Stefan was awakened by the sound of his phone ringing. He yawned loudly; he hadn't slept much last night. He spent the most of it walking over to his room and making sure nothing was going on, but both Damon and Elena were completely knocked out, both tangled with each other on the sheets with mouths wide open. Stefan couldn't help but smile. But then there was the ultimate question: what exactly did they do last night? Stefan found himself not wanting to know.

Another thing that kept him awake was his own thoughts. Guilt still plagued him about that near-kiss. Guilt, not that he almost betrayed his girlfriend, but by how much he wanted it. And then came the talk with Elena last night. He thought that she seemed way too comfortable just baring her soul out to Damon. He wished he could be angry at Damon for manipulating his girlfriend (something in his damn noble self told him that was wrong, but he stubbornly refused to listen to it) but he couldn't. Should he tell her about the swap? But his brain quickly rejected that idea now. It was too late for that now. The damage was done, and she would only be angrier than ever. He hoped Bonnie would be able to fix this today, and soon everything could be all right again, with him in Elena's arms and Damon alone and hated. God, there came the guilt again.

He stumbled out of bed, still fully dressed, and made a wild grab for Damon's phone. Apparently Sabrina the teenage bitch was calling. Stefan wondered if there was a contact on his phone that wasn't a bitch.

"Hello?" he mumbled.

"…Stefan?" the voice asked cautiously.

"Yes, this is he." he said politely. "Bonnie?"

He heard a sigh of relief. "Yeah. Are you…with Damon?"

"He's asleep."

"Well wake him up. Caroline and I will meet you there at 12. It's 10:30 now."

Stefan groaned. Thank goodness it was Saturday. "Okay. See you there."

She hung up. "Bye?" Stefan said to the empty line. He too hung up. "Humans." He muttered. He missed the good ol' days.

Stefan walked back to his room and frowned at the sleeping Damon. He shook him slightly, not wanting to wake up Elena. "Damon. Damon. Damon!"

"Damon…" sighed Elena, causing him to freeze. Damon opened one sleepy eye and shut it again at the sight of Stefan.

"Go away." He groaned, throwing a pillow at him. "I'm busy."

Stefan fumed. He was pissed now, maybe from Elena's sleep talk, maybe from being stuck in Damon's body, maybe from all the shit that was being piled on his head. "Get up Damon, or…"

Damon only snuggled closer to Elena, slinging an arm around her waist. Elena frowned in her sleep, and leaned away from Stefan's body. "Five more minutes…" he mumbled.

That was it. "Fine then, Damon. You asked for it." Stefan smiled a deadly grin.

XXXXXXXXXX

"WHAT THE HELL?" Damon sputtered. Elena jerked up too, confusion on her face. Stefan smirked as her swung the bucket back and forth, now emptied of its contents: ice cold water. Laughing cruelly, Stefan jerked out of the way of an enraged, wet, and shivering Damon.

"Oh, look who's awake now." He taunted. It felt good. He didn't even care that he woke Elena up, or soaked his own sheets.

"I'm going to kill you." Damon muttered. To his delight, Elena was laughing, doubled over on the bed as she rung out her hair. "You know what, I still love you brother." He said, taking a step towards Stefan. "Come here. Let me give you a hug."

"Get away from me!" The two shot away, and Elena crawled out of bed, still laughing. She could still hear the brothers running and bickering somewhere in the house.

"I refuse to participate in this horribly cliché moment!" yelled Stefan's angry voice.

"But I wuve you!" came Damon.

"I swear I'll lock you in the basement! Don't think I…OH COME ON!"

Elena chuckled, but something felt…off. She should be happy. Her boyfriend took her on one of the best nights of her life, and she just reconciled with Damon. Everything was perfect, so why wasn't she happy? Elena frowned and smoothed out her slightly wet clothes. She would spend forever with Stefan, and the two would get married, and be happy, and do everything and anything, just because they could. And Damon…Damon…he would be the best man, and maybe one day…they'd have some crazy double date with his latest fling…and he'd make fun of them for being an old married couple…and then he'd disappear into the night with that signature smirk…and Elena would watch him, never knowing what could've been…

Elena felt sick. She put a hand to her face, and was surprised to find that her fingers were wet, but not from the water Damon splashed on her. She was crying. What was wrong with her? She blinked and suddenly Damon and Stefan were back, both flushed. Stefan looked smug, while, Damon, now wet, looked angry.

