Two chapters in a row, read chapter 2 first!

"Dammit, Stefan…" Damon mumbled as he got Stefan's voicemail for the fifth time in a row.

"Maybe we should go look for him…" Elena suggested, pacing around her living room.

Immediately arguing, Damon pressed, "You need to feed before we do anything."

She huffed, "No, not when both Stefan and Caroline are missing. We have to find them first or else we could be too late."

Closing his eyes, Damon took a deep, unnecessary breath just before his phone started ringing. He frowned a little when he saw Caroline's name written across the screen, and showed it to Elena before answering, "What?"

"Seriously!?" She screeched. "I was kidnapped, and the first thing you have to say to me when you find out I'm okay is 'what'?"

Damon rolled his eyes, "Remind me to send a fruit basket. Do you prefer honeydew or cantaloupe?"

Caroline seethed, "I don't know why I even called you!" After a brief pause where Damon simply smirked, she continued, "Klaus in Tyler's body saved me but left Rebekah and Stefan tied up in the van to die after he caused it to crash."

"Where did you crash?" Damon asked, grabbing his keys and nodding his head towards the door for Elena to follow him.

"Somewhere on the outskirts of town. North, I think. By the time I figured out Tyler was actually Klaus and went back to the crash to try and get Stefan, they were already gone. All that's around are fields and trees."

"Got it. Do me a favor and don't even think about trying to go after Stefan. You'll just fuck something up."

Elena smiled at Damon's words, knowing that was his way of saying he didn't want Caroline to get hurt. She obviously wasn't going to hear it that way, but Elena did. Damon would never admit to it either, but he didn't need to. It was clear as day to Elena.

She climbed into the passenger seat of Damon's Camaro as he hung up the phone, and she didn't dare question his earlier persistence that she feed before they do anything. Instead, he seemed to have forgotten all about it as he twisted the key in the ignition and asked, "What's a place on the edge of town where you'd be able to hold vampires?"

Elena racked her brain for options until something struck her, "Pastor Young owns a cattle ranch. I bet he'd be able to modify cow pens to hold a vampire."

"Tell me where to go." Damon said, already zipping out of the drive.

The only time either of them spoke was when Elena gave him directions. She supposed they really didn't have much to say to each other. She needed to focus on her transition first and foremost, and then she could figure out everything else.

Damon parked on the road a little ways away from the house so there was no suspicion about them being there. As they stepped out of the car, he said, "Go to the door and wait for Pastor Young to answer. I can hear him inside. Tell him that you just lost someone close to you and you want to talk about it with him, and keep him distracted as long as you can. He knows I'm a vampire, I'm sure of it, but he doesn't know that you're in transition. I'm going to check out the place and see what I can find."

"How will I know when you're done?" She asked, already walking with purpose towards the house.

He just smirked, "Trust me, you'll know."

She rolled her eyes but trusted him, so she stepped onto the small porch and knocked as soon as Damon disappeared from sight. Pastor Young was surprised to see her, until she explained that she recently lost another friend and she wanted to talk. He invited her into his home with open arms, though he never actually said the words. Elena passed the test as she stepped through the threshold and followed him into the kitchen.

As he began making her a cup of tea, she suddenly felt uncomfortable. Feverish, and jumpy, and—and hungry. The word hit her like a ton of bricks, and suddenly all she could focus on was the deafening thrumming of the pastor's beating heart. They were in a small enclosed space now, and she didn't have as much fresh air to breathe where she could clear her senses and focus.

She hoped that he'd chalk up her behavior to grief. After all, he knew how many people she'd lost and grieved. At this point, there was no inappropriate behavior for coping.

The pastor went through basic questions, and she found that the answers she was giving him weren't entirely false. She figured if anyone could use an impartial party to talk to about her losses, it was her. And remembering all of the loved ones she lost helped distract her from the burning hunger boiling deep inside of her stomach. Her body knew exactly what it wanted, and she caught herself staring at the pastor's neck more than once. He seemed oblivious to the fact though, thankfully, as he gave her advice and listened to her.

