I know, I know... I'm a terrible person!

But y'know when people say 'life gets in the way?'... well... it got in the way! From work to family, friends to boy drama, blah blah blah... it's all been very hectic! Not to mention I have been coming back and forth to this chapter and never coming away totally satisfied. But finally I think it's acceptable (and more than overdue!) to put out to you guys. I'm sorry I've left it so long and I'm sorry for breaking the pinkiest of all pinky promises! To make up for it i'll wash all your dishes/clothes for a month... or at least cook up a really smutty chapter next time, okay? :-P

And now, on with the story!

One week later...

ELENA'S POV

Elena arrived at school an hour early on Monday morning. She quietly entered the English block, feeling the warmth of the indoors blanket over her skin that tingled with the bitter snap of winter. Through the darkened hallways she marched towards Mr Saltzman's classroom, her new place of study after Isobel had triggered the rumours about her relationship with Damon. It was so embarrassing to be sitting in a class full of kids who were two years younger than her. She felt like she'd been held back a year, but what could she do about it? She made sure to get on with her work and ignore the hushed giggles from the tweens surrounding her. Mr Saltzman thankfully shut them up whenever possible. It made her school life that little bit easier.

A few moments later, Elena stepped before classroom E3, subconsciously glancing towards E4 that belonged to Isobel. It was still dark and lifeless inside her room, which meant Elena could talk to Mr Saltzman with further ease.

She peeked through the window to find Mr Saltzman glancing over to her. He gestured for her to enter as he approached his desk at the front of the empty classroom.

"Good Morning Elena,"

"Morning Mr Saltzman" she said as she closed the door behind her.

"Please, under these circumstances I think it's safe to say you can call me Ric... or Alaric, which ever you prefer."

"Okay... Ric" she said, testing his name on her lips. It was weird. Like when she said Damon's name for the first time, except when she spoke Damon's name she felt her heart burst with lust.

"So," Alaric said, rubbing his hands together, ready to get down to business as he made his way over to his chair. Elena followed suit and sat at the desk directly in front of his, wondering where to begin with what they were about to discuss.

As Elena unwrapped her scarf from around her neck, she watched Alaric sigh and slump forward in his chair, grazing a hand over the stubble at his chin.

"You do know Damon's plan to get outta this mess with Isobel is a huge gamble, right?"

His words scared Elena, just she like knew they would. Her heart began to thunder away in her chest.

"I know. But it's all we have" she replied, keeping her voice low, incredibly paranoid that anyone could just wander through the door. It would look suspicious if they chose to lock it.

"But so far he doesn't have anything," Alaric said, confirming what she already knew.

"You don't need to remind me of that. We're more than aware that the clock is ticking."

"But what if he doesn't find anything? Has he given you a Plan B?"

"No," Elena said, feeling her voice shake, "he keeps saying that he will, that he'll find something."

Alaric laughed a little, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms, "he tells me the same. He keeps on saying it like he's so self-assured."

"You're right, but all I can do is hope. But if that hope goes to waste then I don't know what we'll do, Alaric. The wheels are in motion. It's confirmed in confidence with my Uncle and Mrs Lockwood that he's leaving Mystic Falls High. If we don't have that leverage over Isobel by the time she finds out he's leaving she'll tell anyone who'll listen about what we've been doing. She'll destroy him" Elena said, feeling her body shake with anger and fear.

"And if you don't have that leverage in time... take these..." Alaric pushed over a small white envelope that she hadn't noticed on his desk before. "...Just incase."

There was a bulge in the centre of it. Elena furrowed her brow as she took the small package, hearing a jingling sound inside.

As she ripped the paper neatly across the top, a set of familiar keys landed in her palm.

"The keys to your log cabin?" she said, looking up to him to find him nodding slowly.

"If by the school Christmas Party you don't have anything against Isobel, you have that to fall back on."

Elena looked back to the keys that rested against her skin, closing her fingers around them as tight as she could.

"Give them to Damon. If he choses to run, at least he'll have somewhere to run too."

Tears prickled at Elena's eyes as she nodded with a beaming smile, eternally grateful for everything Alaric was doing for Damon.

