Hello Readers! Hope you like this chapter, it has all the main characters of my story in it, my OC, Beatrice Blackwell, Damon, Stefan and Elena. As for the time line of this story, this is of course in the first season when Damon is all about the necklace, munching on Caroline, unsealing the tomb and getting his Katherine. But this first bit is just before Damon decides on picking Caroline as his blood-bag.

Now, I know the scenes are a bit off compared to the exact plot line in the tv series, but bare with me please. I am putting like a week between Elena meeting Damon for the first time and then having that epic Bonnie and Stefan dinner where Caroline and Damon barge this week Stefan and Elena go all lovey-dovey with each other, you know, flirting a little and giving each other moony eyes. Damon is always around annoying Stefan and taunting him and of course being a general ass around the clock to Elena and everyone around. so this chapter occurs on such an evening.

I hope you like this chapter and please tell me your thoughts on it so I could improve or even make some changes in it if needed. Please Review. Happy Reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries...

Dying Once, Living Twice

Chapter One

It was fun messing with his broody little brother. Then again, Stefan made it so very easy. Damon had his own agendas to be in this quaint little town and having his brother around was merely one of the perks. The other perk, was one very beautiful young girl named Elena Gilbert. To be honest and honesty did come quite unnaturally to Damon Salvatore, but this one time he couldn't help but be brutally honest, Elena Gilbert was the most shocking thing he had encountered in his undead life.

She was a supernatural coincidence it seemed. For Miss Elena Gilbert was the spitting image of his one true love, Katherine Pierce. The same Katherine Pierce who all those years ago had loved both Stefan and him, made them fight for her love and then turned them, made them into the monsters that they were. It all had started in this very town, his home town and all these years later, more than a century later he was back home to end the story, to end it to suit his desires and happiness. This time he was going to have all the fun and have the love of his life. This time Stefan was going to lose everything and live to mourn it all. But first came the little matter of the tomb in order to be reunited with his Katherine again.

Damon had been working endlessly for decades planning and waiting for this moment. His deal so long ago with Emily Bennett had stuck and he had kept his word and now finally it was time for her to keep her word. She had saved his Katherine on his behest and now they would be reunited. But of course, his dear old goody-two shoes Bambi-killer of a brother didn't know that. And it was just perfect that he didn't know a thing otherwise he was sure to create certain complications for him. This time Damon wasn't going to let anyone stand between him and his Katherine. He wasn't going to make the same mistake of trusting Stefan again and especially with something so important as his Katherine.

But as long as his rather ingenious and elaborate plan was slowly unfolding, he had to patiently bid his time and patience was something Damon was not particularly fond of, so he found other means to amuse himself. In other words, he had more than enough time at hand to cause his broody brother much misery and see all the entertainment this sleepy little town had to offer. So far things were looking very good.

Especially with that interesting girl his brother was taking an interest in. Yes, Elena Gilbert would offer him so much entertainment. As he walked around the streets, remembering and in a deep and most profound moment he found himself reminiscing about the old, human days. He remembered his old home, which was probably nothing but ruins now, old and forgotten. He remembered Stefan and his childhood memories, back when things were simpler and the most horrifying thing in his life had been his father's disapproval. Before the lies, deceit, betrayal and back-stabbing had set in between the brothers, they had good times and great memories. But those were times of childhood.

Then his thoughts went away to one very significant part of his short human life. The very part his mind would constantly battle to reminiscence in and he did everything he could do to avoid. He didn't like to think about those happiest times of his life and how it was all ruined. But being back home, in Mystic Falls, nothing could prevent him from remembering that significant part. So he thought of her. His Elizabeth. His very best friend, at one time his fiancé and the one he ruined.

His Elizabeth, the one with the perpetually unruly, black hair and that unwavering dimpled smile. He would never forget those cloudy grey-green eyes and that stubborn tilt of her chin. He remembered her pout and that look she had on her face, the one that was just his and only his, the one look on her face that said how he was her hero. He never met any other girl or woman in all these years that had her spirit, her tenacity, her thirst for adventure and her naïve faith, shinning hope and unbreakable loyalty; not that he looked for another unique girl like her.