She was itching to know what was happening outside with Damon. They weren't entirely sure Stefan was even here, and then there was Damon's cryptic 'you'd know when I'm done' line. What was that supposed to mean?

Eventually, the pastor's phone began ringing and he excused himself to answer it. Elena stared down into her untouched tea, in which she could smell vervain. She wasn't sure if the herb affected a vampire in transition or not, but she wasn't about to find out. When the pastor returned, he explained regretfully that the call was an emergency and that they'd have to postpone their talk until a later time. Not knowing what else to do to stall him, she let him lead her to the door and she said goodbye.

Then she went on a hunt of her own. Damon should be done by now if in fact Stefan was here, and even if he wasn't he should still be done. She ran around to the edge of the house when she heard the front door open, and as she peeked around the corner she watched Pastor Young get in his car and drive away. That made things a lot easier.

She immediately moved towards the cattle barn next to the house, but froze several long yards away from it when a scent hit her nose.

Blood.

And from the smell of it, a lot. Her gums ached at the scent and her mind honed in on the only thing she needed in that moment. However, there was something else she got a strong smell of, and that was vervain. She ran towards the barn, both because of her body craving the blood and to find Damon.

The scent was so overwhelming that she couldn't think of anything else. Suddenly the sun felt too bright, even though it was almost set, and her skin tingled as her veins cried out for the thick red liquid. She no longer found the thought of drinking blood revolting, but rather enticing. No, that wasn't the right word…sure, it was irresistible, but there was no word in the English language to describe just how much she needed that blood.

All thoughts of Damon went out the window when her sight zeroed in on the source. There was a guard lying in his own blood in the aisle of the barn, and fans were blowing vervain all into the room.

"Elena?" Her eyes flickered over to where Stefan was lying on the ground in a cell, barely able to move before focusing back on the large pool of blood.

Then Damon's voice sounded through the small barn, "Elena, listen to me." This time, she was able to hold her gaze on his eyes for a few seconds before the blood became too much of a temptation. She lunged for it, but Damon's shout stopped her, "No!" She ground her teeth together to resist the lure as best she could, and Damon said, "His blood has vervain in it, do not drink it."

Only then was she able to pull together enough logical thought to realize that Damon was slouched against the metal bars of the cell next to Stefan. Her hands were shaking with the sheer restraint she had to use not to lick up every last drop of the mouthwatering substance.

"I need you to get his keys, and get us out of here." Damon said, holding her gaze with his intense blue one.

She slowly knelt down to the dead man's belt as if the blood would jump on her and she wouldn't be able to resist. Transitioning on vervained blood wouldn't do her any favors, and she had to keep telling herself that the entire time. Finally she had the keys in her hand, and she went to Stefan's cell since it was closer. She was careful to avoid stepping in any of the blood, knowing that if it got on her and she couldn't escape the scent it wouldn't end well.

After helping Stefan out into the cooling air, she went to Damon who didn't seem as weak as his brother. It took all of her willpower to resist the tainted blood, but as soon as she had Damon's cell unlocked he picked her up and flashed them outside where he knew she'd be able to breathe better.

She inhaled a deep breath of the less pungent air and suddenly felt weak. Her head began pounding and she felt tired, so tired. Before she could ask either of them what the hell had happened, her knees gave out but Damon's strong arms kept her from falling.

She needed to feed, and Damon just about went into a full blown panic. He should have just driven her to the boarding house before he went to get Stefan! Without sparing a second glance at his brother, he used what little strength he had to flash them over to his car and lay Elena in the back seat. As he climbed in the driver's seat, Stefan got in on the passenger side.

He didn't know what to say to his brother, or even if he should say something. He trusted Elena when she told him that she and Stefan were over, but he also knew that they hadn't had a chance to truly talk everything out, making him wonder if Stefan thought their relationship was still salvageable. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his brother, even if he'd never admit it out loud.

