I hope you guys enjoy this!

Rachel xx

The ride to Elena's house was mostly silent, except for the sound of the car. Damon focused himself on driving; glancing at Elena occasionally to make sure she was okay. He noticed that she seemed to have settled a lot since they had left the café.

They pulled up to the house and Damon got out of the car. He opened the back door and grabbed Elena's things, then shot around to her door to help her out. Elena took her keys from Damon and noisily unlocked the front door. She stepped inside and looked around with Damon following her in.

"Jenna? Jeremy?" She called out. No one replied and she realized they must have been asleep already. She hadn't realized that the day had disappeared so fast, but she suddenly felt the exhaustion of her day creeping up on her. A sudden noise made Elena jump and Damon instantly appeared in front of her, instinctively protecting her from the threat. A small black ball of fluff came waddling out of the darkness and seemed to squeak at Elena. She touched Damon gently on the back and she felt him relax under her touch. Walking over and scooping up the black kitten, she turned to Damon.

"This is Jeremy's kitten, Matrix." She rolled her eyes at the name. She hadn't expected Jeremy to name his kitten 'Fluffy' or 'Mittens', but she thought 'Matrix' was maybe a bit over-the-top. "I would like to make it very clear that you are not to even think of eating this animal. It's basically Jeremy's best friend at the moment and I will not think twice of hurting you if you do anything to him." She warned. Damon laughed at the thought of Elena trying to punch him again, but agreed to leave the kitten alone anyway.

Elena put Matrix down on the floor, fiddled with the lamp on a nearby desk and the room was suddenly bathed in light. Damon looked around the house and noticed that nothing had really changed since he had last been here, with the exception of the black kitten rubbing up against his legs. He was surprised at this as animals usually seemed to avoid him. He reached down and picked up the kitten, feeling it purr as he ran his fingers though his fur. He noticed that the kitten had large green eyes. Damon walked over to Elena, carrying the kitten.

"Do you want anything to eat? Can I get you anything?" He asked.

"No, I think I'm just going to head off to bed." She replied.

"Oh okay. I guess I'll go-"

"No." Elena interrupted. "It's been a really hard day for me and I could do with some company. Will you stay with me… until I fall asleep?" She asked. She looked slightly embarrassed, but obviously wanted him there.

"Of course I will." Damon replied. He knew he owed her this, at least. He would have made a joke about the idea of being in her bed with her, but decided against it, given the circumstances.

Damon put Matrix back down, turned the lamp off again and escorted Elena up the stairs to her room. He carefully lay on her bed and got himself comfortable. Elena was so worn-out she didn't bother to change; she just lay on the bed next to him. She curled up against him, rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Damon began to gently stroke her hair.

"I'm really sorry about what I said today, Damon. I know that you staying in Mystic Falls wouldn't have made much difference to Stefan's death. You might have even died trying to save him, because I know you cared about him, even though you tried to hide it." Elena said quietly. Damon felt her sigh heavily in his arms, and he knew she was beginning to get sleepier.

"You know you couldn't have saved him either, right?" He questioned. She shrugged her shoulders, keeping her eyes shut.

"No, Elena, I'm serious. If he had taken your blood that night it would have made him crazy and he would have been exposed soon after that anyway. You did everything you could. None of this was your fault." He reasoned.

"Thank you, Damon. I needed to hear that…" she whispered. She wriggled a little and then snuggled in closer to him.

They lay in silence after that, waiting for Elena to fall asleep. Damon listened to Elena's breathing carefully. In, out. In, out. In, out. He was startled when she took breath in and whispered something. It had been so quiet that if his hearing wasn't so sensitive he would have missed it. He waited a couple of minutes then got up off the bed. He rested Elena's head carefully on the pillow and pulled her duvet over her.

"I've missed you too, Elena." Damon said, kissing her on the forehead. He waited a minute, checking she was still sleeping, and then walked out of her room and into the darkness.