AN: Did you miss me? Well, I haven't disappeared, I was just out there in the real world, where I can't just write my own story like I do with this. Anyway, I thought I should give you a new chapter as I've left you with a pretty nasty cliffhanger the last time.

On the other hand, I have little over 100 reviews now and as well people following my story and a few who have even favorited it. That's just amazing and I want to thank you all! It means that somewhere, in the world, there's a handful of people who actually enjoy this story and I can only be happy about it. So thank you, big times!

I'll just leave you to it now. Enjoy it and don't forget to drop me a review (long, short; I'll read and respond as soon as possible).

My blood runs red from the streets to the sewers

To the blue black ocean

I'm caught in the tide

But I don't mind if you don't mind

"What is taking Elena so long to get the damn karaoke set?" Caroline puffed out her cheek in her attempt to stay still. Damon rolled his eyes at her and loosely extended his legs in front of him, tapping the arm of the leather couch.

"She had a difficult time finding it. She'll be down in a few minutes, Blondie." He explained, not wanting to divulge Elena's secret. Maybe she didn't want the others to know she finally had the courage to enter her parent's room. He was happy for her; she was taking steps forward-baby steps- and it could only mean good things.

"Which reminds me, what the hell is going on between you two?" The blonde furrowed her eyebrows and seemed like she was impatient to get an answer from him. Oh, how he wanted to rub it in her face that he slept with Elena, but he couldn't just blurt it like that. Well, rethinking it, he could, but it would probably get him in trouble with Elena and he wanted to get laid tonight; that wouldn't happen if she didn't talk to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Damon smirked devilishly, locking his blue eyes with her blue-green ones. "Stop messing with our lives. You should worry about your pink wedding and instead you're trying to find out the color of my boxers." He blurted out.

"What?" Stefan's head snapped up and looked at his girlfriend.

"What?!" Caroline screamed, getting up from her place and making a step towards him.

"What?" Damon shrugged indifferently, amused at the situation he stirred up. God, it was so easy to mess with her blonde little brain. Truth was, he didn't hate Caroline. He could probably get used to her being his brother's wife but until then, he would bicker the hell out of her.

"Help! Damon, come here!" Jeremy yelled from the hallway and Damon jumped from his place, practically running to get to him. His eyes filled with shock as he watched the scene in front of his eyes; Elena was scattered on the floor, her head bleeding and her leg under the stairs in an awful position. He slightly shook her body, trying to wake her up, but it seemed like she was unconscious. What the hell happened?

"Call an ambulance." He told Jeremy and turned back when he heard Caroline gasp and then Stefan knelt next to him, looking at the battered Elena.

"Elena, wake up..." Damon pleaded and slowly pulled her into his arms, carrying her to the big couch in the living room. He carefully laid her down and stepped aside when Jenna arrived from the store and threw the bags down at the sight of her niece.

"What happened?" She asked and checked Elena's pulse, as if to see if she was still alive. Damon shuddered at the thought of seeing her dead. He would never be able to see her dead, he would much rather die himself than witness something like that.

"I-I have no idea. I was coming down from my room and I found her like that." Jeremy tried to tell his aunt, but no one knew how she managed to fall down the stairs.

"Elena, please wake up, Elena! Don't you die." Caroline cried out, a cascade of tears wetting her face, while Stefan had his arms around her waist, shaking her body to calm her down.

"Shut up, you neurotic bitch! She's going to be fine." Damon yelled. He was definitely too freaked out right now to deal with Caroline, but if she said something like that one more time, he was seriously going to get her ass out of the house. Stefan didn't say anything in her defense and it was probably because his brother realized how scared he was that something bad could happen to Elena. The thought of something bad happening to her made him shiver and his blood ran cold inside his body.

"Everybody, shut up!" Jenna said, her calm voice from always now nowhere to be found. "The ambulance is going to be here in two minutes. She's going to be fine. She cracked her head and probably broke her leg. It's not such a big deal." They all opened their eyes in shock as they heard Jenna.

