Author's Apologetic and Groveling Note: I am soooooo sorry for not replying to all your wonderful reviews yet. This week was crazy busy for me, work-wise, and I couldn't find the time to reply and write this chapter, even.

A thousand apologies to you all, but I WILL catch up on replying to you all after this chapter. I PROMISE! No, I PINKY SWEAR! It's legally binding; ask a lawyer!

Just know that I loved and appreciate all your feedback, and I can tell that you were all pleased that Damon now knows how Elena really feels about him. SQUEEE!

The question is….what is he going to do about it? Let's find out. :D

A Woman's Worth: Chapter NINETEEN

Damon's POV

She loves me.

That was the mantra I was repeating in my head as I slowly extricated myself from my car, feeling as if I hadn't moved in days. My entire body was stiff and tensed, probably from my emotional outburst behind the wheel while I was so wrapped up in that one voice mail that would change my life and Elena's as well.

With a frown, I thought back to that ill-fated day, wondering just how the hell I could have missed such an important message on my phone. I vaguely remember seeing all the missed calls from Elena that morning, and realize that I did see the notification of an unheard voice mail.

It was precisely the time when I received the frantic call from Blondie, telling me that she couldn't find Elena in the house, and that the front door was left wide open. I remembered being terrified for my girl, and immediately went into panic mode. Knowing that Elena was in danger or worse – dead - proved to be distracting enough to make me forget about the message and everything else.

I just had to get to her and make sure that she was safe. That was all I cared about at the time. And then the days that followed were hard enough to deal with, let alone remembering something as trivial as checking my phone messages. If it was physically possible, I wanted to kick my own balls for missing something as crucial as that - I never realized that the evidence we needed I had all this time.

Maybe I could convince Elena to do the kicking for me instead, since she had a real knack for it.

Elena.

What that one-worded name could do to my insides. Just the knowledge that she was on the other side of that door, alive and safe, probably surrounded by people who care about her. Her new family.

And then there's me…the idiot in love with her.

Shaking myself from my stupor, I trudged towards the door, intent on first doing the right thing and getting the evidence of Rapewood's crime to Elijah and making sure that the person who brought a world of pain to my beloved would be severely dealt with. And by severely dealt with, I meant shoving a huge cactus up his ass, stringing him up by his toes and leaving him to bleed to death, or my favorite; throwing him into a pool filled with piranhas and snakes and jellyfishes. Then right when he's on the brink of death, I'd rescue him and throw his bleeding ass in jail.

In summary, I want Mason Lockwood to suffer.

At least, that was my priority until I stepped through the door and caught sight of her. My body went into shutdown mode the instant I saw her, smiling and nodding to whatever Blondie was saying as they stood next to the fire-place. The other three men were standing some ways off but it was obvious that they were talking about her, especially with the two Tweedle twins in identical poses with their arms crossed defensively in front of their chests while shooting worried glances at the brunette.

For a long while, I stood under the archway between the foyer and the hall, undecided as to which group I should head towards. On the one hand, the item gripped tightly in my left hand was the most important piece of evidence that should be in the hands of the head detective. But on the other hand, well….oh bloody hell!

I marched right over to the girls, my eyes intent on only one of them, the one girl I couldn't resist at that moment. The phone on my left hand now temporarily forgotten, I allowed myself to succumb to her magnetic pull, my body automatically making its way to Elena as if it had a mind of its own.

"Damon," her smile widened when she saw my approach, and then a tiny frown appeared on her forehead after one good look at my expression. "Hey, what's wrong? Did you-did you get shampoo in your eyes again?"

Her question threw me off for a second before I realized that the shampoo reference was our code for my manly tears that were perhaps still evident on my face, courtesy of my recent breakdown in the car. If anything, that innocent question of hers made my feelings for her intensify even further, knowing just what a caring person she was. How utterly perfect she was.

She loves me, I repeated in my head.

She seemed surprised when I didn't respond but instead, just stood in front of her, ignoring the inquisitive looks from Blondie as I searched the warm brown eyes that were now more familiar to me than my own. Without thinking, I wrapped an arm around her narrow waist, pulling her close to me as the other hand reached up to cup her cheek, my thumb stroking her smooth skin tenderly.

I saw the shock on her face when my head slowly descended on hers, giving her time to reject me if she wanted to. Time seemed to stretch on as I brought our heads together, but even I wasn't sure if I should pull back and give it more time before I acted on my deepening feelings for this one girl.

This woman.

I threw caution to the wind the moment her eyes dropped to my lips for a split second before returning her anxious gaze to mine. That was all the confirmation I needed.

