A/N: First, thanks for the reviews! They are good food for my muse. Second, I want to apologize to Emma and Damon for all I put them through- though to be honest they do it to themselves. Dang their love for angst...enjoy!

Chapter 12

It was a beautiful day for fall in Virginia. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. The slight breeze kept it from being too hot. It was one of those days that you just wanted to spend outside and enjoy as much as possible because, inevitably, tomorrow would be rainy and/or cold. Emma sighed sadly and propped the door open to her book shop. She would be stuck inside most of the day but hopefully the nice weather would bring people out and put them in the shopping mood.

The day went as it usually did at work; slow for long periods of time then a sudden rush of eight customers at once, all wanting different things at the same time. Once they cleared out, another lull began. Emma wished one day she could just have a steady stream of interested customers so she could spend more time on customer service and less time on rushing around. That rarely happened.

During one of the lulls she had a great surprise. Damon walked in and leaned on her counter. "Good morning, beautiful." He grinned at her.

Emma took a moment to just look at him and admire his intense gray-blue stare. How she loved those eyes. "It's afternoon." She pointed out. "But I'll take the beautiful part." She walked over and planted a quick kiss on his lips. She took a hold of either side of his leather jacket that was hanging unzipped. "It's a little warm for this, isn't it?"

He shrugged. "Didn't notice but I guess you're right." He took it off, threw it over the counter, and took a step back from her. She noticed a change in his eyes but dismissed it. She must be seeing things. He crossed his arms and stood back from her. "So I take it I'm forgiven?"

Emma busied her self straightening up the shop while she talked. "For now. Just please don't do it again." She threw a look over her shoulder at him. "I don't like to worry."

"Noted." Damon replied, walking around the shop and looking at the books on the shelves. She could tell he wasn't really reading any titles, he was just trying to look occupied. She wondered what was on his mind but knew better than to pry.

After a few moments of silence she remembered what she had wanted to tell him. "Oh, I talked with Jake last night, after you left." She stopped working and walked over to him. He didn't turn to look at her but she saw him brace for bad news.

"And?" He prompted.

"And he said he didn't mind if you came over."

He spun around to face her, his expression confused. "Run that by me again?"

Giving him a crooked smile she repeated herself. He stared at her a moment in disbelief. "Well I'll be damned, I would have never guessed that would happen. Ever."

"So I thought maybe you would want to come over for a movie night or something. Order pizza, hang out, watch a movie. That way there won't have to be a lot of conversation, just watching the TV. I figure, baby steps with Jake." To her surprise she saw Damon's eyes darken a bit at her suggestion. She thought he would be all for it but for some reason he looked like the complete opposite. "Or not..." She added uncertainly.

He looked away from her, shaking his head. "I don't know, maybe." He replied.

Emma pushed her lips out and squinted her eyes at him. "Really? You don't know?" She pushed. He was being really weird.

Instead of turning toward her, he turned away, still not looking at her. "I don't know. It sounds so...normal. So high school. So...vanilla."

She put her hands on her hips as she stared at the back of his head. Here they were just making up, she was giving him exactly what they had talked about wanting, and now he was calling her...vanilla? Something was seriously wrong. "What's your deal?" She asked when she got over her shock.

He spun on her, taking a step toward her. The look in his eyes made her take a step back. Those beautiful gray-blues were suddenly dark and stormy. She didn't want to admit it, but it scared her. "My deal? Why do I have to have a deal? All you do is complain about me. Why would you want to be with me if all I do is disappoint you? Maybe you're the one with the deal." His words were marked with rage and anger. She had never seen or heard him this way before. Emma was so taken aback she was speechless.

He reached past her and grabbed his coat. "I'm sorry I even came in here today. Don't call me, I'll call you." He left as fast as he humanly could.

Emma stared after him, dumbfounded. What the hell had just happened? The conversation had started normally enough but when she mentioned coming over to the house things had gone terribly awry. No, that's not when it happened. His eyes had changed before then. Something other than the words she had said was wrong.

