AN: Here we are with a new chapter! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, they all mean a lot to me! A big thank you to the guest reviewers whom I cannot thank personally.

As always, a huge thank you to my beta delena21051!

Enjoy!

Chapter 13 - Boys and Girls

Elena padded barefoot across the tiled-floor of the bathroom. She stopped in front of the sink and ran her hand over the mirror right in front of her, clearing away the fine layer of condensation created by the hot shower she had just taken.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror, checking her face for traces of lack of sleep. There were the hints of dark circles under her eyes, nothing that a fine layer of concealer wouldn't cover up. She ran her hands through her wet hair, frowning slightly at the way her fingers remained stuck. She huffed in frustration and grabbed a towel she had left near the sink to towel dry her hair before brushing it vigorously.

Satisfied with the way she looked, Elena left the bathroom and walked into her bedroom. It wasn't exactly hers, but still…

Having heard of their predicament, Father Kieran had generously offered her and Stefan to come and stay at his house for as long as they would be staying in Boston. Elena had been reluctant to accept such an offer as she really didn't want to live off the priest's generosity, but she and Stefan needed a place to stay and didn't exactly have many options laid out in front of them.

The two friends had accepted to stay with the priest, provided he let them do whatever they could around the house as a way to pay off their debt. Kieran had accepted and told them to choose whichever room they preferred as theirs.

Elena had immediately chosen the room with the windows facing toward the front of the house, the church rising toward the sky above the top of the trees lining the road that lead to Kieran's house.

In her excited state, she had completely forgotten to look around the room to see who its previous inhabitant had been. Of course, as soon as her head had hit the pillows that night, she had realized that she must have claimed as hers what had been Damon's room.

Although faint, his perfume still clung to the sheets she had burrowed herself into.

She had closed her eyes trying to sleep anyway, but just Damon's smell made memories of the nights they had spent together spring free. She had briefly entertained the idea of switching rooms, but she had felt a wave of possessiveness hit her at the thought of staying in his room.

In the end, she had decided to remain where she was, though the memories replaying in her mind coupled with the slight uneasiness at sleeping in someone else's house had made it extremely difficult for her to rest.

As she stepped into the room with nothing but a towel wrapped around her body, Elena tried not to think about Damon doing the exact same thing on who knew how many mornings.

She opened the closet's door and pulled out her suitcase. This wasn't her room so she preferred to keep all her belongings in her suitcase; it didn't feel right to stash her things together with Damon's. He didn't live there anymore, but it was still his room, his clothes, his belongings, his memories. She didn't have the right to intrude in his past like that.

Elena dressed for the day and tied her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, leaving the room and walking downstairs with the intention of preparing breakfast. She wasn't exactly a chef, but she was confident she could scrounge up something decent.

Entering the kitchen, she discovered that Father Kieran had beaten her to the punch.

"Elena, good morning! Did you sleep well?"

Father Kieran was already dressed in his cassock, a white apron covering his front as he expertly flipped pancakes. Next to him on a plate, there was a pile of pancakes neatly stacked and ready to be eaten.

"I slept well, thank you." She lied. She moved her weight from one leg to the other. "I was hoping I could cook breakfast for you to kind of thank you for your hospitality. I mean, you've opened your house to me and Stefan, the least I can do is cook breakfast."

Father Kieran listened with a small smile as Elena stumbled her way through an explanation. He flipped the last pancake on the plate and turned off the stove. He took the plate to the table in the small living room she had passed coming downstairs.

"Don't worry, Elena. I honestly don't mind having someone else around the house. I don't like it when it's too quiet." He said kindly. "I'm used to waking up early and preparing breakfast for everybody, but I'll leave that to you if you feel the need to repay me. By the way, could you grab three plates from the cupboard over the sink? And there should be blueberries somewhere in the fridge, I've already washed them."

Elena jumped at the chance to do something. It seemed that these days the best she could do was fetch plates and blueberries for the men preparing her breakfast. She took a mental note to set the alarm on her phone earlier so she could wake up before Father Kieran the next day.

