a/n: okay, this is the last chapter until the show returns. I stretched it out as much as I possibly could without getting too far ahead of myself. It's a little shorter than the last two, but it covers what I needed it to. Enjoy :) Happy Holidays and I will have more stuff for you after the first of the year :)

A very special thank you to Awyrn for translating One Kiss to French! That's the coolest thing ever!

FOURTEEN

The first thing Damon saw when he opened his eyes was Elena. She was curled around him as she always was, but this time, she was in his bed. A grin spread across his face as he watched her breathe deeply. Nothing could compare to the feelings that he was experiencing. He had been waiting decades for this moment. As a human, Katherine had never stayed the night. She had always left right after sex, saying it wouldn't be right if people found her in his room. He knew she was right, but there were times when he wondered if she had gone to Stefan's room instead of her own. Since then, Damon had never let a woman into his bedroom at any of his houses; least of all this one. Those few nights with Rose had taken place in either the guest room or the parlor.

Elena was the first and only woman that would be invited in.

The more he stared at her, the more he focused on her heartbeat. When he could feel the pressure in his gums, signaling that his fangs wanted to descend, he knew he needed to feed. Careful not to wake her, he detached himself from her and got to his feet. It was then that he noticed she was wearing one of his shirts. His eyes narrowed at that. He hadn't remembered her changing. It scared him a little; normally he was a light sleeper and he always heard her moving about.

But she looked safe and happy so he let it go. Quietly, he gathered new clothes and made his way into the bathroom to get ready for the day. As long as he was away from her heartbeat, he could put off feeding for another half hour.

When he returned to the bedroom, Elena was lying in the middle of the bed on her back. The covers were kicked away from her body and his shirt had risen up to her midsection, exposing her panties. Damon smirked as an idea popped into his head. He wasn't sure if it would be okay, but after last night, he didn't think she would mind the wake up call he had planned for her.

With his mind made up, Damon strode across the room and kneeled on the bed by her feet. He was very glad she was a heavy sleeper because he was more than excited for her to wake up this way. He had been dying to taste her the moment she tasted him and now was a good a chance as any. He stared down at her and leaned in to slowly guide her panties from her legs, tossing them to the floor. Keeping his eyes on her face, he took hold of her knees and parted her legs. When he had her where he wanted her, he moved to lie on his stomach. He reached out and ran his index finger through her slit. He smirked as her head rolled to the side and bit down on her bottom lip.

He repeated the action a few times before spreading her lower lips with his middle and index finger. He moved closer and gently pushed his tongue into her opening before licking upwards. A moan escaped her lips and he heard her breath catch. It only caused him to smirk and then lick her again. She was already wet and her taste made him groan. He looked up her body and saw her fingers fisting the sheets, her head rolling from side to side. Damon noticed that her eyes were fluttering, a sign that she wouldn't be asleep for much longer.

Wanting her to wake up the throes of passion, Damon slipped a finger inside of her. Her walls tightened and clenched around him, trying to draw him in deeper. He grinned and sucked her clit into his mouth. She moaned loudly and her back arched off the bed. He added another finger and increased his thrusts, surprised at how close she was already. Her breathing was irregular and her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. As Damon teased the bundle of nerves by alternating between flicks of his tongue and tugs of his lips, Elena gasped for air.

Her eyes flew open and it took her a moment to focus. Her world was spinning out of control and her body felt as if it were on fire. All at once, she could feel his mouth and her fingers working their magick on her. That, combined with the sight of Damon between her legs sent her over the edge. She cried out for him and closed her eyes again, squeezing them shut as he continued to please her until the end.

While the last few tremors took their time to dissipate, Damon kissed his way up her body until he was able to capture her lips with his own. "Morning," he said, smirking down at her flushed face.

"Morning," she breathed. "That was one hell of a wake up call."

"Was it too soon?"

Elena smiled and moved to kiss him briefly. "No," she answered and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Good," he replied and kissed her nose before rolling off of her and getting to his feet. He smirked at the way she pouted. "I am going downstairs to make you breakfast. You can use the shower if you want. I already put your stuff in there." As he said the last part, he searched her face, searching to see if he had moved too fast for her liking.

"Thanks. I'll be down shortly," she replied, surprising him by her lack of reaction.

With a shrug, Damon left her alone clean up and get ready. As much as didn't want to leave her side, he needed to feed. It had taken all of his control not to bite her when she climaxed. Once he had his fill, he made his way up to the kitchen and rummaged around for something to make. Damon felt a little pressured to cook something that wouldn't spoil the mood they had created. After finally making a decision, Damon set about to begin cooking.

