Whoa, it's been long…. The reason for me continuing this is some really amazing people, who actually read this crap. Once again I'm really sorry for being such a great disappointment. As for the reason for the lateness, well honestly I don't have any valid one. Hope you like this update.

To say that Elena Gilbert was excited, would be the understatement of the century. After all she had waited for the camping trip along with Caroline and Bonnie since they were kids.

Currently sitting in a school bus amongst a bunch of annoying, hyper, teenagers, Damon could only think of one thing, 'what on earth did I do to deserve this punishment'. Turning his head to the left he took a look at Elena, she was seated happily in between him and the window.

She was staring enthusiastically outside the window, watching the trees pass by in a rush. Her behavior was always a pleasant reminder of her innocence; she was different than the rest, Damon craned his neck to have a look around the bus to make sure of that. Her sheltered life was what she was accustomed to and her pure, naive heart lead her to do whatever she did. 'The kid wasn't meant for this world', and oddly Damon felt the need not only to shelter her from the big bad world, but also to protect her from the harsh realities of it.

As if feeling his gaze on her, Elena immediately turned towards Damon and smiled that shy, sweet smile of hers.

"Everything alright Damon?"

"Everything's alright, Miss Gilbert." He replied.

Elena stared at the space between them, there wasn't any; his side was pressed against hers because of the uncomfortably small seats of the bus. This made her smile. The closest she was to him, the safest and comfortable she felt. It was an odd connection and she loved it.

She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a very annoyed Stefan, who oddly enough right now was seated on the other side of Damon, only the Isle was separating them. But the distance wasn't too much, Damon could easily punch him with his right hand if he wanted to.

"Elena I believe it was clearly mentioned, that the school trip was specifically for the students." Stefan said while eyeing Damon.

Smiling mockingly Elena replied, "Well Stefan unlike some people here, I wanted Damon to be with me and besides, my dad wouldn't have allowed me on this trip if Damon wasn't with me, not that I would have wanted to come if he weren't here." Sighing Stefan slumped in his seat causing Damon to smile unconsciously.

Elena too smiled at Stefan and faced Damon again. Once more she opened her mouth to say something and got interrupted again. Only this time it wasn't Stefan that interrupted her. There was a blast and the bus took a few bumps and slowly came to a halt. Terrified of the loud noise Elena hurriedly clutched Damon's arm and leaned against him. Damon calmly looked at all the panicked boys and girls faces, as he knew that they only probably had a flat tire.

"Oh my God, We're being attacked by aliens!" Stefan shouted.

"Oh, brother." Damon muttered as he rolled his eyes at Stefan's sudden outburst.

"Eh Stefan, that's stupid mate, everybody knows we're being attacked by Zombies instead." Klaus, "corrected" Stefan.

Damon groaned and nearly face palmed himself at their stupidity, that's when he noticed Elena frowning at the boys along with the rest of the bus. A soft chuckle escaped his lips and Elena instantly caught his eyes. To Elena's ears that was the most beautiful sound in the world, but for Damon it proved to be awkward. In order to hide the awkwardness, Damon hurriedly said, "Can't believe Miss Gilbert, kids these days can actually be this stupid."

Elena smiled and gave a nod. In all this commotion nobody had noticed that the driver had left and now reentered the bus. He cleared his throat to gain the crazy teens attention and said at the top of his voice, "Bad news we have a flat tire, so I want you all to step out of the bus till I change it. Now Out! Everyone."

There were a few groans and a few cheers, but everybody proceeded outside.

Mr. Saltzman was accompanying them, as an in charge, and before anybody got out, he informed everyone to not go any further than necessary and be inside the bus after the tire was done.

Since Damon and Elena were sitting at the backside, they were the last ones to get out. Elena looked at the area they were in and noticed that the forest was quiet thick. Reading her thoughts Damon said, "Don't worry Miss Gilbert, this part of America does not contain ferocious animals," then he smirked and continued, "Only wild bears, approximately six feet tall and purely carnivores."

Elena's eyes widened and she frantically looked around as if she would spot something. "Relax Miss Gilbert," Damon said soothingly and reached towards her hand, "I was only joking." after smiling reassuringly he let go of her hand because he saw Caroline and Bonnie approaching them.

Ever the over excited Caroline, she shrieked and hugged Elena from the back and said, "Isn't this wonderful 'Lena! You, me, Bon Bon and Damon and our entire class and Mr. Saltzman too, are out here! Far away from home for our amazing trip! I could just squeal all day!"

Damon shook his head at the girl's naivete and moved away to give them some 'girl time'. He went and stood on a rock nearby, so that they were out of his earshot but still he could keep an eye on Elena.

Bonnie Squinted at Damon for a second, then turned towards Elena and frowned, "Frankly Elena, there was no need for him to be here."

"Not again Bonnie, you know I can't go anywhere without him."

"You can't or you don't want to" Bonnie emphasized."

"Probably both." Elena replied.

Sighing Bonnie said, "That's pathetic Elena, come on Care, Mr. Saltzman is calling back to the bus."

Elena gave Bonnie's retreating back a sad look. Then looked at Damon who was heading back towards her, it appeared that he too might have heard Mr. Saltzman call out to them. Seeing him walk over with his usual grace, in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket adorned over a black shirt, pulled at her heart strings once more. The sun reflecting off of his jacket gave him an ethereal glow, it almost made him appear like a dark angel. Intently staring at him till he reached her, her expression changed from a frown into a smile, as she felt it again within her, that It didn't matter what Bonnie thought, if the need would be, she'd happily give up the world for him.

So another apology for the fact that the chapter is short; basically this chapter was a way for me to check if the story is still in demand and should I proceed further or not, In short your reviews would decide its fate.