Chapter 6


Elena

I woke up to a soft knock on the door after sleeping for a good 2 hours. This bed wasn't as comfortable as Damon's but anything was better than Stefan's bed.

"Come in." I called.

"Hi." Damon said opening the door. "The old lady is making spaghetti, it should be ready soon."

"Oh good I am starving." I said hearing my stomach growl in agreement.

"I am so sorry, I forgot to feed you." He realized.

I opened my mouth to say it was fine then decided to have some fun with him.

"I know, how incredibly rude of you to save my life and my families lives and forget to cook for me in the process." I joked.

"I happen to pride myself on how I well I treat beautiful women." Damon replied.

"Maybe you can make it up to me." I offered.

"Just tell me how." He said his eyes twinkling in this really sexy way that made my heart race.

"After all this is over, you could take me out to dinner?" I suggested.

His eyes twinkled even harder and he nodded. "Miss Gilbert are you asking me out?"

"I think I am." I replied surprised by own boldness. That was the first time I had ever asked a guy out. I was so at ease with Damon already it just seemed so natural.

"I love this century." He smirked.

"Is that a yes?" I asked.

"That's defiantly a yes." He agreed sitting next to me. Being close to him opened up all these feeing in me I couldn't quite grasp but as strange and intense as it was. I forgot all about all the terrible stuff when I was with him. I was starting to feel like myself again. Damon's presence just made me feel good.

"Good I would have felt pretty stupid if you rejected me." I laughed.

"As if I would ever reject you," He said glancing at me. The light teasing tone in his voice was gone and he looked intently at me for a moment.

"I am completely smitten." He admitted kissing me on the cheek and standing up. "I'll see you downstairs then?"

"Yeah, I'll be down soon." I said feeling like I was in a daze.

A good kind of daze though, I decided.

"Good because it's full of Damon." I whispered under my breath my mouth turning into a smile repeating his words in my head.

"Smitten, He's smitten with me." I said in the mirror seeing my eyes light up for the first time in a long time. I smiled at the cute word. I loved his quirky little comments and the way he made me feel.


Everyone was already at the table talking in a hushed voiced about some 'plan'. They all shut up when they heard me coming.

"Okay look you guys." I commanded their attention. "I don't want to be left out of any plans. I can handle this."

"Elena, after everything he did to you.." Caroline started.

"I want to see him pay too." I said firmly. "I have been through a lot. But I'm going to be okay. I'm stronger then you all are giving me credit for. Now I'm serious, I don't want to be left out of anything, got it?"

"Yes ma'am." Anna smiled.

I glanced over at Damon was who staring at me with a strange expression on his face. My eyes locked with his and suddenly I was filled from like the toes up with this amazing feeling. It was so overwhelming I had to break eye contact and sit down. I could have sworn I heard him sigh too.

"Whoa." Bonnie said suddenly. "What is going on between you two?"

"We just get a vibe between us sometimes." I tried to explain glancing at Damon.

"I could like feel the energy between the two of you, that was more than a vibe. Tell me more about this." Bonnie said looking curiously between us.

"Your friend's kind of nosy Elena." Damon commented.

Bonnie shot him a dark look. "Come on you guys have to admit this is interesting. I bet my grams could shed some light on what it is."

"Bonnie we have a crazy vampire on the loose to take care of." I rolled my eyes trying to calm my racing heart and hot cheeks. "I don't think we have time to discuss my love life with your grams."

"Your love life?" Caroline squealed.

Okay now my face was bright red. I tried to avoid looking at Damon but my eyes glanced nervously at him and I was relieved to see him smiling his eyes bright.

"As she said not the time to discuss it," Damon said smoothly, "So Elena, Annabelle was about to tell us her plan to trap Stefan.

"Right so...in 1864 all the vampires were supposedly burnt in the church. That wasn't true they were actually buried in a tomb. We can unlock this tomb, after the comet drops which ironically is the night of the carnival." Anna started.

"So why would we unlock a tomb that's full of vampires?" Bonnie asked.

"Because Stefan will think Katherine is in there. All I have to do is 'run' into him somehow. I don't think he knows I'm here yet. Get word out that I'm in town and he will wonder why. I'll ask for his help opening the tomb. He will assume Damon is here to do the same thing and be determined to beat him to it. We get my mother out and lock Stefan in." Anna explained.

"I don't want to lock him in a tomb. I want to kill him." Damon stressed.

"You can't kill him." Anna said firmly. "Mummifying him for eternity is worse anyway."

