Greeting fellow readers. This is my first attempt at writing, so I hope you're enjoying. Hopefully the fact that you got this far is a good sign. I've got a general plan for this story up to the end of S2, but it is evolving as the characters evolve.

Thank you for the reviews, follows and favourites.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

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Elena tried to keep her breathing calm and balanced. Caroline didn't know when she suggested a séance that magic was real, Bonnie and Elena had gone along with it to end the drama, but something had happened. The necklace had disappeared and then Bonnie had been locked in the bathroom and now, now she was walking down the stairs. Or was she?

Caroline was freaking out, but Bonnie was acting weirder. She thanked Elene for having her- that hadn't happened since they were 5! Elena clicked.

"Emily."

"I won't let him have it, it must be destroyed."

Elena tried to follow her friend, or Emily, whoever it was, through the door but it wouldn't open. She must have only been struggling for moments but it felt like hours had passed when Jeremy burst through the door. Caroline dashed off, confused, but Elena knew she must do something. She called Stefan.

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Damon was walking away from Stefan. He had just dropped a bombshell he hadn't meant to drop. Stefan was acting all brotherly, probably to get information out of him, and Damon had enjoyed it so much he had actually let him. Bugger. This might be a problem.

To hell with it.

Damon slowed to a human pace, letting Stefan catch up as they walked across the school parking lot.

"How can you bring Katherine back?" His brother queried.

A part of Damon wanted to turn around and just tell him. To tell him that he needed the crystal, and a witch, to lift the spell on the tomb. That the spell book was still hidden somewhere. A large part of him wanted to tell Stefan every detail so they could rescue Katherine together, even if it meant having to share. A larger part of him didn't care, he just wanted to be loved. He didn't like admitting it, but he knew that is what it really was. He just wanted Katherine back to love him, or his brother- not that Stefan would ever think he was worthy of love. At least Katherine wouldn't judge him.

"When the townspeople came for Katherine I went straight to Emily. Said I'll do anything, name your price, just protect her. She did."

Emily had created the tomb to keep the vampires safe whilst the church burnt. He told Stefan how they were all still inside, desiccating. The thought of Katherine enduring that pain made him sick, surely Stefan would feel the same.

Damon told Stefan everything. He laced the story with sarcasm, sure, but he hoped Stefan saw past it. He hoped Stefan would agree to help. He needed this, and for the first time in along time he felt like he needed his brother. Only two hours of Stefan pretending to like him and he was putting in his hands, dammit.

Before he could respond, whilst Damon was waiting- hoping- his brother would support him, Stefan's phone rang. It was Elena. Damon listened in carefully, and when he heard 'Fell's Church' he knew where he had to go.

"Hello, Emily" he said as he slowed down to a human pace in the woods next to the old Fell's church. Bonnie was walking there, clearly with a different stature than the hunched teenage normally held.

Emily was going to break the deal. She said sorry, but did sorry really matter when Katherine was down there in constant pain? Of course, it didn't. If she wasn't going to keep her end of the deal, Damon wasn't either. He rushed at her, just to feel himself flying until he was impaled on a tree. Great. That stung. At least it wasn't his heart.

Finally, Stefan appeared and pulled him down. Perhaps his brother had chosen to support him after all. Damon was just getting himself back up to standing when he heard Emily announce, "I won't let you unleash them into this world."

He could almost feel the shift in Stefan's demeanour. What had been calm and supportive shifted to defensive- his shoulders rose and his knees bent.

"What part of the story did you leave out?"

Damon felt defeated. He almost had Stefan on his side- he almost had what he wanted. He should never be so stupid to think he would get to work as a team, Stefan wouldn't willingly expose his daring Elena to a swarm of hungry vampires. Even if it was for Katherine.

"What does it matter?"

Emily was happy to explain she had saved everyone in the church. All the vampires. Damon was still healing from the branch that had impaled him, but it wasn't that that hurt the most. It was the disgust Stefan looked at him with.

