a/n: Thanks to everyone for the amazing reviews to my last chapter. Sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up. The majority of my semester is over though, so hopefully I'll be able to update much more frequently. =)

A lot of people asked me when this took place, so I thought I'd make a note at the beginning of this chapter.

This takes place right before the mid-season finale. Tyler is a hybrid, Stefan is still bound to Klaus, etc.

Also, follow me on Twitter for updates about my story at rachel_leann58
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I hope you all enjoy this! And please review!

Chapter 4 Almost You

Night One…

The screams echoed through the night.

Damon pulled Elena away from the area they had been in, leaving all their supplies there in the process. Although Elena tried to break away from him and go back to retrieve them, Damon stopped her from doing so.

"We'll worry about those later," he said simply.

They sprinted for about a minute before Elena realized they were heading in the opposite direction of the screams.

"You can't leave them alone," Elena replied, mortified at Damon's plan. "We have to help them."

Damon growled. "I have to keep you safe."

"But we-"

Elena never had the chance to respond. A male vampire entered the clearing then and tackled her to the ground. She cried out in pain as her head hit the earth with a harsh impact. She experienced dizziness for a few seconds. It only took those few seconds for Damon to grab onto the vampire's shirt and sling him against a tree.

Elena scrambled up, and then had to avoid being hit by Damon as he was thrown across the clearing. The vampire pulled her to him and slammed her body against the trunk of a tree. Even as his fangs touched Elena's neck, she reached into the holster at her waist, grabbed one of her daggers, and thrust the blade up under his rib cage and into his heart. The vampire sank to the ground beside Elena just as Damon appeared at her side.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he took her into his arms. Although Elena was startled by what she had accomplished, she nodded her head in response.

Then, she buried herself inside Damon's strong arms. Thousands of words that she wanted to say flashed across her mind, but she chose to enjoy the silence instead.

When Damon finally pulled apart, she looked up into his worried eyes.

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you," he breathed.

Without making the decision to do so, Elena reached up and took his head into her hands. "We're going to make it through this," she asserted. "We're going to survive this."

"Isn't that sweet?" Katherine's voice mocked as she entered the clearing. "We leave you two alone for ten minutes and you're practically declaring your affections for each other."

"It wasn't like that," Elena replied.

"I could honestly care less," Katherine smirked, although the tone of her voice suggested otherwise. "We killed the female vampire that was with him." Her eyes drifted to the body lying close by Elena. "And I see that you've take care of the other one."

"There were only two?" Elena questioned as she thought back to the screams she had heard earlier that night. It had sounded like there was an army of opponents then.

"That's all we saw," Katherine nodded before her own gaze glanced to Stefan. Her deep brown eyes mirrored something close to disgust. "There's a chance we've killed all the unknown vampires on our side."

"So now we can start on each other," Damon remarked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He offered his best smile to the group. "At least we've made it this far."

Elena opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when a loud blast tore through the air. Before Elena had time to talk, two more blasts echoed through the night. Her gaze flickered to Damon, but he looked about as confused as he did. That was when Katherine spoke.

"Well, hello Klaus," Katherine hummed. Elena spun around to see Klaus standing only a few feet in front of them. Although his appearance looked real, there were a few places in his image that Elena could see through.

"It's only a projection," Damon said in wonder. "I bet he's making a witch do that."

"Maybe," Katherine shrugged. "I'm sure he can still see us though."

"Congratulations on surviving the first night," Klaus grinned as his eyes swept across the group. Elena wondered if he really could see them. "Each night I will fire a concussion shell for every person who perished that day. If days pass where no one dies, I will intervene. Today, we had three deaths." He winked. "Have a wonderful night."

He didn't give them a chance to respond, and instead disappeared after his last words were spoken.

Goosebumps traveled up Elena's arms as she recalled Klaus' words. Despite the fact that she knew two of the deaths had come from their fight moments earlier, she didn't feel relieved. She needed to know who the other death was, even though there was absolutely no way to figure that out.

"I'm sure it wasn't anyone you knew," Damon remarked as he read her worried expression. "That group is too strong to be killed off."

"I hope so," was all Elena said in response.

"All of this talk of caring is starting to annoy me," Katherine remarked. She stretched her muscles in a way that Elena was sure only prostitutes did. "We deserve a break after killing off two vampires. We can figure out our next plan in the morning."

Katherine's tone didn't leave any room for argument. And when Katherine lowered herself to the ground, she almost instantly fell asleep.

"I'll keep watch," Stefan spoke for the first time in hours. "You two can go sleep together somewhere."

Elena frowned, but Damon was already talking, "Go to sleep, brother. I can keep watch."

"Whatever you want," Stefan smirked. Elena was sure they'd fight, but Stefan too found a place to fall asleep.

"Go to sleep, Elena," Damon whispered. "You need your rest now."