Her first instinct was to call Stefan but she didn't have his phone number. Instead she dialed Elena and quickly ran down the details of the last two days, culminating in what just transpired.

"It's just strange, Elena. I don't get it." Emma sighed into the phone. A customer wandered in just then and she smiled a greeting but didn't get off the phone.

"It does sound strange, you're right. That's not like him at all. Even at his worst he's not rude like that. Something's up." Elena agreed with her.

"Do you think we should ask Stefan?" Emma chewed on her bottom lip worriedly.

"I'll say something to him tonight. But don't fret about it, Emma. I'm sure he'll be back to normal soon. I'll call you tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Okay, thanks El." Emma clicked her phone off. She turned her attention to the customer, deciding throwing herself into her work was the only thing that was going to get her mind off what just happened and her worry about her boyfriend. If he was even still her boyfriend.

Damon cursed in his head the whole way down the street, away from the bookstore. He ducked down an alley so he could take off back to the house. Something was wrong with him.

First, he had killed a couple in the next town. He had been glad to find a duo because he was extremely hungry. The fresh blood had cleared his mind enough to realize what he was doing was against everything he had been working for. He looked down at the dead bodies in disbelief before taking off back home. Why had he done that?

His memory after leaving Emma's house was fuzzy up until that moment. He remembered his horrible dream and he remembered an unquenchable thirst but that was it. He must have needed the blood badly if he killed for it.

He wasn't going to mention it to anyone. One little slip, no one needed to know about it. It was really no big deal, he could handle it. He went to go visit Emma at her work.

That's where he realized something was terribly wrong. He was fine at first but then half way through their conversation he realized all he wanted to do was bite her neck. He could see an artery pulse with every beat and he was mesmerized by it. It scared him.

His dream had come flooding back as she invited him to her house for a normal, every day activity. It was what they had talked about before; being as normal as a vampire and human could be in a relationship. He had told her he wanted that. She had believed him. And here he was, denying it like that conversation never happened. He knew she'd be mad; he wanted her to be mad. Better to hate him then be killed by him.

Anger pushed away the hunger. When he yelled at her, he didn't want to suck her dry. So he went with that, chose a route that would hurt her and he could leave and she would leave him alone. He needed to sort out what was happening to him before he could be around her.

Now he was pacing the foyer of the boarding house, trying to figure out just that. What was wrong with him? Vampires didn't get sick so he could rule out a brain tumor. He wondered if there was a parasite that could get in a vampire's blood that could cause personality changes. Probably not, how could it live off a mostly dead body, but something about that explanation led him to think he was on the right trail. Something to do with the blood...

"Hey," Stefan looked at his brother with worry as he came down the stairs. "I surprisingly didn't hear you come in."

"I'm a vampire. I'm stealthy." Damon tossed out absently, continuing to pace.

"I'm a vampire. I hear well." Stefan pointed out.

"You're vampire-light. Squirrels and rabbits only take you so far on the bad ass-meter." Damon couldn't help but annoy his brother despite his vexation.

"You alright?" Stefan asked. "I'm meeting Elena but I can cancel if you need-"

"No, I'm fine." Damon shook his head and forced a smile at his brother. "Just a lot rolling around in here." He tapped the side of his head. "Girls and scary older brothers and all," he lied.

Stefan looked as if he didn't believe him but nodded. "Okay. Call me if you need anything."

"Aw, the concern is touching, really." Damon started but then realized he didn't want to fight with his brother too. "I will. Go have fun." He finished, waving him off.

Stefan left. Damon went to the sitting room and poured himself a glass of bourbon first. He contemplated his bottles of various liquids sitting on the side board. He had been on the verge of an epiphany when Stefan had interrupted him. The bottles were reminding him of that. He grasped at the thought, trying to figure out what was bugging him but it kept just out of reach, edging away each time he went for it.

After the bourbon he poured a glass of blood. He was still pretty full from his fresh kill the night before but he didn't want to be famished again. I'd make a good boy scout, he thought wryly. Always be prepared.

Downing the glass quickly, he reached to pour himself another.