"I don't care about them. I just want Katherine."

"I can't believe a word that comes out of your mouth. This isn't about love is it? This is about revenge." Damon wouldn't deny he had thought of it. He hated what the people of Mystic Falls did back then. The town deserved revenge, and he told his brother so. But no, this was about love. Damon knew how to do revenge- he had shown that with the Augustines. If he wanted to, he could do the same with the founding families. This was only about Katherine, but he wasn't going to let the little brother whose face was only showing shame and hatred know that. He could pretend it was about revenge, he could pretend it was due to his fear of the town council, he could claim it was due to their bigoted ways- he just wouldn't admit to Stefan it was for love.

He couldn't admit his weakness to a brother who was so clearly disgusted by him.

As Emily began to burn the crystal, Damon could just feel fear. Fear he would never see her, never see his Katherine again. Stefan was wrong, he hadn't been compelled. He knew what she was and he loved her for it. As the fire disappeared, all Damon felt was rage.

He tore at Emily's throat, faster than anyone could react, but then he heard Katherine's scream and dropped her. He saw Katherine's face, distraught at the loss of Emily and he bit his own wrist, healing her before she could protest. It was only when she opened her eyes again that he realised it was not Katherine but Elena he had heard.

All he could do was apologise, leaning over the witch and whispering in her ear, 'I am sorry, but I will do anything, anything, for love.'

x-x-x-x

Elena gasped as she watched Bonnie's neck heal in front of her. Stefan stumbled over his words as he said 'Damon fed her his blood, he healed her.'

Elena helped Bonnie up and escorted her to the car, noticing Bonnie looking over her shoulder at the Vampire brothers. Reassuring her she would be ok, Elena helped her in the passenger seat and then turned around to address Stefan.

"I'm going to tell her the truth. She's part of this now." Stefan nodded. He clearly didn't disagree, but Elena felt she needed to explain. She needed Stefan to know it was okay.

"I needed someone to tell. I couldn't keep this a secret, but now Bonnie knows. I can speak to Bonnie, and she's part of this- her Grams know what you are anyway and would tell her soon enough. If I can speak to Bonnie, then I don't have to keep secrets. I can be with you Stefan! I can do this.'

Elena's face lit up, she had overcome the reason she had asked him to stay away- surely the rest wouldn't matter. She knew they had obstacles- hell he had tried to show her that just today, and she was still making sense of what he had said. They'd need to work through a lot of things, but they could do. She wanted to do it. She could be happy with him.

Stefan's face stayed set in stone. Elena's joy was short-lived when Stefan's head started to shake.

'I can't.'

Elena wanted to beg, she wanted to cry out and cling to him like she had after school.

Stefan just turned and walked away.

x-x-x-x

Damon drank. He drank and he drank and he drank. He planned to leave, now that he couldn't get Katherine back, but he wouldn't leave until he was done drinking his rather extensive collection. He had no reason to return to Mystic Falls again, and it seemed silly leaving it to go to waste. Or worse, leaving it to Stefan.

Speaking of the devil, Stefan's bedroom door opened. Stefan had had his own moment last night, by the sounds of it. There had been banging and smashing and a few shouts of anger. Damon was surprised, the fight he heard between Stefan and Elena last night had seemed pretty one-sided, his brother seemed surprisingly unfussed about the crying teenage girl in front of him. Yet, he had trashed his room in response.

Drinking was way more fun and didn't involve him tidying up.

Damon's mind had wandered all night. He wondered where Stefan had gone with Lexi, and why the hell he bothered to come back. He'd assumed he had come back for Elena, but that didn't make sense now. Unless he was just being the big bad bodyguard, that didn't sound unlike his kid brother. Trying to be the hero instead of the monster. Damon rolled his eyes, just as Stefan started to descend the stairs.

"Morning Hero-hair."

