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Elena's POV

I look into Damon's icy gaze and I can't believe what I'm offering him. Last time I offered my blood to a vampire, the results were less than optimal. At first, when I pulled my hair to the side, I was joking… but the more I thought about it, the more I started to realize that I wouldn't mind… This might sound crazy, and maybe I am, but in a way, the thought of sharing that with him seems so personal, intimate, almost. It's just another way I can give myself to him.

He just looks at me, his expression completely unreadable and it makes me a little nervous. I never thought about what it would mean for him. I think I see his eyes darken for a fraction of a second but he's surprisingly good at controlling his hunger, which is another reason I trust him with something that could be potentially dangerous. Before I can focus on it too much, though, some of Vanessa's words register and I'm hit with a terrifying realization. A werewolf bite is fatal to vampires?

"Wait. If the Lockwood family is part of the werewolf line, that means they turn into wolves when it's a full moon. Tonight is a full moon."

Stefan's POV

Elena is calling. I should answer it. I don't necessarily want to talk to her but I owe it to her after what I did. No matter what she and… it doesn't matter. She didn't deserve how I treated her. The call ends before I can answer but her face lights up the screen again after just a few seconds. I stare at the photo of the two of us together, happy, and I realize the picture was taken the night I gave her the vervain necklace she still wears around her neck. How ironic that the person the necklace was meant to protect her against turned out to be someone she trusts... someone she loves. I press answer so I don't have to look at our smiling faces anymore.

"Hello?"

"Stefan." The relief in her voice is like a knife, reminding me that she still cares about me, still loves me to a certain extent. In some ways it's worse than if she didn't care for me at all.

"Elena. Is everything okay?"

"Um," I hear shuffling like she's putting her hand over the phone and when she speaks again, her voice is muffled. "Stop it, Damo—Damon. Knock it off. You're just going to make it worse."

"Elena?"

"Sorry. Um, yeah, we just learned something interesting from Isobel's research and wanted to fill you in." I hear Damon's voice in the background again but she shushes him. "Turns out the werewolf myth might not be as much a myth as we thought. It runs in families as a curse and those affected by it turn at a full moon. I don't know if it's true or if we should believe it but it's a full moon tonight. After what you saw Mason Lockwood do… I just want you to be careful. The legend says a bite from a werewolf will kill a vampire."

"Got it. Anything else?" I hate that my voice sounds so cold. I don't deserve to still be angry but, hearing them together, even bickering, it's a harsh reminder of everything that's happened over the last few weeks.

She sounds hurt when she answers. "No. Just… be careful."

"Yeah. I will."

I hang up and glance around for Caroline. She was just right there with Matt. Tyler Lockwood is out here somewhere and I'd bet so is his uncle. I hear her phone ringing when I call her but I find it abandoned on the tailgate of Matt's truck. Damn it.

Elena's POV

I start towards the SUV to load some of the stuff we're taking back with us. I keep trying to distance myself from Ric and Damon both. I don't want to continue to provide questions for Ric about my relationship with Damon when I don't even know the answers to most of my own questions about our relationship. Do I love him? Yes. Do I often want to deck him? Absolutely. Loving Damon hasn't made me blind to the sarcastic, impulsive, and often reckless person that he is, which is what I'm sure everyone that know about us thinks. I know it's what Stefan thinks and Bonnie, too.

I try to open the back to the SUV but it's locked. Great. I'll just wait on them to get out here, I guess. Damon can't be far behind, he was inside threatening Vanessa when I left. I laugh and roll my eyes. It's funny to an extent but when he's upset, it's terrifying… The strength he has is unreal but I think the scariest part is he doesn't hesitate like most people would, like I would. I definitely wouldn't want to mess with him.

The car beeps and I look up to see who unlocked it.

"You've been avoiding me." Damon says matter-of-factly.

"I'm not avoiding." I say, busying myself with picking up the boxes to put into the car.

"Liar." He says, leaning close enough so I feel his breath on my cheek.

I jump at his closeness and he grin, taking the boxes from me and sitting them in the back of the SUV, effectively taking away my excuse to not look at him.

I sigh. "I'm not avoiding. I just… I don't know. I don't want to flaunt our relationship in front of Ric when I haven't even really had time to explain everything to him."

"You know what your problem is?"

"I'm sure you're gonna tell me."

"You care too much about what everyone else is feeling and how what you do will affect them and it's going to drive you insane. You can't make everybody happy. If this makes you happy, let it. If not…"

I put my finger to his lips. "It does make me happy."

He brushes my hair back, looking at me with a very serious expression, and I know what's coming next.

"So, what was that about earlier?" He says, tilting his head to the side.

I drop my eyes, feeling kind of embarrassed. "I don't know what you mean."

"I mean, you offering yourself up on a platter to a hungry vampire."

I shrug. What am I supposed to say?

"You guys ready to go?"

I jump and look over at Ric, hoping he wasn't there long enough to hear what was just said. He looks between the two of us and I nod, climbing into the backseat without looking at Damon again. Instead of climbing in the front, though, he climbs in the back with a smile.

Great. This is going to be a long ride home.

I expect to fall asleep on the way back to Mystic Falls but I can't. I'm hyper-aware of Damon sitting inches from me in the back of a SUV as I wait patiently for Ric's questioning, which never comes. I breathe a sigh of relief when the car finally pulls up to the curb in front of my house. Damon raises his eyebrows and grabs a box from the back to take inside the house, leaving me alone with Ric for the first time since he caught us kissing.

"So," He says awkwardly. "You and Damon."

It's not a question but a statement with a disapproving undertone.

I nod slowly. "Me and Damon."

I catch myself chewing on my bottom lip and stop myself. I'm actually going to take Damon's advice, to an extent. I'm happy and I would hope my friends would be happy for me.

