Chapter 6

Elena.

Elena went back into her house with a smile plastered to her face. She just had the best evening. It was like nothing could make her feel bad again. She almost had an urge to call Stefan and Bonnie to tell them to come home already, that she's fine with the spell and it's doing no harm to her. Her smile started to fade when she slowly realized that she wanted to feel like this. She wanted to get attached to Damon. In fact, no one else really mattered at this moment.

What was she thinking? Elena shuddered and shook those thoughts away. She felt like giving in to the spell. She wanted to know where it takes her. Was it very wrong of her to think that way? Elena made her way to her bedroom as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb anyone. She felt very confused now about her feelings. She started to tiptoe when she came close to Jeremy's room, but as soon as she reached the top of the stairs, Jeremy threw open his door and poked his head out.

"Elena, you're back."

"Hey." She smiled, a little startled by this sudden greeting.

Jeremy looked very serious as he stepped out of his room, "You left your cell phone at home. Stefan called a million times."

Stefan. And Bonnie. Right, how could she have forgotten about that? It was like one evening with Damon, and all the problems just somehow leaked out of her head. "Oh," She felt the smile leaving her face, "I'll call him back right now."

"Elena…" Jeremy stopped her from going into her room, "He called the house too. I told him you went out, but he sounded really serious. And urgent. Is…is everything okay with the two of you?"

Elena was touched that Jeremy was concerned about her, but she wished she didn't have to answer his questions, "Yeah, everything's fine." She told him, although she wasn't really sure herself.

Jeremy searched his sister's face. She looked uncomfortable again, as if he's repeatedly hitting her where it hurts. Raising his eyebrows, he asked slowly, "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Elena sighed. She remembered that she promised she wouldn't keep anything from Jeremy. And she shouldn't. He's her brother, and he deserved to know. She just didn't want him to make a big deal of this. And of course, she didn't want to burden him with her problems.

But nevertheless, Elena took a deep breath and explained everything to Jeremy. From the disastrous spell to Stefan and Bonnie going to find Lucy for help, and then to her growing feelings for Damon. When she was finally finished, she was exhausted, and couldn't wait to climb into bed.

Jeremy remained silent for a long time before offering his opinion on the whole thing. "Well, there's an easy solution to this," He said easily, "Kill Damon."

"No!" Elena exclaimed, shocked by this reaction. She guessed she couldn't blame him. Damon did try to kill him. "Jer, I told you this because I trust you. But please don't get involved, ok? Everything's going to be fine."

"…Okay," Jeremy finally said after a very long pause. He reached out and hugged Elena, "but break this spell as soon as possible."

Elena.

Elena called Stefan the minute she found her cell phone, which was abandoned on a pile of clothes. She dialed his number with shaking fingers, feeling her heart sink lower and lower. Whatever he had to tell her, she knew it wasn't good, and she dreaded it. She hoped that both Stefan and Bonnie were okay. She'd never forgive herself if one of them got hurt while attempting to clean up her mess.

The phone rang for a long time before Stefan answered, and when he finally did, he sounded even more tired than she did.

"Stefan?" Elena asked into the receiver.

"Elena, hey," Stefan said at once, "I have some bad news. Lucy isn't here."

"What?" Elena replied automatically. This was the least she has expected.

Stefan sounded a little agitated now, "We're at her apartment, but it's empty. The superintendent says she hasn't been home for days."

"Oh my God," Elena whispered, sitting down on her bed and clutching her phone so tightly that her knuckles turned white, "Where…where do you think she is?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Stefan sighed on the other end, "We have no idea, but it looks like we're gonna be here longer than I intended. Are you going to be okay with Damon?"

"I'll be fine." Elena said firmly. More than fine, she thought as the memory of tonight played itself in front of her eyes. "But…you guys be careful, okay? I don't like the sound of this."

"Nor do I," Stefan agreed, "I have to go, Elena. I love you."

Her heart thudded against the cage of her ribs at those words. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Not because of joy or ecstasy, but because somehow she couldn't bring herself to say those words back.

"I…" Elena tried to make her lips say those three little words but failed to do so, "Take care of yourself." She finished lamely before hanging up.

She stared at the motionless cell phone for a while before running her hands anxiously through her hair. Was she seriously doubting her feelings for Stefan? Was this because of this spell? She buried her face in her hands and sighed. Right now, she felt like the worst girlfriend in the world.

Damon.

As soon as Damon got the disturbing call from Stefan concerning Lucy's whereabouts, he made for Elena's house. He knew she got the same phone call, and he wanted to see if she were ok. She might not have realized the graveness of this matter yet. Lucy suddenly disappearing isn't a coincidence. There's something very fishy about it.

Damon was glad her window was open. It was like she was expecting him. But when he inconspicuously went into her room, he found her sleeping soundly in her bed.

He closed the window behind him quietly, not wanting her to get cold due to the chilly wind. Then, he turned to watch her sleep. Again, he noticed how beautiful she was. He would have given anything right there to crawl into bed next to her and let her sleep on his chest. But instead, he reached out his hand and gently tucked a strand of her chestnut hair behind her ears. He wondered to himself what would have happened if he was the one who first arrived in Mystic Falls and first met Elena. Would things have turned out differently? Would he be the one beside her instead of Stefan?

Elena inhaled deeply in her sleep. She frowned ever so slightly, and relaxed her expression again. She was dreaming.

