A/N: Hello everyone! I'm gonna start off by confessing something: I actually wrote this fic shortly before The Plague hit, but didn't upload it because I tend to pride myself on my avoidance of 'chic flic/romance'-y stuff. But then I was rereading this the other night, and decided I liked what I wrote and it was time to get over myself and share it.

Anyway, a few basic notes up front. First, I'm going to warn you all in advance, I hit a major case of writer's block partway through Georgia and ended up abandoning the fic there. I'm not opposed to continuing if I get new inspiration, but I've long since moved on to other projects, and I don't see it happening in the near future.

Second, there are very few changes at first. Don't worry, the story veers farther away from canon as time goes on. And I try to skim past the unchanged parts rather than bore you with them.

Third, I am not a romance novelist. If you're looking for something steamy and/or smutty, I'm not your gal. I would classify this fic as slow burn Delena, but emphasis on slow. It's really more about Elena being a good influence on Damon in general.

Fourth, I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Now on to the fic!

Elena looked back and saw that Damon had moved closer, his gaze boring into hers. "I want you to get everything you're looking for, but right now I want you to forget that this happened. Can't have people knowing I'm in town yet." He smirked, then his gaze softened. "Good night, Elena."

Elena blinked, and suddenly he was gone. Just like that…gone, as if he'd never been there, leaving nothing but a rush of air in his wake. She looked around, but there was no one in sight. Had she just imagined the whole thing?

Elena's dad honked again, and she got into the car. She considered asking her parents if they'd seen her talking to a man a few moments ago, but decided against it. If she had imagined it…she didn't need her parents thinking she'd been doing drugs or anything like that. Bad enough that she'd skipped out on family night. She absentmindedly fiddled with the charm bracelet her dad had given her.

Naturally, Bonnie and Caroline had very different reactions to Elena's tale. Caroline insisted that Damon must be Elena's one true love and that Elena must scour the town (and the woods) until she found him again. Bonnie suggested that maybe Elena was psychic too, and Damon had been some sort of vision meant to encourage her not to give up after her parents died. Elena suspected that Bonnie really thought Damon was a hallucination and that she was just trying to make Elena feel better, but Elena appreciated it all the same. Elena made up her mind to follow all three people's advice: she kept an eye out for Damon around town, she tried to focus on living her life instead of wallowing in grief, and she broke up with Matt. Matt was a good friend, but there was no passion to the romance (or adventure or danger). Hopefully, Elena would eventually find someone who was true boyfriend material…

First day of school over, Elena went to the cemetery to write in her journal. She was just settling in when a crow landed on her parents' headstone. It cawed at her, and she felt a strange sense of nagging familiarity. Then fog began rolling in, unnaturally fast. The bird continued cawing. Elena shooed it away, only for it to perch on a nearby statue and caw again. Freaked out, Elena grabbed her bag and ran away, looking over her shoulder. Not looking where she was going, she tumbled down a slope and landed against a tree. She pulled herself back to her feet and turned to continue running, only to find herself face to face with Stefan Salvatore.

"You okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

Elena took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. "Were you following me?"

"No, I, uh, I just saw you fall."

"Uh-huh, and you just happened to be…hanging out in a cemetery," Elena said skeptically, still trying to catch her breath.

Stefan explained that he was visiting family, and they got to chatting. Elena almost managed to forget that she could have sworn he'd come out of nowhere…but then she examined the cut on her leg, and Stefan managed to disappear just as quickly as he'd appeared. Though she hadn't been looking when he left, she didn't think he should have been able to get out of sight so quickly. She was eerily reminded of Damon's disappearing act.

That night, Stefan reappeared, right as Elena was leaving the house. "Sorry, I was about to knock…I wanted to apologize for my disappearing act earlier. I know it was…strange."

Elena swallowed nervously. "It's okay. You're not the first guy to pull that on me…but you're the first one to come back."

Stefan smiled. "Well, that last guy doesn't know what he missed out on. How's the leg?"

It turned out that Stefan had come to return her diary, and Elena found herself inviting him to the Grill. He was a nice guy…though the appearing and disappearing acts had definitely set her on edge.

