Authors Note: Wow, I can't believe how long its been since I put my last chapter up on here. I can only apologize to everyone. I had about half of it written for the longest time and just didnt know where to go from there. I want to say I hope its worth the wait, but nothing can be worth that long of a wait, so all I can say is I hope you enjoy and hope you all haven't lost complete interest in the story! I really am so sorry it's taken so long for this to come up and I'm going to try a new thing where I make sure I write AT LEAST 1 page a day and hopefully none of my updates should take anywhere near as long as that! OK, going to stop talking so you can read... (Btw, the title of this chapter is after the awesome Air Traffic song 'Shooting Star')


He waited for her to get within hearing distance before informing her, "In my defence, your name was supposed to be called after Caroline's." She sat down to occupy the seat next to him.

"Well, whatever your reasoning is, Caroline's pissed." Peyton replied. She had only managed to escape from her friend's endless, (and a little too specific for Peyton's liking), threats directed towards her, when Stefan interrupted in an attempt to calm her down.

"She's not the only one."

"I thought charity wasn't your thing."

"Like I said, your name was called earlier than expected." He half-answered her implied question.

"Fixing it so we have two dates in just this week; so romantic… and un Damon-like." She said, wondering why he was so intent on spending so much time with her lately; it just wasn't his MO. Not that she minded spending time with him; in fact, (and she would only ever admit this to herself), she quite enjoyed it. And that fact alone posed a problem to her. Enjoying his company, being physically attracted to him and feeling like he understood her in a way she didn't even understand herself was not what she wanted or needed. She wasn't ready to be in any sort of relationship and she especially knew that getting involved with Damon would be more complicated than most; they were too alike. It was different to her likeness to Lucas. With Lucas, she shared similar tastes and beliefs; he always seemed to know when she was in a bad mood and what to say to her to make her feel better. But with Damon, it felt like he knew what she was feeling before even she fully understood… because he had felt it too. Every experience; every pain; every heartache she had been through, he understood it…because he had been there too. And acknowledging that fact; that someone she didn't know a few months was capable of understanding her in a way nobody else ever would scared the hell out of her. It didn't help that her fears were compounded by the idea that that person felt like a complete stranger at times; just when she felt like she knew him, he would do or say something to completely throw her off and change her opinion of him all over again.

And then there were times when he would reply with a completely unsurprising, typical of him response and her anxieties would completely disappear. "Well, I can tell you the things that I had in mind for tonight definitely were not un Damon-like." He smirked in a way that she shouldn't be finding nearly as attractive as she did.

"And he's back…"

"He never left. It's a shame you're not going on a date with him tonight."

"Guess I'll have to settle for his brother instead."

"Yeah, you don't seem too upset about that."

"I must like him more than I like you." She shrugged casually.

"They always do." came the mutter that escaped from his lips, sounding sourer than he intended it to. Peyton either chose not to respond, or simply didn't hear him as she remained silent, so he added "And I get Malibu Barbie. I swear Jenna fixed it this way just to annoy me."

Peyton sighed, shaking her head as if to offer mock sympathy. "You just cannot bribe the help these days."

"Tell me about it…" Damon sighed whilst thinking to himself how it would have helped if she wasn't wearing the damn vervain bracelet that Elena gave to her. The whole town was full of do-gooders; it was sickening.

Peyton waved goodbye as Elena and Matt passed them, presumably to begin their date. Another reason, Peyton was sure, that Caroline was so angry with her; not only did she set her up on a date with her ex, but she also inadvertently set her boyfriend up on a date with his ex. To add to that, the fact that Tyler was going out with someone noticeably not of the opposite sex, Peyton was only 50% positive that she would make it through this night alive.

The pair turned their heads simultaneously as Stefan and Caroline made their way across the room to them; Caroline's expression less animated and more sullen than usual, shooting the two of them evil glares.

"You ready to go?" Stefan asked, directing his question at Peyton. Peyton nodded and got up to leave, muttering back to Damon "Can you please do yourself a favour and not call her Malibu Barbie. She's out for blood tonight."

"I'm so scared." He replied flatly.

…..

"So, where to?" Stefan asked as he followed Peyton to her car, zipping his jacket up as he noticed the lingering storm clouds looming above them.

