Check out...My banner for this story that DeeReadinQueen made for me:) Go to my profile and click the link for story banners. I wanted to make it my new picture for the story, but it doesn't fit right, so please have a look:) Thanks again for making that for me, Dee!

Here's Chapter 14! To those who may not read the note at the bottom, we're getting towards the end of the story. I'm expecting 3-5 more chapters. I just wanted to let everyone know so the ending doesn't creep up on you;)

Special Thanks to: DelenaVD, incorrigiblyinsistent, VampAmbsxox, DeeReadinQueen, vivianafrancesca, TheAbigailIvashkov, kaybaby1127, fashionista1988, Tara Rebecca, AlwaysDelena, Skating-on-glass, LuveSucks, just your average freak, missstvd, delenaluv, & CharlSmith for reviewing. It always makes me smile to see what you guys have to say about the story:) So glad to hear your feedback!

Enjoy;)

It's A Boy Girl Thing

Ch 14. The Morning After

That night, after the double date was over and Elena was fast asleep in Damon's bed while Damon was fast asleep in Elena's, with Caroline at his side…Ayana watched over them from the spirit realm. She could see their souls struggling to reunite with their own bodies, fighting against her magic trickery, and nearly breaking through her spell. It wasn't time yet, though. Ayana wasn't ready to let them go; they hadn't learned their lesson, not really. If she allowed them to break the spell now, they'd never see the truth: that they are soul-mates and they belong together…

Damon wakes up very early, as he normally does after a night of drinking, and with Caroline snoring softly beside him he can't fall back asleep. That, and the fact that he's surprised he managed to sleep in a bed beside Caroline Forbes in the first place. Klaus would kill him if he knew what was really going on right now. At least he doesn't have his, you know, junk in this body or things would probably be really awkward right now. Speaking of his proper junk, he should probably check on his body. Elena consumed a lot of alcohol last night, and that was partly his fault, so he feels responsible for the massive hang-over she's likely to awaken with.

As quietly as he can, Damon slips out of bed and tiptoes to Elena's bathroom. He takes one look at Elena's face in the mirror and groans. Oh my God, why do girls ever wear make-up if this is what it looks like in the morning?! He ties back Elena's long, dark locks with a hair band and then scrubs the make-up from her face. Once it's clean, he pats it dry with a towel and observes that Elena looks even better without make-up on. With that over with, Damon begins to search for what he originally came in the bathroom for: aspirin. Only, he doesn't see any. Oh well, he's got some in his and Stefan's bathroom. He'll just grab it when he gets over there. He exits the bathroom just as quiet as he entered, and makes his way over to the window. After sliding it open, Damon looks over his shoulder to make sure Caroline didn't wake up. The coast is clear. He hops to the tree and over to his window, climbing inside his familiar bedroom.

Damon can't help but smile when he sees Elena has burrowed herself into the blankets, her face nearly underneath one of the four pillows on his bed. He doesn't want to wake her, because being woken from a drunken coma sometimes induces vomiting, ha, and he doesn't want that to happen. Getting puked on at 7AM is like the least fun thing he can think of. He walks quietly to his and Stefan's shared bathroom and pushes open the door. He opens the medicine cabinet and successfully locates the bottle of high-dose pain reliever he saves for his most desperate times of need, like this morning.

Now that he's got the aspirin, he realizes he forgot about water, which is the second most important thing to get in your system after consuming too much alcohol. Toast would also be a very good thing. Damon stands in the bathroom for a few minutes, weighing his options. Should he risk being seen and go downstairs for a glass of water and some toast, or…not?

When the bathroom door opens and a half-asleep, half-awake Stefan stumbles through the doorway in only boxers, Damon wishes he'd made his decision sooner. Stefan's green eyes widen and he mumbles through his confusion, "Elena? What are you…what are you doing here?"

Wow, this is awkward…I guess he's really not going to believe Elena or I anymore if we insist we haven't slept together. Because right now, it looks like Elena just spent the night with me. And that might lead to another fight between Stefan and, well unfortunately, Elena! Damon frowns as he looks over Stefan's shoulder into his bedroom. There, on his bed, is a naked girl. Seriously! A naked girl! Damon can only see her bare back and her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders covering her face, but he easily comes to the conclusion that Stefan got laid. How did that happen? Who is she? Damon wants to know, but alas, he is Elena, and Elena would not be too happy to see her very recent ex-boyfriend in bed with someone else.

