There Damon laid, staring up at his ceiling in a complete daze. Today's events were just far too much for his unkempt emotions to handle.

His whole existence seemed to be nothing but repeated heartbreak over and over on an endless loop. Of course, being that he was a vampire this heartbreak was only intensified by a billion. Typically that included the rage, searing hot tears, and the unavailing urge to kill people; yet right at the moment he was tranquil. He'd reached the point of no longer wanting to care, his body feeling heavy as it pressed down on his mattress. Was there even a point anymore?

It seemed to him that his life had become nothing more than being an overzealous body guard for Elena.

Maybe he just needed to get out of that town, take off and never come back. If he didn't, he would forever be stuck in the shadows of his brother's love life. With decision, he sat upright on his bed and reached for his shoes. That was it; he was going to flee Mystic Falls and refuse to return until the next century. By then Elena and Stefan would probably be married and had left town by fear of suspicion. It would be safe for him to come back then.

He'd leave a note for Stefan, informing him to the fact that he'd left town including his reasoning. Stefan would more than understand, he'd throw a party to celebrate his absence. In Damon's eyes, all he'd ever been was a nuisance to all who surrounded him. He'd have to include a stern warning to leave Elena in the dark about the fact that he was gone forever, by the time she'd have it figured out he should be in Europe anyway.

He would move to Italy. Or England. Perhaps he'd even stray from Europe and visit India for a decade or so.

He made his way to the door, preparing himself for the long journey he was about to spontaneously make. As he peered out of the doorway he spotted a length of raven black hair pouring over someone's back, who was faced towards the road.

"Elena…what are you doing out here?" He asked her, stepping outside and joining her as she perched on the porch alone. "You know that you never need to ask to come inside, mi casa es tu casa."

"I'm sitting outside because I wasn't sure if I was ready to go inside…"

Damon's brow crinkled at her answer as he tried to formulate her excuse before she had the chance to tell him herself. With a deep sigh he planted himself right next to Elena at her spot at his stoop. They sat in silence, both of them just staring straight down at the ground without a word or glance at the other. Elena was trying to word what she wanted to say and Damon was simply waiting patiently for her to tell him what was on her mind.

"You really irk me." Elena finally said, still not able to look Damon in the face even though he had turned his gaze onto her. "I picked Stefan. I was so sure in my decision when I made it, I had no regrets. I knew you'd understand I knew you'd still be my friend." As the words fell from her mouth, she realized that she sounded vain and like she was taking Damon for granted but, it was the honest truth so maybe she was. "I know it sounds bad, but I'm trying to be totally honest. You snuck up on me, Damon."

Elena nodded, turning her eyes up to meet his.

"Those misplaced memories…they keep haunting me. I don't think that knowing them before that night would have changed anything but… I can't stop thinking about them. You have the most surprising personality, Damon. One that not everybody understands and not one that everyone necessarily likes but, if and when you give someone a chance to take a peek underneath the mask they see it."

"See what?"

"You. The real you." She nodded, searching his eyes for any sign of his hopes being riled up. Nothing but a look of bashful appreciation was glowing back at her. "When I'm with you—around you…" She stammers, trying her best to word herself carefully. "…it just…it consumes me." Damon let out an incredulous breath, trying his absolute hardest to restrain himself from hopping up and doing the happy dance. "Damon..."

The leading tone to her voice caused his heart to leap up into his throat.

"Yes…"

She took a deep breath, fighting her churning stomach long enough to finally speak the words she'd been contemplating for months.

"When Stefan left I swore to myself that I'd never feel the same way about anyone else ever again. My one driving goal was to get him back. Nothing could stop me and then this road block got in my way. You. I thought I could dodge it, I tried to find excuses to evade myself the truth." She took another deep breath. This was it. The moment of truth. "I guess what I'm trying to say here is that somewhere within all of this I fell in love with you."

What is air? Damon questioned in his head as he tried to restrain his undying need to reach out and devour her sultry cranberry lips.

"What about Stefan? You still love him?"

"Yeah, but no matter what happened I would always have loved the other as well. I love you both but, in different ways." She turned her stare back down to her shoes, picking at her laces nervously. Her voice dropped into a whisper as she uttered her secret. "I came here today to break up with Stefan."

"And then what?"

Her eyes lifted at his question, a burning passion flickering out of them and taking Elena entirely by surprise.

"I don't know…"

"Do I even have the slimmest chance in winning you?"

Elena could feel tears stinging at her eyes as his question was processed. She gulped down the stone that had spontaneously generated in the back of her throat. How did he do this to her? It was like he had some sort of magic spell or addicting drug to him that just made her want to rip her hair out. "Do you still love me?"

"Of course I do, don't be ridiculous Elena. I'll love you until the day I die."

"Then you have more than a slim chance." She nodded, looking up across the porch; at the stars in the sky. Without explanation she rose from their spot and walked across the porch to the cobble stone rail and stared up at the twinkling lights, only vaguely aware of the fact that this was where Stefan and her had shared their first kiss. Checking out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Damon had remained at the door, just staring at her with a speculating gaze. She found herself dying to know the thoughts that were running through his head.

