It had been a week since Elena last saw Damon; the night he told her why he couldn't leave Katherine without putting his, Ric's and his father's life in danger. She was glad to know why he could be falling in love with her but marry another woman, but it killed her too.

She was angry at him, at Katherine and at herself. She was angry at herself because she was more upset that he really couldn't leave his fiance than what he did to that poor family.

She'd been off sick from work for the week. She wasn't physically unwell but her mind had taken a battering and facing Damon wasn't a possibility. He'd text her the first couple of days but had got the hint and left her alone for most of the week. She'd spent it in her sweats, going on runs, baking cakes and listening to sad music, and she was glad to have the space from him. Even then, sometimes the missing him hurt more than the knowledge of his past.

Her first day back at work had been easy enough. Damon wasn't in. Apparently he'd barely been in the office and when he was, according to Jenna, he'd been in a foul mood. Vicki said even unwashed and unshaven, Damon was still the 'fittest' man in the world. They assumed that he'd got marital issues but she knew it must have been down to her.

"Elena," Rebekah shouted from the door to their office. "Alaric is in meeting room A. He wants to speak to you."

Odd, she thought. He'd not made an appointment to see Damon and there wasn't much reason for him to see her. His charity ball was that night and that was appearing to go ahead as planned. She only had an hour before her work shift was over, but knew if Alaric had come into the office just a few hours before one of the biggest nights of his year, it must have been important.

"Thanks. I'll go to him now," Elena said.

When she got to the meeting room, Alaric was standing in his workout clothes staring out the window and over the park.

"Shouldn't you be making yourself look pretty for tonight," she joked.

He turned around and smiled at her before walking over and giving her a friendly hug. Like Damon, Ric was old school and he pulled out a chair from the table for her to sit at. He sat down a few chairs to the right of her and sighed. He didn't look great.

"Ric, is everything okay?" She asked. "Damon's not in today but if it's serious, I'm sure he could-"

"I know you know, Elena," he said. "Damon's told me all about it. I know about what's been going on with the both of you."

"Oh," she mouthed. "So this isn't about work."

"No," he shook his head. "It's about Damon. He's not in a good way, y'know. He's falling apart because he thinks you hate him."

"I don't hate him," she sighed. "I don't."

"No, I know. If you hated him then you wouldn't have come back to work and he'd be searching for a new PA. He doesn't see it like that," he said. "And he is in self-destruct mode."

She sat in silence and gazed out the window.

"He's not a bad person Damon. In fact he's probably one of the best men you'll ever get to meet. He- We," he corrected himself. "Made a very bad decision that night and he is paying for it. Yes, he is paying for it in a very different way than that family is, but he is."

"I know," she said. "It's just a lot to take in."

"He probably didn't tell you the entire truth, Elena. He's a protector. He'll sabotage himself to keep those he cares about safe and that includes me. He did stop the car that night. He got out of the car and prepared to throw himself over the bridge to check if anyone was in the car," Alaric explained. "But I panicked. My first book had just been released and was flying off the shelves. I was being interviewed left, right and centre. I knew that I'd be torn to shreds if I was caught at that scene. Nobody would buy a single one of my books again and can you imagine what the press would have said about me? I managed to stop him. His plan was to take me back and then come back himself, but as you probably know, his dad stopped him again."

"You're the reason he drove off?"

"Yep, so although he was driving, I was the one that convinced him to leave and he did that to protect me and I know that doesn't fix things, Elena. I know that doesn't change what happened. It won't make it better. But I hope it helps you know that Damon isn't a bad person. He's just at fault for being a good friend who fell to peer pressure."

Elena fell back in her chair and rubbed her face with her cold hands.

"That doesn't change the fact that he will never be able to leave that woman without getting ahold of the dashcam footage and she's not stupid, I'm sure she has made copies," she said. "So no matter what I think of him, he can't have me and I can't have him. It's too dangerous for all of you."

