of the amber colored fluid. 'That one's on me', Damon told the bartender, who nodded with an empty look in his eyes. Stefan's compulsion was a lot stronger now that he was on part human blood. Elena's blood, Damon shuddered.

He could still feel her blood singing in his veins. There was nothing as potent as drinking blood straight from the source while having sex. He wondered if Stefan had tried that with Elena too, but quickly steered himself away from such thoughts. Too much information and all that.

Still turned to Stefan he gave him the once over.

'Look, Stefan. I should have called you when it had happened. I know you were looking for a cure for Rose. But to tell the truth, I was a bit… upset about it all. It's not every day I kill someone I care about.'

Stefan met his eyes. There was something close to understanding in them, and again Damon cringed inside knowing his brother trusted him, and he was betraying that trust.

'But you did it for someone you care about. You made a choice. It was her or Elena. You chose Elena. I'll never be able to thank you enough for that, Damon.' Stefan shook his head slightly. 'The decision must have been hard to make.'

Damon was just about to agree, when he stopped himself. There had never been a choice. As soon as he'd answered his cell and he heard what was going on between Elena and Rose, he'd known. There had been nothing on his mind, but saving Elena. The anger he'd felt afterwards, after burying the body, had nothing to do with him thinking Elena had infuriated Rose. It was the aftershock of the panic he'd felt knowing that by him leaving Elena on her own with Rose, he could have been the one responsible for Elena's death. And it had petrified him, shaken him to his very core.

'We do what we have to do', he settled on saying. 'Oh, and by the way. Rose went hard on the blood bags, so we need to go get some more if we wanna stay healthy.' He smirked at Stefan, who nodded slightly and finished his drink. He gave Damon a quick slap on the back as he stood up.

'Let's go home, brother.'

Damon hesitated for a second before he followed Stefan. As he stood up Stefan stiffened and looked up at him. Confusion flashed over his face and then realization. Damon pretended not to have noticed the change in Stefan and just smiled at him as he walked past him towards the entrance. But Damon's smile vanished as soon as Stefan couldn't see his face any longer.

He knew that his brother knew, or at least suspected. Stefan could smell Elena all over Damon as soon as he had moved. And not just her skin and her perfume. His fingers had been inside of her less than an hour ago; her scent was fresh on him.

He waited for a reaction from Stefan as they stepped out on the deserted main road, but nothing happened. The car ride to the boarding house was quiet, and he could see Stefan glancing over at him with a stony face, but he acted as if he didn't notice.

Damon walked straight to his room as they got back. He scanned it but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He'd changed bed linen and kept his balcony door open to rid himself of any trace of her. But he could still sense a hint of her smell from somewhere. He quickly walked over to the bathroom. There is was. Her smell again. Strong, as if she was in there.

He searched the floor and saw nothing. He walked over to the shower. Again, nothing. Looking into the waste bin he could see something white and lacy. He picked it up and realized it was her underwear. She'd actually thrown them away in his bathroom, that naughty little minx. He smirked evilly.

He remembered the both of them in her room as he'd unzipped her jeans; he'd noticed she hadn't been wearing any underwear then, but he'd been so aroused by it that he hadn't reflected on it for more than a split second.

Had she no common sense?, he thought furiously. Leaving these kinds of obvious traces of herself around a house full of vampires was bordering on stupid, and it was the first time he'd actually thought of the word stupid and Elena in the same sentence. He found himself cursing her for the third time within just a few hours.

He quickly discarded the underwear into his jacket pocket when he heard Stefan opening the door to his room. He plastered a smile back on his face as he turned to Stefan, who was lingering by the door frame.

'Are you going to tell me what's been going on, or am I going to have to ask Elena?' Stefan said, eyes shining like green emeralds. Damon could see his jaw clench. So now he had to lie to his brother because of her as well. Damned women making him do stuff he'd be the one suffering for.

'What do you mean, what's going on?' he stalled and tried to walk past Stefan, who grabbed his arm and forced Damon to turn to face him.

'I shouldn't even have to tell you. I can smell her all over you. She's been in here. And the scent is strong, Damon.'

Damon tried a short laughter delaying an answer, as an idea reached him.

'Oh, you must mean these.' He reached for Elena's underwear and held them up in front of Stefan's face. The look his brother gave him was priceless, and Damon was glad that his reflexes were as fast as they were as Stefan flung himself towards him to try to grab him.

Damon continued laughing as he easily dodged Stefan's advances by playfully pushing Stefan's arms away from him.

'Hold up, Stefan. It's not what you think.'

Stefan stopped for a second before lunging at him again.

'Nothing. Nothing? You're holding my girlfriend's underwear in your hand and you tell me it's nothing', he shouted furiously.

Damon held up one finger and put his fist against Stefan's chest to keep Stefan at bay.

'Ex girlfriend, brother. With emphasis on ex.'

Stefan threw himself at Damon with an enraged growl and this time managed to dunk him into the wall next to the door.

Damon was still smiling at Stefan who had fully vamped out by now. But he could feel the strain of the smile against his cheeks. This might have been him a year ago, but this wasn't him anymore. He was aching to tell Stefan, just to ease the pain. To make him understand that Damon loved Elena too. If not more…

He'd already given her up once for Stefan. That's how much he loved her. And that's how much he loved his brother. But being altruistic could only go so far.

