Original Author's note: So glad the last chapter was met with such positive response. Since I knew the cliffhanger was kind of evil…I've tried to update quickly.

Warnings: Mature – adult content, character death, Stefan, Bonnie, language, violence, REALLY REALLY SICKLY SWEET DIALOGUE

New Author's note: Thank you to those who've been understanding when I pulled this chapter off the website yesterday. I was hit with an unusual number of really negative reviews (via messaging) for this chapter as well as several critical reviews of earlier chapters of this story all in one day.

I've continued to get criticism for my love scenes not being "hot" enough. I've never been a writer who pushes the envelope content-wise. My mature rating gives me the ability to fully explore the entirety of the story – from Stefan's abuse of Elena to Damon and Elena's love scenes to some pretty intense stuff I have planned for later chapters (if the story ends up being expanded). My mature rating covers the full story and it isn't simply for the adult content the story might contain.

Thanks again to those of y'all who've sent messages of support.

Yes, if you read this yesterday, I'd recommend reading it again.

"Damon?" Elena charged through the front door, arriving on the porch before Damon had a chance to leave. The clouds that had threatened impending rain all night finally decided to unleash their fury just in time for the expected cold front arrived. The result was a mixture of sleet and rain that attacked her the minute she stepped to the edge of the porch.

But it didn't seem to be affecting Damon. He stood frozen with his hand on the roof of his car. With the full moon peeking through the sliver in the clouds overhead, Damon was standing so still he could easily have been mistaken for a statue. Sleet piled on his shoulder in vivid contrast to the black jacket he wore. "Damon?" The anger rippling off him confused Elena so badly she didn't risk stepping from the porch. "Please look at me. Damon?" She saw the look of betrayal in his eyes before he left, but she didn't understand it.

If she hadn't been a vampire, she would have missed the slight shake of his head. "I guess we'll need to give my little brother a call." Damon's voice was steely and devoid of emotion. His fingers flexed ever so slightly on the rooftop of his car, leaving a faint trail through the sleet just beginning to fall.

"What?"

"You know the rules. Vampires can't procreate, Elena." Damon gave a mirthless laugh, still not turning to face her. "But I guess the witches made an exception in my brother's case."

Elena sped down the stairs, slipping and landing on the ground with a thud. She hopped back to her feet and brushed mud and ice off the seat of her pants. She carefully picked her way over the slick sidewalk and stood off to the side of the car, not ready to approach Damon. "Is that what you think?"

"It's better than the alternative."

"Alternative?"

"Do you want me to start wondering who you slept with while you were confessing your undying love for my brother? Is that why you were so quick to protect Matt?"

Elena's heart skipped a beat. She was still processing the news she's just received from a little white stick in the Forbes' bathroom….and now this? "You think? I would – with Matt?" She couldn't move past Damon's insinuation. "Damon." Despite her most valiant attempts, Elena's voice broke as she said his name. "I never…." She squeezed her hands into fists at her sides, fighting for control she didn't currently possess. "I can't believe that you of all people…" Her breathing hitched in her chest. She shook her head, fighting back tears. She refused to cry in front of him – not right now. "I wasn't pregnant when I turned, Damon."

Something in her words must have signaled it was time for him to leave. Still not turning to look at her, Damon slid into the driver's seat of the car and slammed the door. He peeled away from the Forbes' house, leaving Elena alone on the edge of the sidewalk.

"Elena?" Caroline's voice called out hesitantly from behind her. She and Bonnie must have been watching from the window. And Caroline wouldn't have been able to keep herself from overhearing the confrontation occurring in her own front yard. Footsteps creaked on the wooden front porch. Elena waved for whomever it was to stop.

"I can't." She held up a hand. "Not right now." She turned and started walking away from her friends. She couldn't face them – not after everything that had happened in the last hour.

Caroline ignored her. "Come back inside."

"I need to be by myself right now." Elena's tears blended with the rain striking her cheek.

"At least let me drive you home."

Elena forced her tears to stop. She let out a hollow laugh. "What am I going to do, catch a cold?" She removed Caroline's hand from her shoulder and continued walking down the sidewalk.

At first, Elena wasn't certain where she was going, but the icy pellets striking against her thin sweater quickly convinced her that fleeing Caroline's house without retrieving her jacket wasn't the best idea. By the time she realized where her feet were taking her, she was standing on her own front porch. She hadn't been here in days – honestly, she'd probably last visited her house weeks ago.

