A/N: This chapter is a little short, so I decided to post it mid-week; chapter 7 still coming up next week-end! Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, it means a lot to me!

ELENA

Although it had required great effort on Stefan's part to convince Alys about our dinner plans, she had eventually agreed to come. I couldn't really fathom what her problem was – six people weren't exactly a crowd, not even if you added Jeremy to the number.

To my surprise, he hadn't tried to find an excuse to be out of the house, as I had expected him to. Maybe he was getting out of the phase where having an elder sister seemed like some kind of heavenly punishment to him. I had the strong suspicion that Jeremy was drawn to girls who were somewhat older than him, and given that I was likely to bring them to our house, I guess he was starting to value having me around.

Even more astonishing than the fact that he wanted to hang out with me and my friends, Jeremy seemed immediately taken with Alys. Just five minutes after meeting, they were sitting in a corner of the room, deep in conversation with each other. Bonnie, Matt and Stefan seemed to be doing fine as well, so I felt okay go into the kitchen and check on our dinner.

Caroline was tossing the salad and I was laying the table, when unexpectedly, there was another knock on the door.

"Now, who could that be?" I wondered, given that our party was complete, and people didn't usually drop in unannounced in the evening.

"That must be Damon!" Caroline exclaimed cheerfully, putting the salad aside and quickly checking her hair.

"Damon? Why would he be showing up here tonight?" I looked at her suspiciously.

"Because I invited him." Caroline raised her chin, getting slightly defensive. "Why are you looking at me like that – am I not allowed to have my friend over if we're doing this 'get-to-know-each-other-better' thing?"

"Well, for starters: You could've asked! This could get awkward, you know! Alys and Damon don't get along well!"

"Well, I guess they'll just have to give it a try for tonight, then!" she retorted snappily and rushed the door. "Damon! How nice to see you! Come on in!"

"Hello, Caroline! Elena..." Damon smiled and locked his clear, penetrating eyes with mine, but remained standing at the door. "Caroline said you were having a dinner party and invited me to come. I brought some dessert. I hope you don't mind..." Again, the way he looked at me seemed meaningful, but left me clueless as to what message it was conveying. It definitely wasn't an apology, even though his words were suggesting that.

"Ah, no, thank you, that's fine... " Flustered for no apparent reason, I opened the door wider so he could step into the hallway. "Please, come in," I dutifully backed up Caroline's invitation.

He smiled smugly and entered. Maybe it was just that air about him. He oozed self-confidence from every pore, it was slightly intimidating. And he sure looked sexy as hell. No wonder Caroline was practically salivating.

"You have a beautiful home," Damon said politely. "Very comfy..."

I smiled a rather forced smile. It probably wasn't going to stay comfy for long. He must have known Alys was here. Either the animosity was one sided, or he just liked to provoke her.

"Dinner should be ready any minute," Caroline said, beaming at him. "Why don't you come into the living room and meet our friends? Have you met Bonnie and Jeremy before?"

"Only in passing, at your birthday party."

"Then let me make the introductions..." She almost dragged him into the living room, overly enthusiastic.

"So, this is Bonnie, Elena's and my best friend..." Damon took her hand and smiled at her, while Bonnie stared at him in utter horror. She almost recoiled. Damon pretended not to notice. "Nice to meet you, Bonnie..."

"Elena's cousin Jeremy, who is also sort of her step-brother..."

"Hey, man..." said Jeremy, attempting to sound cool while shaking Damon's hand.

"... and Matt, who has been..."

"... a good friend to me and Bonnie since high school!" I quickly jumped in, before Caroline could say something embarrassing in the direction of 'ex-boyfriend'.

Matt reacted with less reserve toward Damon than he had with Stefan. But then, it was clear that he had been invited for Caroline's sake, not for mine. They shook hands, checking each other out briefly.

"Well, have a seat! Would you like something to drink?"

