"Klaus, you don't want to do this," Elena attempted to reason. Klaus looked at her and raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, but I do," Klaus said. He sped over to Damon and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up off the ground. Elena gasped at the sudden pain apparent at her throat. Her hand rubbed her throat, but she attempted to maintain her composure because she didn't want Klaus to know about the link, at least not yet. Revealing her connection to her friends' was her last resort. The bond could easily be as deadly as it was beneficial.
"We had a deal!" Elena desperately pleaded. Damon looked at her out of the corner of his eye and Elena met his gaze. The worry and anxiety that was pumping through her veins was excruciating, and Damon could obviously feel all of it. Elena's eyes widened as she watched Klaus tighten his grip on the throat of the love of her life.
"We did, but I'm changing a few details," Klaus smiled wickedly.
"You can't do that!" Elena exclaimed.
"I can, and I did." Klaus released Damon's throat and Damon dropped to the ground. But before Elena could do anything, Klaus drove his hand into Damon's chest.
Damon screamed in agony as Klaus's hand clasped around his heart, and Elena shouted in pain with him. She fell to the ground, clutching at her chest and struggling with breath. Her neck muscles were tensed up as she gritted her teeth, attempting to hold back her screams.
Klaus instantly noticed Elena's reaction and he unclasped his fingers from Damon's heart. Elena inhaled deeply at the sudden let up from the pain. Klaus's hand was still in Damon's body, but he suspended the fatal blow that he was about to deal.
"What's this?" Klaus asked, intently watching Elena. Then, it occurred to him, "You've linked, haven't you?"
"Yes." Elena choked out.
"Not your smartest move, love," Klaus said. He twisted his arm in Damon's body and Elena gasped in pain.
"Just stop…stop!" Elena pleaded from her knees.
"Why should I?" Klaus asked, with laughing eyes, "This is rather amusing."
"Because everything you're doing to us is happening to Caroline!" Elena reasoned. Klaus furrowed his brow at her words. But after a moment, he merely shrugged and twisted his arm yet again.
"She's experienced worse, I'm sure."
Elena shot daggers at him with her glare and narrowed her eyes. She needed to convince him to back down, and she was running out of options. Nothing seemed to be getting to him.
"Katherine's still in town, isn't she?!" Elena asked rhetorically. Klaus's façade softened at her words, but he didn't remove his hand. Elena picked up on his moment of weakness. "Katherine is still in town and she won't be leaving, so it doesn't matter that I'm with Damon. Just, let us have our protection." Elena begged. After a moment, Klaus withdrew his hand. Damon backed up against the wall of the house as to steady himself.
"Just this once, love," Klaus warned, "You got off easy." And just like that, he was gone.
Elena looked at Damon concernedly, and then quickly looked back at the front door of the house.
"Jeremy," She gasped. She ran back through the front door, completely forgetting about her earlier embarrassment. She ran down the hall, and was relieved to hear Damon's footsteps following her. Elena burst through the threshold of the living room to find Matt, Bonnie, and Jeremy all unconscious and bleeding on the floor. Caroline was moving towards Bonnie, biting into her arm to draw blood to heal her best friend.
Instantly, Elena ran over to Jeremy. Damon followed her into the room and Elena gestured towards Matt.
"Damon?" She asked.
"Got it." Damon said, jogging over to Matt while biting his wrist. Elena also bit into her wrist. She held the bleeding wound up to her brother's mouth and whispered to him.
"C'mon, Jer, drink. Please, Jer." Slowly, Jeremy came around and clasped his lips around Elena's wrist. He began gulping down the blood and Elena sighed in relief. Eventually, he pulled away from her and Elena stroked his hair a few times before standing up. She looked across the room to Damon who was wiping his wrist on the bottom of his shirt. Beneath him, Matt was slowly coming to.
Elena took a few quick, long strides to reach Damon. The moment she got to him, she placed her hand gingerly on his chest and met his blue eyes. The concern she had for him emanated around the room.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked.