Damon knew he shouldn't have, but he couldn't resist. He promised himself that he would only peek at what she was dreaming about and not change a thing about the dream. He wasn't Katherine. He had no interest in manipulating her dreams.

Slowly, he closed his eyes and dived into Elena's dream.

The first thing that greeted him was a beach. He was standing barefoot on the sand. And not too far away from him, were Elena and Stefan. They were both standing in the water, which reached their claves. Elena was laughing as she splashed water on Stefan. He was laughing too. It was quite a picture.

Damon watched them for a while as they repeated the actions. He wondered if he should leave right now. But Elena caught sight of him and enthusiastically waved him over, "Damon! Come join us!"

"I'm good, thanks." Damon replied, pushing his hands deeper into his pockets.

"Come on!" Elena ran towards him. She was wearing a strapless white dress that looked weirdly like a wedding dress, except much shorter. She grabbed his forearm and pulled him into the water with her. As soon as his feet felt the cool water, Stefan was gone.

Elena whirled around, confused. "Stefan?" She asked, not understanding why he had disappeared like that.

"Do you want him to come back?" Damon asked her. He was in her dream, and it would be easy to make Stefan appear again.

Elena, however, shook her head, "No. It's okay," She smiled at him and took his hand, "You're here."

Damon swore that at that moment, if his heart could beat, it would have rated a thousand times a minute. He wanted to tell her he loved her. It would be okay. They were in her dream. She'd just think she dreamt the whole thing when she wakes up.

But before he could even open his mouth, the sun began to set at an impossibly quick speed. Elena dropped his hand and wrapped her arms around herself, "I'm cold." She said in a whimper, "Let's go back."

"Back where?" Damon asked.

"The Boarding House, of course," Elena smiled, "Stefan would be waiting for us."

Sure enough, as soon as Damon turned around, he found the Boarding House on the shore facing them. This was a dream after all, anything was possible. But Damon felt like he had intruded enough. He did not follow Elena when she made her way out of the water.

"You go." He nodded at her, "He's waiting for you, not me."

Elena took his hand again and refused to leave him here, "He's waiting for both of us. He's going to break the spell."

"Oh." Damon allowed himself to fall in step with Elena. He didn't know what to say right now, but that was okay because Elena didn't notice.

She walked ahead of him to the Boarding House and walked in first. When Damon stepped in, he found it not the way it was supposed to be. Instead of the huge living room, he saw an eerie hallway so long that it seemed endless.

"Stefan?" Elena called to the darkness. No one answered her. So she started to walk towards down the hallway.

Damon followed her immediately, not wanting her dream to turn into a nightmare. But she was oblivious to his presence and kept on calling Stefan's name over and over again with Stefan nowhere to be seen.

Just when Damon thought he would make Stefan appear, a cold voice answered to Elena's calls.

"Stefan isn't here." The owner of the voice sneered.

Damon narrowed his eyes. He recognized that voice anywhere. And seeing the expression on Elena's face, so did she.

"Katherine." Elena backed away from the woman that looked identical to her.

"Relax," Katherine smiled coldly, "I'm here to help." Her eyes rested on Damon as her lips curled.

"Help with what?" Elena asked cautiously, still backing away from her.

Katherine shrugged, "I broke the spell." She said innocently, even pouting a little.

Elena's eyes reflected momentary surprise, "You broke the spell? How?"

"Like this." Katherine reached Damon in less than a second and plunged a stake directly into his heart.

Elena's screams filled his ears as he fell down to the floor. He was right. This had turned into a nightmare. It was a good thing he was here to fix her dream. Slowly, he pulled the stake out without enduring pain of any sort. He dropped the stake and got up steadily, wanting to prove to her that he wasn't hurt and definitely wasn't dead.

"D-Damon?" Elena stammered, her hands shaking violently, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He said soothingly. He took her hand and put it over his un-beating heart, "See?"

Elena felt his chest, and there was no wound. She breathed a sigh of relief, "You scared me…Where's Katherine?"

"She's gone." Damon said confidently. He had taken her away from Elena's dream. He should have done it sooner, too, but at least this dream didn't end with him turning into a corpse. "It's just us." He told her.

Elena threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, "I'm glad."

Damon hugged her back but felt like he was invading too much. He let go quickly and gestured for Elena to get out of the Boarding House. As soon as she stepped out of it, he changed her dream and brought her back to her original setting, which was in the water with Stefan.

"Stefan?" Elena asked perplexedly.

Silently, Damon turned away and retreated from the scene… Back in her bedroom, he tucked in the corners of the blanket around Elena before pressing the softest kiss ever to her forehead. He hoped the rest of the dream would be relaxing. He was about to leave when he realized that there was one more reason he was here tonight.

Damon took out a small box that looked suspiciously like it contained a ring and set in beside Elena's pillow. He took one last look at her and was gone.

Elena watched Stefan smile at her and splash water on her, but something didn't seem right.

"Where's Damon?" She asked him, "He was just here."

Stefan didn't answer her. He was continued smiling silently as if someone had pushed his "mute" button.

Elena turned away from him and looked around, "Damon?" She asked helplessly. She was so sure he was here a moment ago.

Stefan came up behind her. He felt the wind and her hair on his face. When he spoke, it was more like a statement than a question, and he voice was sorrowful.

"You're falling in love with him, aren't you?"