Rated M for language and sexual content.

Chapter 10

"Glass houses"

The closer they got to the house, the darker Damon's mood got. He knew exactly what was waiting for them back in that house. A manipulative twisted bitch and one spineless and spoilt brat of his brother. He caught Stefan staring at Elena with wandering eyes for so many times, it was almost like testing his limits of self-control. Whether his brother realized it or not, Stefan's mind had way long crossed the friend territory with Elena. The physical attraction was there, Damon sensed it all too well.

Damon could tell exactly the difference between the twins. He rarely saw the physical resemblance between them any more. Maybe it was because she took over his every thoughts, her face was so well carved in his mind that he might know her better than she knew herself. He knew she had a tiny beauty mark on her back, mid way on her spine that he never got bored of kissing it when he was behind her. He knew the way she smelled, always like soap, berries, vanilla and a flower he could not name. He knew the warmth and kindness melted in her doe eyes that Katherine could never fake. But Stefan wasn't like that. Stefan was a fool, a confusing fool. And it scared Damon that Elena couldn't see that. She thought of him as a friend because his little brother was there for her when Damon was still busy being a foolish jerk in the beginning. It scared him that Elena wouldn't let go of his brother, that she had too big of a heart and Stefan could easily use that to get to her, to steal her away from him.

It was his worst nightmare, the thought that he'd lose her to his brother.

He pulled silently into the driveway of the boarding house, dreading the moment he had to cross over that threshold. He turned off the engine and looked over to a sleeping Elena, his Elena. He felt a strong possessiveness over this girl that it made him anxious with the just the thought of letting her out of his sight. He felt the need to keep her closer, tighter to him, tangible in his arms, like when he held her through the night back at the mansion.

Elena stirred and woke up. She looked around and saw the boarding house before her eyes landed on Damon. They sat in the dark, she couldn't see his face but she could feel the tension radiating from him.

"Hey. Why didn't you wake me up?" She rubbed her eyes and stretched before reaching out for him.

"I just pulled in." He said softly, accepting her hand. "Ready to come in?"

"Yeah. We're here, aren't we?" She smiled.

He nodded, turning to get out but she pulled him back and found his lips. She kissed him, letting her heart out, needing him to know what she felt for him, gave him whatever strength he needed to be strong for her too. She planted kisses on his cheeks, forehead, ears, and chastely on his lips after she pulled back. She ran her thumbs across his cheeks, reaching to smooth out the crease between his brow, placed more gentle kisses on his gorgeous but troubled eyes.

"I hope that was enough to keep Cranky Damon away." She smiled up at him, happy to feel him relaxed a little against her touch.

"Me too." He smiled, nodded to reassure her.

They got out of the car and she walked over to him, laced her hand firmly in his and held him close before walking up to the porch.

"Home sweet home!" He murmured as he pushed the key into the lock.

Stefan and Katherine both were waiting for them in the parlour. Stefan looked anxious and even a little angry while Katherine's expression remained neutral, impassive and unreadable. Stefan was pacing, fortunately sober but judging by the look on his face, he was lacking serious sleep. Katherine sat with her legs crossed, lounged across the sofa, placing herself in a position that complimented her every curves under that pair of black leather tights and red corset top. Her eyes fixed on Damon the moment they stepped through the door. Katherine looked at him hungrily, with calculating patience, like a cat eyeing its mouse, a ghost of a smile played through her lips. Elena held his hand tighter and exhaled her holding breath when she felt his responded squeeze.

"Isn't this cozy? A welcome home party! Where's the banner? Cake?" Damon broke the silence by his usual smartass comment.

Elena glanced up to look at him, cool and collected, his blue eyes gave nothing away while a fake sweet smile tugged on his lips. That was a picture perfect version of Damon with all of his walls up and his alarms on. There was no sign visibly of his tension, his insecurities. He'd mastered this emotion masking thing way too well. She shuddered, the resemblance between his expression and Katherine's were uncanny and uneasy for her to see. If this was a twisted game they were thrown in, she had a feeling Katherine and Damon were the only ones who knew the rules.

