A/N: Heeeerreeee's chapitre numéro quatre!

Thank you so much for the reviews! I hope you continue enjoying the rest of this story! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. All rights belong to L.J. Smith and the CW.

xxxxx

Chapter 4:

Damon wakes to the sound of running water. He shifts in bed, rolling over to check on Elena, and notices her absence immediately. She must be in the shower then.

There's still barely any light in the room and there's hardly a sound outside the window. Damon glances at the clock sitting on the bedside table - it's just past six thirty. Why in the world is Elena up this early? Has she slept at all?

No less then a minute later, he hears the water shut off with a squeak of the tap, and then Elena emerges from the bathroom with a white towel wrapped around her body and her hair slicked back behind her ears. Damon observes in silence as she breathes in deeply and paces the room, seeming anxious about something, like there's a weight on her shoulders. Damon hopes it isn't because of anything he's done, because he knows he may come across as forward but his intentions are always pure, no matter what.

When he'd seen the way that guy - Stefan, was it? - had affected Elena's general behaviour, he had acted on instinct. And the instinct to protect is something he hasn't experienced like this, at least not since high school. Not since he'd had a real friend.

"I know you're awake, Damon."

She's looking straight at him, with her arms crossed.

"Oh, um," he clears his throat, "good morning. I was wondering why you were awake."

"I have something to take care of," Elena replies. She looks down at the floor briefly and shifts the weight between her legs, swallowing a lump in her throat before speaking once more. "I'll be back soon, though."

"Alright."

There's a pause, and then Elena nods, giving a halfhearted smile as she turns towards the bathroom to dress. Damon feels anxious suddenly, like he wants to say something more, so he quickly adds, "Be safe," before Elena's shut the door. Not long after, he fades into unconsciousness. The next time he wakes up, four hours later and wide awake... Elena is nowhere to be seen not a trace of her presence is found.

Meanwhile, in an annoyingly pristine limousine with expensive champagne bottles and expensive glasses to match, Elena sits with her chin resting on her hand, staring out the window. It's the better alternative than having to look at the man sitting next to her. He's been silent the entire ride so far, but she can sense his beady gaze every few minutes.

As the trees pass and the open fields diminish into houses and buildings, she finds herself missing Damon. For the briefest moment she had gotten a taste of serenity, and now it lingers in the deepest corners of her heart. Plus compared to what she's diving into, ELENA really thinks she would rather spend her life back at Damon's cottage, just hanging out. Having the time to think and figure out her future from where she currently stands. The added bonus would be she'd have a friend to help her along the way.

Elena frowns. None of this is possible now. She's left Damon without explanation, agreed to come back to her dick-of-an-(ex-)husband (to keep Damon out of danger's way) and the only thing he even has to remember her by is her foul attitude and a note stuck to his windshield that Elena prays to God hasn't blown away in the wind. There's a small chance that she can do this right though, and finally be able to flee Mason's cruelty for good, but she has to play her cards right or this could end worse than it started.

There's an irritated sigh from beside her, and Elena glances over her shoulder quickly. Mason has his phone out, thumb pressing buttons at a mile a minute. It makes her scowl. She had never been allowed to have any type of contact with the outside world. Her confinement had been the town Mason mayored for, and anything outside - off-limits.

"Alright," he says suddenly, jolting her from her thoughts. "We'll be home in a few minutes, so let's go over the plan, shall we?"

Elena rolls her eyes.

"Keep your head down, go straight inside and don't show your face until tomorrow morning. We'll have to make an announcement that you are in fact, alive, and the entire 'death' plot was for your safety from a threat that has now been eliminated."

"The only threat in my life is you," Elena spits. "And from what I'm seeing, it clearly has not been terminated as of yet."

"Hmm," Mason chuckles, "still bitter, I see?" He presses another button on his phone before he slides it into an inside pocket of his blazer. "Don't worry. You'll get used to the routine again in no time."

