Hey :) i'm so sorry that its taken me so long to update...i just havent had the motivation until yesterday. Anyway i'm not going to harp on about it...so here is the chapter, i hope you like it. please let me know what you think

Thanks Rachel xx

Chapter 14

"Elena this isn't funny" I chastised in hushed tones "stop playing games with me, what are you doing here?"

Elena stepped forwards with her hands on her hips, she smiled harshly and I automatically held Athena closer to me.

"I've already told you, I'm Katherine and you're going to do everything I tell you to, or I'm going to hurt you, your baby, and your family" she said quietly with a sickly sweet tone to her voice.

As she spoke I saw the veins under her eyes become prominent and she bared her fangs. I immediately took a step back against the wall. My heart was pounding in my chest.

"What do you want from me?" I whispered.

"For now, I need you to give the Salvatore brothers a message" she told me.

"What message?"

"The game is on, nobody is safe, nobody in their precious town, until I get what I want" Katherine or Elena or whoever this was instructed.

"Now, repeat it" Katherine commanded me, stepping closer so that she was almost touching me.

I was too scared to do anything but do as she told me to. Once I had repeated her words.

"Good" Katherine smirked.

One minute she was there and the next she was gone. I let out a shaky breath and held Athena tight to my chest. I felt tears running down my face. I tried not to let out a sob. Mechanically, I got the bottle of Athena and fed her before slowly climbing the stairs. When I re-entered my room, I reached for my phone and with shaky hands I dialled Damon's number.

After two rings Damon picked up.

"Hello" he grumbled. His voice thick with sleep.

"Damon? It's Piper. Someone called Katherine was here" I told him, my voice shaking.

It was quiet for a moment.

"I'm on my way" Damon replied.

I sat down slowly in the living room, my whole body shaking. A sob was threatening to break free from my chest. I buried my face in Athena's head as a few tears leaked through. I knew I had to be quiet though, I couldn't have my mom waking up to find me terrified and crying in the living room in the middle of the night.

When I felt a hand clasp my shoulder I nearly screamed. I jumped out of my chair, whirled around and clutched Athena to my chest. I feared that Katherine had decided to come back. Thankfully it was Damon, with Stefan just behind him. As soon as I realised it was him, I threw myself forwards him, making sure I didn't crush Athena. He wrapped his arms around me tightly and rested his chin on the top of my head.

"Shh" he whispered "you're ok".

Damon rubbed a hand on my back comfortingly.

"I was so scared, Damon, she threatened Thea, and my family" I cried.

"I promise you that that won't happen" Damon said firmly.

I pulled away and wiped at some tears. Damon was dressed in sweats and a grey t-shirt. I had to admit, even when in shock and terrified, that he looked good. Stefan stepped forwards and smiled sadly at me.

"Who is she Damon? Why does she look like Elena? Why does she want me to tell you 'game on' " I asked.

Damon and Stefan shared a long look and didn't answer me. I glared at them both. I held back a frustrated growl.

"Tell me!" I hissed at them.

After a long moment, Stefan sighed.

"Why doesn't Damon stay here with you tonight and then we'll tell you everything in the morning" Stefan suggested.

"That might be best" Damon agreed "you don't want to wake up your mom"

I thought about it for a moment. As much as I wanted to know the truth, I didn't want to risk getting my mom involved in all of this.

"I would feel better with you here" I admitted "she might come back"

Damon nodded and turned to face Stefan.

"I'll see you in the morning then, brother" Damon smirked.

Stefan gave me a quick hug and a reassuring smile before whizzing out of the door at vampire speed. My eyes refocused. That was still going to take a bit of getting used to.

"I need to get a bottle for Thea" I whispered to Damon.

Still feeling shaky, I crept into the kitchen and approached the bottle warmer in the corner next to the fridge. I grabbed a bottle and placed it in Thea's mouth. She suckled greedily.

