Omg! Finally getting this chapter out! I feel like it's been forever since I've updated any of my stories. I hope this has been worth the wait for whoever is still reading this story! But here you go, please tell me what you think about it. I'd love to hear your thoughts.


Elena was the first one to wake up in the morning. She was feeling especially good this morning, and no longer felt the weight of what had happened to her being carried on her shoulders. She ran a hand through her bed head of hair, as she let out a happy sigh followed by a secret smile of her own as she turned her attention to her fiancee. He looked so peaceful while he was sleeping that she always felt bad having to wake him up for her nightmares throughout the middle of the night, or in the morning given that she was an early riser.

She decided to give him as much extra time as needed to sleep. So, being extremely careful not to wake up the sleeping man beside her, she slipped away from the bed unnoticed by Damon. Her feet padded on the hardwood floor, making the smallest of voices. But it still had her looking behind her to see if she had awoken Damon. To her relief he was still sound asleep.

She smiled briefly before making her way out of the bedroom. Their hotel room came equipped with a kitchen area, and her favorite thing about it was that it came with a coffee maker. Since Damon was the one that handled all the cooking in their household, she decided to stick with toast that morning. She was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper, while shoving pieces of toasts in her mouth when Damon finally made his appearance.

If she hadn't heard him coming she would have freaked out when she felt his arm wrap around the front of her body, while placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Good morning." he mumbled out gruffly, the evidence of sleepiness still lingered.

She smiled before responding. "Good morning to you too."

"You look better," Damon commented before unwrapping his arms from around her and walking over to the coffee pot. He popped it into the microwave to gain some of its heat back.

"I have you to thank for that," Elena said, smiling brightly at him when he turned around.

He winked at her. "Glad I could be of service, Miss Gilbert."

She shook her head, smiling at him before turning back to her paper. She took a sip of her slightly less hot coffee, before taking another bite of her toast. When Damon finally joined her at the table, with of course a full course breakfast. It was complete with bacon, eggs, and toast. But luckily for her he'd made some extra for her.

Elena took a piece of bacon off his plate before shoving it in her mouth, a cheeky smile on her face the entire time. He always hated it when she took his food, especially when he'd made some for her.

He scowled before saying. "You're so lucky I love you."

"Yes I am," Elena laughed, going for her own plate this time. "So what's the deal with the big breakfast? Are you really that hungry?"

He finished off a piece of his toast before answering her. "Maybe I'm just trying to butter you up for something."

"Which would be?" Elena asked curiously, raising her eyebrows.

"Eat first," Damon ordered, pointing to her plate. "Then I'll tell you."

"I'm not hungry," Elena said, pushing away her plate. She reached across the table grabbing his hand in hers. She gave it a gentle squeeze. "I can handle it."

He looked down at their hands as if in deep thought. "Can you at least wait until after I'm done my breakfast?"

"You can't just bring something like that up and then avoid the subject when I ask you about it," Elena said, standing up and walking around the table so she was behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, as she leaned down to place gentle kisses on his neck. Her hands ran up and down his chest as her lips found his ear easily. "You're not playing fair."

"Neither are you," he countered back, turning his head to smirk at her.

Elena shook her head at him, laughing as she leaned down placing a couple kisses on his perfect lips. She let herself linger for a minute before pulling back to look down at him. "Tell me."

Damon sighed before turning sideways in his chair, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck so that she could run her fingers through his hair. He purred under her caresses as he leaned his head against her shoulder.

"There's a detective coming over today to talk to you," Damon started, not looking up to see her reaction. Her hand paused on his hair momentarily, before it resumed its gentle touch through his hair. "They want every detail this time, now that you've had enough time to process everything."

She was quiet for a few moments, deep in thought, placing her head on top of his.

"I don't want to," Elena whispered.

"I know," Damon whispered back, just as softly. His hand had started rubbing along her bare thigh, as he placed a feather light kiss on her neck. "But I can't reschedule this again."

Elena sighed, but stayed quiet. She didn't understand what new information they could possibly need. She told them everything that seemed of importance when they had questioned her for information a few days after it happened. Of course, she'd still been slightly depressed about the whole situation and didn't have much information to give. But that didn't mean that she had any new information now.

She was still trying to get over that day, she didn't need a reminder of it.

Damon lifted his head up to look at her face. He reached up to brush a strand of hair off her face and behind her ear. She let a little smile slip for him at his comforting gesture.

"You're brave and strong," Damon started, giving her a smile of his own. "I love you because of those things and so much more, and I believe that you can get through this interview. I know you can."

