AN: Surprise...Ha, not really. I managed to update quickly but don't get too used to it...I had two days off so here it is :P

Thank you for all your support and especially your reviews. Please keep them coming and let me know what you think!
Enjoy & please review!

Damon woke up with a pounding migraine throbbing in his head. He moaned in annoyance as he slowly got up. He then checked the alarm and saw that it was 12 pm already.

When did he exactly come back last night? He remembered going at the Grill and having some quality time with that Andie chick but that's it. He figured that he'd even drank a little bit too much, considering his headache.

He quickly showered and put on some fresh clothes, just to walk in a half-naked Andie in his room. He jumped a little in surprise and she grinned at him.

"Goodmorning." She said in a dreamy voice.

"Morning." He said a little uncomfortably.

He really hoped that they could avoid the awkwardness. He wasn't searching for anything, and her wearing his shirt and giving him the doe eyes didn't exactly scream one night thing on her part. He didn't even remember her coming here last night.

"So...uhm…" He said scratching his head as he searched for the words. "What happened exactly?"

She chuckled a little as she started dressing.

"You don't remember anything do you? You were pretty wasted so I gave you a ride home. Then one thing led to another and…here I am." She said.

"Oh. I see." He said.

She approached him slowly and bit her lip.

"Wanna grab something to eat at the Grill? You still have your car there anyway." She said in a low voice, her finger running up and down his chest.

God, was she starting to get clingy already? No can do.

"I can't. My brother came back yesterday and I promised I would spend today with him." He quickly invented.

She looked disappointed as she stiffened a little.

"Oh...then I'll see you around I guess. Call me okay?" She asked hesitantly.

"Sure thing." He said smiling tightly.

She gave him a quick kiss and finally headed out.

She looked kinda disappointed and sad for his lack of enthusiasm and convinction, but it really wasn't his problem.

He then remembered that the housekeeper would arrive anytime and he quickly dialed Stefan's number as he took his phone from the nightstand.

"Hello?" Stefan answered right away.

"Hello brother." He said with a smirk, knowing that what he would ask next would annoy him.

"Damon." He said surprised. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah I was just wondering if you could come get me? I...kinda forgot my car at the Grill last night." He said.

"Do I want to know?" He said sighing in defeat.

"Not really your concern." He said.

"Okay, I'll come get you now then. Just give me your address." He said.

He gave him the address for his apartment and waited for him in the living room. Stefan gave him a ring on the phone fifteen minutes later and he headed out searching for his car.

He spotted him in a black Audi and quickly reached him.

"You look awful." Stefan said shaking his head as he got in.

"And goodmorning to you too." He said rolling his eyes.

"Goodmorning? It's half past noon." He said.

"Whatever." He said shrugging.

Stefan rolled his eyes shaking his head and he smirked in amusement.

"Where are you going? My car is at the Grill." He said.

"I know. But you're coming home for lunch." Stefan said casually.

"Says who?" He said narrowing his eyes.

"Me."

He cursed under his breath and now it was Stefan's turn to laugh amused.

As they stepped into the driveway a few minutes later he couldn't believe his eyes. Her car was there. Did Stefan do this on purpose?

"You've gotta be kidding me." He spat as he got out of the car.

"Not at all." He said calmly. "I planned on seeing Elena for lunch since yesterday, then you asked me to pick you up and basically interfered." He said shrugging.

"Yeah but to get my car back!" He said angrily.

"God, Damon." Stefan growled in annoyance. "Just stop acting like a two years old and come in. She's not gonna bite you."

"Sure…" He muttered as they started walking inside.

As they got in he heard two female voices and he stiffened a little. One was definitely Elena's…the other was a bubbly giggling voice and he immediatly recognized it. Caroline Forbes.

Great.

"Stefan!" Elena squealed happily when she saw him.

She ran into his arms hugging him tight and he hugged her back. Damon felt a pang in his chest looking at his brother holding Elena and realized that maybe what he said yesterday was right. Maybe he really did want to be in Stefan's place right now.

He wondered how she got in since she hadn't seen Stefan yet, and then remembered the whole family-thingy and that she owned a pair of keys. He had to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

"Gee, you have to cut your hair Stef. This super-hero haircut is not for you." She said giggling.