As far as he could remember, she was the most selfless human he had ever met, of course back then he was a human too. She never protected herself, so it always fell on him to protect her in whatever little or big way he could. But, remembered with a wry smirk, heaven forbid if someone had attacked him, then she knew how to defend and attack, be it anyone. She was his only advocate and protector. She was the only one who believed in him, wished the best for him and defended him.

He remembered how she was a wild child and not the least bit feminine, yet her eyes spoke of things she knew and understood with the maturity far beyond her years. Her thirst for books, her dreams, her failure with anything womanly, her love for horses, her love for sweets, her sneaking in and out of both their homes, her ability to be friends with the help but never being able to connect with her peers, he remembered her being so lanky and awkward, her love of climbing trees; he remembered it all and while he hated remembering these memories which brought him nothing but nostalgia and crippling guilt, every now and then he stopped to remember her and drink himself to oblivion afterwards just to honor her.

She was his only friend and she was the only one who understood him truly, they had so much in common after all. A perfect sibling who meant the world to their father, a father who never liked them and did everything they could to demean them at every opportunity and they both had the lack of a mother's love in their lives. His mother died, while her mother ignored her. She was his dearest person, one whom he had sworn to protect, but in the end, he ruined her and drove her to her death.

He had promised to save her, always. He had failed and what was worse, he was the one who had hurt her, damaged her so bad that he had forced her to her death. His feet suddenly heavy and his body numb, he found himself in the middle of nowhere, there were only trees and more trees, he supposed that he was near the forest and somewhat near the old Salvatore house, which was of course nothing but a pile of rubble now. He walked some more and found himself near a huge and ancient tree.

This tree was one of the most important things in Elizabeth and his relationship and friendship. This tree was their sanctuary, where they had spent hours upon hours of their days. He looked from a few feet afar, the tree looked taller now. More than a century worth of growth would do that to a tree. It had somehow lost that welcoming and sunny presence it once had. The presence which had made it so desirable to both Elizabeth and him to climb it to the highest branch and make it their spot now was lost; now it looked dark, with its spiky branches and frightening height and god knew what creatures made their homes in it, it looked ominous to say the least. He walked a little closer and his blue-grey eyes detected up so very high Elizabeth and his branch. That thick branch they used to climb up to and then they would sit on it, safe and away from all the troubles of their lives.

He had always proudly thought that while his Elizabeth was clumsy and awkward with everything ladylike, she was graceful and always confident when she climbed a tree. Her awkwardness never touched her when she was so high up there with him. She was never afraid of the height. His chest felt like it was caving in and his face winced in pain, that was the same branch Elizabeth had climbed onto that night and from there she had jumped.

He never witnessed it and wasn't there, but he could almost hear her body hitting the ground below hard, he could hear her bones crunching, her neck snapping, her spine breaking in places and her skull splitting. She was one of the liveliest of people, never withering even when her own father tried his best to distinguish her fire and break her spirit and he had promised to save her and finally let her live, truly live how she dared to dream of. He had promised her a life full of happiness and love; he had loved her after all, as a friend, companion, family and a part of his heart, even though he hadn't been in love with her. Yet it was him who had made her wither, distinguish her fire, break her spirit and break all his promises, but he hadn't just stopped at that, he had taken it further and hurt her, damaged her so bad that she had lost her will to live. She had climbed up to their spot and ended it. She had committed suicide and no one knew. They found her hours later the next evening, her mangled cold corpse underneath their tree.

Damon's own father never cared that his son's fiancé had committed suicide, what he had cared about instead of his son's grave loss was the fact that his son had disappointed him once more and lost the prominent union he was going to gain by marrying in a odd girl from a very prominent family of the society, one who was going to bring in a substantial amount of wealth with her. Damon's father was very disappointed with the fact that Damon had lost him the union of two founding Families of Mystic Falls and he let his son know it. Elizabeth's mother played the part of the grieving mother although it had made no impact on her life or lifestyle. She was more than relieved that her husband wouldn't be pestering her about fixing their awkward daughter anymore. Elizabeth's father was angry, like he always was, he was incredibly furious at his dead daughter who committed the ultimate sin and ended her life just because life got a little too tough and her fiancé was interested in another woman. It was Elizabeth's eldest brother, who truly grieved and felt guilty for not always being there for his little sister. He was also enraged at the Salvatore boy who destroyed his sister. He just knew that her death had something to do with Damon.

