CHAPTER 9

Damon released Elena from his grip and they immediately backed away from each other, fixing their clothes. Elena pulled her shirt back down and looked at her hands, shaking a little. Her body running off adrenaline, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Her mind and heart both racing. Then they heard the front door open.

Damon gave her a brief look, then walked stiffly into the foyer to see Stefan and an older Lady coming in the door. Stefan saw Damon and he paused, noticing his face first, it was a jumbled mess of open emotions. Then he noticed his clothes. Damon's shirt was torn open on the shoulder, it looked like claw marks, his pants were twisted sideways and his hair was a floppy mess. Fear stuck Stefan.. Werewolf was all that came to his mind. The claw marks, a sign of a tussle. It all made Stefan shift nervously."Damon?" Stefan asked cautiously.

Then Elena appeared, slowly emerging from the shadowed hallway. Stefan observed her as well. She seemed frightened. Shaking a little, her face was pale, her hair in disarray, much like Damon's. Something was definitely wrong.

Stefan stared at them both. "What's going on?" he asked, "You two look like hell."

Damon and Elena looked at each other, and Stefan realized. It wasn't a Werewolf.

"It's..Nothing," Damon said, looking back at Stefan. "Who's this?" he asked, motioning to the elder lady standing there, awkwardly observing the whole scene.

Stefan cleared his throat, "This is Elvira. I met her family back in 1912. I did some digging and found her. She's apparently had a lot of experience with these kinds of spells." She shook her head in a silent agreement. "Great," Damon began, "I couldn't take another second of being cooped up in here."

Stefan just glared at him, "Well it looks like you've been managing just fine." his words dripping with contempt, looking at Damon, then to Elena. Damon could tell he knew and he hung his head slightly, turning to lock eyes with Elena.

Her face was frozen. She was a brick wall. No emotion on her face whatsoever, just a blank look. If you didn't look close enough you wouldn't think she was even breathing.

Then the witch spoke, startling everyone out of their trance. "If you would guide me to an unaccompanied room where I may begin the ritual, Stefan?" Her accent was peculiar, it almost sounded French. "Yes, of course," He lead her towards the basement, "Right this way."

Stefan glanced back at them once before he melted out of sight.

Damon heard Elena breathe out a long sigh. He turned to look at her, not really knowing what he should do.

"Don't," was all she said.

"Elena," he paused, she just shook her head. "I can't Damon… I just… I can't….. Please." her last word was barely a whisper, but Damon heard it loud and clear.

His heart ached, all he wanted to do was hold her. He just wanted to comfort her somehow. He hated seeing her this way, and knowing he was partly to blame for it made it so much worse.

But Damon knew all she really needed right now was space, so no matter how bad it hurt him, he walked past her. Giving her shoulder a little squeeze before he left her alone, standing in the foyer.

Elena didn't grab her keys, she didn't bother getting her coat or her shoes, she just ran. She thundered out the door, into the cold rain that had started to pour down. She ran with all she had. The coldness feeling so good on her warm skin. She didn't know where she was going, but she didn't care. She just needed to be anywhere else. She needed to be away from the Salvatore's. Her heart racing wildly. She entered the woods, the tree's covering her in blackness. She kept running, her body screaming for her to stop. But she pushed on. It was now so dark she didn't see the large limb in her path. She tripped over it, hurling her body to the ground face first.

She groaned in pain, feeling her shoulder throb. She looked up into the blackness, cold drops of rain occasionally falling into her eyes, making her blink.

Then she cried.

She let it all out. Heart-wracking sobs that shook her body forcefully. She curled her knees up to her chest and just lay there. Mud soaking her skin and clothes.

She didn't know how much time had passed as she cried, and she didn't care. It was all too much. Her heart didn't know where it belonged.

The sound of a branch snapping made her jerk to life. She looked up, trying to make sense of the black shadows around her. It was no use. She couldn't see a damn thing.

Then she heard the noise again. This time it was closer. Elena jumped up, suddenly realizing how stupid it was to come out here alone. She shook off some leaves and twigs that had stuck to her clothing and hair. She tried to keep as quiet as possible, listening for another movement in the mysterious shadows.

She waited several minutes and didn't hear anything. Deciding it was probably in her head she slowly moved back in the direction she came.

A low growl and bright yellow eyes, watched her from behind.

. . .

Damon poured himself another glass of bourbon, swirling the drink around lightly.

He gulped it down in one swallow, then poured another.