Stefan elbowed her and faked an offended pout. He then looked at the blonde smiling at them from the counter and yes, it was definitely Caroline...

She caught his eye and her eyes shimmered a little as she checked him out and her mouth fell open. She always used to do that in highschool when she saw someone that she liked, and he almost smirked at the irony.

"That's my brother." Stefan said as he saw Caroline completely in awe.

"Your brother? How many brothers do you have?" She said chuckling a little.

"One." Stefan said a little uncomfortably.

Caroline's eyes widened and this time in shock. The glass of soda that she was holding fell on the ground and the noise made her snap out of it.

"Shit..." She muttered quietly as she started gathering the pieces of glass.

"Let me help you." Stefan immediatly said as he took a rag from the counter.

Damon didn't even bother to comment as his eyes immediatly laid on Elena. He gulped nervously feeling every fiber of his being tense up.

He'd treated her like shit yesterday and he wondered if she had told Stefan. She seemed to be equally nervous as she glanced at him for a few seconds.

If this weird feeling was happening with any other woman…he would probably call it sexual tension. But not with her. Not anymore, he told himself.

"Oh gosh, this is incredibly awkward." Caroline voice snapped him out of his trance.

"Really?" He asked casually raising his brows as he leaned against the door frame.

"Yeah I mean…" She started fumbling.

"Oh blondie, forget it." He said with an amused smirk on his face. "The past is in the past." He said with a shrug.

He smirked devishly and looked at Elena who now seemed pretty pissed off, looking at him in disbelief as she narrowed her eyes.

"I agree." Caroline said with a nod and a sheepish smile.

Elena threw one last glance at him and he kept smiling smugly as they all sat and started eating some pizza.

She couldn't believe it. Ever since he came back he gave nothing but crap to her, and now he suddenly acted all cool and nice with Caroline? Like nothing happened with her?

She'd even tried to apologize to him and get to know him, but he just wouldn't let her in. She couldn't understand why; but the thought of Damon hating her or not liking her as a person…it bothered her. She should feel indifferent, but she just couldn't.

There was something about him that went further than his cold and snarky self. Sometimes when he wasn't always on guard, she would look into his eyes, seeing his ocean blue eyes so intense and deep. Empty of coldness or malice. He was attracting her like a magnet. And somehow the fact that he was willing to play dumb with Caroline but made her go through hell just annoyed her.

"I'm gonna take some ice-cream." She said as she went into the kitchen.

After lunch they had all headed to the living room chatting as Stefan told them about his aunt and the weeks he spent out of town. Matt joined them an hour later and they were now watching a movie.

Damon, being his usual self she presumed, was sitting on the armchair across the room drinking some kind of alcohol and occasionally glancing out of the window. He looked so thoughtful and lost that she couldn't help but wonder what was going on with him. He and Stefan seemed to go along pretty well considering that they hadn't seen each other in six years, but there was some kind of tension surrounding them...it just didn't give her a positive vibe.

With a sigh she opened the freezer and grinned when she saw that Stefan bought her favorite ice-cream. Häagen-Dazs chocolate peanut butter ice-cream. She closed the freezer and almost jumped when she noticed Damon standing a few inches away from the fridge.

"Boo." He said with his usual cocky smirk.

"You scared me." She said, a hand on her heart.

"Jeez." He muttered rolling his eyes.

She rolled her eyes as well and sighed.

"What do you want?" She said as she started putting some ice-cream in a bowl.

"Ice-cream." He said innocently.

She put the bowl down and sighed in frustration.

"What game are you playing, Damon?" She said as she crossed her arms.

"I could ask you the same thing." He said getting closer.

She stiffened a little and then saw him eyeing her breasts through her tight shirt with an approving smirk. He was just a few inches away from her and his fresh and intoxicating scent was making her knees almost buckle.

She blushed as her face grew hard in frustration at his bluntness.

"Chin up." She said firmly as she took his chin in her hand and made him look into her eyes.

He seemed surprised by the action as his blue eyes widened a little. Her hand immediatly fell and her heart started beating way too fast. He was looking at her in a way that she couldn't quite describe, with those eyes, and it was doing very weird things to her lower parts.

His face grew darker as he seemed to snap out of his morbid self.

