I'm so happy with the feedback for the last chapter. Thank you so much for sticking with me through this story but I can't stop writing it, I love it so much. So this chapter is a little long but what can I say? The plot thickens and the drama begins, haha. Song is Lawson - Standing In The Dark. Enjoy xo

All I wanna do is hide but I can't stop myself from staring,

wishing his hands were mine, I can't stop myself from caring.

And as he turns down the lights...

I'm feeling paralyzed as he looks into her eyes.

Stefan and Elena had been dancing together for the last two hours. His arms was tight around her waist pulling her closer to him but his masculine hands didn't seem to fit into the right shape of her hips. Elena's head rested on his shoulder and every now and then his fingers would caress her back, stroking the soft silk material of her flowing gown. Every now and then he would whisper something in her ear causing her cheeks to blush crimson and her eyes to drift down to the polished marble floor. After each whisper from Stefan within two minutes of it her eyes would take a sneaky glance my way but there was no smile to match the gaze, only a saddened frown.

Caroline sipped her drink loudly next to me but my attention remained fixed on Elena Gilbert, the woman I loved for what seemed like a million years now, the fallen angel who caused me to forget everything about Katherine and love me despite what I was. Somewhere along the way Elena had decided I was worth fighting for, our love was worth fighting for and I threw it all back in her face the night I compelled her to forget everything about me. She had been more than willing to spend the rest of her life with me depsite the fights, despite the constant need for me to better, she had been willing for it all to work. If only I hadn't been stupid to let her go then I wouldn't be here watching her in the hands of my brother as he whispered how beautiful she was in her ear.

"You're staring." Caroline whispered matter of factly whilst she placed her glass of champagne down onto one of the buffet tables that were spread in every corner of the room.

Reluctantly my eyes left Elena and went to the bubbly blue ones that belonged to Caroline, Elena's bestfriend and a girl that I had played with when I had come back to Mystic Falls the second time, when Elena had been making eyes at Stefan. I still didn't know why I used Caroline the way I did. Maybe it was because she was one of the closests thing I had to Elena and she was the way I could spend more time with Elena, and possibly try and prevent Stefan and Elena from happening. I shrugged absentmindedly to myself, I didn't know why I had done what I done but I had done it all and there was no way of turning it back.

"You know there's still something between the two of you." Caroline whispered taking a brave step towards me. "She cares about you, Damon. Ever since you met, well the second time, there was a connection between both of you and it hasn't disappeared. The connection between you two is obvious to everyone around the pair of you."

"What if this connection isn't enough?" I asked her, expressing my doubt for the first time to anyone but myself.

"Damon, you just need time. You need to be together and figure things out." Caroline's voice was sincere and utterly sympathetic, and I wasn't sure if I was thankful knowning she understood or felt worse about myself because of it. All of this had happened because of me, all of it was my fault.

"How do you suppose we figure things out Caroline when she's dating my brother? I can't take her anywhere to get away from this town without someone interrupting us."

Caroline gazed down at the marble floor and chewed her lip thinking of something but there was no sparkle of light in her eyes that indicated an idea, there was nothing. Nothing. Her eyes rose up from the floor to meet mine but she just shook her head and shrugged. Her hands went to her waist as she stepped onto the dancefloor walking over to where Matt stood with Bonnie and Tyler. Caroline glided over the floor, her head held high as she made her way over to her friends and I wondered what it must be like to be her. A girl who was a just a normal girl over a year ago with no supernatural in her life what so ever, nothing but the odd drama that came with the teenage years.

My eyes moved to the other side of the dance floor and went back to looking at the brown doe eyes of Elena, that no matter what had happened between us, they always felt like home. She giggled as Stefan twirled her around but the giggle was forced, it wasn't real. There was something completely detached about it that made me realise she was still lost in her own world about everything that had happened in the last week. It was obvious to me that she was hurting over it, losing herself in her thoughts about what had happened than rather on how she could fix it, on how I could help her. God, I just needed her to say the words and everything would fall back into place for her. She wouldn't keep searching her mind for memories that she would never find until I would look in her eyes and tell her to remember everything.

