The shadows of my bedroom were chased away by rays of sunshine trickling in through the window, interrupting my peaceful slumber. Basking in their warmth, I rolled to my back and stretched my arms and legs, letting out a groan in the process.

Hearing a chuckle, my eyes snapped open and found Damon sitting next to me, reading a very old journal.

"Good morning." He smirked, flipping to the next page.

"You're still here." I commented.

"How's the head?"

"My head? Oh, right – concussion. Well, I'm not in pain."

"Your system is getting used to vampire blood."

"I honestly cannot decide if that's good or bad." I kicked the blankets off of my body and stood. "Come on, I'll make coffee."

After brewing a full pot and pouring the dark liquid into two mugs, I handed one to Damon and mixed some creamer in my own. Leaning against the counter, I watched as he continued to examine his father's journal.

"Haven't you read that thing a million times by now?"

"I just want to make sure I didn't miss anything." The book closed with a thud as Damon placed it on the kitchen island. "It seems my father wrote about everything except the one thing I need to know."

"Hm. Maybe you'll find something in the Gilbert journal once you track it down."

"You mean once we track it down." Damon smirked. "Until we deal with this whole Adam situation, we're stuck with each other. So in the meantime, you get to help." He drained his mug and rinsed it out. "Speaking of... You might want to make that coffee to-go."

Sighing, I set my own mug down. "I guess I should go get dressed then."

The main floor of the boarding house was vacant, so I followed Damon up the staircase. Ignoring my protests, he didn't bother to knock on Stefan's bedroom door before letting himself in. The younger Salvatore was asleep. Damon perched himself on the foot of the bed, which is how I realized that Elena had spent the night.

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!"

Startled, Elena and Stefan both sat up, scrambling to make sure they were fully covered.

"What are you doing?!" Stefan questioned, while Elena exclaimed, "Damon! Please!"

Amused, Damon rolled his eyes. "Oh, stop being smutty."

"Seriously, get out of here!" His brother demanded.

"If I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it."

"Damon!" I hissed from the doorway. "That's so uncalled for."

"Now, listen – we have some very important business to discuss."

Elena raised an eyebrow at him. "And it has to be right now?"

I mouthed an apology as she glared in my direction while I entered the room.

"Well, we have lots to do. Now that we're all friends and working toward a common goal." Damon explained, not sounding at all convinced about the last part. He got to his feet and faced them. "So, in order to open the tomb, we need to find the journal to get the grimoire to undo the spells. First things first – since you," he continued as he gestured towards Elena, "are Elena Gilbert, you're on journal duty."

"Since when am I helping?" The brunette questioned.

"Well, Stefan's helping, and you've taken up residence in Stefan's bed. Ergo..."

Stefan shook his head. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

"I'll look for it today." Elena sighed, pulling the sheets over her face.

"Good." Damon nodded.

"How do we know that this journal will hold the location of the grimoire?" Stefan threw at Damon. "We're really going to take the word of this vampire? He seemed like a bit of a dimwit."

"In lieu of any other options..."

Elena sat back up as I asked, "Okay, what exactly is a grimoire anyway?"

"It's a witch's cookbook." Damon explained over his shoulder.

Stefan added on, "Every spell that a witch casts is unique unto itself, so every witch would document their work."

"Like recipes."

Damon nodded. "Yeah. Cookbook."

"What about our mystery vampire?" Stefan interjected.

"Um, what?" I questioned.

"Dimwit obviously wasn't working alone, so whoever's out there knows who we are."

"So, there's another vampire we don't know about keeping tabs on us?" I groaned.

"And I don't like that disadvantage, so..." Damon clapped his hands together. "Chop, chop!" He started backing up, stopping just a foot in front of me. "You know, I really like this whole foursome sex party thing. It's got a bit of a kink to it." He chuckled, facing me and tossing an arm around my shoulders as we left the room. Almost singing, he warned, "Don't screw it up!"

Once we were in Damon's room, I let myself fall onto his gigantic bed while he rummaged through his closet. "So, what exactly is my role in this?"

"Elena duty."

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning, I want you to stick to her like glue. Make sure the two of them aren't hiding anything from me."

"You think they're lying to us?"

