A/N Thx for reviewing! Wrote this all in one go, ignore any mistakes but I HAD to get it out!

Over the night, Damon had scooped Elena even closer to him. He simply liked having a warm body close to his, especially Elena's warm body. However, it wasn't actually a good night sleep for her, because her nightmares were constant throughout the night.

At about 3am, Damon had heard her scream, tears and sweat on her pretty face. She had been having nightmares-about him, for the record-that were torturing him too. He wanted to get inside her head and give her a nice dream, but something kept him from interfering. He didn't even have the nerve to gently talk to her or comfort her, knowing it was all about him, so Damon had just ignored her soft whimpers and pretended to be asleep.

Then, when Elena's breath steadied again, Damon had gently stroked her hair and his memory ran back to when he first really met her. He was the one that saved her from the car accident, he was the one that dove into the cold, violent water to get her. And then he became completely intrigued by the human Katherine in his arms. But his stubborn nature, his embracement to vampirism refused to let him accept the fact that he had saved a person. He didn't regret saving her, but by doing so, he had unwillingly shattered a piece of ice around his heart, allowing the human side to take over. And then, he had taken her to the hospital, compelling every nurse there to make sure that Elena lived, however compelling everyone to forget that he was there. For months he had spent time watching her, and the desire to make her his for the taking was growing stronger by each second. However, he made sure that no one-Especially Stefan-knew that he had saved the girl himself. No, that would make him less than a vampire. That was a shameful and embarrassing thing to say to other vampires.

Although at some point he did want to give the girl to Klaus to get Katherine back, the idea was slowly fading away. Because on a purely selfish level, he wanted her. He wanted to get to know her, he wanted to see beyond that external beauty. He had a chance with Katherine, but he never made it to her internal beauty since she didn't have any. Elena, though, was different. Elena was the perfect example of pure innocence.

And then, when he was suddenly seeing Elena as a person, and not as a toy, his vampire side took over, and when he got a whiff of her delicious looking neck, Damon's face immediately changed to that of a demon, and he had blurred away to town to get to the woman that lived in the streets. Yes, he believed that in every vampire there was the demon and the man fighting for dominance, and half of him, the man part, wanted to free Elena from the demon side. But on the same hand, the demon part of him wanted to turn off the feelings of the man, making Elena nothing more than a property and a meal.

He had returned home half drunk after the one night stand with that brunette. When he returned, he found that Elena was not in bed, and with his head pounding he was not up to touring the house or chase her, for that matter. But, his troubles were soon eased when he heard her coming out of a room in the first floor.

"Where have you been?" He barked when she went upstairs again.

"I was just getting myself something to d-drink," Elena stammered, her heart beating fast in her chest. "I didn't see you, I thought you were…"

"Shut up," Damon moaned angrily, and Elena smelled the alcohol when he opened his mouth. She instantly took a step back shakily.

"You're drunk," She accused.

"Yes. And I don't want you to preach about it," He continued, "Now, get back to bed. It's 4 am, Elena. I need to sleep."

"No," Elena shouted, "I'm not your fucking property. You don't get to tell me what to do anymore." She crossed her hands over her chest and made her way out the bedroom door, but Damon was behind her in a second. Elena didn't expect him to move so fast, and she remained frozen on the now-closed door.

Damon growled, forcefully turning her around so that her back hit the door with a low noise.

"Let me go," Elena screamed, pounding against his chest, but he didn't even move.

"Let me go!" Elena shouted again, this time panic in her voice when she realized that he was not feeling any pain at all.

"Stop it, Elena," Damon warned, "I'm not in the mood to play games with you. Get your ass back to sleep or you're going to regret it."

"You don't get to tell me what to do anymore!" Elena roared and she pounded against his chest again. This time, Damon caught her wrist in an iron grip, and then pinned her arms above her head.

"Stop struggling, I don't want to hurt you," Damon said in a whispered coo. "But I'll have to rethink that if you don't obey me."

Elena felt a tear run down her cheek, and she surrendered, not wanting to test how far he would be willing to go. She didn't want to get hurt because of her impetuosity.

Damon smirked. "See? It's a lot easier when you cooperate." He tucked a piece of wispy brown hair behind her ear. "Now, go to sleep, Elena."

