You Lost Me

Chapter One - Off

Elena decided that she wouldn't worry about what Damon said. Also she wasn't so sure that he'd just skip town to avoid her. It wasn't like he could avoid her when she dated his brother and they had important stuff to deal with just like their ex-girlfriend making an appearance again.

"So what's up with the new Justice League super secret meeting?" Damon acknowledged the people sitting in the couches of the boarding house's parlor as he moved to the drinks' cart.

"You don't exactly fit in the superhero description" Elena added showing the disapproval of his careless attitude and alcohol addiction.

As if no one had actually said anything he turned to Alaric "By the way, nice job with the aunt yesterday, Ric" he smirked as he sat in his usual armchair shaking his glass a little before taking it down at one single gulp.

Alaric looked to him surprised by the comment. "Vampire hearing isn't something you can avoid, sorry. So what's up? I have an agenda to follow; I don't have the whole day"

"Katherine was in Caroline's bedroom last night" Elena was once again the one to speak but this time there was concern and pain in her voice.

"Ric, Little Brother, Gilbert Boy? Anyone? Anything? I guess no, so have a nice day and try not to plot something too fancy. It's not like any of you are the Superman or Martin Manhunter. But if any day you decide to go after the Lockwood secret I'm all for sharing my Doomsday wisdom" he filled his glass again and downed it as quickly as the first one and walked away.

"Damon, didn't you listen to Elena? Katherine, she's here. Probably never left and she went after Caroline again and Caroline is still too vulnerable to deal with someone like Katherine around her telling her just the wrong things" Stefan intervened but Damon barely stopped his steps.

"Brother, brother, brother. Just because I have an eternity to live it doesn't mean I enjoy repeating myself like a broken record. Katherine? Your problem, not mine. Baby Vamp? I was there to do the job but I was stopped, so not my problem either. Call me when you want to worry about werewolves and how to stop them from killing us" he added without turning back to look at any of them and just like that he was gone.

"Did someone get up with their left foot?" Alaric turned to Stefan who didn't do much as shrugging.

"So what are we going to do now? Only one vampire against Katherine won't be enough and nothing personal Stefan but your diet doesn't make it any better" Jeremy offered as he played with his newly acquired ring.

"He'll come around. That's how he works, he plays the careless part but when things come down to the people he cares he just goes there" Elena added though inside she wasn't so sure. It wasn't only about the way he dismissed the subject and left as if he really didn't have anything to do with Katherine and her games. But also the way he dismissed her presence even more bluntly, as if she wasn't even there. It was like she didn't matter at all and by so should be listened. Even after what he did to her brother, when it came down to serious subjects she had still acknowledged him and she even stopped Bonnie from burning him to death in the carnival. But this reaction was too childish and she just hoped he was being a brat but would help them. They needed him.

"Did something happen in the trip? Does he have any reason to stop wanting to help us?" the vampire looked to both Alaric and Elena and while the teacher also shrugged, Elena looked down to her hands.

"Elena?" he asked clearly seeing her apprehension.

"Damon accused me of using him to get the information I needed about Katherine. He found this book about her family while they were still in Europe" Elena remembered of their conversation in the previous night and sighed. It has taken away enough of her sleep to think that Damon maybe was serious about his threat and now seeing how he reacted she feared even more.

Stefan could see that something had bothered Elena. She looked like she was tortured and hurting but he couldn't imagine the reason. Seemly she got what she wanted from Damon and came back home in one piece. Did something else happen that she was yet to tell?

"Oh not to say save your life throwing himself in front of a wooden arrow" the teacher remembered well and now paying more attention at Damon's demeanor it was clear that he was somewhat avoiding to look at anyone's face. He was trying to hide and maybe that was why he didn't want to stay. He probably didn't want to admit he was hurt.

"Always the hero" Jeremy chucked softly.