But all of that was years ago, and he had slowly put it all behind him and concentrated on the only good thing left in his life, his love for his Katherine. He had sacrificed so much for Katherine and finally their reunion was just days away. Even his Elizabeth was a sacrifice to Katherine and his love.

Elizabeth, ever since he came back into this town, this wretched town all he could think about was Katherine, Stefan, his old human life, this new girl who had Katherine's face and his Elizabeth. Throughout the years, every time he came back to town, no matter how briefly it was, he always anticipated seeing Elizabeth's smile on someone's lips and that gleeful warmth reflecting back from grey-green eyes from someone's face, that was the only thing that would ever make him feel welcomed in this town. But Elizabeth's smile and her warmth had ended with her and even as Damon traced many of her descendants in the beginning years of his vampire life, there was no one else who was quiet like Elizabeth. Sure, some had her build, some had similar colored eyes and even the same unruly hair, but no one was even close to her or even remotely resembled her.

His feet took him elsewhere this time, he was back in town, aimlessly strolling about, his lazy swagger was getting him many appreciative looks from all the women about and he made sure to flick his eyes at them and smirk dangerously at them every so often. It never harmed to charm as many women as he could around him, after all whoever said no to free food?

His mind though was occupied; he only had Elizabeth on his mind. It was her death anniversary after all. Every year, that very day Elizabeth and memories of her haunted him. He estimated that by around three more hours, he would be back at the boarding house, preferably with a brunette, after liberally indulging in her and perhaps after he verbally got out the heady and foreboding thoughts he had in his head about his Elizabeth and easing a little of his guilt he would compel her into going home remembering nothing and thinking she had a very satisfying one-night stand. He would then proceed to drinking himself into oblivion and the next day he would back to his usual self.

His feet stopped moving as soon as he saw a sight, one that etched a very sly smirk upon his lips. Just because he was in a slightly depressed mood did not mean that he wouldn't cause his little brother and his girlfriend even the slightest bit of unease and misery if presented with the opportunity. Opportunity it so happened stood right before him as he took in the sight of his brother flirting shyly with the sweet Miss Elena Gilbert just across the street. Oh, he just had to spoil the mood.

He sneaked up to them and just when Elena shyly flicked her eyes at his little brother and moved just a little closer, he slinked up and drawled, "Awww, now isn't this a sweet little scene?"

Stefan snapped his eyes at Damon, clearly he hadn't expected Damon. He was too far engrossed in Elena to make notice and he damned himself instantly for making the grave mistake of not being more in tune with his surroundings. If he continued to make mistakes like that then Damon would surely and very easily get to Elena, he had to be more vigilant and better prepared in order to protect Elena. He cursed himself internally some more and contemplated ways of getting Damon as far away from Elena as possible, it was just the hows he wasn't yet able to figure out. Stefan gritted his teeth, "Yes, it was until you showed up!"

Damon narrowed his eyes and smirked darkly at his brother and his sudden sass, as if silently sending him the warning of how reckless Damon could get and how he could so easily snap at Elena if Stefan pushed him too much. Stefan did not back down and glared right back. In the end it was Elena who came to rescue and Damon knew that it was Katherine's face on Elena that made him back down for the moment, that and Elizabeth's haunting memories.

Elena broke the tension filled staring contest between the two brothers as she awkwardly interjected with a slight smile that was just for the sake of politeness and held no true meaning, "Hello, Damon!"

Damon smirked and greeted back, a little lasciviously, "Hello, Elena! Am I interrupting something?"

Damon's eyes roamed over Elena, she really lacked that ferociousness in her that made Katherine Katherine, Elena was more like a doe. But the way she had just tried to dissolve the tension between the brothers, it kind of reminded him of Elizabeth. Damon's eyes flicked towards his little brother and he remembered.

