AN: I am soooooo sorry this took so long! I suck at updating lately, I know. :(

I must admit that the latest episodes didn't exactly inspire me, with the whole Damon/Rebekah and Elena/Stefan drama going on. The promo for 3x19 though did give me something to feel inspired on. Hah. ;)

Again guys, I'm so sorry. I hope you're still sticking around and you'll be so nice to let me know what you think! As always reviews are very welcome and I love reading your thoughts. :)

Thank you for reading!

"Stefan what the hell did you do?" Damon asked, his whole face painted in shock.

The same look plastered on his face right after he saw his brother standing there with a bloody lip and a bruised face. He was trying to keep it together but for the love of him he couldn't think of Stefan getting into trouble with anyone, let alone a fight like this.

What did he manage to get himself into in only a few hours?

"Damon? Who is it?" Elena's voice called from his bedroom.

Stefan's eyes widened in understanding and surprise when he heard Elena's voice. He couldn't let her see him like that. And neither would Damon.

It would freak her out and today it had already been a pretty heavy day for her.

"Stay here." Damon whispered to Stefan.

He nodded silently and took a seat on the stairs next Damon's front door.

Damon took a deep breath and tried to keep a straight face as he walked into his bedroom, finding Elena looking at him with an expectant and slightly worried look on her face.

"It's just Stefan. He still seems pretty pissed though so I'm just going to give him what he came here for and I'll be done in a few minutes, okay?" He said forcing a smile.

Elena still seemed a little wary and suspicious, but she nodded reclutantly.

"Is he mad at me? Can I talk to him?" She asked sadly.

He immediatly stiffened as he heard her words. It was one big mess and Damon was starting to realize that he wasn't able to lie to her. Not easily as he thought he could, at least. He didn't want to lie to her but when he could, he would preserve her from ulterior pain or worry in her life. He still had to figure out what Stefan had gotten himself into.

"I don't think that's a good idea babe. Maybe tomorrow." He stressed, caressing her shoulder soothingly.

"What exactly did he come here for?" She then asked narrowing her eyes a little.

He unconsciously stopped his movements as his mouth formed into a little 'o' shape when he didn't know what to respond. Fuck. Was she really that suspicious?

"He just needs some cash and he didn't want to ask mom. Seriously Elena does it really matter?" He sighed.

She stiffened a little and glared at him, trying to shrug off her wary feeling even though she could clearly sense that there was something going on.

It was odd of Stefan to come in the middle of the night asking for money. It just wasn't him. As far as she knew he didn't owe money to anyone or anything that could put him into trouble. There was definitely something that Damon wasn't telling her but she decided to let it go…for now.

"Okay." She said. "But if something important happened you would tell me, right?" She then asked searching for his gaze.

"Of course." He said hesitantly, smiling tightly. "Now sleep. We'll talk in the morning."

He kissed her lightly on the forehead and walked out, closing the door behind him.

She stayed there for a few moments, wondering why she was feeling such a weird vibe about what just happened. Did Damon just lie to her in the face? He was always honest with her, and as much as she could see it in his face when he was, she could also see when he was lying.

She tried to lay in bed for a while but as she overheard Damon and Stefan's loud whispering she decided that that was it. She had to see herself what was going on.

She quietly got out of bed, tip-toeing to the door and opening it slowly.

All she could see was Stefan laying on the couch with what seemed to be something icy against his forehead.

"Why can't you just tell me what happened? Did you get into some serious trouble Stefan?" Damon whispered angrily.

"No. I just…I don't want to talk about it right now. My eye is throbbing and so is my head." Stefan hissed back.

Elena gasped a little as she realized that he was injured. Her heart immediatly started beating frantically at the thought of Stefan being into some kind of troubled situation.

"What's going on?" She asked warily as she started walking towards them.

They both jumped a little at the sound of her voice and Damon's eyes widened in shock as he saw her standing there.

"Elena." He sighed.

"Oh my god Stefan what happened to you?" She immediatly asked when she saw how bad it was.

"That's what I was trying to figure out." Damon muttered with a sarcastic expression.

"I told you to leave Elena out of this. I knew she would freak out." Stefan sighed heavily.

"Of course I'm freaking out!" She said angrily. "And for your information he tried to leave me out of this. You sneaky idiots." She said glaring at Damon.

He glared back at her and they both kept each other's gaze until Stefan's moan as he plopped on the couch again snapped them out of it.

Elena immediatly went sitting next to him as Damon sat on the arm of the sofa.

"I got into a fight with Mason Lockwood." He confessed quietly.

"What?" Both Elena and Damon said loudly at the same time.

