A/N: I put up a poll on my profile concerning this story. Don't forget to vote and review!

After nearly an hour of standing in front of the building, waiting for Damon to walk out the front door, I was growing anxious. Talking to Stefan did little to assuage my fears, and while I did not believe that Damon would ever intentionally hurt me, if he did not feel any emotions, was he really the same person that I could trust with my life? My mind kept jumping to different scenarios of what could happen; Damon not getting control back and attacking someone, or even worse, needing to use my newly acquired skills to defend myself against him. But, as time passed by and nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen, I began to grow impatient. Longing for a distraction, I found myself walking down the block, eventually winding up in a nearby Wal-Mart.

It surprised me how deserted the store was until I remembered that it was only around half-past six in the morning. The only other people there were a small number of night shift employees and two older gentlemen dressed in overalls who were looking at the gardening equipment when I walked in.

I shuffled around the entire perimeter of the store, not really paying any special attention to what I saw. My night's adventures were starting to catch up with me, and the exhaustion was becoming harder and harder to overcome, not to mention the incessant throbbing in my head. I could only imagine what a mess I must have looked like. I was covered in dirt, there was a large bump on the side of my head, my eyes were half closed, and I could barely pick up my feet when I walked. If I was more conscious, I might have noticed the strange stares that I was getting sooner. It gave me a sharp reminder of how different New York was from the rest of the country. No one would give me a second look up there.

Not wanting to draw more attention than necessary, I made my way over to the women's clothing section and picked out a pair of jeans and a plain long-sleeved shirt, and then proceeded over to the register.

The cashier on duty seemed almost as coherent as I was. He had his head resting next to his cash register with his eyes closed and blasting headphones in his ears. As I leaned forward to shake him awake, the smell of pot and booze overwhelmed my senses, which worked out fine for me in the end; he seemed to have no trouble believing that I was Damon Salvatore when I handed him the credit card and signed the receipt.

After changing in the bathroom, I headed back outside, where the sun had now risen, but did little to warm the cold air. I looked around me and sighed. What was I supposed to do now? I plopped myself down on the bench and placed the bag with my old clothes next to me. I didn't even notice how I slowly laid down, but soon after, I was fast asleep.

I awoke to a hand lightly pressed on the side of my face, fingertips brushing against the bruises on my head causing me to wince. My eyes fluttered open, revealing a sombre-looking Damon. He didn't say anything, but continued to stare down at me looking lost in thought until I made the motion to sit up. I grabbed my bag of clothes and placed them on my lap, fiddling with the handles in discomfort. Although Damon no longer looked like he wanted to kill me, he still seemed off.

"...Um, here's your wallet back." I held the wallet in my outstretched hand, and he took it, neither of us making eye contact. He stepped away from me as he shoved it into his pocket and looked out to the street.

"I bought clothes with your credit card, I hope you don't mind."

I started to stand, with every intention of walking towards Damon, but quickly sat back down as I was met with that familiar spinning sensation. I blinked a couple of times, preparing myself to try again, however before I got the chance, Damon was next to me once more, lifting me into his arms.

"It's alright, I can walk," I protested, fidgeting.

"Norah, shut up."

He walked back to the motel parking lot, not shifting me in the slightest and not speaking half a word the entire time. I remained as rigid as possible, trying not to move. He gently placed me in the passenger seat of his car and went into the lobby of the motel, presumably to pay the bill. I sat waiting with my head leaning against the window, not extremely anxious for his return.

I didn't turn to face him when I heard the driver's door open and close, and he didn't make any effort to start a conversation either; we stayed on our respective ends of the car in silence.

As an hour went by, I was once again finding it harder and harder to keep my eyes open. In fact, the ride down to Tennessee was probably the last time I got a good, restful sleep. Not having anything else to focus on, I slid my head down to the door and closed my eyes, hoping for the same results.

"Norah!" I was jolted awake by a rough push to the shoulder by Damon.

"What," I asked, annoyed at being woken up.

"You can't sleep; you probably have a concussion," he replied matter-of-factly, not sounding so pleased himself.

I scoffed. "Well you sure make it easy to stay awake with your thrilling conversations."

"What would you like me to say," he asked, sounding bothered.

"I don't know something."

"Wow thanks, that's a real conversation starter."

I clenched my fists on either side of me, trying to control my annoyance. "Why did you even bother to come this morning? Heck, how about when we get back home you just throw me to the coven; they'll get their hunter blood, my brothers will have me permanently out of their lives, Jenna will have one less mouth to feed, and hey, you won't have to worry about little old me anymore..."

I was cut short by Damon slamming his hand down on the steering wheel, causing me to jump in my seat. "Damn it Norah-May, will you shut the fuck up!"

I stared long and hard at him as he tightened his grip around the now-dented steering wheel. I wasn't sure if he was going to start screaming at me or tear apart the car.

I sighed. "All I'm saying is that maybe this would have turned out a bit better if you just left me at Bobby's. Stefan offered to pick me up from the motel; it would have given you time to get yourself together.

He whipped his head to the side to look at me, anger practically pouring out of his face. "You called Stefan," he asked in disbelief.

"When you were in the motel room," I replied softly looking out the window.

He turned his gaze back to the road. "Why?" His voice was calmer now, but still held that same furious tone; like he could explode at any moment.

"Because I was scared! You could have killed me," I yelled, abruptly turning back towards him.

He ran his right hand down his face. "You think I don't know that?"

"No, I think you do and that's what worried me. You knew what could have happened, but you did it anyway." I took a deep breath. "I'm not saying that I think you should have suffered through the pain, but a fair warning would have been nice. I didn't know what was happening until Stefan told me."

His grip on the steering wheel relaxed as he seemed to calm down. "Whether you want to believe it or not Norah, I wouldn't let anything happen to you; I wouldn't let you die."

He looked troubled, or worried, I'm not really sure which, or if there is even much of a difference between the two, but whatever it was it consumed me with guilt at what I said.

I sighed. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful; after all, I am the one who shot you in the first place. But, this is all really new to me, and well, I just...anyway, I'm sorry."

I dared a glance up at him as I finished my poorly-said apology. His jaw was slowly but surely unclenching, but the troubled look on his face refusing to recede. I slid over in the seat, placing my hand on his rigid shoulder as I got onto my knees; I felt him slowly relax.

I came closer to him, my lips lightly kissing the side of his mouth, his lips parting as I did so. The car slowed down as I wrapped my arms around him, sliding my hands across his abdomen under his shirt.

He turned his head towards me as I went to kiss him again, allowing me to kiss his lips this time. I placed my hands on the sides of his face as he took one hand off of the steering wheel and wrapped it around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

I quickly pulled away as I felt the car start to swerve. He looked back to the road just in time to avoid driving into a tree. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Tease," he accused, while picking up the speed once more. I leaned back into him, placing his hand in my lap as I held onto it.

"And apparently a very talented one," I jested.

He looked down at me smirking. "We'll see."