Hey guys! I'm sorry about the long wait for this chapter. My life has been absolutely insane lately and when I had time to update the other night my computer was not cooperating whatsoever. Anyways, I am now sick with the cold from hell and huddled in my bed wrapped in like 12 blankets, but still posting this chapter so you don't have to wait any longer, and all this medicine is making it hard to sleep lol so I was like meh why not update my fic. Anyways, thank you for all the wonderful reviews you've left and thank you to all of you that have Favorited/Followed. I'm so thankful for your interest in this story, I've worked really hard on it and it's nice to know people are enjoying it. Please continue to let me know what you think and ask questions, I'm happy to talk to you guys!

Chapter 3:

Temptation

I'm getting caught up in him but I don't wanna

I'm getting off track and I can't control a thing

I'm telling myself it's not a good idea

But the more I hesitate the more I fall for him

I'm tryin' to erase his face from my memory

August 26, 2010

"Elena pleaaaaaase," Caroline pouted a she looked up at her friend pleadingly. She needed Elena to agree to her request or else everything would be ruined!

"Caroline I told you already that I'm not interested in Stefan," Elena let out an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes as she sat down on her bed and laced up her converse.

"And I completely respect that I promise," Caroline whined as she paced across the room. "It's just that I think I might really like Jesse and when I asked him if he was busy tonight he told me he had plans with Stefan, so I suggested we all go out together and he agreed! This is my chance at our first date Elena; please just do this for me? I'll owe you big time!"

"Care, you don't even know Jesse," Elena told her pointedly. "You think he's hot, that doesn't exactly equal soul mates."

"How am I supposed to know if I don't at least try?" Caroline pouted her lips and Elena felt her resolve weaken.

"Ugh fine," Elena finally relented and Caroline squealed in delight as she pulled her best friend in for a hug. "Just don't expect it to happen again, this is it. I don't like Stefan as anything more than a friend and I don't want him getting the wrong idea!"

"I promise I will only plant strictly platonic thoughts into his head," she smiled and Elena rolled her eyes as she grabbed her school bag.

"Well, I have to get to sociology," Elena announced tossing her keys into her bag. "So what time is this date happening then?"

"We're meeting them downstairs at 7 sharp," Caroline grinned excitedly. "I made reservations at this amazing new restaurant in town. When you get back we'll figure out what to wear!"

"Fine," Elena sighed waving goodbye to her friend and exiting their shared dorm room. She was definitely not looking forward to this so-called double date. She'd run into Stefan a few times since the night of the party and every time she was only further reminded of how little chemistry they had. He was one of the nicest guys she'd ever met, but she couldn't help the fact that there just wasn't any kind of spark between them.

As she made her trek across campus towards her Thursday morning Sociology class she decided to take her recently discovered detour and cut through the psychology building to get to where she needed to go a little quicker, and with the added bonus of part of her walk including an air conditioned building.

Today would end the last day of Elena's very first week of college and she had to admit that she enjoyed it. Her classes were going to be difficult, but they were interesting and she knew she would be able to manage it. She'd now familiarized herself with the campus enough to know her way around too, and she was happy to no longer carry around her map that screamed I'm a lost freshman to anyone that saw her holding it. She felt at home here, like she belonged, and it was really nice to feel like that again. She hadn't felt it since she lost her parents, but when she was here honoring their wishes it was almost as though she could feel their presence.

As she walked down the long hallway of the first floor of the now familiar psychology building towards the opposite exit door she looked down at her phone momentarily until she collided with a hard body causing a pile of papers to fall into a massive heap on the ground.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered as she looked up and her eyes grew wide when she saw Damon looking down at her with a rather amused expression on his flawless face. Those blue eyes made her want to melt into a puddle of goo right there on the floor.

"It's fine," he chuckled at her reddened cheeks as he bent down to clean up his papers and she immediately did the same hoping to at least help him out a little. He hated to admit it because he knew it was wrong, but he rather enjoyed running into her on a day where he didn't even have her class. She looked just as stunning today as she did the other two days he saw her this week, no surprise there. This girl was quickly becoming all he ever thought about, and yes that made him feel extremely guilty, but he really couldn't help it.

"That'll teach me to text and walk," she smiled nervously, hoping to ease some of the tension and he chuckled again as she handed him the papers she had collected from the floor and they both stood up.

