Here I am again, with new chapter. Their little happy phase is over, but for how long? I hope you like it :)

Their fly home was quick and in silence. The moment they stepped on the plane, Damon gave Elena a worried look, but she just nodded and smiled at him, wanting to show him that she's okay. She wasn't actually, she felt the usual symptoms of panic surfacing, but she tried to hide them as much as she could. When they sat down, she closed her eyes and imagined herself to be somewhere else, but her thoughts weren't as cooperating as the last time. When she felt like she was going to lose it again she reached out for Damon's hand, and when she found it, she squeezed it tightly, feeling that if she let it go, she would fall apart.

The familiar fear took over her body as her mind painted the possible scenarios of the outcome of what Damon had told her. She asked him for more, but he just shook his head negatively, saying that this is all they told him. All he knew for now was that they had to go back as soon as possible. Both of them. And this was what was scaring Elena the most, why would they need her there? What she could possibly tell them, how could she be of service?

She wasn't usually the type to get easily scared, this feeling wasn't very familiar to her, and she didn't know how to handle it right now. Why had this happened to her? What had she done to deserve it? Couldn't she get a minute in peace? In the past couple of weeks her life had turned upside down, and Elena didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing. Now that they were out of their little paradise, doubt and guilt started creeping up on Elena. What if what she had done was a huge mistake? After all Caroline kept on telling her how he's player, and she had done exactly the thing her friend had warned her not to, she had fell right into his arms. And she couldn't blame him for anything, he had tried to stop it, but she was the one who kept on pushing.

She felt like a tramp when she thought about Stefan. He might have been an ass the other morning, but she wasn't exactly the easiest person to live with for the past few years. First it was her depression, then her workoholism. It was normal for him to blow off the steam from time to time. I mean, sure, their marriage wasn't in its brightest condition, but still, this was no excuse for jumping his brother's bones.

How did she end up here, in the middle of a murder investigation, sleeping with the FBI agent, who was leading it. Maybe if they got to her it would make things much easier, she thought sarcastically to herself.

And the most ironical thing of everything was that even when she was thinking about Stefan, and fixing her marriage, she couldn't let go of Damon's arm.

When she felt the airplane landing, she let out a sigh of relief and got up to face Damon, who was still looking at her worriedly.

"You okay?"

"I am fine, it's just, it's a lot to take in, okay?" She told him and hurried out of the plane.

They got to the FBI base in silence, neither of them knowing what to say right now. Elena walked the familiar path to the laboratory, and she and Damon entered, to see lots of worried faces turning up to them.

Damon walked right to the red-headed woman Elena saw the last time, and asked directly:

"What do we have, Amanda?"

"It's better you hear this one for yourself." It was all she said, and then she typed something on the computer, and in the next moment Elena heard the voice of the repulsive man she danced with a couple of nights ago.

"I see you're here already, I hope I hadn't made you wait." Something about his voice made Elena think that the person who was standing before him had more authority than him.

"You did, but you're lucky you're dealing with me and not the boss." The other man said coldly, Elena couldn't recognize the voice, but it had something terrifying in it, something Elena couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Yes, of course, I am sorry." The other man almost stammered.

"Now, how are things going?" He asked, his voice was so demanding that even Elena felt like answering him.

"Things are… great, it's going like a book, the last package was delivered successfully on Wednesday." The familiar voice reported.

"How much?"

"3 billion dollars."

Elena gasped as she heard the number, these were a lot of money, and they were talking about a single package. What were these guys into? Was it drugs?

"Good." The cold voice said, a little note of approval appearing in his tone. "And are they satisfied?"

"Yes, they said, and I am quoting, "It's always a pleasure working with you.""

"Good." He just repeated himself.

"Um…" The repulsive man tried to say something, but it seemed like he lost courage in the last minute and backed out.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's nothing, forget it."

Elena heard a noise, like breaking glass, and then the man with the terrifying voice hissed to the other:

"If there's something you're hiding from me, I swear, you'll regret it deeply." He sounded so threatening that a shiver ran through Elena's spine.

"No, it's not like that, no!" The other man almost squirmed. "It's just... don't you think that by messing with the Gilbert Company we're going too far with the girl and everything?" Elena's whole body tensed up as she heard her company's name and her body froze from the instant fear that took over her. "I mean is the boss sure this is what he wants, what will be best for us?"

"You're not going to question our motives, or how we do our business. You get your share, right?"

"Yes, but…"

"There's no but, we're taking down the Gilberts' company and that is final, understood?"

Then Amanda put an end to it, and turned to see Damon and Elena. The brunette was still in shock, trying to think about what happened a minute ago. What was happening here? Her head started hurting from all of the information, but she couldn't move, she just stood there, staring into the wall, and she was sure someone was calling her, but her brain just wouldn't react. A single tear rolled off her eye, and then she felt two strong arms shaking her whole body.

