A/N: Okay, so I have quite a few of you lovely readers to mention, and I know I say it so often, but all of you taking the time to read means so much to me!

Thank you to: Valdra Dae, AIG-117, habblez, Katie Loom, Lucy Stark, Yu Yuuki, Akatsuki Cherry Angel, xX allegedangel Xx, squirpsdolphin, Angelic demon chick, SummerRayneLove, alexmo359, FallingGently, MoonlightMiracle. SakurianaHime, Miriam cruz, Jacqueline3005, LilianProngsBlack, haruhishibuya, Lexilooner007, Crazy X Teen, LoveRunsOut, Siriusly Goode, cuttiepiepay, Dementra, evemarie07, HimeGee17, musicismylife0820, TheZombieWolf, and NinjaYume for all the follows/favorites! You're the best :)

As I awoke the next morning, I felt nothing but contentment throughout my entire being. A soft glow from the early morning light flooded in through the large window and warmed my body as I stretched and sat up in bed.

And immediately started to panic.

I wasn't in my room. I didn't recognize my surroundings at first, but my mind slowly came into focus and I recognized the room as Damon's.

Elena and I had left the Salvatore brothers long enough to pack an overnight bag before crashing at the boarding house. I'd fallen asleep during some post-apocalyptic horror movie, and Damon had carried me up from the living room to what I'd assumed to be one of the guest rooms.

I rolled over so that I was facing Damon. He looked so peaceful while slumbering. Younger, somehow. There was no sarcastic smirk, only the slightest bit of drool running down from the corner of his mouth.

As quietly as I could manage, I rose from the bed, picked up my bag, and locked myself inside the bathroom. After a long and relaxing shower, I dressed in my cheer uniform and wrapped my hair in a bun. Once again in the bedroom, I was caught in a quandary: wake Damon up, or leave him sleeping as I left for school.

Sighing, I stepped up to the bed and placed my hands on his chest to shake him. Before I could start, I found myself lying on my back with my hands pinned above my head, my body trapped under Damon's as he grinned down at me.

"Good morning." He nuzzled my neck with his nose, inhaling the aroma of my vanilla scented body wash.

"Let me go." I breathed out, my head spinning a little from being moved so suddenly.

"Why should I? I can think of a few other things I'd much rather do right now."

Holding both of my wrists with one hand, he brought his other hand to my face to brush my bangs from my eyes before resting it on my chest, his thumb rubbing along my collarbone.

"It's almost eight." I pointed out.

"And your point is...?"

"I have to go to school."

"Call in sick. Better yet: just skip." His icy-blue eyes met mine, his hand roaming down my side, making it difficult to concentrate. My eyes closed as his lips began a trail of soft kisses along my jawline. I was struggling to keep my breathing under control.

"I... I have a t-test today."

"Make it up."

"Game. Cheerleading. Caroline..." I trailed off, finding it hard to focus on anything other than Damon. His hand was now on my leg, slowly pushing the skirt of my uniform up as he ran his tongue along my neck and up to my ear.

"You'll make it to the game. Just not to school."

He began sucking and nibbling on my earlobe, and every coherent thought I'd had vanished from my mind. Turning my head to capture his lips, I moaned when his tongue slid across my bottom lip. He took the opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth. As our tongues danced together, Damon placed his hands on either side of the v-neck of my top and tore the fabric straight down the middle.

"I needed that... for tonight..." I gasped out as he pulled back to allow me to breathe. He stared down at my body hungrily.

My hand traveled down Damon's bare chest to the flat plane of his stomach. The muscles beneath his skin clenched under my touch. Ever so slowly, my fingers followed the small path of hair from his belly button, stopping when I reached the top of his briefs. A deep growl emanated from Damon's throat.

He pulled me up so that our bodies were pressed together, fingers dragging up my back. His lips brushed against mine before moving to my neck and down my chest as he grabbed the remains of my shirt and threw them across the room before pushing me back down. Goosebumps rose on my skin as Damon placed open-mouthed kisses down my stomach, his tongue swirling around my belly button before dipping into it.

My heart began beating erratically as Damon picked up my leg to continue kissing my body, starting from the ankle and ending at the back of my knee. He repeated the action with my other leg, and then his body was on mine again, our lips crashing together in a rough kiss. My legs wrapped around his waist while my arms wound themselves around his neck, my fingers threading into his hair.

Using his hands to keep himself propped up, Damon pulled back from the kiss with a smirk. Before I could stop it, a scream escaped my lips.

His face had transformed.

My hands flew to my mouth as Damon raised an eyebrow, sitting up on his knees. I let out a long breath of air.

"I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, Danica."

"You – your face – I wasn't expecting it and –"

"Don't worry about it."

"Oh God... I completely ruined the mood, didn't I?"

Damon flashed me a sly smile. "There's always later, sweetheart."

I giggled and pushed him off of me, retrieving the ruined cheer top.

"There might not be a 'later' once Caroline finds out about this."

"She'll get over it." Damon replied, standing up and stretching out his limbs. "I'm gonna shower."

Once I could hear the water running in the bathroom, I rummaged through my bag for a new outfit. I pulled out a simple matching set of black bra and panties, along with a black skater-silhouette dress with princess seams along the bodice. It ended with a flared circle skirt. After dressing, I settled down on the bed again and grabbed my cell phone, leaving a message with the school secretary. Damon rejoined me as I was texting Jeremy and Matt. I looked up at him, only to snap my head in the other direction.

Damon was naked. Full-on, no towel naked.

