a/n: I'm sorry it took me so long to get this up. Everything has been completely crazy lately. I'm taking an online summer class and it is intense. I'm also going to start another fan fiction that is set right after the season finale. You should check it out! And I'm not too happy with this chapter, but it had to be written to set everything else that's going to happen up. I hope you like it! I would greatly appreciate it if you would review!

Chapter 4 Everything

In the night I hear them talk,
Coldest story ever told.
Somewhere far along this road he lost his soul,
To a woman so heartless.
-Heartless by The Fray

Later that night, Elena sat on her bed and thought about the previous hours. Damon had left her some time ago to attempt to find Stefan. It had taken a lot to convince Damon to leave. He had only agreed to go when both Alaric and Anna were in the house. Truthfully, Elena felt safer with them here. Alaric would be able to stop any vampire who tried to come through the front door. And if by some odd occurrence someone made it past Alaric, Anna would be there to protect her brother. Hopefully, Stefan would stay away from her house, but Elena didn't think that would happen.

Letting out a deep breath, Elena laid back on her soft covers. The policemen had spent almost an hour with her earlier, asking her questions and trying to find a hole in her story. Thankfully, she didn't have one. Her story matched up perfectly with the one Alaric had given them earlier. And with no camera footage, the police were left to rely on their story. Right now, Elena was just glad they were gone.

All of a sudden, Elena felt a strong wind whip past her body. She sat up and looked at Damon. His expression was grim and she could tell he hadn't found any trace of Stefan. Worry lined his eyes and Elena offered him a weak smile. Despite all that had happened in the past few days, Stefan was still Damon's brother and it caused Damon far too much pain to not know where Stefan was.

Slowly, Elena got up and embraced Damon. His embrace was strong and it helped steady her own nerves. As she inhaled, the smell of rain enveloped her senses. He smelled amazing and his dark shirt made him appear even more perfect. It took all her strength to end the hug, and even more strength than she had to walk away from him and toward the window.

"The weather forecast showed another storm that's supposed to come through tonight," she said as she looked out into the dark night. Nothing stirred and that calm made her nervous.

"At least people should stay inside."

"That won't stop Stefan from compelling them to let him enter."

She turned from the window and looked at him now. His eyes looked sad, and she longed to comfort him. She was one of the few people he allowed to see him like this. Right now, she was completely thankful for that.

Then, he arched an eyebrow and she arched one of her own. He pointed to the ring she wore and offered a weak smile.

"I want you to keep that on," Damon said hoarsely. "With all that's going on, you need all the help you can get."

Elena glanced down at the ring for the first time since she had put it on. It had been her uncle's, but she had taken it from him only seconds before he had been killed. The power it held was unimaginable. The ring allowed the wearer to be brought back to life after being killed. Alaric had spoken countless times about how much pain the dying and reawakening processes had been. Still, that pain was better than death.

When she looked back at Damon, she crossed her arms and sighed.

"I want you to stay at the house tonight," Elena spoke softly. "Even with Anna and Alaric here, I'd feel safer if you were here too."

A wicked smile crossed Damon's face. "And here I thought you just wanted my company."

Elena rolled her eyes as a smile crossed her lips. "You know you're my friend Damon."

"I know."

Forcing herself to move, Elena walked across the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

"How much of John's conversation did you hear?"

"All of it," he replied as he took his own seat. "It seems like many people are involved in this battle."

"Do you think my mom or Katherine had Stefan released?"

Damon's eyes turned tired. He looked at Elena and tried to convey all his emotions through that glance. "Whoever helped Stefan get out was insanely strong. I didn't even sense that someone else was in the house during the time Stefan escaped. Whoever that person was, I don't want to cross them."

"I don't think we'll have a choice."

That same, wicked grin reappeared across his perfect face. "We could always go somewhere else until all this blows over."

Elena frowned at that. "I can't leave my family and friends unprotected."

"It was just a joke," Damon spoke slowly, but then his eyebrows creased in concentration. "Unless…"

She sighed. "Unless what?"

"Unless they'll follow us. We could come up with a trap and let them walk headfirst into it."

"But we don't even know who we're up against."

"Which could pose a problem," he smiled. "We'll figure something out Elena." He reached inside his pocket and took out her journal. He laid it gently on the bed before he got up to leave.

Quickly Elena stood up too. She watched Damon walk across the room. She wasn't sure exactly where he was going, but knew there were still many things that had to be discussed.

"Did it mean anything to you?" she asked softly. He turned around slowly and looked deep into her eyes. She could feel every ounce of his being gaze into her own.

"It meant everything Elena."

All her courage faltered at that moment. He walked over to her slowly and placed his hands gently at the back of her neck. He brought her face up to his and kissed her as delicately as he possibly could.

"I won't break," she whispered.