"Elena! Elena! Focus!" Damon's words finally got to her, and she moved her teary doe gaze to his blue one. His eyes were piercing into hers and all she wanted to do was to wrap her hands around him and never let go, but she couldn't do that. "Listen to me, Elena, do you know this man?"

"No, I swear, I've never heard his voice in my life." Elena admitted.

"Well, obviously he knows you. Fuck it!" Damon yelled, losing his temper.

All of the eyes in the room were either focused on her or Damon.

"So basically we're right back where we started, only now, we know who their target is?" He said in a low voice.

His question met only silence for an answer and he just got out of the room, slamming the door behind him angrily. Elena followed him quickly, finding him in the hallway, his arms pressed to the wall, and he was taking deep breaths to relax.

"Damon?" She asked cautiously.

He turned to face her, but he didn't say anything.

"Damon talk to me."

"What can I tell you, Elena? That I know shit, about what is happening right now? That I have no idea how to handle this, and if this ends like the others I don't… " He stopped, and his eyes retured to the wall before him, his fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles had turned white.

'You'll figure this out, Damon." She said getting closer.

"And what if I don't?" This was the first time she was seeing insecurity in him, and it was breaking her heart, and scaring her out of her mind in the same time.

Realizing how close she was standing to him, she took a step back.

"What now, you're afraid to come closer to me?" He told her in a cold voice, watching how she backed away from him.

"No, it's not like that… I just, I am confused, okay?" She said, a little hesitantly.

"And you weren't confused yesterday and the day before that?" His question got her off guard, but she knew he was right.

"I was, but… Really, I don't know what got to me, I've never done anythig like that.." She tried, but his, now ice-cold voice stopped her.

"Don't bother, Elena, I should have known this would happen. Just go back to your husband, and forget that this thing between us ever happened, okay? I won't tell anyone, just get back to living your life, and as soon as this is over I will be out of your sight."

"Damon, come on, please don't be like that…" She started, but he just got back inside, leaving her there, alone. Elena's eyes filled with tears, but she knew she deserved it, she was playing with him, and she deserved everything he told her. She walked out of the building, tears streaming down her face, she didn't know what she was crying for to begin with, she had plenty of choices – the murders, Damon, Stefan.

She got to her home, and when she saw Stefan's car outside, a knot in her stomach appeared, just from the thought of facing him right now. But she didn't have a choice, so she just entered the house, hoping that somehow he was out without his car. Her hopes were crushed when she heard his voice calling her from the kitchen.

"Elena, is that you?"

"Yes, I am back."

She moved to the kitchen, and saw him, sitting on the table, a book was lying next to him, but he seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

"Listen, Stefan, I need to-" She tried, but he cut her off.

"Let me, first, okay?" He moved closer to her, cupping her face in his hands. His touch felt cold, foreign to Elena, it couldn't be compared to Damon's. She gave herself a mental slap for the comparison. "I am sorry, about the other day; I was being a real jerk, I didn't mean that, you know it right? Being alone these past few days made me realize that, I want this to work, Elena, we can't just throw away the last 5 years, can we? We ought it to ourselves to give this a shot."

Elena looked at his green eyes, and she felt the lump in her throat. She couldn't tell him, she realized. She couldn't hurt him like that. She knew that keeping this away from him would be a very bad move in the long run, but the moment she tried to open her mouth, words just wouldn't come out. She had to tell him something; she had been lying for far too long.

"Stefan, you need to know something, and it will be better if you sit down for this one."

She started from the afternoon Damon had told her about the murders and explained everything to him up to what had happened today missing the part about her and Damon.

Stefan looked so shocked that Elena had to call his name a couple of times before he was able to get out of his trance.

"So… you knew for how long?" He asked in a low voice.

"I don't know, a couple of weeks." Just looking at his expression she knew this was not heading in the right direction.

"A couple of weeks?" He repeated. "Every time I asked you is there something wrong, is there something I need to know, you've been lying to me? Keeping something so huge from me? Now, why would you do that, Elena?" His voice was still low, and there was something scary about his expression.

"I was just trying to protect you; the less people know the better." She tried to explain herself, but it seemed like her efforts were in vain.

"Oh, you were trying to protect me, is that so? Lying to me is not the way Elena! Damn it!" He hit the table with his fist, and this made Elena jump slightly. "So, while I was here, trying to think of a way to fix us, you have been lying to me all along, is that so?"

