Chapter 5

Damon turned to the second of the two joggers settled on the bench in front of him. He captured her eyes. "You never saw either of us. You felt light-headed while jogging so you needed to sit down for a while. You will keep your neck covered until it heals, and if anyone sees it, you will tell them you were bitten by a strange insect while running."

"I never saw you. I was bitten by an insect."

"Good girl." Damon stood up, and he and Becca headed back down the trail at a leisurely stroll. "That was fun," he told her with a smile. He had missed hunting humans, in truth. They had scared the two girls just enough to make it almost a true hunt, although neither of their victims would remember their harrowing morning. He stopped Becca with a hand. "Hold on a sec." Damon bent down and licked a trace of blood from the other vampire's mouth, taking the opportunity to steal a kiss. He suddenly very much wanted her again. "You know, there's plenty of privacy in these woods."

Becca shook her head, although she kissed him again lightly. "The music festival has already started. What happened to your patience?"

"You told me not to be patient, remember?"

She smiled at him teasingly. "Yes, that might have been a mistake. You still have the saying, patience is a virtue?"

Damon shrugged. "Complete bull shit, if you ask me." But he let her lead him down the trail. Another pair of joggers passed them, and he watched Becca stare after them.

"You said they do that to 'stay in shape'? It does not look as if they are having fun."

Damon had tried to explain the phenomenon of jogging to her, but he didn't really understand it himself. "Yeah, it really took off back in the 1970s. At least the outfits are better now. If neon spandex ever comes back into style, I will personally go to Oregon and start killing Nike designers." He paused. "Or maybe that was aerobics?"

Becca gave him a strange look. "I have no idea what you just said, but I think you are weird."

He grinned at her. "Not as weird as you are." They walked in companionable silence for a few minutes before Damon spoke again. "Did you mean what you said this morning about traveling the world?"

"Oh yes. There is so much to see. There might even be stranger things than joggers. And we have eternity, after all."

Damon laughed. "Oh, there are definitely stranger things than joggers. And I'll take you anywhere you want to go." He loved her curiosity and the way her dark eyes sparkled as she took everything in and the way the breeze stirred her hair. And he loved that she wanted to be with him.

•••••

That afternoon at the music festival Becca let herself be transported away by the music and the feel of Damon's hands on her, his arms around her, his lips against hers. She could kiss him whenever she wanted to now, and she took full advantage. Of course, by late afternoon, they had worked each other to a fever pitch, and they compelled their way into one of the musicians' trailers, unable to resist their desire any longer. Damon pressed her immediately against a wall, and she wrapped her legs around him as they claimed each other again. Becca buried her fangs in his neck to stop herself from screaming his name too loudly, and Damon followed her lead. The blood flowing between them as their bodies were joined brought an unbelievable ecstasy as they both climaxed, and a moment later they were sliding to the floor as Damon's legs gave out.

"Fuck, sorry," he gasped as he tried to catch his breath, and Becca couldn't even tease him because she didn't think she could stand either. His lips were swollen from their kisses, his hair was wild from her fingers, and his eyes were slightly glazed with pleasure – he was stunning and he was hers. She shifted slightly and licked the rivulets of blood away from the already-healed wound on his neck, laughing at his moan of pleasure.

"If anyone comes, you be the rock star," she told him as she pulled away slightly. "Can you sing?"

Damon's low laugh rang out. "I try not to, but I can really dance."

"With your looks, that is good enough."

Now he looked at her mischievously. "Are you insinuating that I'm part of some no-talent boy band in this fantasy of yours?"

"Maybe."

"Well, you're my groupie, so what does that say about you?"

Becca giggled at that because Damon had explained groupies to her the previous day. His blue eyes searched hers for a moment, a little smile playing on his features, and she could feel his wonder and love through the bond between them. She started to ask him why he felt wonder, of all emotions, but then he kissed her again, and she had other things to think about.

