Elowen cleared her throat as her and Stefan left the hospital. He was walking her to Esmeralda's car. "Um, thanks. For staying back there with me."

"Of course."

They stopped in front of her car and stood there for a moment. Stefan made the first move and opened the door to the driver's side. Neither really knew what to say after that. Stefan opened his mouth as he tried to form the right words.

"So.. I've had some time to think about everything." He hesitantly took hold of her hands. "I'm not going to lie, I was hurt when you first told me." Elowen looked to the ground in shame. Stefan grabbed her chin and lifted her head back up. "But I'm really, really glad that you were honest with me. We both agreed that we were going to be honest with each other ages ago." He paused. It was obvious that what he was about to say was hard. "You said that you were still trying to figure out what Damon was to you. That he was a grey area. I think it's safe to say that you two have bonded pretty closely. There's a connection between you two."

"Stefan…."

"No, no, let me finish. The last thing I want is for history to repeat itself. We have a knack for falling for the same girl. And.. if you have to… go that route to figure it out, I'll be fine with that."

Elowen shook her head and cupped his face. "Stefan, I love you. And I didn't kiss him. I admit I thought about it, but I couldn't do that to you. I didn't let it happen."

"I know. But, you bring out the good in him and I'm saying that if that's what happens… I'll be okay."

"It won't, Stefan," she reassured. "It won't."

xxxx

Elowen and Stefan walked up the steps to the Lockwood Manor. Tyler was still standing at the doorway greeting people. When he saw them, he walked to meet them the rest of the way.

"How's Caroline?"

"Much better," Elowen replied. "The doctor's say she's recovering really fast."

Tyler sighed in relief. "That's really good to hear. Thanks for coming."

"No problem."

Elowen and Stefan entered the manor and headed different ways. Stefan wanted to find Damon and Elowen wasn't sure she wanted to be near him at the moment. She wandered out onto the porch and saw Elena standing nearby. Well, it wasn't exactly Elena. She knew that.

"Hey, Katherine," she casually greeted as she passed by. Katherine was in front of her within seconds.

"You must be the annoying know-it-all witch. Stefan's girlfriend," she remarked with a scowl.

"That's me!" She replied with a sickeningly sweet smile. "But I don't need the help of my powers to know you aren't Elena. The hair is all wrong; Elena never curls it. Your stance and the way you carry yourself is too confident. Elena's much more… reserved. The clothes are pretty accurate, though. You must've stole them from her closet. You're also waaaay hotter. I think it's that confidence I was talking about."

Katherine crossed her arms with an inkling of wariness. However, there was a ghost of a smirk on her face from being called hot. She would have to keep that in mind. "Noted. Tell me, why are you giving me tips on how to impersonate Elena?"

Elowen shrugged. "If you're gonna do it, do it right. Now, if you'll excuse me." She walked passed Katherine and then Bonnie when she came storming out of the manor. She'd just made it back to the main part of the house when her ears overhead a nearby conversation.

"Oh, yeah, I'm Richard's younger brother, Mason. And this is my son, Toby."

"Well, it's nice to meet you!" A patron was saying. Elowen picked up her pace and turned the corner. Sure enough, Tobias was standing in the middle of the room. A grin broke out on her face as it lit up at the familiar face.

"Tobes!"

Tobias turned at the sound of his name and soon, his face mirrored hers. "Oh my god, Elles!" They met each other halfway and hugged one another.

"So, how have you been?" She asked when she pulled back. "I see you're with your dad now."

"Well, first of all, I go by Toby now. Call me Tobias and I will personally kill you."

"Whaaaaat? Come on, Tobias is a cool name!"

Toby scrunched his face up and shook his head. "No, it's not. It sounds too fairytale-ish."

"Whatever."

"Hey, bud, who's this?" Mason asked as he approached them. Toby pointed to Elowen.

"This is Elowen. We used to go to school together."

"Ohhhh." Mason nodded his head in understanding. "So this is Elowen."

Elowen narrowed her eyes. "I really hope you've heard good things."

"Oh, of course! You're a good kisser and your mom is an amazing chef."

Elowen became flustered and the tips of Toby's ears turned red. "Dad!" He whined. "Way to make a good first impression."

