So sorry it's taken this long. I'm not going to bore you with excuses. Hope you like this chapter as much as I do. It's more dialogue than anything and is mostly just a Bella & Damon chapter for all those that want to see more of them together.

Enjoy.

Chapter 10:

"Damon, what are you doing?"

He smiled, pulling her along behind him, a red blindfold covering her eyes. He had tested the material to make sure she couldn't see through it with her advanced eyesight, but resigned himself to the fact she would be able to see a little.

"We still have a date to go to, remember?"

Bella frowned behind the blindfold, "We spend every day together. I thought ..." She didn't know how to finish her sentence, at least not in a way that wouldn't offend him in some manner. 'I thought you just forgot about it' seemed a slightly weak excuse, and Damon never forgot anything.

"A break from all the chaos at home would be nice too. I wouldn't want either of us to go crazy, stuck there all day, every day." Damon replied.

"What you mean is, you want to avoid Elena after she found out you killed Isobel, her birth mom and Alaric's wife."

She heard him sigh, but he didn't come back with his usual smart-ass comment. He just kept walking her through the forest. She didn't know why he was being silent. He usually didn't feel remorse after killing someone, especially as it was a few years ago. Maybe he's changing, Bella thought to herself. She didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing.

After a few more minutes, he came to an eventually stop. She could hear the river nearby, and when he took the blindfold off of her, she saw she was correct. There was a blanket and a basket sat on the river bank. She felt a fluttering inside her, something she hadn't felt before.

"You didn't have to, Damon."

"I wanted to," he replied simply, walking over and kneeling on the blanket. She followed him, sitting down opposite him. He pulled out a couple of things from the basket, and in true vampire style, a couple of bottles of blood. They were disguised in green wine bottles, one human blood for him and animal for her.

"I got Stefan to get it. No matter how much I like you, I am never going near a deer to drain it."

Laughter filled through the forest for most of the afternoon. Their day together, away from the chaos back in Mystic Falls, had given them both the relaxation and life they needed. But as the sky deepened in colour and they led on the blanket looking out over the trees, Damon's mind recalled subjects that had been floating around for days; things he wanted – needed – to share with Bella.

"I didn't kill her."

Bella frowned, looking over at Damon. "What?" she asked.

"Isobel – I didn't kill her."

"Then ... what happened to her?"

He sighed, "She, somehow, found me. She was obsessed with the supernatural and wanted to be turned. I know it was only a few years ago but I was a lot more ... careless then. I didn't care if she had a family or anyone that would miss her. I just thought her stubbornness and want to see a wider world would make her a good vampire. So I changed her."

Bella hadn't expected that. "Do you know where she is?"

He shook his head, "No. I didn't stick around for very long. She seemed perfectly capable of looking after herself."

"Are you going to tell Elena?"

"Do you think I should?"

Bella sighed, sitting up. "I don't know. If I was Elena, I'd want to know. Elena was distraught when she thought Isobel was dead. She wanted to meet her, to find out things; but if Isobel is a vampire... She's not going to be the same, is she? She wanted to be changed, so she'll be arrogant because she thinks she's better than humans."

"Well, I'll stay hidden out here and you can do what you want."

Bella turned to glare at him, "You're not getting out of this one. Elena needs to hear it from you."

He sighed, sitting up next to her. "Bella, you should know by now I'm not much good at this emotional family stuff."

She shook her head, "I don't care. She deserves to know, before she finds out from someone else." She looked at him almost pleadingly, wishing he would understand Elena needed to find out from him and not a stranger that didn't care what effect the information had on her.

Damon looked at her, wondering how on earth someone that had been through so much could still have enough love and warmth left inside her. It made his heartbreak seem insignificant when you looked at how badly he had been acting, killing people left, right and centre.

He nodded, "Okay, I'll tell her," he sighed, "I really don't know how you do it, Miss Swan."

"Do what?" she asked.

He shook his head, "I'll bet you could get anyone to do whatever you wanted with those big eyes of yours."

She smiled, a slight smugness shining through her. She found she liked being able to get him to be a better person, even if it was through slight manipulation.

"Don't get too arrogant, now." Damon said, reclining backwards and resting his hands behind his head, a smirk on his lips.

And cocky Damon was back.

"Do you know where she is, Damon?" Elena asked, reeling from the new information. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to find her birth mother now.

"No. I haven't heard or tried to hear from her since." Damon replied.

Stefan frowned, "Well, maybe she doesn't want to be found. Alaric hasn't been able to find her, so I'm not sure we'll have much more luck, Elena."

Elena sighed and nodded, "Yeah. But it just would be nice to finally know the truth – like who my father is."

Bella thought of something, then – something she hadn't thought of before. "Elena, if you're sure you want to find her, I think I might know who can help." Bella said. Elena, Damon and Stefan all looked at her with furrowed brows.

"Who...?" Elena asked.

Bella glanced at Damon, "The Volturi."

I made it my second longest chapter, hopefully to make up for my later than normal update.

Love you all.

E. x