"Katherine?" Damon breathed out in a whisper.

Her smirk grew wider at the sight of him. "Did you miss me?"

"What are you doing here?" He asked, shocked to see her.

"Now, now, Damon, where are your manners? Aren't you gonna invite me inside?" Katherine said, stepping foward, what leaved her dangerously close to him. He swallowed. When did it become so hot in the house? He stared at her seriously, hopless, maybe. "Aren't you happy to see me?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

"I'm not, no." He answered her, his tone not nearly as conving as he hoped it would be. Damn her!

"How come I don't believe you?" She asked, resting her hands on his chest, sending a wave of heat that spread all over his body, starting from the spot she was touching.

"Damon, who's that?" Damon heard Elena say from behind him just as she stepped into the living room after his brother. He turned around to look at her and now she could see the brunette in front of him. She gasped. "Oh, my God!"

"You need to go, Katherine. Now." Damon spoke after gathering courage for a moment. Again, his voice was not as firm as he hoped it would be.

"Actually," Stefan said, making Elena and Damon turn to him. "She's staying for dinner."

"God, just get in here already!" Rebekah said with her strong british accent, while throwing the magazine she was reading to the side.

Katherine stepped around Damon who made no effort to get out of her way. Her body brushed against his, and he was pretty sure she did it on purpose. Damn her! Damon's eyes were on her as she walked across the room, towards Stefan. She looked at Elena, noticing she had a dead angry and a little confused look on her face. Katherine smiled devilishly at Elena as she stopped in front of Stefan and give him a long kiss, dangerously close to his mouth. "Hey, Stef." She said before glancing at Elena one more time. Stefan figured making Damon jaelous was her way of doing things. And he didn't particularly like it. Not because he wouldn't want to be with Katherine in that way. If he it wasn't for Elena, he might even think about going there. Katherine is incredibly gorgeous and fun to be around, not to mention that behind all of those layers of makeup and self preservation there was a great girl. But that was not the point. He didn't like it because by doing that he would be doing to his brother the exact same thing Damon did to him. He couldn't hurt his brother like that, that wasn't who he was. He remembered Katherine saying how annying his morals are. He chuckled internally. They really are.

"Wait, Katherine?" Nik asked, moving his attention from the game to what was happening in the room.

"Hello, Niklaus." Katherine said, with a good impersonation of the way Elijah used to call his younger brother, making him and Rebekah laugh. She walked over to him and they greated each other with quick hug. Katherine hadn't really gotten along with him, she always liked Rebekah better.

"What's going on in here?" Caroline asked, making everyone turn their attention to her. They were all so focused on Katherine that they didn't even notice the blond coming in.

"Great," Stefan said, after Caroline had closed the door behind her. "Everyone's here, I'll go grab the food." He added, already turning around an walking to the kitchen, not know exactly how to handle the situation.

"What on Earth is your problem?" He heard Damon ask him as he openned the oven and pulled his lasagna out of it. It smelled delicious.

"What, don't you like lasagna?" Stefan asked, not turning to look at his brother.

"Don't play dumb with me, Stefan. Why did you ask her to come here?" Damon said, avoiding speaking Katherine's name like if he said it out loud, her being back would become a fact, and not a product of his imagination. This was no imaginary world, though. "How did you even get in touch with her?" After Katherine went away Damon tried to contact her a thousand times, but she had made sure to cut all of the contact possibilities between the two of them. Eventually, he just gave up.

"Rebekah and I bumped into her at the store today, and we politely asked her to come, okay, relax." Stefan said, feeling worse each second. This was a bad idea.

"Is this about me stealing Elena from you? We're getting married, for God's sake, can't you accept that?" He said angrily, though Stefan could detect a hint of desperation in his tone. Damon was a hopeless case when it comes to Katherine. He was and will always be whipped. Just like Stefan was when it comes to Elena.

"No, I can't!" Stefan practicaly yelled at his brother, surprising both of them. It was the true, though. He would never accept that, no matter how hard he tried.

