Happy Thanksgiving! I figured since I am so thankful for my readers that I would reward you with the Season finale! I never thought I would get this far, and it is you guys who have kept it going! Your nice comments have made it all the pleasure to keep writing! Thank you so much!

The cover on the story was made by a lovely fan named myperfectnightmare00! Thanks again doll!

Season 1 Episode 22 Founder's Day

Damon found his way to the high school where the floats and all the founder's day décor were being set up. Everything looked like a big old movie. Kids dressed up in period clothes, it was all very seral to Damon. It reminded him of when he had lived here in Mystic Falls all that time ago. He found Stefan, his old timey wardrobe made him stick out like a sore thumb. It was vaguely familiar, the way he was dressed. He made his way over to his little brother.

"Look at you all retro." Damon said with a smirk. Stefan turned around, unamused by his brother's comment.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked. He was getting tired of Damon's antics, Damon could tell. He furrowed his brows.

"Why wouldn't I be here?" Damon asked. "Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, Isobel is gone and it's Founder's Day! I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl."

In truth, Elena was not the Gilbert on his mind that morning.

"Don't start with me Damon." Stefan warned. "By the way, don't you have your own girl problems you should fix?"

Damon set his jaw. He wouldn't lie, he had been ignoring her after Isobel's little speech. How could he face her after that? Alex already had feelings for him, Isobel's little stunt would only make things worse. He didn't want Alex to fall for him. It was safer if she didn't. For both of them.

"Have you even talked to her?" Stefan asked, sounding accusatory as always.

"No. And I don't plan to." Damon replied. Stefan sighed. "Don't you do that."

"What?" Stefan asked innocently. Damon scoffed.

"That little judgey sigh you do every time I don't do something the Stefan way." Damon said. Stefan then rolled his eyes.

"You need to talk to Alex." Stefan said. Damon narrowed his eyes.

"I thought you didn't want me around her." Damon commented. Stefan then patted Damon on the back.

"That was before I found out you were in love with her." Stefan said with a smirk. Damon glared at him. Stefan then walked past him.

"I liked you better when you were broody and silent." Damon grumbled to himself.

"You're going to the parade?" My mom asked me when I emerged from my room. I was wearing a clean pair of jeans and a nice blue top that I was pretty sure was Elena's. I shrugged.

"Well, I want to see my float in action." I said lamely. "Besides, Elena and Caroline are in it. I didn't actually get to see the pageant."

I shivered a bit when I thought exactly why that was. Truthfully I didn't want to go to the parade. A lot of families made it a tradition to go to it but I had only been a few times. It was always the same thing. The high school band played, the football players were on a float, there was always a Miss Mystic float. It was always the same, but I had other reasons for going.

"Well, you have fun." She said. And reached up to stroke my hair.

"You aren't coming?" I asked her, distracted because I was looking at my phone. I had called him several times. It always went straight to voicemail. I hadn't left one yet. I didn't want to sound too desperate. The 20 something unanswered calls was desperate enough.

"I've got a long shift today." She answered me. "But I'll see you later."

"Ok." I replied, still looking at my phone. I heard her sigh.

"He hasn't called back huh?" Mom asked. I looked up at her with wide eyes. How had she caught me?

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I replied, but she saw right through my rouse. Mom then wrestled my phone out of my hand. She started clicking on it, while keeping me away.

"Lets see." She said. "Last dialed calls. Damon. Damon. Damon. Damon. Oh and look at that….. Damon."

I grabbed the phone from her and slammed it shut. She smirked down at me and I grumbled something intangible.

"It's not funny." I told mom. She continued to chuckle and then bent down. She kissed my forehead tenderly.

"It's good to have you back baby." She said. "He will call."

"I'm not so sure about that." I replied. She gave me an encouraging smile before she ruffled up my hair and headed toward the door. I watched her walk out the door. I was glad to be back, a week without my best friend was torture. However, I couldn't enjoy my return home because my mind was on Damon.

Because he loves her.

I couldn't stop thinking about what Isobel had said. She could have just been lying, or maybe she thought he loved me but he didn't. He cared about me, and we kissed, but I didn't think he was in love with me. I wasn't even sure what love was, let alone if I felt it. But I was too afraid to talk to him anyway. I was sure I would see him today at the parade, which was my whole purpose in going. What if he didn't talk to me? What if this whole thing pushed him over the edge?

