Sorry guys I know it's taken me a while to get this chapter posted life just gets busy and I have a hard time getting to writing but I promise i'm trying to get better! I hope you enjoy this chapter thanks for the reviews I love to hear your thoughts.

Damons POV

Walking back into Elena's house I couldn't help but feel a little nervous that she would suddenly change her mind about me staying even if it was just the couch a part of me wishes the invitation would have been her bed but she wasn't ready for that and I wasn't going to push her I take a deep steadying breath before walking through the front door closing it and locking it before walking towards the living room.

I lean against the door way a smile spreading across my lips as I watch her make my bed on the couch she fluffs the pillow before her eyes look up and meet mine she gives me a small smile "it might not be to comfortable but I tried" she says shrugging her shoulders I smirk pushing myself from the doorway and walking over and plopping down on the couch

"it will work just fine Elena thank you" I say giving her a wink I see her blush slightly before she clears her throat "Okay good.. well i'm gonna go change into something more comfortable and get some sleep" she says as she starts to take a few steps back I nod my head "i'll be right here if you need me goodnight Elena"

"goodnight Damon" she gives me a small smile before turning around and heading towards her bedroom. I slip off my cut placing it on the floor next to the couch slipping my holster and gun off next placing it on top of it I wanted it close in case I needed it for whatever reason. I groan as I lay back down on the couch and realize how tired I was and how surprisingly comfortable this couch and I couldn't help but smile and be happy at the fact that I was here in Elena's house I didn't have her in my arms like I wanted but it was a step.

I shoot up straight my heart jumping out of my chest as I hear another blood curdling scream fill the air taking a few seconds to fully wake up and process where I was in the pitch black and what was going on it clicks Elena's house. Elena screaming.

I throw the blanket off off me quickly grabbing my gun before running down the hallway and busting through her door "Elena" I yell as I flip on the light scanning the room to see it was empty my eyes land on her bed to her laying alone crying and thrashing in her bed I quickly set my gun down on her dresser before crossing the room to her bed

I sit down on the edge of her bed grabbing her "Elena wake up, Elena you're ok" I say as I pull her closer to me as her body slowly stops moving "Elena wake up you're having a nightmare" I see her eyes start to open they land on me and I can tell she's scared to death of whatever she was dreaming about and it made my heart hurt to see that

"Damon?" she says softly in a slightly confused voice I nod my head taking one of my hands and running it through her hair soothingly "Yeah I slept on your couch remember? I heard you screaming so I came to check on you.." I say my eyes scanning her face and body needing to make sure she was fine even though I know she was t least physically

She nods her head "Right.. well thanks" she says she stays still for a moment letting me run my hand through her hair a few more times before I see her guard go back up as she pulls away from me and sits up "Elena.." I start to say but she cuts me off "Don't Damon it was just a bad dream" I can't help but roll my eyes "You've had bad dreams before Lena none of them made you scream like that" she lets out an annoyed sigh but I keep going

"I've never heard you scream like that you were terrified" her eyes meet mine as she glares at me "I'm not going to talk about it Damon so please just go back to the couch" I run my hand through my hair frustrated before shaking my head and standing up "whatever you say Elena" I grab my gun before walking out of her room and laying on the couch knowing there was no way I was going to go back to sleep now

I don't know how long I had been staring at the ceiling in the dark a thousand different thoughts running through my mind about Elena wishing she would just tell me what has her scared that she would just open up to me because whatever it was still haunts her and all I want to do is help. And kill the person who has her this fucking scared.

I let out a sigh before hearing her door open and footsteps coming down the hall approaching me I sit up slightly as I see her walk into the living room she doesn't say a word as she sits on the opposite end of the couch right next to my feet my eyes try to focus on her the best they can in the dark

I hear her sigh as she grabs the blanket and pulls it over her and my feet brush against her soft skin she turns and looks at me I want to say something but I wait for her there is a reason she came out her I needed to let her get to it "Tomorrow i'll tell you everything tonight I just want to watch some tv and lay out here is that ok?" she asks

I give her a small reassuring smile and nod my head "That's fine Elena i'd enjoy the company" she returns a small smile before she grabs the remote flipping the tv on friends starts playing as she moves and and lays out a little more her legs on top of mine she lays her head down on the pillow.

We don't say a word we just watch the show I glance at her every now and then and after a few minutes I watch her slowly drift to sleep taking the moment to admire how peaceful she looks sleeping right now just hoping she will stay like that the rest of the night I feel my eyes slowly getting heavy and decide not to fight sleep now that she was right here next to me.

Elena's POV

I yawn as I slowly wake up stretching my body out realizing I wasn't in my bed and then it all clicks I came out to the couch last night after my nightmare to be close to Damon" I sit up slowly and realize Damon no longer is on the couch but his cut and gun are still on the ground so he hadn't left that's when I hear noises from the kitchen

I toss the blanket off me but then freeze realizing I just woke up and there is a possibility after last night I look like a complete train wreck. I quickly stand up and make my way to the bathroom "God you're a mess"I mumble to myself quickly washing my face off last nights makeup, brushing my teeth and throwing my hair into the best messy bun I could before heading back out to the living room.

Nerves filing my stomach with every step I take closer to the living room not only had I slept on the same couch as Damon last night, he witnessed one of my endless nightmares I had been having for months and I had also promised him I would tell him everything.. and I know there is no way he was going to forget that. Great job Elena I think to myself.