Back then, long ago Stefan used to be Elizabeth's favorite person to play silly pranks on and it was always her who used to insist on making Stefan brood less and have fun more. Something about him becoming too stuffy. Before all of it went to hell, Stefan adored her as well, like a younger sister, she was younger than Stefan by a few months and Damon loved the fact that two of favorite people got along so well. But now as he looked upon Stefan he felt nothing but contempt, more so when he saw and felt it deep within his bones that Stefan had completely forgotten the sweet girl who had once been so precious to them both and held such a significant part in both of their lives.

Damon had made Stefan promise to look after his Elizabeth when he had left for the war and Stefan had given his word that Elizabeth would always be cared for, Stefan had confided in him that Elizabeth was like a little sister to him. And now years later, Stefan had completely forgotten sweet Elizabeth, he didn't even mourn her on her death anniversary. Anger brewed within Damon at that thought and he felt like decking his little brother for daring to commit such a mistake.

Before Elena could even form a reply, a crisp and smooth, but utterly feminine voice called out, "Miss Gilbert!"

Damon was still too busy taking in Elena to turn his head towards the new comer. Elena looked startled before a slight smile crept along her lips, her brown eyes went a little wide. Damon had turned to send Stefan a look that clearly said that whoever interrupted them probably saved Stefan from a little trouble Damon was going to send his way, but Stefan's expression startled Damon. Stefan was looking somewhere behind Damon and Stefan looked a mix between horrified, startled, in awe and downright spooked, with his moth dropped open and his eyes wide.

It was the sharp click of heels growing louder and Elena's greeting of, "Miss Blackwell!" that made Damon turn around to look at this new comer who had made such an impact of his little brother. What Damon saw made his heart drop to his stomach and his body freeze.

Cloudy grey-green eyes surrounded by long dark lashes, a pale face with a slightly pointed chin, dark raven black hair swept up with stray strands framing her face and she was looking straight across him towards the petite brunette beside him. She came closer and the closer she got, the surer Damon got that it was her. It had to be, even if some parts of her looked so very different. Those eyes and that face couldn't belong to someone else other than her.

It was her scent that jolted him out of his sudden paralysis, she smelled sweet and tantalizing. He took in everything else about her and told himself firmly that it could not be her. She was dead. This one although had her face, there were big differences as well. Sure she was perhaps taller than or at least as tall as his Elizabeth, who was taller than most women, but this one had really high black stilettos on, so there was no definite way of knowing. More so, this was no mere girl of seventeen before him, his Elizabeth was seventeen when she died. This one was a woman, a full figured young woman. His Elizabeth was lanky and very thin, she was flat in places where this woman had generous and inviting curves.

This woman was just that, a woman; his Elizabeth hadn't a womanly bone or instinct in her body. This woman walked seductively and excluded such a persona of independence and subtle intimidations that she made people, especially men take notice of her. What was it about her? His Elizabeth was plain and simple, she was always a wallflower and almost invisible. This woman walked like she was a force of nature and she was breathtakingly stunning. She was mesmerizing and she was nothing like Elizabeth and her simplicity. This woman was complex and yet she was Elizabeth.

She had on a knee-length grey pencil skirt and a thin deep green top on, both of which fit her like a glove. They covered everything but outlined the hidden goods for every red-blooded male to fantasize over. This confident seductive temptress could never be his awkward, sweet and innocent Elizabeth.

Then he remembered what Elena had called her by. Miss Blackwell.

Damn it all to hell. This wasn't his Elizabeth at all. This was his Elizabeth's great-great-great grand niece. A descendant of her and her only brother's great something grand-daughter. No wonder this woman looked so much like her. Genetics, it all came down to genetics and he was being played a fool by stupid freaking genetics.

It rubbed Damon's already frayed nerves that the object of this twisted intrigue and absurd bane stood before him and ignored him and only and quite calmly focused on the young brunette standing between him and his brother. It was as if she hadn't noticed either of the distinctly handsome men standing merely a few feet away from her. This particular Blackwell was something.

