Another longer chapter! Yay me lol.

I really like this one though, and was able to take some of your ideas into account :)

Hope ya'll enjoy!

Elena's POV

I was running.

My breath left my lungs in quick bursts and my heart pounded so hard against my ribcage that I could hear each individual beat.

My legs stretched, pushing me forward until the word around me faded away in a blur of motion.

What was I running from?

I couldn't remember.

Or was I running toward something?

There was no panic in my body, nothing to suggest that I was being chased, and no anticipation to make me think I was chasing anything else.

It was just me, moving, running.

Free.

My eyes opened, and it took a second for me to realize that I was lying perfectly still, on the bed in my dorm room.

Not running.

I stretched, shaking off the weird dream, and became dimly aware that someone was in the bed with me.

My memory returned, making a tremble run down my spine, and my skin erupted in heat.

"You're awake," his voice purred in my ear.

I could feel every line of Damon Salvatore's body pressed against my backside, and damn if this wasn't a way to wake up, I didn't know what was.

"Barely," I answered, relaxing further into the mattress, "What time is it?"

"No idea," he said, his chest moving with the words as his fingers lifted to stroke my hair.

I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes again, "Mhmm, that feels good."

His hands worked their way through my hair, brushing the stuff aside, until his lips were pressing into the back of my neck.

My body curved against his in encouragement, especially as his growing desire became obvious, as close to me as he was.

His hips swiveled of their own accord, grinding against my ass, as his fingers trailed under the sheets that covered us, down my stomach, and paused just before reaching my core.

But I didn't want him to stop.

To let him know this, I turned my head, enough to see his face.

My intention was to kiss him, but I got distracted by those eyes that were boring into me.

Somehow they were even lighter than before; crystallized by the morning light coming in through the small window above the desk that was across the room.

But his pupils were dilated, hypnotizing me in their depths.

Gazes locked, he touched me.

Leaning in for the kiss I'd been going for, he was all over me, and my body was more than ready to take everything he was willing to give.

Kissing, feeling, grazing, we became a tangle of skin and limbs, tying around each other until he slid into me, stretching me in a painfully pleasurable way.

Pleasure, because he definitely knew what he was doing, but painful, because I was actually sore from our night together.

I didn't have a ton of experience with the sex stuff, but I'd been with a few guys in the past, and none of them had ever left me feeling the way Damon had.

Stretched, used, and utterly blissed out from the number of times I'd climaxed.

They hadn't been built like him though; hadn't moved like him.

It didn't take long for me to come, and he followed close after, the huskiest of sighs drowning out my moan.

After, he rolled us over, so that I was wrapped up in his arms, flush against his chest.

"Good morning," I joked, and felt his body shake as he chuckled.

"No arguments there," he agreed, and I pulled back to look at his face.

He was already staring, and once again, I met his eyes.

His land lifted to my cheek, stroking it gently.

"Thank you," he said, and the words were oddly fervent.

"For what?" I asked, but he didn't respond, only leaned forward to kiss me once more.

And as much as I wanted to give into him again, I knew we should probably get cleaned up and dressed before my roommate decided to come back.

"We should shower," I told him, breaking the kiss, "Lexi will probably be here before long, and well, I don't want to be a shitty roommate."

Damon nodded, "No we wouldn't want that, would we."

I smirked and untangled myself from the sheets so I could climb out of the bed.

However, the second I stood up a wave of vertigo hit me like a mac truck.

"What the-" I swayed slightly as the dizziness brought a pounding to my head.

"You okay?" Damon asked, somehow standing in front of me, though I'd have sworn he'd been lying on the bed only seconds prior.

"I'm...I'm fine," I assured him, "Just a little light headed. Probably stood up too fast."

His brows creased, and I straightened, trying to shake it off, "Come on. Let's go shower."

"Chocolate!" Skylar insisted as Daniel shook his head, "No! Vanilla is better!"

"Nuh uh," his sister argued, "Chocolate is better, see?"

"No! You're ruining it!"

