Whew. It's been a couple of intense, tough chapters, but thanks for sticking with me. All of your reviews, messages, subscriptions and alerts help keep me powering through even when I just want to chuck my laptop across the room and give up, so thank you. How about some fluffiness? Let's have some fluffiness. Please enjoy.

"...and I let Elijah drink it. Didn't say a word, just smiled. Now he's going to die. Because of me," Elena finished. She pushed the plate with her half-eaten sandwich away, her appetite gone.

"Really? You're feeling bad about killing an Original now? The guy who double-crossed us, screwed us over, and tried to kill you? Repeatedly?" Damon asked, pushing the plate back toward her. They sat in the kitchen, stripped of their ballroom finery. Elena had opted for PJs, while Damon had stolen an old Mystic Falls Timberwolves T-shirt from Jeremy's room. It was a little tight in the shoulders, but it would do.

"He tried to save me. He did save me, more than once. And if it wasn't for him, Klaus would probably still be torturing you," she said. She knew it was irrational to want to save Elijah, that she was just a pawn in his grander game. But with one glaring exception, Elijah had always treated her with respect and courtesy, and had honored his word. And Kol and Finn hadn't done her any harm, and Rebekah, while a psychopath, was just a sad, lonely girl. Was it worth sacrificing all four lives just to get to Klaus?

Damon stole a chip from her plate, popping it into his mouth. "Yeah, I mean, he's a pretty okay guy. A little uptight, a little too fond of ripping hearts out, but at the end of the day, he's an Original. And I can't wait to dance on his grave—on all their graves."

"Even Rebekah's?" Elena asked. She hadn't intended to ask the question; it just popped out. But seeing them dancing together tonight had awakened a memory of them laughing around a campfire, their fingers sticky with marshmallows.

"What, you think because I managed to make it through a dance with Rebekah that I care whether she lives or dies? Please, Elena, give me a little more credit than that. She's incredibly irritating. And I don't do blondes, as a rule," he said with a smirk. "Now eat your damn sandwich."

"I'm not hungry," Elena said, looking at the turkey sandwich with distaste.

"We went over this," he said, a note of warning in his voice. "You can eat the sandwich or you can drink a nice, refreshing glass of vampire blood. Your choice. Personally, I vote for the blood." He stood, rummaging in one of the cabinets as if he owned the place. He produced two vitamins, plunking them down next to her plate. "And these. Anemia isn't a good look."

Elena stuck her tongue out at him, but dutifully took a bite of the sandwich. "Is this what you used to do with Andie? After you fed from her?" And Caroline, a tiny voice reminded her.

Damon winced slightly as he resumed his seat. "Jealousy isn't a good look, either. Especially since Andie's dead." He sighed. "This is what I do with any person I feed on who I like. Iron, vitamins, and bed rest. So yes, I did this with Andie."

She was silent for a moment, nibbling on the crust. "You really cared for her, didn't you?"

"Yeah. And I don't want to talk about her. She's just another reminder of what a colossal dick my brother is. How about we talk about one of your exes, Elena? Let's talk about good old Matty," Damon said.

"What about him?" Elena asked curiously.

Damon quirked an eyebrow. "You don't know? No, I guess you wouldn't. Why do you think I went after Kol tonight? Did you think being pissed off at you suddenly made me suicidal?"

Elena blinked. "I...hadn't really had time to think about it, to tell you the truth." And recklessly pissing off Originals wasn't exactly out of character for Damon. At least not the old Damon, but everything was changing now. It was hard to keep up sometimes. "But what does any of that have to do with Matt?"

"Well, with Rebekah being a cheerleader and all, maybe Kol's decided to go after Matt's spot on the football team. He was crushing Matt's hand, and looked like he was about to do a lot worse," Damon said, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. "So I helped Kol over the balcony."

Elena didn't answer right away. She reached for one of the vitamins Damon had shoved at her. Gummy vitamins, Jeremy's favorite. "I didn't know, Damon. I didn't know that's what you were doing," she said. She'd assumed the worst. Again. That he'd lost his temper and responded as he usually did, by snapping a few necks. She'd had no idea he was trying to save Matt.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't leave the Timberwolves without their star quarterback, now could I?" Damon said, indicating the cartoon wolf on his shirt with a bitter little smile.

"Don't do that. Don't pretend that it doesn't matter," Elena said. "You did a good thing." And he hadn't done it for her. Even when he'd been so furious with her, he'd saved Matt. Not because he liked Matt or because he loved her, but because it was the right thing to do. Even a few months ago, such an action would have been unthinkable. She tore the head off the gummy vitamin. "Poor Matt. He shouldn't be mixed up in all this...supernatural crap, anyway."

"Eat that, don't play with it," Damon said, gesturing to the decapitated vitamin in her hand. "I can send Donovan away too, you know. Not like he's got anything going for him here."

Elena shook her head. "No. With Jeremy, there wasn't any choice, but Matt can make his own decisions." Hypocritical? Yes. But Matt had always been older than his years, had been forced to grow up so fast. He knew the risks. She ate the vitamin. "Maybe he'll get a football scholarship. If he can just last the year, he might be able to get away."

Damon shrugged. "Maybe. So, now that the Fanged Five are all linked together, what happens now? What's phase two of the witch's plan?"

Elena frowned. "I...I don't know."

Damon's eyebrows flew up in surprise. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Esther said linking them was the first phase of her plan, but she didn't mention phase two," she admitted.

Damon covered his eyes with one hand, slumping down in his chair. "Let me make sure I've got this: You gave your blood to an unspeakably old and powerful witch without asking for details of her plan to kill her own children?"

Her heart sank. That was exactly what she'd done. "She seemed honest, Damon. You know how witches are with the balance of nature. She said she needed to repair the balance, fix the abomination-"

"And you wonder why I don't like it when you make the plans, Elena," he said.

"Oh, because yours always turn out so well?" she asked hotly. He was right, but he was hardly the mastermind he made himself out to be.

"Just shut up and take your other vitamin. There's nothing we can do now," he said wearily.

Elena took careful aim and threw the vitamin directly at his head. It bounced off his forehead, and Damon's eyes flew open. "Did you just throw a gummy bear at me?" he asked incredulously.

"Yep," she said. "What're you gonna do about it?"

Damon grinned. "I have a plan..."

His lips were like feathers against her skin, delicate and gentle as he kissed a path ever lower, brushing the hollow of her throat, between her breasts, across the flat plains of her stomach, ever lower. Her flesh leapt under his touch, her back arching towards him, craving more contact, more of him.

Elena gasped, her fingernails digging crescents into his back as he reversed course, kissing his way back up until his lips met hers again. Their bodies joined together and he opened his eyes. Green eyes.

"No," Elena whispered. "This is wrong. All wrong."

"You know that isn't true," Stefan murmured, capturing her lips with his again, kissing her in that way that was so familiar yet so strange. "I know you still love me. Just like I still love you." Their bodies moved together and she cried out. "You'll always be mine, Elena."

She awoke with a start, tangled in Damon's arms. He blinked sleepily down at her. "What's wrong?"