Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Sorry guys, I had a rough week at work and couldn't find much time to write. I didn't want to write some short crap chapter so I made myself wait until I had something I could live with. Hope you like it! Please let me know what you think.

Chapter Seven

What the fuck was he doing? Damon had asked himself that question about a hundred times since he'd left the boarding house. It didn't make a damn bit of difference. Here he was sitting in a damn tree outside Elena's house on guard duty again.

The girl had more spit than brains. She was so damn stubborn. She'd deserve nothing more if he left her to defend herself. Of course she couldn't just pack up baby brother and come stay at the boarding house like a good little girl. Fuck no! She didn't know how to mind as a human, what had made him believe getting turned would change anything? Elena Gilbert only ever did exactly what Elena Gilbert wanted to do and he was sick and tired of dancing to her tune.

And for that matter, where the fuck was Stefan? Why wasn't Prince Charming out here freezing his ass off to protect his fair princess? Wasn't he the Lancelot to her Guinevere, the Romeo to her Juliet? Stefan could totally make this tree thing work for him.

Damon smirked as he pictured Saint Steffy in the same tree wearing a brightly colored tunic and leggings and quoting love sonnets with dramatic arm gestures. Then Elena would sigh and lean out her bedroom window to moon over him with big lovestruck cow eyes. Stefan had all those Cullen-esque qualities required to pull the romantic stalker thing off. Damon, however, was a little too dark and sinister. He'd be lucky if someone didn't see him and call him in as a peeping tom. Liz Forbes would love that one. She'd probably throw his ass in a cell just for kicks.

"Now we have to make sure the lines meet."

Damon looked down as Bonnie and Elena came walking around the side of the house. Both girls had large cylinders of salt in their hands. Bonnie was carefully pouring salt from hers on the ground in as even a line as she could manage.

"And this will protect us from the curse?" Elena sounded doubtful.

Bonnie nodded and kept pouring. "A circle of salt is binding where witchcraft's concerned. Salt in itself is a magic inhibitor. By creating a closed circle around your house, the curse won't be able to penetrate it. It won't stop anyone from crossing the circle physically, but it will protect you and Jeremy from the earth marks."

Elena reached forward to pull her best friend into a hug. "Thank you, Bonnie, that make me feel so much better. I know Katherine said the ring will protect Jeremy from the curse's effects, but I don't want to take any chances."

Bonnie embraced her friend before pulling back and taking Elena's hands into her own. "I'm not taking any chances with Jeremy or you Elena. This is my town and I'm not about to stand back and let some outsiders, witches or not, come in and threaten it."

Damon bit back a groan of disgust that would surely have given away his location. Oh how he hated Judgey and her self-righteous party line of bullshit.

"I know you won't," Elena smiled at the witch and her eyes twinkled, "and hey, now I have enhanced senses so nothing can sneak up on us in the dark."

Damon just shook his head. And she actually believed that shit. God bless the baby vamps.

Elena held the door open and waited for Bonnie to walk through. They'd circled the house three times with salt just to make sure they didn't miss anything. Elena didn't know how they would explain the dead grass to the neighbors later, but better safe than sorry. Once Bonnie walked passed her and into the house, Elena closed the door and turned the locks. When she turned around she found her friend staring at her concerned.

"Now that that's done," Bonnie said, "how are you?"

Shrugging Elena headed into the kitchen. "I'm fine. Apparently the curse doesn't affect vampires."

"Elena," Bonnie chided her, "I'm not talking about the curse and you know it." She walked forward to face Elena across the island. "I know you and Stefan had a fight about Damon, and I know you aren't unaffected by his coming back to town. Add Katherine into the mix and…"

"I'm not talking to you about this, Bonnie," Elena interrupted her sharply. The witch's expression showed hurt at her tone, but Elena didn't back down. "I'm sorry, but you've never been able to stay objective where Damon's concerned and I'm not up to hearing you bash him right now."

Bonnie frowned. "I wouldn't say I bash him. I'm just usually the only voice of reason around here where he's concerned. Someone has to point out the truth about him."

"The only?" Elena's eyes widened in disbelief. "You think you're the only one around here constantly pointing out all of Damon's flaws and past transgressions? Name one person who doesn't. Even I use to carry around my own personally little soap box with his name on it."

Bonnie lifted her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "Maybe there's a reason for that."

Gritting her teeth, Elena spun away from her friend and faced the refrigerator. As she pulled out a bag of blood she tried to reign in her temper. Bonnie might be a witch, but she was mortal. Elena couldn't afford to lose control with her. Added to that, Bonnie had explained that by binding the circle outside the house she was seriously limiting her magical ability within it. At the moment, Bonnie was just a glorified human and Elena was a bomb waiting to go off.

Elena took deep calming breaths and reached up to open the cabinet and grab herself a mug. She fought to block out the sweet smell of Bonnie's blood pumping only a few feet away from her. The heightened emotion in the air made it so much sweeter and so much harder to resist. Pushing the thought away, Elena fiddled with the tubing and started squeezing the bagged blood into her mug.

"Elena, I'm just trying to be your friend," Bonnie sighed, "and sometimes friends have to tell us things we don't want to hear."

Punching the door latch on the microwave a little harder than necessary, Elena placed her mug inside and set the timer. She couldn't and wouldn't allow herself to turn and face Bonnie again. "I know the two of you hate each other, Bonnie. I understand that. You've both done some pretty crappy things to each other in the past, but…"

"We've both?" She could hear the outrage in Bonnie's voice. "What do you mean both?"

Giving up, Elena spun to face the witch. She leaned forward over the island and met her friend's glare. "You tried to kill him, Bonnie…multiple times."

