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I woke up with a smile on my face. I could feel myself grinning like idiot the entire time I got ready and greeted Ric at the table.

"You're humming."

"What?"

"You're humming."

"Oh I am? Huh, I guess so."

"You haven't done that since Mark Williamson in the eleventh grade. What's up?"

"Nothing! Geez, I can't hum? It's such a beautiful day outside." I stood by the window, looking out, trying to wipe the wide grin off my face. I failed miserably.

"No, you can hum. But you usually have a reason for doing it and it's usually boy-shaped." He got up to put his dishes in the sink. "I'm going to meet Jenna at the Grill. Do you wanna ride into town?"

"I'm good. I'll see you later." He left and I was left to my own devices. My mind wandered to think about last night. It was wonderful. Sure, I did burst into tears and break down in front of Damon, but we had also kissed. It was one hell of a kiss too! I wanted something to come from it. I wanted Damon and me to become a 'we'. I hoped he wanted something more from me than just sex. He sounded like he did last night, but my heart didn't want to give into him so easily. Well my heart did, but my mind didn't. It knew that I shouldn't trust everyone so eagerly. Some people had to earn my trust. From what I could tell about Damon, he had been hurt like me. He had given his trust to someone and they stomped all over it. I didn't want that to happen between us. I hoped he was telling the truth last night; I hoped that he wouldn't hurt me.

The door bell rang, rattling me from my thoughts. I opened the door to find Damon standing on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" I gaped at him.

"I was passing by and saw that Ric had left so I decided to drop in."

"How are you standing here?"

"Umm, legs." He was confused by my question.

"But you're a vampire. How can you be at my door in the middle of the day?"

"Oh that." He rolled his eyes. "I have this nifty, little ring." He wriggled his fingers in the air.

"Oh okay."

"Can I come in?"

I hesitated. This was Alaric's house and if Damon had to ask, he was either being polite or he hadn't been invited yet. He noticed my hesitation.

"Hey, I meant what I said last night." He ran his palm against my cheek. "I won't hurt you."

I leaned into his hand and nodded.

"You can come in, Damon." I would deal with Ric's wrath if and when he finds out.

I stepped backward and pushed the door wider to allow Damon a path inside.

Once the door was shut, Damon spun around and pushed me against the door. I shrieked and my heart was stuttering, but not in a good way. I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing before he covered it with his own. I moaned. Of course he would jump me just inside the door. I gave myself to the kiss. He took my lips with his and caressed them until they were swollen. I hummed with delight at the wonderful things he was doing. He slipped his tongue inside my mouth and I felt the ground slip away. I couldn't catch my breath. I grabbed his hair and tugged his lips from mine. He groaned. I gasped in oxygen and he took the opportunity to explore my neck. I moaned again. He sucked and nipped from the tip of my ear to the top of my collarbone. I didn't know how much more I could take. He pulled away to look at me. All I saw were the red eyes and the dark veins. I shoved him away and yanked myself from within his reach.

"What? What's wrong?" I couldn't bring myself to look at him for fear that I would see Phillip in his face.

"I can't."

"I know you can't. I know it was getting hot and heavy just now, but I was going to stop." He stepped closer to place his hand on my shoulder.

"No, I can't." I wrenched my eyes shut against the visions of burgundy eyes and sharp fangs dripping with my blood.

"What do you mean?" He turned me around.

"I just can't…your face." I felt his hands on my cheeks, trying to soothe my discomfort.

"Open your eyes, Bri." I shook my head. "Trust me."

I slowly opened them to see his vampire face: dark, red eyes gleaming at me; bulging veins running down his cheeks; and sharp fangs underneath sensual lips that were just doing fantastic things to me.

"This is who I am, a vampire. This won't ever go away." He tugged me closer. "But I will never hurt you. I need you to trust me. I need you to understand that."

I brought my hand up to touch his face. I ran my fingers across his brow then I traced the veins that had risen up. I caressed his lips with my thumb before running it across a fang. I followed my hand with my eyes before glancing up to meet his eyes. He was staring at me, hopeful. I raised myself to my toes and leaned in to kiss his lips. Just before I touched him, I moved to kiss one cheek then the other. He sucked in air. I kissed each eye before moving down to finally kiss his mouth. He pulled me tightly against his body as we kissed. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he gripped my hips. I forced him backwards, toward the couch. I forced him down and I fell to land next to him. He pushed me backwards and lay on top of me. I kissed him with a renewed passion. I knew that by accepting his vampire 'look' I was on my way to trusting him. Although I desperately hoped I wasn't setting myself up. I stopped all thinking when his hand wandered underneath my top and skimmed the skin of my waist. He pulled back to look down at me, asking permission with his eyes. I grinned sneakily and ran my hand underneath his shirt to trace his spine. He smiled brightly and went right on ravaging my mouth. I don't know how long we laid there, making out like teenagers, but we were interrupted too soon.

"Hey, Bri! I'm home." Shit, Ric was home. I jumped up and pushed Damon away. I fixed my shirt and he wiped at his mouth.