"Well, I seem to recall you owing me dinner for a certain Elena related problem that worked itself out." Peyton said, already making a mental list of the most expensive restaurants in Mystic Falls.

"Ah..." Stefan let out a long groan, "I'm going to regret promising you that one, aren't I?"

At that moment, Peyton's ringtone sounded from inside her bag, looking down at the caller ID, she threw Stefan her car keys so he could wait inside the car, "Give me a second."

"Hey."

"Hey Nate, what's up?"

"Nothing much- basketball game got cancelled and Hales is out with Brooke, so I figured I would ring you, see what you're up to tonight." Nathan yawned, stretching out on the sofa.

"God Nate, you really know how to make a girl feel special, you know that?"

"What are you talking bout?"

"Can't play basketball, can't hang out with Haley, got nothing better to do, so you call me. It's like we're dating all over again."

"When you put it like that, you make it sound like I was this terrible boyfriend." He remarked. At her deliberate silence, he huffed "I wasn't that bad."

"With Haley. With Haley, you are the perfect boyfriend. With me- not so much. Anyway, as much as I would love to rehash the past with you, I'm just about to go to dinner with a friend." Peyton explained, not wanting to keep Stefan waiting.

"Guy friend or girl friend?" Nathan frowned; aware that Peyton was only vague or non-specific when she was hiding something.

"Just a friend, Nathan." Peyton sensed where he was going with this.

"So guy friend then." Nathan smirked, completely oblivious as to whether Peyton had been seeing anyone since she had arrived in the quirkily named town of 'Mystic Falls' (and he though 'Tree Hill' was bad!). Peyton had mentioned how she was close friends with a girl named Caroline, but whenever he had asked about whether she had been dating, she always seemed to skilfully avoid the subject. Nathan knew that something had happened between her and Lucas before she left, but he didn't want to push her on the subject. And he couldn't exactly ask his brother about it without arousing suspicion as to why he would be so interested. Between Lucas, Peyton and Brooke, there were so many sore topics of conversation that he felt himself constantly having to watch his words, always careful of what he might reveal to the wrong person or who he might upset.

"It's not like that."

"Right… Just call me back when you get back from your date." He replied, about to put down the phone when he heard her call out to him.

"You may have been the worst boyfriend, but you're the best friend I could ever ask for, you know that?"

Nathan smiled, "Love you too, Sawyer." It was rare, but every now and then Nathan would just know the perfect thing to say at the exact time that she needed to hear it. They had known each other since they were nine years old and though it wasn't the same kind of friendship she had with Lucas or Brooke, he knew when to give her space and when to avoid talking about things he knew she wasn't comfortable discussing. She put it down to years of practice. She didn't really care how he knew, she was just glad that she had a small part of Tree Hill with her even though she was miles away.

She put down the phone before walking round the car to the drivers side. "Sorry about that." She looked across to Stefan once she had got herself seated, as he noted her smiling from ear to ear, looking noticeable happier than just a few minutes ago.

"No problem. So, are you hungry?"

"Starving. Like three course, five star hungry." Peyton grinned at Stefan's crestfallen expression; though she had already decided to take them to a reasonably priced restaurant. Of course if it was Damon, she would go to the most expensive restaurant she could think of, and order the most expensive things on the menu. That thought brought her back to the reality of Caroline and Damon currently on their date, and as she drove downtown she wondered which of the two would snap first. Her money was definitely on Caroline.

….

"You know, you could at least ask me if I wanted something to eat!"

"I got you a drink!" Damon exclaimed back, thinking how she should consider herself lucky that he was feeling so generous tonight.

"Wow… You splashed out all of three dollars on me! How will I ever repay you (!)?" She replied in a sarcastic tone, causing both of them to stare at the other in shock, as they both separately shared the exact same thought- that sounded a lot like Peyton. Clearly she was starting to rub off on Caroline.

"And fyi" Caroline dragged the bar stool further away from Damon before sitting down, "bourbon" she said, holding up the glass he had ordered for her "is not my drink. I hate it. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not Peyton."

"Oh, I noticed…" Damon murmured, doing nothing to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"You might order it for her all the time, but it genuinely makes me gag." She continued as if she hadn't just been interrupted. "See, I prefer a simple orange juice, maybe a beer- but definitely not-"

"Oh my god!" Damon suddenly shouted, causing several people to turn their heads and stare. "Do you ever shut up!" He exclaimed as any final remnants of patience flew well and truly out the window. He called the waiter over "Give princess here whatever she wants."

