Chapter 15: What's Love Got To Do With It?

""You must understand
That the touch of your hand
Makes my pulse react
That it's only the thrill
Of boy meeting girl
Opposites attract
It's physical
Only logical
You must try to ignore
That it means more than that." –Tina Turner

The soft vibrations of music filled the air around Elena as she slowly began to pull herself from the haunting dreams that had consumed her since her eyes had shut on that cold concrete floor. She tried to find the strength to push open her heavy tired eyes, but even that simple act seemed to take an effort that she didn't yet think she possessed. She twisted restlessly on the soft surface that she lay on, but it seemed that with every move she made, the dull ache that filled her body only worsened and attacked her senses with greater force. The faint clatter of ice hitting glass soon replaced the soft music that had originally filled Elena's ears and now jarred her from the thoughts of her pain. Slowly, she focused her mind as she then heard liquid begin to spill out from an unknown source and crackle over the now stilled ice. Elena inhaled as the sweet smooth scent of bourbon filled her senses and warmed her body better than the blankets that clung to her skin. She smiled slightly and licked her dry lips. He was there. She could smell him, feel him and nearly taste him as he moved around her in the darkness of the room they now shared.

"I know you are awake, Elena." The soft velvet voice purred into her mind as Elena slid her arms around her body and let the voice caress her every sense and heal the wounds that seemed to cover every surface of her being.

"You're here." Elena's voice said softly as she reached out into the darkness to find the touch that she had craved for what seemed like an eternity.

"Well someone had to save you from killing yourself, yet again. You make it very difficult to be the big bad brother Elena, with all this life saving I have to continuously do and all." The voice said smoothly and even though she hadn't opened her eyes to see his beautiful face yet, she could feel the smirk that she knew lingered on his perfect lips. Elena reached out her hand and searched for the owner of the voice, but could not find the touch that she was finding herself increasingly preoccupied with.

"Where are you?" She asked softly as she continued to feel around in the darkness for him.

"Open your eyes and find out." He purred softly. Elena smiled to herself and slowly willed herself to push her heavy lids open. She blinked a few times to clear her vision, and then finally the beautiful face that she had been dreaming of for however long she had been asleep, finally came into view.

"Damon." Elena whispered as she reached her hand out toward the vision that sat just far enough away that she couldn't quite reach him. Damon smiled and nodded as he tilted his head to the side and raised a brow at her.

"Good morning sunshine." He said softly in a thick voice that seemed to move over her body and caress her skin with a softness that fingertips never could. Elena licked her lips once again and swallowed thickly.

"What time is it?" She asked in almost a whisper. Damon looked toward the wall in front of him and then back to her.

"Four in the morning." He said as he smiled and then leaned his head back on the overstuffed leather chair in which sat just to the side of where Elena lay in the warm Boarding House parlor.

"How long have I been out for?" She asked as she swallowed once again against the fire that burned down her dry throat.

"About two days now. You are quite the little actress you know? You passed out on the floor and made us all think you were dead, but every once in a while you would squeeze my hand a little just to let me know that you were still there. Do we ignore you that much that you have to go and almost die on us just to get our attention, Elena?" Damon asked as he forced a smile onto his lips and tilted his head toward hers. Elena smiled slightly as the sight of his smiling face warmed her entire body.

"Sorry, if it makes you feel any better I thought I was dead too." She said with a small laugh. Damon nodded as he leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on his knees. The happy expression that he had worn only moments before had now faded from his face and a mixture of confusion and anger was now painted over his perfect features.

"Do you realize how stupid you are, Elena?" He asked softly as he stared at her from his chair. Elena's smile faded quickly as his change in tone surprised her. She pushed herself up to a sitting position on the couch and stared into his icy blue eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked in confusion as she continued to keep her eyes on him. Damon sighed and pushed himself out of his chair.

"What I am talking about is your stupid, save the vampire stunt. Do you have any idea how close you came to dying, Elena?" Damon asked as he ran his fingers through his raven hair and then over his exhausted face.

"I'm not stupid Damon; I was trying to save you. And you are here and I am here, so it worked. That doesn't make me stupid, it makes me…helpful." She said as she forced a smile back onto her lips as she tried to lighten the heavy mood that had quickly moved into the room. Damon stared at her, but did not smile.

