Previously on Flightmate...

E, B and C are on a trip to Europe; plane crashes. D&E bond, stranded on an island. E escapes from D to go home to J. E meets A&G, D reappears when E is seducing and prying info from A. D is pissed and visits E in her bed. E angers him further, D drains E.

Chapter 16: Once Or Twice, You Douchebag

Alive.

Hand pressed to her mouth.

Warm liquid. Warm, rejuvenating liquid.

Disgusting liquid.

Spluttering, Elena opened her eyes. She met a pair of concerned blue eyes, wondering if she was alright. His hand pressed onto her mouth, Elena was left to assume that the liquid pouring down her throat was his blood.

Moaning in anger, she nudged his hand away from her lips. He held it there.

'Drink. Vampire blood heals you.'

Elena nodded. This time Damon let her sit up but only by supporting her head with his free hand. He watched her as she got the blood into her system. Elena tasted the blood. It was surprisingly - and she hated herself - amazing. Must have been the whole surprise aspect of the blood that put me off.

Pressing the wound closer to her mouth, she drank as much as she could. The blood threw her into a frenzy. Why did it have as much as an effect on me as it did to a vampire? Blood-crazed and frantic, she sucked and pulled on his arm; all her energies focused on one goal.

Damon slowly tried to push her away. She didn't budge.

Releasing his hand but placing hers on his shoulder, she leaned towards the dressing table. Her hands frantically searched for a sharp object. I need to drink more- I need more- I need-

As soon as she touched it, a hand crushed hers. Elena tried to free her hands but to no avail.

'Damon, please,' she yelled, looking at the penknife on the table. 'I am weak, I need...I need to do this.'

Damon closed his eyes and tried to slow his breathing.

'Just look at yourself Elena. You're acting like… me.'

His words were cold water from the wintry ocean. She snapped out of it and realized what she was about to do. Horrified, she backed away from him as the half-digested chicken threatened to rise up her esophagus. Oh God, what have I done?

'Calm down. Don't over-exert yourself, Miss Low-Self-Control. You're weak enough as it is.'

Funny, how the tables had turned.

'I'm sorry I lost control.' He continued in a small voice. 'I shouldn't have let it go that far.'

Elena tried to swallow his words. Whenever his sensitive side makes a rare appearance, she wanted to hide it and treasure it. Cautiously, she placed her hand on his shoulder. He peered at her.

'So does that mean you forgive me for running?' she asked. 'I only did it because I decided I couldn't live in that forest anymore. Not even with you.' She hurried, trying to placate him. Damon said nothing. 'I miss my brother Damon. He needs me, everyone else died in our family. I am literally all he has and I, he. I needed to go back. I still do. That's why I escaped.'

Before she even got the words out, Elena knew Damon wasn't buying it.

'We could have escaped together, Elena. I wasn't planning on eating you, we could have found a way out.' His eyebrows narrowed. 'So don't lie to me and make this worse. Whatever 'this' is.'

Elena hung her head in shame. She felt his words jab at an uncomfortable angle. She knew exactly why she was the way she was. She never liked to admit it.

'When my parents died in the car crash,' she began slowly, knowing it would change everything. 'I wasn't okay for months. I didn't go down the Jeremy road and start doing drugs. But here's the thing about coping. If you block one bad pathway or one bad decision that you could have made, the hurt and the pain needs another outlet. It changes how you think, it changes the little bits. Maybe you look at the world different, maybe you kill the part of yourself that you treasured. I disconnected myself from society. I didn't let myself care for anybody other than my family, Bonnie and Caroline because I realized that lessening the number of people you could hurt was a way of self-preservation. It helps me sleep at night. I don't let anybody take care of me, because I don't want to be crippled when they leave. It's simply...easier for me to pre-hate someone and not let myself feel.'

Elena breathed. She'd said all that in one breath in fear that Damon might interrupt her. He didn't.

'You could have told me,' he whispered after a while. 'Before.'

'You were ruthless and hungry and annoying,' Elena started. 'and frankly, I didn't trust you. Even though you saved my life, I did think there were parts of you missing. Like you were hiding something.'

'You know I'm a vampire.'

Elena grimaced.

'I don't care about your biological status Damon. Not anymore.' She spoke, not breaking eye contact. 'I don't know a thing about you. As in the real you. Your past, what you like and not the boring trivia - I'm not down for that.'

'You run from me all the time!' Damon countered. 'This trust thing goes both ways you know. We were both holding back. Speaking of holding back,' Damon observed his arm. 'You clearly didn't,' he smiled lightly. 'To be honest, I feel a bit woozy.'

Elena knew he was changing topics. They'd made enough progress for one day.

'Shut up,' she pushed his arm away. 'Atleast you don't have to feed on other people for a while.'

Damon shrugged. Elena decided to try something.

She placed a hand on his cheek, feeling a light stubble under her fingers. He looked and felt completely human, except… he wasn't.

Elena looked at him. 'Thank you,' she told him, sincerely. Damon smiled back, cocking his head to fill her hand. He placed one hand over hers.

'You're welcome, Elena.'

They sat in silence in the darkened bedroom. Elena remembered.