"Are you ready?" I asked Damon quietly as I stood at the foot of the stairs.

"I can just stay down here" Damon replied, nodding towards the living room.

I suppressed a chuckle and reached awkwardly for his hand.

"Don't be stupid, Damon" I murmured, before pulling him up the stairs.

We crept silently upstairs. I thought it was funny how I was sneaking a boy upstairs while my mother was sleeping without having a questionable motive. He was my bodyguard. We snuck into my room and after Thea decided she was full, I placed her into her cot. I blushed a little before climbing back into my bed. I pulled back the duvet to indicate that he should climb in beside me.

Damon smiled a little, slipped off his shoes and slipped in the bed beside me. Hesitantly, Damon placed an arm around me and I snuggled into his chest. He chuckled a little.

"I have to say" he whispered in my ear "this wasn't how I imagined us sleeping together"

"Don't go getting any ideas vamp boy" I warned.

I felt his laugh and I smiled to myself. He held me tightly and I closed my eyes. I really was falling for this guy, my protector.

When I woke up the following morning, I was surprised to find that Damon was still asleep in my bed. It was also a shock for me to see just how innocent and peaceful he looked. It was a change from his usual cocky smirk. Sitting up, I glanced in the mirror. God, I looked a mess. I looked to the cot and smiled when I realised that Thea was still asleep.

I felt an arm snake around my waist, and lips press softly on my shoulder and up to my neck. I grinned and turned myself around to face Damon. He kissed me and I lost all rational thought.

"Don't think that you're going to distract me, Damon Salvatore. You've still got a hell of a lot to explain" I told him.

I managed to pull myself away from him and I kicked my legs out of bed.

"I'm going to take a shower, will you be ok with Thea?" I asked him.

Damon grinned at me and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at me.

"Are you sure you don't need my help in the shower?" he smirked.

I chuckled quietly and shook my head, I grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom. I locked the bathroom door and turned on the shower. I think it must have been the quickest shower of my life.

Not only did I want to get back to Damon, but I was also desperate for him to take me back to the boarding house so that he could tell me about Katherine. I really needed to know who she was and what she wanted. But a little voice in my head kept telling me that I really didn't want to know. That I was better off not knowing. That Katherine was not just trouble, that she was something bigger than that.

I dressed quickly in a pair of old jeans and vest top. Luckily, I'd grabbed a one that wasn't stained with baby sick. I was really going to have to invest in some new clothes or I'd end up going to school looking like a tramp.

I walked back into my bedroom to find my mother, dressed in her bright flowery dressing gown, having a perfectly civil conversation with Damon while he rocked my daughter. I think my face must have betrayed my shock because my Damon smirked at me and my mum just laughed.

"I'm going to cook some pancakes for breakfast, you're more than welcome to stay, Damon" my mum smiled, before spinning around and walking towards me.

"I hope you used protection" she whispered to me before winking.

Damon, with his superior vampire hearing, had obviously heard my mother. He smirked at me while I blushed bright red. I was genuinely shocked. Even though me and Damon obviously hadn't done what my mom thought we had, I was completely flabbergasted by the fact that she was ok with it. When I'd been dating Rory, we hadn't even been allowed to go upstairs on our own. This was a completely new thing for me. No doubt I'd still get a 'talk' later on.

"I don't fancy a big breakfast with my mom so how about we grab some pancakes for the road and we go to yours and you and Stefan can fill me in on Katherine?" I proposed.

Damon grinned, put Thea down in the cot, and sauntered towards me, a mischievous glint in his eye. He began kissing me, his hands gripping my hips. Great, he was trying to distract me. He pushed me towards the bed, his hands brushing over the top of my jeans. I tried to access the rational part of my brain, pushing away any lust filled emotions.

"No, Damon, stop it" I mumbled against his mouth.

With a sigh he stopped kissing me and leaned back slightly, I rested my head on his chest for a moment before disentangling myself from him.