"I know what you're thinking; that it actually is a big deal, but it is not, compared to what I see on a daily basis." Jenna explained and the next minute, they could hear the sound of the ambulance and then the door opened and two paramedics with a stretcher stormed inside. They got Elena up and into the ambulance. Damon insisted he go with her and so did Jenna, so they both rode with the ambulance, while Stefan, Caroline and Jeremy took the car to get to the Mystic Falls General Hospital.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to wait here." The nurse told Damon the moment he was about to follow them into the trauma room. How could he stay outside when he was so worried about her?

"I'm her aunt and a nurse, so I can get in? To just watch?" Jenna asked and the nurse nodded and stepped aside, allowing her to pass by. Though he knew Jenna was inside watching over her, he was still freaking out that couldn't do the same.

Damon sat in a chair in the hallway, impatiently waiting for news; he knew he'd be waiting for a while. After all, this was a hospital and she didn't just get a cut from peeling potatoes; she freaking fell from some hard wooden stairs. He shouldn't have left her alone earlier and he should've known that something was wrong with her when he saw her almost fall down the other day. He shook his head, frustrated with himself.

"What happened? Is she okay?" Caroline stormed inside the hospital and sat in the chair next to him and he wasn't even bothered by her presence there. He just wanted to know what was wrong with Elena. Stefan and Jeremy sat down as well, both sitting in silence, waiting for news.

"I don't know. They didn't let me in. Jenna is there, with her." Damon said and the blonde let out a sigh, probably of relief, when she heard Jenna was with her friend. Just when he was happy that she agreed to his proposal, this had to happen; why the hell was he thinking about sex when his friend/sex buddy was in the hospital with her head cracked and a broken leg?

After what seemed like hours but was actually just one, Jenna came outside and the doctor followed her. Damon rose to his feet and hurried towards them. "What's wrong with her? Is she okay?" He asked, dying to find out.

"She's going to be fine, but she's going to spend the night here. I know it's not pleasant because it's Christmas but there is no alternative. From what I understand, she fell down the stairs. She has a concussion and she broke her leg, so she'll have a hard time getting around for four to six weeks. This means she will need someone at her side almost all the time. We also stitched up the gash in her head. Other than that, she will be just fine if she eats properly, because I've noticed a low level of vitamins and glucose in her body, so she's anemic too." The doctor said and the wheels in his head turned from side to side. So she didn't just crack her head, she had a concussion. Add a broken leg and anemia to that and you've got a full chart. Damn it!

"We'll take good care of her." Jenna said, before the doctor left.

"But she can travel back to New York, right? That's where we live and we won't be staying here for much longer, just three days." Damon asked and when the doctor nodded his head he knew it was going to be fine.

"No planes. She hit her head pretty hard, so she'll need rest. Try to keep her from working and from getting into fights." That was the last thing he said, before he headed down the hallway and they all let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Can I see her?" He asked Jenna and she nodded shortly. Just when he was about to enter the ER room, Caroline interfered with her sharp tongue.

"She's my best friend, my sister. I'm going to see her, not you!" She hissed through gritted teeth but Damon couldn't care less about what she was saying. He wanted in and he was going in. The nurse who took care of Elena came outside and announced that they will move her into a room for the night and that after that they could see her.

As Caroline was still rambling about getting to see Elena first and Stefan was trying to calm her down, a man was pushing the bed with Elena on it towards a room. They all followed him and looked at the girl, who was peacefully sleeping. First thing he did after the man settled Elena in her new room was to swoop into the room before Caroline and shut the door behind him. He didn't want to deal with the smart ass she thought she was. Damon pulled the chair from the corner of the room next to Elena's bed and sat there, impatiently waiting for her to wake up, but he knew that it could take a while after the pain killers they gave her. He didn't know when, but he fell asleep, his hand clutching Elena's.

"Damon..." Elena's hoarse voice woke him and he felt her hand running through his hair, caressing his skull.

"You're awake. Finally!" He mumbled as he raised his head to look at her and smiled weekly. He was tired, but he wasn't going to leave her side; someone had to keep her warm at night and that someone was him. "What happened to you?"

