Chapter 10

The rest of the week went by in a blur. I hung out with Caroline and Bonnie a couple nights. We had a great time and it was so nice to be getting back into the routine of seeing all my friends. Wednesday night Damon came over for dinner with my family and Jenna and Jeremy both seemed to love him. Alaric joined us that night and there was something off between the two of them. I would have to remember to ask Jenna about that later.

Thursday night I got packed for my weekend with Damon. I had no idea where we were going or what we'd be doing so I packed outfits for all occasions. You'd think I was moving with the size of my luggage. Damon sent me a text asking if I wanted to skip tomorrow so that we could get an early start. I thought that sounded like a great idea and told him to pick me up in the morning as if he was giving me a ride to school, that way Jenna wouldn't be suspicious. She may be cool about me going away with a boy for the weekend, but she was not okay with me skipping class.

Around 10 I was getting ready for bed when I heard a knock on my door and Tyler walked in looking really upset.

"What's wrong Ty? Did something happen with Vickie?" I asked as I patted my bed for him to come sit by me.

"No. It's my parents. They've been fighting all week. Dad's drunk and mom's locked in her room crying. I just had to get out of there. Can I crash here tonight?"

"You know you don't ever have to ask. You should probably not sleep in my bed though." He looked at me with confusion. He and I always shared a bed, even before our whole 'friends with benefits' situation. We both craved the comfort we got from it.

"I'm sorry. It's just that Damon wasn't very happy the last time you slept over. And I can't really blame him. I probably wouldn't be too thrilled about some other girl sleeping in his bed, best friend or not."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Vickie would probably kick my ass if she knew too." He chuckled and that and got up to head to the couch, but I grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug first.

"I'm sorry Ty. Everything's gonna be okay. And you can stay here as long as you need to, okay?"

"Thanks E. I'll see you in the morning." With that he kissed me on the cheek and went downstairs. I always felt so bad for him when his parents fought. His dad could be so ruthless, and his mom never stood up for herself.

The next morning Tyler helped me drag my luggage downstairs. I told Jenna that Damon was picking it up this morning so that we could leave right after school today. I hated lying to her, but I was just too excited to sit through the whole day of classes. Damon showed up at 7:30 and he looked really surprised to see Tyler come walking outside with my luggage.

"Hey man. I can take it from here." He said as he took my suitcase from Tyler.

"Cool. Well, have fun you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Wait; don't do anything I would do either!" I punched him playfully in the stomach and gave him a quick hug. As I did so I whispered, "You can stay in my room this weekend if you want. No worries." He gave me a quick nod of thanks and then headed towards his truck.

As soon as we got in the car Damon said, "So, Tyler slept over again, huh? Hopefully on the couch this time." He tried to come off playful but I could tell he seriously wanted to know.

"He's having some troubles at home. I don't want to get into it, but he'll probably be staying with us for awhile. On the couch, of course." I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He grabbed me before I could pull away and brought me into a passionate kiss. We finally pulled apart and headed out for our weekend trip.

Damon finally revealed that he was taking me to a cabin for the weekend. It was about three hours away and he said there was no talking about anything important until we got there. I agreed with that plan so instead we played silly car games, sang songs at the top of our lungs, and just had an easy going, fun time. We finally got to the cabin around lunch time because I had to stop and pee several times along the way. The cabin was amazing, like something right out of a romance novel. It was so cozy and there was a small beach and lake just down the road. I had a feeling this was going to be a great weekend. Damon took me on a tour of the cabin and then showed me to the room we'd be sleeping in. I got giddy thinking about us sleeping together, in more ways than one I hoped.

After we had our things unpacked, we went downstairs for lunch. Damon made us sandwiches and we sat out on the deck to eat. He was starting to seem really nervous and I finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you ready to tell me whatever it is that you think is gonna make me head for the hills?" I was joking but this statement seemed to make Damon tense up even more. I reached over and squeezed his had. "Calm down, okay? I can promise you that nothing you say will change how I feel about you. I'm crazy about you Damon Salvatore." This made him smile slightly but then he went back to looking incredibly nervous.

"I wouldn't make promises you can't keep Elena. Just please, hear me out. Let me tell you everything before you freak out. And just remember how you feel about me right now. I'm praying that what I have to tell you doesn't change that."

I started to tell him that it wouldn't, but he cut me off and started with his story.

"What do you know about vampires?" He looked at me with complete serious, even though I was totally thrown by that question.

