Chapter 9

Damon.

When Damon arrived at Elena's house, he was disappointed to find it vacated. Her bed was wrinkle-free, indicating that she hasn't touched it since she made it in the morning. Damon turned around to leave, wondering all the while where Elena could be. As he walked around her bed, his elbow nudged the painting on top of it, and one nudge was enough to make her Diary fall out from behind.

For a moment, Damon merely stared at it. He knew what it was, of course. Stefan was sentimental enough to keep one as well, which he thought was most absurd due to the fact that Stefan is a male. But here was Elena's journal, and she had probably recorded everything that had happened here and all of her feelings. His fingers almost itched for wanting to read her thoughts, to know what was going on inside her head, but he stopped himself from turning open the bulky pages of the Diary.

This was her privacy. And if he wanted to respect her, the least he could do was to respect her privacy. So, instead of opening the pages like he most certainly would have done in the past, Damon picked up the Diary and put it back behind the artwork. He raised his eyebrows, not believing he had just waived a chance to read it.

Shaking his head, he went for the window again. Love, it makes you do funny things. He thought as he grinned to himself.

As soon as Damon reached the Boarding House, he saw Elena's car parked out front. He felt almost giddy as he quickly went inside. So this was where she was. Sure enough, he found Elena sitting on the couch, waiting for him.

"Hey," Said Elena, greeting him as though she came to see him all the time at his house, "Where've you been?"

"Out." Damon replied, not wanting to elaborate how he had just been to her house, "To what do I own this pleasure, Elena?"

"Actually…" Elena's tone was hesitant, nervous, "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"I'm listening." Damon scanned his alcohol collection and debated whether he should drink Whiskey or Scotch. He was intrigued by what she had to say, but pretended otherwise.

"Well…Stefan called me. They're…coming back tomorrow."

Damon momentarily forgot his drink and looked up at Elena. He wondered why this piece of information bothered him so much. Was he secretly hoping for Stefan and Bonnie to fall in love with each other and elope, forgetting all about the spell? He knew what this meant. His brother and the witch had found a way to break this spell.

"Oh. Great." Even though he was very disappointed, he made his voice sound careless, "I've missed him." He added sarcastically, turning back to his drink.

"But that's the thing," Elena said continuously, ignoring Damon's remark, "I don't want them to break the spell anymore."

Damon almost dropped his glass in surprise. Was she actually saying this? That she wanted, voluntarily, to be the victim of a love spell forever? And what's more, that particular love spell involved him. He searched her face, looking for a sign that indicated she was lying. Or joking, whatever. But he found no such thing. She looked adamant, and she looked very serious.

"Elena…" Damon said, trying to talk some sense into her, "Think about what you just said."

"I've thought it through," Said Elena immediately, "That's all I've been thinking for the past week." That, and you. She added silently. "And I've made up my mind."

"Okay, enlighten me," Damon said, puzzled, "Why would you want this?"

"Because…" Elena drew a shaky breath and looked straight into Damon's eyes. They were so blue that they reminded her of the sky. Or the ocean, maybe. Elena never thought she'd one day say this to him, but here she was, at his house, mustering up the courage to say it. A million memories flashed before her eyes as she stared at Damon intently, "Because I love you."

That was not the response Damon was preparing for. He had to try his best not to look too surprised. This was…surreal. This was Elena, and she just said…she just said she loved him. It would have been one of those cheesy love movies with a happy ending if he didn't know better.

"Now, that's the spell talking." He said dryly, raising his glass to her and taking a long drink, trying to calm himself. He didn't want to seem overjoyed, and he certainly didn't want to get his hopes up. Be still, my un-beating heart. He thought to himself.

"No." Elena said stubbornly, "This is me talking, and I'm saying I love you. I don't care how I came to love you, and I don't care why, either. All I know is –"

"But I care." Damon interrupted, setting his glass down, "I love you…Elena. And I want you, someday, to return that love…but not by a spell."

Elena stared at him, lost for words. She thought he would be elated, ecstatic, or at least delighted, but all the expressions on his face showed only seriousness. She thought he would take her in his arms and kiss her, but his reaction was something she hadn't foreseen.

