This chapter is short and really, it's just a filler to get the next bit of Delena fun on the way. It's so unimportant I couldn't even think of a chapter title. Sorry that I keep you waiting for the good stuff. It will come next week, I promise.

Just A Filler

6:42 o'clock, that's when she'd woken up from her impromptu nap this afternoon. Elena wondered why she didn't feel more hungry by now. Sure, there was a light gnawing in her stomach, but nothing like the gut-wrenching hunger she knew she should be having after nearly an entire day without food.

She sat at the edge of the bed and ran her hands through her hair, trying to get the worst tangles out. Involuntarily her eyes traveled over to the small table by the window. The box of biscuits she'd taken upstairs with her earlier stared back invitingly and Elena went to make short work of ripping the box open.

She settled down on the cushioned window seat, shoved one of the delicious chocolate cookies into her mouth, and let her gaze wander out of the enormous window.

This side of the boarding house went out to the woods and Elena lazily watched the early evening sun flitter through the crowns of high oaks and other trees she didn't know the name of. Botany had never been her strongest subject in school but now she suddenly wished she'd paid more attention to it when Mrs. Riley had tried to teach them local flora in class.

Elena noticed some movement in one of the closest trees and strained her eyes to focus on it. A squirrel, barely visible but for its bushy tail, was scurrying up one tree, then quickly jumping to the next one and scrambling down its trunk before it vanished in the undergrowth near the house.

A playful smile curved Elena's lips watching the animal scamper around, appearing here and there between the bushes, while it seemed unconcerned with possible predators lurking around, waiting to end its life.

'Maybe it knows,' Elena suddenly thought and her smile widened, 'that it has nothing to fear now that Stefan's not around.'

As soon as the thought had crossed her mind, Elena's brows furrowed. Was that really how she thought about Stefan these days? A predator? A thread to animals?

No, first and foremost he was still her boyfriend. The man she loved. Guilt suddenly crept up on Elena when she realized that since seeing Stefan off to the airport this morning she hadn't checked her cell once. He'd probably been trying to call her multiple times already.

Elena jumped up from the window seat and crossed the room to where she'd left her bag on one of the chairs. She dug around for her cell and flashed it open.

Three missed calls and two text messages. All from Stefan.

Elena cringed and opened the first message.

Arrived well, heading over to the hotel now. Call me, love, Stefan

The second text, sent two hours later, was a lot longer than the first and Elena could read the concern between the lines.

Hey, is everything alright? Are you okay? Is Damon giving you trouble for moving out again so soon? Ignore him. Don't let him get to you, no matter what he says he can't be trusted. Elena, please, promise me to stay away from him. He's only playing with your goodwill and he'll let you down eventually, I know from experience. I'm seeing the lawyer now, call you when the meeting's over. Love, Stefan.

Elena went to type a quick reply. She was trying to find the right words to explain things to and reassure Stefan that everything was alright when a familiar dark voice suddenly interrupted: "How is my dear brother?"

Elena looked up, startled, and noticed Damon lean casually in the open doorframe. "Has he begun to extinct Seattle's animal population already? Should we alarm WWF, make them put the squirrels onto the list for endangered species?"

Against her will Elena had to smile. "He's fine. A bit worried perhaps, but…"

"And that's different to his usual brooding self how?" Damon raised an eyebrow and stepped into the room. "Of course he'd be worried if you told him you'd be staying here."

Damon plopped down next to Elena and pulled her feet to rest on his lap. "And with good reason, I might add. You and me, all alone, finally able to have all the fun in the world, with no one to stop us. No Buzz-Kill-Bob to rain on our parade."

"Stefan's not a Buzz-Kill," Elena quickly injected. "He's…"

"Boring," Damon smirked back. Then, in the blink of an eye, he leaned in and placed a finger onto Elena's lips. "And not here, so let's not kill the fun ourselves by talking about him, okay? We have far better things to do."

Elena stared at Damon's face, so close to hers that she was able to count his eyelashes, and suppressed a shudder. Her lips tingled from his touch and she had to force herself to pull back a little. With as much willpower as she could muster Elena opened her mouth to tell him to back off but what came out was:

"What better things did you have in mind?"

Huh?

Damon's eyes lit up and his hand slid up her calf. "How about a repeat performance of last night?"

Elena felt her face grow hot, not to mention the Goosebumps on her leg where he was touching her, but she ignored it and shot back instead: "Thanks but no thanks, Damon. My arms are still aching from dragging you across the floor and I'm pretty sure I've got bruises all over my…"

Elena stopped short when she saw the sudden look on Damon's face. Confusion, definitely, and… was that concern? Damon's gaze flew over her body and came to rest on one dark purple spot right above her right knee. She'd bumped into the edge of the bathtub there.

