A/N- So I guess I should start this with an apology for the delay in posting. I have actually had this finished for a while now but various reasons have prevented me from getting round to editing it etc and posting it. The main one of these being that I have started my final placement and I am exhaustedddd.

Also although I was once again thoroughly overwhelmed by the positive response to this chapter there were a few reviews that were quite negative and I would be lying if I said that it hadn't knocked my confidence in the story somewhat. Please take this in the best way possible but if you are not happy with the pace of the story or you find yourself reading it and you 'hate' certain parts of it, please stop reading. I wouldn't wish for my writing to cause that much frustration in anyone and I would certainly never tell another author that I hate what they have written simply because it doesn't suit me. So please do bare that in mind.

Enough of the depressing stuff though. Please listen to Blood by Middle East while reading this. It is stunninggg!

Damon let his head drop into his hands after he watched the pair leave. He shook it furiously and looked up just as Alaric was heading back to the table with two pints in his hands. He looked over at where they had previously been sitting and back to where Damon was now, his head moving between the two tables like he was at a tennis match before sitting opposite his friend.

"What's wrong with you?" he inquired, placing Damon's pint down in front of him and taking a long sip of his own.

Damon looked down at the drink in front of him as if he was confused by its presence, before darting his eyes around him wildly.

"Elena!" he suddenly cried out, "I think she's gone crazy."

Alaric snorted, sending beer flying everywhere.

"Sorry," he mumbled, wiping the back of his sleeve across his mouth. "Why?" he asked skeptically, "because she doesn't wanna be with you?"

"Well..." Damon sputtered desperately, "yeah!"

Alaric laughed again and shook his head at his friend.

"Look, she's a nice girl; she doesn't need you messing with her head. If she doesn't want to be with you then that's her choice." he lectured, doubtful that Damon was even listening.

"The thing is up until about five minutes ago I was convinced she did wanna be with me, then she showed up with that cop..."

"What cop?" interrupted Alaric.

"And suddenly I've got no business in her life," he continued, ignoring Alaric.

"Wow she really said that?"

"We were finally getting somewhere you know?" Alaric sighed and let him continue as he certainly wasn't listening to anything he had to say.

"Mmm-hmm." he replied lazily.

Damon continued to rant until Alaric reached the bottom of his pint; Damon's sat in front of him untouched, seeing as he hadn't paused for breath long enough to drink it.

"Mind if I have that?" he gestured to the pint and swiped it from underneath his friend's nose before he could protest.

"She thinks she's too good for me, that's what it is..."

Alaric rolled his eyes and listened to him whine on. If he had wanted to listen to someone whine at him he would have tagged along to one of Jenna's girls nights.

"Hey-where's my pint?" he suddenly exclaimed.

Alaric paused as he was halfway down the drink and licked his lips. "Um..." he began guiltily before laughing.

"Whatever, I think I need something a bit stronger anyway-" stated Damon and began to stand up to make his way to the bar.

"Sit down." snapped Alaric shortly. Damon's face dropped and he slumped back into his seat, frowning at his friend's outburst.

"Now I have just sat here for half an hour listening to you whine on about Elena so you're gunna sit there and listen to me for five minutes alright?" he said, as if speaking to a small, petulant child.

"Or what? You'll turn this car around and we'll go home?" quipped Damon, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Don't sass me young man." Alaric maintained his composure and jabbed a finger in Damon's face. "I hear enough about the girl from Jenna to know a thing or two about her." he began. "Firstly; she recently just lost one of her best friends because the guy couldn't keep his feelings about her to himself. So you've got to cut her a bit of slack if she decides to put some distance between the pair of you because she's petrified of it happening again.

Damon opened his mouth to speak but Alaric raised his finger again and he shut his mouth obligingly.

"Secondly, she's just about the best damn intern at that hospital and you know why? Because she works the hardest. She puts her everything into that job so don't for a second question her reasons for putting it first. She's brilliant at what she does because it's important to her, and you can't fault her for not wanting to risk it all for you.

Damon lowered his eyes, the feeling of guilt starting to settle in the pit of his stomach.

