A/N This song has become my obsession lately. I couldn't resist adding it here.

You are the night-time fear
You are the morning when it's clear
When it's over your start, You're my head
You're my heart

Florence+ the Machine, No Light, No light.

Thankful for all reviews ;)

"Elena, no one is coming to get you," Damon moved next to Elena, grasping her shoulders tightly and shaking her. "There's no one here."

"Death. Death is in the house," Elena replied again, her eyes blank. There was no emotion, no fear.

"Elena…" Damon was scared now, Elena was in a trance again, and what was worrying him was the symbol on her back. He knew what that symbol meant, it was an old symbol vampires used to mark a human. With that mark, they always knew where their human was, and even though that symbol could mean the unbreakable sigil of love between a mortal and immortal, it could also mean a chain for slavery, keeping the human chosen a slave. Through that sigil, humans could be compelled, connected, called upon. He knew that he had to remove that from Elena, otherwise he knew deep down that Elena was never free to make her own decisions.

She slumped unconscious in his arms, and Damon held her tightly, not knowing what he should do. He was running out of ideas. No witch seemed to be able to help him.

A few minutes later, Elena's brilliant brown eyes opened. He was still holding her, unable to carry her to the nearest bedroom or couch, because he was just too scared to let her go. "Death was in the house", she had said. What could that mean?

"What happened?" Elena asked, her hands shooting up to feel her head.

"You were in a trance," Damon said quietly.

"Again?" Elena panicked, looking directly at Damon. "What did I say? Or do?"

He bit his lip.

"Damon?"

"The symbol in your upper back…have you ever seen it before?"

Elena stared in horror. "You know about that?"

"You told me you had some kind of pain in your upper back before you went into the trance," Damon studied her face carefully.

Elena took a deep breath. "Damon, I must go."

"What?" Of all the things he expected her to say, that wasn't one of them.

"I can't stay here," Elena said, running to her bedroom, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"What's going on, Elena?" He blurred next to her, taking the bag she was putting things in from her hand.

"Every time that mark appears…I always get discovered," Elena said. "Once, a boy tried to help me. I spilled my secret to him, and I was staying in his house. That mark appeared, and when they came to take me away, they tortured him. They made me watch, and then they shot him and took me away."

He understood now why she was afraid. She was afraid of losing him, of being the reason that he died. But Damon wasn't a loser. He fought back.

"You don't have to worry about that with me."

"I can't bear the thought of having you killed," She protested, looking in his blue eyes. "You already took a risk taking me in."

"I already told you, Elena," Damon said firmly, "I'm not going to let you fend on your own. You did that for way too long. You don't deserve to live in the streets."

Elena stared at him, giving him a small, heartbroken smile.

He cupped her face. "We'll get through with this, okay? You told me last time that when you were in the streets you aimed to get back to your aunt, but you were afraid. I'll help you find her."

"Thank you," Elena said after a deep sigh.

"But we will discuss this in the morning," Damon continued unexpectedly. "You need to rest."

He turned away to open the door for her, but she remained standing in his bedroom before asking hesitantly, "Damon…can I please sleep with you tonight?"

"Of course you can," He smiled gently at her. "Come on."

He climbed onto the bed and Elena did the same, making herself comfortable on Damon's bed. She snuggled closer to him, and in return, Damon wrapped an arm around her waist holding her closer.

"I'll keep the bad dreams away," He assured her, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "I promise."

The next morning, Damon woke up feeling a warm body next to his. Apparently, during the night Elena had snuggled even closer than before, her little body holding on tightly to his. Damon smiled at her instinct to be close to him.

Trying his best not to wake Elena, he tried to scoot away but was interrupted by her voice.

"Are you awake?" Elena asked softly.

"Yeah," Damon turned around to face her. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

"No," Elena said. "I made you breakfast," She continued shyly, and then she brought the tray from the nightstand slowly before him. "I hope you like it."

"You didn't have to do that," Damon said in surprise, "But thank you."

She was actually a good cook, and as he dug in the bacon and eggs which he haven't tasted in a long while, he was curious about how she learnt to cook.

"My mum taught me how to cook when I was younger," She explained. "It was her plan to raise me as an independent woman."

"I see," Damon said lightly.

As he finished the food, Elena sipped on the coffee and then turned once again to him. "Damon, I don't know what I would've done without you. I feel like I should give you something, but I don't have anything…"

"You don't have to give me anything, Elena. And you don't have to feel obligated to me either."

