A/N: I made a mistake in chapter 7. I didn't mean to write that Katherine's death was a month ago since Damon drank a whole bottle of bourbon. Katherine died one year ago.

Elena ran her hands down her dress as she exited out of the staff room. She had just finished her live performance. Now that she was done singing on stage in front of her familiar Sunday night crowd, Elena wondered how the boys from Brothers felt about her little show. She was so lost into her music that her eyes never caught sight of Damon, Stefan, or their manager, who she found out from Matt was named Alaric Saltzman.

Rubbing her fingers together, Elena bit her bottom lip as she took in a deep, calming breath. She was glad that that was over and done with; she had been uncharacteristically nervous and insecure about her music up until she took her place on stage. With Caroline here to support her, Elena felt way better with her blond friend's words of encouragement. Caroline doesn't know about Elena's situation, but could tell that her friend was acting a little funny before show time.

Caroline was still sitting at the bar, talking animatedly to the bartender. Matt had just walked out of the kitchen with a new empty tray in his hands.

Elena would need help packing up her keyboard back into her car. Her instrument was still up stage hiding in the dark. She switched out of her Millie Marshmallow clothes and was now sporting the gorgeous dress Caroline had bought for Elena the other day. Elena was wearing a sexy long-sleeved gray dress covered in laces shaped like flowers and ivy that wrapped around her form along with a soft silver belt hugging around her waist. The length of the dress reached all the way down above her knees. The material was a little heavy, but Elena absolutely adored the gift Caroline had bought her.

Caroline had refused to budge about the price of the dress to Elena. "This is what friends do!" Caroline had kept insisting at the mall. "We buy each other clothes that we think would look stunning on one another!"

"Wow."

Elena looked up to find Matt staring at her with his jaw practically on the floor. She flushed from the way his silvery blue eyes stared at her. "I know I should have said this earlier," Matt said as he took a step closer to Elena, "but you look…" he swallowed hard, "stunning."

"Thank you, Matt," Elena said softly. "You also need to thank Caroline; she is the one that bought me this dress."

Matt nodded. "Was that last song new? I haven't heard it before."

"Yes, I just finished writing it Friday night." She watched Matt walk up to her until the toes of their shoes nearly touched. Matt smelled like fried oil and grease mixed with sweat and soap. Biting her bottom lip, Elena stood still as Matt moved his arm up and reached out his fingers towards her hand; he gingerly held onto Elena's hand and brought their joined hands up into the middle of their chests. Closing her eyes, Elena wrapped her fingers around Matt's grip and sighed.

"Want to talk about it?" Matt asked. His thumb began to rub a giant circle around the back of Elena's hand. "I can understand if you don't want to."

Elena shook her head. "Matt, it's just a song. There is nothing special to it."

"You sure it's not about John-?"

"I'm sure," Elena said firmly. Her usually warm brown eyes turned hard. She was not opening up that can of worms tonight. It was all explained in the song.

Matt looked down at her with an unflinching gaze. He gave her hand one more squeeze before releasing her. His arm fell back to his side and swung motionlessly for a couple of seconds before he cleared his throat and placed his hand inside of his pocket.

Elena knew she had upset Matt. She didn't mean too; she just didn't want to admit that he was right. "Matt..."

"I think the band liked you," Matt interrupted with a happy voice that didn't reach his eyes. "You won't believe me when I tell you this:" He leaned down and whispered excitedly into Elena's ear, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Damon couldn't keep his eyes off of you."

Elena's lips twitched into a smile. "You're kidding!"

"No, I'm not!" Matt laughed with a bright smile as he pulled back to look at Elena. "He seemed to really enjoy your show. I had to walk a couple of laps around him to make sure I wasn't seeing things." With a thrilled laugh, Matt pulled Elena into his arms and lifted her off her feet. Elena yipped in surprise as she wrapped her arms around Matt's neck, pressing her cheek against Matt's as his thin hair tickled her jaw while he spun her around.

Pressing a quick peck onto Matt's temple, Elena squeezed her eyes shut. She was beginning to feel dizzy from being spun around. "Matt!" she laughed into his ear.

"Sorry," Matt sheepishly apologized as he gently placed Elena back down on the ground. She placed her hands on Matt's elbows to keep herself steady until the room stopped spinning. Elena smiled up at Matt, at the moment, she wasn't aware of how happy she'd be if she got accepted into Brothers. When Matt had first told her about his plan, Elena didn't really think much of it. She was sure she was going to be rejected but would be happy that she got the opportunity to try out; she was quite happy to be a one-girl show and earn a little money every Sunday. But to hear from Matt that Damon actually saw something in her live show made Elena give in to the thought that she could possibly be part of a slowly rising rock band known in Mystic Falls.