Damon scowls and informs his step-brother in an agitated tone, "Nothing you haven't already done."

Damon leaves the bathroom via his bedroom, and shuts the door firmly. Elena still didn't wake up, and for that he is thankful. He decides that after being caught by Stefan, what did it matter if he ran into his dad or Isobel downstairs? So, he walks downstairs and grabs a water bottle from the fridge. He also pops some toast in the toaster oven and waits for it to brown a little. He's not even going to put butter on it, because even that could make a severely hung-over person nauseas. Ah, the down-side of a heavy night of drinking. Too bad the 'during' is so much more fun than the 'after effects'.

He hears quiet slipper-clad feet shuffling through the hallway before Isobel appears in the doorway to the kitchen, a bathrobe thrown over her pajamas. She does a double-take when she sees Elena Gilbert standing in the kitchen. "Elena?" She greets in confusion, "Good morning. I didn't know you were here." Her statement has many underlying questions, such as: why are you here? Who are you here with? And did you sleep over?

"I'm so sorry," Damon tells Isobel politely, as he's sure Elena would if she were ever caught in this situation, "I don't mean to intrude. I just came over a few minutes ago…uh, Damon drank a little bit too much last night, so I thought I'd bring him some water and…toast?" He shrugs Elena's small, bony shoulders and waits for Isobel to call her a hussy and tell her to get the hell out of their home.

She doesn't though. Instead, she starts up the coffee machine and comments, "That's nice of you, hon. I'd be wary when waking him, though. He can be kind of a bear in the morning. Well, and a lot of the time…" Isobel laughs lightly, as if she and Elena are sharing an inside joke, "But, you know, he's been a lot better since hanging around you. I know how hard it must be, having a change of heart?" Oh God, so Stefan told Isobel about Elena breaking up with him for Damon? And Isobel is okay with that? What kind of twisted alternate universe has he awoken in this morning? "And Damon is certainly not an easy young man to get along with, but I know he has a good heart. You must see that too? And I've tried to keep things civil between the boys, but there's just too much history there. Maybe all Damon really needs is someone…like you." Isobel smiles at Elena then, and Damon has never liked his step-mother more.

"Thanks, Mrs. S.," Damon states with a goody-goody Elena smile. He wishes he could think of more to say, but he's still learning how to have girl talk, and he thinks taking baby steps is the best way to go about it. This is the best conversation he's ever had with Isobel, though, and he's almost disappointed it took place in Elena's body, so he won't even get credit for it, but Isobel did say some nice things about him. Maybe his step-mother doesn't hate him as much as he thought she did. Holding the water bottle in one hand and the toast wrapped in a paper towel in the other, Damon announces, "Well, I should bring this up to Damon. I'm hoping to prevent him from spending the morning with his face in the toilet."

"Maybe he'd learn his lesson and stop drinking so much if he actually spent the morning sick," Isobel muses, "But I remember how shitty it feels to have a hang-over, so I shouldn't say that. Go on, then. I won't keep you from him any longer." As Damon walks away, Isobel calls, "Oh, and if you'd like to stay for breakfast, you're more than welcome!"

"Thanks," Damon replies as he heads up the stairs. Who'd have guessed Isobel could be such a cool mom? Not only did she buy the 'I just got here' story with no interrogation, but she also invited Elena to breakfast. That's like Step-Mom of the Year-worthy. He's definitely going to have to start being a little nicer to her if he ever gets back in his own body.

Back upstairs, Damon forgets to be as quiet as he was when he went down, and he accidentally wakes up Elena when the door opens and slams into the dresser rather loudly. Damon winces and whispers, "Sorry!"

Elena groans, first out of frustration at being woken up so disruptively, but it quickly turns into a moan of pain when she realizes her head is pounding and feels ready to explode. "Oh my God, what is going on?" The question is both for Damon being as loud as a bull in a China shop and for her aching head. She grabs the nearest pillow and shoves it over her face. She whines, "Somebody kill me. Please."

Damon chuckles as he places the water bottle on his night stand, next to the three pain relievers and the warm toast. He perches on the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle Elena's body and cause her more pain. In response to her request, he points out, "Sorry, I can't do that. What would happen to me if I killed you? Then I'd really be stuck in your body for all of eternity."

