Chapter 15

The rain didn't seem to have stopped at all last night and as morning was upon them it showed no sign of stopping. The grey clouds covered the skies and a sun was nowhere in sight. A few rumbled of thunder could be heard filled the cabin but after quite the road trip the group had had, they slept through the storm no problem. The whole night Elena remained on the couch and although it wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep she didn't really want to be in the same room as Bonnie or Caroline right now. She slowly woke up to the sounds on rain droplets tapping on the windows. She started to stretch out on the sofa and rubbed her eyes as she slowly sat up. Still in a bit of a daze she needed a minute to remember where she was as she ran her fingers through her messy bed head hair.

As she let out a yawn, the sound of a doorknob turning down the hall caught her attention. Biting her lips she wondering if she should pretend to still be sleeping so as not having to deal with the conversation she knew would be coming at some point today. A conversation that she knew she couldn't hide from especially if this weather continued to be terrible and rainy. As she heard a door open Elena hesitated for a moment and then she saw Damon stumble out of the bedroom with his own bedhead.

The two made eye contact across the room not sure what to say or do. Scratching his head Damon slowly started to walk into the room and took notice that Elena seemed to have slept out here all night. "That couch definitely can't be comfortable," he said to her as he made his way over to the bar and grabbed a bottle of the bourbon he had brought up.

"A lot more comfortable then being in there" Elena answered as she motioned to the bedroom with the girls by nodding her head. Damon gave a nod understanding her reasoning as he poured himself a glass of bourbon. "Isn't it a bit early for the hard stuff?"

"Not if the rain keeps up and we are all just waiting for the next argument to break up," Damon told her as he made his way over to take a seat on the couch next to her while letting out a groan and squinting his bruised eye.

As Damon took a seat next to her Elena was able to get a good look at Damon's eye for the first time really and gritted her teeth as she saw how painful it looked. Seeing her face expression Damon just shrugged his shoulders and gave her a look that meant it wasn't so bad. "It looks worse then it really is" Damon assured her although she didn't look to convinced by his claim.

"You should put some ice on it" Elena said softly to him as her delicate fingers came up to graze across the swollen eye. Damon was unable to say anything when her fingers touched his skin and instead just sat there and allowed her to inspect it. After a moment Elena was up off the couch and moving to the kitchen to get some ice.

"Really I'm fine" Damon called to her but Elena wasn't listening to him as she grabbed a washcloth and then opened up the freezer to get some ice.

When Elena returned to her spot on the couch she sat facing Damon and pulled her feet under her body. Damon took a big gulp of his bourbon before Elena reached forward and pressed the cold iced cloth to his eyebrow. Damon let out a groan of pain although he did seem to be trying to hold back as much he could and not complain from what Elena could tell. They sat in silence as Elena moved the cloth across his brow and then over to the corner of his eye. For the most part she tried not to make eye contact with him but suddenly the pull of his steel blue eyes became too much and they drew her in. As chocolate eyes met ocean blue the cloth of ice was soon forgotten and their lips looked so tempting to the other. Elena tried to fight it but her eyes lowered to his lips as Damon moved in.

At the touch of his lips on hers, it was all over and anything she was trying to fight was hopeless. Her hands came up to cup his face as his tongue found hers in the kiss. It felt like it had been way too long since the last time her lips enjoyed the touch of his and it was so addicting. Damon's hands moved up her thighs and then around her waist as she leaned into his and let her own hands find his hair. Lost in each other they seem to be unaware of what was going on around them until they heard a loud slam of a door and then Stefan standing there glaring at the two of them.

Elena immediately pulled away and stared at Stefan as if she had been caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. "Stefan" Elena said in a whisper as she backed away from Damon and ran her fingers through her hair. Damon leaned forward on his knees and stared down at the floor knowing this wasn't going to go well.

"Oh please don't mind me," Stefan snarled at them as he walked past the two and made his way to the kitchen.

Damon could see how terrible Elena felt for Stefan and he too couldn't stand to see his brother this mad at him. Biting his lip he let out a sigh and got to his feet and walked over to the kitchen where Stefan was getting a drink. "Stefan we need to talk" Damon told him as he tried to stop his brother from going back to his room.

"No the time for talking should have been before you started sleeping with Elena" Stefan told him in anger.

"Look we screwed up" Damon told him.

"No Damon you don't screw up, you just screw! I honestly don't see why I was so shocked, you sleep with anything that moves but I guess I just assumed that my brother wouldn't let one of his flings be someone I care about!" Stefan yelled at him. "But then again look what you did to Lexi" Stefan threw at him and saw how angry it made Damon.