"Why can't I kill him?" Damon asked he looked angry. I realized there was a lot of hatred between the brothers. I've never been one to wish death on anyone but after what Stefan did to me I just wanted him gone too.

"Because if you kill him then Katherine is going to know, She's his sire she'll sense it." Anna said.

"So what?' Damon asked. "I don't owe that bitch any favors."

"I realize that." Anna said impatiently. "But if Stefan dies she'll figure out it was you. She'll come after you and if she does that she's going to meet her doppelganger. Something tells me that would be very very bad."

"Your right," Damon said looking thoughtful. "Katherine can never know about Elena."

I nodded in agreement. I had absolutely no desire to meet this women.

"So Bonnie will you help us open the tomb?" Anna asked.

"How can I help?" Bonnie asked.

"Well first we have to get Emily's necklace back. The rest should come pretty easily to you." Anna explained.

"Emily?" Bonnie asked.

"Your ancestor, she's the one that sealed the vampires in. Her necklace holds the key to unlocking the seal long enough to get Stefan in and my mother out." Anna explained.

"I need to discuss this with my grams before doing anything." Bonnie said looking unsure.

"Our window of time is small here." Anna said. "So discuss it quickly and make your decision before Stefan turns this town inside out."

Bonnie's eyes widened.

"She's not kidding." Damon added. "After Stefan turned his pattern was to drink and drink until he was so fully stated he couldn't take it. Then he'd go into long bouts of guilt for weeks and do it all over again. Over time the period between guilt and brooding lessened."

"To sum it up he has no idea what he's doing and even after all this time he still probably has no control over his thirst." Anna said.

"So we need your help here Bonnie." I stressed looking at her intently.

"One condition," Bonnie said.

"Witches are so high maintenance" Damon rolled his eyes.

"One of you," Bonnie looked from Damon to Anna ignoring his jab, "Has to come to my grams with me. Go over this plan with her. I do nothing without seeking her advice on it first. I only just found out what I am."

"Fine," Anna said. "I'll go, Damon you better go catch Elena's brother I just heard him sneak out."

"Oh no," Damon held his hands up. "I tried Elena I really did; he's your project Anna. I'll go talk to Sheila."

"How did you know her name?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Details," Damon smirked. "So when we're going?"

Anna sighed heavily muttering something about emo duty and running out after Jeremy. I hoped she could get through to him. They thought it was best I steer clear of him so I didn't confuse him to much with the compulsion in effect.

"No time like the present." Bonnie said finishing up her food.

"You coming?" Damon asked me looking hopefully.

"Sure." I smiled nervously knowing Bonnie was probably going to dig.

"I'll meet you guys in the car. I'm going to just call her and tell her we're coming." Bonnie said happily.


"So that was kind of awkward back there huh?" I asked nervously sitting in the car with Damon.

"Nah," He smirked glancing at me. "I don't get embarrassed."

"You were pretty smooth about it." I admitted.

"You were pretty flustered." He commented.

"Very tactful," I replied my mouth widening in surprise.

"I'm an observant guy." He replied smirking at me. "Could it be you're a little smitten with me too?"

"Well I did ask you out didn't I?' I shot back smirking right back him.

"As if I could forget." He replied tucking a hair behind my ear. "But it could just be a 'thanks for saving me' date."

"It's not. It's a 'I can't get you off my mind' date." I admitted. Suddenly the romanticism of falling for the man who saved you registered very clear with me.

"I can't get you off my mind either." He said huskily gazing at me in that heart melting away again. "I haven't been able to for 2 years."

I felt the heat rise through my body I literally felt intoxicated by him. I held my hands to cover my flushed cheeks but he peeled them away.

"That." He said touching my hot cheeks. "Is soo sexy."

His face was only inches away from mine and I had never wanted anyone to kiss me this bad ever in my entire life.

"Sorry that took so long you guys." Bonnie said bursting in at the worst possible moment. Damon grimaced as he pulled away. The separation was almost painful.

"What did I miss?" She murmured. "The tension in here is insane."

"Stop it Bonnie." I warned glancing at Damon; he looked back at me with a longing in his eyes that lit a fire in my belly I had never felt before. I opened the window breathing in the cool air to compose myself as he drove. I noticed his hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly.


