A/N: I'm back from break! I still have to deal with midterms, but whatever, lol. THIS IS NOW AN M STORY. There are no explicit scenes or anything, but the language gets a little bit rough in this chapter (Drunk Damon doesn't play clean.). I'm actually a little nervous about this chapter - I don't know if I build up Damon's anger in the first few chapters enough to warrant the intensity below, but I'm trying to move this more towards angst. Let me know how it goes. Gmail and FF . net have been screwed up lately, but I'll try to get back to you.

The first few lines are intended to refresh everyone's memory; this chapter is a continuation from last chapter.


When he keeps his eyes shut and doesn't say anything back, she gets up to leave him to his thoughts. She lets out a tiny gasp in surprise when she notices Stefan's shadow in the corridor.

"What happened that night?"

Stefan had come into the boarding house to see Elena and Damon near the end of a seemingly deep discussion.

"Stefan…" she trails off quietly, "Maybe we should go upstairs and talk." She looks nervously towards Damon. He doesn't seem like he's paying any attention to them, but Elena knows better.

"It's not like he can't hear perfectly fine down here," he shrugs, nodding towards Damon, "What were you two talking about?"

"It's a long story. You wouldn't want to hear about it," she explains.

"I have all the time in the world…literally," he reminds her. He grabs her hands gently, but she takes a sudden interest to the floor below her feet. She can't look him in the eyes, knowing that she's about to break him.

"It-it was a mistake," she stutters nervously. Stefan's whole demeanor changes instantaneously, and he knows that whatever she's about to admit to will be more than just a one-sided declaration of love or an innocent caress on the cheek. He drops her hands, and sticks them in his pockets.

"What was?" he pushes. Stefan doesn't know why he's such a glutton for punishment, but he needs to know the truth straight from her mouth.

"It was after Klaus came," she replies slowly. His body stiffens.

"Before or after we were together?" he questions, frowning. Stefan's eyes penetrate hers.

"Before, but I was upset and frantic – "

"Just tell me," he says impatiently, teeth clenched. She opens her mouth, only to let out a heavy sigh. She's stalling. When she can't manage to get anything out for the next minute, Damon finally decides to remind everyone of his presence and take everyone out of their drawn-out misery.

"We fucked. About two feet from where you're standing right now."

Before Elena can react, Stefan has Damon's throat pinned against the wall. Damon's head is drooping to the side and his body is lifelessly hanging underneath Stefan's grip. Elena's eyes drift to Damon's hand, and she sees that he's now holding an empty glass. She realizes that he must've gotten a drink when she was too bothered with Stefan to notice. She can't believe him.

"I hate long, awkward silences," Damon manages to get out, smirking at his brother in the process. Stefan responds by tightening his grip on his brother's neck. If Damon weren't so drunk out of his mind, he might have been able to turn the tables, but Damon is still plastered, and Stefan is still on human blood even after Klaus' death.

"Liar," Stefan growls, shoving Damon's head into the wall. Damon shuts his eyes tightly and groans at the acute pain now adding to the throbbing headache from the alcohol.

"Believe what you want. Ask her," he shrugs, tipping his head towards Elena. Both brothers turn to the fragile girl standing before them, but when Damon sees the fear and indecision in Elena's eyes and realizes that she won't say anything, something kicks in him. He suddenly has a change of heart and realizes that this is exactly the time to have a little fun at her and his brother's expense. He's Damon Salvatore after all, and Damon Salvatore doesn't give a flying fuck about other people.

He throws them both a mischievous smile just before he can feel Elena's heartbeat increase tenfold and his brother's forehead sprout off one more wrinkle.

"Ask her to deny the fact that she was calling out my name hours before she was calling out yours. Ask her to deny the fact that she was riding me right before she told you that you were the only one she wanted."

"Damon!" Elena shouts in alarm at the complete 180. Stefan falters, disbelief rising in him.

"Come on, baby brother. You couldn't smell me on her? You couldn't smell us when you came back here?" he challenges. Stefan's fangs and blood vessels are now faintly visible and anger towards his brother and the love of his life is mounting in his chest, but he restrains himself. Stefan doesn't want to believe it, and anything coming out of a drunken Damon's mouth is speculative at best.

"Shut up, Damon!" Elena yells. At this, Stefan stops and throws a devastated glance at Elena. The realization that she isn't denying the heavy claims hits him full-force, and he loosens his grip on Damon. He's now overcome with rage, hurt and indecision as he takes a few steps back. Damon just straightens his posture and smirks; he's winning the battle, and he knows it.

"You didn't notice how flushed and disheveled she was when she came to you?" Damon goes on, now trying to purposely tear Elena down just like she did to him a few days ago. He's so far gone that he doesn't care anymore.