I reach the living room just as Damon is walking back in from the kitchen to coffee mugs in his hand his eyes land on me and that classic smirk of his plasters across his face "I made coffee cause I remember how big of a grump you are until you have your coffee.. unless that's changed to" I walk up to him taking one of the mugs from him

"Nope that hasn't changed" I say giving him a smirk "Thank you" he nods his head as we both sit down on the couch his eyes on me the entire time as I lean back and sip on my coffee "I didn't forget what I said Damon" I say finally my eyes moving to his "Good" is all he says as he takes a sip of his coffee and I knew he was waiting for me to spill

"You want to do this now?" I say as my heart starts going into overdrive "don't you have somewhere to be?" I ask praying to god he did I wasn't going to go back on my promise.. but I really hoping we didn't have to do this now "Nope I don't and this conversation is more important to me then anything else Elena" he says a serious look crossing his face

I consider saying something snippy but I could tell Damon was being serious in fact he had done nothing but prove he was serious about trying to be friends with me since I had came back I let out a slow steadying breath before taking another sip of my coffee "Okay.." I glance at him and he nods telling me he was ready

"After I left and went to college I spent the first 3 years keeping to myself all I wanted to do was focus on school so I could graduate and the last thing I wanted to do was date.. I mean I had a few friends but none of us were close like I was with everyone back here... anyway the closer I got to graduation I started to get more lonely I guess so I decided to start going out more which led to dating.." I say my eyes finally landing on Damon's and locking to them

"I never got serious with anyone.. no one held my interest" I say smirking a little "Really the problem was no one was you" I see a small smile cross his face but he stays silent letting me continue "Anyway after graduation I went out with everyone before starting my job at the hospital and that's where I met him..." I say as I feel the nerves that always got the best of me anytime I talked about him

I start to fidget with my mug and my eyes move from Damon's I feel his hand cover mine on the mug as he moves slightly closer he takes the mug and sets them both on the coffee table "It's okay Elena.." His eyes basically drag mine back to his once I see the caring look in his eyes I take a deep breath and nod my head

"His name was Liam.. at first he seemed like the perfect guy he was a cop and did everything a girl would want a guy to do" I say chewing on my bottom lip before continuing "but after a few more months he started to get really possessive if a guy talked to me or looked at me the wrong way he'd get pissed.. but not at them at me because he thought I was the one "Asking for it"" A shiver running down my body as I say the line Liam would always say

"his anger just kept building and building.. then one day after we had gotten back from my work party he hit me.." as soon as the words left my mouth I could feel Damon's body stiffen but his eyes remained on mine darkening slightly but still full of support my voice starts to shake as I continue "he only hit me once that night not like that makes it any better I threatened to leave him and I should have but I didn't.. and I don't know why besides I was stupid for believing he was sorry and he'd change"

"You weren't stupid Elena" he says squeezing my hand I give him a small smile before continuing knowing if I didn't I wouldn't be able to finish "Well he didn't do anything like that again for a few weeks but once I started working graveyards for some reason it made him think I was cheating.. I wasn't obviously but that morning I came home he was at my place waiting for me"

I intertwine my fingers with Damon's finding his touch calming "that's when he beat me bad.. those are where the bruises came from most of the rest of them went away I made sure they did before I came back.. but some of them take longer I guess" I say letting out a small sigh of relief for getting it off my chest

I watch Damon he stays silent as my eyes move over his face noticing his body was still rigid "How bad was it?" he asks I bite on my lip softly before answering "Pretty bad thankfully my neighbor called the cops after he left" his eyes shoot back to mine "He just left you after beating the shit out of you" and I can tell by his tone he was pissed

"Yes but I was at the hospital within a hour after he left and got fully checked out" I say damon fake laughs as she pulls his hand from mine and stands up "He left you Elena.. please tell me this guy is in fucking jail" his eyes land on mine as he starts to pace my living room "He did go to jail but got out a few days later.. and tried to contact me and after that I realized I needed to get far away from him somewhere safe.."

Damon stops his eyes locked on to mine they are dark and full of anger "Damn right you did and now that you're safe i'm gonna find him and kill him" my heart drops hearing that as he leans down to get his gun and cut I jump into action knowing how serious he was in this moment "No Damon you aren't gonna do that"

"The hell i'm not Elena in fact I don't know how Jeremy and Ric haven't yet" he says in a disgusted tone "Because I asked them not to" I say grabbing his arm as Damon puts his gun in his holster "look at me.. please" I say squeezing Damon's arm as he slowly turns to face me his eyes landing on mine "Please Damon i'm asking you not to.. I get why you want to trust me I've been there but its not worth it"

"You are worth it" I couldn't help but give him a small smile for that "Well thank you.. but I can't let you ruin how much progress you've made over him please just stay here with me" I had no idea if anything I could say would work right now and what I did say was a little unfair but it was true I did want him to stay with me and not go anywhere near Liam. Because I know Damon would kill him.

"Fuck Lena" he says groaning before his eyes land on me and before either of us can say anything he pulls me in tight to his chest wrapping his arms tightly around me and I can't help but wrap my arms back around him and let him just hold me I nuzzle my face into his chest smelling his cologne and after months of trying to feel safe I finally did in his arms

"He will never hurt you again Elena I swear" he whispers in my ear and hearing that makes the flood of tears that I had been holding back break through as I start to cry Damon squeezes me tighter and rubs my back soothingly and I never wanted this moment to end I never wanted to be out of his arms again because they had always made me feel safe.. and they still did.

And I knew that this wasn't good for us just trying to be friends but at this moment I just couldn't bring myself to care.

Hope you guys enjoyed let me know what you think I struggled a little bit with this chapter. I know the story with Liam wasn't SUPER detailed but during her flashbacks it will be.

Please review it always helps to hear what you guys think and what you'd like me to include I will do my best to update fast