Damon

Man this girl had me wound up. I was trying to focus on the road and ignore the tightness in my jeans. Luckily I was a man with strong control of all of my urges and managed to contain myself. I could see and sense Elena struggling too. This thing between us was only fueling that passion that was already growing. I wanted to be careful I didn't want to rush her or overwhelm her. But Damn she was just too tempting to flirt with, too hard to stop gazing at, and oh god how I wanted to kiss her.

I managed to get myself under control as Bonnie directed me towards Sheila's house. She was keeping her mouth shut about the tension in the air but I could see the little questions forming in her mind. I didn't need my unique connection with Elena analyzed or worse witch-alyzed I just wanted to discover it with for me I wasn't wrong about her little heart flutters and blushes in response to me. I had never wanted a woman more then I wanted her.

"Damon Salvatore." Sheila greeted me with little surprise. "I was expecting you."

"Of course you were." I replied. "Can I come in?"

"Why are you here? Is it to open the tomb?" She demanded.

"Not for reasons you think." I replied.

"What are the reasons then? This is a dangerous task." Sheila asked.

"Do you two know each other?" Bonnie asked.

"We know of each other, Damon's been protecting our line for years." Sheila explained.

"It was a promise I made to Emily." I explained when Elena glanced at me curiously.

"I know Katherine isn't in the tomb." I explained. "I don't want to free the vampires, just one. We also need to entrap a vampire that's causing problems in town."

"It's his friend's mother. That's the only vampire we want to free." Elena added desperately begging Sheila to help them.

"You need Emily's grimoire, which I don't have." Sheila started. "I do however have some of her journals which will be helpful."

"What about her necklace?" Bonnie asked.

"The Lockwood's display case," Sheila said.

She stopped and stared at me and then Elena for a moment.

"Come inside." She said.

"You trust me?" I asked surprised.

"I have no reason not to." Sheila said.

We all gathered inside and Sheila took a deep breath.

"Your connection is strong yes." She said. "I can feel it."

"There is a reason you two have found each other, you mustn't let go of each other. I'm certain of that." Sheila said.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked her eyes wide. I liked the idea of never letting go of her but something in Sheila's tone unnerved me slightly.

"I don't know but I have a strong feeling that your fates are intertwined for a reason." Sheila said simply.

"I knew it. They have this strange connection between them." Bonnie gushed.

"That is for them to discover further, I've said all I should." Sheila said rather sharply and Bonnie hushed up looking slightly embarrassed. I was grateful for the interruption. I got that Bonnie thought this was romatic but I didnt want Elena to be embarrsed even though she was fun to tease.

"I do have one interesting thing I'd like to run by you though." I said. "Elena is immune to compulsion. How could that be possible?"

"Have you ever tried to compel her?" Sheila asked.

"No why would I?" I asked.

"I think your protection of her goes even further than either of you realized." Sheila said. "I can't help the two of you discover what's between you, neither can Bonnie. You have to figure it out for yourselves."

It sounded a lot like what Bree had said to me in Georgia.

"But I will help you with the tomb." She said. "It's important this goes off smoothly. No one needs to know those vampires didn't burn. They cannot all escape."

"So how do we find the grimoire?" Bonnie asked.

"We start reading." Sheila said handing me stacks of journals.

"Can we take these with us?" I asked. "I want to get these girls back to the safe house, It's late."

I want to get Elena alone and finish that kiss we almost had, I added silently.

"Of course," Sheila nodded.

"I'll be in touch." I said as we left armed with information.


Elena

Anna and Jeremy were struggling in the front yard when they got back to the house.

"Just let me go." He was screaming as she rolled her eyes holding him easily.

"No then you're never going to be clear headed enough to erase this damn compulsion." Anna replied.

"I need to go find Vicki; I need to make sure she's okay." Jeremy struggled.

"She probably just found some other warm body to cozy up to girls like that are a dime a dozen kid." Anna quipped.

I found myself smiling slightly and hushed Bonnie and Damon behind me as we watched them fight.

"Shut up you don't know her." He muttered.

"I've been around for a long time kid." Anna drawled. "I've known tons of her's."

"Shut up." He spat out trying to get free again.

"You're wasting all your strength." Anna said, "On a silly girl that doesn't really care."

"She cares, she does." Jeremy augured.

"Not really. All she cares about is her next high. But I guess it's the same for you right?"

"Whatever."

"You don't care about your aunt, or your sister right?" Anna questioned, "Just drugs, and Vicki and staying oblivious to what's really going on here."

"That's not true I care." He augured.

"Yeah right, you're supposed to be the man of your family and look and what's happening." She spat out.