"Elena, can I have a moment with you? … please." Stefan ignored his brother and addressed directly at her, his eyes looked disapprovingly over her hand in Damon's.

"Sure." She nodded, but looking over to Damon, searching his eyes.

"I'll wait." He smiled reassuringly at her and his eyes softened.

She reluctantly let go of his hand but before he turned around he grabbed her chin and planted a heavy kiss on her lips. It was quick, dominant and unexpected but lacked the emotion that they always had. She gasped in embarrassment,ignored the sound of disgust Katherine loudly made when he pulled away and walked off the room. That wasn't a kiss, that was his way of telling his brother to fuck off. Katherine pursed her lips at Elena before lifting herself off of the couch and followed Damon into the hallway. Oh craps, she didn't want Damon and Katherine to be alone together. She frowned when she heard Katherine's girlish giggles coming from the hallway. Back off of him. She screamed in her head, already half a mind wanting to call Damon back in the room.

"Ok… Stefan, what is it?" She shook her head, trying to focus on Stefan. One thing at a time, well, one crazy sibling at a time to deal with was more accurate in this case.

"So you're really with him now." Stefan shook his head. "What is it? Dating? Casual? Tell me, Elena."

"I will say this only once." She took a deep breath, stared him dead in the eyes. "I love your brother. Please stop making me feel like it's a bad thing to love him and decide that you would stop being my friend because of it."

"You love him?" Stefan repeated in disbelief. "But he…"

"Stefan." She huffed, walking over to face him. "I am not Katherine."

She let the meaning of her words sink in. She only loved one person.

"I never say I see you as her." Stefan said but avoided her eyes.

"I know you're … confused sometimes. I should have made it clear for you. I cared for you Stefan, only as a good friend because you're a good guy. But I can't be a version of the girl you love for you just because I look like her." She continued. "Don't confuse your feelings for us because of our looks."

Stefan just looked at loss for words, pressing his lips into a thin stubborn line.

"I should have told you this that night. When I followed you after the fight with Damon and you tried to ... That should never have crossed your mind."

"I know. I said I'm sorry. That night I wasn't in control of myself. I didn't mean to disrespect …" Stefan panicked.

"It's alright." She brushed it off. "Just remember what I say now."

"But Elena, then what happened the other night?" Stefan looked up at her.

"What night? What are you talking about Stefan?" She stared at him, bewildered with his question.

"The night you came to my room. I was drunk and … I don't know but …" Stefan rubbed his face. Elena saw his shaky hands and cautiously stepped back. She knew when Stefan was trying to control himself and failing. "God damn it. Elena, we had sex! Two freaking nights ago. We-had-sex. Why?" He whipped his head up, piercing his emerald eyes into her.

"What!" She hissed, frozen in shock, her brains dully processed his words but couldn't get through the meaning of it.

"If you love my brother like you said then why did you have sex with me before running off to him? What are you trying to do?" He stepped forward and closing the distance between them.

She slapped him when he came in hand reach before she could think about it. She was shaking from humiliation, fury and fear.

"I didn't have …" She couldn't even get the dirty words out of her mouth. "No! You're out of your mind! You're lying!"

"Yes you did. Don't you dare deny it!" Stefan suddenly grabbed her. " Who's the liar, Elena? You had sex with me and then took off with my brother the next day. You didn't answer your phone, didn't reply my texts when I asked about it. I was losing my mind. I needed answers and you just ignored me after..."

"Shut up! Shut up! Let go of me!" She yelped, he was crushing her.

"No! Answer me! Why did you do it? So you knew how I felt about you. You pushed me away that night. Why didn't you push me away again this time if I was drunk and you didn't want to? Elena, why? Look at me and tell me!" Stefan's eyes looked wild. His voice went loud and raspy. Even if Damon and Katherine had gone upstairs they would have heard it by now.