"No I know," he said. "But one day, and I can guarantee this, Katherine is going to fuck up and make a mistake. There is an evil streak in that woman and I know she is up to something, why else would she be so desperate to keep a man who clearly can't stand her? She'll make a mistake and when she does, we'll have her."

"But I don't know if I can wait all that time," she spoke honestly.

"I get that and so does Damon. Trust me, he knows and he can somewhat live with that, but he can't live thinking that you hate him."

"I don't hate him," she said.

Alaric leant forward his chair and squeezed Elena's hand in a rare comforting moment.

"Katherine is a vile woman, you know. She treats him horrifically. Blackmails him into doing everything she wants even when he doesn't want to. No doesn't mean much to her," he said

"Why would she so desperately want to be with someone who can't stand her?" Elena laughed.

Ric rubbed his fingers together.

"Damon's a very wealthy man with the ability to keep increasing his worth. A woman like Katherine doesn't care much for true love when there is that amount of money available to her," he said.

"What does it matter, Ric? He's taken and taken for life as it appears. So how we feel about each other is a moot point."

He sighed.

"Elena you know I'm getting a divorce don't you? Well my wife had an affair, I caught her in our bed with her boss. So I don't sympathise or feel for those who see screwing around with taken men or women."

"Is this meant to be making me feel better?"

"But that's not what is going on with you two. Damon's engaged but he isn't in a relationship. Damon hasn't promised his life away to someone or given his heart to a woman."

"He's engaged—"

"He's being blackmailed. There is a difference."

"So you expect me to be his side piece that he comes to when Katherine is out of town? I am the one who has to wait around in the shadows until you find something to take her down with? I have to hide how I feel while she gets to parade him around like a prize piece?" She asked.

"Don't you think he's worth the wait?"

"Ric—"

"Elena. You won't find another Damon."

The charity gala had gone off without a hitch. The circus show was entertaining and got the guests in the mood to celebrate. The venue was beautifully dressed and the band played a healthy mix of songs to dance to and ones to relax to.

Ric was beyond happy with the results, Damon was busy chatting to possible future clients and even Katherine appeared to be having a nice time.

It was the first time Elena had laid eyes on Damon since kicking him out of her house. He didn't look his normal self. Of course he was still deathly handsome but his skin was duller, his eyes didn't glisten and his hair wasn't falling softly like it normally did.

They hadn't spoken to one another. There was the occasional glance across the floor but Elena made sure to focus solely on her family around their table.

"I'm not saying it isn't a fascinating fact, Tyler. I'm saying that I don't understand how they figured it out," Grayson laughed over his bottle of beer. "And why would anyone want to know how long a pig's orgasm is?"

"Is this really the type of conversation we should be having at a black tie event?" Miranda chastised them.

"You started it!" Tyler laughed.

"How did me complimenting the pork on my plate start a conversation about pigs and orgasms?"

The Gilbert's always enjoyed a good party. Elena appreciated that they'd all paid to attend, it was going to a good cause and it also made her look good.

Grayson always enjoyed a social event. He got to speak to many people in his field of work and plenty came up to him with his questions about his books.

"Although I love this fascinating conversation, can I change the subject to say congratulations to Elena for organising tonight," Grayson said as he filled up everyone's glass with champagne. "You've done amazingly, my girl."

"Thanks, dad,"

The conversation quickly went back to tipsy babble. Every now and then, she'd look around the hall to see Damon but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Katherine had been sitting at the poker table for most of the night, Lily and Giuseppe were talking to guests while Alaric was being interviewed.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, Elena," Caroline leaned over and spoke quietly to her friend. "And you don't have to, but I'm here for you, okay?"

"I know you are. Thank you, Care."

"I wouldn't judge you," she said. "Or him. Not now I've met that bitch of a fiance of his."

Elena laughed and choked on her champagne as her friend tilted her head towards Katherine.

"I don't think the devil himself could be in a room alone for long with her," Caroline said. "Poor man."