•••••

Elena hesitated a moment before knocking on Damon's door. She hadn't seen him, or Becca for that matter, last night when they got back from the music festival, and she hadn't found him downstairs that morning, which meant he was almost certainly still in his room. She was a bit jealous about the music festival actually. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten away from Mystic Falls for a reason that wasn't related to Klaus, and she had tried to hint to Damon that he should get tickets for her and Stefan to come to D.C. for the music festival too. But for some reason, Damon had played dumb and taken only Becca. So she wanted to hear all about it, and more importantly she wanted to talk to him while Stefan was out hunting. It was still pretty early, but Damon was a surprisingly early riser for a vampire with a drinking problem, and it wasn't like he would have any qualms about just walking into her bedroom if the situation was reversed. So finally she knocked quietly on his door and pushed it open.

Despite her best rationalizations, she had clearly woken Damon up. Elena would have felt guilty if she hadn't been so busy noticing that he was obviously naked, although at least the sheet was covering most of the lower half of his body. She tore her eyes away from his lean, muscled torso – shit, she had forgotten just how impressive his abs were – only to encounter heavy-lidded blue eyes, model-perfect features, and wildly tousled black hair. Damn, Damon is sexy, Elena thought before she could stop herself. She usually tried not to think about him like that, for obvious reasons.

"What is it, Elena?" There was a hint of annoyance in his voice as he blinked away sleep.

Then Elena noticed that he wasn't alone in bed. Damon's body was between her and the woman, so she couldn't tell who it was, but anger quickly displaced lust and guilt at that lust. She welcomed the simpler emotion. She had thought that he had moved past all that, but with Damon it always seemed to be one step forward, two steps back. She glared at him. "When did you start feeding from humans again?"

•••••

Damon blinked at Elena in confusion. How the fuck did she know what he had done in D.C.? And why the hell was she waking him up to yell at him about it? He started to say something, but Becca chose that moment to bail him out. She sat up in bed, holding the sheet to her chest because she was far more modest than Damon (really who wasn't?), and looked at Elena entirely too brightly. "Good morning, Elena."

Elena's eyes grew absolutely huge, jumping back and forth between him and Becca. "Oh," was all she said, and Damon would have laughed except Elena probably would have staked him for it. Did she really not see this coming? He was pretty sure everyone else had. Elena finally closed her mouth and stumbled through some words. "I, uh, wanted to talk to you about Stefan. Before school." She backed away toward the door.

Damon sighed. "I'll be down in a few minutes." He lay back on the bed and looked at Becca, unable to stop himself from smiling at the sight of her naked in his bed. "That's not really the way I wanted to wake up this morning."

Becca was smiling back at him, and she kissed him lightly. "It is okay."

He pulled her back to him and deepened the kiss. Finally, he released her lips. "I need a shower. Care to join me?" Elena could wait, he decided.

•••••

Elena was looking more than a little annoyed when Damon finally sauntered into the kitchen. She was picking at a half-eaten plate of breakfast in front of her. "What took you so long?"

Damon shrugged and took a grape off Elena's plate, popping it into his mouth. "Sex." Elena choked on her orange juice and looked shocked, probably at his bluntness (didn't she know him at all?). He smiled and continued talking as she coughed. "You know when two people like each other. . . . I know you've heard of it since I've heard you and my brother fumbling around for more than a year now. Although Stefan probably doesn't do it right. . . "

"Shut up, Damon." And Damon decided he probably should shut up since, come to think of it, he wasn't sure he had heard any sex coming from Stefan's room since they had brought him back. After a moment Elena changed the subject, sort of. "So when did you and Becca . . ."

"This weekend." Damon poured himself a cup of coffee and debated whether to add bourbon.

"So that's why you wanted to go to the music festival alone."

Damon snorted. "Congratulations, you've cracked my code. Do you want a medal?"

Elena was giving him one of her concerned looks. "Are you sure you can trust her?"

Damon decided that he was definitely going to want that bourbon. "Oh, that's rich, coming from little miss 'we can trust Elijah.'" He knew that wasn't fair since Elijah had ultimately proven perfectly trustworthy in their second fight against Klaus, but damn it, so had Becca. Was it possible that Elena Gilbert was feeling a bit of jealousy? No, he decided, that was not possible. Not over him.

"Damon." Said in her best superior, admonishing tone of voice.

He mimicked her. "Elena." He sipped his coffee. Maybe it needed a little more bourbon. His weekend with Becca had been so relaxing, and now he was right back on edge. "Yes, I'm sure I can trust her." Damon sat down across from Elena and stole another grape. "I know you didn't wake me up to talk about my relationship with Becca."

