Authors Note: This one's shorter I knoww! :( but it had to be! So here it is :D I've started the next one, so I'll try to get it up as soon as I can for you. Enjoy lovely people! xxxxxxxx

21

"The broken locks were a warning, you got inside my head. I tried my best to be guarded; I'm an open book instead. I still see your reflection inside of my eyes that are looking for a purpose; they're still looking for life." – Lifehouse.

"Yes, I am completely sober, Stefan." Damon said down the phone with a hint of annoyance and a roll of his eyes that his younger brother couldn't witness.

"What about Elena? Have you spoken to her?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it talking…" The subject of Elena took him back to the night of Halloween, how coldly he'd treated her, how amazing she'd looked dressed as a vampire. The way that black dress clung to every line of her flawless body made it that much harder for him to be cruel to her. If she was dressed in a black bag it would remain a difficult task for him not to trace every inch of her, because he knew how beautiful she was without any clothes at all, and he knew how beautiful the soul inside such a flawless body was. The moment he stepped foot into Lloyd's he spotted her. The way she laughed, smiled, even the way she knocked back a shot managed to transfix his gaze, and it frustrated him. And as he watched her stand up to Katherine, well, that was the moment he knew she was stronger now, that somehow two months away, to heal, and regroup, she had come back tougher. It amazed him, and made it harder to be angry at her, but still he managed to pull it off; with extreme effort might he add. He had found it almost impossible to lie to her, but he managed it. And that's exactly what it was, when he told her he hadn't got in the middle of her and Katherine for her, and effectively sent the she-devil on her way, it was a complete lie, because of course it was for her. He may be angry, but he would never not defend her; it came naturally to him somehow.

"Oh god, don't tell me you slept with her and left her the next morning just to get back at her."

"No!" Damon exclaimed. "Who do you think I am?"

Stefan's chuckle forced a smile from Damon. "I know exactly who you are. And we both know it's exactly what you would've done if you weren't still in love with her."

"I'm not still in love with her." He lied.

"Love like that doesn't just disappear after a few months."

"Well it has."

"You're such a liar."

"Am not!"

"How many women have you slept with this week? Or this month, even."

He had been outsmarted by his younger brother, therefore he was rendered unresponsive. Not sleeping with any other woman was the ultimate giveaway that he was still in love with Elena, because everyone knew how much he enjoyed sex, yet not even his desire for it seemed enough to make him pick up any random woman, to take what he needed and never call her again. That was normal to him, well, it used to be. But he way he felt wouldn't allow him to even think about being with anyone else.

"Okay, I don't have time for this." Damon kept the phone tight to his ear while grabbing the suit jacket with his free hand. "Some of us have work."

"You're avoiding."

Damon huffed. "You're lucky you're in Paris, otherwise I'd be beating you with a rolled up newspaper right about now."

"You're lucky I'm in Paris."

"Great comeback Stefan, really, amazing work. I'm almost ashamed to say I raised you." Damon returned sarcastically and ended the call, dropped his cellphone into the pocket of his pants and slipped into his jacket while exiting the apartment.

He more than willingly went into work every morning due to the simple assurance that he wouldn't have to work on keeping his promise of ignoring Elena, because luckily for him, after she left Frank at the altar, her job as his PA was forfeited. Damon moved through the foyer of Miller & Anderson, unaware of his surroundings or colleagues, just his thoughts and inner-turmoil.

He could disagree with Stefan's theory that love didn't disappear in a few months, from experience, he knew it did. But the kind of love he had for Elena hadn't, sometimes he doubted it ever would wane. It hadn't over the months she had been gone, and it hadn't over the last week since the moment she returned, and he hated it. And though he could never actually tell her the words, he would surely have her convinced he didn't love her anymore. Just to inflict the same pain, the same doubts, the same paralyzing fear he felt every single day that she was gone. She may have told him she loved him, but her actions told something entirely different, and she hadn't uttered the words a second time, which convinced him even further that she didn't truly love him. So he was spitefully returning the favor.

