Authors Note: Okay so I promised this chapter would be much longer, but its not :( I'm so sorry guys, it was just the place I stopped at was a realllllly good place to but I infinity promise the next one will be muuuch longer! So I know I will always love you is Dolly Parton's song, but to me that song will always be Whitney Houstons. I don't know about anyone else but whenever someone mentions that song, for the rest of my days I'll think of Whitney's version and not Dollys, because in my opinion she made it one of the greatest love songs, and of course because I absolutely adore The Bodyguard. SO ANYWAY, enough of my ramblings! I hope you enjoy and the reviews are amazing, and so are you guys! MUCH LOVE xxxxxx

14

"If I should stay, I would only be in your way. So I'll go, but I know, I'll think of you every step of the way. And I will always love you. Bittersweet memories, that is all I'm taking with me, so goodbye, please don't cry, we both know, I'm not what you, you need." – Whitney Houston.

"We can't do this." Her voice held no strength as she kept a safe distance from him, her back tight against the office door as he stood from the chair and approached her with calculated movements.

"Then why are you here?" he asked, his tone husky.

"Because," she swallowed thickly as his hand took its place on the door to the side of her head and his body came to a halt an inch from hers. If her body wasn't too preoccupied with its awareness of his body so close, she would fear he may make out the hidden bruise.

"I want you to tell me the truth, Elena." he requested.

"I already told you-

"You can't," he finished off. "Then how about I guess?"

She finally looked up at him, the confusion obvious in her face. "What?"

"Since you can't tell me, I'm going to guess, and you have to tell me when I get it right."

"This isn't a game, Damon."

"I know that," his voice was sincere.

"He knows." Elena revealed and watched as his brow rose in expectance for an elaboration. "Frank, he knows about us."

His facial expression portrayed no surprise, and he eventually jeered. "Took him long enough,"

"I don't think you realise how bad this is." Elena grabbed onto his forearm when it dropped from its rest on the door behind her, stopping him from turning away. "He's dangerous, Damon. He's got everyone so scared of him, they'll do anything not to get on his bad side."

"Are you scared?" He queried, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Aren't you?"

"I'm not afraid of anything, Elena."

"How very macho of you," She scoffed and released his arm.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." He countered while returning to his desk and slipping onto the chair.

"Right of course, you don't care enough to be afraid." The snap of her voice caught the attention of his intense blue eyes, and resulted in him leaning back in his chair.

"And you do?" he shot back.

"Of course I care," she pushed herself away from the door, and perched onto the edge of his desk once rounding it "All this, I'm doing because I care. I'm trying to help you."

"And how exactly are you doing that?"

"Neither of us knows what's going to happen next, we don't know what Frank will do."

"He can't do anything."

"That's where you're wrong," she argued. "He can do anything he wants. Get rid of anyone, control anyone."

He stood from the chair abruptly. "Why are you so afraid of him?"

She soon followed suit, "I'm not afraid of him, I don't care what he does to me, not anymore. What I care about is what he does to you."

"He's only powerful because you allow him to be."

"You're probably right, but I have a reason to."

"Ah, yes. The big secret." An instantaneous build of annoyance welled within her at his use of quotations marks with his fingers along with the snarky comment. Here she was, trying to save him the trouble of losing his job, or worse, and he was making a big joke out of the fact that she couldn't tell him everything about her.

"You are such a dick." She breathed.

Damon grinned cockily. "Thank you."

Elena blew out in repugnance, leapt up from the edge of the table and stormed towards the door, only to be stopped before she even reached halfway and harshly swung back around to meet the stern lines of Damon's face along with the hard lines of his body. They were so close she could practically feel the flame of his skin igniting her own, causing her to wonder where she began and he ended.

"Before you feed me that you're doing all this for me, you might want to start being honest first." His voice was low and dark, and she wanted to kick herself for finding it undeniably sexy.

She swallowed the thickness in her throat and her eyes unconsciously darted to his mouth. "You think this is a big joke."

"The only thing I think is a joke is you and Frank spoon-feeding the entire city your fake engagement when you don't even live together, or have sex, or show any kind of love towards one another."

"I don't expect you to understand." She returned.

He frowned. "Maybe I would if you explained it to me."

