Chapter 25

Caroline sat in the small hotel room in Indiana that she had been sharing with Stefan. She stared at her phone, worry lines creasing her face as Stefan's phone went to voice mail again. He had said he was only leaving for a couple of days, but it had been a lot more than that. They had been traveling around the country, motel hopping, hunting and bonding. And while they were both too consumed by guilt to actually call what they were doing fun, she had thought they had been getting on well. In the grand scheme of things anyway.

Honestly she had been feeling worse and worse with every day that went by about the way she had left Elena. She was supposed to be her best friend, and she had just ditched her in her time of need.

She flopped back onto the lumpy bed and sighed. She had been so terrified of being the only vampire in mystic falls, of having to deal with everything by herself, that she had jumped at the chance of tagging along with Stefan. Not to mention the fact that he was her friend, she felt sorry for him, he had just being trying to protect Elena, she truly believed that.

But now, alone in some ugly little room in the middle of no where, her thoughts were stuck on her best friend. That understanding yet heartbroken look on Elena's face when she told her that she was leaving, was playing on a loop in her head.

She glanced back down at her phone, the display still read no new messages. She ran a hand clumsily through her hair, squeezing her eyes closed as she tried to come to a decision. Maybe she could just pop back home to check on everyone. Stefan would never know, it didn't look like he was on his way back from wherever he was anyway.

She nodded to herself.

"I'm going to do it." She murmured to the empty room.

Her heart clenching with excitement and fear at the idea of going back to mystic falls. She knew that she might not get the warmest reception; she had just left without a word after all. She hesitated, maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

A few rounds of getting to know each other later, Damon and Elena lay panting in the bed, their limbs entangled and slightly giddy smiles on their faces.

"I wish I could stay here all day, but there is a quick errand I need to run." Damon murmured, his hand absently tangled in her hair.

Elena frowned and snuggled closer to him, drawing her legs around his hips to prevent him from moving. He groaned at the contact and closed his eyes in frustration.

"You're torturing me."

"So don't leave!"

He sighed.

"There's a council meeting, I should go and smooth things over, explain my absence, get back in with the idiots…"

She mumbled in protest and he chuckled quietly.

"I need to know if there's any potential danger… I gotta keep my princess safe." He said with a smirk, placing soft kisses on edge of her jaw.

Her stomach fluttered and she smiled.

"I like being your princess." She giggled, with a blush.

He grinned and kissed her lips, softly dipping his tongue inside her delicious mouth, she moaned and the world faded as she got lost in his taste.

He pulled back with his eyes closed and smiled softly, before gently disengaging himself from her and hauling himself out of bed.

He looked down at her, hair messy and spread across his pillow, eyes deep and full of lust, the sheets rumpled around her waist leaving her perfect upper body shamelessly on display, and nearly forgot all about the stupid council and jumped back into bed.

He quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and shirt before he could be tempted by her pout. He needed to go to the meeting, he needed to be aware of what was going on the town, and besides, he was worried about Stefan.

"I won't be long, I promise." He assured her, leaning down and pecking her on the lips, she tried to pull him closer but he evaded her.

"Nope, not going to work. I'm being responsible."

She scowled.

"Why do you have to go and decide to be responsible now?"

"Well…precious cargo and all." He murmured.

Her stomach did that distracting flip flop again and she felt a goofy grin spread across her face.

He winked and ruffled her hair.

"I'll be an hour, two most."

He grabbed his phone and keys, kissed her one more time and hurried to the door.

"I love you." She called after him.

He looked back at her and gave her one of those rare and truly genuine smiles that she adored.

"I love you too."

Damon drove to the meeting quickly, his thoughts filled with Elena. The idea that she was his was so new to him. A part of him was still certain that he had died and gone to heaven, and that Elena would never be with him in the real world, but there was another part of him, which was beginning to acknowledge the fact that she washis. He could kiss her, touch her, love her without someone telling him not to or pushing him away. It was the most enrapturing feeling he had ever had during his 160 odd years on this earth.

And he was determined to let no harm come to her. It had been obvious after their little run in with Stefan that he was on human blood and it had been bugging him ever since. He wanted to make sure that he was the first to know about any unexplained animal attacks around town.

The meeting had gone well. He explained his absence with an easy lie and alongside a few apologies he was welcomed back with open arms. Sheriff Forbes was spending all her time looking for Caroline and so wasn't very active on the council anymore. He had also been glad to learn that there had been no attacks in or nearby town. Although the sensible part of him knew that that just meant that Stefan was being careful, it was still a weight off his shoulders.

It wasn't until he was walking back to his car, swinging his keys in his hand, that his mood darkened. Bonnie was walking on the other side of the road, a book tucked under her arm and a hard expression on her face. Damon scowled and crossed the road, standing in front of her and forcing her to stop. She glared up at him.

"What do you want? I thought you were gone." She said in an irritated tone.

Damon resisted the urge to just snap the stupid girl's neck.

"Do they give awards for being the worst best friend in the history of time? Cause you should be nominated, go for the gold." He replied, his voice equally cold.

"I sorted out my priorities and decided where my loyalty lay. That's not a crime." She snapped back.

"No, but getting on my bad side isn't a very good idea. And right now you're so far south of my bad side you're in fucking Antarctica."

"Don't threaten me Damon. I can take you down."

"I'd like to see you try." He scoffed, cracking his knuckles and letting the veins under his eyes show just a little.

He almost grinned when he saw Bonnie's small gulp.

"Don't come near me again." She spat, turning on her heal and walking briskly away.

Damon rolled his eyes and headed back to his car, a skip in his step as he thought of getting back to Elena. The whole excursion had taken a lot less time than he had thought; less than an hour.

Elena smiled and snuggled down into the pillows after Damon left. She had no intention of leaving his bed until he got home. She couldn't seem to wipe that stupid grin off her face. In the middle of the lowest point of her life, she had found something that could make her happier than anything. Damon healed her, not just physically, although he seemed to do that a lot too, but mentally, emotionally. He taught her how to smile again and made all the pain take a back seat.

She didn't want to hurt herself any more, she didn't need to make herself numb and let herself be used. He'd shown her, reminded her that love wasreal and worth fighting for. He'd made her feel needed and wanted, he'd healed her. Inside and out.

She giggled to herself. When had she become such a sap?

Her grumbling tummy ruined her plan of just staying tangled in Damon's sheets until he returned and she reluctantly clambered out of bed, pulling one of his long black shirts over her head. She internally did a little hop at how she felt wearing his clothes and felt a slight tug of sadness that she didn't have a best friend to call and squeal with. She would have liked to gush to Caroline about how happy she was and how she seemed to have a continuous butterfly ballroom in her stomach.

She sighed and carried on down to the kitchen, forcing thoughts of Caroline away. She wasn't going to let anything kill her buzz.

She put in some toast and pulled Damon's shirt tighter around her, loving how enveloped she was in his smell. Wearing his clothes, the smell of his aftershave filling all her senses, her hair rumpled from his fingers, she felt like she was truly his. It was an amazing feeling.

If someone had told her two years ago that Damon Salvatore would be the person to make her happy beyond imagination, she would have laughed in their face. But he had, despite everything, she was happy. Really and truly happy. It was an almost foreign feeling.

"I'm happy." She whispered to herself. The sentence tasted unusual on her tongue.

"Oh how sweet."

She whirled around and her heart thumped in her chest.