I walked behind Damon, my mind whirling with his sudden compassion. Had I just imagined that he kissed the top of my head? Suddenly, he was speaking to someone else and I lifted my head as I came through the door.

The stunned expression of the other boy brought me up short. He was staring at me like he was…terrified? He stepped toward Damon and I heard him say, "That's…That's her, Mr. Salvatore." His eyes never left me.

My brow furrowed. I didn't know this boy yet he was acting like he knew me. Damon's eyes snapped to me and I saw the same confusion on his face.

"What?" Damon asked, looking back at him.

The boy nodded his head in my direction, his voice straining as he tried to whisper. "That's the girl who was looking for you."

"She's been in this room since we arrived, Tyler. You said the girl looking for me was here before I even arrived, correct?" Tyler nodded. "This girl," Damon went on with a motion of his hand, "has been at work across town the entire night."

Tyler's eyes fell to the floor, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. "But…I swear, Mr. Salvatore. It was this girl." Tyler looked back at me and I could see the war happening in his mind. "She looked exactly the same, sir." His eyes roamed over me as he spoke, not even trying to whisper anymore. "I mean, she was wearing different clothes. Jeans, not these black pants, and a red tank top, but her hair was the exact same color and length." His eyes locked with mine. "And, not to be forward, Mr. Salvatore, but I wouldn't forget eyes like those." I felt myself blush and looked away.

It was silent for several moments before I saw the muscles in Damon's lower arms tense then relax. He reached his hand around me and placed it on the small of my back. "Elena, we need to go," he said quietly as he led me past Tyler.

Tyler's jaw fell slack and he just stared at us as we left. The confusion was still obvious on his face.

I looked up at Damon. "What's going on?"

He only glanced at me as he pushed over the door leading outside. "I don't know," he responded honestly.

"Why did that boy think I was looking for you?"

"I don't know, Elena," he repeated a bit more harshly.

I looked to the ground as I realized this was not an appropriate time to be asking questions. Something was obviously bothering Damon.

He opened the door for me as I climbed into his car, then quickly – almost too quickly – he was getting into the seat beside me. After I few minutes of driving, I realized he was not headed back to my work where my car was. I brought this up to him.

"I'm taking you directly to Stefan's," he said flatly.

"What about my car, though?"

"Well, if that piece of junk is what you mean by your car, I'm sure it'll be fine."

His snide remark angered me as well as slightly embarrassed me. No, my car was not something to be super proud of, but it was all I could afford. I folded my arms and turned away from him to look out the window. My jaw tightened and he chuckled. I didn't look over at him.

"Did I upset you?" he asked in a teasing tone. I didn't answer and he laughed again. "I sure do seem to have a talent for that, wouldn't you agree?"

The remainder of the ride to Stefan's was silent. As soon as we were parked outside of his house, Stefan came running outside. He had my door opened before I could even take my seatbelt off.

He pulled me out of the car and wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight against his chest. My heart ached. I didn't deserve this display of love from him. I had cheated on him. I had been with his brother. Tears burned my eyes. "I'm sorry," I whispered into his shirt. He tightened his grip around me.

"No, Elena, you have nothing to be sorry for."

I heard the gravel crunch beneath Damon's feet as he walked around the car. Stefan's head lifted from my hair. "Go," he said sternly.

Damon kept walking. "We have more pressing matters at hand. I believe me sleeping with your girlfriend now pales in comparison."

Stefan's muscles stiffened at Damon's words and I could tell he was trying his best to keep calm. "Whatever it is can wait, Damon. You need to leave. Now." His words were seeping out in near snarls and I suddenly found myself worried about Damon's wellbeing. I glanced up from Stefan's chest to see Damon continue past us and head toward the front door.

"Aren't you the least bit curious as to this new problem?" he smirked over his shoulder.

"No," Stefan replied flatly.

Damon started up the front steps. "Well, I'm going to inform you anyway..." He reached the porch and turned to face us. "Katherine's back."