"And thirdly - I believe Jenna's nephew would prefix this with 'no homo' - if you think you could lose her to some skinny cop then you aren't as arrogant as I thought you were, because it pains me to say this but... you're one good looking son of a bitch." Damon smirked and shook his head, his friend's words sinking in. "The girl's been through a lot," Alaric continued, lowering his voice. "you've gotta give her a bit of time, man."

He offered his friend a smile and Damon nodded pensively. Alaric was right, she was scared, he'd known that all along but he'd let himself push her until she'd run away. She was obviously acting out tonight to try and scare him off, but he didn't scare easy and his friend was correct, if he thought that that guy was competition then he didn't deserve her anyway.

He'd made it his duty to know everything there was to know about her yet he'd ignored the way she'd continuously been giving off nervous signals when she was speaking to him tonight. She'd lied to him when she had said she hadn't expected to see him there and she'd looked utterly miserable on the arm of the police officer. He'd also failed to notice the twitch at the corners of her lips when he'd insulted the guy, she'd suppressed a smile and he hadn't even noticed. There was something going on with her and regardless of his feelings towards her, she was his friend and it pained him that she didn't think she could come to him with it.

"Give me your keys." Damon said suddenly, opening his palm out and beckoning at Alaric.

"Uh...no." he answered firmly.

"Come on, give me your keys," he persisted, "you can't drive anyway you've had two pints. So give me your keys."

"How am I going to get home?" whined Alaric.

"I don't know, call your girlfriend! Look, you wanted me to fix this, that's what I'm going to do but I need-your-keys." he urged and Alaric sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I knew you should have driven." he mumbled as he fished his keys from his pocket and threw them at Damon.

Damon caught them in mid air and jumped to his feet, before leaving he turned around and clapped Alaric on the back.

"Thanks buddy," he said warmly, "who knew you were so smart!"

He rushed out of the Grill and into the cool night air, frantically trying to remember where Alaric had parked.

Elena and Klaus exited the Grill in silence, she still had her arm through his, but he hadn't failed to notice that she was keeping as much distance between the two of them as possible. She removed herself from him and took another step back, lowering her eyes to the ground guiltily.

"I'm really sorry you had to see that." she mumbled at the floor, wringing her fingers anxiously.

"It's fine, honestly. I can't really blame the guy for being a bit obsessed with you; I mean...you're gorgeous." She chuckled and he saw her blush. She raised her head to offer him a small smile before glancing behind her to where she had parked. "Look..." he began nervously, "it would be a shame to end the night so soon, so why don't I drive you home?" She opened her mouth to protest and say she had her own car but he continued, "You've had a bit of a rough night; I'd be a rubbish police officer if I just let you drive home. Who knows, your crazy friend could be waiting for you."

He laughed, waiting for her to join him yet she made no sound.

She sighed and chewed on the bottom of her lip before shrugging. "Yeah, sure." she said begrudgingly. You got yourself in this mess Elena, you can't back out now.

The drive home was painfully awkward. Elena sat in silence, knotting her hands together in her lap and staring intently at them. She occasionally glanced across at him to offer directions, however there was little opportunity for this as it was a straightforward drive. She was thankful that she didn't live too far away so the experience would not be dragged out.

When they pulled up outside her house she unbuckled her seat belt and turned slightly in her seat to look across at him.

"Thanks..." she muttered weakly, placing her hand on the door handle and readying herself to leave.

"Elena..." he began slowly and reached a hand across to rest on her leg. She struggled not to tense under his touch, telling herself this was probably the way most first dates ended and she would have to keep up the act. "I know tonight didn't exactly go as planned but I'd really like to see you again. I think you're amazing and..." Words failed him as he stared at her and he decided to throw caution to the wind, leaning forward and capturing her face in his hands before pressing his lips to her.

Everything about the kiss was wrong to her, his hands were rough and calloused as he brushed them against her cheeks, his lips weren't soft enough and everything about it was rushed and...and not Damon.

