A/N: Sorry it's taken a while. Real life gets busy! But my Damon muse (and you're reviews!) kicked my butt into gear this morning. Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to leave your thoughts! (review hint hint)

Chapter 16

It was one of those moments where you knew you were waking up but you didn't want to. The sleep felt so warm and comfortable; awake seemed so cold and callous. Emma tried to grip tighter to her sleep but the more she tried, the more it began slipping away. She could hear her own sigh aloud which woke her up even more. So much for that wonderful, relaxed feeling.

She rolled over in her bed and her nose bumped something solid. Opening one eye she scowled at the person in her bed. Damon.

Despite the trauma, Emma had no memory loss over the events that happened the night of the car accident. She remembered everything she was conscious for and she had been told what had happened after she passed out by Stefan. As much as she was grateful that her instincts about Damon were right and he hadn't hurt her, she was annoyed at the fact that he'd been avoiding her. He hadn't stopped to see her at the hospital and she'd been home for two days with no sign of him. Until now.

Her heart jumped at the sight of him in her bed but she kept the scowl in place. Her internal battle was brutal; on one hand she wanted to jump on him and kiss the smirk off his face and forget it all. On the other hand, he'd been an real jerk lately and she felt he needed to do some groveling or something to let her know he was sorry. She was tired of being angry and annoyed at him but only he could fix that.

"That was not the expression I was expecting." He admitted, his grin never wavering.

"Did you want me to fling my arms around you and express my undying love?" She grumbled, pushing herself up into a sitting position.

"Apparently you aren't a morning person."

"It's mid-afternoon; I was taking a nap."

"So you're not a 'wakey' person. Same thing." Damon raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you irritated with me?"

"You sound surprised." Emma rested her forehead in her hands, her elbows on her knees.

"Stefan said he explained what happened." She could hear the frown in his voice but she didn't look at him.

"He did. Which you could have done." Emma knew she was being short but irritation was winning the battle. "You didn't have to avoid me for so long."

Silence. Rarely was Damon silent so she peeked to look at him. He was no longer looking at her, he was looking at his feet in deep thought.

"I just thought you wouldn't want to see me." Damon finally broke the silence, moving only his gaze in line to meet hers. Those sea blue eyes pierced right to her soul, taking her breath away for just a moment. His telltale gaze showed her everything, right down to how sorry he was. She fought internally to stop herself from throwing her arms around him and forgiving him. That would have been too easy.

Surprisingly steady, she replied, "You were being irrational. Of course I'd want to see you."

Another pause but their eyes were locked on one another. She could see his mind whirling, trying to figure out what the right thing to say was. "The truth." She insisted.

"I...I didn't want to see you. I was..." He finally looked away unable to meet her gaze. His eyes turned cold in an instant. "I was embarrassed."

Emma blinked. She understood how hard that had been for him to say. Damon didn't admit when he was wrong and he put on the bravado that he was never ashamed or embarrassed about what he did. For him to tell her that, it was a big deal. She needed to let him know that she understood that and he could stop beating himself up over it. She uncurled herself and lay down next to him, her head on his chest.

"Don't be." She assured him. "It wasn't your fault. I understand."

She felt him tense when she laid next to him but he slowly began to relax as she spoke. He rested a hand on her shoulder and she felt his cheek against the top of her head. Smiling, she fell back into a peaceful, blissful sleep.

Damon left her sleeping. Jake had told him that she needed lots of rest to recoup from her injuries so he was letting her just nap a lot. She had refused to take the pills the doctor had prescribed her so sleep was the only thing letting her heal. Damon planned on coming back later, after she rested up.

He had felt the need to see her today and planned on just being there while she slept. He still felt bad for the things he had said and done; he was having a hard time finding the words to apologize. Damon didn't typically apologize. It was much easier just to shut everything off and not care. Yet, he had promised himself he wouldn't do that with her.

Emma waking up had startled him and the conversation he had been avoiding had happened...and ended in a way he hadn't expected. He figured she'd just be furious and throw him out and that would be the end of it. However, she had forgiven him; she had understood how hard it was for him to say the things he said and she forgave him for his actions. Everything she did was so unexpected; maybe that's why he liked her so much.

