"What did you say the name of your town is again?" Damon asked as he sat at a computer and scrolled through archives of neighboring towns and cities.

"Fell's Church," Elena replied as she searched through books.

"Fell's Church…" Damon muttered, scrolling down to the "F" section. Elena looked up from the book she was skimming through, "Any luck?"

Damon sighed heavily and exited the page, shaking his head. He opened Google maps and typed in "Fell's Church", waiting while the slow internet connection searched for Elena's home. Elena sighed heavily and shelved the book she had been reading, titled Mystic Falls and Neighboring Societies.

"No luck?" Damon asked her, and she shook her head, "That was the last book, too."

Damon shrugged, "They're books; probably out of date. You said this place was really small, right?"

Elena nodded as she walked over and took a seat beside him at the computer. Damon began scrolling again when the page finished loading, and frowned in irritation, "There is absolutely nothing here about Fell's Church!"

Elena bit her lip, "But why? I thought that every town was at least listed on the internet…"

"Clearly not," Damon snapped as he, once again, typed it into the search engine.

Elena began to feel her fears bubbling up again; if they couldn't find her town listed anywhere, how was she going to get home? She knew that both towns appeared to be in Virginia, but that was it. Fell's Church could very well be on the other side of the state! A tear fell from her eye when she thought of the possibility of not being able to get home, and what kind of trouble Jeremy could be in…

Damon noticed her sniffling and looked up, frowning, "Why are you crying?" he snapped in irritation, and she hiccoughed, turning away from him; he had such a short temper at times! She started to cry harder, terrified of the vampire beside her. The vampire! "Oh!" Elena whimpered, putting her face in her hands as she cried, her shoulders trembling. "Stop crying," he hissed to her, noticing a few people starting to stare at them. Elena cried harder, "I'm never going to g-get home! J-J-Jeremy c-can't be witho-out m-me, and you're s-so m-m-mean…!"

"I'm not mean!" Damon snapped, "I invited you into my house, didn't I? Mean would have been leaving you out in the streets to die!"

She cried even harder, wailing, and drawing irritated attention from the librarian, who stalked over to them, "Is everything alright here?" she said in a snippy tone.

Damon sighed, "Everything is fine…"

"No, everything is not fine! I'm lost, my town is unlisted, and I can't get h-home…!"

"What if I showed you around Mystic Falls?" Damon offered, simply wanting more than anything to get her out of the place where they were being the exact opposite of "quiet".

Elena looked at him like he was crazy, "What…?"

"Look; obviously there isn't anything for us to find here. Maybe someone in town can help us. I can show you around town while we ask. Okay?"

Elena wiped her eyes, "You would d-do that…?"

He nodded and stood, offering her his hand. A small smile tugged at Elena's lips as she accepted, allowing him to help her up. They started to walk out, and Damon tossed an apologetic look at the fuming librarian.

Once they were in the car again, Damon thought of one of the things that always seemed to make humans feel better, "Do you want to go for ice cream?"

She gave a small laugh, wiping her eyes on her borrowed sweater from Caroline, "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Damon nodded, and Elena smiled, "Sure."

They drove in silence for a few minutes until Damon pulled into the parking lot of a park, which had an ice cream stand a few feet in. The pair got out of Damon's car and walked up to the stand. He sighed, "What kind do you want?"

Elena giggled at how ridiculous all of this was; a vampire was buying her an ice cream cone. "Chocolate, I guess."

"One cone of chocolate." Damon said.

"Alright, that'll be…"

"Free."

The cashier laughed, "What…?"

He trailed off when he caught sight of Damon's hypnotic eyes, "The ice cream is free."

"Yeah…" the cashier said, "It's on the house."

Damon grinned, "Thanks."

The cashier passed Elena her cone and Elena frowned in confusion as she accepted. She then followed Damon as they walked along the paved trail through the park while she licked her ice cream, "Why did he just… give it to you?"

Damon grinned, "Compulsion; a vampire's greatest power. We can will people to do whatever we want just by looking at them. That is, if they don't have vervain."

"Vervain?" Elena asked, taking another lick.

"Well, yeah; every species has a weakness. Dogs can't eat chocolate, vampires can't ingest vervain. It weakens us. Oh; it burns at the touch, too."

Elena nodded, "I see."

Damon glanced at her, "What about you?"

She looked at him, "What about me?"

"Well, you seem so desperate to get back to your quaint little town of Fell's Church; what's your life like there?"

