A wild update appears! My second update in a week? Y'all are extremely lucky, but I wanted to keep going with the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one, I really do. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to be doing with our favourite couple in a few chapters and you will all despise me for it. I can't wait.

Anyways, enjoy and I'll see you at the bottom!

As soon as I stepped into the enormous building, the smell of cinnamon attacked my nostrils. Damon laughed as I coughed, at least being courteous enough to pat me once on the back – not that this helped me at all.

"They put the smell off whatever event is coming up into the air vents." He explained lightly, watching in amusement as the tears streamed down my bright red face.

"What event is this? The event of the Spice drawers?" I spluttered, trying to catch my breath.

Damon snorted as we walked into the reception area. "Christmas, Ms. Gilbert."

I would have asked why they were celebrating Christmas when they were vampires and it was a pretty human and a completely religious holiday (I had just assumed that vampires weren't the religious type) but I was too worried to even care. Once the stars disappeared from my eyes after my coughing fit, I drank in the expensive building. Whatever money had been spent on Damon's house was nothing in comparison to this – although the style was similar. It oozed wealth, from the clearly hand woven tapestry that took up the entirety of the wall to the marble pillars at every corner and of course, the massive Mystic Falls emblem on the floor. The vampires hurrying past were dressed immaculately in suits and trench coats and they all shot me extremely weird glances, but whenever they looked to Damon for explanation, he all but ignored them. In fact, he seemed to be…glaring at them? And what's more, upon him glaring at them, they quickly looked back to the ground minding their own business, pretending nothing had happened.

We continued on deeper and deeper into the building, which became less and less obviously expensively furnished (I couldn't help but notice the beautiful subtle sculptures of lions and lambs) as we went on. "How do you know where to go in a place as massive as this?" I asked in amazement after a series of zig zags through multiple corridors. He didn't answer, which only added to my unease. Finally we stopped outside of an ominous black door and I thought I might throw up. He was in there. Waiting for me. (Unless this turned out to be some elaborate plan by the vampires to torture me for information or something, I don't know.)

"Any final words of advice?" I asked jokily, trying not to sound like I wanted to curl up in a ball on the ground. Damon didn't look at me and I realised that he was standing taller, his eyes far more dangerous and his mouth a hard line. This was the Damon he showed to other people and it was simultaneously terrifying and ridiculously attractive.

"Just remember that if I didn't tell you anything, it was only to make you feel safer."

Ok, hang on, what? Had he just said what I thought? I was getting prepared to demand an explanation but it was too late. The door opened, revealing a small little room. Stefan was in there, with Caroline (I just assumed she was there because he was – she shot me an awkward smile. I ignored it.) and a few other vampires I didn't know, clearly dressed to look tough in all black. I noticed how uncomfortable they looked when Damon entered, pulling me with him.

"Where is he?" Damon asked softly, his voice a velvety purr. Stefan nodded to another door and my heart quickened. Damon glanced at me – heck, he could probably hear it. "Go on then." He said quietly and I nodded faintly, slowly making my way to the door. I had no doubt that they would be listening to every word of our conversation, so I knew I'd have to be careful.

Well. Here it went.

The hinges creaked as I lightly pushed against the cool metal handle. I stepped inside, shutting the door quietly behind me before I actually looked up. Grayson Gilbert sat at a small table, smirking at me. He looked pretty much the same as I remembered – brown messy hair, sharp cheekbones and an arrogant mouth. His eyes had a condescending look, his tone constantly pitying as though he knew something you didn't. My father.

"Elena." He stood up easily, making his way over to me. He went to hug me and I stood stiffly in his awkward embrace, waiting until it was over to release my breath. He held me at arm's length for a moment, examining me carefully, checking in particular my neck. When he saw that there were no bite marks, he grinned and stepped back.

"Sit, sit. We need to catch up."

I stared at his back as he leisurely ambled back over to the chair. I was here for a 'catch up'? And why was he strolling around like this was a hotel or something? He was in prison for crying out loud. I slipped out of my cardigan and hung it on the back before I sat down gingerly at the very edge of the chair, trying not to crack and reveal any emotion to his intense gaze.

"How have you been?" I asked carefully and he shrugged.
"What do you think pumpkin? I've been trapped here, locked up by those goddamn leeches."

