Hi! I've been busy with college, but I promise I will make an effort to update every week.

Sooo we are still on the missing scenes of 1x11 Bloodlines. Now, on ELENA'S POV, we'll probably keep rotating between the two of them. Oh, and I'm currently obsessed with the books, too, so there will be some little things that I got from there, like Damon calling her "princess".

Anyways, I hope you like it!

ELENA POV

Did you ever look in the mirror and didn't recognize your own reflection? That was exactly how Elena felt that morning. Which was weird, to say the least, because nothing, absolutely nothing, was different. She had woken up in the same bedroom she had been sleeping since she was born. She headed to the same bathroom she had been sharing with Jeremy for as long as she could remember. Hell, even her movements seemed to be automatic, out of habit, as she was working on the auto-pilot mode: going from the known bed to brush her teeth with the mint toothpaste she had been using since forever.

However, she didn't even make it past the "picking up the toothbrush" part today. She had frozen entirely at the moment she found her eyes staring at her in the mirror, because those eyes, they looked nothing like her own.

Katherine.

She had dreamt about being Katherine. Elena thought to herself, while she sat in the strange uncomfortable bed of a cheap motel room where she had slept in. Thankful for the lack of mirrors in the bathroom, she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and did pretty much everything she had intended to do in her dream before the reflection of her doppelganger had got her dead in the tracks.

Elena wondered if Stefan had those same disturbing thoughts whenever he looked at her too? She had found it difficult to see that picture without thinking it just seemed to be a period version of herself. Did Damon relate her to Katherine too? He had said that the idea of replacing someone with an exact twin was creepy; and she could only hope that Stefan felt the same way, because no matter how much she loved him, the alternative was unbearable.

— Elena. — Damon sang-song from outside the door. She checked her cellphone, ignoring the missing calls from Jenna and Stefan, focusing only on the time.

Shit, when she headed back to her hotel bedroom yesterday evening, they had agreed to meet at eight so he could finally drive her back to Mystic Falls. It was already nine and thirty.

— Elena. — He sang-song again, a bit louder this time. — I can hear you move, I know you're in there.

She sighed. After that disconcerting nightmare, the last thing she wanted to do was to spend a day with a Salvatore. But whatever escaping she had been doing since that accident in the road, it needed to stop. Her problems were still there, waiting for her at home and she was not the type of girl who ran from them.

Damon had that annoying smirk in his face when she finally opened the door. — Are you trying to delay our trip? — He asked, kittining his eyes in amusement. — Wanna spend another day with me? We can go to Vegas.

— You're so full of shit, Salvatore. — She said, both of them walking through the corridors that lead them out of the motel.

— And you are not fun. — He said back, never letting her comments get to him.

Elena looked at him pointedly. — This kidnapping must end sometime, Damon. I will probably miss another day of school. Not to mention that no one knows where I am. They must be dead worried by now.

— You mean Stefan must be. — He answered, somewhat bitter.

She squinted her eyes, watching him check them out with the receptionist that shamelessly oogle his body. Apparently she had read his smirk as flirtatious, as it seemed to be the case with every female ever.

— Nothing, Elena. Nothing at all. — He winked charmingly to the red-haired girl, straightened his new compelled leather jacket and gestured to the entry open door. — Come on, Cinderella. Let's get you back to the real world.

Spoiler: they didn't go back to the world as soon as possible.

They were going to. Then, Damon heard her stomach rumble at the second they got in the Camaro. He laughed. — For someone with your size, you sure feel a lot of hunger.

She shot him a look. — It's your fault I spend a day away from home, without a proper meal.

— Hey, I did feed you properly! — He defended himself, a teasing smile on his lips. Ten minutes later, he stopped the car in front of a McDonald's road establishment. His hands drummed the steering wheel. — Will you threaten my life again if I suggest you should eat before we continue driving it?

Elena smiled one of those real ones he was starting to like way too much. She had no idea why they came so easy with him either. — No, it's kind of you, actually. But we can eat while we drive.

He nodded, ignoring the glimpse of suspicion on her voice when she had used the word "kind" to describe him. — Alright, put some good music on this thing, I will grab your breakfast.

— You don't know what I like.

— Sure I do. — He said, smiling. — No pickles and no ketchup on fries, right?

Elena blinked, looking genuinely surprised that he remembered. Damon rolled his eyes. — Come on, give me some credit. It's been, what, ten hours since I learned about your taste in fast food? I couldn't have forgotten this fast.

She smiled sincerely again. — Don't eat the waitress.

He just winked before leaving the car.

Elena reached for the cell phone in her pocket, checking the calls she had seen earlier to count how many it had been. Six from Jenna, three from Stefan. She dialed her boyfriend's number and kept staring at the screen for what it felt like ages. However, before she could have pressed the call button, the driver's door opened and the other Salvatore got in.

She quickly blocked the phone, putting back in her pockets. The sight and the smell of some good pickles-free burgues did make her feel a little better. There was a strawberry milkshake in his hands as well. Two, to be precise.

— I thought you only ate to pretend to look normal. — She said, gesturing to his drink.

Damon shrugged. — I don't crave human food as you do, princess, but doesn't mean I can't appreciate it.

She gave him a small smile.

He handed her the fast-food breakfast, doing that eye thing again when she thanked him. Then he groaned when his attention was turned to the radio that was still off. — I gave you one job, Gilbert. One. And you didn't even manage to get it right.

