:)

Elena's POV

"What do you mean that there's no trace of the shop?" Damon growled into the receiver of his cell phone, "We were there less than a week ago and it was pretty damned witched out."

"Sorry," Richard Lockwood answered, his voice strained, "But we scoped the entire place out. There's no sign that anything was there. Nothing to hint to the Order, or to the witch that attacked you."

Damon closed his eyes, groaning, and sat the phone down on the table in front of him.

I pushed off the wall that I'd been leaning against, down in the basement, where we'd been spreading out all the information we could find, and moved behind my mate's body to wrap my arms around him.

When I laid my head in the space between his shoulderblades, I felt his muscles relax a little.

"Alright," he sighed, "Thanks anyway, and keep me updated."

"Will do, boss."

The line went dead with a beep, and Damon rested his palms on the table's edge, "I'm so tired of drawing empty hands."

I leaned back so that I could run my hand over his shoulders, squeezing them, "We just have to be patient, babe. Something will turn up, it always does."

He turned in my arms, so that he was leaning back against the table and facing me, "And how do you suggest we find this Order with no more leads to follow?"

"We don't," I answered, lifting a hand to his tired face, "We live our lives. If the Order wants the twins, they'll have to come here to get them. We stay alert, and we wait, but we continue on with our day, same as always. I'm not going to live in fear again, and I don't want you running down every lead. The safest place for all of us to be is here, together."

He nodded slowly, "Yeah...yeah, you're right. Sorry, kitten."

I grabbed a fist of his hair, and pulled him to me, kissing him hard.

"Mhmm," he sighed against my lips, "I've missed you."

Jo had had us on restriction during his recovery, which had thankfully been declared complete yesterday, and last night….

I swallowed at the memory of his body against mine.

"I've missed you too," I smiled, kissing him again, "But we have time for that tonight. Right now, the kids have a surprise for you."

He smirked, "Oh they do?"

"Mmhhm. I promised them I'd come get you, but I didn't know you were on the phone...they've missed you too."

He nodded, "Yeah I know. Well, let's go see this surprise, then maybe we can all go out and do something together."

I smiled, "Sounds good."

Hand in hand, we walked up the stairs and I pulled Damon towards the kitchen, where Bonnie was waiting with the kids.

I smiled a little, letting him walk in first, knowing that the young had been anticipating this moment for too long already.

"Knock, knock," Damon said as we entered, "I heard there was a-"

"Happy Birthday!" the twins chorused, and he paused.

I chuckled, looking around him.

Having finally come to a compromise on the cake frosting, we had spent the better part of the morning making half of it chocolate, and half of it vanilla.

Someone must have rustled up a candle as well, because there was one sticking out of the cake, which was now sitting on the table, where the children were waiting with Bonnie and Mason sitting next to them.

"Wow," Damon smiled at them, "Did you guys make this?"

"We helped!" Skylar insisted, "But mommy baked it!"

"We made another one, but we had to throw it away cause it got old," Daniel added.

I placed a hand on Damon's shoulder, "I know your birthday was last week, but given everything that happened, they still wanted to surprise you."

He grinned, some of the stress leaving his expression, "I'm glad you did."

He looked back over at the twins, "And this looks great, you two. Thanks!"

"Uncle Mason tried to eat it," Skylar accused, "But we stopped him."

"Yeah," Mason grumbled, "Damn near took my finger off."

Bonnie patted his cheek, "You're being dramatic babe. They just moved your hand."

"At the speed of fucking light," he muttered.

"Ooh, you said a bad word," Skylar called, and Damon laughed.

"Okay you guys, that's enough," I told them, "Who wants cake?"

That got everyone's attention, and soon we were around the table with paper plates, and Damon was about to blow out the candle.

"Make a wish, Daddy," Daniel prompted, and Damon smiled up at me, then blew.

It's strange how it one decision, one word, one little thing can alter the entire course of your life.

And the kicker is that you never see it coming.

At least, I didn't.

I only knew that I was happy, deliriously so, and I was in love.

The kind of love that I'd never expected to feel; never expected to happen to someone like me.

It was an all consuming kind of love; the kind that leaves your chest aching when you're away from the person, and counting the seconds until you're in their arms again.

A passionate, adventurous love that was maybe even a little dangerous.

It was exciting and fun, and the best feeling I'd ever experienced in my life.

It had become my life.

Damon was everything to me now.

"I want to see you too," I promised over the phone, clutching the thing to my ear, "But I still have Psychology today."