"Stefan! Get off me!" Elena swatted hysterically at his hands on her upper arms. He was crushing her, bruising her and their faces were too close for her liking.

"No!" Stefan roared and she flinched when his grip tightened more.

"Get your fucking hands off her."

She didn't know when he came back into the room. But Damon's ice-cold voice was behind her all of a sudden, his hands went to pulling her out of Stefan's grip.

"Back off! This is between me and her." Stefan barked and shoved his brother back. Stefan was on his last thread of sanity. He hadn't slept for 2 days straight. He couldn't remember the last time he had a proper meal. Elena called him a liar. No. He was not lying. He needed answers. Everyone in this house needed to stop messing with him and assumed he would handle it with a polite smile and let things go by.

Damon's eyes flared dangerously and she could hear a throaty intimidating sound coming from him as his body tensed up, responding to Stefan's challenging posture.

"No, no, no! Don't! Please…" Elena put herself between them, her back to Stefan, her hands placed on Damon's chest. She didn't want them to fight. That would make her exactly like Katherine. Stefan just foolishly stepped forward and even tried to push Elena aside. She winced when he grabbed her arm too hard and snatched her away. Damon snapped, his hands curled up in fists and he abruptly raised his hand.

"No! Damon! Don't hit him!" Elena panicked and pushed him back reflexively.

Damon stumbled back on his feet at her unexpected push, stared down at her in disbelief, shock and hurt of betrayal.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" She stepped up, reaching out for him. Damon retreated, moving his hand away from her reach.

"Damon, please, don't do this." She cried. The lights in his eyes were dead. He refused to touch her. He heard it. He had heard what Stefan said. He thought she betrayed him.

"Sure. Whatever please you." He smirked, bowed his head sarcastically before turning on his heels and headed out, sparing his brother and her both an equally disgusted look.

"Damon!" She ran after him but he ignored her, walked with determined long strides, quickly opening the front door and stepped out.

"Damon wait!" She caught up with him on the porch and took his hand to turn him around.

"Elena, you don't want me to beat the shit out of your Stefan? Let-me-go. Now. I can't stand being in the same house with him without bleeding him to death." He grunted, pulling his arm out of her hands.

"Don't say that. Don't be angry. Please listen ..." She pleaded.

"Don't be angry? I just heard my brother said he slept with you. 2 nights ago. That was just before we…" Damon laughed at the disgusting fact that his brother probably had his girlfriend even before himself. Life was such one sick ironic bastard. He thought bitterly. "Of course I can't be angry. How irrational I am!"

"It's not true! You know I would never do that to you!" She didn't realize when she started crying but he was a blur in front of her as her vision clouded by heavy tears. "I don't know why he said that! I didn't."

She sobbed, how could he think that low of her, how could he even for a second think that she could do such a horrible thing to him, to what they had.

His heart torn but it was taking every will power inside of him to be able to stand with her and talk without physically breaking something. He saw red, his ears went deaf, his hands twitched the moment he heard Stefan said they had sex. Stefan could be an idiot, but he couldn't lie. Stefan couldn't pull off a little white lie to save his own life if he needed to. Damon grew up with his brother and he knew it. He couldn't think this through. He didn't want to think about it at all. The thought of Elena naked, in bed with his brother, calling out Stefan's name instead of his, the hands on her bare skin weren't his, the man rubbing against hers wasn't him … was beyond his tolerance. He couldn't breath when his chest tightened, his jaw clenched so hard it hurt to suppress his urge to scream, shouting murder at everyone.

"Damon… Please say something." She searched his eyes, whispered timidly.

"What happened that night after the fight?" He asked, his voice extremely low, his steady gaze fixed her in place. "That night when you walked out on me and chased after him. What did he try to do?"