With a groan of surrender, I swooped in and claimed her lips, previous signs of apprehension leaving my body as I melted against her, supporting her weight as she leaned into mine.

Soft. Warm. Home.

Those were the only thoughts I was capable of having. It was such a powerful moment because for the first time in my life, I was holding my entire future in my arms and I never wanted to let her go. I was marveling at the fact that she was here and willing, her hand rising to cover my own over her cheek as she returned my ardor. I let out a little grunt as I tilted my head to deepen the kiss, gripping her even tighter against me as I felt her lips parted in a gasp, inviting my tongue in to taste hers.

The previous time when she had unexpectedly kissed me after her nightmare, it felt different; wrong somehow because of the timing and the fact that she was crying. Even if my body had reacted to being that close to her at the time, my mind was shooting off warning signals the entire time.

But this time, it was romantic, poignant and meaningful…. until the commentaries erupted around us.

"Ric, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think your staff is supposed to have that kind of….interaction with his charge," came the deep voice of Detective Tweedle-Dee, the one who was licensed to shoot me if he so wanted.

"Yeah, we're actually not supposed to, but I can't find it in my heart to stop him. I mean, what if he wants to kiss us in retaliation? Mer would kill me if I start making out with my staff and she's a doctor. She can make it look like an accident and get away with it, too," I heard Ric replied, his voice sounding far away in my hazy mind.

I was lost in my own world, as I suspected Elena was as well, seeing as she was still attached to my body in every single alluring way. I had no doubts that she wanted this as much as I did, considering that I had trained her well enough that she could have sent me sprawling onto the floor by now if she didn't. This was further proof that we belonged together and that I no longer have to hide my feelings in front of her.

A masculine throat cleared in the distance. "So, how long are we supposed to just stand here and watch them make out before it gets awkward?" Elijah wondered out loud. "Shouldn't they come up for air right about now? I'm pretty sure that lack of oxygen is still a major problem for their lungs."

If I had been paying attention, I might have laughed at the comments being tossed around the room, but like Tweedle-Dee had mentioned, I was concentrating on Elena's lips and trying not to come up for air.

"You guys! You're totally ruining the Delena moment," came a feminine whine that could only be from Blondie. "I mean, look at them! I did that, guys. I'm Cupid!"

Somehow, I didn't mind that Care had practically stolen my alter-ego from me with that 'Cupid' reference. I once considered myself playing that exact same role as the adorable flying cherub armed with bow and love arrows when I tried my hand at match-making her with my brother. Well, I officially sucked at it, so she could claim that role as hers.

"Umm, what the hell is a 'Delena' and was it you who convinced kissy-boy there to eat Elena's face off?" Ric's revolted voice came next, not even caring if we heard him at this point. To him, we were clearly too preoccupied with each other to notice their constant mumblings.

Blondie scoffed loudly at his question with an audible 'tsk' sound. "D-E-L-E-N-A, as in Damon and Elena's name smooshed together. You know, their 'ship' name."

"Their what now?" baby bro queried in a puzzled tone.

"Seriously, am I the only one who keeps up-to-date with pop culture references? You old farts should consider getting a tumblr account and keep up with the times, you know?" Blondie exclaimed indignantly. There was an exasperated sigh, followed by the sound of her heels clacking against the floor and then someone sinking heavily onto a chair. "A 'ship' is when you believe that two people belong together and should be in a romantic relationship. Like if Elena's life was a movie, they would be playing Ed Sheeran in the background right now during this epic kissing scene, you know? I mean, those two are so 'fetch', aren't they?"

At this juncture, I could no longer ignore their incessant chattering around us, especially when I was trying to enjoy the tender moment with my girl. With great reluctance, I pulled my lips away from Elena's, the loss of contact bringing forth a disappointed moan from her. It took all of my self-control not to give in and claim her lips again and again, but I forced myself to open my eyes to stare down at the goddess in my arms.

She was exquisite, with her swollen lips and her flushed cheeks a stark contrast against my pale fingers. I have never seen her more beautiful.

"Wow," I whispered as I gazed at her in wonder, watching her eyes fly open at the sound of my voice. I couldn't believe what just happened. Did I just kiss the girl of my dreams? Did she kiss me back? And what was this feeling in my chest, the fluttering emotion that was indescribable but yet so-so-so…

"Wow," Elena echoed softly, releasing her warm breath against my lips as she raised a finger to touch her lower lip that I had been nibbling on a matter of seconds ago. The sight of that plump lip threatened to do me in again, but I checked myself. She was right, though. That feeling in my chest could only be described with that one word because nothing else seemed fitting. It was something I had never felt before with anyone else.

