A/N: My longest chapter yet. This chapter was really exciting for me to write, and I loved every minute I spent writing it. Where last chapter did not come easily, this one flew onto the paper. I really hope you like it.

Warning: Writing of a pregnant, sentimental, sappy and hopeless romantic ahead. Enter at your own risk. Angst, drama and cliches - you've been warned.

Chapter 14

They were quiet the whole way to the airport. They weren't sharing a flight back to Mystic Falls, and Elena thought it was only fitting that they would arrive home separately. She had the later flight, but she'd decided to go the airport and see him off. She wanted to say goodbye to him, and what they'd shared properly. Their farewell would be closure.

As they walked into the airport she tried not to think about how amazing their last night together had been. If she remembered how gentle he'd been, or how he'd looked at her during the last time they'd made love, she would surely fall apart. She blinked back the tears, because she didn't want to ruin this moment. She didn't want him to see how hard this was for her.

"So," she said to him, when the moment came for him to go through the gate.

"So," he echoed.

"This is it."

"Yeah."

Damon wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. They stood wrapped in each other's embrace, until the final boarding message was played over the speakers.

"I have to go," he whispered in her ear.

She forced herself to look up and meet his eyes.

"That last week really flew," she said, trying not to choke on the words.

She had a lump in her throat that felt like a golf ball. His kiss was painfully sweet, and when he pulled away, Elena knew it was officially over.

"I'll see you back in Mystic Falls."

She could only nod. Once he turned around, she walked straight towards the exit. She couldn't bear one more goodbye, and she couldn't stand to see his plane take off. As she neared the doors, she literally sprinted out of them, and into a waiting cab. She gave the address of her hotel to the driver, and then she burst into tears.

Damon took his seat on the plane and told himself he'd done the right thing. For once in his life he was putting someone before himself. If he'd unburdened himself, and told her he loved her, she would have believed he was capable of giving her the relationship she wanted. He wasn't. It had physically hurt to walk away from her; his chest felt tight, he was having trouble breathing, and his heart actually ached.

Wanting a distraction from what he was feeling, he rummaged through his carry-on and found his pen and black notebook. He opened the cover and flipped to the first empty page. The blank screen, and the blank page had been too much of a hurdle in the past months, but it wasn't this time. Whatever Katherine had turned off when they broke up, had been turned back on. The words flowed easily, and by the time the plane landed, he had no idea what his book was about, but he knew he had something.

When Elena arrived home Mystic Falls it was late, and her apartment was cold, dark and empty.

"Mr Blobby," she called, turning on the light.

She waited for Mr Blobby to meow and grace her with his company, before she remembered that Mr Blobby was with Bonnie. She was completely and utterly alone. If she hadn't shed all of her tears earlier, she would have cried now. She fiddled with the heating, turned on every light in the apartment and put the TV on, desperate for noise and company of any kind.

The last three weeks Elena had had someone to share her meals with; her bed with, and her nights with. Her evenings had been filled with conversation and love making, and while she would never regret it, coming back to her isolated existence was harsh and heart-breaking. How had she let herself become so lonely? Why had she neglected her personal life for so long? It didn't matter. What mattered was that she'd changed. She felt as if she was spreading her wings as a woman. She felt as if Damon had helped her find a part of herself that had been buried and almost shattered years ago. Now she needed to give herself time to create the life she wanted. She ignored the thought that that life involved Damon.

She began to unpack, and when she emptied her purse, her mobile spilled onto the counter. She contemplated calling him. It couldn't hurt to make sure he got home okay. He was still her client. She picked up the phone and scrolled through the phone for his number. She lingered with her finger over the call button for thirty seconds, before she put the phone down and took a breath. What would she say to him? 'I miss you desperately and I can't bear not to hear the sound of your voice for a night.' She wasn't that pathetic. He had walked away from her today; just like he said he would all along. There had been no sappy airport scene where he'd run after her and declared his love for her. This wasn't a movie, or a romance novel; this was real life where the girl didn't always get the guy.

When Elena crawled into her bed, she noticed the bed sheets were cold. She missed his warmth; she missed his touch, she missed him. She read an old mystery she had lying around, trying to put herself to sleep. Once an hour had passed, and she was still wide-eyed, and alert, she gave up. She opened the top draw of her bedside table and looked at Ian. Nope, she couldn't; not tonight. Maybe in a week, when she didn't remember quite so well what it felt like to be touched and caressed with real hands and lips. She knew now that the fantasy didn't live up to the reality. She sighed, turned off her lamp, and closed her eyes, hoping sleep would eventually claim her.