She whimpered and he took the gentle sound as encouragement, forcing his tongue past her lips and letting it roam hungrily in the crevasses of her mouth. She managed to press her palms onto his chest and lightly pushed against him, pushing him off her enough to take a great heaving breath.

"I'm sorry...I can't..."

However her words had no meaning to him, all he could hear was the pounding of blood in his ears. She shook her head as he lunged back towards her yet he held it still between his hands, leaning over the gap between them and pulling her towards him. Her hands were now forcefully pushing against him yet he didn't budge and as he closed the space between them, her hands effectively trapped against his hard body.

His kisses were more insistent now and more desperate and she struggled for breath as one of his hands dropped from her face and ran down the side of her breasts. This was not the way she had seen this whole thing panning out. The best laid plans of mice and men...she thought regretfully as his hand came to rest on her breast, palming and squeezing it aggressively. She began to struggle against him and mercifully she felt him pull back from her, maybe he had finally got the message.

"Please...stop..." she gasped as he met her eyes. She thought she might choke or vomit when she saw the lust and desire behind his dark eyes, the glint of malevolence that suggested he was enjoying this too much.

She bit down on her lip so hard that she could soon taste the irony trickles of blood at the back of her throat. She scrambled her hand behind her to tug on the handle, however he chuckled as her efforts yielded nothing but the clunking of the locked car door.

"What kind of cop would I be if I just let people jump out of my car? Child locks really are a blessing." he joked and the feeling of nausea and panic returned, rising in the back of her throat like bile.

How could she have been so wrong about someone, she thought frantically, tugging persistently on the handle and looking across the door for a release for the lock.

"Please just..."

"Just what, Elena?" he asked, his voice full of mock sincerity.

"Please just let me leave." she begged, her eyes filling up with tears as all kinds of horrendous scenarios that were likely to happen to her ran through her head.

"Elena," he cooed, stroking a finger along her cheekbone, eliciting a violent shudder from her. "Didn't I say it would be a shame to end the night so soon?" He chuckled deeply as he took in her panicked expression. "You really are adorable," he told her, running his hand up and down her cheek before dropping it to her chest again. "No wonder you have your little doctor friend all tied up in knots. Did you let him do this to you as well?" he pondered, circling his thumb over her nipple as her chest heaved up and down and she held back a sob. "I bet you did. I bet that's why he's so in love with you. One taste of you could drive a man crazy for life."

He reached forward again and she clamped her eyes shut as she saw his lips coming towards hers.

What happened next she wasn't entirely sure; however she heard him yelp and felt him pull back from her sharply. Her eyes flew open as he was dragged out of the car from behind and dumped onto the floor.

The door was slammed shut again and she heard a thudding sound as his body collided with the door. She couldn't see past his body to know who had grabbed him but the person was now laying punch after punch into his face and stomach. She wasted no time in swiveling in her seat and pulling hysterically on the door handle again, screaming in frustration as it refused to budge.

She heard a crunching sound and someone drop to the ground and she turned back, her hand remaining on the handle to see Klaus slump to the ground. Her eyes focused through her tears on the figure standing over him, he wiped his leather sleeve across his bleeding nose and said something quietly to the figure lying on the floor.

She thought she might die of relief as he hurried round to her side of the car and flung the door open, pulling her into his arms in one movement.

"Damon," she sobbed into his shoulder as he held her so tightly he thought she might burst in his arms.

"Sshhh," he whispered soothingly, rubbing his hands across her back. "you're OK."

He repeated the words over and over in her ear, trying to convince himself as much as her. He pulled back lightly to look down at her face, her eye makeup was smeared below her eyes and her face shone where tears had run tracks down her cheeks. He heard a shuffle from the other side of the car and he closed the car door, pulling her onto her feet and away from the vehicle.

He removed her from his arms, his body screaming at him to continue to hold onto her, and from the way in which her hands clasped onto him like a vice she obviously felt the same.