"So, um... What, uh... What do you do all day? When you're not bothering teenage girls at Mystic High, I mean." I questioned, trying to keep my eyes from straying back to Damon's body.

"What else is there to do? It's boring without Stefan around to annoy."

"You need a hobby."

"Bothering teenage girls at Mystic High is my hobby." He stated, finally covering himself up. I was about to comment on that when my stomach grumbled. "Sounds like it's breakfast time. Let's go raid the kitchen."

When we stepped into the kitchen, we were met with a mouthwatering sight: plates of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage links, toast, and various fruits covered one of the counters. Elena sat at the kitchen table, while Stefan stood in front of the stove.

"Good morning Elena. Good morning Stefan." I greeted, almost skipping to Elena's side.

Elena cocked an eyebrow. "Someone's in a good mood today."

"It's Tuesday. And I'm playing hooky." I announced, throwing an apple into the air and catching it as it came back down. "And so are you."

"I doubt Jenna would approve."

"Oh, come on! We need a day of doing nothing. Why not today?"

Elena giggled, stealing the apple as I tossed it again.

"Hey! Not cool!" I shouted, joining her in laughter, stopping only to thank Stefan as he set down a plate of food in front of me.

"Don't be rude, Stef. Dish up some food for your big brother, too." Damon ordered from the entryway.

I heard Elena gasp and Stefan groan.

"What?" Damon asked, feigning innocence.

"You're naked!" Elena answered.

"Dani doesn't seem to mind." He countered. The image of seeing him without the towel – still currently hanging low on his hips – made my heart skip a beat. I had to look down as my cheeks began to heat up. "But if it makes you uncomfortable..." He trailed off as he vanished from the room, only to return a few moments later, this time fully clothed. He plopped down in the empty chair next to me.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?" I questioned, slapping his hand away as he started reaching for my toast.

"I've got more of an O-negative craving this morning."

"Did you steal my medical file or something?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm O-negative."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Damon..." Stefan warned, straightening up in his chair.

"Relax, brother, or you'll end up with worry lines." Damon said, rolling his eyes. His smirk dropped, causing him to look more serious than ever as he picked up my plate and held his free hand out to me. "Ms. Williams, would you care to accompany me to the study?"

Accepting his proffered hand, I rose from my chair and followed him out the door, calling out to Elena, "Come find me later!"

The study was gigantic. Not as large as the parlor, but pretty damn close. And it was by far my favorite room in the entire house. Shelves upon shelves – all filled top to bottom with books – were built into the four walls.

Dark wooden rails separated the heart of the room into its own section, furnished with a dark leather couch and matching ottoman, with two matching chairs on either side. Resting against the railing behind the couch was a table littered with bottles of alcohol.

I was speechless. This was a room that I could spend hours in and not get bored. It took everything in me not to walk up to the closest wall and run my fingers over the bindings of the books.

I heard Damon chuckle at my surprise, and snapped my jaw shut. He stepped down through an opening in the railing, set my plate of food down on a table next to a bottle of Bourbon, and poured himself a small glass.

"You do realize it's barely ten, right?"

"Mm. Your point?" He asked, offering the glass to me and causing me to laugh.

"Is that your subtle way of trying to impair my judgment?" I half-joked. "Make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside so you can have your way with me?"

"Who, me?" His face took on a mock expression of surprise and innocence, which slowly dissolved into a smirk. "I don't need the whiskey for that." He winked.

"I had a momentary lapse in judgment this morning. Won't happen again."

"You talk in your sleep. Did you know that?"

I didn't respond. I didn't know how to. Instead, I grabbed his glass of whiskey and drained it on my way to the couch.

"Aren't you even a little curious as to what you were saying last night?" He asked. Something in his voice told me I didn't want to know what I'd been saying.

"Not exactly. What I am curious about, though, is how many books are in this room?" I said, attempting – and failing miserably – to change the subject.

"At first your words didn't make any sense." Damon said, placing the Bourbon back on the table and slowly making his way around the couch. "But after a while, you kept repeating one little word – my name."

My heart began to beat like a hammer.

"Why is that, I wonder?" Damon cocked his head to the side. "Is it possible what that news guy said was right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Hm. I think you know." He countered, taking a step closer.

'Don't look him in the eyes. You'll never be able to lie to him if you do.' I thought, but it was too late. Brown eyes met blue, and I was unable to stop from blurting out, "Fine! I like you! Are you happy now?"

Damon's eyebrow flew up in false surprise. "Is that so?"

I rolled my eyes at the smirk he flashed me. "Let's not make it a big deal." I responded, settling back into the couch with my feet on the ottoman.

Damon's hands gripped my ankles and he yanked, bringing my legs around to wrap around his waist.

"Are you even the least bit concerned that someone could walk in on us?"

"Nope." Damon responded, popping the 'p', before his lips were on mine.

Much like this morning, when the kiss ended, Damon's face had changed. Only this time, when I felt the scream bubble in my throat, I forced it back down.

"You're scared." He stated, starting to pull away, but I grabbed his arms to stop him.

"Terrified, but just give me a moment."

"Dani, your whole body is tensed up right now."

"I know. Just... just don't move." I warned him, placing my hands on either side of Damon's face. Ever so gently, I moved my thumbs to trace the veins around his eyes. Without allowing my thoughts to stop me, I sat up just enough that my lips could brush against his.

"Okay, that's enough for today." Damon said, pulling away. He walked back over to the table and scooped up both my breakfast and his whiskey before rejoining me. "I have something to show you. But first, you eat."