A/N: A very special thanks to siberia21, for... you know what for :).

Chapter 10: You'll Be Just Fine

When Elena woke up the next morning, she found herself in a king-sized bed, with Damon sitting next to her, smirking. Alarmed, she sat up, frowning as she rubbed her eyes.

"Wha-?"

"You fell asleep in the car and you slept like you were hibernating so I carried you here," Damon grinned.

"Was I here the whole night? In... Your bed." With you? she added mentally.

"Yup."

"You, too?" she swallowed. Damon chuckled, his head leaning back just slightly. Elena syared at him as he did so - finding him handsome even with his disheveled morning hair - and cursed herself for it a second later. Damn stupid, disturbingly good-looking vampire.

"Cool your jets, I crashed downstairs." He paused. "I almost stayed, though," he said with a wink.

"Why?" Damon's face lost all the sarcasm.

"Because you asked me to."

"Oh," was all Elena could say. Had she really asked him to stay? Sweet baby Jesus. For the next few minutes, she cursed herself for it, and even briefly wondered - had she said anything else? She shivered at the thought.

"Okay, now, the bathroom's over there," Damon motioned to his left. "If you want to brush your teeth and, stuff," he said before Elena had the chance to say anything else. She grinned sheepishly and got up from the bed, hurrying to the bathroom. She was very grateful for the privacy.

She came out - after what seemed like a lifetime to Damon - all fresh and clean. Damon had been in the middle of buttoning up his shirt when he stopped, smirked at Elena and said,

"You do a lot of interesting things in your sleep, you know. You're very... talkative."

He just couldn't let it go, could he? Elena thought as she opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Damon smirked. He was taunting her, and he was enjoying it. She, on the other hand, wasn't. All she could think was 'Oh Lord, what now?' She turned to the door to hide her blush, and Damon suddenly appeared next to her, draping an arm around her shoulders.

"Was it something bad I said?" Elena asked as they descended the stairs.

"Oh no," Damon chuckled. "You just..." He coughed, trying to stifle a laugh. "Just said my name, took my hand, told me to stay in bed with you, and then you hugged me like I was your damn teddy bear." He smirked. He was clearly enjoying himself, taunting her. Elena looked at him in utter horror.

"Oh, God no. Please tell me that was a really bad joke. You liar."

Damon fake-coughed.

"Actually, darling, I didn't make any of it up. You really did it."

"I did not!" Elena exclaimed.

"You did," Damon whispered, leaning his face tauntingly close to hers. Elena froze. Not because of Damon's closeness, and even not because of a vision. But because of Stefan, who was currently standing a few feet away from the two, frowning. He seemed hurt. Damon's arm fell from Elena's shoulders, but the smirk remained.

"I'll just let you two talk, 'kay babe?" he said, stepping away from Elena. She shot him a death glare and he, snickering, looked at her innocently, showing just how purposedly he'd called her that in front of his brother. She rolled her eyes. He started to walk away, but Elena stopped him, saying,

"Hey, thanks for yesterday. I needed that."

Damon grinned as he took a step closer to her and said,

"Anytime babe." From the corner of his eye he saw Stefan fidget, clearly uncomfortable with the scene in front of him, and he laughed as Elena slapped his chest. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but let out a little laugh as Damon disappeared into the parlor with a wolfish grin on his face. Stefan looked back at him, shaking his head. Then he turned to Elena.

"Babe? - Seriously?"

"What?" Elena inquired with a frown on her face.

"Is that his new nickname for you?" He was angry, but he couldn't hide the sadness and jealousy in his voice.

"No, but we need to talk." Stefan nodded.

"Let's talk in my room. And please don't disappear this time."

Elena nodded as they ascended the stairs. Turning to look back for a moment, she caught a glimpse of Damon, who raised his glass as if to say 'Good luck'. She could almost hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Once upstairs, Stefan closed the door and Elena said,

"Okay, listen-"

"What's going on between you and Damon?" Stefan interrupted. Elena couldn't help but notice he was worn down - his eyes were darker, his whole demeanor seemed darker... weaker? than usual. Why, Elena had no idea.

"What makes you think there's anything going on between us? There's nothing." If the whole thing hadn't been so frustrating, Elena would've laughed. She and Damon? Nothing more or less than best friends. Stefan barked a laugh; a short, cold one. It sounded almost menacing. Elena frowned again. Stefan seemed so different - so cold, so detached. Like he was drifting away from her.