Elena pulls the pillow off her head and glares at Damon as she states, "You're not funny."

"Aw, come on," Damon pouts, "I'm a little funny."

"Uh-uh," Elena insists with a shake of her head. "Ouch. That hurts. Everything hurts."

"Then maybe you should be nicer to me," Damon suggests, "I brought you some pain killers and water. And toast."

"Aspirin, yes," Elena murmurs, holding out her hand, "Toast, no way in hell."

After she swallows the pain medicine, Damon urges, "You really should eat some of the toast. Small bites. And sip the water slowly. It'll help. Trust me. I think I've had a few more hangovers than you have." Elena stares at the toast Damon is trying to give her like it's a poisonous snake, but she begrudgingly takes it from him and eats the smallest of bites. Damon smiles encouragingly, "That's my girl."

"I'm not your girl," Elena mumbles grumpily, "I'm not even a girl."

Damon simply laughs, "Yeah, yeah, you're right." He kicks off his shoes and climbs into the bed beside her, grabbing the remote and flicking on his TV. He'd rather hang out over here in his room than listen to Blondie snore for however long. With how late they were out last night, she's not likely to wake up for at least a few more hours. Thinking of Elena's headache, he turns the volume down low and flips to some Saturday morning cartoons.

Damon thought Elena would complain or comment on his childish male behavior, but she surprises him. "I love this show!" She snuggles deeper into the blankets, unconsciously moving closer to Damon as she tries to get comfortable.

"No way," Damon notes disbelievingly, "Elena Gilbert watches cartoons?"

Elena sticks her tongue out at him before warning, "Careful, I might not eat your toast, Mister."

"Don't eat it," Damon shrugs nonchalantly, "You're only hurting yourself."

Elena realizes he's right, so she shuts up and munches on the toast quietly, alternating with small swigs of water, until both the toast and the water are all gone. By the time the show is over, she's feeling a lot better. She did feel a wave of nausea pass through, but thankfully, it went away. She feels so much better, she almost wants to go back to sleep, but since Damon was so thoughtful and took care of her, she decides to stay awake.

"Why are you up so early?" Elena wonders when she sees it's not even eight o'clock yet.

"Blondie woke me with her snores," Damon shrugs, "So I came to check on you."

Elena giggles at his comment about Caroline snoring. "Well, thank you. I never would have thought you were the nurturing type."

"I have no idea what you mean," Damon says, feigning innocence. Of course, he did know what she meant. Normally, Damon wouldn't care if someone felt like shit after a night of drinking. That's what happens. Know your limit. But…there was something different about it being Elena. Damon wanted to make her feel better, and he was glad that he did.

Elena pokes his side repeatedly as she teases, "Aw, Damon, your soft side is showing." She tickles her ribs, knowing that's where she's most ticklish, and suspecting Damon is probably ticklish there as well. "You really aren't such a bad guy." She continues to tickle, even despite Damon's protests for her to stop. The giggles she's eliciting causes her to continue, until he just can't take it anymore.

"I – can't – breathe!" Damon gasps between laughter, "Stop. Please. Stop!" Elena finally relents, laying back down on her side beside Damon and smiling into the pillow. Damon turns to his side as well, since the TV is angled to the right and it's more comfortable that way. He doesn't realize Elena is practically spooning with him until... "What-what is that?"

"What's what?" Elena repeats, wrinkling up her nose in confusion when Damon looks over his shoulder at her.

"What's poking me in my ass?" Damon re-words, his eyebrow raised as he waits for Elena to explain the situation.

Elena's eyes widen as she realizes what he's suggesting. She slides away from him and holds her arms up above the blankets to prove her innocence. "I didn't," She stutters, shaking her head, "It's not my fault. I'm sorry." What the fuck? Seriously? A boner? Now? Could this get any weirder?! Elena accuses, "It's your thing, not mine."

"Hey, don't blame me." Damon sits up so he can look Elena in the face as he smirks, "You're behind the wheel."

Elena rolls her eyes and comments, "Well, I guess you find me attractive."

"No," Damon insists, "Actually, that means you find me attractive."

"Pfft," Elena scoffs, "Let's not read too much into it, OK? This thing finds anything attractive."

Damon's mouth drops open in shock and he points out, "That is such a guy thing to say."