This was the newest argument my children had come up with, and it had been going on for the past ten minutes that we'd been trying to decide what icing to put on Damon's birthday cake.

It was a testament to the patience I'd learned over the years that I was finding amusement in their disagreement, having Sleeping Beauty flashbacks of "make it blue", as they used their magic to repeatedly change the flavor to the opposite of what the other wanted.

But enough was enough and if I didn't step in soon, they were liable to blow up the cake on accident.

"Stop," I told them, the instruction of my voice enough to catch their attention.

"But Mommy," Skylar started, and I held up a hand.

"No," I said, "You both want to have your own way, but whose cake is this?"

"Daddy's," they both said sheepishly.

I nodded, "That's right. It's for Daddy's birthday. So don't you think that it should be his favorite?"

They nodded, but seemed a little unconvinced.

"What is Daddy's favorite?" Daniel asked.

I smiled, "Why don't we go ask him?"

The excitement filled their faces instantly, and it pulled at my chest a little.

Though it wasn't entirely his fault, Damon hadn't been able to spend much time with them lately, Alpha duties taking precedence in lieu of a threat that Richard Lockwood had given us the heads up about.

Apparently some rumors were being speculated about our children, knowledge of the twins powers becoming impossible to hide, given the amount of Pack sons we'd had coming in and out, thanks to the new training program.

Nothing was solid or sure yet, but Damon wasn't taking chances.

I was grateful of course, but sometimes he lost himself to the worry, and the twins missed him.

I missed him.

"He should be back from the perimeter by now," I told them, "But remember, you can't tell him why we want to know."

"Cause it's a surprise," Skylar giggled.

I nodded, "That's right."

"What's a surprise?" we were interrupted, as Mason stepped into the room, Bonnie close behind him.

"It's a secret!" Skylar said immediately.

I smirked, as he lifted a brow, "A secret huh? From me?"

She shook her head, "From Daddy!"

"It's a birthday surprise," Daniel added, "So we can't tell him."

"Oh man," Mason played along, "Birthday surprises are the best."

I shook my head, "I figured we could at least do a cake this year. You guys were in Toronto last year so we missed the chance."

Mason nodded, "Yeah. This pesky Mutt shit. I'm sure he'll appreciate it though."

"Oooh, you said a bad word," Skylar accused, "Mommy will get you in trouble."

"Psh," Mason shrugged, "Mommy can't get me in trouble."

"Uh hu," Skylar stood in her chair, a hand on her hip, "Cause she can tell Daddy, and he can get you in trouble cause he's the boss of you, so there."

Her tongue came out at him, and just as I was about to scold her for sheer rude behavior, Mason grinned in that way of his.

Then he moved, grabbing my daughter and tossing her over his shoulder.

"Who's the boss now?" he teased her as she screamed, hitting his back with her little fist.

When he began tickling her, Bonnie moved to avoid being kicked, and Daniel joined in on the fun, trying to rescue his sister from Uncle Mason's grasp.

"Quite the handful today, aren't they," Bonnie smiled.

I sighed, "Every day. Sure you don't want to have one?"

She laughed, touching her stomach briefly, "Not for a while, thanks. Between you and Caroline I think we have all the young ones we can handle right now."

"Can barely handle," I muttered, as Daniel grabbed Mason's leg, nearly tripping him.

"Don't you drop her," I warned my Pack brother, before leaning back against the table.

Bonnie looked over at the cake, then the mess of icing that was now a mix of white and brown.

"Birthday party, huh?"

I chuckled, "It will be if I can get them two to behave. It's always something. Flavor of icing, this time. I figured we'd go find Damon, have him decide."

"Is he back?" she wondered.

"I hope so."

Before she could say anything else, the back door opened, and the guys strode in.

Well, the ones that were currently here, given that Alaric and Tyler were upstate, dealing with a clean up.

Damon came in last, just behind Klaus, and the look on his face had me stiffening.

The twins however were oblivious to his expression, and dropped from Mason instantly to run to him.

