A/N First of all, I want to thank my Beta Reader Cdaye8184, both for her help on all of my stories and also for reviewing them ;) Thanks girl, check out her stories cause they're awesome just like her :D

Second, sorry it took me long to update, my holidays started a few days ago and the first week's always full of entertainment haha.

I also want to thank ALL OF THE ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS , I appreciate and love your reviews and I'm thanking you from here since I can't pm you. Also, thank you SalvatoreQueen for reviewing lots of my stories and another thanks to Moonwolflove.

Thanks everyone for helping me reach 100 (and passed them too) Couldn't have done it without you. xxxx

Damon was standing by Elena's bed; on the small couch she had in her room to be exact. This had been happening ever since he had brought her in the house. He would go in her room and simply stare at her. Stare at the Katherine-look alike that was sleeping peacefully in one of his beds, the same girl that he was curious and so damn confused about. Sometimes, he would get inside her head and try to make her dreams more pleasant, and at other times he would slowly go next to her and ever so gently, he would stroke her cheek still astounded by their similarities but yet noticing more and more the differences that separate them.

It was weird. Vampires usually lived for blood, and lust was a vampire's greatest weakness. But just stroking Elena's cheek made it feel like it was enough. Like something else was his weakness and that it wasn't lust. Her warmth against his cool hand reminded him about the warmness in Elena's heart, and his own lost humanity, the humanity he had lost so many years ago. He wanted to slip through Elena's façade and maybe get to know her. He wanted to learn about her kindness, her life. But if he continued to scare her then Elena would just hide from him.

He downed his glass of bourbon and resisted the urge to throw the glass away and have Elena. Yes, she was there, sleeping on a bed he had given her, her neck bare waiting to be sucked dry, it was most enticing to him. He swallowed back the desire because he could not let the demon part of him take over. He would not.

He stood up and reached out for her, stroking her hair. "What am I going to do with you?" He asked himself, sighing. "I can't be selfish with you. I feel with you. This isn't me, this was never me."

And that was the truth. She was changing him, ever so slightly even if he didn't want to admit it. He was becoming less of the monster he was known to be and a little more like the curly haired Damon that died long ago. It was a bad thing for his sake but when you looked at the greater picture; it was good. More than good, probably great. But this was going to be his weakness, being sweet and gentle with Elena.

When the momentary self-searching subsided, he glanced back towards her neck and the demon within himself unleashed again. He started thinking the way he had always thought. The truth was he knew how to be gentle. Of course he did-He was always gentle before biting down their precious necks. But Elena wasn't a typical girl. She couldn't be fooled.

His gentleness had to be real. And out came the man again, the man he was afraid of. The man he so desperately tried to conceal for all these years but this girl, this fragile human girl lured him out and there was no stopping it.

"Good morning," Damon greeted Elena with a huge grin on his face, a true genuine smile; the first true smile in a very long time but she barely returned the smile. He lost his grin immediately when he saw that she was still tense and afraid.

"Good morning," She choked out, avoiding his eyes.

"Here," Damon said giving her a small bag in attempt to change the subject. "Wear this."

She opened the bag impatiently and she found a black bikini there. She looked up at him with confusion and uneasiness. He rolled his eyes.

"Elena, it's just a bikini," He mumbled, "Go wear it."

"Why?"

"Just go put it on," He said, trying to keep calm. She made it impossible for him to act nice.

She scurried off, and he thanked God that she didn't protest anymore. He didn't want to test his patience.

When she returned, she was covering herself with the oversized beach towel he had put in there. Once again, he rolled his eyes.

"We are going to the Falls," Damon smirked and took her hand. "It was one of my favourite places when I was human and it still is."

She nodded, letting him guide her. It's not like she actually had a choice.

The Falls were just five minutes away. It was actually a huge lake which had a beautiful waterfall, and there were small caves Damon had discovered when he was human. The caves were beautiful, and he would spend hours there, thinking about his life and Katherine mostly since he discovered the falls shortly after her absence from his life.

