I take in a breath and pull the air.

Inhale.

I hold it there for a moment.

Exhale.

"Why do you want me to?" Damon asks. I'm still concentrating on my breathing. I stop, gathering the courage to have this conversation with him.

"I know, that despite what Stefan may say about you, that you'll keep my safe." With the last word that comes out I look down at the ground and start fidgeting with my fingers and picking at my nails. I'm too nervous to look at him. I don't know what has come over me all of a sudden.

"I'll be out there then."

I couldn't help but smile. I kept looking down at the floor though because I don't want Damon to see.

I feel like this might be my chance to actually talk to him.

"What was Katherine like?" I ask, looking up at him into his piercing blue eyes. There is a pause between us as Damon sits back down in the chair across from me.

"Do you really want to know this?" Damon asks and I nod my head lightly to show him yes. "Katherine was beautiful, just as you are. That was just visually though. Everything she did, the way she moved, its almost as if there was something seductive about it. You could see it in her eyes. There was a lust behind them. Not like yours, yours are so different."

I was trying not to notice the fact that Damon was pointing out the differences between me and Katherine. I guess its good in a way, to know that I'm not like the woman that tore these two brothers apart.

"How do you know that you loved her?" I'm not really expecting him to answer me on this but I really want to know.

"I was still human when I knew Katherine. I was beyond intrigued by her. I was infatuated, I could never get enough of her. I would have done anything for her, I did do anything for her." Damon wasn't looking at me at this point. He eyes were far gone, a sadness and longing behind them.

"If you were human though, how do you know that she never compelled you?" This isn't the question to ask. I don't want him to get mad and stop talking to me.

"The compulsion? I don't believe that she ever used it on me. I'm convinced of that. I'm also convinced that she never used it on Stefan. I think that he just said that to make the ease of him supposedly locking Katherine away easier on him. If she had compelled us, he would have never said anything to our father. If she had compelled us, the compulsion would have worn off a long time ago. I would have stopped looking for her a hundred years ago. The feelings that I had for Katherine carried on into my vampire life. All the way until the day at the church." The usual tone that Damon has in his voice though is gone, replaced with a sadness behind it.

"Damon.." I try to say but he isn't even listening to me.

"Those feeling now are replaced with something else. I didn't know that as a vampire that it would actually hurt." With that, in a flash Damon is standing back up and at the bar. I know I hit something with him. I feel so guilty. I see why he is drinking so much more right now. Its not just to help the thirst, its to stop the pain.

I get up out of the chair and walk up behind him.

"Damon." I say and this time he turns around. I look up into his eyes as he looks down into mine. I can see the sadness. I reach up, standing on my toes and wrap my arms around his neck. I lightly pull him into me. I rest my head on his shoulder. My eyes begin to well up. I hold it back. Its like I can feel his pain. "I'm sorry." I whisper to him lightly.

This time Damon takes his arms and wraps them around my waist. His body is hard against mine.

I take in a sharp breath. I wasn't expecting him to hug back. I'm sure he noticed my momentary shock. He goes to let go. Instead I wrap my arms around him just a little bit tighter, trying to show him that its ok. With that he keeps his arms around me. I can feel a difference this time. He isn't as tense. We stay like this for a few moments.

Damon is the one to break the hug. I feel his arms slide away from me. A part of me is screaming for him to come back. I push the thought aside. It has to be the sympathy that I have for him. I wont dwell on it long enough to think that its anything else.

"Don't you ever tell Stefan. He's too out of it right now to hear us from down there." Damon's voice isn't as soft anymore. I can tell that he has reverted back to himself. For those few moments though I saw the real Damon. Moments that I will always remember.

"I know that I am with Stefan but I wouldn't betray you like that." I mean every single word that comes out of my mouth. I look at Damon to show him, that he can hopefully see that I mean all of it. Damon just nods his head in an understanding.

For those few moments Damon Salvatore had let his guard down and let me in.