Caroline opened her mouth to protest when she suddenly thought of a much more entertaining way to piss Damon off. "Fine." She smiled wickedly, reaching for the menu, "I will have a bottle of your most expensive wine on ice and an orange juice for right now." She looked at Damon and grinned before opening the menu, "And I will also have…" She then proceeded to name every single one of the starters on the menu and began naming each of the meals on the main course.

The waiter interrupted her, "So you want every one of the mains, but the steak and chips?"

"Yeah, I never really liked the steak… Actually you know what, order one of those as well- maybe I'll change my mind."

"OK. Any desserts?" The waiter asked, though at this point the question had become a rhetorical.

"How about I get back to you on that- I'll need to see how I feel." Caroline answered, though she knew that she wouldn't even be able to make it past all of the starters, let alone anything else.

"And when will the rest of your party be arriving?"

"My party?" Caroline furrowed her brow, confused. "Oh, no- this is just for me." Caroline smiled at the now astonished waiter. He then stared from a triumphant looking Caroline, to the despondent man sat next to her, whose drink glass was pressed firm against his temple, with a pained expression etched across his face. He offered him a look of sympathy before rushing to the kitchen to put the order through; this was going to be a long night.

Meanwhile, Damon observed Caroline smiling brightly, slowly sipping her drink, knowing that she was thinking that she had got one over on him. Little did she know that he didn't intend on paying for any of it. One of the many perks of being able to compel anybody he wanted to and bend them to his will. One of the downsides, of course, was being unable to let her know that she hadn't succeeded in annoying him.

"This is so not how I saw this night panning out." Caroline thought aloud, abruptly bringing a halt to the welcomed silence that Damon had quietly been enjoying.

"You and me both…"

"Right, you were expecting a date with Peyton."

"And you were expecting to go out with your preppy little boyfriend. What's his name- Jim, James, Marcus…?"

"His name is Matt."

"And I'm already falling asleep."

"Then don't ask!" She snapped, barely keeping hold of her patience.

"Didn't he used to go out with Elena?" Damon asked; his question answered by Caroline's lack of response. Seeing an opportunity present itself, Damon let out a breath. "Wow… Aren't you even a little bit worried?"

"Worried about what?"

Damon shrugged his shoulders carelessly, "Your boyfriend on a date with his ex. You have no idea what they could be doing right now."

"I trust my boyfriend." She replied pointedly.

"More power to you; I don't know if I would be able to be so… trusting." He said in a way that, though sounding like a compliment, was very much intended to be taken as a negative connotation.

"It doesn't bother me." She lied coolly. "I'm surprised that you are okay about your brother going on a date with Peyton. It's very- gosh, what's the word…. trusting." Damon simply offered a tight lipped smile in response, as Caroline began to eat one of the starters that had arrived. Both unwilling to let the other know that what they had said had gotten to them, striking a raw nerve. They instead sat together in silence, as the insecurities and jealousies the pair held began eating away at them.

….

"So how long does your dad work away then?" Stefan asked, as the waiter left with their orders.

Peyton shrugged "It depends on the job. This one time, he left and he came back just a couple of weeks later- but normally he's away much longer than that. Longest he's ever been away is about 6 months."

"That must be hard for you."

"Yeah it is- some days are harder than others. But I know he calls whenever he can." Peyton sighed as she was reminded that aside from Mr. Saltzman passing on a gift from him; she hadn't spoken to her dad, even on the phone, in a really long time. Yes, it was definitely very hard for her. But she knew that he loved his job and she would never ask him to give up something he loved so much; especially after her mom died. "What about your parents? Damon never really talks about them."

This didn't surprise Stefan; the only time Damon ever mentioned their parents to him was when they were arguing- and even then it was in the heat of the moment. And he never talked about them with anyone other than Stefan; it was like that part of his life; the part when he was still human, when he couldn't choose not to feel, he preferred to just forget. Whereas Stefan tried to cling on desperately to that moment of his life, though he knew it was a fruitless task- no amount of want or desire could transform him back.

