Chapter 2

Still keeping her pinned by the shoulders under his weight, he watched her. He was nervous that it would be difficult for her to find control and he seemed to be right, he was just glad it was he that she fed on and not a human. "It's okay, Elena, just calm down, force back your fangs." Damon demanded as he watched as she struggled to stop crying and retract her fangs at the same time but she succeeded after a few minutes of trying.

Damon released her of his grasp, putting his hands above her shoulders now, still observing her face intently, his eyes piercing hers. He spoke soothingly "You need to focus." he brushed her wild and tangled hair away from her face. Pushing himself up and off the bed, he went to the dresser and poured a glass of blood.

Elena watched with curiosity from her position on his bed as he brought the glass over to her. "I want you to hold this and do not take as much as a drop." she gripped the glass tightly, her fangs made their way back full force. She looked up at him.

"Damon, it's so hard." there was a strain in her voice as she mentally begged her fangs to go away. She did not want to disappoint him for fear that that would only make him challenge her in more difficult ways.

"You can do this." he encouraged, his voice still smooth and quiet. He was going to find and kill whoever did this to her and if it meant he had to die too, then sobeit.

She shifted and stared at the blood and glanced to Damon then back to the blood. She made up her mind and slammed the blood down on the night stand, a few drops splashing out of the glass and landing on the dark cherry wood; and her fangs were gone. She turned to find Damon smiling proudly at her. "I did it." she said in a small voice.

He was wearing his signature Damon half-grin as he embraced her in a hug. Her arms went instinctively around his shoulders. "Don't worry, Elena, we'll get through this together. I won't let you lose who you are." He would still love her just as strongly, vampire or not.

His voice was the only thing keeping her grounded. She knew she needed to hold on to herself, find the strength to keep being the person she has always been. With her head so close to his neck, she could hear his blood coursing through his arteries and her fangs were straining to just sink into his neck to create a passage for his delicious, warm blood to flow into her mouth. This was Damon, though. Damon, the man who was taking the time to take care of her, to make absolutely certain that she would conquer these new instincts and stand strong. "Damon, could I use your shower? I feel disgusting." She felt like if she could just wash away the filth and blood on her skin that she could feel like herself again and get on with this adapting thing that she so desperately needed to do.

"Of course." He stood and pulled her up by the hand and pulled her close to him so his face was only inches from hers. "I need you to give me your word that you will not leave this room. I'm going to go to your house and get some of your clothes and I'll get some warm blood ready for you when I get back."

Elena nodded, it was interesting how aware she was of his vampire essence now that she was also one. Moreso, the scent of his cologne intoxicated her and she smiled. "I promise, I won't leave." To be honest about it, she didn't want to go anywhere. There wasn't another vampire who she would rather be with right now, not even Stefan. She wasn't allowing herself to think of Stefan because it just made her unhappy and angry.

Damon left quickly through the window, he snuck into Elena's bedroom successfully avoiding being detected. He gathered a bag of jeans and tops that he chose based mostly on what he thought would look good on her. He took a few other things like make up and a hair brush and also had a little bit of a thrill in choosing her under garments. He darted back out her window and headed back to his house. He had ran there so he took a few back roads to make the route quicker, from the corner of his eye he thought he saw someone and stopped dead in his tracks. He glanced around carefully but he saw no one and continued on his way.

When Damon returned to the house he came back in through his window to avoid undoing the security he had constructed on his door. He tossed the bag on his bed and turned around to find Elena standing in the bathroom door way wearing nothing but one of his white towels. He couldn't remove his eyes, no matter how hard he tried to force himself.

Elena looked at him and then to the floor shyly as her hand gripped the top of the towel to keep it in place. Her hair hung loosely and wet around her. With her head still tilted downward, she looked up at him with only her eyes. "Got my stuff?"

Her voice snapped him out of his stupor and he turned quickly to grab her bag. In his current state and haste to grab her bag, he knocked the glass of blood off of the night stand and it shattered, the blood spreading across the floor. He froze, pissed at himself for what he had done. He looked up at Elena to see her crouched in the door way gripping the door frame, fangs bared as she tried to control her urge to lick every speck from the floor boards.

Rushing to her side, he fell to his knees in front of her blocking her view of the blood. He knew she could still smell it but at least it was out of sight. "It's alright, Elena, just breathe through the craving." he grabbed her face with his hands to force her to look at him. She breathed heavily as his calm face brought her back to Earth and her fangs retracted once more.

"This is killing me, Damon." She collapsed forward into his chest and he held her there as she wept audibly. Part of him wished he had let her die that night, let her go to a more peaceful place than this. When she finally looked up she scrambled to wipe the tears from her face. Damon took hold of her hands to steady them.

"Shh..." he stood slowly and helped her up with him. He retrieved her bag and set it on the sink in the bathroom. She looked at him pleading for something and he gripped the door knob. "Get dressed, I'll clean this up." he said gently as he closed the door behind him.

Damon cleaned up the mess on the floor and he prepare her a glass of warm blood as he promised but it was only half full. She needed to learn to portion herself now so she would be able to control herself around humans.

When Elena came out of the bathroom she was only in a pair of sweat pants and a t shirt. She wanted to just feel comfortable and she was thankful he brought them for her. She sat on the bed beside him with her arms crossed feeling vulnerable.

Damon held the glass of blood in both hands as he handed it to her. "Drink slowly, this is it for a while." he said while handing it to her. She extended her hand nervously and took the glass from him. Placing it to her lips she felt the hunger surge through her as the first sip entered her mouth. She pulled the glass away for a moment and started again. She finished it over about 5 minutes time. "Thanks." she said, wanting more.

"You can have more in a few hours." He stated.

Elena sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. She felt comfort in being close to him, he put his arm around her shoulder comfortingly. She felt something else she didn't understand, she wanted Damon in ways she never thought she would ever want him. Thankfully that feeling was easier to push aside than her blood thirst. For now.

The next day, Damon decided to risk letting her out of the bedroom so she wouldn't feel caged in his room like an animal. He sat with her as she read books on the sofa, she read about vampire history and habits and how the brain worked differently than when being human. It overwhelmed her but it was good information to have. She looked at Damon who was sitting calmly beside her staring at his boots. She put her hand over his as it rested on the couch beside him. Their eyes met then, neither said anything, they just gazed at one another. Damon remembered being brand new and what it felt like. He sympathized with her right now, the way she wanted blood, sex and to rip out someone's throat for no reason. It was a thousand times worse than being a hormonal teenager.

"Damon.." She squeezed his hand and leaned closer to him, her lips feeling drawn to his. Her face overtook a crushed and confused expression when he leaned away from her.

"I know how you're feeling and you know I love you and would love more than anything to kiss you..." he slid sideways to look at her, one leg bent on the couch and the other still on the floor. He took her hand in both of his. "But I don't want you to do something you'll regret and I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of the desires you feel like you can't control." It saddened him a little that she only wanted him now because of her vampire side effects.

Elena sat back with a sigh. She knew he was right but she didn't completely believe that her attraction to him was because of being a vampire. He had been so good to her the past few days and she really did owe him her life. On the other hand, she thought, a relationship would probably just complicate things right now. She stood from the couch and walked back over to the wall of books to search for another to read, Damon simply followed her with his eyes.