The Salvatore brothers kept staring at each other, neither of them knowing what to say next. They just stood there, and eventually someone walked through the door. "Do you guys need any help?" She asked, but got no answer. "Earth to Salvatores!" Elena said, stepping between them and breaking their gaze. "Do you guys need help?" She asked again.

"No, we're good." Stefan said finally, turning around and grabbing the lasagna and walking out of the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked Damon, who still hadn't moved.

"Yeah, sure." Damon said a few moments later, snapping out of his trans.

When Elena and Damon got to the dinning room, the were already serving themselves. Caroline was talking nonstop about how the other 3 guests should get together more often if it meant that Stefan would make his special secret lasagna for them. Stefan only laughed at her, knowing full well that if she asked he you make it only for her, that's how good of a friend he is. He wouldn't let her know that, obviously.

"You gotta give me the recipe to this." Rebekah said with a half full mouth.

"Show some manners, little sister." Nik said, mocking his sister. She swallowed before sticking her tongue out in his direction.

To Stefan's surprise, they all engaged in a friendly, civilized conversation. Damon had been quiet all night, though, pretending not to be interested in anything that was being said, which Stefan knew was not true. Elena's participation was very contained as well, speaking only it was highly necessary. Probably to avoid any conflicts with Katherine, and most likely with Rebekah as well, since Stefan had no doubt in his mind that the blond would side with Katherine against Elena anytime. Caroline and Nik would annoy each other eventually, but nothing big, just their old habits. Stefan was really starting to think Caroline was coming to her senses and realizing Nik wasn't half as bad of a person as she made him out to be. She was even enjoying being on his presence, even if she wouldn't admit it to him or anyone.

They had finished dinner, and Katherine's behavior was impeccable. Well, as impeccable as it can be expected from her, which meant she either gave up on the idea Rebekah put inside her head, or she was planning a better plan of attack, and when Katherine Pierce put something in her mind, no one could take it out of there. Ever. So Stefan was starting to get worried.

Damon offered to go grab desert, needing a break. That pretending nothing had ever happened thing was extremely tiring. He wondered just how Stefan did it. Just after he left the room Katherine leaned back in her chair, more comfortably, and spoke up. "So, Elena," She said, catching Elena's attention. "Tell me," she had a devilish smile on her face and Stefan already knew what was coming next. "How was it that you managed to get Damon to forget all about me?" She asked finally. "You must have worked pretty hard."

"Katherine." Stefan said her name in a warning tone. One that had precisely zero effect on her.

Elena didn't look like she was surprised with Katherine's question, but angry. I mean, who wouldn't be? "Actually," Elena said, leaning over the table. They say body language says a lot right? She'd need that if she's going to go head to head with Katherine. "After all the shit you put him through I didn't have to do much."

"Come on, now, don't be so judgmental. It's not like you're any better." Katherine smirked at her.

"What you did to him was... disgusting." She said, not having found a better word to describe it. "I'm not like that!"

Katherine laughed out loud, the sound of her laugh cutting through Elena like a knife. "Aren't you?" She cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrown. "Don't be a hypocrite, Elena. What you did to Stefan wasn't that different." Katherine said, still coldly calm, while Elena looked like she could blow up at any minute now. "Wait, it was." She corrected herself. "You kept it in the family."

"That has nothing to do with you!" Elena raised her tone. "Stay out of it!" She ordered, getting frustrated with herself. This was exactly the effect Katherine wanted to have on her and she was making it so easy.

As Katherine was about to raise her voice again to speak, Damon got back with dessert in his hands. "What..." He started to speak but was interrupted by Caroline this time.

"We, um," She said, getting up from her seat. "We have this thing..." She walked to Damon, tapping on Nik's shoulder in the way, just as Rebekah stood up as well, taking the hint. "We should, just..." She grabbed the dish from his hands the three of them walked away as fast as they could, almost getting chuckles out of Katherine and Stefan, which was weird. The Stefan part, not Katherine. Elena glared at him and he lowered his head.

Katherine and Damon kept looking at each other, Elena was looking anywhere but at any of them, and Stefan was pretending to be imensily interested in his hands under the table.