Sighing, my thoughts drifted away and my eyes focused fully on Elena, the way she was breathing, the perfect sound of her heartbeat and the way her chest would raise whenever she would get excited or nervous. Right now her breathing was excited, responding to every touch and caress from Stefan. Elena looked into his eyes and I could almost feel the love she had for him flowing through her viens, the undeniable bond they seemed to have right now as they danced together, hands wrapped around bodies pushing them closer together. Every single part of them were touching, their skin...well her skin was only protected from his touch by her beautiful blue gown. I smiled faintly at my thoughts, her dress was blue and somehow in my own twisted away I was glad it was blue because it felt as though I was protecting her from getting touched by brother.

"Ah, Damon just the man I was looking for. How about that last dance?" Carole Lockwood gazed up at me from underneath her lashes with a flirtatious glint in her eyes.

"It's not the end of the night yet, Carole." I told her, my eyes looking over her head towards the woman I wanted to dance with all the night, the only woman I wanted to have a last dance with.

Before Carole could answer another man came up to her wearing an extremely old nazy tuxedo that still wore the dust it had collected over the years he had kept it in his closet. His dark hair was brushed to the side as he bowed in front of her asking to dance with an old fashioned manner that made me think of my baby brother straight away. Carole blushed as she glanced around the room making sure no one important was watching her, probably so she wouldn't be caught seen blushing at someone as it would seem improper for the Mayor of Mystic Falls. After a few moments, Carole and her date made their way over to the dance floor. They were only a few couples away from Elena and Stefan who know seemed more distressed than loved up right now.

"They're arguing, Damon. Stop listening in because surprisngly it won't earn you in any points with Elena."

I could recognise the hatred for me anywhere in such a femine in voice; Bonnie Bennett. Doing my best to remain polite, I turned around to face her and plastered the best fake smile that I could onto my face. Taking a large deep breathe, I met her judgemental gaze and it occured to me that Bonnie was only alive purely because of her friendship to Elena and her stupid witchy powers that could prevent me from doing anthing to her. Bonnie's lips were pursed into a tight line as she eyed me carefully trying to figure out what my so called latest revenge scheme was. Some small part of me wished that she would give me a break but of course that was asking too much because of all the people in this town including my brother, Elena was the only one to actually understand me and give me the break she believed I deserved. And, sometimes I wasn't sure I even deserved that.

"May come as a shock to you, judgy but I don't care what my brother and Elena get up to. It's their problem not mine." I snarled back at her just wishing she would leave me alone so I could listen to why Stefan and Elena were so called arguing.

"Whatever, Damon. Just stay away from Elena, stay away from all of us." She told me taking an extremely brave step towards me. Her eyes staring straight back into mine as she did her best attempt to threaten me.

"I wouldn't threaten me, witch." I told her, my eyes boring into hers. "Besides if Elena wanted me gone don't you think I would have left by now?"

"Stefan, let go of me!"

Before Bonnie could even reply or even make another comment, my eyes had drifted from her and back to Elena into the corner of the dancefloor where Stefan stood holding her arm tightly whilst she tried to shake his grasp from her. Elena's heart was racing in her chest and beating so hard from all the adrenaline and the fear of Stefan hurting her and I couldn't sit by and let him touch her. The anger burned inside me with every step I took towards my brother. Elena glanced around the room helplessly looking for someone to help but no one could hear her and Caroline had slipped away somewhere. Elena was practically trying to squirm her arm free from Stefan but he just pressed harder. What the hell had happened? Her make up was running down her face and tears flowed with it down her cheeks making my heart melt for her but causing me to want to drive a stake through my brother's heart.

"Let go of her." I managed to say through gritted teeth but Stefan just looked at me, his eyes turning black with anger and rage. Had he gone back to human blood?

"What are you going to do about it, brother? Compell me, make me forget that I hurt her just like you did with her. Sleep with her, cause her to fall in love with you only to break her heart and compell it all away. Yes, she just told me everything. So brother do you still love her?" Stefan said making his lips pout in a way that made me want to smack them just so they could bleed.

I had no idea what do. So Stefan knew about me and Elena which means she could have only just told him but why would she tell him? Why would he hurt her? It had never been her fault. If there was anybody he should be hurting at this very moment in time, it should be me. There was so many questions running through my head that I just couldn't make sense of anything. There was one thing that I knew for sure and that were I was going to kill my brother for ever hurting her like this.

"Damon." Elena choked out whilst her tear eyes locked with mine. "Help me."

