12 reviews. Hehehe. I love all your guy's response about Alison not being afraid of Damon and I hope you guys like this chapter.

"I've been in love. It's painful, pointless, and overrated"
~Damon Salvatore

Alison woke up the side of her neck stiff, she sat up slowly and looked over at Damon who was sleeping peacefully beside her. When she spotted the blood on her pillow was when all the memories came back to her at full force, her hand snapped up to the mark in curiosity She glanced at Damon once more, a thousand thoughts in her head, but one stood out the most: What is he?

Beep-beep

Alison stood up and silently made her way over to her pants to pull her phone out of the pocket. Scrolling through the five thousand messages that Elena had sent between sometime last night up to 32 seconds ago, asking where she was. She completely ignored it when she saw the time.

"Shit." She muttered under her breath, realizing she was going to be late for school she quickly pulled her black shorts on before picking up her top. She twirled the ripped up fabric in her hands with a depressed sigh.

"Good morning." Alison jumped, startled by the sudden noise as she looked over at Damon who was now facing her on the bed with a smirk.

"You ruined my shirt," The Gilbert girl tossed her top to Damon before walking over to the Salvatore's draw and shifting through for a shirt. She felt a gust of wind, then hands on her hips making her freeze in her spot. Her eyes colored white as a vision of an old stone cave filled with a dozen mummified people… or whatever they were, danced across Alison eyes.

Damon ghosted his nose over her neck where the bite mark was, taking in a huge breath of the sweet smell her blood had. Her eyes drained of the white and were once again a chocolate brown, her face scrunched up in confusion.

"What are you?" Alison asked quietly, taking a risk as she turned in his arms. Damon's eyes rimmed with red, and dark veins popped out against his pale face. Slowly, almost hesitantly, Alison reached her hands up and traced the dark lines with the tips of her fingers.

He relished in her touch, getting lost in the gentleness of it. He quickly snapped out of it, gripping her wrists in and inhumane grip and pulled her small hands away from his face. Alison didn't back down, or cower in fear, her eyes followed him, scrutinizing him. Damon's gaze danced over the blood that was still on Alison's neck, a hunger over taking him.

"Just another bite…" He whispered to himself, yet Alison heard him. Her first instinct was to be afraid, but then she stopped and looked at Damon, studied his face. It wasn't his normal, handsome face, yet Alison liked the way he looked like now. She liked the way the red made his blue eyes pop. The way it gave him a more edgy feel then he already had.

Alison pulled her wrist out of Damon's grip, which had loosened, and pulled back her hair exposing the other side of her neck. Damon looked up at the girl in shock, confusion.

"Well…" Alison looked at him expectantly. A smirk flickered across Damon's lips before he bit into the other side of Alison neck. Alison sucked in a sharp breath when his fangs penetrated her skin, but she didn't scream, instead she looked down at him, watching him, almost in… fascination.

…

Show me how to lie

You're getting better all the time

And turning all against the one

Is an art that's hard to teach

Another clever word

Sets off an unsuspecting herd

And as you step back into line

A mob jumps to their feet

The song played quietly as Damon drove Alison back to her own house to get changed for school, Damon's shirt would work for now but she was not going to school in it, just so Elena and Stefan would pester her with questions.

Alison was lost in her own thoughts as she watched the scenery outside flash by, when suddenly a thought occurred to her. She touched the two bite mark on her neck, looking at her faint reflection in the window. There was no blood just the marks, but that was enough for Elena to draw up the worst possible conclusion.

"Damon…" She spoke just loud enough for him to hear her over the music, although from what he told her he would've heard her either way. Damon glanced at her briefly to let her know he was listening. "How old are you?" She asked randomly.

"Physically 23. Technically 168." Damon answered with a shrug.

"Oh," Alison breathed out quietly, finally she looked over at Damon, her eyes roaming over his profile. "Do you like it?"

"Like what?"

"Being a vampire." Alison gave out a small chuckle like it was obvious. Damon paused for a moment in thought before nodding.

"Yeah, I do."

"It seems like it'd be fun," Alison smiled softly, shifting in her seat so she was looking out the front window. "Living forever, getting to do whatever you want."

The rest of the ride was silent except for the music, Alison reached over turning the dial slightly so she could hear the music more clearly.

