"Seriously? What are we doing here, Damon?!" Emily demanded upon entering the clearing near the river. Damon smirked, correctly assuming her guess.

"Don't worry. We're not here to make out again," he said, turning to her. She crossed her arms and eyed him irritably, shooing away the memories of that…strange day.

"Now, you turned, because you needed to be stronger," her expression hardness as his words grasp her undivided attention. "Well, we did that, and you have no idea what you're capable of now. We're here to see," he gestures his arms widely, as though introducing. "So," without warning,

he takes her by the throat, and shoves her into the tree nearest.

She eyes him in shock, her back aching sharply all over. "What the hell?!" she hissed, grasping firmly his arm in a 'pull away' motion.

"Go on. Throw me off," he wiggled his brows tauntingly.

Understanding his point, Emily kicked him in the knee, causing him to lose balance. She grabbed his arm and put it in wrist-lock. Damon smirked and used his strength to push her back onto the ground. He avoided heavy attacks, such as elbowing her in the face, and instead quickly straddled her. He brought a fist to her face that he wasn't intending to make contact, but regardless, she grasped it an inch from her face. She breathed out in shock, uncertain how she even saw it coming so fast. "Nice. Your reflexes are heightened," he says. She moves his fist away from her face to meet his.

"Right. Well. My next move would be slamming my hand into your throat," she states. He blank faces, then smirks. He gets up and gives her a hand. She takes it and rises, only to have him bring up another fist to her jaw.

That too, she grabbed.

Damon brought up his other, and she managed to duck. They went back and forth like this for several minutes, most shots evaded, some hits landing.

What Emily felt, was indescribable.

She was faster, stronger. She was physically able to overcome Damon. She was so aware of her body, it's weight, it's movements, it's weaknesses, it's strength. To a point, she found her senses practically aware of his too.

Adrenaline dashed through her veins in anticipation, and at the fact that

she was able.

She was finally…equal to his kind.

…Her kind...

XXX

Breathless, and lying down on the grass with the night's sky above them, Emily laughed out, and sat up. "Oh my god. It's…It's amazing! It was…Wow," she uttered. Damon sat up next to her, grinning.

"I gotta give it to you, Gilbert. You can kick some serious butt," he said. She smiled at him, then got to her feet. Her whole back was covered in dust, grass strands, and some stray tree-leaves. Damon assumed his was the same, but didn't care, and was certain she didn't either. He got up after her.

She approached the river, and stopped.

"I can feel everything. I can feel the wind, the air. I can hear the river, the trees, what creatures moving around. I can smell the grass, water…It's…" she shook her head, at a loss for words. Damon smiled at her content state, then faced the horizon.

He reminisced about his junior vampire years, how everything felt…overwhelming…Good memories of the time were very seldom with him…He was alone. He had to learn on his own. He'd lost the strong bond between him and Stefan, and he'd lost Katherine…He didn't have time then to admire what it was like to be one with nature.

Their hands accidently brushing against one another snaps him out of it. He faces her, and finds her looking down at them, despite having pulled away. He understood her heightened senses made even the smallest of skin-contact relevant.

He doesn't know why, but he reached and took her hand in his. She faced him in shock as he stood before her, and brought it up, caressing her knuckles with his thumb.

The thought of her made him revise his list of things to teach her, and was slammed with one bitter reminder.

Despite being almost fully consumed with his motions against her sensitive skin, she noted his frown, and worriedly asked: "What's wrong?"

As if snapped out of it, he looked to her, and smiled in dismiss. "Nothing," he released her hand and plucked a tree leaf from her hair and flicked it away, then placed his hand on her shoulder, guiding her to move. "Let's go get some drinks. Celebrate."

XXX

"Damon. Come on," Emily urged, brushing her shoulder against his. "Tell me what's wrong," she softly plead as they stood atop the Mystic Grill roof with beer bottles in hand. He faced her again, discovering he'd apparently looked displeased.

What was wrong?

He looked away again.

He hadn't taught her how to feed yet, and couldn't stop picturing her…freaking out, voicing her regret, and worst: crying. He kept thinking of a way to avoid this, but she was a fresh vampire, who was unable to join the human society without getting the urge to drink each and every one of them dry of blood. He had to teach her to resist that urge, and the only way to do that, was the practical way.

There was no point keeping it from her; it would only make her upset if he kept quiet, and that was exactly what he was trying to avoid.

He tried not to make it a big deal. "So, tomorrow, we're going to take you out…for a bite," he said, smirking at her as though humorously.

After acknowledging what he meant by 'bite,' Emily's face went blank.

"Oh," she uttered, facing her bottle and visually growing tense.

"Yeah. 'Oh'," Damon stated in sarcasm after gaining the reaction he'd expected. "Now, it won't be easy," he stated, leaning against the railing with his back. "That's something you should keep in mind before expecting…that it will be," he says weirdly, uncertain how to explain. "What I mean is," he scoots closer to her, resting his elbow on the stone roof fencing. She faces him as she shoved aside her grim thoughts. "You will lose control, but that's okay, because it's the first time. And I'll be there, to make sure, you don't, uhhh," he chuckles, then re-thinks his 'rip out anyone's throat,' joke, instead saying: "you know," awkwardly.

