AN: A great big thank you to all of you who have been reading and reviewing the last chapter of this story!

I also want to apologize for not updating Elena's anger (to those of you who are following that story). I will, but Elena seems to have run out of anger for a while and wanted to go dancing instead (I can't blame her, lol), so I picked up this story again, and I have the next 2 chapters as good as ready. Enjoy!


Two days later Elena rushed into the boarding house. She had agreed to pick up Damon for their dance lesson in town, and they were already going to be late! When she stopped in the hallway and looked around for Damon, Stefan was just coming down the stairs. His eyes lit up when he saw her, and he said, "Hey, Elena. I didn't know you were coming over tonight!"

Elena swallowed. Still, he was going to have to hear it sometime; it was no use postponing this endlessly, so she mumbled, "Ehm... actually, Stefan... I just came by to pick up Damon." Damn, why hadn't she told Damon to meet her over there? That way she wouldn't have risked meeting Stefan like this.

Stefan looked surprised and then annoyed. "Why do you have to pick up Damon?"

Elena fidgeted, and looked towards the stairs. Where was Damon when you needed him? But he was nowhere to be seen, so she answered Stefan truthfully, "I just came by to pick him up for the salsa lesson in town, and we're running late," she raised her voice so Damon would be sure to hear, "… since it's starting at 8!"

Now Stefan was the one who was avoiding her eyes. He looked at his feet, and said hurriedly, "Look, Elena, I'm truly sorry about the dancing thing. It was rude of me to refuse if it means that much to you. If you still want me to, I will partner you and you don't have to bother Damon with it."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head over it, baby bro! It doesn't bother me at all! Actually, it will be my pleasure," Damon drawled, sauntering down the stairs. He walked up to them, and smoothly interposed himself between Stefan and Elena. He turned to Elena, so that his back was to Stefan. Smiling at Elena, he said, "Shall we dance, Miss Gilbert?"

Stefan elbowed Damon aside, and grabbed Elena's hand in his, "Elena, really, I'm willing to be your partner for this thing. Better late than never, right?"

Elena rolled her eyes. Did they never grow up? Now Stefan decided he wanted to dance just because Damon would. Her voice was tinged with irritation when she told him, "Well, Stefan, you can't. It's too late now, because I've already registered Damon as my dance partner!"

"So…" Damon's voice was positively dripping satisfaction, "I guess the correct saying in this case would be something along the lines of 'too little, too late', little brother!"

Then he offered Elena his arm with a slight bow, as if he was going to escort her into a ballroom, "Milady, your carriage awaits..."

As they walked out of the front door, they heard Stefan's snarl. "Better watch out your carriage doesn't turn back into a pumpkin at midnight!"

Damon halted and cocked one eyebrow, "Well, well, a snarky Cinderella reference!" Then a hint of compassion flashed in his eyes, and he added quietly, knowing Stefan would hear him anyway, "Hurts, doesn't it, when the shoe's on the other foot for once, and someone else gets to walk into the sunset with the girl…"

Stefan just slammed the door.


As they walked into the school gym, Elena said, "Caroline is very excited about this salsa teacher. Apparently she's from Cuba, and quite the very best there is. And they only got her to come here because she's judging some dance competition in the area and Mrs. Lockwood offered her a place to stay. Apparently she's quite bored with hotels."

Damon strolled in behind her, wrinkling his nose at the penetrating odor of sweaty socks that permeated the gym. This was one of those times when acute vampire senses were definitely not an asset! Still, it was only for a lesson, and he would put up with a lot worse for Elena's sake! Holding Elena in his arms would no doubt more than make up for the awful smell.

He was startled out of this happy contemplation when a sultry voice exclaimed, "Dios mio, if it is not Damon Salvatore!"

Damon looked up, and said with a lazy smile, "Carmencita! I should have known it would be you when I was told they had found quite the very best salsa dancer..."

Elena had stopped walking when she saw the woman the voice belonged to: she was a petite woman with luscious curves and a wealth of glossy dark ringlets cascading down her back. She must be the salsa teacher. Elena remembered Caroline telling her she was Cuban, but strangely enough, the tone of her skin was a nearly translucent alabaster white, contrasting sharply with her auburn hair, bottomless black eyes and sensuous red lips. In short, she was absolutely stunning.

