AN: I'm sorry that this one isn't as quick as the others but updates are going to be slower than before now that I've gone back to college, unfortunately. Also not to sound like a broken record or anything but thank you all so much for reviewing and taking interest in this story! I don't know if some of you are sick of reading me saying thank you but I really can't express how much i'm thankful of you all! Anyway, as if you actually want to read an author's note by me, here's the new chapter and get ready for some more D/E interaction!

Fate Brought Us Together

Chapter 3

"You know, i'm really tired of all this sneaking around Ty." Vickie said, laying beside him in the bed.

Tyler had just spent the last two hours in bed with Vickie Donovan, doing unspeakable things to each other. She was a great distraction from who he really wanted, and he wanted Elena really bad. To him this relationship he had with Vickie was purely physical, no feelings involved. While Vickie on the other hand, he knew she had true feelings for him. She loved him even, she admitted it. She was waiting for him to dump Elena so that they could finally be together while he was just using her for a good fuck, waiting until Elena gave him exactly what he wanted.

"It will all be over soon, just give me another week or two, just to break the news to her." Tyler replied as he shifted in the bed to face her.

Of course, he had not intention of 'breaking the news' to Elena. He wanted to hold on to her for as long as he could until he de-flowered her. He knew the chances of him actually sleeping with her at the bonfire was slim to none, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

"I don't know why you're with that slut anyway!" Vickie replied, bitterly.

"It doesn't matter anymore, I love you." he lied, hoping she would take the bait and believe him.

Tyler looked into her eyes as they shone brightly in adoration. He felt smug inside, she'd actually fell for him. He could see it in her eyes. With her loving him, she makes a useful pawn that he can use in his plans. Tyler was confident that whatever he asked, she'd comply gratefully and he was going to use that to his advantage.

"I know, I just don't see why you have to spare her the heartache. She's a stuck up bitch." she replied, grimacing.

It was no secret to him that Vickie hated Elena. He chocked it up to the fact that she had everything, a loving family, great friends, she was beautiful and most of all, she had him. While Vickie's mother left at an early age, leaving Matt to pick up the pieces. Vickie went off the deep-end, she started partying and drinking heavily, which eventually led to her doing drugs. She started off small with marijuana but her need for drugs eventually escalated and she soon started taking everything from cocaine to prescribed drugs from the pharmacy.

"It's not like you have to wait long. Anyway, stop making this about Elena." he reasoned, sitting up against the headboard of the bed.

"Why not? Every is about Elena! Sweet, innocent Elena." she mocked, springing out from the bed with fury in her eyes.

"You're one to talk, Vick! How's Stefan Salvatore these days?" Tyler replied, moving to stand face to face with her.

Of course he knew all about her little play-dates with Stefan, everybody fucking knew. Stefan Salvatore, once the golden-boy now turned druggie. He was just like Vickie, couldn't get any acceptance at home so he turned to her. Tyler really pitied them both, their lives were so horrible that they had to turn to each other to make themselves feel better. He could understand why Stefan chose Vickie though, in a way. She was a good fuck and an easy access to drugs, while all Stefan was to her was a way to pay for the drugs and someone she could have some fun with until he 'broke' up with Elena.

"Oh come on Vick. Did you really think that I wouldn't find out about him?" he carried on as she just looked at him, shocked and no doubt trying to find an excuse, not that one was needed. He really didn't care who she was with in her spare time as long as she was at his beck and call.

"I-I swear it's nothing. It's just, you can't always see me because of her. I get lonely Ty." she replied and he couldn't help but laugh, she really was a slut.

He didn't really want her blabbing her mouth to anyone before his plan was complete though, he knew that Vickie couldn't keep her mouth shut purely based on the fact that thanks to her, he knew little secrets about most of the girls in Mystic Falls High. If he pissed her off, he had no doubt in his mind that she'd go shooting her mouth off to everyone and then Elena would have some questions that he definitely didn't want to answer. His mind wandered to last night at the bar and how he spent the majority of the night sucking up to her and her friends. Ever since that morning drive to school where he accidentally caused an argument between them, she'd distanced herself from him and he knew that for his plan to work, he needed the opposite.

Tyler didn't fail to notice all the men in the bar last night who had their eyes on Elena. Hell, the one guy at the bar with black hair and blue eyes hadn't taken his eyes of her for more than a few minutes. He don't know if he made it clear enough to the guy that Elena was his, but he felt a sudden urge of possessiveness and jealousy course through his veins when he saw the man drink in his girl's appearance, hungrily. He knew that Elena wasn't the type of girl to cheat on someone but still, he didn't like knowing that there was someone in Mystic Falls who was interested in her. Someone that could take he away from from him.