"You won't." she vowed. Though she wanted desperately to lean up, kiss him, strip both their clothes off and beg him to take her, instead, she retrieved her arm from his grip and left the office without turning back to look at him. At least she didn't end up having sex with him. The glass was a half full after all. Then again, she was back at square one, no air supply, no means to live. The conflict was draining, she was trying her best to keep Damon out of it, to keep him safe from the dangerous side of Frank she knew was buried deep within, yet she couldn't bear the thought of not seeing him, feeling him, tasting him.

This was for the best wasn't it?

She didn't know, she didn't know what to do, she didn't know how to stay away, or if she had the strength to refuse him. Even when they were fighting it made her aroused, which was a disadvantage at this very moment in time, but if they were a couple, she would view it as an advantage. She returned to the desk and dreaded the rest of the day which would consist of catering to Damon's needs. She had no doubt it would be difficult.

Luckily for her, the day hadn't been all that difficult. Damon had barely left his office, only on a few occasions to wander across to Stefan's and he didn't ask her to do anything for him, which once again, left her reeling in whether she should be relieved or annoyed that he was accepting they couldn't be 'close' anymore. In other words, have constant sex or shamelessly flirt. Actually, that wasn't what she told him she couldn't do. Technically, she said she couldn't tell him the truth. Which was something he obviously needed for them to continue, and of course, the other elephant in the room; he wanted her to leave Frank. Elena closed the door to her apartment and bent to place her bag on the floor. Continuing through the apartment until her feet found their place by the bed, turned around and flopped back onto the bed. A reminder of her bruised cheekbone crept back into her mind and she lifted her fingers to touch upon the tenderness, the pain seemingly intensified throughout the day.

The arrival of Damon into her thoughts came next, the bluest of blue eyes, the silk midnight hair, and the beautiful face. She thought it was torture when she hadn't had sex for years, but now she realized how wrong she had been. This was torture. The image of Damon on top of her, underneath her, the feel of his hands roaming her body, the way he felt inside her. Even the memories made her aroused, which was completely new to her. She had never wanted to get herself off to the image of any man, before he came along of course. He turned her on like no one ever had, he pushed her buttons, made her want him with uncontrollable fever; he consumed her. Her hand wandered from its probe of her cheek, down her neck, over the curve of her breasts, down the flatness of her stomach, then to the bottom of her dress. Hiking it up until her bottom half was free, then sliding her fingers underneath the material of her panties, she closed her eyes and thought of nothing but him. Just as her forefinger touched upon the bundle of nerves, a loud vibrating came from across the apartment, causing her masturbation plans to be put on hold as she rapidly climbed from the bed and skated across her apartment, pulling her cell phone out from inside her bag.

"Hello?" She answered breathlessly.

"Hey, pretty girl." Caroline greeted her with the same zest she always held. "What are you doing?"

"Uh… nothing," she probably couldn't sound guiltier if she tried.

"Are you having sex?" Caroline asked out-right.

"No!" Elena exclaimed. "I'm… exercising."

"Liar,"

"Okay, I wasn't exercising."

"I missed my calling as a psychic."

"It doesn't take Mystic Meg to figure out I'm too lazy to exercise."

"Right, anyway, I was just calling to see if you wanted to do something tonight? Since I haven't seen my favourite face for weeks,"

"Sure, I can squeeze you in." Elena joked.

"How very kind of you,"

"Mm-hmm. So where do you want to go?"

"Come to mine if you want."

"Okay, then. I'll be there in an hour."

Elena hung up the phone and placed it on the small table set to the side of the apartment door, slipped into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Just as promised, approximately an hour later she was climbing from the back of a cab and entering the building that held Caroline's apartment. Ascending the stairs until her flat, knee-high black boots met with the 3rd floor, voyaging across the landing and placing a firm couple of raps against the door until it swung open to welcome her.

And of course the first words out of Caroline's were alcohol related. "Wine time?"

Elena chuckled and scooted inside, her bag still gripped on her shoulder until she removed it and let it drop to the floor. She couldn't have picked a better best friend, especially when she was struggling, Caroline would always make her forget about her problems for a little while, at least until she was alone again. Of course, Elena's thoughts had wandered to Caroline over the past two weeks; she knew she was busy because she had warned her beforehand that they may not be able to see one another for a while due to Caroline's busy work schedule and of course, Matt. Therefore, Caroline knew nothing about her and Damon sleeping together. Did she need to let slip that information? Technically she wasn't sleeping with him anymore; well she was going to try not to, so did she have to tell Caroline she did the dirty with Damon Salvatore?

