Thank you for the lovely reviews, and for Scarlet2112 and CosmicAdventurer for their beautifully detailed feedback. I've really enjoyed discussing my versions of our favourite characters and the challenges they've faced and continue to face.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, there's a special surprise in it!

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Tyler's hand's ran down her back, trailing sparks down her spine as his fingers explored. Her breath hitched as her hand reached under her top. It was like he was trying to explore her as he captured her in this kiss. There was a heat emanating from him, waves of desire that crashed over her like nothing she'd experienced before.

The need was overwhelming her, pulling from the kiss she yanked her top off and was rewarded by his gaze burning into her, examining every detail. He let his breath out as he appreciated her.

"You're so fucking hot, Care.' He breathed; his eyes unable to fix on any spot.

In the next moment his lips were on her collarbone, nipping at it her skin; the kiss eliciting a moan from her. His kisses felt just right; warm but cool, he was teasing sounds out of her as he let his kisses explore her exposed chest. His thumb pulling her bra down, he swirled his tongue around her nipple causing her to practically purr in response.

What was he doing to her? They were in school, and she was exposed and practically begging him to continue. She tried to formulate words, to tell him to stop, that she wanted to get dressed but when she tried to speak only gasps of pleasure came out.

Laying a finger under his chin, she pulled his lips up to meet hers; sharing the need and desire she felt with him. The reduction in sensation allowed her a reprieve, a pause in the longing she felt between her legs.

A second to decide.

Pulling back from the kiss she smiled at him, "Not here." She whispered, "But soon."

Reaching for her top and deftly putting it on, she walked out of the room before she could change her mind. She arrived in the toilets breathless and in desperate need of a cold shower. Unfortunately, all she could do was splash her face.

Looking in the mirror, she looked like she'd been ravaged. God, she wished she had.

x-x-x-x

He was actually humming to himself as he cleaned the kitchen, what had he become? Bree had left the room in a complete and utter state of disarray, and he was enjoying organising it. Humming though? That wasn't a typical quirk of his, and if he had to pick something Damon would probably blame it on Elena Gilbert.

The realisation that he was actually, genuinely happy made him pause his scrubbing of the stove to look down at his own hands, to check he was in his own body.

No, this was definitely his life.

Something was bound to go wrong soon.

A sleepy Bree entered the kitchen shortly after he resumed his task, wearing a strappy vest and some velvety sleeping shorts. He whistled in appreciation, but they could both tell is was half-hearted.

"You're smiling." She stated, reaching to pour some coffee, and raising an eyebrow in question.

What would be an appropriate amount of information to share? He trusted Bree, yes, but there were some things he hadn't shared with her in significant detail and didn't want to start now.

"Elena let me heal her hand." That caused the witch to splutter on her coffee, spraying some onto his freshly cleaned worktop. Damn, he could have timed that better.

Reaching for a cloth to clean up Bree's mess, Damon smirked at Bree.

"So, what have you been up to, other than trashing my kitchen?" He queried, despite already being pretty sure of the answer- the smells in the room were definitely not food-related, and he was concerned he might actually be one of the victims ingesting the unusual liquid currently in a Tupperware box in his fridge.

She pursed her lips at him and raised an eyebrow, dipping her head to the fridge. "I'm pretty sure, Damon, that you know full well what I've been doing, given that I can smell it from here and I'm not a vampire."

"It could be soup."

That caused her to grab the cloth he had left by the sink and throw it at him. He let it hit him in the face, twisting his features into a look of shock and offence. She hated it when he claimed she couldn't cook.

"You're dead now, witch!" Speeding forward, he began to tickle her on the sides, lifting her and taking her through to the sofa. They'd done this hundreds of times before.

Unlike every other time, he felt splitting pain in his head before he could continue tickling her, dropping to his knees. The minute he abated; the pain stopped.

"What was that for?" He asked, standing again shakily.

"Only people who give me orgasms get to tickle me, and you've been lacking in that department recently." Bree folded her arms, giving him a hard stare. She wasn't mad at him, he knew that; she was trying to get him to spill more details about Elena.

He walked over to the drinks cabinet and poured himself a tumbler. Who cared that it wasn't 11am yet?

Turning back to his friend, "I'm truly, deeply, sorry. I know you must miss me." He winked at her, and she tossed the nearest cushion in his direction. He caught it easily, and gently replaced it next to her as he sat down.

"So, what will this potion do, exactly?" He asked.

