AN: Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to review. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Saw IV.

Chapter Five

"Damn you, Damon!"

I had woken up in the old Salvatore boarding house, having no recollection of what had happened the night before. The air was dusty and smelled like musk, causing me to cough as I got up to try to find Damon. My head was throbbing and my skin was paler than usual, which I was assuming was from my lack of blood.

On the way there, I saw Stefan and made this weird squeaking noise as I ran past him, because the last thing I could remember was that freak drinking the blood out of my knee. He sighed sadly and waved, while I scowled at him and stomped into the kitchen, only to find it to be empty. And that meant that I would have to talk to him…

"Hey!" I called out to him, because he was at the end of the hallway.

He looked back at me, surprised. "Yes?"

"Where's Damon's room?"

He went back to looking disgusted. "Go up the flight of stairs and turn to the left. You'll come face to face with doom."

"Thanks." I completely ignored his last comment and rushed up the stairs, annoyed and wondering why I was here. Sure enough, Stefan gave me the correct instructions and I was face to face with Damon (or my doom).

"Hello."

I smacked his arm. "Hello? Don't tell me that! Why the hell am I here?"

He rolled his eyes. "Here we go with being dramatic again. You're here because I saved your life… you're welcome."

"I didn't thank you."

He raised his eyebrow and waited in silence.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

He didn't elaborate, which I knew he did just to annoy me.

"Okay, let me rephrase: why am I in your house?"

Good luck finding your way out of that one.

He sighed. "You're in my house because there've been reported 'animal' attacks all around town."

My slow brain simply wasn't processing. "So? There are lots of 'animals' in the world. I appreciate the gesture, but I really do need to be getting home…"

He gently grabbed my arm, preventing me from going anywhere. "What would you do if you were in a room with two hungry, ravenous vampires that couldn't control themselves?"

Oh. "Am I in that situation now?"

He scowled. "Do I look like I'm about to eat you?"

Yummy. Don't go there, Elena…. Just don't do it.

"Well, maybe you wouldn't warn me."

He shook his head. "If I was going to, you would know."

I felt the all-too familiar shivers creep up my spine as I stared him down.

"Okay, then. So there's a bunch of vampires in town?"

He groaned. "A bunch would be an understatement. We don't know how they got here, but we know that they're here, and they're not planning on going anywhere."

I felt myself. "So, you brought me all the way here just because you didn't want me to get hurt?"

He rolled his eyes and looked down. "Aren't you hungry for breakfast?"

I threw my arms around his waist, touched that he actually cared about me that much. "Awe, Damon! You care about me!"

He mumbled something along the lines of, "No, I don't," but we both knew better. He pried my hands off of him and towed me down the stairs, ignoring the bitchy glares he was getting from Stefan.

"Why don't you take your hands off of her?"

We both groaned in annoyance. "Stefan, go away. You tried to attack her last night, remember?"

He growled at him, causing me to squeak in fear, because it was the same sound he had made at me last night. Damon gave me a pat on the shoulder and sat me down in a chair before turning to face him.

"Damon, she doesn't want you!"

"Well, she sure as hell doesn't want you! She scared of you!"

He pointed at me and I was humiliated to see that my hands were shaking as I watched them argue.

Stefan came to sit next to me and I kicked him in the shin, which was only hurting myself; it got a laugh out of Damon, though.

"Elena, I am so sorry for what happened last night. It shouldn't have happened and I feel absolutely hideous for it."

I crinkled my eyebrows. "Hideous?"

He hung his head. "Hideous. I'm ugly on the inside and out."

Wow… that was so true.

"Oh, stop it, Stefan. A simple 'I'm sorry' would've done."

He pouted and looked to apologize again, but I raised my hand. "No. Do not speak. Just go back to your room and wallow in misery for the pain that you have caused me."

He walked back to his room, looking melancholy, and I turned back to Damon.

"So… what's for breakfast?"

A brief look of panic crossed his face. "Um… could you hold on for a second?"

He raided the cupboards and the drawers and everything else in the kitchen before it finally occurred to me that vampires don't eat anything.