"Ric! I didn't know you'd be home this early." He didn't look at me, he just glared at Damon.

"Hello, Ric. How was your day?" Damon said, perfectly civil.

"It was great…until now. Damon, what are you doing here, inside my house?"

"Brighton here invited me in." Ric looked at me stunned. I couldn't blame the hurt look that followed. I invited Damon in without asking him first.

"Well, I think it's time you left." Ric walked toward Damon to push him out the door when he stopped short. "What is that on your neck?"

"What do you mean?" Damon wiped his hand across his neck, trying to get anything off.

"Is that a-?" I turned my head to look, and sure enough there was a bright purple hickey at the bottom of his neck, right above his shirt. Damn. Alaric looked from me to Damon for a few seconds.

"Now, it is definitely time you left." He grabbed Damon by his shirt and threw him out the door. "Don't forget your jacket!" He threw his leather jacket, which had being taken off after we moved to the couch, out after him. He slammed the door shut and locked it. Then he turned on me.

"Brighton Jane Saltzman!" I looked away guiltily. I hadn't heard the middle name since our mom caught me and Emily smoking pot when I was seventeen. "What in the hell do you think you are doing?"

"I was just talking to him."

"Right. You talked a hickey onto his neck. That explains everything." Ric was upset and his voice was getting louder.

"Ric, I was just-"

"Oh, I know. You were just making out with Damon Salvatore! Who happens to be a vampire, in case you forgot." He stomped through to the kitchen and proceeded to pour himself a drink.

"Yeah, so what? You caught me kissing Damon. Big deal."

"Oh yeah, and what happens when you end up like you did last time? Heart broken and lost. Did you think he's different than Phillip?" Ric took an angry gulp and slammed the glass down. "He's a vampire, Bri, and vampires only know how to do two things: maim and kill."

"But he's different." I stammered out.

"No he's not. I've been here longer than you have. I've seen the things he has done." He stood and pointed towards the door. "If you want proof of the evil that he's caused, ask Elena or Stefan or even Bonnie. I'm sure they'd love to tell you all about Damon's 'charitable' personality."

I grew angry. "You want to warn me about Damon? Maybe you should ask about Isobel!" I shut my mouth. I hadn't meant for that to come out. His face turned stone cold.

"What do you mean that I should ask about Isobel?"

"Nothing. I shouldn't have said that."

He blocked my exit. "No. You said it for a reason. What about Isobel?"

I sighed in surrender. "It isn't a cold case. She isn't missing."

His face grew concerned and confused. "She isn't missing?"

"She came to me. She was investigating vampires for school, you know that. She found out I was dating one. She came to me, asking questions."

"Questions? What kind of questions?" He asked me hurriedly, desperate for answers. I felt horrible. I had always felt like I was the cause for her disappearance from my brother's life.

"Isobel wanted to know about vampires. She wanted to how they lived, how many there were, what myths were false, and she wanted…" I paused, "she wanted to know how to become one."

His face fell and he stumbled into a chair. "She wanted to be one? Did he, I mean, Phillip, did he…?"

I rushed to kneel in front of him. "No, I wouldn't let him. But Ric, I could tell that something was seriously wrong. She was craving for more information than we could give. So she left."

"She left?"

"Yeah, she told me she was going to find what she wanted."

"But…I came home to find her being killed by…" He stopped and avoided my eyes.

"You saw her killed? Who was it?" I gripped his knees in curiosity.

"Bri", he dragged his eyes across the living room to meet mine; "it was Damon."

I staggered to my feet. "No, you're just saying that because of tonight."

"No I'm not, Bri. I saw him. He was sucking her dry." I starting shaking my head; I didn't want to hear this. "Brighton, he looked at me and smiled. He smiled at me before he jumped out the window, taking her with him. He killed my wife." I wrung my hands together tightly before he grabbed them. "Bri, I'm telling the truth. I wouldn't lie to you ever. You can't trust him."

"I can't trust him? You don't even know him! I've said more words to him in the past two days than you probably have the entire time you've been here!" I looked him dead in the eyes. "And you think all vampires are the same? Vampires aren't allowed to have a morally grey area? What about Stefan? Do you hate him?"

"No, but-"

"Exactly. You think that just because Damon drinks human blood that he's evil. He isn't. I know that." I stomped to my room but turned to Alaric. "I've told him about Phillip and you know what? He comforted me. He helped me through it a little bit more." I paused, wondering if I could say aloud what I couldn't before. "And I like him. He makes the world go away for awhile. I don't feel scared or worried when I'm with him." I entered my room and clicked the door shut quietly. I was through fighting with Ric. Sometimes he was a stone wall.

But as I laid there in my bed, I wondered if what Alaric said was true. Did Damon really kill Isobel? I always thought she had found what she wanted: someone to turn her. If he did take her, well, I wanted to say that it was in the past, but something inside me didn't want to let it go. Was Isobel buried in an unmarked grave somewhere or was she roaming the globe, looking for people she could prey on? I slept uneasy that night.

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