Elowen cleared her throat loudly and decided to change the subject. She peered around the two of them as if she were looking for someone. "Where's Mick?" She asked at last. "I'd like to say hi to her, too."

Both Toby and Mason suddenly got awkward. They glanced at each other as if to ask who was going to break the news. Elowen waited expectantly, although she had a feeling that it wasn't going to be good.

"Mom, uhh… passed away earlier this year," Toby said finally. "That's why I'm with dad."

"I didn't even know he existed until the court practically dumped him on my doorstep," Mason elaborated. "But the past year or so have been some of the best months of my life."

Elowen smiled, albeit a little sadly. "Well, that's good to hear. Um.. if you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

"Car accident," Toby explained shortly. "Drunk driver. Hit mom's side at 90 miles per hour in a residential area."

"Aww, Toby, I'm so sorry." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. Me, too."

A thought dawned on her and she tilted her head. "Hang on…." Her eyes darted to Mason. Did he know about the Lockwood's history? As if reading her mind, Toby nodded.

"He knows. And yeah, it triggered the curse. I was the one behind the wheel, so I guess that was enough."

Elowen turned to Mason. "And you… have you…?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Mason answered. "What about Tyler?"

Elowen shook her head. "No, he's still human. Anger issues are as great as always."

"Good." Mason nodded. "Let's try and keep it that way."

xxxx

Having lost Stefan, Elowen found herself back on the porch. Damon came up behind her with a glass in his hand.

"Hello, my favorite little witch." He came to stand beside her and leaned against the railing.

"Hey," she addressed. Her gaze stayed out on the acres of land in front of her. There was a lot to look at; trees, bushes, flowers, fountains. She never really stopped to observe it all.

"Are you ignoring me because I tried to kiss you?" Damon asked haughtily with a smirk. Elowen gave a long sigh.

"Probably."

Damon hummed. He tilted his head ever so slightly to glance at her. "You almost let me, y'know."

"I know," she admitted. She still hadn't taken her eyes off of the property. Damon's eyebrows lifted in surprise. He wasn't expecting her to blatantly say so. Then again, there was a lot he didn't expect from her. That was what he liked so much about her. Expect the unexpected. Finally, she looked at Damon.

"But, Katherine is here now. You're gonna forget all about me and the almost kiss and all the flirting and the stupid bickering. You searched for her for 145 years, Damon. You don't just forget about that."

Damon turned his whole body towards her. "Are you… jealous?"

"No." She shook her head. "I'm saying that I'm just what you were fixating on because you thought she was gone. And now she's back."

"... You think she's going to send me off the deep end," he guessed.

"To be quite blunt, yes. Which would totally suck because you've come so far since you first came to town."

Damon chuckled softly. "You try so hard to see the good in everyone. Even the ones who don't deserve it. And you're quite obnoxious about it, too." Elowen tsked, but nodded in agreement anyway. "Why is that?"

Elowen shrugged. "I guess that's what happens when your father is a fucked up, psychotic, egotistical maniac. Your natural instinct is to try and convince yourself that their behavior is justified. That what they're doing is for a good reason."

"That deep down all of that negative energy, they're a good person," Damon finished. "Yeah, that's how I was with my dad, too."

Not wanting to talk or even think about Luis, Elowen quickly changed the subject. "Look, just be careful, okay? Don't let her get to you."

"Pffft, please. I'm the king of not letting anyone get to me. I've got this, Wen. Don't worry."

xxxx

Stefan and Katherine were walking along one of the many trails on the property of Lockwood manor. So far, Stefan wasn't able to get anything useful out of Katherine.

"You haven't changed at all, have you?" Stefan asked, halting his movement. Katherine stopped as well, standing in front of him.

"No, but you have. You're stronger. Meaner. It's sexy." Her eyes trailed up and down his body and bit her lip. Stefan sighed through his nose and acted as unbothered as he could.

"Don't flirt with me, Katherine. I'm not Damon; I haven't spent the last 145 years obsessed with you."

"Yeah? Well, based on your choice of women, I'd say otherwise. You've got to admit your little girlfriend looks like a less impressive me. Just imagine if you'd fallen for Elena instead." Katherine put her hand on her hip and tilted her head. "I did get the chance to meet the ever so lovely Elowen earlier. Funky name, by the way. She's…. Interesting. Poised and dare I say, debonair. I almost approve. Except, I'll admit that it bothers me that you've fallen in love with someone else."