"Daddy!" they exclaimed, and Damon forced a smile, hugging them to his sides.

I motioned for Bonnie to hide the cake, not that Damon would have noticed, but she nodded and took it to the fridge, using everyone's distraction to do so discreetly.

"Can we go run with you?" Skylar asked, before Daniel was demanding, "Daddy, what's your favorite flavor of icing?"

"We can go to the river-"

"Is it chocolate? Cause we have to-"

"I want to go to the-"

"Hey," I interrupted, coming over, "Let him through the door first, yeah?"

With mumbled apologies, they nodded and backed off slightly.

Damon looked at me thankfully, then sighed, "Uh, yeah. Yeah, we can go run. Why don't you go change into your play clothes," he told them, "That way we don't dirty these up."

They nodded, sprinting from the room to do as he said.

I used the momentary absence to get answers, and luckily most of the others had moved from the kitchen so that just Mason, Bonnie, and Stefan remained.

"What's going on?" I asked him.

"Just got word back," he said, sitting on the edge of the table, his worn jeans pulling taut, "Richard's pack did some digging, and whatever this interest peak is, it's not Mutts. It's witches."

"What?" Bonnie and I asked at the same time.

"No, my Grandmother's been keeping tabs on the Covens," she said, "We'd know if someone was-"

"It's what I was told," Damon cut her off, "There's a coven that's highly interested in what my children are capable of, and it sounds like they're asking questions that I don't like."

He stared hard at Bonnie, "If my information is accurate, then they call themselves the Order of Lapis Luna. Contact your Grandmother. I want to know anything she can get me on them."

"That doesn't make sense," Bonnie sounded startled, "The Order of Lapis Luna is extinct; has been for years."

"Obviously not," Damon growled, and Mason stiffened a little.

"Easy," I told him, before instincts could flare up, "We'll get this figured out, alright?"

He nodded as the twins entered the room again, excitement rolling off of their bodies.

"Just ask her," Damon said, "Please."

Bonnie nodded, "Okay."

He sighed, then looked at me.

I took his hand, squeezing it some, hoping to comfort him, "It'll be okay, baby. We'll figure this out."

"Yeah," he muttered, then kissed my head, "Come on."

The twins were already opening the back door, urging us to follow them out to the woods where, hopefully, we could forget all the bad for a while.

The hour following my shower with Damon was a down slide.

My headache had increased intensely, and more waves of nausea had brought with them the urge to vomit up everything in my stomach.

There wasn't much, so I'd been dry heaving for the past twenty minutes.

Not exactly the sexiest thing to leave a guy with the morning after your hook up, but to Damon's credit, he hadn't bailed, despite the fact that I'd practically begged him to.

"You really don't need to see this," I told him, once my stomach had settled again and I was able to gulp down the water bottle he'd brought me from the mini fridge Lexi let me share with her, "Really, I'm fine. You can head out."

"You aren't fine," he brushed my request off, "You're sick."

I shrugged, "No idea why. I felt fine last night…"

Oddly, a flash of something that almost resembled guilt crossed his face.

"It's okay," I told him, "It's probably just something I ate...or a small bug or something. But seriously, just in case, you should get out of here. I'll be okay, and I don't want to get you sick."

"You won't," he said with a confidence I wasn't quite feeling, then crooked his head, as he leaned against the sink, "You don't like being taken care of, do you?"

Again, I found myself shrugging, "I don't know. I don't get sick often and when I do, I handle it."

"Wasn't that aunt of yours attentive?" he asked, though not harshly.

"She did her best," I said, "But I didn't like to burden her. Taking care of myself was the better option."

He frowned a little.

"I'm okay," I told him, "Really."

Narrowed blue eyes had my mouth closing, "No you aren't, and if you don't want me helping you, fine, but don't lie to me."

Now I was the one with a flash of guilt, and he flinched, as if he knew what he'd made me feel.

"Sorry," he backtracked, his tone more quiet now, "I just...I want to ease you."