"I am so proud of you," Matt went on. He smirked as he nudged Elena. "Did you imagine everyone naked?"

Elena playfully pushed her friend back. "No! No, I just stared at everyone's chins."

"That's…odd," Matt chuckled.

"Odd or not, it works."

The two friends stood in a comfortable silence. Elena leaned next to Matt and placed her cheek against Matt's shoulder. In return, Matt slowly wrapped and arm across her shoulders. Elena was happy with the friendship that she had with Matt. Without him, she had no idea how she would have survived after the sudden death of her parents and Jeremy's downward spiral. With Jeremy gone, Matt was like the brother Elena never had. "Have you heard from Jeremy?" she asked quietly.

"No," Matt sighed. "I wonder how he is doing."

"Me too." The two siblings haven't spoken ever since Jeremy's sudden move to Maryland. The boy has lost all contact with everyone he knew in Mystic Falls. Elena assumed it was to help him cut ties with the town where he lost his mother and father, and when he met Viki- a young girl who urged him to make all of the wrong choices with handling his grief. Elena has tried many times to get into contact with her little brother, but all of her efforts were useless.

"I am sure he is doing okay in Maryland," Matt tried to comfort Elena. He squeezed her shoulder as he pulled her closer to him. "He is probably catching those famous Maryland crabs."

"That would be a sight," Elena smiled sadly. She could never imagine her brother sailing on a boat hunting down those ten-legged, blue crustaceans; Jeremy was never a fan of the ocean, and he always refused to be on a boat.

Elena remembered a time where her parents took her and Jeremy to the beach for a summer vacation. She had a wonderful time swimming in the blue ocean with the taste of salt lingering in her mouth after dunking her head underwater. Jeremy would just sit in the sand, staring fearfully at the water. He was terrified of the sea creatures that swam in the big blue sea and was afraid that the strong currents would carry him away from the safety of the sandy shore. Jeremy was comfortable planting his butt on the warm sand, watching others playing in the water.

Matt had to go back to work. There were more tables that had to be emptied and clean before the next guests arrives. Matt gave her a hug, telling her that everything was going to be okay, before he grabbed his tray and disappeared into the maze of booths. Elena watched him leave, thankful that Matt was one of her best friends before she went over to the bar to be with Caroline.

Bing!

Elena startled awake. She groggily blinked her eyes open, hoping she was just hearing things. After counting 10 Mississippi's, Elena slid her heavy eyelids closed and burrowed deeper into her covers. Adjusting her head back into a comfortable position against the cool side of her pillow, Elena was drifting back to sleep. Her breathing began to slow back down into its natural rhythm of sleep.

Bing!

Behind her closed eyelids, Elena could see a faint glow of light followed right after the little chime coming from her phone. It can't be my alarm, she thought as she pulled the covers over her head stubbornly. It's too early for it to go off.

Bing!

Cursing under her breath, clearly annoyed that her cell phone was disturbing her much needed rest, Elena sat up on her elbows and blindly reached for her phone that was on her nightstand next to her bed. When her tired fingers closed around the cool surface of her phone, Elena sat up against the headboard with her pillow squished up on her lower back. Adjusting her eyes to the semi-darkness of her room, Elena cautiously turned on her phone. The bright light blinded her, forcing her to cover her sensitive eyes with her other hand. This better be an emergency!

Once she could see without a touch of annoyance in her still sleepy orbs, Elena could make out on her screen that there were text messages from an unknown number. Wanting to toss her phone into a wall, Elena checked the time and found out that it was five minutes until eight in the morning. Her alarm would have gone off at eight.

I could have had five more minutes of sleep!

Opening her mouth into a wide yawn, Elena figured she might as well get ready for the start of her day. Sliding off of her bed on unsteady feet, Elena turned on her bedroom light, and was once again caught off guard by the sudden brightness. She leaned against her wall as she swiped her phone and entered the five-digit code to unlock it. Elena clicked on the green text message icon and found the number responsible for waking her up before her designated alarm.

Under the unknown number, the text read only three words:

You are in.

Elena itched to respond to the text message she received earlier in the day. She had just arrived back to her apartment after school. One of her rules was to never get tempted to used her phone while in school unless it was for educated purposes.

