Chapter 4: Renovation

Raptured into the world of compassion and yet another whirlwind of intense feelings she had never experienced before, Elena felt herself being pulled to Damon and wanting to ease his suffering immediately. She climbed onto the bed before she knew what she was doing and lay next to the older vampire in a way she could put her arms around him.

Damon moaned in response to the urging touch and blinked his eyes open to see what the disruption was. Confusion followed while he had decided it had to be something wrong with the picture of Elena's face so close to him he could barely see more than her nose and drew back, using an elbow for support as he jumped back to the far side of the bed. "Elena?"

"Meredith called me," the young woman explained, "she told me you were behaving insensible."

"Where's Stefan?" Damon groaned. He wasn't very keen on his brother finding his girlfriend in his bed.

"I'm assuming he ran to Caroline to sulk," Elena shrugged, "she's supposed to be my best friend, yet she's proving to be so understanding towards him whenever we have a disagreement."

"I'm not sure I'm the best person for couple-counselling Stefan's girlfriends," Damon grumbled, yet searched her face for signs of distress.

"I'm not here for that Damon," Elena assured him, "what happened to you? Meredith said you were at the bar insisting on drinks for Ric. Do you miss him that bad? How are you doing?"

Damon sighed, "I'm fine. I have a lot of experience losing people," he declared, "all you have to do is stay drunk or in some other altered state till it doesn't hurt that much anymore."

"So you call hunger an enjoyable altered state?" She mocked him.

"Meredith talks too much," Damon protested.

"She has proved to be a good friend to Ric and everyone," Elena insisted.

"Does that mean you don't mind her turning you a vampire now?"

Elena shrugged, "the emotions..they are so all over the place. Sometimes I hate myself for what I am and sometimes I'd like to ride with the vultures up there, rocketing up to ride a surge of ecstasy that tells me the world's beautiful and open for discovery. I have given up on figuring out that one for now."

Damon smiled, liking the direction she had been going. "Wise decision." He wanted to compliment her on it further, but a stomach cramp made him pant and lean back on the pillow behind him, the hand that never left his belly tightening its grip.

"Fancy you talking about wise when you don't even follow your own advice on vampirism. What happened with you-must-feed-from-the-vein-as-a-proper-vampire speech?"

"I'm on it," Damon considered. He didn't like the idea of Elena seeing him as weak psychologically, wasn't he supposed to be her rock. Holding onto his midsection, he turned round to hop off his bed, easier said than done in his still drunken, feeble state. The moving about unbalanced him and he only managed a few steps just past his bedpost before he swayed dangerously, his head swimming with a nauseating throbbing, prompting Elena to speedjump to his aid.

Damon closed his eyes to dull the ache, but was determined to carry on to his cellar for an overdue dose of blood, not seeing the girl jump in front of him and colliding with Elena's full speed. The collision's energy threw both of them to the floor in a confusing tangle that had them logroll over to take control of their limbs. The Salvatore grunted, aware how the young woman's knees dug into his aching stomach and took hold of her shoulders to turn her and under himself, avoiding the harm the pull of gravity paired up with her otherwise featherweight did to his midsection.

"Are you ok?" Elena asked, looking up. Her breath was caught in her throat, preventing her from talking any more as she found herself staring into those ocean blue eyes from probably the closest range ever. Not able to blink, or look away, she was only instinctually cognisant that his mouth would've been just as close, if not closer. Windows to his soul, she marvelled at the adoration directed in her direction in his eyes, caught in an unguarded moment, revealing that he lived, thought and breathed only for her. Pure and vibrant as they were, hurt and the shadow of the past loomed in from behind the crystal shine and Elena felt the entire weight of his destiny all of a sudden, swept over by the uncontrolled compassion of newbie vampire magnitudes. This man she would help at all costs with whatever he needs and right now that would be her comfort she chose to give in the form of nearing her lips to his. As close as their lips have been, they never touched. Elena was baffled for a moment how that could've happened, but the angry voice of Stefan gave her the explanation soon enough.

"Get off her!" Stefan flew after his brother he had thrown into the wall, taking a stake out his inside jacket pocket on his way that he buried under Damon's ribs as far as it would go before Elena could jump up from the floor.

"He hasn't done anything!" The young vampire lurched to pull Stefan away from Damon, not an easy task when the stronger vampire was dead bent on punishing his brother for hitting or maybe even attacking his girlfriend and pulled out the stake just to bury it once more in the older Salvatore's stomach. Elena gave up on tugging and buried his fangs into Stefan's neck from the back, surprising him to a considerable extent, enough to allow for him to take into consideration something that distracted him from battering the unresponsive mess that was Damon.

"I came here to talk to Damon, I approached him and I kissed him," Elena insisted, trying to make sure Stefan was clear on the fact that Damon was innocent and did not deserve his beating..

Stefan whirled back, staring, "why?" He enquired cautiously.

"He needed my help," Elena claimed, glancing in Damon's direction worriedly. He was bleeding badly, his face pale, his eyes closed.

