"What are your plans for next weekend?"

That was the last thing Elena had heard from Damon after their date last Saturday. He had texted her on his own accord, which caused her to almost drop the device on site when she had seen that it was him. Whoa, the man actually knew how to get in touch with someone! And with a phone no less! However, she couldn't get too excited, because with Damon you never knew what the deal was.

She had answered him that she didn't have any specific plans yet. After that he had sent her a winking emoticon…. Yes, Damon Salvatore used emoticons…. adding more shock to the mix.

That text was sent on Monday and it was now Friday. No word afterwards about why he had asked her about her plans and if he intended to meet up with her. Maybe it was time to throw in the towel; it was probably done for; she had rolled the dice with a man whom she knew had a hard time with love and everything that came with it and lost. She figured that it was time to move on.

"So, any exciting plans now that the weekend is starting?" one of her co-workers, April, asked her.

Elena rubbed her eyes tiredly and sighed.

"Nothing interesting. Both Bonnie and Caroline have significant others nowadays, so I guess it's just me and a big bowl of potato chips come Saturday night."

"Both of them, huh? So you're like the third wheel now?" April joked.

"Yeah… Caroline was unexpected, though. I could always count on her to be my wingman when it came to the single life. A few weeks ago, we went clubbing and she encountered someone. It was love at first sight, I believe."

April grabbed her purse from behind her desk, getting ready to call it a day. Elena decided to do the same.

"I don't believe in that stuff. Lust at first sight, sure. But to fall head over heels in love with someone you barely know.. I don't know."

"Maybe I shouldn't call it love at first sight, then. Let's just say that sometimes, this very rare occasion happens where you lay eyes on someone and there's this instant attraction and connection that you just can't shake. "

Elena followed April down the corridor that would lead them outside to start their weekend.

"Sounds like you've experienced it yourself, Elena. Now I'm curious… who is he?"

"He's…. a little too difficult for me to handle. I've decided that I need a kind, open and easygoing man in my life. This man is everything but that."

"Wasn't it you who said that you wanted passion, adventure and a little danger in your men?" April told her with a smile.

Elena shook her head.

"I know what I said before. Little did I know. It's just not worth the risk."

"What risk?"

"The risk of losing both my head and my heart…"

As they both set foot outside of the building, Elena suddenly froze. Her heart seemed to stop beating for a moment and her jaw dropped to the concrete below her. Leaning casually against his Chevrolet Camaro, looking incredibly sexy in his business suit and obviously waiting for her to get off work, was none other than Damon Salvatore. He was giving her this unreadable half-smile. What the…?

"Oh my god…," April breathed next to her. "Is that…? No way!"

Elena ignored her and regained control of her senses, putting one foot in front of the other. She crossed her arms in front of her as she reached him, trying to keep her cool.

"What are you doing here?"

He did that infamous eye-thing of his and Elena could feel this annoying flutter in her belly. She raised her chin in defiance, ready to protect herself from him.

"I came to pick you up. I want to take you somewhere."

"Take me somewhere?"

"Yep. It's a surprise. Will you come with me?"

"Come with you?"

Elena realized that she sounded stumped, but that's exactly what she was… stumped… floored…

"Are you going to repeat every question that I ask you?"

"I might. You do realize that you're totally catching me off guard, right?"

Damon threw back his head and laughed.

"That's kind of the thing with surprises, Elena."

"Yeah but… I don't hear from you for days and now this. I thought that…"

"What" Damon asked carefully. "That I was going to call it when it comes to you and me?"

Elena raised her eyebrows at him, before finally letting a little smile break out on her face. "You and me?"

"Get in the car, Elena."

"Well, am I going to be safe with you?"

Her tone had switched from surprise and suspicion towards playful, and he knew that she was teasing him.

"Yes."

"Can I trust you?"

Damon nodded his head towards the car, indicating that he wanted her to get in, which she did.

April was still standing on the sidewalk as they drove away, looking even more surprised than Elena had been when she had spotted Damon waiting for her. April probably recognized him, as everyone in Mystic Falls knew who the Salvatores were. Of course, everyone in town also knew that Damon barely showed his face. Elena knew there was a lot of explaining to be done when she came back to work on Monday morning….

When they pulled up to a very large, log cabin about a bit later, Elena could certainly say that this was indeed a surprise. The cabin had a very romantic feel to it, with lights from inside glowing brightly, lighting up the surroundings.

"What is this place?"

Damon got out and walked around the car, quickly opening her door for her.

"This has been in the family for years. I loved to come here as a little kid, as it's so secluded in the woods."

"Yeah, I can imagine."

Elena followed him up the stairs to the front porch and waited for him to get inside. When they did, her eyes nearly bulged out of her sockets. The cabin had a massive living room with a very old fireplace in it, but what really made it exquisite, were the floor-to-ceiling windows that created a perfect view of the woods around them.