"Yes, wow! I didn't know that you could hold your breath for so long, Mr. Kissy-face," Elijah mocked in a disapproving tone. "How about you take a long and cold bath and see how long you can stay underwater, huh? We were in the midst of a very important discussion about Elena's request to go out on her own before you rudely interrupted with that skillful tongue of yours," he reprimanded drily.

As I turned to glare at the others, I gathered Elena even closer to me, my left arm circling all the way around her waist as I kept her glued to my side. I didn't think that I'd ever be able to physically let her go again. It just wasn't possible. "How about a little less commentary from the peanut gallery and a little more skedaddling out of here for some privacy, hmm? I need to talk to Elena alone for a minute," I addressed the others calmly.

"Suuuuuuure you do," Blondie dragged out the first word with a bright smile, winking conspiratorially at me while simultaneously elbowing my baby bro in the ribs, oblivious to his painful wince. "Talking would require actual words being spoken, but I'm thinking what you have in mind is a little more of the moaning and groaning variety. Clothing optional, of course."

With a roll of my eyes at her blatant enjoyment at my predicament, I kissed the idea of being left alone with Elena goodbye and settled for an alternative that didn't require so many pairs of eyes on us. "Actually, I really do need to have a serious discussion with Elena, and Elijah, if you could join us, please? Something's come up with the case, and I need to sit down with only the two of you," I explained and my emphasis on the word 'case' was not lost on the attentive detective.

Apparently, Ric caught on before the others did, so he quickly shuffled Stef and Care away despite the blonde's loud objections, leaving only the three of us alone in the living room.

It was time for us to get real.

Nobody spoke for a long while when the front door finally clicked shut, effectively muffling Blondie's high-pitched voice. Even though whatever was coming next was inevitable, I still dreaded it, as proven when my heart felt heavier with each passing moment.

"Damon? What is it? What case are you talking about?" Elena asked with a worried frown. She could tell that I was getting antsy, no longer in my previous romantic mood.

Turning my head slightly to peer at her, I found myself regretting my next action. I genuinely hated myself for doing this to her, right when she was finally starting to be cheerful again. I knew that it was a kind of manufactured happiness, because she was basically living in denial and burying her troubled past so deep inside her mind that she seemed to have developed a mental block to it.

As much as it pained me to have her listening to the recording again, I knew that it might be exactly what she needed to confront the fact that she was sexually assaulted by her ex, and accept it as truth before she would be able to properly heal. I didn't see any other option but to burst her bubble once more, after a month of living in the safety behind these walls and finally succeeding in making her smile again.

I took in the sight of her radiant skin, still pink from our earlier activity and her expectant expression as she waited for me to respond. Well, here goes nothing, I thought.

"Elena, I have concrete proof of what Mason did to you on Christmas morning," I said without any preamble. Before I could elaborate further, Elijah cut in.

"You have what?! How?" he questioned eagerly.

In all the years I have known this man, I have never seen Elijah quite so animated. His face took on a gleeful appearance, like a kid who finally found a hidden treasure underneath the sand after digging for hours.

"Turns out, I had it all along in the form of a voice mail that Elena left on my phone on that very same day," I said, returning my attention to Elena, a look of confusion on her face. "The whole….," I paused, desperately searching for a word to describe the ordeal that wouldn't make this even more uncomfortable for her, "…..scene was recorded on that message you left for me. Do you remember calling me that day?"

She swallowed convulsively and nodded, her lips parting to gulp in deep breaths. "But-but my phone…he-he smashed it. It was broken," she stammered, her frown deepening even further.

I couldn't bear to see her looking as if she just had the rug swept out from right under her. Perhaps she thought that that part of her life was over, a part of her past that was better left forgotten and unmentioned. She might even have thought that Elijah and I had given up altogether, but now, we were making the issue front and centre again.

"Your screen was broken, but the phone was still working. That message had been waiting for me all this time, and I didn't even realize it until just now, when Caroline left me her voice mail while we were in the car. I heard everything, Elena," I told her, gentling my voice when I saw the dread in her eyes.

I didn't want to, but I knew that I had to do it. For her.

"Well, let's hear it," Elijah spoke up impatiently. "If that recording can prove that Lockwood raped you, then that's the best news we've had since we found out that the Mayans were rubbish at calculations."

Elena and I both flinched at the use of the r-word, especially when said in that callous way that only a seasoned cop who had been exposed to all sorts of crime would. Callous or not, Elijah was absolutely right; this voice mail was a stroke of luck and it was the only lead we had right now.

