A/N: Since you've all been so good to me (special thanks to ray4ruffles, whose amazing reviews are worthy of a professional literary critic, and made me ecstatic for days!) here's another mid-week chapter for you, with Damon and Elena getting physical - in a way ;)

DAMON

Given that Elena had just gotten the rug pulled out from underneath her feet, she was holding up amazingly well. Considerably better than I was.

I had the strong urge to kill someone – anyone – just to get this raving madness out of my system. But I was pretty sure that Elena wouldn't be sympathetic, and the last thing I wanted to do now was to add to her troubles. So instead of going to the next bar, drinking myself into a stupor by feeding on some drunks and provoking someone into a fight, I just drove her home.

I don't know how she even came to think that I was going to let her out of my eyesight after having found out what we just did, but she did turn to say goodbye to me on the step of the porch. Knowing Elena, I thought it was wiser not to go into a discussion with her. So I just sighed under my breath because she was making this unnecessarily complicated, and politely bid her goodnight – before I went to the side of the house and climbed straight into her room through the window.

Already feeling much better, I stretched out on her bed and closed my eyes, waiting for her to retire. Hearing her talk to Jeremy and Ric downstairs and listening to the clattering of pots and dishes as they made dinner was oddly comforting as was lying in her bed. I probably should have given her that as an argument for why my staying close to her was a dire necessity: It was the only thing that probably kept me sane at the moment and prevented me from committing multiple murder tonight.

When Elena came up later and spotted me on her bed, she wasn't exactly open to reasoning, though. "Damon!" she exclaimed in outrage, but trying her best to keep her voice down. "What are you doing here?"

As if it wasn't obvious. "Like I said, I'm watching over you. Protecting you from an evil vampire slut out for revenge."

"I'm perfectly safe inside this house now, and you know it."

"You need someone to feed energy to Bonnie's protective shield," I reminded her. "You haven't asked Bonnie to tie Ric, Jeremy and Jenna into it yet."

"I can't. They don't know about any of this."

"I don't think it's necessary for them to know in order to make the spell work. All that Bonnie needed was something personal. She used a drop of blood with us, but I suppose a hair out of their brushes would do the trick just as well."

"No. I can't let Bonnie tap their energies without their consent."

I slightly shook my head in bafflement. She and Stefan really were two birds of a feather when it came down to questions of morality and righteousness. "That's ridiculous;" I argued, trying to get some sense into her. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping protect you, even without their explicit consent. You'll be perfectly safe back in the boarding house with me and Alys, but here in Mystic Falls... I strongly suggest you reconsider, unless you want me in your bed every weekend from now on. I, for my part, don't have an issue with that, but it's up to you..."

"You wish!" Truth to tell, I did. But I guessed it wouldn't help my point if I pushed that right now. Purely figuratively speaking, I only recently had left Katherine's bed, and even to me it seemed wrong to hop straight into Elena's from there. Except to lie next to her in all innocence and guard her life, of course.

"Ric and Jeremy are in the house. What will they think?"

If that was her only concern about me staying, I couldn't care less. I propped myself up on my elbow and smiled. "They'll probably think you got yourself a gorgeous, attractive and attentive lover who kept you up and passionately made love to you all night, seducing you to do all kinds of naughty things..." While I enjoyed the movie starting in my head, Elena stared at me all doe-eyed and looked ready to bolt. I quickly sobered. "Seriously, Elena. You need me here. I need to be here. I promise to behave."

Her gaze locked with mine and she remained silent for a moment. Whatever she found in my eyes – determination, most likely, maybe a trace of the fear and the fury that were still buried beneath it – it made her relent. "Fine. But you had better mind your promise, or I'll stake you in your sleep."

Grabbing her PJs, she disappeared into the bathroom, only to come out a few minutes later all dressed and ready for the night. Slightly blushed, she climbed into bed with me – except that she went under the covers while I was on top of them – then turned to her side and looked at me. "Why did you break up with her?" she finally voiced what had probably on her mind for quite some time.

