Hello my lovelies! Here we are again! I've gotten a ton written over the last week, so expect updates and stuff!

Here is chapter 15!

Chapter 15:

Damon's POV

Watching Stefan and Elena practice for the pageant was unbearable at first – I wanted to growl at him every time they were dancing in the living room, but I had to remind myself that even though she was my singer, she didn't know and they were only dancing.

And after all was said and done, Stefan was a lot better than the quarterback or some other random dude. I at least knew where I had my own brother – Caroline would definitely rip his head off, he ever touched her inappropriately.

The only real upside was that Elena seemed to enjoy shopping for dresses. I was happy she had another female to go through everything with. I knew she had to miss her mother a lot, given that they were supposed to go through this together, but having Caroline there made it seem a little less horrible and lonely.

But a week before the big day, the stress and thinking about her mother seemed to get to her. I was sitting in the library, reading, when I her heart-rate sped up like crazy and I could hear her thrashing and crying in her bed.

I was in her room within a second, and held onto her, before I realized that she was still asleep – she was having a nightmare. I held onto her shoulders, and called out her name to wake her up.

Her eyes opened very suddenly, and she stared wildly around, before breaking down into tears. I wrapped my arms around her back and pulled her up to sit in my lap, just like I had done at the cemetery.

I had no idea why – we weren't all that close, but seeing her like that, I just couldn't not hold her. She was clinging on to me for her dear life and a warm feeling filled my body, as she put her head on my chest, pulling on my t-shirt. The feeling of her taking comfort in my presence made me happy in a way I hadn't been in years. Everything felt so right with her in my arms.

We sat like that, until her tears dried up. Then I carefully laid us down, her head resting on my chest, my arms around her.

Half an hour later, her breathing had evened out and she was back to sleep. I stayed for an hour, to make sure she was okay, and it seemed like the nightmare was gone for now. I then returned to my own room and stayed awake all night, to make sure she got enough sleep.

The same thing happened 4 more times during the week before the big day. And every night, I was up there with her, holding her until she fell back asleep. We never talked when I was there and we never mentioned it during the day either. I never asked her what the nightmare was about, because I knew she would share, if she felt like she needed.

So, instead, I held her and let her cry out in my arms. I was never really sure if she was properly awake, but it didn't matter to me. Awake or not, she could cling onto my shirt or my body as much as she would like. I didn't mind holding her.

To be honest, it was the best part of my nights.

When the big day arrived, she was a nervous wreck. She got up at 6am to make sure all her makeup and clothes was packed and then she proceeded to go over her style 5 times with Caroline, before they drove to the Lockwood mansion, where the pageant would be held.

I hadn't planned on coming, before Elena made damn sure I would – right before she left, she looked at me, all vulnerable and with those big doe eyes I suspected she knew I couldn't stand for and with the most quiet and shy voice, she asked me if I was coming.

Fuck if that didn't change all my plans about spending the night getting drunk with some bimbos. It's not like I did everything Elena ever asked me to do, but fuck, when she looked at me all vulnerable and like the whole freaking world would crash down on her, if I didn't make it, I had no say in the matter – I had to come.

So I went upstairs, took a long shower, spend an awful long time shaving. You'd think that being a vampire would make it so you didn't have to shave, but no – I still had to shave regularly in order for my cheeks to be all smooth, and since it was a costum at events like this, I did it. I even made sure my hair was looking alright, before I put on my suit and tie.

While it wasn't something I wore often, I'd had the use of a suit a couple of times over the years – I have always been able to pull off anything and a suit is no exception.

While looking at myself in the mirror, I remembered the first time I had put on a suit. Of course the suits looked a little different back then – my dad had bought us waistcoats, breeches and coats in black, so we wouldn't embarrass him at the funeral. I was 10 years old and I remembered the feeling of reality setting in, while my page was putting my clothes on me. The prior 4 days had been very odd – I had not seen my mother, because she had been taken by Smallpox, but I hadn't realized she was dead yet. I should have known – my father made me be in the room when she took her last breath, even though he knew it would scar me for life.

But as I was getting dressed up fancier than I had ever been before, I knew I would never see her face again.