Damon's eyes snapped up to her, brows furrowed, and then they fell down to her knee again. His hand traveled up her calf and traced the outline of the bruise. He looked at her again, blue eyes intense and sincere, and Elena read the unspoken 'What happened?' 'Did I do that?' from his face.

She startled even more when he suddenly bent down and placed the softest of butterfly kisses onto her knee.

'I'm sorry' rang through Elena's head as if he'd actually spoken the words.

"Okay, so," Elena cleared her throat and lifted her legs from Damon's lap. "We agree then. No repeat performance of last night." She stood up and put some distance between them.

"Well, not that part, obviously. Whatever that was."

His last words had been uttered so softly that Elena nearly missed them. She turned to him but Damon had already stood up from the window seat as well. He stood with his back to her, seemingly staring out of the window.

Elena felt the sudden urge to walk over, put her arms around him and reassure him that he hadn't hurt her. But she squashed it down.

"So…" she muttered instead.

"So," Damon threw a look over his shoulder. "Let's make a deal."

"A deal? Again?" Elena remembered the last deal they'd made with mixed feelings. In exchange for his room she'd promised him one hour of her time, spent how he wanted. Elena had her suspicions about how much of the fulfillment Damon actually remembered but…

"Yep, a slight variant of our last one, to make up for last night," Damon came over to her with a smirk. "I promise," he lifted his hands like swearing in court and Elena had to smile immediately. Damon stopped right in front of her.

"With all the sincerity I own…" he paused and his smirk grew.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Which, we all know, is next to nothing."

"True, still…" Damon continued, "I promise to take you out on a fancy date, with an expensive dinner, a movie and everything you want…"

"What if I don't want…"

Damon looked at her as if he wanted to call her insane for even suggesting such a thing. No woman could ever not want to have a date with him.

"As I was saying," he leaned close to her face, "we go out, have fun, do whatever you wanna do, and you can even drag me to watch one of those cheesy-lame-romance-chit-flicks you girls seem to like so much, I won't complain at all…"

Elena rolled her eyes again, though she had to admit that this was kind of fun. Still, she crossed her arms in front of her and mocked: "What exactly are you offering here, Damon? I mean, so far I've only heard one side. What do I get out of this if I were to put up with you for another night?"

"You get me, completely at your disposal," Damon grinned back. "For a small fee of course. If I were you I'd take me up on that offer because you're not gonna hear it ever again. Strictly a one-time-deal."

"So, you want me to put up with your company for another night and expect me to pay for it still?" Elena shook her head. "Sorry, but that doesn't sound too alluring to me. Seems like you get all you want while I…"

"All I want, Elena?" Damon lifted an eyebrow suggestively. "Not likely."

"Well, you seem to be craving my company lately, for whatever dubious reasons," Elena stated.

"No dubious reasons at all, Elena," Damon let his palm travel up her bare arm up to her shoulder. "Just the obvious."

"Damon," Elena pulled away.

"What? I like your company, that's all." Damon shrugged. "I told you before. And I know you can be fun when you're not angsting over my stupid little brother. You said it yourself when we were in Atlanta. You used to be more fun. So, why don't you give me a chance to bring out the old, carefree, fun Elena that's lurking inside of you, huh?"

"That's all this is about? Bring out the fun Elena?" Elena wasn't sure if there weren't some other, ulterior motives, behind Damon's nice behavior. Oh, who was she trying to fool? Of course he had ulterior motives. This was Damon Salvatore!

"That's all, yes!" Damon answered and looked at her with bright shining eyes and pouting lips. Elena felt her resolve starting to crumble. When he looked at her like this…

"Okay," she sighed at last. "Let's go out and have fun."

Damon's triumphant smile brightened the room.

"But," Elena injected, "I have one condition."

"What?"

"You," Elena poked a finger into Damon's chest, "are not going to get wasted again. I want to have fun and I'm not gonna have this evening end with me having to drag your drunken ass home. Understood?"

A small smile curled around Damon's mouth and he nodded: "Understood. So here's the deal. We will go out, have fun and not mention my brother at all. For the entire evening it's us alone. And I'm not gonna get drunk. Promise."

He stuck out his hand and after a slight pause Elena took it to seal the deal.

"Now, how about we meet downstairs in a few?"

"Okay," Elena answered and motioned for him to leave. She stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Damon stared at the door for a second before he made his way out into the halls. A small smile played around his lips when he sauntered down the hallway.

"I won't get drunk, alright," he chuckled. "Elena never said anything about her though, did she?" Thinking back to the time they'd had fun doing shots at Bree's Damon added to himself: "We'll see if her tolerance is still way up there. And I'm gonna find out exactly how much it's gonna take for Elena to lower her defenses and start falling for my charms."

Little did Damon know yet that that particular feat had already been accomplished, no alcohol needed whatsoever.

TBC

I know, pointless and unimportant. But now the fun night out can begin. I hope I'll have the next chapter out by next Wednesday.