I had expected that. And she had the right to know. I sighed. "Because you can't pick up the pieces of a relationship after a century and a half and pretend nothing has changed. I have. I just hadn't realized it before."

"I'm sorry," she said, sounding genuinely empathic. For a moment, I wasn't sure what to make out of that statement. Shouldn't she be rather happy about it, provided that there was a small part of her that cared for me, as I had come to hope there was? But of course, that had been before I had happily ridden off into the sunset with the wrong girl. I guess that might have served to thoroughly kill all tender feelings that had possibly been blossoming in her heart. If she had ever felt anything for me at all, this must have hurt her badly. And yet she had shown nothing but relief and joy at my return.

"How can you not hate me?" I asked, marveling at her capacity for forgiveness.

"Hate you?" She even seemed puzzled by the concept. "What for?"

"For being the cause of all this pain. If I hadn't followed you back to Mystic Falls, if I hadn't gotten Katherine out of the tomb – none of this would have happened."

"Damon, no! Seriously, you can't mean that!" Elena propped herself up again, looking at me with a serious expression on her face. "You heard what Elijah said – there was no coincidence in what happened – it was destined to turn out this way. And it was right to open the tomb."

"How can you still say that, after what Katherine did to you?"

"Because you needed closure with her, and she deserved a chance for redemption. And because what I told you before is still true – it's not wrong to put trust in people. Even if it sometimes hits you square in the face. What's the alternative? Not letting anyone in and being distrustful of everybody, always suspecting the worst of them? That's no way to live."

It was how I had lived the last 150 years, and it had pretty much worked for me. Until I met her, that is – this girl who would even put her trust and her life in the hands of a vampire like me. She, of all people, hadn't deserved to have it backfire on her.

"I promise that I'll make it up to you, Elena," I said, feeling the urge to touch her face but not daring to. So I only caressed her with my eyes. "Somehow, we'll find a way out of this mess and set things right again."

She gave me a tiny smile that was probably meant to signal confidence, but held mostly exhaustion. Soon, her eyes fell shut and she was fast asleep. Trusting soul that she was, she was totally oblivious of danger and even found peace and solace with a bloodthirsty, angry vampire lying by her side. I shook my head, not sure whether to be concerned or bewildered by her lack of fear. Lying next to her and pondering this while watching her sleep, I found that I was mostly exhilarated.

ELENA

When I woke up after a night of sound and unperturbed sleep, Damon was gone. As his scent still lingered, I figured that he couldn't have left long ago, though. I couldn't resist briefly burying my nose in the cushion he had slept on. Science said that being attracted to another person's smell was an indicator of genetic compatibility. So I was obviously genetically attracted to an infertile vampire. Just how ironic was that?

After taking a long shower and getting dressed, I went down to the kitchen and was surprised to find Bonnie sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Hey, good morning. What brought you over so early?"

"The more appropriate question is 'why the hell did you leave me alone'. Did you forget that you need one of us to feed energy to the protective shield? To my utter shame, I did. I was so preoccupied with what Elijah told us yesterday that I went home and went through Emily's entire grimoire to find the loophole in her spell. I shouldn't have left you unprotected like that."

I turned my back to her to get a cup of coffee myself, but mainly to hide my blushing. I had been neither unprotected nor alone, but somehow, I didn't feel like sharing the information that Damon had spent the night in my bed with her just now. She might misunderstand.

"I'm fine. Don't worry. I guess Katherine's attack was just her means to find out what this connection between us is all about. So, have you found it, the loophole?"

Bonnie face still wore an expression of regret. "No, I haven't. But that doesn't necessarily mean there is none. Those grimoires don't come with an index. Witches always try to protect their most potent spells by hiding them, encrypting them or splitting them up. I'll go through it again, looking more deeply. But that will take some time, I'm afraid."