I played with my bracelet, rolling the oval around in my fingers. What did Isobel know? She barely knew Damon or me. Maybe she was just trying to get into our heads. But Damon had acted so weird after she said it. It was like she was speaking the truth, and now he wasn't speaking to me. She had left so I couldn't ask her, but I wished that I could. Maybe then she could explain her reasoning's.

But why did it matter? Damon said it himself we wouldn't work out. I was a human, he was a vampire. Even if those feelings would ever amount to anything, I would have to make a huge decision about how I wanted to live the rest of my life. Did I want to be a vampire? I wasn't sure. But then I thought of Stefan and Elena. They had been together for over a month, and although they had their ups and downs, they were still going on strong. Maybe it was doable.

I shook my head and started making my way to the square. Me and Damon weren't Stefan and Elena. Our relationship wasn't cute and fluffy, it was constant arguing and annoyance between each other. It was playful banter and sexual tension, it wasn't the gushy stuff. However, there was something there and I was tired of pretending it wasn't.

When I arrived at the center of the town, people were already gathering up in the square, putting out chairs and blankets to sit on. Children were running in the blocked off street, waving flags and blowing bubbles.

It looked like so much fun. But I wasn't having any. I kept looking around for him, and I shouldn't have been. If Damon wanted to talk he would find me. But I couldn't stop myself from trying to find him. It was a curse that I would long have to endure.

"Hey." I heard a voice behind me. I turned and there stood Bonnie. I smiled at her brightly. It felt like ages since I had really seen her.

"Hey you." I said and pulled her into a hug. She returned it. "Listen, thank you for what you did."

"Oh it was nothing." She said, but there was something about her expression that I didn't understand. I didn't pry however.

"Without you… the device would still be active and Stefan and Damon could have died." I said. "You're a great friend."

"Yeah…" She trailed off. I was about to ask her what was wrong when Carol Lockwood started calling out names of floats. The marching band came through, playing our schools fight song, followed by Mr. Saltzman's battle of Willow Creek display. I waved to Jeremy and he gave me a big smile. Then came the Miss Mystic Falls float.

Caroline caught me first, waving wildly at me and Bonnie. I waved back to her and then to Elena. She grinned at me but like Bonnie, there was something in her expression I couldn't quite place. Why was she acting so weird?

It was then that I saw him. He stepped out in front of me and Bonnie, waving to Stefan and Elena. Elena made a face, and I found my heart pounding. His back was to me, and even though we hadn't made eye contact, I felt like my heart was going to burst from my chest. I had wanted to see him. I had been dying to see him, but now that he was here, all I wanted to do was run away. As if like magic, he turned then, catching my gaze but then quickly he turned back around. I swallowed.

"I'm going to go." Bonnie said and then squeezed my arm. "Good luck."

I nodded to her, watching her disappear into the crowd before I turned back to him. He still stood there, as straight as a pole. I took a deep breath before I made my way through the crowd toward him. I couldn't hide anymore, I wouldn't let myself. But Damon had other plans. He must have heard me coming, because he started walking away.

"Damon!" I called out for him. I quickened my pace, reaching for him. But as soon as I did he was gone. I looked all around for him but he was nowhere in sight. I huffed to myself.

He was definitely avoiding me.

"Are you going to tell her?" Stefan asked Elena. She shook her head.

"How can I?" Elena replied. "How do I tell her that her absentee father is mine too?"

"She needs to know." Stefan said. "Alex deserves to know."

Elena nodded. Stefan was right. If John was Elena's father then Alex should know. That would make them… sisters. Half-sisters, but still sisters. But Elena couldn't be sure that John was her biological father, not until she asked. But she didn't want to ask. She didn't know if she wanted to know for sure.

It made sense. John was dating Lauren, but he was dating Isobel too. He had sex with both women and they both get pregnant within months of each other. Elena was just lucky enough that Isobel didn't want to keep her and Elena had two perfectly good parents. She didn't have the looming cloud of John over her head, unlike Alex. How could she tell her? How would she react? Elena wasn't so sure.

