Hey all - sorry for the super late post. I was pretty much all set to get this chapter out to you when I my computer ran a Windows update and then proceeded to crash out of the blue. No idea what happened but my year old computer was suddenly broken. So after a new hard drive I was able to get back on my computer only to find out that this chapter had disappeared. So here is a revised version of this chapter and actually this one might be better than I originally wrote but of course no one will ever know. LOL.

Thank you all for being so patient with me and for those who have been reading this story and reviewing. It means a bunch. I hope to hear from more of you. Hope you all like it...let me know what you think please.

O

Thirteen

Familiar but Different

I stared up at the large house in front of me and back to the paper in my hand. 59327…Yup the numbers were definitely the same.

Wow. It was definitely something. Large didn't even begin to describe it. When Alaric had informed me a week ago that he had made arrangements for me to stay with a couple of his friends that were getting their masters at Duke, I imagined that I would be stuck on the couch of some small cramped apartment, having to fight for the bathroom, not boarding in some large house that could pass for a mansion for the weekend.

This should be interesting.

After a few more minutes of looking up at the house and debating whether or not I should knock, I walked up the few stairs and rang the door bell. A few seconds later an attractive woman with shoulder length brown hair answered the door and smiled at me.

"You must be Elena." she said smiling brightly and I immediately took note of her English accent. "I'm so glad you're here. I have been absolutely buzzing at the prospect of another girl being here even if it is just for a few days. You can't imagine what it's like being around all of these men all the time. It's absolutely exhausting, I feel like such a nag all of the time telling them to clean up all the time, it's not like they're complete pigs but you'd think they'd think clean clothes would be important…" she rattled off as I stood there amused on the porch. She kind of reminded of Caroline with her quick chatter and ability to make even the most annoying thing sound positive. I could tell I was going to like her. It must have dawned on her that I was still standing on the other side of the door because she threw her hand over her mouse and then laughed. "Oh goodness look at me, I just keep yapping away and you're still standing out on the porch. I'm sorry sometimes just don't know when to stop. Please, please come in." she said all very quickly before stepping aside so I could enter.

"Uh are you Rose?" I asked hesitantly before any kind of move even though I was pretty sure I knew who she was already.

"Oh did I not introduce myself? Oh goodness I'm so sorry, yes I'm Rose." She said. "Please don't mind me; I'm usually not this bad I swear, I'm just excited to meet you."

"Don't worry about it. I have a friend back home that you remind me of so I guess I'm used to it and uh its nice to meet you." I said before stepping inside. I looked around and It was definitely even more beautiful on the inside and I was definitely right about it being big. Yup definitely big. "Uh thank you so much for letting me stay here."

"Oh please it's no problem. You're practically family after all. Da…I mean Alaric talks about you, and Jenna and Jeremy so much I feel like I already know you." She says before motioning for me to follow her through a long hallway where we pass what appears to be the living room, dining room and large staircase, "So you're thinking about Duke huh?"

"Uh yeah I guess."

"Let me guess lots of options and you just can't decide." She said smiling, "You look like a smart girl, I bet there are loads of places that want you."

"Uh thanks, but it's uh more like the idea of college hasn't been that appealing lately." I answer feeling uncomfortable. "Ric set this up and I sort of felt obligated to go since he's been so concerned. So here I am, I figured I could at least say gave it a try."

"Well let's just see if we can't change your mind." She said smiling warmly. We entered the kitchen and just beyond it through a set of French doors I saw two men engaged in a lively conversation.

"Hey boys, our guest has arrived." Rose said and both men looked up, one was tall with sandy slightly longer hair and the other was shorter with light brown hair. "Boys this is Ric's soon to be niece Elena. Elena these are my flat mates Trevor and Slater."

They both greeted me warmly and smiled. The taller one stepped forward and grabbed my hand and kissed it. "Ah so you're Elena, it's wonderful to meet you, I'm Trevor. I must say you're even more beautiful than Da…uh I mean he described." He said and I looked at him curiously and pulled my hand back.

His smile disappeared and he frowned and as his gaze left my face and landed somewhere behind me. I turned and Rose was sending Trevor what could only be described as a death glare before a smiled suddenly appeared on her face when she noticed me looking at her.

"Uh who do you mean?" I asked unsure of what was going on between the two.

"Oh a uh…uh Ric of course." Rose said quickly with an uneasy smile on her face, "Ric said you were beautiful like your Aunt Jenna, but that just seems weird of him to say something like since he's going to be your uncle soon and all which reminds me I can't wait to meet Jenna. I so busy at the hospital all the time I would absolutely can't believe the old boy is getting married. If I wasn't come down. Maybe the wedding" She said quickly, so quickly I knew she was trying to change the subject on me.

Hmmm something was going on here.

"So uh what were you guys talking about when we came in, you seemed to be in a passionate discussion." I commented changing the topic myself while I tried to process the exchange between Trevor and Rose but I really couldn't because Slater started to ramble on about something that I just couldn't understand but had me completely fascinated. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't understand anything that he was saying but his passion about the subject and the way he talked about it had be absolutely mesmerized.