We were a rich family, so the funeral would be in the local catholic church, which was probably the only reason why my father had spent so much money on our clothes. I didn't even want to wear them – it seemed odd to dress up, when we were all sad.

I shook my head, to remove the ugly memory. It had been centuries and I didn't like thinking back on the bad moments in my life – why would I, now that I was an immortal, powerful vampire, who could do exactly what I wanted to.

Still, my mother's face passed before my eyes once more, before I left the room and headed towards my car.

Pageants are not my thing, when there isn't a swim-wear category. We all know they are only about looking as fake as possible and repeating the same words as contestants have said throughout history – that their deepest wish was peace on earth.

Yeah, not my thing.

But it was a big day for her and I still hadn't forgotten that look she'd given me back at the boarding house, so I was patiently waiting at the end of the stairs, for her to walk down and take Stefan's arm. It wasn't going to be fun, seeing him walk with her, dance with her, but I would have to get over it – I once again reminded myself that it could have been the Donovan kid. Stefan was after-all a lot better than him.

But as I looked around, I realized that Stefan wasn't here. Where the hell was that asshole? The pageant was beginning and he wasn't in line with the other escorts.

I looked around, trying to spot him, but he was nowhere to be found. I was going to break his fucking neck for this. He knew how much this bullshit meant to Elena, so how on earth could he leave her high and dry like this?

I almost went to get him, before I realized that the first girl was already walking down the stairs – it was too late to try and call him. So I downed my drink (another small plus about pageants – free drinks) in one go, gave it to some stranger next to me and got in the escort line.

Let me tell you this – had it been anyone else than Elena, I would never have done this. I would rather see them humiliated than take part in a fucking pageant.

But this was Elena.

She wasn't doing this for selfish, shallow reasons. She was doing this to honor her mom and I wouldn't let fucking Stefan ruin it. Wasn't he supposed to be the hero in all of this? I was the big bad vampire, who had locked her up in the basement and kept her imprisoned here – Stefan was the hero.

So why was I standing here?

Every thought swooshed right out of my head, as Elena walked down the steps. She looked like fucking sunshine and everything good in the world. Her hair was up and did some curly thing down her back, only showing the deep plunge of her dress a little bit. The blue dress looked so amazing on her, I was surprised it wasn't painted on her – once again, I totally forgot the little but very important fact, that she was 16, because those curves didn't look like anything I'd ever seen on a 16-year-old.

And to top it all off, on the middle of her chest, my mother's necklace was resting against her perfect skin.

Her brown eyes were lit up with excitement, as she elegantly walked down the stairs, not tripping in her long dress. It wasn't until they landed on me, that she frowned, silently asking the question everyone was wondering – where was Stefan?

I didn't give a fuck in that moment, because she laid her delicate little hand on my arm and walked with me to the dance-floor and nothing was ever as important as that. I gave her a reassuring smile as we stood apart from each other, ready to perform the traditional dance – in that moment, I was finally appreciating why Stefan had made me learn the dance, back when the first parties had been held.

That dance was one big fucking tease. Most of the time we weren't allowed to touch, and feeling the heat of her soft skin, every time we got close to each other, made me want to grab her and take away so I could have her all for myself for the rest of eternity.

When the dance finally allowed me to take her into my arms, I felt her heart speed up and her eyes stayed on mine the entire time. She looked curious and her eyes were full of emotion, as we spun around on the floor, her elegant and delicate hands resting on my shoulder and hand. Her small hands were so soft and warm and she smelt like coconuts and vanilla and it took all of my self-restraint to not kiss her right then and there.

I cursed the musicians when the music stopped and we had to pull apart again, lining up like we were when we started. I would have happily continued for the rest of the day. Elena was still looking at me with emotion and curiosity in her eyes and I was pleased that her heart was still racing.

There was no time to talk after the dance, because the girls had to go straight to the podium to stand before the judges. I stood in the first row of the crowd, smiling at Elena who looked like a vision next to the other girls.

They were pretty too, but they looked like sheep next to Elena. In my mind, there could be no other winner.

"I knew you would thank me, for learning that dance at some point."

I spun around, to face Stefan, who was standing with his arm around Caroline. They were both smiling at me, like they hadn't just made a fool out of Elena, for not showing up. I sneered at him.