"He…" She hesitated, so he had heard the whole conversation. Shouldn't he have heard that she said she loved him? It was nothing that Stefan tried to kiss her. But she knew it would sound worse now, it would make him think about this whole thing even in a more distorted way from the truth. "It wasn't anything. It doesn't matter…"

"Stop lying to me!" He snarled and she flinched.

His eyes softened when he saw tears oozed up in her eyes, her small frame shaking like a lonely leaf in front of him, tears running frantically down her cheeks. He took a deep breath, willed himself to calm down.

"What did he do, Elena?" He lowered his voice but couldn't help the edgy harshness lacing in it.

"Kiss me... He tried to kiss me." She cried, couldn't bear to look into his eyes as she heard him took in a sharp breath. He yelled at her, he had never yelled at her like that. "But I stopped him! It didn't happen!" She looked up, said it quickly, stepped closer to him only to see him step back, wary of her touch. "Trust me!" She cried.

"Trust you?" He gritted through his teeth. "I trusted you with everything I had, Elena!" He felt the spicy heat in his nose. He swallowed hard, refused to let the weak tears fall.

"I need to get out of this place." He shook his head, running both of his hands through his mid-night hair. "I need to."

"I'll go with you. Don't walk away from me, not when you're this upset. You're getting the wrong idea." She hurried, firmly taking hold of his hands and pulled him back.

"I can't! How many things else you didn't tell me, Elena?" He dropped his arms on his side, stepping further back, avoided her touch. "What else happened with him and you didn't tell me?"

He was getting paranoid, worse by seconds. He knew how much time they spent together reading or doing whatever the fuck it was in the library. His brains worked on its own accord, feeding him degrading visions of what Stefan and Elena would do in a secluded library, on a couch, on a bed, on the long wooden desk in the library upstairs, in front of the fireplace, in his own house when he was not around. Did she shudder in ecstasy when wrapping her long slender legs around his waist too? Did she scream out Stefan's name like she did his?

"What else did you lie about?" He spat bitterly, clenching his hands tightly in fists, flexing his fingers again and scratched it through his messy hair, trying but failing to brush the disturbing images off of his head. She had liked his brother first. He remembered. Had it ever stopped? Had that feeling stayed all along?

"Nothing!" She covered her mouth with her own hands, shaking her head fiercely, trying to suppress her uncontrollable sobs.

"It was always Stefan, wasn't it?" He stepped back , his blue eyes glistened in the shadows of the night, his heart felt as cold as ice.

"What? No! No, Damon, I…"

They were interrupted by a loud and rude honk of Katherine's car. Katherine sat, patiently in the driver seat as she stopped her car in front of the house. She reached over and opened the passenger's door.

"Get in." She dipped her head and stared up at Damon from the window.

Elena tightened her hand around him, ignored his lack of response.

"Come on, you know you want to. We're on the same boat tonight, baby." Katherine jerked her head, her cat-like eye never left Damon's. "Let's get the hell out of here." She smirked. "It's getting a little too depressing to handle." She quickly but deliberately darted her eyes toward the tearful Elena.

"No. Damon, please." Elena shook her head frantically, new tears came to her eyes. "Don't go."

Damon tightened his jaw. He wanted to get out of there, honestly. He knew if he kept talking to her, his control would break at some point and he would lash out on her. He was pushing his last borderline limit of self-control. His head was pounding. He couldn't think of anything else but running back into that room and smash something heavy and hard against Stefan's head. He couldn't get the explicit images of her naked form thrashing around his brother out of his head when his eyes landed on her.

"I love you." He finally sighed heavily, leaned in and kissed Elena's forehead chastely. "I love you, Elena." He repeated, feeling the stab in his chest as the words left his mouth. He reluctantly pulled himself out of her embrace and walked quickly down the porch, running away from her physically and emotionally, hopped in the waiting car and slammed the door. Katherine smirked, waved her fingers at Elena before zipping off.

Elena broke down into tears, crying harder than she had ever cried. He said he loved her but why did it sound like goodbye? She ignored Stefan trying to comfort her and fled upstairs, heading for Damon's room instead of hers.