"Alright Slater I think that's enough…you're boring the poor girl." Trevor said chuckling and Slater looked at me expectantly.

"Oh no I'm not…uh I just didn't uh quite understand what you were talking about." I said sheepishly feeling myself grow hot. I wasn't used to this kind of talk. Is this what college is like because if it is it's definitely going to be different.

"Don't worry about it Elena, none of us understands anything that comes out of this bloke's mouth." Trevor says slapping Slater on the back.

I watched the three of them interact, teasing eachother, talking, laughing. There was something familiar but different about them but I just couldn't put my finger on it but it felt like I had seen it before. We sat there talking, I answered direct questions when asked but mostly I listened to them. After awhile I felt myself growing tired and yawned.

"Oh Elena I'm sorry you must be tired, why don't I give you a quick tour and show you where your room is at?" Rose thankfully said and she led me out through the main hallway to where the staircase was. "Sorry, once you get those boys going it's hard to get them to stop." She said once we were upstairs.

"No it was fine. Fascinating but I felt like it was just going all over my head. You guys are all so smart and you've done so much, studied so much and here I am not even sure if I want to go to college. I don't know it was just…well a lot." I said feeling really stupid and insecure.

"Don't worry you'll figure out what you want to do and as for the rest of," she said before opening a bedroom door and ushering me inside, "well Trevor is serious about nothing but likes to pretend that he is, Slater sees the world as though there is something new to be discovered everyday so he that sort of explains why he is the way he is and well me….well I'm stuck in a lab all day trying to make some kind of difference but sometimes I just wish it was possible to settle down, get married and have some babies," she said with a wishful look in her eyes, "But this is the 21st century and careers and accomplishment come first unfortunately."

She stopped at door and opened it and ushered me inside, "And this is your room."

"Wow." I said looking around. There was a large four poster bed, a dresser, television, two gigantic windows with beautiful views of the campus.

"I thought you'd like this one. It has a great view of the campus and an in suite bathroom." She explained motioning to a door on the other side of the room.

"I love it. I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here this is definitely more than I thought it would be. A few of my friends have had college visits and they said they've had to sleep on the floor of a cramped dorm room or someone's couch. I just can't believe I get my own room to sleep in, let alone a bed."

She laughed and smiled. "Well we're definitely happy to have you. It's not very often we get guests." She said starting to walk out of the room before stopping. "I don't know if Alaric mentioned it but we recently acquired another roommate, an old friend of ours. I hope you don't mind another male around. Like I said before I'm just happy to not be the only girl here for a change. There's far too much testosterone in this house."

"Yeah I bet."

"Look make yourself comfortable and we'll go grab some dinner and then I'll show you what a Friday night at college is like." She said winking and I nodded my head and she closed the door behind her.

I looked around me. It really was a beautiful room. I turned to look out the window and I gazed out at the Duke campus and took a deep breath. I couldn't shake this feeling in the pit of my stomach that things were about the change.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew there was knock on my door and as I opened my eyes I was slightly taken off guard by my surroundings. There was another knock at the door and as my eyes fell on the window I realized where I was. "Elena."

"Oh uh come in." I yelled as I sat up.

"Elena." Rose said peeking her head through the door. "Oh I'm sorry I disturbed you. Were you taking a nap?"

"Yeah I think so. I sat down and just kind of fell asleep. I guess this bed is even more comfortable than it looks." I said running my fingers through my hair trying to push away the cobwebs in my head from my nap.

"Oh well look I'm so sorry Elena but I won't be able to take you out tonight like I promised you this afternoon. The hospital called and they're short staffed and they really need me to come in unfortunately but not to fear, our other roommate is on the way home and he said he would be more than happy to show you around. Oh and also Trevor and Slater had to leave so it's just going to be you and our other roommate. I hope that's alright but I don't want you to miss anything and the other boys are busy and oh I really need to go." She said quickly looking at her watch before running out and calling out. "I'll see you later."

After a moment of processing everything Rose had quickly said I realized she had never told me the name of their other roommate. I quickly jumped out of the bed and yelled after her, "Oh wait Rose you never told me your other roommate's na…" I said pulling open the door but the house was quiet, she was gone. Crap.

A half hour later I was in my room looking through my suitcase for something appropriate to wear for a night out when I heard the front door open and close.

"Hey Rosie I got your text, what do you mean you want me to show some kid around campus." I heard what sounded like a familiar voice yell from downstairs as he walked through the house.

No it couldn't be, could it?

I stood up and walked out of my room and started walking down the steps when he started yelling again.

"Rose are you home? You have some explaining to do. You know I don't babysit."

Oh my God!

"Roooose." He singsonged.

He was walking towards the stairs now.

"Rose this isn't fun…" he stopped mid-sentence as he looked up and found me looking curiously right back at him, surprise clearly written all over his face and in his familiar blue eyes.

"Elena."

"Hello Damon."

"Wha…what are you doing here?" he asked as his blue eyes bore into mine.

"Oh uh Ric arranged for me to stay here while I took a look at Duke uh for college" I explained.

"Ric arranged for you to stay here?" he asked looking angry, "In this house?"

"Yeah."

