A/N: Here comes chapter 4. I'm trying to upload this story once a week and it works so far. Thanks everyone for subscriptions and favorites! Reviews are always welcome and anticipated. ;)

Special thanks: to CreepingMuse who beta read this story so fast and saved me from a number of downright ridiculous language and factual mistakes.

"I've been sleeping a thousand years, it seems.

Got to open my eyes to everything."

Evanescence, "Bring Me To Life"

It was already afternoon, and even though Damon would never admit it, he was tired. The weakness he had felt before was long gone, though somehow he couldn't remember when it had happened. Now he was afraid of falling asleep and missing the moment when Elena opened her eyes, so he stayed by her side, watching her sleep. He only left her a few times that morning – to drink blood. Blood was the only thing that could help him stay up after such an exhausting night.

When he heard a car pull up and then light footsteps approaching the front door, he went downstairs to meet the visitor. Damon wasn't surprised to find Bonnie in the parlor. As much as she hated the very existence of vampires, he was almost sure she would be less prejudiced when it came to her best friend.

"Hi," Damon paused so as not to call the girl one of the numerous nicknames he had for her. "…Bonnie."

The witch smiled hesitantly instead of a greeting, but the smile didn't touch her eyes. Damon saw she was wary, as if Elena would jump at her from some hidden corner at any moment. He couldn't blame her, and after what she had done the night before, Damon's dislike for her had dissipated. Bonnie wasn't on the list of his favorite people, but he was incredibly grateful to her. She must have broken a dozen witch rules turning Elena into a vampire.

"Thank you," he said, and his words sounded sincere. He had never been good at demonstrating his true emotions – at least, people had always been far more inclined to believe Stefan – but this time it seemed to work. Bonnie smiled again, now genuinely.

"How's Elena?" she asked.

"She's asleep," answered Damon. "Look, I know you have… issues against vampires, it's in your nature and it's difficult for you to fight it, but please… be kind to Elena. You know she didn't want it, either."

He shook his head a little as he heard the pleading note in his voice. Damn it, I'm begging. I'm begging a witch to be kind. The things I do for you, Elena.

"I know, Damon," said Bonnie, and if the vampire didn't know better, he would have thought she wanted to comfort him. "Actually, I brought her this."

She pulled a circular object out of her pocket and Damon looked at it with confusion before he noticed two round pieces of lapis lazuli on it. Only then did he actually understand what it was.

"A daylight anklet?" he stared at Bonnie in disbelief. "What happened to traditional jewelry?"

"I thought it over, and I figured it would be easier to hide than a ring or a necklace. She'll be safer this way."

Damon couldn't argue with that logic.

"Tell her I stopped by," asked Bonnie.

"No, wait a bit." Damon listened to the sounds from upstairs. "She's waking up. I'll go get her something to… eat, and she'll be ready to see you."

Of course, he noticed how Bonnie cringed when he mentioned feeding – she knew very well what it meant. Damon wasn't completely certain that the girl would stay now: staying would mean true acceptance.

"I'll be here. Call me when she's ready."

Damon sighed in relief – if Bonnie remained supportive, it would be far easier for Elena to cope.

Without answering, Damon handed the anklet back to Bonnie and hurried upstairs – just in time to see Elena open her eyes and smile at him.

"Hi, sleepyhead," he whispered, squeezing her hand tenderly.

"You left," accused Elena, frowning. She seemed to concentrate. "There's a human downstairs. I hear the heartbeat."

Damon couldn't but smile at how curious she looked, surprised at her own hearing. In his day, this enhanced ability had helped him hunt, and he had become a perfect predator. Elena wouldn't need to be one, Damon promised himself again.

"Bonnie came over to see you. Let's get you a little blood and you can see her."

When he mentioned blood, Elena's face changed, like he had expected: eyes darkened, veins showed. Damon raised his hands and touched her face, tracing the gray lines – they disappeared in a moment and Elena stared at him in amazement.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"Make me feel human again with one touch." Elena looked him in the eye, and Damon felt almost compelled by her warm chocolate eyes.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. Of course, he had some ideas: it could be connected with the spell, or just with the very fact that she cared about him – he still couldn't help smiling thinking of it – but he wasn't going to tell her. For the first time ever, he trusted the witch to tell Elena the whole story.