"I was at the Falls...not really my thing, I know, but Rebekah wanted to go since there was a party so we all went there. I saw Mason being his usual cocky self and I didn't give a crap until I overheard him talking shit about you." He said. "He was telling that you two had a heated argument and how he dumped you because you're a…frigid bitch, that he had plenty of women at his feet, and shit like that. So Matt and I approached him but that douche of Tyler of course backed him up and well here I am. I'm sorry I couldn't defend you as I should have Elena." Stefan said quietly, looking down.

She couldn't believe that he did it again. She should have realized what an aggressive and impulsive person Mason was when the accident in his car happened. She still had a bruise on her arm to prove it, and now he beat Stefan up?

Damon's jaw was clentched as he stood stiff. She'd rarely seen that ice cold look in his eyes, but when she did, it usually didn't mean anything good.

"Is it true?" He then asked, looking at Elena. "That you two had an argument? When?"

"Damon…it was nothing, really. I didn't want to add any more drama and it happened before we got together." She said, unconsciously bringing her hand to her arm.

As Damon noticed the move, realization seemed to have hit him as he clentched his fists.

"Did he threaten you or hurt you?" He then asked, trying not to lose it. "Tell me the truth, Elena."

The look in his eyes made very clear that he wouldn't take her dishonesty. Not this time.

"He yelled at me because I was telling him that I didn't want to see him anymore. It was the night after Caroline's party and he just…sort of grabbed my arm." She said hesitantly.

She should have known better and told Damon from the start. She knew that eventually it would have come out anyway, and as mixed emotions started surfacing on his face, Elena felt like she had really screwed up this time.

"Let me see your arm." He demanded as he stepped closer.

She took a deep breath and hesitantly ran up her sleeve, showing him the now yellowed bruise.

His ice blue eyes were penetrating her hazel ones and she suddenly felt a string of guilt for not telling him before. He looked baffled and as soon as he broke eye-contact she understood how mad he was.

"Son of a bitch." He muttered walking towards his room.

"Damon what are you doing?" She asked, following him.

"You should have told me, Elena." He stated sternly as he started buttoning his shirt. "You shouldn't have let him get away with it. You knew I could have helped you, damn it."

"I let him off the hook because I knew what yours and Stefan's reactions would be. I don't want any more drama in my life Damon…it's nothing! Please leave it alone!" She pressed as she took his wrists and looked at him in the eyes.

He threw her a hard glance and grabbed her arm, twisting it slightly to show the bruise.

"You call this nothing?" He said as he looked at the palm-sized bruise on her arm. "As far as the law is concerned, he assaulted you. So you can't ask me to let it go. It's my job, Elena."

Tears started gathering in her eyes as she remembered Mason's harsh words and how he manhandled her that night. What was getting to her though was seeing Damon so angry and unreasonable.

Pressing charges against Mason would mean starting also an everending fight with the most powerful family in town. There was no may the the Mayor would let Mason be accused and ruin the Lockwood's reputation.

He'd also make sure to get his revenge and god only knew what they were capable of. Damon couldn't understand this but she did.

"I am begging you Damon, just let it go. I'm sorry but I just…if you want to accuse Mason of something, do it yourself. I don't want to get more involved with that family than I already have. Getting close to Mason has been a mistake. You don't know what they're capable of." She said warily, shaking her head. "They drove my uncle John to alcoholism and he had to leave town. Think about what they could do to Jenna, to Jeremy…to me."

She was pratically begging him, desperately pleading him with her eyes to let it go.

"If this is what you decided, then there's nothing I can do to stop you." He answered coldly. "But you're a woman and he hurt and threatened you. This goes against all my values."

She let go of his wrists with a defeated expression as she saw how disappointed he was. He had probably lost all respect that he had for her but she couldn't risk to pull a John on Jeremy or Jenna.

"Can anyone please explain to me what the hell just happened?" Stefan said confused as Damon walked in the living room.

"You can sleep in my bed, I'll take the couch." Damon said, taking off his shirt and throwing it on a chair nearby.

"You're going to let me sleep here?" Stefan asked.

"Of course." Damon scoffed. "There's no way that I'm letting you go back home to mom in this state. I'm going to give her a call and tell her that you were drunk and asked me to pick you up. Now end of discussion."

"Okay…thanks." Stefan said quietly, eyeing Damon suspiciously when he noticed how upset and tensed he was.

He walked towards his bedroom just to find a crying Elena sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Hey, what happened?" He immediatly asked in concern as he went to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"I just messed up big time." She sobbed quietly. "With Damon."

"Elena what's this bruise?" He then asked, looking at it in disbelief.

"This was Mason Lockwood's goodbye." She replied sarcastically, wiping some of the tears off her eyes.

"He did this to you?" Stefan said as his eyes widened in shock and his voice raised.

