My skin heated as my blush returned under his too curious stare. Quickly, I folded my arms across my chest trying to conceal what I could of my breasts. His eyes leisurely made their way back up to connect with mine. He held out a hand and my eyes fell to stare at it.

"I'm Damon," he informed me. I ignored his hand and my eyes shot back to his face.

"That means nothing to me. Who are you?" I spat, hoping that some sort of menace traced my tone.

His sly smile remained as he stared at me. "You're awfully feisty," he muttered. "I'm Stefan's brother."

I felt my face fall in confusion at his words. Stefan and I had talked pretty extensively about our families. He had never mentioned a brother.

"So, who are you?" he asked, breaking my reverie.

"I'm, uh," I tried to gather my thoughts. "I'm Elena."

He held out his hand again with a slight lift of his eyebrow. "Nice to meet you, Elena." I stared at it again for several moments and he chuckled quietly before withdrawing. "It was worth a try," he smirked and I realized he was hoping I'd undercover my breasts by shaking his hand. A slight tinge of anger flared inside of me and I turned to leave him. His movements matched my own and he began ascending the staircase by my side.

"Why is there blood on you, Elena?" he asked in a tone that almost sounded patronizing. It confused me.

"I had a nosebleed," I answered him honestly while increasing my pace up the staircase.

"How convenient for Stefan," he chortled quietly.

I paused abruptly and turned half way to look at him. "What?" Again his statement had confused me.

He analyzed my face for several moments before a look of understanding crossed his own and he answered with "Ah. Nevermind," and then continued up the stairs.

I followed after him and as we were nearing Stefan's bedroom, Stefan rushed out of the door, a pure look of worry on his face. The sight of Damon brought him up short and he froze. "Damon?"

"Hello, brother."

Stefan's eyes moved to me and he took in my bare body. "Elena, go into the bedroom," he commanded. I nodded and moved between both men swiftly and entered the room. Stefan closed the door behind me and I immediately heard the muffled sound of his voice on the other side. The tenseness in his tone was obvious and I wondered why he had failed to mention Damon to me. I rushed across the room, plucked several tissues from the box, wiped the blood from my face and chest, then threw back on my pajama top.

As I made my way back toward the door, it flew open and Stefan came walking in. I could see Damon over his shoulder smirking at me from the hallway. Stefan whirled around to face him, one hand holding the door. "You need to leave," he said in a tenor that called for no argument, then pushed the door close. Damon's eyes never left mine.

Once the door separated us, I looked over at Stefan and saw the distress in his eyes. Slowly, I walked over to him and slid my arms around his waist. His went around my back and he pulled me tight. "I'm sorry you ran into him that way."

I nodded and bit down on my lower lip. "Stefan," I started timidly, "why didn't you tell me you had a brother?" I felt his chest expand with a deep inhale and his breath flow over my hair with the exhale.

"Damon isn't someone I want in my life," he answered. "It's easier to pretend he isn't by ignoring his existence."

My chest grew cold with his hate-laced words. I couldn't imagine an event so serious that it would cause someone to literally shun his or her own family. My brother, Jeremy, meant the world to me. There wasn't anything he could do that would change that. "What happened?"

He sighed and kissed the top of my head, then pulled away and went to the bed. "Not anything worth talking about right now." He climbed in and held up the covers. "Come to bed," he smiled softly. "I know how tired you must be."

Now that he had mentioned it, I did feel the fatigue from the night's events hitting me. My run-in with Damon had given me a pretty strong dose of adrenaline. Now that it was out of my system, I was left exhausted. I walked over to the bed and snuggled up under the covers. Stefan's strong arms pulled me to him and I let my head rest on his bicep. My palms reached up to lie on his chest and I let my eyelids shut.

My dreams that night were fitful as ice blue eyes and snide lips haunted me.

I woke to the mixed smell of bacon, toast, and eggs. A small smile lit up my face as I opened my eyes. Sitting beside me on the bed was the tray of food.

"Good afternoon," I heard Stefan say from across the room. I looked up to find him sitting in a rocking chair, staring at me adoringly.

"Hi," I answered and sat up, folding my legs Indian style. "This is for me?" He nodded and my smile grew. "Wow. Thank you, Stefan." I picked up the tray and sat it in my lap, then turned to look at him again. "Would you like some?" I asked, nodding my head towards the food.

He grinned and shook his head. "I've already eaten. But thank you." I nodded then lifted the fork. The first bite of eggs was incredible and I couldn't stifle the small moan that escaped me. I had become accustomed to not having breakfast with my odd work/school schedule. It never occurred to me I could have breakfast food in the afternoon as well.

I heard him chuckle. "Are they good?"

"Very."

"I'm glad. It's been a long time since I've made breakfast," he admitted.

"Well, you should definitely make it more often," I laughed.

I ate in silence for several minutes before he spoke again. "Do you have school tonight?"

I shook my head indicating that I didn't. "The semester is over, actually," I responded. "Those two tests yesterday were the last finals I had to take. We're out for winter break now."

"Oh, good. So you'll have more time to spend with me?" he smiled.

"I wish," I frowned. "No school just means more work in my world. My shifts will be doubled now that I'm available." I popped a piece of toast into my mouth.

Stefan sighed. "Elena, I already told you – if you need money, I'm more than happy to help."

Just as before, my head instantly started shaking. "No, Stefan." I looked up at him with an apologetic smile. "I'm fine taking care of myself. I mean, we've only really known each other for two months." I lowered my eyes and pulled my bottom lip in between my teeth for a moment. "I mean, we haven't even known each other long enough for you to feel comfortable with really telling me about your family." I glanced up at his face and saw that his brow had furrowed.

