AN: I am SO SORRY for not updating in, like, three weeks! I got my first writer's block and, as I stated in my last AN, I just moved an unpacking has been a real bitch. Unfortunately, this chapter is probably going to be shorter than usual… but, because I'm been keeping you guys waiting for so long, there's something sexual towards the end of the chapter for everyone to enjoy! I hope you guys love the chapter and sorry for this long assed AN (rambling is not one of my attractive features).

Disclaimer: Nothing I mention in this chapter or story—especially key themes, characters and places from the Vampire Diaries, belonging to L.J. Smith—belongs to me.

Chapter Seven

"Could he have picked a more friendly girlfriend?"

I was referring to Jeremy's most recent flavor of the week (no pun intended), of course; I wondered whatever happened to Vicki Donavan. At least she was human.

He rolled his eyes and dragged me forward, causing an uncomfortable knot to form in my arm. I gritted my teeth and forced my legs to move faster, trying to get my arm to bend, and I felt sweat begin to form above my brow as we picked up speed.

"What is this; high intensity cardio class? What the fuck can't we just walk at a normal pace?"

He snorted but didn't comment on my use of profanity. "Only if you want it to be. I've been around for a long time; there's lots of things that I could show you…"

Oh, God. Not another sexual innuendo… I would spontaneously combust.

"Actually, I would like to walk at a normal pace." I didn't like how redundant I was becoming.

"We're not going at my 'normal pace'. We're going at the oh-so-desirable 'sluggish human' pace."

I ignored his jab at my species as he dragged us both onward, his impending sexiness being amplified by the moonlight. His pale features were more defined against his black hair and clothing and I closed my eyes, bidding myself not to have dirty thoughts.

Think about… grandma. Cookies. Puppies. Oh, wait; puppies can fuck, too. Damn it.

"What are you thinking about?" he suddenly asked me. What an interesting time to bring up that question…

"Why? Can you read minds?" In that Twilight book, there was this vampire that was like Stefan—a "vegetarian"—and he could read minds. Besides, if vampires were real, anything was real.

"No."

"Well, then why'd you ask?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "You do realize that if I could read minds, I wouldn't have to ask what you were thinking, right?"

Oh.

"Well… I was thinking about dirty things, and you've never asked before… so I just seemed like maybe you could…"

Damn it!

Too late now. "Ooh, dirty thoughts? Tell me more, please!"

"Hell no. Maybe if you could read minds, you would know what I was thinking about."

He stared at me like I was the biggest idiot in the world before grinning again. Oh… that smile… too horny.

"So, you fantasize about me?" What normal, healthy girl wouldn't?

"No. I didn't say the thoughts were about you."

"Then what were they about?"

"I already told you; you're not going to find out. So stop asking."

"But now I'm curious!"

I needed to distract him. "How long until we get home?"

He smiled again before my error dawned on me.

"I mean; how long before we get to your home?"

He groaned. "You have the attention span of a toddler."

I secretly chuckled, because he was the one that had the attention span of a toddler.

"Whatever you say."

"We've got about ten minutes."

"Great." Actually, it was great, but I wasn't going to let him know that.

"Hey—

I made an unpleasant hissing noise like the dog whisperer to cut him off. "No. It's time to shut up. We are going to walk in complete silence for the rest of the way."

He huffed, annoyed, but complied to my wishes. I took the time we had to stare around me at my surroundings: the dark sky cast soft shadows, enhancing each individual leaf on the magnificent tree that was on my right. The grass was wet and smelled like honeydew, and the brown path we were walking on had stones and logs everywhere, sitting in casual disarray like they had been there for years.

Suddenly, I felt the overwhelming urge to say something that had been on my mind. It was more important than any competition, even if I had initiated it. I looked up at him cautiously, noting that he seemed to be in a good mood.

"Hey, Damon?"

"Ha! You talked first."

