Hii. I'm so sorry it took me so long. I got caught up with college and didn't have the time to write. Hopefully this will change in two weeks once my break starts.

Anyway, we are now in episode 1x12 Unpleasantville. The first scene is taken in the beginning of it, before their little chat over Stefan's phone (which I won't visit); and the second and last one is when they are already at the 50' dance.

I hope you like it!

DAMON POV

He was frustrated.

Bored.

And in desperate need of a drink.

The Grill wasn't his favorite place in the world, but would have to do. Besides, it wasn't like he could kidnap Elena again for another road trip. And, just because the universe liked to laugh at him on a daily basis, there she was, his damsel in distress, drinking soda and eating french fries with ketchup. He had heard Bonnie making the request, and she was Elena, always trying to be the nicest version of herself.

She didn't notice his presence, though. And the only reason he hadn't made himself notice was that he had business to solve with that annoying little witch. Not that this went according to his plans, most things never did. But as soon as he left the Grill, pissed to the bone with the Cosmos who seemed to be his hater number one, he spotted her in the parking lot.

— Ugh. — Elena groaned, tapping furiously on the screen of her cell phone. Apparently she was waiting for someone to take her shopping and the brainless person had ditched her. Unlucky whoever, lucky him.

Elena let out a breath, muttered some curse, placed her phone back in her pockets. And… Performed a good hollywoodian surprise slash scared face when he popped up out of nowhere in front of her.

Her hands went to her heart and she sighed in relief at the sight of his piercing blue eyes. — Damon.

He could hear her breathing slowing as she inhaled and exhaled repeatedly. Once she had recovered herself from the shock, she actually punched his arm, that smile wanting so badly to take it over her whole face, but she was always hesitant about letting it.

— You asshole. — She complained, fixing the bag she was carrying in her shoulders.

Damon smirked. — Hello to you, too. And, actually, I was going to offer you a ride whenever you were going to shop in this ridiculous small town.

— Oh, were you?

— Hm-hm. You know, I'm trying not to be an asshole and keep up with my part of the deal.

None of them mentioned the fact he had eavesdropped on her and Bonnie talking about her afternoon plans. And Elena's smile grew just a bit more this time. — I really should say no.

He liked the use of the word "should", instead of "want". Still, he was mad about this change. They were back in Mystic Falls for less than three days now and she was already backing off? Seriously?

— It wouldn't be a bitch move of you to decline my kind offer? — He tried, deciding that the alternative of insulting his brother for filling her head with shit about him wasn't exactly the best approach.

And this was definitely the right thing to say because the smile almost reached her whole face now. — Like I was saying, I should say no.

— But you won't?

She shrugged. — Well, it's not like I can count on Caroline anyways. She totally blew me off.

— It's a good thing you have your vampire road trip buddy to replace her. — He gestured to the blue Camaro parked next to them and she followed. She always did and it's hard to say which one of them was more surprised by it.

Feeling immensely comfortable in that car where she had spent a good amount of hours traveling, Elena reached for the "start the music" button and a full smile lit her whole face at the second Hozier started signing.

— You did check my recommendation! — She said excitedly, turning up the volume of "Cherry Wine" with that huge grin plastered safely and sparkling.

Damon shrugged, always trying to look nonchalantly. And he would have succeeded if this was anyone else but the girl that had been sent from heaven to get past all of his defenses.

— I was curious to see what crap you kids nowadays were listening to. — He argued, answering her unspoken question before she needed to verbalize it. — It is not bad, I will give you that.

She rolled her eyes. — Is that why your radio is on pause and you're listening to his album on the DVD?

Damon chuckled. — Don't let it get into your head.

— I wouldn't dream of.

The ride was short. Yeah, it came with the downsides of only driving to the town square of Mystic Falls instead of going outside of the state of Atlanta. He had driven as slowly as he could, but soon she was in the requested spot.

Damon wanted to invite himself to follow her in the shopping, but she had already called Blondie and the girl who was going to meet her there in five. Hanging out with Elena while her girlfriends were around seemed… odd. Partly because he used Caroline as his blood blank and tried to kill Bonnie, yes. But also because he feared that neither he or Elena would have been comfortable enough to act with each other the way they did when there was no one close by.

Elena gave him a small smile. — Thanks for the ride, Damon. I promise to keep as a secret this sweet persona of yours.

How the hell did she know he had been worried about this?

I mean, not about her spilling out how nice he had been on the road, but about how he was absolutely terrified to be too nice with her in public.

— Whatever happens in Atlanta, stays in Atlanta, right? — He said, getting himself another soft low laugh from her. Funny because he had never heard that sound. Not directed to him, nor to anyone else.

Elena shook her head. — See you around, bad boy.