"Thank you" she wavered, "Thank you for being there for him. I can't imagine he would have made it through any of this on his own."

Alaric grinned, "trust me, that guy would take on the world for you. But it probably would have taken a few more bottles of whiskey for him to get through it without me."

Elena chucked while carefully placing the precious set of keys in her bag, knowing she would never let them out of her possession until it was necessary.

"I just hope he finds something to use against her. If he does she'll keep quiet. As much as she wants him, she'll take care of number one first."

"No shit," Alaric said, forgetting his place as her teacher, but not like that mattered anymore.

"I just want him to get out of here, not to be chased out, but of his own free will. I want him to have a life after this..."

"Lets just hope he does," Alaric said, glancing away to find the clock ticking closer towards their lesson.

Elena heard the sound of her fellow students growing louder outdoors, along with the 'clip-clop' sound of heeled shoes in the hallway outside Mr Saltzman's classroom.

"I'll get it back to Damon what we've discussed today, and that you have the keys. If he tells me anything i'll make sure you know before the week is out."

"Okay," Elena nodded, wiping her eyes and breathing deeply to compose herself before the bell rang. "Thank you" she whispered, wishing she could walk around the desk and hug him tight. She and Damon owed the man so much. But unless she wanted to run the risk of being caught in the arms of another teacher, it was best to stick with verbal appreciation.

"You're welcome," he replied, standing out of his seat as the bell drilled through their ears. "You better take your seat."

Elena nodded and as she approached her seat the tweens began to filter into the room. The usual crew, their names unknown, began their pointing and snickering at Elena. It didn't bother her; she didn't know them, so what did it matter? But she had to admit that when the people she knew the best, such as when Matt switched teams to poke fun at her, that really hurt inside. And now she's noticed Caroline drifting away after her sudden nose-dive into unpopularity. And that made Elena feel close to tears every time she thought about it.

"Hey there," squeaked a voice.

Elena looked up, her mouth agape to find some bratty blonde swirling a piece of bright pink chewing gum in her mouth. Elena placed her hands together on her desk, narrowing her eyes at the over-confident little twerp who was sniffing for trouble.

"Can I help you sweetie?" Elena cooed.

"I just thought I'd let you know we've seen your teacher-boyfriend arrive in the parking lot. Y'know, just incase you wanna give him a good morning smooch."

Elena felt her cheeks burn, she was outdone by a kid.

"I suggest you take your seat Suzie," came the stern voice of Mr Saltzman from behind the gum popping girl. It even caught Elena off-guard and she found herself jumping with surprise like Little Miss Bratty before her.

"Sorry Mr Saltzman," Suzie mumbled, scurrying towards her seat with her friends.

"Glad to hear it. How does detention sound for the rest of the week, hm?" said Alaric, Elena smirked as she watched Suzie's face drop. Alaric turned to address the rest of the class "And that goes for anyone else who had the audacity to be disrespectful towards Miss Gilbert. I will not allow such behaviour in my class. Now get in your seats and pay attention."

As Alaric put the fear of God into them, everyone soon shut up and took their places. Elena spotted the comforting smile that Alaric flashed towards her as he stood at the front of the class.

Yep - she and Damon owed him so, so much.

DAMON'S POV

Ugh... this was going to be a long, long day...

Since his secret weekend with Elena, Damon had made it his mission to find anything that could discriminate Isobel. She returned from her parent's home on the Monday and while Damon expected a massive backlash for his heated phone call with her she didn't do anything. Not one, single, thing. Which in an odd way, freaked Damon out more so. The last thing he expected was to see her turn up on his porch, fine and dandy, ready to cook him dinner without a single hint towards his actions. Damon never once pushed his luck by bringing it up and remained quiet. But still, her silence on the matter felt like an underlying threat...

Regardless, Damon suggested he stay at hers for a few days to 'escape his stuffy apartment.' Which was actually code for 'to route around for skeletons in your closet... bitch.' It was hard. Incredibly hard. Even more so when he only had the one, useless left hand to do the searching for him. Isobel was there with him for two full days, only giving him opportunity to snoop when she showered or grabbed food from the kitchen. He found nothing, not even a goddamn diary in her bedside drawer.