"You're a bitch you know that." He hissed.

"No I'm honest." She replied in an icy tone. "I've missed my mother for 145 years she was the only family I had. You still have your sister and your aunt and your just checking out on them. It pisses me off."

"Why do you care?"

"I don't, you were assigned to me." Anna replied. "But I'm tired of your crap already so the next time you sneak out. I'm going to kick your ass right in front of all your friends."

"What?"

"You'll never live it down. I'm like 3 feet shorter then you." She beamed.

"You wouldn't?" He questioned. "Would you?

"Don't ever doubt her." Damon advised a smirk. I mouthed a tank you to her as she pulled a dumb founded Jeremy back inside the house.

We brought the journals in the house and both Jenna and Caroline grabbed them greedily. Anna decided to park herself in front of Jeremy's room all night to ensure he stayed sober. Damon explained she takes projects real seriously whether she wants them or not.

Mrs. Flowers the old lady we were staying with offered to show Damon a room and he followed. I frowned my eyes following him. I just felt safer the closer he was to me. But the last thing I wanted was for him to think I was some needy teenage girl.


"You want him in your bed already?" Caroline whispered.

"Shh." I hushed her. "I'm not sure how good he can hear."

"I just don't like being away from him." I whispered softly pulling her into my bedroom.

"I wouldn't either." She agreed.

"Hands off," I said firmly. "I mean it Caroline."

"I don't think he has eyes for anyone but you." She laughed.

I smiled and bit down on my lower lip sitting on the bed.

"And you're practically swooning." She whispered in an accusing voice.

"Shh." I hushed her again hearing footsteps coming up the hall.

"I just stopped by to stay goodnight." Damon called from outside the door.

Caroline winked and nudged me making a 'kissing' face.

"Come in." I said telling her to keep it shut with my eyes. "Caroline was just leaving."

"Night Blondie." Damon quipped.

"Night," Caroline chirped as I practically pushed her out of the room.

I turned around and he was right in front of me. I gasped and my mouth opened slightly.

"Your friend is right." He said locking eyes with mine.

"About what?" I whispered.

"I don't have eyes for anyone but you." He said glancing down to my lips. I felt myself start to swoon just as his strong hand cradled the back of my head keeping me steady.

"You heard all of that." I said to focused on his lips to really care at this point.

"Uh huh," He said leaning down further our lips were almost touching. He looked into my eyes as if asking permission and I flickered my own in approval. His lips came down and touched mine gently. The feeling that shot through my body was indescribable. My entire body seemed to tingle in response with intense vibrations of warmth, and life and need.

I felt his other arm come to wrap around my waist gently pulling my body in closer to him. His tongue explored my mouth gingerly as if memorizing every detail. I soon found my own need to explore rising and our tongues battled for dominance. He moaned softly and allowed me access to his mouth.

I could feel his hardness pressing up against my stomach and suddenly felt dizzy.

He sensed my change immediately and pulled back sitting me down on the bed. He left to the bathroom and came back with a glass of water.

"Are you okay? That was too much too soon." He said softly stroking my hair.

I gulped the water and leaned against him.

"I didn't expect that kiss to get so heated so quickly." I admitted. "It was amazing. I'm just not ready for…"

"I know." He said tilting my face towards his. "I've never felt like before ever. I didn't mean to lose control."

"I'll take it as a compliment." I smiled relaxing quickly. I was amazed at how calm he could make me.

"You should." He winked standing up.

"Wait." I said. He turned around and gazed down at me.

"Since that was like our official first kiss. I think I need a good night kiss now." I said softly.

"Your wish,' He said pressing his lips down to mind gently and tenderly. We both managed to holdback that crazy passion that was brimming between us back this time. It was slow and sweet and left me feeling at peace.

I found myself tossing and turning after he left. Until I felt his hand softly touch my cheek and finally drifted off. The feelings of fear and anxiety replaced with a myriad of new feelings I was terrified and excited and almost desperate to explore.


Thanks for the reviews everyone! As you can see this will somewhat follow the time line and events of season one but certain things will be very different because of the alternate circumstances. The one thing I'm trying to decide on is if Isobel will play any role in this story or not, tell me your thoughts on that if you could. It would be really helpful. I'm back and forth on it as it can easily be eliminated in this story or used to cause conflict down the road. I hope you enjoyed the update. More action coming soon I promise. I'm all about the delena fluff this weekend. I'm trying to bleach my mind of Rose, lol **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter please review!