Damon
Damon Salvatore was back from the dead, he held the hand of Elena Gilbert, and he'd left Mystic Falls with her.

While all of those things sounded good, Damon was having a hard time with them. Coming back was a hard thing for anyone to wrap their mind around. Elena had changed since he'd last saw her. Mystic Falls, for better or for worse, was his home base, and it had been for well over a century.

It was hard to realize he'd been gone from the world for a month. After becoming a vampire, Damon had thought a lot about immortal life. It wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Many days, he wished he wouldn't live forever. It took all the special meaning of life and made it not so special.

Elena's change was even harder to wrap his mind around. She'd gone from being sweet, innocent, fallen-for-Stefan Elena into secretive, impatient, kinda-like-Katherine Elena. Damon didn't know if it was the spell that had changed her or if it had happened before that, but he was still getting used to the new her.

They'd been walking on and off for the past 24 hours. Elena had insisted on leaving Mystic Falls, and every so often she headed in a new direction. Damon didn't know who she was trying to throw off, but chances were they were good and lost. If they got separated, there was no way Damon would be able to find her. They weren't leaving any kind of a trail.

Elena stopped suddenly. She never asked for breaks, and her breathing never grew labored. It was like she had an unlimited supply of energy at her disposal. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

Just as quickly as she'd stopped, Elena threw herself at Damon. Her arms went around his neck, and his went straight to her silky hair. Their lips met in a passionate kiss that lasted long enough that even Elena was breathless. She gazed at him with eyes that almost made him start kissing her again.

"What's up Elena?" he asked casually.

Elena drank some water. "What?" she asked innocently. He raised an eyebrow. She moved closer. "I want to be with you, Damon. Is that so wrong?"

Damon's arms wound around her waist. "Whatever you want is good with me." She laughed and kissed him again.

Yes, Elena might have changed, but was that really a bad thing?

They set off again with the sun setting to their left. By the time it grew dark, they'd walked another mile.

"Should we stop soon?" Damon asked, wondering where Elena was leading them to and what she was planning on sleeping on. Neither of them had any bags. Right then, Elena tripped on a root sticking out of the ground. Damon was standing too far away to catch her, but he hurried over. "Are you okay?"

Elena looked up just as the smell reached him. One of her hands had gotten a medium sized cut, and blood was coming out. Elena was holding it as though she wasn't quite sure what to do, but all Damon saw was the blood, Elena's blood. The scent was driving him crazy.

When she moved her hand towards him, offering it, Damon reacted instinctively. His arm reached out to hold her wrist, to bring her bleeding palm closer to his mouth. Finally, he sunk his fangs into the area near the cut.

As the taste of Elena's blood filled his mouth, Damon held on tighter. Her blood was sweet and rich, tainted just a bit by the darkness, he suspected. A little bit of darkness suited him, though. As did her blood. Elena had the most delicious blood he'd ever tasted in the past 146 years. Stefan had no idea what he was missing all this time. Or, wait, he did, since her blood was what had made him lost his marbles for a few days, right?

Damon could understand how a vampire could lose it for a while after drinking some of Elena's blood, but the thought of his brother made him pull back. He released Elena's wound, now much worse then when it'd started, and wiped the blood off his mouth with his shirt. It was already filthy anyway.

Elena swayed a little, looking very pale. Damon put his arm around her and she settled into his side. He bit his own wrist and offered it to her. He wouldn't turn her, but she could possibly die if he didn't give her any blood in return.

When she'd had her fill, Damon lay back, and Elena clung to his side. Within minutes, she was asleep. Who was this brave, passionate new girl?

Not too long after Elena, he fell asleep. Damon dreamt of waking up to find another Elena watching them.

"What are you doing, Damon?" the dream-Elena asked him, looking at him and the Elena sleeping at his side.

"I'm with you," he answered.

"That's not me," dream-Elena said. She looked exactly as he remembered. The scary, dark new flame that danced behind the new-Elena's eyes was dimmer but full of light in the dream-Elena's eyes. He'd missed that. This Elena wasn't throwing herself at him, but she had a cool head and sense of responsibility he admired and loved.

Damon woke up, also waking the sleepy Elena beside him. "Morning," she murmured, kissing his cheek. He gazed at her, seeing everything he wanted in a girl. She was Elena. That dream had meant nothing. It was just a product of his imagination and memories.

"Good morning," Damon replied, smiling playfully and rolling over so that he was on top of her. Elena smiled and laughed until he kissed her. What started out as a good-morning kiss soon became just as passionate and intimate as yesterday's kisses. By the time she pulled away, even Damon was a little dizzy.

Elena rolled so that she was on top of Damon, hands out and just barely resting her weight on him. She kissed him, this time slow but full of fire. When he pulled away, Damon smiled and tried to get up, but she had him trapped. Elena laughed, not moving for a few more moments, then stood. Damon followed suit.

When they were both standing, Elena pulled his arms around her waist, then slid her arms around his neck. "You are so tempting," Damon murmured into her hair, and Elena laughed. She pulled away, gave him a look that could seduce men stronger then Damon, and turned towards the forest.

Elena was more like Katherine every minute, but did he really mind?

Joseph
Joseph Smith stepped off the bus. He was a vampire, traveler, and a rather passionate man. After being turned into a vampire in 1412, he'd loved a great number of women. In fact, he was famous for it.

Joseph had come to Mystic Falls in search of a witch. Not just any witch, but the one who'd done a spectacular show of magic on the night of the new moon. He'd just recently turned to witches for lovers, because their blood had that extra spark he loved, and human girls just didn't last long enough. They were too delicate and almost never survived the first day of blood loss.

Being the passionate man he was, Joseph never left a town without first finding whoever he was after. He had all of eternity to wait, and there was something so irresistible about a lost cause.

Joseph took his first steps into Mystic Falls, looking forward to meeting his newest lover.