One night, Elena had gone over to Stefan's house to hang out with him. I dropped her off and started heading home. I was halfway home on one of the darker roads when Elena called me to come pick her back up. She sounded like she was about to cry. I guess things didn't go well. "We look like her!" She practically shouted at me. "Like who?" I asked. Before Elena had the chance to answer, I dropped my phone. Someone was in the road and I swerved to avoid whoever it was. As I started to swerve too hard and fast, my car started rolling. I didn't know what to do. When my car finally stopped rolling, I lay there feeling very sick. My head was fuzzy and I think it was bleeding. I saw the same figure that stopped in the middle of the road walking toward me. I was just as scared as when I faced Vickie, but I felt a lot more vulnerable and less confident now. Now that I know what's out there, I didn't know what it could be.

I closed my eyes thinking I could handle whatever death accompanied this mysterious person. "Zoey?" I heard my name. I opened my eyes and saw Damon. I smiled a little and passed out. I felt like I was falling into nothingness. There were no colors, there was no one. I was falling into an endless oblivion. I fell for what felt like centuries.

Finally, after falling forever, I saw a light at what I assumed was the end. I opened my eyes slowly and found that the light was the bright morning sun. I waited a moment for my eyes to adjust. I looked around and realized I was in a car driving down the road. I looked over at the driver. It was Damon. "Morning Sunshine." He said smiling. "Where are we going?" I asked confused. "Georgia." He said. "What's in Georgia?" I asked. I didn't even care where we were going. I was just glad I was out of Mystic Falls for now. "An old friend I've got questions for." Damon replied. I just nodded. "Alright." I said laying my head back down against the head rest. My head was pounding like someone was using a jackhammer inside my brain.

Damon looked at me. "What?" I asked. "You aren't going to ask me to take you home?" Damon asked a little confused. "No, I don't want to go home. I saw a man and that's why I swerved. I thought he was coming toward me, but he disappeared and it was you who saved me. It scared me, so a little time away will be good." I explained. Damon nodded. "Well, alright Georgia it is." Damon said hitting the gas pedal and increasing speed.

A few hours passed and Damon and I talked about a lot of things. My phone started ringing. "Hello?" I answered. It was Elena with her worry voice. "Where are you? I asked you to come pick me up and you never showed." Elena said. "I got in an accident on my way there. Damon saved me and now we're going to Georgia." I said feeling tired again. Elena gasped. "Why are you going anywhere alone with him?" She shouted at me angrily. "He can hear you when you yell." I said flatly. "He can hear me when I'm not yelling with his super vampire hearing." Elena yelled again. "Look, I was scared last night. Who knows who it was and I want to get away for a little bit okay. Damon's not going to hurt me. Just cover for me please." I said tiredly. I heard Elena's heavy breathing. "Fine. Damon better keep you safe. Also ask him about Katherine." She said. "Bye Zoey. I love you. Be safe." She said before she hung up the phone.

I looked at my phone and shook my head. "Why does she want me to ask you about Katherine?" I asked Damon. Damon shrugged his shoulder. "Dunno." He said. "Her and Stefan were probably talking about her." He replied. "Well tell me about her." I told him. Damon smiled a little. "She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She came to stay with my family right as I was about to go off to war. I left and came home and I'd seen how close she and Stefan had gotten and I was jealous. She was always seen with Stefan at social events because he was the better brother I guess. Our father always loved him more and thought I was a disappointment especially for deserting the Confederate Army. At night though after she said goodnight to Stefan, I would have her all to myself. It wasn't long before we found out her secret. She was a vampire and she told each of us that she loved us and she wanted to change us so we could be together forever. She had to compel Stefan, but she never had to compel me. I wanted to spend eternity with her." Damon told me.

"By this time, more vampires had come to Mystic Falls and the founding families were getting suspicious. They were trying to figure out who the vampires were so they could kill them all. Our father didn't know Katherine was a vampire until Stefan went to talk to him, to see if maybe he could convince Father vampires weren't so bad after all. Our father wasn't a stupid man and fed Stefan Vervain. When Katherine bit Stefan, she was incapacitated and sent to her death with the rest of them. I told Stefan that our father wouldn't listen to him and that is was a bad idea, but he didn't listen. We tried to save her from being taken and that's when our father saw us. He shot us both and Katherine got taken away anyway. Stefan and I died that night, but Katherine had already fed us her blood. We woke up the next morning in transition." Damon explained.

"I didn't want to become a vampire if she was gone, but Stefan convinced me. Katherine and the rest of the vampires died that night in a church the founding families set on fire. Stefan got Katherine killed and then convinced me to become a vampire. I have hated him since then. We've reconnected throughout the years, but those same issues always come up. I have loved Katherine from the first time I laid my eyes on her and I still love her. Stefan doesn't love her anymore. He's convinced that he never loved her, that all of it was just compelled. For him, it might have been, but I know my love for her was real, but he's drawn to Elena for a reason." Damon said with a little smile.