"Elena, you let me take too much…again. But, this time I was too weak to be able to stop myself before I hurt you and you nearly died. I don't think you realize how close to dying you truly were. I nearly bled you dry." Damon said in a hoarse voice as he looked at her. Elena looked down and nervously bit down on her bottom lip. She took in a deep breath and then raised her eyes back to Damon's. She saw the pain that had clouded his blue eyes and while it hurt her to see it; she knew deep down, she would never take back her choice to save his life.

"Damon, I just wanted to help you. It was my fault you were there in the first place so I wanted to be the one that made it right. I didn't want to lose you, I couldn't lose you." She said softly as her last words came out in almost a whisper. Damon's eyes dropped from Elena's as he quickly turned and looked out the window across from them. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before he spoke.

"Elena, I don't want you to think I'm not grateful, because trust me I am. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here right now. But, I need you to understand something. I have lived for over one hundred and fifty years, you have lived for eighteen. When it comes down to it, even just numbers alone, your life is far more valuable than mine. I never want you chancing your life for me like that again, you deserve better than that." Damon said softly as his eyes met hers. Elena slowly pushed herself up from the couch and moved closer to where Damon stood. She gently slipped her hand inside of his and squeezed it gently.

"I don't care how long you've been alive Damon; my life will never be more valuable than yours. You deserve to live just as much as anyone else." She said softly. Damon stared at her and suddenly pulled his hand back from hers. In an instant, he was across the room and the softness of his face from only a moment before was gone and had been replaced with a sad rage that now flooded over his entire being.

"No Elena, I don't. I don't deserve to live because I am not alive. God Damnit, what about this whole vampire thing are you not getting? I am not alive! I am not human! You keep putting your life on the line for me and my brother when it is so fucking obvious that we don't deserve it. We are dead honey, you are not! When are you going to get that through your head and actually just start living your life?" He yelled as he balled his fists angrily at his sides. Elena stared at him in awe; she had no idea why he was suddenly so angry with her. Hadn't she just saved his life? Hadn't she just told him that she loved him?

"Damon, I live my life and it's a life that happens to have you in it and for that I am so thankful. You are more alive than most of the people that I know and you deserve to have another hundred and fifty years at least. You and Stefan deserve to live; you are just as valuable as anyone else." Elena coaxed as she moved closer to him. Damon laughed sarcastically as he raised his arms up.

"Oh yes, let us not forget about Stefan and his amazing fucking worth! The bastard just got done driving a stake through my chest after I spent months trying to find his sorry ass, dry him out and pretend to not be hopelessly in love with his girlfriend. Saint Stefan, my brother, the man I will never ever be!" Damon screamed as he turned quickly and smashed his hand through the wall behind him. Elena jumped at the loud noise that seemed to rip through the entire house as she watched Damon's hand go all the way through the wall and plaster fall in pieces to the floor.

"Damon, please." Elena said softly as she moved quickly toward him. Damon stood staring at the wall silently, but didn't turn around. Elena stood behind him and rested her forehead on the back of his shoulder. Slowly, she reached her arms around his sides and let her hands travel slowly over the hard curves of muscles that corded under the thin material of his black T-shirt. Damon was rigid under her hands, but even as he stood tense, she could feel that he calmed slightly at her touch.

"I'm leaving Elena." Damon said coldly as he moved himself closer to the wall and further from her grasp. Elena froze and felt her heart sink into her stomach and her blood nearly stop moving in her veins. Her mind began to spin and even though she tried to formulate a sentence it seemed she couldn't hold onto a thought long enough to say anything.

"You're…what?" She stuttered as she took a step back to steady her now shaking body. Damon turned finally and faced Elena. His face was tight and hard as he looked at her, but in his eyes she saw pain that even his best mask could not hide. Damon swallowed thickly and looked down toward the floor.

"I'm leaving Elena. Mystic Falls and I need a break. You need some time to be with some normal human people. You need to have fun, enjoy your senior year, actually go to school and be around people that are good for you, not people that almost get you killed on a daily basis." He said in a voice that seemed to be designed to convince them both. Elena shook her head as she felt tears begin to sting her eyes.

