Hi guys! I am back with a new update and an apology for not getting it out sooner! You all know I'm going through some not as fun stuff lately, so.. my muse has been a little silent. But here is chapter 22 and chapter 23 is in the making, I promise! Thank you, to my AWESOME beta Livialovesdelena, without her, this chapter probably wouldn't have been written until 2 years from now. So, thank her! She got my inspiration kickstarted with tons of planning and brainstorming!

I hope you enjoy the chapter and I'll see you at the bottom!

Chapter 22

Damon's POV

Elena fell asleep almost immediately and that gave me time to think about what we had just done. I hadn't wanted to break down like that, but the way she was pushing me and the way I heard her resolutely wait in my bathroom, made something in me click. I couldn't wait anymore. I couldn't sit down once again and have the talk with her about why we should wait and reject her again.

So I went for it.

Admittedly, I was rough with her in the beginning, but I needed her to understand who she was messing with. And smelling her arousal when I'd been drinking from her, was almost enough to make me cum, right there and then.

I'd always expected her to back down as soon as I got rough with her, but it seemed like there was only one time she needed to take a break. I was proud of her, for handling it so well. I had been so caught up in how close I felt to her, that I'd told her I loved her.

Luckily for me, I think she was asleep, so she didn't hear.

We still hadn't said our "I love you's", but I knew they were coming. Elena wasn't just any kind of girl. After having been with her for two months, I knew that she wanted hearts and flowers and all things romantic – and I would have to step it up to give it to her.

I would never have done it for any other girl, but Elena was special and I wanted her to be happy. She chose me, and I would have to live up to it.

I held her for a while, until I remembered that it wasn't night, but midday and I was going to have to wake her up before too long. I didn't want her to have a messed up sleep schedule, so when it was about one o'clock, I woke her up with lunch in bed. Not as romantic as breakfast in bed, I know, but time wasn't for it.

As soon as I saw the bite-marks on her thighs and her shoulders, I felt a weird mix between possessiveness and guilt. I loved marking her and I loved that she was mine, but on the other hand, I didn't like her looking like a human blood bag. She was so much more to me, and I needed her to understand that.

She smiled sleepily at me as she sat up in bed, clearly not ready to get up. Had I taken way too much blood, since she was that tired? I hoped not, but maybe I should give her some blood just to be safe. I put the tray down on the bed, and kissed her sweetly before I smiled at her.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, looking carefully for any signs of a lack of blood.

"Wonderfully sore," she said, smiling shyly at me.

I smirked back at her, wondering if she was talking about her pussy or the bitemarks. She blushed and I pulled back, sitting on the edge of the bed watching her eat.

She hadn't bothered to pull the covers over her chest, so she was naked from the waist up, but she didn't look like she cared. I liked that – she had an amazing body that she had to be proud of. I knew she'd been working for it, with all the cheerleading.

I enjoyed just watching her eat, remembering that she wasn't going to be human for as long as she should be. She had to rebuild her stamina, and then I'd talk her into drinking my blood later so she could heal the bites.

"Damon, I'm sorry I didn-"

I quickly pulled the tray away from Elena and pulled the covers over her upper body, before turning towards the intruder. I knew the voice, and I knew it wasn't Stefan or Caroline.

It was Alaric.

His vampire features came out as soon as he saw Elena naked in my bed with me sitting on the edge of it and he was growling. Elena's heart was pumping so hard I was getting worried for her, but I had to take care of Alaric first.

He pounced quickly, pushing me from the bed, onto the floor, his hand on his way through my chest. Lucky for me, I was older and stronger, so I flipped us while holding his arms down.

His fangs were out and he was growling at me, trying to get out of my grip.

"Ric!?" Elena screamed from the bed, "Damon, don't hurt him, please."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Elena, if you hadn't noticed, he's a vampire. Unless I drive a stake through his heart, he'll be fine," I said, letting my vampire features melt away.