"Elena…" Stefan clumsily chased after her.

"Stay away from me!" She screamed. "You ruined everything!" She cried, shouting like a maniac. She didn't get to see Stefan's reaction because she could see nothing through her tears.

She locked the door, blocked Stefan outside to plead her to open the door, saying sorry a thousand times. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered to her. She shrugged out of the dress that Jules let her borrowed. Mason, Jules and the mansion, the bedroom, the bathroom, tender Damon, smiling Damon, playful Damon, holding her, touching her, kissing her … all seemed like a century ago. She was still crying when she yanked open his closet and pulled out one of his neatly folded shirts. She slipped one on, letting his familiar scent covered her, comforted her as she dropped onto his bed, nuzzling her nose into his sleeves, breathing in his familiar scent. She needed a proof that he was still existing in this life, because she felt like he'd gone, gone beyond her reach now. It all smelt like him in his bed, between his sheets. Memories from their night sleeping together flooded back to her and she cried even harder. Her eyes hurt, her nose stuck, her chest tight and her heart was missing. She threw one of his pillows to the door, snapping at the constant yapping of Stefan's redundant apologies. She heard it landed on top of Damon's dresser and knocked down the delicate decorative objects laid on top of it. Satisfied with the crashing sound, she sat up and threw another one at his table, pleased to hear his lamp fall down to the floor and see his books, paper scattered down. She picked up another pillow, looking for something else to smash it at but ended up clutching his pillow to her and buried her face in it, soaking the soft cover with her tears. She needed him like this, wrapped around her, holding her, but instead he was out, with the last person she wanted him to be with this moment. The bed was too large, the sheets were too cold and she cried as the pain eating her up from the inside.

"Karma is a bitch, isn't it?" Katherine smirked, glancing at Damon through the mirror.

"Shut up." He snapped, forcing himself not to look back at the house where he knew the girl he loved was left in tears. But he needed to get out, cleared his head before he exploded and killed himself or killed someone.

"It's true." Katherine shrugged. "So where do you want to go? A bar? A club? … A hotel?" She looked at him through her dark lashes.

"Nice try." He snorted. "Stop at the next corner."

"Come on now. Don't be a buzz kill." She purred, reached over and placed her hand on this thigh. "You know how much fun we can have together."

"Katherine. I agreed to get in your car does not equal with I agree to let you ride me." He sneered, slapped her hand away. She slapped him right back and his last bit of control snapped. He reached for the car door, very willingly to open it and jump out despite the car was still running. He was tossed aside in his seat before his hand reached the handle, almost fell over when the car lurched aside. The tires screeched on the road as Katherine took a violent turn and parked it squarely on the sidewalk. She securely locked all of the door, turned off the engine and put the car keys in her pocket. The engine shuddered and turned dead.

"Are you fucking crazy?" He barked, aimed his fist at the window so that it wouldn't land on her.

"Yes. I am." She faced him, not bulging one bit at his murderous stare. "I will very kindly remind you once that we both agreed to fuck around behind your brother back."

She paused, smirked, enjoyed his anger radiating in the car's small space. She was getting the thrill again, it was extremely hot and arousing to her. This angst, this heated tension, she was all too familiar with and craving for. There he was sitting just within her hand reach, looking like the sexy bastard that he was with his chest heaving under that tight shirt, his masculine jawline hardened under his bite, his blue eyes darkened almost into a black. She could smell his heady cologne and she was madly turned on, way too ready.

"Stop being a fucking hypocrite and acted like you're the victim." She continued "You enjoyed fucking me just as much as I you, Damon Salvatore."

"Open the door." He growled, his breathing uneven, his fingers twitching. He fought the urge to cause some serious physical pain on the girl sitting in front of him.

"Or what? What are you gonna do, Damon?" She laughed, leaning in and grabbed his chin, clawing into his skin when he tried to pull away. "Tie me up? Pin me down? Choke me? Spank me? Oh please, do tell something more refreshing 'cause we've been way through all that."

