There's something so hot about watching a guy cook. At least, for Elena watching Damon, that seemed to be the case. She leaned over the table, head resting on her hand as she watched Damon balance saucer and ingredients. He had a dish towel draped carelessly over his shoulder and his hair was mussed by the steam rising from the hot pans on the stove.

No matter how hard she wanted to not look, she could only seem to stare.

She loved Damon, but she also loved Stefan. And that's why she couldn't be with Damon. Not to mention, Damon was too exhilarating for Elena. At this point in her life, she felt the need to stay in her safety net, what with the transition and all that.

"Earth to Elena," Bonnie chanted, snapping Elena from her reverie and returning her to friends'. They were all eating unique meals made especially for them by Damon. Even though he pretended like he didn't care about any of them other than Elena, he obviously did.

"Sorry, guys," Elena said, taking a large swig out of her second cup of coffee, "I'm just a little distracted today…"

"Maybe by a certain black haired, blue-eyed vampire?" Matt asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Elena responded by jokingly glaring at him with pursed lips.

"Ahh, give her a break," Bonne said. She grabbed Elena's hand and squeezed it, "She's had a pretty crazy weekend."

"Pretty crazy life actually," Elena contested. She smiled at her friends and glanced back at Damon to see what he was doing. Damon noticed her attention being turned to him, so he held up a whole onion to show her.

"I'm going to add the entirety of this to your omelet," He said with a wicked look in his eyes. Everyone knew that Elena absolutely despised the taste of onions.

"Don't you do it!" Elena threatened. Damon raised his eyebrows and began cutting up the onion, "Damon!" Elena jumped out of her seat and ran over to where Damon was working and yanked the knife out of his hand. In reality, Elena didn't care about Damon ruining her omelet with onions; she just wanted to find an excuse to be near him.

Damon laughed and grabbed the chopped onions off the cutting board. He tossed them into the omelet while staring at Elena. She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows.

"Relax," Damon joked, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face, "This is for me. I was going to make you a different one."

"You better," Elena demanded, playfully punching his chest.

"They're acting like a married couple," Elena overheard Matt whisper to Tyler.

"Is that good or bad?" Tyler whispered back.

"Both?" Matt responded. Elena found it funny how Matt was just as confused about her relationship with Damon as she was.

She could feel her friends' eyes burning into her back as she mindlessly flirted with Damon. She always had a flirt factor with Damon, but she was flirting a lot more today than any other day. She figured this was because her and Stefan's relationship was obviously on the fritz and she felt like she had more freedom.

"Pass me the eggs, please!" Elena hollered at Damon. She was chopping up vegetables to put in her own omelet.

"Get them yourself," Damon grumbled. He held up the carton of eggs, staring her down with flirtatious eyes.

Elena walked over to him, swaying her hips a bit more than usual. When she went to reach for them, Damon held them higher. She jumped up to grab them, but couldn't reach it. After a moment, she quit and decided to just grab his wrist. They're bodies were only an inch apart, and as Elena pulled down his hand, they're bodies melded easily like puzzle pieces.

Elena's free hand was braced against the counter behind Damon. Her fingers on the other hand were gently clasped around his wrist and she found that she was subconsciously stroking his wrist. Damon's free hand was resting on the small of her back. Their faces were so close in proximity that their lips were only an inch apart. Elena was breathing heavily and her chest was heaving up and down against Damon's.

All she wanted in that moment was to close the distance between their lips and float in their kiss. All she wanted was to feel the ferocity in the fire of their passion. But, a voice sounded in her head that turned her away from what she wanted. It was Bonnie's voice.

She was telepathically communicating and said: "Elena…remember that you are still in a relationship with Stefan."

Those words were the last thing that Elena wanted to hear, but they worked because they pulled her from Damon's grip. As she pulled away, Damon tightened his lips into a line because no matter how close he thought he was getting to her, it seemed like she'd never chose him.

Elena's phone buzzed in her back pocket. Still in a desperate attempt to compose herself after her brush up with Damon, she fumbled for her cell. She pulled it out and looked at the screen which read Stefan Calling.

She stared at her phone temporarily before finally answering.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Elena. It's Stefan."

"I know…How are you?" Elena's voice hinted concern.

"I'm with Caroline right now. We're just having breakfast at the Grill."

"Ah, yeah. I'm just getting some breakfast, too." Elena responded. The conversation was awkward because she didn't really know what to say to him.

"I think we need to talk about last night," Stefan said, getting to the point of the phone call.

"I agree…Stefan, I'm really sorry." Elena pleaded into the phone. She caught Damon's eyes, two bright blue orbs tormented by her words. She attempted to display sympathy and apologize with her countenance, but it didn't come across as well as she had hoped.

"I know you are and I forgive you," Stefan reassured her. Elena exhaled in relief. Her act was forgiven, yet she doubted that it would ever be forgotten.

"Oh. Good."

"Yeah, but I do think we still need to talk. In person. I'm coming home after breakfast; meet me at the boarding house?"

"Yeah, that works. I'm already here actually, so it's good."

"Why are you still there?" Stefan asked suspiciously.

"Because I sure as hell wasn't going to send her home drunk, Stef!" Damon intruded on the conversation. Elena widened her eyes at Damon and violently gestured for him to shut up. Damon just shrugged in response.

"Hmm…" Stefan said, "I suppose that's a good thing…as long as—."

"Nothing happened," Elena interrupted him before he could get out the accusation. And it was true. Nothing physically happened between Damon and Elena, but Elena could feel that something emotionally happened between the two.

"Good," Stefan said, "I'll see you in about thirty." And with those final words, Stefan hung up.

Elena slowly pulled her phone from her ear and looked at Damon and her friends' in confusion.

"Why was he not mad?" She asked. Her friends' all looked at her with blank faces. Matt shrugged and Jeremy just shook his head to say 'I don't know' as he stuffed his mouth full of hash browns.

"I told you," Damon spoke up, his voice holding hints of sadness, "Who could ever remain mad at that pretty face?"

A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews on the last couple chapters. They are greatly appreciated, so if you have a moment please leave a response!