The woman walked up to Damon (no, Elena thought with a pang of jealousy, she didn't just walk, she swayed! Was it any wonder that every male eye in the room was glued to her sensuously undulating backside? Especially since it was dressed in a skirt so short it could hardly be called decent!).

She snaked her arms around Damon's neck, murmuring in her accented English, "It is so good to see you! I have missed you after you left, mi demonio! I would never have thought to find you here of all places, in this little speck of a town on the devil's backside."

Although Damon wasn't extremely tall, he still had to lean over when she pulled his head down for a kiss. Well, Elena thought sourly, that makes it clear what kind of relationship there had been between them… as if she'd had any doubts, especially if this was the 'sizzling hot teacher with the tasty blood' Damon had talked about.

Elena turned her head away from where little miss Carmencita proceeded to demonstrate just how much she had missed her 'demonio', and saw Caroline standing at the back of the room next to Matt. Caroline lifted her eyebrow, silently asking whether Elena had known that Damon seemed very well acquainted with the salsa teacher… Elena simply shrugged, answering without words that she hadn't known, nor did she care. Not in the least!

Damon finally succeeded in untangling himself from the very enthusiastic Carmencita. But she didn't release him; she just hooked her arm through his, and said, looking up at him from under her lashes, "Now, it is very fortunate for me that you are here, because you know, Juan has broken his leg! The silly man fell off a horse, when he had no business getting on one in the first place!"

Damon frowned and said dryly, "Who is Juan, and is there any particular reason why I should care what happened to him?"

Carmencita tapped his wrist with her fan, and said flirtatiously, "Of course you should not care about Juan! It is just that he was my dance partner to demonstrate some of the steps… I was going to pick one of these boys," she stood on tiptoe so she could whisper in his ear, although everybody was sure to hear her stage whisper, "but I am sure they all have two left feet, so you are going to live up to your name and truly be my salvation!"

At this point Elena had had enough. She approached them and said belligerently, "Now wait just a second! You can't just steal my dance partner!"

Carmencita raked her eyes over Elena, and by the look in her eyes, apparently found her wanting. "And who are you?" She asked disdainfully.

Elena opened her mouth for a heated retort, but Damon intervened. With a meaningful look at Elena, he said, "Carmencita, this is my dance partner, Elena Gilbert. She is going to be one of your students, so you can't just deprive her of her dance partner. How would she learn about the most fantastic dance in the world, now that she has such a wonderful salsa dancer like you for a teacher? Besides, I am sure the other men here would like to dance with you as well. It wouldn't be fair to them if I took all of your time and attention for myself …" He lifted his eyebrows expectantly.

If the irony in Damon's voice wasn't lost on Elena, Carmencita obviously didn't pick up on it. She seemed mollified by what seemed to Elena too obvious flattery, and said, "You are right of course. I shall just have to demonstrate the steps with you, and then make use of the left-footed oafs for the rest!"

Carmencita turned on her heels (how did she do that without breaking the things, they must be 5 inches high, Elena thought) and walked over to the open space that had been created as a dance floor. Then she gave Damon a come-hither look. He looked at Elena apologetically and shrugged.

"You will not be needing that," Carmencita purred to Damon, stripping him of his leather jacket (and definitely making use of the opportunity to get her hands on him, Elena thought with a frown).

"To give you an idea of the wonderful dance that is salsa, I shall first demonstrate how it should look when done properly," she said to no one in particular and glided into Damon's arms, moving to stand very close to him. Everybody slowly gathered around in a big circle.

When the music with its heady salsa rhythm started up, the couple in the middle of the floor seemed to still, before suddenly whirling into action. Elena surprised herself by thinking that Damon looked like a sleek black panther, moving through the figures of the dance with a predator's grace. The way he confidently steered Carmencita's curvy body through the complicated twists and turns made it seem so effortless, but Elena was sure she would never achieve that level of perfection.

He hadn't been exaggerating when he'd bragged that he had moves she'd never seen. Just looking at those moves of his made her feel kind of hot and tingly inside...


AN: Sorry to leave you hanging at this point (no, actually I'm not sorry at all *snickers wickedly*). I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

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