"I just need you to stay here for a second, love." he whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

She nodded weakly, trying not to start crying again as she watched him walk back round to the driver's side of the car. She could see from underneath the car that Klaus had managed to drag himself to his feet, her heart raced as she thought about what he might do to Damon, but she couldn't force her feet to move her around to warn him. She heard Klaus groan loudly and she wondered what Damon had done to him, he was a cop, there was sure to be serious repercussions to this.

"You just signed your own death sentence." he warned Damon, however she heard Damon chuckle lightly, feigning a calmness that she was sure he didn't possess.

"We'll see about that." he answered light heartedly, as if he hadn't just pummelled the guy almost in unconsciousness, "If you ever come near her again, or anyone in this town for that matter, you'll find yourself with an attempted rape charge hanging so heavily over your head you'd be lucky if you ever saw the light of day again." he warned, his voice dropping the calm facade. "You've heard the name Salvatore, right? Best lawyer on the east coast? Well the bastard just so happens to be my father, so if I were you I'd get in your car and I would drive far, far away from here and never look back."

She heard the crunch of gravel as he made his way back round to her, immediately pulling her against him again. She heard the slam of a car door but didn't look back, simply letting Damon lead her into her house, pressed against his body.

Once they entered the house he deposited her on the couch and immediately wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. He sat next to her with his arms around her for a minute or so before he stood up, the way she raised her brown eyes at him made him feel like the worst person in the world just for letting go of her.

"I'm just gunna go get you some water OK?" he reassured her, crouching down in front of her and once more pushing her hair back, rubbing his thumb lightly along her jaw. His eyes focused on the knuckles of his hand and he smiled lopsidedly. "And to wash the blood off my hands." he quipped. She gasped and clutched his hand, bringing it into her line of sight and examining his scraped knuckles. "Relax, Elena, it's not the first time you've seen blood." he joked but she shook her head and looked up at him, her eyes full of tears.

"You shouldn't have done that for me." Her voice was so quiet that even in the silence of the room he struggled to hear her.

"I would do anything for you." he explained to her slowly, holding her gaze.

"Are you..." she hesitated and swallowed heavily. "are you angry at me?"

He felt his heart jump as he saw the desperation in her eyes and he was reminded of how young she was.

"Of course not." he told her, laughing under his breath at the idea of him being angry at her after all this.

"I was horrible to you." she continued, but he shushed her, placing a finger to her lips.

"Elena," he stared her fully in the eyes. "I used to go out with Katherine, I can handle bitchy, OK?"

His attempt at levity clearly failed as she immediately tensed up, blinking back tears that threatened to spill over again. What had he said? Katherine? Surely the thought of his relationship with Katherine was not enough to move her to tears?

"Elena is something going on that I should know about?" he asked warily. "Something to do with Katherine?"

She dropped her gaze, fidgeting her hands in her lap before pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

"I can't tell you." she whispered, a tear falling onto her hands.

"You can tell me anything." he reassured her.

"I can't," she insisted, holding back a sob, "she'll know!" she declared desperately.

"Elena," he said firmly, pulling her hands off her lap to hold them in his. "if you don't tell me, I can't fix it."

She tugged her hands out of his grasp and shook her head.

"You can't fix this." she told him, her resolve close to breaking point. "She...she threatened him." Her voice cracked as she let out a heaving sob, clutching her arms around her waist.

"Who? Elena, who did she threaten?" She was inconsolable as she wept openly, slowly rocking herself back and forth and he wished with everything he had that he could do something to make it right.

"Elena," His voice cracked, practically pleading with her to tell him.

"Matt," she answered finally, her voice barely a whisper. "She'll get him fired if we...if you and I don't..."

"If we don't stop seeing each other." he finished for her morosely.

Typical Katherine, he thought with disgust. A couple of years ago, hell a couple of weeks ago he would never have believed she would go to these lengths to get what she wanted. He had warned Elena that she didn't like competition but not for a second did he think it would lead to this. She was blackmailing Elena and putting the pressure of her friend's future on her shoulders. He shook his head and ran a shaky hand, still bloody, hand through this hair.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he croaked, running his thumb over her knee cap soothingly.

