Disclaimer: I don't own the vampire diaries.

A/N: Thanks again for the amazing support! You guys keep me going!


Chapter 6

The first week went by rather quickly. Every day she and Damon went out for lunch together. Caroline wouldn't stop asking questions when they arrived back at the office and afterwards she would get some extra work from Jane. Same old same old, you could say. Although it had been a long time she felt this happy and she couldn't exactly explain why. Being around Damon made her smile…he just had that weird effect on her.

But still, she needed to go home alone, every single night. Some things just never change. When she came home Jeremy was out most of the time; he didn't like being inside after staying in prison for several months. He enjoyed his freedom. She must admit, he was actually doing a great job…he really seemed to mean it this time.

Caroline on the other hand wasn't being a great friend lately. While they promised each other to have more girls' nights again, they were spending less time together. After her 'lunch date' with Stefan, she started spending most of the time with the guy. Although Elena must admit the guy seemed to be making her friend happy and that was all she ever wanted. Turned out Stefan was a Salvatore too, he was Damon's brother and he just started working in the business after he got his diploma.

The phone started ringing and Elena walked towards it to pick it up. It was Saturday and she didn't exactly expect anyone to call her. Usually she spend her weekend working at home, sometimes she went out shopping with Caroline but since she was with Stefan, that wasn't the case. Maybe it was her aunt calling? It been weeks since she last called to check on things.

"Hi," Elena said while answering the phone. She was in a bad mood because she was still unable to sleep well. Since the day he stormed back in her life, presenting himself as her new boss, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Every night, she was dreaming about him, reliving 'that night' in her sleep over and over again. Afterwards she would wake up all sweaty and turned on, thinking about how much of an idiot she was for acting like this.

"Morning, Lena. You sound really tired? Didn't sleep well?"

"Morning, Caroline. Not really, no; how are you doing?"

"Great! I'm shopping with Stefan at the moment; he's really fun to do that with! That's why I called you. He asked if I wanted to invite someone to dinner this eve, are you in?"

"Me?" she asked confused.

"Yeah, why not? You're my best friend and I want you to meet him. Dinner sounds like the perfect opportunity to do that. So what do you say?"

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, we're having dinner at his place. They're Italian, Lena. They know how to cook!" Caroline said enthusiastically.

"They?" Only the word made her shiver, she didn't mean… No, that's not what she meant.

"Yeah, he lives with his brother, duh!"

"Damon will be there too?" Oh my gosh, she did mean it.

"Yes Elena, he will be there too. And don't say you changed your mind because I won't let you! You are coming tonight, even If I'll have to, drag you there myself. Stefan asked him and he didn't mind if we invite you."

"I don't know, Care, I mean…"

"You're coming," she interrupted. "You're not backing off because Damon will be there too. You two go to lunch together every weekday, why not dinner?"

"You know it's not the same. I'm not coming to his place. That's too private and not professional at all. Maybe if we go to a restaurant or something…"

"Bad luck for you, sweetheart, cause you are coming either you want to or not. He wants to cook for me and I'm going to let him."

"Caroline!"

"Shut up, Lena! I'll see you at six. I'll pick you up at your place, bye."

"But…" she could already hear the beep tone. Damnit! Why did she need to have a friend stubborn like that? She didn't want to see Damon tonight. It was bad enough she needed to see him every day at work, not to mention they had lunch together, every day. She still couldn't believe she was actually saying yes every time he was asking her to lunch. The power that man had over her!

Okay, she had to admit, until now, everything went very well. After their little discussion about 'the night', they talked about the usual stuff and she actually had come to enjoy their lunches together. But that didn't mean she would go to his place to have dinner!

One day, they would have that conversation again, the conversation she didn't want to have. She didn't want to admit why she left that morning. She wanted to forget about it, like he told her to, the first time they saw each other again. The day she fainted…god how lame was that! Like Jane said, an amazing introduction…after four years! Thank God Jane didn't know the real reason she fainted because she would've found away to get Elena fired so she could replace her.

That girl was really delusional. Not to mention how funny it had been to see her jealous looks this week, every time she went out with Damon, Jane had looked at her like she was about to kill her and bury her under a tree. Normally she would've just ignored her, but she actually enjoyed it when Jane looked at her like that. It was such a victory. The thing is that, she wasn't the only one. Wherever they decided to go, envious looks were following her and she felt proud to be in the company of a man that could turn the head of every single woman in a room.

So dinner tonight, she should go shopping. Even though her closet was full of clothes, she was sure she wouldn't find the perfect dress in it. She ran towards Jeremy's room and knocked on the door. "Yeah?" she heard him ask.

She half opened the door and stuck her head through the opening. "Jer, I'm going to the city. Do you want to come with me?"

"Are you going out to shop?" he asked confused. His sister never went out alone, not on a Saturday.

"Yeah, but I really don't want to go all by myself …please?" she asked pouting.

"One condition?"

"I probably don't want to hear it, but yeah, what's your condition?"

"I want to bring my new girlfriend with me."

"You've a new girlfriend? How's that possible? You're just out jail?"

"Well…when I was there…"

"She's not a prisoner guard, is she?" Elena interrupted.

"Will you please listen?" he asked annoyed. She nodded. "So when I was in prison, I got letters from a girl. She used to write letters to prisoners so they won't feel so alone during their time in jail. It was some kind of charity project. Anyway, when I got out, I wrote her a letter, asking her if we could meet in real life. And we did that and I really like her Elena, she's different but in a good way."

