Dear Stefan,

The days are passing one into the other a little faster now. I am thankful that they are doing so, because every day that passes brings me closer to the day that you come home. I miss you as always, but Damon is doing the best he can to distract me from the pain of your absence. Caroline is always begging Damon and me to go out with her and Tyler, so he and I have been spending a lot of time together as of late. He is infuriating as always, but I've learned not to take anything he says too seriously, and I've been laughing at his comments more often than not. He's told me some great stories about the two of you….

Damon leans over her shoulder, scanning the words she's written as quickly as he can. She doesn't even notice he's there, not until he breaks the silence.

"Writing more letters to lover boy?" He finally taunts, intentionally avoiding the mention of Stefan's name. Doing so only serves to makes a strange ache expand across his chest… an ache of loneliness… and it reminds him that the beautiful brunette in front of him can never be his.

My best friend's girl…

She jumps in surprise at his words, whirling around in her desk with wide, brown eyes.

"Damon!" she shrieks. "You didn't even knock. I'm not the only one who lives here you know."

Her words ring hollow; there's not another girl around, but he smiles smugly at her indigence. "I couldn't pass up the chance to scare you out of your wits."

She glares at him, but there is no malice in her gaze. He's seen a different side of Elena lately. She's not near as mopey as before, and sometimes her wit can even match his.

When he doesn't give a response, she flips her shiny, long hair over her shoulder and continues primly, "If you must know, I'm writing to Stefan."

"No!" he narrows his eyes mockingly. "What a surprise! And here I was thinking that you were writing to me."

You were writing ABOUT me, he wants to add, but something holds him back from making the flippant remark. She might not be so forgiving if she knew he actually read the letter she was writing.

I've been laughing at his comments more often than not…

"In your dreams," she retorts. "I only write letters to people who deserve them."

He pretends to be hurt, sliding on top of the desk in front of her. "And I don't deserve a letter?" He opens his blue eyes as wide as he can then, shooting her his best puppy dogface.

She shakes her head, pretending to be mad. "Don't look at me like that."

"Oh come on," he continues, his mouth turned down in mock sadness. "You know you can't refuse this face."

"Damon!" But now a smile is creeping across the corners of her full, puckered mouth.

"Promise me you'll write me a letter, Elena." She's laughing now at his antics, loud and clear. He likes that sound, even more than he thought he would. Sometimes when her eyes are dark and stormy, she reminds him of Catherine, but never when she laughs. Her laugh is light and airy, like the sound of bells in the deep of winter, a sound uniquely her own.

"Fine," she giggles. "I promise."

"Good." He immediately straightens his face back into his standard slyness and leaps off the desk in one swift move. "I knew I'd break you down eventually."

"You're too good at that," she says, still laughing.

"I'm good at being bad," he corrects her with a wink. "Now get dressed. Or rather…" he grins mischievously, pausing for dramatic effect, "undressed." He drags his eyes up and down her body, as if to prove his point.

"Damon Salvatore!"

"Relax, relax!" He holds up his hands. "We're talking swim suits here, Elena. No need to get all hot and bothered."

She snorts but doesn't say anything.

"Caroline and Tyler want us to meet them at the beach," he continues, trying not the focus on the fact that she's getting him all hot and bothered. It's all too easy for him to imagine their earlier words… in a different scenario.

I knew I'd break you down eventually.

You're too good Damon….

"Beach? But it's almost dusk." Her voice, a sharp contrast to the sultry one in his mind, jolts him out of his thoughts. "I don't know, ask them," he manages. "They just said the beach."

"Fine," she says, sighing in compliance. "If I don't come along now, Caroline will find me and pester me so I might as well give up letter writing now." She shoves the half-written letter into one of the drawers in the desk along with her pen before getting up and wandering over to the row of dressers on the wall. She leans over an already half-opened drawer, sifting through its contents for what seems to be a somewhat elusive swimsuit.

"So how was your day?" she asks as she continues to search. At first, he tries not to stare too much at her perky backside but quickly gives up the fight. Stefan isn't here after all. Besides, he doesn't know if he would have enough self-control no matter where Stefan was. She's just too damn tempting.

"Damon?" At the sound of his name, he suddenly remembers that she asked him a question. His eyes still trained on her figure, he jumps into a monologue about his day.

"Oh it was fine. Tyler, Matt, Jeremy, and I have been working on one of the planes for the past couple days now. The guns just refuse to shoot straight… Oh and I know you'll appreciate this. Jeremy was telling me that he and April have been galloping around together."

"Really?" she spins around to face him. "I have noticed that she hasn't been around much lately! But that girl… she hasn't said a thing."

He shrugs. "Jeremy can't seem to shut up about her."

"Well good," she smiles. "They'd be cute together." He notices then that she has the swimsuit in hand. "I'll be right back," she promises as she pads over to the bathroom. She shuts the door behind her, and he hears the noise of her banging around as she changes.