Slowly out of line

And drifting closer in your sights

So play it out I'm wide awake

It's a scene about me

There's something in your way

And now someone is gonna pay

And if you can't get what you want

Well it's all because of me

…

Alison walked down the halls, fixing the black sheer scarf that was wrapped around her neck, hopefully Elena wouldn't think anything of it. Halfway to her class she saw Stefan and Elena standing out in the hallway talking.

"It's a loner thing." She heard Stefan say as she approached the two.

"What's a loner thing?" She asked, tilting her head in curiosity, both looked over to her at her sudden presence.

"Alison! Where have you been?!" Elena shrieked, looking at her sister wide eyed. Alison rolled her eyes, leaning her weight to one foot.

"Out. I'm almost 18 Elena, I can do things without reporting every detail of it to my little sister." Before Elena had anytime to retort to her older sister's comment, Stefan spoke up.

"Hey, uh, Alison are you going to be there for dinner tonight?" Stefan asked. Alison looked over at Elena with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I don't believe I was invited." Alison shook her head, with a fake smile. Elena sighed, shifting her weight to one foot, similar to Alison.

"Would you like to come? Stefan and Bonnie ae coming." Elena asked, with a tone of defeat. Alison shrugged her shoulders.

"Not that you had a choice considering I live in the same house as you, but sure."

"Great." Elena gave a small smile to Stefan before walking away. Alison leant up against the locker beside her and studied Stefan up and down.

"Do you like being a vampire?" She asked suddenly. Stefan snapped his attention to her, his face paling.

"What?" Stefan stared at her in shock.

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone, not that they'd believe me." Alison chuckled, shaking her head. Stefan leaned in closer to her, his face dead serious.

"Alison, who told you this?" He asked quietly.

"Damon. Why?" Alison looked at him in innocent confusion, not knowing what the big deal was. Stefan shook his head, before pushing himself up off the locker and walking away. Alison stood there, confusion clear on her face, not knowing why Stefan got so upset.

"Alison!" Alison turned to see Caroline walking up to her. "Where have you been?" Alison glanced over her shoulder in the direction that Stefan had left one last time before smiling at Caroline.

"With Damon Salvatore." Alison wiggled an eyebrow. Caroline stopped, looking at Alison with a raised eyebrow

"Salvatore? As in Stefan?" She asked curiously. Alison nodded with a smirk. "Omg, is that why you're wearing a scarf, cause you and Damon…" Caroline trailed off with a grin. Alison chuckled nervously as she fixed her scarf, suddenly paranoid of someone seeing the bites.

"Yeah, can't have Elena knowing."

"Don't worry, your secrets safe with me." Caroline wink hooking pinkies with Alison. The two girls shared a laugh before walking to their next classes.

…

After football tryouts Stefan went home, trying to get there as fast as he could. He entered his bedroom to see Damon there, reading his journal.

"How were tryouts? Did you make the team? Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many… adjectives." Damon said, as he flipped the page of Stefan's journal.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked, ripping the journal from Damon's hands and tossing it onto his bed.

"I've come to apologize," Damon stood up. "I've been doing some thinking, soul searching, and… I want us to start over. We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it too. That I can learn to be a nonliving, living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us"

Stefan looked at Damon confused by the sudden change of attitude, then Damon started laughing and Stefan's scowl returned.

"You know, Alison knows about vampires." Stefan crossed his arms.

"Duh, I told her and she was surprisingly calm about it," Damon shrugged his shoulder, looking through the cabinet that held all of Stefan's journals. "Speaking of Alison, I've got a date," He shut the cabinet doors and smirked at his younger brother. "Sweaty palms. Wish me luck." And with that Damon left.

…

Alison sat on the kitchen counter texting Caroline on her phone, only half paying attention to Elena and Bonnie's conversation.

"You explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial break comes on and I'm like: 'I bet it's that phone commercial.' And sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture." Bonnie explained, as she helped Elena set out the food.

Alison paused and looked up at bonnie with curiosity, if Damon and Stefan were vampire's, why couldn't Bonnie be a witch. It was possible.

"Maybe you are a witch." Alison shrugged. Both girl's looked at her.

"Oh, come on, that commercial's on a constant loop." Elena argued, not believing that Bonnie could actually be a witch.

