CHAPTER 6

Damon breathed heavily. Starring at his phone. Not really knowing what he should do.

The name 'Stefan' seared into his brain. He took a quick glance at Elena. She was just lying there. Starring at the ceiling. Her clothes ruffled and her chest moving up and down , taking in ragged breaths. The phone continued to vibrate in Damon's hand. He took in a deep sigh and pressed the green button.

"Stefan," He said it as more of a statement than a question.

"What's going on? It took you forever to pick up. And where's Elena?"

Damon sat up, glancing at Elena again. She wouldn't look at him. She still had her eyes locked on the ceiling.

"Uhm.." Damon faltered, something that hardly ever happened, "Elena's in bed."

She shot up and looked at him then. Fear in her eyes. He could see she was worried. Her eyes silently begging him not to tell Stefan what had just happened. He wouldn't have of course. Even if he was still bad Stefan, Damon had more sense than to drop a bomb like that.

"Oh.." He heard Stefan mumble, "Well then what took you so long to answer?" Stefan asked again.

"I was in the shower. " Damon answered hesitantly.

There was a pause.

"Are you alright Damon?… You sound funny."

Damon could hear the suspicion in Stefan's voice. He cursed himself under his breath. He usually did a better job at lying. But after what had just happened, he was having a hard time thinking straight.

"I'm fine, Steff. Relax." He said with his best nonchalant voice, "Is there a reason you interrupted my 5 minutes of hot heaven?" He asked with a smirk, unbeknownst to Stefan.. he wasn't talking about his shower. Damon looked at Elena as he said it, giving her his best flirty eye. She rolled hers in return and got up off the bed. Straightening her clothes as she did.

"Yeah, I found my source. She's agreed to help. She made me a list of things we're gonna need. I'm out getting them now. As soon as I'm done we'll be heading back. So you shouldn't have to wait much longer."

Damon looked up to see Elena walking out of the room.

"Oh, well I'm holding up fine. No need to hurry. Elena's been keeping me… Entertained." Damon smiled. Loving that Stefan had no idea to what he was referring to.

"Right…" Stefan paused, "Well anyway, I just thought I'd let you know."

"Thanks.. Toodles." Damon smirked as he hung up the phone and threw it down on the bed. He took a second to process what had just happened. He let out a heavy sigh. Did they really just do that? His lips still tingled from touching her skin. He remembered every second of it. Going through every detail in his mind. Her heavy sighs, her hands roaming over his body. He found his chest constricting and his breathing became shallow. He stood up. Not really sure what to do next. Should he go after her? Should he give her some space? What did this mean? All these thoughts were spinning around his head. Damn, Stefan. He just had to call and interrupt that. But then Damon's thoughts were joined with something else. Guilt.

Why did he feel guilty? It wasn't like he had taken advantage of her. She did kiss HIM after all. And Stefan obviously didn't care anymore. He had been released from Klaus's compulsion for a while now. He had every chance to get back with Elena. Instead he chose revenge. So what did he have to feel guilty about?

Damon sighed. He knew that it didn't matter what excuses he came up with… Stefan was still his brother. And for just that reason, Damon felt guilty.

He couldn't take this anymore. He wasn't this guy. He didn't sit around and brood about his feelings like his brother. Damon stood up. He was going to find Elena.

.. . .

Elena sat on the Salvatore couch once again. Starring at the dimmed fireplace. Unable to finish a single thought. Every time her mind wondered it would always lead her back to Damon. And what had just happened on his bed. How could she do that? What was she thinking? … On the other hand… It had felt so good. And she hated herself for admitting that. She wiped a single tear away that had fallen onto her cheek. A conversation between her and Caroline suddenly flashing through her mind.

"God, Just admit it Elena! Okay? You are attracted to him, in all of his bad brother glory."

"No.." Elena had said, shaking her head,

"Wait, 'No' you're not attracted to him? Or 'No' you just won't admit it?"

Elena had snapped, "I can't Caroline! If I admit it … If I even let the thought in for just a second … What does that say about me?"

Caroline gave her a look of pity, "It says your human, Elena."

Then Caroline's father had interrupted the slightly awkward interaction.

Elena sighed out loud. Bringing herself back to reality. Was it okay? Stefan had broken up with her. He almost killed her on the same bridge where her parent's had died. He was free from Klaus's compulsion and yet.. He hadn't changed. He wasn't the same Stefan she fell in love with. She had tried… She had tried so many times to get him to come back. To face all this. She was ready to work it out. But that never seemed to matter to him. He didn't care anymore. It was all too much. She let the tears freely fall down her face. All the stress of this day flooding over her. She let her head hang and cried for what seemed like hours. Little had she known that Damon stood there. Silently watching her from the stairway.

He didn't know what to do. The sight of her crying brought his dead heart to life. He felt for her. All he wanted to do was hold her. Comfort her in any way he could. But he had a nagging feeling that would only make the situation worse. So he stayed put.

He felt sadness welling up inside him as he saw her shoulder's start shaking. He couldn't take anymore and walked into the living room. Slowly stepping towards her. He didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but he had to try. He had slipped a shirt on before coming down. Not wanting to make her any more uncomfortable than she probably already was. He carefully sat down beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Hoping she wouldn't push him away.

And she didn't. She just shook harder. He pulled her tightly to him, letting her sob. Her cries weren't silent anymore. She let it all out. She hid her face deeper into his chest.

He just held her close and stroked her hair. He didn't know how else to help. Nothing he would say could make this better. Telling her it would be okay was stupid. To her it probably felt like nothing would ever be okay again. He finally settled on saying 'I'm sorry.'

He said it over and over again. More times than he ever had in his unnaturally long life.

He felt tears pricking at his eyes. Those only ever seemed to come when he was around her. But he refused to let them fall. He would be strong. She needed him to be strong.

After a while her sobs had slowed and her breathing relaxed. He looked down to realize she was asleep. He smiled faintly and let the moment sink in. Content just holding her close to him. He continued stroking her hair for a while. Letting her head rest on his shoulder. She moaned a few times and shifted uncomfortably, So he decided to take her back to bed.

He was careful not to wake her as he lifted her limp body up off of the couch. He walked slowly up the stairs, making sure to avoid hitting her legs against the railing.

He made it up to his room and laid her down softly on his bed. Pulling the covers over her shoulders, making her as comfortable as possible.

She sighed and hugged the pillow underneath her head.

He just stood there. Watching her beautiful face as she slept. He had done this before, but there was just something about her tonight… It was different. He leaned down and gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

Turning to walk out of the room he heard her whisper what sounded like a 'Thank you.' and he smiled.

He didn't know what was gonna happen after tonight, and he really didn't care. All he could think about was the way she had kissed him. He could still taste her, even after all this time. He walked… Or more like strutted downstairs. The smell of her still fresh on his shirt. His chest still a little wet from her tears. He poured himself a glass of bourbon and sprawled out on the couch. Running his fingers through his hair, he thought about her intensely. Until finally he drifted off to sleep.