What the hell was wrong with me?

"You don't eat anything, do you?"

"… No."

We stared at each other for a long time, neither one of us having anything to say.

"Well, I guess there's no breakfast, then."

He shrugged. "I can go out and get you something."

And be left alone with an angry and sad Stephanie and an even angrier Bonnie? Wait a second… Bonnie?

"Damon, why's Bonnie here?" It was just now occurring to me that he had mentioned that she was here last night.

He looked kind of guilty. "Well… she's sort of how we found out about the vampires. You see; she got attacked."

The world froze for a minute as I pictured weak little Bonnie being attacked by strong and lethal vampires. It was hard to imagine, but somehow I did; and I wished that I hadn't.

"Well, is she okay?" My voice sounded frantic even to my own ears, which was ridiculous, because she didn't want to be my friend anymore. Why should she matter to me?

He still looked guilty, which was never a good sign. "Well… you know…"

"No, I don't know. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked you."

I was irritated at how terse my voice sounded as I snapped at him, like an angry turtle coming out of its shell.

"She's in a state of shock."

Well, now I'm in a state of shock. Really, that news shouldn't have been that surprising to me; it was simple: the human brain stopped functioning for a while to block out the thoughts of such a disturbing event. Still, hearing that she wasn't going to respond to anything that I said to her was frightening.

"Will she stop?"

"You mean, stop being in shock?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, you dumb ass; I'm wondering if she'll stop studying for her algebra test. Of course I want to know if she's going to stop being in shock!"

He started muttering something about me being ungrateful and rude under his breath as I stood in front of him with my arms folded over my chest, looking like a petulant five year old that didn't get the toy they wanted in their happy meal.

I could always give Damon a happy meal…

I cursed my vulgar thoughts and concentrated on being upset, but it wasn't working.

"Damon! Will she be okay?"

"She'll be fine."

I sighed in relief. "I want to see her."

His eyes flashed in panic. "No."

"Well, why the hell not?"

He seemed to be struggling to come up with an answer. "Hold on… let me think of an answer that you'd actually buy."

I growled and shoved past him, running up the stairs and opening random doors, only to slam them shut again when Bonnie wouldn't be in them. He followed me slowly, obviously amused by my displeasure, and made no effort to stop me as I slowly wore down all of my energy.

I was sagging over and panting heavily, while he stood next to me and laughed. I slapped him on the arm, yet again forgetting that it wasn't fucking hurting him.

"Ugh! I have to stop doing that." My voice sounded disgusting and wheezy. I braced myself on my knees and he put his arm around my waist for support, letting me lean all of my weight on him. Of course, he didn't feel any of it.

"You'll figure it out eventually."

I raised an eyebrow.

"That hitting me is only going to hurt yourself?"

My hand automatically hit him when I heard his insinuating that I was stupid, and I knew that there would me plenty of bruises the next day.

"I'm not stupid!"

"Who said you were stupid?"

I struggled against his grip and he released me without any effort, going back to his usual bored expression. I scowled at him and sat down, wincing as I uselessly grabbed at my ribcage. Running really wasn't for me; you'll never see me try out for track, and that's for sure.

"Where is she?"

"Stop asking me that."

"Where is she?"

He rested his head against the wall. "No."

"Yes."

He looked at me strangely. "Do you even know what we're arguing about?"

"Yes… no… I want to see her!"

He groaned in frustration and threw me over his shoulder before I could blink. Even as I banged my fists against his rock-hard back and screamed in his ear to put me down, it was just for show; my position was actually quite comfortable. I smiled smugly as I realized that I could see the top of his head; for some reason, it made me feel like we were more equal that way.

He started humming something again as we descended the stairs, and I knew that he was jostling me on purpose, for the sake of annoying me. My throat was making strange noises as my head bounced up and down, and up and down, all the blood flowing there and making me dizzy.

"Is that David Buoy again?" My voice echoed loudly throughout the empty house.

"It's Bowie. And, no. This is the Cure."

I'd never heard any of their music, either, but at least I'd heard kids at school talk about them.