"Tyler are you even listening to me?" Vickie's voice grated off like nails on chalkboard, interrupting his deep thoughts about Elena.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"I said, i'll stop seeing Stefan. I'll do anything, I only want you." she pleaded.

"It's fine Vick, I hate the fact that you're sleeping with him but I know you have needs. And until I can find a way to break it off with Elena, you should continue seeing him." he replied, really meaning that until he slept with Elena once, or maybe a few times. Until then though, he was going to put off breaking up with Elena.

He wasn't about to leave Elena for Vickie anyway. He only promised her that he'd be with her so she'd keep her mouth shut. He had to cover all his bases after all, so this wouldn't blow up in his face.

"But I don't want him, Ty. I want you!" she begged, tears rimming her eyes.

"Hey it's only for a little while, just until I find a way to end things." he softened his voice, trying to get her to calm down.

He moved closer to her and placed a soft kiss on her lips, the one thing he didn't need right now was Vickie going off the deep end. The soft kiss soon escalated and before he knew it, Vickie's tongue was half way down his throat and his hands found their way to her hips, to hold her still.

"I love you." he said to her and he felt as though he could throw up for even muttering such words to her.

Elena woke up with sweat dripping from her forehead. Those deep blue eyes plagued her dreams all night long, that along with head full of onyx hair that she'd imagined threading her fingers through. She rubbed her head, trying to get the images of him out of her mind and looked to her right to see the flashing red digits on her alarm clock. The number on the clock indicated that it was way too early think about getting up, especially since it was a Sunday. The last day of the weekend was usually spent lounging around all day in her pj's watching movies or reading books.

Today was definitely no exception either. She had no intention what so ever of leaving her bed, the outside world could wait until Monday as far as she was concerned. She felt her head pound slightly, the after effects of the alcohol she consumed last night finally hitting her. She quickly noticed the glass of water and aspirin on the bedside table.

'Thank you mom!' she thought before quickly swallowing the tablets, using the water to wash them down smoothly.

She quickly got to her feet, a little too quickly and felt the room spinning around her. She held onto the bedside table for support and tried to steady herself.

She hadn't even planned to get drunk last night when she went to the Grill with her friends, but obviously judging by the pounding in her stomach and the uneasy way her stomach felt, she had. Her plan last night was just to get a little tipsy, buzzed. It was a night that she was meant to spend celebrating her brother. The night out was in his memory, but then he had to show up...

Damon turning up at the bar came out of the blue. When she first saw him at the bar with Ric, a million questions filtered through her head at once. Why hadn't anyone told her Damon was back already? How was he doing? The main question she wanted an answer for herself though was why does he still have this effect on her?

Everything was fine before he came back into her life. She has great friends, a great family and Tyler. He was far from being perfect but he had stuck by her in her lowest moment; when Jeremy had died. He was there when she needed him most, supporting her. But now that he's back in her life, everything seems complicated. She was overjoyed when she first heard that Damon was coming home, but she never imagined she would feel like this. All it took was five minutes with him at the bar and all those feelings she felt when she was fourteen slowly started to try and creep their way back in.

She spent months burying those feelings that she had for him all those years ago when he left for the Marines. Hell, she'd cried over him god knows how many times, and now he's been back for not even a whole day and she could already begin to feel those feelings banging on her heart like a door, begging for her to open her heart to them again. It wasn't fair.

She heard a knock on her door, interrupting her from her thoughts, followed by her mother's voice from the other side.

"Elena, hunny. Are you decent?" she heard her mother ask from outside her room.

"Yeah mom, i'm dressed." Elena chuckled as her mother walked in.

She considered herself lucky to have her mom, she was arguably her best friend in the whole world. Her mother appreciated her and respected her and they would spend hours at night sitting on the couch, just speaking about everything. Her mom also respected her privacy and while most mothers would probably just barge into their daughters' bedroom without any warning, she knocked first and gave Elena a warning before she came in.

Elena smiled at her mom as she walked into the room, looking as beautiful as ever. Miranda was in her opinion, the most gorgeous woman she'd ever seen although she was slightly biased, of course. She was dressed up in her formal clothes and she looked elegantly beautiful. Her brown, wavy hair cascaded down past her shoulders and her big brown eyes reflected in the light that she'd just switched on.

"Honey, i'm sorry for barging in here but I really need you to do me a big favor, please." Miranda asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

Elena had a terrible feeling that it involved her leaving the house, she had no intentions of leaving the house. Today was movie day, and she'd originally made plans to spend the whole day with John McClain because yes, she does have a small obsession with Die Hard at the moment. The thought of leaving the house with the hangover she had sent shivers up her spine, all she wanted was a blanket, some popcorn and the Die Hard trilogy.