'If you'd just let me explain…'

Stefan shook his head.

'There's nothing to explain' he snarled at Damon.

'Ah come on. She took a shower in my room while I buried Rose, who, by the way, was killed in your room. As you stated earlier, there was blood everywhere, so my guess is that she didn't want to stay close to the bloodbath.'

Damon drew an unnecessary breath before he continued.

'And she left her underwear, by mistake I might add, in my bathroom. I'd brought them with me to give to her, but the state she was in, I didn't think she'd appreciate me giving her her undies. A joke too soon doesn't go that well with neither you or her, or so it seems. So that's why you could smell her on me at the bar. I had these…' He let the underwear dangle from his hand. '…in my pocket.'

There was silence throughout the room. Stefan was staring at him blankly while his face returned to normal, ostensibly trying to figure out whether to believe Damon or not. Eventually Damon could see Stefan's anger subside. He had decided to believe in the goodness of Elena, instead of what was staring him right in the face; his brother's obvious lies.

Stefan ripped the underwear from Damon's hand and stalked out of the room. Damon leaned against the door frame and swore at the thought of Elena for the fourth time in the same night. He was sure he must be reaching some sort of record by now.

Elena tossed and turned in bed. Flashes of Damon kept rushing through her head leaving her dizzy and breathless. She could still feel his fingers inside of her and his hot breath against her skin.

She gingerly touched the bite he'd given her and time warped its way back to when it actually happened. It hadn't hurt like she thought it would have, it had warmed her skin and sent hot flushes to her groin. She had felt as if she knew what Damon was feeling and her heart had melted in his arms. And somehow she'd known that the sensation had been mutual.

When Stefan had taken her blood it hadn't been out of pleasure, but out of need, like a business deal. She had done it out of love for Stefan and what he was struggling to do, but it hadn't felt the same at all. This had been a completely different experience. With Damon it had been out of lust. And pure emotion. Her orgasm had felt stronger than ever before, and the closeness they had shared had been magic. Out of this world.

At the bare thought of Damon taking her blood she could feel her blood flowing faster through her veins. It was as if he was calling for her, willing her to him. She knew it was impossible, but it felt so real. And she wanted more. Her body was aching for his touch, and she tried her hardest to ignore the fact.

She had to focus on the things that were of most importance. Stefan, and what she felt for him. And what she truly felt for Damon. She knew that she loved Stefan. She knew she lusted after his brother. But what about the other way around? Did she lust after Stefan? Did she love Damon?

She was too confused. Her emotions were all tangled up inside of her and she couldn't seem to untangle the mess.

She nearly jumped out of her pajama when her cell indicated a received message.

She sat up and picked her phone up. Her heart skipped a beat as she read who the sender was.

Damon.

She quickly unlocked the phone and scrolled for unread messages.

-Guess who saved your sorry ass tonight. So when baby brother asks you about your sexy undies in my room, you just forgot them there.
D.

Elena gasped. Her underwear. She felt that a proper palm slaps face-action was due, but she was physically numb. Her fingers kept missing the keypad when writing an answer; her hands were shaking so much. She'd put Damon in a really awkward situation without meaning to. After writing and re-writing her message quite a few times, she settled on the most honest she could think of.

-i'm so sorry.
E.

She winced as she sent the message, knowing it would make him angry. Only a few minutes passed before the phone vibrated in her hand.

-Don't strain yourself on my behalf.
If you haven't got anything more to say than that, I'd rather you say nothing at all.
D.

Elena cursed her stupidity. She'd known it already, to say she's sorry to Damon was like telling Jeremy there are no such things as vampires. A blatant lie and derogatory to his person.

-if i say that i take it all back, will u 4give me?
E.

Phone vibrated again.

-Will you stop lying to yourself?
D.

-only if u will give me some space 2 think.
E.

-So you admit you're lying?
D.

Elena stared at the phone. Why would he have to be so stubborn? He knew how hard this was on her. And she wasn't even sure of her own feelings just yet.

-i thought u said ur done chasing me. wot changed?
E.

Elena was waiting impatiently for his answer. She thought he wasn't going to give one when the phone vibrated again.

-Everything.
D.

This will probably be my last update until after the next epi. I'm going to my sister's funeral, so will actually miss the airing of the show...

And my daughter is back from staying a month with her Daddy, so I won't have as much time on my hands now. She's only six :) (But gorgeous)

There will be an update on my other story, Waking Up, as well before January 27th. So keep your eyes out for it.

As always! Review - I LOVE IT! Your thoughts are amazing. And eventhough I might have a sort of mold for my story, your thoughts and comments might actually slightly change my plans. And that's what I really love about . It keeps the stories flowing and alive. And I have you to thank for that :)

My friend LoveEpicLove actually reminded me of the fact that one of my videos on youtube reminded her of this story (thank you, hun) so if you have the time, check it:

It's called 'damon/elena; stefan (i know he knows i'm) unfaithful' - under my username of lucas13oth

Songs used:

Numb Dubstep - Homemade320 (Linkin Park)

Trouble Dubstep - Homemade320 (Coldplay)

Please check him out - he's truly awesome!

Hugs and kisses,

Vic xxx