"Who are they?" Every time he mentioned something, I felt that annoying urge to learn more about it.

He sighed in annoyance. "You know what? Just forget it. What do you want for breakfast?"

I tried to bite down on his shoulder, but I could feel my teeth threatening to chip, so I stopped. "Damn. And I want to see Bonnie!"

He stopped abruptly, causing me to smash into his body, which felt like granite.

"Owe!"

"Shush." He looked completely zoned out, and I held onto him for dear life as he lurched forward at lighting speed. The nausea came and went as he continued to do this, and it soon got old as he made random little stops all throughout the house.

I huffed as he listened intently to something, almost afraid to do anything; stupidly, I figured whispering in his ear would be better than just speaking like a normal person.

"What are you listening to?"

He looked startled to see me… wow; he really did zone out completely. "Get off of my back."

He suddenly looked very predatory; like a shark that was searching for its prey. "Go downstairs; you'll find Bonnie there."

I ran away from him, my instincts telling me that whatever was upstairs wasn't safe. My feet trembled as I dashed down the stairs, for once in my life not falling down them.

"Bonnie?"

I heard a weird noise coming from a cage-like object that was in the left corner of the basement. I cautiously approached it, curiosity taking over as I wondered what the hell could possibly be in there.

"Bonnie?"

The noise was becoming much more clear now: there was a low moaning noise, and the sound of a chair creaking up and down.

"Oh, Bonnie. What are you doing in there?"

My dirty mind froze as I screamed, watching in fascinated horror as Bonnie thrashed around in a chair. Her petite body was taped to one of those chairs that you'd see in a middle school, and her face was evil looking as she desperately tried to escape. Her nails were scraping at the tape that was binding her, chipping away.

She looked… possessed.

Her normally calm and smooth face was full of rage as she tried to tear out of that chair, and I soon realized that if she did, only the metal bars of the cage would be between us. Terrified, I took a step back.

The kicking was getting harder and her screams were more and more anguished sounding with each one that came out of her bloody lips. They were soaked with the familiar red color as she bit down on them, causing the blood to drip down her chin and onto the floor.

"Damon?" I called out. I could vaguely hear loud thuds over Bonnie's antics and hoped that everything was all right up there, because it sure as hell wasn't down here.

All of the sudden, her chaotic movements ceased and her eyelids started fluttering as if she were waking up from a deep and peaceful slumber. I watched as she stared at me, looking confused and hurt, and feebly tried to break loose from the super-strong tape.

"Elena? What's going on? Where am I? And why haven't you been at school?"

I stared back at her, more than a little confused. "Bonnie, I'm being homeschooled, remember?"

She shook her head, causing her bright-red hair to frizz up even more; under normal circumstances, I would've laughed and asked her when she decided to get an Afro.

Tears were starting to pool in her wide eyes. "I don't know what's happening. Just get me out of here, okay?"

I thought about it… what if Damon had her locked in here for a reason? And after that psychotic episode she had just been through, I didn't want anywhere near her without something separating us.

I shook my head. "No. I think I'll wait for Damon to come down here."

She was starting to breath more quickly. "Who's Damon? Where AM I?"

I used my hand to tell her to lower her voice, similar to how a teacher would do to a first grader, and breathed in and out deeply. She soon followed the suit and we were doing much better.

"Where am I?" She sounded scared and vulnerable, which frightened me. What if I wasn't doing the right thing?

"You're in the old Salvatore boarding house. We used to think it was haunted, remember?"

She nodded. "Yeah; that was so stupid."

Suddenly, something struck me: was I supposed to tell her that she was in a house with two vampires? Surely, it wouldn't be a comforting thought to little Bonnie, but she probably had a right to know.

"Well… not really."

"Well, why not?"

I sighed hesitantly before continuing. "They're vampires." There; quick and easy.

What I wasn't expecting, though, was her reaction. Instead of the tears of terror that I had been expecting, I was watching her laugh hysterically, shaking the chair from all of the noise she was making.

"Bonnie, shut up! That's not exactly what I'd call funny."

She reduced her laughter down to chuckles. "Yeah… vampires. You always have been hilarious, Elena."

