N: I know you have all been waiting for an update on this story for a very long time and I feel you deserve an explanation for the long absence. Health issues had prevented me from writing, but I feel better now so I started writing again. I had to carefully re-read all the previous chapters in order to get back into the story, but I just wanted to let you guys know that next update will not take moths. With that said, I hope some of you are still interested and will read and review.

Same difference

When Elena woke up an hour later, something heavy was resting in her stomach. She turned a bit to her right just in time to see Damon eyes open slowly. Instinctively she reached with her fingers and cupped his face gently. She couldn't believe it herself how much she came to love him. Elena had always been a compassionate person, carrying for others had come naturally, but what she felt for the man in front of her was beyond care or compassion. Raw lust and all consuming passion were only a few ways to describe her feelings for him. And she loved him enough to make her heart ache for the rest of her life if he will not forgive her for playing the role of his wife.

"Where's your mind now?" Damon asked sleepily.

"Just wondering…" Elena whispered.

Damon's eyes widened. "About?" he went on, voicing the question that Elena saw clearly in his eyes.

"Well," Elena started with a smile. "I was wondering if I like you better asleep or awake," she answered and Damon's lips curled into the now-so-familiar smirk.

"That's easy, you like me just as much asleep as you like me awake," Damon offered as a cocky grin appeared on his face. Elena wanted to lie to him and tell him his ego needed no more reassuring, but what would be the point? For sure by now Damon must've known she was completely fascinated by him.

"For one, Damon Salvatore, you might be right," she said instead. "You think Anna would be alright tomorrow?" Elena asked after a few moments of silence.

"Honestly Katherine, I am more concerned about you than her. She seemed fine last time."

"I guess," she smiled weakly. "I will be okay, Damon, you don't have to worry about me."

"Promise me you will let me know if you are not feeling up to it!" Damon urged as he grabbed Elena's hand giving it a firm squeeze. "Promise me!" he insisted seeing that she was hesitating.

"I will."

Damon smiled satisfied and raised her small hand, pressing a kiss along her knuckles. When his eyes came in contact with hers, Elena found herself holding her breath. She wondered for a split second if she will ever get used to the way Damon looked at her on certain occasions. They say that the eyes are a mirror to the soul, but Elena never tested that theory up until she met Damon Salvatore. Sometimes she wished he would look into her eyes and he will know that her eyes were not those of his could, evil wife. Of course that would mean she'll be discovered and unable to save Damon so every time he would look into her eyes like that Elena had no choice but to look away. When Damon leaned in for a kiss, Elena closed her eyes. Every thought in her mind faded away like fog, every neuron focusing only on the immense pleasure Damon's lips were giving her. The knock on the door went almost unnoticed, but then they both thought of Anna and broke apart. Elena found herself yelling: "Come in!" without thinking of the possibility that it might not be Annabelle on the other side of the door.

"I am just looking for Damo_" Stefan stopped mid-sentence once he slipped inside the room, closing the door behind him and caught a glance of Damon and Elena in bed. Even thought he had his pants on, Damon was still shirtless and the blanket was covering his legs, giving the impression that he was naked underneath the covers. Elena had on a transparent negligée; the first thing she grabbed from the drawer, since she wasn't a big fan of sleeping naked. Damon's fingers were still tangled in Elena's hair and her hand was resting in Damon's abs.

"Cat got your tongue, Stef?" Damon asked, pulling the covers over his wife's body.

"I…Elijah's looking for you. Last minute details about the trip and all," Stefan said, his eyes never living Elena.

Damon practically jumped out of bed and put his shirt on. "You can wait outside Stefan, I will be out in a minute," he said in a tone that made Stefan shift his eyes from the ravished woman in bed to his brother.

"Yeah," Stefan mumbled, "Sure, I'll wait outside," with a last glance as Elena, Stefan got out of the room and closed the door behind him with a lout 'bang'.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked hesitantly.

"Fine," Damon shouted as he got out of the room before Elena got the chance to say anything else. She decided against going after Damon and made her way towards the bathroom for a shower instead.

Stefan was waiting at the end of the corridor. Without a word, Damon marched towards Stefan. He grabbed his brother by his collar, pressing him against the nearest wall.

"Look at my wife that way again little brother and it might be the last thing you ever see!" Damon shouted in Stefan's face. He couldn't explain his reaction, after all, he had noticed Stefan ogling Katherine in the past but that didn't bother him that much before. Damon wasn't stupid, his wife was a beautiful woman and he got used to guys drooling all over her everywhere they went. After Katherine gave birth and she started acting out, Damon noticed her flirting with his brother, but he was pretty sure she was just doing it to taunt him and Stefan was just desperate for attention since he wasn't getting any from Caroline. Sure, it bothered him at first, but then he just ignored it. For some reason Damon found himself acting like a jealous teenager and he had no idea why.

"Damon, hell, you're chocking me!" Stefan whispered in a strangled voice. "I was just surprised to see you two back together, that's all."

