When Damon walked back into the parlor he noticed that Elena had curled up and fallen asleep on his spot on the sofa. Her arms were tucked under the hand-embroidered pillow and she was snuggled soundly into the fabric's rich threads. She looked so sweet and comfortable that he couldn't bring himself to wake her. He sat on the edge of the sofa cushion with all of the practiced grace and lightness his vampirism afforded him. She shifted slightly and sighed but didn't wake; Damon smoothed his fingertips over her hair and down her back. Something flashed hot and wonderful in his veins whenever he touched her, like summer sun before his ring made him immune to it.

"Tickles," she mumbled and creased her forehead for a moment. Damon chuckled to himself and lifted her gently into his arms. It reminded him of the night he found her in the woods and how much had changed since that night. He had changed, he could feel his stony layers of armor crumble when he was around her; he remembered all of the things he used to love about being human and he started wanting them again. She made him nervous and excited in a way no one had ever done before.

He could no longer deny that he was in love with Elena Gilbert.

"Sorry I fell asleep," she said sleepily and let her head loll against his shoulder as he climbed the long stairwell to his quarters.

"It's fine," he smiled and hugged her more tightly against him. "Sleep."

"What did Will want?"

"Nothing for you to worry about. There's been a small change in your arrangements, that's all."

"That's a bummer because I'm kind of a fan of my room," she yawned and opened her eyes as they entered a room she'd never been in before. He gently set her back on her feet on a rich burgundy and gold rug that felt like thick velvet under her bare feet. The room was a cavernous place that was opposite of her room in every way. Instead of elegant white walls and gossamer curtains, this room swallowed the tiny bits of light that managed to escape the heavy stone boundaries of the fireplace and trapped them in a formidable dark boundless belly. The blackness beyond the ring of firelight seemed to stretch endlessly and Elena half-expected Damon's booted footfalls to echo from some distant wall. From what little she could see, she could make out the silhouette of a large bed, a winged reading chair, and maybe a stack of books. It was warm, which was a plus, and eerily quiet. Elena figured most of what she saw was her tired imagination playing tricks on her and in the morning it would just be another room.

"Um, where are we?" Elena asked with a tinge of uncertainty in her voice.

"You're going to be staying in my quarters and you mustn't leave without me under any circumstances. Is that clear?" Damon explained as he piled a few more logs onto the fireplace grate.

"So… you're going to lock me up?" Elena asked and crossed her arms over her chest as her tempered flared at his words.

"It's only for a short while," he answered after a heavy pause. He didn't want to have this conversation anymore than she wanted to hear it. He no longer saw Elena as his prisoner and he certainly didn't want to make her feel like one; he was rather happy living with the illusion that she chose to stay at the manor as his guest.

"What did I do?" she asked with furious tears welling up in her eyes. "I haven't tried to leave again and I've done everything you asked me to. I don't understand. I mean, I thought we were good."

"This isn't a punishment, this is for your safety," he explained lamely though he could feel the salt of her tears stain the air between them. He just had to remind himself what would become of his Elena if he didn't take appropriate measures to protect her; that possibility stung worse than her anger.

"Why is my safety an issue?" Elena began to panic. "What aren't you telling me?"

"There have been some gaps in our security since you arrived and I can't guarantee your safety until we find out who was behind it and take care of them."

"But what would someone want with me?"

"They're going to use you to get to me."

"Why?" she asked staring at him with a wounded look.

"Because they know how much I care for you," he answered plainly and held her gaze. Even in the low light he could see her cheeks flush pink.

"You do?" she asked shyly, dropping her focus to the floor to escape the intensity of his blue eyes.

"Very much so," he answered huskily and continued to stare at her, taking in the way her skin flushed at his words and how her delicate fingers tucked a stray wisp of hair back behind her ears—her tell of nerves, he had noticed. He was more than a little glad to have the same effect on her as she had on him. With a confident smirk he turned to leave and gather her things from the Ivory room.

"Please, Damon," she begged and grabbed his arm. "I don't want to be shut away. You said we could go riding again. You promised me."

"Elena, please," he pled softly. His hand delicately caressed her face and he allowed himself closer to her than ever before. He didn't miss the way her heart fluttered in her chest or the way she leaned subtly into his touch. "Don't fight me on this. I can fight anyone but you."

"I don't want to be put in a cage," Elena mumbled and a tear escaped her lashes.

"No cages," he replied with a sad smile and wiped her tear away with his thumb. "It's only temporary, I promise. I wish I didn't have to do this, but I need to know that you're going to be safe."

"Fine," she sighed after staring intently at him for a few seconds trying to figure out his real motivation. "I'm going to trust you on this."

"Thank you," he said with clear relief in his voice as he brushed his lips against her knuckles. "I can draw a bath for you if you'd like."

"You don't have to do that," she sighed deeply, rubbed her eyes, and raked her fingers through her hair, looking ready to take on the world once again. "I know how a faucet works."

"Of course. Can I collect anything from your room?" he offered, suddenly feeling incredibly self-conscious about sharing his room with her.

"Umm… I was reading Jane Eyre, it's on the nightstand."

"Anything else? Are you hungry or thirsty? I can get you dinner or something lighter if you're not that hungry, like soup or—"

"Damon!" Elena interrupted, laughing to herself. "I'm fine, seriously."

"You'll ask if you want for anything at all?"

