A LITTLE BIT OF THE PAST

Three weeks ago

Camp night

"…and there will be no drinking, no late night parties, no sneaking, no smoking and specially no monkey business that you children like to do" finished our group teacher with a heavy sigh. Technically, right now, they had just banned us to do everything that camp was all about. I couldn't believe they actually thought we paid any attention to this crap, let alone follow it.

It was about 8 and I couldn't be more excited to attend the camp that our school organized every year in the nearby woods.

"I am sooo excited. This is gonna be kick-ass" rambled Caroline as we picked up our tents and sleeping bags.

"Oh my god, right there. Look 'lena. I think he's coming here. No wait, where'd he go..?" Caroline searched through the crowd for her prince Charming. You see, Caroline has had this crush on Tyler Lockwood for about….2 hours. It was a typical drama scene, so we heard from Caroline. All that slamming into each other, then books falling from hands, bending down to pick them up, heads banging, looking up and then there's the connection. I can't say it's all true.

But well, you get the gist.

Caroline, being the drama queen just couldn't let this go and was determined to turn this encounter into some love story.

"Hey, right there. Good enough place to set up the tents" Bonnie spotted a grassy little area just beside a giant king tent which I was sure belonged to the Salvatores. The school's most well known jocks.

We dumped all our belongings on the ground and discussed our plans for the night. Well, they discussed. I tried to take in my surroundings.

The sky had turned an eerie shade and the only light coming was from the millions of bright stars in the clear sky and from the bonfires here and there. People were bonfiring, trying to put up tents and probably doing all the things that the adults asked us not to do.

My roaming eyes fell on a blue eyed guy whom I knew all too well, but never was a big fan of. Damon Salvatore.

He was the son of the town's most famous and successful business man, Giuseppe Salvatore. Damon and his brother, Stefan Salvatore were famous all over the place and the Salvatores practically owned half of our school.

Damon was known to be the playboy, bed-hopper, heartless jerk. Warnings were passed among the girls to stay away from him, but at the same time, he was irresistible, so I had heard.

I couldn't say that I was not attracted to him by his looks. Everything about him, from his perfectly tousled raven hair to his muscly (but not too muscly) body, his sexy-and-I-know-it attitude was incredible. But the most beautiful were his eyes, those penetrating blue orbs that went in complete contrast with his personality. Although I had never officially met him, I could see the warmth and honesty they held.

Suddenly, those blue were boring into mine and there was a smirk playing on his full lips.

Shit. I had just been caught staring.

I quickly looked away and used my hair as a shield to hide the blush on my face, but I could feel his eyes boring into my skull.

"Dude, Damon Salvatore is staring at 'Lena" I heard Caroline whisper to Bonnie and my head snapped up. Gosh, I had literally forgotten they were here.

"hey, so what did you guys come up with?" I asked in an attempt to distract myself from the heat of the stare.

"Well, a few kids are planning on going near the cemetery to hang out." Said Bonnie

"The cemetery?" I asked

"Yup, the cemetery"

"Means we'll have to sneak out"

"Tyler will be there, too" Caroline chirped in between

"Care, we see how that will benefit you, but what about us?"I asked and Bonnie nodded in agreement.

"guys, come on. I'm sure you'll find company. Please" whined Caroline. Bonnie looked at me with the what-do-you-say look and I let out an irritated 'fine'.

"Yay, so it's all settled then" said Caroline. For the next half hour, we discussed how we were going to sneak out and I desperately tried to ignore the glances that were being exchanged between me and HIM.

I groaned as both the sticks fell from my hands. Again.

Seriously, both Caroline and Bonnie had left me alone to do this shitty work while they were out hunting for boys. I had been trying to put up the tent from the pat 20 minutes and was failing miserably.

"Need some help with that?" a velvety voice came from behind me. I gasped as I turned around and came face to face with a pair of crystal blue eyes. Aha, I pretty much had a very clear idea of WHAT he wanted from me.

"You? help? In which universe am I?" I riposted.

HeeHee. Nice one, Elena. Nice one.

"Why would you say that ? You don't even know me" he stepped closer and my breath hitched in my throat.