The next time he kissed her, she could feel every ounce of passion he held inside of him. It was overwhelming and completely breathtaking. If this was what forever felt like, she wanted every single ounce of it.

But then Damon pulled away, and that perfection shattered.

"I'm not the good guy Elena," Damon began slowly. "I'm not the one who will be the hero at the end of this story. I'm not like Stefan used to be. I'm just not good."

"You are good Damon," she insisted. "The very fact that you care that Stefan is missing proves that."

"That just makes me selfish. Whatever form of a soul I had was taken by Katherine a long time ago."

"Then we'll just have to get it back," Elena replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're not going to change my mind about this." She reached up to him and kissed him gently on the lips. "Please stop arguing."

Damon nodded before he kissed her again. Elena quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled her body closer to Damon's. He held her securely to him as he deepened each kiss. If Damon wasn't holding her up, Elena was sure she would have collapsed by now.

A smirk crossed Damon's lips then and his next kiss was thrown off. Elena took a step back and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What?"

Damon's only response was to hold up his hand and signal for her to wait. She crossed her arms again just as the door to her room exploded open.

"If you touch my sister again-" Jeremy yelled as he pushed his way into the room. Anna stood slightly behind him and offered Damon and Elena an apologetic smile.

"You'll do what?" Damon smirked.

"I know ways to get rid of your kind," Jeremy glared.

Elena took this moment to glance quickly from Damon to Jeremy. Then, she stepped forward and took a stand between her brother and Damon.

"What did you just say?"

Jeremy turned to Elena and shook his head. "I know everything Elena. I got tired of you lying to me and read your journal to find out the truth."

Closing her eyes, Elena let out a deep breath. When she reopened her eyes, sadness glistened across their surface. "I was trying to protect you Jeremy."

"By lying to me?" he snapped. "If it wasn't for Anna, I would have never remembered the truth. Lying to me didn't erase the pain; it just made me forget why I had it."

"I'm so sorry."

"And now you're with him." Jeremy pointed an accusing finger as his anger flared. "At least Stefan was a decent guy."

"Watch it," Damon said as he stepped toward Jeremy. Elena grabbed Damon gently to pull him back, but Damon growled in response. "Let go."

Elena narrowed her eyes. "You're not going to hurt him."

"Elena's right." Anna took three steps forward and stood in front of Damon. "You'll have to cross me to get to him."

Damon closed the distance between himself and Anna and glared at her. "That brother of mine who Jeremy so nicely called decent is more than likely out there killing people right now. And since you told Jeremy about what was going on between Elena and I, I'm sure you also heard that someone is out there orchestrating a plan to take Elena. And believe me, if I was going to hurt Elena, I'd start with her family."

"I won't let anyone touch him," Anna replied passionately.

"Emotions will only get you killed." Damon crossed his arms over his chest. "I would think you would remember that after what happened to make you become a vampire."

"You have no right bringing that up."

"I have every right."

Anna glared. "Then what is your plan?"

A smirk crossed Damon's lips. "It's simple. Alaric will stay at this house as much as possible. We'll take shifts going back and forth between searching for Stefan and staying with Elena and Jeremy."

"Do we get a choice or are you just going to order us around?" Elena snapped. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for you to find the answers when someone is out there planning on ways to kill me."

"I'm not asking you to," Damon responded quickly.

Elena nodded as she took the John's ring from her finger. She held it in her hands for only a few seconds before she tossed it to Jeremy. He caught it easily and then arched an eyebrow in response.

"What's this for?"

"As long as you have that on, you can't be killed," Elena replied. "I'd rather you have it than me. I'm the one they want. I don't want you to be hurt because of it."

Part of Jeremy's anger toward her visually disappeared. "Thank you." But then he shook his head. "I can't take this though Elena. I'd rather you be safe."

Elena frowned. "If you're outside of this house, I want you to wear it. If I'm outside and you're not, I'll wear it."

Nodding, Jeremy slipped the ring onto his finger. He gazed at it for a few seconds before he scrunched his nose.

"It's not very manly."

Elena smiled. "Staying alive is more important than your masculinity."

"Maybe." He eyed the ring one more time before he shrugged.

"I think we need to get out of here," Anna spoke up as she turned to Jeremy. "There's a lot we need to discuss before I take my shift looking for Stefan."

Elena watched them leave in an overwhelming silence. When they were out, she glanced to Damon. He looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't speak up. Instead, he walked over to her window and closed the blinds and curtains.

"I'm going to go check on Alaric," he finally said. "You need to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

Frowning, Elena sat down on the edge of the bed. She wanted to tell Damon to come to her, that she didn't want to sleep, and that tomorrow they could worry about everything else, but knew Stefan was probably out there harming people. She didn't want someone to be hurt because she was selfish. With pain stabbing through her being, Elena watched him walk out of the room. Then, when she could no longer hear him, she laid down on the covers of her bed and fell into a restless sleep.