So he opted not to say anything as he sped towards the house. Elena's sleepy voice drifted through the backseat, "Trust me, you'll know. What a load of bull."

Damon chuckled despite the fact that he knew she was dying and reached back to hold her hand, "We're almost back at the house, Elena, then you can feed."

Stefan quickly cut in, "Damon, you can't make that decision for her."

Stefan was really grating his nerves, which prompted him to say, "Why not? You sure had a hell of a lot of fun doing it to me."

That made the car fill with silence, and Damon focused on Elena's thumb rubbing circles against the back of his own. She was all he needed to stay grounded. Stefan eventually said, "That doesn't make it right."

Rolling his eyes, Damon bit out, "Calm down, Saint Stefan, Elena and I talked about this earlier. She wants to feed, but we had to come and save your ass before she got the chance."

Thankfully, they arrived at the house before Stefan could reply. Damon really wasn't interested in listening to him try to talk Elena out of it, and frankly, he didn't want him around when Elena did complete the transition. However, he wasn't going to say anything because then he'd have to listen to his annoying baby brother's voice protest.

Lifting Elena into his arms, Damon quickly carried her inside and laid her down on the couch. He blurred to the basement and grabbed two blood bags, then tossed them in the microwave to defrost. He returned to Elena's side where her eyes were just barely cracked open and he knelt down beside her, ignoring his brother's glare. Green really didn't go with his hero hair.

However, Stefan surprised him by saying, "I'm going to go hunt. Damon, please…make sure she's okay."

In a rare moment of seriousness, Damon met his brother's eyes and nodded once before Stefan disappeared. He returned his gaze to Elena where the only indication she was still there was her small smile. He gave her a look, "Don't even think about telling me to play nice with my brother."

Her smile widened just as the microwave beeped, and Damon quickly retrieved the two bags. One for him, and one for… He wondered what he'd call her now. He'd need to find some new nicknames once she was a vampire, but everything was different now. They were on their way to having a relationship, and god did the monster inside of him want to possess her.

He'd have to think about that one later.

He tore open the latch to the makeshift straw on hers and she seemed to perk up as soon as the smell hit the air. He brought it to her lips, and left his own bag forgotten on the table as he prepared himself for anything she could throw at him.

The red nectar flowed steadily through the clear tube and into her mouth while he waited with an odd mix of fear, excitement, and anticipation. At her first taste, her eyes flew open wide and she dropped the bag as she cried in pain when her fangs pushed through for the first time. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her just like him. The veins around her eyes crawled quickly beneath her newly glowing olive skin and her eyes shifted to a dark red, even darker than the blood. He loved the sight with everything in him, even if a part of him regretted that she'd never get to live the life she always wanted.

Adapt and move on, right?

He smirked as she eyed the blood in his hand, her full vampire face tempting him in ways that nothing else ever had. As he handed it to her freely, he grabbed his own and sucked it down in only a few large gulps. The vervain was still leaving his system, but this would help him fully recover.

Elena felt better than she had in years. Physically, she felt strong and powerful, no longer like the useless girl she was back when Damon refused to let her leave the house for fear that her fragile human body wouldn't be able to take what life had to throw at her. She could extend her focus to all of her senses and hear things that she never would have heard before. She could hear squirrels nibbling on food in the backyard, she heard Damon's dead heart beating slowly in his chest. She could smell things that were probably hundreds of yards away too, like a dying rose bush out on the patio and centuries of dust built up in this house.

She felt invigorated with new life, even if she was dead, and all she wanted to do in that moment was experience more of it.

Her eyes locked on Damon's when she finished her blood bag, and though she desperately wanted more of it, she felt satisfied enough for now. Enough to stand up and ask, "How do you do—"

She cut herself off when she used her newfound speed to flash across the room. In the blink of an eye, she was standing in the entry to the kitchen and giggling. Damon smirked over his shoulder and blurred in front of her, making her laugh even more. She then flashed into the library, but Damon was hot on her heels. He was having more fun than he would have thought experiencing the raw power she now possessed with her.