"We'll be back in Greenville tonight," I said, trying to be positive about it. "Alys will move back into the boarding house now that Damon is back, and so will I. I'll be perfectly safe until we find a solution for the Katherine situation."

What I meant was that Katherine would not be able to harm me physically with Alys and Damon watching over me. The thought that she might launch an attack that was entirely bloodless but far more hurtful didn't even cross my mind. Until Caroline called. And immediately started shouting at me as soon as I answered the phone.

"Just what is the matter with you, Elena?" she ranted, leaving me utterly speechless. "Is this supposed to be a new concept of honesty, or just is it just you being a bitch? How could you do that to me – and to Matt, of all people?"

"What? Caroline, I honestly have no idea what you are talking about..."

Bonnie threw me a concerned glance. Caroline's irritated voice had doubtlessly carried over to her.

"Sure you do! I just saw Matt at the Grill. He was pretty disturbed by your confession that you still had feelings for him – and pretty upset with me. Telling him that I felt attracted to Klaus? Mean girl move!"

"No – I didn't do that! I swear I didn't!"

"Are you saying that Matt is lying, now? Because he's the one who told me." Oh my God. Katherine! It had to be. By coloring her hair and wearing contacts, she could easily pretend to be me... nobody would notice. So that was her idea of making my life miserable. How was I to explain that to Caroline? I was at an utter loss for words.

"No, he's not lying," I finally said, feeling totally miserable now. I couldn't let Caroline doubt Matt's honesty or make her choose my word over his. "It's ... a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding, really?" Caroline said icily. "Just like the party at your house, to which all our friends were invited, except for me and Matt? A misunderstanding like your hanging out with Damon behind my back, after telling me that he's bad company and doing everything to ensure that I was out of the picture? Or a misunderstanding, like the fact that you are jealous of me for being in a relationship with your ex-boyfriend? Are you trying to get back at me for him choosing me over you, just like Damon did? And talking about him – since you seem to be getting awfully close to my ex-boyfriend, I guess we're even."

"Caroline – this is really not what you think..."

"You know what, I couldn't care less. You can have him. You were the one who pointed out to me that he's a jerk, and right now I'm starting to wonder if you two don't fit together nicely. But leave Matt and me alone – he's my boyfriend now, and whatever feelings you still have for him – get over them!" And with that, she hung up on me.

I stood shell shocked for a minute, and mechanically repeated to Bonnie all the reproaches Caroline had just lavished on me. She pulled me in a hug and let me cry my eyes out, trying her best to offer comfort. "Don't worry, Elena – it's gonna be okay. Just call her. You two will make up again. You always do."

"Call her, and explain what, exactly?" I asked, wiping my eyes. "What am I going to say to her? 'Care, you know what – it wasn't me who had this chat with Matt. It was my bitchy, evil Doppelgänger great-great-grandmother, who's a vampire, by the way, and all the others are vampires, too. You just never noticed because Damon wiped your brain after feeding on you. They were all at my house to feed a spell Bonnie put on me.' Yeah, pretty convincing."

I could just see how she'd react to that. Should I come up with a lie? If there even was one that would offer a logical explanation for this mess Katherine made. She had just demonstrated that she could effectively hurt me in a way that no spell could protect me from.

Although I still had no idea what to tell her exactly, I repeatedly tried to call Caroline back, but she ignored my calls. I even drove by her house, but Liz just shook her head sadly. "Whatever happened, she's pretty upset with you right now and doesn't want to talk to you. I'm sorry, Elena."

We headed back to Greenville for our last week of college before summer break, without me and Caroline having spoken to each other. I was hoping for a chance to make up with her sometime on campus – after all, she couldn't avoid running into me for an entire week. Yet Caroline didn't show up to any of her classes on Monday. As I learned from Bonnie, she had taken sick and hadn't even come back to Greenville. I called Liz right after getting back to the boarding house, only to learn that Caroline still didn't wish so speak to me and was feeling wretched. According to Liz, she had come down with the flu on top of everything else, and was unlikely to get back to campus before summer break at all.

