Thank god it was raining out and the clouds covered the sun from Damon. I twisted the ring on my middle finger and smiled.

He had done this for me. Damon was risking being killed for me.

He was quiet as he drove me home. I didn't expect too much of a conversation after our recent "discoveries" of Katherine. I tried to think of something to say.

"Damon you didn't have to do this." I told him while twisting the ring around my finger.

He shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal; as if it was something he did everyday. So I tried again.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"Stay inside, away from the sunlight." He answered as if it was obvious. "But there may be something I have to ask for." He added.

"Anything." I replied.

"Since I want to keep you safe and I cant go anywhere, you might have to stay with me." He raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean by stay?" I asked.

"At the boarding house." He said. "You know just to make sure your safe and without me sizzling in the sun." he teased.

"What will Stefan think?" I asked.

"Well you are his girlfriend and I sure wouldn't mind, if I was him that you were staying there." He said.

I started to blush.

"But won't you think it will be weird for me to suddenly stay there." I said.

"Tell him you don't want to be near that uncle of yours." Damon said with disgust.

Trust me that was a good excuse, a couple of days away from "uncle John" won't do any harm.

"That could work." I said.

I grabbed my forehead. Although the necklace was in Damon's pocket I still had a pounding headache that kept a steady rythm.

"Thank you." I said again as he dropped me off.

"I'll be over later." I said to him.

"Pack light." He warned. "I don't want too much stuff in my room."

"Your room?" I said. "I'll take the couch."

He rolled his eyes.

"Your loss." He said, and before I could protest he drove off.

As I walked through the door I tried to avoid the questioning eyes of Uncle John. I started to run up the stairs but he stopped me.

"Elena." He said.

I spun around to meet his eyes.

"Was that Damon Salvatore?" he asked.

"Yes." I said a little annoyed.

"I thought you were going out with Steven?" he said.

"It's Stefan." I spat. "And I am. Damon and I are Just friends." I said.

Surprisingly the words stung a little.

"Oh." He said as he looked down at my hand, which Damon's ring was on.

I quickly pulled it off the banister and out of view.

He looked up and gave me the look.

"Right, well be safe." He said.

I turned to walk away.

"Oh." He said. "Nice ring!"

I let out a shocked expression as he walked away.

He knew.

I tried to forget the fact that I forgot to not make the ring obvious.

I grabbed a plain purple sticker from my room and put it on top of the branded ring. It fit perfectly over the design, at lest enough not to make it noticeable.

I grabbed my tote and shoved everything I need in it.

Aunt Jenna would be gone for a week with Alaric, so that left me enough time to stay at the boarding house without anyone noticing.

I grabbed my phone for the first time since Damon had given it to me. There was a text from Stefan.

Hey I'm back from hunting, u should come over

I put my hands to the keys.

Hey I'll be over in five minutes, but I was wondering if I could stay for the week. John is driving me crazy!

Instead of waiting for a response I ran to the car before John noticed again.

As I went to put my bag on the passenger I almost fainted.

Lying on the seat was the ruby pendant. The stones glistened even though there was no sunlight. I put the keys in the ignition and drove as fast as I could to the boarding house.