"Stefan doesn't do the whole 'team up' thing with me. All he's ever done is stab me in the back. So… help Elena find the journal and then call me."

I rolled to my feet. "Guess that's my cue then."

"I'd say you have a good fifteen minutes or so."

"But you just said..." My nose crinkled as I realized what Stefan and Elena were doing. "Oh, that's so gross!"

"Try being the one with the super hearing."

Two hours later, Stefan was carrying a box down from the attic of the Gilbert's home. He set it next to the three others in front of us. Elena had already started to comb through one of them.

"That's the last one." Stefan said, sitting at the breakfast bar.

Elena looked at him as she started packing stuff back into the first box.

"Do you think Damon really believes us? That we're trying to help him?"

"Why wouldn't he believe us? We are trying to help him. Right, Elena?"

Stefan interrupted whatever response she was about to give. "I don't think Damon knows what to believe. Trust isn't something that comes naturally to him."

"He trusts me." I pointed out.

"You know," Elena began as she leafed through a family album. "I really think that Damon believes that everything he's done, every move that he's made, he's done for love. It's twisted, but kind of sad."

"I wouldn't say every move was done for Katherine." I flinched as I realized how jealous I sounded.

"Danica's right. There are other ways to get what you want. You don't have to kill people, or toy with their emotions. Damon has no regard for human life. He enjoys inflicting pain on others." I started to defend Damon, but Stefan cut me off. "For 145 years, every single time that I have let my guard down and let Damon back into my life, he's done something to make me regret that. I'm not going to make that mistake again."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I am not blindly trusting my brother."

"So, what do you think will happen if the tomb gets opened and Damon gets Katherine back?" Elena asked.

"He's already told me. His plan doesn't involve sticking around Mystic Falls."

Shocked, Stefan leaned forward. "I think that no matter what Damon promises, a lot of people will die."

"That's only going to happen if we betray him." I shook my head, not missing Elena's guilty expression. "Which we won't, right guys?"

"Of course not." Elena said, not moving her eyes from a picture she pulled out of the photo book. "He can trust us. Promise."

Changing the subject, Stefan pointed to the picture. "That's Jonathan Gilbert."

"What's this?" Elena asked, holding open a wooden box that was under the photographs.

"Damon told about those. It's a muzzle."

"A muzzle for what?"

Our conversation was cut off as Jeremy walked in to grab a soda from the fridge. "What are you guys doing?"

"Hey, Jer. Just um… going through some stuff, feeling sentimental. Dad had this old family journal from years ago. I thought I'd dig it up."

"Jonathan Gilbert's journal?" He asked, using his hands to push himself up to sit on the kitchen counter.

"Yeah, what do you know about it?"

"Dani and I just did a history report on it to bring my grade up."

"That was your source of material?" I exclaimed. "I thought you and your girlfriend were using books at the library for that."

"She's not my girlfriend. And, well, we did. The majority came from the journal though."

Fed up, Elena set the box with the muzzle down. "So where is it now?"

"I gave it to Mr. Saltzman. He wanted to see it." Elena and Stefan exchanged looks that went unnoticed by Jeremy. "What's up with the journal anyway? Why is everyone wanting to read it?"

"Who's everyone? Jeremy, who else wants the journal?"

"First Mr. Saltzman, and now you... I don't get it."

"I just remembered that I have to go help my brother with something." Stefan said, kissing Elena's cheek.

Elena mumbled something about plans to meet up with Bonnie and Caroline and left shortly after. I elected to stay behind and help Jeremy pack up the boxes. As we were going back down the stairs, the doorbell rang.

"Damon?!" I nearly shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm making dinner." He said, holding up grocery bags and inviting himself in.

"Oh, thank God!" Jenna laughed, appearing behind me. "I was about to order pizza."

"Not again." Jeremy groaned. He turned to face me, holding up a gaming controller. "Want to play?"

"Actually," Damon interjected. "I need Ms. Williams to assist me. If you don't mind?" He asked me.

Jeremy shrugged and left for the living room. I followed Damon to the kitchen and sat at the island, taking note of the ingredients he laid out.

"So, what are you making?"

"We are making something my mother always made when I'd take leave from the army."

"A family recipe?"

"A very old family recipe."