"Where the fuck were you and what the hell were you thinking? Leaving her like that? She would have been humiliated if I hadn't been here. You better get ready for some pain, 'cause I'm gonna fucking break your neck for this."

Instead of looking like he had just been threatened, Stefan just smiled at me and Caroline looked like she could die from laughing.

"This isn't fucking funny," I continued, stepping closer to Stefan. He raised an eyebrow at me, that ridiculous smile still on his lips. The fuck was he playing at? He had made a commitment to Elena and had broken it – like that wouldn't have consequences.

"Relax, Damon. You two needed to be pushed together, so I didn't show up. I knew you'd have her back," he said calmly. If it wasn't because we were surrounded by around 100 humans, I would've broken his neck right then and there. The fuck did he think he was?

"Don't ever do that again. I don't need you to push me into the arms of Elena."

Caroline raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, actually, you do. You two walk around as though you aren't both totally attracted to each other and want to be together all the time and it's painful to watch. We all know you want each other, so just start making an effort."

I couldn't believe it – why were they meddling in my affairs? And was my attraction to Elena that obvious?

"It's none of your fucking business, Barbie. Stay the fuck out of my life," I sneered, walking away from them. They were just about to crown the winner, and I wanted to stay and see if Elena won. I went to stand far away from Stefan and Caroline, so they wouldn't bother me, as the former Miss Mystic Falls took the stage.

She spoke firstly about how everyone here had already won by being in the competition and how proud they should feel and a ton of other bullshit I didn't wanna bother listen to. She knew what everyone was waiting for, so why not just get to it?

"And the winner of this years Miss Mystic Falls is..." I locked eyes with Elena, who was totally tense and her heart was pounding so fast, I was worried if it was going to jump out her chest, "ELENA GILBERT!"

Her face lit up in the most beautiful smile I've ever seen, as she stepped forward, to have the banner and crown put on her.

Yes, I think pageants are the stupidest thing in the entire world, but my singer was standing there, shining as bright as the sun and I didn't give a fuck if the reason was dumb – I'd do anything to make her smile like that.

And it made it all even better, when she went straight to me and wrapped her arms around my neck to hug me. She hadn't even looked at Caroline or Stefan – she'd just gone to me.

"Thank you for helping me with my nightmares... and for dancing with me," she whispered in my ears, as I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her a little tighter to my body. She smelled amazing and her heart was still pounding so hard, it felt like our bodies were in total synchronization, when we were pressed together.

"It's the least I could do," I whisper back, having to use all my self-restraint to not kiss her ear. And why did I say that? It sounded like some wimpy-ass modesty and that sure wasn't like me. But she shone that bright smile at me once again, and I was complete putty in her hands – it was embarrassing, really.

I kept my eye on Elena all afternoon, while she walked around, being polite to people she had probably never spoken to before. Mystic Falls is small, but it's not that small.

I stayed somewhat in the shadows, so she wouldn't have to worry about me following her, but just about having a good time. Her and Stefan and Caroline had a few glasses of champagne – weirdly enough she didn't even ask Stefan why he hadn't been at the end of the stairs.

Had she played a part in that whole thing?

In the end, I didn't really care – I would never tell Blondie, but I was happy we had gotten to dance. I'd finally gotten to hold her in my arms, while she was conscious and not bawling and it seemed to have made a slight difference in our relationship. I think it was a good one, but I wasn't entirely sure yet. Only time would tell, and we still had a while before she turned 24.

I got nervous when the Quarterback approached her – what the hell did he think he was doing here? And she had told him she wanted to break up. Couldn't he take a fucking hint?

"Who was that guy you were dancing with?"

Wow, nice way to get her attention, asshole, how about you congratulate her on that beautiful fucking crown on her head?

"Excuse me?" Elena said, seemingly shocked that he would talk to her that way. Before he got to open his mouth again, I walked up to them and put my arm on the small of Elena's back.

"Damon Salvatore. And you are?" I said, smiling coldly at him. He narrowed his eyes and looked at my hand on Elena.

