Thank you for the ongoing reviews, positive feedback, favourites and follows. I'm enjoying writing this so much!

I'm very sorry the apparently very mean cliffhanger. This chapter is a longer one, as an apology.

I hope you enjoy.

If you want to see more of Bree and Damon, please check out 'Bree and the Broken Vampire'.

x-x-x-x

Elena was nursing her injured hand, looking up at Damon. He appeared to be in a trance, staring at the cage on the corner. Then, he disappeared. She could have sworn she didn't blink; he was just gone.

What the hell?

"Hey, let me look." Anna was saying gently, asking to see her hand. As Anna took it, inspecting it gingerly, she announced "Yep, that's broken."

Elena winced at the touch and nodded. She'd figure that out later. "See if you guys can find anything." She instructed the pair before heading up the stairs.

Surely Damon hadn't left?

Stepping out into the world, she narrowed her eyes. Using her uninjured hand to block the glare of the sun as she looked across the street, she could see no sign of his Camaro.

What the hell?

Sending a 'CALL ME!' Text to Damon, she descended back down the stairs to find out what Anna and Jeremy had discovered.

"There's no journals belonging to Jonathon Gilbert here." Jeremy announced as she reappeared, "But we did find these."

He showed Elena a manila file, containing what looked like patient documents. He flicked through and they saw there were no names of pictures, just notes.

Tucking the file under her arm carefully, she suggested, 'Let's get out of here."

x-x-x-x

It was a long, painful day at school. Caroline excelled at all her subjects, and sometimes the pace was slow enough that she would find herself bored. Usually, she would distract herself with notes to Elena or finding someone to wink at and flirt with, but today she couldn't even focus on that.

She wanted to figure out how to help Tyler, but every route her brain explored just ended in more pain for him- physical or emotional. All she could do was be there, but how could she be there when he was always surrounded by the football team and acting like such a macho douche?

Whenever she struggled to find a solution, she liked to ask herself 'What would Caroline do?' Not neurotic, insecure Caroline but the person she envisioned in her head, the one that made plans and fulfilled them, that lived life to the fullest and spoke her mind.

That Caroline would use the fact he was acting like a macho douche to her advantage. If he wants to act like a chimpanzee, then she would too and flash her bottom at him. Not literally of course. Then, he'd be able to seek out a private conversation with her whilst simultaneously impressing his unevolved friends.

Nipping to the bathroom between classes, she rolled up her skirt. She was already wearing heels and a fitted blouse; she popped another button on it to get the full effect. Reapplying her lipstick and fluffing her hair she made it out onto the corridor.

Showtime.

She walked down the centre of the hall, one foot directly in front of the other, like she was on a catwalk. Waiting until she was just in front of the boys, she stopped to remove her jacket. Hooking it on one finger then flicking it over her shoulder, she resumed her catwalk. She felt like she was parading like a stripper, but this tactic always worked. Catching Tyler's eye, she winked and continued.

1, 2, 3, ….

"Hey, Caroline!"

Boys were so predictable.

"Oh, hey Tyler." She pretended to be surprised by his attention.

His friends, including Matt, responded when he flicked his wrist to shoo them away, Matt would be pissed later, but it was a price worth paying for the chance to speak to Tyler.

"So, umm, Care, I was wondering if you'd like to get a drink sometime? Maybe at the grill?" Tyler was actually blushing. Did he actually want to ask her out, she hadn't been expecting that. This was supposed to be a bit to get him to get rid of his friends, allow him to chat to her about last night.

She smiled sweetly at him, "Actually Ty, I came to check you were ok." As his face dropped slightly, she quickly added "But I'd also love to go for a drink with you."

He grinned widely at her. "I've had worse. Plus, all I did was trip whilst training." Before she could protest, he held a finger to her lips. "Pick you up at 6." He lent in, placed a kiss on her check and walked away to join his teammates.

Her cheeks blushed pink and she almost squeezed with excitement.

Wait. Did she just get played, the way she was trying to play him?

Did she want a date?

Caroline figured she would find out at 6. For now, she needed something to wear. She text Bonnie and Elena, they'd need to help!

x-x-x-x

Elena had promised to go over to Caroline's after the clinic, but she winced as she reached for the car door.

Anna might be right; her hand was swelling, and she could already see a bruise forming.

"Do you want to get that looked at, or I could… you know…" Anna trailed off, alluding to the offer of blood without saying it. Elena was glad, the idea of drinking Anna's blood sickened her. She'd seen Bonnie drink Damon's and worried about her for days after, desperately hoping a calamity wouldn't happen and she wouldn't turn.