"Anyway, me and um, Stefan are going out to…uh do some brotherly bonding." Damon said. Stefan raised his eyebrows at Damon, who gave him a big smile. At one time, Elena might've questioned this, but she found herself not caring, and unable to look Damon in the eye.

"Um…sure guys. Have fun, I guess. Do you mind dropping me off at home?" she said, studying a dark spot on the wood. They both agreed and glared at each other. Elena sighed and exited the room, feeling more depressed than she'd ever admit.

XXXXXXXXXX

EPOV

Elena watched as Stefan walked to the Chevy, frowning secretly to herself. Damon followed close behind him, but she refused to look his way. She wondered why he was being so quiet, not even making snarky comments on driving 'their' girlfriend home or crowding her annoyingly or even waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Maybe what she said last night changed him. Elena felt a qualm at this. She hoped she wasn't leading him or anything like that. They were just friends.

But then, Alaric's words came rushing back to her.

Elena looked at Alaric nervously as Stefan went out of the room. In a normal world, the most she could expect from her own teacher was that she was failing the class. She almost wished for that now. But nothing was normal about her life, and she knew, with dread, that it had something to do with the supernatural. From outside the now closed door, she heard a loud crash and an indignant "Hey!"

Alaric shifted his attention from her note to her face. "So…" she started nervously. "What do you want?"

"It's about Damon." He said quietly. Elena tensed immediately.

"What about him?" she asked through clenched teeth.

Alaric looked terribly uncomfortable. "Well…um…I know I have no place to say anything about your relationships or anything…especially as your teacher." He chuckled awkwardly, but it did nothing to relieve the tension settling around her.

"Where are you going with this?" she asked cautiously.

Alaric leaned back in his chair. "Well…um…look, Damon's a good guy." Elena opened her mouth, but he continued on. "And…yeah, I know that he killed me, and is a dick…and lied to me, and screwed and killed my wife, and always seems to…okay that's not the point."

"Then what is the point?" Elena asked, looking at the door and silently wishing Stefan was here with her.

"The point is…I think you should give Damon a chance."

Elena's mouth popped open, "What?" she gasped, her face frozen in angry surprise.

Ric flinched. "I'm not saying you should dump Stefan and throw yourself in his arms. I just think you should try to be his friend again." Elena stared at him, still speechless. "The guy needs you more than you know. And… I see more than you think you I do. Like when we went to rescue Stefan from the tomb vamps."Elena's mind flashed back to another time when she was in this classroom with Alaric and Damon. Elena had pulled out a vervain dart in her fevered attempt to save Stefan. Damon, however, had no intention of her doing anything, which only frustrated her more.

"This is Stefan we're talking about .You don't understand." She had argued.

"Oh, I understand, I understand. He's the reason you live. His love lifts you up where you belong. I get it." His mocking tone had almost pushed Elena over the edge.

"Can you not joke around for like, two seconds?" she had asked, tone laden with as much annoyance as she could inject into it.

"I can't protect you, Elena. I don't know how many vampires there are in there." Damon snapped his fingers tartly. "That's how long it takes you to get your head ripped off. I have to be able to get in and get out. I can't be distracted by your safety. Or this will end up as a bloodbath that none of us walk away from. Including Stefan." Elena looked down, breathing hard."I know. I get it." He said. Alaric looked on. "I understand." He whispered.

Alaric had taken a deep breath. "If we're going to go, let's go." He said suddenly. Elena had forgotten he was even there. The two men left, leaving her to her confusing thoughts.

Alaric's voice brought her back to the present. "And that…um dance with him at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant." He continued, blushing a little.

Elena blushed too. She hadn't realized he had seen her. But, on the other hand, she hadn't paid attention to anything but Damon that dance. Everything but he and those wild blue eyes had seemed to fade away.

"I'm not going to ask you why you danced with him and not Stefan. But I do know Jeremy's alive, and…maybe you should forgive him. He's a better person around you."

Elena stared at him as he fell silent. "Is that all?" she asked tersely.

Alaric nodded a little, seeming relieved. "Yep. That's it."

"Well then, I'll be going. I have a date. With Stefan." She turned on her heel and started to leave.