"I was three years old when my mom died, so I was really too young to know her. But Damon was about ten and from what I can remember, I know that he was really close to her; I'm pretty sure he was her favourite." Stefan answered honestly, as his mind relived a rare memory where Damon was truly happy, at a point in a time where Katherine didn't even exist yet.

"What about your dad?" Immediately, Peyton regretted asking the question as she noticed Stefan's muscles tense up and his arms fold across his body defensively.

"He died years after my mom died. Damon and my dad's relationship was… strained after our mom died. I think my dad resented Damon for how close he was with my mom like he had taken her away from him from the second Damon was born. And I guess Damon blamed my dad for her death. Then Katherine came along and it just got a lot worse."

"You and your dad were close." Peyton stated, less as a question and more as a fact, aware that Stefan had only really talked about Damon's relationship with their father and not his own.

"We were… once." Stefan whispered sombrely, as Peyton noted a dark expression etched across his face, as if he was reliving some painful memory.

"I'm sorry. I am being an idiot." She blurted out. "I mean, of all people, I should know what its like- not wanting to talk about dead parents." She said, annoyed at how tactless and inconsiderate she was being.

"It's okay." Stefan shook his head, "It was a long time ago. I've learnt to… live with it."

"And Damon?"

"Damon? He's uh… He's always been better at adapting to change. Probably more than anyone else I know." Stefan answered. Even before the transformation, Damon seemed to have an indescribable way of coping with whatever was thrown at him. The only emotion Damon regularly expressed was anger, but Stefan could recall only two times where Damon seemed visibly hurt; unsurprisingly, both times it was Katherine that was the root cause.

Damon glanced across to Caroline to see her checking her phone for at least the fifth time since all the starters had been cleared away. "Relax, I'm sure wonder boy and Elena are only doing PG-13 stuff" Considering for a moment, "at the most". He added, as if that would provide some great comfort.

"Why do you always have to be such an asshole?" Caroline asked sharply, as Damon filled his glass to the brim, preparing himself for another tirade of poorly constructed insults aimed to upset him. "If you think it makes you look mysterious or cool, you're wrong- it's just sad and pathetic and just points out to everyone what a cold-hearted, uncaring douche bag you really are."

"Ouch- your sound assessment of my character really wounds me, Caroline." He replied sardonically.

"Oh my god!" She let out a cry of frustration. This was exactly what she was talking about. Once again, she was completely baffled at how Peyton actually enjoyed his company.

"I figure she just wants for my body" was the cool reply from Damon as he shrugged his shoulders, throwing Caroline completely off guard as she realized she had voiced her last thought aloud.

"Well if that's the case, she is going to be seriously disappointed." Caroline interposed.

Damon let out a short snort of laughter, "Well, that was a cheap shot. Especially when we both know that you're lying."

"Were you always this arrogant?"

"Its not called arrogance when you've got the goods to back it up."

"Pass me a bucket." Caroline groaned in disgust.

"If you're feeling sick, please feel free to leave. If you're lucky, maybe wonder boy can extract himself from Elena long enough to see you how you are." OK, so that really was a cheap shot, but Damon couldn't help it; nobody should be subjected to spending this long alone with Caroline.

But if Caroline was affected by Damon's dig, she didn't show it, "What are you doing here, Damon?"

"Working my way slowly towards bankruptcy, evidently." Damon pointed to the waiter who was arriving with the first of Caroline's main courses.

"I mean it. Why are you here?" She asked, not giving him time to respond before continuing, "…Because if this is part of your plan to win Peyton over, it's not going to work. If I can see through it, then she definitely can. She's not interested in you."

"Who says I'm interested in her?" Damon asked "And even if I was interested, what makes you think it has anything to do with you", annoyed at how not only his brother but Caroline as well now seemed to think that they had some sort of say in his love life.

She scoffed, remarking "Please! I see more of you now whenever I'm with Peyton, than when we were together. And, it's my business because she's my friend and I care about her."

"Your point being…"

"You and her would never work. She's not going to give you what you want." At his blank expression, she sighed "She's not the kind of girl that would just sleep with you."

"Like you, you mean." He muttered under his breath, as she fixed him with a cold glare; though, in all fairness, even she had to admit she had walked right into that one.

"And considering that's the only thing that you're interested in, you might as well stop now because you're wasting your time."

