A/N: although every chapter has started with Katherine's POV, this one starts with Elena's to flow more easily from last chapter's cliffhanger.

[E]

"Full disclosure?"

Elena hesitated for a second, but then nodded. "Yes, that's what we agreed on."

"Okay," Damon twisted his neck around to look at her, the slight breeze in the early morning air ruffling his hair as he did so. "What did Katherine say to convince you to switch places with her?"

"She wanted to get to know our dad, for one. And I wanted to get to know our mom."

Damon leaned back in the reclining patio chair, chuckling softly. "Ah, but that's the obvious answer, Elena."

"Just because it's obvious, doesn't make it less true."

"I buy that it's part of the truth; just not the whole truth."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I might not know you yet very well, but I sure as hell knew Katherine."

"Your point?"

Damon tilted his head, "Getting to know Daddy isn't something that she would up and leave her whole life for. There has to be more to it."

"What if there isn't?"

"Then I would know that you're as much a liar as your sister dearest." When Elena only looked at him in puzzlement, he elaborated. "You wouldn't be adhering to our 'full disclosure' agreement."

"You sound like a lawyer."

He raised an eyebrow, then muttered under his breath, "You would know."

"Or the son of a well-spoken businessman," Elena snapped, her good humor vanishing at the implication in his tone. "They're my parents, Damon."

"Yeah? Well your parents happen to hate my dad, so you can see why I might not like them too much."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Excuse me, but your dad is the one who is screwing the justice system over! My parents are just doing their jobs!"

Damon looked surly. "And you're so sure that my dad is in the wrong here, aren't you? That your parents are the white knights in shining armor, ready to defend the poor souls that my father supposedly stole money from."

Elena's hand tightened around the wine bottle they had spent the night drinking together, and her knuckles turned a stark white. "In case you seem to have skipped a few lessons in the morality handbook, embezzling money happens to be a criminal offense."

He got to his feet, angrily glaring down at her. "There's more to every story, Elena." There was clearly a double meaning behind his words, referencing their earlier conversation.

As she stared up at him, the sun began to rise in the distance and the sky lightened above them. She raised the nearly empty wine bottle to her lips and tipped it back, swallowing the final few drops. "The sun is rising," she announced unnecessarily, not meeting Damon's gaze as she set the bottle down on the small table beside her and got to her feet unsteadily. "I can't believe we were out here all night," she added, stretching as she looked around the deck. "You have a pretty cool setup here, you know."

With that, she turned around and tried to walk towards the sliding glass door that led back into Damon's room. However, she staggered sideways despite her best efforts, her hips nudging into the corner of the patio chair that she had just been sitting on. She would've sprawled back into it, if Damon hadn't suddenly appeared beside her and grabbed her arm to steady her.

"Whoa," she mumbled, gripping his forearm and righting herself. "That's weird, what's wrong with me?"

The angry look on Damon's face had faded, to be replaced with faint amusement. "I think you're a little drunk."

"I am not. I sound fine, see?"

He nodded indulgently, "Yes, you do sound fine. I just don't think your body has caught up to your mind yet."

Elena looked down at her feet contemplatively, trying to figure out why they wouldn't move in the direction she wanted them to. "I don't feel drunk," she said assertively, to which Damon looked even more amused. "What?"

"Do you realize how loudly you're talking right now?"

"I'm not loud," Elena poked him in the chest indignantly, "You're the one being loud!"

"Your comeback skills will never cease to amaze me," Damon deadpanned, taking her by the arm and leading her towards the glass door. "Come on, let's get you inside."

"To your room?"

"Inside," Damon repeated, but she didn't miss the way that his eyes had darted to meet hers for a split second before he looked away almost guiltily. Elena smiled to herself as she stepped into his room, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the change in light from outdoors. "What are you looking so happy about?" Damon asked suspiciously as he turned around to slide the door shut, "It's a little—" He broke off, startled. "Elena, what are you doing?"

She was leaning towards him, leaving barely any room between their bodies as she caged him in with his back against the door. "You want to kiss me," she said with a wide grin, "I can tell."

"What?" Damon tried to grab her shoulders, but she shrugged off his hands, somehow managing to come even closer. "Elena, you're drunk and you don't know what you're saying,"

"I can't be drunk," she stated in a reasonable tone of voice, "We both drank the same amount from that one bottle of wine."

"We didn't drink the same amount," Damon corrected, doing his best to lean away from her. "And there was more than one bottle."

Elena frowned and peered past him, through the glass doors. "I only see one bottle."

Damon sighed, "That would be because I got rid of the other two bottles when I cleaned up last night."

"That's impossible," she narrowed her eyes, "We were both out there all night talking. You never left."

"Actually I did," he softened his voice, recognizing the unhappy expression on her face. "Just to check on Rebekah and make sure she was alright."

Elena didn't say or do anything for almost a full minute, but he could practically see the gears turning her head. "Rebekah," she mumbled, almost to herself. "Right..." Then she blinked and took a tiny step back from him, "That's good you checked on her...I mean, she was pretty out of it last night."

