Hello there to all my beloved Delena fans!

I'm glad so many of you enjoyed Chapter 19, I understand I've ruffled up a few feathers but this is how the cookie crumbles sometimes. Isobel is wicked and she makes for a great bad guy, mwhahahaha! It's rubbish for our favourite couple, but you don't really expect me to leave them like this do you? ;-)

So I'm back a lot earlier than what I thought I would be with Chapter 20, but once I got writing I couldn't stop, and it's completely changed as to how I planned it in my head. I hope you enjoy it.

P.S - how AMAZING was that final scene between Damon and Elena in 3x02? Ian and Nina nailed it!

Anyway, on with the story...

ELENA'S POV

Elena noticed in the reflection of her window that her tears were slowly but surely drying up. Her sadness had reduced to sobs that shook her upper body as she curled her arms around her knees, hugging herself in an attempt to feel that little bit better.

But she didn't.

Her mind forcibly kept repeating the moment she found Damon kissing Isobel. It was him kissing her. If it were the other way round she'd probably feel better about it, but the fact it was the opposite it made it so much worse. She hugged herself tighter, nuzzling her damp cheek against the fuzzy blanket she had draped over her body.

As soul-destroying as it was for her to see, a small part of her felt that she was quick to jump to conclusions. But then she laughed at herself thinking "you saw him practically devouring her lips... you weren't quick enough to jump to them." How could she give him the benefit of the doubt in a situation like that? She would be a fool. She'd be the naive, exploited little girl she had always believed she wasn't when she was with Damon...

"I have been a fool this whole time" she thought silently, feeling another tear manage to seep between her closed eyes.

"But you know how obsessed that woman is with him.."

"He was kissing her."

"She knew about you both. What if she made him? Why would Damon do this to you?"

"Then why would he KISS HER!"

Elena threw the blanket from her body and started pacing her room frantically, pulling at her hair, trying to pull away the silent conflict she was having with her conscience. This feeling was awful; she was feeling reassured one second and completely, utterly betrayed the next.

"How could you do this to me?" she sobbed aloud, her body juddering with her tears as she hid her face from the four walls of her bedroom with her hands.

Then the familiar sound of her phone vibrating came to her attention. She looked across to her bed where it was buzzing on her sheets, the screen flashing, enticing her to see who was calling. As she stepped closer she saw it was Damon.

She wanted to answer so badly but she forced herself to look away. Anything he had to say she didn't want to hear.

"But what if it is to say he was threatened into it because of Isobel? Why would he be with someone who he expressed so much hatred for?"

"What if it's to plead with me not to say a word about what we've done?"

"Why would he go to such extreme lengths if he didn't love you?"

"What if he is the kind of teacher people read about in the press? What if..."

"This is Damon! He has risked everything for you!"

When the phone became silent once more, the argument in Elena's head stopped and she released a heavy breath she didn't realize her lungs were holding.

Then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Elena shrieked to the house, quickly running down the stairs and opening the door to find Bonnie there waiting for her.

Elena didn't answer to her friends' 'hello' and instead jumped straight into Bonnie's arms and hugged her tight. Bonnie's arms wrapped around her in an instant.

"Elena what's wrong!" Bonnie pushed her back to inspect her. Elena realized she must look a mess, she'd hadn't even looked in a mirror since she'd been home. She'd just locked herself away in her room and prayed Aunt Jenna and Jeremy would leave her be.

"It's... I...I don't..."

"Lets get you inside," Bonnie suggested, keeping a hold of Elena as they went back indoors, hurrying up the stairs to Elena's bedroom.

With each step and Bonnie behind her, Elena tried to think of where to start with what she had to say. But her head was clouded with so many thoughts it was pretty much impossible. As she heard Bonnie close the door behind them, Elena knew it was now or never.

"Can you keep a secret?" she blurted, turning to face Bonnie who looked more than confused.

"You know I can," she stated as though it were the obvious, stepping a little closer to Elena who's body was as stiff as a wooden board.

"Can you keep it no matter how big it is? Or how much you're... against it?"

"Elena you need to tell me what's going on I'm-"

"I need to hear it" Elena shook, feeling more hot tears trail down her face without effort. "Can you keep this secret I'm about to tell you?"

"Of course I can. And I'm sure whatever it is, it's not as bad as you think Elena."

Elena laughed, looking up to the ceiling. Was this the right thing to do?

"But it is," she whispered, her voice breaking as she burst into tears once again. Bonnie was right by her side, sitting her down on her bed, arms around her and cradling her to her side like the hundreds of times before when Elena had been upset about something. From bullying to boyfriends, friends to funerals, Bonnie had been there through it all.

Would she really go and reveal everything if Elena told her?

"Elena please tell me," Bonnie said gently, her voice as soft as a feather and calming to Elena. "Whatever it is, you know I'll keep quiet and you know i'll support you."