I sighed, and pulled myself up from the floor.

He leaned over to help me, and I fought the urge to wave him off, "Fine, you want to help?"

He nodded.

"Turn the air down," I told him, "I feel warm. Then, if you are going for sainthood, go find me some crackers. I need something to settle my stomach."

He gave me another nod, doing as I asked with the air as I made my way back to the bed, blushing slightly at the memory of what had conspired within the sheets as I crawled back under them.

Then Damon grabbed me another water bottle, placing it next to my phone on the nightstand, and kissed my head, "I'll bring you something back to eat. I won't be gone long."

I nodded, but didn't entirely believe him.

I'd been around the other college kids long enough to know exactly how things like this worked.

How guys our age thought.

We'd been on one date; two if you count last night's round of tango, and generally after the sex happened, the guy was off to his next conquest.

I'd known this, even after I'd invited Damon into my room, knowing full well what would happen.

But I'd been okay with it, and the sex had been more than worth the risk of him taking off, never to be heard from again.

Which is what I was half expecting.

It's also why I was so surprised when half an hour later there was a knock on my bedroom door.

I threw back a few ibuprofen on my way to answer it, hoping it would help my headache.

Damon had returned, carrying a bag from the deli down the street.

"It's not perfect," he said, coming into the room, "But it should be easy on your stomach."

He pulled out the contents.

Soup. Crackers. Plastic utensils.

I blinked in surprise, "Wow."

Damon grinned, "I hope you like chicken noodle. That's what humans eat when they're sick, right? I mean, people. Regular people eat chicken noodle?"

I laughed at his question, "That's what I've heard."

He nodded, then made sure I was sitting on the bed before handing me the soup container and the plastic spoon.

I settled against the headboard, then took a bite.

It actually was pretty good, and I ate more, trying to ignore Damon's eyes on me.

After a few minutes though, it was awkward, "Want to watch a movie?"

He blinked, confused.

I sighed and reached for my laptop, "On here."

Understanding now, he shrugged, "If you want."

"To be honest, it's just something to fill the silence," I said, "It's weird, eating in front of someone like this."

His brow rose, "it is?"

"It's awkward."

Another frown tugged his lips, "I don't want it to be."

I chuckled at his tone; the sincerity of it, "Then talk to me. Or put something on."

His head crooked, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know," I leaned back further, "What's your major?"

"Cultural studies," he answered easily.

I hadn't been expecting that, "Seriously?"

He nodded, "It's interesting."

"So what, are you wanting to be a teacher or a world traveller?"

He chuckled, "Neither, to be honest. It's not really a financial career interest."

"Then what is it?" I questioned.

"Just something I find interesting," he said, "The way that different groups can be so similar, yet different. Have different traditions, customs, habits, and live completely unique lives, yet still be so intertwined in the thing. There's a symmetry to it that I find appealing."

I mused over his answer.

"What about you," he asked, "You never really told me what you were studying."

"Journalism," I said.

"You want to report?" he inquired.

I shook my head, "No, I want to write. I love writing. This is the only way i know that I can make a career out of it."

"You any good?"

"I like to think I am," I smiled, "Though I guess we'll find out when-"

I paused as another wave of nausea hit me, "Fuck."

Damon moved closer to my side, taking the rest of the soup from my hands, so I didn't spill it.

"That's enough for now," he said, "Try to keep it down. Breathe, deep and slow."

I did as he said, trying to keep my stomach relaxed so I didn't lose everything I'd just managed to put in it.

"Good," he praised, but that guilty look was back in his eyes.

I sighed harshly, "Are you sure you don't want to leave? I don't want to risk you catching whatever-"

"Elena. I'm not going anywhere."

The conviction in his voice was so strong, I almost believed him.

I wanted to.

But in my head, I knew better.

Everyone leaves, and eventually, you end up alone; it was only a matter of time.

Damon was exhausted.

I could see it on his body, feel it in his touch, and smell it in his blood.

I think on some level our children realized it as well, because they'd always calm down the moment he came into the room, as if they didn't want to upset him.