"What's her name?"

"Anna; she's one year younger than me, but more important, she lives here in the city."

"So what, you guys are dating now?"

"We kinda are, yeah. That's what I wanted to ask. Can I ask her to go with us? That way you can meet her?"

"Sure," she answered before she would go freaking out. He had a girlfriend! Gosh, the girl was probably another drug dealer. She really thought he was doing better, going on the right way! She should call Caroline…oh but she didn't have the time. Damn, what now?

"Elena, she's really not a bad girl," the boy said when he saw his sister looking like she'd just seen a ghost.

"I didn't say that."

"You don't have to; the expression on your face says it all. I promise you, Lena, she's different. I'm almost certain you'll like her."

Elena just nodded, not wanting to fight with her brother. Maybe he was right; there was no reason to doubt that. She hadn't even seen the girl and she already had an opinion ready... and not a good one. She had officially transformed into her paranoid uncle.

"Okay. You can call her and we'll go shopping together."

"You're great, sis," Jeremy said before hugging her. God, this day was getting more awkward with every passing minute.


It was already five o'clock when Elena returned from her shopping trip with Anna. Her brother had been right; this girl was indeed very different. It looked like for the first time in his life, her brother had actually found a nice girl to date. She was a little shy, but that made her even cuter

"It was very nice meeting you, Anna. We should do this more often," she said smiling when they arrived back to her apartment.

"It indeed was. I'm glad I finally got the opportunity to meet you, Elena. Your brother was right; you're a very special girl. He's lucky to have a sister like you."

"Thank you, Anna. He was right about you too. I'm glad he finally found someone worthy..."

"He had a hard life but I really believe he wants to change. Usually prisoners aren't as friendly as Jer was with me. They hate it when someone sticks their nose into their business."

"Then why do you do it? Why do you write them letters?"

"Because it's all the social contact they have. Most of them won't admit, but they really like getting letters. It's their only contact with the 'outside world' as they call it."

"Yeah, life in prison isn't easy…but I'm glad my brother learned something from it. He really needed a wakeup call. He was fucking up his life; a big time."

"I know and I'm glad he's doing better now. I think he never got over the death of your parents…and Vicky of course."

"It's probably rude to say but he's better off without her. She was nothing more than a bad influence on him."

"I can understand your opinion. Although it wasn't easy for your brother either, knowing your girlfriend died over an overdose."

"Well, I thought that would be enough to make him stop dealing drugs, but…it didn't work that way."

"He was already too far…his problems were too big and he couldn't find the right way to deal with them so he dug himself deeper and deeper into a big hole of nothing. In the end, he just couldn't think clear anymore. Everything became a big confusion; doing something wrong was making him feel good, but he was hurting you and your family. For a time there, making himself feel better had been more important than making any of you happy or proud. He always knew what he was doing was wrong, but he didn't care enough to stop it. Every one of us is fighting our bad part on daily bases in order to do the right thing, for him this fight just wasn't worth it. "

"How do you know so much?"

"Partly because Jeremy told me a lot, but I've always worked with addicted people. I'm studying Psychology, which helps me too of course."

"Psychology? Wow, that has to be difficult. I must say, I'm impressed."

"It's going great. I love it actually."

"So what do you think of Jeremy? Will he get better?"

"Do you want my personal opinion or my opinion as a psychologist?"

"Let's say both."

"Personally, I think he's doing wonderful and I really believe in him. But as a psychologist I have to remind you there's always a big chance he'll start using again. It's a habit…when he doesn't feel good, he gets longing to restart. It's like someone who's addicted to cigarettes when they're emotional they crave a cigarette. They associate the pain and the fear with taking drugs to make it all better, even if it doesn't work like that."

"Okay, so as long as he stays happy, he'll keep up his good behavior?"

"That's a way of saying it to of course."

"Then I suggest you keep dating him," Elena smirked.

"Why, do you think I have a good influence on your brother?"

"An amazing one, I've never seen him happier than the last few week. I thought it was because he had his freedom back, but it looks like it was all you."

"That's not true."

"It definitely is. You shouldn't be surprised about it, you're a great girl. He deserves someone like you."

"Well, thanks I guess."

"You're welcome."


Damon was circling the room like a lion in a cage. He couldn't believe he just agreed with that. What was he thinking? Oh, yeah, he wasn't; his dick was though. 'You think she'll come here and tell you you've been the best thing that ever happened to her, that she regrets leaving you more than anything she had ever done, and that her life means nothing without you in it?' he asked himself. He let out a short sarcastic laugh and decided it will be better to just leave and come back the next day to be sure they won't cross paths.

"Where do you think you're going?" Stefan asked as soon as he closed the door behind him.

"I'm going out for dinner," he answered.

"No you're not. I want you here; I know you work with Caroline, but I want you to get to know her as my girlfriend, not another one of your employees," Stefan said and Damon rolled his eyes.

The things he does for his brother. He decided that brothers exist for one purpose and one purpose only: to make you do things you really don't want to do.

He will stay and be here for his brother, he will pretend she's just another girl that happens to be his brother's girlfriend' best friend, he will pretend she doesn't make him feel like a horny high school boy and he will pretend they didn't had sex on that couch…twice.

"Ok, I'll stay," he said and Stefan smiled satisfied. If only he knew…


I know, there's no Delena in it at all…but I'll make it up to you in the next chapter! They'll have dinner together and Caroline will do everything in her power to make her best friend happy again, which of course includes Damon.

Let me know if you liked the chapter!

Xoxo