"Since when have you been dating?" Stefan asked looking really shocked.

"We…" Elena began but was stopped by Damon. He rushed to the side of her bed and kissed her forehead.

"We met at a café few weeks back and it was love at first sight. We took it slow and kind of weighted the possibilities… Right love?"

"Ehh… yeah! Absolutely! Sweetie?" Elena replied eyeing Damon warily.

"Damon… That isn't true at all…" Stefan began and gave Elena a questioning look. "What is this?"

"What? You can find a nice girl but I can't? How irrational is that?" Damon replied taking a hold of Elena's hand and placing their hands on her lap.

"No I didn't mean it like that… By the way, you just met at a café? Here in Mystic Falls?" Stefan asked with a mocking tone. "You pop into town after five years of nothing. You changed your phone number and e-mail address and never ever tried to contact me and now you're here. Why didn't you contact me and tell me you're okay?"

Damon glanced at his little brother. He had been in the army when they had contacted him and asked him to join the Special Forces. Then about a year later he had a transfer and became a special agent specialized in terrorism and kidnappings. All that had to happen under the radar. No civilians couldn't hear about him and realize his position. Not even his brother. He had to disappear and it was easier said than done. Eventually he had managed to disappear completely from the people who cared the most.

"Didn't want to. I needed and still need space and your questions aren't helping. See? This is everything I escaped from."

"You know what? You only care about yourself and it's your turn to worry about everyone else. Call me when you've got your head out of your ass." Stefan replied angrily and pulled Rebekah up from the chair and started to pull her out of the room.

"Hey brother, you never introduced me to your girl!" Damon called as they left the room.

"You never told me where you were!" Stefan yelled before the door slammed shut. The noise echoed around the room and then silence took over the couple in the room. Elena eyed Damon confused and cleared her throat.

"Stefan never told me he had a brother."

"Well, Stefan's not the one to brag."

"Damon, you're a dick."

"I know I am and I am proud of it. That's just the way I happen to be."

"Why didn't you tell him where you went?" Elena asked looking up into his blue eyes. He ran his fingers through his hair and turned his glance to the pure white ceiling of the room. He pouted his lips and let out a small laugh. Damon pulled a chair under him and straddled it leaning to the back of the chair.

"It's not safe for him to know who I am."

"But he's your brother! He knows who you are but he doesn't know what you do. Tell him."

"I can't and I won't. Back then I got told that I could just disappear or I could create a story and tell it to people or get someone tell it to my family." Damon replied still leaning to his chair.

"What kind of a story?" Elena asked sounding curious.

"I died, fell in love, got a job… Those kinds of things. The thing was that I didn't want to lie."

"I see. In some twisted way I understand you. If I had to do that with my family, with Jeremy, I'd do the same thing but maybe send a card on his birthday and every Christmas. Five years is a long time Damon…"

"It's enough to forget." He replied leaning back and glancing at Elena.

"Don't say that!" Elena answered. "Thank you for trusting me enough for telling your story."

"Oh, you know nothing. That was just an introduction. There is more for me to know and for you to dot dot dot," Damon replied showing his signature grin.


"We're in!" Kol called as he entered the warehouse waving his mobile phone in the air. Elijah turned around and smiled.

"I knew she had it in her! E-mail her the plan. Encrypted obviously and from the fake address. We're not taking any chances." Elijah reminded and turned around and placed his finger to a map, which was spread on the table. "This is the spot."

"Okay, boss, I'll contact our very own actress. She deserves a bloody Oscar!" Kol answered and switched his laptop on. He tapped his fingers to the table until the screen brightened up and his familiar wallpaper popped up. He started to type the e-mail as Elijah stood by the map. He picked up a marker and started to draw lines around the target, St. Michael's hospital.


Damon had been on the phone for good 20 minutes and Elena was getting anxious. She could tell he was talking about her to someone by the way he looked at her and how his lips moved forming her name even though she didn't hear him through the glass wall. Elena had nothing to do because the old lady got transferred to another room yesterday and the remote control of the television was by the other bed out of her reach. Finally Elena saw Damon put his phone into his pocket and wall back into the room.

"I just pulled the best boyfriend act ever and managed to change some things. You can go home now and doctor Bennett will visit daily making sure you're recovering well." Damon explained packing up some clothes he knew were Elena's.

"Really? I can go home? That's fantastic! Thank you Damon, you're a lifesaver!" Elena replied smiling.

"I've heard that few times actually…" Damon replied grinning as he zipped up Elena's bag. "We'll drop by my hotel and I'll get my bags."

"Your bags? Why?" Elena asked as she pulled on her woollen cardigan Stefan had also brought.