And sleeping with your brother, she added in her mind, the guilt eating her from the inside out. She didn't know why she couldn't tell him, maybe if she just told him now, it would be better, but she just couldn't. He was hurt enough by her lies about the investigation; she couldn't imagine what the confession about her infidelity would do to him. So she just sat there, in complete silence not being able to face him.

"Great, Elena, this is just… spectacular." He said sarcastically, in a bitter voice. "I am your husband! You can't just hide something like that from me, okay? What if something had happened to you and they had called me, and I didn't have a clue about what was going on? How do you think I would feel? Knowing that I could have done something, but I hadn't because you thought you should be protecting me, when there are some psyches out there plotting your take down?" He was screaming now.

"I am sorry, Stefan, okay, I am so, so sorry, It was a mistake, I shouldn't have kept this from you." She tried to apologize, knowing that right now he was too mad to even listen to her.

"Save it, Elena, I am going for a walk, I just… I can't be here right now." He told her, and got out, slamming the door loudly behind him.

"That's the way to go, Elena, you had two amazing men by your side an hour ago, and you managed to hurt them both." She murmured sarcastically to herself and headed to bed, not even bothering to take her clothes off. She just slipped in it, curled up, and tears started streaming down her cheeks. What did she do? How could she do this to Stefan? To Damon? How could she manage to get herself in the middle of all of this. And on top of that, the fear that someone might come and kill her in her sleep was terrifying her so much that she started trembling every time she thought about it. She acted tough and fearless, when she was around people, but when she was alone all of her emotions were crashing down on her, and frankly, she didn't know how to deal with them. It was all too much for her.

She didn't know for how long she had stayed like that, curled up in her bed, and crying until her phone rang and she had to pick it up, when she saw it was Caroline calling.

"Yes?" She said in her phone.

"Elena! Oh My God, Elena I need to see you, like right now." At first Elena thought something bad had happened, again, but then she recognized the happiness in her friend's voice. She wiped off her tears and said, with the most cheerful voice she could fake:

"Okay, sure, see you in 10 at our spot?"

"Mhm." Caroline said in the same voice and hung up.

Elena was wondering what had happened, but she was happy for her friend. Right now, at least one of them deserved to be happy.

In 10 minutes she was at a little garden, two blocks away from her house, where she and Caroline used to play when they were little. They actually used to do everything together, and this place had become very special to them, and even now, when they were all grown up, they used to come here, when they wanted to talk, or just to hang out in peace. It was simply their spot.

Caroline showed up a couple of minutes later, with a big smile on her face. She looked so happy that Elena just smiled warmly at her and gave her a hug.

"You are glowing!" Elena commented, taking a good look of her friend. She was wearing a white, summer dress and sandals, her hair was straight, and she looked amazing.

"Thank you, after all I should look good-" She started but was cut off by Elena, whose eyes fixed on the amazing diamond ring on her finger, that was perfectly capturing and reflecting the sunlight.

"I am sorry, I can't hear you right now, because I am dazzled by the huge rock on your finger." She told her, gaping at the ring in surprise. Although she knew Tyler was going to propose she thought he was going to wait. "When did that happen?"

"Yesterday evening." Caroline tweeted enthusiastically. "Oh my god, Elena it was magical, we were about to take a swim in the pool, but when I got there, there were lights all over the place, which were creating this amazing atmosphere, and then with candles, in the pool, candles in the pool, Elena can you imagine, I don't even know how he managed to do that, he had written "Will you marry me?" And I just screamed "YES!" I swear I've never seen him so happy." She explained quickly, almost without taking a breath.

Elena laughed at her friend, and hugged her tight, truly happy for her, this was the kind of proposal every women deserved, and she was so glad that her friend got to experience this amazing thing.

"I am so happy for you, sweetie, I am sure you two will be amazing together, you're meant to be." She smiled at her friend warmly, and Caroline smiled back at her.

They talked like that for a little while, until Caroline finally got out of her little happy bubble, and saw Elena's puffed eyes.

"What has happened to you?" She asked directly, she wasn't the type to tiptoe around something, if there was something to say, she would just say it.

"Nothing, it's… nothing, today is about you, and I am so not ruining it for you." She tried to talk her friend out of it.

"Hell, it's about me, If my best friend is hurt, I want to know why, and don't make me force you to tell me." Elena knew she meant every word, so she just took a deep breath, and blurted out.

"I slept with Damon."

"You didn't!" Caroline gasped and put her hand on her mouth.

"That's exactly what I did." Elena said darkly.

"But it was just once, right, a one-time thing?"

Elena looked away, embarrassed.

"It wasn't just once, Caroline. It happened… multiple times." She mumbled quietly under her nose.

"What do you mean by multiple times?" Caroline asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"One time on the beach, one time in the shower, and four times in bed."

