Hello everyone!

Well I'm back nice and early with Chapter 17. Thought it was only fair considering I wasn't able to update for AGES. Glad you liked the last chapter, so pleased Alaric's response came across well. So thank you for letting me know. I'll respond personally to some of you during the week :-)

So here we go with Chapter 17 of Love Lessons. Hope you enjoy it!

ELENA'S POV

Elena hadn't slept a wink all night.

Rolling over in her bed to check the time on her bedside clock, she grumbled to see it was almost 3am on Monday morning. She willed herself to drift to sleep, but as soon as she felt her body and mind being lulled into slumber all she could see was Damon. Damon and the fear in his eyes as she left his car earlier that sunday.

They had been caught - now what?

Elena threw the bulky sheets from her body, suddenly feeling incredibly hot and bothered. She wasn't entirely convinced with Alaric keeping hush about them and she knew Damon wasn't either. She wished so badly that she could be with him right now. As strong as Damon was, she knew he would be terrified for what was to come.

Because until they both arrive to school later that day, they're simply left to wonder and worry.

"Y'know, Monday morning's aren't so bad these days. Especially when one has the likes of Mr Salvatore for their first class" swooned Caroline, her lively, blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders in the early morning breeze.

"He makes Monday morning's bearable. It's all in the eyes, I swear they get bluer every time I see them," added Bonnie as the three best friends crossed the road, heading another street closer towards Mystic Falls High.

"They do! Ooh and the suits he wears? God they're soooo snug in that area, and not in a tasteless way but in a really, really good way. What do you think Elena?"

Normally when the girls would be gushing about her secret lover and boyfriend, Elena would be reeling with delight; because she'd seen every inch of his magnificent body and knew exactly how he made love to a girl, which was nothing short of mind-blowing. But not today. Her mind was focused on Mr Saltzman and what he was going to do. Hopefully, as Elena crossed her fingers tightly in her pocket, he would do nothing.

"Elena?"

"Hm?" she looked to Caroline and suddenly remembered what she was banging on about for the last ten minutes "Oh yeah, I love his eyes..." she mused, suddenly thinking back to her time with Damon at the cabin; how they would swim in the cool lake at midnight and his eyes would glow like ice against the surface, or how they looked down at her, hot with desire as he thrust deep into her during one of their many moments of love-making. She smiled and looked back at Caroline next to her, " yeah, the eyes are definitely at the top of my list. Pretty much all of him is."

"Damn right. I mean..." Caroline burst into giggles, "do you remember how we used to gush over Mr Saltzman?"

Elena felt her stomach drop.

"What, he's still pretty hot" Bonnie said - Elena's sudden change of mood hadn't gone undetected by her.

"Next to Salvatore? Please, the man is so average!"

Elena felt her heart drum wildly in her chest and this was only at the mentioning of Mr Saltzman. What if she actually saw him? They were already walking through the school grounds, heading in exactly that direction. It suddenly hit Elena like a ton of bricks that she could meet one of many horrible scenarios in her head; the worst being a number of police marching Damon, hand-cuffed and shamed out of school and into the back of a police car. It was a possibility now. It could happen.

Without thinking she stopped in her tracks and began backing off.

"Elena, what are you doing?" Bonnie asked, turning back to grab her by the arm.

"Nothing, I just..." Elena looked back and forth between her friends, knowing her actions were more than a little off. "Lets bunk school off today."

Bonnie and Caroline exchanged a questioning look. They hadn't blown off school since they were thirteen, and then it was just the once. This was looking so ridiculous.

"Why would you wanna do that?" Caroline asked.

"Well I mean..." Elena flapped her hands uselessly by her sides, "what's one day gonna hurt to do something fun?"

"Elena, what's going on?" Bonnie asked, looking concerned at her friends behaviour. Elena shook her head and laughed at Bonnie as though her friend was overreacting. But she wasn't, Elena knew how out of character she sounded.

"Nothing. I just thought we could go out and do something crazy" she suggested, quickly hurrying by her friends and heading towards their English class.

She'd just made things a whole lot worse. Bunking off school? Genius idea, Elena taunted her brain. Now her friends thought she was crazy. Or at least Caroline did. But Bonnie definitely knew there was more to this than a random day off school to 'have some fun.' And now they were heading to their English class where no doubt Damon would appear a little on edge, along with Elena herself. It was bad enough trying to hide things before, but now with everything that had happened over the weekend? Elena just wasn't good enough a liar.

