Unusual Kindness

Blood. It was covering everything he saw, gushing from her head. It was the first time he didn't even feel the hunger come from being so close to human blood. It was staining his bed sheets, but he didn't even notice. It coated her face, drying slowly.

He didn't know what to do, couldn't even think. But time was dwindling. His mind was whirling with thoughts of Katherine's proposition and taunts, thinking about what she said. He shook his head to clear it, looking down on Elena. Nobody he knew would ever forgive him if he let her die, which is what she was doing - dying. Thoughts of Elena, stone cold and pale, lying in a coffin, protruded through his mind.

That's what woke him from his daze. Damon pushed a strand of her hair away from her blood-drenched face. The ER wouldn't help her in time, so calling 911 was out. It was a head injury, so that's why there was so much blood. Though it still meant that she would die, Katherine's strength made sure of that. He forgot how completely fragile humans could be.

There was only one option, really, even though there was a risk of her becoming a vampire.

He pricked his wrist with his teeth, letting his blood stream out, and placed it in her mouth, forcing her to drink.

She gagged at first, unwilling. Then something shifted in her, and she started to gulp up the running liquid hungrily. He felt the tugging through his veins, the uncomfortable sense of the blood being taken from him. Thinking she had an adequate amount in her system now, he gently pulled her away from his wrist, breathing a sigh of relief as his wound healed up. He looked up to her, watching closely as the gash in her head healed also, sighing again in relief. The blood was still there though, soaking through everything he could see.

Standing up slowly, he gingerly picked Elena up and into the bathroom. After closing the door, he laid her on the shower floor and started the stream of water. Lovely; how was he supposed to clean her off without taking off her clothes? Not that he minded, just that Elena would freak if she realized this afterward. He supposed that starting with cleaning her clothes first would be innocent enough. After starting this though, he realized this proved difficult also - her clothes were sticking to her skin. This was not only tempting him to do less honorable things, but was also making it hard to clean the blood off. He sighed to himself and shrugged. Well, he was just going to have to take them off.

Stripping off her clothes, he tried to look at this in a medical perspective. This was obviously necessary to...what? It's not like she couldn't get a shower in the morning or anything. So why did he have to do this, when Elena would clearly disapprove? Well, Stefan would freak if he saw her covered in blood, that was for sure. So this was necessary to keep Stefan from worrying more than usual, of course. No other reason. Not at all.

Once Elena was completely bare, he stepped into the large shower with her and started scrubbing soap over her stomach. That's when things got awkward. Elena seemed to find that that was the time to become conscious once again, her eyes opening quickly once she felt the water dripping off her bare body and Damon holding her. She stared at him, wide-eyed, and all he could give was an impish grin. She jumped out of his arms with a yelp then seemed to realize she was covered in her own blood. Damon was hoping this would make her pass out again, seeing her blood coat her entire body, but she merely sat back down in a daze. Damon moved toward her, about to push back a strand of hair that came loose, but she stopped him before he could. She crossed her arms in front of chest, trying to cover herself, and took a deep breath. Damon braced himself for the lecture.

"Damon...why am I naked and covered in blood in a shower with you? And please give a reasonable answer.", she insisted.

"Well... you see, Katherine hurt you so badly, and I couldn't stand the thought of you waking up in your own blood and panicking. Also, I'm sure you know Stefan would be better off not knowing about this little incident." He tried to be as much charm as possible, but Elena wasn't caving.

"Uh-huh. So, you made this decision to make sure Stefan and I wouldn't panic. Though finding out I was in the shower with you naked would be perfectly fine with me?" Damon opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off. "-And don't say I wouldn't mind."

"But it didn't seemed like you minded much after our brief encounter before..."

"That was before."

"What's different now?"

"Katherine"

He huffed in frustration. "What about Katherine?"

"I know you can't resist her, even though she treats you like a plaything."

He stopped the stream of water and looked her in the eye. She turned her head, embarrassed by the intensity of his gaze, but he didn't relent. "I love you and ever since I realized it, I don't even think of Katherine anymore other than how she's a crazy slut that messes with people and hurts them without thinking. You're the only one I care about, Elena. You make me feel almost human."