I could feel my temper start to rise before I could stop it. Why would I make up something ridiculous as fucking vampires?

"I'm not joking! Now cut it out."

She only laughed harder and I shouted in frustration, punching the wall and taking steps back. I couldn't decide if I preferred the laughing or the screaming; one was terrifying, and the other one was ear splitting.

You just can't win either way.

"Bonnie, stop laughing."

She ignored me and clutched her stomach in agony; still laughing like there was no tomorrow. I continued to back up until I felt my back hit something hard and tall. I gasped as I turned around to see a grim-looking Damon standing before me.

"Damon!"

"That would be my name."

I ignored his sarcasm for once. "What happened? Are you under control?"

He scowled angrily at me. "Do you really think I would come down here if I wasn't under control?"

I shrugged and stared, waiting for the answer to my question. "Stefan wasn't under control when he asked me to meet him."

"First: who, exactly, told you not to meet him that night?"

Damn. "You," I grumbled.

"And, Stefan's an idiot; you can't trust any decision he makes because half of the time, he doesn't spend any time looking at either side of the story, and the other half, he spends hour after hour obsessing over little details that are barely even relevant."

"Well, that's just peachy. Why were being like that upstairs?"

"We had visitors."

Oddly enough, as much as that sentence should've scared the hell out of me, I felt perfectly safe with rude and brooding Damon at my side; I knew that nothing was going to happen to me as long as he was here. The girl in the cage, however, had different thoughts.

Her eyes widened and Bonnie shrieked for no reason, all of her laughter forgotten; and it was right back to the beginning, with her looking like she walked straight out of the Exorcist.

"Bonnie! Why are you screaming?"

It was too late; she was gone. I felt tears of frustration well up in my eyes and hid my face from Damon, not wanting to show him my momentary weakness. His strength was one of my favorite things about him, after all.

He sighed. "She's just going through shock again. She's reliving what's just happened in her mind, over and over again. She's feeling that weird little feeling, where you can tell that someone's behind you; she's feeling the predator's eyes on her back as she slowly turns around; she's feeling the razor sharp teeth slice through her delicate skin, ripping and tearing it apart as the predator sucks the life out of her—

"Damon!" I interrupted him. "Shut up! Way too much information." What he had just shared with me was something that I wouldn't be able to get out of my head for a couple of days.

"Fine. I was just explaining it to you."

"Not in that much detail!"

He shrugged. "Fine. I'll keep that in mind for future reference."

I glowered at him. He smiled back, looking cheerful, and wiping the blood off of his hands that I hadn't noticed on his black jeans.

"Why's there blood on your hands?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I said we had visitors."

Why isn't this creeping me out? I should be running from this hellhole, screaming my lungs out… but there I stood, not feeling an ounce of fear in my body.

"Well, that's not very hospitable."

He rolled his eyes and began ascending the stairs. "I'll be in my bedroom."

Right… because I knew where that was….

I turned to my ex-best friend, saddened by her thrashing form, and walking towards her carefully.

"Bonnie?" My voice was soft and sweet, like I was talking to a child.

Her eyes rolled back in her head and I panicked, fearing that Damon was downplaying this supposed "shock" she was in. Palming the cold and damp walls, I searched for some sort of key that could free her but found nothing.

I knew Damon would hear if I asked him for help, but I also knew that he would ignore me.

"Hold on, Bonnie."

I didn't know why I was telling her this, because she obviously couldn't hear me, but I kept on reassuring her that everything was going to be all right. My palms were injured and bleeding from the rough surface of the wall, but I ignored the sharp pains and kept looking.

Before I could find it, though, she had stopped again.

"Elena?"

I held my breath and turned around to see a tear-soaked Bonnie, looking even more scared and confused than before.

"Yes, Bonnie?"

Her crying was making it hard to understand her, but I somehow managed to. "Will you let me out?"

My heart broke at the sight of her, trapped inside of a cage like an animal, and crying like she was never going to get out of it. Actually, I didn't know that she was getting out of it, at that point.

