I had a sudden idea which I really want to do, which also means going a little further with this story than I thought. So, ignore my previous warning. There will be more to follow.

Chapter 14: Sleeping Alone

Present Day

In the blood bank, Katherine slipped silently past the night security guard who was watching baseball on TV in his office. She stole the blood bags she needed and was about to leave when she caught sight of something that made her freeze on the spot. She risked exposure by lingering outside the guard room window in order to view his TV.

As she watched the news report unfold, she absentmindedly bit her fingernails again.

"Police investigating the Kinnikie's bar fire that killed thirty-two patrons on 3rd October in Hardeeville, South Carolina, have been studying CCTV footage from the time of the incident. Investigations are now focused on finding one woman, who they believe is the only available witness to the event. As you can see, this picture captured from CCTV, clearly shows a woman in shadow walking away from the burning bar. FBI technology has allowed State police to clean up the image and reproduce this shot of her face. Channel 9 reporter, Claire Foley, is in Hardeeville, with the lead investigator on the case, Detective Sergeant Don Rafelle. Over to you Claire.'

"Thank you, John. On the third October, this quiet South Carolina neighborhood was rocked by the sudden and deadly bar fire that took the lives of thirty-two residents of this community. Detective Rafelle, do you have any reason to believe that this tragic loss of life was the result of a deliberate act of malice?"

'Claire, it is too early to speculate, but it is true that we have not yet been able to rule arson out of our investigations.'

'Channel 9 news believes you have a potential suspect?'

'Just a person of interest at this time, Claire. We would very much like to talk to this young woman, who as you can see, was clearly in the area during the time of the incident. We urge her to come forward as she may have vital evidence that could help us solve this case.'

As they cut to another close up of her face, Katherine swallowed hard. To anyone who knew her, she was instantly recognizable; from the long flowing curls, to the small oval face and deep brown eyes, it was definitely her. The security guard flipped the TV over onto a different channel, grumbling.

She felt panic rise up in her, but she smacked it back down again. With any luck, the police would find that little goody-two-shoes Elena instead.

No. What good would that do her anyway? It would take Elena about a nano-second to come up with a half a dozen alibis. She probably would have been at glee club at the time, or something else irritatingly wholesome. What's more, Elena didn't have a few centuries worth of enemies, whereas she had a list of people who wanted to see her to suffer as long as her arm.

Suddenly Katherine smelled blood, the fresh kind, and she realized it was her own. She had bitten the skin away around her nails until they bled. She licked the blood away, thrust her hands into her jacket pockets and moved quickly away from the door.

As she crossed the car-lot, Katherine felt her worry build. She really was in trouble now. The cops had 'something to go on', so they would come after her with everything they had. She wasn't looking at six months of keeping her head down, this would be more like six years. They wouldn't stop until they found her.

She had only just freed herself from a thousand years of running. In the process, she had lost her friends, her family, her lovers... And suddenly she wanted so badly just to live her life. A vampire life. She wanted to live free.

She cursed herself for her bad luck. When she had attacked those boys and burned their bodies against the club wall, she didn't know that she had blocked the only fire escape. How was she to know that the bar's shitty electrical system broke every penal code? She didn't realize that the main door was on an electrical lock, so when the electrics fried, it shut everyone in. She didn't know that the walls were so flammable, that the choking, acrid smoke would fill the bar so quickly that it would overpower even the strongest biker in less than two minutes. It was just sod's law.

So nobody got out. And the only thing that the people of Hardeeville had to look forward to, was a string of memorial services.

And so the police were looking for her, and looking for her hard. Shit-oh-shit.

Thanks to the relentless misery of the last couple of days, Elena hadn't slept much at all. It was roughly an hour before dawn when she decided there was no value in tossing and turning and that she may as well just get up.

She knew that she should eat, especially since she had barely touched food since the day she came home. Her appetite had disappeared under a cloud of worry. All she could think about was Tyler and whether Damon had hurt him or not.

She sat curled up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate, curling her newly short hair around her fingertips. It was just about long enough to tuck behind her ear, but only just.