She just hoped Bonnie wouldn't press her for answers. Because with the amount of pressure Elena felt on her tiny shoulders, she didn't know how long it would take until she snapped.

DAMON'S POV

Damon Salvatore was tired.

As he wandered through the hallway towards the faculty lounge, he caught sight of his reflection in the windows. He looked like Hell; dark circles under his eyes, messy hair, stubble, his shirt creased and he'd forgotten his tie. But quite frankly he had bigger things to worry about than his appearance. To Hell with John if he decided to pick up on it, Damon was more concerned about Alaric, whom he still hadn't seen since they departed ways at the log cabin twenty-four hours ago. There was no police yet on the site, so that was a pretty good sign.

Damon couldn't believe he'd just associated that last sentence with himself. This whole situation was completely fucked.

The smell of stale coffee rolled through the air as Damon approached the lounge. With a sharp ear, he could hear people talking in whispers. Two men to be exact. He closed his eyes as he walked the last, three steps. He knew exactly who they were.

Jonathan Gilbert and Alaric Saltzman immediately stopped their talking as Damon entered the room. Alaric wore a look that was caught somewhere between sympathetic and disappointment. Maybe a dash of hate in there too, Damon couldn't quite tell in his exhausted state. John on the other hand continued to wear that steely expression that was unreadable, say for the smugness that never seemed far away. Damon stood silently in front of them, before forcing a smile on his face.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" he asked.

"What on earth did you get up to last night?" John questioned, taking in Damon's rough state and deterring from his query completely.

Alaric turned to go and make himself some coffee. Damon was confused, quite scared to be perfectly honest, but knew he had to keep up appearances.

"I had a terrible nights sleep" was all Damon said, feeling it was best to keep things as simple as possible. He didn't know if John knew anything. But surely if he did, he would have him by the scruff of his neck for sleeping with his sixteen year old niece. Or better yet, would have driven a few of the scattered pencils on the desk in front of them through his chest.

"Is that all it was?" John pushed.

Damon clenched his jaw. Did the man actually know?

Alaric was slowly stirring his coffee. Damon silently cursed the man in his head for behaving so ambiguous towards him.

"Well if you're hoping to hear me say I had a wild night on the town with a bunch of groupies then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed" Damon quipped, wandering over to the coffee machine where Alaric was still keeping himself occupied. "So what was your mother's meeting about a moment ago?" He said, loudly enough so it probably perforated Alaric's ear drum next to him. "Anything I should know about?"

Damon stared hard at Alaric, but the man never looked in his direction as he turned around to face the room again, sipping his piping, hot drink.

"We were just discussing the Christmas Ball coming up. There's a meeting after school that everyone will need to attend."

"Oh..." Damon frowned, firstly wondering why on earth there would be a meeting about the Christmas Ball at the end of October, but then feeling somewhat guilty for behaving the way he had with Ric. The man clearly hadn't said a word about his relationship with Elena.

"We usually like to keep these meetings early so it doesn't snowball in chaos closer to the time. No pun intended," warbled John.

"Okay, well thank you for letting me know, i'll be sure to be there" replied Damon. John nodded and lazily pointed at him.

"You should try and smarten yourself up a little before class. Doesn't give off a good impression."

"You're the boss John," Damon said with a fake smile. It didn't brush off well, and John left the room without further word.

Damon looked across to Ric who stared blankly at the table in front of them, continuing to sip his drink.

"Thank you," said Damon, and really, really meaning it. "You have no idea how much this-"

"Oh spare me all this arse-kissing thank you shit, Damon" groaned Alaric, still not looking at him as he wandered around the table.

"Would you rather I not express my thanks at all? Surely that'd piss you off more" Damon retorted.

"Look just... just don't bother talking to me anymore okay? I'm done with you."

For some reason as Ric said that, it actually hurt Damon. Once his good friend, now he was barely able to look Damon in the eye. He was disgusted by him. By what he was doing. As Damon watched the man slurp his coffee, he put himself in his shoes, as though he were a none-the-wiser outsider looking in on the forbidden relationship between Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert. It equalled to a sick perverted teacher fucking an immature teenage girl.

It clearly didnt matter how much Alaric thought he knew Damon, or what impression he got from Elena as a student, it was no wonder he thought like he did. To the outside world looking in that's exactly what the relationship was and it was going to be a mammoth task to make anyone think any different.

But with Alaric, Damon felt he had to try.

"Ric will you hear me out one last time?"

"No, Damon."

"A few drinks, at The Grill or something later this week?"

"I said no."