"Yeah. Are you?" Damon asked, placing his hand on her neck. His eyes scanned her body, looking for damage. Elena smiled at him. She felt an overwhelming amount of love flood her senses. She thought about how Damon always took the time to look out for her, even when his own life was at risk. He truly was selfless when it came to her.
"Yeah." Elena assured. Damon nodded and made eye contact with her again. He wore the expression he usually had when he was concerned.
"You sure?" Damon insisted. Elena chuckled and clasped her hand around his wrist.
"Yes, I'm fine." Elena said with a smile. She stared into the cesspools of his eyes and practically felt her heart melt like hot butter. Damon, feeling the way she felt, smiled at her. Elena quickly glanced between his lips and eyes multiple times, wanting nothing more than to kiss him, but she knew that it would be totally inappropriate considering the situation. Damon, on the other hand, had a complete disregard for the appropriateness of the circumstances.
He leaned forward, closing the distance between their lips. Elena's bottom lip slipped in between Damon's lips and Elena raised her hands to frame his face. Her thumbs brushed against his cheeks lightly. Slowly, she pulled away from his lips and stood silently for a moment, resting her forehead against his. Her breath was steady and she was genuinely content, even considering their recent brush up with Klaus.
"I'm sorry, I just can't do this." Stefan broke the silence. The hurt that he harbored from watching Damon and Elena was so prevalent that it almost drowned out all the other emotions in the room. Stefan began walking away.
"No, wait, Stefan!" Elena begged, trying to stop him.
"Just let him go," Caroline suggested. Elena sighed as she watched Stefan leave.
That evening, Elena was lying down in Damon's bed, watching him as he worked. He was crossing the room, pulling out books and opening them temporarily before tossing them into a pile. He was looking for possible spells that Katherine could and would cast. He was focusing on love spells, fearing that Katherine would cast one on Stefan and him.
"If she casts a love spell, I will also 'fall in love' with her." Damon grunted, "Again."
"She won't cast a love spell," Elena assured.
"How do you know?" Damon asked, stopping to look at Elena, "It'd be the smart thing to do. She would get Stefan and ruin us at the same time and I'd be on her damn hook again." Damon angrily threw the book in his hand on the pile.
"Damon, she won't cast one because it won't be real." Elena reasoned. She propped herself up against the headboard, "You and I both know a little something about the importance of it being real." Elena alluded. Damon's shoulders relaxed at her words and a small smile momentarily twitched onto his cheeks in nostalgia.
"Katherine's not like you, Elena," Damon argued, "She doesn't care about that kind of stuff."
Elena was exhausted and Damon's obsessive research was beginning to stress her out. She already had an extremely stressful day, and all she wanted to do was curl up with Damon and fall asleep.
"Damon, we can worry about this in the morning."
"Mmm," Damon grunted, intently reading another book.
"Just come here," Elena leaned forward. Damon grunted again, turning the page. Elena rolled her eyes and crawled across the bed. She reached over and grabbed the book out of Damon's hands.
"I was reading that." Damon said jokingly and Elena raised her eyebrows. Damon read her look and smugly smiled. She threw the book to the ground, never breaking eye contact with him.
Then, she crawled back up to the pillows and curled up under the covers. She peeked out from under his silken sheets and smiled. Damon returned the smile and crawled on his hands and knees up to her. He plopped down next to her and Elena snuggled up against his chest. Damon instinctively wrapped his arms around her and Elena inhaled deeply, memorizing his scent.
Elena listened to the steadiness of his breathing and the rhythmic thump of his heart. Her eyelids became droopy. Damon was drawing lazy circles on her shoulder, lost in thought.
"Aren't you worried about Katherine getting between us?" Damon's voice barely registered to Elena.
"I'd like to see her try," Elena mumbled against his chest before falling into the best sleep she'd ever had.
A/N: Sorry about how long it took to update. Happy July! And review please! J