Her eyes were drawn to the place where Caroline had knowingly hidden Jenna's purse, and her mind wandered as she began to think of all the people she had lost. She supposed she would have to add Stefan to that list. In his own way, he felt more lost to her than the others.

And what about the other Salvatore? The one with the aquamarine eyes who had a passion for her that burned like a fire... Did she really want to lose him too?

There was a gentle knock on her front door. Looking at the clock told her it was 4:36am. The only person who would visit her at this hour would be Damon. Clearly ignoring his calls had only succeeded in bringing him to her door.

She went over and put her eye to the peephole. When she saw who it was, she hurried to unlock the deadbolts that her Aunt had installed. When the door finally opened, she flung her arms around her caller.

"Tyler! Oh Tyler, thank God! I was so worried about you."

"Damon said you would be."

"You spoke to him?"

"When you wouldn't answer his calls, he phoned me. Said I should speak to you, show you I wasn't dead. So I thought I'd do one better and drop by."

Her relief that Tyler's beating heart was still housed in his chest was almost secondary to her anger at Damon for going after him in the first place.

"I had a feeling you would be up - I couldn't sleep either." Tyler continued.

She invited him in and they sat down in her kitchen.

"So, that's a pretty major haircut, huh?" He said as he settled on a kitchen chair. She self-consciously tucked a fallen curl behind her ear. "I like it." He added, "Suits the shape of your face."

"Thanks." She said bashfully.

"If you don't mind me saying though, Elena, you do look a little tired. When exactly did you last eat?"

"I really don't remember." She admitted.

"Hey, that's no good." He said and jumped up. "I'm gonna make you something."

He began to open cupboard doors and hunted for miscellaneous foodstuffs, with an occasional comment such as, 'okay one tomato, I can work with that'. She smiled as she watched him work.

"Need any help?"

"Nope, you stay there and watch the master at work."

After having a little trouble lighting her stove, he cooked her a perfect omelet, with mushroom, tomato, onion and oregano. He put it in front of her with a bit of a flourish.

"This looks delicious, but its big enough for two," she said, "won't you share it with me?"

He nodded, but encouraged her to eat first and smiled when she tucked in. She returned his smile with one of her own, then leaned forward and gripped his knee.

"I was so worried about you." She said, "I tried, but I couldn't stop Damon. I would never have forgiven myself if he had hurt you."

"It's okay, I'm fine."

She nodded, and they shared a moment before she instructed him to eat. For a while they ate together in comfortable silence.

"Don't be too hard on him, Elena." Tyler said suddenly.

She felt a frown crease her face. "Be honest with me, Tyler. Did he hurt you?"

"He did what he thought he had to."

"Did he hurt you?" Elena repeated insistently. She never shied away from the truth, no matter how hard it was to hear.

Tyler put down his fork and reached for her hand. With her slender fingers in his, he almost forgot what he had come here for.

"I'm strong, but the way Damon came after me when he thought I had hurt you... Boy. Even if it had been a full moon, I don't think I could have touched him. I'm no fan of Damon's, Elena, believe me, but I know this for a fact, his feelings for you are real."

He felt her hand begin to tremble in his.

"Just ask anyone. It was obvious to everyone that he was into you from the very beginning. To be honest, I thought he just wanted what his brother had, you know?" She nodded grimly as if she had thought the same thing herself, many times. "I thought he didn't really care for you at all. But, I've come to realize, it's not like that."

"It doesn't change the fact that he tried to kill you." She interrupted, "It's just one thing after another with him. I'm so sick and tired of all his drama. I can't live like this, always worrying what will be the next thing will be to make him snap. He never listens to me."

Tyler shook his head.

