A/N: I was on such a roll this morning that I couldn't help but update quickly! I feel like these chapters are progressing so slowly. However, this is the end of the graveyard scene and we can move onto to the fun stuff! As I mentioned before, any suggestions/ideas/concerns/what have you is always accepted and appreciated. Let me hear your thoughts, your reactions, etc. I love hearing from you guys. Alsoooo, what do you guys predict for the upcoming episode? I'm so excited, I can barely stand it. Feel free to PM! Anyway, here is another short chapter for you guys while I keep the gears turning.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. The characters belong to their respective creators. I do want to own a certain Damon Salvatore, but that's wishful thinking.


Elena tensed at the mention of her boyfriend's name and the guilty, almost distressed look Damon was giving her, a wave of fear instantly crashing over her. They had just gotten him back yesterday, what could possibly have happened so soon?!

"What? What is it?" Her tone was frantic, her eyes mimicking the emotion as they skirted across Damon's face, covering every inch of it. A sudden pang of her own guilt smacked her, immediately regretting the fact that she'd put all of his incoming calls on the backburner. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid Elena,' she thought indignantly to herself. What if it had been an emergency? She hadn't even given him the chance.

"Relaaaax, Elena," Damon started, moving right back to her with his incredible vampire speed, hands settling on her shoulders. "There's no round two," his hands swung back down to his sides. "Yet."

Elena impulsively reached forward, shoving hard at Damon's chest, annoyance and rage saturating her. He didn't even budge. This seemed to only fuel her agitation more. "You're an ass, Damon. What are you talking about, then?" Her arms crossed over her chest defensively. Was it too late to retract her statement about them being friends? Right now she was having trouble teetering on tolerance. Damon only seemed to look amused.

God, he was so irritating.

Before Elena could resist, he had reached out and vice-gripped her arm, pulling it from its current position with ease. He didn't even have to look down to know what was already there, but he did anyway. A grimace came and went within a matter of seconds. "My, my, Elena," his eyes glinted with condescension, "What an interesting tattoo you have. Where'd you get it?" He challenged her, determined to not break the forceful gaze.

She recoiled considerably, attempting to snake her hand free with no success. For a moment, Damon could've sworn she looked afraid, but the look quickly flashed to shame, then just as quickly to guarantee. "He… he was dying…" Her voice trailed off, but she didn't break the eye contact. "I couldn't let him die."

He was quiet for a wavering moment, understanding for her actions sinking in. He got that, he knew from the moment he agreed to let her come along in the first place that she wouldn't let anything happen to him. Ah, young love. Damon freshly (and painfully) recalled a time when he was like that. The memory caused him to flinch, dropping her hand. That was another door he didn't want to reopen anytime soon. However, her heroic act didn't change things. He was grateful to her (though he would never admit it), that was for certain, but they now had an entirely new problem on their hands.

A little problem called Bloodlust.

Sensing her rising anxiety, Damon remembered he still hadn't fully addressed the issue. Ugh, why did he care so much? Rather, why did he care at all? This whole recent reawakening of "feelings" was growing a little tiresome.

"Look," he hissed, now not only annoyed, but also impatient with himself. The sooner he told her the deal, the sooner he'd be out of her presence, and the sooner he'd be back to normal, or at least where he was comfortable. "We're going to play a game, alright?"

Elena was about to interject, most likely to take a jab at Damon about his 'insensitivity' at a time like this, but he brought a finger to her lips before she had the chance, stopping her. "Ah, ah, ah," he reprimanded, smirking at her. "Interrupting is very rude, Elena. I'll have to come up with a punishment later." Leave it to Damon to make the word 'punishment' sound much dirtier than anything she'd ever heard, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"Keep-away." He stated this simply, staring at her expectantly. The look returned to him was one of confusion. "Ughhh, am I the only one caught up to speed here?" He hastened his next few words before she could throw her two cents in, not wanting this encounter to be any longer. "You're the ball, alright? Stefan's the keep-away. You keep away from him until I say so, got it?"

Elena didn't seem to understand, was about to chalk it up to one of Damon's stupid tricks, but she followed Damon's hardened gaze to her wrist and her heart sunk, visible realization in her eyes.

"What did I do..?" Her voice was desperate, reaching. Damon's jaw tightened in response.

"Just don't break the rules. Now go home, Elena. You never know what kind of trouble you can run into out here."

In the next instant, he was gone, leaving a shell-shocked Elena staring out at the empty surroundings, her lips oddly tingling from the gentlest, most unexpected of touches and her head unable (or was it unwilling?) to wrap around everything that had just happened.