"I thought classes were out. Three day weekend for Halloween, and all that," Damon noted, a slight annoyance in his tone.

I smiled, "Don't worry, the rest of them are. But Mr. Varner isn't throwing us a bone. He's insisting on keeping to this lesson plan he has, which means no freebies."

"Can't you skip anyway?"

Man, I wished.

"Attendance is mandatory," I sighed, "But believe me, I'd much rather be curled up in bed with you all day. At least we have the weekend ahead."

"At least," he repeated.

I checked the time on my phone and groaned, "Hey, babe, I gotta go, but I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Yeah, okay kitten, just text me."

"I love you."

I could almost feel his lips turn up in a smile, "I love you too."

Class was as uneventful as ever.

I sat a few rolls up, wishing that Mr. Varner would stop droning on and on and just let us leave for the day.

However, instead of letting me get back to my bed, and more importantly, my boyfriend in it, he thought it would be better to have a full two hour lecture.

Normally, I didn't mind my psych class.

It was interesting, and I needed the credits, but today, it was draining on my last nerve.

I didn't care about Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic personality theory, and neither did any of my classmates.

Today was Halloween and we all had more interesting things waiting, but still, the teacher droned, "And in using Freud's methods, we are able to take a better look at ourselves. To actualize what it is that makes us human, and how we control that part of ourselves to expand our role in society."

"Society?" A voice called out, a familiar voice, and my eyes jumped, along with everyone else's, to the door of the classroom, where Damon was standing.

My eyes widened slightly. What was he doing here?

"I'm not sure society really has anything to do with the theory of personality," he continued, his gaze on Mr. Varner.

The professor seemed surprised by the interruption, "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Damon Salvatore," he answered easily, strolling further into the room, "And your theory is a little off, much like Freud himself. You see, to fully actualize, as you put it, we have to acknowledge who we really are. It's what Carl Jung referred to as the animus for males, or the anima for females."

"I'm familiar with his work," Mr Varner snapped, not seeming to enjoy that Damon had taken the classes attention, "But it has nothing to do with-"

"If you speak of human nature, it has everything to do with it," Damon insisted, "These are the sides of us that we hide beneath what he calls "the persona", and in application to psychology, I doubt you should be as interested in what we hide to mold to a society's norm, but why we hide it."

His gaze found mine then, and he smirked, "What deep desires are we repressing? And if we tore down our personas, what sort of beast lies within?"

I fought a smile and pursed my lips.

He was out of his mind, but this insanity was one of the million things that made me love him.

"Interesting thoughts," Mr. Varner admitted, seeming drawn in by the topic now, rather than opposed to the interruption, "But when Jung coined the terms "anima" and "animus", he didn't really mean the beasts within us. It wasn't to say that we are animalistic-"

"We are animals," Damon cut him off with a look, "All of us. The only difference between humans and anything else, is the persona," he glanced back up to me, "the mask behind which we hide all instincts and desires; everything that scares us about ourselves."

I swallowed as for whatever reason his words caused my heart to spike and a shiver to cross my skin.

His eyes drew me in, and I missed the last bit of what the teacher said.

However, I did catch Damon's answer, "Actually I just stopped by for a pick up. Elena Gilbert is needed in the administration's office."

Mr. Varner nodded, though he probably couldn't of picked me out of the crowd, and I grabbed my bag, more than eager to leave.

"Be sure to get the notes later, Miss Gilbert," the professor warned as I came down, "We will be testing."

I nodded, before moving to the door that Damon was holding open for me, and with another breath, we were out in the hall, free.

I waited until we'd turned the corner before whirling on him, "You're crazy!"

He grinned, "I've heard that, but you have to admit that it certainly added some interest to your class. No wonder you hate it, with the dry stuff that guy's teaching."

"Says you," I chuckled, "Where did all that know how come from? Seemed like a lot of psych eval for a Cultural Studies major."

He shrugged, "Just some stuff I've picked up over the years. And it's more rationality than psychology."

He took my hand as we exited the building, the fall breeze rifting up to meet us.

"What makes you say that?" I asked curiously.

Damon smiled down at me, "It's just that it's common sense, when you think about it. If you break us down to the essence of what makes us what we are. Our primal nature. We are all animal instincts. Now sure, the persona gives us a more rational state of mind, but we can't deny what we truly are."