Once he had all the ingredients ready to go, he stopped as he heard something in the parlor. Dropping everything, he used his speed to sneak up on the intruder, only to stop short at the sight of Rose. "Didn't have anywhere else to go?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

She stared at him with fear in her eyes. As he studied her, he noticed that she was trembling. He knew that she was afraid of Elijah, but he had never seen her this afraid before.

"Rose? What's wrong?" he asked, moving towards her cautiously.

Her lips parted as if to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, she moved one of her shaking hands up to her shoulder and pulled her shirt down enough so that he could see for himself. There was a wound there; a big one. It looked as though she had been gnawed on by a-

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked, swallowing thickly. He might not have ever been her biggest fan, but if the legend was true, Rose was in serious trouble.

She nodded slowly and pulled her shirt back up. "I was in the woods and one jumped at me," she said, finally finding her voice. "It healed and I was fine, but half an hour ago it started burning and now..." she stopped and took a deep breath. "It hurts," she concluded.

Damon could only stand there, staring at her. There was nothing he could say or do that would change the fact that she had been bitten by a werewolf. When he, Elena, and Alaric had heard the legend in Isobel's office, that was the first time he had heard anything about these creatures. He truly didn't know what to do. "Rose..."

She gave a cry of agony and dropped to her knees. She clutched her head and gasped for air, trying to stop the pain that was coursing through her system. Damon was at her side in an instant, placing his hands on her biceps. "We will find a way to reverse this, do you understand?"

Rose lifted her head and Damon could see the pain in her eyes. It scared him. She gave him a simple nod and then gave in to the pain, slumping forward as she passed out. Damon caught her and sat there in shock. At that moment, the front door opened and Stefan entered the parlor. He had been prepared to yell at his brother, but his anger disappeared at the sight.

"What happened?" he asked, helping Damon move her to the couch.

"She was bitten."

Stefan's eyes went wide in fear. "And she's still alive?"

"For now," Damon said, his voice distant. He couldn't stop staring at the female vampire. "She said the wound healed, but then started hurting."

"Is there anything that can be done?"

Damon shook his head slowly. "I don't know." He noticed Rose's body start shaking again, the way a human's does when they have the chills. "What I do know is that we have to find a cure. We can't just let her die."

In all honesty, Damon didn't want to save her because it was Rose. He was feeling a little guilty because it could easily have been Stefan or himself laying on that couch. They had to find a cure; and fast. "What if there is no cure?" Stefan asked lightly, trying to be rational.

Damon looked at his younger brother then. "There has to be."

Stefan was about to reply when he heard the shower upstairs turn off. His anger returned, although not as strong, and he glared at Damon. "If you want to waste time finding a cure for her, fine. Count me out."

As he started to walk away, Damon grabbed his wrist and held him in place. "If we find a cure and she dies, oh well. At least we have a cure. That way, if something happens to us, we'll at least know what to do. If you're going to be a little bitch about it, then I won't think twice about withholding the cure from you if you need it," Damon snarled, his face conforming slightly to show off the vampire characteristics.

Stefan tried his best to get his arm back, but was unsuccessful. "Let go of me!" he hissed.

Damon released him harshly, causing Stefan to stumble. As Stefan turned his back, Damon spoke again. "I can smell her all over you."

Stefan stopped, but kept his back to Damon.

"You can be mad at me and Elena all you want, but sleeping with Katherine makes us even. You can't expect Elena to forgive you for going back to the woman that has been making her life a living hell."

Stefan whirled around at that. "So what if I slept with Katherine? At least she was honest about her feelings for both of us."

"Elena never did anything behind your back Stefan. The two of you were broken up. What you walked in on, that was all me. Elena wanted to wait until we told you first."

Stefan snorted. "That's not what it looked like."

Damon nodded towards the stairs. "If you don't believe me, go ask her yourself. I have to take care of this," he added, looking back at Rose.

Stefan stood there for a few moments before ascending the stairs. As he reached the landing, Elena was coming out of Damon's room. Both of them paused and stared at each other; afraid to move. Elena was the first to move, slowly shutting the door behind her and moving out into the hall. "Can we talk?"

"Like I told Damon, what I saw was self explanatory."

Elena shook her head, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. "You know what? Fine. What you saw was exactly what it looked like. But I need you to hear me out Stefan."

As much as he wanted to storm out, he saw the pleading in her eyes and quickly realized that it still got to him. "I'm listening."

"You called me a hypocrite and in all honesty I can't disagree with you. I gave you a list of reasons why we shouldn't be together and by being with Damon, I am being a hypocrite. However, when I ended our relationship, I meant it. I could feel us drifting apart and you can't tell me that I'm wrong."

He stared at her and then reluctantly nodded. "I could feel it too."