"No, you're wrong." He brushed his thumb lightly over her the back of her fingers. "Can I tell you something?" She nodded. "Look, when you came over to my house yesterday and things started to happen between us, I couldn't believe my luck." Elena blushed, so he squeezed her hand gently, "And although I know you don't remember, I want you to know that for me at least, what happened was special. I mean, I would have liked to seen you again and taken you out on a proper date or something." He glanced at her and she was listening carefully, a slight blush on her cheeks. "I guess what I am trying to say is that I have no reason at all to recommend Damon to you, but I'm going to. Because when he was at his most dangerous and would have killed me for what he thought I had done to you, it wasn't me, or my mom, who stopped him. It was you. You saved my life, Elena. Even when Damon couldn't think straight, he remembered your words telling him that I had been tricked too." She looked up at him with hope in her eyes. "He's different than when he first came to this town. We've all seen it. Elena, you have changed Damon Salvatore. He loves you. It's totally real."

Elena dropped Tyler's hand and turned away from him. He stood up to leave.

"Look, he wants us all to meet at the boarding house this morning at nine. Will you go?"

Elena thought back to her last unhappy night at the boarding house. She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, I will be. And for the record, I think you should too. I mean, don't get me wrong, I still think Damon is still a dick - but if you like him, then he can't be all bad. I guess." He added begrudgingly.

He reached out and stroked her newly short hair, smiling sadly. "Elena, you deserve to be happy. If I knew how to do that for you, I would. But he's the one that makes your heart beat faster. Don't throw that away."

"Where's Elena, dog?"

"Call me dog one more time, Damon, I swear to God."

"Where's Elena, Tyler?" The vampire said sarcastically.

"I'm not her keeper, you ass." Tyler put his hands in his pockets and strolled away from the frustrated vampire towards Sheriff Forbes, who was pulling up in a squad car with his mom. Damon came after him and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"You did speak to her, right?" He said.

"Whatever, man. Take your hands off of me."

Damon glared at him until they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Damon, leave Tyler alone. He's the only reason I'm here right now." Damon's face lit up when he heard Elena's voice. She walked towards him with a frown on her own.

Damon dropped his hand immediately from Tyler's shoulder and regarded the werewolf circumspectly. "Thank you." He muttered uneasily. Tyler shrugged, he looked at Elena, then walked away from them both.

Elena came towards Damon. "I'm still pissed at you."

"I'll make it up to you."

"The only way you can do that, is to start listening to me."

"I know." He leaned forwards and took her in his arms, causing the Lockwood-Forbes party to raise their eyebrows. Clearly only Tyler knew that the pair of them were together now.

Damon ignored their looks, leaned forwards and touched his nose against hers, "I don't ever want to spend another night watching twenty-four hour news on a loop, when I should be next to you. I want you. In my bed. By my side. Always."

"Then don't make me leave you alone." Elena replied, with a distinct edge to her voice. He rubbed his nose against hers and then kissed her lips gently.

"When I saw you so upset with all your hair cut off, I admit, I totally lost it. I thought that Tyler had... Well, you know what I thought. And I just couldn't bear of the thought of anyone hurting you like that. I saw red."

"It wasn't like that. Tyler would never hurt me and if you stopped to think for even a second, you would have known that. Of course I was upset, but not because I believed he could do that to me, but because of what I had done to you. I knew - I mean I could feel that..." She dipped her eyes fleetingly away from his intense, questioning gaze, then took a deep breath, "...well I knew that he had been inside me. I felt like I had betrayed you." Damon's face showed his pain at her words, "I was so angry with myself. I just wanted to do something, change something. Everything was slipping away from me and I couldn't do anything at all. I was sick of being weak, helpless Elena - the cause of so much pain, for everyone." Damon put his hand on the back of her head and pulled her so close against his body that she could barely breathe. He rocked her gently.

"Shhh, shh now. None of this is your fault. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. But I promise you faithfully that we are going to deal with this situation once and for all. Don't you worry about that."

"It was Stefan, wasn't it?" She said.

Before he could answer, they were interrupted by a sharp cough.

"Damon, you better have a very good reason for bringing me here, or so help me God, I will be pressing charges for attempted murder and criminal damage." The Mayor snarled. Sheriff Forbes shifted uncomfortably beside her. Stood to his mother's left, Tyler looked at the embracing couple with an unreadable expression.