"That's the thing, though, isn't it? I was never in love with you, Katherine. You compelled me. None of my feelings were real. None of it was. Everything with Elowen, though? That's very real. Including my feelings for her."

Katherine's upper lip twitched slightly with aggravation. "Believe with you want, Stefan. But, I know that truth and deep down, so do you."

"The truth?" Stefan put his arms behind his back as he started listing things off. "The truth is, you're the same lying, selfish, manipulative bitch that you've always been. You were able to fool young, naive, human me, but you won't be able to anymore. So, whatever it is that brought you here, get on with it and leave, will you? Because if you don't, I will hunt you down and I will rip your heart out."

Katherine clenched her jaw. This wasn't how she wanted this conversation to go. "You want to know why I'm here, Stefan? I came back for you."

Stefan nodded his head slowly. "I find that hard to believe. Why come back for me after all this time? You can obviously find me whenever you please. If you really cared, you wouldn't have lied to me about faking your death and you wouldn't have abandoned me when I needed you most. And the biggest problem? I hate you now."

Before he could think, Katherine zoomed over and took hold of an iron poker of some sort and stabbed him in the stomach with it. Stefan yelped in pain and hunched over.

"You hate me, huh? That sounds like the beginning of a love story, Stefan. Not the end of one." She ripped the weapon out and fled. Stefan collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.

When he'd finally healed a bit, he managed to call Elowen and fill her in. She met him on a bench somewhere on the grounds. Damon offered to go in search for Katherine and while Elowen didn't think that was the best idea, he did it anyway. Now, she was doing her best to clean up the blood and the part of his wound that hadn't healed yet.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, it'll heal."

"That's not what I meant."

"I was trying to figure her out. I should've known better, but I was playing along and I let her get to me."

Damon finally came back, alone.

"I tried to track her, but she's gone. Oof, cover up, Fabio." Damon scrunched his face and looked away. Stefan knew he was just being Damon, but he pulled his shirt down nonetheless. "Looks like we've got a crazy ex on the loose." He nudged Elowen's shoulder with the back of his hand. "You better watch out. Looks like Katherine is trying to steal your guy."

"That's not what's happening," Stefan denied.

"Isn't it? I mean, it's only fair since I went after your girl."

Elowen groaned and rubbed her temples. She didn't want to deal with this right now. "Okay, I'm gonna leave you two alone and when I come back, please be done with this." She got up and left. Once she was gone, Damon got into a boxing pose and punched at the air.

"So, what's it gonna be, huh? Fight to the death?" Stefan snorted and got up. "Go ahead, make your threats, stake your claim." Stefan shook his head.

"I'm not gonna fight you."

"Why?! I'd fight me. I'm a dick."

"You're not worth it. Besides, it's not what Elle would want. She doesn't want to be caught in between us any less than we want her to be."

"Are sure about that? Come on, Stef, you've got to admit that the threesome thing is hot."

"You're competitive, Damon. You want anything I want. You and I both know that you wouldn't be able to settle until she chooses."

"What, you're scared it might be me? Or do you just not like the idea of sharing her like we did with Katherine?"

Stefan shook his head again. "That's not it. I'm scared of what you might do when this is all over. Katherine is gonna try and play us against each other. You know that. She can and will use this to her advantage. She'll get in your head and break you down. It's what she does, Damon."

"Oh, don't worry, brother. Our bond is unbreakable."

"Stop being sarcastic like you aren't worried about this, too. We need to stay united against her. So, yes, as much as I would like to fight you right now, I'm not going to. For Elowen's sake. If you had a brain, you would do the same."

"But I tried to kiss her, Stefan," Damon egged on. "That's gotta sting at least a little."

"You tried to kiss her because you feel something for her. Because you actually care about her. I'm not gonna let Katherine come in here and destroy the part of you that is finally, after all this time, willing to feel something. She brings that part of you out, and quite frankly, I like this Damon. Katherine will test us. Try to break us apart and how we respond to that will define us. It's your choice, Damon. So no, I'm not going to fight you."

xxxx

Elowen didn't get home until later that night. After she left Stefan and Damon, she played catch up with Toby and then swung by the hospital. It took some persuasion, but between her and Caroline, she managed to get Josiah to come with her.

