Woo, update! Thanks again for your kind words and for reading the story. It means a lot to me :)

As promised, more Damon in this chapter.

Chapter 4: Reality

Don't stop, no one's ever enough
I'll never look back, never give up
And if it gets rough, it's time to get rough
But now I'm falling

Haim- Falling

The sky was moonless and the streets empty. She didn't know where she was or what she was doing at such a late hour but she kept walking. Was she looking for something in particular? She couldn't tell.

Just then, her blood seemed to freeze inside her veins as she heard footsteps behind her getting closer and closer. "Run" was all she managed to think before her feet started to move, her heart beating a thousand miles an hour. She glanced back over her shoulder and was surprised (and maybe a little disappointed?) when she saw nothing at all. Way wasn't she relieved? She wasn't secretly hoping that something, anything would happen to her, right?

"The resemblance is uncanny" she heard a voice say from not so far away. In the blink of an eye, she was met with a pair of sharp blue eyes, which were boring into hers.

No, not again. Not him. She'd promised her mother that she'd be strong, that she'd be there for Jeremy and that she'd help Jenna. How exactly was she supposed to let go of everything and start over when these dreams came back to haunt her, over and over again? How was she supposed to be in control when she was on the verge of breaking down? How was she supposed to fight when his body was standing so dangerously close to hers?

"What do you want from me?" she managed to say as she found herself staring at his lips. Was that what she'd become? A girl so desperate, she'd give herself to the first good-looking guy? That's not who she was, who she wanted to be. Even so, merely breathing seemed to be an increasingly difficult task around this particular man.

He smirked and raised his hand to caress one of her cheeks. She saw an unidentifiable emotion light up his masculine features but it was gone in a matter of seconds. Why was he looking at her as if she were his long forgotten love, as if he knew her? She would have definitely noticed someone like him hanging around in Mystic Falls. Half the town, would've, for sure.

"Don't be so surprised, you're no ordinary girl." his words interrupted her internal monologue."You're quite special. I want you, Elena."

Her heart stopped on the spot.

"And I always get what I want, one way or the other." He leaned to whisper in her ear, his voice dark with need. "The real question is…" he added, blue eyes meeting chocolate brown ones, "…what do you want?"

Her brain was screaming at her to put an end to this nonsense and run the hell away from there, but her body wouldn't budge. Why was her subconscious torturing her like that for?

His lips then claimed hers, pulling her impossibly close. Blood was singing in her veins and Elena's lips parted in surprise, allowing him to deepen the kiss. Soon enough, she found herself reciprocating, intoxicated by his smell, his touch, his whole being. She felt that she could fly, like there was literally no one else in the entire universe, besides the two of them. She fisted her hand in his raven locks, a low moan escaping from the back of her throat. He was kissing her with such passion that left Elena equally dizzy and hungry for more, their tongues battling for dominance. She felt like she belonged in those muscular arms. She felt strong and ready to face the world again.

He then slowly began to plant kisses on her jaw line, working all the way towards her neck column. Her skin burned where he'd touched her and she could feel every muscle, every hard plane pressed over her body. Just then, she saw a pair of shiny white fangs descend from his mouth as be began to scrape at her pulse line in the barest of touches. She didn't pull away however, and felt a sting of pain as they sank into her soft flesh. It was different from the last time, she recalled idly. Instead of never-ending pain, she was overwhelmed by a sense of pure pleasure. It did hurt a little, but it was ah, so worth it. She closed her eyes and clung to him as if to dear life itself. Was it wrong? Could it be right? She barely knew her name anymore.

"Damon…"she managed to breathe out his name, afraid that it might ruin everything. She simply couldn't understand why somebody like him would be even remotely interested in her. She pushed aside such thoughts for later, though. She'd have a lot of time to deal with the consequences of her actions, that's for sure. After all, he was kissing her, Elena Gilbert, and that was all that mattered for now.