'How did you get into the village? There was a perception spell on the whole place.'

Damon dropped his gaze guiltily.

'Damon….'

'I saw a girl come out of the trees. We chatted and she told me where she came from and suddenly I saw it. The village and the people. It was like it was always there.'

'Yeah...' Elena sighed. 'The perception filter - that's how it works.' She smiled. But- 'Where was the girl going?'

'Don't know,' Damon conveyed. 'Never found out.'

Elena wasn't buying it.

'Damon,' she started. 'What happened to the girl?'

Pause.

'Damon?'

Another pause. He averted her eyes.

'Damon, you can tell me the truth.'

'I fed from her, okay?' He burned the words in her brain.

Some part inside Elena always knew that he was never going to change. And boy, did she hate herself for ignoring that part.

'But I compelled her and let her go. It's okay.'

COMPELLED? Elena curiously looked at Damon. She knew he regretted his words as soon as he said them.

'Compelled her?' she repeated, confused.

Damon sighed. 'It's one of our gifts: we can control a human mind to do whatever we want them to do.'

'That sure came handy.' Elena replied without a second's pause.

The silence turned uncomfortable.

'Have you ever used compulsion on me?' asked Elena, staring into his eyes, making sure he wasn't going to lie.

The silence blared.

'Answer me.'

'Once or twice.'

Liar. Cheat. Freak. Once or twice, you douchebag. How can I believe anything you say right now?

'Oh my god,' breathed Elena, with disgust.

'I didn't do anything bad, I swear. Just compelled you to stop fighting.'

Elena's eyes pierced into Damon's. Damon had to look away.

'Don't look at me with those judgy little eyes,' muttered Damon, in a low voice.

'Fighting what, Damon?' Elena asked in her deathly monotone voice.

He seemed almost embarrassed right then.

'You.'

Elena crawled away from him. She could feel the self-hate pouring out of him. She didn't want anything to do with it. Elena'd been right all along. Her body clouded her judgement; betrayed her rationale. She should never have let herself feel for him.

'Damon I just told you that I have trust issues and then you spring this on me. How many times are we going to have the same conversation over and over again?'

The blue in Damon's eyes turned black, as his head tilted in guilt.

'You need to leave.'

'Elena-'

'Leave!'

He stared at her for a long while as she refused to make eye contact. He walked out the door, lightly closing the door behind him. Before he disappeared, he whispered softly:

'I'm sorry. Elena.'

Elena couldn't sleep after he left. Had she been too harsh on him? Nope. It was his fault for compelling her, even if his intentions were apparently … not harmful. Twisting in her sheets, she closed her eyes and imagined herself in an open field. Somewhere outside her house in Mystic Falls, away from the greenery of the forests. In that happy place, she fell asleep. Safe and sound.

She dreamed the sound of her name.

'Damon?' she called. 'What are you doing here? Get out of my safe house!'

'Elena, you know I only compelled you when it was really necessary.' He explained, walking closer to her. Elena froze. 'You need to learn to be more forgiving me. Give people another chance.'

'Another chance? Is that what you came for? I'll give you another chance when you're worthy of one.'

Damon stopped. Then assuredly, he took a few steps in her direction.

'Damon…' she threatened, warningly. Her internal organs were thrown into a frenzy as he walked closer. How could he affect me in a dream?

'Elena…I am here to help you. We can go back to your brother at home. You like that right? Seeing little ol' Jer again? You must surely miss him.'

Elena's eyes widened in shock. 'How do you know Jeremy' name? I never told you that.'

Suddenly he was a few centimeters away from her face. Making no further move, he stared into her chocolate brown eyes.

'I am you, Elena. Your mind made me up. I don't really exist. I'm another figment of your imagination. So, naturally, I know everything about you. Your family, your likes, dreams, failures, deepest fears and everything you think is unimportant about you.'

'Unimportant? Is that what my 'imagination' really thinks of me? You're lying. Get out of my head! This must be another one of your vampiric tricks. Don't ever think I'm weak enough to fall for those.'

He said nothing. Elena waited for him.

'I don't think you fall for my tricks easily. That's why I like you, really. You are for lack of better word, different. Distinctive. Although you are prey to disarming good looks,' which received an eye roll from Elena, 'you know how to separate your mind from your body. Doing so, you are still smart, sensitive, feisty- HEY!'

Elena had knocked him down to the ground by then. Straddling him.

'Did I mention that I know this trick very well? The woo-her-with-compliments trick? Really Damon? Just because I don't seem to have a lot of experience, doesn't mean I don't look things up. Or read a damn book. Or watch a bloody TV show. I've seen and heard all these lines before. Just for future information, I also know the stalk-her-until-she-thinks-it's-adorable trick, disappear-until-she-comes-running-back trick and discourage-her-from-being-smart-so-she-dumbs-down-so-you-like-her-better trick.'

He smiled, almost proudly at Elena.

'Which idiot messed you up?' he asked, light-heartedly. 'I bet it was Matt. No wonder you broke up with him. What a douche.'

'1. He's the only guy you've known from my past other than my dad and my brother. 2. Get out.'

'Okay you're right. That was low. I am not going though, not until you confirm we are friends again.'