"I need to tell her." Elena said with a nod. Alex had to know, and Elena wanted her to hear it from someone Alex was close to rather than someone else.

"I'll go with you." Stefan offered. Elena shook her head.

"No…" She replied. "I need to do this alone."

Damon was walking around the square. The sun was going down and he had been avoiding Alex all day. It wasn't anything she did, he just didn't want to talk to her. He didn't want to explain himself to her, because he didn't understand it himself. He didn't know what he was feeling or how to explain it to her.

He liked her, he had admitted that to her some time ago. They were close, and he cared about her. They were good friends. But did he love her? He was still getting over Katherine. That heartbreak was still evident in his chest. But he couldn't explain the extreme worry he got every time Alex was in danger or had been taken. It had happened way too many times, and Damon couldn't stop himself from feeling guilty.

Just like with Frederick, Isobel took Alex because she knew that he would do whatever he could to get her back. But was that love? Or undying loyalty to a friend? He was too confused at this point to explain to her what he was feeling.

Suddenly, as Damon was walking he found Anna. He had thought she had left, what with Pearl being staked and Anna finding her dead. She looked worried, nervous even.

"You're still around?" He asked. Anna looked to each of her sides before she moved Damon over out of sight.

"There's something you need to know." Anna said. "The vampires from the tomb are planning an attack tonight."

"How do you know this?" He asked with furrowed brows.

"I went to them. They think I'm with them but I'm not." Anna explained. "They want the Founding Families dead."

Damon's mind immediately went to Alex. Why did his mind immediately go to Alex? Why not Elena, or Jeremy, or even Caroline. They were from the founding families too. Because you're in love with her. Damon shook his head, the voice of Isobel still playing in his mind.

"When is it supposed to happen?" Damon asked, trying to keep his mind off of her and on the situation at hand.

"When the fireworks start." Anna explained. There was a long pause. After all this mess it only made sense why John wanted this vampire killing machine so bad.

"John Gilbert wants to use that invention on them." Damon concluded with a nod.

"Then we can't be here." Anna said, eyes wide. Damon shook his head.

"It doesn't work, it's been deactivated." Damon said. Anna took a deep breath, but she was still on high alert. But that wasn't good. If the device didn't work, then the vampires would succeed.

"Well, then a lot of people are gonna die." Anna said.

"Where are they right now?" Damon asked. Anna looked at him gravely.

"They are already here Damon."

I walked around the circle for what seemed like forever until I found myself at the Grill. It was dark now and I was really tired. I hadn't found him, and it wasn't likely that I would at all. He didn't want to talk to me, and the thought felt like a knife to my heart. Everything we had done, everything we had been through… it wasn't enough.

Damon didn't love me. How could he? He was in love with Katherine. He spend over 100 years trying to find her. How could I, the average little human, compete with that kind of love? I couldn't, and that was why I would always just be Damon's friend. I couldn't be more.

I went inside the building feeling my head starting to pound. I wanted a drink. I needed to forget. I needed to numb the pain that was coursing through my body. It wasn't fair, none of this was fair.

Why did I have to fall for him? Why did I let myself? I had let him in blindly take my heart and now he wanted out. I couldn't believe I had been so stupid as to think he could ever feel the same way about me.

"Alex."

I turned and there stood John. I scoffed to myself. John was the last person I wanted to see then.

"I'm not in the mood." I spat at him. He took a seat next to me at the bar.

"I need you to go home." He told me. I looked over at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Why?" I asked. He sighed anxiously.

"Just do it." He said. "Please."

I stared at him for a while, but I made no move to leave. I turned away from him and he must have taken that as a sign that I wasn't leaving peacefully. He grabbed my arm, tugging me from my seat and toward the front door. I tried to get out of his grip, but he was holding on strong.

"Let me go." I ordered to him. But he didn't listen. He drug me all the way out the door and onto the dark street. A few buildings down he opened Grayson's old office building. He threw me inside and locked the door behind him.

"What are you doing?" I asked him. He then brought out some zip ties. My eyes widened and I scrambled to get away, but he caught me. He then wrapped the zip tie around my hands and pulled it tight. I tried to move them, but I couldn't break it loose.