"Do I get to know what it is?" I asked, trying to think of any recipes I knew of that included everything he was laying out.

"Nope." He smirked.

I glared at his back.

"Don't mind me." Jenna interrupted. "Just getting something to drink quick."

"Actually," Damon emptied a small paper bag. "Would either one of you lovely ladies care for a glass of wine?"

"I'll take one, but I doubt Ryan would approve of me letting Danica drink."

Damon locked eyes with her, smiling. "One little glass wouldn't hurt, right? Ryan doesn't have to know. It'll be our little secret."

"Damon!" I hissed.

"No, he's right, Dani. Just don't tell Ryan. And keep it at one." Jenna winked as she left us alone again.

"Do you know how to do anything without compelling everyone?"

"I think I do pretty well. You're in here with me instead of out there with Baby Gilbert."

Biting my lip, I debated on whether to ask Damon about what was on all of our minds from last night. Sighing, I took a sip of my wine.

"Spit it out, Dani."

"How many others do you think there are? Whoever is helping that vampire?"

"Mmm. No idea. New topic."

"Okay, how about you finally tell me what Bree wanted to?"

"Try again."

"Any updates on Adam?"

Damon raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. Let's talk about your exes. Do you remember any from when you were human?"

"Plenty." Damon chuckled, starting to slice tomatoes. "But my father never approved of anyone I dated, which only made me want them more."

"Of course." I paused, sipping my wine. "Were any of them serious?"

"Nothing was ever serious. Not until Katherine."

To keep from scoffing at hearing her name, I drained my wine glass. Damon didn't miss a beat with a refill. "Our little secret." He repeated, making me roll my eyes. "Hello Elena."

I turned to see the brunette joining us. "Hey. Where have you been?"

"What's going on here?"

"We're cooking dinner."

"Is Stefan with you?" Damon interrupted.

"Um – he'll be here soon. He's still trying to track down the Gilbert journal."

"Great! You can help us while we wait." I patted the stool next to me and offered her my wine.

Shaking her head, Elena looked between Damon and me with disgust. "I'll be in the living room."

"Elena, wait!" I caught her hand, but she pulled away from me.

Damon stepped in front of her. "You're not going anywhere."

"Why are you even here? We told you we would call if we found something to lead us to the grimoire."

"First of all – ouch. Second, can we hold off on the hostility for just one night? Let's just have a nice dinner all together."

Elena looked at me. I shrugged in response. Sighing, she nodded at Damon. "I'll set the table."

Grabbing a stack of plates, I followed Elena to the dining room.

"I just don't get it. How can you continue on with whatever this is?" She questioned me. "You know he's using you. He'll just throw you aside as soon as Katherine's out of that tomb."

I had no response, no words to explain. Instead, I focused on making sure the plates were perfectly straight.

"You're right." I whispered eventually, looking at her. "I have no idea what I'm doing, Elena. I know that I mean nothing to him. I know that once he's got Katherine back, he's gone. I know this thing we keep pretending doesn't exist has to end, I just didn't expect…" I trailed off, knowing Damon was listening in.

"That it would hurt so much?"

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. Clearing my throat, I told her, "We need more forks."

After making a beeline for the silverware drawer, I collided with Damon's chest. He immediately grabbed my waist to steady me.

"Oops! Sorry." He smirked.

"Don't do that." I breathed out shakily, forcing myself to not think about the warmth of his hands.

"Do what?"

"You know what. That move was deliberate."

"Well, yeah. I was deliberately trying to get to the sink."

"Mmhmm, and you just happened to accidentally walk right passed it?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

He stared at me, fighting back some type of emotion, but then walked back over to his pot of boiling sauce, tossing some spices in and stirring it around.

"I'm not wrong, you know." I pointed out, not looking in his direction. "We have to eventually stop doing whatever it is we're doing. Maybe now is the right time."

Elena walked in to grab some glasses, sparing me from anything Damon may have said.

Clearing his throat, Damon faced Elena. "Speaking of Stefan, where is he? He's missing family night, which I am enjoying immensely." She didn't answer him. His smile disappeared. "Is it real?"

Elena sighed. "Is what real?"