"I'll go talk to Bonnie," said Elena. "I'm not hungry. Really, what I drank this morning was enough. I could take a quick shower first, though."

"Sure."

Bonnie's resolve was weakening with every moment. In theory, she knew that Elena could control her bloodlust, that Damon would never allow her to do something she'd regret. Although vampires were inherently evil, they made their choices and could be better, if their grip on humanity was strong enough to overpower their inner monster every day. The only thing that mattered was whether they had an incentive strong enough to help them get by.

"She's ready," said Damon, appearing in front of Bonnie. She wasn't even surprised. Having spent so much time around vampires, she was already used to their speed.

"Thanks for taking care of her, Damon." Bonnie hesitated for a moment. It was weird to speak of her feelings with Damon Salvatore of all people. "I trust you with Elena. You might be the only person I trust with her."

"I know," he said softly. Then he left to the basement – to give them some privacy, Bonnie figured. As much privacy as a vampire with enhanced hearing could offer, anyway.

When Damon left to call Bonnie, Elena lay down and wrapped a blanket around her legs – she had no other option, anyway. She could hear Bonnie's heartbeat as her friend walked upstairs. The sound was appealing to the monster lurking within her. It was hard to put up with the fact that from now on she would have to suppress that creature all the time.

"Elena?" Bonnie entered the room cautiously. She was smiling, but the smile wasn't real. She was a little afraid.

"Bonnie!"

Once Elena saw her friend's face, it was far easier to fight the hunger. Now it wasn't some distant heartbeat, it was Bonnie. Her sister, best friend, a person who would never let her down. Nothing would make Elena turn on her. Bonnie's face also lit up as she hurried to hug Elena.

"Are you okay?" asked the witch.

"Do I look okay?"

Bonnie scrutinized Elena's face and raised her eyebrows.

"You know, you do. If I couldn't sense your nature, I would think you're still human. You look absolutely the same. Well, apart from your… clothes."

Elena flushed a little as she looked at Damon's shirt that was the only garment she was wearing apart from underwear.

"Well, my choice was pretty limited. I had to choose from a black shirt, a black shirt and something else, let me think. Right, a black shirt."

Bonnie laughed. Elena studied her expression with curiosity, listening to her heart at the same time. It wasn't racing – in fact, Bonnie's heart was very calm and relaxed. She was handling the situation much better than Elena had expected.

"I'm okay, really," she said, not knowing whether she was trying to convince Bonnie or herself. "Damon's helping me through it. He's-" Elena faltered. She knew that Bonnie wasn't fond of him.

"I know. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about Damon."

Elena looked at Bonnie, surprised. Her heart was calm, her voice was even, Elena couldn't detect a single trace of the usual hatred.

"What about him?"

"Has he told you what happened after you died?"

Elena shuddered. Of course, she knew she had died, but it was a weird thing to hear – especially now that Elena was well-rested and felt more alive than ever. She shook her head.

"Klaus took you," said the witch, and Elena stared at her in surprise.

"What?"

"Damon tried to keep you safe from Klaus, but he couldn't. Damon, Stefan and I found you later. Klaus put you in the hospital. He drained you of all your blood."

Now Elena was quiet. The terror she felt was awaking the monster, and Damon wasn't around. Time to learn to distract yourself, then. Think of Bonnie. Think of your friendship. Hold on to your emotions.

Bonnie went on.

"There was a spell on you to keep you from transitioning. It froze you in your human state, not letting your body move on. It could only be broken by the person you cared about most, because this person was also the source of energy for the spell. It had probably weakened him by the time we got to you."

Elena closed her eyes, not sure she could face Bonnie during the rest of her story. It was going to be embarrassing, she knew it for sure. Bonnie surprised Elena with her next words.

"Do you need me to tell you who broke the spell or do you already know it?"

