A/N: I just want to thank each and every one of you for your support. It really inspires me to write more.

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Mistaken Observations: Killing Me By Keeping Me Alive

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"You're cute when you sleep."

Elena scrunched up her nose and stretched languidly. The last thing she had remembered from last night was falling asleep in an awkward position on a couch. But, right now, there was a warm breath in her ear.

Turning on her side slightly, she bumped into a rock-hard, and very good smelling object. That confused her.

What was going on? The couch didn't feel like this last night…

Scared at what she would find, Elena slowly opened one of her groggy eyes, wincing when the sunlight hit them with a painful force.

She wasn't very surprised to find that Damon was smiling down at her.

"Ugh," she pushed on Damon's bare chest and frowned as she detangled her legs from his. "What the hell are you doing?"

He laughed before answering. "Me? I wasn't doing anything. You were the one who decided to sleep in my room, all innocent like." Damon absently pushed his hands behind his head, smirked at her, and inattentively closed his eyes.

Elena sat up with the most effort she could muster and crossed her legs. Looking down, she inwardly groaned. Of course she just had to be wearing panties. Was she mentally challenged or something? This whole time she had been trying to keep from tempting Damon to the point where he snapped.

Was this her way of not tempting?

"I was sleeping on your couch," she looked around, "How did I get in your bed?"

Damon raised his eyebrows like he was trying to humor her. "Magic."

Fighting a smile was almost painful at this point. She ducked her head and rubbed along her brow, hoping that he didn't catch her snicker.

This situation, in Damon's case, was a lot more awkward than he let on. When he had woken up early that morning, he had to do a double take when he saw Elena sprawled on his couch. She looked uncomfortable. Uncomfortable and troubled, but still delicious enough to eat. And he just figured that she would look a lot more delicious if she was in his bed…with him next to her.

So, that was exactly what he did. He just strode over to her, swooped her up, and then stopped again when he came to realize that she was practically naked against him.

He had to take a couple of deep breaths after that, just so he wasn't in danger of dropping her- this predicament was hard enough on him- and he figured it wouldn't be a good morning if he came to find out that she now had chronic brain damage from her pesky fall.

And it was that damn pink underwear that he had caught her in late one night last week. He didn't really mean to spy, he swore, but if anyone else was to hear something in the kitchen at 2:00 in the morning, then he would've bet anything that that person would have taken a look to see if it was a burglar, too.

As it turns out, Elena was just getting a glass of water. He quickly and quietly slipped away, unnoticed, and headed back up to his bedroom. Even as he tried to go to sleep, he still saw those long, tan, and healthy legs in his very provocative dreams.

Sure, it was nothing he couldn't have seen if she was wearing a bathing suit, but just knowing that the garment was panties and not bathing suit bottoms was just a little too much for him to take in.

And the fact that she was now lying in bed with him, wearing said undergarments, took a big hit on his libido.

What was she trying to do, anyway? Wait until he imploded?

Vampires only had so much self-control until they just did what they wanted. And right now he, or at least certain parts of him, just wanted to say, 'to hell with it,' and ravage her like he had so badly wanted to from the beginning.

"Do you want to tell me exactly why I found you in my room this morning?" He opened his eyes this time, but wisely kept them on her face.

She had really done a good amount of tossing and turning that morning, and it left zero to his imagination.

Elena un-buried her face from her hunched up knees and looked at him with uncertainty. "Do you want to tell me why I insist on sleeping in Stefan's bed every night?"

He slowly shook his head. "You said it makes you feel closer to him, like he never even left.

"Nope," she scoffed, "It makes me feel like a load of crap, though."

She couldn't see it from her viewing, but he sighed. He would have immensely enjoyed if just one of their conversations didn't revolve around Stefan.

"Infect, I got a little freaked out."

The way she said it made Damon want to grin. They could talk about Stefan all she wanted if it was going to be this kind of discussion. Elena frequently talked about Stefan, but never in this manner. He had to admit that it was nice to have a change.

He nudged her with his shoulder. "Stefan usually has than effect on women."

For a brief minute there was almost a smile on her face, but it quickly clouded over. It was almost like she couldn't believe she was finding humor in something so harsh. It ruined her mood.

In quick, hurried movements, she ripped the rest of the sheets off of her and scooted her way off the bed. There was really no point in caring if Damon watched her ass on the way out. From what she could comprehend, he had already gotten an eye-full anyway.

Feeling oddly offended, Elena just made her way out, slamming the door behind her and leaving Damon to carefully ponder why he always had to open his big mouth.

It seemed like they both lived a repetitive life with each other. They would warm up to one another, one of them would get pissed off or Elena would start to feel like she was betraying Stefan- even though Stefan was the one betraying her- by talking to Damon, and then one of them would just leave the tension at that.

Damon also wondered if they would even get passed that.