I sat silently listening to Damon tale. I was a little sad when he said he still loved Katherine, but what could be possibly get from her now. She's dead and she seems like she wasn't the nicest person around. "Why is he drawn to Elena?" I asked not so sure I wanted to know the answer. "You and Elena look exactly like Katherine. You three could be triplets if she hadn't been born in the 1400s." Damon explained. My mouth dropped. We looked like Katherine. How was that possible? "How?" That was all I could manage to ask. "I don't know. Maybe you're all doppelgangers." Damon said shrugging his shoulders. "Elena probably saw the picture of Katherine that Stefan keeps. That's why she wanted you to ask me about her." Damon said. I nodded because that was probably the thing making Elena upset.

Finally, we got to the place we were heading. It was a bar. "Damon, I'm only 17. How am I supposed to get in?" I asked. Damon gave me a look. "If anyone gives you trouble, I'll compel them to let you inside." He said. "You've talked about compulsion. What is it exactly?" I asked. "It's exactly what it sounds like. Vampires have the ability to compel people to do what they want, change memories. Stefan's not very good at it because he doesn't drink human blood, which is why he couldn't do it for Jeremy." Damon explained. "Can you do it to me?" I asked suddenly worried. Damon shook his head. "Nope. When Stefan gave Elena that necklace, he gave her a bracelet to give to you. It contains Vervain. It's a plant that for whatever reason stops any vampire tricks, it burns us, and weakens us to the point where we can be taken down pretty easily. That bracelet protects you from my compulsion." Damon explained. I nodded. "Okay, let's go in." I said feeling better.

We got in and Damon ordered some food and some drinks for us. The bartender came over to pour us our shots. "Damon Salvatore." The woman said. She was a talk, black woman. "Hello Bree. Long time no see." He said smiling. "Is she 21 Damon?" She asked eyeing me. "More or less." He replied. "Alright." She said pouring our shots. I took mine quickly. God, it felt good to have a drink after all that happened. Bree went to go tend to her other customers and our food came. Damon started scarfing down those nachos like there was no tomorrow. "How do you eat?" I asked. Damon looked confused. "Just like you." He replied giving me a weird look. "That's not what I meant." I said struggling to explain. "I know what you meant. As long as we keep a healthy diet of blood, our body works just as well as a human body and we can eat or drink anything. It numbs some of the cravings for blood that makes us want to rip out everyone's jugular." Damon replied. I nodded. "I see. Well that's good. It makes you look more human when you're able to eat and drink like a human." I said with a smile. "Exactly." Damon replied as we took another shot.

After I was officially drunker than I've ever been, I started playing pool with the other people in the bar. I saw Damon having a rather intense conversation with Bree. I wondered what it was about, but I didn't care much then. I was feeling a little sick so I went outside. Right as I walked outside, I was grabbed by a man. He was a vampire and I didn't know who he was. Not long after the vampire grabbed me, I heard Damon's voice calling my name. He saw me standing on my own and came over to get me. As he started walking, the vampire grabbed him. He jammed his hand into Damon's chest and it looked like he had a firm grasp on Damon's heart. "What do you want?" Damon asked through heavy breaths. "Revenge. You killed the woman I love." He said. "Who?" Damon asked a little cocky. I wish he wouldn't do that when he was so close to dying. "Lexi. She went to Mystic Falls to surprise Stefan and she never came back. I went there to investigate and found her dead. I know it was you." The guy yelled. "And since he killed the woman I love, I'm going to kill you in front of the woman you love." He said. Damon didn't say anything.

"Please." I said starting to cry. "Don't kill him. He did kill Lexi and he shouldn't have, but I don't think Lexi would want you to kill someone else's love because she's dead." I said. The guy looked at me. "I don't see how you can love someone as vile as him." He said. "Love is irrational. So irrational Lexi would turn you into a vampire just so she can be with you forever. You can't help who you love, it just happens. Please." I begged. I didn't want Damon to die. Sure he was in love with Katherine, but I knew deep down, I was in love with Damon. The guy started crying. "Lexi was a wonderful woman. I didn't know her well, but I'm very glad I was able to meet her, but I'm certain she wouldn't have wanted you to do this." I said walking toward them. The man let Damon go. "Fine, but Damon you are a terrible person and you don't deserve anyone's love." He said before disappearing.