Alaric looked back and forth from us, the veins disappearing from his face.

"You told me you hadn't touched her inappropriately," he growled.

I sighed and let go of him, trusting him to not rip my heart out.

"Well, I hadn't at the time. This is a new development," I said, looking at Elena, who looked thoroughly confused.

How on earth was I going to explain this to her? We both got up and I looked down at my chest, to see dried blood from Ric's hand.

"You better not be toying with her, Damon. You hurt her and I swear I'll stake you," he said, knowing that Elena was here on her own accord.

I'd told him about the bond and I'd told him about our relationship.

"If I hurt her, I'd drive the stake through my own chest. You have nothing to worry about, Ric," I said.

He looked at me for a while, before dropping the aggressive position.

"You two know each other?" Elena said, her voice shaking.

I looked back at her, feeling our hearts pumping like crazy. She was probably terrified.

I shot Alaric a look, before climbing onto the bed, looking into her eyes.

"It's okay, Elena. Take a shower and get dressed and I'll explain it all."

Of course, I had no intentions of telling her everything, but I would at least tell her about how we met each other. Ric would have to explain about her mom. I heard the door shut behind us and as soon as he was gone, Elena wrapped her arms around me and pulled me tight. I held her, and rubbed her back carefully, trying to calm her down.

"I'm so confused, Damon," she whispered. I made a quick decision and lifted her, carrying her like a koala to the bathroom. As soon as the hot water was cascading down our bodies, she seemed to relax more, leaning into my touch. I carefully washed her body, paying special attention to my bites on her shoulder and on her thighs. Her heart sped up as soon as my hands neared her pussy and I smirked at her, knowing she would be wet for me already.

She would probably be too sore from last night for actual sex, so instead I dropped the washcloth and traced a finger between her folds. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the shower wall. I couldn't believe how responsive she was to me. It seemed pure instinct to her, to spread her legs a little and give me full access.

Looking at her beautiful face, I gently inserted one finger and put my thumb on her clit, rubbing carefully. Her mouth opened a bit, and a small moan escaped, as her head fell backwards. I stroked her insides gently, rubbing faster, as I could feel her building up.

I added another finger and started moving them faster, as her moans picked up and she started moving against my hand. I put my mouth on her nipple sucking and teasing it as my fingers fucked her harder, my thumb pressing down harder on her clit.

"D-Damon, I'm..." she moaned, her body shaking with her orgasm so close.

"Let go, baby," I said against her nipple, rubbing harder on her clit.

She leaned forward, biting down on my shoulder as she came drawing my blood. I groaned as I felt the amazing pain, moving my fingers faster, to draw out her orgasm.

I wrapped my arms around her as she started slipping on the wet tiles, catching her before she hurt herself.

"That was..." she said, smiling at me.

I smiled back at her, as she kissed me softly. Maybe now she'd be more ready to hear the story.

When I'd finished up telling Elena the story of how Alaric and I met and why we went our separate ways, she seemed to have a hard time swallowing it.

"She used you to become a vampire?" she asked.

Ric nodded.

He'd gotten over her since, but I knew it bothered him that someone had used him like that. Even if he had to been totally in love with her.

"Why didn't you ever tell us you were a vampire?" she looked curiously at Ric.

He sighed and looked down at his hands.

"Your parents knew."

I whipped my head towards him in surprise. They had known?

"You told them?" I asked sharply.

Ric shot me a look before he turned his attention back to Elena, who also looked surprised.

"Your parents knew about vampires a long time before I met them," he said with a sad smile, "they used to kill vampires. But I changed their minds, because Miranda felt so safe around me. They stopped hunting vampires and instead, I became your protector."

This was news to me too and it made me wonder if they had ever known that I'd been following Elena all her life. Did they know that Elena and I shared the same bond that Miranda and Ric had?

"They used to kill vampires? Why? You guys aren't dangerous," she said looking between us, confused.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Elena, we drink people's blood. We are dangerous," I said, smirking at her.