Choosing to ignore him, I pulled Elena to stand right in front of me, cupping the sides of her neck as my thumbs grazed across her cheeks comfortingly before I tilted her head up. "Hey," I whispered when she lifted her uncertain doe-eyes to mine. "This is the big break we have been waiting for. We now have indisputable proof against him, and as much as I would like Elijah to just take my phone and run to the nearest prosecutor's office, I wanted you to have a say in the matter. So, the question is….do you trust me?"

That was the million-dollar question, really. She trusted me before; even from the time she first opened her eyes in the hospital. She trusted me when I found her in the bathroom, naked and freezing as she sat there in shock after the attack. And finally, she trusted me when she didn't trust any other man to be in the same room with her. All I hoped for was that she trusted me this time, too.

"Yes."

That was all I needed to hear. I pressed a quick kiss on her forehead and led her over to the couch, pulling her down with me as I sat in the middle of the three-seater. I motioned for the silent Elijah to join me on my right side while I set my phone up to replay the message.

When her voice came through the speakers, her hand crept over my thigh in search for mine, needing some form of comfort. I laced my fingers with hers with my right, while my left hand rubbed her back soothingly as the recording went on. When we got to the point where Lockwood had slapped her, she released a whimper and immediately buried her head into the crook of my neck, trembling violently as I heard her choked gasps.

I cursed inwardly for subjecting her to relive the entire painful experience all over again and for myself, even. The first time in the car was bad enough, but at least I was partly numbed with shock which lessened the blow somewhat. The second time around, I heard every little sound she made in that message, her audible reactions and every one of his cruel words as he abused her in every way possible.

It was pure torture.

I hugged her to my side, my hands cradling her head to my chest as she fell apart, shaking her head in a wordless plea for it to stop. I broke down right along with her, my heart aching, wanting and wishing that I could make it all better somehow. But the recording went on, like a typhoon that consumed everything in its path, leaving behind nothing but destruction.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I'm so so sorry," I mumbled into her hair, my voice raw with the growing lump in my throat.

The moment her scream pierced the air over the speakers, she stiffened in my arms and pulled away, her hands pushing mine away as she stood up hastily. Her face was pale, her cheeks stained with tears as her eyes darted here and there as if she was looking for a way out.

"Elena-"

"No, no, no, no. I can't! I can't listen anymore," she burst out, retreating further away from me until her frantic eyes spotted the staircase - her escape. It dawned on me that she was running, but before I could even call out her name, she had already taken off upstairs.

Intending to go after her, I turned towards Elijah, taken aback when I caught him with red-rimmed eyes and a pained expression. "You ah…you okay?" I asked, my eyes narrowing at my buddy beside me.

"Ah…yeah," he said hoarsely before clearing his throat, turning slightly away to run his palm over his face. "There's something in my eyes."

Uh-huh. A likely story. "Shampoo, maybe?" I quipped, amazed to find that this man was not as detached as I thought.

"Umm…listen," he sidestepped, still avoiding my gaze. "I'll run right over to the phone company and get a copy of that message. With hard evidence like that, there's no defense attorney in the world who can get Mason Lockwood off of rape and assault charges now."

Nodding my agreement, I grabbed my phone, pressing the pause button on the screen and then stood up, shooting a parting remark as I made my way to the stairs. "Just get that monster off the streets and away from Elena."

"Damon," he called out gruffly, stopping me in my tracks as I turned my head to catch his sympathetic eyes. "Take care of her. Tell her that we're all behind her one hundred percent."

I flashed him a tiny smile and nodded. Halfway up the stairs, though, I heard my friend growling to himself.

"Dammit, where's Ric when I need a hug?" That was soon followed by a softer, "I'm fraught."

Elena's POV

I flung myself on the bed as soon as I entered my room, just in time, too, as my legs gave out from under me. I thought that I was making great headway in terms of moving past that horrible day, but in fact, I had just kept it carefully hidden in the deep recesses of my mind. I even managed to fool myself into believing that I was fine, that I was happy.

It was all a lie.

Who was I kidding, really? What did I expect would happen after everything Mason had put me through? That I could carry on as normal as if what happened was simply a bad haircut that I could grow out of? Hearing that voice mail only proved that I wasn't alright. Far from it.

There was a reason why I was unable to talk about the attack itself. It was because I wasn't there. Physically, I was, but mentally and emotionally, I was off in my happy place with Damon. A place where Mason couldn't reach me.

Truthfully, I didn't even really remember what happened exactly except for the obvious main event. So, listening to that recording was a shock to my system, because it didn't feel as if it had happened to me. If I didn't recognize my own voice that was screaming and denying Mason, I would have thought that it was some other poor woman. But the horrible truth was, it was me.

