AN: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed and alerted. You are amazing. Finally the premiere is tomorrow and to celebrate I am posting earlier. This is just an easy chapter, nothing too serious but important nevertheless for the journey we are on along with this version of Damon and Elena.

Enjoy,

Mydarkside975

Chapter 18: As Long as You Love Me

Elena

"I am not going to judge. In fact I am not going to say a word but you have to tell me everything."

"There is nothing to say really, Care," apart from how she slept with him and now he wanted to go with her to do charity and she did not know if that was a good idea because she felt really weird when he was around.

"Elena honey, I have known you since you used to wear diapers and lying is really not your forte. Now tell me what is going on between you two so I can help you because there is clearly something bothering you."

Damn! Was she really that obvious? She kept thinking that telling Caroline was a very bad idea. She was dating his brother! But then again, she was her friend and she would feel much better if she could share her thoughts with her.

They might have had their differences and they just solved another disagreement but Elena knew how much Caroline loved her and she would never do anything to hurt her. On the contrary, she might end up helping her sort through all this mess.

"Okay so it started the day of the cocktail party…"

"…the one where you kissed?" Caroline interrupted.

Elena cleared her throat and went on; "Yeah, that one so after our fight I went to the bar to get a drink when he approached me…"

She told her about that night where she was drunk on alcohol and rebellious thoughts and how she ended up sleeping with him. It was mortifying to come clean about that part especially and Caroline had a funny expression on her face like she was forcing her lips to stay neutral and her mouth unmoving.

The week after, she had felt strong and empowered but now she could not help but think that she had used him. She used him to prove something to herself and her friends and she did not even care about what he would feel. She just assumed that he was trying to get into her pants by charming her first and she thought she would let him… on her terms. She did not even think that he might actually want to just talk to her.

She told her about the day he came to the yoga studio and asked for a date and how he did not show up the day after then about how he showed up in the park after yoga dressed like a stalker and asked to come with her to the mall.

"…now our pictures are on the internet and Rebekah attacked me with her iPad so I ran away and that's when you called… Oh yeah and I might have invited him to the food delivery thing on Wednesday."

She finished her story and looked at Caroline to gauge her reaction. The girl never managed to hide what she thought but right now her face was jumping between expressions so fast that Elena could not keep up.

"You got Damon Salvatore to sweet-talk people into donating money and you are taking him with you to drive around the city and hand out food to the homeless? Are we still talking about the same person here?"

Caroline had completely abandoned her nearly untouched salad and had all of her focus on Elena which made her a little uncomfortable. Yes he was Damon Salvatore and all that but he was a person too. Why was it so difficult for people to imagine him doing normal human stuff?

"Yes, he seems really interested, Care and he's really good too. He got a 5.000 dollar donation yesterday from one lady. Imagine how much he could get in a week."

"That sounds great honey but why do I get the feeling that there is something else going on?"

Trust Caroline to dig into the heart of the problem. Well, she had no choice but to tell her. "I just… I feel weird whenever he's around or when he texts me and it's kind of out of my control and I hate feeling out of control." Caroline's eyebrows kept moving closer to her hairline as she talked.

"Oh my God, Elena you are developing feelings for him."

"No! That can't be it, Care." She sounded almost pleading like Caroline could somehow stop her from having feelings for him. "I don't have feelings for him. I can't."

It was Wednesday 6:20 pm and Elena was ready to start her route in ten minutes. She was just waiting for Damon to show up. She told him to meet her on the corner of a street two minutes away from her first stop. She was sitting in a white van that belonged to the foundation. The logo was on the side big heart and all so he would recognize the van easily.

She had seven stops to make and only two and a half hours to make them in before she had to return the van which meant she did not have a minute to spare. If he did not show up in 5 minutes she would just start her route and if he wanted he could join her later.

She had this weird feeling in her stomach again which was really annoying and a part of her hoped that he would not show up. Another part of her could not wait to see him again. God, she hated those contradicting feelings.

She looked at her phone to see the time; 6:26. She started the engine checking her mirrors and looking to the left. Before she turned the steering wheel, the passenger side door opened and Damon slid onto the seat.

"Hey, I'm not late am I?" He said looking at her and she felt something jump inside her stomach.

God, his eyes were so blue.

Damon

She was staring at him like he surprised her or something. Then she seemed to remember what he had asked her.

"No, you're on time," she said, her eyes on the road as she pulled away from the curb.

"So how are we going to do this?" He had no idea how this whole thing worked. He would never have guessed that she would be there in a van and if it was not for the huge logo and the "Hand In Hand Foundation" painted on the side, he would still be waiting for her to show up.

"We have seven stops to make around the city and on each stop we are going to hand out bowls of stew, bread, fruits and milk to anyone who shows up."

"Do you do this a lot?"

"Well, yeah whenever I can."