Stefan grinned, which blind sided Damon slightly. In the past weeks Stefan had only grimaced at his attempts at humour or responded with sarcasm. Only last night did he let his guard down slightly, but surely that was all an act to learn Damon's dastardly plan? Damon winced to himself and poured another drink- he didn't want the memory of failure today.

"So, where are you headed?" Stefan questioned. Damon just shrugged. He knew that once the liquor supply was up he wanted to get as far away from Mystic Falls as he could. Katherine was trapped, and until he had a new plan to rescue her, there was no point in him being here. Especially with a murderous town council and a Bennett witch after him. Where, though, he wasn't sure.

Even Damon had to admit he's been feeling different, mostly just he'd been feeling. New York and New Orleans were both out of the question, but he should probably check in with Bree on his way out if he was going to leave the country. Besides, she might have another way to free Katherine. Especially if he could get his hands on the Bennett grimoire he'd mentioned.

Stefan continued, "You are leaving, though? Your diabolical plan failed, there's no point in being here- and they're after us Damon."

Damon finished his drink and nodded at Stefan. "Yeah baby bro, I failed the love of my life and now I'm running from a bunch of humans with my tail between my legs. Don't remind me." He reached for the bottle, about to pour another glass before deciding against it and just taking a swig from the bottle itself.

Stefan began to pace. Great, just what Damon needed.

"Damon. Damon, there was nothing you could have done for Katherine. She chose her fate- you saw what she did to this town. She chose it. For now, we need to leave. Give them a chance to forget, we can come back in 50 years and… Stefan paused, I'll help you free her."

Damon finally looked him in the eye. His brother was being genuine, genuinely offering to help. Maybe he could wait to have his brother on his team.

"Okay. See you then." Damon smirked and sped to his car.

He wasn't leaving just yet, but he would. Right now, he needed to see a witch or two.

x-x-x-x

Bonnie was trying to pretend today was just like any other school day as she walked the corridor with Elena. As they turned the corner, she saw Caroline ahead of them. Their other best friend, the blond cheerleading force of nature, had her hand on Matt's chest. Bonnie glanced at Elena, she wasn't sure how Elena would react to one of her best friends flirting so much with her ex-boyfriend, but Elena just smiled at them.

"When did that happen? Did I miss something?" Elena questioned Bonnie.

"I think they've been hanging out." Bonnie shrugged. "Caroline said he took her home after the party at the grill. She needs someone like Matt, not vampire douchebag Damon Salvatore."

"I agree." Elena said resolutely. Bonnie had the feeling Elena was trying to convince herself more than anything. "Speaking of, how are you doing Bonnie?"

Bonnie paused, choosing her words carefully. "I'm freaked out. Damon attacked me, I could be dead right now. But, I'm also sort of grateful. Damon attacked Emily because she broke his trust, but he healed me. He didn't want to hurt anyone, he was angry. I get that. I don't like it, but I understand."

Elena raised her eyebrows. "Wow. I expected you to be sworn off vampires forever."

Bonnie shrugged, "I spoke to Grams. She said my family owe Damon Salvatore, that he's one of the good ones."

Elena laughed. "Really? I never thought I'd hear that. He killed Vicki."

Bonnie waved her hands in surrender. "I don't know, that's just what Grams said. She did make me promise to stay out of vampire politics from now on though. So, please, don't get me involved in your boy drama."

Elena's face cracked, and Bonnie realised what she had said. Stefan and Elena were definitely over, and whilst Elena seemed ok now Bonnie had heard her cry herself to sleep that night. Elena was strong though, and her response proved that to Bonnie.

"Nope." She nodded. "No vampire boy drama for me either."

She took Bonnie's arm and they entered Mr Saltzman's class together.

x-x-x-x

The career fair was the last place Elena wanted to be. She wanted to head over to the boarding house, see if Stefan had actually left. Hell, she even wanted to see Damon and check he was okay. She felt like she was losing her mind but she missed the Vampire drama- and it had only been a few days.