He said this without the smile moving from his face which was really freaking me out. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"You know they're listening to us." I said awkwardly, glancing at the door and he shrugged, leaning back in his seat.

"They know what I think of them." He said, shooting a look of hatred at the door, with that cheerful expression slipping away for just a moment, replaced with one of pure rage. Ok, I was really beginning to not like this. He turned back to me, the beam carefully plastered back on his face.

"But enough about me munchkin, how are you?"

He said this casually, like he didn't know anything about my...situation. I stared at him incredulously and he laughed, making a shiver run down my spine. I didn't associate his laughter with good things.

"Of course, of course, I've put you in a bit of a predicament, haven't I pet? That was top of my list of things to do, apologise to you. And I am very dearly sorry. But you understand, don't you? I mean…they were going to kill me!" His eyes darkened at the memory and he shivered slightly before smiling again. "Plus, I knew a little stint in the place wouldn't kill you."

It was exactly at that moment that I realised exactly what a coward my father was. He was willing to put everyone else's life on the line for something he believed in, but as soon as he was held responsible for his actions, he panicked and did everything he could to squirm his way out of punishment. I couldn't hide my disgust as I stared at him, seemingly completely unaware of how much I despised him at that moment.

"What's wrong pumpkin?"

Ok, he knew. His little smug smile told me he understood everything that he had done and my rage completely boiled over.

"You sent me into a vampire's house. A complete stranger." I hissed at him. "You completely screwed me over. Do you not get that something awful could have happened? I could be dead! I'm your daughter, you're meant to look after me! You're meant to take care of all of us, not put some stupid rebellion before us!" My voice was rising in pitch as I snarled at him. He was sitting back in his chair, only looking more amused as he watched me. "And how dare you sit there like nothing is wrong? Your family is starving, your son is constantly high or nearly getting himself killed, your wife is depressed and not working and your daughter has to give some vampire her blood!" I sounded pretty hysterical at this stage, which is probably why he leaned forward, rolling his eyes.

"Your mother is fine, she's just mopey, your son is doing the family proud, and you, my girl – well, I knew you wouldn't be harmed."

I snorted indignantly at this little comment – I would get back to the first two parts later. How dare he? Not get harmed? They were vampires for crying out loud! I had been lucky being put with Damon and not that governor but it had only been a twist of fate, not Dad's stupid plan.

"You didn't know if I was going to be alive by the end of the day!" I screeched, standing up so I could feel just that little bit taller.

"Please. The governor isn't going to kill a rebel's daughter if the place is on the brink of rebellion. If he did, the whole thing would topple over and there would be chaos." His eyes gleamed for just a second and I suddenly realised that that was what he had wanted. This entire time. He had wanted for this alleged governor, who I had never even heard of (I was beginning to debate his existence) to kill me to make everyone in the Pail angry so they would rebel like never before. When I spoke again, my voice was not the bold roar I wanted. Instead, it was a trembling quiver.

"You would have sacrificed your own daughter?"

His eyes remained blank, expressionless. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

I was pretty sure that this was what being stabbed in the back with multiple sharp knivees felt like. I had to grip the table to steady myself, wondering why I had to get stuck with a father like this. No wonder my entire family was so screwed up - hell, it was a wonder I was even functioning at all.

"Unfortunately for you, there was a change of plan." I told him shakily. "I'm not a donor to the governor."

He snorted. "Don't be stupid Elena. Of course you are."

I shook my head, suddenly feeling triumph slowly beginning to spread throughout my body. I couldn't wait to see his face when he found out that his plan was a dud. But he spoke before I got to.

"Elena, of course they were going to tell you that he wasn't the governor. I'm just hoping you had the brains not to believe them."

And there went the triumph, leaving me with an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I turned away from the table, dragging my hands through my hair. He wouldn't…he couldn't have done this to me…

"The governor of Mystic Falls, the governor who caused all of this, is Damon Salvatore Elena."

