"You have to keep it a secret, Bon."
Elena took Bonnie's hand in hers and squeezed it comfortingly. The girls sat in Bonnie's living room, well after the sun had gone down.
Bonnie looked up, sadness etched in her features.
"I just…you know how much I love you. And when I found out you had...well...when I found out you had cancer, I was devastated. I couldn't imagine you being gone. I'm so glad you're still here. But…a vampire? It's just alot to swallow."
She said the word 'vampire' as if it were poison.
Elena looked down.
"It was my decision completely. Just trust me, okay? I'm the same Elena you've always known." She smiled.
"With a different appetite?"
"Bonnie," she chastised sadly and looked away.
"I'm sorry. I just never thought my best friend would be...I mean, technically, you're dead. My best friend is dead. Its just hard."
"It's okay."
"You can't trust Damon, you know? He's a killer."
"I know he is. And I've always known what he is…but at the same time, its because of him that I'm here."
"Wait 'til Stefan finds out…" Bonnie said.
Elena whipped her head back to Bonnie.
"What?"
"Well, he isn't going to be happy that his brother turned the love of his life into a vampire…" She said slowly.
Elena lifted her chin. "Who knows when he will come around, if he ever does. Besides—love of his life? He doesn't even know what that is. After what happened? He never did."
Elena stood.
"Look, I have to get going…"
"Already?"
Elena didn't want to tell her that she was starving and hearing the whoosh of Bonnie's blood surging through her veins was making her edge-y.
"Yeah, I needed to talk with Jenna about some stuff. Like me dropping out of school.."
"Ouch."
"Yeah, it's not going to go over well."
Bonnie stood and hugged Elena suddenly.
"If you need anything…you know I'm here. Vampire or no vampire. We gotta stick together."
Elena smiled weakly.
"Of course, Bon. I'll see you soon."
"See ya…"
Elena rushed from the room and shut the door behind her. She shut her eyes tightly for a moment before regaining her composure. She shivered.
"…she said for me not to trust you."
Damon gave a short laugh and clutched his hand to his chest.
"How devastating. What ever are you going to do?"
"Ugh, shut up."
Damon's arm was casually thrown over Elena's shoulder. The underbrush crunched softly under their feet as they came out of the woods and as the Salvatore House came into view. He gave her a sidelong glance.
"You hungry?"
"Why?"
"You don't look so great, so I'm just asking."
"Gee, thanks. And no, I don't want to kill anyone, Damon."
"You've been doing a bang up job of that on your own, eh? Fine."
Before Elena could issue a retort, Damon stopped dead in his tracks. His hand slid to Elena's waist and stilled her under his grip. She turned to him and he lifted his hand for silence. Damon's senses were keen and he was suddenly on high alert. He looked around for a long moment.
"Get inside," he said calmly.
"Damon," her tone was cautious.
"Do as I say," he said, becoming stern.
Elena quickly walked into the house and shut the door behind her.
Damon stood still for a long moment. Listening. Finally, he was satisfied that nothing was amiss and he walked into the house. He gave one more cautionary look over his shoulder before closing the door behind him. Elena was standing in the foyer, her eyes large.
"What is it," her voice was hushed.
"What was what?"
"Why were you standing outside? What did you hear?"
Damon stood back and looked at her for a long moment.
"Nothing," he said finally.
Elena's shoulders sagged and she rolled her eyes.
"Right," she muttered. She turned on her heels and walked into the living room. She plopped unceremoniously onto the couch, her legs dangling over the arm rest. Damon stood by her legs and reached up, rubbing her knee absently.
"When will I get my ring?" she asked suddenly.
"When I pry it off my brother's finger," he replied.
The silence lingered in the room for a brief moment.
"Wait," Elena said, "when you said you were getting a ring from Stefan. I assumed he had another one."
"Well, you assumed incorrectly."
He climbed on top of Elena and kissed her jaw, her neck.
"Well, how are you going to do that? I don't think he'll just give it to you," she said, refusing to drop the subject.
Damon groaned with annoyance.
"Just leave the schematics to me." He kissed her neck again, biting lightly.
"You aren't going to hurt him…are you?" She asked lightly.
Damon lifted his head suddenly and looked down at Elena.
"So what if I did?"
Elena stayed silent.
Damon's eyes became dark and he moved off of her and stood.
"You're sickening."
"I'm sickening? You're the one plotting the demise of your own brother. I wonder what would ever happen if I crossed you. Would you want to hurt me too?"
"In the worst way," he said murmured. He walked up to her and ran his hand through her hair with a lovers touch. "I would do it without a cent of regret."
Elena's lip began to tremble suddenly and she looked away.
"Oh, what are you crying about? Are you planning some sort of coup?" He asked, almost bored.
"No."
"Then don't worry your pretty head with hypothetical questions. Leave my brother to me."
He dropped his hand and walked towards his bar set. He poured himself a tumbler full of scotch—neat.
"You drink too much," Elena sighed, laying back on the couch.
"Yeah, well," he drank it quickly, "we all have our vices."
"So what was the letter about," Elena asked suddenly, her tone almost triumphant.
Damon kept his back turned towards her.
"None of your business," he said, finishing the drink. He set it down and turned towards her.
"Sure must have been interesting if you burned it after you read it." She was almost taunting him.
Damon's smile came slow. He liked her this way. Taunting him, her tone biting.
"Don't know what you're talking about," he said, making sure to put edge in his voice.
He felt Elena come up behind him, her hands sliding underneath his arms and resting over his chest. She placed her cheek against his back.
"What a terrible liar," she purred. "Tell me."
Damon grabbed her hand and turned, pulling her against his chest. His eyes were cool as he smiled.
"Life is full of uncertainties," he said suddenly. "But there all also certainties… such as…I saw you on the stairs the other night. I lit it because I wanted you to see it. You were standing riiiight there."
He pointed behind her.
"So," he continued, "as I was saying about certainties…there is one thing, above all else that you will come to know as fact." He leaned towards her ear.
"You will never best be. Never fool me. Never have the upper hand on me. Anything you see its because I wanted you to see it. Not because you thought you were clever enough to hide in the shadows unnoticed."
Elena's jaw set and she raised her chin. He ran his thumb over her bottom lip over and over. Slowly. Elena watched him as she felt the rough pad of his thumb slide back and forth, back and forth. After a moment, she parted her mouth and claimed it around her tongue.
"Now," he commanded, "go upstairs. I'm hungry for you."
"You're burning up."
Damon's placed his palm from Elena's forehead to her neck fresh with Damon's puncture wounds. Elena brushed his hand away.
"I'm fine. I'm just...hungry."
"Then eat."
Elena closed her eyes.
"You're ridiculous," he groaned. "Okay. OKAY. I'll get you a damned bag of blood from the Blood Bank."
"I really should stop drinking human blood all together."
"You'll drink it and shut up."
His hand went to her forehead again.
"You're just burning up," he repeated again.
Elena shivered softly.