He was stressing hard over the new information, convinced that this Order of Lapis Luna were going to attack at any moment.

Bonnie had gotten in touch with her Grams, but the older woman had said the same thing Bonnie had; the Order is extinct.

It had been a group of witches, powerful for their time, that had been eradicated by other covens for use of impure magic.

A corruption of nature, Sheila had called them, but other than promising to dig into it further, there was nothing more she could offer us.

Of course, this only increased Damon's desperation, but with so little information there was nothing for him to fight.

Nothing to kill.

So instead, he worried.

Night had fallen now, and he still hadn't come to bed.

The steady pacing I could hear on the floor below let me know exactly where he was, but did nothing to comfort me.

The rest of the house was asleep, so I pulled back the blankets, deciding to go check on him.

The stairs creaked slightly as I reached the bottom, turning towards the study where I knew he'd be.

Sure enough he was burning a hole in the floor beneath his feet with all that pacing back and forth, a folder open in his hands.

"Damon," I called, to get his attention.

His eyes flickered over to me, and he offered me a half smile, before continuing to read whatever was in the folder.

"It's late," I tried again, stepping further into the room.

It was mostly dark, but the fireplace casted enough light for me to see his face, and for him to see the words he was staring at, "Come to bed?"

"I'll be up in a minute," he said distractedly.

Yeah right, I thought.

He wasn't going anywhere any time soon without incentive.

Incentive I was more than willing to give him.

Drawing on my magic, I pulled the folder from his hands, being sure it stayed intact as it flew across the room to land on the desk.

"Elena-" Damon started to reprimand me, but I shook my head.

"That's enough for tonight."

He frowned, "It's not enough if we don't have answers."

"Chasing white rabbits isn't going to get us anywhere," I told him, stepping closer, "And there's nothing in these files that will help us before morning. So please, come to bed."

He sighed, and reached out for me, taking my hand into his own to pull me closer.

"I can't just ignore this, Elena. Going upstairs…I can't sleep, knowing something's out there."

"We don't know something is," I told him, "All we have are rumors, and even so, what can you do about it right now?"

"I can figure out how to stop this," he growled lowly, "I can figure out if they are real, and where they are, just in case I need to go sink my teeth into their necks."

I sighed, lifting my hand to his pec, feeling the thrumming of his heart beneath my palm, "Damon, we don't know anything yet. If this Order is real, we need to know how many there are…how powerful they are. We have to have more information before we can act, and you running yourself into the ground from exhaustion isn't going to help anything."

"I'm fine," he snapped, dropping his arms and turning back towards the desk, the fire illuminating his silhouette.

He reached again for the folder I'd removed, throwing the thing open, but not picking it up.

"Damon, please," I huffed, "I'm worried about you."

"And I'm worried for our young," he threw me a look over his shoulder, "I would have thought a threat against them would matter more to you."

I flinched, as his words cut just as harshly as I'm sure he'd meant them to, but anger soon replaced the emotion.

How dare he suggest that I didn't care just as much as he did.

"I know you're frustrated," I told him lowly, "But I'm not here to be your punching bag. You know that I'd do anything to protect those babies, so don't suggest otherwise."

He sighed, his shoulders rolling, "I'm sorry."

"But you still aren't coming up," I realized, as his palms braced on the wood of the desk.

He was silent for a moment, then answered, "I will shortly."

"Now why don't I believe that," I muttered.

Damon straightened and turned around to look at me, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that if I leave you alone, you'll end up sleeping down here," I said, crossing my arms, "Not that it would be the first time, especially lately."

"I can't help that there are certain requirements that-"

"Oh I know," I cut him off, "I get it. You have shit to take care of for the Pack. I understand that. But Damon, you aren't just an Alpha. You're a father. And yes, while I love you for caring and wanting to do everything possible to help our children, they need more than your protection. They need you. They miss you."

He closed his eyes, "It's not like I want it to be this way," a deep sigh, "They're just going to have to understand."