"I'm so scared you won't"

"But I will" Bonnie urged.

Elena remained silent for a few moments, deep in thought, knowing Bonnie would give her all the time in the world to think about something. But as she structured her first, semi-decent speech, her phone vibrated once again behind them on the bed.

Like a startled animal Elena reached out to grab it, but her rushed actions caused it to go skimming to the wooden floorboards across the room near her window.

"I'll get it," Bonnie said, laughing at the whole thing. "You're ridiculously clumsy sometimes."

"No it's okay, just leave it!" Elena spat, crawling over her bed to try and grab it before Bonnie.

"Elena what-"

"Just give it to me, Bonnie!" Elena snapped, standing before Bonnie knowing she looked crazy but she couldn't help it. Bonnie frowned and turned the phone over in her hands, the screen still flashing, the light reflecting against her face.

Elena felt her entire stomach drop.

And then in an unexpected move, Bonnie answered it.

"No don't!"

"Hey Stefan...yeah she is, but she's busy. Ah ha... Yeah of course we're still coming to Tyler's party tomorrow! What time does it start?"

Elena stared at Bonnie having a conversation with the last person she expected to be calling. Relief was slowly ebbing into her body. It wasn't Damon calling. It was just Stefan. Just Stefan...

"Okay cool. Well we'll meet you at Tyler's at 9. Sure okay. Bye!"

Bonnie hung up, looked to Elena and laughed a little.

"Please don't tell me this big secret is anything to do with Stefan?"

Elena snatched the phone from Bonnie's open palm. It began vibrating again and this time it was Damon. She felt a twang of hurt snap at her heart as she switched her phone off. Then she remembered Bonnie had said something.

"Sorry what did you say?"

"This secret you have. It's nothing about Stefan is it? 'Cuz I'd be a little offended if you felt you couldn't tell me something about that."

"No it's not Stefan" Elena said tiredly, then wishing she had kept quiet because she wouldn't have had to say anything at all.

"Then what is it!" Bonnie pushed, walking around so Elena had to look at her.

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that. Whatever it is. it's got you worried sick and i'd be the worst friend in the world if I didn't do anything about it."

"I understand that Bonnie but I'm sorry, it was a mistake to ask you round, I'm sorry i'll-"

"It's Mr Salvatore isn't it?"

...

The words hit Elena hard. She felt her whole persona change before Bonnie and no amount of denying it would save her. But she would aimlessly try for the sake of it.

"What?" she said with a half sort of smile. A tremor of panic fluttered through her body at the blank expression on Bonnie's face.

"You heard me. Mr Salvatore is this big secret of yours isn't he?"

"How do you know?" Elena said, her voice breaking into barely a whisper. Bonnie shrugged a little, twisting her mouth.

"I know you so well Elena. I could just... tell."

"No. Someone must have told you. Who told you?" Elena asked, her voice on the verge of begging for answers.

"No one did. It's just the way you are when you're around him. You'd just light up. And in a weird way I could see he did too..." Elena found herself sitting back on her bed with Bonnie, listening contently, watching Bonnie reel off her thoughts through her tearful, tender eyes. "And you always needed to go to his class for something and we wouldn't hear from you. The day of the slumber party you said you needed space but my gut-instinct just told me you were with him. And were you actually visiting Meredith at the weekend?"

Elena looked away and slowly shook her head.

"No I wasn't"

"I didn't think so. And on Monday you were acting so strangely, and the way you cried when he came into the room. I dunno, it just seemed all of the above just clicked into place."

"What about Caroline?"

"Seriously Elena, do you think I'd tell Caroline my suspicions? It would be all over the school, heck even the town by now" Bonnie chuckled, trying to lighten the situation. Elena smiled weakly, silently appreciating that Bonnie hasn't said anything, but also wondering why.

"Why didn't you say something to someone? Most people would have."

Bonnie smiled softly, her brown eyes warming, "I thought if someone could make you light up and smile the way you have after your parents' death, then they couldn't be all that bad."

Elena broke into a smile, then the tears came yet again. Bonnie was quickly there to brush them away.

"Why so upset though, Elena?"

... Silence.

"I... I just love him so much, Bonnie" she sobbed, overcome with emotion, imagining Damon holding her close in his bed the first time the made love when she closed her eyes. "So, so much..."

"Then why are you so upset? Has something happened?"

Elena could only nod as she tried to regain some composure. Everything was just so confusing she didn't know where to start.

"Just promise you won't say anything Bonnie. I just needed to share it with someone I know."

"That you know? You mean others are aware?"

"The worst people imaginable," she seethed through gritted teeth. Isobel's sneering mug crept into her mind.

"Like who?"

"...Mr Saltzman."

"What! And he hasn't said anything?" Bonnie asked, completely shocked that a teacher could know about them and nothing had been alerted to the police.