"And what if I'm interested in more than just sex?" He replied, shocking both himself and Caroline as the words left his mouth. He did not just say that out loud. If only Stefan could hear him now…

"Are you?" The blonde frowned, all the anger and frustration suddenly forgotten as her curiosity took hold.

Damon shook his head; he may have let the ball drop once, but he was not about to have this conversation with Caroline. So instead he answered the only way he knew how; he lied. "Are you kidding? Of course it's about the sex."

Caroline nodded her head slowly, still not entirely convinced, she continued "Well if it was more than just sex it still wouldn't work out. I can tell you she's not interested in starting any kind of relationship with you."

"Why- because of Lucas?" Damon snorted, noting Caroline's stupefied expression, "What? You think all I talk about with her is how hot my body looks under this shirt?"

"Pretty much." Caroline replied honestly, unable to imagine Damon holding up an entire conversation that wasn't composed of him complimenting himself or alternatively, him insulting the other person- that was essentially what all of her conversations with him were based on.

"The Lucas thing won't last." Damon mused sagely, as though he was speaking from experience.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Unrequited love fades… eventually." He of all people should know. Granted it took him almost two centuries to get over Katherine, but Peyton didn't have the luxury of eternity, so it shouldn't last nearly as long for her he reasoned. He turned to face the pensive teenager, lost in thought "But you know all about that."

"If this is another dig at mine and Matt's relation-" Caroline began, her capacity to tolerate the snide remarks Damon had been throwing her way all night had well and truly exceeded its quota.

"Relax, for once its not. I'm just saying that there are certain people who you can tell, yours truly included, have endured the excruciating torture that is unreciprocated love." He began to pick at one of Caroline's untouched meals the waited had left a couple of minutes earlier, deciding it was safe to continue when Caroline didn't swat his hand away. "Me, you, Peyton- we all clearly have. Stefan's never experienced it… Neither has Elena. Am I wrong?" He asked, fully expecting Caroline to disagree for the simple reason that it seemed physically impossible for them to agree on anything.

This is why it surprised him when Caroline nodded her head in response, "No you're right." She thought back to the first boy she ever loved; she was 14 (so she wasn't exactly sure how much it counted as a 'real love') and he was 16. He left the summer she turned 15 and she remembered crying for hours and drowning her sorrows in chocolate chip ice cream as Elena and Bonnie consoled her. And then of course, there was Matt and the fleeting moments where she felt he would never love her; not like how he used to love Elena. Or still did love? She hadn't shared those insecurities with anyone- not even Peyton or Bonnie. But instead of dwelling on that, she suddenly realized a personal detail Damon had just disclosed.

"Wait a minute… Who have you ever loved?" Caroline asked disbelievingly.

"Nobody you know." He answered vaguely, not in the mood to highlight any more vulnerability to Caroline than he already shown.

Though, unfortunately for him, Caroline was incapable of picking up on hints. "How long were you in love with her for?"

Damon let out a sigh of frustration, attempting to change the subject "Are you going to drink that?" He pointed to the champagne that had been sitting in its chilled metal container for the past half hour.

"No, take it." She shoved the glass and champagne bottle in his direction uninterested, and ignoring his obvious reluctance to answer the question, she continued "So, who was she?"

"She was just a girl." Damon shrugged his shoulders, as he thought to himself- she was not just a girl.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Caroline's lips turned upward into a smile as she noted Damon's sudden reserved behaviour, and acknowledged this was the first time that she had ever said something to Damon that truly affected him.

Damon grimaced at how exposed he felt in this conversation. "Let's just drop the subject."

"She must have been someone pretty spectacular." Caroline whispered, more to herself than Damon.

"She was a bitch." He stated, a hint of anger creeping into his voice.

"Then you two were clearly a match made in heaven."

"You would think so…" He sighed inwardly, thinking how only a few months ago he considered that to truly be the case. That was until, of course, he discovered what a raging, lying sociopath she really was.

Caroline noted Damon's aloof expression and noted that if she didn't change the subject- and soon- she may just change her opinion of Damon completely, and that was just something she really wasn't ready to deal with.

"I guess part of me should be grateful that it didn't work out." She said, clarifying when he looked at her with a look of confusion "I mean, if you two had worked out and you were together right now, I might think that were actually a decent human being."

"Now that really is a chilling thought." He shuddered visibly at the idea.

"Of course it doesn't change the fact that you're deluding yourself if you think you and Peyton are going to happen." Caroline couldn't help but add.

