E, C and B's plane crashed. D&E are stranded on an island, E escapes to get to J. E meets A&G, reunites with D, bonds. D&E meet K, plot escape, confess feelings and stop at a motel. Steamy times await.

Chapter 27: Cross My Undead Heart

Elena was surprised that she hadn't been grabbed from behind, the second she walked out the door. Maybe it was that she'd actually managed to immobilize Damon. Or he had something else in mind for her. Forgetting the latter, Elena grinned and relaxed. She was proud of herself. It was essential for her to realize that the trick was not to think about whether it was right or wrong. The trick was to do whatever felt right at the moment. Probably the worst advice I've ever given myself but hey, whatever works.

She walked to the kitchen, to find food and pacify her hungry stomach. The fridge was stocked (thank god) and she found a ready-to-heat pasta packet. Emptying the container into a bowl, she watched the dry sticks hit each other until they stopped. She poured some water and heated the mixture.

Checking for the instructions, she felt two hands encircle her body. Didn't take him long. It must have been immobilization.

Swiftly, she pulled his hands away from her middle and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the bowl to heat for 10 minutes. Although she wasn't mad at him, it was fun to pretend. Besides, he still didn't bring her a towel. She was still naked from waist down.

'Elena,' he sang, following her. She'd found a magazine and was curled up in the living room, reading.

Not taking his eyes off of her, he plopped on the sofa, beside Elena. She tried not to peek. She was keeping an eye on him using her peripheral vision - which meant she wasn't really reading the magazine. In fact she had no idea what it was about.

Damon took her feet and pulled them onto his thighs. Elena remained pliant. She did pull up the magazine in front of her face momentarily to control the grin that was breaking her face.

'34 sex tips to please your man?' he read loud and proud. 'If we ignored the misogyny behind this crap, don't you worry Elena. You did just fine last night,' he winked suggestively.

Elena's eyes grew wide. She turned the magazine away from him and continued reading with a stern expression.

Damon's fingers rested on her ankles as she tried to forget their presence. Slowly, they moved and lifted her right leg up until it was close to Damon's mouth. A cold breeze crept up Elena's leg and licked her vagina. The unpleasant feeling was replaced by Damon's tongue as he began kissing his way up her leg. Elena tried to control her heart rate and forget the fact that she had no underwear on. However as he got closer and closer to where he wanted to go, her body betrayed her.

As his kisses reached her inner thigh, Elena knew the throbbing between her legs needed immediate attention. She needed him to move up quickly.

She tried to remain still.

He moved back.

Shifting down her leg, Damon began kissing his way up her left leg.

NO!

Intensely frustrated, Elena tried to restrain him in his place with her leg, but he simply laughed and kissed it. She groaned as he continued lapping up her leg.

'Now she responds,' he said, grinning.

'Shut up,' she said, waiting breathlessly as he finally reached her inner thigh. He paused for a moment, and Elena lost all restraint as she pushed his head towards where it should have gone. At the exact same time, he gave one swipe with his tongue over her nether regions, causing him to go deeper than intended. Elena cried out with happiness and tucked her legs around his neck. If he was human, she'd probably suffocate him. Well, he wasn't.

Continuing to send her to new heights with just his tongue, Damon pushed his fingers inside her. He sucked her and curled his fingers inside, hitting her sensitive spot. She tugged on his hair, the magazine forgotten on the floor as her body trembled again. As the tremors reached their apex, Elena gave out. Crying out in pleasure, her body slumped as she finally let go.

Damon was licking her juices. He was still between her legs. Elena lazily ran her fingers through his mussed ebony hair. Placing a hand across her forehead, she watched dazily as Damon sat up. His lips were shining as her juices dripped from his mouth. Returning the favor, he ran his tongue over his lips, watching her reaction. To top it off, he put his fingers one by one. Slowly, he sucked the fluid off of them. Elena's jaw dropped.

'Pasta's ready.'

Damon entered the living room with the bowl. Elena's mouth watered at the smell of the food. For some reason, she'd developed a massive appetite. She tried not to pounce at the bowl when taking it from Damon. As soon as she'd grasped it tightly, she grabbed the fork, and shoveled food inside her mouth.

'Can you atleast pretend to be a lady?' snarked Damon.