So there was no chance for me to set things right until she got better, which would hopefully be by next weekend. The Founder's Ball was coming up, and with all the effort Caroline had put into its organization, there would be no words to describe the mood she'd be in if she had to miss out on that.

My fallout with Caroline still fresh on my mind, I was pretty miserable on Monday afternoon, when Damon came back from campus, seething with anger. If I had thought things were bad, I was just about to find out that they could always go down from there.

He dropped a newspaper on the table in front of me and pointed to the headline. "WILD ANIMAL ATTACK – MYSTIC BEAST CLAIMS YET ANOTHER VICTIM'.

"It's all over the papers," he said, sounding pissed. "Not only in Mystic Falls." He threw another paper onto the table, this one from Greenville. The title page featured a big photo of the night gown Katherine had been 'buried' in. It was artfully stuck on tree branches, made to look as if worn by an invisible person. It seemed to be eerily floating in the breeze. 'MYSTIC FALLS HAUNTED' read the title. 'FEMALE GHOST ESCAPES FROM TOMB'

I scanned the first boldly-printed paragraph, and gasped. The family tomb of the Pierce family had been vandalized, the bodies of the deceased pulled out of their coffins and scattered about the premises. According to the Mystic Falls Sheriff's department, an animal had attacked and injured two youngsters and killed a nineteen year old inhabitant of Mystic Falls in the same night. One of the surviving victims, an 18 year old girl who had been missing, was found wandering around a day later. She wasn't able to give a detailed account of what had happened due to a mild case of amnesia, but claimed to have seen a ghostly pale woman in a civil-war period gown appearing out of the tomb.

"Oh my God! Katherine killed that boy? Why? I don't understand..."

Alys picked up the other paper and quickly browsed the article. "According to this paper, Mystic Falls officials believe that the opening of the tomb and the draping of the dress had been intended to be a prank by those youngsters. Only that it had gone horribly wrong when a wild cat or some other animal with rabies attacked them, killed one boy and injured another."

"But we certainly know better." Damon said grimly.

"Katherine..." I muttered weakly. "Just what did she do that for?"

Damon's expression was dark and gloomy, and I felt immense relief that his wrath was not directed at me. "I have no idea," he said. "But every intention to find out."

DAMON

Still furious, I grabbed a bottle of bourbon and retreated to the study for privacy. I needed to calm down somehow, especially since going on a killing spree was not an option after what Katherine had done. After having learned about the game she had played with Caroline, I had already felt ready to commit murder. Drowning liquor unfortunately wouldn't get me drunk, but at least it helped to soothe my nerves. I pulled out my phone and dialed Katherine's number.

"Are you freaking out of your mind, Katherine?" I sniped at her as soon as she answered the call.

"Hello to you, too, Damon. I think I told you not to call anytime soon. Missing me already?"

"Like pain, pimples and the plague."

"You sound agitated," Katherine said in a false, honeyed voice. "Did something unpleasant happen?"

"I'm not even getting to the stunt you pulled with Elena. Playing the jealous and vengeful ex-lover? The role doesn't suit you."

"You think this is about you?" she asked, trying to sound incredulous.

"Isn't it? Because otherwise I don't really see the point in torturing her. What has she ever done to you?"

"She exists. She's human. And because of that, she's obviously a threat to my life. You need to turn her into a vampire to break the spell. I'm just trying to offer some incentive."

"By purposely drawing the whole town's attention to the fact that vampires are roaming the city? What the hell were you thinking?"

Katherine's voice sounded self-complacent. "I needed to send a message."

"To whom?" I asked, exasperated. "There is nobody left who cares about you anymore. They're all dead!"

She huffed. "Said the woman who promised you she'd keep me safe and buried me alive for 150 years! You think I'm taking her word for it? Or yours, for that matter? I think not! This needed to be done. If any one of my friends is still out there – Pearl, or one of my brothers – this will surely reach them sooner or later. They will have kept an eye on Mystic Falls, wherever they are."