School was pretty uneventful today. Two of her teachers were out, one was sick while the other was out of town for an emergency, so Elena was cooped up in the school's library completing online assignments for the two classes. The teachers from Physical Health and Psychology were out of school.

During the beginning of the day, Elena started off with her Physical Health class – on the school page, her teacher instructed the class to record themselves doing a list of exercises every day for the rest of the school week. Monday's list of warmups includes:

20 curl ups

15 burpees

20 lungees

25 pushups

50 squats

10 mountain climbers

Elena decided that while she was at school that she would complete the list of exercises for today at the college's gym once her campus courses were completed before she drove home.

In her Psychology class, her professor would like the students to watch A Beautiful Mind and to complete the discussion questions that were related to the film. The discussions would be due on Thursday before midnight. The next class for Psychology would be on Friday if the professor was well enough to come back, which would be most likely.

Her other classes went well.

In French, the class were assigned paragraphs in their textbooks to read in front of the teacher individually. Elena had to read aloud to her teacher about the importance of handwashing in perfect French. The teacher gave her a rare smile and sent her back to her seat.

During Elena's Creative Writing, the class went over the different Hogwarts classes: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Everyone was sorted into groups of five according to their house. Once everyone learned about the history of the Hogwarts houses and their ghosts, the teacher had them begin creating a large poster that matched their Hogwarts house. Since Elena was sorted into Hufflepuff, her group was given a yellow poster board and it was up to them on how to design it.

Now that Elena was home, she could relax for a little before she could start A Beautiful Mind.

Elena's body was aching. She showered at the school when she was done her Physical Health exercises at the school's gym. Her legs have finally stopped shaking and her abdominals felt stronger. She was happy to feel her gym clothes covered in sweat, showing off how hard her body worked out after completing the long list of exercises. Elena couldn't wait to see her body's results when the semester ended. She wanted to earn lean muscle throughout her body, and a slim six-pack of abs never hurt anybody. This class was helping Elena physically and mentally, and it was aiding her in increasing her confidence. She was going to make an effort to make sure that she looked good.

Since there was no Psychology class today, Elena didn't see Bonnie or Caroline. She wondered what her friend wanted to show her that had to wait until today. Elena had tried calling Bonnie, but she ended up leaving a voicemail.

What if she got a tattoo? Or what if she got her belly button pierced? Elena knew Bonnie was adventurous and who willing to try new things. The closest thing to a tattoo Bonnie had done was a Henna-Tattoo of a green and blue turtle on her forearm when she went to an Art Festival with her grandma.

Elena will find out sooner or later what Bonnie has been keeping from her.

Kicking her shoes off of her feet, Elena pulled out her cell phone and noticed that there weren't any new messages from the unknown number. From the morning's message, Elena could only guess what it meant.

Before she could think about it, instead of texting back the unknown number, Elena pressed the telephone icon. Putting the phone on speaker, Elena listened to the phone ring. It must be one of the members from Brothers. She knew it wasn't Matt, otherwise, it would be his name attached to the message; Elena would bet all of her baby carrots that Matt would have told her in person if she hade made it into the band.

Elena began to pace around the room. Her fingers started playing with the hem of her shirt to give her something to do while she waited. Maybe they won't pick up, she thought as her heart began to beat faster. I could always leave a message and hopefully they will get right back to me.

Will it be Stefan, or will it be Damon?

"Why, it's the newest member of the band!"

Damon.

"Hey," Elena quickly said. She had stopped pacing. Placing her hand on her chin, Elena inhaled deeply before she continued, "Thank you guys for-

"Oh, Elena, please don't thank me. I hear enough of it from Matt already," Damon groaned. "It wasn't your great personality or your feminine charms that earned your ticket to becoming a member of Brothers, it was your musical talent." It was quiet on the line; Elena could faintly hear the sound of a door being opened and closed. "There, now that my brother isn't being nosy, I can tell you this: I for one, found your performance very…superior compared to the other try outs. Your lyrics are distinctive and I admire your talent with the keyboard."

Elena had not expected any praise coming from Damon's mouth. To be honest, she thought Damon was going to drag out the days to tell her the results of her little show at The Grill. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that Damon would ever say anything positive about her music. She thought he wanted a sex kitten on stage with Brothers because of the way he eyes every member of the opposite sex. Turns out he can shut off his second head that resides in his pants and use his actual brain. Elena didn't know what to say except for, "Thank you, Damon."

"You are very welcome, princess."

Princess?

"I am going to send you an address and I would love it very much if you could meet me there at…let's say 9:30 tonight." Damon seemed to think better about it before he said, "Actually, let me pick you up. I will drive us there."