'Says the guy who was not denying me clothes just half an hour ago.' Damon smiled at her.

'So do you want to tell me what got into you up there?' he asked. Elena stopped. She'd been wondering the very same for the past few days. What had he unleashed in her that terrified and excited her, sometimes in one instant?

Hoping she'd think of an answer soon, she gestured she'd tell him after she was done eating. Food over all. Damon sat back in the sofa, crossing his arms. He impatiently tapped his foot as Elena pondered.

As she finished her last morsel, Damon watched her eagerly. She put the bowl down and turned towards him.

'I did it because it was fun.' She blurted out. 'I never liked riling people up but you messed me up completely so this is me now, I guess. I like riling you up and making you mad.'

Damon looked at her in disbelief. 'I messed you up?!'

'Yes!' she yelped as though she were explaining to a 6 year old that the earth goes around the sun.

Silence.

Then, she heard a murmur.

'Wow.'

Elena stopped eating.

'What?'

'I know I messed you up a little bit... but completely?'

She put down her fork. 'I wore your goddamn black shirt! I chose freedom over submission. I am almost as annoyingly snarky as you now. That's not a little change, Damon.'

He simply smirked. Pointing it out to him like that made him see it her way. Elena smiled at him and said, 'I am not worried. I'll be fine. I'm happy it happened.' She winked at him.

'Elena Gilbert, you are one foxy woman.'

She grinned cheekily.

At that moment, her brain, being unable to cope with so much happiness after a drought, filled with awful thoughts such as: What was their future? Were they going to live together? How would she explain vampirism to her friends and family back home? More importantly, how would she keep the vampirism a secret if required?

'Damon,' she started, putting aside her now empty bowl. He put the magazine down. 'What happens after we do escape?'

'That's easy. We find a way to stay together.'

Optimistic. Very un-Damon. 'No,' Elena said, slowly. 'I wouldn't be so sure. It's possible here to stay together where there is more supernatural than you could shake a stick at. I don't think I want to become a vampire, so we can't live on the run.'

'Elena…' he said, cautiously. 'You are thinking too far into the future. We'll make it back to your family, you go to college, we continue our relationship if by some miracle, I can still stand your company,' he said, grinning. 'And then we'll see.'

Elena processed his words. Future tense. Optimism.

Unpredictable.

'Alright. I like. But we can't separate anytime soon,' she added softly, under her breath. 'I... I am not strong enough to handle that.'

Damon stared at her spellbound. Elena paused, freezing her head so her gaze was on her bowl and nowhere else.

'Look at me,' she heard his soft whisper.

Elena did.

She was happy he wasn't afraid anymore. His blue eyes bored into hers, begging her to continue.

'I'm not going to say 'I love you'. Because it's impossible for anyone to get under my skin so fast.'

Damon lunged forward, held her neck and pushed his lips against hers. Caught up in his passion, she held on to his hair and kissed him back with equal fervor. Tongue met tongue. They were lost.

Surprisingly, it was Damon who pulled back.

'I'm not anyone,' he said, a nice mix of smugness and honesty.

'Come on,' she said, pulling Damon's hand.

They walked in silence to the bedroom. Elena did not say the dreaded three words but she noticed neither did Damon. She realized it didn't matter because they both knew it. She didn't know what awaited them in the future, or if they were in it together, but Elena decided to seize tonight, before he slipped from her fingers.

She jumped into the bed and looked at Damon from under her eyelids. He got the hint. Walking towards her while Elena watched breathlessly, Damon lied down beside her. He didn't do anything. Somehow they both knew they wanted silence. They simply stared at the ceiling, thinking.

'Elena,' he said after some time. 'I'll be honest with you. We are not going to be together after we escape. You are right about that. We may not have a future together. You have a brother to get back to, friends - an entire town waiting for you. I have no one. Not saying this so you feel sorry for me, it's just the truth. I am a vampire, looking for a little bit of fun in this eternal life and someone with whom to share that life. That someone doesn't always stay. I don't expect you to either. Don't give up your family for me, Elena. That's what I liked about you in the first place. You're loyal. You have your priorities sorted out. I do know that we have something special; something that's rare and would probably never occur again,' he said, turning his head in her direction. 'But I do know that I want to make the most of the little time we have together. And I cross my undead heart when I say 'I love you Elena Gilbert.'