Elena smiled. "You can keep telling me things you love about me, you know."

"You're amazing, and outrageously sexy," Damon smirked, running his hand further up her thigh. "You are extremely talented, beautiful, kind, and trusting. You mean the absolutely world to me and you always manage to brighten up my day by just giving me a smile. You know how to make me smile, and laugh. But you also know how to frustrate the hell out of me and I just never want to stop fighting with you."

"But you should know, that I wouldn't have you any other way." Damon paused to smile once more, before continuing. "You're my girl. I love you."

"I love you too," Elena whispered back. "Thank you."

Elena wasn't surprised when the tears started flowing down her cheeks at his amazingly sweet words of encouragement. She leaned her forehead against his closing her eyes tightly shut. She desperately wanted to block out the entire world except for the two of them. She wanted to live in their little bubble forever because the thought of leaving terrified her. He reached up and wiped the tears away from her eyes before he spoke again.

"Don't let him win."

Elena nodded against his forehead, sniffing slightly. "Why are you so good to me?"

Damon chuckled before leaning over and placing a kiss on her cheek. He let his lips linger for a moment before continuing to trail kisses down her cheek. Elena let out a tiny sigh as his lips finally met hers, letting him know that this was okay. He latched his mouth onto hers for a searing kisses that she felt all the way down to her toes. It didn't take long before his tongue had coaxed it's way into her mouth, letting it slide along the length of hers.

He was desperately needing this connection since it had been so long since they'd had it. It felt like years rather than weeks since the last time that he touched her. Elena needed to get over the whole no sex thing for awhile or he might explode. He did have to admit that he enjoyed the make out sessions much like the one he was currently participating in because it made him feel like they were at the beginning of their relationship all over again. It took a long time before they took things to the next level, and getting back to the simple pleasure of just making out for the fun of it was actually thrilling. It made him feel like a horny teenager again.

Their lips were insistent on each other as they worked to get inside each others mouths. Elena's hands had worked their way into his soft hair, needing to run her fingertips through it. She pulled gently on the ends in order to get him closer to her mouth. He obliged her of course as his hands moved from her face to wrap around her waist. He glided his hand underneath the back of her t-shirt so they he could feel her soft skin in his hands again.

Before she could think to hard about it he had picked her up and was walking into the bedroom. He detached his lips from hers but before she could whine in protest he had his lips going down the column of her throat, nipping at the skin he passed on the way down.

"Damon..." Elena whimpered, running her hands down his back. "This is bad of us."

"Shh..." he whispered, kissing his way across her collarbone to the other side of her neck. "Just enjoy it."

"We need to shower, and get dressed before he comes over," Elena whispered, tugging on the ends of his hair to stop him from kissing her anymore so that he could look at her. "I'll let you shower with me..."

She let the suggestion hang in the air as he thought it over. He placed a kiss on her mouth before crawling off of her and racing into the bathroom. "It's been a very long time since I've had someone accompany me in the shower, Miss. Gilbert."

"We'll just have to fix that now won't we, Mr. Salvatore?" Elena countered back, just as silkily as his seductive suggestion was.

She ran into the shower after him, and they dissolved into a wet mess of giggling and smiling. This was the only joyful moment they'd had together since the accident and they fully intended to take advantage of it.


"I can't believe we spent over an hour in the shower," Elena giggled, while running a blow dryer through her damp hair.

"Let's not forget who's idea it was," Damon pointed out, towel drying his own hair to messy perfection. She had the biggest urge to just run her fingers through it, and mess up the perfection just because she could.

It was true that they had spent an incredibly large amount of time in the shower when they really shouldn't have, but the whole thing had been playful and fun. The shower head was removable so they had taken turns spraying each other in the face which had forced them into uncontainable giggle fits. Eventually when they had become serious about having a shower and becoming clean that's where it started to feel sexual.

She could feel the sexual tension rolling off of him because he hadn't had sex in so long. This was the longest that they'd ever gone without having sex. No wonder it was torturing him so much. Of course, she didn't like the thought of not having sex with him either but she just wasn't ready for that yet. But their crazy feeling each other up and make out sessions sure made it feel like a teenage dream.

"I hate myself," Elena giggled, rolling her eyes and turning the blow dryer on him causing a bunch of unwanted hot air to blow in his face, causing his normally perfect messy hair to look very disarrayed than perfect. Bingo, just what she was aiming for.

"Hey!" Damon protested, holding up his hands. "Don't come near the hair! You know I work very hard to keep it the way it is."