"I know enough" I said back confidently and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. Clearly, he was used to girls that fell on their feet before him.

Did I mention how proud I was of myself right now?

"Well, let's just say that I don't like seeing a damsel in distress" he remarked. Did I look like a damsel in distress to him?

God, he was good with these games

"Anyway, it was just an offer" he shrugged and began to turn away.

"Wait" I called out and he turned back immediately, a smirk on his face.

(how, HOW can someone smirk that much?!)

"I'd love some help" I accepted, not just because he was unbelievably hot, but because I really needed some help with this tent.

"I figured you'd say that" he said and began moving towards me.

"Arrogant much?" I retorted and I swear that wink sent the butterflies in my stomach fluttering.

He bent and then placed all the sticks properly in the tent cloth, through holes I could have never known existed. And then, after 5 entertaining minutes of 'aha's and 'oomph's, the tent rose (I have no idea how) and somehow came into its perfect shape.

It kinda looked really cute.

"oh wow" I complimented. I could never have been able to do that. He shrugged, "easy peasy" and boasted and then got up, turning to me.

"ha, looks like there's more to you than just your looks" I blurted out before even realizing what I was saying, and to WHO I was saying.

"Did you just say you find me attractive?"

Shit!

I felt my cheeks turn the darkest shade of red. Gosh, why did he have to make such a big deal out of it? His ego was already larger than Russia.

"Just shut up" I barked back in an unattractive voice to the self-obsessed jock.

"Wow, real mature 'lena" Damon said between his chuckles.

I decided to shut my big hole than and go for the are-you-done-cuz-I'm-bored-here look.

It didn't work.

My expression somehow came off wrong and his chuckles turned into hysterics. THEN, I decided to go for my signature dialogue that I bought up in situations like this

"it's okay, Damon. Everything's gonna be okay. We'll find you a psychiatrist" I sighed heavily and pretended like I was talking to a mental retard. If you ask me, he really was acting like some mental retard.

"God, you're hilarious" he gasped out. I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you for the help, Damon. You're free to leave" I said with a tight (more like a constipated) smile. "Do you want me to leave?" he coaxed with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Aha, so THIS was the Damon Salvatore people talked about; this alluring, bootlicking, seducing guy.

I tried to act cool, pretended to be unaffected by his attempt and was just about to come up with the greatest comeback when a sharp ringing voice bought both our attention towards the vibrating object in his jeans.

He took his phone out of his phone out of his pocket and grimaced at the username.

"yes, tyler…yeah…uhmm…no I didn't eat your fish…dude, stop yelling.." I didn't want to appear as some eavesdropper so I decided to take interest in the tent, although there conversation was pretty funny (yup, I was hearing everything). "yeah, sure…I'll be right there" he sighed into the phone and put it back into his jeans.

"it was nice meeting you, Elena (woah, how my name just rolled off his tongue) and to save you any further embarrassment (eye roll) I'll leave (Ugh, how that made me sad)"

"Nice meeting you too, Damon" I said simply, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice.

He was actually quite fun.

"He's an ass"

"No, a douchebag"

"bloody womanizer"

"trust me, he just wants to get into your pants"

Okay, telling Caroline and Bonnie had been a pretty bad idea. Lesson learned.

"guys, he just helped me put up the tents. You should be thanking him" I reasoned. Honestly! It's not like we flirted or anything. (well, actually, HE DID)

"Look, 'lena. I know he's hot and all but you should really stay away from him" said Caroline and Bonnie nodded in agreement. Jeez, were they even listening to me?

"No, you look. I didn't do anything wrong okay? Just drop it" I yelled and got out of the tent, in need for some fresh air.

He wasn't that bad. And anyway, we weren't even friends yet…were we? The only thing we DID do was badinage.

I wandered around, not ready to go back to the tent yet. I saw Tyler running after Matt with a hockey stick(?) in his hand. Wow, they definitely were weird. So lost I was in the hilarious scene that I hadn't noticed the someone who had come stood beside me. "Hilarious, huh?" an unfamiliar voice came.

I turned around and saw Stefan (the other) Salvatore. Stefan, unlike Damon, had sandy brown hair and green eyes. I hadn't realized that I had been staring until his quite cough brought my attention back to his question.

