Hey everyone...sorry this is so late. I really appreciate all of you that have written reviews and have added this story as your favorite or as an alert. I've been hitting a writer's block and have lost my inspiration which is why this is so late. I've started writing again but Prove Me Wrong only. If you've also been reading Wait to Turn I'm afraid you may be waiting awhile for an update on that. I'm seriously blocked on where to go with that one. Be patient though it will continue and I'm gonna try to get the next chapter for this story out to all of you as soon as possible.

Thanks again and please let me know what you think.

O

Ten

Preparations

"Maybe." he said peering down at me with his crystal blue eyes, "He wanted to hurt you tonight to get back at me didn't he?"

"I…I…yes I think that's what he said." I admitted looking into his eyes.

"He's right, it would have hurt me. If you had gotten hurt…" Damon started to say softly his hand coming up to stroke my hair, there was so much emotion in his eyes that I had never seen before, "I…I…don't know if I could have survived it."

A tear rolled down my face and I did the only thing I could think of to do, I placed my hand behind Damon's neck and pulled him close until our lips touched and the rest of the world melted away.

It took a moment, probably from shock but Damon finally responded and when he did his lips crushed into mine and he pulled me flush against his body. His lips moved with mine, crushing them expertly. I heard a moan escape my mouth and his tongue darted in silencing me. I couldn't get enough so I pulled him closer, kissing him with as much passion as I could.

His hands were in my hair, tugging ever so lightly and my hands roamed the plains of his sculpted back. Kissing Damon was like nothing I had ever experienced or felt before.

"Elena do you know where the band aids are?"

Damon broke the kiss and I instantly missed his touch. I opened my heavy drunken lids slowly and saw him peering at me amused.

"Elena do you know where they are?" Jeremy yelled from the bathroom. A moment later he opened the door from bathroom entering my room. He stopped in tracks and was a silent as he looked at me with a quizzical expression on his face. "Uh Elena why are you standing in the middle of your bedroom like that? What happened to you?

I looked at Jeremy and then noticed the way I was standing with my hands half up and I looked around the room but no one else was there. Damon had disappeared.

It was finally Saturday, the day of the engagement party and I'm pretty sure Damon had been avoiding me for the entirety of the week leading up to this day or maybe it was me that had been ignoring him. I had no idea at this point, but either way I just knew that we hadn't seen or spoken to eachother in a week so as I now stood in front of his door I felt uneasy with anticipation.

"Uh Elena are you going to ring the bell?" Caroline asked, "They're not going to know that we're here unless you ring the bell."

"Yeah come on Elena, you promised me coffee and so far I haven't had one jolt of caffeine and it's insanely early to be awake for a Saturday morning." Jeremy complained from behind Bonnie.

"Fine," I said before sighing and pulling down on the bell cord and I was surprised when a moment later a beautiful blonde I had never seen before opened the door.

"Oh uh…hi…is uh…Damon here?" I said awkwardly and trying to figure out who this woman could be and why she was opening Damon's door.

"Yeah he's just upstairs taking a shower." she said looking at me with a curious expression on her face. "You must be Elena, I've heard so much about you." she said before stepping aside for us to enter and if I wasn't mistaken looking me over, "I'm Lexie, an old friend of Damon and Stefan's and well I know Alaric too."

"Oh." I said then pointed to my friends. "This is Bonnie, Caroline, and my brother Jeremy."

We all stood there awkwardly for a moment in the hallways until Jeremy spoke up. "We should probably start setting up this place is huge, it's going to take forever."

I nodded and put my purse down on the credenza looking for the sketch of the design layout I had made earlier in the week.

"Damon, Stefan, and I actually got all of the furniture moved out last night and apparently all the decorations are in the living room in those boxes." Lexie said following Caroline, Bonnie and Jeremy into the living room, "Do you guys want some breakfast first; I kind of made a lot."

"A lot, you have an entire spread here for an army." I heard Jeremy say incredulously, "Score!"

I shook my head as I pulled out what I needed from my bag and looked them over.

"Hey Lex is someone here?" Damon said appearing at the top of the stairs just as I looked up. He was clad in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, his chest was bare and I could make out a few droplets of water still on his chest. I felt my heart rate speed up, my breath hitched, my mouth suddenly go dry, and my entire body blush. The bag I was holding slipped through my fingers without my realizing it and I jumped when it the floor spilling its contents everywhere.

I blushed even further and forced my eyes away from Damon finally and quickly bent down to pick everything up but blushed even more when Damon was suddenly bent down in front of me helping me pick everything back up. We reached for the same thing and our fingers touched and I felt a current go through me. I brought my eyes back up to look at him and I quickly brought them back down when I realized he was only wearing a towel.

"Sorry I'm such a huge clutz." I said blushing further as he handed me some things..

"No problem. I'm sure I startled you. I didn't know you were here." he smiling handing me some a tampon. Oh no.