"Maybe not anymore. He asked me if he had lost me after what he did to Jer and I said yes, then he said that I also lost him" her voice cracked slightly and the two human my not have noticed it but it was clear to Stefan's perfect hearing. Looking carefully to her face he could see the smallest shimmer in her eyes and when she blinked a few times before looking up with a faint smile it proved him that she was hurt by his brother. Again.

"He'll come around" Alaric offered though he wasn't sure about it himself.

"What if he doesn't?" Elena still looking uneasy asked. She hoped that Alaric was right. Being categorically ignored by Damon earlier was a weird feeling. It was one thing when she pretended he wasn't in the same room and hated him for killing her brother. But it was comforting to know that he'd be there for her if she needed. Maybe he was right and she was using him but she just didn't know how to be around him after what he did to Jeremy. Somehow she still cared about him and she hated herself for that.

"Then we'll have to take care of this by ourselves. I'll talk to him when he gets back. Maybe he didn't realize that Katherine is a threat to everyone now and that includes him and if there's something that will never change about Damon is his selfish ways. When he feels threatened by Katherine he'll change his mind. We just need to make it happen" Stefan suggested coldly. Elena examined her boyfriends face carefully. It seemed like something also snapped in him after Katherine was back and while at first she was convinced that it was because of the kiss Damon shared with the vampire thinking it was her now she wasn't so sure. Stefan looked almost bipolar to her. He had moments where he'd come at her house and take her to the top of the ferris wheel or take care of Caroline during the transition. But then in moments like now when his face was devoted of emotions and he even smirked.

He and Alaric started talking about the plan and she kept her gaze on her boyfriend. His eyes were cold and the suggestions he made about what they should do to Katherine seemed to come from Damon's mind and not his. But then again, the bitch deserved to die and preferably in the most horrible way.

Damon didn't even bother to lurk around the house and listen to what they were saying. He has made a decision and while it took everything he had on him, that switch was finally off again. Trying to wander in the waters of humanity didn't bring him any good. Actually if he didn't have to dig deeper about the werewolves existence he'd be on the road in that very moment instead of paying Carol another visit. There was the only reason why he didn't leave Mystic Falls for good as it seemed like the wolves really existed and it didn't look good to him that one simple bite could kill a vampire. He needed to finish the job other vampires started. This breed should be extinct. There was room for only one supernatural creature in the world and that was vampires. Dealing with witches, those judging little things was already a hell of a headache. He needed to gather information about the Lockwood's. If that was indeed a curse, carried from generation to generation his problems may go further than Tyler and Manson Lockwood. As far as the books said, it only passed through males, but if required, he'd find a way to exterminate the whole family of Carol's husband. But not so fast. He needed to find out if there were any other families cursed.

"Well hello Damon" Katherine greeted coming to his encounter outside the Lockwood's mason.

"Not here to see you" he barely acknowledged her as he made his way to the front door.

"That's rude; you were born in an age where they knew how to treat a woman properly. You know better than that" she used her super speed to block his way to the entrance while Damon looked up sighing heavily. He just avoided a meeting to decide what to do about her because he didn't want to deal with Katherine. In his current condition he didn't know if he could handle her. Too much water under that bridge.

"Look, you made yourself clear, you came back because of Stefan and you never loved me. I want nothing do to with you Katherine. I don't want you back, I don't want to kill you, I don't want to talk to you. I have business to take care and I guess we could call a truce here. I'm not teaming up with dearest brother to bring you down or do whatever they plan to do about you. Can't we just pretend the other doesn't exist? I don't even need that much acting or convincing" the coldness and despise in his voice had actually surprised Katherine. Damon was still hurt because of what she told him and that was what she was expecting: pain and discomfort. But not blunt indifference and disdain. All those years when she looked at him from afar, when she saw him corrupting, killing and destroying lives he looked dark but not cold. Damon Salvatore couldn't be cold no matter how match he tried. Twisted, check; dark check; selfish, check; uncaring; check, check, check. But cold wasn't part of his personality. He could kill coldly but it never meant he was cold. Those eyes never looked the way they were looking now as if he was utterly unaffected by her. All she saw was how bothered he was for her being in his way to get where he was going but she still had a card under her sleeve that she sure knew would change it.