And that thought was heartbreaking in itself, because it was as if it just happened all over again. The memories were fresher, doubly painful now, and it was crushing me with its weight.

I could feel my body shaking with sobs as I laid there on the sheets, hugging my favorite bear to my aching chest. I released a loud wail into a pillow, my hot tears staining the covers until I felt someone brushing my hair off my face. I jumped in shock, forgetting that I hadn't locked the door earlier and I was too preoccupied with my own heartache to even hear Damon coming in.

I stared at his blurry figure through my tears, seeing nothing but his dark patch of messy hair as he leaned over me. "No more, please," I begged, afraid that he would force me to listen to the rest of the message. I found myself wishing that my phone had been smashed beyond working condition; that the voice mail never existed; that there wasn't any recording to listen to. Then it would be like it never happened.

"I'm sorry, okay? I wanted to share the evidence with Elijah but I didn't want to do it behind your back," he said patiently. "You need to know what's going to happen next in light of that voice mail being in our possession. Elijah's going to file an official complaint with the State's prosecuting attorney, and they will bring the case to a judge. Chances are, they will press charges against Lockwood based on that message along with the medical report from Meredith. He's going to be hauled into custody really soon, and that's what we want, right?"

I balked at the lengths they were forcing me to go to, with all that talk about lawyers and a judge. Shaking my head firmly, I had to put up my own arguments before this whole thing went out of hand. "That's what you and the others want. I wanted to be left alone, to move on with my life. I need to forget but now I can't because of that damned evidence you're so happy about. I don't want any part of this, Damon! I don't want to keep reliving the worst day of my life over and over again and be reminded of how stupid I was! I don't want to see or hear about Mason ever again, but you can't even let me do that! Why can't you just leave it be?"

"Because you put your trust in me, Elena, and I swore to myself that I was going to protect you from him the best way I know how," he blurted out, his voice raised in frustration. "I can't live my life constantly worrying about whether or not he's going to show up and take you away, or hurt you again. I need to make sure that he's out of your life for good, so that we can live ours the way we want to. I'm doing this because I love you, and because, by some miracle, you love me back." By the end of his impassioned speech, his voice had softened considerably and I could see that he meant every word of it.

It didn't mean that I believed him, though.

"W-what?"

"You heard me," Damon said, reaching up to brush my fringe off my forehead, his eyes following the action. He sounded as if he was relieved to finally say that out loud and no longer had to hide it. "I'm in love with you, Elena, and I know you feel the same way about me."

"But-but….how did you-"I sputtered, seeming to be incapable of finishing my sentences today.

"Know?" he interjected smoothly, once again reading my thoughts and being eerily accurate. "Because you said so. You stopped listening before we could get to the only part of that message that didn't make me want to puke my guts out."

He pulled out his phone again and pressed the play button, ignoring my protests of going through the entire ordeal again. I stuck my fingers into my ears in a childish attempt to avoid listening but he was having none of that. Sitting down on the bed next to me, he pulled me up so that I was face-to-face with him, his fingers curling around my wrists before pulling them away to rest against his hard chest.

I couldn't ignore the harsh words that came out of Mason through the speakers, causing me to struggle against Damon, shaking my head in denial of what I was forced to listen to. Then I heard my own voice, faint but completely understandable.

"I-I love him."

I stopped struggling then, my mouth gaping open in shock at my own admission that I had no recollection of, especially in the middle of such a traumatic event. My eyes snapped up to Damon's sky-blue ones and I saw nothing but sincerity, a tiny hint of pride and dare I say it; love.

"I couldn't believe my ears when I heard you say it," he exclaimed in disbelief, looking very much like the kid who just got his favorite toy as he paused the message again. "Did you really mean it? Because I'm not sure that I deserve it, but I need to know."

Was I in love with him? If I was being honest with myself, I would say that I was already half in love with him by the time I was discharged from the hospital. But that would make me the worst person in the world wouldn't it, considering that I still chose to go back with Mason back then?

I actually considered denying everything, perhaps even pleading temporary insanity for the sake of our friendship, but then he looked so damned happy that I couldn't bear hurting his feelings just to spare my own pride. So I gave in.

"You do," I assured him shyly, no longer fighting his hold on my hands anymore. "I just - I never meant to develop feelings for you when I was still with him, because then everything he was accusing me of would be true, right? I am a cheater, like he said. And God knows I fought it for the longest time, but there's just something about you that just….I'm just happier when I'm with you. I don't know what it is, but I blame you for making me a cheater."

"I'm sorry I'm so lovable," he replied with a wide grin, flashing his teeth at me. I would have rolled my eyes if it wasn't true. "I'll try my level best to tone it down. Can you just tell me specifically, what it was about me that you found so irresistible? Maybe if I knew, then I'd stop doing it."

