Stefan could feel the jealousy welling inside at the sight of them together. It didn't matter that they weren't touching each other. The fact that she was there with his brother in secrecy was enough to make Stefan seethe. Though he hadn't witnessed their tryst, he instinctually knew by their body language they were together. After all they hadn't had the decency to wait until Elena broke up with him before they acted on their feelings. There was nothing stopping them now. He felt them conspiring behind his back, laughing at his obliviousness. I won't be played for a fool again.

Damon was in his room undressing. He'd just pulled his shirt over his head when he caught an image in his peripheral vision. He looked toward the door to find Stefan, leaning against the frame, with his arms crossed. The look on Stefan's face was impassive, but his eyes held the stare of a cold blooded killer. Before Damon could speak, Stefan asked, "What was Elena doing here?"

Damon froze in position with his arms still in the sleeves of his shirt. Caught off guard, he had to come up with an answer quickly. He certainly couldn't tell Stefan the truth that he and Elena had been out together and saw him. So he bent the truth a little for everyone's own good. "Elena was in the parking lot at the Grille when you tore out of there. She saw me speed off after you and got worried." The scent of sex and Elena's perfume lingered all over Damon, and he knew it. With his pants still on, he hastily made his way to the shower. The emotions of a vampire weren't the only thing that was heightened after transition. All of their senses were magnified including their sense of smell. Damon needed to get away from Stefan and into the shower, as quickly as possible, before Stefan noticed.

Stefan followed Damon into the bathroom. He sat down on the side of the tub, as his brother proceeded to open the shower door. Stefan sat with his legs stretched out in front of him, feet crossed over at the ankles. His hands gripped the edge of the tub tightly, not just for balance, but to keep control over his churning emotions. His eyes focused at the ground towards his feet, contemplating Damon's attempt at an innocent explanation. He pursed his lips and nodded as if accepting the explanation at face value. In reality, he didn't. It only aggitated him more to hear that Elena had been at the Grille too while Damon was there. "Mmmm so you both just so happen to be in the parking lot at the same time. What a coincidence." His voice remained calm yet sarcastic.

Damon wasn't stupid. The suspicion in Stefan's voice was obvious. Still, he tried to make it sound legitimate. "Uh yeah, well." He hesitated in his response long enough to turn the shower on full blast. He turned his attention back to Stefan. "She was there to see Jeremy, and I was looking for you," he said nonchalantly. He made his way across the bathroom to where the towels were stacked on a shelf. Grabbing one, he walked back to the shower and placed it on the hook, just outside of the shower door. "Anyway, like I said she saw us speeding away and got worried. She tried calling to find out what was going on, but my phone was dead. That's when she came by to see if everything was ok." With all sincerity, Damon said, "She was worried about you."

Stefan made a derisive snort.

"Come on Stefan, you know Elena. Just because you're not together anymore doesn't mean she's stopped caring." That was the truth. Once Elena cared for someone, she didn't stop simply because they broke up. Her cheating wasn't because she no longer cared about Stefan. It was because her feelings for Damon were so intense; they overrode any thought to the nuclear impact her impulsive actions would have on Stefan. In time, she hoped to be as good of friends with Stefan as she now was with Matt. For now, Elena's main concern was Stefan's mental stability.

Stefan's face held his usual brooding look. It was hard for Damon to tell whether he believe him or not. Stefan stood up and walked closer to Damon. His arms crossed over his chest in a challenging stance. Damon tilted his chin up ready to meet the challenge. Stefan asked, "If she was so worried then why didn't she come in?" He stared dead at Damon, waiting to hear what answer he would come up with.