Damon however kept his eyes on Liz; he was fairly sure that the thought of having to arrest him would not appeal to her one bit. But he also knew her well enough to know she would do it if pressed. Even if the attempt could cost her her life.

"Chill out, mom. Let's hear what he has to say, okay?"

"He's a thug, Tyler. God knows what he would have done if I hadn't stopped him."

"Tyler, I am asking you, as the victim in all this. Do you want to press charges?" Sheriff Forbes looked at the boy directly.

"It's Damon," he said rolling his eyes, "once a dick, always a dick. So no, I don't want to press charges. Come on, let's go inside." He shoved passed the vampire, with a cursory glance to Elena who stood demurely by Damon's side. She knew that Tyler had defused the situation because of her. She looked from the disgruntled Mayor, to the uncertain Sheriff. They wouldn't act without Tyler's say-so. He was a good friend to her.

Even Damon seemed to realize that bridges had to be built. "I'll pay for the damage to your house and arrange for contractors to do the repairs." He offered to Mayor Lockwood.

"I should think so." She bristled. "And you will also apologize to my son. Publicly."

Damon curled his lip. "Wouldn't you rather you just stake me?" He quipped.

"Actually, I happen to agree with her." Elena added crossly. "You owe Tyler an apology. You owe him a lot more than that actually..." His blue eyes sparkled; he could fight with Carol Lockwood all he wanted, but when it came to Elena, he knew when he had been beaten.

"Of course." He told the Mayor. "Consider it done."

"I'll believe it when I see it." She responded, putting her nose in the air and leading them indoors.

Inside the house it was beginning to feel crowded. All Elena's friends had turned up for the meeting that Damon had called. To even his surprise, Bonnie was also present; although she sat on the other side of the room to Jeremy and glowered at him constantly. Her hand was tucked into Caroline's. Her vampire best friend did the best she could to whisper consoling words into her ear.

Despite the support, Bonnie looked teary-eyed and unhappy. Jer looked over to her with concern. Every bit of him wanted to speak to her, but he hesitated. Even Vicki leaned over his shoulder and said, "Give her time, Jer. Lots of time." It sounded like good advice.

Alaric took his familiar position at the back of the room, leaning against a coffee table with his arms folded across chest. His eyes narrowed with surprise when Tyler, the Mayor and the Sheriff walked in and took seats on the couch.

On entering the room, Liz glanced at her daughter and gave her a quick smile. Caroline looked puzzled by her presence. "What's going on, Damon?" She asked as Damon lead Elena in by the hand and encouraged her to take a seat somewhere in the middle of them all. Finally Matt hurried into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Sorry I'm late." Matt muttered. He chose a spot on the floor next to Jeremy, unwittingly choosing to sit beside his dead sister's ghost. Vicki's hand passed through Matt as she reached out to him. Jer gave her a sad smile.

"Thank you all for coming." Damon began, bringing the room to order, "I asked you all here today because I have something to tell you."

"This better not take long." The Mayor said looking at her watch.

"Just listen, mom." Tyler said under his breath. She pressed her lips together primly and returned her eyes to Damon.

"We are all here because of something Stefan has done," Damon continued, his eyes looked to the Mayor as he said, "whether we know it or not." She looked intrigued. "For one, Stefan is the reason I attacked Tyler last night." The room erupted into protests of anger. Damon held up his hands for calm. "- And for which, I offer my sincerest apology. Tyler, you know I had my reasons, but I am happy to admit that I was wrong. I hope you can forgive me and accept my word that it will never happen again." Damon stepped forwards and offered his hand to the scowling werewolf.

You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone wanted to know what Tyler's reaction would be. For a moment, it looked as though he would refuse to take Damon's offered hand. But eventually, at the point when it was about to be taken away, he shook it.

Damon glanced at the Mayor, who seemed to be as pleased as she would ever be. His eyes flicked to Elena, who gave him the smallest of smiles. He felt encouraged.