She couldn't remember Damon feeding her his blood, but he had before they'd gone to Georgia. He'd been so protective of her on that trip. If she was going to drink anybody's blood it was his, but where the hell was he?

She shook her head.

"I'll go to the hospital. I'll see if Ric is at the Grill and can give me a lift." She tried to smile at them, but inside she was panicking.

Where was Damon? The adrenaline was wearing off and her hand was starting to throb. She knew he hadn't meant to, but where was he?

Entering the grill, her heart sank to see his stool empty. She thought perhaps he'd realised he'd hurt her and gone to drown his sorrows- too ashamed to apologise. That sounded like a Damon move, but he wasn't here.

Luckily, Ric and Jenna were. Elena walked over to their table, Jeremy and Anna following.

"Hey, I tripped whilst checking out the basement at Dad's clinic." She said in greeting, before showing them her now obviously injured hand.

She hoped to hell neither Anna nor Jeremy corrected her story. Whatever the hell was going on with Damon, she knew he hadn't hurt her purposefully. She suspected neither Ric nor Jenna would see it that way.

Hell, she wouldn't have seen it that way a month ago.

Now she was more worried about what had happened to him, than she was about her hand. She was regretting not asking Anna to heal her, she could be halfway to the Boarding House by now.

Glancing at the bar, she clocked that Bree wasn't there. She might be in the back, but she hoped it meant she wasn't working tonight. That meant she might be with him already.

Jenna stood from behind the table, "I'll take you to the hospital. Hopefully Meredith is working." Elena nodded and smiled.

"Thanks Jenna, do you mind if I make a call first?"

"I'll be out in a few minutes." Jenna smiled, and Elena took herself out to the car, dialling Damon's number first.

As expected, it went to voicemail. "Damon, Jenna is taking me to hospital to fix my hand. Call me." She paused, about to hand up before adding, "It's not your fault."

Hanging up, she quickly dialled Bree.

"Hey Bree, are you at the boarding house?" She asked, quickly, unable to keep the worry from her voice.

"Yep, what's wrong?" Bree replied.

"Is Damon there?"

"No, I thought he was with you? There's just me and Bonnie here and she's about to leave to meet you." Elena was definitely not going to make this girl's night.

"Erm, yeah. Will you tell Bonnie to apologise to Caroline for me? I can't make it tonight. I.. I've hurt my hand." Bree uttered a 'uh-huh' in agreement, before Elena added, "And get Damon to call me the minute he gets in or call me yourself if he won't."

"Elena, what happened?" Bree questioned.

Elena wasn't sure how much Damon would be happy for her to share. "He just left early; he doesn't know I'm going to the hospital." That was factually correct.

Saying her goodbye, she took a breath. In the space of an hour, she'd discovered some weird secret treatment room in her Dad's clinic and broken her hand.

Couldn't her life ever just be boring?

x-x-x-x

Caroline was already in her fourth outfit by the time Bonnie rang the bell. Answering the door, she just grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into her room. No greeting was necessary for the old friends, but the wardrobe situation was dire.

"What do I wear?" She whined at Bonnie, her arms opening wide, gesturing to the multitude of discarded garments currently strewn across her bed.

Bonnie just smiled at her, then put a hand on each of her shoulders.

"Breathe, Caroline. Breathe." Caroline tried to follow her instruction, focusing on her friend's calm smile instead of the thoughts racing through her head.

If she wore something too racy, would she think she just wanted sex? Especially after her display earlier, would she get herself a reputation?

She was Miss Mystic Falls; she couldn't let that happen!

But if she wore something too casual, she'd look like she didn't care, and she did. Sure, she wasn't sure if she wanted a date-date, but she certainly wanted to spend some time with Tyler.

He'd been so much less of a douche since the drama with Vicki Donovan. She's left him for Jeremy and then just skipped town, leaving him in the dust. Tyler's behaviour had practically changed overnight around then, he'd stopped treating women like objects and actually started using his words.

Then last night, well last night he'd needed a friend.

That was it, she needed to dress like a friend. But a sexy friend, because it was a date, wasn't it? He hadn't explicitly said so, but that's what 'I'll pick you up at 6 implied, right?"

She's lost track of her breathing and had to focus back in on Bonnie.

"Jeans, Bon, I need jeans." Bonnie nodded, knowing exactly where to locate her jeans collection, picking out a dark pair that hugged her perfectly.

As Caroline pulled them on, Bonnie picked out a white top. It contrasted with the dark jeans and was cut to highlight her figure. It wasn't too slutty, but it wasn't too formal either- the last thing she wanted to do was dress overly formal and remind Tyler of his mother! She always looked like she was ready for some stately affair.

