Hey guys, sorry it has been such a wait for an update! I have been busy on my final placement, but on the plus side, I have just qualified as a teacher! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my words (although I wish I owned Damon!).

Scene: Damon and Elena are on their first official date and she does not know he is a vampire... Yet ;)

It had been a long while since Damon had been on a traditional date; he saw them as tediously boring and pointless, normally compelling a girl to come straight to bed without the need for formalities. Despite this, he found that a date with Elena was an exception to the rule. He could think of nothing better to do with his night than spend it sitting opposite this human girl, listening to her chat the night away. She certainly wasn't the worst company in the world.

The evening had flown by, with the two conversing all the way through their meals. Damon had learnt all about Elena's life, including her best friends Caroline and Bonnie and even her ex-boyfriend Matt Donovan - captain of the football team. Somehow, regrettably, the topic had come around to love.

"I thought I loved him you know, but then I realised that love could be so much more and all we had was a simple school crush." Elena explained, before taking a sip of her coffee. "What about you Damon? Have you ever truly been in love?"

Yes, I have. As soon as he heard her question, Damon felt his smirk fade away and a familiar crushing feeling where his heart used to beat. This apparently did not go unnoticed by Elena, who quickly moved to his side of the booth and began to comfort him, placing her arm around his shoulder and squeezing his arm. Her action took him off guard and at first he flinched away from her gesture. Not once in 145 years of being a vampire had an individual offered him any level of compassion or empathy. He looked into her hazel eyes and saw the goodness within them and although it felt foreign to him, allowed himself to relax into her hold.

"What was her name?" Elena asked softly, whilst she continued stroking his back. It felt good to be touched in such a tender way and Damon closed his eyes to savour the feeling.

"Katherine." he replied, surprised when his voice came out shaky. He concluded this must be because he missed Katherine and not because Elena was having any sort of effect on him.

Elena smiled sympathetically and squeezed his arm again. "What was she like?"

Damon sighed as his mind transported him back in time to 1864, when the beautiful Katherine Pierce had stolen his heart. The first time he saw her, he thought she was an angel. She had chocolate curls, seductive brown eyes and a smile that sent his human heart racing. He fell in love with her very quickly, but his love had never been enough for her. She had also wanted his brother, and, what Katherine wanted, Katherine got. Whilst Damon knew she was wrong to toy with both him and Stefan, he never stopped loving her. When he found out she was a vampire, that made him want her even more. In the end though, fate was cruel and the town council took her away. He and Stefan were killed trying to save her, but in death her blood had turned them.

"Damon?" Elena shook him gently, concerned that he had been staring into space for over a minute with no response.

"She was truly beautiful. I loved her very much and wanted to spend my whole life with her." All the while he did not let his eyes leave Elena's, almost hypnotised by the pure compassion and comfort he found within them. It seemed she was a little overwhelmed by his obvious affection for another woman, but nonetheless she listened to him patiently and never once stopped stroking his back. She seemed like a truly incredible and selfless person. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Elena asked her final question.

"What happened?"

My stupid brother decided he could trust our father and because of him, I have been without the woman I love for 145 years. She would have died had I not persuaded that Bennett witch to save her in the tomb under the church. Damon's fists clenched in his anger at the memory.

Elena seemed to notice this and, after a slight hesitation , took hold of one of his hands, squeezing it gently. Damon instantly felt himself relax at her touch and he searched her eyes for a moment, wondering what had he done to deserve such compassion from a girl like her. He was a monster and no one cared about him.

"Katherine has been gone for a very long time." Damon spoke the literal truth and lowered his gaze to where his hand was interlocked with Elena's, feeling his un-dead heart warm slightly at the humanity of such a simple act.

Elena couldn't help but be disappointed at the realisation that her mystery man was heartbroken and had been for some time. She figured she must have misunderstood the connection they shared and was unsure as to whether she should stay any longer. Damon was still looking down and she came to the conclusion that she had probed too deep into his obviously painful history. The right thing to do would be to leave him in peace.

"I should go," she said quietly, moving to pull her hand away from Damon's. He tightened his hold, unwilling to lose the only real human contact he had felt in years.

"I don't want you to leave Elena." he told her truthfully, locking his eyes with hers. She smiled and nodded, but still looked a little bit uncomfortable. Damon raised his spare hand and traced his thumb over her cheek, before tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. He dropped his gaze to her mouth, which had curved to form the tiniest hint of a smile.

Elena's heart fluttered as he leant towards her, close enough that she could feel his warm breath on her lips. She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes, heat pooling in her very core.

"What about Katherine?" she breathed shakily, sure that he must care about the woman to still be so deeply affected by losing her.

Damon brushed his lips against Elena's, savouring the sound of her frantic heart and the way she held her breath in anticipation. Whilst he loved Katherine, she was in the tomb, inaccessible. He decided there was no way he was going to let Elena go without a taste of her; one way or the other... "I don't want to talk about her anymore."

With that, he crashed their lips together, revelling in her surprised moan as she instantly kissed him back. Desire coursed through him and he ran his tongue hungrily over her bottom lip, nibbling it slightly and causing her to whimper in need. Damon placed his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, groaning as he felt her breasts press against him. Elena ran her fingers through his hair, opening her mouth and begging for more. He slipped his tongue inside, rubbing against hers in a seductive massage and exploring every part of her mouth with great precision.

Damon pulled her into his lap, pressing his already throbbing arousal against her, which she very willingly began grinding against. He moaned and ran his hand through her curls, holding her there as he moved to kiss and suck at her pulse point. The blood beneath her skin called to him, but he chose to ignore it, for now. He let his kisses trail down to the rise of her breasts and back up again, eliciting several more pleasured sounds; God those were hot.