"This is not the same thing as Lexi" Damon snapped back.

"You two weren't exactly friends and one night you got bored and decided to sleep with her knowing she had a crush on you."

"That was two years ago Stefan, she's over it and so should you" Damon told him.

"Over it? Damon when was the last time she came to visit? She isn't over it she was humiliated by you" Stefan yelled.

"This is not the same thing," Damon yelled back.

"And you Elena, what the hell are you doing? You of all people have seen what Damon has done how many people he has hurt and you jump into bed with him anyway? Was what you and I had so boring that you decided to try being one of Damon's mindless floozies," He yelled at her.

"No Stefan" Elena said as she was starting to get pretty upset about the conversations that was definitely not going to remain between the three of them as their yelling got the attention of the other house guest as they all appeared in the room. Letting out a sigh and brushing back her hair, Elena cursed at the lack of privacy they had.

Caroline and Bonnie entered the room both looking tired but like their slumber had been interrupted. "What's going on?" Caroline asked as her eyes moved from Elena and over to Stefan as he looked pissed off about the whole thing.

"He's going to hurt you Elena, its who he is and you of all people have seen how little Damon cares for people" Stefan told her and it wasn't a lie. Biting her bottom lip Elena knew that Stefan wasn't just throwing out lies because Damon was a womanizer and his reputation of throwing them aside like you would a pair of socks was completely true. She had witnessed first hand the hearts Damon had broken over the years and yet at the same time something about him and her seemed completely different from the other girls. Stefan didn't wait for her to respond, he just picked up a bottle of water and pushed his way passed the on looking crowd and made his way to the bedroom and slammed the door again.

Elena bowed her head covered her eyes with her hands as he dark locks fell in front of her face. Bonnie and Caroline had yet to take their eyes off her as she stood there silently. Everyone was silent in the room except of the sound of the rain was the only thing breaking the silence. The rain seem to be showing no signs of slowing down any time soon and that meant that for today everyone was stuck in the beach house and no where else to go.

As the day went on the awkward silence between everyone was making for a very long afternoon and the rain continued to keep them all captive inside. Stefan had yet to resurface from his room since the morning and the others had barely said a word to each other. In the middle of the living room by the coffee table Caroline and Bonnie were painting their toe nails so that once the rain finally stopped they would be ready for the beach. As Caroline brushed the pink nail polish on her toenails she looked over at Elena sitting with a blanket around her while she sat by the back window and staring out at the beach. She had been sitting there for about an hour now and Caroline couldn't help but wonder what her friend was thinking about.

Over in the kitchen Damon was playing a card game with Kol, Alaric and Jenna and throughout the game not one word was said within the group and their eyes hardly ever left their cards to look at the others at the table. Jenna started tapping her nails on the table and it echoed throughout the room. Her eyes looked up at her niece sitting by the window alone after she was refusing to talk to anyone.

"So Meredith is blowing me off tonight," Alaric said finally breaking the silence and catching Jenna's attention.

"Why I thought her and her friends were going to meet us at the bar on the beach" Jenna said knowing how excited Alaric was about him finally being able to meet Meredith.

"She was but her friends wanted to go to this yacht party they were invited to" Alaric said sadly.

"A night with spoiled jack-asses with a boat, sounds like a lame party" Damon mumbled.

"This coming from a rich kid?" Jenna said as she looked at Damon.

"Yeah it's not like you live in a shack," Kol laughed as he shuffled his cards.

"Yeah but I'm not about to show it off and invite a bunch of nobodies over at once" Damon stated.

"Yeah because god forbid idiots spilt anything on your rugs" Jenna teases.

"Hey they are Persian rugs" Damon replied.

"Yeah god forbid anyone spilt anything on his rugs" Jenna teased.

"He has enough time kicking his bed buddies out never mind a whole house full of people," Kol added to the conversation but loud enough so that everyone including Elena heard him.

Damon bit his bottom lip and while everyone was glancing away from him, his eyes slowly turned to look at Elena while she was nervously pulling at the blanket around and staring out at the wet rainy beach scene out her window. As he turned back to the group at the table he shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I won't have that problem anymore" he said quietly to them and watched their reactions.

Kol seemed surprised and that the womanizer may not be planning screw a new girl every night during the trip. Alaric kind of smiled as he glanced at Elena and back at Damon knowing that maybe finally Damon was growing up. Jenna on the other hand also looked between the two and saw a whole different outcome and one she didn't like at all. "No Damon she is my niece, not some random flake you pick up from god knows where" Jenna told him in a quiet but firm voice so that no one other then those at the table could hear.