"Better slow down, brother. You being drunk and upset doesn't blend well." Stefan said as he entered the living room. "Oh I'm not upset.. I don't do upset." Damon said, emphasizing the 't' on the end of his words. He took another drink.

"Right, you just get vengeful… So what? You gonna hit me for interrupting your little quality time with Elena?" Stefan said, smirking, "Speaking of Elena, where did she run off to?"

Damon didn't think it was funny. He just turned and stared at his younger brother. "Don't know, don't care." He said bitterly as he slammed his glass down on the in-table.

"Ahh, we both know that's not true." Stefan said, a ghost of a smile on his face.

"What do you want, Stefan? If your just here to play games, then please, by all means.. Fuck off." Damon growled as he brushed by Stefan.

"Wow," was all Stefan said, causing Damon to turn and stop.

"She must really be under your skin. I haven't seen you like this since… Well, never." Stefan continued, "I mean, what did you think was gonna happen, Damon? Did you think she was gonna spend the summer with you, get to know you, then what? Did you really expect her to ..fall in love with you?"

Damon snapped. In seconds he had Stefan by the throat. He threw his brother across the room and crashed him into the wall. But it didn't seem to have any effect, Stefan was back on his feet in the blink of an eye. He grabbed Damon by his shirt and slammed him down onto the stairs, grinding his back into the sharp steps. Damon kicked his brother off him and grabbed a chair, swinging it right into his brothers head. Stefan stumbled back, dizzy from the contact. He expected Damon to be on him by now, throwing punches. But Damon didn't advance.

Stefan, shocked, looked up to see him just standing there. The look on his face unreadable.

"I'm not gonna fight you, Stefan." Damon's voice broke slightly, "You already won."

Stefan couldn't believe what he had just heard. He watched as Damon climbed the stairs and disappeared around the corner. Stefan felt the slightest pang of guilt, but he immediately blocked it out. Ripper Stefan didn't feel guilty, he didn't feel anything.

"It is finished." Stefan turned around to see Elvira.

"The spell is lifted. But it is not safe for him to leave this house quite yet." she told him.

"Why?" Stefan asked quizzically. "While the spell is lifted, the magic still lies around the threshold. If he leaves the magic could still be harmful to him. Causing severe internal pain."

"What do you mean? What kind of pain?"

"Things such as massive head injuries, internal hemorrhaging, etcetera. The house needs to detoxify. I've placed candles all around the sensitive areas. It should be safe in ..about 24 hours."

Stefan shook his head, acknowledging.

"C'mon, a deal's a deal. I'll take you home now." Stefan told her.

And they left.

Damon tugged his shirt off and flung it on his bed, cursing the blood stains that covered the back. He just bought that shirt. He stumbled around until he found a shirt he was fond of. Black paisley button up. He slipped it over his shoulders but didn't bother to button it.

He grabbed his bottle of whiskey, not even bothering to use a glass, he took a huge chug.

It burned all the way down. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and walked over to the window. Staring out at the bleak rainy weather. He relaxed his shoulders, closed his eyes, and listened to the rain. It calmed him. He let his ears pick up every sound. The rain drops splashing, the birds moving in the tree's, the dog that barked in the distance. But then he heard something that wasn't ordinary. His eyes jerked open, and he listened intently. He heard.. Feet? Yes, running feet. And then… Something heavier. It was heavier than the sound of the feet, but it was moving fast. It came closer, he heard it more distinctly. He heard panting breaths, and growls. Then he heard something that made his stomach drop.

A scream.

He recognized it was Elena in a heartbeat. Faster than lightening he was outside, forgetting about the spell, he ran through the woods towards the sound. He heard her scream again, this time it wasn't just a scream. She was screaming his name.

"Damon!" Elena cried out, tears running down her fear-struck face, "Damon! Oh god, please, Damon, Help!" She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. Her legs and lungs ached unbearably. She knew whatever was chasing her was only a few feet behind.

Suddenly, a gush of wind flew around her, and before she knew it, she was in someone's arms. Everything blurred and the wind whipped at her face harshly. Before she knew what had happened, she was back out into the light., being set on her feet.

She swayed slightly, all the pressure and dizziness washing over her from head to toe.

Strong arms braced her. She looked up to see Damon. Staring down at her with intense blue eyes. Worry plain on his face.