"I know." My voice sounded off, like there was something wrong. The nerves were taking over me and I wasn't even saying anything important. My fingers clenched around his and he somehow managed to feel it, even though it wasn't hurting him in the slightest.

He came to a halt and frowned at me, looking almost concerned. "What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, nothing." My throat sounded like something was stuck inside of it.

"Really?" Obviously, he wasn't convinced; I wasn't either, for the matter.

"Yeah. I just wanted to say…"

He waited for me to finish, but I didn't want to spit out the words for some reason. This was a big step for us. Showing any kind of emotion was strictly prohibited, and I was about to wear my heart on my sleeve for a minute.

It was terrifying and electrifying at the same time.

"Yes? You just wanted to say?"

I cleared my throat, which helped tremendously. "Um… thanks for, like, looking after me and everything. I know neither one of us either really express our feelings, but I appreciate that you took me into your home and helped me when I needed it. So, thanks."

He stared at me, dumbfounded, until he regained control over himself. "Um, you're welcome. Now, we should probably be going."

Something about Damon was different in that moment. He was still his regular, badass, sexy self, but there was something more vulnerable about him when I thanked him; it was like he was opening up to me. In his eyes, I could see something other than sarcasm and misery.

Overwhelmed by this, I threw my arms around him and buried my face into his chest. He was firm without being too hard, and warm, unlike the icy cold that you would expect from a vampire. His hands awkwardly slid around me and held me to him, silently thanking me. For what, I didn't know.

What I did know was that in those couple of minutes, when we just stood there, holding each other, something changed for the better.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

It was late by the time we finally got home; that didn't mean that the party had stopped, though. Stefan was doing push-ups in the corner while Bonnie watched him, licking her lips nastily. His shirt was draped over the back of the couch and his flat, feminine-looking body seemed to be getting curvier by the second.

"Ewe."

Everyone looked at me as I let out that disgusted noise.

"Sorry. I meant, someone call the police, because this party is getting out of hand!" My fake enthusiasm went unappreciated; Stefan got up and began to button his shirt while Bonnie went back to her magazine, looking bored. Damon went over to the table behind the couch and poured himself a drink, staring at me with curiosity.

Bonnie casually slid her hand up and down Stefan's leg, going higher and higher until I finally let out an angry groan.

"For the love of God, stop acting like your little adventures you're having in the corner are some kind of forbidden secret!"

Damon still looked bored and uninterested as he stared us down, obviously not falling for the 'we-so-didn't-fuck' act.

You'd think the rest of them would have put the puzzle pieces together. "Damon; they totally fucked."

I even surprised myself at how blunt that was, and I'd said some pretty blunt things in the past. He drank his glass in one sip, downing it and not even looking phased as he slammed the cup down and poured some more.

"Duh."

I rolled my eyes as I turned to look at Stefan, who looked like a panicked deer in the headlights.

The only thing I was looking for was confirmation. "So, it's true, then? You screwed her?" For some reason, that made me really angry.

Bonnie still wasn't looking up from her magazine and Stefan looked hesitant.

"I don't see how that's any of your business, in all honesty."

Ouch. Nice comeback, Stephanie.

"Just answer the question and I won't bother you anymore."

"Yes, okay? We had sex. And it was really, really good!"

I rolled my eyes at Bonnie's sudden outburst. Nothing surprised me anymore, what with all of the secret meetings in the woods and near satanic seizure-things happening.

"Gross."

"Oh, please. It's not like you and Damon are virgins."

Damon removed his lips from the glass for half a second to answer. "That's true, you know."

"But we've never slept together! And at least Damon's attractive. Look at Stephanie over there and tell me that he's hot…"

"Thanks, princess." That came from the elder, good-looking Salvatore.

"Hey!" That came from the… other Salvatore.

I grinned cheekily at Stefan as he huffed and puffed at me, growing angrier and angrier by the minute.

"Sorry, hon. I'm just stating the facts. "

Bonnie finally said something, at least. "You know what? Just because you got the better looking one doesn't mean that you got the better one!"