"Maybe I'm ready for a change," Damon suggested as he shuffled his cards and gave Jenna a smirk even if she didn't look amused at all.

Shaking her head Jenna gave Damon an evil glare and shook her head at him as she set down her cards down and got ready to leave the table. "Not with my niece you are not" Jenna told him firmly and then got up to go and see how Elena was doing as she sat all by herself.

As Jenna made her way over to where Elena was sitting she gave her niece a smile knowing that she was very troubled at this time. Sitting next to her she wrapped an arm around Elena and then rested her head on her shoulder as they stared out the window at the miserable day that they were experiencing both inside and outside.

"You okay" Jenna asked her.

Elena gave a weak smile and shook her head as she turned to look at her aunt. "Stefan hates me, Caroline thinks I'm the worlds most horrible person, Bonnie is a big mouth and Damon… Damon is" Elena started to say as she tried to find the words.

"Trust me Elena for your own good forget about Damon" Jenna told her as she had a really good feeling where Elena was going with this. "You know very well what Damon is like and he is not worth the trouble."

Elena looked at her aunt without saying a word and she could see just how much Jenna was against the idea of her and Damon getting together. As much as Elena wanted to be mad at Jenna for butting in she knew that Jenna knew about Damon's past just as much as she did. "I'm just looking out for you honey" Jenna added

"I know" Elena said softly as she bit her bottom lip and then looked over at Damon sitting with Kol and Ric as they finished their game of cards. She was so confused about what to do, what was right, what felt right and what the decision would do to the people they both cared about.

As the hours went by the weather didn't let up and the group was still stuck inside the beach house. The door to Stefan's room hadn't been open all day and it got to the point many were wondering if he was still in there.

"Stefan come on, open the door!" Damon called as he knocked the bedroom door.

"He isn't going to want to talk to you" Caroline snapped at him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Damon ignored her and tried again knocking and pleading for his brother to come out but it was no use. There was no way Stefan was going to want to talk to Damon or even Elena right now no matter how badly the two wanted to.

"Look I think you two have done enough" Caroline snapped and then pushed Damon away from the door. "Stefan its Caroline" she said with a knock on the door. Silence followed and everyone in the hallway waited to see if Stefan would respond.

"Stefan answer or I'll break down the door!" Damon yelled.

"That isn't helping Damon" Elena told him.

"Well what else should I do?" Damon snapped at her and while his tone may of came off as if he were angry with her he was really just frustrated with the fact he had hurt his brother in one of the worst possible ways.

His tone didn't go unnoticed by Caroline who stood in front of Stefan's door while her eyes were eyeing both Damon and Elena, as they seemed like they weren't getting along. Deep down Caroline hoped that this was a sign that Elena was coming to her senses about Damon and would soon be begging Stefan to take her back. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she heard a clip on the doorknob as the door unlocked. They didn't hear Stefan say anything but as Caroline looked back at the group standing there waiting she put her hand slowly on the doorknob and twisted it open. "I'm coming in," Caroline said out loud so Stefan could hear and then opened up the door to sneak inside while the other had to wait in the hall.

When Caroline stepped inside she found Stefan leaning with his one arm above his head as he had it resting against sliding glass door leading to the balcony. His head turned to look at Caroline for only a brief second and she believed it was just to make sure she wasn't someone he didn't want to talk to. He was staring out of the glass door as he stared at the monsoon torrential downpour and the palm trees blowing in the strong winds. He didn't say a word to her as she stood there for a moment and it got to the point Caroline realized that he wasn't going to acknowledge her anymore. As the silence continued Caroline realized that she would have to make the first move or they would remain n this silence.

"We hadn't heard from you all day and we were starting to worry" Caroline said cutting up the silence and taking the few steps to stand beside Stefan and gaze out the window.

"I'm not really in the socializing mood," Stefan told her without turning to look at her.

"Don't worry I get it" Caroline told him as she took a seat on the bed and let out a sigh. She had such high hopes for this week but from the minute this trip had started things were going wrong left and right. As she looked around the bedroom Caroline could tell that the room hadn't really changed much since Stefan was a kid but that also had to do with the fact they didn't come down that often. The one thing she did see was a picture of him and Elena framed on the nightstand. The photo was obviously taken back from when they were in high school, probably during the first summer that they had been dating, as they looked so young and were all smiles. Stefan was smiling straight into the camera while Elena had her arms wrapped around him and was giving him a kiss on the cheek while she too was holding back a smile. They were so happy then and now it was like another life as the two were broken up, confused and heartbroken. "It won't last, she'll come to her senses" Caroline assured him.