"Matt Donovan. Elena's boyfriend," he said in a possessive way, that made me want to growl at him. Was he really trying to lie to me?
"Matt! I'm not your girlfriend anymore!" Elena said, taking a step back from him. I removed my hand and cocked my head at him.

"Have you congratulated Miss Mystic Falls on her crown? If not, I suggest you do it now," I said, keeping my voice cold and calm. Matt looked at me, his already pale skin turning whiter in fear. Oh, how I loved intimidating people. He stepped closer to Elena, but I stepped in front of her, crossing my arms over my chest.

He took one look at me, probably decided he couldn't take me in a fight and then looked back at Elena. "Congratulations. You deserved it."

Elena's heart was speeding, but she was safe behind me, so I didn't want to do anything about it. Right now I had to focus on him leaving her the fuck alone and realizing she didn't want anything to do with him.

"Thank you," she said, her voice quiet. Matt took one more look at me, before turning around and leaving. As soon as he was out of our sight, I turned around and put my attention towards Elena. I couldn't read the expression in her eyes – I figured she'd be happy I helped, but after looking at her, I wasn't so sure.

"Damon, he was just talking to me," she said. Her heart was still pounding away, but she was looking directly into my eyes, her look never faltering.

"He was being an idiot. He didn't even congratulate you before he got all possessive," I said disgusted. She sighed.

"Damon, I can protect myself. You don't need to scare away every guy that talks to me," she said, still looking at me, a glimpse of the fire in her visible. I had just threatened her ex away and she wasn't afraid at all. I wondered briefly how feisty she would be, if I went full on vamp on her.

"He was being an idiot. You don't need that right now. And you guys broke up. He should learn how to take a fucking hint," I said, clenching my jaw at the last bit.

"Yes, you are right and I can say that to him myself. I don't need you to protect me in these situations," she said, crossing her arms across her chest. I stepped closer to her, her face less than an inch from me. I heard her breath hitch in her throat and I noticed her heart speeding up and still she kept our eye contact.

"I will always protect you." I whispered and then I walked away, leaving her standing there, her heart pounding and her mouth gaping at me.

I was stupid enough to think that once Miss Mystic Falls was over, we wouldn't have anymore problems, until we had to look for colleges for her.

I don't know why I was that naive.

We got exactly three days, without any sort of drama. Elena was in school during the day, and when she came home, we sat in the library together, bent over books and there weren't anymore nightmares. The stress of it all must have been the reason why. I was actually enjoying being close to her, reading to her and building some sort of relationship between us. We were slowly but steadily becoming the weirdest friends anyone has ever seen. Sometimes I caught myself thinking of just how strange we were looking – she was this skinny, 16-year-old with the biggest, brownest eyes I have ever seen. She looked like she would cry if someone hurt a fly (which, in hindsight, she probably would), and yet, she was lying with her feet in the lap of a big bad vampire, who's killed more people than she had probably talked to, during her entire life.

Not that I would give a fuck about what anyone thought of us – we weren't out together much. I dropped her off and picked her up from school, but usually she would just come out to the car. Nobody ever saw us together.

But just as I was beginning to really enjoy it, everything went to shit.

You can't really say that I sleep tight – most nights, I sleep with one eye open. Especially since Elena has had those nightmares. Even when I'm actually trying to just sleep and not be aware of things, I still have my vampire hearing and that means I still wake up pretty quickly.

When I woke up, Elena was screaming again, but it was different. This wasn't just fright from a nightmare, it was pure terror. And it was my name she was calling out. I could smell smoke from her end of the hall and I knew there was no time to waste.

I sped up to here – she was still in her bed, even though her curtains, the wall and the floor was on fire. She was screaming my name and she was so pale that I was scared she was going to faint. Not pausing for a second, I wrapped her in her blanket, lifted her up and sped her to the outside, where she'd be safe – cold, but safe.

The next few seconds had me torn like never before – I wanted to stay with Elena, to make sure she was okay. I wanted to take her some place nice and cozy where she could sleep safely with me no longer than a few feets away – but the bording house was on fire and I needed to attend that problem. Even though we could easily afford to build a new home, the boarding house meant a lot to both me and my annoying hero brother.

Fuck.