"This renewed sense of brotherhood." He continued, tasting a spoonful of the sauce before looking back at her. "Can I trust him?"

Not at all convincingly, Elena grabbed some napkins and nodded. "Yes, you can trust him."

She left the room, and Damon and I shared a look. Frowning, I let my eyes trail towards the entryway.

When Elena came back, Damon walked towards her, stopping just inches away, and asked again, "Can I trust him?"

Defensively, Elena stated, "I'm wearing vervain, Damon. It's not gonna work."

"I'm not compelling you." Damon told her, confused. "I just want you to answer me. Honestly."

Making eye contact, Elena grew serious. "Of course you can."

"You know," he started, moving back to the stove. "I used to never have this sort of doubt with Stefan. There was a time when I trusted him more than anyone."

"Trust breeds trust." Elena explained, dumping parmesan cheese into a bowl and eating a pinch of it. "You have to give it to get it."

"Are you lecturing me?"

"Do you need to be lectured?" She asked, gathering up the bowl and some salt and pepper shakers. "I can think of a few lessons you should learn." Her eyes darted my way.

"I just want her back. I'm sure you can understand that."

Sighing, Elena nodded. "I can understand that you would do anything for her, yes."

"Then you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way."

"Was that a threat?" I interjected. "I thought this was supposed to be a lighthearted dinner?"

"You're absolutely right, Dani." Damon threw his arm around my shoulders, back to smiling. "Let's take the food to the table and get to it!"

After everyone finished eating, I helped Elena and Jenna clear the table, and we sat down watching Damon and Jeremy play a video game. Elena had brought a box of stuff down from her room and was sifting through it.

"So, Dani," Jenna started, and I immediately knew this was not going to be a conversation that I enjoyed being a part of. "Damon. Is he the reason you and Jeremy aren't dating?"

"Woah, what now?" Elena exclaimed.

"No! Jeremy and I are just friends, Elena. I swear!"

"And now I see why." Jenna laughed. "When did you and Damon meet?"

"Before I moved to Virginia. And for the record, Damon and I? Also just friends!"

"Seriously? I can sense the wicked chemistry. Plus, he is ridiculously hot!"

"Shh! Jenna! Not okay!" Elena reprimanded. Smiling, she leaned forward and glanced towards Damon, stating, "He's an ass."

"What are you doing with all this stuff?"

"I thought there might be something about my birth parents."

"Have you told Jeremy?"

"I will. When the time is right." Elena shook her head, packing the box back up. The doorbell rang a few seconds later. "That's Stefan."

"Dude!" Jeremy called out, as Damon hopped off the couch in the middle of their game.

"I'll take over." I offered, picking up the controller, though I was curious to know what the three of them were discussing.

"We haven't done this in a while. You and me, hanging out. I was starting to think you forgot about me."

"Never! I just sort of got caught up in something. But we should again. Hang out. I miss you." I laughed, remembering the simpler times of not having to worry about vampires and keeping things hidden from my friends.

A few minutes later, Damon came striding back in with Stefan and Elena in tow. He sat down on the arm of the sofa next to Jeremy. "So… I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?"

Half paying attention because of the game, Jeremy let out a soft, "Huh?"

"Don't ask questions, just spill."

I paused the game, and Jeremy laughed as he asked, "You're kidding me, right?"

"Jer, did you tell anyone other than Mr. Saltzman about Jonathan Gilbert's journal?" Elena jumped in.

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?"

"Who else did you tell?"

"Just that girl, Anna."

"The hot weird one?" Damon questioned.

"Yeah."

Confused, Stefan asked, "Wait, who is Anna?"

"That's what I want to find out." Damon huffed in annoyance. "How do you know her?"

"I just know her. She wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight."

"Perfect. I'll drive. Come on. You too, Danica. Let's go."

"Uh, what's happening right now?" Jeremy asking, extremely puzzled.

"I've learned to just roll with it." I told him, shrugging and reaching for my purse.

"O-Okay." Jeremy muttered, setting down his controller and grabbing our jackets.

Stefan elected to stay behind with Elena, who had walked away after receiving a phone call.

"Oh, look. The quarterback's here." Damon pointed towards a pool table across the building where Matt and Tyler were hanging out. "Why don't you go catch up with him, Dani? I'm sure he'd be delighted to keep you company."