He could smell her sweet arousal perfuming the air and slowly moved one hand up, under her dress. He smoothed over the soft skin of her thigh and traced a line over the lace of her panties. He could feel how wet she was for him and was about to suggest they headed somewhere more private when Elena's phone started ringing.

Damon chuckled as she almost rolled off his lap in surprise, before straightening her dress casually.

"Uh," she began, blood filling her cheeks deliciously. "I should probably get that." She grabbed her bag and gestured that she would take the call outside, where it was quieter. Damon smiled and lounged back in the booth, still able to hear her frantic heartbeat as she answered the phone.

"Hey Mom," she answered. "Everything okay?"

Elena rolled her eyes as her mom reminded her of her curfew and to be sure not to miss it. Miranda was one to worry and as frustrating as that could be sometimes, Elena secretly appreciated the fact it showed a great deal of love and care.

"I won't be late, I promise. Okay, bye Mom." Smiling, Elena tucked her phone back into her bag. She turned to enter the Grill but a middle-aged appeared before her, blocking her path.

"Um, excuse me please sir." She requested politely, smelling the alcohol on the man before she was even too close. She made sure to avoid eye-contact as she waited for him to move aside.

"You seemed to be having a good time in there." The man said coldly, his eyes searching her face and then trailing further down her body in a way that made Elena feel exceptionally uncomfortable. She did not like the thought that he had been watching her and Damon getting hot and heavy and she certainly did not like the way he was looking her over.

"I need to get back to my friend." She replied, trying not to let her discomfort show in her tone of voice. "Please, excuse me." She moved to walk around him but he grabbed her arms and held them to the point of it being painful.

"I don't think that's possible," the man whispered in her ear, pulling her towards a nearby alley. "You are simply looking too good for me to resist."

Elena managed a small scream but before she could properly call for help he used a hand to silence her and he had her backed against a wall. She closed her eyes, terrified.

Damon had heard Elena say goodbye on the phone and was waiting for her to return to the table when he heard her talking to someone else. Initially, he hadn't thought much of it but when he heard her scream he kicked into full predator mode. Not caring if there were witnesses to his inhuman display, he blurred out of the bar at vampire speed. Within a second he had located the alley and he felt the blood fill his eyes and his fangs lengthen as he took in the sight of a man pinning Elena against the wall. Her eyes were tightly closed and she was whimpering in fear.

Rage coursing through him, Damon flashed over to where they stood and grabbed the man by the throat. "You hurt Elena, I kill you." he informed the man, before tearing his fangs into his throat with deadly force. He did not even bother to drink before throwing him against the far wall of the alley, a loud crack signalling that the man would never be able to hurt anyone else.

Elena's eyes had sprung open at hearing Damon's voice and she had sunk to the floor with shock as she watched him throw the man with inhuman strength. She covered her own mouth to stifle the terrified scream that wanted to escape. As if sensing his, Damon turned towards her, his once handsome face distorted by red eyes, black veins and two razor sharp teeth. As he approached her, he wiped the blood from his chin and his face seemed to regain its familiarity. However, this did not stop Elena fearing for her life.

"Please, Damon," she cried. "Don't hurt me." Tears were running down her cheeks and she flinched as he knelt down in front of her. She closed her eyes and waited for the breath that would be her last. However, what she felt instead was two soft hands wiping her tears away and cupping her face, with almost impossible tenderness considering the same hands had just taken a life.

"Elena," Damon began softly, stroking her cheekbones soothingly with his thumbs. "Open your eyes, I'm not going to hurt you."

Taking a deep breath, Elena did as he said and slowly opened her eyes to meet his oceanic ones. There was so much emotion within them, but the most obvious was a deep concern. These were not the eyes she had seen thirty seconds ago, red and cruel and murderous. These were not the eyes of a monster, but the eyes of an angel; Damon had saved her life. But whilst this fact was true, Elena felt herself questioning the eyes she had seen before. Who was this man who knelt before her, part monster, part saviour?

"You saved me."

Damon smiled slightly at Elena's comment, a part of him touched that even in her deepest fear she had realised that fact. Now that she had seen him like this he knew he should compel her to forget, but yet the way she looked at him was not all fear, but also curiosity. He held his hand for her to take, and after a slight hesitation she laced her fingers through his own. Gently, he eased her up to her feet and kept her hand to ensure that she was steady. Elena's doe eyes searched his face as if looking for an answer and Damon found himself raising a hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He knew what was coming next.

"Who are you Damon?" She asked him, her voice surprisingly calm.

Upon hearing her question Damon knew that he had a choice to make. He could compel her to forget him and this night, allowing her to live her life as if they had never met. Or, he could trust her with his secret. Whilst ordinarily he would have had no issues with the first option, he could not help but consider the hold this human had on him. He had cared enough for her to save her life and she had equally cared enough for him to show him compassion when no one else ever had. Elena Gilbert was no ordinary human and there was no way that he was ready to let her go just yet. He needed to tell her the truth.

"Tell me Elena," he began, pausing to try and find the right way to continue. After 145 years of this curse, it never got any easier to admit what he was. Locking his eyes with hers he found the strength he needed and proceeded to ask the one question that would change her world forever. "Do you believe in vampires?"

So guys, Damon is becoming truly touched by Elena - to the point of saving a human life rather than taking it. I tried not to make the scene too disturbing and found it quite tricky to write so I am sorry if it is a bit tame!

I have big plans for these two and I hope you will stick by me on our journey.

Sorry again for the delayed update, I should have more time to write over the summer!

Love always,

Amy xo

P.S. I'll love you forever if you review :)