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm totally obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22…"

Alison stopped listening to their conversation at that point, lost in her own thoughts. She wondered if when bonnie saw stuff, if it was like when she saw stuff, or if it was a completely different thing. She wondered if maybe, just maybe she was a witch too, or if she was something else. All she knew was that there was no way she was just any ordinary human.

She was snapped back to reality when the doorbell rang, sounding through the whole house. With a sigh Alison jumped off the counter as Elena made her way over to the door after telling Bonnie to be her 'normal, loving self'

"Birthday candles." Bonnie muttered before opening a drawer and seeing a pack of them inside. The bennet girl looked up at Alison wide eyed. Alison only shrugged with a small smirk, before sitting down at the table.

She was joined shortly after by everyone else. Elena sat at the head of the able, Bonnie to her left and Stefan to her right, Alison seated on the other side of Stefan.

"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Elena smiled and looked over at Bonnie.

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and-"

"I heard." Bonnie cut her off, not really caring. Seeing the defeated look on Elena's face made Alison sigh.

"Bonnie, why don't you tell Stefan about your family." Alison offered, with a grin. Bonnie looked at the eldest Gilbert confused but told Stefan anyway.

"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." She explained in short sentences.

"No, about the witches," Alison turned to Stefan with a smirk. "It's totally cool. I'm sure you can relate to that." Elena looked between her sister and her boyfriend confused by Alison's statement.

"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie muttered, not really paying attention to what Alison said.

"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan spoke, eager to get the topic off of him. "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druid that migrated here in the 1800's"

"My family came by way of Salem." Bonnie corrected.

"Really? Salem Witches?" Bonnie nodded. "I would say that's pretty cool."

"Really? Why?" Bonnie, set her fork down her full attention on Stefan now.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan gave a soft smile to the girl in front of him.

"Yeah, they are."

'Thank you' Elena mouthed to her older sister, who only winked. Once again the doorbell rang, confusing everyone except Alison who got up and made her way to the door.

"I wonder who that could be." Elena said to herself as she got up and followed her older sister to the door. Alison opened the door and smiled, leaning up against the door.

"Is showing up late your thing, or are you just not good with time." Alison joked. Elena's face clouded in confusion when she saw Damon standing in her doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked, coming up behind the two girls.

"Well, Alison invited me," Damon looked from his younger brother to Alison with a smirk. "Are you going to invite me in?" Damon asked Alison with a pointed look.

"Oh yeah," Alison tapped her forehead like she forgot. "You can-"

"No, no, no," Stefan quickly cut her off. "He can', uh… he can't stay. We're just finishing up." Stefan tried to excuse.

"It's fine." Elena said calmly to her boyfriend and nodded an okay to Alison.

"Come on in." Alison smiled softly as she motioned for Damon to enter.

"You have a beautiful home." Damon nodded as they migrated into the living room.

"Thank you." Elena gave a curt nod before sitting down near Stefan on one of the love seats.

"Wait so Mr. Tanner let you on the team?" Alison asked going back to the conversation from earlier. Stefan only nodded. "Tyler must be seething, ah that's great." Alison chuckled leaning back onto the couch.

"It's a little hot in here to be wearing a scarf, don't you think Alison?" Stefan asked casually, changing the topics.

"I'm fine, actually." Alison mumbled, tugging at the scarf slightly.

"So Elena, Alison told me about what happened to your parents," Damon said, quick to change the topic giving a look to his little brother. "I'm sorry. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die."

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan gave a fake smile, obviously uncomfortable about the topic.

"Oh, you what, you're right, Stef, I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up." Damon smirked slightly, noticing how both Leena and Stefan grew uncomfortable about the topic.

…

Damon walked into the kitchen, where Alison was doing dishes, carrying a wine glass in his hands.

"One more." Alison turned around with a smile.

"Thanks," She went to go grab it, but Damon 'accidently' dropped it then quickly caught the glass before it hit the ground. Alison chuckled, shaking her head. "Smooth, vampire reflexes." Alison guessed moving back over to the sink.

"Correct." Damon smirked, following the gilbert girl over to the sink. It was silent for a moment before Alison spoke up.

"Earlier, did you mean… Katherine?" She asked, almost hesitantly. Damon only nodded not making eye contact with the brunette. "How did she die?"

"In a fire. Tragic fire." Damon answered simply.

"Recently?" Alison asked looking up from the dishes.

"It seems like it was yesterday." Damon answered honestly, with a distant look in his eyes. Alison studied his face, her curiosity for the man before her only growing.