"Poor Damon," Elena teased, holding up the hair dryer threateningly. "I wouldn't want to mess up his hair or he'll start to cry."

"Now you've done it," Damon warned before grabbing the hair dryer out of her hands and giving her; her own piece of torture. He was messing up her hair a lot and it didn't help that he kept bunching up his fingers in it making it look like a birds nest on the top of her head.

"You ass!" Elena yelled, hitting him on the arm as she tried to run away from him.

"Paybacks a bitch," Damon whispered into her ear.

Damon's arms had wrapped around her waist keeping her captive in the circle of his arms. She kept hitting him in order to get him to let go of her as he tried to no avail to get the hair dryer out of her hands.

Suddenly, the situation seemed all too familiar as she started to have flashbacks of the time that she was been held captive. She broke down, screaming at Damon to let her go. He seemed to get the picture quickly and let go of her immediately once she started screaming.

Elena collapsed to the floor, hugging herself as the tears streamed down her face. Damn all this crying. She felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her, lifting her up and she soon found herself sitting in Damon's lap. Her face was buried in his chest as he gently rocked her back and forth.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered over and over again, so much so that it sounded more like he was repeating it to reassure himself more than her.

She was now letting out choked up sobs as her hands reached out for any kind of fabric that they could get their hands onto but Damon wasn't wearing a shirt which only made her sob harder. She felt him grip her searching hand tightly in his and she squeezed back just as tightly.

She heard a knock at the door and fiercely shook her head, soaking Damon's skin with her tears.

"I'm going to take care of that," Damon whispered into her ear, stroking up and down her back as she shook her head again. "It'll only take a minute."

"Please don't leave me," Elena let out, but it was barely recognizable as words with the sobs that accompanied it.

"I know baby, I know," he whispered kissing her forehead. "Do you want to come to the door with me?" She shook her head again. "Then I'm going to need you to stay here, I promise it will only take a minute."

This time she nodded and he stood up with her in his arms and walked into the bedroom. He placed her gently in the bed, wrapping the covers around her as he went to see who was at the door.

She continued her sobs as he left, burying her face into the nearest pillow that she could find. She sighed with relief when it was the one that he'd been using to sleep on last night so it still smelled like him. She tried to calm down her sobs so that she could listen to the conversation being had at the door but only caught bits and pieces.

"... can't do this right now, she's not okay to do an interview."

"But Mr. Salvatore... we have to do this today or everyone is going to think that she's lying about what happened to her."

She heard only muffled sounds then. She closed her eyes, wrapping herself around in Damon's scent until he came back. Not five minutes later, she felt the bed dip and there he was pulling her back against his chest.

"Go to sleep," he whispered, kissing her shoulder. "I'll be here when you wake up."

And so she did.


She was running as fast as she could. But it felt like her legs weren't moving anywhere. She felt stationary. She willed her legs to move faster. She willed them to listen to her but they wouldn't. She was in the darkest and deepest part of the forest, but yet all she heard was silence.

There were no sounds but still she had the feeling she was being watched. She knew that she should be running. That something terrifying and bad was coming after her. If she didn't move now it would catch her.

And finally, as if she had gotten the willpower her feet carried her faster through the woods. As she ran there were faces in the trees. They all looked familiar.

It hit her like a bolt of lightening. They were all Stefan's face.

Then he was no longer in the trees but he was standing right in front of her. He was holding a bloody knife in his hand which he was caressing with his fingertips.

She let out a gasp, before turning around and running the other way, but she was thwarted again as she saw him standing in front of her again, but this time even closer to her. This game they were playing seemed to go on for ages until he was standing so close to her that she could feel his breath on her cheek.

He opened his mouth and the words terrified her to her very core.

"Hello Elena, so lovely to see you again."

"Elena! Elena!" she could hear a voice in the distance calling her name, she felt someone shaking her. "Wake up! Please wake up!"

Elena opened her eyes and found herself staring into the blue eyes she'd grown accustomed to know anywhere. She immediately calmed down at the sight of his concerned stricken face and he loosened his grip on her.

"I'm fine. Just a nightmare," Elena whispered, reaching her hand up to stroke his face and smooth out the worry lines that had made a camp on his pretty face. "I'm okay."

"God, you scared me," Damon whispered, before collapsing on top of her. He buried his face in her neck as he choked out. "You just wouldn't stop screaming and thrashing around. I thought something happened to you."

"Shhh, I'm right here," Elena whispered low into his ear, her arms wrapped around his lower back in order to pull him more snuggly against her body. "I'm okay."