"I was distracted too don't worry about it Elena," he smiled politely and she felt her heart rate speed up when he said her name. This was the third time she'd acted like a total klutz in front of him. Way to go Elena, she thought.

"I should get to class," Elena mumbled uncertainly waving goodbye before making a beeline for the door. He watched as she walked away and felt something inside of him flutter slightly, butterflies? No, it couldn't be that. Damon Salvatore did not get butterflies.

He had to force himself out of the trance the young girl had left him in before remembering that he had been on his way to teach a class. As he walked the remainder of the way to his classroom he tried exceptionally hard not to think about his student, whom he had been thinking about way too much lately, but that proved to be an impossible task. Elena Gilbert had officially taken over his mind.

Unbeknownst to him she was having just as difficult a time regarding her professor. As she entered her sociology class just in time and took her seat she had to mentally chastise herself for thinking of him in such an inappropriate way again. After the party he became the one thing constantly on her mind and it scared the hell out of her. She found herself dreaming about him at night and thinking about him all day.

She even did a Google search on him, which was a terrible idea for multiple reasons. While she found numerous published psychology articles that only further proved how brilliant he was, she knew it was extremely creepy and stalkerish behavior, therefore making her feel like some kind of freaky teenager obsessed with their teacher and ending up in a live version of Don't Stand So Close To Me.

Secondly, she was far from pleased with what she found. He was engaged to a woman who looked like some kind of super model and she realized how ludicrous her little crush actually was. There were photos of him and the perfect brunette at fancy parties, looking like they belonged on the cover of people. This man was her professor, and he's engaged to be married to one of the most gorgeous women in the world. She was barely a blip on his radar. Some average looking freshman in one of his classes, nothing more than that.

Still, she couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that there was some sort of connection between them. They had really hit it off that night at the Chancellor's house. The chemistry between them was always there, surging through the air whenever they were in the same room. It felt like electricity, like some sort of charge. Her experience with boys was rather limited. She'd had a few boyfriends in high school, but they were hardly serious relationships and she'd never been in love. She'd certainly never experience a connection like this one before.

Her longest relationship was with her childhood best friend Matt Donovan, but she eventually realized that they were better suited as friends. She'd hooked up with a few of the other football players at parties now and then throughout high school, but Matt was the only boy she'd ever had sex with, and it was hardly a passionate romp between the sheets. Either way, her experience was extremely limited.

Combining her lack of experience with the fact that the man she had been fantasizing about was already about to be married to a woman who no doubt knew how to please him thoroughly made Elena more upset than she cared to admit. It was all so ridiculous because she knew she had no right to be effected by it. Damon Salvatore was her professor who was at least 8 years older than her, he had a fiancé, and the idea of him ever being remotely interested in her was preposterous.

She briefly wondered if this infatuation was just another symptom of her numerous mental problems and she had considered discussing it with Dr. Fell, but she was much too embarrassed to go through with it when they met yesterday afternoon. She knew she needed to simply move on, but that was proving to be a rather difficult task. It was frustrating, being this caught up in a man she knew she could never have.

As the rest of the day passed by rather quickly Elena began dreading her evening more and more. Going on a double date with a guy she had no interest in actually dating was definitely not her ideal Thursday night, but then again it had been a while since she'd done anything normal and she knew backing out would only put her another step back. She needed to put herself out there and enjoy life again, and even if she had no interest in Stefan she could still find a way to enjoy herself if she just pulled her head out of her ass, she knew that much. The feeling sorry for herself stage needed to end.

"Caroline I don't know about this," Elena frowned as she stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror hanging on the wall of their dorm room later that evening. Caroline had dressed her in a grey high-waisted loose flowing mini skirt with a black crop top that ended about an inch above the skirt's hem showing off just a peek of her flat tanned stomach. She also had on Caroline's black heels, and while the outfit was amazing, she felt like it was too much if she wanted to successfully convince Stefan that this wasn't a date. If this were a boy she actually liked she would've let Caroline have her way, but the last thing she wanted was for Stefan to get the wrong idea and this outfit definitely did that.

"Elena you look gorgeous please don't change," Caroline pleaded as she put on a coat of lip-gloss. "Stefan isn't going to get the wrong idea just because you dressed cute, and if he does I will help you set him straight."

"Okay I guess," she sighed turning away from the mirror to look at her friend. Caroline had on a short black dress with a cut out under the bust along with a tall pair of nude heels and some bright colored accessories and Elena realized that in comparison to Caroline she didn't look nearly as over the top. Caroline definitely looked like she was going on a date.

