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Chapter 4: Growing Tension

"How's that for an answer?" He asked.

Elena stood there; frozen. She was dumbfounded by his passionate response. Her lips were still tingling from his ardent kiss. Oh. My. God! She kissed Damon! Well, rather, Damon kissed her and WOW, was he a good kisser! She wanted to say something but she was still in shock and didn't want to risk sounding stupid.

Damon took her silence as her response and said tersely, "Fine. I get it." He was being rejected again and angrily he stalked away.

Elena unfroze and went after him shouting, "Damon! Wait! Don't leave! I'm still recovering from that! You can't kiss someone like that and expect an immediate response! I'm still reeling from it. Give me a chance!"

She ran after him and he went to step around her but she blocked him and outstretched her arms, caging him.

"Dammit, Damon! Stop acting like a spoiled brat who's been denied ice cream!" She demanded. Her brows knit in annoyance at him.

He stopped and folded his arms across his chest and frowned down at her. His mouth a tight, angry line. His anger and hurt was clearly written all over his face. She wouldn't let that deter her though.

She sighed. "I'm sorry if I didn't respond right away. You blew me away with that kiss. I wasn't expecting that. Maybe I should've, but I was unprepared. I'm not rejecting you, so relax. I just want to give myself a little time. Stefan and I just broke up and I don't want to rush into things with you and risk messing that up too."

"Messing up things between us? You didn't mess things up with Stefan, Elena, he did! You want time, fine. I'll give you time, but I won't wait forever. Been there, done that before." He said woodenly. Then he stepped around her and left her standing there.

She watched his retreating form and mumbled, "You're wrong, Damon. I've already messed up."

She was startled to hear applause then and spun sharply around. She saw Stefan standing behind her near some parked cars, clapping. He stepped towards her; a smug smile on his face.

"Wow! I've got to hand it to you, Elena. It didn't take you that long to piss off my brother."

"Piss off, Stefan! You're the cause of this!" She spat.

"Me? How am I the cause? It wasn't me he kissed and proclaimed his affections for. No, that was… YOU," he said snidely.

"You're the cause of why I'm in turmoil, emotionally! It took you being a complete jerk to me to realize what I feel for Damon. Now that I'm confronted with that, I feel conflicted because it's like I didn't give us a chance." She said.

"Oh, well, you're welcome for realizing that you want to fuck my brother," he said scathingly.

She gasped. "I didn't say I wanted to fuck him. God, when did you become so crude? I feel for him. I love him."

"I was always crude, Elena, I just never let it out. And if you love him, then I'm sure you want to screw him too. It is, after all, part of love." He sneered. God, she was really so lame to him right now. He figured he take it up a notch; really shock the hell out of her. "You know, Elena, you really should take my brother out for a test drive. Katherine always did say he had a bigger cock than me."

Her eyes widened and she sputtered, "What? That is really so…oh, my god, Stefan! You really are a disgusting ass!"

At that moment Bonnie and Caroline came out to see Elena standing there with a look of disgust and Stefan smirking as he leaned against a car.

"What's wrong, Lena?" Caroline asked as she gave Stefan a speculative glance.

"Oh, nothing, Car. I was just telling her that she should take Damon's cock for a test drive. Wouldn't you agree? You did bone him, didn't you?" Stefan said with a laugh.

Caroline's brows shot up but she retained her composure otherwise. "What I did with Damon, is none of your damn business! Second of all, that you should talk so crudely to Elena is unacceptable! What's wrong with you?"

Stefan laughed harshly. "Oh, come on, Car, I'm just trying to have a little fun. Lighten up, will you."

"It's really not funny, Stefan. Even your brother at his worse isn't this disgusting." Bonnie said.

"Oh, now my brother's a saint? That's a laugh! Why don't you two ask me one day what our father thought of my lovely brother? He was his most hated son. Our father said he was the biggest disappointment and he wished he would've had the sense to pull out when he was screwing our mother."

"You're nothing but a low-life, piece of shit! You know that?" Caroline hissed. "How can you talk about your own mother like that?"

Then out of nowhere, they saw Stefan get thrown violently against the building and a blur rush past them to pin Stefan against the wall of the Grill.

"You never did learn to shut your goddamn mouth, did you? Well, maybe that's something I've got to rectify," Damon hissed as his hand closed tightly around Stefan's throat.

The three girls all watched now in apt horror. Elena didn't know what to do or say. She couldn't believe how crude and cruel Stefan was, and the things he said about his own mother and Damon.

"Aww, come on, brother. You can't take a joke?" Stefan choked. Damon's hand gripped tighter.

"Some fucking joke! Maybe our father should've had mother abort you and we could've all avoided this scenario now!" He growled. Then he looked over at Caroline and said, "Caroline, would you mind seeing that Elena makes it home alright and Bonnie too."

Caroline nodded, gaping at the scene before her. Elena stood watching. She didn't want to leave in case he needed her but it was evident he didn't want her to witness anymore.

Caroline led them away and over to her car. Elena said, "Wait, Car, what if Damon might need me?"

"Seriously, Lena? I think Damon can hold his own. Now, come on, get in. We're taking you home. I'm not going to have Damon kill me because you were too stubborn to listen for a change."

When they reached Elena's house they all came in to find Alaric and Jeremy playing video games. Their whoops and shouts of laughter were heard ringing throughout the room.

When they saw the three girls, Alaric said, "Oh hey, we didn't hear you guys come in. There's still some pizza left if you're hungry."

"Thanks, Rick, but we're all set. We ate at the Grill." Elena told him. "Enjoy your game, guys."

Then they headed up to Elena's room. Caroline sat in the middle of Elena's bed and sighed. "What the hell was all that about? What's up with Stefan? I know he's been a real dick lately, but wow! I never would've expected him to be so crude."

"I know. I didn't either. Some of the things he said to me were beyond shocking. Even Damon has never been that nasty." Elena said.

"Wow. Who would've ever thought that any of us would ever have anything nice to say about Damon?" Bonnie said in awe.

"Well, even before all of this, I can tell you …he's DAMN GOOD in bed!" Caroline laughed out loud.

Elena choked and Caroline looked over and laughed even more. "God, Car! Now you're no better than Stefan!" She cried.

"Oh, be quiet. You know you were always curious how he was in bed! Don't even try to deny it!"

The three of them all giggled, but Elena didn't respond. She didn't want to admit it to her friends, but she was always curious how he was in bed. If that kiss was a prelude to how he'd be, then she'd really be in for a treat. She also wondered, secretly, if he was as big as Stefan made mention to or if that was just to get a reaction. Part of her wanted to confirm it with Caroline but she didn't.

"Do you think he's alright?" Elena asked suddenly.

"I'm sure he's fine, hon." Bonnie said. "Like Caroline said, he can hold his own."

She nodded and then the three of them found a movie to occupy their time. They picked "The Notebook" and all three of them gushed over how romantic and sad it was. In the back of Elena's mind, she couldn't help but wonder if Damon was okay. All those hateful things Stefan had said about him had to do something to him. She didn't want to ask him and pry, but she imagined that it had to hurt. He was always rejected by everyone. His father, Katherine, Stefan and now he thought, by her.

She had to go to him and tell him that she did love him and that she wanted to be with him. She figured she'd do it after Caroline and Bonnie left so that there would be little chance of anyone questioning her.