She went back to Father Kieran and he took the blueberries from her with thankful smile. As she divided the pancakes between the plates, he drew smiley faces on them with the blueberries.

Elena smiled at the sight. "So that's where Damon learned how to make his smiley pancakes."

"When did you have the chance to eat breakfast cooked by Damon?"

Elena almost dropped the plate in her hand when she realized what her words had practically revealed to the priest. Father Kieran's question held no judgment, but Elena still felt unbearably embarrassed. She had no idea what she was supposed to say.

Thankfully, she was saved by Stefan joining them in the living room.

"I heard you guys talking from upstairs and I got down as fast as I could." Stefan said apologetically. "I was thinking of cooking breakfast but I see you have me beaten."

Father Kieran slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't feel too bad, Elena didn't precede you by much."

"I just grabbed the plates." She muttered sitting at the table, cheeks still red from her earlier embarrassment.

Stefan sat next to her and Father Kieran took his place on the seat right in front of her. Elena kept her gaze fixed on her plate, cutting her pancake and forking it with forceful movements. When she dared to look up, she found Father Kieran staring at her. He smiled at her with a mischievous glint lighting up his green eyes.

Elena lowered her eyes and stuffed her mouth with pancakes, a furious blush taking hold of her face.

"Tell me Stefan, how are things going between you and Damon? I haven't had the chance to talk much with him since he and the band started recording their first album." There was a not so veiled note of pride in the priest's voice.

Stefan swallowed before answering. "Things are…okay between me and Damon. I mean, I wish we could spend more time together but I understand that what he's doing right now is extremely important."

Father Kieran nodded and took a sip from his glass of milk. "I'm glad you understand, Stefan. I admit that upon meeting you, I had my concerns. Perhaps, I have been a little hasty in my judgment."

Stefan seemed to lose himself in his musing for a moment. He pushed his food around the plate for a moment before looking up at the priest.

"Can I ask you to tell me more about him?" He asked uncertainly. "He doesn't seem the kind of person who likes talking about himself. Maybe if I knew more about him it would be easier for us to connect."

Elena didn't need to see the way Father Kieran's eyes subtly hardened to know that Stefan had just asked the wrong question.

"I can certainly tell you some things about Damon, but that won't make it easier for you to form a relationship with him. You need to talk and listen to him if you really want to know him." As always, Father Kieran spoke in a calm voice that mitigated the harshness of his admonition.

Stefan lowered his eyes.

"What you are trying to do is bridge years of forced distance without actually trying to know your brother and I won't stand for that; that is not what Damon needs." The priest's eyes softened as he looked at Stefan's contrite expression. "Damon is not an easy person to deal with but if you go behind his back and ask others to tell you his story, you're just proving to him that he was right in shutting you out."

Stefan nodded jerkily, his fingers clenched around the fork in his hand to the point of becoming white. "I just wished there was something I could do to make things easier for us."

"The only thing you can do is be patient and show him that you're in this for the long haul."

The rest of the breakfast was spent in silence as both Stefan and Elena thought about what the priest had said. Father Kieran's words had confirmed something Elena had already suspected since the moment Stefan had told her about his brother. Damon had some clear abandonment issues, which explained why he was so guarded in Stefan's presence.

Elena couldn't say she blamed him; his mother had left him when he was just a little kid and Damon probably thought that Stefan would just do the same when it was time for him to go to college.

While Elena and Stefan washed the dishes, Father Kieran asked them if they had any plans for the day.

"We don't really have anything planned so if you have anything for us to do, please do tell us." Elena said. "I know you said we're your guests but it would really make us feel better if we could do something for you."

Kieran ran a hand through his hair. "Well, if you insist…how much do you know about gardening?"

That was how the two friends spent the entire morning taking care of Father Kieran's garden – after a lengthy lesson on how to properly care for plants. Before leaving for his church, the priest had told the two friends that Damon and the others would stop by for lunch since Marcel had decided to give them the afternoon off.

