A/N: Wow. That is all we can say. Response to Chapter 19 was absolutely amazing, and made the first week of exams so much easier to bear. Please, everyone, keep it up. We love hearing everything you say, and to everyone who asked for Delena romance, (ie pretty much everyone) we hope you like this chapter. Please, please, keep up that level of response.

On another note, now that the finale has officially aired in the UK, we feel we can comment on it. We loved both the corset scene and Damon's comment to Elena about knowing him in 1864 – the latter particularly made us go crazy. Thanks to everyone who noticed it and said it made them think of this story – it means a lot to us that you would link something on the actual show with this fic.

So how's everybody holding up without their weekly Damon fix?

Disclaimer: We own only the plot.

1864
Elena POV

I watched, frozen with horror, as Damon struggled to free himself from Katherine's grip, but failed. She had her head cocked to one side, and an evil smile on her face as she forced him to drink her blood.

Her words echoed in the back of my mind. 'Let's see how you like eternity without her.' She was going to kill me, then. We'd finally gone too far. Part of me was wondering what, exactly, had brought this on. Was Katherine really that controlling? Would she kill me just for disobeying her instructions? Could jealousy take her that far?

Somehow, as I watched shove her wrist even deeper into Damon's mouth, I didn't doubt it. He groaned in pain, trying to get away from her, and the sound snapped me into action. Maybe there wasn't much I could do, but I couldn't just sit here and watch this.

Clambering to my feet, I pulled the perfume bottle out of my pocket. As dubious a weapon as it made, it had come with me everywhere over the past ten days. I held it up in front of me, finger on the nozzle, preparing to spray the perfume straight at Katherine – maybe even manage to briefly incapacitate her – when I heard another, familiar voice, from behind me.

'Katherine? What's going on?' Stefan's voice was shocked and confused, but as I turned to face him, I recognised the blankness in his eyes that accompanied compulsion.

The look on his face, however, indicated that apparently Katherine's instructions hadn't included standing by while she hurt his brother.

Katherine turned at the sound of his voice. 'Stefan!' she gasped, her control slipping for a split second as she released Damon, who collapsed, gasping, on the ground. Ignoring her, I raced to his side, dropping beside him and running my hands frantically over his back, wanting to let him know I was there but reluctant to risk speaking and drawing Katherine's attention toward us.

'What are you doing here?' Katherine had evidently pulled herself together. Her voice, although casual, almost playful on the surface, had a sharp undertone. I saw Stefan flinch at the sound.

'You said…to follow Damon and Elena….and tell you what they did.' Stefan sounded confused, Katherine's compulsion struggling with the emotions what he'd just witnessed had caused.

At this, Damon attempted to sit up, although he had to lean heavily on me, his hand resting on my shoulder. I put my arms around his waist, supporting him.

'It was…you?' he gasped at his brother. 'In Jonathan Gilbert's house…'

My eyes instinctively dropped to the ground, searching Stefan's shoes. Sure enough, my heart sank as I found what I was looking for, what I'd hoped I wouldn't see. The tell tale rip in the toe of the right shoe that marked them out as the same ones I'd seen under the desk. Stefan. It had all been Stefan.

The pieces fell together in my mind. Every time Damon and I had been alone together, Katherine had interrupted us. She'd known our every move, seemingly without even being around. She'd compelled Stefan to tell her what we were up to. Of course.

I struggled to remain reasonable as I stared at him. I knew that Katherine had compelled him, that he'd never hurt us on purpose, but somehow, I still felt betrayed by someone I loved. I pushed the feelings away. That wasn't fair, especially considering what had happened between Damon and I.

'Katherine…' Stefan said hesitatingly, ignoring his brother. 'What's going on?'

Katherine stepped up to him, her pupils dilating. 'Nothing. You will forget everything you saw here tonight,' she said, standing directly in front of us, so as to block Stefan from seeing his brother.

Stefan's face relaxed, the worry melting away. 'May I walk you home, Katherine?' he asked courteously, his face lighting up as he looked at her in a way that made me feel nauseous.

'Of course,' Katherine said sweetly, taking his arm and leading him away from us without looking back.

