CHAPTER 12

Damon opened his eyes to see Elena beside him. He felt bad for having passed out so quickly after their love making. He smiled to himself at the memory of it. He was still amazed that this was even real. He had just made the most amazing love to Elena Gilbert and he hadn't had to trick her or compel into doing so. She wanted him. He reached out and stroked her hairline, moving her strands and tucking them behind her ear. She wrinkled her nose adorably and opened her eyes. They smiled at each other like goofy teenagers.

"That was…"

"Unbelievable!" He finished the sentence for her and they both burst into laughter.

"Well, I mean you have a lot more experience than me but for me it was amazing." She said, her eyes twinkling. He shook his head in amusement.

"No, it's never been like that before." He stated, understanding what he had been missing out on by never fully engaging with his partners before. She beamed in happiness and he pulled her towards him for a kiss. She moved to him a little sluggishly, when he realised that he had fed on her twice already and she had not fed in at least two days. He touched her face concerned as he took in her pallor.

"You need to feed. We better hope we've passed the 'locked in the room until you've made up' test little bro forced on us." Elena nodded and he helped her up to retrieve their clothing. She was a little unsteady on her feet so he kept a hold on her as they dressed. Damon really hoped that Stefan had the good sense to have unlocked that door by now. How had he even managed to reinforce the door so well that they couldn't just kick right through it? It was only made of wood after all.

They approached the door and both looked at each other expectantly as he reached and turned the handle. The door clicked open and they both sighed in relief as they opened the door and exited to the hallway. The house was deadly quiet as Damon looked around, sensing something wasn't right. He smirked as he took in the sight of the metal sheeting leaning against the wall, which had evidently been propped against the door to prevent them kicking the door out. The house was deadly quiet and although this wasn't exactly unusual (considering only two people lived there), Damon couldn't shake a feeling of unease. Elena didn't seem to notice and they made their way to the lounge.

Caroline and Stefan were waiting for them as they entered. Elena felt a little uneasy under their gazes, especially considering that they both knew what had transpired in Damon's room – the good and the bad. Caroline had that smile on her face that was a veiled attempt at reassurance. Elena shot her a questioning look. She wanted to be mad at Caroline for sticking her in that room for days but then again, she was happy that it had happened because now she and Damon knew where they stood. Damon took her hand in his subtly and squeezed ever so slightly to give her some confidence. She looked up at him and he smiled.

"So I guess we passed the test, considering you've permitted us to leave our cell?" Damon turned his attention towards them, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Elena you look hungry, do you want to come eat with me? Matt is ready and waiting at the Grill for us." Caroline tried to sound chirpy and casual but Elena knew better. Her friend was hopeless at disguising when she was worried about something. Perhaps Caroline was worried for Stefan's feelings. Damon looked down at Elena with a bemused expression. It was obvious to him that Caroline was trying to get Elena alone for some girl chat, which meant that Stefan wanted to talk to him. Elena smiled at him and breathed out relaxing as she did so. It didn't matter what happened next because she had Damon now.

"Sure." Elena said as she gave Damon's hand a squeeze and looked over at Stefan. "Thank you for helping me Stefan." Stefan smiled back at her somewhat tightly and nodded. Caroline got up from the couch exchanging a look with Stefan that Elena couldn't quite place, before coming and linking arms with Elena. Elena reluctantly let go of Damon's hand. She wanted to kiss him, but then she remembered Stefan's presence and decided against it. Damon's eyes twinkled mischievously as he picked up on her body language, but she wasn't going to melt into that gaze right now. They had to be fair to Stefan.

Damon watched as the girls left in search of Matt's willing vein. He wasn't sure how this conversation was going to go, so he took his time turning back around to face Stefan.

"We need to talk." Stefan said looking at him.

"Understatement of the century brother." Damon jested, slouching down on the opposing sofa from Stefan. Stefan looked very uncomfortable as he tried to think of what to say, Damon tried to put him out of his misery. "Well, your little plot worked dear brother. Elena and I no longer want to tear each other to shreds."

"I'm glad." Stefan said, trying to sound convincing. Damon raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.

"How long did you cage us in there for?" Damon questioned. He really had no idea what day it was. He had been so out of it for a while, what with the near death healing and all. He seemed to recall having a rather strange conversation with Caroline at one point, where she intimated that she actually didn't want him dead anymore. He'd have to figure out if that memory was real.

"2 days." Stefan said bluntly. Damon let out a long breath. That was a long time to have been out of commission, considering they had a whole vampire hunter/ cure finding mission on their hands.

"Listen Damon, Caroline and I found something out that I really need to talk to you about."

"I'm all ears!" Damon joked, smirking. Stefan had his serious face on and Damon knew that whatever Stefan was about to tell him, he wasn't going to want to know.

"It's about Elena." Stefan paused briefly looking up at Damon before he continued, "About how she's changed since her transition." Damon kept his mouth shut and stared at Stefan blankly. He wasn't going to enjoy this one bit. Stefan swallowed nervously. "This isn't just about her having feelings for you, this is about why she can't feed on animals or blood bags…"

"It's her Doppelganger blood Stefan. It has to be." Damon shot in, feeling very uncomfortable.

"No Damon, it's more than that and deep down I think you know that. She hasn't just become an amplified version of herself, she's changed."

"She's allowed to change Stefan. People grow, they change their minds about things they want, things they do. That's more human than anything else in her so why is that such a problem for you all?"

"It's more than that and you know it!" Stefan raised his voice feeling exasperated. "Caroline was talking to Klaus and he seemed to be suggesting that the reason Elena has changed so much is because of you!" Stefan stood up and began pacing as he finished his sentence. Damon tilted his head up to the ceiling and chuckled.

"News flash – she's a vampire now, no compulsion opportunities anymore, therefore anything she does is of her own free will brother. I don't make her decisions for her, so why would her change of heart be anything to do with me. Other than her attraction to me of course." He added in wickedly. He wasn't quite sure why he was trying to get Stefan's heckles up. After all, Elena had said that Stefan had given them his blessing. What was the problem?

"Because she sired to you!" Stefan was angry now.

"What?" Damon almost laughed. "What are you talking about?"

"She became a vampire because of your blood and that is why she is acting like this."

"Ahhhh, I see now. She had to have been under some freaky sire compulsion to ever think that she could want me. That's what you're really saying isn't it? She couldn't possibly love me because she loves me right?" Damon laughed again, feeling anger brewing in his stomach. He wasn't going to let Stefan make him feel as though he could rip the rug from under him. He knew Elena loved him that was all that mattered. This was a ridiculous attempt for Stefan to convince himself that he hadn't lost her completely.

"Think about it Damon, every time you tell her to do something or think something she does. She comes around to your way of thinking. Elena never blindly did that with you before."

"That's not why you are trying to convince yourself that she is sired. You want to believe that she would still be with you and never look the path I was on if there wasn't something spooky going on. Well, you know Steph? Believe whatever you want, because it's not going to change anything between Elena and I. Not after these past 2 days." Damon got up quickly, too angry to continue this conversation but Stefan quickly moved to block his exit.

"Test it out then, if you're so confident that you are right. Tell her it's ok to feed from a blood bag."

"She'll throw up, she's tried it before." Damon leant in threateningly as he spoke.

"If she throws up then I'm wrong and you can do whatever you like. I'll even apologise." Stefan countered. Damon snorted and pushed him to the side as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

"It had better be an epic Shakespearian level apology brother!" He yelled as he slammed the door behind him.