Hello Everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the past few chapters because all hell is about to break loose! In the world of the real Vampire Diaries, I'm still reeling from aftershock of Comic Con. Whoa. Baby. Very excited to hear the news that in episode 3 Alaric, Damon, and Elena are going on a road trip for research at Duke. Leave Stefan and Katherine behind in the dust :-D Anywho, I wasn't quite sure what to do with this chapter, as it's a sort of prelude to the main event. Hope it settles well with you all. Oh yeah, and this chapter is rated M? I think. I'm new to this whole process.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Otherwise I would've already been brutally murdered by the misled members of Team Stefan.

Chapter 14: Don't Let Go (They're Coming For Us)

Previously:

Katherine savored one last drop, then carelessly dropped the drained young pedestrian behind the dumpster with a thud. She looked over to Stefan, who was finishing off a young cashier who had stepped outside for a smoke. "So, it's settled. Time to go wreak some more havoc on little Mystic Falls and have that pretty little snack of Damon's while we're at it. Are you coming, my dear Mr. Salvatore?"

Stefan had craved Elena ever since the last time he drank from her; he couldn't resist now. He had Katherine, he had human blood. What was there to lose that he would actually miss? Dropping the petite blonde corpse, he jogged to catch up with her.

…

Elena snickered, pulling Damon along behind her through the back door. Leaving him on the landing, she scampered over to the linen closet and grabbed two large towels, wrapping one around her cold, dripping self and tossing the other to Damon. He shook out his hair like a dog and carelessly draped the towel over his shoulders, not making an effort to dry off. He noticed her shiver and scooped her up off her feet and carried her over to the fireplace.

"Damon!" she protested, squirming in his arms. "I can walk, you know!"

"Oh, but this is more fun," he replied in an infuriating tone, sitting down cross-legged on the floor in front of the fire, not letting her go. She gave up and relaxed in his arms, stretching out to welcome the heat. He reached up and twisted her hair around his hand, pulling it over to one side and kissing the back of her neck. Sighing, Elena reached up and fingered her necklace. Damon was driving her into an exquisite insanity, and she wanted to be sure of something before she let things go farther.

"Damon?"

"Mhm?" he replied lightly, running his fingers through the length of her damp hair.

"When you look at me, who do you see?"

There was a dreadfully long pause, and Elena didn't turn to look back at his face. She was beginning to fear his answer, knowing that one word could completely destroy her. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft, yet burning with intensity.

"When I look at you Elena, I see the complete opposite of the woman I was infatuated with in my youth. She lived to break hearts, and you solely for healing them. I wish I'd never met the bitch. But you, I feel like I've known you for my entire existence. You see, Elena…you, you feel like home to me." Damon held her under his gaze, and what she saw in his eyes made hers sting with unshed tears. In his eyes she saw vulnerability and shyness; a lost and lonely boy begging to be accepted, just once. She saw how neglect and rejection had scarred him. His own father took away his love, then shot him in cold blood. He had then been forced into a life he didn't want, so he used it to search for the woman who didn't care about him all along. He spent over a century on her, and it was all wasted. Then she, Elena, had chosen Stefan, his not-so-saintly younger brother, not even bothering to try and understand Damon until now. She had been so wrong, and her heart ached to fix him.

"I love you, Damon." Elena grabbed his hand, looking up at him through burning eyes. His mouth fell open, his face looking slightly stricken. Love. Loved him. She loved him. The words rang like an explosion in his ears, filling his mind and his body with warmth dancing through his senses. The confession sent him into a frenzy, one he wasn't sure what to do with. He tried to open his mouth, to tell her that he loved her more than she can ever fathom, that he'd love her for eternity…but he couldn't speak. His mouth opened and closed, too shocked and ecstatic to form words. He leaned toward her, inches from her face. Then she saw what was in his eyes. His eyes spoke more than any words could ever tell. He loves her too. His now raging deadbeat heart leaped into his throat, and as soon as his lips grazed hers, the frenzy within him reached a boiling point. He kissed every bare inch of her he could touch: her lips, her neck, her shoulders, her temples, her cheeks, the hand reaching up to his face. One hand supporting her head, the other between her shoulder blades, he carefully lowered her down onto the carpet, his lips not leaving her skin. She gasped and dragged his face up to hers, and he kissed her with an intensity Stefan had never displayed. He ran his fingertips down the insides of her arms, stopping at her wrists and jumping over to roam across her sides and back. She reached up and tangled her fingers in his dark, silky hair, pressing herself even closer up against him. Out of breath, she turned her head away from him, sucking in a lungful of air and licking her lips; they felt tender and swollen. Damon buried his face in her neck, trailing open-mouthed kisses from just beneath her ear to her collarbone. Elena knew where they were taking this, and she didn't even begin to consider stopping it. Taking a deep breath, she wrapped a leg around his waist, bringing herself as close to him as possible. He responded by slipping his gentle hands under her tank top, slowly creeping up and grazing over her ribs until-

"Damn that bastard." Damon ripped his mouth away from her, rolling off and supporting her, making them both stand up. Tripping into his chest and holding tightly, she looked up at him with slightly glazed eyes.

