A/N: Wow, there was definitely a huge response to Chapter 10! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! We know that some of you had questions, but believe this chapter answers quite a few of them. To everyone asking why 2010 Stefan and Damon don't remember Elena from 1864, all we can say is that you'll have to wait and see :) Hope you enjoy this chapter and please review!

1864

Elena POV

My heart actually stopped. Despite all my bravado, despite the fact that I'd wanted to fight Katherine, to anger her, I hadn't wanted this. I hadn't wanted to drag Damon into the war between the two of us.

Damon stepped forward, trying to drag me behind him. Trying to shield me. I stood my ground. This was my fault, and I would face it.

Katherine noticed the movement. 'Trying to protect her, are we Damon?' She laughed derisively. 'As if either of you could ever stop me from doing exactly as I want.' She stepped up to Damon, staring him down. I saw the telltale movement of her pupils and cursed myself for not finding him some vervain. 'Leave us, now.'

Letting go of my hand, Damon headed back into the house, unable to resist her compulsion. I stayed where I was, trying to prevent my entire body from trembling.

Katherine turned back to face me, fire blazing in her eyes. 'It seems to me that you don't understand exactly what you're dealing with here,' she said. Her voice was completely calm, which made it all the more terrifying. 'Maybe it's time I showed you what I can do to you.'

My heart was beating again. Hard enough that I could feel each individual beat pounding against my chest. For a second, I considered giving in, begging for her forgiveness, but immediately repressed the urge. I pushed the fear away.

'Go ahead. Take a bite out of me.' I said defiantly, staring her down. 'What do you think will happen then? The people of this town aren't exactly tolerant of vampires, are they?'

Katherine stepped back, flinching as if I had slapped her. 'You…how do you know about that?' she hissed. Again, despite the fact that she still had the upper hand, I felt satisfaction fill me. I'd thrown her for the second time tonight.

I lifted my chin. 'I know a lot more about you than you know about me. And if you don't want me to go straight to the mayor with my information, you'll leave me alone.' I had no idea where any of this was coming from. All I knew was that once again, I had to choose between fight and flight. Only this time, it was flight that was impossible.

Eyes still flashing, Katherine opened her mouth to reply, but we were interrupted by the arrival of Stefan.

'There you two are! The carriages are arriving – it's time to leave. Have either of you seen Damon? He was right here, but then he just…disappeared.' he said.

Neither of us answered, still staring at each other, waiting for each other to back down. Apparently noticing the strained atmosphere, Stefan stepped forward, sliding his arm around Katherine's waist. She didn't react. I could see anger in her eyes, but it was fighting with something that looked like confusion. I felt a surge of hope in my chest. Maybe I could survive the next two weeks after all.

'Katherine? Elena? What's going on?' he asked, looking from Katherine to me in confusion.

Just like that. Katherine unfroze, turning to Stefan and gently running a finger down his arm, just as Damon had done to me earlier. Even in this situation, the memory sent a surge of heat through me.

'Nothing's the matter, Stefan. Elena and I were just…talking.' Katherine said sweetly, leaning forward to whisper something in his ear. A smile spread slowly across his face, and I waited for jealousy to fill me at the sight of them together. Nothing came.

'I'm sure Elena can find Damon,' Katherine went on, waving a hand in my direction. 'Why don't the two of us go and wait in the carriage?' She smiled flirtily at Stefan.

'OK, thanks, Elena,' replied Stefan, barely looking at me. He took Katherine's hand and they started towards the carriages. I didn't miss the icy look Katherine shot at me over her shoulder. The argument between us was not over. Not even close.

I stood my ground until they had passed out of sight, the collapsed to the floor, trembling. How long could I keep this up? How long could I possibly keep holding my ground against a vampire?

'Elena!' Damon came crashing out of the house and dropped to the ground beside me, putting his arm around my shoulders. 'Are you alright? What did she say to you? When she made me leave I got Stefan to come outside to the two of you. I'm so sorry Elena, I wish I could have stayed with you.'

'You were compelled, Damon. I understand.' I said, shakily. He held me tighter, pulling me close. 'We should get you some vervain, though. What if she compels you to turn against me?'

'I'll look for some tomorrow,' Damon promised. 'What did she say to you?'

I told him what had happened as quickly as I could. I didn't have it in me to dwell on it for much longer.

'So I told her that she'd have to leave me alone if she didn't want to me to expose her to the townspeople. Stefan came out before she had a chance to reply, so I don't know what she thought of that,' I finished.

Damon covered his face with his free hand, actually letting out a shocked sounding laugh.

'You think this is funny?' I demanded, trying to pull away from him.

'No! Not all, Elena,' he protested, pulling me back. 'I'm just amazed…no one ever stands up to Katherine. Not even people who don't know the truth about her. And you do it not once, but repeatedly. Even though you know exactly what she can do. I just…you're really something, Elena.'

'I didn't like watching her hurt you,' I replied honestly. It occurred to me that in both 2010 and 1864, I always felt able to be honest with Damon. Except about my relationship with his brother in 2010. I felt a wave of nausea at the thought. What if I failed to save them? When I got back, would they remember all this? Would Stefan know about what had happened between Damon and me? Would Damon?