"You take care of that, Caroline. I'll get the lasagna out of the oven. Bonnie, would you help me finish laying the table?" Bonnie got my wink and immediately followed me back to the kitchen.

"Just what was that?" I asked as soon as we were out of earshot. Bonnie seemed a little paler than usual. "You looked like you were about to run away screaming!"

"I don't know." She shook uncomfortably. "Damon... There's something about him... I can't put my finger to it but... he's like – shrouded in darkness."

I guess she wasn't referring to the fact that black seemed to be his favorite fashion color, given that he was sporting a black button-up and a black jeans again. "Whatever does that mean?"

She shook her head, shrugging it off. "Forget about it. It's silly. Grams warned me that I might be perceiving things that would not always make sense. My soul-searching powers are probably still a little too erratic be reliable. I'm just starting to develop my potential."

"Hm, you said you've been feeling funny about Alys, too. And you had that freaky vision when you touched Stefan..."

"Yes, you're right. Maybe it's this foster thing. I mean, they all must have had some really bad experiences in their lives. Maybe that's what I'm getting from them: A feeling of loss, loneliness and pain."

"I hope you're not having similar second insights about me..."

"On you? No! But you're not lonely, Elena. You've never been, even though you might have felt so, for a while..."

"I know. Thank you." I gave her brief hug. "Okay then, let's leave the gloom and have some fun. Dinner's ready!"

Despite Damon's unexpected presence, the evening turned out to be pleasant. Even Alys, who hadn't been able to find a common base with Bonnie up to now, was more relaxed and opened up a little. She kept chatting amiably with Jeremy and Matt and more or less ignored Damon. I was starting to feel sorry for him, as Stefan was clearly being reserved with him, too. But Caroline more than made up for that. She was really in her element, entertaining everybody with funny stories and witty remarks. She didn't even stop short on telling that pretty amusing anecdote from High School, when she'd been all into cheerleading.

"What about you, Elena?" Damon inquired, his scrutinizing eyes on me. "Have you ever tried that out, dancing about in those perky short shorts...?"

"I'm not the cheerleader type," I answered rather frostily.

"No, really, she isn't," Caroline supported my point, not even aware that it might be a little insulting when she was the one saying it. "Though she did try cheerleading for a while. It just wasn't her thing. She's more a glutton for books, and likes to spend time in the cemetery, writing in her diary. Ever since the death of her parents, that is..."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow and gave her a stern look, which made Caroline stop in mid-sentence. "Ah ... and I'm saying that with complete insensitivity..." She blushed and in a small voice added: "Sorry!"

"I'm sorry, too, Elena," Damon said, and for about the first time, I had the feeling that there was no double meaning behind his words. "I know what it's like to lose both of your parents. In fact, Alys and I have watched almost every single person we ever cared about die..."

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon..." Alys reprimanded him, looking uncomfortable. He immediately complied. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."

Again, Bonnie and I shared a glance. Death. That's what Bonnie had been seeing about them. Once more, I felt grateful that my own experience with death, as horrible as it had been, had at least not caused me to be 'shrouded in darkness'.

After that brief, awkward moment, conversation was resumed and remained lively and amiable throughout dinner. All in all, I felt that our small dinner party was a success, so far.

We cleared the table and I quickly loaded the dirty plates into the dishwasher in preparation for the move to dessert.

"Here's another one... " Damon said, handing me a red wine glass. I reached for it, noticing a little distractedly that he really had nice hands. Long and slender fingers and nicely shaped nails, but definitely male. Elegant, but strong. Caroline always checked out a guy's ass right after judging his face, but somehow, I always looked at their hands. Caught up in thoughts, I didn't really pay attention to the glass and missed it. Damon reacted, lightning-quick, miraculously saving it before it hit the floor.

"That was a close call." Damon smiled as he handed it to me once again.

"Nice save!" I said, smiling back and blushing slightly at my unusual clumsiness. Honestly, I failed to see what Alys's problem was with him. As he had proved tonight, he could be charming and entertaining – nice, in fact.