"You don't know the half of it," Elena shrugged. "It's so complicated, Care. This whole thing. If I do the right thing, I feel like shit and I know he does too. If I do the wrong thing, well… it's just not me to do that."

"Forget right and wrong for now. What do you want to do?" Her friend asked.

"I want what you all have," Elena said as she watched her family laugh and share stories together. "I want to be happy, but what does that make me? The way to make me happy would be to be someone's bit on the side."

Caroline rolled her eyes and sipped on her orange juice. She glanced over her shoulder and nodded in Damon's direction. He was standing beside Alaric, a drink in hand, gazing over at the table with dark and tired eyes. Elena locked her eyes onto his and smiled as best as she could. He slowly raised his glass to her.

"Do you really think that's what you'd be? Just a 'bit' on the side of his life. Because from where I'm sitting, it looks as though his life is crumbling and you're the 'bit' that's holding him together," Caroline said.

She tore her eyes away from him and looked at her best friend.

"It's having an affair, Caroline. Imagine how you'd feel if Matt was having an affair, I don't want to bring that sort of pain to someone."

"Can you tell me, hand on heart, that you think that woman would be heartbroken and distraught if she found out her fiance was having an affair? Really?" Caroline scoffed. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that Katherine would be shattered if she knew?"

Elena couldn't say that because Katherine wouldn't be destroyed if she knew, not like Caroline would or Bonnie, Hayley or even Lexi. There was no love in Damon and Katherine's relationship. Katherine would be heartbroken over the loss of the money she could get out of Damon but not over the loss of him himself.

"Stop trying to talk me into having an affair," Elena sighed. "Because it's not right."

"To have an affair by definition means that one or both of the people involved are in a relationship with someone else," Caroline shrugged. "What Damon and Katherine have isn't a relationship."

"That's the second time I've heard that today."

"Maybe you need to hear it."

She'd thought about him for most of the night, what she should say and when she should say it. They'd stolen a few sneaky glances at one another and she'd tried to smile at him as he did her but she was so damn fearful that it took all she had not to cry.

The ball had been amazing. Her family had a whale of a time and Caroline had said some things that helped her understand her own feelings slightly more. They had gotten on well with Lily. Grayson and Ric had lots to talk to one another about and Bonnie met Sybil for the first time after being one of the first store owners to stock Sybil's designs.

The front desk told Elena which room Damon was staying in and she'd watch Katherine leave with Stefan earlier in the day so she knew it was safer for her to talk to him without the Wicked Witch of the West barging in. Apparently Stefan was taking her to the airport for her overnight flight to London.

It took a few minutes until she plucked up the courage to knock on his hotel room door.

When he finally answered, she watched as the colour drained from his face and his shoulders sank in relief or fear - she didn't know. He was a mess. His hair was all tangled and ruffled, his shirt half unbuttoned and the hotel room was covered in papers and smashed glass.

"Can I come in?" She asked.

He opened the door further and made space for her to step through. She quickly looked around to make sure nobody was looking before stepping in and closing it softly behind her.

She placed her bag on the side table and waited for him to turn around to face her.

She had planned what she wanted to say but it all went to shit when their eyes clasped onto one another. Before she knew it, her hands were wrapped around him tightly and her head buried in his neck. It didn't take a second before he held her back, squeezing her against his chest so tightly that she couldn't pull away. She didn't want to anyway.

"I've missed you," he whispered as he pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "I'm so sorry, 'Lena. I shouldn't have told you. It's too much pressure."

"No you did the right thing," she said into his neck. "I needed to know and I'm sorry that I kicked you out of my flat."

"I deserved it."

She pulled away from him and held his cheeks in the palms of her hands.

"You listen to me, Damon Salvatore, and you listen good. You do not deserve any of this. You do not deserve to be stuck in a loveless relationship with a woman like that. You do not deserve to be tortured by this bad mistake," she said. "Alaric told me that you did stop and that the reason you left was to protect him."

