Alrighty, here is Chapter Four! I want to thank everyone who reviewed, favourited, and subscribed to alerts! You guys rock!

I have done an edit to the first three chapters, removing about 600 words and paring things down a little. I will be more conscious of 'overwriting' scenes and descriptions from now on!

As always, constructive criticism and any other reviews are always welcome! Thank you for reading!

Cricketsong.1985

Darkly Dreaming Damon

Chapter Four

Mindful of making the slightest noise (which might alert Caroline's sensitive ears to his presence) Damon climbed into the tree beside the house and perched amongst the branches, hidden in the leaves. There was a worn spot on one of the boughs, because Damon had spent night after night here, watching over Elena's unknowing, sleeping form. He'd started doing it long before Klaus came into the picture; at first he had just been curious about Elena but later he had become concerned for her safety. Her window was cracked a few inches, the curtain open. Caroline and Elena were sitting on the bed, talking and laughing as only teenage girls can – with tons of enthusiasm and wild hand gestures to go with their words.

"Oh. My. God." Caroline was saying in a dramatic tone. She was sitting cross-legged, facing Elena. Damon could see her blonde hair was down and that she was wearing what appeared to be flannel pyjama pants with green and blue smiley faces all over them and a blue tank top, her pale shoulders bare underneath her loose locks. Elena had on a comparable outfit in shades of blue and white, her hair tied back in a low ponytail. A strand had escaped and hung beside her face. She was listening intently to Caroline now, a pillow clutched against her chest. Her chin rested on top of it. Damon caught the strong aroma of white wine, which wafted off the two glasses perched on the bedside table. He saw Elena take a sip of hers and go back to listening intently to Caroline's story. He could hear her heart beating steadily in her chest, and could see she was flushed, her cheeks pink from the wine.

"Elena you can't tell Bonnie, or anyone about this, but I have to tell someone, and I figure you are the only one who will understand, but don't be grossed out ok? Its vampire stuff..." Caroline paused, awaiting Elena's promise not to tell.

"Don't worry Caroline, nothing surprises me anymore, did you kill someone?" Elena fished in an even voice.

"Of course not Elena! Jeeze, I DO have self-control you know, this is nothing like that, but it is something that happened when I was, you know, hunting." Caroline's eyes flashed to Elena's for a moment before she continued. "The blood bags are convenient, but I need the fresh stuff too every so often or I get cranky and start to feel weaker." She fidgeted on the bed, reaching for her glass and draining it in a swift gulp. Damon laughed to himself at how young Caroline was, which led him to consider how he he'd treated her when she was human. He knew he'd been cruel to her, but he'd saved her life too, so in his book it evened out pretty well. Her turning had not been his fault (Katherine killed her, after all), and he didn't carry any guilt over it. Regardless of the details, she made a damned good vampire and he hoped she lived many centuries. He almost considered her a friend. He listened more carefully as Caroline dropped her voice lower.

"Well I was out looking for someone to feed from, and I came across this hot guy who was out walking by himself. I know I'm kind of with Tyler, but I haven't even told him about this," she leaned closer to Elena, who mirrored the gesture, leaning closer to Caroline. "I went up to him and I was going to compel him, but I didn't, I don't know why, I just started talking to him, and we hit it off. We started to walk along the path together and then he totally surprised me by trying to kiss me!" Damon saw Elena's eyes widen at that. "I know, right, totally not what I expected, but I went with it, we walked off to some bushes and I kissed him back, and I could hear his heartbeat pounding, it was so loud, he smelled really good, I knew his blood was going to taste so amazing, but I didn't want to hurt him. I knew there was nobody else around, I knew I was stronger than this guy if he tried to get away, so I thought I would try to do it without compelling him. Its hard, sometimes the compelling just happens to them without me doing it on purpose. Its tough to control, so I thought I would practise not compelling my prey and see what happened." Caroline paused, meeting Elena's gaze. She seemed embarrassed to continue. Elena put a hand on her knee.