Damon shot Stefan a 'really?' glare. He shook his head and turned his attention towards to the shower. The steam of the hot water permeated throughout the room. He answered Stefan over his shoulder, as he placed his hand under the running water to check the temperature. "You're hardly in the right frame of mind right now." He adjusted the hot water then turned back to face Stefan. "I caught you on the verge of losing control, possibly killing a woman." He undid the button on his jeans and pulled the zipper down. "It's my fault she didn't come in." He didn't want Elena taking the blame. Casually, he said, "I told her I didn't think it was a good idea for her to see you right now." He stripped his jeans down to the floor, stepped out of them, and then tossed them aside. He shrugged as he quickly stepped into the shower. "I thought it might make things worse." Without saying another word, he closed the shower door thus effectively cutting off any chance for Stefan to continue questioning him.

Stefan sneered at Damon's shadow behind the closed shower door. Despite the scent of the soap wafting from the shower, the steam allowed a lingering hint of a familiar scent to remain. Stefan inhaled the air around him to see where it was coming from. He glanced over at the jeans Damon had tossed aside. They landed on the toilet seat, zipper side up with the fly strewn open. Damon wasn't in the habit of wearing underwear. That meant there was no other barrier between his skin and his jeans. Stefan took a few steps closer. A spot of wetness stained the crotch of Damon's jeans. His eyes narrowed. The scent was definitely Elena's, and it was coming from Damon's jeans. Stefan didn't believe for a second that she had been there out of concern for him. No, she was there for no other reason than to screw his brother right under his nose. His mind raced with images of them in all sorts of lewd sexual acts. The jealousy welled inside him to explosive proportions. Something in him snapped. Their continued betrayal had short circuited any ounce of rationality he had left in his mind. She was supposed to be with him not his brother. She belonged to him. His glare shot towards the shower at Damon's silhouette behind the steamed up door. It took everything out of him to resist the urge to rip Damon's heart from his chest. But the pain inflicted would only be momentary. No, that was too good for them. He wanted his revenge. He wanted them to suffer like he suffered. It was then that he made a decision. He vowed to himself that if he couldn't have Elena then neither could Damon. He would make it his mission to keep them apart for all of eternity. He would take her somewhere far away and burry her. She would desiccate and spend eternity with the never ending feeling of suffocation. She would be alone in the dark, left only with her memories of Damon, and the hope that he'd come to save her. As the centuries went by, her hope would dwindle to the point of despair, slowly driving her insane. Damon would frantically scour the earth trying to find her. Although his efforts would be futile, Stefan knew his brother would never give up. He'd waited over 100 years for Katherine. He would search an eternity for Elena desperate, fearful, and heartbroken. And Stefan would take great pleasure in both of their suffering. A maniacal grin spread across his face. An eerie calmness washed over him. Now all he needed was to work out the details.

When Damon finished showering, he wrapped himself in a towel and walked over to the sink. The steam from the shower had fogged up the mirror. He wiped away the mist with his hand. The reflection he saw in the mirror was slightly distorted by the streaks of water that remained. The image was fitting given the situation. Looking at himself in the mirror, he ran his hands through his hair, pushing it away from his face. He took a deep breath and let out a big sigh. That was close. They couldn't risk doing that again, not here where they could be caught. It sucked that they had to sneak around like this. Two people in love shouldn't have to hide it like some tawdry affair. Hadn't he already done this with Katherine? He vowed he would never do that again. Technically he'd not entirely broken that vow. Elena, unlike Katherine, actually was in love with him. Plus, Elena had ended things with Stefan, not continued to toy with them both. Still, the situation was just as fucked up. They both loved the same woman and that love had created a rift between him and his brother. Except this time Stefan's mental state was precarious. Until things stabilized, until Stefan accepted the loss and moved on, they would be stuck in this perpetual state of sneaking around. Elena deserved better, but this was the price they paid for falling in love. He wouldn't give her up, but neither would he ruin his brother in the process. He owed him that much.

Damon was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of his phone vibrating in the other room. By the time he'd reached the phone, the caller had hung up. The caller ID read 'Elena.' A smile crept on his face just seeing her name. It didn't matter that she'd only left a little while ago. He missed her already. Before he could dial her number, a text message appeared. It was from Elena.

Elena: Hey you. Are you still awake?