Doubtful, and barely reassured by what he'd said, Emily's gaze declined as she nodded and quietly said: "Yeah. Okay."

Damon pursed his lips tensely. He shouldn't have said anything.

But it was the truth regardless, something he was hoping to avoid mentioning till when they were faced with the situation. The look on her face at least assured him that postponing it till the next day was the smarter choice.

He finishes off his bottle, with his mind at work, and faces her again. "Look, just remember that…You got what you wanted. You can fight back now. You can protect your family, just like you wanted. Anything else is an obstacle we can easily deal with," he tells confidently.

She took in his statement, soon nodding as well. "You're right," she said, smiling lightly.

He was right.

She got what she wanted, and their sparring was still a vivid memory to return to.

Her strength.

Was the price to pay for it,

worth it?

Or was it too expensive?

XXX

Soon after, they arrived home; what she was apparently inclined to call it for the unseen future. As she was a closed person, the idea of getting used to a new environment, especially with the notion that it was 'temporary,' evidently made her greatly uncomfortable, and homesick soon after.

It wasn't that the place was lacking any necessities. Far from it; it provided more than her original house did, except the fact that it wasn't 'home.' It wasn't hers.

The problem made itself most known, at night.

Yes, the night before she had no trouble sleeping. She'd died and come back to life through a particularly exhausting process.

Now, however. Let's just say sleep wasn't as immediate as she hoped it was. Come to think of it, it wasn't even an hour away.

No. It had been nearly two hours of lying on the bed, turning and kicking till the idea that it just wouldn't happen started setting in.

Her heightened emotions put her in a sudden state of panic, and the events of all previous, greatly stressful days were threating to flood her.

Her mind threw out a random solution, after suggesting many ineffective, sleep-inducing thoughts, amongst which was the next day,

and what Damon had said.

It was the mention of Damon that the new and random solution revolved around.

…It didn't sound wise.

But the more she thought of forcing sleep, the more those memories rushed in, relishing in the quiet, the loneliness, the darkness of the night, as well as her already uncomfortable mood.

As she mulled it over - the solution - with great reluctance, and a sane part of her attempting to express how child-like and ridiculous she was being,

she was already at his door.

Her fist came up to knock,

but she pulled it back,

and just stood there,

trying to convince herself to leave, as well as to knock!

The door swung open. She froze.

Damon stood opposite her with an expectant brow raised. She was quiet for a moment, before realizing she had to speak. She smiled nervously. "I'm sorry. I'll just go," she said, turning away.

"Wait," Damon called, just then deducing why she'd come to his room two am at night.

It was either one thing…or the other…

He stepped back in and gestured at her to follow. He gave her his back as he resided to his bed. "Let me guess. Can't sleep," he says.

"Not exactly," she sighed, following after him in uncertainty, but some assurance.

"No, you've gotta be clear," Damon grinned as he rounded the bed to its further side and faced her. "Cause it's either you can't sleep, or you want sex," he states.

She gawked at him.

"Wh-No! Damon! What the hell is wrong with you?!" she asked, blood rushing to her cheeks. Damon chuckled in amusement. "Oh, forget it," she flapped her hand at him and turned to leave, not needing to be lured into a trap she'd probably willingly fall into.

"No, wait! I was," he laughed again, one knee on the bed as he got back on it. "Come on," he patted the spot next to him, eyeing her intently. She stared at him irritably for a moment, before exhaling tiredly and re-approaching him.

Recalling something, Damon quickly straightened. He approached his windows and firmly shut each curtain. "Don't wanna wake up to a deep fried Gilbert," he smirked. She winced at the very real possibility in both disgust and concern.

The room grew fairly dark except for small light left on in his wide open bathroom. She got under the blanket and lied down on her back. He walked back towards the bed, and mimicked her posture.

Wordlessly, they both attempted to sleep again.

About twenty minutes passed when Emily, on her side facing the door, realized it didn't feel any easier with someone near to keep her distracted, like how she was with her sister.

But Damon wasn't her sister. A) he was a seriously attractive guy. B) she practically forced herself into his bed, and couldn't stop thinking about whether or not she was making him uncomfortable. C) the two new issues were practically waving at her anxiety to come over.

Then…she felt a hand slither around her waist, and a warm body embrace her from the back.

At first, her heart madly raced, but then this strange, reassuring warmth seeped into her chest, and calmed it. Her mind was engulfed with an even stranger sense of…safety…She inhaled deeply, her heartrate decreasing, something Damon, who was still awake and had moved intentionally, listened to contently. He could hear and feel her struggle the whole time, till he decided to do something about it.

And don't ask him why.

Of all questions, just don't ask him why.

He won't answer you, cause he doesn't know.

XXXXX