A/n- Holy Shit Batman! What's this is see!? Two updates in one day!? This is what happens when I have a class that I'm bored in... that and well this chapter kinda wrote itself. As always thank you to everyone that has read reviewed favorited and followed. I deserve extra reviews for updating twice in one day (or so the review whore says) and you should blow up my inbox with it- no seriously it keeps me entertained in class. Hopefully I will have another chapter up for you guys asap (probably not tonight but more likely some time tomorrow). I know that Elena has been a little OOC lately but she HAS to grow a back bone, I couldn't take whiny Elena anymore and besides they all have quite a bit of growing up to do and I think it'll be fun showing how they grow. Anyways I am done ranting- the songs for this chapter are:

Dead Lovers Lane- HIM

and

I hate everything about you- Three Days Grace

Your Song

Chapter 8

Elena groaned softly as she stretched out on her bunk. Jeremy had just tapped her a few minutes ago to let her know that they were at the newest arena. She was tempted to say to hell with rehearsal, she had been up all night working on new songs and now had three more under her belt, something that Meredith would be ecstatic about, but because of it she had barely slept. Pushing herself up, she rolled off of her bunk and climbed to her feet.

"No rest for the wicked." She muttered softly to herself as she stretched her hands over her head, popping her back. It had been exactly four days since Elena had found out about Caroline, not that she was counting or anything, and things had changed dramatically since then. Pulling her red streaked locks up onto the top of her head, she trudged barefoot towards the pathetic excuse of a bathroom at the back of the bus. Once inside she pulled her tank top over her head and reached for the anti-bacterial soap on the counter, slathering her hands in the gold liquid. She hissed slightly as she traced her soapy hands over the black ink on her collar bone, the soap on the freshly marked skin stinging slightly. The tattoo had been a spur of the moment thing, yet another item to add to the list of things that she had done to irritate Damon over the last few days, from the red streaks through her chocolate colored hair to the black ink marking her once flawless skin she was slowly becoming her own person again. Jeremy had suggested the quote to her, stating that he thought it fit her change quite well and she agreed, deciding why not make it permanent. She smiled as she traced the words one more time, her fingers sliding along the letters and finally the small crow with piercing blue eyes that sat on her shoulder.

If I am an angel, paint me with black wings

The mark read in loopy cursive, a stark reminder that she wasn't innocent and it was time to stop acting like she was. Not bothering to replace her shirt Elena walked back into the hallway of the bus, headed towards her bunk, Jer had told her she had thirty minutes to be on stage and she figured that if she was ten minutes late then that would give her tour manager enough time to bitch about what her and Jer did to their instruments before she got there. Bending down she dug around in her duffle bag for a ripped up band tee and a pair of shorts before she stripped completely, bending again to pick up the clothes that she had pulled out, figuring that she was the only one on the bus when she did.

"Gilbert I gotta say, I really love the view." Elena swore, still bent over, her ass in the air as she grasped her shorts. Letting out a rough breath she cocked her head to the side before standing up, her hands going to her hips.

"Take a good look Salvatore; you'll never see it again." She forced a smirk to her lips even as she wanted to flush with mortification, her eyes challenging as she looked over Stefan. Ever since the cat came out of the bag where Damon and Caroline were concerned, Stefan had been flirting with her and it was bothering her, made her feel uncomfortable. As quickly as she could she pulled on her clothes, feeling dirty as Stefan watched her do it, his gaze borderline leering. Sitting down she pulled on her converse, trying her damndest to ignore him as she did. When she was finally dressed she tried for the front of her bus but Stefan was blocking her, his arms folded across his chest. "Excuse me." Stefan smirked as he stretched out, taking up ever more space in the small walk way.

"You're excused." He quipped looking down along her body.

"Come on, I'm gonna be late, please let me by." Stefan's smirk widened as he looked down along her body once more.

"I'll let you by for a price." He leered. She groaned and pushed her fingers back through her hair.

"Come on dude, seriously. Let me by." Stefan chuckled softly and shook his head.

"I told you princess, you can pass for a price." He licked his lips, his eyes practically boring a hole in her top as he did, "a kiss that's all it takes for me to let you by." Elena cocked an eyebrow, tilting her head to the side even as her heart thudded in her chest, the feeling of unease growing.

"How about," She began smiling sweetly, her hand sliding up to curl around his neck, her lips pressing just below his ear even as her stomach rolled with revulsion, "I introduce my knee to your groin instead." She giggled softly and twisted the fingers that had slipped up into his hair, yanking roughly at the strands and forcing him to his knees , "I am not your whore that you can play with as you will and I will be damned if you treat me as such." Leaning down she pushed her way into his person space, the grip that she had on his hair tightening to the point that he was wincing, her nails slightly digging into the skin of his scalp, "And so help me, if you attempt this again, I'll cut it off." Smirking she pushed him away from her, proud of herself for being able to keep her voice steady when inside she was quaking in fear, "Great having this talk with you." Letting out a slow breath she roughly shoved her way past his body, resisting the urge to aim a swift kick to his groin for the hell of it as she pushed her way past.

The group was waiting for her by the time that she made it to the stage, Jeremy looking like he was starting to worry. Flashing them a smile she approached the mike, giggling softly to herself as she looked over the paint splattered drum set, the jet black metals making the dark reds, purple and blue painted shapes pop out. Jeremy laughed like a mad man as he picked up his own guitar, the music that they had worked on together the night before already in the hands of their bassist and drummer. The beat was counted off, the sound of the drum sticks clacking together felt through Elena's whole body, and then the bass started up, followed slowly by the strum of the guitar and Elena felt a little more whole, the incident with Stefan sinking to the back of her head.

The set passed quickly, each new song feeling like it was helping Elena to heal. When they started to exit the stage it was to Damon standing to the side waiting for her to come down.

"You were good." He murmured, shifting from one foot to the other. Elena cocked an eyebrow at him before shrugging.

"What can I say I've had a lot of motivation lately." She started to keep walking but Damon stopped her once again, his hand resting against the corner of her shoulder.

"Elena wait..." He began but a glare from her stopped him in his tracks.

"I have nothing to say to you." She breathed, shaking her head before shrugging. Damon opened his mouth to speak before Elena cut him off again, "Actually you know what, I do have something to say to you- thank you. Thank you for proving to me that it was naïve to put you up on a damn pedestal, I was idiotic to think that you could ever care about anyone but yourself. So thank you Damon, I really owe you one for showing me your true colors before I could really fall for you." Damon looked like she had struck him, the force of her words making him feel sick. He wanted to fix things, wanted to explain to her about Caroline, that he didn't care about her anymore, that somehow Elena had managed to become his everything, had managed to take a place in his heart without his permission, but it seemed like she didn't want to hear it and he wasn't exactly sure how to make her hear it.

"Elena..." She shook her head, licking her lips before she narrowed her eyes at him.

"End of discussion Damon, let it go. I got over it and moved on, now its time for you to do the same. I'm not going to play your games anymore, respect it and let it go." And then she was walking back towards the bus, never once pausing to look back at him which only solidified it in Damon's mind that he was going to have to do something extreme to win her back- it was only a matter of what.