She climbed the stairs and took a very long awaited shower. She walked into her room with only a towel wrapped around her and stopped in her tracks when she found Damon perched on the edge of her bed. She squirmed. She wasn't sure how she felt being so exposed in front of him.

"I'm not looking," he spoke up. "Go ahead. Change."

She inched closer to her dresser and snatched a big tshirt off the top. As swiftly as possible, she put the shirt over the towel and pulled it as far down as it would go. It stopped at her knees. She let the towel drop from underneath and rushed to pull a pair of shorts on.

"Commando," he commented. "Sexy."

"What are you doing here, Damon?" She asked instead. "My house isn't some drop in center."

"I'm just doing my part in the neighborhood watch," he slurred innocently. Elowen tilted her head.

"Have you been drinking?"

Damon lifted his index and middle fingers, holding them close together. She narrowed her eyes and stepped closer.

"And you're upset. That's not a good combination."

"I'm not upset. That's an emotion specific to those who care."

"Stop that," she stated. "Denying that you have feelings. That doesn't do anyone any good." She took another few steps towards her bed. "You obviously care about me. That's something you can't deny, is it?"

"You're right." He looked up at her. "And you care about me, too." He stood and slowly started approaching her. Not prepared for him to do that, Elowen started backing up instead. "You've proven that time and time again, even after all the horrible things I've done. Turning Vicki, trying to kill Lexi, kidnapping you and taking you to Atlanta," he listed. "And yet, here you are."

Elowen found herself pressed against the wall. Damon stopped mere inches away from her. "You have to admit that what we've been doing here means something. There's something going on between the two of us and you know it."

Elowen was at a loss. She couldn't find her voice. Stefan's words from earlier rang through her head. But could she really do that to him? Except right now, other parts of her body were saying that yes, she could.

"You've been lying to me and to Stefan and most importantly, you've been lying to yourself. I can prove it."

Elowen could hear her heartbeat in her ears as Damon leaned forward. This time, she let him kiss her. He was surprisingly soft and delicate with her, but somehow intense at the same time. His hands came to cup her face as she kissed him back. She tightly grabbed onto his biceps as he deepened the kiss. His tongue slipped past her lips when the kiss started to get fiercer and more wild. He took hold of her thigh and wrapped it around his waist to create more friction and rolled his hips against hers. Her lack of underwear made it all the more pleasurable. She moaned loudly into his mouth when he did it again.

Damon started to plant sloppy kisses down her neck. Elowen was breathing heavily and leaned her head against the wall. It wasn't until she felt his cold hands slip under her shirt with the intention of removing it that her mind caught up with what was happening.

"Stop," she said breathlessly. "Damon, stop." She took hold of his shoulders and pushed him off of her. "I can't do this."

"Sure you can," he countered huskily. He grabbed her face again and tried to lean in for another kiss, but she put her hands on his chest to stop him.

"Damon, I said stop." Her voice was assertive enough to halt his movements. She squeezed past him and put distance between them. She had her hands in her hair as she tried to process everything that just happened.

When she finally caught her breath, she turned back to Damon. "You're an enticing, walking sin. And that's why this won't work."

"So you're admitting that there's something here?"

"Yes, but it's nothing but lust. I don't want a relationship solely based off of sex, Damon. That's not who I am. And that's all you've ever offered. You're afraid to have a real relationship and I refuse to let you use me that way."

"That's not all I see you as." Damon tried taking a step towards her again, but Elowen backed away.

"Yes, it is." Elowen swallowed. "I think it's best if you leave."

"Wen…"

"Damon, if you really…." She paused. She couldn't believe she was about to say this. "Loved me, you would respect my wishes."

Damon's face dropped a little. She was right. He walked passed her, towards the window. "You're right. I'll leave."

When he was gone, Elowen sat on her bed with her head in her hands.

What did she just do?

xxxx

Author's Note: so, I'm not sure if any of you remember Toby at all, but he's Elowen's childhood best friend and ex boyfriend. His faceclaim is Rhys Matthew Bond. I hope you like him, because there's more to come from him!