The next day was Wednesday, and she returned to work straight away. While she'd had the option of taking a few days off, she didn't want to stay in her apartment after being surrounded by people for the past four weeks. Damon on the other hand had nothing scheduled for another week or so.

They had agreed to work together to get to the bottom of this thing with Katherine, but she couldn't bring herself to call him and ask if he was still going to help her. Besides, she could contact Rose and speak to Bonnie herself, anyway. She tried to get in touch with Rose several times during the next three days, but she didn't get an answer. She left a message twice, and hoped Rose would call her back.

Bonnie had had food poisoning when Elena went to pick up Mr Blobby, and even though Elena was desperate to share her problem, she decided it could wait. They had agreed to meet up at Ric's on Friday and Elena thought it could wait until then.

She tried not to feel frustrated by the fact she had encountered a couple of set-backs, but she found it difficult not having anyone to talk to. She thought about calling Damon everyday, but she kept telling herself she could deal with this on her own. He would call her if he wanted to help. By Friday she hadn't heard anything from him. She wondered if he missed her the way she missed him. Did he think about her at all?

When she walked into Ric's on Friday, she looked around for him straight away. She was swamped with disappointment when she didn't see him. She looked around for her girls, but they weren't at the usual table. It took a moment to spot them in one of the booths towards the back of the building. After ordering her drink, she made her way over to the booth where they were both sitting.

"New spot?" Elena asked them.

"Some guys from the accounting firm down the street get here before us on Fridays now," Caroline told her grumpily.

Elena looked at the group sitting at the table, and saw Stefan was among them. She deliberated walking over and saying hi, but decided not to. She needed to try and stop thinking about her client, and talking to his brother wouldn't help. She sat at the table and looked at the two girls sitting opposite her. Bonnie still looked off color, and Caroline looked miserable.

They all needed to talk, Elena thought. After asking a few questions, she found out that Caroline had been seeing a guy who had just dumped her by SMS an hour ago, and Bonnie was still feeling sick after her bout of food poisoning. After counseling her friends, they finally asked her to fill them in on the book tour.

"I need legal advice," Elena told her friends.

"I'm your woman," said Bonnie, twirling the straw in her glass.

Elena took a deep breath and blew it out. "Can I be fired for sleeping with my client?"

"You slept with Damon?" Caroline squealed.

"Shh. You can't tell anyone."

"Of course," Caroline said, sounding slightly offended. "I would never."

"What were you thinking, E?" Bonnie asked.

"What's to think about?" quipped Caroline. "He's Damon Salvatore."

"Exactly," Bonnie said, shaking her head, "the man is a notorious womanizer and chauvinist. I thought you wanted a relationship."

"I do," Elena told her friend. "We had a fling. It was fun. It's over."

Her heart squeezed painfully as she said the word over.

"And you're okay?" Bonnie asked her.

"I'm fine. I'm better than fine; I'm great. I have a new lease on life."

"Well in answer to your question; if the company has rules against it, then yes, you can be fired."

"Great," Elena muttered. "What if we both denied it?"

"One of you would need to admit to it," Bonnie told her. "You can't be fired if both of you state it isn't true, and they have no proof."

"What if someone else came forward and said it happened?"

"If you and Damon both denied it, they wouldn't have the law behind them, but that might not stop them from firing you anyway."

"Is that grounds for unfair dismissal?"

"I'd have to look into it. But obviously you trust him not to say anything, and you don't have to worry about anyone stepping forward." There was a pause. "Do you?"

Elena sighed and filled the two of them in on Katherine and the fact she was working with someone to get her fired.

"And you still slept with him, after all that?" Bonnie asked in a voice laced with disapproval.

"I'll bet it was worth it," Caroline said, breaking the tense mood by giggling.

Elena broke into a smile, and nodded. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"I want to hear everything," Caroline told her.

"I don't kiss and tell," Elena said, unable to keep her grin from spreading.

"Come on, Elena," Bonnie said, picking up on her friend's happiness, and smiling a little now. "No holding out. We're your girlfriends. If it really was that good, I want to hear all about it."

"Okay," Elena said, choosing to share some of the less juicy and personal parts of her time on tour.