Caroline's eyes widened in shock, whatever she had expected to hear, she wasn't prepared for this answer.

"Six times, Elena? In two days?'

"One, actually." Elena corrected her.

"Oh my… " She started, but she obviously didn't know what to say to her. After a few moments of silence, she asked the question that was burning inside of her. "What about Stefan?"

"I can't tell him, I tried, Care, every time I open my mouth, I am just stuck and I can't say a word. And I just can't hurt him like that, I can't do this to him, it's too much."

"You do know these are just excuses right? You're looking for a reason not to tell him, because you're too scared." Caroline stated. Her words cut Elena, but she knew her friend was right, as always.

"You know what the worst thing is? I will do it again, in a heartbeat." Elena admitted quietly, tears filling her eyes again. "I haven't felt so happy since my parents died. I never thought I could feel like that again, but here I am. How can something so wrong make me so happy? And now I lost him too. I am such a pathetic exuse for a person" The tears started falling heavily from her eyes again.

"You're not!" The blonde tried to calm her down, she hated seeing her so hurt. If someone deserved to be happy it was Elena. "And what do you mean by you lost him too?"

"I pushed him away, like I do with every single person in my life, I am probably the reason it didn't happen between me and Stefan, maybe I am not good enough, as a wife.. and as a woman." She swallowed, feeling like she was about to face a mental breakdown, and she still hadn't told her about the last evidence they found.

"No, no, no, sweetie, no, don't you dare think like that!" Caroline told her, when Elena took her face in her hands. "Your problems with Stefan date way further than Damon, and you know that, it's not your fault. And I am sure you're spectacular in bed, I think Damon can vouch for that too." She smiled cockily and Elena smacked her on the arm. "Too soon? I am sorry."

"I am so sorry to burden you with more, but I need to tell you something about the investigation."

When she was done, Caroline just looked at her, and tears filled her eyes.

"No, Care, don't cry, please."

"Elena, if something happens to you, I don't know… what…" She started sobbing and looked away. She was not the type of person to cry in front of other people. Much like Elena. After a while she took her emotions under control and turned to Elena, determination on her face. "You know what, Elena? Life is way too short, if Damon makes you happy, don't let him slip away."

"What?" Elena gaped at her.

"You heard me, I can see how your whole face lights up when you talk about him, how the goofy smile appears on your face when you think about him, so yes, just go get him, Elena!"

Damon poured himself another glass of whiskey and broke down in the armchair below him. How could he be so stupid to think that Elena would want something more with him? After all, he was a womanizer, a player, all he was able to give her was one good fuck. He still had her perfume all over him, every time he closed his eyes she was right there. He felt like he was trapped in one big circle he could never escape.

His thoughts moved to the conversation they had heard in the morning, and he threw his glass in the wall. How could he be so stupid? How could he still be working on this, what was stopping him from revealing the mystery? He had done it a thousand times before, and now, when he really needed to catch that sick bastard he couldn't, and this meant that Elena was in danger. And it was all his fault. He clutched his fists and felt how a piece of glass cut deep into his hand, but he didn't care. If something happened to Elena because of him, he would never be able to forgive himself. He got up and took his phone, calling to check up on his team.

"Yes?" It was Amanda who picked up.

"You got anything new?" He asked directly, he didn't have time to be polite right now.

"Sorry, Damon, we're stuck again." She said bitterly.

"So, nothing on the sound analysis?" He could feel the little drops of blood falling on the floor, and a pain was cutting into his hand, but he couldn't care less.

"No, I am sorry, we already knew where the meeting was, and we weren't able to identify the other man, using only his voice."

"Can you please explain something to me? How is that I have the best team, and they were all unable to find something?" He hissed in the phone.

"It's not so simple and you know it, Damon, don't be like that, we'll figure this out, we always do."

"And what if one of them dies in the process?"

"We can hope they won't."

"Hope?" He repeated in a low voice. "Hope is not good enough for me!"

"Why are you being like this?" He had never acted like that, he was usually so calm and understanding and she couldn't understand what had gotten to him.

"I am just doing my job; it would be nice if you do the same." He snapped at her up and hung up. Then he took a look at his hand, and saw the blood and the deep cut. "Shit."

At this moment the doorbell rang and he went to open the door. Before his eye was staying a woman, her clothes were soaking wet, her hair was falling down in big wet locks, and her makeup was ruined, leaving long, black lines on her face. He couldn't tell if it was because she had been crying or because of the pouring rain outisde. But even like that, she looked beautiful to him.

"Elena?" his voice was almost a whisper, not being able to believe his eyes.

Now, I know I am not giving you a lot on the murders, but right now, I just can't, I don't want to give too much away. Soon, you'll find out more, I promise. Feedback will be loved :)