Once they passed out of sight, silence fell. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself as some of the tension melted out of my body. We'd survived. For the moment, anyway. For a long while, Damon and I, unable to speak, simply sat there under the tree, holding each other tightly.

'Why did she leave?' Damon asked finally. His arms were wrapped around me, a comforting source of warmth against the chilly evening breeze.

'I don't know,' I replied quietly. 'Maybe she didn't want to hurt us in front of Stefan. If she plans on turning him, he'll remember all this. Killing me in front of him would be pretty hard to explain.'

I felt a chill down my spine as I mentioned the possibility of Katherine killing me, and felt Damon's arms tighten around me in response.

'Elena…' he said quietly. 'What just happened….that means if I die with the blood in my system…I'll turn.'

'Yes, Damon.' I looked him straight in the eye, knowing that there was no point beating around the bush…especially after what he'd said right before Katherine had turned up.

'How long do I have until it passes out of my system?' he asked. Something in his voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He couldn't seriously be considering turning himself just to meet me in the future…yet something about that idea warmed me from the inside.

'How much of her…blood did you drink?' I asked. The concept disturbed me so much that I had trouble forming the words.

'I don't know,' he replied. 'A lot, I think…she was bleeding badly…'

'I can't say for certain….maybe a day? A little longer?' I replied honestly, remembering how Stefan had told me that Damon's blood would pass out of Bonnie's system after about twelve hours. By the looks of it, Damon had ingested a lot more blood than she had, however. Comparing that Damon to the one sitting in front of me and remembering how I'd watched him attack my best friend sent stabs of pain through my gut, but I pushed them away. He didn't need to ever become that person. He wouldn't if we could just keep him alive through this. I was resolutely ignoring the little voice in my mind that was telling me that this was just another indication that I couldn't change anything.

'What do we do now?' he whispered. 'Go back to the house? What if Katherine comes after us?'

I shivered, not liking that idea at all. 'Do you know anywhere we could go?' I asked. 'Just until tomorrow?'

Damon was silent for a second, considering.

'I can't think of anywhere,' he said finally, sighing heavily. 'Everyone's going to be locked inside their houses – the Council will have made sure of that. I was surprised that Father didn't try to stop us from coming out.'

'We can't go home,' I said firmly. 'Katherine just threatened to murder me and turn you. Going back would be a suicide mission.'

'What do you suggest we do instead? Hide in the woods until tomorrow?' Damon asked shortly. I would have been offended by his tone, but knew that his annoyance came from our situation, not from anything I'd done.

I looked around, surveying our surroundings. There was no movement in sight. No lights. No sign of anywhere we could go. Homesickness overwhelmed me as memories of the warmth and light of my own home flooded through me.

'One more day, Elena. Then you'll be back home, with Jenna and Jeremy and Bonnie and Caroline.' I told myself firmly, purposefully not thinking of either of the Salvatore brothers.

'Do you have any better ideas?' I asked Damon, turning towards him. Hiding in the woods didn't sound particularly safe, especially considering the number of vampires we knew lived in this town, but it seemed as if it might – unbelievably – be our best option.

He considered for a minute, than reluctantly shook his head.

I scrambled to my feet, reaching out a hand to help him up. 'Come on. We have to get away from here. Katherine could show up any minute, as soon she gets Stefan home and out of the way.' It struck me suddenly how I'd unconsciously started calling the Salvatore house 'home' and I realised ruefully that if not for the constant threat caused by Katherine's presence, I'd actually be very happy here.

I hadn't been in these woods since the night I arrived in 1864, and a few seconds after we passed into the cover of the trees, I remembered why. The trees were so thick that they blocked out the light of the moon, plunging us into pitch blackness. There was a constant sense of being watched from the shadows, although I was sure that this was just due to my paranoia. The memories of last time I'd been here, of the confusion and terror I'd felt as I ran from Katherine's carriage, haunted my every step, making me reluctant to go any further in.

'Elena?' Damon, who was slightly ahead of me, paused, turning back. 'Come on, we need to go further if we've got any chance of hiding.'

Pulling myself together, I followed. We kept going in a straight line, not wanting to get lost. Tomorrow, after all, we had to find our way out and somehow save Stefan and get the pocketwatch. The watch that would send me home.