Elena had left her hair straight and didn't do anything extra with her makeup while Caroline curled her hair and added a smoky eye that she'd perfected with the help of about a dozen YouTube tutorials. Plus, Elena had to admit it was nice putting a little extra effort into her outfit; it had been a while since she did, with the exception of the Chancellor's party, but that was a much stuffier event.

Dr. Fell had encouraged her to put herself out there and make new friends so she could enjoy her college experience, and that's exactly what tonight was. Even if it turned out to be a bust at least it would earn her some brownie points with her therapist.

"Okay let's go," Caroline grinned, grabbing her pink and orange clutch off the bed and looping her arm through Elena's so they could walk down to meet the boys. They were standing side by side both dressed in basic V-necks and jeans and Caroline couldn't help but check out Stefan a little bit as they walked into the lobby. She still couldn't understand why Elena wasn't interested in him. He was gorgeous.

"You guys look nice," Stefan complimented them both and Caroline blushed before turning her attention to Jesse who smiled politely at her before suggesting that they all get going.

The drive to the restaurant was awkward. Elena and Stefan sat in the backseat in an uncomfortable silence all while Caroline yapped away in the front seat trying to start a conversation with Jesse, who seemed less than interested in what she had to say. All in all it was shaping up to be one of the worst double dates ever.

"You look beat," Katherine commented as she watched Damon collapse onto their bed Thursday evening.

"I am beat," he muttered into his pillow and she rolled her eyes. She knew he hadn't slept most of the week, she could hear him roaming around the apartment in the middle of the night, and she could see how exhausted he was just by looking at his face. It definitely made him a little less pleasing to the eye. His eyes were hollow with dark circles around them and he was always frowning.

"I know there's something going on with you," she sighed as she stood above him at the side of the bed. "You haven't touched me since we got back from Europe and you're not sleeping so what's the deal Damon? You haven't exactly been enjoyable company lately, you know."

"Glad to hear you're so concerned about my well-being kitty Kat," Damon deadpanned as he dug his face deeper into the pillow.

"Look, you know I don't do the whole concerned girlfriend bit very well, but I'm trying my best," she crossed her arms over her chest as he peered up at her with one eye unsure of how to respond.

"I'm just stressed about work and all that shit," he lied burying his face back into the pillow. He couldn't exactly tell her that his inability to fall asleep and lack of interest in sex was because he'd met another girl, who also happened to be one of his students. That wouldn't exactly go over well, and in all honesty he had hoped that he could just move on from the teenager and get back to his life, but that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

No matter what he did she just couldn't get her out of his head. He saw her everywhere, even when she wasn't actually there for him to see. Every time a tall brunette was in his vicinity his heart would start to speed up until he realized it wasn't actually her. When they had their run in this morning in the hallway he'd just about peed himself. All in all this entire mess was basically tearing his life apart.

"Well we're going out tonight," she replied curtly. "So get changed because I got us reservations at that fabulous new restaurant down the street. It's supposed to be a Richmond hot spot or something so I figured we could go check it out for dinner."

"Kat, I really would just rather stay in and catch up on some sleep," he muttered tiredly. "Can't we go tomorrow night?"

"No because I already made the reservation Damon," she rolled her eyes as she shook his shoulder roughly trying to get him out of bed and he groaned. "Look, just change your shirt so we can get going."

"Kat, why don't you call one of your friends to go with you?" He suggested hopefully and she scowled as she walked into their shared closet to grab a fresh black button up and tossed it at him.

"I just wanted to go out and have a nice night with my fiancé," she pouted sitting down next to him on the edge of the bed. "Please Damon, we don't have to stay late and then you can come home and sleep. You don't have any classes tomorrow so you can sleep in right?"

"I have to go to a meeting for the psychology club tomorrow," Damon sighed, forcing himself off the bed to change his shirt.

"Why would you go to a meeting for some club?" Katherine asked, scrunching her nose up as he unbuttoned his shirt to put on the fresh one.

"Because they needed a new faculty advisor and I ended up with the job," Damon shrugged as he buttoned up the black dress shirt. "One of my old students asked me to do it and she looked desperate, I felt like I would be a total dick if I said no so I just accepted the offer."

"You know you don't have to do things just because you're too much of a pushover to say no," Katherine said pointedly. "You already give so much to that job and now you're voluntarily doing even more? Do you even get paid for this?"