"Understand what exactly?" I pressed, "Because lately, I'm not even sure what to tell them."

"That I'm doing this for them!" he spat, his own anger rising, "That I need the world to be one where they aren't hunted. That I need for them to learn control over their abilities so that every damn morning I don't have to wonder if this is the day they are discovered. That I'm so fucking worried about what will happen if they are, and-"

"You think I'm not?" I demanded, frustrations of my own coming out as I cut him off, "Do you think that I'm not right here with you?! That I'm not sick from the worry I feel for them? I know what's at stake here. The only difference is that when they wake up in the morning, I'm here. I see their faces, and I hold them, and eat breakfast with them, and I remember why it's all worth it. Why I risk exposure day after day so they have the freedom to be happy!"

I took a ragged breath, my throat clogging with the tears I knew would soon be rolling down my cheeks.

Damon stared at me, but didn't speak.

I took a breath, then two.

"I understand that you need to protect us; that your instincts demand it, but this isn't you against an army, baby. Every single wolf in this Pack would die for our young. We all want them safe. So as noble and frustrating as your unwavering devotion is to this cause, I need you to come to bed with me. I need you not to be alone, and for you to touch me, and hold me, and let me know that we are in this together. Because we are, Damon. I'm right here with you."

He flinched a little as my tears fell, and let out a breathy curse before pushing himself away from the desk and across the room to me.

Skipping any prelude, his body came against mine, his lips pressing hard around my mouth, and my back met the wall as I stumbled backwards from the force of him.

Damon kissed me longingly, wiping the tears away as he did so, words of apology getting tangled in our lips.

His hands gripped my hips, my hair, my neck, any bit of me he could wrap his fingers around to draw me closer, before he let me push him backwards, down onto the floor.

It didn't take long to remove what little clothes we had on, nor for me to slide down onto my mate, filling all the parts of me that were missing him the most.

Damon's eyes closed at the joining, the air rushing from him in a hiss.

With some self satisfaction, I found a pace that worked for us both and rode him hard.

As I built towards a rolling climax, Damon sat up, wrapping those arms of his around my back, holding me impossibly close, guiding my motions with his body, slowing us down.

I ran fingers through the ends of his hair, mentally noting that it needed cutting soon.

"We finish this upstairs," he said, a hint of the Alpha in his voice lacing the words, not that he would have intended for it to be there.

Desire got the best of him sometimes.

I nodded, and in a swift move he lifted us both, heading towards the foyer.

However, walking in the way were connected was very distracting, so we made a few pauses up the stairs, in the hall, against the wall by our door, until finally we were falling back onto our bed.

Damon thrusted into me a few good times before I fell apart, my orgasm ripping away my breath and sight.

When I came back to conscious thought, Damon had turned me, and was sliding into me from behind, gripping my hips roughly.

It didn't take long for me to build again, and this time when I fell over the edge, he came with me.

Damon didn't go anywhere.

For the next three days, I was stuck in bed, sicker than I'd been in quite some time, but he stayed.

Lexi had been surprised when she'd eventually returned, to find him there, but had shrugged it off after a few hours, just happy that I had someone to stay with me while she went off to class.

I wanted to ask Damon about the classes he was missing, but he didn't bring it up, and I didn't want to remind him.

Instead we watched movies all day, wrapped up in the blankets on my bed, eating on soup and crackers.

Occasionally I would feel Damon stroking me, pushing back my hair, or trailing his fingers down my side.

Petting me, it seemed, like he'd never had the leisure of studying the female anatomy before and planned to rectify that right now with my body.

Not that I minded.

The gentle trailing of his hands relaxed me and made me want to purr, which he seemed to enjoy.

Sleep came and went, but each time my eyes opened, they met those entrancing blue orbs.

I could get used to this, I thought, before realizing how insane that was.

Just because Damon was being a nice guy and helping me while I was sick didn't mean that things wouldn't change after the fact.

We were still practically strangers, and he wasn't obligated to keep seeing me just because we'd gone on a date and had some really hot sex.