The only times she stopped moving were when she wanted to see if Damon caught up to her, and every time when she paused, so did he. They went around the entire house in that same fashion, Elena laughing and giggling while Damon just smiled at her. By the time she was ready to try something else, they were back in the living room. She looked all around the room, searching for something she could lift that would test her new strength. She reached for one of the heavy looking chairs, but as she picked it up she accidentally threw it against the wall and shattered it.

Damon chastised, "Seriously?"

She turned to him guiltily, "Sorry?"

He shook his head at her and couldn't stop the faint smile on his lips, and in the next fraction of a second he was after her. With her new senses, she was able to pick up his movements much faster and she was able to avoid him the first few times, but finally his age proved superior to hers when he pinned her between his body and the wall, her hands held above her head by his own.

She smirked at him, "Kinky."

All he could do was laugh, because this new Elena was certainly more playful. His body called out to hers the same way their monsters sought out each other. Damon knew he had a lot of explaining to do about everything, namely the stuff she didn't know about vampirism, but the pull was too great to ignore in that moment. He pressed his body against hers from knees to chest and dropped his forehead against her own.

Elena was suddenly feeling things she didn't know were possible in a moment like that. She didn't just want him, she needed him or else it felt like she was going to die. She didn't just love him, her body, mind, and soul called out for him with every fiber of her being, begging her to just give in and let him take her. She didn't understand this new side to her, the little voice in her head telling her to give in, that Damon was hers and always would be. Her heart was so swollen with love and lust for the broken man flush against her that she was surprised she hadn't exploded yet.

Then Damon dipped his head to capture her lips in a kiss, and she was a slave to the feelings he invoked inside of her. That other voice telling her that she needed to wait was locked away deep inside of her, arguably never to see the light again, and her lips were moving against Damon's, tasting, feeling, and nibbling.

The second their tongues met, Damon snapped and flashed them across the room and onto the couch. His tongue tangled together with hers, tasting—inhaling—her sweet taste mixed with that of the heavenly blood. Her small hands frantically clawed at his shirt while she locked her thighs around his hips so tightly that if he had been human, she would have crushed him.

She had never felt a desire as powerful as this, and it thrilled her more than anything else ever had. Suddenly Damon's hands all over her, even through her clothes, felt so much closer, like her skin was more sensitive. The slightest touch could put her on edge, ready to fall apart. She was spiraling into the lust fast, too fast, and she didn't know how to stop or if she even wanted to.

Damon broke his mouth away from hers only to trail hot, open-mouthed kisses down her jaw and neck. He was as much of a slave to their connection as she was. He knew this was exactly what Elena wanted to avoid when she turned, yet he couldn't summon the willpower to care. Her tight body beneath him was writhing in unsatisfied pleasure, and he'd be damned if he let his girl remain that way.

His? What's with the sudden possessiveness?

Pushing that thought out of his mind for a later time, he brought himself back to the moment. It was only when he felt Elena licking at his pulse point, her fangs bared that he came to his senses and realized what she was going to do. He quickly flung himself across the room, faster than her lust-laden brain could follow, and leaned against the wall. She looked beautiful lying there on the couch, lips swollen, hair mussed, and legs parted to accommodate his hips.

Her dark, glazed over eyes opened in confusion and she immediately glared at him, silently yelling at him. He smirked breathlessly, "I know I'm irresistible and all, but I can't have you marring this perfect neck with your newbie vampire teeth."

He'd tell her all about blood sharing some other time. Though he doubted she wanted to sleep, that's exactly what he wanted to do. She needed some time to think about things and let everything set in before they started her vampire lessons. A fleeting thought crossed his mind of a not so PG teacher-student fantasy. If she wanted kinky…

With Damon all the way across the room, Elena was able to come to her senses as she realized what they had just done. It wasn't like they hadn't kissed before, or even kissed like that before, but to her it was like her first kiss. And it was, as a vampire at least. She never realized that feeling everything so much would translate to such intense sexual desire that it could hardly be contained.