I stared at her blankly. "Um, yes it does."

"No. Stefan has quality and substance, and he's a gentleman. Damon…" She pointed over to my man (in my dreams) who was guzzling down beer like it was all going to magically disappear in the next five seconds.

"What are you getting at, exactly?"

"His exterior might be pretty, but his interior isn't!"

Stefan looked truly offended. "I'm starting to feel like the ugly Barbie doll that no one wants."

I laughed out loud while Bonnie tried to comfort him, and Damon smirked, pointing to the corner.

"Most toddlers throw the unwanted Barbie dolls in the corner when they don't want them, you know. And then they cut off all of their hair and brutally decapitate them before feeding the remainders of their poor, homely corpses to their puppies."

"I didn't mean to say that out loud," Stefan retorted in a quiet voice.

"No filter." I didn't really care if he heard or not; I still hadn't completely gotten used to the fact that vampires could hear anything from anywhere inside the house."

It was kind of unnerving.

"We will be together one day!" he yelled as he stormed out of the room.

Jesus. Was I going to have to drop a nuclear bomb on his head before he realized that we would never be together?

Bonnie glared at me hatefully. "You see? Look what you've done now!"

Damon chuckled. "I'm going upstairs now. You know where to find me."

"Thanks for your support, Dana."

"Do. Not. Call. Me. That."

I rolled my eyes in response and he was up the stairs before I could see him go.

My former best friend was seething as I sat down.

"I'm so tired of you getting all the good guys!"

"Oh, shut up. Just because Damon likes me and he hates you doesn't mean it's the end of the world. Besides, you've got your precious Stefan."

Her small eyes focused in on my forehead like it was a dartboard. "I hope one day you can realize how immature and stupid you are. Maybe then you'll appreciate me as a friend and you can beg for me to take you back."

My eyes rolled. "Yep. And then I'll eat dog food and crawl around on my knees all day, asking for permission to trim your toenails and to pee in the backyard."

She looked revolted. "You are such an idiot."

"Yep. I'm not in the math club." We had sworn that we'd never talk about her fourth grade math team again, but she was asking for it.

"Ugh! You're such an imbecile!"

"How many ways can you reiterate the fact that you think I'm stupid?"

"Many. You're ugly and boring, too."

Who was this bitch and where did innocent little Bonnie go? Her eyes were doing that weird thing where she flared up and got angry, and then she'd start shaking.

"Elena Gilbert, I hate you! Go die in a fucking hole! Moron."

I huffed at got up, intent on bothering someone else. Looking back as I excited the room, I knew whoever that was that was sitting on the couch wasn't Bonnie. Not the Bonnie I knew, anyway.

I found myself outside of Stefan's room, rapping on the door extra loudly because I knew it would bother him. The door swung open and he glared at me.

"What?"

"I'm bored."

"So?"

"Can I come in?"

His gentlemanly instincts kicked in before he could stop them and he stepped aside, holding the door for me and gesturing with his hand that I should enter. As I looked around his room, I noted that it much resembled his personality: dry and boring, with no originality. There were little antiques littered throughout the room, obviously collected as time continued on, being left to stay here for all eternity.

"This room is… nice."

"Thank you. I designed it myself."

Duh.

"That's impressive." I didn't know why I was being nice to him; maybe it was because I was so desperate not to be bored, or maybe it was because I was exhausted beyond belief.

"You know, you should really consider making up with Bonnie."

I scoffed. "Excuse me? Have you seen the way she's been treating me?"

"Have you seen the way you've been treating her?"

I shrugged. "But I'm never nice. She usually is, so it makes a big difference."

"Why does it make a big difference? You should always be a good friend, no matter what. Family may always be at your side, but you can't tell them everything like you can to a true friend."

"What is this? An old re-run of Full House? "

He rolled his eyes. "I just wanted you to know that I think you two should make up. And…"

"What?" I knew I would be stuck in here all day if I didn't listen to what he had to say.