He began to walk out of the room but Damon zoomed around the table in time to grab him by the arm. He was completely caught off guard as Ric slammed him back into a metal filing cabinet, holding him tight by his shirt collar and choking him painfully. Damon tried to prise his hands away from his throat, but Ric slammed him once more so hard against the cabinet Damon felt a sharp, splinter of pain shoot through his entire spine.

"The only reason I'm not telling anyone about your sick, little charade with Elena Gilbert is because I valued you as a friend." Alaric hissed, tightening his hold on Damon's shirt, cutting off his air supply almost completely. "As of now you're on your own. And believe me Damon, no one is going to be on the side of a teacher who's getting off from one of his pretty young students."

With that, Alaric threw Damon out of his grip like he were filth. Damon gasped for air against the cabinet, glaring at Alaric as he rubbed his wheezing throat.

Their friendship was officially over.

Alaric shook his head and left, leaving Damon on his knees in the faculty lounge to regain his breath. His throat was so dry and painful it actually hurt to breathe for a few minutes.

Damon was not expecting things to end that way. But perhaps that was a little naive on his part.

He coughed several times as he made his way to the water cooler in the corner of the room, desperately needing a large cup of it to soothe his throat.

"Damon?"

He turned, rolled his eyes and resumed pouring himself some water.

"What is it, Isobel?" he croaked, voice gone almost entirely.

"What's wrong? You look terrible!"

He cringed as he felt her long fingers curl around his shoulders and waist, urging him to turn and face her properly.

"I'm just not well," he replied, coughing several times to try and get his voice back to normal. Alaric had officially wrecked it for the time being.

Isobel went to the lengths of feeling his temperature, resting her hand on his forehead and then to the sides of his face. Damon stood there feeling like an idiot, wishing the woman would piss off and leave him to sulk before class started.

"You're burning up" she stated. Damon knew he wasn't.

"I'll be fine."

"How about after the meeting tonight I come to yours? I'll make you soup to ease your throat. I'll make you feel better."

She began wrapping her arms around his waist, making sure her finger trips grazed the contorts of his muscles before pressing herself to his body. Damon managed to worm away; tired, fucked off and fed up with life to the point where he didn't care what burst out of his mouth next.

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm fine, Isobel? What will it take for you to realize that I am in no way interested in you, or what you have to offer?" He saw the shock, he saw he offended her, but did he care in the heat of the moment? Did he fuck. Gulping the last of his water , he crushed the plastic cup between his hands and toss it into the bin. Never removing his cold stare from Isobel. "Now if you'll excuse me..."

Damon walked away, but just before he left the room, he was delivered one more bombshell to add to his list.

"Maybe you'll be interested in my offers when I tell you I know your secret, Damon..."

Elena's POV

Elena felt her stomach twist violently as she sat in her usual seat in classroom E6. Looking around, she saw Damon was no where to be seen. She was desperate to see those familiar blue eyes that felt like home. If he was here and beginning their class it would be okay to assume they were safe... for now.

But what if Alaric changed his mind through the day and dialled that three, digit number?

Elena pressed her hand to her mouth, feeling incredibly nauseous.

"Elena are you alright?" said Bonnie, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Elena did something between a nod and a shake of her head. Her mind was a mess.

"I think i'll be okay" Elena murmured. Her usually glowing, tanned skin was now dreadfully pale. Her slender hands felt clammy with sweat and her legs felt unhinged. She needed Damon to appear in that room now before she drove herself crazy with worry.

"Hey, you guys heard about Tyler's party on friday night?"

Elena jumped at the sight of Matt hunching over their table, with Stefan lurking not too far behind. Shivers even consumed her body at just the sound of Bonnie gasping with delight.

"His parents are on vacation again?" she said with her pearly tooth grin.

"Yeah, they've gone to the Caribbean or something. Anyway his house, 8 o' clock, friday."

"Done," stated Bonnie. "Have you told Caroline?"

Elena could hear them chattering away, but she was too busy staring at the door, watching and waiting for Damon to walk through. Her view was blocked partially by Stefan, who she suddenly realized, was thinking she was looking at him. He bore his usual sad yet loving smile and nodded a little, as if in affirmation of a silent longing for each other. Elena immedietly looked back up to Matt, playing with her dark hair nervously. Not because of Stefan, but because she spied the time on the clock above Damon's desk - it was ten minutes into their class and he still hadn't appeared.

"...Matt you can't invite us to the party without Caroline."

"But Bonnie she's driving me nuts with her whole hot and cold shit. I can't..."