Damon had never seen those grey-green eyes look so much without fire and emotion, they were calm and cool; how contradictory was that those eyes looked exactly like Elizabeth's eyes yet they were nothing like her eyes! Her eyes were fixed on Elena as she calmly said, "I see that you are doing better!"

Elena nodded and merely said, "Yes, I am."

She gave a small nod, "Good. I suppose then now would be a good time to ask you to drop by the shop tomorrow after school, Ms. Gilbert?"

Elena gave a small smile and replied, "Sure but why, Ms. Blackwell?"

Damon watched in rapt fascination as Ms. Blackwell's full red lips curved up into a sly smirk. There was hint of a dimple on her cheek and Damon swore that if she smiled wide, then she would have his Elizabeth's exact dimpled smile. But this one looked like someone who didn't smile often; his Elizabeth almost always smiled. Ms. Blackwell answered softly, "Your father had asked me to procure a particular necklace for your mother. An antique, rubies in gold setting and it is already paid for. So I am asking you to come and take what is rightfully yours, Ms. Gilbert."

That was probably the first time Stefan didn't feel the urge to rip into someone's throat as the person caused sadness to flash across his Elena's face. Elena swallowed a lump in her throat and answered slowly and her voice showed how much she was affected by the sudden reminder of her parents, "Yeah, sure. I'll be there tomorrow."

Ms. Blackwell stared at Elena for a few seconds, a few very tense and nerve wrecking seconds for Elena because she just knew that Ms. Blackwell was studying her and analyzing her. That's just what she did. But Elena was wondering about something, actually curiosity was almost driving her insane. Ms. Blackwell did not once look at either of the Salvatore brother let alone introduce herself to them or ask for introductions. That was kind of odd seeing as both the brothers were extraordinarily handsome men and it was hard to ignore them if you were a red blooded heterosexual female.

In fact, it seemed like Ms. Blackwell did not even notice them or didn't even find them worthy of her interest. Elena was a little amused and it showed on her face, Ms. Blackwell was always intimidating but this time, she was almost worthy of idolizing. Nothing shook her, not even two mind bogglingly handsome men either. Ms. Blackwell's green eyes glinted with calculation as she studied the young teen girl before her, after it seemed like she had found what she had been looking for and was satisfied she nodded once and then stated smoothly, "Very well. I shall see you tomorrow, Ms. Gilbert. Have a pleasant evening."

Just as she had arrived, abruptly, after that she left just as abruptly. Without sparing a glance at Elena's company, she walked away with her usual arrogance and confidence, her sharp heels clicking away. Then Elena proceeded to do what Bonnie, Caroline and she had been doing since they were kids, looking at the reactions Ms. Blackwell left on the faces of people, especially the men around her. It was always amusing. This time, Ms. Blackwell did not fail to deliver; she had made an impact on these two males as well. She watched in rapt amusement and a little fascination as both of the Salvatores were staring at Ms. Blackwell's retreating back and in Damon's case most assuredly her backside in the tight pencil skirt.

Damon stared at her and a part of him was paralyzed with shock and another was warring inside of him, wanting him yell out and get her attention. Get her to come back and stay there and acknowledge him. He needed to know more about her and have direct contact with her. The way she was ignorant to his existence did not sit well with him at all. Usually if a woman who caught his attention did something like this he would have taken it in his own hands to approach her and get her attention, but this time, he let her go. He couldn't make himself move a muscle let alone smooth talk her and turn his charm on her.

Damon was staring at her with Elena could only describe as hungry curiosity and maybe panic. Stefan actually surprised her, he looked a little spooked. Maybe Ms. Blackwell intimidated him like she seemed to intimidate many of the boys in town. Her own brother, Jeremy had always been more than a little intimidated of her. Stefan was the first one to look back at Elena and she waited for the inevitable question and Stefan asked it immediately and he looked a little disturbed as he asked, "Who was that?"

It was at Stefan's question did Damon jerked his attention back to Elena and for a second Elena thought she saw something flash on Damon's face. But whatever emotion it was, it was gone before she could interpret it. She looked back to Stefan and answered with a very prominent smirk, "That was Beatrice Blackwell and yes, she is always like that."

