a/n: This one's a little short...I got a frustrated with this chapter because I couldn't figure out how to make the episode fit my story. By the time I figured it out, I had already had enough, so this is what came out. I skipped over the "fight" with Elena and Elijah because I didn't feel like repeating the show. It was perfect as it was, so I left it alone. I promise to do better on the next one to make up for this one.

NINETEEN

Damon sat in the chair, watching Elena sleep. She was curled up on the couch with a blanket tossed loosely around her waist. The soft smile on her face made his ego rise even more. They had spent the majority of their morning getting to know each other's bodies in every way possible. Even with his blood in her system, he had worn her out. Hell, he was the one with vampire stamina and he was worn out.

Not only was she resting, but she had started going over Johnathan Gilbert's journals. In one of their little trysts, they had found themselves in her parent's closet again where they discovered the back was hollow. When they opened it up, they found vampire hunting weapons and the rest of her ancestor's journals. So far, she hadn't found anything worth mentioning to him. He thought about reading while she slept, but he didn't want to read about the past.

His phone vibrated on the side table, drawing him from his thoughts. Quickly, he picked it up and went outside to the dock over the lake before he answered. "Hello John."

"Damon."

"What did I do to deserve a call from you?"

"I want to know where the dagger is."

"Why?"

"Alaric told me that Elijah has been with Jenna for the better part of today. In the middle of the woods where no one would know any different. Deal, or no deal, Elijah has to go."

"I agree," Damon said, turning to look back at Elena through the windows for a moment. "How should we go about it?"

"I was thinking I could host a dinner party. Try to get back into Jenna's good graces."

Damon snorted at that. "You're going to have to do a lot better than a dinner party."

"I'll have her invite Elijah. He's new in town and he might need some friends. That's what she told Ric anyway."

Damon mulled it over, staring at the rippling water. He told John where to find the dagger and hung up, wishing he could be there to watch the elder vampire die. His body stiffened as Elena's arms wound around his waist, her cheek pressed against his back. She giggled and pulled away so he could turn to her. "I scared you."

"No."

"Oh yes," she said, smirking up at him. He pulled her to him, a sign that he would never admit such a thing. "Who was on the phone?" she asked, changing the subject.

"John."

"Why?"

"Same old, same old. He just found out from Jenna where you were and he wasn't happy."

She shrugged in his arms. "He doesn't have the right to give a damn. I hope you told him so."

"Something like that," he said, placing his hands on her hips.

They stood there for quite some time, staring at the water, wrapped in each other's arms. When he could sense that her legs weren't going to hold her for much longer, he picked her up and carried her inside. He sat on the couch, setting her on his lap so that she was straddling him. She smirked and shook her head playfully. "You're insatiable."

"You should talk," he returned, leaning forward to capture her lips.

Elena's laugh turned into a moan as his fingers found her core. He used one hand to push the underwear to the side as his fingers from the other slid into her tight, wet heat. Elena's hands rested on his shoulders to steady herself, her fingers clutching his shirt. She bit her bottom lip and let her head fall back slightly. He continued to thrust his fingers into her as his thumb massaged her clit. Waves of pleasure coursed through her system, making her shudder. As she neared her release, Damon stopped and used his vampiric speed to remove the necessary articles of clothes.

Elena moaned as in record time, his fingers were replaced with his cock. Her body responded immediately, her inner walls clutching him desperately as she became closer to going over the edge. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as his tightened their hold on her hips. With a few more thrusts, Elena's eyes squeezed shut and she called his name during her release. It wasn't long before he came with her, wanting to feel them as one.

When Elena opened her eyes, he was tucking her hair behind her ear. Their bodies were still joined as they stared at each other. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this; waiting for you."

"I think I have some idea," she whispered, her voice raspy.

She gave a playful yelp as he pulled out of her and pinned her beneath him on the couch. "Oh, I don't think you do," he said, smoothing the hair out of her face.

"Show me," she demanded coyly as she smirked up at him, bending her knees to cradle his body to her.