Perusing the stalls she spotted Matt leafing through a booklet. She should check he was ok, plus she needed to let him know she was fine with the Caroline thing- whatever that was.

"Still wanna be an astronaut?" Elena asked Matt, reminding him of the time when they were 8 or 9 that he made a tin-foil costume and cardboard box rocket. They had been friends far longer than they had dated, and she missed him. "How are you doing?"

Matt sighed and shrugged, "I've had it easier. You? I mean, I heard some things."

Elena winced. Gossip travelled fast at Mystic Falls.

"So it's true then you and Stefan?" Matt looked concerned, worried for her. That was the last thing Elena wanted. She changed the topic swiftly.

"Yeah it is. But what about you? I heard about you and Caroline."

Matt tried to protest they were friends, but Elena could see the spark in his eyes. She wasn't buying that line for a second. She raised her eyebrows at him, and Matt tried to backtrack.

"It's not a big deal?" His eyes softened as he made eye contact. Elena knew that look she knew if she wanted he would take her back in an instant. Did she want that? No. No, she didn't want that. She didn't want that even before she met Stefan.

"I think it's great Matt, Caroline deserves someone like you, and you deserve to be happy. Hell, you deserve to be an astronaut." She flashed him her best smile, before pretending to lose interest and dive into a very interesting booklet on an adjacent stall. Luckily, it was a stall about medicine. He might actually believe she wanted to read it.

"You know, Steffie always wanted to be a doctor." The voice right behind her ear made her jump. She turned to see the dazzling blue eyes and the leather jacket that never left him.

"Damon! What are you doing here? I'm guessing it isn't planning out your career?"

Damon grinned. "I could be. Soon I'll be leaving here, and occasionally it is fun to get a job, live a life. I've done a few things her and there. I was a fantastic car salesman, every single customer bought a car from me." His eyes expressed his amusement as he made them go wide, letting Elena infer that compulsion was a part of his winning sales technique. She rolled her eyes.

"Why are you here Damon, if you're supposed to be leaving?"

"I need to see your witchy pal on my way out, any idea where she might be?"

Elena shrugged. She hadn't seen Bonnie since History class ended and they'd gone their separate ways- Elena heading for English Literature.

"Well, whilst we wait. Why don't we plan your future, Miss Gilbert? An interest in medicine?"

Elena shrugged again. Then she sighed and decided to answer- it wasn't like she could get rid of Damon. "My Dad was a doctor- he had a practice right here in town. It's empty now. Sometimes I think I could stay here in Mystic Falls, start that up again… but then.." She didn't know the words to express how she felt about that, the dream she'd had on and off since she was little.

"You're worried you'd be bored out of your mind stuck in a small town. Been there."

Damon had read her perfectly. "What about your mum, what did she do?"

Elena paused. "She stayed at home, helped Dad. She was a big part of the town council." Damon raised his eyes at that. "She encouraged me to write, she bought me journals and books, we would sit and read together, or write stories together." Elena smiled at the memory, finally able to think of those times without breaking into a thousand pieces.

"Sounds like that could be a plan. Writers need to travel, see the world, be inspired." Damon crooked a finger and used it to lift her chin to look at him. Elena felt it was strangely intimate but didn't want to step away. She wouldn't show fear in front of Damon.

"You can be whatever you want to be Elena. Don't let anyone, not a high school football player or my kid brother stop you."

Just as Elena was about to ask him what he would be, Jenna entered.

"Hide me!" She begged, before announcing Logan Scum Fell had landed. Elena rolled her eyes. Logan was Jenna's ex-boyfriend and he was the definition of an asshole- from cheating on her years ago to ghosting her just this week. The guy was a douche.

Damon seemed to recognize the name though.

"Logan Fell? He's here."

Jenna sighed. "Unfortunately. Please, please, can we go now?"

Elena nodded, and turned to Damon to say goodbye- but he was gone.

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