Still, he was conflicted, and he ran a hand over his face in frustration once calling for the elevator. He was the rope between two opposite sides of himself, one side wanted her to hurt, to feel the pain he had to bear, because it lessened his, while the other side… couldn't bear her being hurt, and it hated him for being the one who's causing it.

Why couldn't he just be ruthless, and not give a damn about her pain? All she had to do was show up with her doe eyes and her sweet nature and his heart, his whole body, would involuntarily ache for her. Why couldn't he relish in the idea of her pain? He wanted to, yet he wasn't able to. It was maddening.

The elevator came to a stop and allowed him entry onto his floor, to come into meeting with the same feeling of realization followed by loneliness due to his brother's departure as he proceeded down the corridor towards his office. Closing the door behind him and peering around once before dropping into his chair behind the desk, he thought about the moments shared here, on the desk, in the chair he sat in, and just as quickly as they wandered into his thoughts, he pushed them back out. As if being handed a distraction by fate, the door to his office opened, and he was corrected in his assumptions; this was the work of Satan.

"Oh god," Damon groaned. "Twice in one month? That is much too inconvenient."

Katherine smiled in return, a hand on her jutted out hip and the same predatory look in her almost black eyes that reared its head whenever she wanted something. And from personal experience, Damon knew she usually got it.

"Hello, Damon." She greeted him silkily.

"Let's skip pleasantries." He said outright. "What do you want?"

"I want you to set a meeting between me and Elena."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Just do it, Damon." She demanded.

"Tell me why you want to meet with her."

Katherine huffed and let her hand fall from her side.

"Oh, I see. You want to sleep with her, because she looks like you." He mocked.

"I don't know," her mouth upturned and she approached the desk. "Is that why you slept with her?"

Damon's face fell from its teasing structure and reformed into annoyance. What was it with everyone outsmarting him today? After a few moments of consideration, he made a reply. "Fine, I'll get her to meet with you." He stood up. "But you can add another guest to your party."

"And who would that be?"

"Me."

"No, no way." Katherine shook her head fiercely, making Damon even more curious as to why she would want to meet with Elena, more importantly, why did she want them alone? If that was what she wanted? He knew Katherine, she loved to play mind games, and if he'd learned anything, he needed be prepared for a hidden agenda, along with the strong possibility of Frank's involvement.

"If you didn't want me involved, then why come here?"

"You're the only connection between us. I don't know where she is, how to contact her."

"You're lying." He accused with both confidence and amusement in his voice while slipping around the edges of his mahogany desk, and ceasing to a stop in front of Katherine. "You could dig up fossils with your bare hands if you put your mind to it."

"Thank you." Her smile was mischievous, and if her eyes showed any color, he had no doubt they would've flashed.

"It wasn't a compliment."

She relaxed from her stand against him and a feeling of success found Damon. "What do you want me say?"

"The truth,"

"I'm not lying about anything."

The soft vulnerability mixed with her voice almost made him believe she was being honest, that she in fact not hiding anything, but then he remembered what he had only a few seconds before; she was an expert at manipulation, and in association with Frank. He had every reason to be cautious. But he would have to go about finding the truth about her intentions another way.

"I'll get her to meet with you." Damon agreed with a clenched jaw of reluctance. "And I'll see you there."

"Fine," She returned with equal unwilling, turned and began to saunter from the confines of the office, her hips purposely swaying to attract attention.

"Katherine."

She turned back to him, her hand remaining in a grasp on the door handle.

"Why are you involved with Frank?" He queried. "Is it money?"

Her head shook lightly. "It's not for the money."

And with that simple reveal, she left, triggering an increase in Damon's curiosity as to what the actual reason for their involvement was. He shouldn't care, but it involved Elena, therefore his natural instinct to protect her had kicked into overdrive, even if he was on a mission to temporarily make her miserable, it would have to be put on hold for the time being. He would have no choice but to be civil, mostly.