At least she didn't suspect anything...

That familiar trickle of icy dread splintered down his spine as Damon walked closer and closer towards the school. Jesus he felt ill. If Elena was having such a hard time, what was he going to be in for? It would have been so much easier to hold his head high if his relationship with Elena had actually been a bullshit fabrication of some attention seeking teenager. But because it was all very much true, and they'd only just escaped by the skin of their teeth, Damon found himself falling apart as he stepped up the side walk, noticing the first few heads in sight begin to turn.

Ignore it. Man up.

To keep himself from smashing his left fist into several eyeball-popping faces, Damon flicked open one of his folders in an attempt to look busy while he walked. A post-it note was stuck on the first page from Isobel.

Good luck on your first day back, baby.

Behave yourself.

Iz x

Damon would have scrunched the fucking thing up but with his right hand strapped in place he couldn't do so. His fingers were bound so tight they'd only just latched onto the steering wheel of his car. He flipped the folder shut to look up and find himself staring into a crowd of people gasping with surprise;

He's got a nerve coming back here.

Dirty fucker, as if he's actually come back..

Too bad they didn't finish him off.

Is Elena waiting in the Janitors Closet for him?

The sordid comments and laughter grew louder as Damon breezed through the hallway as calmly and as confidently as he could. He expected things to be bad, but not like this. No wonder Elena was such a fragile mess.

He didn't even dare glance into Alaric's class room. If he saw Elena in there, he knew he'd give himself away to even the most simple-minded kid in this joint.

And as if on cue, Isobel came wandering out of her room.

"I'd recognize those footsteps anywhere," she said, full of happiness and content as her eyes twinkled up at him. "How is it going?" she asked.

Damon slowed his steps, moving aside to allow a small group of kids to enter her classroom.

"Not well I'm sure you'll be pleased to know" he quipped, cocking his head to the side in the clever manner that he knew she hated. This was the one place he could annoy the fuck out of her because she couldn't do a single thing about it. He intended to make the best of it without pushing it. He dished out one of his devilish smirks to piss her off more so. "And how are you this morning?"

Isobel's eyes narrowed like a predatory lioness. She waited silently, hands cupped together in front of her as a few more of her students hurried into her classroom. Once quiet, she stepped forward to whisper;

"I'm feeling pretty good after last night..."

She stared up playfully, clearly replaying last nights events in Damon's apartment...

Thankfully, it wasn't sex.

Damon still managed to use his injuries as an excuse not to, but it wasn't going to hold off for much longer. Last night he was made to share a bath with her. Bubbles, candles, soft music, the works. It was awful. Damon felt like a kid about to lose his virginity to the last girl on the planet he wanted to do it with. He remembered clearly how she mounted him, tossing her hair porno-style over her shoulders as she made to lower herself onto an erection that she didn't realize he didn't have. With Oscar style acting Damon winced with pain, to which she sloshed around in the water to get off him as he writhed in 'pain,' groaning that 'as much as he wanted to, it would be pointless.' Adding silently to himself, 'It would be like trying to slide a slug through a slot machine'

And back in the present moment, Damon actually chuckled in front of her, quite pleased with his silent joke. Of which Isobel mistook for a shared satisfaction of a hot, naked encounter in a bubble bath. If they weren't in the middle of school, he knew she would've planted her sour tasting lips all over him.

"I better get going" he finally said, suddenly feeling a heavier weight of dread on his chest, "have a good class, Iz."

"You too baby, see you at lunch" she winked. Her 'sexy' allure quickly altered to Perfect Teacher mode as a couple of girls went dashing into her room. Damon waited until she closed the door before making his way down the hallway.

His legs began to feel like rubber as he rounded the next corner. The final stretch to his class.

Somewhere in the space of two to three seconds, Damon found himself being roughly pushed forward. Unable to quickly comprehend what was happening, he went colliding into the white, breeze-block wall to his right, his folders and papers scattering like giant snowflakes around him and skimming onto the laminate floor.