Though part of me hoped he would.

After day three passed and I hadn't thrown up once, I was convinced that I was getting better.

Within hours, my fever was all but gone, and the fading headache was becoming easier to ignore.

I still skipped class, if only to have one last day where I could pretend the outside world didn't exist.

However, it came crashing back the following morning, as I awoke to a shrill ring.

Lexi was staying with a friend, in hopes of avoiding catching whatever I had, and my cell was off, so I could only assume the ringing belonged to Damon's phone.

A few seconds later, he slid his arm out from under me to answer it.

"Yeah?" his voice was grovelly.

He'd been sleeping.

"Alaric wants what?" he asked, as if clearing his head, trying to make sense of the words the other person was telling him.

I pretended to be asleep, just because, well, it seemed like a good idea.

"Shit," Damon huffed, and when he spoke again, his tone was different, harsher than the one I'd been hearing these past few days, "Fine. I'll be there in an hour. Yes. Because I fucking said so, asshole. Just make sure Stefan is-"

He fell silent as the other person spoke.

"Wait, he what?!" Damon demanded in a hard whisper, "Why the hell would Alaric agree to that? No, I'm suppose to deal with Washington. Because, I was the one who-"

He went quiet, and I felt his eyes drift over to me.

"I was the one who took care of it," he edited whatever he was originally planning to say, "I should have gone."

More words, a reasoning tone.

Damon growled, "I was not MIA. I told Alaric that I was going to be on campus. No. Fuck off, it's not about that. Yeah, and if you open your damn mouth about it to any of the others I'll give your jaw a reconstruction, free of charge, you got me?"

He exhaled slowly, "Yeah, I know. Tell him I'm on my way."

The phone lit up as he ended the call, and I laid as still as I could against the mattress, focusing on keeping my breathing level.

Damon sighed heavily, annoyed at whatever his correspondent had told him, and I half wondered if he'd bother to wake me before he took off.

But those worries were squashed as he leaned back down onto the mattress, and with one arm, pulled me back against his body.

His face burrowed into my neck and he inhaled deeply.

He held me like he didn't want to let go, then my name was falling from his lips.

"Elena…"

I let him say it twice before pretending to wake up, "Hmm?"

At least I didn't have to fake the tiredness in my voice.

"I have to step out for a bit," he said into the quiet, "I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, but you have my number. Call it if you need anything, understand."

I frowned, "Where are you going?"

"I," he flexed his jaw, "I have some stuff to take care of at home. Family business. But I'll be back as soon as I can."

I nodded, but couldn't quite make my hands release his, "Promise?"

His lips found mine in the dark, brushing them softly, "I promise."

And strangely, I believed him this time.

"I'll put Klaus, Stefan, and Mason on the Order thing tomorrow," Damon murmured into the dark.

We had cleaned up and were now laying naked on top of our bed, ignoring the blankets for now.

"We'll spend the day with the kids," he said, "But after that, I have to get back to this. I don't want to upset you, or them, but I have to make this priority for now."

I sighed, knowing that this was the closest thing to a compromise he was able to give.

With a nod, I looked up and found his eyes, "Then I'll help you."

"You help me by taking care of them," he assured me, "They're too unstable with their powers right now. Help them with that, and that will help me."

I nodded, "Then can you at least try to come up at a reasonable hour? Put them to bed with me, read them a book and kiss them before they fall asleep. At least until we can do more about this rumored threat."

He considered that, then nodded, "I'll come up before my run at night, and we'll put them down for bed. But if this Order thing is real-"

"We'll worry about it then," I told him, "But for now...just hold me, please."

He nodded and snuggled tighter against my back, wrapping his arms around my body and dragging me to his chest.

Then his head rested on top of mine.

"I love you," he said tentatively, running his hand down my side, petting me, and I was reminded of our first night together.

I smiled.

"I love you too."

So I got this one finished faster than I'd been expecting to!

Hope ya'll liked, and can't wait to read the reviews :)