"While you sit at the bar and eavesdrop on Jeremy and his girlfriend? Not weird at all." I whispered, earning a glare from him. Loud enough for Jeremy to hear, I said, "Sounds like fun. Jer, you want to join us?"

"I'll walk over with you. Anna's there too."

I hesitated and glanced back at Damon. He shook his head. "Just go. I'll come find you when I've got what I need."

"Whatever." I shrugged, making eye contact with Matt and waving.

"Hey, DW. What's up? You wanna shoot some pool?"

"Sure. I'll play winner."

Matt laughed. "Which we all know won't be Tyler."

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever. Are you still dating Caroline?"

"You know, we're actually good. Like, really good. It's still weird though."

"Well, yeah, man. It's Caroline Forbes." Tyler snickered. "Williams, where the hell ya been? Gotta say, the team sure does miss having you cheer for us."

"Can't say that I've missed you, Lockwood."

"Aw, come on! You know you secretly like me."

Shaking my head, I caught a glimpse of Bonnie. "Hey, do either of you know who Bonnie's date is?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah, that's Ben. He was a major player for the team before he graduated. He's the Grill's bartender. Helped me get a job here, actually."

"Why, you jealous? All you gotta do is say the word, Dani." Tyler chuckled as I gagged.

"She's not available." Damon said, placing a hand on my back. "Sorry guys. I need to steal this lovely lady."

He led me to his car, mumbling something I couldn't make out. We sat in the Camaro for a few minutes before I couldn't take the silence any longer.

"What are we doing?"

"I'm driving. You're accompanying."

"Yes, I gathered that. Where are we driving to, exactly?"

"Right there." He pointed towards the motel I'd stayed at when I first arrived in Mystic Falls.

"And why are we here?"

"Our other vampire, A.K.A. Anna, A.K.A. Jeremy's weird hot girlfriend. She's most likely got a room here." He answered as he parked in the back.

"What?!" I shouted, panicking. "We have to go back and get him away from her!"

"And let her know we're onto her? Makes complete sense."

"Do you think he knows?"

"No idea. I recognize her, though. I met her through Katherine."

"Oh joy. Can't wait to see how this goes wrong for us all."

"Such a pessimist."

"How many times have I almost died now? Let me count the ways." I raised an eyebrow, holding up fingers. "One… two… three…"

Damon chuckled. "You're right. Might be easier for you if you just transition. Would save us both some time."

"What, become a vampire?" I laughed until I saw the look on his face. "Wait, you're serious? You think you could handle me being around forever?"

"Eh, you're not the worst company in the world." He stated, bringing back memories of our road trip to Georgia.

"I am happy as I am," I huffed, "but thank you for the offer."

I waited in the car while Damon compelled the front desk receptionist to find the room number we needed. He came back after a moment, dangling the key and motioning for me to follow him.

The room was definitely lived in. Clothes were everywhere, empty food containers in the garbage can, beds not made.

'Wait a sec…'

"Um, Damon?"

"Hmm?"

"Why would she need two beds?"

"The better question is," he started, holding up a man's tee, "who the hell else is staying here?" Dropping the shirt, Damon glanced at me. "When she gets here, I suggest you stick to the corner."

After about ten minutes, we heard a car pull up outside. Hiding behind the door, Damon pounced on the girl as soon as she was inside. Holding her by her throat, he slammed her into a wall. Her hand came up to choke him as well.

"Okay, I give. Okay." Damon groaned. Coughing as they released each other, Damon took a step back. "Damn. You're strong for a little thing."

Rubbing her neck, Anna breathed out, "I was wondering how long it would take you to find me." She moved to place her bag on the table, eyes darting towards me. "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, Danica Williams, but I was hoping it would have been under other circumstances."

Damon stepped in front of me. "How long have you been here?"

Amused, Anna told him, "I arrived around half-past comet, watching you screw up every chance you had to open that tomb."

"How'd you know about the spell?"

"I didn't say much back then, which means I heard everything."

Moving closer to Anna, Damon asked in annoyance, "So if you've been here the whole time, then why are we just crossing paths right now?"

"I like to use others to do my dirty work." Anna admitted as she walked towards the beds.