"For Christ's sake, there are easier ways to send a message. Couldn't you have tweeted it or posted in on 'Stay friends'?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Katherine said indignantly.

"Of course not. That's why you could've asked me first! It's not only your friends who will be alerted of your presence, provided they live. The council will be on our tracks, now, too. You made sure that they know there are vampires back in Mystic Falls. What do you think will happen?"

"Well, I guess some really vengeful people will turn up in Mystic Falls sooner or later. I didn't only have friends who missed me. And the council might decide to invite the hunters in..."

"Are you planning on getting all of us killed?"

I could almost see her shrugging through the phone. "You can always leave town if they start chasing vampires again. It's as boring as it used to be, anyway. You never liked it."

"Not everybody can leave."

"It's about this girl, isn't it?" she asked deprecatingly. "Are you seriously courting her, or is it just her blood that you're after? Are you two lovers?"

"Elena is none of your business!"

"You can't fool me, Damon. But maybe you're fooling yourself... Or doesn't it strike you as odd that the first woman you ran to after we broke up looks exactly like me? I guess you're not over me at all. It's her human blood that draws you in. Don't deny it, Damon. I saw the hunger in your eyes... Well, I suggest you take your fill of her. Drown yourself in her sweet, fragrant blood. And then vamp her."

"I'm not gonna turn her into a vampire!"

"Well, you better! Those vengeful people looking out for me... what if they find Elena first? As a human, she is utterly defenseless..."

"Then you'll die with her, Katherine!"

"I trust that you'll keep her safe. You're smart enough to know that there's only one way to assure she'll live. If you don't do it, I will, as soon as I get my hands on her."

"Then you had better watch your back! Coming back here and messing with people I care about – bad move!"

"You can't hurt me, Damon," she pointed out matter-of-factly. " Not without hurting her, too."

"We'll see about that."

"Cross my path and I promise that you're going to regret it," she said with a hard edge to her voice.

"I only have one regret, Katherine: To have brought you out of that tomb. You weren't worth it. You never were. It's just a pity that it took me 150 years to figure that out." I hung up on her, downed another glass of whisky and smashed the glass into the fireplace.

It was all empty threats – there was nothing I could do to stop Katherine, and she knew it. I was hogtied – unless Bonnie came up with a magic spell that would either sever the bond between Katherine and Elena, or serve to trap Katherine somewhere – preferably in a tomb. But a coffin or a chest that I could bury somewhere would also do.

It just wasn't going to be easy to outwit Katherine. She might be a bitch, but she was cunning, too. So I was back to being completely and utterly dependent on a Bennett witch, and it sucked. I hated feeling helpless as much as I hated having to rely on anyone except myself.

Worse, I had no idea what to say to Elena. I didn't want to tell her about Katherine's intention to have me vamp her. For one thing, I didn't want to add yet another burden to the load she was carrying. She was going to dread the idea, and I was afraid she might also know that I wouldn't be averse to it. How could I? I'd sleep much better in the knowledge that she'd finally be safe – from pretty much everything and everyone. Keeping her alive was proving to be a full time job. Knowing that I was being blackmailed into vamping her while secretly wanting to do exactly that – it would destroy all the faith and trust she miraculously had put in me.

And there was another good reason: Knowing Elena, she'd feel pressured to let herself be turned for the sake of everyone else. After all, it was the most obvious solution, and she definitely had a martyr streak. But it would all be for the wrong reasons. I had once turned Alys selfishly. She still hated me for that. And I could not be selfish with Elena. I could not live with her hating me, too.

ELENA

Not being able to do anything about my fight with Caroline was horrible. At least with her being sick, she was safe and sound in a protected house, whereas Matt was still totally clueless. Most likely, Katherine had only used him to get between me and Caroline, but I wasn't going to take any chances on that. I had to speak to him and at least offer some kind of explanation for my behavior.