"Elena..." he started softly.

"Can't you just tell me why you hate him so much?" I interrupted.

He ran a hand over his face and into his hair with a deep exhale. "Because of a girl," he finally answered.

I looked back down at the bed. "Oh." I suddenly felt uncomfortable. Neither Stefan nor I had spoken to each other about past relationships and now I was finding out that he was once in a relationship so deep that he lost his brother over it.

He stood and walked over to me. "Look, I don't want to talk about Damon. Hopefully, last night will have been the last time I saw him."

"Do you think that'll be the case?" I asked, my eyes moving back up to him.

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. I think he'll come back." Stefan reached out a hand and lightly placed it against my cheek. I tilted my head into his hand. "Elena, promise me that if Damon does come around, you'll do your best not to be alone with him."

I brought my head back up and my brow pulled together. "Is he dangerous?" My heart thudded at the words. I already knew the answer to that question. Everything about my first encounter with Damon had given me the answer. Yes.

"Just promise me," Stefan whispered, his green eyes taking on a whole new intensity.

I simply nodded then looked back down at my food. "What time is it?"

He dropped his hand and shifted to find the clock. "Nearly 2."

I picked back up the fork and turned it slightly in my hand. "I have to be at work at 5."

"The hotel?"

"The restaurant."

"Would you like a ride?"

I shook my head and scooped up more eggs. "I can drive myself, thank you."

He stood from the bed. "Well, I actually have several things I need to take care of as well tonight." Reaching for his shirt that was tossed over a chair, he began to get dressed. "What time do you get off?"

"Midnight." I bit once more into a piece of toast before pushing the tray away altogether. I climbed out of the bed and headed for my overnight bag that held a pair of jeans and long-sleeved shirt. "I'm gonna' go to my apartment to get ready for work," I told him over my shoulder as I started dressing. "I didn't realize I would be here today so I didn't bring my work clothes." I picked up my shoes and sat in a nearby chair to put them on. As I worked, I realized Stefan had stopped speaking and an odd silence filled the room.

I looked up and Stefan was standing near his bedroom window, staring out with a near blank expression. Slowly, I crossed the floor and stood behind him, gently rubbing my palms up his arms. "Are you okay?" I asked softly.

He sighed and turned to face me. "Just worried."

My palms relaxed on his chest. "About what?"

"You."

I stared up into his eyes and tried to understand his statement. "There's nothing to worry about, Stefan."

He closed his eyes and brought his forehead to mine. "Just be careful," he said before leaning in to kiss me. His kiss was tender, yet I could feel a sense of apprehension in it. I lifted on my tiptoes to apply a bit more pressure before pulling away.

"I will," I promised with a small smile.

He grabbed my hand and together we left his room, walked down the stairs and out the front door. Stefan led me to my car, kissed me once more, then waved goodbye.

As I drove away and looked in my rearview mirror at the shrinking image of Stefan, my heart swelled with emotion at the thought of leaving him in his time of obvious distress.

In that moment, I knew without a doubt I loved Stefan.

The freezing night air blew steadily as I walked toward my car, causing my body to shudder and me pull my jacket tighter. My feet ached from waiting tables during the hectic dinner rush and my thoughts drifted to Stefan's warm, comforting bed. I wasn't sure if he wanted me to come over or not so I pulled out my cell phone and dialed his number.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hi, Stefan," I said with a smile even though he couldn't see me. His voice was sure to always make me happy. "What are you up to?"

He was silent for a moment. "I'm not…I'm just a little busy right now."

My smile fell and I paused at the back of my car. "Oh. Do you want me to let you go?"

"Um… No, no. I'm just having some dinner." The tone in which he said the words left me confused. "Are you off work?"

I shifted my purse on my shoulder. "Yeah. I just wanted to see if maybe you wanted to hang out or something."

"Sure," he responded quickly. "Would you like to stay the night as well?" His tone shifted to a joyful one and I almost doubted that I heard differently earlier.

"Only if you want me to."

He laughed. "So, I'll see you in about fifteen minutes?"

"Yeah." My smile returned. "See you later, Stefan."

"Bye, Elena" he replied then hung up the phone.

Although he had said he wanted me to come over, my stomach felt slightly uncomfortable with his hesitation. My first thoughts shifted to there possibly being another girl he was seeing. I mean, in all honesty, I would have understood if Stefan decided to go for another girl. As I believed from the very beginning, he and I were just on totally different levels – his being the higher one of course. But he expected me in fifteen minutes and, though possible, it would be quite difficult to rid of the evidence in that short amount of time.

I shook my head and pushed away the thoughts. Stefan wasn't like that. If he didn't want to be with me, he would just tell me, I was sure of it.

I slipped my cell phone into my back pocket and pulled my purse in front of my body, making my way to the driver side door. I rummaged around in the large bag, searching for my keys. The longer I searched, the more frozen my fingers grew and the more frustrated I became. I moved to the hood of my car, sat down my purse and pulled out my cell phone again to use as a flashlight. It took two more minutes – and me deciding to buy a new purse – to find the keys. I looped my index finger through the key ring, slung the purse back on my shoulder and spun around.

My cell phone fell from my hand and I heard it shatter on the concrete as I physically ran into Damon.

"Hello, Elena."

Authors Note: He just keeps popping up everywhere, huh? But that's okay with me...I love me some Damon. ;P

Hahahaha. Anyhoo, review the chapter and let me know what you think. (Just so you know, reviews make me write faster. :D)

Also, if you want updates on the story in between postings, follow me on twitter: APhobiac.

Also also, I want to take this time to thank my awesome beta reader, tsukikomew. She makes sure you guys aren't reading crap. Lol.

See you next chapter!