"Your family certainly knew their way around good housing, didn't they? I already thought the boarding house was to die for, but this is something else!"

"It's a fairly reasonable place, yes," Damon joked. "Come on, let me show you the rest."

The kitchen was light and grand, with a large island in the middle. Of course, the windows also proved to be doing their work in there as well. If you stood at the sink, you could catch a view of a small pond that was a few yards away.

"Okay, Damon, as much as I appreciate you wanting to surprise me, don't you think that this is a bit much for a second date?"

Damon took off his jacket and opened up the first few buttons of his shirt, showing off a hint of his chest in his wake.

"I don't know… is it? It's been a while since I've gone beyond a first date," he said with a wink.

Elena shook her head and smiled.

"Look, the reason I took you here is because it's been a big part of my life in the past. I thought that we could talk… while I make you dinner."

"Really, you're going to cook?"

"I'm still of Italian heritage, Elena. I would be defying my legacy if I didn't know how to at the very least make a good pasta."

Elena took her place at the kitchen island and leaned forward on her elbows.

"You're just full of surprises these days, aren't you? I'm impressed… really, but you didn't have to take us all this way in order to cook for me. The boarding house would have been just fine."

"Yeah well, I hate that house, Elena. I'm aware of the fact that the residents of Mystic Falls complain about never seeing me around. This is the reason… I'm often here. I keep the boarding house as my address, but this.. this is home."

He fell quiet after that admission and Elena looked down, feeling a bit embarrassed about taunting him about this cabin. It was obviously very important to him.

"So," she started, trying to lighten the suddenly intense mood. "Pasta, huh? Who taught you how to cook?"

Damon began to rummage around a few cabinets, picking things out of them left and right.

"My mother, actually. The Italian gene pool comes from my father's side, but my mother proved to be a true Italian mama. I was always interested to see what she was doing in the kitchen, peeking over the countertop and what not."

Elena felt a warm sensation spreading out in her belly at the thought of him as young boy, leaning up against his mother's skirts. It made her all the more curious why an enthusiastic little Damon would become so cold and callous… and distant in the future. She knew that his mother had died at some point and that he and his father didn't get along that well. Then, the older Salvatore had died as well.. There had to be a reason why he had closed off completely after that. Or was it due to Katherine?

She watched him with interest as he began to chop up some vegetables. No man had ever had an impact on her like did. What was it about him? Was it indeed that air of mystery and secrecy around him? She still felt like she knew nothing about him and yet, here she was… in the lion's den, so to speak. Being here could probably be very dangerous to her already developing feelings for him.

"So if this is your home… and you hate the boarding house… why do you always have everyone come over there? I mean, you work from there.. you did our interview from there…"

"Because," Damon answered, keeping his back towards her. "the boarding house is an easier location when you want to deal with Mystic Falls residents. This is too remote. Besides, my home is mine and mine alone. I don't need a whole lot of people knowing that I reside here."

Elena nodded.

"Okay, I get that. But then why bring your dates here if you don't want people to know about this place?"

"I don't bring my dates here. You're the only one, actually."

Damon chose that moment to turn around and look at her intently. Elena was glad that she was sitting down, because she felt this jolt coursing through her body as he stared at her. Her heart pounded with his answer. What did that mean when he said that she was the only one? No one had ever been in here, then? Besides him and his family? No woman after Katherine had ever seen the inside of these walls before? What did that mean?! She didn't want to hope… She didn't want to think that she was breaking though his shell, because with men like him, it usually wasn't the case.

Still, butterflies fluttered when he broke his intense stare to smile at her and she couldn't help the beaming grin that spread out across her face. Hell, she really was falling in love with him! The realization of that made her want to jump up and head out the front door. Her eyes darted around, looking for an escape, like a deer that was caught in headlights.

"Do you want to leave?"

Damon had obviously seen the looks that she was giving the front door. He crossed his arms in front of him, searching her face for an answer.

"No… "

"You seem a bit uneasy."

Elena looked down and bit her lip.

"I just… I don't trust myself with you."

"Do you feel like you need to trust yourself, then?"

"I do." She returned his stare dead on this time. "You do realize that you gave me a proposition not too long ago, right? Now, we're here in this secluded place and I just don't know.."

"You don't know if my intentions are right about this?" Damon walked over to where she was sitting and leaned against the kitchen island. "I know I've been a dick with the way I proposed to handle things between us, but you also know I've always been honest with you about where I stand. Look, this is very new to me as well. I've told you that somehow, I can't seem to stop thinking about you and because of that, I'm willing to go beyond my boundaries to explore what this could be. If you want slow, I'll take it slow. If you want to leave after dinner, then I'll drive you right back. I didn't bring you here in order to drag you up to my bedroom, you have my word on that."

"All right," Elena breathed. "Thank you."