"Damon, what is it?" he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her slightly behind him.

"We have a visitor," he muttered grimly. The heavy front door creaked open, and a dark figure stepped over the threshold and into the room.

"Oh my God," Elena groaned, clutching tightly to Damon's side.

"Brother," Damon all but growled, acknowledging his fallen sibling the same way he had all those months ago, the situation reversed. Elena felt Damon's walls, which she had torn down quite a while ago, immediately build themselves back up, the cold, sneering mask returning to his face.

"I take it I'm interrupting something?" Stefan insinuated lazily.

"As a matter of fact, you are. So if you would be so kind as to get your worthless ass the hell out of here before I do it for you, we'll do you a favor and leave the stakes out of your chest."

Stefan chuckled darkly. "Easy, brother. I just came to deliver a message." Elena noticed that Stefan was wearing all black, a disconcerting look that didn't suit him nearly as well as Damon.

"Ah, but you know my opinion about messengers," Damon reminded him.

Stefan shrugged. "Katherine would like you two to know that she's looking forward to meeting Elena and catching up with you, Damon. She's out getting us a drink right now and couldn't come to tell you herself." Elena's jaw dropped.

"The hell she is," Damon fired back. "I wouldn't let that bitch so much as look at Elena if my life depended on it."

"Maybe it does," Stefan remarked coolly. "Katherine always gets what she wants. And, as you very well know, there's nothing to stop her from getting in."

"Just leave Stefan, please. Go." Elena said in a faint but determined voice from behind Stefan.

Stefan turned his attention to her. "So you're screwing Damon now, are you? Settled for second best?"

"He's better than you ever were, or ever will be from the looks of it. Damon looks at me and actually sees me, which is far more than you ever did." Elena spat venomously.

Stefan's eyes flashed. "Yeah, and you were a pretty spineless replacement while it lasted. Hey, but you were almost as good as her in bed."

At that, something inside Damon snapped, and he flew at Stefan before Elena could see what happened. There was a crash, and Elena saw Damon shove Stefan into the wall.

"Don't you ever come in here and talk like that to Elena again, do you hear me? I will rip your head off, brother or not. Are we clear?" Damon's voice came from somewhere deep in his throat, sounding guttural and strangled with fury. Even so, Elena wasn't scared of him; she was scared for his well being. Stefan was obviously still on human blood, and a lot of it.

"Crystal," Stefan sneered, and pushed Damon backward, sending him sailing across the room and smashing into the wood paneling, which splintered underneath his weight. Damon fell to the floor, his face distorted in pain. Stefan dusted off his hands and strode out the door, without as much as a backward glance. As the door slammed, Elena ran across the room, kneeling over Damon. She put her hands on either side of his face and traced over his bottom lip with her thumb.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she kept repeating, distraught at seeing him hurt. He was Damon; Damon didn't get hurt. It wasn't something she was used to seeing.

"Don't apologize, Elena. It's not your fault." He said with some difficulty. He slowly got up, his hands pushing against his knees, and she rose with him. With a wince and a low groan of pain, he unbuttoned his shirt and threw it over the couch, a few wood splinters scattering from it as he did so. Elena stepped around him to look at his back. She gasped upon seeing several shards of wood splintering out from his left shoulder, embedded just under the skin.

"Oh my God, Damon! Your shoulder!" She said, motioning frantically.

"It's nothing," he mumbled, clearly hurting.

"It's not nothing! They won't heal if the wood is still in your skin! Let me help you, I'll be right back." She darted up the stairs before he could protest. After rummaging through the bathroom, she returned with tweezers, antiseptic, and cotton balls, setting them down on the coffee table and plopping down in the middle of the couch. She motioned to him. "Lie down."

"I'm fine, really." He replied.

"Ok, fine. Be that way. Will you just do it for me? It would give me peace of mind." She patted the cushion next to her.