"I honestly don't care anymore" Stefan told her without turning around and breaking his stare out at the water down the beach. The rain left water drop streaks on the glass window making it harder to see but Stefan's mind was going a hundred miles a minute thinking about Elena that he hardly noticed that it was hard to see out of.

"You don't mean that" Caroline said as she stood up and came to look out the window as the rain seemed to finally coming to a stop. "You love her and despite the confusion and insane issues Elena is having she loves you. You will get her back and this Damon phase will be just be a bad dream."

"She slept with my brother Caroline, this isn't some random guy I don't know" Stefan responded. "I know Damon and I know what he is like and… God as much as I'm mad at her I'm more scared that he will hurt her when she discovers he's not the boyfriend type."

"Nobody said they were going to start dating" Caroline offered.

"Elena isn't the type to just sleep around for fun, Damon yes but Elena will want a relationship" Stefan replied because he knew Elena and one nightstands weren't her thing.

"Well after having you as a boyfriend there is no way she will stick with Damon. You are caring, selfless and always there for her; Damon isn't any or those and she will learn that quickly."

"Can we just drop this" Stefan begged as he let out a sigh and turned around to pace the room.

Caroline let out a sigh and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked out the glass door as the sun was starting to peak through the gray clouds. As she stood there she notice Damon stepping out of the house as he walked along the back deck and was staring out at the water. A moment later she saw Elena walking out with her hands stuffed in her pockets and her head down. She didn't look happy and by the looks of it neither did Damon. "Well they may be over before they even start" Caroline informed him.

Damon was standing on the deck looking out at the beach watching as the rain cloud finally started to move on and let the sun shine over the water. As soon as the rain was gone Damon was out of the tensioned filled beach house so that he could think and not have anyone nagging in his ear. Everyone seemed to be against the idea of him and Elena without even giving him and Elena the chance to figure things out for themselves.

As he heard the back door to the beach house open and close from behind him Damon let out a frustrated sigh. He wanted to be alone and it seemed that everyone in that damn house as against him being alone for even a second. "Damn it is it too hard to get a second…" Damon started to say as he turned and then suddenly stopped talking as he saw Elena standing there. He was about to say something to her but after a few seconds of nothing leaving his mouth he gave up and turned away from her and looked out at the ocean.

Elena bit her bottom lip as she kicked and dug her feet into the deck. She kept her head down when Damon turned away from her and silently stood their as the wind was blowing her hair back. "Some trip this has turned out to be" Elena said with a nervous laugh. She looked up at Damon as she saw him just nod as he too thought back to everything that had happened so far and their very opinionated friends. "Look everything they say doesn't matter to me" Elena assured him because she knew he was aware they were telling her that he was bad for her.

"Doesn't mean their not true" Damon answered as he sadly looked at her. "It's no secret I'm not the good guy Elena," he added as he looked back out at the ocean. "For one I slept with my brothers girl" he said with a sigh as he thought about the hurt on Stefan's face when he discovered the truth.

"Timing could have been better I know" Elena stated as she came to stand next to him but was sure not to touch him because she knew that once she did she wouldn't be able to keep her hands off him.

Damon shook and bowed his head in sadness as he let out a deep breath. "He's my brother Elena, he's all I have left" Damon told her doing his best to keep it together.

"I don't' want to hurt him either" Elena said as she too was holding back tears.

At this point Damon turned to look at her and she too looked at him with matching sad eyes knowing full well what was coming. She did her best not to let the tears fall as their watery eyes connected thinking of everything they they could be but never could. Damon's hand came up to brush away her hair that was blowing in the wind as he tried to find the words to say to her. "The night we had together was amazing and one of the only times I could just be myself" he told her holding back tears.

"But no matter how we feel nothing more can ever happen…" Elena finished sadly as she knew exactly what he was going to say.

Damon bit his lip before he leaned forward and pressed her lips to her forehead in a tender kiss. He held it moment a little longer as he closer his eyes and inhaled her scent knowing this was the last time he may ever get to be this close to her. Elena too closed her eyes but wasn't able to stop a few tears that fell down her cheek. "I'm sorry" Damon whispered to her in a heartbreaking voice.

"I am too" Elena responded just before Damon pulled away and without another word turned and walked down the beach leaving a heartbroken Elena standing there unable to hold back her tears anymore and just broke down. She wasn't sure what had come over her but losing Damon was one of the worst feeling she had experienced in a long time and her hands came up to cover her face as she cried for a possible love she would never get the chance to watch grow.

Thanks for reading!