"What? Yeah…that's quite an unusual scene" I said referring to the absurd ways in which matt was trying to hide from Tyler.

"You must be Elena, I'm Stefan" he said with a friendly smile that was the EXACT opposite of Damon's sexy smirk.

"I know" I said, returning the smile.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Damon looking over at us, with a frown on his face.

For the next half hour, I and Stefan chatted around and he even taught me how to climb on trees (though I didn't get one bit of it).

Stefan, I had learned, was the opposite of Damon. He was really sweet and friendly AND genuine. After saying our goodbye's and nice to meet you's, I headed back to my tent.

"I'm sorry I snapped like that" I apologized as Care was doing her hair for the night.

"it's okay, 'lena. We shouldn't have been so nosey" Care said with a full genuine smile and bear hug.

"Guys, come on. We can't be late."

After walking about half a mile or so, we had reached the opening just before the cemetery. Caroline had immediately went looking for Tyler and Bonnie had somehow taken very much interest in the 'drinking game'. After coming here we had realized this was more of a party than a 'hanging out'. There were alcohol drinks, guys playing guitars and most of the camp was here.

Me, as always, found interest in nothing and had just gone and sat on this log, and was bored like hell. And now my butt was aching which was causing me to shift again and again, which had caused me a headache. And above all, the drinks had made me light-headed and all I wanted to do was crawl inside a hole and sleep.

This was a mistake.

"Trouble in paradise?" came an all too familiar voice from beside me.

Did he just call this place 'paradise'?. Wow, weird how this made me want to punch me.

"Uh, no. definitely not." I denied quickly as I turned my head in his direction and my breath caught in my chest. No one should be allowed to look so sexy. It was completely unfair. In fact, it should be illegal.

"Doesn't look like it," He said

"Wonderful" I honestly had no idea why I said that. Maybe the alcohol was working, after all. Damon looked at me in a weird way.

"So, tell me, why are you sitting here and not mixing and mingling with others?" he asked.

"I don't really know anyone except Caroline and Bonnie and they seem to be…busy" I mumbled out while getting myself another drink.

"You know me" he stated and nudged me in the shoulder playfully. Okay, I had no idea why people described him as mean and selfish. Arrogant? Yes, but not exactly a douchebag. Although, I'd never admit that AND I couldn't be so sure of how he was so I continued to maintain my I'm-not-interested-in-you demeanor.

"No, I don't. Not really" I said while looking him in the eye.

DamonPOV

"No, I don't. Not really" she said and I don't know why that bothered me. It shouldn't.

"Well, in that case, we always have time to know each other better" I suggested with a wiggle of the brows.

"I am Damon Salvatore, sexiest person alive and I'm veerrry good with my tongue" I introduced myself and held out my head. She giggled—man, she looked adorable—and shook my hand. Ugh, I hated how it tingled. These were the things I should be making the GIRLS feel.

"I'm Elena Gilbert, sarcastic and I am not a slut" she slurred. Somehow this little remark made me laugh. I'd just met het two times but she had this ability of making me laugh. I watched as she got up and refilled her glass with some drink. Didn't she have enough? She did look a bit tipsy to me. I think I should sto-

God, why do I care? Good for me anyway.

"Ms. Gilbert, would you like to go somewhere with me?" I asked her.

"Why?" she said, a frown on her face.

"I think you mean 'where'? Don't worry, you're in safe hands" I winked and pulled her up with me. I literally smacked the glass away from her hands when she went for another refill.

"No, that's enough" I said and threw the glass in the corner.

She whined but got quite after a few seconds.

I led the way, away from the party and we went for a walk in the woods, a comfortable silence between us. Suddenly, as we tried to skip over a log, she lost her balance in those heels and would have hurt herself if it hadn't been for my strong grip on her arm that didn't let her fall.

"You're so drunk" I teased.

"Am not! It was that stupid log" she said in a cute defensive way.

"Yeah, right" I taunted

"Shut up! My alcohol consuming limit is very high" she said, smacking me lightly on the arm.

"Yeah, I can see that" I remarked and she glared. It was actually quite fun watching her get all worked up.