"Oh, she wants me!" He declared self-assuredly.

"Keep dreaming." Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Oh trust me- in the dreams I've had, she definitely wants me." Damon smirked as his mind went to dirty places and Caroline's face exhibited visible disgust.

…..

"So… this was fun." Peyton stated as they walked out of the restaurant and began the fifteen minute walk towards her car- the only place they could find free parking at the time.

"Yeah, we should do it again." Stefan agreed, casually handing Peyton his jacket, reminding her of how Damon had done the exact same thing that night in the forest.

"You can bring Elena." Peyton offered.

"Right, and you can bring…" Stefan trailed off.

"Damon?" Peyton finished for him as she laughed.

"Yeah that sounds a little weird." Stefan smirked, as he imagined how catastrophic that date would be, "Damon and double date should never be used in the same sentence."

"Damon and the word 'date' should never be used in the same sentence." Peyton countered.

"Not even with you and him?" Stefan asked, raising his eyebrows at her expectantly.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Peyton asked, playing dumb, though she knew what was coming- Caroline had already asked her multiple times whether or not she liked Damon. Even Tyler asked her at one point- though his way of putting it was less "Do you have feelings for him?" and more "Are you sleeping with him?"

"Come on! It's obvious you like him." Stefan answered, feeling close enough to her now that he could be frank with her.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, for a start- you mentioned his name and brought him up in conversation out of the blue more than once when we were eating."

"I did not!" Peyton denied vehemently, grateful for the dark sky that was hiding the blush slowly travelling up her cheeks.

"And you don't seem to be the type of person that would spend as much time with Damon as you do, if you didn't like him to some extent." Stefan reasoned, ignoring her clear denial.

Peyton remained quiet; deciding that at this point, silence was the best way forward.

But eventually the silence got too much for her and she couldn't help but say "I do not like him. I'd have to be an idiot for liking someone so…so…" She stuttered over the last part of her statement- …someone so like her.

"I'm not judging you." Stefan regretted saying anything to begin with. "I just want you to be careful. He's…" Stefan began, unsure how to phrase himself.

"Bad news? Are you about to warn me off him again? Because you trying to be all forewarning and serious is too on the nose to me to take it genuinely." She cracked a slight smile.

"No." He shook his head. "It's just Damon's… complicated. I don't think he would be good boyfriend material right now."

"Well that's a shocker!" Peyton replied flatly, unimpressed at Stefan if these were the only words of wisdom he had to offer.

"If you got into a relationship with him right now, he wouldn't be in it for the right reasons. It's too soon." Stefan answered succinctly, avoiding the mention of the one person's name he really didn't need to say out loud. Peyton understood. She really did; she couldn't be in a relationship until she was finally happy with herself and being by herself. And it was the same for Damon. The two of them together would only end one way.

….

Caroline noticed Peyton and Stefan walking into the bar and immediately jumped from her seat; whatever anger she had felt towards Peyton forgotten as soon as she saw her. Stefan observed his brother sitting alone and made his way over to him, leaving the two friends to talk.

"So, am I forgiven?" Peyton asked, relieved the welcome she received wasn't one of violence like she had expected.

"As terrible as spending that long alone with him was…. Yes, you're forgiven."

"Was it really that bad?"

"Well, I didn't kill him- so I feel like there has been some degree of progress in our relationship." Caroline reasoned, before adding "Not to say that I didn't want to…. Multiple times…. With one of those sharp poky weapon things you always see in really bad 1980's horror films."

"I believe the word you're looking for is knife." Peyton offered sarcastically, refraining to smile as Caroline swatted her arm in response.

"I just spent one and a half hours alone with Damon Salvatore- I think the least you can do is hold back on the sarcasm a smidge!"

"OK, OK- I'm sorry!"

"So, how was the date?"

"More torturous than when I decided I was going to try and live off Bambi blood for a whole month in the summer of '69." The blue eyed vampire turned to his brother.

"Why did you do that?" Stefan asked incredulously; the two brothers always came in and out of each others lives and in 1969, Stefan recalled, he was travelling in India with Lexi and some other vampires they had met along the way.

