Press close, bare-bosomed Night! Press close, magnetic,
nourishing Night!
Night of south winds! Night of the large, few stars!
Still, nodding Night! Mad, naked, Summer Night!
- Walt Whitman

Stefan started coughing due to choking on his own spit, and Damon slowly let Elena drop to the ground.

"Hmm, I thought you'd be happier to see me." Katherine commented, walking closer to the three. So this was Katherine. The girl was beautiful. She looked much like Elena, brown hair, brown eyes, but her face was more grown up. She must have been around Damon's age.

"You were dead." Stefan said, once he finally stopped choking. Elena felt Damon stiffen and she grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers through his.

"Guess not." She sighed, inspecting her nails. She was wearing tight black jeans and a black leather jacket. She looked like the female version of Damon.

"But…" Stefan began, and she cut him off.

"I'm here now, Stefan. Do I look dead to you?" She looked over at Damon. "Why so quiet, Damon?" she asked, raising a dark brow at him. He didn't answer, only gripped Elena's hand tighter. "Who's the child?" She asked, and when Damon didn't answer, Elena did.

"Elena, his girlfriend." Her voice was cold, and frankly Katherine deserved the dismissal. Katherine gave a laugh and Elena sighed.

"So you're Elena. I've heard about you. You're the talk of the town sweetheart. I also hear you're a whore."

"Fuck you, Katherine." Damon seethed, and Katherine turned to look at him. Elena could feel the tremble of anger that went through him.

"Ouch."

"I think you should leave." Stefan stated, opening the door. Katherine gave him a look, then rolled her eyes. She walked by them and left, but not before her hand scraped across Damon's chest teasingly.

"I'll be back." Katherine smiled before disappearing out the door. Stefan let out a large breath and closed the door behind her.

"We were so sure that she was dead." Stefan whispered, and Elena looked up at Damon, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"She was." Damon said, lost in thought.

"Come on, we're not going to let her ruin out night. It's still my birthday." Elena muttered.

Stefan looked down at his phone.

"Actually, it's not-"

"Shut up, Stefan." Elena cut him off, pulling Damon along with her.

Damon and Elena hadn't had sex like he planned. It was her birthday, he wanted to do something special for her, but Katherine showing up put a kink in his plans. All of which involved candles, bubble baths and making out. When they got to her place, they both immediately found their way to her bed. They stared up at the ceiling, no one talking, no one touching.

Elena knew that Katherine was the only girl, besides her, that Damon had ever loved. After thinking she was dead for years, this had to feel strange. She felt strange, herself. Katherine Pierce, the girl that got between the Salvatore Brothers. The girl that manipulated them both into falling in love with her, then broke their hearts. Elena truly felt for the boys, but with how Damon reacted to her being alive, she wondered if he was actually still in love with her. Stefan's reaction was a more subtle hatred, and maybe Stefan always had been the calm one, but she'd never seen Damon so… lost. She thought she knew the man inside and out, but apparently she knew nothing when it came to him and Katherine. Was there a 'him and Katherine'? Everyone thought the girl was dead, maybe Damon loved her so much that he couldn't let go of her.

Elena was not just recalling the similarities between the girls. Katherine was about Damon's age, maybe a little younger, but her jaw structure and flawless skin showed how mature she was. Brown eyes, brown hair, the same build. They could be sisters. Maybe not sisters, but the resemblance was uncanny. Elena let out a sigh, but Damon kept still beside her.

That was probably it. Damon still loved Katherine. Elena knew not to push. She knew not to talk about the girl because Damon might have snapped, but the issue had to be resolved. Elena would attempt to talk to Stefan later, maybe he'd tell her what Damon refused to.

Caroline stepped inside the Salvatore house carefully. After the birthday party, she made it a priority to talk to Damon. She'd seen what happened between Tyler and Elena, and it got her mad. Caroline and Tyler had been casually 'dealing' for the past few weeks that Elena's been away, and although she and Tyler weren't actually dating, she liked him. And she still loved Damon. And she felt she owed it to him to tell him what happened.

"Damon?" She called, to a vast amount of nothing in the boarding house. Damon slowly descended the stairs and she gave a weak smile when he reached the bottom steps.

"Car, what's up?" he asked, ushering her into the parlor room, where he poured himself a glass of bourbon.

"I have to tell you something you're not going to want to hear…" she started.

Elena looked over at Stefan expectantly. They had been walking across Wickery Bridge, a place she feared more than death itself. Her parents died here. Stefan sighed and leaned over the side of the bridge.

