A/N: And I idiotically keep writing this despite my NaNoWriMo-induced stress and lack of time. I'm insane, but what else can I say? I love this story. Think of it as a celebration of 11/11/11 (because I wrote it then) which we will never experience again because in November of 3011 we will all be dead. Not to be morbid or anything…

Please, please, PLEASE review *begs on hands and knees* If you do I'll take some suggestions for scenes that I could write for this story… y'know, except for M-rated stuff.

Plus I heard that clicking the review button is good luck, and everyone can use some good luck :)

A/N #2: As I write this it's long after I started this chapter. I was going to post it on 11/12/11 but I never got to finish it… sorry, guys. It's also going to be very short and action-packed… just bear with me, guys, NaNoWriMo is almost over and then I'll be updating fanfics very frequently.

After Jeremy things started to settle down, I found myself wondering why I was still in Mystic Falls. No tomb vampires meant no giant vampire round-up, but as far as I could tell, Anna wasn't in town. Since there wasn't any rumor of the tomb being opened, she had no reason to be here in the first place. I almost pitied Jeremy—he and Anna had seemed happy together when I saw them at the Miss Mystic Falls dance.

Despite that there was still a good chance that Katherine would show up here, trying to get the moonstone and Elena for Klaus, because the one thing I was sure of was that Klaus would still be out there regardless of whether or not the tomb vampires escaped.

I paced in Elena's backyard, head pounding from all the thoughts drifting through. It felt so strange, so… so me to be stalking her 24/7, but I knew this was justified. It wasn't always easy, not with her and Stefan being so in love. It killed me to hear them kissing, talking, and other things that made me cover my ears and retreat. I knew I had come back here so that Elena could be with Stefan and be safe, but it was taking everything that I had not to jump through her window and take her right in front of Stefan.

"I'll go to bed in a few minutes." I heard Elena say. She had been talking to Jenna about something Stefan-related for nearly an hour now. "I just want to check on Jeremy and see if he needs anything."

"He'll be too busy studying to notice." The pride in Jenna's voice was obvious.

"I'll bet he'll just kick me out, saying I'm distracting him."

Her footsteps were soft. She knocked twice on Jeremy's door. "Jeremy? Need anything?"

"You mind, Elena? I have a big test tomorrow."

"Okay." She backed far enough away before dashing down the stairs and collapsing on the couch in a heap of giggles. "I never thought I would hear Jeremy say that, but he did!"

After a lot of giggly girl-talk involving Jeremy I heard Elena bid Jenna goodnight and then close her bedroom door. I sighed. Tonight I would have to listen to her and Stefan…

I lost track of the night. Her soft breaths, audible from where I stood, soothed me and were starting to lull me to sleep. Sleep. Now there was a thought. I hadn't gotten much sleep, worrying about when Katherine would come if the tomb vampires didn't get out. Come to think of it, John might not show up either… it was so hard to keep track of all the events from the past when I barely knew what day it was currently. All I knew was that the Miss Mystic Falls had come and gone a few days ago, which meant that already half of a year had gone by and I hadn't noticed. The Founders' Day celebration where the tomb vampires had planned on attacking would be in just a few days.

I snapped out of my daze when I heard Elena's soft footsteps. I realized she was talking on her phone, and that she must have called someone while I was drifting off.

"…sounds good to me…" I heard her say. "I thought I might as well come over. Yeah. Okay…. I love you too, Stefan."

Great, just great. A midnight call to Stefan.

I stayed my distance once she reached the Boardinghouse, seeing as she had Stefan to protect her there, along with other highly unpleasant things that I didn't care to listen too. I stayed in the woods near the road, thinking about Katherine and where I could find her so I could kill her and then be on my way when I heard a car in the distance, then saw with terror rising in my throat that Elena was driving. She was going faster than was safe, especially considering how dangerous Mystic Falls was at night.

I sped after the car, making sure to stay far enough behind that Elena wouldn't see me. The night felt eerily similar to one I'd had before… I couldn't put my finger on what night it was, but I had a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen momentarily.

Then I heard it. A scream followed by ripping and tearing of metal as Elena's car ricocheted over the side of the road, doing three flips before it landed upside down in a ditch. It was even worse than the night when she crashed because… of Katherine's picture.

"Damn it, Stefan!" I muttered, running to the car. He hadn't really brought up Katherine during their relationship… not without me to push them together that first time.

A shadowy figure, like before, was striding towards Elena's car when I raced to it, scaring him off. That had to mean that Anna was in town and Katherine wouldn't be far behind. We were all screwed.

"Help! Help!" Elena was screaming. There were several dull clunks from inside the car.

I knelt down by the side. When my face appeared she screamed even louder, struggling to get free. Of course. She wouldn't recognize me now. "Hey… hey, Elena! Look at me!" she stopped screaming and stared at my with tear-filled eyes. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

A gurgling noise came from her throat. "…c-crashed my car… not Katherine…" her voice held hate for Katherine. "Leave me alone."

"Look, I know Katherine, and I know you're not her. I just want to help you… I'm a… a friend of Stefan's."

"P-Prove it." She gulped. I could see she was in a lot of pain.

I wracked my brain for something to say. "He has a funny-looking tattoo on his arm or his back or something… he doesn't drink human blood. He has a brother."

Elena was crying by then. "A-a-a brother?"

"Shhhh…" I wanted her. "Someone might hear you and we don't need that man coming back here. Do you trust me or not?"

She whimpered, but nodded. Glass shards tumbled from her neck and chest.

"Good. Okay… if you put your arms on the ceiling—can you?—yeah, like that. If you do that I'll have you loose in a second."