"Nixon had just come into power." Damon replied simply, as if that would somehow explain everything to Stefan. "I think I was just having the vampire equivalent to a midlife crisis." At his brother's look of complete awe, he shrugged his shoulders "I figured if my cool baby bro was doing it, then maybe I should give it a try."

"It's amazing how, even after all these years; you still manage to surprise me." Stefan remarked, astounded.

"Well that is because, unlike you little brother, I am not an open book- I like to keep people on their toes, gives life all the more excitement and intrigue."

"You don't think being a vampire gives your life enough excitement and intrigue as it is?" He raised his eyebrows in incredulity.

"Oh, come on Stefan; even I have to admit that the novelty of being a vampire wears off a little from time to time." Damon answered honestly, as he was reminded how little he felt like his brother knew him sometimes.

"You love being a vampire." Stefan frowned in confusion. He was certain that he had met no other vampire that enjoyed being one and the perks that it brought as much as his brother.

"I do. I love being who I am- having the power that I do. I wouldn't have it any other way. But then something will happen every three of four of decades, and there's a part of me that will want something more…Something better." It just so happened for Damon that this inexplicable longing for something more had come about two decades too early.

Before Stefan could quiz him any more, like Damon was positive that he would, Elena ran up from behind them, placing her hands over Stefan's eyes. "Guess who?" She whispered into his ear. Stefan turned around to kiss his girlfriend chastely on the lips. "Hi." He smiled against her lips.

"Hey yourself. You have a nice date?"

"Yeah, I did- you?"

"Yeah- me and Matt hung out at the arcade and talked."

"I had a wonderful date too, thanks for asking Elena." Damon said, inserting himself into the conversation.

"Happy to hear, Damon." Elena replied dully before turning back to her boyfriend. "Caroline's getting a lift back with Matt, do you mind dropping me off back home?"

"Yeah, of course." Stefan agreed, quickly nodding goodbye to his brother and then walking away with Elena.

Damon turned his head just in time to see Elena and Stefan walking out the front doors and Caroline hugging Peyton goodbye and Matt waited patiently, holding the door open for her as she walked through. Peyton turned to leave and then noticed Damon still sat at the bar, where he had been since she had left him a couple of hours ago. She gave him a slight smile and a small wave before turning around to leave.

She got to her car door before she heard someone call after her; though she didn't need to turn around to see who it was. It felt like they were always chasing each other, caught in this never-ending game of cat and mouse.

He hesitated. He hadn't actually thought out what he was going to say past calling her name to get her attention. He eventually settled on "Hey."

"Hi." Peyton raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to say something more, "what's up?"

"Nothing." Damon shook his head, as he marvelled at how stupid he must look; he literally stopped her from leaving just so he could say the words 'hey' and 'nothing.' Deciding he should probably say something so they didn't seem like two people standing a couple of feet apart just staring at each other in silence, he asked "You had a good night?"

Peyton smirked, "You are the worst at small talk, you know that?"

"Yeah well, I'm new to this." He justified, as he realized that this was going to be much harder than he imagined.

"New to what?" Peyton furrowed her brows, still unsure what exactly this was.

"The whole honesty thing." OK, now he really was making no sense.

"Right …. Did Caroline slip something in your drink?"

"What? No." Damon said, feeling his palms get sweaty in nervous anticipation.

"Well whatever it is, can it wait until tomorrow because-"

"Go on a date with me."

"What?" Of all the things Peyton imagined Damon could have possibly wanted to say to her that was the furthest down on the list.

"Lets do this-us. Let's give us a shot."

"You're drunk?" But she knew this wasn't the case; she had seen him drunk and this definitely wasn't what it looked like.

"No."

"Then you're…. you're wrong." She replied in a pathetic attempt to dismiss him.

"I'm wrong?" He repeated, unable to resist the urge to smile.

"Yeah! You're wrong." She exclaimed, feeling herself get unreasonably angry at the position he was putting her in.

"Are you aware of how ridiculous you sound right now?"

"I'm ridiculous? I'm not the one that just asked you out on a date!"

"Which you still haven't responded to by the way."

"No! I'm not answering you."

"You sound like a two year old right now." He remarked.

"I don't care." She folded her arms stubbornly across her chest. "I'm not doing this with you."

"Why the hell not?" He frowned.

"Because, this isn't what you want. You don't want me."

"God!" He exhaled deeply, "I am sick to death of people telling me what I want-" He moved closer to her, eliminating any space that separated them. "-of people telling me who I want."