Damon studied the features of Katherine's face. She was beautiful, stunning, breathtaking. He cleared his throat and they all turned to look at him. "Katherine, can we have a word?" He asked "Alone."

She smiled, faking a childish enthusiasm. She sent Elena a winning look and got up, walking towards him. When she got close enough, she raised her hand for him to grab and lead the way. Instead, he walked past her and her raised hand, leaving her standing there while he walked to his study. She looked surprised at first but a grin appeared on her face soon after. He wanted to be in control over the situation. She liked it. It was incredibly sexy. She walked to his study with "the Katherine walk" as Stefan remembered Elena saying back then. The swaying hips and confidence she put in taking a few steps; all the girls used to envy her. They probably still do.

After the door of the study closed, Stefan and Elena were left in an uncomfortable silence in the dinning room. Each on their side of the table, inspecting objects and imaginary bugs as an excuse not to have to interact with each other. More than a few minutes passed and Stefan decided it was already too awkward for him to handle, so he stood up just before she called his name. He looked at her quizzically, but she didn't say anything else, so he took a few steps towards the exit of the room.

"Stefan, wait." She called him again, making him turn around. "Why did you tell her?"

He didn't have to ask what was she talking about, obviously. He leaned against the wall and stared at her in the eyes. "I didn't know I couldn't." He stated. "I thought I was the one who wasn't supposed to know." Her expressing change, though Stefan couldn't identify to what, but she wasn't happy.

"It's not about telling someone," she told him, even if she didn't like the idea of anyone else knowing. What would they think of her? "It's about telling her. Why would you tell her?"

"She's my friend." He told her defensively. Sure, he hadn't seen her in a while. Well, more than a while, but then again, Katherine never gave him a reason not to trust her. He was well aware of how she was like, but he also knew her reasons to act the way she did. Many of them he wasn't even so sure Damon knew about. Truth is, when the two of them needed someone to talk back then, they would often find that in each other. Any time he knew something was up with her and Damon he would encourage her to talk about it with him, and after a while she looked for him instead of him asking her, and the same happened with him.

"Your friend? Katherine has no friends." Elena said, frustrated. "Look what she did to Damon, you can't trust her, Stefan!" She said, getting up from her seat.

"And who should I trust then?" He asked, not believing she would say such a thing. "Seems like the people I trust have a tendency of disappointing me, so I'm used to it, Lena, don't worry." He said more silently. At first Elena looked offended, but soon after she looked like she was going to burst into tears at any given moment.

Done with their conversation, Stefan turned to leave again, only to be stopped by her one last time. He wanted to walk upstairs and forget this, forget everything. Something made him stay and hear her out again, even knowing she was probably wrong one more time.

"You think she's right, don't you?" She asked, almost through a whisper. "That I'm just like her."

"No," he said instantly, not one bit of hesitation in his voice, and it made her feel a little better. The lack of hesitation meant that's what he truly thought about the matter. "I don't think she's right, quite the opposite, actually, but you don't know her or her reasons well enough to judge."

She lowered her head. Maybe he was right. "What were her reasons to hurt someone that way?"

"What were yours?" He asked her without thinking, regretting his words as soon as they slipped his tongue, but he couldn't help it. It was like the incident – as he now liked to call it – was always there, in the back of his mind, reminding him how easy it was for them to hurt him, even if they didn't mean to, and how he had given them, her specially, the power to do so.

Stefan knew his words probably sounded even more wrong to her, but he didn't find it in him to open his mouth and explain himself. Honestly, he didn't want to. He just wanted to go upstairs, get under the covers and only get up when this a night was over.

He tried to catch her look, but she wouldn't allow him to do so. Their silence felt like a rock over their chests, both aware of the fact that what happened had changed everything between them in such a permanent way that there was no way to fix it. There was just a obstacle, too heavy to be moved from the way, and too big to go around it. And there they stood, one in each side of it, trying to live their lives like there was nothing between then. It started getting bigger and they weren't even aware of it until it go so big that they couldn't ignore it anymore. In the back of his mind Stefan always knew that would happen sooner or later, but he chose to block that possibility. If he didn't think about it, maybe they could go ahead, make it work as friends, but they were clearly not living in the best case scenario.