Elena wasn't sure how to react at the news. The night before, as promised, Damon had come over with Caroline – apparently, Enzo and Bonnie wanted to rehearse a couple of pieces together – but the man had been surprisingly cold with her. Elena had tried to approach him to thank him for speaking with Stefan that afternoon but he had just smiled tightly and turned to speak with Caroline.

Elena honestly didn't know what to make of Damon's changing moods. She thought they had made progress the day before while speaking in bed. He'd been so sweet trying to comfort her even though she could tell he felt awkward in that situation. And then, he had actually told her something about himself and even though she had ruined the moment asking him about his scars, they had made progress.

Caroline had said that Damon didn't trust easily, but as far as Elena knew, she had done nothing to make him feel like he couldn't trust her.

Between mowing the lawn, watering Father Kieran's precious lilies and planting new flowers to replace the few plants that had died, the morning passed quickly. Before they knew it, lunchtime was coming around.

When the nearby bell tower struck twelve, Elena looked down at herself and grimaced. Gardening had proven itself a much dirtier job than imagined. Her jeans would probably need to be washed twice to erase the stains caused by kneeling on grass and soil for so long.

Stefan had left to put away the gardening tools Kieran had given them so Elena decided it was okay for her to go upstairs and change into some clean clothes. She opted for white short shorts and a red top with the words 'It's a girls world' on the front that left her shoulders bare.

Elena went back downstairs to lay the table before Father Kieran came back. She almost had a heart attack when she entered the kitchen to find that someone was already there.

"Caroline!" She exclaimed bringing a hand to her heart. "When did you get here? I didn't even hear you come in!"

Caroline turned from where she was washing the salad and smiled brightly at her.

"Hey, I didn't know you were staying here with Kieran." Caroline dried her hands on her apron and moved closer to Elena to draw her in a tight hug. "Is Stefan here too? How are things between you two? I know that Damon spoke to him but I really don't know what happened after that?"

Elena couldn't help but smile at the rapid-fire question the blonde was throwing at her. Caroline was the kind of person with a personality that drew everyone in.

"Slow down, Caroline." She smiled. "Father Kieran offered to let me and Stefan stay here since we're kinda low on money at the moment. Things are fine between me and Stefan; he apologized for what he said and we're fine." It was a boiled down version of what happened but Elena figured it wasn't time to share all the details.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at her. She stared at Elena for a long moment before nodding to herself and humming low in her throat.

"If you say you're fine, I guess I'll leave it at that. My offer still stands though; one word and I'll punch him. I bet I can even get Bonnie on board."

"Get me on board with what?"

Bonnie strolled into the kitchen and made a beeline for the fridge. She grabbed a bottle of beer and took a long sip. She nodded at Elena in greeting before looking at Caroline for an answer.

The blonde shrugged her shoulders and went back to the sink to wash some tomatoes. "Oh, you know the usual; punching a guy who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut."

"Oh, I'm definitely down for that." Bonnie said without hesitation. "You know me, hoes before bros."

"Hoes before bros." Caroline repeated fist-bumping Bonnie.

Elena felt the need to step in before the two girls could start planning Stefan's death. "Honestly, it's fine really. I appreciate the offer but I think everything is going to be cool."

"Your choice, 'Lena." Caroline said. "By the way Bonnie, why aren't you with Enzo and Damon?"

"Ugh, those two are already caught up in the usual. I'm not getting in the middle of that."

"I hear you."

"The usual?" Elena felt like she was missing part of the conversation.

Bonnie took another sip of beer before answering. "Every time we come here to eat all together, those two idiots always fight over who is in charge of the TV. It starts with name-calling and ends with them literally fighting over the remote. Usually it's fun to watch but I'm not in the mood today."

"Shouldn't you stop them?"