It seemed a little odd that Elena was comforting him when she was the one that had a nightmare in the first place. But she knew that one of his biggest fears was when she was pain or he was losing her so she understood his distress.

She consoled him until he started placing kisses on her neck. This was his usual coping mechanism. He always wanted sex after something bad happened. But this time he just lifted his head up and placed a kiss on her lips.

"The detective will be here in an hour," Damon whispered, and she just nodded in response. "I know you probably don't want to do it after what happened but unfortunately you have no choice."

"I know, it's okay," Elena said, softly. "I'll get through it."

"That's my girl," Damon mumbled, smiling before kissing her again on the lips. "Go get dressed."

"Yes, sir," Elena rolled her eyes, before rolling out from underneath him, getting out of bed as she skipped to the bathroom. He flopped back on the bed giving her an appreciative stare.

"Wait come back," Damon called out, and she reluctantly came back with a smile on her face. He turned her around again so that she was facing away from him and gave her a firm slap on the ass.

"You ass!" Elena giggled, grabbing the pillow from underneath his head so that she could throw it at him as she ran away from his wandering hands.

"I think you love my ass a little too much," Damon teased from the bed, he put his arms behind his head as he gave her a cheeky smile.

"Keep on dreaming," Elena scoffed, shutting the bathroom door behind her effectively ending their pointless bickering match.


The doorbell rang precisely one hour after Elena had finally pulled herself together. Damon and Elena went to answer the door, hand in hand. He squeezed her hand before opening the door revealing a very old looking detective. It was not the same detective that had met with her earlier in the week or the same voice that she had heard earlier that day.

"Miss. Gilbert, Mr. Salvatore," he greeted them, plastering a smile on his face. "I'm Detective Greene."

Elena stuck her hand out, forcing her own smile to make its way on her face. The detective slid his hand into hers, shaking it with a firm grip. "Nice to meet you, Detective."

"And you, Miss Gilbert. Let's have a seat shall we," Detective Greene gestured to the couch on the far wall.

The interview went smoothly enough, no tears, no breakdowns. This was easy though, the detective didn't ask too many questions that she hadn't already answered. They only asked a few questions with a little bit more detail. She assumed that word got out that she had a little bit of a breakdown earlier so they probably didn't want to set her off again.

Damon held her hand through the entire thing, and he would squeeze it every time she got a difficult question to answer. She took comfort in his closeness and that he was there with her the entire time. It definitely made the situation a whole lot easier.

"Okay, Miss. Gilbert that's all for you." Detective Greene said, writing a few more things down in his notebook before looking up once more. "I do need to talk to Mr. Salvatore with new information pertaining to the case. I need Miss. Gilbert to exit the room so we can talk privately."

"I'd really rather her be here," Damon answered politely, pulling her back down to the couch when she tried to get up.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Salvatore. But since she is not family or your spouse she is not allowed to be in the room when I present this information."

"Damon, it's okay," Elena whispered, getting up once more. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head before walking away into the bedroom.


Damon was the picture of distressed when he came into the bedroom. His eyes were red, almost as if he'd been crying. Elena got up from the place that she had been lounging on the bed, flicking through the channels on the TV.

She walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist gently. But he only seemed to see right through her, as if she wasn't even there.

"Damon, is everything okay?" Elena asked him, softly.

She reached up to caress his face, willing him to just look at her. It took a few minutes but he finally looked into her eyes. She was suddenly wishing that he didn't because all she saw was sadness and brokenness in his eyes.

"No, everything is not okay," Damon whispered. He slowly stumbled over to the bed, forcing Elena's arms to drop from around him or she would be dragged underneath him.

She made her way over to the bed to take a place beside him. She sat cross-legged on the bed, one of her arms wrapping around his shoulders. She squeezed it gently. "Please tell me what's wrong."

Damon shook his head rapidly from side to side. "I can't. It's too horrible."

"You've always been able to tell me anything, why not this too?" Elena asked him, sadly. Her hand reached up to run her fingers through his hair. She gently massaged her fingers into his scalp, and she heard him purr underneath her touch.

"The attack. Stefan kidnapping you, it's all my fault," Damon admitted, burying his head in his hands.

Elena shook her head. "Damon, we've talked about this. None of this is your fault."

"Elena, he's my brother." Damon said, letting the information sink in. "Stefan's my brother. Now tell me it's not my fault."

Elena didn't have time to formulate an answer before he got up from the bed, storming out of the room.


And that's that. So what did you think?