"Well tough, because if she isn't going then neither are we" said Bonnie, brattishly flicking open her Hamlet book and pretending to read it.

"Fine," Matt mumbled, "but i'm only sayin' that because I know how much Stefan wants Elena there."

"Dude!"

Matt looked over his shoulder, clearly oblivious to the fact Stefan had been stood right behind him the whole time. Both boys suddenly blushed with embarrassment. Especially Stefan who looked completely exposed. Bonnie was sniggering behind her book, while Elena covered her face with her hands. This whole morning was just unbearable.

"Sorry man, i didn't know you were there."

"You're such a dick," Stefan moaned, heading back to his desk without his usual goodbye.

"See you later, guys" said Matt, rolling his eyes and hunching his way back to Stefan where they pursued a heated argument in whispers.

"Poor Stefan. He's still head over heels for you," said Bonnie. Elena squinted her eyes shut behind her hand-covered face.

"Don't remind me," she managed, trying to swallow back the heavy, acidic lump in her throat. She felt so ill.

"Isn't there any part of you that would want to get back with him? - Elena?"

"Bonnie I don't feel so good."

"Oh-okay, lets get you to the girls room" Bonnie rushed. Elena felt her friend's arms wrap around her shoulders to guide her up to her unsteady legs. Her whole body felt like it wasn't her own. Damon wasn't here. It was twenty minutes into their lesson. He was already gone. Locked up. And they would be coming after her for questioning next...

"Ohmygod Bonnie, what's wrong with her?" came the echoey voice of Caroline from somewhere. Elena didn't catch anything else, She just needed to get out of there.

"Okay class, sorry I'm-"

!BANG!

Elena's entire body collided into Damon's. Hard. Everything happened so quickly that nothing seemed to register in her head. But her hands subconsciously grabbed onto Damon's shirt, not as if they were to support herself from falling, but because he was there and she wasn't prepared to let him go.

"Bonnie, what's wrong?"

"She was feeling really ill, I was taking her to the girl's room."

Elena felt too faint and lost to comprehend much of what was going on around her. All she knew was that she was still holding Damon, inhaling his fresh, manly scent that had her hooked from the first time she collapsed into his arms in that dank, filthy alley-way weeks ago. She wasn't sure if it was his arms around her or still Bonnie's. Regardless of that, he was there and that was all that mattered.

She heard Damon speak, then she was being lead down the hallway which seemed like a white haze of nothingness. The loud creak of a door and then another, Elena found herself emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

"Go and get the school nurse, she needs to go home."

Through her tears and sobs that echoed in the toilet bowl, Elena heard the running of feet, the door groan it's way open again, and then just her own, uneven breathing as her arms hugged the cold porcelain.

"I'll be okay, Bonnie" she mumbled, grimacing as she reached for the flush handle.

"It's not Bonnie."

Elena gasped, trying to fathom something to say but was suddenly lost for words as she felt Damon's hands gently weave through her hair, making sure it was away from her face as she continued to heave slightly. She felt so ill, but so much better at the same time knowing Damon was with her.

"What if someone finds us here?"

She heard him chuckle softly while he continued to smooth down her hair on her back. The tension in her body seemed to vanish under his fluid moments.

"Well considering you're throwing up and we're not jumping each others bones in this cubicle right now, I think it's safe to say people will be fine about it."

Elena released a breathless laugh. But still, she had more questions.

"What about Ric?"

"He has not and will not say a word."

"What took.." Elena felt her stomach curdle again, but it soon settled, "What took you so long to get to class? I was worried sick."

"I can see that, honey"

Elena reached her hand out and slapped his leg behind her. Even though she was staring at the toilet seat, she could still envision him smirking at his little joke.

"What about class? They saw us leave, what if..."

"I told them all to read through last weeks essays and make notes of their mistakes until I got back. Elena, we're fine. I wouldn't be here otherwise."

"You promise?"

She felt her body shudder as Damon slipped her dark mane of hair to one side to gently kiss her the under side of her jaw.

"I promise."

Smiling, she rested her head against his stubbled cheek, enjoying his warmth, the feel of his skin, how he could turn everything bad around her for the better in the blink of an eye.

"I love you so much, Damon."

His lips gently grazed from her neck to ear,

"I love you too," he whispered in a deep, soothing voice.

Their blissful moment, despite it being in a toilet cubicle, was swiftly interupted with the door to the girl's room bursting open. In a flash Elena felt Damon rip away from her body to address whoever had entered. It was the nurse, and Elena felt Damon's touch being replaced with the friendly arms of Bonnie Bennett.