'This'll all be over tomorrow.' I continued to tell myself silently. 'You can do this.'

Eventually, Damon stopped walking, dropping to the ground by a tree and pulling me down with him.

'We'll have to stay here tonight,' he muttered looking around edgily. He clearly felt no more comfortable than I did in here. 'There's nothing else we can do.'

'Should we take turns keeping watch or something?' I whispered as I settled down beside him, instinctively leaning against his shoulder. I felt his arm come around me in response and irrationally felt better.

His laugh was short and completely devoid of any mirth. 'I'm not sure there's any point, Elena. If Katherine finds us, there's absolutely nothing we can do to stop her. All we can do is hope we make it through the night.'

He was right, although it killed me to admit it. Katherine, despite our best efforts, was winning. Although we'd try and change that tomorrow, there was nothing we could do right now except wait it out.

I shifted, trying to get comfortable. The ground was rock solid, and we were definitely going to be sore in the morning if we stayed here all night. Still, at least it wasn't wet.

'Elena.' Damon's voice pulled me from my inane thoughts, which I knew were nothing more than my attempt to distract myself from the situation at hand.

'Yes?' Even as I replied, I knew what he wanted to talk about.

'I meant what I said earlier,' he said simply. 'I think I want to have the chance to know you in the future. And now that Katherine made me drink her blood…I can't help feeling that we won't be able to change anything. But even if we can't…I think it's OK.'

'Damon.' I turned so that I was fully facing him, reaching up to cup his face between my hands. 'Don't say that. We have to try to save you and Stefan. I've told you what the next 145 years will be like for the two of you. You deserve to be able to live a normal life.'

He didn't reply. Instead, he leaned forward, and I felt his lips meet mine. I wanted nothing more than to just give in, to press myself close to him and feel safe, but instead I pulled away, breaking the kiss.

'Elena?' I couldn't see him clearly, but I could hear the hurt in his voice. 'What's the matter?'

'Damon, this isn't a good idea.' I could barely hear my voice over the pounding of my own heartbeat, but it sounded uncertain even to my own ears. 'No matter how much we want to…'

'So you want to?' His face was mere centimetres from mine, and this time there was hope in his voice that broke my heart.

'Yes,' I said simply, giving in. 'I know it's awful, I know that in 2010 I'm with Stefan, but….'

The moment I mentioned Stefan's name, I felt tension rise in the air as Damon leaned back slightly, increasing the distance between us.

'I'm sorry, Elena,' he muttered. 'I shouldn't have done that…you're with my brother…it was wrong.'

'Damon, it wasn't just you,' I said quietly, wanting desperately to make him feel better.

'Elena, even if we fail tomorrow – even if I spend the next 145 years alone, waiting to meet you – you're still going to end up with Stefan.' Damon said bitterly, attempting to pull away from me. Reluctant to let him go, I gripped his arms, stopping him. For a second, we both froze, staring at each other. Then, somehow, we were in each other arms, kissing as if glued together. I had no idea how it had happened – I only knew that I hadn't been able to stand the pain in his voice when he'd thought about me choosing Stefan.

This time, it went deeper. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer as his fingers entangled themselves in my hair. He reciprocated, pulling me onto his lap, and pressing us even tighter together, making me aware of every inch of my body that touched his. His hands pulled out of my hair, sliding down my shoulders and over my hips. I reached for the top button of his shirt, but just as my fingers brushed against it, the call of an owl shattered the silence of the night, and we sprung apart in shock, Damon rolling off me and scrambling to his feet, searching our surroundings.

I picked myself up a little more slowly, trembling slightly, fighting to control my rapid breathing and heart rate, which weren't caused entirely by shock. I tried to focus, clearing my mind. The bird I'd come to associate with Katherine was a blackbird, not an owl, but the sound had terrified me, abruptly pulling me back to reality.

'I don't think we have anything to worry about,' Damon whispered, dropping down beside me. 'Just an owl.'

'I know,' I drew in a breath shakily, leaning back against the tree trunk. 'The sound scared me, though.'

'Me too,' Damon seemed to be avoiding my eyes. 'Elena….'

'I know,' I said quickly. 'We don't have to talk about it. I'm leaving tomorrow. It would be stupid for anything to happen between us now.'