I was torn; the more logical and clear-thinking side of me was telling my brain that Damon obviously had her locked in here for a reason, and I shouldn't dare mess with his seemingly flawless logic… after all, it hadn't failed me, thus far.

As we all know, though, I firmly believe that logic is overrated.

I groaned in frustration and rubbed my sweaty, bloody palms against each other out of habit, which only fueled the pain that was becoming more and more prominent. My hands literally felt like they were on fire, and it was all just because of a few little scrapes.

"Damn it!" I didn't know what it was that caused me to shout out so loudly; maybe it was the searing pain, or maybe it was the internal struggles that I was facing at that moment. Whatever it was, it caused Bonnie to stop crying and look at me curiously, like I was the animal at the zoo.

How ironic was that?

"Elena, you don't look so good."

For some reason, this offended me greatly. "You know what? You don't look so good, yourself."

I said this as I looked her over again, noting that her hair had somewhat deflated and was now sticking to her damp face. The little bit of makeup she wore on her eyes streaked down her cheeks, and her face was paler than ever.

Her face saddened instantly. "Let me out. Please!"

I guess the logic took over, for whatever reason. "I'm sorry."

The sobs were getting louder and louder as she just sat there, looking bewildered. "Why not? What's the big deal?"

"Bonnie, you were attacked. I don't exactly know what's happening, but I know that I have to keep you here. Can you please just behave?"

She leaned back in her chair and ignored me, muttering under her breath; I could see that she was slowly turning back to normal. This meant, of course, that she had to try one more time.

"Just let me go. I don't know what the hell happened, but I promise to never tell anyone."

I turned and walked away, conflicted, as she sighed. The stairs seemed long as I walked up them, not too eager to run into either one of the Salvatore brothers. Right off the bat, Stefan appeared out of nowhere and was in front of me.

"Elena, I'm sorry."

I rolled my eyes and walked past him, into the living room, taking in the scenery: the old house really was beautiful, once you got past the initial creepiness from all of the haunted house stories. A grand chandelier hung from the wall, right between the couch and chairs that were placed across from each other; the walls were painted a deep, dark red; and the wooden floor creaked as you walked anywhere, giving it a homey feel. I could definitely imagine Damon and Stefan standing right where I stood, a hundred years ago, having no knowledge of what was to come.

Stefan was beside me in a flash and stood a little bit too close, but still giving me my space, which I appreciated.

"I'll never forgive myself for what I did."

I had had enough of his fucking stupid antics. "Stefan, shut the fuck up! There's no way you're even a vampire; you seem like some stupid emo kid that just wears too much guyliner and walks around, all brooding and such, because you can't accept the fact that your life is normal. So stop being like that, because it's not getting you anywhere."

He stared at me quietly, before finally speaking. "Do you recall what started your rather heated argument?"

Oh, yeah; he drank my blood. I don't think most emo kids were quite that devoted…

"Just leave me alone, Stefan." That intelligent response was the only thing I could manage to muster as I stalked away from him and sat down on one of the couch, feeling uncomfortable as I recognized that his eyes were still on my back. He slowly approached me, taking his own sweet time as he lounged in one of the leather chairs, which made a weird farting noise as he sat down.

He stared at me awkwardly as it made a particularly loud noise, obviously panicked that my weak human senses had caught onto his unfortunate mishap.

I glowered at him, displeased that he was still bothering me. "Well, say excuse me."

"But, I didn't…"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, but you made the noise, which is what it's all about. Actually, the noise and the smell, but still… you probably wreak of my blood, anyway."

He sighed dramatically and made several more farting noises as he stood up, trying to keep what was left of his dignity (not that he had any to begin with) as he walked away. "I'm leaving; you're far too cold-hearted."

I smiled evilly as he exited the room, and I knew that Damon was proud of me in that moment; I relaxed and flipped on the TV, looking for something good. I found Saw IV, which I heard was bloody and disgusting, and clicked on it, having no idea what I was in for.

I want to play a game… live or die, make your choice… hair being disconnected from people's heads… knife chairs… spikes through people… autopsies with naked old men and messages that they've left in their hearts. It was all too much, and none of it made any sense. Who was this Jigsaw person and what was he doing? He was obviously some fucked up freak, and that's for sure.