Elena whispering my name through the tears whilst she begged me for help was all it took for me to throw the punch at my brother. My fist landed with a loud thud against his jaw causing him to double back and do the one thing that I had intended the punch to do, he let Elena's arm free. My eyes gazed over at Elena and she gave me a weak smile before a sudden punch came my way. More punches and kicks came my way that I crumbled to the floor unable to move whilst my brother was no doubt shattering my bones in front of the entire town.

"Stefan! Stop! You're hurting him!" Elena shrieked from the corner, just wanting Stefan to stop. I could hear her feet scatter across the floor and as I opened my eyes, I saw her tugging on Stefan's arms pleading him with her eyes to stop but the kicks still came and so did the punches.

"Elena...go." I managed to choke out but as her forgiving eyes looked back at me, I knew she wouldn't be going anywhere.

Somehow, despite everything that was happening right now with all the punches and kicks that my brother was constantly throwing at me, I didn't care because right now she was looking at me like I meant everything in the world. Smiling, I closed my eyes just wanting the look she gave me to enter my mind. Elena hadn't looked at me with so much love, worry and care ever since I had left her and compelled her memories away. She had never looked at me as though she still cared...like she still loved me.

At some point during mine and Stefan's fight the music had stopped and now everyone who had been on the dancefloor was now picking up their skirts and running towards us with their mouths hung open in shock. The men followed their women like the dogs they were and exchanged nervous glances at each other unsure of whether or not to help, or whether they should stay there and watch the fight from afar. Elena's pleads were coming out as screams now whilst she tugged on Stefan's arm but he kept shaking her off. Stefan was putting all his strengths into the kicks and punches that thankfully when he threw Elena off himself she only moved a few spaces away from him.

"Damon!" Elena shrieked through her tears. "Please fight! Get up."

I opened my eyes and looked at Elena for the first time in what felt like hours, her hair was no longer in neat curls down her back and her mascara was running down her face causing her all her other make-up to get smudged on her face. Elena's wrap was no longer around her delicate shoulders protecting her fragile frame but on the floor next to her dress but she didn't care about her wrap right now. Elena glanced around the room, I suspected she was looking for Caroline or Bonnie or at least for someone who woudl help her but she shook her head and for what felt like the millionth time tonight, her eyes locked with mine.

"Do it for me. Please, Damon for me." Elena mouthed but the words flowed from her lips nevertheless.

Those four words was all it took for me to finally find the strength from inside to actually fight back. Those four words from her mouth made me feel like nothing in the world could touch me and small part of me wondered how I would react if she ever told me she loved me again but right now that didn't matter. Elena took a sigh of relief as she saw the life come flooding back into my eyes, the life she had somehow brought back to me with just four words that wouldn't mean a thing to me if someone else said it to me.

Slowly and clumsily, I found my strength and threw out my fist aiming for any part of Stefan that I could just so I could disarm him for a second, that was all I needed. As soon as my fist collided with Stefan, he stumbled back a few steps before snarling and almost showing the true nature of what he was in front of the entire council. He took a few steps towards me but he was too slow and this time my fist collided with his jaw.

"Stop it both of you!" A female voice shouted from behind us. A voice that held so much authority and so much teen spirit that it could only belong to the one and only; Caroline Forbes.

Caroline regarded me and Stefan like we were nothing but adolescent children that needed to be taught a lesson when it came to puplic behaviour. I couldn't stop my eyes from rolling at her, of course we were the children in this. Caroline stepped into the middle of me and Stefan whilst Tyler and Matt talked in hushed voices to Carole Lockwood who looked extremely horrified at the scene that had just happened in front of her. Caroline stared at me and Stefan in the eye, secretly telling us to stop and not let the council find out about us. From the corner of my eye, I could see Bonnie wrapping Elena up in her wrap and taking her through the exit doors. Just as I was about to take a step to follow them, Caroline stepped in front of me and shook her head.

"Nope, you're coming with me." Caroline said, grabbing my arm and pulling me out through the nearest door obviously not caring about Stefan who was stood there looking as though he could rip anyone apart at any moment or about her best friend who was the cause of the fight and obviously upset because of it.