"It will protect the drinker from Bennett magic whilst it's in their system. I think it will last a week or so for humans, but we'll need to test it out on vampires. I've made enough for you and Anna and…" she trailed off and Damon raised a questioning brow, tilting his head to the left. He tried to run through the list of vampires in Mystic Falls. Was she making a dose for Isobel? Stefan had left, Katherine was hopefully in India, Russia or somewhere equally distant. Iraq might be a good place for her, he thought to himself smirking.

"Anyone else who might need it." She added, not particularly clarifying the situation.

"Will protecting us from Bennett magic prevent the device harming us?" He asked, giving her the option to avoid the topic as she so clearly wanted. He'd find out before he needed to know, Bree wasn't stupid.

She nodded in response, "Bonnie and I are certain of it, we tried using an alternate version of the spell from Emily's grimoire on me and the potion protected me."

He nodded, taking a sip of his drink and looking at her over the glass.

"You should call Stefan." Now it was his time to choke on his drink.

"No." He wasn't about to do that. As far as Stefan was aware, he had left Mystic Falls. He wasn't about to let his brother come in and swoop Elena back. Besides, that opened him up to the threat.

"Damon, Isobel is here. She's in touch with Katherine, and they want to hurt you. What's the chances they can get to Stefan wherever he is?" Damon gulped; she had a point. Bringing Stefan to Mystic Falls though would cause more of an issue, he'd be at risk from the Gilbert Invention, as well as from Isobel, John Gilbert and potentially Elena.

Elena would either be mad enough with Stefan to cause him serious harm, or she'd be so glad to see him they'd pick up where he left off. It wasn't hard for him to conjure that mental image; he'd seen enough of Stefan with Katherine to be able to instantly visualise Stefan with Elena in her bed. If vampires could vomit, he would be.

"No." he said again, before downing his drink.

As his phone rang, he felt like he'd been saved by the bell.

x-x-x-x

Elena dialled his number as she sat on a bench outside of the school. She'd been pulled in to help with the float design but having arrived late she had managed to escape most of the jobs. She'd been unable to locate Caroline, who would inevitably have found something for her to do and was delegated tasks by Ric. Knowing about her lack of artistic ability, she'd been relegated to sticking flowers onto the float. It was an easy task to sneak away from.

"You've reached the Hero Hotline; how may I be of assistance?" She smiled at his ridiculous greeting. She knew he didn't think himself a hero; his ego was large enough without adding that into the mix. If anything, he probably thought he was the villain.

"I'm fine, Damon. I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a trip tonight?" She felt her cheeks blushing as she asked. It was ridiculous, she spent plenty of time with Damon. They'd slept in the same bed; they'd gone to Georgia. Asking him to accompany her to the lake house wasn't anything major. It wasn't a date.

So why were her cheeks burning red? Why were the butterflies in her stomach flying in so many circles she felt queasy?

"Sure. Venice?" He asked, and she couldn't tell if he was trying to joke or was seriously offering to take her to Venice.

"My dad's lake house," She clarified. "It's not far away, the Gilbert journals are there." She tried to emphasise the reason for the trip, but she was biting her lip and smiling at the idea of Venice. Maybe one day?

"Are you sure about that? I didn't exactly enjoy our trip to the clinic." She rolled her eyes at him; the lake house was a house not an abandoned building with a creepy basement. She was pretty sure there was no vampire torture room there, wasn't she?

"John told me."

"When? Are you ok? If that bastard did anything to hurt you he is a dead man. Are you sure that you're ok?" His questions came rapidly, she could feel the anger in his voice over the phone.

She took a deep breath, ensuring her voice was calm. She'd need to try to keep speaking without him interrupting.

"This morning, he was there when I got my coffee. He thinks the journals will convince me to stop spending time with vampires. He didn't hurt me, Damon, but he did upset me. John threatened to stake you if you didn't hand the device to him and Isobel." She could hear him muttering, swearing, as she spoke but he didn't interrupt her fully.

"He won't get to me, 'Lena." He said calmly, before hanging up.

Did that mean he was coming or not?

Heading inside to update Jeremy and Anna of the plan, she wondered if he'd remember at some point that he hadn't answered the question.

x-x-x-x

Stefan was sitting on the balcony, overlooking Elliott Bay, tucking into his omelette. He loved this apartment; it had amazing views and was spacious and modern. He felt like a new man in it.

Reinventing himself, he had begun working at a marketing firm. He could pass for early twenties with the right clothes, and he had worked in the field before so had the experience. Lexi had helped and stayed a while before heading back to Lee. He missed them, and hoped they would move this way soon; she had promised they would discuss it.

Today was his day off, and he was planning on attending a spoken word gig that evening. Until then, he had time to kill and was probably going to continue acting like a tourist.

Unexpectedly, his phone rang. He was even more surprised that it was Damon calling.