The gore was a little bit too detailed for my stomach and I flipped the television off, closing my eyes and shuttering, trying to get images out of my head that I could've lived without seeing. Maybe some day I would watch the Saw saga and come to appreciate its harsh grisliness; I sincerely doubted it, though.

I realized that I had killed a couple of hours and it was dinnertime, my stomach acting as a built-in alarm clock for food time.

"Hey, Stephanie?"

I heard a growl, the sound of dishes breaking, and then he was there in front of me with no warning.

"Oh. Hi. What's for dinner?"

"My name is not Stephanie. It is Stefan."

I shrugged. "Don't care. Never have, never will. What's for dinner?"

He rolled his eyes melodramatically. "Why don't you ask your boyfriend?"

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "I don't have one at the moment. And I asked you."

He contemplated for a minute. "Well, I can't cook; what do you want?"

I thought about all of the options: sandwich, pasta, and salad… soup.

"Soup, please."

"Where from and what kind?"

"Don't care and chicken noodle."

He shoved his jacket over his broad shoulders, scowling like it was the end of the world. "I'll be back in twenty minutes, tops."

I didn't want to thank the bastard, but the manners I had been raised with kicked in automatically. "Thank you."

He mumbled something as he slammed the door shut behind him, trudging out into the night to fetch me my dinner. As I leaned back into the couch, I felt myself slowly drift into a peaceful and light sleep until the beast woke me up by shaking my shoulders roughly.

"What? What? Is there a fire?" I knew I sounded stupid, but the panicked look on his face freaked me out. Don't you ever say things when you're just waking up that you kind of regret later in the morning (or, in this case, evening)?

"No. Your dinner is here."

I sat up as he took his hands off of me and handed me a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup, already leaving the room. "You're welcome."

"Thank you."

I heard his footsteps approach the room again and groaned under my breath, not wanting to have to make small talk with him.

"What do you want? And how much do I owe you?" I didn't actually have any money on hand, but I always hated it when people paid for things for me.

He shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I'm hurrying out to size up our competition."

My heart sunk as I realized that he was going out to risk his life for the three of us in the house, bravely trying to defend the town. It wasn't that I cared about him; it was more of that I cared about what he was doing. That's why I found myself saying words that I never thought I'd hear myself say.

"Be careful, would you?"

He smiled slightly before he could cover it up. "You know I will."

I raised my eyebrow at his uncharacteristically smart-sounding comment as he left the house, wondering what had gotten him in such a good mood. I looked down at my bowl of soup and knew that I couldn't finish it, but there was someone who could.

I carefully walked down the stairs, trying not to splash hot soup all over my chest and also hoping in vain that Damon wouldn't hear.

"Bonnie?'

I immediately noticed that she wasn't sitting in the chair anymore; someone had freed her, and she was sitting on the floor with a dreamy expression on her face. Her cheeks had an almost red glow and her eyes were sparkling, which could only mean one thing. Ewe.

"Oh, God. Tell me you didn't."

She didn't look surprised to see me. "Tell you I didn't do what?"

The thought was getting more and more disgusting with each passing moment. "Tell me you didn't fuck Stefan."

She had the audacity to giggle as she stood up. "I could; but I'd be lying."

"Oh, gross! What the hell is wrong with you?"

She cocked her head to the side. "Haven't you seen his feet? They're not the only thing that's big, you know…"

I struggled to fight against my gag reflex as she sighed dreamily, supporting her body weight against the bars.

"Bonnie! That's disgusting!"

Her eyes narrowed. "You're just jealous because you're not getting any."

I stared at her, shocked; Bonnie had always been the innocent one, so hearing her say that she was getting more sex than I was was mind-boggling.

I shook my head as if it would clear my thoughts. "Let's not focus on me right now."

"Okay. What do you want to talk about, then?"

I was hesitant to touch on the subject, but I knew that it had to be done. "Do you remember anything from the night of the attack, Bonnie?"