"So where do we stand now?" he asked after a while of very uncomfortable silence. Elena looked down.

"I don't know, Stefan, I... I guess I need time to thing about things, figure out what to do, how to feel. I..." A pause. Slowly, Elena met his gaze. "I need some time off, Stefan."

"It's about Damon, isn't it?" She could hear the jealousy he was trying so hard to hide. But even if it had been about Damon, he'd have no right to be angry. He was the one who'd screwed them up.

"No. This isn't about Damon. This is about me, Stefan? Is that so hard to believe?"

"I know you slept with him last night, okay? You don't have to lie about it. Were you trying to get back at me? Because if you were, I get that I made a mistake. I get that. But you didn't have to sleep with my brother."

This time, Elena couldn't contain the laughter that bubbled up in her, and as a burst of laughter broke free, Stefan clearly questioned her common sense.

"I didn't sleep with him!" she laughed again at the absurdity of it all. "I slept in his bed, and Damon slept on the sofa. As for you and Katherine, though..." Elena trailed off, looking at Stefan pointedly. He sighed, looking down.

"Do you still love her?"

"Elena..."

"Do you?"

"That's absurd, Elena."

Stefan still hadn't lifted his gaze. Elena huffed.

"That answers my question alright." She started for the door when Stefan called after her.

"No." Elena turned back to look at him. "I don't love her."

Elena looked at him; his face was cold, as if the boy in front of Elena were a stranger.

"You're lying," she stated and stormed out of the door, out of the house, away from Stefan. She didn't know what she'd expected, but it sure wasn't that. She wanted... God, she had no idea. She wanted it all to be a bad dream so when she woke up everything would be alright between them. She just wanted to curl up in Stefan's lap and have his arms around her. But this wasn't a dream. This was their reality now. And the reality was that Elena was on the verge of crying because she knew she'd never get things back to the way they used to be. Stefan obviously still felt something for Katherine, and Elena couldn't just go on, knowing that. But why shouldn't he feel something for Katherine? He came to Mystic Falls because Elena looked like her. He didn't know anything about Elena, yet he wanted to be with her, get to know her. 'I have to know her,' he'd said. He'd kept Katherine's picture for over a century, and for all Elena knew, he still had it. Thinking about those things made tears well in Elena's eyes and she didn't even try to fight them. She just felt too weak.

Elena started walking home - she was in need of some thinking time, but when a car pulled over right next to her, she couldn't help but feel grateful. Damon rolled down the window, asking,

"Need a ride?"

Elena smiled through her tears and got in. She tried to avoid looking at Damon as she wiped off her tears.

"Want to talk about it?" Damon asked as they drove towards her house. Elena shook her head, a few tears sliding down her cheeks as she laughed for a second. Then she started nodding.

"Stefan and I... we kind of broke up." Another tear escaped her eyelids.

"Oh," was all Damon could say. Elena nodded and continued,

"I mean, I asked him one question, a question that should be the easiest in the world, but he couldn't even answer it."

"What was the question?" Damon carefully asked after a brief pause as Elena needed to take a few deep breaths to keep herself from crying.

"I asked him if he still loved Katherine," she said. "If he still does."

Damon looked at Elena, eyes full of sympathy for the girl sitting next to him.

"If I asked you the question, what would your answer be?" Elena asked.

"My answer would be hell no," Damon said in less than a second. He was sure of it.

"Wasn't so hard, was it?"

"It wasn't." he paused for a second. "Are you alright?" He immediately cursed himself for asking that when Elena's eyes teared up again. Of course she wasn't alright. He cursed himself for making her cry again. He hated that, because it meant she was in pain. Damon didn't want Elena to be in pain.

"I mean... I'm the one who technically broke up with him, and I had a damn good reason for it, too," she rambled, tears sliding down her cheeks as she sniffled. "But that doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt."

That was when Damon pulled over at her house and turned to her. A sad smile on his face, he lifted his hand to stroke her cheek.

"You're going to be fine. Maybe not today, but soon."

"You don't know that," Elena said sadly.

"I do. And I promise you - you'll be just fine."

They smiled - Damon reassuringly, Elena hopefully. They got out of the car and Damon walked Elena to her door, where she turned to him, saying,

"Thanks for bringing me home, Damon." she hugged him tightly. They were both oblivious to the fact that Jenna was watching them from the window.

"No problem," he replied, winking and giving her a lopsided grin. "Don't be a stranger now."

"I won't," Elena replied, smiling as she disappeared into the house.