"Animals?" I teased, leaning in to plant kisses on his neck, "Desires? Instinct…"

He made that noise I loved, the one that vibrated his chest and almost sounded like a growl.

"Yes," he told me with a clenched jaw, "Exactly. Why do you think our immediate response to sexual advance is to get as much of our mates into our mouths as possible?"

I blushed at the fact that he said this just as I nipped the skin of his collarbone.

He smirked, stopping off the sidewalk, "Our instincts, kitten, want us to bite, to claw, to mark...it's in our nature to claim."

I wrapped my arms around his neck, having had enough psychology for one day, "Well what do you say we go find that Camaro of yours and then you can claim me all you want."

Those blue eyes darkened, "Let's go."

Sex in Damon's camaro was becoming one of my favorite past times.

The closeness that we were forced into, thanks to the not so spacious back seats, was a form of intimacy I had come to love.

His hands held all of me that they could, our foreheads would press together, and I could feel every little movement of him inside of me.

I relished in these times.

Even more when it was in the school parking lot and the risk of being caught spiked my blood with an adrenaline unlike anything else ever had.

But Damon had that effect on me.

This wild rush of life overwhelmed me whenever I was with him, and for the first time, I didn't feel as if I was just wandering through each day.

He gave me purpose, something to look forward to, and in these moments, when it was the two of us, connected like this, everything felt right.

God, I loved him.

The euphoria of being together drove me over the edge, and I came, squeezing myself to Damon's body while he found his own release.

My pleasure often seemed to trigger his.

And when it was over, he kissed me, hard on the lips, in a promise that I belonged to him, just as surely as he was mine.

"I love you," he breathed against me, and the words melted in my heart.

"I love you, too."

I was about to suggest we go for a round two, when suddenly Damon stiffened.

"What's the ma-"

"Hold on."

He moved me so he could turn, and he glanced towards the back of the car.

To my surprise, someone was standing there, their backs turned, as if waiting for us to be done but trying to give us privacy at the same time.

"Damn it," Damon growled annoyed, "I'll be right back, kitten."

With quick motions, he managed to get his pants back over his hips, and everything slid into place before he opened the door.

He didn't bother with a shirt though, and the sun shone off his muscles that now, thanks to our excursions, had a thin sheen of sweat on them.

He walked to the end of the Camaro, and called out for the lurker.

The guy turned his head, and I recognized him as Stefan, Damon's brother.

I sighed, a little relieved.

With a speed to match Damon's, I found the first thing I could to clean up with (my shirt), then grabbed my pants and got dressed. I slid Damon's shirt on over my torso, since mine was no longer wearable, and stepped out of the car, using my fingers to comb my hair down a few times.

The guys were in the middle of their conversation when I walked over.

"-because he hasn't been out since everything went down, and we were thinking he could use some fun. Or did you forget what that was?"

"I'm not going back to Mystic Falls tonight," Damon was saying, "I had plans with Elena."

Stefan's eyes landed on me, and his nostrils flared a little, "Clearly."

I blushed lightly, coming to a stop at Damon's side, "Is everything okay?"

"Absolutely," my boyfriend insisted, eyeing his brother as if daring him to say something contradicting.

"At least promise to consider it," Stefan told him, "He wants you there."

"Doubtful," Damon muttered.

"What's going on?" I pressed, eyeing Stefan now.

"Nothing-" Damon started, but Stefan was already talking, "Enzo got hurt a while back. He's just starting to feel better and thought Halloween would be a good time to get wasted. We're all going to a place back home, but…"

He looked at Damon expectantly.

"We already have plans," my lover growled.

I frowned, "We were just going to a haunted house, Damon. There's tons of those every year. You can go spend time with your family…"

"You could come too, of course," Stefan offered, but I didn't miss the look Damon gave him.

I bit my lip.

It was clear that Damon didn't really want to go, but I was also curious about where he came from, and I hadn't really gotten to spend much time with the others.

I wrapped an arm around his middle, and forced him to look down to me before I spoke, "We can go if you want…"

"It's just the Mystic Grill," he stated, "Average bar, average music, and-"

"And your family," I pressed, "Come on, it'll be fun."

I smirked at him, raising a brow until he sighed deeply and looked at his brother.

"What time?"

Stefan smiled, "We're heading there about eight."

I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting.

I only remembered Damon talking about the Mystic Grill once, and that was on our first date, when he'd taken me to a similar place.

But after we'd gone back, showered, and gotten dressed, we were soon heading to Mystic Falls and I felt as excited as Damon seemed to be nervous.

