TWELVE

My head began to pound in what could only be described as a pleasant way as I slowly woke from my dream. My hands were fisted in the sheets and I moaned involuntarily. I felt a spasm of pleasure as I opened my eyes slightly to see Damon waking me up in his most favorite way. His eyes locked with mine and he smirked. My head ground against the pillow as the feel of his hands and tongue on me drove me crazy. One of his hands slid up my shirt and began kneading one of my breasts. I groaned again and whispered his name softly as I came for him. He kept going until he was sure that I was done and then kissed his way up my body until he claimed my lips. "Morning," I breathed.

He grinned as he moved to lay beside me, his front pressing against my side. He played with my hair as he talked. "For a vampire, you sleep more than a human."

I shrugged as I turned to face him, and as slowly as I could, I slid over him so that I was straddling his hips. I could feel him hardening beneath his boxers and rotated my hips. His lips parted to indicate he liked it. I grinned as I leaned down and kissed along his jaw line. "I don't get to sleep long because someone always interrupts."

His response was to kiss me hard. I pulled up and reached down to free him from his boxers by simply tearing them away. I lowered myself on top of him and we both groaned in ecstasy. His hands went to my hips and dug in as I rode him. My head tipped back and my hair flowed around my shoulders and down my back, teasing my skin as it moved. I leaned forward to angle myself differently and my hands fell on his chest. He moved so that I was beneath him and a loud moan escaped my lips as he brought both of my legs up to rest them on his shoulder. He braced himself at my side with one hand as the other reached between us and traced circles across my clitoris. It was something he had never done before and I cried out as I came after only a few touches. He grinned and moved his hand faster than my eyes could follow and hand both of my hands in his grasp above my head. I smiled a second before we were off the bed and I was laid out on top of his dresser. His hands squeezed my breasts as he thrust away, my legs firmly wrapped around his waist. I put my hands over his at the feel of both our releases and the moment my hand touched his ring, my high was cut short.

There, before my eyes, was a vision of Damon and Katherine in bed together. She was riding him as I had been and her fangs were out. The dress that she was in hid their bodies from what was going on, but the sleeves had fallen from her shoulders to expose her breasts. Damon's skin was flush and darker than it as now. Had it not been for that dress, I would have thought it was me. She was smirking down at him and he was looking at her with an expression of pure desire. "Elena?" Damon asked, snapping me back to reality.

He had half collapsed on top of me and the expression on his face was one of concern. I slid off the dresser and shook my head. "It's nothing," I lied and headed straight for the shower.

"You're lying," he said as he followed me, leaning against the sink while I waited for the water to warm up.

"Yes."

I looked at him and was surprised by the shame in his eyes as he stared at his ring, twisting it around his finger out of habit. "What did you see?"

"Katherine," I said as I stepped into the shower. "And you."

He didn't have to ask what they were doing; the tone in my voice said everything. He simply nodded. "That was a long time ago."

I nodded as I stood under the spray of the water and closed my eyes in an attempt to relax. "I know. I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at this new power," I said and opened my eyes to see him standing right before me. "It could have shown me a number of things, but it chose that."

His eyes hardened and I looked away. "Elena-"

"Get out," I said flatly and after a second of indecision he obliged. I felt like crying, but instead, I flipped the inner switch that shut off my emotions and took the fastest shower of my life. I was not going to draw any conclusions about this new power until I did my research, but I was willing to bet my undead life on it that I saw what I saw because he was subconsciously thinking about it. I sighed as I dried off and then headed to the closet and dressed in whatever I saw first. I did my make-up and left my hair to air dry before I made my way down to the living room.

Damon was watching TV, a rather large glass of scotch in his hand, and to my surprise Tyler was on the other side of the couch. I reached into the fridge to make myself a glass of blood and Tyler turned to look at me while Damon kept his eyes glued to the TV. Tyler was completely confused at the tension in the air and kept looking between us. After I cleaned the glass, I grabbed my purse from the table by the door. "I'll be at Jenna's," I announced to no one in particular and walked out.

I cursed under my breath as I realized I hadn't grabbed Damon's keys. Vampire speed it was. Just before I was about to go, the door opened and Tyler was there. "What's going on? You two have a fight?"

"Something like that. If I were you, I would not say anything to piss him off."

He grinned, trying to determine if I was in a joking mood. "Looks like you've already done that." I glared at him and he took a step back. "Sorry. Should you be going by yourself?"

"I'm safe at Jenna's," I answered and knowing it was rude, I sped off, leaving him there by himself.

I could hear Jeremy yelling before I reached the house. It was more of an argument than an attack so I continued at my current pace. He was storming out the door when I reached the driveway. "What the hell Elena? This is my life!"

Anna closed the door as she joined us. "I'm sorry. I just told him what you said."

I took a deep breath and nodded. I was angry at Damon, but I was determined not to take that out on Jeremy. I looked to Anna. "Is Jenna in there?" She nodded. "Tell her I'll be right there, I need to talk to Jeremy alone."

She nodded again and went back inside. Jeremy was fuming. His breathing was deep and his fists were balled at his side. "This is my choice Elena. You can't tell me what I can and can't do."

"I know that," I said and sat down on the first step. He might be angry, but for whatever reason, my head was still hurting. I patted the spot next to me and he hesitated before setting down. "I'm not saying you can never be a vampire Jer. I'm saying that I want you and Anna to make this decision because it's right for you. Not because someone killed you while you were protecting me. I want it to be a choice you make for the right reasons; not because it's the only way I'll ever see you again."

His face softened as he finally realized what I meant. He grinned, "So you want it to be like giving away my virginity. All about the timing."

I smiled lightly and pushed his leg gently. "Never say that again," I teased and then nodded. "But yes. Does that make sense?"

"So it's not because you want this life to yourself right?"