"Stefan has done so much damage to everyone here." He took a beat before he could say what he came here to tell them. "And it's time it stopped. So I am calling a time-out." Bonnie raised her eyebrows. Alaric looked from Caroline to Jeremy, then back to Damon. "I brought you here to tell you something. Something important. I have asked Elena to marry me."

There was shock. Only Tyler and Liz remained quiet. Alaric began to laugh, until he realized it wasn't a joke.

"I love her and I hope that she still loves me." Damon said over the noise, a nervous smile on his face.

"Elena, have you taken leave of your senses?" Bonnie said wide-eyed.

Alaric added, "Are you both sure about this?"

"Wow," Matt said, his jaw dropping, "I can honestly say, I did not see that coming."

Tyler sulked in silence. Jer merely looked closely at his sister for her reaction, but she was playing her cards close to her chest. Her face remained neutral. The room grew quiet and they waited for for her to speak.

"It's simple. I love him." She said. Damon smiled at her, with more than just a little relief in his eyes. She mirrored his smile.

"I know I haven't been the easiest resident of this town to live with." Damon continued.

"You can say that again." Liz grumbled. Caroline smiled.

"But I have come to think of you all as something I thought I would never have again," he looked at them all, "my friends."

"You sure have a funny way of showing it." Matt muttered.

"I guess I deserve that." Damon nodded. "But I want you to know, that is going to change. Right here, right now." He got up, went over to Elena and took her hand. She got to her feet. He could feel her tremble. "Elena has shown me time and time again that she would do anything for any one of you, and I would do anything for her. You're her family, so you are my family too now. And I protect my family, fiercely."

The room went quiet as he held Elena's gaze.

"Just as Elena can forgive me for the things I have done, I know that you can forgive each other too." His eyes scanned the room pointedly. "My brother and I are from one of the founding families. I don't know when we forgot that, but we did. And for that I am sorry, on behalf of both of us. But what is broken, can be fixed. My fiancé has proved that to me." He kissed her lightly on the cheek, then let her hand go and walked back to his perch next to Liz. A slightly overcome Elena sat down again, blushing heavily. "I want to show Stefan that his behavior cannot hurt us." Damon continued from his seat next to the Sheriff. "That's why in forty-eight hours, this town is going to have the best wedding it has ever seen. That is, so long as my future wife consents -"

Elena's mouth dropped open. Every eye was on her waiting for her reaction.

"Damon, I admire the sentiment, but you can't possibly think that you can get married in two days!" Carol exclaimed, breaking the tension.

"We'll never be able to find a dress in that time!" Caroline added.

"Or get a license." Liz added.

"Mayor Lockwood, if there is one thing I have no doubt in my mind about, is that if anyone can get things done in this town it's you."

"Well, I suppose..."

"Mom, you are so gonna be able to pull that off." Tyler sighed.

"But even if I sort a license, and you can even find a minister, where on earth will you find a venue at such short notice?" Carol added.

"Well, I had hoped..." Damon began.

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Oh you have to be kidding me." The Mayor looked blankly at her son, so he explained it to her, "Mom, he wants it at our house." She spun her head back towards Damon.

"We could do it here," Damon said indicating the boarding house, "but you are so adept at throwing parties, Carol, I bet you have caterers on speed-dial."

"Well, I guess that I do," she said, both flattered and flustered, "it's just that I..."

"Thank you, Mayor. You are such an amazing woman. As I have often said." Damon finished.

"What about the state of my roof?" She thought aloud suddenly.

"Well, I am sure Caroline will help you organize a wedding so wonderful on the ground, that no-one will think to look up."

Caroline squealed and clapped her hands excitedly. "I will not let you down!" She said, running to Damon and hugging him, before running to Elena and hugging her.

"Jer, I hope you will give your sister away." Damon added.

Jer looked at Elena, and gave her his sweet, sideways smile. "Yeah, sure. I guess I could do that. If she wants me to." He said, the question in his voice not missed by anyone. Elena was yet to say what she thought of Damon's plan.

"Ric, will you be my best man?" Damon continued.