Careful to not disturb her make-up or hair as she lifted the top over herself, Caroline checked the effect in the mirror.

"Perfect, Bonnie. Good choice." She smiled, Bonnie knew how to calm her down and look after her. Elena would have just wanted to question her about Tyler.

She hadn't escaped that entirely though, as the girls tidied away the clothes that Caroline had so haphazardly discarded, Bonnie raised the topic.

"So, Tyler Lockwood?" She pursed her lips at Caroline, raising her eyebrows. Bonnie was clearly dissatisfied that Caroline hadn't given her all the details well in advance, but there really weren't many details to give. Not ones she could share, anyway.

"Mmmhmm," she casually replied, or at least she tried to make it sound casual, "We've talked more, recently, you know with all the founder's events and the work I've done with his mom and…" As she turned, she caught Bonnie's expression, which was clearly one of amusement. Reaching for a nearby teddy bear, she threw it gently at her friend.

"Stop laughing! He's much nicer when you get to know him."

Bonnie laughed at the flying teddy attack, easily avoiding it.

"If you say so, Care. But if he hurts you, I'm going to use my witchy ways to make him suffer." Caroline shuddered to think of what she meant by that. She still wasn't sure how much of this magic stuff she believed in, Bonnie kept mentioning it every so often and Elena was a firm believer. Other than a trick with feathers, which could have been an optical illusion or something, and that terrifying seance, Caroline hadn't seen much proof yet.

She'd learnt her lesson about disparaging her friend though, so instead she joined in with, "Obviously!"

x-x-x-x

Meredith Fell, a school friend of Jenna's and cousins to Logan Scum Fell, had been on duty in the accident and emergency room that night, so she was able to rush them through.

A quick x-ray later she was in a splint, sporting a boxer's fracture. Great, all she needed was people believing she'd injured herself hitting something.

Luckily, she hadn't needed a cast, and with some painkillers and the splint she was mostly able to resume normal activities. She had to rest it for a while, but as it wasn't her dominant hand, she wasn't too worried.

She'd asked Jenna to drop her off at the boarding house, explaining that Damon had left the clinic before she fell, and she wanted to update him before he worried. Jenna seemed suspicious, but dropped her there anyway, commenting only briefly on the lack of Damon's Camaro on the drive.

After promising to call her if she needed picking up, Elena waved goodbye to her aunt and walked in the front door.

"Damon?" She called to no response.

"Bree?" Stepping further into the house, she found Bree, headphones on, dancing around the kitchen whilst she appeared to be… what was she doing?

There was a large pot and ingredients, but that did not smell like food.

Bree must have spotted her at that moment, as she smiled in greeting. Switching the stove off, the witch ushered her out of the kitchen.

"Elena, what are you doing here? Damon isn't back yet." Elena had figured that out, but the words still made her heart drop into her stomach.

"I think something is wrong with him." She said, her bottom lip wobbling. She'd spent the entire evening at the hospital pondering it.

There was no way he would have left her injured; he must have not realised. Whatever he recognised in that room, whatever he saw, it had him in such a state that he hadn't noticed.

Then he had just disappeared?

Only one person knew Damon better than she did, so she had to tell Bree. Lifting her hand in the splint, she gave Bree the information she'd held from Jenna, "He was holding my hand when we found a room at the clinic, it was some medical room- with a cage or something- it gave me the creeps. He... he held on too hard, until he didn't. He was there one moment and then... gone."

Bree seemed to mull over what she had said, running her hands through her hair, she gave a subtle nod to her head as she came to a decision.

"Come on," she said, grabbing her keys off the side. "I hope that hand is strong enough to hold on tight."

Elena followed her out to the garage. Smoothly reaching into a cupboard, she pulled out a helmet and tossed it at Elena. Elena had to catch it between her body and her good hand, frowning at Bree as she did so to remind her that she wasn't the best at catching right now.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Bree said sheepishly, reaching for a jacket off the peg.

The leather jacket she handed over was much too big for Elena, and it smelt strongly of Damon's aftershave- and bourbon. Elena carefully pulled it on, before clipping the helmet strap.

"Where are we going?" She asked Bree, unsure if she'd get a response.

"College."

x-x-x-x

She wasn't sure if she'd expected to have such a great time.

It wasn't her first date at the grill, she'd lost count by now- there wasn't really any other place to go in Mystic Falls. Not as high schoolers anyway.

It was, however, her best. Caroline couldn't quite believe it was with Tyler Lockwood.

