a/n: I felt so bad about leaving you all like that this morning, so here I am with a new chapter for you all. I promise this story will be completed. I may leave you with cliffhangers but I will never abandon a story, even if I end up having to end it ridiculously lol Happy Reading!

"Someone start fucking explaining, right now." Damon hissed through gritted teeth as he came around to stand next to Stefan.

"Hello to you too." Katherine leaned back and took in the site of her ex-lovers. "Long time, no talk."

"Cut the bullshit Katherine. What's going on."

"There's no need to be so rude." The female vampire feigned hurt and threw a look at Elena. "Tell them what we've been up to."

Elena's eyes widened, confusion and anger clouding her eyes. "I really don't think that's any of their business."

Damon seemed to really notice Elena for the first time, and since their fight from the night before hadn't exactly ended on his terms, he was more than ready to keep fighting. "Is this why you left town?" he pointed to Katherine. "You went to get her?"

"Such charm, such glass." Katherine smirked, looking up at Damon. "You know, if you keep yelling at her, she might find the urge to yell back."

"Shut up Katherine." He said, not taking his eyes from Elena. "Explain."

"I don't have to explain anything to you." Elena pushed herself up from the booth and brushed past Damon, quicker than he'd expected. She was stomping off to the bathroom before he could grab her.

"Well go after her." Stefan said, obvious exasperation in his voice.

"No. You go." Damon crossed his arms, ignoring the eye roll from Katherine. He was not in the mood for her attitude anymore than he was in the mood to deal with Elena's anger.

"It's not my job to dry her eyes anymore brother, you took that over whether you like it or not." Stefan turned his eyes on Katherine. "I'll stay here and watch her."

At a loss Damon huffed and went in search of Elena. Katherine smiled sweetly, standing so she and Stefan were inches apart. "Happy to see me?"

"Depends on why you're here."

Katherine found comfort in the fact that at least that wasn't a no. "I can't tell you." She pouted for a moment, running her manicured finger down the front of his tshirt. "It's girl stuff you wouldn't understand anyway."

Stefan snorted, backing her back into the booth. "You're hardly a girl Katherine. You're a vampire remember."

"Ah," she agreed, wrapping her hand around his wrist and tugging him easily into the booth next to her. People were beginning to look thanks to the scene Damon and Elena had unraveled. "yet I still have the cravings, the urges that come with being a woman, and since I know we were so good together at one time, I'm sure we would be even better now."

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not interested?" Stefan asked, leering at the girl he thought he'd once loved.

"Until you start to believe it yourself." She allowed the sweet girl he'd first fallen for come out, and giggled, before the veins under her eyes darkened and she leaned forward to kiss the side of his neck. "Elena doesn't want you anymore, and judging by the way you sent Damon after her, she's hardly your number one any longer. Give it a chance Stefan, give us a chance."

Stefan threaded his fingers through her curls, tilting her head back as if he was going to kiss her, slowly leaning down. Katherine could feel the air thicken with anticipation between them, but the spell was swiftly broken when he threw her against the back of the booth. "You're seduction tactics won't work on me Katherine. I don't love you anymore."

He pushed himself up and turned to look back at her, waiting for the inevitable last word she was no doubt planning to say. "You will realize Stefan, maybe not today or tomorrow but you will realize, and you will remember what it's like to love me. If I have to spend the next hundred and fifty years fighting for you I will."

Stefan felt the wind before he knew she was gone out the door. He only shook his head and moved to the bar, ordering himself and Damon a drink.

Elena was almost certain she had locked the door to the bathroom, but as she wiped furiously at the tears that simply would not piss off, she heard the knob turn and crack. Damon was inside a moment later, shutting and jamming it locked once more. "What are you doing?" she exclaimed, pushing past him to examine the damage he'd done. "We can't get out now."

"Oh calm down, I can undo it. However, neither of us are leaving this room until you tell me what's going on with you and Katherine."

"We're starting a 'Doppelgangers Support Group'." She smiled, lying through her teeth but doing a pretty good job at it. "We're hoping it will go national by summer."

"Just how stupid do you think I am?" he sneered, watching her walk back to the sink to wash her face. The streaks of mascara showed she was crying, but he pushed back the guilt. "Come on Elena, tell me what's really going on?"

"I am not telling you anything. You don't deserve to know."

"It's my job to protect you Elena, I won't let Katherine hurt you."

"First off, your protecting privileges were revoked the minute you stopped answering my calls. Secondly, I'm the one that went to find Katherine, I'm the one that brought her here so if she was going to hurt me, she could have done it on the five hour car ride home. Right now Damon, the only one hurting me, is you."

That last sentence hurt, cut right to the remnants of his soul but he fought to keep his face straight. "I have my reasons for doing what I did."

"There are always reasons Damon." She said, her tone rising to match the level of anger he was working on controlling. "Just because it makes sense, just because it's the safest thing to do doesn't always mean that it's the right reason."

"I can't be perfect Elena!" he advanced toward her, backing her against the sink. "Stop trying to make me perfect."

"I don't want you to be perfect, I just want you to be Damon, my Damon. The Damon who was my friend, the Damon that actually gave a damn about me."

"I do give a damn about you!" he trapped her between his arms and the counter, his height allowing him to tower over her, but she didn't back off.

"You have a funny way of showing it. You know what Damon, if you want me in bed so badly that you're creating fights just so we can have passionate makeup sex, you can save it! I just won't fight anymore! Either take me or leave me the hell alone."

The adrenaline from yelling, from standing up for herself and finally speaking a little of the truth she was feeling gave her the strength to pull open the door. Damon watched her leave, his mouth slightly open as his world spun around. "What the hell just happened?" he asked his reflection in the mirror.

a/n: hope you all enjoyed that chapter! I guess I did manage to get a little more girl power in there. Going to go and write the next one for you all. Hope you let me know what you thought!