His blood was boiling. Katherine was asking for it, asking for him to hurt her. He was angry again, liked he had always been for the last 2 years after his father fucked up his life. He had been always angry, Katherine was the fuel to his fire. She did a way too fantastic job at it.

"Open the fucking door." He repeated.

"No. Fuck you." She smirked before attacked him with her lips, her hands fisted in his hair, grabbing him hard and kept his head close to her. She thrust her tongue between his lips, roaming over his teeth as he refused to open his mouth. She scooted over and brought her knee up, harshly pressing it into his crotch, satisfied to hear his suppressed groan, feeling his face scrunched up at the sudden pain. He yanked her hair, might have ripped off a few strands in the process and she groaned back in anticipation at the violence, biting on his lips to stay attach to his mouth.

Damon's rage exploded at her aggressive assault. His violence responded too well to hers. The raw, pure destructive rage raised its ugly sleepy head and he bit Katherine's invasive tongue back, eager to finally inflict some pain when she choked and winced. The rage his father planted in his soul that Katherine helped nurturing, the same one that Elena had managed to diminish.

"Enough!" He shouted, pushing her harshly back.

They sat, panting in their own seat. He wiped his mouth, brushing away the taste of her on his lips. That last thought about Elena woke him, pulled him away from the darkness he was about to throw himself back into. It calmed him down, it kept him sane.

"Whatever. I was hoping to have some comfort. Not everyday you find out your lover, or almost ex-lover, or new lover, cheated on you with your sibling." Katherine shrugged but watched intently his reaction in the mirror. "Well, but who are we to judge? Kinda old news to us, isn't it?" She winked.

Damon tightened his jaw. Katherine's spell to him was the way she could easily remind him who he was and where he belong. It was just in the way she talked, the way she looked at him, smiling that knowing smile, like they were the same. She could naturally remind him that he was no better than she was, and that they were both shamed and just as guilty, bad and twisted as each other. He was being a hypocrite and she had kindly and easily pointed it out for him. He just fussed over his brother having sex with his girlfriend, once. Sex with brother's girl. Didn't it have a ring to it? He shook his head, a sarcastic smile carved on his face.

"How did you find out?" He asked, clipped and forward.

"Now we're sharing stories." She arched a brow. "Stefan made the confession on his own. I had no idea." She re-applied her lip gloss, answering him normally as if nothing had happened. She pulled the car back onto the road after she finished adjusting her looks.

"You had no idea when some fucked up shit happened? That's a first." He snorted.

"He called me, begging me to come back to the house for him." She shrugged. "I thought he was going to talk about us again. But turned out he needed to break the news about them." She smirked, seeing his expression darkened.

"Why would he want you to know?" Damon finally spared her a glare.

"He couldn't reach our favorite sweetheart through the phone. He freaked out. He needed someone to talk to. Stefan doesn't do well with crisis that we know." She twirled a lock of curly hair around her finger. "By the way, how was your weekend?" She smiled sadistically.

His lips pressed into a firm line again as he stared out the window, lost in his own misery. Katherine smirked, turned up the radio and blasted a catchy pop tune through the speakers, enjoyed the cheery nonsense of the lyrics just as much as his gloomy state.

"What now?" Damon finally spoke, glanced disgustingly at the flashing neon banner of the small sketchy bar that she was pulling into outside its sidewalk.

"I need booze. Strong and lots of them." She cocked her head aside, tracing a finger down his jawline. "You look like you do too, lover."

A bottle of straight up whiskey later, Damon felt downright miserable. His anger had vanished, replaced by the hollow, depressing emptiness and worst of all, he agreed with the thought that he deserved this. That even if it was the truth that Elena had slept with Stefan, he deserved it. He deserved the most fucked up things in life and he had no rights to complain about it. This was karma in full force. He slept with Katherine before she dated Stefan. Now history repeated, and all jokes were on him.