She blushed and came to sit next to me, leaning her head on my shoulder.

"I don't think you are."

"Elena, you can't think that way. You never know if a vampire is going to come for you. We need to train you for it. That was what I was coming to talk about. I learned to fight when I was human and I can teach you too," Ric said, looking at Elena.

She looked up at me smiling coyly.

"Damon's already taught me a bunch. There was a guy after me a while ago and Damon taught me to defend myself against him," she said.

Ric looked at us.

"But vampires are different from humans. They're stronger, faster, more dangerous."

"I know, Ric. Damon taught me all of that," she said.

He seemed satisfied with this answer and his posture was more relaxed.

"Then I think it's your turn to fill me in. What have you been doing since the accident? I thought you died as well," Ric said with pain evident on his face.

I felt bad for him. I couldn't imagine losing Elena, and especially not as suddenly and violently as Ric had. I wasn't sure I would be able to handle seeing Elena with another man, having children with said man and creating a life without me by her side.

I didn't know how Ric had done it, but according to what he had told me, he was never interested in dating Miranda. Maybe their bond had been different from ours, because just thinking of the Quarterback touching her made my chest burn.

Later that day, we were lying in bed together, both on our sides looking at each other. We'd been talking for almost an hour now, and I was surprised at how well we were doing at keeping up conversation. It just came to us – it didn't even feel like we had to work for it.

"This would be so much more fun if we were naked," I said, as she smiled and giggled at me.

"That was your call, not mine, remember?" Elena said raising an eyebrow at me.

I groaned and rolled onto my back. Yes, it had been my call, but it wasn't one I was happy about.

"I was being a gentleman," I said, pouting at her.

She laughed and cuddled up to me, laying her head on my chest. She had been all ready to get naked and do the deed again, but I'd stopped her. Not because I didn't want more sex with her, but because I knew she had been a virgin and we should slow down, unless she wanted to hurt again.

"And you are a perfect one," she said, tracing lines on my stomach.

I leaned down and kissed the crown of her head, threading my fingers through her hair.

"Your name means light in latin and you are my light.. did you know that?" I said, suddenly feeling very vulnerable with her.

It wasn't often that I felt like that, but Elena had an effect on me that made me do things I hadn't done in over 200 years.

"Actually, it's Greek," she said casually.

I frowned and looked down at her. What did she know about this kind of thing?

"No, it's not," I said.

She laughed and turned to look at me.

"Yes, Damon, it is," she said, a smile playing on her lips.

"Elena, no offense, but I think I know this better than you do," I said, trying not to hurt her feelings.

She'd never been outside of America and last time I checked, they didn't teach Greek in American high schools.

"Fine, cocky, let's bet then," she said, suddenly sitting up in bed.

Oh, this was getting very, very interesting, very fast.

"Alright. If I win you're going to go to school without panties for a month," I said, smirking at her.

She didn't even blush. She just raised an eyebrow at me.

"But when I win, you're going to take me, Bonnie and Caroline to see a chick flick," she said. I smirked at her.

That would be one of my worst nightmares, but I knew I was going to win. I knew this kind of thing way better than her.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long to see my vast knowledge had failed me.

As it turns out, Elena is sometimes smarter than me. That specific case was one of those times.

I didn't believe her, until we sat in front of her laptop and both stared at the word Greek at the screen. She smirked triumphantly at me, and opened the local cinema's website.

"Son of a bitch."

"Oh, and you're paying for snacks." My girl said as she plotted my torture.

Elena was back in school again, so we found the same old rhythm of me helping her with her homework, but she was spending most nights in my bed now, frequently exhausted after rough sex.

The second time had hurt her a little bit as well, but she seemed to like a little pain. I would have to see how far I could take her at some point. Introducing spanking and blindfolds to her was definitely going on the list.

The trip to the cinema had been my personal hell, even though I liked seeing Elena enjoy herself. It only reminded me that we hadn't been on a proper date yet. I knew this was something Elena expected, so I pulled myself together and started planning a date only to come up blank.