"Yes. But I don't want to get into it so please Stefan at least you, just let it go. What's done it's done." She pressed.

"You can't think like that. The bastard can't get away with it like nothing happened." He said shaking his head. "Look at what he did to me and Matt too. He clearly needs to be stopped."

"I wish he wouldn't, but you know what happens when you get against a Lockwood." She said, looking at him pointedly.

"I guess I do." He said, his face softening as he understood what she was talking about and how indeed powerful the Lockwood's were.

"Where's Damon?" She then asked softly.

"He's sleeping on the couch. He's pretty upset right now but he'll come around." Stefan reassured her as he gently rubbed her arm.

"I don't know Stef. He made it very clear that he's against my decision and that it goes against all his values…and I honestly respect that." She said sighing.

"Now let's get some sleep okay?" She yawned. "You need to rest and so do I. By the way I'm sorry that you got involved too. You did a wonderful thing for me today." She then said with a weak smile.

"I would do it again if I had to." He said nudging her shoulder. "The only problem now is mom. If she sees me like this she'll freak out."

"She won't. You'll sleep it off and then in the morning I'll cover you up with some make-up or something." She said thoughtfully.

"Make-up?" Stefan cringed.

"Just some foundation. You won't even notice." She said rolling her eyes.

"Okay then…" He said hesitantly.

Elena chuckled a little as Stefan crawled into bed and she then turned off the light, quietly stepping out of the room.

She felt a pang in her chest as she looked at Damon asleep on the couch. This was their first real fight ever since they got together and it was hurting her more than it should have. She hated fighting with him. She wished she could make it right by him, but she also knew that neither of them would give up on what they believed.

She quietly kneeled in front of him, looking at him longlingly as his chest rose and fell slowly with each breath. He looked so peaceful and innocent. All signs of his anger gone for now. Her heart started beating a little faster as her eyes fell on his naked sculptorious chest and biceps.

"I love you." She whispered in his ear, stroking his raven black hair lovingly. "No matter what happens."

She took the shirt that he had thrown on the chair and laid it on his chest, covering him up. She didn't know what made her confess those three little words but it felt so spontaneous and natural that she almost didn't notice that she did finally let it out loud.

It was true. She was in love with him. No matter what happened, her feelings for Damon wouldn't change. If anything this situation only made her realize it even more.

With a sigh she stood up and headed towards the bedroom again, closing the door behind her and crawling into bed, hoping that in the morning she would feel more positive than she was feeling right now.

As she woke up the next morning, Elena immediatly glanced at the clock which signaled that it was only 9am.

Stefan had already woken-up and she could hear voices coming from the kitchen. She quickly got up, tying her hair in a messy bun.

"For the hundreth time, I already told you I'm fine, mom." Stefan said sighing heavily. "I'm at Damon's house. I sort of drunk too much last night and he came to pick me up. I didn't want to make you mad so I stayed here for the night."

She waved at him as she came walking into the kitchen and he waved back, smiling as he flipped some pancakes.

"Okay. Bye. See you later." He said as he hanged up.

He released a frustrated sigh and Elena giggled lightly.

"Trouble with Maria?" She asked as she poured herself some coffee.

"Yeah, her usual anxious self you know." He said rolling his eyes.

"How are you feeling? You look better this morning." She then said serious as she checked out his face.

"It's all still throbbing a little but luckily it's not showing like tonight. Maybe you could help me with whatever make-up you want me to put on." He said tentatively.

"I will." She said chuckling and shaking her head. "Where is Damon anyway?"

"I don't know. I woke up and he wasn't here." Stefan said shrugging.

She suddenly started feeling paranoid, wondering if he had decided to go after Mason.

"Oh god. I hope he didn't do anything he's going to regret." She said worriedly.

"I don't think so Elena. My brother is clever." Stefan said.

"But he's also impulsive." She said pointedly.

Just then they heard the front door closing and they both hurried over him.

She smiled when she saw that he didn't look upset or tensed as last night, but she didn't know how to act around him right now.

Were they still fighting? Was he expecting her to make the first move? Were they over?

"Hey." She said, smiling weakly.

When he didn't smile back or give her a reassuring sign though she felt like she'd just been stabbed in the heart.

"Mason's gone." He then said.

"What?" Stefan asked before she could do it.

"He left town early this morning. I went to the Lockwood estate because I wanted to…talk to him." He said, the dangerous glint in his eyes hinting that he'd planned on doing something more than a simple talk. "Carol Lockwood gave me some crap about him leaving for work or something like that but we obviously all know better here."

"He probably realized that he hit the bottom with me and Matt last night so he ran off. That coward." Stefan muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"He shouldn't have been let off the hook from the start." Damon said, glaring at Elena. "And now he's gone, getting away with it."