He let go of Elena's hand and took off his shirt, revealing his perfectly toned body. Elena tried to look away but both of them knew that she was having a hard time doing so. She blushed when she saw him waiting eagerly for her to drop the towel that was keeping her safe, maybe protected.

"I'm not going to swim," She told him slowly and shakily.

"Why not?"

"I prefer to stay up here," Elena continued, but the reason was that she didn't like him seeing her in such lack of clothing. She was afraid of what his intentions were. Being in a lake alone with him was scaring her.

He blurred next to her and Elena jumped.

"Elena, I'm not going to hurt you," He assured her slowly. "All I want is for us to get to know each other. And I thought you'd like it if I let you out of the house."

"What makes you think I want to get to know you?" The words escaped her mouth before she could even think. When she looked at Damon, she saw his face red with fury. His fist went directly to the stones that surrounded the lake and they instantly broke in half. Elena jumped at his reaction and fear took over her.

"You are going to come to the lake and swim," He ordered her coldly, harshly grabbing her arm and removing the towel in the process.

He practically threw her in the water, and Elena shivered when she felt how cold it was. She looked smaller and vulnerable without that towel covering her body. Damon took a few breaths, cursing when he realized that he had scared her…yet again. Why did he always manage to practically ruin any chance of getting her forgiveness? He mentally kicked himself in the ass. His demon wanted full claim on her, and the fact that she wasn't obeying his orders made it impossible to reason things out. His demon wanted to be in control.

Her face was looking the other direction now, but he could see the pain in her eyes and tears threatening to fall. He sighed and swam next to her, holding her by her shoulders.

"Look, I'm sorry," He told her sincerely. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She didn't reply, but she locked her beautiful doe eyes with his. Those eyes were going to be the death of him, those eyes were the symbol of her innocence and her human morals.

He offered her his hand-again. "Come on. I want to show you something."

She placed her hand in his, and he finally stopped next to the small waterfall. "There are caves behind this waterfall," He explained, "I discovered them when I was human. I never shared this place with anyone."

She gave him her consent when he asked to pick her up so that she could see.

"Oh my God, this is beautiful..." She exclaimed in astonishment when she saw the sun reflecting in the cave, the water streaming gently down. She could hear a soft dripping noise as dew slid of the rocks, it was like a heartbeat. She could also hear soft squeaks which alerted her with the presence of animals, bats maybe. She shivered as the chilly draft went up and down her spine.

Damon smiled when he sensed her shivering, and he bounced her even higher watching every movement she made and almost feeling everything she was feeling. He could hear her heartbeat and her smile...God that smile-He had never seen such a genuine smile before, not even on Katherine. Katherine's smile was a devilish grin, a grin that hid every dark intention she had.

Half consciously, he wrapped his arms around her tighter, and his cheek was just a hairsbreadth away from her brow bone. In fact, he couldn't resist and he rubbed his cheek against her face. At this, Elena broke out of her reverie immediately and she let herself get free of Damon's arms.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, feeling truly confused by her sudden change of behaviour.

"Nothing's wrong, Damon," She said, swimming away from him. "I'm just tired."

"Elena, what's going on?" He demanded.

"You can't do this to me," Elena finally said after a few seconds of hesitance. "You can't be all sweet and cuddly one minute and a…monster the next. You're just trying to confuse me. You're not allowing me to think about everything that's going on…You're my captor, Damon, so for everyone's sake please, leave me alone and stop pretending."

He was stunned by her speech, and he sighed but took a few steps closer to her. "Elena, I'm not pretending," He explained. "In every vampire there is the man and the monster. I'm halfway between those two, since I have not given myself completely to either side."

Elena looked at him and nodded. "And what do you feel about me? Do you want to kill me?"