"Yeah sure, mom. What do you need me to do?" Elena asked, reluctantly. She knew she was going to regret this one way or another.

"I need you to go to Sofia's house and give these to them," her mother replied while handing her two envelops. "they're Damon's welcome back cards. He came back yesterday!" Oh, Elena knew all too well that Damon came back yesterday and she definitely didn't need to be reminded of him.

"Can't it wait a day or two, mom?" Elena pleaded, the one thing she didn't want today was another run in the the raven haired man who took up most of her thoughts last night and this morning. Especially in the hungover state she was in.

"I'm sorry, sweetie but I really need you to do this for me. You need to give them the cards and invite them to dinner, tonight. It's at seven."

"Wait, what dinner mom?" Elena had no idea about this so called dinner that her mother was on about.

"I'm sure I told you yesterday? I offered to host a small dinner party tonight to welcome Damon back. It's nothing massive, just us, Jenna, Ric and the Salvatores." Just when Elena thought she was going to have some time to process all things Damon, he's thrown straight back into her face.

"Oh yeah, must of slipped my mind. I'll go over later." Elena replied, smiling at her mother. She was just going to have to bite the bullet and face him again.

'He might not even be there, he's probably over some girl's house that he met last night or something.' she reasoned in her head.

"Okay, thank you hunny!" her mom replied, looking at her watch. "I need to get to the hospital like now, i'm running late again!"

Elena's mother was a doctor at Mystic Falls Hospital. The hours were irregular and there were days that she never saw her mom because she was working, but she was saving lives and making a difference and Elena couldn't be any prouder. Her mother also said that the money was good and was more than enough for her and Elena to live off.

"Okay. I should be back at five so when you go out, remember to lock the house. I love you!" she called as she shut the door. Elena looked down to the cards on the edge of her bed,the beautiful handwriting on the envelope which read 'Damon' made her inwardly groan.

'God, I need to stop thinking about him.'

Once Elena finished her breakfast, she found herself upstairs trying to decide what to wear. She had no idea why she was suddenly so interested in making sure she looked good, only when she was going over to the Salvatore Boarding House. She hadn't even really expressed interest in making an effort to look amazing for Tyler let alone for Sofia and possibly, Damon.

After another ten minutes of deciding what to wear, Elena finally opted for a white camisole top and a pair of denim shorts. After all, it was boiling outside and she wanted to show her long legs a little. She put a pair of sunglasses on her head and the cards into her handbag before slinging it up onto her shoulder and grabbing her car keys.

The drive to the Boarding House was short and sweet, with it being only a twenty minute walk from her house, she was there in about five minutes. Elena gasped as she turned into the drive, the old building in front of her was beautiful. She had always envied the Salvatores for the house they lived in. According to Sofia, the Boarding House was built in the 1900's to accommodate all the slaves. Sofia's great grandfather had then renovated the house and moved in when the Salvatore Mansion was knocked down to provide more houses for Mystic Falls.

She stepped out of the car and took in the surroundings. She hadn't been here in years and the exterior hadn't changed a bit, the flowers were still gorgeous and the blades of grass in the front garden was still cut to perfection. She approached the large door and knocked on it twice, hoping that the elder Salvatore brother wasn't going to be the person to answer.

After what seemed like ten minutes of waiting and just when Elena was about to turn around and go home, the door flung open, revealing Damon Salvatore in all his naked glory.

Elena's eyes almost bugged out of her head when she saw him open the door, shirtless. Just when she thought he couldn't look any better he came to the door like this. He looked as though he'd just gotten out of bed but he still looked like he was about to step into a photo-shoot. It should be a crime to wake up in the morning, looking the way he did.

His jet black hair that was styled over his forehead last night was now dishevelled, bits of hair sticking out in different directions and she had to admit that it looked incredibly sexy. She let out a small gasp as her eyes lowered to his shirtless chest. His muscles were on full display for her and in that moment she couldn't help but admire them. Her eyes trailed down to his six pack and she found herself comparing them to Tyler's.

She had seen Tyler without a shirt on a few times but he definitely didn't look as good as this. While Tyler's muscles were big, they weren't toned and it made her realise that Tyler just wanted to look big rather than to define his muscles. Whereas Damon's muscles weren't too big, they were toned and defined. They were defined to the point that you could see every muscle on his upper body and the sight had her mouth-watering, unintentionally of course.

Her eyes trailed lower and she saw that his jeans were dangerously low on his hip. Her eyes dipped down past his 'v-line' and it looked as though if his jeans were any lower then she would have a full view of his manhood. She found herself staring at him and she could feel a sudden ache in between her legs. She was losing herself in the sight of him and she felt like she was about to faint when she heard his velvet voice knock her out of her trance.