"Oh my god I didn't know…" Elena started saying.

"I'm tired right now." He quickly cut her off. "I got up pretty early this morning so now I just want to rest for a little while. You two should probably get going."

She stared at him baffled for a few seconds, surprised at how cold he was acting. Where was the Damon who held her and made her feel like the most special person in the world yesterday?

"Sure." She replied, not realizing how weak the sound of her voice was. "I'm going to change then."

She washed and dressed in a few minutes, wanting to get out of the house as soon as possible. She knew that a break down was coming but she sure as hell wouldn't allow it to happen in front of Damon.

Stefan was waiting for her near the front door and she just glanced at Damon intently, who this time smiled slightly at her with a nod.

Stefan drove her to her house, but before getting out of the car she applied some foundation under his eye and near his lip. Now he just probably seemed hangover.

For the first time since she worked there, Elena couldn't wait for her shift at the Grill to start so she could finally see Matt and ask him how he was doing. She just hoped that it wasn't as bad as Stefan or worse.

She took a quick shower and changed in fresh clothes, immediatly checking her phone right after to see if there was any missed call or text from Damon.

Nothing. She sighed sadly, not wanting to acknoweledge the fact that perhaps it was over. Of course good things all came to an end for her.

She got at the Grill towards 11pm and as she headed inside she noticed that it was pretty much empty. There was only Vicky behind the counter.

"Hey Vic." She said as she approached her with a smile.

"Oh hi Elena." She suddenly said, her voice holding some concern.

"Is everything okay?" Elena asked worriedly.

"It's just Matty. He came home last night all beaten up and scared, I don't know what got into him. I'm usually the trouble maker of the family." She said chuckling humorless.

"Oh my god." She gasped. "But…is he okay now? I'm so sorry Vicky." Elena said hugging her, feeling guilty.

"It's no biggie, he just has a black eye and a pretty huge bump on the cheek though. Now Caroline is all worried that he's going to look like that at the upcoming ball." Vicky said chuckling.

"Right. That." Elena said trying to force a laugh herself. "Still, if you need anything at all, just ask me okay?"

"Okay, thanks Elena. Would you mind just staying two hours more than usual? Rebekah can't make it today. I don't know what the hell happened to everyone." She said throwing her arms up in the air.

"Of course." She said with a reassuring smile as she went to change in her outfit.

When she came back only a bunch of people had arrived. She couldn't stop thinking about the whole Mason thing though and how maybe Damon was right. She should have talked sooner. Instead she just chickened out and shrugged it off, giving him the opportunity to hit harder. And now as a cherry on top she might even lose Damon, the only thing that she just couldn't afford to do. All because of her stubborness.

By lunch still a little amount of people had showed up and it was more than odd. Usually it got plenty busy by noon.

"Wow, ten clients in five hours. People are feeling stingy today." Vicky boredly complained.

"Don't worry just yet. Maybe they'll come later." Elena tried to reassure her, even though she was feeling a weird vibe herself.

Just then the only person who could have made her day worth something by now entered and Elena couldn't help the hopeful smile on her face as Damon walked in, gorgeous as always.

She ran towards him and held onto him for dear life when he took her into his arms.

"I'm so sorry Damon." She said as she started crying. A mix of joy and sadness overhelming her. "I know I've disappointed you, but I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you."

"You don't have to be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong, sweetheart." He soothed her. "I just wanted to protect you and I get mad when I'm not able to do it."

She pulled back to look at him in the eyes and her heart melted when this time she found them staring back at her with the same love and warmth that she usually saw in them, and not the unusual coldness of yesterday.

"I feel protected whenever I'm with you. You don't have to worry abotu that." She said softly.

He wiped her hot tears away with his thumbs and kissed her fiercely, all the frustration and hurt that they felt getting away with it.

He then started kissing her neck tickling her with his little love bite marks which made her giggle and at the same time beg for more.

"Gee, get a room." Vicky said with a cringe as she walked nearby.

Damon rolled his eyes and she blushed but then he noticed that there was something odd.

"Why is the place so empty?" He asked as he looked around.

"That's what I've been wondering all morning." She replied sighing. "It never happened before."

He then walked towards a stool, pulling her with him.

"Elena…there's something I need to tell you." He said with an hesitant sigh, stroking her hair lightly.

"Me too." She said grinning, finally deciding that it was time to tell him how she felt when he could actually listen. "But you go first."

It seemed like he was holding the words back and was wrestling to let them out, so a little part of her couldn't help but hope that maybe he was going to tell her he loved her.

The words that came out of his mouth though weren't what she was expecting at all.

"I have to go back to Chicago."