Caroline laughed. "They won't hurt each other if that's what you're worried about. By the way Bonnie, you should finish that beer before Kieran arrives. You know what he thinks of people drinking alcohol before 5."

"It's unbecoming." The two girls said at the same time, eliciting a chuckle from Elena.

From the other room, Elena heard the sound of voices intermingled with grunts and cries of victory. She couldn't be certain but she swore she heard Stefan's voice joining the other two. The fight between the three men came to a stop when Father Kieran came back and snatched the remote from them.

Lunch passed quickly in a flurry of jokes and laughter. Elena had always loved family meals spent talking about everything and nothing, affectionate jabs thrown from one person to the other without ever carrying the intention to hurt. Watching how the members of that unique family interacted made her feel nostalgic of her own family meals.

"Since we have the afternoon off, Damon and I were thinking about going to the cinema to watch Ant-Man. Anyone wants to join us?" Enzo spoke up.

"Pass. You know I love the MCU but if there's no Iron Man then it's not worth it for me." Bonnie leaned back in her chair. She raised a hand to high-five Damon without even having to look at him.

"Amen, Bonnie." Damon leaned forward to plant a kiss on Bonnie's temple.

"I'd like to come with you, if that's okay." Stefan said. "I've never heard of Ant-Man before but superhero movies are usually a safe bet."

"The more the merrier, but that's not the attitude you want to have when you come with me and Damon to watch a Marvel movie. We'll see about fixing that." Enzo sounded extremely serious.

"Cool, we can make it a men day out." Damon said. "Blondie will surely say no so that's perfect for us."

Elena didn't fail to notice how he had conveniently forgotten about her. She was about to say something – she actually did enjoy superhero movies – when Caroline spoke first.

"Better for us. Me, Bonnie and Elena are going to the mall to spend a perfect afternoon without testosterone around us for once. That's okay with you Elena, right?"

Elena looked at Caroline and Bonnie a little unsure. She didn't know much about them and she risked being the third wheel since the other two girls were best friends. On the other hand, Damon had made it perfectly clear that he didn't want her around and even though things between her and Stefan were strained, she knew this was an opportunity for him to spend time with his brother.

Besides, she couldn't even remember the last time she had gone shopping with a group of female friends. Maybe she could make new friends with the two girls.

"Sure, it sounds like fun." She said.

~.~

Damon, Stefan and Enzo left the theatre surprised by how much they had enjoyed the movie. Although he hadn't been too sure of Stefan's inclusion in their day out, Damon had genuinely enjoyed spending time with him. During the movie, he had been sitting between Enzo and Stefan and so had had the opportunity to once again witness his brother's sense of humor.

More than once during the movie, Damon had almost burst out laughing at a comment Stefan made regarding a specific scene.

"You know, I honestly can't believe I sat through an entire movie where the main character was a guy who controls insects and actually liked it." Damon told his two companions as they walked out of the theatre. "Only one thing could have made this movie better."

Enzo groaned by his side. "I swear to God, Damon, if you say RDJ I'm gonna throw myself under the first bus I see."

"Don't be so dramatic."

"Is he your favorite actor?" Stefan asked his brother, curious after the exchange between the two friends.

"More like his man crush." Enzo snickered.

"Hey, I respect the man!" Damon defended himself. "He had a shitty childhood, made dumb decisions that landed him in jail, but then he got his shit together and turned his life around. If nothing else, I can respect that."

"Whatever, I'm going to the bathroom. You guys can wait for me outside."

Damon waved Enzo off and left the theatre with Stefan right behind him. The two brothers went to where Damon had parked the car and leaned against its hood while they waited for Enzo to come out. Judging by the tons of people coming and going from the theatre, they were going to wait for a while.

"I talked to Elena." Stefan said, sneaking a glance at his brother to see if he had any reaction.

Damon nodded to himself. "I'm glad you did." He simply stated. When Stefan remained silent, clearly waiting for him to say something else, Damon went on. "All forgiven?"