He hesitated before speaking in a huge hurry. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm always here, no matter what happens. You can tell me anything and I won't judge you."

Despite my better judgment, I could feel myself smiling. "Okay. Good to know. Although I'm sure I'll never take you up on that."

I still didn't know that I wanted to talk to Bonnie, but I figured that it would get him to leave me alone. It was funny, how I could go from wanting to bother him to trying to get him to stop bothering me in a matter of seconds.

I waved and left his room and he followed me, stopping in the kitchen while I went all the way back into the living room. Bonnie sat there with that creepy, blank expression that she got after she'd start shaking and screaming… but this time, I didn't hear any screaming.

"Bonnie?"

Her eyes flickered up to me. "What?"

Her voice was raw and depressed. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry."

She laughed bitterly. "For what? Leaving me to survive senior year alone or completely ignoring me when I got here, which was when I needed you the most?"

I scoffed. "Come on, Bonnie; that's hardly fair. You told me you didn't want to be friends anymore, so I stopped being your friend. I am the one that's been needing the support lately. All you do is sit around and scream all day long."

She scowled. "Is that really what you think I do?"

"Well… yeah." What else would she be doing?

She sighed in annoyance. "Let's start listing mythical creatures, shall we?"

"Um… no?" Why was she listing mythical creatures? We weren't sixth graders that were getting ready to dress up for Halloween.

She shook her had angrily. "You know what? I try to help you and the only thing you do is throw it back in my face. Go burn in hell, you fucking bitch!"

"Jesus. PMS, much?" I muttered to myself.

I heard a door slam from the basement and heard screaming, which was what really pushed me over the edge. I let out a mighty scream of my own and ran up the stairs, barging in on Damon who was standing in front of the mirror, observing himself. I struggled not to drool as I saw his killer abs, his black shirt unbuttoned.

"I'm so fucking tired of Bonnie!"

He smiled sarcastically. "Why?"

"As if you don't know."

He sexily strolled over to me, placing his hands on my shoulders and pushing my down to a sitting position on the bed as he massaged my shoulders, looking much taller than he actually was when he was standing above me.

His long, strong fingers gently relaxed my body as they worked, calming me down. My breathing intensified as I stared at his stomach, flat with just enough muscle, inches from my face. I could have reached out with my tongue and licked it…

He seemed at peace (well, as at peace as Damon could be) as he continued this, occasionally looking down from under his thick, black lashes. I could feel arousal piling up inside of me, waiting to explode as it literally set my body on fire. He finally set me over the edge when he looked at me for a final time, not looking innocent but not looking too dirty, either.

I shoved myself upward so that our bodies were as close as they could possibly be and grabbed hold of his soft and silky hair, smashing our lips together. He responded almost instantly, his mouth tasting like chocolate and honey and all sorts of other sexy things. I hitched my leg around his hip and his tongue slowly explored my mouth, dancing with mine as my fingers remained locked in his hair.

However, my hands soon abandoned their semi-innocent position as I felt his thumbs sweep over my breasts. I ripped his shirt from his shoulders and he unbuttoned mine at super speed, his hands now freely groping at me through my lacy bra. My hands traveled over his sculpted chest down to his stomach making their way back and forth until they settled around his back.

His hands were soft and slightly rough as they tore apart my bra and I gasped as he kissed and sucked at my left breast, licking in all of the right spots and using his hand to shower the other one with attention. I felt like I should be doing something, like trying to take his pants off, as he slowly kissed his way down my stomach, but he didn't seem to mind. He skipped right over the area I wanted him to lick and pulled down my jeans, smirking at me with his eyes and kissing around my ankles.

I tried to remove his belt, but his hands merely pushed mine away. His lips were now brushing against my mid-thigh and my legs were starting to shake. I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take, but then again, I had never fucked a vampire before, either.

All of the other times I'd done this, I'd always been the one in charge; this was a completely different element for me. I didn't even mind that I was letting him take over my entire body because it felt good, which was the only thing that really mattered to me in that moment.