"What was she like?"

"She was beautiful. A lot like you and you're sister in that department," Damon added smoothly. "She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive." Damon finished with a shrug.

"So which one of you dated her first?" Alison asked with a small smirk.

"Nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine." Damon sighed leaning up against the counter.

"If I wanted to ask Stefan, I would've asked Stefan. I asked you for a reason." Alison leant up against the counter next to him looking up into his crystal eyes.

"That, my dear Alison, is a story for a later time." Damon said after a long silence pushing himself up off the counter and exiting back into the living room. Alison only watched him leave with a sigh, before calling out to him.

"Damon," He turned and looked at her curiously. "I'm sorry. About Katherine. You lost her, too." Damon only stared at her silently for a long silent moment before heading back into the living room where Elena, Bonnie and Stefan were talking.

"Alison was wondering if you two would go help her." Damon leant over the back of the couch pointing back into the kitchen. Both girls shared look before getting up and heading into the kitchen.

"She's a person Damon," Stefan said suddenly as soon as both girls were out of hearing range. Damon looked over to his little brother confused before he saw Stefan glance over at Alison who was in the kitchen. "She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to."

"Sure she does," Damon sat down on the couch casually. "They all do. They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking."

"All right, you've had your fun. You used Alison, you got to meet Elena. Now it's time for you to leave Alison alone." Stefan said seriously.

"Have you ever considered for half a second, that maybe I'm not compelling Alison. That maybe just maybe she chose to do this." Damon said giving his brother a pointed look.

"See, maybe I would believe that, if it wasn't for the fact you're a monster," Stefan said bluntly, a glare focused on his older brother. "And now it's time for you to go."

"That's not a problem. Because… I've been invited in," Damon reminded his younger brother, tauntingly. "And I'll come back tomorrow night, and the following night and I'll do with Alison, or Elena, whatever I want to do. Because that is what is normal to me."

…

That night Alison was sitting in her room, finishing the off the final touches of her sketch. The end product was of herself, her eyes solid with, a dark hand pressed up against, almost as if trapped in her eyes. A soft breeze, blew in from her window followed by a crow, then she felt a presence behind her.

"That's not creepy." The bed sunk in next to her as Damon sat down, looking over her shoulder at the drawing.

"I know right," Alison said sarcastically as she closed her book and tossed it onto her nightstand before sitting up. "You know there's a football game at the school tomorrow night."

"You're talking to the wrong Salvatore, school events are defiantly more a Stefan thing." Damon laid back, his hands behind his head.

"Right," Alison sighed getting up and moving over to her vanity and started to brush out her hair. "What happened between you and Stefan?" She asked after a long silence, glancing up at Damon through the mirror. Damon looked over at the brunette, that distant look returning to his eyes.

"He's the reason I'm a vampire." Damon muttered.

"But I thought you liked being a vampire." Alison placed her brush down, turning to him with a look of confusion.

"Yeah, I do."

"So there's more to it then." Alison deduced causing a small smirk to flicker across Damon's lips.

"Much more." Damon muttered before turning on his side and patting the bed beside him. Alison got up, flicked off her lights, and then climbed under the covers facing Damon, his blue eyes still as bright as ever in the darkness.

"Are you going to tell me?" She asked quietly.

"Eventually." Damon breathed out, before motioning for Alison to turn around. She did so, turning her back to him and immediately Damon wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her in closer to his chest.

...

Alison sighed in boredom as she listened to Mr. Tanner introduced Stefan as the starting on the offense. It wasn't until she heard the sound of Vicki screaming when Alison perked up. She jumped up out of her seat and went running over to where she heard the noise coming from, only to see Tyler and Jeremy fighting.

"Oh my…" Alison didn't get a chance to do anything about it since Stefan came running over and pulled Tyler off of the youngest Gilbert.

"Hey, he's down! Enough!" Stefan said sternly. Tyler only punched Stefan in the face, only to see it had no effect on the Salvatore, successfully scaring Tyler.

"Jeremy, no!" Elena screamed as she came running over. Jeremy picked up a broken bottle and slashed it at Tyler. The Lockwood boy moves out of the way, so the broken glass instead cut's Stefan.

"Tyler, knock it off! Stop!" Now it was Matt's turn to come running over. Stefan looked down at his bleeding hand, watching the cut slowly heal.