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Caroline looked across the table, set her coffee down, and tapped her manicured nails against the glass.

She was beginning to make Elena anxious. When she had left Damon in her hurried escape that morning, she had thought it would be a good idea to have some one-on-one girl time with Caroline. Now, she was suddenly realizing that maybe Caroline didn't just want to chat. No, what Caroline really wanted was some answers. All Elena had to worry about was having the right responses.

"You've been avoiding Bonnie and I like we have some disease you don't want to catch."

Elena's fingers twitched against her fork. The pasta in front of her suddenly didn't look all too appetizing.

It wasn't so much that she had been avoiding them. Caroline and Bonnie knew that she loved each of them equally, and for Caroline to outright accuse her of something she didn't really have any control over was a touch bit cruel.

"I've just been busy, Care," she tried her attempt at a small smile. "You know that."

"Yeah, busy with Damon."

Elena tried not to let her shock get the best of her. Usually, Caroline was the most understanding- if not a bit flighty- one of the bunch. Vampirism had changed her for the better. She was supposed to be supporting Elena in her time of need.

She set her fork on her plate delicately and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "What exactly are you implying, Caroline?"

In front of her, Caroline simply shrugged her pink-cardigan clad shoulders and tugged at the ends of her blonde hair. "You just have been spending a lot of time with him, that's all. People will start to talk, Elena."

"About what?" Elena asked, "Because there is honestly nothing to talk about. Do people know that Stefan is even gone?"

Caroline kept her blue eyes down, looking at her feet. "All people think is that Stefan broke up with you, left town, and now Damon is left picking up the pieces. And that somewhere along the way you started to fall for him."

That was pretty damn close if she said so herself. It was one of the disadvantages of living in such a small town. Everyone knew everyone and news travelled like wildfires.

Elena shook her head, staring into the sun with a frustrated expression gracing her features. When she regained her composure, she looked back over at Caroline. "People don't know anything, Care. You out of anybody I know should understand that."

Caroline nodded, looking like a naughty child who has just been scolded. She carefully smoothed her left hand over her skirt. "I know that, I honestly do. It's just that you never seem to have time for me anymore, and when I come to find out that you and Damon are, like, BFF's or something, it really makes me feel like some second-choice…bimbo."

Elena couldn't help but smile as Caroline's usual bubbly, teenage linguistic made its way through her tough vampire façade. It was reassuring to know that the old Caroline, the one she grew up with, was still deep in her heart.

"Damon of all people would never be able to replace you, Caroline. Can you just imagine him in red high heels and a matching skirt?"

Caroline pouted, but seemed to find the humor in it after a couple of seconds. Elena hoped that all was forgiven.

While Caroline was preoccupied with grinning and laughing in glee, Elena decided that it was her time to explain herself.

"Damon is always going to be there, Caroline. But that's all he's going to do. He'll be someone for me to lean on when I need to. He's helping me get through to Stefan right now, and that is what is most important. Putting my mixed-up feelings aside, I really do trust him. Damon is just going to be Damon. There is nothing I can really do about that."

To her dismay, Caroline didn't let the part about her feelings for Damon slide.

"What do you mean mixed-up feelings? You don't have a crush on him or something, do you?"

A light breeze seemed to pick up and Elena distractingly pulled her hair back in a messy pony-tail with a little more force than necessary. Didn't Caroline catch anything she just said?

Annoyance seeped into her voice. "No, Care."

"Sorry," she put up two hands, "It's just that this little jam you're in sounds a lot like how Tyler and I were before we got together."

This caught Elena's attention. "Care to elaborate?"

Caroline smiled, seemingly happy to be going into story-telling mode. "Well, when Matt and I were together, Tyler was still just this conceited, bad-ass douche, who everyone liked just because they had to. And if you think about it really hard, that is just like Damon…Or that was how he used to be, anyway."

Nodding, Elena motioned for her to continue.

"And Matt is kind of like Stefan. Sure, he isn't this tortured and brooding vampire, but he is the type of boy who always wants to do the right thing and feels bad when bad things happen to other people. Are you following me?"

"Yup."

"Good," she smiles, "Now, as time goes on, I start to find out that Tyler is making some changes. I now know that he is a werewolf, and that we sort of complete each other in a weird way. We both thought that we were monsters, but by bonding and talking over our problems, we found out that we could be perfect friends."

Internally, Elena sighed. She knew exactly where this was going.

"And this is just like you and Damon. You start to see little glimpses of good in him, not to mention that he has saved you so many times that even I have lost track, and you find out that you guys do have some things in common besides your love to fight with each other."

"We do not have that many things in common, Care."