It was heartbreaking but funny at the same time. She had just asked a question so powerful and harsh yet she made it feel so natural. Maybe because it is, now, Elena thought. Wasn't this how her life had become?

She waited patiently for an answer.

"I wanted to, at first," Damon finally choked out. "But no. I don't want to kill you, and I wish I don't have to hurt you, either. But you're making it a bit difficult for me, Elena. I am not always in control." He admitted, finishing the sentence in a chiding tone of voice.

He thought for a moment what more he could say but right now there was nothing, words had failed him and thoughts refused to reason with him so he swallowed soundly, and after a long moment of silence, he said, "Come on, let's get you something to eat."

"A few friends are coming over," Damon announced later on that evening. "When they do arrive, I want you to stay in your room until I tell you that you can leave. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Damon," She nodded her head obediently.

"Good girl," He smiled, tugging a stray piece of hair behind her ears, and then he tapped lightly at his ear. "Oh, they're here."

He pushed her slowly to the direction of the stairs and repeated, "Do I have to use compulsion?"

"No, I'll be good," Elena said, fearing that he would take the choice away from her again. "I give you my word."

He nodded once and Elena hurried up the stairs.

It was about midnight, and the bourbon they had been drinking was obviously having its effect on the vampires. The house was a complete mess, there were bottles of alcohol everywhere and about five unconscious women spread evenly between the living room and the kitchen.

"Is that another human I smell?" Slater suddenly announced, and the other drunk vampires stopped drinking, all focusing on their sense of smell.

"Oh, Damon Salvatore has a human in the house," Sage continued, "What are you using her for, huh?"

"Sage, you might be my hottest teacher, but you're also the nosiest one," Damon blurred next to her and pulled her body closer to his, capturing her in a hungry kiss and a rough embrace.

"Yeah, Damon," She continued as she kissed his neck, "Tell me…Are you finally following my advice?"

Her sentence "A woman is not just food, she's pleasure" clicked in his mind.

"Yeah, I have been following that advice for over a century now," He said as he continued to kiss her. "Let's take this outside, shall we?"

"Sure, sure," Sage smiled, "I think Slater and Logan are busy having lunch." He saw the two male vampires sucking the blonde in their arms dry.

He took her hand and guided her to the road where he usually stayed and waited for his next victim.

Slater and Logan threw the now lifeless body aside and sat on the couch clumsily, feeling full and satisfied with the latest supply of blood. Logan wiped the blood away from his mouth.

"You know what, I'm feeling rather…curious about the girl Salvatore decided to keep," Slater commented. "Why didn't he bring her here? He always shares."

"You know me, Slater," Logan replied with an evil grin, "I can't help myself…I always feel the need to have something that isn't supposed to be mine."

He shot Slater one of his looks, a look they used when they were both thinking the same thing and they were, they were indeed thinking the same thing. And for Elena's sake, it wasn't good.

Wasting no time, they blurred upstairs and forced the door open in a minute. Elena jumped in fright at the sudden intrusion, but before she could even think about screaming, Slater had his hands clamped over her mouth, muffling her screams.

"Shh," He hushed her, "If you scream, I'm going to have to kill you…"

Elena's blood ran cold at the threat. The man holding her was grinning against her neck and tears formed in her eyes, afraid of what they could do to her.

"I'll do whatever you want, just please, don't hurt me," She pleaded.

"Shh, stop talking," Slater pushed her hair to the side and ran his lips on the big pulsating vein in her neck, placing little kisses down the smooth column of her throat. His hands ran down her face to her neck until they finally rested on her collarbone.

She suddenly wished for Damon. Damon was gentle compared to these two, Damon was safe compared to these two. She thought she felt afraid with Damon, but fright had a completely different meaning with these two... monsters. Even the air was different, god where was Damon?

She stood frozen as he held her, afraid of what was coming next. She heard the other man clearing his throat.

"You always were so selfish. Not willing to share anything with me, are you?" He pouted and the other smiled, tossing Elena at him like a rag doll.