"Uhm, I-I was coming out of my room, holding the karaoke set and when I was going to walk down the stairs, I felt dizzy and I stumbled over the stairs and the last thing I remember was hitting my head and then I blacked out."

"I should've known something wasn't right when I saw you walking around like a drunk man the other day." Damon shook his head, admonishing himself for keeping quiet just because she asked him.

"What do you mean something's not good?"

"You have anemia. Add a concussion and a broken leg to that too." He grabbed her hand and drew circles on the back of it, careful not to touch her IV.

"Oh, shit. So that's why I can't feel it." Elena mumbled and she seemed genuinely annoyed with herself.

"They put you in a cast and you'll have to wear it for like a month or so. Then you're going to be able to walk, I think. So you're going to stay home and rest to heal faster."

"But-but I cannot just dump work for weeks!" Elena cried out and Damon smiled like she forgot who was he talking to.

"That's the least important thing right now, Elena. Screw work. I'll fill you in with everything that's going on at the office."

"No, Damon. See? That's another reason why I didn't want to come work for you. You don't take my place in the company seriously. You see me as your friend and you don't care about my work."

"Of course I care. Look, if it makes you feel better, you can work from home. I'll bring your laptop from the office and you will work from there, okay?" He said, trying to understand her concerns, remembering what the doctor said earlier; not to pick fights.

"Okay." Elena threw him a lopsided smile and then winced.

"What? Are you okay?" He jumped from his place, looking around.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. My head hurts. It's like I'm hungover but worse. How long do I have to stay here?"

"Until tomorrow. I'll stay with you." Damon offered but Elena shook her head immediately and he frowned, not understanding what she wanted.

"No, you will go home with the others. It's Christmas, Damon. You should enjoy it, not spend it in the hospital just because I'm stupid and I don't watch my steps."

"Oh, shut up, goofy." He said and pressed a soft kiss to her lips and felt her trying to deepen it, but it looked like the pain didn't even let her do that because she groaned and shuffled on her side, her gaze fixed on him. "Sorry."

"It's okay. But you should really go home now." Elena complained as she played with his fingers.

"I'm staying with you. You'll need someone to hug you at night. Plus, it's a chance to get away from Caroline for a night and I would go to crazy lengths for that." Damon smirked and puffed out his cheeks. "Which reminds me, she probably wants to kill me because I snuck in your room. She wanted to see you first."

"Can you tell her that I'm sleeping? I just don't feel like talking and she's going to ask questions."

"Thank goodness. Though I would've liked to kick her out of the room at a certain time. I guess I'll just keep that idea for later." He shrugged, preferring to spend more time with Elena than with Elena and her chatty friend.

"Damon." Elena purred and the sound made him groan because all he wanted right now was climb into that bed and make her his all over again.

"I'm going outside, to-to tell Blondie she can't see you." He stumbled over his own words as he looked into her doe brown eyes and she smiled warmly.

"Okay." She batted her eyelashes at him and his whole body reacted to the way she was luring him. First she was telling him to go home and now she was trying to flirt with him? Clearly, the accident really had an effect on her.

Damon walked into the hallway, where Caroline was talking to Stefan and she seemed to be utterly disturbed by the fact that she didn't get to see Elena. Jenna and Jeremy were talking to the doctor and he only hoped that he was telling them that Elena was fine. Damon approached his brother and with a smirk, he patted Caroline's shoulder and the moment she turned around, he lost the smile.

"You should go home. Elena is sleeping and you can't see her."

"You go home. I'm not leaving this place without Elena." Caroline said and he rolled his eyes. Damon knew that in her own freaky way, Blondie loved Elena and would do anything for her, but her love was toxic.

"We should go, Care. It's Christmas after all. Let's make the best of it." Stefan said and he gave his brother a look, assuring him that he would take his girlfriend home. Damon nodded shortly, agreeing to Stefan's words but Caroline just frowned.

"But, she's okay, right?" The blonde asked and for the first time Damon stopped himself from rolling his eyes, knowing that she was really worried about Elena.

"Yes, she's fine now. Just tired, so she will probably be sleeping for a while."