"Hello, brother." Damon greeted as Stefan flipped the phone open to accept the call.

"Damon." He responded. Before they'd spent time in Mystic Falls this year, he hadn't heard from his brother in around 15 years. He'd expected a similar gap this time. Whilst he was shocked, he was glad Damon was choosing to keep in touch. Maybe they could have a friendship in the future?

"Are you enjoying Seattle?" Damon asked, mischievousness in his voice. How the hell did Damon know where he was? He was starting to think this wasn't a casual check-in call.

"The views are fantastic." Stefan responded snappily. He wasn't rising to the bait Damon was throwing, "Why are you calling, Damon?"

"You're needed in Mystic Falls."

Stefan stood, looking out over the bay. Did he just say Mystic Falls? Was Damon still in Mystic Falls? Was she safe? His blood ran cold at the thought he had left Elena unprotected for weeks, months, with Damon. He should have known he couldn't trust his brother, Damon never followed through.

"You lied, again." He noticed there was more anger in his voice that he intended for there to be, but he could feel his control slipping. The black veins around his eyes were creeping out, he could sense the heat. Damon elicited this kind of response in him.

"Technically, no." Stefan could picture the smirk that would be plastered on his brother's face if he was getting away with something on a technicality. He used to smirk at their father the same way, never learning that it came with consequences.

"I intended to leave, but I encountered another vampire or three on the way. Somebody had to stay and look after poor Elena." Stefan could do nothing but growl down the phone. He had left Elena for her own good, but in this moment, it sounded like it had been the most stupid decision he'd ever made.

"Luckily, I was there. She's fine by the way, your girlfriend." Stefan felt some of the tension he'd been holding since the phone rang dissipate immediately. He'd thought of Elena every day, scrolling through photos. He'd written countless letters, but not sent any. He was resigned to the fate of watching her grow old from afar, for any other way to spend the next fifty years would almost guarantee her premature death.

"Except, she isn't your girlfriend anymore." Damon teased down the phone line, the way he emphasised the word ''your' was enough to make Stefan snap. Damon was fucking Elena. He'd left for no reason, and now his brother had his girl.

The phone went flying off the balcony and into the bay.

x-x-x-x

As Damon heard the dial tone signalling the end of his brotherly chat, he sighed at himself. He shouldn't have wound Stefan up- now he'd probably come running to Mystic Falls with absolutely none of the information he needed. Damon very much doubted a text would help; knowing Stefan the phone hadn't survived the end of that conversation.

He'd basically implied he was dating Elena, which wasn't true. Not technically, anyway. They'd kissed, and he would die for her, but they weren't a couple. God, trying to explain his relationship with Elena in his head made him feel like a teenage girl.

Well, Stefan was coming here. It was probably a good thing he wouldn't be in town tonight. He needed to warn everyone else though.

He called Ric with a quick update, threatening some heavy-duty torture if he told Elena that she'd be seeing Stefan around sometime soon. He'd break that news himself.

Then, he shouted for Bree to come down; she'd retreated to her room to get dressed after their earlier conversation. She promptly appeared, a big smile on her face.

"My brother is coming to town." He said, a sombre look on his face. She only smiled more.

"I heard." Dammit, living with a capable witch could be a chore sometimes. Of course, she had a spell to amplify her hearing. "I'm glad you realised I'm right, he needs to have the potion too just in case."

"I may have antagonised the situation a little bit," He winced, he'd antagonised it a lot and he knew it, "So he'll show up here with no information and mad as hell."

Bree folded her arms and looked at him, the way his governess used to when he was small. She was getting too good at that look.

"He hung up on me! It's not like I had time to tell him all the details." He shrugged.

"You implied Elena was your girlfriend." So, she'd heard that bit too. He really needed to get her to stop that. He just looked down at his fresh tumbler of Bourbon.

"Is she?" He shook his head,

"We're going out of town tonight, to find the Gilbert journals. You and Alaric are going to have to keep an eye on John and Anna. I'll take the device with me."

"Uh-huh" He couldn't help but wince as she put two and two together and set him with a judgemental stare, "So you're conveniently not going to be here when Stefan rides into town feeling particularly murderous?"

"That depends." He shrugged.

Bree opened her palms out in question, urging him to explain. "On what?"

"On if he hates me enough to compel himself a decent flight. Poor guy is still in Seattle."

x-x-x-x

Elena managed another row of flowers, making idle chit-chat with Anna about modern fashion and how it was so much less restrictive than anything that came before. Her and Jeremy had decided not to come to the lake house, Anna wanted to keep doing human things- to distract herself from her grief. It was clear she wasn't doing well, but she had a good mask and if she thought it helped, Elena wasn't going to preach that she should improve.