"What the hell John?" I asked him as he forced me into a seat. Had the man gone crazy?

"I'm doing this for your own good." He said to me. "I'm trying to protect you."

"By tying me up?" I asked him. "Are you crazy?"

He ignored me and pulled something out of his pocket. He then set it on the desk. It was a wooden box of some sort. He opened it up but from my seat I couldn't see what was inside. He then pulled out something I recognized.

"Wait a second…" I said. "That's the Gilbert device."

"Both pieces together now." John said. I narrowed my eyes. He grabbed the piece out that Bonnie had pulled the spell from.

"What does it do?" I asked him.

"It emits a high frequency sound." He replied. "Too high for a human to hear."

I nodded. Once it went off all the vampires would drop from the sound, but the humans would stay standing. But Bonnie had deactivated it. Elena was sure of it. The noise wouldn't work.

"How do you know that there are vampires even here?" I asked.

"The tomb vampires your boyfriend let out are planning an attack tonight." He explained. "And of course there are the Salvatore's."

I felt my stomach drop.

"You wouldn't dare." I said. He looked over at me and smirked.

"Wouldn't I?"

Damon found Elena and Stefan walking through the square. He grabbed hold of Elena's hand, half because he wanted to get their attention, but the other half was just to annoy Stefan.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked him looking suspiciously down at Damon's hand encasing hers.

"Saving your life. Fifteen words or less… Tomb vamps are here, Founding Families are their target." Damon said. "Get her out of here, now!"

"Wait, where's Alex?" Elena asked. "We have to find Alex and Jeremy."

"I'll find her." Damon said going off in the other direction. He searched for her, all over the square. He was beginning to think she may have went home. Why was it when he was avoiding her he could find her but when he needed her he couldn't find her?

I had tried my best to get out of my restraints. All I did was cut into my wrists, making them raw and bloody. I watched John closely as he set up the device. Different deputies came in, ignoring me when they entered. One did look at me and then back at John. He waved him off and I became very irritated that no one was trying to help me.

"I'm telling you the thing won't work." I tried to explain to him. "It's a good plan if the device actually worked."

"You keep telling me it won't work." John said. "But why won't it work."

I gulped. I couldn't tell him how I knew. I couldn't tell him about Bonnie and her being a witch. They might go after her next. But all I knew was that when he put the pieces together a lot of people were going to die.

"That's what I thought." John said. I glared at the back of his head.

"So, when are you going to use this device?" I asked him.

"When the fireworks go off." John explained.

"What?" I asked him. The fireworks were going to go off any minute. As soon as the Mayors speech was over the fireworks would go off and the tomb vampires would attack.

"Very dramatic don't you think?" John mused.

"The device won't work!" I shouted at him but he wasn't hearing it. I desperately tried to free myself. The speech was ending and the guys were setting up the fire works. I stood up and lunged myself at John. He turned just then and we landed on the floor. He rolled me off of him with ease. The fireworks began then and I felt the dread wash over me. I tried to get back up but just then the front door to the office opened.

"Damon!" I yelled. His eyes flickered to me and he pulled me up. With a quick snap he broke the zip ties around my wrists.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Damon asked John. John looked over to Damon. I was positioned behind Damon protectively, something John didn't seem to like.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do." John said. He then turned the device and the gears started to move. I was about to gloat about how I knew that the device wouldn't work, but just then Damon clutched his head, groaning in pain.

"Damon?" I asked. He fell to his knees all the while making very painful noises. "Damon!"

I crouched down in front of him. I had never seen him in so much pain. And then it hit me. The device was working. Bonnie didn't remove the spell.

"Stop it!" I yelled at John. "Make it stop!"

"I can't do that." John replied. Damon was now lying on the floor, rolling around like he was possessed. I felt the tears prick my eyes.

"John please!" I begged him. John didn't seem amused. He then pulled out a syringe filled with a clear liquid. Vervain. My eyes widened and I shielded Damon.

"Get out of the way." John ordered. "Now."

"No." I replied shaking my head. "I won't let you do this to him."

John and I had a stare down, glaring at one another with such intensity that I wondered if the two of us would drop dead. Just then a deputy came inside the building. John nodded to him and the deputy took hold of me. I thrashed in his hold, but he held on tight.