"I just..." She sniffed and raised her shoulders before letting them drop hopelessly and looking him clearly in the eye. "She has put you through so much, I just couldn't stand the thought of me being another source of pain. I didn't want you to worry-"

"So you thought trying to make me hate you was a good plan?" he asked, attempting to insert some levity into the situation.

She laughed quietly.

"I never said it was a good plan."

He gave her a lopsided smile and pushed himself to his feet, his knees creaking and loosening after being bent for such a long time.

He traipsed into her kitchen and filled up a glass of water before placing his own hands under the cool stream of water. He hissed slightly as the freezing water hit his grazed knuckles. The blood washed away and revealed inflamed scratches across the back of his hand. He felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind and he tensed before relaxing as he heard Elena sigh and rest her cheek against his solid back. He hadn't heard her enter the kitchen and he reached forward to turn the tap off.

Turning himself around and resting his back against the counter he pulled her closer into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"What are we going to do?" He heard her mumble into his chest.

"We'll figure that out later." he told her, because he honestly had no clue.

She pulled herself back from him slightly and looked up at him.

"You're always saving me," she reflected and he smiled slightly, brushing a piece of hair from her face.

"What can I say? I've got a bit of hero complex; it comes with the job I guess."

She laughed into his chest and the sound vibrated through his whole body. He instantly felt better at hearing the sound and held her tighter for a few more seconds before she let go of him.

"Is Bonnie in?" he inquired and she shook her head.

"She has a couple of days off so she went to go and see Jeremy today."

"Bonnie and Jeremy?" He frowned and Elena nodded silently, happy for the change in conversation. "Huh," He shrugged and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Let's get you to bed trouble," he paused and cleared his throat, "I'll be right down here if you need me."

"Damon-" she began in protest. It was obvious that her actions had left at least some small mark upon him. He raised a hand to silence her and shook his head slightly.

"Elena," he replied, copying her tone, "I will be down here, OK?" he repeated more firmly.

Damon's eyes flew open as soon as he heard the floorboards above his head creeping. He glanced down at his body as a shiver ran through him and he saw that he had kicked off the bedding Elena had provided him with. He listened in silence for a repetition of the noise but when he realised that all was silent he closed his eyes again, pulled the covers back over him and immediately went back to sleep.

He wasn't sure how long he had slept for before he woke up again, but estimated that it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. This time he was sure that he heard the noise of someone on the stairs; he let out a yelp of surprise as he felt someone's hand close over his wrist.

The person quickly withdrew their hand and he squinted in the darkness, his eyes struggling to adjust to focus on the figure in front of him.

"Elena-" his husky voice caught on her name as she finally came into focus. "what are you-"

She took hold of his wrist once more and he wondered for a second if she was sleep walking, however her eyes were wide open and alert and she offered him a silent smile before pulling him upwards and towards her. Without a word she turned and pulled him back towards the staircase. He stumbled over words as she started to ascend the stairs, his wrist still held between her delicate fingers.

He concluded that it was probably best not to speak, just follow. Since when had he become a follower, he mused? They finally reached her room and she pushed the door open and led him inside before shutting it behind them and tugging him towards her bed.

"Elena-" He finally jammed his tongue from the roof of his mouth and managed to stutter the words out, tripping over them like a virgin on prom night.

He thought he would have the strength and the willpower to leave, to walk out the door, back to the couch, close his eyes and forget this ever happened. Until she uttered that one word.

"Please,"

He shut his eyes and drew a breath through his nose. Christ, he needed a drink right now. Or maybe a life coach, hell he'd need a motivational speaker to get him to move his feet and leave her room right now.

She pulled gently on his wrist and he obliged by following her to the edge of the bed. As the back of her knees hit the bottom of the bed she sat down and he began to pull away from her. However, she pulled on his wrist again and in his sleep filled state he momentarily lost his balance, falling forwards and sending her backwards on the bed until he was lying on top of her. She smiled brilliantly and he wondered if it wasn't what she had planned all along.