"Oops! Sorry man!" called out the less than sincere voice of who Damon assumed was Tyler Lockwood. He would've looked, but he was far too busy trying to contain the amount of pain he was in. He didn't want to make a show of it, but behind closed doors he knew he would have bellowed a heavy outburst of agony.

Dots speckled his vision as he rested his head against the wall. A horrible sweat coated his body as he regained his breath. The pain in his ribs had settled in the last few days of rest but now it felt like a complete waste. The agony was back.

"My Goodness Damon, what happened?" came the dead-pan tone of Jonathan Gilbert. If Damon hadn't have been shoved into the spotlight for sleeping with his niece, he would've heaved out a cocky comeback. But Jonathan Gilbert was one man Damon really, really needed to be on the best side of.

"Not sure, John" he said, his voice gruff and harsh between breaths, "I think i'll be alright."

A heavy sigh breathed from above.

"I suppose such behaviour from students is to be expected. Being accused of such a disgraceful act cannot be easy. It's difficult for myself, with the young lady in question being my niece..."

Damon slowly looked up to John in disbelief, wondering how the man could bring up the subject in public. He was fishing... fishing for any uncertainty in Damon's eyes. Damon hoped to God he wasn't giving him any reason to think he was hiding something.

John suddenly took one step closer as the hallways suddenly cleared of life. Damon could even smell the stale scent of the man's early morning coffee, could see the faint crows-feet wrinkles around his grey eyes, the hard stare blatant. Fuck, fuck, fuck...

"If you so much as look at Elena during the remainder of the time that you're here, I'll rip you limb from limb. I can promise you that, Salvatore. Is that in any way unclear?"

Through the pain, Damon clenched his jaw and stood upright, causing his enemy to take two steady steps backwards. Wordlessly Damon bent down, squinting his eyes at the stabbing sensation in his torso, and began to collect his papers while John remained above him, not making any attempt to help. And as though they had just finished a light-hearted conversation about their weekends, Damon smiled at John before saying,

"I'll see you at lunch, Mr Gilbert. Have a good morning."

He didn't get a reply. Obviously. Damon instead used the few seconds he had left to take a few even breaths, stepping closer and closer towards his classroom door which was closed. The sound of muffled voices and laughter grew louder. He couldn't believe he was back here after everything that had happened. After how fucked up his life became in the space of a couple of weeks. With his left hand wrapped around the handle, Damon glanced his sharp blue eyes forward and swung open the door.

Silence instantly.

Like an idiot he momentarily froze at the doorway as though he were about to leave again. Not such a confident move. Like letting go of his security blanket as a kid, Damon reluctantly released the door handle and made his way over to his desk. The kids were like controlled robots, heads moving simultaneously to his movements. With a slightly trembling left hand, Damon moved to unhook his folder from under his right arm. It almost went tumbling to the desk and floor. He was falling apart.

Get it together. Get it the fuck together, Salvatore!

Finally he looked around his class... noticing straight away the empty chair next to Bonnie Bennett. The kind-hearted young girl gave him a supportive smile, but Damon could not return it.

"Elena is in Saltzman's class if you're worried about her" announced one of the boys.

No sooner had the gasps and laughter erupted, Damon cleared his throat, ignoring the comment thrown at him.

"I understand that in my absence you've all completed mock examinations as planned..."

A ball of paper shot by Damon's head. The oooollld ball of scrunched up paper. Damon looked back as it rolled pathetically to a stand still in the corner of the room, then turned to see Matt and Stefan high-fiving each other with big, pearly-toothed grins on their faces.

"Really?" Damon quipped, "Surely you should have a better aim than that if you're on the team, Stefan."

"Oooohhhhh" rumbled the class, all turning to look at Stefan who had stopped laughing. He was stumped and Damon knew it. Any teenager who throws a ball of paper has no witty comeback in them.

Damon smirked as Stefan shook his head and scowled out the window, rolling a pencil between his fingers so hard that the wood began to creek.

"Anyway back to maturity. Can anyone tell me how they found..."

Sssssnap!

The low rumbling of a chair drummed through everyone's ears before Caroline Forbes screeched, "Oh my God!" at the top of her lungs. Damon was ready for it this time, and quickly lurched around his desk, using it as a barrier as Stefan made to grab him.