He held her tightly from her neck and shoulders and kissed her earlobe, earning himself a shiver from Elena. This only amused him more and immediately he started to caress her neck with his fangs, breaking the skin slightly, making just a few drops of blood pour out. He licked the drops hungrily, before letting his fangs elongate, ready to bite.

Elena started to struggle in his hold, but his firm, bruising grip kept her in place as she instantly found herself pinned to a wall. Logan kept her arms pinned tightly above her hands and panic took over her when Slater popped off the first three buttons of her blouse.

"What was that?" Damon asked between hot, fiery kisses as Sage pressed up against him.

"Does it look like I really care right now?" She panted back, digging her hands into his hair and twirling his black locks around her finger, tugging on the loose ends slightly.

"I suppose not," Damon sighed, continuing to trail a path of kisses down her chest as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Another scream.

"Wait, is that Elena?" Damon roughly pushed Sage off him and turned three hundred sixty degrees around to find his shirt. Sage ran off after him, trying to have his attention.

"Sage, get off me," Damon spat as he tugged the shirt carelessly, blurring away in a second, his human instincts taking over; protection and safety.

Elena was sobbing harshly, trying to fight the man that was kissing her. No, she couldn't let those lips on her anymore-She couldn't bear it. Her shirt was torn and the vampire was staring at her hungrily, fangs bared, as the other one drained the life out of her while caressing her toned stomach.

In panic, Elena started to scream and she desperately kicked at the men's stomach, hoping that at least it would shake them off her. She kicked and punched aimlessly until suddenly the men backed away from her, taken off guard. She headed straight towards the door but Logan blocked her way and pushed her violently, sending her flying across the room where the mirror instantly broke in half, the glass shattering and hitting Elena.

She whimpered in pain as she hit the ground, tiny bits of glass in her arm and legs. Blood pooled everywhere but the condition she was in did not make Logan and Slater have a change of heart. Instead, Slater ran towards her and pinned her fragile body to the ground.

It was then that she saw Damon.

He had blurred to her bedroom, afraid of what he would find, but the scene in front of him was far worse than he expected. Elena was just wearing a torn long blouse which had now become a half-top. There were popped buttons everywhere leaving the girl's bra exposed. He saw shattered glass and saw her bleeding violently, but what made him mad with fury was one of his friends on top of Elena, ready to hit her.

But that hand never touched Elena.

Instead, Damon ran in Slater's direction and sent them both flying through the window, taking him by surprise. Sage and Logan immediately joined, surprised by the sudden change of Damon's behaviour and they tried to stop the two men from becoming a one, big tangled knot of bloodshed.

"I'm warning you, Slater," Damon barked, "If you lay a finger on her I swear to God I'll drive a stake through your heart, don't believe I won't…"

"She's just a human," Slater spat through clenched teeth. "There is no need for you to act like this…"

"Get out of my house," Damon ordered as Logan stood protectively in front of Slater."All three of you. Get the fuck out."

"Damon, I never expected this from you," Sage stepped forward, her eyes wary. "We'll leave in peace, but don't think that this behavior won't destroy you."

"Get out," Damon spat, ignoring their words. Maybe it would destroy him, but he would fight it, he would fight for her. He would always choose her.

When he returned to the room, he found Elena curled to a ball next to the bed, attempting to hide as much of her body as possible. She had cuts and bruises everywhere, and Damon's heart ached seeing her in such state.

She looked up at him with her beautiful doe eyes pleadingly. He realized that she couldn't even move properly, he had heard about humans becoming almost paralyzed for a few minutes after a trauma. He hissed as he repeatedly blamed himself. He shouldn't have left her.

He kneeled down in front of her and reached out to cradle her face. "Elena, it's okay. I'm here now, I'm going to help you."

She just stared at him blankly, and for a minute he thought that her injuries were severe, or, God help him, she was too traumatized that her brain wasn't functioning properly.