"No, no Damon. You are not running from me because of this. I told you I loved you Damon, didn't that mean anything to you?" Elena asked in a pleading tone that was beginning to scare even her. Damon sighed and a sad smile twisted onto his face.

"Yes Elena, it means everything! But, it also means you are incredibly stupid. You can't love me. I am not who you are meant to love Elena. I can't give you what you need. You need to be with someone who can give you the things that you deserve, the things that you were meant to have." He practically pleaded in a now desperate tone.

"And what exactly am I supposed to have that you can't give me Damon?" Elena asked with a sudden anger in her voice. Damon laughed.

"Oh, I don't know Elena. How about a life where are you aren't constantly having to run from some evil psychotic supernatural being? How about a life where you can have a family, security or even just a stable and safe home? Take your pick Elena; there are a lot to choose from." He said sarcastically as he turned and started walking toward the other side of the room. Elena clenched her jaw and followed him as he moved.

"Damon you might not be able to give me a picture perfect life, but that isn't what I want anyway. You can give me so many things that other people can't." She said softly as she moved closer to him. Damon turned and stared at her in disbelief.

"Like what?" He asked.

"Like love and passion and protection from all those evil supernatural beings. You can give me security and family by being with me, by being my family." She said softly as she reached out and touched his hand once again. Damon stared at her and his eyes softened, slowly he moved toward her and slid his fingers up under her chin and gently cupped her face in his hands. He stared into her chocolate brown eyes and gently ran his fingers over her soft lips.

"I am sorry Elena; I can't continue to risk your life just because being without you hurts so much. You deserve better. It's best, if I go for a while. I just need to go and terrorize a new town for a while and then someday soon I'll come back and hopefully find you happy and safe…for once." He said softly. Elena shook her head as tears began to fall down her face.

"Damon, no. Please." She begged through her tears. Damon slid his fingers up over her cheek and gently wiped away the tears that were pouring faster down her face with every passing second.

"I have to Elena, but I will come back, that I promise you." He whispered softly. Elena bit her lip to try to hold in the sob that was threatening to erupt at his words.

"You promised you'd never leave again Damon, you promised." She cried quietly into his hands. Damon nodded.

"I know sweetheart, I know. Try to think of this as just a break, I'm simply taking a vacation." He whispered as he smiled softly. Elena stared into his eyes and realized that the fight was over. He was leaving and there was nothing she was able to do now to stop him. She swallowed hard as she felt the sob that she had been holding back finally break through.

"What am I going to do without you Damon?" She cried as she felt her knees give out from under her. Damon caught her quickly and pulled her body to his. He held her tight to him as she buried her face in his T-shirt and cried hard enough that within seconds his skin that hid underneath was nearly as soaked as her face. Damon smoothed his fingers through her hair and pulled her tighter to him.

"You are going to be fine, Elena. You are going to move on from everything that has happened over the past year and have a normal happy life. You are going to graduate, meet some idiot that loves you and will take care of you and ride off into the sunset." He said softly with a smile. Elena pulled back and looked into his pained blue eyes. He seemed so much different than she was used to. He wasn't angry, he wasn't vengeful or cocky, he was just…sad.

"It was real Damon. With you, I felt it, it was so real." She whispered softly as she remembered the words he had spoken to her in his car only a few days before. Damon smiled and nodded.

"It's always been real, Elena." He whispered back as he smoothed his fingers over her cheek and caught one of her tears and then brushed his fingers across the soft curves of her lips. Elena closed her eyes and shuddered at the contact of his skin on her mouth and slowly licked her lips. Damon moved back slightly and tried to put distance between their bodies, but he feared he was too late.

Elena's teary eyes rose and fixed on Damon's as she raised her fingers and gently outlined the soft curves of his perfect lips. She swallowed thickly as she watched her fingers move over his skin and felt the heat inside her body begin to rise.

"I am going to miss you so much." She whispered softly as she trailed her fingers from his lips down the smooth expanse of his throat and over the thick vein that pushed beautiful life through his strong exquisite body.