"Hey, hey.." he said softly, running his hand over her muddy face. Rain pouring off his face. "It's alright, your safe. It's okay." he said in soft little tones, as he stroked her hair. She felt herself relax into him. He pulled her tightly to his chest, gripping her in bear hug. "What was that?" she asked, cringing at the memory of seeing those bright yellow eyes. "It was just a wolf, your okay." She leaned back a bit, taking him in. His shirt was open and muscles were soaking wet. ALL of him was soaking wet. She ran her hands down the open shirt, her fingers brushing over his rock hard abs. Heat immediately rising in her cheeks. She cursed herself. Shaking her head in anger.

"Just a wolf?" she barked out, startling him,

"That thing almost ate me and your acting like its no big deal? Just because its not super-natural doesn't mean its not dangerous, Damon!"

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He released her from his hold, staring at her in shock.

"What the hell? I just saved your life and your yelling at me for trying to comfort you?" He yelled, "Well excuse me for caring!"

Elena didn't know what to say. He was right of course. She didn't know what came over her. He just saved her and she was biting his head off over what? She was only really mad because she let herself be attracted to him. Just saying all this in her mind made her gawk at herself. She had serious issues.

"I know! Okay? I'm sorry! It's just…" she paused, shaking her head.

"It's just what, Elena?" he said loudly, not quite yelling, but she could see he was aggravated.

"It's ..nothing. Never mind." she started to walk back towards the house.

Damon stopped her, grabbing her arm, "No! Tell me, what is it, Elena? After everything that's happened today and last night, we might as well get it all out."

She yanked her arm from his grip, anger and fear burning in her chest, "I can't, Damon! Okay? I just can't!"

He wasn't gonna let it go, "Why not, Elena? Just say it! Just go ahead and tell me! Tell me how much you love Stefan! Tell me how its always gonna be Stefan! Tell me that what happened between us doesn't mean anything to you!"

His yelling hurt more than just her ears, it sank deeper than that. She punched him in the chest, but he didn't stop.

"Go back in there and jump into my brothers arms. Go back in there and feel safe. Go back to how everything was before. Back when I didn't complicate things, and it was just you and your prince charming!"

She was crying again, punching his chest wildly, "Stop it! Just stop!"

Damon did stop, but just for a second. He looked at her and felt nothing but guilt. He spoke again, but it was soft this time. "Just tell me you'll never love me, Elena. Tell me I'm not good enough. Go ahead an-" she slapped him, right across the face.

"Don't you ever say that." she said flatly. He just looked at her with anger and shock.

"Don't you dare say that ever again, Damon Salvatore." hearing her say his name like that made him shiver. Even now, during all this, she still got to him.

"Don't you ever think your not good enough!" tears and rain running down her mud streaked face, "You know I don't think that! You know I care, Damon! And you know what happened meant something to me!" she screamed.

His breathing got heavier, she needed to stop, or he wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing what he knew he shouldn't.

"And.. I'm not gonna tell you I'll never love you! Because…" her breath caught in her throat, and she couldn't stop herself, "Because I do love you, Damon!"

She barely got those last words out before he growled and took her back in his arms. He kissed her so hard her knees went weak. His cold lips felt good against hers. He didn't care that she was covered in mud, he ran his hands all down her small and fragile body. Making her shiver with pleasure. She let her hands run through his hair, as his tongue danced with hers. She pulled on the back of his head, trying to make him closer to her somehow. His lips left hers for a brief second only to come crashing back down on them again. She made a moaning sound as he pulled her body closer to his. His hand came to grab her ass quickly and he let it go, but she stopped him before he could, pulling his hand back to her ass she made him squeeze it again, harder this time. Damon moaned, incredibly turned on by her demands. She smiled against his kiss. Getting totally lost in him. Nothing else mattered other than right now. Now that she had said it, she felt to free. She loved Damon Salvatore.

(Thanks for being so patient guys! I've had a little trouble getting motivated to write, especially after the season finale. How depressing was that! I cried waayyyyy too much. Its probably not healthy to get so attached to a fictional couple. Elena's a vamp now? Wow, right? I have a good idea for a new fic because of that. Vamp Elena will be fun to play with. Anyways, your patience with me will pay off in the next chap! The smut gets a little intense.. Just a warning. Sorry for making you all wait 10 chapters before giving you some action haha. I'm cruel. à Reviews are all that's keeping me going at this point. So please, please, let me know what you think. Thoughts, suggestions, and critique are much appreciated. See you in the next chapter! ;) )