"Elena, it's okay, you're safe. I won't hurt you."

He reached out for her and picked her up gently, walking slowly with her in his arms until he set her down on the counter in the bathroom.

"Elena, I am going to take out the pieces of glass, okay?" He spoke softly, trying to soothe her. "I promise I won't hurt you any more than necessary. Unless you want my blood, it can heal you…" He mumbled thoughtfully.

She shook her head 'no', and he understood her. Placing a kiss on the top of her head, he gently took her arm and with a pair of tweezers, he carefully pulled the piece out. Elena gasped in pain but relaxed when he assured her that she's going to be fine.

"I'm going to run you a warm bath now, okay?" He asked her after he was done. "It will help soothe the wounds. I'll be outside if you need me."

She nodded her head and watched his every movement in silence. He was so careful around her, and guilt formed in his beautiful face. He feels guilty about what happened to me, Elena thought. He then appeared in front of her and wrapped his arms around her, helping her off the counter.

"There's soap, shampoo, conditioner…" He finished lamely, unable to decide what to say. The guilt was killing him. Those bastards could've raped her. They could've killed her. All because he decided to have sex with Sage and leave Elena unprotected. Could he feel any worse right now?

He left Elena alone in the bathroom and went to drink a glass of bourbon, unable to deal with himself right at that moment. He wanted to kill them; he wanted to hear the satisfying sound of their bones snapping.

Just then, he heard a loud thump on the floor, and half consciously he blurred to the bathroom where he knocked impatiently on the door. When he heard soft whimpers, he slowly opened the door, finding Elena on the floor, the bottles of soap and towels surrounding her.

"I'm so sorry, I f-fell…" She cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

He reached out to help her up, but she backed away from him, clearly afraid.

"Please don't hit me."

Her little sentence broke his heart, or at least what was left of it. Her eyes were closed, clearly expecting a blow, expecting him to hit her. He couldn't form any words so instead he took her hands in his own and helped her up. He locked his eyes with hers and his fingers found her shirt, asking her for permission without using any words. With tears in her eyes, she gave him her consent and he took off what was left from the blouse, leaving her in just her bra and underwear.

He gently set her in the bath tub and started to tend the wounds, applying creams and anything he could find on the shelves. He put a generous amount of shampoo and started to gently wash her hair, massaging the roots thoroughly, ever so slowly. He wanted-no needed, to make up for what happened. It would forever be in the back of his mind, constantly tugging at his conscious and he didn't know if he would ever forgive himself for it. But what mattered was she was here, and she was in his safety. She would be safe from now on, if Damon Salvatore's life depended on it.

When he was done, she stared up at him in wonder and trust as he helped her get into one of his shirts that was long enough to reach her thigh. She remained quiet as he set her on the bed and ran a comb through her messy curls, tugging the ends slightly and caressing the back of her neck as he ran his fingers through her silky hair.

And finally, she went to sleep feeling safe as he settled down next to her on the bed, after asking her permission, of course. She felt safe as he ran his fingers through her damp hair and held her protectively against him.

And when he kissed her forehead and told her goodnight, she felt so good and happy that she couldn't even understand it.

But Damon could not sleep at all. Not when knowing that the vampires that almost abused Elena were safe and sound in their homes.

He could not let them live. Three stakes was all he needed. He scurried out of his house almost instantly and appeared at each of their homes, ready to destroy and ready to protect Elena, once and for all. They barely had time to gasp when the wood scraped their hearts. Damon returned home feeling more like a monster but feeling satisfied. He would do whatever he had to do... to keep this young, beautiful, mesmerizing woman, safe.

It was then that Damon could sleep-After the three lifeless vampires were turned to the satisfying colour of grey but he needed to watch right until he was one hundred percent sure they were gone. Then he could breathe again, so to speak.

He held the brunette all night long, knowing that he would have to keep his fragile little girl safe from everyone.

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