"It's voluntary aka I don't get paid," Damon rolled his eyes at Katherine's senselessness yet again. "And I'm not a pushover, but if I didn't accept the position they could've lost the club and I couldn't let that happen. I don't even get why you care so much, I have plenty of money in my trust fund and you work a lot of hours too."

"Forget it I was just making a point," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," he nodded following her out of the bedroom.

"So I met with one of Vaughn's colleagues today and he's setting up a photo shoot next week to update my portfolio," Katherine grinned proudly as they exited the apartment. "He's trying to get me into Victoria's Secret's new line, but he thinks we should take some new photos since I haven't worked for them in a few years."

"That sounds great," Damon commented only half listening as she continued on about work. One thing Katherine loved more than anything in the world was talking about herself. She'd been modeling since she was a teenager and she was rather successful for a while, but over the last few years she'd been getting less offers. She blamed their move to Virginia on that because she was further away from the city where all the big fashion companies are, but it's no secret that she was just getting older. She wasn't exactly in her prime years for modeling anymore.

As they pulled up to the restaurant Damon handed his keys to the valet and led Katherine in through the front doors of the crowded restaurant with a quiet groan. It was one of those places that picked up into a club-like setting in the evening. This was not the type of place he wanted to be right now.

"Reservation for two under Katherine Pierce," Kat spoke to the hostess confidently as she flipped back a piece of her curled hair.

"Okay, it'll be about 10 minutes until your table is ready," the hostess smiled politely and Damon scowled. Isn't the point of reservations not having to wait?

"Oh come on, stop pouting," Katherine rolled her eyes as they moved to stand in a corner and wait to be seated.

"I'm not pouting," Damon said defensively and Katherine rolled her eyes again as she let her eyes wander around the crowded restaurant. She stopped when she spotted a familiar face and had to do a double take before tapping Damon to get his attention.

"Isn't that Stefan?" She asked him pointing at Damon's brother, but his eyes widened when he noticed not his brother, but the girl sitting next to him. Elena Gilbert. She looked stunning in her short skirt and tank top. Showing just enough skin to be sexy, but not too much to the point where she looked slutty. "Hello, earth to Damon," Katherine waved her hand in front of his face.

"Uh yeah, looks like he's on a date or something," he commented looking over at the couple. He felt something uncomfortable churning in the pit of his stomach as he watched his brother chat with Elena as though they'd known each other for years. Jealousy? No. Hell no. It's just; Elena could do so much better than his pathetic little brother who Damon suspected to still be a virgin at the age of 21. Elena deserved someone who could bring out her wild side that he just knew was hidden under that girl next door persona she always carried, and Stefan definitely wouldn't be capable of doing that.

"We should say hello," Katherine smiled, pulling Damon along with her towards his brother and he groaned. Katherine always had a soft spot for Stefan and it annoyed him to no end. Him and his brother were far from Wally and the Beav.

"Kat, it's good to see you," Stefan smiled politely as he got up to hug Katherine and Damon was pulled back to reality. He purposely didn't dart his eyes in the direction of Elena Gilbert considering the fact that his very perceptive fiancé was standing right next to him. If Katherine caught on to the chemistry between them, or even caught on to the way he looked at the girl (not like he could help it), she would have a full on meltdown and he'd be the one to suffer the consequences.

"Good to see you brother," Damon forced a smile towards Stefan who nodded back at him.

"Uh, this is my friend Elena," Stefan smiled gesturing to the brunette still seated who's eyes widened when she realized he was introducing her. She had spotted Damon the second he walked in and forcefully kept her attention averted from him, but now she'd come to find out that he was Stefan's brother! Seriously?

"I know," Damon found himself saying and he immediately regretted it. "Uh hope you're not texting and walking again," he joked trying to lighten the mood before instantly regretting that line too. This was hell. He'd never had issues talking to people before, especially girls.

"The phone is safely in my purse and I'm keeping my eyes up from now on," Elena blushed nervously as she offered him a small smile.

"You two know each other?" Stefan asked looking between Elena and his brother slightly puzzled.

"I'm in his class," Elena smiled anxiously at Stefan. She conveniently left out the fact that they'd met at the party the weekend before. Their moment when he walked her to her car was definitely not forgotten, but Stefan didn't need to know that, and Damon's fiancé definitely didn't either.