He smiled and shrugged. He was a good person and like Alaric said, he was a protector. He was living a miserable life to keep his friend and his father safe from a life behind bars. He was giving up the things he wanted to help them. A bad person wouldn't take a step back to keep those around him safe and happy.

"I don't hate you, Damon. I tried to hate you but I don't and I don't want to either."

"I can't give you the life you want," he said, still not pulling away from her hands. "Believe me I want to."

"Maybe not now, no, and I don't want to wait around hoping that Katherine makes a mistake that you can hold against her," she told him. "But I also don't want this feeling I have for you to end. It would be easy for me to walk away if it was anyone else, but the problem we have here, Damon, is that I happen to be falling in love with you and I could quit and walk away from you, do the right thing, but—"

"Oh thank god," Damon gasped before quickly closing the distance between them. His lips collided with hers with a passionate ferocity. It took her back but when she felt his hands pull her waist as close to him as possible, she lost all resolve and allowed herself to kiss him back.

She fisted his hair, pulling herself up onto the tips of her toes. She heard his heavy breaths as he attacked her lips like a man starved of water.

She realised that he hadn't said he was falling for her back and that was okay. She didn't need to hear him say it and part of her was glad he didn't. It would probably make the eventual break up and departure from each other's lives easier. But he needed to know how she felt in hope that it would pull him from his shell and spark a fire in him that needed to be lit.

His hands roamed her body as they stumbled back towards his king size bed. She heard him moan with pleasure as he cupped her in all the areas he'd been longing for.

They were both gasping for breath as he turned them round so that she fell back onto the plush covers. The sheets moulded around her body and he hovered over her, his hands pinning hers down above her head.

His lips melted against her cold skin as his hands worked the zip on the side of her dress. Blood rushed through his veins as a fire burnt in his heart. She bucked her hips up and felt the desire he held for her.

He carefully pulled off her dress, leaving her in her black lace underwear. A growl came from somewhere deep inside him as he took her all in. He'd imagined having her in his bed many times since NYE but none of the images in his head compared to the real thing.

She was stunning. Her chocolate waves and dark oaky orbs always gave way to butterflies in his stomach - something he'd never felt around a woman before. Her touch alone was enough to drive him insane and her kisses were strong enough to make him wantoned with desire.

"'Lena," he breathed. "I don't want to turn you into a woman who has to hide in the shadows while I play happy families with another woman."

"I don't want to do that either," she said. "But even more so than that, I don't want you to be unhappy and miserable spending everyday with a woman you can't stand, a woman who is forcing you to do things you don't want to do."

He sat up on his knees and ran his tired hands through his hair.

"So what do we do because I can't stay away from you, not how I should. Not when I'm falling for you so quickly," he whispered.

Elena smiled and pressed a chaste kiss to his soft lips. She reached behind her bra cup and pulled out a poker chip from the ball and carefully placed it into his hand, closing his fingers around it.

"I'm all in, Damon. I know we can't have a proper relationship and nothing about this is normal, but I'm all in," she said. "I know what I'm getting myself into. If I'm the person that you can come to after work to relax with, or the person who respects you enough to understand that when you say no you mean no, or the woman who makes you smile, even if it's just for an evening that you have free from her… well how is that a bad thing?"

"That's all perfect for me, Elena, but what's in it for you?"

She smiled.

"You. Passion, adventure and even a little bit of danger."

"And that's everything you want?"

"For now. I can wait a bit longer for the other thing," she said.

"And what's that?"

"A love that consumes me."

He crashed his lips back to hers and held her tighter than before. He wished he could tell her that she already consumed him but a voice in his mind told him to keep that to himself. He couldn't tell her that and go back to another woman in the morning.

"Just promise me one thing," she said against his lips.

"Anything."

"Find a way to leave her. Find any way you can get out of her claws," she said.

Their lips collided again. He didn't need to promise her that; it was a done deal. He'd been working harder on catching Katherine out since New Year's Day but then and there, he was focusing on the moment. He was living in the present, in his beautiful hotel bedroom with a woman he was falling in love with.