— Sorry. I was distracted.

— Calling my brother?

She sighed, not wanting to discuss her love life with him. — Nope.

He must have noticed her silent pleading for him to drop the subject because he just nodded and started to press the buttons, changing stations. — Please, tell me you're not a Taylor Swift kind of girl.

She made a disgusting face that had everything to do with his guesses and nothing to do with the marvelous hamburger she was eating. — I'm a Hozier kind of girl.

— Hozier? — He frowned, clearly not recognizing the name.

She nodded. — He is great. Very poetic, a bit sad too, but all of his songs are beautifully written.

— Will check in, then. But, for now… — He smiled. And, seeming to be finally satisfied with a song, he took his hand off the radio and leaned in against the seat. — We will stick with the good and old…

— Freddie Mercury and his boys. — She fished for him, listening to the famous initial notes of Bohemian Rhapsody.

— The girl knows her music. — He said approvingly. — Stefan is more of a Bon Jovi's fan. But me? The soul of rock and roll goes even beyond The Beatles. This man here. — Damon tapped the radio. — He signs magically.

— So the 1974 album is your favorite?

He shook his head. — Nah. A Day At The Races beats all the others for me.

— Somebody To Love and Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy? — Elena smiled, going for the french fries now. She bit one delicately, holding it between her teeth like a pencil. — But I still prefer A Night At The Opera

Damon smiled back. And, totally changing the topic, he asked. — Mind if I have a bite?

Shock snapped her eyes wide open and froze her breath. Before she could have stretched the others that were on the red cardboard carton resting on her lap for him to grab it, his blue eyes dominated her field of vision, a whiff of some kind of cologne in her nostrils and two long fingers tilted her chin up. Damon leaned in, and neatly and precisely, bit off the other end of the french frie.

He smiled, only inches apart from her. Then, like nothing had happened, he came back to his seat. Elena knew he was able to sense her beating heart pounding on her chest. Her mind was racing in a need of finding something, anything else, to talk about before he commented on her body reaction.

God was merciful at fall, it was the said vampire that broke the silence.

Not to talk to her, though. He sang-song the lyrics, his eyes on the road until Freddie got to the "thunder and lighting" part. He glanced at Elena, smiling when noticing she was muttering the lyrics as well. They sang together until the end of the music and shared a soft laugh once it changed to another one from the Queen's boys.

Elena almost forgot this man besides her was Damon, the big bad vampire she should hate. He had such a contagious boyish smile that felt so warmth and being with him was so easy. And while he made her feel so much like herself after heavy hours filled with depersonalization due her nightmares, Damon, on the other hand, had completely forgotten who he was, who he had trained himself to be. Suddenly, he wasn't a monster anymore, neither was she his brother's girl for the matter. Suddenly, they were just Damon and Elena, road trip buddies having fun together.

And they both liked it. Much more than they ever should. But not even close to what they needed to.

— So, why did you bring me with you?

Her soft voice woke Damon from his daydreaming thoughts. The McDonald's milkshakes, burgers and fries had already been eaten. They had grown tired of listening to music too. And… Mystic Falls was getting closer than ever.

— Well, you're not the worst company in the world, Elena. — Damon said with the mockery in his voice that she didn't hate that much anymore. — You should give yourself more credit.

She gave him a look, it wasn't because she was warming up to him that she wouldn't want to know the truth. — Seriously?

— I don't know. — He admitted, dancing over the possible reasons it may have crossed his mind in the moment he rescued her. — You were there one the road, all damsel-in-distress like. And, I knew it would piss off Stefan… — He trailed off, tilting his head considering.

And she really tried not to smile, but there it was, that damn mouth-close one making its appearance. Damon took his eyes from the road and looked at her, still with the nonchalant tone on his voice, but she knew him better now, she knew he meant every word he said, with everything that entitled and with all that was left unspoken.

— And… You're not the worst company in the world, Elena. — He finished with a smirk. But it was the honesty in his piercing blue eyes that made her look away for some reason.

Elena straightened herself in the passenger seat. — I used to be more fun.

— You did ok.

Yeap, that was the closest thing to a compliment she would get. Especially now that they were almost inside the town's limits again, back to having so much between the two of them, leading both Damon and Elena to feel the need of burying their connection in a safe box that shouldn't be open.

Not yet, at least.

With a smile back in her face, she looked at him again, narrowing her eyes smugly. — I saved your life.

Damon stared at her amused. And with a wonder that only he could sense it. — I know.

That smile of hers only grew. She was definitely proud of herself for it. Too annoyingly cute he couldn't even bring himself to mention the little fact that he had saved her life too.

— And don't you forget it!

Damon just smiled, turning his eyes back to the road, that same unwelcome cozy warmth feeling buzzing on his chest. She was feeling something similar, too, a growing empathy and kindness that she never thought it would be directed to him. But it was there, too loud for her to ignore it.

Well, at least until she was back on Mystic Falls that is.

Don't worry, I won't rewrite all scenes they had on s1, just the ones I actually want to get inside their heads. And, what I said in the beginning about books' references, this little scene when Damon bit the french frie that it's holding in between her teeth… It's from the second one, The Struggle.

As always, reviews make me very, very happy.

Thank you for reading, have a nice week!