When Stefan once again appeared out of nowhere at the back-to-school party, Elena brushed it off…it was crowded, she hadn't been looking, obviously she just hadn't noticed him before. But then there was a moment when something had happened to Stefan's eyes. Elena wasn't sure what she'd seen, but the fact that Stefan ran off made her suspect she wasn't entirely imagining things. And with every odd moment she witnessed from Stefan, she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she really had seen Damon vanish into thin air all those months ago. Was he still out there, somewhere? Just waiting until the time was right for people to 'know he was in town'?

And then Stefan showed up on her doorstep once again, asking if she was okay. Elena forced herself to stop dwelling on mystery possibly-imaginary guys in leather jackets and focus on the very real guy right in front of her. She invited him in.

"You and Stefan talked all night?" Caroline said in disbelief. "There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"

"Hey, you're the one who insisted I spend all summer hung up on mystery vanishing guy," Elena retorted. "Stefan's hot, and he's nice, but I don't know if he's 'passion, adventure and a little danger'."

"He's absolutely dreamy, and he's got that whole new-guy-who's-traveled-the-world vibe to him!" Caroline exclaimed, slamming a hand on the table for emphasis. "Plus, he's here and definitely not imaginary, which is more than Damon can say. Just jump his bones already! Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Sex."

"Profound," Elena said sarcastically. She thought about it, then grabbed her bag and stood up. Though she had no intention of jumping into bed with Stefan today, it was high time she took charge of her love life.

Elena knocked on the door, only for it to slowly swing open. She cautiously entered the boarding house, calling for Stefan. The house was very grand, but there was not a soul in sight. Something creaked in the distance. Growing unnerved, Elena looked back out the door. A crow suddenly flew through it, startling her. She whirled around and found herself face to face with someone she'd begun to think she'd never see again.

Damon smiled oddly at her, tilting his head as if she were a curious sight. Elena gaped at him, wondering what he was doing here—and how he'd managed to end up in her personal space mere moments after she had distinctly seen that there was no one around. She glanced over her shoulder, wondering if he'd come in from outside, but the door was now closed. Okay, this was getting creepier and creepier.

"You must be Elena," Damon said.

"And you must be Damon," Elena replied, wondering why he was acting like they'd never met when he clearly remembered her name.

"Guilty," he agreed with another odd smile. He gestured toward the living room. "Please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."

Elena followed him, too thrown by his sudden appearance to ask what he was doing there. The room looked even grander once she was inside it. "Wow. This is…quite the living room."

Damon shrugged. "Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction…it's a little kitschy for my taste." He glanced around, then looked back at Elena. "I see why my brother's so smitten."

Elena opened her mouth in surprise, then closed it again. So, Stefan and Damon were brothers. She supposed she shouldn't be so surprised. Apparently, appearing and disappearing acts ran in the family.

"It's about time," Damon continued. "For a while there, I thought he'd never get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

"The last one?" Elena asked warily.

"Yeah, Katherine? His girlfriend?"

Elena's eyes widened, suddenly thinking back to their first meeting. Damon had called her Katherine, and he'd seemed thoroughly baffled to learn that she was someone else. Apparently, Elena bore a very strong resemblance to this Katherine. She found herself wondering if this was what had attracted Stefan to her, and an unpleasant feeling settled in her stomach.

Damon apparently misinterpreted her expression. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward 'exes conversation' yet. Oops! Well, I'm sure it'll come up now."

"What…what was Katherine like?" Elena asked, determined to hear the answer.

Damon looked slightly surprised by the question. "She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department. She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."

Elena quickly read between the lines. "So, which one of you dated her first?"

Damon stared at her, surprised again. Then he chuckled. "Nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine. Hello, Stefan."

Elena whirled around and saw Stefan standing in the doorway, looking oddly tense. "Elena. I didn't know you were coming over."

Elena took a step away from both brothers, not sure which one was unnerving her more right now. "I know, I should have called, I just…"

"Oh, don't be silly, you're welcome any time," Damon interrupted. "Isn't she, Stefan?"

Stefan simply stared at his brother, tension thick in the air. Elena decided she'd had enough. "You know what, I should probably go. I'll see you at school, Stefan." She tried to leave, but Stefan continued to stand in the doorway, still staring at his brother. "Stefan?…Stefan?"