Elena nodded, walking slowly towards the bed and getting under the warm covers. She was still sick and her head was pounding, and most importantly, she despised him.

After a few minutes, he joined her on the bed again. Elena quickly turned away from him, wanting to sleep on the floor rather than next to him. She wiped a tear of frustration away. "Why are you always crying?" Damon asked annoyed, turning her around-gently-for once.

"How could you do this to me?" Elena softly whimpered. "Why are you keeping me here?"

"You never answered my question."

"You never answered mine."

"I'm sorry, sweets, but that's not how it works. I ask you a question, and I expect you to answer me."

Elena surrendered. "Because I've been through hell lately." Elena sighed, her heart breaking. "I lost my parents in a car accident. No one knows how the hell I made it out. I just wish that I died and my parents lived."

"Why would you think that?" Damon asked Elena, genuinely wanting to understand why the beautiful woman in front of him would even think about such a thing.

"Because I'm not good enough," Elena replied truthfully. "I'm never good enough."

Damon didn't really understand her answer, but he accepted it anyway.

The rest of the days were basically the same. Sometimes he would eat with her and pretend that he was just a typical human. Elena usually kept to herself a lot, and when he gave her her own room, they almost lost any type of contact. Damon was finding it hard to remain human around her. He was feeling like a prisoner, he couldn't be himself anymore. Besides, he still wasn't even used to the idea that he was living with a woman that he couldn't touch. Actually, he could, but he wouldn't, because he wanted her to chase him.

But that wasn't exactly going to happen anytime soon, and Damon was becoming rather depressed. He started to spend more nights outdoors than indoors, and the more blood-and sex-he had, the more it was difficult to control his lust around Elena. He wanted to sink his fangs into that delicate neck and drain her dry, but something in him, no, the man in him, didn't let him.

His stubbornness and pride didn't allow him to just act normal around her, to make her happy. He could, if he wanted to. He could take her out somewhere, he could give her a little freedom-again-but he didn't want to. On the other hand, keeping Elena locked in the house, and sometimes, when she got on his nerves-locked in her room- was not exactly making things better. Elena was usually quiet and distant all the time, and she was starting to remain in her room day and night, even when she wasn't locked in. She was always writing in her diary, a diary that he had given her himself after she had made the tiny request that she wanted a pen and some paper. She was also refusing any food he had given to her, and for that he was becoming worried and angry. She was losing too much weight, and her already small body started to look much weaker than it should be. Whenever he asked her why she wouldn't eat, she just simply stated that she wasn't feeling well and that she wasn't hungry.

"That's it," He stormed in one night, "You can't keep doing this to yourself, Elena. You can't just stay in here and not eat anything at all."

"Why? Is there somewhere else I can go to?"

Damon mentally cursed, but pulled himself together quickly. He tossed a bag at her. "Get dressed. We're going out."

"I don't want to g…"

"I wasn't asking for your approval," Damon hissed. "Now, get dressed. You have thirty minutes, I think it should be enough. Put something formal on."

He left, leaving the door unlocked.

Elena sighed, taking out a nice violet dress out of the bag. There were a couple of dresses to choose from, and they were all amazingly beautiful and expensive. She finally decided on a strapless glittered red dress and paired it with a pair of black high heels. She let her natural curls hang over her shoulders and she closed the door behind her, going downstairs to meet Damon. He was wearing a black buttoned shirt, very formal.

Damon's eyes scanned Elena from head to toe. She was wearing the dress he secretly hoped she'd wear, and it looked even more perfect on her than he had imagined. Her little curls were amazing, and her simple makeup didn't ruin her natural beauty. Damon had seen a lot of women in his life, and most of them were just common whores, but even the ones that looked innocent weren't like Elena. She was truly special.

"You look stunning," He complimented when she was finally next to him. She blushed but didn't say anything. "Shall we?" He said in that calm tone he rarely used with her.

Elena sighed internally, giving in. She accepted his hand and walked away without another word.

The trip to wherever they were going was long and silent. Elena spent most of the time staring outside the window, just content to see the nice green areas. She figured it'd be much easier for her if she enjoyed it while she could; after all he wasn't being mean to her.

She was too lost that she didn't even notice that they were there. Damon frowned, touching her shoulder lightly to have her attention.