The windows were dark, and the house was quiet. Not even the porch lights were lit. Jeremy probably forgot to leave them on when he left for school that morning. Typical.

She tipped up the planter to the right of the door and retrieved the key her father always hid there. A few things hadn't changed.

Placing the key in the lock, she let herself inside. She was surprised to see how foreign it felt to be home. Home. Did she really have a home any longer? Her boots echoed on the hardwood floors, signaling how empty the house was.

Cold.

Dark.

Elena had never felt so very much alone.

She reached out and turned on one of the lamps on the entryway table. Slowly, she pivoted and looked around. The house looked just as it did the last time she'd visited. At least Jeremy was doing a good job keeping the house clean – unless Damon was dropping by during the day.

Damon.

She wouldn't think about him right now. She couldn't.

She ran up the stairs and closed the door behind her. Standing in front of her full-length mirror, Elena slid one hand over her still perfectly flat stomach and covered her mouth with her other. Only then did she let her tears begin to fall.

The door to Elena's room opened with a creak. Light cascaded across her bed, and she shot to her feet – speeding into the far corner of the room. Her hair was damp from sleeping on her wet pillow. Her bloodshot eyes burned as she blinked to adjust to the sudden brightness.

"Elena! Damn it, I almost killed you." Jeremy leaned against the door frame and sighed in a mixture of relief and horror.

Elena leaned over with her hands on her knees, still gasping for breath at being awakened from her fitful sleep. She chanced a look up at her brother. "You're holding a knife, Jer. If that had been a stake…"

He tilted his head to the side and gave her his patented annoyed-brother glare. "You know what I meant." He paused and stared at her. "Why are you here?"

And the memories of the night came flooding back to her. Elena shook her head and clenched her teeth together, not trusting herself to speak.

"Um. Hey. Uh, I brought Matt home to watch a movie and have some pizza tonight. Let me go get rid of him." Jeremy definitely looked like a fish out of water. He might have been able to chop off a hybrid's head without blinking, but dealing with an older vampire sister having an emotional breakdown in front of his eyes was a little more than he was prepared to handle.

"No. I'm fine." Elena shook her head and retreated back to her bed, pulling the blankets up over her knees to hide the fact that she was still fully dressed. "I'm glad you invited Matt over. You deserve to have some fun." She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on top. In many ways, Jeremy and Matt were the same now – both teenagers practically raising themselves. She was pleased that they were becoming better friends. Matt was a good friend.

"Now I know you're lying." Jeremy flicked on the lamp on top of the dresser and tried not to make a face. Elena must look worse than she'd thought. To his credit, he kept talking. "I'm fine never really means I'm fine with you." Before Elena could answer, Jeremy squinted and looked just over her shoulder. "Ric wants to know if you want him to stake Damon for you." He paused. "Apparently he's been practicing."

"Stake….Damon?"

"Not to kill him, just where it would hurt – a lot." Jeremy flinched at whatever Ric must have signaled.

Elena turned in the direction Jeremy was speaking. "Ric's here?"

Jeremy nodded. "He's normally around."

Elena reached for her teddy bear, who appeared to be currently trapped between the pillow and the headboard. She squeezed the toy against her chest and toyed with his frayed ribbon around his neck. "Was he with me at Caroline's house tonight?"

A look of sadness crossed Jeremy's face. He must have been mirroring Alaric. "Yeah. He was." Jeremy walked slowly toward the bed and took a seat at the foot. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Elena shook her head and turned back where she thought Ric must be standing. "I'm not ready to talk – yet."

"You sure?" Jeremy looked absently around Elena's room. Someone had cleaned up the glass, but the nightstand was still missing, and the Elena-shaped depression in the wall remained.

"I'm sure." Elena nodded. When she realized Jeremy wasn't leaving, a thought occurred to her. "The Christmas tree isn't up."

Jeremy cringed. "I really didn't feel like putting one up for myself."

Elena took a deep breath. "We'll do it tomorrow."

"Does that mean you're staying here for a while."

Elena forced a smile. Pretending to be stronger than she felt, she answered. "Yeah. I'm back, if you don't mind."

"No." The troubled look on Jeremy's face deepened in intensity. "I just don't understand. What happened between you and..." His brown eyes flashed to the side of Elena's bed. He gave a slight nod of his head. "But you probably want to be alone right now." He stood and backed away.