'You are in my dream. I can't just forgive you in a dream.'

Pause.

'How do you know that this is not real? And the island you think you're on is imaginary? What makes you so sure where you really are?'

Elena blinked twice.

'Forgiving someone starts from the heart, Elena Gilbert.' He slowly got up, Elena sitting shell-shocked on his lap, legs on either side of his hips. 'And I hope to grab it from you whenever you are willing to give it to me. Take as long as you need.' He placed a hand over her heart.

She stared, befuddled.

Elena sat at the dining table, waiting patiently for her breakfast. Anyways, that was what she was pretending to do. Her blood was burning under her skin, palms drenched with sweat, the too-tight dress ready to pop open any second. Elena was quietly dreading the moment she'd meet Damon. After last night's fight, she wasn't sure where they stood. He did apologize to her, but what if she had never asked? Damon's compulsion would have been a secret, she, forever in the dark. How can I be his friend, if he can't be trusted? When his words mean nothing?

The dream she had last night did nothing to pacify her. She wanted to know very badly if Damon had inserted that dream in her head. She didn't know if he was capable of doing that but he was a vampire, for heaven's sake. What did she know about vampires?

Suddenly the door opened, and Elena's heart officially stopped. A few seconds later, it restarted. It was only Aaron. He was dressed in a bathrobe, and Elena didn't know whether to look away or not. He was very slim and judging by his careless posture, unaware of her presence.

'Hey Aaron,' Elena greeted loudly, while secretly roaring with laughter as Aaron's jumped around to face her. His eyes were so surprised and innocent and pure. They reminded her of an antelope's.

'Sorry Elena, I didn't know you'd be up so early.'

'It's 9am.'

'Well, still. I figured you'd be tired after yesterday.'

'I was. Hey, do you know where Damon is?'

'He… I don't know.' Aaron trailed off, in a slightly agitated voice. Elena studied him closely. It seemed uncomfortable. She decided to put him out of his misery.

'Oh, he'll show up eventually - it's fine. You wanna, um…'

Aaron looked at where Elena was pointing. Returning to the original shock that he was in a bathrobe, he blushed heavily and hurried out of there. As soon as he was gone, Elena burst into a fit of giggles.

'What's got you so happy this early?'

Elena's giggles subsided when she heard Damon's voice. Excellent timing as always. Turning to look towards him, she said confidently, 'None of your business.'

'Someone's still pissed.' Before Elena could reply, Damon said, 'Listen, what are you doing today? I need to take you someplace. We have to catch up. I may have information that may interest you.'

'And will that 'someplace' be captivity? Thanks but I've had enough of that for a lifetime.'

'No, we'll just go someplace quiet. Away from prying eyes,' he pointed, looking at the spot where Aaron disappeared.

'I'm sorry, but whatever information, spill it now,' Elena blocked, sternly.

Damon took a seat opposite her. Leaning on the table, he took her hands. Elena tried to pull them away, but he wasn't letting go.

'Look,' he continued in a low voice. 'I apologized last night, and I meant it. I'm sorry. I am sorry about the compulsion. I am sorry that I am the reason you are stuck here.'

Elena's hands rested in his. Her body froze. Did she hear what she thought she heard? That was a lot of apologies from someone notoriously famous for cockiness.

'You weren't the reason the plane crashed, Damon. Or why I sucked at swimming. You saved my life! And as much as you annoy me, I thank you deeply for that. But I don't know why you took my hands but I'm starting to. Let's not go there Damon.'

'On the tree, you were smiling and happy after you got to the top. Exhausted, challenged, tired but still happy. Go on. Deny that for the tiniest moment, you actually enjoyed spending time with me.'

Elena dared to breathe. Damon, being Damon, acknowledged her silence to be a 'yes'.

'Meet me at the local market at 7 tonight.'

Elena could not get herself to be angry at him. His words hit way too deep and way too close to her heart.

'It's a Carnival, Elena! It will be fun!'

Should I go?

'Fine.' Elena said, sighing.

Damon grinned widely. Pulling her hands out of his, she shot him a sharp look.

'Don't think this is me forgiving you. We are a long way from that, Salvatore. This is me giving you… another chance. To recall when I enjoyed spending time with you, as you put it. I'm hoping to have a fantastic time and nothing less.'

Damon's smile off his face, he nodded solemnly.

'Nothing less, if not more.'

Elena couldn't stop the small smile forming at her lips.

'Oh hey Damon.'

'Aaron!' his eyes lit up. Elena could practically feel the sarcasm pouring out in every syllable. 'Buddy!'

'Everybody hungry?'

Elena and Damon nodded in synchrony, eyes on each other.

Alright. This is it. The last update before Season 6 of the Vampire Diaries. Get ready for the premiere I'll Remember - lots of tears, smiles and more tears. I am not expecting to be emotionally stable and neither should you. MY FRIGGIN OTP GUYS I usually discuss every new TVD episode after it airs SO FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER

Mango smoothies to: jairem, kfulmer7, lotslater, Alyssa92 and all you lovely people who reviewed. Thanks for giving me your really helpful feedback. Enjoy your smoothies.

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