"I don't know, I've never really thought anything about them. They are just folklore."

"Vampires are real, Elena." I almost laughed at this, but composed myself when I looked the serious expression he wore. I was so confused, I thought he wanted to be honest with me and tell me about his past, not talk about mythological creatures.

"Come on Damon, you said you were going to be serious with me. Why are we talking about vampires?"

"I am being serious Elena. Trust me, everything I am about to tell you is going to sound completely crazy, but I am not going to lie to you about anything. I want you to know about me." He paused for a minute, then dove head first into his tale. "I am a vampire Elena. Please, don't say anything; just let me get this all out before I lose my nerve. I was born in 1854. Stefan is my real brother, and everything I told you about my parents was true. I just didn't elaborate on how long ago it really was when they died. My mother passed when I was 16. I was devastated. My father never showed much interest in me. Stefan was his golden boy. I was just a screw up who never lived up to his standards. I finally decided I had to get away so I went off to fight in the civil war. I finally returned home in 1874. By then, Stefan had a girlfriend named Katherine who was living in our home. She had her own room, of course. In those days you did not cohabitate with your lover before marriage. She had lost her family in the war, or at least that is what she told my family at the time, so my father took her in. The instant I met her, I was enamored with her. She was so vivacious and full of life. I fell in love with her, and I believed she was also in love with me. We began sneaking off to see each other during the night, and I constantly asked her when she intended to break things off with Stefan. I felt bad for stealing her from him, but at the time all I could think of was how much I loved her. She eventually revealed her true identity to me. She was a vampire who was born over a hundred years before I was born. I didn't believe it as first, of course. But then she showed me, and she convinced me that it was such an amazing life. The thought of us spending eternity together was very appealing, so I agreed to let her change me. Little did I know that she was also convincing my brother of the same fate. Then one day all hell broke loose. My father and several townsfolk had figured out what she was. There were others with her, and the men decided they needed to all be killed. They came for her one night and Stefan and I actually worked together to try to save her. My father had other plans in mind though. He found us helping her escape and shot us both. He didn't realize at the time that we had vampire blood in our systems, allowing us to wake up from the fatal gunshots in the process of turning into vampires."

Damon stopped and looked at me and I just sat there in silence. Trying to determine if what he was saying was true or if it was some elaborate tale that he was telling me. I was about to tell him that he was full of it, when he continued with his story.

"Stefan and I awoke the next day and were told that Katherine was killed along with all of the other vampires. It was a witch who got us out of the area where the chaos took place. She brought us to the lake near our home and waited for us to awake. When we did, she explained that we were now vampires. She gave us our rings to keep us alive in the sunlight," as he said this he held up his hand to display the odd ring that I had wondered at many times over the last month and the continued. "She told us what we needed to do to complete the process and then she left. Stefan and I both blamed the other for the situation with Katherine. We were both in love with her and believed she was in love with us, so neither of us could accept that she had been saying the same thing to both of us. We eventually heard years later that she had escaped that night and had been living out her life somewhere in Europe for the last fifty years. I was outraged when I found out. It just proved to me that she never did love me, and that it was all just her being a manipulative bitch. Stefan didn't feel the same way. He believed she only left because of me, so we have continued to bicker over this for a very long time. So that is why Stefan and I do not get along."

He looked at me then, obviously waiting to hear my reaction to his tale. I didn't know what to say, and I wanted him to keep going with his story so I simply said, "Tell me more about Katherine. You said I look like her. Is that the only reason you are here with me? The reason that Stefan seems to be so interested in me as well?" I couldn't hide the hurt in my voice at this revelation. What is wrong with me? I should be freaking out over the fact that this man is telling me he is vampire who is over 150 years old, and yet my biggest concern is whether or not he truly wants me for me. I almost laughed at that, but then Damon spoke up and interrupted my thoughts.

"No Elena! You have to believe me! Yes, when I first saw you I was in shock. I honestly thought you were Katherine, until I heard your heartbeat and smelled the blood pumping through your veins." I flinched slightly at the thought of him smelling my blood. He noticed and tried to hurry past that part. "But like I said before, from the moment I first spoke to you, I knew that you were nothing like Katherine. She was evil and manipulative and took what she wanted without any regard to other people's feelings. You are nothing like that. You are kind and gentle and just so amazing. I knew after our day at the carnival that I wanted to learn everything there was to know about you. I want you in my life Elena. That is why I am taking this risk in telling you about my past. I want you to know everything about me so that you if you decide to stay with me, it will be based on truth and love, not on lies and deception."