"My mother told me not to take car rides with strange boys," Elena couldn't help but say.

"Who said anything about a car?" Damon smirked into the phone. "I would very much appreciate it if you wore all black and pulled your hair up. Now if you wouldn't mind sending me your address…"

Vroooom!

Gasping, Elena's hand that was lightly gripping her liquid eyeliner pen slid across her eyelid, causing a rather large squiggle to run off a what was once a straight line. Clenching her jaw, she quickly dabbed some makeup remover over her ruined lid and cautiously drew another straight line again. Looking herself over in the bathroom mirror, Elena decided she looked okay before she heads out.

At Damon's request, Elena wore all black. Not one speck of color could be seen. Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and it swung side by side as she walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. Just as she was gathering her purse her doorbell rang.

When she reached the door, she opened it to see Damon standing on the other side. He had a large black full-face helmet in his hands. Elena stared at the helmet and then looked over his shoulder and couldn't believe at what she saw parked next to her car.

It was a black motorcycle.

Her eyes sparkled with interest.

"Did you mother say anything about riding on a motorcycle?" Damon asked with a brow raised in amusement. Elena watched as his lips transitioned into a half-smile as he leaned down closer to her.

"No, my mother never mentioned anything about motorcycles," Elena played along.

"Good," Damon breathed out in relief. "Well, that's a weight off my shoulders!" He pushed the helmet to Elena. Elena grunted when she caught it, goosebumps rising on her skin when her palms clutched the cold helmet. "Put that on so we can head out."

"Wait." Elena reached out and grabbed Damon's wrist. He spun back around and looked down where Elena held on to him. He raised his head and stepped closer to Elena. Her fingers slid off the cuff of his leather jacket. Elena's chest began to feel tight. She could smell his old spice cologne coming from his neck, shirt, and jacket. It was…intoxicating along with his own male scent.

For a second she forgot what she wanted to say to Damon.

"You seem to have something on your mind," Damon said above her. "Why don't you just come out and say it. We don't have much time to waste."

She found herself grabbing onto his wrist again. Squeezing his wrist, Elena tilted her head up and looked Damon dead in the eye. She wanted to make sure that Damon would take her seriously. "I need to ask you something."

Damon heavily sighed, rolling his eyes into the back of his head obnoxiously. "Ask away."

"Can I trust you?"

"Where is this coming from? Of course, you can trust me. Now come on, we have to go-"

Elena tugged him back towards her. She ignored his wide, glaring eyes. "I really…" Elena exhaled shakily. This was embarrassing to say, and she knew that Damon was going to use this moment against her. It was going to boost his ego up to the sky's limits. "I really don't want you…distracting me."

"Excuse me?" Damon asked. "Did…did you just say that I distract you?"

Oh, here we go.

"Care to explain?" Damon smugly smiled.

"Oh, forget it!" Elena's ears felt hot as she locked the door behind her. She walked around Damon, ignoring his rising laughter from her request. She wished she never said anything – why the hell did she tell Damon Salvatore that he was a distraction!

Of course he knew how attractive he was – look at him! Damon has startlingly blue eyes that puts the bluest skies to shame; his messy black hair has Elena's fingers begging to run wildly through them, hoping to get tangled in their strands; those sharp cheek bones and dangerous jawline make his face strikingly handsome; and just the sound of his deep, husky voice causes butterflies to erupt from their cocoons and flutter amok in her tummy.

Elena was scared that if she got closer to Damon that she would eventually lose him. She already lost her mother, father, and little brother. She was afraid of getting close to anyone else. Elena has a small circle of friends and was blessed every single day that they stuck by her side.

"Let's just go-Ah!" Elena yelled out when she felt Damon's arms wrap around her tightly, making the little butterflies fly in a gigantic swirl, tickling her insides. She was lifted up in the air as Damon moved his feet towards the bike. His chin rested over her shoulder while he carried her. Elena began to giggle and laugh like a schoolgirl being around her first crush. She could feel her shirt ride up her stomach while Damon's fingers clutched her sides.

Damon squatted over the back of his parked bike with Elena in his hold. He grunted when he carefully placed Elena onto the back seat of the motorcycle. Her hands reached down as she planted them on Damon's elbows. Still laughing, Elena threw her head back and leaned against Damon, her chin thrown up in the air.

"Careful," Damon mumbled against her, his warm breath blown against Elena's cheek.