"Okay, what happened?" Alison asked loudly getting everyone to look at her while Elena checked out Stefan's hand, but the older Gilbert already knew it would heal. Stefan was a vampire. "Are you drunk?" She asked her little brother gripping his face checking out his cuts.

"I'm fine." Jeremy snapped.

"You dumbass, haven't I taught you anything." Gripping Jeremy's face tighter so he couldn't walk away from her. "Never fight while you're drunk, it's a sure loss." Alison looked up to see Tyler storming away, she sighed, letting go of Jeremy and chasing after Tyler.

"Tyler!" She called. He didn't respond. This continued until the two were in on an empty street away from everyone's prying eyes. "What the hell was that?" She asked pointing back to the football field.

"Why are you only yelling at me about this?! Why don't you go talk to your brother who, by the way, won't stop hitting on my girlfriend?" Tyler nearly shouted, the vein popping out on his forehead.

"Because, although I may not like Vicki, I know she deserves someone a lot better than a dick like you." Tyler stalked over to Alison trapping her up against a wall, a hand on either side of her face caging her in.

"Someone like that guy who dropped you off at school the other day?" Tyler asked quietly, and instantly Alison knew they weren't talking about Vicki anymore.

"That's not any of your business." Alison muttered, scowling at the boy in front of her. Tyler chuckled lightly.

"But it is my business, cause your mine." He whispered leaning in closer, pressing his lips to hers. Alison shoved him away in disgust.

"Don't touch me," Tyler scowled at her, shaking his head he gripped her arms pinning her against the wall roughly before ravishing her neck. "Stop it! Don't touch me!"

…

Damon walked up to the football field to see Matt walking away from Stefan, having heard their entire conversation.

"Isn't that nice? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so, 'rah, rah, go team, yeah!'" Damon fist bumped the air with fake enthusiasm.

"Not tonight, I'm done with you." Stefan shook his head and walked away from his older brother.

"I guess I'll just find Alison and you know… eat her." Stefan stopped and turned back around.

"No," He shook his head with a shrug. "You're not gonna hurt her."

"No?" Damon challenged.

"Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside you that you may have actually become the monster you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?" Damon asked with a chuckle, but Stefan only continued in his theory.

"Then kill me." Stefan challenged his brother, holding is hands out welcoming for Damon to try.

"Well, I'm… I'm tempted." Damon smirked but made no move to try and kill his younger brother.

"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting. After 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity."

"Salvatore!" Mr. Tanner shouted, as he walked over to the two brothers. "What the hell? We've got a game to play!"

"If that's my humanity… then what's this?" Damon sped over to Tanner and ripped his throat out.

"NO!" Stefan screamed, but it was too late.

"Anyone, anytime, any-" Damon stopped himself, his ears perking up. "Alison." He whispered before vamp speeding away. Stefan having heard Alison's name sped after his older brother. The two stopped on and empty street seeing Tyler pining Alison against the wall, and the girl trying her hardest to shove him away, tears in her eyes.

Damon ripped Tyler off of Alison and stood in front of the Lockwood, blocking him form Alison. The Gilbert girl fell into Stefan's open arms clinging to him like her life depended on it.

"This is your new boyfriend, right?" Tyler looked over at Alison who only buried herself deeper into Stefan's chest. "You need to learn to back off what's already taken." Tyler pointed a threatening finger in Damon's face.

"Yeah, you see," Damon bent Tyler's finger backwards, earning a shout of pain from the boy. "Considering how this little stunt of yours turned out," Damon gestured to a shaking Alison. "She defiantly doesn't belong to you, so I'll take whatever I want."

Tyler glared up at Damon, but didn't move as he clutched his hand to his chest. Damon gripped Tyler's chin roughly, forcing the Lockwood boy to look at him. "Go! And if I ever see you come near Alison again… I will kill you." Tyler's eyes dilated as he was compelled. Calmly the he got up and walked away heading towards the football field once more.

"Damon-"

"Just take her home Stefan." Damon looked down at Alison with a certain look in his eyes before vamp speeding away.

…

Later that night Alison laid in her bed, curled up in her blankets, the moon shining in through the window and illuminating her face. A flutter of wind blew by as Damon appeared in the room, looking down at Alison as she slept. He gentle caressed her cheek.

Alison jolted awake and looked around, Damon no longer there.