He had impeccable manners, he'd opened every door, pulled out her chair, picked up her napkin when she'd dropped it. He'd arrived to pick her up promptly, even bringing flowers and a bottle of wine to leave for her mom (though Caroline hoped she'd get home first and be able to hide it for later consumption).

Every move he had made her feel more special, he'd even laughed at her terrible dad jokes.

Now they were talking about the future, and it just seemed to fit. He wanted to travel too, but instead of cities he wanted to spend time in nature. He wanted to see the mountains, hiking in summer, and snowboarding in winter. He wanted to go down to Florida, live with his Uncle Mason, surfing. He wanted to see all the world had to offer.

But, importantly to her, he wanted to do it in his breaks from college. He wanted to study art or graphic design, and he wanted to do it in New York. This was finally a boy she could see a future with.

Meeting his eyes and smiling with him, she didn't flinch when he reached across for her hand and kissed it.

"Can we do this again, soon?" He asked, the hope clear in his eyes.

His manners were too much, the Tyler she'd known for years would have expected her to put out on a first date. He wouldn't be ending the night like this. Caroline was almost disappointed; did it mean he didn't find her as sexy as he found the other girls he'd taken out? Was she inferior to them, that he didn't want to take her home?

He must have seen the emotions in her expression because the hope in his eyes turned to panic.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to, erm, come on too strong. It's fine if you… if you, umm, aren't interested." He blushed. Tyler Lockwood was actually stuttering and blushing, over her.

"Of course, I want to, silly." She said, leaning forward to look up at him through her eyelashes.

Perhaps, she would have to be the brave one. As they both stood up, him reaching for her jacket to be the gentleman and hold it up for her, she stopped him. Laying one hand on his chest, she rose up on her toes and kissed him.

Softly at first, their lips barely grazed. Then, he parted his slightly for her and she deepened this kiss. His hands came around her as her free hand rose to his face.

Pulling away moments later their eyes met and his were sparkling. She knew he definitely wanted her, and that was enough to make her heart sing.

x-x-x-x

It was probably after midnight when they arrived, despite the fact Elena was sure Bree had been going at supersonic speeds. It felt that way, at least.

She's been on the back of a bike before- Tyler's uncle Mason had let them take turns on his, the summer before last. She had been terrified then but loved the exhilaration. She remembered throwing her head back and laughing, daring to let go with one hand and feel the wind rushing past her fingers.

Tonight's ride hadn't had the same impact, she'd just been picturing what she was going to find. She's heard how Bree had dragged Damon back from a sorority party after he discovered Katherine wasn't in the tomb. It had given her a twinge of jealousy at the time, never daring to ask whether he was involved with the college girls just for the blood or if there was more to it. Was he fucking them too?

That twinge of jealousy was nothing compared to the green monster that had been consuming her on the journey over. She knew she had no right, they weren't together, and Damon could do what he wanted. All she could think about was him kissing and dancing with some pretty blonde, older and cooler than her. Or worse, a brunette with her complexion.

What if he wasn't even there? That thought made her want to retch.

She needed him, he'd been this stabilising force in her life. Protecting her, letting her open up to her family, keeping her occupied and making her dream of the future. She hadn't done that for months, she realised, until he'd given her the desire to.

Looking around into the darkness of the campus, the occasional streetlight illuminating the paths, Elena asked Bree, "Where now?"

Bree sighed, "Usually, he's at some party or another. Tonight though, you get it easy." She pointed over to a bench, the other side of a large patch of grass- dotted with little signs that Elena presumed told her to keep off the grass.

She didn't give a flying fuck about the lawn as she took the direct route to him.

She ran, straight across the pristine lawn, to the silhouette she recognised so well. The stillness of him, even as he must have heard her approach was unnerving. At the last minute she decided not to play guess who from behind, and slowed her run to a walk as she moved around to the front of the bench.

He didn't look at her, he didn't respond to her movement in any way. He was just staring at the building in front of him.

She took a seat on his left and took his hand in her good hand. She didn't think he knew he'd hurt her, but if he did, if he had run because of that, she hoped this sign of trust would bring him back to her.

Not knowing what to do when he didn't respond, she just sat there next to him, silently. What could have caused him to run away, drive this distance just to sit silently on a bench? He wasn't feeding, wasn't killing. He could have sat anywhere.

"Why here, Damon?" She asked, reminding herself of the trip to the quarry. That had ended so terribly but began so sweetly. She hoped this situation would be reversed.

Finally, he acknowledged her. "You shouldn't be here. It's not safe."

He had known then; he'd hurt her and fled rather than help. That made her stomach flip, she was so sure he couldn't have known. Still, she needed him, and they could discuss it, or argue about it, later. For now, she needed to say what he needed to hear.