"Elena…" Damon struggled softly as he felt her fingertips continue to move down over his collarbone and to the tight muscles of his chest. Elena ignored his words as she slid her hands down over his stomach and quickly slipped her hands under the thin material of his onyx T-shirt. She hooked her fingers in the hem and then slowly pulled it up and over Damon's head. Damon let out a ragged breath as he stepped back from her, but he found it nearly impossible to move away from the intoxicating gaze in which Elena ran over his entire body.

"Please Damon; I just want to touch you one more time. I just want to feel you…just once before you leave me." Elena begged as she stepped closer to him again and quickly closed the gap that he had put between their bodies. Damon swallowed.

"Elena, you are still weak and…" He started, but Elena looked up at him as she slid her hand down the tight corded muscles of the bare flesh of his stomach and over the tight bulge in his pants and silenced any words that he had even contemplated speaking. She licked her lips as she slowly ran her hand over him once again, only this time tracing the outline of his painfully hard erection with the softness of her fingertips.

"I'm not that weak Damon, please. I need you." She whispered as her large doe eyes held his and begged for his submission. Damon stared at her for a moment and suddenly found himself unable to think of any further reasons to ignore the pleas of the beautiful woman standing in front of him. He was leaving and he was leaving soon. This was the last time he would probably see her for a very long time and he knew if he didn't touch her just once more, he would regret it forever and after being a vampire for over a hundred and fifty years he had learned by now that forever was a very long time.

In an instant Damon crashed his mouth against Elena's in a hungry kiss that Elena met with equal passion. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and raked her fingers through his tousled black hair as she moaned against his mouth. She pulled herself as close to him as their bodies would allow and fed at his lips as if her life depended on it. Damon could taste her need as if it was his own and quickly lifted her from the floor and pulled her body tightly against his. Elena quickly wrapped her body around Damon's as he began to slowly move them toward the staircase.

"Now, I need you now." Elena moaned as she broke their kiss for long enough to speak and then quickly crushed her mouth against his once again. Damon groaned as he felt her begin to grind her lower body against his as she ran her hands over every inch of his skin that she could find. Quickly, Damon stopped halfway up the staircase and lowered Elena back onto the stairs. He pulled away from her for a moment and looked down at her wanton body.

"You are so beautiful." He whispered as his eyes moved over her now heated skin. Elena's eyes were filled with need and desire as she sat up slightly from the stair he had placed her on. She quickly pulled her shirt up over her head and off of her body as she reached out and ran her hands up the front of Damon's strong thighs. Slowly, she ran her tongue over her bottom lip as she ran her eyes over his body.

"Please Damon." Elena begged as she raised her eyes to meet his. Damon licked his lips as he felt his desire begin to burn intensely inside of him at the sight of Elena knelt before him begging him for his touch. He reached down and tangled his fingers in her hair and then pulled their bodies together quickly as he once against crushed his mouth against hers.

Quickly, Damon slipped his fingers in the sides of Elena's shorts and in a fast motion ripped them from her body and discarded them on the floor below them. He pulled back from her mouth and slowly drug his tongue down over her bottom lip. He stared into her eyes for a moment and contemplated saying something to her to make this moment more special, but as he saw the same look in her eyes that mirrored his own, he realized that they were far past words.

Slowly, Damon slid his tongue down Elena's chin and over the soft delicate expanse of her throat. He tasted the intoxicating flavor of her skin as he licked down her jugular and finally to her collarbone where he lightly drug his teeth over her soft skin. He continued to kiss down her chest, flick his tongue over her nipples and leave wet open mouth kisses over the supple swell of each of her breasts. Elena moaned under his touch and the sound of her pleasure only made his need to taste her more consuming. Damon continued to move down her body as he tasted every inch of her that his mouth could reach and he committed every curve of her beautiful flesh to his memory that he knew he would rely on completely after that night. He continued his movements as he slid his tongue down the center of her stomach and over the small dip of her belly button. He moved to her side and deeply kissed the curve of her hip as he sucked gently on her soft skin taking in the sweet taste of her warmed flesh. He drug his teeth over her hip bone and then softened his mouth to dip into the tender skin of her inner thigh.