I wanted to do something special, but I couldn't come up with anything, so instead I left a pretty dress in her room with a card saying to be ready by 6pm. I would take her out to a fancy dinner and hopefully that would be a good first date. It wasn't overly original, but I didn't know much about what teenagers liked to do in this day.

I would put on a fancy shirt and pants, but leave the full suit to another day. Maybe I'd wear a bowtie too. I even got the reservations without using compulsion.

When I was standing in my room trying to get my hair to behave, I felt nervous for the first time in a while. This was my first date in over 200 years and this one meant more than any other date ever had. Elena wasn't just some girl and I couldn't just shrug it off if the date totally failed.

I wanted it all to be perfect and I wanted her to have a good time. Hopefully the night would end with us being tangled in my sheets, both sweaty and filled with pleasure.

"Nervous?"

I turned around, to see my brother standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. Pushing my emotions away, I pulled my smirk into place and corrected my tie.

"Not at all. I know Elena likes me," I said, enjoying his reaction to my confidence.

His eyebrow was raised at me, as though he didn't believe me.

"It's okay to be nervous, Damon. I know you like her a lot," Stefan said looking at me as though I was some damn charity project.

"Just because she's important to me, doesn't mean I'm nervous. We both know where we are with each other, I'm just taking her out on a date," I said, annoyed with him.

Alright, I might have been a little bit nervous because I hadn't taken a girl out for decades. Literally. But, I also knew that Elena and I enjoyed being together. We didn't really have labels yet - for now we were just sleeping together and hanging out, but that was about to change. After the date tonight, we wouldn't just be complicated friends anymore.

"A date is big for you, brother," said Stefan, "you wouldn't do it with just anybody."

I grit my teeth, knowing that he was right, but not wanting to admit it. Yes, Elena was special, we all knew that and apparently my brother also knew how nervous I was that I was going to fuck everything up. I had witnessed what happened when a Singer didn't like their vampire and I didn't want to go through that.

Hell, just the thought of Elena hating me, made my heart ache in a very uncomfortable way.

"Well, you know that Elena isn't just anybody. Don't worry about me, brother, I'm cool as a cucumber," I said, smirking at him on my way out.

Time to get Elena and get going to the restaurant.

When I got to her room, all I could think was how amazingly beautiful she looked in that dress. The dress was dark red and had a plunging neckline. Her waist was hugged by a golden belt and ruffles sat tightly around her hip and upper legs. Her hair was up in a complicated hair-do and she had a matching clutch in her hand. No doubt on loan from Caroline's closet.

I had a hard time keeping my eyes from her body. She was smiling nervously at me, and I couldn't help but smile at her like some lovestruck idiot. Was she nervous, too?

"You look amazing," I said, grabbing her hand gently and kissing it.

She blushed fiercely at me. If I had been a mere human, I wouldn't have heard her quiet thank you, but lucky for us all, I'm a badass vampire, so I was able to hear her and feel her heart speed up.

"Are you all ready?" I asked, trying to get my emotions back under control.

She smiled at me, her cheeks still pink from blushing and nodded. I tucked her arm under mine and led her out the door to my Camaro.

The drive to the restaurant was very odd. Normally, Elena is not a quiet girl. She was quiet when I first met her and she didn't know me, but ever since I'd locked her in the basement, she hadn't hesitated to tell me exactly what she thought of everything. But on the entire ride, she was sitting in her seat, hands on her knees, looking out the window while biting her lip.

I didn't like this development.

I sped around the car when we got there, so I could open the door for her. She was quiet all the way into the restaurant and she seemed to take her time looking through the menu. Worried, I put my own down after quickly deciding, so I could just look at her. As soon as she decided I would ask her what the hell was going on.

"Elena?"