Of course it was hard to tell if he was really nervous, or if my senses were just playing tricks on me.

He'd smiled at me, complimented my costume, and had been talking same as usual, but the closer we got to his hometown, the stiffer he seemed to get.

His knuckles were actually white on the steering wheel, when we passed the Welcome sign.

"So how long have you lived here?" I asked him, hoping that it would help his body relax.

"A long time," he answered, shortly.

I frowned, "Years?"

"It's the first home that I really remember," he answered, "It's where Stefan's father brought me after my mother died."

"Oh," I wondered if that was why he felt odd about me coming here.

Or maybe he was nervous about me spending more time with his relatives and just didn't want to show it.

Either way, I decided, he'd have to figure out how to deal with it, because I was determined to get to know him.

All of him.

We pulled into the Grill's parking lot, and it was surprisingly busy for such a small town.

Maybe it was just because it was Halloween night, and the place seemed to be decked out for the theme.

Damon walked around the car as I got out and stopped me, "Wait."

I stared up at him, "What's wrong?"

"Look," he glanced over at the building, then back to me, "My family is a little...well, they can be brash."

"Brash?"

"Bold," he elaborated, "Some of them say whatever they think without any filter, and some of them have fly mouths. They also might be different here than they are at school, okay? This is home, and I just wanted you to know in case-"

"Damon," I grabbed his arm with a smile, "I'll be fine. It's okay."

He nodded, "Right...okay then."

I almost wanted to chuckle at how ansy he seemed.

But I'd seen a bunch of college age boys around each other, and I'm sure this wouldn't be anything I couldn't handle.

Damon held the door open for me as we walked in and I was slammed by the holiday themed music coming from every direction.

There were people in costumes all around, and voices over voices made it hard to hear anything in particular.

It was going to be impossible to find Stefan and the others.

"This way," Damon said, pulling my arm, and I let him lead me through the crowd.

Closer to the back of the restaurant, there were an array of pool tables, and it became obvious that that was where he was heading.

Glancing around, I caught sight of a familiar face.

One of Damon's cousins...Mason, I think was his name.

"Well, well," he grinned as we got closer, "Look who showed up."

He clapped Damon on the back and smirked over at me, "With a date, no less. How you doing, sweetheart?"

"I'd be better with a beer," I admitted with a smile.

He laughed in a deep, carefree way, "I see why you like her. I can go run and get a-"

"I'll get it," Damon told him, then leaned down so I could hear him better, "Do you want anything else?"

I shook my head, "No that's fine. If you want to order more, I'll pick off whatever you're having."

He nodded, and kissed the side of my head, "Alright. Stay here, I'll be back in a second."

He pinned Mason with a meaningful stare before leaving, and as I watched the man roll his eyes, I realized that I also recognized the guy standing at the end of the pool table.

Tyler.

"Hey," I smiled, and he waved at me, probably because it was too loud to answer anything back, but it didn't matter, because Mason, who was still next to me, had began talking, "Cute outfit."

I was wearing what was basically a sexy doctor uniform, though I suppose slutty nurse would have been just as accurate.

It was an extra costume that Lexi had let me borrow, and it had made Damon's eyes linger, so I wasn't complaining, "Thanks. Though I can't quite figure out what you're supposed to be. Frat boy?"

He chuckled again, pulling at his regular grey shirt, "I was aiming more for serial killer. They dress like everyone else. I see you couldn't get your boy toy to dress up again, though it's a miracle you even got him to do it for the ball."

"He complained," I assured him, earning another bout of laughter.

"I imagine he did. But still….he went," Suddenly Mason's expression seemed to change, and his eyes roamed over me.

I noticed that his nostrils flared, the same way Stefan's had before, then he shook his head, "Crazy. Marked as if you were his mate."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but then we were joined by Stefan, and the other cousin with the accent.

"You're here," Stefan smiled, "Damon with you?"

"He went to get drinks," I answered, pointing towards the bar, just in time to see him returning.

"Damon."

He handed me my beer, then put a tray of shots down on the nearest table, "Have at it."

The other's did as he said, grabbing the alcohol gratefully.

Stefan pointed towards the pool table, "Who's game?"

"Who the hell do you think?" Mason prodded, downing a shot, then grabbed the other guy's hand, "Glad to see you're through moping around the Manor."

"Screw you too," the guy answered, in that accent, "Would have been out sooner, but Alaric thought it best for me to take it slow."