"I've been sleeping with Damon Salvatore." obviously she did.

Caroline's face was masked with disbelief, quickly followed by surprise, making Elena instantly regret her confession. It was obvious that her mouth didn't want to cooperate in keeping secrets that involved Damon, especially with Caroline.

"Oh my god,"

"I know, I am a complete slut and-

Interrupting her scolding was Caroline's grab to her arm, along with the unusual strength she used to drag her to the pink sofa and sit her down on it. "You have to tell me everything."

Elena frowned. "Did you not hear what I said? I slept with Damon."

"Have you not heard what I've said since the moment we became friends?"

Elena shook her head slowly and waited for Caroline to explain.

"Elena, I hate Frank."

"I know…" She said, still not catching on.

"So Damon may be the poster-child for one night stands, but he's better for you than Frank. I know you; I know that you would never sleep with Damon if you didn't think it was different with you, that he felt something deeper."

"I'm in love with him." Elena blurted out. Did she really just say that? She had only heard it in her own mind, and hearing it out loud seemed to make it real. There was no 'I think I am' or 'I might be falling in love with him', just plain and definite 'I'm in love with him'. What was she going to do now? It was hitting her all over again, now she had confessed it, she would have to deal with it; either with a ton of ice cream, or a crate of wine. At least when it was just in her thoughts, she could brush it to one side.

"Oh my god," Caroline breathed out. "Wow, this is… wow. Oh my god,"

"Caroline, you're not helping." Elena whined with impatience.

"Right, I'm sorry!" Caroline straightened up. "Okay, I'm back."

Elena let out a loud groan and buried her head deep in her hands. "What am I going to do?"

A few moments of silence went by before Caroline made a reply. "Leave Frank," she suggested.

Elena lifted her head from its burial in her hands and looked at her best friend, wishing it could be that simple. Why couldn't things be that simple? Oh, that's right, because her life wasn't simple. It hadn't been in the same vicinity of simple from the moment her life turned upside down when she was 17 years old. "It's more complicated than that." She told her quietly.

"No it's not. You leave Frank, be with Damon."

"Damon would lose his job, Caroline." Elena pointed out one thing from a long list that could happen if she made it that simple.

"No he wouldn't. Frank can't just fire someone, especially not the companies CEO just because his fiancée ran off with that person. He has to have a reason."

"It's not just the job. It's everything. It's…"

"It's what?"

"What if it doesn't work out with Damon?"

"What if it does?"

Elena rose from the couch and ran a hand through her hair, crossing the apartment then turning back. "I can't. It's too complicated. There are too many risks."

"If it wasn't a risk, it wouldn't be worth it. Nothing would." Caroline also stood from the couch, rounded the large coffee table with the two large glasses of red wine she had readily made for Elena's arrival in her hands. The blonde-haired beauty reached her best friend and handed over the glass. "Now drink that, and tell me everything. All the gory details." As always, Caroline's wide smile was contagious.

Obviously she didn't tell her why it was so risky to choose Damon, she wanted to. She found herself at the point where she would rather it be out, but she felt she owed it Damon that she didn't tell anyone if she refused to tell him. All it took to distract Caroline from the 'risky business' was the details of her escapades with Damon, in his office, his apartment, the bathroom of the business party. To which she responded with girlish shrieks and excited claps of her hands.

It was a little past eleven when she was journeying back to her own apartment in the back of a cab, watching the city blur past on the other side of the window, her hands folded in her lap and her mind on Damon. And that was where it remained until her head moulded into the soft pillow of her king-sized bed and a warm slumber blanketed her senses.

"Damon," Stefan called out to his older brother while following his lead down the corridor that led to their adjacent offices.

Silence remained.

"Damon, come on." Stefan groaned desperately from behind. Damon hadn't been speaking him since he refused to turn down the job offer in Paris, and he planned on keeping it that way until Stefan agreed to refuse it. "You can't give me the silent treatment forever."

"Actually I can." Damon returned while slipping through to his office once satisfying his obsession with the one woman he could never have by shooting a glance over to his occupied PA desk, tailed by his younger brother's insistence.

"Damon," Stefan tried again. "Don't be such a child."