It was utterly amazing how I went from crying my eyes out one moment, only to be shocked speechless the next and now I was practically giggling at his humor. It was definitely the power of Damon Salvatore. Only he could make me want to hit him and kiss him at the same time.

"You couldn't possibly be less lovable even if you tried. Anyway, I'm not going to sit here and argue over how irresistible you are." Then a thought occurred to me. "Was that why you kissed me earlier? You wanted to see if I had feelings for you?"

"What? No!" he exclaimed, apparently finding the notion ridiculous. "The kiss was for purely selfish reasons. I've wanted to do that ever since you opened your eyes at the hospital, when I saw your warm brown eyes for the first time. And it got increasingly harder to hold back every time we were together. That kiss just now was after I realized that there was nothing standing in our way anymore; not that jerk, not my brother, and certainly not having to deny my feelings any longer."

At the mention of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and Stefan, my brows furrowed into a frown and I wondered why the younger Salvatore was considered as an obstacle at all. "Stefan? Why him?"

"Ah hell," he sighed and did a little facepalm, as if he didn't intend to share that little nugget. "Why did I even bring him up? It's no big deal, Elena. I mean, I thought it was at one point, but he's dating someone else now. So, he's a moot point, okay?"

I considered his words, and an insane thought occurred to me that he might have imagined an attraction between his brother and me, but I pushed that thought away as soon as it appeared. It was ridiculous and there were no basis to it at all. Also, as Damon said, it was a moot point because apparently, now we were in love with one another.

Were we? I supposed I was on my end, but for him? I knew that he cared about me; more than a friend would care for another friend. But love? Perhaps he mistook his sympathy for me as something deeper, and the fact that I was depending on him so much made him feel responsible for me.

Perhaps he really did love me, but there are many types of love, aren't there? I couldn't see how he could possibly be in love with me when I was just a poor homeless girl, traumatized and damaged beyond recognition. I wasn't even a quarter of the girl I once was, before everyone I ever cared about either hurt me or left me. I certainly didn't deserve him or his love.

"Don't do that," he warned suddenly, his expressive eyes keen on mine. "Don't over-analyze it and make it something it's not. Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong. You are worth it."

How did he - this mind-reading thing was getting to be really inconvenient. "How do you know what I'm thinking?"

"Because I know you," he responded as he took my hands in his, holding me pressed to his chest. "I fell for you before I even knew the taste of your lips. I fell for the person you were then, and day-by-day, my feelings have grown and is still growing, despite the fact that I sometimes want to tie you to a chair and lecture you for hours to make the right choices. And you need to make the right one now, in regards to Mason Lockwood."

My mood spiraled downwards again at the reminder of what we had been arguing about before we got sidetracked by all the love declarations.

"Look, I know you're just looking out for me, and I appreciate that. But please, can you at least try to understand why I can't testify against him in court? Can you even attempt to imagine what it would be like for me to have to see him again, sitting there and staring at me, knowing what he's done to me? He could probably be replaying it all in his head, enjoying himself."

I hesitated as I tried to envision that scene in a courtroom, surrounded by the media, the entire town I grew up in and the judgmental juries who probably thought that I deserved everything that happened to me.

"I hate him, Damon," I admitted in a small voice. "He ruined my life and I hate him for it. I can't spend another second thinking or talking about him anymore, so please, don't make me," I pleaded, tears gathering in my eyes again.

In an instant, his arms were wrapped around me in a crushing hug, my face pressed against his heart. I allowed myself the luxury of his embrace, not knowing when it might all be taken away from me again. Frankly, I was so tired of fighting over the same issues repeatedly, always with the same arguments and different point of views. Sometimes, I wished that I could just close my eyes and forget.

"Okay, let's do it your way. I won't ask you to make a police statement and you don't need to be involved in any of the legal process. But you have to understand that I have an important piece of information about a crime and it is my responsibility to hand it over to the police. Otherwise, I could be charged with obstruction of justice. And since Elijah is the head of the case, he also has a responsibility to ensure the public's safety, so he'd have no choice but to bring it to the State. The only way we could protect you is if we could prosecute without involving you at all, so you'd remain anonymous. I'm not sure how it would work without your testimony, but with that voice mail, it should be enough to get rid of Lockwood for some time, at least."

Hearing that made my entire body go weak with relief. My cheeks rubbed against his chest as I nodded eagerly, pleased that we had come to a mutual agreement. I was okay with whatever Damon and Elijah decide to do to Mason as long as it didn't involve me. It meant that I could focus on healing without the added stress.