"See something you like?" he asked smugly as he lent against the doorway and then did that thing with his eyes that drove her and probably women all around crazy.

"W-what, no!" Elena stuttered. She was still trying to recover from the sight of him. He was looking at her with that loop-sided grin that made her want to punch him in the face. He was so cocky and full of himself, although he did have a good reason to be when you could easily compare him to a Greek god.

After what seemed like minutes of her just staring at him, he finally moved out of the doorway and opened the door wider for her gesturing for her to come inside.

"Would you like to come in, Elena?" she hated the way that he dragged out every syllable in her name, his voice dripping with sex.

Elena walked inside into the large house, although she had probably been inside the house at least a hundred times throughout her childhood, the place was still breathtaking. The large interior of the building was warm and she always felt comfortable and at ease whenever she stepped inside. She turned around and she could of swore that for a moment she saw Damon staring at her but he quickly snapped his head up to meet her eyes. The room suddenly becoming tense, she found herself quickly avoiding eye contact with him, avoiding his intense gaze.

"So Elena, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this morning?" he asked, cocking his head to the side like a predator studying its prey. She certainly felt like his prey.

"Oh right, here's your welcome back cards." she replied, handing him the cards with a smile on her face and ignoring the sarcasm that traced his voice.

When he took the cards, his fingers brushed lightly over hers and she felt something that could only be described as a small surge of electric shoot through her body, making the hairs on her arms stand up. She quickly retracted her arm back as if it had been burned and looked up to meet Damon's scorching blue eyes.

"Well thank you, but i'm sure that's not all you came for, right?" he asked and Elena found herself staring at his godlike body again. It was starting to become very difficult for her to focus her attention on anything else while he was standing there without a shirt on.

"O-oh yeah, I almost forgot. My mom wanted me to tell Sofia that you're all invited to dinner tonight, at seven." Damn she stuttered again! Why couldn't she get a single sentence out without falling over her words when she was around him?

"Dinner?" he asked, looking confused.

"Oh yeah, I had no clue about it until today. It's just a small 'gathering' as my mom calls them." she replied, sheepishly. She had no idea why she was so nervous.

"Just us and you?" he looked even more confused and skeptical about tonight than he did a minute ago!

"No, Jenna and Ric are coming as well." She stated quickly, hoping he wouldn't get the wrong idea that it was only them.

'He probably won't come anyway. I bet he'd rather chew glass than spend the night with the girl who used to pester him all the time when she was fourteen.'

If Elena was being honest, she just wanted to finish this conversation as soon as possible and leave. She thought her knees were about to give out beneath her with those blue eyes staring into her soul. Them along with his perfectly sculptured chest were definitely making it hard for her plan to keep Damon out of her head stay intact.

"Okay, sure. Although I have no idea where my mother is so i'll just give her the message when she gets back." he said and shot her another one of his signature smirks.

"Good. Well I need to get back to the house, no doubt my mom's going to want me to help out with stuff when she gets back from work. So i'll see you tonight?" she asked as she was heading out the door.

"Oh most definitely, as long as your there." He did that thing with his eyes again which made her involuntary blush, she quickly muttered a quick good-bye before rushing off in the opposite direction of the house.

She quickly climbed into her car and rested her head on the steering wheel. The temptation to bash her own head of the steering wheel came to mind as she thought back to the way she acted with Damon minutes before. She acted like such a schoolgirl around him, she was embarrassed. Whenever she was around him, her inner fourteen year old made itself known with her stuttering over her words and shamelessly checking him out when he could clearly see her doing it.

Then when they did manage to have a civil conversation, he complimented her and did that thing with his eyes that made her blush and have butterflies having the time of their lives in her stomach!

She needed to stop this. Whatever attraction she still had for Damon made it hard for her to think straight around him. Why couldn't he just kick a puppy or something to make her hate him? She didn't trust herself around him and for good reason, he was too charming for his own good! No matter what she felt though, she wasn't going to act on it. Her attraction for Damon would die soon, its only because he's back in town that she's even feeling this way.

Whatever dormant feelings she still had for him would be ignored. Elena hadlearnt her lesson the last time she let Damon Salvatore consume her. She had been scolded by him once before already and she definitely wasn't going to give him the opportunity to do it again.

If those feelings did come back, she was sure she would be able to block them out until she forgot about them like she had last time, she didn't need Damon anymore, she had Tyler now and the first step in ridding herself of Damon was tonight. If she could last a whole night in Damon's presence and ignore her feelings for him, she would be able to do it again and again.

Tonight was the first step to finally getting rid of her attraction to Damon Salvatore for good!

AN: So this is a little bit shorter than the other chapters but that's because this is basically a filler chapter. I hope that there was enough D/E in there to not bore you all though, the good stuff will be in the next few chapters!