This wasn't the quarry; she wasn't going to push him away. Not when he looked so utterly broken.

"I'm safe with you, Damon. I know you never meant to hurt me." She gave his hand a squeeze, emphasising her point. He still wasn't looking at her, staring into the building.

"You don't understand, it isn't…" His voice cracked and he swallowed at that moment, as if a piece of information clicked in his brain.

Quicker than her eyes could process it, he was down on his knees in front of her. His eyes inspected her head, her chest, her hands. As his eyes caught sight of the brace on her hand, the hand he had been holding hours ago, his body shook.

He gently took the hand in both of his, staring down at it. "No, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He began to lay the softest of kisses on the ends of her fingers, his actions almost worshipping her injured hands, pausing only to apologise frequently.

He continued the apologies for dozens of minutes, dousing her arm in gentle kisses, shifting positions as he went but never meeting her eyes.

Eventually, they sat in silence again, more comfortably silent than before but still one of the strangest moments of Elena's life. Instead of kneeling in front of her, he sat on the floor, His back to her, sat at her feet. She leaned forward, one arm resting over each of his shoulders, her chin on his head.

He was staring at the building again.

"Are you going to tell me what's inside?" She asked, growing sick of the silence and hoping he would acknowledge her this time.

He shook his head slightly. "I don't know. Not for sure."

"What do you think is in there?" She probed deeper. She didn't like it when he avoided the question. He rarely did now, not with her- though she watched him do it regularly with everyone else.

"Something more terrifying than you can imagine." She gulped. That was ominous, she couldn't imagine Damon being truly scared of anything.

Her instincts were telling her to pull him away from the building, to just take him home and forget. But something had caused him to come here, something that scared him. He was still focused on it, acknowledging her but barely.

"Damon, why did you come here today?"

He shook his head, and this time remained silent. She tried prompting him again, using his name and tapping him on the shoulder with her good hand, but he remained catatonically staring at the building.

"Goddammit Damon!" She raised her voice, which startled him and he stood, spinning round to face her.

Not one to enjoy being towered over, she stood to meet him. She was still shorter, but she felt more even on her feet, standing glaring at him.

"Damon, you broke my hand and then sodding disappeared. I get here and you don't even acknowledge me. Then there's a thousand apologies and no explanation." She paused for breath; her shouting had become louder.

His eyes just blazed at her, the blue flames burning hotter than anything she could imagine.

He was angry?

"You shouldn't be here." He spat at her, his eyes widening as he stared her down, menacingly. She flinched; she couldn't help it.

"I'm a vampire, Elena. I hurt you because that's what vampires do. We hurt people. We kill people." He emphasised the word kill, moving infinitesimally closer to her neck as he said it. "I hurt you, yet you chased after me. You chased after a monster. Why?"

He turned away from her, running his fingers through his hair before swinging back around, his face contorted with pain and anger, "You come and what, offer forgiveness? Do you have a fucking death wish Elena? I hurt you, by the looks of it I sent you to the fucking hospital, and you come after me and cuddle?"

She just stood there, letting his anger wash over her. She could feel the acute awareness that she was alone in a very dark place with a vampire. Sure, Bree was probably around, watching, and could take Damon out if needed, but Elena knew it wouldn't be needed.

Thinking of their dance only a few days ago, she let his anger wash over her as he continued.

"I'm a killer Elena. Do you know how many I've killed? No?" She shook her head, not at the question but because it didn't matter. She didn't know why, it should, but in this moment, he could have torn a stranger's throat out and she wouldn't have given a crap.

All she cared about was the fact she could tell he was breaking. Every angry sentence was ever so slightly closer to his voice cracking. Every spat word so viciously pronounced was one closer to his lip wobbling just too much to keep up the vitriol.

She let his anger fly, soaring out, knowing it didn't matter. She knew who it was underneath it.

"If I told you what I'd done to the family that owns this building, Elena, you would start running and never look back." She didn't flinch, she stood perfectly still, watching him, as he began to pace up and down.

"It turns out, it was all for nothing. Elena, I…" the voice crack she had been anticipating came, and his lip wobbled as he began to break down.

That was when he sank to his knees, and she rushed forward. Kneeling too, she caught him in an embrace, stroking his hair.

"I don't care." She muttered, again and again as she stroked his hair, letting him sob.

Honestly, at that moment she didn't. She couldn't care who he killed, and it was petrifying. At one point she'd hated him, vilified him for what he had done to Vicki.

Now?

Now the only thought in her head was that she never wanted to leave his side again.

What kind of person did that make her?

x-x-x-x