We sat there in silence for awhile. I was trying to take everything in and determine if I honestly believed him. He seemed so sincere in everything he was saying, it was obvious that he believed what he was telling me. But then I was starting to think maybe he is crazy and believes these things to be true even if they aren't. Then I realized what I needed to really believe him.

"Show me."

He looked at me with a confused expression. "What?"

"Show me. Do something to prove to me that this is true, that you are a vampire and that vampires are real. I want to believe you Damon, but I've been taught my whole like that vampires are not real. They are just creatures of the night, invented to scare little children or entertain adults. I need you to show me."

"I don't want to scare you." I could tell he was considering what I asked, but he was genuinely afraid of scaring me off.

"Please, I have to see proof." As soon as the words left my mouth, I saw Damon's face change before me. Veins started to rise out of his skin and then he opened his mouth and I saw his teeth literally grow into fangs right before my eyes. Then after only a few seconds, his face went back to normal. He turned his face from me, obviously scared to see my reaction. I should have been scared. I should have bolted from the room and the cabin and from Damon in general. But I couldn't do it. I was slowly falling in love with this man, and regardless of this new information, I trusted him. I stood up and walked over to him. I sat down slowly in his lap and then lifted his face so that he would look at me.

"I'm not going anywhere Damon. I'm not going to lie and say I'm not a little freaked out right now. But I care about you too much to just run away." Then I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. He just stared at me in disbelief for a moment and then the biggest smile spread across his face; that sincere smile that I couldn't get enough of. Just knowing how happy I had made him, made a huge smile cover my face as well. And then he kissed me. This kiss was different from all the kisses we had shared before. It was full of need and want and passion…and love. It was in that instant that I knew without a doubt that I loved Damon Salvatore. It didn't matter what he told me about his life or his past. I was in love with him and nothing he could say would change that. Things were really starting to heat up between us. I had moved into a straddling position over him and we were grinding against one another, moaning into each other's mouths. Too soon for my liking, he pulled away.

"There's more Elena. That was the hardest part, but before we take this to the next level, I need you to know everything."

I moved so that I was sitting on his lap again, not straddling him. I took his hand in mine and said "Okay, tell me the rest." He waited for a moment, expecting me to go back to my chair. But I wasn't going anywhere, so he finally began with the rest of his story.

"After I became a vampire, I was angry. I gave my heart to Katherine just to have her stamp all over it. And I had Stefan in my ear, constantly telling me that she loved him more than me. Obviously neither of us had spoken to her since her supposed death, but it still messed me up. I decided then and there that I was never going to let myself feel that way again. So I shut off my emotions. It's something that vampires are able to do. I became a very bad person, Elena. I slept with a different woman every night, and killed too many people to count. Obviously as a vampire we need blood to survive. However, we don't have to kill them to get it. We can drink enough to sustain ourselves and then compel them to forget, but I just didn't care." He paused and looked at me, I guess expecting that this revelation would be the tipping point to send me running. I wasn't happy about it, but I couldn't be angry at Damon for something he did 100 years ago. And he's obviously a different person now. So I asked the one question that had been running through my head.

"What about now? Do you still kill people and sleep around? Are you still closing your heart off to falling in love? Because if you won't allow yourself to feel that way again, what are you doing with me? I'm falling in love with you Damon, and I need to know you feel the same way."

This caught him off guard. I think he was expecting me to be scared of him or freak out in some way, he was definitely not expecting to hear that I was falling for him.

"Everything changed the moment I met you. I have not killed anyone since that night. I have actually been stealing blood bags from the hospital. I haven't had fresh blood since before I met you. I love you Elena. There is no falling about it, I am already there. And just knowing that you could feel the same way, I couldn't ask for anything more in the world. I honestly thought that you would hate me or be terrified of me after today. I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams that you would hear everything I just told you and then proceed to say you are falling in love with me."

The smile I loved was back and I knew in that moment that everything would be alright. There was nothing else that Damon could tell me that would change my mind. And now that we both knew where we stood, I was ready to take things to the next level with him.

"Make love to me Damon. I've wanted you since the moment I met you. You can tell me more about yourself later, we have all weekend. Right now all I want is to be in your arms and to show you how I feel about you."

Damon didn't even hesitate. He scooped me up in his arms and in the next instant we were in our room lying on the bed. That was a neat little trick he would have to show me more later. For now, I just wanted to lose ourselves in this moment together.