Ok, forget what I had said about the stabbing in the back thing before. This was what pure betrayal felt like. I turned to stare at the door in total horror. Could he see me? Probably. He hadn't told me. How could he not have told me? I had told him more than I had ever told anyone, revealed more information about everything than was strictly loyal or safe because I thought I could trust him. I had trusted him and God, did I feel like an idiot now. That explained so much – why people did everything he said, why he knew his way around, the files – hell, that was probably even why his house was so big. And his little comment outside the door – 'I did it to make you feel safer.' Yeah right. But hang on, when I was originally being taken to his house, the man in the front of the car had said that we weren't going there anymore…God I was stupid. Why had I believed a total stranger who had it in for my father? Damon was the one who had put him in jail. Any relationship we had had been a total lie and it infuriated me that the thought was making my heart ache. I blinked away the dampness from my eyes furiously, forcing myself to turn back to Dad who was looking at me in total horror.

"You let them compel you?" He hissed, standing up. "You let them compel you into trusting them? God Elena, are you an idiot?"

"They didn't compel me." I muttered furiously and he snorted.

"Of course they did you stupid child! I thought I raised you better than that! Just because you feel some mushy bullshit towards the governor, you think he's on your side? Get a grip girl. He'll kill you as soon as he gets the chance."

I glared at him, grabbing my cardigan off the back of the chair. "They're not all like what you think!" I snapped, turning to storm out of the room, thinking of the nice shopkeeper who gave me food, and the lovely woman who had given me directions of course. Not the raven haired, blue eyed beauty who know felt like a stranger who was standing just outside. Just as my fingertips brushed the cool door handle, he spoke again, this time his voice calm.

"You used to be so loyal Elena. Loyal to me and the family. What happened to you?"

I turned to raise an eyebrow at him and he smirked, knowing me had my attention.

"You used to do anything to ensure we could get by."

Oh no. Not this. I squeezed my eyes shut, taking a deep breath. We weren't going to talk about this, not now or ever and especially not with a crowd of vampires standing just next door. But of course, he continued anyway, and this time I wasn't sure if it was because he wanted to hurt me or them. Probably both.

"Don't you remember when you were twelve, you dropped out of school for a year to help your mother when I was away on the railroad? You were so pleased to see me when I came home, you didn't leave my side for a week."

I flashed back to that year, little twelve year old Elena. I had dropped out for a year, because I knew Mom wouldn't be able to cope without Dad on her own. And I had been right – she was a mess for the majority of that year and I was left to basically run the house and look after Jeremy, who was ten. Things got better when he had made enough money to come back home, as Mom wanted to appear strong to him. So she pulled herself together and I was pleased to see Dad, mainly because I knew I could finally go back to getting an education.

"And then when you were fourteen, you got a job in that little shop that sold cigarettes. You used to go straight there from school, and work until about ten o clock at night, just to ensure that week could put food on the table."

I remembered that too of course – Mr. Jones, the lovely shopkeeper ran the tiny kiosk. He was always nice to me and usually slipped me a few extra coins because he knew we weren't having the easiest time money wise. In fact, we wouldn't have got by had it not been for that little extra change every Friday. Dad was giving all of our money to the Militia, along with our food. We went on for months and months with only one meal a day, until I finally had enough and decided to work.

Mr. Jones was dead now of course. He had crossed the LM in a way they hadn't liked. I went to the kiosk one morning and was told that I wouldn't be required anymore. I sometimes wondered whether I was partly the cause of his death – I knew that the LM hadn't liked that I had found a way around their little terms and conditions and so wanted to take away the family's only source of income – Dad had long given up his job laying tracks at the railroad.

"And then of course, when you were 17. Your mother and I didn't know about that of course…thank God we found you."

The blood was pounding in my ears. This was what I hadn't wanted him to bring up, not when everyone else in the room beside us could hear…not when Damon could hear.

"You were selling yourself, your body for the sake of the family. We were both so horrified that you thought you had to go to such extremes to provide for us but you did."

My cheeks were burning with embarrassment as I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to remember those awful few nights. I had only done it a couple of times but each time felt like it lasted an eternity. It had been months before I had been able to scrub the feeling of someone else groping me off of my skin but it had got us enough money to tide us over for a little while. It was surprising how much some people would pay for sex when their families were starving. There were multiple people who I couldn't look at in the same way back in the Pail after that. I had never told anyone else, not even Caroline. And now they all knew, her and Damon and Stefan and those total strangers were probably staring at each other in total disgust and I couldn't stand the thought.