This moment, however, he couldn't think about Emma. He had to figure out what to do about Katherine. He and Stefan had been over it every night since they realized it was her but they still didn't have a plan about how to deal with her. Stefan still wasn't one hundred percent sure it was even Katherine but Damon knew; he knew her better than Stefan did. It was just like the wench to come back after him as soon as he found a shred of happiness. She had been doing it to him since he'd met her; it just took him until now to see it.

Damon was surprised to see Stefan already in the sitting room when he got home. "I thought you were spending the day at Elena's." Damon poured himself a glass of bourbon then sat across from his brother. "Trouble in paradise?" He couldn't help but tease.

Stefan didn't rise to the bait. "We have a problem."

"Yes, named Katherine." Damon agreed.

"No," Stefan gave Damon a pointed look. "Something bigger."

Damon squinted an eye at his brother. "Bigger than Katherine? I don't know if you remember her, but she's a pretty giant problem."

"Jonathan Gilbert."

Damon paused to take a drink then frowned at his brother. "He's dead."

"Not that one. Elena's uncle." Stefan stood up and began pacing. "He's in town. For business he says."

Damon shrugged. "So?"

Stefan stopped, staring at Damon. "He knows."

"Knows what?"

"Are you being stupid on purpose?" Stefan growled.

"I think I resent that."

"He knows what we are. Vampires." Stefan told him like he was talking to a three year old. "He grew up in this town, he knows people. We're finished."

Damon waved him off. "We're fine, stop being so melodramatic. What could he possibly do to threaten us-"

"He knows people. He can convince people in town to come after us. It will be 1865 all over again." Stefan's voice rose as his panic at the situation became apparent.

Damon wasn't ruffled. "I have the sheriff eating out of my hand. Gilbert hasn't been around for years. I think you overestimate his influence-"

"I am not going to underestimate it." Stefan interrupted. "You saw what happened last time."

"Katherine is a more present and far more intimidating danger." Damon stared his brother down. "I think we need to focus on her."

Stefan opened his mouth to argue. He seemed to think better of it, snapped his mouth shut, and sunk onto the couch. He was wrapped up in his thoughts and finally silent for a moment.

"Thank goodness." Damon rolled his eyes, downing the rest of his drink. "Now that you've stopped babbling I can actually think-"

"What if," Stefan cut him off, not looking up. Damon was getting tired of being interrupted.

"Would you drop the Gilbert thing for one minute and help me figure out what to do about Katherine?"

Stefan continued as if he hadn't heard him. "What if this isn't a coincidence?"

Damon crossed his arms, studying his brother intently. "What do you mean?"

"What if this thing with Katherine and Jonathan Gilbert showing up out of the blue isn't just bad timing?" Stefan finally met Damon's eyes. "What if they're in on this together?"

Damon tilted his head sideways. "You think Jonathan Gilbert and Katherine are out to get us?" He laughed. "And I thought I was the paranoid one. Don't be so narcissistic, Stefan. Not everything is about 'us'."

"No, it makes sense." Stefan jumped up and grabbed Damon's arms. Damon's first instinct was to punch him but because it was his little brother he suppressed it. For now. "Jonathan has been gone for...years. Why would he pick now to show back up?"

Damon gave his brother a weird look. "Why did we pick now to show back up? We just did; there was no rhyme or reason to it. You stayed because of Elena. I stayed to annoy you. There was no 'diabolical plan' behind it." Damon stepped back from him. "Katherine's here to mess with me; mess with us. Gilbert's just here to mess with Jenna, Elena, and Jeremy. What does that have to do with Katherine?"

Stefan stared at him a few moments. Damon could tell he was contemplating. He went to pour himself his dinner for the evening- fully tested and uncontaminated blood. He had to admit he didn't like Jonathan Gilbert just showing up for no reason but he didn't think there was any mal intent in it. The man had every right to visit his family if he wanted to, whether he knew about vampires or not. Stefan was being a paranoid delusional.

"You're right." Stefan finally agreed though warily. "But I still don't trust him."

"Oh, I'm not asking you to trust him. Anyone named Jonathan Gilbert I wouldn't trust father than I can...well, you know." Damon grinned over his glass at his brother. "Now, on to more important things. We need a plan to kill Katherine."