Elena bit her lip, "Well… it's just me and my little brother, Jeremy, really. Our parents died a few years ago. They… drove off a bridge and both died."

Damon's eyes widened in surprise, "Jeez… sorry. That… that really sucks, Elena."

She nodded, "I… was in the car, too. I was the only one to get out alive. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't feel guilty that I lived and they both died. I guess someone had to live to take care of Jeremy. But, right now, he's all alone. That's why I'm so eager to get home."

Damon nodded, "Little brother issues."

Elena smiled a bit, "There's also this guy…"

"A guy?" Damon asked, suddenly interested.

"Yeah… Stefan. Stefan Edwards; I met him yesterday on my way to work. I was actually on my way to our first date… when I ended up here."

"What's he like?" Damon asked as they walked.

"Oh, he's amazing; he's sweet, and kind, and funny… he's my prince charming," she giggled.

"Oh, really?" Damon asked, skeptical.

Elena nodded, "I'll be he's off searching for me as we speak."

Damon snorted, and Elena frowned at him, "What?"

"Elena," Damon laughed, running his fingers through his hair, "No guy is just going to drop everything in his life to go search for some random girl he just met yesterday."

"I didn't show up for our date! He has to be worried sick about me…"

"He probably just thinks you blew him off. It won't be a big deal to him, trust me."

"No, I don't want to trust you! Stefan loves me…!"

"Loves you? The guy barely knows you!"

Elena glares, "You have no idea what you're talking about…!"

"Oh, but I do! I'm 171 years old, Elena; I'm in love with Rebekah, and even I wouldn't go to the ends of the earth to save her if she blew me off." His frown returned at the reminder that it was because of the girl in front of him that he and Rebekah were no longer speaking.

Elena shook her head in disgust, "That's pathetic…"

"No, Elena, that's reality. Either suck it up, or go fend for yourself."

She stood up straighter, "Fine; I will."

"Good," he said, starting to walk again. Elena didn't follow, "No, I mean I'll go fend for myself."

Damon laughed, "You? Fend for yourself in this town? You were here for two minutes and nearly got slaughtered!"

"I don't care. Give me some money and I'll get out of your hair; you seem to want me gone awfully badly, why make me stay?"

Damon considered her offer, and shrugged, digging out his wallet, "Fine. If you're so determined, here," he handed her a fifty dollar bill, "Don't get yourself killed."

Elena smiled icily, "I'll try. I hope things work out between you and Rebekah."

Damon mirrored her venomous smile, "The same to you and your precious prince charming."

Elena rolled her eyes and threw her ice cream in the trash, storming away. Damon watched her go, his smile turning to an expression that mingled with worry. There was no way she would survive a night in Mystic Falls alone; absolutely no way.

But that isn't your problem, a voice in his head whispered, and he sighed in agreement, turning and heading back to his car, driving home.

VvvvV

Elena had walked around town all day, and hugged herself nervously as the sun began to set. Maybe this hadn't been such a brilliant plan, after all… perhaps she should just go back to Damon's house until she could find her way home.

He doesn't want you there, her conscience whispered, all you've done is cause him trouble.

She bit her lip, feeling that was right. She couldn't barge back into Damon's house uninvited. She would just have to find somewhere else to stay.

Of course, Elena, with her pitiful sense of direction, ended up getting horribly lost, with no hotels in sight for miles. To make matters worse, the sun had disappeared entirely from the sky. With the street lights flickering on the dark sidewalk, it was exactly the situation she had been in last night. All she needed was a vampire…

The hair on the back of her neck stuck up and she cursed herself for thinking that as she whirled and came face to face with a tall, muscular man with a buzz cut. "Hey," he grinned, flashing his set of perfect white teeth. Elena shuddered, "I know what you are… stay away from me!"

The guy laughed, "Well, that takes the fun out of the reveal… alright, then; want me to just cut to the chase? I promise to make it quick."

Tears filling Elena's eyes, she knew she stood no chance against him. She also knew that there was no chance of Damon Salvatore rescuing her this time. Sobbing, Elena screamed in agony when the vampire latched onto her throat.

VvvvV

Caroline stared out the dark living room window, her pretty face filled with worry. "Damon," she whispered, "I don't like the idea of her out there by herself. She could get hurt."

"It was her own decision; I didn't force her to leave," Damon said from his spot on the couch, but his expression was clearly worried as well. Obviously he had expected Elena to show up on his doorstep sometime that afternoon, but she never had. Either she had found a way home (not likely) or she was hurt.

Caroline turned her head to look at him, "Damon."