Bonnie had also arrived late, but she was handier with a paintbrush than Elena, so she had been assigned to help Tyler and Jeremy with decorations on the other floor. Elena had been able to catch up with her briefly before sneaking out; she was glad that Bree and Bonnie had found a way to protect Damon; and Anna. Anna was going to test it out that evening; she was still going to stay at the boarding house, anyway, as was Jeremy.

Neither wanted to see John.

Jenna wasn't too happy with the setup, but she hadn't had the chance to fully discuss it yet. That's where Elena would have to head. Hopefully she was studying at home today and not on campus. Alaric had stayed over last night, so it was likely.

Unlocking the door and stepping inside, she was hit with a smell of burning. Instantly concerned, she followed her nose to find Jenna pulling what may have been food at one point out of the oven.

"What on earth are you doing?" She asked.

Jenna sighed, placing the burnt tray into the sink. "I was attempting to make a muffin basket for Anna. She's lost her mother, after all."

"I'd order one, Jenna. Otherwise, we might end up homeless."

Jenna smirked at her, "Less of the sass please, young lady."

The two giggled. Elena had missed this; everything had been so serious for a few days and Elena needed the girl time.

"What are you doing home so soon, anyway?" Jenna asked. Elena knew she didn't really care; she knew it wasn't a day of lessons Elena had escaped from. Plus, Jenna hadn't been the best student in her time.

"I was sick of manning the glue gun." Elena said, "Plus, I need to ask you a favour. I'd like to go to the lake house for the night."

Jenna turned and gave her a sceptical look, "You don't need to go there to spend time with a boy, Elena. I know he's been staying over."

Elena blushed but shook her head, "Not that. Damon and I aren't…." How did she explain it? They weren't together, but spent the past few nights sleeping in the same bed? She'd drank his blood and there was definitely sexual tension then.

Deciding the best idea was to change the topic, Elena added. "We're going to look for the Gilbert journals."

Jenna nodded in understanding. "Okay, the keys are in my purse. But you can't go until you've updated me on all the gossip."

Reaching into the freezer and pulling out a tub of ice cream, Jenna pointed to the sofa. Following their usual pattern, Elena fetched two spoons from the drawer and before long they were sat at each end of the sofa with their feet up. A blanket draped over their legs; they passed the tub between them as they ate.

They discussed her and Damon at first, Elena admitting that she liked him for the first time to much fanfare. Jenna made a joke about her liking older guys, and warned her to not look at Alaric.

"I think I love him." Her aunt said after a lull in the conversation. Elena's eyes widened. She'd never heard her aunt use the L word before; she'd had flings and Logan Scum Fell had hurt her, but even then, she hadn't used that word.

"Wow, Jenna. Does he feel the same?" Jenna bit her lip at the question and shook her head slightly.

"I don't know. With Isobel returning he's been a bit distant."

Elena pulled a face of disgust, "Trust me, Jenna, Isobel is not competition for you." That reassured her aunt, and she was rewarded with being passed the ice cream.

"Speaking of evil parents, did you know my dad had a vampire holding room under the clinic?"

If Jenna had been eating at the time, they would have had an ice cream spillage she looked up so suddenly, with such concern in her eyes.

"Nope, remember all of this is new to me too. He was part of the town council?" She offered.

Elena shook her head, "This was more, it was something to do with when he worked at Whitfield."

Something seemed to click with Jenna, as a look of recognition clicked across her face.

"Your Dad left Whitfield to set up the clinic here, as he disagreed with the clinical trials they were running there. He said their methodology was flawed. When he came here, he did continue some of his research on a smaller scale. He cured a girl who was going to die… I don't remember what she had, I'm afraid."

Elena smiled wistfully, for the first time since reading the files her world made a bit more sense again. Grayson Gilbert was a calm, caring man, and a brilliant doctor. She could understand him hating vampires if he didn't know any, it was easy to be afraid of what you didn't know. But surely, he couldn't torture?

"Maybe he was using vampire blood to heal her?" She questioned, and Jenna nodded.

"That might be the case," she smiled, "We both know your dad would do anything to help somebody in need, that's how they ended up having you. Speaking of healing, do I need to ask why you're not wearing your hand brace?"

Elena blushed so deeply that she swore her cheeks were literally on fire, remembering the sensation she'd felt drinking Damon's blood.

"I let Damon's blood heal me." She managed to squeak out.

Jenna was kind enough to not tease her on the blushing or her sudden inability to speak in a normal register, "Be careful, Elena. I've had to accept all this because I know I have very little control over you and Jeremy. But please, please be careful."

"I will, Jenna. I love you both so much."

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