By the time she'd finished dishing the dirt, the three girls were laughing and talking, and Elena felt great. Then she saw him enter the bar. She knew it was him right away. She felt dizzy as the breath left her lungs, and her heart started slamming against her rib cage. It had been three and a half days since she'd seen him, and she felt so nervous. She was wondering if she should go up and say hi, when he turned around and put his arm around the blonde who had walked in behind him.

"Isn't that Damon?" Bonnie asked, noticing Elena staring into the distance. "Who is he with?"

"I don't know," Elena said.

"It's probably his sister," Caroline said optimistically.

"I don't think he has one," she told Caroline.

When the blonde leaned in and kissed Damon on the lips, all of them knew it wasn't his sister. Elena's question had been answered; he hadn't missed her at all.

"Do you want to go?" Bonnie asked, when Damon took a seat at the bar.

Elena shook her head, arranging her hair so it covered the side of her face. They had a booth in the back where they couldn't be seen very well. If she got up, Damon might see her, and she didn't want the awkward conversation of, 'hey, this is the new chick I'm banging.'

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked her.

"I'm fine," Elena told both of them. "It was just sex."

If that was the truth, Elena thought, why did it feel as if her heart was being torn in two right now? Why did seeing him with someone else literally make her feel sick?

"It doesn't bother you at all?" Bonnie asked.

The truth was she hadn't been prepared for this; she hadn't been prepared for what it would feel like to actually see him with someone else. It wasn't even Katherine; it was someone new. Elena thought she could walk away, and shelve the feelings she had for him, but now that seemed like naïve and foolish thinking. The feelings that had been building from the start were still there, stronger than ever.

"Elena?"

"Sorry, Bonnie, what did you ask me?"

Bonnie studied her for a moment before voicing Elena's biggest fear. "God, Elena, you're in love with him."

Elena wanted to deny it, and tell her friend she was crazy, but the words rang with so much truth, she was left speechless.

"Tell me you're not," Bonnie said to her, when Elena remained quiet.

"We said we would both walk away. It wasn't meant to happen."

"But it did," Bonnie finished for her.

"Oh, Elena," Caroline said, moving around to Elena's side of the booth, so she could sit with her, and put her arm around her. Bonnie reached over and put her hand over Elena's.

"I'll be fine," she told her girlfriends.

Bonnie and Caroline nodded. That sat quietly for a while, all of them darting glances towards the bar. Fortunately he never looked their way. Damon and his companion left the bar about an hour after they'd arrived. Elena wanted to cry when she saw them leave together. They were probably going back to his place, or to hers. She knew his routine well; a couple of drinks with light conversation, and then hours and hours of sex.

She was feeling pretty stupid right about now. She'd just spent the better part of thirty minutes telling her girlfriends how amazing her time away had been. Having them witness the man she'd been talking about walk into the bar with someone else was humiliating. She felt like she'd been publicly slapped in the face. It was unfortunate that she had had to see him with another woman for her to realize what she really felt for him. Not that her feelings mattered. Their thing was over.

She felt the prick of tears behind her eyes, but she would not cry them. Even if what they had shared meant little to him, it had still been life changing for her. She took a deep breath and remembered he'd given her a confidence boost in the bedroom that she had desperately needed. He'd made her see herself a different way. He had made a difference in her life, and now it was time to move on.

Once Damon and his blonde were long gone, and Elena felt she could move, she went up to the bar to buy another round of drinks. On her way back to the table, she bumped into someone.

"You know that's the second time you've bumped into me in two months."

"Stefan," Elena said, sipping the beer that had spilled onto her hand. "Hi."

"Hi," he said, smiling. "Damon was here. He told me you guys just got back from your tour."

"Third day back," she told him.

Her gaze drifted across to the guy Stefan was standing next to. He reminded her a little of Damon. His hair was dark, but it was short and spiky. His eyes were blue, but they were a dark, intense blue, and he was wearing a leather jacket over a black shirt.

"This is Chris," Stefan told her. "Chris, this is Elena."

"Let me grab those for you," Chris said to her, taking two of the drinks off her.

"Thanks," she said to him, with a smile.

He smiled back at her, revealing dimples. He was cute.

"The guys were just leaving, but it looks like you're staying. Mind if we join you?"

"Sure," she told Stefan.

She didn't want to spend time with Damon's brother right now, but it would be rude to say no. They followed her back to the booth.

"Bonnie, Caroline, this is Stefan and Chris."

They both said hi, though Bonnie gave her a strange look.