"What?" he asked, and she glanced down at his foot. He then realized he had been tapping it restlessly, and stopped, "Right… sorry."

"Couldn't you just… go look around town? Make sure she's okay?"

Damon sighed, "Caroline, even if she was attacked, she wouldn't be out in the streets; they would have… taken care of the body."

Caroline squeaked, tears filling her eyes, "Don't say that!"

"Well what do you want me to say, Caroline? It's the truth! Searching for her would be pointless."

Tears trailed down her cheeks, "Damon… please? Even if you don't find her, at least you know you tried. If you don't try… who knows?"

Damon stood up, "If I go, will you stop bothering me?"

Caroline nodded eagerly, "Yes! Yes, I promise!"

He sighed and grabbed his jacket, tossing it on and snagging his keys from the coffee table, "Fine. Don't expect me to find her, though."

Biting her lip, Caroline sat on the couch and nodded as Damon headed out the door.

Before shutting it, though, he changed his mind and tossed the keys back; he would have better luck if he just ran. As he ran toward Mystic Falls at vampiric speed, he couldn't help but acknowledge the fear that was swirling around in his stomach at the thought of Elena actually being hurt. If she was, it was his fault. He hadn't tried in the slightest to stop her from running off.

He kicked himself internally for that as he arrived in town and began to look around inside all of the restaurants and hotels. Of course, she wasn't in any of the safe places Mystic Falls had to offer. Biting his lip, he started into the shadier part of town. "Elena," he called, his eyes darting around, "Elena…!"

"Elena?"

He turned and came face to face with a tall, muscular man with a buzz cut. Damon glared, "Franklin."

The man grinned, "Who's Elena, Damon? I thought you were hooking up with that British chick… Bekey."

Damon glared and took a step forward, "Franklin… have you fed tonight?"

Franklin nodded, "Duh; I feed every night."

"Who did you feed on tonight?"

Franklin's eyes narrowed, "Why do you care, Salvatore?"

"Just tell me!"

Franklin nodded, obviously ready to start gloating, "I had the fortune of stumbling across a pretty little teenager… long brown hair and soft skin… she was a fighter, too. Her pretty little whimpers made her even more delicious," Franklin began to frown, "But, come to think of it… she whimpered a name a few times, too. I just took it as a coincidence; thought maybe her boyfriend had the same name…"

Damon's glare grew more demonic, "What did she say, Franklin?"

"Oh, I have a funny feeling you already know, since you're running around town searching for a girl who isn't Rebekah…"

"What did she say, Franklin?" Damon yelled, and Franklin grinned.

"Damon. She was whimpering and pleading for Damon."

Damon snarled, infuriated, and shoved Franklin across the street. The larger vampire slammed into the side of a brick building. Franklin snarled and vamped out, lunging at Damon. Damon was faster, though, and had snapped the leg off an old abandoned table, plunging it into Franklin's chest when he came at him. Franklin grunted and, moaning, fell to the ground, dead. Damon dragged his body into an alley to dispose of later, and mentally cursed himself for not asking where the bastard had stashed her body. If she was really dead, he could at least give her a proper burial. He had… sort of liked her. She was spunky. He was letting out a shaky sigh, prepared to go home when a whimper attracted his attention. He tuned into it more closely. There was a struggling sob, and a whisper. He tuned in even more, and the whisper became more clear. "Damon…?"

His eyes widened, "Elena? Elena, where are you…?"

He began to dash through alleyways, searching for her tiny figure. He finally found her, slumped beside a garbage can, bleeding out rapidly. Obviously, Franklin had left her to suffer. The bastard, Damon thought as he crouched beside her.

"Damon…" she sobbed in relief, a small smile creeping onto her pale face.

"Shh…" Damon whispered, pulling her into his lap gently, positioning her head against his shoulder and, vamping out, biting into his wrist. "Here," he said quietly, "Drink it."

"W… what…?"

"It will heal you. Vampire blood heals. Drink it, Elena."

Deciding she had nothing to lose in trusting him, she latching weakly onto his wrist and began to drink. When her wound had healed over and her cheeks turned a healthy shade of pink, she stopped drinking. She smiled, her eye lids heavy, "You… came back for… me…"

Damon smiled, "Of course I did…"

Elena looked afraid, "The vampire…"

"Is dead. His name was Franklin. I killed him."

Elena's tense shoulders sagged in relief as she relaxed into his arms, "Thank you…"

Damon sighed as she lost consciousness, scooping her up and dashing home.

This was all his fault.