"Please take my daughter to a safe location." John ordered. "Things are about to get a little messy."

"John no!" I yelled at him as the deputy started dragging me away. I had to stop him. I fought with the deputy, getting loose only once. I ran over to John, pushing him up against the wall. Our eyes locked. He shoved me away again.

"I need you to leave Alex." John said. I shook my head. "I'm doing this for you!"

"I don't want you to!" I yelled at him. "Damon is my friend!"

"You need better friends then." John replied. He still had the syringe of vervain in hand. Damon was still convulsing on the floor.

"Please, dad. Don't do this." I begged of him, tears streaming from my eyes. John's head snapped up. Gone was the anger and it was replaced by shock. I was shocked myself. But if calling him dad was what bought us some time then so be it. We shared a look and for a brief second I believed he was going to do as I said and stop. But he shook his head.

"I have to do this." John said and then stabbed the syringe into Damon's arm. I let out a loud cry as the deputy pulled me out of the office. The door closed and I used everything in my power to get back inside. However two other deputies came up and helped to hold me still. I was wasting my energy.

Once I had stopped moving they let me go. I waited a minute as they watched me, waiting for me to snap. And snap I did. However, when I took off I didn't go to the front door. I ran the opposite direction. I needed to find Stefan. He would know what to do.

I could see now in the crowd, tomb vampires hunched over and police were injecting them with vervain. I ran around like an idiot, but I needed to find Stefan, Elena, Alaric anyone that would help me. I was running out of time.

I did eventually find them, Elena and Alaric had Stefan hidden down a flight of stairs. The device was still working, evident by the way Stefan was holding his head. I made my way down the stairs, getting the human's attention.

"It's me." I explained. "It's Alex."

"Oh thank God!" Elena said. "What's going on?"

"The device works." I explained. "Bonnie didn't lift the spell."

"But she had to." Elena said. "We watched her do it."

"Obviously she lied." I spat. Bonnie was my friend, but right now all I could think about was that she was going to allow Damon and Stefan to die. I understood her letting Damon die, they didn't like one another. But Stefan? It didn't make sense.

Just then Stefan stopped convulsing and let go of his head. He looked up at Elena who hugged him tightly. It was like nothing was wrong now. The device must have stopped.

"Where's Damon?" Stefan asked, voice full of concern.

"They got him." I replied. "They're in Grayson's office."

Elena and Stefan shared a look. I didn't wait for them, I started running up the stairs. They followed soon after me.

Damon's eyes opened to find himself lying down on the ground. There were other vampires lying around him, Anna included. He was weak, and he couldn't move. They must have injected him with vervain.

John and the deputies were pouring gasoline all over the weak vampires. It was clear then what John planned to do. They were going to set the place on fire. Damon rolled over groggily. He should have told her. He had her right there and he didn't say anything.

He should have kissed her. He should have held her close and told her how he felt about her. Now she would never know and he was going to die with this secret. Maybe it was better that way. He would no longer be there to put her in danger. He would no longer be there to hurt her anymore. And that's all he wanted.

Because you are in love with her.

"You can head up." John said. "I'll take it from here."

Damon looked over and saw that John had a stake pointed at Anna's heart. Damon wanted to say something, save the young vampire. But he couldn't move or say anything. John smirked down evily and then stabbed the wooden stake through Anna's heart. She turned a gray color and Damon knew she was dead.

John walked up the stairs, pouring gasoline all across the stairs. Once he was at the top, he lit a match and tossed it down onto the liquid. Damon heard the door click and then he saw the flames of the fire.

He was going to die.

"Come on!" I urged them forward. There wasn't much time left.

"I can hear them." Stefan said. "The buildings on fire."

My eyes widened and we all three ran up. The place was surrounded by police, and at the front was John.

"Where is Damon?" Elena asked. John turned around to us.

"With the rest of them, where he should be." John said. "It's over for Damon."

"You piece of shit!" I yelled at him, pushing him with all my strength. He fell over and as I was about to attack I was grabbed by Stefan.

"This is the right thing." John said to me, pushing himself up. John and I had a staring match again, but this time my anger was filled with sorrow. Damon was going to die. And I never got to tell him how I felt.