"I like you," Damon said quite out of the blue – provided he hadn't read my thoughts, which had been traveling in a similar direction. "You know how to laugh. And you made Alys come out of her shell and actually enjoy herself in company – which is something I haven't seen in a very long time."

"I can understand that. Not everyone is comfortable in company. I value my quiet time and like being by myself, too."

"It's probably good that you stopped cheerleading, then."

"Well, yeah... Caroline had dragged me into that. Admittedly, it was fun, back then. In high school, I was the typical teenager I was into everything, quite busy!"

"I knew there was more to you than gloomy graveyard girl." Gloomy graveyard girl? Had Caroline told him that? I shifted a little uncomfortably. It was kind of embarrassing that he should think of me like that.

"I was a whole different Elena back then. I used to be fun. But then... things changed."

"Life happened," Damon acknowledged matter-of-factly, nodding in understanding.

Hmm – that was a funny way of putting what had brought on the drastic change. But then, I guessed, death was a part of life, too. It was just one of these nasty, earth-shattering impediments that life threw in your way, forcing you to pause, detour and continue on another path. Damon smiled a little ironically. "It has an annoying tendency to do that."

I shrugged, wondering how we had come to have this kind of deep conversation in the middle of dirty dishes. "I guess you just have to embrace it."

"Even the bad things?" Damon asked, his expression suddenly sober as he looked at me curiously. "Embrace even death, Elena?" There was a slight frown on his face, and I thought I detected a note of disapproval in his voice. Odd. Once again I had the feeling that there was a deeper meaning behind his question. Since I had no idea what he was getting at, I didn't know how to answer that.

"You've got to roll with the punches and move on. Things can matter again – different things, maybe. Maybe there is a whole different Elena inside me yet that I have to discover."

"Sounds promising!" Damon said, flirty again. "I can't wait to meet her!"

"Hey – you guys need some help?" Just on cue, Bonnie came to my rescue, saving me yet again from coming up with an appropriate reaction.

"I was just about to get out the dessert Damon brought. You can help me with that..."

Astonishingly, Damon got the hint. "Well, I entrust the peach cobbler into your capable hands, then," he said with an amused twinkle in his eyes, and sauntered back into the living room. Okay, so he had a nice rear, too.

"So – what do you think about them?" I asked Bonnie in a hushed voice, when I was sure he was out of hearing range. I was a little nervous about getting her opinion.

"Who exactly are you referring to?"

"Well, Stefan, in the first place..."

She smiled. "I like him. Really, I do!" I smiled back, feeling relieved. Bonnie's judgement was crucial to me. Not that I was seriously putting faith in her abilities to look into people's souls, but I valued her opinion as a friend.

"I even have to admit that Alys is not as bad company as I had always thought. I had my reservations about her, but I can see what you see in her. She's awfully quiet and composed, but witty. Now, that brother of hers, though..." Bonnie shuddered. "That guy gives me the creeps!"

I turned my gaze through the open dining room into the family room, where Caroline had Damon tied up in a vivid conversation again. Given that he looked anything but creepy as he was sitting there, relaxed, smirking and flirting shamelessly, Bonnie's fear seemed far fetched.

"He apologized to me for what happened in the park," I said, feeling the need give him a little credit, especially with regard to her harsh judgement. "Maybe we just started off on the wrong foot. Caroline seems happy enough."

"Yeah, well, but let's be honest," Bonnie pointed out: "She usually doesn't look behind a pretty face. And I swear, I have never met anybody more arrogant and cynical than Damon. Besides, Stefan is just as attractive – and a very nice guy in addition to that."

"I completely agree with you on that. He's smart, likable and trustworthy."

Bonnie gave me a friendly slap on the back. "Well then – if you ask me: Go for it!"

PS: If you're wondering what was on Damon's mind when he made the remark about Elena embracing death, keep this dialogue in mind! It's not all that important, but it will still become clear towards the very end of the story. ;)