"Look Elena, Damon's a really complex guy. One second he can be happy, the next he could punch someone in the face. You've seen it before, you know what he's like." Stefan started. "When he was with Katherine, he was… She destroyed him, every aspect of him. He actually used to be decent, but she tore out every good part of him. He was too in love with her to notice. Young love is dumb love." Stefan stated, and Elena sucked in a breath. Were she and Damon just dumb love? "After Katherine 'died' Damon was a complete wreck." Stefan air quoted 'died'.

"Why do you seem so unaffected with her being back?" Elena asked, standing in the middle of the bridge. She just wanted to understand.

"Look, when they were together, Damon spent every waking and sleeping hour with Katherine, or thinking about Katherine, or talking about Katherine. He fell so hard for her." Stefan explained. "Sure, I'd grown to love her, but she wasn't my life. Katherine was Damon's entire existence." Stefan stated. "You have to understand that."

"I do now." Elena whispered, shutting her eyes tightly for a moment, then pinching the bridge of her nose.

"When he falls, he falls hard, Elena. I know he loves you a lot, but he can't love you fully because his guard is always up. If you're just going to break his heart, I suggest you do it when his walls are up." Stefan said, patting Elena on the shoulder once, and turning to leave. Elena felt guilty almost immediately.

Damon was sitting in a barstool at the grill when Katherine swayed in. He looked down at his drink more thoroughly and realized he was half drunk. This was going to be fun.

"Are you talking to me yet?" She asked, sitting down next to him and flagging the bartender for bourbon.

"Depends what you're saying." Damon responded and Katherine shrugged, looking as if she was mildly curious.

"You have a new girlfriend," Katherine commented. "I don't really like her."

"You've met her once, and you called her a whore, I doubt she'd be partial to you now." Damon stated. This reminded them of their old ways of banter and annoyance. It was a fight for arrogance with the two.

"Well, I think it's reasonable that I judge her immediately, she stole my boys." Katherine smirked, taking a long sip from her drink and asking for more so she could catch up with Damon.

"We aren't you're boys, Katherine. And she didn't steal us. Is it wrong to have my girlfriend tolerating my brother without having sex with him?"

"They used to date, didn't they?" Katherine asked, and Damon turned his body to face her curiously.

"How do you know so much about my girlfriend?" He asked, chugging his drink and requesting another one.

"Small town." Katherine stated, but when she looked at Damon, she really analyzed him. "Damon, I've known you long enough to know that there's more to your bitterness then just hatred for me. What happened?"

"Stop it, Katherine." Damon stood, moving away from her. "You can't do that anymore. Read me like a book."

"What did she do?" Damon had almost forgotten how well Katherine was at seeing right through people. "You haven't been using her name, you've been saying 'my girlfriend'. So tell me what she did." Katherine said, standing as well.

"I don't think so." Damon muttered, placing down a wad of cash for the bartender and leaving the Grill.

The boarding house was quiet when Elena finally entered it. She called for Damon, but when he didn't answer and he groaned, she moved into the house to find Damon lying on his back in the middle of the study.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously, but when he looked up he gave her the darkest of glares.

"Go away." He growled, but because it's Elena and she's stubborn as hell, she didn't budge.

"I think you should stop drinking."

"I think you're a bitch." Damon stated.

"Damon." She scolded. "You know, I don't get you sometimes. You try to be this rebellious person, while you're really just driving yourself insane. You aren't bad, Damon, you just have to see that." She said, kneeling down and touching his arm, but he flinched away from her and stood immediately, stumbling. He was so drunk.

"Look, Elena, I don't know exactly what we're doing here. What am I to you?" He asked, and she noticed how his hair was tousled and a few too many buttons of his shirt were undone.

"You're my boyfriend, Damon. You know that." She said, standing slowly from her kneel.

"Really? Because apparently you're going behind my back with someone else, and I don't think boyfriends and girlfriends are supposed to do that." Damon spat.

Elena stopped short. He knew. She should have known someone one would have seen. Caroline would have seen. It was so typical Caroline. But nothing had happened between her and Tyler. Sure, they went out to talk about things, and sure, she didn't exactly push him away when he'd kissed her, but nothing had happened.

"Damon, I'm not going behind your back." She said quietly.

"You told me you were going to Caroline's."

"And I did!" She raised her voice.

"After you went on a date and made out with your ex." Damon yelled. Thankfully, Stefan was out of the house. He didn't need to hear this.