"Ah good ol' Alaric," Tyler smirked, and Mason picked up another shot.

"May he reign and reign supreme," he said, downing the drink, and the others followed in suit.

Damon swallowed thickly, before looking at the other man, "How are you feeling, Enzo?"

"Like I was barely scratched," he smirked, "And good doctor Ric has given me the clearance to get as fucked up as I want, so I hope you ordered another round of these."

Damon laughed a little, and I was surprised, "Don't worry," he said, "We'll get you taken care of."

I got drunk a lot faster than the guys.

Because of my size or their tolerance, I wasn't sure, but either way, I was having an amazing time.

We drank, danced, played pool, and eventually got around to ordering food.

It was so amusing to just sit back and listen to them, and it was easy to see the family dynamic.

Damon had eventually relaxed, and now that he was comfortable, I noticed that he was different with these guys.

Stefan had been completely against my backside while helping me make a shot and Damon hadn't said a thing, though he did give his brother a pointed look afterwards.

He hadn't said anything when Mason dragged me to the dance floor either, but it wasn't long before he cut in.

"Having fun?" he asked, twirling me.

I grinned, "I like your family."

"They like you too," he assured me.

"Does that mean you're glad we came?"

He pulled me back to him, and clasped his arms around my middle, "Maybe a little bit."

I smiled, and kissed him, "Well, I am."

He nodded, "If you're happy, then I'm happy."

And I was happy.

I stayed happy through the entire night, until the bar began to close down and it was time to leave.

"I guess we should head back to the Manor," Enzo sighed, "We have a run in the morning."

"Tell Alaric I'll be there," Damon said, "But I need to get her back to the dorms."

"I'll ride with you," Stefan said, "If that's okay? Lexi has a book for my Calculus class that I need to pick up."

Damon nodded, "Alright."

They proceeded to say goodnight, meaning the punched each other and made a few crude remarks until we all went separate ways.

I smiled, as Damon led me to the Camaro, Stefan following.

"You alright?" my lover asked.

"Sleepy," I answered, leaning into him.

It was true.

The adrenaline of the night was wearing off and the alcohol had left me feeling sluggish and drowsy.

"I'm just gonna lay down in the back seat," I said, "Stefan can ride upfront."

"You sure?"

I nodded with a yawn and he smirked, "Alright then."

We got to the car and I did exactly as I said I was going to and curled up in the back.

Conscious thought was leaving me by the time Damon had the car in drive and was backing out.

I closed my eyes, letting the engine hum lull me to that place between dreams and reality.

"You know, I get it now," a quiet voice said, though I was too far gone to tell if it was in my head or not.

"Get what?" Damon. I would recognize his voice anywhere.

I was glad he was in this dream.

"You...her. She's good for you."

"Too good," Damon answered, just as quietly.

A stretch of silence, then…

"You gonna tell Ric about her?"

"He knows about her."

"He knows you're seeing a female," the voice replied, "But that's not what I meant, and you know it. You love her."

Damon sighed, "I'm not denying it."

"There's a first."

"Oh, bite me."

More silence and I almost wondered if the dream was over.

The dark settledness of sleep was weighing heavy on me.

But then Damon exhaled, "I don't know what I'm doing here, man. Bringing her to Mystic Falls...around the Pack…"

"Maybe Alaric would make an exception-"

"You know the law. There is no exception."

The voice sounded contemplative when it answered, "The law doesn't forbid us being with them, though. Just revealing. What's the harm in letting Ric know you have feelings for her? Maybe something can be done. He cares about you."

"As true as that is, he's Alpha first and foremost. He'd never bend the rules, and it's not my place to ask him to."

"So what are you going to do then?"

There was a pause.

"Whatever it takes to be with her," Damon answered, "And to stay with the Pack."

"But if it came down to it, and you had to choose?"

"I'd choose her. In a heartbeat, no question."

A small chuckle, "God, brother. You hardly know her."

"I know her well enough to know that she's all I want. I won't give her up, Stefan. Not even for the Pack."

"And that's why you haven't told Alaric," the voice reasoned.

I was so tired, I almost missed Damon's last words.

"Some things are better kept secret."

Maybe the voice replied, maybe it didn't, but the haze that had been floating over me crashed down completely, sweeping me into the dark, and by morning, I wouldn't remember this dream at all.

So there's that chapter.

Getting close to the bite! I'm so excited :)

Can't wait to read your reviews!