"YOU FUCKED HER DIDN'T YOU!" Stefan yelled.

It actually shocked Damon to hear that come from Stefan. He didn't know the kid had such anger in him.

Arms out before him in a silent urge for Stefan to back off, Damon repeated the kid's name warningly yet calmly. He noticed his entire class were out of their seats, girls with hands clapped over their mouths and the boys generally dumb-founded. But no one dared interupt the heated moment. Stefan was quite clearly at breaking point.

After several moments of sharp silence, Stefan's body continued to heave with anger before Damon. A large vein pertruded from his right temple, jaw clenched and fists balled to his sides. But Damon didn't believe he was capable of any physical harm. The boy would never throw a punch, he wasn't that sort of kid...

Yeah, but you are seeing the girl he's still madly in love with.

"Admit it!" Stefan raged, his face boiling to an angry shade of red, "Admit it that you FUCKED Elena!"

"You need to calm down, kid" Damon warned, eyes bulbous with anger and warning for him to back down. This fiasco was bound to get around the school and put him knee deep in shit again, so the last thing he needed was for Stefan to actually do something stupid.

"Yeah that's right, I am a kid, and so is she!"

"Stefan that's enough!" came Bonnie's voice. She appeared out of no where and began tugging on Stefan's bulging arm. He shrugged her away like she was nothing, almost elbowing her in the lip.

"I'm gonna get another teacher!" squeaked a girl from the back.

"Stefan listen to me," Damon urged, trying to regain some control. As blindingly pissed off as the boy was, he slowly relaxed his shoulders and posture, keeping his eyes on Damon, ready to listen. "I can't imagine what you thought when those pathetic notes circulated around the school. I don't know whose twisted idea it was, but they're certainly laughing about it now. Don't give them the satisfaction, Stefan. They've caused a lot of unnecessary pain and upset and this needs to stop."

"But I saw it..." said Stefan, voice breaking up into a whisper. Damon felt his stomach drop, wondering what the Hell this boy was about to say. Everyone around them waited with baited breath. "I saw it in her eyes..."

Damon opened his mouth to speak the moment Isobel came bursting through the room with the girl who went to find a teacher. Of all the ones she could have picked...

Isobel was surprisingly calm as she entered the room, marching over to Stefan and placing her hands on his shoulders. The boy broke down at the contact.

"Stefan come with me," she ordered, trying to look at his face but his chin was practically resting on his chest as he sobbed silently.

Damon... to put it quite simply... had no idea what to do.

He just stood, still in a defensive stance as Stefan nodded slowly at Isobel's request, allowing her to lead him out of the room. She eyed Damon over her shoulder as if to say 'i'll take care of this...' he gave her a single nod in response, feeling a weight lift from his hunched shoulders as they left the room.

Then he was left with twenty-eight pairs of eyes staring at him, expressionless, say for a few slack-jawed mouths as everyone tried to take in what just happened. Damon swallowed the thick, dry lump in his throat and quickly picked up where he left off.

"Apologies for that guys," he said, unable to level the wavering in his voice.

And like a force of habit, he glanced over to where Elena would normally sit. There he found Bonnie, who smiled in his direction, showing him she was on his side.

He and Elena needed to thank the girl one day. And somehow that support from Bonnie helped him through the rest of his class without any more trouble. It wasn't like anyone could top Stefan's performance. It wasn't like any of the remaining teenagers had any reason too.

But as Damon managed get the class discussing their latest work, he couldn't help but wonder what Isobel was doing with Stefan right now;

Had she told him to calm down and take a beat?

Was she quizzing him on what he could possibly know?

Was she plotting a way to use him as a pawn in her next move against him and Elena?

Which ever way Damon looked at it, it was either going to destroy any hope of freedom, or it was going to be his leverage on his road towards it.

And he had an idea of how to achieve that leverage. It was a long shot, a risk and perhaps fantastically over-ambitious.

But still...

It was a long time coming, but there you have Chapter 27!

Don't worry I'll totally understand if you guys don't feel I deserve an update. But I do intend to see this story to the end. It may just take a little time getting there :-)

Anna x