"It wasn't a date. We- It was closure. I was ending the relationship."

"You kissed him." Damon said, hurt. Their voices were still raised, now they were just yelling at each other. Their first major fight as a couple.

"It was a goodbye kiss." Elena assured.

"That's not what Caroline said."

"Caroline over-exaggerates, you know that." Elena stated. This entire situation was killing her. She hated fighting with him, she just wanted to kiss him, and tell him that she only wanted him. But him being drunk, Katherine being back, and him knowing about Tyler was too much for him right now. "Why does it sound like you're backing out?" She asked.

"I'm not backing out!" He screamed and she flinched.

"It sounds like it." She whispered, feeling the tears threatening to escape. "Why are you scared?"

"Because I lost Katherine, and now that she's back in town, it's reminding me how easily I could lose you. I love you more than I love my own brother, you know that. But you're kissing Tyler, and you never express you're feelings to me, so I don't know what's going on in your head." Damon slurred in his drunken state. "I think we need to stop for a bit."

That felt like a slap in the face.

"I don't know if I could do that." She whispered, and now she could feel the tears.

"I waited for you for so long." He looked genuinely sad and hurt.

Elena went up to him, and kissed him hard and angrily and he didn't respond. "I'm so sorry." She whispered, but he didn't move, so she turned, wiping away her tears and leaving the Salvatore house behind.

Damon was seething. As soon as Elena left, Katherine made her way in the Salvatore house. He pulled on his jacket and gave her a look.

"Where are you going?" She asked as he walked by her.

"Get out of my house." He warned, walking out the door and away from Katherine and the house.

The Lockwood estate looked so much larger when it was dark. He made his way up the steps towards the door and knocked extremely loudly. He knew Carol Lockwood was out at some stupid council meeting because he'd skipped going to it. Tyler opened the door and his face fell.

"What?" He asked, and Damon gripped his shoulders roughly and pushed him in the house. His fist connected with Tyler's face repeatedly, and even after he saw the blood, he continued. Tyler groaned in pain when Damon kicked him hard in the stomach. But apparently Damon wasn't done because he kept hitting and hitting until he heard the faintest of whimpers from behind him.

"Damon, stop it!" She cried, and he'd stopped as if his body could no longer function. "He didn't hurt you, I did!"

Damon spun on her now, leaving a bloodied Tyler to prop himself upright and wipe away his blood. He was still drunk, and she knew that, but she wouldn't let him beat her friend to a pulp. Damon advanced on her then, walking towards her furiously as she backed into a wall.

"I'm not sorry." She whispered. "I didn't do anything wrong." His fist flew hard towards her, breaking through the thin wall just beside her face. She flinched in fear. He looked so angry that he could kill someone, and knowing Damon, he probably would. "Baby, listen to me." She said, placing a hand on his chest cautiously in fear of him lashing out again. When he whipped his head around to look at Tyler, she pulled his cheek back. "Damon, look at me." She practically growled to get his eyes back on her. "Nothing happened, Damon. Believe me. That kiss, that dinner, meant nothing to me. You've always believed me, why are you trusting Caroline over me now?" Anger still coursed through Damon. "Trust me." She was breathing heavily due to their close proximity. Her eyes flickered to Tyler, who was groaning, then back up to Damon, whose body was pressed firmly against hers.

Her face softened when she saw that dangerous glint in his eyes. That look that told her hew was doing all of this, because he was afraid of losing her.

"How can I?" He whispered the question, and if they weren't so close, she wouldn't have heard it.

"Because I love you." She said. His hand flew upwards to touch her cheek. And when he drew it back, she saw the blood. She couldn't tell if it was his blood of her blood, but then she felt the pain and realized it was hers. There was a small nick on her cheek from the smashed wood.

He stopped touching her and moved away from her quickly, leaving the house in a blur. Elena looked down at Tyler, who was wincing in pain. She knelt down beside him, tears falling freely over her cheeks.

"Are you okay? How badly are you hurt?" She asked but he stopped to look up at her.

"I think you should go." She would have been offended if she hadn't just realized what she told Damon. She hadn't questioned it though. She loved him, that was out now. She couldn't mask her feelings or pretend she just liked him. Now, she loved him, so she stood and left the Lockwood estate to go see Jeremy.

"Rough day?" Katherine asked, lounging on the couch.

"Rough life." Damon shrugged, going straight for the wet bar. She met him there, standing in front of it so he couldn't access it.