"Well I guess someone has to make sure you make it back from the bachelor party." Ric smiled.

"Bonnie, Caroline - Bridesmaids obviously." They smiled and nodded. Bonnie followed Caroline by going over to hug her best friend. Elena squeezed her tight.

"Matt, Tyler, will you be groomsmen?" They both nodded, although their reaction was a little less enthusiastic than the girls.

"Elena?" Damon said somewhat anxiously. "Will you do it?" The room went quiet, whilst everyone waited for her reaction.

"Of course I will." She said. The room broke into applause and laughter, and people began to congratulate them both. Damon's back was patted a dozen times, whilst Elena had the breath squeezed out of her.

"Oh my God, why are we still sitting around talking about this?" Caroline exclaimed. "I have like a million and one things to do!"

There was much laughter at that. Elena smiled at Damon. His idea to bring her friends back together was already working, and she loved him for it. As the room began to clear, she walked over and took both his hands in hers.

"When I marry you," Damon said seriously, "I want it to be perfect."

"It already is." She replied and she reached up to kiss him.

Outside the boarding house, the driveway began to clear of cars. The Mayor was on the phone already as she walked towards the squad car. Her driver, Liz, lagged behind deliberately so she could catch up with Damon. He wanted to speak with her too, so he jogged over and caught her up.

"I assume Stefan could hear all that?" Liz asked him.

"That was the general idea." He replied. She looked at him suspiciously.

"So," she said, "everyone has a job to do at your wedding, except me."

He took her arm and pulled her further away from the house. He lowered his voice. "On the contrary, Liz. Yours is the most important job of all."

When everyone had gone, Damon turned to re-enter the house. Elena was stood in the doorway.

"Something's troubling you." She said.

"Come take a walk with me." He asked. She nodded, and they strolled together away from the house towards the forest. He waited until they were quite a distance. "I want to ask your advice."

She smiled. "You do? Okay. I'm listening. What's up?"

Matt shifted uncomfortably and ran his finger under his collar.

"Stop fidgeting, Matt. Anyone would think you'd never worn a suit before." Bonnie said to him.

"I hate ties." He said, fiddling some more. Bonnie got up from the love seat in the Lockwood's conservatory and went over to him. She undid his tie and did it back up again in a perfect Windsor knot that sat much better on him. She slipped a single white rose out of her bouquet, broke the stem short and tucked the flower into his lapel. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

The door opened and Tyler leaned in. "Hey guys, people are starting to arrive. Matt, you wanna give me a hand here?"

"Sure, wait up." Matt walked outside, and was struck again by the magnificent set-up that Caroline and Carol Lockwood had managed to arrange in the Lockwood's garden in no time at all.

Damon had told them to limit guests to about fifty people, but more were turning up anyway.

The bride was busy being dressed by Caroline. Her short hair had been tidied, and was pinned up neatly with pearl headed pins. She was shaking.

"I can't believe this is happening!" She said. Caroline stopped fussing around her hemline, and hugged her. They both squealed excitedly.

Bonnie slipped into the room and immediately went and joined the group hug. "You look beautiful, babe." She said.

"Okay, enough, we're going to make her cry and her mascara will run." Caroline said, brushing back her own tears. She reached for the veil and arranged it carefully.

There was a gentle knock on the door which made them all turn towards it.

"Unless you're Damon, you can come in." Caroline called out cheerfully. Jeremy opened the door a crack, with his hand over his eyes.

"You all decent?" He asked.

Caroline sighed. "Yes."

Jer removed his hand and his eyebrows shot up as he took his sister in.

"Wow, sis. You look amazing. Really beautiful."

"You don't need to sound so surprised." She said. Caroline clapped excitedly, because she couldn't help herself.

"And you look great too ladies. That color looks pretty on you, Bonnie." He said carefully.

"Thanks." She said almost sourly.

"Are you ready to go?" Caroline said brightly, attempting to change the mood before it became any more awkward.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" The bride replied.

Jer went over and offered her his arm. She took it and he smiled at her. "Let's go." He said. "Your groom awaits."