"Ah so are you a freshman?" Katherine asked raising an eyebrow at the young girl who found herself nodding in response as her cheeks turned pink from Katherine's judgmental glare. "I hated psychology when I was in college, but they make you take it as a General Ed. Requirement. It totally blows," Katherine rolled her eyes and Elena immediately disliked the woman. Who criticizes their future husband's life work in front of one of his students?

"I'm a psychology major actually," Elena smiled politely as she felt her skin heat up. "I think it's really interesting."

"Sounds like we've got a teachers pet in our midst," Katherine smirked devilishly at Elena who's face turned straight crimson. Stefan set his hand on her back encouragingly for a moment because he could sense her discomfort and Damon immediately felt the need to slap it away, but he resisted.

"Well if I remember correctly you never liked anything that required you to think at all Kat," Damon commented dryly as he sent a pointed look at his extremely rude fiancé who scoffed back at him. Elena couldn't help but smirk slightly at his words and he smirked back at her, winking discreetly, making her heart rate amplify.

He really wasn't trying to be flirtatious, he joked with his students like this all the time and he wanted to come to Elena's defense somehow, she didn't deserve to be insulted, but with Elena even the innocent things he did felt dirty or wrong. The lines were suddenly blurring and he couldn't tell what was normal and what came from his developing feelings for the girl.

"Ugh that stupid hostess gave me a hard time when I tried to tell her that I made a reservation and it took her like 10 minutes to realize she'd put down the wrong name," Caroline huffed as she walked towards Stefan and Elena before realizing there was extra company. "Uhm hi Professor Salvatore," she smiled anxiously as her eyes darted between her psychology professor and the brunette attached to his arm who she swore she'd seen before she just couldn't remember where.

"Uh Caroline is in my class too," Elena added smiling at Stefan who nodded in understanding.

"Katherine table for two," the hostess called out interrupting the awkward group, to all of their relief.

"Well it was good to see you brother," Damon waved goodbye to Stefan before smiling politely at his students and turning around with Katherine so they could sit down.

Elena swore she saw him turn around and look at her before walking away, but she couldn't be sure. Either way, that was one of the more awkward moments she'd ever experienced and she really wished she could punch Katherine right in the middle of that pretty little reconstructed face of hers. That woman was the epitome of an evil bitch. Why the hell would Damon give a woman like that the time of day in the first place?

"Elena," Stefan called trying to get her attention snapping her out of her jumbled thoughts. "Our table's ready."

"Oh sorry," Elena smiled sheepishly as she stood up.

As they followed the hostess to their table Elena found herself feeling disappointed that she hadn't spotted him again, but then again keeping her distance would help keep her anxiety at bay considering what a colossal fool she'd made out of herself all night. At this point even if Stefan ever did have feelings for her they'd have to be out the window, which she didn't mind, but still she didn't want him thinking she was an idiot.

"Professor Salvatore's girlfriend looks so familiar and I just can't figure out why," Caroline mused once they all sat down. "She's not from Mystic Falls is she Elena? Or maybe cheer camp or something?"

"Not that I know of," Elena shrugged as she picked up her menu resisting the urge to scowl at the mention of the woman's name. She knew she was being petty, but she didn't care.

"She's done a lot of modeling you might recognize her from that," Stefan commented smiling up at Caroline as a look of realization crossed her face.

"That's it!" She squealed. "Katherine Pierce the model! Holy crap, how did Salvatore score that one? I mean, granted he's gorgeous, but I'm just surprised a model would date a professor, the two don't really go together."

"They've known each other since high school," Stefan chuckled at Caroline's craziness while Elena frowned into her menu. When she looked up she noticed the way Stefan's eyes lingered on her best friend both amused and slightly awestruck. Maybe this double date wouldn't be such a waste after all, even if Caroline would end up switching guys by the end of the night.

"Aren't they engaged?" Jesse asked piping in for the first time since they'd arrived.

"Yeah, but I honestly think it's more of a title than a promise for anything," Stefan replied rolling his eyes. "They've been engaged for almost two years and haven't even discussed the wedding. They've been on and off since they were teenagers, they've got a lot of history I guess. I don't get it though, they have way too much drama, plus she's always hitting on me when he isn't around. It's super creepy."

"Wait, she's engaged to your brother and openly hits on you?" Elena asked him in disgust. "Who does that?" What she really couldn't believe was that any woman lucky enough to score herself a man like Damon Salvatore would ever jeopardize it.