"Alright. For you." He grudgingly walked over and made a show of lying on his stomach, his chest in her lap. He folded his arms and rested his head on them, absent-mindedly tracing patterns on the side of her thigh with his fingertips.

"This might hurt a bit," she admonished, reaching for the tweezers.

"I'm a tough guy Elena. I can take it." He rolled his eyes.

"If you say so," She said, humoring him. She then firmly grabbed a splinter between the tweezers and carefully but quickly pulled it from the skin. Damon's fingers froze against her leg, no longer tracing patterns, but otherwise he gave no reaction. She made quick work of it, methodically removing the small pieces of wood from his shoulder as painlessly as possible. She was better at this than she thought, or Damon had tremendous restraint, because he made no sound and didn't flinch a single time; Elena guessed it was the latter. She dabbed at the wounds with antiseptic, satisfied only when she saw the skin start to close over of its own accord. Setting aside the cotton balls, she bent down and kissed the uninjured part of his shoulder, giving his bare back a brief rub before letting him up.

"Thank you," he whispered, putting his shirt back on and kissing her lightly on the lips. He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of o-negative, savoring the taste slowly.

"Ah." He hissed, licking his lips. "Feeling back to normal already." Elena shook her head, smiling, and crossed over to the fridge to grab a container of leftover chicken alfredo, microwaving it and wolfing it down. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she tried to think of the last time she'd eaten. She tugged at the hem of her tank top and realized it was still wet. After washing and putting away her dishes, she backed out of the kitchen.

"I'm gonna go put on something dry," she said pointedly at him. She clambered up the stairs and was about to put on a t-shirt and pajama pants until something crossed her mind. If Katherine's back, that means all hell's about to break loose, she pondered, pausing in front of her dresser. And Damon and I won't have many more nights to relax and stay in together. Making up her mind, she put on a lacy cream-colored bra and matching panties, throwing an oversized tee over them. She walked down the hall and carefully brushed her teeth and combed through her now-dry hair. Her mind lingered on what was to come, and she was flushed when she ran into Damon right outside the bathroom door.

"Well you seem rather flustered," he smirked, looking down at her. "What, brushing your pearly whites got you all worked up?" Elena shook her head and looked up at him, determined to meet his eyes.

"I…I was just thinking…since they are back, we probably won't have much time to just relax and be alone together, and I was just t-thinking that maybe we could…um…" Not sure of what else to say, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with every fiber of her being, tingling with anticipation. It clicked it Damon's head, and he drew back, a serious expression gracing his features.

"You're sure about this? I don't want you to regret anything you do with me."

"I could never regret this with you, Damon. I love you." As soon as the words escaped from her lips, Damon threw himself into it with reckless abandon, hoisting her up into his arms and kissing her all the way up the stairs. In his room, he backed her up against the door, bracketing her in and kissing her with a hunger that seemed insatiable. She fumbled with her shirt and tossed it over her head, and he admired her lovely skin before devouring it, kissing a hungry trail from her collar bone to down below her navel. He curled one arm around her waist, kissing her fiercely and holding her to him as he unclasped her bra. Dropping the lacy garment at their feet, he put his hands at her waist and dipped his head down, closing his mouth over her breast and exhaling a hot breath before flicking his tongue over her soft skin. She moaned softly, tugging at his shirt. He pulled it over his head in one motion and pulled her into him, skin against skin. She hoisted her legs around his waist, and he carried her over to the bed, carefully laying her on her back against the soft sheets. Kissing her stomach, he gently tugged her underwear down and off before shedding his own pants and boxer briefs. He ran his fingertips lightly over her hipbones and down, teasing her. She writhed, and he ended her agony, making the sweetest love he'd ever made to a woman until dawn.

Lying next to her and watching her sleep, he promised to himself that this wouldn't be the last time, no matter what was to come. Nothing but trouble and terror was in store for them; he knew Katherine, and he knew she would do whatever pleased her, stopping at nothing. He kissed Elena's shoulder, his lips brushing her skin softly and lightly as the touch of a feather. He closed his eyes, trying desperately to chase away a certain ominous verse by The Bard that haunted his mind.

~ For these violent delights have violent ends~

Thanks for reading! Yes I know Stefan is OOC but he has to be for this to work. Plus he's all hyped up by human blood and Katherine. Please let me know your feelings toward this chapter, or FanFic in general, by leaving me a beautiful thing called a review. I appreciate them so much! You guys are the best. Let me know if I did alright (on the romantic scenes) as I'm kinda new to the whole writing business. Love you! 43 more days til Season 2! Feedback is Love