"We called Jenna, she's coming to pick you up."

Elena nodded in reply, managing to crack a smile at her friend.

"Okay Miss Gilbert, the nurse is here just to check on you. I need to be returning to class, along with you Miss Bennett."

"Sure thing, Mr Salvatore," said Bonnie.

Even though her stomach was still wobbling terribly, Elena looked over her shoulder to see Damon standing by the doorway, looking at her with concern. She didn't want the nurse to check on her, she didn't want Jenna to pick her up and take her home. Elena wanted Damon to be the one taking care of her, not leaving her.

"Take care of yourself, Miss Gilbert" he said his voice suddenly sounding a little dry and corse... had it been that way all morning?

A sad smile curled onto his lips while no one was looking. Elena smiled back, feeling her eyes water.

"Thank you, Mr Salvatore" she replied, hating the fact she couldn't allow his name to escape her lips.

Bonnie gave her a quick squeeze before standing up to follow their teacher.

"Call me later okay?"

"I will" Elena said, watching her friend disappear and the nurse step in.

Before long Elena was in the car and being driven home by Aunt Jenna. As she began to drift into a restful sleep, her phone vibrated against her leg.

I NEW MSG

DAMON:

HOPE YOU'RE FEELING BETTER SOON BEAUTIFUL. EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE. I PROMISE. X

And as she re-read the text several times, Elena put her phone away and fell into a comfortable slumber with a smile.

Damon's POV.

Damon re-read the message he sent to Elena numerous times, a deep frown on his face, sitting in his now empty classroom.

EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE. I PROMISE. X

He clenched his jaw, reading the last few words once more before dropping his phone to his desk that was littered with several unmarked essays. He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a huge headache coming on with the amount of thoughts that bustled through his overly-worked and exhausted brain. First there was Alaric, whoms harsh reminder of the death of their friendship still burned in Damon's throat. Then now, there was Isobel, who seemed to keep her word on how she would consider 'making things her business' the day she turned up to his apartment while he and Elena were hidden inside.

Their run in at the faculty lounge certainly proved of that.

"I know your secret Damon. I've known for a while."

Just remembering the way she uttered those words made his whole body tremble.

"What are you talking about, Isobel?"

"I'm talking about your little forbidden escapades with one of your students."

"... excuse me?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Damon. I saw Elena Gilbert's bag that day at your apartment. She was inside wasn't she? The reason you ditched our date. The reason you wouldn't let me into your home."

While she spoke, Damon remembered how he shook his head, folded his arms and laughed at her ridiculous accusations. But now he feared that may have made it worse. Surely if it was actually untrue, he would have hit the roof from the get-go, or stopped her from speaking, or something other than what he did. He found himself staring back at his phone, picking it up and re-reading the text he sent to Elena.

"The only part of your outrageous accusations that rings true, is the fact I had Elena Gilbert's bag. She had forgotten it after a meeting about her work, I took it home for safe keeping."

"So leaving it in class would have been a huge problem? You felt the need to take her goddamn bag home with you? I find that to be..."

"Oh but you find me and the girl being together much more believable? You seriously need to stop over-analyzing my life and actions when you have no right to do so, Isobel."

Damon suddenly felt his mood uplift at remembering what he said. It kind of balanced out his try-hard attempt of being innocent when she first mentioned her suspicions. But nevertheless, the whole conversation was hideous and went from bad to worse.

"Well you cannot blame someone for wondering Damon. It is pretty suspicious. And if my actions are out of order maybe you should inform John Gilbert about it? Y'know, the Head of our Department? I'm sure he'd love to hear how people are accusing you of relations with his niece... I wonder whose side he would be on."

"I'm sure he'd be appalled. As am I that you are insinuating such a thing. But hey, considering you have zero evidence of which to go by, I think many would believe you're wasting your breath. Of which you are."

"Oh really?"

...

"Absolutely..."

Damon twirled his phone around his in hand, unable to shake the uneasy feeling that settled with him after Isobel spoke her last, few words.

"Well... we'll see about that won't we?"

And then with a flutter of her eyelashes, she had left the room.

Damon looked at the text he sent Elena for the umpteeth time.

EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE. I PROMISE. X

...

If only he could convince himself...

And so ends Chapter 17!

Okay I have a hundred and one scenarios on how to continue this. I don't know which to pick, haha! But yes, we're heading into the middle of the end. So please, pretty please, leave your reviews!

Anna x