She had been lying in bed, tossing and turning for the last hour, unable to sleep. All thoughts were consumed with the memory of Damon's hands and lips all over her body. She ached to be with him, to feel him inside her again. She longed to feel his naked body pressed against hers, holding her protectively all night long. It wasn't just about the sex. Being with him made her feel so safe and cherished. Although, she couldn't deny that there was so much electricity between them that it turned her into a raging sex addict. As a human, she had somehow managed to suppress it with her guilt over Stefan. It was a self inflicted form of punishment for wanting the 'bad' brother. But now…

Damon hadn't answered when she called. Now her text message hung out there too with no reply. Disappointment was setting in. The hope of talking to him dwindled with every second that passed. Just as she was about to set her phone down in defeat, it chimed in her hand with his reply. Immediately her mood improved, and her body tingled in anticipation. He had that effect on her, the ability to make even her dead heart skip a beat and set her body on fire.

Reply: "Hey back. Shouldn't you be sleeping young lady? Don't you have school in the morning?"

Elena: "I can't sleep."

Reply: "And why's that?"

Elena: "Because all I can think about is you. I wish you were here." She knew it sounded sappy and desperate, but she didn't care. It was the truth.

Reply: "So imagine then I'm there with you. Tell me what you're wearing." He sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at his phone for her answer.

Another tingle ran through Elena, as she imagined Damon asking in his most seductive voice. She bit her lower lip, as she typed out a reply she knew he'd enjoy.

Elena: "I'm wearing a tight white camisole and teeny lacey bikini bottoms."

Reply: "Mmm are you trying to torture me? You lying there, looking all sexy with your shirt clinging tightly, nipples waiting to be teased."

Elena let out a weighted, flustered breath,feeling her cheeks getting flushed. She could almost feel his teeth gently biting them through her shirt. Her eyes closed for a moment, imagining his hands running down her body, his fingers dipping inside her panties to please her. She briefly shook the image away. She wanted more.

Elena: "So what are you wearing?"

Damon's mouth twisted into a devilish smirk. He looked down at the towel he was wearing to see his erection protruding beneath. He shrugged then ripped the towel away. He positioned himself comfortably on the bed, lying buck naked on top of the covers, before he sent his reply. All he needed to say was one word.

Reply: "Nothing."

An uncontrollable moan escaped Elena's lips. She could feel the wetness collecting between her thighs. It's not like she didn't already know he slept in the nude, but seeing him say it added extra hotness to the visual she already had in her head. It also made her feeling of longing for him that much worse.

Elena: "Uh, now who is torturing who?"

Damon snickered. A smile lingered on his face as he pushed the buttons on his phone.

Reply: "Well, I guarantee you'll have an easier time falling asleep than I will."

She smiled broadly knowing exactly what he meant. Damon had quite the sexual past, so Elena wasn't the least bit embarrassed speaking her mind sexually.

Elena: "I guess phone sex is out of the question with Stefan home."

Reply: "Mmm that'd be really hot. Fucking vampire hearing. :("

She could tell he was just as frustrated as she was, but it looked like they'd have to wait until tomorrow. Sexting was too hard to do with one hand while pleasing yourself with the other. It's just that tomorrow seemed so far away when they were both so worked up. She sighed. She couldn't wait for the day they didn't have to worry.

Elena: "Promise I'll see you tomorrow?"

Reply: "Promise."

Elena: "Good night."

Reply: "Night."

Elena put her phone down and rolled over in bed, struggling to get comfortable. Finally, she stopped fighting her need and closed her eyes. The sooner she got to sleep, the quicker the lonely night would go by. She would dream of her time with Damon and hope the hours would fly bye.

Damon tossed his phone next to him on the bed. He blew out a hard frustrated breath. His breathing was labored with excitement. Staring at the ceiling, he tried to ignore the throbbing between his legs. Sure he could relieve it himself, but it wasn't the same. Stefan's got to be asleep by now. Screw it. He picked up his phone and sent Elena a text.

Damon: "I'm coming over."