"Its ok Care, I've heard and seen lots of weird, bloody stuff from Damon and Stefan, especially Stefan. I can handle it, however gross or scary it is."

"Aww that's sweet Elena, but its not something gross, it was... amazing. We made out a bit and I was enjoying it, I knew my face had changed and I was sure he would try to run away but he didn't. He seemed fascinated, not scared, and he said I was beautiful. I figured 'what the hell,' and told the guy that I wanted to bite him, that I didn't want to hurt him. He looked scared for a sec, but then he nodded and he let me. He actually saw my scary face and he didn't freak out or run away. He basically gave me permission to bite him. Without me compelling him at all. Elena I don't even know how to explain how that felt! I'm still new compared to all the other vampires here, and even though Stefan helped me learn to hunt bunnies I needed to learn to hunt for human blood on my own, and compelling them was always the easiest, safest way. I have never tried any blood stuff with Tyler because if he bites me he will kill me, like he almost killed Damon. Sooooo, here I was in some random bushes with a guy I never met before who I just made out with, and he can see my scary bloodlust face and he's actually offering me his throat. So I bit him."

Caroline stopped talking as if she had finished her story. Elena reached out and snatched her hands, yanking on them urgently. "Caroline! Then what happened? Did he freak out? Did you hurt him? I remember when Stefan bit me it hurt so much, I think its one of the worst things I've ever felt, like he was draining all my life away, my veins burned, my heart hurt, I felt cold all over, and then he freaked out and yelled at me. It sucked, pun intended." Elena's eyes darkened at the memory as she released Caroline's hands. She picked her wine glass from the nightstand, taking a swallow.

Caroline shook her head, "Aww Elena, that's terrible, but it doesn't have to be like that. That's what I found out, that I don't have to hurt them or force them to be unafraid. There can be 'nice bites' too, ones that feel amazing for both the vampire and the person being bitten. When I bit this guy he made noises of pleasure, he held onto me like he never wanted me to stop, he even got a boner, like it felt good! And he tasted sooooo amazing, its hard to describe. There was this sexual energy between us, and I somehow could taste it in his blood too, taste that he was willingly letting me drink..." Caroline trailed off for a moment, and blushed so hard Damon could even see the tips of her ears turn red, "I know it sounds weird but it was so nice that he wasn't afraid Elena, that I made him feel good. I still compelled him to forget me and keep the bite mark covered until it healed, I couldn't take the risk of him telling someone, but just knowing that its possible to share something like that with a human is... it means a lot."

Caroline fell silent and Damon saw Elena pull her into a long hug. She relaxed her hold and patted Caroline on the shoulder. Her green eyes were staring off at nothing, seemingly lost in her memory. Elena's voice drew her attention.

"So, that means that it doesn't always have to hurt for the human. I had no idea, I thought all bites were painful. Stefan..." Elena's voice trailed off upon mentioning the younger Salvatore brother's name. Her brows furrowed in consternation and she focussed keenly on her bedspread, not meeting her friend's eyes. "He was never able to make it so it didn't hurt really badly. He wasn't able to stop himself, the urges and the bloodlust were overpowering to him. I know he didn't trust himself to stop before he took too much. I'm kind of glad he didn't try more, it scared me. It still does. I don't know if I could ever do like the guy you fed from did. I'd be so scared of the pain and I'd be scared of getting killed." She looked scared just thinking about it, which was driving Damon crazy from his vantage point in the tree. He hadn't planned on Caroline's description of her feeding leaving him painfully aroused and imagining Elena beneath him, begging to be tasted and touched. He could show her how beautiful and erotic sharing her blood could be, especially during sex – that was the ultimate exchange. He shifted in the tree, trying to keep his swelling dick in a bearable position. He'd started to feel a little guilty about witnessing this conversation, but he couldn't stop listening anymore than he could tear his eyes away from the attractive pair on the other side of the window. The anger he felt at Elena's fear of Stefan normally would have sent him into a rage, but at the moment it was only serving to make him want the Elena even more. He shook his head, trying to clear it.