"No?" Caroline raised a pale blonde eyebrow, "You both are headstrong, both know what you want, won't take no for an answer, fall in love almost too easily, and when you do fall in love it is for a very long time, you both can be funny when you want to, you have both recently lost someone close to you, and you both can be sensitive, even if Damon doesn't seem like it at most times." Caroline smirks. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but that seems like a lot of things to me."

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. "Just get back to your story before I walk away."

"As I was saying, Matt started to back away and become more distant. This is where Tyler and I were spending more and more time with one another, getting to know each other and seeing what made the other tick. And then one night…he just kissed me. It's time to face the facts, Elena. Stefan is now gone, and you and Damon are seeing each other every day, noticing what makes you both mad, and noticing what makes you both happy. And a little birdy told me that you guys have already kissed…"

Elena almost couldn't believe her ears. "What? Who told you that?"

Caroline fidgeted in her chair, picking up a useless breadstick and munching on it. "Another thing you and Damon seem to have in common is that you both occasionally have a big mouth. Damon told me weeks ago. I would have confronted you earlier about it, but you were always so busy and stressed that I never wanted to bother you."

Elena really didn't even have the anger to be upset about the fact that Damon talked to Caroline about their kiss before he talked to Elena herself.

Caroline gave her a sympathetic look. "At first I was really confused about the kiss, just like I am sure you are right now about yours with Damon, and I almost questioned who I wanted. By when I stayed with Matt all I could ever think about was that damn kiss and how I had rejected Tyler. It really did kill me to not know who I wanted. It eventually just came down to who understood and respected me more. I guess the real question I should be asking you is if you really know who you want to be with."

"You sound like you actually want me to pick Damon."

Caroline lifted her shoulders. "I just want what makes you happy. If Damon is that person, then you should go for it. Consequences be damned. Just live in the moment and see where that gets you."

Wondering if Caroline even knew how crazy she sounded, Elena pursed her lips and fingered the edge of her water glass. "Do you even know how weird that would be? Damon and I holding hands and not having anything negative to say towards each other?"

"To be perfectly honest? No, I couldn't imagine that. But I also couldn't imagine myself going for a good guy like Matt or a werewolf- a vampire's natural born enemy- like Tyler. Everything just happens for a reason, Elena."

She groaned. Caroline was starting to make sense. "But what about Stefan? What kind of person would I be if he needed me most, and I just went for his older brother? God, I sound like a slut just by talking about it."

Caroline shook her head, her curls bouncing in the wind. "I really think you're going about this all wrong. Just because you have an extremely delicate conscience and are generally a good person who does not like hurting other people, does not take away from the fact that you are human. Your body and your mind aren't always going to agree with each other. Trust me," she smiled sadly, "I am just further proof of that. I don't like the idea of drinking blood to survive, but my body needs it whether I like it or not."

"Did you practice making these speeches this morning?" Elena suddenly felt like she was witnessing her own intervention.

Obviously happy with the almost-compliment, Caroline beamed, flashing her perfectly white teeth with lip-glossed lips that stretched over them. "Nope, I am just naturally this good at helping my friend with boy…well, I guess this should be considered 'man' problems, shouldn't it?"

"What was Damon like when he was…you know, pretending to date you?" Elena asked suddenly.

Caroline smirked, pretending to check her nails. "A dick. But, of course, I was no match for those blue eyes and perfect-" She stopped suddenly, catching herself from saying what she was unconsciously about to tell. She waved a hand. "Even if didn't compel me, I still think I would have stayed. I was just that emotionally damaged."

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Was he really that good in bed?"

Caroline looked at her directly, all traces of amusement gone from her pretty face. "Is the sky blue?"

Elena snickered. Sometimes Caroline was just too much.

"Seriously, I'm not joking. I never knew what great uses could be pulled out of living for so long, but now I know. It all just ties together with sex. Well, that and never growing old. That will be pretty cool. I used to think that someone as cruel as Damon didn't deserve to stay forever beautiful, but after finding out the story behind it, I didn't really feel that way anymore. I guess he kind of earned it."

"I wasn't aware you could earn the rights to be eternally attractive."

"Oh, you can. It's in the vampire guidebook. You should read it sometime." Caroline winked at her. The mischief in her eyes showed Elena just what she meant by 'reading' the guidebook.

They had been through this before, her, Caroline, and Bonnie. They had all agreed that they would do anything in their power to keep Elena safe from the dangers of becoming a vampire. She wanted to stay the only normal human girl in the party of three.

She was quickly finding out that there were a lot of things that she wanted that she ultimately couldn't have.

Elena grimaced and slowly watched as Caroline's smiled faded away.

"I was just kidding, 'Lena. You know that I want you to stay human. Everyone does, even Damon."

The sound of an annoyed tapping foot on concrete suddenly filled the air from Elena's sandal. "And when exactly did you and Damon have these heartfelt conversations?"

A very un-lady like snort came from the back of Caroline's throat. "Please, it was anything but heartfelt. He was drunk and I ended up kicking him out at the end."

