Less than 2 weeks until we get a new episode of The Vampire Diaries!! Thanks so much for the reviews on the last chapter!!! Hope you enjoy chapter 8.

Chapter 8 – Welcome

"Damon." I began but was interrupted by Damon's bedroom door swinging open and Stefan barging in.

"Good of you to knock, little brother."

Stefan ignored Damon and turned to face me. "Elena, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I came to see Damon and make sure he was OK." I answered still not looking away from Damon.

"Just leave him alone Elena. All he wants to do is sit in here… alone, sulk and drink." Stefan said throwing his hand towards the glass on Damon's desk filled with some kind of alcohol.

Damon gave his brother a fake smile and turned to look at me. "Elena. You are more than welcome to stay."

"Damon just knock it off." Stefan said as he walked closer to Damon's desk. "You really have to torture me still, what is the point anymore? Katherine wasn't in the tomb, she left on her own, and she didn't come looking for you. She never loved you; it was just a game to her."

"Stefan!" I shouted. He whipped his head around to look at me. "Don't be an ass."

Damon of course laughed at my comment to Stefan. Stefan looked back over to Damon looking even angrier then he was a few minutes ago.

"It wasn't my fault that you lost her….but yet you are still blaming me." Stefan walked toward me and grabbed my arm, not hard but it took me by surprise. "Come on Elena, it's late I'll take you home."

"No." I said moving my arm from his grip. It made me mad that he thought he could just tell me to leave, and it made me angrier that he actually thought I would.

"Elena." Stefan began to say but I interrupted.

"Damon is my friend, and I came over because he is going through something horrible and he shouldn't be alone."

Stefan let out a small laugh. "Damon is incapable of having friends." I just looked at Stefan and shook my head I couldn't believe someone could hate their brother so much. "Come on Elena, let's go." He said nodding his head to the door.

All of the sudden Damon slammed his glass onto his desk. If it had been any harder the glass would have shattered into pieces.

"God Stefan! Will you just leave her the hell alone!"

Stefan froze, I was startled by Damon's tone so I jumped a little then we both turned slowly to face Damon. My heart began beating faster and my breathing picked up. I didn't want them to get into a fight, and that is exactly where it seemed to be headed.

"You stay out of this." Stefan said holding his hand up in Damon's direction.

"If you want me to stay out of your business then keep you business out of my room." Damon got up from his chair; walked around his desk and walked closer to wear Stefan was standing. "If Elena would like to stay…" Damon paused and looked over at me and smirked then turned back to Stefan. "…Then she is more than welcome to stay… as long as she likes."

Stefan let out a fake laugh and then punched Damon in his face. The punch didn't look like there was much force behind it but it sent Damon across the room into the wall.

"Oh my God! Stefan, have you completely lost your mind!" I screamed.

Damon got up and with his vampire speed was back over near Stefan in no time. Damon grabbed Stefan and next thing I know the window was broken and I was alone in Damon's bedroom. I ran over to the broken window and looked below; sure enough they were outside continuing their fight. As fast as I could I ran out of Damon's room, down the stairs, out the door and into the backyard.

"Are you two insane?" I said in a yelling whisper.

Stefan kicked Damon and he crashed into the side of the house. Stefan picked up a wooden pole that was in the backyard and raced over to where Damon had landed. He grabbed him by his neck while still holding the wooden pole with the other hand.

"Stefan!" I screamed as I ran over to them. "Don't do this Stefan." I had tears running down my face at this point.

"Stop trying to save him, he isn't worth it." I looked at Damon. It didn't even seem like he was trying to fight back. Stefan shoved the pole into Damon's stomach. Damon gasped. Stefan pulled out the pole and I ran around them and put myself between them. "Go inside Elena." He growled at me.

"Stefan…I swear…I…will…NEVER…forgive…you." I said between tears. "Please…don't do this." I whispered. We stood like that for a few minutes. Finally Stefan threw the pole towards the middle of the yard. He banged Damon's head against the house and then let go of him. Then he was gone. I let out a sigh of relief. Damon slid down to the ground and I turned around and got down on my knees. "Damon?"

Damon lifted his head and looked me in my eyes. "Thank you."

"Eh, no problem." I said as I rolled off my knees and sat beside him. "I am kind of getting used to saving you from vampires that want to kill you." I said half laughing. "Are you OK?" I asked waving my hand towards his stomach.

"Yea, it is going to be soar for a while, your boyfriend got in there pretty deep, but I will be fine."