Elena's vision got cloudy. In her horror, she realized that she was crying. Blinking rapidly, she tried to suck her tears back inside. As always, Damon noticed.

'Hey, come here,' he said, pulling her into his chest.

'Sorry, you just took me by surprise. I just…'

'Didn't expect that from me? Yeah.'

They embraced as Elena's tears slowed to a stop.

'Why don't you let people see the good in you?'

She felt his breath on her hair. 'Because when people see good they expect good,' he said softly. 'And I don't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations.'

Elena shook her head at him. 'It's not hard to be good, Damon. You've never been appreciated for good, so you don't see the point.' She looked up at him. 'That ends today.'

'Maybe only for today.' He sighed darkly.

Elena's heart broke a little at his words. He was just alone. He needed somebody; a friend, a lover, a person - anyone - to take care of him. To be there and never abandon.

And that's exactly what I'm going to do.

'You know what?' Elena said, bravely. 'You are right. My priorities are sorted out. And my brother Jeremy has Aunt Jenna to look after him, Aunt Jenna's got Alaric, Alaric's got her. We don't have to end. I like the college idea a lot. Let's do that. I want to stay with you as long as I'm alive,' she inched closer to him, curling her hand around his. 'If that's okay with you.'

Damon's hand automatically curled around hers. He gazed at her. 'So… you're okay with being a vampire?'

Elena narrowed her eyes. 'If you got another chance, would you still become a vampire?'

'Yes,' he said, confidently.

'Why?'

'I didn't choose this life Elena. I had a future and everything once, you know? It just seemed amazing. I turned to be with the woman I loved,' he said. 'There was a time when I would have given anything to be a human. But now I can't think of anything more miserable. No offense,' he added.

'Speaking about woman you loved,' Elena diverted. 'Did you ever find out how the fire started?'

He nodded his head sadly. 'I never found out who did. It could be one of her other lovers, it could be someone I've never heard of. All I remember is regretting not seeing her for one last time to say goodbye. And before I knew it, I came back to life. She never once came back. No note, no explanation, the bitch was just… gone.'

Elena didn't once blink. Nor did she let go of Damon's hand. She knew it was a great deal for him to reveal that side. He loved deeply and blindly - this was clear proof. It was just his bad luck that it was someone like Katherine.

'I'm so sorry Damon,' she hugged him tightly, trying to transfer all the love she had for him.

'Why is she back now? That's what I don't get. I know this is her home but Katherine doesn't do memory lanes. I wouldn't be here with you if she did.'

'I don't know,' Elena said, softly.

'Sometimes, I do wish that I hadn't been so stupid and crazy in love to go after her. That's literally the only reason I was so rude to you in the beginning on that plane. I knew immediately after talking to you for one minute that you were not Katherine. But you were a living breathing reminder of the bitch and all the pain and suffering she'd caused over the years. You'd unintentionally opened the wounds, reminding me how easy it was to pull my walls down. Like I was a pushover.'

Elena's heart stopped as a crucial piece fell into place. 'I'd say 'that's messed up Damon' but I understand that sentiment,' Elena spoke. 'We all feel things we probably shouldn't be feeling atleast once in our lives. The night that my parents died,' Elena said. 'I blew off family night so that I could go to some party. I ended up getting stranded, and they had to come pick me up. That's why we ended up in the car at Wickery bridge. And that's why they died. For months after, I couldn't help feeling that it should have been me. No one knows why I survived but I couldn't feel grateful or relieved. Then I realized something. Our actions are what set things in motion. But we have to live with that.'

Damon stared at her, as though seeing her for the first time. Elena smiled, hoping she was helping. He knew - just as she did - how hard it was for her to share that part of her life. He kissed her forehead.

'Thank you,' he said, simply.

Elena didn't need to know why.

'You're welcome.'

SORRY FOR MISSING A DAY.

I hope you are all having a wonderful winter break. I am especially excited for Dan and Phil's 5 days of Dilmas. If you don't know who they are, google them. You're welcome.

Also, DELENA IS NUMBER 12 ON MOST REBLOGGED SHIPS OF 2014 LIST ON TUMBLR. WOOHOO. We ruled Twitter, so I'm not too worried.

HO HO HO
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