Stephan walked into the boarding house about a half an hour before the rest of the gang was expected to arrive. He immediately went upstairs and was surprised not to find Elena in his bed. Remaining calm he went to Damon's room and peeked in, only to not find any sign of Elena their Elena. He went downstairs to the living room where he saw Damon last and stumbled upon a sleeping Elena.
Only Damon was also sleeping next to her.
Elena's head was slumped to the side resting on Damon's shoulder. Stephan was immediately angry and upset by the scene in front of him, but he tried to control his emotions. He knew that Damon felt something for Elena but he also knew Elena didn't feel anything in return for Damon and that she was in love with him. For now… The thoughts ran through his head. Stephan was ultimately afraid of history repeating itself the way it did with Katherine. He knew Elena was nothing like her but at the same time Damon could be quite charming. There were many differences between Stephan and his brother and he hoped that his qualities would be enough to keep Elena his.
Stephan cleared his throat loud enough to wake Damon but not Elena.
"Hello Brother," Damon smirked, already aware of Stephan's irritation.
"What's going on here?" an unamused Stephan inquired.
"Oh, nothing, just the usual. You leave girl in a big bed all by herself in an unfamiliar house and she wakes up during the night wanting some companionship; Someone to cuddle with. So she tippy toes downstairs to find the much more attractive brother and falls asleep on top of—well next to him rather. But don't worry I was there to provide her with what she needed, when she needed it."
Stephan seethed.
"Stephan?" Elena asked cuddling closer to Damon, thinking it was him.
"Yes, baby I'm right here. Don't you worry your pretty little head." Damon cooed.
Elena immediately shot open her eyes and surveyed the scene in front of her. She was sleeping next to Damon, her head on his shoulder. She looked towards Stephan who appeared quite mad, though he was looking at Damon and not her. Elena immediately jumped up and stood closer to Stephan.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep, so I came down here. I was talking to Damon….I guess I fell back asleep." Elena sighed looking downward.
"Elena its ok, you don't have to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong," Stephan paused, "But my idiot brother doesn't know when to shut up."
"Love you too, bro," Damon smirked. "Oh and princess, anytime you want to fall asleep in my arms just let me know."
Elena flushed and laughed a nervous chuckle.
"In your dreams," she retorted.
"Every night…" Damon quickly said back.
Stephan and Elena ascended the stairs. Damon could hear the water turn on and the sounds of talking as they both took a shower. How Damon wanted to be the one in the shower with Elena. He wasn't sure what he was feeling but he was pretty sure jealousy was a front runner in his emotions right now. Bothered by the sound of their laughter Damon decided to go out quickly for a little snack before the meeting.
Everyone was gathered in the Salvatore living room. Damon sat in a large leather arm chair with his feet propped up on the coffee table. Bonnie and Elena sat next to each other on the couch with Alaric standing behind them. Stephan was pacing back in forth in front of the group.
"Ok, what do we know?" Stephan asked the group.
"Katherine is in town. She attacked me, and she also threatened that something more was about to happen. She is also invited into my home, which I am not a big fan of." Elena said.
Stephan nodded, "Has anything seemed strange or unusual to anyone in Mystic Falls? Any injuries or disappearances?"
"Well besides my brother overdosing, I can't think of anything," Elena said softly.
The group was silent.
"Ever since the Founder's Day events when everything went haywire, things have been normal." Bonnie added.
"The Sheriff hasn't told me of anything supernatural going on around here. If there was something happening, I would know about it." Damon said seriously.
"Do we know what Katherine wants? I'm fine with things being normal, or as well as can be expected," Alaric said looking pointedly at Damon and Stephan, "But the only reason I can see that things will get crazy again is if Katherine wants something."
"Do we know where she is?" Bonnie asked.
"These are very good questions," Stephan said, "I have know idea what she wants, when Katherine is involved it could be a multitude of things. She doesn't think logically, she acts on instinct and spur of the moment feeling rather than using her head. My guess is she doesn't have a true plan, just an end result that she wants when it's all over."
"And what would that be?" Elena inquired.
"Like Stephan says, Katherine is unpredictable. She might simple want to cause mayhem and grief to the citizens here. She may do that anyway to cause Stephan and myself problems. My guess is that she is very interested in you, not only because you two look alike but also because of your connection with John and Isabel." Damon added.
Elena stayed quiet and stared at Damon as he spoke. His piercing blue eyes stared into hers and she knew that she should be afraid, but for some reason when Damon said those words she knew she would be safe. The group murmured something else about keeping Elena safe, but Elena still continued to stare back at Damon.
"Do we know where she is?" Alaric asked again snapping Elena back into the situation at hand.
"I would think that she would be in the outskirts of Mystic Falls, perhaps one of the older houses in the woods. She wouldn't stay in town or at a public establishment, too risky." Stephan said.