"He tried to kill me!"

Elena rolled her eyes. "I said you've BOTH done some pretty crappy things to each other. I never said Damon was blameless."

Shaking her head, Bonnie argued with her. "He's evil, Elena. He only ever behaved because of you. He thought if he could pretend to be good, he could win you." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Thankfully he lost, but what's to stop him from going right back to terrorizing and killing our friends now?"

Elena dug her nails into her palms. "I TOLD you I didn't want to do this! I told you I didn't want to talk about this, Bonnie!" Her hands were shaking with the desire to strike out, to rip and tear. Snapping her eyes closed, she turned away again. She had to find her calm. She had to lock the monster back in its cage. "I told you I know the two of you hate each other…"

"He doesn't just hate me, Elena," Bonnie spewed venom refusing to heed her friend's warnings and let it go, "Damon wants me dead and the feeling is most definitely mutual."

A savage growl erupted from Elena's throat and she was across the kitchen and had Bonnie trapped against the island before the witch could blink. The human illusion faded away and Elena's true face was revealed. Her eyes glowed with blood and the veins around them slithered and throbbed. She swallowed around her fangs and barely resisted that beautiful beat that sang to her so temptingly from the witch's throat.

Bonnie stared up at her stunned. She reached for her power and came away empty. Fear locked her in place. Now she realized just how vulnerable she'd left herself.

The demon smiled at the prey, this vermin foolish enough to taunt the beast. "If Damon wanted you dead, Judgey, you'd be dead. Death is his talent and he's very very good at it."

"Elena, you don't want to do this," Bonnie whispered.

Elena cocked her head to the side and smiled even wider. She ran her tongue pointedly across her descended canine and felt a thrill shiver through her body as Bonnie followed the movement with terrified eyes. "You will not hurt him," Elena growled the words menacingly, "or there will be no where you can hide from me. Do you understand me?"

"ELENA!" Jeremy came skidding into the room on sock-covered feet. He dove for his sister. "Let Bonnie go!"

Elena turned to glare at her brother annoyed. "She started it."

Seeing the crazed sheen to her eyes, Jeremy held his hands in front of him and stepped back several feet to give her space. Elena was his sister and he loved her, but she was also a vampire and that had to be respected. She wasn't just a human girl with a funny diet; she was a bloodsucking fiend from beyond the grave. Pissing off a vampire, even a blood relation, was not a good idea. "I'm sure she did, Elena, but she's still one of your best friends. You'll never forgive yourself if you hurt her."

"She said she wants him dead," Elena growled.

Jeremy paused to throw Bonnie an exasperated look, because really? Did she have to poke the tiger with a stick? "She didn't mean it, Elena. She's not going to do anything to Damon. We need him and Bonnie knows it. Damon's a part of the team."

Jeremy could see the animal rage slowly bleeding out of his sister's eyes. He was watching her come down off the predatory high. Still, her grip on Bonnie hadn't loosened. She looked back at the witch. "She better know it."

Taking a careful step forward, Jeremy laid his hand on Elena's shoulder. "You're not going to hurt Bonnie."

A loud ding filled the air as the microwave timer went off. Elena's head snapped toward the sound. Finally she shrugged and released Bonnie. "My food's ready anyway." Without looking back at either of them, Elena sped across the room and retrieved her mug. Before either her brother or her friend could move, she sped away again leaving the kitchen and heading up the stairs for the privacy of her bedroom.

Jeremy glared at Bonnie once they were alone. "Do you have a death wish?"

Bonnie clasped her shaking hands together and tried to calm herself down. She was still terrified. "I didn't mean to start a fight, Jeremy. I just got angry." She thought back to the look in Elena's eyes as she leaned over her and Bonnie shuddered. "I never thought she'd take it that far."

"You threatened her…" Jeremy rolled his eyes as he struggled to find the right words, "her Damon, Bonnie! She's a vampire and you threatened her Damon!"

Now Bonnie sneered. "He's Damon, Jeremy! I will never understand her. Why does she even care?"

"Because she does," Jeremy answered her. "Emotions aren't rational, Bonnie. You're never going to rational her into making those feelings go away. Damon and Elena are some serious shit and if you like life then you better learn to stay out of it." He turned his back on his ex-girlfriend and went to leave the room.

At the doorway, Jeremy paused and looked back at the confused and shaken witch behind him. "If I wasn't our very own walking talking version of 'The Sixth Sense' you might be dead right now, Bonnie. Think about how much Elena loves you and then realize that all it took was one vague threat against Damon to wipe it all away. She might have killed you over him." He let his words sink in and smiled at her sadly. "Now how do you think she feels about HIM?"

In her bedroom, Elena was trying to hold herself together. Removed from the situation and able to think clearly again, the horror of her actions was rolling over her. She'd completely lost control. She could have killed Bonnie. She'd wanted to kill Bonnie and to savor it.

She had to find her calm. She had to relax. Sitting her mug down on her dresser, Elena tore off her clothes and sped to the closet. Flinging open the door, she reached down to pick up her favorite shirt. She hugged it to herself before pulling it on. Taking deep calming breaths, Elena walked to the dresser to retrieve her mug. As she reached for it, she felt a disturbance in the air. Before Elena could even turn to face the new threat, she found herself spun around and pinned to the wall.

Elena stared up into the face of a livid Damon. His eyes were flashing as his human mask began to slip. With the hand not clamped around her throat, Damon reached out and pulled at the fabric of the shirt she was wearing. "This is my shirt." He growled and his hand against her throat shook as he locked his eyes on hers. "Elena, what the fuck are you doing wearing my shirt?"

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