I wanted so badly to heal, to not be afraid again.

"Thank you," I whispered sincerely, grateful for his presence in my life.

One of his hands reached around to tilt my head up, leveling me with his intense stare. "You're welcome," he murmured. "But I need you to promise me one thing."

At this point, I'd agree to give him my kidney if he should ask for it, especially when I was so captivated by his mysterious eyes, weaving their magic on me. If I didn't have any feelings for him before, I would have fallen hook, line and sinker right then.

"Anything," I breathed out, oblivious to what I had just agreed to.

"Good, because this weekend, we are going on a road trip to Richmond."

A road trip? To Richmond? Cowabunga, dude! "What's in Richmond?" I asked eagerly, wanting the weekend to arrive as soon as possible.

"There's a support group called the Unsilenced, and they organize a meeting for their members every week. I want you to join them this weekend," he said quietly.

"And what do they support?"

From my wary tone, he knew that I was about to pass on that road trip idea and settle for sending his body parts there instead, piece by bloody piece. "It's a support group where survivors of abuse unite and share their experience," he explained hesitantly, but before I could object, he hastened to elaborate further.

"I know, I know, you don't want to talk about it, but maybe you'll change your mind after you hear their stories. Their members are just like you, Elena. They are all survivors, and some of them have been in abusive relationships far longer than you have. It was hard for them to open up at first, but then they found the courage and once they did, they realized that they were not alone, and there are so many others in the same boat, all feeling what they're feeling. I'm just asking you to go and listen, nothing more. At the end of that meeting, we'll go and have a meal, tour the town a little bit and be back here in time for dinner."

As much as I wanted to object on principle alone, because I really didn't like it when other people made plans for me without my consent, I had to admit that I was rather curious about this Unsilenced group. Maybe I could learn something from their stories that would help me to move on from my own nightmare.

"Well?" he prompted, unable to take my silence any longer.

Giving in with an exaggerated sigh, I shrugged my shoulders as if I was doing him a huge favor by being cooperative. "If it means that much to you, then fine. But you better make sure that we do the touristy thing! And I'm picking the music for the trip," I warned, knowing how much he detested anyone fiddling with the sound system in his Camaro.

"That's my girl," he beamed approvingly, appearing to be as excited as I was for the private time away from the mansion and our friends. Then, his gaze slid down to my lips and I braced myself for an onslaught of emotions that accompanied his kisses, as I recently discovered.

Our lips joined again, gently, slowly, as if we had all the time in the world. Even though I was prepared for it, the excitement that ran through my body was still spine-tingling. I let my eyes squeeze shut, allowing my mind to wander and imagining us in a different setting, a different time. No matter where my mind brought us, the fact remained that I was head over heels for this man.

This man who could make me forget my own name with just a single touch. He invoked feelings within me that I thought were non-existent, the kind of joy that I only ever witnessed with my parents. And now that it was happening to me, I couldn't help but to wait for the other shoe to drop.

For now, though, I let myself enjoy the stolen moments I had with Damon. It felt natural kissing him, even when he brought both his hands up to cup my neck, one of them buried deep into my hair, his fingers tangling into the curls. His head tilted suddenly, his nose smashed painfully with mine but I didn't mind, because the new position allowed us to explore each other's mouths even deeper.

Without realizing it, my quivering fingers lifted of their own accord, running up and down his firm chest through his shirt, until they brushed against the buttons on his shirt. Within seconds, they were undone, and I was touching his bare chest like I was that night in this very room. Belatedly, I realized that we were no longer sitting upright, but we were pretty much horizontal on my bed, with me straddling his hips as I leaned over him.

Whoops.

I lifted my head in a panic, pushing myself up and off his chest, breathing heavily from our make-out session. He was gasping for breath as well, his heavy-lidded eyes filled with desire, watching me. His lips were parted, swollen and red as I suspected mine were as well.

"I'm sorry. I-I'm not ready, I mean, it's too soon. I want to, but I can't," I apologized nervously, feeling silly that I had let it get that far. But one doesn't simply kiss Damon Salvatore and not get swept up with desire. It was impossible.

"I know, and I don't expect anything. Sorry, I didn't mean to let it get that far," he whispered, still breathing heavily as well. "But kissing you…I just couldn't control myself. You're one dangerous woman, Elena Gilbert. You and your lips should come with warning labels." He sat up and put a safe distance between us, fastening his shirt back up again as we stared red-faced at each other.

It just got a whole lot more awkward between us, and I don't recall ever being that shy or as self-conscious around him. Things just seemed a lot more complicated now, so I just had to ask. "What are we doing, Damon? What is this?" I asked, my forefinger pointing back and forth between the two of us.