"Thankfully no. To cut a long story short, he caught me and Damon together at his log cabin we stayed at over the weekend. And I think he heard us... you know."

Bonnie sat up straight with bewilderment, each look she gave scaring Elena a little. The more she told, the more she worried whether Bonnie would go back on her word.

"So you're sleeping with Mr Salvatore?"

"Of course I am, we're together, we-"

"Elena you're sixteen, you're underage, he's twenty-something, he'll be jailed for it!"

"You don't need to remind me!" Elena snapped, feeling frustrated that Bonnie would state the obvious to her. She was more than aware that she was under the consenting age of 18 to sleep with Damon who was an adult. She knew that in the eyes of society that it was wrong.

"Okay I'm sorry, but I'm just stunned that Mr Saltzman hasn't reported it. You're lucky."

"Very lucky. But he almost did. He still might... I dunno."

Bonnie sighed and even rubbed her temples. Elena knew she was experiencing just a small fraction of what she had been going through every single day.

"So you said people... who else knows?"

Elena felt herself wince, "Mrs Flemming."

Bonnie's eyes almost popped out of her skull with shock,

"Another teacher! Are you kidding me?"

"Nope. She knows and she..." Elena felt today's events on the tip of her tongue, but something was holding her back from saying them, "she's probably going to tell the police. Damon and I decided to put... put our relationship on hold after we knew she found out. She's obsessed with him Bonnie, it wouldn't surprise if I found out she was..." a light bulb pinged to life in Elena's head, along with a tiny smile of realization ".. blackmailing Damon..."

It all fitted into place. Maybe...

"Oh God Elena," Bonnie said, lost for any other words.

"I've been wanting to tell you, but I couldn't risk it. It's just gotten to a point now where I feel like i'd explode if I kept it to myself."

"Don't worry, I understand" Bonnie assured her, stroking her arm supportively, " you know I'm here for you. And you know I won't say a single word to anyone."

Elena nodded with a faint smile on her lips, "I know you won't."

Then like all the times before when they had been here, Bonnie pulled Elena into a warm, comforting hug that never failed to make Elena feel better. As they held each other, Elena rested her chin on Bonnie shoulder gently, realizing she was so quick to jump to conclusions about her best friend being unable to keep her secret about Damon.

And now she was wondering whether she was quick to jump to conclusions about Damon too...

DAMON'S POV

He didn't know how he did it, but Damon manage to convince Isobel that he needed the night alone. He was tired, overwhelmed and would feel recharged and focused tomorrow onwards. It took a while, but Isobel left satisfied with his need to clear his head.

He wondered, as he drifted through his dark, cold and empty apartment if he could get away with such excuses for the next several months...

Dropping his case to the floor and shrugging off his jacket, Damon picked out his phone from his pocket. Elena hadn't answered any of his calls, nor had she returned them. And why the fuck would she? She caught him kissing Isobel the day after they 'broke up' and the woman was the one person who Damon continuously told Elena he despised more than anyone. What she must be thinking about him right now was beyond anything that Damon could bear to imagine.

But Elena knows me. Surely she'll realize the truth. She'll see what is really happening...

"Yeah, because most girls can see beyond their boyfriend's kissing another woman" Damon scalded aloud to himself as he stared at nothing in particular, feeling the darkness of his empty home devour him. A shudder down his spine brought him back to the present.

He dialed Elena's number again and raised the phone to his ear, waiting for the inevitable "ring ringing" that made him so, incredibly anxious in the last few hours.

But her phone was still switched off.

She didn't want to know.

"And why would she? You broke the girls heart today."

With all the force he could muster, which was heck of a lot, Damon cracked the phone in his hand and threw it against the wall with a venomous growl. As it smashed into several pieces Damon stormed right up to it, grounding the plastic into the floor with the heel of his booted foot, then proceeding to drill his right fist into the wall. Again and again, watching his blood smear further and thicker along it's surface. When the wall finally cracked so did Damon's knuckles. He screamed through the pain and even hit the wall once more, the pain so severe this time that he felt a little faint as he leaned his head against the blood stained surface, cursing under his breath, desperately trying to keep it together.

The throbbing in his hand quickly became excruciating. Damon lifted his head from the wall and in a confused daze, made his way to his drinks cabinet. With his left hand he drew out the nearest bottle he found which luckily for him was his favourite: bourbon.

With his teeth he unscrewed the cap and spat it out, knowing there would be no need to screw it back on. A glass was also not necessary. He walked through his apartment, drinking the booze like he was dying of thirst, not caring that the sound of blood dripping from his hand to the floor grew heavier and more frequent.

He planned to drink himself into oblivion until he couldn't remember why he was doing so in the first place.

So there you have it DE fans, Chapter 20.

What will become of Damon now? Will Isobel get her way? And what could happen at Tyler's house party that could possibly result in devastating consequences?

Please review and allllll will be revealed!

Thank you for reading!

Anna xx