"Stefan is Damon's brother," Elena explained. "I met him at Damon's party a while ago."

"I was at that party. I don't remember seeing you there." Caroline said, perking up considerably when she laid eyes on Stefan.

Caroline very obviously ran her eyes over him. Elena cringed inwardly, but Stefan seemed more amused by it than anything. Elena sat in the booth and Chris slid in next to her. Stefan pulled a chair away from a table, where it wasn't being used, and parked himself next to Caroline. After an initial moment of awkwardness, conversation flowed well, and the five of them had a good time together.

"I waited for you, for seven years, and now it's too late."

"I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you every day for a year."

"You wrote me?"

"Yes! It wasn't over. It still isn't over."

Elena let the tears fall, as she watched Ryan Gosling kiss Rachel McAdams on the screen. Now they had chemistry. Noah and Allie were meant to be together. Why couldn't real life be like that? She had given herself permission to spend Saturday night crying, under the guise of watching sappy movies. The tears were streaking down her face when someone knocked on her apartment door. Looking at the clock on the wall, she saw it was nine o'clock. She wiped her eyes, and walked to the door so she could look through the peephole. Damon. What was he doing here?

"Open up, Elena," he said, sounding tired. "Come on, I saw you look at me."

When she heard him tap on the peephole, she opened the door in a hurry. "You're not supposed to be able to see me."

He smirked at her as he walked in. Right, he hadn't seen her at all. The scent of his aftershave brought back memory after memory of their time away together.

"It's nine o'clock," she told him abruptly.

Elena had no idea why the first thing out of her mouth was the time. Damon raised an eyebrow, and looked her over. She crossed her arms defensively; aware this wasn't her finest moment. Her hair was in a messy ponytail; her eyes were probably puffy from crying, and she was wearing a shirt that was too small and sweatpants. She wasn't even wearing a bra. Apparently that didn't matter; he still wanted her. The look of desire on his face, and her answering arousal, angered her. He hadn't spoken a word to her since they arrived back home, and he'd moved on. How dare he show up at her home and make her want him again.

"I went to see Rose today," he said to her.

"You've spoken to Rose? I've been trying to get in touch with her since Tuesday."

"She's out of town, working with the horses of some friends of hers in the country."

"I left her messages," Elena told him.

"She doesn't get reception out there."

"Then how…?"

"I had time. I tracked her down."

"Why would you do that?"

He looked at her as if she had been dropped on her head. "I said I would help. I'm here because I thought you might want to hear what she said."

"At nine o'clock at night?"

"I just got back into town after a four hour drive. I'm tired, I'm hungry and I just want a drink, but if you're busy I can leave."

His anger caught her off guard and she felt guilty straight away. He did look tired.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Don't go to any trouble," he flung at her, giving her a dark look.

"I'm sorry," she told him, feeling ashamed by her lack of hospitality when he'd spent so much time helping her. "Do you want coffee, beer, or Coke?"

It wasn't his fault she'd done the stupid thing and fallen in love with him. She knew the rules. It wasn't his fault that she desperately wanted more of him, and more from him. It wasn't his fault she'd missed him terribly, and having him in her apartment felt not only unreal, but too good to be true.

"Coffee," he said. Then he changed his mind, "actually, make that a beer."

"One beer coming up."

She motioned for him to have a seat on one of the bench stools, before opening the fridge and taking out a beer. She turned on the kettle, and put a teabag into her mug.

"Do you want something to eat?" she asked, remembering he'd said he was hungry.

"What have you got?" he asked her.

"I can make pasta."

"Have you eaten?"

"Yes, but I don't mind making something," she told him. He looked at her like he didn't believe her. "Really, I want to. You've been on the road for how long today?"

"Eight hours in total."

"I think that definitely deserves a meal," she said to him.

"At nine o'clock at night?" he asked; his lips quirking into a smile. A smile she'd missed far too much.

She found her gaze lingering on his lips for a moment too long. When her gaze flicked up to meet his, his eyes had darkened. She turned away quickly, before he saw her flush. She started taking out pots and pans and tried to distract herself from the fact that she was making dinner for the man she loved, in her apartment, on a Saturday night.

Damon watched as Elena started chopping an onion. She looked good; no, she looked amazing. He'd been able to get through no more than four days without seeing her. He'd purposely taken this trip today, so he had a legitimate excuse to visit his publicist. Not that Elena was happy to see him. He told himself he wasn't hurt over her lack of welcome, but she obviously hadn't missed him the way he'd missed her.