Damon raised two fingers in the direction of the bartender. The Mystic Grill was almost empty. Matt stood in the far corner of the bar, picking the last of the ketchup bottles off the tables. Tonight, only a handful of people even walked through the restaurant's doors. Of course, tonight most people had better places to be.

"Buddy, it's Christmas Eve, don't you have somewhere better to be?" The young man leaned over the bar as he refilled the two tumblers.

Damon scowled. "Not tonight."

"Why don't you go on home so the rest of us can leave?" Damon squinted to read the bartender's name tag - Craig. If he kept mouthing off, Damon might have to reconsider his current stance on only feeding on blood bags.

Damon flashed a dangerous grin. "I'll leave a big tip."

"That's what Peter said when he told me I had to stay open till midnight." Craig screwed the lid back onto the bottle and shook his head.

Damon rolled his eyes and fought back the urge to train Craig right where he stood, but that wasn't him – not anymore…hell, he didn't even know if it could be. Somewhere along the way, Tin Man found his heart, and right now it was breaking – and he didn't know why.

"You finished with that?" Matt stood next to him with a mostly-empty black bin at his side. The dishes from the other diners in the Grill that night didn't even cover the bottom of the bin.

Damon took a last swallow from his cup. "Now I am." He placed it on top of the plate and waited for Matt to move along, but the bus boy stayed where he stood. "You need something?" Matt stiffened and shook his head. "Then why are you still standing here?"

Matt gave him a condescending look. "Have you seen Elena lately?"

That was the last question Damon expected. "No." Matt was lucky Damon's temper had been mildly influenced by the copious amount of alcohol he'd consumed that night, otherwise Matt would find himself sprawled on the ground right now – if not worse.

"I didn't think so." Matt clicked his tongue like a scolding Sunday school teacher.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Damon couldn't believe he was about to sit here and get a lecture from an 18 year old who had trouble remembering to pay his heating bill.

"Did you know she's sick?" Matt paused for emphasis. "Pneumonia or something like that. Jeremy was so worried yesterday that he talked Dr. Fell into making a house call."

"Elena can't get sick." Damon spoke in a subdued stage whisper.

"Apparently she can." Matt narrowed his eyes and looked over Damon's shoulder at Craig locking the front door. "I guess she's an exception to all the rules." Matt swallowed and stared down Damon. "Caroline's not good at keeping secrets. You need to know one thing. She would never…."

"Hey, Donovan, mop up the entryway and then get out of here. You've been here long enough."

"I'll be right there, Craig." Matt stepped back, away from Damon. "Elena wouldn't lie about something like that." Matt walked toward the entryway and grabbed a mop. From the effort he put behind each movement, it was clear he was pretending the pole was a stake he was driving through Damon's chest.

Or maybe Damon was just projecting.

Matt knew Elena was pregnant. And she was sick. How did she manage that? But then he remembered that night almost two weeks ago – the last time he'd seen her. He saw her expression reflected in the rearview mirror while the sleet and wind whirled around her.

"One for your imaginary friend?" Craig paused as he polished the bottle.

"Sure." Damon nodded in the direction of the glass at the empty seat next to him. "Cheers." Damon tapped the glass in mock salute.

And the glass on the counter moved.

"What the – " Damon stared down at the tumbler, thinking that maybe Craig had been right. Maybe he really had pushed himself too far this time. But he hadn't even polished off half the bottle….

As he watched, the amber liquid swished side to side in the glass. After it had Damon's complete attention, the glass shot off the countertop and landed with a splash in Damon's lap. He shot to his feet, and the glass shattered on the ground. "Ric? What was that for?"

But, even without his friend sitting at his side, he knew. Alaric had been at the Forbes' house that night…he must have. And now Damon realized he'd done it again. Act first. Think later.

He hadn't needed to see Elena's face to know how much he'd hurt her.

"I wasn't pregnant when I turned, Damon."

Only now did the meaning of her words sink in. Blame it on the blind rage. Blame it on the jealousy of all the time his brother had with her. Blame it on himself.

Vampires couldn't procreate, but Elena had always been an exception to the rules. And he'd made a very big mistake.

"Thanks, Buddy." Damon nodded to the empty seat next to him.

Elena stirred in bed. She rolled onto her side and shivered. She'd knocked off her blankets during the night. Reaching down to her waist, she took hold of the blankets – and someone else lifted them to her shoulder.

"I didn't mean to scare you." As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw the sincerity in his face. He smoothed the covers in place and pulled his hand away as if he'd stuck in in a fire. "God, you're burning up!"