Elena makes a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat and goes back to ignoring his presence. He seems to take it as note to keep to himself, and for the rest of the trip she is happily left with her own fleeting thoughts.

The next series of events unfold nicely. When they arrive at the house - or, as Mason insists, the mansion - Elena is let out of the limousine and briskly ushered inside, then left in the familiarity of the front foyer. She wanders, running her fingers over the bright wallpaper on the walls and the furniture with not a speck of dust in sight. She remembers how much she'd hated cleaning back when they'd first married; how she had asked Mason to hire a maid. And of course she'd never been rigid with the woman when she'd arrived and became a working guest there, but as she now steps into this paper house, she realizes her selfishness.

Mason's study is exactly how she (unfortunately) remembers. It's dark and smells of cigars and cologne that clogs your nose, closed off from outside light and easily believed to be an ordinary closet. Elena's always hated being in there. It makes her feel dirty or... guilty somehow.

Probably just rubbed-off emotions left by someone else occupying the space, her conscience sneers. She has to agree on that one.

The abrupt sound of the front door opening makes her rush out of the study and head to the staircase, with hope that it gives the impression of her having been upstairs and not snooping.

Her mind sparks an amusing thought that makes her smile. She's being nosy. Just like Damon.

"Sweetheart?"

The smile vanishes. A grimace takes its place.

"Where'd you run off to?" she hears Mason laugh.

Ha-ha. She rolls her eyes. What a fantastic joke.

He finds her sitting in the middle of the staircase, and the look she receives from him almost takes her breath away. He looks eighteen again, just graduating high school and telling her how amazing their lives are going to be once they get married and have a family and a cozy little house by the countryside with nothing but time on their hands.

Oh how the times have changed. Instead, Stefan, an at-the-time mutual best friend, had persuaded Mason into getting into politics. The idea itself had been solid - Elena'd thought it was for the rights of the town and a job that could support a possible family in the future. But again, she'd been wrong. It had turned into a role of power within the first few weeks of winning the election. He'd gotten so much attention for being the youngest to campaign and the youngest to win - it'd all gone to his head. From there it'd gone downhill fast... and the rest is history.

Mason clears his throat and Elena catches her mistake of staring too long. She watches him sway gently on his feet.

"I'll be in my study for the rest of the day so, call the maid if you need anything, I'm sure she's up in her room. Keep the noise down though, alright?"

Elena refrains from scoffing. "Sure, whatever."

"Alright then. I'll... leave you to it."

She books it uptairs as soon as his footsteps fade into the next room. She's memorized the doors in the hallway, knows that the one on the far left is the bathroom and next to that is a guest bedroom. Next there's a closet for towels and sheets, and the double-doors next to reveal the master bedroom. Mason thinks she's going to sleep in there tonight with him. Psst, here's a secret: wrong-o.

The next three doors beside are mirrors of those on the left. Elena goes for the guest bedroom on the right side and knocks twice before entering. Bonnie, the maid - but now seen as more of a friend - is standing by the bed folding laundry when she looks up upon hearing Elena enter. Her face twists into an expression of terror and she rushes forward, grabbing Elena by the arms. "Honey," she breathes, "what are you doing back here? You should be long gone!"

Elena notices how aged Bonnie looks even though she'd been absent from the household for only one day. The bags under eyes seem to look darker and heavier, like she hasn't slept a wink in ages. It angers Elena that she'd never seen these things before she'd made her escape. She would have brought Bonnie along.

"I had to come back," she tells her. "I met someone outside of this mess that helped me get some distance, but something happened and I was forced to return in order to protect that someone from getting hurt."

"You should have stuck together," Bonnie protests. "You are better as a team than individuals. Escpecially now."

"Now?" Elena frowns in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Mason is a monster," Bonnie whispers. She peers around nervously as if someone's listening in, like someone is lurking on the other side of the door. "You were gone for one day and suddenly he's this whole other person," she explains."There's a façade he puts on, that I've seen more than once. During the day he is presentable, but he drinks himself into oblivion at night. I've had to lock myself in the bathroom to get away from him."