Her eyes hardened. "Of course I do; it's not every night that vampires come along and try to kill you, only to leave you for dead meat when they get bored."

I stared at her, shocked. "You know?"

She laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, I know; I have longer than you have."

I'm pretty sure my jaw was touching the floor. "Well… how?"

"You know what, Elena? Why do you always have to know everything? Why can't you just accept the fact that you can't be in on everything and just let it go, huh?"

I stared at her, bewildered. "Bonnie!"

She wasn't done, though." For our entire relationship, it was always about what you wanted. I'm so sick and tired of pleasing you all the time… I have a life, you know! It can be hard to believe, but some of us actually care about things besides ourselves."

My eyes were stinging with humiliated tears as she continued to tear me down. "You're such an ugly bitch, on the inside and out. Why was I ever friends with someone like you? You're just so stupid!"

My voice was quiet and feeble. "You don't mean that." Oh, great; even my voice sounded watery. Why don't we just publish it in the newspaper? I can see the headline now: Elena Gilbert Cries! What Will the World Do?

Her eyes looked devilish as she took all of her anger out on me. "Oh, but I do."

She continued on with her rampage as I just stood there, weak and defenseless, trying to stand up for myself and failing. Eventually, I settled for running up the stairs like a deer in the headlights and kept running until I reached the top floor. I searched every room on the floor until I came to the very last one, jumping onto the bed next to a bored looking (surprise, surprise) Damon.

"What the hell?"

I could feel the tears begin to slip before I could stop them and I buried my face in his pillow, determined not to let him see me in this state. He gave me an awkward little pat on the back and left his hand there; giving me a pleasant and unfamiliar feeling as he slowly rubbed my tense muscles in deep, smooth circles.

"Hey, now. What's going on?" His voice was softer than usual and I sadly looked up at him, ashamed that my eyes were undoubtedly red and puffy, and not to mention ugly. I had self-esteem, but some of the comments Bonnie had made struck home run with me as I replayed her voice in my head, over and over again.

I ignored him and placed my face back in the pillow, and he let me cry myself out until I was finally done. I sat up and clutched my head, the headache already beginning to fester as I slowly lay down on my back and he watched me, concerned.

"What happened?"

I sighed deeply. "It was nothing; just something that Bonnie had said. It was totally uncalled for, but it's over, now."

"It didn't look like nothing."

I shrugged. "Do you mind if I sleep in here tonight? I know that it's kind of weird, but I don't really want to be alone in this state."

He answered by making more room for me and casually draping an arm around my side, pulling me to him. It was simple, but I was all I needed to fall asleep; the thing I woke up to next was both hilarious and terrifying at the same time.

Stefan was leaning over me, is nostrils flaring and his eyes filled with rage.

"What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On. Here?"

I bit my lip and pulled the sheets up higher on myself out of instinct, even though I was fully clothed, not wanting him to see me like this; I was sure that I was a mess, after what had happened last night, and the last thing I needed was him talking about it for the next couple of days.

"What's the matter, Stefan? We're just sleeping together." The statement sounded innocent enough to me, but it meant something else entirely to him.

"You're just sleeping together? What is wrong with you? I leave home for all of two hours and come home to a distraught Bonnie downstairs and… this! You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

I didn't like the tone he was using with us and my temper flared up, which certainly wasn't going to do me any favors.

"I needed him, okay? Is that so bad?"

He looked horrified as he stumbled out of the room, and I felt the bed shift as Damon followed him, grumbling lowly. Jesus, his low voice was sexy.

I shrugged and happily fell back asleep, my own innuendos lost on me as I fell asleep to a picture of Damon that I always had inside my head. All of the drama could wait for tomorrow.

AN: Oh, and drama there will be! I know that Bonnie seems like a bitch, but she'll explain her actions in the next couple of chapters. Review for more sexy Damon and snarky Elena! :)

IMPORTANT: This story and API can now be found on my LJ account, which you can find on my profile. Just as this chapter is, chapters for this story typically go up on Sunday over there, so go check it out! Thanks so much for taking the time to R and R.

Love,

Evangeline