He swallowed before answering. "Well, I'm hoping that this is a new beginning for us, one that would hopefully last an eternity and resulting in us sitting in identical rocking chairs next to each other, holding hands and laughing at our gray hairs," he said with a hopeful smile. "And if we're lucky, we might even find ourselves surrounded by our grandchildren, a couple of dogs and maybe even some cats. We could live on a farm somewhere, and not tell our friends where we live so that they can't come over and eat all our food." His description of a possible future was accompanied by a wiggle of his thick brows, showing just how playful he was.

My heart swelled at the picture he painted for us, a future I hadn't dared to imagine for myself, not until now.

"I'm sorry," he apologized with a sheepish smile. "I'm not insane, I promise. You know how I tend to ramble on when I get nervous and uncertain, right? I assure you that I don't actually have all that planned out, not when we're only just at the beginning of a relationship."

"So, that means-?" I prompted.

"That means we're dating….I think. It's been so long since I actually went out on a date that I might have forgotten how it works. Tell you what; as soon as I run a quick check with Ric, I'm taking you out on a movie date. We can watch a chick flick for all I care, just as long as I get to hold your hand while you steal my popcorn," he teased mischievously, and I couldn't help but to chuckle right along with him.

A date with Damon. I could agree to that.

I beamed happily as our eyes met and held. There were so many things we could communicate with our eyes, so many things left unspoken. But it could all wait, because we had a whole future to discover. His gaze darkened once again while we stared at each other, and soon, we found our heads moving closer once again. Just when my eyes slid close, his phone rang, interrupting our moment.

Damon peered at the screen and with a roll of his eyes, answered the call. "And how may I help you, Care Bear?" he greeted the caller with flushed cheeks, looking like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

I tuned out of his conversation and allowed my eyes to peruse every single detail of his face, marveling at how utterly perfect God had made this one man, and then I took in his magnificent physique, admiring the way his lean and toned body looked in black. With his dashing good looks and charm, he could easily have a career as a model or an actor. His physical attributes aside, he was also blessed with a compassionate heart, and I found that that was his most attractive trait.

"What if I said that it's none of your business?" I heard him asking, and then he hastily pulled the phone from his ear when a shrill laughter sounded from the speakers.

"You're kidding, right? Of course it's my business!" the piercing voice that belonged to my best friend said. I gave an inquiring look at Damon but he only shook his head and pressed the phone to his ear again.

"Fine, be here at seven."

That was all he said before he tossed the phone away as if it was a poisonous snake. Sighing wearily, he flashed a contemplative look over at me, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "In a nut shell, we're both screwed because the gang wants to know everything that happened earlier including the aftermath of, and I quote, "the long-awaited kiss of the century", and now we have to prepare a dinner for seven people, because guess who's coming to dinner?"

"Umm, the gang?" I answered accurately because it didn't take a genius to take an educated guess.

"Bingo!" he exclaimed with a snap of his fingers. "I guess our afternoon's all planned out, huh? I guess we'll be sweating and toiling in the kitchen until dinner. You'll be the head chef and I'll be your sous-chef, so feel free to put me to work. I'll try not to screw things up too badly and accidentally mistake all my fingers for sausages or something. You in?" he asked as he hopped up from the bed enthusiastically and waited for me to join him.

Even though he made it sound as if cooking together would be a potential catastrophe, I still couldn't say no, not when he seemed so enthusiastic about being useful in the kitchen. With a shrug, I stood up, muttering loudly about slave-drivers and gluttony being one of the seven deadly sins. I started making my way out of the room but was immediately halted when Damon said my name in a displeased tone.

"Elena!"

"What?" I turned back, a puzzled expression on my face. What did I do now?

"Hand," he said simply, holding out his arm to me.

Still very much confused, I held my palm faced up to him, not knowing what to expect. With an approving nod and a wide grin, he covered my hand with his and laced our fingers together, pulling me beside him as we made our way downstairs together, hand-in hand.

I was fighting to wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the day.

Twitter: cgsa_cher

KRISTI (tukct81), have I ever mentioned how much I appreciate you as my wonderful sounding board and beta? If not, I should shower you with bunny-shaped chocolates until you can't even see your bed. COOL? REALLY, FELLOW READERS, KRISTI DID SOOO MUCH FOR THIS CHAPTER, I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU! Everybody, please send her your appreciated kisses and hugs!

Random Thoughts: I have this irrational fear that one day, my ass is gonna get bitten by a snake in my toilet bowl. OUCH. Advice: Look where you pee!

Also, R-E-V-I-E-W if you don't want to experience that!

THANK YOU FOR READING. :)