Elena turned her face away from him and coughed into her fist. She still blinked at him in confusion while another shiver coursed through her body. "Cold…"

"Come here." Damon pulled her next to him and stroked her cheek. She clung to his chest like he was an oversized stuffed animal. "How long have you been like this?" Elena only answered with another shiver. "Do you even know what I'm saying right now?" Her eyes glazed over with fever, she didn't answer. "You probably don't even know I'm really here." He kissed her forehead and laced his fingers with hers. Damon slid under the blanket next to her, and she didn't protest. Instead, she curled more tightly against him. "We're going to get through this together. Just like we always do. You're going to be okay." He looked down, but her eyes had already closed.

"Merry Christmas!"

Elena struggled to open her eyes as an oddly familiar voice called into the room. She was dreaming – or seeing things again. Last night she'd dreamt…. Well, that didn't matter. A hand reached out and helped her sit up as she continued to try to focus on the person in the room. It looked like –

"Come on, you can't sleep all day. It's Christmas." The bed bounced as someone settled on the bed next to her. "And I've been working all morning in the kitchen."

"Damon?" Elena's voice was so hoarse she hardly recognized it.

"I fixed you some chicken soup." The emotion in his eyes contradicted the forced lightness in his voice. "I even found your mom's recipe." He placed a tray on the bedspread and pushed the bowl closer to her.

Trying to avoid thinking about how horrible she must look, she picked up a spoon and held it in front of her. She didn't think she could handle a mad dash to the bathroom right now, and her stomach was already churning. She'd given up trying to feed from Matt or Jeremy almost a week ago.

"Caroline said you could drink tea. At least give it a try." He nodded in encouragement.

She filled the bowl of the spoon halfway, and she felt his eyes studying every minute detail of her movements. Knowing she was going to regret this in a few minutes, she placed the spoon to her lips and swallowed. It was good. Better than her mother's, but she'd never tell that to the vampire sitting next to her. Since she was able to swallow it, she took a second tentative spoonful.

"And?"

Always fishing for compliments. She fought back her biting reply when she saw the true look of concern in his eyes. "It's good. Thank you." A fraction of the tension left his shoulders. "You just said it's Christmas. Jeremy…"

"Just finished a Christmas feast himself. Matt's downstairs too. They seemed to enjoy the beef tenderloin." For the first time, she noticed the smudge of flour on Damon's cheek and the splatter of something on the sleeve of his shirt. "I thought we'd start you off slow, though." He tapped the tray, signaling her to eat.

Elena made it through half the bowl before she knew she couldn't eat any more. She pushed the tray away.

"A little more?" Damon raised an eyebrow in her direction.

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

He picked the tray up and carried it to the dresser before coming back to sit at her side.

"Thank you for the soup and taking care of Jeremy." She pulled her tangled hair onto one shoulder and stared at him. "But what are you doing here?" She looked at him in confusion.

"I was wrong." His eyes swam like pools of blue gold.

Elena hesitated. Maybe she was still dreaming after all. "You never apologize."

"Matt talked to me, and another friend of mine convinced me I've been a jerk." Damon fluffed Elena's pillow and smoothed the sheets.

"Ric."

Damon nodded.

"He didn't….stake you….did he?" Elena studied Damon for any sign of injuries.

The corner of Damon's lip turned up in a barely visible grin. "No, but he got his point across." He scooted closer to her and leaned against the headboard, ignoring the rattling cough coming from Elena's chest. "Come here." He half-lifted her while he settled her back against his chest.

He tucked the blankets back over her just the way she liked them, and she had a hard time remembering she was still angry at him. "I'm not an invalid."

"No. You're not." He ran his hand down her arm until it came to rest on her stomach.

"Damon –"

He kissed the crown of her head. "I know. Not right now. You need to get better first. After all, you're carrying some pretty precious cargo." He slid his hand lower, waiting for any sign of resistance. He reached beneath her short nightgown and placed his palm just above the lace waist of her panties. "It's my baby, isn't it? That's why you were so upset?"

Elena sniffed and nodded. "I don't know why you thought it was anyone else's."

"Because I was wrong." Damon pulled her tighter against him, still keeping his hand in place. "I'm sorry. I wasn't here when you needed me, but I'm here now." He ran his fingers lightly through her hair, and Elena struggled to keep her eyes open. "It's okay. Go back to sleep. I'm not going anywhere."