"Why?" Elena asked

"Have you met Damon? He can sometimes get on people's nerves. In plus, all he could talk about what how much he loved you." Caroline froze in her chair the same time Elena froze in hers.

"Sorry," Caroline whispered, "Sometimes when I open my mouth, I don't know when to shut it again."

Holding up a hand, Elena stopped her. "It's fine, Care. Damon has already told me multiple times how much he…cares for me." It was had finding a word to substitute for 'love,' but somehow Elena managed it.

"Cares for you?" Caroline scoffed. "What are me, twelve?"

Elena gave her a disapproving look from the corner of her eyes, and turned back towards her pasta. The food at least looked edible, now. "You're not helping."

"Sorry, I'll just be quiet now." Caroline pretended to lock her lips and throw away the keys. Elena just rolled her eyes at her friend.

They sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. The breeze was light and airy, and cooled them off when they were in danger of getting too hot in the mid-summer weather. People walked by, not even noticing the topic of Elena of Caroline's distressing conversation. They all just lived their perfect little lives, complete with the white picket fence, and lovely family to go home to at night. They had no Original vampires to be worried about, or crazy vampire boyfriends who made it their duty to rip anything apart within range. And they most definitely did not have unstable vampire brothers confessing their undying love for them.

Elena stopped. She was in danger of sounding bitter. She was in danger of sounding like Damon. Maybe he was having more of an effect on her than she would have liked to admit.

Across from her, Caroline was fidgeting anxiously, picking up her spoon, setting it down, and then repeating the motion all over again.

Elena sighed. "Alright, spit it out. What do you want to tell me?"

Caroline grinned. "How did you know I wanted to say something?"

"Because you always have something to say," Elena stuck her tongue at Caroline when she rolled her eyes. "That and you look like your about to have a conniption over there."

Breathing out a huffed breath, Caroline continued. "Well, this might seem a bit personal, but…"

"But?" Elena urged.

"But, didn't it kind of, I don't know, touch you when Damon said he loved you? Did you even feel anything at all?"

Did she feel anything at all? She felt shocked, of course, but she really shouldn't have been surprised. Damon had been giving little signs here and there.

For instance, the time he told her that he would always pick her and no one else was a good indicator. Elena had just been too blind to see that their flirty banter could've meant something more to him. She really had been doing nothing but leading him on this whole time.

"I-" Elena had to stop, trying to find the right words for this type of conversation. "I don't…know." She finished lamely. "I never really thought about any of it. I guess I was just too busy with Stefan and everything going around me that I never even noticed."

Caroline raised an eyebrow, a small, delicate smile on her lips. "Don't you think it's time to start noticing?"

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When Elena drove home that night, Caroline's words haunted her every thought. What did she mean 'don't you think it's time to start noticing?' Whose side was she on, anyway? First, she hated Damon, and now she was suddenly all for her and Elena facing their feelings towards each other? What did she even mean by that?

It was probably just Caroline's usual 'call it as I see it' attitude. If she saw something she didn't like, or saw something that she did, then she was bound to tell the whole human race her opinion in it.

So, in all honesty, Elena couldn't really blame her for any of it. But the one thing she could blame Caroline for was being right.

Elena shut her car off with idle fingers, looking at the glowing lights admitting from inside the boarding house. Opening up the door, she was faced with a cool summer breeze and the chilling melody of little frogs in the pond near the woods.

This is it, Elena thought. This is going to happen. I have to do Caroline good and prove that I can be a confident, mature, and slightly deranged girl.

Her legs felt like jelly as she walked up the stairs, opening the door like she owned the place. Well, she did own the place, so Damon really couldn't complain anymore about that.

Before walking in, Elena briefly looked back at her car. When she walked through this door there was no going back. This was her time to bail out and push it to another day. This was her time to convince herself that Damon didn't need to know anything.

To her surprise, Elena still found herself walking through the threshold.

Now, she was screwed.

"You can come in, you know. It's not like I'll bite or something."

Elena heard Damon's voice from around the corner. He sounded distressed…and like he had just drunken his whole liquor supply in record time.

Taking a deep breath, she walked forward. When she made her way into the living room, she saw that the fire was blazing in its pit. It gave off a warm glow to the room and she was immediately comforted by the sensation.

Damon was casually lounging on one of his leather couches; a bottle of Bourbon nestled between his legs, his head in his hands.

Elena stood her ground, trying to look as intimidating as she could with the lighting in the room.

"Damon, we need to talk."

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A/H: Can't wait for this week's Vampire Diaries! I hope Damon saves the day (again) and Elena finally realizes that he is the right one for her.

Leave reviews! Sorry if this chapter sucks. Sometimes it is really hard for my ADD brain to actually sit down and find ideas for chapters.