"I did that stuff because it was the right thing to do." I whispered, my eyes still tightly shut. "Not for you or your stupid rebellion!" I opened my eyes to see he was glaring at me angrily.

"You know, you'd really want to get on board with this rebellion Elena." He said softly and I could easily hear the threat in his voice. "It'll happen before you know it and the Militia will only favour those who are loyal."

I stared at him, speechless. He really did think that he was going to win this rebellion. He was deranged, completely and utterly mad.

"Well, good luck with that Dad. I'll be in the governor's house, no doubt with him drinking from me." I pulled on my cardigan angrily and was just turning the handle of the door when he spoke for the last time.

"Your birthday's coming up soon Elena. I'd be careful."

"Oh get a grip Dad." I spat, shooting him a look of disgust before finally storming out of that tiny claustrophobic room. My birthday was in July, not December. Had he even forgotten that? I slammed the door shut after me and looked up to see extremely surprised and horrified faces staring at me.

The first person to speak was Caroline, who stepped forward with an aghast expression on her face. "Elena…why didn't you tell me?" She whispered and I could tell she was going in for a hug but I really couldn't deal with that sentimental stuff right now. I pushed past her, past everyone to the hallway, where I slumped down against the wall, exhausted. I heard mutterings and then someone stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door quietly after themselves. I glanced up to see the governor of Mystic Falls looking down at me. I sighed, wiping away the few tears that had escaped off my cheeks angrily, looking at the wall in front of me again.

"I couldn't tell you Elena, you know I couldn't."

"Get lost. I'm not in the mood for this right now."

He of course, being Damon Salvatore, ignored me and crouched down beside me. "I'm so sorry." He said quietly and it took all of my strength not to burst into tears. Because I knew that he was apologising for everything – him not telling me who he was, the fact that I had such messed up parents and the fact that I was forced to do what I did. I felt like there was a massive hole in my heart and I wasn't sure if he was fixing it or making it bigger by apologising for something that my parents had never even considered being a problem. Pictures of a young me, a teenage me and me now kept flashing in my mind and out of all of them, the only time I could remember being happy was…when I was with him. And now everything was ruined and my head was pounding and my heart was aching and I didn't know what to do.

I shut my eyes, taking a deep breath. "I can't do this anymore. I can't keep pretending." I whispered shakily and I heard him take a sharp breath. I opened my eyes to see his intense blue ones gazing back at me, filled with worry and sadness and God only knows what else with this mysterious man.

"What it said in my file…you're right. I am on your side. I've been on your side since I was twelve and I'm still on your side now."

He stared at me and opened his mouth to say something but I continued on determinedly, despite the fact that my voice was cracking on every second word.

"And before I came here…well, I didn't really understand the point of anything. But then I met you and it was like everything was full of colour and laughter and fun but now I've found out that you lied to me and you run this entire place and I should be disgusted because you're effectively the leader of the vampires but…the only reason I care is because you didn't tell me. Because I…I…"

I couldn't finish that last sentence. I just couldn't. But the flash of recognition in his eyes told me he knew anyway and as he gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, I realised that life was too short and he was too perfect and his eyes were too blue and I was too lonely and messed up to ignore this opportunity. But I had to. It wasn't right.

So I pushed his hand off of my face and stood up, shutting my eyes as I took a few deep breaths. I heard his voice behind me, in my ear. "Elena…"

You know what? Screw it. Screw my morals and Dad's morals and maybe even Damon's. Screw my upbringing and my stupid rules about love. I turned around to face him and found his blue eyes inches from mine, burning with…passion. It would have scared me but for once it only fuelled my intentions and before he could say anything, I crashed my lips down on his.

DID I DO OK? Goodness I hope I did. I really enjoyed writing about my Grayson Gilbert, although I do despise him. And the kiss! I will have a lot of fun writing about the aftermath of that. As always, please review, follow, favourite and everything. I say it every time – but y'all are the best. Never in my life have I encountered such kind, supportive people and I cannot thank you enough. I hope I did your favourite OTP justice and I'll see you all soon!

Bye my darlings,

X

(Also, let me know what you think is going to happen – I'd love to see your predictions!)