Stefan hmm-ed diplomatically and sent an adoring grin towards the brunette. He did not want to send red flags of warning to stand up in Elena's mind concerning this curious Beatrice Blackwell. Although he let Elena believe that he too agreed with her sentiment about Ms. Blackwell's behavior being a little odd, what he did not mention was that to him, everything about Ms. Blackwell was odd to him. She was after all a replica and a descendant of the young girl who would have become his sister-in-law at one point, but died tragically.

Damon looked sharply at Elena. Elena of course was oblivious to the fact that Damon wanted to find out more about the woman from her and unknowingly Elena gave a little more information. Elena's lips quirked up as she said softly to Stefan, her brown eyes going warm, "Would you believe it that a year ago, hell a few months ago I thought of her as a bully? I despised her."

Stefan frowned and asked with half with concern and half curious, "She changed?"

Elena shook her head and answered tenderly, "No, she is the same as before. But there were some things about her I did not notice then, now I do. She isn't a bully, she is just very…critical. Critical and intimidating. She was very understanding to me when I needed it, almost emphatic. No one could understand me better than she did at that time."

Emphatic and understanding, those two words sent shivers down Stefan's spine. Those two words would have been the exact words he would have used to describe Elizabeth all those years ago. He looked quickly at Damon. Stefan wanted to curse aloud; Damon looked far too focused for Stefan to be comfortable with. His brother's blue eyes were practically glowing.

Stefan asked delicately, "You mean after the accident?"

Elena nodded, "Yeah. While everyone kept offering me condolences and saying their sorry-s, she was probably the only one who didn't say any of that. She showed up and well, she understood. She didn't give me pity, she showed me understanding. It took me a while to understand that she went through same thing and what was worse she went through it twice. Her mother died when she was young and her father died a few years ago, so yeah, she told me what I needed to hear, not what people are supposed to say for the sake of politeness."

Damn it all to hell, whatever Elena was describing, all of it was the signature actions of their Elizabeth, Stefan realized with horror. There were more than numerous occasions when Elizabeth had always sought out the Salvatore brothers in their times of troubles and tensions and offered them compassion, heard them out and gave them understanding, empathy and more than often solutions. How could this descendant of her be so much like her? And if by some miracle she was similar to Elizabeth in personality, it did not spell out well for her. Because the more Elena spoke, the more fixated Damon was getting on this look-alike of his dead fiancé.

Stefan wanted to bang his head on the nearest surface; that woman's life was in grave danger if Damon's fixation was fed any more. The best course of action would be to make Damon realize that this Beatrice Blackwell was nothing like their Elizabeth Blackwell and her appearance was a cruel joke of genetics and this needed to be done fast.

Stefan added quite seriously, looking deep into Elena's trusting brown eyes, "She seems very…intimidating."

Elena let out a little laugh and retorted, "Well that's what I meant when I said she is always like that. As long as Bonnie, Caroline and I have known Ms. Blackwell, she has always been very intimidating and arrogant. Why do you think we call her Ms. Blackwell instead of just Beatrice? She is just five years older than us, you know."

Stefan managed a small chuckle although he didn't feel like laughing at all. This wasn't helping things and the way Damon was looking back towards where the woman had walked off to, he just knew that trouble had already started brewing. His suspicion was only corrected as Stefan watched his brother gaze unblinkingly at the direction the Blackwell woman walked off to and he remained quit. Too quiet, actually. Damon did not make a single offending comment or even confront the woman in his usual lascivious manner let alone chase after the woman. Now, he wasn't even questioning Elena about her, which only meant that Damon would be doing his own investigation on the woman and more probably than not, make her a part of some kind of his twisted games.

A part of Stefan flinched at the thought that Damon may compel the woman into becoming some sort of replacement for Elizabeth slash toy for Damon. What Stefan wanted to do was groan out loud, but what he did was smile charmingly at his Elena. She had to be calm, not suspect a thing and most importantly remain blissfully ignorant about this Blackwell woman debacle about to unfold. Sometimes his Elena was too perceptive for her own good and she was stubborn, both the things he loved and sometimes disliked.