"She's a real piece of work," Stefan shrugged sipping his water and the conversation seemed to end there. Elena had millions of questions, but she didn't want raise suspicions by asking. The knowledge that his fiancé wasn't a very good person made Elena happier than she cared to admit and give her a little glimmer of hope that she knew was a complete waste of time. Still, those insecurities that had risen when her Google search had revealed that the man of her dreams had a beautiful fiancé were put to rest when she realized he obviously wasn't very happy with her.

"Lena do you want to split an appetizer?" Caroline asked pulling Elena from her thoughts and she nodded as they both looked over the menu.

As the night continued Caroline and Stefan bonded even more, making Elena and Jesse feel more like third wheels than equal partners in the double date. Elena could tell right off the bat that Jesse was definitely not the right guy for Caroline. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought about it earlier, but Stefan and Caroline are kind of perfect for each other. He was very calm and a good listener, which was just what Caroline needed, but he also had a snarky fun side to him that she seemed to bring out.

By the time they were done eating Elena was watching happily as her best friend flirted with the younger Salvatore brother while Jesse kept himself distracted with something on his iPhone.

"But they live underground and eat nothing but pizza," Caroline huffed looking at Stefan in amusement. "That's not heroic it's pathetic."

"I'm sorry, but you can't honestly expect me to agree that Totally Spies was a better show than Ninja Turtles," Stefan chuckled and Caroline rolled her eyes as a blush crossed her cheeks.

"Are we really arguing about this?" Jesse asked looking between the two with a light scowl on his face just as the waitress brought over the check.

"I got this," Stefan smiled at the table as he reached into his pocket for his wallet.

"Oh no, you really don't have to do that Stefan," Elena smiled pulling her purse out, but he stopped her.

"Don't worry it's my dad's money and he expects me to spend it so the least I can do is buy you guys dinner," he smirked and Elena gave up setting her purse back down.

After the check was paid they all walked out into the cool night air towards Jesse's car and Caroline quietly asked Elena if she'd sit in the back with her. It was safe to say that the Jesse/Caroline ship was never going to set sail so Elena nodded and made sure to give Stefan a signal that he'd be sitting up front.

As they drove towards home Elena rested her head against the cool glass of the window and smiled. She was happy that Caroline had clicked with Stefan. He was a nice guy with a bright future and they were right for each other. She wished she could find that for herself. She wanted to fall in love; she wanted a passionate adventurous relationship with a real man, someone who would consume her. What she wanted was Damon Salvatore.

Damon closed the front door behind him with a loud thud as he followed Katherine further into the apartment. They'd hardly spoken to each other throughout dinner or during the car ride home. He was pissed. She was pissed. The usual.

"You're overreacting," she commented dryly as he followed her into their bedroom.

"Oh you don't want to see me overreacting Kat," Damon replied coldly. "What the hell is your problem? You really are a bitch, making comments like that to one of my students, really? Every ounce of respect that girl had for me just flew out the window so thank you for that."

"Oh you're kidding right?" She asked him in disbelief. "I'm not an idiot, Damon. Didn't you see the way she looked at you?"

"Uh no, she looked at me the same way anyone else would," Damon responded crossing his arms over his chest. He hadn't noticed Elena looking at him any differently than anyone else would. She'd looked nervous and definitely uncomfortable, but most people did when they ran into teachers outside of class.

Granted they had a connection, but she wasn't some flirtatious floozy that openly gawked at him. She was shy and reserved. She did blush around him a lot though, but then again most girls did so it really wasn't all that strange.

"Now that's just not true," she scoffed before devilishly smirking at her fiancé. "She looked at you like you hung the moon and you were loving every second of it. I'm not blind, and I know women. Trust me, the last thing you should be worrying about is her respecting you. What you should be worried about is the massive law suit you're going to have on your hands."

"A lawsuit?" He asked in disbelief. "Why would I be worried about that?"

"I don't know Damon, you tell me," she responded curtly.

"Are you accusing me of something?" He scoffed as he looked at her both confused and shocked that she would really say something like that. They'd fought millions of times throughout the course of their dramatic relationship, but she'd never accused him of something like this before.

"I don't know, Damon. Should I be?"

"Stop answering my questions with more questions Kat," he shouted angrily. "What are you implying with all this? Because I'm a little lost."