"Elena wait." He called. Elena reluctantly turned. "I'm your teacher. I can fail you, you know."

Despite everything, Elena smiled. "I'll think about it." She said. They shared another smile before Elena left to meet up with Stefan.

Elena sighed at the memory, hoping she did the right thing.

But it was too quiet. She never thought she'd say this, but she was actually kind of missing Damon's sarcastic, annoying, and secretly funny quips.

Stefan yanked open the door of the driver's seat, causing Elena to jerk out of her musings.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked. What was Stefan doing? Did he have a death wish by driving Damon's car? But, strangely enough, Damon didn't even sound angry, nor was Stefan dead. He sounded merely confused and slightly amused.

"Yeah…what are you doing?" Elena added.

Stefan also looked confused. "Getting in my car to drive." He said.

Damon gave him a crucial, pointed look. "That's not your car Stefan."

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course it's my….oh."

Elena cocked her head. She wondered if it was her hangover acting up. The two brothers stared at each other. "Why can't we drive Stefan's car?" Damon asked. Elena made a face while Stefan's eyes widened. "What happened?"

"Well…we kinda crashed it in a tree and…" Elena began.

"WHAT?" Damon screamed, causing Elena to jump in alarm. "YOU FUCKING CRASHED MY-"

"Damon…" Stefan warned.

Damon clenched his hands into fists. "I mean…what a shame."

"Okay then." Elena said slowly. "Um…Stefan are you going to let Damon drive or what?" she asked.

Stefan seemed to be in pain. Damon smiled suddenly. "Yeah Stefan. Let me drive my car." He pushed Stefan out of the way.

"Oh…yes. You can…drive…your car." Stefan muttered. Damon got in the driver's seat and Elena opened the passenger door.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked.

"Um…getting in the car…" she said.

"Next to me? No. Go sit in the back." He said angrily.

Elena stared at him and sat down indignantly. "I'll sit where I want. What's your problem?"

"Yeah what is your problem? Elena can sit up there if she wants." Stefan added from outside.

"No she can't. She hates me." Damon said.

"I don't hate…"

"I think she likes you fine." Stefan taunted.

"Yeah but…"

"Fine! I'll sit in the back!" Elena yelled. She exited the car and yanked the door open violently.

"Now look at what you did." Stefan mumbled with a laugh.

"I'm going to kill you later." Damon muttered back.

Elena sighed loudly and dramatically from the backseat, shutting the two up. Damon started the car and backed out onto the road. The silence in the car was tense.

Something was bugging Elena, but she didn't know what. Her head hurt too much to think about it.

What the hell was going on?

XXXXXXXXXX

After they dropped a silent Elena off, Damon turned to Stefan. "So…" he said. "What are we doing? If it really is brotherly bonding I'm jumping out of the car."

Stefan smiled as he turned a corner. "We're going back to the restaurant with Bonnie and Caroline to find out what happened-is happening- to us."

"Thank God." Damon sighed. "It's so tiring being all good and thoughtful."

Stefan raised his eyebrows and looked over at Damon. "And you're not?"

"Keep your eyes on the road." Damon said. "If you get one scratch on my car…"

"Then we'll still not be even on you crashing my car." Stefan finished. Damon rolled his eyes. "Damon! It was a vintage car! It even got me some brownie points with Matt! And me and Elena…"

"Ew. I don't want to know little brother. And I don't want to know about your gay relationship with Matt either."

It was Stefan's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever. We're here."

"Cross your fingers." Damon mumbled as they got out of the car. The two shared a wry smile and entered the restaurant, both hoping for a solution to get them out of this mess.

XXXXXXXXXX

Well, that turned out a lot longer than I thought it would. I was going to stuff more in this chapter, but I don't wanna make this thing super long and bore you guys to death. So next chapter! :D

A huge thanks and hug to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Not only did I get up to 100 reviews (Yay!), I also got the most reviews on any of these chapters so far. So thank you!

For all my delena hopefuls out there, go take a peek at my profile avatar picture thingy. If you feel depressed about where our couple is going, I definitely think it will make you smile. Or squeal, like I did. I don't even care if it's some big tease to get us to keep watching, or if it only happened because maybe Rose died. I'll take whatever we get lol. Anyway PM or review me about your reactions. I love to hear from you guys!