DAMON'S POV

I walked slowly out of the alleyway, trying not to be noticed. I walked to the center of the town. They had a fancy dance floor set up in the middle complete with a DJ and several tables for food. It was ridiculous what this town did for fun. I wasn't even sure Elena was coming, but I had to look. I stayed off to the side of the "party". I listened closely to the voices around me. Nothing.

I started to turn around. Right in front of me was a wide-eyed blonde.

It was the girl from earlier in the day, the one that shouted at Bonnie, or whatever her name is.

She smiled.

"You look lost." She commented.

"Wrong, I know exactly where I am." I replied.

She tilted her head in question.

"I'm Caroline." She said shoving her hand toward me.

"Damon." I said as I took it unwillingly.

She smiled even more.

"Are you new in town?" she asked staring me up and down.

She was into me, and I'm not surprised but for some some odd reason I wasn't up for messing around.

I huffed.

"You could say that." I smiled.

She blushed.

"Have you seen Elena Gilbert?" I asked.

She frowned deeply and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Why?" she blurted out.

I was really starting to get annoyed.

"Because I am looking for her." I said, annoyed.

"No." she said in a straight monotone.

"Well I have to go then." I said.

She rolled her eyes.

"Of coarse." She spat. "Elena is always the one." She mumbled as she turned to walk away.

I stood motionless for a second and then started walking again.

ELENA'S POV

Bonnie and I hooked arms as we crossed the street. I adjusted my dress and leather jacket with my free hand.

"Relax." Bonnie said. "You look great!"

I smiled.

"You too." I said.

She smiled back.

We could hear the blaring music as we crossed.

"Look it's Caroline." Bonnie said.

I glanced over in the direction she was pointing. Caroline was sitting with a glass of who knows what beside her. She had a frown on her face.

"Wow." I said. "She looks…depressed."

Bonnie giggled.

"I'm going to get something to drink, do you want something?" she asked.

"No." I replied. "But thanks."

She shifted through the crowd. I looked over at the other side of the street there was an open bench. I could see Matt walking my way and he was the last person I needed to see, we hadn't talked since the break up.

I decided I would cross the street to the bench and risk Bonnie having to look for me.

It felt cold crossing over to the unlit part of the street, like I was walking into something.

I shivered as I sat.

I watched the people dance happily and wished that it were me, up there dancing, living in the moment and not having to think about anything else.

I knew that I had the strength to move on but it just seemed too hard.
It had been almost five months and I still hadn't gone back to doing what I did. I was a cheerleader and was involved with everything. When the accident happened none of it seemed important anymore.

I guess I gave up, but just because I had given up on everything I used to do didn't mean I had to give up on being happy and living in the moment.

I made a choice at that moment that I would be happy and try things that I would usually say no to. It was time to get myself back.

I started to stand when I saw a dark figure standing next to me.

It was Damon.

"Ah." I whisper screamed. "You can't do that to me." I warned.

He grinned.

"Sorry."

I rolled my eyes.

DAMON'S POV

Had Elena just rolled her eyes at me? She had definitely changed from when I saw her earlier. More feisty.

"What brings you here?" she asked.

"Well I'm into the whole small town party scene, it completes my Friday nights." I said.

She grinned but tried to hide it with an eye roll.

"Yeah I'm not one to enjoy these things either. At lest not anymore." She said. I raised my brow.

"Well I never used to like these." I said while motioning with my hands. "Not my thing. In fact I remember the first founder's day ball it wa-"

Shit, did I really just say that?

She looked at me questioningly.

"Did you just say first Founder's Day Ball?" she asked catching my mistake. "Because that was over a hundred years ago." She shook her head not sure what else to say.

"No." I said quickly. " I meant I remember the First Founder's Day ball I went to." I corrected.

"Oh." She nodded not quite sure.

I did in fact remember the First Founder's Day Ball. I went with Katherine but so did Stefan. It was fun until I was smart enough to realize something was happening when she kept disappearing and then I couldn't remember anything.

"So." I said sitting down. "Tell me about the 'old' Elena."

ELENA'S POV

I sat there on the bench with Damon.

"The old Elena." I repeated.

I didn't know how to approach this.
"Well the old Elena loved these things. She would spend all day getting ready with Bonnie and Caroline. She would always wear a smile and was quite the dancer." I added.

"Dancer?" He said with a smirk and a raised brow.

I rolled my eyes.

"Cheerleader." I corrected.

"You don't seem to peppy." He commented.

I huffed.

"The old Elena used to get drunk and sneak out. You know try and break all the rules." I said, remembering the moments.

"So you were a partier too?" he teased.

"Not a full on partier but I was stupid and immature I mean I have grown up these past months." I said.

"What changed you?" he asked. "I mean if the 'old Elena' was all these things how come the sudden change?"