"I may have been a little to over dramatic in my speech, but I wanted you to really hear me. I want us to be friends, Stefan. I still care about you, but the love that I thought we shared is gone. We weren't meant to be."

"So you immediately go to Damon?"

"It wasn't like that," she insisted. "When we were together, I refused to let myself feel anything for Damon other than friendship. It wasn't until after we broke up that I admitted my feelings for him." She paused to take a deep breath, only to rush on to keep him from talking. "And don't you dare compare me to her. Katherine wanted you both whether you liked it or not. I made my choice and I'm not going to go back and forth because I can't make up my mind."

Stefan continued to stare at her, letting her words sink in. "I wasn't going to compare you to her," he said softly.

"I told Damon that I was going to tell you before anything happened between us," she said and then looked away with guilt. "Obviously that didn't work out."

Stefan stepped forward and delicately cupped her chin, making her look him in the eye. "I'm not mad at you, Elena. I'm mad at myself for not seeing this coming. The moment you started thinking of Damon as a friend, I knew it was only a matter of time. I saw the change in our relationship right away. Especially after you came back from Georgia."

She smiled and her vision blurred as her eyes began to water. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head and gave her a light smile. "Don't be sorry Elena. Look, I can blame this on Damon for eternity, but the truth is that it wasn't his fault. You were right, we weren't meant to be. Katherine told me what the two of you talked about and she was right. The two of you are soul mates and I would be a fool if I tried to come between you."

Elena was surprised at this. "You're not mad?"

He smirked and stepped back. "I'm mad, but I'll get over it. I just started getting my brother back from the last girl that came between us. I'm not going to make that mistake again. If you're happy with Damon, then I'll be happy for you."

"You will?" she asked cautiously, sensing that there was something he wasn't saying. Something that she wasn't going to like.

"I'll forgive you if you forgive me," he said softly.

Elena felt her heart sink into her stomach; she knew exactly what he was talking about. "You slept with her?"

"She was right Elena. Katherine and I are soul mates; completely meant to be. She didn't compel me to fall in love with her, that was all me. When I realized that I had lost you, I couldn't fathom the idea of losing her either."

"But she-"

"She may have hurt some people that are close to you, but Damon has hurt people that are close to me. Remember Lexi?"

Elena felt queasy at that. "I remember," she whispered.

Stefan reached for her chin again. "Hey, I promised her that I would help her survive, but I also told her that if she tricked any of us again or hurt you and your loved ones, Damon and I were going to hunt her down and stake her. If she really loves me, she'll stop the games and be the woman that I fell in love with all those years ago."

Elena swallowed thickly. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm choosing to give her a second chance, but she isn't getting any more after that."

Elena nodded as best she could and took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll forgive you if you forgive me."

"Deal," he said and pulled her into his arms for a hug. When they parted, Stefan gave her a serious look. "Before you go downstairs, there's something you should know."

"What?"

"Rose is here. She was bitten by a werewolf last night."

Elena's eyes widened in horror. She didn't exactly like Rose, but the thought of her dying in a way that was unknown sounded horrible. "How is she?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Stefan shook his head. "When I came in, she was out cold. I helped Damon move her to the couch. He wants to find a cure."

Elena found herself nodding. "What are you going to do?" she asked as he moved towards his room.

"I'm going to help Damon find a cure."

"What about Katherine?" she asked.

Stefan shrugged. "I won't let Klaus hurt her, but I know that letting her out right now wouldn't be such a good idea."

Elena nodded and headed downstairs without saying anything else. She found Damon pacing in front of Rose, talking on his cell. "I don't know, your wife was the research expert. Maybe she found a way to cure a wolf bite. You figure it out, you're the vampire slayer." Pause. "Yeah, I know, wolves are different." Pause. "I don't care. Find something," he demanded and hung up, turning to look at Elena.

"Was that Mr. Saltzman?" she asked.

"He's going to see if he can find anything. I assume Stefan filled you in?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "Don't even pretend that you weren't listening to our every word." Damon smirked and crossed the room to hold her in his arms. "What now?" she whispered as she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him.

"I don't know," he answered. "There's really nothing we can do."

Elena nodded and pulled back enough to look at him. "That's good, because I believe I was promised a morning meal."

Damon shook his head before leaning in to kiss her soundly. "That I did, Princess," he said and released his hold to take her hand.

"Will she be okay in here?"

"I'll hear her if she wakes up," he assured her and led her into the kitchen. While Damon wanted to focus on Elena, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to Rose and the "what-ifs" that surrounded her condition. All he knew was that if they didn't do something soon, people were going to get hurt and he was worried about Elena. One thing for sure was that he would rather die first than let anything happen to her.