Stefan finally snapped out of it and got out of her way. Elena couldn't leave fast enough.

Bonnie and Caroline were still at the Grill, enjoying the beautiful weather. Caroline frowned when Elena slid back into her seat. "That terrible, was he?"

Elena shook her head. "You'll never believe what just happened. Apparently, not only is Damon not a figment of my imagination, he's Stefan's brother."

Bonnie's jaw dropped. "What?!"

"Yeah, and he was acting really…off. It was kinda creepy. And then Stefan walked in, and you know how in books they talk about 'tension you could cut with a knife'? I never understood that expression until today."

"Wow," Caroline said, eyes wide. "So, a whole family of mysterious hotties? Think they've got a third brother so we can each have one?"

"Caroline!" Bonnie scolded.

"Oh, but that's not the worst part," Elena grumbled. "I remember when I met Damon, he thought I was this girl named Katherine. Well, apparently Katherine is both his and Stefan's ex. And if Damon thought I looked like Katherine, then Stefan probably does too…can you say rebound?"

Bonnie winced in sympathy. "Ouch."

Elena yanked a cold fry off of Caroline's plate. "Still, glad I found that out now. I am not gonna be anyone's replacement girlfriend."

The next night, people gathered in the town square to watch the comet. Matt lit Elena's candle, and she turned to light the candle of the person on her other side…who turned out to be Stefan. He smiled. "Hi."

"Hi," Elena replied awkwardly. She hesitated, not wanting to bring up Katherine in such a public place but also not wanting to talk to him before they'd addressed it. She settled for walking away.

A minute later, Stefan spoke again, right behind her. "You know, that comet…it's been traveling across space for thousands of years. All alone."

"And I'd like to be alone right now, please." Elena tried again to walk away, but Stefan moved in front of her.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself."

"You didn't tell me you had a brother," Elena said flatly.

"We're not close," Stefan admitted. "It's, uh…it's complicated."

"I can imagine," Elena replied, some of her hurt leaking into her tone. Screw it, they were doing this now. "Dating the same girl…one who apparently looked a lot like me."

Stefan looked somewhat affronted. "Look, don't listen to Damon. Every time I meet a girl, he's determined to screw it up."

Elena raised her eyebrows. "So, I don't look like Katherine?"

"Uh…"

"You know what?" Elena pressed on. "How about you show me a picture? I'm sure you've got plenty."

Stefan opened and closed his mouth, then looked away. "I don't have any pictures. I, uh, got rid of them all."

Elena huffed in irritation. "Convenient. It's been nice getting to know you, Stefan, but I'm done." She blew out her candle and walked away. Thankfully, this time Stefan did not follow.

Later that night, Stefan walked up to Bonnie and Caroline at the Grill. "Excuse me. Hi."

"Hi," Caroline said flirtatiously, earning herself an eye roll from Bonnie.

Stefan ignored her and looked at Bonnie. "Um, have you guys seen Elena?"

"She's not interested in being your rebound girl, Stefan," Bonnie said flatly.

"She's not," Stefan insisted. "My brother's just stirring up trouble. If you could just help me find her so I could explain that…"

Bonnie hesitated, then sighed. "Fine. I'll give you her number, but don't tell her it was me who gave it to you." She quickly scrawled the number on a napkin, then handed it to Stefan. To her shock, the moment her hand brushed his, she got a horrible feeling and she jerked away.

Stefan frowned. "You okay?"

"What happened to you?" Bonnie whispered. Then she came back to her senses. "That's…so rude. I'm sorry. Excuse me." She hurried out of the restaurant, wondering if she'd done the right thing by giving Stefan Elena's number.

Caroline couldn't believe her luck. Hot mystery guy was back, and totally into her. "I'm Caroline," she said flirtatiously.

"I'm Damon," he responded, smirking.

Caroline's eyes widened. "Wait. Damon? The Damon?"

Damon raised an eyebrow. "You've heard of me?"

"Elena has been going on and on about you," Caroline said, trailing her fingers down the sleeve of his jacket. "You're even hotter in person."

"I'm flattered."

Elena turned off her phone before going to sleep. She was going to kill whoever had given her number to Stefan.