I nodded. "Right. All I'm asking is that you don't die fighting for me. I don't want anyone to die fighting for me."

I was looking down at the ground and he noticed something was off. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it Jer," I said quietly and I could see him nodding out of my peripheral.

"One last question and then I'll leave you alone. Would you mind if I changed because I wanted to be stronger for you? So that I could help kick Klaus' ass?"

I looked at him and grabbed his chin. "As long as it is your choice and nobody killed you, I could live with that. Just know that it takes awhile to get used to being a vampire. It's not instant; there's a lot involved with the change."

"Anna's been telling me."

I nodded and stood up. "I should have told you this last night, but I didn't want to see anyone."

"It's alright," he said as he moved to open the front door for me. He signaled for Anna and they both waved before leaving.

"You're here early," Jenna said as I entered the kitchen. It was around noon according to the clock on the oven. Her eyes were inspecting me to make sure everything was okay meaning Alaric had said something. She noticed that I was studying her and she sighed. "Alaric came over from your house and I was a little upset you blew me off and from his reaction, I knew something was up. He told me after I more or less forced it out of him."

"I was going to tell you about it today," I said truthfully.

She pulled me to her and I held her as if letting go meant the end of everything. "I thought vampires were supposed to hunt people, not other vampires," she whispered and I pulled away laughing.

"If it wasn't for my being Katherine's look alike, none of this would be happening." And I sure as hell wouldn't be with Damon. My eyes darkened at that, but I shook it off and smiled for Jenna's benefit. "Enough about me. You're the one who got engaged," I said excitedly and studied the ring on her finger.

She beamed with pride and joy as tears welled in her eyes. "Is that weird for you?"

I stared at her before shaking my head slowly. "No?"

"He was technically your step-dad." That was food for thought. Alaric, my teacher, was indeed my step-father by default. Jenna, my aunt, was not related to me at all. My brother was not my cousin; the uncle I hated was my father. My mother had been a psychotic vampire who had slept with my boyfriend. The parents that raised me were actually my aunt and uncle. I pinched the bridge of my nose and smiled.

I shrugged, "I only know his as my teacher."

She smiled even brighter and then reached under the island and put a stack of magazines on the counter. "Elena Gilbert," she said and I laughed mentally at the irony of the only thing real about my life was my name. "Will you be my maid of honor?"

All bad feelings immediately disappeared at her question. "I would be very offended if you hadn't asked me. Of course!" I said and hugged her again in a semi-tight hug.

After we had settled down and had flipped through seven bridal magazines for ideas, she started making lunch and I helped her. "I've been thinking."

I grinned, but kept my eyes on chopping the onions. "That doesn't sound good."

She made a face before adding the chicken to the skillet. "What if we moved to another state?"

I thought about it and shrugged. "If you want. Jeremy's going to be in college so you and Alaric could do whatever."

She was silent and I realized that was not exactly what she meant. "I was talking about all of us. We could move where no one knew us and start over. I don't like it when you're not here and I'm pretty sure Jeremy's going to turn too from the conversations I keep overhearing."

I put the knife down and turned to look at her. "Jenna..." I said and shook my head. "As hard as it may feel for us not to be here, you can't imagine what it's like for me, knowing that everyone I care about will be dead quicker than I can imagine. The less I'm around all of you, the easier it is not to feel that loss."

She nodded, but bit her lip to keep from arguing. "I know, I just...I promised Miranda I would take care of you." I've completely failed, she thought.

I put my arms around her and laid my head on her shoulder. "You have done nothing but take care of Jeremy and I. You haven't failed either one of us."

She stepped away and smiled. "I forget you can do that."

We didn't say anything more until we sat at the island to eat. "Where do you want to have the wedding? We should pick a location and then decide on a theme."

She thought about it for a moment. "There's the church your parents got married in."

I laughed softly and put my hand on her arm. "No, I meant you can choose anywhere in the world."

Her eyes widened and then she shook her head. "I don't make that much."

"Damon and I will take care of it," I assured her. "Just pick and leave the financials to us."

"Have you asked him about this?"

"I'm already stuck with him for eternity so there's no need for us to get married. So we'll use the money on you instead."

"You really think he'd go all out?"

I stared at her and we both smiled. "I have expensive tastes and he knows it."

"Ask him first and then we'll talk," she agreed and we spent the rest of the afternoon talking about all things wedding.

When I got back to the boarding house, Damon was leaning against the kitchen counter with another glass of scotch in his hand. I put my purse on the table and raised myself up on the island to face him. "I'm not angry with you," I said flatly after a few minutes of silence.

He snorted and took a long drink. "Could have fooled me."

"I saw you and Katherine and it made me lash out at you. I just wasn't expecting to see that."

He met my eyes then and pushed himself off of the counter and stood between my knees. The glass of scotch was now on the counter behind him. "To be clear, I was not thinking of her. She does not have to do with anything involving you and I."

I put my hand on his sides and pulled him closer. "I know that, it just startled me."

He kissed me sweetly and it made me feel like an idiot for ever having doubted his feelings. He drew his lips away, but kept his forehead pressed against mine. "How was the chat with your aunt?"

I bit my lip and smiled as I leaned back, supporting myself on my elbows. "I might have told her you would pay for a destination wedding."

His brow arched. "Did you now?"

I grinned. "The good news is she only wants her closest friends and family around."

"That's only what, fourteen people?"

I mentally counted everyone in my head and nodded. "Exactly."

"What do I get in return?"

I sat up and looked him in the eye as I started unbuckling his belt. I kept staring at him as my fingers undid his fly and then reached down to cup him. He wet his lips and I noticed his hands tightened on the counter. "Something like this for all eternity," I breathed and before I knew it, we were making damn good use of that counter. And no one interrupted us this time.