Though the shower stopped, water still dripped off her eyelashes - or was that tears? Either way, there was a look of sadness and almost hope in her expression. He wished he could read her mind just then.

"I... I think I love you too, though I know it's not right. But, I... I feel so much passion around you, like I'll explode. And every time you look at me there's a connection." She sighed, " This sounds so cliche, but I hate to admit it's true." He chuckled, and she playfully swatted him in the arm. "Oh, don't make fun of me!"

Damon shook his head, "I'm not. I'm just happy that you've finally admitted it."

She took another deep breath and looked him in the eye. " This doesn't mean that I approve of getting a shower with you - so get out."

He smiled and consented, going back to his bedroom and, tired, ignored the bloody mess and face-planted onto his bed.

Lila slumped onto a barstool at the Grill, wiped from using so much magic all night. All her thoughts were circulating around how she should have eliminated the witch girl and the Stefan boy while they were distracted, but couldn't because she was only thinking of Nathan. Ugh, that was all she could think about since that night with him. Hell, he was all she could think about since she met him. God, she didn't need some crazy-ass vamp to mess her life up anymore.

Three beers (and a helluva lot of fantasies about killing Nathan) later, a man with bright red hair and blue eyes sat next to her. He called down the bartender.

"Excuse me, do you happen to know if a man name Nathan Brown is in Mystic Falls?" He asked the bartender, who shook his head, and shocked Lila.

The man sighed and was about to leave. "Wait!" She said. She didn't know if she should give away Nathan location, but then remembered she hated him and thought any way to make him miserable would be pleasant for her.

"Um, I know who he is. He's... uh, probably at the local Marriot five miles down the main road." She said uncertainly because of his intense stare.

He nodded in thanks then cocked his head to the side. "Wait, how do you know him if the bartender didn't?"

"Well, he doesn't come to the bar a lot."

He started chuckling, "Ah, it seems you don't know him well."

She stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"He's a complete alcoholic and love-struck mess."

She shook her head. "The Mr. Brown- I mean Nathan, that I know is completely professional. Well, not completely. I think he's a bit insane, but only mildly."

Now he shook his head, "He must have really put himself together then, because the last time I saw him was...well, it was disgusting."

"Huh," was all she could say.

As he was about to walk off, murmuring a "thanks", she muttered under her breath, "He's 'disgusting', but still too good for me."

The man stopped in his place. "Oh, you have no idea how much better you are than him."

She looked up, wondering how he heard her then realizing a moment later. "You're a vamp, aren't you?"

He held out his hand. "I'm Mason. Pleasure to meet you...?"

"Lila." She took his hand, and felt a smile spreading because of her new plan. "Lila Cavanaugh."

Stefan woke to the sound of the bathroom door being shut. His eyes flew open as his vampire instincts kicked in. He looked around the unfamiliar room in confusion before remembering last night. Bonnie. He remembered everything: kissing her in front of the police station, following her to her house, and sleeping here overnight. They didn't have sex, but got dangerously close to.

He couldn't stand the thought of all that he did recently. He hurt Elena by sleeping with Katherine accidentally and just spent the night with Elena's best friend, even though he did, surprisingly, care about Bonnie.

This was too much. He ran home, leaving Bonnie in the shower, oblivious. When he arrived, a strange smell permeated the air. He sped up the stairs and passed the guest room. Elena lay there, snuggled in the heavy sheets, looking so peaceful. He smiled to himself then was about to go to his room before he remembered the weird smell. He passed his room, the bathroom, and another guest room with no trouble. Yet when he proceeded to Damon's room, nothing prepared him for the catastrophe that lay there. Blood was everywhere: the bed, the floor, the walls, and Damon himself who was lying on top of the soaked sheets, sleeping soundly.

He shook his brother until he came to, rubbing his eyes.

All Damon said was a bleary "What?"

"What do you think, Damon!"

Damon sat up and looked around, muttering.

"What happened? Did someone hurt you?"

Damon suddenly jumped up and headed to the bathroom, speaking over his shoulder. "Oh, don't worry little bro, it's not my blood."