"As fun as this is" I told him as I grabbed my bag from the door handle and filled it with everything and anything, "you're not going to distract me, so hands off and let's go to your place"

He turned around, set his jaw, and nodded tensely.

"I'll meet you in the car" he said mutedly.

"Hey!" I called before he could escape from my room; he stopped but didn't turn to face me, "don't go all funny on me now! What's so bad about Katherine? Why won't you tell me?"

He whirled around to face me.

"Let's just go the boarding house and I'll tell you everything" Damon replied after a moments hesitation.

"You promise?" I whispered.

He nodded stiffly, then walked forwards and gripped my shoulders. He looked right at me.

"Just promise you won't hate me"

"How could I hate you, you idiot?" I laughed.

"I've done a hell of a lot of bad things, Piper, and Katherine…well a lot of it was because of her. I'm a bad person, but she's so much worse" he told me.

I shook my head and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. I squeezed his hand and he smiled a sort of sad half smile.

"Let's go then" he said.

I was fairly surprised when we arrived at the boarding house to find that the others weren't there. I'd expected this to be one of those occasions where the whole 'gang' got together to explain some secret they'd kept from me, but Stefan was the only one there.

"Hey" Stefan smiled before hugging me.

I parked Athena's buggy in the corner of the room, thankful that she'd fallen asleep on the ride over. I sat down in one of the armchairs and made my self comfortable. I had a feeling that this was going to be a tough conversation.

Damon was standing in the corner, his arms crossed across his chest. I tried to catch his eye but I was sure he was purposely avoiding me.

"So…who is she?" I asked when neither Salvatore seemed to be willing to start the conversation.

Stefan sighed, ran a hand over his chin, and sat down opposite me.

"Katherine was the vampire who turned us" Stefan began.

"Right…"

"Well, she compelled us…to believe that we were in love with her"

"Both of you? Like she compelled you and then when she was done with you she moved onto the next?" I asked, shock clouding my tone.

Stefan's jaw tensed and he shook his head.

"No, both of us, at the same time. We didn't know she was…in relations with the other"

Damon let out a bitter laugh.

"She's one twisted vampire" he practically barked "a venomous, conniving…"

I have to admit I was a little bit shell shocked when Stefan and Damon finally finished explaining everything that is Katherine to me. She was one evil woman. I couldn't help but hate her for what she'd done to them both. Especially Damon since he was the one who genuinely loved her at the time. It wasn't just compulsion for him.

"Piper…" Stefan said "are you ok?"

"Yeah…I'm ok…just a little scared, you know? What if she comes after Thea, or my family?"

"She won't hurt you, we'll make sure of that" Damon told me.

I just nodded; I knew that they would protect me if it came down to it. I felt a bit of a burden for it but I could live with that if it meant my daughter was safe. I stood up and crossed the room.

"Stefan? Could you watch Athena for me for…I need to speak to Damon for a minute?" I asked.

"Yeah, course" he smiled.

I walked out of the room and into the opposite room, Damon on my heels. Once in the room I heard Damon shut the door. He turned to face me.

"I just have one question and that's it" I told him quietly.

He nodded.

"Do you still love her?" I whispered; my voice catching.

I was terrified to hear the answer. What if he did still love her? What would I do then? I searched his face, searching for any hint of what he was feeling. He took a step towards me.

"I don't love Katherine. I did love her; I came to Mystic Falls in love with her, wanting to get her out of the tomb. But I don't love her now. I love you, Piper, I swear it, you've changed me, I want to be with you" he told me.

His eyes appeared to be so passionate; they seemed to be lit with fire. I smiled at him and he smiled back at me. He suddenly held my face and his hands and kissed me. I grinned against his lips and laughed. A cough interrupted us. It was Stefan, his face betraying his emotions. Anger, remorse, pain, sadness.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, dreading what his reply would be.

"It's Caroline" Stefan said sadly "Katherine turned her…and she killed a man"