Damon smiled and gently kissed the top of my head. 'We should go. They're waiting for us in the carriage, and I think we've both done enough to anger Katherine tonight.'

I sighed. 'I suppose we have.'

Damon took my hand as we walked back to the carriage, and held on to it. I didn't resist, in fact, I welcomed it, leaning into him slightly as we walked. I knew I would eventually have to think about what I was doing, about what this meant, but that could wait until I was in the privacy of my room.

Damon dropped my hand as we approached the carriage, turning to me with a rueful smile. 'I think it might be best if we don't…flaunt our relationship in front of Katherine for the moment. Despite what you said to her.'

I didn't reply for a second, too hung up on what he'd just said. So much for waiting until later to think about this. Relationship. That was how he viewed this. That was what this was. I'd known that, deep down, but this was the first time I'd heard it described as such. I was currently in relationships with both the Salvatore brothers. Just like…Katherine.

My head started spinning. I couldn't do this. I wasn't Katherine. I didn't want to be Katherine.

'Elena? Are you OK?' Damon's voice seemed to be coming from a long way away.

I pulled myself together. I'd already faced Katherine down today. I was not going to fall apart because of one little word that made me more like her.

'I'm fine,' I said as calmly as I could. 'Let's go.'

'You two took a while,' said Stefan as we entered the carriage, shooting a knowing smile at his brother.

'My fault,' Damon replied casually. 'I got talking to a few of the townspeople and made Elena wait for me.'

I nodded, trying to look as if this wasn't news to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Katherine staring at me murderously. I had a feeling that tonight, I'd gone too far. There was no way she was going to leave me alone now until she found out what she wanted to know. My necklace was no longer sufficient protection – I had to start ingesting vervain as soon as possible, or, at the very least, conceal it in other places about my person. And I definitely had to try and figure out how the watch worked. I had no idea how I was going to do that, but I needed to be as prepared as possible for the night of the massacre.

The moment we got home, I bid everyone good night and went straight to my room, lying down on the bed without even bothering to take off my ballgown. Tonight had been eventful, to say in the least. Katherine was now going to be out for my blood even more than before.

Somehow, though, my homicidal doppelganger was no longer the first thing on my mind. All I could think about what Damon, and what had happened between us that night. I knew I should stop. Break it off. It would be safer for both of us, and the smart thing to do. I was only here for two more weeks, and then I was going home, either to a world without the Salvatore brothers, or back to my relationship with Stefan. There was no logic to a relationship with Damon, none at all.

Yet somehow, I didn't want to stop. Damon had been by far the best part of this entire experience, and if I was being honest with myself, our kisses tonight were a big part of that. Being with him felt good and I couldn't deny that I did have strong feelings for him.

But what about my feelings for Stefan in 2010? Dizzy with confusion, I sat up and began to undo the fastenings on my ballgown. I needed sleep. Maybe I would wake up tomorrow and find my feelings miraculously clear. Tomorrow, I needed to be able to concentrate on other things, like somehow finding the watch. And finding some vervain to drink. And convincing Katherine not to kill me. Now that I thought about it, confused romantic feelings shouldn't really rank that high on my priority list.

I had gotten the gown off and was attempting to untie the corset (over the past two weeks I had learnt how to take off a corset, if not how to put one on) when, without so much as a preliminary knock, the door opened and Damon came in.

He blushed bright red when he saw what I was wearing and quickly averted his eyes. 'I'm sorry, Elena' he stammered. 'I would have knocked but…well I heard Katherine and Stefan coming up the stairs and I didn't want to run into them.'

'It's OK,' I said, quickly yanking a nightgown over my head. I'd finish removing the corset later. 'What's the matter?' I asked, settling down on the bed.

'Elena, don't you think we should talk about what happened tonight?' Damon asked, coming to sit on the edge of the bed.

I groaned inwardly. I didn't want to talk about it. Nevertheless, I knew we did have to.

'We can't be together, Damon,' I said, ignoring the fact that every instinct in my body wanted to lean over and kiss him. 'Not only because of Katherine, but because…I'm going to be gone soon.'

'I know that,' he said quietly. 'I know that you're leaving, and I know that it's not smart for us to be together…now. But I wanted to ask you something.'

I sat up straighter. I had a really, really bad feeling about this.

'What is it?' I asked, bracing myself.

Damon looked straight into my eyes. 'You said that in your time, you knew my brother and I. I know that you want to try and stop Stefan and I from turning, but doesn't the fact that you know us in 2010 kind of mean you're going to fail?'

'We don't know that, Damon. I'm going to do my best.' I said, relaxing a little. If that was all he wanted to ask…

'I know,' he paused. 'But if you don't manage…if I end up knowing you in 2010…what I wanted to ask you, Elena, is' – he took a deep breath – 'what's our relationship, in 2010? Are we together then? Why do you have my brother's necklace?'

My heart had stopped beating for the second time that night. I stared at Damon, unable to answer. What was the right thing to do here? Should I tell the truth? Or should I lie and become yet another person to hurt him by preferring his brother?

Please review! And expect more action in the next chapter now that the Founder's Ball is over!