"And you think I'm who you want?" She raised an eyebrow, her voice laced in scepticism and doubt.

"Well… I guess you'll do until someone better comes along." He joked, immediately taking it back when she didn't crack so much as a smile.

"Damon, a couple of weeks ago you didn't even want me, you wanted-"

"Things change." He cut her off.

"If only it was that simple." She let out a mirthless laugh.

"It can be." He inched closer to her; his face close enough to hers that if she wanted to, she could kiss him. He could feel her warm, hot breath against his cold skin providing him solace against the harsh winter air that surrounded them. "What do you want?" He whispered delicately, as if the answer to this question would solve everything.

"Damon, you can't-"

"No." He shook his head, "Forget about me. Ignore everything I've just said and tell me. What do you want, Peyton?"

She swallowed away the lump in her throat. Her hazel eyes searching the steely blue eyes staring back at her, expectantly; hopeful. "Lucas." She replied so quietly she was unsure whether he heard, so she repeated, louder this time "I want Lucas." He winced noticeably, slowly detaching himself and stepping further back, putting some distance between the two of them.

"And I hate myselffor that more than you will ever know." Peyton felt a tear roll down her cheek, biting her inner lip and trying to stop any more from falling. "Because he is with my best friend and he's happy with her, and she's happy. And I desperately want to be happy with them. I want to stop feeling like this, Damon! I need to stop feeling like this. God, I don't want to love him!" She breathed out, feeling all the frustration that she had been keeping bottled up for so long finally spilling out of her.

Peyton turned her back to Damon, as she wiped furiously away at the tears that were now rushing down her face. She felt weak and pathetic and she didn't want anyone to see her like this, but she was fed up of pretending everything was okay; like she was okay. After she had finally controlled herself, and the tears had almost ceased, she felt Damon's strong arms turn her around to face him and before she knew it, he had enveloped her in a hug, and she felt herself automatically leaning into him.

"I'm sorry." She whispered against his chest.

"I can take the rejection, but I'm really not going to accept the pity." He replied, as his hands stroked her golden, untamed curls. Another moment of silence passed between them before Damon broke any seriousness in the conversation by joking "So just to clear it up- does this mean sex is also completely off the table?"

She laughed through her tears, "You're an idiot." She lifted her head out of his chest so she was staring at him through bleary eyes.

"And you are a mess." He replied, recalling the exact words that she had used to describe him when she came back to her flat to find him waiting at her door like a drunken idiot.

"I guess it takes one to know one." She sniffled, the usual cutting tone that accompanied her words that he was so accustomed to considerably less affective when she was wiping away tears as she was scolding him. When he told her this, the only thing he was rewarded with was sharp slap across his arm.

"Wow, violent and emotionally unavailable. Aren't you just the perfect catch?" Damon smiled, as he rubbed his sore arm.

"Better than being jaded and emotionally stunted." She replied, slightly more menacingly this time, as he noted the fire slowly returning to her eyes.

"Well that's just a matter of opinion." He softly moved a tendril of hair out of her face. "You going to be ok to drive back home?"

Peyton tilted her head to the side, looking at him like he was a complete idiot; she answered flatly "No Damon. The emotional turmoil has crippled me so completely that I'm not going to be able to drive the two miles to my house."

"Nice to know your sarcasm is still perfectly in tact."

"Oh that will never go- kind of like how I know that your ego is still in tact." Peyton told him assuredly.

"Yeah, like you saying no to me is going to make me think any less of myself." He scoffed, perfectly proving her point. She smiled, reluctantly moving out of his warm, welcoming arms and walking towards her car. As her hand reached for the door handle, she stopped and looked up at him, "This is ok? Us; we're okay?" She asked him, attempting to mask the obvious concern in her voice. Though she still couldn't name what exactly the nature of their relationship was; and though, at least for right now, she didn't want it to go any further, she also didn't want it to change. She liked what they were; and she didn't want to lose that.

He replied with such certainty that all her doubts and worries disappeared. "We're perfect."


Author's Note: Well, thats chapter 12 up (will respond to reviews in next chapter) and I hope you all liked it (well as much as you could considering Damon and Peyton didn't get together at the end of the chapter!) . Chapter 13 coming much,MUCH sooner!