"Call me when she wakes, okay? Don't make me come here again and beat you up, Salvawhore." Caroline admonished him in a soft voice, that indicated the fact that this whole situation had her tired.

"I'll call you, Blondie." He nodded firmly and looked over to Jenna, who was coming his way with Jeremy. "Elena's asleep so I was telling Caroline you guys should go home. I'll stay with her." He announced and the woman smiled kindly.

"Thank you, Damon. Call us if something happens, okay?" Jenna motioned to the doctor, who was leaving from the hallway. "He told us she'll be fine though."

"Good. We'll keep in touch." He said and watched them leave, probably relieved for the first time since they left for the hospital. Damon turned around and walked to Elena's room, where he found her with his phone. He must've left it on the nightstand, next to her bag.

"Yours has more games on it. Is that what you do at work, Mr. Salvatore?" Elena smirked playfully and he rolled his eyes at the fact that she addressed him so formally.

"Not at all. Those are for when I'm stuck in boring meetings with stupid people." He explained and looked at her drained face. She was so pale that he wondered if she really felt better or if it was only a prank pulled by her. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"Just checking." He shrugged and sat on the edge of her bed and waited for her to shift and make some room for him as well. He laid down and let her rest her upper body against him. "I totally had different plans for tonight."

"We can still have...plans for tonight." Elena smiled and opened a button of his sweater, placing her free hand on his chest. He welcomed her touch, but she had to stop right there, right now otherwise the one who won't be able to stop would be him.

"Elena..."

"What? It's not like I'm dysfunctional, Damon. I can still have sex." He shook his body with laughter as he heard her and looked down at her as she looked up, into his eyes.

"You're nuts." He said and smirked, being regarded with a pout of her own.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you have a cast on your leg, anemia and some sort of head concussion and you seriously want to have sex?"

"Well, no, but-I mean-You know what? Maybe you won't be getting any sex for for a while at all. I can survive without it." He faked a shock face and tutted. She was seriously asking for sex in her hospital bed. This girl had no thread of innocence inside, as much as he'd liked to think otherwise. And as much as he would like to sleep with someone in a hospital, only to add this new territory to his almost infinite list, this wasn't the proper time. Plus, Elena wasn't just a one night stand.

"Can you now? After you've had a taste of this?" Damon pointed to his body and watched as Elena chuckled sarcastically.

"Please, I've seen better."

"Now I'm officially offended and maybe you're going to be the one getting nothing after all." Damon announced and a thing popped into his head. "You know, maybe it's a good idea for you to stay here alone. Just so you can think about how mean you are." He said and was about to climb off the bed when she grabbed his wrist and pulled him down where he was just a moment ago with all the strength she had in her tiny, wrecked body.

"No! Stay here. Please?" She asked with such a cute face and he couldn't say no to those doe chocolate eyes and that pouted lip. He growled in agony over the fact that he was once again beaten by Elena Gilbert and reclaimed his position from earlier. "Now, what shall we do to make this more interesting?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm so tired." He yawned and slightly closed his eyes because the next minute Elena was slapping his arm. "Ah, what?"

"You don't get to sleep now, Salvatore. I don't feel sleepy and damn you if you fell asleep and left me by myself."

"Okay, so what do you want us to talk about?" He asked, his interest a little bit heightened. He might be able to find some more things out about Elena and that was something he couldn't kick his foot at.

"I don't know, what about your childhood?"

"Elena," he sighed, "you know about it. It's not something I like to talk about." He said, the ghost of his smile now fading from his face and was replaced by a wave of nausea thinking about his childhood. It wasn't one of the subjects he wanted to talk about, but he did tell her what she wanted to know.

Maybe his childhood hadn't been all rainbows and unicorns after his mother's death, but before it, he was the happiest child alive. Well, except for those times when his dad would get on him for doing something he didn't do or for being better than Stefan at something. When his mother was still alive, he used to go out in the garden and pick flowers for her. Then, he would help her cook because it was all he wanted to do when seeing her happily moving around the big kitchen, swaying to the rhythm of the music. Nothing else mattered for him in the moments when he was with the most caring person he had ever met; not even Giuseppe's cruel words about him.