Retrieving his cellphone from his pocket, he swiftly typed a message to Elena stating they needed to talk while retracing Katherine's exit from his office and making his way to Rose's desk further down the corridor. He leant his folded arms on the desks surface and her green eyes lifted to attention. "Rose, I have to leave right now, but I'll be back in a little while," Damon informed her. "Any emergency calls; forward them to my cell. But only if they're emergency."

Rose nodded and smiled in understanding, and Damon set off on his travels towards the elevator.

A cab ride later, he was lifting a clenched hand to knock against the wood of Elena's apartment door, his thoughts filled with both dread and excitement at seeing her. It made him want to kick himself; he was supposed to be angry with her, not overcome with anticipation at the very idea of seeing her. It was supposed to be a strictly platonic visit, where he would inform her of Katherine's offer to meet, and add the small detail that he would also be there, and leave. But the moment the door was pulled open and she stood there, looking at him; he knew he wouldn't want to leave too soon. His eyes naturally roamed every part of her, just like they always had, and she murmured a small 'Hi', to which he nodded once in response and slipped inside once she stood aside for him.

"So, you wanted to talk?" she said once the door was closed, and her body took a lean against it.

"Not about us." He said quickly, and watched the look of disappointment possess the beautiful features of her face.

"What is it then?"

"Katherine," he took a moment. "She wants to meet with you."

Hurt was replaced by confusion and followed by an opening of her mouth to let out the question; "Why?"

"I'm not sure yet." He replied, while his gaze seemed to be having trouble resisting taking a trip down the length of her body. The way the tight black leggings hugged her perfect legs, the loose t shirt she undoubtedly wore for comfort and the fantasy of what she had residing underneath overwhelmed the urge of escaping the apartment before he did something he really shouldn't. Unfortunately, she was leaning against his exit out of there. "I'm going to be there, so…" he trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence. Should he tell her the truth? That he was tagging along because he was worried about her? No, that was definitely not a good idea.

Hope reformed on her face, rising a part of him that wanted to fulfill it, give her what she craved, a certainty that there was a chance for them, but so did the part of him that wanted to make her disappointed, to watch her face fall and twist into hurt when his actions revealed there was no chance.

"Well… that's all I came to say." He approached the door, and expected her to naturally move away from it, but when she didn't, he was forced to come to a stop a safe distance away. "So, I guess I'm going to… go."

It was apparent he didn't want to leave at all, and he didn't need to see the look on her face to know she didn't want him to either. And here was the moment he had a decision to make. He could leave, spare himself a soul baring day that would inevitably end in them calling it a day anyway due to too many obstacles between them, or he could accept the offer he knew she was about to make.

"Or you could stay, we could talk."

Damon took a breath and his decision presented itself. "I can't."

"Right," She murmured glumly and her eyes traced the floor before lifting to his, then she grabbed the door handle and pulled it open to allow him exit. "I'll see you soon."

"Tomorrow," He revealed while slipping around her and into the corridor. "Tomorrow morning, at Lloyds, I'll make sure Katherine gets the message."

"Okay." Elena nodded, her hand still fastened on the door handle.

It literally pained him to go, to leave her with that fear-filled look in her eyes that they wouldn't be together again. Though he wanted it to be so, though he had been the one who instigated such doubts, it hurt him to see her believing it to be true, that they didn't have a chance, because he knew it was a lie. There would always be a chance, he couldn't imagine a day when there wouldn't be. It would never be off the table, not for a long while, because after all that's said and done, he loved her, and he didn't see that changing, not any time soon. He loved the way she gathered her hair over her one shoulder when she was nervous, he loved the way she had no realization of how beautiful she was, the way she walked, the way her lips pouted and her eyes widened when she wanted something from him, and he loved how pure her soul was. With all that in mind, he still turned, ever so slowly, and proceeded across the landing, listening intently for the click of the door shutting, but it didn't come, not until his foot dropped off the last step of the staircase, and then it came.