"Can we just stop talking about it?" Elena asks, a blush rising to her cheeks. Does he have to keep rubbing it in that it's obvious she likes him when he doesn't even like her back? "Let's just watch TV."

"Fine, okay," Damon agrees, not able to resist one last dig, "As long as you keep my dick out of your ass."

"Not gonna be a problem," Elena murmurs. "But it's not like you gave me an instruction manual. I don't even know how to make it go away."

"Well, I can think of one way," Damon says smartly, thinking of how he usually rids himself of morning wood. "Well, two, actually." The second being sex, of course, which he hasn't had any of in almost two weeks.

Elena wonders if any of that mind reading spell was left behind, because for some reason, she knows he's thinking about whacking off or doing the deed, and neither of those are going to be happening. "Ha. Ha. No, and no."

"Well, there is one other thing I could try," Damon starts cautiously, not sure he should say what he knows would probably make his dick go from hard to flaccid in two seconds flat. It could also hurt Elena too, and he doesn't want to do that.

"What?" Elena is curious. She wants to at least hear his suggestion. Hopefully he wouldn't say something stupid, like, 'When I want to get rid of a boner, all I do is think about your face,' or something equally as douche-y.

Damon decides he should tell her. Either way, she should know. He blurts out quickly, "I saw Stefan in bed with a naked girl this morning." Not exactly true, but he did see the naked girl. Stefan was just no longer in the bed with her, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out what they did before they went to sleep.

Elena sits up slowly. "What?" No way. He's lying. "Seriously?"

Damon nods. "Yeah. Are you okay?" Well, I was right. It made the boner disappear…

Elena shrugs indifferently, "I don't know. I mean, I guess. Why wouldn't I be? I broke up with him, remember?" Yeah, she's okay. Because she didn't sleep with Stefan. If she had, it would've hurt a lot worse. It also would have hurt a lot worse if she hadn't already developed feelings for Damon. She just wished he returned those feelings. After a short pause, she asks, "Who is she?"

"I don't know."

A moment later, Isobel knocks on the door and calls out, "Damon, Elena, I made breakfast if you want to come down."

Elena raises an eyebrow at Damon questioningly, and he shrugs and explains, "She invited me to stay for breakfast. Apparently, you're good for me."

Elena smiles, pleased at the compliment. She was going to say something along the lines of whether or not Stefan's, uh, guest would also be joining them for breakfast, but Isobel's voice cuts into her thoughts. "Stefan," She knocks as she speaks, "Breakfast is ready." Sounds like Isobel doesn't know about Stefan's guest just yet.

Elena and Damon share a look before Damon suggests, "Come on, let's go." Elena nods and follows right behind Damon. They're thinking the same thing: They want to know who's behind Stefan's door.

Their doors open simultaneously. Elena steps out first, since she is technically Damon, and it's his house. Stefan also steps out first, smirking at his step-brother in a way Elena would describe as boasting and kind of creepy. She wonders what he's so smug about when Elena is the one coming out of Damon's bedroom...

Then, she sees her. The beautiful blonde standing in the doorway of Stefan's bedroom. Her hair is the color of soft pale gold, long and lush, cascading all the way down to her mid-back. Her eyes are a startling shade of deep, dark blue, her skin is alabaster pale. Elena is in awe at just how pretty she is. She looks like an angel...almost. There's something evil glinting in those blue eyes, and she also seems to share the same smug behavior that Stefan is presenting.

Isobel looks from Damon to Stefan and then says cautiously, "Boys...we aren't going to have any problems, are we?"

Elena can suddenly sense the tension in the air, and she glances back at Damon to confirm her awful suspicion that this girl isn't just a strange blonde Stefan found for a one-night stand. This is...

"Katherine?"

Oh, snap! Cliff-hanger! Some people asked me a while back if Katherine would appear in this story, and I honestly didn't think she would, but here she is! Sorry, but it is long overdue;) I hope you guys liked the chapter! Reviews would be awesome:)

Oh, and I used the books' description of Katherine/Elena for Katherine in this, since it wouldn't make sense for her to look exactly like Elena.

And I just wanted to forewarn everyone that this story should be wrapped up in about 3-5 chapters, depending on how long they end up being. I can't see it being more than 20 chapters, so I know it will be sad for it to come to an end, but I'll be starting a new Delena story and a Klaroline story, so I hope you'll all check those out too(:

Thanks so much for reading!