She locked the door to what seemed to be Carole's study. There were large paintings hung around in gold frames that could have been bought from the local antique store. The desk was pine and cluttered with books, papers and everything else that you could imagine. Behind the desk rested an old wooden chair over looking the room and everyone who ever entered the room. The windows that stretched around the room caused the darkness to seep into the room from every crack making the room look so much colder than it's actual purpose.

"What the hell happened? You may as well have wrote I'm a vampire on your forehead!" Caroline hissed at me but she didn't look at me with anger or betrayl, no she looked at me with nothing but sympathy.

"Oh that was nothing. It wasn't like we were showing our fangs to the town and for a town who's supposed to know so much about vampires, they're a little crap on identifying them. I didn't care about the freaking town's people when your Saint Stefan had his hand on Elena and pratically crushing her-"

"Guys, it's Elena...she's gone." Bonnie whispered as she came skidding into the study. "Stefan is still here though... I don't know where she could have gone."

"I do."

Everyone's eyes turned towards me.

Her car was parked outside the Lake House amongst all the dirt, mud and marshland. I could see the tyre tracks from the road all the way to where her car was lazily parked in front of the house, destroying nearly all the flowers around it. I didn't know how I knew she would be here but it was either this or the graveyard and I had remembered her saying whenever she felt confused and just wanted to be alone to think for longer than a few hours she would go to the Lake House, enjoy how welcoming nature was and just somehow find the answer from within the walls of the forest. We came here once when we wanted to spend the entire weekend together with no worries about people catching us or walking in on us when we were having our time together and it had been the best weekend of my life. I had never opened up to anyone like I had with her during that weekend and I had finally gave her my mother's necklace the one that would protect her from myself.

Bracing myself to what I would find inside, I walked up the soggy wooden steps that had been fresh the last time I had been here. From inside I could hear the fire cracking and her breathing that seemed quite normal, no fast pacing or anything. In fact she seemed fine like there was nothing wrong with her at all. Curiously, I peered through the window but I didn't see her sat in her favourite arm chair by the fire like I had expected her to. No, she was nowhere in sight but I could hear her breathing. Where was she?

As if on cue, the door to the Lake House swung open revealing Elena in sweatpants and a t-shirt wearing her Ugg boots that she seemed to love so much. Her hair was tied back in to a ponytail and her makeup had been washed compeletly off her face. There was faint mascara smudges on her face but I didn't care, Elena was stood there in front of me and after tonight we had so much to talk about.

"Apart of me had hoped that I had told you about this place or that somehow you knew to find me here." She whispered, a faint smile on her lips whilst she took a step towards me. "God, I thought you had gave up tonight. I thought Stefan was going to kill you. I'm so sorry, Damon. I didn't think he would act like that...I-I.."

"Hey, come here." I whispered softly. "Ssh, it's okay."

And without thinking, without even realising just listening to my instinct, I wrapped my arms around Elena and pulled her as close as I could to me. She nuzzeled her face into my chest and for a moment all I could think about was her in my arms and just how many times I had dreamt of holding her like this again. Placing my head on top of hers, I breathed in the scent of her hair and she smelt heavenly just like lavender and strawberries all in one. She was intoxicating. Elena began to shiver in my arms from the cold or my touch I didn't know but I couldn't bring myself to stop holding her so instead I grabbed my jacket and wrapped that around her too. We stayed like that for a while just holding each other until finally she pulled away.

"You should come in." She whispered, her eyes on the floor.

Nodding slowly to myself, I stepped into the Lake House as all the memories came flooding back to the surface like how we had spent all night talking, how we had made love on the couch just because we couldn't bring ourselves to wait to get upstairs. This entire Lake House held so many memories and now it was time to step back inside and tear down the walls that I held up so over the years. Now it was time to show Elena I was the man she had fell in love with not so long ago.

I'm standing in the dark,

She's dancing on the table,

I'm looking through the glass,

She's someone elses angel.

It may sound stupid but I'm wanting you back,

But I'm wanting you back.

And now, I'm standing in the dark.

Okay so what did you think? I hoped you liked it, I really do because I've been trying to write this chapter for so long now and the original version didn't include the Stefan and Damon fight but I wanted it in here as it makes more sense for the later chapters. Thank YOU so much for reading and please review. If you want to follow me or tweet me or whatever my username is FlyingFireworks. Love MidnightGirl467 xoxo