"I love you Katherine." He whispered adoringly.

Elena woke up, almost jumping out of bed. A fine sheet of sweat covered her body and she unconsciously raised her hand to her lips.

"What. The. Hell."

This time, it seemed real. Way too real. Dreams are just projections of the unconscious, things that our brain made up, based on what we saw or heard during the day. A fantasy, a lie. Dreams aren't real, they don't mean anything. They aren't premonitions or forgotten memories from another lifetime. She was just stressed and her body was reacting to it, that's all. There, you got it: the logical explanation.

As the moon dimly illuminated her room, Elena noticed her silver bracelet lying on the nightstand. She didn't believe in bad omens, supernatural creatures or other stuff that her town was so proudly promoting. Still, she slowly put the bracelet on, observing the delicate engravings on it. She climbed back to bed, pulling the covers over her head. She needed all the energy she could get to make it through a new day. Maybe the bracelet would have a calming effect, maybe it had been blessed by some Japanese priest or whatever. She didn't care. She just wanted to go back to bed. Thinking of what she'd dreamt about was strictly off limits.

"This thing better work." She sighed before closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep for the second time that night.

The rest of the week would surely be an interesting one.

Only it wasn't. Not until Friday, at least. She'd found out a few things by then:

1)Tyler Lockwood was still an asshole. Not that she'd forgotten. It seemed that both him and Jeremy had an everlasting crush on Vicky Donovan and she just kept screwing with both of them. Bitch.

2)Jeremy was still depressed. That meant more PC games, more emo attitude, more Vicky. Everything was over the top. Couldn't he see what that girl was doing to him? Ah, yes, love… The answer for all that trouble. Elena knew that Jeremy ( in his 16-year old brain) really loved Vicky and thought that he could change her ways. She would have a heart-to heart conversation with him about this, that's for sure.

3)Stefan was a nice guy. Sure, he was shy and very-very mysterious about his past but hey, he seemed to be trying to fit it. She knew almost nothing about him, except for the fact that he had an older brother and that he lived in the boardinghouse, on the outskirts of Mystic Falls. She didn't know why, but she was suddenly looking forward to the history class again. And it surely had nothing to do with a certain someone's tender green eyes. Not. One. Bit.

So that's why Friday morning found her in a better mood than usual. She'd get to live again, to not be the slave of her own dreams. She wouldn't seek solace in the arms of a man who didn't exist, even if she'd felt so alive in his embrace. Everything would go back to normal. She'd be a lively girl again and that's what she wanted the most: a happy, normal, boring life.

"Someone woke up on the right side of the bed this morning." Jenna's voice filled the house as Elena climbed down the stairs. "Pancakes?"

"No thanks" she smiled. "I'm gonna be late for school if I don't hurry up. See you tonight!" Elena kissed her aunt and got out of the house, almost slamming the front door. Nothing could ruin her mood, not that day.

"Maybe this thing is actually working" she thought to herself as she parked the car near the school and looked at her bracelet. She'd stopped having nightmares the moment she'd put it on and she finally managed to get a good night's sleep. She'd have to thank John for giving it to her when she'd visit him on Monday.

She soon caught up with Bonnie and Caroline in the schoolyard and quickly joined their heated argument about some newly released song which was constantly playing on the radio.

"Gosh, Elena, did you hear it? It's horrible!" Bonnie shook her head disapprovingly.

"No, it's not, and you know it. Go on, Elena, tell her. You're the only one that can-"

A cold shiver ran down her spine as she suddenly felt the air around her shift. Something was off and she knew it. She glanced back over her shoulder and gasped in shock. Remember that speech about living a boring life? About moving on and simply enjoying being a normal teenager? Yeah, right. Her world came crushing down the moment a pair of fiery blue eyes locked with hers.

He was real and he was standing on the other side of the yard, watching her every move.

Taaa-daa. They've finally met.

Hope you liked the chapter :D