"Damon." Elena moaned as she slid her hand down her body and tangled her fingers in his messy onyx hair. Damon groaned as she pulled slightly at his scalp and he kissed down her thigh until he hit the inside of her knee. He sucked gently on the skin there and then raised her leg and rested it on his shoulder. He ran his tongue back up her thigh and then moved his mouth just over her now trembling core. He swallowed as he felt his hunger rise inside of him with overpowering strength. To his surprise the hunger that raged inside of him in that moment had nothing to do with the thick vein in Elena's thigh that pounded just next to his ear. Instead, it had everything to do with the soft body that lay just beneath his hands. In that moment he simply hungered for Elena. He hungered to touch her; he hungered to inhale her and most of all he hungered to taste the sweet flavor of her desire that would soon pour out of her body and over his anxiously waiting lips. Damon's mouth began to water as he remembered the taste of her that had flooded his mouth only two days before, and that he had hungered for it ever since her body had moved away from his that cool night. He needed her, he needed her more than he had ever needed anything in this world and that was one of the many reasons that this would be his last night with her and one of the many reasons that she would never get to know.

Damon quickly shook the thoughts from his head and moved his mouth closer to Elena's trembling heated core. He opened his mouth and slowly slid his wet tongue over the delicate soft flesh of her clit and groaned as the sweet taste of her rolled over his hungry tongue.

"Mmm…." Elena moaned as her grip on Damon's hair became tighter and she raised her hips slightly. Damon smiled against her skin and moved his tongue over her once more and by the time he had his second taste, he was gone.

Elena's body trembled and pulsed under Damon's mouth as he slid his tongue over her wet core faster and faster with every passing second. Elena moaned as the wet trails of fire that his mouth left, tortured her relentlessly and sweat poured down her now trembling body. Slowly, she reached her other hand down and twisted both her hands in Damon's hair, she tightened her grip and as she heard him moan in pleasure, felt herself grow even slicker with need. It took only seconds, but the harder she pulled on Damon's hair the faster and more intensely his mouth worked over her. Elena bucked her hips toward him as she felt her body tighten and quickly felt the tidal wave of agonizingly beautiful sensations begin wash over her body.

"Damon…oh my God!" Elena screamed as she felt her body pulse and contract tightly. Damon moaned and tightened his grip on her hips and slowly lifted her lower body off of the stairs. He pressed her flesh to his hungry mouth and fed from her body in way that was far more powerful than anytime he had ever fed from her blood.

"Damon…Damon!" Elena screamed as her orgasm finally ripped through her body with such force that her foot slipped off of the step below her and her body fell slightly before Damon tightened his grip and pulled her closer to his mouth once again. He moaned into her skin and then as he felt her orgasm begin to die down slightly, he slid his tongue over her clit once again, scrapped his teeth against her delicate flesh and then sucked painfully hard as his tongue massaged her clit at the same time.

"Fuck…!" Elena screamed helplessly as her second orgasm ripped through her body with a painful force. Her vision began to blur, her legs shook and it felt as if her body were being ripped into a million pieces as she pulsed under Damon's mouth. Slowly, Damon pulled back from her core and finally climbed up her body. Elena shook under him and looked up into his passionate blue eyes as he stared down at her and tried to catch his breath. Elena groaned and looked up at his wet lips and then hungrily crushed her mouth against his. She licked the taste of her body from his mouth and sucked his bottom lip hard as she felt the last vibrations of her powerful orgasm still shaking her body. Damon groaned and finally pulled back from her mouth slightly as he finally met her dazed chocolate brown eyes.

"I want you, now." He said breathlessly. Elena nodded and quickly reached down and undid the button of his dark jeans and shoved them hastily down his hips.

"Take me, I'm yours. Please Damon." Elena begged as she pressed her body against his. Damon nodded and pressed her body down against the stairs harder as he slowly pushed himself deep inside of her.

"Damon…God." Elena moaned as she closed her eyes and let her head fall back on the stair behind her. Damon groaned as he pushed himself deeper inside her tight wet core once again and tangled his fingers in her hair.