Alright, so I didn't actually wait until she'd looked through the menu, but dammit, I didn't like the way she was acting and I wanted it to stop. She looked up at me, as though it was a complete surprise that I wanted her attention.

"Are you alright?" I asked, the worry creeping up through my stomach in a very unfamiliar and unsettling way.

It had been a long time since I'd been worried about something that small and I wasn't sure I was liking the feeling. It was one thing being worried when Elena was hanging somewhere between life and death, but a whole other thing when she wasn't acting lime the Elena I'd become accustomed to. I knew Elena had changed me in a way I'd never thought, but this was different.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked nervously.

I raised an eyebrow at her, trying to push my own feelings of discomfort away so I could focus on her. Another unfamiliar trait, for sure, but I had agreed to be her boyfriend and I had to try and be the best for her.

"Elena, if you were any more stiff, you'd be a stick. Just tell me what's going on," I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

She bit her lip and looked down at her fingers, fidgeting with them. I held my breath, trying not to let her see that I was worried. In all the time I'd been trying to keep her at bay and pushing her away, I never thought she would be the one to push me away, but it seemed like that's what she was doing.

"I'm sorry, Damon, I'm just… nervous," she said, totally baffling me.

She was nervous? Of all the things she could have said, this was definitely not what I had expected.

"You don't have to be nervous. It's just a date," I said, looking over the menu again.

I heard her sigh and suddenly felt a wave of irritation fly over me. I looked up to see Elena looking pissed and I understood - it had to be the Singer bond. I could literally feel her feelings. This was completely new, so I was taken back a bit because Stefan never told me about this part. Of all the conversations we'd had about the Singer bond through the years, he had never mentioned anything about literally feeling each other's emotions.

I knew mood swings were a normal thing when going through something traumatic - I'd read that in one of the books I'd gotten right after Elena's accident, so I had a better idea on how to help her. Her freaking out like this had to be because of that.

"No, Damon, it's not just a fucking date. It's our first date and excuse me if I'm actually nervous because I wanted it to go well," she said, the fire back in her eyes.

While I did love that fire, that wasn't really the time for it.

"Whatever, I need the bathroom."

She stood up faster than I'd thought humanly possible, and hurried to the bathroom, purse under her arm.

I was left baffled at our table. Had she just run out on me like that?

Deciding quickly that I didn't trust her alone in the bathroom, I stood up walking casually towards the bathrooms and then sped in behind her. Elena was the only one in there and she was correcting her makeup by the sink.

"Are you okay?" I said, making her jump ten feet into the air.

I would have thought she was used to me vamp speeding around all the time, but apparently not. Maybe she just really didn't expect me to follow her to the bathroom. Right, as if I wouldn't check up on her.

"What are you doing in here, Damon, this is the women's room!" she said, looking at me angrily.

Shit, she was still mad. How on earth could I fix this one?

"I needed to check up on you, Elena. I'm not an expert, but when your girlfriend stalks off to the bathroom you're supposed to follow. Especially when said girlfriend has a habit of almost getting killed by freaks," I said, smirking at her.

"I don't have a habit of almost getting killed!" she spat in irritation.

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing, but quickly stopped when I saw her face. Wrong move, Salvatore. Definitely wrong move.

"Can't you just, not be an ass, for just one night? Just one night!" she yelled.

Fuck, I was in a world of trouble now.

"Elena, calm down, please!" I said, feeling my voice go desperate, but really not liking it.

The thing is, I hadn't done this whole dating thing for a very long time and while I hated to admit it, Stefan had been right. Of course I was nervous about going out on a date with Elena - for the first time in so many decades, centuries even, there was a girl I genuinely cared about. And not just like a normal person does, but in this freaky supernatural way that had us destined to be together for the rest of eternity and yet I still managed to fuck us up.

If that's not the universe trying to let me know I'm a major asshole, I don't know what is.

"No, Damon, I'm not going to calm down! I've been looking forward to this ever since you gave me the dress and I know you're not the most romantic person in the world, but I thought you were going to do something sweet and caring and… normal! Why can't you just for once try and see things from my perspective! Why can't you, just this one time, try and be normal!"