"We're here," He announced, and Elena looked around her to see very nice surroundings. It was a small city but there were lots of green areas. She smiled, she had never went out of Mystic Falls in all her life.

"Do I have to repeat certain things?" Damon asked her seriously, "I'd be a tad pissed if I see people staring at us strangely. Will you behave?"

Elena nodded her head.

"I do hope so…Otherwise you'll never get out of that house. Do you understand?"

His voice was threatening and menacing and Elena shivered. "Yes, Damon," She choked out.

"Fine then. Come on," He grabbed her arm.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," He said, a small smile tugging at his lips.

It was a nice, warm night. The stars were shining and the moon looked brighter-whiter-somehow. Apparently, Damon decided to take her to one of the finest restaurants in the city, it had excellent views of both the rural and urban areas. They ate the most expensive food and even talked a little, and if Elena didn't know better she'd found the setting romantic.

When the server asked them to order their food, he was very sweet and polite. He had the steak in some kind of barbecue sauce and Elena had oven baked chicken with lemon syrup, a dish she always wanted to try. They ate slowly and quietly, though at times they would glance at each other like a romantic couple, and Elena would blush due to his intense stare. Sometimes they'd mutter a word in general, about the food and the setting, but nothing more than that. Both were too stubborn, too...afraid.

Older couples were looking at their direction sweetly, because they looked perfect together. But Elena knew what the truth was, and they were far from a couple, though being right there made it feel otherwise. Still, the truth was always the truth.

Then, Damon had gently guided her to the dancefloor, and they danced slowly, their bodies swaying with the soft music. He was a pretty good dancer, and when his arms were set on her small hips, it took every ounce of self control she had to remain calm and not shiver.

"Having fun?" He breathed against her cheek.

"Yes," Elena said without a second thought. "Thank you."

The reflection of the moonlight on his bright blue eyes took Elena's breath away. She was unwillingly staring at him, and he was staring at her brown orbs. Neither of them moved, and the dance was suddenly forgotten.

And then Damon leaned in, and for a minute, Elena prepared herself for the kiss she felt coming. But for her surprise, and secretly disappointment, he aimed for her cheek and placed an open mouthed kiss there, his lips lingering there a few more minutes than necessary.

"Everyone's staring at us…" Elena blushed.

"Let them," Damon simply commented, turning her around. "You're a fast learner," He commented.

Elena nodded. "I used to love dancing."

"I don't see why you shouldn't now," Damon said seriously. "Ask me whatever you want…and I might grant you permission."

Elena nodded again. "Okay."

The rest of the night passed too quickly for Elena. She was having fun, and Damon seemed real and genuine in everything that he was doing. Elena couldn't help it…She knew that she was falling for him. She knew that her heart beat fast when he was near, and she knew how much she wanted him to kiss her.

Damon, on the other hand, was feeling human around her. The worst thing about it was that he didn't mind. He almost did want to feel human if it meant that he could spend nights like that with Elena.

He could feel the demon inside him offended by this, but Damon didn't care. Elena was slowly opening up to him, and he liked it. He never knew he would, but he did. He knew that it would be different now-He still didn't want to lose his vampire side, the side he embraced. But the fact that he was protecting her from his brother and breaking Klaus's rules for her showed that he cared more about her than just a toy or a pet. He knew that.

And if it was lust, than he would've already slept with her by now. But no, he wanted it to be real, he even regretted compelling her. In fact, he couldn't seem to compel her anymore, he also grew to love her stubborn nature.

Damon sighed. Things were getting harder by the second.

Please review!

You see, I'm trying to make clear of Damon's problem. He obviously wants her, however he doesn't really know in what way, if it is just because she looks like Katherine, because of curiosity, lust…And there are two sides in Damon, the man and the 'demon' (vampire). The latter obviously wants darker things, but then the man is stronger than the two…for now. On the other hand, he thinks that if he ever feels something for a human (We saw that he is 'embarrassed' to say that he saved her) he is weak, so that will be a huge barrier.

Just as a warning, things won't be easy as I made them look in this chapter. It's my first time kinda writing an angst story cause even though it's similar to the first few chapters of my story "His Vampire Heart" this one's harder cause there are a lot of emotions and people confused.

I was worried about the rating. In my opinion, T's good, what do you think though?

Pls review :)