Stefan paced around, worrying, constantly worrying. Who's blood was it? Why was Damon's room covered in blood, if it wasn't his? These thoughts and questions swirled inside his head. He spun around to the guest room Elena was currently occupying. Once he was beside her bed, he shook her awake. Her eyes fluttered opened and his heart thumped painfully. Though complications kept them apart and he was serious about Bonnie, a part of him still loved Elena.

"Stefan? What's wrong?"

"Do you know what happened to Damon's room?"

"What- Oh! Um..." Her face shifted once she looked over his shoulder.

He spun around to see Damon in only a towel. His hair was still dry and he was covered in blood, so he clearly didn't get in the shower yet. Stefan barely caught him shaking his head. Yet once Stefan faced him, Damon plastered an innocent expression on his face.

"Sorry, just checking in on you two. Don't want to cut in on your conversation, but Elena should get more sleep. Since it was a long night and all..."

"Well-"

Elena cut Stefan off. "Yes, that's a good idea. Sorry Stefan, but I really should get some rest."

Elena laid back down and Damon got into the shower. Stefan stepped into his room, detecting a strangely familiar scent. He shrugged it off, becoming entirely too confused. What was going on with these two?

A knock at the door. A groan from the other side. Shuffling and a thump. The door opened.

Nathan Brown faced Katherine Pierce.

It was night, and Katherine thought a lot after her meeting with Damon last night. Though she didn't try to kill Elena last night, she realized she should to help Damon with deciding. That was what led her to this hotel and room. The vampire in front of her might be inexperienced, but he seemed to do well at causing chaos for the Salvatore Brothers and their Human Friends.

His black hair stuck up in tufts and he was only in boxers, but his eyes were very alert as he stared at her.

She took a deep breath and began, "I saw what happened last night and how your plan failed, but I think it was actually worth retrying, if you get rid of the insignificant witch." She held her hands in front of her chest, trying to look businesslike. "Here is my proposal: we get rid of Elena's little friends, kill Elena, and then I can toy with the two brothers until eternity is over. Understand?"

"I- Um, I already rid her of her friends, except the witch friend escaped. I will accept your proposal, but don't you remember me? From that night?"

"Huh? You mean last night?" Katherine was becoming disconcerted by his intent gaze.

"No, that night. Over a hundred-and-forty-five years ago, you turned me. I was the guard in front of the church that helped you escaped, don't you remember me?"

"Uh, yeah… Of course I do. Your…?"

"Nathan Brown"

"Right. Nathan Brown." Katherine was thinking of just dumping this idea, especially with him looking so intently at her, but if he was this infatuated already it might be put to good use. She leaned forward placing her fingertips on his chest.

"So, do you want to help me?" She put as much allure as possible in the sentence. It worked, he was all but drooling over her. She almost considered sleeping with him to secure his loyalty, but decided against it. She needed to be in tiptop shape for Damon when he did the delicious things he could do to her.

"I'll help." A new plan was forming in her head as she lightly kissed him at the edge of his lips.

The moon shone over the Salvatore's meadow-like backyard. It was a breathtaking twilight, with fireflies dancing across the trees. Elena could see a shadow near the small pond in the back of the yard. She quietly made her way to Damon, trying to sneak up on him, but he caught her as she was a couple of feet away.

"What're you doing out here?" He said.

"I wanted to talk about last night."

He started pacing, "You're right. We should still be cautious because the vampire is still out there, even though Lila is locked up. You should stay at our house, so we can protect you better in our own territory. Though it was weird that he caught you at the bridge, but we can't stop looking after you because we're confused about his intentions."

She waited until his ranting was over. "You know that wasn't what I meant."

He turned toward her, finally, and raised an eyebrow. She took a couple more steps until they were face to face. She stood on her toes as she rose to kiss him. When her eyes closed, she felt dizzy and held on to his shoulders. Passion swirled around her; fireworks, wanting, needing to get closer to him was all that she wanted. Their tongues collided, and she was surprised by the unguarded groan that escaped him.

Completely distracted, she almost didn't notice the patio door shut and the footsteps that were drawing closer…

Hey, sorry for taking so long to get back to you guys, but I'm going to continue with more chapters for summer. Hope you like it!