All the while Stefan had to now be faster than Damon and do his own research on the Blackwell woman, keep an eye on her to keep her safe and find some way to distract or at least convince Damon to let her be. Maybe he could guilt him into it, Stefan knew it and never brought it up, but he knew with the utmost surety that Damon felt a huge amount of guilt over Elizabeth's suicide and a part of Stefan blamed Damon for it too. Not for the suicide or for what Damon did that led to Elizabeth wanting to end her life; no that had been the worst sort of punishment that Damon still bore well into his undead eternal life.

What Stefan blamed Damon for was the fact that Damon took it upon himself to show Elizabeth pity and decide onto saving her from a potential miserable arranged marriage which was very, very common in those days and marry her. By making that decision, he gave Elizabeth hope and a promise of a happy future, what Damon did not consider was the fact that Elizabeth might fall in love with someone and Damon himself might fall in love with someone as well. In the end that was what had happened, Elizabeth foolishly fell in love with Damon whom she thought of as her hero and Damon fell in love with Katherine. Damon led Elizabeth on in the worst possible manner.

While Katherine was the one who entered their lives and poisoned them and destroyed them, in fact Damon's actions which led to Elizabeth's suicide was solely on Katherine's head as well, Stefan blamed Damon for building Elizabeth's dreams and making that sweet girl fall in love with him. Stefan blamed Damon for bringing Elizabeth into their lives and binding her to it, hell even if she didn't commit suicide all those years ago, her reputation would have been tarnished as it was and no one would have wanted her.

Damon spent far too much time with her and people in town always talked about them. Even the stunning Katherine was jealous of how much Damon spent time with the less than average Elizabeth. If only Damon had remained just friends with Elizabeth and let her live out her life how she was meant to, she would have eventually gotten engaged to some respectable older gentleman who would have been a stranger to her and been very strict to her. They would have gotten married and she would have lived out her life like every other woman did during that time. Sure she would have felt more than a little stifled and her spirits would have faded out, but she would have lived, gotten old, and had a few children and even grandchildren.

Stefan had loved Elizabeth like a sister and a part of him mourned for her and regretted deeply what had happened to her. He looked at Elena and made a decision. Back then he couldn't save Elizabeth, but this time he would try his best to shield Elizabeth's great-something grand-niece from the same man who had ruined Elizabeth. Damon would not get to this Blackwell. If Stefan needed to guilt him from staying away from her, then he would do so, Stefan would play all the dirty cards in the book.

Yet, even with the facts that said that this wasn't Elizabeth, Damon was filled with excitement, nostalgia and trepidation. Even if she couldn't possibly be his Elizabeth and even if her body looked just a little different and even if she was a young woman whereas his Elizabeth was a girl of seventeen, she felt familiar to him. She felt like his Elizabeth. Even Elena didn't remind him so much of Katherine and she was the spitting image of Katherine.

God, he needed Elizabeth and her kind nature for so long now. He yearned for his best friend; someone he could talk to without being judged and someone who would just accept him how he was. He needed his Elizabeth to give him understanding and her advice, more than anything he needed Elizabeth to look at him like he wasn't a monster or someone vile and not good enough like Stefan. He needed for his Elizabeth to give him that old feeling back the one that said he was worth something, that he had goodness in him and he was loved.

He thought about it, he wasn't going to be in Mystic Falls for long, just until he freed Katherine and then they both would be gone soon. He swore to himself to not hurt this Blackwell, his Elizabeth's descendant or let Katherine hurt her with her jealousy. He would keep her shielded, but in the mean time, maybe he could make his way a little at a time into her life and befriend her. Test the waters and see if this Beatrice Blackwell could be his temporary Elizabeth.

Damon was nothing like Saint Stefan, he was selfish while Stefan would rather sacrifice and brood, make himself a martyr. But this time Stefan was acting selfishly, going as far as getting a girl who was Katherine's spitting image but with a different personality to get romantic and play humans and houses with; so why on earth should Damon refrain from getting what he wanted? He wanted to look more into this Ms. Blackwell and he wanted to have her around, for friendship and maybe otherwise, he wasn't sure yet.