Relaxing into the couch, Elena sighed, "Now what happens?"

"Sleep." Damon answered, still trying to get control of himself.

Elena laughed, "Good one."

"Wasn't a joke."

Elena sat up to stare him down, "I feel like I could run a marathon on one foot, Damon. You can't get me to fall asleep."

He smirked slightly, "Fair enough."

Damon was really starting to annoy her. She just turned into a vampire, and he wants her to go to bed? Nice try. Mentally smirking at what she was about to do, she voiced her thoughts, "Funny thing happened yesterday, Damon. You see, I was walking out of my bathroom when you told me I had cute pj's."

He furrowed his brows in confusion for approximately three seconds before it registered what he was talking about. Expressionlessly, he said, "So you remembered."

"Oh, I remembered all right." She said angrily. "How could you take that away from me? It's not even just the fact that you made me forget the first time you told me you loved me, but it's that you actually compelled me! I trusted you, Damon, not to violate my mind even when you could."

Everything she was saying wasn't anything Damon didn't already know. He compelled her for selfish reasons, even if he promised not to be selfish with her. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but he didn't want to deal with the rejection that would surely come so he decided to take the easy way out so she couldn't reject him.

She wasn't sure where all of this anger was coming from, but when Damon didn't even try to defend himself it didn't help ebb the feeling.

"Would it have made a difference?" Damon suddenly asked with a bit more anger in his tone than he intended. "If I hadn't taken that memory away, would it have changed things?"

Elena floundered for a long moment, knowing deep down inside of her that at the time she was completely in love with Stefan and nothing was going to change that. So no, it wouldn't have made a difference, and she cursed Damon for once again finding a way to make her feel guilty when he's in the wrong.

"That's what I thought." He said, walking to his liquor stand and pouring himself a glass of bourbon. After downing the strong liquid, he added, "But that's not the only thing you remembered."

Elena dropped her gaze to the floor, perfectly recalling every single word he said that night before the car crash. She didn't say anything for a while, she just attempted to sort through her thoughts as he continued drinking bourbon like his life depended on it. Finally, when he sat down in the matching chair to the one she broke, she said, "I'm not mad that you compelled that memory away. We didn't even know each other back then."

If anything, all that did was make her more confident in her choice. Even back when Damon couldn't care less if she lived or died, he told her he wanted her to get everything she wanted out of life. He listened to her talk about Matt with his full attention, and made her laugh despite herself.

She met his gaze, "What were you doing on that road that night?"

Damon shrugged, "Like I said, I just got to town."

Her voice small, Elena asked, "Did you hear my parents' car crash?"

He didn't say anything at first, before he sighed, "No. After I met you on that road, I headed to a motel to stay at so neither Zach nor Stefan knew I was in town."

"Why did you say all those things to me?"

Damon watched her closely for a moment, wondering if his answer was really going to matter. He had completely forgotten that by turning she would remember everything she was compelled to forget, so now it looked like he was going to be doing damage control for the unforeseeable future.

Deciding against answering, he stood and started heading towards the stairs, "You can crash here for tonight, but tomorrow we should figure out how to tell everyone that you transitioned. Get Jeremy to invite you into your own home and all that."

"Was it because I look like Katherine?"

Freezing in his place just before the foyer, Damon spun around and realized that his lack of answer led her to assume the worst. It wouldn't have surprised her if the answer to her question was yes, because he was obsessed with the evil vampire slut back then, but, the reason he said that had nothing to do with her.

"No. I told you those things because you needed to hear them. You told me that you were bored and stuck in some small town relationship. I knew it wasn't going to be enough for you just by the look on your face. Within the first few seconds of talking to you I knew you were nothing like Katherine, and while your similarity did play a part in why I stayed, what I said was all based on you."

Elena nodded in understanding then changed the subject, "Can we just go back to my house now? I want to see Jeremy and tell him myself that I decided to turn."

"Yeah, sure." Damon allowed, grabbing his keys. "Let's go."