And that was exactly what he did for the rest of the afternoon.

With the sun almost gone, the room was bathed in a strange golden light. Elena sat curled up in the chair reading over her ancestor's journals while Damon was in the kitchen preparing a meal. After almost twenty-four hours of non stop sex, they both decided it was time to take a major break. Even with his blood in her system she was exhausted. She could even tell that Damon was just as worn out.

Her head came up as her she heard Damon's phone ring. Closing the book over her finger, she got up and made her way to the kitchen to see him pacing as he held the phone to his ear. "Good, glad it worked out," he said and hung up.

"What was that all about?"

"Business."

She stared at him, giving him a look that said she didn't believe him in the slightest.

He sighed, "It would spoil the surprise."

"What surprise?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he countered. As her lips parted to say something, he brought the plates over to the island and put one in front of her. "Food's ready."

Elena studied him before moving to take a seat on the bar stool. As she went to put the journal on the bar, it slipped from her grasp. She smiled sheepishly and tucked her hair behind her ears as she bent down to pick it up. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the page it had opened up to. "Damon, look at this," she demanded, showing him the page as she got to her feet.

His eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the dagger John had given him. "I take it Gilbert was doing some invigorating research."

Elena took the journal back and studied it. "He was interested in them and how to kill them. The dagger bonds with the white oak ash as John told you and it kills them."

"Good to know."

"As long as the dagger stays in place, the Original will remain dead," she added casually before setting the book on the island.

"What?"

The icy tone of his voice sent shivers down her spine; and not the good ones. "The dagger has to stay lodged in his heart to... Damon?" she asked as he whipped out his phone and dialed rapidly.

"Go check on Elijah," she heard him demand in a worried voice. After a minute, she heard him swear and saw his free hand ball into a fist. When she heard him repeat the new information to whoever was on the phone, her heart sunk. She was ninety-nine percent sure she knew what was going on.

When Damon pocketed his phone and looked at her again, Elena had her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We were having such a good time..." he started, letting his voice taper off as he saw the look on her face.

"Start talking," she demanded.

"John called me earlier. He said they were having a dinner party and Jenna invited Elijah to help him make new friends. They thought it would be a good opportunity to take him out and they did," he explained. "Well, they thought they did."

The anger she had been feeling was instantly replaced by fear. "Jenna-"

"Is safe. Elijah is gone and Alaric took her to his place where he can't get to her." Elena nodded and ran her hand through her hair as she let out a shaky breath. "I'll call Stefan and have him make sure everyone stays inside a house where Elijah doesn't have access. At least for tonight."

Elena shook her head and looked at him. "He won't go after them."

"You don't think so?"

She shook her head again and swallowed thickly. "He'll be coming here," she answered. "He'll be coming after me."

Damon immediately went for his phone again as Elena sat down on the barstool, staring absently at her food. She heard him talking, but couldn't understand the words. It wasn't until Damon wrapped his arms around her from where she sat that she was able to hear him. "I called Stefan. He's on his way here with the dagger."

"How are we going to stab him again? He's going to be extra careful now."

"I have an idea, but you may not like it. I don't like it."

She pulled back to look at him. "I'm listening."

After he filled her in, Elena mulled it over. Reluctantly, she agreed, knowing it was one of her limited options. It was the lesser of all evils and she nodded more confidently. Now that it was decided, they sat by each other, picking at their plates, biding their time until Stefan arrived.

Stefan watched from inside the house as Damon fed Elena his blood. He could hear the low moan escaping her lips and it made his stomach churn. He tore his eyes away just as Damon moved his wrist. He used his thumb to wipe the excess blood from her lips and then gently picked her up to bring her inside. He set her on the couch and placed a pillow behind her for support. While she sat there, letting his blood heal her, Damon pulled Stefan into the kitchen where they could see both the body and Elena.

"What now?" Stefan asked.

"We need to get Elijah back to the boarding house where we can make sure that dagger stays put."