"You look too pleased for a heart-broken cheated on psycho ex-girlfriend." He smirked when Katherine for the countless time of the night, running her hand up his thigh.

"I have my own way of weeping for my shattered heart. It usually involves less clothing and more skin contact." She purred in his ear and nipped at the rim.

"Classy. What part of fuck off lost you?" He scoffed. He wanted to get back to the house badly now, would Elena take him back after he had walked out on her like that. Maybe she'd slap him again. It'd be fine, as long as she still wanted him. Would she still want him back? His heart plunged down somewhere near his stomach when he recalled her tears, her pleading, the horror in her eyes when he walked way. Maybe he just destroyed the only good thing he had ever had. And maybe he deserved it, to be fucked up by his own fucked-upness. The smoky dense air in the small bar suffocated him. Elena always smelled like a bar of fruity soap, her hair was always so smooth, ticklish when they poked in his skin as he held her, her skin was always so soft brushing heavenly against his. He craved all of that badly but instead there he sat, inhaling the sour odor of the cheap bar patrons, Katherine's head-spinning hairspray fragrance and his own stinking depressing mood.

"And you are distressing." Katherine glared at him when he picked her hand up and tossed it away again. "You're almost like your brother now. Brooding. Overthinking. Boring. Really not a good look on you, Damon. It's more of a Stefan thing. You were meant for fun."

His anger surfaced, roaring at her tone and words. He tightened his hand around the bottle, fighting the urge to plunge it in her hair and yanked until she yelped in pain, until she begged, until she shut up, until she did what she was told.

"What did I teach you about comparing me and Stefan?" He glared daggers at her but Katherine looked way too excited.

"Ooh touchy subject." She purred. "Are you gonna punish me now?"

"Are you that desperate for some fucking?" He barked, not flinching one bit when she slid her hand up his thigh, over the zipper of his jeans.

"I am. Only for some of your fucking." She smiled up at him through her lashes.

"Then I'll ensure you're getting none." He took a fistful of her curled hair, fisted it hard in his hand and yanked her head back when she dipped her head to kiss his neck.

"I always like it when you're angry and rough. It's our thing." She smiled, her hand pressed into his jeans, caressing his length through the thick fabric. He stayed still, without an emotion showed on his face. "You put on a show of being the better man, giving my sister the adjusted and fluffy version of you. How long will that last, Damon?"

He stared at her impassively for a long moment before he brushed her off of his lap and stood up, walking out. Katherine dragged her eyes down his body from behind, got up and followed him with a smile on her face. She just hit the nail on the head, didn't she?

"Drop it Katherine. I'm not in the mood for fucking you tonight. In fact, I don't think I'll ever be in that mood again. So you stay the fuck away." He said coldly as he stood waiting for a cab.

"Do you ever talk to Elena like that?" She tilted her head a side. "Or you have to sugar-coat everything twice before it reaches her ears."

He bit down on his teeth, trying to block her out, thrusting his hands in his front pocket before they acted on their own and went to grab her throat. It was a trap. He knew the moment he touched her, she would manage to turn it into her advantage, even when he meant to inflict pain, she would turn it into her pleasure. And he would just end up a complete miserable bastard burning up in his own anger and self-disgust.

"Leave, Katherine." He said, keeping his voice neutral and bored. He had no interest in dealing with Katherine tonight.

"Damon." Katherine suddenly called his name, soft and patient without any hint of the teasing and toying in her voice. For a moment he felt the stab of irritation at the similarity of her voice and Elena's. Physically, they were still one same structure of a human body, just that one of them was missing a human heart.

He frowned, caught by surprise at the tone of her voice, turned slightly towards her.

"Yes Katherine?" He nodded, lifting a brow in caution.

"I wasn't kidding when I said I loved you." She placed her hands on either side of his hips.

"And?" He narrowed his eyes. Rules. He needed to know the rules or else she'd be the bitch in charge and he had a feeling he'd had Elena as casualty of his losing battle.