"Like Logan Fell?" Damon scoffed. "Oh, yeah, thanks for that, by the way. Little bastard shot me."

"Logan was an idiot."

"Mmhmm."

"We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser slayer with that compass. I needed his family's journal. I couldn't let him die."

"We?" I questioned without thinking.

"Me and Ben." She responded.

'Ben as in Bonnie's Ben?! Since when are all of my friends dating vampires?' I thought, sending a text to Bonnie to have her call me when her date was over and she was home.

Damon steered the conversation back on topic. "What'd you want with the Fell journal?"

"I thought it contained the location of the witch's spell book. I was wrong. According to her journal, Honoria gave the grimoire to Jonathan Gilbert. And, according to this…" She paused, going back to the dresser to get something from her bag. "He gave it to your father. So now you're going to help me find it."

"Why would I help you?"

"'cause you and I both want that tomb open." Anna explained, revealing a journal I hadn't seen before. She flipped it open to a page she had bookmarked and handed it to Damon.

He read over the page and let out a small chuckle of realization before closing the book up again. "Hmm. Sorry. I work alone."

"Funny. Sure doesn't look like you're alone."

"Let's go Dani."

Back in the car, Damon handed me the journal. I skimmed through the pages, trying to spot whatever clue he'd picked up on. "Are you going to tell me what you figured out?"

"My father used to tell us all the time that he would 'carry his secrets with him to his grave'. At the time, I thought he was just being dramatic. Lucky for us, it's a two-minute drive and a very short walk."

"You don't think…"

"That we're going to have to pry the damn thing from his cold dead fingers?" He finished, causing me to flinch. "It's there. Trust me."

"If we're headed to the cemetery, I should call Elena."

"Let's see if my hunch pays off first. Then you can call her."

I started to object but then saw a familiar car. Jenna's. Damon parked next to it.

"Is it just me, or do you have this weird knot in the pit of your stomach?" A peek at the screen of my cell phone displayed no new notifications. "I never got a text or call. Did you?"

"Nope." He said, popping the 'p'.

"Well, maybe they got here just before us."

We got out of the Camaro and Damon placed his hand on the hood of the other car. "It's cold. They've been here for a while."

"Okay, so they had the same plan we did. Check first, meet later." I suggested, with a feeling of dread.

"Only one way to find out." He replied. "I'd say wait here but I already know that won't happen so just keep close and stay quiet. I don't want Stefan to know we're here until I'm ready."

"Ready for what?"

"That depends on what they're doing." He smirked.

At some point along the way, the scent of a fire caught my attention. It wasn't too long after that I could make out Stefan and Elena's voices. We inched closer until they were in view.

Stefan was in a large hole, digging where I assumed his father's remains were resting. Elena stood above the grave, flashing a light down for him to see. A loud thud rang out after Stefan shoveled out some more dirt. Tossing the tool aside, he knelt down, and I could hear him opening the coffin lid. He popped his head back up after closing it, and set some sort of book down at Elena's feet, flipping it open.

'The grimoire!'

It clicked suddenly.

Damon was right.

They had the spell book.

And they weren't going to hand it over.

They lied to him. To me. To us.

My eyes met Damon's, and even in the dark I could see the hurt expression on his face. With a gesture of his hand to tag along, we stepped out of the tree line.

"Well, what do you know?" Damon snarled, startling the couple. "This is an interesting turn of events."

Stefan climbed out of the grave and moved to stand between his brother and his girlfriend. "Danica, it might be best if you walk over to Elena right now."

After I got to the brunette's side, Stefan shook his head at Damon. "I can't let you bring her back. I'm sorry."

"So am I." Damon retorted, voice full of pain. "For thinking for even a second that I could trust you."

"Oh!" Stefan scoffed. "You are not capable of trust. The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself."

"Of course I was going to do it by myself, because the only one I can count on is me!" Damon yelled. "You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan. But you…" he continued, taking a step forward, glaring at Elena over his brother's shoulder. "You had me fooled."

Ashamed, she looked down at the ground.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Damon asked Stefan. "Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out. Maybe even Dani's. Who knows? I'm feeling a little murderous at the moment."

"Damon!" I breathed out, shocked.