"And could you tell me just when does helping Damon include kissing him?" Stefan looked at his on and off girlfriend suspiciously.

"He looked like he needed it," Elena winced, knowing how unintelligible it may have sounded, "you know how changeable my emotions are right now Stefan, you understand that, don't you? One moment I laugh, next moment I cry. I was..I was just following my instincts. I'm sorry, but please don't take it out on him, it is me you should be mad at."

Stefan pursed his lips, nodding, composing himself. He was no longer a wild animal out of control, but rather one encaged and angry, bottling up wrath for when he would be set free. He stood at full height, his expression rigid as he stared at her, "when you told me you would spend eternity with me, was that also just one of your momentary feels?"

"Let me help Damon first," Elena tried to both sidestep Stefan and the question, but her arm was twisted by Stefan's older vampire force as he made her look at him. "Was that moment we had on the roof simply a product of your newbie vampire impulses?" He asked slowly, weightily. "What is it you feel about me now?"

"You just staked your brother unconscious, how is it I should feel about you other than disgusted and hostile?" Elena countered feistily, caught up in protecting Damon mode.

Stefan drew back, sobering. His girlfriend had been acting influenced by her emotions, so out of control just after turning, he out of all people should understand that. Only he fine well knew Elena had increasingly been harbouring emotions for Damon before turning as well. Not sure he would be able to control his own emotions, he let go of the girl and hurried out for a quiet place to think, a sympathetic ear to listen, a bias woman to look for advice to. He had no Lexi, but Caroline was so similar.

Elena jumped to Damon with a racing pulse. Her brain told her there was nothing to be worried about as the older vampire would recover with a bit of blood, but her heart still insisted on concern. Wasting some impractical moments, her hand reached out to his face, drawn by its unnatural pallor and vulnerability. Her eyes looked him up and down nervously settling on the considerable wounds and she wanted to make all his pain hers. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she willed herself to snap out of the encompassing feels and speedmove down the cellar and up as quickly as she could, gathering an armful of bloodbags. As the movement made her head clear a little, Elena now set to gently raise his head and start to pour the contents of the plastic containers into his mouth hardly minding that most of it ended up on the floor and very little was swallowed. It was vampire instinct that made Damon take some of the fluid at first, but as soon as he was consciously aware of his body, he rolled to his side, curling up on himself, protecting his middle.

"No, Damon, let me get that stake out," Elena tried to remove his hands out the way, "I thought it would cause more bleeding if I took it out earlier but it should be ok now, isn't that right?" She hesitated, after all Damon would know better. Having no response apart from some faint moaning, Elena gathered his head into her lap and cuddled up his shoulders affectionately, finely tuned to his suffering, "please, let me help you," she cried.

Damon blinked his eyes open at the sound of distress in his voice, never wanting to be the cause of it, "it's okay..you can get it out," he inched his palms away from where it hurt so badly, then nodded up at her encouragingly.

Still new at her vampire strength, Elena underestimated her grip and the stake came out swiftly, making Damon turn grey and shake awkwardly, eyes closing again. This time, it took Elena a few tries before she managed to make him swallow some blood again, but she just stroked his cheek intently till he responded. All the containers were drunk dry before the girl felt his muscles starting to hold his own weight and she could see the blue of his iris shine through the slits between his eyelashes. Elena smiled at him, helping him sit up, still leaning against her. "Does it hurt?" Her gaze went to his hands, stubbornly holding onto the site of the newly closed wounds.

"Not too much," he looked her in the eyes daringly, "Elena, what was all that? I need to teach you control of emotions. You shouldn't cry out the whole Atlantic Ocean at the sight of somebody's pain."

Elena shook her head, "no, I wouldn't. I'm quite sure I wouldn't. I've seen others hurt since I've become a vampire. I've never had this response before. It's only with you, I'm certain," she stared ahead, eyes wide. "Damon, I think it means I love you," she breathed in her uncontrolled style.

"You think." Damon repeated. Was it the bloodloss that was making him dazed still?

"No, no, not just think. I know like I've always known," she raved as if getting a revelation, "becoming a vampire has freed me of inhibitions, whether kicking or screaming or not. What remains is me and my wishes, purely and entirely. I no longer mind what people will say and think about me that much, what was deep down and buried so that I could fit expectations is no longer repressed. This is me, vampire Elena and I love you."

Damon stared at her dubiously, "what was that spur of the moment thing Stefan was talking about? Can't say I was very focussed on the conversation."

Elena took his face in between her hands, "but you did hear what I said right now. As opposed to spur of the moment feelings I have always believed in you and I have always loved you. I was afraid to go there, I was afraid to do so, afraid to embrace vampirism, passion and a tidal wave of feelings I've never experienced before. But now I'm not afraid anymore."

"Let's just see what you say after I teach you control." Hope clearly filling his voice, it would take more than a few words from Elena for him to believe in his luck after almost two centuries of the opposite.

Elena just laughed, "let's." She had nothing to be afraid of.

The End.