The next few moments seemed to happen in a beautiful tangle of images in front of Elena that she would replay through her mind a million times, over the next year of her life. Damon's grip on her hair tightened and he pulled her head back slightly as he pushed deeper inside of her once again. He leaned down and buried his face in her neck as he quickened his pace and began to ride her body with more passion than Elena had ever felt in her entire life. She arched her back and pressed her body against his and lifted herself from the stairs. Elena tangled her arms around Damon's body and pulled herself as close to him as she physically could as her need began to consume her at an intense speed. The feeling of him inside of her quickly became something that she needed rather than just something she wanted. She opened her eyes and found Damon's icy blue eyes staring at her as he quickly approached his overwhelming release. She lowered her face and pressed her forehead to his as he ground his hips against hers.

"Harder." Elena begged in a breathy voice. Damon gritted his teeth and pushed harder inside of her as he slipped his hands down her body and grabbed both of her hands and raised them above her head. He intertwined their fingers and used the leverage to pull himself even deeper inside of her. He pulled himself harder against her and pushed himself deeper inside of her with every movement his body made. He looked into her eyes as he quickened his pace again slightly and ran his lips lightly over hers.

"More?" He asked softly. Elena nodded quickly and wrapped her legs around Damon's back and pressed her core tighter against him.

"More." She repeated. Damon rode her body harder and Elena moaned loudly in pleasure as she pushed away the sensation of pain caused by the stair under her digging roughly into her naked flesh.

"Tell me you will miss me." Damon moaned as his eyes met hers again. Elena suddenly felt a sharp pain move through her chest even as her body still hummed with pleasure from Damon's touch.

"I'm going to miss you. God I'm going to miss you." Elena repeated breathlessly as tears welled up in her eyes once again and she tightened her grip on Damon's hands. Damon moved his lips over hers once again.

"I've never loved anyone the way I love you Elena." He moaned as he moved against her body harder once again. Elena moaned as a mixture between pleasure and pain moved through her body all at the same time.

"God I love you." She said breathlessly as she stared into his eyes. Damon felt his stilled heart burn in his chest as the emotions between them ignited and bound them together in a way that he had never felt in all his years. It was suddenly all becoming too real, the pain was too intense, and he felt far too much. Damon quickly dropped his head as he tried to push his thoughts out of his mind and he twisted his hips slightly. Elena gasped at the new intense sensation as she felt Damon suddenly pressing hard against her G-Spot.

"Scream, Elena." Damon begged breathlessly as his eyes returned to hers and he moved against her body harder and harder with every second. Elena moaned as she felt the pressure inside her body build and temporarily push away the pain that she had felt only moments before.

"Damon." Elena moaned. Damon moved faster and harder against her body.

"Louder." He demanded as he pressed her hands harder into the stairs.

"Damon!" Elena screamed as she felt her body begin to tighten. Damon moaned as Elena's nails sunk deeply into the skin of his back.

"Fuck, Elena." Damon groaned and in a quick and powerful rush his orgasm ripped through his body as he drove himself as hard against her body as he knew he could without seriously wounding her. Elena screamed at the top of her lungs and Damon felt her orgasm rip through her once again as she pulsed painfully hard around him.

"Oh my God, Damon." Elena cried as she wrapped her body tighter around him and in that moment they were one. There was no inch of their flesh that didn't touch the other and even as painful as it was, it was the most intense feeling that either one of them had ever felt.

Damon braced himself by releasing one of Elena's hands and grasping the corner of the stair beside her. They both rode out their orgasms and finally Damon's body eventually began to slow against Elena's. He finally lowered himself down onto her body and laid his head against her shoulder as they both caught their breath. Elena tangled her fingers in his soft, but now dampened hair and held his body to hers.

"I love you Damon. I loved him, but I love you." She whispered softly and Damon felt his chest tighten again as he closed his eyes. There had never been a moment more perfect and yet incredibly painful than the one he was experiencing that night on those stairs. He had waited so long to hear the words that had just left her beautiful lips and now that he heard them, he was leaving her. He clenched his jaw tightly and tried to swallow the emotions that were threatening to overtake him as he fought for control over both the monster and the man that fought desperately inside of him. Finally, he let out a deep breath and slowly lifted his head and looked down at the tired brown eyes that bore directly into his. He swallowed and slowly moved a piece of Elena's chocolate brown hair behind her ear as he smiled softly.