"Ah, no." Stefan smiled in a self-deprecating way. "She said she understood where I was coming from but that she needs some time before she can forgive me."

"What did you tell her to get such a reaction?"

Stefan rubbed the nape of his neck. "I might have implied that sleeping with you so soon…kind of…you know, made her…"

Damon slowly turned to look at him. "You're not serious are you?"

Stefan's shameful silence was enough of an answer.

"Jesus, Stefan." Damon tutted disapprovingly. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that maybe I was already losing you to her before even knowing you." Stefan admitted. "And I know you're right when you say that you don't owe me anything, and I know I behaved like the worst friend ever with Elena but I just…I just really want to know you, Damon."

Damon clenched his jaw and looked ahead. They had already gone over this the day before, but he couldn't deny that Stefan's position wasn't exactly idyllic. He had told himself that he wanted to form a relationship with his brother, but Damon wasn't handling the situation in the best way. Stefan knew nothing of his life and past and Damon couldn't dump his issues on him without making an effort to meet him in the middle.

But how could he explain that he had this memory of Stefan as a child stuck in his head that contrasted so much with the adult Stefan was?

"We used to get along you and I, when we were little. We barely got a month together but…" He said, a small wry smile curving his lips. "I remember the first time I held you in my arms. I was so scared I was gonna drop you that Lily had to help me bear your weight."

He left out the part where he could barely hold up Stefan because his wrist was still in a cast from the time Giuseppe had pushed him down a flight of stairs for back talking.

"You cried a lot when we went home and nothing Lily did seemed to work. You only stopped crying if I made faces at you." Damon laughed through his nose. "I liked you a lot even though you did nothing but sleep and cry."

Stefan remained silent, absorbing every word and holding onto them for dear life. It was the first time Damon voluntarily spoke about what his life had been like in the beginning.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have all these memories of you as a baby, and now you're here and you're obviously not a baby so…" Damon paused to gather his thoughts. "I'm not crazy, of course I knew you weren't a baby anymore but I think I really understood that when you showed up here. It's like you're two different people and I don't know how to let go of the Stefan I remember to get to know the Stefan you are now. That's my problem though, not yours."

Stefan thought about his brother's words. He couldn't even begin to understand how Damon must be feeling. He had no memory of Damon he could fall back on so to him it was like trying to get to know someone for the first time. The fact that he was trying to get to know his brother – someone he should have already known – made things harder, but at least he didn't have to reconcile the Damon he knew with the one he met.

He wanted to make Damon feel better – talking about the past had clearly rattled him – but he didn't know what would be permitted. He wanted to rest a hand on his brother's shoulder but feared he would be rejected.

"Can I ask you something?" Stefan edged carefully.

"Go ahead."

He thought about his words before speaking. "Can I ask why Mom decided to leave?"

For a moment, he thought Damon wasn't going to answer him, but then his brother laughed joylessly beside him. "I guess she couldn't go on living with Giuseppe."

"Giuseppe?"

"My father." Damon amended, remembering that Stefan couldn't know the guy's name.

Stefan perked up at the mention of his father's name. Julian was the only father he'd ever had and he was a good father, but still he couldn't help wanting to know who is biological father was.

"Does Giuseppe live here or…?"

"He's dead." Damon deadpanned. "Died a couple of years ago."

"Oh." So much for getting his hopes up. It seemed like his parents' marriage hadn't exactly been a successful one, but still. "I'm sorry." He offered.

"Don't be. He wasn't much of a father. You didn't miss anything special."

Before Stefan could say anything else, Damon pushed away from the hood of the car and turned away, walking toward the driver's seat.

"Enzo is here. We should go."

~.~

"Man, I'm beat!"

Caroline fell unceremoniously onto the comfy couch in Father Kieran's living room, ignoring how Elena and Bonnie dragged themselves inside behind her, hands encumbered by the bags of clothes bought by the blonde.

"Don't mind us, Care. No need to help us." Bonnie huffed, dumping her bags next to the door.