Stefan shook his head. "You won't kill either of them."

Damon raised his eyebrows as if challenging his brother, staring him down before locking his jaw and vamp-speeding over to us. He wrapped an arm around Elena in a chokehold. "I can do one better." He spit out. Elena struggled to break free as Damon bit his wrist and forced her to drink his blood. "Give me the book, Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck. And you will have yourself a vampire girlfriend."

"Let her go first." Stefan begged him.

"The book!" Damon demanded.

"I'm not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me."

"The problem is, I no longer trust that you'll give it back!"

"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will."

"Damon, let her go." I pled quietly, getting his attention for a split second. After a moment, he nodded towards the ground in front of Stefan.

"Okay." Stefan agreed, slowly lowering the book down to the ground and reaching for Elena.

Damon looked like he was going to kill her anyway, but eventually pulled his arm away. She hesitantly edged herself in Stefan's direction, and then jumped into his arms when she got close enough.

"Come with us, Danica."

I let out a deep sigh. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Are you sure about this?"

"No." I laughed out. "But you didn't just lie to Damon, so for tonight I think it's best if I'm not around any of you. I'll check on Elena tomorrow."

He nodded sadly. Sharing a final look with his brother, Stefan turned Elena away from us and they disappeared into the trees. Once they were gone, Damon beelined for the grimoire.

Not able to force any words out, I stayed silent the entire way from the cemetery to my house. Once inside, Damon spun me around to face him.

"Did you know?"

"Excuse me?"

"Did you know they were going to destroy the grimoire?"

"After everything, you still don't trust me?" I ran a hand through my hair. "You just threatened to kill one of my friends yet again, not to mention me, and I chose to stick with you instead of leaving with the sane vampire. You do not get to accuse me of anything right now."

"Elena did a damn good job convincing me I could trust them."

"I am not Elena!"

"I am well aware of that, sweetheart."

"So how do I get you to see that I'm not lying to you?" I asked, exasperated.

Damon's eyes travelled down to my necklace. "You could always let me compel the truth from you."

My mouth became very dry as I remembered what it was like to not be in control of my own mind. Distressed, I undid the clasp and handed him the vial of vervain. "You want to use compulsion on me? Fine. Ask away."

His eyes narrowed. "Have you had anything to eat or drink around Stefan or Elena in the last 24 hours?"

"I just spent pretty much the entire day with them. But unless they spiked my lemonade…" I trailed off in disbelief. "You think they spiked my lemonade?!"

"Shall we find out?" He asked, face morphing to show his fangs.

Swallowing down my instinctive reaction of fear, I sighed. "I swear, Damon, if you ever doubt me again after this…"

"Let me guess… you'll stake me?" He laughed.

Delicately, Damon brushed my hair out of his way. His hand moved to cradle my head as he leaned forward, letting his teeth sink into my throat. He let go soon after and wiped his mouth.

"How soon will we know?"

"If there were any traces of vervain in your system, I'd be on the floor right now."

"Then can we get this over with? I'm not exactly thrilled to be compelled again."

"I'll make it quick. Promise. Just a few questions."

"A few? I thought it was just one! What are you –" My protest was cut off as Damon's eyes locked on mine.

"Were you in on the plan to destroy the grimoire?"

"No."

"Have you lied to me at any point during my attempts to get Katherine out of the tomb?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't want you to open the tomb."

"Because I threatened to let them all out?"

"No. It's because once you have Katherine back, you'll disappear."

"And you don't want me to leave?"

"Everyone leaves me." I felt the water pooling in my eyes and spilling down my cheeks.

"You know, I think you're the only one here that wants me around. Everyone else fears that I'll kill the whole town. But not you. So then what are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid of Adam coming back. I'm scared of losing my friends. I'm scared of losing you."

"Anything else?"

"I'm afraid that I might be in love with you."

Looking stunned, Damon blinked and broke the connection.

'Oh no…'

"Is there any way we can forget that just happened?" I practically begged him, unable to meet his eyes as I wiped my tears away.

"I should go." He said after a few minutes.

But instead of leaving, he moved so that he had me pinned against a wall.

When I was finally able to let my eyes roam to his, he let out a growl and pressed his lips to mine.