"I think in order to gain the upper hand in whatever is about to come we should try and locate her." Alaric said.
"I agree," Stephan said, "By knowing where she is and who she might be working with even we might be able to figure out what she is after."
"Alright, we'll go tonight. Damon you cover the north part of the woods, near where Pearl was staying. Alaric, search the south and the west. There aren't many houses there, but it's worth a short. I'll take the east, closest to where the tomb was." Stephan ordered.
"I'm coming with you." Elena stood up and said.
"Absolutely not," Both Salvatore brothers said at the same time. Each looked at each other and while Damon smirked Stephan clenched his jaw in annoyance.
"It won't be safe for you. If she spots anyone of us we wouldn't be able to protect you against her, especially if she is working with other vampires. She is much stronger than us. Stay here at the house with Bonnie." Elena looked defiant but Stephan could also tell that she realized the importance of his words. "Actually Bonnie, I was going to ask you if you knew any locator spells for vampires. I don't know how much power it takes, or even if one exists, but I bet you could handle it if we found one. Maybe Elena and you could work on that while were out." Stephan offered.
"I haven't seen anything so far in my readings and studies in the book, but Elena and I will look." Bonnie smiled, glad to be doing something useful and keeping her friend safe. Bonnie wasn't happy about helping vampires but she would be doing good by killing a powerful one and ensuring Elena's safety.
They all dispersed, in order to begin preparing for the search tonight. Even though it was early morning they needed to get supplies ready in case they were attacked, as well as going over some maps and means of communication in case something happens. Alaric approached Damon and studied him carefully.
"It's impolite to stare." Damon said while looking up some of the abandoned houses in the area.
"We need to talk…now" Alaric said.
Damon got up and followed him into another part of the house. Usually Alaric didn't scare him, but something about his tone prompted Damon to listen for once in his undead life.
"What's up teach? Why so serious?" Damon asked din his best impression of the joker. Alaric merely stared back at him, his eyes boring into Damon's.
"Jenna told me something very interesting the other day." Alaric started. "As you know she has been staying with me through all of this. I have had a very hard time trying to explain everything that has been going on with giving her any real reasons or justification. I struggled through it but I managed to get some story formed that she believes."
"What's your point?" Damon asked impatiently fearing where this was headed.
"Jenna asked me about something that she saw the other night; something that I couldn't make up a story for, or explain even. Jenna told me that the other night she open the front door to find Elena and you kissing." Alaric concluded staring right at Damon.
Uh oh. Damon thought. How the hell was he going to talk his way out of this one? Alaric looked as if he was ready to punch Damon, but he didn't know the circumstances of the situation. Damon was trying to figure out what to say as Alaric went off on a rant.
"This is foolish Damon. Isabel told me that you love her, but I think she is wrong. You are unable to love anything. If anything happens to Elena, I would kill you for it. I have this weird sense of protection for her, I don't know why, but you need to stay away from her. Katherine is back and we need everyone on the same side to deal with this, not two vampire brothers battling for the love of a human. She is happy with Stephan, just let her be!" Alaric angrily
"It was Katherine," Damon said quietly.
"What?" Alaric asked back, incredulous.
"I went to Elena's after the Founder's Day events to talk to her. No one has ever given me the benefit of the doubt as to where my loyalties lay. No one has ever trusted me enough to be good. Elena did. I went there to thank her. I briefly told Jeremy that Anna died in the fire. When I left out the front door Elena was coming up the steps, only it wasn't Elena. I didn't notice until well after Jenna saw us and Katherine was invited inside. I said what I needed to say, I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't notice her heart wasn't pounding, I didn't notice that the necklace Stephan gave her wasn't on…" Damon paused.
"I gave her a kiss on the cheek. It lead to more." Damon shrugged, "What Jenna told you is the truth. While I am thankful and it didn't happen for all the reasons you said, I wish that it would have. I know though, Elena would never do something like that, she is the exact opposite of Katherine and she is not capable of what that bitch is." Damon finished. He figured honesty was the best route. Hopefully if Alaric accepted his story he would drop it rather than bring it up again or pursue anything further.
"Do you love her?" Alaric asked, snapping Damon out of his thoughts.
"I would give my undead life for her, if that isn't love I don't know what is." Damon smirked.
Alaric nodded. He left Damon and proceeded to walk back downstairs. Damon sighed and leaned against a wall. He was hoping to not have to deal with the kiss, but he figured Jenna would tell someone. Its better that it was Alaric rather than talking about it with Elena. Maybe Damon could remove the memory of the kiss from Jenna's recollection.
As he was debating all this, he heard footsteps coming from around the corner. Damon looked and saw Elena coming out from one of the other rooms staring directly at him. She could have burnt holes through his skin by the way she was staring at him. Her eyes were welled with tears that threatened to spill, however her demeanor remained strong.
She definitely heard his entire conversation.