Chapter 12

Elena

Damon was at The Grill. He was the first person she saw when she walked in. It was easy to spot him because he was always the dead center of attention. Right now, he's got a blonde admirer sitting impossibly close to him, clinging on to his every word.

Elena tried to look away. She didn't want to gaze longingly at Damon all night, and her certainly didn't want Caroline to notice anything different with her. Tonight was supposed to be fun. Caroline was chatting away beside her, but she couldn't hear a word. All she could see was Damon. Damon at the bar; Damon still wearing the leather jacket she gave him; Damon flirting with that blonde; Damon smirking like he always did…Why did it bother her so much? Because right now, all she wanted to do was grab the blonde talking to him by the hair and drag her away from him.

Elena sighed. Apparently, she didn't handle jealousy very well. Damon hadn't even raised his head when she walked in; he was too deep in conversation with Blondie there. He was smirking in an incredibly sexy way, and his eyes were shining. Why were his eyes shining? What were they saying? He looked as if the previous scenario at the Boarding House never happened; like the broken spell did not affect him whatsoever. Was this because he really didn't care? Elena bit her lower lip as she felt pain flow through her. The thought that Damon didn't care whether she loved him or not hurt her more than words could describe.

She was staring right at him. Even though she was across the room from him, she knew he could feel her gaze, but he never caught her eye. Maybe he was avoiding her. That thought made her cringe even more. Elena grasped her beer tightly. Was this her fourth? Or fifth? She didn't know. Elena seldom drank, but this seemed like a special occasion. She was never good at throwing back alcohol, and now her head felt a little dizzy.

Just then, Damon said something that made Blondie throw back her head and laugh, and Elena could see her amazingly white teeth. Elena's eyes narrowed when Blondie repeatedly touched Damon's arm. And he seemed to be enjoying it too. All Elena wanted to do at the moment was walk over, block Blondie from Damon's view, and kiss him.

"Elena? Elena? Are you with me here?" Asked Caroline, waving a hand in front of her eyes.

"What?" Elena snapped her head back, finally tearing her eyes away from Damon, "I mean, yeah. What were you saying?"

"I was saying…that guy over there –" Caroline wiggled her eyebrows and dropped her voice mysteriously while suppressing a giggle, "– was totally checking you out."

Before Elena could look around to see who Caroline was talking about, Damon jerked his head up and looked over at them, an incredulous expression on his face. A small smile touched Elena's lips when she realized Damon was listening in to their conversation all along.

"Really? Where?" Elena asked, feigning interest. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see anger break over Damon's handsome face and congratulated herself for making Damon jealous.

"Behind you," Caroline instructed, "Why are you so interested? I thought you and Stefan were inseparable." She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the last word.

Elena turned her head to look over her shoulder, seeing a friendly looking guy with sandy colored hair smile at her warmly, "Um, no…Actually, we kind of…broke up." She said absent-mindedly to Caroline.

"You what?" Caroline yelped, "And you didn't think of telling me? When did this happen? Why'd you break up?"

"We just…fell apart." Elena shrugged, trying not to make a big deal out of it. She knew it was a big deal, but right now, she didn't want to talk about it.

"Wow," Caroline shook her head, "Are you okay though?"

"Fantastic." Elena lied. Great, now she's lying to Caroline too. "Actually, I'm very interested in that guy." She emphasized, making sure Damon could hear her. "I think I'm going to talk to him."

Caroline's eyes bulged, "Really?" She squeaked out in a tiny voice, "A-Are you sure? Maybe you've had too much to drink, Elena. I mean, how many beers did you have?"

"No, no," Elena said, watching Damon's reaction, "He's just my type." She said purposely.

"Since when is big and bulky your type?" Caroline asked, bewildered.

"Since always." Elena said, standing up and swaying slightly. She put on a big fake smile and walked over to the guy with sandy hair by the pool table.

He seemed surprised at her arrival and immediately stood up straighter, running his hand through his hair nervously and grinning back at her, "Hey."

"Hi." Elena nodded.

"I'm Sam."

"Elena," Elena replied, getting more uncomfortable by the second. She walked around the table until she was standing right next to Sam and also getting a good view of Damon, who looked at if he wanted to throw something at Sam.

Normally, she wouldn't have talked to guys like Sam. He looked nice, but she couldn't tell if it was a façade or not. She was trying to keep the smile on her face so hard that the muscles around her mouth twitched.

A short distance from her, Damon set down his drink unhappily. This was just great. He comes to The Grill to blow off steam, and sees the one person he wanted to get away from. And that one person was flirting with another guy. Weren't she supposed to be with Stefan? Or did that love spell make her grow a totally different personality? And who was this Sam anyway? What a stupid name.

The blonde girl in front of him – what was her name again? Marie? Mandy? – was still chatting happily about herself, but he heard nothing. He was hanging onto every word Elena and that tall guy was saying. She was smiling at him. And he was smiling back. He offered to show her how to play pool but Elena shook her head. Then Sam turned around, standing directly in front of Elena and blocking Damon's view completely. God, what a dick! Damon thought angrily, craning his neck to look at Elena.

