I know I've been bad. BUT I wrote one of my longest chapters so hopefully you won't scold me too much. Here it is, PLEASE REVIEW any and all commentary (good and bad) is welcome.

Chapter 8

"Then let's get away together, read to me?"

I have to clear my throat in order to regain composure. NO one has ever done something like that for me. No one has wanted to get away with me. Run away from? Yes… Run away with? Yes. But with the wind blowing outside of my window and the candle light eliminating her every beautiful feature….No one has ever wanted to get away from the world with me. And this simple and tiny gesture…it warmed my stone cold heart.

"'Do you mean to tell me,' cried Scarlett in amused amazement, 'that you haven't asked Pa for Suellen? And you've been courting her for years!'…

EPOV

I have done it. I have pushed past the fact that he didn't ask me. That no one really asked me. I have dealt with it and on some weird level I think I understand.

I'm standing in front of my full length mirror with my dress on. I have my tall black stilettos on and my make up done dark, mysterious. I don't know what was so liberating about it but for tonight…I don't want to be me. Maybe I can be Katherine…or maybe I can be someone else, I don't know, great I'm babbling in my brain!

My hair is in slight waves and my clutch is a dark red and black lace.

I look over to my night stand and see the picture of my mom and dad that I have kept there since I was sixteen. They were happy. They were happy, until I ruined it.

Yes. For tonight I'll be someone else.

I don't know why, much like most of my reasoning today, but I have opted for walking to the school. It's only about five minutes and even in my heels I don't mind.

It is when I am standing about ten feet from the entrance that I close my eyes. I feel someone's presence beside me and when I open my eyes, I see Matt.

He looks at me sadly then returns his gaze to the school. I think he might be one of the only people who actually remember the date.

"I didn't expect you to show up." It isn't a question or an answer, it is just a statement. He takes his flask out of him pocket and takes a sip.

I remember that I'm trying to be someone new tonight, so I grab his flask and take a few large and quick shots.

I am about to give it back to him when I notice he's halfway down the walkway on his way in.

He always tried to help me, even when he didn't know how, and today was nothing different. So yeh he is dating my aunt, but if anyone understood what it was like to lose the people you care about, it would be Matt. His mother left him, his sister left…then died. He has had to watch them slip away.

I close the flask and slip it into my clutch.

*Flashback*

EPOV

We all are sitting in Tyler's car taking turns drinking out of the large flask filled with my favorite poison, tequila. I am wearing a black dress with a puffy and short skirt that shows off my legs but keeps it classy. In my hands is a red clutch with intricate black lace. It's my favorite clutch because I have carved a secret compartment on the inside where my thin flask fits perfectly.

Finishing off the main flask I make sure that mine is sealed tight and hide it in my bag.

Matt gets out of the car first and with a goofy and slightly drunken grin offers me a hand.

"Mi lady?" I giggle at his speech but grab his hand anyway. He pulls me in for a kiss that we quickly turn into a short make out session. I love him so much that it makes me sigh with content.

"Come on love birds" Caroline nudges when everyone is out of the car.

Matt places one last peck on my lips, smiles and drags me toward the school.

Tonight is going to be perfect.

*End Flashback*

As I enter the auditorium I start to feel the effects of the alcohol.

I wish I could say that when I walk in everyone's breathe catches in their throat and my dream guy looks at me with adoration, but I can't.

So I walk up to coat check, hand them my coat and walk onto the dance floor.

DPOV

I can tell she is here even before I see her. I know its cliché and all, but it's true.

I was roped into chaperoning tonight per Stefan's request. Something about impending doom and safety. To tell you the truth, I wasn't listening.

No, I was too busy eavesdropping.

* Flashback*

Caroline and Elena had walk into the Grill and I just love listening to the town gossip. If I am going to get that anywhere, it would be Vampire Barbie, so I listen in.

"Elena your soooo not excited, get excited!"

"I know I'm sorry Care, maybe when it comes closer to the date?"

"Elena j-prom is in 2 days! What is wrong?"

"Nothing Caroline, I'm just worried."

"Well stop. So what if I'm a vampire and you're twins with your not so dead great great great whatever grandmother? And yes there is some big scary dude out to get you. BUT, you have a hot dress, a hot body to put in that dress and you have two HOT boys pining over you."

Elena smiled slightly at that.

"Okay fine I will try and get cheery."

"Yay lets order!"

I tune out after that and tune back into Stefan just as he had asks me, "So you'll do it?"

"Yeh I'll do it. Relax and don't get your panties in a twist."

*End Flashback*

That's how I got stuck in this mess. So far, it hasn't been worth it but her presence was electrifying, even though I had yet to actually see her.

For the next hour I hear her laugh and dance with her friends, but I do not look, because that would be 'pining' as Barbie put it, and Damon Salvatore does not pine. Great now I'm talking in third person, God I need a drink.

No. What I need is to have fun. SO I grab a random girl in some red slinky dress and start to move.

"Well hi there Damon. "

I stop dead in my tracks, pun intended. Then I shake it off and try and appear way more nonchalant than I am in reality.

"My my Elena, I didn't even recognize you."

"Well, that might be because I'm not me. "

"Oh? Then who are you?"

"I don't know, not me? The old me, fun me. Pre- dead parents and dead men me."

"And why is that?"

"Because, it has been 365 days. Today, I don't want to be me. Can I be you today?"

"Sure you can be me, but I don't think you'd pull it off." The music has changed to a song of medium speed, slow enough to dance waltz style but fast enough that there is not a lot of thought and emotion to it. "But why would you want to be me when you are much more awesome."

"Did you just say I'm awesome?"

"Yeh, but that's only because you won't remember it tomorrow." She leans down on my shoulder and I can tell that she is trying too hard tonight. That she is exhausted. I take this chance to look at her. At first glance she looks even more mouthwatering and beautiful than usual. But behind her drunken eyes I can see pain, deep rooted pain.

"Damon, it was all my fault." She speaks so softly that I nearly don't catch her words.

"Huh?"

"The accident. In about one hour a year ago my parents came to pick me up from this dance. And they never did anything else again. It is all my fault."

I look into her eyes and want to tell her that she is wrong, that it was fate, or that she shouldn't beat herself up about it. But then I would be a hypocrite and she doesn't need that.

Instead I just kiss her forehead and let her rest on my shoulder as the music slows and we continue dancing.

EPOV

So maybe I'm a little drunk, but this moment. I won't ever forget it. The clarity in my mind has sparked my thoughts.

He isn't Stefan. Nowhere near. If I had said those words to Stefan he would try and tell me how wrong I was, he would reason with me and try and convince me about how illogical I was.

But Damon, he just held me. He didn't tell me how wrong I am because he knows the feeling. Because on some level his humanity blames him about all the lives he has taken, all the families he has destroyed, even his own.

He gets that no level of logic will take this feeling away. And when he kisses my forehead, all he says is that he knows. He knows and he is there for me, with me.

So as the dance winds down, I stay in Damon's arms. At some point he steals the booze from my bag and we both take a few shots. He compels the DJ to pick a more cheery selection, and we just loose ourselves in the moment, the alcohol, the music, and each other. He takes my mind off of my troubles and saves them for another day.

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