"Well apparently there's more to it than pain. 'Cause that was the most erotic, sexy, hot thing I ever did in my life, and I'm pretty sure it was for him too. I know Stefan's got some issues where the whole human blood thing is concerned, but he's gone now Elena, you shouldn't keep living in the past. You can't force him to change and by the time he does on his own you could be... well it might take him a long time to go back on the Stefan diet." Caroline put a hand on Elena's knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. "How have you been handling him being gone? Its been almost two months."

Elena took a deep breath, sighing heavily. She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't even know Care, I miss him, I still hope he'll change his mind, but I know that's not realistic. I guess I was kind of waiting for Klaus to come back for me. I thought he might have Stefan with him, that maybe if he sees me he will realize his mistake and come back..." She trailed off into silence. She anxiously rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. After almost a full minute she continued, her voice sounding haunted, "Care I'm scared of him. I... I almost don't want him to come back. He... I've been having these nightmares..."

Caroline's perfectly plucked brows furrowed, a slight wrinkle appearing on her forehead. "About Stefan?"

"Yeah, he keeps killing me, Drinking my blood, choking me, yelling at me, sometimes its him and Klaus together, but he always kills me and I wake up and think I'm dead. A few weeks ago, the night Damon showed me the letter that Stefan sent him, I had a really bad one. but instead of dying and waking up, that night I dreamt that Damon rescued me, and brought me here to my room and was protecting me. I know that Damon hurt you a lot before you turned Care, but lately he's one of the only people I trust. He's always there to save me. He promised me he always would be and I'm starting to believe him." Elena examined her friend's face for a response.

The blonde vampire didn't say anything, she just listened to Elena intently. Damon's ears had definitely perked up at the mention of his name, somehow forgetting his arousal for the more interesting opportunity to hear what Elena had to say about him. She continued to confide in Caroline.

"He doesn't want me to give Klaus what he wants. He's going to try to find a way to stop it from happening. I already know he's planning something crazy, I just don't know what, or how to stop him. He's going to get himself killed trying to save me from something I don't need saving from."

Caroline snorted, "Elena that's crazy, he can't stop an Original by himself, do you think he's that stupid?"

"I think he's that stupid when it comes to protecting me, yeah. You know what I caught him doing? I didn't tell him cause I kind of like it, but I noticed him sitting in that tree out my window every night for awhile now. I'm pretty sure he thinks I can't see him, and its only on nights where the moon is bright that I even noticed, but I swear he was there on the other nights too. Like at three in the morning. I think he's watching over me in case Klaus comes."

Damon was sweating bullets now, wondering if he was visible in the tree right this second. It was a dark night, he was dressed in black, and the moon was a sliver, but he figured if Caroline looked she would for sure see him sitting up in the tree, still kinda drunk, eavesdropping on their private conversation. It was too late to move now, if they looked out the window he was caught. He stayed as still as he could.

Caroline 's hands went to her chest in a dramatic gesture, "Oh my God Elena that's so sweet! You know, its thanks to him that I'm here at all, so its kinda hard to hate the guy, but be careful with him Elena, he's... intense. I remembered the things he compelled me to forget when I became a vampire, and there's no doubt that he's amazing in bed, but he is definitely a little kinky. I think he'd blow your socks off." She finished with a grin as Elena took a swing at her shoulder.

"Caroline! I didn't even say anything about that, what are you talking about! All I said was he has been watching over me... where do you get kinky sex from that?" Elena's cheeks were about ten shades redder than usual. Damon could hear her heart beating frantically. He licked his lips, leaning forward a bit.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Oh don't give me that Elena, I wasn't born yesterday. I see the way you guys look at each other, are you really going to tell me there is nothing going on there? Not even since Stefan has been gone? I thought for sure you guys... you know..."

Elena blushed even harder, if possible. "Had sex?"

She nodded. "Well yeah, honestly I did. I thought maybe there was at least some drunken night you were going to tell me about one of these days."