I hadn't even bothered to call to Stefan. How big of an idiot was I allowed to be?
I started yelling Stefan's name, hoping it would wake him and blondie up, so they could get the hell out of the house. I didn't want them trapped in there.

Lucky for my newly found conscious, he and Caroline came speeding out a few seconds later – they had both wrapped themselves in their covers on the way out. As soon as they were out, I shouted to Caroline to stay with Elena, and then Stefan and I headed inside, to start working on the fire.

It seemed to be located to Elena's room only – it was working it's way to the floor under her bedroom, but lucky for us, we caught it so early that it didn't to much damage. We would need someone to come and fix her room up, and it sure wouldn't be cheap, but it was nothing compared to what could have happened.

Once the fire was out, I shot Stefan a look and sped down to Elena again. Her heart was still pounding and she was still way too pale. Caroline was holding her, comforting her, even though she didn't seem like she had actually understood what was going on. She looked so pale and non-responsive that I was beginning to worry she had inhaled too much smoke.

I gave a look to Caroline, and shifted Elena over to my arms, so she was pressed against my chest.

"Elena?" I asked quietly, as she leaned her head against me and put her hands on my chest.

It wasn't until that moment I realized that I was in my boxers. For once, I was really happy I hadn't slept naked – there hadn't been time to get dressed before rescuing Elena, and I think the shock of seeing me naked would only have made things worse. But now, that we were standing in the snow outside, I was weirdly aware of how little clothes I was wearing and how warm her hand was on my bare chest.

"You're cold," she mumbled, starting to rub her small hands all over me. I tried to keep myself from laughing – it didn't seem appropriate in the situation, but here she was, right after the shock of waking up to her room being on fire, and she was worried about my body temperature.

"I'm fine, Elena. The fire is out. You can't sleep in your room tonight, but we can go in, if you're ready," I said, looking down at her. She didn't look up at me. She just kept staring at my body, moving her hands around. My worry grew still bigger, because this didn't seem like her – I didn't know much about humans, but going through two things so big in less than 6 months, should affect her badly.

Would I need to get her a therapist?

"Can I sleep with you?" she asked, suddenly looking up at me. Her brown eyes seemed void of motion, but sort of curious. Her head was cocked again, and flashbacks of her life was thrown back to me, as her heart sped up.

"If that's what you would like to do, yes, you can," I said, perplexed that she would suggest this. While I definitely weren't the evil vampire who had "kidnapped" her a few months ago, we still weren't that close.

Were we?

I led Elena to my room slowly. While she should be in shock, she seemed more curious about the fact, that she had never been in my bedroom before. As soon as she walked in, she started looking around, seemingly trying to create a memory in her head. I looked at her for a minute, before I grabbed a t-shirt from my drawer and put it on.

"Can I take a shower? I smell like smoke," she said suddenly, turning around to look at me. At first I was thrown off a bit – a shower? Of all the things, she wanted to take a shower?

"Uh... sure. I'll give you some privacy," I said, handing her a towel and turning to leave my room – while there is a door to my bathroom, I wanted her to be able to feel relaxed.

"Thank you," she said, blushing slightly. I gave her a vague smile and then I headed down the hall, to survey the damage.

Stefan and Caroline were in there already, looking over everything. It seemed that her things were mostly unharmed – her journal had a few scorch marks, but in essence, it was fine.

Stefan looked gravely at me, as I started pulling out her clothes, to get them washed.

"This wasn't an accident," he said, his face telling me everything I needed to know. Somebody had tried to harm her and they had almost succeeded. My body felt hot with anger and I was doing everything I could to stop myself from growling. My possessiveness of her shouldn't come as a shock by now, but it did.

"Any traces?" I asked, once I had calmed down a bit. Stefan shook his head and I sneered. I wanted that son of a bitch caught and chopped in pieces.

"Tell me if you find anything. She wanted to stay with me, and I'm going to let her. She'll probably be having nightmares and I don't want to risk anything," I said, looking around one more time and grabbing her journal. I knew it comforted her and she might need it, however silly it seemed.

"Okay. We'll call someone in the morning to come fix it," Stefan said, hugging Caroline, "thanks for waking us up."