They were holding still waiting for the traffic lights to turn green when she apparently noticed the splint on his finger and the bandages on the rest of his left hand.

"What happened to your hand?" She sounded concerned.

"Just and accident," he said in a clipped tone.

"Are you okay, though? Does it hurt?" She persisted.

"No it's not that big of a deal really," he said dismissing her concern.

She did not say more and he wondered if he had sounded too harsh but then the lights turned green and she took a right turn. The rest of the way, they just rode in silence.

When they reached their first stop, a line of people had already formed. They were all waiting for the van to get their meal. Elena pulled to the curb and got out of the car making her way to the back of the van. He followed her there and helped open the back door to get to the boxes of food.

They started handing out the food to people; each one bowl of stew, a carton of milk, a piece of fruit and some bread. She gave them the bowl of stew and the bread and he gave them the fruit and the milk using mostly his right hand. That way they were most efficient.

Elena was a natural. She handed out the food with a big smile as she made small talk. She knew some of the people waiting in line. She asked to their wellbeing, joked around and they all seemed to adore her.

"Hi Mama J. How are you doing?" An old lady in a wheelchair came forward. Her clothes were a mix of different scraps of fabric, her hair a cotton-like white mess on top of her head and her face a map over all her years on this earth. He wondered why she stayed on the streets. There had to be free of charge homes for the elderly or something.

"Hello 'Lena, honey. I'm fine thanks for askin'. How's you an' that chatty friend o' yours?" She said, her smile drawing a dozen more lines on her face.

"I'm great and Caroline says hi," Elena said smiling back.

"Tell 'er to hold onto that one. He's a keeper," Mama J said mysteriously and turned her attention to him. He handed her the milk and turned to get an apple when she grabbed his collar and pulled him down to her level. "You take care o' her. She's a' angel," she said in his ear before she let go and turned to leave without another word. He was not sure if anyone else had heard her. He kept staring after her contemplating her words until the next person in line cleared his throat to get his attention. He started handing out food again but those words never left his head.

Back in the car driving to the next stop, Mama J's words kept resonating in his head. Why would she say something like that to him? She did not know who he was and she probably assumed that he and Elena were together. But they were not and taking care of her was her boyfriend's job, not his. Not that he was capable of taking care of anyone, anyhow.

"You're thinking about Mama J aren't you?"

"Yeah, that was a little strange."

"Don't put too much into her words, Damon. She acts a bit mysterious at times but that's just who she is. One time she told me to beware of the color, blue. I mean it's not like she makes sense half of the time."

"How come you know so many of them?"

"Well I've done this for a long time now, actually since I started college and some of those people have been on the same streets for almost as long so I ended up running into the same people from time to time."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because they are people. They somehow ended up without a place to live or a way to earn a living but they are still people and if life is hard on them then the least we can do is help make it a little bit easier."

They continued to the six other stops where people had already formed lines waiting for them to arrive. They handed out meals to hundreds of people. Between each stop their conversation flowed easily covering an impressive range of topics which he had never before been able to with anyone else. She had opinions about anything he tried to talk about from historic figures and politics to the latest pop-songs. She even added more to the facts he already knew.

They finally finished the last stop and she was driving back to the HIH headquarters to return the van. The boxes in the back were empty and hopefully a lot of stomachs were full instead. The radio was playing in the background as they discussed the point of boy-bands. To his annoyance, some Backstreet Boys song was playing and Elena refused to change the station.

Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine

I'm leavin' my life in your hands…

"The point of a boy-band is to get a bunch of good-looking guys together and make them sing something romantic so teen girls have something to scream over and spend their parents' money on," he said cringing at the cheesy lyrics.

I don't care who you are

Where you're from

What you did

As long as you love me…

"It's not just about money. It's a way for young girls to connect with each other about something they like. The difference is that now there are Twitter, YouTube and all kinds of other websites where girls from all around the world can talk to each other about the things they love…"

"…and spend their parents' money on merchandise and concerts to fill some producer's pockets. Besides those websites provide anonymity which leads to bullying because there are no consequences for the words they say to each other.

"Sure a lot of people in the music industry are all about the money but what industry is free of those people? And yes there are those who misuse the freedom of the Internet but we can't just dismiss something because of the cons when we know for a fact that there are just as many pros."

"Fine you win but that doesn't mean, I will ever willingly listen to one of those songs," he gave in. He was stubborn but she was way more so.

"I can live with that," she said laughing.

I've tried to hide it so that no one knows

But I guess it shows

When you look into my eyes

What you did and where you're comin from

I don't care, as long as you love me, baby"

I don't care who you are

Where you're from

What you did

As long as you love me

AN: Thank you for reading. What did you think about the chapter? Do you like/hate that song? Do you agree with Damon or Elena and what about Mama J?

Have an amazing première Thursday.