Damon gave her his trademark half-smile. "Now, can we please get back to dinner….?"

To say that Damon was a good cook was an understatement. When he had stated that he knew how to cook up some pasta, she had expected it to be okay… It was actually pretty sensational stuff that hit her taste buds. She was enjoying the evening and felt herself relax.

It was in that moment that he first talked about Katherine.

"Katherine was.. complicated, let me tell you. She was beautiful, yes… a lot like you in that department, but she could also be selfish and at times not very kind. But yeah, she was very sexy and seductive."

"It must have been so hard to lose her like that."

"When the call came, I froze. It's ironic how life can change our course sometimes, and with its' course it changes who we are."

"So is that why you've become so..."

"So.. what? Sexy?"

Elena stuck her tongue out at his joke.

"You know what I meant to say. Sometimes, it's like a ton of bricks is weighing on your shoulders."

Damon got up from the table and began to clean up. The window to his past was obviously closing up again and Elena sighed. Was she ever going to get in?

"I simply decided to focus on work, Elena. There are no bricks weighing anywhere."

Elena followed him to the sink, taking her plate with her. She handed it over to him and eyed him curiously.

"What about you and Stefan? Are you two still close? I mean, I know that you told me that he checks in every now and then."

She watched as his jaw clenched up a bit.

"Sadly, no."

"Oh. I'm sorry about that."

Damon shook his head. "Don't be. Any chance of us becoming close had already been nixed with our father's difference in behavior towards us, but then Stefan had to go and make it worse when my wife died."

"What do you mean?"

"My little brother was so upset about her passing. I didn't think too much of it at first, as they had been close. Then, he finally spilled the beans; he had been in love with Katherine and she had just begun to reciprocate when she died."

Elena blanched.

"What? Katherine was returning his feelings?"

"Yep. In the very biblical sense of the word."

Well that was just harsh; to find out something like that right after Katherine had died. Elena began to understand a little why Damon had issues with trust.

"That's just not okay. So Katherine actually caused a rift between you two?"

"Katherine wasn't the one who caused the rift, Elena."

Something flashed in Damon's eyes and that's when she saw it. The same look had shown up on his face when he had come to her place drunk and upset; pure and absolute guilt. Guilt about something that made him seem to think like he wasn't a good man, as he had proclaimed back then. His secret was something beyond Katherine and his brother. Damon shutting down happened long before his wife died; his brother's betrayal with her was just something that had finally pushed him over the edge…

She could see the inner turmoil in his eyes; it was bubbling up inside of him, ready to pour out. Then, he turned around and returned to cleaning up as if nothing had happened.

It was too soon, Elena knew that. Damon was layered and she needed to peal them back one by one in order to get to the root of him. She now knew that she was willing to wait for that…

A little bit later, Elena was standing in front of the large windows in the living room, glancing outside into the woods. The moon gave the trees a surreal glow and she smiled. This place was like heaven.

"Do you want me to take you home?" Damon's voice interrupted her musings.

Elena glanced at the clock on the wall, which indicated that it was just after 11 p.m. Whoa, time had gone by so fast! Of course, his question hung in the air and Elena thought about it. The smart thing to do was to say 'yes.' The other part of her just didn't want the evening to be over yet.

"Not yet," she breathed.

Damon walked over to where she was standing and trailed a finger down her spine, stopping at the dimple just above her bottom. A shiver ran through her as she turned around to face him. Then, he kissed her. Elena felt herself groan as his tongue found hers, gently teasing her. The teasing quickly turned heated, though, when he pushed her back against the window behind her. The cool glass was a nice sensation against her heated skin.

Damon released her to kiss her neck, before continuing down towards her chest. That's when she stopped him and pulled him back up to her face.

"Sorry," he whispered. "Too fast. Okay, I'm going to do something that I haven't done before; I'm going to take you back to your place. Then, I'm going to call you tomorrow to make plans for our next date."

Elena's mouth almost fell open at that.

"Yeah, I know. So unlike me, right?" Damon laughed. "Now, get your coat and head for the front door, before I change my mind."

It was like every answer to her questions; the fact that he wanted to take her home proved that she was beginning to become more than just a mere attraction for him. He wanted to see her again and get to know her. Her heart was beginning to hope that falling for him was indeed going to be worth it…

A/N: Hi, you all! Thank you all so much for your reviews and I'm sorry that I didn't get to reply to everyone. I promise I'll do better next time It's just that time has been so limited these days. My 2-year-old is having issues with sleeping, ergo I'm sincerely sleep deprived. Therefore, writing has proved to be a real challenge. As soon as my daughter finally falls asleep, I tend to pass out as well. Writing took a backseat, as you can imagine. It's just a faze, as they all say. I'm sure that by the time she's 14 or 15, we'll have to drag her out of bed at 2 p.m. Hahaha! Please let me know if you liked this chapter! Xoxo, Mardre.