I thought about this for a moment.

Then I realized it was time to start talking about this and not hold it inside.

"About four months ago my parents died." I said softly. "I'm sorry to hear that." He apologized.

"No it's fine." I said. "It feels good to talk about it without everyone coming up to hugging and asking if I'm doing okay."

"It feels like it was just yesterday when it happened. It was a car accident." I told him. "I was in the car with them. We were driving on Wickery Bridge and suddenly we were plunged into the water. I was scared; I had no idea what to do. My mother was unconscious and my father was barley there. I remember ripping my seat belt off and pulling my self-forward. The car was filled with water and it was hard not to breathe. I grabbed for my fathers seat belt but it wouldn't budge. He was stuck there, with that belt holding him down. I fidgeted with it for a couple of minutes while he just stared at me. It was torture knowing that I couldn't do anything. I went to my mother then.

Her belt loosened easy and I dragged her out. I swam as I pulled her onto the river bank, then I went back for him." I said.

I was trying to hold back my tears.

"When I went back under he was unconscious. I tugged on that belt as hard as I could and then it came undone. I tried to drag him over. Although he was heavier then my mother I still got him over. When I reached the bank, help was already there." I looked down.

He rested his hand on my shoulder.

"I lost my parents too, along time ago. It was tough." He said.

I felt a tear slide down my cheek.

"When it happen I felt like my world was falling apart. It felt like I was alone even though I was in a room full of people. I just gave up on everything. Nothing mattered to me anymore. It was like when they died they took a piece of me that could not be replaced. I didn't feel whole."

He stared down at me; his crystal blue eyes were reading my face.

"The worst part was knowing that I could have done something more, if I could have pulled harder I may have been able to save both of them. But I didn't." I said.

My voice cracked and more tears slid down.

"Elena." He said. "Life if full of challenges it doesn't matter how far you have gone but where you are going." He told me. "It's not your fault what happen, but what matters is that it did. Everything happens for a reason." He said. "And I know it sounds cliché and cheesy but it is the truth."

I wiped the tears from my face.

"You know." He said. "I had spent most of my life without guilt without regret of the things I had done. It was like a switch for me that I could just turn off. I didn't feel pain or suffering. I only felt what I wanted to feel." He said. "And at the time I thought it was great, I didn't care, but I realized that life is harder when you leave that switch on and deal with the pain. It's what makes you stronger. I had never thought I would ever turn that switch back on and feel for real but I did and what I felt was terrible, the most pain I had to deal with. But then I came here to settle my guilt and anger and I'm still working on it but trust me, everyday I am tempted to turn that switch back off and feel nothing." He said.

"I wish that I could have had that switch when I was going through this months ago." I said. "People just stared and whispered about the girl with the dead parents. It was torture having to feel that pain, no only the pain of losing them but the pain of knowing that I could have done more." I said. "People still look at me like I am a totally different person, like I'm not even Elena anymore. But it is hard to go back to what I was when I still have the guilt with me."

"I know how you feel." He said. "More than you could ever know."

"And I know it's hard still, especially for my Aunt Jenna. She has to take care of Jeremy and me. Jeremy is hard to deal with. His way of controlling the pain is somewhat like yours. When he does drugs, he doesn't feel anything, it's like he is gone from the world." I said.

"You know he blamed me for a while." I said.

Damon looked down at me with sad eyes.

"He thought it was my fault for what happened and how I could have done more and I believed him on top of what I already knew and it made it worse. He still does drugs and gets wasted just to feel nothing but I know it would be good for him to feel something. That's why I was by myself, because I was the only one to feel the pain for real." I said.

We sat in silence as our recent conversation ran through my head and maybe his.

It felt good to talk about this and get it off my chest.

"I'm sorry I brought this up." He said.

"Don't be." I replied. "If feels good to talk to one normal person for the first time in months."

He huffed.

DAMON'S POV

Normal? I thought to myself, if only she knew.

She was right though it did feel good to talk to someone. I had never told anyone what I had been feeling and why I used my vampire 'body' to turn off the feeling. I still turn it off sometimes just to talk it away for maybe a second and it feels good but I know that if I turn that switch back on it will be worse than if I had just dealt with it.

"So." She said. "Tell me about you."

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

"Are you and Stefan close?" she asked me.

I thought about this for a moment.

"We have a complicated relationship." I countered.

She looked at me.

"Come on tell me." She said.

"Fine. We used to be close, we were brothers but then one moment changed our lives." I said. "When we both saw her, I knew it was done."

"Oh, it was a girl?" she said smirking.

"Katherine. Was her name." I said.

Elena folded up her legs on the bench and leaned against it while listening.

"She was beautiful." I said. "Kind of like you." I commented.

She smiled.

"I fell in love with her immediately. She was everything I had wanted but she was also everything Stefan wanted."

