Chapter Fourteen

Author's Note: Thanks everyone for your comments to the last chapter! I know I haven't responded yet-I didn't get a chance yesterday! I'll catch up tonight. :) Also, as a special treat, look for the next chapter/part tonight at 7:00 P.M. PST... You'll know why when you finish the chapter. ;)

"Hey, Damon, can you—"

"Nope."

Elena watched Jeremy's face fall in shock as they all stared at the doorway Damon had crossed. A few seconds later, the front door slammed.

"What crawled up his ass?" Anna asked, frowning from her position kneeling in front of Jeremy, carefully feeding him.

Elena watched Jeremy's crushed expression for only a few seconds more before she squeezed Stefan's hand and jumped up, hurrying out of the house. She darted in front of his car seconds before he drove away, flinching as the tires came to a screeching halt.

Damon jumped out of the car, his eyes wild with fury. "Have you lost your mind?" he demanded angrily.

"Have you?" she countered, just as angrily. "Jeremy looks up to you, Damon! You're like a brother to him. You can't just abandon him when you're angry."

"That's where you're wrong, Elena," Damon corrected, sneering at her. "I can."

"Hasn't this gone on long enough?" Elena pleaded. "Haven't we all been punished enough for… for thinking you would run off with Katherine? And Jeremy… He never did. He's never done anything but look up to you and look to you for guidance. You can't just run out on him, Damon!"

Damon stalked out from behind the driver's side door, glaring down at her. "I never said I wouldn't run off with Katherine," he corrected quietly, sounding like he was barely containing his rage. "Honestly, all of this emo-teen-angst-bullshit is getting to be a little too much for me to deal with. Go back inside, Elena. This time I won't stop the car."

She ran to his side as he stormed back to his car. "Stop!" she begged. "Damon, just stop! Tell me what's going on!"

"Go away, Elena!"

The next few seconds happened so fast she wasn't actually sure how it happened. One minute she'd been reaching for his arm and he'd been turning to shake her off, and the next, she was suddenly down on the ground, her collarbone aching as she wheezed for air.

Slowly, she looked up at Damon, horrified. He looked… stricken. Almost as if he had been the one who had taken the arm to the chest. And then his mask was back, and without another word, he slid into the car, the tires spinning as he squealed off.

She felt Stefan behind her a little bit later, helping her up from the ground, hugging her close as he carried her back into the house, nearly shaking with rage even as she tried to explain that it had been an accident. Stefan seemed ready to go hunt Damon down, but she managed to calm him down enough to agree to go to bed.

She waited up for hours, listening to the silent house, but Damon never came home that night.

Elena watched as Stefan stepped out of the living room. Anna and Jeremy were cuddled up together, watching TV, Anna occasionally bringing a glass of blood to his mouth to feed him. She stared at the front door, willing it to open, but so far, Damon had been gone for almost twenty-four hours.

Elena clenched her eyes shut, prayed for strength, and snatched Stefan's phone up off of the coffee table, quickly hurrying from the room. She darted up to Stefan's room, closing the door behind her as she searched for the number.

She dialed it quickly on her own phone, just in case Stefan used his call history for something, and waited, her heart drumming in her chest. After three rings, a smug, taunting voice answered, "The owner of this phone is a little… occupied… right now… I'm going to have to take a message."

Elena felt her knees give out on her.

It couldn't be… But it was. She would recognize that voice anywhere.

Damon.

"I'm going to hang up," Damon continued, sounding bored. "So you might want to give me your message before I do."

It couldn't be. It couldn't be. Damon couldn't… He wouldn't have… He couldn't…

There was a shifting sound, and then she heard her own voice in the phone. "Hello," it greeted, in almost a purr.

Elena shuddered, unable to speak. She felt a tear drip from her eye and splash onto the carpet beside her hand.

There was laughter on the other end. "I'll meet you at the Mystic Grill at 7:00," the voice on the other end of the phone promised. Elena didn't have a chance to wonder how she knew it was her.

The call cut off in her ear.

Slowly, Elena ended her call, trying to force the strength back into her legs. She tried to stand, trembling, but her legs felt too weak to support her.

Damon… was with… Katherine?

It couldn't be. There had to be some explanation for it… Some reason that Damon was with her. There had to be. Elena had expected the girl to taunt her and pretend like she was with Damon, but to actually have him answer her phone? To actually hear his betrayal with her own ears?

No. No. She wouldn't believe it was a betrayal. Not Damon. Not Damon.

She curled up on Stefan's floor, knowing she was gone for too long, knowing he would come to look for her soon, and yet she couldn't make herself move. Damon loved Katherine. For 150 years, Damon loved Katherine. It was only… only right… that he try to find her again. Try to be with her again. Maybe she wasn't completely evil. Maybe being with Damon would bring out Katherine's good side.

If that bitch had a good side.

Elena gave a start, shocked and horrified at her own thoughts. She forced herself to stand, her legs feeling clumsy and unsteady, and found herself in front of Stefan's mirror. For the first time in a long time, she slowly tugged at her shirt, exposing her right shoulder, and turned around in the mirror.

The scars from Damon's nails really were almost invisible. She could barely see them unless she strained her eyes searching for them.

She placed her left hand over them, a heavy weight in her heart that felt strangely like an ache. How could she miss scars? Shouldn't she be glad? The kiss with Damon—the night Damon had mistaken her for Katherine—was gone. Wiped away. Damon didn't have to think he was with Katherine anymore. He was with Katherine. He was with his true love.

She raised her hands to her face to brush away the tears.