I ran to Damon as he fell to the ground. "Thanks Zoey." He said. I smiled at him. "Sure. Did you get what you needed from here?" I asked. Damon nodded. "Fine, let's go find a hotel. We can head home in the morning." I said. Damon nodded again and we made it back to his car. We found a hotel in the area and got a room. It had two beds and a TV. "Thanks for coming with me Zoey. I'd probably be dead if it weren't for you." Damon said as he took off his shirt to get ready for bed. I stared at him. He had the most perfect body I had ever seen. I smiled at him when I got my senses back. "Thanks for bringing me. The time away from Mystic Falls has been helpful." I said. "I'm going to go take a shower. Do you have a shirt I can wear to bed?" I asked. Damon nodded and threw me a long sleeved shirt from his bag.

I went into the bathroom and took a nice, hot shower. I hadn't taken one since the accident and it was nice to feel the hot water on my sore muscles. I stayed in the shower for probably a half an hour. I was kind of nervous to go out there. I've never stayed the night anywhere with Damon. I wasn't scared at all. I guess I should have been. I mean just a couple days before that I watched him murder Lexi. I was just nervous because I had finally admitted to myself that I was in love with Damon when I know he wouldn't share those feelings.

Finally, I got out of the shower. I put on Damon's shirt. It was big which was good because it covered everything it needed to cover. I walked out of the bathroom slowly and got under the covers in my bed. Damon was laying on top of the covers on his bed looking up at the ceiling with his arms folded behind his head. I shut off the light. Damon could probably see really well in the dark so I didn't worry about shutting off the light. I laid there for a minute, but Damon didn't say anything. "Night Damon." I said as I turned around.

Damon still didn't say anything. "Katherine's still alive you know." He said after five minutes of silence. I was almost asleep by that time, but now I was wide awake. "How?" I asked. "I found out a couple decades ago that she was still alive. All the vampires that supposedly died in that fire were really put in a tomb they couldn't get out of. The church burned above it. That's what I came here for, to ask Bree how to open it so I could have Katherine back." He said quietly. "What do you have to do?" I asked feeling really sad. "I need a crystal and a Bennett witch since a Bennett witch is the one who put up the spell that keeps the vampires in." He replied. I nodded. "Bonnie. Do you have the crystal?" I asked. "Yes, that's why I needed to go to the Founder's Day party. I hid it in that house years ago. That's what I came back to Mystic Falls for and I heard Stefan was in town and I can never miss an opportunity to make him miserable." Damon replied. A couple tears rolled down my cheeks. "I don't know if Bonnie will help you, but I will help you get your Katherine back if I can." I said. "Thanks. Goodnight Zoey." Damon said and it went silent.

The next morning, Damon woke me up about an hour before we had to be out of the hotel. He packed everything and I got changed out of his long sleeved shirt. We hit the road and at first neither of us said anything to each other. I was thinking about our conversation last night. I wanted to help him get Katherine back because I wanted him to be happy. Damon seemed really unhappy and this is the only way to make him happy again. That's what you do when you love someone. I want him to be happy even if it's never with me. How would it have worked anyway? He will never age and I will grow old and unattractive one day while he stays perfect in his 23 year old body.

"Zoey?" I heard Damon ask. "Huh? Yeah?" I asked looking at him. "Where'd you go?" He asked looking at me. "Just into the depths of my mind where I do all my thinking and feeling sorry for myself." I said then instantly regretting it. "What were you thinking about?" He asked curiously. I laughed a little. "You don't want to know." I said. Damon didn't ask any more questions. "I was just going to say thank you for coming with me. I don't think I'd be making this trip back if you hadn't been here." He thanked me again for saving his life, but it was sort of a reflex. I couldn't just let him die. I couldn't watch that. Deep down, Damon was a good person. He had good intentions, he just went about them the wrong way.

I smiled back at him. I was glad I went on this trip with him. I was a little hurt to know Katherine was still alive and he was still in love with her because that would mean I would never have a chance. It was good for me to admit I was in love with Damon though, even if it was just to myself. I would consider Damon a friend and this is what friends do and for now I was okay with it.

We made it home not long after and I had this kind of bittersweet feeling about being home. I missed my bed and stuff, but I was enjoying the time I spent with Damon. It was Sunday though and I had to get ready to go back to school. Damon dropped me off and of course Elena jumped me as soon as I walked in the door and bombarded me with questions. I told her most of the story and went to bed. I laid in bed for a long time looking at the ceiling. My phone buzzed. I looked at it and saw a text from Damon. I'm glad you came with me. It was a nice trip and I wish it hadn't ended so quickly. I sighed. Why did he have to sound all flirty when he was in love with Katherine? Then again, I'm sure he'd been with a lot of people while he's known Katherine was alive. He'd been with Caroline.

At first, I felt a twinge of jealousy, but then that went away. If I were ever with Damon, I wanted it to be because he wanted me and loved me and not because he was using me for something. I texted him back. Thank you for taking me. I really needed to get away. I sent it and went to sleep after that, getting ready for the new day, the new week that was laid before me.