"Sorry." He said silently, so silently that if she hadn't looked up at him, he would think she hadn't listened to him.

"Yeah." She said, with no reason in particular. She just didn't want to remain in silence with him like that, but no more efforts from her or him were necessary. They heard a click on the door and footsteps soon followed. Just as Elena turned around, Katherine walked back in with the biggest grin on her face. Damon followed her closely, and his expression showed he wasn't as pleased as her, but the fact that his features had softened since he saw her show up on his doorstep less than a couple hours before bothered her. Elena looked at Damon, expecting to say anything, but he didn't. He gave one of those looks that said "we'll talk later" and walked to her side, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her close to him. Something told Elena that was more for show than for the confort of being close to her, which was good, because she didn't feel like being close to him either right now. She allowed his arm to remain where it was, though. Katherine aproached Stefan, stopping just a few inches away from him, giving Elena the impression she was going to kiss him. Elena crossed her arms over her chest to stop herself from throwing them around her neck and strangling the girl. Katherine moved a little to the side and whispered something in his ear, and Elena released the breath she didn't even know she was holding. Stefan chuckled at something Katherine said and she stepped away from him slowly, making an invisible line with her pointing finger from one side to the other in his chest, smoothly, and it was extremely sexy.

"Are we still up for tomorrow, Stef?" Katherine asked, already halfway to the door. Stefan looked at her like he's about to say no, but Katherine cut him off as soon as he openned his mouth. "Did I mention 'no' is not an option?"

"I'll call you." He said, scratching the back of his neck where his hair ends.

"You do that." She winked at him, then took a long moment looking Damon over before turning around and walking towards the door again. "Nice seeing you, Elena." She yelled after she had already left their range of vision.

Stefan's expression lost the hint of a smile he had on while Katherine was in the room, adopting a serious one again and going upstairs without saying one more word. "Do I dare ask?" Damon asked, seeing how his brother's mood had changed completely. Elena shook her head no and started cleaning up the dinner table.

Stefan caught Rebekah and Caroline at the top of the stairs, where they couldn't see them from downstairs eavesdropping; each one with a spoon attacking the chocolate pie they didn't get the chance to eat downstairs. "Are you okay?" Caroline asked him, dropping her spoon in the dish.

"No." He said silently. He quickly grabbed the dish from his friends hands, confusing them. "But I'll be fine." He walked to his room and locked his door. Caroline and Rebekah awkwardly stood there for a moment.

"Did he just steal dessert from us?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, I think he did." Rebekah answered, chuckling at her friends' behaviour.

xxxxx

Caroline went downstairs few minutes later, ready to leave, when she saw Elena sitting on the couch staring at something only she could see in front of her. "Is this seat taken?" The cheerful blond asked. Elena just smiled at her letting her know she could seat there. "Are you okay?" Caroline asked and Elena inspected her face closely, looking for any signs that Caroline heard what was being said between her and Stefan. "Because, you know, Stefan is locked in his room with a stolen chocolate pie."

Elena chuckled at her words and shook her head no. "I'm just thinking about some things. I'm okay."

"It's hard for him, Elena." Caroline said after a few moments, surprising Elena. "I think there's nothing he wants more than to be in good terms with you, but-"

"But Stefan is the most loyal person in the world and he just can't understand disloyalty." Elena completed Caroline's sentence for her.

Caroline shook her head. "No," she said with a warm smile. "But he is scared."

"Scared of what?" The brunett asked. "That I'll hurt him again?"

"That he'll allow you to." Caroline pulled Elena in for a hug. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

Elena nodded and watched as Caroline left the Salvatore mansion.

Then she just needs to prove to him that she won't.

Never again.

XXXXXX

I would have updated yesterday but for some unknown reason wouldn't let me post the chapter. Anyway, what do you guys think about Katherine? I know I love her, haha. We'll get to see a lot more of Damon and Katherine's relationship on the next chapter. What about Stefan and Elena? Remember to leave your thoughts in the reviews.

And I really wanted to thank you for reading and reviewing, it makes me really happy that you guys are enjoying this story (: