In the next few days, I observed Elena, intensely. I noted every single person she made contact with on a daily basis. There were many possible people who could be slipping her vervain! Jenna, Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline and Matt all had the opportunity every day.

As I watched Elena, I became more and more mesmerised by her pure beauty, kindness and complete selflessness. The only time I could not see her was when she was with Stefan. They always remained locked up in her room, where no-one could hear or see what they were up to. I knew he would be feeding from her. I knew he'd be compelling her to feed from him. Fortunately, I knew that the vervain that someone was slipping her would, eventually, overpower the compulsion.

For the first time in a fortnight, I decided to attend school, so I could keep an even closer eye on Elena. I compelled the woman in charge of the timetables to put me in all lessons with my brother and his girlfriend. Unfortunately, it meant that I shared classes with Barbie and Bonnie – Elena's witch best friend.

"Damon! O.M.G. you finally decided to show up!" Barbie said as she skipped over to where I was sat at the back of the class. She had curled her blonde hair into tight coils that bounced around when she moved. She was wearing extremely tight jeans- that hugged her curves beautifully- and a low-cut, pink jumper.

"Hey, Caroline. Long time, no see."

"So I'm having a party later. Come?"

"Where and when?"

"The Grill, obviously, and six o'clock." She winked at me before skipping back to her seat next to Elena.

After about half an hour of simple arithmetic, a knock interrupted the teacher's boring lecture.

"There's someone on the phone for you, sir." A little freshman announced, shyly.

The teacher sighed loudly and followed the child to the reception.

As soon as he had left, Caroline leaned over to whisper to Elena.

"Damon's coming tonight. Stefan said you guys are as well. You better be there!"

"I will. I will. Is Bonnie coming?"

"I'll ask." Caroline said before pulling out her mobile and texting Bonnie. "Yes, she is." She added a moment later.

At half past six, I turned up at the party feeling extremely hopeful.

"Looking good, Damon!" Caroline shouted at me over the music, glancing at my Armani suit. I did look good, but I also felt good. It had been a while since I had felt like this. I almost felt human.

"You too, Barbie." At this, Caroline spun around like a child, showing off her flowing aqua-blue dress. Then she ran over to give Bonnie and Elena a huge hug. I followed her slowly.

"Hello, Elena."

"Damon! Good to see you." Her voice was so soothing!

"Yeah, you too. How've you been?"

"Great," I could sense that she was lying. "What about you?"

"Hmm… Not bad, thank-you. Can I speak to you a minute?"

"Sure."

I offered my hand to her. She took it and I led her towards the dance-floor. Her arms slipped around my neck as mine fell to her hips. We swayed slowly, in silence, for a few moments.

"What's up then?" My dance partner finally asked.

"Have you had any drinks tonight?"

"Yeah, Bonnie gave me one earlier. In fact, she gave it me as soon as I arrived. Why?"

Rudely, I parted from Elena and made my way through the crowd to where Bonnie stood on her own, eyeing up a barman. I sat, quietly, in the seat across the table from her. She gave me a dirty look then chose to ignore my existence.

"Vervain."

"What?" She spun round to face me, a disgusted look on her face.

"You know what, Bonnie. Don't play dumb with me. You put vervain in Elena's drink this evening and you've been doing it every day since you realised Stefan was compelling her."

"So? Why do you care?"

"I don't like what my brother is doing. Especially because it's Elena." I left the party, immediately. For once, I was glad that Elena had a witch for a best friend.

Later that night, I received a phone call from Bonnie asking me to help her 'fill Elena full of vervain'. I agreed, happily. That night, for the first time since I arrived in Mystic Falls, I did not need a shot of vodka to help me sleep. Unfortunately, my content did not last long.

"Damon! You're a selfish, stupid, sadistic pig!" I awoke from my deep sleep, to hear this cursing.

"Nice to see you too, Lexi."

The blonde vampire, who had been my brother's best friend for way too long, stood over my bed in her tiny little skirt and skimpy shirt. She looked angry, which didn't surprise me; she had never been happy to see me.

"Why are you letting Stefan do this to a human? Don't you care at all?"

"I'm trying to stop him, you stupid bimbo." I climbed out of bed, carefully holding a sheet around my naked body. "How do you know anyway?"

"I've been watching him. He's different. I went to the Grill tonight to talk to him, and he compelled her. Right in the open!"

"Don't sound so shocked. He does it at school as well."

For the next few hours, Lexi and I conversed about my brother's condition. We had never really got on, but for that night, we spoke like old friends.