"So, if you need a ride home, my van's right outside." The Sam guy was saying.

"Um…" Damon heard Elena hesitate, "It's okay, I came with a friend."

Damon breathed out a sigh of relief. He didn't want Elena riding with strangers. However, he did want a solid reason for breaking that guy's neck…

Across the room from Damon, Elena refused Sam's offer politely. She was regretting more and more why she had come and talked to him. They obviously had nothing in common, and all Sam cared about was sports. It turned out he was the stupid-jock type; a type she never really liked. Itching to get away from him, Elena inched away form him, only to find Blondie flinging her arms around Damon and dragging him to the dance floor.

"On second thoughts, a ride would be nice." Elena said at once, surprising even herself. What was she doing? She barely knew this guy! She didn't even know his last name! What if he's a convict? Or a murderer? But it was too late to back out of it now; Sam's arm had curled around her waist, making her tense up completely. Still smiling at her, he guided her to the door.

On her way outside, Elena saw Caroline gaping at her in disbelief and gave her a weak smile. She didn't catch sight of Damon again as Sam led her out to the night.

"So…um…where's your van?" Elena asked, feeling scared all of a sudden. Out of the noisy crowd in The Grill, she felt alone and vulnerable. A part of her wanted to step inside again, but Sam kept a very firm grip on her.

"It's over here." Sam said, gesturing to the back of The Grill. Elena's brows furrowed wearily. The sound of Sam's voice was changing. He no longer sounded warm. Now, the words he said sounded harsh, and his voice was menacing.

"You know," Elena said quickly, trying to break free, "I think I'll just go back with my friend."

Terror surged through her when she realized that Sam – or is that even his real name? – had no intention of letting her go.

"Let's have a little fun first." Sam growled into her ear, pushing her into the wall with amazing force.

Elena shrieked, but Sam threw a massive hand over her mouth, making her shriek die immediately. Pushing her against the wall, he bent his head to suck on her neck, slobbering all over her.

Tears wounded up in the corner of her eyes as Elena tried to shove Sam off of her, but he was too big and way too strong. Her pushes only turned him on more, and his other hand traveled over to the front of her blouse.

Elena wanted to scream, but the hand clamped over her mouth was so tight she was having trouble breathing. She squeezed her eyes shut in despair when he pushed his knee between her legs.

Damon. She thought desperately. Damon. Damon, please. Please come. She begged over and over again, calling his name in her head and hoping he'd turn up to save her again. But seconds passed and still no Damon.

Elena was growing hopeless; her energy was slowly draining away due to lack of oxygen. She could feel her eyelids getting heavier and heavier and wondered if she was going to pass out. Just when she wanted to close her eyes completely, Sam gave a yelp of surprise and was thrown back from her.

Elena's eye shot open as air made its way into her mouth again. Damon had grabbed Sam by the collar and swung him across the pavement, making him crash into a parked car at the far end of the parking lot. Swearing, Damon aimed a kick at him, making him groan in pain.

"D-Damon," Elena stuttered, relief washing through her.

Damon immediately discarded Sam and went to her, his eyes concerned. Elena looked so small and so scared huddled against the cold wall. She was shivering, but not due to the cold. Damon hugged her to himself tightly and guided her away from the bastard, "I'm driving you home."

Elena nodded, momentarily forgetting how to speak. He had come again to her rescue again. And she was so grateful that she didn't know how to express it. If it weren't for him, she'd probably be raped by now.

Damon's expression was serious as he made sure Elena was seated securely in the passenger's seat. He had known from the moment Sam asked to give Elena a ride that something was going to go wrong, but it took him quite a while to untangle himself from the blonde yapping away in front of him. Thank God he wasn't too late. If Elena hadn't called his name when he was kicking Sam, he'd have probably tortured Sam to death. The guy deserved to rot in hell for what he did to Elena. Gripping the steering wheel very tightly, Damon, made a sharp turn and stopped in front of her house.

Neither of them said anything as Damon ushered Elena inside, his arm still around her. They ran into Jeremy on the stairs, but Jeremy, seeing the look on Elena's white face, refrained from saying anything, for which Damon was grateful.

Damon stayed with her as she showered and changed. When she finally climbed into bed, looking very small under the blankets, Damon turned off her lamp for her and turned to leave.

"Damon?" Elena asked quietly.

Damon stopped and listened intently to what she had to say, but no words came after his name. Understanding her completely, Damon took off his jacket, "I'll stay." He said gently, answering her silent question.

In the dark, a small smile broke over Elena's face as Damon slid into bed and gathered her once more into his arms, embracing her tightly.

"It's okay now." Damon assured her.

"I know." She replied, squeezing her eyes shut, "You're here."

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Sorry that this is a little shorter than the usual ;( It's just that I'm SO busy lately. But I LOVE writing this, and I can't seem to stop!

I want to thank all the people that read this. Like I said, this is my first story! *wink wink*

And to everyone who reviewed: you guys are amazing! There will be no story if it weren't for you guys.