~I still hadn't stopped shaking since the surprise visit from Brian, and Damon ended up rocking me sweetly and slowly to get me to sleep. Stefan had found poor Loud Mouth quivering underneath Spencer's bed, and Loud Mouth charged into Damon's room and into my arms when Stefan brought him back. He whined and plastered his snout to my shoulder, licking my cool tears off my cheeks. Damon never cared for the dog to be in the room; he just sat on the bed watching me the whole time. Stefan was watching the hallway outside, sleeping softly.

"Alex," Damon whispered. "You need to get some sleep. Me and Stefan will watch you carefully over the next few days, so please just relax and fall asleep." I looked up from crying softly into Loud Mouth's furry head.

"I...don't know if I can." Loud Mouth gave me one more lick to the face, then jumped down to curl up on the two folded blankets acting as a dog bed on the floor next to the bed.

I crawled under the sheets Damon pulled back for me, and he tucked the sheets up to my chin. He pecked my forehead, patted my arm, and moved to leave the room. But I shot up from the bed and nearly choked, "Don't leave me!"

Damon stopped and stared at me. "You...don't want me to leave?" he asked, a bit shocked. I shook my head. "Alex, if Spencer found me with you in bed then he will get the wrong idea, you know."

"I don't give a shit. He can live. But I just cannot sleep alone and...oh, what am I saying?! I'm being so stupid..." Damon ran up to me in the blink if an eye, and leaned down to gaze into my eyes.

"You are not stupid, Alex. Now scoot over." He kicked off his boots, stripped off his shirt and belt, and slipped under the covers with me. Despite my need for someone else other than the dog, I flushed hotly. Damon was one of those guys who can be so soft and lovable. And he was hotter than Hell. Thank God I was wearing cotton sweats and my favorite gray shirt with half sleeves.

"Come here," he muttered, waving towards himself. Reluctantly, I crawled to him, resting my head on his shoulder, laying in the crook of his arm. Damon's hand slung around my neck, tracing circles into my back. "This a bit better?" he asked. I couldn't answer. Damon was half-naked in bed, and his torso didn't have one sprig of hair anywhere. His skin was smooth, and perfectly sculpted. It took me a long time to focus more on him then his sexy body.

I nodded, trying to close my eyes. But they didn't obey my brain's orders. "But I still need something to help me sleep," I said quietly.

"What if I used hypnosise to help?" he asked, eyes flicking to my bracelet.

"Why can't you do it right now?"

"Because the vervain in your bracelet keeps vampires from getting in your head, and that means hypnosis. If you take off your bracelet, then it would work."

"But Stefan told me to never take it off."

"Just take it off so I can put you to sleep, and while you're asleep, I'll put it back on."

"But Damon..."

"Alex, you have to put some faith into me and trust me. Okay?"

I fingered my bracelet, running my fingers along the roses on the locket charm. Since Stefan had given it to me, I had never taken it off. It felt like a piece of my heart, and when Damon's warm fingers tickled my flesh, I squeaked a little to see the bracelet fall off my wrist. Damon placed it on his stomach, and placed a finger under my chin. I started to shake a bit.

"Just relax," he murmured. Damon's lips were at my ear, and he began to whisper things into my ear, his breath tickling my hairline. I felt something like fingers touching my mind, and my eyelids became heavy. My mind began to shut down and get black. I sank into Damon's body, and before two minutes had passed, I went to sleep without a single dream passing my mind.

~Loud Mouth woke me in the morning. His long tongue licked up my cheeks, and I groaned, throwing a pillow over myself to keep him from his continuous licking. Loud Mouth barked, nudged my arm with his nose, then took off out of the room. Then the door opened a few moments later.

"Earthquake!" someone yelled, and the bed flounced upward, scaring the hell out of me. I sat up with a yelp of surprise, and Damon was staring at me with humor in his eyes. He was laughing at me.

"I love your hair," he pointed out. I sped at him, combing my hair back with my hand.

"What do you want, Damon?" I mumbled, climbing out of bed. I feel to the floor with a hard thud. Damon cracked up harder, and I got up to smack him. Instead, he pushed me back to the bed, and fell on top of me, kissing me hard. I was surprised by the move, but his warm skin and soft lisp were hard to resist. I ran my hands through his soft black hair, and Damon laced a hand with mine, palms touching.

We laid there kissing for a while before Damon got up, grinning at me. He helped me up and brushed the wrinkles out of my clothes.

"Alex." Stefan's voice was worried and frightened and weak. Those wonderful eyes were shocked and big. "It's your brother Spencer."

I snapped out of my reverie of Damon's body. He was still shirtless. "What happened?" I asked with a squeak.

"He's been attacked. He's in fatal condition at the hospital. The doctor said he may not make it. And Spencer is begging for you to come visit him."