Chapter two

"We found love in a hopeless place"- We Found Love by Rihanna

Damon Salvatore was back, but he wasn't the same.

That was obvious to everyone. Damon tried to act like the man who left Mystic Falls eleven months ago, but his effort was obvious. The fact that Damon even came back when he found out that Stefan had been attacked showed that he had changed.

"What are you doing here, Damon?" Stefan asked his brother, as Damon walked towards the stairs with his bags.

"You were attacked, weren't you?" Damon asked with a raised eyebrow, pausing at the stairs.

"Why would you care?" Elena asked bluntly.

Damon's icy blue eyes trained on her, and that's when another change in Damon became obvious. He didn't wink at her, or undress her with his eyes. he just looked at her like she was a normal person.

"Because If anyone is going to kill Stefan, It's me. I reserved that right, it's mine. so if anyone tries to take that away from me, I take it personally." Damon said casually, walking up the steps to his room.

Stefan turned his gaze onto his girlfriend. "You called him, didn't you?" he accused, frowning at her.

Elena sighed. "I thought he deserved to know. I never thought that he would actually come back." she said, walking back to get Stefan's blood for him.

They weren't the only ones surprised by Damon's sudden return, or change of attitude. The next day, when Bonnie and Caroline came to pick Elena up for school, they found out that Damon was back in town.

"But why?" Bonnie asked, as they walked to her car.

Elena shrugged. "I don't know. But, he's different. He changed." She said.

"That could just be Damon trying to trick us," Caroline argued. "It's not like he hasn't tried before."

"no, because he was trying really hard to act like old Damon." Elena argued, before sighing. She had no idea what was up with Damon.

Stefan managed to make it his brother's bedroom door, but it took some effort. He wanted to know why he was back. not for a second did Stefan believe that Damon was back for him. it wasn't possible.

"-I don't know when I'll be back." Stefan heard Damon say, and looked through the crack in the door to see his brother talking on the phone.

"No, I don't want you travelling. Besides, it's too dangerous here. I don't know what's running around town, but I don't want you caught in the middle." Damon said to the person on the other line.

Stefan couldn't hear what the other person said, for he was still too weak, but Damon sighed. "No, I haven't told them yet. I will, I promise." He said.

Stefan heard mumbling on the other line and then Damon said, "I l-" he stopped suddenly.

"It's rude to eavesdrop, Stefan." Damon called out to his brother.

Stefan sighed, and walked into Damon's room, just as he muttered, "I'll call you later." Into the phone, and then hung up.

"Who were you talking to?" Stefan asked his brother curiously.

"Don't worry about it." Damon smirked at his little brother.

"Why are you back?" Stefan asked again, and Damon sighed in annoyance.

"I told you already- I'm here to kill whatever jackass attacked you." Damon muttered, putting his phone in his pocket.

Stefan suddenly noticed a chain around his brother's neck, but whatever was on the chain was tucked into his shirt. "Funny, how I don't believe you." Stefan said dryly.

Damon just shrugged. "Doesn't matter if you believe me or not. Just remember to thank me when whoever attacked you is dead." Damon said, before grabbing his jacket and walking out the door.

Stefan watched his brother leave, adding their conversation to the list of things different about Damon. Stefan could almost fool himself into believing that his brother cared about him. he wondered again, what the hell happened to Damon his year away.

Another different thing about Damon, was the fact that no sorority girls had stepped foot into the Salvatore Boarding house his first week back. in fact, he didn't flirt with anyone. There were also no missing people in Mystic Falls or the towns surrounding them. Yet another change in Damon Salvatore.

The only things Damon really did his first week back was try to figure out who attacked his brother. He had recruited Alaric for that, and even though it was his idea in the first place, to have Damon be told about Stefan's attack, Alaric wasn't too thrilled that Damon was back.

"I think I have a lead," Damon told Alaric abruptly, as the teacher graded papers at the Grill.

"Why are you telling me?" he said irritably, as the vampire sat down next to him. "In case you forgot, we're not friends. I don't like you."

"Oh, come on Ric." Damon said cheerfully. "Just come and check it out with me. for old time's sake."

Alaric groaned, but agreed to. The teacher noticed the chain around Damon's neck, and raised an eyebrow. "What's that?" he asked, as they walked out of the bar.

Damon looked down at the chain, and touched it. He shrugged, and tucked it under his shirt more. "Long story." He said evasively.

They drove out of town in silence, Alaric thinking about the obvious changes in the vampire next to him. a part of didn't really want to know what had changed Damon, but he couldn't help but be curious.

"so, what's this lead you got?" Alaric asked finally.

"I've been thinking about what the person was, who attacked Stefan. If it was a vampire, or a vampire hunter-" Damon smirked at Alaric, who rolled his eyes. "But I was thinking, what if it was none of the above?"

Alaric raised his eyebrows, but Damon didn't explain any further, as the pulled up to a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. He followed the vampire apprehensively to the cottage door. Damon didn't knock, but instead, pushed the door off of its hinges.

Damon walked into the house- meaning that there were no alive human owners of the cottage. Alaric followed him into the silent cottage, with no sign of any life. Damon led the semi-retired vampire hunter down to the basement.

"Damon, do you even know if there's anything-" Alaric was cut off, when Damon gestured to a wall with chains hanging off of it. The vampire smirked at him, as it dawned on Alaric what Damon was thinking.

"Werewolves."

Elena and Stefan were back at the boarding house, and Stefan was almost completely healed. The couple were talking about what could possibly be up with Damon, but they could really come up with a plausible answer.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and both of them went to answer it. Stefan opened the door to reveal a young woman in her low twenties. She was pretty, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and freckles galore. She beamed when she saw Stefan and Elena.

"You must be Stefan!" the woman exclaimed with a slight British accent. "I've heard so much about you. Are you feeling any better?"

Stefan nodded slowly, his eyebrows furrowed. The girl turned to Elena, and beamed at her too. "Elena, right? I've heard about you too."

"Excuse me," Stefan interrupted her excited babbling. "But who are you?"

The girl instantly frowned, her hazel eyes darkening to brown. "You… don't know who I am?" she asked, sounding hurt.

Elena and Stefan shook their heads. The woman huffed, before raising her left hand. On her ring finger, there was a beautiful diamond wedding ring.

"I'm Charlie, Damon's wife."

A/N: thank you to: Silently Tearful for the first review of the story!

Reviews are much appreciated!

~Abby :)