Damon remember when he got his first camera. He would run around his father and his brother, hell even his nanny and the rest of the employees snapping photos of them. He didn't care if they were smeared, or weird; he kept them all. One day, he counted the photos; there were about a thousand of them and he hung every single one on the walls of his room. That way, he didn't feel the need to sleep with his light on, he knew the persons in the photos would protect him from the evil. Although his father had never loved him like he loved Stefan, Damon still considered him an authority and respected him like the good kid he was.

There was that one time his father told him he wanted to talk to him and he looked so calm that Damon thought he was going to tell him he was proud of what he had become, but it wasn't like that at all. All Giuseppe knew how to do was criticize and punish him. There wasn't a day that went by where his father's words hadn't made Damon cry himself to sleep every night. Then, his father told him he will not allow his son to make a fool of himself; he was going to teach him how to run a company, not how to take pictures. In Giuseppe's opinion, that was for the lower class, for the people who worked at his company.

His son had to be the leader of them all. Damon never wanted that. All he ever wanted was to be appreciated for what he did on his own, not to be talked about what he did and who he was because of his father's money. When he didn't listen to him and he kept on doing what he liked, Giuseppe smashed his camera in front of him. He remembered the feeling of the tears sliding down his face and his inability to stop his father when he started to rip the photos off the wall and crumple them in Damon's face, making him feel like the worst kind of monster in the whole world; he was only a seven years old boy then.

Years later, when he had to go to college, his father made him go to Harvard, saying that whoever goes there, comes out an intelligent young man. Before he knew it, he was being signed up for all the scholarships, for all the contest ever possible. When his father didn't think it was enough, he made him take some more classes, only to brag about his oh-so-dear son to all of his elitist friends and colleagues. For Stefan it had always been easy. He could do whatever he wanted because he was the baby of the family, he could listen to music too loudly in his room while his father was working in his study and he wasn't bothered by it, because the little boy was Giuseppe's treasure. He could go to whatever college he wanted and got to be who he wanted to be. Even after all these years, Stefan was the one that got the congratulations from Giuseppe. Damon was only another one of his employees; one who received a huge sum of money, but one that was treated worse than the other people working for him.

And then he expected him to marry Katherine, just because he was good friends with her parents; of course, that would've brought Giuseppe even more prestige and fame, more respect in the society and a lot more contracts for his company. The second he found out Damon broke up with her, he threatened to disinherit him. Damon didn't even care about that anymore, he just wanted to be left alone. Maybe if his father would've taken away his money, he would've been happier and he wouldn't have felt this huge boulder on his shoulders. It was just when Giuseppe found out about what Katherine did that he came to his son, for the first time in his life, and felt sorry for him.

"Oh my god!" Elena gasped in shock as he finished talking about his not-so-happy childhood. "Your father is a monster. I cannot believe this, Damon. There are people in this world who can't have children and they suffer immensely because of it. And your dad should be so happy to have you, because you've grown to be an amazing human being and he treats you like crap."

"I don't know what I would do if I ever have to stand face to face with him, Damon. I would probably snap the bullshit out of his head, because he's delusional if he doesn't see you and what you are. You're amazing and you shouldn't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Lucky for you, I won't put you through the burden of meeting him. It's the last thing I want to do. He destroys everything he touches; well, except Stefan. He is perfect for him and I've never really doubted that. Although my brother has never been treated like I was, he grew a backbone by himself and I admire him for that." He said over Elena's long yawn.

"Okay, I think it's time we turn off the lights and dream about ponies." Damon smirked and made space for Elena's tiny body to cuddle into his arms. Although she was wearing that horrible white hospital gown, she still looked sexy and she still smelled like herself. He liked that about her.

"Goodnight Elena." He said and shut his eyes, ready to get that night over with.

"Goodnight Damon." Elena responded in her soft voice. In the next second, he felt warm lips over his and without opening his eyes, he reveled in the kiss and responded to it with his own lips, until Elena pulled away and rested her head on his chest for the rest of the night.