"Let's get you upstairs." He said softly as he slowly pushed himself from her body and then lifted her from the stairs and took her carefully in his arms. He carried her up the stairs and then into his bedroom where he laid her gently down onto his bed.

Once Elena felt the softness of Damon's linens under her skin she knew it was over. She would lie down, fall asleep in his arms and when her eyes opened next he would be gone and she would be completely alone. She felt tears once again begin to well up in her eyes and she fought with them silently as she struggled to keep control over her always impulsive and unexplainable emotions.

"Just sleep Elena." Damon whispered softly as he slipped into the bed next to her and gently pulled the blankets up over to cover them both. Elena shook her head as she felt the first of her tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

"If I go to sleep you will be gone when I wake up." She whimpered as she opened her eyes and looked into the icy blue pools that gazed at her softly.

"No matter where I go Elena, I am always here." He whispered as he let his fingers gently caress the side of her cheek and brush away the fresh tears that now lay there. Elena nodded hesitantly and then snuggled closer to Damon's body as she nuzzled her face in the cool corner where his shoulder and neck met perfectly together. Damon wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close enough to his body that from the tips of their toes to the skin that their lips touched, there wasn't any part of them that wasn't connected. Elena basked in the comfort of Damon's tight embrace and let the sweet scent of his skin lull her to sleep as she clutched desperately to his hand.

Even though Elena had been asleep, she was certain she knew the exact moment that Damon had left. As she had lay in Damon's arms that morning she had felt safe, warm, and had dreamt peaceful dreams as the feeling of his body surrounded her and caressed her every breath. Eventually, her peaceful dreams had begun to change and in an instant she found herself immersed in nightmares that seemed inescapable and consuming in a way that terrified her. She tossed and turned in the now cooled blankets in the morning light and it was in that moment that she was sure he was really gone.

As the sun set over Mystic Falls that night, Elena's eyes finally opened and she looked around to find herself surrounded by the darkness of Damon's bedroom. She reached her hand out and felt the emptiness of the spot where Damon had laid only hours before, and began to feel a loneliness that even after the loss of nearly her entire family, she had never felt before.

Elena rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling as she tried to convince herself she needed to get up and actually return to her home. Sadness moved over her as she imagined having to leave the last place that Damon had been before he had disappeared from her life. But, now as she looked around the emptiness of Damon's bedroom, she realized that the house that she had truly called home for the past year, now held nothing but memories for her. Slowly, Elena pushed herself up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She stood, but before she could take another step she heard a noise come from the floor below her. Elena's body froze and she listened intently as she finally heard the front door open, close and then the sound of heavy footsteps fill the main hallway.

Excitement rushed through Elena as she moved quickly through Damon's bedroom. She threw the door open and ran as fast as she could down the stairs toward the cobalt blue eyes that only moments before she feared she might never see again. Elena reached the bottom of the stairs with a thud, but felt her body freeze mid-step as she turned to look at the man standing in the doorway staring back at her. Elena's heart fell into her stomach and her mind began to spin along with the room around her as she tried unsuccessfully to steady her now trembling body. She swallowed thickly and stared into the piercing green eyes that only two days before had stared at her in horror after he had plunged a stake into the chest of his own brother.

"Stefan." Elena whispered softly finding herself unable to break eye contact with the man who was now moving slightly closer to her. Stefan smiled as he ran his eyes over Elena's body.

"Well now, what do we have here?" He asked sarcastically and as Elena's body began to tremble with greater force she realized that she was not only standing half naked in front of her estranged psychopathic boyfriend, but she was also doing it, in his brother's shirt.

Please read and review and let me know what you think! Don't worry everyone; I have plenty more drama, chapters, filthy smut, romantic smut and kinky smut coming your way. I will update as fast as I can, don't go anywhere because after I am done with this, I can smell a sequel I am think this story will have somewhere around like maybe 25 chapters? Then I will do sequel and update my other stories. Please click the button below and let me know what you thought! Thanks! -Nikki