My insides felt like they had frozen to ice. Normal? Elena knew perfectly well that I wasn't what humans would classify as "normal" and I never would be.

If she wanted a normal, romantic, human boyfriend, why had she been wanting me so badly? Because I'm a fucking idiot. Because I believed, for a single second that she could like me for me and not just because of the Singer bond, but obviously I'm a moron, because this was doing nothing beyond proving to me that she didn't belong with me.

"Go to the car," I said shortly in a cold voice, before leaving the bathroom.

This was obviously a mistake.

Maybe there just wasn't anything other than friendship between Elena and I. Maybe our bond was like Alaric and Miranda's had been.

She was probably destined to be with some silly human and once she turned 24, she would have to die or beg someone to turn her, so she could turn the loser human after. Maybe I'd try the whole distance thing again.

It hadn't worked well when she was younger, but now that I'd spent time with her… it would be even more impossible. The thought of leaving her made my chest ache and I knew I wouldn't be able to leave her behind like I had done before.

I couldn't not be a part of her life. Not after knowing her like I did now. Cursing inside my head, I compelled the waiter to wrap our food up and then I went to the car where Elena was standing with her back to the car, arms crossed over her chest.

"What the hell was that, Damon? I bring up an issue and your response is just to order me out to the car like I'm some sort of child? How about you answer me instead of this bullshit?" she said angrily.

I opened the door to her side without looking at her.

"Get in the car."

"No, Damon, I won't get in until you talk to me."

I had about reached my limit, but I was trying my hardest to be patient with her. I didn't want to yell at her and I didn't want to show her the emotions going on inside my head at that moment, so I took a deep breath and looked at her, keeping my eyes cold.

"Elena, get in the fucking car or I will make you," I said coldly.

She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. If it wasn't because I was seriously angry, I would have thought it was cute, but right now the only thing I could focus on was the fact that she had just proven we didn't belong together at all.

"I don't get it! I don't get you! One moment you act like I'm the sole reason you walk on this earth and then the next one, you make me feel like crap! Why can't you just talk to me, like a normal person?" she yelled.

I felt my blood boil and knew I'd gone way over my limit.

"Because, Elena, I'm not a normal person and I won't ever be a normal person. I'm a vampire and for the last 200 years I've been traveling the earth, banging a new girl every night and living life with no regrets and then you came along and you changed everything for me. Now, I suddenly need to try and be what you deserve, because even though I know you're too good for me, I love you anyway and I'm so Goddamn selfish that I can't even let you go get what you really want!"

I drew in a breath, staring at her, my heart, as well as hers speeding in an uncontrollable way. I expected her to fight - I really did, but instead, she was just standing there, staring at me.

"Y-you… you love me?" she whispered, all the fight gone from her voice.

Fuck, had I just told her that I loved her? Shit, this was so not the way to do that. Not that I had planned it or anything, but I had at least expected it to be after hot sex or some life or death moment, hell, just somewhat remotely romantic. And instead, I ended up shouting it at her like an argument. Great job, Salvatore. Great job.

"Fuck, Elena, of course I do… but you just said it… I can't be what you ne-"

My sentence was cut off by a very un-Elena like kiss. She moved faster than I thought possible (and who knows - maybe it was) slamming her lips against mine while burying her hands in my hair. I responded as though on instinct cupping her face in my hands and kissing her back not even realizing until that moment how much I needed her in my arms.

When we broke apart, she pulled my hair slightly and looked into my eyes with a serious look.

"Damon, you're exactly what I need. And I love you too."

Fun story - I actually didn't know Elena didn't mean light in Latin but Greek, but one of my amazing reviewers, delenalu told me that it is actually Greek - so of course I had to add it to the story.

I hope to see a review from you guys, because they're a great motivation and I love hearing your thought! See you next time!