Just like the last time I jerked on her belt to free her, but this time her legs were trapped by the car. She squirmed, cried out in pain, and kept holding on to the ceiling. "I'm still stuck…" there was a note of hysteria in her voice.

"Stay." I ordered. I went to the top of the car and ripped out the bottom, being careful to only loosen the metal enough so that Elena wouldn't fall on her head, but enough so I could get her out. I bent down other level again. "You ready?" a nod. "Okay…. Three, two one…"

I ripped out a section of the car and simultaneously caught Elena, gently pulling her out of the car. She looked dizzy, and her head tipped to the side. "My side hurts…" she gasped. I could hear her breathing was making rattling noises, like her lungs were full of pebbles.

It was my worst nightmare; a car crash where Elena was actually injured, with no way to get help. The worst part was I couldn't just waltz in a hospital with her because someone would see me and then Stefan would hear about it.

"It hurts a lot." Elena persisted, sounding terrified. "Please, it really hurts." Her voiced cracked on the last word.

"Do you have a phone?"

"Yeah… in the car…"

I went back to the wreck, rummaging through the glass on the ruins of the passenger seat. Her phone was still intact, oddly enough. I ran back to her and sat next to her as I dialed 911.

"What's your name?" Elena asked. She coughed, then groaned and drew a few shuddery breaths. "Why a-are you h-h-helping me?"

"Shhh, wait a second." I was glad she was coherent enough to ask a question like that.

"911. What is the nature of your emergency?" a positively bored voice said.

I said, "A girl got into a car accident. I think she has broken ribs."

"Can you tell me your location?"

I scanned the scenery briefly and looked at Elena. She needed to think I didn't know my way around here. When she told me I relayed the directions to the woman.

"You said you think she has broken ribs? Is she in the car?"

"No, I got her out."

I could hear the icy disapproval from her end of the line. "Try not to move her anymore. Is she conscious?"

I glanced at her again. "Yes."

"Is she having difficulty breathing, or pain when breathing?"

"Does your chest hurt?" I asked Elena. "Can you breathe?"

Elena grimaced and took a breathe in. "It hurts to breathe… I can barely talk…"

"She says it hurts to breathe." I relayed. I waited through more monotone instructions to not move Elena before the woman told me to; stay where I was because an ambulance was on it's way.

"Help coming?" Elena moaned. I nodded. "Good. Thank you."

"Yeah… I owe you." I scooted closer to her, taking her fragile hand in mine and squeezing it lightly. She gave me a grateful look, something I hadn't seen lately.

"W-hy?" she asked, the pain making her stretch the word into two syllables.

I just ruined your other life and made sure everyone you loved died or ended up good as dead. "It doesn't matter."

"You're a vampire." She stated, waiting for my nod of affirmation. "You…" she coughed again, hand clenching mine tightly as she put her free hand to her side. "You know Stefan."

"Yeah… I do."

She laid there for a few minutes. Each rattling breath hurt me more than all the torture I'd ever endured. "So are you the supposed brother?"

I should have known she would figure it out. "Yes."

"Why haven't you come to see Stefan?" she asked, doe eyes shining at me with innocence.

"I can't." I told her. "Will you promise not to tell Stefan I'm here? If he knows then both of you could get hurt… who knows what Katherine might do."

"Katherine…" Elena's eyes were becoming unfocused, and now they were blurring with tears. "… look like her…"

"She's a manipulative, vindictive vampire, and if you ever see her you have to get out as fast as you can."

"I promise."

"To which one?" I asked.

She considered it for a minute. "The… both. Both of them. I promise." She squeezed my hand harder, her other hand tracing her ribcage lightly. She must have been too afraid to touch it. "I promise."

"I know." I said, reassuring her. "You should try not to talk too much, you'll need less air."

Her eyes fluttered to a close as she nodded.

"Don't fall asleep, Elena." I warned.

She opened her eyes again. They moved around wildly. "Spinning."

"That's normal… just stay still, all right?"

She nodded a fraction of an inch and then glued her eyes firmly to mine. After a minute I noticed they had slowed their spinning a bit. "Anchor." She said, smiling.

Anchor? "Did the spinning stop?" I asked, confused.

"Yes." said Elena. "Anchor."

I feared that she would pass out soon. Her incoherence meant she was having a harder time talking, therefore having a harder time getting air.

"Anchor? Elena, is there something else wrong?"

"No… you. Anchor. Keeping me still." She said, struggling to get the few simple words out.

She was looking at me, and she felt safe with me. I was touched beyond words except for a stupid-sounding, "Ohhh…."

"Name?"

I trusted her. "Damon."

"Am… will I b-be okay, Damon?" she rasped. I prayed for the ambulances to come soon.

"Yes." I promised. "I'll make sure that you're okay, no matter what."

Soon the ambulances came, and as soon as I gave her one last reassurance, I sped out into the woods. As soon as Stefan heard about this he would be at Elena's side in an instance. He might have even been following her when she ran off. I was surprised he hadn't found her when I did.

I checked on her later, through the hospital window. She was asleep, white as porcelain. I fought all my instincts to go in there and be with her… Stefan was seated next to her bed.

Instead, I went to blend into the darkness. It was time I went home and got some sleep.

O.o.O.o.O.

Narrator's POV

On the hill overlooking the site of the accident, Katherine Pierce tutted disapprovingly while watching Damon speed away from the scene. "Ah, Damon… always interfering." She sighed gustily.

"Just wait, Elena Gilbert. We will meet soon, and you will be mine."

She strode away into the shadows. She owed an old lover a visit.

A/N: *gasp* what could possibly happen? You should tell me, because I have no idea. I made all this up in half an hour.