Elena looked totally shocked at this. "Uhm, no, there is no story, there's nothing. I never even kissed him, unless you count the time when he got bit by Tyler and was all crazy with fever and stuff, but I don't think he even remembers that."

Damon most certainly remembered that, even if it was through a cloud of feverish confusion.

"Well you can't tell me you don't feel something for him, I wouldn't even believe you."

Elena paused, seemingly gathering her thoughts. When she spoke it was more serious. "I don't want to lose the friendship and trust I have with Damon. My humanity was obviously an issue for Stefan. I don't think human/vampire relationships are very practical, seeing as one partner is the other's food, and I definitely don't want to be a vampire, no offense Care."

"Oh I understand that, I'm going to be 17 for the next 400 years, all my family will grow old and die around me... but I'm dealing. Right now I'm ok with it, and after what I discovered with that guy I'm convinced that it doesn't have to be an eternity alone. I can share something amazing and connected and sexual with a human that is way better than anything I ever felt when I was human. That's why I was wondering about you and Damon, I thought maybe we could talk about your experiences, you know, from the human point of view."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but there's nothing to say. The only time I ever tasted Damon's blood was when he forced it on me, and the only time he has tasted mine was when he was dying from Tyler's bite, which he told me he doesn't even remember. All of my experiences with that stuff have been horrible and painful mostly," Elena paused and a smile crept over her lips. "I still can't believe you thought we did stuff! I don't think of Damon like that Care, he's my friend."

The eavesdropping vampire grit his teeth at Elena's comment. It was like a slap in the face.

Caroline shook her head with a smile. "Elena you don't see what's right in front of you. Damon loves you, its so obvious. When you're in the same room as him his eyes never leave you, you just told me you think he is watching over you, and you dream about him saving you. Come on Elena, are you blind?"

"All that stuff just means he cares about me, because I'm his friend, and I have no idea why I dreamt that."

"Okay, then tell me this. Are you attracted to Damon?"

"Well, yeah, I mean he's gorgeous, obviously... I think every woman is."

Damon smirked to himself at Elena's remark. Caroline was quickly gaining points in his book.

"Then what's stopping you from going for it?"

Elena sighed in annoyance. "Well he's Stefan's brother, for starters,"

"Oh that's not even a real reason Elena, you'll have to do better than that," Caroline chided.

"Look I don't know, I just don't want to go there, ok? I think there's a lot more to Damon than what I've seen. As much as I know and trust him, I haven't seen who he was the last century and a half. There is obviously so much more that I don't know about. You said it right before when you said he was 'intense,' and I can add in impulsive. He killed my brother right in front of me. He tortured you, bit you all over, compelled you to obey him, and that's only a few small things that I know about. When I learned about Stefan I didn't really know what I was getting into; I thought it was only animal blood. I had no idea about the rest and I didn't think about it. But Damon doesn't hide any of that. With there is no hiding anything. He is who he is and if you don't like it too bad. I don't know if I'm ready for all of that."

"Shouldn't that be a good thing?" Caroline raised a brow at Elena. "No bullshit. I would prefer that over lies and secrets."

"Maybe for once I don't want to be afraid I'm going to be attacked or killed by the person sleeping beside me at night Care, I mean I know he would never want to hurt me, but that doesn't mean it would never happen. Stefan said he would never hurt me and look how that turned out. I'm just... not ready."

Caroline stood up with a huff and put her hands on her hips. "Whatever Elena, I think you have it wrong. I'm hanging out in your room with you and you don't think I'm gonna hurt you, right? What's the difference? Damon's had like 145 years to practise control, I think you're full of crap. I'm going to get more wine and check how hammered Alaric is. I'll be back in a few minutes."

She got up from the bed and grabbed both wine glasses from the bedside table, breezing out of the room. Elena stared after her with a faraway look in her eyes.

Damon took this opportunity to sneak away into the dark and head back to the boarding house. He'd heard enough for one night.

There you have it readers, chapter four!

I had a blast writing this one and I hope you all enjoyed reading it! Let me know by reviewing!