"Is he absolutely out of his mind?" he said pulling his phone out of pocket and dialing a number before putting it up to his ear in one swift motion. "I'm going to kill him," he muttered.

"What's going on? Who are you calling?" I asked walking down but he put his finger up.

"Ric what the hell were you thinking letting her stay here in a house full of vampires." He hissed and suddenly it all made sense why Rose, Trevor and Slater's actions all felt so familiar earlier. They moved just like Damon, Stefan and Lexie.

"Are you insane?" he said again after a moment. "You're supposed to protect her not put her in the line of fire….a full of vampires Ric….do you remember what happened when she was alone with Stefan….I don't care putting her in a house full of vampires is just stupid…. I'm putting her on the next bus back to Mystic Falls, no better yet I'll drive her back myself."

No he couldn't do that. I walked up to him quickly and grabbed the phone from him quickly and he looked surprised. "Ric it's Elena, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying here as planned and I'll be back Sunday evening as planned." I said to Ric looking right into Damon's angry blue eyes before ending the call.

"Are you as insane as he is? You are not staying here." He said adamantly glaring at me.

"Yes I am." I say just as adamantly. In actuality I feel like stomping my foot in protest but I thankfully refrain.

"Elena I did not leave you only to have Alaric stupidly put you back in danger by letting you be the only human in a house full of vampires." He says walking past me and marching upstairs.

I silently follow him letting his words run through my mind. I find him in my room throwing my things back in my suitcase. "I thought you were in Italy."

He stops what he is doing and bows his head before looking up at me. "I was."

"And obviously now you're not. When did you get back, actually let me correct that - not back because you're here at Duke not Mystic Falls." I say feeling myself getting angry now. "You left without a word, just some cryptic note on my pillow, you've been corresponding with my brother the whole time, you won't answer my calls or emails, you just disappear. I thought you were in Italy helping Stefan but in reality you were just here at Duke hanging out with what, sorority girls, getting your kicks."

"It's not like that Elena." He says sitting on the bed.

"No? So then tell me Damon what is it like?" I ask crossing my arms and leaning against the doorframe. "You left Mystic Falls to protect me from big scary vampire Damon."

He suddenly came over to me and grabbed me and pushed me against the wall before I even realized what was happening.

He leaned in close to me and I could feel his breath on my face. "I am a vampire Elena. I kill people and whether you want to think so or not, leaving you alone in Mystic Falls was good for you." He said looking at me. I looked into his eyes and suddenly my anger was pushed away. Damon was right in front of me and I had missed him.

"You left and you broke..." I started to stay softly but didn't finish and his face changed and he let me go and walked to the other side of the room. "How long have you been here?"

"A couple of weeks." He sighed.

"Why here?"

"I've known Rose and Trevor through my travels. It just felt like a good place to be at."

"It's not too far from Mystic Falls as well." I noted hopefully and he nodded his head in agreement. "So what have you been doing here? I mean Trevor, Rose and Slater are all doing something so I just figured…"

"I'm uh taking some classes…nothing too serious just seeing what I like. It's funny I've spent quite a bit of time at college campuses because well…you know, but have never taken a class before. It's all rather stupid really." He says shrugging.

"No I'm sure it's not." I say and we look at eachother but neither of us make a move or say anything for a minute.

"Look all of this aside, you really can't stay here." He says looking at me seriously.

"I'm staying Damon."

"God Elena why are you so stubborn all of the time!" he yells out putting his hands up. "You're in a house full of vampires. Do you not see how dangerous this is? You're like a walking shish kabob for everyone in this house."

"Are you telling me that Rose, Trevor, and Slater would hurt me?" I say and I see a brief flash of hesitation on his face. "That's what I thought. You and I both know that Alaric would never put me in a house full of vampires if he didn't know it was safe."

"That's beside the point Elena." He said.

"No that is the point Damon."

"You know what it doesn't matter because you're not staying here. No arguments." He states before zipping up my suitcase and picking it up and walking towards the door.

I closed the door quickly and stand in front of it defiantly. "Are you seriously trying to stop me from making you leave? You know all I have to do is pick you and throw you over my shoulder without any effort at all."

"Yes but you won't do it because you know how angry I will be at you plus you know I'm right. Staying here does not put me in any danger at all. We both know this place is probably the safest place on the whole campus, plus we both know you wouldn't let anything happen to me." I say leaning forward.

"My God you are beyond frustrating." He growls. I don't move and neither does he. We stand there staring at eachother until he growls again in frustration before putting my suitcase down. "One night that's it!"

"Nope, I'm here 'til Sunday as planned." I say and put my finger on his lips stopping him from saying whatever it is he is going to say in rebuttal. "Look Damon whether you like it or not I'm here and I'm not going anywhere until Sunday so you'll just have to deal with it. Now I believe Rose promised me that her roommate, you, would be taking me out to dinner which I'm hoping is true because as you vampires may have forgotten humans needs to eat every few hours and this human is awfully hungry."

I saw the frustration written all over his face as I removed my finger from his lips. "Fine grab you jacket and I'll take you out to eat." He said before walking past me muttering something under his breath. I smiled to myself. It felt like I had just won a small victory.