Elena looked at Bonnie somewhat guiltily but didn't say a word.

"I know I haven't been paying attention to what was happening in your life. I believed the same thing everyone believed – that it would always be Stefan. I'm not judging you, Elena, even if your choices weren't the best. I just want to know what's happened to make Damon the most important person in your life."

So what she had feared but expected was all true. It was Damon who had broken the spell. Elena didn't feel bad about Stefan at the moment – in fact, the very thought of him allowed her inner monster to darken her eyes by several shades, and she didn't want rage to engulf her – not with Bonnie in the room. She felt bad because Damon had discovered how much she cared in such a twisted way – no conversation, no confession, just the calculated cruelty of magic. Damon shouldn't have found out like this. He didn't need to feel like Elena had been deliberately keeping it from him.

"Elena?"

What am I supposed to tell her? That Damon stayed by my side without complaining while all I thought about was saving Stefan? That Damon ignored his feelings for me, refusing to take advantage when all I wanted was to give in, because he knew I still loved his brother? That he risked his life for me more than I can remember? That he seems to be the best thing I have in my life?

"I don't know when it happened," she said quietly. "I don't even need to know, because it was meant to be this way. Damon is like… fire. Once it consumes you, there's no way to escape… not the way you were before, at least. I fought it, I certainly did. I pushed him away, I was angry at him when he didn't deserve it, I didn't even thank him when he deserved gratitude – but he stayed with me despite everything. We didn't find Stefan, then we couldn't break through his bloodlust, then we didn't kill Klaus – and we could only survive because we were together."

"Elena," Bonnie interrupted. "Get that guilty look off your face. I don't blame you. Damon may be an ass most of the time, but he goes out of his way to do what you want him to do."

"Two days ago, when Damon compelled Jeremy to leave… Oh my God, Jeremy! I've-" Elena's eyes widened with surprise that she had forgotten something so important. "His flight-"

"He already left. I came over to say bye. Ric took him to the airport."

One tear slid down Elena's cheek. Jeremy had left and she hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye. She had to concentrate really hard on her love for her brother so as not to think of ripping out Stefan's heart.

"I'm sorry." Bonny patted Elena's shoulder to comfort her. "So, you were saying?"

"When Damon compelled Jeremy to leave, I was depressed. Damon was there for me again – he's the only one who can find the right words to cheer me up. And then… he kissed me, Bonnie. It was a sweet kiss, but if he had gone further, I wouldn't have stopped him. I understood for the first time that I would never have the power to fight what we have. Now, looking back to that moment… I didn't even want to fight it."

"Why do you need to fight it?" asked Bonnie, and the simple question caught Elena off guard.

"Isn't it what I've always been doing? Fighting what Damon and I had, pretending there was no elephant in the room. It had become a part of who I was."

"Maybe now that you're a new Elena, you can stop fighting?" suggested Bonnie. "It's enough that you'll have to suppress your vampire instincts. Don't you think it'd be too much to do the same to yourself as a woman?"

Bonnie, her best friend, a witch who hated vampires, was persuading her to act on her feelings for Damon? Elena felt like she had woken up in an entirely new world.

"Vampires remember what they were compelled to forget as humans," whispered Elena. "Damon compelled me. Once."

"What?" Bonnie's eyes were now full of familiar rage.

"No, not like that. He made me forget… that he loved me. When he and Stefan saved me from Elijah. Damon thought he didn't deserve me, but that Stefan did, so he confessed how he felt and then made me forget it. It doesn't matter anymore, of course. He said it again, and it's… quite obvious, I think. But it makes me wanna cry when I think how painful it must have been for him."

As if to prove her point, more tears welled up in her eyes, as she spoke.

"I hurt him so many times in the past. I won't ever hurt him again."

"You love him," said Bonnie, but Elena shook her head.

"Don't. Don't label it. I'm not ready yet. It's too much for me, I can't deal with it. I just can't. Not right now."

Standing by the fridge in the basement, Damon smiled.

A/N: So, this was chapter 4. Thanks for reading, and leave me a couple of words, please. Or many words. The more the better. :D