He tries not to imagine the process. He tries not to imagine how it would be if they were together… how easy it would be to take their teasing and conversation and raunch it up a notch. It's getting harder and harder for him to keep his distance from her lately, harder and harder to remind himself that she's Stefan's girl, and that despite the fact that she refused the title the first time they'd talked, she would always be Stefan's girl.

He's better for her, anyway, he thinks, but that's before she walks out of the bathroom. She hasn't put on her wrap yet, and even though he's seen her in her swimsuit before, for some reason she looks especially breathtaking today. Her tan, flawless skin glows in the light falling through the window. All he can think is I want her to be mine.

"What are you staring at?" she asks him in confusion after he can't tear his gaze away. A tantalizing blush sweeps upward across her cheeks.

Not wanting to be caught out of his element, he quickly says, "You're bottoms are inside out."

"What?" she glances down in horror, her confusion forgotten, giving him enough time to gain his composure before she looks back up at him. "Damon, what are you talking about? They're supposed to be this way!"

"Jinx," he says with an easy grin. He sighs internally, glad the moment blew over before she could notice. He can tease her with no worries… but the moment he starts getting serious with her, she gets uncomfortable. As she should.

"You're such an ass," she says, stepping close enough to him to swat at him playfully. Her dark eyes flash with mischief.

"Like I said, I'm good at being bad. Now hurry up. I want to get there before sunset."

She shrugs her wrap over her suit. "I think I'm ready."

"Alright then." He moves to her side, flanking her as she walks out the door. "To the beach it is."

…..

When they arrive at the beach, Tyler and Caroline are nowhere to be found. She turns quickly to Damon, wanting to gauge his immediate reaction to their absence. It wouldn't be beyond him to dream up the Caroline and Tyler invite in order to get her here in a swimsuit. He'd been pushing the boundaries lately… the lines have been getting blurry between them. She isn't quite sure where friendship ends and flirtation begins with him.

But its all in good fun, she reassures herself quickly. We both love Stefan too much for it to be anything else.

"Where are they?" Damon mutters under his breath, sounding adequately confused. This is a surprise for him too, then.

"They said this beach?"

Damon's brows burrow as he scans the sand, but not even a footprint appears. "This beach," he confirms.

"They're probably somewhere with their clothes off," he adds under his breath, and Elena doesn't even try to dispute him. Caroline and Tyler are all over each other lately, in every sense of the word.

"So what do you want to do now?" she ventures, uncertain. For some reason, the thought of her and Damon here, alone, makes her uncomfortable. She can't help but remember how he looked at her minutes ago, when she first walked out in her bathing suit. He had been transfixed, and although his teasing had distracted her, it hadn't made her forget how his eyes had devoured her body. Or how hers had heated up in response. He made her laugh. He was excellent company. He was a good friend…. But she couldn't help but get the impression that they were both playing with fire.

Seemingly unaware of her thoughts, Damon grins back at her. The crooked smile is enough to drag her into the here and now. That and the charming scar above his eyebrow… the stitches from their bar escapade a while back had actually benefited his looks, not hindered them.

"We're going swimming," he tells her. "What else?"

She goes to protest, not wanting to get wet unnecessarily, but before she can say anything, he grabs her firmly around the waist and throws her over his shoulder. She shrieks in surprise.

"Damon Salvatore! Put me down!" She doesn't expect him to listen, especially not when her words are full of laughter. That was the thing about Damon… he was just so unpredictable and fun that she had a hard time refusing him.

"Elena Gilbert!" he uses her full name mockingly, but he laughs at the same time, his leanly muscled body vibrating underneath her with the sound.

"Seriously Damon!" She giggles, flailing around despite the fact that it isn't doing her any good. He has her firmly in his grip, his hands strong and steady where they hold her up in the air.

"You want me to put you down?" There's some trickery in his voice, she can tell, but she goes ahead and insists anyway. "Yes!"

Next then she knows she's dropping through the air into the seawater below. It splashes over her head and she panics for a moment, the surprise of it not allowing her to take a breath, but before she can worry, she feels those same strong hands pulling her up out of the water. She emerges sputtering and fuming mad.

"I meant put me down on land! On LAND!"

"Should've said it," he shakes his head at her, his eyes sparkling with mirth. "How am I supposed to read your mind, Elena?"

She's glad he can't. She can't keep her mind on the straight and narrow today, not when his dark hair is even darker with water, or when his eyes are full of sunlight, or when his muscles glisten in the approaching dusk.

"I'm glad you can't," she mutters. "Glad you can't."

….

They swim around in the water after that, talking and laughing easily. The sun continues to sink down behind the horizon steadily, casting the water in an orange glow. He can tell that she's just about ready to get out when he decides to make their fun last a little while longer. Deciding to go all out, he lunges forward and obnoxiously splashes as much water as possible over top of her head . Some of it lands in her mouth, sending her gasping for air.

"That's the second time today!" she finally manages, still gasping between breaths. He can't help but laugh at her expression; she looks half-drowned and surprised to be standing.

