Chapter 10

Elena woke up slowly the next morning, her eyes blearily taking in her mother sitting on the edge of the bed. She sat up and looked at her questioningly.

Miranda gave her a soft smile.

"Damon told us what happened. I'm so sorry you had to go through that honey." She murmured, her eyes filled with sympathy as she gazed at her daughter.

Elena nodded her thanks, staring at the sheets as the image of Caroline's unconscious body drifted in front of her eyes.

She took a deep breath and clambered out of bed. Her bare feet making her shiver as they hit the cold floor. Last night seemed almost like a dream, everything felt so surreal, like she didn't really know which way was up.

"I'm going to the hospital." She said distractedly, moving about her room in search of the jeans she discarded the night before.

"Do you want me to give you a ride?"

She found the jeans and grabbed a clean shirt from her closet, throwing them on her bed and glancing at her mom.

"No, I'll be fine."

It saddened her how distant they'd become, but now wasn't the time to delve into that. She needed to see her friend, reassure herself that she really was ok and then talk about shoes and boys and just forget about all this drama.

She sighed and gave Miranda a look.

"I need to change."

"Right." She nodded, and looked slightly wistful as she got up to leave.

She hesitated at the door and gave Elena a soft smile.

"I love you Lena. You know that right?" She murmured.

"Yeah. I know that."

When the door closed behind her, Elena closed her eyes and took another deep breath before hurrying to get dressed.

"Do you have him?"

"Yes. Serial rapist, he's been working the area for a few weeks. We've been trying to catch him for a while."

"The girl last night, did he…"

"No. He heard us coming and left out the window. She got off lucky."

"Right. Thanks for letting me know."

"Sure thing, Damon."

Damon hung up the phone and huffed out a breath, staring at the rain streaked window in his room.

He had spent most of the night tossing and turning, the memory of Elena's soft lips against his cheek, burning in his brain. He had never been like this over a girl, he didn't like it. He didn't want to care about her, although he knew it was far too late for that. He was currently trying to convince himself that he only cared about her in a physical capacity. He was determined not to let his bizarre infatuation go any further. She was seventeen years old, he was twenty three and, as many fathers had told him, trouble.

He was angry enough with his own father for dragging her into this as it was, without leading her deeper himself. He didn't want her to get hurt. He knew he was being completely ridiculous. He barely even knew the girl. Yes she was beautiful and he wanted her bad, but he wasn't stupid, he knew it went beyond that. He had been down this road before and he knew where it led. Pain on both sides.

He needed to nip this in the bud while he still could.

Elena spent the rest of the day at the hospital. Caroline had woken up and thankfully, did not remember the majority of the ordeal. Her mom, the sheriff, was livid and had insisted on taking over the case.

Elena learned that the man they had caught was an assailant that they had been after for a while, apparently he had been patrolling the state doing awful things to pretty blonde girls. She shuddered at the very thought, and thanked the lord that Caroline had been lucky enough to get away with comparatively nothing.

She didn't head home until late into the evening, both wanting to spend as much time as possible with her friend, and wanting to avoid another confrontation with her mom at home. She hated the way whenever they had so much as a conversation she could practically taste the strain between them. It made her feel homesick for her old life. For the mornings when she would wake up to the smell of her dad's famous waffles and the sound of Jeremy's infectious laughter.

She arrived back at the Salvatore estate and could tell that her mom and Giuseppe were out. Again. She traipsed upstairs and was greeted by the sound of a girls' loud moans coming from Damon's room. She felt her face grow hot and dashed into her bedroom slamming the door. With a nasty, bitter taste in her mouth, she stood in the middle of the room feeling more alone than she had in a while. After a particularly high pitched cry of pleasure, she grabbed her bag and ran back out onto the landing and down the stairs. She flew out the front door, slamming it behind her and raced down the path, her heart pounding in her chest.

She sat alone in her car for a long, silent moment before bursting into tears. She didn't care that Damon was sleeping with some girl, she just was on emotional overdrive after everything that had happened. Ever since she had moved into the Salvatore boarding house it had been one thing after another. Fighting with Damon, overhearing that creepy conversation, Caroline being hurt… she was over tired, over emotional and lonely. That was all.

She leant back in her seat and let the tears softly drip down her cheeks. Closing her eyes and imagining herself far away in some beautiful place where everything was perfect and every bad event was erased.

It wasn't long until she drifted to sleep, curled up in the front seat of her car, tears tracks etched into her smooth skin.

Damon lay in bed after he'd sent the girl, he was pretty sure she had said her name was Rainie, home with money for a cab. He felt unsatisfied and antsy. For the first time in years he found himself missing something, he wasn't sure what. But he knew that he craved something that the quick lay wasn't giving him. He had decided that sex was the best way to get his mind off whatever weird feelings he might have been developing but it hadn't really had the desired effect. Instead it had left him feeling empty and cold. With a heavy sigh he rolled over and forced himself to close his eyes and try to get some sleep.

Things were different after that. Whatever tentative friendship Damon and Elena had built had been broken, and they acknowledged each other only with brief nods and muttered hellos.

It hurt Elena. She had trusted him more than she had ever trusted anyone that night when he helped her find Caroline. She had put all her faith in him and he had saved the day. He had protected her and comforted her and looked after her. He had made her feel safe. She didn't know what she had done to make him withdraw from her. Whatever it was, she wished she could take it back.

The days passed slowly for her. She went to school, met her friends for lunch, smiled, laughed. But then she would get home to find her mom locked in her bedroom and Giuseppe locked in the study. Damon had a different girl over every night and none of them were quiet. Elena often found herself falling asleep in her car, hating every aspect of her 'home' life. Everything that had been left unsaid by all of them was heavy in the air and the house felt somehow larger and colder. She on the other hand, just felt empty.

Damon had reverted back to his worst possible behavior. He drank a lot and was rude to everyone he saw. The big job that his dad had financed had gone through without a hitch and Damon forced himself not to care.

That little flash of humanity he had felt, those moments when he had looked into Elena Gilbert's deep brown eyes and seen nothing but innocence and goodness, had scared him to his very core. He had been that person before, the one who treasured the good in the world, nurtured it, he didn't want to be that man again. He couldn't. He needed to be the person he had evolved into to protect himself, he wasn't going to let Elena scratch her way into his heart and leave him reeling. He was done with all that crap.

And so he closed off further than he ever had before.

I know this has taken horribly long but I am back on track with this story and have planned out the next few chapters, so the updates should be way quicker :)

Y'all probably aren't going to like this update, I'm sorry there wasn't much delena in this one and we've sort of gone back a few steps, but it will make the moment when he properly opens up to her (which he will) so much more important.

Anyway, review to let me know if any of you are still interested in this story! x