"No, really. There was only one time I went overboard. I went all crazy and I think I did a table dance" she reminisced and I couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, I'd definitely like to see the table dance" I thought out, while she rolled her eyes.

"Are we in the cemetery?" she asked after we stopped for a moment, a trace of fear in her voice.

"Why, are you scared?" I seduced (tried) and besides getting some brownie points, the only thing I did get was an eye roll.

"Are you always like this?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Pretty much" I said with a shrug.

"So, Damon, why exactly are we here?" she asked, raising her eyes at me and started moving idly through the place, me following her.

"Well, I was bored and you were sitting there alone so I thought.." well, what I exactly thought was something that I really didn't want to share with her.

"So what, am I your entertainment source?" she asked, amused.

"hmm..i like the sound of it" I wondered aloud. She giggled, while coming to halt in front of a particular headstone and stared down at it. I bent a little around her and saw the name MIRANDA GILBERT and GRAYSON GILBERT engraved on it.

Oh

"Elena, I-" I began but then: what exactly was I going to say?

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm over it" she pretended but I could literally hear the hurt in her voice.

I offered a sympathetic smile. I didn't really know what else to say or do. But anyway, one thing was clear now; I didn't really want to get into her pants. I mean I did, of course, but not this way. She was unlike other girls that were all begging for my attention.

"I think we should go" Elena slurred and I looked over to her. It seemed like she was having trouble maintain her posture and it was quite entertaining watching her this way.

"You okay?" I asked and she just shook her head

"Too many drinks" she said with a shrug and I chuckled.

"Come on, let's go" I said and led her back to the party.

ElenaPOV

"Elena, where were you?" Caroline asked as soon as I got back to the party.

"nothing care, just visiting my parents" I said, barely able to speak. She nodded in understanding. I dare didn't tell her about Damon, already knowing what her reaction was going to be.

"Come on, lets get Bonnie and leave. Its getting pretty late" I said, shivering with the cold wind.

Caroline and Bonnie had been fast asleep but I was still counting sheep.

I looked at my cell phone screen and sighed. It read 2:00 a.m.

It was after about 15 mins that I heard a quite sobbing coming from outside the tent. I pulled my jacket over my body and headed out quietly into the chilly night air.

There, I saw Anna, some blonde cheerleader I think I knew from the parties that Caroline dragged us into. She was crying, seated just outside Damon's tent.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked in the nicest tone I could come up with.

She looked up at me and made a face.

"Like you care" she cut back. Okay, sad or not, she was still a meanie.

"Well no, I just like to torture crying girls" I said, trying sarcasm.

She laughed a little and decided on telling me her sob story

"Damon. I hate him. He's such a womanizer. He just used me. Went around all the bases with me and then threw me like a used napkin and went I went to confront him, he told me to buzz off." She continued on telling me everything but after the first few lines I stopped listening. It was kind of funny how that literally made my heart drop. I just didn't think he actually was the way everyone said he was. I thought he was….different. But I was actually glad I found out about this. For all I know, it could've been me instead of Anna.

After the comforting part, I took her to her tent and came back to my own. I saw Damon standing outside and he smiled when I came back. I pretended not to notice him.

"Hey, why the cold shoulder?" he asked with a frown on his face. I swear I could note a trace of hurt in his voice.

"Just leave me alone, Damon" was the last thing I said before I climbed back into my tent. I heard him call my name after that but I decided to ignore it. I was smart enough to figure out that he was the bad guy here.

DPOV

I put two and two together and figured that she had met Anna. The worst part of it was: I cared. Elena hated me now and I couldn't help but worry about it. I thought we had become friends. I actually liked her.

I was just about to go inside when I saw something dangling from a hole in their tent. I went further for a closer look and picked the red thing up. Huh, looked like a little diary to me.

Finally. I am so sorry for the long delay but I got busy with things. Here is a looonnngg chapter to make up for it.

Elena cant decide whether to like him or to not but after anna, she knows that she should stay away from damon.

I made the stelena part short cuz (no offence) but I hate stelena.

I am glad the chapter is finally up. Please please please review.

It means the world to me. ./