Elena looked like she wanted to say more about it, but after a moment she just sighed. "No, it's Stefan. He just doesn't seem the same since he got back."

"Well of course he's not the same. He was with Klaus for months, Elena. That's going to tarnish even St. Stefan's halo."

Elena gave him a look that was halfway between a glare and a pout. "I don't know why I even tried to talk to you about this."

Damon rubbed the bridge of his nose. Somehow she still got to him every time. Elena was a master of the guilt trip. He had never figured out if she did it on purpose. "I'm sorry, Elena. It's just I don't know what we can do. I'm sure he just needs some time."

Now she looked hopeful. "Could you at least talk to him?"

Damon hesitated. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Stefan and I have never been very good at, well, talking." He scrunched up his nose. "Someone else would be better. Maybe Vampire Barbie? They're friends."

"Caroline? Really?" Her voice dripped with skepticism.

Damon frowned. Caroline had potential as an interrogator; she was really quite good at getting information out of people. But she was probably more likely to find out Stefan's favorite eighties song (something by Bon Jovi, undoubtedly) or his take on the latest celebrity gossip than what was wrong with him. Assuming something was wrong with him. "No, you're right. I guess I can try." It still seemed like a bad idea. It would be worse than this conversation.

Elena smiled at him. "Thank you, Damon." She got up from the table, but she turned back before she made it out of the kitchen. "And I like Becca, I do. Just, be careful."

Damon decided not to dignify that with an answer.

As he sat there drinking his coffee and finishing Elena's grapes, he idly wondered how soon Becca could be persuaded to leave on that trip around the world. But who was he kidding, really? Damon knew he wouldn't leave Mystic Falls until he was sure Stefan and Elena were okay. As much as he hated to admit it, he loved his brother and he still owed Stefan for the cure to the werewolf bite – all the more so since his undead life seemed worth living again. And he might not be in love with Elena anymore, but she had lost her entire family (in all its weird permutations) and Damon would always care about her. The irony of that line of thinking was not lost on him.

•••••

Becca found Damon still sitting at the table in the kitchen. She sniffed. "Is that coffee or bourbon that you're drinking?"

"A little of both."

"Is that your breakfast?

Damon shrugged. "Elena has that effect on me sometimes."

"Do you want some blood?" She took a blood bag from the refrigerator and held up another with a questioning look. After a moment, Damon nodded. Becca got two glasses from the cupboard and began to pour out the blood. "You and Elena have a lot of history." She tamped down a feeling of jealousy. She had seen the lust (and guilt) in Elena's eyes at the sight of Damon in bed that morning, but she reminded herself that Damon had not chased after Elena. He had stayed with her, and they had taken their time in the shower, to say the least. One thing Becca did know was that she had no intention of giving Damon up; Elena had missed her chance, and the human girl could not have him now.

"Yeah." Damon sounded subdued. "She thinks there's something wrong with Stefan, and she wants me to talk to him."

"I did not know Stefan before he was with Klaus. Is she right?" Becca put the two glasses of blood in the microwave and hit the buttons. They had such strange machines in the twenty-first century.

"She might be. But I don't think I'm the best person to talk to him."

"Why not? He is your brother, and you understand what it means to be a vampire in this world. You have been together for a long time."

Damon's laugh was a short, bitter bark. "I wouldn't say we've been together. I made it my undead life's mission to make Stefan's life hell. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to talk to me."

"He did sacrifice himself to save your life."

Damon ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, and I'm still not sure why he bothered." He fell silent as the microwave beeped, and Becca handed him one of the glasses of blood. Their fingers brushed lightly, and Damon looked at her with a wistful smile. "I'm glad he did because I met you, but I was pretty much worthless for a very long time. I can't exactly offer anyone any advice."

The shift in Damon's emotions from the previous day and earlier that morning worried Becca, and she felt a surge of anger at Elena for spoiling his mood. She wanted her sexy, confident Damon back. "You could never be worthless." She bent and kissed him. There was a core of self-doubt and pain buried deep in Damon that Becca had every intention of eradicating. "Talk to your brother. You obviously love each other."

Damon still looked doubtful, but he nodded.