The entire drive from the Grill to the Boarding House, Elena told herself she deserved this chance at happiness. For months, she had been nothing but a girl who lost her parents. She was received her fair share of stares, pitiful glances and endless sympathies. Jeremy was stoned longer than he was sober, her Aunt Jenna tried, but the woman was barely holding it together herself. Even her friends didn't look at her the same.

She understood where it came from but she wanted nothing more than for it to all stop. The constant reminders that she was now an orphan. She was struggling to put it all behind her and everyone around her kept hinting at it or tiptoeing around her. She wasn't the same girl she used to be, she couldn't be. She now had to take care of herself and her family.

Stefan was the first time since the accident that she felt herself. She felt seen for who she was and not what she lost. She forgot that she was a sad girl, no she was just a girl happy with a guy that likes her. She didn't want to lose that. She owed it to herself to give it a try.

She had seen the house from afar but never been to the Boarding House. It was massive, to say the least. She parked her car and rang the old-fashioned bell at the front door. She peeked in through the open door when no one answered.

"Stefan?" She called out as she cautiously made her way in. The place was even more impressive from the inside, she noted idly as she looked around. Finding his bag nearby, she walked in further calling for the guy.

She turned towards the door when she felt like she was being watched, she turned back to come face to face with a person and she gasped.

"Hello, Elena."

"Damon!" she breathed out, half frightened, half relieved.

"I'm sorry for barging in, the door was open," she pointed towards the entrance only to find it closed.

"That's okay, you are welcome here any time. Come in," he escorted her in. "Stefan should be back any minute," he told her.

"Wow, this is your living room?" She asked him gaping at the museum like décor of the gigantic room.

"Living room, parlour, Sotheby's auction.." he trailed off-handedly "it's a little kitschy for my taste."

"I see why my brother is so smitten," he said turning towards her, "It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

"The last one?" Elena asked him unsure if she wanted to even know.

"Katherine, his ex-girlfriend..? Oh, you guys haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet. Well, it'll come along any minute now. I guess he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those end."

Elena felt her determination sink as doubt crept in. She refused to let it openly bother her though. "You sound as if every relationship is doomed."

"I wouldn't say every, but most relationships end, we all know it. We dive in thinking this one's it, only to realize how wrong we were."

"What about Cassie then?"

"That's the kind of thing you chase all your life but you may never see it in your lifetime." He was surprised at how honest he sounded even to himself.

"And Katherine?"

"She is definitely one you'd chase for several lifetimes." He told her without a doubt. "But you're young, you'll find people worth the pursuit more often than not."

"Which one is Stefan?" She asked him.

"That is for you to find out, Elena." He peered into her eyes just as he heard Stefan. "Hello, Stefan," he greeted without turning away from the girl.

"The guy is on the rebound and has raging family issues, Aunt Jenna."

"Well, at least it's an ex. Wait until you date a guy with mommy issues, drug issues or amphetamine issues," Jenna told her as a way of consolation.

"You weren't there, Stefan didn't turn away from Damon to even look at me."

"You must have caught them in the middle of something heated, I wouldn't sweat it Elena."

As glad as she was to have Jenna there for her, she had a feeling her aunt didn't get her. Stefan cared more about his family issues than he did about her coming to visit him. Nothing should have been so important that he'd be so rude to her at the moment.

She was risking opening up the first time after her parents died. She was afraid that if she'd let herself be happy for one second, the world would come crashing down. She was afraid, she didn't want to take any chances, but he made her feel like she should. It crushed her to think she was alone in it.

The first few days at Mystic Falls seemed like a welcome break from the busy life of New York. Not that Cassie didn't love her life, but she knew herself well enough to admit that her work was going nowhere with her city lifestyle.

She was never one for frivolous parties and social hangouts, never in London. New York changed that and the credit went to her roommate, Quinn.

Yes, she had a roommate. She knew she could afford to stay alone in a condo, but after years of sharing space, she didn't mind it. It kept her alert and that kept her safe and hidden, which was her primary purpose. She didn't anticipate is how well she got along with Quinn and the rest of the gang.

That didn't leave her enough time to do what she couldn't escape. Her research on yet another prophecy, one more ancient and obscure. One that she desperately hoped wasn't about her, but deep down knew it was. Her lifestyle was just her putting off the inevitable by being in denial.

Her time here changed that. She poured over her tombs all day when Damon didn't drag her out to eat or for his own errands. She felt more connected to nature than she had in the years after Hogwarts. She couldn't explain it, but she had a feeling that this was just the beginning.

She brushed it away, trying to explain that her deal with Damon made her feel more proactive about her life. That the opportunity to get away from and pull one on the wizarding world had her excited. Or that it was freeing to not hold her magic in all the time like she had to with her muggle friends.

Whatever reasons she was giving herself were thrown out of the window when she found herself in the middle of the woods. It felt like a wake-up call. She was convinced it was connected to the prophecy, it had to be.

Since then, she had been wary and on guard.

So when Damon approached her that evening to go see the comet at the town square, she was visibly hesitant.

"I don't think I want to go, Damon," she told him hesitant but frank.

"I don't think you have much of a choice there, witch. A deal is a deal. And this is a part of that deal," He told her callously.

"Is it absolutely necessary? I couldn't care less about keeping up with the appearances you want to build or enable your incessant need to bother your brother," she told him back annoyed.

He sped to her grabbing her arm, he ignored the piece of wood jabbing into his neck, "You have no idea why I do what I do, I suggest you play along when I ask of you."

He stepped back hands raised as having said his piece. Angry witch wasn't a helpful witch.

Certain that the vampire didn't intend to attack her, she pulled her wand down slowly. Taking a deep breath, she finally addressed the elephant in the room, happy to be distracted from her worries. "So why don't you tell me what you want or at least how you plan to achieve it. I, for one, I'm tired of being on the need to know."

"Alright, what do you want to know?"

An hour later, the pair strolled around the town's square looking the part of an ideal couple. This time, the smiles lighter and amused than their usual conspiratory ones, the banter lighter.

Cassie was under no illusion that she was told the complete truth, but what she heard made Damon seem trustworthy enough for her part of the deal. A lot of what he told her didn't sit well with her, it was clear that Damon was blindly loving and trusting someone, who from the sound of it, didn't deserve it. She had a feeling he was about to find out that he was wrong to do so. She didn't comment on it, however, it was just a matter of time before he found out himself.

She hoped she was wrong, but she didn't think she was.

"I'll be right back, why don't you go find a spot for us?" He told her after a while.

"Sure, visible or away from the eyes?" She asked him.

"Away." He told her decidedly as he walked away.

She had a feeling he was up to something but if she were honest with herself, she didn't think she really cared that much.

Twenty minutes later, Damon casually jumped down a three-storeyed building and strolled towards the source of the scent he was becoming increasingly familiar with. Mission accomplished.

Saint Stefan was on a bunny diet, but his restrain was threadbare and will relapse soon. He got a bite of a delicious druggie that left him quite buzzed. Vicki, he recollected his name. It would do well to have some go-to blood bags until he had to keep a low profile.

Elena's POV finally here.

Reviews please!