Working on his novel was the only thing that had stopped him from banging her door down, and demanding to see her. Even when he was writing, she was still on his mind all the time. In fact, he found himself wondering constantly, 'what would Elena think about this?'

Last night he'd been so desperate to see her that he'd driven to her apartment and waited for her to come home from work. When she hadn't shown up, he'd left her apartment thinking he needed to do something to stop thinking about her. They'd ended their affair for a reason. It was dangerous to continue their affair in Mystic Falls, and he didn't want to risk hurting her. He needed a distraction.

Missy Taylor was always up for a booty call, and she'd been only too happy to hear from him. When she'd suggested they go to Ric's Bar and Grill, he'd tried to talk her out of it, thinking Elena might be there. Fortunately he hadn't seen Elena there, but he'd been nervous about running into her anyway. He wasn't doing anything wrong, but it had felt wrong. Despite the fact he'd had every intention of sleeping with Missy, when they left the bar, he'd dropped her home and told her he had an early morning.

"Damon?"

"Hmm?"

"I asked you what Rose said. How did you even get her to talk to you?"

"I told her I was a friend of yours; but she remembered I was your client."

"You didn't tell her we've been sleeping together, did you?"

"She figured it out."

"Damon…"

"You don't need to worry about Rose, Elena. You have a much bigger problem."

Her eyes widened, and she stopped stirring the sauce.

"Who is it? Who's working with Katherine?"

"It's your boss."

"Elijah? Why?"

"That, I don't know. Rose and the other girls were all targeted, but for different reasons."

"Do you know what they were?"

"Lexie had a sexual harassment case pending against Elijah. Conveniently that was dropped when she was dismissed. Elijah tried to blackmail Anna into sleeping with him, after she slept with her client."

"And Rose?"

"And Rose had just gained access to information that could bring down Mystic Falls PR."

"Why hasn't she used it?"

"Because one, she doesn't have access anymore, and two, Elijah made sure her name was dirt to everyone in town. No-one will believe her."

"Bonnie told me that the client or the employee needs to admit to a relationship for someone to be sacked legally."

"The client admitted it in all three cases," Damon told her.

"Katherine," she said quietly. "They all did it for her."

Elena turned back to the stove, so he couldn't see her face.

"I won't say anything, Elena. You can trust me."

She nodded, and kept stirring, and Damon wondered if she believed him. She had no clue how he felt about her. He was still calling himself all kinds of fool for falling in love with her. Love wasn't an emotion that sat well with him, because he didn't trust himself to do the right thing with it. She turned back to face him.

"It still doesn't explain why I'm being targeted."

"I know," he told her. "But you were right about one thing."

"What's that?"

"They are starting their own company. If you want to buy in, Rose said you're more than welcome to. She said she'd need to talk to the other girls first, but there shouldn't be a problem."

"That's nice of her," she told him quietly.

"It would be tough. Rose is worried that the mud Elijah has smeared about all of them will keep people away. The offer is there anyway."

If Elijah even so much as laid a finger on Elena, Damon would make sure he regretted it for the rest of his life. He didn't want Elena working there anymore, but he couldn't tell her to quit her job. If she decided she wanted to stay, he would just do everything he could do to protect her.

Elena nodded. "I'll think about it. This is ready," she told him, turning off the gas.

Elena served Damon's food onto a plate, and tried to process the information he'd just given her. While the information was something she needed, and wanted to know, she just felt worse after hearing it. Her boss and colleague were out to get her, and she had no idea why. Damon looked like he was close to falling asleep on his seat.

"Come on," she said to him. "Sit on the couch, you'll be more comfortable."

He took his plate over to the couch. She made herself a cup of tea and joined him.

"Were you watching something?" he asked her.

"I'm half way through a movie," she answered him.

"Don't stop on my account. What are you watching?" he asked her.

"The notebook."

"Maybe it can wait until I leave then."

She smirked, and turned it off. She didn't want to continue it now anyway. Noah and Allie were about to make love, and she didn't want watch that with Damon sitting beside her. When she put the case back, she perused her DVD collection for a man friendly movie. That went something along the lines of; nope, nope, definitely not.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off or Breakfast Club?" she asked him, settling on the only movies he might find acceptable.

"What's your preference?" he asked her.

"Breakfast Club."

"Breakfast Club then."