"Oh well uh we uh just got here to set up and Lexie let us in. It's not just me uh Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline and me I mean." I said biting my lip. "I hope you don't mind. I uh didn't get the chance to talk to you and we wanted to get everything set up so uh here we are."

"No it's fine. It's just…"

"Oh good you're down…but not dressed." Lexie commented as she walked into the hallway looking between the two of us and I felt myself blushing again. How many shades of red were there anyways because I'm pretty sure I have turned every single shade in the span of two minutes. "Uh sorry was I interrupting?"

"No, no I just dropped my bag and Damon uh helped me pick everything back up." I said quickly trying desperately not to look at Damon. "Uh shouldn't you get dressed Damon?"

He looked at me and smirked then leaned in closer, "Why? Afraid you'll see something you like?"

"I don't think so." I said taking a step back from him.

"Really?" he commented smirking.

"Damon be nice." Lexie scolded. "Elena's right you should get dressed." When he didn't budge she walked up to him and pulled his ear toward the stairs. "Go upstairs and get dressed so you can help get everything ready for this party you offered to throw."

He glared at her and she just glared back until he finally huffed and started walking up the stairs. I think I may have even him muter 'bossy' before he sped up the stairs.

"In 168 years you would think he would have learned something by now." she said smiling at me.

"Oh uh have you known Damon that long?" I ask curiously.

"Not quite. I met them a little after they first became vampires 145 years ago. I met Stefan first, and then Damon. He and I have a bit of love hate relationship." She said looking at me closely and I felt uneasy under her gaze, "I'm sorry to keep staring, but I can't believe…wow I can't believe how much you really look like her. Damon said you did but it's uncanny."

"You knew Katherine?"

"No not exactly. We were introduced when she made her return from the dead, but she didn't like me too much and I saw how clearly Stefan was smitten. He certainly wouldn't listen to anything I had to say so I left them to it which of course turned out to be a huge mistake. I returned following the aftermath of her actual death." she explained.

"Oh."

"I'm sure you're wondering who I am exactly and what I'm doing here and what my connection is to the Salvatore brothers right?" she said and I nodded my head sheepishly.

"It's ok, I'd be wary of me too, another vampire in your town that's very familiar with the boy you're into." she said giving me a knowing look and I opened my mouth to protest but she put her hand up, "its ok I won't say anything but just so you know the two of you are so obvious." she said smiling, "Anyway you have nothing to worry about with me. I value human life explicitly. I won't hurt anyone you have my word on that. It's why I'm always the one he calls after Stefan looses control. Damon called me and told me what happened with you. I'm sorry that he hurt you or almost hurt you. I wasn't entirely clear on how far it got. Stefan he…well he's a good person but the monster inside of him…well I'm kind of the only one that can calm him down and keep that monster at bay but Stefan he doesn't like to be smothered so I can't stay with him all the time."

"So you have a long history with the Salvatore's then."

"In a way. I've spent more time with Stefan, he's my best friend. Damon on the other hand well he and I don't really get along. We're friendly but mainly because of Stefan. It's really a love/hate relationship and we've had our fun together and it was definitely fun but oh uh… but you don't want to hear about that. Sorry." she said fumbling slightly eying me and I shifted uncomfortably, "You know I'm glad he's finally found someone. Don't get me wrong, it's weird that you look exactly like that annoying bitch Katherine, but I can tell you're the exact opposite of her, you care and well Damon he deserves someone like you."

"Oh...I...uh..."

"Oh look Lexie Stefan's calling you...off to the basement you go." Damon said as came down the stairs and walked right up to Lexie before pushing her towards the door to the basement. They said a few hushed words to eachother that I couldn't make out before Lexie laughed and patted Damon's face while he grimaced. "See you later Elena. It was nice meeting you." she said waving to me before disappearing down the stairs. Damon shut the door behind me then looked at me sheepishly.

"I would apologize for her but it would be futile since she's always like that."

"Don't worry about it. She just cares about you and uh...Stefan." I added after a moment. "So you've known Lexie a long time."

"Yeah she's been the pebble in my shoe that keeps coming back no matter how much I ask her not to."

"The two of you are close." I say uneasily but wanting information about their relationship.

Damon didn't say anything he just eyed me before walking up to me slowly. "There's nothing going on between Lexie and me. We've had fun in the past like she said but it's been a long, long time since that has happened. We hate eachother more than we like eachother. If it wasn't for baby bro we'd probably never see eachother."

"I...I...that's none of my business..." I start to say but stop as he leans in close. "Only if you really think so, I mean after the other night I thought…" he said in my ear before pulling back to look at me intently. It was next to impossible for me to not be affected by Damon when we were this close. His crystal blue eyes alone simply mesmerized and drew me in.

"Hey Elena do you have...Oh sorry."

I looked up and found Bonnie looking between Damon and I and I immediately took a step back. "Sorry I was just looking for the sketch of the designs for the layout."

"Uh yeah I have them right here." I said holding out the designs and walking towards Bonnie. She looked at me and I gave her a pointed look before she grabbed the designs and walked back into the living room. I hesitated a moment before I started following her.