"Fine," she narrowed her eyes as she took a step towards him. "I'm implying that you have a thing for one of your students. You like her. Hell, for all I know you two are already carrying on behind my back."

"I wouldn't cheat on you," Damon frowned running a hand through his now ragged hair. It was the truth. Even if he had a lingering attraction towards Elena he wasn't a cheater and he wouldn't get involved with a student anyways.

"Maybe not physically," Katherine replied abruptly," but there is such a thing as an emotional affair, and you didn't deny that you had a thing for her; all you denied was the cheating. You just gave yourself up. I thought you were a psychologist, isn't deflecting a thing? Because I think you're guilty of it."

"I'm not having any kind of affair Kat. Emotional or physical. She looks at me the same way all of my other students do, and she's a freshman, whose maybe a little intimidated by me, but that's it. If you can't handle the fact that I have students that look up to me then I don't know what to tell you."

"It's more than that and you know it," Katherine responded storming into their shared closet to grab a nightgown before walking back out to face him. "By this time next year your picture will probably be plastered all over the news for a sex scandal!"

"Oh screw you, Katherine," Damon scoffed pushing past her to grab his suitcase from the top shelf of their closet. He grabbed a few things from hangers and tossed them into the bag before moving to the bathroom to grab some toiletries as Katherine watched him puzzled.

"Where are you going?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest once he'd walked back into the bedroom.

"Away from this house of horrors," he frowned walking out of their bedroom and grabbing his keys off the counter slamming the door behind him as he walked down to his car.

As he tossed his bag in the back of his car and angrily started the ignition he felt a pang of guilt run through him. He did have feelings for Elena, he knew he did. Katherine wasn't completely wrong, but her accusations were also ridiculous and extremely hypocritical. She was in situations like that constantly and he'd never gone after her the way she went after him.

Twenty minutes later Alaric opened his front door to a sight he'd seen hundreds of times and he chuckled before motioning for Damon to come inside. At this point him and Meredith should've just renamed the guest room to Damon's room, he spent enough time in it. Hell, the guy had his own toothbrush in the bathroom.

"What happened this time?" He asked, pouring Damon a glass of bourbon and handing it to him as he sat down on the sofa.

"I don't want to talk about it," Damon replied, downing the contents of the glass in one gulp before pouring himself another. Alaric was his best friend, but this just wasn't something he could discuss with him.

"You know most healthy relationships don't exactly model themselves after yours," Meredith commented as she walked into the living room and raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Remind me again why you haven't dumped the witch yet?"

"Can we please not focus on my relationship problems?" Damon scowled, downing the rest of his second glass. "I have a splitting headache so do you have anything I can take for it?"

"There's Excedrin on the desk in the office," Alaric shrugged taking a seat on the couch. "I get headaches when I grade shitty papers."

"Thanks," Damon stood before walking down the familiar hallway and into Alaric and Meredith's shared home office. He found the bottle sitting next to a box of pens and went to grab it, but his eyes wandered to a pile of folders off to the left and on a specific name towards the top. Elena Gilbert. Curiosity got the better of him, and Damon quietly moved to grab it before he was interrupted by an angry Meredith glaring at him from the doorway.

"Being nosey?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"I saw one of my students names and wondered why it was on a folder with Alaric's stuff that's all," Damon shrugged, feigning nonchalance, grabbing the pill bottle and walking towards the door.

"Those folders are my patient's files and you opening them is illegal so stay away," Meredith warned giving him a good-natured punch in the arm and walking back into the kitchen. Damon muttered an unapologetic 'sorry' before rolling his eyes so she wouldn't see and walking in the opposite direction towards Alaric.

"Your wife has a mean punch," Damon frowned, rubbing his arm as he walked back into the living room.

"Don't I know it," Alaric chuckled flipping on the television so they could watch a hockey game that Damon wasn't really paying much attention to. He couldn't help but wonder why Elena was a patient of Meredith's. Alaric's wife was a psychiatrist who helped people with fairly severe issues who usually went through some kind of intense trauma. If Elena had a file, and a pretty thick one at that, then she obviously had some pretty intense stuff going on. So what was Elena Gilbert's secret?

Thanks for reading! Hopefully this gave you a little more background into Damon and Katherine (don't fret there will be a lot more this just barely scratched the surface), and we are going to go in the Steroline direction! I hope you're happy about that because I just adore them. Anyways, click those Favorite/Follow buttons and review your little behinds off, pretty please with a cherry on top :)

Until next time!