"But I do have one thing to offer though…" Elena moved closer to him slowly and hesitantly, and before Damon could ask what the hell she was doing, she had exposed a side of her neck.

"Drink from me."

"What? What the hell are you doing?" Damon said, sitting up straighter. "God, no. I would never do that to you, Elena, you're not dinner."

"It's the least I can do," She mumbled thoughtfully.

"Do me a favor…If you want to do something to repay me, than don't do anything at all. Okay? I don't want anything from you."

"If you say so…"

There were a few minutes of silence until Damon said, "How about we go out today? Have some fun?"

"Sure," Elena smiled excitedly.

"Good," Damon smiled back. "Hmm, let's say we go for dinner…then we'll decide what to do."

"Fine with me," Elena said again, looking at the clock. It was already 1pm, they had overslept. No wonder he said 'dinner' and not 'lunch'.

Damon settled in with a hot shower and Elena went to the bathroom downstairs. She then took the curling iron Damon had bought her and started to define her already formed waves, smoothing and defining them by tugging at them lightly, the small curls falling perfectly around her face.

She then picked out a very pretty midnight blue dress and paired it with a pair of high heels which she didn't have much practice on, but Elena was a fast learner. Finishing off her makeup with a brown smokey eye, she waited for Damon.

He was wearing a simple outfit, a dress shirt paired with black jeans. When he saw Elena, he remained frozen in the staircase, and when he came into his senses, he breathed, "You look beautiful, Elena."

"Thank you," She blushed. "I love this dress."

A few minutes later, Damon grabbed Elena's hand. "Ready to go?"

"Ready."

After a few hours of driving Damon pulled over near a very nice restaurant. Elena's mouth started to water when she sniffed the food, and as the server brought them their menus, she took in the surroundings. Damon ordered some nachos and made Elena promise that she'd try them and then she settled in for stuffed chicken.

They were having fun and they even danced together. Some people stared, other found them heartwarming. But they didn't care, all that mattered was they were having fun.

When they returned home, it was about nine pm, and Elena's feet felt like breaking. She took the heels off, throwing herself at the couch, and since Damon had drunk a little bit he was feeling a major headache. He put Elena's feet in his lap and slowly massaged them as he closed his eyes.

However, the moment was short-lived when he felt a sudden whoosh of air. Apparently, Elena felt it too cause she sat up, looking at Damon. He motioned for her to stay on the couch.

"Hello, Damon," A voice said before he even stood up. Damon's head whipped around to see Stefan, standing next to the fireplace.

"Stefan," Damon said simply, though he was surprised. They weren't talking, but there was Stefan, standing casually in his home.

But before Damon could say anything else, Stefan let out a loud gasp.

"Is that…." He said, moving to Elena. The latter jerked back as Stefan moved towards her like an adult does to inspect a small toddler. It was almost as he was mesmerized by her existence. "Elena? You're okay?"

"How do you know her name?" Damon asked, suddenly his mind was spinning.

"What?" Stefan gasped, "What are you saying, Damon? This is Elena Gilbert, aren't you?"

"Y-yes," the girl stammered. "How do you know my name?"

But Stefan didn't answer. Instead, he threw two glances at Damon and Elena and blurred away. Damon was ready to follow him, but he was too tired and he wasn't thinking straight anyway. He laid back on the couch.

"Do you know him?"

"I feel like I've seen him somewhere before," she bit her lip. "I don't know though."

"I told you, Bonnie, he doesn't remember anything," Stefan was sitting in Bonnie's living room now, a glass of bourbon in hand. "He has no idea of anything that happened…especially that night."

A tear spilled down his cheek. "Bonnie, you were there. You know how heartbroken we were. You know we tried everything…I can't let Damon go through that again."

"Stefan, I cannot tell him the truth…I wasn't even sure until yesterday," Bonnie was crying now, too. "Here. These photos are evidence enough….But how are we going to make him listen?"

Stefan buried his face in his hands. "I don't know, Bonnie. But I can't let my brother go through that pain again. Not this time. God knows how many nights I had spent, the guilt still haunts me today…and now seeing her here…But I know it's wishful thinking, Bonnie…"

"I'm so sorry," Bonnie sobbed. "I can't believe it. I found out yesterday and was going to call you…it's like my memory just came back…but I can't…I don't know how we can give it to him."

"I know," Stefan said, wiping the tears. "But it's our job, Bonnie."

Btw, to help you, I'm naming chapters =D Please leave a review! Also, check out my other story His Vampire Heart if you like, and FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER Tvdmyheart for pictures of the Vampire Symbol and Elena's dress.