"I hate you." I whispered through the tears. John swallowed hard, trying his best to not look like my words affected him. "I hate you!"

"Is there another entrance?" Stefan asked. He was still holding me back so I didn't murder John.

"Utility door, there's one around the side." Elena said. Stefan let me go but before he left he turned me around. With the pads of his thumbs he wiped my tears away.

"I'm going to get him out." Stefan said. "I promise."

I nodded and he released me. Elena and I were about to follow when John caught Elena's arm.

"Either of you take one more step and I'll alert those deputies that they missed a vampire." John threatened.

"I'm asking you not to." Elena pleaded. She was much less aggressive then I was, therefore she would probably get further with John that I could.

"That doesn't mean anything to me." John said. There was a long pause and the two Gilberts glared at one another. What happened next I was not prepared for.

"As my father, it should." Elena said. I felt my stomach lurch and I thought I was going to throw up. I opened my mouth but no sound came out. I looked between the two, but neither looked at me.

"You know." John whispered.

"I wasn't sure, now I am." Elena said. John stared at her and she grabbed my arm. He let us go, not saying anything. I looked back over my shoulder at him and then back to Elena. She said nothing.

"He's…." I trailed off.

"Yes." She replied.

"And you're…"

"Yes."

"Damn."

This was too much for me to handle at the moment. But I couldn't dwell on it then. Stefan was already inside and outside the door was Bonnie. Any idea of John being Elena's father left when I saw her. I marched right up to her.

"How could you?" I barked at her.

"I'm sorry for lying." Bonnie said.

"You should be." I replied. "We're your friends Bonnie. What the hell-"

She grabbed hold of mine and Elena's arms. She started chanting something. Elena and I looked to one another and then back to Bonnie.

"Bonnie, what are you doing?" I asked trying to pull my arm back, but she held strong. She continued her little chant. I assumed it was a spell, but was it a good or bad one, I didn't know. I looked back to the door. What if Stefan was inside burning with Damon? We would never know because Bonnie was casting some sort of spell and wouldn't let us go.

But suddenly the chanting stopped and Bonnie opened her eyes. We stared at her expectantly but she just pulled us away from the building. She said nothing.

"Bonnie… Bonnie, what is it?" Elena asked. "Are they gonna be okay?"

Just then the door opened and out popped Stefan, with a weary Damon over his shoulder. Elena and I both ran to them, checking things out. Neither looked burnt or scared. They looked like they hadn't even been touched.

I looked over to Bonnie who made a face. She didn't do that for Stefan or for Damon. She did it for me and Elena. That much was evident on her face.

"Thank you." I whispered to her. She nodded.

I finally got home after a long walk. It was good to clear my head and just think. It was all over. All this vampire stuff was over. Damon was safe. Stefan was safe. Elena was safe. I was safe. I didn't have to look over my shoulder anymore.

But there were new things that I had to deal with. John was Elena's father. That made us sisters. That was a stronger bond compared to cousins. We hadn't talked about it, but I knew we would have to. I couldn't believe I now had a sister…

Then there was John himself. I couldn't control what I had said when I called him dad. It wasn't a slip up or a ploy to get him to stop what he was doing. I had honestly called him dad. What did that mean? What was I thinking? But he broke any kind of relationship possible because he still tried to kill Damon.

Then there was my Damon debacle. I hadn't slipped up when I said I loved him either. It was a reaction I had when I thought that he was going to die. Did I love him? I couldn't be sure, I had never been in love before. I had strong romantic feelings for him, but was it love? Maybe it could be.

I pushed open my front door and headed inside. Mom wasn't home yet and that meant that I had to house to myself. That also meant that I was left alone to my self destructive thoughts. I should have told him, I should have said something. But… I couldn't ruin this. I couldn't ruin everything we had. It was different when I thought he was going to die. But he was alive now. I couldn't tell him. I wouldn't tell him.

I walked down the hall and stepped inside of my bedroom. I flipped on the lights and there he stood. I didn't jump, although I was surprised. He was standing by the window holding a small little figurine I had on my bed side table. I said nothing to him as I put down my stuff and took off my jacket. He watched me from afar, but he said nothing either.