Finally, I knew I wasn't going to have to wait much longer when his long fingers slipped inside of my underwear and gently caressed me, causing me to groan like I was possessed. My hips automatically lifted up and he chuckled, withdrawing his hands and pulling my thoroughly soaked panties down with them.

I stared down at myself consciously; no doubt he had seen women ten thousand more times beautiful than me. He smiled reassuringly from the point of my leg he was casually resting his leg on. I shuddered as his fingers danced up and down my leg, up and down, up and down.

"Stop that!"

He laughed again. "Patience, princess."

I somehow managed to wait patiently, because after what felt like hours, his fingers were finally there, but then…

"What the hell is going on in here?"

I screamed and searched for a sheet to cover myself with, eventually settling for Damon. He made sure I was fully shielded from Stephanie's perverted eyes before turning to glare at him.

"Excuse us, Stefan, but we were actually in the middle of… activities, if you will."

Activities will never be the same word to me.

Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Well, I just made Elena some homemade chicken noodle soup, but you're obviously busy."

"Obviously." Shut up, Damon; you may be the eternal stud that I'd wanted to fuck since the day I first saw you, but there was no way I was turning down chicken noodle soup.

"Wait, Stefan!" I called. He ignored me and went back down the stairs, taking the delicious-smelling soup with him.

In a way, I felt bad about what I'd done… even though I hadn't actually done anything.

I sighed and looked back down at Damon, who was placing his entire palm against my stomach and rested his head against my chest, lying on top of me and holding his weight on his other hand that was braced against the mattress.

"Want to go find Stefan?" He sighed, resigned, as if he already knew the answer.

I beamed down at him and hopped up from the bed, feeling blood run to my cheeks as he stared me down. "Don't look!"

He smirked. "Why not, princess? You look pretty damned good to me."

I know some girls would consider that almost borderline derogatory, but they didn't have Damon. Coming from him, I knew that he actually meant it, which was a huge confidence booster to me. Despite my tough exterior, I still had my moments of self-doubt.

"Thanks. Now look away."

I slide my clothes back on, disgruntled, because running around the house naked would have been much more comfortable. He lay back on the bed, his shirt still off, which gave me the perfect chance to stare him down without looking like a total perv.

He caught me and waved me off. "I'll be here if you need me."

I don't know if I was supposed to or not, but I took that as a general rule. Damon would look out for me.

I walked out of the room feeling like I was literally going to burst, but at the same time I was on cloud nine, just for the sheer fact that I almost had sex with Damon. I kept stumbling on stuff as I made my way down the stairs and actually fell when I tripped over one of Stefan's shoes, but barely felt the impact of the fall.

In the kitchen, there was a bowl of soup with a card next to it. It said: To Elena, my one true love.

I rolled my eyes and through the piece of the paper on the floor before eating the soup, which was one of the most delicious things I'd ever tasted. The hot liquid felt good on my dry throat and I quickly finished it all, noticing that my nose was all runny and I was resisting the urge to cough.

I groaned as I realized that I was coming down with a cold, which could be problematic.

Actually… I take that back. It could be a good thing. For now, though, I just needed to concentrate on not killing Bonnie and breaking up Jeremy and his psychotic bitch of a girlfriend.

At least I knew that Damon would be there for me.

AN: Again, I am so sorry about not updating in, like, three weeks! I know that a lot of authors update even less frequently than that and their chapters are a lot shorter, but still, I feel awful, because I'm been addicted to writing ff for years (although I haven't posting for too long). I'm finally settled into my new house, like I said, so I'll have a lot more time to write.

I love you guys so much and want to thank you for any kind of feedback that you give me. Reviews mean the world to me—even if they're telling me that my story sucks and I should go die in a hole—, so thank you to those of you who take the time to do it. Feel free to review… they make my day and motivate me to write faster!

I can almost guarantee that a new chapter will be up next Monday.

Until then… Love, Evie