Elena followed her example, but decided to graciously set the bags on top of the living room table. Thanks to the afternoon spent together, she felt comfortable in the company of the other two girls, but she still didn't want to offend Caroline by dumping her stuff around.

"Do you guys want anything to drink?" Elena asked.

"Yes, please! I think I saw some of Kieran's iced tea in the fridge this morning." Caroline said from where she was sprawled all over the couch.

"Bonnie?"

"A glass for me too, thank you." Bonnie said grabbing a chair and sitting astride it, arms folded over the back.

Elena went to the kitchen and quickly filled three glasses with iced tea. She went back into the living room, carefully balancing the glasses, and passed one to Bonnie before turning toward Caroline. The blonde sat up and accepted the glass, leaving enough room for Elena to sit down.

"So Elena, what's going on between you and Damon?" Bonnie asked resting her glass on the table.

Elena almost choked on her tea. "W-what?"

"Don't even bother denying it, we all know you slept with him and that you had breakfast with him yesterday." Bonnie calmly explained. "Damon's never cooked breakfast for a woman before, so you must be pretty special."

"How do you even know all that?" Elena still couldn't quite understand what was happening.

Caroline set her glass on the floor and sprawled back on the couch, plopping her feet in Elena's lap. "It's hard to keep secrets when you spend all your days with the same three people. The night you and Damon had sex, Enzo messaged Bonnie to let her know and of course, I found out about that because I heard you and Stefan arguing the morning after."

Elena's head was spinning. She didn't know whether to be amazed or disturbed by the lack of privacy displayed by The Nobodies.

"Speaking of, is it true that Stefan is Damon's brother?" Bonnie asked curiously, leaning forward in her chair.

"How do you know that?" Elena gasped.

Bonnie merely raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, that's kind of on me." Caroline had the decency to look embarrassed. "I heard Stefan refer to Damon as his brother while the two of you were arguing and I had to tell the others. In my defense, you two were speaking quite loudly."

Elena honestly didn't know what was the right course of action in that situation. Should she deny everything or just confirm their suspicions since they already had the whole story figured out?

"You can tell us the truth, 'Lena." Caroline spoke kindly, figuring out that they had upset their new friend with their sudden questions. "We won't say anything to Damon, so you don't have to worry."

Bonnie shuffled closer on her chair. "Yeah, we're only asking you because if we wait for Damon to tell us on his own, we might wait until the day Jesus returns. I love him but let's be serious; he has the whole lone wolf act down to a t."

Elena leaned back on the couch and blew out a breath. Her head was spinning and she couldn't quite believe what was happening. Here she was thinking that only she, Stefan and Damon knew what was going on only to realize that everyone already knew everything. To be honest, though, it was a huge relief knowing that the secret was out.

"Well, here goes nothing…" She said under her breath.

And so she told them everything. She told them about Stefan finding out he had a brother, about seeing Damon in a picture of their band and about their decision to go on a road trip chasing after the man they thought could be Stefan's brother.

Caroline and Bonnie listened in silence as Elena told her about the immediate attraction she felt toward Damon and about the night they ended up sleeping together. When she reached the part where she told Stefan about what happened between her and Damon, she realized she couldn't continue. Caroline told her she didn't need to tell Bonnie about that part as the blonde could simply give her the cliff notes version.

Elena smiled thankfully and went on to tell them about the way she and Damon had talked the morning after she went back to him, about how sweet and open with her he'd been.

"Wow, that doesn't sound like the Damon we know." Bonnie commented. "I mean, he is pretty sweet when he wants to be, but he's never been like that with anyone beside us."

Elena drank the last of her iced tea. "Yeah, well. He's probably regretting that because he's done nothing but avoid me."

"That's Damon for you." Caroline muttered.

"I just wish I knew what goes on in his head." Elena exclaimed. "One moment he's sweet and the next he gives me the cold shoulder and I can't stand it. It'd be easier if I knew what I've done to deserve his indifference."