A scoff escaped Damon while slipping out of his black suit jacket and tossing it on the small leather couch placed against the left wall of his office. He wasn't being a child; he was trying to look out for his younger brother, which he wasn't making an easy task for him. If he was honest, the silent treatment was the last desperate attempt at getting Stefan to listen, oh the irony.

"Fine, I'll stop acting like a child, when you turn down the job offer."

Stefan sighed. "It's already happening, I'm going to Paris and nothing's going to change it."

"Not if I chained you to a radiator."

"Damon,"

"Handcuffs or chains?"

"Damon." Stefan strained. "I really need you to just support me with this, I need my brother."

Damon took a few moments, the guilt along with his brotherly instincts overcoming the stubbornness set in his veins. "Okay, fine! Go to Paris, eat baguettes and chase French girls. But I am not being held responsible if you get hit by a cab and your brain falls out." He really shouldn't joke about such things, but he couldn't resist. Technically there shouldn't be anything for him to worry about, Elena had called off their involvement with one another, much to his despair, and therefore Frank shouldn't see him as a threat anymore. It wasn't probable, but still, he could hope. He frowned when it dawned on him how quickly his resolve had weakened. It used to be much firmer, yet it crumbled before his very eyes after a few minutes of Stefan's begging.

Damon fixed his eyes with Stefan's and found the emotion within the intense green tender. "Thank you," the gratitude in his voice along with the way he was looking at him made Damon's heart triple in size. He was going to miss him. The fact hit him hard, and he watched as Stefan left his office.

Stefan was his best friend, he had been for as long as he could recall, and now he was going to move to Paris. They would be countries apart. He wouldn't have anyone, only a career. No girlfriend, no family. The thought terrified him into paralysis, and although he wanted to get up off the edge of his desk, it was apparent that he couldn't due to the doubt he felt of whether or not he had the urge to go to put aside his pride and willingly accept that he and Elena go back to the way they had been for the last few weeks just because he didn't want to be alone. Yet underneath such a foolish notion, he knew better.

After minutes of wading through the doubts and reaching his genuine feelings, Damon forced his backside off the desk and ordered his feet to take him out into the corridor. Only to be turned back around by the decision that it was probably best he didn't bare his feelings to her at work, or he was being a chicken. Either way, he wasn't doing it right now.

His worries remained two hours ahead, along with the firm creases in his forehead. When had he started worrying? He was usually so laid back. Of course he had no choice; everyone seemed to be piling on things for him to worry about. And they all somehow involved Frank. A soft knock against his office door served as a much needed distraction from his worries, and he immediately called for them to come in. The door opened but Elena remained in the doorway, not daring to take a step further.

"There's a woman here for you." She shifted uncomfortably and her eyes looked anywhere but at him.

"Okay, send her in." he replied.

A quick tuck of her hair behind her ear and a nod of her head, then she was gone.

Damon blew out in vexation. A few days ago they were ravaging one another in this very room, how did things get so cold and awkward? Ah yes, because he just needed the truth from her, that's how. He stood and collected his thoughts before looking to the door for the unexpected visitor.

"Oh god, what are you doing here?" Damon asked with annoyance.

A chuckle passed the pouted lips of the woman closing the door of his office behind her before she turned to eye him. "I'm here on Katherine's behalf."

"Oh great," he huffed. "What is it now? She needs a sacrifice for her hell hounds?"

"She wants you to meet with her."

"Why; having money problems is she?" He questioned smartly, though he could care less. She didn't get any money out of him when they broke up and she wasn't getting any now.

"No,"

"Oh, come on Isobel. We both know Katherine only cares about two things, money and herself."

Isobel was Katherine's conniving best friend, but would never match Katherine's level of manipulation, which gave her the role of lackey instead of side-kick.

"Well you can add one more thing to that list now."

"And what's that?"

"You'll just have to meet her tonight and find out."

He sighed and finally asked in defeat. "Where?"

"Lloyds."

Lloyds? How could Katherine or Isobel possibly know about Lloyds? Neither of them lived in the city, as far as he knew anyway. Just as he opened his mouth to ask exactly that, Isobel turned and disappeared from his office. Well, there's another worry to add to the pile, which put the talk with Elena at the bottom, for now. At least until he dealt with Katherine. The last thing he wanted was Elena and Katherine coming face to face. That would not end well.