He smiled at the nickname. It was one that it always felt like an insult, but certainly not coming from her. — See ya, princess. — He said back. And the blush on her cheeks must have been an indication that she liked hers too.

Hozier started to sing "Someone New", softly, and he was sent back to this dark night, months ago, when a charming vampire had flirted with a beautiful human girl on a desert road.

Don't take this the wrong way

You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you

Only blue or black days

Electing strange perfections in any stranger I choose

Would things be easier if there was a right way?

Honey there is no right way

He would be lying if he said it wasn't her similarities with Katherine that first attracted him. Of course it was, he was in love with her twin since as long as he could remember, that one bit of humanity that would never go away, not even when his switch was off.

However, what kept him there that night was something else entirely. And it had nothing to do with her looks. There had been a kindness in her eyes that instantly made him hosted. If the doppelganger of the woman he loved had been any other girl, it was very likely she would end up turning in his midnight snack, in an angry outburst of pain unfairly directed towards her. But it didn't happen because it was her, Elena.

And Elena was different.

It amazed him that one of the things he found most attractive about her lay in the list of how she was absolutely the opposite of Katherine. For instance, Elena didn't have a problem in admitting she still didn't know what she wanted in life. Contrary to popular belief, this was not something that made her look naive and innocent to his eyes; it did the exact opposite. It takes a whole lot of confidence to let your guards down. Elena was sincere; and she wore her vulnerability so naturally it was damn sexy, to say the least! And this was not a trait Damon used to find attractive in anyone, but it was on her.

While their meeting on the road was a memory only one of them had, there was something about it that not even Damon knew. It was on that particular night he had felt a new emotion, one he hadn't felt in a very long time: empathy, the essence of the human kind.

The process of turning back his humanity was a slow-build one to him, but she somehow managed to wake up a part of him that had been kept locked away for centuries. Hell, even that easy laugh he gave in response to her comment about him being the mysterious stranger who had all the answers was the first real laugh that came out of his lips in ages, whether he had noticed or not.

If he was human, that would have been the moment he would've decided she was the girl he would marry someday. Instead, they laughed, talked, flirted and he compelled her to get everything she was looking for. In a way, he had kind of compelled her to fall in love, too. If only he knew it the target would end up being his brother.

Speaking of them…

Stefan and Elena looked like the perfect stereotyped highschool couple who were going to be crowned King and Queen at prom. Damon watched them with boredom; an emotion that turned to amusement once he actually started to pay attention to what they were talking about.

— If you want to go check around school to see if he's around somewhere, just go. — Elena argued. He didn't need to be listening to everything to know she was referring to the vampire that made them come to his decade dance in the first place.

Stefan seemed to hesitate. Elena noticed too, she sighs, caressing his covered arms above the fabric of the jacket. — Damon is here. He will look after me.

That clearly pissed his brother as much as it had pleased him.

If Stefan knew his girlfriend spent a night in his hotel bed, talking with him until dawn, he would have died of jealousy. What had stopped Damon from saying it earlier when Stefan had frowned his brows, all concerned about their trip, was that everything he had shared with Elena in Atlanta was theirs, and only theirs. No one else needed to know about it.

After his baby bro had finally agreed to go on searching, he decided to go say "hi". Flashing his 250 kilowatt smile, Damon walked in Elena's direction.

She smiled much more relaxed than she did when her boyfriend was around the two of them. She then eyed him with a funny look. — You were a grease in the 50s, weren't you?

— Of course. Do you think I should have gone for the gray flannel suit like my boring brother?

And she had actually laughed in response. — Thank you for coming tonight. You didn't need to go on a vampire hunt, especially in a teenager ball, but I appreciate that you're here.

— Vampire hunting it's fun, there isn't much to do in this town. Besides, I do enjoy these things. — Looking around he spotted a blondie that seemed to be ogling him. He winked at her, but the flirty words that came out of his mouth next were said directly to Elena. — A lot of beautiful girls to charm.

She shook her head. — You're impossible.

Then Stefan made his appearance to again spoil his fun. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of his girlfriend laughing with him. Damon smirked. — If you get tired of my brother's poor dancing skills, come and find me so I will show you how they did in the 50s.

That eventually led Stefan to pull off some moves with Elena. She didn't notice it had been because of his provocative offer, but Damon knew better. And although it had taken his opportunity of showing off and having some fun with her, it was fine. He would have his chance to dance with that girl someday. Balls and parties were part of this town's traditions, one of these days, Elena would be comfortable enough to accept his dancing requests.

He just needed to wait a little bit, as everything else with Elena was. And, well, he did have forever, didn't he?

I promise I will try to finish the next chapter this weekend, before my finals. As always, I would really like to know what you guys are thinking, so make a writer happy, leave a review ;)

Thank you for reading. Have a nice weekend!