Elena widened her eyes in shock.

"Yeah." I said. "We both fell long and hard for her, and it ended up tearing us apart."

"Who had her first?" she asked.

"You can ask Stefan, I'm sure his answer differs from mine."

She listened again.

"So what happen to her?" she asked.

"She died, it was a fire." I said.

"I'm so sorry." She apologized. "She must have meant everything to you."

I huffed.

"So how come Stefan is so quiet and keeps to himself?" she asked me.

I hid my chuckle from her.

"I don't know. But what I do know is that he likes to swim in his own guilt and feel everything."

She looked at me questioningly but I ignored it.

"Oh." She said. "I love this song."

I listened closely.

All I heard was:

You're better than the best; I'm lucky just to linger in your smile

Cooler than the flip side of my pillow that's right.

"Country?" I asked confused.
"BTW." She said teasingly. "The old Elena use to love all types of music, including country." She said.

"Well then, May I have this dance?" I asked her, holding out my hand.

"Hmmm….no." she said starting to 'run' away.

"Too bad." I said, as I caught her.

She looked up at me with her big brown eyes and smiled. She smiled, but not a fake smile a genuine, real, heartfelt smile that touched her eyes.

It made me want to just take her away from everything and be with her.

I had never felt this certain feeling with anyone before. Was I turning into a love struck 'teen' like Stefan?

"I guess I may have time for just one dance." She teased.

I smiled and I hear her heart beat increase.

I placed my hand on the small of her back and grabbed her hand with my free one. She put her hand on my shoulder.

We started dancing to the country song that I would normally roll my eyes at and ignore on the radio.

The more we danced on the street the more things felt right for me.

"Your good." She said. "Have you had lessons?" she asked.

"Nope." I replied. "Just lots of practice." And that was no lie.

You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed, sing like a bird dizzy in my head,

Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night, oh you make me smile.

I had to admit the song was quite ironic considering I was the fist person to make her smile that genuine smile. I spun her around and we danced more and then she started laughing when she stepped on my feet. I couldn't help but smiling at her.

Was I really staring to fall for this girl? One day of knowing her and we seemed so right for each other.

I spun her around again.

"Elena?" I heard a voice asked.

We stopped dancing and looked to the girl.

It was her friend, Bonnie.

"Yeah?" Elena replied.

"Where have you been?" she asked. "I have been looking for you forever."

"Oh I'm sor-"

"No." I said. "I'm sorry it's my fault, I just saw her and we got caught up in conversation… and dancing." I added.

Bonnie looked at me.

"That's fine, it's just it has been and hour and a half and I have curfew and I'm sure your Aunt is wondering where you are." She said.

"Right." Elena said, gripping her head. "I guess I will see you later." She said.

"Yeah." I replied. "See you later."

She smiled that genuine smile and turned to walk off with her friend.

I turned on my heal and headed for home.

STEFAN'S POV

What had I just seen? I had hid in an alley way for an hour and a half and saw my brother talk to her like he had known her his whole life. He opened up to her and showed in some part of him he did care and he was still human. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Damon was falling for this girl but he might just be using her.

You can never tell with him. It's like a game.

But Elena, she opened up to him and told him everything that had happened. I wished now that I would have taken the time to speak to her. That could have been me with her.

I was Jealous. Jealous that Damon had just met this girl and was getting what he wanted already but I still wasn't sure with him. I wanted to keep her safe and I would. I would talk to Elena on Monday at school and she will get to know me better and I her so I can keep a better eye on her. Or was it because I wanted her too?

I didn't know but I had to keep her safe from him. Even if that meant hearts had to be broken.

ELENA'S POV

Bonnie led me back to my car and we both climbed in.

"So what is with the mysterious stranger." Bonnie asked as I pulled out of the parking lot.

"No stranger." I said. "That's Damon Salvatore." I said.

"As in Stefan?" she asked as her eyes widened.

"It's his older brother." I said.

"Never knew he had a brother." Bonnie said.

"We never knew him." I commented.

"True." She replied. "He is hot." Bonnie added.

"When did you meet?" she asked.

"Today." I mumbled.

"What?" she practically shouted. "Elena you just met him and I know that look in your eye you had when you were dancing with him." She said. "You just broke up with Matt." She added.

"I know Bonnie, but for the first time I feel happy and like I can breathe again. I'm starting to feel the old me."

She looked at me.

"You do look happy." She said.

I smiled.

"Just promise me you will be careful and look before you fall." She said.

"I promise." I said.

But I couldn't promise that because it was too late, I had already fallen.


So i just wanted to say sorry about the long chapter but i knew this chapter had to be long since it's the one that Elena tells Damon about her past and Damon tells her about his. Anyways i hope you enjoyed and i will update soon, possibly tomorrow! PEASE REVEIW! :D