"Has he hurt you?" Elena demands.

"I-I can't say, I can't-"

"Bon," she cups her friend's cheeks and brushes tears away from her dark brown eyes, "has he hurt you?" she whispers.

The cracked sob she receives in response is all she needs. Anger thumps through her veins and she storms out of the room against Bonnie's insistence to stay in the safe zone. Her footsteps are loud and determined against the tiled floor as she skips the knocking and heads straight inside Mason's study. Who the fuck cares if this is his space? If she's living with him, she shares the space too.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she shouts when he appears before her.

Mason takes a sip of whatever junk's in his special crystal glass and he peers up at her figure in front of the desk. "Excuse me?" he says.

"You heard me, you prick. I was gone for one day. One day of pure, magnificent bliss without you in my life and I come back to news of you hurting our maid, my friend?" Elena points a finger at his chest. "You're sick."

She watches with fury in her eyes as Mason slowly rises to his full height and rounds the corner of the desk. When he stands in front of her he places his hands on her shoulders but she shakes them off in disgust.

"Since when has she ever been your friend?" he questions. "And I don't know what she's told you, but it is false information. You know she only creates these lies so she can be paid more."

"That's bullshit," Elena argues. "You're the one who's always lying. You lie to me, to this town and to anyone you ever meet. I don't know why I ever married you because honestly, these days there's nothing appealing about you at all. So go suck a-"

Smack.

She is struck across the face. The sting of it doesn't register until she holds her hand to the surely forming bruise and looks up at the man she once loved dearly. His eyes burn wildly, nostrils flaring and if this weren't such horrible timing, she'd laugh at the way he looks like an upset bull.

"You dare fucking come in here and throw these filthy accusations at me?" he barks. "I've worked my ass off to get where I am and all I've ever done is provide for you. Sure, I get tired sometimes, but it doesn't fucking help when some bitch is taking up space in my home and-"

Elena fights back. She whips her hand across Mason's face, watches the astonishment wash over his expression. She takes a step back, preparing to dash from the room before he can put in another word, but he stops her. She's grabbed harshly by the wrists and pinned to the nearest wall, his breath fanning over her face as his hips dig into hers. He hums low into her ear, like this is pleasing him in some cruel way.

"I was going to let you off the hook for speaking so harshly to me, but now you've messed it all up for yourself," he taunts. She whimpers at the contact and flexes her fingers, trying to loosen his grip on her. It has the opposite effect.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking you have any power over me," he warns, practically hissing in Elena's ear. Her breath wavers as he nudges his nose along the line of her jaw, because for a second she thinks he'll try something on her; take the torture to a new low. But he doesn't. Instead he releases her, in a movement so abrupt that she stumbles on her feet to catch her balance. The air feels like it's left her lungs as she whisks out of the room, her hair falling over her face before she viciously brushes it away. There are tears in her eyes and she hates herself for always being this weak and being uncapable of showing her true strength to Mason. One of these days she'll get it right. She has to.

Afternoon turns to evening before nighttime finally falls. Elena stays in the guest room with Bonnie until she hears Mason go to bed, and they sneak downstairs for a bite to eat before they too decide it's time to turn in.

Elena remains awake at an unknown hour of the night. Her mind keeps replaying memories of Mason, both old and new. It's giving her the creeps and she's massaging her wrists every five seconds in fear of feeling his instead of her own. Moonlight streams down through the curtains and across the floor, crawling up the bed over the covers where her feet are. She focuses on the ghostly glimmer of it, how a beam of reflected light can give off such an aura of mystery. She soon finds herself being lulled to sleep, and after being tired for so long, she eventually lets go, and succumbs to her fatigue.

xxxxx

A/N: Oooohhh some stuff's goin' down. Things will speed up a little bit after this, so be prepared! ;)

Lots of love to you all! xx