"I think you've had enough." Katherine stated and Damon looked up at the ceiling in frustration.

"Why did you come back? Why did you fake your death? What do you want from me?" Damon asked, tossing her slim body aside to get to the alcohol, but she was stronger than she looked, and she didn't budge. He could always be rough with Katherine, but Elena felt so fragile to him.

"One question at a time." And when his look was only serious, she sighed. "Fine," I faked my death so that I didn't have to deal with you and Stefan."

Damon chuckled darkly. "That's why you faked your death? You couldn't skip town like any normal person?"

"Damon, I got caught in that fire." She said, frowning at him. She raised her arm to show him the inside, which was scarred by burn marks. "I was on the verge of death, crawling out of the burning building. I didn't do it on purpose; I just thought it'd be better if you thought I was dead. I saw the opportunity and I took it." Damon laughed again and she pursed her lips. "I think you're too drunk for this conversation." She said, but he shook his head.

"You've already opened the drawer, please, go ahead and continue." Damon muttered, shrugging.

"I came back for you." She said, getting extremely close to him, and he let out a quick breath. "Not Stefan. I want you, Damon. And as much as you'd hate to admit it, you want me too." She whispered, basically against his lips. He finally closed the distance, their kisses hot and desperate. Her body molded with his perfectly, her tongue seeking entrance into his mouth. When access was granted, his hands slinked down her body to rest on her ass, which he squeezed, getting a squeal out of her. Her hands knotted in his hair with need and they fell onto the couch together. It was Katherine who finally stopped them. She sat up so that she straddled his waist.

"I'm just smart enough to know that you want some one else more." He felt her roll off of him, and heard her receding steps, then finally, the opening and closing of the front door.

Damon ran his hands through his hair. "Shit."

Jeremy didn't seem to give a shit. Neither did anyone else she knew. She called Jenna, but she was with Alaric. Bonnie was out with Caroline. Stefan was out somewhere being Stefan and that left Damon and Tyler. She couldn't talk to Damon because he was the reason she was crying in her brother's hospital room, and if she called Tyler… well at the moment, he didn't want to see her.

Fuck your life, Elena Gilbert. She thought, running her hands through her hair continuously.

"You know why you never date, Jeremy?" She asked her brother. "Because Gilberts always fuck it up. Got that? You might as well end it with Bonnie because eventually you'll screw her over. I screw over everyone don't I? I screwed over Matt for Stefan, and I screwed over Stefan for myself. Then I screwed over Tyler for Damon, and Damon for Tyler. I have a stellar history with guys, don't I, Jer? The thing is, I was finally getting there. I had never been as far as I was with Damon, than any other guy I've been with. Maybe that's my problem. Going too far. I mean sure, I know Damon really well, but maybe I don't know guys well enough to know what's going on. To know who's good for me. Maybe I should just die and get it over with now so I don't pull anyone else down with me." She rambled.

"You won't." A rough voice said and Elena looked up to meet his eyes.

"Jeremy?"

YAY! Jeremy's back. So we got to see a darker side of Damon this chapter, and i think in most of the chapters, Damon was always described as mean and really ignorant and an asshole, but then i realize he's been nothing but pleasant to Elena for most of it, so the next few chapters Damon's gonna be a huge asshole. I want Elene to see how different he's being without her. More about the case will come up next chapter.

Don't hate me for making Damon and Katherine make out. I didn't plan for this to happen, but she was getting all sentimental and i thought it's be interesting to see Damon really break down with Katherine. There will be more Katherine next chapter, but it will be more with Elena and Stefan than Damon, because frankly after that, she'll be avoiding Damon. I hope you guys liked this chapter, because i myself really liked the emotional pain Damon was going through, much as we saw at the beginning and middle of this season.

Stefan will come into play a little more next chapter with Katherine, and they'll be rehatching some old memories. And since Jeremy is back, we'll see a loooot more of him. Next chapter will be a couple days later than this chapter, and Jeremy and Elena will have a few heart to hearts.

thankyou for reading and reviewing, everyone. i really appreciate it, and i'd love to see more. i love it when i see new reviews. if you're just tuning in now, and having been following and reading these little bottom blurbs, follow me on twitter, cieratee . i'm sort of a loner on twitter so it's always nice to have followers. what are we all going to do without TVD until september. shoot me now. or don't because i'll never see next season. unless they have T.V in the afterlife. if there is an afterlife... anyways, thankyou all!