"Don't you have that baby brother of yours and your mommy and daddy to stay with? How come you're always in my house? Clingy much?" He suddenly asked harshly.

She flinched instantly at his stern words as her heart started beating furiously but now for completely different reasons. She felt tears forming in her eyes as her jaw clenthced.

Without thinking, she slapped him hard.

"You're an asshole." She spat out angrily, her voice slightly trembling from the tears that she was holding.

She ran out of the house, letting all the tears of rage that she was holding stream down her face. It was still a touching argument for her, and even though Damon probably didn't know about her parents, she had reacted from instinct. People barely talked about it normally with her knowing how much it still hurt, and that idiot thought that he could come and mess with her feelings like that?

She got into her car and tried to calm down, taking some deep breaths as she wiped her tears away.

Oh, how she wished that she had her mommy and daddy to spend her days with. To come back home and not find it empty and quiet. How she wished that her baby brother didn't have to go through all of this because of her.

She sped off quickly, overhelmed by feelings and thoughts that she hadn't let herself feel in a long time.

Her face was still wet and her eyes puffy as she got home. She fumbled with her keys but just then Jeremy opened the front door, looking ready to leave.

"Elena." He said surprised.

"Hey Jer." She said smiling slightly, not making eye-contact.

As always though, he knew better than that. He quickly got closer with a worried look on his face.

"Have you been crying?" He asked immediatly, his hands on her shoulders.

"What? No. I just…I heard a sad story at the radio and I got all emotional. No big deal." She said trying to shift out a laugh.

"Bullshit." He said. "What happened? Do I have to kick someone's ass?"

She shook her head gently, smiling at him.

"No, just hug me." She said as she wrapped him in a tight hug.

That was it. Jeremy was her family, he was the most important person in her life and she didn't know what she would do if she lost him too.

"I know I don't tell you this often but I really love you Jeremy. I'm so proud to be your sister." She said as she stepped out of his embrace to look at him in the eyes. "Mom and dad would be proud too."

"I love you too Lena. I'm the one who's lucky to have such a cool sis." He said smiling. "And you know that they would be proud of you too, a lot."

"I know, JerBear." She said chuckling as she remembered his old nickname.

"Stop it." He said rolling his eyes as he blushed, running a hand through his brown hair. "No one has called me that in years."

She giggled a little but he grew serious again.

"Seriously though…did something happen? What's up with all this emotional stuff all of a sudden?" He said suspiciously.

"It's nothing, really. I just got emotional." She said with a shrug. "Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."

He hugged her again and she pulled back after a few moments, wiping at her face that was still a mess.

"Where were you going anyway? You were heading out when I arrived." She said as she stepped inside, leaning against the door frame of the front door.

"I was gonna meet up with Ric. He wants to talk about some colleges around here, since I'm not planning on going back to Europe." He said shrugging.

Elena immediatly felt a burst of happiness inside of her and smiled broadly at him, happy to know that he was thinking about colleges and studying. Especially here.

"That's great Jer. If you come up with something with Ric then let me know, okay?" She said.

"Of course. But are you sure you don't want me to stay with you? You seemed upset…" He said quietly.

"I'm fine, you go and we'll catch up later." She said with a nod.

He nodded back and headed towards his car, which was actually Jenna's old car that he'd always hated with passion.

She turned on the lights and went upstairs, wiping off her messy make-up and changing in comfy clothes. She then realized that she hadn't told anything to Stefan or Caroline and that they would probably wondering where she was right now. Although at the moment she really couldn't bring herself to care as she laid on her bed and slowly fell into a deep sleep.

Time seemed to have frozen as he brought his hand to his hurting cheek, resting it just where she hit him with which seemed to be with all the anger that she had inside of her.

If it was under any other circumstance, he would have let it go and be content knowing that he drove her off the edge just like she did with him. But what left him speechless and confused was that she snapped right after he made a comment about family. Her family.

He immediatly felt both horrified and mortified at the same time realizing that he'd probably touched a very open wound. Of all the times he'd acted cockily and teased her, she never had this same reaction. Hell, he didn't like her, but it didn't mean that he purposely wanted to be that cruel.