Stefan released me and spun around. "What?" both he and I questioned simultaneously.

Hadn't Damon told me Katherine was deceased? Had I just gotten names and people mixed up? Surely that was the case. But, then, if Katherine was at least their ex-girlfriend, should that worry me? I didn't want to lose Stefan to some girl who had broken his heart. But I was positive Damon said she was dead! My brow furrowed as my mind swirled with the conflicting thoughts.

Stefan handed me a hot cup of tea and sat beside me on the couch. He leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. Damon paced back and forth across from us. His shoulders were tense with his arms crossed and his eyes stared at the ceiling as he moved. After Damon had made his odd declaration on the steps earlier, we had entered the house in silence.

After watching both of them for several moments, I found the nerve to break the uncomfortable silence. "What's going on, Stefan?"

He turned his head to look at me and I couldn't help but notice the sadness in his eyes. My gut knotted and I suddenly realized if Katherine were back, he would leave me for her. Was he sad about that? He looked at Damon. "Start from the beginning, Damon."

Damon continued to walk without glancing over at us. "Elena and I went to Le Feu de Nuit, a night club I purchased a few months back, and when we arrived, my assistant informed me that a girl…" he paused and looked at Stefan, "…like us…" he continued pacing, "…was looking for me. He described her as a girl with brown hair, brown eyes, jeans, and a red tank top. Well, that could be any number of girls. I mean, really, if I had a dollar for every brown-haired, brown-eyed beauty that I'd – "

"Damon," Stefan snapped, interrupting him.

My stomach twisted slightly at his words. No, I did not think that what Damon and I had done had been anything with any real connection, but I didn't like the thought of being on his "girls with brown hair and brown eyes" list…or other girls with brown hair and brown eyes being on that list.

Damon smirked slightly. "Sorry," he said, but I could tell he was not. "Anyway, we checked the camera footage and it seemed the sneaky girl had avoided each and every camera. I told Tyler to keep an eye out for her and went back to Elena." I saw Stefan tense in my peripheral vision. "When we were leaving, Tyler found us and when he saw Elena, he nearly had a heart attack. He told me that she was the girl looking for me. Well, considering I knew where Elena was for the past 6 hours, I knew that wasn't true and doubted his competence. However, after examining his behavior, I knew he was sure of it and started putting two and two together."

I still did not understand how I fell into any of this. I didn't understand how Tyler's confusion of me led Damon to Katherine.

Stefan exhaled loudly and shook his head slightly. "But Katherine's…"

"Dead?" Damon finished for him. "Yeah, I know. Makes this whole thing a bit more odd, don't ya' think?" he asked before plopping down in a recliner.

My mouth fell slack and I stared wide-eyed at the two men. Apparently they were on the same track when it came to their thoughts and I hadn't gotten people and names mixed up earlier, but neither of them seemed super surprised. They both turned to look at me when the teacup started rattling against the small plate holding it in my hands. Stefan took the dishes from me and sat them on the coffee table in front of us.

"Elena, are you okay?" he asked.

I just gaped at him, unable to answer. I felt the blood drain from my face.

"Elena?" he asked again, leaning forward to place a hand on my cheek.

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. I repeated my question from earlier: "What's going on, Stefan?"

The sadness returned in his eyes and I realized that my assumption earlier had been incorrect – he was sad about having to tell me something.

He dropped his hand and looked at Damon. "I don't want to do this, Damon," he said solemnly.

Damon shrugged. "Then don't."

"But she has to know at this point."

"Then tell her."

Stefan groaned and leaned back.

"Want me to tell her?" Damon asked.

"No!" Stefan responded quickly.

Their back and forth was starting to really bother me and I felt aggravation bubble inside of me. I stood up. "Someone tell me what the fuck is going on!" I shouted. I knew it was childish for me to explode like that, but their conversation was getting nowhere.