"Don't you get it? You know the rawest, unpolished version of me. And I you." She pulled him towards her a little. "We don't have to play pretend with each other. We don't have to be someone we're not for people to accept us."

"Your point?" He spoke quickly, still frowning. Serious and heart-to-heart talking Katherine was confusing and alarming at the same time. He had never seen her without any act of those girlish giggling, flirtatious talking and all that bullshit. If this was the new game, she had him at odds. He sensed danger.

"You can fool yourself that you can change for the better to be with Elena now." She looked straight into his eyes, refused to break contact. "But at one point, you'll realize you can't play Mr. Nice Guy forever. Because you're not."

He blinked, searching for something wicked in her dark brown eyes, something more familiar than this burning lustful look she was having, only to see it boring back to him insistently.

"I did come to you for sex. Mad, great sex." She paused to slip in a sly smile. "But along the way I guess I fell for you." She tugged on the hem of his t-shirt, held it down as leverage when she reached up and placed a kiss on his tight lips. No tongue, no purring, no seductive lip biting. Purely a brush of her lips over his. He eyed her carefully as she pulled away, not moving a finger.

"Gosh, you're sexy." She chuckled, biting her lips as she dragged her eyes down his body, her hands marveled at the contour of his abs hidden behind his t-shirt.

He stood absolutely still, indifferent to her touches.

"But I'm right and you know it." She flicked her eyes up and stared at him.

"What is it that you really want?" He finally spoke, guarded and alarmed. "No bullshit. Tell me, Kat, what is it?"

"You." She said simply. "I'll say it over and over again until it finally get through to you that it's true." She smirked. "It's you that I want, now. And I will have what I want at all cost."

"We can't have things that aren't ours, Katherine." He smirked back. "And that's also code for I'm not interested."

"Oh I love your smart mouth and what you can do with it." She purred and wicked Katherine was back. "Come on! I'll give you a ride." The casual words rolled out on her tongue in such a dirty way, he shook his head in disbelief.

"No thanks. I like to have some air. Best to stay away from your sexual frustration." He pried her hands that started to sneak up under his shirt and pushed her back.

"Fine." She pouted. "By the way, I'm sorry your epic love story with my sister ended way too soon."

"Now is the time you shut the fuck up and dash." He regarded her with a leer.

"I always said we sisters share a common taste in men." She cocked her head aside, an equally wicked smile donned on her lips. "Brothers, to be precise."

His eyes darkened, his shoulder tensed and a low growl bubbling at the back of his throat. She smirked in satisfaction. Good. Be on your fucking feet and ripping out your own hair. Stay angry. Stay mad. Talking about frustration huh Damon? She thought.

"See you home." She brushed her fingers over his chest before walking away.

Damon watched her with wary eyes, fleetingly hoped some car would trail off the road and hit her there and then. Whatever she had coming with this new scheme, he felt unprepared and vulnerable. Whatever she had coming up, he had a feeling it had something to do with the fucked-up mess at home. Home. He thought of Elena and his anger once again swapped place with that depressing, sickening regretful feelings. He cursed, turned on his heels and walked off in the opposite direction as Katherine did. Drinking himself to unconsciousness sounded more appealing than home. Running away and avoid dealing with shitty reality was what he did best after all. He smirked darkly at his thoughts, ignored the howling and whistling of the trashy working girls on the sidewalks and walked faster, breathing in the cold air and failed miserably at forcing Elena off of his thoughts.

And then Titanic hit the iceberg and everyone died. No. But Ok, please stay with me until the storm pass. It's killing me writing Delena like this too. Call it a guilty pleasure, but I quite enjoy writing Datherine's verbal tit-for-tat.

Good news is I already got the next one down and will update it as soon as I hear out all your thoughts on this one.

I love all the reviews I got for the previous chapter. Thank you so much! You guys are pure awesomeness!

Talk to me more! I love it!