"I want to be with you." Elena said softly.

"Elena –" Damon couldn't even finish his sentence as his cell phone rang. Fuming and swearing, he took it out of his pocket. Stefan. Perfect. Little bro's always had good timing.

"Not a good time, Stefan." Damon said, irritated, "I'm not in the mood for a heart-to-heart."

"Bonnie and I are on our way back," Stefan said hurriedly, ignoring him. "We should be there by this time tomorrow." He was speaking rapidly, like he couldn't wait to get those words out.

"So I've heard."

"You need to go to the tomb, Damon." Stefan pressed on in an urgent voice.

"And see Katherine?" Damon asked in disbelief, "I prefer a stake, thanks." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elena go tense and cursed himself for his insensitivity.

From behind him, Elena peered at him cautiously. She had just heard Katherine's name, and she got a very bad feeling about this. She wanted to continue the conversation, to see how it turns out, and she didn't want Katherine to ruin it for her

"Tell you what, why don't you go to the tomb when you get back?" She heard Damon say, annoyed.

A pause.

"Fine, but you tell the little witch she'd better not make my head explode again after I do this."

Damon hung up before Stefan could burden him with more misfortunes and turned to Elena, who looked very white. As much as he wanted to hear her say she loved him over and over again, he was a little relieved that he didn't have time to deal with the situation just yet.

"So…I gotta run an errand for my dear brother." He said, shrugging, "You stay here, okay?"

"Damon, I just heard you. I'm going with you." Elena took a step forward.

"Not a good idea." Damon said resolutely as he pulled on his new jacket – the gift from Elena. He admired his reflection on the glass and turned up the collar.

Elena's heart leapt when she realized that he was already wearing the jacket, and he looked really good in it too, just like she'd imagined. She told herself to focus on the situation before her instead of staring at Damon. "At least tell me what's going on." Elena said.

"Lucy is in Mystic Falls." He said carelessly, "Bonnie's little spell worked and Lucy is apparently here."

Elena's brows knitted together as she thought over what he had just said, "But what does that have to do with Katherine?" She gave an involuntary shudder when she said her name.

"Stefan thinks Katherine's abducted Lucy."

"Down in the tomb?"

"That's right."

"But…How can Katherine abduct Lucy when she can't even get out of the tomb?"

Damon rolled his eyes at Elena's naivety, "Katherine didn't need to do anything, Elena. Others do it for her."

"You mean she has friends?" Elena asked, unable to suppress her surprise at this. In her mind, Katherine was selfish and harsh. And normally, those kinds of people don't have many friends.

"Katherine doesn't have friends." Damon laughed dryly, "She has people who owe her, people who are afraid of her, people she threatens and blackmails, and, of course, people who are stupid enough to let her use them." He said the last sentence so bitterly that Elena couldn't help reading a little more into it.

"Were you and Stefan one of them?" Elena shot him a furtive glance and kept her voice nonchalant.

When Damon pursed his lips and said nothing, Elena understood. She felt a little uncomfortable that Damon knew Katherine so well. It takes time to understand someone, didn't it? And as evil as Katherine was, she had won over Damon's heart in the past. He knew her, knew her patterns, knew her personality, and knew everything about her. He's loved her for 145 years. What make him so sure that he's stopped? It took Elena a while to realize that the uncomforted feeling was jealousy.

"You coming?" Damon asked at the door, watching Elena space out again.

Elena's eyes shot up. "I thought I had to stay here?"

"Says Saint Stefan." Damon rolled his eyes, "I changed my mind. I'm not leaving you alone. You're coming with me."

Elena.

Elena's breath quickened as she followed Damon down to the muddy ground. He had his hand on her arm the whole time, afraid that she'd slip or fall or something. She didn't think she was stupid enough to just run into the tomb, but apparently Damon thought otherwise. He looked dead serious as he led her to the opening of the tomb, keeping her firmly behind him.

"Kaaaaaatherine." Damon called mockingly, his voice echoing off the walls.