They both stared at me for a moment before Stefan stood to face me. "Elena," he started slowly, his face angled low so I could see clearly into his soft green eyes. "Let me start by telling you that I love you. Nothing is going to change that." Damon sniggered in the background. We both ignored him.

I tilted my head slightly, my brow furrowing, and could feel my heart beat picking up. I didn't like conversations that started that way. They never led anywhere good. "I love you, too, Stefan," I responded just as slowly, not sure how else I should answer,

He nodded. "Well, I…and Damon for that matter…are not…" he hesitated as he searched for his words. "…like you."

My mind was blank as I listened to him. Nothing he said made sense and none of it gave me enough information to start drawing conclusions. "What?" I asked softly, expressing my confusion.

He closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. With a deep inhale, he finally blurted out what his tongue was holding: "We're vampires, Elena."

My body didn't move an inch. My expression didn't falter. I was completely frozen in place.

What the fuck was he talking about? What had he said? Vampires? They were vampires?

My mind didn't know how to comprehend his bizaare sentence.

After standing still for several minutes, I realized that this must all be a joke. They were trying to scare me? I frowned. Their attempt at humor perturbed me greatly.

"Ha ha." I said, my eyes narrowing. "Very funny, Stefan. How long did it take for you and your brother to come up with this scheme?" I turned around and headed for my purse sitting by the door. "For the record," I called over my shoulder, "this was not a funny joke and I don't appreciate any of it." I picked up the bag. "Don't bother calling me."

As my fingers slid around the cool metal doorknob, two hands suddenly spun me around and pinned me against the door.

I stared up into Damon's face, my eyes wide and my breathing heavy. I watched as his ice blue eyes disappeared behind black pupils and a dull red tinge puckered on his skin around his eyes. Veins pushed their way to the surface in his face and when he opened his mouth, I distinctly saw two sharp fangs glinting in the soft lights of the room. "This is not a joke," he breathed, his eyes narrowing.

Again, I was frozen in place as my mind tried to understand it all.

Vampires.

They were vampires!

And according to everything I knew about vampires, that meant they drank…

I gasped and flinched away from him, the back of my head hitting the door. "Get away from me!" I shrieked, dropping my purse and hitting at his chest.

In the blink of an eye, Damon was standing beside Stefan, his face returned to normal. I suddenly understood where their stealth came from.

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears and felt my body trembling as I stared at them.

Stefan's brow was pulled together, his eyes portraying intense pent-up pain. He stepped forward, his hand held up to me. "Elena, I'm sorry," he told me softly. "I don't want you to be afraid."

I held my hand up, halting him. "Stop there, Stefan," I breathed. He did as I asked. Slowly, my eyes still on them, I bent down to lift my purse. Once it was gripped tightly in my sweaty palms, I pulled open the front door.

"Where are you going?" Damon asked from his place across the room.

I looked back at them and shook my head slowly. "I don't want…anything to do with this," I answered, my voice mechanical from the shock.

Stefan started to move forward and I put a hand up again, indicating that he shouldn't. "Don't, Elena," he pleaded with me, but my emotionless body couldn't find sympathy for him.

"Good bye," I whispered, casting my eyes to the floor. Moving cautiously, I stepped out and pulled the door close. Once the wood was separating us all, my adrenaline rushed in and I flew down the steps, running across the yard as fast as my feet would carry me.

It was still dark out, probably only just getting to 4 AM. My car was still at the restaurant and the only option I had to get away was to run.

So I did.

Authors Note: It usually kills me every time girls find out their "soul-mate" is a vampire and they act like everything is still sunshine and rainbows. :/

Please review and let me know what you're thinking!

As always, thanks to my beta - tsukikomew! Her help REALLLLY came in handy during this chapter. Seriously. Lol.

Follow me on twitter for updates about this story and other random ramblings: APhobiac.

See you next chapter!

Oh...BTW, did anyone else pretty much die after the TVD season premiere last night? I don't want to give any spoilers so I'll just say - The one who got rejected can just come on over to my house. I'm sure we'll get along juuuust fine. ;P