"You sure you don't have some kind of amnesia?" Damon questioned as he helped Elena stand up next to her bed and sat her down to a wheel chair a nurse had brought in while ago. "You need a 24/7 guarding and I am the one guarding you. Do you have more things somewhere?"

"Oh… Maybe in the bathroom. Could you check it?" Elena requested and picked up her bag and placed it on her lap. Soon Damon came from the bathroom holding her bag of toiletries and gave it to her. "Thank you." Elena put the bag into the bigger back and leaned back to the chair as Damon wheeled her out of the room.

"You have such a golden boyfriend. He's a keeper!" Berta said as she walked to Elena's side. Damon was standing quite far away signing some papers and making her release official. He turned around constantly making sure Elena is still safe. That might've looked like an act of affection and love but Elena knew better. It's all about her safety.

"Yeah he is." Elena replied politely and smiled at the older woman. "He definitely is." Damon turned around again and smiled and waved at Elena and the nurse before continuing to fill in the papers. If Elena didn't know better she would've felt loved.


"You stay in the car and touch nothing. This is a classic car and I will not pay for any mess or damage made by you. Just sit quietly and listen to the radio, okay?" Damon commanded as he parked his Chevy Camaro in front of the hotel he was staying in. "I'll check out as soon as possible and remember to keep yours hands off this car!"

"I'm not a child Damon! I'm not going to break a car by just touching it!"

"Good but don't try your luck." Damon replied as he got out of the car and locked the doors making sure no one could get into the car and molest the girl he was supposed to take care of.

Elena made a move to touch the sun visor and earned an angry look from Damon who had just turned around. Elena dropped her hands to her lap and pursed her lips together glancing down at her fingers. She got her bag from the backseat and pulled out a small bottle of painkillers. The broken leg was starting to feel bad again. She took out a pill and swallowed it without any water since according to Damon a car was not made for people to spill things over the seats.


Elena woke up in her own bed couple hours later. She remembered sitting in the light blue Camaro and then nothing. She could hear someone in the room next door.

"Damon? Is it you?" She called sitting up. No answer. "Damon?"

"Mmhmm?" She heard a voice call from the living room. She stood up and grabbed the crutches Damon had gotten after returning the wheel chair to the hospital. She made her way to the living room and glanced at her sofa, which was now made into a bed.

"That's a brand new sofa and you're not sleeping on it!" Elena called as she stared at Damon.

"Well where the hell am I going to sleep then?" Damon responded.

"In the guest room…"

"It's too far. This way I'll be closer to your room and the front door."

"No, I'll go to the guest bedroom and you take mine!" Elena replied and started to jump to her room.

"Hey hey hey! If it bothers you that much I'll go to the guest room."

"Great! I don't want you messing my sofa."

"Oh really? You're the one who drooled all over the seats of my Camaro."

"I do not drool!" Elena replied turning around quickly.

"Whatever…" Damon answered picking up his pillow and blanket. "The stains will be there for a while. You can go down and see for your self then."

"Damon!" Elena called after him. "Promise to obey the owner of this house?"

Damon turned around holding the pillow and blanket up. " No." Damon responded and smirked. Elena grunted and sat down to her sofa. This is going to be a living nightmare.


"Oh brother, you aren't going to believe this." A thick accent from another side of the line said and sighed. "She left the hospital today. The chatty nurse told me that her boyfriend had taken her home."

"Are you joking?" Elijah asked leaning to his office table.

"Unfortunately no." The woman responded.

"We need a new plan." Elijah stated as he pushed the map and the pens down from the table causing a loud voice echo from the walls of the room. Kol ran into the room looking worried but stop as he saw Elijah. "We need a plan." He repeated. "Keep me updated."

Elijah pressed the red button of his phone and turned to Kol. "Get all of the info you can get about the building Elena lives in and get the drawings of the air vents of the jail. We're going to need Klaus."

Elijah left the room leaving Kol alone. He turned around and followed him with his eyes. This is getting interesting.


Author's note

I know I said I wouldn't be writing during the exam week and I'd be studying hard. Well, I ended up writing really hard and not studying that much. Oopsie! I have a feeling that you are not mad because of it. I actually had time to do both. My Swedish exam went brilliant, maths= passed, French went pretty well and psychology went fine and I even managed to hit the town with my friends tonight night. Went shopping and to the movies. Saw Magic Mike and it was perfect. Butt naked men are always perfect. I also went to this party and I'm kind of tipsy. I hope I don't have a hangover tomorrow. Aaaand I also hope that my friend doesn't remember he tried to hit on me several times. Awkward.

Thank you so much for your alerts and reviews! I'm so relieved that people like this story.

-Oona

xx

p.s remember to spot the Damon quotes!