"Let's bring you home, Elena. It's late."

"What about Stefan?"

"You can talk to him in the morning."

She turned around and faced him, shocked by the fact that he was turning down an opportunity to kiss her. He was thinking of her before himself. He was acting like a mature adult, for once. She was disappointed. "Okay."

They got in Damon's car and drove across town to the Gilbert residence. The car ride was made in silence, the lustful uncomfortable type of silence that Elena had never truly experienced before. Damon pulled over, put his car in park, but kept his engine running. This made it undeniably clear to Elena that he had no intention of staying for a while and to be honest it stung her ego a little. She just told him she loves him and he's trying to get her away from him as quickly as he can? The first time she'd told Stefan that she loved him, they slept together. I guess she was just expecting the same thing here. It would be her first time as a vampire. She silently vowed to herself that she'd save that experience for Damon.

"As least walk me to my door." She pleaded with a flirty smile. Damon sighed and shook his head at her with a low chuckle in his throat. Sensing that this wasn't going her way, she placed her hand on top of one of Damon's causing a current of tingles shoot up her arm. They both gasped at the feeling of it. Was it the possibilities that the touch hinted?

"I shouldn't. There's no need to torture myself any further."

"Please, Damon." She begged, running her thumb over his knuckle causing both of their hearts to skip a beat. "Don't make me walk up there alone, I already feel an abandoning loneliness growing stronger inside of me every day. Don't make me be alone again tonight."

Not sure exactly how far Don't make me be alone again tonight. went, Damon put the car in park and turned off the ignition. Elena smiled like a little school girl that had just gotten what she wanted. Well of course, she technically had. They walk to the door, each step holding some sort of promise that made their hearts pound into their ears.

Once they got to her door, Damon could hardly contain himself but somehow he was able to utter the words, "Goodnight, Elena." In a stern voice before turning to leave.

"I already gave Stefan three different chances, Damon." She burst quickly, trying anything she could to prolong his presence. It worked, he froze in place and looked over his shoulder at her. "Now it's you're time, Damon. I want to give you a chance, not just shoot you down for Stefan just because that's what's comfortable. Because that's what's easy. I want to try difficult with you. I want to go on dates, adventures, spend nights with you, talk about every dark crevice of our souls, console each other through every hardship we face, and most importantly I want to fight with you until I'm red in the face. You challenge me. I want you, Damon. I want all of you because of the simple fact that I love you, Damon."

He soaked up every syllable, trying to discern whether or not he was dreaming. This just sounded too perfect to be true. He had not time for doubts though, not now. He was already bounding across the porch at her, like a hunter taking after his prey. It terrified Elena, but it made her feel electric and as their lips collided she'd never felt so alive.

Lips, tongues, hands all explored and all fused such pleasure that it all seemed to get jumbled up as Elena felt her skin heat up under his touch. She let out a groan of pleasure as he slammed her up against her door, pressing himself into her as he kissed her with no abandon. More, more, more is all she could grasp onto as a coherent thought. All she wanted was more and more of him.

And it looked like she would get just that as Damon snaked his hand around her waist and curled his fingers over the door knob, twisting it open and pushing both of them inside.

"Jeremy, where's Jeremy?" Damon murmured in between kisses, memories flashing of the way he had caught them making out like this the last time they'd kissed. The way it could have easily led to more had he not cock-blocked him by showing up with his judgy little face glaring at them.

"Not home, staying the night at Matt's." She replied, feeling relief spread over him as he shoved them both into the living room.

They both toppled to the floor, Damon's hands falling on each side of her head. She felt trapped, caged by his body, and it made her heart leap with excitement. He reached for the zipper to her jacket, pausing just long enough to look up into her eyes, in search of consent. Elena made an impatient sound as she ripped the jacket off of herself, reach up and kissing Damon's face. Her smooth hands slid down the back of his neck, over his shoulders, down his spine, and to the hem of his gray t-shirt. Damon assisted her as she drew it over his head and tossed it to the side.

"I love you…" She whispered in a low voice, causing everything to suddenly slow down. Damon's smoldering gaze held her own for a moment, as she gently pushed Damon over so that she was on top of him. Her fingers trailed over his bare chest, reminding her that—spare her jacket—she was still fully clothed. She paused as she made it to his waist, her fingers floating over the same spot that he had grazed when teaching her to kill a vampire. "This is the way to a vampire's heart…"

He gasped as she leaned down and began to plant soft kisses over that one spot and back up his chest to his face. He grabbed her hair and flipped them back around so that he was back on top.

"I love you so much…it's unreal." He muttered into her ear, sucking gently on her neck. She smiled and closed her eyes, in complete and total bliss. He finally began to un-button her blouse, revealing her lacy white bra to his hungry eyes. The look on his face startled yet pleased Elena entirely.

Yup, this was going to be a long night.

Yes, yes, yes I AM still alive and the story is NOT finished yet! Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been pretty busy. To make it up to yah, here is some steamy Damon/Elena action. Don't worry, we're back to Klaus/Tatia next time. Review, pretty please!