I had briefly considered including them both into the growing circle of people who knew the truth, but Damon had been strictly against it. Especially because of Caroline. Admittedly, he had a point there. Caroline was horrible at guarding secrets. She would easily snap under the pressure of determined interrogation – like someone saying 'pleeease' with enough eagerness behind it.

And a lot of times, her mouth was simply too fast for her brain, which caused involuntary spills and leaks. Unlike her, Matt could pass as a priest for his trustworthiness. But it wouldn't be fair give him the truth and leave Caroline in the dark, forcing him to lie to her. And as bad as Caroline was at protecting secrets, she was excellent at detecting them. So the truth wouldn't work. It had to be a lie. I could only try to make it as white as possible, given the circumstances.

Having given this some careful thought, I had formed a vague idea about what to say. I didn't feel good about it, but it still was better than saying nothing at all. Taking heart, I picked up the phone and called Matt.

His voice sounded awkward and uneasy when he answered, and betrayed his reluctance to talk to me. Afraid that he might hang up on me, I quickly started speaking. "I'm sorry, Matt, I'm calling to apologize. Whatever I said to you – I didn't mean it like that."

"Whatever you said?" I could almost see his frown. "Are you saying you don't remember?"

"I wasn't really myself, that day," I said honestly.

"I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to tell me..."

"Look, Matt..." I said, pausing to remember how to phrase best what I was going to say. "A lot of things have happened lately – bad things. It has to do with the death of my brother... I found diaries of my mom's, and learned that they have not always been honest with me. I hadn't known that these things would affect me, but they do. It all started with Stefan and the relationship I thought we had, but which didn't work out like I had wanted it to." That had only marginally to do with Katherine, but definitely with the whole vampire situation. "Things from my past are haunting me, and they're freaking me out. I'm trying to deal with them. But it's not easy, and I might still be a while before I can be the old 'me' again. I'm – getting help." Just not professional help, like I was insinuating. But then, Katherine was not an entirely psychological problem.

"Oh. I had no idea..." Matt said, flustered and a little distraught. "You seemed so stable and – I don't know. Like you left your past behind."

"That's what I had thought, too. But I was wrong. The important thing for you to know is – I still like you and you mean a lot to me... as a friend. And so does Caroline. It's been eating me up that she is cross with me now. It was wrong to say those things about her – they're not true. Sometimes, when you're hurt, and angry, because things in your own life don't work out as you had hoped they would, you just lash out." I wondered if I was speaking Katherine's mind. She might be a vengeful bitch, but to be vengeful, you had to be hurt, first. Not that I had any sympathies for her hurt feelings, though they probably were one of the many reasons why she wanted to punish me so badly. "I've felt lonely an awful lot, lately." Ever since Damon had left, to be precise. But that was another truth no one needed to hear. Except for Damon. If I ever found the courage to tell him.

"I think that's an explanation you ought to give Caroline." Matt said, still unsure what to make out of this. "She was really hurt, too, you know."

"I do. And I'm so sorry, Matt. I want nothing more. I'll try to talk to her on Saturday. Hopefully, she's better by then. And Matt – if next time we talk, I'm acting kind of strange again... Just tell me that I'm being a freak again and ignore me, okay? It's these mood swings I'm having lately... they're side effects."

"Are you on medication?" That was a tricky question to answer without actually lying. "Well, I've been given something that's supposed to keep me healthy," I said after careful consideration, thinking of all the vampire blood I had consumed lately. So far, I think I had not told him an outright lie. Just stretched the truth an awful lot...

"God, Elena – if I had known that things were so bad..."

"Don't worry about it, Matt, I'm going to be okay. I'll get over this. Just tell Caroline I'm terribly sorry. Please."

"I will. Take care!" With a sigh, I hung up on him. If I was now a seriously deranged person on medication to him, it was still way better than being a heartless bitch. And he would tell Katherine to get lost if she ever approached him again. Hopefully.