She turned away, but he quickly reached out to touch her elbow. "Elena, wait."

"No, you're right," she didn't turn back to face him, but he could've sworn he heard a quiver in her voice. "You're right, I'm probably a little more drunk than I realized. I s-should take a shower, grab some coffee...check on Bex." She rattled off her list of things to do, still not meeting his gaze. "Thanks for looking out for her."

He let her go, but called quietly after her, "I'm looking out for you, too." Elena came to a halt as she reached his doorway, so he knew that she had heard him. But then she still didn't turn around, and squared her shoulders before striding purposefully down the hallway.

She knocked when she reached the guest room where they had left Rebekah, but frowned when she pushed open the door to find an empty bed. "Bex?" she called loudly, "You in here?"

"Katherine?"

The voice came from her left, and she turned to see another door within the room. "Yeah it's me. Are you alright?"

The door opened a second later, and Rebekah stepped out, wrapped in a green towel. "Just showering off the stench of Lockwood," Bex tried to smile at her, but Elena didn't miss the redness around her eyes. "There's more towels and stuff in there, if you want to—"

"Come here," Elena interrupted, reaching out and pulling Rebekah into her arms for a hug. She thought Bex would resist, but she willingly came forward, resting her head on Elena's shoulder wearily. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible," Rebekah answered glumly, her wet hair brushing against the side of Elena's neck. "Really, truly, awful."

"Do you need more asprin?" Elena glanced over at the bedside table to see that the hangover cure that they had left last night was gone. "I can go ask Damon to get you some more."

"I'm not hungover," Rebekah stepped away from Elena and lethargically slumped down onto the bed. "I'm just..." Tears began to fill her eyes, and she hastily looked down. "Sorry. I know you don't want to hear it. Especially after what I did to you last night."

Elena carefully sat down next to her friend, looking over at her calmly. "What did you do to me?"

"Mason was yours first, Kat. And I know I broke the girl code and everything, and I swear I didn't mean it. I w-wasn't thinking, and I knew he was just pissed that you left with Damon but I didn't care...He was being so nice to me while Tyler was ignoring me and I don't know...It just happened."

"Okay," Elena nodded, smiling at Rebekah to show that she wasn't holding anything against her. "Don't worry about it, I'm not mad at you. If there's anyone to blame here, it's Mason. He knew what he was doing."

Rebekah scoffed self deprecatingly, "Taking advantage of the poor, insecure blonde. God, I'm such a cliché, aren't I, Kat?"

"I think we all are, a little bit," Elena answered, looking up as there was a knock on the door. Damon was standing there, holding a bottle of asprin and another glass of water.

Bex broke out into a smile as soon as she saw him, her mask falling into place faster than Elena could blink. "Well, aren't you a mind reader, Damon Salvatore? We were just talking about getting our hands on something to get rid of this infernal pounding in my head."

"I thought it might come in use," Damon hesitantly entered the room and carefully laid the items down on the table. "There's coffee brewing downstairs, and breakfast should be ready soon. Oh, and I laid some sweats out on my bed, if you want to change into those?"

Rebekah gaped up at him, "That actually sounds perfect, thank you."

He stepped aside to let her pass, pointing down the hallway, "Just walk all the way down, it's the last door."

Elena dutifully swallowed two pills and gulped down the entire glass of water, suddenly realizing just how thirsty she was. "Thanks," she muttered when she was done, noticing that he was still standing there. She gestured with her head to the right, "I guess I'll just..."

Damon heaved a loud sigh, and she finally looked up at him to see what his problem was. He was staring at her with a frustrated look on his face. "You're not wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"Just because I want to do something, doesn't mean that I should. And just because you think that I'm devoid of moral principles, doesn't mean that I am."

Elena got to her feet, shaking her head. "I'm glad we got that cleared up." Then she strode into the bathroom and firmly shut the door behind her. The spray of hot water against her face was refreshing, and she spent the next ten minutes methodically scrubbing away the memories associated from the night before and the early morning. The body wash that Damon had left in the shower had a pleasing, musky scent—almost like he does, an unbidden voice reminded her from the back of her head.

She sighed, massaging shampoo into her hair. I can't believe we spent almost the whole night talking...he's so easy to talk to, and he's so caring, and...Stop it! Elena groaned, covering her face. She liked him too much. Now he was in her head, and there was nothing she could do about it. She quickly rinsed out her hair, suddenly desperate to get out of his house and go back home so that she could talk to Katherine without any interruptions. She needed advice. Badly.

However, when she stepped out of the bathroom, she was shocked to see Damon sitting on the bed, clearly waiting for her. "Wh-what are you doing?" Elena stammered, covertly tightening the blue towel around her chest. "Why are you waiting here?"

He got to his feet, his eyes blazing. "Have you sobered up?" Damon demanded, peering at her unnervingly, "Well?"