"Listen, Ric, I know that you have a bit of a strained relationship with Damon and I can understand why… He is not typical boyfriend-material and he's made some questionable choices."

He raises his eyebrows at my choice of words but I raise my hand to stop him from commenting. I need to get this out.

"I haven't forgotten. But I do love him. He makes me happy and, as my friend, I hope that you want that for me."

"I don't approve." He says, "But I'm glad you're happy."

I smile. "Thank you."

He sighs, leaning against the car. "What does Stefan think of all this?"

"He, uh, didn't take it well."

"I would say not. Is that what Damon was riled up about earlier?"

"You could say that…"

Damon's POV

I sit the box down on Elena's bed, listening to her admission to Alaric. It still hits me like the first time when I hear her tell him she loves me. Kind of hard for me to wrap my head around, I guess. It's always been Stefan that got the girl. Before I turned, I was too sweet, after I turned, too harsh. Of course there were the girls that craved the dangerous guy but it never ended well for them. They learned too late that dangerous guys aren't generally… what did Elena say? "Boyfriend material".

I sigh and ruffle through the box filled with some of the few interesting things Isobel was able to dig up, including a book on Katherine, or Katerina Petrova, as she was originally called. Elena hasn't seen it, yet. I'm hoping to give it to her tonight as a kind of surprise. Hopefully this can provide some insight on Katherine and their tie as 'doppelgangers'.

Outside, I hear footsteps coming towards the house at an inhuman speed. Before Elena can finish her sentence, I'm in front of her, blocking her from whoever, or whatever, is coming.

"Damon? What's going on?"

I don't answer, trying to listen. The footsteps slow and leaves rustle to our right as a figure steps out towards us.

Elena's POV

Ric and I have finally gotten to talking like we used to when Damon appears out of nowhere, scanning the forest for something I can't see or hear. Then Stefan steps out.

Before I have time to register anything, Damon has him pinned against the ground, hitting him over and over again. In a blur, Stefan pushes Damon back and hits him before being overpowered again. I scream for him to stop but, by the time I reach them, Stefan's face is no longer healing; it's swollen, covered in bruises and blood, and he doesn't seem to be fighting back anymore.

"Damon! Stop it!"

I grab his arm as he pulls back for another swing and he realizes too late, pulling me to the ground. I scramble to my feet and push back on his shoulders but he's unmovable.

"Damon. Damon."

His eyes finally seem to focus on me and he sits back, breathing heavy. I glance back at Stefan, who's groaning and rolling over to try and stand, his face slowly becoming less bruised. I keep trying to position myself between them but I know it's no use. If Damon wants to go after Stefan or vice versa, they'll have no problem maneuvering around me.

As if to prove my point, Damon stands and looks his brother over before punching him again, knocking him to the ground.

"Don't ever lay your hands on her again."

"Damon…" I put my hand on his arm and shake my head but he seems to be done. For now, at least.

I lean down and try to help Stefan but he brushes me off.

"Well, as fun as that was…" He says, wiping blood from his mouth and avoiding my eyes in favor of his brothers. "It's not why I came here. You were right. There was a wolf of some kind in the woods tonight, too fast to be a regular wolf, and my guess is it was Mason Lockwood."

I look at the pale, tired looking girl staring back at me from the mirror. My arms are covered in varying shades of blue and purple, a reminder of my fight with Stefan. Now, I wish I'd picked a shirt with sleeves so I can hide them. Damon doesn't need to see these. It will only make him angrier. Instead, I pull my hair around my shoulders, hoping to mask them to some degree, at least.

I'm not even 18 and I feel a million years old. Damon would probably laugh at that thought considering he's 170 years old. Our relationship sounds kind of creepy when you put it that way…

Jenna must already be in bed. I knock on Jeremy's door and say good night, hoping that will keep him from bothering me again tonight. Still, I lock both doors to my bedroom, just in case. When I turn around, Damon is stretched across my bed, a picture of perfection. He just stares at the ceiling and I can't help but wonder what he's thinking. The little crease between his eyebrows tells me it's nothing good and I assume it's about his fight with Stefan. I've seen Damon mad before but I've never seen him like that… the menace in his voice gives me chills just thinking about it.

"I can still see those, you know." He looks over at me and raises his eyebrows, glancing down at my arms.

I reflexively wrap my hands around the bruised area. "I'm fine." It's the truth. I am fine. I think my feelings were more hurt than anything.

I blink and he's standing in front of me, tracing his fingers over the darkened skin. Unexpectedly, he leans down and kisses the bruises.

"I meant it. Earlier." I blurt out.

He searches my face. "You don't know what you're asking."

"Yes, I do, Damon. I want this." I pull my hair to the side and tilt my head, closing my eyes and anticipating the pain.

"Elena." He waits until I open my eyes to look back at him, stroking the side of my face. "Not like this."

He looks into my eyes for a long second and then kisses me, slowly at first, but all the emotions I've kept in check today come rushing back and I pull him to me harder, blindly trying to pull off his shirt without breaking the kiss. I walk backward towards the bed, pulling him with me, trying to be quiet. My shirt lands as a heap on the floor beside his and suddenly we're on the bed. He kisses down my neck and back up before pulling back to look into my eyes, questioning. I nod and I watch in awe as his eyes darken and his teeth start to grow. My stomach is in knots but I turn my head to the left anyway. He kisses my neck again, soft and sweet, and then his teeth sink into my skin.

Caroline's POV

I open my eyes to someone in my room. I start to cuss, thinking it's my mom trying to be motherly for once, but it's Elena.

"Elena?" What is up with her hair?

"Nope. Try again."

Oh, no. "Katherine."

She sits down on my bed with a smile. "Don't be frightened. We're going to have so much fun together."