Stefan stays quiet, slowly moving away from Damon, while Elena rushes closer to the older brother in an attempt to control the situation. She doesn't even care that Stefan is watching closely; she just wants to stop the bleeding. "You didn't notice how worn out she was even before you undressed her, how swollen both of her lips were, how wet she was for you even though you barely touched her," he taunts.

"Stop!" she cries in horror at his crudeness and at the honesty of his words. She's in front of him now, only about a foot away from him. Tears are now running freely down her cheeks, and she wants to push him, smack him, punch him – anything to get Damon to just stop talking. She grabs his shoulders gently and her eyes beg him to stop hurting everyone, including himself.

"Please," she pleads softly. But it's too late for it. He stares at his brother over Elena's shoulder and sneers at him.

"Seriously, brother. You can't smell her now?" That earns him a hard slap across the face from Elena, and then a swift kick much further below, but Damon isn't surprised or upset. He recovers quickly and actually grins wickedly before bursting into laughter.

"What? Want to give Stefan a show? Isn't this violent act of yours how it started last time?" Elena gasps in disgust and immediately moves away from him. She can't even feel sorry for him at this point. She blinks back her tears; he's not worth them. Not when he's like this at least.

"What, Elena? Can't handle the truth?" he mocks.

"You're a certified asshole, you know that?"

"Yeah, I've never heard that one before," he scoffs, rolling his eyes dramatically for effect.

"And you're the one who can't handle the truth!" she snaps back. "I'm with Stefan. I don't want you," she says, emphasizing each and every syllable.

"Really? 'Cause less than a week ago, I'm pretty sure that all I heard you moaning was quite the opposite," he grins.

"God, Damon…it was one night! One stupid, stupid night!"

"I think you mean awesome night if I do say so myself. I mean the way your body fell into mine, the way your tongue did that little swirly –"

"Will you fucking stop?"

"Ooh. Someone's got a dirty mouth," he smirks. She returns it with a scowl.

"You're drunk, Damon."

"So? At least I'm not a whore."

Silence passes over them. Elena's chest is heaving and her hands are tightly fisted, while Damon is just leaning backwards slightly against the wall, a lazy smile of satisfaction gracing his lips.

"Why are you saying these things?" she asks quietly at last.

"Payback's a bitch, Elena."

"I never did-"

"Don't you fucking tell me you didn't do anything," he says heatedly, turning the tables on her and shifting the conversation. He sticks his finger in her face to make his point. "You slammed the door in my face. You ran away. You went back to my brother." Elena's stomach drops, and her eyes are welling up again. She absolutely hates what he does to her. Deep down, she hates herself for what she's been doing to him for years now.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to lead you on, Damon." She's quiet now. The guilt and confusion that were once lurking beneath her anger are starting to build up again.

"You know how much it meant to me." It comes out angrily, but she sees the openness and hurt in his eyes. She shakes the feeling in the pit of her stomach, the erratic beating of her heart. She knows she's been following in the footsteps of Katherine for some time now, intertwining herself with both brothers, but there's still one more thing that can be done to ensure that she doesn't actually become her. She can end it once and for all. Swiftly and resolutely.

"Damon," Elena begins, firmly gripping his shoulders. "You need to understand that it was a mistake. We were a mistake." Elena tries to say it as gentle as possible to curb any doubt, but to Damon, it's a stake to his heart. His eyes turn icy in an instant and his body grows rigid.

"Goodbye, Elena."

"Damon, I – " she starts, grabbing his arm as he goes to turn.

"Goodbye, Elena," he repeats, shrugging her arm off.

"Please, Damon. Just listen-"

"Elena," Stefan interrupts. His calm, yet demanding voice fills the room, and all eyes turn to him in surprise at his presence. "I think you should go," Stefan says firmly.

"Stefan, wait…" she starts, as the realization of what's happening hits her.

"I've been denying this thing between you two for over a year now, but I had turned a blind eye because I trusted the two of you. I'm not sure what will happen now, but I know that I can't tell you to stay the night."

She looks at him with her wide eyes and all she can see is apathy, something she had never really seen in Stefan before. Looking into Stefan's eyes and then to Damon's lifeless body heading to his chair, it is the first time she can actually see the similarities in the two brothers. She turns back to Stefan.

"Stefan, please," she pleads.

"The door is over there, Elena. I'm sure you can see your way out," he continues, pointing towards the entryway. He blinks once and turns his back to her, waiting for her to go. Elena lingers for a minute, trying desperately to salvage anything left of her relationship with either of the two brothers, but she can tell when she's not wanted.

When Stefan hears the lock click softly, he looks to Damon, half-conscious and very much worn-out, on the chair and still drowning in his own misery.

"Are you sobering up? Do you feel like another round?" Stefan asks, walking towards his brother. Damon just nods numbly, sinking further into the seat as Stefan takes the glass from his brother's hand to fill it up.


A/N2: Do you feel like joining the brothers in drinking away their misery yet? Leave a review