"Yes," Elena tapped her foot nervously, "Listen, Damon—" Her words were cut off when he abruptly took a single stride towards her. Then his lips were suddenly covering hers, and all subsequent thought left her mind completely, leaving a pleasant buzzing in her ears. Elena was only aware of his hands cradling her face, and his mouth moving against hers almost desperately. She clutched onto shoulders when he deepened the kiss, and curved her body into his, unconsciously wanting them to be as close as possible.

His skin felt hot against hers as he moved one hand down to her bare shoulder, seeming to caress it for a second. Her body tingled in response, sending heat shooting straight into her core. She unintentionally gasped into his mouth, and his tongue slid past her lips. entangling with hers. His hands moved down her back, causing the towel to loosen between them. Elena paid no attention, however, too lost in the haze steadily building around her. She moaned when he dragged his lips away from hers, but her protests were silenced as he kissed a path down the slender column of her throat, his mouth lingering over her pulse point.

"Damon," her voice trembled with need and he immediately covered her mouth with his again. She began backing up, pulling on his shirt to make him follow her. Their lips never broke apart, even when she fell backwards onto the bed. She tugged on the hem of shirt, and Damon groaned into her mouth when he realized what she had in mind.

"Elena," he fought for breath as he pulled back slightly so that he could look at her, "What are we doing?"

Her heart was thundering in her ears, "I thought it was obvious."

He cracked a grin before burying his face into the crook of her neck, still breathing heavily. "Geez, Gilbert, you're going to be the death of me."

It was the first time he'd ever called her anything other than 'Elena' or some form of 'Katherine' and she stilled, the endearment causing an odd soaring sensation in her heart.

"Elena?" He suddenly looked worried that he had hurt her somehow. "What's wrong? I was kidding—"

"I know," she said quickly, pink tinging her cheeks. "I just...I liked hearing you call me that," she admitted. "It sounded good."

Damon blinked, looking unsure. Then he studied her expression and lowered his head, giving her a long, lingering kiss. "Alright, Gilbert," he said briskly, rolling off her and getting to his feet. "I'm gonna go downstairs before Rebekah comes up here, wondering what we're up to." When she didn't move, he reached out to grab her arm and pull her to a standing position. Once she was on her feet, he darted forward and pecked her on the lips. "I'll see you downstairs?"

Elena smiled, "Yeah, I'll see you down there."

[K]

When Katherine awoke the next morning, she stayed completely silent, listening for sounds in the house. After her confrontation with John the previous night, she was sincerely hoping that he'd taken off to work early. Although she didn't hear anything in the immediate vicinity, she still tip-toed to the door and cautiously pulled it open. Then she padded down the hallway until she was at the top of the stairs. She held her breath for a few seconds, but there wasn't a single sound in the house.

She breathed a sigh of relief and walked back to her room, no longer taking care to be silent. Her bag was lying on the ground near her bed and she knelt down to rummage through it, looking for her phone. When she eventually located it, she was surprised to see several texts waiting for her, as well as a missed call from Elena.

Katherine scrolled through the texts first; all from either Caroline or Bonnie, asking her how the rest of her night with Stefan had gone. Deciding to reply later, she called Elena back. To her surprise, Elena picked up on the first ring.

"Hey twin," Katherine said cheerfully into the phone, "You called?"

"Yeah," Elena sounded evasive, "I'm sorry about missing your call from last night. I didn't see it until later, and then there were a few...complications...and, well, one thing led to another—"

"Phone call?" Katherine frowned, thinking back. Then she snapped her fingers, "Oh yeah, last night! I was on a date with Stefan, and I needed your advice."

"Me?" She sounded incredulous, "I don't see how I could've possibly helped. I'm the last person to be doling out advice to anyone."

Katherine's brow furrowed, "You sound off. What happened?"

"You first," Elena shifted, "How was your date?"

Katherine paused, closing her eyes and touching her lips. "It was...pretty amazing," she said dreamily, "I think I really like him, Elena. And I know I'm not supposed to; false pretenses and all that, but he's just such a sweet guy—like no one I've ever dated."

"Damon can be sweet."

Elena sounded defensive, and Katherine immediately tensed. "What are you talking about?"

"Okay, um, so last night..." she trailed off, "Bex dragged me to that Lockwood party, and, well Mason was there. At first it didn't seem too bad, we got off to a good start. But then Damon showed up and the two of them sort of had this argument." Elena coughed uncomfortably, "Long story short, I ended up leaving with Damon to go back to his place to talk about...stuff. Um, but then we went back to get Rebekah because I was worried about her."

There was a long pause.

Katherine paced back and forth, "Elena, you are giving me anxiety problems here, would you please finish the story?"

"Rebekah slept with Mason," her sister said in a rush, "And also, Damon knows who I am."

*once again, thank you for all the awesome reviews! and on another note, I've really started to like TVD again (this past Thursday's episode- absolutely loved it!) If they keep up to this level, I will definitely be inspired to write a canon fic this summer, as per tradition ;)

p.s. fixed the Kat/Elena name mix up- thanks to darkangel and dark-super-angel for letting me know!