"Sorry," Elena apologized. She lowered her chin down and sighed as her lips formed a smile. Her feet were planted on either side of the bike with Damon's close behind; she wasn't quiet sitting on it.

"Don't be, I caught you off guard," Damon began to released his hold from around Elena until his has hands gripped her hips, making sure she wouldn't lose her balance on the bike. "You okay?"

"Uh-huh." Elena looked down at Damon's hands clasping onto her waist. She watched as his fingers gripped the edge of her shirt and pulled the material down until it covered the rest of her belly. His lingering touch made Elena feel giddy and she didn't want his hands to leave her. "Thank you," she murmured.

"Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle before?" Damon asked Elena.

"No."

"Well, you are in for a wild ride." In one quick motion, Damon removed himself from behind Elena. Elena inhaled sharply when he placed the helmet on top of her head. Her hearing became muffled when Damon slid his leg over the bike and hovered over the seat. "I know it's not very fashionable, but you are going to have to wear that for your safety." Damon had his helmet on already over his head; he must have grabbed it from one of the bike's side bags.

Elena fumbled to put the buckle together under her chin. Her vision was a little darker since there was a face shield covering the full-head helmet. She blinked a couple of times to get used to the new sensory. "I got it on," she said, her voice a little smothered from the head piece.

"Great." Without warning, Damon started the engine. It was very loud and made Elena jump back in her seat. Her ears popped from the roaring motor and her heart felt like it was going to leap out of her chest. The vibrations from the bike made Elena feel like a part of the motor vehicle.

"Ow!" Damon yelled out when Elena's fingers clutched at his waist. "Don't pinch me, you are going to damage my flawless skin!" Damon revved the engine and he pressed a button that made the headlight turn on in front of the bike. "Just wrap your arms around me if you get scared."

"I'm not scared," Elena raised her voice unconvincingly.

"There is a little grip in between you and me if you want to hold onto something if you are worried," Damon yelled out over the loud engine.

Elena looked down and saw a black, leather loop sitting in the middle of Damon and her. She slid her hands over the tough piece of leather and held on tightly until her knuckles turned white. Sitting up with her back straight, Elena believed she was ready. She was determined to be brave and to not embarrass herself on the back of Damon's bike.

When Damon began to back up the bike out of the parking spot, Elena lifted her heeled leather boots up onto metal foot-peg. She focused on the rumbling of the engine, how the thrumming motions seemed to hum throughout her body. After a while, she got used to the unfamiliar sensations of the powerful bike, and Elena found herself kind of liking the way the bike felt.

"Okay," Damon mumbled when the motorcycle was now facing the road. "Get ready!"

Elena didn't have time to get ready- as soon as Damon motioned his wrist forward on the bike's handle, she felt her body follow the pull of gravity. First, her head swung backwards, making her face pale and her stomach feel very nauseous. Then as the bike began to gain speed, Elena was pushed forward and she found her hands tearing away from the little grip in front of her; as quick as a heart attack, Elena wrapped her arms securely around Damon. Her shaking hands gripped the front of his shirt tightly. She was pressing her head against his back, taking in quick, shallow breaths as she felt the rush of wind striking against her body. Her eyes were squeezed shut as Damon placed a hand over hers, as if to comfort her.

Finding out that closing her eyes made her extremely motion-sick, Elena decided to rip the band aid of by forcing her terrified eyes open. Her chest was pressed against Damon's back and the side of her helmet was leaning on his shoulder. The scenery flew by her in a rush, blurring the colors of the trees, the dark sky, the road, and the flashing lights coming from other vehicles into one. Elena turned her head slightly forward against the propelling wind and focused her wide eyes on Damon.

Elena didn't even notice when her breathing became more controlled. Her hands relaxed against Damon's chest – she can feel the warmth of his skin against her palms despite the cold, rushing wind. There were no thoughts swimming in Elena's head; her center of attention was on the man she was ashamedly clutching on for dear life. Perhaps just the thought of Damon was making Elena feel calmer and less frightened on the back of a speeding motorcycle going – Elena glanced at the speedometer and her heart and stomach plummeted down like a broken-down elevator - 78 miles!

They were clearly off the side roads and were now racing down the three-lane highway, going who knows where. Oh, that's right, only Damon knows where their destination is and probably forgot to mention it to Elena!

A/N: I hope everyone had a happy new year! I apologize if the pace is going slow, I am trying to build it up so Elena could get to know the band. There will be more Delena, I really don't want to rush their relationship - they are still getting to know one another. Please leave a review, they motivate me.

Edit: 1/13/2021