"I can stay over tonight or you can come over my house."

"I don't think that is such a good idea. I almost got killed because you wanted to talk to me, now you want to have a sleepover."

I looked down at my hands. "I know, I'm sorry. I just don't want you to have to be alone especially now that you're hurt."

Damon looked over at me. "Hey, I was just kidding." He turned his body and took a sharp breath in, probably because of the pain. "This wasn't your fault. As much as I would love to have another sleepover with you, it probably isn't the best idea."

"Well, come on." I said lightly slapping his leg. "At least let me help you in the house and get ready for bed."

Damon didn't respond but he slowly began to stand up and I followed. He put his arm around me, leaned on me slightly and we slowly walked into the house, up the stairs and into his bedroom. He sat down on his bed and slowly took his shirt off. He took another sharp breath in.

"I will be right back." I said. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed some gauze, medical tape, and I soaked a face cloth with hot water. I ran back to his room and knelt down in front of him. The wound was already starting to look a lot better but I figured I would cover it at least for tonight. I wiped the excess blood from his stomach then covered the wound with the gauze and secured it with the medical tape. While doing this I tried very hard not to think about the fact that he had an incredible body but of course that didn't work out. "OK, all set!"

Damon let out a small laugh. "Thank you nurse Gilbert."

"It is freezing in here." I said looking over at the broken window. "Do you want me to get you another shirt?"

"No, I am fine, the cold doesn't bother me."

"Right. I forgot."

Damon slowly layed himself down on his bed. I sat down on a chair near his bed.

"What are you doing?" He asked me.

"Well, you said sleeping over wouldn't be a good idea. So...I am not going to sleep."

"Elena, I promise I will be fine. You can go home, you need sleep."

"No Damon. I wouldn't be able to sleep. I would be nervous all night that Stefan would change his mind and come back in here to kill you."

"And what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you sit in that chair all night while I sleep in this big comfortable bed?"

"Pffff gentleman?

"That hurts Elena." He said in a fake sad tone. I rolled my eyes and brought my arms close to my body. "Elena, you are freezing. Come here." He said lifting up his blankets.

"Are you sure? I thought you said it was a bad idea."

"Well, I think it's a far worse idea for you to sit there all night and freeze."

I got up off the chair, took Damon's jacket off and draped it over the chair. I slid my sneakers off and climbed into his bed.

"Oh God your bed is freezing!" I said shaking under the blankets trying to get warm. Damon turned on his side and slowly pulled me into him. "Damon, what are you doing?"

"Uhh."

"Are you OK? I said quickly turning my head to face him.

He let out a small laugh. "Yes, stop worrying." He rubbed his hand up and down my arm then put his arm around me and pulled me closer. Surprisingly his body was pretty warm and it felt amazing up against mine. He moved his head so it was between my head and shoulder and he started breathing out through his mouth. His warm breath on my cold neck gave me goose bumps all over my body. "Are you warmer?" He whispered in my ear.

"A little, thanks." I said softly. I turned myself to face Damon. You know...it's not his fault…that Katherine wasn't in the tomb."

Damon dropped his eyes down. "I know." He said softly.

"So, what are you going to do now? Are you going to look for her?"

Damon didn't answer for a few minutes. He finally looked me in my eyes again and said "I don't know. I have spent over a hundred years trying to figure out how to open that tomb, and…" He trailed off, I knew it was making him upset talking about her.

"I'm sorry, we don't have to talk about it." I started to turn myself back over but Damon lightly grabbed me and rolled me back towards him.

"Thank you for sticking up for me with Stefan. No one has ever stuck up for me before."

It was hard for me to look in his eyes. They scared me. They scared me because when I looked into them I felt something. I wasn't sure what exactly I felt but I didn't want to explore that feeling because it scared me.

"Of course, no problem."

I let my eyes drop to his lips, which was a mistake because like his eyes they also triggered something. Part of me wanted so badly to lean in and taste his mouth on mine. The other part of me was yelling 'Slut!' at that part of me.

"Where is your necklace?" Damon asked breaking my train of thought.

"Well um I left my house in a hurry…you know after someone hung up on me…I must have forgotten to grab it." I paused. "You know, I saved your life…twice." I said holding up two fingers in front of his face. "I think you should promise never to hang up on me again."

Damon laughed. "OK. I promise. So are we even now?" He asked raising one eyebrow.

"Not even close."

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