Elena nodded before she found a place near the base of a tree that she thought she could sleep at. This location was far away from both Katherine and Stefan, so she felt fairly safe there. Right before she closed her eyes, she saw Damon walk to a tree in the center of the group and lean his back against its trunk. He smiled at her, and she found herself smiling back. Then, she leaned against her own tree and tried to sleep.

Unfortunately, it never came.

The night was cold, and no matter how hard she tried, Elena simply couldn't get warm. To make things worse, every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was Klaus' face grinning at her. That was an image she definitely didn't want to go to sleep to.

After tossing for about an hour, Elena pushed herself off the ground and moved toward where Damon was now sitting. He looked tired, but she knew he wouldn't sleep tonight either. There was too much on all their minds to sleep.

"Hey," she said softly as she sat down beside him.

"Having problems sleeping?" he asked, and she just nodded. "Come here," he said as he pulled her against his body.

For a few minutes, she simply sat there and allowed Damon to hold her. After the long day and night they had gone through, just having someone there to help her felt nice. She wanted to stay there forever.

"Elena," Damon whispered into her ear. His warm breath sent shivers through her body.

But she still managed to look up into his deep eyes. Their faces were only a few inches away, and Elena fought her hardest to keep her breathing even.

"What if Klaus only lets one person out," he continued. "What if he won't let us sit idly by? What if he makes us kill each other?"

Elena shook her head. "Klaus can kill us, Damon, but he can't take away our humanity. I refuse to let him take away the good in us."

Absentmindedly, Damon reached down and pushed a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear.

"You're so pure, Elena," he murmured. He reached down and lightly kissed her on the forehead. Elena looked at him in confusion, but didn't pull away. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Damon," Elena breathed before she snuggled back into his arms. And there, in his embrace, she was able to find sleep without nightmares.

Damon stood back at the stream they had located the previous day and surveyed his haggard appearance. The fight with the vampire had caused tears in parts of his clothing, and dirt was on both his face and arms from where he had hit the ground. He looked terrible, but in a place this perfect, he wasn't sure if it mattered.

Here, the water wove through the trees and glistened over silver rocks at the bottom of the stream. The trees swayed slightly in the soft wind while the sunlight fell down to the earth around him in patches of gold. In the midst of all this pain, there was unbelievable beauty.

For a few moments he just stood and enjoyed the majesty of it all. Then, he bent down near the crystal-clear water and quickly cleaned himself off.

Just as he finished, he heard a tree twig snap nearby. He turned around and smiled at the person he saw.

"Katherine said she wants to start moving," Elena spoke as she rolled her eyes. "Apparently leaving my water supply is of great importance."

"We have enough bottled to last you for a day or so. Hopefully, we'll find another source soon." Elena nodded, but didn't move to go. Noticing her odd behavior, Damon arched an eyebrow. "Is everything okay?"

She shook her head slowly and offered him a weak smile. "After last night, I'm afraid of what Klaus will do to us, Damon. What if we don't get a chance to…"

Her voice trailed off, and Damon took a step closer to her. "What if we don't get a chance to do what?"

Instead of speaking, she closed the distance between them. With only a moment of hesitation, she took his face in her hands and gently kissed him on the lips.

As much as he wanted this moment, Damon knew this wasn't real.

"Is your life boring enough that you decide to be her?" Damon snapped as he held the girl in front of him at arm's length. "I've made it clear that there's nothing between us, Katherine."

"I know," she nodded as if the words meant nothing to her. "Sometimes, I just need someone to know that I'm not her."

"What are you talking about?"

Katherine frowned. "I spent the majority of my human existence being labeled as the 'Petrova doppelganger' by Klaus and Elijah. Then, when I was a vampire, Klaus just labeled me as someone to kill. And when you and Stefan both fell madly in love with Elena, I was just the girl who looked like Elena. It gets boring being someone else, Damon. Sometimes I just need someone to realize I'm Katherine."

"Can't Stefan be that person for you?" Damon quipped.

"He could," she consented. "And he will be. I know he loves me. I just need to give him time to see that. I need him to find himself again so he can realize what he wants."

Damon laughed. "Are you actually insinuating that Stefan loves you? That's a little farfetched, even for you."

"If he was truly over me, why would he have allowed me to stay around him for so long?" she shrugged. "I know Stefan is noble, but that's even above what Stefan normally does."

"Believe what you want," Damon replied.

"I will," she smirked. She turned to leave, but then paused and looked back. "You want to be with Elena. I want to be with Stefan. We both want those things, regardless of whatever Klaus has planned for us. If we die, Damon, then what's the purpose of you loving her? If I die, what the purpose of me loving him?"

"I don't know…"

"Then let's make sure we make it out with the people we love," Katherine said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Let's split up, search different parts of our side, and find some way to beat him."

Damon chuckled. "It almost sounds like you have a heart, Katherine."

"I've always had a heart," Katherine made clear. "It's just never belonged to you."

Katherine left then, and Damon watched her go. The way Katherine had spoken to him had revealed to Damon that Katherine had some form of plan up her sleeve. Damon just wasn't sure he was going to like it.

a/n: As always, please review!