'OK,' Damon said, relief obvious in his voice. The shock had brought us both back to earth, pulling us from our temporary insanity. I crossed my arms across my chest, hugging myself tightly as if I could somehow block out the memory of what it had felt like to kiss Damon, to have his hands on me.

'We should try and get some sleep,' Damon suggested, slightly sheepishly. 'We'll need our strength for tomorrow, whatever happens.'

Agreeing, I lay down, doing my best to get comfortable, although sleep seemed a long way off. Now, without Damon's arms to comfort me, my fear at being in the forest was back. Katherine seemed to be watching me from every shadow, whilst every rustle in the branches above me was her crow. This obviously hadn't been the best idea.

I had no idea what time it was, but it felt like it had been hours since we'd left the house. Would someone be out looking for us by now? I hoped not. The idea of an innocent person falling foul of Katherine turned my stomach.

I lay there for a long time, overly aware of Damon's presence beside me, but not touching him, twitching at every little noise. I squeezed my eyes shut, determined to try and pretend I was in my bed at home, but it didn't help. A part of me wished that nothing had happened between me and Damon that night, so that we could have been comfortable together. I was sure that his arms around me would have taken away at least some of my fear, and helped me sleep.

Finally, after what felt like hours of tossing and turning, I felt him take my hand, gently squeezing it. Even then, the first rays of light were piercing the tree tops when I finally fell asleep.

When I woke, Damon lying by my side, our hands still clasped together, it took me a minute to remember where I was. Then, as I sat up, dropping Damon's had, it all came rushing back – Katherine's threats, our dash to the woods, what had happened between us there. I felt a rush of heat warm my cheeks at the memory, and took several deep breaths, trying to cool myself down.

Apparently, we had indeed made it through the night, and judging by the position of the sun in the sky, it looked like we'd slept through the morning as well.

'Elena?' Damon asked groggily, sitting up beside me. 'What time is it?'

'I don't know,' I replied. 'Afternoon, I guess. We've slept through a good part of the day.'

'What time are the Council planning to attack?' His voice was sharp now, urgent, as the events of the night before came back to him, too.

'Early evening, I think,' I replied hesitantly. 'I'm not completely sure, though.'

I saw the panic in Damon's eyes. 'Stefan…he doesn't know about any of this. We have to get back to the house.'

Scrambling to our feet, the two of us raced for the edge of the forest, not troubling about being subtle. Somehow, I felt safe from Katherine today. The Council were going to be on high alert, and as long as we made it to the safety of the town, it was unlikely Katherine could hurt us without someone coming to our aid.

Surprisingly, nothing prevented us from reaching the Salvatore house.

'Walk,' said Damon in a low voice, putting out a hand to stop me from racing through the gates. 'We need to act completely normal. Father is going to want to know where we've been since last night.'

Crap. With everything that had happened, I'd forgotten how long it had been since we'd left the boarding house. How on earth were we going to explain our long absence?

'Hello?' Damon called tentatively as we entered the hall, which was deserted. 'Anyone here? Father? Stefan?'

There was a pause, and then Giuseppe came in from the dining room, looking even more distracted than he had the previous night. 'Damon…Miss Pierce….good to see you,' he said vaguely, obviously not focusing on us.

'Father? Are you alright?' Damon, who obviously couldn't believe that we were getting off this lightly, moved to go over to his father, but we were interrupted by a shout from upstairs. Without another word to us, Giuseppe bolted off. With nothing more than a quick glance at each other, Damon and I followed.

I'd known from the moment we heard the noise what we would find, but that didn't stop my involuntary gasp at the scene that greeted us in Stefan's bedroom. Katherine, dressed in nothing more than her corset and slip, was lying comatose on the floor, while Stefan, half undressed, stood over her, shouting her name.

His father stood in the doorway, yelling at his son to get the Sheriff, but Stefan was protesting violently.

'She's a vampire, son! Nothing you feel for her is real!' Giuseppe was yelling. He continued, finally throwing Stefan a shirt and sending him out of the room, but I wasn't paying attention. There was only room for one thought in my mind.

It was here. D-Day had finally begun.

Please review :) Hope you liked the chapter, especially the Delena romance.