Bonnie heaved a sigh. "Damon is the kind of guy that keeps everything inside, Elena. You probably didn't even realize you did or said something to offend him. He pulled the same thing with me once. Only when I called him out on it did he tell me he'd been hurt by something I'd said without even thinking about it."

Elena wasn't convinced. She'd gone over and over their interactions and she was sure she'd said nothing that could have offended him. Nor had she done anything to hurt him.

"Bonnie's right, 'Lena." Caroline took her hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "It seems to me like you two have something going on and if you want to pursue anything with him, you need to be direct with him. He'll never come out with what you've done on his own; you have to be the one who makes the first move."

Their conversation was interrupted by Father Kieran's return. The priest told them that Enzo had called him to say that they would eat pizza that night and that he needed to know which toppings each one of them wanted.

After Caroline had sent Enzo a message with their decision, the three girls laid the table while the priest went upstairs to change. Enzo and the others arrived around eight, hands full with pizza cartons. Soon everyone took a seat at the table to enjoy another meal together among excited movie reviews by the boys and a detailed recount of Caroline's purchases.

After dinner, Damon stood up and walked outside to breathe in some fresh air. Upon Bonnie's insistence, Elena followed him outside.

Damon was leaning on the porch railing, eyes fixed on the outline of Saint Joseph's church barely visible over the top of the trees.

"Hey." Elena said softly.

Damon turned to look at her. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even heard her coming outside.

"Did you need anything?"

Elena held back a grimace at his tone. Clearly, he had no intention of making things easier for her.

"I just wanted to thank you for speaking with Stefan yesterday. He apologized to me. You didn't have to do that but you did it anyway and I wanted to thank you for that. I would have thanked you earlier but you've been on a let's-avoid-Elena-path so…"

Damon's head turned in her direction so quickly she was sure he strained something.

"What do you want from me, Elena?" He snapped at her.

"I want you to tell me what your problem is." She snapped right back at him. "One second you're this caring guy comforting me even though you could have just ignored me, and the next second you're a completely different person. Seriously, who are you? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"

"It's none of your business—" He started grumbling.

"No, it is my business when you pull out the whole hot and cold routine." She told him, fed up with him.

"You were the one who told Stefan you regretted it!" He exploded.

Elena frowned, not sure what he was referring to. "What are you talking about?"

Damon gripped the wooden porch railing in his hands, head lowered between his arms. "When you told Stefan about us sleeping together, you said you regretted it."

Elena tried to think about whether or not she'd said that. To be honest, the part of the conversation that kept repeating itself in her head was the part where Stefan had basically accused her of being a slut. When she tried to remember what she'd said before, she realized that she had in fact told Stefan that sleeping with Damon had been a mistake.

"Look, I told you that it's up to you whether you want things to go on between us or not." Damon kept talking. "But if there's one thing that annoys me is when people lie to themselves, and you're lying to yourself by saying you regretted what happened between us. I certainly remember you being more than enthusiastic."

"I panicked, Damon." She told him before he could go on accusing her. "I just…" she took a deep breath. "Things were going worse than I'd imagined so I just said the first thing that I thought could make Stefan less angry, okay?"

Damon scoffed at her and turned to walk away. Elena would have none of it, though. She closed her hand around his arm and pulled him toward her. Damon reluctantly looked at her.

"I'm sorry I said I regretted it, okay?" She told him softly. "I never thought what happened between us was a mistake. What we did felt right." She admitted.

Damon looked her deep in the eye for a long moment, before pulling his arm out of her hold.

"It doesn't matter." He said firmly.

"But—"

"I don't like being yanked around, Elena." He interrupted her. "You need to make up your mind. Either you want something to happen between us or you don't and we'll just go our separate ways. Either way is fine with me, but I'd appreciate it if you could just stick to whatever it is you decide."

Having said what he needed, Damon walked back inside leaving Elena to wonder what exactly had just happened.

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