"Yeah," she answered but his raised eyebrow told her that he wasn't convinced. "I will! But for now, I'm just going to take a shower and go to sleep."

"I'll leave your bed clothes on the sink," Damon conceded and disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.

"Bed clothes," Elena laughed to herself as she slowly felt her way through the darkness to the bathroom.

"Whoa," she muttered as she flipped the light on. The bathroom was palatial and modern, a stark contrast to the rest of the mansion. Her parents subscribed to a bunch of home improvement magazines and those were the only places she'd ever seen a bathroom like that before. The raw stone tiles of the walls bled into polished onyx floor tiles, which Elena could see her own reflection against. A track of recessed lights filled the room with soft light that glinted off of polished silver accents in a dreamy haze. Her plan to take a shower was immediately forgotten when her eyes fell to the large, stand alone tub.

She twisted the faucet as hot as it would go and watched the tub fill with steamy water before taking the liberty of rummaging through Damon's medicine cabinet to find some richly scented bath salts. She shook a generous helping of the amber crystals into the water and watched them froth into a thick mat of bubbles.

"Awesome," she grinned to herself before flinging off her clothes and sinking to her nose in the foam. She had nearly fallen asleep in the warm water when she heard the door to the hallway creak open. For a moment Elena panicked but decided that she was too relaxed to care about being walked in on and laid her head back against the porcelain.

"I didn't want you to go to sleep without eating anything," she could hear Damon explaining only to stop abruptly and call out for her, "Elena?"

"Yeah, in here. Be out in a sec," she answered languidly, though she planned on staying until the water was cold.

"Are you decent?" he asked, trying to cover his nervousness with his trademark arrogant lilt.

"Umm… ish," she said, knowing that the fluffy mat of bubbles floating in the bathtub blocked anything from view. He cautiously entered the bathroom but still had the propriety to avert his eyes. "I'm almost done, I just need to wash my hair and I'll be out."

"May I?" he asked, already collecting an armful of bottles from under the sink.

"Wash my hair?" she smiled.

"Yes."

"Um… sure, you don't have to though."

"It would be my pleasure," he smirked and knelt near the end of the tub. He untied the elastic in her hair with unerring tenderness. And ran his fingers through her chestnut waves, gently working out the tangles.

"Your hair is beautiful," he said with a sense of awe.

"Thanks," Elena murmured and melted under his hands. Damon went about his task with gentle devotion and comfortable silence, testing the rinse water on his wrist so he didn't burn her. He couldn't bear their moment ending so he grabbed the nearest towel and squeezed the extra water from her strands.

"All done," he murmured and dried his hands.

"Hmm?" Elena mumbled and peeked her eyes open with a lazy smile. "Thank you, that was nice."

"Don't rush, you should relax. When you're ready I brought some dinner up."

"I'll be out in a sec, I'm turning into a prune anyways," she giggled and waggled her fingers at him. He grinned at her and slung a towel over the tub before retreating into the darkness of the bedroom, letting her dress in privacy.

"Wow, when you said dinner you meant like… dinner," Elena commented as she looked over the tray of pasta, bread, and salad Damon had brought. He was standing by the fireplace with his back towards her and there was something in his posture that unsettled her; he seemed tense and altogether different from the man who just washed her hair. She had become accustomed to his mercurial moods but she felt a twinge of guilt thinking that she might be the cause of it this time. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking," he smiled but it didn't reach his eyes and Elena could tell that whatever he was thinking about weighed heavily on him. "Please, make yourself comfortable," he gestured to the set of reading chairs by the fireplace. Elena grabbed a piece of warm bread and perched on the chair, tucking her feet under her.

"Are you happy here?" Damon asked when she had finished her bread and they were both staring into the flames in silence.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Elena, please be honest with me. Are you happy here… with me?"

"I'm happy right now."

"If you had the choice to leave, would you?"

"Why are you asking?" Elena asked quietly, she honestly didn't know the answer to his question. At first she wouldn't have given the manor a second thought but things had undoubtedly changed between her and Damon. She missed her family and her friends, of course, but she felt like Damon needed her in a way, especially after what Rose said about bringing out his humanity.

"Just thinking out loud, I guess," Damon smiled faintly as he looked at her with disarming honesty in his blue eyes. "I'm sorry for keeping you up, you're probably exhausted. I hope everything is to your comfort in here, if not I can get you more blankets."

"I'm sure it's fine. I am pretty tired though, sure you don't mind if I just hit the hay now?" Elena asked reluctantly. It seemed like something was weighing on Damon and she felt a strange desire to be there for him. She couldn't deny the pull of the soft blankets and plush bed though, no matter how hard she tried.

"Not at all, the covers are already turned down for you."

"Are you going to be um…" Elena asked, suddenly very self-conscious about staying in his room. "staying in here tonight, too?"

"Not tonight, I have some work to do," Damon answered cryptically as he stood to stoke the fire once more before leaving Elena to her rest. "I'll see you for breakfast?"

"Yep," she smiled as she wiggled under the blankets. She was right about one thing, the bed was just as heavenly as it looked. "Good night."

"Sweet dreams," he answered and looked back once more before quietly slipping out of the door. He waited in the hallway to make sure he could hear her heart beat drop into the slow, peaceful lull of sleep before stealing to the wing of the house where the rest of the coven lived.

It would be a long night of breaking friendship and testing his loyalties.