Wanting to make her angry, he flashes her his grin and taunts, "What you going to do about it, 'Lena?"

He watches as she sizes him up, her little face scrunching up with part exasperation and part determination at his words. She's too predictable though; he sees her lunge forward at him way ahead of time, and he steps backwards towards shore, easily out of her reach.

"Aww," he coos. "Is that all little Elena has?"

This makes her even angrier, and he revels in the dark look that crosses her face. She looks damn right delectable when she's this fired up. Her eyes turn a different color, a deeper brown if that's even possible, and she looks positively wild.

"You're going to eat those words, Damon," she vows.

"Make me."

She leaps at him then, and they go stumbling and splashing through the water back towards the shore. Her anger turns into laughter, and they are soon engaged in a good-natured war. He tries not to pay too much attention to the moments when her body grazes his, but its near impossible.

They just about to emerge from the water when she leaps on top of him in a full out tackle. This time she definitely has the one up on him, and the surprise is enough to catch him off balance.

….

She has one last chance. She isn't sure if she's going to be able to topple him down into the shallow water, but she decides to try. She wants to wipe that sly look right off his face. "Make me." I'll make you all right, she thinks as she lunges at him. Surprisingly enough, the contact of her body on his is enough to bring him off his feet. In fact, she misjudged the amount of force she put into the exchange; she can't regain her balance and she finds herself falling as well. They go tumbling to the ground, their bodies tangling up in each other until finally they land half in the water half in the sand.

She tries to breathe and can't, realizing he's over top of her, his muscled, tan chest mere centimeters from hers. They're both breathing hard; she can feel the wet heat of his breath brush against her skin. His eyes are deep and dark, darker than she's ever seen them, but they're not staring into hers. She feels his focus hover in on her puckered mouth. His breathing turns even more ragged. Her chest tightens with a feeling she can't explain and her body feels like its on fire, even though water is lapping up to around her waist.

He leans forward, his lips coming closer and closer to hers. She almost lets it happen… almost… before she jerks her head to the side quickly.

"Damon," she breathes. She hates how she sounds…. Out of control and desperate…. Everything she shouldn't feel.

He stays there above her for a second, her words effectively freezing him in place, before he pushes off of her in a one quick moment and lands beside her in the sand. They stay there, trying to catch their breath, before he finally breaks the silence.

"I just wish I didn't have to feel so guilty," he tells the sky, his words almost swallowed by the breaking of the sea around their bodies.

"Guilty?" she whispers, even though she knows. She knows.

He props himself up on one of his elbows, turning his body back to face hers. His eyes fall on her face, insistent and serious. "For wanting what I want," he says quietly.

His words stir something inside of her. Her mind is telling her to run, run as far and fast as she can, but her body has a different idea. Her fingers tingle with his words; her eyes won't let her look away. The intensity of the phrase is hard to ignore, especially when it matches the intensity thrumming inside her.

For wanting what I want…

It's so hard to make sense of it all, so hard to know what to say. "But Damon…"

"I know. You don't have to say it, Elena." Hard as he is trying to avoid it, she can hear his emotion leak into the words. The sound rips at her heart, and she fights the desire to leap on top of him, to take away his disappointment by crushing her lips on hers. It would relieve the aching in her soul, the need in her body…. But it wouldn't make anything easier. Because she loves Stefan, right? But then Damon…

He gives her a sad half smile. "You're my best friend's girl after all."

"I think…" she has to drag the words out of her mouth, "I think we both need to take some space Damon. This isn't good for us, all this time alone together."

"I know," he says again. "Spending time with you is probably the best thing to happen to me since I got here…" he trails off, searching for the right words, before he begins again, "but I can't be selfish with you, Elena." His eyes. She can't take his eyes. They are breaking her apart…

He leans forward, closer to her, and her breath hitches in her throat. She's almost convinced he's going to try to kiss her again, but his lips make a detour from her mouth. Instead, he gently presses them to her forehead. The touch is lighter than a feather; she doesn't breathe the entire time as she alternates between surprise at his self-constraint and a primal disappointment that he hadn't been selfish, that he hadn't just taken what he wanted. Then he pushes himself up off the ground, the quickly approaching dusk almost swallowing him up above her.

She knows she needs to get up, but she stays there for a second longer. When she moves from this spot, everything will have changed again. The happy day she just spent will be forever gone; Damon and her will go back to being distant and civil.

It has to be this way… she thinks. It HAS to be. Despite this, however, she knows that she will never be able to forget the feeling of his lips as they brushed against her forehead, or the look in his eyes as he said For wanting what I want.

Because she's pretty sure a part of her wants him too.

So that's chapter ten! We started out with a little playful interaction between the two and ended on a way more somber note… but don't worry! Something will happen to bring the two back together again; they can't stay apart for long. Please take the time to tell me what you think. Your reviews are the only thing that keeps me writing some days. Till next time