"Long day huh?" I joked in a shaky voice. He didn't respond, he didn't even chuckle. "You look better."

"Human blood will do that to you." He said, putting down the figurine. I swallowed. The silence was deafening and I shifted my weight from one foot to another.

"Did you need something?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest. He didn't respond, he just continued to look around my room.

"You know, I came to this town wanting to destroy it. Tonight, I found myself wanting to protect it." Damon said. "How does that happen?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe you have some of your brother's heroicness in you." I said. He scoffed.

"I'm not a hero, Alex." He said. "I don't do good. It's not in me."

"Maybe it is." I replied. He looked up at me and made a face.

"You have this never ending amount of trust in me." He said. "Why?"

I opened my mouth but shut it. I did trust him. I had this part of me that knew in theory, it was a bad idea. However, there was another part that put all my trust into him. I knew he wouldn't hurt me. I trusted that he wouldn't.

"Because I don't believe you are bad." I replied simply.

"You are extremely misguided." He scoffed.

"You have saved this town more than once." I commented. "You have saved me more than once."

"Not a big deal." He shrugged, looking down. I took a few steps forward.

"You have saved Stefan." I said. "And you say you hate him."

"I do." Damon said looking me in the eye. I shook my head.

"I don't believe that." I said. Damon opened his mouth but then shut it. He then set his jaw angrily.

"I didn't come here to hear you talk about how good I am." He said and walked to the other side of the room. He picked up my sketch pad and started flipping through it. He fell on a sketch of him and I started to blush. It wasn't finished and it didn't do him justice. His fingers trailed over the lines.

"What did you come here for?" I asked him. He didn't answer right away, he continued to stare at the sketch. He then shut it suddenly and threw it back on my desk.

"I almost died today." He said. "I was lying there on the floor, waiting to die."

I swallowed.

"And all I could think about was one thing." He said. He was looking down, as if he was ashamed to admit it.

"What was that?" I asked him. He looked back up to me and caught my gaze. I could see the intensity in his eyes and I tried to match it in my own. Those blue orbs had captivated me the moment I saw them.

"You." He admitted.

My lips parted and I looked at him surprised. It was funny because when I thought he was dying, all I could think about was him too. But the idea that he was thinking about me made my heart soar.

"All I could think about was how I would never see you again." Damon continued. "How, I would never see that smile… or hear your laugh."

He was inching closer with every word.

"I would never see you blush again." He said and I inadvertently blushed. "Or how messy your hair is in the morning."

"It is not that bad." I mocked him. He chuckled.

"I thought about how I would never hear you lecture me on the importance of human life." He said, he was now mere inches away. "I would never be able to kiss you again."

I could feel his warm breath cascading around my face. It would take barely any movement for our lips to be touching. His fingers were gently touching my face. I didn't dare move, I just stood there like a pole and stared up into his eyes.

"All I could think about was how I would never be able to tell you how much you mean to me." Damon said. I felt my heart begin to pick up speed.

Damon was professing his feelings to me, and I couldn't say a word. I just stood there, mystified by his words. He did care, he cared more than I could ever imagine. He hadn't said the words, but I knew that he did in deed hold love for me. As I did for him.

"I can't stay away from you anymore." Damon said. "I tried… but I can't do it."

"Then don't." I breathed. He searched my face, his blue eyes going every which way. They then settled on my green ones and he smiled.

"You make me weak Alexandra Gilbert." He said, his fingers locking into my hair. Our noses were then touching, brushing ever so slightly. I waited for what seemed like forever before our lips touched.

At first, it was just a soft and sweet kiss. I had missed the feeling, of his lips on mine. It felt so right, so natural. Nothing before this mattered to me in that moment. Damon wanted me, and I wanted him. I had been waiting for this for a long time now.

He pulled back first, his one hand fisting in my shirt. My own hands were placed upon his chest. I could feel his heart beating inside his rib cage. It was a soothing sound that made me close my eyes. Damon's other hand was stroking my hair, but it then moved to my lips. He traced the line of my bottom lip with his thumb and then he smiled at me.

"You're mine, pretty girl." He said. I found my own self smiling and I leaned up and kissed him again, but I pulled back quickly.

"I like the sound of that."