And then suddenly her hands were moving; they began in his hair, running through it softly and ruffling it between her fingers. Slowly her fingers drifted over his cheeks and along his jaw, the tips of her index fingers lightly grazing over his lips. If she were blind he imagined she would be generating the most detailed image of him possible from her ministrations. He struggled to speak and simply let her continue as her hands continued lower and settled across his broad shoulders, smoothing the white t shirt he was wearing across them. He let out a shuddering breath as she ran her flat palms down his chest and he suppressed a moan, biting down hard on his lip.

He thought she might stop once she reached the waistband of his boxers, for that is all he had slept in. However, her hands skimmed down the sides of his ass and down his thighs. He couldn't help but shiver as her light touch descended down his legs and finally came to a rest just below his hips.

"What are you doing?" he whispered breathlessly and he was met with a shy smile.

"Is this new to you?" she asked and he frowned lightly, more confused now than ever.

"What?"

"You've done so much," she explained, "has anyone ever touched you like this before?"

She ran her hands up his arms and he shuddered again and let out a nervous laugh. She raised an eyebrow and he realised she was waiting for a serious answer. Had anyone ever touched him like that? He thought that a more appropriate question would be whether anyone had ever elicited a response like this from him with a simple touch? The answer being no, not even close.

"Well?" she pressed.

He nervously shook his head, at a loss for words.

"No one ever will." she stated simply.

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly, his heart hammering against his chest.

"No one will ever touch you like this," she told him, her voice quivering, "no one will ever love you like I do."

If someone had strapped him to a monitor in that moment it was probable that they'd think he'd just had a massive heart attack. His thoughts flew into disarray as the words left her mouth. He considered what she had said for a second. No one would ever love him like she loved him? That wouldn't be hard, he thought, seeing as no one had ever really loved him. Not in the ways that counted anyway. Katherine had loved him for his money, plenty of women had loved him for his body, his mother had loved him because he was a reincarnation of herself and his father...well he didn't really love him for anything.

"Y-you love me?" he stuttered and she simply nodded, returning her hands to cup either side of his face.

"I see it now." she explained, her voice barely a whisper. "Trying to cut you out of my life was...impossible." Tears began to well behind her eyes and he had to fight hard with himself to stop the same thing happening to him.

"Elena-"

"It's OK," she continued, running her thumb across his cheek. "you don't have to say it back. I just wanted you to know and...I wanted to show you."

She pulled him down towards her and kissed him. He didn't push her off; he didn't even try to protest. He just enjoyed the feeling of her lips against his as she passionately ran her tongue along his bottom lip and he opened his mouth against hers willingly. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew this would probably end badly, but all thoughts flew out his head when she began to grip the hem of his shirt. She moved it up his body until it was bunched over his chest before pulling away from him as if looking for confirmation to continue. She must have found what she was looking for in his eyes because she quickly pulled the fabric up and over his head, tossing it to the side of her bed.

Nothing could compare to the feel of her hands over his bare chest, and he bit back a moan as her fingernails lightly scraped against his skin as she began kissing him again. He felt her wriggle her hands between them and the feel of fabric scraping past his face alerted him to the fact that she had removed her top. His hands seemed to be working independently of his brain as they immediately traveled up her body, and his heart jumped as he realised she wasn't wearing a bra. It was her turn to moan now and he swallowed the sound as it traveled between their joined lips.

The only things separating them now were her pyjama shorts and his boxers, but she quickly put paid to that and he silently reprimanded himself for allowing himself to wonder if this rapid undressing was due to a lot of previous practice. Soon they were naked and he eagerly let his eyes rake all over her body. She blushed; the first sign of hesitation she had shown since she had woken him up. He pulled back at the sight of it, gazing into her eyes as a slight frown peppered his forehead.

"Don't ask me if I'm sure." she told him warily, anticipating his words. His last ounce of restraint evaporated and he crushed his lips against hers, one hand tangling in her hair and the other resting on her bare waist. One of her hands slithered between them and she entwined their fingers together, raising their joined hands above her head. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice whispered that this was what going home felt like.

Sorry, I really can't write smut haha. Thank you to my wonderful beta for putting up with my many mistakes and made up words :)