"Elena." Damon said stopping me. I turned around and looked at him and I was slightly startled to see him looking so serious when just a few moments ago he had been teasing me. "There's uh something I do need to discuss with you, it uh concerns Stefan."

"Stefan?"

"Yeah he's leaving for our villa in Italy tomorrow so he won't be bothering you anymore, but for tonight I was hoping to allow him to attend the party if it's ok with you. I know he doesn't deserve it, but I don't want people to ask questions nor do I want someone to accidentally stumble upon him."

I didn't say anything for a moment thinking about it before bringing my eyes up to him. "You really think it's ok to have him at the party around everyone? Is it safe?"

He shook his head and I could see the honesty and pain in his eyes. "Lexie believes it is and as much as I have to admit it she's usually right especially when it comes to Stefan." he said looking at me and he must have seen the doubt in my eyes because he brought his hands up to my arms and dipped his head down so he was completely level with me, "I promise you Elena I won't let anything happen to you or anyone else here. Lexie and I will stay with him the entire time."

If I didn't know any better I would think Damon had been trying to compel me, but I knew better and I knew that all he wanted was for me to trust him. "Ok I trust you." I said slowly.

A strange look flashed through his face and then he suddenly released me and started walking towards the living room. "We'd better get everything set up." he said before disappearing around the corner.

What just happened?

It took eight long hours but everything was set up and ready to go. I had to admit that even I was amazed with what we had been able to do. Doing it all ourselves with the exception of hiring caterers in hindsight was definitely a crazy idea. Damon was right we should have hired an event planner, but I don't know we had together done an amazing job. We had somehow managed to transform the bottom floor and grounds of the Boarding House to look similar to the forest when Alaric proposed. It was absolutely beautiful. The bottom floor of the house was more intimate with twinkling lights sheer fabrics draping the walls. The music playing in the house gave it more of VIP club vibe and the outside was like a little secret garden with the lights and the flowers and soft classical music playing. The look on Jenna's face when she walked into the Boarding House said it all. She had tears in her eyes and was speechless except for continually muttering that after everyone saw this, whatever she came up with for her wedding was going to be a giant disappointment.

I was now upstairs in one of the many guest rooms getting ready since I didn't have time to run back home without being late. Since I was co-hosting this party, I wanted to be here when everyone arrived.

Co-hosting with Damon. Hmmm…. After our encounter in the hallway it seemed as though Damon was trying to avoid me. When I was inside he would find an excuse to go outside or if we found ourselves alone or in the same room he would find an excuse to leave. It was odd, one moment he was flirting with me and the in next he looked like he'd throw down his life for me and then in the next he avoided me like the plague. Was he avoiding me?

A knock on the door suddenly distracted me from my thoughts.

"Come in."

A moment later the door opened behind me and I saw Stefan appear from the reflection in the mirror. I turned around quickly and gripped the brush I had grabbed and faced him, completely unsure of what to do.

"Wha...what...what are you doing here Stefan?" I ask fearfully but trying to sound unafraid.

He put his hands up in what I was assuming was a sign of peace and made no moves to enter the room any further.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Elena. I truly mean you no harm, I just wanted to talk to you and apologize for what I did to you. I…I…I don't know…you didn't deserve what I did to you." he said looking pained.

"Stefan I thought, I thought Lexie and Damon were staying by your side all night." I said feeling fear course through me and it must have shown on my face because he turned and pointed to the hallway.

"Lexie is right outside the door. I convinced her I needed to talk to you." he said and I could see the sadness in his eyes. "I know you don't want to hear what I have to say and you have no reason to listen to me, but I truly am sorry. What I did to you was because of my issues with Damon and those issues are over a century old and have nothing to with you. You're not Katherine and you're…you didn't deserve what I did to you. I'm so sorry."

We stood there for a few moments not saying anything more. I didn't know what to say. After a minute he gave me a small smile and turned to leave.

"Stefan." I said and he turned to look at me. "Damon told me that you're leaving for Italy tomorrow."

"Yeah our family has a villa in Tuscany. It's the best place in the world for me especially after I've fallen off the wagon so to speak. Lexie loves it and Damon as well." he said smiling.

"Damon is he going too?" I ask surprised.

"Yeah it was his idea. It was originally only supposed to be Lexie and me, but he insisted in coming too." he said then gave me a knowing look. "I'm guessing he didn't tell you that he was leaving."

"No, no he didn't." I say feeling slightly shaken by this piece of news. Stefan was watching me closely and I stood up and walked over to him. "I should finish getting ready and get downstairs. The guests will be arriving soon. Stefan I…I hope you can control this because before it all happened I saw what a good guy you were and I believe you really are that good guy and not some monster."

"Thank you Elena. That means more than you know especially coming from you." he said before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

I walked back to the vanity and looked at my reflection in the mirror and saw the sadness reflected in my own eyes. Damon was leaving with Stefan. No more vampires in Mystic Falls. Why couldn't I make myself feel like this was good thing?