"And would that business have anything to do with being killed by the men inside this house? Is it by any chance related to a certain curse?" she rested her back and one of her foot on the door behind her while she crossed her arms in her chest, offering a smile that showed him she knew too well what he wanted there.

"So you know about the werewolves" he raised one of his eyebrows but other than this all his features were still tense and emotionless.

"I may have met one or two back at the day where they thought they actually had a chance" she now smirked moving one of her hands to the curls of her hair, playing with it shrugging her shoulders a bit in the process.

"And did you know about the Lockwood's?" he was still testing the waters but also trying to know what it meant for him. He understood her words too well. She was probably one of those vampires that made sure the wolves were extinct. It matched her personality to promote a massacre.

"Actually I didn't. That Gilbert advice was more useful than it first appeared. I knew about a family in Mystic Falls in 1864 which was why I came here in the first place, mind you know. And when I decimated them I thought my work was done but it seems like this hole of a city actually had more at store for me" she sounded careless. She knew sharing some information of why she came to Mystic Falls in the first place would reignite something inside him. She knew back at the day the boys craved to know more about her and kept asking questions that she easily talked them out of it.

"Good, so it means my time in this hole is done. Nice to see you again, Kat. Oh I guess that's a lie" he offered his fakest smile and turned on his heels and walked back to his car leaving the vampire dumbfounded behind him. Was it possible that Damon had come to this level of detachment?

"And why do you think I'm going to take care of them myself, Damon? I'm not here to dirt my hands again unless it's absolutely necessary" she was quickly in front of his car, impeding him to get inside.

"Because you care a lot about your big fat ass to risk being killed by a dog" the words left his mouth with despise not only about her death but about her figure as he appraised her frame from head to toe with very disgusting eyes.

"I can see that little raggedy doll not only messed up with my boys but she actually broke them"

"Well the raggedy doll and your toy are plotting your probably death in this very moment and I'd love to sit and watch it but I guess then I'd need to be interested enough to stick around" he kept his features the same but pulled her by the wrist and then pushed her aside so he'd enter his car.

"Don't ever touch me like that again" she was quick in her recover and got him by the hair in the back of his head before he could actually hop inside the car.

"So what? Big bad mean vamp girl Kat will kill me? Now that might be entertaining enough to keep a man interested" he reached for the small stake he had under the driver's seat and staking her arm, she dropped his arm and then he finally entered the car and stepped on gas.

"That stupid human will pay highly for damaging my toy" Katherine hissed as she pulled the stake away and sped away.

AN: wow... what a change no? Damon seems pretty reckless if you ask me and while some may doubt his sudden change of demeanor let's not forget vampires CAN really turn all their feelings off but I'll show his struggle. It's not that easy as it seems.

I know it seems just as childish to ignore Elena as she did when she made out with Stefan in front of Damon but you'll see he's not playing I can't see you. If he as much as looks at her or listens to her voice it makes the whole 'the switch is off' much harder so this is his defense weapons.

His reckless attitude is as unlimited that he even treats Kat the way he did but maybe deep inside he knows she won't kill him. Punish and torture yes, but not kill and he feels like a physical pain could present as a nice distraction to all the emotional pain he stuffed behind the lock of his humanity. It all starts easy but as baggage is added to the closet it's pretty hard to keep it closed.

Now, I'm shocked (good shocked) with the feedback to this fic. That's the only reason why I'm really putting some giant effort here to post this chapter. I'm at exams week at college and I have no time but after all your answers I felt like I should post it ASAP but for a couple of weeks it may get hard to make it twice by week, so be patient and keep answering :P

I want to thank to xxashleyxx, xLadyAng3lx, Sparkle85, Yulia.11.11, Silvery Rain, shadylady21, Avecia, xxxMrsDamonSalvatorexxx, Drama and Lea for reviewing the prologue.

I hope you liked this chapter. There'll be a Delena real interaction soon and Elena will taste a little more of her own poison.

Babi