For a moment, nothing happened, and Elena thought Katherine wouldn't show. But soon, footsteps sounded and Katherine made her way to them, a knowing smile on her face. She looked better than Elena had remembered. Not as weak as she thought she'd be. Instead, Katherine even looked…perky.

"Oooh, company." Katherine smiled menacingly, "Do come in." She gestured behind her, looking very much like a hostess.

Damon moved until he blocked Elena from view, "Any chance Lucy's in there with you?" He asked, attempting to see behind Katherine.

Katherine's smile stretched wider, but she didn't deny anything, "I bet it was Stefan who told you to come. He was always so nosy. Asking about everything…Always having to know everything…I didn't have that problem with you, Damon. You remember." Her tone was flirtatious.

Behind Damon, Elena frowned uncomfortably. There it was again. They were speaking as if they knew each other inside out. And now that she thought about it, they probably did. They've known each other way longer than Elena's known Damon. It bothered her that Katherine spoke to him that way. Was she being protective?

"Sorry, not feeling the nostalgia." Damon shrugged, "You know, I can smell the blood on you. Been feeding? On Lucy, I bet?"

Katherine tilted her head to the side and said nothing, still giving them that smile that made the hairs on the back of Elena's neck stand up. It was weird that someone looked exactly like her could smile in a way she could never imagine herself smiling.

"Lucy?" Damon asked loudly. No one answered him, but he turned to Elena almost immediately, "There's someone in there alright."

"I didn't hear anything."

"I have better hearing." Damon said, "So, Katherine, why don't you be a dear and bring Lucy over, hm?"

Katherine licked her lower lip hungrily, "You mean give over my snack? I don't feel like it now. But maybe you should try again later. You know, when she's dead." She laughed unpleasantly and turned away, walking back to the darkness, "Come back soon." She called over her shoulder tauntingly, leaving Damon and Elena to stare after her.

Damon.

Damon brought Elena home immediately after that encounter with Katherine. He was suddenly scrupulous about her safety. He knew Katherine had Lucy there for a reason, and he had a pretty good idea what it was – she wanted to be freed of the tomb.

But he had no idea how Lucy could possibly help Katherine while she's trapped down there. Until he knew more, he didn't dare do anything rash and provoke Katherine into killing Lucy. He didn't really care whether that woman lived or not, but it would matter to Elena, and that would matter to him.

Elena was too kind. Damon thought as he closed Elena's bedroom door behind him. One day, she would get hurt because of her softness. But that would be okay, because he would be there to protect her.

"Damon?" Elena asked, climbing into bed. She wanted very much to resume the conversation they were having before Stefan had interrupted. But she knew this wasn't the time to bring it up. It was like a million burdens were placed before her, and she couldn't get to Damon no matter how hard she tried.

"Hm?"

"Will you stay?" Her voice was soft, light, almost melting into the air around her, but he heard her nonetheless.

"Well…" Damon raised his eyebrows, trying his best to look unwilling, when really all he wanted to do was jump into bed next to her, "I guess so. Since you insisted." He shrugged.

Elena smiled. When did his arrogance get so cute anyway? She was still smiling when he climbed into bed next to her and turned off the lamp. She never thought Damon was someone who liked to cuddle, but she nudged closer to him anyway. It was so dark that she could barely see the outlines of his face, but she could feel his breath, and, taking a chance, she leaned closer and kissed him. Just a tiny peck on his lips, but she could feel him freeze altogether.

"Maybe you'll let me remember this one." She whispered.

"I – yeah – wait a minute, how'd you know I made you forget?" Damon demanded.

"Good night, Damon."

Sorry I didn't update for a while! College Applications are driving me CRAZY! I never knew it was THIS complicated to apply for Universities in America. In China, all we have to do is take a test. (Which is FAR more boring, trust me.)

Anyway, thanks to smithsbabe65 for the reviews. They were FANTASTIC! I think it's worth writing a million chapters just to receive your reviews! :P

And james-61234 (my brother), I miss you too, but hopefully we'll be in the same state next year. ;)

Thank you to everyone who read this story! Please REVIEW! :D