He looked at the bowl that she'd just filled with chocolate ice-cream and sighed. He really screwed up. And he had the feeling that Stefan would be really mad once he found out.

"Where's Elena?" He asked just then as he entered the kitchen, looking a little bit confused.

"I…" Damon started, not quite finding the words. Crap. "I might have exaggerrated a little."

"What do you mean?" Stefan immediatly asked in a low tone, approaching him.

"I was messing with her and she suddenly snapped when I made a joke about her parents…I honestly didn't mean to." He said sincerely.

Stefan stiffened a little as his face grew mad and upset.

"Damn it, Damon." He muttered angrily. "Can't you just fucking behave?"

He flinched in surprise as he heard Stefan cursing. He barely did that.

"I didn't do it on purpose for Christ's sake. I'm not that low." He spat.

Stefan sighed quietly bringing his hands to his cinder blonde hair, ruffling it in frustration as he took a seat. Damon joined him hesitantly and he started explaining right away.

"Her parents…they died in a car accident five years ago." He murmured quietly. "She was in the accident too."

Damon's eyes widened in shock as he heard the story, a pang of hurt in his chest as he realized what she'd been through and how much she'd lost. And the pain in Stefan's voice...he must really care about Elena.

"It's really not my business to get too much into it since Elena doesn't like to talk about it. But that's still an open wound for her, Damon. A big one. And she almost died in there too…not to mention all the issues that she got with her brother after it. That you don't even know about." He said bitterly.

He suddenly felt like shit as remorse and guiltiness started filling his being. He realized that perhaps he'd judged who she was too fast, still holding onto the past and who she was. Stefan was right. He had missed years and a lot of things happened. Everyone moved on and changed, someone in the bad…and someone in the good.

He would take those words back if he could. He really would, but as he realized that he couldn't do anything about it, he knew that the only thing he could try to do was fixing it somehow.

"You're right." He admitted, looking at Stefan in the eyes. "I don't know what she's been through. And honestly, I can't promise you to act all nice with her or to be her friend but…I can try not to hate her. You think I could talk to her?"

Stefan's eyes widened in surprise at his words and he seemed hesitant for a moment.

"Maybe it's better if I talk to her, I mean…" He started but Damon cut him off.

"No Stefan. I need to make it up by myself." He said.

"Why?" Stefan asked narrowing his eyes.

"I feel like I need to let go." He replied simply, shrugging.

Stefan eyed him for a few seconds and then gave him Elena's address, begging him to not screw up twice in a day.

He headed out of the Boarding House, taking a few minutes outside to prepare himself before he took off to Elena's house.

Her house seemed to be nice and ordinary from the outside. He immediatly looked at the driveway and noticed that her car was there. So she was home…

He took a deep breath and headed out of the car, suddenly feeling tense and a little giddy. He kept telling himself that it was because he was ashamed of what happened and that he had to apologize, thing that he wasn't very good at and that he didn't do often…but why did he feel like it was for completely different reasons? You're here because you acted like a dick and you need to put your shit together, annoying as it is she's still your brother's bestfriend, he told himself. He smoothed down his hair a little and rang at her doorbell.

He waited a couple of minutes and then rang again as he grew impatient. What if she'd seen him from the window and decided to ignore him? No, now he was here, and he wouldn't go away before at least trying to talk to her. He rang again and again knowing full well that he was likely being rude but he really didn't care.

He heard some noises from the inside and in a few seconds the door flew open.

"There was no need to…" Elena started saying annoyed. She then looked up at him and her doe eyes grew wide as she saw him standing there.

She was wearing a robe, her long chestnut hair kind of messy.

"Ice-cream?" He said hesitantly with a sheepish almost cute smile as he held up the bag with that chocolate ice-cream that she was going to eat earlier.

He didn't remember if it was with peneat butter or just with chocolate so be bought both on his way here.

She huffed quietly, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Are you actually being serious? What do you want Damon? I've had enough of you for one day." She said annoyed and sternly as she eyed him warily, holding the door ready to close it.

He sighed a little. "I'm taking up that offer of talking with you. Is it still valid?" He said, referring to their yesterday's conversation.

She seemed touched and surprised, her expression thougtful as her eyes bore into his.

He froze a little as he realized that maybe, and just maybe, he really wasn't ready to let go.