She tugged at his shirt until it fell to the floor with her dress. His trousers quickly followed.

He hooked his fingers around her underwear and slowly, to savour the moment, shimmied her out of them.

"You're so beautiful, 'Lena," he whispered in her ear, enjoying the way her skin covered in goosebumps as his breath tickled her ear.

She lifted her hips to meet his, aching for a reminder of the best night of her life.

"Please," she begged.

So he did.

He clasped their hands beside their heads and their kisses slowed as they made love.

Her little moans and sharp breaths only spurred him on; speeding up and then slowing down to savour every inch of her.

Being with her was like being with no other. As they moved together it was as if they'd been doing it for years, both of them in sync with a love so deep rooted it was as if they were born to find one another.

Elena's eyes fluttered open as the bright ray of sun broke through a crack in the curtains. For the first time in a long time, her entire body felt completely relaxed.

She crinkled the crisp bed sheets between her toes and stretched out. A smile crept onto her lips as she remembered the night before. They'd made love, talked, danced around the hotel suite and fell back into bed together.

"Morning beautiful," she heard him beside her.

She rolled over and saw him sitting up in bed, his laptop on his lap. His hair was rustled and he still had a bit of her lipstick on his neck, but it just made him sexier.

"Mmm," she purred as he kissed her softly. "How long have you been awake?"

"Only an hour or so. Andie has sent across some financial papers from the London branch and I just wanted to go over them again to see if I've missed anything."

She ran her fingers across the muscles on his arm and gently across his chest. He lolled his head to the side and smiled at her.

"You think there might be something funny going on?" She asked.

"I thought it might have been a possibility but all payments need to be signed off by a partner and Andie - see," he pointed to the documents on his screen. "All approved by either myself or Elijah, and then Andie too."

He scrolled down the screen showing the names of their regular payment.

"Bulb, gas and electricity for the London building signed by myself. Broadway and Westminster, rent payments for the London office signed by Elijah. Driver and Parker, the car service for both offices signed by myself. Petrova, the temp agency the London office uses…" he stopped. "Odd."

"What?"

"Klaus has signed this one. That's not normal," he said. "I'm sure it's nothing but I'll run it past Elijah to check."

She sat up in bed and reached for his shirt to wrap around herself.

"I don't think Klaus has ever said one word to me," she said as she buttoned it up. "Or even smiled at me for that matter."

"Don't take offence to it. That's just who he is. He and Elijah have not seen eye to eye for many years and it's just made Klaus… bitter."

"Then why does he still work for you?"

"For Klaus," he corrected her. "I think Elijah feels guilty."

"Guilty for what?"

"Gia. His wife. Gia and Klaus dated for a long time and split up but I don't think Klaus ever got over her. A year later, Elijah and Gia meet in a bar, get talking and now they're married with a baby," he explained. "He knows that Klaus never moved on and I think he feels guilty for falling in love with her."

"Wow," she whispered. "Jesus, what's with brothers in this town sleeping with each other's missus."

Damon rolled his eyes at her playfully. As she stood up to leave the bed, he grabbed the back of his shirt she was wearing and pulled her back down on the bed. She giggled as her head dropped back on to crumpled sheets and he couldn't stop himself from carefully bending down to kiss her.

"Damon," she mumbled against his lips. "I'm going to be late for work."

"You're literally in bed with the boss. Who cares?"

"I care. We might be whatever we are now but I don't want my career to be involved. No favours. No letting me off. No slacking and no risky business at the office."

"Fine," he huffed. "There's a lock on my door, y'know."

"Nope," she smiled. "At work, you're my boss and I'm the employee. Nothing more."

"'Lena—"

"I'm serious, Damon. Inside of work, I want to be treated like everyone else. If I fuck up, I want the repercussions. Please."

"Okay," he spoke gently. "Okay."

"Okay."

"Are you done?" He asked with a playful smirk. "Because as I see it, you have forty minutes before you need to be at your desk and there's a lot we can do in forty minutes."