He nodded in agreement and shifted his gaze to Elena. "I can take him back. That way it will give her a little more time to heal."

"It won't take her long."

"She got herself pretty good."

Damon gave Stefan an apprehensive look, confirming his suspicions that she had had his blood already on their getaway. "We'll probably leave sometime tonight, or early tomorrow morning. I doubt she'll want to stay here after this."

"I'll be on my way then." The last thing he wanted to do was be around them any longer. They lake house reeked of sex as did the couple. Stefan had thought he'd be okay with it, but now that it was real, it was harder than he thought.

"Thank you," Damon said, catching both of them off guard.

Stefan just nodded, not sure what to say, and went outside to move Elijah to his trunk. Shortly after that he was back on the road.

When Damon walked over to Elena, he saw her looking at her stomach for any sign of a stab wound. "You won't have a scar."

She looked up, the hand-caught-in-the-cookie-jar expression on her face. "I know," she answered, tracing the spot where she had stabbed herself. "I'm just amazed that I healed that fast. Is it always like that?"

Her fascination worried him. She had told him about her chat with Katherine and the fact that she had offered Elena vampirism as a way to escape her fate. "For the most part. The more fresh blood you drink, the faster you heal."

She pulled her shirt down and smoothed out the material. Slowly, she got to her feet and stretched. "Good as new," she said and smiled at him.

He nodded and felt a wave of relief that everything had worked out. If Elijah had caught on to what she was going to do, it could have ended badly. He could have been dealing with vampire Elena if the worst case scenario had happened.

He shook himself and cleared his throat. "Did you want to leave?"

"In a little bit. I want to put this stuff back in my parents' room and clean up. Then we can go." She looked around, noticing for the first time that Stefan was gone. "Where's Stefan?"

"He took Elijah back to the boarding house."

She nodded and moved forward until she could lace their fingers together. "Promise me something?" she asked, her voice silky as she got as close as humanly possible. When he didn't say anything, she continued. "I don't want you guys keeping anything from me anymore. I want to know everything as it happens. From now on, we'll do things my way."

Damon wanted to say something snarky and dismiss her, but her voice, body, and the light strokes of her thumbs on his hands were wearing him down. It was then that he realized he was whipped. There was no other way to explain it as he nodded, letting go of her hands to wrap his arms around her waist. "Your way it is."

As his lips descended onto hers, the playful atmosphere evaporated. Unlike their other kisses over the past twenty-four hours, this one wasn't filled with lust and carnal need. It was fueled with emotional need. They both were well aware of the fact that their plan could have easily backfired. She could have stabbed herself in the wrong place and turned herself. There were many things that could have gone wrong, and they were lucky that everything went right. When they broke apart, Elena placed her head on his chest and moved around until she got comfortable. Damon's chin rested on the top of her head as his arms enveloped her.

After a long pause, Elena finally pulled away and started cleaning up. Once the house was in almost the same shape as when they had arrived, Elena sighed, knowing they were about to leave. "Are you okay with the door like that?"

She shrugged, "There's not much we can do about it now. It was John's mistake. He can fix it."

While Damon put their things in his car, she looked around one last time. With a heavy heart and a bittersweet smile, she turned around and left the safety of the lake house. The entire ride home, she kept her hand over his, just as they had done on the ride there. It was both good and bad that they were returning, although neither one of them wanted to give up their alone time.

When they arrived at the boarding house, they mutually agreed to leave their things in the car for the night. They headed inside, hand-in-hand, enjoying their last few moments together before they had to face reality and deal with the aftermath of the day's events. Both of them unaware that the surprises were far from over.

As they got to the top of the stairs, Stefan's door opened and out came Katherine, wearing nothing but a baggy T-shirt. Her hair was a slightly damp mess and her playful laughter filled the air. Damon and Elena stopped in their tracks at the sight of her, watching as she noticed them for the first time.

"Welcome home," she said, grinning from ear-to-ear at the dumbfound look on both Damon and Elena's faces as she sauntered by them on her way downstairs.