She put the disk into the player and sat on the opposite end of the couch. They fell into a companionable silence as Damon ate, and the movie started. When he finished his meal, he put his plate down on the coffee table and she expected him to leave. Instead he sat back against the couch and kept watching. About fifteen minutes later, she noticed his eyes were closed. She was still trying to decide what she should do about that, when her eyelids started to feel heavy.

The next thing she knew, she could hear 'Don't You Forget About Me', playing in the background, and she realized the movie had ended. She shifted slightly. Her head was lying against a hard male chest. She blinked a few times, before looking up. He was looking down at her. His arm was around her, and she was completely curled up against him.

Her heart skipped a beat as they stared at each other intently for a moment. Then his head descended and his lips were on hers. Her pulse skyrocketed at the contact. The first few kisses were soft and gentle, nothing more than lips softly touching. As soon as his tongue swept into her mouth she literally melted from the heat engulfing her body. Her hands grabbed hold of his shirt, and she lay back, pulling him with her so she could feel his delicious weight on top of her. She could feel him against her in all the right places as he proceeded to kiss her senseless.

Considering how she felt about him this was probably the stupidest idea ever. When his hand reached under her top, and came into contact with her bare breasts, she moaned and decided she didn't care. Their kisses grew longer, hotter, wetter. They moved against each other like they were having sex, but their clothes were in the way and it wasn't enough.

"Damon, please," she pleaded.

He looked at her now. "We're meant to be stopping this."

"I want you," she told him. "I need this. Just a quick one."

"A quick one," he said, more to himself than to her.

She wanted him to make her feel the way he had while they were on tour together. As soon as he sat up, and she could see he was taking off his clothes, she removed her bottoms. She didn't even have time to take off her top before he'd settled himself between her legs. He slid his hand between her thighs, and found her ready. She was so aroused, she couldn't wait any longer.

"Now," she said to him. "I'm ready…oh, my God, Damon."

The sensation of suddenly being filled by him was even better than she remembered.

"Elena," he grunted. "How quick do you want it?"

He started to move, and she was lost to the sensation of it. She'd thought she wanted it hard and fast, but it felt so good to have him inside of her again. Every time he moved, she found herself sliding closer and closer to the edge. She was tingling now, from head to toe.

"Don't stop," she told him. "Don't ever stop."

He groaned, pushing her top up so he could look at her breasts. When he took one of the ripe peaks in his mouth and suckled on it, it was too much for her. Wave after wave of intense pleasure rocked her body, leaving her breathless and clinging to him.

"I can't last much longer," he said to her.

She'd barely finished one orgasm, before she felt the next one started to build.

"I don't ever want it to end," she told him.

Their eyes locked. Elena saw the question in his eyes, and she worried she'd given too much away. Wanting to hide from the eyes that were searching hers, she gently pulled his head towards her so she could kiss him. She kissed him hungrily, trying to make him forget what she'd said. As their kisses became more urgent and their movements became more frantic, Elena felt her body soaring higher and higher, until her body reached a new peak. She wrenched her mouth away from his, as she came undone.

"Damon," she sung.

"Elena," he chanted, as he fell apart right along with her.

They put their clothes on in silence. Damon sat on the couch once he'd dressed. Elena could feel his eyes on her. She didn't know what he thought about what they'd just done, and she didn't want to know. It was supposed to be over, but she may as well have begged him for it. Right now she felt vulnerable, raw, and exposed. As soon as she could muster up the courage, she glanced at him. He was leaning back with his hands folded behind his head. He looked like he was about to fall asleep again.

"You should stay," she told him.

Having him here overnight was not going to help the situation at all, but didn't want him to drive home when he was so tired.

"I'll be fine. I just need coffee," he said to her, his eyes half closed.

"Don't stay the night then, just get a couple hours rest and then go."

He looked at her warily, and she could see him weighing up the options of falling asleep like he wanted to, and running out the door.

"Maybe just a couple hours," he said to her. "Do you want me to sleep on the couch?"

"You'll be more comfortable in a bed."

The damage was already done. His sleeping on the couch wouldn't change anything.

"Lead the way," he said to her.

A/N: These characters are making progress, I assure you, but it is slow. I could have written more of a separation here, but they weren't quite ready for that. Looking ahead, there is a strong possibility one is coming, but these characters always have a habit of surprising me. Damon, Stefan and Chris will all be back next chapter.

So, I know it was a long one, but I didn't want to stop writing this chapter. Thanks for reading, and please review.