"Where's Elijah?" Damon asked trying to distract himself. He let go of Stefan who was massaging his neck and moaning.

"In the kitchen, he just arrived from the headquarters," Stefan answered making his way down the stairs.

***Lucky 13***

It turned out that the business Elijah wanted to talk to Damon about was an early meeting at the headquarters before they all had to board the plane. Damon chose to sleep in his room so he won't awake Elena too early, but she thought Damon had just used it as an excuse. Something at changed Damon's mood and Elena guessed it had something to do with Stefan. The thoughts that Damon was mad at her about something were keeping Elena from sleep.

She finally gave up twenty minutes later and made her way down-stairs towards the kitchen. Once in front of the kitchen door, Elena noticed that someone was already there.

"Stefan?" she mumbled softly.

"Yeah, it's me."

Elena let out a silent sigh and entered the room. She walked to the fridge and took out the milk.

"Want some?"

"You are not Katherine. How are you?" Stefan asked turning to face her. Elena almost dropped the milk. Her hands started shaking slightly. She put both, the milk and the big, black mug on the table and forced a smile.

"Excuse me?"

"Fine, you want to play it that way. Let's see… what happened with Uncle Theo on your wedding night?"

"Well," Elena started unsure.

"I mean you surely remember the gift, right?" Elena nodded slightly, but said nothing. "The porcelain wolf and his crazy stories, you know what I am talking about?"

"Oh yes, I remember the wolf, it's still in the living-room," she said happily. Thank God she remembered the weird wolf from the loving-room.

"Ok, enough! Who are you? What happened to the real Katherine? Is she…is she dead?"

"I am sorry. How did you know?"

"I suspected something was wrong from the start. Your left hand writing, your attention to Annabelle, your docility during the campaign trips, the way you dress, the way you talk. When I walked on you and Damon earlier I noticed something. You have a small birth mark."

"Yeah, on my shoulder, I had it since I was little."

"A while ago I had a conversation with Katherine. She told me she made sure her skin was flawless by removing any birth marks, or imperfections."

"There's no Uncle Theo, is there?" Elena asked.

"No, it's Uncle Zach and he didn't make it to the wedding. As for the weird wolf, you are the one that bought it, or, Katherine was."

"They confused me with Katherine at the hospital because I had Anna and Katherine had my necklace. At first I couldn't talk so that I can tell someone about the mistake that was made. When I was able to talk it was too late, I already had Katherine's face and…" Elena stopped. She was pretty sure Stefan was not the one planning to kill Damon, but then again, none of the members of the family seemed able of cold-blooded murder. On the other hand, Stefan figured out that she wasn't Katherine but he was not pointing a gun at her. "Stefan, what I'm about to tell you is going to sound crazy, but I need you to hear me out, ok?"

"Talk!"

"Someone wants to kill Damon."

"Someone, who?"

"I don't know, but that's not the crazy part." Stefan raised an eyebrow at her. "Look, when I was in the hospital recovering, someone came to see me. I still had bandages over my eye and the person was standing out of my vision so I don't know who it was. He told me that the plan was still on even if I had an accident and that I shouldn't make any confessions on my deathbed. He said Damon will not live to take office."

"At the hospital? But the only people allowed in your room were-"

"I know, I told you it will sound crazy. At the beginning I thought I was mistaken, I thought I dreamed about it, but I started getting notes. I believe he will do it on the day of the elections, when they reveal the answer."

"You want me to believe that someone from my family will assassinate my brother?"

"I know how bad that sounds, Stefan."

"Do you?!"

"I do"

"Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Elena Gilbert. Look, I didn't mean to take over Katherine's life, to get inside your family, but…I own your brother my life."

"You fell in love with him, didn't you?" Stefan asked getting closer to Elena.

"I did." She said simply.

"I'd say you're lying, but it's pretty obvious you love my brother. I'll give you tonight to come clean to him after that, I'll be the one to tell him."

"You can't, Stefan, you don't understand, if the person planning to kill your brother finds out I am not Katherine he might panic and…I just need more time. Just give me until after the elections," Elena could feel herself panic and she took a deep breath. Freaking out will not help her case.

"Your accusations are insane!"

"I am well aware of that. Please, look, after the elections you can call the police, do what you like, but before then, and just act like I am Katherine, please!"

"Alright."

"Thank you," she said softly. "Stefan," Elena continued hesitantly. "Did something happen between you and Katherine?" Stefan looked away as if she had slapped him. Elena's heart ached in her chest.

"I am not proud of it, but-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me."

"It didn't go far, but enough to make me disgusted with myself."

"I am sorry for what she had put you and your brother through." Elena put back the milk, picked up the mug and made her way out of the kitchen. "Good night, Stefan," she whispered.

Once on the bottom of the stairs, Elena noticed someone was half way down. It was Damon. He descended the rest of the stairs and just when he opened his mouth to say something, Stefan came out of the kitchen.

Damon looked at his brother then back to his wife. "Care to tell me why you two are meeting in the kitchen in the middle of the night?" he finally asked.