When I came back to my room, Elena was standing very awkwardly by my bed, clutching two giant towels to her body. Once again, I felt like chuckling, because my towels are pretty huge and it looked like she was wearing a gown, made out of fluffy towels.

"I, uh... I don't have anything to wear," she said, her face turning red. Any other day, I would have been smirking and answering with something sarcastic, but she had been though enough today, so I just found a pair of my boxers and a t-shirt she could borrow. I handed it to her and turned around, so she had privacy to change. She said a quiet "okay" when she was done and fuck, I was not ready to see her in my clothes. I wanted to throw her on my bed and fuck her into oblivion, but I had to restrain myself. She was 16, for crying out loud!

And, hopefully, she was still a virgin. I couldn't do that to her, however bad I wanted to.

"Damon?"

Had I really just zoomed out, like some lovestruck teenager? Fuck. This girl was killing me, and she didn't even know.

"What side of the bed, would you like to be in?" I asked, pretending as though I hadn't just acted like an acne-covered teen.

"The left," she muttered, climbing in. I smiled at her and walked around to the other side of the bed, climbing in and letting her rest her head on my chest.

"You put on a shirt," she mumbled, holding onto it. I looked at her, still sort of perplexed at the way she was asking. I had no fucking clue what to answer to that? Did she want me to take it off? Should I take it off? It seemed inappropriate to the situation.

Should I change the subject? Try to get her to talk about what just happened and her feelings? Shit, I needed to get a book on how to guide teenagers through trauma. Would it even help, if I did? Did it make a difference that she was my Singer?

"Do you think somebody did this on purpose?"

My train of thoughts was broken by Elena, and I was more grateful for her question, than I liked to admit.

"Yes," I said, not wanting to lie to her. I expected her heart to speed up or at least for her to gasp or something, but there was no reaction. She was quiet for a few moments, before...

"I want to learn to defend myself."

"Excuse me?" Had I just heard her right? She wanted to learn how to defend herself? Didn't she think three vampires was enough protection?

"You heard me. You guys are vampires, so you don't have a problem, but I'm human and I want to know how to defend myself," she said, sounding like we were discussing what to have for breakfast tomorrow, not about a major change in her life.

"Elena, do you think we would leave you behind? We would all protect you from any harm and we would be absolutely fine, doing that," I said, looking down at her mane of hair.

"It's not about that. I can't rely on you coming to save me every time something happens. You might not be there if something happens. I want to know how I can defend myself, if anything should happen," she said resolutely. I tried to hold back the smile that was slowly spreading on my lips. She was making me proud. My Singer wasn't going to sit around, expecting others to take care of her. She wanted in on the action.

"Okay," I said, threading my fingers through her hair. She turned her head quickly and looked up at me with excited eyes.

"You're serious?" she asked, a big smile spread on her beautiful lips. I nodded to her and she leaped on top of me, while I sat up in surprise, and she hugged me tightly. I tried to think of anything else, but the fact that we were in a very intimate position and the urge to rip my boxers from her pants was back with a vengeance.

"Thank you! I'll find a center tomorrow and you can come to all of my practices so you get your control-freak satisfied and you know I'm not leaping, and I'll go get outfits and stuff myself," she started ranting, still hugging me. I hugged her back, still trying to not feel like she was grinding on me. At first, I was just enjoying having her in my lap, but then her words sank into me.

"A center?" I asked, pulling away from her. She frowned in the dark, looking at me, as though I was about to ruin it.

"Yes... so I can learn from a teacher," she whispered, her brown eyes shining from a strip of light, coming between my curtains.

"No way. I'm teaching you."

Now her heart sped up and I almost had to throw her off my lap, when she licked her lips and looked quickly down to mine.

She was thinking of kissing me.

However much I wanted to comply and take her, I couldn't. So, even though my dick was starting to strain against my boxers, I smiled at her and laid down, while rolling her off me.

"You would do that?" she asked, when she was once again lying with her head on my chest, thankfully far away from my erection.

"Yes," I said, holding her tighter, "now, go to sleep."

There we are! What did you think? Who set Elena's room on fire? What are lessons with Damon going to be like? Things are definitely heating up! Leave me a review to let me know what you think!